One of the places I visited in Japan but never really mentioned (since my blogging eventually degenerated into me posting pictures of dumb, random things and making dumb, un-funny remarks about them) was Nara, a small city about a mile outside Kyoto. Nara is famous for two things: one, its beautiful forest shrines and temples. And two, the fact that the temple end of the city is overrun with deer which are, if not quite tame, then certainly very fearless where humans are concerned. You can feed them and pet them and they’re totally fine with it. I didn’t, though, because they’re very mangy and probably infested with lyme disease or weeping sores or something. I did, however, take lots of photos of them, which I have preserved very earnestly in the cut after this link.
did you go to the Daibutsu?
Even Parish can’t stand against an F.O.E.!
F! O! E!
That deer must have cast Mange. Oh the horror!
Buying senbei there is like buying a ticket for deer rape.
I kissed a deer in Nara. What can I say; I’ve always had a soft spot for parasites.
When I went to Daibutsu I happened to go, quite by accident, when they were doing an awesome festival that consisted of priests running with huge balls of fire. That was pretty rad. I fed the deer, but stayed lyme free, so far as I know.
I suppose that’s slightly better than having a soft spot *caused* by parasites.
Nara’s really more like 20 miles outside of Kyoto. Has it’s own prefecture and everything. One does tend to lose their sense of distance in Japan though I’ve found.
I was fortunate to visit when it was raining, so the crowds were very thin. I also had my very first yakiniku experience there.
Mangy deer! Lyme disease! F-O-E!
This horrifies me and everyone who (possibly) agrees with me, but you kind of look like Billy Corgan in these pictures.
If you ever completely shave your head, and Billy Corgan starts wearing glasses…well…
Take solace in the fact that you’re my favorite games journalist and Billy Corgan is, and always will be, washed up since the turn of the millenium.
I’m much too fat to resemble Billy Corgan.
Outcast:
–noun
1. a person who frequents GameSpite and hasn’t played Etrian Odyssey.
I was going to comment you look identical to your Mii in that first picture. It’s uncanny.
Jeremy, you are completely awesome. Completely.
That picture is 120% Billt Corgan.
Also, the Nara deer are ASSHOLES, plain and simple.
Wouldn’t this encounter be with D-O-E?
P.S.- I like the battle stance and the soothing picture in the last panel. Is that the actual screen for when your party dies in Etrian Odyssey?
No, that’s an entirely different soothing picture of a four-leaf clover growing in a sunbeam. This is the intro graphic to the TSecond Stratum.
“Wouldn’t this encounter be with D-O-E?”
Damn it! I’m too late.
Actually, those aren’t all does. The powers-that-be in Nara saw the antlers off all the bucks (including the one in the first photo). Freshly-cut antlers are an oozy pink color that makes me nauseous just thinking about it.
Haha, hilarious. :)
Oh man, that’s too good! It’s amazing how well that scenery works in the context of that game…
Total long shot, but you didn’t happen across a tiny little restaurant in Nara called “Falafel King”? It was delicious when we were there a few years ago, run by some friendly local stoner guy.
Because that would have made a good “Tavern” screen for your Etrian Odyssey homage.
OMG I love how you edited the pics. Very entertaining addition.
Heh, even if I didn’t much care for the game, those are still the coolest chops I’ve seen in a while.
And yeah, ya weren’t kiddin’ when you said they look mangy D:
I just gotta say, I did not expect that in vacation photos and it is awesome. Totally made my day.