Monolith Soft | March 2022 Update

Hello! And thanks again for the support.

Last month's video was How Anime Creates Appealing Fanservice and I was really happy with how it turned out. From me banging my head against the wall trying to work out what the actual point of the video should be, to a final product that is a fun watch and has an actual argument. In terms of views, it's less than impressive, especially for something that I'd considered to be a little clickbaity, but that's what I have a Patreon and sponsorships for. To make up for YouTube's obscure algorithm.

The next video on The Canipa Effect is Breaking Down Xenoblade's Monolithic Worlds. It's kind of the result of me not being totally overwhelmed by this season's anime offerings. Dress-Up Darling was probably the most compelling, but there's also not much I could say about it that I haven't said about other shows. There was also Princess Connect! Re:Dive S2, which is kind of a testament to CygamesPictures' growth, so it could make a good follow-up to my Cygames video, but I'm waiting on more stuff from them first. It may end up being that the only Winter 2022 anime that I cover is Rusted Armors... 

But anyway! Xenoblade! This video's been pretty easy to write so far. The only struggle is in finding the time to write (Please don't look at my Horizon and Elden Ring playtime). The structure I've found easiest to write within is basically just working through things based on my impressions over time and then diving a bit deeper into the behind-the-scenes on how the team at Monolith made that particular aspect special.

I think they're an immensely interesting team in that they're a valuable second perspective for Nintendo to call upon. Nintendo recently said that they only look to acquire those with "Nintendo DNA", but I'd argue Monolith doesn't have that at all. Instead, they've changed what it means to have "Nintendo DNA" from within.

I recently finally completed Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition after failing to get into the 3DS version (even though I bought a New 3DS for it!) and was absolutely enraptured with it. It was in January that I decided to make a Monolith video, and then Xenoblade Chronicles 3 got announced shortly after! Perfect timing.

I'm not totally sure about the title though. Maybe How Monolith Soft Changed Nintendo would be more clicky? I like the video-making part, not the "how do I make people watch this video" part.

Thanks again for all the help!

Callum