Look No Hands: Very fluid and natural, I like the "star kick" opener. The non-DM'ing first kick starts the replay off sloppily, but I can definitely see why you might want to keep the replay, because that first shatterhit is just delicious! The way uke's torso is left spinning really shows off the raw power of it. I don't usually like grabbing, but when it's done as naturally as this and results in such a spectacular hit, I don't mind. Good skeets at the end too, they don't look improbably weak for the DM as Skeets often do. Are you sure you need to grab the last one to actually DM? It looks pretty hefty. Again, with the work you already put in for it, I don't mind, but I always prefer a non-grabby DM to a grabby one. If you want to try and go for a DM right away, I'd recommend a right knee from what you've got going.
Rest in Pieces: The opener is the tiniest bit sketchy when you remain stationary for maybe a frame for two at the extreme bent position of your opener, but it gets you in that powerful position, so no matter. Besides it's really a tiny thing and would take enourmous tweaking. On another day I might even think it makes the movement look more powerful. It's a
huge shame you don't get your opener to the advantage it has, I'm certain you could get a core from that position. You do catch up with the very next hit again, though. the quick whippy one-two with uke's torso, the spank on the bottom that split his legs apart. Gorgeous.
Get Wrecked: Weak openers seem to be a theme here. This one is disappointingly minimal for the upper body and looks messy because you hit your head on Uke's chest and lift him symmetrically. It doesn't look twisty and stupid like most two-arm grabby lifts though. I see that you did some walking there. You might want to try extending the front leg for a frame or two, as much as you can without jamming it against the ground fully extended. Gives you longer strides. Although I kind of like how you prance about like a parade horse. As much as comparatively weak openers seem to be a theme, spectacular first dismemberments do too. that first kick looks disturbingly like a soccer kick, in a good way. The feeling of raw power isn't as strong in the following strikes in this replay as the earlier ones, but seeing how murderous they looked, it's not exactly a problem. I have a slight distaste for kicks over your tori's head which end up with your Tori's hip fully contracted and knee fully extracted. They look slightly stiff. You'll notice I'm nitpicking way harder for you than most replays I've commented on lately, because you're actually good. I really have to try to find room for criticism here. I like how the skeet is low, fast and perpendicular to the ground, gives it a cold steel thrown weapon kind of feel. Also the pose makes your Tori look remorseful, like, say, a soccer star who went on a rampage.
Its a Hit:The manipulation in the beginning is again slightly sloppy, but it does look like deliberate manipulation instead of failed hits. I know it's enourmously hard on high gravity. The first hit is satisfyingly unexpected in it's angle. I would've thought you'd have kicked in an arc down at uke, but you darted your foot straight back instead. The following punch and kick come from a pleasantly uniform angle, it's like taking some sort of power tool to Uke, two pieces come off into a very similar direction twice. Nice hackey-sacking before the skeet too. You pay great attention to poses in all of your replays, that seems to have diminished since 2009 or 2010 when I last frequented the forums. Good to see it's still there.
Wood vs. Uke: If I have to look for something to criticize, it's got to be that grabby opener. It has the slightest touch of that weird-angled quality that grabbing in Toribash tends to create. Other than that, holy shit man, that's one of the most murderous cores I've ever seen, the lumbar just shoots out like from a cannon. Kudos also for the groin core. It's a tricky bit to shake loose at all, let alone core. Among these beautiful DM's, the ones for the arms are definitely the weakest in my books. They're nice and powerful-looking for inertia DM's, but I just don't like the look of pieces simply falling off, it highlights the weird way grabs are in Toribash too much. That's just a personal opinion of mine though. What's with the name? I'm just curious.
BloodyMess: Ok, so you can run. Well, I'll just leave that advice there for some interested third party anyways. I kind of pieced together your skill level along the way looking at these replays so I started off with a more average skillset in mind. Nice and quick, almost a shame it doesn't take you longer to demolish Uke. Sometimes you just want to fuck him up good and quick though, that's great too sometimes.
Since there are quite a few replays here, I'll look at the rest of them in a little while. I'll update this comment if the thread doesn't get bumped first.
EDIT:
OK I'm back. I made some edits of your replays. Turns out I was wrong with the opener of Rest in Pieces. It's not as powerful as it looks. I'm not that good at judging with such a relaxed style as yours. I got a pretty intense backhand out of it though, and a heelkick core, but only after a slightly tappy backhand elbow DM. I also edited BloodyMess, because that backhand was
right there. Feel free to tweak it for a core, this time I'm pretty positive it's doable since it's a more grounded less fluid situation I put your Tori in by the time Uke DM's. I also edited that knee in and got really lazy, didn't even pose that one.
Now let's see about those replays!
New One: very smooth running, almost sneaky. The first DM is underwhelming, arm DM's tend to be. Also you kick Uke when he's down a lot, it would be cool to get some hits in on a more upright Uke to begin with. Hard to do with the gravity, I know. There's a nice sense of heavines in your strikes here though, although they glance a bit too lightly on Uke for my liking, DM or no.
This is not what you think it is: This one has an excellent flow. bits of uke fly off in a satisfyingly dispersed cloud. The Opener has potential for a more brutal hit though, although I can see why you would want to keep uke a bit more intact and have him fall on you for processing. Also if you look really hard, you notice a couple kicks land on Uke and don't follow through. Looks kind of natural, but usually it looks better to follow through. That's all peanuts though, excellent replay!
What a Wonderful Day: Oh man, you just stomp uke apart. Beautiful! the shatterhit on the torso is very brutal too. I can't really think of anything to criticize here. Maybe the slight ghosting in the pose. Excellent work!
"is that leg...": It sure is. I've seen it a couple of times. Did it myself once or twice too, great in long replays where it draws a full circle amid Uke's remains. Great hits here, the twin bicycle kicks to the knees are a nice touch. There's one of those fully extended high kicks here though, and some minor ghosting. Any hints on posing? I suck at balanced posing and you seem to nail it every time.
Dismemberment time: Sometimes less is more. Sometimes less hits is more DM's. This is one of those times. Great sense of power in both of those hits, the way you coil your Tori to the opposite extreme and deliver all of the power you can into a cluster of Uke's joints. Nice skeet too. Nothing I really can criticize here. I don't like grabbing, but you make an excellent case every time you do, so I don't mind.
Mess Reloaded: Even shorter. Very impressive clusterhit to begin with, although you ghost some to achieve it. I really like how the bits of uke line up in the end, especially with the seldom-seen blocky torso bits all in a neat row.
Your Uke is Nuts: Great powerful hits, nice and smooth too, with a natural progression from one to the next. There's one major ghosting issue here, but other than that, I can't really complain. I like the shape of that part of uke with his glutes and abs. And the fact that it just pretty much freefalls inside a bloody whirlwind of the rest of uke flying into the four winds.
Last edited by Archlurps; Dec 10, 2013 at 12:08 AM.