title: Strike (attack)

text: Suitable targets for the knife hand strike include the mastoid muscles of the neck, the jugular, the throat, the collar bones, the 3rd vertebra (key stone of the spinal column), the upper arm, the wrist (knife hand block), the elbow (outside knife hand block), and the knee cap (leg throw). In many Japanese and Chinese martial arts systems, the knife hand is used to block as well as to strike.


title: Strike (attack)

text: By tucking the thumb into the palm, a striking surface called the ridge-hand, or reverse knife-hand is formed, extending a few inches along the inside of the hand below the first knuckle of the first finger. Ridge-hand strikes commonly are delivered with a hooking motion, or with a straight arm swinging sideways.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Suitable targets include the mastoid muscles of the neck, the jugular, throat, nose, jaw, the eyes, and the groin. The ridge hand is generally considered obsolete in the martial arts and highly circumstantial . The conditioning required to effectively use it is usually better suited towards basic conditioning of other more natural parts of the body, such as punching or kicking. For example, the buckling that can occur on an unconditioned and sometimes even highly conditioned fighter when using the technique and slightly missing the main targets (eyes, neck, or nose) can do more damage to the striker, even when he hits decent targets instead, like the jaw or forehead . As such, it is considered a high-level and highly-circumstantial technique in the martial arts that still teach the technique, such as most forms of karate, tae kwon do, jujitsu, and kung fu.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The ridge hand technique is very swift and when mastered can be a formidable technique, it was used successfully by Ian Fergusson (currently 7th degree Tae Kwon Do Master) in the 1981 Tae Kwon Do championships in Argentina earning him an individual bronze medal and contributed to the team international gold medal.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Delivered just as with a punch except that the hand is held open like with a knife hand. The intended striking area are the tips of the fingers. The ideal targets are the eyes and throat. This technique is generally unsuitable against most other targets due to the high probability of it breaking one's fingers. It does have the added advantage of increasing the range of normal hand striking by 3–4 inches or so as opposed to punching, backfisting, or hammer fisting. It is considered a high-level technique requiring enormous conditioning, but even accidental spear fingering can be quite devastating on the eyes such as punching mistakes seen in modern MMA circuits.


title: Strike (attack)

text: A strike utilizing the hand with the fingers closed into a fist and striking with the knuckles (as opposed to the hammer fist described below). There are various methods of punches, including but not limited to the straight lead, the backfist, the jab, and the vertical punch.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The hammerfist is a strike with the bottom of a clenched fist, using an action like swinging a hammer, but can also be used horizontally like a backfist strike using the bottom fist.


title: Strike (attack)

text: This strike will not damage the bones of the hands as there is no compression of the knuckles or metacarpals, and there is no leverage to bend the wrist.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The hammerfist strikes cricket ball sized areas on the body, hence is particularly effective for striking the Occiput, the temples, the nose, the mandible, the wrist (for blocking punches), the testicles, the sternum, and the ear (although a cupped hand is more effective). The hammerfist is sometimes used during "ground-and-pound" striking in mixed martial arts to avoid damaging the bones of the hand.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The hammerfist can also be used to counter grappling charges wherein the assailant goes low, grabs the defender's legs, and gives the defender a concussion to the back of the head. It is a non-lethal alternative to performing a karate-chop on the assailant's exposed neck.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Hand strikes can be delivered with an extended knuckle, rather than the classic fist configuration used for a traditional punch. One of the fingers is moved forwards so that the impact is made with the knuckle, concentrating force onto a smaller area. This kind of strike is optimized for attacks to pressure points.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Deriving from traditional and ancient Kung Fu, such striking was considered high level technique for advanced students/inheritors of the art. The accuracy required alongside the conditioning requirements (similar to the knuckles for traditional punching) put it as a circumstantial technique and not as a standard one.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Some modern martial arts, such as Krav Maga, Aikido, Hapkido, deliver this strike to the back of the hand while being held. It puts pressure on the small bones of the opponent's hand, causing its grip to loosen. This lets the practitioner transition smoothly into a small joint manipulation technique. However, its effectiveness when the opponent is aware that a fight is occurring has been disputed, with evidence hard to obtain due to the nature of the art and its disuse in sport, combat, sparring, or matches.


title: Strike (attack)

text: An elbow strike is any type of attack utilizing the adjoining bones of the humerus and the forearm. They can either be linear or circular, and can be used in similar fashion to a standard hook, uppercut, or overhand. Elbow and knee strikes, especially when delivered from a clinch are generally associated with southeast asian boxing(Pradal Serey and Muay Lao).


title: Strike (attack)

text: A shoulder strike (also referred to as a shoulder butt) is a strike with the anterior part of the shoulder. The shoulder strike can be used against the head of the opponent in close positions such as in a clinch or ground fighting, but is generally not considered to have knockout power. However, as used as a fulcrum for a joint hyperextention, such as an arm lock in classic jujitsu from stand-up or ground positions, can serve well to break said joint either when being the surface that an elbow is slammed upon or as a surface to balance out the break much as the thigh is for the juji-gatame in judo.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Leg strikes are a physical strike using the ball of the foot, heel, shin, knee or thigh (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This attack is often used in hand-to-hand combat, especially in stand-up fighting.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Kicks play a significant role in many forms of martial arts, such as Taekwondo, Karate, Kung fu, Vovinam, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Capoeira, Silat, and Kalarippayattu.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Delivering a front kick involves raising the knee and foot of the striking leg to the desired height, also known as chambering, and extending the leg to contact the target, typically with the upper body straight and balanced. The actual strike is usually delivered by the ball of the foot. Thrusting one's hips is a common method of increasing both reach and power of the kick; depending on practitioner's particular needs, a front kick may involve more or less body motion. Front kicks are typically aimed at targets below the chest: abdomen, thighs, groin, knees or lower, however advanced practitioner have the capability of striking head-level targets with the front kick.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The side kick refers to a kick that is delivered sideways in relation to the body of the practitioner. There are two areas that are commonly used as impact points in sidekicks: the heel of the foot and the outer edge of the foot. The heel is more suited to hard targets such as the ribs, stomach, jaw, temple and chest. A sidekick is performed by first chambering the kicking leg diagonally across the body, then extending the leg in a linear fashion toward the target, while flexing the abdominals.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Also referred to as a "round kick", this is the most commonly used kick in combat sports due to its power and ease of use. In most traditional martial arts, the instep is used to strike, whereas in Muay Thai, kickboxing and mixed martial arts the shin is used. To execute, the attacker swings their leg sideways in a circular motion, kicking the opponent's side with the front of the leg, usually with the instep, ball of the foot, toe, or shin. An important variation is the downward roundhouse kick, nicknamed the Brazilian Kick from recent MMA use: A more pronounced twist of the hips allows for a downward end of the trajectory of the kick that is very deceiving.


title: Strike (attack)

text: A knee strike (commonly referred to simply as a knee) is a strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. The most common is the straight knee strike, often employed from a clinch or double collar tie, targeting anywhere from the groin to the head. Variants include the curved knee strike, which is similar to a roundhouse kick, and the jumping or flying knee.


title: Strike (attack)

text: In a bottom strike, as taught by Impact self-defense and other self-defense systems, the defendant drives his or her hips and bottom region backward into an attacker holding them from behind in order to cause the attacker to off-balance and bend forward and possibly cause pain by striking the groin or midsection forcefully. While causing minimal striking damage on average, the attack can serve to develop a superior and/or freed position for the defendant.


title: Strike (attack)

text: A headbutt is a strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the cranium as areas of impact. Effective headbutting revolves around striking a sensitive area with a less sensitive area, such as striking the nose of an opponent with the forehead. It is known as a risky maneuver: a misplaced headbutt can cause more damage to the person delivering the headbutt than to the person receiving it.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Checking involves striking with the side of the body, at the hip or shoulder, by shifting your balance and pushing with the furthest foot to drive the body into the opponent with force. While these movements are used extensively in ice hockey (see checking (ice hockey)) they can be performed equally well on dry ground and are part of various self-defense techniques. These strikes rarely cause damage, but are used to off-balance or knock an opponent down. However, when applied with ample power and to a vulnerable region they can cause pain, for example, hitting an opponent with the shoulder to the nose, striking the upper Quadriceps femoris muscle with the hip, or driving the shoulder into the opponent's solar plexus region.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The use of shoulders can also involve charging at the opponent at running speed, similar to a ram or tackle, though a short charge is possible where the attacker simple lunges straight at their opponent with their shoulder. These moves are generally unrefined and unprofessional, since they have a big tendency to miss, rely on brute force more than anything and usually require a run-up. If the charger does hit its intended target however, it can cause both pain and recoil to the target, knocking them over with the striker's kinetic energy being transferred to them and falling over as a result of the force or pain.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Strikes in Asian martial arts and Western boxing have many of the same principles in common. These principles apply to strikes with most parts of the human body. These principles are typically learned by martial artists through multiple repetitions under the supervision of a qualified instructor. Many martial arts and texts include these principles, such as karate and Jeet Kune Do. This is only a partial list.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Besides applying the mechanical elements described above, strikers use particular strategies to help ensure their strikes are effective. Among these strategies are:


title: Strike (attack)

text: The human hand is made up of many small bones which may be damaged by heavy impact. If a hard part of the opponent's body or other hard object is inadvertently struck, the metacarpals may splay on impact and break. Boxers tape their hands so as to hold the metacarpals together and keep them from splaying. One can toughen one's bones by striking objects to induce osteoclasts (cells which remove bone) and osteoblasts (which form bone) to remodel the bone over the struck area increasing the density of bone at the striking surface. For more information on bone remodeling, see Wolff's law.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The wrist must also be kept in proper alignment during a fist strike. If the wrist bends on impact, it can easily be sprained, dislocated or broken. Boxers tape their wrists to reduce wrist flex.


title: Selaginella

text: Selaginella is the sole genus of vascular plants in the family Selaginellaceae, the spikemosses or lesser clubmosses.


title: Selaginella

text: This family is distinguished from Lycopodiaceae (the clubmosses) by having scale-leaves bearing a ligule and by having spores of two types. They are sometimes included in an informal paraphyletic group called the "fern allies". "S. moellendorffii" is an important model organism. Its genome has been sequenced by the United States Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute. The name "Selaginella" was erected by Palisot de Beauvois solely for the species "Selaginella selaginoides", which turns out (with the closely related "Selaginella deflexa") to be a clade that is sister to all other "Selaginellas", so any definitive subdivision of the species into separate genera leaves two taxa in "Selaginella", with the hundreds of other species in new or resurrected genera.


title: Selaginella

text: "Selaginella" occurs mostly in the tropical regions of the world, with a handful of species to be found in the arctic-alpine zones of both hemispheres.


title: Selaginella

text: "Selaginella" species are creeping or ascendant plants with simple, scale-like leaves (microphylls) on branching stems from which roots also arise. The stems are aerial, horizontally creeping on the substratum (as in "Selaginella kraussiana"), sub-erect ("Selaginella trachyphylla") or erect (as in "Selaginella erythropus"). The vascular steles are polystelic protosteles. Stem section shows the presence of more than two protosteles. Each stele is made up of diarch (having two strands of xylem) and exarch (growing outward in) xylems. The steles are connected with the cortex by means of many tube-like structures called trabeculae, which are modified endodermal cells with casparian strips on their lateral walls. The stems contain no pith.


title: Selaginella

text: In "Selaginella", each microphyll and sporophyll has a small scale-like outgrowth called a ligule at the base of the upper surface. The plants are heterosporous with spores of two different size classes, known as megaspores and microspores.


title: Selaginella

text: Unusual for the lycopods, which nearly always have microphylls with a single unbranched vein, the microphylls of a few "Selaginella" species contain a branched vascular trace.


title: Selaginella

text: Under dry conditions, some species of "Selaginella" can survive dehydration. In this state, they may roll up into brown balls and be uprooted, but can rehydrate under moist conditions, become green again and resume growth. This phenomenon is known as poikilohydry, and poikilohydric plants such as "Selaginella bryopteris" are sometimes referred to as resurrection plants.


title: Selaginella

text: Some scientists still place the Selaginellales in the class Lycopodiopsida (often misconstructed as "Lycopsida"). Some modern authors recognize three generic divisions of "Selaginella": "Selaginella", "Bryodesma" , and "Lycopodioides" . "Lycopodioides" would include the North American species "S. apoda" and "S. eclipes", while "Bryodesma" would include "S. rupestris" (as "Bryodesma rupestre"). "Stachygynandrum" is also sometimes used to include the bulk of species.


title: Selaginella

text: The first major attempt to define and subdivide the group was by Palisot de Beauvois in 1803-1805. He established the genus "Selaginella" as a monotypic genus, and placed the bulk of species in "Stachygynandrum". "Gymnogynum" was another monotypic genus, but that name is superseded by his own earlier name of "Didiclis". This turns out, today, to be a group of around 45-50 species also known as the "Articulatae", since his genus "Didiclis/Gymnogynum" was based on "Selaginella plumosa". He also described the genus "Diplostachyum" to include a group of species similar to "Selaginella apoda". Spring inflated the genus "Selaginella" to hold all selaginelloid species four decades later.


title: Selaginella

text: Phylogenetic studies by Korall & Kenrick determined that the "Euselaginella" group, comprising solely the type species, "Selaginella selaginoides" and a closely related Hawaiian species, "Selaginella deflexa", is a basal and anciently diverging sister to all other "Selaginella" species. Beyond this, their study split the remainder of species into two broad groups, one including the "Bryodesma" species, the "Articulatae", section "Ericetorum" and others, and the other centered on the broad "Stachygynandrum" group.


title: Selaginella

text: However, this is now known to be highly paraphyletic in most of its groupings. Two recent classifications, employing modern methods of phylogenetic analysis, are as follows:


title: Selaginella

text: There are about 750 known species of "Selaginella". They show a wide range of characters; the genus is overdue for a revision which might include subdivision into several genera. Better-known spikemosses include:


title: Selaginella

text: A few species of "Selaginella" are desert plants known as "resurrection plants", because they curl up in a tight, brown or reddish ball during dry times, and uncurl and turn green in the presence of moisture. Other species are tropical forest plants that appear at first glance to be ferns.


title: Selaginella

text: A number of "Selaginella" species are popular plants for cultivation, mostly tropical species. Some of the species popularly cultivated and actively available commercially include:


title: Kassites

text: The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology).


title: Kassites

text: They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 BC, and established a dynasty generally assumed to have been based first in that city, after a hiatus. Later rule shifted to the new city of Dur-Kurigalzu. By the time of Babylon's fall, the Kassites had already been part of the region for a century and a half, acting sometimes with the Babylon's interests and sometimes against. There are records of Kassite and Babylonian interactions, in the context of military employment, during the reigns of Babylonian kings Samsu-iluna (1686 to 1648 BC), Abī-ešuh, and Ammī-ditāna.


title: Kassites

text: The origin and classification of the Kassite language, like the Sumerian language and Hurrian language, is uncertain, and, also like the two latter languages, has generated a wide array of speculation over the years, even to the point of linking it to Sanskrit. The Kassite religion is also poorly known. The names of some Kassite deities are known. The chief gods, titular gods of the kings, were Shuqamuna and Shumaliya. As was typical in the region, there was some cross pollination with other religions. After Babylon came within the Kassite sphere of control its city-god, Marduk was absorbed into the Kassite pantheon.


title: Kassites

text: Documentation of the Kassite period depends heavily on the scattered and disarticulated tablets from Nippur, where thousands of tablets and fragments have been excavated. They include administrative and legal texts, letters, seal inscriptions, private votive inscriptions, and even a literary text (usually identified as a fragment of a historical epic). Unfortunately, many of those tablets have not yet been published, including hundreds held in the Ottoman Museum in Istanbul. About 100 Kassite tablets were found at Dur-Kurigalzu. A few inscribed building materials of Kurigalzu I were found at Kish. Several tablets dated to the reign of Agum III were found at the Dilmun site of Qal'at al-Bahrain. In total, about 12,000 Kassite period documents have been recovered, of which only around 10% have been published. There are also a number of building inscriptions, all but one written in Sumerian unlike the Akkadian typically used by the Kassites. A number of seals have also been found. Kudurrus, stone stele used to record land grants and related documents provide another source for Kassite history. This practice continued for several centuries after the end of the Kassite Dynasty. Often situated on the surface, many were found early and made their way to museums around the world.


title: Kassites

text: The ancient city of Nippur was a major focus for the Kassites. Early on, refurbishments were conducted of the various religious and administrative buildings, the first of these datable to Kurigalzu I. Major construction occurred under Kadashman-Enlil, Kudur-Enlil, and Shagarakti-Shuriash, with lesser levels of repair work under Adad-shuma-usur and Meli-Shipak. Other important centers during the Kassite period were Larsa, Sippar and Susa. The Kassites were very active at Ur. At the site of Isin, which had been abandoned after the time of Samsu-iluna, major rebuilding work occurred on the religious district including the temple of Gula. The work at Isin was initated by Kurigalzu I and continued by Kadashman-Enlil I, and after a lapse, by Adad-shuma-usur and Meli-Shipak II. After the Kassite dynasty was overthrown in 1155 BC, the system of provincial administration continued and the country remained united under the succeeding rule, the Second Dynasty of Isin.


title: Kassites

text: The origin of the Kassites is uncertain, though a number of theories have been advanced. They were reported in Babylonia by the 18th century BC, especially around the area of Sippar. The 9th year name of king Samsu-iluna (1749–1712 BC) of Babylon, the son of Hammurabi mentions them ie. ("Year in which Samsu-iluna the king (defeated) the totality of the strength of the army / the troops of the Kassites"). As the Babylonian empire weakened in the following years the Kassites became a part of the landscape, even at times supplying troops for Babylon.


title: Kassites

text: The Hittites had carried off the idol of the god Marduk, but the Kassite rulers regained possession, returned Marduk to Babylon, and made him the equal of the Kassite Shuqamuna. Babylon under Kassite rulers, who renamed the city "Karanduniash", re-emerged as a political and military power in Mesopotamia.


title: Kassites

text: The fall of the First Sealand dynasty in 1460 BC created a power vacuum which the Kassites filled. After the destruction of the Mittani by the Hittites in the early 14th century BC Assyria rose in power creating a three way power structure in the region between the Kassites, Hittites, and Assyrians with Elam exerting influence from the east and Egypt from the south. A number of the Amarna Letters are correspondence between the respective rulers (including 14 between the Pharaoh and the Kassite ruler). An International System came into place between these parties connected by widespread trade, treaties, and intermarriage between the ruling classes (especially between the Kassites and Elamites). A typical treaties include the Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty (c.1259 BC) and the treaty between the Kassite ruler Karaindash and the Assyrian ruler Ashur-bel-nisheshu (c. 1410 BC).


title: Kassites

text: At the peak of their power the Kassites, under Kurigalzu I in the mid 14h century BC, conquered Elam and sacked the capital of Susa. That ruler initiated significant building efforts in Ur and other southern Mesopotamia cities. The most notable of these efforts was the construction of a new city, Dur-Kuirgalzu. It contained a number of palaces and also temples to many Babylonia gods including Enlil, Ninlil, and Ninurta. The Kassites also extended their power into the Persian Gulf, including at Qal'at al-Bahrain. Being in close proximity the Assyrians and Kassites often came into political and military conflict over the next few centuries. For a time in the early reign of Tukulti-Ninurta I Assyria gained ascendancy, until the Elamites under Kidin-Hutran III intervened. This period is marked by a building hiatus at Babylon, similar to the one after the fall of the First Babylonian dynasty.


title: Kassites

text: The Elamites of the Shutrukid dynasty conquered Babylonia, carrying away the Statue of Marduk, in the 12th century BC, thus ending the Kassite state. According to the Assyrian Synchronistic Chronicle, which is not considered reliable, the last Kassite king, Enlil-nadin-ahi, was taken to Susa and imprisoned there in 1155 BC, where he also died.


title: Kassites

text: The annals of the Assyrian king Sennacherib detail that on his second, eastern, campaign of 702 BC he campaigned against the land of the Kassites, that being along the along the Diyala River between the Jebel Hamrin and the Darband-i-Khan. The Kassites took refuge in the mountains but were brought down and resettled, in standard Assyrian practice, in Hardispi and Bit Kubatti, which were made part of the Arrapha district.


title: Kassites

text: The Babylonian and Assyrian king lists mention eight or nine early Kassite rulers whose names are not fully known and who precede the following kings. Another Kassite king, Hašmar-galšu, is known from five inscriptions from the Nippur area.


title: Kassites

text: The Kassite language has not been classified. The few sources consist of personal names, a few documents, and some technical terms related to horses and chariotry. What is known is that their language was not related to either the Indo-European language group, nor to Semitic or other Afro-Asiatic languages, and is most likely to have been a language isolate, although some linguists have proposed a link to the Hurro-Urartian languages of the Armenian highlands and Northern Mesopotamia.


title: Kassites

text: It has been suggested that several Kassite leaders bore Indo-European names, and they might have had an Indo-European elite similar to the Mitanni. Over the centuries, however, the Kassites were absorbed into the Babylonian population. Eight among the last kings of the Kassite dynasty have Akkadian names. It has also been suggested that the first element in Kudur-Enlil's name is derived from Elamite but that is disputed.


title: Kassites

text: The Kassites produced a substantial amount of pottery. It is found in many Moesoptamia cities including Eridu and Tell Khaiber. Archaeologists divide it into three periods, Early Kassite (pre c. 1415 BC), Middle Kassite (c 1415 BC - 1225 BC), and Late Kassite (c. 1225 BC - 1155 BC). Many small pottery kilns, generally no bigger than 2 meters in diameter with domed tops, were found in the Babylonian city of Dilbat. Goblets and wavy sided bowls are commonly found in Kassite pottery deposits. Other ceramic goods, such as traps for small animals and vessels commonly thought to be fruit stands were found also. Kassite pottery deposits have been found as far away as Al Khor Island in the Persian Gulf area.


title: Kassites

text: Remnants of two Kassite glass beakers were found during the 1964 excavation in a (c. 800 BC) destruction layer of Hasanlu, in northwest Iran. The mosaic glass beakers are thought to have been heirlooms, possibly for ritual use the find spot being a temple. The panes of glass used to create these images were very brightly colored, and closer analysis has revealed that they were bright green, blue, white, and red-orange. A Kassite text found at Dur-Kurigalzu mentions glass given to artisans for palace decoration and similar glass was found there. Other similar glass dated 1500 BC was found at Tell al-Rimah.


title: Kassites

text: Seals were used widely across the Near Eastern kingdoms during the Kassite rule. They were used to mark official items and ownership. The images created by these seals were unique to each seal, but many shared the same subject matter. Bearded men, religious symbols, horned quadrupeds, and fauna are often shown in these images. The seals were generally made of stone, glass, or clay. The images were made by stamping or rolling the seals into wet clay.


title: Tsuki ga Kirei

text: As a coming-of-age contemporary romance, the story follows the lives of two junior high school students, Akane and Kotarō, who fall in love for the first time and struggle to maintain their relationship.


title: Tsuki ga Kirei

text: Kotaro Azumi and Akane Mizuno become third year students at junior high school and are classmates for the first time. They are put in charge of the equipment for a sports festival and slowly grow closer via LINE. These two, along with fellow students Chinatsu Nishio and Takumi Hira, relate to their peers through mutual understandings and feelings. As their final year at junior high school progresses, the group overcome their challenges to mature and become aware of changes in themselves.


title: Tsuki ga Kirei

text: An original anime television series produced by Feel was announced in January 2017. Seiji Kishi directed the anime while Yūko Kakihara penned and supervised the series' scripts, and Kazuaki Morita adapted Loundraw's original character designs. Takurō Iga and FlyingDog composed and produced the music, respectively, while Nagano served as the series' producer. It aired on April 6, 2017 on Tokyo MX with further broadcasts on MBS, BS11 and TVA then ended on June 29, 2017. Nao Tōyama sung both the opening and ending theme titled and , respectively. Tōyama also performed the insert song for episode 3, .


title: Tsuki ga Kirei

text: Crunchyroll licensed the series and streamed it outside of Asia, and Funimation dubbed the series and released it on home video in North America as part of their partnership with Crunchyroll.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: On 23 January 2020, the central government of China imposed a lockdown in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei in an effort to quarantine the center of an outbreak of COVID-19; this action was commonly referred to as the Wuhan lockdown (). The World Health Organization (WHO), although stating that it was beyond its own guidelines, commended the move, calling it "unprecedented in public health history".


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: The lockdown in Wuhan set the precedent for similar measures in other Chinese cities. Within hours of the Wuhan lockdown, travel restrictions were also imposed on the nearby cities of Huanggang and Ezhou, and were eventually imposed on all 15 other cities in Hubei, affecting a total of about 57 million people. On 2 February 2020, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, implemented a seven-day lockdown in which only one person per household was allowed to exit once each two days, and most of the highway exits were closed. On 13 March 2020, Huangshi and Qianjiang became the first Hubei cities to remove strict travel restrictions within part or all of their administrative confines. On 8 April 2020, the Wuhan lockdown officially ended. The lockdown, combined with other public health measures in early 2020, succeeded in suppressing virus transmission and averted a more widespread outbreak in China.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: Subsequent lockdowns were introduced in other regions of China in response to localised outbreaks during the two years following. The largest of these was Shanghai in early 2022.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: Some Western observers, such as Amnesty International, were initially skeptical of the lockdown; however, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread to other countries and territories, similar measures were enacted around the globe.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: On 7 December 2022, China's National Health Commission in a 10-point announcement stipulated that negative COVID-19 tests would no longer be required, apart from vulnerable areas such as nurseries, elderly care facilities and schools.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province in China. With a population of over 11 million, it is the largest city in Hubei, the most populous city in Central China, the seventh-most populous Chinese city, and one of the nine National Central Cities of China. Wuhan lies in the eastern Jianghan Plain, on the confluence of the Yangtze River and its largest tributary, the Han River. It is a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city and connecting to other major cities. Because of its key role in domestic transport, Wuhan is known as the "Nine Provinces' Thoroughfare" () and sometimes referred to as "the Chicago of China".


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: In mid-December 2019 the Chinese Government acknowledged an emerging cluster of people, many linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, were infected with pneumonia with no clear causes. Chinese scientists subsequently linked the pneumonia to a new strain of coronavirus that was given the initial designation 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Some of the first symptoms appeared on 10 December, and 24 cases were later discovered to have connection to the seafood market.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: On 10 January 2020, the first death and 41 clinically confirmed infections caused by the coronavirus were reported.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: By 22 January, the novel coronavirus had spread to major cities and provinces in China, with 571 confirmed cases and 17 deaths reported. Confirmed cases were also reported in other regions and countries, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: According to Li Lanjuan, a professor at Zhejiang University's school of medicine and member of the high-level expert team convened by the National Health Commission, she had urged a lockdown on Wuhan on several occasions between 19 January and 22 January 2020 as a last resort to contain the epidemic.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: At 2am on 23 January, authorities issued a notice informing residents of Wuhan that from 10am, all public transport, including buses, railways, flights, and ferry services would be suspended. The Wuhan Airport, the Wuhan railway station, and the Wuhan Metro were all closed. The residents of Wuhan were also not allowed to leave the city without permission from the authorities. The notice caused an exodus from Wuhan. An estimated 300,000 people were reported to have left Wuhan by train alone before the 10 am lockdown. By the afternoon of 23 January, the authorities began shutting down some of the major highways leaving Wuhan. The lockdown came two days before the Chinese New Year, the most important festival in the country, and traditionally the peak traveling season, when millions of Chinese travel across the country.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: Following the lockdown of Wuhan, public transportation systems in two of Wuhan's neighboring prefecture-level cities, Huanggang and Ezhou, were also placed on lockdown. A total of 12 other county to prefecture-level cities in Hubei, including Huangshi, Jingzhou, Yichang, Xiaogan, Jingmen, Suizhou, Xianning, Qianjiang, Xiantao, Shiyan, Tianmen and Enshi, were placed on traveling restrictions by the end of 24 January, bringing the number of people affected by the restriction to more than 50 million.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: On 1 February in Huanggang, Hubei implemented a measure whereby only one person from each household is permitted to go outside for provisions once every two days, except for medical reasons or to work at shops or pharmacies. Many cities, districts, and counties across mainland China implemented similar measures in the days following, including Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Harbin, and the whole of Jiangxi.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: Many areas across China have implemented what is called "closed management" () on a community-basis. In most of the areas where this came into effect, villages, communities, and units in most areas would only keep one entrance and exit point open, and each household is allowed limited numbers of entrances and exits. In some places, night-time access is prohibited, effectively a curfew, and in extreme cases, access is prohibited throughout the day. People entering and leaving are required to wear masks and receive temperature tests. In some areas, vouchers are issued to the public, with vouchers and valid credentials. There are also areas where people are allowed to declare on WeChat mini-programs or public accounts and some apps at the same time. Courier and food delivery personnel are usually prohibited from entering. Control in communities with confirmed cases is more stringent.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: The exodus from Wuhan before the lockdown resulted in angry responses on the Chinese microblogging website Sina Weibo from residents in other cities who were concerned that it could result in spreading of the novel coronavirus to their cities. Some in Wuhan were concerned with the availability of provisions and especially medical supplies during the lockdown.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: The World Health Organization called the Wuhan lockdown "unprecedented" and said it showed "how committed the authorities are to contain a viral breakout". However, WHO clarified that the move was not a recommendation that WHO had made and authorities have to wait and see how effective it is. The WHO separately stated that the possibility of locking down an entire city in this way was "new to science".


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: The CSI 300 Index, an aggregate measure of the top 300 stocks in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, dropped almost 3% on 23 January 2020, the biggest single-day loss in almost 9 months, after the Wuhan lockdown was announced as investors reacting to the drastic measure sought safe haven for their investments.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: The unprecedented scale of this lockdown generated controversy, and at least one expert criticized this measure as "risky business" that "could very easily backfire" by forcing otherwise healthy people in Wuhan to stay in close conditions with infected people. Drawing a cordon sanitaire around a city of 11 million people raises ethical concerns. It also drew comparisons to the lockdown of the poor West Point neighbourhood in Liberia during the 2014 ebola outbreak, which was lifted after ten days.


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: The lockdown caused panic in the city of Wuhan, and many expressed concern about the city's ability to cope with the outbreak. At the time, some experts questioned whether the large costs of such a vast lockdown, both financially and in terms of personal liberty, would translate to effective infection control. Medical historian Howard Markel argued that the Chinese government "may now be overreacting, imposing an unjustifiable burden on the population," and said that "incremental restrictions, enforced steadily and transparently, tend to work far better than draconian measures." Others, such as Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, defended the intent behind the lockdowns, saying that they have bought the world a "delay to essentially prepare better." Mathematical epidemiologist Gerardo Chowell of Georgia State University stated that based on mathematical modelling, "containment strategies implemented in China are successfully reducing transmission."


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: However, as the global COVID-19 pandemic worsened, similar lockdown measures were enacted around the world. After northern Italy became a new hotspot of the outbreak in late February, the Italian government has enacted what has been called a "Wuhan-style lockdown," by quarantining nearly a dozen towns of 50,000 people in the provinces of Lombardy and Veneto. Iran, another developing hotspot for the coronavirus as of 25 February, has come under calls to assume similar lockdown procedures as China and Italy. Security experts such as Gal Luft of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in Washington, have said that "The best way for Iran to deal with the disease is to do precisely what China has done – quarantine." and that "If Wuhan with its 11 million population can be under quarantine, so can Tehran with its 8 million"


title: COVID-19 lockdown in China

text: By late 2020, public health experts estimated that the Wuhan lockdown prevented between 500,000 and 3 million infections and between 18,000 and 70,000 deaths. A November 2021 study examining data from the first half of 2020 estimated that over 347,000 deaths may have been prevented in China by COVID-19 prevention measures from 1 January 2020, to 31 July 2020. The estimate does not solely include deaths that would have occurred due to COVID-19. It includes deaths that were inadvertently prevented, such as from traffic collisions or air pollution.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: Transistor is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Supergiant Games. The game was released in May 2014 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4, and for OS X and Linux in October 2014, and iOS devices in June 2015. "Transistor" sold over one million copies across all platforms by December 2015.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: "Transistor" utilizes an isometric point of view. The player controls the main character, Red, as she travels through a series of locations, battling enemies known collectively as the Process in both real-time combat and a frozen planning mode referred to as "Turn()". Using Turn() drains the action bar, which refills after a short delay. Until it is full again, Red cannot use Turn(), or any other power (without a specific upgrade). Red earns experience points after each battle, and may collect new powers (called Functions) from fallen victims of the Process.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: Functions can be utilized in several ways. First, they can be equipped in one of four active skill slots. Second, they can be used as an upgrade to augment another equipped Function. Third, they can be equipped in a passive skill slot for a persistent effect during battle. For example, the Function Spark() may be used to fire an explosive attack, to split the effects of another Function, or to passively spawn Red's decoys. With a total of 16 Functions, there are a large number of combinations, allowing for a great degree of customization to fit different play styles.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: Red can also collect and activate Limiters, which serve as optional debuffs during combat, but in turn increase experience gained. Both Functions and Limiters reveal minor parts of the story if used for a long enough time.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: For the PlayStation 4 version, the DualShock 4 light bar flashes in sync with the Transistor's speech.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: In June 2015, the game was released on the iOS App Store with default tap controls configured for the iPhone and iPad touchscreens. In addition, the iOS version of the game includes optional gamepad support.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: Red, a famous singer in a city called Cloudbank, is attacked by the Process, a robotic force commanded by a group called the Camerata. She manages to escape and comes into possession of the mysterious Transistor—the great sword-like weapon she was to be assassinated with. The Transistor is buried into the chest of a man, now slumped over and dead; though his consciousness and voice seem to have been absorbed into the Transistor itself along with Red's voice. The Camerata continue to track Red and the Transistor down with the Process, wanting the weapon for some yet-unknown cause.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: The game opens with the player character, Red, kneeling by the body of an unknown man who has been killed with a glowing great sword—the titular Transistor. Red is a singer, and the attack which killed the man has also stolen her voice, sealing it inside the Transistor. The dead man's consciousness has also been absorbed into the sword, and through it, he is able to speak to Red and act as the game's narrator. As Red makes her way out of the district in which the game starts, she comes into conflict with an army of robotic intelligence known as the Process.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: Red makes her way to her former performance stage, in Cloudbank's Goldwalk district, where it is revealed that the Process is being controlled by the Camerata, a sinister group of high-ranking officials. They were the ones who attacked Red, though the attack was thwarted when the man in the Transistor stepped in front of the blow. As Red travels, she discovers several Cloudbank citizens who have been "integrated" by the Process and absorbs their trace data into the Transistor, expanding the weapon's functionality. Upon reaching the stage where she performed that night, Red encounters Sybil Reisz, the Camerata member who had befriended her before the assassination attempt, in a corrupted Process-like form. It is revealed that Sybil was in love with Red, and that she arranged for the attack in an attempt to cause the man's death and have Red to herself. After defeating Sybil and absorbing her consciousness into the Transistor, Red uses Sybil's knowledge of the Camerata to locate their leader—one of the administrators of Cloudbank, Grant Kendrell.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: As Red enters the Highrise district, the Process becomes more aggressive in their actions, attacking the entire city; this leads to the Process becoming public knowledge. Asher Kendrell, another member of the Camerata, publicly apologizes for the Camerata's actions and reveals their involvement in the Process invasion, going so far as to contact and apologize to Red for all that the Camerata has done to her, the mysterious man in the Transistor, and the dozens of other influential figures who have been Processed and destroyed. It becomes apparent that the Camerata are no longer in control of the Process, and that the current situation is very different from their intended vision. After fighting past numerous Process enemies, including a massive creature referred to as the "Spine" whose mere presence severely affects the man in the Transistor, Red reaches the hideout of the Camerata in Bracket Towers only to find that Grant and Asher have committed suicide.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: After resolving to hunt down the final member of the Camerata, Royce Bracket, and then escape the city, Red and her companion find themselves traveling back through the starting portion of the game which has now been "Processed" into a blocky, white facsimile of its original form. Upon reaching the starting point of the game, Royce approaches Red through a robotic proxy and offers a truce in order for them to work together to stop the Process. Royce reveals that the Transistor is a "remote-control" to manipulate the changing landscape and environment of Cloudbank. It is the central part of the apparatus used by the city's administrators, including the late Grant, to change the city to fit the whims of the people. After fighting through the completely Processed district of Fairview, in which the Process has evolved a humanoid form and the laws of physics only loosely apply, Red arrives at the Cradle, the system that the Transistor powers in order to manipulate the Process—which is suggested to be an integral part of the system to rearrange and change Cloudbank—and stop the invasion. After Red places the Transistor in the Cradle, she and Royce are absorbed into it. In the Transistor's virtual realm, now armed with a Transistor of his own, Royce informs Red that only one of them can escape back to Cloudbank and repair the city. He apologizes to Red for this and the two clash.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: After defeating Royce, leaving him trapped inside the Transistor-world, Red is transported back into Cloudbank, where she begins the task of rebuilding Cloudbank's Processed areas. Upon un-processing the mysterious man's body and learning he cannot be restored from inside the Transistor, she sits down beside him and—despite his protests and pleadings otherwise—impales herself with the Transistor, committing suicide. In the closing credits sequence, it is shown that the man is reunited with Red within the virtual world of the Transistor. At this moment, a heartfelt embrace reveals that her voice has also been restored.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: "Transistor"s soundtrack was written and produced by Darren Korb. It was released simultaneously with the game on May 20, 2014. Ashley Lynn Barrett, who was the female vocalist in Bastion's soundtrack, returned to provide vocals for "The Spine", "In Circles", "We All Become", "Signals", and "Paper Boats". The musical style of the soundtrack has been described by Korb as "old-world electronic post-rock". To fit that genre of music, the instruments used includes electric guitars, harps, accordions, mandolins, electric piano, and synth pads. Additionally, an EQ filter is overlaid over the music during the pause and "TURN()" menus to have a distant, blurred sound.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: On November 2, 2015 to commemorate Transistor's release on Apple TV, a new bonus track written and produced by Darren Korb, "She Shines" was added to the soundtrack. Ashley Barrett returned to provide the vocals.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: "Transistor" has been well received by game critics; receiving an 8/10 from "GameSpot", 8.5/10 from "Destructoid", 9/10 from "IGN", and an 8.5/10 from "Polygon". It also has an 83 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 57 reviews for PlayStation 4 and 35 reviews for Microsoft Windows, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Transistor (video game)

text: The game's visuals and soundtrack have been praised by reviewers. Richard Niak of "Game Critics" wrote that the aesthetics of Cloudbank, the game's main setting are, “...a key factor in understanding the story and the destruction being wrought by the Process.” Randy Kalista of "Gaming Nexus" called the soundtrack “an indispensable element of Transistor’s storytelling.” Danielle Riendeau of "Polygon" wrote that Transistor is, “...oozing with style and aesthetic charm,” and that the music and voice “Set it apart aesthetically,” and infuse the game with personality and life.


title: Transistor (video game)

text: The game's combat system has been received favorably, with many reviewers praising the game's flexibility and the variety of possible ability combinations. Christian Donlan of "Eurogamer" called the combat system “a tight system in which almost nothing is wasted and experimentation is encouraged.” Nicholas Plouffe of "COG Connected" wrote that Transistor, “Replicated the combat and movement style [of Bastion] that really sets the two completely apart from each other,” and that the number of combinations in regards to combat abilities allows for very diverse play-styles. John Fisco of "DarkStation" wrote that the combat, “never felt overly difficult or too simplistic,” the distribution of ability upgrades was, “smartly implemented,” and that the action is, “both quick, and at times, thoughtfully composed...”


title: Transistor (video game)

text: The game's storytelling has received mixed reactions. Chris I. of "Digitally Downloaded" wrote, “Like Bastion before it, Transistor’s strength isn’t found in its action-RPG elements alone, but in the way that its narrative unravels along.” Marty Sliva of "IGN" praised the game on how it, “relies on subtlety in a way that few games ever do” in regards to its storytelling and worldbuilding. Danielle Riendeau praised the game's “fragmentary but effective” storytelling. Matt Miller on "Game Informer", however, notes that the linearity of the game made it, “feel repetitive” and called it, “an isolating adventure”. Daniel Podgosrski of "The Gemsbok" called the plot and its presentation, “interestingly deep yet frustratingly vague”. He noted the game, “...does with its narrative so much more and so much better than many other titles,” but concluded that Transistor, “opts for mystery over clarity.”


title: Transistor (video game)

text: As of January 2015, the game has sold 600,000 copies. By December 2015, the game had surpassed one million copies sold and had received over 100 industry accolades and awards.


title: Geography of association football

text: The following article gives a list of association football confederations, sub-confederations and associations around the world. The sport's international governing body is FIFA, but those associations not affiliated with FIFA are also included in this article.


title: Geography of association football

text: Most European, African, and Asian countries have two principal competitions: a more prestigious league which is typically a double round-robin tournament restricted to the elite clubs, and a cup which is a single-elimination tournament open to both the elite and lesser clubs.


title: Geography of association football

text: In the Americas, leagues are often organised as either multi-stage tournaments or separate Apertura and Clausura stages.


title: Geography of association football

text: There are currently 211 national associations which are members of FIFA. An additional 11 associations are full or associate members of a FIFA continental confederation, but not members of FIFA.


title: Geography of association football

text: The football associations listed in this section are members of FIFA-affiliated confederations. They are listed by their official names registered with FIFA.


title: Geography of association football

text: The football associations in this section represent fully and partially recognized sovereign states, dependent territories, and stateless nations that are not members of FIFA or a FIFA confederation.


title: Geography of association football

text: Several of these non-FIFA associations are included in the World Football Elo Ratings, which ranks all national association football teams from FIFA-affiliated confederations, in addition to some unaffiliated teams. Several of these associations are also members of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations and/or the International Island Games Association.


title: Geography of association football

text: Beneath the national level, governance of football may be divided up into regional or territorial associations. Other non-national associations represent stateless populations, diasporas or micronations. Details of these are listed at non-FIFA international football.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: Non-consensual condom removal, or "stealthing", is the practice of a man removing a condom during sexual intercourse without consent, when his sex partner has only consented to condom-protected sex. Victims are exposed to potential sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV/AIDS, or unwanted pregnancies. Such behaviour may be therefore regarded as sexual assault or rape, and sometimes as a form of reproductive coercion. As of 2020, stealthing is punishable as a form of sexual violence in some countries, such as Germany and the United Kingdom.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: Purposefully damaging a condom before or during intercourse may also be referred to as stealthing, regardless of who damaged the condom.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: In an article about stealthing published in the "Columbia Journal of Gender and Law", Alexandra Brodsky described victims' experiences, legal implications, and legal avenues to address stealthing. The term "stealthing" has been in use in the gay community to describe the criminal transmission of HIV


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: Brodsky described how the practice of stealthing is discussed, described, and advocated for on various websites and forums. These forums are sometimes used to brag about committing stealthing and to share tips on how to do it. How-to guides have been posted to social media platforms like "The Experience Project". The practice has also been described as "a threat to [a victim's] bodily agency and as a dignitary harm", and men who do this "justify their actions as a natural male instinct". Columbia Law School professor Suzanne Goldberg says that the practice of stealthing is likely not new, but its promotion on the internet among men is new. Belgian journalist Heleen Debruyne emphasised in 2017 that the media should not refer to stealthing as a 'new sex trend' as if it were a harmless fad, but make clear that it is a 'form of abuse'.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: Teitelman et al. (2011) found that condom negotiation is often silenced by male partners in adolescent relationships, partially due to the woman's fear of her partner's response, a feeling of obligation, and a lack of knowledge or skills in negotiating condom use. To prevent this, it is important that male partners are reached with the information as to why condoms are beneficial for them as well. Forums for this outreach could include community-wide interventions fostering discussion of healthy and unhealthy relationship practices and prevention programs for HIV/AIDS and STIs. Schools can provide a safe site for prevention interventions, but high-risk adolescents who are not in school must be reached through additional means, such as in community centers or detention centers.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: Statistics on the prevalence of stealthing are limited. However, a 2014 study by Kelly Cue Davis and colleagues reported that 9.0% of participants in their sample of young men reported having engaged in condom sabotage, which included non-consensual condom removal. The National Sexual Assault Hotline reports receiving calls about stealthing. A recent study from a Melbourne-based sexual health clinic asked women and men who have sex with men (MSM) attending the clinic whether they had experienced stealthing, and analysed situational factors associated with the event. 32% of women and 19% of MSM reported having ever experienced stealthing. Women who had been stealthed were more likely to be a current sex worker and MSM who had experienced stealthing were more likely to report anxiety or depression. Both female and male participants who had experienced stealthing were three times less likely to consider it to be sexual assault than participants who had not experienced it. Two other studies were recently published with U.S. samples. One study found that almost 10% of young male non-problem drinkers reported having engaged in nonconsensual condom removal since the age of 14. Men who had engaged in this behavior reported higher rates of STI diagnoses and partners with unplanned pregnancies than men who had not engaged in nonconsensual condom removal. In another study of young adult women, 12% reported that they had experienced nonconsensual condom removal by a male partner, while none of the participants reported engaging in nonconsensual condom removal themselves.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: Brianna Chesser and April Zahra (2019) stated in "Current Issues in Criminal Justice": "While the majority of complainant accounts indicate that this crime is perpetrated by men, it is also possible for a female to 'stealth' her partner and remove the condom without her partner's consent. It follows that both men and women can both be victims and perpetrators of stealthing." A 2013 article in "The Week" speculated: "Both men and women can be perpetrators of birth control sabotage. In fact, women have often been stereotyped as purposefully trying to get pregnant against their partner's desires as a way to 'trap' a man. But the issues of reproductive coercion and birth control sabotage have recently gained more attention because of a Canadian case ["R v Hutchinson"], in which a man poked holes in a pack of condoms so his girlfriend would get pregnant and stay with him."


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: In her review, Brodsky called for stealthing to be legally considered as a kind of sexual assault, but also reviewed the difficulties in doing so: In all legal areas, breaking an agreement usually is not considered a crime, and that misrepresenting one's true intentions does not make a sexual act illegal. Thus, the most successful argument for making stealthing punishable would be the inherent pregnancy and infection risk of unprotected intercourse.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: In May 2017, an Australian court case was underway regarding stealthing. The president of the Law Society of New South Wales has described stealthing as sexual assault because it changes the terms of consent.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: A 2014 Supreme Court of Canada ruling ("R v. Hutchinson") upheld a sexual assault conviction of a man who poked holes in his condom. Eight years later, the same court ruled that people who don't wear a condom despite being asked to by a sexual partner may also be convicted of sexual assault.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: In 2018, a man was found guilty of sexual assault in Germany's first conviction for stealthing. In a 2022 German case, a woman was sentenced for sexual assault after using defective condoms in order to get pregnant by a man who did not seek a committed, serious relationship.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: In 2017, a court in Lausanne convicted a man for rape for removing a condom during sex against the expectations of the woman he was having sex with, but in another case in 2019, the cantonal supreme court of Zürich disagreed. It held that such conduct was not illegal, albeit with regret. In May 2022, the Federal Supreme Court decided that stealthing was not punishable as (sexual act with a person incapable of proper judgment or resistance, article 191 of the penal code) because the victim was still capable of defending herself. The incapability to do so is a necessary requirement to punish an act under article 191. Not knowing about the state of the condom only impinges the "decision" to initiate defensive action, but does not diminish the victim's "ability" to defend herself, as the court noted. As the previous instances did not try the two men for sexual harassment (article 198), the Federal Court did not determine whether stealthing would constitute sexual harassment.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: In the UK, although no specific legislation has been enacted, there have been a handful of convictions and thus case law has established that non consensual condom removal is rape.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: Outside of California, laws in the United States do not specifically cover stealthing, and as of 2017, there were no known legal cases about it.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: In April 2021, a man in New Zealand was convicted of rape for performing stealthing during a consensual act with a sex worker (the event took place in 2018). The man was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: Removing or damaging a condom during sex increases the risks of unintended pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Victims may feel betrayal and many victims see it as a "grave violation of dignity and autonomy". Many may also experience emotional and psychological distress, especially those who have experienced sexual violence in the past.


title: Non-consensual condom removal

text: The phrase "rape adjacent" appears in Michaela Coel's 2020 television miniseries "I May Destroy You," which includes a scene depicting non-consensual condom removal. In episode five, Arabella (played by Coel) publicly describes how Zain (played by Karan Gill) removed a condom during sex without her consent or knowledge and identifies him as rapist under U.K. law: "not rape-adjacent or a bit rapey, he's a rapist under U.K. law." She goes on to distinguish U.K. law from that of the United States and Australia, explaining "if you're in the States, he's rape-adjacent and if you're in Australia, he's a bit rapey."


title: Video games in Japan

text: Video games are a major industry in Japan. Japanese game development is often identified with the golden age of video games, including Nintendo under Shigeru Miyamoto and Hiroshi Yamauchi, Sega during the same time period, Sony Computer Entertainment when it was based in Tokyo, and other companies such as Taito, Namco, Capcom, Square Enix, Konami, NEC, and SNK, among others.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The space is known for the catalogs of several major publishers, all of whom have competed in the video game console and video arcade markets at various points. Released in 1965, "Periscope" was a major arcade hit in Japan, preceding several decades of success in the arcade industry there. Nintendo, a former hanafuda playing card vendor, rose to prominence during the 1980s with the release of the home video game console called the Famicom or "Family Computer", which became a major hit as the Nintendo Entertainment System or "NES" internationally. Sony, already one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers, entered the market in 1994 with the Sony PlayStation, one of the first home consoles to feature 3D graphics, almost immediately establishing itself as a major publisher in the space. Shigeru Miyamoto remains internationally renowned as a "father of videogaming" and is the only game developer so far to receive Japan's highest civilian honor for artists, the 文化功労者 (bunka kōrōsha) or Person of Cultural Merit.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Arcade culture is a major influence among young Japanese, with Akihabara Electric Town being a major nexus of so-called otaku culture in Japan, which overlaps with videogaming heavily. Japanese video game franchises such as "Super Smash Bros.", "Pokémon", "Super Mario", "The Legend of Zelda", "Animal Crossing", "", "Resident Evil", "Dark Souls" and "Monster Hunter" have gained critical acclaim and continue to garner a large international following. The Japanese role-playing game is a major game genre innovated by Japan and remains popular both domestically and internationally, with titles like "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest" selling millions. The country has an estimated 67.6 million players in 2018.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 1966, Sega introduced an electro-mechanical game called "Periscope" - a submarine simulator which used lights and plastic waves to simulate sinking ships from a submarine. It became an instant success in Japan, Europe, and North America, where it was the first arcade game to cost a quarter per play, which would remain the standard price for arcade games for many years to come.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Sega later produced gun games that used rear image projection in a manner similar to the ancient zoetrope to produce moving animations on a screen. The first of these, the light-gun game "Duck Hunt", appeared in 1969; it featured animated moving targets on a screen, printed out the player's score on a ticket, and had volume-controllable sound-effects. Another Sega 1969 release, "Missile", a shooter, featured electronic sound and a moving film strip to represent the targets on a projection screen.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The first arcade video game, Atari, Inc.'s "Pong", debuted in the United States in 1972, and led to a number of new American manufacturers to create their own arcade games to capitalize on the rising fad. Several of these companies had Japanese partners and kept their overseas counterparts abreast of this new technology, leading several Japanese coin-operated electronic games makers to step into the arcade game market as well. Taito and Namco were some of the early adopters of arcade games in Japan, first distributing American games before developing their own. Nintendo which at this time was primarily manufacturing traditional and electronic toys, also entered the arcade game market in the latter part of the 1970s.


title: Video games in Japan

text: As in the United States, many of the early Japanese arcade games were based on the principle of cloning gameplay established by popular titles to make new ones. However, several new concepts came out of these Japanese-developed games, and performed well in both Japan and in re-licensed versions in the United States, such as Taito's "Speed Race" and "Gun Fight" in 1975. "Gun Fight" notably, when released by Midway Games in the U.S., was the first arcade game to use a microprocessor rather than discrete electronic components. Sega's black and white boxing game "Heavyweight Champ" was released in 1976 as the first video game to feature fist fighting. The first stealth games were Hiroshi Suzuki's "Manbiki Shounen" (1979) and "Manbiki Shoujo" (1980), Taito's "Lupin III" (1980), and Sega's "005" (1981).


title: Video games in Japan

text: Separately, the first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, had been released in the U.S. in 1971, of which Nintendo had partnered to manufacture the light gun accessory for the console, while Atari began releasing home console versions of "Pong" in 1975. Japan's first home video game console was Epoch's TV Tennis Electrotennis. It was followed by the first successful Japanese console, Nintendo's Color TV Game, in 1977 which was made in partnership with Mitsubishi Electronics. Numerous other dedicated home consoles were made mostly by television manufacturers, leading these systems to be called "TV geemu" or "terebi geemu" in Japan.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Eventually, the 1978 arcade release of "Space Invaders" would mark the first major mainstream breakthrough for video games in Japan. Created by Nishikado at Japan's Taito, "Space Invaders" pitted the player against multiple enemies descending from the top of the screen at a constantly increasing speed. The game used alien creatures inspired by "The War of the Worlds" (by H. G. Wells) because the developers were unable to render the movement of aircraft; in turn, the aliens replaced human enemies because of moral concerns (regarding the portrayal of killing humans) on the part of Taito. As with subsequent shoot 'em ups of the time, the game was set in space as the available technology only permitted a black background. The game also introduced the idea of giving the player a number of "lives". It popularised a more interactive style of gameplay with the enemies responding to the player-controlled cannon's movement, and it was the first video game to popularise the concept of achieving a high score, being the first to save the player's score. The aliens of "Space Invaders" return fire at the protagonist, making them the first arcade game targets to do so. It set the template for the shoot 'em up genre, and has influenced most shooting games released since then.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Taito's "Space Invaders", in 1978, proved to be the first blockbuster arcade video game. Its success marked the beginning of the golden age of arcade video games. Video game arcades sprang up in shopping malls, and small "corner arcades" appeared in restaurants, grocery stores, bars and movie theaters all over Japan and other countries during the late 1970s and early 1980s. "Space Invaders" (1978), "Galaxian" (1979), "Pac-Man" (1980) and "Bosconian" (1981) were especially popular. By 1981, the arcade video game industry was worth $8 billion ($ in ). Some games of this era were so popular that they entered popular culture. The first to do so was "Space Invaders". The game was so popular upon its release in 1978 that an urban legend blamed it for a national shortage of 100 yen coins in Japan, leading to a production increase of coins to meet demand for the game (although 100 yen coin production was lower in 1978 and 1979 than in previous or subsequent years, and the claim does not withstand logical scrutiny: arcade operators would have emptied out their machines and taken the money to the bank, thus keeping the coins in circulation). Japanese arcade games during the golden age also had hardware unit sales at least in the tens of thousands, including "Ms. Pac-Man" with over 115,000 units, "Donkey Kong" with over 60,000, "Galaxian" with 40,000, "Donkey Kong Jr." with 35,000, and "Mr. Do!" with 30,000.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Other Japanese arcade games established new concepts that would become fundamentals in video games. Use of color graphics and individualized antagonists were considered "strong evolutionary concepts" among space ship games. The Namco's "Galaxian" in 1979 introduced multi-colored animated sprites. That same year saw the release of SNK's debut shoot 'em up "Ozma Wars", notable for being the first action game to feature a supply of energy, resembling a life bar, a mechanic that has now become common in the majority of modern action games. It also featured vertically scrolling backgrounds and enemies.


title: Video games in Japan

text: From 1980 to 1991, Nintendo produced a line of handheld electronic games called "Game & Watch". Created by game designer Gunpei Yokoi, each "Game & Watch" features a single game to be played on an LCD screen. It was the earliest Nintendo product to gain major success.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Mega Man, known as Rockman (ロックマン, Rokkuman) in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man". Mega Man, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, was the first in a series that expanded to over 50 games on multiple systems. As of March 31, 2021, the game series has sold 36 million units worldwide.[1]


title: Video games in Japan

text: Konami's "Scramble", released in 1981, is a side-scrolling shooter with forced scrolling. It was the first scrolling shooter to offer multiple, distinct levels. Vertical scrolling shooters emerged around the same time. Namco's "Xevious", released in 1982, is frequently cited as the first vertical scrolling shooter and, although it was in fact preceded by several other games of that type, it is considered one of the most influential.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The first platform game to use scrolling graphics was "Jump Bug" (1981), a simple platform-shooter game developed by Alpha Denshi.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The North American video game industry was devastated by the 1983 video game crash, but in Japan, it was more of a surprise to developers, and typically known in Japan as the "Atari Shock". After the video game crash, analysts doubted the long-term viability of the video game industry. At the same time, following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a cartridge-based console called the Famicom, which is short for Family Computer. Masayuki Uemura designed the system. The console was released on July 15, 1983 as the Family Computer (or Famicom for short) alongside three ports of Nintendo's successful arcade games "Donkey Kong", "Donkey Kong Jr." and "Popeye". The Famicom was slow to gather momentum; a bad chip set caused the initial release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the Famicom's popularity soared, becoming the best-selling game console in Japan by the end of 1984. By 1988, industry observers stated that the NES's popularity had grown so quickly that the market for Nintendo cartridges was larger than that for all home computer software. By mid-1986, 19% (6.5 million) of Japanese households owned a Famicom; one third by mid-1988. In June 1989, Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing Peter Main, said that the Famicom was present in 37% of Japan's households. By the end of its run, over 60 million NES units had been sold throughout the world. In 1990 Nintendo surpassed Toyota as Japan's most successful corporation.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Because the NES was released after the "video game crash" of the early 1980s, many retailers and adults regarded electronic games as a passing fad, so many believed at first that the NES would soon fade. Before the NES/Famicom, Nintendo was known as a moderately successful Japanese toy and playing card manufacturer, but the popularity of the NES/Famicom helped the company grow into an internationally recognized name almost synonymous with video games as Atari had been, and set the stage for Japanese dominance of the video game industry. With the NES, Nintendo also changed the relationship between console manufacturers and third-party software developers by restricting developers from publishing and distributing software without licensed approval. This led to higher quality software titles, which helped change the attitude of a public that had grown weary from poorly produced titles for earlier game systems. The system's hardware limitations led to design principles that still influence the development of modern video games. Many prominent game franchises originated on the NES, including Nintendo's own "Super Mario Bros.", "The Legend of Zelda" and "Metroid", Capcom's "Mega Man" franchise, Konami's "Castlevania" franchise, Square's "Final Fantasy", and Enix's "Dragon Quest" franchises.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Following the release of the Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System, the global video game industry began recovering, with annual sales exceeding $2.3 billion by 1988, with 70% of the market dominated by Nintendo. In 1986 Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi noted that "Atari collapsed because they gave too much freedom to third-party developers and the market was swamped with rubbish games". In response, Nintendo limited the number of titles that third-party developers could release for their system each year, and promoted its "Seal of Quality", which it allowed to be used on games and peripherals by publishers that met Nintendo's quality standards.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Japan's first personal computers for gaming soon appeared, the Sord M200 in 1977 and Sharp MZ-80K in 1978. In Japan, both consoles and computers became major industries, with the console market dominated by Nintendo and the computer market dominated by NEC's PC-88 (1981) and PC-98 (1982). A key difference between Western and Japanese computers at the time was the display resolution, with Japanese systems using a higher resolution of 640x400 to accommodate Japanese text which in turn affected video game design and allowed more detailed graphics. Japanese computers were also using Yamaha's FM synth sound boards from the early 1980s. During the 16-bit era, the PC-98, Sharp X68000 and FM Towns became popular in Japan. The X68000 and FM Towns were capable of producing near arcade-quality hardware sprite graphics and sound quality when they first released in the mid-to-late 1980s.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The "Wizardry" series (translated by ASCII Entertainment) became popular and influential in Japan, even more so than at home. Japanese developers created the action RPG subgenre in the early 1980s, combining RPG elements with arcade-style action and action-adventure elements. The trend of combining role-playing elements with arcade-style action mechanics was popularized by "The Tower of Druaga", an arcade game released by Namco in June 1984. While the RPG elements in "Druaga" were very subtle, its success in Japan inspired the near-simultaneous development of three early action role-playing games, combining "Druaga"s real-time hack-and-slash gameplay with stronger RPG mechanics, all released in late 1984: "Dragon Slayer", "Courageous Perseus", and "Hydlide". A rivalry developed between the three games, with "Dragon Slayer" and "Hydlide" continuing their rivalry through subsequent sequels. "The Tower of Druaga", "Dragon Slayer" and "Hydlide" were influential in Japan, where they laid the foundations for the action RPG genre, influencing titles such as "Ys" and "The Legend of Zelda".


title: Video games in Japan

text: The action role-playing game "Hydlide" (1984) was an early open world game, rewarding exploration in an open world environment. "Hydlide" influenced "The Legend of Zelda" (1986), an influential open world game. "Zelda" had an expansive, coherent open world design, inspiring many games to adopt a similar open world design.


title: Video games in Japan

text: "Bokosuka Wars" (1983) is considered an early prototype real-time strategy game. TechnoSoft's "Herzog" (1988) is regarded as a precursor to the real-time strategy genre, being the predecessor to "Herzog Zwei" and somewhat similar in nature. "Herzog Zwei", released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis home console in 1989, is the earliest example of a game with a feature set that falls under the contemporary definition of modern real-time strategy.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Data East's "Karate Champ" from 1984 is credited with establishing and popularizing the one-on-one fighting game genre, and went on to influence Konami's "Yie Ar Kung-Fu" from 1985. Capcom's "Street Fighter" (1987) introduced the use of special moves that could only be discovered by experimenting with the game controls. "Street Fighter II" (1991) established the conventions of the fighting game genre and allowed players to play against each other.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 1985, Sega AM2's "Hang-On", designed by Yu Suzuki and running on the Sega Space Harrier hardware, was the first of Sega's "Super Scaler" arcade system boards that allowed pseudo-3D sprite-scaling at high frame rates. The pseudo-3D sprite/tile scaling was handled in a similar manner to textures in later texture-mapped polygonal 3D games of the 1990s. Designed by Sega AM2's Yu Suzuki, he stated that his "designs were always 3D from the beginning. All the calculations in the system were 3D, even from Hang-On. I calculated the position, scale, and zoom rate in 3D and converted it backwards to 2D. So I was always thinking in 3D." It was controlled using a video game arcade cabinet resembling a motorbike, which the player moves with their body. This began the "Taikan" trend, the use of motion-controlled hydraulic arcade cabinets in many arcade games of the late 1980s, two decades before motion controls became popular on video game consoles.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Sega's "Space Harrier", a rail shooter released in 1985, broke new ground graphically and its wide variety of settings across multiple levels gave players more to aim for than high scores. 1985 also saw the release of Konami's "Gradius", which gave the player greater control over the choice of weaponry, thus introducing another element of strategy. The game also introduced the need for the player to memorise levels in order to achieve any measure of success. "Gradius", with its iconic protagonist, defined the side-scrolling shoot 'em up and spawned a series spanning several sequels. The following year saw the emergence of one of Sega's forefront series with its game "Fantasy Zone". The game received acclaim for its surreal graphics and setting and the protagonist, Opa-Opa, was for a time considered Sega's mascot. The game borrowed "Defender's" device of allowing the player to control the direction of flight and along with the earlier "TwinBee" (1985), is an early archetype of the "cute 'em up" subgenre.


title: Video games in Japan

text: "" in 1985 featured an early morality meter, where the player can be aligned with justice, normal, or evil, which is affected by whether the player kills evil monsters, good monsters, or humans, and in turn affects the reactions of the townsfolk towards the player. In the same year, Yuji Horii and his team at Chunsoft began production on "Dragon Quest" ("Dragon Warrior"). After Enix published the game in early 1986, it became the template for future console RPGs. Horii's intention behind "Dragon Quest" was to create a RPG that appeals to a wider audience unfamiliar with the genre or video games in general. This required the creation of a new kind of RPG, that didn't rely on previous "D&D" experience, didn't require hundreds of hours of rote fighting, and that could appeal to any kind of gamer. The streamlined gameplay of "Dragon Quest" thus made the game more accessible to a wider audience than previous computer RPGs. The game also placed a greater emphasis on storytelling and emotional involvement, building on Horii's previous work "Portopia Serial Murder Case", but this time introducing a coming of age tale for "Dragon Quest" that audiences could relate to, making use of the RPG level-building gameplay as a way to represent this. It also featured elements still found in most console RPGs, like major quests interwoven with minor subquests, an incremental spell system, the damsel-in-distress storyline that many RPGs follow, and a romance element that remains a staple of the genre, alongside anime-style art by Akira Toriyama and a classical score by Koichi Sugiyama that was considered revolutionary for console video game music. With "Dragon Quest" becoming widely popular in Japan, such that local municipalities were forced to place restrictions on where and when the game could be sold, the "Dragon Quest" series is still considered a bellwether for the Japanese video game market.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Shoot 'em ups featuring characters on foot, rather than spacecraft, became popular in the mid-1980s in the wake of action movies such as "." The origins of this type go back to "Sheriff" by Nintendo, released in 1979. Taito's "Front Line" (1982) established the upwards-scrolling formula later popularized by Capcom's "Commando," in 1985, and SNK's "Ikari Warriors" (1986). "Commando" also drew comparisons to Rambo and indeed contemporary critics considered military themes and protagonists similar to Rambo or Schwarzenegger prerequisites for a shoot 'em up, as opposed to an action-adventure game. In 1986, Arsys Software released "WiBArm", a shooter that switched between a 2D side-scrolling view in outdoor areas to a fully 3D polygonal third-person perspective inside buildings, while bosses were fought in an arena-style 2D battle, with the game featuring a variety of weapons and equipment.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The late 1980s to early 1990s is considered the golden age of Japanese computer gaming, which would flourish until its decline around the mid-1990s, as consoles eventually dominated the Japanese market. A notable Japanese computer RPG from around this time was "WiBArm", the earliest known RPG to feature 3D polygonal graphics. It was a 1986 role-playing shooter released by Arsys Software for the PC-88 in Japan and ported to MS-DOS for Western release by Brøderbund. In "WiBArm", the player controls a transformable mecha robot, switching between a 2D side-scrolling view during outdoor exploration to a fully 3D polygonal third-person perspective inside buildings, while bosses are fought in an arena-style 2D shoot 'em up battle. The game featured a variety of weapons and equipment as well as an automap, and the player could upgrade equipment and earn experience to raise stats. Unlike first-person RPGs at the time that were restricted to 90-degree movements, "WiBArm's" use of 3D polygons allowed full 360-degree movement.


title: Video games in Japan

text: On October 30, 1987, the PC Engine made its debut in the Japanese market and it was a tremendous success. The console had an elegant, "eye-catching" design, and it was very small compared to its rivals. The PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, known as TurboGrafx-16 in the rest of the world, was a collaborative effort between Hudson Soft, who created video game software, and NEC, a major company which was dominant in the Japanese personal computer market with their PC-88 and PC-98 platforms.


title: Video games in Japan

text: "R-Type", an acclaimed side-scrolling shoot 'em up, was released in 1987 by Irem, employing slower paced scrolling than usual, with difficult levels calling for methodical strategies. 1990's "Raiden" was the beginning of another acclaimed and enduring series to emerge from this period. In 1987, Square's "3-D WorldRunner" was an early stereoscopic 3-D shooter played from a third-person perspective, followed later that year by its sequel "JJ", and the following year by "Space Harrier 3-D" which used the SegaScope 3-D shutter glasses. Also in 1987, Konami created "Contra" as a coin-op arcade game that was particularly acclaimed for its multi-directional aiming and two player cooperative gameplay.


title: Video games in Japan

text: "" by Atlus for the Nintendo Famicom abandoned the common medieval fantasy setting and sword and sorcery theme in favour of a modern science-fiction setting and horror theme. It also introduced the monster-catching mechanic with its demon-summoning system, which allowed the player to recruit enemies into their party, through a conversation system that gives the player a choice of whether to kill or spare an enemy and allows them to engage any opponent in conversation. Sega's original "Phantasy Star" for the Master System combined sci-fi & fantasy setting that set it apart from the "D&D" staple. It was also one of the first games to feature a female protagonist and animated monster encounters, and allowed inter-planetary travel between three planets. Another 1987 title "" was a third-person RPG that featured a wide open world and a mini-map on the corner of the screen.


title: Video games in Japan

text: According to "Wizardry" developer Roe R. Adams, early action-adventure games "were basically arcade games done in a fantasy setting," citing "Castlevania" (1986) and "Trojan" (1986) as examples. IGN UK argues that "The Legend of Zelda" (1986) "helped to establish a new subgenre of action-adventure", becoming a success due to how it combined elements from different genres to create a compelling hybrid, including exploration, adventure-style inventory puzzles, an action component, a monetary system, and simplified RPG-style level building without the experience points. "The Legend of Zelda" was the most prolific action-adventure game series through to the 2000s.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The first Nintendo Space World show was held on July 28, 1989. It was a video game trade show that was hosted by Nintendo until 2001. At the same year, "Phantasy Star II" for the Genesis established many conventions of the RPG genre, including an epic, dramatic, character-driven storyline dealing with serious themes and subject matter, and a strategy-based battle system. The game's science fiction story was also unique, reversing the common alien invasion scenario by instead presenting Earthlings as the invading antagonists rather than the defending protagonists. Capcom's "Sweet Home" for the NES introduced a modern Japanese horror theme and laid the foundations for the survival horror genre, later serving as the main inspiration for "Resident Evil" (1996). "Tengai Makyo: Ziria" released for the PC Engine CD that same year was the first RPG released on CD-ROM and the first in the genre to feature animated cut scenes and voice acting. The game's plot was also unusual for its feudal Japan setting and its emphasis on humour; the plot and characters were inspired by the Japanese folk tale "Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari". The music for the game was also composed by noted musician Ryuichi Sakamoto.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The ‘golden age’ of console RPGs is often dated in the 1990s. Console RPGs distinguished themselves from computer RPGs to a greater degree in the early 1990s. As console RPGs became more heavily story-based than their computer counterparts, one of the major differences that emerged during this time was in the portrayal of the characters, with most American computer RPGs at the time having characters devoid of personality or background as their purpose was to represent avatars which the player uses to interact with the world, in contrast to Japanese console RPGs which depicted pre-defined characters who had distinctive personalities, traits, and relationships, such as "Final Fantasy" and "Lufia", with players assuming the roles of people who cared about each other, fell in love or even had families. Romance in particular was a theme that was common in most console RPGs but alien to most computer RPGs at the time. Japanese console RPGs were also generally more faster-paced and action-adventure-oriented than their American computer counterparts. During the 1990s, console RPGs had become increasingly dominant.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 1990, "" introduced a new method of storytelling: segmenting the plot into segregated chapters. The game also introduced an AI system called "Tactics" which allowed the player to modify the strategies used by the allied party members while maintaining full control of the hero. "Final Fantasy III" introduced the classic "job system", a character progression engine allowing the player to change the character classes, as well as acquire new and advanced classes and combine class abilities, during the course of the game. That same year also saw the release of Nintendo's "", a game that set the template for the tactical role-playing game genre and was the first entry in the "Fire Emblem" series. Another notable strategy RPG that year was Koei's "Bandit Kings of Ancient China", which was successful in combining the strategy RPG and management simulation genres, building on its own "Nobunaga's Ambition" series that began in 1983. Several early RPGs set in a post-apocalyptic future were also released that year, including "", and "Crystalis", which was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind". "Crystalis" also made advances to the action role-playing game subgenre, being a true action RPG that combined the real-time action-adventure combat and open world of "The Legend of Zelda" with the level-building and spell-casting of traditional RPGs like "Final Fantasy". That year also saw the release of "", which featured an innovative and original branching storyline, which spans three generations of characters and can be altered depending on which character the protagonist of each generation marries, leading to four possible endings.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 1991, "Final Fantasy IV" was one of the first role-playing games to feature a complex, involving plot, placing a much greater emphasis on character development, personal relationships, and dramatic storytelling. It also introduced a new battle system: the "Active Time Battle" system, developed by Hiroyuki Ito, where the time-keeping system does not stop. The fact that enemies can attack or be attacked at any time is credited with injecting urgency and excitement into the combat system. The ATB combat system was considered revolutionary for being a hybrid between turn-based and real-time combat, with its requirement of faster reactions from players appealing to those who were more used to action games.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Nintendo executives were initially reluctant to design a new system, but as the market transitioned to the newer hardware, Nintendo saw the erosion of the commanding market share it had built up with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo's fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21, 1990; Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours. Despite stiff competition from the Mega Drive/Genesis console, the Super NES eventually took the top selling position, selling 49.10 million units worldwide, and would remain popular well into the fifth generation of consoles. Nintendo's market position was defined by their machine's increased video and sound capabilities, as well as exclusive first-party franchise titles such as "Super Mario World", "" and "Super Metroid".


title: Video games in Japan

text: In the early 1990s, the arcades experienced a major resurgence with the 1991 release of Capcom's "Street Fighter II", which popularized competitive fighting games and revived the arcade industry to a level of popularity not seen since the days of "Pac-Man", setting off a renaissance for the arcade game industry in the early 1990s. Its success led to a wave of other popular games which mostly were in the fighting genre, such as "" (1992) by SNK, "Virtua Fighter" (1993) by SEGA, and "The King of Fighters" (1994–2005) by SNK. In 1993, "Electronic Games" noted that when "historians look back at the world of coin-op during the early 1990s, one of the defining highlights of the video game art form will undoubtedly focus on fighting/martial arts themes" which it described as "the backbone of the industry" at the time.


title: Video games in Japan

text: A new type of shoot 'em up emerged in the early 1990s: variously termed "bullet hell", "manic shooters", "maniac shooters" and , these games required the player to dodge overwhelming numbers of enemy projectiles and called for still more consistent reactions from players. Bullet hell games arose from the need for 2D shoot 'em up developers to compete with the emerging popularity of 3D games: huge numbers of missiles on screen were intended to impress players. Toaplan's "Batsugun" (1993) provided the prototypical template for this new breed, with Cave (formed by former employees of Toaplan, including "Batsugun's" main creator Tsuneki Ikeda, after the latter company collapsed) inventing the type proper with 1995's "DonPachi". Bullet hell games marked another point where the shoot 'em up genre began to cater to more dedicated players. Games such as "Gradius" had been more difficult than "Space Invaders" or "Xevious", but bullet hell games were yet more inward-looking and aimed at dedicated fans of the genre looking for greater challenges. While shooter games featuring protagonists on foot largely moved to 3D-based genres, popular, long-running series such as "Contra" and "Metal Slug" continued to receive new sequels. Rail shooters have rarely been released in the new millennium, with only "Rez" and "Panzer Dragoon Orta" achieving cult recognition.