マイ椅子

I've been sitting on the same wooden chair for almost 20 years. A short while ago, one corner of the side bars supporting the seat slumped about 2.5cm. As a result, I had been sitting mostly on one side of the chair since. I even already checked out the chair I would get next.

Tonight, I couldn't bear the slanted chair anymore and decided to perform an operation. My fingers still smell like iron now, but the wooden chair was rescued back and in complete health!

Basically, the screw broke in half (!?) and was thus unable to support the one corner of the side bar. Because of wear and tear, it took me forever to get the screw out (and realized then what the problem was). But once it's out, the new screw went in place and rejuvenated the chair in 30 seconds.

ふむ、やればできる子じゃ～(￣ー￣ )

森田成一のADULT.EX～大人の経験値～ 第14回

I don't usually write about Niconico radio programs, but I think this one was interesting enough to warrant a post.

I didn't know there are official Santa Claus. XD

Yes, the guest for this episode was the official Santa Claus for Japan, Paradise Yamamoto, who shared a lot about official Santa and Christmas.

Some trivia from the Santa that I can recall:
- the star on top of the Christmas tree is supposed to be placed by the main figure of the family, usually the father
- there are 120 official Santa in the Greenland International Santa Claus Association, about 30 of which own reindeer (with at least one named Rudolph)
- official Santa don't get paid for what they do; the most they get is compensation for transportation while attending certain events by the event hosts
- three minimum requirements for applying to be an official Santa: married, have kid, and at least 120kg
- official Santa attend International Santa Conference in July and hold World Santa Claus Winter Game in the winter (Paradise Yamamoto came in 2nd this year)
- during this year's Santa Conference, they discussed whether NDS would be suitable gifts or not; sometimes they also talk about how to enter a place if there's no chimney (Paradise Yamamoto: From the front door, with master keys! Morita to listeners: Please change your locks and put a chain in! XD)
- the official German Santa are twins, one who gives presents to the well-behaved children, one Black Santa who pours blood and innards to bad children's beds and even kidnaps them... (the radio program turned into a horror program for that section)
- one should never have to pay to write and get a reply from Santa (so Morita was scammed)
- there was a branch of bonsai with miniature figures or houses back in the Edo era (one of Paradise Yamamoto's interests was bonsai with figures, "man bonsai/マン盆栽", but he was sometimes scolded by bonsai lovers for adding things to the bonsai)
- only Japaneses eat chicken and some Americans eat turkey for Christmas; the "North" usually have pork
- for Paradise Yamamoto, Christmas food is gyouza XD
- one Christmas many years ago, Paradise Yamamoto was asked by a 2-old-year girl to decrease "keiki". He couldn't understand her at first, and everyone thought she meant "kekki/ケーキ". It was when the girl said that her father couldn't be home did he realize she meant prison term/刑期... (everyone was more orz by the fact that a 2-year-old was taught the term)
- Paradise Yamamoto's Santa attire was made by his wife ten years ago (Morita: So you're basically just cosplaying! XD)
- when Morita mentioned that he just finished recording some songs, Paradise Yamamoto followed up that he also does music and was on Oricon... Nobody believed him

Some of the Christmas trivia are not new to me, but it's interesting to read everyone's reaction on Niconico.

The episode was very unlike all other episodes, but it was quite fun, nonetheless. Morita's ending phrase of wishing everyone a merry Christmas and happy New Year, spoken in English, instantly reminded everyone (me included) of Burnaby from TIGER & BUNNY. XD

As usual, yeh for Premium member time shift (this episode was actually aired on the 22nd)! I look forward to the next episode (hopefully!) next month. XD

2012年 冬アニメ

The year has gone by so fast. Before I knew it, it's the advent of the winter season!

Pre-air impressions based on the introduction video on Niconico. Beware of extremely long post.

偽物語
- sequel to Bakemonogatari; seems to be focus on the Araragi sisters (この姉妹は苦手 orz)
- takes place one month after Bakemonogatari, so some of the characters changed appearance
- almost the same staff as Bakemonogatari, so quality should be equally good
= Watching

アクエリオンEVOL
- I kinda liked Aquarion but would rather not see any more, since the movie ended well
- I guess it's fine if I just treat this as an unrelated show that happens to have similar elements
- the seiyuu cast is almost the same as Guilty Crown, including the two protagonists... orz
= Watching

妖狐×僕SS
- I've been reading the manga so the story is of no mystery to me
- actually don't see the merit of animating this series; I'd prefer drama CD
- but it's got a beautified Yamada nice seiyuu cast
= Watching

輪廻のラグランジェ
- the initial Jersey Club bit almost put me off, then robots showed up... XD
- OP & ED by Nakajima Megumi orz
- kinda meh on the main female seiyuu but the supporting cast is all right
= Probably watching (blame the robots)

あの夏で待ってる
- no idea what the story is about, but the atmosphere feels a bit like Ano Hana and Toradora
- music by I've sound
- very meh seiyuu cast; Shimazaki Nobunaga's 1st major role, will see how he turns out
= Probably watching

Another
- P.A.WORKS
- based on the horror mystery novel by Ayatsuji Yukito
- meh seiyuu cast with a few good ones
= Will wait for Neko-tan to watch first... orz

テルマエ・ロマエ
- the first PV was a fake BRS one XD
- 3-episode Flash anime
- no idea what the story will be about except it's bath related
= Probably watching since it's so short

ブラック★ロックシューター
- seems to a continuation of the infamous OVA; only 8 episodes
- animation of the inner world scenes looks much better than the OVA
- ED by supercell, so likely sang by Koeda (thankfully; wasn't impressed by GOMBAND from the OVA)
= Watching

男子高校生の日常
- story seems similar to Kimi to Boku but more outrageous
- average visuals and animation
- really heavy seiyuu cast
= Watching

モーレツ宇宙海賊
- story looks a bit mundane with mediocre character design
- 3D modelling kinda bad, 2D animation all right
- mostly meh female cast with a few good ones
= Might trial watch

パパのいうことを聞きなさい！
- not interested in loli shows
= Not watching

ハイスクールD×D
- not interested in light-censored boobs shows
= Not watching

BRAVE10
- been reading the manga; the story is pretty interesting
- not BL
- very heavy seiyuu cast
= Watching

キルミーベイベー
- I might want to read the 4-koma manga, but not the anime with such meh cast
= Not watching

探偵オペラ ミルキィホームズ 第2幕
- not interested in loli shows
= Not watching

ゼロの使い魔F
- fourth and final season of Hino x Kugimiya a fantasy adventure show
= Watching

＜--no PV available for the rest, just one image & staff/cast info--＞
アマガミSS+
- second season starring hentai gentleman Tachibana XD
= Watching

夏目友人帳 肆
- 本命ｷﾀ━━━( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )━━━!!
= Watching

戦姫絶唱シンフォギア
- original work by Agematsu from Elements Garden, so it'll probably focus on music
- OP by Mizuki Nana, ED by Takagaki Ayahi
- pretty nice seiyuu cast
= Watching

新テニスの王子様
- was never into the franchise
= Not watching

リコーダーとランドセル
- 5-min shorts
- nice seiyuu cast
= Watching

エリアの騎士
- never read the manga, but it's soccer so can't be bad
- likely good seiyuu cast (only 3 announced)
= Watching

ポヨポヨ観察日記
- 6-min shorts
- lots of cats! :3
= Watching

スマイルプリキュア
- I don't do Precure series
= Not watching

ゴクジョッ。
- no information except the one image
= N/A

Summary (total 25)
Watching: 16 (including 2 shorts)
Undecided: 3
Not watching: 6

Not a lot of eye-catching shows this season for me, which means the spring season will likely be another warring season. Fate Zero will be my 本命 again, but there's also Medaka Box, Kuroko no Basket, Shining Hearts, Uchuu Kyoudai, ZETMAN, etc.

What? Why am I thinking about the spring season already when I'm not even done with any of the fall season series?

I always look forward (not).

マヨ​ナカ生テレビ The GOL​DEN

初めて見たけど、これは面白いｗｗｗ

BDやDVDの特典は何か豪華、グッズの情報もたくさん、結構欲しいモンいっぱいあるね～

浪川さんのクリスマス答えはバカすぎて、やはりの森久保さんの勝ち。そして何と！優勝のご褒美はPSVita！森久保さんが凄いテンションを上げた、本当に嬉しいに見えました。

生放送のユーザのみんなさんのアンケート結果によってアドリブ芝居はすっごく爆笑させた！思った通りの流れだった、お前らさすがだｗｗｗ

次回のゲストは山口勝平さん、お楽しみです！

Fate/Zero BD Box pt.2

I was updating my MAL when I saw a forum thread on the Fate/Zero BD box. After reading through five pages of ranting and bantering, I chuckled and thought I'd express my two cents here (I don't post on forums I don't frequent).

People were all excited when they saw the news of F/Z getting released here. Then they saw the price, and all hell broke loose. XD

For most of the people in the thread, their main reasons for going against the purchase were 1) too expensive, not willing to pay that much and 2) why pay at all? Just download.

First of all, I completely agree with user jmal. Aniplex's release of F/Z for North America is not aimed for the general anime market, hence the direct R2 import packaging and price. Sure, it's very expensive by my standard as well, but it's still cheaper and easier than importing from Japan.

I think what a lot of people posting in the thread are mistaken on, is that they think of this as a R1 release when it's not. Aniplex is only expanding its R2 market to North America, not adding to the rosters for the R1 market. This took me a while to realize. But once I did, I can totally understand their pricing and distribution models. I'd still complain, mind you, but I don't blame them anymore.

As for reason 2), I admit I've been downloading 720p episodes of F/Z. But I also placed the pre-order for the box. In fact, I was prepared to pay any price for the BD from Aniplex as I noted in the initial 3-episode review for the fall season anime.

People who would use reason 2) are people who would never buy anything (or legit products) in the first place. I have yet to interact with anyone in this category as I usually ignore such postings. But if I come across one, even if the person shows a great deal of knowledge from watching all sorts of shows, I would not respect the person if none of his/her source was obtained legally, before or after.

Of course, I'm not trying to wash my hands of illegal downloads as I do it all the time. But I also put in thousands of dollars each year because I want to show my appreciation for the wonderful series and contribute to the rightful owners who created and presented them. I don't like leeches and don't want to be one.

TOKYO NICONICO​ COSPLLECTION ​in ニコファーレ

網路死了一個禮拜，還好在視聽期限内恢復。之前看了PV就一直想看這個。整場約三個小時，全貼會爆長，所以把相同部分的放在一起，然後只挑比較有亮點的介紹。

NICONICO x Cure的企劃，所有出場者當然是cosplay，兩個主持人也分別扮了JOJO跟Precure 的角色。節目是Walk (走台)、Dance、及Action (加上演出或舞蹈的走台)三個部分隨機穿插，然後中途有兩個專門秀跟一位神秘來賓。用曲基本上是VOCALOID歌曲跟原唱或秋葉工房翻唱的動畫歌曲，有一段是カフェdolce現場生演奏BGM。幾組出場後主持人會請其中兩三人回舞台做簡短訪問。

部分Walk：
率先是搭配Bad Apple 的東方八人衆走台。我對東方完全外行，不過裡頭有幾個很可愛～
小日向くるみ的涼宮超可愛，聲音也很可愛，還因為考慮到真人vs 動畫角色的髮量差，不直接用普通的褐色染髮而用假髮，而且修的很漂亮自然
有一隻静雄又是折路牌，又是抬販賣機，比起另外兩隻賣BL的有誠意很多
女王跟綠毛的默契不錯，蠻融入角色，綠毛那隻也是非常可愛
豆子的義手做得很棒，弟弟直接是鎧甲出場，魄力十足！
One Piece主要角色五隻全部是女生cosplay，但是ノチ★的Luffy超有感覺，服裝上也非常注意細節

所有Dance：
みうめx気まぐれﾌﾟﾘﾝｽ的ロミオとシンデレラ！ダンスマスター3的時候也是跳這首，但是這次是以MIKU跟KAITO的裝扮入戲。剛開始想説反正cosplayer我不會知道而沒注意名字，只覺得跳的超像みうめ，看到comments有人叫名字才發現真的是這兩隻，而且気まぐれﾌﾟﾘﾝｽ是cosplay初體驗 XD

LUKA x MIKU的magnet！LUKA那隻是美人，可惜這是百合組。XD 沒記錯的話，DM2或3的時候也跳了這首

LUKA x 彼氏的Just be friends！這組的演出很棒，讓人覺得胸口一緊。老實説我從來沒注意過歌詞，所以不知道是在講戀人的分離，以為是交朋友的歌，MIKUPOLIS的時候還跟著大家很歡樂地揮螢光棒。都是3D LUKA的錯 XD

Team Black Starz又出場了，而且是跳數年前我第一次看到他們的殘酷天使！他們沒cosplay？人家的職業裝扮就已經是MIB了，大丈夫だ問題ない XD

整場最後是歌唱王子的ED (這首已經變成NICO定番結尾舞了嗎 XD)，跟DM3一樣是兩組接龍，不過有一組是不同人，跳舞水準沒有DM3另外那組高，稍微有點殘念

部分Action：
Biohazard 的演出很棒，角色到位，女的很正，包整頭只露一隻眼睛的殭屍很讚

咲音メイコ超可愛，身材也很棒

Soul Caliber 的黄星京跟キリク武打演出超讚，黄星京被主持人訪問武打編排的時候承認是職業的犯行，キリク真的是會家子，耍棍子超帥

無双OROCHI 的孫悟空跟平清盛也有武打演出，不過這組的重點比較在裝扮上

真・三国無双的司馬三人組衣裝跟道具超級豪華，氣勢非凡，而且似乎是手工自製

Code Geass組是壞掉中的氣質虐殺皇女跟ゼロ，皇女超入戲而且服裝超讚，最後ゼロ再三掙扎才取下頭盔以真面目射殺皇女，之後沉重地抱起皇女離開，演出很棒

未來日記兩人組的演出很普通，由乃完全不病，但是滅燈前拿小刀要刺入雪輝後頸那邊不錯

薄桜鬼組是土方跟風間的殺陣，日本刀跟前面幾組的兵器比起來視覺上弱了很多，但是有多數實際砍中的演出不錯

FF VII AC是連右臂的肌肉都一模一樣的重現度超高クラウド跟抱著裝有媽媽盒子的カダージュ對打，然後中途思念體喚出セフィロス變成王對王決戰。巨大合体剣跟セフィロス的長刀都是自製，兩名主持人試著拿，一換人就立刻垂落到地，但是扮クラウド的KANAME☆從頭到尾都是單手舉。KANAME☆似乎在cosplay界裡人氣還蠻高的，扮其他角色的重現度也很高，而且假髮都弄得跟角色一樣又很自然

部分Play and Action (カフェdolce現場生演奏BGM)：
虎兔出來兩組，HERO裝那組很棒，應該也是自製，完全3D CG跑出銀幕變成3D真人的感覺
口袋怪獸組絶對是來亂的，在很多意義上都很兒童不宜，裡頭參雜了中居跟鎖音團的成員，只有暴走兩字可言ｗｗｗ 連主持人都很佩服カフェdolce能一本正經地在旁邊繼續彈奏

部分Vocaloid on Stage 專門秀(歌曲服裝cosplay):
Dead Master 武器跟裝扮質感超讚！BRS 是大砲版，不過一直拖在地上所以沒什麼魄力
カンタレラ的MIKU 跟KAITO的衣裝不錯
ダンシング☆サムライ其實蠻普通的，但是有一隻鎖音團的亂入變成小詭異ｗｗｗ
サンドリヨン組的MIKU 蠻漂亮的，刺死KAITO王子的演出還算OK
みくみくにしてあげる♪有兩隻，第一隻的人氣似乎比較高，不過我覺得第二隻可愛很多
LILY果然如當初預想一般，只有第一眼稍微亮一點，多看幾秒就覺得很地味。不知為何是S的LILY配上一隻M 的AKAITO

全部FF on Stage 特別秀：
XIII: サッズ很普通，不過有小陸行鳥所以加分 XD
X: ユウナ很可愛，召喚士的服裝跟道具非常漂亮！ティーダ也不錯，ワッカ就差很多
V: バッツ跟海賊頭子ファリス都還算普通，但是V的cosplay不常見所以很新鮮
IV: カイン、ローザ、リディア、エッジ，服裝跟道具都非常秀逸，完全表現出天野喜孝人設的風格！Cosplay就是要這樣啊！
VII AC: 之前出場過的クラウド跟セフィロス，不知道為什麼少了カダージュ

特別來賓是實力派的K1選手長島☆自演乙☆雄一郎，扮成不知道什麼作品裡的女子高中生模樣。長島一出現，立刻全場跟生放送都轟動，人氣超高，還發表了新年前夕的戰役會以cosplay的姿態幹掉對手的宣言！

---

高級會員雖然有月費，但是三個月來光是目前看過的演唱會（水樹的七小時演唱會精選尤其讚！）、發表會（DQ25週年記念展開幕特別經典，各代的名詞一直跑出來，史萊姆蛋糕也超可愛！）、表演節目等，就已經超過一、兩年費用的價值了。現在換了ISP不用顧慮頻寬的問題，更可以盡情地看！XD

サルキ（勇者・王）

Hero Saluki and his legendary hero son Yosihiko, along with a slime knight and a slime, saved the world from the hands of Nimzo (who spells like a modern teenager with alphabets from English, Greek and Russian)! Hooray!

There's another optional dungeon which is only available after beating the game. Rumour has it that if one defeats the boss at the depth of the dungeon within 15 rounds, a knick-knack will be rewarded. That would be the last knick-knack to complete my collection and to really call it beating DQ V DS for me. But that's another mission for another day.

Play time is about 53 hours. Party line-up is Saluki, Slime Knight, Yosihiko, Slime. There's another Slime Knight in the wagon for healing purpose on the field map/dungeon.

All in all, I think V is interesting in that the main character isn't the legendary hero nor a decedent of. After a hard life of many misfortunes, King Saluki finishes strong. Rest well for the final dungeon, pal!

そんなバスで大丈夫か

話をしよう、あれは今から36万年前・・・いや、君たちにとっては多分昨日の出来事だ

It was late afternoon, when the bus typically comes every 15 minutes or so. There were quite a few people waiting at the bus stop when I arrived, so I figured the bus should show up soon.

Then we waited, and waited, and waited some more.

Finally, they emerged. Three buses of the same number came up to the side of the road. Bus#1 was completely packed and only stopped to let two people out. Bus#2 and Bus#3 were rather empty. I got on Bus#2. One passenger on Bus#2 joked that the three buses were probably racing to see who got to our stop first.

At the station for a shopping mall and a small transfer hub, both Bus#1 and Bus#2 had to stop quite a ways down from the station door because there were two other buses in front of us.

Both Bus#1 and Bus#2 just let people out and steered clear of the bus in front and went on our merry way, leaving the people wanting to take our buses to Bus#3.

Within two stations, we lost Bus#1 as it didn't have to stop and just kept going. Bus#3 stormed passed us as Bus#2 stopped to let people out.

Then Bus#2 caught up to Bus#3 at my station when I got off. It was rather funny keeping track of the race standings. The people waiting outside my station were probably bewildered by the three consecutive buses.

あぁやっぱり今回もダメだったよ、あいつらは乗客の話を聞かないからな
次は一番いいのを頼む
神は言っている―――全員を乗せると―――
大丈夫だ、問題ない

The reviews I've read of the game all point to the unique and beautiful graphics but repetitive battles and jumping/scrolling sections, but the famous quotes (altered to fit the bus race here) made me want to try the game. Maybe I'll grab it when it's on sale for really cheap...

Offline

I was quite excited about my new ISP and the much higher cap, but I didn't get it enjoy it much before I got hit with a DHCP issue. Long story short, I was without internet for just a bit over a week and finally got back online last night.

The most annoying thing during the offline week was the inability to check the weather and temperature outside, especially with the very unstable climate this winter (er, almost winter).

Beside some effort to catch up on the fall season anime when I was offline, I only clocked about 7 hours on DQ V but read through the last ten volumes of Ouran Host Club manga. I also finished reading the first volume of the Denyuuden novel and was two volumes into the Chobits manga.

At one point I even considered actually starting to write Agion. Alas, my internet connection returned the night I was contemplating the idea. It's just not meant to be. Not that I really mind. The project's been ongoing discreetly for years, while the plot just progressed past the middle stage of the whole story in my head a few weeks ago... XD

Anyhow! I'm happy to be back online again. It's very nice to be able to check the weather, watch Niconico, read manga and novels, discuss ACGV (V for Vocaloid XD) with Neko-tan, basically just make full use of the higher cap of the new ISP.

Oh yeah, I need to try catching up on my reading of the sniper girlfriend story from 2ch, too. XD

300GB

I'm officially on the new ISP as of this afternoon! XD

My monthly bandwidth cap jumped from a measly 60GB to a whopping 300GB, with a slightly cheaper bill than my previous one! Now I can watch as many Niconico streaming as I want and download as much stuff as my hard drive space allows!

There doesn't seem to be a function for the user to check bandwidth usage with the new ISP, but I doubt I'd go over the cap anytime soon. Even in the unlikely event that I exceed the cap, it's only $0.5/GB rather than the $2/GB charge with the old ISP.

*ba la ba ba ba~* i'm lovin' it! (ニコニコ動画流星群の意味) XD

Fate/Zero BD Box

I suspected this to happen when I saw news of the blu-ray box for Fate/Zero to be released in Japan, since they usually release anime series in individual DVD or blu-ray discs and never only as a BD box.

Aniplex of America is importing the exact blu-ray box for North America!

The price tag is US$379.98 + tax for non-US customers (excluding Japan, as they won't ship to Japan), which is a real steal considering the box goes for 39900 yen in Japan!

Yes, I already placed my pre-order.

This effectively delays the procurement of a 3DS by at least another two years, but that's totally okay!
Fate/Zero >>> 3DS! XD

不幸な男

Since this is only my 3rd Dragon Quest game, I don't know if it's typical for the main character to have such unfortunate life, but Saluki is really one of the most misfortuned hero I've seen so far.

First off, his mother was kidnapped right after his birth. His father set out to look for her, leaving behind the throne and the kingdom. When the hero was 6, his father took on the job of guarding the young prince of another kingdom, who got kidnapped because the step-mother queen wanted her own son to be the next king. The rescue effort resulted in the total annihilation of the party, and the father was killed right in front of the hero by a monster. The hero and the prince were captured to be slaves.

The hero toiled away for ten years as a slave in a hostile environment. Things got better once he and the prince escaped and started to explore the world (and having slimes joining the party XD). The prince was happily restored to his royal post and assisted his brother in ruling the kingdom, and was married to the girl of his dream. The hero, while searching for the Zenithia set used by the legendary hero, somehow got forced into picking a girl to marry.

The couple's journey took them to the Kingdom of Gotha, where the hero was born and was the rightful heir to the throne. On the day of his coronation, his wife gave birth to a pair of twin boy and girl. That same night, his wife was kidnapped by monsters. The search for the wife resulted in both the hero and the wife turning into stone statues.

The hero's statue got sold to someone as a good luck charm, while the wife's statue was carried off to who-knows-where. When the son of the man who bought the hero statue got kidnapped (so many kidnappings!) by monsters, he let out his anger at the statue. The hero's statue just lay there in the front garden of the man's mansion, through all seasons and weather. He was stuck as a stone statue for eight years before being found and returned to his human self.

Now, he's about to set out with the kids, one of which is the legendary hero, to find his wife and probably his mother as well, just as his father had done years ago. This is where I'm at right now. Hopefully his mother will at least acknowledge him; the mother of the Hero in DQ IV never came out to admit who she was...

On a side note, I previously mused that I might name the son Yuusha because Yoshihiko wouldn't fit in the name block. I ended up naming the son, whose sprite looks like an SD version of Cloud, Yosihiko instead. Yuusha in English characters just doesn't look Hero enough. XD I named the daughter Märchen.

Now that I have the hero (main character) and the legendary hero (the son), 勇者は伝説へ…

スライム肉まんがあらわれた！

The day that millions of DQ fans (in Japan) have been waiting for was finally here! The invasion of the blue slimes! ( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )

Needless to say, related pictures and videos have popped up everywhere on the internet. Looking at them makes me want to have one even more! ・ﾟ・（つд｀）・ﾟ・

However, beside the blue slime, there are other types of slimes in the game as well. So people have come up with clever ways to recreate them from the base slime.

I was quite impressed by the metal slime (but very weary of the edible spray...) and had to suppress my laughter when I saw the hoimi slime (at the office during lunch time). XD

On a side note, my slime has surpassed Saluki and reached lv.30, but still very very far from lv.99 (if I ever reach it). Bianca's announced pregnant so Saluki will likely become the father of the legendary Hero after he gets the throne back. If all goes well, maybe by this weekend. XD

天空の花嫁

Saluki has married Bianca for as long as they both shall be resurrected from death in the church!

I guess it was inevitable, but I felt forced into the marriage. After separating with Prince Harry (whose younger brother was named Prince Wilbur), I was quite happy exploring the world with my slimy companions before I ran into Bianca, whom I hadn't met for 10 years. At the tender age of 16, my main-character-but-not-the-Hero Saluki got married to a girl he met and hang out with for a few nights busting the ghost tower at the age of 6.

Long story short, I had to choose between three girls (a 3rd bride candidate popped up the morning I was to announce my decision). Frankly, I don't know any of the girls enough to marry them. orz

So at the end I went with the childhood acquaintance Bianca. I'll pick the other two in the next playthroughs...

But I'm sticking Bianca in the wagon as much as possible and keeping my slime formation for most of the battles. XD

The two slime knights are indeed great comrades to have, with high stats and exceptional defence against many magic types. My slime (also my very 1st monster) isn't as strong, but faster in speed and definitely much cuter in style! There's a 2nd slime in the wagon for stats comparison to see which slime to keep in the final party markup. A 3rd slime is at the monster keep.

...I got distracted by my slimes. XD

Anyway, I'm no longer single and will be exploring the world with my newly wed wife Bianca. We'll see when my legendary Hero son gets born and what happens after that.

On a side note, I was hoping to name my future Hero son Yoshihiko after the Hero in the gag live-action drama series, but I think it'll only take up to 8 characters. In which case, I might just name him Yuusha. XD

8GB

There seems to be a misperception among my friends that I'm good with computers. Well, I suppose I did use to sell computers and stuff, but not doesn't mean I know how to use the software.

So while trying to see what the graphic interface for Windows shutdown is like to compare to a Madoka fan art Neko-tan sent me, I clicked on the shutdown button in the start menu... And Windows just shut down by itself without showing me that interface. orz

(Now that I think of it, I run on classic theme, so the graphic interface for shutdown would be turned off...)

When's the last time I shut down the computer? Early last year when I was switching to boot from XP to use the scanner? I decided to use this opportunity to put in the memory sticks I got... oh, maybe a year ago? XD

Putting in the ROM sticks was easy. I also took the PC out to the balcony and dust sprayed it. Let me give you an advice here: it's not the brightest idea to wear a T-shirt and shorts when there's a wind chill factor (and it was just blowing gusts like crazy) of -2°C.

Anyway, I put the case cover back and plugged everything back. Switch on!

...what is that loud noise I hear? orz

Turned out I disrupted the balance previously achieved by the back fan casing and it was protesting, loudly. I had to toy with the four screws on the back for a long time to find that balance back. But I was very happy when I did! :D

Now my PC runs with 8GB of ROM, and every action is so much faster than before! I know 8GB isn't a lot in PC standard, but I went from 512MB → 4GB → 8GB. You can see it's revolutionary for me. XD

The two sticks I put in are actually slightly slower than the two originals, but unless I play high-end games, I probably wouldn't notice the difference. A lot of my PC games only run on XP anyway so the slightly slower speed also doesn't matter in that aspect.

Hopefully I won't run into hangs and crashes (I presume they were all memory-related) in the near future again. XD

熱脹冷縮

I don't have a very strong grip. So when I had trouble opening the cap for a bottled juice tonight, I thought I was just weak.

Occasionally these caps are too connected to the bottom ring and the links need to be cut. But it's not the case this time, as I cut loose the ring completely, and the cap still refused to budge.

I was at my wit's end. Then this simple yet elegant scientific principle dawned on me. I used the hair dryer on the cap. 「アラ不思議！」 It popped open just like that with one little twist! XD

This is why you should pay attention to science classes in elementary and high schools. Anything beyond you can forget 'cause they're either too complicated to retain after you graduate, or they keep changing.

やられた

ただの4センチだと思って、甘く見た。まさかこんな酷い目に遭うなんて…

体全身が痛い、特に背と右足、くしゃみすらが出来ないほど。困ったものです。・ﾟ・（つд｀）・ﾟ・

早く慣れないと、この先大変なことになるって分かってるけど、面倒だ…

秋番アニメ スタート！

難得我在秋番第一個月内就完食全部夏番，但是秋番各作播放的時間相差將近半個月，而且收看的番組還不少，所以這麼晚才出三話感想是情有可原。XD
按照慣例照食用順序排列。捏他有，慎入。

Fate/Zero ep.1-3
- 何この劇場版レベルのクオリティー、すっげぇ迫力！超高価のAniplex USAでも、絶対blu-ray買う！
- Fate/stay night本編の十年前の話だから、恐らくほぼ全員死ぬ。どんな出来事か、真実を知りたい
- あの虚淵玄のことだ、どういう鬱展開になる殺し合うが起きるのか、見逃しないように！

未来日記 ep.1-3
- 怖！ヤンデレ怖！こんなに病んでるアニメを見るのは、ひぐらし以来だ。解篇はあるのか
- ムルムル先生の裏未来日記は良い感じ
- Fate/Zeroと同じ殺し合うモノなんだけど、感覚は全然違うよな…

真剣で私に恋しなさい！ ep.1-3
- 設定はちょっと滅茶苦茶けど、このキャストは豪華すぎるｗｗｗ
- テーマの一つは「人との絆」らしい、大和も良い志を持ているみたいで、結構いけると思う
- 色んなネタがあるので、面白い！ヤドカリ、クッキ（両段）、松風。どっちも良いマスコットだｗｗｗ

境界線上のホライゾン ep.1-3
- 登場キャラが多すぎ！名前なんて覚え切れない、全部声優の名前を入り替わるの方がオススメ XD
- 三話時点でまだ話が見えない。原作の厚さを考えると、無理もないかｗｗｗ
- キャラクターそれぞれの設定が細かそうで悪くない、でもヴィジュアル的にはちょっと問題が…

ギルティクラウン ep.1-3
- 絵が凄く綺麗で、演出も良い、第一話冒頭の挿入歌も大変気に入ってる。無論、澤野弘之の音楽は最高だ！
- ヴォイドって、ちょっと心剣と似た物。ただし、心が通じるかどうかにも関わらず、無理矢理に引き抜くけど
- 大抵の要素は他の作品にもあるが、スタッフ次第で、どんなアニメになるか、お手並み拝見だ

HUNTER×HUNTER ep.1-3
- 旧版は原作とあまり変わらないので、また最初からリメークする意味あんの？代わりに、幽遊白書をやれよ！
- 最初はちょっと不安だけど、潘めぐみは思ったより良い感じ。竹内順子には敵わないが、それは相手が悪い
- 作画と演出は普通、ストーリーもすでに知ってるモノ、見物は声優だけってところかな

侵略！？イカ娘 ep.1-3
- 普通に面白いが、第一期ほどではないと感じます。なんか、電波が弱くなった
- いつでも早苗がいると、イライラする。やっぱり執着な同性愛には容赦無いな
- 第三話のラジオ体操はなかなか面白い。やらないけどｗｗｗ

ちはやふる ep.1-3
- それぞれのキャラクターの個性はなかなか面白い、かるたにはめる気はないけど
- 少女漫画アニメにとって、こんな良い作画も動きは珍しい、これこそがMADHOUSEの有効使い
- 声優的には太一の方が好きが、見た目はちょっと残念、そして明らかに片思いが報われないなタイプだな

C3 -シーキューブ- ep.1-3
- 単なる萌え系なら無理、せめて三割はバトル物で助かる。でもバカテストの面影が強いんで、結構微妙
- ロリ声が苦手から、普段はあまり田村と喜多村の歌を聞かない、しかしOPもEDも両方いい曲だな
- 演技的には、ゆかりんは三段声を使うので流石、ドSなさや姉は素敵、茅原は…相変わらずイライラする

ファイ・ブレイン 神のパズル ep.1-3
- NHK Eテレ番組の分際で、こんな豪華なキャストは反則じゃ～
- 数独以外のパズルを考えるのも面倒から、こういうテーマは別に好みじゃないが、キャストに釣られた
- また福山潤の新しい声を発見、夏～秋アニメをまとめて見ると、実に自在な声の持ち主だ

バクマン。2 ep.1-3
- 確かに演出としてはただの動き漫画に見える、でも自分は漫画が大好きで、問題ない
- 色んな漫画家とコンビはそれぞれの信念や覚悟を持ち、少年漫画の道に進む。燃えるぜ～
- ここもまた森田さんの新しい声を発見、キャラ自体とその考え方も面白い。あとラッコはカワイイ XD

ベン・トー ep.1-3
- イイ！半額弁当はイイ！狼はイイ！戦いはイイ！実に熱い！
- 本当は大した内容じゃないが、ここまで進化させてとは…板垣伸という男に要注意だ
- 宮野の魔導士はカッコイイ！そんな誇り高き狼と出会った以上、ただの猟犬になれるものか！

僕は友達が少ない ep.1-3
- 流石の残念系青春ラブコメ、残念なところがいっぱい、色んな意味で XD
- 一見すると、ちょっと電波女のキャラデザと似てるが、あれほどキラキラしてない、また残念
- 2話のモン狩やギャルゲーネタは面白い。なるほど、女子はそんな目で攻略キャラを見てるんだ（違う

WORKING'!! ep.1-3
- 二期だから、キャラも設定もほぼう成立した、だいぶ落ち着いてます
- 佐藤の轟への想いはいつか叶うといいな、伊波のも（←何でこういう作品にロマンを求めるんだ、この人）
- 山田がそんなに嫌がってたのに、たやすく手の平の上で遊ばれた、流石小鳥遊家の腹黒小学生

灼眼のシャナ III Final ep.1-3
- ちょっといきなりけど、二期やOVAを最近見終わったため、何とか三期の冒頭との繋がりが出来る
- XVI巻からXXII巻まで、小説七巻でアニメ２４話ぐらい、J.C.STAFFいつものペースなら心配だな
- OPを見ると、両方の人物がガンガン出てくる、いよいよ全面戦争が白熱化し、最後まで楽しみ

君と僕。 ep.1-3
- マイペースな双子に結構気に入ってる、特に悠太の方、いつもお見通しなツラでみんなを見守る
- 原作は4コマのため、主線という物は特にない、でも見る度にフワフワで心地良い
- 演出ぽいのにゃんこ達がいっぱいある、これはまたニャンコ先生と違うのおいしいさ XD

UN-GO ep.1-4
- 主人公役の俳優さんはなかなか、豊崎の新しい声も良い感じ、普段の声より耳に優しい
- ストーリーは普通に面白い、むしろちょっと重いくらい、でもあのキャラデザインは残念すぎ
- 風守はぬいぐるみのままの方がずっとカワイイのに、惜しいだな

ペルソナ4 ep.1-3
- 出来るだけ原作ゲームを忠実に再現するだそうです、道理で作画演出や雰囲気に嵌れちゃう
- 主人公のステータスは物語が進むと少しずつ成長してる、実感あり～
- 最初はちょっと怖いかもと思う、でも本当は自分探しの青春熱血推理劇。まあ、死人が出るけど…

機動戦士ガンダムAGE ep.1-3
- なるほど、全然燃えないけど、結構爆笑した、これこそがこの作品の真髄だなｗｗｗ
- 色々馬鹿しすぎから、突っ込めば負ける。こんな時、笑えばいいと思うよｗｗｗ
- 現時点で、栗林のEDや白い狼だけが見物。あと、誰が次世代の主人公の母となるかなｗｗｗ

ラストエグザイル -銀翼のファム- ep.1-3
- 作画はいつものGONZO風、世界観と雰囲気は前作と同じ、声優も良い、これは期待できそう
- 黒石ひとみの音楽と坂本真綾のOPは相変わらずいい響き、Hitomiの歌もR2以来だな
- ディーオはやっぱり人気高いかな、登場した時思わず歓呼しながら彼の名前を呼んだ XD

加上春番三季作跟夏番雙季作，總共是23部。勉強算是範圍内，不過中間免不了會插入史萊姆養成遊戲或漫畫/小説，所以要照進度看應該還是有困難。至少Bleach半年番量的原創篇已經解決了，其他就看會突然想看什麼了。 XD

就三話的時間點，個人最期待的五部為：本命的Fate/Zero、ペルソナ4、ラストエグザイル -銀翼のファム-、ベン・トー、ギルティクラウン。

秋番整體來説比夏番強很多，直到最後看ファム之前，我都無法決定最期待五部作的最後名額，本來還想乾脆只放四部算了。不是因為不期待，而是很多部都很有趣讓人無法取捨。鋼彈不但沒進五部作而且完全在範圍外，只能怪這次的企劃太過子供向，捨棄了主流的鋼彈迷。不過如上面感想，看穿其全力地認真搞笑的真髓的話，毎一話笑的時間絶對不少於WORKING'!!跟まじこい。

題外話。現在真是到處都在推新人做主役或準主役，女性聲優方面最明顯的是茅野愛衣跟伊藤かな恵，男性聲優方面是梶裕貴跟岡本信彦。雖然新人比較便宜也有不錯的，但是如果長期沒有實力派的前輩滋潤，一直聽單一聲線的新人我會枯萎。那些有潛力的快點成長啦！想聽實力派的配主役大概得看JUMP系或高預算跟乙女遊戲改編作了…

姆，總之秋番三話巡禮輪完了！明天開始衝企鵝跟栽培史萊姆勇者！ XD

ネットショッピング、恐ろしい子

Apparently the country down south has something called the Black Friday, where crazy sales happen. Since I regularly receive e-newsletters from Amazon.com, I noticed there are video games on sale as part of the count-down to Black Friday.

With some random browsing and clicking, I ended up ordering three games: Cross Edge (going for 2x the price anywhere in Canada), Eternal Sonata (~$6 cheaper than Amazon.ca), and Gundam Musou (almost 1/3 of the price anywhere in Canada, if one can even find it). The total of the order was just over $60 in US dollars, which normally would easily cost around $130 in Canada. Currency exchange rate? I save more on the 13% tax since it's shipped to Neko-tan's. XD

I thought I might also browse the anime section on Amazon.com to see if there's anything on sale that I have on the Amazon.ca wish list. They've posted Twelve Kingdoms blu-ray part 3! It's probably only posted within the last few days so the pre-order is only at 10% off.

Right Stuf usually announces new pre-orders in their e-newsletters, but I thought I'd check just in case. They have it up already, for 24% off. Add to that my 10% membership discount, I can get it for 34% off!

So I sent an email to Right Stuf customer service for an item swap request, cancelling Twelve Kingdoms blu-ray part 2 and order part 3 instead. Then I placed the order for part 2 on Amazon.com, which has it on for the same price that I ordered from RS, but I save $5 on the tax. This would also keep my RS order under $200. Just waiting for a reply now.

Since RS only ships when they have all the items in the order (Arakawa blu-ray part 2 releases in early February 2012), I have lots of time to see if Amazon.com drops their price to below 35% off, then cancel the item with RS. I would still be over the $150 free shipping mark anyway.

When I clicked on the "place order" button for the two Amazon.com orders, it's done, just like that. It really doesn't feel like you're being a spendthrift until you get the bill...

On a side note, I figured I'd check Amazon.ca just for the sake of it. Not only did they not have part 3, they also removed part 2! I'm glad I cancelled the order for part 2 with them and went with RS. -__-

On a even further side note, I'm starting to feel that shopping for anime and games online is like buying stocks. You have to keep an eye out to avoid the peaks and go for the troughs, and watch out where you buy it from. Takes so much time and energy out of you...

不意に始まり

I procrastinate. When there's something more pressing that needs to be dealt with, my tendency is to do something else. You know, like how people would suddenly feel the urge to clean their rooms before a final exam. (What do you mean you don't?!)

So while attempting to finish the three-episode initial run for the fall season anime, I suddenly wanted to play games. Not those casual online games, but a solid game that would require my attention and emotion.

I started playing Dragon Quest V on Guren (my NDS) yesterday and have already clocked about 7 hours. My main guy, not yet a Hero, is still an escaped slave travelling with another escaped slave/former prince and three slimes. Yes, you can built a team consisting of the Hero and slimes. XD

In addition to the DQM element is the rumoured (well, it's known, but I'm not there yet) marriage and descendent system. With multiple bridal candidates to choose from, I'll probably need to replay the second half of the game several times. From the looks of it, it'll exceed the time I spent on DQ VI for sure.

Although, I have just three series left for the fall season anime initial run, so the goal line is within sight. Almost there!

模範客

I finally got my Fate/EXTRA today, eight days after the game's release (unless the release date is later in Canada, but highly unlikely). If it weren't for the pre-order bonus, I wouldn't had placed the order with EB Games... orz

And guess what? Not only did my game arrive late one week after the release date, I had to line up in order to get to the counter. Today also happened to be the launch date for Call of Duty MW 3. ORZ

While in line, I observed the people in the store, probably all trying to get MW3. It's obvious that many of the adults were there to buy the game for their kid(s) because the game is rated M. Behind me was a grandma-grandson pair, where the grandma was worried the grandson might not get a copy if they didn't pre-order. I guess the purpose of the M rating is just so that at least the parents would be approving their children playing it...

When it was finally my turn at the counter, I produced the prepaid receipt for my game, which was possibly the only non-MW3 game the store was handing out for the whole day given the long line up. I almost gave up myself when I saw the line extending all the way to the entrance.

The girl pulled the limited edition from the pile of stuff they received for today. Because it's such a niche game for the North American market, none of the staff knew about the game (and had to look it up when I asked about the pre-order). If I didn't point out that I ordered the regular version, she would had just let me walk away with the limited edition. Such a model customer I was...

On a side note, Aksys Games, the company that brought Fate/EXTRA to North America, finally put up some information on Hakuouki. There's no detail on what the limited edition will include, but the game has been rated M by ESRB because of the blood in some of the graphics and the text description. Really? Shouldn't you rate a lot of the TV shows and anime as 17+ as well by that standard? I kinda find it idiotic that my first M rated game is an otome game...

水樹奈々 東京ドームライブ開​催記念“7”時間SP

I actually started yesterday. Yay for time shift~ XD

7 hours of Mizuki Nana from 7 live tours picked by fans.

7: LIVE FIGHTER 2008
6: LIVE FEVER 2009
5: LIVE DIAMOND 2009
4: LIVE FORMULA 2007~2008
3: LIVE ACADEMY 2010
2: LIVE GAMES 2010
POP MASTER PV
1: LIVE GRACE 2011 -ORCHESTRA-
?: LIVE JOURNEY 2011

I've never watched Nana's solo live before, and I have to say it's a pretty awesome experience. There's a specific theme for each live and a short PV clip to illustrate that theme before the live. Nana's stage costumes were hits and misses for me, but her performance was definitely top notch all the way. It's literally CD quality sound flowing out directly from her mouth.

I want to especially point out LIVE GRACE 2011 -ORCHESTRA-. As the title suggests, beside the usual band, there's a full orchestra on stage with at least a dozen people singing the chorus in the back. It's definitely a unique live performance and further showcased Nana's vocal prowess. Although, I think the orchestra members were probably more surprised than the crowd. They likely had never seen a sea of UO (ultra orange, as I learned from the comments, which refers to the colour of the pen light for particular songs) like this when Nana performed ETERNAL BLAZE. XD

I actually did not use to pay any attention to Mizuki Nana, or anyone with a moe attribute, for that matter. According to Neko-tan, I'm somewhat anti-loli. By default, I dislike most of the things associated with loli or moe. But I'm also very subjective, so my views can be altered as long as one can prove one's self.

When I finally decided to try Nanoha A's a few years ago, I was instantly awed as ETERNAL BLAZE started playing. I've since been a fan of singer Nana. Haven't heard that much of her acting, but I consider her good enough to qualify as a seiyuu in my book.

The ? portion of the SP, LIVE JOURNEY 2011, was when Nana made the announcement for her next live, to be held on December 3rd & 4th at the Tokyo Dome: LIVE CASTLE 2011 King's Night and Queen's Night. She'll be the 8th female solo artist to perform at the Tokyo Dome, and also the first seiyuu artist to do so.

Now let me go ponder if I want to see the whole LIVE GRACE 2011 -ORCHESTRA- concert enough to go for the blu-ray...

Dumb phone

I always get confused whether I gain or lose an hour when daylight saving time starts and ends. Being the lazy person that I am, I usually rely on my computer to tell me.

Then I noticed the 1-hr difference between my computer and cell phone. Since I'm not diligent in some of the Windows patches, my XP was not adjusted to the daylight saving time for a period of time before. I thought it could be the same with my current Windows 7. But when I searched online for the correct time, my computer was right.

Why hadn't my cell phone adjusted to the correct time? Weren't they supposed to do that automatically? Maybe it'll do it later in the day, I thought. Nope.

Just now, I decided to try my luck and turn the cell phone off then back on, hoping it'd reconnect to the server and fetch the correct time. It did.

??!!

So a manual reboot is needed whenever daylight saving kicks in?! What a dumb phone...

任務失敗

The guys that put in the new toilet, that is.

The company that manages my apartment recently bought new water saving toilets and shower heads for all the units in the building. The scheduled installation time is 9am to 5pm. When I returned at around 7pm, the guys were still around carrying off removed toilets and stuff.

I turned on the shower head. Everything seemed to be in order. The toilet was dry and empty inside, but the tank was filled. I tried flushing twice. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary... until I noticed the water mark around the base of the toilet. I poked my head out to intercept the guys collecting parts in the hallway of my floor.

Apparently it had a broken bowl, or something to that effect. The guy put in new toilet #2 (and made a wet mess at the same time while removing new toilet #1). He tested it and told me everything was fine now before heading out. A few minutes later I heard a sound suggesting that something got disconnected and fell.

Not feeling safe with just his test flush, I also tried flushing. There's no water seeping out from the bottom so it's not leaking. I then proceed to open the lid of the toilet... only to find two long bolts and a wrapped casket inside.

Luckily the guy that put in new toilet #2 was still out by the backdoor of the building cleaning up stuff. He poked around and decided that there was supposed to be a cap in there as well but it's got flushed down and stuck in the duct. Another guy said it's the cap for another toilet that he was putting in. (I don't really understand.)

They tried several ways to try to get the cap out, but to no avail. They just removed new toilet #2 and still trying to get the cap out from the hole as I type this. They'll need to put in new toilet #3, but not before they resolve the stuck cap issue. Who knows how much longer this ordeal will be. orz

Not to mention that I'll still need to clean up after this is all over...

Botched mission sucks! Especially when you're the victim as a result of one!　（ノ`Д´）ノ～～┴───┴

PS. They finally put in new toilet #3 properly and left. I just finished cleaning up the mess and waiting for the bathroom floor to dry. Hopefully I won't need to hunt them down tomorrow for any up hiccups.

意味ないじゃん

After discovering the bonus item with EB Games in late September, I went and placed the pre-order for Fate/EXTRA the next day.

It's released today, but the store has not received the product... I thought the purpose of pre-order is so that you're guaranteed to get the item upon release?!

Hopefully they'll be able to get it soon, with the bonus item. Otherwise it'd be meaningless to place the pre-order with them in the first place. *crosses fingers*

Dwindling friendship

I've been calling Amazon.ca as my friend for the last two years or so, but I think this friendship is slowly degrading...

Amazon.ca is usually pretty good with pre-order prices when the item first get posted on the website. As the release date gradually approaches, the price goes up little by little as well. Then, once it's released, the price will never come down again.

My other friends, Amazon.com and RightStuf, are the opposite. Amazon.com's pre-order prices are usually just slightly higher than that of Amazon.ca's, but it often has sales of 30~40%, or even up to 80% off for the item months after release. RightStuf, on the other hand, has good price for the pre-order item the week it's announced and posted on the website, then go back to the regular price until the item is put on special again, which is random but relatively often enough.

Another pet peeve I have with Amazon.ca is the status with pre-order items. It'll often put up an item on the website, but sometimes not be able to acquire the item, or fail to update the release dates (these get changed rather often by the licensed distributors). I was forced to order quite a few items from Amazon.com or RightStuf because Amazon.ca couldn't get them and cancelled my orders. Usually Amazon.ca would eventually have the item, but by then the price would not too high to be worth it.

I will not abandon Amazon.ca just yet, though, as it offers free shipping. RightStuf's threshold for free shipping to Canada is $150. While that's not hard to meet, because of the randomness of its sales, I may not get the best price for the items I want. And RS is the only place if I want Aniplex USA products, when I deem the particular series is worth the 3x price tag of other series.

For Amazon.com orders, I usually just ship it to Neko-tan's house and pick up when I go to AX. There used to be no tax shipping to Neko-tan, but not anymore. So I'll be saving just 3% in tax. As a result, unless the Amazon.com price is really good and I don't have enough items to reach $150, I may just ditch Amazon.com and go with RS.

So what spurred this whole thing was the order I made yesterday with RS, after waiting for Amazon.ca to put up certain items and finding the price to be way higher than that on RS. As I was throwing stuff into my shopping cart, I checked the price for a few pre-order items I had with Amazon.ca. I ended up cancelling two orders with Amazon.ca and went with RS for those. Today, I added another item to the RS order (it went on sale today) and cancelled the same item on Amazon.ca.

You get my drift.

Right now the only orders I have left with Amazon.ca are all Bleach pre-orders and one pre-order for Inuyasha Final Act part 1, which I have yet to see available anywhere. Of course, this means there's a good chance that it actually won't be available when it says it will. As luck will have it, Amazon.ca might just tell me that they can't acquire the item and cancel my order...

護廷十三隊侵軍篇 後半

Despite all the flaws and inconsistency in setting and character portrayal, I have to say this filler arc is somewhat passable for the most part. As long as Nozomi isn't involved, that is.

As it turned out, dimension locks were indeed applied in the background by Urahara and Tessai, so it pacifies my rant concerning the battles in the Real World. But I still have a problem with Nozomi. She's basically written as a Mary Sue, where she's able to withstand attacks that disabled Vice Captain and even Captain class shinigami, and wields a zanpakutou capable of absorbing ridiculous amount of energy.

I do like the last bit of the arc where the bonds between comrades were put into focus. 仲間 and 絆 are undoubtedly two of the 王道 elements for shounen manga, and I always buy it. XD

Starting from ep.330, one character gets featured along with the 10-year anniversary logo before the end credit roll. Scenes from past episodes were also played during the ED song, starting from the first episode to the end of the arrancar arc. All the filler arcs were skipped and only the main story was shown, which is the way it should be.

ep.330 - Ichigo; from Ichigo meeting Rukia to Ichigo defeating a Menos Grandes (ep.1-14)
ep.331 - Renji; from Renji finding Rukia to Renji fighting Ichigo in Soul Society (ep.15-30)
ep.332 - Ishida; from Ichigo defeating Renji to Ichigo stopping Soukyoku in front of Rukia (ep.31-54)
ep.333 - Byakuya; from Ichigo rescuing Rukia to Aizen revealing his true self (ep.55-62)
ep.334 - Hirako; from Hirako attacking Ichigo to Grimmjow retreating from the Real World (ep.110-121)
ep.335 - Grimmjow; from Grimmjow losing his left arm to Grimmjow getting healed by Orihime (ep.122-127, 138-143)
ep.336 - Nel; from Ichigo & co meeting Nel in Hueco Mundo to Ichigo defeating Grimmjow (ep.144-146, 150-167)
ep.337 - Kenpachi; from Szayel Aporro fighting Ishida & Renji to Aizen vs. shinigami @ Real World (ep.191-203)
ep.338 - Urahara; from the pendulum swinging back to 110 years ago to the Vizard moving out to pay Aizen back (ep.206-212)
ep.339 - Ulquiorra; from Aizen vs. shinigami @ Real World to Ulquiorra turning into ash before Orihime could reach him (ep.215-226, 266-272)
ep.340 - Gin; from Rukia & co fighting Yammy to Ichigo returning to the Real World (ep.273-291)
ep.341 - Aizen; from Aizen defeating all shinigami to Ichigo losing his spirit power after Aizen is sealed (ep.292-310)
ep.342 - Rukia & Ichigo; interactions and key scenes of Rukia and Ichigo throughout the main story (ep.1-342 minus filler arcs)

Yes, I re-watched ep.342 again. I also went back to read ch.423 where Ichigo and Rukia separates, then the last few pages of ch.459 where Rukia makes Ichigo a shinigami again. Judging from the arm badge, Rukia is now the Vice Captain of the 13th Squad!

I've kinda stopped following the weekly Jump and just opted for reading the volumes, so I'm dying to read vol.53! Maybe I should go and read the whole series from vol.1 again...

ニコニコダンスマスター3

While Dance Master 2 demonstrated the quality of Niconico dancers, Dance Master 3 showcased the various types of Niconico dancers. DM3 wasn't aiming to show off the famous dancers, but those with personalities. There were 11 categories: kids, house wives, salary workers, high school girls, BL, GL, heavy weights, cosplay, "te-yut-te", miscellaneous, and guests.

I actually have never visited the dance section on Niconico, so the popularity of each dancer is lost on me, but I did recognize some faces from DM2. Except for Team Black Starz, for whom I saw a short YouTube video a long long time ago and was surprised to see them again two weeks ago in DM2. XD

I really enjoyed many of the performances, regardless of the dancer's skill level. DM3 took place at Nicofarre, which was surrounded by 360° screen walls. The song choice, the video displayed on screens, the lighting; all these were weaved in as part of the choreography. Inside the room were people waving glow sticks and shouting along. On the screen walls were the comment curtains from the Live Broadcast viewers. All in all, it's a very engrossing experience. Even the Niconico user-made CMs were fun and even touching to watch.

The guests were the well-known dancers, and there were a lot of collaboration between guests, making every guest presentation a treat. みうめ+気まぐれﾌﾟﾘﾝｽ and にゃんたろProject+Team Black Starz were really awesome! However, I was disappointed at the secret guest DANCEROID. Two or three members of DANCEROID were at AX this year and danced a few songs before the MIKUPOLIS concert, but I really didn't care for them.

ダンマス3は凄く楽しかった！素晴らしでした！

I think I should check out the dance section on Niconico sometimes when I have the time. XD

不思議な靴屋

While getting cat food yesterday, I noticed a store in the mall advertising its closing sale. Since I lost my short scarf last winter, I thought I'd check out the store.

Unfortunately, even with the 50%~80% off, I didn't see anything to my liking or budget.

As I walked out the store, I glanced at the shoe store next to it. Since I will need a pair of shoes at work to change into from the snow boots, I thought I'd check out the store.

Unfortunately, I was wearing sandals today and so couldn't try on the shoes properly.

As I was walking out of the store, I passed by a few pegs of products, one of which caught my attention. The original price was $16.99 and it had a sales sticker for $7.

I left the shoe store with a $3 scarf. XD

PS. 4°C is possibly the limit of sandals... I may need to leave them home tomorrow for the 0°C.

夏番總結

夏番單季作品跟春番半年季作品的觀後感。

之前寫了前三話的感想，當時非排名的五部期待作是夏目友人帳、ぬらりひょんの孫 ～千年魔京～、ダンタリアンの書架、神様のメモ帳、跟輪るピングドラム。千年魔京跟輪るピングドラム都是半年季所以會跟秋番一起，而春番的期待作之一へうげもの竟然是三季作，所以也會跟秋番一起。

完食夏番單季跟春番半年季後，個人的前五名是：
夏目友人帳 参
Steins;Gate
青の祓魔師
神様のメモ帳 | にゃんぱいあ The Animation
うさぎドロップ

以下為春番單季及冬番半年季作品的三言兩語，按照完食的順序，另外附加原作補完預定。
捏他有，慎入。

NO.6
- BONES的作畫的確沒話説，到最後都很穩定，這是唯一沒讓我翻桌的原因
- 就算不提個人死穴的BL味，果然還是詰めが甘い，可惜了設定。城壁崩毀的意境不錯，但是超不爽復活術
- 結果整部能讓人提起興趣的只有借狗人跟老鼠兩個好女人 XD
= 雖然動畫化必然刪減了很多地方，不過結局應該跟已完結的原作相差不遠。不打算碰原作小説

Steins;Gate
- 起承轉結的很棒，完美地串連了頭尾。居然跟戰B2一樣最後丟出劇場版(γ世界線?)製作決定ｗｗｗ
- 預設科幻以外還包含了オタ、陰謀論、寒蟬意味的三週＋熱血解等屬性，不但目から汗，居然還有閃光～
- 宮野真守超讚，主役真的是捨彼其誰。花澤香菜的まゆしぃ超治癒，不是女主角實在遺憾
= 雖然已見true end，還是想玩原作遊戲。番外的比翼恋理在360無理，8bit有可能。ドラマCD預定補完

TIGER&BUNNY
- 雖然人設是那個樣，其實是蠻有張力的作品，還好主役聲優有釣到我 XD
- 虎兔相遇始於公主抱，再遇當然也要公主抱 XD
- 最後的最後那張紙幣伏筆好詐 XD
= 有出R1版BD/DVD的話應該會敗。二期收看決定～

うたの☆プリンスさまっ♪ マジLOVE1000%
- 女主角的人設真的很蠢，但是這部擺明就是賣聲優跟角色歌曲，所以本來就沒期待故事
- 通常毎部都會推配對的我居然不萌任何配對，尤其對女主角完全沒興趣，以乙女遊戲來説失格了
- 結尾果然又是大爆笑的演唱會，不過至少放了完整版的歌。夏番最正經在做的歡楽作品ｗｗｗ
= まあ、如果偶然入手遊戲的話會玩吧，不會特地去找。聽歌就好 XD

神様ドォルズ
- 果然二期やる気満々，還最後放預告期待夠多人荷包支援能做續集 XD
- 第一次聽到這麼S的花菜，發展出新聲線了 XD
- 那個超故意的胸部還真是不是普通的不自然，就某方面來説非常引人注意ｗｗｗ
= 雖然如果出了二期我會看（但不期待），除非是阿幾ｘ靄子，不然沒打算看原作漫畫

にゃんぱいあ The Animation
- 構圖跟内容都非常簡單，但是就是很對我胃口
- 這麼有趣的東西為什麼只有三分鐘啊～～～～
- 開始録音之時只有福山是不同公司，播放的時候變小清水，現在五個主要角色都是狗糧社了 XD
= 原作同人誌重製成漫畫版了的樣子，有機會想看看

Sacred Seven
- 最後十分鐘的偽人工衛星墜下超展開有笑到，殺必死役的ナイト漂得真白 XD
- 藍羽家雇執事跟女僕的目的是建立傭兵部隊嗎ｗｗｗ
- 果然還是討厭大小姐，部長跟翡比較萌，但是到最後我才知道是… 野水伊織的正太不行啦 囧rz
= SUNRISE原創的單純假面騎士番。只對丹童子ｘ部長有興趣，有空去找同人好了

いつか天魔の黒ウサギ
- 真的是很無力的展開，大部分角色的吸引力也不足，伝勇伝的張力到哪裡去了 orz
- 主凶毫無疑問是在大兎面前裝出楚楚可憐的雙面魔女跟完全不知所以然而愛上魔女的大兎
- 除了男女主角以外，幾乎所有配角的聲優都很棒。基本上是靠配角的聲優看完的
= 鏡貴也擅長鋪陳長篇小説，所以最後應該有看頭，但是現時間點對原作小説興趣不大

まよチキ!
- 最後一話的番外篇捏他滿滿是怎樣，居然還一直出現某人的女兒ｗｗｗ
- 日野聡還是一如往常；通常對喜多村英梨沒什麼感覺，但是大小姐的聲線有萌
- 雖然一開始還算支持スバル，第四話之後就變成推近次郎ｘマサムネ跟近次郎ｘ奏
= 純校園又只有一個男性角色的後宮作，對沒有聲優演出的原作小説沒什麼興趣

バカとテストと召喚獣にっ!
- 結果全部看完的感想跟初盤三話的感想沒什麼兩樣（良い意味で）
- 試了兩期還是無法喜歡瑞希，覺得超煩；翔子別一直虐雄二的話我會喜歡説
- 不過反正這部的重點是秀吉跟男性笨蛋集團，毋需在意那些偽女角 XD
= 動畫的演出很不錯，又一堆捏他，跟原作小説應該頗有出入。目前沒找原作的打算，有機會再説

Blood-C
- CLAMP的劇本居然(還)沒有爛尾Σ(°Д°；) 劇場版的髮型看起來似乎沒那麼獵奇了，也許可以期待？
- 一開始感覺很假的違和感果然不假，真的都是假的。XD 魔王以外有真的演員倒是有點意外
- 野島大魔王一開始就超級明顯；那隻四月一日到底是來串什麼場的(連沒看過xxxHOLiC的我都發現了)
= 血腥獵奇度目前只有看過5分鐘的elfen lied能比。最後兩話揭黑幕不差，但是中途展開慢到想放棄

Blade
- 原版面已不復存在，不過我不得不推某島上有人在收看時，於三國志裡稱霸中原的事蹟 XD
- 我是利用時間tag了幾十張單曲跟OST，然後看了幾本漫畫 :Q
- 當初一定是神智不清才會抓這部，劇情無聊就算了，畫風居然比因為受不了人設卻下的トリコ還爛 orz
= 好在Marvel Anime企劃就此結束，MADHOUSEの無駄使い已經夠了，回去做正常動畫吧

ダンタリアンの書架
- 黄昏の書那話讓我想到某河森的認真惡搞合体蘿蔔作裡的某（官方説是故意）超崩壞話ｗｗｗ
- 最終話詠讀的其實就是OP拉丁語歌詞的日文版，雖然是意義不明的詞句，我還蠻喜歡這種伏筆
- 原本就喜歡ヒューイ類型的角色，前傳那話尤其鞏固其地位。比起黒の読姫，我更欣賞銀の読姫
= 原作小説已完結，但是目前還沒看到過。應該是我會想讀的類型，預定補完。有出R1的話會敗

うさぎドロップ
- 劇情是漫畫第一部，4本畫成11話，pace抓的很好，作畫也都有維持水準
- 内容非常樸實溫馨，難得小孩個性都算可愛，不過是2D限定
- 可惜寫三話感想的時候不小心在wiki看到捏他，所以四話後都戴著某種濾鏡在看…
= 之前有看到原作漫畫，但是封面畫風覺得沒有動畫好就沒入手。有出R1的話應該會敗

花咲くいろは
- 前期就開始跳過太緒花中心的連續劇，靠作畫跟民子撐到12話仍然考慮放棄
- 一開始完全是因為PA WORKS才看的，最後也是因為想看超精美作畫才卯起來衝完
- 劇情本身的故事性不高，作為小品又稍嫌散漫，除了作畫以外完全不是我的菜
= 有漫畫化的連動，但是作畫當然沒有PA WORKS漂亮，卻下

神様のメモ帳
- 雖然有料到最後的案件會比較沉重，沒想到居然讓我最喜歡的女性角色發生這種事…
- 但其實是原作第一本的劇情，很多地方也改了順序導致前後有點矛盾。在接受範圍内就是
- 難得地喜歡我方全部角色，包括通常有傾向無視掉的蘿莉。還不錯的小品
= 手上沒有原作小説，但是就動畫來看應該是我會想讀的類型，預定補完。有出R1的話會敗

青の祓魔師
- 雙子母親居然是林原めぐみ！但是從外公出場後到結局應該都是原創，整個暴走掉有點殘念
- 不過無視殘念結局的話還是有燃到，而且澤野的音樂太讚了，豪華聲優陣又運用得很棒
- 愛數eins, zwei, drei的偽浮士德神谷超級讚，怎麼看怎麼high～XD
= 動畫化後原作漫畫銷量暴增7倍，R1遲早會敗(Aniplex USA orz)。漫畫預定補完，劇場版期待

猫神やおよろず
- 非常平淡的東西，本來想最後根津魅篇也許會比較有看頭，結果焦點完全轉掉變得很無聊
- 當初看PV被四個聲優的名字釣上，但是其實加起來戲份比櫻花甚至貧窮神還少 orz
- 因為夏番作品比較少就加減看了，在秋番的話會直接刷掉吧。有幾話還不錯就是
= 沒有聲優加持就完全沒興趣看原作漫畫

夏目友人帳 参
- 参的風格跟前兩期相差甚多，加快了一貫單話的悠然歩調，還跑出黑幕鬱回，但依然不減其治癒度
- 前兩期主要描述夏目與祖母對妖的態度及互動，参則著墨於夏目和同伴（人類與妖）之間建立的羈絆
- ニャンコ先生還是一如往常地可愛到爆表，不管哪種姿態都超想抱啊～～～～
= 手上有原作漫畫，不過目前排在中間左右，還要好一陣子才會輪到。第四期預定是冬番的本命了 XD


Steins;Gate跟青の祓魔師都是春番的期待作，除了不敵本命的夏目以外，直接幹掉所有夏番作！其實S.G.幾乎追上跟夏目同分，但是輸在我並非對所有實驗室成員都有愛，而夏目裡除了出來兩話的黑幕以外，我所有準角色都喜歡。白兔糖差一點被書架打下第五名，只是書架在劇本編排上留了太多洞。

這次很難得地把整季都補完了。聽聲優在同一季中的不同作品裡的角色差別真是有趣啊～ XD

最近大家都開始在最後一話放完後丟出劇場版製作決定的消息，有的甚至在播完前就已經決定做劇場版了。我是無所謂啦，只要別為了把大絶都留在劇場版而讓TV版爛尾就行（對，我就是在説那部CLAMP的同人作）。R1版方面，很多代理商也開始在新番播出前後就搶下版權，大概一年内就能買到R1版。對敗家派的我來説是好消息，不過對我的荷包來説是很令人消瘦的事就是ｗｗｗ

pseudo-economics

Getting up in the early afternoon, a sudden realization dawned on me. Managing one's health is pretty similar to managing one's wealth.

The three main factors affecting one's health: eat, sleep, exercise.
Negative factors: sickness and feeling unwell

The three main factors affecting one's wealth: income, savings, investment.
Negative factors: debt and spending

I eat a lot and am always eating. I only sleep enough to function, which is less than that of the average person. I don't exercise. Actually, make that I don't move.

Health-wise, I don't get sick often, but little problems would pop up now and then when I don't get enough sleep. And when I do get sick, I'm usually out for a good couple of days.

You'd expect me to be sicker from my lifestyle, since I'm essentially relying on 1.5 out of 3. But if you look at it, I basically live on my earnings and some savings, so I can manage without having any investment. For now.

As I grow older, the maintenance cost of my body also increases, but there's a limit on my maximum income (how much I can eat without eating into diseases). So when I don't have enough savings in stock (average 6 hrs), I run into problem and feel sick.

Luckily, savings can be increased by having a higher interest rate, so many of the health issues I experience can often be cured by simply concentrating on sleep. とにかく爆睡だ！ Even wild animals heal their wounds by resting and eating (I think)!

睡眠は本当に重要だな…　もっと眠るがいい！

I'll need to keep that in mind. Try to, at least.

Investment? What's that? orz

護廷十三隊侵軍篇 前半

Just started today (ep.317) and got only half way through so far (ep.332), but I have an urge to do a proper rant (not the abridged few lines I threw at Neko-tan, who's almost 300 episodes behind me on Bleach).

Let me praise the good points first. This filler arc creates an environment and circumstance to pit the shinigami against each other and their own selves. Thanks to this arc being made after the arrancar saga, there are more known skills and techniques to liven the battles. As a result, the first half was filled with some pretty good fights in Soul Society.

I have no complaints about the seiyuu for the new characters, especially Furukawa Toshio. Furukawa is probably most well known for his roles in Urusai Yatsura, Dragon Ball series (Piccolo!), and Fist of the North Star. Unfortunately, I've never watched any of those. I only know him as Kai Shiden from the UC Gundam series. But I did attend his panel at AX this year. XD

Now the rant.

I previously said "in Soul Society" when praising about the first half, because most of the scenes taking place in the Real World are lacklustre and often contradicting the principle settings of Bleach. They're supposed to apply area locks to minimize damage to the Real World when there are battles involving high spirit levels. The strengths of Vice Captain class and above are restricted by default in the Real World. And Ichigo shouldn't be doing bankai so casually here and there in the Real World, especially considering that he's supposed to be a lot weaker now.

But my biggest annoyance is the original main character. Nozomi feels too much like Senna, and this whole 'Ichigo & co. doing everything to protect the seemingly helpless girl (but holds the key and victimizes herself trying to either kill herself or shoulder the weight of the whole world) from the bad guys' thing also brings back the experience from MEMORIES OF NOBODY. While the extent isn't as bad as in MEMORIES OF NOBODY, it's still painful to watch.

She's given the shinigami treatment and a zanpakutou, despite her nature of existence. Her zanpakutou reminds me of the blazing sword in Voltron, and its ability is essentially the combination of Hisagomaru/Ryuumonhoozukimaru and Sogyo no Kotowari. The process of getting her shikai back also goes beyond common sense settings. There's simply no way for a zanpakutou in its pre-shikai state to withstand Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho in bankai form.

I think ep.332 is a good spot to break up the arc and I'll pick up again next weekend. I'm trying to adhere to schedule and finish the summer series so I can start on the fall series next week. Hopefully I won't be as annoyed by the further settings and development next weekend.

What? How come I'm only starting the arc today when I already watched ep.342? Because I couldn't wait to see Ichigo x RukiaYou're not supposed to notice... *casts Nifuramu* Be gone!

こんなの絶対おかしいよ

While Region 1 anime is a lot cheaper compare to Region 2 ones, anime series are still at least twice as much as regular TV series or movies in North America. And among the anime distributors, Aniplex USA is no doubt the most notorious for its expensive price tags.

It's pretty much common sense that Aniplex USA's prices are at least twice of other anime series. That's the only reason why I haven't bought the DVDs for the very highly acclaimed Durarara. I would definitely love to own the series, but not for that price. 後悔なんて、あるわけない。

When Neko-tan and Magic Frog were talking about the North American license for Puella Magi Madoka Magica but forgetting who the distributor was, I recalled telling Neko-tan before that it would likely have nice packaging but be expensive. As soon as I repeated that description, I immediately re-linked the forgotten name to be Aniplex USA.

So with much anxiety and worry (for my wallet), I considered the possible release options and waited for the news. 夢の中で逢った、ような……

The verdict is here. The 12-episode series will be released in three parts in the limited BD/DVD edition, and regular BD and DVD versions.

Recent trend in the limited BD releases in Japan often include extras such as soundtracks, commentaries, booklets, etc. North American releases usually don't get any of this due to copyrights and labour cost reasons. I was quite shocked to learn that the limited editions of Madoka come with the soundtracks (no commentary tracks, though, and all other extras are negligible IMO)! 奇跡も、魔法も、あるんだよ。それはとっても嬉しいなって～

But I under-estimated Aniplex USA. あたしって、ほんとバカ。

Even for the regular BD version, it comes to US$10 per episode before tax. そんなの、あたしが許さない！ I'm not going to hope for reasonable prices from Aniplex USA again... もう誰にも頼らない！

本当の気持ちと向き合えますか? Yes, which is why I'm NOT going to buy this. While Madoka is interesting for a mahou shoujo show and I think QB is really cute, it's not high up on my list to deserve the big investment.

Luckily, Neko-tan pointed out an alternative: Region 3 BD. There probably won't be any of the BD extras, but the price tag will be within reach. 最後に残った道しるべ！ It's also translated by Haniwa! I haven't followed up on Haniwa's blog and stuff for many years, but I know I can always trust the quality of his work. わたしの、最高の友達～

So now all I need to worry about is the Region 1 release for Fate/Zero. Having seen the price tags of Madoka, I won't be taken off guard when the time comes for Fate/Zero. もう何も恐くない。 orz

PS. If you watched Madoka, you'd recognize the Japanese phrases randomly inserted throughout the post to be the 12 episode titles for the series. They weren't planned at first. I just felt like putting them all in after I wrote in the post title. Some of them don't really fit, but... meh! XD

佐咲紗花 LIVE Link to You 01

Since the Flash player kept crashing on me, I decided to abandon the 9-hr RO World Championship broadcast and switched to the 2-hr Sasaki Sayaka live.

The only other time where I had heard her was in Animax Musix Fall 2010, where I took note of her.

The live took place in a small club house setting with a live band, and the majority of the songs were anime song covers. I am only familiar with some of them, but that actually freed me from too much comparison , and I was able to just enjoy the performance as is (btw, she's definitely not as good as some of the original singers, but she's better than some others in lives).

The special secret guest was Hydain. I used to listen to him on Niconico where he arranged and added lyrics to game BGMs in his real voice and falsetto. Haven't kept tabs on him once he started writing songs for people. I did, however, recognize his voice in the live action ED sequence of Nyanpire.

I think Sasaki really has potentials. Her natural pitch is on the higher side so she appeared a little stretched when doing lower keys, but she really shines when it comes to powerful high voices (again demonstrated with IN MY DREAM here). The fact that she was able to do the solo live for almost two hours straight, except for a band solo track while she changed and two very very brief intro and talks, also speaks volumes of her energy level and drive.

All in all, it was an enjoyable broadcast. It's a little regrettable that the encore part wasn't shown, where she sang the much anticipated Zzz. But I've never heard that song so it wasn't as much a let down for me as for all the people who left comments about it.

Next up in schedule to watch tomorrow: the 3-hr Niconico Dance Master 3. I quite enjoyed the 3-hr Niconico Dance Master 2, so I look forward to this one!

Premium membership is dirt cheap when compared to cable TV. Who needs TV when there's Niconico. XD

紅茶入れってみた、を見ました

I am in the middle of viewing a past broadcast of 『Do★NICO!』ニコニコ​本社で「やってみた」しよう！ on Niconico, where they invite people to drop by the main office to dance or sing.

It was held at the TEA ROOM 2525 cafe inside the office building, and when there was no guest, they just grabbed some of the staff off the cafe floor to introduce them. Apparently, Niconico users are hired to work at the cafe, which provides them an environment to create their work as well.

And Nagare-san demonstrated how to make good tasting black tea from tea bags in very simple steps. XD

Here's how:
- Warm the tea cup. This makes sure there won't be a temperature drop for the tea (he had hot water in the cup and made sure the whole cup was warmed before dumping out the water).
- Puff up the tea bag to the point that the tea leaves "swim", as described fittingly by a user comment, freely inside the tea bag. This ensures that the flavour comes out nicely.
- Pour the hot water, then slowly put in the tea bag. This also helps to get the flavour out evenly (he later explained that if the tea bag is placed in first before pouring the hot water, the tea leaves might clump under the force and thus preventing all the flavour to come out).
- Cover the tea cup fully for roughly one minute. The time depends on the size and type of tea leaves; larger leaves may require up to one and a half minute, whereas smaller leaves would be good with one minute (he used a simple alarm to sound in one minute).
- Remove the cover and slowly take out the tea bag. The black tea should appear to be two layers in the tea cup.
- Gently stir the cup once with the tea spoon to mix up the tea.
- Et voilà!

Watching this kinda makes me wanna make my own tea bag black tea. Maybe I should go get some black tea and actually plug in my electric water kettle. XD

ルキア

Just finished watching Bleach ep.342 and I felt like crying (but only teared up). What am I going to do without Rukia for at least the next 13 episodes or so? （つд｀）

The filler arc drastically cheapens and weakens the impact of the arrancars saga closure for the anime, but this Rukia-focus episode preps the merge back to the main plot somewhat in terms of character emotions. I even squealed when Ichigo held Rukia's hand while teaching her to ice skate! XD The animation art for the episode is also unusually good for very long series like Bleach. Rukia's last cut is so beautiful and heartrending. （つд｀）

The slide show during the ED is a great touch to end, illustrating the interactions between Rukia and Ichigo thus far, as well as key scenes when they saved and supported each other.

I was quite melancholy throughout the episode knowing that this would be the last time I see Rukia for a good many months... But ecstatic that she's re-appeared in the manga!! ( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )

最後まで見守りします！絶対二人で幸せになるんだぞ！

ねんどろいどぷち ボーカロイド#01

去年入手了一套ねんどろいどぷち ボーカロイド#01，沒地方擺就一直封印在盒子裡沒開。不久前弄到一個書架，可以拿來擺設，就利用週末的時候開箱了！

照片？等我有空再説吧。房間只有一盞床頭櫃上的小燈，窗簾又是萬年不開，光線不足，要照也照不好。想看專業無惡搞的彩色見本版請到アキバHOBBY。什麼？我照的話當然會惡搞。XD

這套一箱十二盒，樣式是十種普通版加一隻隱藏版。之前買別的整套盒玩，多出來的一盒都是空盒塞空間而已，但是這套似乎是隨機多一隻普通版，所以我手上是兩隻亞北ネル。這種東西毎隻的塗裝跟接縫等會有些許差異，等於是靠運氣決定手上東西的品質跟能動度。介紹按照開盒順序，請搭配上面網站的照片食用～

MEIKO
可愛的姉貴！右手那個姿勢根本是在拿酒瓶！沒附小道具有點遺憾。XD 背後的支架有一點鬆，需要調整才能站直。

咲音メイコ
更可愛版的超偶像風姉貴！這才是正確的キラっ☆手勢啊～～～ 背後支架很緊，可以隨意騰空增加躍動感。

鏡音リン
擺腰的動作很可愛！但是左手很鬆，非常容易掉，然後背後支架也很鬆，需要毎次調。

KAITO
我其實最期待的就是大哥，可是衣服塗裝比別隻劣得很明顯，而且頭髮前後完全合不攏，側面根本不能看。擺姿因為手的形状受到比較多限制，還好背後的圍巾可以弄成有風的樣子～ 但是圍巾的洞太小塞不進去，用刀片刮過後才插進去。背後接支架的洞開的太低，挺直的話會整隻站在stand的後半部導致不穩。到底是對大哥有什麼怨恨…

亞北ネル
吐舌的小惡魔風！這箱裡除了隱藏版唯二不是空手的一隻，但是右手的手機是一體的，所以其實也不算是小道具。馬尾超難接，而且折進去的地方裡有一小塊黑黑的，不過因為折角還算深，大部分角度都不會看到。應該也能用刀片刮掉就是。後來開出來的那隻就很乾淨，留在原包裝裡沒拆。

はちゅねミク
全關節可動隱藏版！完美的治癒呆臉！還附了有拿葱的右手可換！而且雙馬尾可以拿來當飛行道具！ XD

鏡音レン
跟リン一樣的臉跟姿勢！但是打開以後我非常確信塗裝的人對男性角色很沒愛。一樣是雙子，レン的耳機模很粗糙，衣服的塗裝瑕疵也很多。背後的支架的洞稍微低了一點，不過姿勢騰空比較看不出來。

初音ミク
不愧是招牌娘，質量跟存在感十足，而且還附兩根葱！背後的支架怎麼樣也插不進去，但是雙馬尾站得超級穩！不過這樣就不能換髮型了，有點殘念。去年給猫的單盒就是抽到這隻。

弱音ハク
沒怎麼在注意亞種，但是這隻有萌點！因為是中空造型所以身體上下接縫的地方有點明顯，還是很可愛～

サイハテミク
造型一看就知道是離別主題，原曲是pop requiem風的破兩百萬播放次數的名VOCALOID曲。雖然曲子不是我的菜，但是這隻衣服的質感很不錯。沒什麼惡搞的空間，礙於原曲主題我也不打算惡搞就是。因為雙馬尾一定得垂下，就一樣沒接支架自然站立了。

巡音ルカ
莊重的氣質大姐！不止看上去很有份量，拿在手上也覺得比較重大姐妳是吃太多鮪魚還是章魚燒嗎。擺姿因為受手跟頭髮的造型所限，沒什麼可以玩的。

話説這套有海賊版，而且品質還真是不可思議地差。這是要騙誰 orz

雖然不是正式的粘土人，不過我能了解為什麼這個坑只要一打開就會永無止盡地拖人下去。真的非常可愛又可玩。然後我剛才不小心看到這個，正在考慮中（爆

カピバラ

I first saw them in Gundam ep.29 but have since kinda forgot about them.

Then I saw them again today in Kamisama no Memochou ep.5 and wondered what they're called (my memory fails me so much it's sad). Luckily, the name of the animal was spelled out so I could easily throw it into my trusty friend Google.

Capybara is most cute!! XDDDD

Wikipedia, as usual, contains a lot of information on the animal. But this site is more comprehensive and easy to read. Go read up on this very cute rodent!

On a side note, I want to visit the Ueno Zoo~~~

厄介な事になった

It's a well known fact that I hate going to the dentist, with a passion and good reasons. Another just popped up today. Well, it's got nothing to do with the actual dental procedures and tools that I detaste so much, but it'll make future visits more painful.

I might be in the beginning stage of gum recession for one of the upper teeth. As a result, that tooth has become more sensitive.

They speculated the problem may had stemmed from me brushing too hard. I shall get softer tooth brush and see if it helps. Not sure how effective the whatever agent they applied today is and how long it lasts (it was very expensive for the little bit applied; I nearly coughed up a Sir Borden orz), but hopefully my gum stays where it is now and stops shrinking.

On a side note, there is an Apple Store in the mall where the dental clinic is located. I made a point to drop by to see how the locals are remembering Steve Jobs.

One of the four glass walls lining the front of the store was made into a mini-shrine where people could leave flowers and stick post-its on the glass wall. The mall wasn't open yet so I was able to read the many messages in peace. He had definitely touched and changed many people's lives. Again, R.I.P.

おい

Went voting after work today.

My voting booth was at a school near my building. There were candidate banners on the lawn leading up to the school ground, and there were big VOTE signs directing where to go to vote.

The voting process itself was pretty quick and painless. I was in and out within in less than five minutes.

As I opened volume 9 of Toradora to read and headed toward the sidewalk lining in front of the school, I overheard the conversation between two of the (probably high school) students that were playing near the side entrance for the gym where the voting took place.

In a tone implying that he had suddenly attained enlightenment, student A learned that there was a voting at the school! And all those people they had seen going in and out of the entrance were there to vote. He then proceeded to ask student B if the whole province of Ontario was voting.

All right. I admit that I'm very very out of the loop when it comes to current events or any kind of news 99% of the time, and I only knew of the election because I got the notice of registration. But if my school is acting as a voting booth for an election, I'm sure I would know, either from the school's announcement or my friends. Not to mention there were three big VOTE signs within 10 metres of that entrance where they were fooling around.

I thought there wouldn't be people even more oblivious than me. I'm surprised and worried that I was wrong.

まあ、我大概是最沒立場碎碎念的人就是。

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

I have never owned anything Apple, but I do think Steve Jobs was an inspirational leader in the industry. He had been mocked in many aspects, from his words to the way he dressed, but that's how much attention the world paid to him.

I don't know enough about Jobs so I'm not going to even try, but I will always remember him as the man who made the Apple today.

R.I.P.

CØDE:BREAKER

There was news last week of the possible adaptation of this manga series into an anime, though it's not clear whether it'll be a TV series or OVA as of yet.

If it's going to be a TV series, my guess is that it'll probably be 2-season, ending with the Seeker arc by volume 10. BTW, I only have the first six volumes and read up to vol.11 so far...

I was excited and worried at the same time when I read the news. Excited because I quite like the manga and worried that bad animation/casting would ruin the anime. Samurai Deeper Kyo is a case in point: despite having an excellent seiyuu cast, the lame plot change and cheap animation made it a meh series. I try to buy the manga volumes when I can, but I have no desire to get the anime.

There's no point pondering on what can go wrong, when nothing has been decided or announced for the project. Shounen series usually don't get the quality treatment when it comes to anime production, but at least I can daydream about the seiyuu cast.

Here's what I hope for the cast:
桜小路桜　-　折笠富美子 or 高垣彩陽
大神零　-　宮野真守
刻　-　木村良平 or 森久保祥太郎
平家将臣　-　神谷浩史 or 日野聡
天宝院遊騎　-　福山潤
八王子泪　-　桑島法子
人見　-　中村悠一 or 鈴木達央
捜シ者　-　小西克幸 or 諏訪部順一
雪比奈　-　杉田智和 or 中村悠一
虹次　-　中井和哉 or 谷山紀章
日和　-　浅野真澄 or 佐藤利奈
リリィ　-　植田佳奈
時雨　-　浪川大輔 or 入野自由
渋谷　-　子安武人 or 大川透
壱49　-　川澄綾子 or 伊藤静
神田　-　遠藤綾 or 田中理恵
藤原　-　井上和彦 or 関智一
春人　-　櫻井孝宏 or 鈴村健一
藤原寧々音　-　沢城みゆき or 坂本真綾
桜小路剛徳　-　置鮎龍太郎
桜小路ユキ　-　釘宮理恵 or 大原さやか
クラスメートたち　-　保志総一朗、吉野裕行、柿原徹也、下野紘、小野大輔、花澤香菜、名塚佳織、小林由美子

This is probably outside the scope even for a 2-season anime series, but if this character ever gets voiced, I'd want this.
コード：エンペラー　-　石田彰 or 若本規夫

まあ、like I said, this is just a daydream list. It'll be far from what the actual list will be, but I hope some of these names appear when the project is confirmed.

老化

For the past week, my internet connection has been very flaky. Images often don't load properly and my downloads are incomplete a lot of the times. And if I run any torrent, I'm guaranteed to be kicked offline within minutes. Although my internet connection would be restored shortly after I close the torrent client, it's still a hassle.

Neko-tan pointed out today it's likely the internet modem getting old and not able to handle the traffic when there's too many simultaneous connections and would halt the whole thing. Unfortunately, it's easy to just go into a store and buy a modem in LA, but not here. I'm considering getting a new modem when I switch ISP, but that won't happen for some time yet.

In the mean time, I've toned down the maximum connection setting for the torrent client in half, and only running a single queue at a time, leaving the bulk of the queue for when I go to sleep. It's helped a lot, but still annoying.

As a result of the unstable week, I wasn't able to utilize my already unlimited bandwidth effectively. Such as waste...

Fate/Zero ep.1

Just finished watching the 47:40-long 1st episode of Fate/Zero on Niconico. Unfortunately, the promised Chinese subtitle did not happen due to a delay in delivery to ensure quality. I settled for English sub, but it wasn't as easy to follow given the sentence structures in the two languages. I ended up ignoring the subtitle a lot of the times to better understanding what's being said. orz

Not gonna spoil the story itself, but it looks very promising and likely complete. I'll refrain from acquiring and reading the original novels before finishing the anime. I do want to comment on the high quality of the animation by ufotable, though. Really sleek and smooth. I'm definitely getting the blu-ray for it when it comes out in North America.

The only thing is that it's under Aniplex, which means it'll have a nice packaging, unavailable in Canada and quite expensive. The only Aniplex-distributed products I have so far are the two Gurren Lagann movies that I got at AX and RightStuf... (I want Durarara & Blue Exorcist... *sniff*)

The music by Kajiura Yuki wasn't too obvious, but that may be because this is only the first episode which introduces most of the main actors. I'm sure her music will shine through once things start to roll and the tension rises.

In comparison, Kawai Kenji's music was quite prominent in Fate/stay night TV, but that one pretty much jumped right into action to accommodate the game content into the TV series (and still left out so much...)

Since Niconico only shows 480p, I'll still be grabbing the 720p for it, the default treatment I give to the one honmei series for every season. Hopefully starting next week, the Chinese sub will make it in time on Niconico so I won't have to endure the English sub.

Fate/EXTRA

I was browsing through Amazon.ca when I saw this. After confirming that it will have the Japanese voice tracks, I placed the pre-order immediately.

While searching for confirmation on the audio option, it seems that Aksys will be releasing Fate/EXTRA and Hakuouki with Japanese audio only. I didn't see Hakuouki listed on Amazon.ca, so I thought I'd check the Aksys website to see if there's more information.

These games are not yet released and are not under the Game section on the site, and I had to perform in-site searches. Hakuouki rendered 0 result, so I guess it'll be some time before it comes out. One of the results for Fate/EXTRA, on the other hand, pointed out something that made me want to say 「卑怯な！」

An exclusive bonus item, a 20-page Fate/the Fact booklet that inspects the Fate/EXTRA world (translated from the same Japanese pre-order bonus), is available for online and in-store pre-orders with Gamestop.ca (online only for the US). Nothing for Amazon orders as usual...

There's a handling fee for online orders on Gamestop.ca, so I'll drop by the local EB Games store tomorrow after work to pre-order the game. Then I'll cancel the Amazon.ca pre-order.

As for Hakuouki, even though it'll be in full Japanese audio, I'm still debating whether to get it, or try to get an imported version. Since the whole game is centred around historic events with lots of traditional language usage, I'm leaning toward the Japanese version with the original text. English subs work much less effectively in a traditional Japanese setting.

カレーの錬金術師

This isn't actually an experiment but more of an extension/improvement of the 2nd one.

Ingredients involved: curry, minced pork, carrot, blue berries, water, vanilla ice cream; yogourt drink

Steps:
- Pan fry the minced pork a bit so it's not in one giant meat ball
- Throw everything else into the pot and let boil in low heat
- Watch a few episodes of anime
- Add ice cream after everything was nicely mixed together
- Stir and done

Result: Success!

The overall taste is slightly on the sweet side, but not overpowering the curry. The 2nd experiment had grape tomatoes and therefore was a bit more sour. The two scoops of ice cream might had contributed to the flavour as well. XD

By the time I turned off the stove, the curry looked kinda thick. So I brought a small bottle of yogourt drink just in case and added it to the curry+rice lunch box before heating it up in the microwave.

Not only did it gave the rice a hint of flavour, it went very well with the blue berries. It was very good. :3

Although my cube-mate complained that my hybrid curry gave off a strange smell...

Unfortunately, that was the last of my blue berry stock so I won't be able to reproduce the recipe for a while. Unless I want to explore those PC frozen fruit bags...

On a side whim, I think I will give myself the title of Curry Alchemist (and changed the title of this post accordingly from Curry Experiment #4), since I like to play with different materials to make that pot of gold. XD

初Dr Pepper

This thing's been around for years, but it has typically been under the radar with so many more well known competitions. I had always wondered about its taste, but most people that tried it back in my high school days claimed it's for the eccentrics.

Apparently it tastes like Taiwanese (Asian?) cold syrups, so a lot of people from Taiwan dislike the drink.

But the drink has made its name in recent anime series, namely Steins;Gate and Kamisama no Memochou (and maybe the upcoming Persona 4), and anime fans around the world are drawn to pick up the drink.

I thought I'd give it a try as well when I spotted it today.

The first sip did kinda remind me of the cold syrups I used to smell but refused to take when I was little. But I got used to the smell and taste quickly after a few more sips.

It kinda lost its lustre after a few hours when it became lukewarm, and just went down like cherry-flavoured coke. Not as good as when it's still fresh, but it's somewhat unavoidable 'cause that's usually how long it takes for me to finish one can of pop...

All in all, I don't find it disgusting like my classmates used to describe it. I can see how some people would get addicted to its taste. While not quite your usual coke, the cherry flavour is still easy on the taste buds and even soothing at times.

On a side note, I scanned the can and noticed that the caffeine content was 41mg/355ml. According to Coca Cola's website and a quick calculation, the Classic is about 34mg/355ml. I don't drink coffee so I don't know how much those amount to, but I couldn't help but think that maybe the slightly higher caffeine content in Dr Pepper gives people more of a kick, and as a result leaves the impression that brain-using people run off it more?

Although I'm leaning toward the feelings I got back in my high school days, that people think it's for the eccentrics. Mad Scientist Hououin Kyouma and NEET Detective Alice should be proof enough. XD

まおゆう魔王勇者

Neko-tan pointed me to a BBS thread before which showed the first chapter of two versions of the manga. While the content was intriguing, I didn't quite care for the character design. So I kinda forgot about the series after that.

Neko-tan pointed me to another BBS thread today which showed a few pages from different volumes and served as a quick introduction to one of the manga versions. While I still don't care for the character design very much (except for the Emma head maid XD), my interest was piqued.

So I set out to search for more information on the manga.

And I found that the original was actually an impromptu work posted on the 2ch VIP board between September to November in 2009. It's written in a play style, with a label indicating the location of the scene, followed by the character's lines. There's no names, just their caste. i.e. Hero, Maou, Head Maid, Female Knight, Young Businessman, etc.

The popularity and the original medium format prompted the publication project, with four different manga versions by four different manga artists beside the original text version. The one Neko-tan introduced me to follows the canon and is apparently the most popular amongst the four.

The manga makes it easier to get into the story and digest the economics, sociology and agriculture elements that make up a major portion of the revolution started by the Maou and the Hero. I haven't found the manga yet, but I'll keep trying when I have time.

In the meantime, the first chapter is available as a free download on the project website. The rest (just the first volume, maybe?) can be read online in their original format here.

鳳凰院凶真風自己紹介・おまけ

岡部倫太郎ではない。俺の名前は神代帝だ！
紅蓮の炎で焼き尽くす地獄の道化師とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
You'd have thought that they'd at least set the default for 岡部倫太郎 as 鳳凰院凶真. XD

狂気の科学者ではない。俺の名前は天衣法泉だ！
異次元より並行世界を眺める能力者とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
Mad Scientist is over the character limit, so I settled for a translation. It's rather fitting. XD

Miyano Mamoru's Okarin is most excellent. Who's better to introduce his own characters than his character?

So here's some of Miyano's roles that I've seen, minus the Okarin above, Hououin Kyouma-style!
*Beware of character spoilers*

楽園を目指す狼ではない。俺の名前は黒炎龍鉄心斎だ！
邪気眼の恩恵をこの身に受ける現代のネクロマンサーとは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(WOLF'S RAIN)

Ｌ計画で無駄死にしたではない。俺の名前は闇舞傀儡だ！
近代のオーパーツを求めて旅する永遠の探求者とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(蒼穹のファフナー RIGHT OF LEFT)

自称ホスト部のキングではない。俺の名前は冴島刃だ！
朽ちる体を甦らせるための超古代科学を求める考古学者とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(桜蘭高校ホスト部)

新世界の神ではない。俺の名前は犬神剣心だ！
右腕に封印された呪われし力を解放すべく闇の契約を結ぶ者とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(DEATH NOTE)

狂った魔女ストーカーではない。俺の名前は暗黒清姫だ！
人類の頂点に立つべき男とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(エル・カザド)

吸血鬼であるハンターではない。俺の名前は乱道蛍だ！
万物を創生する禁忌の力を振るう錬金術師とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(ヴァンパイア騎士)

首だけの吸血鬼ではない。俺の名前は神蔵玄武だ！
禁忌の扉を開き、闇の底より這い出た終焉の理（ことわり）とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(黒塚 KUROZUKA)

本名は松太郎ではない。俺の名前はT・H・ジャスティンだ！
これまでに費やした財は底知れず積みゲーマスターとは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(Skip Beat!)

ガンダムではない。俺の名前は魔界王ダークだ！
豪腕から繰り出される一撃で無人の島を破壊しつくす男とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(機動戦士ガンダム00)

左右対称こそすべてではない。俺の名前は天地神火だ！
立ちふさがる全ての敵を刀剣1本でなぎ倒す最強のブレードマスターとは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(Soul Eater)

世界を滅ぼすではない。俺の名前は太陽王ホライズンだ！
月夜にのみ真の姿を見せる儚き生命を紡ぐ者とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(World Destruction 世界撲滅の六人)

１話だけの豪華通行人ではない。俺の名前は闇舞傀儡だ！
孤島にて迷い人を招きし魅惑のセイレーンとは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(学園黙示録 HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD)

銀河美少年ではない。俺の名前は三日月朧だ！
絶対不可侵と語り継がれた深淵に足を踏み入れた原初の帰還者とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(STAR DRIVER 輝きのタクト)

わざと人の恋を邪魔ではない。俺の名前は夢現摂理だ！
時空の狭間で存在する伝説の神とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(君に届け 2ND SEASON)

歌王子ではない。俺の名前は闇色紅麗亜だ！
人々に希望を与え、世界を救う機人とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(うたの☆プリンスさまっ♪ マジLOVE1000%)

犬耳に召喚された勇者ではない。俺の名前は闇坂時雨だ！
新時代の英知をマスターした「ニュータイプ」とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
(DOG DAYS)

BTW, I finally managed to get all four future gadgets and was awarded with the frame for the @games Selphy avatar! Waiting for the next S.G. project to be announced~

ファイナルファンタジーXIII-2

Just watched the trailers. ちょっと微妙。

Since it'll probably be a long time before I can get a copy of the Japanese version (almost got it for XIII, but it didn't work out), I'm not going to delve into the game play mechanics and stuff shown in the trailers. Just the characters.

Lightning's new design is pretty nice, but her beautiful features are cloaked with a thin veil of melancholy as she had failed to protect the future. Even though she's still a key character in XIII-2, I'm somewhat sad that she's not the protagonist.

The protagonist, Noel Kreiss, looks like he time-slipped from FF X with the costume and accessories, but better designed than the blitz ball uniforms. XD I patted myself on the back when I recognized him as being voice by Kishio Daisuke.

I can't determine who カイアス and ユール are, but I think I've heard their voices before, especially ユール's...

The heroine for XIII-2 seems to be Serah, whom I don't care much for. Serah appears to get help from a Moogle. Ah, how I miss them Moogles! :D

When Hope appeared, I had to wonder how many years it's been since XIII. Serah didn't seem to have grown at all. With the recent boom of Kaji playing lead roles in various series, I'm tired of hearing him again, to tell the truth. But to Kaji's credit, I think he did a good job transiting from the youth in XIII to young adult in XIII-2.

Snow... went from the hero leader of a group of rebel ヤンキー, to a wild ヤンキー himself with a really really bad hairdo. Put your hat back on, man! orz

Omake:
Since XIII-2 is a sequel, there's a special site that tells the story of XIII (with spoiler warnings everywhere for those who haven't finished the game). I was quite delighted when I saw the sprites in the character page, and squealed when I saw the XIII time line. The sprites move! Reminds me so much of Final Fantasy VI. Ah, the good old days. （つд｀）

鳳凰院凶真風自己紹介

@games often have collaboration with various anime series, and one of the current projects is Steins;Gate.

While the character costume gacha for the @games Selphy avatars require actual purchase of the @games currency, there are other free events as well.

I've been so far unsuccessful in developing the fourth future gadget in order to obtain the background frame for the Selphy, but I've accumulated 8 cases of burnt Juicy Fried No.1 and multiples of the other three future gadgets. orz

As the title indicates, there's a tool on the Steins;Gate page that lets you input up to 10 full-size characters.

Here's some results:
サルキではない。俺の名前は厳島天道だ！
消えた魂を求めて救いのために旅を続ける者とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！

◯◯◯ではない。俺の名前は煌大地だ！
雷鳴を呼び、嵐を巻き起こす平成の快男児とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
I hid the name I put in here 'cause it's only used with my long-time friends online. But the description is pretty cool, so I included it here. XD

スライムではない。俺の名前は聖帝神威だ！
疾風の如く現れて、獲物を仕留めるハンターとは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
And to think that slime is the weakest monster in the Dragon Quest series! XD

ただの人間ではない。俺の名前は九十九蠍だ！
20XX年に開発された異空間探索人型（プロトタイプ）試作機445号とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
This is a really awesome ochi XD

幻や幻影ではない。俺の名前は越前守羅刹だ！
無限の夢を語りし星詠み人とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！

負け犬ではない。俺の名前は闇坂時雨だ！
先の革命を成したレジスタンスの長にして、新国家の三英雄の1人とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！

片翼の天使ではない。俺の名前は神代大河だ！
見るもの全てを暗黒に落とす無限カタストロフィとは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
お前はセフィロスだろうｗｗｗ

勇者ではない。俺の名前は獣道狼牙だ！
怨霊、悪霊、地縛霊でも何でも来い。死せる者を知り尽くした伝説の陰陽師とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
Hero had a class change. XD

大魔王ではない。俺の名前は夢ヶ原小鳩だ！
銀河を突き抜ける流星群を率いた宇宙戦士とは俺のことだ！ククク、フゥハハハ！
The demon king also had a class change. XD

The possibilities seem endless! This is too fun! I can just sit here and think up all sorts of things to try all day!

Expect more to come in the coming days! ( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )

2011年 秋アニメ

Yes, it hasn't been that long since I posted the three-episode thoughts on the summer season. But the fall season is already around the corner. orz

As usual, the pre-air impressions are based on the introduction video on Niconico. Beware of the very long post.

ギルティクラウン
- Production I.G
- OP and character design by supercell, music by Sawano!
- story doesn't seem special, but the animation looks great
- pretty good seiyuu cast (although I'm tired of Kaji being the lead again)
= Watching

UN-GO
(Mizushima showed a short (15sec?) video clip at his panel at AX this year and refused to even tell us the name of the series as it was before the official website went live. He also specifically asked for no filming nor photos as it was the first time a clip about the series was ever shown. There's no spoken lines and only showed four characters (main character, mysterious child, young girl, serious looking lady) in what looked like a party scene. My impression, as I related to Neko-tan, was that it gave a 黒執事(dark; master & akuma partner) x 逆転裁判(detective/lawyer-like debates) feel, and it felt like BONES.)
- and it is BONES
- and it does appear to be about a detective and his partner who had fallen from grace
- the seiyuu playing the 4 main characters are unfamiliar to me, but they don't sound too bad
= Watching

ペルソナ4
- never played the series nor even finished Trinity Soul, but I assume the Persona theme is similar
- the story for P4 is supposedly pretty good
- battle visuals look nice, and the seiyuu cast is on the heavy side
= Watching

ラストエグザイル -銀翼のファム-
(The 1st episode was shown at AX this year. I even watched the whole Last Exile series at Neko-tan's so I could go to the showing. But I was trapped in the line for Morikawa's autograph that day and couldn't get out in time. The rest of the gang all went and thought it was good... T__T)
- GONZO's attempt to rise again from the ash...ｗｗｗ
- OP by Sakamoto Maaya!
- seiyuu on the heavy side
= Watching

境界線上のホライゾン
- Kawakami's works seem to have detailed settings and good reviews, so the story should be fine
- ED1 by Ceui!
- average visuals; not too pleased that Chihara is the heroine, but otherwise heavy seiyuu cast
= Watching

Fate/Zero
- 本命 of the fall season!
- original novel by Urobuchi of Nitro+, music by Kajiura, animation by ufotable
- very heavy seiyuu cast
= Watching

僕は友達が少ない
- story looks average, another harem light novel adaptation
- visuals and animation are average
- seiyuu cast not bad
= Probably watching

ベン・トー
- I can't really tell what the story is about...
- visuals look all right
- kinda meh on the female seiyuu cast but like the two male seiyuu
= Probably watching

未来日記
- can't tell what the story is about, but it looks dark
- the visuals are from the OAD so I can't tell how it'll look for the anime series
- meh female seiyuu cast but nice male seiyuu cast
= Probably watching

C3 -シーキューブ-
- story looks like plain moe loli type, though there's comment saying it's battle type
- visuals are average
- don't care too much for the seiyuu cast
= Might trial watch

真剣で私に恋しなさい！！
- adaptation of the original エロゲー from the company that did きみある
- same world setting as きみある, female characters are all strong fighters
- meh female seiyuu cast but pretty heavy male seiyuu cast
= Watching

マケン姫っ！
- I think story is out of the picture when they started showing panty shots in the PV...
- bad visuals and mundane character design
- don't care too much for the seiyuu cast
= Not watching

ましろ色シンフォニー
- another エロゲー anime, this time in a regular school setting
- visuals are not bad, and there seems to be a somewhat cute feline mascot
- don't care too much for the seiyuu cast
= Not watching

侵略！？イカ娘
- 2nd season of a great comedy squid show
- the PV tries to fool ppl into thinking it's about alien invasion with the BGM... でゲソ! XD
= Watching

WORKING'!!
- 2nd season of a great comedy work (pun intended)
- judging from the cast list, there seems to be new characters
= Watching

灼眼のシャナ III Final
- 3rd and final season of a good fantasy battle series
- I need to finish the 2nd season first... orz
= Watching

たまゆら 〜hitotose〜
- story appears to be about daily lives of girls
- all right visuals, don't care too much for the seiyuu cast
- will be watching out for the OP by Sakamoto Maaya
= Not watching

世界一初恋2
= BL却下

機動戦士ガンダムAGE
- there's no new info in the PV except the ED by Kuribayashi
- are they keeping mum because of the raving negative reviews they received after the press release?
- ...I don't want to elaborate on the silliness of the designs
= Can't believe I am only going to trial watch a Gundam series...

ファイ・ブレイン 神のパズル
- story looks a bit formulaic but still somewhat interesting
- ugly character design but the animation itself is not bad
- pretty heavy seiyuu cast, should be hot-blooded
= Watching

バトルスピリッツ 覇王
- treat it as any card game anime
= Not watching

島んちゅMiRiKa
- 企画：沖縄県観光商工部産業政策課(?!)
- 2nd season(!) of the 5-min shorts aired only in Okinawa
- revolves around a group of young kids in Okinawa
= Watching, if it's even available outside Okinawa

＜--no PV available for the rest, just one image & staff/cast info--＞
君と僕
- comedy about a group of 5 high school guys
- not BL
- seiyuu cast not bad
= Watching

ちはやふる
- based on the shoujo manga about traditional Japanese playing cards karuta
- don't know who the main girl is, but the two guys are pretty good
- might just treat it somewhat like Skip Beat
= Probably watching

戦国☆パラダイス ー極ー
- judging from the comments, nobody knows what this is
- Google only told me it's a mobile game, that's it
- only know a few of the seiyuu in the cast list
= Might trial watch

バクマン。2
- 2nd season of a great manga marketing work
= Watching

HUNTER×HUNTER
- complete remake of the anime with a new cast (I'll so miss Takeuchi's Gon)
- likely a full-year series
= Watching

デジモンクロスウォーズ 時を駆ける少年ハンターたち
- I didn't know they're still making Digimon...
= Not watching

クロスファイト ビーダマン
- looks similar to Digimon
= Not watching

Summary (total 29)
- Watching: 19
- Undecided: 3
- Not watching: 7

Hmm, that's actually a lot fewer shows than I expected. Maybe the person wasn't able to acquire information for all of them? 18 full-episode series + one 5-min shorts is manageable for one season, I guess. But it'll be a tough choice deciding the top shows.

Now, let me go finish more summer season series...

Omake:
Gundam UC 4 blu-ray comes out on Dec 2. I hope Gundam The Origin project comes out before AGE explodes...