うかつだった… でも、まあいいや

For the past 13 weeks, I had diligently participated with the group that follows the broadcast of Ginga Densetsu WEED on Niconico. Since there's only a few episodes left, I thought I'd be able to keep this up until the end.

But my mind was on a certain manga series instead of my usual diet of anime for the past two, three days, and I forgot about the weekly broadcast and missed the episode. orz

From the description of the episode, it seems to focus on Hero taking revenge for his father, so I guess it's not too too bad to miss it.....

The manga series that I had fixed my focus on for the past few days was Iryu -Team Medical Dragon-, not to be confused with the Japanese drama which only very very very loosely bases on the manga.

I started reading the manga many years ago but my progress was always sporadic. Chomping through 25 volumes in 2.5 days was somewhat intense, especially given that medical terms in Japanese looked more foreign to me, but I'm glad for the closure. A bit disappointed that there's no concrete romantic development between Asada and Katou (my favourite character) after Asada left (yes, I do have some form of romantic cells, usually for supporting certain pairings), but satisfied that everyone was saved and strode forward with hope at the end. That kinda made up for the missed WEED episode, I guess... :|

お題日記

(This was written to participate in the special campaign for the Final Fantasy VI Complete Collection on the Square Enix Members site. If my post is deemed valid, I'll get a special custom FF VI theme for the PSP~)

Ah, Final Fantasy VI...

I still remember playing the North American Final Fantasy II, and wondering why II was on the SNES while III was on the Famicom. Only later did I realize the North American FF II is actually FF VI. It's even dumbed down to make it easier for the North American players, too.

When news of FF VI on the DS came out, I happily snatched it. Of course, since there's voice acting, I had to play the Japanese version and not the North American version. Although I had played the Japanese version of FF III before, I did not understand a word of Japanese then and had to rely entirely on the strategy guide. Needless to say, I am quite happy to now be able to enjoy FF VI as is with all the Japanese text and voice acting.

Frankly, I don't quite remember the ending of FF VI from SNES and am still working on FF VI for the DS. All I remember was that I was into the pairing of Rydia x Edge more than 10 years ago. Rydia was, and still is, my favourite character from FF VI. XD

I was disappointed when I learned that the After Years was for the Japanese mobiles only when it came out. But I guess there is hope for me to play it now that it's ported to the PSP! Can't wait to get my hands on it! The Japanese version, of course. ;)

So many games to play, so little time...

味噌豚足（料理中）

Since I already tried the regular soy sauce and the Japanese curry, I thought I'd try miso this time.

Unfortunately, I started too late tonight and it's not ready for consumption yet. I was hoping to bring it for lunch tomorrow... :(

Oh, well. I'll let it cook some more tomorrow and have it for dinner tomorrow! :D

Mmm... Miso pig feet... *yum* XD

Oh, and just to clear things up, I do not love pig feet to death. I cook it relatively often because it's the easiest meat soup dish to make in terms of preparation. No cutting, no need to watch the time so it doesn't harden. Just boil it to let out the blood, then slow cook it with whatever soup base and ingredients for a good couple hours.

Looking forward to actually tasting it tomorrow! :D

魔法少女まどか☆マギか Part.2

第九話及第十話捏他注意

ep.9 (跟某猫同歩收看時及看完後的單方面碎碎念)
鐵軌我會想到化物語 XD
黑毛到底活了幾歳啊...
(QB)跟一堆布偶在一起也沒有違和感 XD
一直都覺得QB講話都是講求logic
就某種意義來説也是嘴砲 XD
我想到天元突破的antispiral XD
屍體的鮮度 XD
紅毛真是好孩子啊～T__T
就是説(魔女之夜)是有跟小圓差不多資質的魔法少女變的魔女?
為什麼我覺得紅毛會拜拜... orz
啊啊啊啊啊～～～～～
(QB最後一幕)計算通り orz
紅毛的犧牲比麻美要痛很多啊 orz
嗚嗚, 還我這部最喜歡的人類啊～
就某種意義來説QB很誠實啊
只是跟Xelloss一樣很多東西根本不講出來
不過QB在扯宇宙力學的時候我確實可以將他的觀點合理化 XD
紅毛的最後祈禱我想到的是回到她起初變成魔法少女的原點
因為相信父親所傳講的道所以希望看到教會裡再度擠滿人而訂下了契約
雖然因為變成魔法少女而不再是人類
但是只要靈魂還是自己的, 還是能以自己的意識決定最終
地球上的incubator 除了QB還有別的嗎
還是全部都是QB型的存在, 透過一個意識而無所不在? (remote control)
麻美的魔法少女是正統的魔法少女
不曉得背後的真意
單純為了愛與正義而戰
連結下契約都是很普通為了救命的理由
但是紅毛從許願訂契約開始就一直在否定中
至今經歴了種種滄桑
知道了魔法的真相
忠實於自己的信念
最後自己選擇了結局
話説虚淵説QB是不存在於這個世界的物質所構成的時候
我以為是因為魔法物質或時間軸的關係
沒想到是非地球的意思
雖然虚淵這麼説(1/31虚淵的訪談)
可是感覺青毛果然很青澀
也許是因為動畫比遊戲要短所以沒時間讓她成長到更成熟的不幸?
如果跟其他虚淵的角色比的話
我只能想到blassreiter的Meifon
不過那部虚淵好像只有series構成, 不知道角色上有多少他的影響就是
話説用grief seed 淨化soul gem的本質是什麼?
像練蠱一樣增幅魔法容量? 強化魔力?
不就像給小孩餵毒奶? XD
魔女的未成熟少女吃掉魔女
的確把魔法少女變成魔女比我最先以為的直接簽約成魔女要來得複雜
尤其是裡頭一定也很多是像青毛一樣為了泡沫般的夢想成為魔法少女
所以紅毛無法原諒以這麼膚淺的心態參戰的傢伙
如果小圓變成了魔女
應該也是另一個魔女之夜
或者是更大的魔王的存在?
啊, 所以黑毛一直阻止小圓變魔法少女是為了阻止另一個魔女之夜?
不過她對小圓的思念又不單純
果然跟她是不同時間軸的人有關係?
還是在別的時間軸看見魔法少女變魔女的真相
所以連QB也不曉得黑毛從哪裡得到的知識?
單純冒出早就有的疑問
喔～青毛魔女抓住小圓在手裡的時候我第一個也是想到EVA XD
話説QB實現願望是先付款吧
那如果魔法少女在變成魔女前死了
QB不就虧本了? XD
這個投資回報率其實還蠻低的啊...
難怪他一直要小圓簽 XD
不過這樣不等於是拿維持宇宙平衡的力量在賭博?
今天看9的OP的時候突然想到(這部OP都知道裡面出現角色是誰以後就跳過不看，這話同歩才有看)
小圓在OP最後抱的猫是黑色的...
黑毛其實是黑猫? XD
我覺得節奏還好
不過從紅毛玩跳舞機跟吃pocky開始我就一直注意她
就比例來説紅毛的臉最不扁(爆
紅毛帶小圓進結界就開始感覺到死旗
所以我是不會覺得進行太快啦
資訊量的話覺得還好不會特別多
("扁臉最扁的還是小圓啦.") 所以我目前對小圓最沒有感覺 orz
把異世界轉成地球外就好了
我對宇宙系的接受度很高 XD
話説前兩天突然想到剩沒幾話可是小圓還沒變魔法少女, 搞不好根本不會變"正義的使者"直接轉職成魔女?
魔法少女まどか☆マギカ
=> 少女期的魔女 Magical Madoka
Magical Madoka = 魔女小圓

ep.10 (跟某猫同歩收看時及看完後的單方面碎碎念)
一開頭就放前言?! XD
説是前言, 應該説後話比較適合吧
黑毛果然認識魔法少女的小圓
好久沒看到麻美的感覺～
麻美 orz
無法脱離的命運嗎
結果是你reset 的嗎?! orz
連個性也一起reset了ww
XDD
洗衣服的魔女
你們是誰啊～～ (EVA破時的真嗣的意味)
到底reset 幾次啊 orz
那是什麼小叮噹的次元盾www
麻美壞掉了
然後還是又掛掉了 orz
小圓不是應該是超強魔法少女嗎
還是那只是QB的推銷詞?
寒蟬魔法少女版www
這話我一直看到扁臉 orz
QB繼續耍可愛www
黑毛跟小圓的關係跟我預想的差不多
不過比我想像的要清爽多了ww
毎一次reset 的QB都不同這我有點意外
只能在同一個時間軸内無所不在啊ww
清爽沒用錯喔～
因為我原本預想的小圓二轉魔女情節比較慘
本來不知道讓黑毛能reset 的其實也是QB
不過毎次都是五個人
為什麼單只把小圓當朋友不明啊 orz
小圓在後面幾次都超弱氣的
毎一次reset 照理是不同程度啊
連個性都不一樣了, 親密度應該也不一樣
作為魔法少女的實力也被reset了?
怎麼好像只有最後那次小圓爆強
話説我發現為什麼我覺得比我想像的要清爽了
因為小圓都是在敗給魔女之夜半死不活的時候變魔女的
如果對手那麼強的話, 沒在戰鬥中掛掉而是自己的soul gem完全黑掉感覺有點都合
沒有我預想的慘
而且前幾輪小圓比黑毛強
可是都是小圓被打得比較慘
結果都是前幾輪最弱的黑毛存活
第一輪黑毛契約成魔法少女
之後都眼看小圓變魔女
既然小圓對黑毛來説是親到這種地步
為什麼黑毛沒黑掉變魔女
不過看之前不知道是寒蟬reset
所以預想的都是直接魔女之夜發生的事
沒有多番reset 的累積, 一次性的自然會比較慘
不過反之
因為預想的比實際上要慘
看到比較清爽的版本就完全不會動搖
話説毎一次reset QB也要重新蒐集能源嗎
本篇前最後一輪都説已經達到需要的程度了
還打算丟下地球讓小圓毀滅
如果能源指標沒一起被reset 的話, QB在那一次之後就不用再推銷了
不過以平行宇宙來看的話
毎一次回到過去就會産生一個平行宇宙
所以目前只有那一輪的QB成功當上超級業務 XD

老實説到從ep.7到ep.9為止，我的tension還蠻高的，終於有點熱血起來的感覺，也為10做了不少預想。結果真的看了10之後，tension掉下來了。是因為沒有期待中的悲壯？因為跟看BRS一樣都只是在講前因後果？大放扁臉絶對是原因之一，然後就算是單方面，百合味太重我也消化不良。希望最後兩話能再拉起來。啊，不過在那之前得先回去看第一話…

順道一提，看10之前的幾個預想如下：
- 黑毛對小圓的執著在於別的時間軸親眼見到小圓變成魔女，不過還是無法了解其異常的執著。最離譜的版本是黑毛在別的時間軸是小圓的母親（或者OP的長髮粉毛是母親？總覺得小圓母親的存在意義應該再重一點），被傳送到本篇的時間軸時變了面貌。
- 小圓在魔女之夜的時候簽約，但是敵人的實力差造成的血腥慘狀讓她在戰鬥中崩潰黑化成魔女
- 整部的最終結局是現有角色全滅（過程有沒有愛與勇氣的逆襲就看要虚淵了）。在一個風和日麗的早晨或午後，QB若無其事地跟無名的少女搭訕：『嗨，要當魔法少女嗎？』繼續推動它的宇宙發電業績。

[Omake]
從第一次看到就一直在心裡疑惑，可是沒提出來過，所以沒在上一篇的IM log裡：
最開始很容易搞混她們手裡拿的是soul gem還是grief seed，因為看起來超級像，看了好幾話才知道黑色的是grief seed。現在想想，其實是一樣的東西，也難怪我當初一直疑惑為什麼明明是敵我兩方的代表物，卻異樣地無違和感。

魔法少女まどか☆マギか Part.1

第三話至第八話捏他注意

從冬番動畫預測、實際三話為止的鑑賞、四話時的感覺及新發現、一直到五六話的治癒性，目前為止零碎地寫了一點關於廢怯少女的感覺。

雖然不是個人冬番的本命甚至是前三番，畢竟就各種意義來説毫無疑問是冬番的超級話題作。基於11和12話播放仍遙遙無期，稍微在這裡節録一些追番過程中傳給某猫的無責任發言。

因為是IM，常常以斷行代替逗號，所以可能讀起來會有點混亂。直接從log裡c&p，除了在幾個地方加了(括號)解釋打字時情況，並無其他修飾。第九話及第十話跟某猫同歩收看，打的特別多，所以放在Part 2。

ep.1 (第一至三話是一次看完)
果然怎麼看都是超級殘念的人設 orz
不過就算不知道虚淵玄, 光聽到梶浦由記的音樂就已經隱約能猜到大概會是鬱動畫展開

ep.2
為什麼看金髮魔法少女解釋魔女, 我會覺得小圓的千金小姐朋友會變魔女跟她們為敵 orz
都是梶浦由記的音樂的錯啊～
姆, 千金小姐朋友看起來太天然了, 應該不會變魔女
魔女的結界裡好華麗啊 XD
姆, 覺得金髮魔法少女可能會走上Kamina兄貴的路也是梶浦由記的音樂的錯
哇哈哈, 從裙子裡掉槍出來
化物語的話應該要齋藤千和那隻來做啊 XD
我還以為魔女跟魔法少女一樣都是人類跟奇妙生物結下契約
原來是本體不明的新房物體合成嗎 XD

ep.3
"姆, 覺得金髮魔法少女可能會走上Kamina兄貴的路也是梶浦由記的音樂的錯"
原來不是梶浦由記的音樂的錯啊...
唔, 死法有很獵奇嗎
好像只看到頭被咬掉之後身體被啃之類
梶浦由記的音樂的確是鬱展開, 黑的是ED, 而且是第三話才放出來
不過因為早就認為個性這麼好的前輩, 不是腹黑就是會掛掉
結果果然走向Kamina兄貴的路線
第二話就已經有兩種預測, 所以真的掛的時候倒沒怎麼驚嚇
當初會拿Kamina做例子是因為Simon是在Kamina戰死後經過一番掙扎重新振作以後才站起來
本來想説會不會一直猶豫的小圓跟小爽也是這樣才下定決心當魔法少女
我如果沒見血又沒直接看到分開的部位就不會覺得精神獵奇就是...
不過播放前被洩露虚淵玄真的會讓知道他的人容易有防備啊
雖然我對他不熟, 也不會真的認為出來的東西會是為了愛跟正義啥的就是
人設真的有差
對角色的focus度低, 相對就對在她們身上發生的事比較沒感覺
畫面太乾淨也有關係就是

ep.4
可是看了沒什麼感覺
還是人設的臉的錯 orz
除了掛上魔法少女這個稱號以外, 類似題材也看過不少
所以不會特別覺得小圓這部的震撼力有那麼高
小圓完全是靠編劇跟演出在看的啊～

ep.5 (不小心進入沙耶之歌官網裏站而顫慄不已，為免夜長夢多，在睡前看治愈系小品)
雖然我光是看官網(沙耶之歌)就被嚴重精神創傷, 不過目前為止看小圓的損傷超低
小圓的畫面都很乾淨, 看完直接睡覺應該沒什麼問題

ep.6 (接著5一起收看)
原來QB背上那個是焚化爐啊 XD
肥臉一點都不治癒啊～
其實黑毛才是大大前輩
所以什麼都知道了?
會覺得小圓個性蠻死小孩的只有不喜歡蘿莉的我嗎
媽媽跟她說要犯錯的時候, 我第一個想到媽媽什麼時候也被QB洗腦加入推銷魔法少女行列 XD
不愧是治癒系的魔法少女
沙耶造成的精神創傷好了一大半 XD

ep.7
QB以痛覺為基礎的講座其實還有點道理
完全從科學角度來看的話(爆
野中藍怎麼到處餵食旁邊的人 XD
看第1話的時候妄想hitomi會變成魔女跟小圓她們為敵
結果是情敵啊
愛吃又願意餵別人的小孩不會是壞小孩 XD
目前還是把小圓列為治愈系～XD
其實... 昨晚在看7的時候
忘記是紅毛在跟藍毛講奇跡還是黑毛在跟小圓講奇跡的時候
我想到的是如果現在QB去日本, 就算知道會變成殭屍, 一定還是會很多人願意簽約吧

ep.8
三木www
喔喔, 雖然不太一樣
不過居然跟我看第一話的時候的想法有點近
好個魔法少女～
第一話的時候本來以為魔女是跟魔法少女一樣簽約變成的
一開始就覺得會有朋友變魔女, 但是當時以為會變魔女的是千金小姐朋友
雖然麻美示範淨化的時候有懷疑過如果soul gem變黑會怎麼樣, 不過中途被攪亂視線忘記了這回事
黑毛叫QB原名incubator的時候才想起來果然應該是這樣
好個虚淵...
不愧是新詮釋的魔法少女 XD
話説QB被射穿的時候有稍微被獵奇到 orz
不過本來以為殭屍QB會又爬起來講話
居然又出來一隻
綾波零嗎www
電車裡聽到飛田展男跟三木的時候就覺得糟糕www
其實因為本來就預想是類似展開所以沒有因為媒介是QB而恨得牙癢癢的只有我嗎 XD
結果對動物型的QB比對扁臉的蘿莉還有感覺
果然很糟糕啊 orz
話説小圓8也很治癒啊
本來到7為止都還不確定如果在北美出了會不會敗
看完8就有興趣敗了 XD
終於比較有展開了
我對8沒有什麼違和感
很大的原因之一應該是因為一開始就不怎麼認同青毛的正義
所以一話内黑掉也不意外
反而應該説因為覺得青毛的正義不正
所以變成魔女也在意料内
現時點最有興趣的其實是QB背後是誰www

~to be continued

ウホッ！いいキノコ、食べなイカ？

食べるのが好きです。実験してみるか外食するか、新しい料理を見つけるのも楽しみです。

先日、ある中華スーパーにちょっとびっくりさせるモノを入手した。食べたことがないので、試してみると思った。

見た目は黒くって、ちょっとアレなんだけど、味は結構いけてる。よくかんで食べると、質感も面白いです。

仕事場に持ってたけど、誰も食べて欲しくなかった。臭いとか、キモいとか散々言われた。
なんて可哀想な食べ物だ…

さて、そのもっと評価を上がるべき食べ物の正体は？！

正解は、縞模様のキノコ柄です！台湾の名産だそうです（パッケージより）。

原味と炭焼き、二つの風味を買った。友達と一緒に食べてみたいが、どうやらそれは叶わない事だ…　
うるうる～（つд｀）

やっぱり駄目だった…

Firefox 4 is here! ( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )

And I'm currently running Firefox 3.5.17 (￣д￣)

But let me explain myself.

When 3.6 was released last year, I eagerly updated. To my slight dismay, the UI text became more crowded (decreased horizontal spacer?) and less readable to me when I put on Personas skins. So I went back to 3.5.

When 4 was released yesterday, I eagerly updated. To my appalling dismay, the UI text issue still persisted and even escalated: there's now red and cyan tints on the edges of the text both on the UI and shown in webpages.

I happened to have a few ff.net tabs open and it was impossible to read on the dark background setting. It's not too bad for text on a white background (though the font size still looked slight smaller than before to me), but the colour shift(?) was apparent against any coloured background.

I reverted back to 3.5 immediately. It's too painful to try to search for a fix when I could barely make out words without killing my eye sight.

Luckily, the installation process has indeed become a lot more streamlined, and it was easy to switch back.

I might look around for a solution for the text display issue when I feel up to the daunting task. Until then, however, I'm keeping my 3.5.17.

BTW, here's my environment:
Windows 7 with ClearType enabled
Windows classic theme, no Aero

Hopefully there's a fix for this, or enough people with the same issue so we can open one in Bugzilla...

風邪はもう嫌だ！

It took me about ten days to be relatively cured of the last cold. Not a fun experience. But as spring is supposedly around the corner to replace winter, I thought I wouldn't need to worry about another cold for a while...

It was -9°C with the wind chill when we came out of the restaurant, and I was in my morning clothes fitted for the temperature this morning at 2°C. Needless to say, I was cold.

After getting home, I could hardly stop sneezing, and my nose started to run. Got myself a hot shower, but I'm still sneezing now. Not a good sign. Not good at all.

It would suck majorly if I get another cold! >__<

I'm gonna sleep under the throw tonight and hope it's warm enough to wear off the cold symptoms. *crosses fingers*

日本頑張れ！

I am not Japanese, but I have an affinity to the culture. In light of the recent catastrophic event and the ensuing crisis, I chipped in financially through two organizations and am considering looking for another reliable charity to make sure the money will reach the needed. Niconico was actually one of my first choices, but it doesn't allow overseas credit card... :(

I think it's equally important to encourage people and make their heart strong and hopeful again. So here are some voices of encouragement!





Also images of encouragement!

東北地方太平洋沖地震支援イラスト

モーニング作家陣の応援メッセージイラストを掲載します

白泉社に寄稿されている作家陣より被災地の皆様へ

デザート編集部より

アフタヌーンより

一日も早くみんなの笑顔が見られますように～
届け！カナダからの元気玉！

やっぱり怖い

As mentioned before, I've been on a book grabbing sprint for the past few days. I grabbed the original novel for 屍鬼(Shiki) and proceeded to grab the first volume of the manga version.

Because I saw the VOMIC version before (don't do it while wearing the headphone and alone at night.... orz), I thought I'd check out the manga, especially since I've finished the anime and shouldn't be scared now.

I froze within 5 pages. orz

The suspense isn't there anymore because I knew what happened, but the images are still pretty horrid. Reading about bodies covered with maggots is not the same as seeing bodies practically made up of maggots, especially for a more visual person like me.

To determine whether I should get the manga or not, I consulted my trusty friend ja.wikipedia...

The anime version is actually an adaptation of the manga, which has a different story than the original novel?!

Apparently that was the condition put out by the original author Ono Fuyumi when the work was to be made into manga. As a result, a certain character (one of the main reasons I watched the anime) that died in the novel was raised up again in the manga/anime version.

Since at least a good chunk of the published portion of the manga is presented in the anime, I decided not to repeat my effort and go through the visual/mental torture. So even though the manga has an extended story over the anime, I'm not going to read it. I'm quite happy with the anime.

As for the original novel, I would still like to read it, but it's pretty low on the list right now. There's hundreds of other series that I want to read first.

I look forward to the day when I can be a book worm. XD

読書強化月（再び）

Actually, I won't be focusing on reading for a short while, but it's better to make the arrangement early.

For the past two days, I was on a book grabbing rampage again. I even managed to find a set of Haou Densetsu Takeru! I used to read it in the weekly magazine when I was little, so nostalgic!

Anyway, so here's the initial rough plan: finish Dragon Quest IV this week, catch up on (as much as possible) the winter anime series next week, then pick a series (probably Denyuuden) and start reading before the spring anime season starts!

It's another thing to actually see through the plan, of course...

本は素晴らしい！( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )

運命の出会

It was meant to be.

I got on the bus this morning and randomly picked an available seat beside a guy. As soon as I sat down, my eyes were attracted to my right and practically fixed to the spot for the duration of my bus ride. My heart fluttered as I set my sight upon the elegant and smooth movement of him.

I drew a portrait of him on the whiteboard at my cubicle at work. Coincidentally, similar to how the artistic expression changed later in the development of his predecessor, my accidental touch up led me to re-sketch the image in a pseudo-Chinese calligraphy style.

I dropped by the store to see if there's a chance to obtain the extra gadget, only to find out that I could have him right then and there!

So I did.

Now I'm a happy owner of Ookamiden, waiting to save the decaying world as the adorable white wolf pup Chibiterasu! XD

Amazon lied to me and told me the release date is March 15... =3=

Of course, saving Nippon will need to wait until after I help the Heroes fulfilling their destinies in at least three Dragon Quest series, travel through time to ensure peace in various eras in Chrono Trigger, and fly to the moon to rid the world of the threat in Final Fantasy IV. Yes, it will be quite a while before I actually get to play with Chibiterasu, but in Canada where the Real Blues sing easy, it's always better to grab it while it's still around.

On that note, hopefully I'll be able to meet the Hero in DQ IV this weekend. That'll make one goal in sight~

曖昧な冬…それとも春？

Let's back track to last Saturday. It rained for the most part during the day, then started snowing wet snow in the evening and overnight. Then freezing temperature turned everything into ice on Sunday. Needless to say, the sidewalks looked unfriendly on Monday. (I totally blame the stupid weather for my current health condition!)

Fast forward to yesterday. Last night I peered out the window with glee into a blowing snow night. This morning I woke up to wet roads because the snow had turned into rain overnight, but the wet snow was back on briefly on my way to work. Kuro went out with me but the walk to the station was too short to turn it into a snow owl. XD

Then it pretty much rained the whole day, so I hid Kuro in the bag and braced the cold rain on the way home. Of course, sidewalks were very much flooded everywhere. It was quite fun (not!) to walk from the station back to my apartment. The sidewalk was lined with high snow/ice piles on both sides, and the sidewalk itself was 70~80% melted. You either walked in water or threaded on watery ice. Manholes were blocked by ice so nothing got drained. A section of the road near my building was completely flooded.

According to the weather forecast, it's going to rain all day Friday, then a mix of rain and snow on Saturday (another spell of disaster!)

But things should look better once the snow and ice are melted, since there doesn't seem to be anymore snow fall, and the temperature seems to stay above zero. Spring is on the way!

その手があったか

The old grandpa has grown to distaste the blue grooming brush with tiny pins that often wrestles with the knots in his fur. He usually attempts to bite or claw at the brush after 10 seconds of it coming in contact with his person.

Today I got home and saw a 10x10cm puddle on the carpet, courtesy of the old grandpa sharing the content of his stomach. On the side was a small one right on the blue brush.

そうか、そう来るのか。わざとやったのか？さすが我が家の猫爺…

There's no way to clean it off in between the tiny pins, so I guess I'll need to get a new one... -__-

REAL CANADIAN BLUES

I started using this term a few days ago when I was lamenting on the difficulty of purchasing anime titles in Canada that have been out for a little while. Recently I've been looking to acquire more games for any of my three systems, and I realized that the same sad state applies to games as well.

To go around this, I've been ordering from down south.

I used to have no issues with ordering from RightStuf, but apparently they just recently changed the carrier for Canadian orders. I'm still waiting for my shipment more than three weeks after its dispatch from their warehouse, where it would arrive at the local post office here within two weeks when they used USPS. I'm gonna wait another two days and write to them if I still don't hear anything.

I only just started looking at games so haven't done much so far. I did, however, order three games from Amazon.com and had them shipped to Neko-tan, and I'll just pick them up when I visit down south. Here's another sad fact for us Canadians. On Amazon.ca, older games may not be available (or even there to start with) or still maintain their full (if not more) retail price, but older games usually drop their prices quite a bit on Amazon.com. A little searching around can easily fetch you some games for almost half their Canadian price tags.

As for Japanese version games, I'll need to try my luck at Book Off when I visit Vancouver or LA... So many games I want to get but can't 'cause they're all English-dubbed.

Now, I do admit there's some quality English dubbing out there (White Knight Chronicles, for one), but for someone who understands enough Japanese and is a fan of a lot of Japanese seiyuu, of course I'd go for the original Japanese track whenever possible.

Which means I'm not going to pre-order FF VI Complete Collection and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky for the PSP. :(

Still debating whether to pre-order Okamiden now or wait for it to drop and get it from down south... The pre-order bonus at GameStop is too uncertain; even the store people couldn't tell how many sets they would get for sure.

PS. It's obvious that the term "REAL CANADIAN BLUES" was derived from the song "REAL FOLK BLUES" from Cowboy Bebop, right?

風邪をひくバカ

はい、また風邪をひく、此処に居るこのバカです。orz

って、カナダに住んでるから、カナダのバカって言うのかな？中国語に書いてると、「加拿大馬鹿」って普通はそう思うでしょう。

しかし！それは大間違いだ！

何と！「加拿大馬鹿」はアメリカアカシカ（別名エルク）のことである、決してこのカナダのバカのことではないぞ！

……ごめんなさい。やっぱり寒いですね。どうか、すべては風邪のせいにしておこう。

それでは、ご機嫌よろしゅう～ m(_ _)m

Animax Musix Fall 2010 Part.3

展開篇的最後一篇。有*符號的是在artist selection篇裡寫過的歌，沒其他感想的話就會跳過不寫。

[原曲自唱]
- Lia: 鳥の詩 （AIR）
神曲！為什麼不是放完整版啊～～～

- 喜多修平： Breakin' through （PERSONA - trinity soul）
其實他唱的動畫主題曲我都聽過，但是印象都很薄弱，根本不記得是誰唱的。正好這幾天聽了一些Nico男歌手的歌，更感覺他的歌聲跟演出都很普通。

- 佐咲紗花： fly away tps （T.P.さくら ～タイムパラディンさくら～）
人跟歌都是第一次聽到。外表看上去是走偶像路線，不過歌唱力很不錯，是可以期待的實力派。

*- ORIGA： Rise （攻殻機動隊SAG 2nd GIG）
HIMEKA跟其他很多外國到日本發展的歌手盡唱日文歌，大概只有ORIGA能在演唱會台上高唱俄文歌。XD 自從聽過ORIGA的水のまどろみ俄文版後大為傾倒，不過大部分人應該是對GitS的ORIGA比較熟。

[Fan Selection]
*- May'n: Lost my music （涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱）
- May'n： Beautiful World （ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版：序）
May'n かわいい～
Hands down, the best "Beautiful World" I've ever heard!! 老實説比第一次看完序聽到原曲的時候還令人動搖，不過也是要看過破之後才能比較體會這首歌吧。
這兩首的演唱順序其實是先EVA再涼宮，播放時倒過來了，不過這樣比較適合接下一首。

- ORIGA×May'n： THE REAL FOLK BLUES（ カウボーイ・ビバップ）
演唱順序其實在上兩首之前。然後聽了兩人的演唱配上後面放映的畫面，害我想買DVD了。可是現在不好找了説，除非從美國訂。可悲的REAL CANADIAN BLUES。-__-

- 喜多修平: アニメじゃない（機動戦士ガンダムZZ）
感覺普普，不過聽到有人唱鋼彈的歌會很高興，尤其是UC系列～

- 佐咲紗花×河野万里奈×喜多修平： ハローダーウィン！（ケロロ軍曹）
Animax Anison Grand Prix 三屆優勝者的合作演出（應該找HIMEKA一起全四屆優勝者集合）。原曲沒聽過，聽起來是JAM Project的歌。感覺佐咲紗花的歌唱力遠超過其他兩人，不過喜多修平倣影山大叔（還是遠藤?)的唱法乙！

- 佐咲紗花： IN MY DREAM（ブレンパワード）
這首高音的地方真的不好唱，但是還是唱出來了。高低音的折轉有點太突然，不過果然是可以期待的新人。話説她的小腹線條還不錯…

- Lia： Eternal wind～ほほえみは光る風の中～（機動戦士ガンダムF91）
Lia最高！完美詮釋，英文發音也很棒～

- Lia×ORIGA： sakura （交響詩篇エウレカセブン）
ORIGA的超高音Amazing Grace！中途居然還放劇場版的畫面（我這算是被捏到了嗎 orz)真是犯規啊～
這部本篇似乎沒有出BD的打算，所以最近考慮要買DVD，不過又是可悲的REAL CANADIAN BLUES。

[May'n連發]
*- May'n: Ready Go!（オオカミさんと七人の仲間たち）
- May'n: ダイアモンドクレバス（マクロスF）
- May'n: シンジテミル（インシテミル 7日間のデス・ゲーム）
- May'n: ユズレナイ想ヒ（戦国BASARA弐）
*- May'n: 射手座☆午後九時 Don't be late （マクロスF）
マクロスF跟オオカミさん都是聽過很多次現場跟録音演唱的歌，可是May'n的演出真的很棒，唱マクロスF歌曲的時候更是女王上身，毎次聽都能透過歌聲感受到女王想表達的感情。
シンジテミル跟ユズレナイ想ヒ都是新曲（對啦，戦国BASARA弐我還沒看到那裡），又對May'n有更新的認識。
May'n大好き～( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )

[Ending]
- 全員（除くKOTOKO）: キューティーハニー（キューティーハニー）/感言節録
不愧是GRANRODEO跟玉置成実，把演唱會T-shirt改造成時髦品。HIMEKA咬到舌頭好可愛。XD

６半時間以上のライブ、出演者や観客の皆さん乙です！アニソンで本当にいいモンです～

おまけ：
part.3的放送有Tales of Graces跟戦場のヴァルキュリア３的廣告，害我好想玩～ orz

癒し系魔法少女

沙耶の唄(Saya no Uta) is a PC game by Nitro+ that came out at the end of 2003. I first read about it in Haniwa-dono's diary when he expressed an urge to eat BBQ after playing the game. He didn't go into any details of the game, and I occasionally would see its name or the image of Saya pop up randomly online. For years, I never gave it much thought nor bothered to look for more information on the game. Reading Japanese was still somewhat difficult for me at that time and I wouldn't be able to play the description text heavy game anyway.

A few days ago, someone was putting up Nitro+ games for grabs, so I figured I'd do a little research to see if it's worth it. The front illustration of Saya no Uta looks innocent enough for a Nitro+ game, so I failed to read the genre description: Suspense horror ADV.

I got seriously traumatized when I browsed through the game's official website last night. *WARNING* If you accidentally triggered the alternate site view, click on the flower to go back to the normal view immediately before you look around! If you are still curious and want to continue browsing, *do not* stare at the images and try to decipher what the contents are like foolish me. orz

Anyhow, I went on to browse the game sites for other Nitro+ games and forgot the horror for the time being, as nothing else came close enough to evoke the trauma. Unfortunately, I am a very strong visual person and tend to remember images I see or text I read, especially when I put in an effort to understand the meaning of some foreign language text or discerning image details (hence I can still be spooked whenever I recall the Red Room now, despite the fact that I only could barely understand Japanese at the time many many years ago). As a result, the images and story background were still itched to my mind around midnight. Bad idea.

So I decided to watch a few episodes of healing type anime to wash off the horrendous feeling. Originally I planned to finish the very funny Ring ni Kakero 1 series since it's hilarious and I only had 2-3 episodes left anyway.

Then I thought of an anime series under a certain writer's credit, the same writer behind the Saya no Uta game, Urobuchi Gen. Yes, that anime series is the famed Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Episode 5 and 6 later, my mind was put to ease.
さすが癒し系魔法少女（キャラデザインを無視すれば）！虚淵の言う通り、温かく幸せな気持ちで一杯になってもらった！（°∀°）　
正しく「解鈴系鈴（解鈴還須繫鈴人）」ってやつだ～

DQ VI の A.I. (第一章&第二章)

I read an article the other day about computer AI playing StarCraft. While the topic is on computer AI as a player, it reminded me the computer AI I encountered recently playing Dragon Quest VI.

In chapter one, a very cute healer slime joins the party and enters battle with the Soldier. However, the healer slime isn't controllable and acts on its own. Here, the healer slime is smart enough to know when to cast Heal on the Soldier and itself, but not overdoing it so it runs out of MP.

In chapter two, the party starts out with three player characters so the individual action is directly controlled. But because of the way enemies are grouped in Dragon Quest (I think it's the same for DQ III if my memory serves me), AI comes into play during battle.

When there's multiples of a type of enemy, they are randomly grouped into single individuals, one big group, or smaller groups of 2 or more. This affects how you fight unless every single one of the party member is able to defeat the enemy in one strike.

When the enemy gang is recognized as single individuals, you get to choose who to hit which one to maximize on the damage. This way, you can defeat 1-3 enemies depending on the level gap between your party and the enemy.

When the enemy gang is recognized as one group or as smaller groups, you can only choose which group of enemy to attack but not which individual enemy to strike. This starts to create some issues with the widely different attack strength and speed of the party members. Bad AI would result in dragging out the battle longer than necessary and causing the party to sustain more damage.

Here's what I observed in terms of how the AI handles who hits which enemy in a group situation.

In the case where only the Princess (the fastest of the three) can kill the enemy in one strike, the other two would attack the same enemy, whose combined effort is usually enough to terminate the target. Even when the Priest (2nd fastest in speed) moves first, the Princess would attack another enemy so the first enemy can be finished off by the Mage, resulting in 2 enemies down. This is effective AI.

In the case where combining the Priest and the Mage isn't quite enough to defeat the enemy, the AI would determine that the enemy is too strong for the two and moves the Princess (the fastest thus the first to move) on the same enemy. Ideally, the Princess would just defeat another full-HP enemy and the Priest would finish the critically low-HP enemy. But here, the strongest attacker is wasted on a near-death enemy, and the other two might not be able to defeat another one on their own, resulting in only 1 enemy down and the cycle repeats.

It would be nice if the AI keeps a statistics on the character's record and be able to tell if the character can defeat certain enemies with one blow, then move the characters accordingly to limit damage from dying but still standing enemies (hurts the same as a full-HP enemy). And if there's no record or low ratio of the character defeating the enemy in one strike, have them gang up against the enemy.

Overall, I think the AI for DQ VI on NDS is pretty decent. I still remember the frustration I experienced fighting random battles in DQ III whenever the AI did something foolish. Not sure what other type of AI I would see in the chapter 4 & 5 of DQ VI. Hopefully it'll be smart AI. That would make my job saving the world a little easier. XD

二月検討会

Back in the beginning of the year, I listed a few things I'd like to do this year. Let's do a quick review after the 2nd month. I stripped the items that remained the same since last month so only 2 are listed here.

③ finish reading at least H2, とらドラ, and 植物図鑑
- H2: vol.2 → vol.3 out of a total of 17 volumes (wide edition)
- とらドラ: vol.3 out of a total of 10 volumes + 3 spin-offs; should finish within a week

④ finish at least one of Chrono Trigger, FF IV, or DQ IV
- Chrono Trigger: side quests after obtaining Epoch; no change
- FF IV: Dark Crystals arc; no change
- DQ IV: ch.1 → ch.3, just opened shop

Didn't watch a lot of anime in February, but I did manage to do a round for all the winter season series for at least the first 3 episodes. I'm dedicating more time to gaming now so I can justify potential purchase of games that I plan to do. XD

実は…

Yesterday I said that I've technically never watched one. I was wrong. I did watch some mahou shoujo when I was little, except it was not what I know to be mahou shoujo, so I had forgotten about it.

*No mention of Madoka Magica itself in the post here, but the same warning applies due to reference and connections that can be made*

The show I watched when I was little was Creamy Mami, and the character design was done by the famed Takada Akemi. I only knew its Chinese name when it aired in Taiwan, but I found out the actual name of the series when I was flipping through Takada Akemi's art book.

From what I can remember, the show features a teal-haired elementary school girl who got a magic wand that would transform her into an older purple-haired girl (high school age?). She gets scouted and becomes an idol singer (I think the singing was also aided by the magic?) and goes by the name Creamy Mami.

Of course she wasn't called Creamy Mami in the Taiwanese version, but 巧克力甜甜.

Yes, both 巧克力甜甜 and Creamy Mami are rather appetizing sounding names, and you can probably follow my logic here and guess what I'm trying to get at...

そう！言わば、魔法少女は「愛でてよし、食べてよし」って存在だ！ε=εε=ε=εε=ε=εε=┏( ・д・)┛

もう何も恐くない

*HUGE spoiler ahead unless you've seen past ep.3 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica*

Back when I saw the PV on Niconico and compiled a list for the winter season, I was kinda torn whether to watch it or not. I pointed out key staff members of Shinbou Akiyuki as the director, Urobuchi Gen as the script writer, Kajiura Yuki as the composer, and Kalafina as the ED singer. Normally this combination would lure me to watch almost anything, but I paused when the theme was announced to be mahou shoujo and my step faltered when I saw the character design.

Even now at ep.4, I still can't get over the faces. I don't think I'll ever be able to overcome this hurdle...

I don't usually pay attention to staff, at least until very recently, so I am not familiar with what Urobuchi Gen is capable of. But apparently he's so infamous, that even I have come to associate his name and Nitro+ with dark stories just by seeing ppl mentioning his name over the years.

So from the beginning, I never expected the show to be a typical mahou shoujo anime. Not that I know what a typical mahou shoujo anime series looks like, since technically I've never watched one.

I wasn't planning to watch the series at all because of the character design that I can't get over, but the great team of script writer/director/composer and Neko-tan's extremely fanatic praise finally lured me to the series...

...and I don't understand the shock and trauma people claim to experience with that universally infamous scene in ep.3.

Neko-tan considered it as mental torture when I commented that the scene was very clean. Friend-I found it a bit disturbing since the character looked like a kid (even after I corrected that the character is in junior high), and that the scene took place in such a happy cake-like environment.

Maybe it's because I'm not familiar with the mahou shoujo profession, so the shocking twist of such a thing happening to a mahou shoujo series is lost on me. By default, I treat all characters the same as long as there's a fighting/battle/war element in the show. I expect the characters to get hurt, go through hell physically or mentally, and even die.

The fact that I don't feel an affinity to the characters because of the design might also be another factor. And also the fact that I've only known the character for such a short time. (I tried to remember if there's another character that dies with such short screen time but made a bigger impact on me, but my failing memory couldn't give me a name after 20 seconds.)

I do admit, though, that the series is much better than I anticipated. If it weren't for the horrible faces that prohibit me from being fully emerged while watching the episodes, I might rate it as the best series for the winter season. It's great in all other aspects. 残念だ。