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.