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…