最高のハーモニ

Just finished watching a 2-hr SP broadcast on Niconico in celebration for the release of Kalafina's "After Eden" Special LIVE 2011 DVD and Blu-ray.

Even though I listen to a lot of songs, I very rarely seek out or watch the official PV for the songs. Kalafina's PV's are famed for their atmosphere and elaborate costumes, and I have to agree they're beautiful. Treats for the ears and the eyes~

Beside the PV's, there were also clips for when Kalafina were in Hong Kong for their Asian tour and LA for last year's AX. I didn't bother to pause the video, but I was probably filmed (but not visible) in the initial line for their autograph, as I won the lottery draw for the ticket. I was also there when they dropped by the Crunchyroll photo booth, but no photos allowed for us non-media crowd.

The gap between their normal girlish demeanour and their stage presence is so strong, one really has to respect the passion and focus they pour into their performance. And, of course, their top notch vocal prowess and melodic harmony.

I'm really glad I got to see Kalafina's live performance and hear them talk during their panel at the AX last year. If there's a chance to see them performing again, I'd definitely go!

Near the end of the broadcast, they showed the official PV for "to the beginning", the OP for Fate/Zero's 2nd season, in full. It's a fine song fitting for the theme, and Wakana's the main for this song! I'm looking forward to see the OP anime!

戦国バサラ３ 寥星跋扈 pt.1

大谷的開頭CG跟鶴姫的相通，在混戰的海上，大谷跟毛利在船裡密議，兩隻玩黑幕的在那邊大眼瞪小眼。

用大谷最明顯的是速度超慢，不過因為是浮在空中的座位，加速衝起來很快，但是移動操作上跟騎馬很相近，轉彎角度很大，非常容易跟敵人錯開。攻撃都是以遠距離的念珠為主，丟出去把身邊附近的敵人都捲進來這招，就某種意義來説無懈可撃。因為大谷基本上是輔助三成，所以開戰對象跟三成路線的選擇差不多。

大谷一開始就向三成進言毛利是應該招攬的對象，這邊跟三成線一樣。這兩隻當然早就已經暗中結盟，所以邊攻城，兩邊一直在強調是做表面工夫。毛利軍開光束武器出來的時候，大谷反諷毛利是否太過，毛利則淡言如果大谷這樣就死了，那表示他也只有這種程度。打完當然就沒事般地結成表面的同盟，戰後加入一隻同伴。

接下來去找小早川。因為之前三成線裡，大谷有問過毛利關於天海的事，所以這邊選擇追天海，沒想到居然達成毫髮無傷的Stylish。XD　打敗天海後，大谷注意到天海逃往金ヶ崎，所以追去金ヶ崎，但是打完お市還是沒看到天海。大谷喃喃自語天海跑到哪裡去了，我只想知道金ヶ崎最後面那個東西是什麼，因為天海八成是逃去那裡。

再來去找黑田。黑田一聽到是大谷，幾乎從頭悲鳴到尾，似乎以前在豐臣手下吃過很大的苦頭。黑田眼看就要撃敗大谷，但是三成突然出現秒掉黑田。正要給予最後一劍時，大谷要三成別殺黑田，之後用念珠把黑田拖走，從此黑田被大谷抓去跟著到各地合戰，有苦難言。

接下來的大友跟島津沒什麼特別的，只是普通的合戰。兄貴戰有event CG，但是時間相隔太久(一個多月前)，我不記得發生什麼事了，應該是大谷問了兄貴同盟的意圖，然後叫三成答應同盟。下次輪到大谷的時候再補完。

大谷的關原之戰跟三成的一模一樣，不過在進入戰場前，大谷再次打量不為名利權勢甚至不食不眠的三成，怎麼看都覺得令人愉快（不愧是腦袋也需要繃帶包起來的大谷）。打敗家康後，夜空下起流星雨，自詡詠星者的大谷見狀認為是他一直在等待的不幸降臨。正歡喜中，突然覺悟喚出的應該是三成，又不禁再次讚歎三成是令人愉快的男人。西軍勝利，大谷幸福地沉浸在不幸中ｗｗｗ

跑完只覺得真的是補三成的路線而已，在背後跟毛利交易求得的目的大概得跑藍色路線才知道。不過値得一提的是，撃敗家康後，三成沒有壞掉，而且在回頭叫大谷走人的時候還微微地笑了！不是一頭鑽進復仇漩渦的主役，所以不會因為落差的空虚感而自責嗎？

正是天將降不幸於斯世也，必先繃帶詠星者，敗爽朗権現，充實凶王之心…　下回是繼續補完西軍路線的不幸角色黑田～

2012年 春アニメ

The spring season will be upon us in a week! I'm barely halfway through the winter season series. orz

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

アクセル・ワールド
- Yoshino Hiroyuki as the series coordinator. I'm worried. orz
- Kaji as male lead again... Otherwise all right cast
- haven't read the original novel, but the manga version was interesting enough
= Watching

氷菓
- KyoAni! Haven't watched their work in a few years
- Gatou Shouji as the series coordinator
- pretty nice seiyuu cast
= Watching

坂道のアポロン
- music by Kanno Yoko
- all right seiyuu cast
- story kinda seems like BECK, but Jazz
= Might trial watch

つり球
- nice seiyuu cast
- looks like another Daily type
- I expect lots of ツッコミ with this cast XD
= Watching

あっちこっち
- can't tell what the story is about, but likely another Daily type
- meh seiyuu cast, unimpressive character visuals
= Probably not watching

さんかれあ
- was gonna said very meh seiyuu cast, then Kuwashima's name came up! XD
- no anime visual shown so can't tell what it'll be like
- seems like a zombie story, but probably nothing serious
= Probably watching

夏色キセキ
- Sphere, from head to toe. XD
- story seems like another Daily type
- nice anime visuals and movements
= Probably watching

エウレカセブンAO
- I haven't watched Eureka Seven yet... orz
- majority of cast are probably new seiyuu
= grabbing but not watching yet

めだかボックス
- GAINAX doing a Jump anime
- nice seiyuu cast and visuals
- I've been reading the manga and look forward to the anime version~
= Watching

うぽって！！
- no idea what this is about, but definitely not my type
- especially when there's no seiyuu I like
= Not watching

黄昏乙女×アムネジア
- is this another Another for this season? orz
- meh seiyuu cast
- maybe I should read the first few chapters of the manga to see if this is horror
= Undetermined

緋色の欠片
- adapted from an 2006 otome game that I never played
- all right seiyuu cast
- I might prefer someone makes one for Mizu no Senritsu instead...
= Watching

黒子のバスケ
- Production IG making a Jump anime!? XD
- there are 3 Ono in the nice seiyuu cast XD
- OP by GRANRODEO, ED by Hydain
= Watching

ZETMAN
- never read the manga, but watched a ZETMAN SP on Niconico which piqued my interest
- story and visuals remind me of TIGER & BUNNY, but better animation
- pretty nice seiyuu cast
= Watching

ヨルムンガンド
- the few chapters of manga I read seemed interesting enough
- series coordination and script by Kuroda Yousuke
- all right seiyuu cast
= Watching

宇宙兄弟
- haven't read the manga, but I dig most things related to space. XD
- nice seiyuu cast for the brothers
- visuals seem simple like the manga, which is just fine
= Watching

Fate/Zero　2ndシーズン
- 本命ｷﾀ━━━( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )━━━!!
- OP by Kalafina
- I'll watch the BD box before watching this one~
= Watching

咲-saki- 阿知賀編
- not interested in Mahjong show
= Not watching

これはゾンビですか? オブ・ザ・デッド
- 2nd season of a zombie comedy series
= Watching

＜--no PV available for the rest, just one image & staff/cast info--＞
LUPIN the Third -峰不二子という女-
- I've actually never watching any of the LUPIN series
= Not watching

AKB0048
- having good production staff and heavy supporting cast isn't enough to stop my boycott
= Not watching

謎の彼女Ｘ
- I dropped the manga after the first two chapters
= Not watching

シャイニング・ハーツ ～幸せのパン～
- is this a happy version of Shining Hearts? (not that I've played the game) XD
- heavy seiyuu cast
= Watching

ゆるめいつ 3でぃ
- not my thing
= Not watching

戦国コレクション
- another female version of Sengoku(?) warriors
= Not watching

銀河へキックオフ
- soccer anime
- good seiyuu cast and has Kuwashima XD
- ED by 風男塾ｗｗｗ
= Probably watching

キングダム
- pretty bad visual, but a very rare Chinese Warring States Period anime
- nice seiyuu cast
= Watching

君と僕。２
- 2nd season of a nice and calm Daily show
= Watching

ファイ・ブレイン　～神のパズル　第2シリーズ
- aired right after the current season; don't understand why the 2nd series label...
= Watching

クイーンズブレイド　リベリオン
- ...I lost track of the number of seasons for this ero show
= Not watching

這いよれ！ニャル子さん
- never followed this series
= Not watching

秘密結社　鷹の爪 NEO
- never followed this Flash series
= Not watching

ガッ活！
- 5-min short by the author of やわらか戦車
= Probably watching

聖闘士星矢Ω
- I was really hoping this was only a joke...
= Watching

超ロボット生命体　トランスフォーマー　プライム
- I don't do Transformers
= Not watching

カードファイト!!ヴァンガード　アジアサーキット編
- I don't do card battles
= Not watching

プリティーリズム・ディアマイフューチャー
- I don't do Precure shows
= Not watching

ジュエルペット きら☆デコッ!
- I don't do regular Mahou Shoujo shows
= Not watching

あらしのよるに
- watched the movie version and listened to the drama CD version before
- nice seiyuu cast
= Watching

しろくまカフェ
- no idea what the story is about, but the animals look cute
- really nice seiyuu cast
= Watching

GON
- never read the manga, but it's dinosaur and animals
= Probably watching

黒魔女さんが通る
- no idea what the story is about
- main seiyuu cast not bad
= Might trial watch

オズマ
- the visuals are actually kinda bad (this one is already out)
- good seiyuu cast
= Watching

しばいぬ子さん
- 2-min short
= Probably watching

Summary (total 44)
Watching: 26 (including 2 short)
Undecided: 4
Not watching: 14

The spring anime season is indeed a warring period. This is way more than I expected. orz　A few might also be shorts so it might not actually be as bad... But add the 2-cours shows from the winter season, it'll still be bad. XD

So many good ones that I've been anticipating beside the 本命 Fate/Zero! I foresee very tough battles for the top five spots. There's also the last anime arc of Bleach that I'll be watching during the spring season period.

So much to watch, so little time! And Weekends are still for games, of course. XD

Now let me go back to my last week cramming...

ハートフル魔法少女育成ゲーム Pt.4

I haven't played this for a long long time and I don't think I'll be playing it again any time soon. Before I finally close the tab after almost a year, I thought I'd record my final achievements here.

The final story:
Normal mode high score 372180 (same from pt.3)
Endless mode high score 2934221560 (up from 2824577800)
ノルマ達成！
奇跡も、魔法も、あるんだよ
営業課長
営業部長
エントロピーの凌駕
宇宙を救え！
果てしなき感情エナジー
ループザワールド
ガーネット
エメラルド
アクアマリン
ナイトバスター
決意
ブリッツセールス
ウィッチハンター
私の戦場はここじゃない
あたしってほんと馬鹿
もう何も怖くない

If I put in the time and effort, there are a few other trophies that I can get. But it's really just repetitive works, so I'd rather spend the time on other games.

というわけで、ひとつの物語が終わります。後はよろしく、営業員キュゥべえ～

北京烤鴨好吃嗎

Just finished watching 「NICONI​CO KARAOKE LIV​E in 北京 動漫歌曲合戦​～冬の陣～」 (12.10.2011) on Niconico broadcast. An edited recording of it, hosted by ぽこた and 百花繚乱, to be exact.

I watch enough of these anisong karaoke programs on Niconico and usually don't write about them, but one performance prompted me to write about this one. I figured I'll throw in a few other highlights while I'm at it.

番凩 by 湯幻月 & Jac. I don't venture out of Niconico so I don't know any of the singers, but I was really impressed by Jac singing KAITO's part. KAITO's part is much harder to sing, but Jac pulled it off beautifully. まさに野生KAITOだ！ This is also not a well known Vocaloid song unless one's into MEIKO or KAITO, so I was very pleasantly surprised and thrilled by the song choice.

Other highlights:
- 湯幻月 also sang a Chinese vocaloid song 月江西 (and I learned that Niconico isn't normally accessible in China, according to the comments). I should look up the original song on YouTube sometimes.
- someone sang 世界が終るまでは from SLAM DUNK
- someone sang ココロ
- someone (who's studying in the U of HK, according to the comment) sang 核融合炉, which is very hard to sing for a real person, and she was awesome with the high pitch
- ぽこた's secret guest performance on 千本桜、Episode:0、ダンシング☆サムライ。やっぱりうまい！ Episode:0 was kinda like Gackt's, too. XD
- some photos that ぽこた took while in Beijing, including a scorpion lollipop; a scorpion dish in a restaurant (ぽこた: tasted like scone.); and a advertisement poster outside a restaurant that they went to, which specializes in maid Genghis Khan. In ぽこた's words, the maid place was "more Akiba than Akiba." XD

You're probably wondering about the post title.

It's the only line of Chinese ぽこた learned, and he used it throughout his trip with anyone he talked to. He also used it during the performance to heat up the mood. He said and typed out the line many many many times during the Niconico broadcast. It made a lot of people want to eat Peking duck, including me. XD

1990 in 2012

Ever since I started playing Sengoku Basara 3 during hibernation, I've made it a habit to play the game on weekends, hoping that maybe I'd be able to complete the game by the end of the year (tough luck...).

But I was suddenly hit by an urge to play something on the DS yesterday, either Dragon Quest VI or Final Fantasy III. I went with FF III, and have been playing it all weekend.

This really brings back so much memories! The music! I still have the original Famicom cartridge and the guidebooks (same for DQ IV), too!

The graphic is completely redone in 3D, which is a stark contrast from the original 1990 game. The generic 8-bit sprites are now cute and distinct characters with their own background and respective job outfits.

The story, four chosen warriors of Light saving the world from overpowering darkness, is pretty simple, but the game play of FF III is one of the best in the Final Fantasy series IMO.

My current party consists of 2 red mages (Luneth and Refia), 1 white mage (Arc), and a warrior (Ingus). Except for the white mage who is bare handed, everyone else sports two weapons instead of the standard weapon and shield combo. It's pretty satisfying to see each character doing 6-8 hits per round with their increased job levels. XD

While I was very tempted to get a black mage famed for its very cute look, I decided against it for practicality's sake. Just got the fire crystal jobs, so I'll probably change Ingus to a knight. I'll change Arc into a scholar when it's time to enter the floating castle.

Oh, look! Guren has finished charging! I can now go back to save the world. XD

On a side note, I just dug out the FF III Famicom cartridge to reminisce the old memory and noticed the DQ VI cartridge beside it. It's also from 1990. Such a wonderful year to be blessed with two excellent RPG titles! The Super Nintendo was also released near the end of 1990!

Fate/Zero BD Box pt.3

It's here! My very first R2 import! XD

The box was in a nice clear sealed wrap, that I almost didn't have the heart to tear open. But since I'm going to watch it before watching the 2nd half, might as well. I did take a few photos of the sealed box, though. XD

The content of this box set has been floating around since its release, so I'm not going to say anything more. The journey of which I embarked on in search of the place that held my box is what I want to note down here.

I had never been to the FedEx storage here, but Google Maps told me where the nearest bus stops were. Even though it's near the airport, which seems some distance away, it's actually much closer and easier to get to than the UPS storage.

I even get the same bus going to and back! The bus driver recognized me as well. XD

The journey was a relatively short one, as I got on the first bus at around 5pm and was home by 5:55pm. At each stop, I only had to wait no longer than 2 minutes for the bus. That made the trip very smooth.

Now, I did have to pay $86 for duty and tax and stuff. There's the standard HST, Fedex fee for clearing custom, and the duty for importing from Japan. Yes, even though I bought it through RightStuf, it's an exact R2 product (with a translated English booklet maybe inserted before they shipped FedEx) with Japan as the country of origin, and hence the import duty.

But it's still cheaper than if I had to order it myself from Amazon.co.jp so I'm still getting a good deal. If only Aniplex does the same for Bakemonogatari...

先祖返り

I was reading an article in the Wired the other day about someone trying to make a dinosaur from chicken through atavism. The idea is to revert back biological traits such as teeth, a full vertebrate tail, vertical femur, and fingers, some of which are present in bird fetus and certain breeds of chicken, that were parts of a dinosaur. Of course, that still doesn't make a dinosaur, but that would be a very good start.

Before reading the article, I didn't know what atavism means. As soon as I learned that it's reversing to an ancestral type, one title instantly flashed through my mind: 妖狐×僕SS (Inu x Boku SS)

Speaking of which, beside hearing the nice seiyuu cast bantering with each other, I find myself looking forward to the character ED song segments more than the story itself.

It's pretty amusing to see all the companies listed under the production committee labelled as M, except for Square Enix. I think Aniplex should be S, too, since they attack my wallet hard...

冬番アニメ スタート！

其實二月初就差不多看完秋番了，不過也同時開始進入let's party的戰國時代，動畫進度整個停止，結果冬番放送剩不到一個半月才開始看。XD
按照慣例照食用順序排列。捏他有，慎入。

エリアの騎士 ep.1-3
- 思った通りの三話退場だが、何このエンジェル・ハートのようなベタ展開ｗｗｗ
- 作画はイマイチ、演出はだいぶ静止画の故、全然臨場感なし。スボーツアニメなのに…
- もし五話まで、魅力的なキャラが出ないなら、やめるわい～

BRAVE10 ep.1-3
- 絵は色鮮やかで濃厚、戦闘シーンはまあまあが、作画と動き方は悪くない
- 現時点でほとんどのキャラクターは個性的に弱い、もっと出して欲しい
- でもやっぱり注目するべき点はその豪華声優陣だ

アマガミSS+ ep.1-4
- 一回だけでいいの？ｗｗｗ　やっぱり委員長とのペアーが一番好き、でもいい加減呼び捨てにしてよｗｗｗ
- 何で梨穂子はまだ片思い中？ようやく言う出すのは、クラスメートA君真壁の犠牲バントのお陰だな
- 二期は一期との逆順番みたい、これからも変態紳士橘の活躍が楽しみ～

夏目友人帳 肆 ep.1-3
- ニャンコ先生は相変わらずぷにゅぷにゅでカワイイ～(≧∇≦)
- ストーリーと作画は一期のような感じ、また妖怪側に戻ったらしい、本当にいい話しばかり
- さすが本命の癒し系作品、何度見ても感動して泣いている (つД｀)

戦姫絶唱シンフォギア ep.1-3
- 高山さんの歌が楽しみだったのに、まかさ第一話で亡くなった。orz　悠木の歌はちょっと…ね
- 音楽がメインテーマで、ストーリーと演出は滅茶苦茶、要するに微妙な歌姫版仮面ライダー
- 戦姫なのに、戦闘シーンはつまらない、やっぱり敵勢力は人間じゃないとダメか、この作品は

モーレツ宇宙海賊 ep.1-3
- 宇宙航行でも出来る時代だから、勿論ハイテクなモノもあるが、何か全体的にレトロ感が強い
- 女性キャラばっかりなのに、かわいいのは少ない。今のところ、梨理香、ケイン、マミだけが好き
- 訳が分かるけど、ペースはちょっと緩いすぎかな。海賊だから、もっとアクションシーンが欲しい

輪廻のラグランジェ ep.1-3
- まどかの鴨川への思いはちゃんと伝えた；一方、キリウスの地球関する勘違いは面白い
- 監督：「恋愛要素を一切排除してる」　酷いよ！大好物の恋話しが… orz
- 中島愛の歌は予想以上に悪くない、演技はまだ分からないけど

Another ep.1-3
- やっぱり人形はすっごく不気味で怖いよ～　(ノ≧Д≦ノ)
- ただの幽霊話だと思った、まさか三話で死人が出た、しかもこれからもどんどん出てくるそう
- こういう怖い話、P.A.WORKSじゃないと、普段は見ないけど…

アクエリオンEVOL ep.1-3
- 思った以上出来ている、無印より面白いかも。やっぱり魅力的な敵キャラが重要
- 声優陣がすっごく豪華～ カップリング的には、公式のアマタより、カグラの方が大好き
- 平身低頭覇(DOGEZA orz)！まさかこんなところに猛虎落地勢が見られるｗｗｗ

妖狐×僕SS ep.1-3
- その主人、寂寥；そのSS、調教；その主従、始動　(黒執事のサブタイトルより XD)
- 原作の絵は十分綺麗で、それと比べたら、アニメの作画はまあまあ、でも演出はなかなか良い
- アニメ一話＝原作一章のペースらしい、ちょっと緩いが、キャラクターの感情面はちゃんとやってる

テルマエ・ロマエ ep.1-6 (end)
- Flashアニメだから、絵がシンプルで、キャラクターの形も繰り返し使う、でもストーリーはいい発想
- まさかロマ帝の中の人はライダーと同じ、声優ネタとしては面白い～　XD
- 原作の絵はちょっと雑に見えるから、多分読まない、でも阿部寛主演の映画は見たいかも

ゼロの使い魔F ep.1-3
- 久しぶりの日野釘宮ニヤニヤ、懐かしいな～
- 前作はもう何年前のモノ、小説も読んでないし、何がなんだか全然覚えてない、ちょっと混乱
- どう終わるのかが気になるが、やっぱりヤマグチさんが元気になるのは何よりだ！お大事に～

あの夏で待ってる ep.1-3
- おねがいシリーズを見たことがないけど、何か一話から雰囲気は似てる
- 田村の檸檬先輩最高！うふふふふ～　(*￣∇￣)
- イチカにはあまり興味がない、哲朗側の三角関係…じゃなく、一途の三人の方が気になる

リコーダーとランドセル ep.1-6 (3-min shorts)
- これは結構面白いな、まさにギャプ萌

ポヨポヨ観察日記 ep.1-6 (3-min shorts)
- ポヨはカワイイ～～　XD　しかも中の人は大谷さん、反則だろｗｗｗ

偽物語 ep.1-3
- さすがだな、原作も作画も演出も声優もネタも含めて、最高のコンビネーション～
- 女性キャラ陣はいつも激しい全開状態で、阿良々木暦もまたリア充の一人。そんなに楽じゃないみたいけど
- 本物の忍野に似た匂いがする偽物の貝木、両姉妹とのかかりは何？またどんな芝居を披露するか

ブラック★ロックシューター ep.1-3
- 作画、特にメタフィクションの部分は、OVAより全然いいけど、ストーリーが相変わらずわけ分かんない
- ＢＲＳと言うと、やっぱりあの初音ミクの歌じゃないと！ XD
- キャラクター達の感情が中二すぎで理解出来ないから、ゲームの方が興味深い、プレーしたい～

男子高校生の日常 ep.1-3
- ネタやツッコミ満載、これは面白い～　XD
- さすがのスクエニｘサンライズ コラボ作品、第一話冒頭のファーストガンダムｘドラクエのネタはイイ！
- っといても、セリフと演出がメインな物は声優の演技次第、だからこのキャスティングは的中だな

加上秋番雙季作，不算那兩部三分鐘短片系列，總共是23部。不過冬番應該也有雙季作，所以事實上可能不到20部。三月底Bleach動畫完結後，大概會一次衝完整個死神代行消失篇，差不多半年番的量，到時應該是跟戰國期的春番纏鬥就是。不過冬番吃完後直接衝Bleach然後才開始看春番我也不意外。XD

就三話的時間點，個人最期待的五部為：本命的夏目友人帳 肆、偽物語、男子高校生の日常、アクエリオンEVOL、あの夏で待ってる。

前三部非常明顯突出，決定最後一部的時候就有點難取捨。あの夏如感想所言，對官配的男女主角興趣缺缺，但是其他不管是故事、演出、作畫、角色、音樂都不錯。ゼロ魔則是補充日野釘宮ニヤニヤ期待完結篇，而且有原作者抱病盡量參與（請優先保重身體，別讓ゼロ魔變成遺作啊），但是我前面真的忘太多了，到現在還有點銜接不上。

雖然其實EVOL也是對官配的男女主角興趣不大，其他部分跟あの夏不相上下，但是多了低能熱血蘿蔔要素，聲優我也比較喜歡那邊的，所以輕鬆壓下あの夏。

戦姫絶唱的作畫蠻混的（據説好幾話都沒錢好好做），劇情上也沒其他的期待（第一話就給高山發便當是什麼意思 orz），但値得一提。這部完全是以Elements Garden的音樂為主衍生出來的東西，戦姫角色都是經過甄選適合這部樂風選出，除了OP跟ED以外，所有的歌，從變身到戰鬥招式，全部都是配音時配合角色現況當場唱台詞。三話時只有三名戦姫（還給我掛掉一隻），但是之後應該會出來其他人，除了水樹以外期待高垣～

聲優方面，冬番還是如往常般繼續推女性新人聲優，但是這季也比較多老手壓陣的作品，至少在聽覺上可以安心享受～

剩不到一個月就進入春番戰國時期，不知道這次會延後多久。週間會盡可能吃冬番，但是週末還是要繼續let's party戰國。XD

絶交寸前

Just wrote a complaint email to Amazon.ca regarding my experience with the latest order picked up today.

Long story short, I had to pay $35 for taxi in order to pick up a $39.99+tax item. It would have cost me much less to order the same item and have it shipped from the US!!

If I can't choose NOT to have an item ship via UPS, or be guaranteed that it won't be UPS, I don't want to order from Amazon.ca anymore. I'm already getting most of my anime from RightStuf and some anime/games from Amazon.com now. Maybe I'll just switch to cross-border online purchase entirely.

Don't make me break up with you, Amazon.ca... -__-

トロ・ステーション 第122回

It's another week of Toro Station!

The first part of vol.122 features Kuro and Toro taking a three-day train trip to Hokkaido. They started with the Hokutosei(北斗星) train, which departs Ueno at 1900 and arrives at Sapporo at 1100. The meal car also provides French cuisine, which requires a reservation at least 3 days prior. For people who don't reserve for special cuisine, there's a limited-seat bar time that serves hamburgers (which also looks good).

The two felines cruised around Hokkaido on four different train routes, tasting mouth-watering local dishes such as lamb Genghis Khan(ジンギスカン) and Kattedon(勝手丼). Of course, there's also the famous train lunch boxes(駅弁). どれもすっごく美味しそう！北海道に行きたい～～

Other than food, there's also views as seen from the trains, including Japanese cranes and drift ice. The trains were also some spectacles themselves as well.

The second part of vol.122 talks about an entry in the PS Store Game Archives section: 悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲 (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). The only Castlevania game I've ever played was a Famicom one, maybe the first one. Symphony of the Night is apparently one of the best games in the series, and the play system seems to offer a variety of play styles in addition to the RPG-like levels. One of those games I'd want to play someday~ (and no, I can't buy anything off the PS Store 'cause they don't take overseas credit cards. orz)

Last week's Toro Station reviewed another game that I'd want to play: Tales of the Heroes Twin Brave (PSP). It's basically a hack and slash type of game featuring two characters from each and all Tales series. For each character, there's also a serious route and a comical route. I only know some of the Tales series from anime, but I'd definitely want to know more about the franchise and the various characters! This one is on my (extremely long) wish list for games~

On a side note, I get an error message when trying to log into the PSN today. Hopefully this gets fixed before next week's Toro Station. :(