Barely one week after the release of Lily on August 25th, Yamaha quietly heralded the advent of VY1 Mizki on September 1st.

I'm not even caught up with all the popular Vocaloid songs since I kinda ceased visiting Niconico on a regular basis in late 2008, so it'll be a long time (at least 2011) before I get more familiar with the new Vocaloids. But here's my first impressions on the two new additions, based on the packaging and the demo songs.

Lily has a rather eye-catching appearance, but only at the first glance. The yellow and black colouring coincides with the Kagamine twins too much to make an impact, and the design of her clothes and accessories seems generic. In short, the art for Lily is a bit too typical to really stand out, especially considering all the moe characters out there.

The voice of Lily is supplied by yuri, the female singer of m.o.v.e. I don't usually listen to J-pop and have never seen the Initial D anime, but I have heard m.o.v.e's Romancing Train from Final Fantasy: Unlimited (where else?) and a couple songs performed at Animelo, so I have a good grasp of what yuri is capable of.

Unfortunately, yuri's powerful vocal doesn't translate well to Lily, as demonstrated in the sample tune Gamble Rumble which I had heard the Animelo live version. That, and Lily's voice is too similar with that of Luka's and Len's. As a result, I think it'd be difficult for Lily to find her own music style. To quote the comment I sent to Neko-tan, "Lily的聲音好微妙啊... 除了外觀以外紅不太起來的感覺" (It's really hard to describe Lily's voice... Feels like only the look might sell.)

On the other hand, VY1 Mizki has no character persona and Yamaha purposely hid the identity of the person that lent her voice to VY1 Mizki. The absence of any kind of background setting for VY1 Mizki is meant for the users to illustrate their own images to fit the music they create. This is a rather bold move for a product that comes after an established line of character series, especially when character sells better than anything in the land of the rising sun.

The deluxe package is peach coloured with a traditional folding fan, while the standard package is peach coloured with a traditional ornate hairpin. Both items are adorned with flowering dogwood (ハナミズキ, hence the code name Mizki). It's no wonder a good number of the designs out there are girls in pink/peach coloured kimono. I wouldn't be surprised if a few designs stick around and become the unofficial official characters like the plethora of current Vocaloid subspecies.

It's obvious that Yamaha wants people to focus on the voice of VY1 Mizki, and rightly so. VY1 Mizki sounds a lot more natural than the other Vocaloids, though it may seem to resemble Luka and possibly Miku Append at times. It's hard to say how far VY1 Mizki will go, but it definitely has a lot of potential. I can see it getting mixed into the "family" like Gakupo once the character identity crisis gets resolved somewhat, and I look forward to seeing more Vocaloid drama involving VY1 Mizki as well.

Looks like Yamaha will be releasing another Vocaloid in the VY series within the year, this time hopefully a long awaited male voice. Gakupo is good, but it just can't match KAITO in terms of vocal range and depth. Though, I'm sure KAITO will always be everybody's favourite Bakaito even if the next VY rivals KAITO's capacity. XD

I have a new obsession. One song, to be exact. 番凩（つがゐこがらし）


I'm posting my favourite PV for the song, done by 佐々木ササさん.

I haven't listened to a lot of MEIKO so far, but 仕事してP's MEIKO is probably one of the best out there. MEIKO really suits the traditional Japanese style of this song, and KAITO's harmony is great as usual. まさに神調教。

MEIKO has some high pitch parts so the female singer would need to have a steady yet strong enough pitch to pull a good one. The real challenge, however, is KAITO. While there's lower pitched parts, there's quite a bit of higher pitched harmony, so the male singer would need to have a wide vocal range and an excellent command of falsetto to illustrate the full spectrum of KAITO.

There isn't as many live renditions for this song compared to other popular Vocaloid songs, but I found two really good ones, by しのぶ & 石敢當 and 憂辛(うさトゥライ). Other decent ones include びびあん & clear, 海苔 & シャオ, and even another Vocaloid cover by Luka and Gakupo.


While MEIKO seems to sing the main melody for most of the duet part, KAITO's presence is equally impressive. But due to the difficulty of KAITO's part in the song, it's hard for me to just pick any live version over the original even though it's human vs. machine, as some of the female singers tend to overshadow the male singers and thus tipping the balance of the duet.

Equipped with the latest Vocaloid engines, Luka and Gakupo obviously have the advantage of having more natural sounding voices, but the pitch of their voices don't seem as flexible as the 1st generation to me. As a result, I still prefer the original MEIKO & KAITO version for the song.

I just listened to the version included in the EXIT TUNE CD, and I was disappointed to find the instrument change. The absence of the prominent samisen beats drastically altered the feel of the song and makes it less attractive to me.

I've been singing along since Labour Day, and it doesn't seem like this new obsession is gonna go away anytime soon. In the mean time, I think I should take the chance to explore other singers on Niconico; I'm only familiar with うさ out of the list of people that's performed this song.

Lastly, let me leave you with a few lines by KAITO that I really liked from the song.

信ずる道を　 ただひたすらに
歩むお前の　支えとならん
紅の剣を　携えて
この身　木の葉と　吹かれて行こう

Due to the rate of my recent anime consumption, it's not uncommon to hear the same seiyuu in consecutive series. In most cases, the same seiyuu would play the respective characters so differently that one can never cease to be amazed by this great display of skills.

It's impossible to list all such examples, but I just want to quickly point out two seiyuu in particular here, Seki Tomokazu and Kawasumi Ayako.

What spurred me to jot this down was mainly the episodes of RAVE (2001) and Nodame Cantabile Finale (2010) that I watched today, both of which the pair starred in. The two were already accomplished in 2001, but the evolution was still obvious in Nodame Cantabile Finale, and it's made me like them even more.

I've always enjoyed and respected Kawasumi Ayako's acting, so it was no surprise for me. On the other hand, I was reminded once again why Seki Tomokazu has been my 2nd favourite male seiyuu. The 3rd seat candidates, Ono Daisuke and Miyano Mamoru, don't seem like such a threat anymore.

This, coupled with Seki-san's role as Manji in Mugen no Juunin and Kawasumi-san's role as Shizune in Senkou no Night Raid that I watched within the week, is another great exhibition of their capabilities. And these are only two of the myriad of seiyuu out there.

こんなに凄い声優さんたちがいるから、声優好きになるのは自然なことだ。XD

PS. I haven't finished reading the Nodame Cantabile manga nor seen the Finale real action movies yet. I'm sure the manga would be really awesome, but I don't think the real action version can compare to the anime version for the Finale Chapter. The anime version was already better for the Paris Chapter for me, so the trend(?) will probably continue as the focus of the Finale Chapter is again on the characters.

I just trial-watched the first little bit (up to the end of the OP) of the 1st Break Blade movie, and it did not betray my expectation ever since I saw the single-page ad for it in the Goods Press magazine a couple months ago.

The first thing that caught my attention from the little bit was the high quality of the visuals. The movements of the Golems were also nicely organic and mechanic at the same time, and the music was quite good.

And the OP "Fate" by KOKIA was heavenly. In fact, I'd say it's the best I've heard of KOKIA so far. The feel of the melody reminds me of her other songs from Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, but I guess some of the themes for both series are similar in a way, too (自分の信念と生き方を見つけ、そしてその道を貫いていく。 Though I could be wrong as I haven't read past the 1st volume of the original manga).

It's obvious that シギュン harbours feelings for ライガット, but even for a romanticist like me (いや、ロマンチストだからこそかな), I hope this aspect doesn't get explored too much. Let the focus be friendship vs. patriotic responsibilities!

In case anyone's wondering, I'm not going to refer to it as BROKEN BLADE, as per the official English title. ブレイク ブレイド is literally Break Blade. The author might had meant to name it on the motif of broken blade(s) and mis-used the verb for the adjective, but it's an established title nevertheless. Beside, Break Blade sounds cooler than Broken Blade. XD

Length-wise, it's almost the equivalent of a 12-episode series (6 movies x 50mins each). But it's probably a much bigger budget series than an average one-cours anime, so it makes sense to release it as theatrical features rather than disc only OVA, as it'd be more profitable and easier to build a reputation.

If only Gundam UC goes the same route... You know the Gundam MS igLoo OVA series? Haven't been available for sometime now on North American online retail sites. Which means I'll need to try to find it 2nd-hand when/if I go to Japan.

Speaking of which, the BD for the 2nd Break Blade movie was out a few days ago, and the 3rd movie will be in theatre on Sept 25th and the 4th movie on Oct 30th. Seeing that it's Production I.G. and XEBEC, I hope somebody would pay attention to this series and license and release it soon!

I want the Blu-ray~~~ *rolls on the ground*

Although... If the North American release doesn't include the booklet, I'm importing it from Japan, along with Gundam UC.

Just finished watching Black Rock Shooter on Niconico...

なるほど、よく解らん。そして無限ループってこわくね？（タグより）

I never did any research on BRS and didn't even bother to read the lyrics for the song, so I had no previous knowledge for it except for a trailer. The battle scenes were not bad at all as shown in the trailer, but the real life scenes were definitely not what I had expected. It made the reason behind the battles that much more shallow and cheap for me, and I was tempted to think the "nice boat..." tag was actually directed at the audience for having invested the time in watching the pseudo-melodrama. orz

This is not to say there's no merits for the show. Hanazawa Kana and Sawashiro Miyuki were awesome, of course, and the BGM music by ryo was good. And I learned that 小鳥遊 is pronounced as 鷹無し because if the birds are playing about, that means there's no eagle around. So clever! :D

This seems like just a prologue to the BRS series, as there's still many puzzles to be solved, but I'm not really hooked by the story so far. And why isn't the ending song or maybe the opening or insert song "Black Rock Shooter"!!?? I heard Gome's song during the BRS Nico Live Broadcast so I knew it's the ED, but I was still hoping that they'd actually have "BRS" in the anime. :(

Another thing I got out of the live broadcast was the rumour of possibly a RPG game for BRS. Looks like it'll be focused on BRS this time, instead of having real life girls fusing with the otherworldly persona as in the OVA. I hope.

On a side note, I've been watching Sengoku Basara 2 following Niconico's schedule for the past three weeks. When I tried to load the episode 4 earlier, the inevitable finally happened! It rejected my non-Japanese IP and refused to even show me the page! I was just considering joining the premium membership starting in September, too!

Guess I'm back to watching the series by myself... :Q

There was a ten-day gap between my last two posts, and my gremz tree had a withered look and was bent down when I loaded the page yesterday. A quick trip to my gremz page showed the tree as brown.

After the post yesterday, the tree has returned its luster somewhat and stands strong today. It even looks a bit taller than when I last saw it! I guess persistency is key to keeping the tree healthy, while maybe volume makes it grow?

Judging from the other gremz tree pictures for other users, mine still has a long way to go... I can't wait to grow the tree fully and get my 2nd sapling!

Soramimi Project #26: Yamatera Kouichi 山寺宏一

First heard: Kaji Ryouji (Evangelion)

First noticed: Kaji Ryouji (Evangelion)

Memorable characters: Kaji Ryouji (Evangelion), Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Romaiya senpai (Honey & Clover), Cain Highwind (Final Fantasy IV DS)

Image character: Kaji Ryouji (Evangelion)

Discernment rate: average

Number of works seen: 17

Anyone who's watched anime for some time would know this name even if one hasn't heard him in Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop (rather over-rated in North America IMO but nevertheless monumental series). More seasoned anime fans would remember him as Hibiki Ryouga, P-chan and the Cursed Spring guide from Ranma 1/2. Unfortunately, I've only seen a short youtube clip on Yamatera-san's prowess as the three characters in one scene but have not the opportunity to actually watch the series, which I'd very much love to.

Out of the 17 works I've heard Yamatera-san, four are Evangelion, including the 2nd movie of the Rebuild of Evangelion: 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE. Of course, Kaji speaking English was a highlight for us before we realized the personality transformation for the main characters and a depart from the typical drama(!?) that Evangelion has been famous for. Yeah, can't wait to see the last two movies to see where it'll lead to. XD

While going through the list of works on ja.wikipedia, I noticed that he played Gyunei Guss from Char's Counterattack! However, CCA was the very first work I ever saw for UC Gundam, so I was focusing on getting the background and the story and didn't notice him. That, and due to the age of the movie (1988), I didn't expect to hear anyone I'd know beside Seiya, Shiryuu and, of course, Char. XD

I haven't heard that much of Yamatera-san, but he's definitely a great seiyuu and a veteran in the field, and I'd want to hear more of him for sure. If only I have access to the older anime series...!

Four-leaf clover is a widely recognized symbol for luck in the West and happiness in the East. The motif is often used in ACG as well and typically claimed that four-leaf clovers grow in places where high number of people walk by and step on (actually not true, but let's overlook that little fact for now).

The logic here is that one of the three leaflets gets damaged and splits, and if the injured leaflet recovers, the split turns it into two leaflets to make the clover four leaves. On this ground, I can see why it's associated with happiness.

As humans, we all get trampled by difficulties and hardship in life, and it hurts, sometimes to a point where the concept of being alive and well is simply unfathomable. But if we tough it out and overcome the ordeal, the split wound becomes an honourable badge, proof of our perseverance and growth. And then, we transform into a four-leaf clover that bring about happiness for ourselves and those around us.

Happiness isn't something that's just handed to you, and you can't really appreciate true happiness unless you go through the experience. Only when you've fought the battle, and it doesn't need to be a winning battle, will you be able to see yourself as a four-leaf clover. Otherwise, you'll just see yourself as a broken leaf, mutilated and waiting to wither.

By not having to fight a winning battle, allow me to illustrate with one of my favourite examples. I flunked all the required pre-vet courses in the first term of my 2nd year in university. However, I never see that as a failure but rather a triumphant moment. That was when I looked at myself and figured out what I really liked and how much effort I was willing to put out. I learned the extent of my will (which is different from the extent of ability and strength), and I didn't have to go on wondering later in life if I'd be better off being a vet.

Happiness doesn't necessarily mean everything goes well according to plan, but it will leave you with no regret because it's out of your own will. It's to be able to make peace with the consequences of your choice.

Of course, knowing God makes it a lot easier for me to achieve that state of mind, but it's a perfectly legit cheat! XD

今日の君も幸せかい？
一緒に四つ葉のクローバーとなり、周りの人たちに幸せをあげましょう～

I took down the gremz tree last year and have completely forgotten about it since...

Until I found out today that my tree actually grew, as can be seen on the right! （　ﾟ ∀ ﾟ ）ﾉ

I think the culprit might had been the lack of title for my posts, as it's listed as a possible reason for the tree not growing in the FAQ (the question wasn't in there when I gave up on the tree). Despite it still currently being listed in there, the issue might have been resolved since I still don't have titles for my posts, yet my tree's grown. I did notice, however, that the bubble over my tree in the "just posted" section on gremz used to be completely blank except for the name of the blog, now it shows "Empty" for the title and a snippet for the post.

Now that my gremz tree is back in action, I'm surely more motivated to write. Maybe I'll try a few gremz keywords to get the specials for my tree. Or maybe I'll even get serious with Saluki's Adventure Log and get another gremz tree there...?! XD

Eat lots and photosynthesize lots, so you can grow up to be a big tree for planting, my little gremz tree! It's probably too late for this year, but hopefully it'll grow enough to contribute one tree when they do the planting next year! :D

Soramimi Project #25: Ishii Makoto 石井真

First heard: Makabe Kazuki (Soukyuu no Fafner)

First noticed: Makabe Kazuki (Soukyuu no Fafner)

Memorable characters: Makabe Kazuki (Soukyuu no Fafner), Nakagami Shinichirou (true tears), Kobayakawa Shinji/Prince Chaos Crimson (Princess Nightmare)

Image character: Makabe Kazuki (Soukyuu no Fafner)

Discernment rate: above average

Number of works seen: 10

It's obvious that I haven't heard a lot of him, but his voice is rather easy to recognize. Having heard him as the lead for some shows also help, especially when those are memorable works.

When I first watched Soukyuu no Fafner, the only seiyuu I knew were Saiga Mitsuki and Toyoguchi Megumi. Ishii's acting was still crude at that time, but it fit the character and experience of Kazuki, who is green in both human relationship and the way of the world. As the war against Festum progressed, so did Ishii's acting.

By the time I heard him again as the lead in true tears, he's already quite decent (I'm a supporter of Noe, btw). He even got me to play Shinji's route in Princess Nightmare even when I found Shinji to be somewhat annoying.

Ishii doesn't seem to be very active, but I do have a couple series on hand in which he played. I look forward to see how he's evolved!

As mentioned before, I got my current computer last year and tentatively named it Sirius. It was meant to be a temporary name until I upgrade to Windows 7 and give it an official name.

Almost two weeks ago, I finally dug out my Windows 7 upgrade disc and got rid of Vista. A new start calls for a new name, and after days of neglect and procrastination, the C drive no longer displays "Local Disk".

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cygnus!

And here's how the name came about:
- Windows 7 ＝＞ 七
- I want something to do with stars (and thus the previous name Sirius)
- 七 + stars = 北斗七星　(Big Dipper) ＝＞　北極星 (Polaris)
- "宿命にはりつけられた北極星が燃えてる" from the song Northern Cross (actually listening to a guy singing the song on Niconico right this moment)
- Northern Cross = Cygnus

Straight forward, no? XD

omake:
- Cygnus ＝＞　白鳥座の氷河 = Hyouga
But my favourite Bronze Saint is Shiryuu, and I want to stay with the star motif, so the idea was scratched on the spot...

Soramimi Project #24: Ikeda Shuuichi 池田秀一

First heard: Natsume Shin (Tenjo Tenge)

First noticed: see notes below

Memorable characters: Char Aznable (Gundam, Z Gundam, ZZ Gundam, CCA), Kou Shouka (Saiunkoku Monogatari), Gilbert Dullindal (Gundam SEED DESTINY), Margarette (Ueki no Housoku)

Image character: Char Aznable (Gundam, Z Gundam, ZZ Gundam, CCA)

Discernment rate: high; visual

Number of works seen: 21

I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind to any Gundam fan when they see the name of Ikeda Shuuichi is: Char!! Same here. XD

Out of the 21 works I've heard him, 12 are Gundam, of which he played Char in all but two. Even for the two where he's not Char, he's close friend with a Char-like character and died in a sunken space fort with the woman played by the ex-wife of Amuro's seiyuu.

Despite his strong presence in the Gundam universe, I actually first heard him in Tenjo Tenge, which is a martial fighting-themed show where the most advanced technology is the cell phone. His voice and acting as Natsume Shin left an impression on me, but I didn't know anything about UC Gundam except for the title of the series and who the main characters were. I did not know I was in the presence of the Red Comet since I had yet to know who voiced Char or what he sounded like.

Then came news of a SEED sequel, which I started following on NewType (also explains the various SEED DESTINY goods I have) before it aired. Then, I learned that the seiyuu for the chairman was no other than the seiyuu for Char...! And the rest is pretty self-explanatory. XD

To be honest, his voice hasn't changed that much since his Char days, so it's almost the same pitch for most of the characters I've heard him as. But he's quite good at acting, so I can easily forget that it's Char's voice when I listen to his other characters.

There's one character that I liked but didn't list as a memorable character, and that's Yappi, an anime original character that appeared for one episode, from World Destruction. Frankly, I almost forgot about this character until I was looking up his list of works on ja.wikipedia. But this furry creature is definitely worth a mention, mainly due to his interaction with his rival/best buddy Toppi played by Amuro's seiyuu. I'm sure all Gundam fans viewed it as a teddy bear version of Char vs. Amuro and awwwed while watching. I did. XD

Seeing how he's not so young anymore, he's probably not gonna be too active. But I would definitely love to hear more of his works, old or new.

それでは、勝利の栄光を君に！

Soramimi Project #23: Kakazu Yumi かかずゆみ

First heard: Shoubu (Inuyasha)

First noticed: Okuni (Samurai Deeper Kyo)

Memorable characters: Okuni (Samurai Deeper Kyo), Silvia de Alisia (Sousei no Aquarion), Ririn (Bleach), Lyra/Dante (Fullmetal Alchemist), Sala Tyrrell (Gundam X)

Image character: Okuni (Samurai Deeper Kyo)

Discernment rate: above average; visual

Number of works seen: 18

I haven't heard many of her works, but her voice is so recognizable that I almost got it down by the 2nd time I heard her in Samurai Deeper Kyo. Interestingly, because of the personality of Okuni, her voice and acting in SDK is very different from her other works that I've heard. But I still picked Okuni as her image character because that's how I related to her voice afterward, even though the pitch vastly differed. In actuality, because I've seen her on TV show (NHK anime show), I usually connect her voice to her face whenever I hear her.

Apparently, she made her debut as Sala in Gundam X in 1996, which is actually the latest work I heard her in. I don't like her role as Ririn in Bleach too much, but that's mainly because it's an anime-only character created for a bad filler arc. The concept for the Bounts isn't so bad, but the execution and story flow is, especially regarding the involvement of Shinigami and Rukia.

I like Silvia in Aquarion, but the series doesn't quite allow for character development in depth, and the relationship between Silvia and Apollo is only touched on slightly. Not enough romance at all, considering that the series supposedly revolves around the reincarnation and reunion of the two after 12,000 years.

She seems to be doing less anime since child birth, but there's still a lot of chances to hear her if I watch the older series. Of course, when I'd get to do that depends on how much time I have, and it usually isn't much.....

---

I was planning to do a ranking every half year, but I missed the mid-year mark since I was at the Anime Expo. Didn't expect myself to be punctual in this anyway, so here it is, the top 10 list of seiyuu I've heard the most out of the Soramimi seiyuu.

#1 朴璐美: 53
#2 安元洋貴: 34
#3 矢島晶子: 33
#4 山口勝平: 32
#5 中井和哉: 30
#6 長沢美樹: 29
#7 秋元羊介: 25
#8 中多和宏: 24
#9 甲斐田裕子: 22
#10 浅川悠: 20/家中宏: 20

I'm planning to do more Soramimi until I hit another seiyuu on my top list according to the survey I did the other day. That might give Park Romi a bit more competition here. XD

女性声優140人ソート
男性声優160人ソート
I saw the above links and couldn't resist taking the survey.

No sure when the surveys were compiled, but they seem to lack some of the newer seiyuu. The female seiyuu list is missing a lot of seiyuu, especially considering that there's more female seiyuu than male seiyuu out there...

Here's the result for the top 14 female seiyuu:
1 桑島法子
2 朴王路美
3 坂本真綾
4 釘宮理恵
4 田中理恵
4 豊口めぐみ
4 久川綾
4 雪野五月
9 伊藤静
9 井上喜久子
9 堀江由衣
9 三石琴乃
9 皆川純子
9 ゆかな

No surprise on the top two there as they've always been the 1st and 2nd on my list. Kind of figured Sakamoto Maaya would be the 3rd, too. The list from the 4th place down doesn't quite fit what I would imagine it, however. I'd probably replace a third of the people with others placed lower than 15th.

Top 13 male seiyuu result:
1 石田彰
2 小野大輔
2 宮野真守
4 置鮎龍太郎
4 神谷浩史
4 小西克幸
4 子安武人
4 関智一
4 中井和哉
4 中村悠一
4 福山潤
4 保志総一朗
4 若本規夫

Ishida Akira at the top is expected. Seki Tomokazu, whom I had stated as my 2nd favourite male seiyuu back in 2008, is 4th place. This actually fits what I've been feeling lately, that his 2nd place standing is being threatened by a few other seiyuu. Those other seiyuu are Ono Daisuke and Miyano Mamoru, which are placed 2nd here. I think this list is quite accurate if I were to compile a list myself.


That was an interesting hour spent doing the surveys and writing up the post. XD

Mukashibanashi chapter1 昔話第１章

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. I really am starting the Mukashibanashi project. I know I probably should write about my experience at the Anime Expo 2010, but I secretly made a resolution to write about this topic if I saw this at AX.

I kind of figured there's probably still people cosplaying Sailor Moon, but I wasn't sure if I'd actually see any. I did. And you might be able to guess what the topic is by now, at least partially.

セーラー服(Sailor uniform) Uniforms

(Before I start on the actual post, let me just remind you that Mukashibanashi is derived strictly from my own memory, and memories do fade or get dressed up with the effect of time. If possible, try not to take everything seriously.)

Students in Taiwan, at least in my time, have the privilege of not having to think about what to wear to school in the morning. Every school has its own design, and there's tales of girls aiming for particular schools when doing the high school entrance exam for their cute or pretty looking uniforms, according to my Mum.

The uniforms for my elementary school were pretty much the same for both boys and girls: plain white button-up shirts with black shorts for boys or dark blue pleated skirts for girls. Short sleeves in the summer and long sleeves in the winter. The uniform for the lower grades up to maybe Gr.3 (can't remember) have suspenders. Both boys and girls wear long pants in the winter. There's no school jacket so students just wear their own jackets.

The uniforms for my junior high school were a bit more interesting. The design for the boys uniform is basically the same as the elementary school uniform, except for the colour of the shirt. Instead of white, it's light lime green. I know, not the most appealing nor complimenting colour on a person. The dark blue jacket helps concealing the green somewhat in the winter.

The girl's uniform is sailor style in white except for the two dark blue bands on the collar and maybe the short tie (can't remember). It's still pleated skirts for the girls in the winter, only with thicker fabrics. Same jacket style as the boys (I think), and same white socks to just beneath the knees as the boys. There's a rule for the shoes but I can't remember what; I think it has to be white.

The delinquent girls in anime or manga are always depicted as wearing overly long pleated skirts, but it's actually the opposite in my junior high school. The usual length of the pleated skirt is around the knee area. A few 'delinquent' wannabes would wear them near mid-shin, but most of them would scroll up the waist or cut off the bottom to shorten the skirt to near mid-thigh. Mid-thigh is probably nothing in the distorted modern standard, but it was a sign of rebellion in my time.

I used to think that all school uniforms are similar to the ones I had seen, until a Taiwanese from my high school (in Canada) read the draft of a story I was writing and wanted to know why I picked the style for the lead male's school uniform (white shirt and black pants). So the myriad and sometimes senseless uniform designs I've seen in anime and drama aren't just limited to Japanese schools! They do exist in Taiwan as well!

On a side note, my junior high had hair restrictions. Guys had military cuts, and girls' couldn't be longer than 2~3cm under the ears. No perming or dyeing as well. It was a pain to maintain the hair. There's a girl in my class who had naturally lighter hair so it appeared dark brown, and she also got questioned by the teachers. Apparently, hair restriction isn't enforced in all public schools, either, as I recently found out!

For reference, both the elementary school and junior high I went to were public schools. I think there's one or two private junior highs in my county that didn't have hair restrictions; one of the reasons that some people from my elementary school took the entrance exams for them.

---

I've been meaning to post this earlier, but Blogger hasn't worked for me since I came back. I finally got fed up waiting for a fix and went searching the forum today and found a work around to get past the issue.

There won't be a template to follow for Mukashibanashi posts, since it's mostly just incoherent babbling as I tap into my frontal lobe (which reminds me of Full Frontal from Gundam Unicorn and his ridiculous hairdo XD). As such, beware of abrupt endings or incomprehensible analogies and references. You know how old people like to rant about anything? There you go. XD

Soramimi Project #22: Yamazaki Takumi 山崎たくみ

First heard: Juuroumaru/Kageroumaru (Inuyasha)

First noticed: George de Sand (G Gundam)

Memorable characters: George de Sand (G Gundam), Muu (Saint Seiya Hades Chapter Sanctuary), Roybea Loy (Gundam X), Jiras (Slayers TRY)

Image character: George de Sand (G Gundam)

Discernment rate: average

Number of works seen: 16

I haven't heard that much of him, but a couple of the characters, namely those listed under memorable characters, leave enough impression on me. Even though he's done quite a bit of work over the years, judging from the list on jp.wikipedia, I think I've covered many of his major roles.

His Gundam characters are rather flamboyant and seem like a ladies' man, but both are actually single-minded toward the girl of their heart. Muu carries a regal air befitting his status of a Gold Saint, helping the Bronze warriors in his own way before heading to the final battle against fellow Gold Saints. Frankly I don't quite remember his Jiras voice since Slayers TRY was one of my earliest series, but I do plan to re-watch the series sometimes now that I have the DVDs.

Yamazaki Takumi doesn't seem to be as active as before so there's not much chance hearing him unless one watches an older series. I'll probably hear more of him when I find the time to dig out some older shows.

Project NewType #5: カイバ Kaiba
12 episodes
MADHOUSE

[Other media]
N/A

[Highlights]
- seiyuu

Seiyuu was the only reason I picked up this anime; Kuwashima Houko and Park Romi, to be exact. The pace and the plot is very slow so most brave souls would probably drop it in an episode or two. Unless the poor souls like Kuwashima Houko as much as I do.

[Notable seiyuu]
- Kuwashima Houko, Park Romi, Nodo Mamiko, Fujimura Ayumi, Kaida Yuuko

Right before the series aired, the only thing I knew was that it featured Kuwashima Houko, Park Romi and Nodo Mamiko. There's very few characters that appeared on a regular basis for this series, hence the very small number of notable seiyuu, despite the fact that seiyuu was the sole driving force for me.

[Favourite character]
- Chronico/Warp

I wasn't going to put down anyone for this category, but Kuwashima was quite cute as Warp in Chronico's body. Because of the art style and the type of story, there's no good looking and few strong willed characters.

[Couple supported]
- N/A

There was a few Chronico and Vanilla moments, especially at the end of their "relationship", but it was completely one-sided, so that doesn't really count.

[Buying guide]
- not interested

Kaiba is not your usual anime at all. Not only is the art style unattractive (it actually reminded me of really old school cartoon characters before the beginning of modern animation as we know it), the story concept and world setting can be quite confusing. I had a hard time orienting myself halfway through the story because there was a couple months' gap before I resolved to finish the series just to get it over with. The concept of interchanging memory and body itself is somewhat interesting, but the execution made it appear too philosophical for my taste...

Soramimi Project #21: Yamaguchi Kappei 山口勝平

First heard: Inuyasha (Inuyasha)

First noticed: Inuyasha (Inuyasha)

Memorable characters: Inuyasha (Inuyasha), Rokuta (Juuni Kokuki), L (Death Note), Sai Saishi (G Gundam), Souya Hideyoshi (Ueki no Housoku), No.28 (World Destruction)

Image character: Inuyasha (Inuyasha)

Discernment rate: above average; visual

Number of works seen: 30

Ranma 1/2 and Detective Conan or One Piece probably come to mind when most people think of Yamaguchi Kappei. Unfortunately, I've never seen any of these. But I did meet him through another one of his major career works, Inuyasha. I will try to watch Ranma 1/2 and maybe Conan to hear what he sounds like before (this summer is probably a good time as I currently only have 4-6 anime planned and would have the time and bandwidth; One Piece is already planned for the near future because I want to hear Nakai-san's Zoro XD).

Yamaguchi Kappei has a unique nasal and somewhat scratchy voice, and he is really good at acting. Having heard him first in 2000 in Inuyasha and recently in Inuyasha Kanketsuhen, the effect of age and extensive wear on his vocal cord was noticeable, but he was still the Inuyasha we all loved, and more.

Most of the characters I've heard of him are the hot-blooded or genki type, but he's good with a cool type like L from Death Note as well, or a calculating type like Noin from Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne. Regardless of the character type, though, most of them have an inner innocence despite the front they put up. I find this quite fitting, because Yamaguchi-san always carries an air of innocence himself. He's a very cute and family-loving man. :)

Never seen him in a play, but judging from his seiyuu performance and his character, I'm sure he's great on stage. Would definitely like to hear more of him in works to come, as well as his past works. これからも頑張ってください！

Soramimi Project #20: Kaida Yuuko 甲斐田裕子

First heard: librarian (Gundam ParadeMarch)

First noticed: Ikoma Yumi (Soukyuu no Fafner RIGHT OF LEFT)

Memorable characters: Ikoma Yumi (Soukyuu no Fafner RIGHT OF LEFT), Matsu (Sengoku BASARA), Kusakabe Mari (Tokyo Magnitude 8.0), Marida Cruz (Gundam Unicorn), Vivaldi (Clover no Kuni no Alice), Rosa Farrell (Final Fantasy IV DS)

Image character: Ikoma Yumi (Soukyuu no Fafner RIGHT OF LEFT)

Discernment rate: slightly below average

Number of works seen: 20

Due to the similarity in name, I used to mix up Kaida Yuuko and Kaida Yuki a lot before I heard Kaida Yuuko in RIGHT OF LEFT and Kaida Yuki in Shounen Onmyoji. However, even though I can tell the two apart now, I would notice K. Yuuko's voice while watching a show but only recognize it about half the time. She has the acting skill, but her voice has a rather neutral tone so it's not as easy for me to remember and squeeze into my limited-capacity memory. Even in RIGHT OF LEFT, her voice didn't leave that much of an impression on me, but the character was played so vividly that I extended the notice from the character to the seiyuu.

While I named Ikoma Yumi as my image character for her, the character that left the most impression on me is actually Vivaldi. The reason why Vivaldi wasn't picked was because the impression was more due to a combination of the character's setting and the nature of the medium (adventure game) rather than the voice. Vivaldi is not really a playable character, so I didn't bother to get her CGs or take her friendship route. As a result, her presence isn't as strong as Yumi's, who went through traumatic ordeals and fought to the very end in RIGHT OF LEFT (speaking of which, I really really really want the DVD or BD for it).

Because of her slightly deep and husky voice, a lot of her characters seem to have strong resolution and inner strength, as illustrated in my list of memorable characters. They're all likable characters, if only I can learn to recognize her voice better... I look forward to when that day comes!

Project NewType #4: 探偵学園Q Tantei Gakuen Q
45 episodes
PIERROT

[Other media]
- Original manga
- Japanese drama (never seen)
- consumed order: anime -> manga -> anime

I picked up the anime because it's rare to see Ogata Megumi playing the protagonist. Of course, Kuwashima Houko was another big factor. I lost my source about half way through the series and didn't resume watching it until a few years later. I went to the original manga when the anime became unavailable and ended up finishing the manga before I was able to finish watching the anime.

[Highlights]
- seiyuu

While I read mystery stuff, I'm not a huge mystery fan. It's nice if it's available, but I won't wither if I don't get my fix. As a result, I'm kind of meh for the series itself. The only highlight for me is the seiyuu as it's my reason for picking up the anime in the first place. Needless to say, the manga probably isn't something I'd read more than once.

[Notable seiyuu]
- Ogata Megumi, Kuwashima Houko, Touchika Kouichi, Kawakami Tomoko, Ishikawa Hideo, Tanaka Hideyuki, Seki Toshihiko, Hisakawa Aya, Narita Ken, Miki Shinichirou, Yukino Satsuki, Chiba Susumu, Tobita Nobuo, Noda Junko, Midorikawa Hikaru, Ishida Akira

I actually started on the anime in the earlier days of my anime watching career so I didn't know a lot of the seiyuu at that time. By the time I went back to the show, I was able to recognize most of the people I know.

[Favourite characters]
- Minami Megumi, Amakusa Ryu

Megumi, voiced by Kuwashima Houko, is a given. Ryuu, played by Touchika Kouichi, features a gentle and calm voice that I find soothing, especially out of the noisy cast for the Q class. Appearance wise, Ryu is set to be the bishonen on the team, so he has the advantage of voice and looks over his fellow classmates.

Katagiri Shino and Nanami Koutarou are two other possible candidates, but they don't have enough screen time to showcase their personalities. The main character Kyuu? Sorry, I need more than Ogata Megumi to go for a gaki.

[Couple supported]
- Amakusa Ryu x Minami Megumi

This is pretty self-explanatory if you've watched the series. I think the staff is leaning more toward Kyuu x Megumi, but Kyuu is too much of a kid for me to see the potential in that pairing. Colour coordination also speaks for Ryu x Megumi with the light grey/purple and soft pink. XD

[Buying guide]
- not interested

As mentioned in the Highlights section, this isn't something I'd watch again. There's often times too little character growth in mystery series, especially for the main character, as it usually focuses on the tricks and the rivalry between the opposing organizations. This is a prime example of that sad tradition. I think almost everyone else developed more than Kyuu by the end of the series...

Soramimi Project #19: Takagi Wataru 高木渉

First heard: Kawaji Isao (Weiss kreuz)

First noticed: Valgarv (Slayers TRY)

Memorable characters: Valgarv (Slayers TRY), Garrod Ran (Gundam X), Shiba Ganjuu (Bleach), Ned Gold (17 Again Japanese dub)

Image character: Valgarv (Slayers TRY)

Discernment rate: above average to high

Number of works seen: 10

One of the few seiyuu I haven't seen much but know the voice fairly well; Takagi's husky voice is hard to miss. Again, Weiss kreuz being my first ever anime in Japanese and happened years before I really started to watch anime, I don't remember almost anyone except the Weiss members. So if it's discounted, I really first heard Takagi as Valgarv in Slayers TRY.

Valgarv is an interesting character, born Ancient Dragon but able to wield Chao Dragon Garv's Mazoku power, swearing revenge on the Gold Dragons but didn't extended the killing spree to Filia and eventually came to be under Filia's wings. Common fanfic settings is to have Valgarv being interested in Filia during TRY season or AU and being protective of adoptive mother Filia post-TRY. At least that's I see it when I write.

His role in the dubbed version of 17 Again frankly isn't all that memorable compared to his other roles, but he's one of the first two voices I recognized and made me continue watching the unsubbed dubbed film on the plane. Of course, Morita was the deciding factor when the main guy turned 17. XD

My latest meeting with Takagi was in Gundam X where he played the protagonist Garrod Ran. Garrod wasn't my main focus in Gundam X (Witz was more my type), but it's nice to add another seiyuu to my list of Gundam roster. Looks like he'll appear in the next instalment of Gundam UC as well. Definitely looking forward to it!

Soramimi Project #18: Amano Yuri 天野由梨

First heard: Hoshiyomi (Inuyasha)

First noticed: Rain Mikamura (G Gundam)

Memorable characters: Rain Mikamura (G Gundam), Ichiki (Nabari no Ou)

Image character: Rain Mikamura (G Gundam)

Discernment rate: low

Number of works seen: 16

Another one of those seiyuu I'm only familiar with the name but not the voice. It's obvious that I tie her with Rain from G Gundam by just looking at the stats above.

Even though she is the heroine, she is unfortunately cursed with the deadly trait of having the majority of her lines being the protagonist's name. As a result, there isn't very much character development and thus making her less memorable amongst the extremely colourful cast of characters in G Gundam. The Sekiha Love-love Tenkyouken(石破ラブラブ天驚拳) she performed with Domon at the end that released heart-shaped beam is awesome, though. XD

Her G Gundam songs are quite good, and I find the Hong Kong touring song with Seki Tomokazu especially hilarious. On a side note, G Gundam probably isn't remembered for its music, but it's got some pretty good character songs, by Seki before he destroyed his vocal cord with all the Domon shouting, no less! The four Cantonese tracks from the G Gundam Round 3 OST also happen to be the only Cantonese songs I have.

Quite a few of the roles I've seen her are of a motherly nature which I think suits her well (even Rain kind of acts like a mother to Domon sometimes). I may not have her voice down yet, but I sure hope to hear more of Amano Yuri!

Project NewType #3: 彩雲国物語 Saiunkoku Monogatari
1st season: 39 episodes
2nd season: 39 episodes
MADHOUSE

[Other media]
- Original novel (ongoing)
- Spin-off manga (ongoing)
- Drama CDs (released pre-anime; covers vol.1-2 of novel)
- consumed order: anime -> Drama CD -> novel -> manga

I recently started on vol.3 of the novel and only have up to vol.14 of the main story and two out of four side story volumes. The anime covers up to the end of vol.12, so I went ahead and read vol.13-14 online in Chinese. I couldn't wait to see what happened next, and it'd taken me way too long to catch up in Japanese.

Even though it was only mentioned briefly in vol.13, the name of two certain creatures made me realized that the anime left out some crucial setting. I don't know exactly what since I didn't bother reading the preceding volumes covered by the anime, but I will when I get to it in the novel. I look forward to get the full story.

The novel series, standing at 16 volumes so far for the main story, appears to be entering its final arc now. Hopefully Yukino-sensei will tie up all the lose threads in a satisfying way and, I know it's wistful thinking, pair up Shuurei with Seiga! I really like Kuwashima Houko with Morikubo Shoutarou. XD

The manga is done by the illustrator for the novel and I haven't read much since it's pretty hard to find. Nothing special about the manga version as it follows the novel closely.

The drama CD has a partially different cast than the anime. With the exception of Hayami Shou as Kou Kijin from the drama CD and Okamura Akemi as Shuusui from the anime, the cast for both version are pretty comparable. It's a really hard toss for Reishin and Ensei, but I think the anime version is slightly more fitting considering the age of the characters.

[Highlights]
- story, setting, seiyuu, music

It's obvious from the cast of good looking guys that the series is aimed at the female population. But what caught me foremost was the seiyuu, then the story and setting as well as the music. I find the character design quite decent, but not enough to attract me by appearance alone. While a lot of "for female" series focus on the hot guys as selling points, Saiunkoku never leaves the main character Kou Shuurei. It's easy to dismiss the series as a reverse harem for Shuurei, but such notion is actually quite low on the radar. Even I get more excited when Shuurei turns the table and deals a great hand than when Ryuuki tries to woo her. In short, Saiunkoku is an account of trials, obstacles and accomplishments of Shuurei as she fights for others in the unfriendly world of politics and power struggles dominated by men.

The music is scored by Ryou Kunihiko, whom I've known since Juuni Kokuki and Emma. I personally find the music of Saiunkoku not quite on par with that of Juuni Kokuki, but it's still very nice. I'm a sucker for oriental ethnic instruments. XD

[Notable seiyuu]
- Kuwashima Houko, Seki Tomokazu, Midorikawa Hikaru, Hiyama Nobuyuki, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Ikeda Shuuichi, Kanna Nobutoshi, Madono Mitsuaki, Kisaichi Atsushi, Nakata Kazuhiro, Okamura Akemi, Narita Ken, Morikubo Shoutarou, Katsu Anri, Sugiyama Noriaki, Ookawa Tooru, Namikawa Daisuke, Itou Kentarou, Akimoto Yousuke, Chiba Susumu, Toriumi Kousuke, Suwabe Junichi, Koyasu Takehito, Yusa Kouji, Okiayu Ryuutarou, Kiuchi Hidenobu, Miyamoto Mitsuru, Toyoguchi Megumi, Onosaka Masaya, Nojima Hirofumi, Seki Toshihiko, Kaida Yuki, Sendai Eri

Yeah, that's how luxurious　the seiyuu cast is for the series. I think it's getting common as well for works targeting females to have exceptional seiyuu cast. Kuwashima Houko is my favourite female seiyuu, and Seki Tomokazu is my 2nd (though he's in danger of losing that spot) favourite male seiyuu. 'Nuff said. XD

[Favourite characters]
- Kou Shuurei, Li Kouyu, Rou Ensei, Riku Seiga, Ran Ryuuren, Shin Suou

I like most of the characters played by the seiyuu listed above, so I only point out the most notable ones here. Shuurei is a given, and so is Seiga. Actually, I just realized that the five guys I mentioned here are the ones I support with Shuurei...

[Couples supported]
- Shuurei x Seiga
- Shuurei x Ensei, Shuurei x Kouyu, Shuurei x Ryuuren, Shuurei x Suou
- Shuuei x Shuusui
- Eigetsu x Kourin
- Juusanhime x Jun

Of course there's couples that I support! I'm a romantic at heart (?!) and this series has a lot of potentials. My vote goes to Shuurei x Seiga, but I also support other combinations. I used to like Shuurei x Ryuuki but it faded away once Shuurei entered the Censorate. I guess I'm kind of fine with Shuurei x Seiran, but I will not tolerate Shuurei x Sakujun.

It is very possible that Shuurei won't end up with anyone, but there's always hoping and fanfics. XD

[Buying guide]
- already bought 1st season

Given the medieval Chinese setting and politic terms, it'd be ideal to buy the series with Chinese subtitles instead of English. I hate it when I have no source to get R3 DVDs and have to settle for inferior R1 DVDs. Story-wise it doesn't flow as well as the original novel, but nothing beats being able to hear the grand cast of seiyuu. :D

Soramimi Project #17: Yanaka Hiroshi 家中宏

First heard: Onigumo, 1st Naraku (Inuyasha)

First noticed: Onigumo, 1st Naraku (Inuyasha)

Memorable characters: 1st Naraku (Inuyasha), Chris Avenir (Zegapain)

Image character: 1st Naraku (Inuyasha)

Discernment rate: low

Number of works seen: 19

One of those seiyuu that I recognize the name but not really the voice. The main reason I started taking note of his name was because the voice of Naraku changed during the Sango arc. I got confused and found two seiyuu for Naraku when I checked, one of which being Yanaka Hiroshi.

I really haven't heard very much of him, but I liked Chris from Zegapain. It's so sad that Chris and his wife have to part. T__T

I think I kind of got the hang of it when I heard him again recently in Inuyasha Kanketsuhen. I'm interested in testing out my method but he doesn't seem to be playing many roles in the series I plan to watch... Ah well.

Project NewType #2: 焼きたて!! ジャぱん Yakitate!! Japan
69 episodes
SUNRISE

[Other media]
- original manga (completed; ongoing when anime aired)

I read the original manga a long time ago and managed to get to the end of the Pierrot arc before forgetting about it. Not really interested in the bread fight, but everybody knows the gem of food-themed manga is the critics and reaction of people eating them. I might finish the manga for completion sake.

[Highlights]
- comical gag, abnormal food critics, seiyuu

As mentioned above, the critics is the main motivation for me in a food-themed manga, and it's elevated many folds in the anime through the acting of seiyuu. It especially helps that the two main judges are played by Koyasu Takehito and Seki Tomokazu. XD Aizenthe peacock dude? It's awkward to hear the final boss of Bleach talking about bread, but he was too monotone to be funny enough.

Being a gag work, there's tons of parody from other works, most notably during the reaction stages. I liked it when they changed the art to imitate famous shoujo or classic art styles, and I found the Gundam reference (this was before I watched the 1st Gundam and only recognized the MS models) and the "Lord of the Loquat" to be exceptional.

One thing that usually sets the anime version apart from its printed version is the ability to add in seiyuu neta and be able to hear it. Don't remember if there's any seiyuu neta in this one. Would have been a waste if there wasn't any.

[Notable seiyuu]
- Kobayashi Yumiko, Koyasu Takehito, Inoue Marina, Hayami Sho, Tachiki Fumihiko, Mizuki Nana, Seki Tomokazu, Yusa Kouji, Nakata Jyouji, Kugimiya Rie, Kosugi Juutarou, Katsuki Masako, Hino Satoshi, Hiyama Nobuyuki, Nojima Kenji, Toriumi Kousuke, Ishii Makoto, Midorikawa Hikaru, Neya Michiko, Kawakami Tomoko, Konishi Katsuyuki, Noto Mamiko

This being a long anime series, there's a lot of guest characters, many of which are voiced by famous seiyuu. Even though I listed a lot of names here, most of them only appeared in a few episodes. But when you have something with a non-believing plot (common with gag type food-themed works) and no outstanding characters, seiyuu become very important to keep you going.

[Favourite character(s)]
- Kuroyanagi Ryou, Pierrot Bolneze

It's probably obvious that I'd pick those two. Actually, their seiyuu are the main reason I decided to watch the anime. I already know the kinds of reaction they do when I read the manga, but I just want to see how Koyasu Takehito and Seki Tomokazu would act. XD

[Couples supported]
- N/A

I don't think anyone is expecting there to be one since this is a gag food-themed work. The only official couple is Suwabara Kai x Monica Adenauer, but I wasn't too interested in Suwabara's seiyuu so(ry) XD

[Buying guide]
- not interested

As mentioned many times throughout the post, this is a gag food-themed work and that the judge seiyuu was the main reason of me watching the anime. There also lack significant character development beside their bread baking skills. It's worth a laugh for sure, but not enough for me to shell out cash (not that it's even available in R1 anyway).

犬夜叉 完結編 Inuyasha Kanketsuhen ep.1-9

I don't usually write about a show until I finish the whole thing unless it's first impression, but I just have to jot something down real quick before moving on to the next episode.

I started reading Inuyasha right after it was serialized in 1996 and had dutifully followed the series for years. I lost my source not too long after Kagura's death, and the anime ended before that event, so I've been away from the series ever since.

When I learned of the Kanketsuhen anime, I was only slightly intrigued because I hadn't been in touch with the series. But naturally I'd still grab it and watch it at my leisure, which turned out to be this weekend.

My first impression was that the art quality is really good and consistent, unlike the 1st anime which suffered from the same fate of collapsing quality faced by most series longer than two cours. It's really nostalgic to see all the characters animated on screen and hearing them speak again, especially considering that Inuyasha introduced Kuwashima Houko to me and got me started on seiyuu.

I've recalled how much I used to love this lot of characters and feel with them as they go through various emotional stages. I've already had to wipe off tears at least three times over the nine episodes: when Kagura died, when Inuyasha cried as Kikyou lay dying in his arms, and when Jyaken cried and gave thanks in the place of Sesshoumaru. I was a bit sad when Kohaku was told that he wouldn't be saved by Tenseiga, though, 'cause I was secretly hoping for that when I was still reading the manga years ago.

I think I'm falling for the series all over again. Depending on how the series ends, all those fanfics I started years ago may forever remain with me, and that would be a good thing. There's no need for fanfic if there's satisfying closures. :)

Now back to the anime!

Quick follow-up on the NieR game.

Just received the Square Enix newsletter version North America which featured NIER. From the looks of it, NieR RepliCant might be Japan only as both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 versions for North America have Nier from NieR Gestalt on the cover, and there's no mention at all about Nier from NieR RepliCant.

The official site for NIER sucked too much that I couldn't go pass the loading message for the different sections. If I didn't get the newsletter version Japan and know about NieR RepliCant, I would have just dismissed the whole game based on this newsletter alone. And the official site didn't help.

Ah well, just wanted to rant(?) a bit and take note of the injustice(?) players outside Japan have to go through. There's definitely a huge gap between the two gaming cultures as demonstrated here...

Soramimi Project #16: Asano Masumi 浅野真澄

First heard: Yuizaki Hiyono (Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~)

First noticed: Yuizaki Hiyono (Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~)

Memorable characters: Harada Risa (D.N.Angel), Suzuno Aya (Monochrome Factor), Osana Najimi (Doujin Work), Tsukinomori Sayoko (Boukyaku no Senritsu), Akisato Miyuri (Starship Operators), Yuizaki Hiyono (Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna)

Image character: N/A

Discernment rate: high

Number of works heard: 18

One of the earlier seiyuus I learned to recognize. I first noticed her when I heard her in Spiral, though I was also getting her mixed up with Horie Yui at that time. I got her voice down by the time I heard Risa from D.N.Angel. Asano Masumi has a very distinct voice with a hint of innocence and sunshine. Even though I haven't heard very much of her, I think I've recognized her 90% of the time. The only role I'm unsure of is the nameless girl B she played in Full Metal Panic Fumoffu. Seriously can't remember if I heard her or not...

Not only is her voice easy to discern, her tone doesn't change very much from character to character. This may be due to the type of characters I've heard her so far, but I won't know until I hear more of her. As a result, I can't pin down an image character for her. When I see her name, the image of Sayoko pops up in my head, but I actually don't have much recollection of the character because my focus was mainly on Kuwashima Houko and a few other people. I could say Harada Risa since six out of the 18 works are D.N.Angel, but when I hear Risa, I don't think of Asano-san. Many of her major roles are memorable, but none really stands out to be her image character.

When I was looking up her roles on ja.wikipedia, I noticed that she's also been writing children stories and provides lyrics for a few people, including Atari Kousuke! Definitely would like to read her books given the chance. Her voice borders on denpa for me, but I'd like to hear more of her for sure, as long as it's not a moe character...

I don't usually write about games I don't get to nor plan to play, but I find this Square-Enix e-newsletter intriguing enough to warrant a post.

『ニーア ゲシュタルト』 & 『ニーア レプリカント』 are action RPG games to be released (in Japan only for now?) later this month. While it's nothing new to have different games of the same series on different consoles, there is something unique in this case.

Everything, from world setting to characters to game mechanics, is identical in NieR Gestalt (Xbox 360) and NieR RepliCant (PS3). They are separate tales yet closely linked together, like two sides of a mirror. The main differences I see are the main character and the voice.

In NieR Gestalt, the main character is the father of the girl, and the game is voiced in English with Japanese subtitles. In NieR RepliCant, the main character is the older brother of the girl, and the game is voiced in Japanese. The catch phrase in the email newsletter also signifies the themes of the two games, one is driven by madness(狂気) and the other moved by love(愛).

Frankly, I'm not really interested in this game. The 3D character designs don't speak to me, especially after I flipped through the character pages and found the much more attractive original illustrations which the 3D models don't resemble at all... I consider it scamming to have such beautiful and lively art turned into just passable polygons. I might look up the illustrator and see if he's got any art books out.

I watched the PV for both games and found it a bit disappointing as a Square Enix game for the unpolished looks but at the same time fitting as a Square Enix game for its story and emotional draw. The PVs seemed to suggest different directions for the two games, and the voice acting is on a professional level for both. I can see North Americans playing NieR Gestalt imports and feeling right at home.

The music is very beautiful with a Renaissance feel to my untrained ears. The BGMs on the NieR Gestalt side sound more battle-themed, while the tracks on the NieR Replicant side is more serene and melancholy. The vocals are quite nice as well. Highly recommended.

Someone commented on Amazon Japan that this will likely be a utsuge and I have to agree, despite there being multiple endings. I'm a lazy person, but I can invest countless hours playing RPG because I'm a big sucker for good stories.

Just noticed there's a mini game on the website... Apparently there's extra voices and a movie if one collects all 20 words scattered across the site. Will try that later.

Project NewType #1: 隠の王 Nabari no Ou
26 episodes
J.C.STAFF

- Original work medium: manga

I read the original manga quite a long time ago but didn't get very far before forgetting about it. I already forgot everything by the time I saw the anime it was basically a brand new show to me. The original manga is still ongoing. I might pick it up again when I have time.

- Highlights: art, music, seiyuu, partial story

The art is rendered in a very smoothing water colour style, and the colour palette is mainly consisted of soft hues of various shades of green and blue and some grey. It suits the show well considering the characters' personalities and that shinobi are supposedly one with nature. The animation is done by J.C.STAFF, so the quality is pretty persistent throughout.

Music is composed by Ooshima Michiru. I have yet to be able to recognize her music style, but I like a lot of her works. The main theme starts off peaceful and progresses to a sense of determination, which is very fitting.

The OP by VELTPUNCH is not bad. My first time listening to the group. ELISA's HIKARI is a really beautiful song, as expected from ELISA.

The story background is somewhat unique in that it's shinobi in modern settings. Rather than just being a shinobi, many of them also hold position and status in the society.

- Notable seiyuu: Kugimiya Rie, Namikawa Daisuke, Saiga Mitsuki, Hino Satoshi, Fujimura Ayumi, Suwabe Junichi, Nakata Jyouji, Okiayu Ryuutarou, Yukino Satsuki, Kakihara Tetsuya, Kawakami Tomoko, Fujiwara Keiji, Mitsuishi Kotono, Tamura Yukari

The seiyuu is on the really heavy side for me so I'll just mention two here. This is my first time hearing Kugimiya Rie acting as a young boy (Alphonse speaks in a metallic accent so doesn't quite fully count) and I was impressed by her acting once again. Namikawa Daisuke speaks in a lower tone than most of his other roles so it's a nice to hear him as a grown man. XD

- Favourite character(s): N/A

Didn't really feel for any of the characters. I blame it on the lack of character development in the anime.

- Couples supported: N/A

I'm not aware of another official couple beside Kumohira and Seki, but I don't really feel anything for them. At one point, I was hoping to see some Kouichi x Raimei but it never happened...

- Buying guide: not interested

The story is all right and can be slow at times. I think I watched it mostly for the seiyuu and the art. If you want to see some shinobi action with flying shuriken and kunai, Naruto might be a better choice.

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Finally dived in and started on the anime project I mentioned before. As in the early stage of Project Soramimi, this is still in prototype so the format and content might change. I've decided to name it Project NewType because NewType is known for its comprehensive coverage on anime. While my little pet project will be far from being comprehensive like the magazine, I just want to briefly document my own take on the shows.

この間ある古い付き合いのひとのブローグを見つけました。何年ぶりからちょっと気になる、全エントリー読んでしました。そして懐かしいでも思うんだけど、やばり切ないだと思うてた。

何で、今になって、まだあの事をこだわるんですか？
何で、まだ自分の過ちを認めない、相手のせいばかりだと言うの？
何で、まだ自分が被害者だと、相手が全ての元凶だと言うの？
何で、主のもとに帰しながら、まだ許せないの？自分だって赦される身なのに。

あなたは苦労してひとりで子供たちを育てた、いつも子供たちの為に頑張ってた、立派な親です。どうか子供たちに憎しみや恨みなどの感情を教えてないでください。彼らもまたあなたの様に天国の父の子ですから、常に愛と感謝の気持ちを持つべきなんです。私たちはいつもそう天国の父が見守ていますから。

ちょっと残念だと思うんけど、私はあなたを責めない、その資格もない。ただいつかあなたの心は安らかになりますように、そう祈ってる。

あなたがやったことは確実のことでした、それは誰も否定できない。そのお蔭で私も含めて沢山の若者たちは天国の父を知った。改めて感謝を伝えてもらう。ありがとう。また戦友となるでね？

Remember I chronicled my customization for Firefox when I had to uninstall 3.6 and reinstall 3.5.x earlier this year? It made my reinstallation just now a lot quicker since I didn't have to search for my extension list or the codes.

Yeah, I had to do it again 'cause I accidentally hit the "enter" key when the update reminder popped up. I held on for as long as possible before I had to restart the browser, but the inevitable took place and pushed my Firefox to 3.6.

Coincidentally, bro threw me a message asking if I've upgraded to the latest Firefox just as Firefox 3.6.x finished installing. During the brief exchange and attempt to relay my issues with bro (I asked him to reproduce the 'bugs' which he couldn't), I used the term "cleartype" in the description, and it suddenly hit me.

The blurry text problem I was having with Personas in 3.6? It's actually because it displays the text in ClearType for some weird reason even though I had turned off ClearType right after I installed Windows. I looked everywhere and couldn't find anything on how to disable the ClearType display with Personas in 3.6 (everyone wants ClearType, it seemed). At the end, I had to go through the whole process like I did with my Firefox on Vista (I'm on XP now).

This time around, beside following my own instructions, there's a few changes between my current customization and the previous one.

The add-on FetchImi has somehow disappeared from the Add-ons site. I haven't looked into this yet but shall do that later.

Forgot to mention this last time since these were in the imported bookmark already, but the Quick Searches are really handy, especially if the term in question isn't displayed on the page and thus can't be copy&pasted.

3 very useful quick searches I use:
- The Free Dictionary (keyword: dict) http://www.thefreedictionary.com/%s
- Yahoo!辞書 (keyword: jp) http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%s&stype=0&dtype=2
- XE.com: JPY to CAD rate (keyword: xe) http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?Amount=%s&From=JPY&To=CAD

I've also set my URL bar to search using google.co.jp (http://www.google.co.jp/search?hl=ja&source=hp&q=) instead of google.com so it won't give me Chinese results if the term happens to be in kanji.

Note to self: export key3 and signons.sqlite before removing the profile for saved passwords. Maybe places.sqlite as well? Didn't try that.

Obviously I'm gonna try to hold out until they stop supporting 3.5.x., again. Hopefully by then there will be enough queries from people despising ClearType for Mozilla to add in an option to turn it off. *crosses fingers*


On a last note, I really want to get back to Umineko, but it's 1am and my cat has already came to call twice... I think I will put off Umineko until later today and try to find out the fate of FetchImi, then go read Toradora.

April is just around the corner, which means the next round of shows will be starting in a week or so! The spring (April) and fall (October) terms have traditionally been heavy in terms of the number of new shows, so I decided to check out the line-up beforehand so I can pace myself for the planned anime reinforce month.

After a quick trip to Niconico, here's my initial verdict.

[Angel Beats]
- no idea what it's about but definitely watching because of the original script writer and music composer Maeda Jun
- the OP & ED should be great as expected
- character design seems good
- average seiyuu cast (in terms of my interest)

[会長はメイド様！]
- been following the original manga so definitely watching
- was worried about the seiyuu combination for the main pair but they sounded fine in the PV
- was hoping for other seiyuu but...(ry)
- character design not as refined as manga but acceptable

[WORKING!!]
- undecided, leaning on not watching depending on time and bandwidth
- didn't bother reading the original manga after reading the synopsis
- seiyuu might be the main reason if I end up watching it, but Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Daisuke may not be reason enough...

[荒川アンダーザブリッジ]
- probably watching
- still have no idea what it's about after the brief PV with the real life kappa (I blame it on Shinbou Akiyuki XD)
- character design is good
- pretty good seiyuu cast

[いちばんうしろの大魔王]
- undecided, leaning on not watching
- haven't read the original novel and dropped the manga after the first or second chapter
- OK character design
- below average seiyuu cast

[薄桜鬼]
- definitely watching because Kuwashima Houko is the protagonist!
- never played the original PS2 game but I know it's otome
- looks like Miki Shinichiro's character is the main guy, but I really prefer Morikubo Shoutarou or Yusa Kouji...

[閃光のナイトレイド]
- probably watching
- no idea what it's about but looks interesting
- character design is good
- released seiyuu list is small but looks good

[四畳半神話大系]
- undecided
- no idea what it's about
- character design is kinda hard to say...
- seiyuu might be the main reason if I end up watching it

[HEROMAN]
- undecided, leaning on not watching depending on time and bandwidth
- never read the American comics this is based on, really unsure about the story due to its origin...
- character design and art is good (BONES!)
- average seiyuu cast

[SDガンダム三国伝 BraveBattleWarriors]
- definitely watching
- not familiar with the story, but the design is really nice (I've bought three models already and would have got more if I had the money and space)
- don't know most of the seiyuu but (ry)
- would definitely want the Knight Gundam series or other SD Gundam/BB Senshi series be animated

[裏切りは僕の名前を知っている]
- I refuse to touch BL
- just wanted to include this one here because this is yet another excellent example of BL work having really heavy seiyuu cast
- after a quick search on Google, most readers of the original manga seem to think this is not BL but admit there's tones of BL elements, so I might give it a try. Monochrome Factor isn't BL, but the anime version twisted it to include BL elements so let's hope it won't be the case here

In conclusion, it's four for sure, two probably and four maybe (and one iffy) for the spring term. There's probably other series not covered in the video so the number might increase when they air.

Despite spring supposedly being a big term for anime, I'm a lot more excited by some of the series scheduled for the summer and fall terms. I've already picked out four definitely-watching series for summer (Sengoku BASARA 2!) and at least six or more for fall (plus Gundam UC 2nd episode!).

As for the movies, I'm really looking forward to the 4th (might be the last?) Bleach movie and the Soukyuu no Fafner(!!!) movie. There's also Break Blade 1st Chapter, Gundam 00, Macross Frontier, and maybe Beck (real people) and the Naruto Shippuuden movie.

On a last note, I found the highlight of the video to be when Emperor Wakamoto speaks up as Megatron from Transformer Animated. XD

Soramimi Project #15: Yasumoto Hiroki 安元洋貴

First heard: villager (Inuyasha)

First noticed: Chad (Bleach)

Memorable characters: Chad (Bleach), Utuu (Druaga no Tou ~Aegis of URUK~), Count Blood Dracula (Princess Nightmare), Justice (Doujin Work), Midarezaki Teika (Kyouran Kazoku Nikki)

Image character: Chad (Bleach)

Discernment rate: very high; visual

Number of works heard: 34

Despite knowing Yasumoto's voice fairly well, he's not really on my radar. As a result, I was rather surprised by the high number of works I've heard of him. While his role in Bleach accounts for four, 31 is still an impressive number for him.

The first time I heard Chad in Bleach, I was slightly taken aback by his deep voice but found it quite suitable at the same time. I did not expect it to be only one pitch lower than the seiyuu's natural voice. When I saw Yasumoto at the Bleach Soul Sonic, I rested my case.

Since his voice isn't really my type, I didn't play the Count Dracula route in Princess Nightmare. Of course, the fact that he's the adoptive father was a big factor as well... Don't really have much to say about him except that I hear his voice regularly because of Bleach. As like many male seiyuu, Yasumoto doesn't have many different pitches, but I wouldn't mind hearing more of him outside of Bleach.

BTW, when I was looking up his roles on ja.wikipedia, Chrome Shelled Regios/Legend of Regios wasn't listed. I can understand somewhat since none of the English-speaking cast was mentioned in the credit roll, but come on...

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I'm the very lazy type that finds it very hard to get back into a habit once I fall out of it. But I do like to write, so this is a weak attempt of trying to get back. Hopefully I'll regain the zest to where I used to write weekly. We'll see. :Q

I'm known among friends to be not quite normal. Bro can also testify that I always use analogies from anime or games that he doesn't have a clue about (he sometimes does, too, referencing Naruto and possibly Bleach from now on). This is gonna be another one of those analogies.

A couple people around me have been going through issues regarding their relationships recently. While they troubled themselves through sleepless nights, I sat relatively undisturbed in my "bubble", as some of them called it. I personally think it's an AT Field rather than a bubble due to my attributes, and came up with a pet theory on AT Field two nights ago after being mentioned as in the "bubble" that afternoon.

As any Evangelion fan (or not) knows, AT Fields can be roughly grouped into two types. One acts as a barrier against all external impacts as displayed by the Angels and EVA. Another establishes the existence of each individual by separating the hearts and souls from each other as detailed in the Human Instrumentality Project. For the purpose of my pet theory, I'm going with my interpretation of the former type along with the notion of 'kokoro' that I briefly wrote about before. (If you actually are able to comprehend the bits about AT Fields in this paragraph, congratulations, 'cause I don't! If you couldn't understand a word, have fun watching Evangelion! XD)

AT Field, short for Absolute Terror Field, is able to repel most, if not all, external damages, be it physical or mental. It can be neutralized when the other side is able to synchronize with the AT Field. However, only when complete synchronization is achieved can the one enter wholly into the AT Field of another.

Let's say every one has an AT Field on the interpersonal level. On a daily basis, people interact with each other, rubbing their AT Fields against each other. A form of synchronization is attained through having common interests, experiences or even enemies. As the rate of synchronization increases, people gain more access into one another's AT Field. How close or matched up people are can be determined by the percentage of intersection between the AT Fields.

But wait, synchronization rate can also be negative. This is usually due to diverging views, conflicting experiences or just plain misunderstanding. As a result, the intersecting percentage of the AT Fields fluctuates every time an interaction, either direct or indirect, takes place.

It's pretty much impossible for one to achieve perfect synchronization of another's AT Field. On the other hand, one can keep changing the composition of their AT Field as to purposely discourage synchronization attempts from other people.

When one is able to reach a certain synchronization rate (let's say enough to activate a bankai XD), 'kokoro' is then obtained between the two sides. But because of the dynamic nature of the synchronization rate, the 'kokoro' can be lost and regained numerous times. In order to maintain the 'kokoro', one needs to always strive for bankai. When the 'kokoro' is sufficiently established and maintained, friendship starts to blossom.

Keep in mind, though, that even when 'kokoro' exists between two, synchronization efforts are still ongoing. Negative synchronization doesn't just cancel out the position numbers. It pokes out from one's AT Field into the other's AT Field. The deeper intersecting the AT Fields are, the more painful and acute the pokes are felt by the owner of the intruded AT Field.

Right now I don't have a theory on what sparks a romantic relationship in this whole AT Field thing yet. I'm sure I can come up with something fairly quick, but I think this post has gone on long enough without having any real content, again. So let me leave the rough draft of my latest pet theory at that. (There's something else I was planning to write about but can't remember after the uber long post now...)

On a last note, I watched Evangelion many many many years ago and never bothered to dig into the philosophical and metaphorical sides of it. Beside the robot fights, I was more interested in seeing Kaoru and Rei together... yeah.

BLEACH DS 4th:フレイム・ブリンガー

Finally, after many many hours of slashing and hacking, I've officially beat the whole game! That means I cleared story, mission and survival modes, got all the hell butterflies in both story and mission mode, and collected all soul cards and CGs. よくやったな、自分！ヽ(｀д´)ﾉ

To sum it up, it's definitely one of the best action games I've played in the last few years (not that I've played many). The story itself is nothing special, but it's closer to the manga concept than those anime original arcs. I especially liked the stage where Rukia appears in Ichigo's inner world, and Ichigo recalls who is it that he's supposed to protect when he came to. Of course, anything focusing on the relationship between Ichigo and Rukia is my cup of tea. XD The side talks are rather amusing sometimes and involves most characters minus those from Aizen's side.

The ranking system for the story and free mode is interesting. Since a lot of the extra talks and the hidden stages are only available with A or better rankings, a B means replaying the stage. The surest way to rack up the rank is to hit over 500% SR. The maximum 1000% SR pretty much guarantees you an S rank. There's two stages that I kept getting B ranks during the story mode. Luckily, rankings (and hell butterfly count) are synchronized between story and free modes, so I re-challenged the stages in free mode to get everything necessary after clearing the story mode.

As additional characters are unlocked in the story mode, they become usable in all other modes after certain scenes. Bro seemed to like Renji because of his wider attack range and Yoruichi because of her speed. My character of choice is Ichigo all the way. When I'm stuck in the mission mode, I sometimes switch to Rukia or Hitsugaya.

Except for Ichigo's bankai, all other bankai or ultimate techniques are automatic once executed. I don't have much experience with most of the characters, but I'm very impressed with Rukia's techniques. The cards I set on the board most definitely played a role as well, but beating the Grand Fisher stage in hard survival mode in under 5 seconds with one strike of hakuren is extremely satisfying. XD

I have my system voice set to Rukia, and my save file shows Rukia as she was the last character I used to beat the hard survival mode to get my last soul card and thus completing the game. Beating the story mode puts a star on the save file. Completing the game puts Kon's paw beside the star. :)

I must admit that I cheated once, though, when I searched online for the last missing card after I beat all three modes and got all the hell butterflies. Turned out it's Lilinette, which I at last managed to get after numerous Stark. For some reason, the various guides I found all have instructions on how to get Stark, since people seem to get Lilinette a lot... *shrug*

Bro pulled an all-nighter and beat the story mode just under 9 hours, without setting any card on the board 'cause he couldn't read Japanese and didn't know, and he only aimed to finish the game. As the result of playing the game, he's now watching the Bleach anime. XD

Time to move on to the next game... :3

United States 2 - Canada 3 (OT)

WE WON GOLD!!!!! XDDDD

Double crown with both the men's and women's ice hockey! :D

I can go home happy now~ :3

Gene Simmons' son Plagiarizing Bleach?

Neko-tan passed me the link, and I must say I'm amazed by the nerve and stupidity of some people. Seriously, Bleach and even people's DeviantArt? Did the guy think that comic book readers wouldn't notice, that readerships don't cross over between comic and manga? I mean, come on, Bleach is one of the best known and followed series in North America. And stealing someone's personal artwork is more unforgivable than plagiarizing a published work in my book.

I have no idea who Gene Simmons or his son is. The only Simmons I know is Mark Simmons, who is known as the Gundam expert in the English-speaking world. Never read his famed work Gundam: The Official Guide, though, as I prefer to read up on my Gundam in its original Japanese.

Anyway, back to the topic on hand. The publisher of Incarnate has already halted production of the series and is investigating the matter, so I won't troll. But I do want to present my view regarding some of the comments in the link. No, of course I didn't read all 20+ pages of comments, just part of what's on that linked page.

First off, I wouldn't blame anyone from the publisher for not noticing earlier. Working in the comic book industry doesn't mean the person reads the similar medium populating the other side of the world. Heck, they might not even read publications produced from other companies beside their own depending on their time and interests. This is not a fault. Maybe not diligent enough to stay on top of things, but definitely not a sin.

All artists start out by sketching what they see, be it photos, drawn images, or real life objects. I am no artist, but I, too, have been doing this before I learned how to write. Some people's style is similar to some other artist's because they imitated it during their learning stage. As far as I know, everyone evolves into their own style eventually. This is being inspired and influenced by someone or something, and it's part of the creative cycle.

Tracing is sometimes overlooked depending on the situation, but it's definitely not tolerable for passing as original and making profits off of. It doesn't matter if you have a good original plot or interesting concepts. Once you venture to copying something and claiming it as your own, it's game over. If it's just one or two panels, you might contribute it to paying homage to someone's work, but there's way too many instances in this case to be innocent hat tipping. This is plagiarization, and it only leads to an ugly cycle. It's extremely difficult to come clean once soiled.

Someone mentioned doujin and had no answer for where doujin stands. Personally I think there's no comparison between the particular issue on hand and fan-based/derived doujinshi (referred to as just doujin in the rest of the post because I'm lazy). Plagiarization is taking credit for something stolen, while doujin recognizes and honours the original work and creator. Doujin allows existing characters to experience different settings and scenarios, and the drawings often only somewhat resemble the original design and are heavy with personal touches. The doujin field encourages creativity and collaboration, and many artists and character designers have doujin backgrounds.

Even though most of the doujin publications are sold for a price, the group producing them rarely make any profit. But through the act of doujin distribution, the original work gets known by more people, and the popularity life span of the work is prolonged or renewed. Authors and publishers of the original works probably won't acknowledge or approve doujin, but the influence of doujin is undeniable.

I do not plan to flame this Simmons boy for the incident; copyright laws and the huge fan base of Bleach and other plagiarized works will surely take care of him. I am merely prompted to rant from the angle of an ordinary fan of Bleach who has sketched dozens of fan art based on various manga and am still learning art. On this note, I bid you good night.

機動戦士ガンダムUC episode1 ユニコーンの日

I managed to get a re-scaled 480p version last night (my monitor is 1280*1024 so the 1440*810 wouldn't look too ideal on my screen; yes, I will be grabbing the BD-rip when it's released, because PS3 won't happen until Christmas and therefore I won't be able to play the BD version I'll be getting) and decided to forget about the 2nd New Year's resolution when the first battle broke out some five minutes into the episode.

I'd post something right after the viewing, but it was getting late (or early, depending on which day), so I just dropped a quick message to Neko-tan to vent my excitement, even though Neko-tan's not into Gundam. XD

Here's a direct quote of what I threw at Neko-tan, with the translation in parentheses:
Gundam UC 好棒! XD
澤野的音樂超級棒! XD
內山昂輝果然不負期望, 藤村步的表現也比預想地好! XD
趕快給我在加拿大賣BD版啊~~~
(Gundam UC rocks! XD)
(Sawano's music super rocks! XD)
(Uchiyama Kouki is great as expected, and Fujimura Ayumi's performance is better than expected! XD)
(Just hurry up and release the Blu-ray version in Canada~~~)

To add to the above but not giving away the plot, it's so nostalgic to be able to see the green HARO again in its full cuteness. Banagher (I don't think I'll ever get used to the inventive spelling...) seemed to have done some customization of his own, too.

I felt a tinge of sadness when I heard Bright Noa's name. Judging from his involvement, it is possible to not have him on the front at all so maybe they'll just use previously recorded voice gallery or not have him audible. His name isn't part of the main cast on the official website, so I'm leaning toward the latter for now. RIP, Bright-kanchou!

It's a nice touch to show the movie sign board of Runaway Princess (aka Roman Holiday in the UC timeline XD) over the theatre on their way to the mansion. I'm guessing the Fourth Tragedy sign board signifies the four wars fought before: One Year War, Gryps Conflict, 1st Neo-Zeon Conflict and 2nd Neo-Zeon Conflict. This one would be the fifth.

Merchandise-wise, I ordered the original novels and they should be here soon. The BD I'll be able to get no problem; it's just a matter of time. The Gunpla model kit, on the other hand, might be trickier. Seeing that it's released in November of 2009, hopefully some of the stores in Vancouver would have imported the models in participation of the OVA so I can get it while there. If not, they're totally missing out (and so am I...) Which model? Gundam Unicorn NT-D mode, of course! The unicorn mode model (thankfully not in the OVA) kinda looks like Tallgeese to me. orz

March 12 just can't arrive any sooner...

Soramimi Project #14: Takagaki Ayahi 高垣彩陽

First heard: Kamikamo Tsubaki/various girls (Ouran High School Host Club)

First noticed: Nina Antalk (Chrome Shelled Regios)

Memorable characters: Nina Antalk (Chrome Shelled Regios), Isurugi Noe (true tears), Ein/Elen (Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~)

Image character: Nina Antalk (Chrome Shelled Regios), Isurugi Noe (true tears)

Discernment rate: low

Number of works seen: 9

Takagaki Ayahi is really new, only just debuted in 2006, but she's already appeared in numerous anime over the few years and even played lead in some of them.

I remember checking out the name of the seiyuu for her role in Special A. as Yamamoto Megumi, but that character very rarely speaks so it didn't leave much impression on me even though I found it to be a nice voice.

Many probably disagree and might even want to flame me for this, but I really like Nina Antalk from Chrome Shelled Regios. This time, I managed to remember the name of the seiyuu voicing her. But Nina's pitch is so different from many of Takagaki's other characters, I almost took a double back when I later heard her as Isurugi Noe from true tears, who also happened to be my preferred female lead from the anime. That cockroach song is most cute. XD

Despite the fact that I already associate her name with a few memorable characters, I haven't gotten her voice down yet. Her voice acting no doubt played a role in me liking Nina, Noe and Ein, but I'd probably go for them if I meet them in a text form because of their personalities. I don't deny that she makes it all the more enjoyable to like those characters, though.

So far, many of her characters seem to have bad lucks when it comes to love, but I'll continue to cheer for them and Takagaki Ayahi. Hopefully I'll be able to recognize her voice in the near future. :)

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Speaking of Takagaki Ayahi's characters not doing great in love, I just have to do a small rant here about Chrome Shelled Regios. *spoiler* At first I was hoping that Nina would get to be with Layfon, but this seems out of the question now that he realized his feelings toward Leerin. Deeku expressed his interest in a few occasions, but he seems to forget about it and focuses only on his revenge now. I really hope Nina can be his support and light in his eternal cycles of existence. *end spoiler*

I'm at vol.14 right now and eagerly wait for the next volume. One thing I have to say about the author's writing style, is that he uses way too many negative forms (or whatever it's called) in his sentences. Once I got fed up and counted the number of something-ない on the page I was on. I forgot what the exact figure was, but it was definitely over 12. It also makes it that much more difficult for me to read and understand, especially considering my Japanese level... -__-

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I'm very good in coming up with ideas (but never finish or even start them), so I've decided to do another project for anime in a similar format to Soramimi. I'll be alternating between Soramimi and the anime project (Animania?) so I won't need to write so often. Yes, I'm just lazy...

Mukashibanashi? It'll see the light of day, eventually. I move at geological or astronomical time scale, whatever it means. XD

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While I was writing this post, I received a notice from Club Japan saying that they're out of stock of 彩雲国物語: 暗き黄昏の宮 and cancelled my order. They did mention that the publisher plans to do a reprint on February 28, but the volume was only released in December, and friend-I couldn't even get hold of a copy while on Christmas vacation... I might still have time as long as they get some in stock before the end of March. *crosses fingers*

バンダイのバカ!!
（ノ`Д´）ノ～～┴───┴

It's not a world-wide release if US is considered the only country in North America!
（ノ`Д´）ノ～～～～～┴───┴

No wonder I couldn't find it on Amazon.ca even though it was put up on Amazon.co.jp some time ago. For a moment I was very tempted to just order through Amazon.co.jp if it weren't for the high cost of shipping. No, I'm not gonna order from Amazon.com since it's not even the first press edition anyway. I'm sure it'll eventually make it across the border after the 2-month exclusive period ends.

It better.

バンダイのバカ!! （つд｀）

まさかクロはノラであるハズだったんだ...

I recently named my awesome owl hat Kuro after learning that the Japanese word for owl is fukurou, courtesy of friend-A. As I was thinking up an ID for an account today, I decided to go along the line of fukurou and did a look up on Wikipedia Japan...

...horned owls are not called fukurou in Japanese. orz

They are actually called mimizuku, though it's not taxonomically separated from the fukurou. Judging from the images on Wikipedia (I'm too lazy to look up the different species on Google), I think Kuro is closest to the Eurasian eagle owl.

To summarize, the Japanese for the Order of Strigiformes (Owl) is フクロウ目/梟目, which contains the Families of Strigidae (typical owl) and Tytonidae (barn owl), the Japanese of which are フクロウ科 and メンフクロウ科 respectively. Under the フクロウ科 (owl family), the Japanese calls the regular owl フクロウ(fukurou) and the horned type ミミズク(mimizuku). The scientific name of the Eurasian eagle owl is Bubo bubo; it's called ワシミミズク(washimimizuku) in Japanese under the ワシミミズク属.

See, I get my science(?) fix outside of anime, too. XD

So why was Kuro supposed to be Nora?
ミミズク --> のらみみ (never watched/read it, only knew the title) --> ノラ　(take a wild guess where I get this from... that's right, FF XIII)

Kuro was a no-brainer: フクロウ --> クロ

Kuro shall continue to be Kuro. I'll just name my next horned owl (if there will be one) object Nora. XD

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Thought I'll just quickly document it here for future reference. I won't deny that my laziness of not wanting to write a detailed account in a separate post plays a factor here.

My stupid Vista was under a confused spell a week or so ago, so I (after some painstaking trouble shooting to determine the culprit) uninstalled some Windows updates to salvage the beyond-all-hope OS (I'm waiting for my Windows 7 shipment) without doing a format & reinstall. Vista dragged Winamp down with it during the poorly organized rebellion so I ended up having to download the latest version of Winamp and do a fresh install.

I completely forgot that Winamp and Google Talk try to kill each other when I display the current music track on Google Talk. orz

Here's the fix copy&paste from the Google forum post:
Step 1: Go to the root directory of Winamp which is usually in C:\Program Files\Winamp\
Step 2: Now create an empty file (Right click the mouse -> New -> Text document), so the default file would be like “New Text Document.txt”.
Step 3: Rename the above file to “winamp.m3u” and save.
Step 4: Close Winamp and Google Talk. Now open again and Your Show Current music track status should work like a charm !

There! Time to go back to my pudding ice bar...