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
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
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...
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
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...
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
Friday, March 26, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, March 19, 2010
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
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
Sunday, February 28, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, February 22, 2010
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...
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...
Sunday, February 14, 2010
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. :)
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... -__-
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
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*
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. :)
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... -__-
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
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*
Monday, February 08, 2010
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｀）
（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｀）
Saturday, February 06, 2010
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
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...
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
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...
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Soramimi Project #13: Asakawa Yuu 浅川悠
First heard: Narnia (Gokudo-kun Manyuuki)
First noticed: Megurine Luka (Vocaloid)
Memorable characters: Megurine Luke (Vocaloid), Rider (Fate/stay night), Osakabe Itoko (School Rumble), Satomi Renna (Starship Operators)
Image character: Megurine Luka (Vocaloid)
Discernment rate: below average
Number of works seen: 16
I've seen her name since my early days of anime watching, but I can never manage to remember her voice for some reason... Sometimes I'd find the character's voice familiar but unable to place it until I see the credit roll. Out of the shows I've seen of her, her characters are actually some of the ones that I took note of.
Even though I listed Luka as my image character for Asakawa Yuu, I pledge guilty that I haven't really listened to Luka at all except for RIP=RELEASE. I've heard a few other ones performed by real people as cover songs but I have yet to hear the original by Luka. Luka kind of came out at a bad time because I was still in the middle of a long period of gap shortly after the 4 main songs of Aku no Series were posted, so I never explored her songs at all.
When my bandwidth quota resets for next month, I'm gonna spend some time on Niconico and do some serious catch up on all the Vocaloid songs.
On a side note (half of this post is already about Vocaloid rather than Asakawa Yuu-san... orz), this article has the sales number for the different Vocaloid series as of October 2009. I can't believe Kaito only has 5000 sold (out of which, over 1000 was sold through the Niconico Market)! I actually like Kaito the best out of the Vocaloids. I'm kind of bitter that Kaito is 2000/XP only. Meiko, too. :(
While I'm at it, let me demonstrate to you a wonderful Vocaloid cover by all 7 Vocaloids. I found this just now as I was looking for a good example to post, and I immediately fell for it.
First heard: Narnia (Gokudo-kun Manyuuki)
First noticed: Megurine Luka (Vocaloid)
Memorable characters: Megurine Luke (Vocaloid), Rider (Fate/stay night), Osakabe Itoko (School Rumble), Satomi Renna (Starship Operators)
Image character: Megurine Luka (Vocaloid)
Discernment rate: below average
Number of works seen: 16
I've seen her name since my early days of anime watching, but I can never manage to remember her voice for some reason... Sometimes I'd find the character's voice familiar but unable to place it until I see the credit roll. Out of the shows I've seen of her, her characters are actually some of the ones that I took note of.
Even though I listed Luka as my image character for Asakawa Yuu, I pledge guilty that I haven't really listened to Luka at all except for RIP=RELEASE. I've heard a few other ones performed by real people as cover songs but I have yet to hear the original by Luka. Luka kind of came out at a bad time because I was still in the middle of a long period of gap shortly after the 4 main songs of Aku no Series were posted, so I never explored her songs at all.
When my bandwidth quota resets for next month, I'm gonna spend some time on Niconico and do some serious catch up on all the Vocaloid songs.
On a side note (half of this post is already about Vocaloid rather than Asakawa Yuu-san... orz), this article has the sales number for the different Vocaloid series as of October 2009. I can't believe Kaito only has 5000 sold (out of which, over 1000 was sold through the Niconico Market)! I actually like Kaito the best out of the Vocaloids. I'm kind of bitter that Kaito is 2000/XP only. Meiko, too. :(
While I'm at it, let me demonstrate to you a wonderful Vocaloid cover by all 7 Vocaloids. I found this just now as I was looking for a good example to post, and I immediately fell for it.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Black Chronicle: Road to Firefox 3.5.7 part2 XD
As mentioned yesterday, I'm posting the Add-ons I currently use with 3.5.7, complete with links and some attempt at descriptions, in alphabetic order as listed in the Add-ons manager.
[Canadian English Dictionary 1.1.5]
Allows me to spell check my typing online without colouring my words with glaring red dots. A must have for us polar bear neighbours. XD
[Context Search 0.4.5]
My main search-highlighted-on-certain-sites approach. Best used in conjunction with Mycroft. I can highlight something and use the context menu to search via: (from top to bottom) Google, Google Japan, Google Taiwan, Google Maps, Wikipedia (ja), Wikipedia (en), Amazon.ca, Amazon.jp, Amazon.com, and Acronym Finder. This is one of the oldest extension I've used since my Mozilla days. Highly recommended if you're a search junkie like me.
[Converter 0.9.3]
Converts between metric and imperial as well as a whole bunch of other stuff. I can't do anything in imperial to save my life... Been using this since version 0.1 with Mozilla. Highly recommended for any non-Americans!
[Fetchimi 1.0]
Literally "Fetch meaning". This is an English dictionary that returns with definitions in Japanese in an overlay panel when you hover over the word. It'll even pronounce the word in English when you press "F" (I totally forgot about this function until I saw my comment in an old post). Useful if you're lazy like me to actually use a dictionary. :Q
[Japanese-English Dictionary for Rikaichan 1.13]
Dictionary file for Rikaichan (see Rikaichan)
[Names Dictionary for Rikaichan 1.13]
Dictionary file for Rikaichan (see Rikaichan)
[NicoFox 0.4b1]
Niconico Douga video downloader. The toolbar also shows the video link in international Niconico sites and related external tools such as Nicosound. Highly recommended for any Niconico Douga fan!
[Personas 1.5.1]
Basically wearable skins for Firefox. I have mine changing randomly from my list of favourites. I forgot to mention this yesterday, but the main reason that I'm sticking with 3.5.7 is because the top portion of my browser above the viewable area shrinks vertically in size when I hover over a Persona, and this is with a clean install of Firefox 3.6. Maybe it's an unforeseened issue when using small icons? Recommended if you like to dress up your apps.
[Personas Windows Classic Statusbar 1.1.3]
After I ranted about the statusbar not getting skinned with Personas, I dug around and found this (but too lazy to post an update), and I've been happily trying more Personas now that I can read the statusbar. Only required when running Firefox pre-3.6 and Windows classic theme.
[ReminderFox 1.9.6]
This used to be my library due date reminder, now it's reduced to just (but still important!) a bill payment reminder. I also use it as a date calendar in place of the built-in one in Vista when you click on the time. It's easier to go to different year and month than the Windows calendar. Recommended if you're old and forgetful like me.
[Rikaichan 1.07]
My most trusty companion when I visit Japanese websites. When hovered over a Japanese word, it'll render the hiragana and the English definition. It'll also show other variation or possible words for the hovered item. An absolute must have for anyone interested in learning Japanese!
[Text2Link 1.9.5]
Opens selected text URL in new tab or new window. A replacement for text/plain that I had used since way back. I recommended text/plain to Neko-tan but it refused to install. I had always just ran the update so never had any problem, but I encountered the same incompatibility issue when I had to start fresh with 3.5.7. It looks like it'll be incorporated into 3.7, but I didn't want to wait that long so I searched for a substitute. Text2Link pretty much does the same thing, and it doesn't require precise highlight of the URL and does link text copying. I haven't used it much yet, but I might grow to like it. Recommended if you're really lazy like me...
Excluding the 3 dictionary files, I'm currently running 9 add-ons (7 if you discount Personas and the Statusbar fix), which is sufficient for pretty much all my daily online needs. I don't install a lot of add-ons like bro, but I'm too lazy (this is the keyword for this post, in case you haven't noticed) to do everything manually myself.
I've tried various extensions over the years and my extension list evolves with my changing surfing habits. Most of my current selections perform similar functions as my list over a year ago, so I think it's safe to say these are tried and proven tools that I'll be using until they are either incorporated or not supported anymore.
So how do you hone your Firefox? :)
君のFirefoxをどう調教するかい？ ;)
As mentioned yesterday, I'm posting the Add-ons I currently use with 3.5.7, complete with links and some attempt at descriptions, in alphabetic order as listed in the Add-ons manager.
[Canadian English Dictionary 1.1.5]
Allows me to spell check my typing online without colouring my words with glaring red dots. A must have for us polar bear neighbours. XD
[Context Search 0.4.5]
My main search-highlighted-on-certain-sites approach. Best used in conjunction with Mycroft. I can highlight something and use the context menu to search via: (from top to bottom) Google, Google Japan, Google Taiwan, Google Maps, Wikipedia (ja), Wikipedia (en), Amazon.ca, Amazon.jp, Amazon.com, and Acronym Finder. This is one of the oldest extension I've used since my Mozilla days. Highly recommended if you're a search junkie like me.
[Converter 0.9.3]
Converts between metric and imperial as well as a whole bunch of other stuff. I can't do anything in imperial to save my life... Been using this since version 0.1 with Mozilla. Highly recommended for any non-Americans!
[Fetchimi 1.0]
Literally "Fetch meaning". This is an English dictionary that returns with definitions in Japanese in an overlay panel when you hover over the word. It'll even pronounce the word in English when you press "F" (I totally forgot about this function until I saw my comment in an old post). Useful if you're lazy like me to actually use a dictionary. :Q
[Japanese-English Dictionary for Rikaichan 1.13]
Dictionary file for Rikaichan (see Rikaichan)
[Names Dictionary for Rikaichan 1.13]
Dictionary file for Rikaichan (see Rikaichan)
[NicoFox 0.4b1]
Niconico Douga video downloader. The toolbar also shows the video link in international Niconico sites and related external tools such as Nicosound. Highly recommended for any Niconico Douga fan!
[Personas 1.5.1]
Basically wearable skins for Firefox. I have mine changing randomly from my list of favourites. I forgot to mention this yesterday, but the main reason that I'm sticking with 3.5.7 is because the top portion of my browser above the viewable area shrinks vertically in size when I hover over a Persona, and this is with a clean install of Firefox 3.6. Maybe it's an unforeseened issue when using small icons? Recommended if you like to dress up your apps.
[Personas Windows Classic Statusbar 1.1.3]
After I ranted about the statusbar not getting skinned with Personas, I dug around and found this (but too lazy to post an update), and I've been happily trying more Personas now that I can read the statusbar. Only required when running Firefox pre-3.6 and Windows classic theme.
[ReminderFox 1.9.6]
This used to be my library due date reminder, now it's reduced to just (but still important!) a bill payment reminder. I also use it as a date calendar in place of the built-in one in Vista when you click on the time. It's easier to go to different year and month than the Windows calendar. Recommended if you're old and forgetful like me.
[Rikaichan 1.07]
My most trusty companion when I visit Japanese websites. When hovered over a Japanese word, it'll render the hiragana and the English definition. It'll also show other variation or possible words for the hovered item. An absolute must have for anyone interested in learning Japanese!
[Text2Link 1.9.5]
Opens selected text URL in new tab or new window. A replacement for text/plain that I had used since way back. I recommended text/plain to Neko-tan but it refused to install. I had always just ran the update so never had any problem, but I encountered the same incompatibility issue when I had to start fresh with 3.5.7. It looks like it'll be incorporated into 3.7, but I didn't want to wait that long so I searched for a substitute. Text2Link pretty much does the same thing, and it doesn't require precise highlight of the URL and does link text copying. I haven't used it much yet, but I might grow to like it. Recommended if you're really lazy like me...
Excluding the 3 dictionary files, I'm currently running 9 add-ons (7 if you discount Personas and the Statusbar fix), which is sufficient for pretty much all my daily online needs. I don't install a lot of add-ons like bro, but I'm too lazy (this is the keyword for this post, in case you haven't noticed) to do everything manually myself.
I've tried various extensions over the years and my extension list evolves with my changing surfing habits. Most of my current selections perform similar functions as my list over a year ago, so I think it's safe to say these are tried and proven tools that I'll be using until they are either incorporated or not supported anymore.
So how do you hone your Firefox? :)
君のFirefoxをどう調教するかい？ ;)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
まさかここがバレたとは.....
If you are a fan of Firefox, you probably knew about the latest version that was just released a few days ago, Firefox 3.6. Or, your Firefox should have told you about it and urged you to upgrade. Mine didn't do that for some reason, so I did a manual update. And I'm now running Firefox 3.5.7, again.
Before you cry blasphemy, let me explain my little situation.
After I went through the normal update route, it checked my add-ons and informed me that NicoFox isn't compatible, which was understandable because it's an experimental add-on and requires manual update. So I installed the compatible version and clicked on the restart Firefox button in the add-ons manager.
Guess what? The button asking me to restart is still there when I checked. So I clicked on it again. After a couple restarts and it still refused to go away. The only difference I could see between the restarts is the increasing number of Personas appearing under the theme tab, possibly loaded from my list of favourites each time the browser restarted. I also detected a subtle but still noticeable indication that it's Firefox loading the Personas and not the Personas add-on that I've been running. There seemed to be a very faint outline/shadow around the text, which blended the text better with the background colour and image, but made it slightly less clear to my very bad eyesight.
Appearance is a big thing for me (one of the reason why I hate Vista), so I decided to go back to 3.5.7 for now until they either notice this and make a patch for it, or that it's here to stay and I absolute have no other option but to upgrade. But I made a wrong move here and ran the 3.5.7 installer without first uninstalling 3.6. It refused to run at all.
To cut the long story short (trust me, I can keep going and make this even longer), I uninstalled Firefox and even deleted the whole Mozilla folder. I was to start from scratch. Unfortunately, I did a bit of customization before so it took me a while to find the lines and restore it to the way I like it. Seeing how this will likely not be my last fresh install, I've opted to take note along the way and chronicle it so I can just copy and paste and find the add-ons easily next time.
If you are new to Firefox, hopefully this can give you some hint of what you can do to customize your own.
1. Tools -> Options
+ Main Tab
- Set "http://www.google.com/" as homepage
- Set it to restart and show my windows and tabs from last time
- Uncheck the showing of download window
- Ask me where to save the files
+ Content Tab
- Uncheck everything under Advanced JavaScript option
- Set fonts for Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) and Japanese as (top to bottom) Sans Serif, MS Pゴシック, Arial, MS ゴシック
- Set minimum font size for the above languages as 12, Western as 13
- Set default font as Arial
- Add Japanese and Taiwan under English as preferred languages for displaying pages
+ Privacy Tab
- Use custom setting for history to ask me every time for cookie acceptance
+ Advance Tab
- Set it to search as I type
- Uncheck autoscrolling
- Ask me what to do when there's a new update
2. Right-click on navigation bar to customize
- Remove search bar
- Drag new tab button to the far left of the bookmark bar
- Use small icons
3. Import bookmark and password files from old profile. (Preferably also prefs.js, but I forgot to copy it... I'm not sure what's in there exactly, but it might be why I had to do step 4 & 5?)
4. about:config
- keyword.URL: http://www.google.com/search?btnG=Google+Search&q= (Search Google by typing directly into the address bar, 'cause I'm lazy like that :Q)
- browser.tab.tabMinWidth: 60 (I usually have over 2 or more dozens of tabs open, this way I can see more tabs and select the one I want easier)
5. Remove the add new tab button on the right side
- userChrome.css: .tabs-newtab-button {display: none}
(I'm pretty sure I did it with about:config the last time, but I haven't been able to find the article so far... Will update if I stumble upon it)
That's pretty much all the configurations I did, I think. I'll post the Add-ons tomorrow as this post is getting ridiculously long with hardly real content in it...
If you are a fan of Firefox, you probably knew about the latest version that was just released a few days ago, Firefox 3.6. Or, your Firefox should have told you about it and urged you to upgrade. Mine didn't do that for some reason, so I did a manual update. And I'm now running Firefox 3.5.7, again.
Before you cry blasphemy, let me explain my little situation.
After I went through the normal update route, it checked my add-ons and informed me that NicoFox isn't compatible, which was understandable because it's an experimental add-on and requires manual update. So I installed the compatible version and clicked on the restart Firefox button in the add-ons manager.
Guess what? The button asking me to restart is still there when I checked. So I clicked on it again. After a couple restarts and it still refused to go away. The only difference I could see between the restarts is the increasing number of Personas appearing under the theme tab, possibly loaded from my list of favourites each time the browser restarted. I also detected a subtle but still noticeable indication that it's Firefox loading the Personas and not the Personas add-on that I've been running. There seemed to be a very faint outline/shadow around the text, which blended the text better with the background colour and image, but made it slightly less clear to my very bad eyesight.
Appearance is a big thing for me (one of the reason why I hate Vista), so I decided to go back to 3.5.7 for now until they either notice this and make a patch for it, or that it's here to stay and I absolute have no other option but to upgrade. But I made a wrong move here and ran the 3.5.7 installer without first uninstalling 3.6. It refused to run at all.
To cut the long story short (trust me, I can keep going and make this even longer), I uninstalled Firefox and even deleted the whole Mozilla folder. I was to start from scratch. Unfortunately, I did a bit of customization before so it took me a while to find the lines and restore it to the way I like it. Seeing how this will likely not be my last fresh install, I've opted to take note along the way and chronicle it so I can just copy and paste and find the add-ons easily next time.
If you are new to Firefox, hopefully this can give you some hint of what you can do to customize your own.
1. Tools -> Options
+ Main Tab
- Set "http://www.google.com/" as homepage
- Set it to restart and show my windows and tabs from last time
- Uncheck the showing of download window
- Ask me where to save the files
+ Content Tab
- Uncheck everything under Advanced JavaScript option
- Set fonts for Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) and Japanese as (top to bottom) Sans Serif, MS Pゴシック, Arial, MS ゴシック
- Set minimum font size for the above languages as 12, Western as 13
- Set default font as Arial
- Add Japanese and Taiwan under English as preferred languages for displaying pages
+ Privacy Tab
- Use custom setting for history to ask me every time for cookie acceptance
+ Advance Tab
- Set it to search as I type
- Uncheck autoscrolling
- Ask me what to do when there's a new update
2. Right-click on navigation bar to customize
- Remove search bar
- Drag new tab button to the far left of the bookmark bar
- Use small icons
3. Import bookmark and password files from old profile. (Preferably also prefs.js, but I forgot to copy it... I'm not sure what's in there exactly, but it might be why I had to do step 4 & 5?)
4. about:config
- keyword.URL: http://www.google.com/search?btnG=Google+Search&q= (Search Google by typing directly into the address bar, 'cause I'm lazy like that :Q)
- browser.tab.tabMinWidth: 60 (I usually have over 2 or more dozens of tabs open, this way I can see more tabs and select the one I want easier)
5. Remove the add new tab button on the right side
- userChrome.css: .tabs-newtab-button {display: none}
(I'm pretty sure I did it with about:config the last time, but I haven't been able to find the article so far... Will update if I stumble upon it)
That's pretty much all the configurations I did, I think. I'll post the Add-ons tomorrow as this post is getting ridiculously long with hardly real content in it...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Soramimi Project #12: Akimoto Yousuke 秋元羊介
First heard: Ino (Like the Clouds, Like the Wind)
First noticed: Master Asia/Stalker (G Gundam)
Memorable characters: Master Asia/Stalker (G Gundam), Taisa (Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de)
Image character: Master Asia/Stalker (G Gundam)
Discernment rate: average
Number of works seen: 24
Out of the vast Gundam universe, G Gundam is probably one of the most unique series in many aspects. Out of the large cast of G Gundam, Master Asia is probably one of the most impressive characters. And Stalker's catch phrase is probably one of the most parodied AU Gundam lines. As a result, Akimoto Yousuke = Master Asia/Stalker in my mind. XD
He tends to play a small role for a lot of works beside G Gundam, so I actually don't have that many memorable characters for him. Even Taisa from KimiAru is essentially a parody of Master Asia (Gotta love the master-disciple interaction in the anime XD).
I'm pretty decent with recognizing him after G Gundam even if he only appears in that single episode, even if he's just a nameless Taforashia citizen in Slayers Evolution-R with one or two lines. But I put down average as my discernment rate for him because I didn't notice him in Seiken no Blacksmith in the beginning...
One interesting thing to note here is the first work I heard him in, Like the Clouds, Like the Wind. I actually watched that on VHS that I borrowed from a friend. The first half of the story is pretty typical (but might be unique back in the days?), but the second half and the ending is somewhat dramatic even by current standard. If my memory serves me right, that is.
I'm looking forward to more great performances from Akimoto-san. それでは！ガンダムファイト！ レディ、ゴー！
First heard: Ino (Like the Clouds, Like the Wind)
First noticed: Master Asia/Stalker (G Gundam)
Memorable characters: Master Asia/Stalker (G Gundam), Taisa (Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de)
Image character: Master Asia/Stalker (G Gundam)
Discernment rate: average
Number of works seen: 24
Out of the vast Gundam universe, G Gundam is probably one of the most unique series in many aspects. Out of the large cast of G Gundam, Master Asia is probably one of the most impressive characters. And Stalker's catch phrase is probably one of the most parodied AU Gundam lines. As a result, Akimoto Yousuke = Master Asia/Stalker in my mind. XD
He tends to play a small role for a lot of works beside G Gundam, so I actually don't have that many memorable characters for him. Even Taisa from KimiAru is essentially a parody of Master Asia (Gotta love the master-disciple interaction in the anime XD).
I'm pretty decent with recognizing him after G Gundam even if he only appears in that single episode, even if he's just a nameless Taforashia citizen in Slayers Evolution-R with one or two lines. But I put down average as my discernment rate for him because I didn't notice him in Seiken no Blacksmith in the beginning...
One interesting thing to note here is the first work I heard him in, Like the Clouds, Like the Wind. I actually watched that on VHS that I borrowed from a friend. The first half of the story is pretty typical (but might be unique back in the days?), but the second half and the ending is somewhat dramatic even by current standard. If my memory serves me right, that is.
I'm looking forward to more great performances from Akimoto-san. それでは！ガンダムファイト！ レディ、ゴー！
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Soramimi Project #11: Park Romi 朴璐美
First heard: Tao Ren (Shaman King)
First noticed: Heimdall/Higashiyama Kazumi (Matantei Loki Ragnarok)
Memorable characters: Hitsugaya Toushirou (Bleach), Hyuga Natsume (Gakuen Alice), Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist), Ueki Kousuke (Ueki no Housoku), Teresa (Claymore), Temari (Naruto), Falis/Alita (Murder Princess)
Image character: N/A
Discernment rate: very high; visual
Number of works seen: 48
ｷﾀ━━━( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )━━━!!
Park Romi is my 2nd overall favourite female seiyuu, surpassed only by Kuwashima Houko. I talked about her a little back in 2006, so I'll recap/translate a bit from that post and add in new perceptions.
I first heard Park-san in Tao Ren from Shaman King, but I only watched a few episodes of that show so I didn't really remember any of the voices. I was quite impressed by a few of the Tao Ren character songs, though. My first real encounter with Park Romi was in Matantei Loki Ragnarok, where she played the ever scheming Heimdall and the feigning innocent Higashiyama Kazumi. That anime really has a great and heavyweight seiyuu cast, and that's where I took note of Park Romi, Morikubo Shotarou and Sakurai Takahiro.
I next heard her in Edward Elric from FMA, but I got distracted when I was about five episodes in and didn't finish it until mid 2006. What really pushed her to the top of my list was Natsume from Gakuen Alice and Ueki from Ueki no Housoku.
She is probably most famous for voicing younger male characters, but her female voice is pretty awesome as well. There's actually more memorable characters, but listing them all would take up too many lines. Why is Loran not on the list? Because I haven't actually watched Turn-A Gundam and have only seen bits and pieces of it so I didn't count it out of respect for the show.
Park-san's voice is very graceful and thick, so it's always a treat to hear her speak or sing. Her acting skills is very versatile, ranging from hot-blooded hero type, cold-blooded killer, confident, timid, mysterious, level-headed, evil and twisted, tsudere, innocent... She doesn't have many different pitches so it's easy to recognize her, but her characters are all given distinct personalities through her acting. Because there's so many of her characters that I like, I can't decide on an image character for her. Loran might be it after I watch Turn-A, though. We'll see. XD
As mentioned above, Park Romi also has a good voice for singing, and she sings in the character's voice for character songs. I quite like Tao Ren's character songs and the ED of Murder Princess. Ed's character songs and the ED of Ueki no Housoku are nice, too.
Since she is my 2nd overall favourite female seiyuu, it's natural that I have a very high discernment rate of her. I can also identify her at a glance. She's quite the beauty and stylish in her own way. I'm looking forward to finish more of her past works and hear more of her in future works.
ありがとう、朴さん！これからも頑張てください！( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )ﾉ
First heard: Tao Ren (Shaman King)
First noticed: Heimdall/Higashiyama Kazumi (Matantei Loki Ragnarok)
Memorable characters: Hitsugaya Toushirou (Bleach), Hyuga Natsume (Gakuen Alice), Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist), Ueki Kousuke (Ueki no Housoku), Teresa (Claymore), Temari (Naruto), Falis/Alita (Murder Princess)
Image character: N/A
Discernment rate: very high; visual
Number of works seen: 48
ｷﾀ━━━( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )━━━!!
Park Romi is my 2nd overall favourite female seiyuu, surpassed only by Kuwashima Houko. I talked about her a little back in 2006, so I'll recap/translate a bit from that post and add in new perceptions.
I first heard Park-san in Tao Ren from Shaman King, but I only watched a few episodes of that show so I didn't really remember any of the voices. I was quite impressed by a few of the Tao Ren character songs, though. My first real encounter with Park Romi was in Matantei Loki Ragnarok, where she played the ever scheming Heimdall and the feigning innocent Higashiyama Kazumi. That anime really has a great and heavyweight seiyuu cast, and that's where I took note of Park Romi, Morikubo Shotarou and Sakurai Takahiro.
I next heard her in Edward Elric from FMA, but I got distracted when I was about five episodes in and didn't finish it until mid 2006. What really pushed her to the top of my list was Natsume from Gakuen Alice and Ueki from Ueki no Housoku.
She is probably most famous for voicing younger male characters, but her female voice is pretty awesome as well. There's actually more memorable characters, but listing them all would take up too many lines. Why is Loran not on the list? Because I haven't actually watched Turn-A Gundam and have only seen bits and pieces of it so I didn't count it out of respect for the show.
Park-san's voice is very graceful and thick, so it's always a treat to hear her speak or sing. Her acting skills is very versatile, ranging from hot-blooded hero type, cold-blooded killer, confident, timid, mysterious, level-headed, evil and twisted, tsudere, innocent... She doesn't have many different pitches so it's easy to recognize her, but her characters are all given distinct personalities through her acting. Because there's so many of her characters that I like, I can't decide on an image character for her. Loran might be it after I watch Turn-A, though. We'll see. XD
As mentioned above, Park Romi also has a good voice for singing, and she sings in the character's voice for character songs. I quite like Tao Ren's character songs and the ED of Murder Princess. Ed's character songs and the ED of Ueki no Housoku are nice, too.
Since she is my 2nd overall favourite female seiyuu, it's natural that I have a very high discernment rate of her. I can also identify her at a glance. She's quite the beauty and stylish in her own way. I'm looking forward to finish more of her past works and hear more of her in future works.
ありがとう、朴さん！これからも頑張てください！( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ )ﾉ
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Soramimi Project #10: Nakata Kazuhiro 中多和宏|中田和宏
First heard: Morgan (Cowboy Bebop)
First noticed: Randy (Gungrave)
Memorable characters: Randy (Gungrave), Kou Kijin (Saiunkoku Monogatari)
Image character: Kou Kijin (Saiunkoku Monogatari)
Discernment rate: below average, or average if he speaks enough
Number of works seen: 24
(Why is it another even-odd-odd combo... 4 out of 10 now. orz)
I say below average for the discernment rate for Nakata Kazuhiro, but I've been somewhat successful recognizing him ever since I started to notice him in Gungrave. It's probably rude to say this, but his voice is actually not too hard to distinguish since his tone is usually flat. That's not to say his acting is bad. At least out of the ones I've seen, he's decent enough.
The only character that I have mixed feelings about is Kou Kijin from Saiunkoku Monogatari. According to the novel, Kou Kijin not only has a breathtakingly enchanting appearance, he also has a beautiful and melodic voice. Unfortunately, Nakata-san's voice was nothing like what I imagined Kou Kijin's voice would be, so I was kind of disappointed when I heard him. Hayami Shaw's rendition in the drama CD is more up my alley, but I kind of prefer Itou Kentarou over Fujiwara Keiji for Ensei...
Nakata Kazuhiro is definitely not on my list of top seiyuu, but I still enjoy hearing him. More oyaji roles, though, please.
First heard: Morgan (Cowboy Bebop)
First noticed: Randy (Gungrave)
Memorable characters: Randy (Gungrave), Kou Kijin (Saiunkoku Monogatari)
Image character: Kou Kijin (Saiunkoku Monogatari)
Discernment rate: below average, or average if he speaks enough
Number of works seen: 24
(Why is it another even-odd-odd combo... 4 out of 10 now. orz)
I say below average for the discernment rate for Nakata Kazuhiro, but I've been somewhat successful recognizing him ever since I started to notice him in Gungrave. It's probably rude to say this, but his voice is actually not too hard to distinguish since his tone is usually flat. That's not to say his acting is bad. At least out of the ones I've seen, he's decent enough.
The only character that I have mixed feelings about is Kou Kijin from Saiunkoku Monogatari. According to the novel, Kou Kijin not only has a breathtakingly enchanting appearance, he also has a beautiful and melodic voice. Unfortunately, Nakata-san's voice was nothing like what I imagined Kou Kijin's voice would be, so I was kind of disappointed when I heard him. Hayami Shaw's rendition in the drama CD is more up my alley, but I kind of prefer Itou Kentarou over Fujiwara Keiji for Ensei...
Nakata Kazuhiro is definitely not on my list of top seiyuu, but I still enjoy hearing him. More oyaji roles, though, please.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
プリンセスナイトメア Princess Nightmare PC Version
I've known this game for about two years now but never had a chance to play it until now. I haven't played that many otome games (one hand is all I need to count the number of games I've played), but it's probably safe to say that Princess Nightmare is nothing like your ordinary otome game. The genre of the game is classified as Gothic Battle Adventure on the game's website, whatever that means...
But instead of playing an adventure game, it does feel more like watching a visual novel. One of Princess Nightmare's appeals is that it's fully voiced, including the heroine Little and every single sub-character, and that none of the playable character routes is 100% human. Really, with some clever writing, all the individual story lines can be woven together to make one OVA or even a half-season anime series, and no one would even suspect its origin being an otome game.
Only a few of the seiyuu are of my taste, but I still recommend this game for the story and the setting. Of course, the music, too. Katakiri performs the OP & ED songs (especially love the ED theme song Akumu no Himegimi), and the music is mainly composed by HIR, which almost guarantee quality BGM by that name alone.
Character design is one thing I have mixed feelings about. The girls are all pretty pretty (pun intended), and I like the looks of sub-character Izumo the best out of all the females. The guys are more hit and miss. Some of the shots are nice, but sometimes they don't look so nice. And Inukai's werewolf design is probably the worst beside some of the youma.
There's roughly seven playable routes, divided into two main story lines. Completing the game once unlocks the demon world story line which contains the real meat for the game's setting and world view. That's not to say the regular research centre story line is superficial, but rather it focuses more on the present than in the past. Out of the seven routes, I played through Franken, Phantom, Radou, Shinji, and Inukai.
I have a habit of keeping the best until last (as demonstrated when I eat), so that leaves me with either Franken or Van Helsing for the first round. Normally I'd go for the enemy-turned-love interest, but I couldn't bring myself to like Helsing's seiyuu so I went with Franken... It's kind of obvious from the beginning, but still, what a star-crossed ending *orz* I've only started to notice Taniyama Kishio recently, but he's actually pretty good. He's the reason I chose Franken over Helsing.
My second round was Phantom. This short route is more history telling than anything, where it's revealed how all three members of the current Dracurea family came to become vampires and what they were like as humans. I was once again impressed by Ogata Megumi's acting during the recount where the character went from age 11 to 13 to 17, then back to the 517-year-old poltergeist. A melancholy yet somewhat attained ending.
Radou's route enters the demon world, and the reason behind and the consequence of choosing Little as the Demon Prince's bride is revealed. The ending is rather anti-climatic, though, as the two just got married and went back to school in their human disguises, after Radou's dramatic assassination of the Demon Prince in the middle of the wedding ceremony. Then it's just normal school business as usual. I think Radou x Sumomo would actually be a better pair. orz
I wasn't planning to play Shinji's route, but Ishii Makoto's acting as the Prince kinda lured me in (he's noisy as Shinji). The little bit about the Prince shown in Radou's route also played a part. Most of the events were similar to that of Radou's, but instead of the Prince getting assassinated, he and Little duked it out. The battle spanned from the demon world to the human world, where Helsing and Inukai chipped in a little but were obviously no match to the Demon Prince. There's a couple big moves and spells from the characters, rendering some pretty cool CG. The Maou's blood inside Little emerged at the last moment, and she transformed into the Nightmare Queen and cast a very big one (think Lina Inverse casting Dragon Slav in Lord of Nightmare mode). As Little and the Prince were thrown into the chaos dimension from the forces of their opposing spells, Little's wish allowed Shinji to take back his body from the Prince, and the Prince faded away wistfully. Frankly, I feel sorry for the Prince and would prefer to have a route for him, but that's only available in the PS2 version, I heard. :(
Inukai is really the obvious choice from the start. He gets along with Little the best and fights alongside her, and he's possibly the most understanding and perceptive character out of the whole cast beside Papa Dracurea. The part about his father was cliché but still sad. The bit about him going berserk on full moon nights was hinted very discreetly in other routes and only realized here. His ending makes the most sense and is the sweetest out of the five I played. If only there's more romance in his route...
One interesting point about the game is that while bits and pieces can be induced, the real connection and background information is only obtained through another character's route. Phantom's route revealed the Dracurea family's past. Radou's route revealed the scheme of the demon world as well as a glimpse at the Prince's feelings. Shinji's route revealed Inukai's past and more of the Prince's personality. Inukai's route revealed the true identity of the Prince and his sister, and how Helsing was resurrected. The down side of that is that I will never know the full story and character background and settings because I didn't play through all the routes.
Too bad there isn't more exploring of Little's state of mind after she went berserk from not having her master vampire's blood for too long in the research centre story line. How did she feel and reconcile with herself after killing so many -even though they were technically not human- subconsciously since she's never harmed anyone before? Little is a very likable character and leaves a strong impression. If the game ever gets animated, with her style and personality, I can totally see her being popular among guys and having a sizable following.
I'd also liked to see more integration between the two story lines. Does Little's hidden power play any role in the research centre story line? Is Inukai's rare and pure werewolf father with Japanese wolf's blood connected to the demon world in any way? Yeah, I definitely think an anime series would be a good medium to put them all together in one big tale...
I've known this game for about two years now but never had a chance to play it until now. I haven't played that many otome games (one hand is all I need to count the number of games I've played), but it's probably safe to say that Princess Nightmare is nothing like your ordinary otome game. The genre of the game is classified as Gothic Battle Adventure on the game's website, whatever that means...
But instead of playing an adventure game, it does feel more like watching a visual novel. One of Princess Nightmare's appeals is that it's fully voiced, including the heroine Little and every single sub-character, and that none of the playable character routes is 100% human. Really, with some clever writing, all the individual story lines can be woven together to make one OVA or even a half-season anime series, and no one would even suspect its origin being an otome game.
Only a few of the seiyuu are of my taste, but I still recommend this game for the story and the setting. Of course, the music, too. Katakiri performs the OP & ED songs (especially love the ED theme song Akumu no Himegimi), and the music is mainly composed by HIR, which almost guarantee quality BGM by that name alone.
Character design is one thing I have mixed feelings about. The girls are all pretty pretty (pun intended), and I like the looks of sub-character Izumo the best out of all the females. The guys are more hit and miss. Some of the shots are nice, but sometimes they don't look so nice. And Inukai's werewolf design is probably the worst beside some of the youma.
There's roughly seven playable routes, divided into two main story lines. Completing the game once unlocks the demon world story line which contains the real meat for the game's setting and world view. That's not to say the regular research centre story line is superficial, but rather it focuses more on the present than in the past. Out of the seven routes, I played through Franken, Phantom, Radou, Shinji, and Inukai.
I have a habit of keeping the best until last (as demonstrated when I eat), so that leaves me with either Franken or Van Helsing for the first round. Normally I'd go for the enemy-turned-love interest, but I couldn't bring myself to like Helsing's seiyuu so I went with Franken... It's kind of obvious from the beginning, but still, what a star-crossed ending *orz* I've only started to notice Taniyama Kishio recently, but he's actually pretty good. He's the reason I chose Franken over Helsing.
My second round was Phantom. This short route is more history telling than anything, where it's revealed how all three members of the current Dracurea family came to become vampires and what they were like as humans. I was once again impressed by Ogata Megumi's acting during the recount where the character went from age 11 to 13 to 17, then back to the 517-year-old poltergeist. A melancholy yet somewhat attained ending.
Radou's route enters the demon world, and the reason behind and the consequence of choosing Little as the Demon Prince's bride is revealed. The ending is rather anti-climatic, though, as the two just got married and went back to school in their human disguises, after Radou's dramatic assassination of the Demon Prince in the middle of the wedding ceremony. Then it's just normal school business as usual. I think Radou x Sumomo would actually be a better pair. orz
I wasn't planning to play Shinji's route, but Ishii Makoto's acting as the Prince kinda lured me in (he's noisy as Shinji). The little bit about the Prince shown in Radou's route also played a part. Most of the events were similar to that of Radou's, but instead of the Prince getting assassinated, he and Little duked it out. The battle spanned from the demon world to the human world, where Helsing and Inukai chipped in a little but were obviously no match to the Demon Prince. There's a couple big moves and spells from the characters, rendering some pretty cool CG. The Maou's blood inside Little emerged at the last moment, and she transformed into the Nightmare Queen and cast a very big one (think Lina Inverse casting Dragon Slav in Lord of Nightmare mode). As Little and the Prince were thrown into the chaos dimension from the forces of their opposing spells, Little's wish allowed Shinji to take back his body from the Prince, and the Prince faded away wistfully. Frankly, I feel sorry for the Prince and would prefer to have a route for him, but that's only available in the PS2 version, I heard. :(
Inukai is really the obvious choice from the start. He gets along with Little the best and fights alongside her, and he's possibly the most understanding and perceptive character out of the whole cast beside Papa Dracurea. The part about his father was cliché but still sad. The bit about him going berserk on full moon nights was hinted very discreetly in other routes and only realized here. His ending makes the most sense and is the sweetest out of the five I played. If only there's more romance in his route...
One interesting point about the game is that while bits and pieces can be induced, the real connection and background information is only obtained through another character's route. Phantom's route revealed the Dracurea family's past. Radou's route revealed the scheme of the demon world as well as a glimpse at the Prince's feelings. Shinji's route revealed Inukai's past and more of the Prince's personality. Inukai's route revealed the true identity of the Prince and his sister, and how Helsing was resurrected. The down side of that is that I will never know the full story and character background and settings because I didn't play through all the routes.
Too bad there isn't more exploring of Little's state of mind after she went berserk from not having her master vampire's blood for too long in the research centre story line. How did she feel and reconcile with herself after killing so many -even though they were technically not human- subconsciously since she's never harmed anyone before? Little is a very likable character and leaves a strong impression. If the game ever gets animated, with her style and personality, I can totally see her being popular among guys and having a sizable following.
I'd also liked to see more integration between the two story lines. Does Little's hidden power play any role in the research centre story line? Is Inukai's rare and pure werewolf father with Japanese wolf's blood connected to the demon world in any way? Yeah, I definitely think an anime series would be a good medium to put them all together in one big tale...
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Soramimi Project #9: Yajima Akiko 矢島晶子
First heard: Announcer (Shinseki Evangelion)
First noticed: Kohaku (Inuyasha)
Memorable characters: Relena Peacecraft (Gundam Wing), R. Dorothy Wayneright (The Big O), Kohaku (Inuyasha)
Image character: Relena Peacecraft (Gundam Wing)
Discernment rate: average to above average
Number of works seen: 30
Back in the days, people who watched Gundam Wing in English despised Relena, and Relena bashing was almost the norm. But the Japanese audience seemed to love her. The only difference I could see, beside it being two different cultures, would be the voice acting. Before I even had a chance to experience Japanese seiyuu, I was already made aware of their existence.
I'll confess that I used to be a huge Gundam Wing fan (still find the concept interesting, just not how it's executed), since it's my first anime after almost eight years of blankness. And I actually made a secret resolution a few days ago to finish all my GW fanfictions in 2010 *crosses fingers*. So it was with much anticipation that I played the Gundam Wing DVD, eager to hear the voices of those famed names. I was not one bit disappointed, and I came to understand the mixed reception of the character of Relena. I had since switched from don't-really-care to like-her, btw.
Yajima Akiko's voice has a rather neutral feel and doesn't usually leave a strong impression, but she's able to manifest a sense of prestige and authority, yet at the same time being innocent and modest. I enjoy it when she plays young boys, but I also like her being impartial and imposing women. Kohaku is where I started noticing her, R. Dorothy is when I warmed up to her, and Relena is who I'll always remember her by.
I'm able to distinguish her voice most of time after hearing her female and young boy pitches, but I haven't really heard very many of her works where she plays a lead or major character. Needless to say, I'm kind of surprised of the high number of works seen. Yajima Akiko is not a seiyuu I'd actively seek out works to watch or listen to, but I definitely enjoy her voice acting and would love to hear more of her.
As promised, here's the Soramimi seiyuu acquaintance rank of 2009, from the most number of works heard to the least. This has nothing to do with how familiar I am with the seiyuu nor how much I like the seiyuu, but rather a statistic on how many chances, including nameless extras, I've had of that seiyuu.
2009 Soramimi Seiyuu Acquaintance Rank:
Yajima Akiko 矢島晶子 - 30
Nagasawa Miki 長沢美樹 - 27
Nakai Kazuya 中井和哉 - 25
Maeno Tomoaki 前野智昭 - 16
Yao Kazuki 矢尾一樹 - 15
Nakao Ryuusei 中尾隆聖 - 13
Tai Yuuki 泰勇気 - 10
Aizawa Masaki 相沢正輝 - 9
Aizawa Mai 相沢舞 - 8
First heard: Announcer (Shinseki Evangelion)
First noticed: Kohaku (Inuyasha)
Memorable characters: Relena Peacecraft (Gundam Wing), R. Dorothy Wayneright (The Big O), Kohaku (Inuyasha)
Image character: Relena Peacecraft (Gundam Wing)
Discernment rate: average to above average
Number of works seen: 30
Back in the days, people who watched Gundam Wing in English despised Relena, and Relena bashing was almost the norm. But the Japanese audience seemed to love her. The only difference I could see, beside it being two different cultures, would be the voice acting. Before I even had a chance to experience Japanese seiyuu, I was already made aware of their existence.
I'll confess that I used to be a huge Gundam Wing fan (still find the concept interesting, just not how it's executed), since it's my first anime after almost eight years of blankness. And I actually made a secret resolution a few days ago to finish all my GW fanfictions in 2010 *crosses fingers*. So it was with much anticipation that I played the Gundam Wing DVD, eager to hear the voices of those famed names. I was not one bit disappointed, and I came to understand the mixed reception of the character of Relena. I had since switched from don't-really-care to like-her, btw.
Yajima Akiko's voice has a rather neutral feel and doesn't usually leave a strong impression, but she's able to manifest a sense of prestige and authority, yet at the same time being innocent and modest. I enjoy it when she plays young boys, but I also like her being impartial and imposing women. Kohaku is where I started noticing her, R. Dorothy is when I warmed up to her, and Relena is who I'll always remember her by.
I'm able to distinguish her voice most of time after hearing her female and young boy pitches, but I haven't really heard very many of her works where she plays a lead or major character. Needless to say, I'm kind of surprised of the high number of works seen. Yajima Akiko is not a seiyuu I'd actively seek out works to watch or listen to, but I definitely enjoy her voice acting and would love to hear more of her.
As promised, here's the Soramimi seiyuu acquaintance rank of 2009, from the most number of works heard to the least. This has nothing to do with how familiar I am with the seiyuu nor how much I like the seiyuu, but rather a statistic on how many chances, including nameless extras, I've had of that seiyuu.
2009 Soramimi Seiyuu Acquaintance Rank:
Yajima Akiko 矢島晶子 - 30
Nagasawa Miki 長沢美樹 - 27
Nakai Kazuya 中井和哉 - 25
Maeno Tomoaki 前野智昭 - 16
Yao Kazuki 矢尾一樹 - 15
Nakao Ryuusei 中尾隆聖 - 13
Tai Yuuki 泰勇気 - 10
Aizawa Masaki 相沢正輝 - 9
Aizawa Mai 相沢舞 - 8
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Soramimi Project #8: Nagasawa Miki 長沢美樹
First heard: Ibuki Maya (Shinseki Evangelion)
First noticed: Hoshii Ramika (Anime Tencho series)
Memorable characters: Hoshii Ramika (Anime Tencho series), Monique Cadillac (Gundam MS IGLOO), Helen (Claymore)
Image character: Hoshii Ramika (Anime Tencho series)
Discernment rate: below average
Number of works seen: 25
(Another seiyuu whose name starts with an N... My 3rd one, actually, out of a total of 8 so far. What's the odds of throwing even-odd-odd combos three times out of eight?)
I'm rather surprised of the number of works I've seen with Nagasawa Miki as I only started to recognize her in the past few years. I'll probably recognize her when I watch the new Evangelion movies...
I first noticed her name from watching a commercial on animate.tv for a stage show of Anime Tencho. Seki Tomokazu dressed up as Anizawa and Nagasawa dressed up as Ramika, complete with the hair-do. That short clip gave me quite an impression (or shock), that her voice and name had stuck in my head ever since. Out of the 25 works I've heard her, 4 are Anime Tencho drama CDs.
Nagasawa's voice is a bit on the coarse side, but she has good acting skills. It's not unusual to see her character from any series to go from composed to angry to crazy to normal again, and still be in character. Monique from MS IGLOO is probably my favourite Nagasawa character. She really gave life and added spice to the otherwise deathly pale looking 3D doll.
Despite having seen many of her works, my discernment rate for her is somewhat below average. If she speaks close to her normal pitch, I'll probably recognize it, but if she smooths out the characteristic coarseness, I might not be too successful. Even now, I'm still having trouble connecting her voice to Ibuki Maya from EVA. Hopefully I'll her pitches down in the near future.
First heard: Ibuki Maya (Shinseki Evangelion)
First noticed: Hoshii Ramika (Anime Tencho series)
Memorable characters: Hoshii Ramika (Anime Tencho series), Monique Cadillac (Gundam MS IGLOO), Helen (Claymore)
Image character: Hoshii Ramika (Anime Tencho series)
Discernment rate: below average
Number of works seen: 25
(Another seiyuu whose name starts with an N... My 3rd one, actually, out of a total of 8 so far. What's the odds of throwing even-odd-odd combos three times out of eight?)
I'm rather surprised of the number of works I've seen with Nagasawa Miki as I only started to recognize her in the past few years. I'll probably recognize her when I watch the new Evangelion movies...
I first noticed her name from watching a commercial on animate.tv for a stage show of Anime Tencho. Seki Tomokazu dressed up as Anizawa and Nagasawa dressed up as Ramika, complete with the hair-do. That short clip gave me quite an impression (or shock), that her voice and name had stuck in my head ever since. Out of the 25 works I've heard her, 4 are Anime Tencho drama CDs.
Nagasawa's voice is a bit on the coarse side, but she has good acting skills. It's not unusual to see her character from any series to go from composed to angry to crazy to normal again, and still be in character. Monique from MS IGLOO is probably my favourite Nagasawa character. She really gave life and added spice to the otherwise deathly pale looking 3D doll.
Despite having seen many of her works, my discernment rate for her is somewhat below average. If she speaks close to her normal pitch, I'll probably recognize it, but if she smooths out the characteristic coarseness, I might not be too successful. Even now, I'm still having trouble connecting her voice to Ibuki Maya from EVA. Hopefully I'll her pitches down in the near future.
Friday, December 18, 2009
A few days ago I received a parcel pick up notice. But I didn't get any shipping notification email from Amazon.ca, so who could possibly be sending me stuff? Since I was planning to drop by friend-I's place today, I thought I might as well go pick up this mysterious package.
Half way to the post office in this beautiful, sunny, and freezing afternoon, I regretted not taking friend-P's offer for a ride there. My legs felt like being pricked by a thousand needles, and the thought that I also had to walk from the post office to friend-I's then back to my place, made my heart sink even more.
But in the end, the long trek was well worth it. Not only did I successfully complete the retrieval mission in one piece, upon opening my mailbox, I discovered the delirious? CD I ordered (no walking to the post office for pick up!). Double presents! :D
With my legs still under the freeze spell, I opened the mysterious box (okay, maybe not so mysterious now that I knew where it was mailed from) to find a card and carefully wrapped... furry slippers! And it's purple, too! XD
My dear sister back from the home church is a sweet and loving woman, indeed. :D
I just had half a tub of strawberry-flavoured Häagen Dazs as dessert. I'm going to take a nice hot shower (my limbs are going to sting from the walks), change into my warm reindeer-patterned pyjamas, slip on the pretty purple slippers, and read. That's a good way to spend my last moment as a 29-year-old, eh? XD
Half way to the post office in this beautiful, sunny, and freezing afternoon, I regretted not taking friend-P's offer for a ride there. My legs felt like being pricked by a thousand needles, and the thought that I also had to walk from the post office to friend-I's then back to my place, made my heart sink even more.
But in the end, the long trek was well worth it. Not only did I successfully complete the retrieval mission in one piece, upon opening my mailbox, I discovered the delirious? CD I ordered (no walking to the post office for pick up!). Double presents! :D
With my legs still under the freeze spell, I opened the mysterious box (okay, maybe not so mysterious now that I knew where it was mailed from) to find a card and carefully wrapped... furry slippers! And it's purple, too! XD
My dear sister back from the home church is a sweet and loving woman, indeed. :D
I just had half a tub of strawberry-flavoured Häagen Dazs as dessert. I'm going to take a nice hot shower (my limbs are going to sting from the walks), change into my warm reindeer-patterned pyjamas, slip on the pretty purple slippers, and read. That's a good way to spend my last moment as a 29-year-old, eh? XD
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