Iroiro na Koto

More food!

2008-06-25T21:09:00.002-04:00

Sorry, I forgot to take pics of tonights wonderful tastes.
This eve we had one of my favorite Japanese foods - OKONOMIYAKI. This is basically a pancake made of flour, cabbage, shrimp/chicken/whatever (we had shrimp), green onions, onion ... and covered with a brown sauce and mayo. Mmmmm. We also had homemade Miso Soup and Chicken Caesar salad. Yum!

Choco Banana

2008-06-24T21:11:00.000-04:00

In lieu of other updates, I figured I might as well start blogging the delicious creations of Asako. If the way to our hearts is through our stomachs, than she certainly has me heart and soul! I have been amazed at her ability to come up with a variety of foods, both western and asian. Maybe part of it is because, while I enjoy cooking, I never did much alone so watching her go to the 'fridge and pull out random things to make a tasty dish has been fun to watch.

Tonight we had a Korean soup made from scratch ... beef, tofu, spinach, cabbage, green onion, all in a very very spicy red pepper broth. UMAI!!!
Even better was the desert ... banana chocolate (and a little bit of ICHIGO (strawberry)) cake! Warmed in the microwave and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream ... Mmmmmmm...

Backloggery

2008-06-18T14:43:00.003-04:00

The PA forums pointed me to a pretty neat site for keeping track of my gaming backlog and progress - The Backloggery.

I will have to spend some time updating my profile, but you can track my progress here.

Too Much Excitement, Too Early

2008-06-06T07:02:00.002-04:00

I've been up since around 3:30 this morning. It was at that time that the most vicious fucking thunderstorm I have been in was right on top of where I live. It was movie lighting ... where you hear and see it at the same time. Because it was right fucking on top of us.

One bolt hit a tree behind the apartment 2 away from mine, causing the tree to explode, and arced into the apartment's back bed room, hitting a socket and starting a fire. The fire pretty much destroyed that room, but was contained and did not spread further, and no one was hurt. Other than the pervasive smell of damp burnt wood from that apartment everywhere in the area, my apartment is ok.

Another bolt, witnessed by someone from the apartment that was hit, struck my neighbor's car, and then arced up over the building, setting off the car alarm. These strikes were shaking the fucking building like I've never felt.

Yet another bolt apparently struck another building in the complex, starting a fire in the dryer vent there.

So yea... in work early today.

Memory Music

2008-06-05T21:32:00.002-04:00

Another goal gets checked off ... I finally unlocked all the songs available in SSBB. This game has one of the best soundtracks ever assembled for a game, and is a treat for the ears. Well worth the time it took to unlock all the songs :)

Crysis Complete

2008-06-05T11:47:00.003-04:00

Last night I finished playing through Crysis, for the PC.
Overall, it was a lot of fun. I was prepared for the "let's-leave-it-open-for-a-sequel-ending," so that didn't bother me.
I tend to agree with the general consensus - the first 2/3 of the game is pure sex, while the last 1/3 is an enjoyable and pretty, if rather standard FPS.
So the Boof Rating for the first 2/3 is Awesome and for the last 1/3 is Fun.

Slimes!

2008-06-01T19:07:00.000-04:00

The past few weeks, I have been doing a full court press on the Japanese studying. I want to eventually become fluent ... a lofty goal, but one I feel I can reach. Of course, the best way to reach that goal would be to live for a few years in Japan. A tantalizing option, but unless I can find a job that is not a low-wage English teaching job, it would be a difficult option. For now, I must content myself with a variety of books, software, and conversations with my fiancee.

One fun supplement I just added to my arsenal is playing through the Japanese PS2 release of Dragon Quest 5. I picked this up a couple years ago on it's release day in Japan for the novelty factor (the fact that I found a place with it on release was the big novelty - as Dragon Quest games tend to sell out rather quickly and induce much skipping of school/work in the Japanese gaming populace. This game has never seen release in the US (although the DS rerelease should be making its way here eventually).

When I got the game, I started into it, but then lost focus and stopped playing. This time, I have restarted, with my handy DS J-E dictionary and kanji lookup in hand(awesome software where I can draw an kanji (chinese-derived Japanese characters) on my DS to lookup what it is ... and it is amazing how well it does and getting my horribly written kanji. Asako bought me this software ... she rocks so much). Even without the dictionary, it is amazing how much more I am understanding than just a few years ago, which is encouraging. Yes, it is slow playing through, but still fun (I love old-school RPGs) and a great supplement to my text book/software learning.

Wii Fit

2008-05-22T10:56:00.002-04:00

I picked up Wii Fit yesterday. I went to Toys R Us about 30 minutes before they opened. There was one other car in the parking lot, with a woman waiting inside. Since it was raining, I decided to wait in my car as well.

By 9:50, two more cars had shown up. Around that time, someone got out of their car to go to the door, so immediately, everyone else did. Well, 10 minutes in the rain is better than 30!

The "crowd" consisted of one stay-at-home mom inline to pick it up for her husband, one stay-at-home mom getting it for herself (she also confessed to waiting 4 hours in line to get a Wii at launch), a college age guy, and myself.

It is fortunate that the line was so small, as TRU only had 5 copies that weren't presold. I grabbed my copy, as well as a copy of Wii Ski (sold for $10 off when bought with Wii Fit).

Last night I tried both out, and had a lot of fun. I spent 30 minutes doing WiiFit activities (which meant about 60 minutes of play time) ... and was actually sweating and tired at the end. That may say a lot for my shape, but it also shows that the exercises (especially the strength training and aerobic ones) do give you a workout.

I knew my BMI would be "overweight." I have a personal goal of where I want my weight to be, and I will be using WiiFit to track it. I am hoping it provides good motivation to be more health conscious. If anyone is interested, I will post regular blog updates about my progress.

Wii Ski, which I only spent about 20 minutes with due to a CoX play-date, was really, really fun. there is a lot of unlockables and challenges. And, it is just plain fun, if creepy, to watch Boof ski ...

Goals and Golf

2008-05-17T15:59:00.003-04:00

My restored PC has been up and running for a few weeks now with no problems. I am quite pleased with the new drive. My PC has been getting some use playing the rather beautiful FPS: Crysis. It has been added to my goal list.

The beautiful graphics combine with a stellar physics engine and almost sandbox style gameplay to make a really fun FPS experience. To give you an example of how the physics create some interesting situations, I present a moment from the game that made me laugh outloud - completely unscripted, purely caused by the physics interactions:

I was standing outside a small building, perhaps it was even a shanty, and I could hear the voices of enemies inside. I throw a grenade inside, figuring the building would contain the blast. The grenade explodes, but also causes the building to collapse, the corrugated metal walls firing outward. I am hit by one of these and knocked several meters backwards ... off the edge of a 20 foot cliff. I land with a sliver of health left. I look up just in time to watch in comic horror as a tree, also a victim of the blast, falls over smack on my face. Pure awesome.

In other news, I golfed for the first time in 14 or 15 years this past Friday. While I shot pretty poorly (68 on a par 36 9 holes) I did a lot better than I anticipated, and had a lot of fun to boot. The only down side is that a combination of muscles were asked to move repeatedly in ways they are not used to, and are complaining a bit today ;)

Recovery

2008-04-24T11:45:00.002-04:00

The installation of my new HDD and the transfer of my most important data is complete. Looking back on everything, it could have been much worse. I know in the months to come, there will be times I really want to find an old email for some information, but at least all my emails from my fiancee are still around, as well as most of my pictures.

The final big transfer I had to do was my iTunes library. My MP3 collection was hit by the data loss, so my only real option was to recover from my iPod. Unfortunately, as anyone with an iPod knows or finds out, this is not an easy thing. Oh, recovering the songs is easy enough. The problem comes in recovering playlists and song ratings. With over 6000 songs, most rated, I really didn't want to go through the rating process again. Eventually, after some research, I shelled out a nominal amount of cash for a utility that could "reverse sync" iTunes to my iPod. It worked very well and took away the nightmarish hassle the process would otherwise be. Still, reverse syncing is a feature that should be in the iPod/iTunes combo by default.

LOST!

2008-04-22T23:26:00.002-04:00

No, I have not become a viewer of enigmatic cult show. Rather, I bring much sadder news (for yours truly at least). Yesterday, my dear PC refused to boot. It appeared that the long fruitful life of my Hard drive had come to an end. After spending all night reinstall, running disk scans, and trying repairs, I was able to get her to boot and begin to survey the damage. It appeared that .5% or so of my hard disk had gone bad. This doesn't sound bad, but this means over 1GB of data was lost.

While a lot of this data was bits and pieces of programs that can be reinstalled, the heaviest hit was the loss of my main Inbox for my personal email. 5+ years of emails, mostly gone. Fortunately, all my emails from my fiancee are still present, as they had been copied to a different email folder.

Also, it looks like while I may have lost some photos, the vast majority of them are still there.
So, while overall frustrating, and time consuming (I am still doing installs, and recovery, and lots more to do), I am glad that the data loss was not much worse.

When drives start to go bad, they can quickly become worse and worse. So, I wasted no time and purchased a new drive today. The silver lining is that now, instead of a 200GB HDD, I now have a 320GB HDD. This also gives me an opportunity to do some housecleaning, only copying over files I plan to use.

I put a fresh install on the new drive, and am in the process of reinstalling what I need to use. I will also pick through my old files and get them copied over. I still have to big hassle of getting my songs (and hopefully playlists and song ratings) from my iPod to my new HDD, which Apple does not make easy.

Oh, my Crysis save (the only PC game I am actively playing on my main PC currently) was also lost, but the game is so damn fun that I don't mind starting fresh :)

Look Ma, I'm upside-down!

2008-04-16T10:25:00.002-04:00

Prey Complete - I didn't put this on my goal list, but it'll go on my completed goal list. When the FPS "Prey" went on sale for $5, it was an offer too good to pass up. The game is a lot of fun, and plays with gravity and your perception of space quite a bit. If you get motion sick playing FPS's, this game will really have your head spinning and stomach churning.
The only con is that the main character complains a little too much.

Boof Rating: Fun

New list, and goal updates

2008-04-13T16:58:00.002-04:00

I've decided to be a little realistic, and add the option to abandon goals if it becomes impractical, impossible, or not entertaining to complete them. Since the goal of games is to have fun, I don't want any goal I set for myself to feel like a job.

The first goal that gets added to this list of shame is Soul Calibur: Legends. I've reached a point in the game where the difficulty has ramped up, and it requires repeating the same stage over and over until I finally get lucky enough to beat it. The problem is that, while SC:L is an entertaining distraction to play for 15 - 30 minutes, the gameplay is just not fun enough to justify playing this same level (and likely subsequent ones) over and over until I complete. At this point, I've seen basically all the game has to offer in terms of gameplay, and I am content to put it away on my shelf.

As for a Boof Rating, I have to give it a reluctant Meh. As stated, I did find it entertaining, and a good diversion. But, the repetition in environs, along with the difficulty scaling cause this rating. I'd say it is still worth a rental if you are a fan of Soul Calibur. It is disappointing because a brawler using SC characters had so much potential.

In other goal news, I've essentially completed my SSB:B goals. I still have to get the rest of the music that drops as CDs during brawls. This may takes some time, but I'll work at it :)

New Toys!

2008-04-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

A combination of some gift exchanging with the fiancee, some games on sale at Target, and a really nice sale on Warhammer Fantasy and Vallejo paints at a local game store has brought in the above haul. It'll give me something to do for the next couple months until she returns in June :)

Smashing New Goal!

2008-03-16T18:50:00.003-04:00

Well, the lameness of the title of this post is more than made up for by the cuteness of the above pic (nicked from the Smash Bros. Dojo.
With this amazing new game comes my latest goal addition. There is a lot to do in brawl, and in theory, I could set a goal for completing every Challenge in the game. Realistically, this probably won't happen, so instead I'll focus on what most affects gameplay: unlocking every Character, Stage, and Song. As of writing this, I only have one character (Wolf) left to unlock.

New Project

2008-03-02T19:03:00.002-05:00

I don't know how far I will get, but to sharpen and flex my programming in my spare time, I've gone forward with coding up a PC version of one of my favorite "board" games.
Right now it doesn't look like much (and doesn't do much) but here is what I have so far:

90+ Hours

2008-02-24T14:42:00.002-05:00

Last post I said I was going to decide on an RPG to focus on finishing. Well, I decided to go with the massive PC RPG, Oblivion. I still have a number of unfinished side-quests, but after over 94 hours of gameplay spread over almost 2 years, I have completed the main quest of this epic RPG. A beautiful, deep game, this is definitely one of my favorite PC RPGs.

One more crossed off!

2008-02-06T16:26:00.000-05:00

I wrapped up the main game in Kirby's Canvas Curse for the DS. Ok, so it really doesn't take all that long to finish, but this was the sort of game I'd play in 5 - 10 minute bursts, so that stretched over several months before I completed it. It really is a lot of fun, and makes good use of the stylus on the DS.

Boof Rating: Fun

I also realized I don't have any (offline) RPGs on my list, yet I have several in my backlog. I can only focus on one RPG at a time, so I need to decide which one I should focus on. Maybe I will make a list of what I have, and leave it up to my 1 or 2 readers to vote on which they think I should focus on. How does that sound?

One Game Challenge

2008-02-02T12:12:00.000-05:00

With thoughts towards the saving for a down payment on a house this summer, as well as Asako being around in the summer, as well as saving for wedding expenses, I've decided to try to challenge myself to save some extra money. I will do this by refraining from buying any games (With the exception of Super Smash Bros. Brawl) between now and June. I normally buy 2 - 4 games a month, so this should allow me to save up to $200 extra a month. Additionally, it'll give me plenty of time to work through my vast backlog!

Hopefully, I will be able to stick to this plan!

Two Goals complete!

2008-02-02T09:19:00.000-05:00

New X-Men Finished
The first of two goals from my list completed was finishing my backlog of New X-Men comics - which also finished the series. I will be picking up Young X-Men when that starts up in August. I really enjoyed the year+ of storyline I read. I started collecting series for nostalgia value, but over the course of it, there were some really good story-arcs, especially towards the end, and the developed some interesting/entertaining new characters (particularly Rockslide). Some of my favorite arcs were the return of Nimrod and the creation of Predator X.

I also picked up the final issue of the Messiah Complex, so I could read the conclusion of that cross-over. My plan is to get back into X-Men comics a little more with this most recent reshuffling. I'll be getting Young X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, and X-Men: Legacy.

Crushing Impact - One Complete Set Acquired
I have one power outfitted with a shiny set of Crushing Impact IOs. I am still on the lookout for Recipes from this set, as I will be equipping more powers with this set. For now, I will probably set a goal soon for a different set.

Zack & Wiki

2008-01-20T13:36:00.001-05:00

Another goal to cross off - I have completed the main storyline for Zack & Wiki for the Wii.
I made a longer post, but apparently Blogger ate it, so this will be short and to the point:

If you have a Wii, you owe it to yourself to pick up this game. It is beautiful, fun, has a sense of humor, and filled with clever puzzles. It is particularly good to play together with a loved one, as you can put your minds together to try to figure out the puzzles and riddles. If I could have my way, this is one game every Wii owner would have in their library. (And it is only $33 at Amazon).

Boof Rating: Awesome

Comic Goal!

2008-01-19T14:33:00.000-05:00

Not quite a gaming goal, but I figured I'd throw it on the list. I have quite the backlog of New X-Men comics to read through. Today I just cleared my box from the comic store, which had over 6 months worth of New X-men ... I have several more months that have been sitting on my backlog prior to that. Currently I have 16 issues to read, from 31 - 46. So, time to start working on them!

And for anyone who is interested, I've been collecting these since the new New Mutants ... so if anyone wants to read my back issues, they are more than welcome!

Luigi unlocked

2008-01-12T16:57:00.000-05:00

I finally got all 121 stars in Super Mario Galaxy. Without any reservation, SMG is a must own for any Wii owners. Getting each star presents a unique and entertaining challange. One of the very best games of this generation, maybe any generation.

Getting all 121 stars completes a goal, and allows me to play SMG with Luigi.

I also completed a un-listed goal: finish all requests in Beautiful Katamari for the 360. I enjoyed the game, but I have to say that overall it was a disappointment compared to the first two. But, if you don't have a PS2 but do have a 360, it is still worth picking up.

GW Goal added

2008-01-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

I finally got to play some Guild Wars again last night. It was an enjoyable, if easy, sweep through the 3rd Prophecies mission with Matt, Aron, and Aron's friend. I do like the ability to play GW and knock out a mission in around an hour (sometimes less). I am going to try to focus on getting through the Prophecies campaign, although much of that may wait until Matt/Aron have caught up, so I can do all the new missions together with them.

More Goals

2008-01-10T22:23:00.001-05:00

I added finishing Soul Calibur Legends and unlock/getting a bronze in all the levels in Link's Crossbow training (LCT). I must say, I highly recommend the $25 Link's Crossbow training, even if you never intend to use the Wii Zapper it comes with. If you enjoy the shooting in Wii Play, then LCT is for you - a much more expanded shooting gallery game, with lots of things from the Zelda universe to shoot. I've been having lots of fun with it.

Since I decided to keep the list on the right, it will probably slowly expand with more and more goals. It is a nice way for me to keep track of everything I have to play and finish :)
Of course, I don't want to let it expand too much, so I will try to keep the list to under a dozen specific gaming goals at any time.

Quick Initial Impressions

2008-01-10T13:26:00.001-05:00

No descriptions, but I wanted to give a quick Boof Rating (awesome/fun/meh) to each game I got around the holiday season:

Wii
Soul Calibur Legends: Fun
Link's Crossbow Training: Fun
Ghost Squad: Fun
DDR Hottest Party: Fun
NiGHTS: Awesome

DS
Brain Age 2: Fun
FFXII Revenant Wings: Fun
Contra 4: Fun

360
Rock Band: Awesome

Another complete

2008-01-09T20:03:00.000-05:00

I finished another goal: Complete Phoenix Wright: Justice for All

Current outstanding goal:
1) CoH: Complete set of Crushing Impact for Oni Hime

New Goals:
2) Collect all stars in Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) ~ Current count: 99
3) Finish Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)

New Super Mario Bros. Goal complete

2008-01-07T19:02:00.001-05:00

First gaming goal has been completed, I have completed each level in New Super Mario Bros.
Now to pick a replacement goal for the "Action" category ...

Game Goals

2008-01-07T16:46:00.000-05:00

Zombie blog!

Those who know me know I tend to have more video games than I can ever hope to finish. I am a bit of a collector. While I realize I will probably never finish them all, I am going to start setting goals, and focusing on completing those. For now, I am going to break it down as follows: MMO goal, RPG goal, Action game goal. I may add a couple more categories, but for now I'll keep it simple, and update when I reach those goals.

MMO Goal: CoH - Complete a Crushing Impact set for Oni Hime
RPG Goal: Finish Phoenix Wright: Justice for All
Action Goal: *COMPLETE*Complete each level (including hidden) in New Super Mario Brothers (DS)

The Sky is a Little Bluer

2006-11-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

Long time no post, indeed!
Since my last post was on Neil Young's latest album, I figured I should post again expressing my utter delight at the recent elections.
True, we are still stuck in this terrible war, but at least W won't be getting a free ride from Congress any longer to pass all the crap legislation he has been shoveling through. Perhaps this will even force him to nominate better people ... no more Rummies, Bolton's, or FEMA disasters. I can hope at least.
We shall see ...

Neil Young - Living with War

2006-05-05T18:17:00.000-04:00

Neil Young's new album, Living with War, is available to listen to in it's entirety online:

http://www.hyfntrak.com/neilyoung2/AFF24795/

A good album that expresses what more and more of us Americans feel - enough with the lies, corruption, cronyism, and horrible ineptitude of the current government. Enough with using the Constitution to wipe their asses, with hiding behind the flag and using the word "terrorist" to manipulate the public and serve their selfish interests.

Track 7 says it well.

Informational: Enhancement slotting

2006-04-22T11:57:00.000-04:00

Just a quick and convenient posting of my mains enhancement slotting in CoH for informational purposes for CDog.

Canvas 2

2006-04-13T19:44:00.000-04:00

Canvas 2 (fansub, ep1.)
Anime stores in Japan will frequently include promotional items, such as bookmarks or mini posters, in you bag with your purchase. On my trip to Japan in the fall of '05, I received a number of bookmarks featuring characters from Canvas 2. I knew nothing of Canvas 2, or even Canvas, other than (from my minimal Japanese knowledge used to read the bookmarks) it was a upcoming bishoujo (beautiful girl) game (presumably ero, at least the PC version) and anime series, and it had character designs I liked. So, I grabbed the fansub for episode 1, and this past week finally got around to viewing.

At the very least, I usually expect to enjoy the character designs in bishoujo series, and probably some fan service. Sometimes, though, a series surprises and has quite a bit of depth beyond cute girls. From the first episode, Canvas 2 appears to be one of these latter series.

The male lead, Kamikura, is a year away from graduating college (putting him older than most bishoujo male leads are) and plans to be an art teacher. He works as an art club advisor at a local high school (enter all the girls). He has an artistic eye and is an excellent teacher, but something in his past causes him to never draw or paint anymore himself ...

Elis, his cousin, has come to live with him, and is transferring to the school he advises at, and has newly joined the art club. Since witnessing her parents die in a car accident, she has an extreme aversion to red - which creates difficulty with her otherwise tremendous artistic ability.

While there has been a small amount of fan service, it really is rather mild, and should not put off people that are adverse to it in their anime. The series appears to be very much story and character driven, and is one I plan to follow. It is nice when a random show gives you a pleasant surprise.

Disgaea Epidode 1

2006-04-12T18:48:00.000-04:00

Disgaea (ep 1, fansub)
Finally, the Disgaea anime is being released. Hopefully, it will be picked up and released domestically soon (I had though I heard word it was licensed, but none of the licensing lists seem to have it).

So, what did I think of it, Disgaea fanboy that I am? I loved it. So far, I like the approach of keeping the same basic story of game - Laharl, son of the Demon King, is awoken from a two year nap to find that his father is dead (having choked on a sweet bun), and his kingdom is in disarray - while actually doing an alternate telling of those events. For instance, instead of Etna using an array of weapons, construction equipment, and heavy artillery to wake Laharl up from his long slumber, it is the kawaii angel assassin Flonne (seen above about to launch a bunch of missiles).

The themes, characters, and their idiosyncracies appear to be consistent with the game thus far, including Flonne's "love mania." The first episode even sees an appearance by one of the games sci-fi parody characters, Captain Gordon (along with the buxom Jennifer and b-movie robot Thursday). With luck we will see the Prism Rangers in a later episode ...

The music is primarily taken from the games, which had a unique and memorable sound track. So, I was happy to hear full arrangements of appropriate music at the right moments.

The animation was on par with good quality TV animation.

The only downside? Only 5 seconds of Etna in the episode! Fortunately, they have kept the video game tradition of Etna voicing the preview, and the preview itself being a complete fantasy of Etna's as to what happens...

Etna

2006-04-09T15:46:00.000-04:00

Simply because she is one of the best characters to grace a video game, here are more Etna screenshots taken from the Disgaea anime trailer, including the added cuteness of Flonne!

Disgaea, the Anime

2006-04-03T20:37:00.000-04:00

I finally had a chance to view the trailer for the upcoming anime based on one of the best video games ever, Disgaea. The trailer is very promising - featuring the same vocal cast as the game, it appears to capture the main characters - Flonne, Laharl, Etna - and their combined evil-cute-insanity very well. Geneon will be distributing it in the US, and it can't come out fast enough. If you've played the game, then there is probably no need to convince you to give Disgaea a spin. If not, should this series live up to the humor of the game, this will be an anime that will likely be an easy recommendation.

Oblivion

2006-04-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

The Elder Scrolls:Oblivion is pretty much consuming all my entertainment time recently. There are plenty of sites with reviews and opinions out there, so for now I will leave it at "I love this game!"

A sample of screen captures from playing:

Air

2006-03-15T17:52:00.000-05:00

Air (ep 1 fansub)
I wrote a longer post of impressions of Air, but then blogger decided to eat it (>_<)So here is a much shorter post...Air is another anime that started its days as an H-game (adult). Surprisingly, some H-games tend to have a decent story, and eventually see their way to being made into non-H games and anime.

The first episode is mostly setup, introducing several of the female characters, as well as the male lead, Yukito. The setup is fairly simple so far - Yukito is a mysterious traveller unable to make money. He meets the flighty, kind hearted Misuzu, who offers to let him stay with her and her mom. The mom, Haruko (played by a fav of mine, Hisakawa Aya, forever Kero-chan to me) finally agrees, and gets Yukito to agree to watch out for Misuzu, and help cure here of a tendency to make a dinosaur sound ("Gaou!") any time she gets emotionally.

The character designs are well done, important in any harem show. Additionally, despite its ancestory, there is no fan-service so far. There are hints of a deeper story, though this ep was all setup. Finally, the show is quite humorous so far, particularly the boisterous Haruko.Overall, if the story pans out (I know the original game was a fan fav), this is certainly something I would like to see come stateside.

Content Ratings (out of 5)
Humor - 4
Character Designs - 4
Ecchi - 0: I put this down only because it is something that usually comes with the territory for anime that descend from H-games (for example, Popotan). So, the absence of it thus far is noticeable.

Club-to-Death Angel Dokuro-chan

2006-02-17T15:38:00.000-05:00

Club-to-Death Angel Dokuro-chan (Ep. 5/6, fansub)
The title and image above do a pretty good job of telling you all you need to know about this very strange and quirky, yet highly amusing show. I tend to be a fan of the more off the wall series, and throwing in copious amounts of gore into the mix certainly helps!

The basic premise is that Dokuro-chan is an "angel" living with the main character, Sakura-kun. I put angel in quotations as she and the other angels, such as her rival or a overtly gay punk angel, are a lot closer to demons in many of their actions. In particular, Dokuro-chan's tendency to get out her spiked club, Excalablog (forigve the spelling), and violently kill Sakura-kun whenever she thinks he is doing someting ecchi. Not to mention numerous other ways she accidentally kills him (for instance, in these episodes she also poisons him by putting mushrooms she found growing on the bathroom wall in his curry...)

The angel bit of her comes out in that she does use her powers to bring him back to life each time he dies, with a Magical Girl-esque chant of Pi-piru-pi-piru-pi-piru-piii!

As you may have guessed, this is not a show one is meant to take seriously. Each episode is only 13 minutes long, which works well for a series of this nature. Each episode is full of gore, ecchi, twisted humour, gross-out humour, and parody (episode 6 features some otherwise harmless characters from other anime cast into parody images of them as evil monsters in a forest - I always knew there was something evil about Doraemon). Overall, Dokuro-chan is a highly amusing diversion. The series is only 8 episodes long, which is probably perfect, as you can't keep this premise going forever. What is there is quite humorously macabre and bizarre enough, should you enjoy that sort of thing.

Content Ratings (out of 5)
Gore - 5: Lots and lots of blood and guts, of the cartoon, excessive, fun variety.
Ecchi - 3: A fair amount of fan service, typically as the setup for jokes and death.
Character Designs - 3: Dokura-chan herself gets a 5 - you can't help but think how kawaii she is as she beheads or disembowels Sakura-kun - but the most of the rest of the design are rather average.
Gross-out humour - 5: Just consider the fact that taking an angels halo away causes them to have explosive diarrhea, and you can see that there is going to be a lot of gross out humour. I am not a big fan of gross-out humour, but there is enough just plain bizarre and macabre humour that the gross-out doesn't detract too much.

Fansub Backlog list

2006-02-15T19:30:00.000-05:00

I've a directory quite full of yet-to-be-watched fansubs. I decided to make a list for myself, and figured why not post it here. I am going to break it down into three sections: unlicensed episode 1 fansub, unlicensed fansubs that I've watched previous epsidoes, and licensed fansubs.

Some of these anime I have at least seen character designs, but many I have no idea what they even are - part of the fun of finding new shows ( ^ _ ^ ) If it is on the "watched previously episodes" list, then it means that it is one that I have found interesting enough to watch, so those probably have the highest chance of getting review.

If there is anyone reading this that is interested in hearing about any of the ones in the list, please feel free to leave a comment and I will make it priority to watch ( ^ _ ^ )

Unlicnesed Fansubs, episode 1
Air
Amaenaideyo
Canvas 2
Akazukin Chacha
Cluster Edge
Fate/Stay Night
Gakuen Alice
Gallery Fake
Ginban Kaleidoscope
Ginga Densetsu Weed
Ichigo 100%
Idaten Jump
Jigoku Shoujo
Kamichu
Kasimasi ~Girl Meets Girl~
Love Love?
MAdical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's
Magikano
MaR
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi
Nurse Angel Ririka SOS
Paradise Kiss
REC
Sugar Sugar Rune
Shurato
Wings of Rean
Xenosaga
xxxHolic Trailer

Unlicensed, watched previous ep
Beat Angel Dokuro-Chan
Futakoi
He is My Master
Mahou Shoujoutai
Pani Poni Dash
Peach Girl
Pretty Cure
Rozen Maiden
Shuffle
Ultimate Girls

Licensed
Blood+
Solty Rei
Starship Operators

Life is Tetris

2006-02-15T10:14:00.000-05:00

I found this unattributed passage on Slashdot today, and thought it was clever enough to post here as a random thought for the day. If anyone happens across the source, let me know.

"Apart from being a fine game, Tetris is also a perfect mirror of the human condition. For a while the game is entertaining, and we seem to have mastered it and are having fun. Then, something goes wrong -- a rash mistake, or an unfulfilled wish, and we're fighting to repair the damage, but we've been thrown off-balance, and everything is piling up. Blocks that were once orderly and harmonious are jumbled and filled with holes, and our cup is on the verge of running over. There's always a point at which we stop planning for the future, and realize that we don't have one -- all we can do is cling to the present and concentrate, focus our minds on what it's like to be alive, to play the game, before it's all over.

You were waiting for a four-by-one block that never came.

Sometimes we resist to the bitter end, moving blocks left and right without thought or care, just to hang on, and sometimes we accept the inevitable and pull the blocks down to us, smiling inwardly at the great joke. The rest is silence."

Magical Canan

2006-02-12T19:52:00.000-05:00

Back with more fansub impressions, this time:
Magical Canan (ep 1, fansub)
If the title and screen capture weren't enough to clue you in, "Magical Canan" is another entry in that fascinating genre of Magical Girl. One episode in, "Magical Canan" follows the formula fairly well - unsuspecting school girl has magical abilities imparted upon her by/with the aide of a cute sidekick, and must begin to fight forces of evil, or something. So yea, nothing much original or new so far.

There are a couple indications that there could be more, or at least a little bit different, in this series. The threat of the cute sidekick getting dissected by school nurse, along with a smattering of ecchi (one focal point of the transformation sequence is the increase in size/roundness of the main character, Chihaya's, assets), indicate that this is not targetting the typical mahou shoujo audience, but is rather going for a male one.

The character designs are solid and quite enjoyable so far. Animation is average for a tv show.
There really isn't enough in this first episode for me to make any solid decision on this series. It was just setup for the main character; nothing that grabbed me, though. I will likely watch another one or two episodes before I decide if it is worthing continuing to watch.

Magical Canan ran a few seasons ago, and has not been licensed yet, so my suspicion is we will not see this one released in the West.

Content Ratings (out of 5)
Character Designs - 4: I find the designs to be pleasing and varied, including quite an elaborate and impractical bow on the school uniforms, but it still works.
Animation - 3: Normal TV animation - well drawn, but not too fluid or movement-rich.
Ecchi - 2: Maybe I am going down the wrong trail, but it seems the series may put some H in it - not much here, but a little, so it warrants the Ecchi label.

Here We Go, indeed!

2006-02-05T22:59:00.000-05:00

.hack

2006-01-29T11:02:00.000-05:00

.hack//* has been an entertaining multiple-media experiment, crossing over storylines in games, TV anime, OVA, manga, and novels. After completing the 4th game, .hack//Quarantine last night, I have now finished all parts of the main story, excepting the novels. Each piece exists nicely on its own (with the possible exception of the OVA, which really supplements the games and shows what is going on in the real world at the same time as the games), but they also tie together to give a broader story. Familiarity with one aspect of the story adds to the enjoyment of the others; besides a better understanding of the root story, there are numerous references, cross-overs, and inside jokes you will get. For instance, the game features cameos from the TV anime characters and items, while the TV anime and manga reference areas and events in the games.

Nowhere is this crossover more entertaining than in .hack//GIFT (pictured above), a bonus pardoy episode on the last OVA disc. It has characters from both the games and the TV anime, and is full of self-referrential humor and inside jokes. The basic plot has Orca killing Bear (who both look similar) and pretending to be him, since Orca was knocked out in the beginning of the games and never got to do anything. Meanwhile, the other characters try to find the killer / find a hot spring ... with BlackRose and Mimiru (who look similar) constantly fighting, as well as Tsubasa constantly bludgeoning/abusing the Silver Night. Very odd and very amusing if you are familiar with both the games and the TV anime.

Overall, the .hack franchise has been a fun ride. I plan on getting the novel, .hack//AI Buster eventually. There are other novels slated for release in the US, as well as another game, .hack//G.U. coming out down the road. If you are an anime/RPG, I certainly recommend giving at least the TV anime a look.

Yum, food.

2006-01-27T12:24:00.000-05:00

At the Shilin Night Markey, food similar to "Hibachi" resaurants, only it costs only 10% of what it does in the US.

Shilin Night Market

2006-01-27T12:22:00.000-05:00

I was only lucky enough to get one whiff of "stinky tofu".

Why Breath It When You Can Drink It

2006-01-27T12:19:00.000-05:00

Nothing is more mouthwatering than a bottle full of SARS!

Pimped Out Ride

2006-01-27T12:16:00.000-05:00

C.K.S.

2006-01-27T12:14:00.000-05:00

Chiang Kai-Shek does his best Abraham Lincoln impression.

Is That Taipei 101, or Are You Happy to See Me?

2006-01-27T12:10:00.000-05:00

What Kind of Walker?

2006-01-27T12:08:00.000-05:00

Spotted in Ximenting.

Honey, Where Did We Park?

2006-01-27T12:03:00.000-05:00

Near Taipei 101, some sort of scooter spawning ground.

Home Again

2006-01-26T20:05:00.000-05:00

Been up for 27.5 hrs and counting now (since 5:30 am Taipei time).

Trip was mostly uneventful ... at least until the O'Hare connection. Oh, the flight was on tiem and all, but I knew I was fucked as soon as I saw they were boarding 4 separate flights from the same gate in a span of 25 minutes ...

Sure enough, get to SYR, and no baggage. Well we will see ... it is supposed to come in on the 8:55 flight, but after the above mentioned number of hours up, I wanted to get my sleepy driving on snow out of the way sooner, rather than later. It is supposed to be delivered tonight (yea right), or tomorrow morning. We shall see ...

34 - 17

2006-01-22T18:22:00.000-05:00

And Pittsburgh is on its way to Detroit.

And kVn is on his way to breakfast.

Mid trip update

2006-01-21T19:34:00.000-05:00

A good morning to all, or at least all on this side of the world. A good eve to all you wacky western hemispherians.

Yesterday was a day off for kVn here in Taiwan, so I took the opportunity to go see some sites. After lazying around a little in the morning, I headed out and hopped on the MRT. One line change and five stops later, I arrived at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Many pictures were taken, including a number of short videos of the changing of the guard. The hall itself, along with the National Concert Hall and National Theatre are quite impressive and large affairs; hopefully some of the pics will turn out decent. (Unfortunately, kVn neglected to bring his camera USB cable, so he must wait until he is home to see the pics).

The weather was somewhat cooperative - it was warm, but there was an on-and-off drizzle most of the day. Fortunately, the haviest rain occured when I was looking at the exhibitions in the C.K.S. Memorial Hall.

After a quick trip to the hotel, it was off to Taipei 101 for lunch, shopping, and more pictures. Lunch was had at a pretty neat restaurant whose menu had quite the mix of asian, western, and european foods. I had a set meal with pumpkin soup, caesar salad, chicken and steak fajitas (fah-jee-ta, according to the waiter), honey cake, and iced tea. All quite delicious. Entertainment out the window was watching one man using a lift to paint the underneath of a bridge-like sturcture by himself. In the States, there would be at least one or two others working on it for, at the very least, safety considerations. One thing you discover quickly is safety standards are not quite the same here ^_^

Taipei 101 itself was really frickin' tall. I didn't go up in it, but did hit the connected mall (which contains mostly expensive stores like Gucci), and hit a nice bookstore in there.

After Taipei 101, I took the MRT to the Nanjing E. Rd. exit, and hit an FNAC (fun to say as F'n AC, heehee) for browsing DVDs, CDs, and electronics. Unlike Japan, CD and DVD prices in Taiwan (talking legit here, not bootlegs) are on par with US prices. Since J-Pop is reasonably popular in Taiwan, this made kVn quite happy. I was able to pick up the latest cd from Ayu, as well as the most recent release from Aikawa Nanase for quite reasonable prices ... 1/3 of what I'd have paid in Japan.

I ended the day wandering around Ximenting, a cool shopping/restaurant area frequented by the Taiwanese youths. It felt like a mix between Shibuya and Harajuku.

Well, kVn must get some work done, but will be posting pictures on his return to the states.

Ni-hao!

2006-01-17T09:59:00.000-05:00

After 24 hours spent in the timeless and dateless airport/airplane limbo, I have arrived at my hotel room in Taipei, Taiwan. So, yea, it is a nice room .. complete with balcony, and most importantly, hi-speed internet!

On the ride from the airport, the radio was playing none other than Gorillaz, as well several R&B english pop songs that I am sure the kids know and love, but which all sound the same to me ...

The most amusing portion of the ride, though, was all the mopeders, who increased in number the closer to the hotel that we got. At a stop light, they would all filter through the cracks between cars, and for at the front; as soon as the light turns green, there is a horde of literally 30+ mopeds fighting for lanes with the cars. Rather interesting ...

Well, kVn must shower and get to bed, so he can wake up at 3 in the morning local time ...

The Icing is Sweet

2006-01-15T17:11:00.000-05:00

In a heart stopper of a game, the Steelers went from certain victory (1st and goal with 1:20 left), to certain defeat (Bettis fumble being returned, a great saving tackle by Big Ben), to certain OT (46 FG attempt by the Colts), and finally swung back to certain victory (horrible, horrible FG attempt). The game saw some strange calls (blowing the play dead without calling a false start or offside) and some horrible calls (overturning the Polamalu INT) by the officiating crew. In the end, though, the Steelers played the game they had to play, and did what no one thought they could do - beat the Colts in a playoff game in Indy, becoming the first 6th seed to make it to a Championship game.

My main desire 3 weeks ago was for the Steelers to make it to the playoffs and defeat Cinci. I felt Steelers were the better team, and would prove it on a rematch. Everything after that win would be icing. Well, this icing tastes pretty sweet.

Media Plaaaay ... is dead.

2006-01-13T16:31:00.000-05:00

I made what is likely my final trip to Media Play today, to score some heavily discounted anime DVDs that were needed to finish off a few series I was collecting.

Media Play was one of the first B&M stores where I spent my younger years that actually began stocking a decent amount of anime titles, especially on DVD. It played a large role in not only my interest in the genre (the ability to browse at a store is very helpful for finding new titles), but played a larger role in the past several years where anime and manga has become more "mainstream." While people like to debate whether it is a good thing for anime and manga to become mainstream in the US, it does lead to far more series being picked up and brought over here; series that a decade ago would have never seen a US release.

More than that, Media Play served as a bit of a hang out place in HS/college - a place to meet and get the night started. There is nothing quite like memories of chasing your friends around and hitting them with sticks in the parking lot ^_^

Recently, though, I have been buying less and less from MP. I have cut down my spending on entertainment, but more than that Best Buy and online stores usually have MP beat on price - most titles at MP are only 10% off the suggested MSRP.

I do have to wonder if Media Play was losing money for Musicland, or if it just wasn't making enough money. And if it was losing money, was it due to mismanagement, or a failure to price aggressively enough?

Whatever the reason, by the time I return from my trip out of the country, the old stand-by will be closed.

My final, nicely discounted, haul:

Texhnolyze 5
Requiem from the Darkness 2 - 4
Kaleido Star 5, 6
Burst Angel 4, 5

OH the Games They Will Play

2006-01-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

As my earlier loot list indicated, kVn has acquired quite a few more games to waste hours on. In the past I have tried to focus on just one (for instance, recently completing the excellent Nippon Ichi game Phantom Brave). For now, though, I am juggling between Dragon Quest 8, .hack//Quarantine, Phoenix Wright, Mario Kart DS, and Animal Crossing: Wild World. Each of these games are quite excellent in their own right (although to be honest I am more into the .hack series for the story than for the gameplay). I plan on writing impressions as I feel like it ^_^

Dragon Quest 8 (PS2)
Formerly known as "Dragon Warrior" in the US, Squenix has decided to use the Japanese title at last. It never really concerned me, but always seemed like an odd change to make. Of course, quite a few liberties were taken in the original NES translation of Dragon Quest, that I guess the change is not too surprising.

Unlike what we see in the included FFXII demo, Dragon Quest 8 sticks to its roots. If you have played past games in the series, you know what you are getting. If you like those games, then DQ8 is a real treat - it puts a lot of polish and production values on the traditional DQ formula. The cell shading is perfect for the series, and well done (funny, all the people that screamed "Celda" and wouldn't play wind waker because of the "cartoon" graphics - which perfectly fit the Zelda world, if you look at the art several past iterations - seem to be quiet about DQ going cell shaded ...). Combined with the fluid animations, the game is a real treat to watch.

Dragon Warrior was the first console RPG, hell, first electronic RPG I played, and so has always had a nostalgic spot for me. When I think of the essence of how I like console RPGs to play, I think of the NES Dragon Warrior and the NES Final Fantasy. The Final Fantasy series has strayed far from its roots - I certainly have enjoyed even the more recent ones, though - whereas Dragon Quest still offers old-school RPG goodness.

Phat lewt

2005-12-27T21:56:00.000-05:00

Back from my short Christmas break. Lots of fun was had by all, and kVn dragged back a sack of goodies, as seen above. Here is a quick rundown of the phat lewt dropped by the kringle monster (some of these items were obtained through use of crafting skills on gift cards):

Video Games

Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
.hack//Quarantine (PS2)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
Mariokart DS (DS)
Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

DVDs

Galaxy Angel 3 & 4
Zelda: the Complete Animated Series (heehee)
Star Wars Episode III
Farscape Starbust Season 2, Vol 3
Star Trek: First Contact
Texhnolyze 5
.hack//Legend of the Twilight 2 & 3
Comic Party 4

Books

Bluff your way in Cricket
Stardust
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Web of Arachnos
Little Adventures in Tokyo
Once More with Footnotes (Pratchett)
Thud! (Pratchett)
Where's My Cow? (Pratchett)
Steel Angel Kurumi 8 & 9
Gocha Gocha 2
Subscription to SEED: Science is Culture

Electronics

Cannon Wordtank V80 Electronic Japanese-English/E-J/Kanji dictionary
Binary Clock

Kitchen

Set of 4 earthenware canisters, w/ cow pattern
Set of 4 rice bowls, 4 chopsticks
4 Bermuda shot glasses
Sake set
Steelers salt & pepper shakers
Misc. chocolate!
Apple

Games

Star Trek 2nd Ed CCG anniversaries Anthology, and Strange New Worlds boosters
High Stakes Drifter Starter
20Q
Dice Games
Star Wars Miniature game Universe booster packs.

Office

Walnut handmade pen
Walnut case
Steelers pencil
Steelers pin

Clothes

Red and green mock turtle necks
Green flannel shirt
Comfy socks
Monogrammed scarf

Fun Stuff

"Sushi set" ~ Sushi patterned trash can, tape, bandages, pencil toppers, cards, coasters, trash can, and wrapping paper.
Chimp stickers
Xmas cards

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

I am off to visit the family for the holiday! I hope you kids have a fun and relaxing Christmas with your friends, family, and cute Gamers mascots!

Licensed

2005-12-18T19:39:00.000-05:00

One more series I missed when I was putting together my summary licensed list.

That series is Mai-HIME, which has been licensed by Bandai Ent.

Add it to the Series I plan to collect list.

I only watched the first two episodes - only far enough to see it was of the girls-with-powers genre - but with good character designs, good animation, an Kajiura music, it is one for me to own.

Angelic Layer

2005-12-17T23:17:00.000-05:00

Angelic Layer (DVD release)
Angelic Layer, released domestically by ADV Films, takes place in a near-future CLAMP universe where a fighting game played with mentally controlled dolls has become quite the rage.

The series follows Misaki, a middle school girl who arrives in Tokyo at the beginning, and is introduced to the sport of Angelic Layer the same day, when she sees the broadcast of a battle involving a stunning white Angel.

At its heart, Angelic Layer is a sports drama, with Misaki facing and overcoming each new competitive challenge, at the same time tackling the challenges in her life . Being CLAMP, the story is filled with colorful characters, such as "Icchan," the mysterious man who gets Misaki to "buy" her Angel and begin playing the game.

The angel fights are well animated and quite fun to watch, particularly towards the end of the series, when the competition is high, and a variety of environments are used as arenas for the fights. I've also always been a sucker for CLAMP character designs, and this series doesn't disappoint; the numerous Angels showcase a wide array of intersting designs.

The series does have its share of cliches, especially those common to sports dramas, but it executes them well. A large amount of humor, a dose of cuteness, some emotional scenes, and the entertaining Angel fights make this an enjoyable series.

Content Ratings (out of 5)
Comedy - 3: A constant level of humor pervades the series.
Character Designs - 5: The angels in particular provide a lot of well designed characters.
Animation - 4: The Angel fights are very well animated and fun to watch.
Kawaii - 3: This series gets a kawaii rating due to the lead, Misaki, who can be quite teeth rotting cute at times.

Ranking: Top 25 (see here, 1st paragraph)
Angelic Layer domestic site.

Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge

2005-12-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge (episode 2, fansub)
Hereafter referred to as Rabuge to save my fingers, this is a rather silly comedy, complete with plenty of fan-service, that I find I am enjoying quite a bit. This is one of those series you go into expecting just to enjoy the ride, and not anything too deep. It is a good break from the heavier stuff out there.

Rabuge is actually two linked 15 minute shows, Love Pheremone and Gedou Otometai. Each show overlaps some characters and events, and both share a common theme, only flipped from one show to the other. In Love Pheremone, we have two wannabe comedians who were also given high-tech suits to fight crime and defend justice. Their attempts at just, though, always end up destroying half the city and costing billions of yen to repair.

On the other hand, Gedou Otometai tells the story of five girls living on their own, after their parents passed away. Their parents just happened to be low level henchmen in a villain organization, and on his death bed, their father requested they fulfill his wish to bring great evil to the world. Later, the girls discover a demon that allows them to have their own magical girl transformation (as seen above). Of course, whenever they go out with the intent to do evil, they tend to have the opposite affect - such as combining forces to enact a terrible spell which makes hot stew for victims in a hurricane shelter... .

This is one that probably won't get licensed (though I could see ADV grabbing it). Probably no loss, but I am finding it to be a rather entertaining series none-the-less.

Content Ratings (out of 5)
Comedy - 3: It illicits a decent about of chuckles out of me.
Fan Service - 4: Plenty of the usual breast and panty shots, mostly used for comedic situations.
Sillines - 3: It is a fairly goofy series, one that one should not take seriously at all.

What's the good word, little budy?

2005-12-14T12:29:00.000-05:00

Synergy.

Ah, Sam & Max goodness coming...

And now for something completely different

2005-12-12T19:56:00.000-05:00

Mmmm, haggis. The most disgusting food on Earth. I found this picture from a trip to Scotland a year or so ago; I figured it needed to be shared with the world.

Licensed List!

2005-12-11T18:29:00.000-05:00

Fortunately for US anime fans, new series are constantly being licensed for distribution in the US. (Please note that it is this authors not so humble opinion that those in the US who download entire series instead of buying the available licensed anime - regardless of their rationalization - cannot be considered fans.)

Depending on how quickly I watch and decide to review any fansubs of a series, there is a good chance it will be licensed before I post my impressions. In these cases, instead of doing an all-out review, I will list when a series is licensed whether I plan on collecting it based on the episodes I saw. I'll give a brief sentence or two on my thoughts, but I will save deeper impressions for the actual series release.

Going through my backlog of episode 1's I've watched over the past year or so, here are the licensed ones:

Anime series I plan to collect:

Ah! My Goddess TV - This one is actually already being released, and I am actively collecting it. I always enjoyed the OVA/movie, and the manga was one of the first manga I ever collected. Excellent animation quality, and you can't not love Belldandy.

Mahou Sensei Negima - From the mind that brought us Love Hina. I think it was really his attempt to bring every type of anime girl cliche into one series. I've been enjoying the manga, and not surprisingly enjoyed the anime as well. Possibly surprisingly, the anime seems to tone down the fan service of the manga quite a bit - this works well as it focuses the series even more on the characters.

Tsubasa Chronicle - It's CLAMP, it's cool, the manga it's based on rocks, end of story.

Anime series I am undecided on:

Black Cat - This one is GONZO, so the animation is good. I only saw one episode, which didn't grab me but showed potential. So, I may collect Black Cat, but it doesn't have the priority of some other series.

Test

2005-12-10T23:47:00.000-05:00

日本語です。

Densha Otoko

2005-12-10T18:05:00.000-05:00

Densha Otoko (Episode 1, Fansub)
The screenshot to the right is actually a little deceptive. It is not from an anime, but rather from the animated opening credits to the popular Japanese Drama, "Densha Otoko", or "Train Man."

At times corny, frequently funny, surprisingly touching, Densha Otoko is the story of a 23 year old Japanese anime otaku (geek) named Yamada who saves a beautiful woman from a drunken old man while riding the train home. She gets his address and promises to send him a thankyou gift.

When Yamada gets home, he tells of his experiences on a internet board, and finds he has an almost instant advice gallery and cheering section amongst the various otaku and other people on the boards. When a gift from the woman does arrive, with their help he picks up the phone to call ...

Densha Otoko takes a humorous look at the world of Japanese otaku, but also looks more seriously at the difficulties and confidence problems geeks around the world encounter. The series, at least for a little while, actually made otaku the new "cool" in Japan.

There are several inside references and winks for people familiar with any of the various otaku cultures, but even knowing nothing about it, the show presents an entertaining variation on the love comedy.

Finally, any show that begins by showing a montage of Akihabara (geek mecca in Tokyo) while playing "Mr. Roboto" by Styx has to have something going for it ...

Content Ratings (out of 5)
Comedy: 5 - I found myself laughing quite a bit. There was a lot of silliness going on as well.
Otaku: 5 - Lots of otaku references, as one might guess - anime, ascii artist, military, figure, comic, etc., all types seem to be represented.

Christmas time in the Cabbage Patch

2005-12-08T20:18:00.000-05:00

It is stolen, it is festive, and it sparkles!

What better way to spread terror this holiday season than with a Hijacked Christmas Jetpack(tm)!

Much, much better than the dreaded winterlords ... although it would be funny if they made a return in a gimped, non-exploitable fashion this year.

Karin

2005-12-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

This is mostly a test of the integration of Picasa2 with Blogger.

But I'll use this opportunity to write some impressions of the anime Karin.

Karin (Episode 1, fansub)
Anime and manga always provides an opportunity for unique and frequently bizarre plots that you don't encounter anywhere else. Take for example Midori no Hibi (Midori Days), the touching story of a boy and the girl who, um, became his right hand. The thing is, as the humerous yet frequently touching (no pun intended) Midori no Hibi shows, many times the anime/manga creators make these bizarre plots work, and work well.

After watching a fansub of the first episode of Karin, it is too early to tell how well the plot of this show will work. However, it certainly fits in the "odd" category. Karin (pictured above) is a school girl who comes from a family of vampires - a fairly normal plotline. Unlike the rest of her family, she is a bit of a reverse vampire - can't see well in the dark, likes being out in day light, and is generally lacking in most vampiric powers. Oh, and instead of needing to intake blood she makes blood - in vast quantities that manifests itself in a geyser of a nosebleed that pretty much splatters blood everywhere.

So far the series is pretty much pure comedy, as you may guess with the setup. Karin's parents are slapstick comic relief. There are hints that there may be some more serious underlying elements, but at this point it is hard to tell where they will go with the plot.

The character designs are decent, but the only ones that really grabbed me were Karin's overly violent aristocratic mother and her subdued younger sister.

I'll probably watch one or two more episodes to form an idea if this is one I want to look for if it gets licensed.

Content ratings (out of 5)
Comedy: 3 - Enjoyable humor, but nothing laugh-out-loud
Character Designs: 3 - Pleasant, but nothing really grabbed me
Gore: 2 - Not much in the way of gore, except when the nosebleeds come there is a lot of blood.

BTW, the idea of the content ratings is not to give an overall "score" or somesuch nonsense. Instead, I will list the common anime things in whatever I am giving my impressions of, and the quantity/quality of it. So, it will be different from show to show. A ninja drama may have gore, fights, etc, while a mahou shoujo could have kawaii (cuteness), comedy, etc. Really, it is more of an attempt to give an impression of what kind of show I feel it is, and how well I feel it does at being that kind of show.

Let's Begin

2005-12-07T18:43:00.000-05:00

Despite having a much neglected personal web page (the 90s version of blogs for the youngins out there), I decided I might as well create a dedicated blog as well. My hope is the ease of updating compared to a personal web page will lead to more frequent updates than www.wd-o.com ever has.

I want to have a little bit of focus for this blog, though. It isn't going to be rants on the state of the world, my life, or pictures of puppies. I am primarily going to use it to share short reviews or impressions on anime (fansubs and licensed releases), movies, games, and other such nonsense.

The title, "iroiro na koto," means "various things" in Japanese, which gives a bit of the flavor of what will be here.