Positively Perplexed

Thailand BK

2008-08-01T06:17:00.002+08:00

Bye guys, I'll be leaving for Thailand for a military exercise from now till 16 August.
I'll try to remain 'contactable' during this point of time (hopeflully).

Will update once I get back...

2008-07-05T11:34:00.003+08:00

Penguin Mesume Heart
Manga Review

While I was sourcing out for soul eater volume 4, I happened to notice something rather familiar amongst the shelves of comic connection. Penguin Mesume Heart.

Initially I wanted to download the entire manga series. But since my choice book was out of stock, plus the fact that the manga would be rather up to date with the anime series, I decided to purchase the comic and support the industry. The high price, however, was something I didn't anticipate.

Disregarding that, the comic turned out to be rather enjoyable. And I'm not referring to the numerous panty/upskirt shots that appear once in every 5 pages or so. It's format is a mix between the normal manga layout and a 4-koma. Every 'chapter' is labelled every 1-3 pages, making it seem like short stories, just like how Lucky Star manga works.

Like any manga-to-anime conversions, there's always bound to have certain discrepancies to the characters' personality, the order of the introduction of plot elements, or even modifications to the main storyline, regardless of how minute or large an impact it may make to the plot.

Here's a short introduction to the plot.
Nankyoku Sakura (Penguin Girl) isn't your average 14 year old. She's rich, popular, has a bubbly personality, can't read kanji and she's an Otaku. Together with her friends and classmates, Kujira Etorofu and Nene Kurio, they undergo various misadventures packed with random hilarity whenever they go.

Sakura's character in the manga, is portrayed to be more understanding and helpful. Of course, she's still very much of a scatterbrain, but after reading the first few chapters, my impression of her puts her nearer to the 'considerate friend'-type rather than the 'brainless Otaku'-type. (Not that I'm saying Otakus are brainless, mind you.)

A classic example would be when Sakura drank Etorofu's self-brewed soup despite it being horrible in an effort to console her. And by drank, I mean she literally gulped down on the whole bowl then commenting that it had a unique taste of its own. If I'm not wrong, this section was completely left out in the anime as it went straight into introducing the other characters rather than following the manga.

There are several more similar scenes like this that put Sakura in a good light. Nevertheless, it's a sin to spoil my readers in a manga review.

The other characters are pretty much themselves compared to the anime. Well, except Nene as she's portrayed to be more adorable in the manga. Again, I'll leave it to you to find out why. Sadly, the shrine miko content wasn't included in the manga.

Last but not least, I would like to comment on the little footnotes they place at the bottom of the page. Informative as they are, most of them speak from a Otaku's point of view. I'll just share 2 of them for now.

Younger Sister
In the realm of Bishoujo-type games or manga, sisters are pure and innocent, like angels. As a norm, they'll keep repeating their dream is to 'be their brother's wife in the future'. In reality, however, sisters are being constantly bullied by their Otaku brothers.

Transfer Students
Students transferred in from other external schools. Childhood playmates, who grow up into beautiful girls, girls who collide into you along your way to school and accidentally reveal their panties, are common scenarios in distinguishing a transfer student.

Yep...pretty interesting perspective huh? Obviously the producer has been reading too much manga and playing too many eroges.

Okay...time for cabaling...

Hoshino Utau

2008-06-22T20:41:00.002+08:00

Hoshino Utau
(Dark Jewel Mode)
Shugo Chara

As promised, here's the sketch of Dark Jewel (aka Hoshino Utau chara-naried with Dia).

This would be the first sketch where I decided to do a character with a pose without reference. The only reference derived from would be the tiny full figure coloured image of Utau herself in dark jewel mode. The rest of my sketches are pretty much striking poses not found in any reference material I possess in bunk.

I realised that I have developed a liking towards blonde haired anime girls. (Note the phase 'Anime Girls') Examples are Eve, Konjiko no Yami, Hoshino Utau, Fate Testassora, Yui, Chiaki Minami, that blonde haired loli from Brighter than Dawning blue etc etc. Obviously the real life ones (blondes) aren't so appealing to me. This proves that you need big, out of proportion eyes to be favoured by the not-so-general male population. Or maybe it's just me.

Apologies with the contrast, my skill in night photography kinda sucks.

Maybe I should sketch out some penguin mesume heart characters.

2008-06-22T08:07:00.004+08:00

Being stuck in camp for nearly two weeks certainly allows you to appreciate your room much better, regardless of whether the air-conditioning is working. Nonetheless, regaining the use of my computer for an extended period of time, something that I couldn't perform last week, has definitely become more enjoyable.

Fortunately for me, the waiting time in bunk had been well spent. Within the 48hours, I've produced a few anime character portraiture sketches, namely Hoshino Utau (in Dark Jewel/Dia mode) from Shugo Chara, Konjiko no Yami from To Love-Ru and Matsuri from Sola. I'll post them soon, when I find the time.

Anyway, there's lots of catching up to be done, in terms of anime watching and cabal levelling. So let's start with the anime reviewing first.

Penguin Mesume Heart (1-10/??)

Thanks to Megami monthly magazine, I'm now hooked onto this anime. Nothing beats having a flash-based opening, catchy opening theme song and random humor comparable to Koharu Biyori.

It's a pretty remarkable job what the anime producers managed to come up with. Look up generic anime character personalities and cameos and you'll most probably find Penguin Mesume Heart somewhere in the center.

The storyline revolves around Sakura, otherwise nicknamed as Penguin girl, an extrovert who never ceases to link her daily life with anime. To put it bluntly, she's more like a crazy otaku who's not afraid to show her true colours.

But that's not where hilarity originates...the other characters themselves are somewhat modified prototypes of generic anime personalities. I'll leave it to you to determine the level of insanity packed within this anime alone so I'm not going to spoil too much.

Furthermore, each episode has a duration of up to 10minutes of maximum airtime. Nonetheless, this doesn't stop the producers from squeezing in as much random adsurd-ness as they can possibly can.

Soul Eater (1-4/24)

The comic didn't disappoint....neither did the anime. Of course, they took out a few 'mature' elements and toned down on the nudity from the anime itself, most probably due to the earlier time slot it's given to broadcast. However, one can see it as an advertising method so the manga sales don't fade out of existence.

Nevertheless, everything else was pretty much awesome.

As an action anime, the fight sequences were absolutely well put together. Rarely do you see the characters stopping to take a breather, except when they decide to inject humour into the combat.

The story revolves around 3 individuals each with the respective partner weapons. As Weapon meisters/technicians, as explained in the prologue of the season, they are trained to enforce the peace of the world by cleansing any infected soul with the egg of the Kishin, which will eventually turn a human soul evil beyond physical and moral recognition. I don't quite recall the explanation within the manga itself, but nevertheless, I'm sure it will be touched upon in time to come, especially since I've read only the first volume.

By the way, this is the first anime that I've decided to read the manga before proceeding with the anime. The feeling's different, but overall, the experience of appreciating the fight sequences being anime sure is enjoyable.

Mnemosyne [Mature themes] (2/10)
(Not suitable for those below 18)

Disregarding the first episode, which depicts how the protagonist, Asougi Rin, is immortal, episode 2 sheds a greater light onto the concept of time spores from the Life Tree, Immortals and Angels. It's still unclear how the supposed leader of the Angels, Apos, is responsible for all of this 'mess'. Neither does it help in the explanation to have an immortal sniper constantly hunting down Rin in every episode.

The relevance between events has been nicely collaborated together. With Maseno in the team, it's interesting to see how his side of the story actually links to the real case and eventually, tying in with the secret Rin has been concealing.

Moetan (10-11/13)

I decided to pick this up again after a long hiatus. If you like lolis, I guess this would be the anime for you...pedophile.

Anyway, episode 10 is the main climax of the anime. With Kuroki no Yami (Black Darkness), materialising from Alice's heart, then putting her in a bondage like stance and revealing her true form, this would be the only true episode with a plot and some action, unless you consider watching the transformation scenes 'action'.

Basically the rest of the episode is rescuing Alice and eliminating Black Darkness. Sounds simple? Yep, the whole thing was concluded in one episode...bumper, I expected a more complicated fight scene, rather than having Arcs metamorph into a gigantic version of his Duck form then executing a one-hit-KO fire breath on transformed a Black Darkness golem. Bleahz...

P.S. Kark's human form is pretty cool in comparison to his cat mascot. And Arcs' fetish towards small assests contrasts highly to Kamen Maid's Hendrick's one. Speaking of Kamen Maid Guy

Kamen no Maid Guy (8/??)

Just when I was wondering what's Liz doing in a Strawberry mask in the OP, this episode explains it all.

Hendrick, Liz's brother, makes his appearance...along with his overly admiration for big breasts. Of course, Naeka gets pulled into the loop, together with the whole school as they fall prey to Hendrick's Demon eyes of Allure.

Strawberry Mask (Liz's 'alter ego') steps in to join Naeka to save the school, blinding her brother with a flash-bomb bra courtesy of Kugorashi, who had the least screentime. Yes, that was adsurb...and I actually sat through it.

To Love-Ru (11/??)

I'm only watching this episode due to Konjiko no Yami's debut appearance in the series. Not without question, she's one of the more popular characters out of Rito's 'harem' (ahem, so to speak). Maybe it's because of her naive nature and mild tsundere streak plus a killer body...yes, literally.

This episode...to be honest, wasn't a pain to watch, unlike some other episodes. It actually had some decent fight sequences, discounting the one where Zastin fell into the manhole after he said he couldn't be defeated. The acid spitting frog only served as a factor of fanservice.

It's great to see Saionji making an appearance. However, somehow her existence seems a little unnecessary in this episode. Furthermore, she seems to be seen as a less crucial character and perhaps some abandoned being in Rito's large harem.

Code Geass R2 (10/24)

Wow...just wow.

Sunrise had better come up with a decent explanation to how Lelouch cloned himself and how soon Xing-ke is going to die after suffering from bronchitis (wow, I actually got the spelling right the first time).

Shen-Hu (translated to Tiger God) is much more overpowered than I anticipated. With some radiation device that rivals that of Gurren's radiation device and rotatory ropes, he sure did own a number of Black Knight pilots...not to mention being able to catch Karen off guard and capturing her.

Zero is also losing his cool. Never did I expect him to make an impulsive move despite being reasoned with with the rest about withdrawing their troops. Somehow, Lelouch seems to have deserved it, but the fact that his intention was to rescue a fellow classmate somewhat compensates for that.

P.S. Do I see Cyborg Orange-kun in the preview...again?!

Kara no Kyoukai (1/7)

No, this is not a regular anime series, but rather a movie-long anime series. It's just like evangelion, without the mecha and whiny characters.

Part one of Garden of Sinners doesn't explain much of Shiki's background. However, it does display some neat fight scenes between her and...ghosts/astral projections. Okaaay...Now we'll have to wait to part 2 to know her history. Sounds familiar? Look up Mnemosyne.

The hour-long duration was kinda draggy. The producers spent a lot of time explaining about the suicide cases and getting the characters sprout out philosophical lines about life and death and whatever is in between. I drifted off halfway while watching this...

Conclusion: Wow, I just realised that I reviewed 20 episodes worth of anime and one chapter of a movie anime series. That surely is an achievement for this week. I'm going back to cabal first...

2008-05-29T00:52:00.003+08:00

Nothing beats coming home after half a week of 'Stay-in's. Naturally, it would be the norm for me to book out on Wednesdays to restock and resupply and update myself with the outside world (e.g. anime and KKnM updates). But since I've been busy for the past few weeks, I guess it wouldn't hurt staying in for another half a week for that matter.

For one, I'm partially against the idea of staying out. The most I'll do to burn time would be to sketch in bunk and/or to revise my Japanese tutorials. A trip to the gym is also equally refreshing, though physically strenuous as an aftermath.

Nonetheless, nothing beats being about to watch the subbed version of Code Geass R2 on a Wednesday night or knowing whether or not to queue up early outside KKnM for the latest and hotest figurine in the market.

Obviously no figurines here, not unless you count the minature ones sitting on top of my speaker...or shift your angle to the other side of my room.

*sigh* It's financially taxing to be an Otaku. Hopefully, BattleKing will be more of a cold-turkey treatment for me and my wallet.

Shugo Chara 29

2008-05-18T13:35:00.004+08:00

I decided to watch Shugo Chara after months of leaving it aside. It was on my list of pending anime to watch for a while until today due to my 4 day long weekend. (Cheers to Vesak Day!)

Concidentally, I decided to start with episode 29, since I read up that certain interesting details are going to be revealed within this episode. And boy, they sure did do wonders in advancing in the storyline.

This goes to show how much pink/red has been used in this show. Fortunately, the evil dudes use more colours at the other end of the spectrum.

What basically happens in this episode is that Kukai (the former jack of the guardians) decides to pay a visit to his former High School, drags Amu away to give her a little prep talk on discovering self-confidence.

However, little did they realise that they were in a location where they could be assaulted by Utau without being noticed by anyone. And Utau does exactly that. With the help of the Dumpty lock, Amu fuses with Eru, Kukai fuses with his Daiichi and Utau fuses with the newly hatched Dia.

Ooo-kay.

Amulet Heart (Amu's) looks...girly. But I guess that can't be helped when a lover of pink merges with an angelic guardian character. Together with a crappy surrender 'attack', I'm not too sure how they'll work out later in the show.

Dark Jewel (Utau's) wraps Utau in a sleak black-yellow leather outfit with twin tails at the back. Like her previous chara-ani with Aru, her hairstyle and stockings remain untouched, just that they sport a black colour scheme instead. Love her final pose at the end of the transformation sequence.

Expect a sketch of Dark Jewel from me sometime soon. She'll be the next target in my sketchbook.

No...I don't review male outfits. But all I can say is that Sky Jack(er) looks as if he's going for snow-boarding.

Now for the interesting portion. After they lose their transformations abruptly, Ikuto shows up and gets assaulted at the mouth courtesy of Utau...and it turns out that Utau is his own sister. Whoa...

That basically sums up the whole of this plot-heavy episode.

Yes...back to caballing.

On a side note: We need a lot more Shugo Chara! fanart.

Higurashi Live Action Movie

2008-05-17T01:03:00.008+08:00

I'm quivering in my chair now...

...not due to fear, but rather in full of anticipation and awe for the new Higurashi Live Action movie.

The youtube video posted below will provide you with a clearer perspective of what I'm feeling now.

Those are scenes from the actual Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Live Action movie. Finally, Higurashi makes it to the big screen, whether you like it or not (you better like it).

From the trailer, it's most likely that this film will only feature a single arc, namely Onikakushi-hen. Although it doesn't provide a lot of information on the actual storyline and is the worst possible scenario the story can take, it's still a great start if they were to compile a series of movies, like Harry Potter or somewhat.

Oh Rena...what have they done to you in the movie?!...*sob*

I don't have much to comment on since this is only the sneak preview to the film itself. Nonetheless, from those short minutes, I'm more than pleased with how they retained the element of horror and mystery that rivals that of the anime, novel, manga and game. The incoporated CGs (silt eyes recycled from Death Note) sure do wonders in this.

Since I'm a BIG fan of Higurashi myself, here's a little brief outline of the plot for those of you who are interested in catching the live action movie or planning to indulge in any other material relating to the show itself.

Here's a compilmentary picture of Shion to start things up. Too bad you won't get to see her in the movie. (But you do get to see her twin sister Mion)

Behind all the death-defying time wrapping, literal gut-wrenching, over-apologetic stalkers and a suppressed druglord (whoops, that gave away too much), Higurashi no Naku Koro ni commences in the peaceful town of Hinamizawa, peaceful...on the surface.

A transfer student, Maebra Keiichi, moves in together with his parents to escape his tainted past and making friends along the way. But however, as the story progresses, he learns of the dark curse that has befallen upon this rural village.

Well...basically things take a turn for the worse when your friends just don't speak up. In short, the upcoming turn of events have been inspired by the negative impact of having too many communication barriers.

I can just picture this scene in real life...not.
They made Rika and Satako too big for Rena to lift even with both hands.

That's about what to expect. Oh yes, look forward to certain scenes like USODA! (Lies!), Hatchet swinging, Killer pastry and other repeated gut-wrenching scenes (oh, the irony!).

Higurashi premeried in Japan on the 10th of May, exactly a week ago (and one day after I bought the June Edition of Megami). Let's hope that it reaches Singapore by this year, or we'll just have to wait for the subs and let video streaming do wonders.

Here's the webby url by the way, for those who are interested.
Click Here for more information (if you can read Japanese).

Time for me to continue Cabaling.

Anime review

2008-05-16T02:25:00.002+08:00

Seems like I'm more into watching anime for this season, despite the fact that most of the shows are new series, save Code Geass R2 of course. There's a lot of humour going around for this season's batch of animes.

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki (5/?)

On the surface, it appears to be just another crazy humour genre anime. However, the amount of family drama infused into this show is beyond my expectations.

Despite resembling a badly pieced together jigsaw puzzle, everyone in the Midarezaki family actually cares for one another in whatever way they can offer to. Even Kyouka often sprouts a few meaningful phrases halfway during the episode, reinforcing the message of the importance of strong family bonds.

Well...it's got drama, action and humour. But whether one can ignore the degrading animation for all of this is solely up to the individual. To me, I'm just sitting back and enjoying the 'family frenzy'.

Kamen no Maid Guy (5/?)

Kogarashi is awesome. X-ray vision, Incredible intelligence, Overwhelming strength, ridiculous speed, Solid endurance, X-ray vision...Yep, he sure is awesome.

I doubt any other maid guy can steal underwear that fast.

Although his intentions are to benefit Naeka, he often gets mistaken due to his lack of awareness towards feminity and privacy of others. Fortunately, it helps in the covering up since everyone else in the show is a complete idiot.

Code Geass Rebellion of Lelouch R2 (6/24)

Perhaps the only anime to be treated seriously for this season. I've yet to watch the action-based animes like Vampire Knight yet, but I can guarantee that I would be taking back that first statement anytime soon.

R2 continues with the revival of Zero after his near-fatal battle with Suzaku. Packed along with more overpowered mecha add-ons (ep6), witty plot twists and subtle fast-food advertising appearances (refer to your local Pizza Hut store, if you're in Japan that is).

You'll miss a chunk if you were to skip an episode or 2, but at least not as much without watching the first season (like your's truly). If only Sunrise put in this much effort in GsD. But hey, I'm definitely not complaining about what they're doing with CG now.

Tower of Drauga: Aegis of Uruk (3/24)

'Parody' is the first word that will strike you as soon as you watch this. Gonzo does a neat job in wrapping up all your possible generic RPG/MMORPG features and references and dumping them into this anime. I wouldn't call it haphazard though, but it sure is on skirting along that line.

Ep5 tends to enforce this though I've not watched till there to judge.

I just realised that I've not watched Shugo Chara in a long time. Thinking that most of it is going to be some random bleach-like filler (insult intended) due to the 52 episode count. After the long wait, however, even the Utau x Ikuto scene is out. Time to get into that...but until then...

Kanokon (4/?)

Oh, where was I?
Ah yes, Kanokon is one of those trashy anime series when you probe further into it and realise that it's......a completely trashy romance sex-addled anime series.

5 plus episodes into the series and the only reason that those 2 animals on heat want to mate with Kouta (whose Seiyuu happens to be Mamiko Noto btw) is because of his scent...rrright.

So just enjoy the censored nudity, catfights and nonsensical humour while I explain the next series...

To-Love Ru (3/?)

To-Love Ru reminds me of...well...Rosario+Vampire or any other typical harem comedy spawned from a famed on-going manga.

It's just...bad. Seriously.
I mean, watching one trashy harem comedy does negative wonders on your perception of romance. I definitely don't need another. (What I do need is a figurine of Lala in her space wear.)

For that, I think I'll just stick to reading the manga when I'm done with the latest released volume of Full Metal Panic Sigma.

Time to knock off now. My 4 day long weekend just commenced 2 hours, 33 minutes ago.

Room figures

2008-05-01T01:49:00.002+08:00

Oh yes...

I've not shown what's in my room yet, have I?

On the left would be the start of 2 wall-spaces of Anime posters contributed by monthly Megami, Comp Heroines and G Festival editions.

P.S. Gurren Lagann looks like it's going to fall off any moment.

Feels...indifferent

2008-05-01T01:34:00.002+08:00

Feels...Indifferent.

Well, at least that's what this labour day feels like. Most probably since I won't be enjoy the extended weekend like most who have half/full day off on Friday. Guard duty is surely a bane of free time.

On another perspective, I've spent the first 2 hours of Labour day updating myself with the latest season of Code Geass: Rebellion of Lelouch R2. And boy, when others say that it's good, they really mean that it's awesome, at least for my stand. Sunshine has really outdone themselves this time.

Yes, and I'm looking forward to a potential gym session and a pending visit to La Tendo later. Keeping fit and figurine purchases sure drain my monthly salary. Of course, this does not exclude the usual weekend practices and the like (*tsk*Cabal*tsk*). What a fruitful labour day it'll be...as long as I don't oversleep .

Hatsune Miku figurine

2008-04-27T16:22:00.002+08:00

Hatsune Miku Figurine
by GoodSmile Company

http://www.amiami.com/shop?vgForm=ProductInfo&sku=HOB-FIG-8883&template=review.html

I guess this must've been my lucky day. Visiting Anime House a few hours after the pre-order was made available, I'm just second on the preorder list for the latest 1/8 Scale Hatsune Miku figurine.

It's quite appalling once one realises the actual demand of Hatsune Miku figurines. I was even told that there might not be sufficient stock if I don't collect it on time (2 weeks from the arrival). Fortunately, that spared me from footing the standard pre-order deposit fee of $10 due to the high demand.

Guess I'm going to put a permenant reminder in my room...somewhere.

Remember Me?

2008-04-27T08:26:00.003+08:00

After a few gazillion months of down-period, this blog has finally been resurrected.

Initially, I wanted to do my own layout. However, due to time constraints, I decided to stick to a pre-made one.

P.S.: Now time to go take a shower.

2008-02-10T15:59:00.000+08:00

Happy Lunar New Year to all!
(Here's a shana-tan advert for that...)

Anyway, my head's still spinning from the lack of sleep incurred from a 24hr guard duty. Not to mention that I've already skipped breakfast and lunch but not feel hungry.

2008-01-20T17:35:00.000+08:00

Neverwinter Nights 2
Date Started: Sometime in late December 2006
Date Ended: 20 January 2008, 11am
Time spent: Didn’t bother since it took so long

Character: Level 19 Aasimar (Plane-touched) Combat, non-shapeshifting, Druid.

Well, that was ridiculously long. Ever since I bought the limited edition of the game after my ‘A’ levels (actually, it was my sister who helped me to purchase it), I’ve been on it on and off. Hence, recording the amount of time I’ve spent on this game is somewhat impossible. It did, however, nudge me constantly to invest in a new computer, or at least one with more memory space and ram.

By the way, this would make Neverwinter Nights 2 the 1st PC game I’ve completed in 2008. Yay for me! Anyway, here’s the review of it.

Gameplay:

This is probably the most important thing in comparison to the other aspects of the game, with its storyline trailing right behind it.

Combat/ Interface

Neverwinter Nights 2 offers a somewhat unique gameplay as compared to its predecessor, Neverwinter Nights. Its interface is somewhat like a cross-breed between Guild Wars and Baldur’s Gate, without being able to control all your characters at once.

This, in fact, puts the player in a very disadvantageous spot as manipulating 6 characters simultaneously one by one gets on my nerves most of the time, especially if 4 out of the 6 are meant to do the same thing. I don’t want to elaborate on the endgame though. All I can say it’s that it was a pain trying to get 8+ characters aiming at a single target.

Fortunately, like all D&D games, combat is turned-based, despite looking like it’s real-time, and there’s always the spacebar (‘pause’ button) for you to do all your incredible planning before heading off head-on into the battle zone.

It's hard to take your enemy seriously, especially when he's burning up when you 2 are conversing.

Spells are somewhat decent. Playing on Normal, and sometimes Hard mode, throwing fireballs and hail stones of ice proved to be challenging since everyone had to get out of way first. But as the game proceeded, it mattered little when I ran through a blade barrier or whether I was in the center of a sunburst due to Improved Stoneskin and Energy Immunity buffs and the like.

The removal of the shapeshifting class piqued my curiosity. As a combat druid, I was looking forward to unleashing the powers of alteration of form. However, I was sorely disappointed that it was removed ever since after Hordes of the Underdark.

The only other variable option was that I were to play a Druid multi-ed with a Warpriest, which would’ve cut out several slots of precious Level 9 Druidic spells. This was out of the question despite the fact that latter option would’ve given me a Mass Heal per day, something that I had my cleric stock up on in late game.

Interactions

Another thing that got my attention would be the ‘influence’ system that spiced up interactions between the characters, making a simple barter result in a step closer to retain your other playable characters on your side or turn against you. In layman’s terms, your characters have, as a matter of fact, minds of their own.

This becomes very predominant during decision making as characters who do like you allow you to interfere with their storyline and more than likely are willing to combat the forces of evil with you till the very end. Thus, one must always be careful with your words, otherwise you’ll realize that the enemy has got an ally with meteor swarm on their side, not something that most desire.

The down side is that this system seems, in my opinion, obsolete when put next to Baldur’s Gate II. There’s only one lonely romance-able character while the others still listen to command regardless of whether they like you or not. Sadly, you don’t get paladins turning against evil rangers or warlocks in Neverwinter or hamster-stealing gnomes.

Homerun! Never underestimate Khlegar's damage the slightest.

Another thing that had me pulling my hair out was the law/chaos, good/evil system. As I often invested in Lawful and Good-y speeches. My attunement with the Celtic forces was often threatened. Being of Neutral Good alignment, it was difficult to escape modifications to the Lawful side since most of one’s actions would involve in fulfilling one’s duty towards protecting the Sword Coast and Neverwinter. Bah…

Graphics/Sound:

As mentioned above, the level of intensity of graphics constantly promoted me to upgrade my ram or free disk space. Most of the time when I played, which was till ungodly hours in the morning, it often ended with the program crashing or overloading my system.

The rendering of the surroundings are remarkable by my standards, though nothing like Crysis. However, due to my deteriorating system, I could only sustain a smooth gameplay at moderate to weak level of details, resulting in everything becomes blockish at times. Not to mention that intensive battles involving numerous hostile targets (e.g. battle on the CrossRoad Keep Wall and the invasion of the keep itself) kept my frame rate as slow as ever.

Tell me honestly, are you looking at the dead dragon or the gold?

Furthermore, loading times were painfully slow. And with a status bar that edged on as if it were a snail, I could only stare at the screen in dismay at the Neverwinter Eye while the environment took its time to generate.

What I didn’t like was also the character designs, and neither did my sister. None of the playable characters or enemies stood out in terms of design. Even the King of Shadows looked as if it were an over-sized shadow with funky horned armor stuck on it. I did, however, take interest the design model of the shadow reaver.

Sound-wise, it deserves an above average score. Spell incantations, blast effects, moaning of monsters, were all packaged nicely together. At least they took effort in providing that.

Storyline:

It got its share of twist and turns like [insert spoiler-ish content here] and [insert spoiler-ish content here]. Commencing in West Harbor, one of the towns next to the swamplands, the game begins, with the generic ‘homeland-being-attacked-and-hero-is-born’ kind of scenario. Starting off small, the hero eventually gains a ridiculous extent of reputation over a short amount of time, all while assisting Neverwinter and the other surrounding villages.

It is much later in the game where you finally learn who is behind the source of the problems. Exposure to the minions of the final boss occurs throughout the game was rather occasional. And there were little clues to the identity of the final boss till at the end.

The end sequence, well, for a lack of a better phrase, sucked. It’s like after you’ve killed the final boss that Atari Company tells you that your main character was buried in the ruins along with the evil dude and explains nothing else that occurred to the main character.

Not as big as some of the bosses in WoW, but it'll have to suffice.

Putting aside some of the main side-characters, the other playable characters seemed to pale in comparison to their character development. Little was revealed about the paladin’s or bard’s storylines, or perhaps I never really bothered to find out. Certain characters felt like as if they were there to fill up the role of another secondary tank or a buffer and didn’t stand out much compared to the rest.

Argh! Me eyes!

Besides the weak ending and some poor character developments we have to put up with, the overall storyline was fairly decent in my opinion. Now it’s time for me to save up for the expansion.

2008-01-13T10:42:00.000+08:00

Anime of the New Year

There's nothing better than the start of a new anime season. Numerous watching and reviewing of new anime, sitting through hours in front of the monitor staring at ridiculously slow and horrendeously animated shows while getting addicted to the new ones straight away. And, at the same time striking off the old monstrously dull animes from the list and narrowing everything down to the good ones.

But now as the new year has come, so begins another cycle of animes that deserve to be appreciated (or discarded). I thought this season of '08 winter animes would be dull and dry, but after the first episode, here's a few which I think have might potential.

Spice and Wolf

I watched the first episode and well, I was sorely impressed.

Honestly, it wasn't the fact that they depicted a naked nipple-less wolf-lass for...well, I dunno, 12 minutes straight. It was because there was something deep and complex about the anime despite the fact it was so simply illustrated.

Tasteful Nudity from the first chapter of the manga

I hadn't expected much from it at the start since I watched it out of curiousity and that it appealed to me the most. But it did inspire me to watch on and after a while, I thought, hey, this isn't so bad after all. The simple concept of a wolf-goddess wanting to return to her ancient homeland in the North kicked off well.

The only concern would be that it will degenerate into an exceptionally slow 3-way romance anime as from it's nature. After all, Chloe is an anime-original character, which gets fans pondering, 'Why do they have to add an extra female in when the manga/novel didn't?' (psst, it's for the dating-sim)

Fortunately the fact that the novel, that this anime originated from, is well-reputed, my fears might just be unfounded.

Shigofumi

Haven't watched it. But it looks interesting. That's all I have to say.

Minami-ke: Okawari

Now that the roles have been swapped, it should get interesting. Maybe I'll go pick up the first season soon. 13 episodes is...rather easy...to finish watching.

Animes which I am still watching now.

Probably a rare bunch this is, but anything that is exceptional, in the good aspect, and lasts longer than 12 episodes should deserve to be within this category. (Or used as a time waster...refer below)

Clannad

Little has to be said about this show. Well, in truth, few can actually compare to the stunningly picturesque animation quality featured consistently throughout the past 13 episodes.

This confession takes place before Tomoyo After, which apparently is the bad end in Ryou's and Nagisa's route. (kidding)

There's one thing I would like to point out though. Despite having reputed animation qualities and relatively humorous scenes, the aspect it lacks at this moment would be plot development so far.

Perhaps it can be blamed on the game or the fact that they managed to merge all the storylines together. But so far, 4 episodes of giving out wooden starfish and half an episode of plucking out grass from a lawn doesn't exactly appeal to most, especially those who consider patience as one of their virtues.

Shakugan no Shana II

Alright, episode 13 came back with a bang. Although there's a lack of subtitles at the moment, the action was decently satisfying. It kinda reminded most of what J.C. Staff is capable of and that the previous episodes were mostly wasted on a square (as in 4 way) romance relationship. Man, I can't believe I actually sat through an hour before realising that little would come out of it. But hey, episode 13 was worth the wait.

Shugo Chara

Chara-nari? Check. Pink-haired loli? Check.

I'd like a drawn serving of jumping whipped cream!

Amu must be the most scizophrenic anime character that ever existed, besting her rivals from Higurashi. I mean, there's a reason that no one has more than a single guardian character, which represents an alternative to their current personality trait.

She can't even make up her mind whether she wants to hop,step, jump, draw in the past, now or later, or whether to whether to use chip, syrup or whipped cream. Okay...that aside for a moment.

The thing that gets on my nerves is that the anime brutally mutilates the manga plot development, butchers the fanservice (swimsuit episodes, key entering lock, violin recitals) and stitches the whole lump into a disorganised mess while inserting their own anime-based content inside screaming of fillers and irrevelant content that rebutts earlier episodes.

The fact that I'm still on this anime is solely dependant on the manga, which actually has decent plot and character development. And much less because it serves as a coverup for the empty void left behind by Gurren Lagann in terms of motivational speeches and awesome-ness.

Animes that I'm looking forward to in '08

Suzumiya Haruhi Season 2

I would say that it's a sin not to watch this, but it's starting to get over-hyped to an extent that everyone would just say that it is awesome regardless of the acceptability of the content.

All I can say for the first season would be that it was above average, no more no less. If this anime's potion of success was based on the amount of moe in it, I would heartily agree (not to mention the amount of hentai it generated). However, in terms of content, it wasn't particulary exciting. (And messing up episodes can't possibly be termed as artistic. Maybe a JAM version (Lucky Star has it) of Hare Hare Yuki may fit that adjective.)

Nonetheless, it resides in my list of look-forward-to animes.

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Season 3

Okay, I'm speechless. The fact that they can come up with a continuation anime right after ending off the last season with the defeat of Takano really indicates how highly Studio Deen regards this anime as a successful one so they just make another sequel to generate more profit.

Maybe it's in relation to the above picture, but I'd rather believe that the PS2 game original content will be used. Hey, if Shana II did it, why not Higurashi 3?

P.S. Satako, in her teens, looks hot.

Jigoku Shoujo Season 3.

Refer to the first paragraph. Concidence that both are from Studio Deen, is, well, rather unsurprising.

Zero no Tsukaima Season 3.

Maybe 3 is a lucky number. And maybe some plot-development...pretty please?

Full Metal Panic Season 4?!

I'm giving away too much...

2008-01-01T16:45:00.000+08:00

Another game to the list...

Title: Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony
Platform: PSP
Character: Lvl 60 Blood Assassin
Game Started: 29/12/07, 9pm
Game Ended: 1/1/08, 4.45pm
Time spent: Almost 2.5 days straight worth of gameplay

Difficulty: None
Gameplay: Decent
Replay value: Low

Good Points:
-Loads of fun bashing monsters
-Ridiculously easy to level up
-Interesting items with neat attributes
-Flashy fight animations
-Very short, finishing it soon ended my addiction
-No penalties upon death besides restarting to entrance of map
-Only one money draining source (i.e. levelling up companions)
-No save points, save wherever you are! (Suitable for playing-on-the-go)

Bad Points:
-Too short, not enough gameplay value.
-No penalties upon death, negligence to own HP bar (for me).
-Technical glitches in gameplay (i.e. getting stuck in some areas, unable to hit certain monsters via melee)
-No challenge in character customisation
-Town portalling/reloading/respawning takes you to the start of the map
-Diablo on PSP, without the difficulty

Comments:
First game completed in 2008, Yay!
It got me hooked through New Year's Eve.
My eyes need a break.

2 more months to English version of FFVII: Crisis Core!

2007-12-30T20:25:00.000+08:00

Tribute to Anime of '07

I remember the defining qualities of that from Kyoto Animation, in
Kanon, where the supernatural blended in so surrealistically in an
anime of frost and hope, that matched up to Clannad's majestically
animated scenes.

Yet, spiritual and pyschic phenonemen were able to be explained so
scientifically and resolved in methods that were simply out of this
world by a teenage Ghost Hunter. Only an ability to see bacteria matched up with it in Mayoshimon.

All's revealed in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai as the plot entwined
with something much less supernatural, but more of an overcoming of
fate for Rika.

And within a realm between Earth and Hell, an imprisoned little girl
of hell, Jigoku Shoujo (Futakamori), who resided to fulfill the revenge of others was released upon death and replaced by another.

Pity the three thousand lady's not-so-well-to-do, protective and
incredibly over-powered butler. No doubt she has been watching too
much of herself in Hayate no Gotoku.

Of course, military aerial exo-skeletons that is able to be piloted by
solely teenage Sky Girls is adsurb, so do talking weapons of the
oversized cast of Nanoha StrikerS fit the category.

None as weird as morphing based off an educational programme that
teaches people how to speak English. High on skin, little on plot,
Moetan was. It certainly didn't make out-of-the-way English words cool like what Dragonaut did.

Fortunately, Shugo Chara was more than a rival. Modifying one's
character to battle the weak-willed mirrored a more mature plot that
even Cartoon Network's Powerpuff Girls spinoff nor did the ridiculously draggy Nanatsurio Drops couldn't pull off.

Nonetheless, the slice-of-life genre was redefined by Lucky Star. Who
knew that MMORPGs and gulges were making that much of an impact on a little blue-haired girl. A younger blonde one, however, was trapped in a matrix of twisted fantasies with her teacher in Kodomo no Jikan.

Sadly, pink wasn't in favour with the storyline as all the hermone-
raging Zero's familiar was concerned about was all chests though low
on storyline progression. Hopefully, the sequel of Shakugan no Shana
doesn't fall further into being too much of a romance genre.

Strangely enough, Guushujin sama Ninomiya-kun and Nagaserete Airutou proved that harem animes are still appreciated regardless of animation quality. Though much less than Seto no Hanayome, which had went on the offensive by attacking the audience's sides with hilarious mermaid schoolgirl action.

Speaking of action, none could forget the remarkable mind-dominating
mecha battles and political clashes of Code Geass, no Gundam 00 is a
disappointment in my opinion. And this year's sleeper hit, Tengen
Toppa Gurren Lagann, that raged of sprial energies and epic wars that
drilled through universes.

Hope I didn't miss out anything...

Hatsune Miku

2007-11-04T14:27:00.000+08:00

I shall now proclaim my utmost awe towards Hatsune Miku.

Levan Polkka (this one's crazy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bY5CxyH3_c

Full Metal Jacket: Running Cadence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqJ7eKFZPC0

素敵だね
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD54u9qfozM

Invoke (Gundam'n' Seed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjnRrROxGuw

Miku Note (omg?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3UmvW_6wOk&eurl=http://www.moetron.com/

たぴ・ぱん (Keep your volume down for this one, your laughter volume)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHdohg43H60

Yeah...I'm back from all the shit.
Now time for more insanity.

Priceless weight

2007-09-29T18:56:00.000+08:00

Bipod, 66kg
Barrel, 82kg
Carriage, 162.5kg
Knowing that there's still another 2 weeks worth of mortar drills, priceless...

...there are some courses that are more xiong than the rest, for everything else, there's the SAF.

Consistency of Events

2007-08-19T00:00:00.000+08:00

Facing up to Reality

Due to the extreme lack of consistency of posts, my motivation to blog has diminished tremendously as well as an inevitable drop in my language, since this is the only aspect of my life where I choose to sustain it.

Hence, pardon me should a fragment sentence or 2 were to pop up within the limits of this entry.

Speaking of which, it's a wonder how one's manner of speech alters so rapidly while serving National Service, and yet the modification remains unconscious to the speaker himself.

Let's take two classic examples, cursing in general and the brutal massacre of the English language.

Regardless of how much you want to get rid of it, these lingering portions gradually get integrated in one's everyday speech. I have noticed myself and some of my bunk mates swearing quite a lot in the confines of our camp. Not to mention, my standard of English has deproved rather significantly. Typing a blog post like this requires much of my time for I spend most of it attempting to phrase sentences properly.

This is something which is the result of constant exposure to numerous accounts of violation of the language utilised by most instructors in our vicinity.

Nonetheless, this vicious process perpetuates throughout us individuals and the fault lies with everyone who decides to employ this to their hearts' desire. In fact, no one really seems to bother about it, and as a result, it actually becomes rather natural instead of being a taboo phenomenon.

Another aspect that I've observed would be the growing weariness in most individuals as the course proceeds.

More often than not, most will eventually slump into a state of slack after a period of time within the course itself, especially when most of the important events are complete and usually occurs slightly past the mid-point of the course. This occurrence is more so when all of the requirements of passing the course are met (ie. IPPT, SOC).

Unfortunately, this affliction is highly contagious and it's effects are not subdued till the next course attended. Like a plague, it spreads faster than any airborne disease and contamines the mind and fills it with displeasure towards NS as a whole.

This would be the most likely contributor of the increment of OOCs in a company and the number of MO visits. Inexplicitably, this is also a constituent of the notion of 'wanting to study'. I wonder whether our upcoming road march through NTU avenue was planned to reinforce that mindset.

*sigh* As they say, 'loyalty to country' drives one to serve. However, I gradually beginning to doubt that it provides a sufficiently strong a purpose to last most through the entire service term.

2007-07-29T09:27:00.000+08:00

Exercise NightOwl
Time: 1850 - 1945
Location: Restricted

Shifting about uncomfortably in my half-squat half-kneel position, I edged closer to the tree to get a more vivid view of the road through the vines. The smell of lush wet vegetation hit my nose as I squirmed to attain a more appropriate position for the look-out point, taking extra caution not to interfere with an ant's nest again regardless of the darkness.

Nonetheless, comfort wasn't the main priority. Our uniforms, soaking wet from the heavy downpour the afternoon before, stuck close to our drenched selves like some awkward adhesive material. Hence, the soil and the buzzing of flies were the least of our concerns.

The preparations were more or less complete, all that was left was the long wait till someone...or perhaps, something arrived.

As my leg muscles weakened over the long periods of squatting, I gave up my current posture and sat on the mossy soft soil, signalling to my partner ever so often to update me with the time. Yet, at the same time, I was cruelly reminded of the fate of my fairly expensive watch that I lost the day before.

1943hrs.

... ...
...
.

Then, it began. Light penetrated the evening mist and pierced through the darkness of the night. Gunshots erupted all around us like thunder in the distance, only that it filled the air with thick pungent plumes of smoke. About time for our turn, I whispered to myself under my breath.

Pushing myself up with my left hand, I risked exposing my cover to sight whatever strolled past the path.

It took a good 3 minutes before the bright light of a torch came into view. Not long after, the 'hostile force' burst into my range of sight.

A wave of excitment overcame me as I spun around, proning low at the same instance to evade detection and gave my partner the thumb's down sign.

Resuming my previous stance, I aimed my rifle straight ahead and risked a glance to the right to see how the rest of the section was faring. With the trigger of the comms line, everyone had resorted to their ready positions.

As soon as the trip flare illuminated our killing zone, my right index finger squeezed off the plastic trigger.

Clean Fatigue

2007-07-21T01:25:00.001+08:00

Pardon me as I struggle to sustain consciousness while I woffle my way through another blog entry that has long been over-due. Despite the abundance of time allocated for sleeping, in the air-conditioned main auditorium I must add, my body still crumbles to exhaustion beyond the usual lights out timing of 2230hrs.

Friday book-outs are a rarity, disregarding how grammatically incorrect as it may sound, considering that my company is an immensely welfare-orientated one. Apparently, the 'water still tastes sweet even at the 4km halfway mark', I say.

Nevertheless, this beats the past 2 days of stoning at...well...the stony terrain in our allocated field camp site. Not only did it make proning arduous, it was sleeper-unfriendly to an ironically uneven extent.

Time, of course, passes much slower than expected during trainings, plus almost at snail's pace during field camp. With minutes inching by with every time I awoke from the jagged ground, even with a base layer of those numerous ziploc bags which I called my 'mattress' for the pass few days, getting a good night's rest outfield was grew tedious.

Waking up in the middle of the night provided the only option to inspect my surroundings, re-organise my field pack or to adjust to whatever position that offered the maximum comfort though barely possible.

Oh, how I treasure what momentary conversion to cilivian life during my short-spanned bookouts. And viewing the expressway at the training ground offered the not-so-mere satisfaction of being a 'boosted lifeform'.

As of now, allow me to return to my proper bed before I doze off in front of the monitor...

Military Restrictions

2007-07-08T15:39:00.000+08:00

Restrictions

Due to restrictions in the disclosure of military related material, I'll have to remove all of my BMT posts as well as cease any entries concerning NS for at least till it's my ORD date.

...that means that I have absolutely nothing of real interest to write about.

crap.

Anyway, I'll still find some unique stuff to blog about, which apparently is really little considering how NS takes up 5-6 days of my week.

Here's a general update of whatever's happened in SISPEC for the past 2 weeks though:

Being enlisted into Echo Coy, life has been relatively calm. And in terms of 'calm', I refer to a massive culture shock from the incredibly rushed pace in BMT. There's a whole load of admin time on certain days as well, making the past few weeks kinda enjoyable by most standards.

The military information learnt is fascinating, allowing the usually- exhausted me to stay awake for majority of the lectures. Nonetheless, I've still retained the ability to fall asleep even while standing up, clearly demonstrated during the SAF day parade.

Booking out on Saturday (as the last company) for 2 weeks straight is getting on most people's nerves. With barely enough time to spend at home, it's getting increasingly tedious to organise my free time, like going out to the gym, playing MMORPGs and keeping up with the anime scene.

Another thing that concerns me would be my IPPT. With only less than 4 days remaining, my standing broad jump standards have yet to improve despite weeks of training. Plus, with my week-long aching legs, the effort channelled in isn't all 100% until recovery. Nevertheless, I'm hoping to get at least a sliver on Thursday.

As for Anime watching, the current season kicks in fast with most of the new shows commencing this week:

I apologise in advance for the lack of pictures. Perhaps I'll be uploading them when I have more time.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

Negligible levels of action this week. In fact, it was 20 minutes of pure conversation set 20 plus years after the last chapter broadcast for the first season of the anime.

In terms of character design, we can finally see that the budget's now being shifted to Higurashi rather than Jigoku Shoujo since it's already over. The quality is of higher quality now, though nowhere close to Kanon's or CLANNAD's standard.

The new OP is kinda slow and less creepy in comparison to the first one. But taking it as a season that's supposed to conclude the plot, I think it's pretty good. And if the new OP should be reversed, the tune sounds exactly the same as the previous OP. *Gasp*

P.S. 7/7/07 is not only green day, but Rena day as well! But for us NS men, everyday happens to be green day.

Sky Girls

The new upbeat opening song appeals to me more than the song sung in the OAV version. Besides that, suited up teenage girls piloting mechs seem to be very trendy nowadays.

J.C. Staff has made a good impression so far with shows like Ghost Hunter and Hayate no Gotoku. Let's see whether they can keep this one up.

School Days

Definitely much more animation in comparison to the regular visual novel version. As much as this anime deserves a bloody ending, (and no, I meant it literally) I wonder how it's going to be pulled off (no pun intended either). Higurashi-level gore, perhaps?

Of course, the leading anime that is being aired, by my records, so far would be Gurren Lagann. Managing to surpass every previous episode so far in terms of action, nothing beats the incredible awesome-ness of this intensively fast paced anime.

Okay, time to get whatever I need done, as well as my self-training for this week after missing today's gym session.

Lazy...

2007-06-24T22:00:00.000+08:00

Post-BMTC Week

Considering that I have less than an hour before my lights out period (yes, I still follow the NS timing), I'll just make this post as short as possible unlike my usual rantings that can stretch for at least a few scroll downs of the mouse.

This week has been an incredibly lazy one for me. Not only did I skip an intended gym session on Wednesday, I've also been glued to the computer screen and chionging Maple for the entire day. [At least my str dit finally hit level 60.]

Besides that, fortunately, night cycling and staying over at Roy's house for our section gathering assisted me in negating the harmful effects upon long hours of exposure to the computer monitor, as well as the laziness that gnaws at my mind and glues me to my chair.

Side Note: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer sucks bad. I fell asleep within the first 5 minutes of screening.

Just for those who don't know yet: I've been posted to SISPEC, which didn't surprise me much since I just passed my IPPT and have maintained a relatively low profile within my platoon, not more at company level.

Well, there is a chance to be transferred to OCS though, and skip the first 3 months of shit in the process. Here's hoping that that actually happens.
It's a wonder how abruptly the innate fatigue kicks in from 2200hrs onwards, regardless of the activity in the day. *Yawn*

Zzz...Even Caro has problem keeping awake with the ridiculously slow fansubs of Nanoha StrikerS. I, however, have resorted to watch Gurren Lagann instead, which is distinctively much superior in most aspects.

Anyway, see you guys at SISPEC! I definitely require more rest for tomorrow, despite snoozing for the entire afternoon.

Anime Progress

2007-06-24T15:00:00.000+08:00

Anime Progress

I got bored and constructed a list of animes that I've watched, and am planning to watch, so far. This will keep me updated of my 'progress' as of yet in a relatively chronological order.

Animes watched

Unknown Years
DragonBall
Akazukin Cha Cha (l)
Card Captor Sakura Seasons 1,2 (l)
Pokemon (l)
DragonBall Z (l)
Fushiigi Yuugi
Vandread Stage 1,2
Yu-gi-Oh! (l)
Inuyasha (l)

2004
Gundam Seed (l)
Full Metal Panic
Full Metal Alchemist

2005
Gundam Seed Destiny (l)
Mai Hime
Shuffle!

2006
Full Metal Panic: The 2nd Raid
The Melanchony of Suzumiya Haruhi
Shakugan no Shana
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Zero no Tsukaima
Kamisama Kazoku (l)
Full Metal Alchemist: Conquerer of Shambala
Inukami! (l)
Happiness! (l)
Mai Otome (l)
Powerpuff Girls Z! (l)
Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu!
Code Geass (l)
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru

2007
Kanon ('06)
Jigoku Shoujo
Shuffle Memories (last ep only)
Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori (l)
Ghost Hunter

Ongoing
Nanoha StrikerS
Nagasarete Airantou
Gurren Lagann
Hayate no Gotoku!
Bleach (l)

Interested to Watch
Air
Rozen Maiden
Fate/Stay Night
Lucky Star
Romeo x Juliet
Previous Nanoha Seasons

Awaiting
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Zero no Tsukaima ~Futatsuki no Kishi~
Sky Girls
Code Geass Ep23-24
Shakugan no Shana 2

(l): refers to the fact that I've missed out some episodes here and there, probably due to extreme boredom, repeated animations, overly cliched plotlines or just missed that broadcast, but I'm aware of how the overall series progresses and concludes.

Those highlighted in silver are the better few ones, in my opinion, fulfilling one of the categories of having:
-epic plotlines
-incredible animation quality
-ridiculously immense humour infused
-memorable action sequences

Season of Seconds

2007-06-09T13:56:00.000+08:00

Season of Seconds
...and finally some pictures

As the POP date draws closer, so does the new anime summer season. With 22 new premeries on the list, only 4 have caught my attention, most of which are continuing episodes from a previous season (or a semi-completed anime).

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Genre: Pyscho-horror, Mystery, Occasional Gore/Violence
Relative Interest: Sky High!

Anyone who knows me or has been reading/browsing through this blog on a regular basis would be well aware that this is one of the few animes that I've been waiting for.

So what if the first season seemed overly rushed and left the plotline hanging in mid-air? So what if the animation quality plummeted to ridiciously horrendeous standards complete with overly distorted emo facial contortions?

Higurashi no Naku Ni offers one of the better written storylines, of a pyscho-horror genre, that I've come across. (Ghost Hunter ranks close by the way.)

This concluding season covers the last 2 arcs, with an additional 3rd original story arc to unravel whatever mysteries or answer any questions as so brutally left dangling upon the end of the last season.

Furthermore, anyone who has watched the Jigoku Shoujo series would be know that Studio Deen can, without a doubt, deliver in animation quality.

Not forgetting, Yui Horie as Hanyuu boosts the moe factor to inhumane standards. Au, au, au~

Code Geass: Rebellion of Lelouch (Ep23 and 24)
Genre: Mecha, Action
Relative Interest: High

An epic Sunrise production. The perfect combination of ever-durable mecha, overpowered bestowed abilities, plot twists and...ecchi on the side. If you've not seen this, it's never to late to start now.

Episode 23 picks up from Euphie's death after her slaughtering of thousands (maybe more) of Japanese after supposedly being dominated mentally by Lelouch. With the appearance of a new Geass user and Suzaku uncovering Zero's identity, things may get worse from here on.

Zero no Tsukaima ~Futatsuki no Kishi~
Genre: Medieval Action, Magic
Relative Interest: Moderate

Flat chested, pink haired loli now equipped with world-wrecking Void magic plus a swordman, armed with a talking magic-adsorbing Divine Rapier, as a familiar.

My sister absolutely adores this anime. I just find it okay. Considering that J.C. Staff is the production company, it'll definitely be worth watching.

Sky Girls
Genre: Action, Mecha girls
Relative Interest: Moderate

The only anime that isn't a continuing season that I'm planning to watch. Initially released as an OAV erm...a really long time ago, all I'm guessing would be that it mainly revolves around lolis in plug suits...cliche.

I just hope it's much more promising than Nagasarete Airantou, which has nothing but Ikuto losing more blood through his nose than all of the girls in heat combined on the island.

That's about it I guess. To be honest, I'm expecting way more than this upcoming season than others, considering that most of the animes I'm about to watch are continuing seasons.

Speaking of which, Impz constructed a well-written article on selecting animes to watch. This should resolve most mishaps in following the 'not-so-good' ones.

P.S. Drawing primitive patterns on cloth with a stick of charcoal sure is a tedious task.

What the?!!

2007-04-30T12:44:00.000+08:00

What on earth is this trying to convey here?!

From: http://www.arch.nus.edu.sg/apt2007/index.htm

"Admission Interview 2nd May 2007

Kindly be informed that no applicants are required to attend the interview on 2nd May 2007, following the aptitude test held on 29th April 2007. Thank you."

Bye Bye

2007-04-11T22:55:00.000+08:00

Bye People...

I'll be back 2 weeks later.

Edit:
Spoiler: Ai (Jigoku Shoujo) died on the last episode of the 2nd season.

Less than a Day reminding...

2007-04-11T15:16:00.000+08:00

Less than a day reminding and...

...the horror...there's nothing much to do left.

Gabriel: 'I'd rather rot than to have something to do.'
Sadly, I don't agree...

I stopped working since last Thursday (since Friday is a public holiday) as well as gym and swimming since I didn't want to strain myself out too much before BMT.

MapleStory is dead. MapleStory forums are dead. And the game client update and maintence timing has extended past it's intended deadline.

Youtube went overboard with their anime deletion and the staff have been clearing off 1st/2nd episodes of nearly all the new series for this season, even their raws (eg. Hayate the Combat Butler, Nagasarete Airantou, Mahou Shoujo Nanoha StrikerS, Lucky Star etc). Not to mention some other 'older' series as well (eg. Kanon and Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori) which are in the stage of 'going, going...gone'.

I completed the entire translated (so far) Nagasarete Airantou within a day (which proves my intense boredom), so there isn't anything to read now, except a book that I reserved to read in camp to past the first 2 weeks.

There's absolutely no one to converse with on MSN messanger as most of my friends are either:
- Working
- Serving NS
- Went into BMT a few days ago
- Sleeping (?)
- Helping out with the Mural painting
- Doing something else that doesn't require internet access

I've packed nearly everything for BMT tomorrow (with the exception of tolietteries). Oh well...time to double check.

Boredom drains the very essence of inspiration out from me, justified by this un-entertaining post. If I happen not to update later, I guess this is 'goodbye' for now.

Fried

2007-04-09T22:50:00.000+08:00

3 Days left...

..and I've spent all of today by frying my brain by listening to a repeated loop of the opening theme song of Kyoto Animation's latest anime, Lucky Stars, all while reading a sorta mindless fanservice-y translated manga termed Nagasarete Airantou, which is also another new anime this season.

Hmm...where should I start?

Lucky Stars OP:
Motteke! Serafuku

From the creators of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu and Kanon, KyoAni (short form for Kyoto Animations) proudly presents their most daring moe/loli-orientated, 2-dimensional (if you've watched those mentioned shows, you'll know why) and probably the most mindless show ever produced based on a 4-koma. We present to you...Lucky Stars.

(I originally had a lot written here but the embedding of the video cut everything till the last line out. But nevermind, I'll try my best to remember.)

This anime is whacked, this opening is whacked. And by 'whacked', I refer to any adjective that is capable of fulfilling the citera of being a level above insane or crazy.

Of course, it's up to individual opinion on whether they appreciate this. But after looping it consecutively from 11am to 4pm, I'd say it's pretty darn addictive. Here's what others have to say...

David: "WTF is this?!"
My cousin: "I prefer Negima over this."

Let's see...Ichigo Mashimaro is loli-bait while Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu's Hare Hare Yukai dance regins as the most favoured talent showcase amongst most otakus. Combine both of them together and you'll get this opening. And yes, half of my brain is fried, while the other half is overwhelmed by...

Nagasarete Airantou:
Blue Orchid Island or Islandoh-Island

The 2nd translation is the Engrish version of the title, which makes perfectly no sense, just like this manga recently turned anime.

Warning: This manga/anime is highly ecchi-related in most aspects. If you can't take mature themes like girls wanting to take baths with the only guy all the time or mass raping, I suggest you ~~let us force it down your throat~~ better sit this one out.

And significant plotline or story, this comic revolves mainly around...well...girls 'assulting' the only shipwrecked boy on the island. Okay, I'm kidding, actually there is but I've not reached that part yet...but everything else is what I've typed above.

It's like...Love Hina meets Vandread meets most other date stimulators turned anime. Main male lead is 'stranded' in an area full of females whom are all desperate to bed him. Ouch...as cliche as it seems, most are still determined to watch/read it, including me.

The artwork is relatively decent. But so far, it has been an overuse of chibi forms (especially the animals) and warped facial expressions, which ties in with the humor element, but also proves that the artists are slightly lazy on that part.

Here's one page that practically summarises everything this manga has said so far. (I made it really small since it's not safe for work, NSFW)

Main Mysteries of the Series (or maybe not so):

- The main male character, Ikuto, has never been seen nude by any of the girls (except Chikage).

- Ikuto has lost more blood (through nosebleeds) than any mortal body's capacity, yet he still stands.

- Yuri (Lesbian) element present (which appalled me when I first read it, but upon further thought, it's an island full of (only) girls).

- Suzu's (prevailing female lead) hair is white in the manga (which usually turns blonde when converted to anime), yet the anime, her hair is brown.

- Despite fantasing about all the girls (nosebleeds), Ikuto still remains very sexually stagnant for a 14 year old.

- How do the islanders reproduce? (This is anime afterall.)

- There are male animals on the island? (Okay, tying in with the previous point, I really don't want to think about it.)

- Why are the animals so warped? Genetic Deterioration? (Last chance, no more linking with the last 2 points!)

- Suzu takes a very long time to realise her feelings towards Ikuto (like I said, this is anime).

- The only 2 girls who are concerned about being seen in the nude by Ikuto are Rin and Mei-Mei. As for the rest, we'll just enjoy.

- Ayane (the youngest shrine maiden) is invulnerable to any physical damage (again, anime).

Imagine me listening to Lucky Stars OP for over 40-50 times. Then juxtapose that image with me staring at the computer monitor for practically the whole day reading Nagasarete Airantou.

Yep, that's what I've basically been doing for the whole day. This is surely the way to enjoy life before National Service.

The 'A' level results

2007-03-12T00:49:00.000+08:00

The 'A' level Results

It's hard to write an article about how I scored for the 'A' levels without being overly arrogant and snobbish or offending those who did not do as well (but I guess I already have). One thing's for sure, if you happened to walk up to the stage 2 fridays ago, then I guess there isn't much need to share (almost wanted to write 'flaunt') your experience before.

Don't worry, those who did walk up on stage should've already gotten their results spread to the furthest regions of the Earth regardless or not they intended for it.

I'll just say that I love my results. Full stop. Oh, but I'm dedicating a post to all my teachers, which is to be posted in a few days time.

TJ Han's entry on Education: http://www.riuva.com/?p=570

Above is a golden article written by a RJ anime blogger. It's worth the read, if you're not particularly concerned about the mention of malehood popping up every so often.

Quote: 'I see the importance of risk taking but make that calculated risk-taking, not gung-ho hope-for-the-best charges.'

This quote is awesome, justifies what I was talking about a few posts back.

Well, unlike relief teachers who get to bask in the regular school time table or so-called 'professions' like freelancers, I require sufficient rest to work later. That, of course, is inclusive of swimming after that.

Off Topic: Seems that youtube has gotten (very) busy deleting a lot of Anime from their site. Famous animes that have withstood the initial deletion round are disappearing. Almost all of the '06 Kanon episodes have vanished. Time to move on to another video hosting site.

Last Week - 1

2007-03-11T23:25:00.000+08:00

Last week sure was as fun as it lasted.
No seriously...

Sadly, Cheese-kuns, Pizza Hut and Code Geass don't have anything to do with this post.

After a bumpy start for being sick for 2 consecutive days, I abruptly realised that I was pushing myself way too much over the past 3 months...

Hah, of course not. Did you really think I would mean that?

The cold sure did obstruct me for at least 2 training sessions, but I promptly returned to gym right after that on Friday. At least Alvin was understanding enough to follow suit, after abandoning me for a month or so.

I wonder whether the teachers organised the mural drawing event in such a fashion that it doesn't conflict with my gym sessions. I sincerely appreciate it. Honest. In fact, I think I'll be there really early, about 7-8am. Any kind soul willing to accompany me? I presume not though...

The weekend was a bit fast paced. NUS exploration plus Miss Lye's BBQ were 2 events held right after one another, threatening to interfere with each other had I not chosen to bypass the Science Faculty talk.

Somehow, I didn't sense that I lost out on much since the Law and Design & Environment faculty talks weren't very much convincing to boost my significantly high interest in either. In fact, I felt both would've driven the least enthusatic of listeners to doze off. KongMin was one such individual.

N'US (And NUS) sure is huge. Walking to the Design and Environment sector from the Sports and Recreation portion of the campus alone made me break out in pespiration. However, the area was completely desolated, something which I did not expect, even on a Saturday.

Getting into Miss Lye's condo was more of a breeze than standing next to the barbecque pit. Even with the security guard on sentry duty, both Zijia and I managed to slip in the back gate behind a resident and parkour over a railing unnoticed.

The 3-roomed apartment had a great frontal view of the cityscape. Pity that the recent construction of more high-rised structures would obstruct the magnificent sight of urban developments almost completely.

Barbecques have always involved me overdosing on protein via chicken wings, satay and weiners/franks or more commonly known as sausages. This one was no different, no less. The lack of carbohydrates led me to devour rounds of salad, to not much of an effect. Fortunately, cake and tea in Miss Lye's apartment dissipated the nasueating after-effects of the so-called meal...more like a protein binge rather.

300, on the other hand, was capable of bringing those effects back to anyone who crumbles mentally at the sight of gore, blood splatter and structures constructed entirely out of human bodies. Oh, but I didn't categorise myself as one such individual.

The tree of human bodies was truly a sight to behold, especially with the lumincent flicker of flames and the glaring setting evening sun as a backdrop. If only I managed to obtain a screenshot of that, it'll surely be my next wallpaper instead of another anime girl from a random H-game.

Honestly, besides hacking and slashing and flying limbs and heads and motifs of the theme of betrayal, honour and glory, I ~~truly want to stop typing another 'and'~~ have to say, it wasn't much.

Apparently, I went in thinking that it was PG since the ticketing usher did not require either me or Kongmin to reveal our ICs. Nonetheless, the ~~implied~~ sex scene caught me off guard. Definitely M-18 quality, not counting the gore. Hmmm, that makes it the first for me.

Overall, the movie wouldn't classify as the sort one would bring his girlfriend (nope, don't have one) to watch from the overly morbid scenes and machoist themes. War, sex and violence definitely appeals more to males. Oh, and don't enlarge that picture if you don't want your eyes to be fried. (It's a Kanon motivator. Ouch.)

That's as much wraps up the week's activities. Hopefully, MapleSEA doesn't experience another server crash and rollback after today. I'm fortunate enough not to get caught in any so far.

music calms

2007-03-01T23:48:00.000+08:00

Music Calms the Anxiety

Just to soothe my nerves (though barely) before the release of the 'A' level results tomorrow. Here's some advice as to what songs you should, and shouldn't, listen before the actual distribution of the results. All of the songs are anime, but I'm sure you should get the idea.

[My initial idea was to categorise the songs, but I think that this layout should be sufficient for viewers to understand.]

Recommended Soundtracks (in no order of importance or whatsoever):

1) God Knows - Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu

2) Pray - Shuffle! Memories (Nerine's OP)

3) Fields of Hope - Gundam Seed Destiny

4) Longing - FFVII Dirge of Cerberus

5) Believe - Gundam Seed

6) Believe ~Eien no Kizuna~ - Mai Otome Zwei

7) Last Regrets - Kanon

8) Beautiful Day - Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru

Highly not recommended soundtracks:

1) Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When the cicadas cry)

2) Nightmare - Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori

3) World of Bewailing - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

[Who am I kidding? I absolutely love these 3 songs.]

Soundtracks that should never be played at any time (seriously)

1) What's up People - Death Note
If you manage to understand what this song is about, then I think you need help...pyschological help. I seriously can't recognise which part of the song the OP managed to take out.

2) Kaidoku Funou - Code Geass
Watch the PV of the full song on youtube instead of the OP scenes. Then you'll get the point.

...unless you want to be hearing impaired by tomorrow.

That's about it for this ridiculously short post. I have nothing more to say then to wish everyone good luck for tomorrow's release of THE 'A' level results.

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori

2007-02-26T00:03:00.000+08:00

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori
Serious Issues with a beefed up Humour Element

[Note: Screenshots taken from youtube and I didn't bother hyperlinking them to open a new window.]

I've not exactly completed watching the 2nd season yet, but 5 episodes into the series had me aching in my sides, figuratively and literally. (Perhaps that was an overstatement.)

The new season commenced on a high note, continuing Ai's backstory and how she was 'enlisted' by the 3-eye spider to perform acts of vengence for others' after the completion of her's.

Remember Folks:
Emo-rampage = Fanservice for me

Oh yes, animation quality has improved, easing one's viewing experience of the anime. I'll rank it somewhere between Death Note and Shakugan no Shana. Take note that Kanon (or anything produced by KyoAni since '05) is no where in their range. *Cough*Too Godly*cough*

However, it returns to the episodic genre shortly after. Not much of a disappointment for me since I enjoy seeing how layers of each story are gradually peeled off and exposed and finally with Ai as the iron fist of Justice that squashes the guilty to atone for their inhumane crimes. *Ahem* (I hope that analogy wasn't too colourful to digest.)

This time, the storyline is perceived mainly from Ai's associates rather than the victim's (the person who initiated the vengence) or that silly freelance journalist who doesn't know who he'll get himself into (until the end of the 1st season).

The change of perspective seems to have drained it of the 'horror' element (if there ever was) since the viewers are now familiar with them, making the show predictable at times.

Look, I can put my whole hand in!

(and no, this image wasn't to symbolise the overall depth of this entry, be it on sarcastic terms or not.)

Despite the seriousness of the issues portrayed within each episode, the methods, which Ai's associates employed to incapitate the victim pyschologically and physically before she, herself, showed up, were somewhat ridiculously humorous to an extent as much as the length of this horrendeously long sentence. (Phew!)

Check out the Lady of Vengence's new 'blink blink' ride.

The only surviving motif of 'freakiness' manifests itself as a little girl, Kikuri, who possesses the same innate ability as Ai: materialising in both Hell and the mortal plane. She's the only one that dares to offend Ai so far. Then again, I don't think I can take her seriously her seeing how she juiced the plant.

(I wonder whether the act of her filling the goblet in the church with juice, which was shortly after this scene, was meant to symbolise something important.)

Whenever a guilty one gets sent to his inevitable doom, I found myself saying 'Owned!' or 'Pwnz0r-ed!'. Some of them deserved it more or less, but there are other ways to deal with such imbeciles in the world of the living.

Owned! (That makes twice in a single episode)

Music-wise (OP and ED), I really enjoy listening to the songs and found myself sitting through each entire episode to listen to both. The opening (Nightmare by SNoW) kick-starts the show really well with it's upbeat and catchy rhythm.

Special mention would be the ending song (Aizome by Savage Genius). The vocals itself set it a level apart from most other anime songs that I've heard so far. Two words: 'Simply Beautiful'. Careful though, it'll grip your soul.

I hope this entry hasn't incurred the wrath of any diehard Jigoku Shoujo fans. But honestly, I find this anime more hilarious than dark or horrifying. If I wanted anything dark or horrifying, I'll go for Ghost Hunt, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or Elfen Lied.

Notice: 'A' Level results to be released this coming Friday! Do I sense fear?

2007-02-24T01:59:00.000+08:00

Anime Speed-watching:
Jigoku Shoujo, the Vengence Deliverer

Episodes: 26 (Approximately 25 minutes each)
Started: 18/2/07, around 11pm
Completion: 24/2/07, 1.57am

I didn't sacrifice much time (perhaps just a bit of sleep) to complete this series. In fact, despite belonging to an episodic genre, mainly associated to American shows like CSI, Ghost Whisperer, Law and Order etc., most of the episodes were intriguing enough to keep me awake throughout the series.

It didn't look like there was any plotline before episode 8 since they were going through random cases each episode. Honestly, I didn't feel that there was much of Ai's story till the last 3 episodes. The rest of the episodes before that merely dropped hints of the purpose of Ai's existence, but never the reason nor her origins.

The freelance journalist (Shibata Hajime) felt more of a bother than a help at certain scenarios. The mafia mayor and the crazy aunt on the island episodes were clear examples.

His ideals are very much respectable, but as the season progressed, much of his ample tolerance towards the victims and Ai wore thin. It wasn't until the vengence against the innocent nurse when his daughter began to comprehend his mindset.

She probably thought, OMG, Ai's sending innocent people to the unholy abyss and now she's screwing mah mind (in the last episode).

The last few episodes had Ai going ~~bat-shit loco kray-zee and ridiculously emo~~ emotional and destructive. But somehow, it felt more like fanservice to me. I mean, seeing a character seemingly impervious to emotional traumas becoming disraught and bursting into a mad rampage and twisting the rules of her own game kinda appeases me.

Why were you looking at that previous sentence like that? Different individuals have different tastes, don't they?

Although certain animation scenes and dialogue were highly repetitive and constantly recycled, the blatant revelation of human nature coupled with morbid tortures before confession were more than sufficient to keep me engrossed.

Horror value wasn't played upon much (in my opinion) and diminished towards the end of the season. Considering that I watched most of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni at night or in the wee hours of the morning, Ai's manifestation in dark rooms and on reflective surfaces felt...~~almost laughable~~ predictable.

The last time I ever sped-watched an Anime series would be Shakugan no Shana, which was pretty good in my opinion...right down to the seemingly random fanservice. of the numerous panty shots *cough*last episode*cough* and partial nudity.
That was until they 'concluded' it with a cliff hanger when Shana 'overloaded' so to speak.

Come to think of it, I've only sped-watched 3 anime series (inclusive of Jigoku Shoujo). Fuushigi Yugi was the first, with a record of 3 days for the entire series of 100+ episodes (I think).

The 3-4 episodes a day schedule for Jigoku Shoujo was manageable. But when I'm nearing the end of the series, I'll usually rush through the rest of the episodes.

Next up: Morality for Jigoku Shoujo and probably a review of EFZ.

Anti-V day

2007-02-17T00:12:00.000+08:00

CNY Eve

My original intention for this entry was to review the online games (which I play) that have exclusive Valentine's Day events. But unfortunately, I'm too lazy to take screenshots, so I shall just abandon that notion altogether and deem it as a procrastination.

[Edit: V Day on Happiness and Cyanide]
Morbid stuff usually gets me laughing.

This is probably the closest anti-Valentine's Day anime-related picture that I managed to source out from Animesuki forums.

[Copyright to respective artist and editor]

By the way, the words on the heart box translate to 'please die'. Cleverly editted too.

Here's how anime otakus celebrate:

Average Asian Anime Blog

Kurogane's Blog
(this one's very disturbing and obviously highly NSFW, so don't click on this if someone is behind you or have a medical history of heart problems)

I warned you.

Anyway, it's Chinese New Year eve already.

[Image copyrighted to respective artist]

(Reina and Kaede looks so alike. A cleaver at the back would be sufficient to distinguish them from each other. )

Probably about 12 minutes into the day that marks the pre-commencement of the new year as stated on the Chinese lunar calendar.

Besides getting a week long break, I realised that I have absolutely nothing to say. Damn.

Probably the entry is just an indication that I'm still alive ~~and have yet to slip into insanity~~.

Wait, doesn't this mean that the dragon batch will be obtaining their 'A' level results really soon. *Hyperventilates*

V. Day '07

2007-02-14T23:22:00.000+08:00

~~V. Day '07~~
Singles Awareness Day (SAD)

Today we celebrate V! Oh...wrong ocassion...

As many of my readers would I noticed from my last year's post about this event, I'm sure you'll be aware of how much I despise the concept of having a day that is specifically dedicated to the appreciation of 'that someone special'.

So I shall emphasis my point again.

Frankly, I don't give a damn about Valentine's Day.

With that put across, I shall further reinstate my arguement by sharing my day with my viewers, namely my gym session and the going-ons around the areas which I passed.

Apparently, many share the same view as I do.

Don't believe me?

The gym was fairly empty today since most of the usual Wednesday patrons had decided to 'celebrate', negelecting their training in the process. But boy, I was relatively appalled when I strolled deeper into the gym where the dumbells and free weights resided.

It was packed.

'Packed', in this case, referring to a higher population density than usual in comparsion to regular Wednesdays (*cough* over a normal distribution *cough*). Plus, the entire top shelf of free weights, as well as chairs, were completely snatched up by nearby individuals.

[Fortunately for me, I trained my shoulders, chest and back today, so I didn't require much of the free weights.]

Individuals, like myself, whom I recognise as regulars who come regardless of rain or shine or lack of gym mates, or in this case, ocassion. Most stayed for long hours (perhaps even longer than me) as the checkout list remained quite empty when I left (approximately 60% of those who came stayed longer than me).

I stayed for nearly 2 hours (slightly less since I didn't stop for many breaks except when heartburn stepped in).

Tells a lot doesn't it?

Oh, and more began to swarm into the confines of the gym when light gave way to darkness.

Argurably, one can term my reasoning as a delusional one since I did not consider that they could have celebrated the ocassion before their gym session (like what Jaren did, +10 points for being sensible to him, I'll elaborate on that later). *Snigger*

Nevertheless, whether they have girlfriends/wives at all is another issue altogether. [Okay, I'm not making a solid rebuttal here, so I shall not beat around the bush and continue typing before my train of thought derails.]

The pool, on the other hand, was a barren body of water (save the little children having their swimming lessons) with visibly less people occupying the vast amount of free space available.

Moving on, every single location was crowded. (Honestly, I dislike crowds or any large gathering of people too.) Thus, my initial decision to have my dinner at Yoshinoya was thwarted by fully occupied tables and ridiculously long queues (Cartel was much worse).

Just to add on, even MacDonalds and the Food court were horded with people, consisting of couples, families and friends, and perhaps a few isolated souls like me. (And to think that Qiyang's dating tactics were considered as the advent-grande type.)

Again, fortunately for me, I was alone, making it was easier for me to locate an empty table (at the food court), though significantly more ardous a task.

Verdict based on Choice

Xin Li did bring up a good point though: 'Whether or not today is special, it is a choice'.

Sadly for me, I couldn't sense anything special today. Sure there were numerous couples (lots of student couples too) decided to go out today to celebrate the day and most females wielding huge flowers (not exactly the MapleStory variants), but it wasn't much. It just felt bland and commericalised.

But to me, personally, today was just like any other regular day but much more packed than before. Nothing special, nothing unique...just lots of people.

Well, but I do apologise for being a major spoil-sport to anyone who perceives this day as special. Oh, here's a picture (to fill this picture-less post) I found from animesuki forums as I couldn't locate any anti-valentine's day ones.

[Image copyrighted to respective artist]

*Prepares incantations for spells of fire resistance to be utilised on my tagboard*

Shuffle! Memories OP/EDs

2007-02-13T00:46:00.000+08:00

Shuffle! Memories...

(Image Copyrighted by the respective CD-producing company)

Flashbacks or more than just re-runs?

Since the first portion of all of the girls' backstories have been released, I've decided to speed-watch every OP and ED provided for each of the episodes.

Apparently, that's the only new material that has appeared so far for the past 6 episodes aired. That is, if you exclude the voice-overs provided to explain the entire storyline once again.

Oops, it appears that I'm digressing. Anyway, all the openings and endings are already available on youtube, which is why I managed to watch them since downloading the entire episode isn't worth it from the reason above.

The openings usually consist of scenes which some would find familiar if one has played the original Shuffle! game...taking the path of which the protaganist would follow if he were to select that particular girl.

So far, I've only played Kaede's, Nerine's and Primula's paths, which didn't differ much from the Anime in terms of backstory, except for until they start progressing deeper into their relationship.

[I played Kaede's since she didn't have a fighting chance at all in the anime. Nerine's path is required to open Primula's path, so I decided to try both. Or perhaps, it was for the loli element.]

Oh yes...the game's for 18 and up, no minors allowed.

The Endings are just some random stuff put together, most of which summarise each girl's daily life (I think). But personally, Primula's ED is the best since it portrays her version of Alice in Wonderland.

Primula's ED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW4Kzyvpotc&NR

[I'm a sucker for cute stuff but I don't show it.]

Vocal-wise, I prefer both of Nerine's OP and ED songs. Honestly, they're much better than the other girls', in my opinion. I can't choose between either. Both are really soothing to one's ears...unless you happen to detest Japanese songs.

Nerine's OP (the default volume is a bit loud): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE8qWCha5xw&NR

Nerine's ED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73Hqjy3A0xk&NR

Not forgetting, I'll be spending V. Day in gym.
Yay for being a sad loner...

...and smelling of chlorine.

Epic movie/disaster

2007-02-10T22:59:00.000+08:00

Epic Movie...more like Epic MisAdvendture

Honestly, I didn't get this joke until the camera panned to reveal Tom Hank's picture at the side.

I 'happened to obtain a copy' (*snigger*) of Epic Movie recently, and I must say, I had (relatively) high hopes for it as a parody movie since 2 'Scary Movie' creators were involved in the production.

The trailer of ridiculous juxtaposed scenes from various movies had me going, 'Hey, I've always wanted someone to say that!' and left me aching in the sides everytime I watched it. Sadly however, the movie didn't deliver more than just those comedic sections.

Piss Sudoku, only problem is that you'll need good control and a high tide (if you get what I mean).

Perhaps it was the absence of subtitles (which I always rely on most of the time while watching a movie) coupled with the poor sound quality (of the video), that caused me to miss out certain jokes sprouted ocassionally during the movie. But then again, most of the jokes were pretty lame (even by my standards) and probably lacked the 'hilarity' element in them.

For a show rated PG-13 (in the U.S. of course, the censorship levels in Singapore are way above average, so to speak), adult humour was plentiful to an extent that it felt rather bland after a while. Plus, I found myself having to alt-tab once in a while or lower the volume least someone mistook me for watching a hentai video or something of that sort.

When you see Jack, he'll probably be on a wheel or drinking rum. I'll leave this to your imagination as to what he's doing.

Personally, I wasn't really fascinated by the cameos either. Everything came together so randomly that it felt like a cut-and-paste production where characters were added in without an appropriately logical reason, but rather, just for entertainment's sake.

Silas, probably the only tenacious bad guy who endures S&M and gets almost as much screentime as the white bietch.

In fact, all the characters behaved as though they had just emerged from an Illithid's lair without any sort of mind-flaying protection (uh, which would essentially indicate that their intelligence was that of a 5 year old's). Furthermore, there wasn't any significant plotline, leaving them free to slot in whatever nonsense they wanted.

Recycled, but still as good as ever.

[I'm not going to elaborate on the story or provide a full-fledged summary. You'll have to watch it in order to determine the utter stupidity of some of the parts yourself.]

Unfortunately, that's all of the army left to defeat the white bietch.

Well, there were certain parts which I enjoyed, namely Super 'Peter' Man, the flying Talking beaver and Magneto getting hit by the metal pot. (Apparently, you need a rather morbid sense of humour to enjoy 'most' of the movie.) But overall, Epic Movie left me with an empty feeling, like as though something was seriously missing or wasn't right.

Ocular sensory system...terminating...

On the other hand, I'd rather spend my money watching something like 'Fantasic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer', 'SpiderMan 3' and 'Harry Potter: Order of the Phenoix' (which I realised that I've not read the book yet). I just can't seem to appreciate 'Epic Movie' to an extent that I find it worth my time to re-watch.

Happiness! OVA

2007-02-04T10:52:00.000+08:00

I'm so getting this when the subbed version is available.

Happiness! OVA
(Full Credit of this review goes to Moe Check!)

This is why Jun (Happiness!) > Mizuho (Otoboku), in terms of gender confusion.

Too bad Jun wasn't even inside the Anime Rankings. But then again, Happiness! had a somewhat straight-forward and uninteresting storyline (that's an understatement though) in comparison to Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru.

[Edit: I just watched the first few episodes on youtube (yes, i'm that bored) and the only thing that's happening is the female lead blushing whenever she sees the main male character...to a point it gets frustrating. There doesn't seem to be much of a plotline either. Animation quality is below average too.]

Let's hope that this OVA is able to get ~~him~~ ~~her~~ him to a respectable position.

Off topic: Could someone confirm when the mural painting event is, and perhaps the duration? I'm too busy to return to NYJC (*snigger*).

End of Jan07

2007-02-02T22:36:00.000+08:00

Did anyone notice that it was the end of January already?

I didn't...that was until today that is.

That's why I have taken the liberty to update my 'List of Monthly Potential Procrastination', for the February '07 period of course. Hopefully, this month's list would be much more detailed than its predecessors.

But first, let me run through the January's list first, checking all those which I've done or not done for last month in attempt to review my achievements.

1) ... ... ...

... ...

...

2) Learn Autocad

Took me about 3 days to get the basics but I don't use it that often. I use SketchUp more often as a drafting software, which took me about a day or 2 to pick up (after watching numerous tutorials).

3) Work full time at my father's office

Considering the fact that I leave early for gym/swimming sessions at 4pm sometimes, I still manage to clock about 8-10 hours a day on the average. Oh yes, Architecture is fun! (no sarcasm there)

I'm learning a lot too, with my father bringing me to sites, meetings and inspections (actually, today was the first inspection) and my uncle fetching me to Sentosa Cove. This entire month has made me more determined to remain in the building line (architecture of course).

4) Study Japanese

I'm going to give the lame excuse of 'too busy'.

[If I'm focused on something, I'll ensure that it'll be done regardless the costs (eg. my training sessions) and will never give the excuse of being too busy.]

But I really want to get this done so I can understand Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri when it comes out.

5) Read last book of War of the Spider Queen: Resurrection

Few more pages remaining. The last 10 chapters or so have been particularly exhilarating with the battle sequences.

6) Maintain Gym/workout schedule of at least twice a week

Twice a week? I'm going at 4 times now!
2 sessions of swimming and 2 sessions of gym.

Usually scheduled on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sat/Sunday.

But no visible improvements yet.

7) Complete NeverWinter Nights 2 at least once

You know what? I think I'll just label this as a procastination and leave it in the list till I finally tear my concentration away from MapleStory, Dota and workouts during the weekends.

8) Not leaving this blog to rot (update at least thrice a week)

I smell...decomposing pixels and font.

Damn...no updates to the weekly art corner either (should really change it to monthly now).

That's about it. Time for Dota!

Damn blogger

2007-01-30T00:46:00.000+08:00

Edit (30/11): Sorry, it's actually the one below this one.
Blogspot didn't eat it up after all. Yay!

Dammit...after taking like an hour to do an entry, Blogspot decided to go emo on me and eat it up. (Mumbles long list of curses.)

Expect something by tomorrow. It's wayyy past my bedtime and the swimming and dota session has drained me both mentally and physically.

Side note: I survived the 4 training sessions for a week last week. I'm stepping it up to 5 now (hopefully). And yes, this beats grinding my character in MapleStory.

Anime Rankings

2007-01-29T23:33:00.000+08:00

Just to show I'm not completely dead yet, here's a ranking of the top 100 favourite Anime characters.

(Image copyright to respective Magazine publishing company.)

Found this on the animesuki forums recently. My guess would be that it was during the period of December last year.

I'm quite fascinated regarding a few of the rankings as shown above (after looking through the list for about the 5th time already). Here's a couple of things that I found intriguing.

- Luleoch (Code Geass) trashes Kira (Gundam Seed), pushing him off the first place by a whopping 378 votes.

- All of the main female characters from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu make it inside the list with Haruhi at 4th, Miruku at 48 and Yuki at 52.

- Allen takes 5th. But I don't see Renalee in sight.

- Edward in 9th place. The Full Metal Alchemist craze hasn't died out yet.

- Crimson Lotus Pilot Kallen/Karen (10) overthrows Geass-giver, pizza eating C.C. (16). Cheese-kun calls for war.

- L at 20...but where is Light-o?

- Erm...26...I thought this list is reserved for anime characters.

- Louise (42) > Shana (70). Both done by the same voice actor, possess the same (tsun-dere) personality and the signature trademark of 'uru-chai' x 3, yet one ranks above the other. I blame it on magic.

- Hikari (from the latest season of Pokemon) is awarded with (the first) 57th place. Must be the fanservice.

- Mizuho is at (fourth) 59. Goes to show that ~~her~~ his cross-dressing pays off.

- Despite horrendeous animation, Feena gains (the second) 64th place, which concludes that more of her fans play the eroge than watch the anime. (Off topic: Anyone wants the HCGs? They're really well-drawn and NSFW.)

- Nayuki (the fourth 64), who barely spends enough screentime awake, reigns as the only Kanon character in the list. 'I'm shaking...Woooo~!' *Slams into dining table*

- Ichigo (first 70) and Naruto (90)...this is what you get for bringing us fans months of filler episodes.

- Youko (76) proves to us that Inukami! isn't all about gay jokes, macho men and elephants. (You should see the amount of eroge-related references inside.)

- The only non-human character who made it to the list: Keroro (first 77).

- Ryuuguu Reina in 84th place?! You have just incurred the wrath of Oyashiro-sama! Emo-killings are bound to happen, complete with an oversized hachet.

Here's a brief ranking of popular series (based on the favourite anime characters list (must have 4 of more), in order of merit):

(Please comment if I've made a mistake. This entry was done after a swimming session and a dota match. And now it's 12.41 am, which is wayyyy past my sleeping time.)

1) Code Geass

2) Gundam Seed Destiny (Highest number of characters inside)

3) Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu

4) Ouran High School Host club

5) Bleach

6) Tsubasa Chronicles

Finally...time to sleep.

Purpose of life

2007-01-21T23:49:00.000+08:00

I just watched Kanon episode 16 this morning and a very interesting, yet long-standing question came into mind at the end of the episode.

'What's the purpose of one's existence?'

Is one merely just a single entity created to reproduce?
Or for a much greater cause?

I don't have an exact answer yet so I'll have to plough through my brain cells to rake up a response. In the meantime, feel free to write something related in my tagboard.

Sleep comes first...I guess this entry will take a while.

And my gym sessions this week are fixed on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Anyone free enough to join me (specifically on Monday and Wednesday), please messege me first and meet outside Tampines Gym at around 5pm. Or else I'll have to be going solo again. *Sigh*

Sorry, I'll have to be going against advice on this one. Hopefully, I'll be able to be survive till the end of the week.

Probability<80%

2007-01-20T01:36:00.000+08:00

"...I am finally able to lay my hands onto this piece.

...This piece holds the final fate that awaits us. But...I want you to wait a minute before taking a peek inside this piece.The fate inside will be decided the moment we take a look inside this piece."

(Image copyright to respective artist)

Once again, I'm going to rant about myself again, since I have a lot of stuff packed into my mind and it's getting pretty congested. So this might be one of the last few entries before I finally attempt to compress all these thoughts and fling them to the back of my mind in order to preserve my frailing sanity, just like how one would defragmentise one's computer in order to free up space.

Apparently, most of it are events that reside from last year till now. No doubt because I've been clinging on to a dying memory, though it isn't much of a use now.

If it's going to be an unsolve-able mystery, I'd rather have it stay that way so I can finally free up the space in my mind that it has been occupying. If there isn't much of a hope, there isn't much use dangling off a thin thread over the edge of a cliff. If there isn't at least a 80% probability of success, I'll tend not to venture further.

If I have been clinging on to false hope after all these years, then I'd let the matter rest. At least, I would be able to humbly accept it as a mistake and disregard it as a fallen memory.

'How would you know if you don't at least try?'

A friend once exclaimed that statement to me. But then again, I shall ask this question.

'Would you try to attempt something that isn't in your favour?

Would a situation, where all odds are stacked...or rather, piled to incredible heights (be it physical or pyschological) against you to such an extent where any passer-by would definitely proclaim it to be an inevitable downfall should one bother to even start, where success is way beyond your grasp?'

Calculated Risk is one thing. Taking blind risk is another.

Call me cautious, paranoid and calculative. At least this mindset has gotten me through the past 18 years of my life, done without much blind risk-taking and extreme caution. Perhaps even 'sheltered' would be a more appropriate term.

I'm more of a control freak, as termed by Zijia, since I ensure that every element of the puzzle is laid down first, before I begin to make my first move. Hence, should I not succeed, at least I have only myself to blame, instead of tying it to the responsibility to others.

Logic > Emotions

I tend not to rely on emotions. To be consumed by emotions will only drive one to extreme chaotic states, rendering one to be partially incapable of making appropriate decisions. To be tied down by emotions will only make one vulnerable.

'Fight it off! Pain is merely a temporary state that has to be overcome,'
that's what I usually tell myself.

There's no point encapsulating oneself with such emotions for lurking in the pool of depression will only pull one deeper into the endless delusional abyss of fear and regret. Both of which should never be relied on.

Ironic Perspective: The undiscovered piece

Yet, it somehow seems contradictary. Since I told Gin Sun yesterday morning that life isn't worth living unless you were to push beyond your limits. If not, success will never ever be attain-able.

Nevertheless, one should be reminded of the limits he/she is trying to push. Forcing one's way through the wrong aspects to achieve something would no less lead to...unthinkable consequences. It's like forcing two disjointed pieces of a puzzle together, nothing good would emerge for the end-product. That, I plan not to try.

However, without a doubt, I would push for success if the odds were to lie in my favour. If those 2 pieces were meant to fit, I'll make it happen.

"But, how do I get ahold of such a piece like that? It's a piece that I've never gotten ahold of yet?

...In order to grasp that...I need one more.

Just one more miracle to make that happen..."

-Frederica Bernkastel, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
(TIPS translated to English by kj1980, Matsuribayashi-hen's Piece)

...though I sometimes wonder whether it eventually will.

My life...

2007-01-10T00:33:00.000+08:00

'It's called canon...

While repeating the same melody over and over,

it gradually becomes more peaceful and beautiful.

Just like that, we repeat the same routine everyday,

but if we change just a little everyday,

everything will be okay'

-Sayuri, Kanon ep14

Cui Wen asked me an intriguing question yesterday on our way to Chung
Cheng High so see Mr Yap.

She asked me 'How do you view life?', givng me 2 options of whether I
feel happy or sad when I wake up each day.

I gave a very general reply. But I gave it some thought during the
bus trip to Bedok Interchange after that. And here's my in-depth response to the question.

At that time, I decided on the choice that I'm rather happy. And as
long as I didn't pass on, I would remain happy for as long as
possible.

As pessimistic as it sounds, about the issue of 'Death' and
everything, I prefer to keep an optimistic view of the world.
Regardless of how myopic it sounds, or how naive you may deem me to
be, viewing the world in a good light has kept me alive all through
these 18 plus years of my life.

I'm happy because I'm alive and well. For when that is possible, I
would be able to change and improve what I've done during the previous
day...so that everything would eventually be better. And perhaps,
everyone elses' lives too.

I'm happy because I know people are concerned about me, regardless of
the way they choose to display it. I am aware of those who appreciate
me for who I am, instead of my image or status.

I'm happy because I always make it a point to see the best of people
and choose to ignore most of their negative aspects. That way, my hope
for humanity, as well as for each passing day, rarely diminishes.

I'm happy because it has always been a long-standing objective for me
to do the appropriate, most sensible thing regardless the cost, be it
physical or emotional.

I can safely say that I have little regrets in my life.

Perhaps only one regret.

The regret of not being ever honest with my feelings for the past 18
years of my existence. Something that I thought I could do without,
yet it never ceases to cloud my mind despite my futile attempts to hold everything back. Hence, I've lost many that I've treasured the most.

Perhaps, that's what makes me...pathetic as a human being.

07 1st

2007-01-02T13:42:00.000+08:00

Symptoms:

-On/Off Persistent Stomachache (2-3 times a day)

-Diminished Appetite

-Increased Heart Rate (not lower than 140 on the machine)

-Feeling distracted almost all the time

-Constant Fatigue/Exhaustion (even with 8-10 hours of rest)

-Little mood to do anything

The top 2 are kind of serious already, and the rest of them are beginning to affect my lifestyle. Not to mention that these occurred since last Tuesday (or Wednesday) and have worsened ever since.

I need specialised medical advice! I hope I'm not dying or something.

It's the new Year! 07 edition

2007-01-01T09:28:00.000+08:00

It's here! The new year is finally here.
Ok, that's as much ethusatism I have for this festive day.

Yeah, I was stuck at home catching up with the Dragon Booster episodes that I haven't watched yet as well as Death Note anime.

Thanks to Alvin (who reached home close to 5am this morning), today's gym session has been postponed to 2 hours later, meaning that I'll have to take a late breakfast. Hopefully, he'll be able to wake up in time.

Surprisingly, I managed to get 7 hours of undisturbed rest today, which has been one of my resolutions for this year. 5/12 of the first day down, about 365 more days to go.

Speaking of which, I haven't really decided on my New Year resolutions yet, except for the above mentioned one of course. I'll probably update the list of monthly procastration tasks as the year progresses.

And yes, I definitely need a new picture for the 'weekly' artworks section.

bbq aep 06

2006-12-31T23:25:00.000+08:00

Here are the photos from the AEP BBQ gathering last night. Seemed like the entire stretch, for like 8 pits, were all nanyang jc students. Concidence? I doubt it.

J1s focused whole-heartedly in cooking the food.

We need more heat.

Andre isn't a master chef, but he does have the makings of one.

Are you sure this is cooked?

Additional heat won't hurt anyone, except when the styrofoam board hits someone.

Min Wei's in the limelight (literally)

Who's that snooping around the ice box...oh, wait.

Loads of food. Too bad it was too dark to see what we were eating.

Yipee! Surprisingly coordinated though.

Group Pic 1

Group pic 2

That's about all I can upload before midnight. Happy New Year to all!

Highly distracted

2006-12-31T21:09:00.000+08:00

It's New Year's eve.

I don't seem to be in the mood to be doing anything.

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Not even playing MapleStory or Neverwinter Nights 2 or Heroes V.

Not even reading a book or sleeping.

(My appetite has deteriorated too.)

That's why I'm blogging now.

Last night's BBQ pictures will be updated soon.

But I seem to be too distracted all the time.

Yes, that's it. I'm more distracted than bored.

Something that I've yet to do 3 years ago

Is still burning in my mind.

reflections for 06

2006-12-31T14:20:00.000+08:00

Reflections for the year 2006

Picture from Melanchony of Suzumiya Haruhi

It’s that time of the year again, where everyone celebrates the dawning of the new year. Besides, it provides an excellent time for us to reflect on what we have done, or should’ve done, for this year.

2006 is definitely an eventful year. Lots of AEP activities since the start of the year, juggling Art and the rest of my other subjects as well as the ‘A’ levels to tie it up altogether. There were plenty of little memorable bits too, but I’ll just go into the details to keep this entry as short as possible.

Anime-watching

Picture from Kanon

’06 was the year when I officially started watching anime on a slightly more fanatic scale. Not that I didn’t watch anime series before, but it was this year that I had begun to develop an interest in watching them. Perhaps it was primarily my coursework that sparked my interest in watching anime for the storylines.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni helped a lot in the development of the mystery aspect of my animation. Too bad the entire storyline was shattered by Studio Deen. I had to spend a few days reading the TIPs to comprehend the full story.

If you were to ask me about this year’s more popular anime series, I could ramble on for quite a long time. It’s fortunate that I haven’t turned into a full-fledged anime otaku yet.

Time Management

My time management actually sucked this year, considering that I left almost everything to the last minute. That includes studying for the ‘A’ levels, inclusive my science subjects and my prep work for the respective art papers. Hence, sleepless nights weren’t rare occurrences, especially closer to the deadlines.

I was late for school couple of times as well. Topping the record to about 14 times this year alone (equivalent to 2-3 times of expulsion), but I think it’s certainly much more since I did manage to sneak away on several ‘fortunate’ occasions.

I realized that I’m only early for less important events. Yesterday’s barbeque would be a perfect example, though there aren’t many details for period of wait. Let’s just say I could tell you how many coconuts were visible on each tree from the bench I was sitting on.

Public Speaking

There comes a point in everyone's life where one has to speak up for his/her own rights. If it's any time, this would be the year.

Taken from Yoake's CG

Ever since the start of the year, numerous AEP-related activities have forced me to speak up. Critique sessions were highly useful since they allowed me to speak in front of a group, something that I’ve rarely done for the past 18 years of my life.

It’s not too bad actually and I guess I could get used to it after a while. At least now I’ve got the courage for something of that sort. Even so, I’m still a conservative person.

List of Monthly Procrastination tasks

I have only completed 2 items on that list.

One would be Dark Messiah and the other would be getting my crossbowman to level 50 in Delphinus (expect a full-scale report on that one soon). This would probably emphasize my lack of time management since all I was doing this month was gym, Dark Messiah-ing and Mapling. I’m currently playing Neverwinter Nights 2 now. Hopefully I’ll get to start on the rest of the campaign on Heroes V too once I’ve completed one round of NWN2.

Youtube isn’t cooperating with me lately ever since the recent Taiwan Earthquake. Certain videos are stalling halfway during the loading process, leaving me only with like two thirds of it available for viewing. Thus, anime watching is put on hold.

I’ll be starting work on Wednesday (hopefully) in my father’s office so I wouldn’t have much time for other activities. Besides, I’m getting tired of playing the entire day. Time to do some learning!

Deepest Thanks…

To all those who have helped in survive through this year one way or another. Here’s a list of people (in no order of importance), I would like to thank (other than my family members)…
[I’ve kept it as general as possible so as to prevent leaving anyone out.]

’05 AEP batch
for putting up with me and my nonsense, encouraging me to do raise my standard of art and keeping me company for these past 2 years.

’06 AEP batch
for noticing my presence and making such a great ‘graduation’ board.

AEP teachers
for motivating me to improve my art and help in the production of the animation.

Guys from 05S3E
for all those pull-up sessions and jokes (as well as insults) throughout the entire 1.5 years.

Girls from 05S3E
for appreciating my artwork.

3/4GR classmates and friends from CCHMS
for spending an eventful month of December with me.

Here’s wishing everyone a Happy New Year and an eventful year of 2007. Hopefully, NS wouldn’t be too boring for me.

P.S. Time to take care of something that has been bothering me for the past 3-4 years.

I don't get it

2006-12-24T13:15:00.000+08:00

So weird...

It's like all of a sudden I'm uninterested in playing MapleStory.

I have a feeling that it's the addictive effects of the 2x XP card, allowing me to seem that my training isn't worth the time without it. Maybe if there were a 2x XP card that laspes for half a day, I would consider training, regardless of whether it's less worth it cost-wise.

I feel bored yet I don't want to play MapleStory. Something is seriously wrong with me.

My head feels giddy even though I got seven straight undisturbed hours of sleep. I think I'll have to sleep more after lunch.

Oh. My sec3/4 classmates and friends are coming over to my place to stay, though I wonder for how long.

Speaking of which, my room is in a mess. I've got to do some cleaning up before they arrive.

Anyway, here's some eye-candy for the males.
Warning: Extremely unsafe for work. Best viewed alone.
(Click on the link below)
Moetron's Megami vol.80 screenshot coverage

Feel bad

2006-12-22T23:51:00.000+08:00

Bleddy Insect

The insect which I dug out from my ear ruined my entire afternoon.
By 12pm, the effects of fatigue had set in.
I slept with my head facing the television set while watching Winx.
...
When I woke up, it was already 3pm.
So I decided to skip gym for today.
Then I went back to sleep.
...
I woke up close to 7pm with a terrible neck ache.
Now I can't turn my neck to the right without me feeling a massive strain.
And I have a horrible migraine.
...
I think I'm going to sleep.
...
I don't think I'll be going to Bugis tomorrow 'cause of my family gathering at night.

Just to recap, I realised that something bad usually happens to me right before christmas.
At least I got a frying pan (my first rare!) from Foxes in MapleStory this morning.
And I didn't waste much of my 2nd 24hour 2x XP card.

P.S. I hate Blogger Beta...

GAH MEIN EAR

2006-12-22T04:02:00.000+08:00

Right now it's close to 4am in the morning...

Guess what I dug out from my ear a few minutes ago.

I think I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. (Click to enlarge, I dare you to.)

Can't seem to guess? Let's take a frontal approach...

;-;

T-T

That left me severely tramuatised for...err...as long as I'm writing this post. I don't think I can sleep anymore tonight. Anyway, time to Maple!

You're not going to find me sleeping in a room with stuff flying about anymore.

P.S. Posting image files on the new blogger beta sucks. All the spacings are increased by double whenever a picture file is uploaded.

Dark Messiah review

2006-12-16T10:05:00.000+08:00

I'm taking time off from mapling cause I'm being hounded by a high level for not wanting to train him. Gah...

Anyway, this week was kinda hectic but I managed to pull through with the 1 level per day schedule. Here's a Dark Messiah Review for those who are interested as to what happens after the Heroes V storyline. Most of the screenshots were taken from the official website and are copyright property of Gamespot. No, I did not direct link them.

I've tried my best to select the pictures which are work-safe.

Game Play

It’s official, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (and possibly other external influences) has made me impervious to gore and the likes. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic seems so…natural. The violence and blood appears too familiar to me, perhaps it is because of the fact that the game engine utilized is state-of-the-art.

As in all first person shooter games, gore is a crucial element to spice up the entertainment value. Imagine whacking a monster and all that happens to it would be that it gets flung around the room and lies motionless on the floor (happens sometimes in Dark Messiah though). Hence, we need all the splatter we can ever possibly get, regardless of the amount.

Mentioned earlier, the gory fight sequences are nothing stomach-churning for me. Heads flying, hands getting chopped off and bodies being mutilated in half don’t seem to concern me much after a few hours of playing. I think it’s become sort of monotonous. Go for the pure warrior path if you are interested in viewing the full gory, err…glory, of the game.

Literally an eye-sore

Adrenaline takes the fun out of killing boss monsters. Monsters with high life can be cleaved off your path easily when your adrenaline bar hits maximum. A final combat skill allow a double finishing blow too, making it even easier against smaller durable monsters (especially liches, the final boss and most tenacious undead).

Before one perceives the game as a purely hack-and-slash one, you must first consider the numerous challenges involved in the game. Most of the early objectives are timed (even if they don’t state it), making it tedious at the start.

Chasing a ghoul that scales walls is equivalent to a jump quest in MapleStory, only that it’s 3-D! Too bad it’s easy to fall to your death...very often.

Furthermore, the environment is highly interactive. The laws of Physics can be employed to your advantage, making combat really easy if you are highly perceptive to your surroundings. Water fights are actually fun since water conducts electricity easily (*grins*).

Oh, and black guards can’t swim. Wearing plate armor does have its disadvantages after all.

Larger (boss) monsters are killed via the environment in the early portions of the game. However, as you get stronger, the larger monsters won’t be much of a problem and most should be able to be taken down head on (except the huge sea worm that is), even if you aren’t a warrior.

This rarely has an influence on my style of playing though. I usually find myself locating the hidden environmental exploits after I’ve killed the monster(s). Perhaps my attention to detail under pressure isn’t sufficiently high enough.

Always examine the environment before commencing combat. There're approximately 5 ways to take this big guy down.

There are 3 ‘main’ paths in the Single Player version of the game: Warrior, Mage and Thief.

Warrior is fun in the sense that tanking huge monsters is an easy feat in mid and later portions in the game, allowing you to hack and slash your way through the future stages. Plate armor gives a greater defence boost than the rest...obviously.

Magic seems to be weakened in the game, but the effects of it are interesting to watch. Against creatures, certain elemental magics are powered up due to their innate vulnerability. However, warrior compenstates by using swords of different elements (found later in the game).

This guy isn't going to be thawed anytime soon

And thief, probably the most under-developed character in most games, doesn’t do much damage but can backstab for an instant kill, most of the time. They can picklock and pickpocket, though both are kind of useless in the end game, since there’s more fighting involved. They’ll probably have to rely highly on the environment and stealth, something I’m not very good at…

Advised skills:
-Heal (must have)
-Telekinesis (to reveal hidden treasures and cut down on walking time)
-Archery (for the last boss, and for sniping down foes)
-Poison Resistance (because it’s a bitch)

Most status alignments (though few) are clearly depicted in the game. At low Hp (less than 10 remaining), the player’s vision becomes reddish and blurry, heart rate increases as well. Poison dims the player’s sight, making it hard to hit anything unless you are close to the monster.

Big pretty sea worm, too bad you can't kill it

The game play is enjoyable, if you are able to find a way to overcome the numerous bugs (stated way below), glitches and the potential lag for some graphic intensive areas. The most advisable settings for the game would be as low as possible, unless your computer was purchased this year with tons of hard drive space empty.

Storyline (Spoilers *cough*a foot*cough*)

The main character is Sareth, and as most Heroes V fanatics would predict, he has royal blood within him, in addition to his demonic heritage. [*cough*Isabel’s son*cough*] Personally, I’ve only played the heroes V campaign till the Warlock stage (Agreal/ Realag), so I have no idea what occurs after that.

In the Demonic Campaign, the High Druid (no idea what his name is) foretells the premonition of the Dark Messiah, a half-demon, half-human that is prophesized to unlock the eternal prison of the Demon Sovereign.

It’s strange though, as I somewhat expected Realag/ Agreal to appear in the mid-portion of the game to prevent this from occurring, unless he died in the Warlock campaign or before the Dark Messiah storyline (though I doubt that it is possible since he's a long-lived dark elf). It seems that no one listens to a ghostly transparent High Druid anymore, whether or not he foretells a catastrophe.

Instead, the main antagonist is a Necromancer, Arantir. [Apparently, no one else is attempting to prevent the prophecy.] A necromancer who himself involves in this for his own personal agenda (obviously going to get owned by Sareth). He nabs the skull of shadows, which is the key need to unlock the Demonic prison, from Sareth later in the game and finishes him off, only to realize, albeit painfully, that protagonists have more lives than that of a cat. [It’s clearly an indication that Arantir doesn’t watch anime.]

By Chapter 8, you’ll finally get word of his plans. So now...as the Demon Messiah is ‘supposed’ to release the Demon Sovereign, Arantir wants to call forth Death’s avatar, wrecking havoc on what’s left of the world of Ashan.

No, not unleashing a legion of zombies, they've enough of those in their catacombs. But check out the awesome detail.

Sareth: “…thousands of people will die.”
Probably the most awkward sentence a Dark Messiah will say after leaving a path of death, 8 chapters worth. Apparently, the dude has some conscience left.

The epilogue involves a confrontation between both of them (and an undead Paokai).

Oh, did I mention that there's a demonic portal in the background to intensify the graphics? That fight scene lags big time, so you'll be fighting against ur computer most of the time.

Overall, the storyline is really very predictable. By the end of the 4th Chapter (maybe earlier), you should know what is going to happen in the end. Little plot twists here and there aren’t too dramatic. Either that or I’ve been watching too much anime recently.

The downside is that a lot of questions are left unanswered. Examples (in no chronological order) would be: (Warning, lots of spoilers)

-What happens after sealing/ unleashing the demon sovereign?
-Who, in Ashan, are Phenrig and Melanag? Are they twins, or just products of un-innovative character design?
-What happens when Arantir succeeds? [I would love to see Death’s avatar.]
-Why does the final fight scene have to include a demonic portal in the background to lag the game?
-Ishabel was impregnated by the Demon Sovereign, wtf?!
-Holy water alone can purge tainted ancient demonic blood?
-Why doesn’t Xana help fight alongside of Sareth when she could conjure up walls of flames to stop Sareth from being purged from his demonic blood?
-Will there ever be a full view of Sareth’s demonic form?
-Are you still reading this endless list of questions?
-What path will the Heroes VI (supposing there is) take?
-Why does the Demon Sovereign’s voice have to sound so good?
-No shops, barter service?
-Only 2 swords from smithing?
-Since Xana was able to resurrect Sareth in Chapter 7, why couldn’t she do the same earlier instead of resorting to reloadings?
-Why do ghouls have S&M like outfits?
-Why do Necromancers scream like little girls when they die?
-Why did Arantir leave his portal open in Chapter 8, for Sareth to pass through into the land of Necromancers?
-How come all the monsters look overly generic?
-Is it me? Or is this list getting way too long?

Sound

I only enjoyed the final boss fight tune. The rest of the music didn’t really stand out from all the hacking and slashing and decapitating and mutilating and blood spurting and sissy Necromancer screams etc.

Replay value

Not very high, but not very low either. It’s only average since there are only a few paths to take throughout the game. The 4 different outcomes are quite predictable and some scenes were repeated in the final end-game sequence, so there isn’t much replay value in the game when compared to games like Baldur’s gate or Neverwinter Nights where the outcome is modifiable throughout the entire game.

Technical Issues

-Directx version confusion
-Bink Videos don’t play properly (fixed in patch v1.01)
-Loading screen crashes halfway, ‘invalid memory error’
-Lagging at graphic intensive areas
-White/Black Water
-White/Yellow Squares appearing when an animated weapon is equipped (like Souldrinker, Bow of Winter’s Breath, Lightning Daggers and many more high level items)
-Long loading times (of at least 1 to 5 minutes)
-Monsters cease movement/actions being dealt and surviving a critical blow
-Certain areas unreachable by foot (can be resolved by a certain cheat)
-Dark Vision doesn’t function properly
-When a Cyclops lifts you up from the ground and flings you far away, you lose your equipments.

I found myself cheating in certain areas of the game, namely the zero gravity cheat, in order to pass those glitch-y areas (like the white water in the spider temple). I recommend the lowest settings available for the smoothest game play (though it still lags sometimes).

It’s advisable to brighten up the screen as most dungeon areas get a little too dark and may cause discomfort for one’s eyesight. For me, dark vision doesn’t work, so I had to rely on a modified gamma settings to spot obstacles in my surroundings.

Final Verdict

Gamespot’s review is pretty accurate, so I’ll give a rating of about 7/10 to Dark Messiah. It wasn’t very disappointing, neither was it really impressive either (with the exception of the superb life-like graphics). The storyline was a bit straightforward. Hence, I chose the good ending for the first attempt at the game.
[Come on…they prophesied the Demon Sovereign’s return so the least Sareth could do would be to prevent it.]

Delphinus 2

2006-12-05T16:38:00.000+08:00

Delphinus Review 2: Rantings of a Concerned Mapler

And many would have guessed, the only reason I’ve commenced writing this entry would be because MapleStory is down. Apparently, the marathon run to level 50 has been littered with numerous obstacles along the way, making the path ever more arduous to complete.

Anyway, as from where I left off from on last Sunday, the new server…the whole of MapleStory is exhibiting more significant errors in their internal servers, disabling users from logging in at this point of time due to some GameGuard conflict. [I think I might be slow, but I just realized that GameGuard = G² = GG (good game)…as Ryan would say, “Indeed.”]

GameGuard is GG! (reported occurrence at 3pm today)

The screenshots below detail my process of leveling from 15 to 26 (as of late). And yes, I am slow partially due to the absence of a 2X experience card, of which I’ve never utilized. Somehow, it definitely would not be appropriate, or wise, to employ the wonders of this card at the moment from the current crisis maple is facing.

At about 5.43am, I logged into maple on a (lovely) Monday morning and…was treated to a rare sight. [I’m getting enough sleep if you were wondering, about 6 hours of undisturbed rest which is a great improvement from the start of this year.]

I seriously wonder what this guy/girl was thinking, or perhaps he/she was not…

Note to Self: Utah is a hentai.

Technical Difficulties Galore

0.5X Drop Rate
It gets worse. Trust me.

The scheduled 2X drop rate period during 2-4pm had a massive error. Instead of providing the intended 2X drop rate, items were dropped at half their original rate, causing many players to not receive anything during this period of time. I was affected as well, but my luck for item drops does not look to be too good, so it wasn’t much.

Ok, I’m kidding. I got hold of 4 metal axes from slimes and one contra axe from axe stumps in a row before the 0.5X drop rate stepped in (effectively making Monday an AXE day!).

Backtracking/ Rollback
Worst case scenario...

Rollbacks (yes, it was twice, not just once) occurred during the time of 5.30-6.00pm on the 3rd of December, with an approximately 20 minutes time lapse before the 2nd one occurred. The rollbacks caused all server information for the past 5-15 minutes or so to be lost, meaning that everything done during that time period would be lost, sending players back in time (in a literal sense).

Probably one of the Funniest forum replies I’ve seen so far

Angry maplers have voiced their concerns in the crudest of methods, inclusive of megaphone spamming and complaints to their buddies, only to experience a 2nd rollback in the not-so-distant future.

Ouch.

Fortunately, I lost little during both rollbacks (about 10% worth of experience in total, which is quite merger for my current level). My item drops were preserved and the trade I made during this period was not affected at all. (Double Phew!)

As for some, they weren’t so lucky. *Points to the screenshot below*

Double Ouch.

Not investing heavily in MapleStory does have its benefits after all.

Just to add on…
“and the pq!! >.<” - My sister

Party Quest (all 3 apparently, but I'm going to touch on the lvl 21-30 one) is buggy as well.

Reports of persistent lagging within the perimeters of the quest areas and monsters don’t seem to drop coupons or passes, preventing the completion of the entire quest, as well as not receiving the final reward. Personally, I’ve not attempted the quest yet (so no screenshots for this one), despite the fact that my level is above the qualification level. (I’m trying to make it sound as modest as possible though I don’t think it’s working very well here.)

Edit: Ok, I just did the quest and it’s really not worth doing at this moment. Ligators don’t always drop coupons, cursed eyes don’t spawn and the slime king is surrounded by hordes of slimes as left behind by the previous party that entered (which are supposed to have disappeared). The only functioning monster there was the jr. necki.

Regardless, the severely bugged quest was awaited to be done by many even in the wee hours of the morning, whether it is to waste time or to brush up on players’ social skills, I’m not entirely sure. What I’m certain would be that the quest now is not worth the wait until it is patch, hopefully by the upcoming server check.

~~Not too serious a bug.~~ Wait, scratch that, it is serious, but pales in comparison with the other technical mishaps that are lurking around within the server.

P.S. Just to clarify, I'm not training very fast, just spending long hours in front of the computer.

P.S.S The jump in level was due to training within the Ant Tunnel.

Apparently, I think Dark Messiah is much less buggier than the MapleStory at this point of time. Off to complete the last chapter and epilogue of the game then…

Layout black and pink

2006-12-02T17:54:00.000+08:00

New Layout, New Life

Finally, I've gotten myself a new layout. Apparently, the original was taken off blogskins.com and edited much to suit the aesthetic tastes of all viewers of this blog. New features include...

Weekly Artwork Section

Every week, I'll be posting up new artwork so as to keep myself busy during the holidays besides mapling or doing other not-so-useful stuff. Hopefully, this should hone and maintain my artistic ability. This week features a dragonfly subject matter, taken from my (best) board of the 'A' level prep work for paper 2.

Yes, they are copyrighted works though there's a way to bypass the right-click system...but I'm not telling. Future works will be copyright proof and watermarked to prevent artwork-nabbers.

Oh, and every update of the weekly art section will come along with a new blog entry of course, to allow viewers to comment. Regardless of what this blog implies, please keep it to constructive criticism.

Note: I seriously have to modify the 'Weekly Artwork' heading since it looks like some half-assed effort done by the Paint programme, complete with vulgar bold font that sticks out like a sore thumb. Wait, it was done by Paint.

Comment Posts

It's kind of ridiculous that I left out the posting comment option in all my other blogskins. For this one, I added it back in so as to relieve the stress of spamming/flamming on my tagboard if I happen to write something...unagreeable upon. Another reason would be that my tagboard isn't working well yet and every refresh (F5) will present a different tagboard altogether, something which I have not resolved yet.

For those who are desperate to see the tagboard, or have a finger glued to the refresh key F5, tap it over and over and until you sight this format of the tagboard. That would be that actual tagboard that is fully functional so far (as seen below).

If not, scroll to the end of the entry that you wish to comment on and click on the tiny font-ed words: [insert number here] have spoken. This should isolate the post from the rest of the blog and the little text at the bottom of the page should change to an option to post a comment.

Removal of Redundant Links

As you have seen inside the left-most table, the links to Anime openings have vanished, mostly due to the lack of usage of these links and less interest towards anime as I have. Hence, these links will be hereby exiled to the plane of non-existence.

If you wish for these links to materialise, dance around your room on one foot while raising your hands to the sky/ceiling. Either that or you can post your grievances on the tagboard or under the post comment option.

That's pretty much about it. I was thinking of adding a polling section once I figure out how to work the html aspect of it. Besides that, you'll have to enjoy what's in front of you for the time being.

Prior to this, I've also updated my friendster profile and attached an interchangeable link from my blog to my friendster profile. There are 2 new posts that have been added yesterday as well, both reviews, one featuring the Pandemonium rampaging in the 4th maple world, Delphinus, and the other on my personal views of the new Higurashi no Naku Koro ni music video (the recently released 5th one).

Last but not least, remember to comment!

Edit: Thanks Jaren for pointing out the inconvenient glitch of opening the image in the same window. I've edited the 3 recent posts to enable images to open a new window when clicked.

Higurashi MAD 5

2006-12-02T08:55:00.000+08:00

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Music Video: Nakanai Kimi to Nageki no Sekai

First thing's first, just some advice to those who don't watch/play/read Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Watch the video, it doesn't get any better than this. (*points down*)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f-KHV17lw0

Have I ever mentioned how I've been waiting so long for this? No? Nevermind.

Even though the entire thing looks like a powerpoint presentation and that ~~the art could have been better~~ (screw that, the art is good enough for a higurashi music video). It's quality far surpasses that of the anime series (content-wise). That's good enough for me.

The Lyrics for the song can be found down here.

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=32067&page=10

Beyond this is pretty much all spoilers. So unless you want to be spoilt, you might want to solely view the screenshots. (I apologise for the low quality, they were ripped from youtube.)

The 5th installment of the video features Takano Miyo's spiral to insanity and how the main 6 characters (Hanyuu inclusive) managed to reject her from the path of being a supposed deity. It's tough when your vying for a position to become the next Oyashiro-sama, especially if your opponent is a ridiculously kawaii loli.

I'm glad the producers found an (absolute) need to put this scene in the video. As a Rena fanatic, I strongly approve the existence of this scene. One simply can't get enough of Rena (unless you bring her home of course...).

One of the most dramatic scenes in the game where Akasaka comes to Rika's aid in the nick of time. Matsuribayashi-hen wouldn't be complete without this scene. See, it really doesn't get any better than this.

Is it me, or does Miyo in her younger days remind you of Stella from Gundam Seed Destiny?

Awesome end to an awesome video. Apparently no one (important) dies throughout the course, allowing Tomitake to preserve the sanity of Miyo. Only problem is, he seems a little too small in size for his rank, even skinner than in the manga.

That's about it, what can I say? The art was good, the music was superb and it featured great content from the novel. The entire length of 4 minutes and 30 seconds on video kept me intrigued throughout. Now to wait for the Stage6 high quality verison to rip out the song.

Time for mapling...

Delphinidium

2006-12-02T01:23:00.000+08:00

MapleStory: Delphinidium

Out of boredom of training for long hours, I’ve decided to post my concerns about the new world, inclusive of the events tied to it. So if u happen to be a MapleStory hater, or an MMORPG loather, or have low tolerance towards immaturity (which is for my case though), I suggest u should skip this whole bunch of text and scroll through to browse the pretty pictures/screenshots that are scattered haphazardly throughout this entry. [Don’t worry, most terminology would be explained in due time.]

As stated above, my steadily decreasing intolerance towards childish attitudes and behavior has fallen to an all time low, and yet it is constantly diminishing at an exponential rate, very much equivalent to that of a 1st order rate of reaction.

Image from Higurashi Watangashi book 2

So before everyone starts scratching their brains (or throats) out because of the irrelevant anime and scientific references, I shall proceed to entertain everyone with my partially non-sensically phrased approach towards this matter. (If only they allowed this sort of argument to appear in GP…~Uguu!…)

Ripped from Kanon Episode 6 (Remarkably classic)

As most maple-fanatics have realized, the new 4th world is out, named Delphinus from the (obvious) reference to Dolphins. (Sometimes it’s a wonder how they actually come up with names for new servers.) Anyway, most new worlds would be a definite appeal to most players from 2 main reasons: Capability to become the first in well…anything and the ridiculously low-priced high leveled or special items due to the fact that most characters are poor [this here would refer to the financial aspect, I would touch upon the other ‘poor’ aspects later].

A 3rd reason would be the Bandana event. At levels 10, 30 and 50, players are able to receive unique bandanas during the duration of this month. What’s more, the level 50 bandana has insane bonuses magically infused into it. With additional to stats almost equivalent to that of a regular zakum helmet as well as to movement, it’s no wonder most would invest long hours just for the sake of attaining this item. No doubt, it’ll be unable to be traded.

Pio’s Recycling Quest would be the initial source of headaches for fellow low-leveled maplers on Maple Island. The objective would be to shatter wooden boxes to attain wooden planks and rusty screws from them. The only obstacle in the way would be the hordes of maplers amassing around the locations of where the boxes spawn, all whacking the same wooden containers, making it simply difficult for most to obtain these items as the first person who touches the box physically usually gets its contents. (I’ve been highly fortunate considering that I only took half an hour to do the quest.)

Immaturity and Non-sensical insults sprout

Perhaps it’s a sociology test to see how people behave under pressure or when they’re driven to a corner and some high end university professor is surveying the dialogues. Apparently, he isn’t going to get very positive results if that’s the case.

One of the few training areas left relatively unscathed by the vulgar behavior and killing habits of most maplers.

Leveling on the island would be hard too, especially if your job isn’t strength based. Fortunately, for my crossbow-man, it didn’t take me too long to get to level 10 since I was already hunting orange mushrooms (the highest leveled monster on the island) by the time I hit level 7.
Only to realise that my ability points were allocated wrongly, too much strength that is.

Number of people here is simply insane (red dots represent other players. Why? I guess because they're potential kill-stealers)

One might think of the rest of the game to be smooth sailing after that. But of course, factor in the numerous number of players who have dedicated their lives (or at least till the rest of this month) to leveling, it’ll be difficult to even find a spot to train without being kill-stolen from. The only thing that’s enabling me to level up slightly faster than usual would be the 2 times experience slot when all monsters killed during the period entitles a player with twice the normal amount of experience. Yes, so it’s pure grinding (training over and over again).

Game Masters (those who are in-charge of stomping down hacking) are pretty active, smashing the presence of any hacks or cheats a law-breaking player would normally use. That is also inclusive of any misconduct, impersonation. They are also known to provide buffs (hasten player movements, abilities temporarily) to fortunate players who they stumble upon during their rounds around the world map.

Yes, swarms of desperate players are banded already for cheating. And 60 days happens to be 2 months, disabling the chances of them of ever attaining one of the unique bandanas.

Lively chit-chat/interaction between players and GMs.

Another personal issue I have would be the usage of character names. Majority of the players I’ve sighted so far have the term Delphinus or Dolphin in their names. Can’t players come up with something more unique then just that?

Have I ever mentioned my utter distaste towards character names that begin with xiao/xiiao. The very essence of it encapsulates the manifestation of something so intellectually-impaired. How can something so impure ever defy the vision of the players, I wonder, I wonder?

[Translation for bottom speech bubble: I want to take it home!!]

Simpler terms? Ok. My point would be that I hate people who act-cute. Oh wait, I think I stumbled on the entire guild of act-cuters. Damn.
[I think I’ve just offended ¼ of maple’s population.]

So before I leave, I would like to present a kind word of advice to all currently-active maplers: It isn’t the end of the world/universe if you are not able to attain level 50 within this month. And remain gracious and exhibit socially acceptable behavior. Anger relief doesn’t occur in the form of insults, rather it’s resolved by killing monsters.

Wait, that was 3 pieces of advices. Good luck to all!

Next scheduled post would be a Dark Messiah one…once I complete it.

Feena's makeover

2006-10-29T21:24:00.000+08:00

I've never laughed so hard this week, until I chanced upon this article. http://www.darkmirage.com/2006/10/25/lg-digital-fine-contrast-does-magic-for-anime/

(I'm not sure whether this is real life or photoshopped.)
From the article, an electronics store in Akihabara advertised its claim of LG Televisions being capable of modifying poorly drawn anime to a CG-level standard, referencing from...*gasp*...the horrendously done up episode 3 of Yoake Mae yori Ruri-iro na (Cresent Love) [Brighter than the dawning blue]. Yes, it's that bad (on par with Powerpuff Girls Z episode 8/9) ...but I never anticipated that it would be utilised as a sales tactic.

By the way, if one hasn't noticed yet, darkmirage.com is a Singaporean-based anime blog run by someone taking his 'O' levels this year and is still updating relatively frequently. Wait...that sounds familiar.

I'm just going to make a couple of ~~NSFW (not safe for work)~~ additions to the side column in the form of links. Then, I'll continue analysing RJC GPBull essays.

EDIT: NSFW additions?! Where did that come from?

New video!

2006-10-28T01:00:00.000+08:00

The producers of DragonFable/Battleon! have released their first ever video. View the link below to check it out.

http://video.battleon.com/

It's not chinese if ur wondering, only the text (of the abilities) for the video is.
Yay for Chinese! (Did I just say that?!)

I've finally received my NS enlistment letter. And the lucky date is 12/04/07 at 0900hrs and it's in BMTC1, where Ryan described the 'frequency' of chicken wings to be much lower than in camp 2. (I'd rather have my chicken meat without wavelength or velocity though...)

4 more days and counting till GP starts. And I still have a shitload of revision practices left undone for my sciences...

Eh...right

2006-10-25T22:56:00.000+08:00

I was reading the downloaded and translated Higurashi no Naku Koro ni manga yesterday and I must say, it's a whole lot better than the anime. Of course, it's black and white, but at least the characters are (slightly) more proportionate than the sound novel and the anime combined (Erm, disregarding Mion's/Shion's oversized assests). The character designs look way (way, way, way) better. Tomitake looks way too lean for his *ar-hem* rank.

Here's an example:

(Copyrighted to...err...the producers of the manga)

"...because you brought the hachet, we can mutilate another innoncent bystander tomorrow, right?"

(Oops, this is what you get when u trust a Rena fanatic to post a Higurashi picture)

The only problem would be, is there a possibility that this would eventually be liscened and published in Singapore?

Drawing closer

2006-10-23T22:33:00.000+08:00

It's kind of frightening to see that the number of days left till the first paper of the 'A' levels has fallen to a single digit. At least for my case, since I've long touched anything related to General Paper for these past few days, excluding today that is. And my heart rate increases every time I read a RJC essay from the GPbull.

Dammit! Why on earth am I sitting here updating my blog and expressing my concerns?

Well, nothing much has changed ever since I've graduated, since I'm returning to school every other day for something one would relate to 'art'. I'm not sure about this, but it's kind of eating into my revision time (not to mention typing for this entry as well), since it takes me an hour to come to school and an hour to get back. Yeah, and I can't concentrate in school much so the amount of time I spend is school is almost proportional to the time I spend (sleeping) on the bus.

As important as it is, I get this feeling that I wouldn't be able to go into in-depth revision for it until the period of the one week break after chemistry mcq.

Something completely irrelevant would be that a spider flew out from my hair yesterday. Ok, out of topic.

It'll be so darn awesome if I could doodle like that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi7LVYMrkZA

And by the way, anyone who hasn't received their NS letter yet, please contact me via MSN messenger. Either Mindef lost my enlistment letter, have trouble deciding when to slot me in, or have exempted me from NS for whatever (illogical) reason. Although the last option is highly favourable, the probability of it occuring is slimmer than the diameter of an electron.

Time for my weekly dose of RJC GP essays. It's going to take me a while before I'm able to write like that...hopefully within the time span of 14229 minutes.

Nope...not dead yet

2006-10-22T01:39:00.000+08:00

As many would be wondering from the last post, let's just say I'm not dead yet. Well, I would be if I were to continue studying at such a snail-paced rate. I'm not even certain whether I'm halfway through my revision programme.

I've included a few more animes to the list on the right, this season's series look really good. Then again, I wouldn't be able to watch any till I've completed my 'A' levels. That list sure looks tempting...

Ryan came to my house to study and train his pull ups last Friday, and saved me the trouble of cleaning my keyboard. (Wait, I've never cleaned my keyboard before.) And look at what we found under all those keys.

Most definitely high ranked as one of the world's dirtiest keyboards, complete with dandruff bits, misplaced strands of hair, semi-dead skin remanents and possible nose booze. And I think I know why the backspace key of my (late) laptop was jammed.

Oh, before I forget, I would like to apologise for making people lose their most recent meal. (Or would that be a bit too late already?)

sanity linked ear

2006-10-15T23:08:00.000+08:00

Ah well...I think I'm losing my sanity...

My left ear has been blocked ever since Thursday, by none other than accumulated earwax. Just imagine a pressure build up within ur ears when you get in a plane descending from high altitudes or when sinking too deep in a 3metre swimming pool. Yeah, that's the feeling, except that it doesn't go away. Irritating, but I've gotten used to it.

So, there's this ringing sound I get most of the time. It's kinda like the ringing sound you hear if you were to stay quiet in a quiet room for way too long, just that the sound is continuous for my case. It's getting on my nerves...

And it's too deep for me to clean and I'll probably damage my eardrums if I were to dig deeper. Thus, what makes it worse is that the specialist isn't open till Monday.

The ringing is still there...

That consistent *Eeeeeeee-* which doesn't seem to go away...like a ghastly whisper that I've endured for 4 days straight.

How I wish I could claw it out from my ear, though that will only leave me half-deaf.

*Eeeeee-*...

I'll just have to live with it for a few more hours...

*Eeeee-*...

...even though it's driving me insane.

*Eeee-*...

.....just a few more hours...

*Eee-*

....

..

About my coursework

2006-10-15T01:25:00.000+08:00

Reasons why I decided to use video as my medium:

1) Too much competition for paintings.

Every year, NYJC churns out at least 5 paintings for their AEP courseworks. Yeah, apparently my painting skills won't be able to match up with the higher standards of others (Zijia, Shulian etc.) who have been educated in this art of painting by specialised teachers (Mr Leow didn't even teach in-depth painting techniques during Sec4).

Too many paintings would mean that the markers can compare easily. Difference in skill often costs marks, and marks are what one can never afford to lose. TJC is different in the sense that everyone focuses on utilising different media (sculpture, pastel, pencil, batik) so the examiners are forced to judge each work separately.

2) I get to enjoy air con

This one is pretty self explanatory. Work with computers and you get to work inside and there's usually air conditioning inside the room.

3) I get to work at home

Taking videos is done at home so it'll be more convenient if I edited it at the same time. Nevertheless, this lacks efficiency since I often end up sleeping or working on something else until at night when I finally commence to work on my video.

4) Different Skill involved

I can safely conclude that not everyone can utilise photoshop effectively after 18 years of observation. It's interesting to realise what medium and technique I've been using all this while and the extreme torture of starring at the computer screen for long periods of time that comes along with it, compromising my eyesight greatly.

5) Easy to store, compact and cost efficient

Not only that, I can bring my video home as proof that I've done my coursework, unlike a cumbersome 4metre painting (no specific reference intended) that wouldn't be able to fit into the back of a truck. It wouldn't be bound by the conveniental rule of 'courseworks can't be brought home'.

Decided to...

2006-10-15T00:56:00.000+08:00

Layout modifications: I decided to shift the tagboard to the top just in case readers were unaware of its existence.

Well, the graduation ceremony on Friday was like...a partial waste of time. I guess the only purpose it served was an indication that the JC2s are officially leaving the college...for good.

The only thing I found interesting was the video montage that consisted of videos of teachers and principals voicing their comments, encouragements, 'last words' to students, which were very (very, very) quickly put together. I immediately assumed that it was the work of a teacher with a video camera. Strangely, I didn't recognise a small number of teachers (esp. the bio teachers) who were present in the video even after residing in NYJC for close to 2 whole years.

The best videos were definitely from the Physics department and the Chemistry department teachers, obviously wanting all science students to remember their formulas and definitions before the 'A' level examinations.

All AEP students waited for the ACJC-ian art students, who were supposed to come view our courseworks, for about close to 2 hours before Miss Lye suggested that we leave since they exceeded the stipulated time of 11am.

Lol, and my friends were laughing at my video, which was kind of expected since I myself found some portions funny if one does not comprehend the true intent of my coursework. Well, thanks to all for making it possible!

Anyway, Zijia and I headed off to TJC (Damon joined us later), having our lunch first in Parkway. Since it was their open-house, I guess they didn't really mind 3 NYJC-ians walking about. The funny thing was that we both got approached by 2 girls (I assume that they are J1s) who requested for us to be on the school's swimming team until they realised their mistake.

TJC has interesting courseworks. Most of them revolved around the concept of the relationship between man (technology) and nature. Let's just say I was only impressed by those stuck on the walls and the other works weren't really that intriguing (final product wise).

Inside the art gallery, the first time me and Zijia were looking at their works (without Damon and his friend), a TJC art student approached us and a not-so-colourful conversation ensued.

TJCian: So, you two interested in taking art next year?
Zijia: Err, we're JC2s...(*perplexed*)
TJCian: oh...I see. (*disappointed expression*)
YY: And we're taking art.
TJCian: [gasp]...OMG SPIES!!!!! (runs off towards the other TJCian art students)

As one can infer, I was quite taken aback by his sudden shout, though it degenerated our impression towards that particular TJCian. Definitely too loud for his own good.

The 2nd time I entered the gallery was when Damon came along, with his TJCian art student friend who was kind enough to explain the works to all of us. I kept quiet since nearly half of what he said was filtered off by the earwax which is still clogging up my left ear. (Heh, that would be a bit too much description for anyone to stomach.)

An interesting thing to note is that TJCian art students can survive without sleep and work for 60-70 plus hours straight which occurred before the submission date. Damn! That surpasses my record by at least 2.5 times!

I met my sister there too, since she was touring the college and happened to enter the gallery probably because of her guide (not much because I called her to since she wasn't really interested in art).

That pretty much concluded my trip to TJC...

Freaky stuff

2006-10-11T23:48:00.000+08:00

OMGWTF?!
(Best viewed at night, alone...)

Open the links at ur our risk:

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2388/260261of1.jpg
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/5332/262263ht0.jpg
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8017/264rx7.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1161/266rl8.jpg

If only the animation were to be this freaky...

Taken from:
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni manga Watagashi-gen (no, I don't own it, though I wish I did.)
Last scene where Keiichi suffers from a heart attack after hallucinating that a bloody Mion/Shion came back for revenge.

Another disturbing clip, though not of the previous one's genre.
Cat Soup: Lunch Clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxnDfWAFE_w

This should keep me off the computer for a while.

Errr...photography?

2006-10-10T23:18:00.000+08:00

This has got to be the scariest Higurashi no Naku Koro ni fan-made amv parody of all time.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAkakhPkrug

Anyway, please prepare a bucket to puke in before watching the video. It'll do your computer more good than it will for yourself.

If you managed to stay alive after watching all 3 minutes of the video, you can galdly commend urself with a pat on the back, and get on with the throwing up...

Here are...

2006-10-10T22:36:00.000+08:00

Here are the links for the Higurashi Motion Videos I've been talking about for the last 2 posts.

(Warning: may contain disturbing scenes like in the anime)

Nakanai Kimi to Nageki no Sekai (features Onikakushi-hen)
http://stage6.divx.com/content/show/2877?user_id=66788

Nakanai Kimi to Nageki no Sekai -Soushunfu- (features Watanagashi and Meakashi-hen)
http://stage6.divx.com/content/show/3166?user_id=66788

Nakanai Kimi to Nageki no Sekai -Utage- (features Tatarigoroshi and Himatsubushi-hen)
http://stage6.divx.com/content/show/3176?user_id=66788

Nakanai Kimi to Nageki no Sekai -Rinne no Koku wa Kureyukedo- (featuresMinagoroshi-hen)
http://stage6.divx.com/content/show/4909?user_id=66788

(The video sharing site is Stage6. The video and sound quality of youtube do little justice to portray the incredible vocal range of the singer and the true quality of the animation.)

One has to play the game or watch to anime to actually comprehend the scenes in the videos though. Personally, my favourite would be the 4th one since it not only features scenes outside of the anime but introduces *cough*Oyashiro-sama/Hanyuu*cough*.

And the songs are quite addictive too after listening to them. Not too intensive on one's hearing like heavy rock or metal and doesn't interferre with one's concentration too much. Anyone interested in the songs? I have the full mp3 verisons of them that I'm willing to share.

Perfect to satisfy my Higurashi no Naku Koro ni addiction.

Here's another video, this time from youtube.
(Warning: Terribly cute chibis may dominate your computer monitor whichI found really funny.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd2rAPzh2ik&mode=related&search=

It's the ending theme for Otome wa Boku Koishiteru (wow, I can't believe I've already memorised the title even without watching the anime).

End of break, got to study. Less than 33000 minutes to the 'A' levels.

Take a look

2006-10-10T21:45:00.000+08:00

As featured in the NYJC website...
http://www.nanyangjc.org/news/2006/20061010-NewPaper/NewPaper.html

Here's my very generalised, yet very personalised response to this topic. I'm a persistent latecomer myself and too live close to an hour away from the school, so one would already recognise my stand.

(I'm going to rule out the noun named 'propaganda' since I might get sued for that.)

My first impression I got when I saw this:

"The student, who had been late more than four times, had received a warning letter threatening expulsion if she was late again.
The student lives more than an hour away from school."

...was...

Explusion letter for more than 4 times of late-coming?! What the...?!

Speaking of which, I've been late for 14 times already for the entire span of the year of 2006, and that's excluding the fact that I've only turned up for assembly only twice so far after the prelims. (But I did turn up for almost all of the post-prelim lectures.)

I think the only reason the discipline council let me off so many times with just a mere warning (except for the 14th time) would primarily be because I'm a J2 in AEP. Uh...though I doubt that that would constitute for a good reason to let me off either.

Well, i wasn't really surprised if anyone would write a letter of complaint to the school, especially when its from one of the students. But seriously, the student council handling the principal's not-so-significant affiars? (Err, the word 'lazy' just popped up in my mind, but I'm not going to utilise it here...wait, I just did.)

"The student's council usually handles activities within the school like camps, games and student surveys."

So we go back to the mid-term 2 and refer to the rejected question meant for the new candidates of student council to answer by a rugby player.
"Do you find that the student council are too much of an attention-seeking bunch?" (or something to that extent)

To which he received a reply from a member, amangst cheers of the students, of...
"Sorry, that question is inappriorate, please ask another."

Yeah, come again? Seems that I've been missing out on a lot of these 'activities'...

"It explained that students who received the warning letters were persistent late-comers who had already been given ample warning."

I'm just going to leave a giant blank since I really have no comment to this quote.
_______________________________________________, there. That should do the trick.

"Solve the problem, if not you'll become the problem and we'll have to deal with you ourselves."
-Mr Kwek

As you can see, I don't really like the way the discipline community runs the latecoming system. Here's what you get after 4 times of latecoming.
5 times: Letter of explusion, consultation with parents, temporary leave from school
6 times: Expelled from college.

Not much of a thought spared to anyone who was late for 6 times (I recognise the fact that I've been highly fortunate). Yes, it's effective, but it is a bit too harsh on the students.

The best solution to this problem would be to construct a hostel. A resident apartment for students to rent room from so they wouldn't have to worry about latecoming. Nonetheless, huge financial investments and space would have to be made for this, but at least it's effective for stomping out the root of the problem, namely, living too far away from the college.

This no longer gives students the reason of 'living too far away from the college', something that most latecomers would face.

Not only that, it also provides an opportunity for students to manage their own well-being, like in an university hostel. One wouldn't have to be too overly dependent on their parents or maids for house-keeping matters.

An expensive yet effective solution, though I hope the college considers it if they hadn't already. And please, please, please revise the latecoming system, 6 times is really too little for the entire span of a whole year.

Students still want to further their studies and expelling them actually diminishes the possibility of finding another college that would accept them, unless of course, u're persistently active in competitions and excel in ur studies.

"On the possible abuse of medical certificates, the letter stressed that the college trusted that students who produce MCs are genuinely unwell."

Rrright...I think I need to go outside to get some fresh air.
Dammit, the air ain't fresh. Damn you, Indonesians.

Honestly, if they've not realised it, the college has been too naive on that part.

"So for one day during the week-long school holidays last month, they met in the school in the morning and wrote 10 drafts of the letter until they settled on the final one six hours later."

What was I doing during that week? I was rushing through prep work for more than 24 hours from Monday to Tuesday, that's what I was doing. And all they were doing was typing a letter?

To top it off, I think that interviewing the current principal of PJC would be too much of a concidence, especially since Mr Kwek himself was the former principal of that college.

P.S.: Higurashi motion graphic videos links will be up soon.

2006-10-08T21:39:00.000+08:00

New show added to the 'Animes I'm going to watch after the 'A' levels' list. This one actually looks *cough*interesting*cough*. The youtube opening will be up soon.

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru

(Copyrighted Picture from the game's website gallery)
Genre: Romance, Pseudo Yuri
Story: A guy enrolls into an all-girls school as requested by his grandfather's will. But just how long can he last without his identity being exposed? (Can you tell which one is the guy from that picture alone?)

For obvious reasons, I'm going to include this in the list on the right. Judging from the storyline, and the review for episode one found in Random Curiousity, it's definitely going to be quite fun to watch.

Something interesting would be that the 'guy' is voiced by a famed female seiyuu, Yui Horie.
The same seiyuu who voiced:
-Ayu from Kanon
-Youko from Inukami!
-Toru from Fruits Basket
-Naru from Love Hina
-Siesta from Zero no Tsukaima
etc. etc. ...

Of course, like Happiness! (stated in an earlier post), this is based off a H-game so things may get a little R-15 as the season progresses (ie unsuitable for little kids to watch). My 2nd guilty-pleasure show for this season.

Next up: Links to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni motion graphics. (Actually more like a music video, just that it's better.)

Ops...

2006-10-07T00:07:00.000+08:00

I've just watched the openings of the animes, that I've mentioned in the previous post, on youtube. (The links have been provided on the right.)

To be honest, I didn't find any of the anime openings for this season to be all that interesting or impressive, something that I would first consider before going straight into an anime series. None of them seemed to have the striking, outstanding qualities as seen from Higurashi No Naku Koro ni or Kamisama Kaozoku (again, OPs linked on the right).

Here are some comparisons to prove my stand. Of course, the animes are compared to the other animes of similar genres.

Horror/Mystery/Supernatural:
Death Note vs Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni

Death Note's OP song is fairly upbeat, something that one would expect for a mystery-based, horror genre. Nonetheless, my preference still lies in Higurashi No Naku Koro ni's opening, the song has the same title as the series.

Blood, the source of life and suitable for consumption. Too bad this scene never appeared in the anime.
(Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni)

I don't know, but the impression I get from Death note's OP is probably a premonition foretelling a possible resident evil outbreak. L looks very much like a zombie and the dark city scenes just add to the atmosphere of zombie infestation.

Red vs Blue! How else can I put it?
(Death Note)

Overall:
Blooming Flowers, Rena licking blood, Mion and Shion pairing, Teary Satoko is an instant, definite win over Falling Apple, Dark Cityscapes, Light and (Zombified) L pairing.

Of course, the animation quality for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (HnNKn) is no where close to Death Note's superior style. However, I doubt that Death Note would be able to match up with the horror content of HnNKn's. (Yeah, getting lazy with typing out the entire title.)

Romance/Harem:
Happiness! vs Shuffle!

Seriously! No where close! I really don't see Happiness being portrayed as a romance type anime from its OP! Shuffle does a much better job at that! Why on earth am I ending my sentences with exclaimation marks?!

Red, blue, purple, green, orange...take your pick.
(Shuffle!)

Sorry, but Happiness!'s OP doesn't really hit the mark nor does it provide any indication that it is a romance type. Shuffle!'s OP, on the other hand, at least shows Rin (the main character) being 'assulted' (an exaggrated expression, of course) by girls. Plus, Happiness!'s OP song is a bit too slow for a harem type anime and doesn't have that striking melody that Shuffle!'s OP song has.

Everyone is after the same thing...the main character.

Overall:
Magic-equipped (for Kaede's case, it'll be emo-equipped) Girls of Shuffle! win over Magical instrument-wielding Girls (and a guy dressed as a girl, Jun) of Happiness!.

Nothing much to say for a conclusion, though I might consider trying out the Happiness game IF I have the chance to. Note that the sunflower field motif pops up for both OPs.

Romance/Humour
Sumomomo Momomomo vs Zero No Tsukaima

Originally, I wanted to use Kamisama Kazoku as a comparison. But on second thought, it'll definitely over rule Sumomomo Momomomo's OP and it doesn't have much humour portrayed inside it's OP.

'Gah! Rejected again...', (a somewhat common phrase heard during selection of coursework topics)
(Sumomomo Momomomo)

Wait...these two opening clips are almost similar in the way they are presented: Introduction of characters, familiar scenes that illustrate the storyline plus...a mysterious character whose identity is blatantly given away by the character introduction. Not to mention that the main female leads both have pink hair. Concidence?

Miracle Underwear Washer...works for free.
(Zero No Tsukaima)

This is definitely going to be a close fight.
Overall:
Martial Arts, CG dragons, snakes, Trio pairing emerges triumphant over Zeroes, Animated dragons, Magic (in my opinion).

I think Zero no Tsukaima's OP song has more potential than the oriential-like Sumomomo Momomomo's OP song. But honestly, I feel that the OP sequence for Sumomomo Momomomo is much more decent in comparison to Zero no Tsukaima's.

I wanted to compare Kanon with something. I enjoyed (or rather, currently enjoy) listening to Kanon's opening song, Last Regrets. Apparently, I'm really not in the right mind to carry on typing this blog entry.

Fall impressions

2006-10-06T00:14:00.000+08:00

Just a slight deviation from today's studying spree.

As most anime followers would be aware of, the Summer Anime season has come to a close, paving way for the Fall animes. *Points to list of anime on the right of the blog* Notice how many animes have ended already?

Anyway, it's just in time too. I'll have little distraction when studying for my 'A' levels, which apparently will commence in less than 30 days time. I've done with the panicking and started studying already, no point getting worried and not doing anything in the end.

So...this entry actually serves as a reminder of what animes I'm interested in watching AFTER the 'A' levels of course. Here's a brief run-through of interested animes that have started airing this week, or maybe the one after. (I'll post the Openings of the animes here as soon as I've located them on youtube.)

No pictures yet, forgive my laziness.
Edit: Pictures are now up, I repeat, pictures are now up!
Note that the images are taken from the actual site for the anime and are copyrighted to their respective owners. (Except for the screenshot of Happiness on youtube.)

Kanon

Genre: Romance
Story: No idea...

A remake of the original Kanon, initially aired in the year 2002. As I've only started watching anime recently as of last year, I have no idea what the storyline is about. From what I heard, the plot is terrific. Plus, coupled with the enhanced graphics this anime is going to offer, I guess it could be considered to be one of the most awaited animes this season.

Death Note

Genre: Dark, Mystery, Horror(?), Supernatural
Story: A student picks up a book, which fell from the realm of Death Gods, that has the potential to kill people instantly upon writting their names inside its pages.

Wow! Check out the mind-blowing animation quality that literally supresses most others. I just hope that it sticks to the manga's main storyline throughout.
Anyway, the 'Live' movie arrives in Singapore on the 17th of October, 2 more weeks.

D. Gray Man

Genre: Action, Mecha, Supernatural
Story: Exorcists fighting against the undead. Undead fused with mecha parts. That's about all I know.

On the surface, it looks like Full-metal alchemist, from the fact that the main character has a metallic hand and fights off demonic creatures. But from the comments that others have made, it seems that the manga has quite a decent storyline. Let's just hope they can pull it off well.

Sumomomo Momomomo

Genre: Action, Humor, Romance
Story: The main character is about to inherit a martial arts skill, along with an insanely strong lolistic girl that is dying to be his bride. Not to mention that their parents support their intended marriage, despite the fact that the main character seems totally uninterested in (and strongly rejects it).

No, the humor does not solely originate from the tongue twisting nature of the title. (How fast can you say the title for 10 times?) But from the promo video, it actually looks quite funny though it may get overly repetitive if no plot materialises.

Happiness!

Genre: Harem, Romance
Story: Yeah, completely clueless...other than the fact that it's a school of magicians

Err...happiness! Derived from a H-game, that's about all I know. Hence, this proves that there's room for plenty of ecchi (perhaps of Shuffle!'s standard?).
The green sphere remains me of the moss ball, one of Hokkaido's trademarks.

I'm so tempted to put the newest season of pokemon on the list, but the re-introduction of long time protagonist Ash (Satoshi <-that's his japanese name) and long time antagonist group Team Rocket into the picture kinda puts me off. I've seen too much of an overpowered electric mouse for my lifetime.

Ok, that's about it. Somehow, I don't find these animes really interesting (yet), excluding the first 2 on the list. (Maybe I'm still addicted to higurashi no naku koro ni.) Anyway, I wouldn't know unless I watch at least the first episode, which would be after my 'A' levels. As of now, I think I'll just be watching the OPs first, as well as getting a composition done up for later's Art paper 2 practice.

Let's start here shall we?

2006-10-04T20:56:00.000+08:00

Just in case no one is worrying about the 'A' levels yet, here's a reminder that there's approximately 41700 minutes and counting left before the first paper, GP, commences.

Can't use the longstanding excuse of 'I've not studied for this' any more.

Aww...fiddlesticks. (FYI, that phrase was used by Elmo in today's episode of Seaseme Street on Kids Central.) He/It looks kinda freaky in this picture, like as if he's going claw someone's throat out (either that or i'm still hooked on Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.)

And I've decided to alter the layout of this site after the 'A' levels. Or perhaps during the week long break before the Art papers begin.

Did i mention how 'bullshit-ed' my special talents report is? (for a lack of a better adjective)
I found myself typing in redundant details that could possibly have been mistaken for achievements for cca. Yeah...what a joke, and I actually spent 1 and a half hour typing it.

Apparently, I didn't hit the ridiculous required word limit of 300 words either, which constitutes as another joke since this entry, which I took less than 15 minutes to type out, is definitely longer than the report.

Err...that's all of the free time I have. Good luck for those taking your promos or the 'A' levels!

Digging

2006-10-04T00:45:00.000+08:00

I'm suffering from anime withdrawal symptoms ever since I've decided to cease watching any of this season's anime. Of course, most of the animes that I've been following have concluded, leaving me with little choice but to stop watch such Japanese animation altogether.

Nonetheless, I'm still digging up, sourcing for higurashi no naku koro ni images and spoilers from the game itself, during my free time, to make up for the lack of anime watching, especially since the anime ended off without a clue to who the true culprit behind the mystery is. However, most of the hints about the storyline aren't really too direct so as to preserve the secrets that are only revealed in the game.

(Image NOT BY ME, copyrighted to respective owner)
~Rena all the way! ~kana

Maybe I should pick up Japanese after the 'A' levels or something to understand the story since babelfish translations are potential threats to one's standard of English if exposed to them for too long.

But first, the 'A' levels are my top priority. (And I should really get back to writing that 'special talents' report.)

Countdown: 42905 minutes 20 seconds to the 'A' levels.

Damn the bootlicking

2006-10-04T00:13:00.000+08:00

I'm not sure how to put this, but I can't believe i've wasted half an hour scratching my hair out and trying to figure out how to do this self-bootlicking 'special talents' report for my graduation certificate, as Mr Tan Kim Soo has instructed me to do. (Unfortunately, I've not been able to compose that sentence without an extra 'out' or 'how' in it. A definite overdose of adverbs, so to speak.)

I mean anyone, with a sane mind and an appropriately sized ego, wouldn't be capable of writing a 300-400 words worth of self-glorification of one's abilities and talents, regardless of how unique they may be. (And this point of the blog entry would already have been more words that I've currently typed for the report...how ironic.)

Kim Soo's sms didn't help much either, especially with that line translated from chinese that states: 'write it to the best of ur intepretation'. (And it so happens that what I comprehend from the objectives of this report is only worth 5-7 short sentences, amounting to less than 100 words.)

If anyone has a sample, or at least a format, that I could reference from, please send it to me via msn messenger within a few minutes before my brain explodes/implodes after all that 'racking'. (With that phrase being an exaggrated figure of speech, of course.)

Please spare a thought to my fatigued mind. (And I'll spare your's by not commenting on all my sentences as well as by ceasing this grammatical monostrosity.)

Oh, and it so happens to be a week after the submission of coursework, of which I have a half-baked entry on that I'm so tempted to publish.

Sucidial Art

2006-09-22T00:24:00.000+08:00

Apparently, due to my laziness, I didn't sleep a wink the previous night just to work on my prep work for paper 2. My first record of staying up all throughout the night to get something done (which is art, no less). All my previous attempts involved me sleeping for at least 1-2 hours during that period.

Note to self: This mode of prep work rushing is highly sucidial and quality is not guaranteed.

Here's a quick outline of the time frame of what occurred during my prep work preparation.
(All pieces of prep were slightly smaller than 1/2 of an A3 drawing paper.)

20/9
11pm-12.30am: Started work, completing one colour pencil sketch.

21/9
12.30-1.30am: Did a watercolour/colourpencil piece.
1.30-3.00am: Did an arcylic/colourpencil piece (quality diminishing), went to brush teeth.
3.00-3.30am: Past regular sleeping hour, Did one quick plan of the installation for my coursework.
3.30-5.00am: Did an arclic/colourpencil piece, watched Powerpuff girls Episode: Best Rainy Day Adverture Ever, faitgue kicking in
5.00-6.00am: Still had no composition to paint for later, took photos, did a pen/watercolour sketch.
6.00-6.10am: Rushed out a small storyboard of negligible quality, finally decided upon my composition.
6.10-6.50am: Rushed to prepare for school.

Total number of pieces: 7
Number of A3 paper filled: 3
Number of hours awake (inclusive of 20/9): 26 hours

Don't ever try this method ever, unless you are guaranteed at least 5 hours of sleep after that. I suffered from a slight heatstroke along the way home since it was scorching outside so the hours that i slept (inclusive of that in the bus), would amount to at least 7 hours. And I'm still half conscious at this present hour.

Really need sleep...

2.45am

2006-09-12T03:04:00.000+08:00

It's 2.45am in the morning. After studying for chemistry paper 3 later in the day, I lumbered into the toilet half asleep. And guess what I found...

Initially, in my half conscious state, I thought it was a stick floating in the water as it was keeping perfectly still. But since there weren't any trees around, it kinda ruled out my assumption. Only upon closer inspection did I realise what I nearly pissed on...

Could've taken a photo of higher resolution but it was wriggling aroung too much, so a video was the next best option. Yep, it nearly freaked me out at that hour.

Humour rocks

2006-09-10T02:07:00.000+08:00

Things that made me laugh this week:

(Not by me, picture copyrighted to respective owner)

I found this fanart at Moetron, interesting. If u've watched the episodes, or at least caught a glimspe of the powerpuff girls Z in my blog or somewhere else, u'll too find this picture funny since it references to the original Cartoon Network PPG series.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Episode 23/2
Rena's back in action (after being neglected for 18 episodes), complete with her gigantic chopper. Slicing and dicing goodness. Blood Splatter. That really brought a smile to my face.
Mere screenshots cannot capture the genuine goodness of such a scene, so enjoy portion of the episode.

Screenshot taken from PPGZ!
I found this out by accident when youtube lagged, causing the frames to load at 0.5 frame per second. Apparently, the final phase of the transformation sequence requires Bubbles to jerk up her upper body from a kneeling position. Blossom falls from the sky.
Since Blossom's hair connected so well with Bubble's face at that instant, it almost looks like Bubbles got whipped in the face with hair, complete with a 'swooning'-like expression.

Love Hina again screenshot, episode 3
I can't believe it took me this long to find out that there was an OVA for Love Hina.
Actually, everything was hilrarous, from how Keitaro was attempting to keep Kanako from 'raping' him in the 2nd episode to Naru's unsuccessful tea serving due to the curse (above).
Good times.

Err...sleep. Yes, sleep.

Phanks

2006-09-08T02:45:00.000+08:00

A big thank you to all the AEP students took the effort to celebrate vanessa's, qiyang's and my (in chronological order of birth dates) birthday together.

I apologise for having to leave so early.
But the cake was overkill. Hopefully, none of it was wasted in my absence.

Anime ratings

2006-09-08T01:28:00.000+08:00

Still revising for prelims and rushing through the final lap of coursework, so don't expect a heavy post.

Anyway, I happened to pass by a CD shop selling some more popular anime titles, mainly from the previous year, and I was fascinated with the censorship ratings they gave to each of the anime series. Here's some of the more famous series that caught my attention, as well as a short description of them so u'll be able to more or less figure out why they were given that rating.

(Note: All pictures have been taken from somewhere and are copyrighted to their respective owners)

Full Metal Alchemist (PG)

Lots of fighting, well-developed storyline, touches on issues such as the fragility of human life, brotherly love and the law of conservation. Well, if it's broadcast in Singapore in the afternoon, it's definitely safe for children to watch. Definitely.

Love Hina Again (NC-16)

Sequel to the famed Love Hina series. High humour level. Lots of ecchi/nudity. Yes, and I mean...a LOT, amounting to close to 1/3 of the entire screentime across all 3 episodes. It's a wonder why this isn't classified as hentai (u'll know if u watched the first episode).

Mai-Hime (NC-16...or was it PG? I would rate it an NC-16 anyway.)

Girls, monsters and battle royale type fighting along with a moderate level of nudity and a lesbian relationship developing closer to the end of the show. Fighting intensifies proportionally to the gradually diminishing humour.

Karas (PG)

Animation quality is exceedingly good, inclusive of 3G editing for the armour and fight sequences. Haven't watched this yet but the first stunning 5 minutes involve 2 armoured warriors gliding through a city at lightning speed and civilians getting hurt by the shockwaves of the movement. Probably violent.

Bleach (PG)

A revolutionary product that has completely changed the future of washing of clothes by instantly whitening it. Not for consumption, definitely requires paternal guidance to utilise.

Sorry...old joke.
Ban-kai!
Good plot, some decent fight scenes closer to the end of the 2nd arc (Soul Society Arc). Safe for kids to watch despite the ocassional blood splatter. However, storyline seems to deteriorate greatly during the filler Bount arc, plagued with numerous background stories. Hopefully, the Aizen/Espada Arc will get better (as seen in the manga).

If you haven't heard, Ichigo's picture was submitted and put up as one of the 4 million smiles for the IMF website. Unfortunately, it has already been taken down after initial laughs.

Gundam Seed Destiny (PG)

2 things u need to know about this series:
-Those with main character status can NEVER die regardless of intensity of injury.
-Kira pwns all...
What's more, a heavily censored verison once aired on Kids Central (apparently censoring off their own dubbing). I think you get my point.

If your interested in watching, just check youtube for the complete series of episodes for each of the titles. Everything is free, if you know where to look.

Just to kill a bit of time, I added in some anime titles (from this year) and their ratings (assuming that they will eventually be liscened in Singapore).

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (R-18)

(Hangi-na no Hane He...)
If they remove all the violent sequences (ie 3/4 of the entire series), the rating could fall to a NC-16. If not, this show is strictly off limits to minors. Seriously, would u let ur child see another child ramming her brains out against a chopper? I would...as a scare technique.

Powerpuff Girls Z! (PG)

Actually, more suited for younger teenagers. I wouldn't consider a villian such as the shape-shifting Sedusa or the 'Great' Michel (possibly gay hairstylish's alter ego) to be completely child-friendly. But you should really give this series credit for scientifically explaining a 'magical girl' type transformation. Transformation sequences may prove irritating after a while.

Note: I just saw a fan-drawn comic about PPGZ! saying that hentai always follows up with anime. (I'm not sure how true this is though, regarding shows like these.) This goes to show that anything related to anime deserves no less than a PG rating. Even if it's a show meant for kids.

Melachony of Suzumiya Haruhi (PG)

Very well developed plot. Scrambled episodes add to the asethetic quality of the anime. Clearly a masterpiece of epic portions, complete with aliens, espers and time travellers. Along with a girl who is able to unknowingly alter time dimensions and shape reality to her will.

Shakugan no Shana (PG)

Well-developed storyline. Some decent fight sequences, a love triangle and lots of melon bread. Nudity level is moderate. The only unsettling thing about this anime would be how they blended in a doll fetish, incest and cyber sex. (And the picture is horribly misleading btw.)

Shuffle! (R-18)

Definitely not for minors. The series alone is rated R-15 in Japan, what makes you think it can cross Singapore borders without half of the series being censored off? Based off a H-game, complete with full animated nudity. Harem Galore. Once again, off limits to minors. Ending kind of sucks in my personal opinion.

Not really anime type but it still has to be rated...
Paranoia/Psychosis [My Coursework Video] (PG)

Someone who runs around looking for a potentially dangerous and mischievious shadow of his, only to end his search in a semi-tragic conclusion. Warning: May shock younger audiences.
Almost a horror flick as commented by the teachers. My sister was freaked out at the 2nd scene (the confusing mirror part) upon seeing the different reflections. Maybe I should alter the rating to something of a NC-16 or close to that age restriction.

(Once again...all images/fan art/wallpapers are NOT MINE and are copyrighted to their respective owners)

Sorry, it seems i broke my promise of refraining from writing anime-based entries.
Could've added more, but fatigue stops me from writing too much...

One thing that doesnt change...

2006-09-05T01:39:00.000+08:00

There's one thing that doesn't change with time...

...that thing would be HTML....

Screenshot taken from Gundam Seed Stargazer Stage2. Apparently, the most high tech unmanned machine, Stargazer, is running on it. Complete with input commands, tables and images that aren't appearing. (I wanted to transfer portion of the text out but it wouldn't publish as it was mistaken as html.)

No doubt that it's deceivingly complicated.

t

2006-09-01T23:26:00.000+08:00

Teachers Day Celebrations: Most Wasted 2 hours of my life.

Playing 2 hours worth of higurashi no naku koro ni daybreak, stepmania or even writing this blog entry would've been more worthwhile than stoning for the entire period of time.

Not to be rude to those involved, but I didn't see the point or appreciate seeing Indians dancing for ACES day or getting teachers to perform on the day to commerate their working profession. I mean, shouldn't the students be in charge of all of this instead of the teachers themselves?

Teachers' day...hmm... It struck me in the bus that there were surprisingly few students or passengers for that matter for that particular day. My guess would be the apparent reason of not bothering to come to school/ better things to do at home. To all those who pon-ed: Best.Decision.Ever.

I came empty handed that day since it's not like u'll be in the mood to study while watching a performance. Seeing certain people with fully stuffed bags that there really made me wonder how much information they could adsorb during that 2 hours with all those...interference.

Let us commerate the enthusatic j1 who voluntarily grooved to the beat (or maybe out of beat) when the turban clad dancers invited him upstage. May his name go down in fame/infamy.

Everytime I see/hear a crazed fanatic, my faith in humanity diminishes ever further (as well as the degeneration of my ear drums). So whenever I see a crowd of screaming conseullors (sp?), u'll probably be able to predict my reaction. Too bad the society doesn't accept violence, though I shudder at the thought if it does.

*Shudders*
(Screenshot from Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Episode 22)

Well, it was a partial mistake going to school without anything, especially when the sky was littered with thick dark clouds. Had to make it back from the bus stop (at Mandrian Gardens) all the way to my place (behind Siglap centre) under negligible shelther.

Anyway, for those who haven't noticed, the photos are up (some of them decently taken I would say).
http://www.nanyangjc.org/gallery/view-album.php?y=2006&album=34
Highlights would include:
-Banana Man (photo 43)
-Hong Jun Yang (aka Mr Foo Kok Wei), project superstar (photo 49, 51 extreme right)
-Dancing ter-... i mean, Indians (photos 1-8)

Not forgetting...

Happy Teachers' Day to all my teachers, whether they have taught me before or currently or whether they have *ahem*caught me for skipping classes or coming late to school*ahem*. Your profession deserves much more than mere commeration on this school holiday or on the blogs of students for that matter.

Splendid fight

2006-08-18T00:21:00.000+08:00

It's always heartwarming to see Higurashi No naku Koro ni getting back into the spirit of things. Episode 20 is simply awesome. And have I mentioned how much I'm grateful for taking chinese as a 2nd language? No? Guess not...

Anyway, here's the youtube version. Chinese Translated.

Climax of the season? Nah...I'm expecting more from the next arc, featuring killer Rena.

My theory for the Oyashiro-sama curse killings...

...has to be linked to the doctor.

Deductions:

-Where else do you obtain drugs like those at that year (1987)?

-From episode 4, Rena/Mion mentioned that "since (Keiichi) is so interested in baseball, why not meet the manager/director?" Considering that the doctor is also the baseball league manager, it seems pretty obvious already.

-He wanted to 'put an end' to Keiichi after he confessed to the murder of Satoko's uncle, by drugging him (what else?).

What I don't understand would be why he would suicide himself on sleeping pills (3rd Question Arc). Maybe he had a little 'assistance'.

its a plus!

2006-08-16T00:03:00.000+08:00

A few simple formulas to add...

Runny nose + Wet Cough + Watery Eyes = Pissed

'Soupy Place' auntie + Numerous Packets of noodles = Multiple Murder Cases

Hensley + Birdshit = Insane Laughter

Weixian + Wood + Protein Shake + Strong Muscles = Wood-Chopping Weixian + Laughing Crowd

Abandoned water bottle + Roaming Praying Mantis + Weixian = Weixian gets a new pet

Yy + Yun Xuan + Desmond = lack of private personal space

Powerpuff Girls Z Wallpaper + iMac = Curious Miss Hew

Mervy + Book on Human Anotomy with realistic pictoral references = Lots of Handphone pictures + Weird Noises

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni + Suzumiya Haruhi = Priceless
(Scroll to the bottom of this link, Anime on My Mind)

2 weeks dateline for coursework + uncompleted video animation (4.7/6 scenes) + uncompleted prep work = Rushing for time => More time in front of computer = Diminishing Eyesight

Slacker Yy+ Computer = New StepMania songs + New Blog Entry

Youtube + Service Down = No life...

And the ultimate equation of all...

77 days (n counting) till the 'A' levels + countdown timer at NYJC website + half-baked knowledge of physics n chemistry + lack of GP knowledge/examples + unfinished coursework + Runny nose + ... + Computer+ unfinished anime watching + Stepmania v3.9 + Distractions = Oh crap...need to study now...

A few words...

2006-08-13T22:00:00.000+08:00

Since I don't have much time to make a proper post, allow me to sum up serveral events that occurred this week...

Might and Magic: Dark Messiah Demo = WOW...though laggy on my computer

National Day Parade Fireworks display = Spectacular

Consequent Fireworks display on Friday = Awesome...but a bit too lenghty, must've cost a bomb

Kamisama Kazoku Last Episode = Neat

Shakugan no Shana Last Episode = Very Neat

Cough passed down from sister = Sucks...

Sore throat/ moderate loss of voice = Double Sucks...

Some of my family members are coughing = Triple Sucks...

Slept for majority of the week = Damn...

Studying for thermodynamics and physics test = In progress...

Realising that i've not done EM field revision tutorial at this hour = Oh crap...

Yet again

2006-08-07T00:45:00.000+08:00

NYJC AEP takes the cake...again!

This time a bigger slice, by rendering all resistance futile and nabbing all prizes of the open category (ie 1st, 2nd and 3rd). ~~Mr Kwek and the powerpuff girls Z~~...i mean, the AEP teachers should be proud!

Istana Painting Competition Awards
'05: 5 Student (1st,2nd) , 1 Open (3rd i think)
'06: 2 student, 3 Open (see above)

To be honest, I didn't think very highly of this year's '06 batch of AEP students from their UOB painting standard (excluding some though), as well as from Zijia's constant ranting. But the istana event results ~~were~~ are appalling. It surely altered my perception about them.

Scroll down to see the winning entries...
http://nysketchbook.blogspot.com/

One word of advice: Be creative. Don't ask for Pizza Hut again this year.

match

2006-08-06T22:06:00.000+08:00

Random Nonsense:

Qiyang (from '05 AEP) has just met his match...

Apparently

2006-08-06T01:24:00.000+08:00

Initially, I thought that Powerpuff girls Z was for young kids and crazed fanatics of the original series.

I was wrong.

I've watched up to the 3rd episode so far (on youtube, of course) and I don't find it all too bad, in fact, it's pretty decent compared to most anime I've seen.

Their personalities are somewhat modified to the extreme now. Momoko (Blossom) has more attitude with a temper, Miyako (Bubbles) is the epitome of girli-ness and Kaoru (Buttercup) is a complete butch.

Who ever said PPG was meant only for kids.

And whoever isn't able to see through their identities at just a glance, should just refrain from watching anime for the rest of ur life.

Here's a comparison:

Untransformed

Transformed

Ok, maybe Buttercup's identity is less obvious but there's not even the removal of spectacles.

Anyway, I think only other anime character capable of performing this transformation is Luffy.
One needs rubber arms for this.

Not forgetting the fact that their transformation saves the animators time by taking up 30-90 seconds of screentime, about 240-720 frames if you do the maths.

Last of all, it's always promising to see that a regular talking villian monkey has the financial means to purchase and customise a dreadnought class ship.

I'm going to keep watching this series, alternative dimensions are always interesting to see.

...have to...stop...comparing ppg...with the AEP teachers...

Like most..

2006-08-05T22:38:00.000+08:00

Like most anime I've seen, my wadrobe is equally (or perhaps much more) under-utilised. A more familiar term for this scenario would be 'wadrobe malfunction'.

It's disturbing when main character dress in the same outfit for every episode out of a total of 10+, 20+ or even 500 plus episodes straight (*cough*DragonballZ* cough*).

I noticed (not so recently, and have been waiting for a perfect opportunity to blog about it) that I possess only 4 sets of outfit that I wear at home and 2-3 sets of clothings that I wear out.

Pretty disturbing, I know, even to the extent of arguing with family members that my current attire, that I've worn for close to 5 years or so, is durable enough to last for the next few years or so.

Perhaps the only time when I really decide to wear something different is the day when the outfit has been decomposed beyond recognition (as a figure of speech).

A regular debate about my stubborn-ess to stick to a fixed daily attire would begin whenever I attempt to search for the specific set of shirt and shorts for that day.

"You have so many clothes in your cupboard, wear something else," or "So many clothes for you but you still wear only one," my housekeeper (sounds so much better and more civilised than 'maid', wouldn't you agree?) would comment all too often.

To which my reply would always be, "Don't want."

Well, perhaps the only other time I may decide to try something new would be when I'm overseas in a cold country, where what I'm wearing wouldn't really matter besides for the sole fact of acting as another layer of clothing to keep myself warm under freezing conditions.

Oddly enough, I guess I wouldn't have any problems at all for this upcoming 'first impressions' day, where all JC2s would have to dress up in an attire of their future profession, or to put it simply, formal work clothing. Apparently, I *DO* have a wide variety of clothes that I rarely wear.

Anyway, since this post is dedicated to clothing, let's examine some examples of wadrobe malfunction.

First up, we have Keiichi from Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, whose outfit only switches from normal school attire to a derivation from hardoh-gay's outfit (as seen above). Water proof and blood stain resistant, perfect suit for aggrevated assults under rainy conditions (ep11). Those from 1985 sure have style.

Clothing Attributes:
Blood Resistant
Water proof
-50 to intelligence after murder
Causes insanity

Nonetheless, Saito (from Zero no Tsukaima) 'excels' due to the fact that he probably has never changed or even washed his attire since the start of the series (ie 5 episodes ago, roughly estimated to a week or so). My guess would be he would be sticking to the same outfit for the rest of the series unless Lousie manages to summon his wadrobe.

Clothing attributes:
Magic resistant (surprisingly, no damage sustained from a 'fireball')
Grants user sword fighting skill (wait, no, that's from his familiar rune)
+20 speed when washing panties (no kidding, see below)

Ringwraiths! Only time itself knows how long they've worn these robes. Of course, like all who experience wadrobe malfunctions, they assume that their attire is highly durable and is able to last them for the next...let's say...another 500 years or so. Airy and loose fitting, excellent attire for horse and wyrven riding. Sadly, it isn't water-proof (see above).

Clothing attributes:
Highly durable (the tattered bottom is a ruling fashion trend)
+30% Hide in Shadows
Inter-dimensional (ie allows unlimited storage inventory)
Non-magic resistant
Grants user the ability to shriek like a girl

He must have a ton of these in his wadrobe *pun intended*

Clothing attributes:
Very heavy
Rips easily (non-durable)

Finally, the KING of all wadrobe malfunctions

Pretend I didn't say a thing ok? I don't want to get sued by my own principal, not 3 months before the 'A' levels that is.

That's about it. Maybe I'll spin up something more interesting next time.

Googlicious

2006-08-05T00:36:00.000+08:00

Google! appreciates my site....

...though the search attempt was really, really redundant.

3 things to note for an interview

2006-08-01T22:17:00.000+08:00

"Don't you come interrupt me...while i'm interrupting myself."
-Lyrics from 'Why, or why not' , ED from Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni

Good song, even though it contains masscarred English lyrics. Tell me, via my tagboard, if u want the full verison (.mp3 format). Quite disturbing to hear if u focus too much on the vocal aspect, though never as disturbing as...

-Satoshi getting a pedobear for this sister

-Shion getting her fingernails tore out.

Not to mention that she misses on the 2nd attempt.

*cringe*

I'm not going to watch that episode again for obvious reasons, so enjoy the screenshots from Anime on my Mind (Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, episode 17) once again. Either that, or I'm just lazy.

The NS vocational test was for commando selection after all, though I'm not really sure of my chances of getting enlisted since there are many more candidates who are more fit than me....currently...

...not considering pull-ups.

The interview wasn't too difficult as I expected it to be. Heck well, most things aren't too difficult as I expect them to be, though it's always crucial to take precautions.

Here's 3 things you shouldn't do in such interviews.

1) Never try to give the non-chalant, attitude-problem or 'f**k with me and u'll die' behavior. (Example below)

...unless u don't mind going through a 'Somewhat Hyper-Intensive Training Schedule' if the interviewer happens to be ur future officer-in-charge or boss.

Be sure u're able to get away with it if that's the case (eg. claim that it's pyschological)

2) Don't make funny noises (eg. eeh, ack, bleahz)

Pretty self-explanatory. Try talking to someone like that and the consequence will be instanteous.

3) Refrain from lying (too much).

"Are you a bio student?"
"Yeah"
"Can you explain to me [insert biology question here]?"
"... ...(wtf?!)"

If not, u'll probably look constipated trying to answer that.

U get the point...

Initally, I wanted to do a complete 5 though fatigue and remaining time didn't permit it. Maybe I'll complete the list (hopefully) in the not-so-distant future...once I've completed my revision, which apparently, will take much longer than the not-so-distant future.

Don't you just love the anime references?

2006-07-31T00:26:00.000+08:00

Here's what my desktop looks like for this month, and probably for the next one too.
Wallpaper and image from Anime on my mind.

Melon Bread!

Considering that it's an old anime (i.e. season ended over a month ago), I'm not going to say much about it...

...except for the fact that it's really good.

Apologies

2006-07-30T23:55:00.000+08:00

Sorry for not blogging much for this week...
I was mass anime watching higurashi no naku koro ni and shakugan no shana throughout Friday and Saturday night.

'Look up and suck up all the shit' -Jaren
It wasn't really funny at that time since my nose couldn't stop running. But after recalling this quote, it kind of reminded me of being part of another of Weixian's 'life's like that' quotes. Oh crap, where has my sanity gone to? I need to focus on something else other than watching anime mindlessly.

I received a letter from MIDEF which requested that I have to report to the Special OPS centre at Pasir Ris, where ever that is located (the centre, not Pasir Ris, mind you)

Sederick bailed out on the Tuesday slot, leaving me to undergo the session alone. Damn.

Nothing to make a big fuss though, I usually prefer doing things alone...usually. Double Damn.
(If anyone were to think dirty after reading that line...then err...nevermind, my insults don't seem to be effective anyway.)

When I told the AEP teachers about the compulsory pyschological test that was included in the list of many things that selected candidates had to undergo, Miss Hew said jokingly, "Train one commando, get two."

Those who are aware of what i'm doing for my coursework should be able to dechiper that statement.

Mr Joshua Ng merely classified our class guys as...well...somewhat 'unfortunate'.

"Wah, this class kena so many strange things," I recalled him saying, possibly referencing to our gp results too.

About schoolwork, I guess I really need a lot of help.

After spending half a day staring at the mechanics revision tutorial and capacitance tutorial, I realised how little of the syllabus i've truly comprehend. Like the mid years, both assignments were like minefields that have been freed from their explosives, leaving huge unsightly holes (in the figurative sense of course). Definitely an 'eye opener'.

OK, time for coursework now.

~~Sometimes I really wonder whether it's worth it to sacrifice one's complexion for schoolwork, though both seem to occupy an equally crucial aspect of one's future.~~
Strike that out, it's definitely worth the effort to strive for 'A' levels.

Just had to...

2006-07-29T18:25:00.000+08:00

I just had to make this...

Rena Attacks Shinra Company!

Just enjoy it from a distance due to my not-so-good photoshop skills.

Images Utilised:
-FFVII Official Wallpaper (Original Below)

-Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni OP Screenie (Yes, it's low quality cause it's directly from youtube)

Oh, and I found this image pretty funny too. Enjoy, Haruhi Fans!

(Image taken from Whai Whai's Little Blog)

2006-07-24T23:52:00.000+08:00

You know what?

Scratch what I said about Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni in the previous post...

I just finished watching the first arc and I can safely say that it'll be one of the best anime series you've or you'll ever watch. Mind the violence and gory-ness of it though.

Note the incredible references that this anime draws upon:

Emo

Shuffle! (Mion resembles a long haired Asa while Rena looks distinctively like Kaede, either that or i've been playing Shuffle! for too long)

SOS Bridage (Suzumiya Haruhi)

More Emo

Seed Mode (Gundam)

(Images extracted from Anime on my mind)

I've basically ruined the 4/5th episode for all viewers of my blog.

Spawned from a H-game, each arc of the anime commences with a different path though there's little evidence that anything inappropriate would pop up anywhere within the anime. And no, my definition of 'inappropriate' does not include violence and gore.

So if u happen to be looking for the right anime or have decided to scare off ur younger sibling, ur in luck! This would be the perfect anime in many ways possible.

Warning: Not for the faint of heart.

Anime review

2006-07-23T23:30:00.000+08:00

Here's my comments on the anime featured on the recommend list.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
The intro what many would categorise under the 'WTF' type of animes. What could possibly go wrong with an anime with 4 (possibly violent and murderous) girls, a guy and an age old murder case situated in an isolated village? Animation quality is decent. Yay! Violence in full-swing!

Zero No Tsukaima
Romance/Comedy anime that mixes in a dose of magic. Not really my type but funny to watch. Although it's still at episode 3, the characters seem to be developing better than I expected. Animation quality is slightly better than the previous one.

Kamisama Kazoku
Another 'WTF' intro and another romance/comedy genre. Kinda like a messed up family of gods and goddesses. Storyline is progressing quite decently. Animation quality is so-so though. Watch for the flying piggy bank in episode 10!

Inukami!
Don't be put off by the perverse-ness of the main character, this anime does have a storyline though somewhat faint (seen from episodes 5 and 16) . Loads of random dirty jokes but high on the humor if one doesn't take it too seriously. Animation quality is above average.

Major of Minor

2006-07-23T22:18:00.000+08:00

Did some minor updating to the table at the side, attached openings of recommended anime as links and deleted some dead links (ok, maybe just one). Please tell me on the tagboard if any of the links/blogs on the right are dead or inactive. Appreciate it.

Anyway, it seems that my sister is hooked on Zero No Tsukaima since I can hear her laughter from my room, so you might want to check up on that first if you're interested in new anime for this month.

Mid years. Well, I screwed most of the papers up. Got a B-O-E, art is still pending though so far i know that my paper 2 didn't go too well. As for Mathematics...let's just say that I'm fustrated because of that one mark from A and have decided to speed up my Mathematics revision for it.

At least my coursework is coming along quite nicely, as commented by the teachers before we went down to NTU. And yeah, I got a little peak at the mark sheet, like I always do. Heh.

Ok...back to coursework. No more time to waste any longer...

That was weird..

2006-07-23T21:05:00.002+08:00

I apologise for the lack of updates and possibly future absent entries due to the upcoming 'A' levels. I've already ceased most recreational activities, and apparently blogging seems to be one of the top things on that the list of things I do to kill time.

Except for anime watching.

Lotsa new animes showing currently (refer to the list at the side), though it seems that most of the animes I watch are broadcast during the time frame 0000-0200hrs period in Japan. Weird huh?

I just watched the first episode of Powerpuff Girls Z, which I didn't find really impressive. I guess the only people who can appreciate this would be little kids, fans of the original powerpuff girls or those who are addicted to loli.

For those who are interested, it's kinda like Sailor Moon, Pretty Cure and the original Powerpuff girls characters fused into one, except for the fact that their powers are seriously toned down and they're older in age and have fingers (no more stubby hands like what you see in FFVII).

Minor reference to Dragonball Z when they excused themselves in the middle of class to save the world. And they're still wrecking the town. At least the mayor is more perceptive about it.

And i think that hair isn't going to be enough for Miss Bellum now.

I officially hate old chinese songs, especially those 'digitally re-mastered' ones. Thanks to my father who was blasting away at maximum volume when I was literally scratching my scalp out while attempting the physics revision tutorial.

The consolation I got for tolerating the 'music' for an hour was that my grandmother wasn't able to differentiate what language the music was in, though I have this strong feeling that it's because of way the songs were sung instead of her poor sense of hearing.

Yeah...that's about it. Another redundant entry since I've nothing to talk about. Check the quotes though, Mr Pun's sense of humor radiates within my blog once more.