Bureaucracy, or how the worst day ever turned into the best

Let me tell you about the worst day I have had in recent memory.  I woke up at 8:30 yesterday.  This in and of itself would not have been terrible except for the fact that I was supposed to wake up at 6:00 in order to get ready for an appointment that I had at 9:40 to have my biometrics taken, for which I had to arrive half an hour early and which would take me over an hour to get to by train.  After much agonising over the decision, I decided to go for it anyway and as it turned out, they didn’t mind so much and just had me wait in line with the other applicants.  So, the moral of the story: never give up, stop worrying, and comply with bureaucracy to the best of your abilities here in the UK.

So, worst day ever.  The bright side to it all was that I got to go to the London MCM Expo and see all the lovely, lovely toys.  Playing Bayonetta was pretty awesome, and I managed to meet holy of 2D Emotion, also known as the webmaster of DoujinStyle.  He’s a pretty cool guy.  Some of the cosplay was not nearly as bad as I was expecting either although in the UK military and sci-fi dressup has always been of higher quality than anime stuff.  The thing is, you need to start with your expectations low; cosplay here in the UK will never exceed or even begin to approach the elite-quality stuff they have in Japan and the rest of East Asia, so why agonise over it?  Just appreciate the effort they put in (in most cases) and be content with finding the one or two that are legitimately good.

My only regret is that the photo I took of Al-Azif was so terrible.  I thought the cosplay was quite good too.  If you’re out there, I can only say that I’m sorry.  There was also an impressive Enma Ai; no doubt she took part in the exhibition that I wasn’t able to get a ticket to go see.  Should’ve taken a photo of her when I had the chance.

It’s true what they say.  These conventions exhaust you in all sorts of ways.  Well, after that we had a pretty good session of Star Wars d20.  More mind rape ensued.  I’ll have to tell you the mind rape story one of these days; it’s a classic crit-fail story.

You can find the album here.

100th Post Yay!

Hey guys.  Been awhile, hasn’t it?  Well, real life has a pesky way of getting in the way of things that really matter – like being geeky.

Don’t tell your parents or anyone you care about I said that.  The reality of the situation is that I haven’t really felt the motivation to soldier on and do any posts.  For awhile my life was in shambles and I’ve only just begun to pick myself up again.  So, now that the school year has started again I hope to have some more content for anyone that actually stumbles upon my little corner of the internet so for all those new and returning I invite you once again to take a seat, have a drink.  In addition to being the 100th post, this also marks the 1 year anniversary (belatedly) of this blog so it’s a pretty special occasion all around.  Not that I did much work for most of that year.

Anyhow, here’s to another year of all-around geekiness, from anime to tabletop games and everything else in between.  Who knows, I might go to some actual conventions this year!  What else can I talk about…hmm…well, the Retribution of Scyrah has just been released and I got the book so I’ll be reading over that and get my commentary up in the next day or so.  I’ll need to take a look at the final release of the Mk. II Warmachine rules as well since I haven’t had a chance to do that over the summer.  No particularly interesting anime coming up in the foreseeable future so I guess visual novels will have to replace it, for the time being.  That’s okay; I just finished Kazoku Keikaku so I’ve got something to talk about at least.

A new year, and new possibilities.  I look forward to sharing them all with you, dear reader.

Comiket 76

Hey guys.  Been awhile, hasn’t it?  Well I won’t make excuses for why I haven’t been able to blog much over the past several weeks but it has something to do with the summer placement that I’m currently involved in, and the fact that whenever I come back from work I just don’t feel like writing anything either.  I haven’t been following Canaan as closely as I promised either…

Well, I finally feel like writing about something so let’s talk about Comiket.  It’s just around the corner after all, and with it comes the full release of Touhou 12: Undefined Fantastic Object.  If you’re like me, you’re probably excited about that as well as the new fighting game that’s coming down the pipe from Tasogare Frontier.  I wonder what is the significance of it being Touhou 12.3?  Oh well, at least we’re getting new characters in the form of Cirno, Sanae and Hong Meiling, so it will be worth checking out just for them.  After they alienated competitive players (apparently) with the decidedly “non-competitive” Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, can Tasofro bounce back and reclaim their rightful glory?  Well personally, I’m not terribly competitive so I won’t be in the best position to judge the state of that particular community.

The other thing I checked out once I remembered C76 was the IOSYS website for their new album, as they inevitably release, and to be honest this one has come the closest to making me sad.  It doesn’t even have any of the things I used to like about IOSYS arrange CDs, no zany happy hardcore tracks, no hard rock that they do so well usually, none of their traditional lineup either.  Instead it’s mostly a guest arrangement album with some standout tracks by Tsukasa and REDAliCE (naturally).  Club Ibuki in Break All sounds interesting too, so I’ll have to listen to the full version when I can get my hands on it.  All in all, I’m not terribly enthusiastic about the upcoming IOSYS album which is a first.  The PVs especially make me sad – I wonder what prompted them to stop using locker room productions.

The other side-album, the 4-track one sounds kinda nice though.  Also standing in contrast is the Albatrosicks album Star Cracker, which sounds quite good, with a heavy serving of rock and electro stuff, so I’m really looking forward to it.  miko is starting to rely a lot less on distortion tricks now, which I’m liking as well.  When I listened to it, it restored my faith in humanity, but then again Albatrosicks tends to do that with their songs and lyrics, at least for me.

I need something else to smile about.  What are you looking forward to from Comiket 76?

and suddenly, Iron Attack HOLY SHIT THIS ALBUM IS SWEET!  FAR EAST JUDGEMENT FUCK YEEEEEAAAARR \m/

Canaan Episode 1

I got word that the first episode of Canaan had been subbed today.  I apologise if this is old news.  Particularly astute readers will have noticed that I only add a new series tag when I decide for sure that I want to follow a series.  So why is Canaan getting a tag from the outset, and more importantly why should you care?  Because I have a giant boner for anything that is done by Type-Moon and although this is only remotely related to the topic at hand, I should warn you that my posts on Canaan will contain 66% more bullshit pseudo-analysis and fanboying than my regular posts.  I also really need to cut down on this whole self-deprecating schtick since it gets really annoying when people keep doing it to me.  Treat others as you wish to be treated, right?

With that in mind, let’s talk first impressions.  Canaan is pretty beautiful.  I think there’s a case to be made for portraying an ordinary world, with slightly less than ordinary people, through anime and aside from a rather conspicuous CGI dragon dance the art felt really natural even when you cut to the rooftop gun battles.  Character design-wise I see a little of Fate/stay night’s facial design in Canaan herself and other characters though whether this puts a smile on your face or not is entirely subjective.  I have a bit of a nostalgia filter when it comes to FSN character designs since it was one of the first visual novels/animes/etc that I could say with conviction that I liked.  Despite being rather late into my anime watching career when I saw it, I hadn’t really been able to sit down, think and say “damn I loved that series”.  So, back on point, those who don’t like the “Type-Moon” art style might not like Canaan’s character designs.

As for the characters themselves I see them as being a little…muted…versions of classic characters.  Take Maria for example – I can see a bit of a cheerful optimist in her; the type that tend to be the innocent victim in action animes, but at the same time she doesn’t give off the impression of being delicate.  I really hope she doesn’t become that innocent victim; Maria has potential for development though in what direction I can’t say at the moment.  Canaan herself seems very much like an action protagonist…she reminds me of Jo from Burst Angel sans the emotional deadness and propensity for extreme violence.  For now, of course.  The narrator at the beginning does mention something about hatred so I think she still has that capacity but at the same time there is a bit of a girly side to her that contrasts the nihilism you see in some action girl-types.  So on and so forth.  Of course there are other characters who are not so muted – Liang Ji is anything but.  Also voiced by Rie Tanaka.

The central theme of this particular episode seems to revolve around truth.  How the truth is right there in front of people but they choose not to see it.  I didn’t think it was a really thought-provoking or interesting theme and it was presented in a bit of an absurd way, how people believed that all the weird goings on were actually part of the festival, but in a way, I guess it lends a bit of a surreal atmosphere to the otherwise ordinary setting.  Not to mention giving Minoru something to be cynical about.  By the way, isn’t synesthesia something that happens when you take Ecstasy?

Since this isn’t a moe anime it’s unlikely that there will be moments of zen like there were for K-On.  In case you didn’t realise yet the moments of zen are moments that are just so funny, hnnnngh-inducing, or just plain awesome that they cause me to momentarily become one with the universe.  There was just nothing like that here.

PERIOD (Deathsmiles ending)

Deathsmiles has a really good ending theme.  It’s beautiful and fits well with the closing video; and I’ve always wanted to know what the lyrics were so that I could enjoy the song even if I couldn’t enjoy the game *curses lack of 360*.  I looked for awhile and couldn’t find them, so it was rather fortunate that my brother had learned enough Japanese to attempt a transliteration.  While I can’t confirm the accuracy of the romanisation or the translation, it makes sense to me aside from a few awkward points.  So, for all of you who are like me and have wanted to be able to sing PERIOD, well…I’d say this is as good a place as any to start.

hiraku na michi nado
iyasuragi hima nado
ari wa shinai

tatoe na kiseki koso ga
otona eto michibite kureru
mono kawaru kono todonai
kono sekai wa ni BIRIODO tsui kimete
soshite kimi wa waratta na
sekai mo mukae nareru darou

koko ni ii oto
ichidou wa kimeta jibun ga iru mashiyou da to
omoete itta keredo
betsu na tobira wo hiraete mitakatta

ima konno sekai ga jibun wo hitsuyo to shite ii yo toro
mayou koto ni magiri wa oh~ sude meite susunde yukou

eiyou to suru mono wa miete kuru nara
douchi ni ushinau mono mo miete kuru~
ima wa miezu to mo mirai de
mieru kotae todoke emi itsumo

mou kawaru koto no nai
kono sekai wa ni muri odo tsugumete
soshite kimi wa warai nagara
sekai ni mo mukae nare darou

The open road
and peaceful leisure time
no longer exist.

Even if a chance miracle
should lead to adulthood,
things will change within these centuries.
In this world, a period was suddenly decided
and then surely you begin to smile
and so will the world.

Here a pleasant exists
For once the self I decided to become, might be of benefit
or so i thought;
but I opened tried to open a different door.

Now, I feel that it would be nice if I were needed by this world.
Oh, I can already see the signs of me hesistatingly wading through as I advance.

Even if I find things that seem to offer nourishment,
at the same time I’ll find things that will disappear.
Now, without seeing the future,
a tangible answer will always smile on us.

Of things that can no longer be changed,
this world in which I narrowly shut my mouth.
And while you laugh,
I will surely begin to head towards the world

Happy Independence Day :D

For all of you joining us from the US, I just want to wish you a very happy 4th of July.  As an American, I think it’s important to remember things like this even if you don’t do anything on the day itself.  That said, such an important day probably doesn’t mean anything to us in the present day besides fireworks and the odd parade.  I certainly didn’t do anything of any importance today but then again I never do anything of importance anyway so the extent to which I can actually comment on something like that is a little limited.

Yesterday was my first day of work, and not a bad one at that.  Unfortunately I can’t say anything specific due to non-disclosure agreements and I don’t know who would want to hear about it anyway.  Instead, let’s talk about the partnership between Nitroplus and JAST.  Well, there’s not really much to say about it except that it is pretty damn awesome.  The knowledge that we can expect localisations of Nitroplus VNs fills me with glee.  Apparently their first project is Zanma Taisei Demonbane, which is good because I’ve been wanting to play this bizarre brand of Cthulhu-tech for awhile now and I believe there was a translation patch being worked on somewhere, though only for Al-Azif’s route.  I remember thinking that it was a shame that they were only doing that one route, but I guess that’s not an issue anymore.

So, I guess there wasn’t much to talk about after all.  I’m trying to read Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka but not having much success with the text hooker so there probably won’t be a serious opinion about the story and characterisation.  The art and music are really pretty though.  Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve played a VN for awhile that had “bad” art, a fact that doesn’t really surprise me.  I mean they call it a visual novel for a reason right?  What are examples of Visual Novels that you think have bad art?

Happiness! (Not actually about the visual novel)

I would like to play Happiness! at some point.  I’m just in a generally better mood tonight than I have been for a long while.  There are a few reasons for this – first, I went for an interview today for an internship in a law firm and got the place, so I not only have something to do for the summer but the potential to recover from the recent downturn in life that I’ve been experiencing.  The second is that I finally got around to watching the Utawarerumono anime adaptation and…god.  I’ve never been so sure before that I love an anime series in my life.  I mean, everything I’ve heard about it is true – they did stick closely to the source material and the OP was beautiful.  It reminded me why I fell in love with the visual novel in the first place and any anime that can do that is definitely worth watching.  I noticed a few oddities in the art, though, like where Aruruw is almost as tall as Eruruw when they’re both sitting down, but it’s not a big deal.  I’ll get to the OVAs once I’m done watching this – if I’m understanding correctly they cover parts of the visual novel that were never touched upon in the anime and if they’re at all as good as the series has been so far, I’ll be a happy panda.  Or rabbit.  Whatever.

Finished watching Maria Holic, and it made me smile, which is all I ask from a comedy anime.  I kinda feel that Kanako was trying too hard to be a lesbian for a show that never took itself too seriously.  Mariya was an unexpectedly interesting character.  I may be a bit shallow for saying this but one of the first thoughts that came to mind when I heard about the premise of the show was “if Kanako had sex with a man, would the inside of her vagina break out in hives?”  But I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.

Beat SRW OG2 the other day as well.  I was super-impressed by how awesome a fully-upgraded Alfimi is on the last two stages, but she was a little lacking in the damage department so I need to try upgrading her weapons next time.  Now for New Game+ and the Vysaga; I definitely want to see what it can do.

I may be limited in my ability to get games and anime now but I’m sure there will still be things to talk about.  Let’s all keep smiling and having useless discussions about moe and stuff, ‘kay?

Weekly Assorted Thoughts

Haven’t really done much over the past week or so.  Had to go to Kenya to see the family, and now I’ll be moving on to Mauritius to do some summer internship work.  I really feel like my entire future is in question sometimes, what with my exams not really going the way I wanted them to and all…  Oh, it recently came to my attention that this post has got ahold of what I said about K-On and picked it apart like there was no tomorrow.  That’s fine with me, though I occasionally wonder how people are able to find stuff that I’ve written on the wide, wide world of the internet.  I think the internet is a big enough place that you should be able to find a huge number of sources for any kind of work you want to do, so did what I say really stand out so much as being silly or contradictory?  I can’t say that I was angry about it; mostly bewildered that I could have attracted any attention whatsoever.  As I said before, I don’t really consider myself a serious anime blogger at all and most of the “reviews” I do of episodes/series/games/whatever is just me rambling on about the topic for however long I care to.  I don’t take the time to edit what I’ve said and rarely do I take a position that could be considered tenable under any sort of scrutiny.  I would say it was a job well done, by a much better blogger than I, but my points were probably never a solid, objective evaluation of what I was watching in the first place.

I started watching Maria Holic today, and I was reasonably entertained.  I suppose you could say I started watching it for the same reason most people started watching it – the trap.  That’s all I really have to say about it at the moment.  The rest of my time was spent playing Super Robot Wars OG2.  Damn, my mind is starting to trail off at the moment, with my emotional state being a mixture of confusion, sadness and anxiety.  How does one handle situations like these?

K-On! Episode 12

Episode 12 came out today.  There will be a bonus special but the series is, for all intents and purposes, over.  I like to look back and see how far some of the characters have come since we first met them (in my case, anyway) all the way back 3 months ago.  Mio journeyed from straight woman to moe idol to a walking mass of complexes who still happened to be the most stable character in the light music club.  Ritsu actually became a more stable character in general and wasn’t nearly as crazy as someone like Tomo from Azudaioh, while Yui just sorta…was Yui, I guess.  In fact I think Yui and Tsumugi didn’t really change that much but we love them anyway because of how utterly adorable they are.  Then there’s Azu-nyan.  Who can forget her?  She only joined in the last third or so of the series but already we’ve seen her change from shy and utterly bewildered to accepting and enjoying her place in the light music club.  I guess in the end, it was a net win for everyone.  Mio became Sawa-chan’s accomplice in the grand cosplay game.  Sawa-chan-sensei herself got the admiration and popularity of the students and finally wiped the slate clean from her heavy metal days (whether this is a good or bad thing is entirely a matter of opinion).

Like I said last week, people don’t like drama in their comedy series so it was nice on a more general level to see K-On return to its usual level of zaniness.  Amusingly enough as I’m typing this I have just heard the show being described as retard moe.  Maybe so, but they’re our lovable little retards.  There’s just something about these girls that makes you want to hug and protect them, and in the end isn’t that what moe is all about?  Anyway its been a fun ride, and the show will now fade gently into obscurity at the hands of Suzumiya Haruhi.  I’m watching that just like everyone else of course…but I need to find something else to talk about.  Sora Kake Girl is just about finished as well, from the looks of things.

This episode’s moment of zen:

After 9 episodes, she finally snaps.

K-On! Episode 11

Today’s topic is officially Deus Ex Mugi.  But that wouldn’t be much of a topic so instead we’re going to talk a little bit about drama.  By now you all know about the sudden mood whiplashing that was going on in this episode and the fanbase has acted in a predictable manner, with opinions running the gamut from “it was inconsistent with a slice-of-life show and wasn’t done very well” to “K-On! now officially sucks”.  We saw it with Kannagi; any attempt to introduce drama into a comedy anime generally fails because it yanks the whole premise of the show from underneath it.  Unsurprisingly I’m in neither camp; I felt that the drama helped to bring things into focus – how important Mio’s friendship is to Ritsu and how each one of them is an important member of the band even if they may not feel like it.  It was also a bit of a subversion of the usual serious and self-confident character who is secretly lonely on the inside (cf. Kagami from Lucky Star) in that it wasn’t Mio like one would logically assume but Ritsu who is actually dependent on the group.  I felt Azusa really came into her own in this episode and started to work as a member of the band rather than just the newcomer (she even put on the cat ears willingly!  It’s not cosplay rape anymore!  Azu-nyaaaaaaaan~!) and even Sawa-chan got a moment in the spotlight when she finally cracked the whip.  K-On wouldn’t be half as interesting if characters had only one aspect to their personality.  In the end, the characters can definitely get things done.

Of course I’d be lying if I didn’t say the drama was a bit jarring but it’s not like it ruined the whole series or anything.  In the end it wasn’t even drama at all and mostly a misunderstanding that lead to Yui sleeping next to Ritsu for no apparent reason in a true return to form.  Hell, at the height of the drama we always have Sawa-chan to break the tension with her tragic backstory.  Its been a pretty fun ride so I’m looking forward to seeing how this anime will end.

I leave you now with your moment of zen:

Cargo shipping? Or just out-of-context quoting?