A Lot of Stuff to Catch Up On

Okay... now that Christmas's died down a bit, I have time to post here again. I don't have time to post about everything today, or even to post some pics, but you have a looot to catch up on. I'll be reporting on everything over the next few days. ^_^

Stuff

Woah, haven't updated this in ages... I'll be updating more often now, most, if not every day.

Xmas break starts in a week, yay! If it didn't, I think I'd go crazy, as school's really getting me atm. If it isn't the teachers screaming at me for everything I do, it's the other kids screaming at me for everything I do. And when I get home it's my family screaming at me after the teacher complained to them. -.-|||

So, current obsession of mine? That would have to be the awesome Neon Genesis Evangelion. I've only seen up to ep. 7, but I've already got to the crazy-dreams-about-it stage. And the constant references to it over lunch or at school. And the opening-singing in the bathroom. xDDD *rofl's at my weirdness*

I started watching Gravitation last night while I was waiting for another vid to load (you guessed it, NGE), and I'm pretty into that now too. Shounen-ai + bishounen + great art + pwnsome soundtrack + pretty deep storyline for a shounen-ai show = awesomeness. I'm pretty addicted to the ending theme already. xD And Eiri! <333 Eiri-chan~ <3333333333 *fangirlexplosion* xDDDDDD

Okay, now that I've calmed down a bit, I'm going to ask your opinions on the above anime. Have you seen them, and what do you think? No spoilers please!

Banned from Downloading

Well, looks like that's the end of my Youtubing until next month. Due to download bills, I've ended up banned from downloading anything unneccessary for a month. Luckily, it's just a calendar month, and I haven't much of this one left to go, so... I'll probably spend most of my time watching DVDs till December. x3 I'm still sad, mind... TT-TT

Best Vocaloid video ever! <3

Kurikku~

I said it once and I'll say it again. Best. Vocaloid. Video. Ever. In my opinion, anyway. xD How did Meiko get to be so unpopular when she's so cute?! [/moeness-induced craziness] This video was created in honour of Meiko's birthday, and it's almost too cute. xD I am now hopelessly hooked on that song... honey, honey honey~ xD *is desperately hoping that the song'll be available soon!*

A movie of WHAT?!

Now here's one I didn't see coming. It turns out that TOHO are planning a Professor Layton movie, to open in Japan in 2010. Although no plot details have been revealed yet, it is known that it will follow a completely new storyline. Layton designer Akihiro Hino is writing it, so it should be pretty good. Apart from that, the only other thing I know about it is that the VAs from the Japanese version of the game will voice their characters, though I've no idea about the English ver. I'm kinda looking forward to this, tbh. What do you think?

Gundam 00 Dub

As you probably already know, a dubbed version of Gundam 00 is coming to American TV tonight. So, will you be watching it, or will you be among those wearing a gas mask as you pass it on your way to watch YT fansubs?

I never watched the Gundam franchise until tonight, when, hearing about the upcoming dub, decided to watch a bit while I could before Bandai took the fansubs down. I only saw the first few minutes of the first episode of Gundam 00 before my mum caught me on YT, but I'm totally hooked already.

So, will I watch the dub, then? Unless it's incredibly similar to the original, no. I don't have as high expectations as I should, really, but I've had some bad experiences with English dubs so far. Bandai should know what they're doing, as so far they've been very good to us original-version fans of other anime they've dubbed, but I can't be sure. After the 4Kids nightmare, I can't fully trust anyone with dubbing anime, not even Bandai. So long as the VAs are good, and the translation is good, and they've done only the bare minimum of localization, and they leave the soundtrack alone *is a big fan of the G00 soundtrack* it might be worth watching.

J-RPG Heaven! *o*

So, yesterday I got back from school and found the newest issue of Official Nintendo Mag at my house. Soon later, my wild wooting and yelling was only interrupted by the horrendous discovery of an ad for Baby Life. ONM, why did you do that to me?! xD

Yup, 2009 really looks set to be DS JRPG heaven. For ages I've wished for a DS remake of the GBA's Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. Okay, so we haven't got that yet, but we have got 358/2 Days now scheduled for a July '09 release. And, so far, I love the look of it. The battle graphics look like an above-average PS1 game and the cutscenes could pass for PS2, so if the rest of the game lives up to this it'll be one for my must-buy list for sure.

Now, where there's KH there will almost always be FF, and though we (sadly) don't have FFXIII yet, there is a new Crystal Chronicles coming to the DS and Wii in May, which might keep me going till FFXIII. Again, I don't have many details, but I can't tell the difference between the Wii graphics and the DS- no, I don't mean the Wii graphics suck, I mean the DS graphics rule. xD I like how the multiplayer is integrated into the single-player- you can just choose for people to join you at any save crystal. I don't know whether that'll carry over into the story mode or not, though. Rumor says that it'll have WiFi as well, which will definitely get it beyond the previous CC on DS.

On a slightly RTSier note, Blue Dragon Plus is also coming out next year. With JRPG genius Sakaguchi in charge, I won't be surprised if this is incredible. I don't have many details on that yet, but I'll definitely keep a lookout.

The DS version of Chrono Trigger's been confirmed at last for release this April, something I've wooted more than a few times about. I doubt I really need to go into much detail about that, though, seeming as it's been the only topic of discussion on several gaming forums for quite a while. I mean, Chrono Trigger? How many rocks were you living under if you haven't heard of it?! xD

Then, of course, there's Ninokuni: The Another World coming in November. Four words. Ghibli's working on it. Four more: Level 5 are too. <3 And with the plot as it is (boy's mother dies, boy is transported to a parallel world), I can see great possibilities with it. Not to mention that the graphical style rules. <333

Usually, when it comes to Mario, I couldn't care less. Average graphics, below-average gameplay and no plot whatsoever. However, I will admit to having a soft spot for the Mario RPGs. By that, I mean the likes of Superstar Saga and Partners in Time, not Paper Mario. And, as luck would have it, we're in line for another one! =D Usually, I value plot and characters way over humor, but I'll make an exception for this. The screenie with the bloated Toads had me almost literally roffling. xD

Back to Square-Enix and their perpetual aweseomeness: an all-new Dragon Quest title is coming to DS! Take that, those who whine about Squarey remaking too much! >=D Sadly, I know hardly anything about this yet, other than that it looks amazing.

Finally, Pokémon Platinum~! Pokémon Pla-ti-nuuu~m! Pokémon Platinum~~~!!1!!! Does more need to be said? It's Pokémon. It's even bigger than ever. And it has one of the deepest Poké-plots ever. Almost the deepest since Johto, actually.

There is one problem, though; all these games are out soon, and I have absolutely no money whatsoever. xD Anyway, thanks for coming! ^_^

Ikuto~ <3

I can't really think of a topic today, so I'll post pics of one of the hottest anime boys ever, Shugo Chara's Ikuto.









Sorry that I don't have more, these were all I can find on my computer (though I'm pretty sure I have more) and I really don't have time to go screenying more. Sorry! ^-^()

First Anime

So, here comes the topic that's been on every otaku/anime blog since otaku/anime blogs began; what was your first anime, and do you still enjoy it?



My first was Pokémon, aka Pocket Monsters, and I'm not as ashamed as I really should be about still liking it. I'm still pretty much addicted to it, actually. It's your typical shounen anime with a few cute boys here or there, with too much emphasis on the banging, crashing, whumping and powing, with average art most of the time (although the recent movie art is way beyond almost anything else I've ever seen...) and hardly any real plot, but for some reason I just love it! I really don't know why, but I just can't stop watching it, playing it, reading it... It's crazy, I know, but there's really no way for me to ever get away.

The pairings I support in Pokémon are a big part of me these days, in particular Pokéshipping/SatoKasu, Satoshi/Ash x Kasumi/Misty. It's the first pairing I ever supported, back when I didn't even know what it was called. I was just, "they gotta get together at the end or I'll probably cry buckets for ages". xD I was eight when I first got into Pokéshipping, a few days after I discovered Pokémon. You know how you hear PSers say how they used to admire Kasumi so much when they were younger? Well, I still do... Only a few months ago, if I had a crush on a totally dense guy who'd never figure it out, or one who had a girlfriend, I'd just try and move on, but now I'd keep on trying, 'cause I know that Kasumi-san'd do it. Man, I'm laughing at myself now... that just sounded so stupid... lawlz...

Right, that's quite enough about PS. Another of my favorite Pokémon shippings is Hiroshi/Shigeru/Kenji, or, to be more accurate, Kenji loves Hiroshi and is desperate to protect him from Shigeru, who loves Kenji and has a bit of an... obsession with Hiroshi. Kenji, who's secretly Shigeru's ex, knows that Shigeru'd do all sorts to Hiroshi, so is keeping them apart. Shigeru, though, battles Kenji for Hiroshi, and Hiroshi just so happens to be there... and ends up thinking of nothing but Shigeru's hotness. Hehe... what, you've had enough of my twisted yaoi visions? Okay...

Those aren't all the Poké-ships I support, but if I listed them all I'd be here forever, so let's move on. The PokéSpecial manga... I am totally obsessed with that manga, despite not yet owning a physical copy of it. I've only read the RBG arc and the start of Yellow's, but it's one of the best manga I've ever read. Manga Rocket-dan infinitely > anime Rocket-dan. And manga E4 = EPIC WIN. Plus Red-kun ish sho haaawwwt~... not to mention Greeeeeeeeeeeeen~~~~... asdfghjkl....

So, what was your first anime/manga, and do you still enjoy it?

Pokémon Chronicles Vol3 Review

Having rented and watched almost all the others, I finally managed to rent a copy of the third volume of Pokémon Chronicles. Please note that this is a rental copy I'm reviewing, so some details may be different on your DVD.

Celebi's sequences really are beautiful.


I won't be doing an in-depth guide this time round; it's just a quick opinion for now, though all future reviews will be much more in-depth.

For the uninitiated, Pokémon Chronicles are the English dub of the Housous (a fan name for the special episodes shown on the Japanese TV show, Shukan Pokémon Housoukyu, a sort of predecessor of today's Pokémon Sunday.)

Firstly, get rid of all thoughts of special features; none here. There isn't even an option to play the original version with subs (believe me, you will sorely want this if you've ever seen Japanese Pokémon), or any language options. Just the eps as they are, with extremely minimal scene selection. I'm not impressed with the openings, either; it's basically random clips from random Housous to the chorus of the G/S PokéRap. Amazing. -.-

What this lacks in presentation, it pretty much makes up for with content. This volume has five episodes; Celebi And Joy!, A Date With Delcatty, Training Daze, Journey to the Starting Line, and Putting the Air Back in Aerodactyl.

Celebi And Joy! focuses around Pokémon's Hiroshi, wonderfully renamed Ritchie [/sarcasm], and his Pikachu, Leon (aka Sparky.) Upon arriving in the bustling Marion City, they head for the Pokémon Center, just to discover it's being demolished. Wild time-traveling antics soon ensue...

This is one of the few episodes of Pokémon to show actual, 100% canonical romance. Sadly, there was no Nick/Joy/*coughHiroshicough* triangle here, nor any shounen-ai... Call me weird, call me a fangirling twit, but I was really hoping for something between Nick and Hiro- um, Ritchie... Still, plain Nick/Joy was good enough here. And, as I said earlier, Celebi's sequences are beautiful; this cr@ppy screencap doesn't do it justice at all. The plot itself is a bit cliché, but this is actually one of the better eps on this disc.

The next episode, A Date With Delcatty, is one of the most badly dubbed episodes in the long history of badly dubbed anime. So much is taken out that parts of it don't even make sense. Like the title pun, for example. What date with destiny? Giorgio's death threat was taken right out! =O And Kasumi's reaction when Nanako accuses her of- wait, Misty's reaction when Casey accuses her of liking "mushy stuff" is absolutely unexplained. As far as I remember, she was guessing that Kasumi liked someone else in the original... And Casey's dsub voice is so darn annoying... and Misty's reference to Satoshi at the end is cut as well. Great ep, shame about the dub...

Next up, Training Daze, a backstory of Team Rocket's Musashi and Kojiro, aka Jessie and James. In my opinion, this is thew best ep on this disc. James is strangely hot in his red and black outfit and longer hair (look in the camp scene: James definitely has longer hair than usual), and Nyarth is especoially hilarious. The plot itself centers around their days at Team Rocket's training camp, and is actually quite good.

Journey to the Starting Line is a bit slow to start, and has an instantly unlikable boy taking the role of "newbie trainer", but actually isn't all that bad. Besides, it's cute, if not much else.

Finally, Putting the Air Back into Aerodactyl.... will be reviewed tomorrow! Sorry! I'm out of time again... ^.^()

Thanks for visiting! =D