It’s neat watching a magical girl show again. It’s honestly been years. Seems like a pretty solid show so far with a lot of different themes and issues not seen very often in the genre. I like Amu (In non sexual way, but Rima-chan on the other hand…) because Amu is just too cool and spicy.
Been reading 07th Expansion works like Higurashi and Umineko lately.
219 SRS mined sentences
504 Kanji
670 Vocab words
153 Writing
Comments: Still importing all my Kanji into Anki. Just need to finish up grade 2 and 3 and I will be all caught up in that. Then Kanji practice should get a little better instead of having like over 9,000 to practice at a given time. Although, grades 1 to 3 are pretty basic anyway and like writing dog and cat in English. I have moved into general use Kanji now so I have been well on my way to being a quarter to halfway done with the daily use Kanji.
I added some new things where I practice writing words. I realized that just knowing individual Kanji isn’t going to help me when I want to write a word so just to make it easier I’m now having word writing practice. Recognition of Kanji and vocab has definitely been sharping and only in about 2 or 3 months since I started using Anki.
It baffles me how the human mind works and being able to recognize multiple languages because it was like there were many things I didn’t understand before going to Japan, and many things I couldn’t read too. But coming back and checking out the magazines and stuff I had before I left are just suddenly not so bad. Essential I believe if you give me a dictionary I can manage through most things. I am all for people learning other languages especially Americans. I think not enough Americas learn foreign languages, and it’s a shame.
One thing I need to overcome though is to not get intimidated over long paragraphs of Japanese. It might be a lot but there is a lot of it I can read to if I just look at it. It’s just very intimating.
Also, I plan on taking Level 2 of the JLPT in the winter so I have been studying like mad ever since I got home. Any tips from those who have taken the JLPT before especially level 2? I was looking at some of the samples of the lower levels and they don’t seem too bad but even some of the lower level vocab I didn’t know. So here I am learning words like 才色兼備 (someone who has both intelligence and beauty) and I don’t even know what a 財布 (wallet) is. I know what a 財布 is I just kind of wanted to present what I mean. I don’t think Kanji recognition will be a problem. I think my weak points would be listening, particles, and grammar. I’ll just leave it at that, and wait for comments and then build on this further.
And so it begins like every summer. I start watching god awful anime OVAs. A tradition started just last year.
A typical scene in Cosplay Complex.
Cosplay Complex 2002
Cosplay Complex was shit, but it was more like entertaining shit. I think I had more fun guessing the characters they cosplayed as and the obscure anime references they used (Does Aim for the Ace count as obscure though?) than paying attention to any kind of “story” this 3 episode OVA had. The story was tolerable though. The characters are pretty standard and so is the ecchi for early 2000 fanservice anime. Also this could be the most earliest anime I have ever heard Rie Kugimiya’s voice in. There is a gaijin character too from Italy, but there is no NAN DESU KAR going on in this show, but she is a lesbian pedophile so WIN?
I think a lot of the humor and enjoyment came from actually getting the humor that was going on so I think if you have no idea what some of the references that are being made and what not they’ll just fly over your head. This is probably a watch for the hardcore or the extremely bored anime fan. Don’t expect much just sit back and don’t think. Also there are at least 3 glasses girls in this so if that’s your thing it might be right up your alley. Definitely a show that shouldn’t be judge just by being a fanservice anime. I found it to be decent, quirky and tolerable.
Biohunter 1995
I remember seeing this trailer a long time ago as a kid in 7th grade and thinking, “Whoa that anime looks gory.” Fast forward to now, I would say that trailer is full of lies and false advertising. They even sped up one of the scenes in the trailer that went slower in the actual show. They took pretty much all the gory and violent scenes and just shoved them in there to make it seem cool and exciting when it really isn’t. It’s actually quite cheesy. You have some kind of DEMON VIRUS that is going around making people monsters or something, and you have this guy who turns into a demon but he can control it. I think his demon form is so hilarious it looks more like some kind of rat thing than a demon. EVEN Hitoshura wouldn’t want this guy on his team. Joined with his partner they’re trying to stop these demons or whatever. It mainly focuses on stopping just this one dude. I’d watch it if you want a good laugh. It’s so stupid.
Girl from Phantasia 1993
I remember seeing this in my local game rental store back in day but I never rented it. I was always overly concerned about renting anime that might be too perverted or whatever for some reason when I was a kid which might be the reason for the kinds of shows I watch now. Anyway, it’s the typical RANDOM GIRL COMES OUT OF AN OBJECT IN A LOSER’S LIFE AND SCREWS IT UP plotline. Phantasia is pretty standard, but really boring compared to today’s anime. I wouldn’t recommend watching it unless you want to watch something that might remind you of “the good old days” whatever that means. I kinda wish I did something better with my time than watch this though because it was actually kinda boring. I’d say it were Ah My Goddess if Belldandy were a pink haired bimbo.
It’s like Rika grew up a little and starting wearing gothic loli clothes.
Been reading Umineko no Naku Koroni on the side in Japanese, but only occasionally. I haven’t gotten very far because of some what disinterest, but let me get this straight. You have this old guy who is talking to his doctor, and his doctor suggests that he stops drinking alcohol because it’ll make the medicine he’s taking be for nothing. I have no idea what their names are since I am bad with Kanji names.
So, this old guy also doesn’t have very long to live apparently. Then this old guy starts going into some kind of crazed state. I’m not sure if he’s still in the doctor’s office or not but he starts talking or thinking to himself about how he wants to see the smiling face of some person named Bernardich or whatever before he dies, which I guess is a witch he made some kind of contract with?
I haven’t really had much interest in Sea Cat but perhaps once the anime starts airing I might grow to enjoy it more. Speaking of 07th Expansion stuff, I should read Higurashi since I have the entire series on the PC which I bought at Otakon 2 years ago. That would be something I would have more motivation to get through perhaps.
Oh this is so exciting being able to understand or at least starting to understand these things. It still baffles me that this stuff just doesn’t look like gibberish to me. Umineko really has been teaching me some interesting words, but still I think the relative ease isn’t too difficult. It’s just the vocab. I guess to get an idea on what I mean is. Cross Channel is still very difficult for even if I look up the vocab because the way the script is written is very poetic? While Umineko is written more like a story. I dunno. What do I know?
Weeaboo.
This is my full game collection. Go easy on me because I own nothing before the Playstation era. I didn’t start hardcore collecting until Playstation games were just starting to get sold used in large amounts. The PS2 was now the main Sony console at that time. I seemed to have lost my actually Persona 3 copy. My parents fixed up my room while I was away in Japan so I wonder what happened to it. It is the only game I couldn’t find. I have the paper box it came in but not the actually game box… どこに行ってしまったなあ？Also my collection is mostly JRPGs because that’s all I play, and there are a few games missing like True Love Story 3, Dragon Warrior 4 and Chrono Trigger on the DS. But those are on a boat taking their sweet time getting to me.
Bored and looking to just sit back and watch shit anime while drinking some alcohols. Honestly things have gotten so boring since I came home. All my friends graduated. No one is around. I’m just sitting around studying Japanese, playing games and watching anime. My old job turned me down too. Uh, whoa random rant insert. すみません.
So, I know what you’re thinking. Why watch this show anyway? It’s pure fanservice and it’s by Gonzo. Well, I really want to watch a fanservicy show since I haven’t really watched one in years. Plus the amount of shows that I just want to watch because I think a certain character is cute keep piling up but no real motivation from my end. So I really want to start working on that.
Can you guess the character I’m watching this show for?
I’m so glad my brother bought Persona 4 for me as a coming home gift from Japan because I doubted I wouldn’t be able to play this for some time. I even got the visual data book that comes with it. So popping the game in I was really surprised with the level of detail Persona 4 has. Yeah, the graphics are nearly the same as 3 but it seems more detailed and refined kinda like the jump from Persona 1 to Persona 2 on the Playstation.
Persona 4 takes a turn in the right direction by going back to its roots plot wise. Mixing murder, intrigue, mystery and the supernatural in a modern present day setting. Honestly, Persona 3 is a good game, which I have yet to beat, but it was really lacking a lot of things that I think make the Persona series what it is. So great to hear talk about murder, and all that jazz again. Still Persona 4 seems a lot less bloody than Persona 2, but hey it is just the beginning of the game. Not to mention some of the things that are just said during the game are just as creepy like getting hung from a TV antenna and what not. So, I guess it is all about the implied violence.
I’m not really sure what to say about the characters. Unlike Persona 3, I’m not finding it so easy to like the characters right away. I found myself instantly liking the protagonist, Yukari, Junpei, Mitsuki and the gang right away, but these characters in Persona 4 are just a little iffy. I mean, they’re okay but I’m not getting very attached. Although, I like Yukiko, but that was a given from the start.
Shoji Meguro does an excellent score as always. I love his mix of rock, jazz, rap, RnB, electronica and such into everything he does. It’s very unique and catchy. He is definitely one of my favorite JRPG composers of late.
Atlus USA did an excellent job with the localization. It’s like they know exactly what the fans want with their English version. I found myself laughing a bunch of times over the dialogue so good job. Yes, sure I will say the honorifics and random Japanese inserts are a little weird but it is important I guess seeing how this is a Japanese game and some of it is essential for understanding things. The voice acting is give or take. I say this time and time again that I have no real experience with the anime/game dub scene much anymore but I would say that I guess this is pretty good for English standards. So far I haven’t really found any weird or out of line voices. I had heard Teddie’s voice from a video I watched on Youtube and found it horrid but actually playing the game it’s tolerable. I will say that I wish I could hear Rie Kugimiya as Rise though. :(
Now, this is the bad part. Gamplay where? This reminds me of the first few hours of Suikoden 5. What is it with JRPGs today with their long intros filled with hours of text/movies and almost zero gameplay. I had read Persona 4 was a more story driven game but this is ridiculous. I’d think after 5 hours of game play there would be at least some game play for maybe an hour or so. Still haven’t found anything about longer than 5 or 10 minutes.
Well, reading Persona 4 is some what enjoyable but it can really get boring after a while just text box after text box, but it does seem like it has some interesting concepts once the game really begins. The battles seem more polished from what I can see from the battles I fought. All 2 of them. Looking forward to delving more into these game elements when they becomes available.
Maybe but I found it enjoyable.
I actually enjoyed Gundam Seed fairly much for my second Gundam related anime. I would have to say that Seed has a weak start, a strong middle and a weak end. Although I liked the last two episodes minus the last maybe 5 minutes of episode 50. It just ended abruptly. What is with that?
The middle is definitely the stronger part of the series and really kept me interested and coming back for more. I’m not really sure why. I think it might have been because of the focus on character interaction than say a lot of mecha fighting, which was actually the reason I liked Code Geass mostly too. I would say that Seed became really boring by the time those 3 Earth Force’s mobile suit pilots came in, and that leader of the Blue something or other. It just went down hill from there. Sunrise was just dragging Seed on longer and longer at that point.
I was really surprised at the number of deaths in the last few episodes. I really liked how there was a great focus on the amount of people who were actually dying. There was a slight focus on such things in the original Mobile Suit Gundam where Amuro would reflect on the people who were dying but not such a great deal. Plus there were a ton of shots in Seed where they just showed random grunt soldiers on both sides kicking the bucket.
I was particularly surprised to see Mwu die. I wasn’t expecting that. He was one of my favorite characters in the show too. I liked the romance between him and Murrue. Ok, I will admit that I seriously felt bad when Fllay died. I had been waiting all that time for her to die but by the end I didn’t want her to die. She really didn’t deserve that.
I loved a lot of the mecha designs in Seed. They looked really cool. Char clone’s Providence mobile suit was cool with those bits that would fly around shooting lazars all around. Reminded me of Elly’s mecha from Xenogears. Also liked the one with the scythe, Justice, and Freedom.
Whoever told me to watch Seed shortly after watching the original MSG series has the right idea. I was seeing a lot of the same kind of themes, and ideas from the original but portrayed better. I got a real kick out of seeing some of the similarities.
In the end, I think Seed was worth watching. It has some faults here and there but not too bad. Sure the characters are melodramatic at times but I got used to it after a while. I think it could have been wrapped up a little faster though, but oh well.
Thanks for the random recommendation. Now, the question is should I move on to Destiny which I heard is shit?
Today I leave a lot of people that I have grown to call my friend. Today is the last day I get to spend with a lot of people.
Tomorrow I leave this place that I grown to call my second home. Tomorrow I leave Japan.
I will miss everyone.
I have Kimi no Kioku on loop.
