2012 Year End Fandom Meme

Yes I'm supposed to do this yesterday but I just found out about this meme this morning.
I stole this from another blog so here goes.

DISCLAIMER: All images belong to their respective owners, they don't belong to me.

First Fandom of 2012

Well it is because I just started playing most the games this year. I started joining the fandom this late. I think I started playing Altair earlier this year.

Favourite Main Character of 2012

[EDIT]

Kagami Taiga & Kuroko Tetsuya from Kuroko no Basket
I also forgot to add, Sherlock Holmes from BBC's Sherlock ehehehe~

Favourite Secondary Character of 2012

Not sure if i can consider Rider and Waver Velvet (Fate/Zero)  as secondary though, but the pic below it - i really like Hyuga Junpei and Kiyoshi Teppei as well (Kuroko no Basket)

Favourite Villain of 2012

[EDIT]

 

I realized that there aren't many good vs evil anime I watched this year, so there isn't much villains to choose from. Haytham Kenway (Assassin's Creed 3) is a swag. One of the very few things I like about AC3.
And wtf I almost forgot about Loki (The Avengers), and yet I was all over him half the year. Consequently I have a real life celebrity crush towards Tom Hiddeston.

Favourite Het Couple of 2012

I think Jellal x Erza became officially canon this year, and since Fairy Tail is an ongoing manga/anime I'd include it in this post. Then we have Morgiana x Alibaba from Magi. Looks like I have a thing for strong red haired girls XD

Favourite yuri Couple of 2012

Not much of a yuri fan but this works. Valmet x Koko from Jormungand.

Favourite Yaoi Couple of 2012

too many to list LOL but I seem to be all over the Fushimi Saruhiko x Yata Misaki from K. I've already started a doujin about them. I really wanna get serious about this.

Fandom That You Never Expected to Get Into This Year

I know Kamen Rider OOO is old but I just started checking out the show this year, it's the most unexpected show I fell in love with. As for Kuroko no Basket initially I was discouraged by a fellow fangirl from watching this show (it didn't suit her taste she said, no story and the art is horrible lol), but it didn't worry me much since I'm not a sports fan let alone basketball. Ironically KnB was 're-introduced' by a guy friend aaaaand everything started from there.

No regrets for both of them, and I'm glad these unexpected fandoms have brilliant OSTs.

Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback This Year

Actually, I knew I'd be loving Tiger & Bunny forever. The moment it ended last year I had this "there'll be no anime as great as this" kind of feeling. But what I did not expect is to successfully influenced a friend into the fandom, and then I went back to fangirling T&B with her. And then I got myself T&B plamo and 2013 calender.

Fandom That Inspired The Most Crack This Year

If you think this is video is funny wait till you hear about the 'Alternate Universe' version where me and a dozen of other K fans came up with (unfortunately I am not going to spoil it here). Halfway through watching K, I met with other fangirls (via facebook ofc) and we started making up loads of weird CRACKS based on this show. Thanks to these random shits I couldn't watch K seriously, I keep laughing at any angsty part cos I kept getting reminded of our 'discussion'. I am somewhat glad this show has a weak plot and comes off rather shallow cos we have freedom to fill in the plotholes!!

Last Fandom of 2012

Cos it just ended last week. No new fandom has started yet.

Overall Fandom of 2012

I guess it's K and Kuroko no Basket.

...and one more...

2012 Achievements Unlocked

Yes I'm at home as usual during New Year's Eve, I've never partied outside my whole life during this time of the year. Oh no it's not sad I'm just gonna watch animes or read manga like it's just any other day. Or maybe I'll just end up sleeping as midnight passes by. I hate the crowds anyway. Hope other people have fun out there watching shitty performances and have sex without protection so that you can dump babies 9 months later.

2012 is a pathetic year for me personally but at the same time I've improvised in other aspects.

Such as, I continued Japanese class and now i'm about to take on Lower Intermediate part 2. However I'm not goo in conversing in Japanese just yet, but lately I can pick up vaguely of what Japanese songs are saying.

Next I successfully become a fan of Assassin's Creed series thanks to Reppu_kiri and deady. Then I also became a fan of BBC Sherlock.

Also thanks to AFKLOL I gain more anime people cyberfriends particularly from LYN Anime Shrine and thus becoming the event of the year. Hey I consider this a part of my social life improvement.

Went to various Japanese artists concert this year; Nakagawa Shoko, Kalafina, Miyavi and TM Revolution.

Speaking of TMR, since his concert was in Singapore, I really travelled all the way there alone, and went back to KL alone as well. Of course I meet friends there but still the journey was solitary. I got lost, and i even almost lost my ebitetsu (phone) in a foreign land but the battery is gone instead!

While still talking about travelling, this year I traveled all the way to the east coast with my friends in a car. Yeah drove all the way there. Of course we switched drivers.
I'm baking stuff quite recently lately. I think it's somewhat inspired by someone. Earlier this year mom challenged me to do Pavlova, and I hear meringue is a very difficult thing to make. You really need to be pro. I didn't manage to pull it off but it tasted quite okay. At least i got the marshmallowy insides though it turned kind flat.

And the next SUCCESS which became my mom's favourite is mille crepe cake, of which the layers didn't really become crepe but more like a pancake. It's really easy to make but it takes quite a while to finish it. And you don't need the oven to do this

I've also levelled up my 'otaku' mode... or maybe fangirl mode is more specific cos I only care about the fujoshit stuff... buy buying some of the merchandise like these

and these

I haven't got the chance to fool around with the plamo yet though.

Speaking of fangirling, by the end of year thanks to Kuroko no Basket, Magi and K I shamelessly added fellow fangirls via facebook and developed friendship just by going crazy over the fictional guys. And thanks to them also I found the spirit to draw once again. I also shamelessly barged into a gath once wtf AND I HAVE GENTAROU KISARAGI TO BLAME!

Now that i mentioned him I became a Kamen Rider fan watched my first Kamen Rider which is Fourze and then I fell in love with OOO.

Other stuff I did is to read American Comics for the first time. I only read one of Thor's comics but then they failed to keep me interested so yeah bye I'm gonna be weabo all the way.

I got a Yukata (which I didn't even wear yet) and a pair of geta (mom said I can't walk like a dude wearing those)

Other minor stuff... I did a confession and got away with it. I made something for birthdays of a few friends. Faced a really horrible family issue like a MAN. Procrastinated for like... a whole year.

on to real life achievements... I've become a postgraduate student. This is just one step ahead to achieve my dreams. And I've worked as a tutor for more than a year, while earning very little yet learning a lot more especially on how to deal with kids. Nah I don't think I can deal with many types of kids yet, but by teaching them maths I'm kind of revising the formulae as well. Which is important in case I need to do theoretical shit for my research.

to sum it up, meeting people and facing hardships had changed the way I think and the way I see things. It's not that I'm easily influenced by people, i'm just pretty much trying to be open to others' opinion or way of living their life - although I may personally dislike the lifestyle. I consider this as another achievement unlock, for me as a person.

2012 is ending, so all i need is a resolution for 2013. I'm not gonna be pessimistic about this anymore by saying "who cares" so let's have something to motivate myself. The most important thing is I HAVE to be more diligent about my postgraduate studies. I'm gonna draw more next year and I plan to make a doujinshi with several people. And I'm gonna keep vowing to grow mature so that I won't become like certain childish 'adults' out there.

Happy New Year everyone. Put your past behind, take them as a lesson, and let's move forward for a better future o/

Review: Persona 4 - The Animation

Studio: AIC Asta & Aniplex

When the anime version of Persona 4 is announced, I had mixed feelings. It is one of my favourite games, something I love more than Persona 3, so I was highly anticipating it. But video game (and visual novels) adaptations are known to turn out rather disappointing.

It doesn’t matter if I knew the story or not, but I thought I could preview the first few episodes to see how they make an animation out of it. Bad news; the art quality was meh. Good news; the presentation of the story is GREAT!

And that is one hell of a surprise as in the game it feels more slow paced, and more like a high school drama. The anime makes the story slightly faster, and they changed some of the scenes yet still staying true to the storyline, just to not make it like an exact copy of the video game.

I won't talk much about the plot as I've reviewed it in the video game here (warning may contain spoilers) like 3 years ago.

For those who has played the game, then you’ll know what I’m gonna talk about here; the individual “Shadow” scenes have something extra. A little more flashback and a little more details, especially for Yosuke and Chie. I also wondered if they did do something about the social links, because there’ll be only 20+ episodes, how are they able to fit in all the characters? But they did it anyway. Probably the only thing I’m disturbed with because the supporting characters social link went too fast, and some compiled in a few episodes making it seem like filler episodes to those who aren’t familiar with the system of the game. Even so, I think it’s an excellent way to adapt the social links in the anime. Even Nanako has a special episode just for herself – which I think it’s important for us to understand her loneliness and her love towards her big brother ^^

one of my fave scenes which I'm glad that they didn't make it typically video game-like, so it looks more flexible and realistic in spite of being in another world.

While the art is not so impressive, I’m glad to hear the familiar tracks in the background. Plus, the OP and ED are unexpectedly GOOD. I’m glad they didn’t pick a random moe-voiced idols, any rock music or just about any hip-hop. Meguro Masashi made sure the songs truly reminds you of the Persona 4 feel and what it is all about.

The final episode was a big troll. During my gameplay I did not come across that final boss. After the ending credits there’s a preview showing that the true end will come in DVD!

When the “True End” episode is out, again, Persona 4: The Animation proved to be a worthy adaptation. It is obviously related to the true ending of P4, but with something you won’t be able to see in the game. Have you ever thought that it is unfair that only the main character’s friends get all the “pursuing my true self” scenes everytime you go down their dungeon?

Well guess what. The MC gets it too! The true ending is worth watching, very satisfying.

Best of 2012 Anime

The year is ending, thanks to Reppu_kiri for the suggestion of listing the best (and worst) of 2012 anime. Probably too early to post this but I plan to post something else on the last day or on new year. I've listed my version down here, and note that you may not agree with me so prepare for butthurt. Also keep in mind that I'm not the type who watches every single anime there is each season, I'm least likely to watch those moe shows and trust me there are bishounen-filled animes which failed to catch my interest as well.

So here goes nothing.

Best Show:
1. Uchuu Kyoudai
2.Shin Sekai Yori
3. Fate/Zero Season 2

Initially I put Hyouka in the top 3 list, but Shin Sekai Yori just went from “watafak” to “omfg that’s totally awesome!” putting Hyouka in fourth place. While I disike season 1 of F/Z I find the 2nd season much more exciting to endure. Uchuu Kyoudai hits the number 1 spot as it’s no longer your average shounen high school drama. Like Tiger & Bunny, it’s about carreer people and mid-life crisis, except that the show is more realistic compared to the superhero themed anime. And it tells you it's not too late to achieve your dreams even if you're over 30 years old (and continue on dreaming), it gives me hope. What makes me love the show a lot is the fact that it hits home – and due to that I haven’t watched anything further than episode 8 yet.

Worst Show
1. Ebiten
2. Kamisama Hajimemashita
3. Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle Season 2

Among the three, Phi Brain S2 is the only one I watched until the end. Why do I watch it anyway? It’s because there’s an epic FukuJun. Why is it horrible? You can check out the review. I cannot bring myself to finish the other two, so I won’t bother reviewing them. Therefore I’d leave my rant here. Personally I think Kamisama Hajimemashita’s plot and characters are horriby written; the story is about a girl who experienced misfortune thanks to her dad and is suddenly given a blessing by a god who randomly found her (it’s called FATE pfft-). However there’s no hint of her trying to survive in the state of poverty as the story shallowly focuses on how’d she deals with the supernatural bishounens more than anything. You don’t actually feel the hardship of being abandoned by your family, but you only get to see Miss Mary Sue complaining about how she wants her normal life back. Ebiten is on the other hand is supposed to be about otaku girls but I find the show’s depiction of them quite insulting. It went too far in terms of ecchi, I don’t see how otaku girls would act like that and I really can’t relate to it. For more accurate representation of ‘otaku’ girls, you can find it in Kuragehime.

Best Male Character

   

1. Rider/Iskander (Fate/Zero)
2. Kagami Taiga (Kuroko no Basket)
3. Oreki Hotarou (Hyouka)

Worst guy: Yamanaka Kenji (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun), Itou Mamoru (Shin Sekai Yori), Libertà (Arcana Famiglia)

The only reason why I watched F/Z is for Broskander, and thanks to him I have no regrets watching F/Z until the end. But I gotta say I’m most impressed by Kagami Taiga’s character – he who I thought would be another typical arrogant shounen boy but turns out he’s not. He may look like that but he KNOWS how to tone down his ego. Oreki on the other hand is not your hot-blooded protagonist but his skills as a detective, even when deducing pointless stuff which makes him kinda unique.

YamaKen is the guy I hate most in TonaKaibu, thanks to something I learn from Sukitte Ii Na Yo - I don’t think he’s really in love with the main girl but he’s just going all CHALLENGE ACCEPTED with the whole situation. To me, he doesn’t know what he’s doing or how he really feels and I’m hoping the plot allows him to grow into someone better (been there done that I guess lol). I acknowledge that the existence of Mamoru in Shinsekai Yori is pretty much an important plot device, but I can’t help disliking him for being so weak and unable to accept the ‘truth’. Liberta didn’t give me a good impression as he looked as though he was trying too hard to be the ‘perfect’ guy (this may just be my own opinion).

Best female character

   

1. Koko Hekmatyar (Jormungand)
2. Morgiana (Magi)
3. Murasaki (UtaKoi)

Worst Girl: 1. Todayama Kyouko (Ebiten)
2. Momozono Nanami (Kamisama Hajimemashita)
3. Saber/Arturia (Fate/Zero)

Koko is like the female version of Lelouch, a much much better female strategist-type character than Gundam 00’s Sumeragi and even Fairy Tail’s Mavis. Well, at least she HAS a character, though I still find it baffling to have a very young lady to lead a mercenary unite. Morgiana has half or maybe two third of Erza Scarlet’s epicness as a female warrior, and as a character (not a tsundere nor the need-to-be-protected type). I believe she can grow more. In third place I would like to put Watanabe Saki (Shin Sekai Yori) instead of Murasaki… but Saki is still in her low self-confidence phase and is still uncertain about the truth around her, I can’t like her that much yet. So it’s this depiction of Murasaki (based on a true story) is what I like more cos I feel like I can relate to her.

About Kyouko and Nanami, I’ve explain briefly about their respective animes so you could get a clue from there. Saber is bland, ‘nuff said (allow me to explain more once I get to F/Z season 2 review)

Best OP [EDIT]

1. To the Beginning - Kalafina (Fate/Zero S2)
2. See You - Yuya Matsushita (Natsuyuki Rendezvous)
3. KINGS - Angela (K)

Best ED:
1. Circle of Friends - Totsuka Tatara/Kaji Yuki (K)
2. Yubi Bouenkyou - Nogizaka 46 (Magi)
3. Catal Rythm - OLDCODEX (Kuroko no Basket)


There were many great OPs this year but not many awesome EDs, as far as I’m concerned. The OPs I listed up there are my top 3 since they relate to the story the most, though I'd like to mention that I love ClariS's "Wake Up" from Moyashimon Returns, Yuki's "Sakamichi no Melody" from Sakamichi no Apollon, Nano's "Now of Never from Phi Brain, and GranRodeo's "Can Do" from Kuroko no Basket.

Can't seem to find the really really great ED this year but I love "Circle of Friends" most cos it's sad ;__;. As for Magi's ED, it sounds like children singing and it really suits the main trio cos they look like kids having fun (althought the current storyline in the manga has become a bit darker). Catal Rythm is the third cos I can't think of anything else that's good, and it's one of the few memorable EDs I have in my head.

Best OST:
1. K - Endo Mikio
2. Sakamichi no Apollon - Kanno Yoko
3. Kuroko no Basket - R・O・N

Sorry couldn't find playlists for them except for Sakamichi no Apollon, and I can't find other OST's for KuroBasu. I've been addicted to K's OST since the moment I watched the trailers, then I fell in love with the rest of the background music while watching the show. My weakness is damn good OSTs even if the show turns dull and not even bishounens can save me from dropping. And surprisingly it's the type of "hip-hop" genre my ears are able to accept. Next, I gotta be honest that I haven't watched Cowboy Bepop so I don't know how Kanno Yoko sounds like, but thanks to Sakamichi no Apollon for making me like jazz a little bit more (the only jazz songs I like is anything from video game OSTs). Another surprise for me is that, i didn't expect Kuroko no Basket to be anywhere near unique but then it has a list of EPIC tracks. So it's another show I enjoy watching because the music suits the mood of each scene :3

Best Art: Ai no Kusabi (2012), K, Utakoi.

not gonna say much about the first two but Utakoi is a special case. It's like Okami + Katanagatari type of art, although not as pretty but I really love looking at something different.

[EDIT]
Best battle scene
1. Yatogami Kuroh vs Munakata Reisi (K episode 7)
2. Archer vs Berserker (Fate/Zero S2 episode 2 or 15)
3. Aomine Daiki vs Kise Ryouta (Kuroko no Basket episode 24)

lol this one is just extra, something I thought up last night while marathon-ing K before the final episode. Kuroh vs Reisi has the most beautiful animation to date, as I loved how KuroBasu animated Aomine's movements in the anime. But even better when he faces Kise because Kise executed his "Perfect Copy". Archer vs Berserker is jet fighting goodness. Yeah ranked this according animation awesomness X3
---

Once again lemme remind you that I don't watch all anime, so forgive me if my thoughts are rather biased. And there are animes I plan to watch like Psycho Pass but don't really have the time cos I prioritise my favourite ones. So you can recommend me anything that I've missed, especially OPs, EDs and OSTs. Or you can like... counter me if you see your fave show/character in my worst list, tell me why they're not meant to be there - see if you can convince me otherwise. I'm open for healthy debates yeah.

Comic Fiesta's 10th Anniversary

I would love to do a full report on this event, but unfortunately I missed the morning sessions on both days due to several reasons. I planned to watch the cosplay competition but I missed it, so all I did was to browse the doujinshi booths. I didn't even look at the 'official' merchandise much.

And the afternoon events didn't interest me much. Danny Choo, Bless4 and Redjuice came but I wasn't a much of a fan. I do acknowledge each of their greatness though so don't get me wrong. Personally wish that there were people that I am truly more interested in lol but I understand that they can't satisfy everyone. One thing I'd like to have in the future events is SEIYUUs! So CF2012 was a little bit boring for me, and I've been to better ones in the previous years. Maybe it's because I was not present in the hall when the best things happen :(

Nonetheless, on the bright side, it's the best time to hang out with your anime people friends and it's perfect excuse to meet up with new cyberfriends (CF is always the only time I feel damn popular LOL). I think the best part is the gathering and having funny yet memorabe conversations with them.

I'm not gonna do any review but I'm gonna write my thoughts on... well... CF.

When I arrived late on day 1 (glad the line wasn't long anymore), when I entered the hall i felt rather uneasy. The reason is there were so many... SOOOO MANY people. It was so hard to move, and it takes forever to get to the doujin booth area since we had to walk through the sponsor booths. My mind instanty brought me back to December year 2004 - my first Comic Fiesta, in Balai Seni Lukis Negara (I was 16). Where the crowd is dispersed and you can still see 95% of the floor. As years passed, as locations changed, more and more people attended the event. And last year it was over 15000 people (source: http://comicfiesta.org/comic-fiesta-101-cf-a-history/ ), this year the number reached to over 25000!!

While I really hate crowds, I remember back then I felt kind of 'alone' seeing very little people coming to CF and other conventions. Like we're the only freaks in Malaysia. Seeing the number of otaku weeabos attendees especially cosplayers and doujinshikas increasing every year makes me feel like "oh so there are THIS many weirdos in my country!" *gets shot*

photo credits to geminianeyes

Yeah I speak as though I am not one of you guys lol.

Yes, I may dislike/disagree with some of the subfandoms of Anime-Comic-Games fandom or the attitude of their fans but it's just great that CF and the likes bring us together.

Thanks to comicfiesta for giving me a chance to meet people of the same wavelength, and meeting more and more people, and making me feel less like a social outcast.

Why do I sound so goddamn positive lol

So here are the stuff I bought...

Those capsules were from Tiger & Bunny. I was playing gashopon and fangirling there alone w.

I bought the Rurouni Kenshin badges from a fellow RuroKen fan, Iwashi-kun. It's her first ever set of badges! Thank you so much! It's hard to see 'nostalgia' in CF booth nowadays XD

US-UK doujin from Kii_ru

D-chan gave me the K file she got from Animax booth and I fangirled the moment I got it. The Avengers postcard by ChibiMie onee-san.

I just had to buy the Kuroshitsuji T-shirt since it's black. The Sinbad doujin is also from Kii_ru's booth. While the Assassin's Creed posters were by Virus-AC 

I don't have much photos, not even videos of the event so you can look for it somewhere else. Uncle google can help you. I wish I could stay longer for the closing ceremony but I had to go home early. Overall it's sad to not be able to enjoy the 10th anniversary to the fullest.

....Sorry for the uninteresting blog post :P

Most Inspirational Characters (anime)

The title should be: the anime characters who (in)directly affect Vien's life and personality, so this list is very personal and others may not agree with it so it's totally fine.

I dunno about you but I watch anime for more than just pure entertainment. And lately I realized that, while people argue about watching anime for the plot or watching it for the fanservice (moe, bishounen, bromance, mecha etc), I am more looking forward to character developments.

And this is all thanks to the characters I’ve encountered before. I wanted to list 10, but I can only think of 5 most significant ones. And these are the anime characters that inspire me most, which is one of the contributors to the fact that 50% of my life lessons is taken from anime.

So the list below does not follow chronology but i decided to rank them.

And do note that these characters are not necessarily my ultimate favourite characters. As in, the type I'd fangirl at

5. Fujiouka Haruhi (Ouran High School Host Club, 2006)

Ouran is the only reverse harem manga I love, and the best shoujo manga I’ve ever known whose anime adaptation saved me from entirely quitting the fandom... and Haruhi is the best reverse harem heroine I know. The reason is that she isn’t Mary Sue. Well, her grades are perfect and she’s cute, but she’s the type that doesn’t care much about what goes around her and how she portrays herself. She doesn’t care if people see her as a girl or a boy, doesn’t care if she’s being girlish or boyish as long as she doesn’t disturb others. She claims to only care about her studies, but in the end she does care about others. The best part is, when a misunderstanding happens, she doesn’t overreact (like how tsunderes often punch the main guy for accidentally being ecchi). She understands that it isn’t an accident, and is really calm most of the time and think things through without being overdramatic.

The thing is, she is neither an empty shell or an annoying bitch as the only girl in the group. You low self-esteemed ladies may not be able to relate with her (as empty shells could) but you could at least try being calm and motivated like her.

4. Kuronuma Sawako (Kimi ni Todoke, 2010)

When I watched this anime, I thought that this is going to be another shoujo where the guy is the one who saves the girl from being lonely. Or about a girl who yearns for someone to save her from being forever in despair, for someone to come to her and accept her. Turns out it’s not. Sawako herself was inspired by the boy she likes to become friendlier, in spite of people calling her bad names just because of her withdrawn personality. Seeing Sawako’s journey of improving her social life makes me wish that this show should’ve been aired while I was in school. Though I have friends in school, I am still pretty much socially awkward. I reject others who don’t have the same wavelength as I have, I am too damn selective of my friends. But when my circle of friends aren’t around, that is when I feel so bad about myself for not being able to talk to others.

So how does Sawako inspire me now? I dunno, I guess thanks to her I can continue doing how I do in improving my social interaction. Care less about how badly people think of you, if they think you’re trying too hard or being too arrogant, ignore them. You know what you’re doing. I may not like the idea of Sawako forcing herself to be accepted by others, but if that makes her happy then I have no comment. I have my own way of being accepted, while she has her own. Nonetheless, I like how she begins the first step. Her effort is a good example for those who are socially awkward out there.

3. Bishoujo Senshi (Sailor Moon, 1992)

Surprise, surprise! Trust me, Sailormoon is not just a childhood anime to me. But actually, I wasn’t into the anime much as I love the manga more. Though as an adult I think the characters deserve more development – because the characters are as many as the shounen manga ones. In the tenth volume, there’s a detailed character profile of each pretty soldiers. Such profile, is probably never can be found in other manga/anime series today. Not even in the recent mahou shoujos. Naoko Takeuchi listed their favourite foods, fave colour, fave subject, hobbies – it was the best way to get to know the character more. And even in special chapters the characters introduced themselves and tell us why they like such things (why Ami Mizuno likes Sandwiches is that they’re easier to eat while studying!).

And the most important part of those character profiles; the dreams and ambitions of the characters (the funniest is Usagi’s, she wants to become a bride). Which as a kid, lead me to believe that it is important to have dreams. And I make sure I have something to say at the end of “when I grow up…”, even if it changes every year or two. And it is sad when once I’ve grown up, taking a degree, I meet people my age who have no idea what they want to become. And some regrets taking a course which they think sounded cool or recommended to take, then they found something else a bit too late (maybe not too late but you’ve wasted money on fees already). I’ve set my goals to one path, but still, there are things I’m unsure of. But I have ambitions, I want to achieve it. And thanks to Sailormoon and her friends for teaching me how important it is to have dreams.

Hence this is why I'd get instantly bored whenever there's an anime with a main character who introduce himself as "nothing special" and "wanting to live a normal life".

2. Kobayakawa Miyuki & Tsujimoto Natsumi (You're Under Arrest, 1996)

I used to be a huge fan of Disney Princesses until I stumbled upon this anime (actually it started with Sailormoon first but the sailor scouts effect is merely a 'transition' phase). It breaks the mindset of “someday my prince will come” (while you laze around in your chambers singing with birds without putting much effort to improve your self-esteem because you’re already ultimately pretty, or when you desperately wish to get into the guys pants without much worry cos you’re so goddamn beautiful), and TAIHOU SHICHAUZO (title in Japanese) tells you that girls should NOT be damsels in distress. I love the bromantic relationship between Natsumi and Miyuki, and how strong they are as traffic policewomen, Natsumi gave me much bigger impact… but oh wait, I used to hate it while she’s being a bit too obsessed with the chief XD. And Miyuki, may be less tomboyish than her partner but she’s a really great mechanic. And these tough girls, hey, they found love too.

So there’s nothing to be afraid of, being a strong woman I mean. Being a weak lady is overrated! Miyuki and Natsumi are the first strong female characters that inspire me to become an independent woman :3
(side note: if you're new to anime and if you've seen Tiger & Bunny, do check this out. It has the same feel)

1. Kamina (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, 2007)

I'd say Simon and the whole of Dai Gurren Dan as well but if it wasn't for him the GAR-est character development evar wouldn't have happened. Kamina does not only inspire me, but in among those I mentioned in the list he's definitely one of my most favourite characters. There's no man as awesome as he is, those so-called 'perfect' prince/gentleman type male characters look plain standing next to him! And don't get me started with real life men!

Kamina is the most important guy that changed my life. And I mean it.
As a teen I used to be more emo and pointlessly feeling depressed (as an adult I think I am already aware of why I was depressed before), I give up easily. Everything around me is negative, I doubt things more than I do now. Watching Kamina being so damn annoyingly optimistic was an unexpected turning point in my life. At first I thought it was bad to have someone so perfectly MANLY, but when he talks about his inner fears made me understand why he is awesome. It's not because he's manly because he's naturally born that way, but he's manly because he believes in others. And when he believes in others, the people around him unconsciously believed in themselves while thinking it's all due to this guy.

Long story short because of him I supposed I had changed drastically into an optimistic person (but my negative thoughts linger still now and then). I had begin to believe in myself and love myself, and it was really important for I experienced heartbreak which i feared would destroy me. But the power of GAR-ness in TTGL taught me that there are more things in life to look forward to.

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So I guess that wraps it up. Let's see if I can think of video game characters next XD

Review: Wreck-it Ralph

The other day I ranted about how children’s stories in the west love making bad guys “born bad”, while the Japanese know logically that a villain would turn bad due to an unfortunate event. And these Japanese-made villains have a choice to redeem himself, while the Western ones have no hope at all (okay maybe not all is like this but *shrugs*)

Wreck-It Ralph questions this phenomenon. Every simple arcade games would have the bad guy ‘programmed’ to be bad, they have no backstory or whatsoever (unlike the games we play today). Ralph is the bad guy of the game Fix-it Felix. Everytime the arcade centre is closed, the characters of the games take a break and suddenly have their own free will. Yes, it’s like Toy Story all over again! But there’s nothing bad about it, because this show is really great.

Back to Ralph, he laments on the fact that he’s ‘programmed’ to be bad. He goes to a weekly gathering of villains where the bad guys are very optimistic about their roles. Bison, Zangief, Clyde, Dr. Robotnic and a zombie were so damn civilized. Ralph is jealous of the good guy, Felix, who gets medals, and loved by the people and gets cake. And this I think, might make us think that Felix is the bad guy if we follow from Ralph’s POV. One day Ralph decided not to hide his jealousy, he politely crashed the party, and Felix had mixed feelings about letting him in. Here’s where the so-called good people discriminate Ralph and he got all “CHALLENGED ACCEPTED” when someone tells him that he will never get a medal.

So all the trouble started here; he hijacked a modern game, stole a medal, accidentally hijacked another game, stolen medal got stolen, and all of a sudden he becomes a brother figure to a really cute loli. And the loli is antagonized for a wicked reason.

congrats Vanellope! you just made it to my favourite loli list!

On one hand, we have a pair who developed some kind of brother-sister relationship, which looks way much better than those anime imouto stories. On the other, we have Felix and Colhoun – a female game character “programmed with a tragic past” – which why she’s badass (and Jane Lynch). So this is what surprised me, for I thought Felix would be a jackass good guy. Though the reason is for him to save his game from being stowed away, I think he was probably the only one who truly cared about Ralph. I’d say the best parts of this story is the relationship between the (original) characters, and how they develop. And speaking of relationships, you’ll get to see an UNLIKELY couple.

There were plenty of video game references, like glitches and even cheat codes. I think this is one of the reasons I love this show. Cameos of popular video game franchise appear now and then. It’s really interesting to see how one character from one game interacts with one from the other. And the characters of the games which are thrown out became beggars LOL.

And they also have the "onee-sama" type

Though those who watch could tell who the main villain is, but there was this unexpected plot twist. I don’t know about you but that was really unpredictable. Probably because we don’t really know how the inter-game world works but still it was… WOW.

I’ve long quitted being a Disney Princesses fan, and not really keen about those magical fairy tale curses shit anymore. I don't think I can brain anymore Disney f*cking up those tales, it's better if they write something original. I’m glad Disney finally came up with something totally different (after Toy Story and Nightmare Before Christmas) and still giving you a happy ending.

As my cousin said, "Disney has got back their magic" :3

And LOOK! It's AKB48!!

Rant on Assassin's Creed series

So I'm gonna compile thoughts on all five Assassin's Creed games in one post. Don't think I have to write about them one by one, especially since I'll be away this weekend. But i won't elaborate much since I'm sure there are better reviews out there.

wallpaper by http://senzorka.deviantart.com

The first game I played was Assassin's Creed 2, where two of my friends shoved the disc into my face (in a good way). And i asked others whether I should really try this out, I was totally convinced when someone said something about Leonardo da Vinci.

I was afraid of playing stealth games, I couldn't finish Ninja Gaiden cos I totally sucked (back then I was more of an RPG-fag). But AC2 gives you a GPS so you basically know where the red dots are walking. But you have a choice to become incognito or nortorious. So it wasn't that hard. In the end I enjoyed the game because it was fun to figure out a way to kill your target in stealth mode. And Ezio has a romantic way of killing people it makes me blush... Other than that, it was like a vacation to different parts of Italy. Florence, Tuscan, Forli, San Gimignano and especially VENICE (row the gondola too)! And you have mercenaries, courtesans and thieves to assist you in your mission - and they turn out to be sub-sections of the Order of the Assassin's. Minigames are important to the plot, and you have the obligation to finish it to see what is meant to be seen.

Venice is a romantic place... owait-

AC: Brotherhood inherits the awesomeness of of its predecessor, but even better when you have assassin recruits to come to your aid. Now you have side missions to liberate forts (again this makes assassination a really fun thing to do) and try out the machineries Leonardo invented. The only drawback is probably that you only stick around Rome, but Rome is a freakin' huge place to have a walk in. Thankfully the architecture makes up with it.

Before carrying on the Revelations, I decided to finish the first game first. Since I am aware that Revelations is about tracking Altair's memories, I thought I should connect with Altiar first before I get confused in the fourth game. So we go all the way back to where assassins originated from, Masyaf (now in Syria), and i suppose the inhabitants were Muslims (it's more cool to call Muslims 'assassins' rather than ;terrorists' ww). AC was an extremely straightforward game, and I found myself feeling awkward that I don't have allies to depend on. Which makes it a challenge to move about as a lone wolf bird of prey, and trust me the combat system was still troublesome. There were a lot of running and falling, and you need to at least hide rather than going out of the radius when guards are on high alert. Yet you have a lot more freedom in killing people. The funniest part is when a WILD TEMPLAR APPEARS and start throwing curses at you. Here we also learn the three tenets of the Order; do not kill innocents, hide in plain sight and do not betray your Brotherhood. The worst part is to collect the flags, but in the end I couldn't care less (no trophies lol) and the fact that Altair cannot swim.... AC wasn't as awesome as AC2 and Brotherhood, but at least you get another vacation, this time in the Middle East - more architecture p0rn!

AC1 may feel like nothing but here's my favourite character. No kidding.

AC was really a PROLOGUE for the whole plot. It's when you start AC2 you realize it's actually the real "chapter 1". It was only in AC2 you know more about the current timeline issues, and the Templar's main plot. So now let's move on to Revelations. Ezio travels to Turkey, and whoopie more beautiful buildings!! This is when I realize you have to be super specific when it comes to fighting different types of opponents. We get to kill everyone with our litte allies and assassin recruits. And eagle vision has a massive improvement; now you can see traces of the glowing red/gold people! While funding money is very easy in the last two games, Revelations is a bit difficult due to the Islamic banking system (no interest, it's haram). Ezio has become wise with age, and I kind of feel sorry for him when he pants after dropping from a ledge =A="

Recently I've just finished Assassin's Creed 3. It was a game I anticipated most this year, and I actually bought it as a birthday present. I had fun with Altair and Ezio, and I was looking forward to have the similar feeling with Connor. However, the game began with a faux protagonist. You wonder why it isn't Connor, but this guy, I think you can see where it's coming. But then there's a plot twist that makes you go "Wait. What?" (just as Desmond did) and rewards you a trophy called "so how do you like 'em apples?". So much for trolling. But once you get to control Connor, you find yourself missing Haytham a lot more.

I would love to rant but all my feelings about AC3 are paralleled to this article: 7 reasons why Assassin's Creed 3 is actually disappointing

this sequence was fun but simply not enough FEEEEELLLLSSS

All the feels, yet the thing that disturbs me most is the nearly impossible and what-the-fuck-is-it-even-necessary Secondary Objectives. Sure, I have no problems replaying the part where I need to assassinate a guy from above. But when you're telling me to protect two important guys while throwing redcoats into the water makes me think "What? Why can't I just shoot them from above and act like a REAL ASSASSIN?". Now I know that these Secondary Objectives existed since AC2 trilogy, and it starts to get a little ridiculous in Revelations, but I don't remember feeling like I want to throw the controller at the TV just to give a fuck about 100 Sync. The interactive trailer fooled you by hinting that you CAN have different ways of reaching your target. There was so little freedom that I started to appreciate AC1 a whole lot more because Altair DID what a spy/assassin is supposed to do; investigate the enemy, analyze the area, and comes up with THREE options on how to go for the kill. You want a full frontal assault badassery? Go ahead. You want to sneak into secret passages like a ninja? Go ahead!

Another goddamn disappointment is the declination of the Eagle Vision. Connor didn't even need it; he's a Native American, and obviously he had hunting skills. All he needed is too look for clues. And oh there are no clues left behind by Subject No.6 to unlock. Here I was hoping that he could see traces of red like Ezio could in Revelations, but there weren't any. So now you cannot even have fun playing tricks on the guards with your trip mines (i loved planting those funny bombs in Revelations just to see how the guards react lolol). More importantly, you don't have any information on where the guards might walk unless you stick around for a few minutes to see the patrol pattern.... ONLY if you do not have any time limit to consider!

I had floating maidens. What about you?

You might think this review here has a lot of whining but I don't think whether you're veteran or a newbie is the problem. The post wraps up on how the game really is like at certain parts. The main point is the fact that it's no longer a stealth game and you don't have that similar enjoyment as you had in the previous four games. There were many cases where Connor breaks the second tenet of the Order (FUKKEN HIDE IN FUKKEN PLAIN FUKKEN SIGHT and why the hell are you commanding the patriots??), and other than that it's just really hard to be stealthy because now the guards a lot smarter. Probably it's because you're now in America *shrugs*... or sometimes a little dumb (or it could be a glitch) because sometimes i randomly get "HEY YOU!" while I'm just walking peacefully several metres away from the fukken lobsters D:. Now that you're in infant America, a really boring setting because most houses are made of wood and there aren't any minarets and towers with aethestic carvings to jawdrop at. Could've chosen settings where CULTURE exists.

But guess what the best part of the game is? The Naval Battles (is that a very assassin thing to do?) and the Assassin Recruits. And I also thought Davenport Homestead will become an assassin HQ but instead you're just rounding up outcasts to live happily ever after with.

Now I'm not gonna talk about the story or the characters of the wholse series, you can look at it elsewhere and I agree with them whatsoever. But I can tell you that AC3 doesn't have memorable ones as you found in AC2 (or otherwise people around Altair if you care to notice)

I am actually surprised to have found this in a bookstore here. It costs around RM35 - RM39, in BORDERS. Just bought the first one, and I hope I look forward to Connor's true colours he failed to show in the game.

In spite of all the crap I said about AC3, do try to play it if you think you can handle the gameplay. I know there may be pros who hold pride that they face the challenges like robots, but not everyone is lucky. And if you have not tried the Assassin's Creed games, go pick it up now. It's worth it. You might wanna skip AC3 thought and just read the spoilers, but you'll miss out the Naval Battles.