Mirage's Journal

Subject:	Claymore manga review
Time:	5:32 pm.

Yes, it ended lol.

I assumed it's not really the end of the entire manga, but more like an end of an arc since no one's really talking about it. Plus the ending is really lackluster...even for an ending of an arc.

But anyway, here's my review of Claymore - a somewhat odd series that managed to get my attention every month. I wouldn't say this is a masterpiece, it's pretty far from it, but it's still entertaining nonetheless. I'd say it's a little closer to mindless read. The artwork is very nice, many gorgeous character designs, and the action is clear and easy to follow unlike many other shonen manga. Just don't try to read too deeply...as the story quality is fairly all over the place, filled with deus ex machina and unbelievable plot twist.

This manga is mostly character driven than story driven. There is a story, but I don't think I'm following it for that. At best you have some plot twist about the organization, but that's it. Nothing particularly ground breaking. All the interesting stuff lies in the characters. There are multitude of characters in Claymore, and likely you are bound to meet one that you would enjoy. There are also plenty of strong females, so those who are sick of useless heroines, Claymore might just be for you.

Speaking of heroine, I don't like Clare. lol. Naivety and stubborn aren't really a good combination. It doesn't help that she always get the plot armor, making her a walking deus ex machina. I do however, enjoy her relationship with Theresa. It's nicely done. One of my personal favorite moments in the manga.

The good thing about Claymore is that...the story doesn't always focus on Clare. There are many other characters who take the spotlight. Some may consider this a detriment, but I like it, mostly because I'm not fond of Clare. XD;;;

My favorite character happened to be Miria, who I believe the closest to the second main character. She's always in charge whenever Clare isn't around, and pretty much takes the spotlight in the latter part of the manga. She's also the one who led the rebellion against the organization and eventually succeeds in the end.

Miria is strong, smart and has a very cool ability, but unfortunately she shares a rather similar problem to Clare...the plot armor on her is pretty strong lol. Despite this, she has a nice development, and I quite enjoy her inner turmoil. It's strange that Clare lacks this, as her sole existence in the story is just to revenge on Priscilla...and perhaps find Raki. The problem with this is that...Clare hardly meets with both characters, making her a static character with little development. Compared to Miria who is constantly thrown into conflict with the organization, which her a league more interesting.

There are some other interesting characters such as Riful, Theresa, Priscilla etc, but the majority of them don't stay for too long. Riful in particularly got a short end of the stick. She is not alone in that department. Almost every abyssal have a very anti-climatic death. It's a shame as I really like abyssal designs. They are usually very creative, and one of the reasons why I enjoy reading the manga.

Last but not least, the ending...oh lol... Recently I read nothing but horribly cop out endings, but when it comes to Claymore...I was truly stunned. I was like "That's it?" then burst out laughing seconds later. I don't know if there will be sequels, but even for the arc itself...it's still very cop out.

Rating: B+ (Enjoyable mindless action manga, lots of cool design, but that's it. Everything else is all over the place.)

P.S: Speaking of which, this is quite a unique shonen as in, it feels more like seinen, and it's almost devoid of male characters. It's not even harem nor yuri. :P

Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Bakuman Final Review
Time:	7:18 pm.

Another manga ended. At least this one ends in a high note, so it's not too bad. Without further ado, here's my review:

To be honest, I thought the beginning and the premise is bad. lol. I almost wanted to skip reading this just because the beginning was so weak. I'm glad I didn't, because as soon as the series went deeper into the world of manga, that's when all the fun stuff start.

At first, I didn't find the two main characters appealing, but Mashiro and Takagi have pretty nice dynamic interaction when they are working together. One of the best things this manga deal with is problem solving. I like it when both encountered problems with manga making, and they will somehow come up with a way to solve them.

As for how they actually solve the problems...unfortunately is a mixed bag. Some work, some don't, and others...are just far fetched - for example, in the name of friendship and hardwork, your manga suddenly become better. O RLY? I wish life were that easy. lol.

Other times, they deal with many interesting themes, such as quality of manga, what makes things popular, niche vs mainstream, etc - I quite like the multitude of questions this manga pose. Unfortunately, the same thing happened with problem solving, the way they come up with the conclusions...are often making a sweeping statement - at best just opinions. I wouldn't mind it if the manga didn't force it to my face as a fact - by making just everyone in the series agree with them lol. Btw, Eiji is the worst offender at this. I get that he's a genius, but man...his opinion is literally the word of God. I love Eiji for having many interesting quirks, but this is the part that killed his character for me.

I remember one of my favorite parts in the manga is when Fukuda team had a meeting to discuss about their manga. Aoki and Kougi served as a fantastic foil to the team, especially when Aoki thought Kougi's manga wasn't bad, but artistic. These different points of view are something that sadly missing in the entire manga. Aoki took a back seat, Kougi was forgotten...it's like the manga really wanted to annihilate any chance of a third opinion. It's sad, really.

This problem persists in the entire manga - despite this, it still strangely managed to become enjoyable. A large part of it thanks to many instances of humor. I really like the part when Takagi working hard to come up with a new manga idea, which eventually become PCP. It was really well done. I think it is the best moment of the entire manga. All the planning, the brainstorming, Iwase antics - they were all done very well. Unfortunately, due to how good it was, Reversi, their final manga, seemed so lack luster in contrast, which is a shame, since it's supposed to be the best manga in their universe lol.

Let's not forget about the manga biggest moral message: make a manga you want to make, don't drag it for the sake of popularity. I wish the authors would follow their own beliefs. lol. If Nakai, Shiratori, Nanamine arcs are any indication...we know how much they stretched the manga until I lost my interest before they finally realized that it's time to end. I'm really glad they ended it though, any longer, I would probably grade this manga a lot lower.

Last but not least, the ending. It's very fitting as the finale, and I really think they did a good job, staying true to the manga overall theme. While I want to call BS for it's relative coincidence over coincidence, and their victory over everything come way too convenient for my liking - I come to let it go when I realize that this is after all, a shonen manga. I shouldn't be so harsh when it comes to realism lol.

Overall: B+ (Good, but overall a mixed bag. I like many stuff, and dislike many stuff. The middle part is the best part of the entire manga. Dragged a lot 2/3 after, at the very least it ends with a bang. Recommended for people who enjoy sport, slice of life, romance comedy, and manga about making manga.)

P.S: I forgot to mention about the romance element of this manga...I'll be honest, it's very bad lol! I wish they did better on it, but hey...it is shonen manga. XD;;;

Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Kuroko no Basuke Episode 1 Review
Time:	3:36 pm.

I haven't watch anything in a long time. I got a bit bumped since the recent stuff I watched are pretty disappointing. (Area no Kishi anime doesn't exist. >___> That piece of abomination... I could possible write ultra long essay to list out what is wrong with that anime, but I'll save you all from my rant.)

That said, I decided to give Kuroko no Basuke a chance since Production IG is the one who animated it, so I could at least dream that they won't screw up. And my verdict is...

Wow, that was very nice! Nice animation, and faithful to boot. I was afraid that they might cut off some details, but they actually preserved all of it. I'm very pleased with this first episode. I pretty much don't have anything to complain...I suppose if I have to nitpick, maybe they could have better opening animation :P

Anyway, I hope they will keep this up. I haven't seen much good sport anime lately. They usually get the short end of stick. Kuroko is a good sport manga, so if they follow it faithfully, it should be pretty fun to watch.

Btw, Kuroko is actually comparable to Prince of Tennis than...say Cross Game/Major. You need some suspension of disbelief, since everything is greatly exaggerated. ^^; If you think Kuroko's invisibility is ridiculous, it's gonna get much much worse later on. XD;;;

First Impression Rating: A- (Highly recommended for sport fans :D)

Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Perversion is a charm?
Time:	6:33 pm.

Lately I came to realize that most of my favorite characters are...perverts. XD;;;

Sanji (One Piece) is hopelessly into woman, to the point of that being his only weakness.
Midou Ban (Get Backers) gropes women any time he's given a chance.
Zidane (Final Fantasy IX) flirts around and somewhat considered himself a charmer.
Kindaichi (Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo) has perverted face written all over his face.
Linghu Chong (Smiling Proud Wanderer) enjoys flirting with girls.
Pop (Dai no Daiboken) definitely enjoys staring at tits.

O__o; LOL! I secretly like perverts??? LMAO! Anon being my favorite character in X-note totally doesn't help. LMAO!

In my defense, these characters all have commonalities in that they are all playful, and perversion is merely a facade to hide their real self. Despite being a pervert, none of these characters ever hurt girls, some of them are even hopelessly romantic and loyal once they found their true love. Last but not least, the perversions are played for laugh more than anything.

~~...Or maybe I'm just a closet pervert, so they resonate with me.~~

Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Chihayafuru author is the same as Eden no Hana!?
Time:	5:32 pm.

LOL! That's some interesting thing I found today. I didn't know they share the same mangaka. Now everything kinda makes sense. lmao. I didn't recognize the art style mainly because as nice as it is, the style is too common in Josei. ^^;

In any case, Eden no Hana was well known for plagarism (Slamdunk, REAl, and a bunch of other stuff). I happened to read the manga back when I was in Singapore. My friend rented the books, and I was like "Hey, isn't this like the one mentioned in news?"

It turned out that the manga itself has like totally nothing to do with basketball. lol. And the one that she plagiarized was like totally unneeded. While I don't agree with plagiarism, I know many other artists that has plagiarized and they get away with it (Black Cat, D.Gray man come to mind).

On the other hand, the one that worries me now is how this will effect me seeing Chihayafuru. Like it or not, I cannot deny the similarities of it with HnG. It is actually the only biggest reason of why I cannot enjoy Chihayafuru as much as I'm supposed to. The manga is good, but I got reminded by HnG almost constantly.

The other thing that is funny is the two main guys, Arata and Taichi. Their characters are recycled from Eden no Hana. And if this is any indication, then expect Taichi to be the one who ended up with Chihaya. I'm not entirely sure what to think about this, as much as I like them to get together...but then it's true that the author has side kicked Arata through much of the earlier volumes. I say the chance of that happening is high, unless the author decided to do switch-a-roo. lol.

Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Zelda: Skyward Sword Review
Time:	3:45 am.

A Zelda Game~! Wow, that's rare for me!

A little bit history of my background on Zelda...I've actually only played one before, and that is Link's Awakening in gameboy. At that time, I was very impressed with the intricate game design, puzzles, and dungeon. It was nothing sort of genius. Despite this, Zelda has never made it to my top favorite game. In the end, I have always place story and character as more important than gameplay, and unfortunately Zelda lacks this greatly.

Now onto Skyward Sword...

The first thing that surprised me is that...how familiar everything looks despite it has been like almost 20 years apart! I didn't have a hard time following the gameplay at all. Everything is nostalgic, from how Link dramatically opens his treasure box, to the floating hearts, to collecting heart pieces/small keys/map...even the weapons are similar! We have bombs, arrows, and hook shot. Of course not to forget Link's Master Sword and shield.

Someone mentioned how Zelda franchise is the opposite of FF, in that FF is an evolving one while Zelda stays to its root. Most consider this a good thing, after all why would you need to break an already successful formula. Others don't like it because it's repetitive. I'm in the middle. I like a combination of the two---An innovation that stays to its root. A good example of such franchise would be Breath of Fire, which is unfortunate since it's not as popular, and is a dead franchise.

Anyway, back to Zelda: Skyward Sword...as usual, the gameplay is very charming. The dungeon design is very well made, and I enjoyed looking at variety things Link can do. From playing harps, to drawing with his swords, to blowing dust away - so many innovative stuff. In the gameplay department, I don't have much things to say other than it looks fun.

However, the story itself...is rather disappointing. Link's Awakening may have paper thin storyline, the revelation was still rather shocking. In case of Skyward Sword, I guessed it 10 miles away. Why is this? Because it's a total rip off of one of my favorite JRPG, Lunar!

*Spoilers for story comparison here*
In Lunar, you have the heroine Luna, who turned out to be the goddess, and she reincarnated herself to be human. And the hero happened to be the destined one as the dragon knight, the one who protects the goddess. He must go through all kind of trials, getting equipment before he finally obtain the sword. He will pull the sword upward to the sky and transforms into the dragon knight and defeats the villain... Uh...did I just summarize Skyward Sword to you? LOL!
*End spoiler*

The other problem I have is the characters! I once mentioned that if the side characters are more interesting than the main...then we have problem here! In Zelda, you have a silent hero, Link. Okay, not much imagination we can have here. Well, at least Zelda herself is quirky and cute...only to be absent 99% of the game. If this is 60 hours game, you will only see Zelda for about 1 hour. I'm sorry, I can't get attached to her at all.

Phi is equivalent to your fancy robot. She doesn't show any sign of personality until like the last 5 minutes of the game. Sorry, it's too late by then. And then we have like...who else? Most of them are forgettable. Even the villain is so generic. I am so evil, I am gay. I fought you 4 times and won't admit my defeat...ugh...

So yes, in general, Zelda is still that game I thought it is. An intricate game design packaged with flimsy story and characters. It's a shame. I like to see more story to balance it up.

While the main story is disappointing, the side quests are excellent! I have so much fun watching them. Can you believe that these super side NPC are 100 times more charming than the main characters? *sigh*

Overall rating: B+ (I can totally see why it sells, and why everyone likes it. But as someone who treasures story over gameplay, Zelda is not for me. But at least those side quests are enjoyable.)

Comments: Read 6 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review
Time:	6:51 pm.

"If the future changes, then the past will change, too." --- The catchphrase of the direct sequel of Final Fantasy XIII.

If you are like me, who's trying to figure out just how illogical that catchphrase is, then congratulations, you still have common sense - because I honestly think Square-Enix has lost it.

First thing first, there are plenty misdirection in this "sequel". If you are expecting a continuation of what FFXIII set itself to be, then you might get disappointed. For one, you aren't going to control any characters in the original (san Lightning who you can control for the first 5 minutes.) And for that matter, despite having a box art featuring Lightning, she hardly appears in the story. The entire thing is a brand new story with old character cameos forced into a new situation, totally unrelated to the original. Okay, maybe not 100% unrelated, but FFXIII-2 is essentially a story about Noel, Caius and Yeul. Other stuff are...extras. lmao.

Thanks to this, the story feels tacked on to the world. The idea of time traveling is completely out of nowhere. Serah also gained a new ability out of nowhere. Lightning served the goddess Etro out of nowhere. So, yeah, don't bother looking for a continuation. Just think of it as a new story. It's easier that way.

In any case, the changes are not necessarily a bad thing. No more Fal'cie, L'cie, Purge, Focus crap, which I really dislike. The previous characters aren't as prominent is also a good thing, because I hate them all. A brand new cast is welcome, even if the new cast aren't exactly the most appealing bunch, but I can tolerate them better. (And Moggle is the cutest thing ever.)

The biggest changes are the setting and the gameplay. They are a lot more variety, and a lot more interesting to see. I enjoy the time traveling element added to the story, despite how nonsensical the system is. Also the music is such a treat. I love them much better than FFXIII music. And I don't think I need to mention the graphics. This is pretty much why many are still on FF boat.

The melodramatic soap opera is still there, but there are lesser than the one in FFXIII. In general, I find FFXIII-2 a definite improvement from FFXIII. I cringe a lot less, so that's a good sign. While Caius is a very dull villain, and Noel is a very standard hero, I enjoy Yeul most out of 3 new characters. She may not have much personality, but I find her endearing for odd reason. Maybe it's the voice lol...

By the way , the ending(s), there really isn't one. The true ending ended with "to be continued". This is possibly the biggest complaint I have heard from many Japanese who played the game. Squeenix just basically tell you to buy the ending. LOLOLOL!

I did however, enjoy much of the side endings, or paradox endings. The utterly nonsensical Flan ending, to the incredibly hilarious Snow and Serah ending...well, at least they know how to write crack endings. XD

Rating: B (If you can swallow illogical, convoluted story, soap opera, and the lack of proper conclusion, FFXIII-2 is quite decent. At least I enjoyed it much more than FFXIII. But if you hope for anything like the older FF, then yeah, this is average at best.

Coming up next: Zelda - Skyward Sword review. :D

Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Train of Afterlife - After Report
Time:	12:28 pm.

So 4 days after ToA has been released. How does it fare so far? It's probably too early to tell, but this is roughly how it does so far.

Unfortunately ToA doesn't do as well as X-note (as expected), but it's still doing better than OASE (thank goodness!). There are some new promoting method I tried, such as reblogs in Tumblr, and posting in lemma, but both haven't generate desirable sale. I wonder if I want to do it again.

I like Lemmasoft, but I always have fear of posting in forum. It wasn't just forum, I have fear of promoting my games in general. Maybe it's my defensive side playing on me, but my nervousness get worst the instance I posted a thread in Lemma and Tumblr. I can't sleep, feeling nausea, increased heart rate, and overall feel depressed. (even though I know I really shouldn't.)

I understand if I can't overcome this, I will never make it as game maker. Marketing is extremely important after all. Somewhere in me, I just wish people would just use the power of word of mouth, and let it market itself. But I know I am asking the impossible.

Another thing to note is that...yes, Otome sells better than any genre. I have no doubt of it now. But serious VN may fare well enough given a good story. So maybe if I get bored making Otome Games, I will switch to writing VN. Still, it doesn't answer the question I wanted to know most - if comedy as a genre has a chance to thrive in VN world. That is what I wish to make most. But OASE made me afraid, very afraid.

Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Eden no Ori Review
Time:	12:39 am.

I randomly picked a manga and I got this. It's a survival manga, something akin to Gantz, Psyren or Enigma, but less supernatural, and more sci-fi. Since this is a Shonen Magazine manga, don't expect realism as much of it is pretty idealized. You also need to throw away some suspension of disbelief, and have tolerance towards common shonen trope and ecchi. Since I love shonen in general, I have little difficulty in enjoying it.

Like Gantz, Psyren and Enigma, you got a group that trapped in a place, and they had to struggle to survive. In case of Eden no Ori, you have a pretty large group, around 300 who ended up in an island inhabited by extinct animals. Much of the survival include stuff such as fighting animals, trying to find the way out of the island, and solve mysteries. There are also fights within people as human nature show its ugliest side.

The idea of fighting against extinct animals reminds me a lot of Doraemon Adventure: Nobita's Dinosaur. To some extent also reminds me of Digimon. Albeit Eden no Ori is aimed for a slightly older audience considering the large amount of fanservice, violence and death. Still, it's nothing comparable to Gantz, which I don't recommend unless you are into hardcore gore.

While the content is seemingly mature, what breaks the suspension of disbelief is how "shonen" this all is. From the main character Akira, who's very much your 101 shonen hero, earnest, never give up, always attempt to protect everyone, etc - to the vast amount of useless fanservice that popped in the wrong time - only bad guys die, hero is always saved by the power of plot shield - last but not least, the sheer amount of idealism and cheesy speeches sprinkled throughout the manga.

Individually the characters are decent but nothing memorable in general. Yet, they also have the ability to make you feel attached to them as they went through many hardship together. This is part of the major charm on Eden of Ori. I grew attached to most of them as I read further, so much more than what I originally thought. I ended cheering on them to win against all odd.

While I do enjoy the survival and the character interaction, what Eden no Ori did best though is surprisingly, the mystery. They are revealed in the right time and in the right amount just to get you interested enough to keep reading. The reveal, while not entirely original, they are still revealed in a satisfying manner, and I really enjoyed the manga thanks to this.

Current Rating (Up to chapter 137): Beginning: B, Middle: B+, Latter part: A- (The start is slow, but it becomes better as the survival gradually blend with the suspense and mystery. I highly recommend if you like both survival and mystery.)

Comments: Add Your Own.

Subject:	Nisekoi review
Time:	12:02 pm.

More like first impression, since only 8 chapters are out.

Nisekoi is Komi Naoshi latest serialized manga. If you aren't familiar with Komi, he is the mangaka for Double Arts, and several other one shots. I have read most of Komi stuff, while I do adore the first 10+ chapters of Double Arts, I am not really as enticed as everyone else when it comes to Komi. He has lots of talents and cool ideas, but he lacks the ability to execute it in the long run. Double Arts shows his weakness in that, that's why it was weak in the second half and got axed as a result.

Now Nisekoi is very different from everything Komi has done. For some it's a bad thing, especially that Nisekoi follows the guideline on how to write generic manga 101. You won't find anything original in it. You have seen it in many other manga. It's nothing groundbreaking.

At the same time, I didn't mind it as much as most people. I'm quite immune to cliche, as it is unavoidable aspect in our current over-exposed society thanks to internet. Ideas have been reused, revamped, etc. to the point that you feel everything has been done. To me, what matters most is the execution. Originality is merely an icing of the cake.

So how does Nisekoi fares in term of execution? To be honest, even the execution is generic. The characters are generic (classic tsundere and childhood friend). The comedy has been done over and over again (girls can't cook, faking romance). And is it just me...the art style and story-telling bear resemblance to Yasuhiro Kano's. Maybe that's why I appreciate it slightly better than most despite it being very generic.

The verdict thus far? I have to say I enjoy it for mindless read, but if I look back, it is indeed a rehash of everything else. The comedy? I have seen better elsewhere. The romance? It's predictable. Do I recommend this? I don't know. Unless you're really into Romance Comedy, and don't mind generic max.

Current rating (up to chapter 8): B

Comments: Add Your Own.

Subject:	2011 Meme
Time:	6:50 pm.

Stolen from Holly (Because I'm bored.)
—-

1) Was 2011 a good year for you?

Yes.

2) What was your favorite moment of the year?

Releasing X-note.

3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?

Hmm, quite a bit of crap moments, but nothing particularly horrible, I guess. Especially if I compared it to the dreadful 2010.

4) Where were you when 2011 began?

At my big bro's house.

5) Who were you with?

My big bro and family.

6 ) Where will you be when 2011 ends?

At my big bro's house lol.

7) Who will you be with when 2011 ends?

My big bro and family. LMAO.

8.) Did you keep your New Year’s resolution of 2010?

Only with X-note, lmao. I didn't get to release anything else this year *sad face*

9) Did you break up with anyone in 2011?

Not anyone I remember.

10) Did you make any new friends in 2011?

Cumi, Shirow, Roxie.

11) Who are your favorite new friends?

A certain seafood. LMAO

12) What was your favorite month of 2011?

March.

13) Did you go abroad in 2011?

To attend CF 2011.

14) How many different states did you travel to in 2011?

Don't know. lol.

15) Did you lose anybody close to you in 2011?

Nope.

16) Did you miss anybody in the past year?

Quite a bit.

17) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2011?

Movie? I don't watch any. Oh, wait, I did watch Mean Girls in KL. It's an ok movie.

18) What was your favorite album from 2011?

I don't listen to any.

19) How many concerts did you see in 2011?

I have never gone to concert.

20) Did you have a favorite concert in 2011?

Oh, god, can someone change the questions to something I can answer?

21) Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2011?

Nope.

22) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2011?

Nope.

23) Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?

*blushed*

24) What was the biggest lie you told in 2011?

I lied that I can release Area-X and ToA this year. *SHAME

25) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2011?

My eyes are lying at me. I swear I didn't make mistake when I registered for ACEN, but whatever...

26) Did you treat somebody badly in 2011?

Probably, but I don't remember.

27) Did somebody treat you badly in 2011?

Probably, but I don't remember.

28) How much money did you spend in 2011?

Not much.

29) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2011?

I lost my wallet straight after Cumi lost hers. And I didn't even know I lost it until the airport called me. LMAO.

30.) What is one thing you did in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Eating Godiva chocolate.

31.) Did someone close to you give birth?

Nope.

32.) What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

More games, more manga, more money. $___$

33.) What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

When I literally didn't sleep trying to finish ToA for CF, and FAILED *cries*

34.) What was your biggest achievement of the year?

X-note.

35.) What was your biggest failure?

Area-X, Dragon Essence, ToA.

36.) Did you suffer illness or injury?

I got hit by badminton racket right on my head and collar bone. Got terrible headache that last for over a week.

37.) What was the best thing you bought?

Area no Kishi volume 23

38.) Whose behavior merited celebration?

No idea.

39.) Whose behavior made you appalled?

Some people online. lol. (But they made me lol, too. I'm evil lolol~)

40.) Where did most of your money go?

Conventions.

41.) What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Area-X, Dragon Essence, ToA. XD

42.) Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or hardened? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Happier and hardened, no change in weight, richer by a small percentage.

43.) What do you wish you’d done more of?

Draw more, make more games, write better stories.

44.) What do you wish you’d done less of?

Get sick less frequently. Complains less about useless things.

45.) How did you spend Christmas?

Sick at home. LMAO. It was like this last year, too. Christmas hates me.

46.) Did you fall in love in 2011?

Kakeru >///<

47.) Any one-night stands?

Making ToA...Wait what?

48.) What was your favorite TV program?

Channel News Asia. For real, that's the only thing I watched and became my major inspiration for writing stories. If you wonder why my writing has became a shade darker, I blame it on real life news. It's THAT'S depressing.

49.) Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Can't remember.

50.) What was the best book you read?

Can I change that to manga, please? LMAO. The best manga I read this year is HxH and Area no Kishi. I'm also fond of Major.

51.) What was your greatest musical discovery?

That preschool music is surprisingly addictive.

52.) What did you want and get?

Lots of manga. XD

53.) What did you want and not get?

More Area no Kishi. I should have bought more *regret

54.) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I did OASE sale, made Naoru's guide, and I'm 28. My birthday is always about work. LMAO.

55.) What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

If I managed to release ToA.

56.) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

I read some fashion magazine, and I feel inspired to design some clothes.

57.) What kept you sane?

I have never been sane.

58.) Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

...

59.) What song will always remind you of 2011?

Hotdog dance of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

60.) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011?

Be careful not to lose your wallet. Check if I'm registering something properly. Not to mistake Artist Alley with Art Show.

61.) Quote a song lyric that sums up the year

Let's do a hotdog dance!

Comments: Read 2 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Area no Kishi Ramblings
Time:	10:42 am.

I recovered a bit from nasty headache. I ended up doing nothing computer related. I did occasionally read Area no Kishi manga that I bought in KL. Safe to say, this has been my biggest guilty pleasure in a while.

It's been a while since I read a manga with elements that I completely love.

1) Secret identity
2) Hidden talent
3) Identity crisis

Most manga will have some elements of these, but usually not all 3. Particularly identity crisis is quite a rare one. I only remember a few off the top of my head (Bleach before it became bad, it used to be my favorite, and D.Grayman, which took a long time before it became an element in the story.)

In case of Area no Kishi, identity crisis has been one of the biggest focus. Accompanied with secret identity and hidden talent, it's so easy for me to love the series. It also tackles several other stuff that I like, character development, complex relationship, underdog, subtle romance, etc. In many ways, I almost felt like I just found a manga that was made to make my fangirl side go wild. A guilty pleasure, that's it. lol!

Despite saying this, Area no Kishi is a good manga on its own. Not perfect, for sure. The pacing for one is snail pace, and you need to suspense your disbelief with the supernatural elements. Side characters aren't as developed and memorable as the main. These are a few of my gripes, but nothing killed the series.

In many ways, it reminds me of the time when I was crazy with Hikaru no Go. HnG also has the 3 elements that I love, although the identity crisis isn't as heavy as AnK. However, thanks to HnG, I grow a bit wary with manga that has too much potential for its own good. I was utterly devastated by how HnG ends. It was possibly the worst possible direction the author chose to go.

So for some time, I never put Area no Kishi on the same pedestal I put Major, despite enjoying it just as much, if not even more. Just like HnG, AnK has yet reached its full potential. The characters are still growing, several plots are still unresolved, so while I enjoy AnK greatly, I believe the ending can make or break the series.

In any case, after reading volume 23, which I think is the best volume so far, my fear disappears a little. The author clearly knows what he's doing. He slowly ties the plots together, and developed the characters in the direction I really like. My love for the characters, especially Kakeru has shoot off the roof.

What's notable about Kakeru is that he's at a glance an easy character to read, but when the subtle development kicked in, you will be amazed by it. He has a very nice subtle development. Occasionally overshadowed by the omnipresent of his older brother, Suguru, but still managed to shine on his own. Instead of drowning himself in the shadow of Suguru, Kakeru made it his strength. The combination is wonderful, complex, subtle, and entertaining.

Before I continue rambling about how awesome it has becomes, I like to reiterate that the manga is still running in snail pace. lmao. And the bigger my expectation has become, the easier for me to get disappointed. So I'm not going to hold my breath yet. rofl.

Current rating: A (Up to volume 27)

P.S: I'm so looking forward to the anime. \>O</ Please be good! I'll prepare my tissue while I'm at it.

Comments: Add Your Own.

Subject:	CF aftermath
Time:	1:05 pm.

CF summary: It's a PANIC TRIP. lololol!

16 Dec
- Met Yumi in airport. Realized phone was gone. I accidentally left it in car. *Panic part 1
- The bag I carried broke. *Panic part 2
- Mum told me that I can eat for free in airport for 2 people, but for some reason they only allow 1. So I ate alone. *Panic part 3
- Reached KL. All is good, until Yumi realized she lost her embarkation card. *Panic part 4
- Yumi filled a new card, and we thought all is good...until we reached hotel, and Yumi realized she lost her wallet. *MAJOR PANIC part 5
- Order food in hotel, and it took 1 HOUR to reach us. *lousy service.com
- Internet is also not working *lousy service part 2.com

17 Dec
- CF started. We met Shirow in hotel lobby.
- Artist Alley started. Shirow stuff sold like hot cakes, especially the Miku's poster...(So, we got it, Hatsune Miku is too popular for her own good. Can I say I really hate vocaloid with passion? Or anything related to this franchise like that Black Rubbish Shooter...)
- First day isn't too hot, but we managed to sell some copies of OASE, X-note and Cafe 0.
- Met Kidchan, got stuff from her. :D Her table is behind me. As usual her booth is overflowing with people.
- Shirow's stuff sold out in a day. LMAO.
- Later we went to have dinner with KC and friends. Rati paid the dinner for us. Arigatou, Rati-sama. *bows*
- Back to hotel, still trying very hard to cheer the depressed Yumi.

18 Dec
- I lost my comb LMAO.
- Second day, Shirow left early.
- Bought prints of Houshin Engi from my neighbor. Thinking of giving them to Holly.
- All the CD sold out, so I guess I am pretty satisfied of the sale this year.
- Yumi looked pretty deadly, so we left early.
- Bought some food for her, while getting some copies of Area no Kishi in Kinokuniya.
- Yumi woke up, and both of us lamented on how the trip has became a mess.

19 Dec
- We hurried and checked out.
- I paid 10 RM just for a bottle of water. (Wow, a daylight robbery!)
- Yumi left to LA. While I went to KLCC and bought more comics.
- Bought Conan, Chinmi, and more Area no Kishi.
- I also bought Godiva chocolate for the first time in my life LMAO. Planning to give them for KC and Hwei.
- Feel incredibly giddy, I returned back to hotel lobby and waited.
- Hwei came and picked me up. Rati and Ah Mei were also there.
- We went to eat and visit the pet store. (A bit of revelation here: I'm not a pet lover, and I don't like animals. I have always been more of a plant person. But I get amused by the pet store as it is something I have never visited. Rati has obsession with rats, and I have a sudden inspiration of creating character who likes rats.)

20 Dec
- Went to eat cake called A slice of Heaven. The place is very nice. Unfortunately, my headache got worst.
- I ended up sleeping almost the entire day.
- When I woke up, I watched Sengoku Basara 3. A game where everyone seemed obsessed with. While I could hardly understand what's going on, I am quite intrigued with the character design. Sasuga Capcom lmao.
- KC finally joined us in Chinese Restaurant. It's pretty good. The drinks on the other hand has ants in them lmao.

21 Dec
- Decided to visit clinic as Ah Mei wasn't feeling good either. She got like a big bag of medicines O__O'''
- Ate more good food. KL is filled with many delicious food. And they are staggeringly cheap.
- Met a bunch of other people who were also in CF Artist Booth. It would have been more fun if I was feeling better...
- Watch Basara anime (?) Whatever that piece of mess is rather...interesting to watch lol. I must say I got amused by the gorilla...I mean Hideyoshi. (I have always thought Hideyoshi would be portrayed as bishonen, not a gorilla...)

22 Dec
- Have another meal before I went to airport.
- Didn't get the chance to properly thanks KC, Hwei, Rati and Ah Mei, but I'm really grateful for all the help. You guys are super awesome. *bows* I'll draw you guys some Basara fanarts next year.
- So, I reached to my bro house after enduring 1 hour traffic.

23 Dec
- Woke up by mum's phone call. I apparently lost my wallet LMAO! *Did Yumi's curse got transfer to me?
- I finally get the chance to use internet, only to realize that zeiva.net domain has expired!!! LMAO
- I also realized I messed ACEN AA registration...so no ACEN next year. Orz
- Lots of stuff to fix online, but headache get worst, so I didn't do much.

24 Dec
- Collapsed pretty much whole day, thanks to headache.

25 Dec
- Still feeling like crap.

Um, yeah, as of now. I still feel horrible. I probably missed a lot of stuff that I planned to write, but ugh...my head isn't functioning anymore. Orz

Comments: Read 4 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Pre CF journal
Time:	4:33 pm.

Just an hour left before getting ready for CF. I'm bored, so I'm going to just write whatever stuff I've been doing.

1) On manga, current obsession: Hunter X Hunter. The current arc may rival Yorkshin arc, and that speaks volume since YS arc is my most favorite arc to ever exist in any manga. I really love Togashi style of writing, I really do. I only have one wish now, please no hiatus, I may have to slit my wrist.

I also finished reading Major. It's now officially crowned as my most favorite sport manga. It's not groundbreaking in any way, but it has all what I like in sport manga. It also has one of the most memorable endings ever. 78 volumes of quality reading through and through.

2) Anime, current obsession: okay, it's the same thing, HxH 2011. LMAO. While it tones down 90% of the violence, it still follows the manga faithfully.

Other stuff, mawaru is reaching an end. It's been a while for me to follow an on-going anime, so it's quite an achievement, since I usually drop them after like a couple episodes. lol! But then, I am worried about the ending. It has LOTS to explain.

3) Game, currently obsessing in watching playthrough. Hey, I don't have time to play, so I might as well watch people play games. lol! Currently half way through watching Zelda: Skyward Sword. I'm pretty surprised at how similar the game is to the one I played in gameboy. I guess that's why Zelda's a classic. So far, the gameplay has been really inspiring. Too bad, the story is a bit lacking. I guess this is why Zelda doesn't ever make it to my top favorites. But I definitely can see why people like it. It's the quality gameplay and puzzles.

That's it for today. Gotta go already. lol!

Comments: Add Your Own.

Subject:	Puella Magi Madoka Magica Review
Time:	2:39 pm.

Warning: Rant ahead! lol!

It's interesting that I watched this straight after I finished No.6. It got me thinking, what's worse between these two: The series is so bad, you laugh, or the series is so bad, you want to jump into the screen and strangle the characters? I have to say after watching both, I will take the former any day than the latter.

Madoka Magica is one of the most frustrating series I have watched in the recent years. Why? This is thanks to the incredibly frustrating characters. Madoka is easily the worst heroine I have seen in a long time. (Comparable to Liar Game's heroine, it's THAT bad!) Madoka is wimpy, indecisive, whiny, annoying, and MOST DEFINITELY A MORON. I lost count how many times I want to strangle this girl! Every time she said "eto, sono, ano, sonna, yameteeeeeeee!" I want to jump into the screen and give this annoying girl a piece of mind.

As if Madoka herself isn't horrible enough, the rest of the cast are equally annoying! Most of them are stupid, whiny hypocrites who can't make up their damn mind! Do we need so many episodes on them dwelling over useless things?

Oh, should I become a magical girl? (And proceed to ponder on and on whether they should become one instead of asking the details...Whooops...QB is right, they are all morons.)

Oh, I'm not a human anymore boohoo (Look, girls, you still look like any normal people out there, the overreaction that takes several episodes really gets on my nerve! If you look like butt-ugly monster, maybe I'll sympathize.)

Oh, you didn't become a magical girl like me, so you must be a selfish prick. (LOL, no one forced you to become one, you did it on your own accord, with ulterior motive to boot. Now that you realized it sucks, you wish your own friend to experience the same thing? Unbelievable!)

Oh, the guy who I like ended up with someone else, so now I have all the reason to go berserk and crazy, it doesn't matter if everyone is being nice to me, screw them all! (So much for all the advice Mami gave right in the beginning of the anime...Why do they spend so much time on decision making in the beginning only to contradict it later on?!)

Oh, everyone doesn't believe what I said when I told them the truth. So I'll be as cold and mean as I could possibly be. (DUH! You didn't even bother to build trust in the first place. And why you never actually discuss this with just Madoka considering she's the most likely candidate who will listen to you! I thought you love the damn girl and you have so little faith in her?)

Oh, I will get emotionally unstable girls with equally unstable and ridiculous wish to save the world from heat death. (I see, so beside being emotionless, incubators are morons too apparently.)

Oh, I shall become a god now and save every Puella Magi from becoming witches (Uh-huh, sure, now I will wait until the universe cease to exist and I will congratulate Madoka for self destructing the universe using her silly logic. Did she even listen to QB at all? I guess she weren't kidding when she said she can't follow QB! LMAO!)

...And why none of these characters talk about their plights to other people? I don't remember hearing any rule that you can't say it to someone else. They just ASSUME no one will listen to them. They just ASSUME that if one group don't believe them, then no one else will. The anime even give screen time for adults, and it's not like they are orphans either! ARGH! I cannot understand these people at all! This is like watching a train going to crash, and instead of thinking how to stop it, they WHINE and ANGST over it. And the solution they could think of is akin to making another rail, but they forget that they will still crash either way.

Mami is possibly the only decent one here, maybe that's why the first 3 episodes were pretty good. It became intolerable after she died.

At the very least, I enjoy the animation and all the trippy stuff. The music is wonderful, although I feel that it also unnecessarily makes everything more wangsty than it is.

Final Rating: C (The plot itself isn't bad, but the horrible characters make everything hard to relate or even sympathize. It's like watching morons dig their own hole to bury themselves in. How am I suppose to feel anything other than screaming "NO, YOU MORON! DON'T DO THAT!" and they proceed on doing it anyway. The animation is pretty and it's trippy, but I won't recommend this to anyone. Want a dark Mahou Shoujo, go watch Princess Tutu or something. Even Cardcaptor Sakura is better than this.)

Comments: Read 5 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	No.6 Review
Time:	2:12 pm.

Oh, boy, I don't know where to start with this. I actually wonder if I should actually write this review without getting hit by fangirls. So er...if you're a huge fan, you can avoid reading this review. lol!

First thing first, I'll admit I'm not a BL fan. I pick this up solely because I find the premise interesting, and I do find the opening beautiful. And being only 11 episodes help, since I don't have time to watch something longer.

Surprise, oh, surprise, I find BL is not even an element for me to worry about. It's about as tame as it can get. It's hardly a focus of the series. I quite like the fact I can watch a series with heavy homoerotic undertones that doesn't revolve around getting to the other guy's pants. The sci-fi setting with an air of mystery is also up to my alley. Suffice to say, none of these are my problems with the show.

I'll start with the good thing first. The animation is gorgeous, so is the music. I rarely take note of music, but this one feels like RPG soundtrack. A sense of adventure is strong, so I immediately take a liking. The anime also has a strong start. I have to say the first 2 episodes are great. If I based it on just those 2, I will give it A-. At that time Shion and Nezumi are interesting individuals, and I find their interaction interesting yet heartwarming. Not to mention, the backgrounds! So beautiful! The setting is rich! This anime has all ingredients for great anime.

So what actually went wrong? For a starter, the characters...Once the boys got out of no.6, the once promising characters suddenly fit into their stereotypes so well. Shion, the yandere, and Nezumi the tsundere. I donno how many times I got annoyed by both. Essentially the charm of the characters disappear into thin air. There gotta be something wrong if I ended up more interested in the side character like Inukashi, which I find her a lot more interesting than the main 2.

Shion, being overly idealistic is something I can deal with, but Nezumi being all secretive about why he hated no.6 is another thing. Why does it take 8 episodes to finally be revealed? Nezumi has no reason not to tell Shion, other than him being Tsundere, or the author just want to drag the suspense, only to reveal his motivation is straight taken from ABC how to write generic plot.

And Shion, his sudden outburst in Episode 4...I was laughing through the scene. Completely over-the-top. I notice this particular problem persist when watching the show...It's unintentionally funny. I laughed a lot at scenes...that I don't even know if I should laugh. Like Nezumi suddenly grabbed Shion to dance, Shion suddenly gives a goodbye kiss, Shion suddenly throws water on Nezumi for laughing...Did I mention a lot of "suddenly"? That's what happened in this series 90% of the time. Everything just happened out of thin air. I'm not sure what the author tries to convey here. Is it romantic? Is it emotional? I have no clue. All I know is that there are a hilarious amount of awkward scenes in this anime.

To the anime credit, it picks up around episode 8-10 when they are reaching the climax. I do like the transformation of both Shion and Nezumi. Still over-the-top, but they don't drag on or half as awkward. Still, I do find the mystery in No.6 is as weak as it can get. A sudden revelation of supernatural god in a sci-fi series don't bode too well, and Nezumi background is so generic, it adds nothing to his character.

But none of these can be compared to the finale. Episode 11 transform a somewhat awkward series into a gigantic comedy. I laughed through the last 10 minutes of the show. We got endless plots that got ignored (Mother's relation to no.6, the rebellion,etc), and we got magical bee that destroyed the city. We got unnecessary drama with Nezumi got shot, and then Shion got shot. We got a gigantic bee reviving the dead. AND we got separation without explanation.

Speaking of which, I believe No.6 would benefit greatly if there a visible antagonist. Sure the city is evil, but a city is a city, not an entity. I find it hilarious that almost everyone in the show are basically the hero's allies. From the god, to the rebellion, everyone is out there to wipe the city. The destruction look more like an inevitable outcome rather than a true struggle.

Final Rating: B- (Strong start, weak middle, awkward drama, generic revelation, WTC ending. A soap opera BL in sci-fi setting. At least that mixture of genre is unheard of, so it may be worth a look just for that. If this were a comedy, I would rate the show higher.)

P.S: Poor Safu, you sacrifice yourself for the sake of yaoi. XD

Comments: Read 12 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	I feel very cynical sometimes...
Time:	11:53 pm.

The reason why I become an indie game maker is to make things I like, but of course life isn't going to be that easy. It's like I am destined to be a loser or something.

Let's rewind the time to before I came to DA. Those who know me before that, my style hardly look anything like now. After I joined DA, I noticed the trend of what is popular, and I ended up following suite, in turn it shapes my arts to become the current style I have (and I have a love and hate relationship with it).

I'm sure some will call me stupid for following trend, but imagine you worked ridiculous amount of time on something, and it wasn't appreciated, what will you do? I ended drawing those that people appreciate more because it will make me less stupid in comparison. All I need is just a cute girl with super detailed clothes to get to front page. Yes, it's that silly. Every time I tried something else, wow at the difference in popularity. The only word that pop in my brain all time is "Why bother trying?" LOL!

And then as if lightning likes to strike in the same place again, the history repeats itself. Ever heard of OASE? Yeah, that game that a certain idiot spent 3 years making. Unappreciated is an understatement. Certainly it has myriad of problems and I could tune it to make it more popular, but essentially the biggest problem is the still same thing---my taste is just not the same with everyone.

I did mention my dislike against otome game, and I sorta forced myself to make one with X-note. In the end, I did make it to match my own taste, so it isn't entirely made to match everyone's taste. But lo and behold, what people care most in the end is stuff that I barely care.

Who's the most popular character in X-note? Um, everyone knows that by now. I can tell you that he's my least favorite main character in the game. I am afraid to say this out loud in public because I wanted to remain neutral to all my characters, but in the end I couldn't. I definitely favor a different character entirely.

I feel very silly because no matter how hard I work for, in the end whatever I care is not going to be loved. I am just a destined loser, I guess. I can foresee Area-X failure, and that shall be my last attempt of trying to please myself. From now on, I'll just focus on making things I hate and watch it gets very popular. lol.

Comments: Read 1 or Add Your Own.

Subject:	Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam First Impression
Time:	12:43 pm.

Oh, wow, it has been 8 years? Time sure does flies.

Talking about Last Exile, I still remember those days when my jaw was literally on the floor when I saw the opening. Honestly though, that's essentially what defined Last Exile for me...the incredibly haunting opening.

It's true back then I was so engrossed by it, but I wonder how much percentage is because I was under the allusion the series gotta be awesome because of that opening. While it's not a bad show, I have never felt LE is as epic as everyone said. Half way through the show, I was bored. The ending reinforced my opinion that this is one of those show with pretty packaging and nothing else.

And of course it doesn't help that this is Gonzo...the infamous company who likes to make everything pretty in first few episodes, and the quality will become laughable when it reached episode 10. Not to mention the endings are usually so bad, it's funny. (Trinity Blood, Speed Grapher, Chrono Crusade come to mind) LE possessed all those common Gonzo problem, but it's not half as bad. Actually, LE is possibly the best Gonzo can come up with.

So Ginyoku no Fam is Gonzo's attempt to recover, and how does it fare?

I was pleasantly surprised. It certainly has a different flavor than the original, but I didn't mind it. I'm not one of those who think the original is the best thing ever, so I don't mind changes. The OP unfortunately isn't half as good as the original, but it's still decent. The characters so far are standard, but they all have room to grow. Dio is fun to watch, even more so than the original. What I didn't like is the Ojousama character, she's so generic and annoying. lol! Her stupid sidekick doesn't help.

Otherwise, I love the setting and the gorgeous animation---these two are the one that stood out from the original. I'm glad Ginyoku no Fam retains these qualities. If it can keep this up, I actually don't mind the revival of Gonzo.

P.S: Range Murata has mad design skillz!

First Impression: B+

Comments: Add Your Own.