Hajime No Ippo

On this blog,I usually talk about games and anime and stuff.
While I usually don't put much thought into most of my posts,I would like to introduce something new to whoever's reading these,like with my Saint Seiya entries.

This series is Hajime No Ippo,also known as Fighting Spirit for the American audience.

The premise is that this quiet shy kid gets his ass kicked by bullies until one day,a professional boxer saves him and he admires how strong he is and becomes a boxer in the search of true strength

The series is basically a sports anime,but it stands out due to it's stellar fights,great character development and just fun characters.

Hajime no Ippo has 2 anime series,a "Tv special",an OVA and loads of manga chapters,so it does take some time,but I found that it was well worth the time.

*This is the order you should watch them*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first series is simply called Hajime no Ippo and it's 76 episodes.
The Tv special is called Champion's Road and it's about 2 hours,taking place after the first anime series.
The OVA,Kimura vs Mashiba,takes place after Champion's Road.
The second anime series is called Hajime no Ippo:New Challenger and it's the last anime related thing for this series.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The series is very good but one flaw is that the anime barely scratches the surface,there's literally over 1000 chapters of manga material(1015 as of this writing)

I recently went back to reading the manga,and I'm all caught up now,so I wanted to pass the time telling you how great the series is.

If you're not too big on anime,no worries,you'll still like it enough.My mother of all people saw me watching this in the living room during episode 2 or 3 and she was just watching.
She ended up seeing the all of the anime episodes and specials,and she said she really enjoyed it.

I think the reason she enjoyed it is because this anime is grounded in reality.You don't see super powers or too many fantasy elements.I watched some of Ring ni Kakero with her,a boxing anime that has alot more fantasy elements like special moves,and she didn't like it nearly as much.

With Hajime no Ippo,it feels more relatable since these characters are human,and while later manga chapters seem to be pushing the limits of what a human can do,it's still done very well.

The fights in this series get pretty intense,even when you're reading the manga,you can still feel the intensity,though the anime portrays this aspect better.

Only the first series of Hajime no Ippo and Champion's Road got licensed and released in America,and the series doesn't seem to have a happy future in the West,so that's pretty much all we're getting unless FUNimation or someone picks it up,but it's very,very unlikely.


While there is an English dub of this anime,I recommend to listen to the japanese version.
The English dub doesn't have the same feelling as the Japanese one,it's more awkward and the some of the voices just plain suck.


Anyway,this is one of my favorite series of all time,so if you read this far,I expect you to at least give it a shot.


All of the episodes are on YouTube,even Champion's Road and Kimura vs Mashiba,although not all of New Challenger's episodes are found there.

If you choose to ignore my words and want to watch the dub episodes,I guess you can,you can find them at Toonami Aftermath(plug) during the weekends,although they only show 4 episodes a week,so that's hardly the recommended way to watch a 76 episode series.




As always,I shall post pictures about various things that I own from the series,it's relatively barren for a collection,but this is all I could do for this obscure in the West series.Oh yeah,and I kinda lost my drive to buy more dvds after I've seen the series 3 times online.








































EDIT:I haven't worked on this in over 2 months,it was pretty much finished,but I never published it.
Oh well,that works out greatly because they're recently announced the 3rd season of Hajime No Ippo!
You cannot even fathom the hype I have!

Region Locking and imported games

I already kinda sorta talked about this topic but its different this time,I swear!It's a rant,so it's going to be long.

I'm making this basically because I had enough of Nintendo's bullshit.
Even Microsoft got rid of the region lock,the Vita doesn't have it,it's not fucking time traveling across dimensions!

As I step away from the computer to gather my thoughts,I remember why region locking exists,basically a way to stop reverse importing.

You see,when it comes to anime and video games,they tend to be more expensive in Japan than it is in America,ESPECIALLY with anime.

If DVD players weren't region locked,I'm sure many Japanese people would import the American releases,after all,they usually include the Japanese audio in addition to the English dub and it's cheaper.
This would obviously hurt the anime industry even more in Japan.

We're already seen it with Persona 4 Arena and with the Persona 4 Anime.
They basically didn't want the Japanese to reverse import the cheaper versions.

However,for us Americans and especially you poor Europeans guys,we don't always get the same things that Japan does,be it anime or video games.

We have to import the game,and try to play through a game in a language we don't understand.
If the system is region locked,we might miss out on a great game

Dragon Ball Kai Ultimate Budoden is simultaneously the best Dragon Ball game and the best fighting game on the DS.
I don't understand Japanese,but I know Dragon Ball Z like the back of my hand,so the language wasn't an issue for me,and I LOVE that game.

There's a few games I also like quite a bit on the DS,Hotel Dusk and Trace Memory.
Both of those games have sequels,released in English for European countries only.
I imported the Hotel Dusk sequel and loved it more than the original,glad that I have it.
Now I'm sure I would love the Trace Memory sequel but it's on the Wii,which is region locked.

*sobs uncontrollably*

The Nintendo DS wasn't,and because it wasn't,I got to experience a really great game in English.
I can't do the same with Another Code R,I would have to import a European Wii to play it and believe me,I was tempted a couple of years ago.

I'm sure you remember the Operation Rainfall Trilogy,Xenoblade,The Last Story and Pandora's Tower were all in English,but Nintendo refused to bring them over to America for some reason.
If I imported a European Wii,I could've bought Xenoblade,The Last Story,Pandora's Tower,Another Code R and Disaster:Day of Crisis,all good to excellent games that probably weren't coming over here.

Of course,then Nintendo brought Xenoblade over here and XSEED brought Pandora's Tower and The Last Story over here,so buying a European Wii for 2 games couldn't be justified.
In fact,the idea of buying a European Wii so I can play 5 games in English is crazy,after I beat those games,that Wii would probably be in a closet somewhere,and I would only bring it out when I wanted to replay those games.



EX Troopers,a game I talked about far too much,wasn't coming over here,but I imported it and I loved it,despite not knowing what the story was about.

Jump Super Stars,that Smash Bros clone with Shonen Jump characters,was pretty fun,and glad I imported it.

Saint Seiya Sanctuary Battle,game that wasn't released in America but it was in Europe because it's more popular over there,was pretty cool to play as the Saints,also worth the import price.

Saint Seiya Brave Soldiers.I will also be importing because I know it's not coming out over here but it will be in English,so I'll have no problems whatsoever.

J-Stars Victory,another Shonen Jump crossover game on the PS3,hasn't a word on an English release,so I may end up importing it in the future.

I know I'm in the minority here,but region locking is a huge pain for people like me.
Importing games tends to be at least 30 to 70 bucks in my experience,and I'm not one to import for the hell of it,if a game gets released in my country,I'll buy it new,preorder it to support the publishers and all of that.

When Sega did that Facebook thing for Hatsune Miku Project Diva F,I thought it was brilliant and yet simple,simply like and share,and that's how Sega gauged interest in the game.No advertising whatsoever,just make a banner and if it got enough attention,it would come out over here.

Project Diva F IS coming over here and I WILL be preordering it and getting it day one.

Really though,like every game company has a Twitter and Facebook,so they should be taking full advantage of it,Sega should really be applauded for taking the first step for what could be a better way to gauge interest in Japanese games.

(And yes,I remember that Level 5 also had a Facebook poll but since we didn't get the game yet,I feel it's weird to credit them,but I guess they do deserve some praise.)

And then there's games like Retro Game Challenge,a game based on that Japanese show,Retro Game Master and while it gets localized,the sequel does not because of poor sales of the original.
This is the sad reality when it games,if it doesn't make enough money,you might not see the other one,so if you really care about something,buy it new so the publishers get the money.

Anyway,I'm still sore about region locks,I know a lot of games get published here anyway,and I do support them when they do come out,but I have 5 games that I imported.
I enjoyed all 5 of those games and it just sucks that I may miss out on more games and I won't ever have the chance to play them because frankly,I don't want to buy Japanese or European versions of game systems I own and I don't want to hack my systems,I like to do everything legitimately.

These games will be mine!

Thoughts on Lucky Star

Lucky Star is an anime I knew existed but never really looked up any information on it,I just knew that it was around.

I finally decided to watch it on Crunchyroll,and as I'm writing this,I'm just thinking on how much I enjoyed it.

This is a slice of life anime,which means plot isn't the main draw,it's more about the characters and how they interact.

This is the first one I watched and I think I can get into other anime of this nature,I do like the characters a lot in this series and I assume other slice of life anime will make me attached to the characters.

Lucky Star is more meant for hardcore otaku fans,Konata frequently references manga and games in pretty much every episode and while I did catch a lot of these,there was also a lot that flew over my head.They reference The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya a lot,and since I haven't watched that yet,I kinda felt like I missed something.

While I was kinda forcing myself to watch it for the first couple episodes,the show starts to get more fun around episode 3 and it was at that point that I realized that this anime isn't a waste of time.

I liked all the characters,Konata being my favorite,since she's essential me if I was a Japanese anime girl.I found her easy to relate to,but it is kinda scary how similar I am to her,they frequently point out her faults,almost like they were referring to me,telling us to focus on our studies instead of our hobbies.

Oh yeah,these girls are in high school,because nobody could've guessed that from the art style.
I do like the art style though,it's very cutesy and it never felt too out of place.

I liked it a lot,it's definitely an anime I would watch again at some point,I just need to watch more anime to get the references,because random anime references are a big part of Lucky Star.

There's 24 episodes and an OVA,which I'm thinking I might buy,since this anime left me wanting more.I can finally say I'm a Lucky Star fan.

Do I regret not watching it sooner?
Not really since I wasn't that into anime when Lucky Star came out,so a lot of the gags would've gone over my head.I was mostly interested in fighting anime back then,so that's why this didn't catch my interest all those years back anyway.Thankfully,my anime tastes have matured and I can now enjoy my hobby even more.


Anyway,next anime I plan on watching is either The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya or Oreimo,but I'll probably go with Haruhi,since that's already finished and it's been around forever.

My experince with the Tales of series

There's this JRPG series that I really love,the "Tales" series.The Tales series is known for their great character development and character interaction,fun combat and it's deconstructure of the JRPG genre.

[I really first played Tales of Eternia on the PSP,a game not released for the American PSP.I have no idea how this game plopped into my hands,my dad bought a PSP and some games off this guy and I somehow got ahold of a PAL game,so this was the first imported title I ever had.I stupidly pawned the game after I couldn't beat it,thinking I could just buy it again at any store.I should've done some more research]

I first heard of Tales of Symphonia way back when,but I sadly never picked it up.Around 2008-2009 in the summer,I went to Best Buy (plug) and found Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World for about 15 bucks.Since I heard of this game,I decided to take a chance and see what the fuss was all about.This was one of the first games I bought just a whim,with no prior research aside from hearing the title.

It turns out that Dawn of the New World was a sequel to Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube,not an updated rerelease like I originally thought,but I played through it nonetheless.

By the time I finished it,I was hooked actually did research on this game and the respective series.This is when I found out I traded in an imported PSP game,and I felt like such a dumbass,that I rarely buy games these days without doing extensive research.

Anyway,around December 2010 and while I was at Gamestop searching for some other game,I found the original Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube for 20(!) bucks.
Screw whatever I was going to buy earlier,I want this!

I played it,and after 15 hours,I got stuck and didn't have the foresight to use a walkthrough,I gave up.

Around the end of 2011,after beating Zelda Skyward Sword for the 2nd time,I decided to try and finish Tales of Symphonia again,because Tales of the Abyss and Tales of Graces f were coming out in 2012,so what better time to finish this game and replay Dawn of the New World.

I actually finshed the game this time and I loved it as well.I even saw the anime and I liked that as well,it got me more interested in watching anime again.

I played though Tales of the Abyss on the Nintendo 3DS and I liked that game as well,enough to buy the 26 anime episodes as well.

Then I preordered Tales of Graces f,even if I didn't have a PS3 at the time,I decided to buy it anyway,just to support the fans on the Facebook page.

Anyway,I finally got a PS3 that summer and I still think that game is my favorite in the series.

And then I bought the Tales of Vesperia:First Strike movie in September.

And then I bought those chibi Tales figurines around November.

And now I have preordered the Tales of Xillia Collector's Edition.
My hype for this series is too much!I can't wait for Xillia and Xillia 2,and now that the Tales of Symphonia HD collection is going to come out,I can't think of a better time to be a Tales fan.

I hope more people get into this series,even if you're not that hardcore into JRPG's,I say still give them a shot,because they're just great games.

I should really replay this game sometime this year.

The film was pretty good even if you haven't played
the game.

I'm disappointed they didn't dub it,but whatever,I liked the subs anyway.

Drawing/Japanese update

As an anime and video game fan,I like the various art styles of these and the all the fan art people make.


Naturally,I would like to make my own fan art.
I tried to draw time and time again,whether buying prisma color pencils,or taking art class in high school,or buying Colors 3D.

*sobs*

It's not meant to be.It's really my fault because I don't practice.I don't want to put the time into it.
Screw it,I tried a few times,but I never got very far.

I'm like Iwata(right side) when it comes to drawing.

This is my general attitude towards new things.I had a passing interest in learning how to design video games,because since I love games,it must be fun to make them as well,right?I played Warioware D.I.Y,which lets you create 3-6 second mini games.It's such a pain in the ass to spend so much time for a small result,and I assume it's the same when creating a real video game,so I was turned off from ever making video games.


On my last blog entry,I talked about how I have an interest in learning Japanese.Yeah,after looking back on my experience with drawing and even briefer experience with "game design",I won't even try,since I know I'll quit not even halfway into the process.All I wanted to do is apply this new language to my hobbies,but screw it,I have too much stuff to juggle as it is.

My social life outside school is basically nonexistant,and I still don't have enough time to watch all the anime and video games I have.
In college,I predict my social life will be slightly better (I hope so,at least) and I actually have to study instead of looking over my notes five minutes before the test like I got so used to in high school.

Not to mention I'll be tired,I probably don't even want to play games or catch up with my anime,in fact,I felt this way in my Junior and Senior years,even though High School isn't hard,I still get tired from waking up early and all that crap.
I watch Let's Plays instead of playing the games myself,so there's also that to catch up on.

Learning another language is a massive task that I won't be willing to go through in college (or in general) and Japanese is so prominent on the internet,people will always translate stuff for me.
Yeah,while I can't play Japanese RPG's if they're not localized,there's so many other things I could do instead of tackling a 40+ hours RPG that I can't understand.

So in short,I'll stick to watching and playing the mediums I love,but I can't create them to save my life.
On the bright side,at least I haven't resorted to the Sonic recolors done on Paint.

I can't bring myself to post
a fan's recolored "character"

I think I should stop opening up old
wounds from the ancient days on YouTube.

Anime Odyssey thoughts on

First of all,it was raining.Hard.The weather is always bipolar in Texas,but did we really need to have a flash flood on for the entire weekend?
Anyway,I went on Friday for about 2 hours,more or less to know where everything was in the hotel.The only panel I went to that day was with Eric Vale and Colleen Clinkinbeard doing a Q and A session and while I went in halfway into the panel,I still had a lot of fun.
The rest of that day,I was checking out the venders room and buying various things.

On Saturday,I went for about 4 hours.I checked out a Naruto panel some by some cosplayers and while it was a very silly,I laughed a lot.I was somewhat expecting people to be talking about the newest chapter (631) and where the story might go from here,but no,everyone wanted to make fun of Neji's crossdressing habits in SD.So yeah.

After that was done,there really wasn't anything going on that I was interested in for about an hour,so I awkwardly wandered around the hotel,seeing what stuff people were doing and buying some more stuff.Did I mention that nobody I knew went to this thing,and I felt a little out of place being a loner,because that's what happened.

Anyway,then Tia Ballard was holding a panel for amateur voice acting and I think this was my favorite.She was pretty funny and a lot of people in the audience were pretty funny as well,making the atmosphere pretty lively and enjoyable.
I didn't go on Sunday because that's the depressing day when people are packing up and everyone's tired,so I decided to stay home,just watching anime and playing games.


All in all,I don't think it was too bad for my "first" con,I probably should've talked more and I should've stayed a few more hours,but I still had fun.

The con was pretty good all things considered,I hope Anime Odyssey will be there next year,because I'm probably going again.I think I'll also go to San Japan in August,because that one the biggest con in San Antonio.

Compared to AniMex in Mexico,this one felt more organized since it was at a hotel rather than a convention center.In AniMex,everything was in one big area,the venders were in the center while the panels were being held in cubicles around the sides of the area.
For Anime Odyssey,all the panels were in seperate rooms and the venders area was in another building entirely,so it felt more organized.


On the 3DS side of things,I got 10 people on streetpass and on Saturday,I got 18 people,so while it might not seem much,it's a lot for me,since there's times where I go to the mall and Gamestops and I don't get anybody.

On the cosplay side,I saw a lot of Naruto cosplayers,people in Goku shirts,some Vocaloids,some people in lab coats (I assume Stein;s Gate?),a couple Soul Reapers and this one Zero (Code Geass)

In retrospect,maybe I should've taken pictures of the actual event,but I'm a dumbass that didn't think to do that even though so many people were.

Well,I guess I'll show off the stuff I bought.

Bakuman card that comes with gum.



A Madoka Nendoroid chibi figure.


















This little Salamence plush.



Castlevania manga and Death Note
and Resident Evil movies.










Meanwhile...

This.

 

Sub vs Dub/Japanese in general

Yeah,I'm sure this is a tired and worn out subject but I want to give my thoughts on the matter.

I don't mind either one,but I tend to go with the dub if possible.If there's no dub available,oh well,there's the Japanese version.

One thing that's really weird is that when you go from sub to dub like say Naruto,it feels off for some reason.It may be a matter of better talent or it may be that I'm not a Japanese speaker and therefore,I can't tell the flaws of a Japanese dub,so it doesn't feel as weird when I go from dub to sub.
On the other hand,I can easily criticize the English dub because I know what sounds natural and what doesn't.One thing to take note is dubbers have it harder because the anime was made for Japanese language,not easily translated for another language.

Some early dubs of anime are pretty bad,but some have the effect of "so bad,it's good" thing going on,like Sailor Moon.It's fun to watch for the cheesy voices and outdated 90's slang.

Another reason why I prefer dubs to subs is because I'm much more likely to meet the dub voice actors as opposed to the Japanese voice actors in real life at anime conventions.Unless I go to Japan,but then there's the whole language/cultural barrier.

But then there's the advantage that I can learn some minor Japanese while watching anime.When I was playing EX Troopers,which is entirely in Japanese,I did catch some of the things they said.
I owe that to anime,but I doubt I can actually interact with a Japanese person,anime isn't Rosetta Stone or whatever people use to learn Japanese.

This one is more helpful for learning Japanese.
I recommend both anyway,they're free.

This is a fun rhythm game with Japanese,I like it a lot.

On the subject of Japanese,I'm wondering if I should take a Japanese class in college.
Speaking Japanese is probably something I can handle but I'm wondering if I can handle writing Japanese.
With the apps I have along with my anime,I'll probably be fine if I do take a Japanese course.
I already 2 languages,English and Spanish,and Japanese would look pretty cool on my resume or whatever,a business/marketing major that's also Trilingual.
I assume I'll meet some anime fans in that Japanese course since those pretty much overlap.
Maybe I can even understand my imported Japanese video games!
The only negative I see with this idea is that I might suck at writing Japanese,or I may not be smart enough to learn 3 languages.
Learning a new language isn't easy,and I'm not sure if I'm willing to invest the time into it,I mean,Japanese isn't really necessary for everyday life in San Antonio,and I can see myself dropping that class just because I'm too lazy to put the effort.

I figure it might be worth a shot though,so I think I'll try it anyway.

Ex Troopers review/thoughts on

I wish the actual title screen looked like this
 

I talked about this game alot in the past,and after weeks of waiting to see if Capcom USA would renew that Ex Troopers trademark and actually do anything with it,but they did not.
The game bombed in Japan,Capcom said that they didn't want to bring it over here because there was too much text to change,and an English release was pretty much not going to happen.

I made a Japanese PSN account just to play the demo.I loved it.
I decided I would import it at some point,but would play the waiting game since the import prices were high.Finally,Play-Asia (plug #3 on this blog) had it for 40 bucks.Hell...YES!

Anyway,Ex Troopers is a very heavily manga inspired Lost Planet spin-off.I liked the first Lost Planet,but haven't played Lost Planet 2 yet and I don't care about Lost Planet 3 due to the direction it's going.

I can't read Japanese but I don't think you should have too much trouble with the menus,at least I didn't.Then again,I played Jump Super Stars and Dragon Ball Kai Ultimate Budoden,so this isn't my first japanese game.

There's an exclamation point on the map that tells you where the next mission is,and that helps alot,don't be scared away from the language barrier,you should be fine.
Needless to say,you don't need to play the Lost Planet games to enjoy this but it adds to the experience,seeing the realistic looking world and enemies in a new light.

The game looks pretty good,the manga presentation is rarely done in video games and Ex Troopers really runs with the idea.The cutscenes,while I didn't know what the hell was going on,were still fun to look at because it was like "watching" a manga.
The cel shading gets the job done,while it won't push any boundaries,it's at the very least,different.

The music is ok,more noticable than LP1's music,that's for sure.
I'm bad with describing music,but it's basically futuristic techno with like 2 J-Pop songs thrown in there,so again,different from your average shooter

Gameplay is day and night between this game and LP1.Lost Planet was more realistic,since there was snow everywhere,you would naturally move slower.In EX Troopers,our hot-blooded hero wouldn't look cool slowly walking,so screw real world physics and let's give him a jetpack for good measure.
It's a third-person shooter similar to the ground stages in Kid Icarus Uprising,except it uses buttons and has a lock on feature.I LOVE this style of gameplay,it's so much fun.
I think I remember that Capcom said that Ex Troopers uses the same engine as Megaman Legends 3 or at least the same gameplay,so in a weird way,MML3 lives on.


When not in combat,you're in bases,giving you the chance to interact and take on sidequests.
You can do VR missions,which are just extra missions where you kill stuff or reach the end of a stage.
There's also multiplayer,which can be fun provided you get lucky and someone is actually playing the game.


I'm sure the story was above average but I haven't found a translation for the story,so I can't comment on the writing or anything in depth.
Let's put it this way,I enjoyed the story a lot more than Lost Planet 1's story,because of the more interesting characters.Even if the characters are just archetypes (Hot-blooded hero,calm/cool rival,mysterious girl,etc.) I liked it more because I just like anime.



This was a really enjoyable game,I recommend importing since Capcom USA let us down,but given how Japanese this game is to begin with,I'm sure the developers had no intention of Western release.
Anyway,I'm glad I have this game,it was pretty fun.
I have the PS3 version,and it's the superior version because it has online play unlike the 3DS version.

Took me 17 hr 59 mins 07 sec to beat it,but I did a lot of side stuff.

Trailer:

Anime Trailer:

Where I bought it:


http://www.play-asia.com/E.X._Troopers/paOS-13-71-bp-49-en-70-57ht.html




More connections with  Megaman Legends 3:

 

Random cameo might not be so random.




I can finally stop complaining about Capcom and their mistake to not give us
a digital release of this game.














 

Anime conventions

I'm going to an anime convention that's taking place on May 24-26.I already bought my ticket and everything,so I'm good on that front,I just have to think what to do and not do.

I went to a couple of anime conventions in Mexico,and from what I can tell,they're pretty much the same thing,they have the voice actors from the mexican dubs,they showcase upcoming dubs,people are selling stuff,people are playing games and cosplayers are everywhere.

When I went to those anime conventions,I was with my little bro and my older cousin,who's just as big an anime fan,if not moreso than I am,and he was leading us around,having fun,all that good stuff.

I wasn't really interested in interacting with people,I just wanted to buy stuff,this was before I discovered good places to buy anime merchandise like Play-Asia and Right Stuf (brilliant plug),so this was a really great experience,despite my single minded goal,I still had fun just watching other people dressed up and talking about their animes.

Everytime,I went to those anime conventions in Mexico,I had the same purpose,to buy stuff.
Wel,now there's an upcoming anime convention in my area,so why not?

I want to make this upcoming experience different,so I plan on being more social than I was 4 years ago,to chat with people and maybe even make some new friends.

I asked a few of my friends from school to see if they can go,but so far,there's only one friend that MIGHT go with me,but it's not looking great so far in that aspect.

Anyway,I'm bring my 3DS and my multiplayer games,so I hope I get some streetpasses and good Pokemon battles.

I'm probably going to bring my Goku messenger bag,the same one I use for school,just because that bag usually holds my 3DS anyway.

I bought the 3 day pass,but for now,I'm planning going only on Saturday,but I thinking if I should just go there all 3 days.

I know there's going to be some voice actors there,so maybe I'll get something signed.

I'm not going to cosplay,because one,I have no idea who I should be and two,I heard that some cosplayers are brutal in the attitude department when it comes to that,so no thanks,I'll wait until I have some more experience with cons until I even think about trying that.

Anyway,I hope I'm more social than I normally am,I was never good with the "starting convensations and keeping them going" but then again,this is an anime con,stuff that I actually like can be discussed here,so I'm more confident about that than I nornally am.Usually,I dread social gatherings because I just don't know what to say,but I feel better about this.


There's another anime convention coming up in August that's in my town as well,but I think that would be getting ahead of myself,for all I know,I might not like the con experience,and I might not even be interested in going to cons anymore.I really hope that doesn't happen,so I should focus on having fun this month.

Remember that anime list I blogged about?I plan on finishing some of the more popular ones solely so I can interact better with the people there,I never saw Ouren High School Club.but they're having a panel for it,so I'm sure I can see a 26 episode anime series before the 24th,right?


Anyways,I hope everything goes well and I go to more in the future,I think I'll blog how everything went once it's over with,so let's hope I have good things to say.

http://www.anime-odyssey.org/

I know only like 2 of my real life friends read my blog,but still,I must give context.
This is the debut of Anime Odyssey,now to make sure they get a good start!

Next gen thoughts/rant

By "next  generation",I'm referring to the PS4,Xbox 720 or whatever it's called and the Wii U.

Oh,he looks real.

A lot of people are saying the Wii U isn't next generation,and that makes me wonder,what the IS next generation anyway?

Some say better graphics,some say the specs under the console,and with the Wii,the controller might've been a factor.

I don't think we ever had an official term for it,companies usually said it almost synonymously with "next line of products we're selling".Does it mean new?Do graphics really even matter anymore?

Maybe it's because I have bad eyes,but I  really don't care about cutting edge graphics.In fact,I just look at realistic graphics and say "Oh,it looks good" and I usually move on.I'm not interested in realistic because that's what life is for,you wanna kill a hooker in GTA,kill one for real,I say.

Remember Sixaxis?Yeah,this screen will
probably go the same route.

I enjoy good graphics but I really don't see much difference between the PS3 and the PS4,aside from the draw distance,but draw distance is usually a minor complaint for a game anyway.

The PS4 controller is playing it safe,I doubt Sony would take anymore risks in their situation,and I feel the controller's touchpad or whatever it is will be very underused.


I don't care for Killzone,so Killzone 4 was never going to draw me in,it looked good but it seemed like a typical shooter,so whatever.
I don't remember the other gamers aside from Watchdogs,but that's coming for the PS3,so like hell I'm buying a new console for a "current gen port"
Yeah,the games aren't there yet,at least for me,so screw the PS4



The social features are interesting but I don't care about that stuff when I'm playing a game,whenever I play something engaging,I usually don't want to talk to friends unless I need help or if we're in the same room together.

I am not an online gamer,I have 26 PS3 games and only a handful of them have any online play.
I played Sonic Racing Transformed maybe once and the Naruto Storm 3 game a few times online,
I played more online matches in Pokémon than I ever did with my PS3,Pokemon is perhaps the only game that I find very enjoyable online,but Pokémon is more social than most games,and it is one of my favorite series,so take that as you will.

The whole always online thing with the 720 also bugs me,because it's not so bad now,but in the future like say 15 years from now,the 720 will be junk that can't do it's purpose,because the servers are not up anymore.Meanwhile,NES games will work just as well,while your $300+ system collects dust,aside from a common sight in youtube videos where people smash their useless box.

The Wii U is higher than the PS4 and 720 on my wishlist,because of the first party support.Third party games tend to be more hit or miss than first party,so I'm fine with the Wii U as long as they hurry up with the first party stuff.Xenoblade 2,SMT X Fire Emblem,Windwaker and any other Zelda game are good enough for me.

Also,I'm almost 100% certain that there is a conspiracy against Nintendo,because they're getting no third party support recently,most of the newly announced games,all for PS3,360 or PC,but no Wii U?
There has to be stuff behind the scenes with Nintendo,because things are not good for the Wii U as of late.I don't know if Nintendo's at fault or if everyone is just being biased for "abandoning the hardcore gamers",whatever it is,games are all that matter in the end,so Nintendo has to work something out.

There's not too much lost anyway,except if a Tales game or another RPG game hits the other systems,then I'll get whatever system for those games.

In fact,the Vita has a better line up than the Wii U as of now,Persona 4 Golden,Gravity Rush and maybe Soul Sacrifice,I don't know,I'm not big on Monster Hunter-like gameplay.
IF Tales of Hearts R and Tales of Innocence R get localized,I'm instantly sold on the Vita,even if the future isn't guaranteed for the Vita,I will buy it just to play those games,they're system sellers as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway,so much talk about next gen has been getting to me,so you know what,I'm probably going to stick to the current generation consoles,just because there's still a lot of great PS3 and DS games that I missed out on.

It's funny how next gen consoles demand you have a huge room.

You have to buy a bigger house to get the most out of
your game console.

Anyway,this seems more instrusive than
immersive to me.

Anime I would like to watch someday

Now,I liked anime but I never really seeked out much anime on my own,I usually just saw whatever was on Toonami or Adult Swim (same fucking shit,I know) but at some point,I always kept hearing about all these anime.

I eventually made a watch list,but my god,I will never get through it,especially when I have alot of video games as well that I have to finish.The reason for this blog entry is to make prioritize what I should watch and to actually find out what the hell some of these animes are,since some of them were just kinda recommended to me with no information,so it's useful for me as well.
I will prioritize the shorter animes first,and if it's something recent,I will usually wait for the series to finish it's run,because I hate watching one episode a week.
I also have alot of older anime on here,so availability will also be an issue.

Saint Seiya-Yeah,I'm episode 74 as of this writing,so I'm around 70 percent done.The reason it takes priority is because Toei animation is a douche when it comes to anime on youtube.

Hetalia-All of the episodes are about 5 minutes,so I should be able to marathon it.

Rose of Versailles-I already have the first 20 episodes,I just need the time to watch them.

Stein;s Gate-I heard good things from it and it's only 25 episodes or something like that,so looking forward to that.

Attack on Titan-So this is the new anime that's being hyped.I'll check it out when it's done.

Angel Beats-12 episodes.That's all I know and I hope this surprises me,I remember someone said it was great but I don't remember why.

Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed-Just the title alone grabs me,hope it lives up to it's interesting concept.

Naruto SD-Already on episode 32,so I'm halfway done

Saint Seiya Omega-I'll wait until it's finished to watch the rest,on episode 24 so far.

Ouran High School Club-It's apparently pretty funny.Yeah,I really want to watch it.

Mirai Nikki (Future Diary)-Again,great things and only 25 episodes.

Someday's Dreamers-I've not heard anything from this anime,but it's only 12 episodes,so I suppose I can manage.

 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha-I'm too big into magical girl series,but I heard it's better than I would think,so hope this doesn't disappoint.13 episodes.

Lucky Star-This is one of those animes that I always see from time to time on video thumbnails and stuff like that,but I've never seen it.This 24 episode anime is mostly here because my curiousity and see why it's so popular.

Tatakau Shisho-I don't what the hell it is,but it's 27 episodes.I'm starting to see a theme going on here.

Code Geass Akito the Exiled-Once the second part comes out,I'll watch the first one then move on to the second.Why watch something if you can't marathon it?

Polar Bear Cafe-What the hell is this,I thought it was just a weird name,but it DOES seem to be about polar bears in a cafe!Anyway,it's around 50 episodes(Why?)

Azumanga Daioh-I think this is a comedy series,and like Lucky Star,I've seen it around,but I haven't actually watched it.

 Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai-No idea but I do remember seeing that girl with the eyepatch in a really funny gif.Now to watch this series in the proper context.13 episodes.

Princess Tutu.The name is ridiculous,but I kinda like the art style and it seems like a nice story.26 episodes

 Accel World-I heard it's basiclly Sword Art Online,but I'm not dying to check this out.24 episodes

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun-I don't know,might be good.13 episodes.

Chi's Sweet Home-100 EPISODES ABOUT A CAT?!Well,I think it'll be years before I watch this.

Hunter X Hunter-I know it's by the creator of Yu Yu Hakusho,one of my favorite animes,but there's an older anime and a reboot of the anime,so I really don't know which I should watch or if I should just watch one.

Minami-ke-Might be good,another 13 episode anime.

Seitokai Yakuindomo-ANOTHER SCHOOL SERIES?What it is with Japan and every anime taking place in school?

Kaichou wa Maid Sama-This one sounds like Seitokai Yakurindomo but with maids.Eh,who knows?

Fist of the North Star-I'm mostly watching this because it's an old school anime in the same vein as Dragon Ball and Saint Seiya

Inu x Boku SS-Well it's ongoing,so I guess I'll watch it in the future when it's done.

Itazura Na Kiss-I'm more interested in the backstory of the manga instead of actually watching it.

Uta no Prince-sama-Who recommended this to me?Why?I'll keep an open mind,but I'm not in the target audience,so I may not like it.

Candy Candy-Mostly due to historical significance,but who knows how hard it'll be to find this series.

Galaxy Express 999-An older anime,but I heard great things,only problem is to track it down.
Edit:Ah,it's on Crunchyroll,but I still have to watch the movie first then the series.

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor-I heard this is good,but I hope it's not hard to find.

Zegapain- I remember on a podcast that these two guys said it was good.Yeah.

Revolutionary Girl Utena-One of those shoujo animes but I think it has a good story.

Welcome to the NHK-Interesting premise,and reccomended by a few friends.

B'TX-Another anime by the creator of Saint Seiya,I really want to see this,but I don't know where to start looking for this obscure anime.

Dr.Slump-That comedy anime by the creator of Dragon Ball,it's a crime that it's not subbed yet.As more and more episodes get subbed,then I'll begin watching.

The Wallflower-I may or may not like the art style but it's worth a shot.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-Like Lucky Star,it's that popular anime that I always see but never have seen.

39 ANIMES?!Maybe getting back into anime was a bad idea,I should've stuck with my video games.That's not even counting Naruto Shippuden and animes I want to rewatch!

So I have to pretty much exclusively watch anime,and stop playing video games.I'm surprising ok with that.I hope.

So today has been good to me

Not only is it a school holiday,all my anime dvds from RightStuf came in.

BEHOLD!

I haven't watched the Rose of Versailles aside from the first episode,but my initial impression is that it's great.

The Champion's Road OVA is pretty good,but since the dub is bad,so I recommend listening to it in Japanese,because it just makes the whole thing much better.

Then we have the Knights of the Zodiac part one by DIC,otherwise known as Saint Seiya:Butchered Edition.I always heard it was bad and after watching the first four episodes,I can confirm that it is quite bad.

Replaced music,random blood edits and that cheesy 90's dialogue,this is a disaster,I'm sure if I watched this as a kid,I would've changed the channel.

Anyway,after that,I went to Youtube to search for Knights of the Zodiac,because I wanted to see it someone uploaded some clips so I could make a blog entry on how bad it is.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?!


And then I stumbled across a channel that has all of the original 114 Saint Seiya episodes.
This is amazing,I never seen the end of the original series and better yet,it's english subtitled,albeit full of awkward wording and misspellings occasionally,but for a 20+ year old anime,I'm willing to put up with it.

If you ever wanted to see what the series is all about,then the original is probably the best place to start,that's where I started and you should be fine.

If  not,try Saint Seiya Lost Canvas or Saint Seiya Omega,the more recent entries in the franchise.

Oh yeah,and RightStuf already has a listing for the Saint Seiya movies,so I'm glad it's not crazy expensive http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/KT-iwuCzqOzQkTCsRd/browse/item/98180/4/0/0

Playlist for the Original series
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL81E9AC4692F02920

Where you can watch Lost Canvas
http://www.crunchyroll.com/saint-seiya-the-lost-canvas

Where you can watch Omega
http://www.crunchyroll.com/saint-seiya-omega



So I turned a blog entry about my day into a plug for Saint Seiya.ONLY ME!

Localization with games and such

So April 17,2013 was Nintendo Direct.There was like 6 Mario game and then bam!Earthbound confirmed for a Wii U rerelease.

Nintendo threw a bone for the fans,while there were many fans who always made an effort to get Nintendo to listen,I was one of the people that gave up."Nintendo can't be bothered,if they didn't release Earthbound during the Wii's life cycle,and still haven't because of copyright issues,then they never will."

Of course,I didn't say this outloud because who am I to bring down the hopes of fans,let Nintendo do that.Well,now it happened and it will coming out on the Wii U virtual console,and will probably bring down the prices on ebay,which is good,since it's a colossal task just to play it.
I don't think I ever saw that many "fake" reproduction cartridges for a game quite like Earthbound,frankly,it's a high entry fee just to play a SNES game.

When did Nintendo start using
macro text in their images?

Well,it's happening and now all the fans have to do is actually buy the game.It would be hilarious after all of this happens,the game somehow bombs anyway,but I actually think people will buy it.After it sells well,then I assume Nintendo can begin talking about Mother 3 on the 3DS and everyone will be happy.


This has been happening a lot lately,with the Operation Rainfall trilogy as it's unofficially known,I thought we were never getting Pandora's Tower and here I am,playing it.

Project X Zone,that crazy crossover RPG,probably had way too many licensing issues to ever come out over here.And we're getting it this June!

Oh.Can't say much about SMT4.
I see how it is.

Bravely Default was that Square Enix RPG that was the closest to Final Fantasy as you can get and no word on that side for a while,until Nintendo Direct that is.

Shin Megami Tensei IV.We all knew Atlus was going to bring it out here,but nobody could anticipated that we would be getting it this summer.I hope the localization isn't rushed because of that,though.

Ex Troopers,that Lost Planet anime spin off that looked more appealing than Lost Planet 3 and it's....not coming over, here.Huh.Where the hell is the Operation for that game?

Hatsune Miku Project Diva f PS3 version had that whole Facebook thing but who knows if that had any significance.
Well,at least Sega's trying unlike Capcom,how hard would it be to make a "Like and share if you want Ex Troopers released in the west!" banner?

J-Stars Vs.If a fighting game with major anime characters that are all licensed in the United States can't come over here,then that's just bullshit.How can you say licensing is an issue when Project X Zone has like 30 franchises in one game and it's still coming out over here?
And it's a fighting game,which I would it's more marketable then an RPG.


Seriously,that would be a major step back if this game doesn't come out for North America and Europe.



I think there's always games that aren't going to get localized because of reasons,but we should buy the games and buy dlc (if it's not overpriced) to show the publishers that there is a market for these games.I'm not the type to buy dlc but I did for Valkyria Chronicles and Fire Emblem,I'm willing to go the extra mile to show support for these franchises,and I'm hopeful that these game companies keep supporting their loyal niche audience.

Saint Seiya

Assuming you never saw it (or even heard of it),this anime is basically a fighting anime in the same vein as Dragon Ball Z and Naruto but with greek mythology sprinkled in.It also has some of the cool techniques in all of the anime I watched,better than Naruto and Dragon Bal techniques,but I think it's tied with Yu Yu Hakusho in that regard.

Anyway,this showed up on Cartoon Network way back around the late 90s/early 00s
However,that version was crap,they changed all the blood to a blue color and everyone's voices sucked and the plot was delivered in such a bad way,it's no wonder why it didn't catch on.
This version was called Knights of the Zodiac.

I think I watched one episode when I was young,but I can't really remember what I thought of it back then.

Years passed and I was talking with my older cousin,and he told me that Saint Seiya was as popular as Dragon Ball Z in Mexico,so that got me really interested,because I was and still am a huge Dragon Ball Z fan.Oh yeah,my cousin lives in Mexico,so he's speaking from experience,just to give context to the story.


I don't know why I didn't seek it out immediately but time passed.One day,I was at Best Buy,browsing the anime section,and I saw the Saint Seiya Collection One box and of course I picked it up.The Collections are basically the uncut version and do a much better job than the Knights of the Zodiac version.

Then I went as soon as the Collection Two came out and bought that.And then I picked up the Collection Thr...oh wait,that never came out,because nobody knows about it and nobody bought it!
So the people that did buy this series are left off on a cliffhanger on one of the arcs,and now the company that brought it over here,ADV Films,is down and out,so Saint Seiya is dead in the states!



The series in general is famous around the world,EXCEPT for the United States,and a few spin off series have been made such as Lost Canvas and Omega.Those can be watched for free on Crunchyroll and these are somewhat giving Saint Seiya a presence in the English speaking world of anime.

Diskotek,an anime publisher known for focusing on older anime,is releasing the Saint Seiya Movies this summer.




Both will be available June 25,2013

I will of course be picking these up as soon as I can,and with the presence of Saint Seiya on Crunchyroll,I hope that these will do well.


Now,this is more of a daydream if anything,but if the movies do well,maybe Discotek could release the rest of the original Saint Seiya dvds?Discotek hasn't made any comments about that,and even if they did express interest in that,there's still the hurdles of licensing to jump through,but I can dream,right?

Anyway,I hope you at least know about the series now,and better yet,support the Saint Seiya franchise.I've done my part,and I will end this by showing off my Saint Seiya stuff,because I like taking pictures of stuff.










I even imported this game,it's ok.



I want the other Saints now.

This series is great.