Park, Soccer, Fish, Ice Cream, Elixir

The events of the day, in reverse order:

We visited some Ice Cream/gelato/yogurt place. Since it's by the weight, the pricing was almost always going to be off. I didn't get any since I got to...

Randomly visit the Japanese food/snack store downtown. The inside ice cream booth was closed sadly. However, I got my $2 Calpis/Calpico. Precious elixir for cheap.

We went to a chicken wing place. We didn't get the spicy stuff, but I did get the daily special : a fish sandwich. If you want a decently cheaper item, just get daily specials. There were large amount of varied fries (potato and yam) plus huge onion rings. It was decent and quite filling.

We were heading back to the bus to find food, but the park was quite big so we were walking around and around for a while.

We had fun times in the park. Frisbee catching, soccer playing, food eating, and ginger ale spilling. It's a good thing the mat I had was wooden.

Games and Wind

It was incredibly windy today. The lack of jacket was a bad idea, so it was a good thing I slept a lot.

We played dancing games galore on the Kinect. I had fun rigging it since it only detects the position of your hands for the most part.

Also, there was tons of food plus Jello and cake and cake. Yum!

AKB's 2013 Budokan Live

Almost 3 hours of staying up too late for the Budokan concert streamed on Youtube Music Week. Please kindly disregard any errors from this old and long post. This was largely compiled live, with a bit of resources to back up and correct any points I missed. (stuff in brackets are comments/corrections after the fact)

Also, as you may have noticed it is quite informal and leaves out a lot of details/events that you can find everywhere else.

AKB48 Budokan/Youtube 2013

Jane Doe start (Interesting...)

Skirt Hirari by HKT or NMB? (nope not even close)

Robo dancing with Mayuyu and Rena + two others (Tashima Meru, Tomonaga Mio)

Sayanee center w/ Takamina + Yuuko singing "Cross". (Wonderful.)

Kojiharu in lingerie... (singing that Garter song.)

JKT48 River (Quite a surprising to see them here, but they were quite good.)

Yukirin Flying Get Center. (Nice!)

Sayaka Center w/ Sae(!) and Mariko and Maria and... Ami.

Moeno graduating (A sad day indeed...)

MC session with Sasshi (teary over Moeno), Sayanee, Rema and Yukirin. Most likely talking about cutest members of HKT48. (hauu I wanna take you home~)

(Then starts the "battles")

JKT vs HKT .
HKT vs NMB.
NMB vs SKE.

Akarin being flexible.

AKB... 48!! (by all of the 48 family)
And Mayuyu being a DJ.

Then that charity song for the Earthquake relief.

ENCORE

Starting off with two new songs and Sayonara Crawl.

Then a huge Shoujotachi + First Rabbit for everyone. Chaotic fun ensues.

Announcement (and Shuffles) Time

5 domes tour was announced.

Hirari promoted to Team K! Yes, very good for her!

Kirarie, Yuihan and co are back to AKB with their concurrent roles canceled... (except for the Double Matsui pair). SKE48 was confused and quite pissed at Kitarie's transfer, especially with the error in announcments too.

Sae is back from SDN... however she's not looking very pleased.

Sasshi is now Double HKT48 Team Manger. I'm not sure what to feel.


In the end it was a great concert with some awesome announcements, but also a huge amount of sad and confusing announcements.

Ocean and Light Concerts

I felt quite Light today about the Ocean.


One about a big blue wave.

And the other about and essential element of life (and electronics).

Not that great mixing in general. Bass was too much, feedback galore during the wave, plus the lack of compensation for the unplugged instruments (like the great flute). Though in the end it was quite good with all the shakers and tambourines.

The electronics were interesting, though somehow I was more interested in the lighting halfway through. It did indeed evoke some great feelings at the end. I guess that's the concert feeling when you're having fun with a ton of people.

Island of art and fun

Libraries of art schools are great.

And so are those novelty shops near these types of places.

Also business cards are expensive. Especially those super custom made ones.

Jumps and Bubbles

Trampolines. Back extending pain. The act of non-flipping. Dodgeball.

Bubble Tea at a "royal" place. Orange + Dark chocolate do not mix well.

Then some bits playing Tera. I tried out a Warrior cause it seemed like fun. Also, Elin because they are just so darn cute.

Battle Games and Nerf Battle

I had some good fun playing some video games with some buddies today. Being beaten by casual AI's in NHL has never been so fun. With 6 players too.

Plus we played some of that PlayStation Super Smash clone. Strange and somehow not as satisfying. The instakill supers are quite unbalanced, as well as some of the characters. Though I guess that's the same problem across all fighting games.

Afterwards, we had a bit of FPS play with some sniper only head shot only matches. The knife is quite cheap. I also pulled out a sub machine gun in the end for fun.

Then comes the best part of the day (other than the pizza intermission).

We had some impromptu indoor nerf battles involving rifles, pistols, a rocket launcher and even a machine gun. It was indeed quite fun, especially since it was quite unexpected. One friend brought his arms while the other had them all in his home armory (bro's room).

Indeed I enjoyed it, though I was quite tired in the end.

Great Incredible Joe

Explosions.

A waved of destruction of a huge city. And also some ninja battles.

Plus an incredibly cheesy script.

All together in one Hasbro sponsored package.


Then some late night super oily but incredibly tasty beef brisket wonton noodle mix.

(This is the start of "the long late break" where posts from the ether have resurfaced after the interest in my blog waned a huge amount)

Some boards, and some Kung Fu

Boards games in a room with some friends.

Then a movie with some Kung Fu. It was apparently a sequel to something, so I was a bit lost at first. The effects and the general aesthetics were quite good. I especially liked the whole Kung Fu VS technology thing going on. The steam-punk inspired machines were great with all those gears and such. And the humour was spot-on almost every time it came up.

Another Day the Last Day of Beta

Yet another day of Ragnarok Online 2. And turns out it's also the final day of open beta testing for the North American servers.

I guess I joined a bit late, as I certainly didn't notice any huge bugs, though the amount of Engrish was still quite prominent. I wonder if they will continue to keep the Korean voice acting.

Also, I didn't even get a chance to try out the other classes and professions. All I had was a Magician Alchemist. She had green hair and these puffy princess curls. She looked pretty much like a certain green haired character in AKB0048 and was named respectively. Next time I'll be sure to name her after her voice actor instead, as a way to give thanks to her greatness during her stay in the 48 family.

Just a few more weeks until the official release, and I'll speed run through to level 25. I must try out those skills before I eventually quit this game.

Back to Mjolnir: Starting up Ragnarok 2 Again

It says "Legend of the Second" in that small subtitle.

Back again to Ragnarok 2! This time it looks a bit different from its previous incarnation.

I still remember the old Ragnarok 2 back in its perpetual beta. The few things I remember were the amazing Yoko Kanno music (that title screen music is awesome) and the inclusion of a gunslinger class from the get-go. Also the strange class-swap system that I happened to see in another MMO called Holic. I always wondered who came up with the idea first.

Of course the first Ragnarok 2 wasn't successful, so they had to revive it again. This time it's quite a bit closer to the old Ragnarok, but I still feel that it's lacking in enough nostalgia. I mean sure, the skill names and the Porings are great, but the lack of Novice class and subsequently the job change quests, plus the really simplified card system (that I still love to collect) among other things were what hit me.

I still don't mind playing the game, though it might be due to my long absence from MMORPGs in general or due to the nostalgia filtering in slightly due to all the familiar monsters and skills. I might play for a bit more till the 2nd job change or I might just quite early, but since this is beta I can mess around for a bit more.

Anyways, off to "enjoy" fetch quests and deliveries.

And actually enjoy Yoko Kanno's music!



Also, I somehow got tired when I drank this interestingly bad tasting beverage. Not quite the reaction I expected.

Robo Bug vs Clone; Plus "Baby" Form

Just pitching in on the discussion about the new movie.

Seems like our good old legendary Psychic type has a new form. And a new voice too!

Also, the extremely speedy Bug type is on the job being the villainous artificially enhanced Pokemon. Does it have good intentions hidden within?

Well one thing is for sure, the trailer does seem quite pretty and hints of X & Y are bound to show up.

Plus the extra little Pikachu and Eeveelutions mini-movie has the newest Eeveelution yet! Voiced by Shoko Nakagawa! And narrated by Atsuko Maeda! Hooray for Shokotan and Acchan, I'm sure they'd make for a great duo.

The Final Run and Rest

Finally we are done.

After almost 8 hours into a new day we finally have the chance to rest ourselves.

I just hope that we can still make it.

Time to rest and finally be done with school for now.


And I continue to cheer on my partners who have their final work due tomorrow. Good luck!

No time for Rest: The Final Run

After resting up for a bit comes the final project report.

Will we be able to finish on time?

Will we have to stay up again?

That will be answered tomorrow. However, things are not looking that great at the moment.

Awakening

Again another morning...

Finally free from this project.

Though it's a bittersweet moment as I feel that my part dragged down the whole team. I am disappointed that I have not learned enough from the lessons of past projects.

Thank goodness my partners are kind souls indeed. Though it's double-edged since I know there's also disappointment in the air about my shoddy job.

Shoddy indeed, but at least it's done and over.

On to the next project. And sleep.

The Time to stay "Awake"

Crunch time at school and over at a friend's house.

Had to set up two battle stations with my portable stuff as well as gratuitous amounts of Adobe trial software to edit everything.

Thank goodness for 5.5 as going back and forth between the 6 and that was a pain. Also, hooray for great internet at night, I hope it keeps up.

Sound editing is painful. I should have brought my recorder.

Also, sound editing as "final stretch" is an annoying job to have since you won't be able to tell how good it is until you piece it together. I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish on time.

To bed! (not)

Putting off a bit of work again

I should really be working hard on this project, but the forces of procrastination and fear of screwing up are quite strong...

Tomorrow for sure I have to get started.

A Late Day of Nothing Special

It's been a while since I've been this late.

And I don't mean staying up either.

Well I don't quite remember doing much special today, other than not do what I should do for one of my more important classes.

Oh well.

The Power of Portable

Went to school for a long time and had somewhat fake productivity again.

Hooray for my ability to be extremely distracted by minor details instead of getting the work done. Oh well, at least I now have the ability to do this work on practically any Windows computer in the whole school. With my handy, but tiny, external in hand plus the power of portable apps including the ever so great Portable Dropbox, I can go everywhere!

Of course Portable Dropbox relies on somewhat decent internet, which my school gladly provides. Hooray for that.

Finals and the Semi-Ironic Gift

Today was the day I finished the final exam for my cognitive science course. I was quite unprepared, as I had not read up on the topics for a while as I had all my attention on projects and other stuff. Still it was quite an informative class, though a bit weakly taught in my opinion. At least the discussions were enticing at times.

And I also sacrificed a bit of study time to hand over a silly little game gift to an instructor that is leaving soon. As a memento of that time where he played a game during our final, winning the high score, and showing off his retro age. We were the guinea pigs, as the first takers of that class, and he was also developing it at the time. Too bad it was still quite rough, as the concepts were good and ideas would have helped many of the non-programmers in this program. Though some dislike him or his teaching, I still find him to be a cool guy. Who else would be complaining about not being able to play Borderlands 2 because he had to mark grades?

Interactive (Detective?) Art Piece

Today we finally setup and completed the interactive art project for one of our silly courses.

Through the interaction with various objects scattered around a room, you experience the "life" of a stranger. This way it feels as of you control the narrative in a way with the somewhat direct influence of your route.

Or at least that was the concept.

In the end we ended up being less ambitious due to lack of motivation and other projects.

The game played out akin to those point and click games where you inspect every little object that could be clicked to find clues. In retrospect this is completely true, and I thank my friend for the insight as well as the great interview.

We ended up using some footage from another one of our projects that had a strange narrative about a man left alone in the world one day. The choice of music for the piece was just 5 selections from the Yume Nikki OST, which though unfitting left the room very different.

As for equipment, he choice of distance sensors was really neat and made the project function quite well. The 5 objects we used were quite appropriate, as we had a gnome and a somewhat creepy antique picture of some couple long passed. This picture was found to match up with a picture in the footage, and somehow it was like a reversed shot with the lady standing instead of the man. Creepy little easter egg there.

Also, we had like 6 different cameras and a lot of tripods for pointless video taking of the whole thing. Too bad for the 30 minute limit and memory cards being full.

Great Sleep and Pleasing Mark

Today the day I recovered my sleep. It is also the day where we almost basically planned and implemented a term project for a silly class.

Also of note is that we got some awesome marks for a piece of a project. All that stress and unwillingness of half the group still paid off in the end.

Now off to finish that silly project for the next day.

Redesign Video : Almost Wasted Effort

Today was the day I stayed up overnight to complete this silly video for a redesign project.


It's actually the 2nd to final day of classes, and there was a final for the class too. Turns out we were showing the videos first before having a "short" final mid-term exam. I spent the last minutes tweaking the music to the best of my ability since I at least wanted it to sound nice.

But lo and behold, I am left utterly devastated when he doesn't show our video because we "had to move on to the test". A test that took less than 20 minutes, with 30 minutes to spare for the class. I should have focused on that instead. There goes listening to that in-joke laden soundtrack that only keen listeners could be able to pick out.


Now on to the project itself.

The group I was in was a little bit disorganized. Silly schedule conflicts, lack of enthusiasm for half the members, generally a lack of direction, and somewhat poor communication were what led us to this moment.

Thank goodness we got the group together to work on stuff this past weekend. Even if the product of our labours were a little bit incomplete, especially compared to others, they were still at least 80% of the way done. That's quite good considering we've been using up too much time planning everything without implementing and test. Another lesson learned, to not rely completely on team members unless they are self-motivated for this particular project. Someone has to delegate sometimes, but my decisions have not been the best so far.

What we missed and could have completed? More sound recording to patch up the little statistics we had. Had I not been so keen on having the voices done by the one person I would have done it myself. Also, test record always. Never record for an hour without checking what the heck you are working with. Sound is finicky and hard to edit depending on the source.

I have mixed feelings about this course. I should not be the one to be carried by the designers of the team. Next time, I'll just write and design what I can, even if I have poor mental imagery skills. By practice and effort, I'll be more valuable and have a better understanding of others too. Also, don't wait on group members and just do it yourself sometimes. Else, you'll end up with an hour of effort spent on crappy laptop recordings instead of awesome mics. Oh, and you won't have sound to edit to.

Bunkering down for Redesign Overnight

Another day, another time spent being narrow-minded during these stressful periods of time. I have yet to complete the bulk of the film and may spend too much time tweaking versus actually putting in proper footage. So many "we should have" and random mic problems, which I believe was due to bad settings forced to use the internal crap mics versus our great mics.

Anyways, tonight is another night for staying awake. Just like last term now...

Too much time Redesigning the Redesign

Today was another day of work for the redesign project we are doing. As always, I spend way too much time worrying about some very specific issues while being blind to others right in front of me. So much for getting user testing "done" today. At least some kind friends were able to help us.

Onwards to the next day!

Bookstore and Book Blues

Today I stayed at a bookstore for a group project again. Quite fun to be there, although it was quite a dreary day outside.

Productive? Well I guess we got the concepts down to the core now. No more wild changes, all implementation now.


Also, I realized that Twin Spica 5 is now sold out in most places. I'm scrambling to get a copy for almost regular price hopefully. I must complete this series.

The Almost Final Lectures of Spring 2013

Today was the final lecture for my cognitive science course. Though it was quite informative, I felt that sometimes the presentation wasn't the best since it was slide after slide of information. I did, however, like the discussion that came up. Too bad one of the more interesting people kind of dropped off halfway through the term. I guess he didn't really need that class.

Only one more week of class to go (on Monday only), but there's so many projects due on various dates that it's a bit overwhelming.

A Birthday Wish to Clumsy Ribbons Haruka!

Congratulations Haruka! What!? You forgot? Silly Haruka.

It's the birthday for the red ribbons wearing clumsy girl Haruka Amami!

As the face of Idolm@ster she certainly shines brightly, and her attitude is always a good source of happiness for all.

[niconico birthday video goes here]

The in-between school time

Somehow I forgot what exactly happened today. All I know is that it was supposed to be productive, though I guess it wasn't as productive as I'd hoped.

Oh well, we still got stuff done.

Succession and Nova: The Finale of 0048

Also, Happy April Fools! I observed barely anything today as I was away from my computer for the most part. Instead I was helping out with house stuff (again), and reading through my pile of borrowed manga.

Also, as the title of this post suggests, I watched the last episode of AKB0048, episode 26 (or 13 of next stage if you prefer).

For the first time in ages, I actually readily rewatched this episode a day after seeing it. I just couldn't get this one scene out of my head, plus the whole episode was just too exciting and amazing. I'll get to that scene in a bit.

Spoilers to follow. And a lot of screenshots too.

77th Understudies, ready to go!

Rainbow train start!

First off, we're greeted with Niji no Ressha I believe. My memories of the song order aren't very good, so sorry for the discrepancies. It's the one with the rainbow train and I think it's the one they started off the season with. A great rally after the senior members of 0048 were completely demotivated by the hostile crowd of Akibastar. The understudies stood (or flown) strong, by shining radiantly. And the crowd's "Kaere!" actually worked together like a cheer.

Yuuko and Acchan beyond the gate.

Then a scene from beyond the gate of Center Novas revealing the truth behind Sensei-sensei and the Center Novas. Acchan makes a sudden appearance to Yuuko with a pep talk that could only be from her. I guess the Center Novas really do live on in another dimension, singing for all!

Then back to Akibastar, more rioters and this time they hit Nagisa! Oh no... yet by doing this Nagisa says a very familiar sounding quote. Something like "You may hate us... but don't hate entertainment!", and she releases the aura of Acchan! While receiving the familiar fever of succesion that Mimomariko had. An amazing moment and a great quote referencing the real Acchan!

Kaze wa Fuiteiru

The return of Yuuko!

Then starts the great "Kare wa Furiteiru" with a surprise visit from Yuuko back from the Center Nova realm! A great combination of solo voices and chorus really made this song shine even more than before.

Flame sticks to glowsticks.

At this point the rioters flaming sticks turn into glowsticks. The magic of music indeed.

Nagisa's Acchan radiance.

Nagisa then basically becomes Acchan the 14th by also saying the great "DAISUKI DA!" and doing a great bow. Another reference I presume, and then DES starts to seriously attack.

The power of song...

... converts the DES.

Fighting with micsabers occurs, and Suzuko almost gets hurt, but then... Chieri unleashes the power of her song. Seguing to "Yume wa Nando mo Umarekawaru" the 2nd ending them of course.

The almost forbidden moment.

Yuuka's teary eyed singing and farewell.

Then it's fighting by song time, where Yuuka falls to a strike, only to be caught by the one and only Mamoru.  The "no dating" is still in full swing in the 0048 world, as Yuuka and Mamoru almost fall to kiss, they just barely stop themselves. This is the moment that really struck me, as it is both one of the sweetest moment of love as well as the saddest moment in this whole episode. So lovely and sad, especially amplified when Yuuka sadly gets up and sings through tears.

Some Orine.

And some Makoto.

The Shinonome sisters.

Nagisa + Yuuka families! (all that's missing is father)

Even he's a huge fan of Orine now!

And Mimomariko

Of course there are some individual moments of the various NO NAME.

The hand shake...

... to release the power!

Then Chieri glows even brighter as she grasps the hand of a DES Soldier releasing the Center Nova powers within!

Gate open!

The captain of DES battleship himself.

The gate is open and DES goes in to strike with their battleship.

Of course they brought this song back.

Still as amazing as always.

Nanoha Mayuyu Full Barrage!

Anti-tank cannon vs Music

Then, "Kibou ni Tsuite" the first season's opening starts up with a crazy moments of successors doing their awesome fighting, such as Mayuyu's Full Barrage. Then it gets really amazing when the crowd's voices are joined together and the Nagisa Chieri pair plus NO NAME block the full force of an anti-tank cannon!

Riding the sparkling kirara power.

The power of Center Nova.

And the power of song.

After the block, Chieri does her Center Nova magic to teleport and clone herself into the DES battleship for some direct singing!

Back-to-back adorable badasses.

Forced warping time.

Oh yes the crew of the Flying Get.

This is followed by a massive forced warp of all the DES ships.

Acknowledging the Acchan.

Aww how sweet.

Such close friends they are! Reflected in their Kirara too.

Still aiming for Center!

Nagisa then declares that she will still aim for Center Nova against Chieri.

Atsuko Maeda the 14th

Center Nova Chieri Sono

Sonati, Chieri, Linda (Suzuko), and Makoto

Mimori-Mariko, Yuuka, Nagisa-Acchan, Orine and Kanata

Followed by the shortest epilogue ever, with Nagisa and Chieri in wedding-like dresses at the Akibastar stage, where they are officially sworn in Acchan the 14th and Center Nova respectively. Then an ending montage with random new and old footage plus a bit of talking by the various understudies.

The end (credits)

Finally, it ends with the same yet strong quote "We'll outstrip the stars to come meet you!"


Thus, this AKB48 anime series ends, though there are still many questions to be asked and slight disappointment in how rushed that was, it was still a great and amazing ride throughout it all. Again, I felt very strongly for the Yuuka and Mamoru moment, as it not only resonated emotionally in the series, but also reflected a bit of the reality for AKB48. Bittersweet and true indeed.

I, like many others, were probably thrown off by all the crazy stuff that happened like how Chieri went Super Center Nova without succession while Nagisa becomes Acchan the 14th all of a sudden. Somehow these were to be expected, yet the way it was done was not quite so.

Then comes all the unanswered questions and outcomes, like who killed Chieri's father, will Kanata ever succeed Takamina, what happens to Yuuko now, etc.

Here's hoping for a longer and more expansive epilogue of some sorts. Like Karen Iwata on her Google+, be it another season, a movie, or even a musical, I will be eagerly awaiting for it.

The legacy of NO NAME will be forever.

And now for some screenshots from the end credits epilogue.

DGTO Makoto Fan!

It's the Orine Hater Boy!

Is that Yuuko at the back?

Nagisa's and Chieri's hands flying apart. What does it mean? 

Mamoru, still a huge Suzuko fan.

And that's it! AKB0048 end.