Review: Ano Hareta Aozora

A few days ago, Kai and I managed to pool our resources together and got a copy of the latest Takumi-kun Series. Sometime last Saturday, I managed to receive the English softsubs for the movie so we could better appreciate it. So here's the review more than a year later since I first mentioned it in my blog here.

1) Gii and Takumi relationship: Happily enough, their relationship remains pretty compact, unlike previous movies where Takumi's phobia regresses or Gii had to leave for an extended period. They're learning to cope, and more importantly, adapt to the prospect of what a relationship is. So kudos to them~

2) Arata and Shingyouji: After PURE, where you already get a great idea on their weird relationship (which I probably more S&M than romantic thanks to Arata's choice of words), they still happily remain as characters intrinsic to the series and still manage to contribute if not push Gii and Takumi in the right direction - towards each other.

3) Gii and Arata: These two "geniuses", or the overly brilliant smart-ass and Student Council President (who I must point out are both Tezukas from Tenimyu!), actually deserve to clash, collide and confide in each other where it matters. After all, Gii's shortcomings are surprisingly already anticipated if not covered up by Arata, so their friendship, if it could even be called that, is one that's well worth the movie's time in stressing. It does make me wonder why it's just Gii owing Arata all the favors. xD

4) Takumi and Shingyouji: Ukes confiding each other is cute. Always was, always will. It's during these scenes where you're more likely to have a better overall idea of what they're thinking about their partners or how much they're so in love or have matured altogether (well, Takumi anyway).

5) Gii apologizing: I counted. He apologized five times throughout the movie, which was already a rarity if you consider how proud he normally was and the upbringing he normally portrays. Here he's just more vulnerable, and frankly, sorta reminds me of myself when Kai and I end up having an argument. Their argument in this movie reminded me of us actually.

6) Gii running (again): Well, this never gets old. Gii's always the one at fault, but ends up taking the most effort to run after Takumi. It's endearing, really. And I'm glad they kept this for the movie. Making Watanabe Daisuke run is uberly fun. xD

Impending Visit to the East Coast

So next month my family and I will be embarking on a trip to the US. What's different is that this time around we'll be spending it travelling to the East Coast rather than spending or entire vacation in San Diego, where all is familiar and most of our relatives reside. Part of our itinerary is to go to New York, New Jersey and Washington. Since I'll be bringing my little netbook along for the ride, I'll  probably be posting some reports of my trip as they pass if fatigue has not plagued me from all the walking I foresee.

Lounging some Fun

This will be a short post (not counting the mass of birthday celebrations I have missed once again) about a fairly simple topic: Slender Man.

Yesterday, one of my officemates shared a copy of the (free!) game and one of my good friends at the office, Felix, was the first to try it out. The name of the game? Slender. The objective is fairly simple: collect 8 pages. Apparently the circumstances are as such: you are a female character with a video camera, a flashlight running on battery with a mission to learn more about the Slenderman. The setting is dark, and there is no music save for the sound effects of your footsteps, and eventually, tell-tale signs of the Slenderman's approach. It's a minimalist game built in Unity, but is one heck of a scary game. For those who want a good scare, you can find the link to the site (and the download) here!

I'm still debating if I ever want to try playing it. But watching others play it is just as damn scary.