Pokémon Origins

So for anyone who's a fan of the Pokémon franchise, the Pokémon Origins should definitely be on your must-watch list. While it's only a four-part adaptation that follows the game and manga more faithfully, it will plummet you into a wave of nostalgia.

This follows Red's story, and the evolution of his bond with his Pokémon. This includes appearances (and actual speaking lines) by his rival Green, Professor Oak, Mr. Fuji, Brock, Giovanni and Lance among others.

While a lot of the game's aspects are retained as opposed to how the series turned out with Ash as the hero, we only see glimpses of the events we end up having to do throughout the game, like obtaining fishing rods, getting a free bike, battling Team Rocket thugs and gym leaders of the Kanto region and the like.

This post won't be a review so much as an advertisement to find time to watch it, especially since it helps promote one of the new features to come when Pokémon X & Y debut to the 3DS console! Of course, I won't want to spoil anything, so if you're an old soul looking to find some nostalgia with the first batch of Pokémon we came to love, then go ahead and watch it!

Full movie uploaded by YouTube user dbzgamerKingCold

AnimeUltima alternate: Pokemon Origins Online

On Rurouni Kenshin + Movie Review

(My apologies for the uber lateness of this, but I was, quite honestly, lazy and caught up with other things to actually continue what I started. Ba humbug)

December 2012.

It's not very often that Japanese movies get shown here in the Philippines, so when SM Cinemas managed to get ahold of the Rurouni Kenshin live action movie (with awesome petitions from Filipino fans!), there was no time to waste when getting tickets were involved.

The initial showdates spanned about a week, so watching the movie within that time seemed to be an absolute must or dare to waste seeing your childhood come to life on stage. Considering this too had been part of our childhood, Kai and I were among the many fans who would stop at nothing to ensure that we had seats.

Amuse Philippines, a fangroup of the Japanese group Amuse (agency of the lead actor Sato Takeru) made arrangements to do block screenings for the weekend showing at SM North Edsa. We immediately jumped at the opportunity and made our reservations. After I made the necessary bank deposits, disaster struck.

Early that week, Kai had gotten into an accident that, put it simply, rendered her unable to walk and had to use crutches for almost a month after that. This meant that we wouldn't be able to make the Saturday showing we had reserved for. We ended up giving the tickets up to our friends while I spent Saturday keeping her company.

When Sunday came along, she had insisted to go and watch it, against my better judgement. Needless to say, I purchased our tickets on SM Cinema's website, and we went on our way (one of the few times I brought the car) to SM Marikina.

Not surprisingly, it was everything we expected and more. The action was breathtaking, the fight choreography was orchestrated brilliantly, and the actors were spot on to the dot of the I. Their portrayals spoke volumes of what the manga started off with, and Sato Takeru, the actor for our favorite Himura Kenshin/Battousai embodied the character to perfection.

It was full of comedy and action just as the original work from the manga to the anime depicted, and watching and experiencing it in its raw, Japanese form was perhaps the best part of it all.

Kai and I were happy campers and it was well worth the trip... if it wasn't such a hit and the showdates extended for about two extra weeks. (xD)

But I give a toast out to our collaborative effort to bring Rurouni Kenshin to the Philippines, and here's to hoping for future titles to come to our islands in the South East.

Tenipuri Season 2 Jackets~

So yesterday, Kai and I went out to locate a gift for her cousin Chloe, who turns 2 today. After careful consideration of where we'd be going, I decided to drive us off to SM North Edsa. There are, of course, several reasons why I take her there. 

1. It's a mere 10 minute drive (depending on traffic) from my house

2. It's one of the biggest SM branches in the country

3. It's got most everything we want there. 

4. It was one of my most frequented malls prior to the rise of TriNoma and the mall's massive renovations. 

Last Saturday, we went there for dinner, decided on eating at Sakae Sushi located at the Annex building. As I was waiting in line at the BDO ATM, we found, to our dismay, that it had closed down. I guess profits weren't exactly on the positive side for the conveyor-belt sushi buffet. Ah well, economy. Instead, she decided to let me decide where to go, so we traded the sushi buffet for a nice food-hopping at Burger King, then Yoshinoya, capped off with some books shopping at a booksale on our way back to the carpark. 

Yesterday's misadventures brought us back to a second visit to anime specialty shop Comic Alley. We actually passed by this store twice last week to look for the Shin Tenipuri jackets of the U-17 camp and the One Piece poster collection, only to find both out of stock. This week, however, we our lucky day! Not only were several things on sale, but there was finally stock of the jackets, and Ryouma's hat to boot! I snatched us those as well as the posters she was looking for last time, and her only exclamation after all this (besides the usual proclamation of loving me for all eternity) - "I finally have a Tenipuri jacket with my size!T^T" 

xD Pretty hilarious actually, but all the same, sweet. x)

It's just the jacket, and there isn't much talk about a set coming out anytime soon, but I AM hoping they put the black jackets out to production too! Anyway, pictures of the jacket and the hat below~

Since we were hungry, we decided to eat at someplace new! A little Japanese place called Katsutei, where their specialty was their Katsudon. Kai and I had the Katusdon and Pork Tonkatsu especially, and wouldn't you know it, they actually tasked quite swell! And at an affordable price to less than P200 for each value meal. Not bad (on my wallet)!

Archer and Thesis

So yesterday my thesis partner Jason pulled out a few souvenirs he got during his JTA in Japan. I immediately took interest in this figurine of Archer from the anime Fate Stay Night and he told me I could have it if no one's taken it by the time I left after lunch. And no one did so booyah!

In other news, we received the go signal from our adviser to schedule our proposal defense!! 8DD Finally! That game design document will be the death of me. Next on the agenda is the art components for the game. But after I relax.

Soundtracks

So I rummaged one of my cabinets for my CD cases from when I was still saving up Php450 to buy them at Comic Alley or during conventions when it was a bit cheaper.

I separated them into two piles, so pardon me for the blurriness of the pictures.

So this is the first pile. My Saiyuki album collection. I still have some lacking apparently but maybe in the future when I'm hoarding my own money I'll search for the missing ones and complete this little collection of mine! ^o^/

These are the rest of my anime soundtracks. Quite a variety too. So from top left, then left to right in succession: Fushigi Yuugi, Detective Conan, Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh! (2), Gundam Seed, GTO, Rurouni Kenshin, Shaman King, Yakitate Japan, Get Backers (2), Fullmetal Alchemist, Ranma 1/2, Gravitation, Slam Dunk and Flame of Recca

Birthday Greeting

誕生日の挨拶。（たんじょうびのあいさつ） Tanjō-bi no aisatsu. trans. Birthday Greeting.

So with lack of anything else to post about besides the sad news that Uncle Joey was flying home to Winnipeg tonight, a birthday greeting goes out to Toboso Yana, mangaka of one of my favorite mangas, Kuroshitsuji!!!

First Figurine!

弟一の置物！（だいいちのおきもの！）Dai ichi no Okimono! trans. First Figurine!

SEMBREAK WE FINALLY MEET!!!!!

Just came back from Philo group orals~ AND! from WakuWaku!!

Kai and I went there last Tuesday and she was immediately smitten by the sight of a Grell Sutcliff figurine from, you guessed it, Kuroshitsuji. So we decided to shell out some cash to buy it, and I picked it up today! Heeee~

I FEEL SO GIDDY LIKE A LITTLE SCHOOL KID WHO JUST GOT A NEW TOY WTH. xDD

The Shinigami shall stay in his box for a while but lemme share some pictures anyway! Sadly my digicam ran out of battery before I realized it so I had to make do with using my webcam for the pictures.>

More Kuroshitsuji

詳細黒執事。（しょうさいくろしつじ）Shousai Kuroshitsuji. trans. More Black Butler.

So I found the time to continue watching Kuroshitsuji II now that it's ended. The original site I had bookmarked to watch the series failed me so I had to go hop around looking for other video streaming websites for it. So now I've resumed my watching.

Yei~

Kuroshitsuji no Koushin

黒執事の更新。（くろしつじのこうしん）Kuroshitsuji no Koushin. trans. Black Butler Updates.

Back for another Kuroshitsuji post. Today, Chapter 47 of the manga series was uploaded on MangaReader, and Episode 3 of Kuroshitsuji II was released on Anime Giant! This made my day a little bit easier on the shoulders. ~u~ Pain and disappointment are washed away!

I shall now leave you with a quote from Sebastian from the episode:

"Forsake the future, sacrifice your dreams, while stained with deep despair, elude the past, fight the reality and never relinquish your nobility. Just like that, Young Master. That is the soul I wish to consume."

-Sebastian Michaelis, referring to Ciel Phantomhive, Kuroshitsuji II ep3

Ozine

Yesterday Kai and I went to Ozine Fest 2010. It was quite a blast, even though our costume wasn't 100% complete. ^__^

Here's a picture of us~ This year we cosplayed Sebastian and Ciel in disguise during the Jack the Ripper Arc and their visit to Viscount Druitt's party from Kuroshitsuji. Once we fix up our costumes, we'll be back to attend this year's UP AME with these same costumes. Look forward to it!!

During our walk around the con, I spotted a pair of Mix-style headphones! :D

Cosplay

The world of cosplay or costume play is, no doubt, becoming more of a trend with the emergence of more conventions here in the Philippines, if not the whole world over. It's quite thrilling to see Japanese anime have this effect on people, actually.

On a personal level, I've got the chance to get involved and attend some conventions in costume, so it was always a fun experience.

Here's a breakdown of my cosplay adventures. The first costume I donned to a convention was back during the ToyCon held last June 14, 2008, when I costripped (cosplaying for fun without intention of entering the competition) as Hinasaki Mafuyu from Fatal Frame. Above is the picture I got with the pinoy version of Hard Gay. 8D

A few months after, I teamed up with my good friend Mica and decided to attend the Lights Out Yaoi Con held last September 6, 2008. I cosplayed Ootori Kyouya from Ouran High School Host Club while Mica did Tamaki.

A month later, I attended the UP AME Harujaku scheduled November 8, 2008 as Tezuka Kunimitsu from the Prince of Tennis alongside my girlfriend Kai who did Fuji. Perfect Pair for the win!

The next convention where I costripped with Kai was during the succeeding AME, UP AME no Jidai held last November 28, 2009 where I reprised my role as Ootori Kyouya while Kai was Haruhi.

To finish off the year, Kai and I attended the Cyberzone Cosplay Tour in SM Marikina last December 19, 2009. I did Ootori Choutarou from the Prince of Tennis while Kai did Shishido. Yei Silver Pair~

For this year's AME, or any convention in the latter half of the year (depending when the costumes are done), Kai and I have a new series in mind to cosplay. So you'll be sure to enjoy that. ^________________^ Until then, no spoilers yet.

Tidbit 008

When I was young and full of hope.....

I never had any particular inclination to learn to play any instruments. But somewhere along the line, I found a little nifty woodwind instrument; the recorder. I think I owned two - a wooden one given to me by a relative from Venezuela, and the other was a cheap store-bought one care of my dad.

I learned the basic fingering technique to play it and found several occasions where I could play a song - mostly nursery songs and the like. xDD

Recently I've pulled my recorder back out from its hiding place and learning to play Bratja (English translation: Brothers) from Fullmetal Alchemist~ ^___^b

Manga Reading

Currently, while still free from much required reading for the semester, I busy myself with reading a few manga series to get updated and satisfy my need for anime. Having had the patience to get through an entire series - provided that all chapters and volumes are readily available on OneManga.com - was a way I could better relate myself with it.

At times, however, I found myself reaching dead-ends, with still-publishing series on my Manga Currently Reading list (found here) and subjecting myself to reading through what's available and await the latest chapter release.

On the other hand, there are other series I want to get through that are already complete and just waiting to be read on OM, both as a way to better criticize the anime version and a way to grasp a better understanding of it altogether.

At present, I have finished two series: Prince of Tennis and Death Note. On my current reading list, I have a few series I'm awaiting the latest chapters of: New Prince of Tennis, Nodame Cantabile, Fullmetal Alchemist, Captain Tsubasa - Road to 2002 and Tantei Gakuen Q. I'll update my list (as I've begun regularly doing so) with more titles I plan to read in the future. I guess that'll be something to look forward to.