ufotable to make God Eater anime

ufotable公式トップにも発表情報を掲載致しました。「ゴッドイーター」アニメーション制作のお知らせです。本日発表となります。 http://t.co/Uposj2UiCJ pic.twitter.com/YllUiRbdmR
— ufotable (@ufotable) September 18, 2014

Here's an interesting announce for ufotable.  It seems like they'll be making a God Eater anime. :)

God Eater Game

God Eater is a video game but I don't know much about it because I don't play it.  Huh.... interesting. Ever since Kara no Kyoukai and Fate/Zero, I've really quite like ufotable's work.  It's just a short announce for now but I'll probably end up keeping an eye on this. They'll be making a fuller announce later today. :)

Okay... time for lunch. :)

Theatrical Version Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Battle Pentagram ~ listed

The soon to be released Sony Vita game for Mahou Shoujo Madoka is now listed on CDJapan.  This is the second Mahou Shoujo Madoka game on the vita and it's scheduled for a mid-Dec release.

Now, I'm quite keen to get it, since in an effort to improve my Japanese, I've started playing mostly Japanese video games.  My Japanese is still weak, in my opinion, and I have very little time to do my homework so I have to fine ways that I find enjoyable and do-able for me to try and at least keep at it.  Since I have to travel for approximately 1 hour to and from work everyday, this is the perfect window of opportunity to play handhelds

My loving parents gave me a very early birthday gift of an 3DS earlier this year and I have been playing Animal Crossing and Youkai Watch and a tiny bit of Time Travelers.  Animal Crossing uses a lot of keigo and some strange Japanese and a lot of katakana, so at times, I do find it a little trying.  Youkai Watch is much easier for me and quite fun too.  My only real problem is my weak vocabulary which means quite a bit of dictionary work.

Okay, enough of that aside. :)  I did play parts of the first Mahou Shoujo Madoka game on the vita and even have an unboxing post of the LE set.  Check this post. :)  But there is a lot of story in the Madoka game which I would like to understand better... so I put it aside for when I get better at Japanese.

Still, I intend to but this 2nd Madoka game on the vita.  I am a big Madoka fan and this particular LE release is also suppose to come pack with a soundtrack CD which I am hoping will be more Kajiura Yuki music... but the lack of any actual information makes me wonder if it could be something else all together.  Still, I want to play this game and even though I am certain it will not have any furigana, I would still like to try.  I'll most likely pre-order this and when I do get it, I'll unbox it. :)

For those who are keen on getting this game too... you can click here for the CDJapan product page for:

Limited Edition  (this is what you'll get with the LE click me)
Regular Edition

cheers

New Madoka game for Vita, LE w/OST CD (Kajiura Yuki?)

I don't remember having a busier year at work.  It's been a little bit mad. :(  Even now, I still have work on my mind and after I write this short post, I will be switching to my work station to try and figure out if there is a way to solve a specific prep problem faster.  So here goes, as short and as fast as possible for long-winded me. :)

I was reading something on animenewsnetwork.com when I came across a post regarding the December release of the new Mahou Shoujo Madoka Vita game.  Aside from the fact that it is related to my 2nd fav mahou shoujo anime of all time, the other thing that interested me was that the game will be using Kajiura Yuki's music from the anime.  While there is no mention if there will be any new music written, the entry does say that the Limited Edition release of this vita game also comes with an OST CD.  I really don't know if that means that a Kajiura Yuki OST CD will be packaged with this release or it means some other music will be on this CD but if it is indeed Kajiura Yuki's music, I would be very happy.  I do intend to purchase this game at some point.  So the LE edition is very much on the cards if the OST CD includes her music.

Anyway... it's mostly hopeful speculation on my part.  :) Now... I am off to do some testing.

cheers :)

Mahou Shoujo Madoka ~ Portable - huge discount

I've been meaning to write this for a while (thanks shangyou) but have been too busy.... CDJapan has been selling the Limited Edition Mahou Shoujo Madoka Portable set at a 60% discount for a while.  There are currently only 24 sets left.

Fans of the series may want to consider this set even if you don't read / understand Japanese.  The set does come with several freebies as well as the limited edition figma of Madoka in her school uniform.  To my knowledge, this figure is only available if you buy the set.

The game itself, is very talkie.  I played just the beginning portion but didn't have time to play through because I really have too many things to do.  I thought it was okay but then I am partly using these games to improve my Japanese and because I really am a huge fan of the series... so I think my views may be slightly coloured by that.

For those who are interested, you can view my unboxing post ... click me.

And for those who would like to purchase it at CDJapan... click me.

K.... I have to go... have Chinese New Year things I must do today.  :)

Magical Girl Nanoha Portable - Lyrical Box - tease

I received this as a gift two nights ago. :) Cool!!! :) I have yet to watch nanoha but I was happy to get the set cuz of the figma figure. This is not a new release. I think it is a 2010 release (link is to the regular edition) so my friend was able to buy it at a fraction of the original cost. I would still like to do an unboxing cuz this is quite a nice set and also cuz I like doing unboxings. But we'll see. There are a ton of things I would like to get done before things heat up at work again. That's it for now. Off to enjoy the rest of my commute to work. :)

mahou shoujo madoka portable - tease :P

I've finally have some time to try the game out.  I played it for a while on the train ride to the studio. :)

Am at work now and should really get serious and get started.

Hmmm... will try and write my unboxing post tonight and talk a little about the game.

The limited box set is still available at some places for those who want it. Some places are sold out of the limited box sets but the game itself is still available.

CDJapan lists this limited edition at 30% off which isn't a bad discount if you can't find it cheaper elsewhere.

K.. Gotta go... Will write a proper post on it later. :)

Jdorama - Nodame Cantabile

Cast of Nodame Cantabile

I think you can easily tell from the title that I've been bitten by the Japanese drama series bug. And although I've neglected this blog because I've been really busy with work, I just felt I needed to write about this series, so here you go... =)

Aside from HK's TVB dramas, some of the stuff made by Mediacorp Singapore and a few Mainland Chinese series, I really don't watch any other types of series made by the Asian TV industries. Even then, the last Jdorama I watched was Shomuni 1, 2 and 3 which I really enjoyed but I was never truly into Jdorama's since I wasn't able to get good recommendations to the kind of Japanese dramas I liked.

How I came upon Nodame Cantabile is actually a little unusual and makes a mildly amusing story. =) Since Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS, I have been hooked on rhythm games and hunted down Ouendan 1 & 2 just so I could play them. In the process of looking for more rhythm games to play on my NDS, I came upon Nodame Cantabile. While EBA and Ouendan used songs from popular music, Nodame Cantabile differed from them because it used only classical music.

Now I really like classical music and my familiarity with it made playing Nodame Catabile the NDS game a breeze. But what made me really fall for the game was the quirky girl that kept showing up in the story parts. In this game, one takes the role of a conductor and tries to conduct a musical piece by taping or performing movements on the touch-pad with the stylus. This quirky girl didn't seem to have too much to do with the music parts but she kept showing up and even though I didn't have a clue what they were saying to each other, I pretty much figured out she lived in a messy room and made a lot of cute quirky sounds. Now it sounds silly but I for some reason, really liked her character in the game.

So just last week I was in TS video shop when I saw Nodame Cantabile the TV series being sold on DVD. I didn't even have a clue then that Nodame Cantabile was first a manga before it was made into a hit TV series, an anime series and a video game. For some strange reason, I was drawn to the series and the prospect of finding out just exactly what this quirky girl with the funny expressions story was and so I bought the series.

What I definitely didn't expect was just how wonderful this series turned out to be. The series has a cast of quirky characters that are not just for laughs but who influence each other and the story, giving this series depth and warmth. This series is heartwarming without being maudlin. The exaggerated manga/anime-ish moments are also well thought out as they aren't use merely for laughs but also to take off some of the edge of the serious moments so that the series isn't weighed down by melodrama. The background music is mostly comprised of classical music which is very well used and the music is so striking that I do consider the music to be one of the stars of this series. Many of the orchestra performances are also very nicely setup and really do bring across just how grand and moving a live performance can be.

It really helped that this series was very well cast and although Ueno Juri isn't the lead in this series, she played Noda Megumi with so much passion, energy and charm, and so perfectly that without her, I don't think Nodame Cantabile would have been superb series that it is. That's not to say that Tamaki Hiroshi who plays Chiaki Shinichi the protagonist in this series was bad. He was really good too. He was very convincing as the arrogant, very talented and at the beginning very self-absorbed music student. And Tamaki Hiroshi needed to be good because even though this series is titled Nodame Cantabile, the series isn't about Nodame (aka Noda Megumi). Although it is Nodame's love for music and life that influences Chiaki Shinichi and changes him, the story is really about him, his growth as a person and a musician and how the influences of not only Nodame but also Mine, Masumi and a hold host of other people help him to in turn influence them and others to seek out the best in themselves.


Eita as Mine Ryutaro and Mizukawa Asami as Miki Kiyora

Other notable characters and actors in this cast are Eita (plays Mine Ryutaro - violin), Koide Keisuke (Okuyama Masumi - timpani) and my personal favourite among the secondary cast, Mizukawa Asami (plays Miki Kiyora - violin). And yes, the only reason for this paragraph is because I just had to mention them. =) Truth is a lot of the supporting cast is very good, suitably cast and quite memorable.


Support cast

If you love classical music and heartwarming stories about love and friendship, then I urge you to check out Nodame Cantabile the TV series, it is that good. =)

cheers
p.s. now I'll have to hunt down the manga and the anime. =)

Wii would like to play

The Nintendo Wii was finally launched in Singapore last week and I finally managed to buy one after months of waiting since its US launch last December. Unfortunately, this is only the soft launch and these official sets from the Singapore distributor are essentially US sets which they imported and repackaged with a 220v power adaptor. Word is, South East Asia will only get an official launch and a true localized set in Oct of this year.

I, however, decided enough waiting for me as I'd put aside enough money to get the Wii since its launch late last year. So although this soft launch Wii is probably more expensive than the Wii that will be launched late this year and although this is a bundled set, I still got it it in the end. Anyway, I'm on good terms with my heartland game shop guy and he let me trade in Sonic and the Secret Rings for Zelda and I just paid the difference.

I have no regrets as the Wii is a truly fantastic gaming machine and it has provided me and my family hours of fun. My mum LOVES the Wii and plays it almost every single day. I, myself, play it almost everyday unless work gets in the way. A friend and I also threw a joint Wii party on Saturday and the 7-8 of us were at this party for about ten hours.



The Wii is like no other gaming machine on the market right now. It revolutionizes game play by taking it back to the basics. There are no dizzying graphics and complicated stories. It's like the first time one plays pong, you pick up a controller and simply have fun.

It is extremely easy for non-gamers to begin playing as the Wii uses motion control for many of their key and most fun games. The best way to experience the Wii is to play Wii Sports which is a game they very cleverly included as part of the Wii package when one buys the Wii in all regions except Japan right now. Take tennis for example. In order to execute a forehand, one just swings the arm grasping the Wii-mote, which acts as your tennis racket of sorts, like one would swing one's arm when one is playing tennis in real life. Similarly for games like boxing, baseball, golf and bowling, the Wii-mote is grasp and the motion one needs to execute is similar to the action needed in real life. Compare the simpleness of the controls to the complex multi-button, two analog joysticks controllers of the xBoxes and Sony Playstations. It is really THAT easy to play the Wii.

Wii Sports gets my vote as Wii game of the year as it really is the game that illustrates how much potential the Wii has. I have my 60+ year-old mum, my 4+ year-old niece and my non-gaming friends all happy playing the Wii and it is simply amazing to watch them play and to play with them.

And if you ask me what is the biggest thing that has distracted me from blogging these days, it isn't work, it's not my continued recovery from a serious bout of flu, it isn't a tv series I'm hooked on. Instead, it is the Wii and I've not been this hooked on video games since I got obsessed with conquering Soul Calibur on the Sega Dreamcast years and years ago.

So much as I would like to continue with my Guizhou photos, reply to YTSL's request for her meme on films, write up reviews of two rather good Mainland Chinese series that I just saw and talk a bit about Sembawang etc, it is the Wii that has me completely in its spell right now. So I bid adieu as I'm off to play Zelda for now and I will get back to blogging, I promise, but after I get my does of Wii. :)

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! Agents Are Go!

(courtesy wikipedia)

This week has been really busy at work and on occasion it was pretty horrendous too but one thing I had going for me are the agents from Beat Elite Agents!!!!! They made me grin from ear to ear even when I was being a totally grouchy about have to work the many hours that I had to. When Commander Kahn yells "Agents Are Go!!!!" I know that the Beat Elite Agents are here to save me. =D

Last week I discovered that I'm not the only Nintendo DS owner at the office, SY owns one too. I had been interested in this game Beat Elite Agents but wasn't sure if I would like a rhythm game. So when I found out that SY owned the game, I was like... lend me... lend me.... lend me please.... please... please. =D Well, I didn't really have to bug her lah, she lent it to me anyway and I lent her my still-in-progress Final Fantasy III in return.

This is one goofy game and it's probably not a very cool game to be seen in playing in public but boy is it FUN FUN FUN. There is probably no point going into the details of the game as there are many other webpages that do it better. Click here to read all about the game.

The game is really very simple. You just have to tap to the rhythm and try and tap the number hit makers as the circle closes in on it.

(courtesy wikipedia)

The graphics are pretty much comic booky but they are rather well done, bright, colourful and very cheery. There are several songs you can play to and each one is rated at a different level of difficulty. And while there isn't much of an overall story arc, there is one common theme. It always begins with a rather silly story that's told in an overly dramatic and in a humorous fashion. And at the end of the story, there is always someone who needs help and that's when Commander Kahn will go "Agents are Go!" and our agents will appear and help save the day.

(courtesy www.gamehope.com, www.perfect-gamers.com)

My favourite part of each song is when the 3 agents and the person or persons they are trying to save raise their arms and sway to the music. It works especially well with the YMCA song. It always makes me laugh. I think it's also because when SY first showed me how to play the game, she played the game with YMCA. Since then sometimes during the day we'll raise our arms and sing YMCA and sway to the beat in the corridor or even in the office.

I couldn't find any nice pictures of my swaying agents so here are some taken by me. They're horrible I know but you get the picture. =)


Okay, that's it from me today. Late and am sleepy. At first I thought I would talk a bit about Dicey Business, this new TVB series I'm currently watching but I think I'll leave that for tomorrow or a later date depending. Also, I hope to get back to my Guizhou photos sometime next week.

For now, it's good night. =)

Nintendo Wii !!!!!!!

(image courtesy of wikipedia)

I've got to go shower and dash off to work in like 15 mins. But I just have to express my excitment that according to Game Axis, the Nintendo Wii will quite possibly be available in Singapore by the middle of this month. Perhaps even as early as the 15th of Jan. Yay yay yay!!!!

For those who really know me well, you know that all I've done for the last 6 months is talk about the Wii and then for the last two months I've also been whining about the lack of news on the Wii's launch in S'pore. Now it looks like the console may make it here before Chinese New Year after all. My only concern now is that I may not be able to get my hands on one, the extra controllers and the games before CNY. I'm going to have to try and make it to my game shop tonight and ask about the rumours and see if I can pre-order stuff. I really hope to get it before CNY so my cousins can play and so I can organize a video game party.

For those who are interested, here are a couple of links.

Wii website - For all things Wii
Nintendo website - For all things Nintendo
Gamefaqs - For faqs and reviews of the hardware and the games.

Ahhhh... this is great news, at least good enough to take away the bulk of the disappointment of Everton's horrible 4-1 loss to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup 3rd round match last night. =(

Right have to dash off now. Later... :)