:RUBUSKA: Just another weird fusion...

On the Bridge

2011-03-03T15:00:00.009-04:00

Well guys, I know it seems like I've taken my sweet little time but Grad School does tend to suck the time out of your life in general. In fact I haven't played an MMO in ... I lost count. Anyway, last weekend I made a trip to Japantown here in the lovely San Francisco. I did the usual browsing in Kinokuniya, Daiso...

and let's not even mention the model kit store, I still have two model kits to build...

That Reminds me that I want the new 00 Quant[T] ...

So where did I go new? This restaurant called "On the Bridge", which is literally on the bridge in Japantown by the way.

Yep you're seeing right, I took the photo in the restaurant, they've decorated the place with many anime and manga decorations. Including J-pop playing and a TV with some Anime. Not only that but... -drumroll- Manga! Yep, while you wait for the delicious food, you can help yourself to catching up on that volume of Nana you've just had bad luck finding in any Borders!

So yeah, this almost the closest you'll get to a manga café here in Japantown. But what about the food? Well like the advertising says, Japanese food is not only about sushi, ramen, and anything teriyaki. The Japanese like reinvent a lot of Western food, take for example, pasta!

Even the gyoza I ordered was quite different, but nonetheless delicious, and was certainly a mix of Italian and Japanese cuisine. The food was delicious, and you'd be amazed at the variety they have here. It is a small restaurant though, from what I heard it's pretty much a family run business. The owner is a chef, and from what my friends tell me he's a really friendly person. Considering it's a small place, you got to be patient sometimes with the waiting time, but hey, you're not only here for the food right? Otherwise if you're in a rush, don't go on a weekend afternoon that's for sure.

Well that's all for today's entry, hopefully I'll be posting a bit more regularly.

Till next time,

りんごしゅ

新しい時代が来る。。。ー A new era is coming...

2011-02-10T15:18:00.002-04:00

It's definitely been a while since we'v updated the blog, but what can I say, Life is a mess. So the hyperbolic subject pretty much means we'll probably be seeing some more content flowing in here about stuff Japanese. Being in SF certainly helps me with some good access to a lot of things Asian and I think it's time I exploit that in the blog.

じゃあ皆、ちょっと待ってくれる？

9th Gen Morning Musume Auditions?

2010-08-14T23:53:00.002-04:00

I was searching around and for some reason wandered into the Hello! Project website and noticed news posted a couple of days ago that, correct me if I'm wrong, says that THERE IS GONNA BE A NEW AUDITION! 9th Gen! Which is a chance to finally add some new talent... Well hopefully they'll add someone with actual talent or charisma. Not like that impostor and usurper Aika. Man I hate that bitch. Her being chosen in the audition like killed Momusu for me, and left me with a huge gaping hole in my heart. But enough of that, I have faith that this travesty will be fixed. Finally a new chance to breathe life into Morning Musume. I will be watching for this closely, stay tuned!

Sawajiri Team Jacob?

2010-07-29T17:45:00.004-04:00

THIS JUST IN! Sawajiri in photoshoot with what appears to be a wolf-man in mid transformation! As one can clearly see, the hair is starting to grow on the back of his hand and he's doing this as he grabs Sawajiri's boobies, which are about to itch like crazy! What appears to be his tail is also wrapping around her body. What will become of Erika now!?

Some Jpoop love, defending Sayumi, and some more stuff

2010-07-28T08:53:00.003-04:00

Jpoop Love - It seems that I am so out of the loop with jpop and dramas that I missed on a drama with Yuko Oshima and Eiji Wentz called Angel Bank, and I would've watched cause not only it has an AKB48 girl in it, but also has one of the WaT dudes. I never really liked WaT's music, but I saw them on a couple of shows and they were retty cool dudes. Anyway the two of those seem to be quite chummy, which obviously is fueling rumors that they're together. Because, you know, in the celebrity world, much like the real one, boys and girls can't JUST be friends.

Defending Sayumi - Apparently AKB48 fans and Momusu fans hate each other. I was reading a post on jpopfun when I ran into this article about Sayumi getting hate from fans cause she said she liked AKB48. I wanna tell you, I am a Momusu fan since 2004, and a general H!P fan too. I'm not sure if I voiced my love for the AKB48 product too, but I LOVE IT TOO! Way before it was all "H!P fans can never be Johnny's fans!", but those boybands are awesome! Why have a war if the product is kinda different and is meant for people to have fun and be entertained? Furthermore, why hate on Sayumi for saying she likes the competition? She's showing there's no hard feelings there, instead of saying she hates it cause she's so much better(actually that sounds like the old Sayumi I know lol). Speaking of the boybands apparently she insulted a couple of the Arashi members, namely Jun. Which I think her honest-to-God what her thoughts on their fashion was, but voicing your criticism of Arashi(or anything related to Johnny's) is a baaaaaaad move. Why? AKB48 has fanboys who are cut-throat. But freaking Arashi has "I'll-blow-up-your-house-you-bitch" type fanGIRLS. I shudder to think of the wrath I will bring upon myself for criticizing them. lol

Kenshin Live Action - What? Kenshin? Live Action? Well jpopfun seems to know about some rumors, but till I get some hard info I won't say much. When and if I do... I think I'll foam at the mouth...

Help me PLEASE - If anyone out there reads this and has a way to get Music Station and CDTV and is kind enough to re encode it to a smaller size and upload it to my FTP, I would be really grateful. Anyone? :D

Exploring new horizons - Ipad and new places

2010-06-07T23:14:00.020-04:00

[ The picture represents in some way the topics I will be discussing in this post, besides the fact that it's super cute ]

Well nothing is completely official till it happens, but one of the members of the Rubuska team will be undergoing some significant lifestyle changes that will, in my opinion, result in a positive effect on this blog, or at least I hope so. Not going to go public yet about it until it happens but I'll probably be going somewhere else in the summer. Nonetheless, what did I say in the blog post title? You read correctly, Ipad. Interestingly enough, let me take the opportunity to quote myself from the last post:

"Now with the HTC Evo being released soon, I am already considering changing phones since the Android + HTC Sense combination has worked out so well. Not to mention that cameras in phones are a great plus for me because I dislike having to carry a digital camera with me, so the fact I can record in 720p is quite a treat. Having the phone work as a mobile hotspot is also attractive, and I might just get such data plan if I get a higher specced netbook/laptop/tablet later on."
"
Who knows, maybe I'll even get an Ipad too... though I have a feeling that if I do that, Uska will get an Android powered tablet..."

To be honest, I've been let down by what the Android tablets have had to offer, or more precisely, the lack of things to offer. Not only have they've been slow to appear on the market (Notion Ink Adam anyone?) Android's fragmented nature does not support it's case in the market as well. Considering it is a mobile OS, you can not really compare it to something like other mobile operating systems like Ubuntu Netbook Remix, Jolicloud and even Meego that have a higher support for software variety and development. Truth be told though, on most of these tablets it's probably not hard at all to install the mentioned options, but at what price and hassle? I was a big follower of the development of the Notion Ink Adam for many reasons, considering that it offered a lot in terms on specifications, competitive price, and even features. Ever since I've made a full switch to a Linux distro for my everyday computer use, I can't help but realize the irony of it all that I am considering a device that is by all means a product from one of the most - software-wise and hardware-wise - closed companies. But what has convinced me to I prefer the Ipad over the Notion Ink Adam (other than the fact that the Adam is nowhere to be seen or heard of and it's June)?

After using the HTC Hero for two months now, I have become better acquainted with the Android OS in a deeper level. Putting aside the version fragmentation dilemma that I don't doubt Google will solve, there's still the problem of apps. Android is still an infant OS unlike the Iphone/Ipad OS which has been polished considerably over the years. Not only does it look better, but the OS is indeed very smooth, but beyond that there's also something very important: app development. I am not saying Android can not in a year or two catch up on Apple's lead on app count, but the fact still remains that by being an open mobile platform, it is not unified. If it is ported to tablets, they will not have the same marketplace as a smartphones. It will be up for the developers to take care of that front. That is due to the fact that most, if not all Android tablets will be running on custom versions of such OS. Unlike Linux though, where there exists more unity in the propagation and programming of software among different distros, Android does not have what we could call the modern and completely open package/repository system. I am no expert software analyst, but such a model would greatly diversify app options on android but would break to some extent the consumer micro transaction model of buying apps. My experiences with Ubuntu, Fedora and more traditional Linux distros support this idea, which is one of the reasons I'm a strong advocate of Open Source Operating systems like Linux and my favorite flavor: Ubuntu or more precisely, Debian derivatives.

So yes, the Ipad indeed does exceed in what I would call a strong foundation despite its shortcomings regarding hardware specifications, and probably my biggest gripe is the lack of built in camera for video conferencing, which I have no doubt that it will be solved more sooner than later through an add-on, and the Apple development community is quite active and imaginative to when it comes to overcome many of the OS's imperfections.

So deep down my decision to choose the Ipad over an Android powered tablet is simply the fact that I don't think Android is ready to enter such market. That does not mean Android is an excellent choice for smartphones as it has proven till now. I prefer the more open oriented nature of the OS, such as the ease of use as external storage, freedom to transfer media without the need of obligatory software unlike the Itunes - Apple product relation, better notification system, widget system, greater integration to social networking among other features. For me Android, as does WebOS, show great promise in the smartphone market and are more to my liking than the Iphone OS. The good thing is we have variety, and I think that's good since everyone uses phones differently.

Another reason why I've taken a liking to the Ipad is because it reminds me of the first months I had my first netbook, the Eee PC 701 2GB Surf with the custom Linux Xandros OS. The ease of use, fast connectivity to the world wide web, instant messaging and voice/video chat were all things that seemed pretty ahead of it's time since it felt like it was all there right now at my fingertips, and I have to hang it to the Apple promo guys that make a strong point of this concept that's similar to that of the Xandros OS example and Ubuntu Netbook remix (and it's many flavors). Apple's OS is stable, smooth, aesthetically pleasing and has that instant feel to it. Not only that, but probably what I most like about tablets in general is that I consider them a step forward from netbooks in terms of portability and instant access to web content and productivity tools. That does not mean they'll replace laptops anytime soon, but the market is changing as technology advances, and it's hard to deny it.

What I think we should all be looking forward to is the day tablets advance hardware-wise to the level of current day laptops. This would give a greater amount of freedom in the selection of Operating systems we could use without worrying of being tied to one option. You may have noticed I have not mentioned at all the interest in a Windows 7 based tablet, simply because Windows has proven again and again that it is not quite there in the sense of accommodating itself to tablets, and with the death of the Courier concept, I don't see Windows becoming more predominant on tablets anytime soon. Not to mention that I simply do not use Windows at all with the exception of gaming given the Direct X empire (would be interesting if something happened in that area similar to the current Flash vs. HTML5 debate).

As a final note, depending on how things develop, I will probably be pretty busy this summer but I will make an effort to keep posting on the blog, especially when I get my Ipad :)

Till next time,

Rubi

Into the world of Smartphones, Netbooks and Hybrid mobile devices

2010-05-24T11:28:00.009-04:00

I recently switched to Sprint's network after getting tired of AT&T's "GoPhone" service and it was the result of a greater interest in mobility concerning online connectivity on the go. Unlike Uska who's experienced the conveniences of mobile internet for more than two years now, I on the other hand have had little experience, but I would like to share some thoughts on what I think of the current mobile market and my experiences.

I am a big fan of portability and mobility in anything technological combined with a strong pragmatic idealism towards my mobile devices. My first start was with the Eee Pc Surf 701 2gb which was around the time Uska began his journey with a mobile device when he got his first smartphone, the Blackberry Pearl.

At that moment a line was currently drawn between me and him as we debated on the pros and cons of each device. My experiences with the Eee Pc 701 were quite delightful, but like with Uska's Blackberry Pearl, we both quickly felt that the devices aged quite quickly. Rim quickly started releasing higher specced phones and more competition began to emerge as the smartphone market began to expand. On the other side of things the Netbook market/mania had just begun, with higher specced machines rolling out the year after. Nevertheless I enjoyed my netbook fully for like a year and a half, and saw my productivity shift from predominantly being a desktop user, to switching back and forth without much effort. Some people have experienced this change as well when they got their Ipads this year. Mobile computing of this sort is incredibly practical in our lives, and for students and some professionals, having a computer that's so light, inexpensive, small and practical became a great help in everyday tasks. From notetaking to idle internet browsing in Santa Rosa mall, from writing essays to watching the latest remix of Chocolate Rain, the netbook quickly became a device I found myself connected to constantly. As for Uska, his addiction (note: heavy dependence) to his Blackberry became quite clear and his computer habits changed a lot as well.

After calling a truce in our sometimes heated debates on smartphone vs netbook, time passed and that brings us to today's increasingly mobile market: Netbooks being sold by phone carriers with 3G connectivity as well as Smartphones like the HTC Evo pioneering 4G in cellphones and serving as a Hotspot at the same time. Last but not least, the new tablet mania that seemed to have become the highlight in the beginning of this year.

The first smartphone I owned was the Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic. I have to admit that I was amazed as to how practical having a smartphone could be, and like Uska foretold, it would feed my growing need to obtain a contract based agreement with a carrier and have an unlimited data plan. By this time I had stopped using my Eee PC greatly, mostly due to the fact that browsing the internet now is not the same as 2-3 years ago. Modern websites rely heavily on Flash, and browsing on an low specced netbook has become quite a hassle. The Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic was a refreshing take on mobile computing for me, offering me the advantages of a smartphone and the portability I wished. Despite Symbian's shortcomings, I still consider to this day that it's an excellent phone. In fact, it supports Skype and supported the Google Buzz layer long before the HTC Hero, which I find pretty ironic. It does not change though that the OS is quite aged and is by no means flashy. So it finally came down to my switch to Sprint and being and open source linux fan, I was naturally leaning more to an Android phone than an Iphone.

The HTC Hero has proven to be an excellent phone as well. Though I do miss having Skype for long distance calls and I found the wait for Android 2.1 quite annoying. The phone lags quite a bit sometimes but the advantages of the Android OS are great. Now with the HTC Evo being released soon, I am already considering changing phones since the Android + HTC Sense combination has worked out so well. Not to mention that cameras in phones are a great plus for me because I dislike having to carry a digital camera with me, so the fact I can record in 720p is quite a treat. Having the phone work as a mobile hotspot is also attractive, and I might just get such data plan if I get a higher specced netbook/laptop/tablet later on. Surprisingly, Uska got an Iphone 3Gs not too long ago and now I have an Android powered device, we just love being on opposite sides... He was in CDMA, I was in GSM and that switched as well.

To this day I still don' t use my netbook half as much as I used to due to the performance issues I mentioned. Not to mention the smartphone I have can do a lot of the things the netbook can do and it has internet all the time. But I do feel inclined on getting a new netbook or tablet to complete my mobile device arsenal and the trinity of a geek: Smartphone, laptop/netbook/tablet and desktop. Like I said in the beginning, I'm a big fan of portability and mobility, so tablets quickly became quite the attraction for me this year, and more importantly, the line between smartphone and netbook has been blurred. Who knows, maybe I'll even get an Ipad too... though I have a feeling that if I do that, Uska will get an Android powered tablet...

A Sawajiri Summer Story

2010-05-24T10:24:00.002-04:00

So after 3(or 4) jobs, full time studies, and gym hours getting in the way of Rubuska postings and me following the world of Japanese Entertainment, I am finally free and have something worthy of posting. Remember way back in 2007 when our little Erika, who was starting a cool and promising career in music and acting, was probably a bit moody from a little PMS? Well if you don't she basically looked a little moody and answered the press questions at an event with short answers. Either everyone loved her and were extremely disappointed, or were envious and didn't want her in the entertainment circuit cause they just freaking jumped on her! Subsequently she made some bad choices and married the wrong person she was put on hiatus and went to learn English in London.

Well after the Japanese people broke her career due to PMS, and broke our hearts with it, Sawajiri is reportedly making a come back! Japan-Zone reports:

"Actress Sawajiri Erika (24) will perform her new song "Treasure" on Saturday, as she also makes a formal return to work. In her first professional engagement since the recent media attention around her divorce plans, she will appear at the "GirlsAward2010" fashion event in Tokyo."

About FREAKING time!. It also says the new song is available for free on the site but I got a 403 Forbidden error. Wonder why. I wanted to listen and support her! :(

Anyway, an Erika Sawajiri blog, Erika-fantasy translated this snippet from Yahoo! News Japan:

"On this evening Sawajiri exited her mother's apartment wearing a leopard print camisole which emphasized her breasts. [...] Within a myriad of camera flashes, Sawajiri waved to about 80 reporters with a smile. Questions like "Did you really break up with him through e-mail?" were met with only her sunglasses and a smile from beginning to end. She then boarded a black Mercedes driven by an avex official which confirms the contract with the management."

Well she got it right! I can imagine she was irritated by the press, who kept trying to make her look like a total text message break-up bitch. But the fact that she learned from her mistake isn't the important thing that Yahoo! reported on, by far it's not. It's not even the fact that we pretty much have confirmation of her having a contract. Of course, it has to be the fact that she was wearing a leopard print camisole! And get this(which is my favorite part): IT EMPHASIZED HER BREASTS! Oh Japanese press, you're Japanese Entertainment as much as the stars are.

Anyway, I'm keeping track of this, I'll post if the site gets back up. WELCOME BACK ERIKA! We sorely, deeply missed you!

This Just In- Maimi cut her hair!!

2009-11-10T00:11:00.002-04:00

D: omg she did something that I could only conceive in my worst nightmares. I knew a day like this would come, the day that my favorite idol, who’s amazing beauty fits my idealist view of what I like in a girl’s looks, changes her image. I always thought it would be worst if she dyed her hair brown or something, but I also didn’t want the cut to happen. Nevertheless, she did it and I was pleasantly surprised.

Here are some pics of her with her awesome amazing long hair:

Ahh she just makes me melt…. <3

So how does she look with her shorter hair?

This is why I was pleasantly surprised. OMG SHE LOOKS AMAZINGGGGGGGGGG!! I love her new do!! I was thinking about it and it hit me: I still love her no matter what she does <3

A review of a regular phone from a ex smartphone user

2009-10-16T23:06:00.002-04:00

Nearly two years ago I switched from being a long time Movistar/Open Mobile customer to a Centennial Wireless one because they were giving away the Blackberry Pearl. When my Blackberry Pearl, the first phone I was ever truly happy with, died, I had to get a replacement for it so that I could continue my social life as well as business related things. Since Centennial has terrible prices for new phones and give little incentive for you to stay by not helping you at all to get a new phone. This, of course, is the biggest downside to being in a provider that uses CDMA technology instead of GSM. Anyway, the only phone in my price range that sort of looked ok was the LG Rumor 2. So coming from a phone that met all my needs for on the go communication, how would LG Rumor 2 stand up to the Blackberry Pearl, or other phones? Let’s find out.

First we should start by finding out what made the Blackberry Pearl so great for me. Despite having inferior hardware to other Blackberries currently available, it did have the functionality I wanted to have with my other phones. The main one was the more comfortable Suretype keyboard, and the ability to send and receive email. I also had a ton of applications that were worthwhile, such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Windows Live Messenger, jIRC, Opera Mini, and a good media player. The Camera was very nice and took great night shots, and the screen was huge. The Calendar, being synched with Google calendar, made my being organized an easy task. Ringtones were also extremely easy to download straight from the phone and applications were now made easier to get via the Blackberry App World. All in all I had a great experience with this phone, but the inferior hardware got to me.

The LG Rumor 2 right off the bat looks cool. I has a full QWERTY keyboard and a regular multitap keyboard so that dialing is easier and I don’t have to slide open the phone. When it comes to functions, the phone does what every other regular phone does: it sends and receives SMS, MMS, has clear call quality, and, thankfully, can store multiple numbers and emails per contacts(something that seems to me like a no brainer). The problem is that I lost a valuable function: the emails. With the full QWERTY keyboard it would’ve been amazing, but alas there’s not email support. Applications can’t be installed, and at least with Centennial there’s no support for BREW applications in the foreseeable future. This means no social networking applications, no better browser, no Google Calendar Synch. While we’re on the subject, the WAP browser is very bad and at least with Centennial it hardly works. The BB had no problems with the connection and it was always fast but I can’t even seem to connect to the internet half the time. Anyway, the calendar is a lot less useless than my old Kyocera’s calendar, but at least it’s good to use for reminders. The applications(or tools) it does bring are useful at least. MP3 Ringtones are easy to set up, but you need to download them on the PC first or have someone MMS it to you because the WAP browser says that .mp3 is an invalid file type. The hardware and software can’t multitask which makes texting, browsing, or doing anything on the phone while listening to music impossible. The media player has a long way to go too. It’s ok, but it’s nothing marvelous. There’s no video play back which is extremely disappointing too. The camera is ok, but still behind the current trends of cell phones. If I’m not mistaken it’s even VGA, no Megapixels.

All in all, what makes this phone good? The full QWERTY keyboard and sliding action makes texting fun. Does it make it a good phone? Well, while texting is fun it doesn’t make up for the lack of functions and the functions it does have be lacking. Is it worth it? Well if you don’t need or particularly care for the stuff I mentioned in the second paragraph and like texting then this phone is for you. If not, save money and get a good smartphone. So in conclusion, I leave you with two cute asian girls that have the phone. Enjoy!

Technologically Impared

2009-10-16T20:49:00.002-04:00

I wanted to write the next post(which I will soon) about a new cellphone I have. It’s the LG Rumor 2 from Centennial Wireless of Puerto Rico. Thing is that I have like 4 jobs and I study, and last night I suffered through the worst technology meltdown at one of my jobs I have ever heard anyone go through. You see we fix radios there. In order to program radios we need PCs. We have 5 PCs there, all of which, not to my surprise, broke down at the same time, which happens to be the time that a client asked us to fix the entire inventory. So in attempting to fix them, I end up borking my own PC. Thankfully I was able to fix it using my Desktop, which I use my Samsung LCD TV as the monitor. However when I turn on my LCD TV, there’s a FREAKING BLUE LINE GOING DOWN THE SCREEN. So technology doesn’t like me, and my car breaks down yada yada. The only thing that didn’t happen was my cellphone melting down and my PSP’s Memory Stick auto formats or something. I’ll write my review in a bit!

Things could get a little interesting…

2009-10-05T00:57:00.001-04:00

So I never recovered from my PC loss. Well I have now, I have a laptop and I have this newfangled Windows Live Writer that promises to make my blogging life a lot easier. Rubi and me not only have had our PC woes, we’ve also been leading a busy life which meant less time to see stuff or play games, and meant less time to blog. I, however, wish to keep the blog going and hopefully I can start a trend that will lead Rubi to keep going with me. So with my connection and my laptop I will try to keep a train going for as long as I can.

And what will separate Rubuska from other blogs you ask? What will keep you readers reading and us writing? Well, that’s something I’ve thought of. I can say this: I will keep my writing as interesting as I can. I will have certain sections that will pop up every once in awhile, and try to keep a rhythm of 2 posts per week or more. These sections will be as follows:

Random Thoughts – These are going to be random thoughts I have on new stuff that I’m watching be it CDTV, Heroes, Fullmetal Alchemist, or what have you.

Pic Wars – I will posts pics that will be win, and sometimes fail.

Tech Reviews – Technology reviews, but will mostly be on Cellphones and Cellphone Carriers(limited to Puerto Rico), but will include other things tech.

PV Reviews – I try to watch PVs as often as I can, and I will try to review them here! They won’t this time necessarily be limited to Japanese music, but they will mostly be of that.

Music Reviews – Reviews of new singles and albums will go in this section. Again, not necessarily limited to Jp music, but most be that.

Japanese Entertainment – Reviews, thoughts, ideas, criticism for shows, artists, anime, dramas, everything will be thrown into here that has to do with Japanese entertainment.

Rants – Me ranting on something I feel needs to be ranted on. While rants usually offer a lot of reading but little entertainment, my rants will actually probably be the most entertaining of the posts I will make.

Misc – These will pop up a lot most likely, but they will be on something specific that doesn’t go anywhere in those sections, which I think covers everything I want.

Anyway the first post will be pretty soon. So stay tuned!

Random Notes

2008-11-11T11:07:00.001-04:00

I have a PC, but it's not mine so I haven't gotten comfortable enough in it to write reviews and all that other stuff. So rather than that I'm gonna recommend you stuff that I'm watching.

Gundam 00 Season 2 is around episode 7 or 8(if I'm not mistaken). Double O is Double Win :D

Countdown to Q.E.D. Shomei Shuryo countdown started. It airs January 8 to March 12, which means 10 episodes of Takahashi drama goodness!

Where'd the Blog Go?

2008-09-28T18:04:00.005-04:00

Well, life hit me and Rubi pretty hard. I also wanted to write more but my drive crashed and along with it anything I could have written about. right now I'm on a 18gb hard drive, and have about 1GB left after the necessary programs I have installed. I need to write though, because without this blog I have suffered a horrible lapse, I had writer's block. I am possibly getting either a bigger hard drive soon enough, or a a sexy iMac with a 24" display and a 1TB hdd. That way, I will have no excuses. That aside, I am expecting a lot to come soon. First and foremost, the ending of Code Geass R2(which I'm sure will leave me thoroughly emo), and the beginning of Gundam 00 season 2. I think if Season 1 was pretty good, Season 2 will thoroughly own. Although, if the assholes that made the official site gave me any indication, I already know some stuff that will go down. For one, nobody really died that you saw at the end of the last episode. Setsuna is obviously not dead, and is now a 21 year old angry boy. Lockon and Alleluyah are perfectly intact, the Smirnoff guy has a son apparently, in fact almost the entire crew is alive. Saji I am just waiting to get in a Gundam and fight Exia. Otherwise he's kind of a wasted character. Hilarious as it may seem, they apparently think that some people won't know that this "Kamen no Otoko" guy they have in the official site's list of characters is in fact Graham Acre. I guess it might be entirely plausible that some new fans won't get that, but unlikely. Sumeragi seems to have gotten a breast reduction in the four year lapse, perhaps to hide herself because she's known mostly for her humongous boobs. Oh, remember at the end of Season 1 where we saw Tieria with longer hair and he was with Louise Halevy? Well apparently it's Tieria's twin sister. That's right, when you first saw Tieria and thought he was a woman till he grounded you with his manly speech, this was the bitch you were waiting for. Speaking of Louise, apparently now she has a hand. THANK YOU FOR SHARING OFFICIAL SITE! Either way these are slightly minor spoilers for what's to come soon.

In other news, since Dramas take up the most time and disk space to save, I have no idea what's going on in the drama world. I don't know what's upcoming and I don't want to until I get a bigger drive. There is ONE that I am looking forward to. I've been saying(I think even in this blog) that H!P needs to put their girls in PRIME TIME dramas, not these silly 3 part webisodes they put online. They finally did. According to Hello! Online, "It was announced on the Hello Project website that Morning Musume's leader Takahashi Ai will have her first starring role in a serial drama when "Q.E.D. Shoumei Shuuryou" (Q.E.D. Case Closed) begins on NHK in January 2009. It will be the first time a Morning Musume member has starred in a primetime serial drama." Hello! Project, I tip my hat to you and wish you the best of luck. Pepper Keibu sucked, and the last BerryZ single did you no good either. I heard Maki's newest stuff and you let go another million buy hit maker, just because you didn't want to adapt. Perhaps we're going in the right direction this time? I hope so, as much as I criticize H!P, they're still etched in my heart, so i don't wanna see them fold.

That's it for now. I hope to have something more to write about soon!

I'm high on C-ute

2008-04-15T14:31:00.001-04:00

Lately, I've been getting back into my wota boots. Hello! Project has some things going on these days that are getting me excited. Let me explain myself. To me, decline happened a long time ago. Back in 04 when Rubi and me were first getting into Momusu, things were going great. Then things started going downhill. The songs weren't that good, Rika left, scandals left and right with Yaguchi and whatnot. W disbanding. Maki not singing as much. Aya Matsuura being her usual Aya self. BerryZ sucking. What really hit the nail in the coffin for me was the 8th Generation auditions. Now, I was really pissed with 7th auditions too. Hello! Morning was doing great, and then they made us wait like 3 weeks to tell us the results, which was Tsunku basically telling us he's made of fail and couldn't pick someone, which was good cause if he felt forced he could've picked that I Love Africa girl. Anyway, it pissed me off more that in the second part of the audition, not only does Tsunku have the audacity to let I Love Africa comeback, but he picks this Koharu Kusumi girl over the girl me and rubi were cheering for. Well, I guess it worked out cause now I LOVE KOHARU. I'll tell you what I don't love though. Mitsui Aika. Miss 8th Gen. I couldn't have been more disappointed. With so many good girls in those auditions, Tsunku picked Aika. This was the single biggest disappointment in anything I've ever been a fan of. She's even pretty wasted imo. Koharu was labled the "Miracle Girl" while not being that good, just they're milking her for all she's worth(and it's working great!). Aika's pretty much just there... Then after that, a really good single came out, Kanashimi Twilight, which featured the Momusu girls dressed all rocker like. Sexay, especially Mikitty and Ai. Mmm...anyway, GAM was also born. Things were looking up. RIGHT after that, Miki had to quit cause she got a bf(double ouch), GAM died, and Ai cut her hair. H!P was now dead to me. Then, all hope came back. I saw the Meguru Koi no Kisetsu PV. I loved C-ute, I got used to Ai's new hair cut, and Maimi is my new lurve.

Meguru koi no Kisetsu, what saved H!P for me.

C-ute to me has been, in some ways, what's now keeping H!P afloat. Don't get me wrong, the other groups aren't without merit. Onna ni Sachi Are debuted at #2 in the oricon charts if I'm not mistaken, and BerryZ along with ViYuDen have been selling moderately well. And if we talk about the girls individually, the Morning Musume girls and Rika are popular enough to sell PBs extremely well. Where it counts to me, though, is in performance ability, songs being good, and song sales. In their first week, C-ute scored a #5 in the Oricon charts, and a #3 with Tokaikko Junjou. Staying power in the charts wouldn't be fair to compare them since no other group in H!P has real staying power in the charts.

Performances count, and perform they can!

What I think is best about C-ute is that the girls seem to all have a good future in the business. The Meguru Koi no Kisetsu PV to me was refresing, because it wasn't general usual H!P PV. It had layers, the song was good, and in general it felt fun. The C-ute girls are also good at performing, from the few live performances I've seen from them, they really shine. It seems to me their popularity is also really growing with the fans, and people in general. This post is meant to be about praises, but they have their defects. Front girls are Airi and Maimi, and while I totally agree with Maimi(lol), they need to make them talk a little more. In the interviews and videos I've seen, Maimi seems to be pretty quiet and shy-ish, which to me is not good. On the last music station I saw, they had Mai speaking, and she did great. Anyway, I see a really bright future ahead for these girls, so people, pay attention!

Pic War by Uska

2008-04-06T22:20:00.003-04:00

Oooh a challange. Here we go.

I give you Kitty pic:

Add a Nadleeh Lacus-Type Gundam:

And raise your Code Geass fanservice by 5:

Bigger, stronger and busier than ever

2008-04-05T23:01:00.008-04:00

Ironically, Uska has challenged me to post here more often in times were my life has become amazingly busy and complicated, but I'm up for the task. So...

HITOTSU!

New Asian Kung-fu Generation Album World World World

I quickly fell in love with their new album. Favorite song being Night Diving, or is it No.9? I'm still not sure XD I can assure you though that it's much more up beat and in general, more elaborated musically. The melodies that are developed through track three and four and the transition between the two were quite impressive, and surprising. In general, I highly suggest you give it a try.

As for the pic war, I'm not at all sure how to begin it lol But I'm sure my minion can take you down D:

CODE GEASS IS MINE >:O I introduced you to it, I watched it three times, I saw the last episode 5 times, and I've even cosplayed for CG...

Yes that's me...

Plus I dare you to top my "fanserviceness"

Let me see your comeback now! >:D And yaoi won't count cause I have dibs on it >:F

Quick facts

Rubi is a vegetarian D:
G00 (Gundam 00)'s final episode was fucking awesome T_T; The very last part gave me chills...
Code Geass R2 is coming really soon.
Rubi studies French, oui c'est vrai...
I am hungry right now.
Kamei is my favorite member from Morning Musume.
I only use Windows for PC games, otherwise I've become a Linux user, more specifically an Ubuntu user.
Recently discovered Keroro D: It's amazing! XD
Gundam SEED is my favorite Gundam series...
Evangelion is already more than 10 years old O_O How old have we become....?

/me is hungry right now... ~__~ /me will have to go now...

I miss the IRC days :3

SEAMO - Fly Away

2008-04-04T23:10:00.001-04:00

I was watching a CDTV, and I noticed SEAMO's video for the single Fly Away was shown on it. Immediately I wanted to see it, and I did, and wrote the review but I remembered this when I was watching TNA and saw Tiger Mask wrestling. Here goes:

SEAMO, as usual, released an awesome song. This time it was with Fly Away, which ranked pretty high in the Oricon charts. The song is more or less as usual per SEAMO's style, which made the song rather boring for me. The good thing though, was that I haven't heard SEAMO for awhile and that made it grow on me.

The PV was the real attraction here, and it was sure interesting.

On this PV we have several excellent wrestlers from New Japan, which is three guys who's name and I can't remember and Tiger Mask. Tiger Mask is a really cool wrestler, and I liked the style they wrestled in.

All in all, if you like wrestling, you'll really enjoy this PV. If you don't, it's still fun anyway.

Oh, and for those of you who(if there are any of you) who like and follow Puerto Rico's wrestling scene...

SEAMO SE FUE CALLE! ENCAPUCHADOS PA SIEMPRE! PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAA!!

RUBUSKA:2 Ep.01 - Rub Uska

2008-04-04T22:37:00.005-04:00

Yes, I would like you all to rub me. Cause that's what the title of the blog suggests right? Well, not exactly. For those of you who are just joining us, it means this blog is a combination of two awesome, daring, and sexy bloggers. It's Rubesahl(Rubi) and Uska(Uska) fuzion-hah'ed together.

Now why write a blog you ask? Especially with hatred for most blogs? Well, for me a blog is like a journal. Just shit I write to get my head organized and make my way around things. Except this blog isn't for us to write about our lives. We love Japanese entertainment, and we have a lot to say about it. At least I do. Rubi has fewer words sometimes, especially because I like to go on rants. Pulling that aside, send this blog to your friends. Starting this April, we're campaigning to make RUBUSKA:2 a bigger success than it already is. Spread the word, this blog, in contrast to others, can be a very interesting read.

With that said, there's a few new sections I'm starting soon. So I'll list all the sections first, and the new ones. Here goes:

Random Thoughts- Just as it says, just random thoughts I have on a specific program. Fun to read if you're watching what I am.
PV Review- just at it says, a review of a PV.
PB Review- Same, for photobooks.
Single/Album Review- could be one of either.
DVD Review- yep.
In the News- New regular section. Will come out randomly when I find three or more interesting pieces of news.
Pic War- Will be done every saturday. Me and Rubi, Showdown of pictures.
Interesting Fact of the Day- Interesting fact you may not know, will try to do at least one every day.
Sharan Q- The best of the best of the Visual Kei band that made us sleep uneasy at night.

There will also be one temporary segment. USKA VS RUBI. Yes, Code Geass 2 is starting real soon. We're about to pee our pants from fanboyness. We love Geass, we just don't know who will write about it. Therefore, we will have to have a Pic War and a Blog war. Winnar take all.

I guess now I'll start with one of the new sections, Sharan Q.

Here we have Sharan Q trying to be good role models for the new generation. Way to go, guys!

RUBUSKA:2 - RETURN OF THE BLOG

2008-03-27T23:38:00.004-04:00

Just as Rubi said, RUBUSKA is coming back, and now that I saved his hdd, it's gonna be with more reviews, more profiles, more random thoughts, and most of all, more SharanQ.

Oooh yes.

I only got one thing to say...

2008-02-29T22:16:00.002-04:00

I know, I know... Me and Uska haven't written anything new in a long while but I'll fix everything by posting this... This April, everything will change D:

What i've seen so far

2008-02-02T12:59:00.000-04:00

I've been busy with some stuff, but so far I've seen Honey and Clover, Ashita no Kita Yoshio, and Edison no Haha, which so far have all been excellent. I'll write full reviews(for real) today!

Tech files and more

2008-01-21T09:45:00.000-04:00

I was planning on starting the entry with a video I took with my cellphone of an Xbox 360 in Babbage's suffering from the red ring of death error but sadly I lost the vid :P Anyways let's continue.

The main topic today in this entry is the Asus eeepc, possibly the cheapest laptop (or closest thing to a laptop) that you can get. Categorized as an Ultra Portable PC, the Asus eeepc seems to be a strong contender in the mobile computer market. Its strongest points are price and value and its weakest is probably the screen size and keyboard. Though mine has yet to arrive (should probably arrive by 5:00 ) I'm pretty hyped about it. Despite its small disk space (I got the cheapest one due to limited budget ;P so I have to settle with 2gbs till I buy a new SD card) the Asus eeepc manages to take on multiple OSs without much effort like Windows XP and Ubuntu. Still it brings a linux OS which does the job for the things an average user does, aka internet (myspace, facebook, messaging) and word processing. The system is also surprisingly good for some light video games and I've read about people playing World of Warcraft and Counterstrike on it with reasonably good framerates. I'll probably be aiming to test Anarchy Online on it since its a relatively old MMO with very scalable visuals, but generally, I don't think I'll use this PC for anything other than basic internet and media functions, not mentioning the casual retro emulators.

Sadly, to my surprise I thought the models were all the same other than the webcam and disk space quantity but they're actually different. The 2g, which is the cheapest lacks webcam and brings 2gb space, which I didn't mind cause I have a webcam at home and I never use it, plus the difference between 2gbs and 4 gbs didn't seem that big to me seeing that I'd need to buy an SD flash memory card anyways if I want to install other OSs. But the major fault of the 2g is the soldered ram, which leaves upgrading the laptop to bare minimum possibilities. Still, considering that I was never interested in this PC cause of its processing power, it isn't as painful as it would be to others (though it would put a hindrance on any plans that are related to playing 3d games ;P).

From you can see in the video, it also manages the desktop effects suite Compiz Fusion amazingly well for such a modest PC O_o; Also brings basic codecs like divx and xvid, though to play the newer mp4/h264 codecs you need to downgrade the mplayer, which is surprisingly an easy process. Well, stay tuned for pics (and video? ;O) of my new PC later in the week.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I was surprised this morning upon reading that AKFG was releasing a single in Feb ^^ Not to mention the new album due in March which I'm definitely getting ><; The new single is quite good, and even though its a slow song, its in no way boring. So check out the PV below and see you in the next update :)

It has begun

2008-01-09T11:03:00.000-04:00

I look up Tokyotosho today, and I see Honey and Clover is up. And I bought a DVD-R just in time! I have so much to write about so i'm gonna get in a few things before I start writingabout dramas. See you soon!

Ash like Snow, Uska hates teh weaboos!

2008-01-08T00:29:00.000-04:00

Let me start this post by apologizing for not covering the Kouhaku or anything else soon enough. I'll get to that soon enough(though you might have already watched it).

Right now I'd like to say a few things about weaboos. Man do I hate em. Especially those who think they know about something because it's in an anime. In this case, it's about stupid fans on Youtube comparing Brilliant Green's new single, Ash like Snow, and Brilliant Green itself to High and Mighty Color, as if Brilliant Green was new to the scene and trying to gain fame by being like High and Mighty Color, only "softer". Sure this song is a bit heavier than what we're used to with Brilliant Green, but come on people. Do a little research. Brilliant Green has been around for about 10 years now, they don't need to capitalize on High and Mighty Color for anything. Not only that, their style, as well as the style for this particular song, is completely different from High and Mighty Color. This of course comes from weaboos who think that L'arc~en~Ciel and Ayumi Hamasaki are THE artists for jpop(and to them the only existing ones), and the ones who think that the best jrock comes from goth lolita cross dressing guy Visual Kei bands that all sound alike. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate L'arc or Ayu(actually I do hate Ayu lol), but I think they're highly overrated. Moreover, I do like my Visual Kei when it comes to a quality band like Psycho le Cemu, but there's a lot more to Japanese music than that, or the music you hear only in anime.

Ok, now that I've done my rant, I'll get on to talking about the PV. It was, for the most part, boring. I mean I've seen worst. I've seen PVs that are basically just hte band standing around singing. In fact that reminds me of L'arc's PV for Ready Steady Go. The song is so win, but whoever directed the PV has managed to make possibly the most boring PV on the planet. But, there is a lot of good to be said about the PV too.

For starters, the set was amazing. Things exploded, lava came bursting out of the ground, and well anything that goes boom is win on my book. The costumes were pretty cool, I liked seeing Tomoko in a soldier outfit, and she looks as beautiful as ever. The bike and Haro are kinda random, but I'm willing to overlook it. Plus there's one factor that makes this PV automatically cool:

KILLER SNIPER PANDAS! hahahahaha

The song itself was nicely paced. I was impressed with how well they came back after a few years hiatus with Stand by Me, Tantei Gakuen Q's ending theme. The song was great, but the pacing was as how I was used to with Brilliant Green. However, even though this song is faster paced, it retains Green's very nice, calm, and mellow feel to it. The song is worth buying, and I might put it up on my shopping list later this month, along with Stand by Me. I also can't wait to hear it on a weekly basis as I watch my Gundam OO!

There's one more thing I'd like to comment on quickly.

There's a new Aria series coming, called Aria the Origination. Seriously, is anyone even watching this? Did anyone even watch the first two series? What were the ratings? I know Aria's nice because it's a good change to have a little pure anime, but nothing ever happens in Aria. I saw a few episodes and I concluded that this series was made for children. And not for them to watch it, it was made for putting those children to sleep. The perfect babysitter! Anyway, Aria fans PLEASE tell me what's good about this series, even though I think it's not exactly my cup of tea.

PSP Firmware update 3.80: Finally something useful...

2008-01-03T11:06:00.000-04:00

The PSP (Playstation Portable) Has had its handful of updates to its firmware since its release in 2005 (In NA anyways) yet I'm still amazed of how slow they've been in developing updates to such a versatile machine... O_o; I mean, we had to wait like half a year for the browser, which is probably the biggest and most noticeable update in general .___.;; then after the browser came a sort of standstill with updates like the ability to turn off Auto UMD loading, adding compatibility for an image format each year (lol) or support for window's WMA format (which who in his right mind would use?). 3.0 was somewhat of a relief, as finally we got support for RSS feeds, but like most updates, its so limited. Yes, you can use RSS feeds, but the compatibility is very low -__-; The feed is only useful if it has an attachment like an mp3, video or (now in ver. 3.80) images, but something so fundamental like TEXT seems to have escaped the development process. 3.0 also introduced visualizations, which ok, they're flashy, but I rather have an improved browser than jumping lights to entertain me while I hear music which makes you think who actually hears his music while watching the visualizations? I just hit play and put it in my pocket or turn off the screen to save battery. Now that I mentioned browser, it brings up the topic on how the browser sucks so bad...

#1 It is SLOW
#2 If you go to a site with a reasonable amount of images, you are screwed, the page will simply stop loading.

They tried "fixing" this, but I would compare the "fix" to when you take only one tylenol and you actually have a migraine. This "patch" just reloads the site with lower image quality but the amount of sites you can see now than before doesn't vary much.

On to what I like, since otherwise this is too negative -lol- Well, in update 3.80 I only liked the radio station app. Though app is too big of a word, its web browser based but it really does the job well done. With a WIDE variety of genres, each with its own different stations, you'll always have something to listen to, especially when you're tired of the MP3s you have in the Mem stick. Other than that there's a new visualization which is actually the crappiest... Other than that I read that there's some improvements on the themes system, haven't checked that out completely so I don't know. The themes is probably the coolest feature to be added after the web browser, giving more space to customization, it really looks and works great.

Things I wish they would work on:

Instant messenger App. Please, no more web browser based stuff, a good ol' program that simply connects to the major IM networks. There's a ton of open source progs they can use -__-; Its nothing too complicated.
More video support PLEASE for the love of god. I hate having to encode each and every video is annoying, which is why I don't.
This doesn't really fall in firmware, but I'd wish they'd have more demos. I'm pretty broke and I hate taking risks when buying a game (Tokobot anyone?)
More features, even a crappy calculator would be nice, but come on, at least some PDA style stuff.

Well that pretty much covers my rants on the PSP firmware updates. The PSP is already 2 years old, by now it should have a ton of new features while they've only managed to make 3 noticeable features that are worth having and using.

NHK 58 Kouhaku Utagassen

2007-12-31T13:59:00.000-04:00

It's aired. Expect full coverage soon!
(and the Music Station super live too!)

RT: CDTV 12/23/07

2007-12-29T12:52:00.001-04:00

-Perhaps this time I can cut back on random thoughts. But it's an hour long program so I won't make any promises.
-Nice, SMAP and Takasugi Satomi are the guest lives!
- Oh no the 3D characters are dressed in christmas outfits!
-How come there's always enka at the bottom of the countdown but never the top? lol
- High and Mighty Color's Amazing PV looks....amazing!
- Whoa this girl looks like she jumped straight out of the I"s manga.

- This might seem like a stupid question but since I know next to nothing about christmas in Japan, they say Happy Christmas instead of Merry in Japan?
- Man I love the song Bokura no Machi de.
- Sambomaster with a new song!? Man it's been ages since I saw them on a music program, or Japanese television for that matter.
- Fuckin exile has been all over this episode. I counted them like 5 times just in the middle of the program. I CANT ESCAPE THEM!
- Ooh another new Brilliant Green song. I liked stand by me a lot so i'll give this one a chance.
- lol I saw a commercial of Aiuchi Rina's single + PV where she's crying. Hilarious, I must get.

A bit on music...

2007-12-27T01:33:00.000-04:00

Definitely the most anticipated single for me this year was, without a doubt, AKG's (Asian Kung-Fu Generation) After Dark. After a long absence and not releasing a single since 2006, After Dark filled that hungry need I had for a new ubber single. Ubber for me anyways XD Its upbeat and has a great rhythm and they finally seemed to have come back from the style they worked on Fanclub, which was good but I didn't like that album as much as Kimi Tsunagi 5 M or Sol-fa. I was a bit let down with the second track on the single, since its usually just as good as the
1st one.

Next up would be an anime theme from this season. The more noticeable one for me -besides After Dark, which I learned about before I knew it was going to be Bleach's new op- is D gray man's Doubt & Trust, which goes amazingly well with the new opening animation and above anything, it goes well with the sudden turn the story has taken, so much drama and action ><;; High & Mighty Color's Amazing was also a nice addition for the holiday season, being both catchy and with a nice rock beat. The 3rd track called Parade also got my attention, especially cause it somehow reminded me of a Morning Musume song, don't ask.

Last but not least is Erika Sawajiri or ERIKA or Kaoru Amane XD I first saw this girl in the dorama 1 litre of tears. Really, you either want to suicide yourself once you see that show or you want to live life to the fullest, I chose the latter. Anyways it was Uska that told me that she started a singing career. I didn't look her up for music until I saw the drama Taiyou no uta. Which I liked a lot ^_^ and it wasn't as depressing. I kinda liked the songs she sang in the drama and that's where I began to check out her music. I've now listened to all her singles and I can say she has the potential and the songs are nice, still room for improvement but otherwise Destination nowhere and Taiyou no uta have been stuck on me for some time now.

A quick roundup on what I saw in a recent musicstation:

Ayumi Hamasaki talks freaky, as if I didn't already know that.
I think I've only seen like 2 musicstations where Ayumi isn't a guest.
BOA sounded pretty good, but above everything she's v-pretty and dances pretty damn good.
Cocco took me by surprised despite her weirdness, hell I'm weird too. She sang beautifully though.
Boy band boy bands... They never seem to get my attention.
Remioromen was nice, got the mp3
Morning Musume wasn't in the Musicstation super live, poor souls, they're on their way to death.

On a side note, haromoni@ sucks bad, as if I didn't already know that, but really... its bad...

Random Thoughts: CDTV 121607

2007-12-26T14:39:00.000-04:00

This is a new section I like to call random thoughts. This is the stuff I think about when watching shows and PVs and other stuff that I don't feel merit a full review or editorial on.That being said, sometimes I will include random thoughts into my reviews. Generally they're apart because they're personal opinions and just that; random thoughts. Hope you find it at all interesting!

- The opening theme is by INFINITY 15 welcomez SHOCK EYE from Shonanokaze, MUNEHIRO. It's called Itsumademo Merry Christmas. Very catchy tune.
- Seems it will be a good show.
- God, I like the show cause of the guest lives and showingm e a ton of different music I get interested in and some news from artists, but it has the absolute worst CG animation I've ever seen.
- Last week's Top 10 was pretty good, wonder how this week will top that.
- The section has kanji I can't identify, but I think it was this year's best 20 karaoke songs. I agree with most of them, as I know them by memory myself and sing them often. lol
- Johnny's dominated this section, as usual. At least Momusu was on it! Love Machine will nevar die!
- Most songs in 40-31 sucked ass.
- Sen no kaaaaaaaaaaazeeeeeeeee niiiiiiiiii sen no kaaaazeeeee niiii natteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
- I was surprised with Cocco's Juugon no Mieru, I usually don't like her songs but she nailed this one!
- Oshirikajiri is like the most annoying song on the face of the earth.
- I have to remember to pick up the m-flo and ellegarden DVDs some time, they look good.
- Man I hate EXILE. lol They're asians trying to be black, what more can I say.
- I really liked GLAY's 100mankai no Kiss
- YUI's DVD also seems good. I have to remember to write about her soon, I have criticism. :P
- OMG I was obsessed with Mr.Children not too long ago, with the op of 14sai no Haha too.
- A NEW KAT-TUN CONCERT TOUR DVD! WITH THEIR SECOND ALBUM SONGS! MUST GET!
- Except for NEWS and ACID BLACK CHERRY, and a few others, 30-21 wasn't great.
- Didn't now Ayase Haruka did a new song, it's pretty good.
- UGh EXILE. Look at these guys, with the exception of the guy talking in the middle they're all almost kako(puerto rican rapper).*fastfowards*
- It's wierd to see the kid from Tantei Gakuen Q be a little boy band group member. He's a good actor, convinced me that he was all sulky and broody. lol
- iei Ongaku Gatas!
- who's the girl in the pig tails? She's ubar cute, I gotta find out!
- Good to see Rika with long hair again, though that awful hairstyle is back.
- I couldn't help but crack up at The Birthday's PV(#12) for some reason. Bahahahahahaha
- I always like CDTV Library. w00t for SMAP's Lionheart!
- Upon seeing some PVs from early 2000 and 90s, I feel that Japan is like stuck i nthe 80s. That Christmas Eve song but the dude who's name I can't read gives me that vibe.
- It's too bad ZARD died. She was talented and very pretty. Rest in piece.
- Crystal Kay is stunning. I forgot to say this.
- Why doesn't any of my friends beleive that Hirai Ken is actually Japanese? hahahaha
- That Ketsumeishi PV looks really romantic. o.o
- Why does the AIDS Charity Project PV make me so emo? It's really depressing for some reason(No, I haven't looked up the lyrics).
- Keep the Faith just fuckin owns. KAT-TUN rules.
- YUS! Boa's the guest live! She's super beautiful, can dance really really well, and sing just as good. I lurve her.
- Seems like her pasts songs more or less, but it's her style by now I guess. It's a pretty solid song, the choreography is great and BOA's HOT. I say this means we have winnar.
- This week's top three are KOH+(with Kiss Shite), abingdon boys school(with BLADE CHORD), and Kuwata Keisuke(with Darling).
- abongdon's new single was too much TM Revolution like for me, so it doesn't cut it. I thought the whole point of the project was to not be TM Revolution, and I know he'll put his style into that music but the past songs weren't like that. It fails.
- Sorry if this gets on anyone's nerves but I couldn't care less about hte second guest live. The song's not great.
- It's that time of year again, those music specials that will take me an eternity to download are coming. CDTV's seems to be real good too.

What I'll be watching this season!

2007-12-12T23:58:00.000-04:00

Well this is a list of what I(and likely Rubi too) will be watching in the following drama season! Right now, we're watching a few dramas. I still have Liar Game to watch, Bambino and Hanayome to Papa to finish, and Hotaru no Hikari to continue. Not to mention the other dramas from 2 seasons ago I was watching that I have to re get due to my data loss, these include Yamada Tarou Monogatari, Stand Up!, Tantei Gakuen Q, HanaKimi, and Proposal Daisakusen. This time I will watch them weekly and try not to wait up on anyone to slow me down, see I hate seeing series by myself, but the downfall is that the only way to watch it entirely without takin 5 years is to watch it alone. Rubi or my friend Jojo will probably see at least one series with me, so we'll see. Here's what I will be watching and some thoughts of it:

Sasaki Fusai no Jingi Naki Tatakai : This drama sounds fun because of the way it's different from what I usually watch. It's either high school kids, or adults around 25 to 30. And it's either in a high school, or a neighborhood, or an office. This time it's likely to be in a court room a lot, and knowing next to nothing of how Japanese courts work, it should be interesting. Sure it's not gonna be a 100% real depiction, but it's a start.

One Pound Gospel : Usually I watch dramas for actors of whom I'm a fan of. When I saw this title I thought "Oh cool, I've heard of an anime of this buy never saw it, although people have told me it was good." But then I saw that Kazuya Kamenashi was in it, so now I HAVE to watch it. I first saw Kamenashi in Nobuta, and his dramas are always good, and he's a great actor. So I can't wait to see this. I bet KAT-TUN's new single will also be the op, which makes for total win, too bad Yukan Club was a total piece of crap.

Mirai Koshi Meguru : Like above, I saw the lead, Fukuda Kyoko, in Yama Onna Kabe Onna, so I think I'll give this one a shot. The plot sounds ok, and the drama seems like it'll be average, but it could also turn out to be good.

Edison no Haha : Itoh Misaki. Nuff said. The plot sounds ok too.

4 Shimai Tantei Dan : Bunch of cute girls, including(but not limited to), Ichikawa Yui and Kato Natsuki. <3~ href="http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Daisuki%21%21">Daisuki!! : This one I'm thinking about, but might leave for later. I am also seeing Taiyou no Uta and 1 Liter of Tears, and I probably can't take another fucking tragedy. But it seems good so I'll give it a try.

Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi : Doesn't seem too great from what I read, but Ayase Haruka's in it, so I'll give it a shot anyway.

Koshonin : As much as I love a good detective drama, this one sounds average. Who knows, though, it might turn out to be good so a shot is in store. It has a pretty good all star cast too. Yonekura Ryoko is the lead, I last(and first) saw her in Katagoshi no Koibito, which I recently finished(and was excellent). Also is Tantei Gakuen Q and 1 Liter of Tears' Jinnai Takanori, HanaKimi's Shirota Yu, and veteran Takahashi Katsumi.

Aoi Yu x Yottsu no Uso : The format is different and interesting and the feeling I get is that it will be fresh all the time, and most importantly cute little Aoi Yu will be in it!

Saito-san : I'm giving this a skeptical shot. I don't know any of the actors and the plot doesn't seem that good. We'll see.

Binbo Danshi : Oguri Shun? Yamada Yu? A theme song by Bennie K? WHAT MORE DO I WANT!? The story seems like it'll be fun and I love these people. Definitely watching this one!

Ashita no Kita Yoshio : Holy crap, this shit is serious. Sounds good too.

Bara no nai Hanaya : Ok so the plot doesn't reall convince me, but the lead guy is from SMAP, the lead chick is cute, the hawt teacher from Stand Up!!, and Jirou from Hana Yori Dango are all there, the cast seems real good so I'll be giving it a shot.

Honey and Clover : This is my number one pick for the season. I've seen the movie and both anime, and I absolutely LOVE this story. I can relate to every character, but Takemoto the lead guy is the one I most identify with. This story has left a huge mark on me, and I really can't wait to see what they do with a drama series. While the movie was kinda dissapointing, it wasn't really so bad. Narumi Riko plays Hagu, I loved her in 1 Liter and in Juuken no Kamisama(even though the drama itself was crap), but I just don't see her as Hagu or some reason. Ikuta Toma is in it and I really like him, but I really don't see him as Takemoto. Narimiya Hiroki plays Morita... He was in Stand Up!! And I think I know who he is(I forget their names since I don't watch it often due to subs not being out), so if it's who I think it is, I LOVE this guy for Morita. Fits perfectly! Yamada and Mayama's actors I've seen in other dramas but don't remember them at all. The rest of the cast I actually don't know either, same as the rest above. It's all good though, I just hope they don't ruin the characters' personalities.

I'll post detailed reviews about them once I see them. Till next post!

The digital loss & PCs in an online social world

2007-12-12T11:33:00.000-04:00

Losing your PC can be a really painful experience... Similar to losing precious data like Uska did, losing a PC due to hardware being either broken or burnt can bu equally painful. My PC died around October, it was quite random too. Good news is that only the processor seems to have died and the data and other hardware is intact. Still, I've suffered from PC withdrawal for the last 3 months. Something that didn't happen since I had my own PC 4 years ago, so now I'm back to the sharing days. Right now I can say that it hasn't been as hard as I thought, due to my lack of online social life which is nothing compared to how it was in my teens.

My dead PC

Online social life is an important aspect in a world where the internet is everywhere, and so it was for me, especially in such years where one tends to be so emo and lame but still in need of social acceptance never the less. Whether it is online games or forums or IRC, I experienced all 3 of them, each with its own 'Golden Age'. The first one was PSO. Though I started with EQ and played other MMOs like DAoC, AO, AC2, Lineage2, etc; PSO stood as the pinnacle of online gameplay in a highly social environment. I, who was an outcast pretty much throughout all my junior high and high school life, found a lot of comfort, support and fun in such game. Then there'd be the forum and Sunday meetings which increased my interaction with new people. It also served as a means or me and Uska to spend time together when we sometimes couldn't meet up to hang out. PSO also stands out as the only constant online game that I played for around 5 years.

Now those were the days.

Forums and IRC came next, where I would spend there hours either being idle or chatting about nothing. Still it probably filled the gap in the more lonely years of high school, and overall, I had some good laughs in #Noated ^^; Plus there were the staff channels in Uska's fansub groups. I'd always be on standby for many projects but I had bad luck D: I timed two episodes, one having its release cancelled and the other being released even though they forgot to put my name in the credits -lol-.

Some of the conversations really were pointless.

Anyways after that came a sudden fallout of anything related to social interaction through online means. College had a lot to do with this, probably because it consumed more time and the drastic change of environment had its consequences, in a extremely positive way. So the need for social interaction lowered and after passing through so many experiences, I've come to a point where I lurk some forums sometimes, play some online games here and there and I sometimes chat with some old online friends.

Still thinking of myself today without such a techy based background in my teens and childhood is pretty hard. It's also interesting to note how I was able to experience the birth of the internet, online games and communities first hand one by one. Starting with the Sega Genesis and our first Packard Bell PC to having the courage to build my own computer and being fully inmersed in an online world. PCs and technology are in that way really amazing. It gave me the ability to socialize in many ways with people around the world in times where social anxiety used to pretty much dictate my life -hehe- Today though, I'm still a loner and I dislike being in big groups but not in terms of fear but in terms of taste really. I'm picky with who I hang out with but I enjoy having a conversation with strangers. The online social life helped me in acquiring confidence when it came to who I was and gave me the chance to have a social life that wasn't ruled by the same standards of the majority. If I were to lose my PC in those days, I'd be suffering a lot ^^; So yeah, technology is a big deal today, and its implications in the development of a person's personality and psyche are significant, for bad or for worse.

A real badass phone.

2007-12-10T10:49:00.000-04:00

Oddly enough, nobody has reported on the sexiest phone I've seen to date, so I guess I will. I'm not talking about the iPhone, oh no this comes from Japan. Japan has always made the best phones, but lately it seems our market has been catching up and even matching what the Japanese market has to offer. Since I haven't checked out new Japanese models I decided to search the Softbank site thinking "Surely they have some awesome stuff in store for us for 2008!!" Afterwards, I got on the site and I was thoroughly sexed up.

On the main site I saw the Softbank 913SH G Type-Char, Char Aznables Custom Mobile. Now being a big fan of slider phones, the 913SH was already sexy on it's own, but this takes the cake. On the surface it has Char's logo, the Zeon logo, Mobile Suit ranking insignias, and of course is red. But while that itself sold me the product, it was teh Zaku head charger that made me covet it. IT'S A FREAKING ZAKU HEAD THAT CHARGES THE PHONE! How sexy is that!?

Besides the great aesthetic features, it has everything you(and by you I mean me) would want in a phone: 2MP camera, broadband speed browser, video conference, chaku-uta, e comics, media player + microsd expansion, and Bluetooth. Overall this is a great phone, it's only too bad we can't get it over here...

For pictures of the cellphone visit Softbank's site here.

Fansubs, downloading, and the industry

2007-12-07T10:37:00.000-04:00

If you're up and about the anime scene, you most likely download fansubs. And if you also read AnimeNewsNetwork, you've probably read Justin Sevakis's open letter to the industry. If you haven't click here. Since he wrote so much I'm only gonna offer a small opinion.

Being from both the fansub scene and the world of production(not necesarily anime), I can see how much a fansub can help and hurt an anime. I agree with pretty much everything that Justin said, the industry does need a dramatic change. Let me tell yo what a wonderful thing it is to be able to download anime. I can watch a series entirely and then decide if I wanna buy it or not. I don't have much money so I am left drooling sometimes for DVDs. The new Death Note vol1 brings a very cool Ryuk figure, and the Suzumiya limited set was just awesome, so it's not like buying them is not worth it. The problem is that I am selective with what I watch and what I decide to buy in the end, I sometimes want to only watch a series, which would be like only watching the TV airing in Japan, and then not buying the DVDs. Therefore I agree the market needs to be more niche, the few people that like to go out and buy DVDs are likely as selective to buy stuff as I am.

Another thing is that we want our anime now. The industry needs to look for new ways to keep up. I know a ton of people who watch stuff on streaming sites, why not make a _good_ streaming site for the stuff you license, viewable in high speed and decent(not high) quality, and charge a small monthly fee for it? Maybe even ofer it next day from the original airing. I'd pay for that, and then buy the DVDs if I liked it, which is another alternative. Make DVDs limited editions.

People who download and never buy weren't going to buy the product even if he didn't have the download alternative, so it's not really a loss when those people only download and don't buy. Shrink up the market a little, and make DVDs more limited. The industry isn't dead and it's an industry we love, so for now let's buy the DVDs of shows we like and support them while they change. In due time they'll see that they have to change, Bandai has even noticed, so let's see what they have in store for us these following years.

Kouhaku Uta Gassen

2007-12-06T09:36:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again, the Kouhaku is back and just in time for my wanting to see a big concert. I've always loved Kouhakus, ever since I started watching it three years ago. This year I hope to see it live as we get NHK here, although I don't know if we actually get the live feed, or if it's another NHK programming all together. Either way, I'll find a way to get it. I wrote a very nice article about it, but I lost it in the hdd so I'll just point you to the Wikipedia post.

I've been between teams in the years, but this year I'm 100% red team. The team list is out, and here it is:

Red Team: (Girls' Team)
aiko (6)
Amin (2)
ayaka (2)*
Angela Aki (2) -hate-
Ishikawa Sayuri (30)
AKB48 (1) *
Otsuka Ai (4)*
Kawanaka Miyuki (20)
Kouzai Kaori (15)
Koda Kumi (3)*
Godai Natsuko (14)
Kobayashi Sachiko (29)
Sakamoto Fuyumi (19)
Tendou Yoshimi (12)
DREAMS COME TRUE (12)*
Nakagawa Shoko (1)
Nakashima Mika (4)
Nakamura Ataru (1)
Nakamura Mitsuko (12)
Nagayama Youko (14)
Hamasaki Ayumi (9)
Morning Musume (10)***
Berryz Koubou (1)*
C-ute (1) *
Hitoto Yo (4)
Hirahara Ayaka (4)
BoA (6)*
Mizumori Kaori (5)
mihimaru GT (2)*
Leah Dizon (1) *
Wada Akiko (31)

White Team (Men's Team):
Akikawa Masafumi (2)
Itsuki Hiroshi (37)
w-inds. (6)
EXILE (3)
Gackt (5)*
Kitajima Saburou (44)
Kitayama Takeshi (3)
Kobukuro (3)
Kome Kome Club (5)
Sada Masashi (19)
Sukima Switch (3)
Sugimoto Masato (1)
SMAP (15)*
Terao Akira (2)
TOKIO (14)*
Tokunaga Hideaki (2)
Toba Ichiro (20)
Baba Toshihide (1)
Hikawa Kiyoshi (8)
Hirai Ken (5)*
Fuse Akira (23)
Porno Graffiti (6)*
Maekawa Kiyoshi (17)
Makihara Noriyuki (2)
Mikawa Kenichi (24)
Mori Shinichi (40)
WaT (3)

NOTE- Big thanks to Hello! Online, from who I lifted this list of. Next to the names are a parenthesis with a number, which is the number of times that they've appeared on Kouhaku. And next to those numbers is a * sign, which means I am a fan.

As you can see, the number of people I am a fan of on the red team exceeds white team greatly, so go Red team!

I am really looking forward to hearing the live version of "SEN NO KAAAAAAZE NIIIIIIIIIIIIII" lol I hated that song at first but I loved it later. The dude can really sing. I also really look forward to some new comers, people who I've talked about in this blog. That's Leah Dizon(which apparently they're handling her career a lot better than I thought. I still say she needs stronger singles though), C-ute, Berryz, and AKB48(gogo pedo!). As usual, Morning Musume appears, although their appearance was kinda doubtful for me because of their decline. Hopefully this new appearance will further push them, and bring a lot more exposure to C-ute and Berryz, who really need it in order to become the success that they're capable of. Oh and get this, SMAP and Utaban's Masahiro Nakai is gonna be hosting for red team. That's a major breakthrough, he's the first male host for team red since like the 6th Kouhaku. Bahahahaha that's more reason to wanna cheer for team red, Nakai is with us either way!

This year should be really interesting for Kouhaku and I will fully cover it, so stay tuned!

Bad news

2007-12-05T22:29:00.000-04:00

my hard drive with all the shit I planned to review died. So instead i'll review other stuff soon. Until then~

New reviews from my leave of absence

2007-11-19T20:54:00.000-04:00

I'll be writing lots of these during the week, since I'm getting a new DVD-R, so I can empty out my hdd and get new things, probably including weekly Music Station reports. Anyway, some of my future plans are to order the new stuff coming out and review it top to bottom, whereas right now I have problems because I can only download stuff. I also plan to do some of it by video, so we'll see.

Today's topic is AKB48.
I'm really looking forward to their new album, which I heard contained the singles that have been released so far, which is good because I haven't bought any of them and that'll save me a lot of money. So far, I've gotten four of their singles. Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru, BINGO!, Boku no Taiyou, and Yuuhi Mite Iru ka?, and all of them have been solid singles. I've seen PVs for all of them, and also of Skirt Hirari, Aitakatta, and Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou. The songs are pure and utter win, and they're all worth buying because I seem to always load at least one of them to my phone to listen to where ever I go. Oddly enough, there's nothing like a huge group of under aged Japanese schoolgirls to brighten your day. I'll be getting this album, most likely, so keep posted for a full review of it.

Next time on Rubuska:
Leah Dizon's Destiny Line and KAT-TUN's KEEP THE FAITH!

New season!

2007-11-09T09:26:00.000-04:00

A couple of new series have begun this fall and I'll be giving a run down on some of them...

First, let's start with Gundam 00

Ok, so after Gundam Seed ended, most of us felt like we wanted more, even though GS Destiny was not that good when compared to the original series. So now comes the new Gundam along with a whole new story. Its set in the same calendar we use only 300 years in the future. The Earth is divided in 3 factions and since fossil energy resources have been depleted, the world has organised itself around three giant pillars that serve as a means to solve the energy crisis by obtaining solar energy from space and bringing it down to Earth. Though I appreaciate the fact they added the use of solar energy into a Gundam series, its still kinda unrealistic that they had to make giant pillars to be able to bring enough energy when there are already houses that are solar powered in the 21st century... Anyways that's really minor and the concept of power through control of the pillars is a good idea. The first episode leaves you in awe since the series boasts amazing quality. To top it, the series is being broadcasted in HD so good luck playing it in a not so new PC and also enjoy if you can ^^;. I'll be honest, though I liked a lot of things about it, the story has been moving slow, and I mean SLOW. The first episode was really... toned down (with the exception of the 1st scene) and the following episodes 2 and 3 followed the same pace, even though there was a little action. But in episode 4 and 5 you finally see the story going somewhere as they start to present the classic mysteries you'll be trying to solve till the very end. The character design is nice and the mecha design is something I liked a lot, especially the FLAGS which are used by the A.E.U. . The main character's gundam, Exxia looks a bit too ordinary for me and the other ones seem to shadow him in a lot of ways, still all the gundams have really nice designs. If you haven't started the series already, I suggest you do it now so you can watch 5 episodes in a row instead of the first slow ones only.

Now for a crappy series: Myself Yourself

It follows the same line as any clichéd 'japanimation' (word used intentionally) that follows the formula waaay too closely, presenting stereotype characters that you usually don't mind but it here it seems SO forced that its annoying. Unless you're a weeaboo or wapanese... The story is about this group of kids who were childhood friends and how one of them had to move from his hometown. He comes back a couple of years later but while he was away, he didn't contact any of his old friends... Like always there's the bait for the lolikons with your avarage childhood friend/next door neighboor who grew up but looks just the same, only taller and with big breasts but with the squeeky voice. Now I'm generally not too severe with these clichés, I've seen a lot of series that all share similar elements but here its done too much and really bad. So point no.1, the series has really bad voice acting. In fact, perhaps if it were dub I could at least laugh a bit but the jpn voices are just too bad. Then there's this other gy who was his childhood friend who looks like a 16 year old but has the voice of a 28 year old man, really creepy. Then him having a twin sister makes it even creepier. Point no.2, bad quality and pretty much bad storyboarding. And finally there's this hinted fated love theme as the main character didn't recognize or remember the girl he liked when he was little, and naturally, she got mad and slapped him. By the beginning of the second episode I couldn't stand it and stopped, deleting the episodes shortly afterwards.

Another good one: Ghost Hound

Ah! Finally, I've been waiting for a series that would give me the same feeling Serial Experiments Lain did, and its here. If you see the opening theme alone, you'd think its something a bit kiddy and aimed for kids. Wrong... this series is quite creepy, and eerie... It has nice quality and above anything, a nice concept. The main character seems to be experiencing weird out of body phenomenon after the death of his younger sister a couple of years ago. They were both kidnapped and apparently, only he survived. Every once in a while when he falls asleep, he is able to exit his body and travel different places. Though these 'trips' he goes on ressemble more dreams than anything and its too early to try to decipher them. The series reminds me a lot of Zettai shounen, only not even close is creepiness. It probably reminded me of it because its set in the countryside. ^^; Anyways I really recommend.

So there you go, I'll be adding more previews afterwards, that is, if finals don't ruin it haha.

What's next

2007-09-20T11:41:00.000-04:00

Well my PC broke down so I haven't been able to watch everything I'd like to to get the reviews in. So for now I'll let you know what I'm planning on writing next:

Concert Tour DVD Reviews:

Morning Musume Sexy 8 Beat Tour(Hitomi's graduation concert)
KAT-TUN Live of Real Face

PV/Single/album reviews:

Aya Kamiki's new single
Melon Kinenbi's Onegai Miwaku no Target(PV)
Maeda Yuki's Ai Ai Daiko(PV)
B-U-DEN's Jaja Uma Paradise(PV)
B'z - SUPER LOVE SONG(Single)
Otsuka Ai with LOVE PiECE(Album)
Leah Dizon's Destiny Line

Looking forward to:

AKB48's new album
Mr. Children's Tabidachi no Uta

Idols should be managed better

2007-09-05T11:44:00.000-04:00

What started out as a simple thought from a weak single release has turned into a big rant about the management of idols in Japan. Read on, it's good.

Leah Dizon's newest single, L.O.V.E. U is out. It's been out for awhile actually, about a month. The song is about as generic as it gets. While generic songs sometimes don't bother me I find this one annoying because Leah Dizon isn't a great singer, but she has a fan following and has potential. When she's on stage she seems pretty confident, and she's giving a real effort to learn Japanese, so I feel they're wasting her. Like I said she's not a great singer, so they need to make up for it in other areas. They seem to think this means "let's release a photobook!". She has as many photobooks as singles, so that tells us the real reason she's here is because she's hot. Don't get me wrong, she's hot and makes an AWESOME photobook, but my problem is that it's not the only thing she can do. She's suppposed to release a new album, Destiny Line, which is due in a few days. Since all her songs have been pretty generic, with Koi Shiyou being the best of all(having a nice PV too), the rest of the album feels like it's gonna be boresville, and it's really only too bad because if Leah gets strong singles, she'll be on top. She has the looks, confidense, talent, and she's already in the oricon charts. All she needs is a BIT more exposure, showing her fans and others who aren't yet that she's giving a real effort to learn their language and trying to appeal to them, and a really strong single. PBs, they'll come and sell anyway, but Leah doesn't deserve to be just that.

While we're on that note it seems like the only idol management group that aren't doing what they're doing to Leah are the people behind AKB48. Hello! Project seems to be relying mostly on what they used to do, which is feed the wota with concert tours and PBs. That's good and all, but due to scandals Morning Musume lost a very valueable member, Fujimoto Miki. Their singles are great to me, but they're weak to the general public. The mismanagement of the idols isn't limited to just Momusu though. There's a great idol group with C-ute, which is growing up and in my opinion is a lot better than BerryZ Koubou, which have also been harshly mismanaged with extremely weak singles. Then we have GAM. Fujimoto is out of Momusu, but she had GAM which was a gold mine. Aya and Miki couldn't loose. All of their songs were great, they had an excellent album release, and even did their own concert tour. GAM was telling me Hello! Project and UFA were ready to start doing things right, but then GAM hasn't announced anything concrete for new things, which is completely dissapointing. The only thing that would've been better for GAM would've been having Goto Maki join them to remake Gomattou, which would've been win. Speaking of Maki, I think she's probably the biggest victim of mismanagement in the whole of UFA/H!P. She has it all. Looks, singing talent, charisma, dancing talent, she's probably the best thing H!P has in their roster. But her last singles were either really whoreish(which I actually liked the songs), or a really weak balad. She's not getting the exposure she deserves, and she's ahd plenty of exposure to prove that she can be on top. Let;s take for example joining Momusu and making her debut single #1. Or how about a successful solo career(back when her singles were good), successful releases for the subunits and shuffle groups she was in, photobooks that sold through the roof, and concert tours that sold out. What more do they want?She's literally a money maker and has the capacity to out shine any of Johnny's boys in the charts.

I wish they would stop trying to sell their bodies, and started selling talent. Don't get me wrong, I love bodies as much as the next guy, but that's not all they should do. Look at Koda Kumi. Everyone complains because she goes out and does the slut thing. News flash: EVERY OTHER IDOL OUT THERE DOES THE SLUT THING! The difference between them and Kumi is that she has talent with singing, dancing, and confidense, and they mix it up. How many photobooks has Koda made and sold? How many singles and albums has she made and took them to the top of the oricon charts? Ask yourself that, and then replace it with other idols who are doing the slut thing with photobooks and stuff. Koda sells just as much talent as she does body, and come to think of it so is Tamaki Nami(from my previous post), so idol managers, PLEASE, sell me talent. I wanna see my favorite idols going to the top!

Holy crap! She's on fire!

2007-08-31T14:30:00.000-04:00

Tamaki Nami dances around in a hawt amazonian outfit in the middle of a hell fire in her latest PV for the song Brightdown. Now this is interesting, her newest single takes on a brand new image that I hope keeps. She's now a little rocker with a matching outfit, and the song is pretty rock, which offers a great tune. The image change however didn't usher to Tamaki leaving her pop roots, far from it. She still has choreography, and she really proves in this PV that she has moves. I seem to like this fusion a lot.

The song, which is also the second opening for the anime D.Gray-man, shows that she and her production staff can pull off a great rock song, the lyrics are still a bit popish but that doesn't stop the song from being good. I mentioned before, she can move, and man can she move! Not only was it hawt hip swinging dancing, the PV showed what was hands down the best choreography that Tamaki has shown.

The single is available in both a normal edition and a limited edition, which comes with the PV and a card and some other stuff. Usually the limited edition marking is a marketing gimmick, but this single along with Koda Kumi's Freaky and Morning Musume's Onna ni Sachi Are(B Edition) are limited edition singles that are actually worth buying because they bring something nice.

The overall release was quite impressive for me, because the last few things Tamaki has done were pretty unimpressive(I blame her production staff. And Canada.), but it's definitely worth buying.

Weeaboos and stuff that matter more than them

2007-08-31T00:01:00.000-04:00

Weeaboos, probably one of the most annoying existences on Earth. Quite honestly I can’t stand them much, they get on my nerves. Most think they know it all and think they have everything figured out, which infuriates me even more since they’re just little kids who haven’t grown up… Weeaboos aside, time to talk about the series I’m currently watching. Uska mainly covers the dramas since he is (and he also acknowledges) a drama-whore. So I’ll cover some of the anime series I’ve been watching in the following entries.

First of all, the superb series “Seirei no moribito” Quite honestly, this series is an instant classic once you see it. It terms of animation quality, it reminded me of the feeling I got when I saw “Le chevalier d’Eon” (another great series). Besides the really good fight scenes and awesome animation what surprises me just as much is the effort that’s put in giving the world so much life through the elaborate backgrounds they make. First of all, the person that’s in charge of the scenery is simply amazing at it. The sky and mountain ranges seem so beautifully drawn that it sucks you into the series leaving you (or maybe just me) with your mouth wide open in awe. The character designs are also noteworthy and they somehow remind me a bit of Blood +’s. The music is also quite nice and the story, though a bit slow for some at first, is really well written. I recommend this series to just about anyone and it’s probably tied in my top favorites of the animes I’m currently watching with Dennou Coil, which I’ll cover on the next entry.

In other news there’s the Red Garden OVA that was released last August. From what I’ve read the story and animation took a drastic change but in a way it seems to be a possible continuation of the excellent series that came before it. Here’s hoping Uska subs it since I don’t think anyone will.

Another thing, I NEED to get Persona 3, the game is totally win D:

I'm in ur school, changin mah gendar

2007-08-27T17:33:00.000-04:00

So far I've only seen two episodes of the drama series Hanazakari no Kimitachi e -Ikemen Paradise-, but it's enough to give some good thoughts on the drama. The story is based on a manga in which a girl named Ashiya Mizuki idolizes a jumper named Sano Izumi, and when said jumper stops jumping she disguises herself as a boy to infiltrate the school and make him jump again.

Besides all the plot holes in this initial storyline, it becomes really nice to watch. As a matter of fact, the show itself at the beginning excuses itself for silliness. The all-boys Osaka High is a school that chooses it's boys not based academic achievements but on good looks, which makes you wonder if the mastermind behind it all is Johnny Kitagawa. The story and plot movement is absolutely crazy, but you get used to it quickly cause you know it's nothing too serious, and the drama was made for you to just have fun.

We see a lot of familiar faces in this drama too. To name a few, there's Oguri Shun(Stand Up!, Hana Yori Dango, Densha Otoko...), Horikita Maki(Nobuta wo Produce), Ikuta Toma(Random dude from Hana Yori Dango 2 ep1), and Iwasa Mayuko(I haven't seen any other of her dramas except LIAR GAME, which I haven't gotten to her part yet. I just seen a lot of hawt idol pics). Everyone who acts doesn't act too bad in this drama, I must admit(at least for what it's worth anyway).

The music score is very fitting to the situations and it's surroundings, so that's a plus. The opening song is Ikenai Taiyou from Orange Range, and Peach from Otsuka Ai, which is a great combination.

The drama's not bad so far, it's nothing too serious and made me laugh a few times, so it's worth checking out if you're in between the more serious dramas.

AKB48's concert tour was a big pile of loli fodder...

2007-08-26T23:52:00.000-04:00

...and I loved it. I've recently acquired a copy of the AKB48 concert tour, entitled Haru no Chotto Dake Zengoku Tour Mada mada Daze! and let me tell you, I loved it. I started really getting into jpop back in 04 when I discovered Morning Musume and Hello! Project, but I discovered AKB48 some time last year when I got an Oricon pack and they featured the song Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru. The song's name means "My uniform gets in the way", and yes it gets in the way of what you're probably thinking because everyone's thoughts are innately perverted, and yes the song is the most pervy song evar. One thing I will say however is that AKB48 is so idolrific that it's an immediate win on my book. The songs range from adult-ish in Seifuku ga Jama wo Suru, to controversial like Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou, which deals with teen suicide, and upbeat cute songs like Bingo!, Aitakatta, and Today Only.

The Concert tour I must say was quite awesome. I saw all the girls of all teams, and thankfully the ones I like are all legal, which makes me SO not a pedo. Their live performance was pretty high quality, the girls all dance and sing very well for being a live performance, a feat not many idol groups can do. Downside is that the concert didn't feel so well because the crowd was off. They didn't really cheer that much or anything and kept pretty quiet. One thing I love about Hello! Project concerts is that the wota give the concerts so much energy that it complements the on stage performance of the groups. Other than that, they did a really great show that I only wish I could've been there to witness live.

The DVD brought an extra behind the scenes feature that showed them rehearsing for the concert, which was pretty cool because you get to see some of the girl's personality when they're not performing. They seem like your regular run of the mill Japanese girls, giggling and exchanging mail on their cellphones. Then came this evil woman who's name I'm not so sure of yet, but she's their dance instructor. She also is the dance instructor for Morning Musume, and she drives the girls so hard they cry. I always laugh when this happens, and as cruel as it may sound I get a certain satisfaction from seeing them cry because the dance instructor scolded them. xD]

Anyhoo, checking out AKB48 is definitely worth it, and getting the concert DVD is a great buy. I do however suggest that if you can see them live if you happen to be in Japan, they put on a really nice show. Next time I'll review either the drama Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, aka HanaKimi, or the Morning Musume Sexy8 Beat Concert Tour which I haven't had the chance to see yet. See you soon!

Coming Down

2007-08-25T10:53:00.000-04:00

I recently found out that the newest (well, almost newest) firmware for the PSP has been hacked and enables the owner to downgrade his PSP to the homebrew haven of firmware 1.5. Taking out all the 'legal' disputes out of the way and obviously taking out the use of such methods to download and play pirated games, what would downgrading really have to offer?
Well, it actually seems like you can do quite a lot of cool stuff. Emulators being one of them. Not to mention other media players in which you can play a variety of formats by just dragging and dropping anywhere in the memory stick. Now let's be honest here, all that sounds nice and cool but really, I'm not out with my PSP THAT often, and quite honestly I'd bring my DS if I wanted to play something 2D-ish so why go through all the hazard of risking bricking your PSP, losing some features(though quite honestly I wouldn't really miss most of them -lol- I mean: the browser sucks and the only 'cool' thing they've added is visualizations which are really not that big a deal either O_o), and then if you want to play more recent games you need to either get custom firmware or use something like devhook to 'emulate' firmware. The ones in the know of PSP and homebrewing don't see this as much of a big deal, and it probably isn't but I'm just not THAT much interested in going through all that to use some homebrew stuff like text editors and emulators (I know I'm cutting a lot of progz out of the equation -lol). Now what does seem interesting ;) is making a backup of your game and putting it in your memory stick. The advantages of such is faster loading times and longer battery life. After all I bought a PSP to play PSP games... Even if it doesn't have such a good library. Plus at least I can import without worrying about compatibility. I've never been the one to pirate. I end up buying the game if I like it. In fact I've bought games BECAUSE I gave it a little test drive. Plus the PSP is so full of cool looking games that scare the shit out of you when you play or read their reviews. Though Tokobot didn't do that to me, it did get boring... While re-browsing the PSP library I did find some interesting games that, from what I read too, seem to be sure bets. One of the older (and hopefully cheaper) ones that got my attention was Infected. J'eanne d'Arc and Monster Hunter also got my attention. If Uska gets a PSP, I'd love to get Monster Hunter since it has multiplayer and is very similar to PSO/PSU XD One that really caught my eye was Brave Story: New traveler. After reading a good review of it and finding out it has the option to switch to the Japanese voices, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get it.

Still in times of financial woes, it's a bit hard to dream and look at new games, so I'll mainly focus on finishing Final Fantasy 3, which I finally took a step forward in this morning. I just love that game, and I can't wait for the FFIV remake for DS which looks really similar to FFIII's style. Pokemon is there... and sadly nothing is motivating me to beat the elite four. I guess the same thing happened again. It first happened with Gold & Silver (which Uska proudly finished) I was really into the game and suddenly I lost interest at one point. It was the version where I less progressed. It didn't help me that I played a bit the import version and the hype kinda went down. Now Ruby was a similar story (and for some strange reason, me and Uska don't know WHY he didn't get it too O_o I mean, he had a GBA before me lol) but I did get to beat it completely somehow, I admit that I liked it a lot, and it seems that since I kinda skipped a generation, it helped the game look fresh. Now Pearl I got just to the part before the elite four, after finishing the ALWAYS annoying Victory Road. Some things happened, but mainly I was discouraged cause I gave3 the Elite Four a try, just to see how hard it was and well, the first one beated me. Then thinking of all the grinding I needed to do kept on discouraging me to the point that I just don't want to play it. And quite honestly the game is great and all, but I expected an actual upgrade from Ruby/Sapphire but I mainly realized and admitted it when the fuss went down. Who knows, maybe I'll need to wait a year to have the urge to finish it. See you around.

THE DRAMAS

2007-08-19T23:43:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm gonna use the blog to post my thoughts about stuff of pop culture that i'm involved with. Right now I'm seeing a bunch of Japanese dramas. Man oh man, there's too many to name. Let's start with a review of the one of the ones I'm following regularly right now.

I just finished 14sai no haha. In my myspace not too long back I wrote this:
"This was a drama that actually surprised me. I'm half way through it, and it's been real good so far. It's(as the title suggests) about a 14 year old girl that becomes pregnant, and how her life around her changes quickly. It's really down to earth, even though the circumstances of the two kids having sex was a little unrealistic. The acting also surprised me, since usually Japanese actors don't deliver really impressive performances, I gotta say all the characters in this drama really seemed beleiveable, especially the father."

This till stands. I thought the drama played out the situation really well. Whether you agree with the fact that she gave birth and didn't have an abortion or not, what's important about this drama is that they gave a real importance to life, and that even though it will be hard, living up to the consequences of your actions, at least in my opinion, is the right way to go. But I think apart from that, the actual point of the drama was to show that sex DOES have consequences, at least if you don't use the rubber. This is something that apparently a lot of teens, and teens in Japan(since this is where the drama comes from) apparently aren't so knowledgeable about. They need to give kids more sex ed and we'd probably have a lot less teenage moms. I guess the problem runs a bit deeper than that, because sometimes the teens know but they don't take the precautions anyway. Kudos to 14sai no haha for trying to bring up awareness about this subject matter.
Well that's it for now, ill review a new one tomorow. See you then!

Angelic Layer Heaven

2007-08-18T23:15:00.000-04:00

I will dedicate the first entry to... Angelic Layer. Yes it's old, yeah it's clamp, no we aren't gay for watching it -lol- We finished it yesterday and quite honestly, we both greatly enjoyed it. I even became quite attached to it in a strange way without knowing. The weird things that happen when you start watching something with a friend XD We do criticize it due to too many battles with the main character, in other words, we surprisingly wanted more filler episodes which were really quite entertaining ^_^

Wasted all of my writing creativity on an entry on my blog so sorry, it ends here haha. Pray that uska actually gets around to updating this blog hehe.

2007-06-28T02:13:00.000-04:00

Decided to leave this image as the first entry. Down with Aika, Uska you're free to add other images to this compelling first entry D: