Hello Stranger
27 December 2005
Merry... er... Holiday Tuesday!!! Christmas came and went without too much incident like usual. Had a nice day on FFXI doing BCNMs with Ardel and Cata so it wasn't all doom and gloom. We didn't get anything good in the drops but it was fun nonetheless.
Found some good pictures of Ada Wong from Resident Evil 4 which I've posted above and below. I like her new image, she's looking very seductive in that red dress. /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 7:24 pm 0 comments
Impossible Dream
20 December 2005
I like the picture above. I made it myself using FFXI Model Viewer. I like the colours of the background and the pose of Hocchan. Not sure if I should do anything else to it or just leave it like that.
Well, Christmas is on Sunday. My birthday came and went without incident as usual. Mike and I are going Christmas shopping on Thursday which should be fun. We've turned it into an annual tradition where we try to cut it as close as possible to the 25th in order to make it more hectic (ie. fun). We're going to buy whole chickens and walk around eating them. /laugh There should be some good bargains on sale since most shops seem to be having their January sales in December in an effort to increase profits.
Posted byHocchan at 2:06 am 0 comments
Good Work, Pahn
11 December 2005
Posted byHocchan at 4:16 pm 0 comments
Puzzle
04 December 2005
Posted byHocchan at 5:37 pm 0 comments
Usotsuki Alice To Kujirago Wo Meguru Boken
25 November 2005
I'm not sure the tracks from this album have quite the instant catchiness of Rakuen, but there are a lot of good songs. I think this album will sound better over time. I've already had it on repeat for 4 hours and I haven't quite picked out which song goes where on the album, but I'm sure it'll sink in soon. I'm so happy today, and will be for a good few weeks! /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 9:12 pm 0 comments
Time Goes By So Slowly
24 November 2005
Almost 24 hours since the last update on the tracking and still no news of it arriving in UK. I'm getting anxious now. It says that the flight date was 23rd November so I don't know if it's been delayed, or that they've simply not had time to update the tracking yet. Hopefully it's the latter, but it's getting close to the weekend now. If I have to wait until the start of the next week to receive my item I'll be very annoyed. Get your skates on!!
Posted byHocchan at 6:20 am 0 comments
Yatta!!!
23 November 2005
Above is the tracking information for... Horie Yui's new album which is currently (as you can see) about to get flown out from Japan. Hopefully it'll arrive in the UK sometime this evening and be delivered for Friday/Saturday. I can't wait! Fly, fly, fly!!!
Posted byHocchan at 3:11 pm 0 comments
Azumi
16 November 2005
Well, the stupid holiday known as Halloween has come and gone. As has the better holiday that is Bonfire Night. You do get a hell of a lot of morons buying fireworks though. Still, I like fireworks better than stupid trick-or-treaters.
Been watching a lot of stuff this last month. I've finished watching 'Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid' and I'm pleased to say it had a good finale. I'm not sure it's better than the first series but it's definitely as good as the original. I've always loved the hi-resolution type finish that FMP has. You really notice the difference when you switch to another anime.
I also finished watching 'Mahou Sensei Negima' after all this time. I feel they kind of rushed the ending a bit but it worked OK for the most part. I may have lost a little affinity with 'Mahou Sensei Negima' over the time it's taken me to watch it all. Must be because of the delay between each episode. I still like the series though, it was a fun anime to watch.
After those 2 anime I was once again in search for another series to enjoy. I somehow managed to come across a fairly new anime by the name of 'Mahoraba ~Heartful Days~' while searching for Horie Yui on Google. This was one hell of a good anime! It was a bit odd when I first started watching. I thought they were all 12 years old or something due to the style of drawing, but they all turned out to be much older. I loved the story of this anime. There are so many funny moments which reminded me of 'Love Hina'. Horie Yui does a sublime job of playing Tamami. Although the character's not a very likeable, she does a very good job of making a believeable personality. The rest of the cast have very distinctive voices too and I've found myself falling for Kozue's cute voice. So glad I found this and had the chance to watch it.
On the film front I've also been viewing a lot more than I would normally. First was 'Azumi', the film from which this post is named after. I discovered this in HMV as it happens. Saw it in the anime/martial arts section and thought it looked pretty good. Bought it off Play.com for £7.99 - absolute bargain. At 2 hours long this is an epic story from start to finish. What's nice is that Ueto Aya, the heroine of the film, did almost all of the fight scenes herself. Good film and worthy of watching.
GREAT NEWS!!!! Horie Yui's 5th album will be released in one week's time on the 23rd November. There are a few samples of the tracks on her official website and from what I've heard, this will be a good album. I've already ordered the limited edition version from CDJapan and it should arrive a few days after it's released. I can't wait!!!
Posted byHocchan at 10:31 pm 0 comments
Minamikaze
18 October 2005
Watashi da yo! I thought that it was about time I posted something. So what have I been doing since the last update? Hmm... not much like usual! /laugh
Been watching through Final Fantasy VII Advent Children lots of times. Just can't seem to get bored of it. I don't think I've watched a film so many times before. I hope it gets released over here in the UK (with Japanese audio or I'll be livid). I also got the soundtrack to the film since it's so damn good to listen to. Uematsu Nobuo is a genius. His reworking of the classic FFVII tunes is damned near perfect. He's somehow made them better than they used to be (if that's possible). Aerith's Theme has got to be my favourite. Gets me crying everytime.
Finished watching To Heart ~Remember My Memories~ too in the last few days. Overall I loved watching the series. Not sure if it had as much impact as the original series but it had some special moments of it's own. Horie Yui played Multi as perfectly as ever, and the rest of the original cast returned to play their characters too, so it seemed very familiar from the first episode. This series is definitely worth a watch if you liked the first season.
Right now I've started to watch Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid. Right from the first episode it has me hooked already! /laugh The original cast are all there as far as I can see, including Satsuki Yukino as Chidori, and Tomokazu Seki as Sousuke. I have tremendous respect for these 2 seiyuu and am glad to see them return.
I want to take this opportunity to say Happy Birthday to my good friend, Mike. He's 21 today. Can't believe it really, and I'm sure he can't either. Wasn't so long ago we were still in primary school. How times flies, eh? And since he's turning 21 it means that I'll be the same age soon too. Not sure I can say that I've achieved a lot in those years but there's time yet. Anyway, Happy Birthday old pal.
'Tis all for now I guess. The cursed Hallowe'en is coming up soon (/fume) and then not long after it'll be Christmas. Winter's coming alright. See you there.
Posted byHocchan at 4:57 am 0 comments
Ore Ha Yurusaretai
02 October 2005
Wow.... wow... WOW! I got Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children last night and I've just finished watching it for the third time in under 24 hours. God, that film is so good! The CGI and animation is absolutely sublime. Voice acting is also of top quality, with Ayumi Ito (Tifa) doing a fine job throughout. The story was good enough, but the action sequences are where this film excels. Beautifully choreographed fight sequences and chase sequences are dotted through the film. The music is another noticeable feature. Great, thumping tracks to back the action sequences and calm, magical music when there is a slow scene.
Brilliant film. That's all that needs to be said.
Posted byHocchan at 2:33 am 0 comments
Hikari No Seijo Densetsu
27 September 2005
The wallpaper above is from the game I so desperately want to get right now - La Pucelle Tactics. It's made by Nippon Ichi, the same people who made Disgaea, and Phantom Brave. All 3 of them are tactical RPGs where you move characters around on grids. Been wanting to play Disgaea for awhile now but never got around to buying it. Apparently, La Pucelle was made before Disgaea but was never released until now. I've been trying to find it on the internet for the best price since it's always stupidly expensive in shops - £34.99 in GAME says it all. I've found it for the lowest prices of £24.99 inc. delivery from www.play.com but they've sold out completely. I can't find any copies on eBay apart from the NTSC versions, which I don't want because they have a crappy front cover. I guess I'll have to wait until it comes back in stock before I can play it. I'm not paying anything more than £24.99 for it, that's for sure.
Posted byHocchan at 4:24 pm 0 comments
Once More Into The Breach
25 September 2005
There, it's done. My (4th) Tesco application form has been handed in today. I'd better bloody get a job or I'm going to petrol bomb the sodding place. With petrol from the conveniently placed petrol station they have there. I'm serious...
Posted byHocchan at 8:27 pm 0 comments
Remember My Memories
23 September 2005
Good news!! After almost 1 year, I've reached level 75 with Samurai in Final Fantasy XI. Let us rejoice!!! Has been such a struggle getting there. Unfortunately it isn't over quite yet. /sigh There's the small matter of Merit Points to deal with. I've decided to take a break from the game and make a start on the Merits later on. Decided to go back to Ragnarok Online for now. Been playing on the AnimaRO server and it's been fun.
Not much has happened job wise. Been applying to a few vacancies but nothing's really happened. Going to have a go at Tesco again since they have Christmas vacanies. Really need a job soon though or I'll be screwed.
Posted byHocchan at 9:24 pm 0 comments
Saikai
08 August 2005
Maybe I should give up and just resign myself to the fact that I'm too lazy update this Blog more than once a month. /sigh Least when I finally do post something it should be worth talking about.
So what has happened this last month? In Final Fantasy XI I've managed to reach level 72 Samurai with Hocchan. When I reached level 70 I put on my new Hachiman set and was so happy. Hocchan was finally complete. I had a day or so where I sold my stuff to be able to afford the Hachiman Jinpachi which was the last piece I needed. Went on a coffer key hunt in Castle Zvahl Baileys a few moments after reaching 70 since Kaiken asked me to go. I died on that trip since I dropped into a room and linked 5 demons! /laugh
Also managed to get hold of a Kamewari from the Amikiri HMN in Gustav Tunnel. It was quite an eventful day. I'd decided to take a visit to the tunnel and stick around incase anyone was planning on killing Amikiri that day. Just so happened I ran into a group of Japanese players who were there to hunt some NMs. I asked them if they'd killed Amikiri or not and they said it hadn't popped yet. Curiously they invited me into their party and said they would help me kill it if it appeared. I followed them into the lower area of the tunnel and helped them to kill the various dragons they were killing. It became apparent what they were doing there when they told me that Ungur had appeared and they were going to fight it. We prepared ourselves and lured it into the tunnel we were camped at. All was going well until somehow a skeleton aggroed us and we got wiped out in a short time. Luckily the Bard had re-raise on and we regrouped. Rested until we were ready again and pulled it to a place where we couldn't get any aggro. This time we beat the thing pretty easily and got the drops they were after. A short period of skilling up later we discovered that Amikiri had spawned so we went to kill it. Dragged it up to the top area and Novada kited it around the rock while we fought it. Some stupid people watching gave us comments about how long it was taking but I didn't care. After it was dead they let me lot on the Kamewari and I was so happy and grateful to them for letting me join them for 4-5 hours. Turned out that Novada was a 75 Samurai amongst her other level 75 jobs. I'll be grateful to them forever.
About a week ago I was unable to log on to PlayOnline so I decided to watch a few episodes of anime while I waited for it to return to normal. After that I finally managed to get on and noticed I had a new message waiting for me. I opened up my inbox to find a name I hadn't seen for months. Cata. I was so overjoyed! I rushed onto FFXI immediately and found that they had decided to come back to the game for a little while. Meeting up with them again was such a sweet and beautiful moment. It was as good as it is in all the stories of long lost friends coming back. They are amongst my greatest of friends and I've been sad ever since they left back at the start of this year. I'm so glad they are back now and they seem to be enjoying their time on Guardians Reborn. I savour every moment they are here. Turns out that Vestapyro isn't leaving the server after all. Someone managed to persuade her to stay here and I'm glad she did. I hope she finds happiness on this server.
Unfortunately as one happy moment appears so must the sad moment show it's face too. I feel it had been coming for a few months now but I think finally Spicecake will no longer be playing the game. I'm not sure why exactly, I didn't want to ask but I'm very saddened by this news. She's been a fantastic friend to me for the longest of times. I feel guilty that I've not always had the opportunity to get to know her better. I hope she has many great moments in her life and that she remains the happy, cheerful person that I know her to be.
Had the pleasure to watch some good anime this last month. Got hold of To Heart - Remember My Memories and have had a great time catching up with Multi and the guys. Up to episode 11 of that show with 2 more episodes to come. Mahou Sensei Negima is coming along nicely with a few major plot progression. Haven't managed to watch anymore of Da Capo Second Season yet since that's still being released but I'll try and get a couple of them to watch.
If you look to the links area on the right you'll find that there's a new one. It's to Sunset Clouds who is/are (not sure if it's one person or several) the composer of the music found on this short story I found while looking through some forums: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~dokihara/meetingagain-en.swf . Their other works that are available on the site are just as good and I've loved listening to them. I hope they continue to make great melodies for me to enjoy.
Posted byHocchan at 4:12 pm 1 comments
Sakura Saku Mirai Koi Yume
28 June 2005
Gomen nasai!! I can't believe I've left it so long since posting an entry on here. I'm not really sure why but time has just flown by and I haven't really thought about updating until now. At least there have been a few more interesting things that have happened during that time so I have a bit more to talk about.
"A Consonant Please, Carol"
Lets see... what shall we start with? Get the usual stuff out of the way first - Final Fantasy XI news. Made level 65 last week and got Tachi: Gekko which I love to bits. The whole motion of the weapon skill is so good looking. I take every opportunity use Gekko when I can! /laugh Currently I've made it to level 66 which is quite an achievement. I tried Maat a couple nights ago but I got a serious beating. I think I had the wrong tactic so that made it hard for me to win. I'm probably going to leave it until I get to level 70 and get my Hachiman set. I'll need another Samurai Testimony anyway and that's a serious pain to get hold of.
Unfortunately not all has been well on that game. Vestapyro has quit the game and a few people have left the linkshell. Gadritan has also yet to return since disappearing a month or so ago. I've been feeling a bit of an outsider recently with all the new additions who I don't know very well. Maybe it's just me but I feel like I don't belong there anymore. I hope it gets better soon.
I've downloaded the whole series of Da Capo which I've been meaning to do for a little while. I've known Horie Yui was in it for a long time (which is the main reason I wanted to watch it /laugh) but I didn't know she had such a big role. Her voice was easy to pick out when her character appeared on screen and she sounds more like her normal self in this anime. I've watched about halfway through so far and I quite like it. It's pretty funny in some places and the other seiyuu do a great job of making those scenes memorable.
Couple weeks ago my friend Mike and I went up to the Lake District near Beetham and had a look around that area. We spent the day walking to Arnside and Silverdale. It was a nice day and the walk through the area was nice and leisurely. The towns were picturesque with the little cottages amongst the newer houses. On the way back we had a hard time trying to outrun a thunderstorm! /laugh The heavens opened on the last 100 metres to the car so we had to sprint the finish to avoid a soaking.
A few days ago we returned to the Lakes to visit the Grizedale area which we'd been to as kids. It was nice to walk around the forest again and see all the places we'd been to a decade or so ago. This time the journey was a lot harder and the climbs had me out of breath, and the drops were hell on my knees! /laugh But it was a good day out on a blisteringly hot day.
Ras Tel Ma Scir Magister
Phew! Now that was a lot of stuff to recap. That'll teach me to leave it so long! /laugh The days are getting hotter now and each morning the sun shines through the window and makes my room feel like an oven. But we can't complain, better than rain. /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 12:28 pm 0 comments
Samurai Showdown
01 June 2005
Retro Helix
Lots of news from FFXI to report. Firstly, I've now managed to get all of my Artifact Armour so I've achieved the title "Paragon of Samurai Excellence" which I've been aiming to get for ages. The Myochin Domaru was really annoying to get. The stupid coffer in Temple of Uggalepih is so absurdly diffcult it cannot be done without level 70+ help. The coffer key itself is hard enough to get, since you have to kill Tonberries, but finding the chest is even more difficult with all the doors and rubbish around. I had to pay out 100,000 gil in rewards to get this piece done. Still, I guess it was worth it in the end.
The Myochin Kabuto wasn't as annoying but it was pretty difficult. I managed to catch a shout in Jeuno for help on the NM fight so I asked if I could go along. They agreed and we went off to Waughroon Shrine to face the 3 NM demons. Took us 4 attempts to get the fight completed since we kept dying to the Summoner demon's Astral Flow. After that I got the key item and took it back to Norg to complete quest. Received the helm after going back to Norg the next day. All AF is done now, yatta!
And to go with my AF completion I managed to get level 60 at long last. Finally found a decent party and we got my level 60 before breaking up. So now I can wear all my AF and use the Gold Musketeer's Uchigatana. That plus I get the Job Ability Zanshin, which I've been waiting get since the April update. Haven't seen it work yet but I can't wait! /laugh Oh, and in 2 Katana skill levels time I'll get Tachi: Yukikaze which is one of the better weapon skills. It's all looking good so I can take a little breather from full on levelling for now.
If that wasn't enough, I got some more good news last night. In the party that took me to level 60 in Cape Terrigan, I was killing some Pugil when I notice a message has appeared in my inbox. I check it to find that Burace, my old friend from Ragnarok Online and FFXI has renewed his acccount and is playing again! I couldn't believe it. I'd given up all hope of ever seeing him back on FFXI but here he is! So happy! All I need if Ardel and Cata to come back with Gohannaikama and I'll be sorted. /laugh Managed to contact Andrew and Jorla again which was nice. Hopefully they'll visit this blog and read my posts. I'll be hoping to see them soon too.
Princess Mononoke
It has been an enjoyable week. I hope this trend continues and I get more good news and events happening. Here's hoping! /emote crosses fingers
Posted byHocchan at 2:57 pm 0 comments
Grand Cross!
18 May 2005
Just finished watching the last few epsiodes of Ragnarok: The Animation about 10 minutes ago. I enjoyed it very much. The ending wasn't what I had imagined but I think it worked pretty well. As I look back on the series I realise how many memories I am reminded of, and how much I enjoyed the game. I loved the constant references to the game during the anime and all the spells and moves from the game were a great touch. I'm glad I watched this series.
The Best Is Yet To Come
I received a letter from Tesco about a week after I handed in the application form. I bet you can't guess what it said. "We're sorry but there aren't any positions for which we find you suitable for".... I'm really starting to get annoyed with this rubbish! Why the hell can't I get a damn job? I swear it's discrimination.
It finally happened. The linkshell has somewhat died in FFXI. It's not really a death though, more of a transfer. All the old members from Guardians Of Vana'diel have transferred to the new linkshell, Guardians Reborn, which basically means not much has changed. The only thing is the symbolic nature of that linkshell. I hope you find what you are looking for, Hydnarok. Please don't forget us all.
Wrath Of Heaven
Not been a very good week for me, but I'll carry on regardless. It's all I can really do, until something comes along that I can actually look forward to. I hope it arrives soon.
Posted byHocchan at 10:13 am 0 comments
Samanosuke Akechi
13 May 2005
Back again. Is this a surprise or what? Usually I take ages before I get around to writing any new posts but this time I'm a bit more motivated for some reason. Well, whatever it is it can't be a bad thing, right? /laugh
Mitochondrion Investigation And Suppression Team
Over the last few weeks I've begun to have a bit of a Sushi addiction. I'm regularly buying packs of Sushi from the supermarket each week and it's beginning to cost me a pretty penny. Each one costs £4.49 and is basically one meal. I bet this Sushi costs more than if I was on drugs or something! /laugh Maybe I should move onto Caviar....
Having reached level 50 last week, I've now completed Genkai I aswell. I got the final item, the Ancient Papyrus, last night with the help of a couple of Kyuss' friends. So now with that done I can get back to levelling up so I can have a chance to get my Artifact armour. Speaking of AF, I've hopefully got some help to do my AF feet, Myochin Sune-Ate, this Friday. It'd be good to have it completed and own 2 pieces of the armour. The rest of them are still going to be hell though... /sigh
Requiem
Friday 13th!! Argh! We're all going to die! Not really, I don't believe in all the superstitious stuff. But maybe I should avoid walking under a ladder today...
Posted byHocchan at 8:11 am 0 comments
Long Way Round
08 May 2005
Must keep posts regular! I get terribly lazy about things sometimes. I keep putting it off, telling myself that I'll do it 'later' or 'tomorrow'. It usually turns out that when the time comes again I'll just say the same thing and, therefore, continue the delay. /sigh
Chu Chu Rocket!
More FFXI news coming up. Finally reached the grand level of 50 after a bit of a low period. Reaching this level has been one of my main aims since I started the game. I feel this gives me a comfortable ability to help people with things such as quests or missions. Now this has been accomplished, I can go for my next aim: level 60 and all of my Artifact Armour. I've already got my first piece - Myochin Haidate - which I did with the help of Darkhitman. The rest seem extremely hard though so I'm going to wait until I have a bit more help.
My application for Tesco is going to handed in today so maybe I'll have a job soon. I hope so because I'm at a bit of a loose end without any income. I'm praying that they'll give me a position in the store somewhere, I don't care where! /laugh Just give me a job or I'll cry!
Been watching Ragnarok: The Animation recently. It's pretty good. Certainly a lot of nostalgia when I watch it and remember the adventures I had on that game. The quality of the animation is probably a little on the average side but it's not too bad. Voice acting is OK, though I'm not too familiar with the seiyuu. Story is adequate but could use a bit more work to make it truly interesting. All in all, this is anime is probably only good if you're familiar with the whole Ragnarok Online saga. Otherwise you may get tired of it quite quickly.
"Martial Art, Like Any Art, Is An Expression Of The Human Being" - Bruce Lee
Another post done and dusted. That wasn't too difficult now was it? /laugh I'll try to keep updates more regular but there's not telling how lazy I may be...
Posted byHocchan at 9:38 am 0 comments
Frost Diver
03 May 2005
The severe annoyance that is caused by some idiot wanting to have some "fun" by using a DoS attack on FFXI's servers, makes me want to go hunt them down and hit them with a shovel.
"Maybe I Should Get Another?"
Just in case you don't know what a DoS is, I shall explain. DoS stands for 'Denial of Service' which basically is a method of denying someone a particular resource. In this case it would be to stop (or make it severely difficult for) anyone playing FFXI. Why the hell someone decides this is a worthwhile activity to perform is beyond me, but these people really do need to be given a long, painful beating to teach them a lesson. /angry /fume
Speaking of FFXI, I've been having a lot of trouble levelling up on that game recently. I just can't seem to get past level 47 for some reason. Every party I join seems to break up after a few fights and it's beginning to annoy the hell out of me. I've take some time out by helping a friend get their character to level 20. That's been a lot more fun than trying to make a party work when they just want quick EXP, not caring about anyone else. I think that's done me good. Today I'm really determined to pick up my Great Katana, Magoroku, and reach my level 48. Thank you Rhiana for cheering me up! /bow
The curse of MMORPGs has struck again. My friend, and the leader of our linkshell, Hydnarok, has decided to leave the game for good. I can't say that this makes me very happy - I've lost a lot of friends over the last few months like this - but it can't be helped. "Shouganai na..." as the Japanese would say. I only wish him the best in whatever he decides to do and hope he keeps in touch. There, now you're famous Hydnarok! /laugh
On A Bus To St Cloud
Time for me to go back to Vana'diel. Maybe I play that game too much, but I have nothing better to do at this moment in my life so I might aswell enjoy myself with some friends. Soredewa.
Posted byHocchan at 6:49 pm 0 comments
Hush
22 April 2005
This isn't going to be a full post so the format will be a little different. It'll also be a little shorter than usual since it has only one subject.
This post is dedicated to good friends of mine from Final Fantasy XI - Spicecake and Hexis. Today, I received a present from them which just shows how generous they are. It was a great piece of armour for my Samurai which will help me out very much since it has an accuracy upgrade.
Thank you to Hexis for pointing it out to me. /bow And, thank you, to Spicecake too, not only for giving me the present, but also for being such a good friend over the time I've known you. You've helped me out and cheered me up so many times. I owe you so much. Honto arigatou gozaimashita! /bow
Posted byHocchan at 6:28 am 1 comments
Yume No Chikara
20 April 2005
The Assassination Play
As per usual recently, I've been playing a lot of Final Fantasy XI. This is probably because I have no job at the moment. /laugh I just can't find a damn job! /fume I've been trying everywhere - Tesco, WH Smith, Waterstones, HMV, even McDonalds - but nowhere wants me... What the hell is wrong with me exactly?! I can't do a stupid McDonalds job after 5 years in a fast food outlet? Stupid sods! Gah, I'm going to try Tesco again, they have some vacancies once more so I'll try for one of them. Job hunting is so tedious....
World Championship Snooker is back on television again. I always look forward to snooker when it's on. It's an enjoyable sport to watch. I'm always rooting for Stephen Hendry to win. I would love to see him win one more world title, just to show that he's a true master of the game. I also support Marco Fu and Steve Davis, they're good to watch. I have a feeling that Ronnie O'Sullivan will win it again this year, he's just too good. But with this game you never know who will come out on top after the final. Should be interesting.
It's getting towards May now, I'd better complete my application for university soon. I still haven't written my stupid 'personal statement' yet. I'm too lazy... I'd best get it done soon though, can't spend another year doing nothing.
Les Soldats
Should be back to Final Fantasy XI after the server maintenance is done. Almost got to level 50 so I'm finally reaching a point in the game I'm happy with. Also have a linkshell party this Friday and I'm looking forward to that. Until next time, ja ne!
Posted byHocchan at 6:31 pm 0 comments
Kimi No Tame Ni Dekiru Koto
08 April 2005
O-Jama Shimasu!
Bah! I hate it when the internet browser decides to crash on you just as you're writing something important. /fume I'm having enough trouble trying to stay vigilant and continue with the posts on here without Netscape attempting to stop me! /laugh
The days of playing too much Final Fantasy XI are continuing. I have been stuck at level 43 for about a week now though. I just haven't been playing at the times when most people are partying. And when I do get an invite I'm busy helping someone in the linkshell. /laugh Hopefully I'll be able to make level 44 sometime tonight or tomorrow.
I had a little visit to my old stomping ground of Ragnarok Online before. That was my first go at an MMORPG and I loved that game. I regret the fact that I no longer play it but there wasn't much choice, my friends that I knew on there no longer have time to play that game and have moved onto the likes of World Of Warcraft and Anarchy Online (neither of which I fancy playing). It's still good to log on every now and again to play my character. And it's been far too long since I contacted those friends so I may send them an e-mail once I've finished here.
Ever since Narusegawa from my linkshell referred me to Stepmania I haven't been able to stop playing it! /laugh That game is very addictive. I managed to find most of the Dance Dance Revolution song packs from the internet and also Love Destiny by Horie Yui. I can handle most songs on 5 step difficulty but anything above and it goes wrong. I managed to do a perfect round on Love Destiny at 5 steps which I'm quite proud of. /laugh Took me hours to get every single step...
Precious Moment
There we go. I feel happy now that I've actually updated this blog. Nothing worse than starting something only to see it fade off and die in obscurity. Long may this continue!
Posted byHocchan at 7:02 pm 0 comments
Tenshi No Tamago
02 April 2005
Gah! It's April already! I can't believe that it's been so long since I wrote anything on here. I've been a bit preoccupied with playing Final Fantasy XI. Hence I've been getting very little sleep! /laugh
A Great Transformation?
Well, let's see, what has happened the past few days? To be honest, not very much! /laugh Not in the real world anyway. Final Fantasy XI has been a lot of fun since I came back from my break. The current linkshell I am in is very enjoyable, and the people there are very kind and helpful. I must thank Gadritan for helping me finally achieve Rank 5, Hydnarok for helping finally get my Artifact Great Katana, and Narusegawa for referring me to Stepmania.
I haven't actually tried this Stepmania thing yet so I don't know what it's like. It's an imitation of the popular Dance Dance Revolution series by Konami. Apparently, there's a Stepmania version of a Horie Yui song - which is the only reason I wanted the game! /laugh I'll write more stuff about it when I've tried it out.
Melodic Hard Cure
That'll have to do for now, I don't really have much to report. Maybe things will get more exciting over the next few days and I'll have a novel to write! /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 1:46 pm 0 comments
Tachi: Enpi > Tachi: Enpi = Distortion
26 March 2005
I think I'm finally getting back into playing Final Fantasy XI again. Been spending a lot of time in Vana'diel the past few days and it's nice to catch up with some old friends, along with meeting some new ones.
Meikyo Shisui
Currently at level 41 with my Samurai, which I'm quite proud of. I never thought that I'd actually get the level 40 marker so it's quite an achievement. It still feels as if I cheated a little though. The only reason I'm that level is because I decided to party with some random people instead of playing with friends. I'm so used to soloing all the time it feels weird to be getting so much experience points in such a short space of time.
Someone really does need to sort out the price of items in FFXI, it's bloody ridiculous to be honest. As you get to the levels I'm reaching the price of armour, weapons, etc. shoots up to astronomical heights. You're expected to spend days 'farming' items to sell so you can buy 2 rings that some arse is charging 350,000 gil each. It's all because of the rich sods who spend their time over-inflating prices on items so they remain rich sods and everyone else becomes poor. I swear, these people should be taxed like in real life. I hate them.
Mumeito
Guess there's not much I can do about it. Just try and scrape enough money together to buy half decent armour and hope for the best. 350,000 gil... /fume /angry /disgusted
Posted byHocchan at 11:26 am 0 comments
Tactical Espionage Action
22 March 2005
Some of you may have noticed (if there's actually anyone that bothers to read this! /laugh) the picture at the top of the Blog has changed.
Honda Today G Police Type
The original picture that came with the template was OK, but it was nothing special. I don't know why but I suddenly felt like having something different instead. I had no idea about how I would go about this but I was confident I could manage it.
I started by finding out the dimensions of the picture, which turned out to be 800x123 pixels. After this I looked in my collection of pictures for something suitable for cropping into that size. I ended up with two different header backgrounds. Originally, this picture was published last night but it only stayed for about 12 hours before I changed to the current one! /laugh
The most difficult task was changing the template coding to accommodate my new picture. I have a basic understanding of HMTL scripting, ie. I know about 10 tags! /laugh I found the easiest thing to do was to look through the code and mess around with the attributes. After lots of trial and error I managed to get it all sorted (I think I have anyway). It hasn't crashed on me so everything seems fine! /laugh
The 9th Wave
After all the work that has gone into it, I'm very pleased about how the thing has turned out. It was definitely worth the hours of scanning through code I didn't understand! /laugh Maybe I'll dismantle some more HTML in the future...
Posted byHocchan at 6:32 pm 0 comments
Kokoro Harete Yoru Mo Akete
20 March 2005
Goodbye Hello, Hello Flickr
I gave up on trying to use 'Hello' to upload my pictures onto here. I had a look on the 'Hello' forum and apparently a few people were having the same problem as me. I can't be bothered waiting for someone to fix it so I've switched to using Flickr to host my pictures. Hopefully, my extremely basic knowledge of HTML will work and my post will appear as I want it to. I'm not sure how long this Flickr will keep hosting my photos for me so accessing the picture in the future may be difficult. For now though, this is better than nothing.
S-mode #3
I've been searching a long time for some more wallpaper of Yui and a couple days ago I finally found some at: Voice actor Yui Horie. Therefore I take no credit for this picture and I thank the artist for making some nice looking wallpapers of Yui. Arigatou gozaimasu!
Posted byHocchan at 9:21 pm 0 comments
Honto Urusai Desu Yo!
I'm trying to upload a nice wallpaper I found recently onto here but 'Hello' and damn BloggerBot won't bloody load it! Baka-yarou!
Let me get back to you once I've figured out a solution to this little (but highly irritating) dilemma...
Posted byHocchan at 2:53 pm 0 comments
Mumyou Jinpu Ryuu Satsujin Ken: Mizuchi
18 March 2005
Hisashiburi desu ne~~! Been away for a little while due to a small game called "Suikoden III".../laugh
No Mercy
As you may know from my last entry, I finally got Suikoden III to work on my Playstation 2 by using 'Swap Magic 3.3' and a 'Slide Tool'. I've been playing the game almost non-stop since that day and I'm enjoying it immensely. Almost got all 108 stars of destiny and I'm pretty certain that I'm near the end of the game. I'll definitely be making some changes to my list of 108 characters that appeared in a previous entry.
During my free time away from Suikoden III I also got chance to watch Samurai Deeper Kyo. I've been meaning to watch this series for a while but never got the chance to until now. It's mainly because Horie Yui voices the main character (Shiina Yuya) but also because it's full of Samurai and Katanas! /laugh Probably not good enough to be in my favourites but I still loved this series. Very good quality animation and the character of Oni Me No Kyo was very cool.
Also during my anime watching spree of last week, I saw You're Under Arrest: The Movie. Another anime I've been itching to watch for a long time. It was enjoyable enough, although maybe the story wasn't as good as some of the normal episodes. The animation was of a good feature film quality and the voice acting was superb as usual. Extremely catchy ending song which I can't seem to find on the internet anywhere.
Oh, can't forget Spirited Away. I first saw it in Chinese on VCD a couple years back but this was the first time in Japanese. It was just as fantastic as I remembered it to be! Miyazaki is a genius!
Itsumo Nando Demo
That should do it for now. Just a little update so I don't completely forget about this Blog. With Suikoden III drawing to a close I should have more time to do other stuff! /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 6:33 pm 0 comments
Passion Stirs The Ages
08 March 2005
Yatta!! Yatta!!! Kakkou ii!!! Sugoi!!!!
The Call To Glory
As you may have guessed, I'm kind of happy! /laugh The reason for this is that I got my Swap Magic + Slide Tool this morning. For those of you that have never heard of these items, basically they allow you to play import games without having to install a mod-chip in your console. They don't actually modify the machine in anyway so it doesn't void any warranties. I was dubious as to whether this would allow me to play Suikoden III but I gave it a go. It loaded up first time and I was ecstatic! Finally, after almost a year of sitting on my shelf, I can play the game. Thank you Swap Magic!!!!
This Is Endless
Right, got to go and play you-know-what! /laugh Ja mata ne!
Posted byHocchan at 4:03 pm 0 comments
ARX-7 Arbalest
07 March 2005
Today is a beautiful day! The sun is shining outside, I'm listening to a uplifting track by Shimokawa Mikuni (Kimi Ni Fuku Kaze) and I'm feeling happy!
Sore Ga Ai Deshou
Just finished watching the rest of Full Metal Panic! and I'm pretty pleased with how it ended. It definitely picks up towards the last few episodes despite hitting a rut somewhere in the middle episodes. I was quite happy to find out that there's 2 sequels to look forward to. Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu which is out, and Full Metal Panic! Second Raid which is due out sometime this year. I can't wait to see more of Sagara and Kaname, they make a pretty good couple! /laugh
I'm so glad that I got the chance to watch this anime. The only reason I wanted to see it in the first place was because Satsuki Yukino was in it (Kaname Chidori) but it turned out to be a good decision. Also because of this series, I've discovered a new singer that I like to listen to (the afore mentioned Shimokawa Mikuni) so it's been even better than I could have imagined! /laugh I hope to be purchasing some of her albums sometime soon.
Kimi No Uta
Hmm....seems that in the space of me writing this post the sun has decided to disappear behind some clouds. Damn British weather...
Posted byHocchan at 1:19 pm 0 comments
Foui
05 March 2005
What is foui? I'm not entirely sure myself to be honest! Whatever it's origin, it sounds extremely cute and adorable and worthy of a post title. I cannot credit this 'word' as my own though. It's a creation of someone I know only as the "Foui Friend". That is to say I don't know them directly, rather they're a friend of my friend Sam. So arigatou gozaimasu to "Foui Friend". /bow
Pika Pika
I'm currently watching Full Metal Panic! and Fruits Basket in duality. I would like to have finished Fruits Basket before continuing with Full Metal Panic! but, for some reason, Blockbuster decided otherwise and sent me my discs out of order.
I would say Fruits Basket is good enough for me to add it to my list of favourite anime. Each episode is very well scripted and there's not a single one that feels like a "season-filler". Plus with Horie Yui as the voice behind Honda Tohru, the main character, it has a clear advantage over other shows! /laugh I'll be sad when I finally get to the last episode and have no more to watch.
For some reason I'm not finding Full Metal Panic as enjoyable as I did when I first started to watch it. Maybe it's because there were a couple of ordinary episodes in the middle of the series. It is getting better now towards the finale so I'm still eager to watch the rest, but it won't make my list of favourites. As Roy Walker would say, "It's good, but it's not right".
Itching to play Genso Suikoden III so much after the release of IV. It's so frustrating not being able to play a game I have sitting on my shelf! Damn Konami Europe for not releasing the game in PAL format. If they'd just done what everyone obviously wanted, I wouldn't have had to break my previous Playstation 2 by trying to install a mod-chip. They haven't won yet though, far from it. I WILL find a way to play that game and no-one can stop me!!!!!
Now We Are Free
This has turned out to be more of an orthodox post compared to my previous ones. It's more in line with the type of posts you'd find in other Blogs. I was hoping I could write more about me and my history but I guess I'm just too boring! /laugh I'll just have to do some more interesting things! /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 4:06 pm 0 comments
Millennium Educational Reform Act
04 March 2005
As part of a joint project with my friend Mike, this post will be a list of 108 characters from various RPGs that I have played. It's a list of the people we would recruit if we didn't have the restriction of only selecting from one game. Check out "Mr Haggis" soon for Mike's list.
Why 108? It's mirroring the army size from the Genso Suikoden series which have always produced some amazing characters and storylines.
108 Stars Of Destiny, Time And Space
001.) Alundra (Alundra)
002.) Cray (Breath Of Fire IV)
003.) Nina (Breath Of Fire IV)
004.) Ryu (Breath Of Fire IV)
005.) Scias (Breath Of Fire IV)
006.) Ursula (Breath Of Fire IV)
007.) Crono (Chrono Trigger)
008.) Lucca (Chrono Trigger)
009.) Marle (Chrono Trigger)
010.) Terra (Final Fantasy VI)
011.) Aeris (Final Fantasy VII)
012.) Barret (Final Fantasy VII)
013.) Cloud (Final Fantasy VII)
014.) Red XIII (Final Fantasy VII)
015.) Tifa (Final Fantasy VII)
016.) Yuffie (Final Fantasy VII)
017.) Rinoa (Final Fantasy VIII)
018.) Squall (Final Fantasy VIII)
019.) Zell (Final Fantasy VIII)
020.) Eiko (Final Fantasy IX)
021.) Freya (Final Fantasy IX)
022.) Garnet (Final Fantasy IX)
023.) Vivi (Final Fantasy IX)
024.) Zidane (Final Fantasy IX)
025.) Auron (Final Fantasy X)
026.) Lulu (Final Fantasy X)
027.) Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
028.) Yuna (Final Fantasy X)
029.) Feena (Grandia)
030.) Liete (Grandia)
031.) Milda (Grandia)
032.) Azel (Panzer Dragoon Saga)
033.) Edge (Panzer Dragoon Saga)
034.) Aya (Parasite Eve)
035.) Gui Zhang (Shenmue)
036.) Nozomi (Shenmue)
037.) Ryo (Shenmue)
038.) Chunyan (Shenmue II)
039.) Joy (Shenmue II)
040.) Ren (Shenmue II)
041.) Shenhua (Shenmue II)
042.) Xiuying (Shenmue II)
043.) Cybel (Shining Force III Part 1)
044.) Dantares (Shining Force III Part 1)
045.) Eldar (Shining Force III Part 1)
046.) Grace (Shining Force III Part 1)
047.) Hayward (Shining Force III Part 1)
048.) Irene (Shining Force III Part 1)
049.) Masqurin (Shining Force III Part 1)
050.) Murasame (Shining Force III Part 1)
051.) Penn (Shining Force III Part 1)
052.) Synbios (Shining Force III Part 1)
053.) Aika (Skies Of Arcadia)
054.) Belle (Skies Of Arcadia)
055.) Clara (Skies Of Arcadia)
056.) Fina (Skies Of Arcadia)
057.) Jao (Skies Of Arcadia)
058.) Kirala (Skies Of Arcadia)
059.) Mao (Skies Of Arcadia)
060.) Moegi (Skies Of Arcadia)
061.) Ryu Kan (Skies Of Arcadia)
062.) Urala (Skies Of Arcadia)
063.) Vyse (Skies Of Arcadia)
064.) Alen (Genso Suikoden)
065.) Apple (Genso Suikoden)
066.) Grenseal (Genso Suikoden)
067.) Humphrey (Genso Suikoden)
068.) Jeane (Genso Suikoden)
069.) Kai (Genso Suikoden)
070.) Kasumi (Genso Suikoden)
071.) Lorelai (Genso Suikoden)
072.) Mathiu (Genso Suikoden)
073.) McDohl, Tir (Genso Suikoden)
074.) Milia (Genso Suikoden)
075.) Mina (Genso Suikoden)
076.) Mose (Genso Suikoden)
077.) Sonya (Genso Suikoden)
078.) Tai Ho (Genso Suikoden)
079.) Tengaar (Genso Suikoden)
080.) Valeria (Genso Suikoden)
081.) Viki (Genso Suikoden)
082.) Viktor (Genso Suikoden)
083.) Anita (Genso Suikoden II)
084.) Ayda (Genso Suikoden II)
085.) Genshu (Genso Suikoden II)
086.) Lo Wen (Genso Suikoden II)
087.) Miklotov (Genso Suikoden II)
088.) Oulan (Genso Suikoden II)
089.) Riou (Genso Suikoden II)
090.) Shiro (Genso Suikoden II)
091.) Sierra (Genso Suikoden II)
092.) Tomo (Genso Suikoden II)
093.) Wakaba (Genso Suikoden II)
094.) Yoshino (Genso Suikoden II)
095.) Chris (Genso Suikoden III)
096.) Kika (Genso Suikoden IV)
097.) Lilin (Genso Suikoden IV)
098.) Mitsuba (Genso Suikoden IV)
099.) Mizuki (Genso Suikoden IV)
100.) Ornan (Genso Suikoden IV)
101.) Reinhold (Genso Suikoden IV)
102.) Freya (Valkyrie Profile)
103.) Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile)
104.) Ashley (Vagrant Story)
105.) Cecilia (Wild Arms)
106.) Jack (Wild Arms)
107.) Rudy (Wild Arms)
108.) Link (Zelda: Link To The Past)
"I Have Become A Summoner"
There you have it, all 108 stars. I'll probably be editing the list in the future as I play more RPGs and find more memorable characters. Could be sooner than I think since Genso Suikoden IV hasn't been completed yet! /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 1:29 pm 0 comments
Voices Of A Distant Star
03 March 2005
After the epics of the last few posts, I'm going to downsize this one and try to keep it reasonable. Partly to make the article more appealing to read, but mainly because I can't think of a decent subject to write about! /laugh
Karenai Hana
At the moment I'm taking a break from playing Final Fantasy XI because it's become kind of tedious. Unfortunately people from my linkshell have either left the game or are too busy to play meaning I tend to spend a lot of time with no-one to talk to. Killing hundreds of enemies over the course of 8-10 hours with no-one logging on can become quite lonely. So in order to keep myself from hating the game, I've decided that a break would do me good. Unfortunately it also means that I miss out on talking to the people that did log on occasionally. I tend to believe now that online RPGs carry a curse with them. And that is that you will make some good friends but invariably lose them as they leave the game due to family, work commitments, etc.
Kono Sekai
I'm still planning on going back to the game in a month's time so I hope more of my friends will have come back also. I've had some good times on there and I wouldn't want the experience to end without having reached a decent level.
Posted byHocchan at 8:33 pm 0 comments
What Becomes Of Snow?
02 March 2005
Anime comes in many different forms. Some are about giant mecha kicking large chunks of metal out of other giant mecha. Others are about an aspiring, young sportsman/sportswoman proving their skills and the hardships they encounter. Some are aimed at boys, some at girls, and the rest somewhere inbetween. There really is an anime for everyone - as long as you're not one of these narrow-minded morons who consider anime to be no more than 'cartoons' for kids. Anime are not cartoons!
The Girl From The Mystic Moon
I would love to tell you what my absolute favourite anime is but I'm not really too sure myself. So I shall take the easy way out and tell 3 of my favourite anime.
Aa! Megami-sama (Ah! My Goddess, Oh! My Goddess)
This was the first anime that I ever bought. I had to place an order for them at my local HMV since they didn't actually stock them in the store at the time. I got them on my birthday 3 years ago and I watched all 5 OVA's in one sitting. I loved it so much I was instantly hooked. When the movie came out on DVD a couple years later I bought it straight away. Probably wasn't as good at the original series but it did have splendid animation and was a worthy addition to the collection. The TV series has just been released in Japan but I haven't had chance to see it yet. Hopefully they have kept the elements that made the OVA's such a firm favourite of mine.
Rabu Hina (Love Hina)
The series that introduced me to Horie Yui and cemented my love of anime. Great animation, amusing storylines and some emotional episodes made this series a winner. The series had 26 episodes, 2 specials and a small second series which allowed a lot of character development. You really felt as if you'd been living with the cast for the last few years. Highly recommended.
Taiho Shichauzo (You're Under Arrest)
Written by the same author as Aa! Megami-sama, this anime has many of the traits that made it so successful. Spanning a whopping 52 episodes in the first series, 26 in the second, 20 in the mini specials and a movie, this is a giant story. And that didn't take into account the Live Action Drama series! The characters in this anime are so well developed they could be based on real life people. Set in Tokyo, it shows the daily life of the traffic department at Bokuto police station and the cases they take on. The underlying plot concerns the relationship between Kobayakawa Miyuki and Nakajima Ken. They obviously like each other but are both too shy to admit their own feelings to anyone. Absolutely compelling viewing.
The Day The Angel Flew
Those are just 3 of my favourite anime that I've watched. Other notable anime that I enjoyed are: Fruits Basket, To Heart, Escaflowne, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Kiki's Delivery Service and Metropolis. I hope to add more to this list as time goes by. Can't wait! /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 9:19 am 0 comments
Yakusoku ~Eternal Promise~
01 March 2005
Tadaima! I just couldn't keep away from the keyboard! /laugh
Before we move onto the main subject of this post, I'll just explain why I use '/laugh' so much in my writing. Basically, I absolutely HATE (dai dai dai kirai!) the use of unnecessary abbreviations. The type I'm referring to are the likes of: 'lol', 'wtf', 'l8r', 'cu', etc. (yes, yes, I know 'etc.' is an abbreviation but it is a grammatically correct one). It's just lazy writing and gives the impression you aren't bothered about your audience. In a limited space then yes, it is required to abbreviate some words to be able to fit them in. But anywhere else, there's just absolutely no need for it!
Ahem! Anyway, back to my explanation. During my days of playing Final Fantasy XI Online, I didn't want to use the 'lol' as a way of expressing my amusement at a joke. Therefore I adopted the emote command for the laughing motion from the game: /laugh, I've just continued to use it in communications with friends.
There, one explanation done and dusted.
Rakuen
The main subject of this post was not to ramble on about my hatred of 'lol' (though you'd be forgiven for thinking it was). No, it was about Horie Yui. My absolute favourite girl in all the world! /laugh
(You can find the link to her official website on the links to the right. It's all in Japanese but even me with my limited knowledge of the language can navigate it, so you'll be fine)
I first discovered Horie Yui from the anime 'Love Hina'. I can't for the life of me remember why I decided to watch that series but I'm eternally grateful that I did! /laugh It was one the first anime series that I watched and it became a favourite of mine due to the hilarious antics of the characters. Horie Yui stars as the leading female (Narusegawa Naru) in this show and becomes the main love interest of the male lead (Urashima Keitaro). It might have been the character of Naru, but I found myself drawn to the voice.
At the time I had no idea what seiyuu were but I was determined to find out who the voice was behind Narusegawa. Finding that out was the easy part, the real test came when I tried to get information on Yui. I searched the internet for ages and eventually found a link to Yui's official website (which I now have as my homepage so I don't miss any new information). I discovered that she had also released some solo albums (as most seiyuu do) so I ordered her second album from HMV Japan. I got it a week or so later (no thanks to the rejects that are FedEx) and I loved it so much. My first CD from Japan and it was a joy to own since it was such high quality (I didn't know it but it was a limited edition, first pressing version of the album. I absolutely love the high quality of Japanese CD's and I love the way they have special editions of almost all new CD's).
Over time I amassed a collection of stuff related to Horie Yui ranging from CD's, DVD's, magazines with Yui on the cover, calendars, etc. I even managed to join her official fan club: Kuroneko Doumei. My collecting's slowed down a little bit now due to me being extremely short of money (importing stuff from Japan is expensive...) but I hope to resume it soon.
Egao No Rensa
So there you have it. You're now all thinking I'm truly obsessed and you're probably right. You can call me 'sad', you can tell me to 'get a life', but I don't care, I'm obsessed and I'm loving every minute of it! /laugh
Posted byHocchan at 5:14 pm 0 comments
The Rising Sun
The French call it "histoire", the Spanish call it "historia", the English call it "history", but I like to call it "rekishi".
Hajime
In this post I shall be talking about one of my favourite interests - Japanese. As you may have guessed by now (from the constant reference to it) I like to use the language they call 'Nihongo'.
My interest in Japanese has probably been around for quite a few years, maybe since I was a child. My parents are Chinese so therefore I am obviously of Chinese origin. But having been born in England and having lived here all my life, I don't consider myself completely British or Chinese. I am both, and I am neither and I like it that way. It allows me to experience the best (unfortunately some of the worst) of both cultures and I am grateful to have that chance.
How all this culmulated in me liking Japanese, I have no idea! /laugh My only theory is that during my trips to Hong Kong during my childhood, I was exposed to all that cool Japanese anime that was on television and had the culture ingrained into my subconscious. Whatever the reason, that love of Japan has recently surfaced and I am now completely obsessed. From the usual anime and J-POP, to the culture and history of the place, I'm fascinated by it all.
I love the sound of the language, it's just music to my ears. The words and sentences of Japanese flow so well and there's almost a melody to it. It's not quite as good as Cantonese (which I consider the nicest sounding language) but it's a close second. I love the obsession with anime. I love the obsession with manners. I love the obsession with RPGs. And I love the beauty and craftsmanship of the Katana. Centuries of making the world's best swords have produced not only a perfect fighting weapon, but a work of art. A well made Katana is truly a masterpiece to be admired and respected. These are just a few things I find interesting and I enjoy learning more about them.
I am currently learning Japanese at the local college with the hope to go on and study it at university. I would dearly love to spend a year in Japan and experience what it would be like to live in that country. It's still a while away yet but I'm working hard to make this dream come true and maybe one day, I'll get my wish.
Owaru
So there you have it. A brief history about my love of Japanese. Join me again next time when I'll explain all about my other great love - Horie Yui.
Doumo sumimasen!
Posted byHocchan at 11:55 am 0 comments
Irasshaimase!!
28 February 2005
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu and welcome to Kuroneko Doumei. This is my first attempt at a "Blog" so forgive me if the things on here seem rather amateurish. It'll probably be because they are! /laugh
Well, let's see....what can I talk about? We'll start with the meaning of the Blog's name - Kuroneko Doumei. First of all, it's in Japanese and can be translated as the following:
"Kuro" meaning "Black";
"Neko" meaning "Cat";
"Doumei" meaning "Union".
So it means "Black Cat Union" if you put it all together. What significance does that have to anything? It's actually the name of the official fan club for my favourite seiyuu (Japanese for voice actor/actress), Horie Yui. I've used this name for many things in the past so it's just another incarnation of them. I'll go into more detail about Horie Yui some other time but for now lets just say I like her very much! /laugh
That's it for this post, don't want to bore you all with a long essay right at the very beginning so I'll leave it at this. We'll have more about me and my (rather naff) life later on. Who knows, it may become a regular thing if it goes well. Until next time...
Posted byHocchan at 12:58 pm 0 comments
