Faito, Oh!
20 October 2006
It's been an eventful week. First off came Gokusen, a new drama I've started to watch. It's about Yamaguchi Kumiko, a keen school teacher who starts her first teaching job at Shirokin high school. Unfortunately for her she gets stuck with class 3-D, who turn out to be a bunch of delinquent students which are on the verge of getting kicked out of school. In spite of this she still believes they can all achieve a lot more than people expect them to. She declares in the first episode that she will get every single one of them to graduate. To complicate this further it is revealed that Kumiko is actually a 4th generation heir to a Yakuza family. She must keep her true identity a secret otherwise it is almost certain she will get fired. At first the students don't pay any attention to her, preferring to do their own thing in class. After awhile, however, through persistence (and a lot of stern telling-offs) they slowly begin to warm to their new teacher.
This drama makes a nice change from the previous ones I've been watching as it's a lot more fun and light hearted. I particularly love the way there are funny little sound effects to go with movements of the hand or face. I also like the way Kumiko sometimes address the viewer with little comments on her thoughts. Nakama Yukie does a good job of playing a Yakuza teacher. The way she'll switch to gangster talk when she gets angry is brilliant and a joy to watch. I'll definitely be watching out for her other dramas.
Just last Wednesday there was the October update for FFXI. It had been announced ages ago and it was high time it appeared. The big reason for wanting this particular update was the new abilities and adjustments to the Samurai job. We now have Hasso (an ability which adds lots of STR, haste and accuracy) and Seigan (an ability which vastly improves Third Eye) in our arsenal. I've been having a good time experimenting with them in the game and I'm very happy they've added so much. There are some morons who still complain it's not enough but I totally disregard their arguments. Bloody moaning sods is all they are!
PS. Happy Birthday to my friend, Mike, who turned 22 last Wednesday!
Posted byHocchan at 10:08 pm 1 comments
Anata No Haato Ni Enjeru Biimu
14 October 2006
"Heaven... I'm in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak"! As you may have guessed I'm rather happy today. Why? Because I found a plethora of Horie Yui pictures while searching the internet. I was looking to design a new banner for the blog but was unable to find any decent photos via Google. I decided to give the Japanese Yahoo's search engine a go as it'd probably turn up better results. Low and behold I came across a bulletin board for Horie Yui pictures. There were loads! And of a good quality too. I was grinning from ear-to-ear after that. I've saved most of them to my hard drive so you can expect the next load of posts to feature a picture of Yui. /laugh
Speaking of the new banner, this is actually the second version that I made. The original one was 700x150 but because the coding of the layout was being such a pain in the arse I couldn't get it to display properly. Unfortunately I don't have enough experience of HMTL to be able to fix the problem. Therefore, I decided to remake it using a different picture and in 700x70 format. I very pleased with how this new one looks, it's more colourful and flamboyant than the predecessors. Lovely-jubbly!
Unable to wait any longer for the subbed versions of 'Lunch no Joou' to be released I've decided to watch them in RAW form. I'm actually surprised how much I understand without any subtitles to aid me. I can follow the main story of the episode and can pick up 50% of what they're saying. Gives me confidence in my abilities. I'm very pleased to be able to finish watching the last two episodes of this drama. I've enjoyed it very much as it's a very funny and happy, family series. Not that there aren't any sad moments, there are, but these don't tend to last very long and everyone becomes upbeat again after a quick resolution of the problem. The fact that there's delicious looking plates of food in almost every shot also helps this drama! I found myself salivating whenever it showed them cooking a dish of 'Omurice'; a tasty-looking meal of chicken in fried rice, mixed with ketchup, wrapped in an omelette and with demiglace sauce drizzled all over it. Yum! Anyhow, I'm going to watch the last episode tonight. Can't wait!
Posted byHocchan at 10:37 pm 0 comments
Taiyou No Uta
13 October 2006
Urgh! I think I'm coming down with another cold. That'll be the third one this year. I swear my immune system is getting worse for some reason. I never used to get a cold or the flu as easily as this. It's not too bad at the moment, just slight sore throat and headache. Should be better by next week.
There isn't much to report about FFXI. I've just been levelling my Paladin on the nights I can get a party. I may not be able to afford the fee for November unless I can get a job soon. I hope I can because I have a load of Tree Saplings I'm growing in my Mog House. If I can't check up on them regularly they'll die and all my work will have been for nothing. /sigh
I saw the last episode of 'Taiyou no Uta' last night and it's made me quite melancholic again. The ending was very emotional to watch and made you wish it had turned out differently. This is a bit of a spoiler but I guess no one I know is really interested in these dramas so it's OK to write about it. During the final scenes of the drama Kaoru finally manages to achieve her dream of getting a public debut thanks to Asami. However, just as they are about to go on stage she begins to start choking and is unable to breath properly. In the end she dies before she has had the chance to appear. I kept hoping that they would have one last, wonderful performance in front of everyone before she passed away but it wasn't to be. It seemed so cruel but I guess that's what they story writers had intended. For pure emotion I don't think this drama can compare to '1 Litre of Tears' but in it's own way it was entertaining to watch. It conveys the same message of living your life to it's fullest, each and everyday, as we never know when it will end. It's something I'm trying to do myself in my own life. I hope I can have the same determination and courage that these dramas have shown.
Posted byHocchan at 10:52 pm 0 comments
