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Mirai Music – Vividblaze

tueac — Sun, 20 May 2012 04:09:16 +0000

Updated: Mirai Music, the physical album, can be found on CDJapan!

Vividblaze’s first album was released on the 11th Of April, it contains their work from the 2009 till now. Including the first song(Tight Rope) I heard from the amazing duo in a timelapse video by mockmoon.

I generally like the album with it’s rather easy going tunes and the upbeat, catchy tunes but majority of this album might not suit those listening to keep awake. Of all the songs I especially liked Tight Rope, Mirai Mechanism, Mirai Cafe, Ivory and Pizziciato Mind.

Vividblaze is a duo consisting of Miho Tezuka on vocals and Yasunari Okano, keyboard. Their style have always been something of a mix between electro-pop and jazz, thus giving them a rather unique sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK357O9mZPI

They have provided the sound track for the many of Danny Choo’s productions including writing and producing Sukira, Culture Japan season 2 opening, a track not sang by vocalist Miho but by Mirai Suenaga(Danny’s “daughter”).

In fact in one of the songs, Danny Choo even “sang” a bit of Mirai Mechanism during the chorus part.

Vividblaze have also performed overseas like at AFA11 during Danny Choo’s segment, wowing the audiences with their wonderful live. Recently,they went touring around Japan performing their song at many occasions like Danny Choo’s Culture Japan Night and appearing on Radio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6hCNGIF3Hg

One of my favorites~ Tight Rope

Mirai Music may not be easily found physically on shelf of the your local shops, ~~it might not even be found on online services like CDJapan~~ it’s on sale at CDJapan! ~~but~~ and you can also buy the digital version from Hearjapan.com, where I got mine.

Or you can sample a bit of it on Last.fm.

If you really liked them, do support them by buying the Mirai Music either physically or the digital version. You can also visit their website to know more about them.

Website: http://www.vividblaze.com/

Hey! I’m also on last.fm, you can find my profile using this link~
http://www.last.fm/user/tueac

Congrats to JKT48 for 1st successful Stage!

tueac — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:16:31 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCCZoJXWxh4

JKT48 the first overseas sister group of AKB48 completed their ever first stage in their homebase Jakarta on the 17th of May 2012.

They performed Team B’s 3rd stage, and will be doing so 4 days in the row from the 17th to the 20th of May with 2 shows a day, 3pm and 7pm.

From the Ani-Culture.net team, Congratulations!

Website: http://www.jkt48.com/

Week’s Post May 18, 2012

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:59:09 +0000

Here is what happened this week on our side

SHARP SH-06D NERV Edition(Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouf4LfIxuo8

This is getting super tempting… … NTT Docomo have already announce that the phone will be part of the 2012 Summer lineup in a showcase yesterday. It will be made available for pre-order on the 16th of June and … Continue reading →
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MSIA: Japan Fest Malaysia
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SG: Gundam Unicorn Ep5 Screening Premier Invites
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgovM71S2mY

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Tails of CaT² Episode 2: Uniform Change!
Welcome to the week 2 of Tails of CaT², this week Chiya and Tama explore the act of changing their uniforms~ It’s to cheer Chiya up from the last episode… but… Tails of CaT², Episode 2, Uniform Change~ Developed by Daiyaku in collaboration … Continue reading →
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Nissin ICED Cup Noodles… XD
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KDDI’s Summer 2012 Smartphone range~
Well the Fujitsu Arrow Z looks, feels and functions rather nicely~ Will the Japanese super phones of the previous years be back soon?
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Mannequin based 3D movement manipulator
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Katawa Shoujo: Update the Outdates (incl. guide!)
With the crippled jokes getting old, let’s finish this. A quick recap: This thing showed up out of nowhere in 4chan on 4th January 2007, influencing users to generate tons of ideas, from love stories to bad ends… and effectively … Continue reading →
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Cardfight!! Vanguard VGE-BT06 Review
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Tails of CaT² Episode 2: Uniform Change!

tueac — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:23:16 +0000

Welcome to the week 2 of Tails of CaT², this week Chiya and Tama explore the act of changing their uniforms~

It’s to cheer Chiya up from the last episode… but…

Tails of CaT², Episode 2, Uniform Change~

Developed by Daiyaku in collaboration with Ani-Culture.net

Katawa Shoujo: Update the Outdates (incl. guide!)

cx3907 — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:00:38 +0000

With the crippled jokes getting old, let’s finish this.

A quick recap:

This thing showed up out of nowhere in 4chan on 4th January 2007, influencing users to generate tons of ideas, from love stories to bad ends… and effectively uniting them to produce an actual (free) game that we hold in our hands today.
The original omake was created by RAITA of Zettai Shoujo in Comiket 61, back in December 2000. No one knew who colored it though.
Four Leaf Studios was formed by amateurs of varying nationalities and backgrounds, and it took them 5 years of painstaking efforts to bring about (some may call it “tear-jerking”) one of the most mature (in the right way) stories in the sub-culture.

The protagonist, Hisao, suffers from arrhythmia which triggered a heart attack during a snowy winter when his crush confessed to him. Well, it sent him to the hospital where he spent months for the sake of being ‘observed’.As the story goes, his rethinking and personality change would depend on the player.
Cue it.

On a side note, Misha's infamous laughter is prominent in my class...

Hard to think of them being at least 18.
To make things easier, I would not disclose any thoughts about the characters for I disabled the adult content.
Just kidding, read on.

First and last impressions are that Emi is a very fun girl. Being an optimistic athlete, she strives to become the best runner… without legs.
Her route portrays typical teenage love relationships, and I’m rather surprised by the number of *censored* FLS has made for her route. Sure made this a tolerably realistic potrayal…Of course, it is without dere-dere moments, plights and seriousness.

Hanako’s route presents probably the best psychological story in this game. Hanako is scarred, both physically and mentally, which brought her to extreme self-consiousness.
FLS made the narration captivating and immerses the player into the story. ’nuff said. However, the eventual relationship between Hanako and Hisao subsequently form under equal terms, rather than the very much predictable protective character than one would lazily depict.

Unfortunately, my say is that Lily’s route feels like a regular love story. The good points about her story are it is easily adaptable, and (almost!) free of friction and conflicts. Here’s a backup if this is too short.

One word to describe: Complex. I had to quote someone else:

Hidden Text	Select Show
I haven’t commented much on Rin’s path. Mostly because… I don’t know what to make of it. I actually like Rin… But at the same time, I understand… The part of me that is an artist, feels it… That disorder, those thoughts that cannot be conveyed through words, and sometimes not even pictures. It’s hard. Very hard. I also remember how the pressure breaks that… How it transforms you. How responsibilities and emotional turmoil can drive you into extremes. It reminds me of the times I tried to jump into traffic, or the times I have, repeatedly and literally, hit my head against the wall because I cannot take the pressure building inside me. Weird, hard to explain emotions. And it’s even harder to find someone who can understand them, even if it’s just a little. You drive the people around you crazy, because they don’t get why are you angry, or sad, or acting just plain weird. The anger, confusion, and sometimes disdain of your loved ones, all because your mind is actually working in another place, a place very different from what they call Reality. It’s tough. You seek to be understood, to not stand alone all the time… But… You cannot. There’s a wall… Between you and the rest of the world. A wall that is made of impossibilities, of contradictions, of disorganized ideas, of pure raw creation, that makes you live at least a part of your life in a place where things don’t actually exist. Nothing can bring that wall down. Absolutely nothing. Because it’s what makes you tick, what makes you work. and the closer they try to get to you, the more it will hurt them because its a wall that is made of broken things of you

Hidden Text

Select Show

I had fun imagining Hisao trying to “talk” to Shizune while Misha was grinning beside them.
Shizune, being the student council president, some may call her cocky, while others call her tsundere, well, later in the story one might feel like Keima. While Misha is being hyper and all, there is no harem involved as the story is supposed to be focused on Shizune herself. Story’s as straightforward as her.

Final thoughts:

This game can be easily compared with any of Key’s visual novels
(eg. Air, Rewrite, Clannad, Kanon)
Although made by a bunch of amateurs, Katawa Shoujo is a very psychological visual novel, which screws with our misleading image of everyday life. It even became a subject of study in Panola College by Professor Don Martinez due to its “redemptive” ability. Impressive, and overwhelming indeed.
Disability aside, Katawa Shoujo is more about dealing with personal problems, making it even more compelling and appealing as a whole. (Even the disabled wish to be able to live independently too!)
…but the M18 made it unappealing to some.

Now, since you have read your way to here…

I don’t know if it’s a bug or not (Mac ver.), but the presplash never showed up…
FLS was kind enough to set up a shimmie, but NSFW:
…While the full version remain untranslated…:
…And FINALLY the entire walkthrough to the game! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Right-click “save as” to download (2MB)
Cypher (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ・。*。✧・゜゜・。✧。*・゜゜・✧。・゜゜・。*。・゜*✧
…signing off.

“神様　ありがとう
運命のいたずらでも
めぐり逢えたことが
しあわせなの ”
“Dear God, thank you
Even if it’s just destiny pulling a prank on me
I’m so glad of the fact that
We both had met”
–Renai Circulation

Cardfight!! Vanguard VGE-BT06 Review

Xenoedge — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:41:58 +0000

Now we all know that 12 May marks the day that VGE-BT06, better known as the English version of BT-06 Cardfight!! Vanguard booster box, release in Singapore. This set will also be released internationally on 19 May, 1 week after its initial release in Singapore. Without any further time wasting, let us look into some of the cards presented in this set.

For this set, it is a major boost for the 2 new clans, Gold Paladin and Narukami. This set also presents some refreshing upgrades to minor clans such as Granblue and Nova Grappler. Most of the core cards for the new clan, Angel Feather, can be found in this set too.

First I shall go through both Gold Paladin and Narukami. For these 2 clans, you should look out for the new and powerful grade 3 for each clan.

For Gold Paladin, there is the Incandescant Lion, Blond Ezel. The effect of this card are that it gains a boost for each of the rear guard you have on the field. For its limit break, after counter blasting 2, you reveal the top of your deck. If it is a Gold Paladin clan unit, you can call it to an empty rear guard circle and adds the power of the unit to the card. If you are lucky and reveal a unit with a 10 000 power, this unit can easily overkill its opponents.

For Narukami, you have the Dragonic Kaiser, Vermillion. The most interesting thing about this unit is its limit break. After counter blasting 2, the card can then attack all of the frontal units of your opponent field. This means that as long as this unit’s power is higher than the lowest power of the opponent units, the attack will be successful. An example would be that if your vanguard is 11 000 and the two rear guards are 10 000 power, assuming that Dragonic Kaiser has attacking power of 10 000, the attack will be successful on the two rear guards but not the vanguard. There are a few things to take note. Since this unit is targeting all the frontal units at once, the opponent is unable to use those units as intercept. This is a good limit break as it force your opponent to guard his vanguard and rearguard indiviually which result in draining of your opponent’s hand size.

Now for the upgrades available for Nova Grappler and Granblue.

Granblue currently has a lot of different cards available in this set but I will be only going through the 2 major units that I am particularly interested in.

First up is the grade 3 unit called Necromancer of the Ice Prison, Cocytus. This card has a limit break which increases 5 000 power when you have 4 damage, which makes it very valuable as a vanguard. The other ability takes place when you ride this unit, after counter blasting 1, you can call a unit from the drop zone to an empty rear guard circle. Given the normal Granblue playing style which forces the player to discard cards from the deck to the drop zone, this card allows a great variety of units to be called back up to the field.

The other card is another grade 3 called Death Seeker, Thanatos. It has a rearguard ability that after hitting the vanguard, counter blast 1 and retire itself. Then, call another Granblue unit other than itself from the drop zone to any rearguard circle. What makes it interesting is that this can allow you to attack more than 3 times during your turn.

For Nova Grappler, you can create a main play style of using the Divine Beast style from this set. The grade 0 unit allows you to stand a unit with Divine Beast in its name when you boost with it and hit. While the grade 1 and 2 allows you to look for the grade 3 Divine Beast from the top 5 of your deck which helps you save a card in your hand. As for the grade 3 Divine Beast, Azure Dragon, it is the first Nova Grappler to have what we called persona blast in the Japanese series. The cost to play the effect is to drop the same card from your hand into the drop zone. For this unit’s ability, it allows you to stand 2 rearguards, which is a good combo to use and hit in as the second attack during your turn.

Now for the new clan, Angel Feather. This clan has a very interesting play style to it. Firstly, you have the combo of using Miracle Feather Nurse style until grade 2. Then, for grade 3, you ride Cosmo Healer, Egodiel as your vanguard. This card’s persona blast can be quite tough to pull off as it allows you to heal 1 damage off your drop zone so I doubt most opponent will let it go through.

Another interesting thing is that there are grade 1 and 2 units that allow you to guard and also at the same time change a card from your hand with your damage zone. We have all encountered at some point where the cards you need are in the damage zone so these 2 units can be a lifesaver.

For another grade 3, we have the option of a limit break style which allows you to take 1 card from your damage zone into your empty rear guard circle and then taking 1 card from top of the deck into your damage zone.

For these 3 new clans, the perfect guards are also included inside this set as well.

This is all I have for this current volume. Look forward to the next one which will be the extra booster expected to be released soon.

AFAMY : Cosplayer Miyuko (Spiral Cats)

tama-tan — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:15:41 +0000

The Anime Festival Asia Malaysia just announced that celebrity cosplayer, Miyuko is coming to the coming AFAMY! ((( ;°Д°))))

Miyuko is a member of the cosplayer group, Spiral Cats is based in Korea, consisting of five now, who are Tasha, Miyuko, Hyura, Ren and Tomia, where you can find their official website through here *The website is mostly in Korean, you may need google translate to help you read their updates!

Miyuko’s real name is Yun Jin Kang, a 20 years old cosplayer from South Korea, she has a smile and facial expression that allows her to bring out the essence of the characters.
Here’re some of her cosplay character.

Besides, she did participate in promoting the new X-box KINECT launch.

She still looks gorgeous in her non-cosplay event too.*indeed, a real Hanja!(Korean means beautiful girl)

*maybe you can challenge her to a Starcraft 2 game L(・o・)」 *

Week’s Post May 11, 2012

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:59:04 +0000

Here is what happened this week on our side

Yurusenai Chara Top 43! -BIGLOBE-
Popular Japanese social site recently did a poll to find the most unforgivable anime character. The poll went live on the 3rd of May and closed on the 9th. A total of 3126 members voted on the poll. Result?Kyube(488 votes) … Continue reading →
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Week’s Post May 4, 2012
Here is what happened this week on our side Sasshi accidentally releases an album! Sashihara Rino, AKB48 member, might have accidentally be the first AKB48 member to release an album due to a mis-understanding of rules leading to a cock-up … Continue reading →
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Yurusenai Chara Top 43! -BIGLOBE-

tueac — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:39:27 +0000

pic source: http://keikakudoori.wordpress.com/

Popular Japanese social site recently did a poll to find the most unforgivable anime character. The poll went live on the 3rd of May and closed on the 9th. A total of 3126 members voted on the poll.

Result?Kyube(488 votes) from Madoka Magica topped the chart, followed by the unintended Girlfriend Killer, Makoto(school days, 473) and surprisingly, the Aunt(243) from the classic, Grave of the Fireflies…

But from the charts… you can’t forgive Mikono from Evol? really?

01. Kyubey (Madoka Magica)
02. Makoto Ito (School Days)
03. Aunt (Grave of The Fireflies)
04. Albert Maverick (Tiger & Bunny)
05. Nadja (Ashita no Nadja)
06. Muska (Laputa: Castle in the Sky)
07. Sekai Saionji (School Days)
08. Mikono (Aquarion EVOL)
09. Tomohiko Kazami (Another)
10. Takano Hifumi (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
11. Athrun Zala (Gundam SEED)
12. Muruta Azrael (Gundam SEED)
13. Kurisu Makise’s Father (Steins;Gate)
14. Rose Marie (Ashita no Nadja)
15. Takako Sugiura (Another)
16. Android 17 (Dragon Ball Z)
17. Kaz Kobayashi (Z Gundam)
18. Kotonoha Katsura (School Days)
19. Nina Purpleton (Gundam 0083)
20. Rin Kokonoe (Kodomo no Jikan)
21. Akito Sohma (Fruits Basket)
22. Alexander Tagosaku Oyajide (Magical DoReMi)
23. Queen Lacets (Science Fiction Saiyuki Starzinger)
24. Rossi (Romeo’s Blue Sky)
25. – tie – Dinogeist (Brave Exkaiser)
25. – tie – Apollonius (Genesis of Aquarion)
25. – tie – Kirei Kotomine (Fate/zero)
28. Kazuya Aoi (Freezing)
29. Katejina Loos (V Gundam)
30. Ali Al-Saachez (Gundam 00)
31. Oryo Sonozaki (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
32. Hibiki Hojo (Suite PreCure)
33. Job Trunicht (Legend of the Galactic Heroes)
34. Magneton (Pokémon)
35. Furude Hanyu (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
36. Frit Asuno (Gundam AGE)
37. Haruhi Suzumiya (Haruhi Suzumiya)
38. – tie – Chizuru Honda (Bokurano: Ours)
38. – tie – Nico Robin (One Piece)
40. Nausicaä (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
41. Miss Minchin (Princess Sarah)
42. – tie – Riddhe Marcenas (Gundam UC)
42. – tie – Suzaku Kururugi (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion)

Source: Crunchyroll via Jefusion

Tails of CaTs~ episode 1: O.O

tueac — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:30:29 +0000

Tails of CaTs is an experimental project with 0filia of Daiyaku, a Dojin group in Singapore. In the first episode, our dear Chiya is introduced to Tama-tan and things kinda happened.

It’s a 4-Coma manga featuring both our very kawaii mascots, Chiya and Tama-tan. So please enjoy. We will be working at a pace of once a week, so tune in next week too!

Episode 1: Tales of Chiya and Tama-tan

… So how was it?