And I thought Blackpool's going get it...

Great. I'm feeling under the weather, my throat hurts and it seems the flu caught me, but that doesn't stop the surprise news to me.

It all started when I was going to the toliet and then suddenly as I 'went there', at the same time, the radio announced that Manchester has won the bet to have a super casino. And this is my thought about this:

EH?!

Of course, I was born and lived in Manchester (though I now live in Stoke-on-Trent for university purposes), but this is very much surprising to me. I thought that either Blackpool or Greenwich were getting it, but since Blackpool is part of the North West region and Greenwich already has the Olympics to worry about, I guess it makes sense. But now, I'm starting to worry about the gambling addiction or something. Oh well, if Manchester's super casino doesn't have an arcade with at least one DDR machine, I'm not going in!

BTW, if you want to see the whole news, you can at least click here.

Quote of the Moment - "I hope this show stays on track." - One of the messages from some Henshin forum, where they are making some Kamen Rider jokes (oh come on, what's wrong with comparing Densha Otoko?)

God! I love this cute, yet really weak Rider!

Just watched a RAE episode of Kamen Rider Den-O and by God, not only it was funny and nicely serious at the same time, but I'm starting to <3 that Ryotaro guy! OH come on, guys, at least it's a nice refreshing change from the previous Kamen Rider series that I've seen (ok, I only watched a bit of Ryuki (until I put off after 3 episodes, as I couldn't stand Shinji's character), some Blade (argh! Now why do I have a crush on that Undead Rider guy?) and most of Kabuto (Grandmother says: "I forgot that line."), though not Faiz or 555 or whatever, as well as the other older Kamen Rider series)! And I think there are some potentials in the show, like for one scene, where the 'Punk possessed' Ryo started to kick really big ass on the bullies, only that 'wimpy' Ryo actually 'stopped' him from doing so. He may seem to look like he's a wimp physically, but mentally, now that's what I called strength!

Urgh, I have to do some art stuff and I think my female art tutors, as well as that damn lecturer are starting to hate me for this....

Quote of the Moment - "H-h-henshin!" - Ryotaro Nogami from Kamen Rider Den-O and yes, he IS the unluckiest and weakest Rider in history...BUT it's impossible to love him! I want a Ryotaro plushie!

No More Drawing with Mouse

Finally, after spending my time in Photoshop on painful hours of drawing, colouring and manipulating the pictures with the mouse (and sometimes my laptop touchpad), I finally decided to buy one thing my parents and older sister refuse to do: buy a graphics tablet off from Amazon UK. And now, since it has arrived from my doorstep today, I rushed off from my room in some Halls of Residence to the Post Room in a matter of minutes, whilst mournfully doing some sort of presentation for the contextual studies. Uh, yeah.

And if you wanted some proof that I bought it, why not look at the photos below:




Well okay, the graphics tablet is an A6 size one, but that doesn't mean I can moan about it. It's perfect for my laptop, as it has an USB connection, plus, since my deskspace in my room is bloody small (as it has been invaded by my all-in-one printer and TV), it's practically perfect for me to store it besides my laptop and when I'm fed up with my creative mind, I can just easily store it away to a nice place. Now, if I can install them later and get on with my presentation (must...resist...getting...my...graphics...tablet...started...must...finished...presentation...)

Quote of the Moment - "I'm in love...with Chiaki-sempai?" - Noda Megumi (a.k.a. Nodame) from Nodame Cantabile. My God, this is the funniest anime (and live-action drama) I've watched for ages now.

When Latex in Japan isn't just enough

Well, Japan is famous for having the Kamen Rider series, as well as Super Sentai series (and GARO, of course ^_^), Thailand has got Sport Ranger and Crystal Knight, America has the most terrible thing in the world that is known as Power Rangers, France has that tonkatsu, to which I forgot the title again, and yes, even Britain has one (in the shape of Doctor Who, but come on! When the Doctor regenerates, that's called 'henshin', right? Oh, so some people think I'm mad enough to say that). And now, get ready to meet South Korea's version of their tonkatsu - Erexion. I'm not sure why this is very different to the Super Sentai series, but so far, it looks very impressive and the villains look so cool, they make the villains in the Super Sentai series green in envy. And let's not forget the cool opening song for Erexion - simply saying it's better than the Super Sentai series (I like the opening song to Super Sentai series; the only problem is that I don't like Boukenger's opening, so don't say 'BOO! YOU'RE NOT A TRUE SUPER SENTAI FAN!'). The only complaint that I'm griped about this, is that that the colour scheme is a little too bright for the show. I've seen a few clips of the show, so I'm pretty excited when it gets fansubbed. In the meantime, you can visit Erexion's site here.

Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to draw some sketches on the novel, on the homage to the tonkatsu shows in the world (except for the new Power Rangers shows from 2000 - present, i.e. America).

Quote of the Moment - "Why do you think they call me the devil?!" - Yoshihrio Shimazu from Samurai Warriors 2 (a.k.a Sengoku Musou 2).

It's Adventure Time! PBF Style!

Remember your innocent childhood being shattered when you find out the world isn't as goody-goody as you first thought? Well, it's going back to me, since watching Rem and Stimpy and a bit of Gary Larson at a really young age and it's from some cartoon called Adventure Time. Well, the artwork in the opening reminds me of a Rem and Stimpy one, but once the animation kicks in, I felt physically and psychologicly sick as I thought the animators and voice actors were drugged and drunk at the same time, while doing this. As for the plot, well, it concerns of a 12 twelve year old boy and his talking dog (to which he must have been drunk too much) going on...well, an adventure. Well, I won't tell you the whole story, but if you want to see the video, I suggest you watch it without bringing in your food. Though the art style does remind me of the Perry Bible Fellowship comic strip that I've read and laughed from an UK Guardian G2 newspaper and there are a few anime-ish sequences that I can recognise.

Click this link if you dare, but I'm not going to hold responsibility if you're feeling sick after watching this.

Quote of the Moment - "I'm downloading a little dance!" - Jake (I think) the dog from Adventure Time; the weirdest, yet somewhat funniest cartoon I've seen, since watching Rem and Stimpy.

Sephiroth Versus Kouga Saejima

Yes, you read that title right. Surprisingly, when I watched Final Fantasy VII Advent Children again, I'm comparing this to the live-action tokusatsu show GARO and somehow, to my surprise on how similar these two are:

• Both were using OMNIBUS JAPAN as doing some VFX stuff (no, I'm not kidding. Just watch Adevnt Children and GARO and you'll see).
• Somehow, the action in GARO is pretty much similar to Advent Children too, given that both of them defy the laws of physics literally.
  
• The main character from Adevent Children and GARO, respectively Cloud Strife and Kouga Saejima, both uses swords and it's even more similar when Kouga's sword, when mounted on his metal golden horse Gouten, increases its size to even the same size as Cloud's Buster Sword.
• Both of the monsters - GARO's Horrors and Advent Children's monsters and Bahamut Sin - look very similar to each other.

No wonder, I love GARO so much, even the music is somewhat similar to them. Yes, there were a few differences between them, like the storyline and the characters and also the directors, creators and designers, but somehow GARO is like a live-action version of Advent Children. And if you don't believe me, try watching the bonus ending in the Advent Children DVD without pressing the skip forward button and be surprise by spotting 'OMNIBUS JAPAN' somewhere on the credits. Well, I'm going to watch GARO again and attempt to compare Kouga as Sephiroth and Karou as Aerith for some odd reason.

Quote of the moment - "Where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns... yet by the blade of Knights, mankind was given hope..." - Some quote from GARO. I'll be surprise if there's a real second season to GARO and it involves Kouga fighting against Sephiroth.

When imaging Sentai and Manga become Weird

Just yesterday, I just watched over a half of that dark live-action Tokusatsu Japanese show, GARO and it was some sort amazing to my brain on how I can compare easily on the main character to another character from a manga.

GARO's Kouga Saejima is a bit like World Embryo's Takao, only with a few minor differences in terms of their goals and appearances. But they draw some amazing parallels between them:

• Both of them are cold-hearted and emotionless on the outside, but on the inside, they have a heart of a nobleman.
• Both of them wore light-coloured coats (though slightly different in their colour) to show their badass side.

Come to think of it, the more I think about these two, the more I want to explore Takao's past, as well as exploring Kouga's relationship with the female lead, Kaoru Mitsuki. It's strange to compare a live-action character to a character that only exists on paper, but it is very interesting to find out there some similarities.

Great, now I've been infected to read World Embryo again!

Quote of the moment - "EH?! You say that Gundam Musou exists?!" - Me in shock, when finding out that Koei and Namco Bandai announced they'll be releasing Gundam Musou. It's like Dynasty Warriors characters playing too much with Gundam models.