"Surrender...

...yourself to me"

Would you surrender every word, every thought every sound to Nekane? I WOULD! Anyways this is my 200th post, thus, i've filled it w/ some random pics (mostly from the recent Megami). So yeah, finally finished all exams last week. If one was wondering why i didn't update last week w/ famitsu news or anything in general, it's cuz of exams. 'sides, there wasn't any games worth mentioning that got reviewed. Dengeki PS DID review Shining Wind w/ a decent score. I'm obviously interested in Shining Wind due to T2's involvement like I was w/ Shining Tears. So w/ school finally over, i've been killing brain cells ;) and my liver has become the equivalent of an old man's ^^;. This year was also my final year, thus, it also means it's real-world-job hunting time \('o')/. though i do have something lined up already for now and will probably be moving cities and getting a place w/ my girlfriend in the coming months ^_^.

"Surrender to Ryomou? maybe. Surrender to Hakufu? gimme a sec. Surrender to Kanu? OH YEAH!!"

As for my hobbies, think they'll be slowly declining again in the coming months. I do have a sweet massive package lined up for May though. Haven't really watched any Spring anime. Been mostly watching my Shonen anime shows, even though i know what's gonna happen next, having read the manga ages ago.
Shippuden is gonna be sweet very soon w/ Team Gai's fight and Team Kakashi's little tussle w/ "Itachi". I'm not looking forward to Chiyo-baa's and Sakura's fight w/ Sasori as that fight made me lose interest in the manga and it took me forever to get back into it.
Bleach has always been sick and Ichigo's 2nd fight w/ Hollow Ichigo is much anticipated. Though the manga storyline has become pretty meh, the fights are still exciting as ever and can't wait to see what happened to Ichigo after loss to Ulquiorra.
One Piece has just finished the AMAZING fight w/ Luffy and Lucci. Seeing Gear Third animated was super sick! CP9 is probably my fave arc now as so much was dedicated to my dear Robin-chwan.
As for 'non-shonen jump' anime, Ikkitousen DD has showed sweet fanservice + sick fights. Yesh Kanu Yesh, gimme more! I'll probably get that shitty ass looking game too. And that's all i've been following as time hasn't been kind.

As for games, stopped playing DJ MAX 2 for a week after raping 4B on hard and averaging 80-90% on all songs in 5B. I'm around lvl.50 iirc. I've actually been playing PS3 as my buddy lent me his. Thus, i raped the Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo mid last week and burned rubber w/ Gran Turismo HD. Rented VF5 to perfect my already decent skills. On a fighting game note, T6 scans showed up on the weekend, kick ass.Also bought a couple games (DW5 & X-MenL II) this past weekend as they were semi-cheap at EB.

"Surrender to Miho? Fer sure, lemme get ready"

Movies: checked out Hot Fuzz and The Invisible. Pretty meh but i can't wait for Spider-Man 3 this Fri. Going to the first matinee show and probably IMAX later. Wish i was in Japan to check it out on May 1st. damn u nihonjins :P.

Sports: only watching NHL and NBA. Nash, u ARE AMAZING. 23 assists = sick. Toronto, u suck, can't believe they got raped again. NHL, good shit that Rangers won as i hate the Sabres. Sharks, u better fucking win tomorrow night (or should i say tonight). Canucks, you guys suck horribly (that series against Dallas was one of the worst series i've seen), probably be eliminated and i laugh. Sens and Devils...don't wanna say anything as i don't wanna jinx.

"Surrender to Yukiho & Haruka? Prolly not, cuz then I'd have to surrender to the police"

3rd hint of my special future post is probably the easiest along w/ the 1st hint. Hmm...what do they have in common? Nice lips...good for....;) :

Lastly if you don't understand the title and the first sentence from this post, it's a line from a song. Been listening to Billy Talent's 2nd album a lot lately (Billy Talent II). I will also be going to their concert in July...sweet ^^.

A Package from the "God of Music"

Finally had the time to make this post as i've been busy w/ school and watching the playoffs. So anyways, as i mentioned last week, my DJ MAX Portable 2 Night Black Orpheus Package Limited Edition came in last week and this post will be dedicated to the lovely swag that it contains. Thus, you can decide if this rare puppy was worth my 200 bones CDN.

So first up is the box. As you can see from the box Play Asia sent me, it was quite huge. Had to unwrap about 5 layers of bubble wrap to get this baby out. And this is how the sweet Night Black edition looks:

The box is quite heavy and very sturdy. It opens up ala magnet lid. Here's the inside of the box showing how the soundtrack, game and puzzle is placed:

The PSP cover and actual holographic case/cover, as well as inside the case w/ more awesome E.L. art.

the jigsaw puzzle box itself is thick and sturdy and also opens up ala magnet style. The puzzle pices are in ziplock bag. The postcards are placed underneath the puzzle pieces along w/ the exclusive Night Black poster/guide for the poster. Here's the what the inside of the jigsaw puzzle box looks like:

And here's the exclusive Night Black postcards:

Next up is the visual artbook, which is hidden underneath the game and soundtrack. This baby is huge and the paper is nice and glossy. There's about 80 something pages consisting of artwork, making-of (storyboards, production sketches) and a small section w/ the staff. Very well worth it.

Soundtrack is next. Contains 3 CDs titled Black, White and Red. Black and White are mostly songs from the game, while Red is remixes of selected songs from the game. It's formatted basically the same as DJ Max Portable 1's soundtrack.

Last swag to be included is a NB ranger mask hidden way underneath the box. There's five colours and I got green.

Two things to note is the insert that comes w/ the game. There's an ad for the upcoming DJ MAX Invitational Live concert (cool) and another teaser ad for Pentavision's next game. It's currently titled Project S4 and looks very cool as it has a chick w/ sword and gun. The website can be found here and i guess it's expected to launch on the 27th.

Don't feel like talking much about the game aside from the fact i'm loving it like the first. The new fever system is way awesome and i love the soundtrack, much moreso than DJMP 1's (though most would disagree). The soundtrack for 2 is more varied and i listen to a variety of music in general. While DJMP 1's music was really great, it had too many tracks that sounded the same. However, i found the videos better in 1. But that's just personal taste. There's a lot of good ones in 2 and i've yet to unlock 'em all. My fave video so far would no doubt be Syriana, that is linked to the awesome Outlaw (which is also in DJMP2 along w/ a few other DJMP1 music vids). So, in the end was the limited edition worth it? Yes and no. The game itself is amazing. The artbook is gorgeous w/ lots of beautiful artwork (and one of the main reason why i wanted the LE). The soundtrack is audio orgasm as i love the music more than DJ MAX Portable 1. The insert booklet is really nice too. The rest of the stuff is a no, it's junk and cost almost nothing to make. I could do w/out 'em. The postcards are nice though and definitely like Night Black's selection of postcards more than Metallic Silver. The puzzle obviously kicks Metallic Silver's ass too. I'll probably do the puzzle once i get a frame for it (what?! i have to spend MORE money on this? :P ^^). So the real downfall is the price through a middle buyer. If one was able to achieve this straight from Korea for a little under 100 bucks US, definitely worth it. So, looks like i've decided to keep this knowing that i'm one of the special 1000 ppl in the world who owns this version ^^.

While I'm talking about gaming, last week's announcement of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix definitely has me hyped. The reason is mostly due to the awesome redrawn artwork by my current fave comic studio Udon. And those who've been following my blog, know how much I love Udon and their Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Rival Schools and Street Fighter Legends comics (i might do another Udon collection pic one day). On that note, i'd like to mention that i bought Gen 13 #7 last week solely cuz Alvin Lee (my fave artist from Udon) and M3TH (also from Udon) were responsible for the art.

As for gaming purchases this week, i'm contemplating on P3 Fes. I own the JPN P3 and plan to get the US one (which has been delayed once again to July). However, i'm not far in P3 and currently don't have the drive to play it right now. So i might sell it and get Fes as i'm still unsure if Atlus USA is releasing Fes. I've decided not to get KOF Nests Collection cuz it's a collection of the WORSE KOFs. So i would hardly be playing it even if i did get it. That and cuz I already own the PAL 2000/2001 (uncensored ;)) collection on the PS2 by Ignition as well as the crappy port of KoF '99 on the PSX by Agetec. Though it is a crappy port, at least it's got a kick ass gallery that this collection does NOT have. Plus, KoF 99 is pure crap (stupid game that introduced strikers). Now that i'm on SNK news, i must mention of the latest media of my most anticipated DS game that appeared on most JPN game sites today yesterday (yeah, i was doing this post last night but couldn't finish ^_^;), Days of Memories:

Go to the usuals like Impress, Gpara, Dengeki Online, eg.nttpub for the same screenshots. Last bit on SNK news is this sweet IGN interview today last night w/ SNKPUSA's Ben Herman. The interview mostly dicusses the SNK and the Wii's VC as SNKP plans to release Neo-Geo games in the summer. So there's a lot of discussion what games they plan to release as well as online functionality w/ the Wii. It also mentions their future plans w/ Wii, 360 and PS3. Herman also notes that Fatal Fury Battle Archives 1 is expected to release in June for PS2 in NA, while the announced Art of Fighting collection should street at the end of April or in May. Though, i'm excited that SNKPUSA is finally releasing these games in NA, i probably still won't buy cuz i already own them and just can't afford double dipping. The only game i would double dip on is KOF XI. Even though it's broken, it's still fun and i luv Elisabeth ^^. However, i can't wait for their VC lineup! gimme some NAM, football frenzy, baseball stars, windjammers, etc. etc.

Latest Famitsu scores:

Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings (NDS, Square Enix): 9 / 8 / 7 / 8 - (32/40) - cool, but still a FF that didn't deserve a sequel
Panel de Pon DS (NDS, Nintendo): 8 / 7 / 8 / 8 - (31/40)
Meteos: Disney Magic (NDS, Disney): 8 / 8 / 7 / 8 - (31/40)
One Piece Unlimited Adventure (Wii, Bandai Namco): 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (28/40) - not bad not bad for a shonen anime game
Test Drive Unlimited (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 9 / 8 / 9 / 8 - (34/40)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 - (36/40)
San-X Chara Sagashi Land (NDS, MTO): 6 / 7 / 6 / 7 - (26/40)
Hana Deka Club: Animal Paradise (NDS, Agatsuma): 5 / 7 / 5 / 5 - (22/40)
Choco Inu no Sweets Depart (NDS, TDK): 6 / 5 / 6 / 6 - (23/40)
Momotarou Dentetsu DS: Tokyo & Japan (NDS, Hudson): 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (28/40
Negima!? Dream Tactic Yumemiru Otome Princess (PS2, Konami): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 - (24/40)
Rogue Hearts Dungeon (PS2, Compile Heart): 6 / 4 / 5 / 5 - (20/40)
Elvandia Story (PS2, Spike): 6 / 6 / 6 / 5 - (23/40)
Binchou-Tan: Shiawasegoyomi (PS2, Marvelous): 5 / 4 / 4 / 4 - (17/40)
The Dog Island: Hitotsuno no Hana no Monogatari (PS2, Yuke's): 7 / 6 / 6 / 6 - (25/40)
The Dog Island: Hitotsu no Hana no Monogatari (Wii, Yuke's): 7 / 6 / 6 / 5 - (24/40)
Super Black Bass: Kitahankyuu o Tsuru (NDS, Starfish): 4 / 4 / 4 / 4 - (16/40)

Nothing in Famitsu really interests me much this week: Beautiful Katamari Damacy (Multi) = meh (the graphics look better but not that much); Wild Arms XF = meh (looks good but i'm not a fan of the WA series)

2nd hint for my 'special' post in the future:

this one may be tricky but it's not Amano related, instead, anime-related. Since i posted an anime version, here's the hawt Amano manga style version:

C-DRiVE of Memories

Been busy lately as it's exam month. Hope ppl had a Happy Easter. I didn't do much 'cept check out Grindhouse, which was an awesome movie for any movie geek. Anyways, last week's official confirmation of RE4 Wii & media on Umbrella Chronicles seemed like the biggest news of the week. However, personally, this gaming guru found the news meh. The biggest news last week for me, was of course, the date set for the Nintendo DS version of the Japanese cell phone game, Days of Memories!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!! June 14 is the release date. 2nd biggest news was the date set (June 21) for Fu'un Super Combo (Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter) Compilation. Back to Days of Memories, for those who don't know, this game was a cell phone only game in JPN. It's a dating sim game featuring girls from KOF and Samurai Sprits. There's also a DoM game featuring male characters for the girls. The newest one (announced only a couple of weeks ago) includes a few new charas from SNK's other games. Th e DS version is a compilation of the first 3 Days of Memories games. The first 2 had charas from KOF while DoM 3 was entirely Samurai Spirits. I always wanted to play this game cuz I'm a huge SNK fighting fan (no surprise) and found it interesting & fun trying and pick your fave SNK gal (so HARD cuz they're all so HAWT). However, what grabbed me the most was always the AWESOME ARTWORK. So yeah, can't wait fo r this game and I should have a DS by then.

I've also been contemplating on Bleach Heat the Soul 4. I didn't plan on getting this game. However, with last week's Famitsu scan and yesterday's website update. I find it harder and harder to resist. Why? Yadoumaru Lisa, the Vizard hottie. Her and Kensei were added to the playable list while the other Vizards are partner characters, which is kinda crappy but makes sense since they haven't fought in the manga yet. But yeah, having Lisa playable is freakin' awesome. Though she reminds me too much of Nemu in fighting style since both have the CL spinning bird kick move. However, Nemu's SBK was made up for the game while Lisa's SBK was a move Kubo drew in the manga. When I first saw that move when reading the manga, I immediately thought of Nemu from HtS 3. Aside from Lisa and Grimmjow, there isn't anything else new & improved that makes me want to play the game. With a month left, I hope there'll be a few more new characters added (ie. more Arrancars and Espadas).

There's been a lot of game news coming from retailers that hint at NA releases. First there was the GBA port of Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Phoenix Wright 3) and I just found out that One Piece Unlimited Adventure (Wii) was given Summer/August 2007 US release in another retailer's database. Interesting, though I can't play that game in Eng. since I never heard/watched the show in Eng. I'm just too used to the JPN cast. Plus, the game would be major spoilerific for NA viewers, i mean Gear 3 Luffy is in the game!!!!! Meanwhile, I finally got my DJ MAX Portable 2 Night Black Limited Edition today. Haven't opened it yet, thus I will take pictures and post it up in the next few days to let y'all see the beauty within :).

Meanwhile, take a gander at this mini order that i took a shot of late last week. It consists of my ongoing JPN mangas like Shi ga Futari wo Wakatsu Made Until Death do us Part vol.4 & Rappi Rangai vol.3. I'm actually considering dropping Rappi Rangai cuz Tanaka Hosana's art seems to be getting a little worse. The story is going at a snail's pace. The action is mediocre and fanservice is weak (though there's still a good chunk, up to the point where i find it excessive and annoying...can u believe that?! X_X). I still love Until Death Do Us Part ^_^. I also finally got Gear Fighter Dendoh Memorial Book after delaying it for 3 months. The book isn't anything special as it's simply another guide for everything Dendoh. It's all old artwork appearing that has appeared in previous Dendoh books as well as Hisayuki's artbook. There's just some updates to the Dendoh swag collection. Thus, it's only another book for Hisayuki whores like me ^^.

Since I've been talking about starting a 'theme' for a while now, i'm gonna finallly start it up today. In the upcoming posts, see if you can guess what the artworks have in common. Today:

And tomorrow...NHL PLAYOFFS START!!! OMG!!! WOOT!!
Note: I'll probably have Famitsu scores added to this post later tonight or tomorrow morning cuz I don't feel like doing a post tomorrow.

here it is, Famitsu scores:
Famitsu
Super Paper Mario (Wii, Nintendo): 9 / 9 / 9 / 8 - (35/40) - Magnifico! as expected from NA reviews last week
Furu Furu Park (Wii, Taito): 6 / 6 / 6 / 5 - (23/40)
Lise no Atelier: Ordre no Renkinjutsushi (NDS, Gust): 6 / 5 / 7 / 6 - (24/40)
Gakuen Alice: WakuWaku * Happy Friends (NDS, Kids): 5 / 4 / 6 / 6 - (21/40)
Nodame Cantabile (NDS, Bandai Namco): 6 / 7 / 7 / 6 - (26/40)
Ouran Koukou Host Bu (PS2, Idea Factory): 7 / 7 / 7 / 6 - (27/40)
Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] (PS2, Kadokawa Shoten): 8 / 8 / 7 / 6 - (29/40)

Dengeki PS

Final Fantasy Tactics: Shishi Sensou (PSP, Square Enix): 80 / 85 / 90 / 70 - Debating about getting this as I have the PSX one lying around somewhere
Persona 3: Fes (PS2, Atlus): 85 / 90 / 80 / 90 - Looking forward to this, even though i'm not finished the JPN version. I hope the US version is Fes. Either way, i have it preordered for the artbook and OST
Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] (PS2, Kadokawa Shoten): 75 / 85 / 90 / 80
Grim Grimoire (PS2, Nippon Ichi): 75 / 80 / 75 / 70
Elvandia Story (PS2, Spike): 75 / 65 / 70 / 70

once again, no reason, 'cept for the fact i luv hisayuki :D.

Beyond the other time

What happened to the good old days when OVAs consisted of animation and art that was near movie-like quality but you could tell where it came up short of being movie-like caliber? What happened to OVAs that were more risque than their TV counterparts, showcasing adult themes and violence? Continuing this trend of non-exciting OVAs (based off TV shows) is Bakuretsu Tenshi Infinity in which I will rant about my negative views of this already negatively viewed TV series (that sooo didn't make sense). However, y'know i still like the series, cuz why would i bitch.

This craptastic OVA was simply a flashback of the adventures of Meg & Jo before they met Sei and Amy. Those who've seen the TV show, would remember that there was a flashback episode regarding how Meg met Jo. This OVA is simply a boring extension of what happened after that flashback. So yeah, ultimately no Sei, which I would have hoped made an appearance as well as what happened at the end of the TV show. Questions left unanswered. WTF?! is Sei & Jo still alive?! I don't know!!! Cuz this OVA was a glorious piece of shiite. Waste of time. Not only was that disappointing, the art & animation weren't even near the quality of the best animated episode from the TV show. If you don't remember, the art & animation in the TV show is very average, inconsistent and most of the time just sucked. The only thing that looked good were the CGI fights (and Sei...most of the time :P). Every spring anime 1st episodes this season look better than this crap and they had almost 3 years to work on this. I had thought about ordering this due to my love for Ugetsu Hakua art (though I never really liked the box art) but I'm glad I didn't go blow 100 bucks (approx) on this crap. The only two things that I regret about not getting the R2 is the 2:40 min special on disc 2 (more on that in a bit) and the booklet w/ some Ugetsu art. However, it's most likely that Funi will release these stuff since they did as stellar job w/ the R1 release. So I'll buy it then.

Now about that Bakuten Project Final special on disc 2, man, was that awesome. This should've been turned into the OVA and not the garbage given on disc one. The special basically presents either a what-if/alternate or (maybe) real ending scenario of the Tenshis (& Kyohei) in the future. However, i'm doubting it's the ending cuz as you can see Sei, Jo and Maria return (YAY!). The designs are different (since it's directed by Ugetsu...w00t) as Meg's new outfit is different from the one in the TV ending. For those who forgot, her TV ending outfit was essentially a the same as Jo's, midriff and all but Meg's shirt was black instead of Jo's navy blue. The design was in Ugetsu's Flamboyant artbook. The outfit she wears in this one is almost the same as her normal yellow outfit in the TV show. The difference is she wears black stockings and the 'Jo-panties'. The red jacket that she wears over this has a fur collar, which is also different from the TV version. Anyways, I could go on and on (ie. 2 guns vs. 1) but i don't feel like it. Just know that this design was revealed in Ugetsu's Parhelia maybe 2 years ago. I just want to say this special looks great overall as you can see it's got more of Ugetsu's style. It does look weird at some points (look @ the screencap of bony Meg o_0). The special is full of fanservice w/ cleavage shots galore, boobies jiggling, some yuri action and nudity. This is what an OVA should be :P, especially in Bakuten's case since it was known for jubblies. The obvious highlight for me was Sei's appearance. Longtime readers and ppl who know me, know how much I adore Sei and am Sei-obsessed (buying the expensive R2 Sei box just for the box and fig, buying more figs x_x). Seeing her as an office lady and then stripping down in her slightly redesigned outift (not as hot as her original outfit but still hawt) was orgasmic :P ^_^. This tease was just not cool on Gonzo's part. Anways, this special slightly redeemed BakuTen by just a bit and it's all cuz of Sei ^^.

The latest Famitsu scores:

DS:
Gyakuten Saiban 4: 9, 9, 9, 9 - AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME. Can't wait to get this game as I should be getting a DS soon. Don't need the other games really as I played the GBAs ages ago.
Chicken Little: 7, 6, 6, 6
Little Mermaid: 6, 6, 6, 6
Mario VS. Donkey Kong 2: 8, 7, 8, 8
Watashi no Rirakkuma: 5, 5, 3, 4

PS2:
SIMPLE 2000: Nekomura no Hitobito: 7, 5, 6, 5
Grim Grimoire: 8, 7, 7, 6 - Yeah this good looking RTS had me skeptical. Decent score but i hate RTS games.

The latest Famitsu also has more details of Biohazard Umbrella Chronicles. While i'm slightly disappointed that the camera is 1st person (ala aim & survivor), i'm still looking forward to it. I do hope it's not like the light gun games though.
The confirmation of Biohazard 4 sounds good too, however, i don't think i'll get it unless it contains bonus stuff not in the PS2 port. It's assumed that the Wii version is the Ultimate BH4 game w/ GC graphics and PS2 extras. So far, that hasn't been announced, just that the you can now wave the wiimote for knife attacks.

I haven't purchased much in the last while. I did come across some good deals on the weekend w/ Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops (only 19 bucks CDN!! and FFVII Advent Children LE (35 bucks CDN). For those who haven't decided on whether FF7 AC LE is worth it, well, it depends on how hardcore you love FF7. I'm only a casual FF7 fan (i'm all about FFVIII man) but w/ the so much Crisis Core media, I wanted Last Order...legally :P. So it's good to have it in pristine DVD quality. The On a Way to Smile novel is a pretty good albeit short read. It sets things up nicely leading to AC. I'm looking forward to AC Complete on BRD. Though I don't know how "complete" it'll be.

Finish off w/ another Hakua BakuTen Inifinity Art.