The Gendie-Bendie of Suzumiya Haruhi

Maybe its cuz I never bother to surf forums, but I’ve only recently found out bout the new Suzumiya Haruhi Genderbending project. Apprently, it started cuz some people on 2chan thought it would be funny if the genders in Haruhi were all reversed, and thus, started to make fanart (as they ussually do on 2chan). Then it was blown outta proportions into this hugeass fan based project, and people are even petitioning for an official anime season based on it.

So, what comes outta the Genderbender of Suzumiya Haruhi? Much lolwut. Personally, I find almost anything that has the word genderbender associated with it to be instant win (of course there are exceptions that quite often result in instant fail). Asides from the fanart, there are like thousans of doujins, (unofficial) merchandise, and a doujin game is in the making iirc. People started digitally tuning the image songs from the anime so they’d sound like their bended counterpart. Some were extremely good, some failed… well, alot failed. Baka-tsuki is also doing a parodied genderbender translation of the original novels, so check those out at their website (google it, too lazy to link).

Well then, I’ll start by introducing those who are unaware to the new SOS-dan!:

From left to right:

• Itsuko: щ(ﾟДﾟщ) rejoice fellow males! You will no longer have to feel awkward or desperately try to make it to the puking bag when Itsuki is being ambiguously gay! Why? Cuz he and Kyon are now female, thats why! This project has blessed us with possibilities far beyond your wildest imaginations! Not to mention she’s pretty openly lesbian in the doujins and 4koma I’ve seen, but that’s just doujins and 4komas. Anyway, all hail yurism!!
• Haruki/Haruhiko: personally I prefer Haruki, but meh. Anyway, yeah, Haruhi ist now a freakin’ dood. I could pass off her antics cuz she wus a girl but… well, we’ll just have to wait and see how this comes out. Oh yeah, and instead of pulling on Kyon’s collar/necktie, he now pulls on Kyonko’s ponytail (which is kinda cruel) or just carry her like a ricebag. On a side note, I feel that the hairband is outta place, and personally prefer the earphones version of Haruki better, but this was the best picture I could find of the entire group.
• Kyonko: YES! Kyon is no longer the ordinary sarcastic and gloomy guy with “sigh” for a quote that he once was. He has now been transformed into the sarcastically tsundere moe Kyonko with “sigh” for a quote (if you didn’t understand a word of what I just said, I suggest you use wiki). I mean, Kyonko is apprently so moe that fanboys all over the world are fainting at the sight of her… and I’d AGREE O.o She’s been designed to take full advantage of Kyon’s ponytail fetish, it seems. Google for more glorious pictures of the moe tsundere Kyonko.
• Yuuki: yes isn’t Japanese great? Add an extra ‘u’ and Yuki is transformed into her male counterpart. In contrast to his original form, Yuuki is now the tallest member of the SOS-dan. He’s still Yuki inside though, and this pretty much makes the hordes of fangirls world-wide worship him, and drool uncontrollably just by seeing an image of him. No glasses Yuuki is kinda weird though, for sum reason.
• Mitsuru: Mikuru hasn’t changed much, really. He’s still short, and girly-faced. Not much to say about him, he’s still being forced to dress in costumes, which I don’t feel that, uh, excited about >_> But the wimpy personality is kinda weird on a guy… Fans are speculating that the “power” that once resided in her chest area has now been relocated to a more, er, appropiate place…  as shown below in this 4koma I found:

Anyway, heres an image of the original SOS-dan for those who don’t know them(and I suggest you drown yourself in the glorious win that is Haruhism this damned instant), and a tribute to the incredibly moe tsundere Kyonko (yes, I like using that line, so sue me):

                                                   

Fame for Fail

As some of you might have (the heart to) notice, I haven’t posted since forever. Why? A question so easy a first grader could answer it. I had EXAMS >_> and ESSAYS… Don’t get me started on those. Anyway, my fountain of philosophical knowledge has been totally depleted from such events, so I’m quite afraid that I’m simply not up to the task of being sarcastic today. Right, so Johnie and I stumbled upon the horror known as Hollywood’s new Dragonball movie (actually Gunboy just kinda threw it in our face). Yes, DRAGONBALL.

Now, I wasn’t as skeptical about this as I normally am for almost everything other form of entertainment on the face of this planet. HOWEVER, I checked out the website that Gunboy threw me, and realised that hopes exists only to be horribly crushed. So, Imma go over the few things that shocked me the most:

Basically this movie is centred around the events of the original Dragonball no? So Goku is like what, 14? Not to mention he looks like a ten year old in the manga/anime. Yet, he’s played by Justin Chatwin whos 26 years old… Thats like twice the age. Not to mention he doesn’t look anything like Goku, yet the director thinks he does. I advise him to go see a doctor >_>. Basically everyone’s alot older, and Bulma’s hair ain’t blue. I got nothing for the blue hair, but I’m sure some fans will be epicly pissed off about that.  Btw, Johnie was extremely dissapointed when he found out that Emmy Rossum plays Bulma, cuz he has the idea that people associated with classical couldn’t stoop to such lows. Oh yeah, Chow Yun Fat doesn’t look pervy enuf to be Master Roshi, nor thin enuf…

I got this from wiki but:

•  A large amount of Dragonball was shot in an abandoned jeans factory => ’nuff said.
•  In adapting the Dragon Ball manga, the futuristic cities were kept, however, the anthropomorphic creatures and talking animals (such as Turtle, Oolong and Puar) were dropped => Animal mistreatment? Basically we have no talking animals…
• Goku is described as ”a powerful warrior who protects the Earth from an endless stream of rogues bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects from which the film takes its name”. Which is true enough for DBZ…. but this is Dragonball…

Well, this movie screams of major FAIL. I’d be suprised if it proves me wrong… I also feel that this post will rouse major flames and hate mails from ‘fans’, but meh, no one cares. Anw, Imma finish off with dialogue between me and Johnie:

Johnie: …
Shiki: dood
Shiki: i totally agree with u
Shiki: i du NOT wanna c dis movie
Johnie: well actually
Johnie: download it => ehem, FBI agents out there, he’s just kiddin
Shiki: yea
Johnie: then keep it smwhere safe
Shiki: and?
Johnie: l8r on use it as an instrument of torture
Johnie: for ur kids
Shiki: …
Johnie: … no that’s actually TOO harsh
Johnie: on ur enemies
Shiki: man
Shiki: just
Shiki: man…
Johnie: … i know

Model Birthday Gundam 00

Ah~ I feel what one feels after spending 5 and a half hours working nonstop on a gundam model – like krap. But other than that, I also feel a sense of accomplishment when looking at my awesome 1/100 Gundam Kyrios that I got for my birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday me!). Anyway, I’m not gonna go into the details of the kit or review it if thats what your expecting, I’m too freakin’ tired and I need to save my energy for the major revision-ing that I must do tonight. Not to mention I don’t have that sort of skill or experience, seeing as how this is my third model (the previous two being 1/100 High Grade Strike Freedom and Master Grade Freedom). Yes, I’m a Freedom fanboy, so sue me.

Anyway, the kit itself was 1/100 with no grade, but I’d have to say that it surpasses my 1/100HG Strike Freedom by FAR. Not to mention its slightly bigger, but that could just be cuz the Kyrios is bigger than the Strike Freedom… kinda weird though… The joints on the Kyrios are tough (for lack of a better word) and help keep it stable. As opposed to my Strike Freedom who can’t even hold its guns properly anymore… the only complaints I have about the joints is that the ones attaching the Kyrios’s legs to its lower torso is pretty weak. So it does those ballet spreads alot, unless you position it right…

However, this kit is still lacking a few details to make it comparable to a MG. The interior has little to no detail. The torso is definitely lacking in the shoulder joints department. Not to mention ya can’t open the cockpit (but that’s to be expected though). The fingers are those snap-on-for-posing ones, meaning they can’t move. The head is pretty detailed though, and other than the things mentioned, its VERY near to a MG. Oh yeah, its slightly smaller than my Freedom, so I guess its still 1/100 after all.

The one thing I would praise Bandai INFINITELY for are those new GN beam sabers. Their shape is slightly flat so it makes them SO MUCH MORE stable than the round beam sabers. And the ones in this kit had pretty high quality too. Oh yeah, I found the stickers to be slightly dissapointing. The green ones for the camera/lights thingies on the GN Gundams are very dark, so it looks kinda black if you don’t pay close attention. And the one on the Kyrios’s forehead should be dark green with green in the middle, but Bandai decided to be lazy and put it as green and silver/white in the middle, which kinda pissed me off since it made the head look stupid. The hand joints are also pretty weak, and they fell off a few times while I was trying to transform the Kyrios into its waverider mode.

Anyway, overall I’d give it a 8/10, considering how it doesn’t have a grade. I’m definitely looking forward to the MG releases of gundam Exia and gundam 00. 00 will prolly take awhile though… Oh yes, I’ve also noticed how I’ve neglected the philosophical side to this blog, so I’ll try to get into rambling about something next time. For now, enjoy these pictures with krappy resolution and lighting of my 1/100 Gundam Kyrios model, and thanks everyone for getting me this awesome model and informing me that Canberra actually has a place that sells em >_>:

The Kyrios posing with two GN beam sabers, thus ripping off the Exia.

Kyrios with its evil hugeass claw pose.

Kyrios in Waverider mode.

SOLDIER

So, some of you might have noticed that I haven’t posted anything for awhile now. Well, thats cuz I wus busy with exam preparation and uh… other stuff… Alright its cuz I was hooked on Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core… But I DID finish an essay in three days, so cut me some slack. Anyway, Crisis Core is the latest instalmentof the Final Fantasy 7 series for the PSP. Basicaly tells the events before FF7 took place. Today, this’ll be the first ever GAMES post! Yes! Glad that you’re glad to hear it!

As expected of Square Enix, people… Just the freakin first minute of the game blew me away. The graphics are EXCELLENT, as always, both in cutscenes and in-game. Man, this is probably the PSP game with the best graphics for years to come. The summon are all done cutscenestyle, and MAN are they… amazing. Odin’s summoning was my particular favourite, just for the sheer awesomeness of it. Even the SLIGHTEST emotions are displayed with great detail, and not only just in the cutscences. The only thing I’d have to complain about the graphics is that… well, the characters’ eyes are… unusually big. Well, not TOO big, but… bigger… its kinda in your face. I guess it helps with displaying SOLDIERs’ makoeyes but… They kinda freak me out, you know? Also, theres like this over-abuse of usage of flip cell phones. I mean, we noticed this in Advent Children but, this is just too much. They use it everywhere, ain’t it inconvenient? I mean you gotta take em out and flip the things. Not to mention Zack keeps his in his back pocket… and he falls on his ass alot fighting monsters… wouldn’t it break? Anyway, that aside, graphics was pure pwnage.

As for gameplay, CC is reminescence of Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, really. Basically you control Zack, equip him with Materia and weapons. In battle, you use the R & L buttons to scroll commands, which include attack, materiausage, items… The battles are action packed, but still having that Final Fantasy feel to it. In CC you can fuse materias and add extra statuses for them such as +1MAG or +10%HP, etc… And if you know how to do it, you can max stats without cheating. But don’t think it makes Zack uber. Cuz as long as it aint cheating… Square’s got something to deal with it. MY only complaint is that you can’t jump. It doesn’t hinder battles or movements or anything but, kinda pisses me off how you can’t jump >_> Then again, doesn’t really matter. Battles start off as easy but… you’ll see…Theres also that problem with… the DUBBING… I swear, if only I didn’t slack off and chat about anime and manga in my Japanese classes I wouldn’t have to put up with the dubbing. I mean the dubbing is expected from Square but, MAN sometimes its SO freakin awkward! Aerith for example, oh goduniversal knowledge, I know the voice fits her but she’s sooooo weird. And its too highpitched… Sigh, damn my laziness… Other than the main story, you’ve got missions, which are side quests for you to get stuff, level up, etc… Theres about 250 of em… Zas right, two hundred and fifty OR MORE freakin’ missions. Seriously, it gets tedious after awhile… Oh right, you also see Yuffie alot in the missions… it’s pretty funny really, can’t imagine that she was such a cry-baby, she’es still the same money loving materia snatching ninja brat though. Too bad she sucks at fighting… Then again, just a lil’ girl.

Uh, I think that pretty much covers it. I mean this game was great, makes me wanna watch Advent Children again. I’d play FF7 (on the PS1) again, if the graphics didn’t suck so bad and “fully completing” the game didn’t take FOREVER. Sigh, I wich they’d remake it on the PS2 or PSP or sumthing. Why not PS3? HA! Simple… cuz I’m cheap and don’t wanna buy one. That and also cuz the PS3 has alot of krap… like a FEW of my favourite games either dying or getting messed up if they ever touch the PS3… Anyway, here’s my rating:

Graphics: I wish I could go higher, but 10.

Gameplay: 9.5 (Subtracted 0.5 for the freakin missions and the…. dubbing)

Plot: Can’t go over… can I… 10

Overall: 9.8

This game MUST be bought (uh… ehem… uh… DL is also a, ehem, possibility… You don’t even know what DL stands for in this context so don’t patronise me! It could be Dork Land for all you know!). Anyway, graphics and gameplay aside, I would recommend this game for the plot alone… Powerful man, except for the overuse of dreams and honour… you kinda go “YES WE KNOW ALREADY” after awhile. Well, at least we got to see how everyone became emo and died. Uh… did I spoil abit? Well, we all know Zack dies, so yeah, I didn’t do anything wrong >_> Oh yeah, storyline wise, there’re a few bits that are different from the original FF7, as with the bit in Nibelheim (Cloud & Tifa’s hometown, where that infamous “Sephiroth-sama in the fire ring scene happened”, for those who forgot). But, could just be my sucky memory. Haven’t played it in 4 years after all. Anyway, get this game or the Buster Sword will fall down from the sky and deal 99999 damage on your pitiful self. What? Don’t have a PSP? SLAP SLAP! Get a hold of yourself komrade! Go buy one O.O! YES JUST FOR THIS GAME ALONE! Ok, no, I’m joking please don’t go buy one just cuz I sed so don’t sue me I don’t like courts you get krappy food in jail….

Alright, now that I have ‘beaten’ Crisis Core (I WILL go back and beat the krap out of Minerva… someday…) there are a few, heh, games on my list which I shall indulge in after beating the krap out of my exam papers:

• Gundam SEED: Rengou vs. ZAFT (FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM)
• Fate – Battle Colosseum (Chibi Saber and co., what more could you ask for?)
• SD Gundam G Generation Portable (Chibi STRIKE FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM)
• Princess Crown (Come on people, it’s the spiritual predecessor of Odin Sphere, thats all you need)
• Tales of Eternia (Man, I played this like 3 times on the PS1, and thats a lot for a game with 3 discs)

Well zas it for today… Man I ended up writing alot. So finishing off with a quote from CC’s title screen:

“Men cry not for themselves but for their comrades.”

May FF7 creep into your hearts and forever live on as the greatest RPG of all time. Ehem, big exaggeration there…