BLOG -- Recap of January

January started off very busy... then a bit slow... then super, super cold. My mind's been checked out almost all week this week, 'cuz all I think about when I get to the office is getting back home as soon as possible.

I can't wait for Spring to come!

Outings/Events in January:

- Hung out with friends overall x5.

- Had a dentist appointment... ;__;

- Played a prank on a co-worker friend. I definitely needed more eyes! Hehehe :3

- Did an escape room with some co-worker buddies and family. We did Nyctophobia at Omescape Scarborough. We made it out, wheeee!

- Survived a sad, sad snow day. It started snowing around noon and didn't stop at all for the rest of the day.

- Had a revelatory dream. I won't share it, hahaha.

- Had a last-minute vacation day.

- Stayed over at my sister's place x0.


- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn achievements / news: 
-My subscription is still expired.

- Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius achievements / news: 
-My rank is currently 176 (yay I can leave the game alone for 14 hours 50 mins)
-I took a risk and chose Ang from that Fan Festa summon

Exposures:

- (Restaurant): Star King -- This has pretty yummy fried rice.

- (Food place): Cacao 70 -- It's pricey, but I enjoyed what I tried.

- (Mobile game): Food Fantasy -- I tried this out while searching for SINoALICE. The story and characters aren't very interesting, but the unit designs are really nice and cute.

Finished...

Watching:

- (Movie): Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse -- This was amaaaaaaaazing.

- (Movie): Cannibal Holocaust -- I steeled myself before watching this movie. The animal mutilation scenes were horrible and some scenes were really off-putting. But -- I really liked the overall message. If you can get past the uneasy parts, there is a bit more to this movie.

- (Movie): Good Time -- Before watching the movie, I had no idea what it was about. It's really well put-together. Robert Pattison at his best!

- (Movie): Say Anything -- It was okay. I liked a few of the messages.

- (Movie): Split -- This was very, very good. Highly recommended, for an M.Night Shyamalan movie!

- (Movie): Main Street -- I watched this for Colin Firth. It had potential, but overall -- a terrible movie.

- (Movie): The Florida Project -- While I think I understood the main idea, and can acknowledge that it was shot well, I didn't really like the movie. I thought Moonee and her mother were so annoying.

- (Movie): Brigsby Bear -- This was a very interesting concept. I really enjoyed it.

Playing:

- (PS4): Psycho-Pass Mandatory Happiness -- I reached one ending so I'm counting it. It was a little slow to get into, but gets interesting later on. I wish I knew that the game came after the anime... but oh well. I'll be playing this more times to see the other endings.

Reading:

- (Book): Your name. by Makoto Shinkai -- This was very light and enjoyable. It's very similar to the movie with several nuances.

- (Book): Your name. Another Side: Earthbound by Arata Kanoh -- It was a bit slow-paced at certain parts, but overall it was very interesting. Yotsuha's perspective was really amusing. 

Currently... 

Playing (not all at once):

- (PS4): Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below
- (PS4): iDOLM@STER: Platinum Stars
- (PS4): Fez
- (PS4): Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
- (PS4): Nights of Azure
- (PS4): Plague Inc.: Evolved
- (PS3): Borderlands 2
- (PS2): Drakengard
- (PS2): Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis
- (Xbox 360): Magna Carta II
- (3DS): Story of Seasons
- (3DS): Culdcept Revolt
- (3DS): Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker
- (GBA): The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition   
- (PSP): Persona
- (Wii): Fortune Street 
- (PC): UnEpic  
- (PC): King's Bounty: The Legend
- (PC): Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)

Watching:

- (TV Show): The Walking Dead (Season 7)
- (TV Show): Orphan Black (Season 3)
- (TV Show): Criminal Minds (Season 12 - Episode 22)
- (TV Show): Six Feet Under (Season 1 - Episode 3)
- (TV Show): X-Files (Season 11)
- (TV Show): The Strain (Season 2)
- (TV Show): Galavant (Season 1 - Episode 5)
- (TV Show): Game of Thrones (Season 8)
- (TV Show): The Office (Season 4)
- (Anime): Log Horizon (episode 3)
- (Anime): Attack on Titan: Season 2 (episode 8)
- (YouTube): StephenVlogs (Day 501 -- woot, I passed 500 days!)

Reading:

- (Comic): Bodie Troll by Jay Fosgitt


That's it for January. Here are a few pics I took this month.

A crepe from Cacao 70.
It was yummy!

The horrible snow day we had. I was so "traumatized" that 
I requested a last minute vacation day the next day.

A random pic from Psycho-Pass.

This was totally unexpected!

A shot of the prank I played.

Thanks for reading!

As usual, if you have any questions / comments about anything, feel free. :)

Stay warm, take care, and until next time!

THOUGHTS [TV SHOW] -- Game of Thrones Season 2 *SPOILERS*

As mentioned in my last entry, this will contain SPOILERS!! So please don't read unless you have watched Season 2!

For my thoughts on the previous Season: Here

OVERALL THOUGHTS ON SEASON 2

I think overall, aside from maybe a few nice moments, so many unfortunate things happened in Season 2 -- Renly Baratheon being killed (never really got to know this guy); the battle of Blackwater Bay with Tyrion getting injured (I was so fearful for his life!); Theon capturing Winterfell; Theon burning Brandon and Rickon (who turned out to be two farm boys, but still!); Jon being captured by the Wildlings; Jon having to kill Halfhand; Joffrey being Joffrey... only thing that kept me going was needing to see if my favourite characters survived to the end, hahaha.

For me, Tyrion was THE star of Season 2. As I saw more of Tyrion's humanity (and sarcastic wit), I started to think that maybe what Little Finger said about Tyrion ordering the assassination attempt on Brandon was a lie. Once I was comfortable with that line of thinking, Tyrion rose to "favourite character" status almost immediately.

Just to say -- I didn't really buy the romance between Robb and Talisa. It somehow felt a bit forced, and very rushed. Not saying that Robb and Talisa are bad characters or that they don't love each other. I just wasn't convinced.

Sometimes I wonder if Arya had named Joffrey, Cersei, and Tywin to Jaqen H'ghar (Faceless Assassin guy) -- how would the rest of Game of Thrones play out? Was that even possible to request? 

FAVOURITE SCENES / MOMENTS

-When Shae visits Tyrion after the battle of Blackwater Bay, and Shae says "I am yours and you are mine". It was such a beautiful, touching moment. :')

-When Tyrion has conversations with Pycelle, Varys, and Little Finger, giving different secret information to each of them to see who would leak out their information to Cersei. That was really clever and fun to watch!

-When Daenerys has Pree set on fire and then has Daxos and... that girl (Daenerys' backstabbing friend) locked inside Daxos' own vault. Sometime about that was very strong to me.

CHARACTERS - EXTRA THOUGHTS / IMPRESSIONS

Tyrion -- Just gotta say I love this guy, hahaha. He is so cool.

Shae -- I really love Shae as well. I love how she genuinely loves Tyrion. I also like how protective she is of Sansa and how she is a fighter.

Theon -- This guy... I shake my head at him... What a screw-up >_____<.

Brienne -- I like her strength and unbending loyalty.

Joffrey -- I'm just waiting for his end now... He is soooooo horrible.

Ygritte -- Her accent is just the best, hahaha.


And that's it for this blog! Thanks for reading :) 

If you have any thoughts about Season 1-2, even disagreements, feel free to comment. But PLEASE keep any comments within Season 1-2! If you really need to speak about something from the later seasons, please mark it somehow. It's not really for me, but for anybody else who may be reading this entry and are not yet caught up with all the seasons. There's also a comment/message box to the right and those messages should be sent to me directly.

Take care and until the next entry! :)

THOUGHTS [TV Show] -- Game of Thrones Season 1 *SPOILERS*

Well, since I'm now alllll caught up with Game of Thrones -- watching 7 seasons in a span of two months... it was a bit crazy, hahaha -- I thought I'd blog my impressions / thoughts about each season, as I wait along with every other Game of Thrones fan for the final season.

These entries will be SPOILERIFIC, so please don't read them if you haven't yet watched that season!

For each entry I'll be covering my overall thoughts about the season (what I liked and what I didn't like), mention any favourite moments or scenes, and then highlight specific characters if I have any more thoughts about them. Even though I've watched all seasons and have more or less formed "final" thoughts about each character, I'll keep my thoughts limited to what I saw in each season for them.

Okay -- now to my SPOILER-Y thoughts!

OVERALL THOUGHTS ON SEASON 1

When I started Episode 1, it was 11 PM on a weekday. I thought, 'I'll just watch the first episode and then head off to sleep. I'll be rested enough for work tomorrow!'. Within the first 10 minutes I see a series of chopped up dead bodies formed in some circular pattern. Then I see a dead girl stuck to a tree by a knife. Then those dead bodies go missing. Then the dead girl is standing around, "alive" with menacing blue eyes. All of a sudden, I thought, 'Will I even be able to sleep after this?!!!'

Other thoughts also came pouring in: 'What is this?! There are ghosts in this series?! There are supernatural things?'. Before starting Game of Thrones, I only knew that there were dragons. This added supernatural element... was completely unexpected. And scary. Whenever I think of Game of Thrones, I will always remember being traumatized by the first 10 minutes of the first episode!

Overall, I think Season 1 did a good job of introducing the characters and the various areas. I was warned beforehand that Season 1 could be a little disjointed and confusing because there are so many characters and places to learn about... so I watched it with the perspective that each main character had their own separate story. Any characters / places that came in contact with those main characters, unless there was any minglings or mentions of each other, stayed in those separate stories. I think watching with that perspective helped me to follow along -- 'cuz I wasn't wondering about how everybody's story was going to come together and I wasn't expecting it.

Now... I'll flat out say that pretty much all the stories / histories of anything that happened before the main characters kinda went over my head. I was already learning about so many characters (who were alive), I couldn't also follow the going-ons with all the characters in the past. The only things I got from those stories were: Lyanna was kidnapped, raped, and died -- and that a lot of stuff happened in the past for the Targaryens. Before the final season airs, I'll make an effort to learn about the lore and histories.

Even though not too much happened with the Dothraki in the beginning, I often looked forward to any glimpses into that wild, horse-riding world. I thought the relationship between Khal Drogo and Daenerys -- how Drogo became a little less aggressive and more tender with her, and how she slowly let herself into the Dothraki way of life -- I thought it was really sweet. 

When Ned Stark was executed, I was very shocked and upset. He was such a good man. I liked that he stood up for what he believed in, refusing to take part in plans to kill Daenerys to the point of giving up his title as Hand of the King.

FAVOURITE SCENES / MOMENTS

-When Catelyn got Tyrion captured. I think she did a really great job of rallying her father's allies. And all to bring justice to the assassination attempt against her son. What a gal!

-All the interactions with Arya and Syrio Forel, Arya's sword dancing instructor. He was an amazing teacher! *tips hat*

-When Daenerys comes out of the flames with her baby dragons. It was a really cool sight!

CHARACTERS - EXTRA THOUGHTS / IMPRESSIONS

Cersei & Jaime -- I hate these two. Not because of their incestuous relationship (that's their own business -- I could care less about that), but because they wanted Brandon dead for seeing them together.

Joffrey -- I hate this guy so much. Abusing his newfound power and then sentencing Ned Stark to death. What. A. Jerk.

Tyrion -- I hate this guy, too. Even though he was a little bit kind to Brandon by providing documents to let Brandon ride a horse, I kept these thoughts in mind: 'He ordered the assassination attempt against Brandon. I can't trust nor forgive this guy'. I was very much hoping he would fall through the sky prison.

Arya -- Arya is such a tomboy -- and I love her for it! I also really like that she doesn't mind being friends with those of a "lower" social status.

Sansa -- I think Sansa is a fool. She actually genuinely liked Joffrey in the beginning? *shiver* 

Little Finger -- I thought he was reliable and trustworthy, until he put a knife to Ned Stark's throat. I have no idea what to think of him. Did he do what he did because he wanted Catelyn Stark for himself? I just know that I can't fully trust him.

Daenerys -- It's embarrassing to say, but I had no idea how to say Daenerys' name properly after watching season 1. I kept calling her Khaleesi. I like her character growth -- how she starts off a little bit like a doormat and ends up with both gentleness and fire in her spirit.


And that's it for this blog! Thanks for reading :) 

If you have any thoughts about Season 1, even disagreements, feel free to comment. But PLEASE keep any comments within Season 1! If you really need to speak about something from the later seasons, please mark it somehow. It's not really for me, but for anybody else who may be reading this entry and are not yet caught up with all the seasons. There's also a comment/message box to the right and those messages should be sent to me directly.

Take care and until the next entry! :)

BLOG -- My Movie-Watching History (in Theatres) [2018]

Here is my movie-watching (in theatres) history for 2018. I did not get to watch as many movies as I had liked.

For me, 2018 was kinda "just okay" for movies -- maybe a handful of really good, really awesome titles... and then a lot that were "just okay". Maybe I'm getting more critical? Or maybe there were actually a lot of really great movies and I just missed watching them?


Now... even though I've covered these throughout the year in my end-of-month blogs, here are all the movies I've watched in theatres for 2018, with additional commentary for most, if not for all.

SPOILER ALERT WARNING!!

Since I will be mentioning a good number of movies in this blog, some of them will contain spoilers. Any movie that will contain a spoiler will be marked. If you see that spoiler mark and you don't want to be spoiled, scroll down to the next movie!

MOVIE: Black Panther [SPOILER]
DATE: February 27
RATING (OUT OF 5): ****

COMMENTS: I loved the sibling banter. It took me a good while to realize the actress who plays The Walking Dead's Michonne was in it -- which likely spoiled something major for me for The Walking Dead *sigh*... >____<.

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MOVIE: Annihilation [SPOILER]
DATE: March 13
RATING (OUT OF 5): ***

COMMENTS: It's a thought-provoking and uneasy movie. I have my own ideas about the ending. I think that during the course of Lina's recounting, the shimmer refracted in Lina's body so much that she was no longer Lina by the end of the movie.

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MOVIE: Ready Player One
DATE: March 30
RATING (OUT OF 5): ***

COMMENTS: I loved parts of it, and then other parts I kept thinking about how plausible it was in relation to real life movements. The second challenge was the best!

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MOVIE: A Quiet Place
DATE: April 17
RATING (OUT OF 5): ****

COMMENTS: Very intense at times. Other times -- Omg, why would you do this?! I don't think I'd be able to live in a world where I had to stay quiet for my whole life.

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MOVIE: Incredibles 2
DATE: July 3rd
RATING (OUT OF 5): ****

COMMENTS: So... awesome! Every scene with Elastigirl in action -- super amaaaaaazing! <3. Everything was so well done. It was totally worth the long, long wait.

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MOVIE: Ant-Man and the Wasp
DATE: August 28
RATING (OUT OF 5): ****

COMMENTS: The same kind of nice humour as the first movie. I liked everything except for the ending.

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MOVIE: Nekrotronic
DATE: September 9
RATING (OUT OF 5): ****

COMMENTS: Just from the premise it could have been a really campy, bad movie, but it wasn't. It was crazy and wild. Good job.

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MOVIE: A Simple Favor
DATE: September 18
RATING (OUT OF 5): ***

COMMENTS: It was unexpectedly funny. The plot twists and reveals were pretty interesting, too.

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MOVIE: House with a Clock in its Walls
DATE: October 9
RATING (OUT OF 5): ****

COMMENTS: Some of the plot points were really predictable, but I liked the overall themes and messages. I would love to learn magic and I love my own weirdness.

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MOVIE: Ralph Breaks the Internet
DATE: November 24
RATING (OUT OF 5): *****

COMMENTS: This was great. It was worthy of being a sequel to Wreck-it Ralph.

You can read my review of it here.

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Movies I wanted to watch in theatres but missed:

Red Sparrow

Avengers: Infinity War

Deadpool 2
Widows

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Movies I wanted to watch, BUT GLAD that I missed:

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Winchester

For fun, below are a couple polarizing video reviews for Ready Player One (where I can agree with both perspectives!):

Chris Stuckmann's review.

Review from YourMovieSucksDOTorg (YMS).

This one is SPOILER-HEAVY so don't watch this 

unless you have watched Ready Player One. 

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That's it for this blog. Thanks for reading! If you have any comments about anything (even if you greatly disagree with anything I've said, or if this made you think about the movies you've watched and want to share), feel free to comment! :)

BLOG (PERSONAL) -- Perspectives/Memories in 2018, Top Whatevers, Top Exposures, and New Year's Resolutions

Well, here is the long blog I do every year -- taking an overall look at the previous year. I actually had meant to post this last week, but I ended up spending a lot more time than I expected. Once it reached 3 AM the next day... I decided it may be best to look at this again with fresh eyes next week instead of trying to post two blog entries in the same day.

One of the neatest places I visited while in Japan this year.

First thing is a review of my New Year's Resolutions in 2018 and how I did with them:

(REVIEW) New Year's Resolutions for 2018
- Spend at least 100 hours on learning Python -- HALF (I hope I'll remember whatever I learned!)

- Spend at least 100 hours on learning Japanese -- NOPE (I spent about 15 hours on this =__=)

- Create 2 text-based games -- HALF (As soon as I finished the first game, I started the second one and realized I wouldn't be able to finish it by the end of this year ;__; [I started the second game with one week left in the year, bahhh...]) 

- Create at least 1 story (short story, play, whatever) -- HALF (It's only half-finished *sigh*)

- Watch a minimum of 300 episodes' worth of anime I haven't watched that are in my collection (movies count as 1 episode per 30 minutes runtime, rounded down) -- DONE (Yu Yu Hakusho | Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters | Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie | Eden of the East (TV series) | Shiki | Night Head Genesis | Eden of the East: King of Eden | Eden of the East: Paradise Lost | Another | Princess Jellyfish | Samurai Pizza Cats || + Chobits)

- Read a minimum of 800 pages' worth of books I haven't read that are in my collection (manga and comics included) -- DONE (Ouran High School Host Club (Vol. 14 - 18) by Hatori Bisco || + 3 more books)

- Listen to at least 10 (or ALL) music CDs I haven't listened to that are in my collection -- DONE (I did the former and I included digital albums as well. Savage Genius: Forever... | Ys: The Oath in Felghana -Musical Selections | GReeeeN: Ure D | Crystal Kay feat. Namie Amuro: REVOLUTION | Tari Tari: Shiokaze no Harmony | Braedon Mitchell: Untitled single | Utena Movie: Adolescence of Utena ~ Adolescence Rush | Steins; Gate | Persona 5 | Your Name. || + 1 more CD)

- Watch at least 10 (or ALL) movies / TV shows I haven't watched that are in my collection (TV shows will be counted by season) -- DONE (I did the former. X-Men Origins: Wolverine | The Wolverine | Whiteout | Moulin Rouge | The Rats | Devil's Advocate | The Debt | Dragonheart | Dragonheart: A New Beginning | Creative Control || + 36 more movie / TV shows)

- Expose myself to at least 5 games that I physically own -- DONE (Monster Hunger: World | Nights of Azure | Ys: The Oath of Felghana | Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm | 428: Shibuya Scramble || + 3 more games)

- Expose myself to at least 5 games that I digitally own -- DONE (Swap Quest | Hue | Tricky Towers | Color Guardians | Abzu || + 30 more games)

- Find 500 hours and put that towards catching up on either the Atelier, Ys, or Shin Megami Tensei (SMT includes Persona, DDS, Devil Summoner, etc.) series -- HALF (Due to this resolution, I beat Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm, and Ys: The Oath in Felghana. I also started playing Devil Survivor 2.)

- Beat at least 10 games that I physically own -- HALF (I was three games away from finishing this Resolution! Monster Hunter: World | Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | Chulip | Ys: The Oath in Felghana | Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm | 428: Shibuya Scramble | Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight)

- Beat at least 5 games that I digitally own -- DONE (Corpse Party | Shutshimi | Waku Waku Sweets | Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reigns | Binding of Isaac: Rebirth || + 1 more game)

- Reduce my overall collection! This would be my collection for books, video games, music, movies, TV shows, figures -- DONE (I reduced my overall collection by 75 items. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like that made much of a difference to my room. u___u)

To sum up: Out of my 14 resolutions, I completed 10.5. My reaction? ... *sigh* :/ As usual I'm not happy. I want to be able to complete all my resolutions some day! But, well... when I think about where a lot of my time was going to last year (*cough* work *cough*), it's not really a surprise that some of my resolutions, especially the ones that required a lot of Time, couldn't be completed. 

I've been told before that my previous resolutions kinda get in the way of what I want to do... and I can agree, but only to an extent. It is true that a lot of my Time is already spoken for if I aim to complete my resolutions... but I don't think it's always a bad thing. I think it helps me to prioritize and focus on things I really want to do. Even so... I'll try to be a bit more lenient on myself this year.

Below are my resolutions for 2019:

New Year's Resolutions for 2019
- Spend at least 100 hours on learning Python / Ren'py
- Spend at least 100 hours on learning Japanese
- Create at least two games using any of the platforms / engines I have  
- Create at least 1 story (short story, play, fanfiction, whatever)
- Watch ALL the anime I haven't watched that are in my collection
- Subscribe to Crunchyroll and finish watching at least one series
- Read a minimum of 1500 pages' worth of books I haven't read that are in my collection (manga and comics included)
- Listen to at least 10 (or ALL) music CDs I haven't listened to that are in my collection
- Watch at least 15 (or ALL) movies / TV shows I haven't watched that are in my collection (TV shows will be counted by season)
- Expose myself to at least 5 games that I physically own
- Expose myself to at least 5 games that I digitally own
- Find 200 hours and put that towards catching up on either the Mother or Shin Megami Tensei series (SMT includes Persona, DDS, Devil Summoner, etc.)
- Beat at least 10 games that I physically own. At least two should be from the Atelier series 
- Beat at least 5 games that I digitally own
- Reduce my overall collection! This would be my collection for books, video games, music, movies, TV shows, figures
- Clean my room. At least half of the floor should be bare

I've relaxed a couple of the resolutions this time, but have made a couple others more challenging. The "Watch ALL anime" resolution actually won't take too long to do, since I only have one series and two movies left to go through. 

I decided to be more lenient with the "Create games" resolution because over the past couple years, I've come to own / have access to different game-making software (like GameMaker, RPG Maker MV, etc), and I'd like to dabble in them. One of the two games I make, though, will definitely still be text-based (the game I couldn't finish last year).

The "Find 200 hours" resolution is much more lenient, but that's because some of the games I play will be games I don't own. I've been meaning to finish Mother 1, and play Mother 3 for a long time now... and both those games aren't localized. I also want to finish SMT 1 and play through SMT 2 -- and SMT 2 is not localized. Playing through those games won't contribute to any of my other resolutions, but I really want to do this.

One of the biggest challenges will be... cleaning my room! I just have too much stuff and not enough space. But I can't let things go unless I know for sure that I don't want them... hence why so many of my resolutions still surround going through my various collections. It will be a big struggle, hahaha.


2018 in Review
Honestly... 2018 largely felt like 2017.

I mean, aside from my trip to Japan, it felt like much of what I did in 2018 was kinda the same as what I did in 2017. I guess having generally the same resolutions didn't really help with varying my life, especially since more of my time was spent working this year... meaning less time to finish my resolutions... meaning less "free time" to veer away from my resolutions and do something else.

Time-wise, so much of it was spent working that I neared my breaking point at least a couple times. I know that when compared to the very, very late hours others have worked, my time spent might be considered "not a big deal". But... my body and mind just aren't built for it -- especially when I place so much value on Time... I really hope 2019 will be better.

Regarding my outlook on Life, I still thought a lot about the "hard" questions (the "hard" questions that I just can't share... sorry)... but I also lived more in the now instead of worrying crazily about the future, which I think was a good thing. I mean, I still thought about the future and "prepped" a little bit for it, but did my best to not feel overwhelmed.

My "theme song" this year: "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman. The lyrics really speak to me, as I often feel like an "oddity" and out-of-place from Society (though... I think I feel the latter 'cuz I choose to place myself there. I may elaborate more in a future blog). I would have shared me singing this song from one of my karaoke sessions, but my phone sucked at recording the audio.

"This is Me" from The Greatest Showman.

I love the lyrics.

Notable/Significant Memories/Events in 2018
Stan Lee's passing: *tips hat*.

Travelled to Japan with my sister and her hubby: It is always a treat. I wish I could stay in Japan for longer... *sniffle*

Bought a mansion in Final Fantasy XIV: Even though I don't really play Final Fantasy XIV anymore... this is still an accomplishment!

Attended Fan Expo 2018: This will always be mentioned.

My grandfather passed away: *bows humbly*.

"Attending" Extra Life for the first time: This was a very enjoyable experience for me. I'm already looking forward to next year's event. I'll be sure to set aside money just for this!

Stumbled upon StephenPlays, StephenVlog, MalMakes: I know this may seem like a small thing, but this is pretty major for me. I go more in detail later in this entry.

Played the same post-it notes prank I played years ago for a co-worker friend's birthday: This was more time-consuming than the last time -- but was soooo worth it! x3

Spending time with my friends: This is always going to be mentioned here. I wish I could have more time to spend with them.

Played soccer with co-workers once: This was a really fun time, despite all the bruises on my feet and legs.

Got a new cell phone: This was the first time I bought a cell phone outright instead of for free via a contract. I just didn't want to lock myself to a plan that costed much more than my current one.


Top Whatevers in 2018
This is my top list of what was released in 2018 that I experienced. There won't be much here since I rarely experience anything current.

(Movie): Ralph Breaks the Internet
Out of all movies I watched this year (which weren't too many), I really enjoyed the friendship between Ralph and Vanellope and how things progressed for them. I know the movie got mixed reviews, but it really hit a personal chord with me. 

If you are curious, here is my review of the movie.

(Video Game): 428: Shibuya Scramble [PS4]
This was a long anticipated game for me, and it was soooooooooooo goooooooooood! The music, the story, the characters. What. A. Ride. If you don't mind visual novels, I highly recommend!

Here's my review of the game.

(Song): U R Not Alone by GReeeeN
There were several songs I really liked from GReeeeN's Ure D album, but I loved this one the most. I don't know what the lyrics mean exactly, but it sounds like a song that's telling me to keep fighting for my dreams -- and that I won't be alone in the journey :')

The video below is a shortened version of "U R Not Alone", because the complete official version just doesn't exist on YouTube (as of this writing)!

"U R Not Alone" from GReeeeN. This is a shortened version.

Top Exposures in 2018
This is my top list of what I was exposed to this year, regardless of what year it really came out in. Any titles with two years indicate the original release date, then the English release date. If I list here the same thing from my "Top Whatevers", I will also mention a runner-up.

(Anime): Yu Yu Hakusho (1995/2002)
It's an old series -- but it's still so awesome! Even though I've watched it and know what happens, I can still feel genuinely tense and worried and sad and happy. I was actually re-listening to the series today while writing this blog. 

Kurama is still *muah* perfection! Hahaha <3 <3 <3

Here's my review of the series.

(Movie): Rambo: First Blood (1982)
It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I've never watched Rambo: First Blood in its entirety until this year. I like that even though Rambo is basically a "killing machine", there's a human side to him, too. Also, Trautman is the best, hahaha.

(Video Game): Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth [3DS] (2014)
For me, this game was the perfect mix of Etrian Odyssey and Persona 3/4. It actually took a lot from Etrian Odyssey -- from the map-making feature, to some of the skills and battle mechanics. This allowed for a very unique game-playing experience for a Persona game... and I LOVED IT!!! I also loved the character interactions, the story, and the music. This game satisfies me greatly, and I'm praying really hard that Persona Q2 will get localized!!! I want to experience this unique Persona game-playing experience again! :3

(Song - English): Superhero by Simon Curtis (2011)
I consider this the "bada** song of the year". It's a song that gets me pumped up and encourages me to keep "fighting". I wish I could sing this for karaoke!

"Superhero" by Simon Curtis.

The AMV is "Spell Dwellers" from whispersreloaded.
It may contain spoilers from Puella Magi Madoka Magica 
so don't watch if you don't wanna be spoiled!

(Song - Japanese): Flowers in the Rain from Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm (2006/2007)
I don't know what this song means... but I like it. I really like how the song is used in Atelier Iris 3. If I can find the English translations to the lyrics that would be great -- so I can actually understand it!

"Flowers in the Rain" from Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm.
It sounds really nice!

(YouTubers): Stephen & Mal Georg (StephenPlays, StephenVlog, MalMakes)
If you haven't noticed me blabbing about Stephen and Mal Georg for the past couple months (and earlier in this blog), well, I'm gonna blab about them again. I am sooooo glad I found them by fluke when I was looking up Chulip gameplay videos for help with kissing a specific NPC. And I am sooooooooooo glad I remembered them and decided to watch more videos -- first on StephenPlays, then some videos on StephenVlog, and then occasionally videos on MalMakes.

They are simply wonderful folks. Getting small glimpses into their lives (with their friends and family) -- I laughed, cried, felt joy, felt pain -- all sorts of emotions. It's cheesy to say, but their videos can really light up my day. That Extra Life day will be a day I will always cherish! 

Also, Stephen and Mal are Mother fans -- squeee, that is so awesome! xD

I'm hoping to be able to budget enough so that I can support them a bit more in 2019.

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And that's that for my review of 2018.

In my last entry, I noted a few things I wanted to do this year:

-Karaoke more often (I don't think I karaoked more than last year... but I did karaoke a few times!)
-Have more space in my room (please please please let this one happen! lol) (This didn't happen x()
-Blog more (I think this is a given) (This started happening partway through the year!)

For 2019, below are some things I'd like to do:

-Sleep more
-Create more
-Have more space in my room *fingers crossed!* x____x

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! Below is a % breakdown of my spending in 2018 compared with 2017. I don't list it here, but I was very close to NOT saving my target amount. Not saying that I was a total spendthrift -- I just put my money towards a few unexpected things. This breakdown excludes necessities like my cell phone plan, transportation expenses, etc. Click on the image to enlarge it.

I'm quite glad that my spending in games (for both physical and digital) has gone down a bit. A large chunk of the "Misc" spending came from the cell phone I bought, and the donations I made for Extra Life and Movember. If I excluded those from "Misc", then "Misc" would be more closer to the 2017 spending. I'm kinda surprised that I didn't buy any figures this year. Hopefully next year my DVD/Blu-Rays spending will be nearly non-existent (since I want to shift to Netflix or some other streaming service!).


Thanks again for reading! May 2019 be filled with funny moments, witty sarcasm (if you like that stuff), and all-round lovely memories. Take care, stay safe, and *hug* "U R Not Alone"! :)