Seaplanes in Vancouver.
First thing is a review of my New Year's Resolutions in 2019 and how I did with them:
(REVIEW) New Year's Resolutions for 2019
- Spend at least 100 hours on learning Python / Ren'py -- NOPE (I spent about 25 hours on this T___T)
- Spend at least 100 hours on learning Japanese -- NOPE (I spent about 15 hours on this =__=)
- Create at least two games using any of the platforms / engines I have -- NOPE (I started creating a game, but never finished it...)
- Create at least 1 story (short story, play, whatever) -- NOPE (I had ideas floating in my head, but didn't write down anything)
- Watch ALL the anime I haven't watched that are in my collection -- DONE (Devil Survivor 2: The Animation | Persona 3: The Movie #3 - Falling Down | Persona 3: The Movie #4 - Winter of Rebirth)
- Subscribe to Crunchyroll and finish watching at least one series -- DONE (I watched the series that was on my radar for the looooongest time: Parasyte -the Maxim-!)
- Read a minimum of 1500 pages' worth of books I haven't read that are in my collection (manga and comics included) -- DONE (your name. by Makoto Shinkai | your name. Another Side: Earthbound by Arata Kanoh | Acute by Shiori Asahina | Jellyfish Princess (Vol.1) by Akiko Higashimura | Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk | Plight of the Living Dead by Matt Simon || + 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. Marianas Trench: PHANTOMS | Tokyo Active NEETs: Touhou Bakuon Jazz 7,8,12 | Tokyo Active NEETs: Fatal Jazz Orchestra | Kokyo Active NEETs: Touhou Philharmonic Orchestra 5 Flower | Kokyo Active NEETs: Kantai Philharmonic Orchestra | TAMUSIC: FF Violin I+II International | TAMUSIC: FF Violin V, VI || + 44 more CDs)
- 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) -- DONE (I did the former. Say Anything | The Office (Season 1-6) | The Great Gatsby | Dead or Alive | 1408 | Clue | Talladega Nights | You Don't Mess With the Zohan | Ruby Sparks | Hesher || + 1 more movie / TV show)
- Expose myself to at least 5 games that I physically own -- DONE (Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight | Psycho-Pass Mandatory Happiness | Fable III | Viva Pinata | Half-Minute Hero)
- Expose myself to at least 5 games that I digitally own -- DONE (Miitopia | Undertale | Frost | Journey | Dark Cloud || + 2 more games)
- Find 200 hours and put that towards catching up on either the Mother or Shin Megami Tensei (SMT includes Persona, DDS, Devil Summoner, etc.) series -- DONE (Due to this resolution, I beat Mother [with a guide because I didn't want to deal with unnecessary back-tracking], Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker, and Persona 1 [PSP]. I hope to continue playing SMT 1 someday... <3)
- Beat at least 10 games that I physically own. At least two should be from the Atelier series -- HALF (I was two games away from finishing this Resolution! Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight | Psycho-Pass Mandatory Happiness | Dragon Quest Heroes: The World's Tree Woe and the Blight Below | Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker | Persona 1 [PSP] | Half-Minute Hero | Nights of Azure | Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis)
- Beat at least 5 games that I digitally own -- DONE (Undertale | Plague Inc.: Evolved | Journey | Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon | Rhythm Heaven Megamix [I beat this with 10 minutes left to the new year])
- 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 85 items. And yet... my room is still overflowing. u___u)
- Clean my room. At least half of the floor should be bare -- NOPE (In terms of floor space, it seems worse. u___________u)
To sum up: Out of my 16 resolutions, I completed 10.5. That's just over half of my resolutions. I thought I was being more lenient with myself last year by reducing some of my required hours, but I guess it wasn't enough. Working late for the first half of the year didn't exactly help either. So many of my resolutions require a lot of Time to finish.
I'm hoping this year's resolutions will be more lenient and fair... but still challenging.
Below are my resolutions for 2020:
New Year's Resolutions for 2020
- Spend at least 100 hours on learning anything related to programming or game-making
- 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)
- Spend a total of 750 hours going through ANY of my media collection that I haven't experienced yet (watching DVDs / Blu-Rays, playing video games, reading books). Playing MMOs / never-ending phone games don't count
- Finish going through my Xbox360 games
- Read at least 100 chapters (or ALL) of One Piece
- Develop at least one positive habit / routine and keep at it for at least a month
- 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
So this year, I've decided to lump going through my media backlog into one big resolution instead of having multiple smaller ones. I noticed last year that when I finished one of those resolutions (like reading books), I'd often prioritize doing other resolutions even if I wanted to do more reading. With it being one resolution, I'd have more freedom in how I go through my backlog and have it count.
I also think clocking hours spent than finishing a certain amount (beating x amount of games, watching x amount of movies / TV shows) is fairer since every piece of media will share the same weight. It's a bit embarrassing to say... but last year in December, I was doing my best to complete my "beat 10 games I own physically" and "beat 5 games I own digitally" resolutions and I looked up the shortest games I owned and tried playing them. I, uh... don't want to really do that again. I will still try to beat whatever games I enjoy, though, and I will still keep track of what I finished.
My resolution to read more of One Piece will require me to subscribe to some service to get access to the chapters. I think it's time, though -- time to get all caught up again! :)
This year, I have an incentive for myself. If I can finish all of my resolutions, I will treat myself to Miku! When I tried out Miku in Vancouver, I didn't realize there was a Toronto location. Even though I have less resolutions this year, they are still challenging so best of luck to me for finishing them!
2019 in Review
In some ways I was very surprised by 2019. I was expecting it to be similar to 2018 since my New Year's Resolutions were pretty much the same, but it didn't really turn out that way.
When I wasn't a shut-in working on my resolutions or working late (the latter still happened too many times unfortunately), I was out... either hanging out with friends or attending conventions, events, and concerts. I attended five conventions -- the most ever in one year! I even flew to Vancouver to attend one of them (a first for me). Is something shifting? Are my priorities changing?
In terms of where I am with Life, it's still the same, and I don't really expect it to change anytime soon. If I had more money saved up, I would consider moving out. It just doesn't seem possible at this point.
My "theme song" this year: "Poison" from GTO Live-Action (1998 version). I've listened to this song many times long, long ago (I watched the live-action series and loved it), so it's not exactly new to me. Months ago, though, I started listening to it again, and I looked up English translations of the lyrics and the lyrics resonated with me very much. In my heart of hearts, I want to live how I want! :3
I was reading Romaji lyrics and I might have messed up on some of the words.
You might need to click "Play" twice for the video to start.
You might also need to turn up the volume.
This song was originally sung by a male so my voice is very low.
You might need to click "Play" twice for the video to start.
You might also need to turn up the volume.
This song was originally sung by a male so my voice is very low.
I put together a PC and it ran!: I was so happy with this that I marked it as a private Life Event on Facebook. It is my only Life Event on Facebook so far, hahahaha.
Played the most amount of pranks in the office in one year: I did one googly-eyed prank on a co-worker, a Nicolas Cage-themed prank on another co-worker, a post-it note prank as a good-bye to another co-worker (*sniffle*), and a Juicy Fruit-type prank (with my teammates) on my boss. 4 pranks. Not bad. :)
Attended the Man With a Mission concert in Toronto: This was kinda on a whim and I had a blast. It was my first time dancing in the "mosh pit" area and I was sweating like you wouldn't believe! Even though I already took a shower that day, I took one again when I got home.
Attended International Fan Festival in Toronto: This convention... changed my life. Just a little bit. ;)
Attended the Marianas Trench concert in Toronto: This is pretty much a given for me, since I love Marianas Trench so much.
Attended AniRevo Summer in Vancouver: Attending this convention just to see them again... I surprised myself!
Joined the cooking club at work: This was a good club. It exposed me to more cooking methods and introduced me to working with various ingredients. I rarely cook anything at home unless it's chocolate (which will be coming up soon-ish!).
Attended the Hugh Jackman show in Toronto: I'm just happy I got to see Hugh Jackman in the flesh! 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.
Got a really short haircut: The chances of me ever getting such a short haircut again will be low.
Attended Prozzak's farewell tour in Toronto: One of my childhood favourites. I'm glad I finally got to see them in concert.
Participated in the Board Game nights at work: These were always fun nights. I tend to be really shy with group activities, so I was glad I attended. I got exposed to so many new games.
Top Whatevers in 2019
This is my top list of what was released in 2019 that I experienced.
(Movie): Parasite
I have never watched any other movie with such... addictive cinematography. It's not perfect, but very close, and it left such a strong impression on me.
(Anime Movie): Weathering With You
I can see this movie being pretty divisive among viewers, but I fell in the "loved it" crowd. Maybe I'll blog about it sometime.
(Anime): Attack on Titan: Season 3 - Part 2
I think this was the only anime series I watched that was released this year, and it was great.
(Song - English): I've Been Waiting by Lil Peep and iLoveMakonnen feat. Fall Out Boy
I got exposed to this song in the most random way. I was listening to a friend's tracklist on Soundcloud. When the list ended, it autoplayed to a song my friend liked, and it was "I've Been Waiting". I loved it immediately -- so much that I re-listened to it multiple times in that same sitting, bought the song off iTunes that same night, and sung it the next time I went karaoking. I love the lyrics and the "raw-ness" of the vocals!
So far, this is the only song I've ever karaoked and retained the swear word in the lyrics.
I think I mentioned this before but my favourite lyrics are:
"I've been dreaming -- of your uniform -- your uniform of non-conformity".
Top Exposures in 2019
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): Tie between Parasyte -the Maxim- (2014/2015), Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011/2012), and Psycho-Pass Season 1 (2012)
This is the first 3-way tie for top exposures. I just couldn't choose between them! For me, they were all so strong in their own ways. Music, animation style, plot, characterization, invoking strong emotions / ideas -- they all aced those categories.
Of the three, I plan to review Parasyte -the Maxim- sometime as I've been connected to that series since Middle School.
(Movie): Parasite
Runner up would be Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse (2018). This would have been my top movie of 2018... if I had watched it in 2018! Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse was truly a fun, colourful, uniquely animated movie with a nice mix of funny and emotional moments. This is one of the stronger Spider-Man movies out there.
(Video Game): Undertale [PS4] (2015)
What can I say about this game that hasn't already been said? Undertale is a game that strikes my core, and for that, I love it. I'll love it to the ends of the earth! <3
Here's my review of the game.
(Song - English): Undertale from Undertale (2015)
This was kinda a given, since I loved Undertale so much. I won't link to any videos since I'd recommend listening to it for the first time in-game, but trust me -- it's a great, emotional track! :)
(Song - Japanese): Infinity from Persona 5: The Animation (2018)
It was really difficult picking out a song this year -- I was exposed to so much! In the end I settled with this song that grew on me close to the end of the year.
I love the lyrics!
(Musicians): Akai Ryusei (Active NEETs) and TAM (TAMUSIC)These two... I've said it before but I'll say it again: I am so glad I decided on a whim to attend their liveshow at IFFT all those months ago. Their passion, and love for playing -- I felt it in their music. I was lucky to meet them at two conventions in 2019, and I hope I'll be able to meet them again in the future! :)
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And that's that for my review of 2019.
In my last entry, I noted a few things I wanted to do in 2019:
-Sleep more (Considering that I changed my wake up time to 5:30 AM on weekdays... I'd say this didn't happen)
-Create more (This didn't happen either... x()
-Have more space in my room (No dice on this either T______T)
For 2020, below are some things I'd like to do:
-Start playing the Yakuza video game series
-Start playing the Nier video game series
-Exercise more
-Have less stuff in my room
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! Below is a % breakdown of my spending in 2019 compared to 2017 and 2018. This breakdown excludes necessities like my cell phone plan, transportation expenses, etc. Click on the image to enlarge it.
Thanks again for reading! I hope 2020 treats you well. It's a leap year which means... there will be an extra day to work on resolutions! Hehehehe :)
Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)
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