REVIEW/THOUGHTS [ANIME] -- Baccano!

Number of Episodes: 16 [25-ish minutes each episode]

Language Watched: Japanese with English subtitles
Licensed? (As of this entry): YES

Genre(s): Gangster, Mystery, Action, Suspense, Dark Comedy

Overall Impression: Crazy, bloody, fun, and highly recommended!

SPOILER ALERT WARNING!!

This review will contain some spoilers -- or rather, there will be a "Spoilers" section at the end of the review to go into further detail about certain things. There may still be slight spoilers throughout the review, but I've tried my best to keep them at a minimum.

PERSONAL STANDING (Pre-exposures, thoughts, etc.)

My first exposure to this series was its opening theme song, Gun's & Roses. When I was helping out with the anime-themed game shows, one of the things I did was amass a huge collection of anime songs. I thought it was pretty neat, 'cuz it allowed me a chance to expose myself to songs I wouldn't normally be exposed to. And through that, I was exposed to Gun's & Roses. I enjoyed the tune and was curious how the song matched up with the actual anime (i.e. Baccano!), so I looked up the anime's opening video on Youtube.

Opening theme to Baccano!

I was intrigued by the stylish and flowy animated quality, but also a little hesitant about the probable plot -- it just looked like a high-energy mafia-type anime.

Fast forward to this year, when I bought the DVDs during a sale. Then just this week, I started watching it with my sister. We finished it in 3 days. Before, I thought it would just be a high-energy mafia-type anime. Boy was I wrong!

STORY

Baccano! doesn't really have one main storyline. It's split over multiple storylines that come together -- not exactly to create one storyline with one main character -- but to create an overall understanding of events among a large cast of characters. Here's a few of the more focused storylines:

1. Eve Genoard is trying to find her missing brother, Dallas. The Runorata family is also trying to find Dallas, but want him dead.

2. A string of incidents happen on the train Flying Pussyfoot. Among the incidents is the monstrous "Rail Tracer", offing the passengers "at random".

3. Firo is on his way to be welcomed as the newest member of the Martillo family. Elsewhere, a miraculous concoction is created and the higher powers are scrambling to get their hands on it.

Now, these storylines all sound pretty normal -- maybe even like regular mafia-type stories -- but I've left out an important detail (and probably a few other details). And I'm not going to say what it is -- that would ruin the surprise (I'll mention it in the "Spoilers" section). It was this detail that piqued my overall interest once I gave the first episode a shot. Totally unexpected and mysterious!

Ahhh, the mystery!

TIME JUMPING STORY STRUCTURE

Baccano! jumps back and forth in time, often surrounding the 1930s. In the beginning, this creates a lot of confusion as to what's actually going on in the series. By the end, not so much. By the end, it all makes sense. I think the time jumping story structure works as it adds mystery throughout the series, and also a lot of "aha!" moments that couldn't be achieved if the episodes went in chronological order.

BLOODINESS AND HORROR FACTOR

You wouldn't really imagine this from watching Baccano!'s opening theme (at least I didn't), but this is one bloody anime series! It holds no restraint when it comes to displaying guts, blood, and gore -- at least, from my perspective. It also succeeds in creating uneasy, horrific moments -- moments that play with your imagination instead of it being shown to you. Though there are moments where we see the gore in action. My main point here is, well, just a warning to those who are squeamish to animated blood!

One uneasy, horrific moment.

Another uneasy, horrific moment.
If you can't see what's going on, a character is being threatened 
to have his face scraped against some railroad tracks... while on a moving train.

DARK COMEDY

Now there's a ton of dark comedy in Baccano! and it works well. A lot of the comedy comes from character interactions, but also from the situations specific to each character. I'll mention some of my favourite dark comedy moments in the "Spoilers" section.

A very funny scene. I'll describe it 

in the "Spoilers" section.

CHARACTERS

This is the true meat of Baccano! When I read up on Baccano! on Wikipedia (I generally try to do a bit of research on whatever I review / blog about), it mentions that the creator mostly allows the characters' interactions to create the plots -- and it really shows. Baccano! features a large cast of characters -- many of them unique by either over-the-top personality quirks, or memories -- but still genuine and sincere. Backstories are rarely mentioned and that's okay. I mean, there's, like, at least 15 main characters. There's 16 episodes in the series. You can't tell them all and still have a moving plot...

That aside, many of the characters are likeable or at least entertaining. Despite the over-the-top personalities, many are still very relatable. Some characters creep me out, like Ladd Russo or Graham Specter. Seeing Ladd in action actually makes my hair stand on end sometimes, haha...

My favourite characters include Firo Prochainezo, Ennis, Vino, Chane Laforet, Czeslaw Meyer, Jacuzzi Splot, and of course, these two characters below:

Say hello to Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent. 

Chances are they would say hello to you.

I'll talk a bit more about each of my favourite characters in the "Spoilers" section (with a screenshot for each character so don't check it unless you've watched the series!).

MUSIC

The music is varied and great. The most prominent are Swing-type pieces with lots of brass. Also prominent are the intense violin pieces, and Western-sounding pieces that feature a harmonica. Some of the music has a gangster feel, but also something that feels like it came from the 1930s. Some pieces are also uplifting with a hopeful tone. Almost everything is atmospheric -- capable of standing alone, but adds a lot to the mood / tone of the scene. As I said before, it's varied.

Besides the awesome opening theme song, here's a few other cool, memorable pieces:

Nagai Nagai Yume no Naka no Utage - Baccano! no Theme

Main theme to Baccano! It makes me want to dance.

Abikyoukan no Kurutta Butai

Start listening to this around 0:13. 

I love the intense buildup.

Hikari to Kage Futatsu no Cannon

An uplifting, hopeful strings piece. 

Just wait till you get to around 2:10... heheh...

 

JAPANESE / ENGLISH DUBBING

The Japanese dubbing and English dubbing are both great. Just don't switch between them right after each other. After watching the last episode in Japanese dubbing, I decided to re-watch it in English dubbing and it sounded horrible. The Japanese and English dubbing are different, but they both work with this series.

The Japanese dubbing nailed each character, especially Isaac and Miria. The English dubbing also achieves this with their gangster slang and '30s lingo. But the English voicing sounds a bit heavier and lower throughout -- it would be a contrast if you just watched Baccano! in Japanese dubbing (and vice-versa if you started with the English dub and then switched to Japanese dub).

I just wanted to commend Baccano! on its great dub work.

DVD EXTRA CONTENT

Since I bought the DVDs, there were some extra content. Not much, but some. There were English dub commentaries for episodes 4, 7, 9, and 15. I haven't listened to them, so I have no comment on those. Here are the rest:

Baccano! Propaganda Program (10 mins) -- This briefly looks at some of the characters and how the team went about achieving the '30s look and architecture for Baccano! It was interesting hearing some of the Japanese voice-actors' takes on voicing their character.

Promotional Video (3 mins) -- This is a Japanese promotional video for Baccano! Seeing this makes me want to read the light novels (but they're not translated, bahhhh).

Textless Opening Theme -- I'm glad this is included. The high-energy opening deserves a textless version :)

Textless Ending Theme -- The ending theme song is really nice. Don't really know if we need a textless version, but it's nice to have anyway.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Baccano! is high-energy and crazy fun with a ton of blood and gore. If you can stomach animated blood / gore, I highly recommend this series. It won't necessarily make you go 'Now that's something to think about' all the time, but it will provide lots of entertainment. 

If you're unsure about buying yourself a copy, you can legitimately watch it on Youtube! Funimation was really nice to upload the whole series (Japanese dub with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dCqwmto7X0&list=TLhTxy6lxa47M

I'm getting this itch to re-watch the whole series -- to get a better grasp of what was happening in the earlier episodes (since I now know what's going on).

Left to right: Maiza, Firo
Firo looks so cool, lol.

Thanks for reading! If you want some more input about something I didn't cover, feel free to ask. :)

So I'll do the scrolly thing and the "Spoilers" section will appear after that. Then I'll add some more scrolly things after the "Spoilers" section in case anybody wants to comment, but not see the spoilers.

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SPOILERS

I've left out an important detail (and probably a few other details).

 

The major detail here is the immortality -- some characters are immortal (and unaging)! Watching the opening theme, you wouldn't expect that at all. But the immortality makes for some interesting reactions and character dealings. For example, how the Gandor family dealt with Dallas Genoard was simply brilliant (dumping cement on him and throwing him in the river to drown indefinitely).

 

Seeing the characters all cheerful about being immortal makes me think that being immortal (and unaging) wouldn't be such a bad thing.

 

I'll mention some of my favourite dark comedy moments in the "Spoilers" section.

I guess let's start with this one:

-This was happening on the Flying Pussyfoot. 3 groups decided to hijack a passenger car at the same time. One groups bursts through one end yelling, "Hands up in the air!" Then the second group (which is one guy already in the car) brings out his guns and yells, "Everybody down on the floor!" Then the third group (also one guy) bursts through the other end, brandishing a knife, yelling, "Don't move!" Seconds later, a passenger says, "What should we do?" Then we cut to Isaac and Miria, following the instructions from all three parties. It'd be freaky if this was in real life, but since it's not... it's so funny and ridiculous.

-Also on the Flying Pussyfoot, when the Rail Tracer asked Rachel for train tickets, Rachel's reaction towards his asking was so funny. It just seems like such a trivial matter, when compared to the overall horror that's taking place there. So... she wasn't freaked out that the Rail Tracer was pretty much covered in blood?

-Almost any scene with Vino has some kind of dark humour in it.

-Almost every scene with Isaac and Miria has humour in it, dark and light.

I'll talk a bit more about each of my favourite characters in the "Spoilers" section.

Well, let's start with my favourite couple (yes, they get the spotlight again).

ISAAC DIAN AND MIRIA HARVENT

Isaac and Miria are like the beacons of light in this series. They are just -- so -- cheerful! I can't imagine anybody not cracking at least one smile towards their bubbly brightness and crazy antics. Being robbers, of course they cause trouble for some people, but in general, they spread happiness wherever they go.

FIRO PROCHAINEZO

Firo is just cool. He's like a punk with a good heart (ahhh... what I'd want for my dream guy). He's quick on his feet and good at beating up jerks. :)

ENNIS

I almost always sympathize with non-human characters. I always find it wondrous to see their path to developing human emotions through others' acts of kindness. Ennis is no exception.

VINO

This guy is crazy and twisted... but he's super cool. Being a former acrobat, he is like the perfect assassin character. I'd love to have such heightened reflexes... and confidence. It was pretty horrible that he tortured Czeslaw, but understandable from Vino's perspective and his sense of justice.

CHANE LAFORET

I love Chane's sense of loyalty, and her intense desire to protect those she loves. I can totally relate. I also like her black dress.

CZESLAW MEYER

Czeslaw is relatable to me. Not the desire to find and kill immortals, but the difficulty in trusting others. And like Czeslaw, that distrust stems from past events.

JACUZZI SPLOT

Jacuzzi cries a lot, but he cares a lot. I kinda relate to him, too, wanting to help others before helping oneself. These days, I'm trying to focus more on myself, but it's still nice to see selflessness in a character every now and then. It just makes him cool.


 

If you read my spoilers, thanks for reading them! Now to finish with more scrolly things. Feel free to comment :D


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BLOG -- Recap of July

July was a really busy month, work-wise and not. I mean, I had events to organize... and then a ton of work to do. I'm super glad that I'm getting a couple of vacation days after today. Seeing as I've only taken one vacation day so far this year, I most definitely need it! 

Outings/Events in July:

- Celebrated my birthday x2.

- Went to root for the company I work for, who was competing in a volleyball tournament.

- Ate at a restaurant that was part of Summerlicious.

- Had a sleepover at my sister's place x2.

- Hung out with friends x7 (5 were meetups with my sister).

- Attended a Summer Matsuri festival downtown. 

- Organized a digging event in my virtual town with real life friends in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

- Had a Team BBQ (Alice in Wonderland themed)

Exposures:

- (drink) Fuzzy Navel -- Kinda orangy, but not bad.

- (food place) Menchie's -- This place is pretty cool for a snack.

- (restaurant) Eat Fresh Be Healthy -- This was the restaurant we went to for Summerlicious. The food is good!

- (restaurant) Burger Priest -- I would like this place more if all the burgers on the menu weren't some kind of cheeseburger. The taco fries are good.

- (board game place) Castle Board Game Cafe -- This is similar to Snakes & Lattes, but more downtown and smaller.

Finished...

Watching:

- (Anime OVA): Ys -- It's kinda cheesy, but good music. I wonder how closely it follows the video game series.

- (Anime OVA): Project Blue Earth: SOS -- I don't know why, but this seems like it was designed as a feature-length movie. The music has movie-like qualities to it. The animation quality is nice. Some character emotions are too rushed, though.

- (Anime OVA): Princess Rouge: Legend of the Last Labyrinth -- It's meh. It had potential, but that's about it.

- (Movie): Red 2 -- Not as good as the first one. Really nice cast, though! I loved seeing Helen Mirren again.

- (Movie): Human Centipede -- I think I saw this last month and forgot to mention it. What a disturbing movie. I don't think I could watch this again.

Playing:

- (PSN): Walking Dead: 400 Days

Reading:

- (Manga): Gunslinger Girl by Yu Aida -- It was totally worth the wait to read its final pages.

Currently... 

Playing (not all at once):

- (PS3): Folklore 
- (PS3): Borderlands 2
- (PS3): Sleeping Dogs  
- (PS3): Heavy Rain 
- (DS): Legacy of Ys: Book I & II
- (DS): Contact
- (3DS): Animal Crossing: New Leaf
- (3DS): Shin Megami Tensei IV
- (PSP): Persona 
- (Wii): Fortune Street
- (PS2): Atelier Iris 2
- (PS2): Shadow Hearts
- (PC): UnEpic
- (PC): King's Bounty: The Legend

Watching:

- (Anime): Yu Yu Hakusho 
- (Anime): Shakugan no Shana
 

Reading:

- Nothing this time.


That's it for July. Here's a couple of random photos from this month:

My snack at Menchie's.

My birthday surprise at work. Thank you!!

 I gave this to my team-mate, who got 
promoted this month. Yayyyy!

One of the stands at the Summer Matsuri festival.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the long weekend (for those of you who have a long weekend)! :)

EXPOSURES (VIDEO GAME) -- 4 Streetpass Games (Mii Force, Flower Town, Warrior's Way, Monster Manor)

So two weeks ago, I read this article about 4 new StreetPass games coming to the 3DS. Watching the trailer got me super-excited, and I purchased them all last week for my birthday. I personally like the StreetPass feature on my 3DS, so any games that incorporate it and encourage others to carry around their 3DSes is great.

The StreetPass games are $4.99 each, but as of this writing, there's a promotion where buying all the games will cost $14.99 ($16.94 after taxes for Ontario). To get to this promotion, first make sure that you can connect to the internet with your 3DS. Then go into StreetPass Mii Plaza. In the Games area, go to one of the new games and select that you will purchase it. At that point, you will be asked if you would like to take advantage of the promotion of buying all 4 games for $14.99.

A new perk about these 4 new StreetPass games is receiving plaza tickets for reaching certain achievements in each game. You can use the plaza tickets at the Exchange Booth to exchange for new hats / costumes for your Mii.

Since these are StreetPass games, I have to mention that in order to fully enjoy them, living somewhere where StreetPassing takes place fairly frequently is critical. You could use Play Coins to hire "Miis", but I wouldn't recommend it.

StreetPass Games (July 2013)

Playtime Length: 30 to 40-ish minutes each session (about 10 or less minutes per game)
Platform Played on: 3DS
Language: English
Types of Game: See below.
   Mii Force: Shoot'em-up
   Flower Town: Gardening simulation
   Warrior's Way: Strategy
   Monster Manor: Puzzle, Dungeon-exploring, RPG
Overall Impression: I enjoy each of the 4 games in their own way. They provide a nice short break and they're fun!

Mii Force

Mii Force is a classic sidescrolling shoot-em up game. You pilot a spaceship and you go through various stages, shooting baddies and gaining power-ups. I think the basic premise is that evil forces are trying to take over the world and you and your StreetPass buddies are there to stop them (I don't really remember -- I just know that I want to shoot some baddies, lol).

Look at this craziness.

StreetPass Perk

The docks where you can place the Miis.

In Mii Force, those you have recently StreetPassed are the power-ups for your ship. When you get them in the stage, you can place them on one of 4 open docks. The type of power-up you get depends on the Mii's shirt colour. Placing two or more Miis on the same line will power up the Mii on the outer dock.

The Miis also serve as your healthpoints -- every time you're hit, you'll lose a Mii. When you lose them all, you lose, but you get a chance to start over. It's like having an extra life. I'm currently not sure if you can start over more than once. 

Brief Impression

This is really fun! The gameplay experience for each stage is always different since you never know what kind of power-ups you'll get (i.e. who you'll StreetPass). It can get a little hectic at times, but it's engaging and really easy to play. Currently, my favourite power-ups are white, blue, and green. Red is really good, too.

Flower Town

Flower Town is a gardening simulation-type game. I don't think there was a real premise to it at all. Your Mii just wants to become a Master Gardener. The most basic thing you do in Flower Town is grow flowers. The ultimate goal is to grow at least 20 different breeds of flowers. Then there's some other things like customizing your flower pots, decorating your garden, taking on jobs and growing flowers specific to the client's needs. If there's anything more, I haven't unlocked it yet.

Example of a garden.

StreetPass Perk

Each Mii you StreetPass has one of two roles:
1. Watering your flower so that it blooms or gets close to blooming.
2. Cross-breeding a bloomed flower to harvest a seed.

Now, only a certain amount of seeds can be harvested from a flower. If there are still Miis left and your current flower doesn't have any more seeds for harvest, then those Miis are "wasted". Thankfully after the tutorial, you have the option of changing your current flower before meeting all your recently StreetPassed Miis.

After the Miis do their stuff with your flower, you can briefly talk to them about the flower they're growing. If you talk to those who also own Flower Town, you have the option of visiting their garden.

Brief Impression

Unlike the other new StreetPass games, Flower Town is more laid back -- kinda like a game meant to unwind and relax with. And that's not bad. It's kinda nice to have a game where the goal is to simply grow flowers and take in the beauty of nature (or something). Of course, it's not a game for everyone, but it works for me. 

Warrior's Way

This game is all about world domination. If you have ever played Dynasty Warrior-type games, there's just a bit of similarity there: the larger your army, the better chance of wiping the floor with your opponent! Every session involves you recruiting more members for your army and possibly invading one country. Sometimes when you win, you'll also win materials to upgrade your tower to unlock new perks.

Warrior's Way uses a Rock-Paper-Scissor-type battle system. Before going into actual battle, you get to divy up your troops between the 3 class-types (hopefully well enough that you will win). Then it's a best two out of three matches, where two or all your troops will get sent out. There's also small details like weather conditions making one class-type favourable or unfavourable -- or an opponent who has two groups of the same class-type.

An example of a favourable match in Warrior's Way.

StreetPass Perk

I think this is a really neat way to take advantage of StreetPass. Each StreetPassed Mii will come with an army that is the total of ALL the Miis that person has StreetPassed before. So, for example, using the screenshot above, Greg's Army is 1,155. That means that whoever has Greg as their Mii has StreetPassed 1,155 different people in real life. That is totally neat.

If you StreetPass a Mii who also owns Warrior's Way, something else happens. They will meet you as a Monarch from another country, carrying with them the army they have amassed. At that point, you can decide to "Greet Peacefully" or "Attack".

If you "Greet Peacefully", then they will say hello, and they might offer some troops to you... or they'll just leave. If you "Attack", you battle them the same way as invading a country. If you win, you win a chunk of their troops. If you lose, you lose a chunk of your troops. I often play it safe and only attack those I know I would win against.

Brief Impression

In my opinion, this has the shortest gameplay session of all the three games. Sometimes you're not doing anything except amassing your army. But... (here's my but) it's really fun! It's quick; the strategizing is quick; the rewards are quick. And it's fun. It's so fun, lol.

Monster Manor

Monster Manor has multiple elements from different genres: puzzle, RPG, and strategy. The premise here involves your Mii investigating this haunted mansion, but the rooms are completely dark. Your goal is to find the stairs to each room and get to the top and figure the great mystery (I forgot what the mystery was, lol...).

Creating rooms for your Mii to investigate.

Gameplay-wise, there's a few things going on. The first is to find the stairs to each room. To do that, you have to place coloured blocks to create hallways and rooms. The blocks have be placed adjacent to a room your Mii can get to. Placing same coloured blocks to create 2xwhatever squares or rectangles will result in treasure chests (for items, weapons, and equipment badges) and other perks. Placing blocks of a different colour next to another room could result in an enemy battle.

Enemy battle!

When facing an enemy, it's real-time battling. You can Attack as many times as your battery life allows (don't worry -- most weapons have a really quick recharge time). When the enemy attacks, if you have some battery life still, you can guard. Rinse and repeat until somebody kicks the bucket (either you or the enemy).

When the battle is over, your equipped weapon gains experience. That's right. Weapons carry max levels and they can be leveled up.

StreetPass Perk

The StreetPassed Miis are super vital since they're the ones carrying your room-blocks. If you've StreetPassed the same person multiple times, you'll have more selections to choose from, to a max of five different blocks.

Sometimes if you create large rooms of the same colour, they'll show up on the map and will either give you some gems (the game's currency), items, or a puzzle. If you solve the puzzle within the time specified, then you receive a deluxe prize (no idea what that could be right now).

Brief Impression

From what I see, Monster Manor is the most layered of the 4 StreetPass games. The combination of puzzle-solving and RPG elements work so well here. There is also some strategy involved as you're trying to decide the best route or order of laying down those blocks (to, you know, yield the most benefits).

For me, I'm not even rushing to the top -- I just want to create rooms and collect treasures, lol. And upgrade my weapon.

Concluding Impressions

I have to say, each of the 4 StreetPass games carry their own charm and level of fun. They are totally worth picking up -- especially so at the promotion price. If I had to recommend just one game to you, though, it would have to be Monster Manor. If you enjoy puzzle games with a bit of RPG elements, $4.99 (before tax) is like a steal. I honestly would have paid more for that game.

Thanks for reading! As always, feel free to comment about anything. And happy StreetPassing! :)

BLOG (PERSONAL) -- Me and My Getting Older (Part 2)

As I mentioned in my last blog, this week I'll be reflecting on my life and noting the good things that happened. This is more of a blog for me, so I don't know if this will be interesting to you. I'm sure I'll forget some things. 

Before I start, two things:

1. One thing I won't mention, but am always grateful for is meeting those who would become my good friends. You know I love you! :)

2. One other thing I won't mention is me and my romantic relationships, because... well... frankly... when I think back to them, I don't consider them all as good things... some were good; some weren't. In all honesty, yeah, I was able to see what kind of things I wouldn't want in a relationship, but I largely now see some of them as Time lost -- Time lost on building and developing my own world (I was often too focused on their world). Does that sound heartless and selfish? Probably, but that's how I see it. So I'm not going to call out the good relationships -- I think that would be horrible.


Okay, here are some good things that happened in my life

Year ???? -- I was born. Hey, I gotta say that's a good thing, don't I?

Year 1994 -- Had the best homeroom teacher ever! She was really good. I was fortunate to have her as my homeroom teacher for two years. We would always have parties at the end of the month. She also had a suggestion box where anybody could write down ideas for class activities or feedback or anything. Then we would have a class meeting and the ideas would be shared and discussed. We also learned about stereotypes and did exercises looking at self-esteem and trust building. I think being exposed to this stuff at such an early age was really good for me. One year we threw a surprise birthday party for her, and it was so awesome.

Year 1995 -- I was lent a series of novels which sparked my desire to become a writer. The novels were the Chronicles of Prydain.

Year 1996 -- Was finally allowed some independence and freedom. I won't go into detail about my overprotective environment and all the mental anguish I had from that.

Year 1998 -- The first time I watched a movie in theatres without any supervision. It was Armageddon. Not bad for a first movie, lol.

Year 1998 -- Had a poem published in a school-wide published book. Yay!!

Year 1998 -- Went on a school trip to Quebec City. It was really cool! We stayed at the Château Frontenac and I got to have a good time with my friends.

Year 1998 -- Joined a public writing club. I was so nervous about joining, because I was older than the recommended age range, but the supervisor let me in anyway. It was a wonderful experience. I often did a lot of goofy writing when I was there. My sister ended up joining, too. Through the writing club, we got introduced to and attended Scrabble with the Stars one year. We kept going to the writing club, though less frequently as we got older... up until the writing club was replaced with something else *sniffle* ;_; I still have some of those old writings. I wrote a pretty funny Mad Libs-type story there.

Year 2000 -- Had another poem published in the same school-wide published book. Yay!!

Year 2000 -- I joined the school's writing club. I think I wrote one of my best poems ever that year.

Year 2001 -- I joined the school's anime club, which I think largely turned my secret interest in anime into a physically (and vocally) expressed obsession. It's not that major for me anymore, but anime is indeed still a part of me. This also largely got me interested in Japanese culture.

Year 2001 -- Had the best English teacher ever! He was so awesome. I learned so much about genres and story-writing in his classes.

Year 2002 -- Was part of the school's musical revue. My solo was Far From the Home I Love (song from Fiddler on the Roof)

Year 2002 -- Attended an anime convention (either Anime North or CNAnime [now called Fan Expo]) for the first time.

Year 2003 -- Was part of the school's musical. I was part of the chorus, but it was still exciting! We did Once on This Island, a Little Mermaid-like story.

Year 2004 -- I joined another school's anime club. From here, I was invited to help out with some of the events at Anime North and CNAnime / Fan Expo.

Year 2004 -- I owned my first video game console: The PS2 slim. I was so excited.

Year 2005 -- Discovered Atlus USA, one of my favourite video game publishers. I was also exposed to the Megami Tensei series. I think it was the first time I ever experienced a video game series that had multiple endings that largely depended on the player's choices. And being able to recruit demons that largely had nice designs... that's just so cool.

Year 2006 -- Attended Play! A Video Game Symphony when it came to Toronto. I want it to come back!!! D:

Year 2007 -- I was exposed to Glay for the first time... and I was inspired. I am totally blogging about them in the future. I find that I am currently not working as hard as I could be, and I'm going to work on grabbing that back (I am talking about my ambition, and my dream).

Year 2009 (give or take 1 or 2 years) -- Discovered the wonderfulness of Ren'Py, which sparked my interest in creating visual novels.

Year 2010 -- Attended X Japan's concert when they came to Toronto. Wooot!!!

Year 2011 -- Had a second chance at Life. No more details here.

Year 2011 -- Tried life-drawing for the first time.

Year 2011 -- Started blogging here.

Year 2012 -- Attended my first English music concert. It was for The Black Keys. It was cool!

Year 2013 -- I'm still living. I think that's good enough to note.


If you've read to the end, thanks for reading!! Getting older really does suck... but I can see that I have a bunch of lovely memories -- memories that really shaped me into who I am today -- and memories that were plain fun and awesome. Now if I ever forget, I have this blog as a mini-record of those treasured times.

You all have a good week! :)

BLOG (PERSONAL) -- Me and My Getting Older

Disclaimer: This might be a little random and not interesting. Just saying.

So, it's a few more days before my birthday and I'm excited! ... and not. On the one hand, it's definitely something for me to celebrate (like, "yay, I've survived another year!"). On the other hand, it's signifying me getting older... and I'm getting to the point where getting older just isn't such an awesome feeling. (because of all the wrinkles I know I'm going to get) :(

Overall, Age has never really been a major role in any aspect of my life. It was a major role when I was really young, like 7 or 8, but I won't get into that in this blog entry. The major milestones that many tend to look forward to (legal drinking age, legal driving age, legal whatever age), I didn't really think about. Those years just came and went, hahaha.

But now... darn it, I just feel soooooo old, hahahaha.

When I think about Age these days, I sometimes think about the major milestones that others tend to think about and expect around my age: marriage; moving out; maybe planning for retirement. When I think about those things, I'm not thinking, 'Darn it! Why am I still single and not living on my own? I should be by this point in my life!', I'm thinking, 'I am fine without this.' Maybe I'm a late bloomer (actually, there's no maybe about that!), but I just don't feel like I have to be at a certain point or reach a certain social status... with anything just because of how old I am. I don't mind being single at this age... or still living with my parents (though they do drive me crazy sometimes). I'd rather do whatever -- whenever I'm ready (as long as I'm of legal age -- which I am by now, hahaha).

I guess... what's really getting me down about getting older are (besides my fading youthful appearance) the limitations. Physically, unless I make a point to stay in shape and keep my endurance up, I might get tired faster, and I might walk slower. Mentally (and this is my biggest concern), it might be harder for me to learn new things. That really, really sucks for me since I love learning new things (it's like my secret passion, hahaha).

I don't care too much about my looks going (it's kinda something I'd expect anyway), but I still want to be able to learn new things. Well... I'd probably still try to learn anyway. Knowing me, I'd just say, "Screw you, Age! You won't stop me from learning something new!"

As I get older, I am also scared that I will start forgetting things. I know -- my fears / concerns are coming from the stereotypes of old age. But it still worries me. Memories are very important to me.

I think one nice about getting older, though, is being able to sit back and remember all the nice things that happened in your life up to the present.

You know what? I think that will be my blog for next week (unless something else comes up).


Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment, as always. :)