Thursday, April 30, 2009

chris's obsessions pt.2 (arcade infinity)

Seriously. For the past three years or so, I've been going to Arcade Infinity a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean like once a week on average. These past few weeks I've been to AI more times than I can count. What makes me keep going back there? Well for one I love the atmosphere: blasting music, loud people, and being amongst a large crowd beats the shit out of playing alone at home in training mode. Secondly, the off-chance of meeting a strong stranger always tickles my fancy. I randomly run into pretty good players that give me a hard time - I always enjoy a challenge in fighting games. Lastly, there is often eye-candy rollin around. I have no idea why there are so many lookers that show up at AI, but it definitely keeps me coming back lol. I've been with these guys for so long and am finally getting acquainted with the staff. I actually hope to become a part of the Arcade Infinity family sometime in the future :)

Okay now to the point of this post:

KIM BUM IS FUCKING HOT OMG !!!!11!!!111!!1!1!1!!!

it's times like these that i wish i were born a girl. (not really)

wtf get your hands off my man, bitch.

i love innocent christian boys. (and gatorade too)

sex.

Uh. No homo?

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

how to fall behind on sleep (there is no cancer - BOYS BEFORE FLOWERS)


Hana Yori Dango.

The name is a Japanese pun for "dumplings over flowers", where people choose to go straight to the food vendors rather than enjoying the scenery during Hanami. The manga, originally by Yoko Kamio, has spawned much success, including: a Japanese anime, two Taiwanese dramas, two Japanese dramas, a Japanese movie, and now a Korean drama. While the former productions faired well, it was this most recent production "Kkot-boda Namja", airing from January 5, 2009 to March 31, 2009, that really sent the series skyrocketing.

I always watch recommendations from my friends, even if they've led me astray in the past (you know who you are). When two of my Korean buddies handed me this series, I had a feeling that they had me in mind while watching this. "Boys Before Flowers". The series' title had me right away.

Synopsis
Boys Before Flowers follows Geum Jan Di, a below-average working class girl, born of a less fortunate family, who is suddenly admitted to Shinhwa Highschool, an elite school where only the priveleged and rich are able to attend. The stars of Shinhwa High are part of a group called the F4, four boys with extremely prestigious backgrounds and even more amazing looks. Women swoon at the sight of them and worship their very existence. Their leader, Gu Jun Pyo, is a snob, and does as he pleases. All of that changes when he meets Geum Jan Di. The story that ensues encompasses the humor, love, and sacrifices of her relationship with the F4, and Gu Jun Pyo in particular, that drops Geum Jan Di into a world and experience beyond her wildest imagination.

What I have to say
The plot is honestly a pretty big joke. There is just about every cliche drama element possible, ranging from a tsundere protagonist to an evil witch mother who ruins everything to a scene involving a car crash and memory loss. So why in god's name would I be praising this series? The answer is that it was simply enjoying to watch. People need to get over deep meanings and hole-less plots and just take entertainment at face value for once. There's nothing wrong with looking at four beautiful men performing ridiculous wonders for an average looking girl. If anything, it's heartwarming to see stories like these. 

Production-wise, Boys Before Flowers was amazing. The series featured several exotic locations that really make you jealous of the cast. The mood was very well set, and the casting was beyond perfect. 

Character-wise, I must give a round of applause to the original writer, Yoko Kamio. What she did was truly phenomenal, giving hope to those without hope, and creating an extremely loveable character. That goes double for the actors, Koo Hye Sun (Jan Di) in particular, for bringing out the characters so amazingly. All of the expressions she made were so cute and felt so real that I actually found myself smiling. More props to Lee Min Ho for his excellent performance as Gu Jun Pyo. 

The true reason for the success of the Korean version lies in its male cast. The F4 boys selected were truly handsome. Even as a guy, I found myself staring in awe at those guys. At that point you can't even be jealous, but rather just admirable that such beings could possibly exist. Yes homo. (KIM BUM is SO FUCKING HOT)

I had a great time with Boys Before Flowers. Unlike most other Korean dramas that I've watched, this one left me with a very warm, fuzzy feeling after watching. Even though I've lost tons of sleep over the past few days by powering through all 25 episodes, I woke up this morning smiling to myself. Why? Because there was no cancer.

As a result, my homework quality suffered. Oops. I was at AI way too many times last week (4 times I think?), and just yesterday I was actually losing to a Ragna player mashing the fuck out of 2A. Luckily I've found how amazing Jin's DP is lol. On another note, for those who have already seen the series, the F4 SPECIAL airs today, featuring a short about the F4 five years later! The first part is today, and the second is to continue on the 5th of May. OMG SO EXCITE!!! Till next time :)

Monday, April 27, 2009

masher mentality (blocking and america)

Because hitting buttons wins games, hitting more buttons should automatically equate winning more games. The idea is to spend less time defending and more time killing your opponent. There is no flaw in the logic, it's just our personality to be fidgety, to have the need to be in someone's grill, and to avoid blocking at all costs. The sad, sad truth is that Americans love to hit buttons all the time.

The result is utter. Catastrophe.

The Concept of Blocking
Is as absurd as telling an American to make a sandwich without mayonnaise. What many Americans don't understand is the value of holding down back. Instead, they prefer to be mashing quick pokes, throws, reversal uppercuts, or even supers. Somebody somewhere has to set things straight, so I'll go ahead and explain it right now. When an opponent crosses your comfort zone with a move that causes blockstun, the correct answer is to block the following blockstring. Due to the nature of frame traps, you will be unable to escape unless the opportunity is given to you. Hitting buttons while your opponent is in your face is the worst option because your moves will come out late due to blockstun, then the startup of your moves will get beat out by the already active frames of your opponent's moves, and a free combo ensues. While there are technically ways around this (e.g. invulnerability from dragon punches), recognizing that defense is part of the game is the first step to success. 

Knowing When to Escape
This is the tricky part. Blocking will cause natural pushback for your opponent's moves. When the gap between the two of you is great enough, the situation is reset by itself. Simple as that. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Guilty Gear allows you to faultless defend and forcibly push your opponent back, Third Strike grants the ability to parry incoming attacks to negate a move entirely, and instant blocking in Blazblue allows you to reduce blockstun by significant enough amounts that you can retaliate right away. In the end, the key is patience and learning to recognize opportunities. If you're not sure what to do, just sit there and hold down back till the time is right.

Watching for Throws
So you've got blocking down, and you're vigilant enough to block overheads (not likely, but let's just pretend). As soon as your opponent recognizes that they've got you in a defensive mindset, they'll take advantage of that by breaking their blockstrings and throwing you. This, I'm sorry, will only come with experience. As you play more, you will begin to see more and more situations where tick throws will pop up. Teching or jumping are the two best ways to deal with throws, but only yomi will allow you to avoid them in the first place.

Sorry for all the readers that are like: uhhh...thanks for the obvious. But I hope by writing this, some poor masher out there will see the light and not spam 33HP in the middle of my blockstrings. I hope.

Tags so this will show up in google search:
how to block in street fighter
is shoryuken the answer to life
how to deal with crossups
i can't get out of the corner
sagat dinosaur tiger knee

I'm so gay for Zaido.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

gorilla fate is turning (blazblue now @ AI)

It's finally here folks. I know it's been a while, but Ken finally managed to get his hands on a Blazblue board. I will be spending much more time at Arcade Infinity playing this game (and Guilty Gear, of course), so let me know if you want to come!




The cab is located where the old Third Strike used to be. Ken installed a brand new Samsung HD setup, so Blazblue looks quite amazing. On another note, I switched to Jin from Noel. His playstyle suits mine a lot better. Noel just feels like a mashy blood character :(

I will be there this Thursday for anyone who wants to join me!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

clash of titans (SF4 gamestop tournament finals)

Just yesterday, the Street Fighter 4 scene witnessed the first major tournament hosted by Gamestop. The top players from around the world were invited to compete in the game we've all come to love and hate. To avoid possible spoilers, here is the link to vids of the tournament: http://www.youtube.com/user/Sakabot .

Justin Wong ended up beating out Mike Ross in the finals for the U.S. slot. Mike Ross's defensive play just didn't cut it this time around. The final top 4 line up was: Justin Wong (Ryu), Daigo Umehara (Ryu), Poongko (Ryu), and Iyo(Dhalsim). We have (probably) the best American Capcom player, Daigo "The Beast", the Korean national champion, and the Japanese national champion. I just wanted to say that Daigo's power comes from his ability to get into his opponent's head. When you watch him play, he is literally four steps ahead of his opponent, pre-emptively destroying them with his insane execution, reaction speed, and matchup knowledge. It was quite a thrill to watch. Props especially to Daigo vs. Iyo.

So what does this say about America?
Honestly, if you watched the vids, the grand finals was a bit dissapointing on Wong's part. I think he could have played much better, though Daigo was in complete, top form, reading Wong left and right. Wong never got a chance to push through a good offense, whiffed a lot of Messiah Kicks, and ate too many Shoryuken's for his own good. Daigo saw that shit coming from a mile away, knew the distance, and always punished accordingly. This is by no means America's final say. We have the drive, and now finally, the comp to push through to high levels of play.

On another note, excessive BB playing has left me a sour taste in my mouth. As much as I like the idea of playing Noel, her style may not be fit for me. Good chance I might move to Jin instead.

Friday, April 17, 2009

the state of the lich king (ver 3.1)

As you all know (and those who are too busy playing the game probably won't be reading this), major content patch 3.1 came out Tuesday. What does this mean for WoW players? Significant changes to our way of life. Dual-spec? The notion of being able to swap in and out of any spec is invaluable. It feels like the first car was just invented, or the color television, or sliced bread. New raid content joins the fray, as always, a larger loot table, an Argent Tournament with brand new dailies, more shenanigans and trinkets to drool over, and a gnome-head flying mount? The game just keeps on getting more bizzare and more inventive on the casual side of things. 

The Fall(?) of Death Knights
The notes projected a supposed nerf to the DK class. I say supposed because I think someone somewhere fucked up again. When I saw the constant lowering of our damage, I had only one thing in mind: we were finally going to be put in our place. They already took gradual steps, like slicing Black Ice damage boost in half, and even bigger steps, like moving Master of Ghouls further down the Unholy tree, making it virtually inaccessable by deep Blood and deep Frost. However, they did what they always do: compensate. For every nerf, there was a minor buff, and in the end, all of it equated out to one simple word: change. Not nerf. Change. You heard me. We're still the fucking beasts we were before the patch, and your children will be eaten alive.

Death Knights in PvE
I almost want to just say "move along". Most of the DK nerfs concerned PvP and not so much its raiding counterpart. Where huge blows like cutting huge chunks of frost damage off of Icy Touch, minor changes to talents like Black Ice increase shadow damage, thus buffing Scourge Strike and Unholy Blight even more. Blood, on the other hand, recieved a different kind of treatment. Development decided that Obliterate should no longer be the spec's primary strike and promptly opted for Death Strike to be the new "blood" hard-hitter. Well, when you combine Improved Death Strike, Glyph of Death Strike, and the new improvements to armor penetration, you're getting an attack that hits just as hard as Obliterate back in its hayday. Ontop of that, Death Strike heals for a ridiculous amount - meaning more survivability in AoE intensive fights. Frost is still the weakling of the trio, but when the Frost Strike sigil and tier 8 set bonuses arrive, we might have a different story. Dual Wield is no longer as popular, due to the absence of a powerful Icy Touch and the free Ghoul/Gargoyle.

Death Knights in PvP
This is where we were expecting the most change. Basically, powerful and skilled Death Knights will still be, well, powerful and skilled. However, Death Knights that mashed their way to victory as 130RP DRW or ShadowFrost builds will find the game much more difficult. Granted traditional Unholy is still the powerhouse it was before, even that spec took a substantially greater amount of effort to perform well with at high level play. The two new speculative PvP juggernaughts will now be deep Frost and deep Unholy. Deep Unholy needs no rehash and definitely not an introduction. Those who played (or were victims of) Unholy know the potency of its constant pressure and damage, with the ability to spread diseases, lock down casters, provide substantial burst, and multiple defensive options. The appeal with deep Frost lies in its ability to dish out ridiculous amounts of damage in a very short amount of time. This spec was actually viable even before this patch, but now that ShadowFrost is no longer existent, permanent ridiculous damage is no longer available. Instead, Frost DKs will have to depend on proper timing of CC's before unloading saved RP in a huge burst cycle involving Hungering Cold. This makes deep Frost highly valuable in teams that have CCs on different DRs, allowing for a more effective Hungering Cold. 

That's about it for Death Knights. I don't feel nerfed at all. For reference, the PvE builds are: 12/0/59, 0/10/61, 51/0/20, and 51/2/18. The PvP builds are: 17/51/3 and 0/19/52. Happy face-rolling!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

the possibility of cupid (shooting me again)

I haven't had the best series of relationships. A lot of them have been whatever things, few of them very serious, and either way they never last very long. The feeling of affection, to me, has become this sort of double-sided, sharp object. While I still have this notion of wanting, I become easily upset thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong. This unhealthy cycle has caused me to avoid diving into relationships altogether for fear of an even sadder fate. It might be naive of me, or even cowardly, but my lack of success has very seriously sundered my hopes. My experiences have left me bitter and spiteful, always cynical towards all possibility of a happy ending. It's really sad, cause I used to remember loving that warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest, and my pounding heart, throbbing with uncontainable joy. It gave me unnaturally powerful energy and a great sense of life. I really miss it.

My family and I visit a fortune teller annually. This isn't your tarot-card bullshitting fortune teller, this is based off Yee Jing (don't know the english translation), which basically determines a loose guidline of your life based off of your birthdate. Of course I was skeptical of it, anyone would be, till he gave me a rundown of my past and was accurate beyond belief. My jaw literally dropped. He had never met me before, but everything he said was spot on, everything from specific past events of my life all the way to my emotional ups and downs through the different stages of my life. One of the most important things he said to me is that I would meet a very important woman in my life, and very soon. This person would not only become my girlfriend, but my very important consultant, my most prized buddy, eventually my business partner, and ultimately my wife. When I heard this, my brain immediately shot in all sorts of directions. Had I already met this person? When would I actually find out? Part of me was excited, the other fearful. 

It's been a year since I've last seen him. My parents had gone a few months ago to get their fortunes told, but I didn't go. While they were there, he casually asked about me: "How are Chris and his girlfriend doing?" Well, of course my parents told them that I didn't have one. He seemed appalled: "What? That's ridiculous, he'll find one very soon then!" When I heard the news, I had a crooked smile on my face. I went through a pretty bitter ordeal about a year ago, for those of you who know, and I hate to keep harping on my sob story, but ever since then I've really lost a lot of confidence in myself. The fortune teller said that this person I would meet would definitely be from either school or work, because we would be able to aid each other in our field and eventually start our own business. The prospect is grand and very encouraging, except for the fact that there were no girls in my line of sight that I had even the slightest want to become my girlfriend, let alone my wife. That was, till this past week.

It's an odd, but comforting feeling, when your eyes meet for the first time. It's almost like you want to smile and engage in the same conversation you've been having for years, except you've never met this person before. It's almost like you can't wait and just want to skip all of the introductions because you already know this person. It's almost like you're so sure of yourself and this person, that all ensuing hardships will be conquered with a crashing tide. I had this feeling in this past week, though I won't go into much more detail for fear that this person might be reading this very post. What I want to say is that I think I've fallen into the trap again. Cupid wound his arrow, and despite my seasoned experience at dodging, I sat there, dumbfounded, and let the beam of love pierce me right through the center of the chest. As soon as the day had ended, I came home and sat and pondered. Could this be the person? Could she really be the one? The idea stirred up a whirlwind of hope.

I have to make her mine.

That is all.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

truisms of the asian heritage (why i'll never be able to marry a black woman)

"Black people are so black. It's gross."

That's the first thing my aunt said to me when she first arrived the United States. Those who are not Asian: face it, you'll never understand that putting soy sauce in your rice is a equivalent to slapping our way of food in the face. Just as my aunt doesn't understand black people, there may be several things you don't understand about Asians. And to those who are Asian: I'm sorry for your past, your present, and your future. May Buddah smile on your soul.

The Asian heritage is both bane and blessing. Naturally, we are gifted with dark, shiny hair, impeccable math skills, smooth skin, a large array of delicious foods, and a greater resistance to damage from sun exposure. Unfortunately, we are also born with super anal parents, short height, small penises, small breasts, flat asses, chinky eyes, and the inability to pilot a car into a parking spot. You might say that we're physically "modest", but in a day and age where Pamela Anderson and Mandingo exist, being short in every department is actually a disadvantage. 

Below, I'm going to go over a few facts about the Asian heritage that you may or may not be aware of. If you are not Asian, pay special attention, because these facts may include you!

1) Asian guys hate white guys with yellow fever.
Look, before you start getting all defensive, you have to understand how ridiculously difficult it is for an Asian guy to get a white girlfriend. Once you see it from that perspective, it all becomes clear that white guys are jacking all of the girls. One of the worst parts is that they're usually UGLY white guys. What the fuck is up with that? I mean if the guy was decent looking or has a great personality or whatever, I wouldn't mind and just let it slide. But man that's not the case: lately I've been seeing Asian girls with the fugliest dudes. It really doesn't make any sense to me. It makes us seethe with anger. Just be glad I'm not Korean: I don't already have fire for blood, alcohol for adrenaline, and knuckles of steel. 

2) Yes, we eat rice every day.
It's not really a misconception. Just as bread or pasta or noodles are the primary source of American carbohydrates, rice just happens to be ours. Over here in the States, we actually don't eat rice EVERY day, but over in places like Japan, they even have rice for breakfast!

3) Not all of us are bad drivers. I promise.
The bad drivers are usually the ones not born in the states, are over 30, and are women. There are definitely MANY exceptions to this rule, but from what I've seen, the younger generation of drivers are actually quite good. Whenever I go to Rowland Heights, however, I'm met by all sorts of blind Asians. I wonder if having smaller eyes actually inhibits wider peripheral vision.

4) We respect our elders.
If someone is older than we are or senior to our positions in any scenario, we often treat them with the utmost respect. I've seen white kids yell at their parents and talk back. Talking back in an Asian family is asking for a swift death.

5) We have a built-in sense of duty.
From what I've seen, Asians are generally more prone to follow the atomic family. Divorce is highly frowned upon in the culture, and courtesy is a trait that is placed high above many others. 

6) We are amphibious.
It is impossible for me grow a beard. The same applies to many, many friends of mine. I mean, I could grow a beard, but it'd be something more akin to a lifetime achievement award. 

7) There is a difference between Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
Just like how Irish people get offended when you can't tell them apart from another white mutt, if you call a Korean guy Japanese, make sure you have life insurance. Here's a super quick rundown. Vietnamese: sound like they're chewing gum all the time, girls have big lips, the smell like Pho. Chinese: sound like they're chopping vegetables, are always too damn proud, say "AYA!" too fucking much. Korean: sound like they're yelling all the time, love to get drunk, have the hottest girls. Japanese: sound super serious, are secretly a super-horny race, have crooked teeth.

8) Asian people are afraid of black people.
It's the truth. I think I read some children's fable one time about dark-skinned demons or something. Pretty sure the story was referring to something else.

Tired. Denjin sucked yesterday. I've been training mode so hard with Venom that I'm actually starting to miss all of my FRC's. I think I need to take a break. WTB Noel combo skills. FMA and Eden were fucking awesome, the other anime this week were whatever. 

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

stunning revelations (commitment)

The other day I was driving back home after dropping of JP Ken at his apartment near UCR and I was running low on gas. I figured that I'd be alright to make it all the way back home, but I didn't feel like taking risks and finding myself stuck on the 91 in the middle of white-trash-town-in-the-middle-of-nowhere. At the same time, I also needed to piss real bad - two birds, one stone; I'd sacrifice a bit of pride and exit off somewhere in Rivertrash. 

I get off on some random exit in Norco, the land of shitty American car dealerships, and make a hard left into the first gas station I saw. Of course the price was hella jacked up from being so close to the freeway (I think 2.45 for the cheapest type of gas), but at that point my bladder was about to explode all over my seat. I pull up to the pump nearest to the public restroom, whipped out my credit card, dialed in my zip code, and jammed the nozzle into the tank. Mission one accomplished. Now...to the bathroom. I wasn't sure if these things were locked, since you usually needed to get a key from the kiosk, but fuck that was all the way in the opposite direction, so I decided just to gun it and hope the door was already open. The sign displayed across the front featured both male and female symbols, so I guess there was only one toilet. I gripped the handle and turned downwards. To my surprise, it had been left unlocked! Smiling at my delightful fortune, I yank open the door only to be met by a pair of beautiful, dark eyes. They only met for a second, but the moment lasted an eternity. Something felt weird about the scenario, as my brain began to stumble across much due logic. She was on her knees for starters. Something about that didn't seem right. You usually don't do anything in the bathroom (alone anyways) on your knees. She was also right next to the john. Actually, not even next to it, she was leaning OVER it. Somewhere between common sense and bewilderment, the idea that I had probably invaded someone's very private bulimic session dawned on me. So with my smiling face, now awry, staring into her very beautiful eyes, I slammed the door shut as quickly as I had opened it, and the moment was gone forever. 

When she was done she fast walked out of the bathroom like fucking lightning. I know she saw me out of the corner of her eye, waiting for the bathroom key, but she pretended like she didn't see me and made me follow her  all the way to the kiosk to get the key again. Bitches and their pride, sheesh. So I go back to take that well-deserved piss, wary if the toilet bowl was perhaps caked with the remains of lunch, but I found nothing of the sort. Girls sure know how to clean up a mess.

I hopped back into my car and scratched my head. Something had happened when our eyes met. It might have been a moment of embarassment for her, but to me, I saw something more! In her eyes was the gleaming fire of determination! Who in the world could take food, necessity, nourishment, and enjoyment, and toss it all away! Her goal was so clear. She wanted to look beautiful, and the cost would be upchucking her meals. To have such a powerful desire and an even greater sacrifice truly touched me. I will never forget those eyes, as I too, sacrifice hours of my youth practicing Venom corner combos.

First week of class has so far been fucking zombie mode. I'm pretty sure the classes this time around will be a lot of busy work :/ . On a side note, there have been cute azn girls in EVERY SINGLE CLASS so far. That's a rare occassion, so wish me luck! Same stuff to look forward to - "Truisms of the Asian Heritage", "I use a T-Square to Scratch My Back: The Life of an Artist", and "I am a Product of the Information Age". Beyond that, Basquash! was amazing. I'm still waiting on subs for Guin Saga and Eden of the East comes out today! Till then, keep on mashing.

Monday, April 6, 2009

bloom triggers, screwdriver shots, and EC (aka I didn't really sleep this weekend)

I was planning to get a lot more done during this spring break, honestly. But! my friend here, Mr. Fun, decided that he'd take control and take me for a pretty lol ride. It started Thursday night when I headed over to Hellmonkey's house to hang out with some incoming guests, Jiyuna and Veteru. When I got there, I wasn't surprised to see that Hellmonkey wasn't even home and Ben was taking out the trash. I ended up just chilling there till Xie (James) came over and the three of us mashed on Guilty Gear till Ben had to go pick the two up from John Wayne Airport. When they got back to the apartment, we mashed some more Guilty Gear then went over to In-N-Out, as requested by Jiyuna. I decided to ride solo with Ben, cause honestly my first impressions of them both weren't the greatest lol. Jiyuna was your typical loud, obnoxious white guy from NJ, full-on with his "wudders" and "cahs", and full of himself. Veteru wasn't loud or obnoxious, but something about his mustache irked me. I thought I had seen him before, but what the hell I don't remember a mustache. Either way we went to get In-N-Out and I lol'd pretty hard when Ben was reaching for some soda and the girl next to him was completely shit-faced drunk and she couldn't put the cap on her fountain drink. Hellmonkey was back by the time we made it home and we all mashed even more Guilty Gear. At this point I got to see Veteru's Sol in action, and it's pretty damn fleshed out. I discussed this with JP Ken on the way back today: Veteru has full control of his character and plays it the way he wants to play it. He is extremely versed on frame data and all the gimmicks available at his disposal. At heart, he is just a smart player. Jiyuna, on the other hand, came as a bit of a surprise to me. He doesn't play Guilty Gear (and it really shows), but his yomi level was still higher than mine. He has a greater ability to recognize patterns, abuse minor technical techniques, and had a pretty solid defense overall (he spent A LOT of meter faultless defending). In the end, I still kicked his ass for free because I had the combos and footsies that he didn't. HOWEVER, if he actually put the time into playing the game I think he could be pretty good. Just saying.

So I wake up the next day and get some Pho with everyone. At this point in time, I got to know both Jiyuna and Veteru better, and they're both super chill. Jiyuna, being the retard joker that he is, got peer pressured into buying the avocado shake at that Pho place. We always joke about that shit, but noone ever actually wanted to spend four bucks for something that was probably going to taste nasty as fuck. As soon as he ordered it, the waiter looked back at the kitchen with an "lol" look on his face. I guess they put it on the menu as a joke too? The best part was when Jiyuna stopped the waiter from moving to the next person: "oh yo wait, lemme get some boba in that too". It ended up being pretty good (or so he says). 

avocado fucking smoothie. grats.

We head back and mash on HnK and GG some more while we wait for San Diego to get up to our place with the Blazblue setup. This whole time, Jiyuna kept yelling something about this "shotokan kid" that he was going to pulverize for being late to the gathering. I had no idea who the fuck he was talking about till I finally put two and two together. "Shotokan" was "SHTKN" aka KEVIN from San Diego rofl. I had totally forgotten that his real handle was shotokan and not shitkin, since nobody ever calls him by the correct name anyways. At this point in time, I become super fucking tired and fall asleep on Ben's bed and wake up with San Diego around. I got to see (drunk) Jiyuna mash some emo Ragna and Veteru beast with his. However, when pulsr sat down, I had a feeling that it was going to be over. Man v-13 is fucking stupid lol, I don't think anyone beat Matt for a long time before he decided to give up his throne. At some point half of us decide to go to Ralphs for dinner. Mind you, Jiyuna is drunk as fuck at this point, and we go anyways. He makes a ruckus cause Ben didn't let him use the Ralphs card to save two bucks on his $13.00 bottle of orange Svedka. TGS and I both buy sandwiches and everyone else got chicken (for Black Chris) and frozen pizzas. The rest of the night was pretty awesome and I ended up staying up till 5AM after Hellmonkey had taught me a few Noel Vermillion combos (yes, I am going to be playing Noel) before going to sleep. Everyone else had a long day on Saturday at Aksys to record the tutorial videos for Blazblue. 

I ended up not going to the Aksys thing (since I barely play Blazblue), so I just stayed home and celebrated my mom's birthday dinner. I heard, however, that a lot of crazy shit happened but I guess I can't really say since we're technically not allowed to talk about anything that happened there lol.  ANYWAYS... Around noon the next day, I drove back to Hellmonkey's place and we went to the Pho place (again). Apparently, while I was gone on Saturday, Veteru and Jiyuna went twice again, making this the fourth visit. I guess they don't have any fucking Pho on the East Coast. Hellmonkey, JP Ken, and I were like: "fuck that" and drove to Shin-sen-gumi for some legit ramen. JP Ken ended up eating three bowls. Jesus fucking christ, he's like 6ft and 150 lbs. We head back to the apartment just in time to see pulsr, deci, purrin, and shtkn arrive. After lunch, most of the San Diego crew decided that they wanted to go the Street Fighter 4 bar fights in Pasadena. I was too lazy to drive, and their car was already full. We were all hoping that Kevin would leave the Blazblue setup for us to play, but he was being lazy and took it with him (party pooper!). We were going back and forth trying to decide if we wanted to go to the bar fights or Denjin or even Arcade Infinity. In the end we all just went back to Ralphs while Veteru cooked his 2lb bag of shrimp that he bought earlier (wtf? lol). Jiyuna had a drink or two, so he was already kinda tipsy. At the checkout line, there was this kinda cute girl with braces that kept looking at Jiyuna. Then she's all like: "omg you sound just like my friend Chad". Of course, Jiyuna replies, "oh yea? Well I'm cooler than Chad." lawl. She then tries to make small conversation as Hellmonkey, Ben, and I fought over who would carry the packs of soda back home. We then walk home and start drinking. I'm not sure when it started getting wacky, but damn Hellmonkey was all giddy pretty early on, laughing at like everything ever. Jiyuna was going off on the history of alcohol and something about reading about vodka on wikipedia. Apparently the word "vodka" means "nothingness" in Russian, and the best vodkas are supposed to taste like nothing. We eat some of Gina's pizza (really fucking good) from near the UCI campus and take a few more shots. Yea. Before we noticed, we were like: hey where the fuck is David? When we checked he had already passed out, face-down on his bed. Then Jiyuna starts going off about how he wants to go back to Ralphs to see his girlfriend or to the casino where he plans to win 4000 bucks. Eventually he convinces everyone to go back to Ralphs and he's drunk as fuck as he decides to buy a pack of pot stickers and cigars (he doesn't even smoke). We get back, mash some more Guilty Gear, then before we know it the hand hits 11PM. I had already promised JP Ken that I'd drive him back before midnight, so I wished Jiyuna and Veteru a warm farewell and we departed. By the time I arrived at UCR, the alcohol had already worn off (lol) and I drop JP Ken off. I go to get some gas and this crazy black lady kept talking to me saying that she woke up from a coma and that she was Janet Jackson and the "Janet Jackson" right now was using her name without permission. Whatever, I gave her a dollar and said I was gonna go to the bathroom. As she started to walk away I just turned around and got back in the car then drove the fuck out of the gas station.

The moral of this story is: don't sit on the chairs in Hellmonkey's apartment because they break really easily.

TANGENT GUN -----> PEW PEW ----------------------->

- I got the chance to watch a few episodes of anime between all of this craziness. 
- Queen's Blade for starters is pretty lol. I don't know if I could watch a whole season of this stuff, cause it is literally just like a softcore hentai anime. No real plot, just lots of oppai, panties, big weapons, oppai, and famous voice actors.
- I watched the first episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009), and I must say that I very much like the direction. Some part of me was a bit shocked at how much humor they put in, but at the same time I feel like it's very appropriate for this series. The animation is great, but the voice actors sort of bother me ONLY because it was like: oh hey that's Lockon Strat- I mean ROY MUSTANG. That's Kati Mannequi- OH I mean ENVY. That's Allelujah- wait! NO! THAT'S KIMBLEE. FUCK lol. Another thing I'd like to comment on is that having seen the other series actually makes this viewing a lot more rich. Behind all those smiles and jokes is a truly sad story, and when I saw Maes Hughes again I, seriously, almost started tearing up. That has got to be one of the saddest character deaths in the history of manga and anime (sorry if I spoiled stuff for people who haven't seen or read the manga). LASTLY, that opera/choir music when Edward got pissed off is hype.
- Other animes coming up: Sengoku BASARA, Basquash!, Guin Saga, Eden of the East, and Senjou no Valkyria.
- I have class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Fridays now, just in case anyone was wondering.
- I am going to play Noel Vermillion in Blazblue. Fuck the 6A > (6C xx BC)xN loop.

More serious and lol articles coming soon. Till then, mash harder!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

BAKAME! (a soul eater review)

It's finally over. Fifty-one episodes of absolute glory, Soul Eater takes its audience on an all-too-familiar shounen ride. However, there's something special about this series that separates it from the rest and transcends above your everyday power-ups and one-dimensional antagonists. The heart of Soul Eater lies in its truly unique world, adorned with a "halloween"-esque theme and backed by legit humor, a compelling storyline, and a cast that is as unique as it gets.

Animation-wise, Soul Eater sets bars. It may not be as detailed as some other anime, but for a 50+ episode series, the production quality was quite insane. One of the more defining attributes is that the animation quality stays consistent throughout the entire series. 

Character-wise, Soul Eater gets a platinum. All of the characters have unique personalities and weaknesses that are constantly reviewed upon throughout the series. Each key player has their own path and set of values to follow, and partners of even greater variety. Even potty-humor side characters like Excalibur really add a hefty amount of flavor to the flamboyant world.

Story-wise, Soul Eater is just another shounen. What makes the plot stand out a bit more is how slowly it unravels. Major turning points, such as the first revival of the Kishin, had everyone at the edge of their seats. Great storytelling comes with substantial build up, and Soul Eater never failed to deliver.

Highlights: SHINIGAMI CHOPPU!!! All of the major fights, like Kishin vs Shinigami and Stein vs Medusa were quite exhilarating to watch. 

Overall I would highly recommend Soul Eater to anyone who likes the shounen style, but is looking for something of a higher quality. There are still cheesy moments, there are still convenient plot devices, but all in all, Soul Eater surpassed my expectations and really set the bar for future anime. Fuckin' Bones.

Gonna be busy all week. So much for a relaxing Spring Break haha. Also, two more things: I'm thinking of doing an anime rundown - the best of anime that I've seen in each category AND I'm working on a Kara no Kyoukai AMV, featuring Muse - New Born as the song. I'll let you guys know the progress!