Dota 2 and The Internationals

Dota 2 has been the talk of the vast majority of dota community for months, and the anticipation to see the suitor of the current warcraft 3 custom map DotA finally reached its peak last week when Valve held their own tournament at Gamescom 2011, Cologne, Germany, dubbed "The Internationals" where Dota2 made its debut to the public. The tournament which grants a massive 1 million dollar to the winner, featured 16 well known international Dota1 teams to battle over 5 days (August 17th -21st).

The tournament, which used group stage format before proceeding to playoff in double elimination format, concluded last Sunday which saw Ukrainian powerhouse and one of the tournament's favorite, Navi clinched the top spot, beating the unexpected Chinese team EHOME in the best-of-5 grand final.

Tournament info:

• Dota2: The Internationals (participated teams, bracket, VODs etc)
• Gosugamers: Photo
• Gosugamers: post-tournament picks/bans statistic

Final standings:

1. NaVi ($1,000,000)
2. EHOME ($250,000)
3. Scythe.sg ($150,000)
4. MYM ($80,000)
5. Moscow5 ($35,000)
6. iG ($35,000)
7. OK.Nirvana.int ($25,000)
8. MiTH-Trust ($25,000)

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I was very unfortunate not being able to fully follow the tournament due to work, though I still managed to get the update every now and then, as well as watching Video on Demands (VODs) of a few interesting games. To be honest it was not the tournament that I was looking forward to. But rather, like many others, it was the very dota2 itself. After months and months of waiting, we finally got to see what Dota2 looked like, what the heroes, items, icons looked like.

My impression toward Dota2 after watching The Internationals is rather mixed. The overall graphic is actually nice, because of the cel-shading touch to the 3d environment which made it easy to my eyes. The way the map layout (Neutral creep position, juke spots etc) looked almost exactly like in Dota1 made it even better. But there are also many things about the graphic/design that I do not like. The UI (User Interface) is way too bland and boring, with some space wasted between the hero avatar and the minimap/inventory (like HoN). The dots on minimap is kinda too small and hard to see, and that's a problem to a person like me. I also wish the color scheme of sentinel (now the radiant) and scourge (now the dire) is modified because at the moment I have difficulty differentiating sentinel and scourge's creeps -_-

A typical Dota2 screen: main game (left) and picking phase (right)

Some of the hero models were nice (Doom and Nightstalker got my award for best models), but some others were terrible. Storm Spirit is too small, and I REALLY want a Panda model : ( Earthshaker now looked like a chimpanzee running around with a totem. Mirana's "dog" is awfully designed, while Antimage need his head changed, or at least made him blindfolded. It's definitely going to take time to get accustomed to these new model, and over time we might forgot the fact that Rhasta and Dazzle were trolls. The courier model kinda looked retarded, but I somehow like it : ) There are also various effects/icons (eg Radiance aura, ES ulti, Nevermore's Raze etc) that I think need to be changed, and I definitely hope the full (?) version of Dota2 which is likely to be released next year to be slightly different than what we saw at Gamescom. The image of all currently available heroes and items can be viewed at this website. You can also comment about their models, and who knows, someday the critics might reach to Valve so that they changed/modify the models that the community think didn't suit the hero.

graph for difference in gold earned

As for in-game feature, there's some adjustments, but one thing I like is the stats/graph that show the difference in gold earned by both team, which give a mild indication of which team had the advantage at that point of time.

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The Internationals

As I previously said, I didn't pay much attention to the significance of winning or losing the tournament, because the game itself is still in beta phase with over half of Dota1 heroes unavailable, which means some of the current metagame featuring the mainstream picks (eg Omniknights, Broodmother, Invoker and Batrider) can't be used at its fullest. But that being said, I still enjoyed the tournament, because the tournament still produced some interesting games. And the fact that everyone's favorite shoutcaster TobiwanKenobi was there to shoutcast for Dota2 made VoD viewing much more fun. Gosugamers user vertigo compiled the VoD links to some of the best moments/matches of the tournament in this thread, so check it out.

One game that particularly amazed me is NaVi vs EHOME final game 2, which many others also voted as the best game of the tournament. This game has everything Dota2 can offer (it also has Pudge getting picked!), and it was evenly matched, going back and forth with both teams exchanging kills in each team clashes, and it's hard to tell which team is going to win until the last moment. NaVi always has 2 or 3 kills advantage throughout the game, but EHOME had significant gold and roshan advantage midway through the game. The game also had some of the best moments in the tournament, coming from Puppey's Chen - amazing micro to use dominated screep to block the enemies and save himself from being killed, then on many occasions later, he saved his allies by teleporting them back to base with Test of Faith. Totally amazing stuff pulled by Puppey.

Now that The Internationals is over, we're back to Dota1, and I can't wait for ESWC, WDC and our own's SMM : )

Valkyrie Profile: revisited

After finishing P3P some months ago, I decided to play an old game that really grew fond on me – Valkyrie Profile Lenneth. Technically it is my second playthrough, because I’ve played and finished the PS1 version before.

A bit of history about Valkyrie Profile and me: I was introduced to Valkyrie Profile series back then when the 2nd installment, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria was released for PS2 (around 2006 I think), and it instantly became one my lifelong favourite jrpg due to its unique gameplay, beautiful graphic and (loose) usage of Norse mythology. Then I tried to look for the prequel game Valkyrie Profile 1, released for PS1. But the game was extremely scarce at that time (because of many reasons, such as the being released at the end of PS1 era/beginning of PS2 era), and it was not until quite some time after I finished VP2 (around end 2006) that I was fortunate enough to find a copy of VP1. Needless to say, I completed the game, getting all three endings as well as getting a bit of journeying into Tri-Ace’s typical secret dungeon, Seraphic Gate. But I still had unfinished business with the game (especially regarding Seraphic Gate), so after quite some years, I’m back to VP1, this time into the ported version on PSP, Valkyrie Profile Lenneth.

During the stone age of this blog, I’ve written some lousy, half-ass reviews (here and here) of the Valkyrie Profile franchise, but never write something exclusively for VP1. Now that I’ve finished the PSP’s VP:Lenneth, I decided to give a more elaborate thought on the game (not to the extend of a full review though), and the many thing that brings the memories of VP1 and VP2 from the old days...

Title: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Developer: Tri-Ace
Platform: Playstation Portable (PSP)
Genre: jrpg
Release date: July 2006


Story

As mentioned, the basic story of VP1 revolves loosely around the Norse-Scandinavian myth. Lenneth, a reincarnation of an unfortunate girl named Platina, was awakened in Asgard by Odin to do her duty as the second Valkyrie - descend to human world Midgard and recruit potential Einherjar, then send them back to Asgard to prepare for Ragnarok - the end of the world, and the war against the Vanir. That's pretty much the base of the story, but the plot can expand into a very personal issue between Lenneth, Loki, and her past memories as human; and this part of story can only be achieved if you do specific things during the course of the game and aim for the Ending A. Anyway despite being the first of the Valkyrie Profile series, the story of VP1 actually occurred some few thousand years after the events in VP2: Silmeria.

This brings us to the endings. The game has three endings: Ending A (good), B (normal) and C (bad). (spoiler alert) Obviously Ending A is the best and something that made the game has its “story”, but it require a bit of planning in order to be achieved. Though I personally never liked this ending, because I don't like that "man". Ending B was a bit dull if you ask me, because it’s all about Valkyrie and her duty as Valkyrie: go to Midgard, recruit Einherjar, send someone before the end of chapter, and at the end of the game, fight the battle of Ragnarok at Jotunheim. Ending C is about Lenneth failing her duty as Valkyrie and hence banished to kingdom come by the mighty Freya herself. While it is not a nice ending at all, it’s worth to watch at least, plus if you’re confident enough, you might want to try beating Freya, although she is extremely hard to beat, probably even harder than the Ethereal Queen at Seraphic Gate.

Great addition of CGI Movies

VP: Silmeria has everything contained in the original VP1 with little to no change: same graphic, same gameplay, same game content; basically a more straightforward port than Persona 3 ported to PSP into P3P. But one interesting stuff added for VP:Lenneth is the 12 CGI movies replacing the many cutscenes that originally exist in the original VP1. These movies were definitely beautiful (I think you could find them on utube). Some were unimpressive (eg Lucian’s blues moment), but a few others definitely caught my attention. Among them are the cutscenes at Brahm’s castle, showing Lenneth’s marching through Brahms’s throne, only to find the crystallised Silmeria alongside him. Another scene that got me really excited is Alicia(!)’s appearance in Dipan, a cutscene that was much similar to the one we see in VP2 (with her appearing from the crowd when King Barbarossa was about to be guillotined by Hrist), except that the Alicia in those scene was…well, less cute I guess.


Seraphic gate, as usual

Being a Tri-Ace's game I always anticipated a great extra dungeon with super hard bosses waiting inside. IIRC VP1 is the among the first Tri-Ace’s game that introduced this kind of extra dungeon, and most importantly, the two iconic, trademark Tri-Ace’s super bosses, Gabriel Celeste and her sister Ethereal Queen. Seraphic Gate later reappear in Infinite Undiscovery and VP2, with GC and EQ reappearing in Star Ocean 3, Star Ocean 4, Radiata Stories, Infinite Undiscovery and VP2. Seraphic Gate in VP1 was a completely separate dungeon/mode that detaches itself from the main game, accessible from the main menu once we reach the final save point in Ending A or B. Kind of a shame because unlike VP2 where SG is part of the main game, this means whatever we accrue in Seraphic Gate (the extra characters, uber weapons etc) can never be brought into the main game.

Anyway, exploring Seraphic Gate in VP1/VP:Lenneth is only enjoyable if we play in Hard Mode because there are secret rooms in this dungeon that can only be unlocked by certain items obtained only from Hard Mode dungeons (yes, in this game there are a number of dungeons that were only available in a specific difficulty only), and these unlockable includes uber characters Freya (!), Brahms, and the mad scienti- ops, mad mage Lezard Valeth; and extremely overpowered weapons/gears like Holy Wand of Telos, Ether Laser and Eternal garb. Then the final challenge, Gabriel Celeste and Ethereal Queen. The monsters in the area round Ethereal Queen are the hardest in the game, and it's very unlikely to survive these fights without Auto-Item and Guts. Speaking of Auto-Item and Guts, these are arguable the two most important equipped skill in the game. Why? Because in VP1, many bosses can kill you easily with their special attack (aka PWS/Great Magic), and Auto Item skill helps immensely to immediately brings back the dead or heal the low hp allies when using item/spell manually will cost a turn. I have never played a game where healing items are significantly more important than the spell counterpart. Oh, Ethereal Queen's special attack, Empress Massacre can deal about 1 million damage to any single character -_-

Nevertheless, I ended up beating EQ 10 (!) times, getting a Tri-Emblem as the first reward, 8 Book of Riddles (which absolutely has no use) in the next 8 times I beat her, and an Angel Slayer, the strongest weapon in the game in the 10th battle. Those who explored Seraphic Gate in VP2 will remember this pattern, and in fact, the Book of Riddles that we got in VP2 had similar message as the one we got from VP1's Seraphic Gate. Another returning SG features from VP1 to VP2 is the "hamsters", a tiny, cute little animal in SG that like to appear in groups. Unfortunately, they were also the most dangerous, the hardest enemy to beat in the game, because....they're too small!!

My end game party, and some of the "Book of Riddles". Now, why Nanami instead of Lezard, you ask? Because I like Nanami's battle quotes XD

The full text of the Book of Riddles:

1. Congratulations on clearing it! I thank you for playing the game so much.
2. Wow, you cleared the Seraphic Gate 3 times...What else are you hoping for?
3. Did you finish the game again? I'm so happy that you like the game this much. But there's really no reward...
4. Do you want to play more?! There's no reward, is there? Why don't you do something else already?
5. Are you getting sick of this yet? Unlike Star Ocean, you can get only to level 99...
6. What game should I play next...
7. maybe next will be STAR OCEAN The T???d Story...
8. I'm back. Can't believe I have to do it 9 times... Anyway, I only have one more to do. If I finish that...

p/s: Whenever I watched Etherealsky’s Cool Edition, I always smile at the Mystina part (at 2:13), because indeed, I kinda feel sorry for her because while other major characters reappear in VP2 (Lenneth, Odin, Freya, Lezard, Brahms, Arngrim etc), she was left out. Well, Lucian also was left out but he was never my favourite character (despite the usefulness of his Slash Bolt in battle) I’d rather not having him in VP2.

MYM vs Navi F4F3

Last 2 weeks, one particular game caught the attention of competitive dota community. Or to be exact, the non-chinese community. It was game 2 of Winner Bracket Final of Farm4Fame3 between Danish-based MYM and Ukraine-based Navi. The game was rated Replay of the Week on Gosugamers, with over 11 pages of comments cumulated in just a few days. I admit that since WDC last year, I barely followed European scene and I never watched any European game this year, so for the first time, I feel compelled to watch this so-called epic game of MYM vs Navi.

Events: Farm4Fame3, Winner bracket final
Maps/version: Dota-allstars 6.72f, version 1.26
GameMode: -cm
Length: 82:07 minutes

replay download: [gosugamers]

VOD: [Tobi's Joindota] (amazing shoutcast, really)

After watching the whole game (Tobi's VOD, that is), I would agree that the game is worth the RR status because of the epic comeback. It was indeed an epic game – Navi managed to claim mid and bot rax and took MYM’s Tree of Life’s health to just below 200, but somehow MYM managed to defend and crawl back to steal the victory. A recommended game to watch, but IMO it did not deserve the RotW status as labelled in Gosugamers, because the game is filled with many unnecessary mistakes that almost cost MYM the game, but certainly cost Navi, and some that I'd like to point out:

• Base-rush by both side @44 min. It was a judgement mistake by MYM to have Windrunner going for top rax alone, while the whole of Navi went for mid. In the end MYM claim 1 rax in exchange of their own 2 raxes, and almost the Tree itself. MYM certainly could play it safer by having Windrunner TP back to base to help defending against Navi’s push. But if not for this decision, we would never see the epic comeback, no?

• The biggest mistake in the game – Alchemist’s item choice. Whether it is good to get a Manta Style and keeping that Vanguard late in the game is debatable, but not getting a BKB when he had 8k gold in his pocket is a big mistake. So many times Alchemist was rendered useless in battle because he was repeatedly hexed by Tinker and Windrunner. If he had got the BKB, he could probably finish the low-HP Tree of Life (at 57:30 game time). Now you might say MYM had Beastmaster’s Ulti that can counter BKB, but Navi’s Broodmother (who was virtually useless all games because of BM's Ulti) also got a BKB, so Beastmaster can only Ulti/disable 1 of them, and the rest of MYM (who had tons of disables in Tinker, Windrunner and ES) cannot do anything to the other BKB’d hero. I would even say Dendi's Venomancer also should try to get a BKB.

Nevertheless, it was still an entertaining game to watch particularly if you watched the VOD with Tobi’s shoutcast, his energy simply made any game worth to watch. Kudos to MYM for the great teamwork shown while defending their base, especially Mania's Earthshaker’s many great stuns and ultis.

Anyway, with Dota 2 The Internationals coming next week, pitting the best teams from all over the world, I am still not convinced that MYM or Navi (or any other non-Chinese team) could beat the Chinese. Yes the Chinese scene went through the Great Shuffles several times this year, but you don't often see them doing unforced error/miscommunication that could cost the game, like what Navi did many times in this game, and their grand final game. I hope I'm wrong though, because I do want to see that for once, a non-Chinese team could reach the top in an international LAN event.

p/s: I actually want to cover Tyloo's victory over iG at last week's WCG, but the replay is still not out -_-

Yousei Teikoku - Mischievous of Alice

Title: Mischievous of Alice
Artist: Yousei Teikoku
Release Date: July 27, 2011

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Track List:

• 01．Mischievous of Alice
• 02．emergence
• 03．Mischievous of Alice (instrumental)
• 04．emergence (instrumental)

Download link: [HF/FSN]
*download link will be added later*

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It's been quite some time since Yousei Teikoku release any major single (the last one being Gothic Lolita Agitator, last December. So when Mischievous of Alice was released, it surprised me in several ways. For one, the songs in this single kinda gave a different feeling than those we listened to in recent years (notably Baptize and Rebellion Anthem). Mischievous of Alice (the song) is obviously the highlight of this single (and an awesome one at that), but how long has it been since we listened to a ballad (?) song like Emergence? I swear the last time I listened to that kind of song from her is when she was still in Denkare (and there's many of these songs in their release). Not saying I didn't enjoy it, but I certainly enjoyed Mischievous of Alice a whole lot more.

Persona 3 Portable, MaleMC Route

The last time I played Persona 3 Portable (last year, playing as female MC), I mentioned that I was planning to replay the game as Male MC in the future. I didn't have the chance to do so, until about a few months ago when I leave my ps3 behind to work, leaving my PSP as my sole entertainer (unless you count DotA in my laptop). The reason I wanted to replay the game a second time is exactly as I previously mentioned: Getting 100% persona compendium, max all Social Links that I failed to finish the last time I played FES on PS2, and the ultimate challenge, beat the secret bosses (Margaret and Elizabeth) on Maniac (I only did half of the Vision Quests during my FemMC play).

Also, when I first began my 2nd playthrough, I planned to use a different party than what I used for FemMC (Yukari, Akihiko and Mitsuru), but as it turned out, I ended up sticking with the same 3 people in my party. And the reason is mostly based on my assesment on each character's ability to dungeon crawl and boss battle. Only on certain bosses (especially Margaret) I changed my party members..

• Yukari - She's simply the better Healer in the game (not counting MC), and she can provide good wind elemental support if needed. Ken is another alternative healer, but his combat prowess isn't that great (Samsara is miles better than his single target Hamaon, although I favor Alice's DieForMe more), and I personally had issue with this kid (especially because of his SL with FemMC).

• Mitsuru - I was planning to switch her for Aigis later, but in the end, I still kept her to the end. She's not a great physical dealer, but she's one of the best magically. Ice boost+Amp+Magic Charge+Bufudyne pretty much become my 2nd major offensive damage against many bosses.

• Akihiko - He's my mainstay early in the game because many monsters/bosses are weak to his Zio, and later in the game, because of his debuff skill, which I always use against bosses.

• Aigis - I planned to use her instead of Mitsuru, but IMO her physical skills weren't that great until much later in the game, and she didn't have elemental spells to exploit enemies's weakness (which is why Mitsuru is better). She's a great buffer, but those skills (the multi-target ma- buffs type) also come late in the game. So in the end, she's out of my party for almost the entire game, except against Margaret.

• Junpei - Probably the best physical attacker in the game, nice buffer (Rakukaja) with an elemental attack (Agi) for weakness exploit. But again, he only shines when he learnt Vorpal Blade (level 74), and only on certain date (for his "great" condition). One of the people I actually don't mind switching in and out while dungeon crawling, but ultimately didn't use him much. Nevertheless, he contributed A LOT in my fight against Margaret. On a side note, Spring of Life is kinda a waste of skill slot.
  

• Koromaru - No comment, I haven't use him at all Persona 3. No reason really though. Blanca was my main party back then in Shadow Hearts Covenant (until Anastacia joined the party), but I didn't really feel doing the same thing for Koro.

• Ken - I hate this boy, nuff said.

• Shinjiro - well, do I need to tell why?

Social Links

Part of the reason why I wanted to replay MaleMC route is because I wanted to max all SL, which as mentioned before, I failed to complete during my P3 Ps2 run. That run was totally messed up, I remembered failing to complete Mitsuru's SL, getting reversed on Kanji's Magician and Chihiro's Justice, as well as not completing many others (such as Moon, Star and Fortune)...total chaos ==

So just like my FemMC run, in the end I managed to max all SL in my MaleMC playthrough, and I didn't think I missed much from my unfinished PS2 run. Gourmet King Nozomi's Moon and Doctor-wannabe Keisuke's Fortune SL were downright boring, Rival athlete Mamoru's Star is okay at best, Kanji's Magician SL was kinda refreshing (though Junpei's Magician for FemMC was way better), Aigis's Aeon was also boring although it didn't change much from the FemaleMC (or vice versa), but most importantly, as awkward the SL were developed (from learning to act like commoners to lover), I really like Mitsuru's SL, probably my favorite Social Link on MaleMC play, with Yukari's Lovers came close in 2nd. Anyway, apparently the script from P3FES were ported straight into P3P without any change, because in P3P, the game still stated that the girls might get upset if we two (or three, or more)-timing when in fact we can form as many lovers as we want without hurting other SL.

My three main Persona in P3P MaleMC: Super Alice for sweeping the Tartarus w/ Morning Star, Siegfried for physicals, Orpheus Telos for Liz and Marg.

Maniac, Monad and Vision Quest...the unfinished business

Maniac mode isn't as hard as I thought after all. I was expecting something gruesomely challenging like Star Ocean 4's Chaos mode, but what I experienced from Maniac mode is that enemies hit you harder, and (probably) the most important thing that affect your Maniac play, the MASSIVE increase in Persona compendium cost. Even a low level persona like Apsaras and Angel can cost a lot more than you earn during your exploration in the first block of Tartarus. This essentially means before we exit Tartarus, we need to carefully prepare our persona library for the upcoming few weeks, rather than relying on compendium. I even thought that I might not be able to get 100% compendium due to the ridiculous price of the high level persona (some would cost more than a million yen), but luckily higher floors loots and battle coins gave a lot of money that in the end, I can even resummon a level 97 Messiah (which cost near 2 million) over and over again to get his heart item. Oh, and I got an Omnipotent Orb in my second try. Lucky bastard : )

100% compendium \o/ Apparently the compendium data is still carried over even in Maniac, hence the Orpheus I got from my FemMC run count as the remaining 1% (we only get 99% persona completion in each play)

And finally, the last challenges that P3P offered, the Monad and Vision Quest, aka beating Elizabeth and Margaret. Needless to say, I managed to beat them thanks to the very detailed and specific pattern that the boss use. For Margaret, it's all about dealing enough damage during her first physical phase (and I got Junpei in great condition on Jan 28th to help with Vorpal Blade), and past that phase, it's all easy. Elizabeth (or Theo) is slightly more difficult, but beating her is more about luck than skills, especially when we're nearing her ~10,000+ hp threshold. I personally had a more difficult time with Elizabeth because in many of my attempts, she would always seem to crit me to death at least once. Only then I found the answer to this problem - Enduring Soul... -__-
With Elizabeth beaten, I got my 2nd Omnipotent Orb, but do I really need it? Nyx is no longer a challenge by this point, and playing a New Game+ on other than Maniac mode with all these goodies carried over will totally kill the fun, considering I'm at level 99, and therefore making any battle in Tartarus meaningless.

So, will I ever returned to P3P? Likely not, but who knows. But I gotta say P3P was pretty enjoyable, even though it didn't have The Answer.

The Impression Series: Summer 2011 [Part 2]

pardon the long wait, rl owns.

Finally the second and final part of my Summer 2011 anime impression. At first I planned to make it a three-parts entry, but I am considering to limit my watchlist to about 10 series this season, hence I ended up dropping/holding about one-third of the amount I initially watched.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu 2
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy
Studio production: SILVER LINK
Number of episodes: 13

Comments: Well well, it’s Bakatest season 2, how much do I need to comment on this one? The first season already made me laugh a lot (only marginally lost to Mitsudomoe as my best comedy anime of 2010), so I had high expectation from the second season, knowing how much I could laugh from watching this show. And fortunately the few episodes so far delivered, right off the bat, I had a burst of laugh. On a side note, for some reason the more I watched the anime, the less I remembered about the importance of those class battles.

verdict:4.5/5



Mayo Chiki!
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, romance
Studio production: Feel
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: Aka Mayoeru Shitsuji to Chikin na Ore to. The story is about a gynophobic Sakamachi Kinjiro, who accidentally discovered that his classmate Subaru Konoe, also a butler to Suzutsuki Kanade, is actually a girl. Thanks to the horrid time he had at home with his little sister and mother constantly using him as pro-wrestling guinea pig, Kinjiro somehow developed some kind of allergy that made him nosebleed whenever a girl touched him (lolwat). And with the discovery of Subaru’s secret that’s supposed not to be known (or else she will be removed from her butler position), you bet it’s going to be good (or bad, depending on how you see it) for Kinjiro. A generic comedy romance story which has probably been recycled, tweaked and used many times in other anime/manga/novels, but still never failed to amuse me if done right, like Mayo Chiki did. I mean, it’s not the first time you see a trap like Subaru, a sadistic yet caring ojou-sama like Kanade (Kitamura Eri ftw :3) and a main character with some kind of allergy/phobia like Kinjiro, yet these three blended well to make the story interesting. Kinjiro’s little sister, Kureha (Kana Hanazawa again, huh?), the bunch of Subaru’s admirers as well as the fujoshi defectors made things even funnier. So I would say that I will keep on watching as long as the anime continue to entertain me.
p/s: Can’t help but thinking about Charlotte (IS)/young Minami Haruka whenever I see Subaru in female outfit.

verdict: 3.5/5



Itsuka Tenma no Kuro-Usagi
MAL/Official
Genre: fantasy, romance
Studio production: ZEXCS
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: Okay, another series that gave me a mixed impression. The pros: 1) The story – it was intriguing to say the least, from the point the main character Kurogane Taito remembered his old promise, the fight that ensued, and the involvement of the student council president Kurenai Gekkou and his twins. 2) The ending song, because it’s Shikata Akiko. The cons: 1) Massive cliché that bored me out. The easygoing, reckless main character (oh hi I got a new power and I’m so conceited I think I could beat the bad guy in a hit), the moe female friend that likes to hang with him, the forgotten old promise, the cool student council president, the transferring of the old lover to his school.. 2) The battles. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the battles lacks cohesion and proper flow. Kinda hard to explain, but let’s just say that I really don’t feel the tense of the battle in episode two. And the flashy animation and special effects didn’t help me either. 3) The colourful art and generic character designs (just me and my preference). 4) Cheap panty flash. This didn’t exist much in episode 2 though. In the end, I don’t think I would do anything with the series anymore, except downloading the ED single once it is released.

verdict: 2/5 (dropped)



Kamisama no Memo-chou
MAL/Official
Genre: mystery, psychological
Studio production: J.C. Staff
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: In short, the story tells how an average guy named Fujishima Narumi who longed for average life and avoiding major attention, somehow found himself involved with a group of weirdos – a pro gambler dropout, a military university nerd, a gigolo, yakuza affiliates, and finally the biggest of all, a NEET detective called Alice. The lengthy episode 1 provided the necessary introduction of the major and support characters, and from then on we could probably see similar pattern being played out in future episodes – Alice accepting a request/case and used her extensive network to solve it, with Narumi playing the sidekick role (or bigger one when the time arrived). Okay, I had some problem with Narumi's personality, but so far I could safely say that I’m liking what I am seeing from the series – nice semi-detective story, great animation (J.C.Staff, duh) and some funny moments (I lol’d hard when a simple “God Hand” computer work by Narumi totally amazed the thugs at Soichirou’s place). The story seems to put quite an emphasis in NEET theme (with Alice insisting to be called “NEET” detective), but I personally didn’t see this term having bigger influence than the term had in, say, NHK ni Youkoso. One thing that got me interested is how Alice deliberately mentioning the term “Kamisama no Memo-chou” – memo pads of the Gods in episode one. It could be a metaphor of the vast, extensive network that Alice had, but for a moment I also thought how it might relate to Alice at one point talking about the tainting of the living and the dead (Shigofumi, huh?). Anyway, finally a show from J.C.Staff that I could enjoy, after Bakuman (note that I was not that impressed with their Yumekui Merry and Aria).

verdict: 4/5



Dantalian no Shoka
MAL/Official
Genre: fantasy
Studio production: GAINAX

Number of episodes: 13
Comments: Look, another loli detective show! Dantalian no Shoka is about Hugh Anthony Disward (aka Huey) who was given inheritance of an isolated mansion and massive library from his deceased grandfather’s, and met a mysterious girl named Dalian. The atmosphere of the series screamed Gosick all over the place that it doesn’t feel right to have Dantalian aired right after Gosick concluded, though after awhile you get the sense that these two are never the same kind. How do I summed up my thought after watching the first 2 episodes: Interesting, but at the same time, it is also uninteresting? Although I like the mystery/supernatural element in the series, I feel that the story was rather confusing and weakend by plotholes. The first episode was okay, but then the second episode repeated the similar pattern, giving there’s little chance for us to understand the questions like who Dalian really is and how she ended up at the mansion, the history of those Phantom Books and many more. Then we were stuffed with lots of (uninteresting) long winded text that Huey read whenever they summoned a book from within Dalian. Basically a quarter of the episode (and half of the battles) were filled with Huey reading books! It’s amazing that Huey and Dalian remained composed even during the most dangerous situation in battle. The animation and special effects in battle was great, but the weakness in the plot kinda hold me back from giving this series a higher rating. And by the way, the ED was creepy, but I LOVE it, seriously!!!
p/s: I swear if they repeat those same door-unlocking scenes in the next 10 episodes, I'm gonna throw up. My god this is not mahou shoujo anime where enemies would give you 1 minute to do some flashy transformation =_=

verdict: 3.5/5



The IDOLM@STER
MAL/Official
Genre: slice of life, music (?)
Studio production: A-1 Pictures
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: Hm..I’m not sure why I decided to include this anime in the list. I’ve never played the game, so I really don’t have any kind of expectation toward the anime. Caught in the hype again, I guess. From what I saw, the story is about 12 girls who aimed to be real idols, and with the help of the unnamed producer-san, we see how they went through their everyday life as idol wannabe, with each episode focusing on one or several of these idols (along with their specific character ED song, which is kinda nice), what they do in the studio (everyone seems so disorganised huh?), preparing stage performance and other activities. The animation quality is somewhat lesser than what I expected, but as a whole I don't have much problem of having the show in my watchlist, although the priority is not high in my list at the moment.
p/s: Azusa has always been my favorite :3

verdict: 3/5



that's all I think for this season. There are also other series that I initially watched, but decided not to include full impression on these series:

- Mawaru Penguindrum - hm...weird series? I had real problems with the coloring and perspective of this anime.
- Nurarihyon no Mago 2 - I like the 1st season (minus the pointless ep26 recap), but I think I'm gonna wait till the 2nd season finished and marathon it in a go.
- R-15 – tbh I don’t mind watching a few more episodes of this one.
- Manyuu Hikenchou - omfg you do not tell me that I need to comment on this?
- Nekogami Yaoyorozu - another comedy slice of life of this season, but I personally like Yuruyuri more.

The Impression Series: Summer 2011 [Part 1]

Finally a post for the new anime season. As the tradition goes, here's my thought on the recently aired Summer 2011 anime. Some are very interesting and intriguing, while others were rather disappointing, at least from my point of view.

Ikoku Meiro no Croisee
MAL/Official
Genre: Slice of life
Studio production: Satelight
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: The story took place near the end of 19th century in Paris, when a young Japanese girl, Yune accompanied a French traveler named Oscar back to France. In Paris, she was placed under the care Oscar’s nephew, Claude who owned an ironwork shop. And from this on, things can only get interesting. Both Claude and Yune were total stranger to Japanese and French culture respectively, and it was interesting to see how they perceived the foreign culture, trying to understand it. For Claude, it was the uneasiness of suddenly having an attendance at his shop, especially his initial thought that they didn’t understand each others' language. In Yune’s case, she was trying her best to adapt to French’s living style, even though it was uncomfortable for her at first (eg bitter coffee and breakfast with bread and cheese). Overall, how do I describe the first 2 episodes: calmness, harmony, great atmosphere and beautiful art. Yune was simply adorable especially seeing how she was trying hard to be dependable, be strong and get used with the new lifestyle while trying not to upset Claude (although Claude never really mind with what Yune did). I would be interested to know the little bit details like why Yune went to France at such age, but for now I am content with what I am seeing, and with new characters set to make their appearance in episode 3, I was definitely looking forward to the rest of the anime.
verdict: 4.5/5

Usagi Drop
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, drama
Studio production: Production I.G.
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: Officially one of my favorite show this season. Some of my friends actually recommended me to try the manga last year, but it was not until I watch the first episode of the anime that I actually decided to give the manga a try, and my, what a nice read. I was pleasantly surprised with the story that it made me read the manga much until near the end. Anyway, back to the anime. Briefly, Usagi Drop is about a 30 years old hardworker Daikichi Kawachi who went to his grandfather’s funeral, only to met an unfamiliar kid named Rin Kaga, which to his surprise, is actually the illegitimate child of his grandfather (ie that kid is his aunt). Annoyed with the way his family treated Rin, Daikichi decided to take care of Rin himself, even though he is single and has no experience of handling kid. And the story went on, showing their everyday life, how Daikichi struggled to balance between his work and taking care of Rin, and various problems he never faced before, coupled with funny and cute moments to liven things up. The story was definitely refreshing for me. For a kid like her, Rin (they even use a kid for her voice) was quite mature and always try to be independent, despite (or because of) the hardship she face with her family situation (her mom missing, and just losing her dad). The animation art is mediocre at best, but I don’t think it really matters since the story and characters were nicely adapted without major changes. One slight concern for me is how much of the manga could fit into this 12-episodes long anime. I guess we won’t be seeing stuff from the 10 years later. Better this way I guess, since I actually like this part more than the latter.

verdict:5/5



Yuru Yuri
MAL/Official
Genre: comedy, slice of life
Studio production: Dogakobo
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: The premise is simple – a group of friends (Akari, Yui, Kyouko and Chinatsu) using an unused Tea Club room after school for their own Amusement Club, which essentially had no purpose other than having fun. A K-ON in disguise, blended with the randomness of Lucky Star. As people said, cute girls doing cute things, moeblobbing like a pro. Now how do I ended up watching this? For one, I was looking for a comedy slice of life, and I guess Yuruyuri is the closest to come in this aspect (Nekogami Yaoyorozu comes close though). Not saying that I didn’t enjoy it, because I certainly had a good laugh, especially watching the eccentric Kyouko (probably my favourite character in the series) doing crazy things. The vice prez Himawari and the yuri fangirl Chitose also made me laugh, as did the two rivals Sakurako and Ayano. Now, where’s the main character Akari, I wonder. I don’t mind the mild yuri as long as there’s comedy in it, heck I even thoroughly enjoyed the whole of Maria Holic, so what can I say? So I guess the only thing that’s really not to my liking in this show is the generic, unmemorable OP and ED theme.
p/s: several new seiyuus were used, and that's a good thing.

verdict: 3.5/5



Kamisama Dolls
MAL/Official
Genre: action, science-fiction
Studio production: 13

Number of episodes: Brains Base
Comments: Okay, this one certainly gave me a mixed impression. For one, I’m glad that finally there’s a fair bit of thriller/action series this season that I could enjoy. Or would I? The series is about Kuga Kyouhei, a former Doll contractor (aka Seki) from an isolated Karahari village who tried to forgot his past and come to Tokyo to study, only to find that he’s still haunted by the people from his village. The summary was pretty vague, and I wasn’t expecting much out of the series anyway, until that bloody scene took place in episode 1. That, along with the brief fight at Kuga’s apartment reignites my interest toward the show. I was hoping that the heat between Kuga and the culprit of the bloody scene, Aki would continue for a bit, but ep2 slowed down with new character Kuuko Karahari introduced, Kuga’s little sister Utao sometimes acting all moe especially in front of Kuga, practicing to control her Dolls and saving Kuko from an unfortunate lab blast. The fairly average animation quality didn’t help much to help the score either. For now this series is just at the border of being in my watchlist, but in the future I was hoping that Kuga would step into the spotlight quickly (probably returned as Seki) and settles his issues with Aki. By the way, I think I’m liking the melody that played the Doll played when they move. Love the OP and ED song too.

verdict: 3/5



Sacred Seven
MAL/Official
Genre: action, supernatural
Studio production: sunrise
Number of episodes: 12

Comments: Wow, I’m not even sure how I managed to last 2 episodes. At first I was curious because of the stark resemblance with Code Geass’s art (well, it’s CLAMP’s after all). But as the story goes, I know this show is simply not for me. And may not for many others too, who had probably enjoyed things like Tiger & Bunny. The story was cliché in every way (oh yeah, I’m an emo boy who awakened my super power and I’m gonna beat some monsters!), the characters were unoriginal (roflol Maid squadron?), and the superheroes suit? ....I was left speechless. I would have probably enjoy the series (only by a bit) if the story is not THAT generic (honestly it’s way overused), and those flashy, crappy battle suit were changed. I didn’t last through Kurogane no Linebarrel, I didn’t last through Star Driver, and I definitely will not going to last through Sacred Seven, particularly considering it is the worst of the three in my book.

verdict: 2/5 (dropped)



Blood-C
MAL/Official
Genre: action, supernatural
Studio production: Production I.G.

Number of episodes: 12
Comments: Maybe I just got caught with the hype surrounding Blood+ that I decided to give Blood-C a try. But my god what the hell am I watching? I’ve never watched Blood+, but I know Blood-C is far from replicating the impression that Blood+ gave to the general mass. I had way too many problems with Blood-C that made me unable to resist the urge of dropping this show. Half of the episode is wasted on nothing. We heard Saya praising his fabulous dad, visit the café, singing on the way to school (oh god that song made my ears bleed), and at school we saw how she interact with the twins, the tomboy, the class rep and the teachers. Little to no useful thing related to what Saya did at night, who she was and why she fights. Speaking of her night activity, it was great directing of battle scenes. At least the battle was cool for episode 1, but they repeated the damn pattern for episode 2, plus the eating lunch together. Things might change in later episodes, but the first 2 episodes already gave me a weak impression, so I really cannot expect to continue watching this.. oh and did I mentioned that I hate Saya's hair?

verdict: 2/5 (dropped)


Part 2 to come...later.

Venturing into FFXIII post-game

I took the opportunity to go back home during the last semester break and hence, the chance to play my ps3 again. TBH I don’t have any particular game in mind to play, but since I got my Vanquish and FFXIII games back from deady, I thought that I might as well do some trophies cleanup with these games. Vanquish, from about 22% trophy upped to 51% by doing some chapter-specific trophies, as well as the "No Death" Living Legend Trophy (which was surprisingly easier than I thought). But that's not really what I wanted to write here, but rather the next game: FFXIII. Previously I've made my end-game thought on the game, but at that time I didn't do anything with the post game, stopping right after the credit rolled. And about 1 year later (last time I touch the game was May 2010), I finally managed to muster my strength to return to this highly linear game, mostly to do some unfinished business with the post-game contents.

When I first replaying the game, I had a whim of Platinuming the game, but actually never think to actually do it because it looks like the game requires a lot of effort and grinding to Platinum (which remind me to the time I put to Platinum/Complete NieR and The Last Remnant). But after spending some time doing post-game missions, it appears that Platinuming FFXIII is not really that hard after all. Although, I still haven't Platinum it because I returned to KL last week and wasn't able to finish the game in time -_-


So what did FFXIII offered in its post-game play?

• The ONE and ONLY "real" sidequest ever existed in FFXIII - the Mark Quests. And post-game in FFXIII is all about completing this Mark Quests, and;
• As mentioned, for the "completionist" - Platinuming the game itself, with the majority of the trophies were attainable during the course of the post-game play.

Mark Quests
The only meaningful sidequest in FFXIII, this appear as soon as we reach the Gran Pulse in Chapter 11 (iirc), and spans until the very post-games. The basic is simple - we visit some sort of ancient stone, which then will gives us the task to kill a specific monster, with difficulties raging from easiest, D rank, to hardest, A rank. Most of the times the target monster (Mark) were located quite far from the Client stone. Killing them will unlock other Stones, and subsequently more Mark Missions: 64 in total. Killing them will gave you items some which were only available by beating these specific Marks (Genji Gloves, Doctor's Code, Growth Egg and Gold Watch). Beating all Mark Missions grants at least 7 Trophies, with an additional Gold Trophies for completing ALL of them with a 5-star post-battle ratings.

In the end, I managed to beat all but 1 Marks, the last 1 being (arguably) the strongest boss in the game, Mark Mission 64 (Vercingetorix). My thought on these Missions:

Getting 5-star rating for them without Gold Watch isn't that hard after all. In the end, I managed to 5-star 62 out of 64 Mark Missions. The last 2 were Mission 54 (Gigantuar), and of course the last one, Mission 64. In all of these missions, I went into battle without any Tier 3 weapons (no thanks to Trapezohedron), and only farm enough CP to get my HP moderately high. Then, it's a matter of strategy. For strong marks, I'd start with Shrouds, mostly Deceptisol to get easy Preemptive Strike, but others require me to use both Fortisol and Aegisol for the instant buffs. For Marks like Neochu (Mission 55) and Adamantortoise (Mission 63), it's all about instant kill with Vanille's Death.

Mission 54 - Gigantaur. I really hate this mission. Not only because everytime he attack, he hits for a full 10,000 damage WITHOUT any sort of reduction. He also attacks fast, and always had a chance to cause fog and pain (aka disable physical and magic attacks). Not only that, his target time (which affect battle rating) is so low that it's almost impossible to kill this bloody creature with weak weapon, and get 5 stars battle rating at the same time. This monster sucks and a total cheat, really. My rating when I killed him: 0 star the first time, 2 stars in my second attempt D :

Mission 64 - Vercingetorix. An annoying and strong boss. Really hard to stagger (thanks to his invulnerability shield which dispels all status, heal 8% of his lost health, and reset chain gauge), strong as puck, and when low on health, a devastating 1-hit kill skill that can only be avoided by 3-sentinels Paradigm. Or so they said (since I was beaten before I could experience that skill). When I first (and only time) faced him, I wasn't able to hit him hard enough that his hp remained pretty much around ~70% due to his Shield's healing. But apparently there was a more efficient way of killing him, through poison damage, and probably the easiest way to 5-star this Mission without the Gold Watch. I guess I'd try this strategy when I returned to my PS3 somewhere in the future...


Platinum Trophy
I did say that Platinuming FFXIII seems easier than I thought, but in reality it still required a lot of effort. Achieving 5 stars in mark missions requires your party, and your weapons/accessories to be fully upgraded. These in itself gave a trophy, Master's Seal. Each character's secondary role seems costing huge amount of CP, but truth be told, by the end of the day, even when you fully maxed your Crystallogen, chances are you still need to farm even more because of money, and in the end of the day, you got a maxed 999,999 CP that can't even be spend anymore...

The reason for that - money. And arguably the most tedious trophy in the game, Treasure Hunter which require you to have each and every weapons/accessories at least once at any point of the game. Collecting most weapons and accessories wasn't that hard, but collecting ALL of them is a different matter. The 3rd Tier weapon requires a lot of money to upgrade (or to be exact, money to buy exp component), and on top of that, it required the rarest item in the game, Trapezohedron. It can be bought from shop at a whopping 2,000,000 gil, but who'd be stupid enough to do that when the money is better spent at upgrading? So the answer is by rare drop, from either Adamantoise/Adamantortoise (1% drop rate) or Long Gui (5% drop rate). To be honest so far I've only used Vanille's Death method to beat the toises, but it's not a reliable strategy for money farming, that's why I was rather poor the whole post-game : ( And I don't even want to talk about defeating Long Gui (which also gave another trophy for defeating him) before I fully upgrade my weapons.

One seemingly easy trophy which I failed to get is Superstar, which requires us to beat the final boss with 5-stars rating. Everytime I tried, I ended up getting 3 stars, maybe because my weapon is too strong (weapon stat do affect battle rating btw). I guess I'd just retry this later, once I got the Gold Watch from Mission 64. Do want those Lightning's PS3 theme D :

Summer 2011 Anime List

TV Series

• Appleseed XIII (Net)
• Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni!
• Blade
• Blood-C
• Dantalian no Shoka
• Double-J
• Ikoku Meiro no Croisée
• Inumarudashi
• Itsuka Tenma no Kuro-Usagi
• Kamisama Dolls
• Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel ~Kyun Kyun Tokimeki Paradise!!~
• Kami-sama no Memo-chou
• Manyuu Hikenchou
• Mawaru PenguinDrum
• Mayo Chiki!
• Morita-san wa Mukuchi
• Natsume Yuujin-Chou San
• Nekogami Yaoyorozu
• NO.6
• Nurarihyon no Mago: Sennen Makyou
• Nyanpire The Animation
• R-15
• Ro-Kyu-Bu!
• Sacred Seven
• Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Special
• The IDOLM@STER
• Usagi Drop
• Uta no Prince-sama – Maji Love 1000%
• Yuruyuri

OVA

• Air Gear: Kuro no Hane to Nemuri no Mori – Break on the Sky ~ Trick 3
• Appleseed XIII
• Baby Princess 3D Paradise 0 [Love]
• Black Lagoon: Roberta’s Blood Trail
• Carnival Phantasm
• Fairy Tail: Yousei Gakuen: Yankee-kun to Yankee-chan
• Hakuouki Hekketsu-roku
• Hellsing Ultimate (ep8)
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira
• Katte ni Kaizou (ep 2)
• kiss x sis (episode 5)
• Kore wa Zombie desu ka?
• Kuttsukiboshi
• Valkyria Chronicles 3: Ta ga Tame no Juusou
• VitaminX Addiction
• Yurumates Huh? (ep2)

*List and posters courtesy of chartfag/whosubwhat etc

Typical of mid year season that the list isn't as huge as the spring/fall season, yet still relatively big nonetheless. With my schedule becoming increasingly tight, there's not much scouting and looking around, so a large part of the list were strangers to me. Anyway, I do admit that I'm kinda looking forward to the hyped Idolmaster, as were many others. As far as sequels go, Bakatest II and Nurarihyon II would likely go into my list. In the last 2 seasons, I'm not that impressed with JC Staff's Yumekui Merry and Hidan no Aria, so I hope Kamisama no Memo-chou could offer something that I could enjoy. As for the new show, it's the usual try and test. Oh yeah, no SHAFT anime? This is a blasphemy!

As for OVA? Hell yes for Valkyria Chronicles 3 OVA :D And the new Higurashi OVA.

*tbh I'm actually more looking forward to this fall, because of Persona 4 anime : 3 Yui Horie+Ami Koshimizu = win

A Mixed Ending for a Terrific Season

Time for some random post. Since the start of the year, I haven't been regularly watched Man Utd matches (except most Saturday/Sunday's games), though I never missed the match highlight. It has been another great season for the club and the fan, with both the grandeur and the disappointment mixed in.

The ups: obviously winning the record breaking 19th English top flight title, overtaking Liverpool as the top dog. And it has not been an easy feat, considering the squad that won the trophy had been regularly criticised for underperform, like many other great Man Utd sides in the past seasons. I admit that the squad is probably not comparable with the team of, for example, 1999 and 2008, but the spirit of the team and the work rate as the squad is unbeliavable, probably second only to those in 1999 treble winning squad. Berbatov shines in the first half of the season, and also got some crucial winning goals at latter stages (eg vs Blackpool/Bolton). Hernandez has been a revelation with his Gary Lineker-like presence up front and score crucial goals (eg vs Everton/Stoke), a huge bargain for 6m pounds. Nani had his best season since coming to the club, although he seems to be more effective on the right, which overlap with Valencia who also did great since coming back from injuries. Giggs, despite his age of 38, always full of energy and spirit on the pitch. Park has always been a massive big game player. At the back, Vidic has been immense, and at the post, no more words need to be said about the retiring Van der Sar - a goalkeeper of the same standard of the great Schmeichel. Simply put, everyone in the squad contribute to the success at any stage of the season.

The downs: quite a few I guess. Losing the FA Cup semi final to Man City, and most importantly, losing the Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley last Saturday. The FA Cup could have been different had Rooney not suspended (for his swearing at West Ham), but I had no qualms over the defeat to Barca. Although I still didn't like them for their regular acting and swarming over the referees, the football they played was simply too much for Man Utd to handle.

EPL 2010-2011 was really a peculiar season. The weaker team regularly beat the stronger team, Chelsea's crazy form at the start, middle and end of season, Arsenal's incredible collapse after losing the League Cup to Birmingham, Blackpool relegated despite scoring a massive 55 goals, and much more. Based on consistency, I guess it's fair to say that Man Utd did deserved to win the title, with Chelsea coming close in second (they would be unreachable had that mid-season lapse didn't happen). Man City finally ended their 30+ odd years trophy drought and clinch a CL place, but I'm not quite convinced that they can challenge for the title next season, because they seem to approach games too carefully, sometimes too defensively. Liverpool could be dangerous next season with Dalglish in charge, as for Arsenal, well, it depend on how Wenger is willing to spend I guess.

As for the prospect of next season, it seems like we'll see some major shuffle in the squad. Van der Sar, Neville and yesterday, Scholes retired. De Gea seems to be coming, while some other players seems to be leaving, and Sir Alex seems willing to use the youth squad that just recently won the FA Youth Cup. Hopefully the youngsters/new players added to the squad next season could emulate the success achieved this season, or perhaps bettered it.