#throwback anime - Free! Iwatobi Swim Club & Free! Eternal Summer!

This week's #throwback anime features Free! Iwatobi Swim Club and Free! Eternal Summer, a production of Kyoto Animation.

Free! Iwatobi Swim Club (Season 1) was released in summer 2013, while Free! Eternal Summer (Season 2) premiered in summer 2014. The franchise enjoyed relative popularity that expanded to multiple media such as radio shows, manga, light novels, drama CDs, multiple character songs CDs and other merchandises.

*This is only the character songs CDs for season 1!
The story revolves around Haruka Nanase, a boy who has always loved to be immersed in water, and to swim in it. The first season story focus on the formation of the club and the eventual match with their rival school. The first season is more lighthearted with jokes, gags(especially on the male leads girly names), fan service and occasional shipping of the male leads (to please target audience group), but it does prepare the viewers a basic understanding of each character and their own struggles in growing up and apart.

In the second season, Haruka and co. is now in their third year and facing decisions regarding their future. The second season takes a more serious theme of making a decision for yourself and growing up to a young adult. It also explore some sports related themes such as injury and age in the sports world (only a little). It still keeps the occasional fan services but are more toned down.

Opening songs for both season is sung by OLDCODEX a JRock band with lead vocalist Tatsuhisa Suzuki (VA for Tachibana Makoto), while ending song is performed by the male leads VA band called "Style Five".

Cast includes:
Nobunaga Shimazaki
Tatsuhisa Suzuki
Tsubasa Yonaga
Daisuke Hirakawa
Mamoru Miyano
Here's a picture of them doing funny poses!

Overall it is an enjoyable boy's love sports anime. Hehe

Gamer Weekend: Aura Kingdom

If you had read the previous post about Dragon Nest: Warrior's Dawn, you might have seen me mentioning Aura Kingdom. If you haven't you can check out the post here.

Aura Kingdom (幻想神域 or Fantasy Frontier）, like Dragon Nest is an anime based MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) developed by X-Legend and published by Aeria Games. Open beta started on 6th January 2014 and I started playing then. The game started with a level cap of 75 and content up to level 50 with 8 different classes. The game is free-to-play with an in game cash shop/item mall. The game main feature is the eidolon system where players are accompanied by summoned pets in the form of beautifully crafted deities and spirits. There are now a total of 12 playable classes, level 75 contents and a level cap of 80.

As with any other MMORPGs I played, I chose the Bard class (support/healer) as my main character and quickly started my adventure in the vast world of Aura Kingdom. The early levels of the game was fairly easy, you can easily reach level 50 within a few hours of game play, but after that leveling will start to slow down (as with any other games). The story that drives the players out from the small little port town Port Skandia and into a big war between the forces of good and evil is beautifully written (I cried when my character finish his level 60 quest to greet his hometown families and friends before the big battle T_T). The interface and controls are easy to understand and learn and stats distribution are easy.

Major downside of the game though are server issues, DDoS attacks, farming bots, and slow content updates. New content updates may take 2-3 months before implementing and that leave a lot of players nothing to do while waiting for new contents. Hence a trend of player surge during the first few weeks of a new content being released (I'm one of those guys now). But it is an enjoyable game and was one of the games that I truly enjoyed since Flyff. Do give this a try if you ever have the time and you might find yourself hooked. Cheers!

That's all.

Let’s watch Dragon Nest: Warrior’s Dawn

So this movie came out recently in SEA(Philippines to be precise), and I thought “let’s give this a try!”.

Dragon Nest is a MMORPG release back in 2010, I played the game for some time between my shift from Eden Eternal to Aura Kingdom back in 2014. It was instanced-base grinding, meaning there’s literally no mobs on the open field. Quest were quite easy and have a good story to run though with memorable NPCs. We also get some CG storytelling after completion of major quest. But like all MMORPG, it gets bored after reaching a certain level and grinding seems to take forever (Yes I quit the game).

Production of the film is by a Chinese-American film company, with most of the crew being Chinese. Animation is in its own league, pleasing to the eyes and voice acting was okay I guess. The main character Lambert has a quirky and childish style to it that brings out the charm of his character.

The story takes place during the Black Dragon Raid (50 years ago – pre-game), and is a story of Lambert and his master Barnac, joining with notable characters such as the Geriant, Argenta and other members of the Six Heroes. The premise and execution of the film has an uncanny resemblance to Lord of the Rings, just think of the black dragon as Sauron minus the ring part. We also get a bunch races allying with each other forming a party to slay Sauron black dragon. Yeah, get what I mean? Don’t expect too much and you will be fine I guess. But we do respect their guts of making 3(planned) films based on a MMORPG.

If you want ever want to watch Lord of the Rings: The Animation, do give this a try and maybe you will find yourself downloading the game client while you’re watching the movie. Hehe

That’s all.

*side note, the dragons looks more like griffins than dragons that is more popularly depicted.

腐男好介绍 - 《ほんと野獣》（野蛮情人）

各位腐男腐女，这个会是一个我介绍一些耽美作品的平台。
第一步要介绍的作品，就是山本小铁子老师的《ほんと野獣》，又名《野蛮情人》。罗马字念Honto Yajuu。

认识山本老师的同学们应该知道老师的漫画多数为暧昧，H戏会少一点。而且也不会很长。
《野蛮情人》目前已经刊登到第17话，单行本也出到第8本了！（是山本老师目前最长的，而且还在连载中的系列）
《野蛮情人》多数以2到3话为一章，而每一章都会有H的部分（不像老师平时的作风）。

故事情节是一个黑帮少爷恋上警察帅哥的爱情搞笑故事。途中有各种各样的小插曲，也有一些小角色的章节。

目前《野蛮情人》有3张Drama CD，也就是第一本到第三本的情节。
出演者：
攻（上田朝春）的是： 中村悠一
受（后藤田辉）的是： 柿原徹也
*尖叫！！*
柿子和中村！ 格雷和纳兹 （羞羞）

《野蛮情人》现在是刊登在GUSH月刊（每月7日出售），和《お参りですよ》（山本老师的另一个作品）轮流连载中。如果从来没有接触过老师的作品话，可以从这个作品开始看起哦！

#throwback anime - Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun(月刊少女野崎君)

So, part of the newly resurrected blog. I'm going to try to do #throwback anime, it will be a like a review/introduction to the anime that aired a few seasons back, for those that have unfortunately missed out on the series.

For the first #throwback anime we're gonna look at Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. Which was aired on the summer of 2014, if you haven't heard of it yet, its a love comedy of a girl that falls for guy that draws shoujo manga. The series play on the gender role swapping and it is a really fun series to watch. The cast are awesome especially Mikorin (Yes, I'm smitten)

The anime is adapted by Dogakobo studio from a 4-koma webcomic by Izumi Tsubaki.
Notable cast includes:
Nakamura Yuuichi (Gray from Fairy Tail),
Nobuhiko Okamoto (Eiji Niizuma from Bakuman),
Ari Ozawa (first major role),
Mamoru Miyano (A lot of anime lolx)
and other awesome people.
The anime received great reception and had a very good disc sales in Japan. If you're not much of a shoujo manga fan, you should definitely try this one out, although classified as shoujo genre, its definitely a gem in its own.

That's all for now!

3000令吉台湾（差一点）环岛之旅

*澄清，本宫是买到非常便宜的亚行（AirAsia）来回机票+还有购买许多土产/手信才有到3000令吉的消费。其实应该还可以更少的，哈哈！
去年8月，我和大学同学去了台湾。就毕业旅行嘛！（是的我毕业了）不要打我！

我是在7号-16号在台湾的okay。 2014年
我们搭的是早上飞机，抵达桃园机场+办入境手续后就和先前订好的司机+导游先生会面。
说好，这个毕业旅行的行程计划人不是我，是另一位同学。（非常强哦！）

第一天驱车到台中，晚餐时随便在各路边店解决的50-70台币。
过后去宫原眼科（原谅我的无知，还以为司机先生在耍我们，带我们到医院）
这个宫原眼科的却是个医院，在日治的时候。所以名字也叫宫原（みやはら），不过现在是土产店，卖的就是非常有名的凤梨酥。你可以试吃不一样口味的才决定购买，然后如果是不需要立刻拿的话可以让他们寄包裹到你最后一个酒店（当天fresh作的）。 我们有很多人去所以买起来有到50000台币，所以店员又介绍我们一些优惠券。就是送雪糕吃啦！（不过如果没有买酱多，就不用了啦！）

第二天我们就到彩虹眷村，高美湿地，熏衣草森林和艋甲夜市。除了熏衣草森林有入门费（200台币吧？不记得了）其他都是免费的，都是拍照的地方。熏衣草森林虽有入门票，不过同时也是兑换卷类似的，所以可以兑换一些吃的东西/小礼物。不过薰衣草是代班花（8月嘛），还是很美的好嘛！
途中有到百菇莊买些香菇（去薰衣草森林路途，会看到很多黑色的棚。那些都是拿来种蘑菇的。司机先生说台中是农业为主，香菇也是其中一个export来的。）
在艋甲夜市，我是买到了防台风超强自动开启的雨/阳伞，一支350台币。我朋友说他几个月前去韩国买了同样的一支大约50令吉叻！

第三天行程为日月潭+九族文化村。日月潭有很多大陆客人，所以我们快速拍完照就离开了。坐上缆车去九族文化村时还有机会看到日月潭的风景。九族文化村里有小食摊，和纪念品/艺术品而且都比外面买的便宜。去九族要记得那时间表因为有很多show，而且每个show都和下一个show的场地有一点距离。记得安排好时间哦！晚上搬到清境附近的民宿住，晚餐是吃甕仔鸡。然后，我人生中第一次用手把鸡分“食”，餐厅有准备手套（一个是护手的，比较厚，另外一个是套在外面，塑料的）。

第四天行程比较松，多数在清境。清境农场看咩咩show和马术show，拍拍照。过后去清境纸箱王拍照+买手信等。吃完午餐（忘了，好像是台中有名的猪肉汤圆，司机先生介绍的）， 下午就去到那个溪头妖怪村逛逛。刚好去的时候有盛会类似的所以很热闹。

到了第五天我们就和司机先生说拜拜了，会预约司机是因为台中交通不方便。不过第五天司机先生把我们送到高雄后，我们就可以自行搭捷运/高铁了。（不是很记得司机的费用，不过我们11个人除到来一个人大约有2000-3000台币吧。。。不清楚）
高雄捷运有学生卡，所以记得带学生证，你就可以购买学生卡，第一次购买价额1000台币，不够用时可以利用自动贩卖机加额。(高雄捷运卡非常非常漂亮，我们去的时候是以Line角色出卡的哦！我拿到Cookie Run的Gingerbreadman) 由于我们去的时候是高雄气暴不久后，所以那个最大的夜市就没有去了，因为被炸没了。 T_T 高雄，我们走了渔人码头，在一个草原拍照，还有去了一个艺术展区。（完全免费）

第六天我们就去意大世界（由于下雨天，所以户外设施都没有机会玩到。 不过里面的show都有看完）意大世界类似Sunway Lagoon/Genting Highlands这样的，门票有一点贵好像是500元台币，不过我们透过司机先生帮我们买的，所以有便宜一些些。

第七天搭上高铁抵达台北！高铁蛮贵的，建议如果要省钱可以搭客运（bus）便宜一半，不过时间就比较久一点。台北车站有很多餐厅，不过都不会很便宜。建议随便吃了就好。我们过后去诚品书店买了些书，各位要学日语的同学不妨到这里买参考书，便宜而且有各个等级的，也有日检的模拟试卷等。比起马来西亚的选择多很多。晚上我们去了五分浦。我逛了一会儿，就和我的朋友（在台湾实习的）去喝茶了，所以没什么意见。不过听说不是很好逛啦!

第八天的行程比较紧凑，平溪+菁桐+十份+九份。如果有时间其实可以分成两天，不过我们这样的行程省了一趟的车费。平溪，青桐，十份是在同样的车道上的所以可以先到最后一站（菁桐）然后再逆行回来。每50分钟有一趟火车，不过都是有充分的时间逛的。在菁桐可以吃看红宝面茶，这个听说是以前矿工没有钱的时候吃的食物，实际历史我不是很懂。纯属觉得不错吃就介绍一下。
过后下一站到平溪放天灯（不一定要在平溪放，由于旅客很多，许多站都有专业阿姨帮忙教导放天灯了，而且价钱都一样）。
接下来就到十份，这里比较大也比较多东西看。这里介绍一下一个卖小熊糕的食摊，叫小熊与树。他们买的糕外皮酥脆里面软软的，馅料也很多，喜欢甜点的一定要试试看！

过后就可以去九份了！九份老街是个非常著名的旅游胜地所以会有很多人！东西要拿好哦。来到九份当然是要吃芋圆，这里有两间有名的。由于我在吉隆坡时认识阿嫲芋圆，所以自然的就选了赖阿婆的来吃。（现在后悔了，因为太好吃了马来西亚的完全比不上）过后拍拍照就大功告成了！！
回到台北市我们就去西门町，各位请记得去吃鸭腿，还有阿宗面线（非常出名的，很多人排队的就是）。西门町个人觉得很好逛，而且可以买到便宜到不得了的护肤品如面膜等。（那个Nature’s Republic Aloe Vera Moisturizer才卖89台币！！）

第九天去北投，这里有温泉博物馆等，当然也有温泉泡，不过我们没有去因为天气够热了好吗！在这里可以吃到著名的温泉蛋和拉面。（这里有很重的日本气息，因为以前日治时代那个太子很喜欢北投的温泉。。。好像是）过后要介绍一下在36摄氏还可以去的就是地热谷，热死你！哈哈
过后就一定要到台北101那边拍拍照。如果要上展望台是要费用的，不过其实可以运用Starbucks的电梯上到楼上。（听说的，尝试后请报告哈哈）最后一天，就打包回家咯！

哈哈！彻夜难眠！

话说，昨天晚上彻夜难眠，忽然之间这个接近三年没开的部落格从脑子闪过。 好了,是时候又来一次部落格复活计划了。
其实荒废了这么久，是因为懒惰+没有动力+没有毅力。
当初写部落格也只是因为好奇+跟风。 并不是像一些部落客拿来抒发感情类似的。 不过最近有很多idea跑进脑子（其实都是昨晚失眠时想到的啦！） 所以觉得这次应该行得通。（希望如此） 今天就先来个连po文， 把这三年缺少的部分补回来吧！！
哈哈！！ 还有就是有可能会换掉那个host。 再看看wordpress怎样先。。。