Bata-kun no Atarashii Nikki/バタくんの新しい日記

I’m beat. I can barely type properly. I can barely think properly while I’m at it.

Uh, I just want to say an early “Happy New Year”. I don’t plan on typing another entry until the time of Amano Yuri-san’s birthday. Tomorrow, I plan on cleaning up and on New Year’s Day, the day after tomorrow, and Tanaka Rie-san’s birthday, I’m working. Yes, it’s a crime that I’m working on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I’m doing a bunch of errands. So, Thursday, it is.

Oh. There are those awards. I’ll mention them now.

Best anime: “Haruhi”.

Most surprising anime: “Zero no Tsukaima”.

Best game: “Megamari”.

Most surprising game: “Pink Sweets”.

Individual of the year: Hirano Aya.

Company of the year: Kyoto Animation.

2006’s the year of “Haruhi”. I mean, Hirano-chan’s my person of the year! Need I say more?

Okay. I’m really tired. I’m off.

12月31日のノート:誕生日おめでとうございます伐。あなたも舞。お、明けましておめでとうございます日本。 ^_^

Notes: I’ve been meaning to type up a rant about San Jose for a while. I figured that right now would be the case. Oh. If you have not done so, make sure you read the Profile section before you actually comment here.

San Jose may be one of the biggest cities in the world. However, for a big city, it’s disappointing as an entertainment city. Why would I, a person born and raised here, say this? Sure, it has an anime/manga con in Fanime. Sure, it has a Japan town. Sure, it has its tournament level players. Sure, it has a Kinokuniya store and a User’s Side store.

Where do I begin? Fanime is supposed to be a reflection of how grand the city is, but it doesn’t deliver what I would expect out of a big name and a big city con. I mean, what do I have to do to get someone like the Yamadera couple and Tanemura Arina-san to come to San Jose or to have a game like “Pink Sweets” there?

Speaking of games, San Jose is very slow when it comes to games. Don’t believe me? SJSU got “Espgaluda” earlier this year. This is great news…until you realize that “Espgaluda II” was released last year. No arcade place is really up to date here. Right now, I want to see “Arcana Heart” come over here within three months, but the way I see it, I’ll have to go to Arcade Infinity (Arcade Mugendai as I sometimes call it) down in Rowland Heights (which is not far Los Angeles).

People here will claim that San Jose has very good gamers. Skills, that’s probably the case, but I really question their knowledge. Anyone knows companies like Capcom and Namco, especially here because their American branches are in Sunnyvale and Santa Clara respectively (two cities near San Jose), but do they know companies like KID, NEC, Cave, Key, Enterbrain and Giga? Only a few people here know some of those companies I mentioned which really irritates me; I am like the only person in the city who reported on the latest “Sentimental” game (which is “Sentimental Prelude” if I remember correctly) and to this day, I still find it baffling because the “Sentimental” series is one of the more well-known series in Japan. If this doesn’t seem good enough, did anyone here report on “Mushihime-sama II” or even a game like “Finder Love” besides me?

For music, San Jose has the resources. The problem is that not many people take advantage of them. It’s like a standard to know who people like Hamasaki Ayumi-san, BoA and Malice Mizer are. Well, to me at least.

With all this ranting, it may not seem like it, but I want San Jose to be a real grand city. However, it doesn’t seem that way from my point of view. I wish there’s something I can do, but I’d only wear myself out.

If you plan on visiting San Jose, contact me. Why? I could be considered the bottle of San Jose that contains information of various subjects, but I know for sure that I have some knowledge on various sections. I may be weak on some cases such as K-drama, K-rock and idols, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not willing to learn. People may not know this, but I’m still a student or a senpai of entertainment, not a sensei. The moment I become a sensei is when I am really, really old and when I am gone from this world.

Well, that’s San Jose for you. It’s a big city, but it’s not a big entertainment city. Well, I shouldn’t really say that in the end. You just need to look hard for your resources, but you can always come to me if you’re looking for something.

Decided to get a head start here. If you’re wondering what was yesterday’s entry all about, Anime Blogger’s running a contest in which you can win a copy of “Hellsing”. That’s it.

I got “True Love Story Summer Days and Yet’s” OST today and I’m listening to it right now. (It arrived a day earlier than I expected.) I am not going to give much of “TLS’s” background. “TLS” is a romance game series that started in 1996 by from ASCII and later by Enterbrain. All of the games have been released on Sony’s first two PS systems and “Summer Days and Yet” was released in 2003. An OVA series was released in the same year. (As far as I know, this is the only game to have an anime.)

To be honest, it’s one of those soundtracks you want to pop in if you want to have fun. Well, at the start at least. Of course, it has some songs that will put you at ease. That’s what ren’ai games do. Oh and there’s a paper figurine which seems silly, but interesting never the less. Kuwatani Natsuko-san, who plays as the key girl of the series Hina (who is the girl of the figurine for me at least), does sing a song here. Great seiyuu, but I wouldn’t call her a grand singer also. She’s just decent.

The problem with “Summer Days and Yet’s” OST or any “TLS” OST for that matter is well, the audience. Obviously, the only people that will like this are people that like ren’ai games pretty much. I’d only bring this album if I’m going to see a certain group of friends as I really can’t show the majority of my friends this OST. They’d end up confused most likely.

So, should you get “True Love Story Summer Days and Yet’s” OST? If you’re a fan of the series, yes. If you’re a fan of ren’ai games, I’d say so. If you’re a fan of anime and manga, maybe. If you just started out in anime and manga as well as games, probably not. It gets a 9/10 score from me.

Why do I deserve a copy of “Hellsing”? Hmmm. Oh, where do I begin?

I’ll be honest. One of the reasons why I need to win here is because I want to tell everyone that I can still win any form of competition. I actually won a “Chobits” calendar 4 years ago and I won some “Tenchi” merchandise (a bag if I recall) from the Fanime staff contest the year before last year. Unlike my parents, I am competitive. I am competitive in sports, video games, card games and contests. So, I do want to have a copy that bad.

Another reason why I want to win here is because I actually want this Christmas session (which is still going on if you don’t know by now) to really make up for the last several. Christmas never did much for me the last several years because outside of the calendar, I got gifts I really didn’t need. I got some electronic device, but I didn’t touch it; though I did get some clothes, I only wear them on formal occasions and I generally don’t go to many. I am on a roll with a couple of games this year and I’ll get “True Love Story ~Summer Days and Yet’s~” OST (as in, the game’s OST, not the anime’s) the day after tomorrow. This Christmas still has its downs, but I want to actually have more ups this year.

The third and final reason is because I never really did get the chance to fully embrace “Hellsing”. I saw like one or two episodes, but that was it and that was like three years ago or so. So, by winning here, I’ll really experience the series myself and it’ll be such a stepping stone if that was the case.

Well, that’s that. I really want to make this Christmas better than the last several and by getting a grasp of a “Hellsing” copy, this Christmas will really, really stand out. This Christmas right now is just decent, but I want more out of it.

Just want to wish everyone the best for their holidays. (If you’re not celebrating any holiday of some sort right now, I just hope you’re enjoying the day today.) If you’re wondering if I’m enjoying my holidays, yes and no. Yes, I like this year because I actually got items that did something for me, a task I never did get the last several years. No, I don’t like this year because I lost $10 in poker yesterday. I should have played tighter, but oh well. I got “Final Fantasy III’s” remake and the new “Yoshi’s Island” game prior to today and I’ll get the “True Love Story ~Summer Days and Yet~” OST on Friday. I should have received more, but eh. This is good enough. I’ll bring out a new entry on Friday also.

Image: Insert Credit.

Well, “Arcana Heart” has been out for a few days already. For those that don’t know, this is a 2-D fighting game by Yuki and Atrativa. (Yuki helped out on the last two 2-D “Samurai Spirits” games and Atrativa brought out [the outdated] “Jingi Storm” [which never did get much love from what I remember].) It has the same layout as “Eternal Fighter Zero” and “Melty Blood”, but the fourth button is some sort of power button or something like that called the “Arcana” button. The cast is an all-girl one and it’s one of the few non-doujinshi fighting game not based on an anime or manga in which all of the fighters are girls. (No, “Gals Fighter” does not count, but “Asuka” does. Thanks Rid for reminding me.) Initial reports said that it felt slow, but by the time it got released, it’s a whole new ball game.

Of course, I bet that no one is going to pick the game up here. Yeah and that makes me not only upset, but angry as well. I should bring out a rant of various issues that relate to this, but that’s for another entry.

I’m pretty sure that you heard this already, but thanks to Random Curiousity and Moonphase, I found out that “Zero no Tsukaima” will be getting a second series. This is definitely good news, especially since this is my surprising anime series of the year. Yes, this is my surprising anime of the year and what I said just now is also surprising because I generally have a love-hate relationship with Iwasaki Yoshiaki-san. Your lesson of the day: he directed “Love Hina”, “Binzume Yousei”, “Sensei no Ojikan” and a bunch of other series.

I don’t know how it became my surprising anime of the year, especially since it has a character in which I have a love-hate relationship (or possibly a hate-hate relationship) with and that it’s too short as well as rushed, but it somehow became my surprising anime of the year. (Don’t ask where did I get that “hate-hate relationship” phrase.) Hmmm. Why’s this the case?

I think it’s that Siesta factor. Yes! That’s it! Shiesuta ga dai~suki!

Seriously, it’s entertaining. It has a terrific seiyuu cast. It’s a J.C. anime series. It’s that good. Really.

When will the next season air? I can’t say. If I have to guess, it’ll air in seven months most likely. I wish it’s July of next year now.

Well, this is it. This is my new site. This is Bata-kun no Atarashii Nikki. Oh and if you don’t know what the name means, it’s “Bata-kun’s New Diary”.

Oh. I better introduce myself properly here and later on, I’ll bring out a real big profile. Hee hee!

My name is Don Umali, but many of you know me as Starchild, Haikyou or most likely, Bata-kun/バタくん. I have a personal site, Bata-kun Official Site, and I have other sites, though I won’t mention them right now. I have been a manga and anime fan for eight years. Though I was aware of series like “Sailor Moon” when they reached North America, I didn’t become a fan until I started watching series like “Eva”, “Ranma” and “Tenchi”. After that, it took me another two years before I finally got to the point I am at today. A good amount of the series I like are Kodansha series, as some of my favorite series are “Love Hina”, “Great Teacher Onizuka”, “Cardcaptor Sakura”, “Get Backers” and “School Rumble”. Some series I like that are not from Kodansha are “Mangetsu o Sagashite”, “Mahoutsukai Tai!” and “Midori no Hibi”.

As you can see here, the site looks pretty bland. That’s because I have started and I’m still trying to learn the tricks around here. Also, for the last four days or so, I’ve only averaged four hours of sleep, give or take an hour. So, yes, I’m having a hard time playing catchup.

Most of the time, I will be posting in my site diary because well, that’s my primary diary. I will try to post here every now and then, a task I never really did for my last diary in which I had an inconsistent rate. Why do I feel like I’m able to post entries here and not in my last diary? I don’t know. I think that my site’s diary and this diary will be the only two I’ll be typing at from now on. Oh. In regards of romanization, you can check here to see how I will type words in English for this diary. You already saw myself spelling Kodansha’s name the well-known way instead of the traditional way which is “Koudansha”.

I’d type more, but I feel like I’m running against the clock. Huh? You want an omake?

*I become Ralf.*

“Iku ze Clark!”

*I walk to the other side and become Clark.*

“Ou!”

*I stand in the middle point and play as both of them.*

“Cross Changer!”

There you go. Yes, I used this omake before, but eh. It never gets old for me. Ha ha ha! If you want, go visit my site and the sites that helped me get started here. After doing that pair of tasks, visit this one, or this one, or this one, or this one (Japanese), or this one (Japanese), or this one (Japanese), or this one (Japanese), or this one, or this one, or this one (Japanese), or this one (Japanese), or this one, or this one (Japanese), or this one (Japanese), or this one (Japanese), or uh, I guess I should stop now. =P