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

Sorry folks. I’m not all that pepped up. I have been working with various sites the last several days and dealing with work elsewhere. It’s a shame because right now in Japan as I type this up, it’s the birthday of Shinohara Emi-san, Fukami Rika-san and Kuwatani Natsuko-san as well as “Rayearth’s” Hikaru. 誕生日おめでとうございます。 ^_^

I’ve been missing a lot lately. I haven’t seen any of the summer series yet, which is surprising because I usually do this. I forgot to give my best wishes to Hino Satoshi-san who had his birthday a few days back (and who is from San Francisco if you don’t know). “Negima” and “Cutie Honey” are getting live television series. I didn’t bother talking about “Otomedius” until yesterday.

I am planning to have two new sites soon. For the time being, I have started typing how my profile would be like in Japanese. Yes, I plan to have a Japanese section and an English section for my two sites. Why? It’s just in case I ever get noticed over there.

When the two sites are created, what will that mean for this diary? It will mean that it will not get as much attention as before. I will still type up an entry here, but my two sites will get majority of the attention. I’ve been meaning to have a site with my own domain for a while now.

Look forward to my new sites, okay?

Sorry that the report took forever. I still needed to set up images. That’s why.

Well, this will most likely end up being the most detailed con report/rant of this year’s Anime Expo you’ll see. Keep in mind that this will be more ugly than the ladies that were invited to the early party in “Great Teacher Onizuka”. Okay, maybe that is a bit too extreme? It will still be ugly and that’s why I attached the word “rant”.

Thursday

I got picked up by Jorge/DarthRyu or rather, a friend of his. Though this was the first time I went to AX, I have not been to an anime con in which I’ve actually did pay for the entry fee or be part of the staff in three years or so. What’s ugly was that I had an irritated throat and I knew that I was going to have some cold.

We reached the Long Beach Convention Center at 18:30/6:30 P.M. or so. There was nothing I could do because I couldn’t buy my badge until the following day. I managed to talk with Ray/Inin and a whole bunch of other Bay Area people. We talked about what we’re doing these days, which in my case would be a lot.

Some time after that, we, Jorge, his friends and I, went to different paths and I thought I was supposed to stay at Queen Mary’s, but I entered the place one day too early. Too bad I left my wallet in the car. I really hate that wallet.

Well, I got to see Chupiler and his friends. I slept at his place, which isn’t really far from the event. So, at least that saved me.

Friday

Pretty much, all I did was stand in line for registration and I forgot that I didn’t have my wallet. It wasn’t until that evening I managed to get a badge. I took some photographs of cosplayers obviously seeing that I’d be here for a while. I did talk with a bunch of people and two south guys I met really emphasized on why Long Beach is a horrid place to hold Anime Expo and some other stuff.

After I got my badge, Chupiler, his friends and I went to have some Hawaiian dinner. Then, we went to Max Karaoke down in Torrance. This is probably the best karaoke experience I had. Period. Of course, I had an horrid throat and it was pretty late, but oh man. It was a riot. If you’re down south, go to Max’s!

The songs I picked were Chemistry’s “Kimi ga Iru” (「キミがいる」), “Tokimeki Memorial II’s” “Yuuki no Kami-sama” (「勇気の神様」), “Groovy!” (「グルービー!」) from “Cardcaptor Sakura” and a “Love Hina” song: “Yakusoku” (「約束」). I think “Yakusoku” now became my 18th song. “Yuuki no Kami-sama” was the only duet I did and I did it with Chupiler, who likes this song.

This was the only night, if I should be saying that, in which I stayed at Queen Mary’s and it was okay, even though there are those stories. Why did I get a bed? I don’t know. They pretty much prefer sleeping in unusual places. Heh heh.

Saturday

Though there were interesting moments this day, this really was the one day I was supposed to be in a serious mode. Part of what I supposed to was to see if Long Beach would be a city I’d move to in two or three years. Of course, at this point, the answer’s “no” not only because of its notorious history, but because of the structure of the city itself. I’d seriously move south, but not to Long Beach.

Saturday showed real signs of horror. We were waiting for a while in regards of the S.O.S. dan autographs. Guess what? They were pushed back a day. This may be a good thing until you realize that this royally messes up my plans because Momoi Haruko-san, Halko-san if you’re sassy, had her panel the following day. Now, I had to start deciding on whether I go have another shot at the autographs or go to the panel.

I didn’t get breakfast until way late in the morning because I left my stuff at Chupiler’s place. After my quick breakfast, I did eat at a place called Wasabi. I made my waitress who was serving me cutely confused because she’s not used to hearing the word “bentou” when I wanted the bentou special and she had to look at one of her coworkers who I was talking with when I came in. It was fun and I got some anime moments in.

Shortly after lunch, I met up with Shin ATProof, who managed to get a cell before the con. He mainly wondered how are my “Rage of the Dragons” skills now and I laughed not only because they were waiting, but because it’s “Rage of the Dragons”. Hardly anyone plays that game. Oh and yes, I did tell him that I can beat Johann with a keyboard, which tells you that I’m some sort of game god.

We went our different ways and I played a few arcades games to kill time as well as reading “Nodame Cantabile” in the manga kissaten. I played “Mushihime-sama”, “Dodonpachi”, “Act Cadenza” and Arc’s “Hokuto no Ken” game. I didn’t really play my hardest in the games because all I wanted to do was kill time. It showed in the shooters because I didn’t go far in either of them.

I told my opponent for “Act Cadenza”, “Watch me become horrible in ‘Act Cadenza’” seeing that I will always prefer “Final Tuned”. It was fun because we talked for a bit in regards of the game like who we picked. I picked Ciel and he was winning with Kohaku and Hisui. I did push him, but not enough to make it a three round bout.

I played “Hokuto no Ken” for the first time and I had a four game winning streak with Kenshirou, which wasn’t bad. Some game couple was teaming up against me. Ha ha ha! After I lost, I smiled, which is unusual for a situation like this because you don’t smile after you lose. I smiled not just because I had fun, but because I had to attend another important matter. This meant I had to miss the S.O.S. concert.

I met with Chupiler and his friends in the evening. They had to take care of matters in regards of the booth they were working with: Doujin Online. I managed to hear an “Idolmaster” album with the girls singing some random songs. We went to some Irish pub and I didn’t remember much what went on other than I was told by one of the AX staff members that I was a good man for knowing Chupiler.

Sunday

Sunday. S.O.S. Dan autographs or Momoi-san’s panel? I had to make a decision. Either way, I’d lose something. I ended up going to the Momoi-san panel because at least I get to experience something other than waiting in line. Not only that, this would be my panel day and adding on, I had an idea that I wouldn’t be getting for sure the autographs anyway.

I felt that I made the right decision because Momoi-san’s panel was a blast. Megane, Akibahara, Under 17, hearing Anise lines (”Tales of the Abyss”), why did her panel get less than an hour? I don’t know. Her panel should have been 2 hours long! That wouldn’t be fair for the other panelists now, ne? Ha ha ha! Well, she should deserve a 2-hour panel if she wants it.

Of course, the panel was not all joyful. Momoi-san was forced to cancel her autograph sessions because AX staff members were still planning out the concert. I’m like, “What is this?!” and I felt like I wanted to enter the Riot of the Blood state, but I kept my cool. Too bad I couldn’t take out all my anger on Vega and Geese.

Right after the panel, I bumped into Jorge and we shopped for various items. I bought for Jorge a “Rozen Maiden” figurine set and a Lumiere (”Kiddy Grade”) shirt. After that, we broke off again. I somehow found out that Circus (who is known as the company that made the “Da Capo” series if you don’t know) was having a panel that night and I figured that I should attend this panel as well.

Remember the two guys I mentioned when I was waiting in line for my badge? I met up with one of them, Dean, and then, the three of us, Ron being the other guy if I’m recall, decided to have lunch at Tokyo Wako. Of course, we had to do some waiting. I tell you. This con was all about waiting.

Once lunch was over, I told the guys I had other things to take care of. I talked with Richie/Richielikesmaids and we talked about the many things that went wrong in this con. It’d be cute if he got to watch over Momoi-san should she come to San Jose. Hee hee! Oh and we so could have had something like lumpia. Ha ha ha!

After Rich went off to sleep and I went to finish my leftovers, which I should have started doing in the first place instead of buying lots of food, I went to the Circus panel. Yes, I went to it instead of the masquerade contest. Anyway, the people presented were the producer Tororo-san and the two illustrators, Tanihara Natsuki-san and Kayura Yuka-san if I remember properly.

This was a silly, but fun panel. Everyone took photos of them and they took photos of the crowd. The staff members were surprised at the fact that majority of the crowd preferred girls with a modest bust because they would think that Americans love girls with a big bust. (In many cases, that’s true, but not here.) Oh and I managed to win a sketch from Tanihara-san, which made my day. ^_^

Monday

I went to Momoi-san’s concert. Of course, I will never understand why there’s that Premire Ticket thing. It’s a waste of time really. Anyway, the concert was fun and I got rave sticks. Hee hee! She sang a whole bunch of songs like “Ai no Medicine” (the “Komugi-chan” opening song) and she and Manzo-san were really excited to see a lot of people at the concert. (Of course, it wasn’t really a lot to me.)

Well, after Momoi-san gave her thanks and cried with joy as well as having a photo, I left a message in her fan book. I wrote in kana, but I rushed it because I still had to worry about the autograph session I won yesterday. I hate it when you’re on some sort of time budget.

So, I went to Circus’s booth and I got my autograph from Tanihara-san. The sketch is of Yume from “Da Capo II” by the way. I told her that writing my name in katakana is fine. Well, I got my name both in roumaji and katakana, which works out too. Ha ha ha! Initially, a Circus staff member’s autograph wasn’t at the top of my item list, but Circus somehow ended my run at AX on a high note.

I helped clean up the Doujin Online booth for a bit and this was the last time I would see Chupiler and his friends. Before, I got a figurine of Eri from “School Rumble” and some other items. I ended my run early as I heard various tunes like “Tank” from “Cowboy Bebop” while I rested. I found Jorge and after we found his friends, we headed back north.

Epilogue

After four days and over $500, this year’s AX wasn’t that bad, but calling it “terrific” would be pushing it. Like I said, Long Beach is not a very good city to hold an anime con. Yeah, it would have been better if it was held in Anaheim because that’s more of a family city. (Disneyland.) In Long Beach, you still have that grim aura. Not only that, you can end up going the wrong way when you walk or drive here.

It’s a shame I didn’t get to touch my Dreamcast. I would have wanted to play against someone in “Moero! Justice Gakuen”, but oh well. There’s that and I wanted to go to Arcade Infinity. I thought the game rooms were horrible in Fanime. AX had worse. Can a person at least get a game like “The King of Fighters 2002″ or “Pink Sweets”?! The latter wouldn’t matter anyway because I’d still be considered slow to play it.

I already knew that there’d be no fan subs at the con, which is why I didn’t bother going to check the viewing rooms. I did get a glimpse of some “Lucky Star” episode before the Circus panel. Ha ha ha! Can’t remember which one though.

In regards of the guests, I feel sorry for Momoi-san and the rest of the guests. I also feel sorry for the people who waited in line for the S.O.S. Dan autographs because I would have done the same and I know that the majority of you people left empty-handed, which is a darn shame. If only there was a way to clone myself.

Oh! Random notes. I went to the Borders store close by on Sunday and I told him that it feels weird for him to serve the enemy because I was wearing a Giants hat and obviously, you can’t wear a Giants hat if you’re in Long Beach. He does like the city of San Francisco though. By the way, I ate at least one Japanese food item everyday while I was down south. I am not going to bother mentioning the ugly stuff.

The ups of this year’s AX? Outside of the outside stuff like the karaoke session, I got to see old friends and I got to see new ones. I even got to have lunch with random people I’ve met, which is something no one would do at AX normally. I bought a whole bunch of items (mostly shirts) and I got an autograph from Circus. Oh and I met a guy with the fan name of “Hanase”! XD

The downs of this year’s AX? I mentioned them already. I didn’t get an autograph from Momoi-san, the reason why I came to AX in the first place. Food’s not cheap. It’s the walking and waiting con. The games were disgusting to put it lightly. Simply put, this was really disorganized.

At the highest, 2007’s AX gets a 7/10 and that’s me being nice. At the lowest, it gets a 3/10. Again, that’s me being nice. So, it gets a 5, which is not bad, but not that good either.

Oh. Next year’s AX will be in downtown Los Angeles. I haven’t been to Los Angeles in years, but while this means that there will be a bigger place to work with for the staff, bigger doesn’t mean better always. This is Los Angeles. I’m worried about the safety of cosplayers, especially those that are not 18 yet. It still has that dark aura and if you thought Long Beach’s is bad, this is worse.

What should be done? If it can’t be done in Anaheim, bring it to a city like Pasadena or Santa Ana. If a bigger city is required, bring it to San Diego. I’d rather travel for another hour plus and have that safe feeling than travel for only a few hours to be concerned about the safety of people not familiar with Los Angeles all the time.

Well, that’s my rant for AX2007. It took me a while to complete this. I am so not going to use a disposable camera if I ever go to a big event again. If you didn’t enjoy AX this year, I feel for you. If you did enjoy AX this year, more power to you. This event was too much of a mixed bag. I wish I could work with guests from now on, but I live up north. I guess it can’t be helped. –’

Photos are below. The reason why there aren’t many is that I was on a time budget pretty much. Also, they look horrible because I was using a cheap camera, which is what I will not do again. Hopefully.

Photos

Max Karaoke in Torrance.

“Azumanga” waiter and waitress gang.

“Guu’s” title character.

“Haruhi’s” title character in that bunny outfit.

Kyousuke of the “Justice Gakuen” series.

Maid in Long Beach.

Maid pair in Long Beach.

Nakoruru and Iori, two popular characters in the SNK Playmore world. (Yes, I know that this looks horrible, but it’s better like this than having them pose in the middle of the crossway.)

“Samurai Spirits’s” Shizumaru. (I’m probably one of the few people who actually knows who he’s cosplaying as.)

“School Rumble’s” Tenma.

Yuki, that mysterious girl of “Haruhi” and Haku of “Naruto”.

I will be gone for about a week because I am going to Anime Expo. Whether or not I make this an annual thing or a semi-annual one at least, I don’t know. It all depends on what is presented. If a game like “Pink Sweets”, “Arcana Heart” or better yet, “Quiz Magic Academy IV” shows up, then oh boy! That’s beyond crazy! If not, then the visit is just eh.

Okay! Prep time! Hee!

Here’s part 2. Here, I will list the guys. Then, I will give off my rant in regards of this.

Oh. Honorable mentions. Kikuchi Masami-san, the Ootsuka father-son combination of Chikao-san and Akio-san, Okiayu Ryoutarou-san, Aono Takeshi-san, Yuuki Hiro-san, I can go on and on.

Males

1. Seki Tomokazu-san

This is an anime guy. He loves “Getter Robo” and he’s a fan of Kamiya Akira-san as well as the fact that he loves reading various kinds of manga. When he first entered the seiyuu world, he made a big impact. Of the male seiyuu, I have to say that Seki-san is the most versitle one because he can and will make his voice rough if needed. Funny, serious, hotheaded, he can do it all.

2. Koyasu Takehito-san

Koyasu-san is another one of those versitile seiyuu and chances are that if you heard a deep voice from a bishounen, it most likely belonged to him. Of course, there are cases in which he does not go into that deep (and sexy to girls) mode, but fans pretty much know him for that. Not only is there that voice as well as that look, he even created “Weiss Kreuz”.

3. Ueda Yuuji-san

Though not as well-known as a good amount of the guys on this list here, Ueda-san is a seiyuu to take note of. A good amount of the time, you hear him play as an underdog type of character or a character that needs love like Keitarou of “Love Hina”. Of course, he has his fair share of aggressive roles like Shouma of “Justice Gakuen”, but many fans know him for his underdog roles.

Oh. He’s the husband of Ueda Omi Minami-san. This is not the only seiyuu couple I’ll mention here. I tell you. Hearing his voice is sort of like hearing a teddy bear talk or a feeling like that.

4. Midorikawa Hikaru-san

Girls love him and some are probably stalking him in Japan right now. Guys are jealous of him (including myself). Regardless, Midorikawa-san is another notable seiyuu to take note of and if you take a look at his list of roles, you’d know why. That voice of his can really make a girl melt, even if he said just a short word like “suki”. I believe he’s married. So, to answer your question if he’s still available girls, no.

5. Wakamoto Norio-san

Ho ho ho! What can I say? He is still the man after all these years. For those not familiar with him, and you should get to know the old school fellows like this one, he is the one that provides that witty voice of his for that memorable villain. Can’t forget those silly characters too. I mean, he played as a dirty mascot for crying out!

6. Kamiya Akira-san

Let’s see. “Macross” ace: check. Loud, powerful fighter: check. Sweeper: check. Rival of beautiful alien’s boyfriend: check. Need I say more?

7. Yamadera Kouichi-san

Hee hee! You can’t have a list like this without mentioning Yamadera-san! Aside from being married to Yamadera Mika Kanai-san who happens to be a seiyuu herself (and who happens to be still more attractive than ladies my age), Yamadera-san/Yama-chan not only is a seiyuu and singer, but he is also a host of a children’s show. He is still a joy to hear after all these years.

8. Hoshi Souichirou-san

Though I first heard Hoshi-san’s voice way back in high school from “Puzzle Fighter”, I didn’t know about him until college or so when I saw the anime version of “To Heart”. A late bloomer, you can find him in various series these days. That gentle voice of his is pretty well-known, but he does play as aggressive people every now and then, showing his versitility. Oh and yes, many of his characters use “boku”, something male seiyuu need to do more with their characters if possible.

9. Yamaguchi Kappei-san

Yamaguchi-san is another seiyuu I weaned on when I first started getting to know seiyuu largely because of his debut anime: “Ranma”. He tends to play as teenage boys and many of them have that aggressive trait, but he’s also known to play as silly characters. Chances are that you will get to know him early on as well.

10. Miki Shin’ichirou-san

Miki-san is one of the most colorful seiyuu ever. I say this for two reasons. The first reason is that he has played as various types of characters whether the person is bright and cheerful or dark and serious. The other reason is that he is known for coloring his hair of various colors from blonde to blue.

Well, that’s that. I felt that it was fair to make two lists. If I made a combination list of both genders, Seki-san and Koyasu-san would end up being the only guys there. Ha ha ha! Yeah and to complete the list, Hayashibara-san, Mitsuishi-san, Inoue-san, Hisakawa-san, Kawasumi-san, Horie-san, Kuwashima-san and Aoyama-san would fill up the other eight slots.

I know. “Where’s Mizuki Nana-san?!” “Where’s Tamura Yukari-san?!” “Where’s Ikezawa Haruna-san?!” “Where’s Kugimiya Rie-san?!” “Where’s Kuwatani Natsuko-san?!” “Where’s Hino Satoshi-san?!”

I missed a lot of people, but I can’t forget my history for the most part. I know I should place in more younger people, but I first started knowing people like Hidaka Noriko-san. I’m so old. I only remember the names of at most, four male seiyuu born after Seki-san (and none of them are in the list of part 2). Whether or not these lists are really the lists to use as guides, I don’t know, but I hope you find them useful.

I’ve decided to follow suit and bring up a “Top 10 Seiyuu Every Anime Fan Rookie Should Know” list. Blame posts like this one, this one, this one, and this one. Ha ha ha!

This will be a two part post. Like everyone else, I will do a female version. Oh. I will do a male version also. This is not by any means a list pair of “Who’s the Best?” or “Who do I Like?” here, but rather a list pair of seiyuu who have made a big impact. Whether or not these will be the lists that end all debates, I don’t know.

Okay! That’s that. I will start with the ladies first in part one because one, everyone has done the ladies and two, there’s that rule of “Ladies first”. Plus, I obviously had an easier time working with the ladies list than the guys list. Part two will follow the same format here and I will give some sort of omake at the end.

Oh! Honorable mentions. I’m sorry, but I have too many here. Some that I should mention are Tanaka Rie-san, Kawakami Tomoko-san, Ogata Megumi-san and Tsuru Hiromi-san.

Female

1. Hayashibara Megumi-san

One of the first seiyuu I weaned on, she was pretty much everywhere in the anime scene. Hayashibara-san can do it all. The list of credits is so long, it’s not funny. Don’t forget the fact that she’s a very good singer and that she was the idol. It’s hard to not watch a series that did not have her in it. Of course, she isn’t in many series these days because of her daughter, but she will always be one of the best ever.

2. Mitsuishi Kotono-san

Like Hayashibara-san, Mitsuishi-san has a list of credits that is so long. If you somehow managed to dodge an anime with Hayashibara-san in it, then you certainly couldn’t have seen a series without Mitsuishi-san. From those genki roles to those “Get serious!” roles, she can do them all and let’s not forget that she was part of two big singing groups during the mid-1990’s.

3. Inoue Kikuko-san

Onee-chan, Sakana-san, the ringleader of “Eien ni Junanasai”, people have their pet name for this person. What people can agree on is that Inoue-san’s one of the most established seiyuu ever. True, people pretty much know her for her gentle roles like Kasumi of “Ranma”, but she has done some sassy roles before like I-no of “Guilty Gear”. She is and has always been a top notch seiyuu.

4. Sakamoto Maaya-san

Though she wasn’t the first well-known seiyuu to start out at a young age, Sakamoto-san was the first one to start out at a young age with a real big role. Keep in mind that she was only 16. (On a side note, she’s probably the one that did strengthen the trend of having seiyuu start early in their lives.) Anyway, she may not have as many key roles as the rest of the seiyuu here, but she is a terrific singer.

5. Kawasumi Ayako-san

While I’m not a fan of her Tsubame team (as I’m a Kyojin guy), I am a fan of Kawasumi-san overall even though she’s not much of a singer. She has one of those voices that’s kawaii, but not overpowered to clamp her down severely (which is a good trait). Many of her roles tend to be gentle like Akari of “To Heart” and her debut role of “Outlaw Star’s” Melfina, but once you hear a role like Lafiel, watch out. Oh and she can play the piano too. (See “Piano”.)

6. Horie Yui-san

Horie-san, Hocchan if you want to be sassy, was a minor seiyuu early on and by that, I mean that she either played as minor characters of big series or main characters of series that didn’t get much attention. After ending up being “To Heart’s” Multi and following up with “Love Hina’s” Naru, the rest is history. She is a big influence of the 21st century without a doubt and she will continue to get better.

7. Kuwashima Houko-san

Kuwashima-san has been blessed to be part of the seiyuu craze of the 1990’s. She started out as the spirited Yurika of “Nadesico” and has managed to play as various characters since then. She’s that good of a seiyuu (aside from that one blunder [*coughs* “Dead or Alive” Kasumi]) and she’s a good singer as well. I definitely would want her in my games if I was given the chance.

8. Hisakawa Aya-san

Take away the first three seiyuu I said as well as the entry after this one and you have the definite queen of the 1990’s if you were to ask people pretty much. Most well-known as a seiyuu of “Sailor Moon” early on like Mitsuishi-san, Hisakawa-san, Hisakawa-han if I’m speaking Kansai-ben, is one of the most interesting seiyuu ever. She has a real delicate voice, but she can make a U-turn and be real energetic. Oh and of course, you have to love the Kansai accent.

9. Aoyama Minami Takayama-san

Whether you still say “Takayama-san” or “Aoyama-san” like me these days, you can’t deny that she is a real talent. Besides being married to a terrific mangaka, Aoyama-san has played pretty much every possible role. Rough, evil, innocent, she can do it all regardless of the character. Oh and there’s that act of hers called “Two-Mix” or something like that I believe.

10. Hirano Aya-chan

The last slot was hard to do. I wanted to at least add in one seiyuu that will be in the seiyuu world for a long time, but at the same time, I wanted to strengthen history. Well, I’ve done the latter already pretty much and I just had to add in Hirano-chan because it’s a name I have been hearing a lot as of late.

Besides being the only female seiyuu here younger than me (giving you an idea of how old I am if you don’t know), she has already started establishing a serious list of credits from Lumiere of “Kiddy Grade” to “Haruhi’s” title character. Who knows how much further she’ll go? She’s that hot right now.

Whoa. I’m here, but only for a little bit. I better get some rant out of the way.

Disclaimer: Japanese voice actor appreciation is a dangerous, yet silly hobby, especially if an actress is involved here. What you see down below is what I go through. Please don’t be like me. I am a professional. I don’t know. (Sorry LK. XP)

Shin Bata kun (9:31:46 AM): If I can’t go down south, can you get me Momoi Haruko-san’s autograph? XD

chupiler (9:32:16 AM): if she stops by my booth =P

Shin Bata kun (9:32:37 AM): Ha ha ha!

If you can’t tell, Momoi Haruko-san will be at AX in Long Beach later this month. (For those that don’t know, that’s near Los Angeles.) Of course, let’s hope she stays well this time around. Yeah, there are those other seiyuu, but I obviously have a thing for older seiyuu.

I’d go there if I had the time and money. Getting her autograph myself would be great though. Why didn’t she pick San Jose? I don’t know. I’m better off hoping that someone like Neya Michiko-san comes to San Jose instead because Long Beach beated San Jose to Momoi-san and I’m always looking for surprises. (On a side note, someone please make LK’s wishes come true.)

Oh. The birthdays. My dad’s is tomorrow and my mom’s is a week from tomorrow. Then, mine is next month. So, even though I’m early, happy birthday! That’s your birthday roundup.

Chances are that you were at Fanime the last few days. While you were busy with the con itself, I was in the downtown area to see what random insanity Chupiler would throw at me this time around. Ha ha ha!

I didn’t visit Chupiler and his crew until Saturday (because I was working). He chuckled for a bit when I said, “Ewww. Beikoku no tabemono”. Obviously, I don’t think anyone else understood what I said. The guy got to see a “Quiz Magic Academy” cosplayer. Of course, the two of us couldn’t remember the names of the guys. =P

He gave me some good gifts. I will not reveal what he gave me because you’ll end up surprised. To be honest, he wanted to get rid of the stuff actually and sell them off, but the gifts have a place now. So, I’ll just stop right there in regards of that.

Chupiler showed me his 360. I know it has potential, but the problem is that it is still an action console. Up to this point, if I had a choice, I’d own a Japanese 360 over the other two because not only does it have some games I’m looking for and it has a controller similar to the DC’s, it’s not expensive though.

I got killed “Senkou no Ronde”, but I got to see “Idol Master”. After a couple of days or so, it took me a while to figure out who is Lili’s seiyuu, seeing that she somehow sounded familar to me. It turns out that she is played by Kanda Akemi-san. (The only seiyuu I knew up to that point that’s in the game was Nonaka Ai-san.) Oh and I so want to play “Imas” now, even though I’ll mess up.

You can’t have a video game party without a Dreamcast, which is what I brought. Chupiler was rusty in his “Justice Gakuen” and it showed in “Moero! Justice Gakuen”. He just had to use that Kyousuke glitch though. Of course, he preferred the old character creating process, but oh well. Capcom couldn’t reuse it.

I finally managed to touch a GP system! I didn’t turn it on because they don’t have good battery life and I would have probably killed the batteries right away. I so want to play “Winter is”. I so need money for my “Help Bata-kun Get a GP” foundation.

Crossplaying: I would definitely have a hard time doing it. There. I talked about it. I don’t want to go more into this issue.

Sunday was weird (as if the crossplaying issue wasn’t enough). To start off, I went to Clover. I made one of his friends happy seeing that I bought yakisoba pan, and she was very excited. Besides that, I bought some okonomiyaki pan, melon pan (for Chupiler), croquette pan and ringo pan. I also went to Mitsuwa to get a bunch of treats and Ramune.

I brought my PS2 this time around. Chupiler and I played both “Twinkle Star Sprites” games. Why there is such heavy slowdown? I don’t know. Oh and yes, we all laughed when we heard that good old Neo-Geo sound. That sound’s never old. Good times indeed. I also saw some tactic game for the 360, but I forgot the name. I’m pretty sure the name’s in one of my “Arcadia” issues.

As for the silly parts, those kids were fighting over a bag of yogurt covered raisins. Now, I know that yogurt covered raisins are good, but are they really worth having a rumble over for? Not really. The tactic to grab the raisins was mean. No, scratch that. The tactic to grab the raisins was evil.

Want to know a reason to stop drinking alcohol? Here’s one. Try “You will so end up nauseating”. That’s what happened to another one of his friends and I’m typing this up for his sake. I will admit that I did have a shot once in a blue moon, but I stopped while I was ahead of myself. So, if you’re a drinker, stop while you’re ahead.

After that, I didn’t do much else. I cleaned up the room for a bit. Of course, I had trouble sleeping and I couldn’t sleep until I got home. Before that, I did manage to play “Mario Mahjong”. I always have trouble with mahjong in general, but Mario and his crew are always a good stepping stone towards anything pretty much. Of course, I will not mention the joke Chupiler made, unless you already know.

Monday was a bland day. I bought more treats at Seoul Market and surprisingly, what I bought was less than three dollars. Well, we would depart from there and that was that. I couldn’t stay long because I had to work.

The weekend was pretty um, wild. I wish I was better off not remembering certain parts of that weekend. I think I am more scarred than ever. I think Chupiler is laughing as I am typing this entry up. Never the less, there were definitely good times. I so need to find that “Battle Frontier” link.

Well, I’m back! First off, 誕生日おめでとうございます川上さん! Second, I haven’t been posting a lot for a while because I was playing that “Yuugiou” card game. Now, add another reason: “Pocket Monsters Pearl”. Yeah and my youngest brother has “Diamond”.

For that “Yuugiou” game, I started what? Three months ago? Yeah, my youngest brother somehow sucked me into it, but he’s on hiatus because of his grades. I have a spellcaster base beatdown deck. Like Yuugi, I have a Black Magician, but I’m still finding ways to make my deck better. (It’s better than many people’s first three month decks.)

In “Pocket Monsters”, I picked Hikari (the girl) and I picked Pochama. (Yes, I’m following her anime route pretty much, though she only has a fun lineup and nothing more.) Whether or not I do contests, I don’t know. Maybe. XD

I plan on making a group blog with Spiritsnare and Tsubasa of Waffles and Just Wingin’ It. Not only that, we’re going to add a couple of our other friends too. Hope it’ll be big.

I’m sorry. I’m playing “Pearl” as I type this up. I’ll end this entry on an interesting scenario. First hand. Flop: 3d, 2c, 9c (if I recall, as the suits are past my mind now). Sister goes all in with a 7-5 off suit. Brother calls with a 6-5 off suit. Turn: 7s. River: 4d.

Evil. XD

Gomen ne minna-san. This site will be on hiatus. I should be back two weeks from Tuesday. By then, the window of making an entry on Kawakami Tomoko-san’s birthday should be wide open.

You’d expect me to say some sentences like, “I’m going to pretend that this blog never existed. Forget this! The second episode of ‘Hayate’ is on!” Actually, I’m going on hiatus because of various reasons, a big one being the fact that I need a second job as I mentioned earlier this week.

The site will not going to be on hiatus without mentioning significant statements though. I have some links up and I now got BSPlayer. Now, my site will be able to flow with ease this time around for the most part.

Yes, I am enjoying “Hayate no Gotoku”. I tell you. Kugimiya Rie-san is everywhere. Ha ha ha! I haven’t seen the other series yet though.

Right now, this is the day of SNK’s King, Mature and Shingo. I should play “1998″ again and beat it with these three, but that’s okay. I could have sworn I have done this before.

Oh! Chupiler said that today is “Suchie Day”. There are remakes of some game of the series for the PSP and the DS I believe. (I can’t remember, but I believe the third game’s getting a remake.) Love the art (as the art’s by Sonoda Ken’ichi-san), but hated the fact that I can never play mahjong that well. XD

Well, that’s that. I have to be at some place in a half-hour or so. Ja mata ne.

Remember this entry? It appears that TAB is now doing the judging and surprisingly, I’m only up against four people. (Figured that there would be way more than that.) To be honest, I did it just for kicks. I don’t really expect to be the chosen typer. I just wanted to have fun with it.

Of course, if I win the spot, I don’t know. “Surprised” is an understatement in regards of how I’d feel. Yes, it’d be an honor to be part of the group, but like I said, I’d feel more surprised seeing that I only did this for fun.

When you see my entry, as of tomorrow, I will end up watching “Xenoglossia” just because it has opportunities that I’ll never get again. I tell you. If I had animation skills, I’d so make an “Imas” series in which the idols really are watched over by producers or something. Of course, it’d be troubling because how can you replace people like Kugimiya Rie-san? Simple. You can’t. Yes, the anime will do this, but they’re the Japanese.

Anyway, I can’t think of many witty quotes to say now. I think that Tsubasa, as in the owner of that dead Wingin’ site, is really upset about how Yukiho isn’t played by Ochiai Yurika-san now in the anime, but rather by Horie Yui-san. Yes, I know that it’s Horie-san, but we prefer to be traditional. Oh and it would be cool if someone could start a “Help Bata-kun Play ‘Pink Sweets’ Foundation”.