6/30/04

Apparently, I talked to that person I needed to talk to. The object I need won't be in until next week. Oh well. Like I said yesterday, if you're reading this, e-mail me and I'll read your message next week.

6/29/04

Whoops. I forgot to do some task. I was supposed to grab something today or yesterday rather, but it looks like that it'll have to wait until next week. Well, if you're reading this, e-mail me and I'll read your message next week.

6/26/04

I'm done updating the site for the day. I better close up. Mata asatte.

6/25/04

Final went well. I loved that class so much to be honest. I just do. Oh well. Anyway, I'll update again tomorrow and the day after, I'll take a break. Wanted to type an entry up yesterday, but didn't feel like it. Well, time to close up.

6/23/04

Gosh, I love typing in this diary. Tomorrow's my final and I'll use this day to study for it. Maybe I'll take it easy this summer and have fun. I love summer. It may be hot, but I love summer because that's the season of my birthday.

I want to go to Expo, but I feel that so much will hit me during the days of the con. One of these days, I will visit AX and Otakon. Maybe I should have a routine where I visit one U.S/Canada anime/manga con which is not in California a year when I get older and my first one should be Otakon.

I do feel old. I have been sleeping more often and I no longer have the ability to stay up past 2. Hee!

Haven't watched much anime lately or read manga. I'm thinking about removing a bunch of stuff in my old computer. I guess you can say it's because I'm aiming for a theme here.

6/22/04

Yeah, I know I shouldn't be here. I finally have some Fanime images up on my server. Wai!

I wish I can say that life is all good for me. I plan to try and get a driver's license. A lot of people do get happy about this. I on the other hand am flat out scared to death for various reasons. The final for my only class is on the day after tomorrow and it'll probably be the last day I'll be at De Anza because I possibly don't have plans on going back there.

My case w/ State is that I hope to be back by this fall. I might be on the verge of quitting school. If it happens, four years have gone down the drain. I might quit if I don't attend this fall and even if I am able to attend, if I have to take remedial classes again, goodbye school. They don't even have my old records I sent in back then! This is why I really hate school! Taku, I should have gone to school in the P.I. to be honest!

Yon chan and The Sugoi died. That's not good. Two more great sites have gone away.

I'll study for my final tomorrow. My brothers bought an X-Box. The only game I'm playing there is "Ninja Gaiden IV". Right now, I have to say that it's on par with "III". The first two are way more fun.

Oh! After three years, I finally know that the first three themes of the "Ryko no Ken" teams are originals. Yay!

I wish I can type more, but I'm running out of subjects to talk about. Ha ha ha! Mata asatte.

6/10/04

Good news: I bought two volumes of ta Tami-sensei's "Mahtsukai Tai!" and there are a few more days until the party begins. Whee! I already bought a few items. I'm ready.

Bad news: I don't know where to begin. I have a fat project to do and I still have to do a few reports by Tuesday. If that's not bad, I will take summer classes and there's a 50/50 chance that I'll have to get a job. This means that I won't be able to place many updates on the site during the summer time.

I will never shop in hotels again. They overcharge on stuff and they forget refunds. It took me nearly a month to get my money back and what's worse is that I got every dollar but three. I could have talked to the front person in Japanese because she is from Japan, but because I didn't want to make the other lady I was dealing with a poor bystander who doesn't know what we're saying, I spoke in English. Oh well.

Thought that's bad? I missed State's bookstore by five minutes today. I need to pick up their class book as I did with De Anza's. Bah!

This will be the last entry for a while. I have two weeks to study for my final as well as some other stuff. Mata ne.

6/9/04

Autograph request list for anyone going to Anime Expo:

Seki-Tomokazu-san

The Murata pair

Ishida Yko-san

Under17

There are others, but these are the people that are high on my priority list. Onegai shimasu! Onegai shimasu!

6/5/04

I watched the second episode of "Samurai Champloo". Action dipped a bit, but there was some story telling. As for why this series is called "Samurai Champloo", "champloo" is short for an Okinawan word meaning a mix of beats. Kind of like "Cowboy Bebop", which is obvious because both series have the same director.

Oh yeah. I saw Anime One's version of "Samurai Champloo". So, how is it?

Let's start with the good. Of all of the releases, their staff roll is the best. Also, Anime One has a decent karaoke, but it's not Kraze's. Oh and I actually like the video quality.

As for flaws, where do I begin? You'd figure that in the beginning, they would put up a splash. They made a good amount of mistakes in their notes (such as not saying Momo-san actually meaning "Mr. Squirrel"). Like Kraze, they're inconsistent in terms of style, but at least their inconsistency isn't worse than Kraze's. The worst part is that they actually can't fix that "s" issue. How many times did I cringe during that episode because of that? Four?

So, should you get Anime One's version in the long run? The first episode: no. It had too many mistakes and because of that, it gets a 6/10.

They rebounded in the second episode though, but not fully. The editing has somewhat improved and they pulled a Bakafish by showing the ending picture. So, for now, this version gets a 7/10.

Also saw the second to last episode of "Macross Zero". The more I watch this, the less "Macross" it becomes. Just when it starts to become good, it becomes less stellar towards the end. After I watch the last episode, I need to find a new robot series of some sort to follow.

Oh. One last thing. Ronald Reagan died at the age of 93. Uh, wow. That's sad indeed, but he left a legacy full of ups and downs.

6/2/04

I came back from Fanime the day before yesterday. I didn't type an entry up yesterday because I felt too pooped, but did I have have fun? Yes and no. Yes, I had fun because I got a lot of autographs and I watched a movie where a kawaii girl could push Kenshin as well as catching a piece of candy from one of the Blood members. No, I didn't have fun because I made too many rookie mistakes as a staff member and not only was I cheated in the viewing schedule in some cases, but I was cheated in the game lineup. Any arcade place can carry a game like "Metal Slug V" or "Capcom vs. SNK II", but I would have rather seen a game like that one Namco game that came out last year in Japan. I am not sure, but it's like "Quiz Nanairo Dreams" and I think it is called "Rainbow High School" or something like that.

I'm doing tiny things right now. I'm typing up an article regarding the con and the site's version and the Pike's version will be different. Yeah, I'm editing stuff, but announcements won't be up until later this month.

The new art section I placed up needs to have a format change, but I won't change it until I get more art. For now, it's just the way it is. I might draw something once in a while, but whether or not I'll fulfill your requests depends on who you are and what your reputation is like. Even though I do accept them, don't expect me to fulfill a lot of requests because I can only do so much. I run a site, not an art gallery and adding on, I'm a much better writer/typer than drawer.

I'm trying to study more about various super robot series, though I know a few. I'm mostly a magical/shjo/romance/comedy person, but you can't become a polished up fan if you don't study series you're not familiar with. That's how I came up with decent scores in quizzes. Yeah, the Fanime quiz shows don't mention that many questions regarding them, but one has to remember that without them, you wouldn't have your spinoffs like "Nadesico".

I'm starting to get tired. I already did finish "II" and "III" of the "Rockman" series with no save states. Well, better close this now.

5/27/04

I haven't brougth forth much news lately, but I have one that's worth to take note of. According to Insert Credit and Click-Stick, Studio Siesta has created a fan arranged sound track for "Espgaluda". No details have been brought forth in terms of places to buy them. I so want this.

Well, I have my scehdule out for Fanime. If you want, the schedule is below. Note that this is exact and if you don't understand it, tell me. I won't answer e-mails on Sunday though because I'll be pooped by then.

Friday

8 to Noon - Work. (If you don't see me working, I'll be watching the first two episodes of "Rumic Theatre" at 10 and be out in front not working while I'm waiting for the show and I'll be in the dealers room and maybe taking pics after.)

Noon to 1 P.M. - Break, as I'll be at the art row for the first quarter, dealers room in the second one and eating for the other two (unless I'm working).

1 P.M. to 5 P.M. - Work again. (If I don't work, I'll be in the dealers room until 2. Then I'll see "Hameln" and "Kaleido Star". At 4, I'll be at the arcade place or taking more pics.)

5 P.M. to 8 P.M. - It varies. (If I'm working, then I'm working. If I'm not working, I'll be at the "Mega Tokyo" panel and opening ceremonies. After that, I probably will see "Weiss Kreuz" just to see how questionable it is and surely, I'll go to the guest reception for a bit.)

Saturday

8 to Noon - Work. (If you don't see me working, episodes 3 and 4 of "Rumic Theatre" will be showing at 8. After that, I'll go to the art show for a half-hour and the arcade for another, unless I start losing interest, as I'll take pics again.)

Noon to 1 P.M. - Break, as I'll be at the art show for the first half hour or so and dealers room in the second one (unless I'm working).

1 P.M. to 4 P.M. - It varies. (If I am working, I'm working. If I'm not working, I'll be at the game show at 2 and then I'll be gone for the day.)

Sunday

8 to Noon - Work. (If I'm out, episodes 5 and 6 of "Rumic Theatre" will be showing at 8 and I'll be elsewhere until 11 doing tasks like lunch. Then, I'll be at the manga publishing panel.)

Noon to 1 P.M. - Break, as I'll be at "Great Teacher Largo (unless I'm working).

1 P.M. to 6 P.M. - It varies. (If I am working, I'm working. If I'm not working, I'll be at the game show only if I missed it the first time. Then, I'll be elsewhere. Oh and I'll be sleeping somewhere in the Marriott. Ha ha ha!)

6 P.M. to 11 P.M. - Music Fest: the preparation and the event itself!

Monday

8 to Noon - Work. (If you don't see me working, episodes 7 and 8 of "Rumic Theatre" will be showing at 8. After that, I'll do more picture taking.)

Noon to 1 P.M. - I'll be at the manhwa panel if it's still up.

1 P.M. to 1:30 P.M. - Food.

1:30 P.M. to 4 P.M. - Since I need to get one live movie in, I'll watch "Azumi".

4 P.M. to 5 P.M. - I'll do picture taking.

5 P.M. to 6 P.M. - I'll be at the closing ceremonies.

6 P.M. to 8 P.M. - I'll be doing random stuff and then I'll go home.

5/26/04

Just wanted to get one or two more entries up before the con itself. I saw AF-F's version of "Samurai Champloo" and to me, this was the best one despite video quirks here and there and the lack of the ending pic. The staff roll flowed well and I like the translation as well as their type setting. The editing is good also, but not one of professional quality. (Then again, who does it like professional editors?) As for flaws, aside from the obvious flaw at 12:05, the karaoke, though it had the kanji and kana unlike Aoi's, could have been better than the one I'm about to mention later. So, it gets an 8/10 from me.

To me, I thought that Kraze would be the best one. Well, their version is good also, but it had quirks that really irritated me. Like AF-F, there's that one video quirk as well as the ending one, and right from the start, I'd figure that they would put up a splash (which they really should have done because of what I will say in a bit). The translation is good as always, their font is decent, though it's not AF-F's, and the karaoke is the best one of the four, or three in this case. The reason why I would have rather seen a splash at the beginning is because of the cardinal sin in fan subbing, having a three liner, seen at 6:24. I'm sure Kraze regrets on that cardinal sin (as they're too good to have one in there), but if there is one lesson they better learn before it's too late, it's that if you want to be stylish, stay stylish. What I mean by this is that you can get away with cussing often in a stylish show such as this, which is the way I graded this series, but if you plan to stay stylish, you better put in the suffixes. (This is not "Ai Yori Aoshi: Enishi" you know.) I can understand "Mr. Squirrel" at 15:18, but not saying "F-chan" means that you're really not keeping the fan sub stylish. Thus, I give Kraze's version a 7/10.

Too much stuff to do. Don't know if it's true, but I'll be doing last minute stuff for Fanime preparations. I had thoughts about going to Todai today, but it's too expensive. Besides, I only want to get either a strawberry or strawberry & banana crepe.

I might actually bring up an entry right after the con. Until then, I will only do last minute stuff. Also, until I see Geneon's, get AF-F's version. Ja mata ne.

5/23/04

Wai! This week is the week of Fanime! Oh yeah. I also got every volume of "Azumanga's" yonko ma a while back and yesterday, I watched Aoi's version of "Samurai Champloo". To be honest, this is better than Bakafish's, but barely. The editing is much better, though I feel like both groups could have used another round of editing and while the translation feels more exact in Bakafish's, this one feels more simple. The type setting is bliss for insomniacs and there's the karaoke. As for flaws, besides the editing, Aoi was too lazy to show the ending pic. Overall, Aoi gave out their best performance here up to this point with a kink here and there, but to me, I still think that they're better off doing joint projects; thus, with what I have said in mind, Aoi's version gets a 6/10.

I feel beat right now. I'll be preparing for Fanime the rest of the week; thus I will not type up another entry until a week from the day after tomorrow. Mata ne.

5/21/04

Let's see. I heard another lecture, this time from Renee Tajima-Pena. (Yes, I'm too lazy to put up that tilde and yes, I'm too lazy to spell every word correctly). I am getting ready for Fanime. I think I'm set.

Right now, I'm learning how to play mahjong, but for some reason, I keep losing in "Suchi Pai". I have no idea what am I doing wrong right now. You bet that it's irritating. I only managed to win once and that was when I was fiddling with the rules! Oh well.

"Samurai Champloo" - 1: The animation is beautiful and the characters are great. The characters sound great for the most part and I get to hear Kawasumi Ayako-san again. As for beefs, Mugen sounds a little too low (then again, so did "Saikano's" Shji) and I'll be honest here. Mugen sounds a bit too much like a yakuza member. Oh and for a series like this, I would have expected traditional old times music, but I hear a batch of hip-hop flavored tracks, which to me doesn't fit at all. Well, most of the tracks I have heard have a hip-hop touch. The opening and closing themes don't help either. As long as the qualities of the characters and action remain constant, it has a shot of being my series of the year.

Oh yeah. In terms of the only fan sub out there up to this point (and I got it only for analysis reasons to be real honest), the good news is that even thought the translation was a bit too flashy, it's okay and they know their notes too. The bad news is, where do I begin? There's no karaoke for the ending song. The font is too small for the average insomniac. They could have used another round of editing, not just because of puncuation and capitialization problems, but because of an addition of an "s" at the end of a Japanese noun, which is a big no no, and they missed at least three or four lines. Overall, Bakafish's fan sub gets a 5/10 from me, but honestly, I should be scoring it lower because one, if you're being gutsy by translating a series a professional company has picked up, my expectations are pretty higher than when I grade a fan sub of a series that hasn't been picked up by some professional company, and two, first impressions (well, it's a first impression to me because I never heard of them) can make or break a group, which so far is leaning towards the latter. If you can stand an okay translation, but one that's a bit flashy and one that carries with a small font and poor editing, get the fan sub; otherwise, get Geneon's version when the batch of episodes comes out.

5/19/04

Just when you think that it's already bad that a great composer has passed away and that you try to say some words for her, another bit of bad news comes up. Of all game guide makers, Kao Megura had to be the first great one to pass away. Well, I won't say much. He was definitely an inspiration to make guide makers, including myself and though I didn't know him personally, he was definitely a bright guy. He and many others were that good of game guide makers and I don't think that there will be more like them. Anyway, I wish for the best of Chris's family and I respect the holding back of details.

Well, one part of the unbearing journey is over. I still have one more to go. That'll be it.

This year was supposed to be a wonderful year to remember. A couple of series already turned 25 years and it has been twenty years since Gainax started. All seemed well and all of a sudden, this happens.

Honestly, Okazaki-san's name didn't really ring a bell to me until people mentioned her. Then, I realized, "Man! She did all of those series?" Well, yes, she did. I like her work in "Karekano", but the work of "Love Hina" will always be wonderful to me.

Kodomo no Hi will never be the same again every year and the same can be said for the anime world. I know that this is said a lot, but it's true. We lost a great person in the world of anime, but we gained a tenshi.

What else is there to say? Nothing. Sayonara Okazaki-san.

Okazaki Ritsuko, 12/29/1959 - 5/5/2004

5/15/04

For the next several days, I will not spend much time on computers. Other than dealing with my gig, that's about all that I'm going to do. Yeah.

5/12/04

To those who didn't believe me, I bought Del Rey's "Negima" yesterday. Hah! While I bought myself a work of Akamatsu-sensei which is risky compared to his other two series, I was right when I said that D.R. was serious in its introduction.

Aside from doing the same quirks that other groups do which made me change my mind on becoming an editor of a professional manga translation company, what I like about Del Rey is that unlike other groups, they put their name in katakana on the side. Another task I like: they keep the suffixes or at least majority of them. Oh and as for translation, the most important aspect, I can't remember the old translations that were in there that well, but I can say that these official translations are just as good as the old ones. Add in the extras and you bet that this is a company one should get to know.

As for tasks they need to work on, one of them is that they need to work on an old title and by old, I mean a title that came out before 1998 or so. Another task they need to work on: preventing fans from having a heart attack. One word: "Negima" and I won't have to get into that because it has been resolved already. Okay, I'm having too much fun.

To be serious, another task they should work on is worrying about their prices on their manga. This can turn off people, but I didn't give a care when I got "Negima". Other than that, um, I can't say much else.

Got two of the four original "Azumanga" four panel books. Ate real standard Korean food. Korea is more than just grilled meat and Pretz as well as spicy food you know! Honestly, since a good amount of Korean foods are spicy and I'm sensitive to spicy food, I thought I wouldn't enjoy my first experience at a Korean place which surprisingly took over the only Japanese noodle place in my city, but I was wrong. The food was spicy, but it didn't make me yell "Tasukete!" in my mind. The waitress gave me a discount which was nice of her just because I told her about my story and that I can barely speak Korean. (All I did was say "Thank you," and that was it.) Yeah, I have Korean friends, but I taught myself some Korean, not them, and yes, Korean is harder to learn than I thought, especially since I can't read hangul at all. (I want to be able to read hangul!)

Boa doesn't look that kawaii when her hair is too long and not in its normal shade. It's kawaii, but not that kawaii. Tee hee!

Oh yeah. Bought myself a camera for the con. I remedied two mistakes in one day. I bought a camera and I bought stuff before the con because the first time I was at the con, I had some stuff stolen and yeah, you can get your stuff stolen.

Before I close this entry, I have to end this one on another sad note. (Man! How many more of these do we really need?!) Jeff, Zepy and Satoshi (whose site I still need to link to) have mentioned that Okazaki Ritsuko-san, who has sung and composed songs of various series like "Furuba", "Love Hina", "Karekano" and many others, died on Kodomo no Hi (of all days) from a blood infection. She was only 44. I can't say anything right now. When the time comes, I'll give out my words.

5/8/04

Too tired. Fanime staff meeting was okay. My leader was in Utah. (Kami-sama knows why.) Thus, instead of being a third, I had to be a senior officer for a day and attend the senior staff meeting to take notes. Okay. I think I should sleep in a half-hour.

5/7/04

To those in the Bay Area, last Tuesday, Iris Chang came over at De Anza's conference room in the Campus Center (and no, I won't go into the issues. To those in Japan, gomen nasai). This Tuesday, if you are up in Cupertino, you have got to come to the center and hear what Elaine Kim has to say about Asian-American issues and such. The talk will be from 1:30-3 in the afternoon.

5/2/04

Reminder to self: do all web page text work on notepad before doing submitting and save every five minutes. I'll never do my text work on the editor again. I'll just copy and paste.

4/28/04

I decided to keep my Asian-American Studies class because I don't need that theatre class anymore and I've fallen way behind in my Nihongo one to catch up. It's better to do this now than later, where I'll end up feeling guilt. Yes, this is not a good thing to do, but hey! Took me a while to find out what I want to do in life.

Since Rid couldn't resist putting it up, I better put this up too. Zepy mentioned Misato Mitsumi updating her site. There's a new top picture and from the looks of it, she might release a doujin of "R.O.D." and yeah. Only Kami-sama knows if that's true or not. Speaking of which, I better link to her site in the future.

Oh. Now that I have dropped two of my classes, I can't promise that I'll update more often, but I can promise that I'll put more diary entries. Yeah.

"Comic Party Revolution" - 2: This episode has now shifted its focus to Eimi. She has to attend a catch up session during the summer, but instead, she wants to go to the beach. Of course, the rest of the gang says that she is acting funny.

What can I say? This episode was just as funny as the first one. Sure, Eimi can be quite the idiot that she is, but she's still lovable anyway.

There are two notes that I want to say. The first one is that, sure, we know that there will be stuff from other Aqua Plus games, but there are pics of "To Heart II" seen here. The other one is remember when I said that this is only going to be 2 episodes long? Well, there will be a third one. I don't know who will be the focus character, but I'll be looking forward to it.

4/27/04

Well, I actually decided what I want to become after college. I want to be an Asian/Asian-American historian. Yeah, I missed a few class sessions to figure out what I wanted to be, but they were worth it because I felt that if I attended them, I'd still be wondering about my future. I don't know if I plan to drop that one theatre class now because it's so insignificant to me. Goodbye video game and dub actor dreams. Hello history dreams.

Why did I decide to become a historian? One, people don't understand that racism still exists. What if someone asks me to do sound more Chinese, even though I'm Filipino? This might apply to both cases. Two, there's the difficulty. Unless I have connections, I'm not going to get a job from those scenarios. Finally, if I do enter either of those scenarios, in the end, chances are that the end product will be horrible and I don't want to put myself in those cases.

I missed "The Debut". Darn. Hopefully, there will be a DVD soon and I'll be buying it right away.

I don't plan on viewing much anime or manga this week. I'm having thoughts about returning to State and then going to Cal. My friend told me that it has a good history reputation and so did my Asian-American Studies teacher who also happens to be the dean of Asian Studies at the school I'm attending.

Oh yeah. I better post this link up. Otherwise, I'll forget.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2004/04/20/eguillermo.DTL

All I have to say is, "Maraming salamat po Tito Emil"! This is definitely one topic I will cover in my future book. Then, I hope that people will get a reality check after reading this book. I want to make a difference out there. There's no doubt about that. =P

4/24/04

Yesterday, I was so beat. I thought I had to go to a junior college to look at a certain book for double checking. Turns out that I got the right pages of the book earlier.

I met Mangaka Bobby, the master of Limited Edition Comics at that junior college of all places. Very cool guy to talk to if you ask me. We ate at a Chinese/Mongolian place called General Lee's if I recall where someone cooks the chow mein right in front of you. It's a very nice place, as you can eat as much as you want for a good price also.

Well, later that day, before I went home, I was earlier at Los Altos and Mountain View and then, I went to Milpitas to meet up with an old friend of mine. We ate at Hometown Buffet and despite the hefty price, I had a good meal. I think it was the second time I went there, but yeah, we talked so much and we both exchanged advice as well. It was so fun talking to him and next time, we plan to go to Dave and Buster's.

I got both versions of the first episode of "Sensei no Ojikan". I don't do this a lot, and well, it is hard to compare after the first episode only, but I might as well start now and here’s what I can say so far. Both have their ups. Both have their downs.

Translation

Well, I may not be the best person to talk to in terms of translation, but I can sort of hold on my own. Note that when I list times, I’ll be using The Triad’s/AC’s. As for the lines, the one on top is the The Triad’s/AC’s and the one on the bottom is Seichi’s.

2:35

"Look over there, Kobayashi! That girl is incredibly lovely."

"Look Kabayashi! That girl over there looks so cute."

Same concept, but the duo does follow what Iinchou said.

6:12

“So all you did was work part-time during spring break?”

“You were working full-time during spring break?”

Again, both translations nail the concept, but the duo’s is more correct here because “arubaito” means more along the lines of “part-time” than fully.

6:39

Nakamura: "Mika-sensei, aren't you a little too bummed out there?"
Iinchou: "The hardships of spring, eh?"

Nakamura: "Mika-sensei, you're sinking in too much."
Iincho: "So troublesome since the beginning."

For Nakamura’s line, Seichi’s seems to be more correct. I don’t see how Mika-sensei could have been bummed out at the time. As for Iinchou’s, the duo caught “haru”. Thus, it evens out. So, it’s a push here.

8:53

"Then, from that moment on, we named him ‘Oyaji’. Above all else, he was our hero!"

"And then everyone has called him ‘old man’ since then. He’s definitely our hero!"

First part, both groups got it right. Second part, neither group really brought forth the translation I wanted. Suetake said, “Kanpeki, oretachi no hiiro (wa)!” which really means along the lines of, “Our hero is perfect!” If I had to say who did better here, I’d give the nod to the duo.

9:20

The towel:

Hot towel

Damp towel

Neither group fully nailed this one. As I learned, an oshibori is a tie-dyed cloth as one you get in Japanese restaurants. They’re pretty hot and once they’re in water, you ring them to dampen them. (“Shiboru” means “to wring out”.) So, we have another push.

Side notes: Seichi does one task the duo never did. They give info on the cookie joke. They went into detail on “ageru”, which really does mean, “to give” or in this case, “to lift”.

Oh yeah. At times, I feel that the duo exaggerated their translations. By that, I mainly mean that you use profanity when you’re supposed to and you don’t when it’s not necessary. This can be seen in the study session of Suetake and Kudou easily. (If you don’t believe me on what I said, watch a few of not only The Triad’s old projects, but those of the groups involved in the triad itself. They’re hard to catch, but they’re there.)

Conclusion: after giving it so much thought, the Triad shows us why they have always been a “nailed on” translation group. They are consistent and they know their stuff. (The translation of the sound effects in the opening is a big boost indeed.) Those who paired up with The Triad sure are lucky to have had worked with a terrific group and AC is part of that list.

Result: Triad/AC > Seichi

Editing

Being not only a part-time editor myself, but an editor who also edited every “Tokimemo: Girls Side” guide out there (even though one of them hasn’t been updated in a long time) and a person who looks over a few Anipike reviews before final submissions, I’ll start off by saying that I won’t bother going into punctuations and the capitalization parade because pretty much everyone messes up on both matters, including the best of the best. With that out of the way, I should say that personally, I don’t like the fact that neither version really does keep all of the purity within. Oh, what’s the best example I can give? Neither group keeps the “u” in “iinchou”. Yes, in the show, the “u” is dropped, but if I were to edit the script of this series, I would have kept the “u” because I believe in nailing traditional spellings and adding on, I doubt that anyone involved, and by that, I mean the groups involved here and the staff, knows that we, as in people who don’t live in Japan, don’t use the word “iinchou” on a daily basis.

Am I too picky? Yes, but in my opinion, if you can’t pull off cases like mine, you’d be terrific as an editor for someone like Geneon (or Pioneer if you’re still old school like me) or Bandai because you really wouldn’t be giving the average fan fits. For a fan sub editor however, you’d only be a decent editor who overlooks the rule of the macron, not a terrific one, which to me is a darn shame.

Well, with that rant aside, I never thought I’d say this, but I’ll say it anyway. “How in the world could a Triad partnership pull a Miyuki (no Tamari)?” How?!?

In other words, if there was one weakness Miyuki has had always, it’s the fact that they add the “s” after Japanese words more often than just about any other group; if not, every group. The partnership did that and that’s a big no-no if you know a good degree of Japanese by now.

Besides that, they missed a few suffixes. Oh well. Other than that, there’s not much else for me to say.

As for Seichi, personally, I become let down from groups who translated words us experienced fans are used to hearing by now like “kouhai” and who don’t put names the traditional way when needed. (Don't worry Seichi. You're not the only one who didn't say "Itadakimasu!" The duo didn't either.) Aside from that, doesn’t “In a type of Kansai comedy…” sound so Engrishy? Also, when they showed info on “Tominaga”, they spelled “tsukkomi” wrong. Oh and I could have sworn that Mika forgot her “bag” at the end. I can’t forget the “SNAP” issue as well.

Conclusion: if I have a choice between placing the “s” at the end of Japanese words and the pair of words fans are used to hearing being translated and Asians being named the western way, I’ll rather see the latter. However, don’t think that you can get away with making too many noticeable mistakes. Seichi, be thankful that this draw is here because I would have said that The Triad/AC won barely, but The Triad/AC displayed Miyuki’s weakness. As for The Triad and AC, be thankful that this draw is here also because Seichi made too many silly mistakes.

Result: The Triad/AC = Seichi

Timing

I can’t recall much. I didn’t have many complaints from either group. So, I guess it’s another draw.

Result: The Triad/AC = Seichi

Type setting

You can’t go against either one. Why should I? Next!

Result: The Triad/AC = Seichi

Karaoke

Seichi easily wins in terms of karaoke. Although both versions give excellent translations of the songs, Seichi wins because it was more creative. The colors of the font match with the scenario in the opening, and I thought that the clock in the end is kawaii, though the font in the ending song hardly shows some sort of matching.

Result: The Triad/AC < Seichi

Encode

Both are under 175 MB. Both are in top shape. However, it all comes down to what do you need more. If you have to squeeze in so much into your computer, get Seichi’s, but personally, I’ll get the one from the duo just because 2 MB isn’t much and if you only need an extra 2 MB to raise up the quality a bit more, more power to you.

Result: The Triad/AC > Seichi

Extras

Seichi gave out the staff early on, a task the duo did not do. Only Kami-sama knows if they’ll do it at the end. (I’m sure this will happen.) Until the duo brings out a staff page or some other omake of some sort, Seichi wins here.

Result: The Triad/AC < Seichi

Overall

If you prefer style over execution, get Seichi’s, though the group’s version is okay. If you prefer execution over style however, get the duo’s, though I thought the look itself was kawaii in its own right. If I have to make a choice, I’ll take the latter, but personally, I like both versions.

Result: The Triad/AC = Seichi

As for the show itself, it's no "Azumanga", but it gave me some laughs. You have an otaku, a genki girl, the smart iinchou and you have some other students as well. Since I haven't seen a Omi-san anime in a looong time, I'll see this and I must say that she fits as the sensei.

Oh. I saw some other anime also. I saw "Aishiteru ze Baby" and "Midori no Hibi" as well as a couple of let down series. Yes, "Aishiteru ze Baby" is so childish, but how can you turn down a series with a five-year old that's so kawaii? Plus, this is one of those rare occasions you get to hear Suzuki Masami-san again. "Midori no Hibi" is so hilarious and touching at the same time. What's disturbing is that the fight scenes there are better than some of the fight scenes in the anime of "Tenten", one of the let down series I'm watching. The other one is the fourth stage of "Initial D".

Oh yeah. I will watch "The Debut" on Tuesday. Time to close this entry now.

4/18/04

Well, two weeks of school have passed by. Am I happy? No. I know that I could do better in my studies. Plus, I am sort of fighting a cold.

One of my brothers reformatted his computer. That's good in many cases, but I had various anime and manga stuff stored in there. He just had to reformat. Oh well.

I went to an anime meeting yesterday. I actually got to see the ending of "Noir", but I wish that I saw the episodes I missed. The raffle prize I won was a non-Japanese animation-related prize, but at least it gave a preview that big stars like Doug E. Doug, Ziggy Marley and some others that are not at the top of my head will be in it.

Well, got to get going. I better watch how I work. Hee!

4/11/04

Yay! I can watch anime and read manga again! Hee hee!

I watched a few episodes today. I saw the first episode of "Midori no Hibi" and I'll read its manga soon. I also tried catching up on my "Area 88" and it has been good so far.

Right now, I'm editing various parts of the site for an hour or so. Then, I have to do homework. I plan to go to the Fanime staff meeting which will occur a week from today. That means I'll have to go to church on Saturday, which is a task I rarely do.

Okay! Well, I have to get going. I still feel sluggish, especially since I woke up just now.

4/9/04

Yesterday, I tried okonomiyaki and takoyaki. At first, I was hesitant to tried takoyaki because I'm not really fond of seafood, but it turns out that I like it. The same goes for unagi. I plan to go there again within two weeks.

I wanted to go to SJSU's anime meeting, but I only have a few days left before my scenario is done. Darn! Oh well. Doing a task like what I have done is not easy.

What's sad is that "All-American Girl" lasted for only a year. That's it! A year. If the new show with the similar name gets a better rating, I will hate ABC. That's all I'll say for now. I have a lot ahead of me.

4/7/04

I don't know how in the world I'm still at school, even though my grades were average. Did they all feel sorry for me? I guess so.

Schedule: Mornings - Either English or some elective in the start of June (I want the latter actually) and the other one later in the month, Monday and Wednesday afternoons - Japanese III, Monday and Wednesday nights - Acting B, and Tuesday and Thursday afternoons - Asian-American history. Am I excited? Somewhat.

What's weird is that my Asian-American teacher asked the class, "Do you see Asian sitcoms now these days?" and I said, "There was 'All-American Girl', but that got canned years ago". He said more details about it to the rest of the class. I feel so old right now.

Good news is that there is another "All-American Girl" series from ABC! Yay! The bad news is that it's not the one with the Korean family. It's a reality show where girls look all pretty and all of that stuff. Adding on, this new one doesn't have a dash. Bah!

Maybe I'll type a rant soon. Yeah. Mata ne.

4/1/04

Well, what is there for me to say? Nothing. Wherever he is, we hope for the best of him.

Cheung Kwok-Wing (Leslie), 9/12/1956 - 4/1/2003

3/26/04

Finals are over. I plan to repeat an elective first, not English. Aside from bio, a class in which I thought was dull from the beginning, I did well.

Visited Capcom's U.S. branch. It's nice. I want that mat on my future front part of my home.

Well, I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I'll do it later tonight. If not, tomorrow.

3/24/04

I'm so beat that I'm not studying for my final for tomorrow. I'll do it later tonight. Next quarter will be much better though. For now, there's a clip of the "Marmalade Boy" dub. The dub is average for now. Y's actor isn't as spruced up as I wanted him to be and Miki's is definitely not like Mariko-sama's. Anime Jump has the clip if you want to know.

3/22/04

Quickly, here's the skinny on my scenario mates. Next quarter, I'll take Japanese III and Theatre II on Mondays and Wednesdays and a repeat on some Asian History class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The first two will take the second half of the day, while the third one will be in the afternoon. I have no morning classes because I will take a morning English class at State, while I'm taking the others at a junior college. Okay! Hell Week, I mean, Finals Week is under way. I have to jet.

3/19/04

Next week is Finals Week and I'm procrastinating. Instead of studying, I'm adding links and by the time I make my last update during the break, I'll announce that a lot of links have been added. When I attend State again, I will not do the things I have always done and actually pretend to like the work I'm doing.

I feel like a mess now. I'm so tired. I'm so rugged. I want to let Orochi control me right now so that I can get the stress out of my system. (I doubt that it'll work, but oh well.)

Oh yeah. I originally planned to have two months off, but because of a long story that I won't bother explaining, I am going back. Oy vey. I should have entered State before the beginning of its spring session. Kuuu...ah. Why bother? I feel like I'm already screwed. There's no need for me to...yeah.

Honestly, I'd rather be at a voice acting school. Sadly, the closest one that I know of is in Burbank, or right around there. Yuck.

Ho hum. Nothing special is going on now. Might as well let the day finish.

3/18/04

Reminder to self: place up news bit on "Happy Lesson" OVA series. Hee hee! Ja mata ne!

3/17/04

Next week is Finals Week. Why an entry now? Don't know. I guess I feel bored. I might type one more up on the day after tomorrow during this quarter and that'll be it.

Oh yeah. I will have two months off from school because I will return to State in the summer time. Thus, I won't be able to attend State and the current school I'm in at the same time. I'll take English, Create a Meaningful Life, Music Appreciation and either State's Japanese III, Speech, U.S. Government or Linguistics. I haven't decided yet, but it'll most likely be Speech. Maybe I should try a different course instead?

Even though I will have two months off, during the period, I'll spend an hour a day working with my Japanese. Also, I'll use the time to do import tasks, but I won't forget about my site. I'll do updates in the morning and then I'll be done with the site for each routine, though I haven't decided on how my routine should be like.

I would like to go to the Philippines again, since my mom is going, but I doubt it that I'll go. Ah, I already told her to get me a few things over there. That's good enough. I shouldn't be let down over myself not going.

I feel iffy now, but oh well. Oh yeah. For some reason, last time, I couldn't enter both of Flux's channels on IRC. So, for now, you'll see me on Chaotixubs's channel. I promised a friend that I would meet up with him in an IRC channel and I picked Chaotixub's. If you want to talk to me, their channel is #chaotixubs, their network is irc.irchighway.net and that's it for now. Don't expect me to be on Flux's channel until further notice.

3/9/04

I should be studying and getting ready for school, but I just want to say that I finished watching the "Great Teacher Onizuka" live drama. I will have reviews of the manga and the live drama ready. The anime: it'll be up soon. The drama is real good and why does Nakamura Aimi-chan have to be so darn cute? Oh well. =P

That's that. I won't bring up another entry for another few weeks. I'm going to be studying from here on. Ja mata ne.

3/5/04

I didn't do the project because of the vow I made. I just started it, but it's torturing. Really. This will go to show all of those people that I have the ability to not view anime and manga for two months.

I'm viewing the "Great Teacher Onizuka"...live action drama! I said "No anime and manga for a while", but it's okay to watch the live drama. Hee!

Oh yeah. I'm fixing the site still. By the time the day is over, I will be ready for my next few updates. Until then, people will have to wait.

A lesson I learned last week: don't go to Pier 39's arcade. It didn't have the games I wanted. Plus, they didn't give me an e-mail! I just wasted time. Well, I won't go there again, which is a shame because this is San Francisco. I don't have to explain much about the city. So, that's that.

3/3/04

Giving up anime and manga for two months is not easy. I'm fighting, but it's not easy. So far, it's working.

The last day I'll touch this site until my week off will be the day after tomorrow. Believe me. This site will get better and better. At least, that's what I think.

2/24/04

"Tokimemo's" next game, a pachinko game? What will Konami think of next? A mahjong game? Or how about "Tokimetra"? I doubt Konami would even think about the latter. "Tokiwinbee" on the other hand might work. Hee!

2/22/04

Lent is coming up. I've decided to stop viewing anime and manga for a while. So, I'll study more and the only time I'll be having fun is for that editing project I've held off for two weeks. Blame school. I'll work on the project over the weekend, no matter what.

2/8/04

Have to memorize lines. Have to practice for first Asian history test. Today will be a study day. So, I have had my fun for the weekend. I might as well keep this routine.

2/4/04

Throat is feeling a bit iffy, which is why I won't attend two of my classes today. I want it to be swell when I do my act tomorrow. For now, I will only speak when I need to.

Oh yeah. I fixed some parts of the site like the News section. I still have a long way to go though.

I "might" translate "Rabbie". Am I going to? That depends on my schedule. Hopefully, I will.

2/1/04

That's it! Playtime is over! I am not going to think about fun that much anymore. I'm going to really, really study hard. (Yeah, I really could use a miracle right now.)

1/25/04

Still as busy as ever. I'm too beat to do any academic work or any work for that matter. I'm almost done working on a "First Kiss Story" review. I have to put up its logo and I have to do some minor tasks before I can consider it to be finished. For those who don't know, it's based on a somewhat old ren'ai/visual novel that came out on the computer and Play Station. A girl confesses her feelings to a friend she likes before he goes off to college. I won't give anymore than that.

I'm getting the second episode of "Area 88". I got the raw of the third episode a few days ago. Oh well. It's all good.

Right now, I'm thinking if I should sleep now or attempt to do academic work. I feel beat. My brother didn't do as well as he wanted in the "Ygi" tournament. I can play, but I don't duel a lot. My brother just doesn't have a good deck. Oh well. At least I got a small "Inu Yasha" wall scroll and I played "Double Dash" and that one "Kirby" racing game as well as checked out some manga.

Okay. I decided that I'll stay up for one more hour and then I will go to sleep. Don't know why, but yeah.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. My next entry won't be up until a week or so has passed. I'm doing various academic acts. So, yeah, I'll be occupied with academic material.

Oyasumi nasai. --

1/22/04

I will put up a quick entry before the day ends. I am still busy as ever. My quarter will end on the 26th of March. That's it. Bai! ^^

1/19/04

"I have a dream! Yes, I have a dream that I will have a double!" I wish.

Still didn't do the translation check. Well, for sure, once I do my work, I'll do the translation check. I hope the program works with Windows 1995. In the case my brothers make the internet computers inconvenient, I have my old one.

Okay. I still have work to do. Oh and honor Martin Luther King Jr. if you haven't done so.

1/18/04

So, it's the second Sunday of the quarter. That means I'll be spending less time with personal fun and more time doing work for other groups. I needed the motivation. Oh and um, I'll be spending more time organizing various school stuff.

As for the anime and manga world, other than "Area 88", there hasn't been much to be joyful about this season. If I hit rock bottom in terms of boredom, I'll be watching episodes of old series like "Kanon". I still need to get the special and the conclusion OVA.

1/15/04

Yesterday's lesson: Midorikawa Hikaru-san and Yukino Satsuki-san are in "Area 88" also. Today's lesson: I don't think that I learned a lesson so far today. Oh well. Today feels so empty, but I'm sure that tomorrow will be better. Speaking of "Area 88", episode 2 just aired in Japan. I'll get the raw soon.

1/13/04

Wah! Zepy is closing his site! Dame desu yo! Dame desu yo!!!

Putting random insanity aside, I watched the first episodes of two series: "Area 88's" television series and "Comic Party Revolution", with the latter being fan subbed . I keep procastinating on that translation check, but I will do it on Friday. (Quicker if I don't get as much work in the next few days.) Yeah, it'll be a week since I last got it, but I'm a busy man. School and other gigs keep holding me up.

"Area 88" - 1: You have Koyasu Takehito-san, Miki Shin-san and Seki Tomokazu-san, three of the most popular male seiy. Maybe that'll get girls to like this series. Aside from that one weird statement, I like the new look and Avex knows how to bring out good music. Shin is still Shin and the rest of the characters are there. I certainly can't wait for the next episode. I forgot to mention this earlier, but it has been 25 years since the creation of "Area 88". Omedet Shintani-san! ^_^

"Comic Party Revolution" - 1: As I said before, the new art isn't as good as the one in the television series, but while the quality of the art dropped a bit, the overall quality of the series so far looks to be having an increase in overall quality. It has flaws, but I am liking the OVA more than the television series. Then again, I only saw a few episodes of the television series. Aya really shined, "moe" was said a lot and I had fun overall. That's all that mattered in the end.

1/12/04

Sometimes, I hate being trying to be too perfect. Why? You make a mistake and all of a sudden, it eats you up.

"Ygi" tournament has been pushed back to the last Sunday of the month. Surprisingly, the friend I traded with will be a judge. Well, that's that.

I was supposed to do my lab today, but I had homework to do for my acting class. Plus, I wanted to get part of my Japanese homework out of the way. At least I still have the day after tomorrow. So, it didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought.

Oh and I forgot to mention that I'll watch "Comipa Revolution". I still need to translate that one "BPS" episode. So much stuff to do. I need to watch the new "Area 88" series...now.

1/9/04

High points of yesterday:

+ Youngest brother was proud of me giving details of the next "Ygi" tournament and getting three important cards for him: Dark Magician, Summond Skull and Penguin Soldier from a friend of mine. My friend was going to give up a Red Eyes Black Dragon, but he only had one. Funny that I know this stuff and I'm not into it. Sometimes, you have to know the stuff you're not into to become an anime and manga fan people will know.

+ Ate dinner with a friend I made this quarter, who has been away from Korea for 3 years.

Low points of yesterday:

- Brother was let down that I gave up a good magic card that destroys a face down monster, but I had to say its weakness that it only deals with one monster. Oh and I traded another magic card that he didn't like anyway, which is a high point.

- Uncle is in hospital for internal problems.

High point of today:

+ Going to get Ishin's "First Kiss Story".

Low point of today:

- Sunnyvale's Golfland still does not carry "The King of Fighters 2003" and "Samurai Spirits Zero" and if that's not bad enough, it doesn't have "Espgaluda". It's those casual gamers' fault. If it weren't for them, I would be having fun with those three games by now, except for "2003", which is my least favorable one of the series.

New anime series that I will look forward to this season, that I know for sure will air or has been on this winter:

"Area 88"

"Jbei-chan" - Season 2

"Rabbie"

"Yumeria"

Yes, that's about it. I think that up to this point, "Rabbie" has a television series, though I have not played the game yet. I want to edit/translate check for any sensible group working on "Area 88" and I know I'll like this one, even though I haven't read all of the manga or seen the OVA series. I might not have played "Yumeria" either, but I will like it for sure.

Many are questionable like "Daphne" and "Mary-sama ga Miteru". There are definitely some series I won't watch like "Gokusen" and "Bedaman". I'm sorry, but there's not much for me to look forward to this season. Spring's anime on the other hand look good though.

1/8/04

Today's the last day for my first week of the quarter. Of course, that means nothing because I still have 11 more weeks to go. So, there's nothing to be happy about.

Later in the day, I will ask Golfland if they have "The King of Fighters 2003" and "Samurai Spirits Zero". I need to pre-register for this year's Fanime and volunteer. I plan to only volunteer because I will be pretty busy and there will rarely be a time when I can have fun.

I have to take a shower, eat lunch and then jet for school. Anime series I will be watching will be placed up tomorrow. Ja!

1/7/04

Tasks to do for today besides school stuff:

+ Site editing

+ Recording of Kinokuniya's location and directions

+ Remembering to place up thanks from Anime News Network, The Seiyuu Database, The Magic Box and The Madman's Cafe for "Moeyo Ken" stuff tomorrow

+ Translation check on the 7th part of "BPS" (though most likely it will be pushed to tomorrow or the day after)

+ Thinking about calling Sunnyvale's Golfland if they have either "The King of Fighters 2003" and "Samurai Spirits Zero"

+ Being jealous of Los Angeles for getting "The King of Fighters 2003" and "Samurai Spirits Zero" before the Bay Area

It's funny that the Bay Area doesn't have "The King of Fighters 2003" and "Samurai Spirits Zero". It's usually one of the first places to have it. Maybe I should move to Honolulu or Los Angeles.

I better jet. I got to study for a Japanese quiz. Yeah, I got a Japanese quiz on my third day of the quarter.

1/6/04

Well, I guess my situation is a little better. I might plan to sell some stuff like my "Karekano" tankubon. I don't want to sell my "Karekano" tankubon, but one, it'll take a while before I get every tankubon (like three years at least) and two, I need some sort of emergency money.

As for classes, I have the same sensei again for Nihongo, I have a solid Biology teacher, I have a challenging, but fair Asian History II teacher though I wish I actually had my Asian History I one because I'm familiar with her style, along with the fact that I don't like essays, which happens to be how my Asian History II conducts his classes, and it is a darn shame that I couldn't get the same theatre instructor for my acting class, though my new one is interesting to have as my old theatre instructor said. The first two days have went by smoothly. So, all is well.

Right now, I just started on a "Final Fight" review. I don't plan to place up many reviews once this quarter is over because one, my break is only a week long and two, I didn't do as much fixing as I had hoped for last time. Yeah, it's a let down, but that's okay.

In terms of anime and manga, Friday will be my anime and manga day. I will spend six hours a Friday doing anime and manga related material. So, I will spend an hour and fifteen minutes each on my site, Anipike editorial gigs, fan translation gigs and Anime Densetsu gigs. The last hour will be a free period. I'll check out a few episodes of anime, spend more time on some gig or whatever. Of course, if I have a lot of homework, then I'll have to push the fun day until Sunday or not have a fun day at all. Then, once my work is done, I can continue w/ my gigs.

Well, I have to jet out of here. I'm hungry and I'm starting to be sleepy. Oh yeah. I forgot that "Da Capo" doesn't end until later this month because it's actually 26 episodes, not 24. Still, only time will tell if I give it another chance.

Mata ne minna-san. ^^

1/3/04

So, a new year has arrived. I'll be real busy for a while. For now, I'm going out tomorrow to clear things out. Yes, I'm like Shin of "Area 88" and I see moments of Hell flash before me. Oh and to those who have never visited America, you better think twice before going. Not only is the government corrupt, but some clerks are like that too. Some just want to get your pockets before notice and then you know that your case won't be acknowledged by anyone, regardless if you have proof or not. They're just too mean and they don't care about the little people. This is why at times I wish I was raised in a place like London or Tokyo. Maybe I should live in Tokyo.

Binzume Ysei - 13: It's the last episode and well, what can I say? It gave me fun for the last 13 weeks. I'll miss watching the insanity of this series.

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