Well, it's been a while. I actually had a lot of things to talk about, but whenever I get here, I just no longer feel like it. But I've just heard some news that I felt I had to make a post for, especially in keeping with the superfluous theme of all my other posts.

Bujingai (the PS2 game with a main character design based off Gackt) is scheduled to be released by BAM! Entertainment in the US this May.

... =O Right? I really didn't think that would happen myself. Many of you probably don't find this pleasant news, while some of you may be ecstatic over it. I've got mixed feelings myself. I still have the Japanese release (thank you again, mog!) new and sealed. I've yet to play it, least until I have the spare cash to chip the PS2. But the reviews I've seen for it aren't bad. In fact, they've got me pretty excited about the visual/audio/vocal work. And the vocal work is what really worries me, since one review had gone on about how emotional and well done it was. What if they don't include the Japanese voice track after they dub it? Then it'll be just... dubbed. >_< Sorry, I'm extremely critical about this and I haven't heard an English dub I've been happy with yet. What I really wish is that they'd put in an English subtitles option for the Japanese track. >.> For the seiyuu buffs, voices include Hirokazu Yamadera (Cowboy Bebop), Maya Sakamoto (Escaflowne), and of course, Gackt.

Oh and here's the real kicker. This hasn't been confirmed officially, but magicbox.com said there's to be an anime series made based off the game. Nooo way, huh? And here I thought having done some voice acting and op/ed themes would have been enough for Gackt. Silly me. x_X; He's got some huge vision and seems really determined to make himself omnipresent. Again, mixed feelings. It's gotten to be impossible for me to keep up with him. I've long given up on collecting all his magazine stuffs. And it's really just stressful. Especially seeing him become this huge icon. And all the squealing fangirls that come with it. And when you spot one, you know you can't help but think, "Hey, wasn't she that diehard N'Sync fan?" and then it's just "oh my lord" and from there you want to crawl into a hole. -_- But still, how can I feel anything, but glad? I mean, should I have been rooting for him to *fail*? Meh. With success comes these really crappy sacrifices. And it's so different now.

It just makes me feel melancholy. Maybe it's something like how parents feel when they love and raise their kids with these expectations of what they'll be when they grow up, but they end up doing and becoming something completely different (sometimes that something different being something you happen to be completely against). And long as they are happy, you want to be proud and happy for them, but that own personal disappointment will always be there.

Anyway, obligatory Gackt post done. But in keeping with news in entertainment, I'm sure those that know of her, have heard that Anita Mui passed away a few weeks ago from cancer at 40 years old. For those that aren't familiar, she was a very famous Hong Kong singer/actress, at her biggest during the 80s and early 90s. She happens to have been my absolute favorite singer/celebrity since back when I was old enough to play a radio up until early JHS. No, I don't just happen to be saying that about every HK singer that dies. And it's actually an unsettling pattern to have first Roman (who was my mom's fave), then Leslie, and now Anita pass away one after another like this, and so closely. Leslie and Anita were very close friends as well. I couldn't even help but speculate on who'd be next judging from the pattern and actually came up with a name. But to actually say it out loud would be even more terrible of me. I'm definitely sad, not shocked like I was with Leslie, but Anita's death was also pretty sudden. Up until her last week, she made it seem as though she were still up and productive. And yeah, I've broken out all of her old music. HKVP radio (Vintage pop! o_O) has been playing a lot of her songs lately so tune in there if interested.

Hmm, lots of other lil tidbits I might have shared in detail if I had bothered to post, but not much comes to mind now. December... I went to my first NBA game, Knicks(of course)/Wizards (a year too late to see MJ! >_<) and it was a lot of fun. I hope my next one will be with a team like the Lakers or Rockets. =P Though I've already missed my chances this season it seems.

At a friend's Christmas party, they had a life-size Legolas cut-out everyone had to take polaroids with. x_X I was made to pose as though I were grabbing his ass (platonically, of course). I have to say I felt pretty damn silly, especially since I haven't read the books or seen any of the movies. (gasp!)

Anime - Nothing lately, except Naruto. Spoiler Alert? I'd say so. Goddamn, I waited forever for eps 66+67. They kept being evil, delaying the Gaara/Sasuke match in the story as well as in broadcast! Dammit, I've had to sit through those dumb frog eps for so damn long. Haha, and I've got *so* much I could poke at and criticize about the recent eps, but I'm really not in the mood to get into a bad mood. The Gaara/Sasuke match was WAY to short for the amount of time we had to wait to see it. But what there was of it was pretty awesome. Those dark scenes of Gaara in his cocoa puff and Chidoriii~, omg >o<. <3 <3, dammit. Even if Sasuke's too cocky, he's still awesome. And Kakashi is so awesome. And Kakashi teaching Sasuke his trademark is just fricking awesome. Eat that, Naruto (dumb frogs). All that ep needed was an Itachi and it'd be complete. Sharingan-bearers kick all ass. Sasuke's hair is so much longer too. Geez, it was only a month o_O;. He looked like a hobo in ep 65, lol. And Gaara scares me a lot more now. Psycho baby talking to his dead kaasan inside his giant cocoa puff. Despite cutting it short, it's good that they interrupted the match. Honestly, I don't think Sasuke should be able to beat Gaara. They made too much of a big stinking deal about Gaara's dieselness. To have him defeat Gaara now would just be following the lame ass example of other anime stories. Naruto beating Neji was already more than enough. And Sakura just continues her sad plummet down my cool-chara-o-meter. Dude, she needs to get OVER the Uchiha boy. And be more fucking consistent. Ino's still good.

Games - (Seems these insubstantial topics are all I seem to talk about here) - I beat a gaaame! This is pretty fantastic if you've known me and games for the past few years. Start and never finish. But more often, just never start. I'm sorry, but all the recent games are just boring (or annoying) to me. My beating Suikoden gives evidence to support this. Yup, semi-old school Suikoden. Who the hell knew. I've had it sitting and collecting dust with my psx for years. Then while getting impatient waiting for my GBA SP to arrive, I decide to give it a go. And I couldn't stop playing! In fact, I'm *replaying* it now. o_o

It's not flashy at all, the story is not deep (potentially it could be, but not in-game), the gameplay is not fancy, and there are 108 charas with hardly any "fleshing out" during the entire game. Just enough information to tease you with an idea, but generally not enough details or emotions to classify it as "deep". Yet, I enjoyed it so much, even with all its weird plot loopholes, and felt happy and sad and even cried when a certain someone died (the reason why I'm replaying it ;P you'll know what I mean if you've played it). And I think it was because of all those things it "lacked" that I enjoyed it so much. It was finally more like playing a game again, rather than directing a movie (the opposite seems to be the case nowadays with RPGs). I just don't have to or look to "relate to the characters deeply and emotionally". I don't care. I deal with stuff like that in real life. It's not what I watch anime or play games for. I like it to be realistic sure, but without the drama/melodrama. I need it to be consistent and to make sense. I'm just looking to be entertained. Not for any "connection" with any character that would let me project myself into the position of the hero/heroine or whatever that happens to be in the over-dramatic situation that's so popular now. I'm not into that kind of fantasy or drama. I like it to have that 'distance', to be detached and 'out there'. Actions and story just have to be rational enough so I can accept it. So all 108 characters in Suikoden hardly being 'filled out' is all just wonderful to me. Left so I can figure it for myself, not that I ever bother to go that far unless I really like the character. Then, I'll be interested in more detail. And more significantly, leaving it out also means there's nothing to piss me off. Which is pretty important for me to enjoy anything. If the character is lacking in such detail, then I can't really say something isn't right with them even if they do something that might not have made sense otherwise. Inconsistency is something I can't stand in fiction. So as long as they don't preset expectations, then I can't be disappointed. o_O Also, what helped was that the story always kept focus on the overall goal/setting rather than the individual (again, something prevalent in games/anime now). And the story was about war and sacrifice. It wasn't idealistic and the characters, for once, made decisions based on logic, reason and what was best for reaching their goal, considering consequences, as one would expect in a war, rather than acting with naive morals/beliefs/ideals and risky personal emotions, and have it all somehow happily work out in the end anyway.

But that really just explains the tolerance factor of the game for me. I'm also playing Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga right now which fits the criteria above, but I'm not enjoying it nearly as much as I did Suikoden. With Suikoden I feel that itch to play, and to play for long, straight hours like some addiction. I last did that only for FF7. The gameplay and collecting of characters was just fun. Even if it was overall pretty simple. I guess it's that same part of me that enjoys games like Simcity. The game was so short though. And watching the ending was so sad and bittersweet. I'm preparing for Suikoden II, which has also been sitting here and collecting dust x_X;;. I'm a little apprehensive as you're always worried about being disappointed with sequels. I'm pretty confident I'll still like it, but also wondering how ironic it'd be to have one of those things I just listed in the previous paragraph used and thrown right in my face in the next story. XP

Oh, and there was actually no love interest for the main hero! Super, giant plus!! Especially since you're leading an army and trying to win a freaking war here. But out of 108 charas, there definitely could be though (Kasumi? =P), so again, that's just the charm of it.

Who do I like? Well only having their pictures and a few lines of dialogue to go by, Rubi, who looks cool and plays very well (used in the final battle); Clive, who looks cool and plays decently; and Kage, who's got to be the coolest looking chara in the whole game with a very kickass occupation/class to boot (but doesn't play so well =P). Pesmerga's pretty nifty too. All them dark and mysterious types XD. And all with very potentially interesting backgrounds! Another oddly interesting thing about the game. So much is setup with hints, even if not entirely significant, but still left a mystery. Which is also pretty realistic, with the preoccupation of war. You can't get to know *everyone*. I believe Clive's will be explained in II...

FFTactics is up next after it (finally!). I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy that.