Happy Thanksgiving

Once again, the holiday season comes around. While it's not my favorite time of year (I really do hate the hustle and bustle of this season), it really is an important time of year.

In any case, though my year has been inexplicably bad, I do have a lot I am thankful for. First and foremost would be the people who support me. Though I have always seemed like I can get things done on my own, the truth is that I would definitely be nowhere if it weren't for the people around me. I may seem capable and confident, but that is only because there are people who believe in me and encourage me. Without them, there definitely would be no me. So, to my family and friends, I thank you so much for always being there for me.

One thing that may seem foolish to people, but nonetheless, I am thankful for anime and Japanese music. There were may times when I received support from the things I love. Not to say that the people around me didn't support me, but that the times I preferred to be alone or could not find the courage to speak out, these things helped me keep my sanity. So thanks to the wonderful people who produce the things that I enjoy.

That is a simplified list of what I am truly thankful for. My real list is quite long as I really do have much to be thankful for. In any case, happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I hope that you have just as much to be thankful for as I do. And with that, I'll leave with a quote from one of my favorite anime series:

"I believe happiness is measured by how many times you say thank you."
- Keiichi Morisato, Oh My Goddess

Blast of Tempest

Lately, I have been getting into a new anime series called Blast of Tempest in addition to BTOOOM!. It a interesting anime that has more of a suspense feel to it.

A mage clan is trying to revive the Tree of Exodus, and in order stop it, the clan leader is tricked and exiled by a subordinate to a deserted island. She, however finds a way to intervene by having a boy named Mahiro work for her. His interests aren't totally unaligned as he needs the clan leader's help in a particular case. During their work, Mahiro runs into Yoshino, a childhood acquaintance. Yoshino joins up with Mahiro and they both work together to stop the tree's revival.

Blast of Tempest follows the two boys Mahiro and Yoshino as they help Hakaze stop the apocalyptic events in motion.

The anime is fairly good, but it does get slow at some points. There is a lot of back story and flashbacks that occur within the show, so sometimes it feels that the flow of the story is interrupted. If you would like to check it out, this anime is aired on Crunchyroll on Thursdays.

Back with a BTOOOM!

It has been a few weeks since I last posted anything. My life has been quite hectic, so I haven't really found the time to make any posts. In any case, now that I managed to take care of part of it, I'll resume working on this blog.

That being said, one anime that I have been following this Fall 2012 season is BTOOOM!.

BTOOOM! follow a young man by the name of Ryousuke Sakamoto. This man was the #3 ranked player in the world for a MMO game called BTOOOM! However, one day he wakes up on a strange island in the middle of nowhere. All he has in possessions are small explosive objects called BIMs. Ryousuke then makes the discovery that he is, in fact, being forced to play the game BTOOOM in real life, killing other people in the process.

This anime is quite interesting. I like how it brings to life the question of how far would you go to survive. Though they are being forced to play a game, it certainly is not a game. The anime tries to press upon this point.

BTOOOM! is one of the Fall 2012 anime being shown on Crunchyroll!

Fall 2012 Anime

Once again as the seasons change, so to do the anime shows. This coming fall, there will be a whole new slew of animes, and for the first time in a while, none of them seem to interest me. I have briefly heard of some of them, but not enough to make me want to jump out and say "I have to watch this one!"

Hayate no Gotoku will have anew anime this season

Some of the shows that I've taken a glimpse of are Hayate no Gotoku! I Can't Take My Eyes Off You and BTOOOM!. As I have watched a some of Hayate no Gotoku, I thought it might be interesting to take a chance and try it out again. As for BTOOOM!, the concept of being in a game has always captivated. That might be part of the reason why I have always liked anime such as .Hack and more recently Sword Art Online. In any case, BTOOOM! will be one anime I will try to check out if I have the chance.

BTOOOM! another Oct. '12 anime

For the most part, the one anime I will definitely be watching this season is the continuation of Sword Art Online. That anime has captivated me and by far has been the best anime in the Summer 2012 season. It has drawn me in so much that I have also taken to reading (and re-reading) the translated light novels.

Sword Art Online continues into the Oct. '12 anime season! Hooray!

Still, despite the lack of interest in this season's anime, I will make an effort to at least take a glimpse at what the new releases will be like. Who knows? Maybe I will find some hidden gem that will get me hooked. After all, there's just no breaking my addiction to anime.

The Mists of Pandaria

I had mentioned before that I do play online MMORPGS, one of which being World of Warcraft. I have several characters on a few servers, but currently I only have two that I'm active on - a resto (healing) druid and a beastmaster hunter. Anyway, I figured I'd write a little about WoW because coming up this Tuesday, Blizzard will be releasing the fourth expansion to the game: Mists of Pandaria.

Mist of Pandaria will now move the level cap to 90 and introduce the new race Pandaren as well as the new class monk. When Blizzard announced this fact, I am very sure that I was not the only person who thought "so we're now in Kung Fu Panda?"

Along with the introduction of those things, Blizzard has made some gameplay changes. First and probably most noticeable was the change to the talent system. Where before you chose a specialization and chose talents within a tree, now you choose talents regardless of specialization. Also, there is only a level prerequisite to obtaining a particular talent. You do not have to get the talents above like when you had the talent trees.

In addition to changes in the talent system came changes to specializations. Many of the spells that you would have found in a certain class have been changed to specialization dependent. This means you need to be a particular spec to have it. Apparently, Blizzard did this to streamline the classes and make their specializations take on roles "most suited" to their build.

There are quite a few more changes, like scenarios, challenge mode, and battle pets, but the above is mostly what I was very concerned about. To me, Blizzard has lost some creativity in creating new content by introducing the World of Warcraft to Kung Fu Panda. There was much more that was already in the Warcraft universe that could have been explored. Personally, I would have liked to maybe have seen a third faction crop up or the introduction of another hero class - perhaps maybe make faction specific hero classes like have Blademasters for Horde and Demon Hunters for Alliance. Still despite my rage, I'll probably be continuing to play this game...

MTG Return to Ravnica

One of the games I play frequently is Magic: the Gathering, a CCG like Cardfight Vanguard. It has been around for quite a long time (I remember first playing it 17 or so years ago). Though I quit somewhere in the middle because I didn't have the funds nor people to constantly play against, I picked it up again a few years ago and have been more active.

Every year or so, Wizards of the Coast (the company handling MTG) comes up with a new block consisting of three sets. This year, the block is called Return to Ravnica, a plane which was visited prior. With the Return to Ravnica block, we'll be seeing the re-introduction of the dual colored guilds. As a part of the activities for the event, players can choose one of the ten guilds to ally with. Despite there being ten guilds, the first set for the block will only showcase five of the ten, with the last five showcased in the next set.

Originally, I allied with the Boros guild due to the fact that my main decks have always run angels (the Avacyn set made me really happy since I got a whole bunch of angels to upgrade these decks). However, this time I will be going with the Golgari, a black-green guild focusing on life and death. While the new planeswalker, Vraska, was very enticing, my choice was because gorgons and grave summoning was one deck strategy I had often used prior. I usually have fun revolving my decks around the graveyard, something, which according to the story, is the modus operandi of the Golgari. In a way, I guess, my whole being utilizes the light of angels and the darker side of necromancy...

Vraska, the newest planeswalker to MTG

In any case, this looks to be a very fun set, and Wizards of the Coast has planned some fun events for the releases. Return to Ravnica releases on October 5th, but if you can't wait like me, the pre-release weekend is from the 28th (29th actually since its at 12:00 am) to the 30th. If you're looking for somewhere that sells MTG, check out the Wizards of the Coast Store Locator.

Campione

What if all the gods throughout all cultures across the world existed and wreaked havoc upon the world whenever they felt like it? That is part of the setting for a recent anime called Campione.

In the world of Campione, gods exist, and some of them are rogue gods that bring misfortune to mankind. Because of this, "hero kings" exist. They are the godslayers or Campione. By slaying a god, one receives all the powers and authorities the god had. So enter Kusanagi Godou. During a trip to Italy, he gets caught up in a battle between gods. Through various circumstances, he manages to defeat Verethragna, the Persian god of victory, thus becoming a campione.

This anime comes in the for of your typical harem anime. One guy with many girls, all of the girls in love with that one guy. Situations like that make you a little jealous. Anyway, while I do enjoy some of the antics of the characters, I have to say the main point that I like about the series is how cultural deities are incorporated into the story. I have to say I did not even know that Verethragna even existed. The author also goes through a great deal to analyze and explain how some gods even may have come to be...though this may only be his interpretation. All in all, it looks like a great series, and it looks like I will be following this one as well.