Segata Sanshiro

Ah, everyone knows Segata Sanshiro by now, don't they? You've seen the music video too, haven't you? The best series of adverts for any videogame console ever! Yeah, you've seen that. It's old news.

Things that I only just found out today:

• The theme song was released as a single and the B-side is a version of the song sung by Hiroshi Fujioka himself (Segata Sanshiro)! I happened to be listening to him singing the other day on the Kamen Rider CD I bought. You can download the Segata Sanshiro theme from this page! The Hiroshi Fujioka version is a bit creepy...


• The music for the theme song is written by Ichirou Tomita and he sings it too. His alias as an anison singer is MoJo. He's sung the songs for tokusatsu sentai shows like Battle Fever J, Goggle V, Dynaman, right up to insert songs for Gaoranger and Boukenger. And the OP for the robot anime Albegas, too...
  

The World Of Disgaea

I don't normally buy videogame guides, unless I really want it for the artwork, or something. So this is the first game guide I've bought in a few years now. I got it from Amazon for under £10 (still spending those vouchers), and I'm happy with it. It's *packed* with stuff. Just about every image there is in the game, additional promotional artwork, details on all the characters (including the secret post-game bosses), items, monsters, stages, character sketches, interviews with the staff (creative team & actors), summaries of the plot and endings...


OMG! spoilers! Or, maybe, confirmation of the obvious things that fans seem to argue about sometimes. Yay!

 

Thinks: This would make a good PSP wallpaper...

recent goings on

Hmm, what have I done recently? Ummmmmm..... I watched Battle Athletes (the OAV) with my boyfriend. We really enjoyed it. ^_^ I've started watching Kamichu! and it's really really good. Kurata Hideyuki wrote Battle Athletes and co-wrote Kamichu! They're such different kinds of series....!

I've only just watched the 3rd episode of Kamichu! though. What kind of cat jumps into a river? O_o This is a very good show. It's about a girl who is a god. And handles it a lot better than shows like Haruhi. It feels more like a Studio Ghibli film, but without feeling so "you should befriend weird things!", or so slow. I'm enjoying this one.

I'm also still playing Etrian Odyssey... I just beat my first Stalker last night! And got killed my Fenrir and 3 other wolves *they ganged up on me*...

Last Scenario - Freeware PC RPG

If I was going to start playing a new PC game, I'd probably go with Last Scenario, which is a freeware PC game that just got "released" about 2 weeks ago. It's been made by one guy over the period of a year, using RPG Maker XP. Apparently he's changed most of the music, graphics, battle mechanics all to his own liking, and added a mini-game (called Hex), and it's professional-looking and although the story starts off standard and clichéd, it soon turns round.

Yes, it seems strange that the maker (one guy!) has announced it via the somethingawful forums.

No, I didn't find it via reading the forums on that site...

Kamen Rider (Masked Rider) Song Collection

I also went to the Sheffield Space Centre today, for the first time in ages. There was a stack of overpriced manga waiting for me, which I bought (oh wow, Evangelion vol 10?!), and while I was there I noticed that they were selling their Japanese CDs off "cheap". So I took a look and there turned out to be only one that stood out to me as worth buying. Here it is:




Apart from the first version of the title song (yay for Fujioka Hiroshi!), and a few group-of-men and group-of-children songs, and Mizuki Ichirou's Kamen Rider Christmas song, and a woman - Kaori Kumiko, does that say? - it's entirely a Shimon Masato album. Tracks 2 and 3 are him, but under a different name.

There are also a load of karaoke tracks, so I could theoretically sing along if I wanted to. ^_^;;

"Go! Go! Let's go! Kagayaku machine! Rider... Jump! Rider... Kick! Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider, Rider, Rider!" ^o^

Horie Mitsuko - Koi no Hana Uranai

This evening, I came home to find that my ebay purchase had arrived! Not the Horie Mitsuko LP, but a thingy that you use to place on your turntable in the middle of records that have had the centre punched out. Yeah, one of those things. Took me ages to find one because I didn't know what they're called.

So I took out some of my singles and tried playing one. The first one is a Horie Mitsuko single, it's from 1980 and it's called "Koi no Hana Uranai". The B-side is called "Lilac no hanakotoba". I looked it up, and it seems that both songs come from the anime Hana no ko Lun-Lun, as insert songs. The 6th and 3rd tracks from the LP are on this single.

I tried making the tracks into MP3s (MP3 players being far more portable than record players), but there's something up and the tracks keep stuttering.

So here's the cover I scanned, along with the back which contains lyrics and sheet music!

weekend update

It turns out I managed to buy a duplicate game in my huge-pile-o-stuff there! I have two copies of "Lake Masters Ex"! Hmm, what can I do with that? It's not exactly a well sought out game or good quality game that I can give away in good faith...

What else happened? Not much. I started playing "Diner Dash" for Nintendo DS. I've been playing a lot of NDS games recently... it's a good little portable system, I don't have to borrow a TV to play anything, and I don't feel like I'm distracting my brother from studying for his exams. So... how is Diner Dash? Well, it's quite fun. It's based on a game for mobile phones, I gather... I'm stuck on the last level of the "Retro" restaurant, though. It's a relentlessly hard game - the amount of points you need to pass a stage is very high and it means you need to chain everything, but you're also relying on luck so it's not always possible... makes it feel unfair. I might give up with this one. I got a bit bored with Puzzle Quest, btw. My character is level 35 and I'm feeling that the game could do with some variety...

I started Theme Park for NDS, then thought... "I've already done this so many times..." and stopped again.

So I've started playing Etrian Odyssey. Yeah, I'm spoilt for choice with NDS games. It's fun getting back into 1st person RPGing. It's the normal moving forward square-by-square type affair. Takes me back to the days of "The Adventure Game" on TV and "The Bard's Tale" for C64, even though I've played a few 1st person RPGs since (Lands Of Lore, Dungeon Master, etc). It's also quite difficult to start with, not quite as unfair as Diner Dash, but I'm often finding my party is short of money. The amount of money they make on each expedition is not much more than the cost of board for a room to sleep in, and the price goes up as they level up! I'm thinking of creating a load of... whatever the Ranger type is called in this game, and farm with their "chop" skill, use the hotel to forward it to the next day, rinse & repeat, just to make money... which seems like abusing the game, but only as much as it's abusing me...

Um... listened to my new (old) Crystal King CD - "Daitokai" and "Ai Wo Torimodose" are definitely the stand-out songs of their discography, the CD doesn't seem to have "Yuria ~ Towa ni" on it (the 1st ED theme for Hokuto No Ken), otherwise it would seem complete, to me. A lot of their stuff is generic to that time period. They look kind of like gangsters in tuxedos on the cover of the album, too... I so love Daitokai! I'm glad I bought the CD just for that song!

Also listened to my new (old) Kushida Akira CD - "I AM THE ONE!" ^__^ It's a great CD! All the way through! Lots of songs I always wanted on CD, my brother comments that they seem to be slightly different versions of the songs than he's heard before, too. We've got other versions on some super sentai CDs and remix CDs and so forth... I've also got 2 other Kushi CDs on order at the moment; "Soul of Kussy" and his upcoming "Best & Live". ^__^

Those videogame purchases...

BTW none of those games cost more than £25. In fact, the only games in that pile that I paid more than £20 for were Rogue Galaxy (it's an import from Canada, about £22), and the Special Edition version of Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (about £23, comes with a soundtrack).

My hobby is a crossover between videogames and bargain hunting. Or perhaps, bargain hunting comes first...

I haven't picked up the latest Shin Megami Tensei game yet (Devil Summoner)... it's still too expensive... there's also a not-SMT (but very much like SMT and made by the same person as Devil summoner) game out called "Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner" for PSP...

It's so easy to lose track of what I have and haven't got... under the Xbox Midway Treasures game is a Gamestation bag containing the 2nd Atelier Iris game, and a copy of the Japanese Berserk game for PS2. And I'm like.. "I was wondering where I put that...!"

I'm a videogame valkyrie

Yep, what I do is reap from the battlefield, all the dead games from the dead consoles, they're all for me. ME! Bwahahahaha!

I love a freshly dead console. [sniff sniff] Do you smell that? It's the scent of a bargain. Ah.

Yeah, I've bought a load of games for PS2 and Xbox recently... not so many for Gamecube, the price hasn't dropped quite so dramatically... shops have been trying to shift their stock of games, clear stuff out of the way... it probably is nothing but bad news for Gamestation since they were taken over by GAME, that they're clearing out their 2nd hand games so cheaply, but hey, I get to buy stuff cheap.

A lot of this stuff comes from the "4 for £10" range, and a lot comes from the fact I was given a large Amazon voucher to spend from work. ^_^

So there's a lot of mainstream stuff I've picked up that I put off getting for years in favour of more obscure items, but think "hey, I'll take a look for £2.50", some of the European releases of the Simple 2000 range of games (hey, I'm a simple gamer!), and the backbone of new Japanese RPGs in there too. And Planescape: Torment just because I never had a copy before. (sorry I'm late!!) ^_^;;

Ooh, there are some DVDs in there as well. They stack so nicely...



(ok, not "valkyrie", perhaps more "vulture")

I just bought a scratched record! yay!

Yes, I'm so happy I bought a scratched record. ^_^

What is it? It's a double album (as in 12" vinyl) - Horie Mitsuko Best 24.

It's a gatefold LP, the scratch seems quite big (there was a photo of it on ebay), but only covers one track. I'm hoping that one track is Candy Candy or another track I already have on CD or better-than-used-vinyl MP3. The photos on ebay were quite extensive, so I could work out the entire tracklisting right now if I wasn't so lazy. ^_^;;

It cost about £10 including shipping. Hopefuly the seller will be happy with me assuming that the shipping cost is the same as 2 LPs.

Ah, I'm happy with this price! I'm happy with this purchase! I hope it arrives soon! ^___^

Auction photos:

Night On The Galactic Railroad

Wow, that film made the Leijiverse seem consistent and cheerful!

Etrian Odyssey

This is supposed to be out today, another NDS RPG... this one's a turn-based 1st person one...

"All-star production staff! Direction by Kazuya Niinou ( Trauma Center: Under the Knife ), story design by Shigeo Komori ( Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner ), and sound design by Yuzo Koshiro ( Actraiser , Streets of Rage )."

http://www.atlus.com/etrian/

The articles on the official website, under "Columns" -> "Director's Diary" and "Localisation Stories" are both interesting.

Momo-i : Famison Stage 2

Yay! Momoi Halko is going to release a 2nd Famison album! Where Animetal's metal covers have departed, Momo-i's NES covers can take over...

The catalogue number is VGCD-86, it comes out on the 8th of June, and the tracklisting is here. I've put in my preorder!

Romanised tracklisting, courtesy of Suiko Eiji of the Animenation forums:

1. Majokko Meg-chan (from Majokko Meg-chan)
2. Banana no Namida ("Banana's tears" from High School! Kimengumi)
3. CAT'S EYE (from Cat's Eye)
4. Bara wa utsukushiku chiru (from Rose Of Versailles/BeruBara)
5. Koi ni B-kyu Action (from Sasuga no Sarutobi)
6. Ru. Ru. Ru. Russian Roulette (from Dirty Pair)
7. Youkai no Goyoushin (from Dororon Enma-kun)
8. Hana no Ko Lun Lun (from Hana no Ko Lun Lun)
9. Akubi-musume (from Hakushon Daimaou)
10. Midori no Hidamari (from Yama-nezumi Rocky Chuck)
11. Shin Obake Q-taro (from Shin Obake Q-taro)
12. Dare yori mo tooku he (from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer/Tom Sawyer no Bouken)
13. Suki Suki Song (from Himitsu no Akko-chan)
14. Bikke is a little viking (bikke wa chisana viking) (from Chisana Viking Bikke)
15. ~Teleportation Koi no Mikakunin ~ (from Esper Mami)

I'm particularly looking forward to Majokko Megu, Berubara & the 3 Horie Mitsuko songs in the middle (from Lun-Lun to Rocky Chuck), and the SukiSuki song. The SukiSuki song will work brilliantly as a NES song. I've had it stuck in my head for several days now. Here it is on youtube... it's the ending theme, so it's the 2nd half of the clip. ^__^

Animetal have split up again

T_T the offical website says so!

"Animetal has sealed off themselves for the second time.
Thank you all over the world for supporting us!!"

Ohhh, that's no good! T_T

recent goings on

Ah, it's about time I posted.

So... what have I been doing recently? Well, over the last Bank Holiday weekend, I started, played through, and completed a copy of the Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime for Nintendo DS. It's a fun, cute game in which a small blue Dragon Quest slime (as in "I'm Cute And I'm A Controller Too!") saves his village and everyone. And fights big tank vs tank battles.

I've now started playing Puzzle Quest for Nintendo DS, as well as Darwin for PS2. They're both interesting and fun. ^_^

My currently most-looking-forward-to thing to watch on TV anywhere in the universe is the next NHK BS Anime Shudaika Daizenshu TV special, which, as far as I know is a one-off thing and won't be released on DVD.... T_T

This evening I'll be watching the Night On The Galactic Railroad anime movie, based on Miyazawa Kenji's famous novel. I've been curious about his work ever since I first heard Kuwashima Houko's album "Flores" where she recites some of his poems. I suppose that seems a strange reason.

The film stars Tanaka Mayumi, I don't know about the rest of the cast.

Crystal King - Daitokai

Ah, ahhhhhhhhhhhh! I'm so obsessed with this song at the moment.

I've placed an order for a copy of a Crystal King album with the song on CD Japan this week. ^_^

I'm really looking forward to it!

In the meantime, I found some karaoke sites with midi versions of the song:

http://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/momose/mu_title/daitokai.htm &
http://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/momose/mu_title/midi/daitokai.mid

or
http://www.fukuchan.ac/music/j-folk3/daitokai.html &
http://www.fukuchan.ac/music/j-folk3/daitokai.mid
(way too fast!)

or
http://www.geocities.jp/midi_ongaku/daitokaiMP3.html &
http://www.geocities.jp/midi_ongaku/7_daitokai_MP3.mp3

That last one kind of sounds like a Sim City remix, to me. For the Megalopolis kind of city, of course. ^_^

I also want to roll up the megalopolis in a giant ball... na-naaaaa! Katamari Damacy! That's Tanaka Masayuki's fault... hehe...

GAME acquires Gamestation for £74 million

It's some news I read this morning on this website.

This could be very bad news. Although they say they'll keep the two brands separate, it's likely they'll decide to make Gamestation as bland and mainstream as GAME stores, removing the retro gaming sections, throwing out rare import games / consoles, etc. T_T

Zambot 3 model kit & Taiko No Tatsujin 3

Ah! I got some stuff in the post! It's stuff I bought on Yes Asia; a Zambot 3 model kit and the 3rd Taiko No Tatsujin game. ^_^



Taiko no Tatsujin 3 is the *easy part*...

I've never assembled a model kit before... well, not seriously, or in the last few decades... and the first thing I notice on opening the box is there are no red parts, therefore it needs painting.

Wow, this model is bigger than I expected!

recently watched anime

Over the last few days I've watched...

* The first 4 episodes of Busou Renkin.
* The first episode of Venus Versus Virus
* The 2nd and 3rd episodes of Lucky Star

Busou Renkin... I wanted to watch just because I'd heard the OP theme sung by Fukuyama Yoshiki and I really like it, and the soundtrack's by Tanaka Kouhei. After the first episode, my boyfriend, who really likes other shonen shows, was dying of genericness. But I gave it up to 4 episodes before giving up. It's like almost watching about 5 other shows... notably Bleach, but with Alchemy added... I don't think I'll bother watching any more...

Venus Versus Virus... is very Noir before the opening, then continues in a monster-hunting girls-with-guns kind of way. Seems alright, but then I watched it straight after despairing over Busou Renkin. There's also something about it that reminds me of Rozen Maiden for no discernable reason. And the end credits use a still image that reminds me of the artwork in Gunslinger Girl. I think I'll watch more of this. ^_^

Lucky Star... this got funnier after the 1st episode, like I hoped it would. It's still not hilarious, but I like it. It's like watching an anime with me as the main character. ^_^

For some reason, they've gotten rid of the director after 4 episodes. I'm not sure exactly why; perhaps the 4th episode is really bad? I heard "performance issues", so.. ratings, I guess?

Surely Lucky Star's 4th episode was not as bad as Gurren Lagan's 4th episode... where fan objections about it got so bad that it led to one of Gainax's company directors (the one who created Princess Maker) engaging in a flame war against the Japanese BBS 2ch and ungracefully resigning from his post... O_O

EDIT: There's a Venus Versus Virus flash game on the official site. ^_^

I need to stop watching anime and thinking of it in terms of other anime. It's something I've picked up from somewhere... >_<

Ultra-Kaiju

Yay! It's May, so I get to have pictures of Ultra-Kaiju on my wall for the next 2 months. ^_^

I noticed on the wiki entry for kaiju that it says:

For example, Choujin Sentai Jetman features monsters based on popcorn boxes, traffic lights, faucets and tomatoes; Kamen Rider Super-1 includes a whole army of monsters based on household objects such as umbrellas and utility ladders.

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I should try and find copies of those series! XD