Mystica Convivii

So while I'm still waiting for my copy of Symposium of Post-mysticism to come out tomorrow and be shipped (hopefully) next week, some sections of the book have already been leaked. I have browsed through them and honestly I didn't see anything too unexpected, but it was definitely an interesting read. I'm sure there are already others working on it but I felt like transcribing a couple of the articles.

First up is Byakuren because Buddhism is where it's at...not really. Here's the transcription.

Nothing really new from her profile I guess, we all knew that Byakuren was once a human who became much more through years of training. She has a strict code of conduct (knowns as Sila in Buddhism), and at least two of the Five Percepts have been mentioned here (no alcohol and killing). Interestingly though, it does not say that Byakuren does not kill or cause to kill, but rather she "does not like killing" (also obviously she is a vegetarian). In any case, because she lives by such code of ethics, it is difficult for her to make friends with other humans.

Finishing Line

I have yet to reach one. I had already forgotten how many months it had been but the Sena nendoroid just arrived a few days ago,

The one nendoroid with a sizable chest

I actually didn't like Haganai at all; it felt like that there was way too much pandering and the cast wasn't exactly likable either. I do like this Sena nendoroid though, especially since it comes with a TV and a PS3 (not to mention it's less expensive than all the other nendoroids I've bought). It was strangely difficult to make her sit still. Too much meat.

That's that and since I originally made this blog to talk about nothing music, here is something I thought I'd share with nobody everyone,

The second full-length album by Phantasm, a fictional band fronted by FES (Ayase Kishimoto) from Chaos;Head, the first title in 5pb. and Nitroplus' science adventure series. The album contains mostly theme songs of Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate, and is a nice change for me musically since I haven't listened to this kind of music for a while. I was going to say that it is gothic rock/metal but apparently those are rather different genres of music, so I guess I will just call it symphonic metal and leave it at that. My personal favourite is 運命のファルファッラ, which has a melancholy feeling that is perfect when I'm dealing with infinite loops while pondering about the direction humanity is heading towards. A pretty solid album with some interesting musical ideas, though sometimes the arrangements can get a bit chaotic and a few songs have strong openings but become increasingly uninteresting due to a lack of catchy hooks.

When The Angels Are Away

It's not that time of the year yet. The lack of posts on this blog is really disheartening, and I would certainly hope that this won't end up as the first and the last post of this month. In a way, the month is just beginning.

Did someone order a shinigami?

死神のテスタメント - Meunet of Epistula is one of those games that starts out rather poorly and despite some faint hints of improvements, never really gets any better. I decided to read it on a whim after seeing it among last month's releases, mostly because I didn't think I was ready for グリザイアの迷宮 yet. I can't say that I'm disappointed since I went in with no expectations, but the game still left a sour taste in my mouth.

At least I found a new wallpaper

I wanted to like it because I do have a soft spot for Vivi and Irina, too bad the latter's route was quite bad (not that Vivi's was much better). The problem was that each route is made into a chapter, or in some cases, a "broken" chapter (for heroines who don't have much impact on the main storyline) and thanks to the tired gimmick that is repeating timelines, the routes felt really anticlimactic. An uninspiring protagonist with a weak supporting cast is pretty disastrous for almost any story, and I think that is another problem with the game. The side characters really had no reason to exist other than being mere plot devices; some of their actions are also illogical and have next to no effect on the plot. I seriously wonder what the writers wanted me to feel when Himeno, who had already been established as quite indecent, called the protagonist while she was having sex with her "client". Was I supposed to hate her after that? I mean was I even supposed to like her in the first place? It's really weird because Rui just hung up and the incident was never brought up again.

Here Is An Irrelevant Title

Let this (Re)set the tone for the rest of this post.

Except probably not. So I figured that I'd take some time to write something before the year ends. There isn't a whole lot to say but I must admit this festive season has been quite good for self-indulgence (read: eating); well it's fine since for some strange reasons I can't seem to gain weight. Anyway I talked about a2c being featured on Maon Kurosaki's Vanishing Point back in July, and I have been meaning to do this for a while now so here's Maon's first full-length album, "Butterfly Effect", which was released at the end of last month.

Move your mouse over it. The album starts with an introductory track which really doesn't seem to flow into "Vanishing Point", the highlight of the album, all that well. Indeed the more pop-oriented songs that have been put in between the heavier rock tracks make the album feel as if it is lacking in consistency, which is rather unfortunate because it ends up destroying the album's momentum. I wouldn't really know but some of you may find that a few songs sound familiar; Magic∞world and メモリーズ・ラスト, the ending songs of To Aru Majutsu no Index II; ANSWER, the opening to the To Aru Majutsu no Index PSP game; and SCARS, the ending theme of HELLSING IX OVA. All in all it's not a bad effort from Maon for her first album. It'd be interesting to see what directions she will take for her next release; will she stick with rock songs that seem to suit her or will she go for dance pop that feels a little off? The butterfly effect indeed.

Where In The World Did November Go?

Give me back my November. Actually on second thought, please don't. So yeah, changing the blog design was really troublesome. I'm beginning to think maybe I should just leave the background plain. In the end I decided to settle with Sanae and Kogasa; it seems to fit in with the overall theme quite well. While I'm not much of a fan of that particular pairing or just any pairings in general, Hang in There, Kogasa-san can be quite fun from time to time.

Anyway remember back in my first post I mentioned a manga series called Bloody Cross? Well I went back and read up to the latest chapter, since I liked the cast and thought the story was actually getting a bit more interesting as it progressed. However the days of seeing Tsukimiya and Hinata coming together are still far ahead, because I'm getting the feeling that Shiwo just loves to pit them against each other.

Insert inappropriate texts

Tsukimiya disappeared for a few good chapters, having been captured by a new organization called "Divine Burial (神葬, Shinsou)" who really showed up out of nowhere and overwhelmed the main cast with their superior numbers and prowess. They claim that their objective is to locate and take care of every single one of God's Inheritance, and supposedly they are also in charge of the second Crusade (?) after the first one finished without a victor. Anyway the Divine Burial guys are a secretive lot and literally live in a parallel or self-created dimension from what I understand. It's impossible to get in or out by normal means, as Hinata and Nao found out the hard way. Hinata had intended for Nao to go in as a spy alone but he was outsmarted by Izumi who forced him to go along as well. With the help of two traitors from Divine Burial - Ooma and Kanade, the captains of the third and sixth divisions respectively, Hinata and Nao manage to sneak in and make contact with Izumi. After rumours of traitors within Divine Burial's ranks begin to spread, Kanade (who started the rumours herself) and Ooma successfully frame the fourth division captain Yamabuki, who is then immediately executed.