I still remember when in 2015 when the new Star Wars was announced and OH BOY I was so excited for the year to end so I could see a new movie from a recent fandom. The new movie was two years later, so I patiently waited for 2017.
Alternatively, in 2016, Fantastic Beasts came out and HOLY JESUS BALLS my hype was greater than the year before. Star Wars was a great space adventure but Fantastic Beasts was a dream. A series of films about my favourite fantasy textbook? Are you kidding me? I underestimated the movie's ability to make me have feels.
Enter Newt Scamander, a classic 'awkward British youtuber'. The man only briefly mentioned at the end of the textbook. He wouldn't be this interesting and cute if not for one thing - his interactions with his future spouse, Tina. I'm
You don't understand how these two wreck me. The first movie was so funny, so cute, so fluffy, it's no wonder why we shippers fell hard for these two fictional characters. That awkward gesture of touching her hair aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa MAH FUCKING HEART. His accidental flirts aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa STOP. STOOOOOP MY HEART IS BLEEDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is actually me whenever I think of them. These heart palpitations are definitely not good for my health. The best part is that we know they're married so yay for us! No sad otp ending!
Since the first movie ended in such a fluffy note I went into the second movie eager to see them again. Oh, Newt is denied access to USA? Who's free now? Who's not dead now??? Who's getting married now????? What is this heartbreaking misunderstanding????
Newt and Tina wrote letters to each other, some tabloid makes a fucking mess, Tina misunderstands and becomes distant, Newt doesn't understand, and since he has zero fucking social skills when it comes to Tina the love of his life, the two of them get awkward, Newt still doesn't get it, I'M PISSED.
Listen to me scriptwriters and storyboaders. You should just yeet the Grindelwald storyline and focus on Newt finding magical creatures because THAT'S WHAT THE TITLE OF THE MOVIE IS. Use Tina more. She's Newt's fucking wife. Queenie is a bombshell ditsy blonde HELL NO SHE'S NOT. She's not the kind of woman who would drop her morals for love as far as I'm concerned. Don't do my girl dirty like that.
I know this aint a love story, but it is a love story. Grindelwald and Dumbledore are definitely old flames, subtext my ass. "Closer than brothers" try to no homo outta that. And a blood pact??? A BLOOD FUCKING PACT??? Ok ok. 'It's platonic love' you say. Get this: What does Dumbledore see in the Mirror of Erised? The mirror that reveals ones' dreams? Oh yeah. His blood pact ritual with Grindelwald.
If taking Grindelwald out of the movie and focusing on Newt and Tina is not a good thing because the movie isn't a romantic fantasy, then putting in his stroyline also qualifies as a tragic romantic fantasy because it is. It is a good otp and I cried a lot for them but am I salty that they featured so little of Tina? YES. YES I AM.
Please. The scene in the ministry archives is really, really cute and all, but you know why I cried so much in the cinema when there's nothing to cry about? The misunderstanding. How many times are the two really in frame together? How many of these frames are interactions? How many of these interactions are not hostile? I'm tearing up thinking about it.
Oh and don't get me started on Leta. I was so sure she and Theseus would marry in the end, or if Leta actually joined the dark side, at least she would still be alive to marry Theseus one day (hopefully). But nope. Bitch has to die. Put in a 'I love you' vaguely directed at who knows Theseus or Newt for good measure.
ASDFGJKL;HJKLRTYUIO HHIFUIWHJJOSDIF UOJFKJF THIS MOVIE IS AN OTP MESS.
At least the ministry archive scene was really cute. It melted all my sadness away.
I had my PS2 set up last two weeks to play Y1 and Y2, so I was like, 'Why not finish the other games?' Since I have no idea when the memory card or controller may fail, and I'm awfully curious about the ending, I decided to finish it.
I started on Y2, finally! After a few days of trying to get over Nishiki's death. I was eager to see Ryuji and Daigo in action, also some... side events... involving Kaoru... ahem.
So. We start off strong, with Kiryu and Haruka being cute together and visiting the graves of Kazama, Nishiki and Yumi. All's well and then fifth chairman shows up to get killed lmao. Such a way to start the game! Haruka is like "Imma go back to the orphanage because lord knows you have yakuza stuff to attend to, just remember to get me when you're done." So I'm like "Bye Haruka!"
First thing I noticed when Kiryu stepped into Tojo HQ: Yayoi, Dojima's widow, is the acting chairman after 5th died. This woman is one hell of a lady! She's elegant-pretty, can wield a sword, slap a man (and potentially punch one) and her voice BOOMS! I like her!
Then there's the one I've been waiting to see due to all the funny fanart - Daigo, Yayoi's son. With his ridiculous marshmallow jacket and rugged look. He's got beef with Ryuji, but Ryuji's got beef with Kiryu, so it kinna plays out like the villain who was all "ahahah it is me, your nemesis!" and the protagonists go "...who?". That's Daigo and Ryuji in a nutshell. Daigo gets bitch slapped by Ryuji in one shot more than a few times and oh boy was it funny! I get where the 'Kiryu babysitting Daigo' fanart comes from now.
One hell of a lady count: 2 - Sayama Kaoru. Osakan cop, pretty in a strong-cute way. The classic case of 'I can't date because all the guys are scared of me'. Her introduction is really, Really, REALLY cool! VERY AWESOMELY COOL!!! My first comment upon her intro? "I like this woman."
Before anything else, someone I follow on twitter mentioned an event I'd like to call as the 'kiss that ruined me'. They said it was cute and hot at the same time, and lemme tell you, I didn't believe it at all. I was all "Isit tho????". I was looking for Kaoru's age and stumbled upon a trivia that said that she was the only one who shared a kiss with Kiryu on screen, TWO TIMES! Damn this girl is really something else!
Sadly... I didn't get to that part. Disc got stuck in loading screen in the 12th chapter, which means I won't be punching any tigers or saving Haruka from another kidnapping, also not being able to see the aforementioned 'kiss that ruined me'. That also means I missed the great scene which is Majima banging his head on a desk 8 times and him disarming a bomb based on instinct.
I was looking forward to the tiger-punching too! Damn!
What I did? Watched some playthroughs in YT. And HOLY JESUS BALLS THAT KISS WAS CUTE AND SURPRISINGLY HOT! Kiryu. Kiryu mah man. Is this the doing of 7 years of yakuza work??? You weren't like this before! Where did this confidence come from????? You can't even properly tell Yumi your feelings what is going on Kiryu????
So. Some other things happen, Ryuji has a sick tattoo, people die, AND THEN. A bomb was about to go off and Kiryu is too wounded to move. Date flies in a heli with Haruka in tow telling them to get off as quick as they can. Kiryu and Kaoru play out "I'LL DIE WITH YOU" with Date and Haruka watching, then showcase the intense desperate kiss, IN FRONT OF DATE AND HARUKA. Holy balls you dunno how intense that was! It was the one that made me go 'alright time out' in a public space which is my campus library! They were a bunch of ps2 grade polygons! I don't understand how it made me so hot and bothered! What is happening???
Gosh I feel sorry for Haruka. "Uncle Kaz is going to blow up!" No. Your Uncle Kaz is going to have a hot makeout session with a badass female cop before he dies. Dude is living his best life!
I'm sad that I don't get to experience the one-hit-kill end of Ryuji's boss battle, but can't do nothing about a broken game disc... It was a good experience while it lasted.
This is not going to be a video game review I swear...
October 8th was Nishiki's birthday, I made phone case art of Majima the day before, and so for mah best boi Nishiki, I decided to celebrate his birthday by making another phone case art. It was great! Drawing the carp and sunflowers, looking through other people's art... I was happy. The very next day I did the unthinkable. I suck at watercolours and I haven't been using them since the end of my last semester break, but for best boi, I opened my Mossery sketchbook, filled some water in a cup, and started painting. PAINTING! I CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE IT MYSELF! AND I DID PRETTY WELL?!
Except for the sunflowers... Those sunflowers are just... bad. I've drawn better sunflowers (phone case art, believe me).
I've finished Y0 for almost a month now and I still cannot get over Nishiki! I regret looking up wikis for his information because that was where I found out he wasn't in later games which means either he doesn't make an appearance or he's deceased and that he's the final boss of Y1 like??? OK HE'S DECEASED ALRIGHT.
I mean I don't know. I don't think the developers meant for the players to feel sorry for Nishiki in Y1. There's nothing much to know about him apart from his identity as Kiryu's brother who turned evil. I doubt anyone actually felt this strongly about Nishiki when they first played the original game. For me though, because I started with Y0 it's not surprising that I'm heartbroken by what happened in Y1. I was ready to see it happen.
Come Monday, October 15th. I was determined to see it happen. I went ahead and actually bought Y1 and Y2 for the PS2. I had no class on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I spent mornings doing assignments and afternoons playing through Y1. I thought I was ready for a lot of things, but clearly I wasn't. When Nishiki showed up on screen... I JUST CAN'T! Almost cried immediately, and he's just a bunch of low res polygons! I managed to go through the prologue without much incident, but when Kiryu steps out of prison and finds out his kyodai just turned evil... my lords that was not a good feeling. I PHYSICALLY FELT THAT PAIN.
There were some fun moments with Majima, Haruka was cute, and then chapter 12 happened... 3 people died... I cried... I saved the finale for Thursday night.
I spent the whole of Thursday restless in class until I got back home and quickly finished the last of my assignments. I went straight to playing the finale, ready for what's to come. It was harder than I thought. I'm not describing the gameplay. I'm talking about the emotional toll. The lift dings and Nishiki comes in, all prepared to fight. There's a love triangle, Nishiki has an inferiority complex, Kiryu doesn't have a choice... all the heavy stuff comes crashing down on me.
Then the brothers perform a battle strip and I lost it! I cried right before the final boss battle. The music didn't even start yet and I was already sobbing! I almost couldn't bring myself to beat Nishiki because I was crying so hard I can't see and I have no motivation. I braved through the final boss, Nishiki's out cold, Yumi gets shot by stupid Jingu, Nishiki redeems himself as Kiryu's brother by sacrificing himself, taking Jingu with him. Holy shit. You have no idea what a sobbing mess I was at that time. What offended me the most was that Kiryu still had the time to have a heart to heart with a dying Yumi and not address the fact that his oath brother fucking died. I guess you have to hold on to the ones who are still alive.
Credits roll, amazing grace plays, I cried another round. Took a bath afterwards to continue crying. I didn't expect it would be this painful with a bunch of low res polygons. Can't even make out the detailed facial expressions but I KNOW KIRYU IS DYING INSIDE. AND NISHIKI'S FACE WHEN HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF HOLY!!! I can't imagine what it'll be like when I play Kiwami! I just wanna kms!!!
"I'm sticking with you till death do us part." sounds like a sappy romantic confession, but it's not. It's a heartwarming declaration of loyalty between two sworn brothers before facing what would potentially be their demise.
They survived the ordeal, but not for long. Fate is a bitch and screwed them over. Their brotherhood didn't last till death. Time and envy are cruel things. But at least during his last moments, one of them reverted back to the brother that was once loyal and righteous.
A seemingly unbreakable bond that lasted almost 20 years easily crushed to pieces by 10 years of separation. A manhunt and cut ties couldn't break it, but taking a fall meant for a brother and some jail time did the job.
Fate really did screw them on purpose. They are nothing without each other. One paid the ultimate price; the other is doomed to live in loneliness and constant unrest. How sad is that?
At least there were good times. Two Majima battles, Haruka calling Kiryu Uncle Kazuma AASDFGHJKL MY HEART!!!!! Me talking shit about Shimano, Chairman Sera's polygonal but still distinctly charming face, Yayoi Dojima coming outta nowhere, demanding answers on her husband's death... Oh and I can't wait to play Yakuza 2 where I can finally meet Daigo! DAIGO MARSHMALLOW JACKET!!!
Uuh, I'm back! Did yall catch the last review? My video game schedule is screwed for life!
Apart from the blatantly obvious (my semester break ending and me finishing Yakuza 0 within a week), life has been pretty good. Last July I went to Indonesia as part of a summer program, which doesn't feel like summer AT ALL because it was freezing in West Java due to the winds from Australia.
The 13-day trip passed quite quickly - I brought RM300 to Indo and spent them all on food and some cloth (heard they were pretty cheap). Not to brag but I'm quite proud of my own travel-planning skills. My classmates? Not so much... They ran out of cash to spend, didn't bring important toiletries, had luggage bags full of useless shit in them, and then said bags were over the weight limit so some things happened... there's a bunch of things I could list down about their incompetence when it comes to travel planning but I'm going to stop here. No use fretting over stuff you can't control.
After visiting Indonesia, even just a small part of it, made me realize that Malaysia had nothing. The Malays has 'lost' their culture. It really says a lot when Indonesians still have dance and clothing from the small ethnic groups of the islands, but all we had were merely what used to be Indonesian. No one will call out this BS because it's an all-time controversial topic about the real origins of who we call the 'bumiputeras' aka Malays of Malaysia. We're not going to go into that shithole of arguments because our country is not as free as people think it is. Let's jsut focus on the good parts eh?
Malaysian food is quite similar to Indonesian food. For instance, what they call terang bulan is actually apam balik. The kuihs? We have most of them, just with different names. Some things that I couldn't recognize (from looks or taste) is this mofo right here:
My classmates picked this dish because it looked weird, but didn't dare eat it afterwards. So, I took it upon myself to taste test this. It's delicious! It's small fish, very salty, so I guess you can't eat it on it's own. And they thought it was maggots! There's also seblak to the left, which is one of the only few 'exotic' foods I bought for myself during the whole trip, during the last few days. I also bought lumpiah, which are apparently spring rolls, but the ones I bought look nothing like spring rolls! I guess the filling is the same... I have a confession to make. Indonesian tempeh tastes better than Malaysian tempeh! There! I said it, don't at me! In all seriousness I was not fond of local tempeh for some reason. Then Indonesia blew me away with their tempeh. Just... magnificent! Never ate that much soy in two weeks!
I got my first batik in Indonesia. As a Malaysian I should've gotten one but no, my first is Indonesian batik in the form of a wrap skirt. There's also my obsession with Indomie OH GOD YOU DON'T KNOW HOW OBSESSED I WAS WITH INDOMIE. There are over 20 flavours and I only found 17, including the Kuliner Indonesia series. And now they have salted egg flavour oh god. I came back with a whole backpack of Indomie and my mother was not impressed. Neither are my classmates and friends. The looks they give me are saying 'you went to Indonesia just to come back with a bunch of instant noodles?' Yes. Yes I did.
Speaking of souvenirs, I did not buy any. The keychains I own were all given to me by the facilitators (who were amazing people). I bought a fridge magnet but that was so I could decorate the world map in the living room.
Also, I got awful sunburns and a suntan!
Coming back from my first school related overseas trip I am grateful for this experience. I caught an eel. I performed really bad silat. I played angklung. I learned some Indonesian words. But one thing I won't do is play water activities. That's a no-no. There's some unpleasant days, uncomfortable living conditions, but like PLKN, it's fun.
Current mood: derere-derere-dererererere!!!! derere-DERERE!!!!!! (If you don't get it, it's the intro music.)
After thinking about it for few months, I finally got myself a Yakuza game after various Hollie ramblings about the series and a Tuesday Checklist about PS classics. Damn Hollie really got me!
As someone whose only experience in action and beat-em-ups is 2 hours in God Of War, 1 hour in Devil May Cry 3 and a few hours in a unfinished broken Bayonetta disc (still sad about that), not surprising anyone, I SUCKED at all of those! God of War? Owned me with the first boss. DMC3? Can't get past the first boss. Bayonetta is the first action game I wanted for myself, so I diligently beat all the bosses, but every chapter I cleared has a shit score. Then it broke, so we'll never know if I can beat the final boss. My forte is the leisure genre of JRPGs, so I have no prior experience to extreme button mashing. But boy was that about to change.
Current mood: "The armatized bow gives you good piercing capabilities - just the thing for a tight hallway. Weaknesses? ...Well, it can be hard to cope with attacks from behind. But the first step toward dealing with this drawback is acknowledging it."LMAO subtle much???
If the internet has told me anything about Zestiria, it's that it sucks balls aaaaaand SorMik. I focused only at the SorMik part and waited to get a PS4 anyway. I have the game, I didn't have the console, so everytime I read a SorMik fanfic... you can probably guess my reaction (silent screaming at midnight).
Not the usual post, but I guess it's still about my obsession? With the release of Hayley Kiyoko's debut album Expectations, I've decided to talk about my very, very strange music tastes.
I'm not someone you'd consider very knowledgeable in the music scene. As a former weeb the only songs I ever listened to are anime openings and endings and osts. Until now my music genre has always been soundtracks. Years ago with my introduction to Assassin's Creed, I was exposed to more english songs which are not my childhood. Lorde, Zella Day, Woodkid, to name a few. I even have a whole playlist for AC trailer music. Of all the artists featured in the playlist, only Woodkid stuck with me. We'll come back to it later.
Final Fantasy XV, after it's long 10-year development hell was finally released in 2016, alongside a single dedicated to the game by Florence + the Machine. Florence Welch is... incredible. Her music is soothing to my ears, unlike the more well-known pop artists. Most importantly, I can damn well hear what she was singing! I have been into ambient and alternative genres for a while, and Florence + the Machine just came at the exact right moment.
After this I started looking for similar artists, with little to no success. My specific genre for english pop/rock is alternative or folk. Aurora's eerie atmospheres are a recent favourite following Lana Del Rey's melancholic tunes. Then comes some synthpop from Halsey, upbeat funk from Janelle Monae (she looks so good in suits) and many other small indie artists. They all share a common aspect: I can actually hear what they're singing, even though they might not produce music of my taste. Famous pop artists like Lady Gaga are some of my go-to for upbeat pop, but rarely can I ever understand their lyrics, and they produce music for a wide variety of genres.
So my selection process for english pop is as follows: genre - audibility - lyrics/themes
And then there's Woodkid...
Woodkid is a really special and weird case. He's french, but produces english music. There's a thick accent to his songs, and sometimes I have no idea what the lyrics are. But his songs are my jam, my personal favourite of which is The Golden Age. It's hard to explain why I'm so fond of his style.
If I had a specific route for english music, then I have no guidelines for J-pop. My japanese music experience consists of anime songs, which can include all kinds of genres, the staple being pop and rock. While I lean more towards 'epic' types more than 'cheerful' or 'melancholy', if it's from my fave anime, there's no way I won't listen to it. I don't care who sings what most of the time; there was a time I had heavy metal and rap in my music libraries because the anime featured it! However in recent years I have been more picky with my choices. My japanese music preference is larger than my english one, so let's get started!
A major factor that influences my choice is the composer. Since many anime songs are produced in conjunction with the soundtrack, the composers get to write OP, ED and insert songs for the artists. Yuki Kajiura is one such composer, having not just involved in one, but two groups! FictionJunction and Kalafina has great vocalists and paired up with Kajiura's brilliance, had me stanning them since my childhood. Her collaborations with See-Saw also saw me getting hooked into Gundam SEED and its sequel. There's also Yoko Kanno, who worked on Macross Frontier and collaborated with amazing vocalist ORIGA (bless her soul). She is the reason why I'm still listening to Macross Delta's songs even though they're not as amazing as Frontier's, because I'm smitten with the franchise. Hiroyuki Sawano appeared in my radar in 2013 with the release of KILL la KILL and his unique and unusual music style, with breaks and the use of vocals, which I like A LOT. He even has his own vocal project "SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]", with albums that feature many artists including Aimer.
By now you might know I'm a big fan of vocal work. It's not surprising Final Fantasy XIII-2 has one of my favourite soundtracks, due to its massive vocal tracks. And you know who is also very well known for composing soundtracks with vocals - Keiichi Okabe. He is most well known for his work on generally-not-so-well-known Nier and very-well-known-and-praised Nier: Automata of 2017. He even got so many awards/nominations the director Yoko Taro got salty about it! His music is already in a playlist I named "Woke". If Okabe is well known, then I have another fave who isn't necessarily appreciated enough by the fans: Go Shiina of God Eater and Tales fame. He is responsible for God Eater's soundtrack, but sadly only ever composed for one Tales game which didn't really sell well. He did collaborate with series staple Motoi Sakuraba in Tales of Zestiria... but that's only one disc of his works. Go Shiina has a way of mashing music of very different genres together to make epic pieces, and like Sawano, has odd breaks and vocals mixed in. Honorable mentions go to Shoji Meguro of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona and Yoko Shimomura of Kingdom Hearts.
Nothing tops Sea of Rage. Nothing. But this will do.
Composers influence my choice of soundtracks (and some Jpop), but without them, it's an entirely different story. There are a few artists that I listen to exclusively, some because of their genre, some because of their voice. Continuing my love for vocal works, Akiko Shikata to me is the master of them all. An indie artist, you won't see her in mainstream media, unless you know about lesser-known Gust (of Atelier fame) franchise Ar tonelico. That's as mainstream as she gets. Though she has contributed to Akatsuki no Yona and Tales of Symphonia OVA in the past few years... Partnered with Haruka Shimotsuki (indie artist and otome games vocalist) and Noriko Mitose, both great vocalists, they brought me into the world of Ar tonelico through their singing. at first it was only the three of them, until KOKIA (along with others) joined the party with the third installment.
One of Akiko's older songs.
With Haruka Shimotsuki (red) in Ar tonelico 2.
KOKIA oh boi. This woman, like Florence Welch, is incredible. If Florence + the Machine was alternative, KOKIA was folk. Her songs are rarely upbeat or cheerful, mostly hopeful and soothing, like a cool breeze on a sunny day, sitting in the garden under the porch with tea and biscuits. The most epic you'll ever hear are the ones she did for animes and games, and even then they sound sorrowful and bittersweet. And here's the kicker: she contributed to the Final Fantasy XIII-2 soundtrack. She's even in Dark Souls!
After KOKIA there's... Ayumi Hamasaki. Her genre is a far cry from my usual alternative/folk. She's a pop star! Her songs are a mix of pop and all kinds of electronic. How I came to like her music is still a mystery to me, but it definitely started with the openings of Tales of Xillia and its sequel. Out of all the opening songs, hers was the only one that didn't use the beginning, but the middle chorus. Try as I might, I have no idea why they did it; is this the brilliance of her composition? Sad news: she's becoming deaf. Universe bless her.
Straying from Ayu, I sometimes listen to Utada Hikaru's music, thanks to Beautiful World which was introduced to me when I was 12??? I think??? From a Jpop compilation lyric book??? It took me around 3 years to realise the song came from EVA, then some when I started Kingdom Hearts. MIND BLOWN.
Her english songs are also ~amazing~!!!
So the process is mostly anime - genre - composer - artist. But I mostly go for epic vocals. But my music tastes always change.
