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Friday, March 28, 2014

Review on "Sephirot" (still ongoing, probably will play forever LOL)

Okay. So Sephirot is this online RPG game, and you can download it from the App Store.
My iTunes account is Japanese, and if you guys want to play this game, you'd better get an iTunes Japan account, too, unless you are confident that you can be satisfied with just playing it free (the application is available for free download).

So, in this game, you basically need to keep the World Tree growing by gathering "Sephiras", which can be gotten when you kill monsters/bosses, or from special weekly events.
  • Monsters: are randomly encountered during exploration
  • Bosses: are met at the very end of each area
You need "partners" for this, which are cards that have Otomate characters on them. While exploring, the character on the card you select as your leader speaks to you with lines that were in the original game. There are two ways to strengthen partners:
  • Strengthening: Use other partners and "leaves" to strengthen another partner. Leaves can be gotten from the World Tree, from defeating bosses, and from selling partners you possess.
  • Evolution: You can make a card evolve only if you have a card IDENTICAL to that card. This increases the card's maximum strength, and if the card is your leader, the words the leader speaks to you get sweeter and sweeter and sweeter as you make it evolve.
The cards are categorized into Normal, Normal+, Rare, Rare+, S-Rare, and SS-Rare. The rarer the card, the stronger it is, and the sweeter the words the partner speaks to you. Partners can be gotten via the following methods, which are mostly random (the ones in blue are the ones I purposefully got):
  • Exploration: Only gets you N or N+ partners. I usually just sell these to get leaves.
  • Sephirot's Pond: You can either pay to get partners from this OR get Hermes's Red Stones from weekly events. But here's the catch: if you pay, you get ONLY R and above. With the stones, you get about 95% N/N+ and 5% R and above. Partners change every week. There's about 100 R/R+ partners in the pond including one SR/SSR that you can choose from among several. If you keep pulling partners out from the pond, you are GUARANTEED to get that one SR/SSR. So, here, I got:
    • Saitou Hajime (R+)
    • Okita Souji (R+)
    • Ibuki Ryuunosuke (R+)
    • Serizawa Kamo (R)
    • Yamazaki Susumu (R)
    • Nagumo Shuu (R+)
    • Chitose (R+)
    • Noel, Bilal, Alvaro, Julius from Wand of Fortune (R)
    • Yuuichi from Hiiro no Kakera (R+)
The above partners were actually gotten just because I had nowhere to spend my Stones OR as byproducts of my attempts to get an SR and above Okita Souji.
If you want a fully evolved SR and are prepared to pay some bucks, this is the most unrandom way to get one. So, that's how I got my:
    • Okita Souji (SR), who is my leader partner. He has evolved 5 times and is at his maximum strength. ♥♥♥♥♥
  • Rare Bingo: I'm just calling it Bingo because I don't know what else to call it. You can either pay to get partners from this OR you can get Premium tickets from special events. Here, I got:
    • Harada Sanosuke (SR)
    • Kazutake (R)
    • some guy from the 4th Hiiro no Kakera (R)
    • Onizaki Takuma and Mahiro-senpai (R)
    • Est from Wand of Fortune (SR and R)
    • Mordred from Princess Arthur (R)
    • Matthias from Moujutsukai to Ouji-sama (R+)
    • Alvaro (R+)
  • Normal Bingo: You can get up to R partners from this bingo, which can be used free once every day PLUS once every lunchtime (11:30~12:30 pm Japan time). In addition, by saying hello to other users and completing tasks in special events, you can get "Hearts" which can be used for this Bingo.
  • Selected Bonds: By offering these to a few select 'dormant' cards (from Hakuouki, Toki no Kizuna, Urakata Hakuouki, and Nise no Chigiri) you can get R/R+ partners. These 'bonds' can be collected when you defeat monsters. Here are the partners I chose to get from this system:
    • Hakuouki: Okita Souji
    • Urakata Hakuouki: Okada Izou, Takasugi Shinsaku, Katsura Kogorou (I may also get Glover but I haven't decided yet)
    • Toki no Kizuna: Kazuya (I may also get Shin but I haven't decided yet), Suzumori Yukina
  • Special Bingo Packs: Sometimes you can purchase packs that contain R and above cards pertaining to one particular game (ex: Hakuouki pack). This is where I got:
    • Kazama Chikage (SR)
    • Okita Souji (SR)
    • Okita Souji (R+, three kinds)
    • Yamazaki Susumu (R+)
    • Toudou Heisuke (SR)
    • Saitou Hajime (SR, two kinds)
    • Saitou Hajime (R+)
    • Ibuki Ryuunosuke (R+)
    • Nagakura Shinpachi (R+)
    • Serizawa Kamo (R)
  • From collecting hidden treasures during explorations (you can only get heroines from this, though)
    • Yukimura Chizuru (R)
    • Tiana (R)
    • Lulu (R)
  • From a high rank in a weekly event; this is how I got:
    • all my NORN9 cards, (R+) (just because the NORN9 event was the first event I ever took part in)
Yeah, I guess I left out smaller details but that's about it. The opening animation of the game is pretty cool. Weekly special events are themed after one of Otomate's games; this week's event is on Hakuouki SSL.

N/N+ partners' quotes NEVER change, even if you make them evolve. And they're incredibly weak, so you really do need R and above partners if you want to keep clearing areas.
So... Some people are just happy with R partners, some people want SSR partners. I'm happy with a fully evolved SR.

So, the hardest part of this game is actually getting the partner you want to say sweet, sweet quotes to you. You NEED an R or above for this. I actually was unsatisfied with either R/R+ (these two say the same things); that's why I wanted a fully evolved SR.
  • If you are happy with a fully evolved R/R+ partner, you can just use the Selected Bonds method (the safest, most certain method!) or try and get a high rank in a weekly event. Another alternative would be to use Sephirot's Pond, but you might have to use a few bucks to get the number of identical partners you need in the allotted time. The Normal Bingo is really useless, though. During my Sephirot lifetime, I only got TWO R partners from that Bingo thing, out of, what, HUNDREDS of turns.
  • If you want a fully evolved SR partner and have some bucks on you...
    • Let me tell you that USING THE RARE BINGO OR SPECIAL BINGO PACKS IS A VEEEEEEERY BAD IDEA. You will use hundreds of dollars and never get your partner to fully evolve, unless you are VERY VERY LUCKY. I was lucky with Kazama; I got him to evolve 4 times (his maximum is 5 times). But I really wanted Souji, and I spent a lot of money in these Special Packs and only got him to evolve ONCE. The Rare Bingo is even WORSE. Special Packs, at least, give you cards from a game you are interested in. The Rare Bingo gives you a bunch of cards whose characters you don't even know. The probability of you getting a card that is identical to one you already have is EVEN LOWER, and you will, alas, end up spending a lot of $$ and never getting a fully evolved SR partner. SO what works?
    • Use SEPHIROT'S POND. SR cards can evolve 5 times. And if you are diligent enough in weekly events, you can decrease, FOR FREE, the number of R/R+ cards in the pond by about 20 in a day - up to half in a few days. This increases your chances of getting that SR when you actually use money to get the rest of the unwanted R partners out of the way. By using this method, I somehow got my SR Okita Souji. I used, like, 4-months worth of allowance, though (about 80000yen?). :P Oh well, I'm not gonna spend any more, so I guess it's OK haha.
The game itself is quite fun, so give it a try!

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Isabell_Sen

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Japan trip! + Hakuouki Gekijouban 2 "Shikon Soukyuu" Review

Hi everyone,

I just got back from my trip to Japan!

1) Anime Japan 2014
  • I cosplayed as Yukimura Chizuru, with that cream-colored flowery kimono she wears in Souji's ending.
  • LOOT: KyaraPeta (reusable stickers) of Souji and Chizuru, clear files with the Shinsengumi guys, decks of cards themed Hakuouki and Toki no Kizuna

2) Otomate Chara Pop Store (at the PARCO dept store in Shibuya)
 - LOOT: 2 Hakuouki notebooks, 1 sketchbook, 1 Otomate artbook, Souji postcard

3) got my copy of OUTSIDER at Tower Records
... However, due to an important exam next Friday, I'll probably upload lyrics next weekend. (T_T)

4) went shopping in Shibuya & Harajuku
 - LOOT: Liz Lisa white blouse and purple floral skirt

5) watched the second Hakuouki movie, Shikon Soukyuu... cried a WHOLE LOT
Ooooookay. So here is my review on this. INCLUDES SPOILERS
  • As in the anime version, Saitou and Shinpachi were never shown to have died, which is accurate. I would not have accepted any other ending for these guys.
  • It was a HAPPY ENDING. For once. That is in itself quite satisfactory. Neither Hijikata nor Kazama died. And I think it was a good thing that when Kazama dubbed Hijikata an "oni", his eyes actually turned gold, like a real oni, implying that perhaps he really has become one
  • Beautiful music. Doesn't even compare with the first movie, even though I liked the first movie's music. Beautiful theme song, too.
  • Artwork is also beautiful, and the animation is flawless.
  • Flow of the story is very fast.
  • Acting is also flawless.
  • I do wish that, as in the anime, Okita-san could have had more interaction with Chizuru. I prefer the anime version Souji. Just because he thought more about Chizuru (the scene where he was looking at a little girl and saw Chizuru's face there) and because he died to save Hijikata and Chizuru. It's a better... Lovey-doveyer end. And it has more impact. This is actually my biggest complaint for this movie. There is so little interaction between Souji and Chizuru, even though it wasn't like that in the anime. I was wishing at least they would show Souji liked Chizuru (-_-)
  • They made Saitou drink the Ochimizu, which stays true to the game. Not bad.
  • I liked how they made Harada throw away the Ochimizu. Gives a nice emphasis on his character and whatnot.
  • I liked the portrayal of Kazama. He was a very attractive character, especially in his hugging of Chizuru as well as his final 'letting go' so that Chizuru and Hijikata can be happy together.
  • It was a really good idea that they showed Ryuunosuke living with Kosuzu, since it is a couple I support. They look very cute together.
  • I still wish they could have made me a Souji-route anime. Please.
  • At least Hijikata's my second-favorite guy.
  • random: I support Kazama X Sen-hime. PUREBLOOD ONI YAY
  • To sum up I like the cinema version for its happy ending and the portrayal of Kazama but I F*CKIN HATE how they cut out all of my beloved's beeeeaaaauutiful scenes... well I guess Saitou didn't have much interaction with Chizuru either... It was more Harada and Toudou who got to actually talk to the girl. ARE THEY TRYING TO CUT OUT SCENES WITH THE MORE POPULAR CHARACTERS (Hijikata is main guy so he's an exception even though he's popular) TO MAKE LESS POPULAR ONES MORE POPULAR??
  • It may have been a good idea to show a short epilogue with Hijikata being sexy and cute to Chizuru and vice versa.

6) more LOOT
  • Hakuouki Kyoukaroku (PSV version)
    • I was originally not going to buy this BUT I was told there's a new scene in this version so I just bought it
  • iTunes Japan gift cards (20000JPY worth): used it all up to get 5 SR Okita Souji cards in Sephirot. LOL
    • This game is just such a rip-off but so addictive. I will upload a post about this later on.
  • a pair of tabi (traditional Japanese socks) with Mt. Fuji drawn on them
  • picked up my personally ordered Souji-themed earrings and necklace from Shinjuku Marui Annex
  • A Japanese Windows OS so that I can FINALLY play Ken Ga Kimi.

And I just received notice that my Hakuouki SSL software will be shipped within two hours. I guess I'll get it in a few days. (^o^)
OTOMATE is getting very active these days in making new games (@.@)
I'll upload a post about those games when I get the time.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Isabell_Sen

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Shikisai (Colouring of Four Seasons) by Tegomass (lyrics, romaji, translation)

四季彩よ 時代の色
shikisai yo toki no iro
Colouring of four seasons, colour of the era

濁れども 強く

nigore domo tsuyoku
Even as it becomes clouded, vibrantly...



何時の日も 風舞うままに
itsu no hi mo kaze mau mama ni

Every day, just as the wind dances

呼ぼう 愛の名を
yobou ai no na wo
The name of love, let us call it


四季彩よ 時代の音
shikisai yo toki no oto
Colouring of four seasons, sound of the era

騒げども 密やかに
sawage domo hisoyaka ni
Even as it makes noise, secretly...


何時の世も 行方を知らぬ
itsu no yo mo yukue wo shiranu
In any world of any time, the song of love
愛の歌 奏でよう
ai no uta kanadeyou
That knows not where to go, let us play it




Tegoshi is one of my favorite idols (^_^)
I wish Tegomass would do more of these Japanese-sounding songs...
Although I also like their cute ones!



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Romaji/translation belong to me.
Please cite this blog if you want to use any part of this post.

Hakuouki Movie 1: Kyoto Ranbu Review

MY BISHIES ARE BACK!!!


Enough with the shrieking.
Beautiful art, though perhaps not as good as the game's.
What I really liked about the art in this one is how the background's colors change when Oni/Rasetsu are fighting.
It gives off an air of fantasy/supernatural stuff/Asian legends/traditional Japanese art.

Moving/touching theme song (Yoshioka Aika's Kurenai no Ito) also is a good thing.

But... Let's just say that, before seeing the trailer,
I had a teeeeeny tiiiiiiiny eeny meeny miny moe pinch of hope
That the movie would be done on Souji's route. Oh well.
That goes down the drain. At least Hijikata's my second favorite.

Okita-san.
Okita-san Okita-san Okita-san Okita-san


Sorry. Well, the movie was satisfactory, with cool music and all.
I especially liked how they remade the scene where Chizuru first meets Hijikata.
The sound of that shinobue...........................mmm..................

Anyways, this movie's more like a tribute to Hijikata's route.
Some minor changes to the original plot are made to make Hijikata's route more prominent.
So fans of other routes should not expect their fave bishie to come up more or anything...

I must also say, I like how, during battles, the bishies' costumes were altered to make the battles seem more realistic (adding armor, using pants *coughSaitocough*, leg bandages, etc.)



SOMEONE MAKE ME AN OKITA-ROUTE ANIME



Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Isabell_Sen

Monday, March 3, 2014

New Trailer for Hakuouki Movie (Gekijouban) 2

I watched the first movie a few days ago...
And fell in love with the anime all over again
Not to mention the beautiful beautiful game.


And the trailer for the second movie,
Which will be released in Japanese theaters on March 8th,
IS HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfK1Htx0vrQ

OMGOMGOMG look at the art!!

& what is this beautiful music? (>_<)
Okay, so it's "Soukyuu no Hata" by Yoshioka Aika.
And guess what? The full version is even better.
It's as good as "Kurenai no Ito".
You are so awesome, Yoshioka-san.
Seriously, her songs are among my favorite songs from female artists.
I also like Kurosaki Maon and Mizuki Nana (^_^)

Anyways I got really giddy when my Mom told me my singing voice is similar to Yoshioka-san's. LOL



Ah, the Hakuouki feels all coming back.......*sniff*


Souji-san, I love you.
As I did in my past life 150 years ago,
As I do now, as I will forever.