Angel Voice~The sky, eternal and majestic. Oh, how I long to drift among the clouds.~

So once again, I manage to not post anything for an entire year. Go figure. Anyhow, life is going alright I suppose. Rocky bits here and there, dumb decisions made, bad habits formed. But I’m working on it. On the anime side, Macross Frontier didn’t really deliver for me, and I’m not sure how to take it. The first episode, as you can see from my last entry, really impressed me. Sadly, the series didn’t carry through, the storyline going in a strange direction that ultimately was not very satisfactory. The combat didn’t deliver either, since we never got scenes and moves that would suggest that these things are supposed to be superior to previous modes in that a pilot can push themselves farther than characters like Guld or Isamu could in their YF-21 and YF-19, respectively. Some of the songs just weren’t very pretty either, though a good number is still alright. Gundam 00 is looking to not be all that bad, though the Second Season is kind of not doing the same, though I blame that mostly on 00-Raiser being ridiculously broken compared to everything else in the series. Well, its not absolutely terrible yet, so I’m just hoping that they work something awesome out by the end of the series.

Watched a marathon of Kamen Rider Kiva, just to get through the series despite not really warming up to it when it first aired. Unlike his son, Wataru Kurenai[the main character], Otoya Kurenai in the past arc of story is fairly awesome and does manly badass things every now and then, though he is quite the flirt otherwise. He makes use of the first IXA System to become Kamen Rider IXA, though the version he uses puts a lot of strain on the body, unlike the IXA used by Keisuke Nago in the present day. Nago is also quite a cool person, initially introduced as a man with an extreme superiority complex and a bounty hunter with an obsession with buttons. However, as the series goes on, Nago begins to change and becomes even more of a badass with several flipping amusing antics occasionally. While I didn’t like Kamen Rider Kiva when it was airing, I think its not a bad series to watch, provided that you marathon through it now that its done. The new Heisei Kamen Rider series has already started airing, though I have some mixed thoughts about it at this point. Kamen Rider Decade is a Rider that has to travel to nine different worlds and ‘destroy all the Kamen Riders’ in order to save the world(s). These nine worlds are the nine Heisei Kamen Rider series that aired prior to Decade, and the series so far has its mixed bag of good and bad things. Good things at the moment include the possibility to be the most awesome Rider series in history, though bad things at the moment include a slightly inconsistent plot and characterization as well as a rather disgusting ability, the Final Form Ride cards. Although only one has been used so far, Gouram Kuuga looks rather bad, stupid, or maybe even ridiculous. Still, only time will tell if Kamen Rider Decade lives up to its title as the 50th Anniversary Kamen Rider series.

On the game side, Left 4 Dead is quite a fun game. Its a typical zombie game, a horde of undead monsters versus a group of four just trying to get through and survive. But its rather fast paced, with zombies simply bolting at you with the intent to beat you to death. The gameplay has its good and its bad points. For both the Survivors and the Infected, there is no hitbox detection among your own type, though while that’s a good thing in some ways, its also a bit of a problem when people happen to walk right in front of you as your shotgun goes off. Whoops, sorry there. The Survivors also have a melee ability, shoving back zombies with brute force, and while that doesn’t shove back deadlier Infected like the Witch or the Tank, it does a good job of keeping pretty much every other Infected away. When the whole team is stacking it up in the corner, it tends to be hard to do much to hurt them. Regardless, its a fairly fun game to play, with four Campaign stories that you can play alone with AI friendlies or online with friends or other people. Two of these stories can be played in Versus mode, where four players form the Survivor team and the remaining four form the Infected team. Both get a shot at going through that section of the stage as the Survivors with the other team playing the Infected. Ultimately, the team that can get through the stages more intact than the other gets more points and the victory, so its up to the Infected to hinder them and make sure every single one of them dies.

So more or less, I’ve done some really stupid things, but I’m trying to look at things a different way and do things right this semester. Not sure what tomorrow holds, but hopefully… Its not a bad thing.

Reach for the sky! This is what you wanted!
Believe you can reach the blue sky!
Reach for the sky until you make it!
Even if it means sacrificing everything…
Who can control White Justice: The Individual System?

So yeah, haven’t posted an entry in ages, but finally, here’s the latest! I now go to San Jose State, Aerospace Engineering major. Just finished my first semester of college, which was pretty good, all things considered. As far as confirmed grades go, I got a B in Calc I and an A in ME96A, which isn’t too bad. Expecting an A or a B for Chem and Engineering though.

Though on non-academic stuff, I’m doing Boxing Club now, and that’s pretty fun. Not exactly sure what else I want to say at the moment, but at home, I’m doing alright too. Not too much time to spend on my other interests, but with the break, I’m slipping in some time. Currently watching Gundam 00, which is a pretty good series. The plot is alright, though iffy at some parts, but all in all, its not bad, once one considers the animation quality and the music. The mecha in the series have great designs, with fresh looks, which has to do with the new mechanical designer for the series. And looking forward to the airing of Macross Frontier this coming April, having seen a preview of the Director’s Cut of the first episode, and really, I’m impressed by the animation quality. Hopefully, this series will turn out very nicely, but only time can tell.

And about other things on my mind… I always believed that magic existed out there. Whether it’s the type you see in fantasy stories, or the type that one does. As a person once said, “Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” I still believe that is the case with everything in life. Everyone is capable of this magic, simply as long as they have the power to dream and help people in need. You don’t need to be a superman or a rich person. You just need to have the will to help others and a young heart not afraid to dream…

It it’s okay if it’s only once.
Please let me see your dream on this evening only.
I can surely say “Sayonara” to my once cowardly self.
If we can meet…
What kind of last song shall we dance to until morning?
No one can come between us on this midsummer night.

So yeah, classes began at SJSU last week on Thursday, on the 23rd of August. The first few days went alright, since I was able to rearrange my schedule in a way so that I’d have a majority of my classes fit in. Currently taking 14 credits’ worth of classes: Introduction to Chemistry(CHEM10), Calculus I with Precalculus(MATH30P), Introduction to Engineering(ENGR10) and Empowering Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Students(ME96A). I’ve seen quite a few people from Independence going to SJSU, which is pretty amusing. I see Cecilia and Minh every now and then, especially since we have the same ENGR10 Seminar. XD But yeah, I’ve met quite a few people in my classes and stuff, and a few people from Orientation.

Probably going to try Work/Study, since I don’t have much better to do in the various time gaps between classes I have here and there. But yeah, everything is coming along alright so far. Nothing that bad so far… My Calc teacher is very picky about notation, but that’s not something to really complain about on my half. But yeah, I visited Indy this last week too! I visited already on Thursday, but I visited again on Friday because Dong told me to go visit during her Modern Dance period. Made it back to SJSU just in time for my ME96A class. XD

But yeah, in other news… Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is continuing to deliver. Very epic stuff you’re giving us, Gainax. I would heavily recommend checking it out ASAP, though if you wait a bit, ADV should release it, since they have it licensed already for North American distribution. Simon’s drill truly is a drill that pierces the heavens. Can’t wait to see how this series ends. Kamen Rider Den-O is coming along rather nicely itself as well. Looking forward to seeing how this series ends as well, as well as a fansub release of the Kamen Rider Den-O Movie: I am Born!, though that might not come out till next year. But I’m not complaining~. In the series though, Den-O’s Climax Form is rather amusing. Looking forward to seeing how Liner Form is like.

Recently rewatched Gun x Sword. Still love Ray and the Vulcan, especially when they start decking that thing out with heavy weaponry. Wouldn’t say its exactly say that its plot-strong, but it is somewhat consistent in statements made throughout the series, and the mecha combat is amusing, as well as the various references made to other mecha series. For example, the Mexican combiner robot, El Dora Five makes multiple references to various mecha of the Brave Saga in the poses it makes, the concept, as well as in its attacks. The Original Seven, mecha originally designed to keep guard over the prison planet that the series takes place on, are somewhat interesting mecha as well, each of these machines corresponding to one of the seven days of the week. I’m not going to elaborate on these, but I will say that if you’re not exactly picky about your anime having super-elaborate plots, Gun x Sword isn’t a bad anime to check out.

Anyhow, I’m just about out of ideas on what to talk about, so its about time to wrap this post up! The song of the day is from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and serves primarily as an insert song, though it was used in Episode 16 as the episode’s ending theme (Episode 16 was a recap episode). Its sung by Nakagawa Shouko, who also sings the series’ opening song, Sora Iro Days, which translates to Six-Colored Days.

Happiness has a tiny sorrow to it, wherein we always realize
For the first time that it was happiness once we part with it.
I’m sure we can still make it even now, so I have only one wish…