Token Asian’s Anime Blog

Well, the weekend was going nicely so far. We had a nice game of Halo 2 on Xbox LIVE today. Just a few of the guys, an Xbox, and no anime. The whole thing was kind of hit or miss. Playing online can put you up against some horrendously uneven teams, making it a major headache. It doesn’t help if your teammates like to quit when they get frustrated instead of finishing the night out… or if they fight over Halloween candy. Makes me wish SharpICE would play Halo with us again. Winter break can’t come soon enough.

Oh, and Joel, Rob is twice the man you will ever become, so drop the tough guy act. And contain your dog from pawing at me while we’re in the middle of a firefight. It’s becoming aggravating. And no, you cannot have the rocket launcher or my Butterfingers.

Well, with the Ah! My Goddess merchandise coming out onto the market recently, I think it was time for some preorders and a few other purchases to make my new Sony PSP worthwhile. Grace needed some manga so I saved her a few bucks by ordering online. I just sent in this order to TRSI two days ago:

Ah! My Goddess the Motion Picture DVD
Ah! My Goddess the Motion Picture UMD
Azumanga Daioh Artbox + Pins
Gundam W: Endless Waltz UMD
Love Hina manga Vol. 3
Love Hina manga Vol. 4
Rurouni Kenshin manga Vol. 19
Samurai Champloo UMD Vol. 2

Is it sad that I actually needed no help getting free shipping? Well, that’s ALL I’m going to get this month. I swear that this is all I will purchase until the end of November. I really, really need to save up for Akihabara… which hopefully I shall visit this winter.

Ooooh, Ah! Megamisama coffee mug… And from an Animeblogger.net affiliate too!

What was I saying?

Back to Expel for today. Haven’t blogged about this series in a while. A real shame. Anyhoo, Claude reminds us of the prophecy of the end of the world as they ascend a cliff. The party looks at the Elurian tower where the Sorcery Globe fell. With a pair of binoculars, Claude observes the impact point and says that the Sorcery Globe-created tower looks organic rather than like a meteorite.

Back in the workshop, Leon and Precis are working on the Lacour Hope. Aniki, the thug drops a few repair items and says that the “Lightning Woman” hasn’t killed him yet, but the other thugs imply that he’s in love. While the thugs grapple over this issue, Leon debates whether the time is appropriate for such a thing, to which he rubs his greasy arm over his face, causing Precis to crack up. Yuki comes in to call everyone to lunch and basically has a moment of confusion when she sees the chaos inside the repair area.

At the tower, a mechanical probe of some sort pops out and observes them. Claude attacks it with Ashton but their attacks have no effect. Being a smartypants, Claude knocks a stone pillar onto the probe but simultaneously knocking the ladies down into a sewer. Brilliant. Before you can say “convenient plot device,” Celine says this might be a good shortcut. As they walk down the sewer, the party realizes that the roots on the wall are part of one giant monster. Ashton uses his dragon buddies to fry it. Mmmm, stirfry.

Further inside, they find cocoons from which monsters are being born. To Ashton, it seems like an organic plant attached to the ground, growing monsters. A few attack robots come their way and the party leaps into action once again. And oh no, four of them are coming! We’re surrounded. They run outside and face the probe… again. And then a hovercraft with laser beams comes down and blasts the probe to bits.

The hatch to the hovercraft opens and… it’s Opera! Okay, didn’t see that one coming. Ernest is with her too. If you played the original Playstation game, you’d be surprised too. Anyway, back at the workshop, Leon has completed work on the Lacour Hope. While everyone expresses initial alarm at the hovercraft approaching, it is soon revealed to them that it’s their friends (though the thugs rush to attack, only to get thunderbolt’d by Celine).

Leon reveals that they can only fire the Lacour Hope once with his emergency repairs. They plan to load the weapon onto the hovercraft and fire at the Sorcery Globe. Rena asks if the ship can take Claude home, but Ernest says the small escape pod can’t break free from the planet’s gravity. Claude tells Rena to go rest, but she goes off to tell Celine about her troubles. Rena says that a small part of her felt happy when she found out Claude couldn’t leave. Celine tells her not to worry because it’s natural to not want to leave the ones you love.

Ernest’s little ship launches and begins their attack run. The sensors experience irregularities and they are forced to land and begin the attack on foot. And guess what? More robots rise to attack them. Leon begins to charge up the weapon but the energy levels aren’t rising fast enough, so they have to buy Leon some time.

With some traditional “let’s kick butt and not die” commentary, they enter battle with the robots. The robots begin making kamikaze runs, wounding Celine and damaging Ernest’s ship. Attrition begins to work against them and the situation looks desperate. Lucky for them, Leon’s ready to make the enemy drink their Ovaltine and begins the firing sequence. The Lacour Hope fires and strikes the base of the Sorcery Globe, wiping out the robots and ending the battle.

Alright, that’s done. Claude wakes an unconscious Rena and they share a tender moment as they watch the sky clear and the robots deactivate. Looks like victory is ours! The Sorcery Globe is destroyed! Huzzah! Huzzah! Right, as if it would be that easy. Instead of being destroyed, the tower has actually grown exponentially and has cast a giant black moon over the land…

90% of this episode never happened in the game. I think the writers wanted to spice up the storyline a bit with more action but nothing much came of it. However I must say that adding Ernest and Opera into the story all of a sudden was a welcome change. But c’mon, the lame robots are hurting my eyes. Surely they can come up with better. They should have kept the concept of Claude and company infiltrating the Elurian tower instead of using the Lacour Hope in a frontal attack. They’re going to have to go in the hard way eventually and this episode seemed just like padding.

Well, at least it doesn’t have a plot twist like SOTTEOT…

Up in Heaven, it seems that the system is down due to an “unreasonable contract.” Danggit, A dark-skinned goddess discusses the problem with a younger goddess (who refers to Bell as Onee-sama), concluding in the dark-skinned one going down to investigate. Back on Earth, Bell is feeling ill and Keiichi tells her to go home. He jokes that the Ultimate Force might react and she tells him the shocking news that the Ultimate Force doesn’t seem to be working.

Keiichi goes to the drugstore to get Bell some meds (he took my advice, remember the Claritin this time, though). The dark-skinned goddess appears disguised as a pharmacist, pushing onto him some medicine and a free video that will help him with “you know what.” As he leaves, the camera pans to reveal an unconscious store employee… You’d think Keiichi would know that his HMO doesn’t provide for sexy pharmacists.

He goes home and hands Bell the medicine, to which she expresses her thanks. When K-1 goes back into his room, he takes out the video and puts it into the VCR. Apparently it’s some sort of “teaching” video that shows “techniques” for romance taught by a certain dark-skinned lady… This video seems tailored specifically for Keiichi, a tad too real, in fact, especially when the lady pops out of the television screen and causes K-1 to faint. Bell comes in and sees Keiichi unconscious and mumbling about a video. She rewinds Keiichi’s memory and reveals that it’s her sister, Urd.

Anyway, her sister reveals that the Ultimate Force is having problems and that the Yggdrasil system is down because of all the errors that come from one person monopolizing a goddess. Thankfully, she came down to fix the problem, leaving “someone” (Skuld, poor Skuld) to manage the system. Bell and Keiichi go off by themselves and she tells him how powerful of a goddess her sister can be despite her aggressive nature. That’s certainly cause for worry.

As Keiichi goes off to bed, Urd tempts him into her room, thankfully only to explain some things about Belldandy’s health. She tells him that Bell needs to go back to Heaven unless he cooperates. Urd needs to send Keiichi’s hereditary information up to Heaven so she tells him that he has to kiss Belldandy to complete the transfer. Keiichi goes into Bell’s room and asks about her status, though his face is red. Urd watches from the rafters (no chibi-Urd?) as Keiichi is once again having second thoughts, and Bell reads his emotions as being worried about Urd. And so, he asks her to close his eyes and starts to go for the lips. Suddenly, the kettle starts whistling and Bell runs off. With that failed, Urd orders him to go take a bath and to get ready to try again. At least it wasn’t his fault that time, sort of.

Urd comes into the bath and offers to wash his back. Keiichi demands that she get out and she continues tempting him. Ah, Urd, you temptress. She starts using mind control to manipulate Keiichi, ending with an Urd bolt since he’s STILL unwilling (devoted guy, that K-1). Later on, Bell talks to Keiichi and explains how Urd is always focused on what she does and sometimes tries to use any means possible to reach a goal, though she sometimes forgets what the goal was. When they were young goddesses, Bell was poisoned by a demon and Urd runs off to acquire a stone of healing. Urd took Sleipnir, the horse of Norse legend to get the stone but got all caught up in the horse and forgot about her goal. K-1 remarks that Urd is the opposite of Bell, but she replies that she lives the way she wants to: with Keiichi. With that said, Keiichi decides that he has to kiss her or she’ll have to go back. Unfortunately, Belldandy sneezes again. Missed a chance again. Didn’t get any Claritin, did you, K-1?

Keiichi reflects on how he had missed a good chance. To his surprise, Urd comes to his bed and visits him and tells him to touch her… inappropriately. He remembers Bell’s gorgeous face and stops, frustrating Urd, who decides to give him some of her special medicine as a supplemental (I don’t want to know what kind). She says if he doesn’t take it, Bell will have to go back… of course, Urd is a sneak and this medicine increases her influence over him. Under her spell, Keiichi goes to Bell’s room and says he wants her. Bell notices that he was under a spell and releases him. When released, he tells Bell that he needs to kiss her to prevent her from returning. Bell realizes that her sister has tricked Keiichi, who says he thought goddesses couldn’t lie, which is explained by the fact that Urd is only a limited classification goddess because of her past lies. Bell says she can’t forgive Urd for what she has done and a fight erupts between the two goddesses. Urd says that she came here to help but was instead rejected, so she decides to punish the couple. A gigantic energy blast comes down from Heaven and knocks Urd out of action. And written on Urd’s cloak is her punishment from God, which says that because she acted on her own initiative, causing damage to the Ultimate Force’s server, Urd is now forbidden from returning to Heaven. Keiichi’s not happy about this.

Megumi comes over and notices the addition of another girl, noting that her brother has become a player. Pfft, as if Morisato could get any girl even if he tried. Keiichi is about to reprimand Urd for appearing at the door in full fanservice-mode but she pacifies K-1 with the offer of showing pictures of when Bell was a kid. Who knew that goddesses kept photo albums? Are there boring nights at home when Peorth has to endure Belldandy showing slides of baby Skuld?

It’s worth noting that in the manga, Urd said that her body could serve as something along the lines of a super-sexy USB port and upload Keiichi’s genetic information if they made love. Some say that this was more tasteful, though I must admit it was funnier in the manga. And Urd is definitely a lot of fanservice-friendly this time around. More cleavage than I had expected. Um, that’s… bad? Good…?

I tried a lot of different tips and programs in a futile attempt to upload any sort of manga to my new Sony Playstation Portable. Putting manga on your PSP is not easy. After some long sessions of struggling, I realized that there wasn’t any real “trick” to these programs. I found that it’s actually a lot easier to do it yourself by hand instead of relying on some fancy program that may or may not work depending on what kind of image files you are working with. And thus I have developed my own little quick, relatively foolproof method of editing manga for my PSP and getting the manga onto the memory stick.

I prefer to use Irfanview as my primary quick n’easy image editor. There’s no bells and whistles and it works just fine for what we’re about to do here.

Note: Do not ask me for manga download links. With a little effort and a thing called the “Internet” you can make do. I’m just here to tell you about the technical aspects of getting it on the PSP in several easy steps.

Step 1:

Unzip/RAR the manga chapter file you have downloaded into its own little folder. Select all of the image files by hiting Ctrl-A. Then right click and highlight “Rotate Clockwise.” We want to do this because the PSP’s screen is wider from left to right and the manga will fit better in this orientation.

Step 2:

Create another folder within the folder you just created. Call it “Manga Chapter ### (PSP Version)” or something of that sort. This will be the folder that contains the final product. We also want to make a separate folder in case we screw up on the first try.

Step 3:

Load up Irfanview if you haven’t already. Drag and drop the first manga image file from the chapter and hit Ctrl-R. This will bring up an option to resize the manga image. Make sure that the “B-Spline Filter” is enabled for the best quality and that the box for “Preserve aspect ratio” is checked. We want to shoot for about 480×320 pixels (about the best I’ve gotten) by editing the numbers under “New Size.”

The most important part is that the second number (height) has to be roughly 320 pixels because that’s just about the maximum display height of the PSP’s screen, according to what I’ve experienced. Width isn’t as important, so play around with the first number (width) so that the second number comes to around 320. I find that 480 pixels is about right for the width.

Step 4:

Hit Ctrl-S to save, but make sure you save it in the second folder you created, do not overwrite the image files in the first folder!

Anyway, rinse and repeat for all the image files in the first folder. The great thing about Irfanview is that you can quickly switch to the next image in the folder by hitting the spacebar.

Say you have forty pages of manga in the folder and assuming 480 pixels is an ideal width. Execute this series of keyboard strokes forty times (type it in using the keyboard, no mouse required):

-Ctrl-R
-480 [type in 480, the pixel width]
-Enter
-Ctrl-S [save in second folder]
-Enter
-Spacebar [switch to next image]

Assuming you’re decent with the keyboard, you can quickly edit all forty pages in about three minutes. Ain’t Irfanview great?

Step 5:

You should now have the second folder full of edited image files. These should fit your PSP’s screen quite well. Now, connect your PSP to your computer with a USB cable or eject the memory stick and put it in a memory stick reader. Copy the folder (everything) into the “PHOTO” folder on your PSP’s memory stick. There, you’re done!

Note:

This should work. However, depending on the image quality, text size on the images, and various quirks that inhabit the manga world, there may be issues. Really small text from scanlations often DO NOT WORK AT ALL. With text size that small you can’t edit the image to a size to fit the PSP screen and still be able to read the text.

Alternatively, you can use the guide from this site here to get manga on your PSP. However, my experience with their process has been… unsatisfactory. On the other hand, other people claim it works, so I guess it depends what kind of image files you are editing.

If the image files are in a file format other than .JPEG, hit “B” to bring up the batch conversion feature, which will let you convert them into the JPEG format with literally a few clicks of the mouse button.

Megumi and Bell are out shopping for the necessities. After some banter about the costs of living, Bell brings up the topic of Megumi moving in to save money. Megumi, being the nice girl she is, says she needs her freedom and wouldn’t think of imposing on the couple. While at the store, Megumi notices chocolates on sale and asks if Belldandy received anything from Keiichi yet (in an odd twist on the Valentine’s Day holiday, women give men a gift and men return with a gift of their own on “White Day”). And then Megumi realizes that Bell doesn’t know about Valentine’s Day. The scene cuts to Keiichi sighing. Whoops!

Back home, Megumi explains this unique Japanese custom to Bell. She notes that her brother might worry about such a thing. Bell flashes back to Keiichi talking about Earth holidays. The poor guy was sitting around with an anesthetized look on his face! Megumi speaks the obvious when she says that Keiichi was expecting something. K-1 walks in and says he’s off to class, but Megumi interrupts that she needs to take Bell somewhere. When Keiichi leaves, she tells Bell that an apology will only make things worse.

Awwww! Under Megumi’s gaze, Bell makes Keiichi a batch of homemade chocolate. How cute! The younger Morisato explains that their mission will only be complete when Bell brings Keiichi to a romantic place and present the chocolates while apologizing for being late.

Bell then meets up with Keiichi in the cafeteria and is about to hand him the chocolates, but she sees Sayoko reprimanding a suitor for giving her flowers in such an unromantic place. Bell naively believes that the cafeteria isn’t romantic enough. She asks Keiichi if this is an unromantic place, and Keiichi, not knowing the context of the question, says it is, causing Bell to run off. You know, it’s the people involved that define if a place is romantic, not the actual location…

She runs off to ask Sayoko what is a romantic place and Sayoko, a bigger conspiracy theorist than the UFO experts on the History Channel, thinks that Bell is trying to make her give up K-1 by speaking fondly of him. Noting Bell’s naïve nature, she asks Belldandy to meow for her in exchange for an answer… and yell “Yahoo!” out the window.

After that bizarre round of noises out of Belldandy’s mouth, Sayoko sets her up to meet Aoshima, the mega-playboy of the university (who oddly looks like Gendo Ikari). When she asks him about a romantic place, he naturally notices her cute figure and agrees to “show” her such a place. Sayoko apparently had a plan of embarrassing Bell by showing that she “plays’ around with sketchy guys.

On the road, K-1 notices Bell in Aoshima’s car, which heads to a ritzy hotel. Bell asks if there’s another place when she examines the room and decides Keiichi wouldn’t be happy here. She says she has a duty to make Keiichi happy as she fends off Aoshima’s advances. When Aoshima doesn’t stop, Belldandy unleashes her powers, knocks him out, and destroys the hotel room in the process, although fainting in the process. Keiichi finally catches up and rescues her from Aoshima’s clutches.

The next day, Belldandy asks if Keiichi has any plans for the day because she wants him to go someplace with her. Megumi, who is hiding behind the door, hands Bell two tickets to an auto show and to stay as a couple and not in a larger group to make Keiichi happy. I suppose only Keiichi would think an auto show is a romantic place. While things are going well, Cookie Monster and Surfer Dude show up. Sempai-tachi alert! Thankfully, Megumi creates a distraction for them by accidentally breaking something auto-related… but Keiichi got to the scene first. Bell intervenes and drags Keiichi off. Megumi realizes that Bell’s more than capable and decides to leave them alone.

When K-1 suggests that they go somewhere Bell would like, she adamantly refuses. They end up in a series of places, all rather unsuited to romance, including an auto repair shop, toy store with model cars, and an automobile junk heap (no, really). Keiichi says that he’s happy that she’s so energetic, but that this is excessive. So he invites her somewhere more suitable for a couple.

A cruise on a boat during the evening seems nice enough. He takes the opportunity to ask her what was going on the entire day. When she explains about not giving him chocolate, he says that’ it’s alright since she didn’t know about the custom. Bell says that she hasn’t been a good goddess, but Keiichi says that isn’t true and that having her by him is happiness. He then asks about the places she likes because the most enjoyable thing is for him to learn about the things she likes. She responds that the place she likes is here, on the water where the wind comes together. Now that’s a romantic place! You see, just gotta define your own perfect spot!

Anyway, she finally presents him the chocolate. He’s also prepared and hands him a box of chocolates in return. Bell then presents her lips and is ready for a kiss, but when Keiichi finally works up the courage, she sneezes and knocks him over. At least it wasn’t his fault that time.

In a bit of foreshadowing, Belldandy notes that the Ultimate Force wasn’t working today when all the various events that kept her apart from Keiichi occurred. And that the sneezing might be a sign of something bad about to happen…

All in all, a quality episode that delivers. Plenty of humor with Bell running around trying to make sense of a unique Japanese holiday and romance in general. However, we never laugh at her, only with her. It never gets silly or clichéd. I’m happy that the romance aspect of the story is getting really well-developed in the TV series, as opposed to the OAV. And I’m glad to see that Keiichi isn’t a total wimp. Just remember next time to drop by the local Walgreen’s (heck, even Walmart will do) and get some meds for Bell, okay? And speaking of pharmacists, next episode… hehe.

When was the last time you stepped into a normal American comic book shop? I mean, the kind where they sell old Superman comics and Magic cards. No kids swarming you to get the Pokemon cards, nerdy guys hanging out behind the counter… you know, the kind of place moms tell you not to go.

In any case, since the weather (and my wallet) made taking a trip up to New York City for some anime-related shopping rather unappealing, I made a run down to two of the local comic book stores. Just picked up some Star Wars manga, the latest Robotech stuff, and also made a vain search for a certain goddess.

While on the topic of Robotech, the latest issue is about the prologue to the new movie (series?). Lots of things happen in one issue: the enemy within, a hated secondary character dying, Rick’s child, etc. Worth a look, even if just for nostalgia.

Anyway, going down to the local shops has a more human feel to it rather than the normal procedures of buying things via eBay or other online sources. It doesn’t hurt to stop by, even to just shoot the breeze with the proprietor. Hey, one of them said he might have a line on some AMG stuff for me…

Latest Newtype USA came in today’s mail. “Ah! My Goddess” feature articles were like… er, two pages. Some feature. Blah. That’s Reason #14 not to continue my subscription.

Sorry about the lack of updates. Between searching for that Atelier Sai Belldandy PVC figurine, quizzes, papers, and scads of reading assignments, it all got lost in the shuffle of things.

What, you didn’t miss me? *sticks tongue out like Skuld* BEEDA!

Snow falls on a dark night and a young lady hitches a ride with a cargo truck. She declares that she is now officially a university student and is looking for “Kei-chan.” No, it’s not a second goddess. Close, but no.

At the temple, Keiichi is worrying about his finances. Bell, on the other hand, is glad to be able to relax. Of course, she’s not a total airhead and notes that the refrigerator is empty. Keiichi and Bell discuss how to make do and Bell settles on using a spell to bring him good fortune… in the form of a guest. Belldandy answers the door to find Megumi Keiichi’s sister, who instantly shows shock on her face. She notes that it’s not like him to live with a beautiful woman. When Bell introduces herself as from the Goddess Assistance Agency, K-1 explains it as volunteer work. Of course, it’s harder to explain the contract that Bell says she has, but Megumi just laughs it off.

In any case, Megumi is coming to university in the area and is looking for a place to stay. When Bell suggests that she just lives with them, Keiichi sees the problem of having another person “interrupting” him and discovering that Bell isn’t human. Keiichi is thus determined to help her find an apartment. Bell says he’s really considerate. Right, Keiichi, you’re so considerate. Megumi is a lot more considerate, she brought him a few crates of food from home!

Ironically, Megumi is looking for an apartment that is almost the same kind K-1 was looking for earlier. He gets mad and is determined to show her “reality.” They take her to the sempais’ dorm and the “hellish” conditions it has. Unfortunately, Tamiya and Ootaki show up and “punish” him. Having learned the lesson, Megumi thinks that if they do some research on the market they might find something, though perhaps it’s impossible to do it quickly.

Keiichi finds himself worried about Megumi’s easygoing and carefree attitude. After a long day of searching, they can’t find anything. That night, Belldandy has a talk with Megumi, who asks if Bell is going to ask her to live with them. Megumi says that if she does, Keiichi will be really disappointed. With that in mind, Belldandy casts another spell. Despite Keiichi’s initial worries, one real estate agent has something that fits Megumi’s specifications. Okay, what’s the catch? Belldandy feels something odd about the place, though the place looks frakkin’ awesome. While Megumi heads back to the real estate office, Bell tells K-1 that the room feels oddly cold and that something’s there. Suddenly, a supernatural force begins doing creepy things and demand that they leave. Bell tells Keiichi to stand still as she deals with the problem.

Unfortunately, the spirit traps Keiichi in a room and is about to punish him, but Belldandy comes in through the mirror and intervenes. She identifies him as a land spirit and despite diplomacy, is forced to defend Keiichi. When it is revealed that Belldandy is a goddess, the land spirit apologizes and tells his story.

Apparently, the land spirit is supposed to manage the land but the house’s builder (presumably) put a stake through his earth power vein, which if cut, causes the spirit to weaken. Bell fixes the problem and restores the spirit’s power. In return, Bell asks him to protect the new tenant. In perhaps a bad decision, the earth spirit decides to take the form of a mouse… Anyway, Megumi got the apartment… and reveals that she’s attending Nekomi Institute of Technology too. I’m not sure why this is such a bad thing, but Keiichi starts freaking out.

Overall, a solid episode that tells a fun story from a good chapter of the original manga. Too bad they didn’t show Megumi’s reaction to the mouse. One of my favorite characters, Keiichi’s sister brings a lot to the story and her cat-like manipulation of Keiichi should bring a lot of comedy to the series.

Went down to Best Buy yesterday and got myself the Ah! My Goddess TV volume 1 DVD and box for $28.99 (less than Amazon, surprisingly). I already bought and sold the volume 1 DVD a long time ago (wanted the box, so I sold the Otakon advance copy).

In any case, the actual box has a plastic see-through cover covered with angelic “goddess feathers.” The box itself is a four-sided piece of art. Bell, Urd, and Skuld are on the first three sides while on the back is Belldandy and the series description. You’re probably asking, “wait, how the heck do you get the DVDs out if it’s four-sided like that?” The entire top artwork part of the box separates from the blue bottom part of the box. Cool, eh? Not very efficient, but it looks darn cool. But no pictures of that because it just looks ugly…

It also comes with a Belldandy phone strap. Some people say it’s kind of puny but how big of a phone strap can you have? 10 kilograms? Hehe.

I just realized my Gundam models are “shooting” Bell in the photographs… whoops.