Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete. Many people only see this as a means to get the Final Fantasy XIII demo. I used to as well, until about 10 minutes ago.

I didn't think it was possible for SquareEnix to make an awesome movie even better. I was proven wrong. First of all, Advent Children Complete is the original movie, but with a few changes. SquareEnix had added over 20 minutes worth of extra footage into the movie itself, making the total length of the movie around 2 hours. The extra scenes were relatively minor earlier on, but it explains more on how Denzel got to know Cloud. The real juice comes during the Sephiroth vs Cloud battle. SE had completely revamped the second part of the battle. As a result, the Sephiroth vs Cloud battle was longer than before. SE had also completely changed the ending of the movie, tying up loose ends, and ending the movie in a satisfactory conclusion. The extra footage added touches more upon Denzel, Zack, and the Kadaj gang. Elena and Tsung was also seen in the movie (the only mention of them in the original movie was their ID cards, which Kadaj threw at Rufus). **Elena is hot** The extra Denzel footage also had this cute nameless loli girl, who only had a few seconds of screen time in the original. Last, but not least, the credits section was revamped. 2 new songs composed by the legendary music god, Nobuo Uematsu was added to the credits.

Other stuff that were added are a few trailers, Compilation of FFVII, and other various bonus FFVII material (no, not Materia). The most prominent 'extra' was an anime episode all about Denzel. I haven't watched it yet, and thus, I don't know the exact length of it.

Also, don't forget that the long awaited Final Fantasy XIII demo comes bundled together with the Bluray disc. It was freakin' awesome. The hour long demo just swooped by quickly. All in all, I can say this with certainty: SquareEnix did not disappoint. This was $92 well-spent.

Daytime Post

This is one of the rare times that I blog during the daytime. Taking a break off from my manga script writing, and I thought I'd blog a little.

Looking back at my previous posts, I realized, "Wow,I was really pissed off while writing those." Yeah, all unhappy posts. In a way, I use this blog to vent off my frustrations and worries, because there are none that is willing to listen to my rant. Ranting to a wall or an open field, or even the computer screen works better most of the time. But I digress, that's not the point of this entry today. I was hoping to lighten the mood in here a little.

Regarding my Games Development track, I still hate it, but mainly only because of one module. I can excel in the other modules without any problems. Also, I realised that this Diploma wasn't a COMPLETE waste of time. I learned various shading and shadowing techniques in class today. And for once, I was WIDE awake. I didn't even need my morning coffee. I haven't applied the stuff I've learned today to my drawings, but these will help me immensely next time when I become a full-fledged mangaka. There are still other topics that I haven't learnt yet, but from the title of said topics alone, I'm able to determine that those will help me in my future career as well. Communication Skills isn't a waste of time unlike what most people say. Okay, the presentation skills part are indeed a waste of time, I agree, but the other topics... Ah, now we're talking. Basically, you learn how to be a better person in there. It also helps that the tutor teaching the module is extremely friendly and kind too. But yeah, all in all, Communication Skills isn't a waste of time. In fact, I look forward to Fridays because I get to attend said module in the morning.

My manga (Yes, I can proudly call it mine now) is going pretty well. The script is half-done, but I'm still working on it. One thing that I'm not good at penning down are the fighting scenes though. Sure, there are only a few fighting scenes that I've planned for my manga, but upon reading what I've written down, I feel that the fighting parts needs to be turned up a notch. Basically, I find that it sucks. It may be because that I really dislike animes or mangas with too much combat involved. But yeah, I may need some help revising my script in this department.

The genre of my manga is basically locked at 'High School Life, Comedy, Romance'. It was originally meant to be a 'Slice of Life' manga as well, but I feel that this aspect didn't really tie in to the story, so I took it out completely. There will be plenty of comedy, but only some romance. Because frankly, I have an extreme lack of female characters to work on. Drawing female characters is my forte as well. Crap.

The main problem with designing male characters is that there's an extreme lack of archetypes to base them on. Did you ever see a male Tsundere in the mangas and animes that are currently out in the market before? I think not. And I absolutely reject the mere idea of a male Tsundere. Most males archetypes are loud and violent in any case. Anyway, I have to work on a grand total of 24 male characters, not counting the side-characters. That's 24 different male character design and concept I have to think up. I have the protagonist, or the 'main character' in layman terms. He's your standard cliched protagonist. Stupid, bad at studies, absolutely clueless that somebody is in love with him, but in most cases turns out to be the leader of different events, and is generally friendly with everybody. Yeah, cliched. I have the typical class bully. Loud, violent, doesn't do homework, skips classes frequently, beats up people, and all that. I have the male bookworm, the Otaku, the pervert, the pretty boy, the popular guy, the shota character, and that comical character you see in every manga or anime. Yeap. Pretty much everything...

It's my first manga, and I have recieved advice from several friends and veteran mangakas alike to limit my character cast to 6 or so main characters, because casting 34 main characters (a whole class) at once is no easy feat. Character development for some characters will undoubtedly be made a whole lot shorter, or even non-existant because of the limited amount of *space I have. And not to mention I'm currently doing this manga project alone. I want to stick to this path though. I mentioned that it was a promise to my old class, that my first manga will be our 'High School Story'. To that end, said friends wished me luck in my endeavours, and said mangakas had offered me story ideas in which I could use. Excellent bunch of people. I guess Otakus help each other out.

Finally, this will be the only thing that is "unhappy" in this post.

Start Unhappy

I was recently hit with the news that our plans to go as the Phoenix Wright cast for Cosfest 2009 was to be cancelled because the other two attendees had to serve in the National Service. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't unhappy about it, so I won't mince words here. I AM unhappy, because that was the only thing that was available for me to look forward to during this tough period. Now I have zilch to look forward to. I DO have my manga, but that's totally different from having a fun day hanging out with your friends. But at the same time, I do understand that they had no choice in the matter, because this was a compulsory thing. So ultimately, I should be blaming the government. One direct bomb dropped in the middle of Singapore and all our military "might" will be rendered useless anyway, so why bother? I still firmly believe that National Service should be an optional thing, like other countries. But well, I don't blame the two of my friends. No malice at all towards the two of them.

End Unhappy

That's it. Back to script writing.

*Editors usually limits the mangaka to not more than 7 - 12 books, unless your manga really takes off and is popular amongst the masses, in which the maximum number of books allowed is removed.

Stressed over school work? Seriously?

The first week is finally over. It's been a tough week. So tough, that I nearly broke down after I got home earlier today. After experiencing the first week, I can say without any doubts, that games development is definitely not for me. My teacher told me that there were no more available spaces in the other tracks, so, looks like I have to stick with it till the end. 16 more weeks to go.

The people that knows me can definitely knows that I rarely, if not ever, stresses and worries over school work. They'll be shocked to see me now. In fact, I'm even shocked myself. Shocked that I actually started to worry about school work. Well, technically speaking, I'm not worried about the school work itself, I'm actually worried about how I'm going to cope with all this. I think of myself as a strong lad. Maybe not strong physically, but very strong mentally. This, however, is starting to chip off at my sanity. And it's only the first week. Looking back at how I nearly broke down just 30 minutes ago, I'm scared.

A brief pep-talk from Melvin reinforced this in my head: 'You just need to pass to get your Diploma.'. I also linked this to what Rick said. "The top 5% are geniuses, but what about that 5.1%? They are idiots just like you and me.". Fucked up, but true. So basically, this is what I'm going to do from Week 2 onwards. I'll slack and rot around during classes. All the teachers doesn't teach anyways. For assignments, I just need to fulfill whatever that is needed to pass. Same thing applies to quizzes, tests, and projects. Just pass. A 'D'. That's all I need. I don't need to challenge the elitists to a comparison of grades. I don't need to listen what they say. I don't need to know that they finished their work way faster than I did. I don't need to know that I'm the weakest link in the class. I JUST NEED TO PASS.

The redeeming factors are the last and first classes on Wednesdays and Fridays respectively. They are fun. I have National Education on Wednesday. It's basically just a fun module WITH NO GRADINGS that I get to attend with all my friends. There are field trips and excursions organized for us to. Fun stuff. On Friday, I have Communication Skills 3. Fun subject. Easy to pass, outgoing teacher, and fun lecture. Coincidentally, my Com Skills teacher's name is Sarah, she's a female indian. Similar to the Sarah in my manga, who is based off an indian.

Lets hope my sanity meter lasts me 16 weeks.

Mandatory first day of school post

School was uneventful today, thankfully. Although, there's only a boring 2 hours lesson today, so I didn't get to experience any of the 'new' stuff yet. I'll get experience my first fucked up day tomorrow. 6 hours without any breaks. 2 hours Japanese, 4 hours Games Development. Screwed. In any case, I think the main problems will only come when deciding our project teams, and that's 2 days away. Crap.

I've been up to designing my friend Deepa's character today. ALL I could think of while pondering how her design will look like, was her lifeless body during her funeral. Shit. Now, she's not exactly close to me, and I don't really know her that well too, but well, she's part of the class, and that's a fact that can never be forgotten. It's already been a year or so. I'm pretty sure mostly everybody has already forgotten about her. Frankly, I would too, if I'm not doing this whole manga thing. But yeah, this is the first death of a friend I have experienced in my life. I don't want any of my other friends to pass away. At least, not before I do first. Without spoiling too much of my manga's story, her life in my manga isn't considered a very happy one either, being the royal princess of ________. She gets a happy ending though, like everybody else. I at least want her to live happily in my story.

5 girls, and 1 guy's design done. Uber failage that my secondary school class contains so many guys, but oh well, at least the few girls that are there are all uber awesome.

School. Again.

My final long break will soon be over. After I get back to school, it's straight studies, then a week of holiday, then to the final year project and attachment. This is it. No more breaks until graduation.

I was posted to the Digital Entertainment track for my year 3 studies, meaning I'll get to make games. Should I be happy? Yeah, I should be, but I'm not. Rather, my current feelings about this is something along the line of 'Meh, just another irrelevant obstacle I must break through to achieve my goal.' My goal is to become a mangaka, not to make games. Game making is for other people, not me. My life belongs to the world of anime.

I wouldn't be this upset if I was doing stuff that I like. Instead, I have to group up with a bunch of people I don't know to create a functional game for grading. Ugh. I don't think I have the ability to convince them to make a Visual Novel as well. I wouldn't mind doing a Visual Novel game... at the very least, I can draw the characters and scenes required. I somehow think that the group I will be in will decide to make some overly cliche failure of a "game". Nothing much I can do even if I were to worry about this, so I won't. Here's to hoping my final year in NYP is uneventful.


My manga project is really taking off now. The script that I had planned up till Book 3 has already been jotted down. Characters are named, and in the process of designing. So far, I've only drawn out four, but I already know how the other characters will turn out. It's all in my head. My secret folder consists of 1.3MB worth of a combination of WordPad and NotePad files. All of these were done in the duration of this holiday. I started off earlier than this though, around December last year. But I forgot all about it because of school stuff. School work will not stop me this time however. No matter how busy I am, I'll always find time to sit down and work on my manga. Who knows? If things goes well, I may try to sell a one-shot manga at Cosfest 2010. It's always good to establish a small fanbase early.

Believe it or not, I have already sorta planned how my future is going to play out. I estimated that I will be around 28 or 29 years of age before my first manga gets released to the public, and that's if nothing really major goes wrong (I calculated all the minor problems, but not the major ones). If there wasn't a need to go into the army, shell 3 years off of that estimated age. National Service is just a waste of time in my book. I was going to change my citizenship to Japanese anyway.

All in all, some final thoughts before I end this one.

"Nice holiday."
"I feel empty knowing that 98% of my poly friends would not be with me during the 3rd year"
"The only friend I know that's coming along with me is taking another semestral project, so I have to group up with random people I don't know. Shit."
"I'm not allowed to fail any quizs or tests up till Week 8, else I'll be forced to withdraw from my Japanese module? Fuck.
"Again, I want a girlfriend. Although I'm not sure if having a girlfriend at this point will tie me down from the plans that I've made."
"Phoenix Wright for Cosfest 2009? Awesome. Huge problems though."
"......."
"My father keeps asking me if I have enough money to spend. Does he think that I throw my money around? I have more than enough, I don't even spend much nowadays. Saving up for a trip to Japan is more important."
"I need somebody to hug. I miss the feeling of hugging Bumboat."
"I wonder if I can still manage to contact some of my old friends. I have to tell them about the manga I'm dedicating to them is well on it's way."

Cosplay Frustrations

My friends and I have been racking our brains out to determine which anime or game we'll be cosplaying as at this year's Cosfest. Not going that well. The main problem being that we have, and always will have a small group, and that already limits our choices. Also, we only have one female cosplayer. Our limited choices are reduced even furthur.

Here are the requirements:

1) Anime or game we go as must only have 5 or less main characters, one of which includes a girl.
2) Anime or game we go as must have easy to make or cheap costumes.
3) Anime or game we go as must not be overly cliche.
4) Anime or game we go as must be recognised by at least a small group of people (not too obscure).

Can you think up of any anime or game that fits the 4 requirements? Neither can I. Also, point 2 doesn't apply to myself and one of other friend.

Alright, so we came up with some ideas initially. Our tentative plan was to go as Patapons. Painted cardboard boxes, and all that. Sounds good eh? Unfortunately, the female wants nothing at all to do with the Patapon cosplay. Can't blame her eh? Every girl wants to look good in front of the camera. So we're racking my brains, doing research on the internet to see which anime or game we can go as. I have plenty of ideas. None of which includes Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, Gundam and Final Fantasy cliched cosplays. Not to mention the recent influx of D-Grayman cosplays too. Fail.

In any case, some ideas I have are:

Full Metal Alchemist
Going as: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric(armour), Winry Rockbell, and Colonel Roy Mustang.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Going as: Souji Seta, Kanji Tatsumi, Yukiko Amagi, Ryotaro Dojima, and Nanako Dojima

Metal Gear Solid
Going as: Solid Snake/Old Snake. Meryl Campbell, and 2 generic enemy soldiers.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Going as: Hayato Gokudera, Kyoya Hibari, Mukuro Rokudo, and Chrome Dokuro. (All future forms)

Star Wars
Going as: Darth Vader and 3 Stormtroopers

Genderbent Suzumiya Haruhi cast
Going as: Suzumiya Haruki, Yuuki Nagato, Asahina Mikuru(forgot the name >_>), Kyonko, and Koizumi Itsuko.

Zatch Bell
Going as: Kiyo Takamine, Megumi Oumi, Tio, Parco Folgore and Vulcan 300.

Detroit Metal City
Going as: Johannes Krauser II, Camus, Alexander Jagi, and Yuri Aikawa.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Going as: Red Ranger, Black Ranger, Blue Ranger, Pink Ranger. (Die die must get another Yellow Ranger)

Getbackers
Going as: Ban Mido, Ginji Amano (Lightning Emperor), Kazuki Fuuchouin, and Juubei Kakei.

Mythical Detective Loki
Going as: Loki (Awakened), Mayura Daidoji, Ryusuke Yamino, and Narugami.

Cowboy Bebop
Going as: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine and Vicious

Welcome to the N.H.K.!
Going as: Satou Tatsuhiro, Yamazaki Kaoru, Nakahara Misaki, and Akachan Ningen

Kingdom Hearts
Going as: Organization XIII Members (Cloaked)

Phoenix Wright
Going as: Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, Detective Dick Gumshoe, and Franziska Von Karma

At this point, my brain already died. There may be more, but I doubt I could continue like this today.

Well, next stop: Show the guys this list and see what they think about it.

The Playstation 3.

Tales of Vesperia was recently announced for the Playstation 3 as a port. The announcement crushed the hearts of many 360 fanboys as the Playstation 3 port gets several extra added features, such as:

1) Fully voiced game due to overabundance of space in the Blu-Ray disc. (Some story sequences weren't voiced in the 360 version)

2) New permanent party character. Patty Fleur. Similar to the Pirate class in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2. She's also a tsundere loli. Yes, a tsundere loli pirate. Let the nosebleeding commence.

3) New sidequests, weapons, costumes, skills, mystic artes etc for Patty.

4) New story and sidequest scenes.

Yeah, so essentially, the Playstation 3 gets the "superior" version, same deal as Eternal Sonata.

Now, I don't really understand the need for all the whining. Remember when SquareEnix announced that Final Fantasy XIII will go multi-platform? Yeah, that major news hit Playstation 3 owners world-wide. Gaming forums and message boards were flooded with complaints about how SquareEnix "betrayed the trust" of all Playstation owners, as the Final Fantasy series had always been on Playstation. To combat the restless public, SquareEnix announced that the Playstation Portable will get an exclusive Final Fantasy title, and that somewhat calmed the masses down.

I remember purchasing the Playstation 3 because I expected RPGs to come out for it just like they did for the Playstation 2. But no, if you were to look at a complete list of RPGs for the Playstation 3, you'll be disappointed. The only real RPG that's out in english for the Playstation 3 is Eternal Sonata, which was previously a Xbox360 exclusive. We have another contender named Valkryia Chronicles, but sadly, despite being an excellent game, it was overshadowed by shooters and sports games that came out during the month of it's release. The game is friggin rare in Singapore now. But thankfully, I already own a copy of it. Other RPG titles that haven't came out or isn't in english yet, are 'The Last Remnant', 'X-Edge', 'White Knight Chronicles', and the big daddy, 'Final Fantasy XIII'. Sadly, those are all the RPGs that are coming out for the PS3 at the moment.

Since Tales of Vesperia is coming out for the PS3, there is a slight chance that they may make a port of Star Ocean : The Last Hope for the RPG-starved PS3 owners. I have played a little of it at Courts, in the Microsoft section where they put out some games on the 360 for people to test out. And yes, it's fun. So here's to hoping that it gets announced for the PS3, because I have no plans to buy a Xbox360 ever.