which clannad character do you like the most, and why?

This is a post about appreciating the characters from Clannad. I wouldn’t normally go through with this, but my present predicament (in which I’m concurrently plagued by both chronic boredom and progressive feelings of frustration) calls for something to pass time until my Internet is uncapped. Partially of my own boredom, and partially of my own volition, I’m back to writing about this majestic gem of a series, if only because the situation warranted it.

Exempting the umbrella terms “gaming” and “anime”, posts tagged with “Clannad” are perhaps the most common amongst all my entries (including a partial After Story synopsis) and for good reason. Honestly, I really love Clannad because of its spectacular portroyal of a handful of life’s most fundamental values in a very heartwarming manner. I found that to date, it was my most anticipated anime of all time, and with the inclusion of both animated and novelistic works, I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

Here’s the problem however: the question “Who is your favourite Clannad character?” is an amazingly difficult question to answer, because the greatness of the cast to me is completely unprecedented by any other previous work of fiction that I’ve experienced. I feel that each of the characters are so multi-dimensional—each with their defining aspects—that such a generalised question wouldn’t do a sufficient amount of justice; instead “What do you like about each of the characters?” would be more appropriate.

Perhaps at some point it became an issue of liking x about y much because of z.

Far beyond aesthetic appeal

a company’s resolve to combat piracy is like a double-edged sword

Even amongst the swarm uneducated individuals, the concept of piracy is well-known because of its ubiquitous nature, and advancements in computing and Internet technology have only served to streamline the ease of distributing commercial data. Because piracy is so firmly etched into the overall constitution of the Net, sometimes you have to wonder that if one were to suddenly utlilise the Digital Rights Management in unconventional ways, would it conversely produce a detrimental effect on the consumers’ end?

Because the lingering problems are presently far from plain-cut, the associated dangers become more complicated as a result, which essentially rules out simple solutions. Even by unintentionally spurring pirates on, and additionally causing many inconveniences for genuine buyers (elaborated further down), the risk certainly doesn’t outweigh the benefits immediately.

With every new challenge completed, something is always gained in the process; in the case of piracy, knowledge adopted now will typically be applied in later dates. Even games that require you to be connected at all times to ensure the validity of your copy will fall victim to very specific subsets of piracy, such as server emulation. Crackers will usually find a way to circumvent anti-piracy methods; after all, it’s just a matter of time and patience. In this respect, offline games will naturally become more susceptible to illegal distribution, so developers are always looking for ways to prevent this, even if it means treading on new, dangerous grounds. Goodwill is expendable, and there are times when it has to act as the shield for a company’s wellbeing.

And what of the general populace? It’s unequivocal that many would prefer to obtain their stuff without charge, and so, from the perspective of those who proclaim themselves “saviours” to the plight of software developers—armed with an overwrought sense of self-righteousness—their virtuous moral compass will always oppose the actions of pirates for their underhanded methods of procuring software illicitly; the truth of the matter is that while it’s not exactly openly-advocated, its accessibility is unparalleled. In the case of the Internet where certain degrees of anonymity are inherently enforced, it hardly matters what others think of you, even less so than a real-life situation. At the end of the day, it’s not like the pleas of anti-piracy groups are anything compelling, because it’s a situation where actions will always speak louder than words - this is the unbiased truth.

The Blank Disc: a weapon of mass circulation

Another thing to mention is that piracy isn’t exactly as problematic as people make it sound. It’s undeniable that a considerable amount of profits are lost as a result, but propaganda and uneducated public knowledge have given rise to a bulk of presumptuous conjecture; the reality is that it’s not enough to force many companies into bankruptcy.

retro review #1 - illusion of time/gaia

Don’t read on unless you want to hurt your head, because this is no different to another of my stupid long-winded rants. I swear these damn reviews feel like blog fillers sometimes.

If I have time to write about an old game because I found it laying in a shitty polystyrene container somewhere, then it means that I am bored. I guess some idiot decided to corner himself with boredom in its purest, most quintessential form, in which the following is a direct result of the immediate self-constraint that ensued. I took advantage of my prerogative to mess the household up in hopes that something interesting would pass by to help alleviate these perpetual feelings of ennui (that idiot is me, by the way)… and it did, sorta. It’s still too early in the anime season for me to even bother writing about anything interesting.

I want my NES back… with my golden Zelda cartridge *sadface*

Blogging about stuff like this isn’t the most exciting task to undertake, but it’s something… and besides, after being swept away by a wave of contemporary titles, retrospective insight on dated games becomes progressively more interesting as the days go by. I guess it bears a metaphorical relation to a lover of aged wine, except the memories are fermenting instead. And after all, between watching anime, and the occasional game of Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty 4, there isn’t much to do besides mindless idling. I guess I could’ve written about something else, like my trusty old Intel 286, but it is with deep regret that I involuntarily delivered a coup de grace to that in my adolescent years, so it is long dead. Also, who the FOCK cares about Battle Chess and Monopoly? Hmm, I guess there was Dangerous Dave, Wolfenstein 3D and Catacombs too, paired with my merciless printer abuse. Anyway…

kara no kyoukai movie 01 - fukan fūkei review

Why does it feel like the folks at Ufotable have outdone themselves?

I’m late. Those like me who do not live in Japan, and are unable to properly comprehend Moonspeak will be undoubtedly set back in the anime world. Earnestly anticipating its fated arrival, I finally got a chance to watch Kara no Kyoukai - Fukan Fūkei last night as a result of a collaborative effort between gg fansubs and TakaJun of the visual novel translation team mirrormoon, who were quick to subtitle the DVD release. Was it worth the wait?

Take a deep breath before plunging deeper into Nasuverse, because the preliminary movie based on the light novel which preceded Tsukihime is about as awesome as you could’ve hoped for; this takes the cake for something that’s so profusely well-executed in every regard, while further serving as an excellent introductory piece to the series.

No eyes look better. None.

how many of these songs can you recognise? the test for anime fans

How do you rank yourself on the grand scale of anime nerdom (and proof of Suzaku’s Geass later on in this post)?

Nico Nico Douga yet again proves to be a fountain of enjoyment for those individuals who absolutely love anime. For the sake of simplicity and accessibility, the following video (which I did not create) was promptly saved and uploaded onto a more wordpress.com-friendly media platform. The website may be inconveniencing to work with as it can be abstruse for those who aren’t proficient with Japanese, even if the sign-up page is fairly uniform in structure, because let’s face it - registering is a chore.

55 minutes; 525 anime (with the occasional game and fandom mixed in) songs to put the anime-inclined facet of your being to test. How many can you recognise? I’m personally interested (comments below post).

This was seriously the best 55 minutes I’ve experienced in quite some time, so credit goes to the creator of the video. Unfortunately, I was only able to attain a meager score of 130-ish, which further pertains to the fact that I’ve viewed a very limited selection of titles (HUGE SADFACE). Admittedly though, I was in possession of a rather compelling urge to sing along with some of the songs that were met with recognition because their presence made me excitable. Did anybody else feel that way?

evangelion 1.01 - you are (not) alone review

For starters, I really do love the Evangelion legacy; the movies and original TV series have been viewed more times than I could possibly hope to keep track of. Relative to numerous other series of the era, NGE received a significant amount of publicity here in Australia at the time, with the show being aired on SBS nearly simultaneously along with the scheduled commercial VHS releases by Madman Entertainment; subsequently, its fame proliferated at an extraordinary rate with its current popularity now undeniable.

Back in 1999, the popularity of anime here in Australia was still within its infancy. Fansubbed titles were distributed via VHS in rare and fairly inconspicuous stores as the use of digitalised mediums was scarce, which was further aggravated by the fact that dial-up was the only affordable Internet available at the time. When the vast majority anime was inaccessible by convenient means, I was limited to a small batch of titles licensed for distribution outside Japan, which were dubbed and sold on the VHS medium. Perhaps because of that firsthand experience, I’ve developed a toleration, and furthermore, a special fondness for the NGE dubs, though ultimately I still prefer to view everything in their original language. Putting that aside though, I got the chance to watch the newest Evangelion movie today.

twilight hack exploit for wii + neo geo emulator for ds + anime.

Completely irrelevant, but this is my second vector ever (though it’s unfinished for now):

A very bland and self-explanatory topic because I’m lazy, and also because I put the least amount of effort into thinking of a creative headline. Though it’s a relatively short post, it can be divided into three sections because of the difference in content covered.

- Wii exploit
- Homebrew Neo Geo emulator for the Nintendo DS
- Anime season’s impressions

Apparently, a Twilight Princess exploit permits the execution of unsigned code without any prior hardware modifications to the Wii by circumventing the security measures using a fairly unconventional method (a “corrupted” save file); additionally, the added ability to play VC and Wiiware games free of charge is packed into this after utilising the procedure. Numerous sources have cited that the problem rests solely in TP alone (or something to that extent), so what exactly does that entail?

I suppose “remedial action” out of consequence (yet hopelessly unrealistic) would require Nintendo to recall their discs (thankfully discs are fairly expendable as opposed to cartridges) and issue out some new ones; though conversely, the problem is that many would be very unlikely to take them up on this offer unless they started a quasi-religious campaign against humanity, because really: why would you? Perhaps for some, this may be the only reason to purchase nearly the worst Zelda game I have ever had the misfortune of playing (and an SD card), and to top it off: I hate the Wii as it is.

Source: http://wiibrew.org/index.php?title=Twilight_Hack

In other news, my NDS’s MicroSD card totally bit the dust a couple of days back as a result of running a piece of homebrew which was still in its development infancy; unfortunately it harbours a fatal bug which can cause the card to corrupt itself. The developer has stated that the source of the problem is related to the File Allocation Table drivers being hammered repeatedly to constantly stream and swap data into the system’s minuscule 4mb of RAM — which makes a lot of sense if you think about it — because it’s such a restrictive margin to operate with. On a related note though, it’s an incredible proof of concept that should promptly be given a whirl once these issues have been ironed out, being a true testament to making use of the DS’s inferior hardware. It is unfortunate that some may feel that they are entitled to impose their opinions on the developer by openly disparaging the supposed lack of sense in regards to protocol; it is an initial release, and many should already be prepared for the inherent risks involved with executing homebrew programs in the first place. Be proactive and back your data up first; it’s nobody’s fault except your own.

the espydon chronicles volume 1 - how to fail at life

Today, I bring you a tale of unconditioned failure which breaches the bounds of human stupidity, giving birth to new, profound levels of deficiency in standardised conduct; an extravagant story of mental ineptness and the shortcomings which compliment the use of such behaviour. This is an extract from my life.

As much as I’d love to have a limit imposed on how much suck one person can possibly possess, it is unfortunately a fruitless dream that shall never see the light of day. Should the primordial nature of humanity be that of suck—and that aspect be emphasised for utmost importance—then naturally I shall be the epitomised shining example of mankind, given that I possess a considerable amount of aptitude for sucking. I finally realised that the amount of suck present in me was so suckingly suck that I had no choice but to concede with the fact that I was full of suck. Have you ever made a mistake so suckingly suckful that you wish you could traverse the passage of the 4th dimension and go back in time to prevent the suck from taking place in such a suckful manner? Be advised that the following story contains an abundance of suck; it’s safe the assume that the suck present is probably more suckingly suckful than you could ever hope to suck for, because quite frankly, I suck.

I really screwed up this time, and no excuse could possibly hope to annul the compromising of my intellect, which I feel is sorely lacking in integrity. In order to properly insinuate the moral of the story by subtly weaving it with my own stupidity to form an intertwined mass of fail, I’d like to stress the importance of safekeeping any important details and making them readily accessible at any given time that you should possibly require them. It may require some forethought and a little lack of laziness, but it does harbour the potential of saving you a considerable amount of hassle in the near future, because you should never discount the possibility that the passage of time will strip you of your knowledge; it’s far from an extraneous act, and it should always be prioritised. I shall make this clear once, and once again at the end so that the cause reinforces itself as to firmly embed itself in your memory. You’d be well advised to not make the same mistake as I did, unless you enjoy feeling cursed like an incompetent fool lacking in basic cognitive abilities. The mind is a repository for various information, and making sure that the vital stuff stays intact is of paramount importance. I’m usually fairly cautious about this stuff, but my capricious nature often causes some unwanted problems, because I’m inconsistent with my sense of protocol. Now, let’s begin…

new keyboard

A quick question: your childhood friend, your school’s idol, your cousin, or your adopted imouto?

You could say that the asthetic appeal of the G15 influenced my decision to purchase a new one, or perhaps I was just a bit tired of using the same (relatively) generic Logitech keyboard again and again. More pictures would’ve been taken, but it’s unfortunate that the camera I’m currently borrowing for this is lacking in practical fidelity as you will soon witness; they simply don’t do the product justice… and on that note, I actually did leave the house. It’s a wonder I’m still alive given that I was thought to deteriorate and/or erode away upon direct contact with fresh air; sunlight similarly causes instantaneous and irreversible blindness. I guess this is the due punishment for deliberately locking myself up in a dark room for years, with constant exposure to monitor radiation in the hopes that I would one day attain superhuman mutant powers and the ability to shoot lasers from my eyes; it was a foolish ideal that tested the limits of my long-term persistence, but I shall not give up now.

LCD screen showing Ventrilo status, though the camera flash removes the back-light

revisiting the anime scene

Before I go back to playing Call of Duty 4 with my fellow Australian Yogogorilla - the man who dresses up in thongs and a shirt whilst leaving his ballsack clearly exposed as he chugs down a beer - there are a few words which I must share with the public. First off is this Mp3 I found in my hard drive, which was sung in my honor about yours truly by somebody during my WoW days; such is proof of my wonderous existence.

I did make clear my lack of enthusiasm about Spring’s anime line-up, didn’t I? Well in hindsight, I was perhaps a little too disparaging in my forethought, and granted that it’s been a while since I’ve checked out some shounen and shoujo works, it’s an opportune time to grab my fix. Unfortunately due to bandwidth issues, I regret to say that I must abstain from going on an irrational download spree by grabbing every new release that hits the web, which would result in my ISP throttling my speed to something along the lines of a dial-up connection; so in regards to regulating my usage, I’ve only picked out a few select titles to give a viewing. I’m not going to go into them and express my thoughts on every insignificant detail, because there’s little to say at this present time.