Aoi Shouta to release new mini-album in June

Aoi Shouta announced on his blog this morning that he will be releasing a mini-album on 26th June 2013, titled Blue Heart. Aoi is a lesser known and fairly new seiyuu who has voiced characters such as Ai from UtaPri and Ryunosuke from Kimi to Boku. His voice is rather unique and sounds feminine (very beautiful), and not to mention he looks rather feminine as well, much like the singer Piko.

PSotD - 偏愛の輪舞曲 (Henai no Rondo)

Title: 偏愛の輪舞曲 (Henai no Rondo)

Artist: GRANRODEO
Year: 2013

Notes: Fresh off the stove, the OP of the anime Karneval was released on Wednesday the 17th. Another amazing song by GRANRODEO. Review of the Karneval episodes will be coming soon (after I get out of work and once it's subbed). I'll just say that after reading 50 or so chapters of the manga I still had no idea what the plot is about. I'm only watching the anime because of the seiyuus, bishies (fanservice), and the art is really beautiful.
I think the second and third songs in this single are better than their main song.

DDL: here

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge - Episode 3 [v.P]

Recap Ep 1: 

This anime is about a boy with hair cutting fetishes and a girl whose hair cannot be cut, and their fateful encounter. (Or so it seemed).

Recap Ep 2: 

We learnt that the girl, named Iwai, is the offspring of the Queen of Hair (I know... it's lame), who left two curses when she died, first of all her offspring would have cursed hair that cannot be cut, and secondly there would be people who owned special tools, called 'killing goods', and these tools would 'possess' their owners, called 'Authors', and force them to murder people. The Queen promised that whoever first kills Iwai gets to have a wish granted, namely the removal of the 'killing goods' curse. The MC's (male), called Haimura, ancestors owned a set of killing goods, namely a pair of scissors and said ancestor was involved in a huge murder crime; now that the killing good is in Haimura's hands, he has the urge, or rather the scissors force him to have a cutting fetish. After Haimura learned that other Authors are out to kill Iwai he swore that he will be the Queen's (Iwai) knight and protect her.

Ep 3:

Uta no Prince sama Maji Love 2000% - Episode 3 Review [v.P]

Heya guys, we thought we would spice things up a bit on our blog, so I'll be posting (at random intervals) about the latest anime episodes that I've been watching. Note that I'll be writing about my personal views, opinions and speculations, of which I do not intend to offend or harm anyone, and I will be posting screenshots so there will be obvious spoilers, so don't say you're not warned.

To start this segment off, I shall review for you episode 3 of my favourite/biased anime UtaPri!

PSotD - 追憶 (Reminiscence)

Title: 追憶 (Reminiscence)

Artist: 大島ミチル (Oshima Michiru)
Year: 2013

Notes: Track 2 of the Zetsuen no Tempest OST. The Zetsuen OST is one of the most beautifully composed music I have encountered. I rank this OST within my top 10, with my list including the K OST, Ao no Exorcist OST, Code Geass OST and Guilty Crown OST. The orchestral arrangement brings a sweet yet mysterious taste.

Pixiv id: 34708709

DDL: here

The Playstation 4

The new console will be released during the holidays. The upcoming system will be an attempt to make a clean break from the PS3, though, many detail about the console remain unknown.  The console is said to be "Developer friendly". The PS4 will boast 8GB of unified GDDR5 RAM - a major jump forward from the combined 512MB in the PS3.

The memory increase should give developers more latitude in like graphics and physics. The PS4 will give gamers social tools that let them share and connect with their friends. The controller features a Share button that lets players post gameplay videos onto social networks. Players will also be able to live broadcast through UStream. Unfortunately the PS4 won't play PS3 games, but it's due to major differences between the core architectures of both consoles. The same can be said for PSN titles.

If you own a smartphone or tablet, these can be used as secondary screens via a Playstation app, whether for game augmentation or to purchase titles and download to your system at home. In general, downloading digital content will be easier thanks to the ability to download in the background, play a game before it's fully downloaded, and download games while the system is powered off.

As connection-focused as the PS4 is, it will not require an internet connection, though many of its standout features won't be available to offline players.


Playstation 4's Specs

Main Processor 

• Single-chip custom processor
• CPU: x86-64 AMD Jaguar, 8 cores
• GPU: AMD next-generation Radeon-based graphics engine, 1.84 TFLOPS

Memory

• 8 GB GDDR5

Hard Disk 

• Drive Built-in (capacity to be determined)

I/O

• USB 3.0
• AUX

Communication

• Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
• IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 (EDR)

AV Output

• HDMI
• Analog-AV out
• Digital Output (Optical)

The New Controller

1. Redefined analog sticks
2. Redesigned trigger buttons
3. Includes new Axis sensor
4. Light changing light bar - it identifies players and indicates status such as a character's health
5. Improved rumble
6. New options button - combined select and start button
7. Share button - used for broadcasting gameplay in real time
8. Features a stereo headphone jack and built in mono speakers

(Source: Game Informer)

Miyano Mamoru's UtaPri Single 'Kanon' Ranks #3 for the Week

According to Oricon's singles ranking chart for April 8-14, voice actor/singer Miyano Mamoru's single "Kanon" sold 28,000 copies in its first week to rank #3. This is Miyano's best showing on Oricon's charts; his last album, Fantasista, went on sale last December and placed fourth on the weekly album chart.

You can watch the song PV here.

Daily Nyaa: Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko

At the MyBubbleteaTime blog, we have a non-spoken rule (yes, because we type it) that there must be at least one post per day. So here is your obligatory daily post for 15th April 2013.

As a bonus, have a nyaa.

pixiv id: 34930149.
If you haven't already watched the first episode of Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko then you're missing out big time. There is nothing hentai about this series. Trust me.

Kuroko's Basketball Gets Long Underpants

Shueisha will offer Steteco long underpants decorated with Kuroko's Basketball manga characters on its mekke! website in late June. The Kuroko's Basketball pants are the latest to celebrate the 45th anniversary of its Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The underpants are offered in Japanese sizes small, medium and large for 1,995 yen each.

Source: ANN

Limited-Time Hatsune Miku Café in Tokyo Reveals Menu

The MADO LOUNGE SPICE club in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills complex will host a limited-time Hatsune Miku café on April 26. The café will offer Hatsune Miku-inspired food and drinks until June 16 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Mori Art Museum. The food dishes are inspired by Miku's cover of "Ievan Polkka."

The cafe will offer the following food and drinks for customers:

"Negi-cha Soba" (Green Onion-Tea Soba) for 900 yen.

"39 Curry" for 1,000 yen.

"Ievan Polkka Cocktails (non-alcoholic)" for 700 yen.

Source: ANN

Fanart: Attack of the Titans and Miku crossover

Click for larger view.

Run little kiddies, before it's too late!

Art source: pixiv

J-Music batch update

I have a heap of proper work sitting on the corner of my desk, calling my name, but instead I decide to publish an update on the J/anime-music that I'm interested in because procrastination is awesome.

1. Let's start off with Miyano Mamoru's new single Kanon. It's the opening song of the anime Uta no Prince sama Maji Love 2000%. Download link is here.
   Thoughts: The song Kanon is amazing, but I think Mamo has sung better songs before. The second song THANK YOU is average - Is it just me or does the chorus of this song sound like J.Beiber's "Baby"? The third song FOREVER LULLABY is pretty plain.
2. This is a big year for the band SID. It's their 10th year anniversary and they're doing a lot of events and productions in celebration. They recently released another single 恋におちて (Koi no ochite), which you can download here.
Thoughts: Mao's voice never ceases to amaze me. Their first song has a calming jazz swing to it.
3. 凛として時雨 (Ling tosite sigure)'s new album i'mperfect. This band provided the first OP to the anime Psycho Pass, abnormalize, which is also featured in this album. You can download it here.
   Thoughts: Ever since I heard their song from watching Psycho Pass, I've added this band to my 'radar' list. I like their unique rock and metal elements.
4. GRANRODEO's new compilation album Granrodeo Greatest Hits - Gift Registry. This two-man rock band consists of vocalist Taniyama Kishow and e-ZUKA the guitarist. They composed and performed many anime OP and ED songs; such as those from Togainu no Chi, Kuroko no Basuke and Code:Breaker. You can download the album here.
   Thoughts: I've fallen in love with this band ever since I discovered that Taniyama was the vocalist of this band; Taniyama is one of my favourite seiyuus, voicing characters such as Natsuki from UtaPri, Ikki from Amnesia and Sloth from Shirokuma Cafe.
5. 神谷浩史 (Kamiya Hiroshi)'s new mini album ハレイロ (Hareiro). Kamiya is another renowned seiyuu, voicing characters such as Otonashi from Angel Beats!, Rokuro from Brave10, Hibiki from Devil Survivor 2, Izaya from Durarara!! and Erekpyle from Ixion Saga DT.  You can download the album here.
   Thoughts: I think it's a challenging task for a seiyuu to produce their own music, because I think it's hard to distinguish which is their "true" voice, apart from their character voices with their respective character songs. I applaud Kamiya for his hard work in producing this album. Unfortunately, in some of his songs I can hear/feel his "true" voice wavering and instead I can picture certain characters he's voiced before singing the song. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this rather peaceful and gentle music.

   Well that's all from me now. Expect more updates in the following two months. April and May are big months in music releases this year, at least for bands which I'm interested in.  I think I should go and start my work now, while I patiently wait for another 5 hours until episode 2 of UtaPri is aired.

Comedy video: How Animals Eat Their Food

Ever wondered how animals eat their food? Your questions are answered below!

New Railgun Promo

A video promoting the second season of Railgun, has been released. According to Crunchyroll the series will premiere on Friday (March 12, 2013).



Source: Crunchyroll

Pumpkin's Palette: My first gif!

This is how I spent a Tuesday afternoon: making my first gif image!

It took me a total of less than 3.5 hours, and I'm pretty happy with the results.

The character is Hiroshi Inaba from Cuticle Tantei Inaba. It's a pretty funny anime and I recommend it to those who need a good wacky laugh.

[Edit:] Here's an updated version promoting our blog.

GacktXGakupo duet of Episode.0: One fangirl's dream come true

As a big, major, HUGE fan of Gackt, and a fan of Vocaloids, I was ecstatic when I saw this video on YouTube, which is an excerpt of the ボカロ歌謡祭2013(春) (The Vocaloid Music Festival 2013 (Spring)). It features a short interview with Gackt, and concludes with an amazing duet performance of the song Episode.0 by Gackt and Gakupo.

Sword Art Online

Sypnosis:
Using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear, which allows players to literally enter a game. Kirito,  enters a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, or for short, an Online RPG. The game is called Sword Art Online, a game in which characters can use no magic (other than a few magical stones), and must focus solely on Swords Skills. The game takes place inside a giant flying fortress called, Aincrad. The fortress has 100 floors for players to complete. On the day the game was released however, the game creator decided to hold players captive, and not allow them to leave the game, until they reach the 100th floor. The worst part is, if they die in the game, they die in real life. Their struggle for survival begins... 

Aincrad

Review:

The protagonist can often be seen over-powered, and there are parts that try hard to be tragic. The battles are worthy of praise, but you may have to wait a while before the story takes you to one. The boss battles are epic, but out of  the 100 bosses, you only get to see a few — only by defeating these can you go to the next floor.

The series is based on a Light Novel, and with only 25 episodes, there are parts in the series that are rushed. The side stories focus on the protagonist being cool with girls, and throughout most the series, you only get to see things from the protagonist's perspective.

The second half of the series takes a completely different and darker path, and it's not as good as the first half, though the ending kinda makes up for it. Despite all its flaws, I enjoyed the series, and would recommend it to anyone. Now, what did I like about the series? Well for starters, I really enjoyed enjoyed the romance, it was really cute. But, at the second half of the series, the romance is taken to a strange territory. I also enjoyed the battles, they are intense and memorable.

The conflicts can be pretty interesting, too. Like when an ally suddenly shifts sides and attacks the protagonist, he is placed in a position where in order to save his life, he must make a choice that may go against his moral values. Also, the plot twist at the end of half the series, amazing!

These guys are screwed

The voice acting is great. The  animation can be inconsistent. In one part you get this beautifully drawn nature scene, and in another, you get a plainly drawn view at things. There were no poorly drawn scenes, though. The music is excellent. There is a song for every scene, and it blends in perfectly, putting you in  the mood the animators want you in. The battle themes are the most memorable:

Characters:
The protagonist (Kirito, also known as Kirigaya Kazuto), is a direct spoken character, and can sometimes come off as rude. He sometimes acts overconfident thinking he can do other can not. He rarely shows any signs of distress, and is almost always calm and collected. Though, when in a battle, he becomes incredibly fierce and aggressive. He can also be compassionate and will help others in need, he cannot abandon others in trouble. He can sometimes be controlled by his emotions. He is a tenacious character and will always find a way to complete his challenges. 

Asuna, she is a kind and helpful young woman, who is similar to Kirito, and cannot abandon others in trouble. She takes the game very seriously and is very focused on clearing it. She is also somewhat proud and is not afraid to get physical with those that challenge her authority or brag about her abilities. She isn't afraid to act out on her own and will take matters in her own hands from time to time. Asuna, once again similar to Kirito, is someone who can be controlled by her emotions many times.

Conclusion:
Overall this is a really good series, of course, it's not perfect. Still, it is one of my top five anime. The concept is what probably drives most to watching the series — I mean, who wouldn't want to get inside a videogame. If you enjoy intense battles, adventure, and romance, you might enjoy Sword Art Online.

9/10

Previous review: Fullmetal Alchemist

Vocaloid Cinema Party

On March 9th, 2013 a group of fans held a "Vocaloid Cinema Party" in Ginza, Tokyo. The videos were said to be outstanding, with breathtaking images and great resolution.
Here's one the videos featured:

Kagome Kagome (Robotics;Notes)

Remember that creepy tune "Kagome Kagome" from Robotics;Notes that plays when Kimijima Kou hacked the pokecoms? The song "Kagome Kagome" originates from a Japanese children's game; almost like the English version of "Duck Duck Goose". You can read more about the history here.

The reason for this post is because I wanted to download this song and use it as my mobile ringtone. Furthermore, I wanted to share the file with others so they can do the same. This kind soul has created the sound file which you can download here.

Now let's hope I don't get any calls or texts during the middle of the night, otherwise I would totally freak out.
An extra special bonus for our Vocaloid fans: Here's a Miku and Luka adaptation of the Kagome song.

McDonald's Japan Introduces New Uniform Dance

McDonald's Japan has announced that a new uniform will be introduced in June, which will be the first new uniform to be introduced to franchises in Asia. An additional 27,000 crew members are planned to be hired and the dance video was posted to encourage people to apply. The video features the new uniform and it is choreographed by Papaya Suzuki of Oyaji Dancers.

Source: CR