Splash Free gets rank #12 on Oricon charts

Oricon's daily ranking results are out!! Splash Free - #12, Mako's single - #16 and Haru's single - #18. Guess Ta_2's more popular huh.

Seiyuu appreciation post: Suzuki Tatsuhisa

It just struck me how amazing Ta_2's (Tatsuhisa's preferred nickname) voice is, you seriously can't tell that the guy who sang the Free! OP is the same guy that sang Makoto's character songs.

Left to right: Hirarin, Mamo, Nobunaga, Ta_2, Yonaga.

Dengeki Daisy manga to end in September

The September issue of Shogakukan's Betsucomi magazine revealed that Kyousuke Motomi's Dengeki Daisy shoujo manga will end in the magazine's October issue.
Source: ANN

When seiyuus "cosplay" their characters

In the last few days anime forums have been going hype over the September cover of the Seiyuu Grand Prix magazine which features the 5 main seiyuus of Free! cosplaying as the characters that they voiced. @nanaya1974 compared past magazine cover photos that featured seiyuus "cosplaying" (or at least holding the same pose) as their characters of their respective anime.

学園ヘブン(2006年)、うたプリ(2011年)、Free!(2013年)
Gakuen Heaven (2006), UtaPri (2011) and Free! (2013)

An extra bonus photo for Tiger & Bunny fans. Here's Hirata Hiroaki cosplaying as Kotetsu, the character that he voiced.

Lastly, let's not forget our comical Sugita Tomokazu cosplaying as Gintoki from Gintama.

Brothers Conflict - Episode 6 [v.P]

HEY BRO! It's that time of the week again. Things are finally heating up in Conflict 6: Photograph.

My heart is beating out of my chest right now, and I'm slightly out of breath, thanks to Tsubaki!

There's more confessions, teasing and kissing in this week's ep! See more 'action scenes' and script summaries below.

Me after watching Conflict 6.

Serah's Sweets #1

Its been a while since I last baked, ever since I discovered my allergies to all things delicious in fact. So this is actually a recipe from waay back. I used to love making Pandan cake and it was kind of my signature dish this post actually comes from my old blog.

But today (edit: last year) I made Pandan chiffon cake today for a friend who had just left hospital. I have to say its been awhile since I made Pandan cake, probably about a year (edit: another year =="). I lost the original recipe that I has previously been successful with but I found this fabulous recipe that apparently belongs to Masterchef contestant Poh.

Mmmmmm So good.

SO here it is~

Look at that fabulous greenness

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Pumpkin's Palette: Miyano Mamoru@Free!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes saying "Free-oh, it's Mamo"~
I have no idea what I was thinking when I started this piece. I really need to learn how to draw better backgrounds.

No seriously, what did I just draw? O.o
My brain cannot comprehend.

Seiyuu appreciation post: Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Daisuke

They look so cool! XD

Game Day blog #4

Today, I got my IP issues fixed, and played Cube World with your old pal Diluen (MegaBubbletea). We only played for a brief amount of time, but we had fun running around the cube world, getting attacked by enemies everywhere.

In other news, I finally decided to buy Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky from ebay. After Looking all over the Gold Coast for a copy, but finding none, I turned towards ebay to aid in my quest. However, not a single person in Australia was selling this game! I anxiously checked the page again and again for days, and, lo and behold, a listing appeared, selling exactly what I desired.
So it should arrive at my doorstep by Wednesday or Thursday. I can't wait to get my rescue team started!


In other, other news, I HATE TIFA!!!!!!

SO...FRUSTRATE...AARGH!!

As you know, I've been playing Dissidia for the past couple of days. However, I've hit quite a wall. I'm just playing the campaign, smashing through all my foes as Lightning, pretty much neglecting the rest of my party. So I'm pretty much at the end of the campaign, and the boss fight requires my party to duel the opponent party However, each of my party members are required to face an enemy. Vaan's fight was simple enough. No worries there. Then comes Tifa's round. WHY!? Not only is she under levelled for the fight, her entire fighting style just does not suit me! I generally play by dodging all attacks, waiting for the choice moments to dash in and strike. I gather enough bravery to 1HKO the opponent, and I go in for the execution. However, Tifa's attack don't generate enough bravery for my liking, as well as having to get ultra close to use her attacks. I've found that using my HP attacks more often does improve my performance, but It's still incredibly frustrating. I gave up in the story fight, and decided to grind my characters to level them up in custom matches. Playing Tifa, I choose the same opponent on average difficulty, a difficulty level I am generally very comfortable with, but I still have a very hard time. I guess all I can do now is just grind and practice and grind some more!
Sorry about the long rant. I needed to blow off some steam!

Till next time ~
Rhycen

Seiyuu appreciation post: Free! boys

The September issue of seiyuu magazine, Seiyuu grand prix 「声優グランプリ」, features an exclusive interview with the 5 main characters of Free!, Nanase Haruka (CV: Nobunaga),  Tachibana Makoto (CV: Ta_2), Nagisa (CV: Yonaga), Rei (CV: Hirarin) and Matsuouka Rin (CV: Mamo).
How adorable are the boys(/men) in half-cosplay!

Serah's Basic Cosplay Makeup

Finally! We get to what I'mm actually here for! Cosplay makeup! Welps people, I have been searching and watching tutorials and everything and this is the fruits of my labor! My basic cosplay makeup is especially for cosplay noobs and people who want and easily adaptable base so here goes!

Stuff you'll definitely need:
- eyelid tape if you don't have double eyelids (though there is actually a way to get around this, guess you'll just have to stay tuned for my next tutorial ;))
 - brown eyeshadow
 - a black eyeliner that DOESN'T SMUDGE <-- Super Important
 - A white eyeliner
 - upper fake eyelashes
 - lower fake eyelashes
 - concealer
 - a decent water soluble glue stick ( I used elmer's)
 - foundation (want a guide to picking your foundation? Stay tuned :P)
 - bronzer ( once again, there's a way to get around this one as well but you'll need some brown eyeshadow which you should probably already have if you're actually paying attention to this guide at all)

 

Game Day blog #3

Dear diary...

Today, I was playing Minecraft with a bunch of friends. I haven't played Minecraft in a while so I was eager to hop in and muck around. We had a Minecraft Hunger Games tournament, where we were thrown into an arena to duke it out, with hidden chests containing equipment and items dotted around. Fun times were had!

You could imagine the anticipation of coming across another player, hoping they don't have some godly equipment. When night time came about, the other players are the least of your problems. In the first game, I was taken out by a skeleton archer. Upon death, players respawn back at base as a sponsor. They climb the staircase all the way to the top of the arena, and drop loot onto the remaining tributes.
I managed to win the third round, with my sneaking around, and finally being able to shoot down my last opponent.

Unfortunately, the action was so intense I didn't get any screenshots in game. Your imagination will have to suffice.

Rhycen has disconnected

Free!XChuunibyou crossover gif

Too adorable RinRin!

Free! Parody clip

I do enjoy the occasional anime parody film clip, especially those that give me a good chuckle.
Now I'm not sure whether to class this under the "Terrible" tag or flag it as a "Don't go there" link. It did give me a good chuckle... and a facepalm.

Free! Character Single vol 1 - Nanase Haruka download

So guys I heard that you also wanted this?
DL Link: http://dl.vmall.com/c0v1zfm3te
Instructions: Click on the "下載", first blue button on the left.

Free! Character Single vol 2 - Tachibana Makoto download

So guys I heard that you wanted more Free! tonight? Well here's Makoto's character single!

[Still trying to dig out Haruka's character single.]
DL Link: http://pan.baidu.com/share/link?shareid=2336640432&uk=422883633
P/w: j2kd
Click on the "下載" button (the middle one)

Splash Free - Free! ED single download

Guys guys guys!! It's here!! The full single of Free! ending song - Splash free by Style five.
Unfortunately it's only 128Kbps (not 320Kbps). I will update when I get the link for 320K.
[Water Surprise! is so cheerful and fun! Feel kind of cheated (in relation to UtaPri) with the "Are you ready" line though lol. Splash Free Remix is also very good!]

DL Link: http://pan.baidu.com/share/link?shareid=604186752&uk=3071022728

Click on the "下載" button (the middle one)

Game Day blog #2

Yesterday I happened upon a Pokemon ROM-hack called Pokemon Light Platinum. It was created from a Pokemon Ruby ROM, by WesleyFG. Due to its heightened difficulty level and well designed environment, it has become one of the most popular ROM-hacks at the moment. Hopefully it provides me the Pokemon experience I've been waiting for all these years. I have a feeling it will.

It features a large selection of Pokemon from all games up to gen 5. WesleyFG has implemented many custom tiles and sprites, giving the game a unique feel overall. So far, I haven't encountered any custom background music, only the music from Pokemon Ruby.

From the very beginning, this game already had me fainting again and again. The very first trainer you meet has 5 Pokemon in his party, and with no healer in your home town, you’re limited to grinding in grass before you can move on. I can’t wait to see how this game will continue to pummel me!

Of course, being a fan-made ROM hack, it’s far from perfect. There are many issues with game tiles and, as the game was originally made in Spanish, the translation is very patchy and as imperfect as it can get (Edit: I managed to fins a better translated version of the game so that’s all good now). However I find that I can overlook these things and the game is still thoroughly enjoyable.

I apologise about my lack of details about the game, but I want to play through this game blind so I can have the best experience possible. I recommend anyone who wants a truly challenging Pokemon experience to give this ROM-hack a go.

It is possible to run this ROM on an emulator on your mobile device, or you can use an emulator on your PC to play it.

WesleyFG website

Light Platinum website

Game on!
Rhycen

Seiyuu appreciation post: Toriumi Kousuke, Suwabe Junichi and Hirakawa Daisuke

My three beloved husbands seiyuus! I love Tori-chan's versatile voice, Suwababy's sexy voice and Hirarin's gentle but teasing voice.

Seiyuu appreciation post: Toriumi Kousuke

In case Makai Ouji fans didn't know, they're holding another Nico Live Event tonight at 9:30pm (JPN) at http://live.nicovideo.jp/gate/lv146463292. The hosts include: Terashima, Matsuouka, Toriumi and Yatsumoto. Be sure to tune in!