Ge, Ge, Ge, Ge-Ge, Ge-Ge...

Today is my first quiet day in a while where I get time to think and do my own thing. Which is why I haven't posted in a week. This last week or so has been pretty hectic with crunch time coming on my driving lessons and me actually having work to do at school for a change! Great, but bad timing to have everything come at me at the same time!



This post is really for you, therealpidge, seeing as you watched a whole load (the entire run?) of the original anime GeGeGe no Kitarou when you were here in Japan.

As you can see from the pic above, a live action movie based on the anime was released in cinemas here on Saturday. It's not top on my list, but I'd like to see it soon. The main reason I'm posting about this is just to mention the hilarious adverts they've been running in the local Warner Mycal cinema. As far as I can tell they were made exclusively for Warner Mycal. You know those ads they have where they ask you to shut yer damn pie hole and turn your phone off during the movie? Well, they get the yokai (Japanese supernatural) creatures from the movie to demonstrate how not to behave in a cinema - with amusing results. I tried searching for them on the web to no avail. Maybe I can sneak a recording home with my mobile phone and post them on Youtube or something when I go see Spider-Man 3 on Tuesday.

For anyone who's interested, here's some info on the movie in English and the movie's official website in Japanese.

You've got the GeGeGe game for the Famicom, haven't you?


What surprised me was finding out today that it got released in English as Ninja Kid! Especially as he's not a ninja... (^_^;

Well, I'll be back in the next couple of days with more info!

BoomBoom Nova

I forgot to mention yesterday how this TV advert

has been making me laugh every time I see it on Japanese TV. Well the 15 second version makes me laugh. This 30 second version gets the comedy timing a bit wrong.

In case you don't know, NOVA are one of the more popular English conversation (eikaiwa) schools in Japan. I have to stop myself from laughing out loud like a loony when I think about this ad!

My wife wonders if this ad was made to divert attention from the recent murder of NOVA teacher Lindsey Ann Hawker.

Somehow I doubt that, as I assume it would take more time to plan and approve a TV ad, but what do I know?

After the bungled attempt to arrest the prime suspect and the ensuing manhunt, I wonder if he'll really be caught now that attention has turned to the gunning down of the mayor of Nagasaki and the Virginia Tech massacre.

Sorry to go all serious on you guys, but that's what's on my mind right now. My thoughts go out to all the victims of these terrible events.

Random Task!

Well, random stuff, actually, but I couldn't resist the Austin Powers reference!

I haven't blogged in a week because I've had a lot on my plate. The new school year has started so I'm back at work again, but at the start of the year there's very little for me to do except turn up to work and veg out! Funny how I arrive home from work tired from a hard day's veg...

But I have been doing lots of driving lessons and studying for the written test. It's not fun trying to remember all those figures and tables they make you learn - it's even harder doing it in Japanese.

A few weeks ago I had to do a kind of crash course in first aid for drivers if there's a car accident. Doctor Who viewers may find the following photos disturbing...




Another insidious Auton invasion? You decide.

Not long to go now till the end of my course. Fingers crossed I pass the test!

In other news... Red Bull finally comes to my town!



Yay! It's only in one shop - the local Doutor cafe - but at least it's finally come to Fukuoka. After 8 years of living in Japan I can finally start up my Red Bull addiction again!(^o^)

And now something a little more tech/video game-related...

I'm sure there are many gamers who have a significant other who isn't in to video games as much as they are. And a lot of times you're playing a game or watching TV but they tell you to turn that goddamn noise down. Especially now my wife is pregnant, the sound of chainsawing Locust in Gears of War isn't exactly what she wants to hear (or see for that matter!) while she's dealing with morning sickness!

So it was time to do something about it. I hate cables - as anyone has who's seen my apartment is aware, I probably have enough game-related cables to run around the world! So I decided to invest in some wireless surround sound headphones. And here they are:



Yes, I do look like a total tool in that photo (^_^). After I took it I remembered this:


Ah, Dreamcast, we knew ye for but a short time...

I got the Panasonic RP-WF6000-K, if anyone's interested. Really comfortable headphones compared to the others in my local Yodobashi Camera electronics store. Plus they were on a time sale and I used my points I stored up there. So I took them home for only 15,000 yen! Pretty tasty! It makes such a difference now I can play games or watch TV as much as I like without disturbing the ol' ball and chain wife! (^_^)

Shout out to all my friends reading this and my brother. I'm outta here!

360 and Jaguar Get It Ooohhhnnnn!

Haven't we seen this before? Hmm...


Ah, yes, so we have. (^_^)

Rival Schools - FIGHT!

Well, rival classes, anyway (^_^).

Here's one of the things I've been meaning to write about for a little while, but other things got in the way. It's almost over now, but the Spring Holidays (and therefore end of school year holidays) have kicked in here in sunny old frickin' cold Japan, along with the hanami season.

At the end of the Japanese school year, at least in the town I live in, every school has what they call a "class match", an inter-class sports competition. The boys play soccer football and the girls play volleyball against each other.

Only the first years and second years (7th and 8th graders) fight it out because the 3rd years have graduated and are on holiday by this time.

The boys play soccer out on the sunny and quite windy playground in a tournament-style competition, each half lasting 10 minutes. Usually the boys are quite vocal, shouting out encouragement to their teammates on the field, but this year, they seemed like they couldn't give a shit pretty subdued:



The guys on the sidelines even had time to start burying this dude in the sand!

Trust me, the kid on the right is throwing sand - he's not trying to go "south of the border" on that guy in the centre, although that would have been a lot funnier! (^o^)
The guys aren't that good, hey - they're not pros yet - so most of the matches are goal-less draws that go to penalties. Kind of a lame way to decide who's the best, but there you go.


The girls' volleyball tourney has a very different atmosphere. I guess as with girls all over the world, they tend to team up and get on with each other a lot better. There's a lot more cheering and clapping, team huddles and general cheerfulness.



Sorry all you weirdo jailbait-huntin' Japanese schoolgirl fetish anime porn watching chikan, no Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball shenanigans for you here! Not even any sand, the boys have to deal with that.

Something I didn't realise until this year is that the kids make their own programmes which are very detailed and contain lots of hand drawn pics, like this:



I was surprised how much effort some of the kids go to for the class matches. Pretty cool. I also like how the homeroom teachers really get involved and support their own classes' teams, which encourages the kids no end.

I didn't pay close attention to who won in the end, but a few days later, I did notice this poster up in one of the classrooms:



Yup, Class 2-1, you guys sure got game victory.

Blue Dragon Anime Series Coming!

So, for the last week or so I've been playing Blue Dragon, or Le Dragon Bleu, if you wear a stripy shirt and beret. It's pretty cool. I love the graphics and the awesomely cheesemungous boss theme.

Anyway, I just noticed and downloaded the Blue Dragon anime preview on Xbox Live (Japan). It looks OK, but the voices don't sound as good. They used a different voice cast, although in the case of the hero, Shu, that's a good thing. His deep voice that's obviously being performed by a female voice actress kinda sucks. I feel a bit embarassed when he says, "Ore ha makene- ze!" (I never lose!), which is pretty often.

Also, this is the first time I can say a game looks better than a TV show/movie. There's something about the TV show's art style that makes Akira Toriyma's chara designs rough looking and not as pleasant to look at.

Apparently this is old news to the hardcore anime peeps, but it's news to me! Strange that the trailer would go up on Xbox Live today considering the show starts tomorrow morning! Nice work on the marketing there!

It's Alive!!!!!!

Having sacrificed Japanese virgins on the altar of the great Incan chicken god Cluccacuc, I have restored life to my dead iMac! In fact, it's running better than ever, though it's taken me a long time to find and install all the modifications I'd done to it before. So I'm a happy chappy again.

I probably will still get a MacPro at some point, but I can put it off for a little bit longer - say after this summer's Apple Conference when Steve Jobs will no doubt announce something better, like an 8 Core MacPro or Leopard finally coming out! The other reason I should wait and save some more money is a far more important reason:



This is an ultrasound picture of my unborn child! Yep, it's official! I'm going to be a Dad! Time to break out the tweed slippers and cardigans... NOT! Exciting and scary, yet incredibly awesome, too. I don't know what else to say... Things are going to get verrry different from here on out!

I know I keep promising to write something about EDF, but I haven't had much time lately (see above!). Seeing as probably everyone who's interested already has EDF 2017 for Xbox 360, I'll be concentrating on the older games in the series and their side games - which is going to take a bit more time to research! In the meantime, I'll post lots of little tidbits that have been burning a hole in my blog pocket for a while now... Come back tomorrow for tidbit no. 1! '-)

Wii Wagglin'

As if waggling with a Wiimote didn't make you look stupid already...

Now there's this from Thinkgeek!