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Just another anime enthusiast.

Friday, December 31, 2010

BeNippon's New Affiliate Program

I am officially signed up for it. More information after the jump. Lets get along, dear readers. ^_^

It works basically by giving the person who refers people to their website (Notice the hyperlink with the ID 191, thats my ID) some money based on the buyer's paid amount. It works by us bloggers signing up on their website then having a banner or two with a hyperlink that has your unique ID for the affiliate program. When people buy items using the link on your blog, you get some money.

Sounds good ! Though I highly doubt I will really make any money from this. But the banner on the right side has been updated with my ID. I'm not going to start spamming banners all over my blog. Don't worry about that.

Heres what it looks like. Exactly the same as the one on the side.


Aside though. BeNippon was my first online vendor for Japanese goods. Maybe because what I bought was extremely expensive and big. I thought the shipping charges was relatively heavy. For that reason, I haven't been using them since I found hobbysearch and amiami. But unlike hobbysearch, it is possible to find Touhou goods there. Atleast last time I tried, I could.

The site is unique for the ability to buy used goods. I never tried though. I prefer to preorder stuff. Though you always have a chance to be disappointed because prototypes always tend to look better than real products.

I won't say not to shop at BeNippon, but I think its generally more expensive than other places. But thats only for figures (which is what I solely look for). Books and stuff, it might be a good deal buying there. I think they stock stuff aside from otaku items too. Like Japanese goods, similar to Rakuten. Every store has their special charm to them. Thats why they're still alive. So if you never heard about BeNippon, give it a shot. At the very least, browse what they have and maybe you'll find something rare and affordable!

Hope you've learned something new. Lets work hard to get some extra spending money.

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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

First Pangya Self Design Bottom

I had to make a matching skirt for the Hatsune Miku top I made previously. As a first attempt, while doing it, I learned the ropes of the editor. The hardest part for me was trying to make the skirt appear to have a zigzag design while the actual skirt was perfectly flat. I used shadows and shading to try to get the effect. Thoughts for future work below.

All in all. Hard work, especially since I had to use a laptop touch pad (yes not even a mouse). But the track pad isn't too bad. About the same difficulty as a mouse. I'm not perfectly pleased with it. For some reason, it didn't turn out as well as the picture I used to do it from.

I have already thought of the next work I'll be doing. Meruru from Ore Imouto. Because the newest Pangya character Nell, looks alot like it. Pictures soon.

Source Picture (What I'll use as reference):

Nell's ingame picture:

Here is the video of Meruru from Ore Imouto

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Friday, December 24, 2010

Free Offer: $100 coupon for Google Adwords

Again, I got another one of these ad words gift cards. This time from Vistaprint. For those who are interested, send me an email at tomabackspin@gmail.com. In the email, please include your opinion if it were to cost $10 dollars for the next time. Would anyone still be interested? Don't worry, I am not going to charge you yet. I personally want some more spending money. You MUST include this in your email to be considered eligible for the free offer. Thanks. Offer is on a first come first serve. Expires Jan 20, 2011. Editted Dec 24: The coupon code is given out. Please try again another time.

For those who don't know what adwords is, read below. There are more information below.

It is a service by google where they would host a banner for your website, and it costs you money whenever people clicks it.

Here is what the letter says.
"Dear ___,

We'd like to thank you for being a loyal Vistaprint customer. To help you promote your business online and attract even more customers, we're giving you $100 worth of advertising with Google Adwords- for free.

Just go to www.google.ca/ads/vistaprint100 before January 20, 2011, and enter the code printed on the enclosed gift card.
Your first $100 of advertising is on Google.

Not familiar with Google AdWords? You simply create ads that appear next to relevant search results on Google.com and its network of partner websites. Potential customers see your ad at the exact moment they are searching for you. When people click on your ad, they're connected to your business.

Getting started with AdWords is easy. Just choose the search terms your potential customers are likely to use, write your ad and decide how much you're willing to pay per click and per day-it's that simple.

Here's why so many people like you are using Google AdWords to promote their business:
- Pay only when people land on your site. Google Adwords is performance-based, so you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
- Control your budget. You decide how much you're willing to spend on advertising each day-and how much you're willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad.
- Target just your town, or the entire world. With Google AdWords, you can focus your ads on just your neighborhood, or to people worldwide.
- There's no minimum term or commitment. You can pause or cancel your AdWords campaign at any time. Once you use up your $100 in free ads, you can continue runing your campaign, or not. It's your call.

Get started today. Just go to www.google.ca/ads/vistaprint100 before January 20, 2011 and follow the enclosed step-by-step guide, using the special code printed on your gift card. But hurry-the $100 offer ends soon.

Sincerely,
____

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Thursday, December 16, 2010

First Pangya Self Design Top

Modelled after Miku from Vocaloid. Whom I have an unexplained hatred towards.

I basically took a fan art of someone's drawing of Miku and did the top while following general trends of the shirt. Its too bad the type of shirt isn't quite the same. And drawing in a tie which doesn't stick out is.. well not really correct. But I even added some sort of shading of black and white to try to make it somewhat vinyl. Kinda...

And for some reason, my tablet refused to work =_=. It works with the touch (works like any normal mouse) but when I use my pen, the cursor went crazy like the calibration area was out of whack. So that was done by mouse. Boo...

Whether I make another or not will depend. I don't have any intentions of selling them and both points and pang is very limited for me (surveys for points, poor gameplay for pang) lol.

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tokyo Anime/Manga Ban Passes!

Uh oh. Is this a bad omen? Quote from Sankakucomplex (NSFW),

"The revised law now demands a restriction on sales of anime, manga or games which “improperly glorify or emphasise” illegal sexual acts, such as rape, groping, BDSM, voyeurism, exhibitionism, etc., by extension including underage sexual activity as well."

So that basically means animes with suggestive themes that air normally or similar mangas that sell without an adult only restriction now either has to stop completely, go over series revisions, or be attached with an adult only sticker and be sold accordingly.

According to sources, this will have a huge impact on the Japanese anime and manga industry (As one would expect). Good thing is the law doesn't kick in until July of 2011.

To read the full news on sankakucomplex, follow links here, here, and here.
To think, this all started with amazon.com posting Rapelay. Forgot how many years ago that was though. Anyway...

Thats the end of the news.
Read below if you want to hear my monologue about my opinion.

I may be an otaku to some degree, but I'm still human. Although I am against the idea of "banning" all together as I already know it solves nothing. The idea behind it is justified. One big problem is the low birthrates in Japan. This maybe because alot of japanese people like to stay indoors (hikikomori). Why do you think they stay inside? Because they find better things indoors than outdoors. As a person of similar nature myself (meaning I stay inside alot), there are always regrets that come with it. I first noticed it when I was working.

As you know, working isn't just about working. You make connections with your immediate supervisors and coworkers. That way, promotions and other benefits are easier to obtain. However, when I've locked myself indoors most of my life, how do I start a conversation with those people? "Hey the weather is nice today?" Not going to work. Trust me, here in Canada, you won't get very far by talking about anime and games either. Especially in the adult stages, its mostly about sports, music, and movies, and anything between them (including actors, etc). No, japanese pop doesn't work either. ESPECIALLY if you don't even understand japanese yourself.

So the baseline for this ban is. GO OUTSIDE. Totally agreeable. How the ban works is limiting the joy you get indoors so the incentive to go out is greater. Great! Except that shouldn't be how it works. You should work on increasing the incentive to go outside. Not decreasing the amount of indoors. But I don't write laws. Lets end it at that.

About the anime industry. Although in my anime history of shows watched. They aren't great with high score animes from good producers like Ghibli Studio. My kind of shows has always been comedy/romance. I do watch others from time to time but I get bored of them fast. But even in the specific genre I've been watching. Anime seem to be going downhill. There is an increasing number of sexual suggestions. If you look and compare Kanon to Clannad and now to Ore Imouto. Kanon had nearly none. Clannad had very few. And Ore Imouto has lots of them. Sure, none of them had actually any sexual content. But thats what they are banning. Anime do not have to have those to be funny or enjoyable. Yet, of the late, thats all the creators were able to think of. And yes, I know the sources for those 3 animes are different. But they still have a plot in common. And no matter which source its from (eroge, visual novel, manga), a plot is still a plot. Animes have become filled with "fan service". I especially hate when animes I watch now have been just exposed pantsu every few minutes or tripping over and falling on girls at every intersection. There is a limit to how many we can see in a lifetime. I am well past it. Not impressed.

Its time animes turned back into the glory they used to be.

Lastly, this is something to say why I am against the ban. It all started when the Western people (Americans) saw Rapelay on amazon.com. Thats when the whole eroge conflict came about. It later developed into child pornography. Now its become a broad anime and manga ban. It all happened because people feared children were being compromised. But I personally do not think that is the case. It is true that when you see something you want to do it. Most people have probably already felt this one in their lives. However, what matters is not what they see. It is the mindset and the knowledge their parents and guardians taught them. I loved my upbringing. I can't remember it. But I am sure I loved it. And whats better? I can identify what is right and what is wrong. Isn't that what parenting is all about? You don't just stop your child from seeing those things. You tell them after they see those things. That they are bad. You should not do it. Over long periods of time. You will automatically know its bad (kind of like propaganda, hahaha...). If you just don't let them be exposed to it, when they finally do at a greater age, they will go to their best source of information (their friends). And thats when things go hare-wire. You know peer pressure? Im sure you've been there. Killing, robbery, that kind of stuff happen BECAUSE of peer pressure.

So what I'm saying is, if this ban was for the sake of the children? I say, f*ck it. You're digging your graves.

Oops, forgot one last thing. Its about the creativity in animes. Or maybe the content. This is what I find interesting in animes. The ability to watch things that I cannot perform myself. I watch animes because I cannot write one myself which can look anywhere as good as what they air in Japan. I play games because I cannot write a better game than the ones available. I view art because I cannot draw one as competent. I listen to music because I cannot compose. And the list goes on. Think deep down, isn't that also a reason because you do something?

Sure, my expectation for anime/games/art/music/etc can never be fulfilled, that is why you continue to do those things until this very day. And when it does become fulfilled, you stop playing games, or whichever. But you do those things because it makes you in awe (and maybe because you enjoy it, but how can you describe the act of enjoying? You can't.).

Isn't that what animes are all about? If you ban certain aspects of animes, some people are going to lose their favourite genres, themes, aspects, and so forth. The anime industry is going to suffer (from people, they say it is already suffering). Because you couldn't do those things in your current life, you want to read or view about it. And thats what mangas and animes are for. (Sorry for the sudden use of this inappropriate example but I feel it is neccessary). Take a look at the number of rape mangas and animes there are. There are ALOT. Why I know this? Don't ask. It is because Japanese people don't want to commit this crime (makes sense, I don't either). But there is the desire to be relieved. So what to do? They draw ero-mangas for it. Or ero-animes for them. Although the relevance isn't completely there before I don't have any data on me. Japan has the lowest number of reported rape incidents in the world. Before you go totally believing what I say, it is also true that Japanese girls are more shy and therefore they may not report all the cases. Which leads to a decreased number of reported incidents. But I strongly stand by what I said.

Because of the time it took me to write this, I've already forgotten what I wrote in its entirety. Therefore there won't be a summary. Lol. Sorry.

Thank you for reading through to the end. If you have any comments or questions. Feel free to ask them below. I am heavily affected by this ban and feel deeply connected to it. I may be still an otaku so I am hurt deeply by this ban. But at the same time, I am human so I want the best for my Japanese friends who I have not met and is currently indoors and wasting their life away. Do take an opportunity to learn about the world. Outdoors is not as secure as your 2D life (expect depressions and despair) but it is the only thing that is real. So although it sucks. You have to bear with it. You were born a human afterall. This ban is going to hurt the creativity in the anime industry and people's appreciation of it. Causing it to go severely downhill from this point. I don't think this ban will serve much good. As banning something is never a solution to begin with. Education is the key. Ultimately, we may just see backdoors. As with pirating. As with illegal drug/firearm imports. Trying to stop something just makes more criminals. Sorry Japan. Do try again.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

EssenceRO Christmas Loading Image Submission

Whether I win or not, atleast I've put the wacom to good use. LOL !
The image is after the jump.

I have renewed respect for artists now. Drawing is HARD! I mean, seriously. Not even the thinking and planning part. That was kind of easy for me. But to put the stuff in my head onto paper. WOAH SLOW DOWN ! Even though Im submitting it, I think its full of problems. But I'm disregarding those since I might stop playing essenceRO soon anyway.

I wanted to try to use this as a motivation to draw. But I see from this experience, drawing isn't for me. It took me way too long to do and the result wasn't that great. I wonder how people can draw so well?

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Japan 111R Twelfth Class

Last class !!
We had presentations and learned just 1 lesson from the textbook. But somehow still took the whole class time...

We began by learning the last lesson. It was on the 3 verbs, ageru (to give), morau (to receive), and kureru (to receive). We were taught on its usage and when is it grammatically incorrect.
Of course, we learned how to conjugate those 3 verbs, but the same rules were used from previous lectures. (All part of putting it together)
eg/
I received candy from my friends.
I, from friends, candy received.
watashi wa tomodachi ni okashi wo moraimashita. (Is grammatically correct)
watashi wa tomodachi ni okashi wo kuremashita. (Is grammatically wrong)
tomodachi wa watashi ni okashi wo kuremashita. (Is grammatically correct)

Thats all we learned in this class. Then we had our presentations.

There were 5 presentations in total. The first one was a gameshow. Second was a puppet show except the puppets were paper drawings. Third was skit for news. Fourth was my group's skit, a comedy gameshow where unsuspecting victims are pranked. And 5th was a recorded skit with a questionnaire at the end.

In general, I think the presentations got better as it went from the first to the last.

The teaching assistants (TAs) also did a skit of their own. They portrayed a japanese person living a hard life in Canada because of some of their words. The skit was performed in a restaurant setting where the japanese person would use words like "hamachi" for some fish which I can't remember. But it sounds like "how much?". And so the english speakers would give them the bill when they really wanted to order some food. There were other words besides that one.

After that, the professor gave us her thanks for interest in Japanese and said she had a good time teaching our class. She also told us that the exam will be 2 hours in duration and 6 pages in length.

I personally enjoyed the class. It was the only class at university I've been in where I actually enjoyed it. I felt like it wasn't much like a university class, more like highschool. Where you could speak out and no professor or anyone would be shouting at you. In any of my other chemistry classes, if you spoke (other than raising your hand and asking a question), the professors would scowl at you. Here, I could just say some whatever is on my mind (supposing its appropriate for the situation), no one would care. Heck, sometimes people would laugh or the professor would make a follow-up remark.

I will be trying to enroll in Japan102R. Since Japan111R is in direct conflict with the technical elective I need to take. I hope it will be just as fun. If I get in and you're enrolled in it already. Please do say hi to me. Name is Pak Hin Law.

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