RETake09's Blog

Summer and Fall POST

retake09 — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 00:48:55 +0000

Finally got this post up after all the times I stated I was going to make a post. In all honesty it is quite amazing how people can continuously do this either every week or everyday. Maybe its because I do not do this often, but it is interesting to do. On a personal not I guess I can say I am currently content on where I am right now in my life. During last year and this year things weren’t going the way I planed, or I didn’t work towards them. Right now I am on my last year in getting my associates degree, and soon will be working for my bachelors. As soon as I graduate my friend and I plan on visiting Korea and Japan. We plan on doing a lot more in Japan rather than Korea. Maybe we will visit comiket because we will be visiting Japan around that time, so we will see how things will go down. I got many things to talk about such as: My new computer, New car, Guitar/Bass, Anime/Manga, Games. So with out any interruption the Summer and Fall post will now begin!

COMPUTER

I built my new computer because I needed the juice my laptop could not bring to the table. I have finally realized that my UA-25-EX was not compatilble with the laptop I had. Mainly because the CPU was weak as HELL! I did some test recordings and the capture device worked great. In the guitar section I will post the video of me playing Fuwa Fuwa Time and comparing them my laptop vs my computer. The downside of having this computer is; it is loud as hell and it makes my room hot, but when the winter comes around I will have heat in my room! I was under a budget so I bought the best parts for my dollars. Apparently the monitor I have is used in a lot of gaming tournaments.

Computer Specs:
-Phenom II X4 965 Black AM3 3.4Ghz 512KB 45NM 125W 4000MHZ
-MSI Socket AM3/AMD 870/DDR3/SATA3/A&GbE/ATX Motherboard 870S-G46
-HIS Radeon HD 4670 IceQ 1 GB (128bit) DDR3 HDMI Dual DL-DVI (HDCP) PCI Express 2.0 X16 Video Card Retail (RoHS) H467QR1GH
-Cooler Master Elite Mid Tower Case, RC-310-BWN1-GP (Blue)
-Cooler Master GX Series 650W ATX 12V V2.31 80 PLUS SLI Ready Power Supply RS650-ACAAE3-US
-ASUS VH236H 23 Inch Widescreen LCD Monitor – Black

CAR
I finally got a new car! Its gonna be a bitch paying for it, but I got a quite the deal. The car is a 6 speed 2011 Nissan Sentra. I wanted the Nissan Sentra SPEC-V SER, but they did not have any, and it would have been a bigger bitch to pay off. I before this car I had a 1999 Chevy S10, which today I dearly miss. The one problem with the Nissan Sentra in my opinion is my own inablity to shift properly. The reason for this is because my clutch in my truck was heavy (hard to push down). The Sentra has a light clutch (easy to push down), and because of this I cannot shift properly, but in time I probably will be get used to it. I plan on tuning my car, and putting a fujita cold air intake.

What my old car looked like. (WITHOUT THE TOP!)

Guitar/Bass

Not a lot to say in this section. Playing the bass left handed now has gotten easier and feels less awkward, but the feeling is similar to the first time I picked up the guitar. Right now I am currently worrking on No Thank You!, Fude Pen, Reach Out to The Truth, and U&I. I am trasnfering the music to guitarpro since it is easier to grasp the concept of the music notation. I recently got a bass amp, and it sound fantasic! The bass is from Ampeg and model is BA-108.

As I mentioned earlier, my UA-25EX was not compatible with my laptop here is a clip the difference between a decent laptop vs a decent computer. The laptop sound muddy and murky, while the computer has more tone and the distortion sounds crisp. If you cant tell the difference don’t worry about it, cause I sure can.

Manga

Just bought Asu no Yoichi, Negima, Omamori Himari. I actually came across Asu and Himari by online reading. This is why in my opinion it is good to such sites, however not many people see it like I do. I also got the K-ON book 4 which is pretty big. Its bigger than all of the books so far.

These came in the mail today! =V

Game

Catherine

^Mai honey.

Over all the game was great. I have never played a game that got me to actually think about my moves, and the consequence it brings. The story line was great. Don’t want to get into the whole concept of the game, but I have read a few sites stating that the story line was not original. To refute their statement do you really think that playing a overrated shooter game can bring an actual story line? Its sad cause many games that Japan releases are almost never popular here because of how “unrealistic” the game is. However, that is my opinion. If you disagree or agree why do you think Japan’s games are not as popular in the US?

Azusa Vox amPlug TEST

retake09 — Thu, 19 May 2011 22:35:19 +0000

Distortion sounds fairly nice. This is rhythm distortion so there is no “fx” option; either on or off, compared to Yui’s and Mio’s amPlugs. This time I used my UA-25EX sound capture instead of plugging it directly to my computer. I think it sounds better. At this point right now I am currently still practicing, so I can play better. Please look forward for more recordings.

^Click ME

Next is Akiyama Mio with playing left hand bass (I am right handed)

Yui VOX amPlug TEST

retake09 — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:10:13 +0000

Just a test. I am impressed with the audio going directly from this device to this computer sounds fanatic. I wonder what it will sound like when I use a audio capture device. This is just a demo for the Yui VOX amPlug. Since she is the lead guitarist he “effect” has distortion and reverb effect.

^Click to Listen

Azusa Nakano VOX amPlug

retake09 — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 05:15:12 +0000

After fiddling with many effects I have finally found the effect for me. This is one of the greatest invention possible for a mobile effect. This distortion has a classic rock with decent distortion, and has many tweaking for specified effects. I will soon post up a demo recording, and this is something I will do. I have also ordered the Yui Lead, and Mio Bass effects as well. This cost me quite a few since this is a rare item and not easy to get in the US.

Nyan~

From the side is the power switch. From the top Auxiliary port (Ipod, MP3: PORT) Gain, Tone Volume Control. On the right side is a headphone jack.

Front of the package

Back of the package

Plugged in the Guitar

2010 In Review and Blog

retake09 — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:32:19 +0000

Happy new year! Hope you had a nice season. I myself had a great Christmas and New -Year. I am finally approaching the second semester of my second year. I cant wait. Well since its been a while since my update, this post will have a lot of content.

Review of my 2010 Blog

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 14,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 3 fully loaded ships.

In 2010, there were 7 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 39 posts. There were 64 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 38mb. That’s about a picture per week.

The busiest day of the year was May 23rd with 179 views. The most popular post that day was New Year and UPdate!!!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were youtube.com, breadmasterlee.wordpress.com, twitter.com, jozdrumz.blogspot.com, and justin.tv.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for modern warfare 2, omamori himari, mikuru asahina, final fantasy 13, and mikuru.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

New Year and UPdate!!! December 2009
3 comments

Negima?! October 2009

Princess Lover! and Other Stuff October 2009
3 comments

Random Post 1/13/2010 January 2010
1 comment

Tales of Vesperia 2??! October 2009

Anime

I would declare Fall 2010 anime mostly known for it’s ecchi content. Notable anime are: Yosuga no Sora, Motto To Love RU, Sora no Otoshimono, A Certain Magical Index, The World God Only Knows.

Yosuga no Sora

Liked: Art, Story, and Fan-service

Disliked: 12 episodes, that lead to omake at the end.

Verdict: Watch it in blu-ray, and make sure your alone cause this is seriously NSFW!

Sora No Otshimono

Liked: Art, Story line, Fanservice, Character Design

Disliked: Did not like the constant run in with the random perverted moments that did not tie in to the story what so ever.

Verdict: I recommend this anime because of the story line. It is in the second season, and there still are a lot of un -answered questions. But, be warned about the random fan service moments that do not correlate to the story at all. If you did not get the chance to watch the first season I recommend to keep what I said about the second season. Again NSFW

NOTE: There is also a movie coming out with Hikasa Yoko <3

Motto To Love RU

Liked: Characters Desgin, Yui Kotegawa <3

Disliked: Random story line

Verdict: This is something you should not watch with people around. I recommend also you read the manga. Do not watch the first season because it does not follow the manga; which the second season does, but it only shows the ending of the manga so that’s why you should read all 200 chapters before watching the anime lol.

Ore no Imouto ga Konno Kawaii Wake Gai Nai

Liked: NONE

Disliked: Ayana Taketastsu

Verdict: I liked the anime for the first few episodes, but I lost interest. I have no valid reason why I dislike this anime because it seems to be popular, but it just did not hit the spot for me. It is completely up to you if you want to watch it.

MM!

Liked: Jun Fukuama, Saori Hayami, cameos

Disliked: Ayana Taketatsu, story line

Verdict: I liked it in the beginning but then it seemed like the story began to crumble. I do not recommend it, but that is up to you if you want to watch it. Try to see if you suits your taste.

The World God Only Knows

Liked: Art, Saori Hayami, Character design, plot

Disliked: Only 12 episodes.

Verdict: Must watch anime. I recommend this. I also recommend reading the manga as well.

To Aru Majutsu no Index II

Liked: Story, Charcter Seiyuu (Voice Actor): Rina Satou, Shizuka Itou, Rie Kugimiya, and Seiri Fukiyose

Disliked: Production Quality

Verdict: The second season follows the events of the light novels. The only reason why I mentioned the production quality is because in the past few episodes the characters seemed to be deformed. You be the judge of it, but do not let the production quality affect your choice. I recomend you watch first season and continue on to the second. Also watch To Aru Kagaku Railgun, but the thing I disliked about Railgun is it does not follow the manga.

Bakuman

Liked: Story, Art, Character Design, Seiyuu

Disliked: ???

Verdict: I can’t say like this anime or hate it. It remains neutral to me. Watch it and see how you feel.

Shinryaku Ika Musume

Liked: De Geso, Plot, Character

Disliked: Opening music.

Verdict: Watch this anime!

Guitar

I recently got my fourth guitar band score, and I am excited! I got this present from my sister for my birthday. I am still practicing on my guitar skills, and so far I do see improvements, but I wish I could progress more. YAY for HD pictures!

^Nail polish is my sisters! Don’t get any funny ideas.

Final words

I still need to make a banner I haven’t forgot about it. Also I will start up JTV, again in summer or earlier who knows. Untill I get financially stable I will think about it. Also expect guitar recording soon, I need to learn how to use Adobe Premiere, and once that is done I will start recording. I hope you guys will have a great year and expect more posting from me.

One Year On WordPress!

retake09 — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 22:26:05 +0000

It has been a year since I began blogging. Although, I have not updated; I will update on things that currently matter. From the time I began blogging, a lot has happened in the 2010 year. I would say it was like the stock market; going up and down, and having my high’s and low’s. Since it have been a year this will be a long post, so I hope you are ready to expand your mind.

Over the year I tried to get out of my typical standards of anime, and try being more open to different themes. The following left a good impression on me: Sora no Otoshimono (Fall 2009), Durarara (Winter 2009/2010), Angel Beats (Spring 2010), Seitokai Yakuindomo (Summer 2010), Ookamisan to Shichinin no Nakamatachi (Summer 2010), Amagami SS (Summer 2010), Sekimatsu Occult Gakuin (Summer 2010).

Sora no Otoshimono

This anime might not be the most perverted anime, but its out there. The fact that the main character uses his perverseness as a gag makes this funny. Although the main character may be extremely perverted, there are rare moments when he gets serious, and makes him cool. This anime in itself, in my opinion is mainly comedy, but there are some serious moments which story stand out. Currently, I am watching the second season of the anime, and as always there is an immense amount of fan service.

Durarara

To be honest, when I first saw the title and a few screen caps I thought this anime was crap. BUT I was wrong. I do not know what actually made me watch this, but I did. When I first saw the first episode, I was thrown off in how the story line was, but eventually got it down. I STRONGLY recommend this anime for those who have not seen it.

Angel Beats

I was originally gonna watch this anime, but I never got to it. How I got to the anime is quite funny. If you kept up with Amagami SS, In the Sae ARC there is a moment where the main character meets a director. This director’s voice actor is American. I did my homework and I did my research of this voice actor, and he voiced a character named TK, and came across this video http://tinyurl.com/2957z6m which made me laugh, and decided to watch this anime. When I watched this anime I loved how the story was. Another great strength of this anime is its tear jerking moments. It was so hard to hold back tears when the sad parts came, which made sense to me why this anime had its sad moments because Jun Maeda, the writer of Angel Beats also wrote CLANNAD. The music had an impact on me, and because of this I bought the official band score. Also the accusations of calling this anime similar to Haruhi is ridiculous. Saying Yuri looks like Haruhi? Harutards are annoying as always…. The developer said he admired the character Yukiko from Persona 4, so the design for Yuri was inspired from Yukiko if there was an accusation it should be that.

Seitokai Yakuindomo

Oh man this anime… Never in my life have I seen an anime like this. This anime is and adaptation of a 4-koma manga. The use of sexual innuendo makes this anime hilarious. This anime in my opinion, would not make sense to western people due to the heavy use of Japan’s cultural references, but don’t take my word for it. Also if you didn’t notice the voice actors for Shino, and Aria is Hikasa Yoko, and Satomi Sato (From K-ON Mio and Ritsu which makes it even funny cause you have the impression of the K-ON characters.)

Ookamisan to Shichinin no Nakamatachi

The story line they choose for this was awesome. This anime used fairy tale archetypes to build this anime, which made it great. I admire how the story was built and used modernized fairy tale themes for the anime. The art for this anime was very pretty as well. The fact Maya’n sang the song made me love it even more. Although, at first when I heard it for the first time it bothered me a lot, but it grew on me.

Amgami SS

If you like romance anime this is perfect for you. But don’t expect tragedy or a bad ending. They all have the perfect ending; meaning there is no negative prospects, and the story has arcs. Every four episodes has the same main character, but a new lover. The one arc I hated with a passion is the SAE NAKATA arc, and the reason should be clear. With every new lover comes with character ending song. So, if your looking for a happy romance type, this is the anime for you. I am willing to say best romance for the 2010 year.

Sekimatsu Occult Gakuin

Epic story with epic ending. Watch this anime! I can not express the plot twists. The voice acting by Hikasa Yoko was fantastic as always. (I got lazy. Watch this anime! =])

Musicians Corner

I bought two band score books, and they are Angel Beats’ Girls Dead Monster, and K-ON’s second opening and ending score, and they look confusing as shit. As of right now it has almost been two years since I picked up the guitar, and it feels like I made no progression what so ever. Even though I feel like I haven’t improved a bit, I am still trying my best to practice and achieve in getting better. Here is that the merchandise looks like

Angel Beats Front Cover

Back Cover

Front CD Cover and Holder

Back Cover CD

K-ON Front Cover

Back Cover

Front CD Case

Back

New Guitar

Has a new member of the family =]

Funny UPS NOTE

Long Tiem

retake09 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:02:19 +0000

I never thought my spring break would be boring as shit. I did nothing for the break except work for nothing. Only thing interesting I actually found exciting was playing Final Fantasy XIII. Originally my friend bought this game for my birthday, but he went to Texas, so I could not get it on time so I bought the game with my money and decided to invoice him later.

When I went to the midnight release of Final Fantasy XIII, I was surprised to see people there. Because last time I went to the PSP release, I was the only person present, and made me feel awkward. They had a copy of FFXII in their game station for people to play. I have to say when I saw the graphics on the television I was in awe. Playing this game currently in 720p does not satisfy me at all, let alone I am playing with component cables as well, rather than in HDMI. All I can say currently all the reviews that said that FFXII was boring and TOO linear, they can go to hell. Honestly I have to say Square Enix has come along way from FFXII. I am in love with Lighting <3. I also got a bonus code to be selected as a beta tester for FFXIV. I might invest on this because back then when I was little I always wanted to try FFXI, but never got the chance because my mother thought my grades would be terrible, when in reality they were terrible to begin with. Not sure if anyone noticed, but the Final Fantasy guide books was not published by bradygames; which I find highly strange. Because from what I know bradygames always publishes Square Enix oriented games.

The PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII was supposed to be dual audio, but XBOX had to be gay and bitch about it.

I bought this on ebay recently this made an appearance on K-ON, and I thought man I should get that pencil. This pencil was Tainaka Ritsu’s pencil, and cost me $15, and was shipped from Malaysia. Speaking of buying because of K-ON! I also bought Mio’s headphones as well. I wonder if this makes me a otaku?

I haven’t been able to play the guitar lately because of FFXIII, but I can tell you one thing I am currently working on K-ON!! ending “Dont Say Lazy”. So maybe some time by the end of this month I will be able to broadcast it. Also I noticed that the audio only comes on one side. I am looking into the problem so I can fix this right away.

I might start vlogs as well. I am not sure, but for those who view my blogs what do you think? The vlogs will probably anime, games, guitar, and current events related.

By the way for the older audience that lotion is for my dry skin, so don’t get any funny ideas =].

Baka to Test Shoukanju and Honjitsu Mankai Watashi Iro

retake09 — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:32:27 +0000

Well that is my first full cover of an anime song. This song was fairly easy, and nice. The guitar parts are fairly balanced and well composed. There is a part in full edition where it is fucking insane. I wish I could get that good seriously fast. I will upload another video because the score that I used came in two parts. I played the lead. The rhythm part is a tad bit difficult due to the 16th notes. I will work on that right away and then merge the two files improving the first part too. I am still trying to learn how to record a video of my playing this and adding the music.

EDIT

Here is the the finished product of Hayate No Gotoku’s ending. I was playing around, meaning I record my self three times and added in this song. I wasn’t taking this seriously at all. I wish I could find the full score for this.

I JUST SHAT BRICKSSS@@@@!!!

retake09 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:31:35 +0000

Whats up good people? How has it been? This year is the best year ever! Yea, I am being sarcastic, for there are a lot of reasons why, but I will not go into detail. Time for me to stop rambling and start blogging.

A while back I had mentioned I got a random h-manga, and I didn’t know why it came. But actually it was my sisters fault. When she ordered this t-shirt I got the h-manga. This shirt is awesome, but my shirt size is Large and she got me X-Large, so it looks like I am wearing a dress when I wear this.

Front

Back

Not to long ago I bought a Behringer mixer, and I used that to broadcast when I was on JustinTV, but when I hooked up my BOSS GT-6 it sounded like shit. So I did some research, and I came across the UA-25EX. This product is sweet. When I came across this on eBay I thought this was an immediate sell, for the original price is around 280 and I bought this for 229. It came with guitar wire and microphone wire. Right now I am currently trying to learn how to use it to it’s full potential. Although I am having problems when I am listening to any audio it tends to skip. If I cannot fix it I have to return it.

My old mixer ( I changed my room around can anyone tell?)

So as you know I am some what of an anime/manga fan, and I bought my monthly fix of manga. What I bought is Shakugan No Shana 5, Tena On S-String, and Alice On Deadline.

-I have yet to read Shakugan no Shana

-Tena On S-String is a interesting manga. I like it because of its art, and the story line.

-Alice On Deadline…. OHHH BOOYYY!!!!! When I saw the cover I thought “Oh man this looks great!”, but I was right for the most part, but when you look at the art it looks fucking disgusting as hell. Maybe its because its the first novel, and IMO the first novel the art tends to look funny, but in this case I am not sure at all.

Guitar Test Recordings

retake09 — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:52:54 +0000

This will be another section of my blog. Its where I will post up guitar recordings. But this will probably be on rare occasions. Since I am not a guitar genius and all thats why its gonna take a while.

Things I used

1) BOSS Distortion DS-1
2) Mixer Behringer
3) Program Audacity

I can list many things and excuses, but main thing is I need more practice. The things I wish were better would the recording program. As you know in the beginning the artificial harmonic sucked ass. I am still working on this song so don’t castrate me. Plus I don’t like this guitar distortion, my BOSS GT-6 is currently not ins service, so I have to deal with this one for now. Maybe my sound card on my laptop sucks ass. I would like constructive criticism please. Please don’t give me crap like “YOU SUCK PLAY THE VIOLIN”. I have been playing the guitar for almost a year now, so my Guitar ego cant take any more LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL…..