This blog (or 日記 if you will) is intended to chronicle my experience in Japan at the Yamasa Institute in Okazaki, Japan from July to August, 2012. I have always wanted to have a journal, though, so I will try to get into a habit of writing frequently about the things important to me in my life. Besides, I plan on returning to Yamasa to participate in the AIJP after I get out of the Navy! These are the Espelancer Chronicles.
Erica is also blogging about the trip, and you should totally check it out. It is The Marvelous Misadventures of Schneewittchen link over on the sidebar.
Well, I am now back from an 11-day stint out at sea (even though it felt like a month), and it feels really good to be home. The underway was pretty uneventful, and pretty much consisted of me standing watch, going to training, and doing a lot of studying. With my trip to Japan coming up in only 2 weeks, I need to sharpen my vocabulary and grammar so that I can perform as well as possible on the Yamasa placement exam. Hopefully I'll be able to place around lesson 40 in みんなの日本語 (Minna no Nihongo, this is one of the textbooks I use and the textbook Yamasa uses up to the intermediate level classes).
Now that I am back, though, there were a lot of things that needed to be done. That is how life in the Navy is when you are attached to a sea-going vessel as part of ship's company -- your life completely stops for those few weeks while the rest of the world keeps revolving. Deployment was the same way, but I was actually OK with that since you make plans for such a long term absence that you don't normally make when you are only gone for a few weeks.
First on the list was my calculus class that I am taking online through Excelsior College. I had planned ahead and took the mid-term prior to going underway (which was a week ahead of the actual mid-term date), but I still had a week and a half worth of homework covering integration due this weekend that I stormed through last night. It is nearly impossible to do it on the boat since the internet connection at sea is so horrible. Also, with the next term coming up, I need to apply for TA and register for classes so that I can start on them when I return from Japan (I am planning on taking 3 classes, probably Calculus II and Reactor Plant Materials through Excelsior, and Japanese 2002 through Georgia Tech if they accept my application). I have to finish that BS in Nuclear Engineering Technology before I get out -- you need a bachelor's degree to participate in Yamasa's graduate diploma program and also to apply for the JET Programme, which are both in my 5-year post-Navy plan.
Then, there are details that I need to take care of before I leave for Japan. There are the usual end-of-month stuff like my mortgage and condo fee, bills, and that water bill that sneaks up on me because they bill every 2 months and don't do automatic drafts (it's 2 weeks late because I forgot about it... I should really open my mail more often), but there are also small details that need to be worked out for the trip. Since my Tokyo weekend is pretty much mapped out, I reserved a hotel in Nihonbashi for July 27 and 28 near where the JDK band will play, which is also a relatively short distance from the Sumida River, the Japanese Imperial Palace, and Akihabara Electric Town. I need to look into getting train tickets from Okazaki to Tokyo that weekend, but I'll work on that later. I have no idea what to do for Kyoto, though -- all I know is that I want to go there during one of the weekends.
Now, we just need Namco to bring us Tales of Xillia!
Well, that is all I have time to write tonight. Before I head off to dreamland, I have one bit of exciting news that caught my eye yesterday. In my previous write-up about Ni No Kuni DS, I did not think that the DS game would ever be localized in part due to the luscious "Magic Master" tome that comes with it, but I was wrong (at least partially). Ni No Kuni DS is still not being localized, but Namco Bandai announced a "Wizard's Edition" for the PS3 version coming in January 2013, and it is available for pre-order at Namco's website.
With the timing of my upcoming trip to Japan, there are a great many festivals happening. Since I will be studying in Okazaki, which is equidistant between Tokyo and Kyoto, I want to visit both cities during a weekend. I'm not sure when I will go to Kyoto or what I want to do there, but I think that I have picked a perfect weekend for my Tokyo trip.
Trails in the Sky NA Boxart
The JDK Band (links to a Japanese website) will be performing at Nihonbashi Matsui Hall in Tokyo on Friday, July 27. If you do not know who the JDK Band is, they compose the music for Nihon Falcom's games. Nihon Falcom is best known for The Legend of Heroes series and the Ys series, and Falcom games are consistently acclaimed for their beautiful dialogue, engaging gameplay, and an award-winning arrangement of musical masterpieces composed and played by JDK Band. In short, Falcom is basically the Studio Ghibli of video games in Japan and they are wildly popular there. They do not focus on making a shiny game with the best graphics money can buy -- they instead focus on polishing the details of plot and gameplay to deliver a truly unforgettable gaming experience, complete with a soundtrack that can pump you up for a boss fight or strike a chord in your heart. The music featured in these games have are so popular in Japan that Falcom holds the record for most number of sales made for a video game soundtrack -- a record that not even Square's Nobuo Uematsu has come even close to besting.
Kevin Gifford does a good writeup about Falcom on 1Up, you should check it out.
But, that is my plug for Falcom games, I think this would be a good start to the weekend. We get out of class early on Fridays so we should be able take the JR up to Tokyo and arrive with plenty of time to spare, and I think it'll be a lot of fun to go see them perform in Japan.
The last Saturday of every July the Sumida River Fireworks Festival kicks off in Tokyo, and it is one of the oldest and most well known fireworks show in Japan. It is supposed to be nearly 2 solid hours of 花火「はなび」 (Flower-Fire, or fireworks) and looks to be a spectacular event to be a part of. Other than the fireworks, the streets are lined with vendors and people wearing yukata, and the summer festive mood is in full swing. I'm betting it will be a good time. The catch, though, is that this event will not happen if the weather is poor, since it would not be possible to reschedule an event of this caliber very easily. Hopefully it will be a beautiful night to wrap up Saturday with!
隅田川できれいな花火だね。
I have no solid plans for what we will be doing during the day on Saturday or on Sunday, but that is fine. Tokyo is a big city, after all, and I'm sure we will not be able to see everything that Tokyo has to offer in a single weekend, anyways. I went to New York City four times when I was in Saratoga Springs and I definitely did not get to see everything in that city, after all!
Well, that will be my last writeup for the next few weeks. I am going out to sea on Monday (we have to be on the ship all day Sunday, though), so with the ship's highly unreliable internet access I will not get to write. Thank you for reading, though, and thank you for 100 pageviews (hey, celebrating mediocrity is better than not celebrating at all!).
Well, my blogging project here is already off to a rocky start, as I have not written in over 2 weeks! I am trying to get into the habit of writing routinely -- after all, I do not want to disappoint my 18 historical pageviews! Today I am going to talk about a Nintendo DS game that I recently imported.
Ni No Kuni DS's Packaging
Now, I heard about this game completely by accident. I am a fan of the JRPG, and usually games like this don't slip under my radar, but this one did. 二ノ国 (Ni No Kuni) is a game co-developed by Level 5 and Studio Ghibli. You may be familiar with Level 5 if you have ever played Dark Cloud or White Knight Chronicles, but the real name here is Ghibli. This is the first video game developed by the anime studio famous for cinematic masterpieces such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Ponyo, or any of their other 15 films, and there is just as much heart to be found here.
Furigana AND voice acting? OMG!
Other than Studio Ghibli being the name behind Ni No Kuni, I was also highly interested in importing this title in order to improve upon my Japanese. As you can see to the right, the text has furigana. For those of you not familiar with the Japanese language, furigana are the tiny hiragana (Japanese phonetic characters) written above the kanji (Chinese characters) that enable one to determine how the word is sounded out. This enables me to be able to look up unfamiliar kanji (of which there are many I do not know) in the dictionary directly, rather than counting the strokes and trying to find the kanji in my kanji reference book. Also, this game contains a significant amount of voice acting, which enables me to read along with the words as they are spoken. As you can see, playing video games can be a very effective tool for learning the Japanese language!
To say Magic Master is the most beautiful book I have ever seen packaged with a video game would be an understatement. It even trounces Working Design's ace hardcover full-color manuals for games such as Arc the Lad Collection or Lunar: Silver Star. It isn't just there for looks, either -- you actually need to reference it to play the game. It contains important things such as the spells you will need to use, a comprehensive bestiary detailing every enemy in the game, an full inventory and description of every item, beautifully detailed world and local maps, local legends and character backstories that breathe life into this vast world, recipes for the cooking system, and many more things. It has everything a player guide would have except for an actual walkthrough, and it is packaged with the game. For someone who cares much more about the box and manual than the game itself, Ni No Kuni is a dream come true for me.
Now, it goes without saying that such an extravagantly produced game is highly unlikely to ever be released in the United States, however that does not mean the game can't come to our shores! You see, there is also a Playstation 3 version of this game. It has the exact same story arc, except it was made completely from scratch with its own gameplay and beautiful HD graphics designed to imitate Ghibli's art style. The good news for anyone who is excited about this game in North America is that Namco Bandai has confirmed that an English version will be released sometime in early 2013.
Before you get too excited, though, you should know the most ironic thing about the PS3 version: Magic Master is referenced in-game and does not come as a physical copy. It is funny that the portable version gets a huge tome whereas the console version is completely digital.
I will leave you with the DS trailer that sold me on this game, as well as the official English trailer for the PS3 localization. I also promise to write more frequently -- after all, I really do want to have a quality Yamasa blog when I leave for Japan this summer!
With a score of 2 to 1, the Rangers advance in Game 7
Wow, what a riveting series... I am of course talking the Eastern Semis between the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals. Like most of their games, it stayed close the entire way through, and the final period was absolutely intense. This marks the end of one of the most exciting series this playoff season, and the Caps sure did give the Rangers a run for their money. I'm glad they went all the way to game 7. In a way, a little luck may have had something to do with it, as one of the Ranger's wins was from a goal late in the third overtime (game 2), and another was due to tying the score with only 6 seconds left on the clock, and then finishing the Caps off in overtime with a power play goal (Damn that 4:00 high sticking call!), however the Caps are out and now the Rangers will be advancing on to play the Devils in the Eastern finals. I can only hope that the Devils and Rangers give us an equally exciting show.
Really, this entire playoff season has been full of surprises. For example, the LA Kings have eliminated the #1 seed in 5 games, swept the #2 seed, and is now going on to face the #3 seed in Phoenix (although Phoenix IS only the third seed because they led their division during the regular season). Phoenix is a bit of an underdog, too, though, as they have not had much playoff success until recently, and have never been to the Stanley Cup finals. I think the Kings and Coyotes will be a great match-up, too.
Now, a lot of my friends think that it is strange that I like hockey. Of all sports, why hockey? I am not a big fan of football (although I've seen a few Cowboys games), and I think other sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer, and especially golf are simply not exciting enough. Hockey, however, is incredibly fast-paced and action-packed. If I had to compare football and hockey to video games, I would have to say the football is the Final Fantasy of sports, while hockey is Ys (or perhaps more accurately, a Namco Tales game) of sports.
Tidus Tebow
So, how is football like Final Fantasy? Well, for starters football is the most popular sport in America, just as Final Fantasy is the most popular JRPG in America. In fact, one could argue that Final Fantasy (ahem VII) fanboys have as much fervor for this series as the average football fan. Now I like Final Fantasy well enough, and I can tolerate football, however I find both to be extremely overrated.
Until recently, Final Fantasy games have been turn based (albeit with an Active Time Battle), which results in the players and enemies taking turns to attack most of the time. In football, each team takes turns making drives into the end zone. This means there are frequent pauses in play throughout the entire game. There might be a good deal of heavy hitting and rough contact going on, however, play is stopped whenever the ball-carrier goes down or runs out of bounds, even if the clock doesn't always stop. The ball is typically only in play for about 20 seconds in a down on average
Modern Final Fantasy games are full of beautiful eye candy with cutscenes that look more and more realistic with each new game. No other sport intermission can compare to an NFL halftime show, especially during the playoffs and the Super Bowl.
Interestingly enough, there is an Uncyclopedia entry for Final Fantasy Football. I think it would actually be a pretty awesome idea.
There you go, football is a popular turn-based JRPG.
Now, most of my favorite JRPG's are in fact action RPG's. I'm a huge fan of the Namco Tales series and the Ys series (as well as just about everything else from Falcom), both of which sport intense and engaging action gameplay in which the tide of the battle can change in literally an instant.
Well, you see, hockey is very much the same way. The player can be forced to switch between offense and defense at a moment's notice. No matter how well a hockey team can keep the puck in their offensive zone, if it comes loose, you may very well see the defensive team manage to drive the puck all the way down the ice and score on the break-away.
In any match between two great hockey teams, though, most scores happen on rebounds and assists. When you have 3 guys defending the net and another 3 trying to take control of the puck, most of the time it takes your entire offensive line to get the puck in the net. Much like Tales of Xillia here, you use your entire party and, while lucky shots do happen, most of the time players need an assist to score a goal. After all, it isn't easy getting a puck into a 6'x4' area, especially with a pro goaltender in the way.
The biggest difference here, though, is that there is very little stoppage of play in hockey, just like in many action RPG's there is very little rest between fights. Sure, you have the occasional icing or offsides, and sometimes the puck goes out of play or a penalty is called, but it is not unheard of for the puck to remain in play for over half of a period (that's 10 minutes for any non-hockey fans). I'd love to see a single football down last for that long. This leads to incredibly exciting games and hair-raising moments near the goal, full of action, body checks into the boards, hard open-ice hits, and sometimes even fights. That is why I love hockey so much, because hockey is an action RPG. Maybe Namco should make a Tales of Stanley game. I'd play it.
Well, that is all for today. I can't make a hockey post without a hockey video, so I'll leave you with a video of some wicked hockey saves.
