Keyakizaka46 Appreciation Post

This post is long overdue...

Well, I haven't finished Final Fantasy V yet.  I stopped playing it because of pyramid. And then I got distracted.  Well, not really distracted, I just found a gold mine, because I came across a website that had all of Keyakizaka46 videos subbed in english.  I've been a fan of them for a little over a year now, and I want to say this, that Keyakizaka46 is my favorite music group EVER.

When people asked me who my favorite band is or whatever, I would have normally answered ZONE, but Keyakizaka46 does it all, at least, everything that I want in a music group.  They are not your typical idols who's songs center around happy love smile joy (ZONE didn't either), their songs are about deep societal conflict cool something something hiphopdance move cool!

First, I want to commend their MANAGEMENT.  They are doing a fantastic job.  They really do contrast with AKB48, where during Senbatsu Sousenkyo you can feel the tense atmosphere, members may dispise one another, and members would do anything they can to be on top.  Anyways, this is a Keyakizaka46 post, so I will not talk about AKB48.  Since their 1st single debut in 2016, to their fifth single, they always kept the same Senbatsu line-up.  Sure, they switch member's places and stuff but it all works as all members experience the front row.  Management does a great job in keeping Keyakizaka46's image as an idol family and not a silly competition.  Also, another reason why I love Keyakizaka46's management is their treatment to Imaizumi Yui.  She had health problems, I think the fame got to her and she wanted to rest, she was probably mentally exhausted and missed her family.  Well, management allowed her to do so, and even included her solo song in their album while she was away.  And they also did not drop her from Senbatsu.  Big props to Keyakizaka46's management!!

*Puts on glasses* Ah yes, I can see that Keyakizaka46's management is totally awesome!!

Next, their songs are the best.  They have a variety of songs, their debut single was basically about dejecting the establishment, fourth single, about strength and being yourself, blah blah blah, it is too subjective to force my music onto you poor people, but yeah, their songs are relatable to me. Not only that though but I love the ballad songs as well.  I sing along Imaizuimi Yui's Himawari song from time to time especially when I just want to sing something really loud when I am by myself.  I am glad they did not release their songs ten years ago, especially Otona wa Shinjite Kuranai otherwise I would have surely killed myself during those years.

And of course, their choreography to go along with the songs iare the best. I never seen an idol group with choreo that surpasses everything I've seen in America's Best Dance Crew.  My favorite ones are of course, from most favorite, are Otona wa Shinjite Kurani (stage version, not MV version),  Dare no Koto wo Ichiban Aishiteru (A SakamichiAKB song actually), Fukyouwaon, Silent Majority, Kaze ni Fukarete, Hiraishin, Kataru Nara Mirai wo, Gensuyoubi no Asa Skirt, and Eccentric. They are all choreographed by the same person, swag master TAKAHIRO, who did dance training in New York.

I like to call myself a Keyakizaka46 DD, but if I were to choose an oshi, it would be TAKAHIRO.  Just kidding.  It would probably be Imaizumi Yui, because I feel like I know her the most.  Another thing I love about Keyakizaka46 are the members.  If you want to learn more about them, definitely watch Keyakitte Kakenai (Tsuchida and Sawabe are the best idol group MCs that I ever seen).  What I love about them the most... is I think how they all interact with each other, how they are all friends.  I can feel the love the members have for one another, unlike AKB48.  It is not all business.  Not just that though, they really inspire me to not give up sometimes.. I look up to these young members, like the strength of Moriya Akane, the creativity of Nagasawa Nanako, the coolness and Pokemon playing Shida Manaka.  I think of Oda Nana often and how she makes time for herself to read, and blah blah blah I can go on and on.  Yone-san, and Harada Aoi's study habits, Sugai's words of wisdom, tsundere Risa, resilient Rika.  They inspire me to be a better person, a better citizen in a self-interest society.

So yeah, I love Keyakizaka46!!!!!

Ew Nature

At first, I was thinking that it would be a great idea to just live outdoors, like in a tent in my backyard.  If you live in California's Bay Area you would think of earthquakes often.  And it is not the earthquake that kills people, its the buildings... well, I guess if the earth really cracks and you fall in, that's a different story, but really, its the buildings that fall on you.  Anyways, I thought it was a good idea.  When I think of tents, I think of nature, and blah blah the beauty of nature and how we're supposed to be one with the earth and that it's supposedly our natural habitat...

(but if it's natural, why are we not living there at this moment?  Because we're aliens and we do not belong in this world! We have to create our own habitat because we're not suited for this planet's main habitat!)

But, something else confirmed my thoughts, about nature.  I was in the kitchen and I saw the neighbor's cat in my backyard.  Usually I would think awwww kitty! Nope, not this time, for the first time ever, I saw that it was chasing something, and I knew that it was a small cute mouse.

It was the first time I ever saw something like it.  I just stared in panic out the window, the cat even took the mouse in its mouth and let it go, and kept chasing it, swiping its claws at it.  I know they could have been playing, but at the same time, the cat could easily just step on the poor guy.

This poor guy could have been Hanpan...

Or even Munchie.

I decided to go out and try to chase the cat away, while doing my best to avert my gaze from the mouse.  I did not want to see the mouse, though I did see the mouse.  The first time I ever saw a walking mouse.  It had those round ears like Mickey Mouse.

Well, I went out, chased the cat away from the mouse... and went back in the house and watched TV, because I did not want to be reminded of how disgusting it could have been.

It is so disgusting.  Animals eating each other... nature is sick.

Then I think again...  burgers, meatloaf, chicken... how I eat a lot of animals everyday... I am more sick than nature...

So I'll stay inside, and hope the buildings collapse on me, as repentance.

Finished XENOGEARS

I finished Xenogears.  I started it five years ago, and I got probably ... nine hours in.  I continued it again, probably a year ago but could not get into it.  Then a few weeks ago, I told myself to finish all games that I started, and so far it's been Wild Arms, Dragon Quest VIII, Pokemon TCG 2 repro, Grandia, and now, Xenogears.  I still have to finish Final Fantasy V (my file got corrupted, first time it ever happened to me and it was on an official Sony memory card, back in 2002), FFVIII (40 hours in), and XII (also around 40 hours in).

Anyways, is it one of my favorite games?  
It is not.  But the story, the world, and the concept of everything may be my favorite.  There are so many ridiculous concepts in this world, and it explores so much.  There are moments and characters that will be truly memorable to me.  It is probably my favorite love story concept in a game.  Certainly better than a few novels that try to make a complicated love story (like IQ84).  Way better in concept and excecution, I think. You may think that with all the convoluted philosophical stuff (it's better than Xenosaga III's vision, cheesey "reset the eternal recurrence!") and slow paced beginning and awkward translations that Xenogears might have execute its story poorly, but it does not!  Not at all.

But before that, I would like to get into issues I had with the game... because of course, I want to end this post in a happy note.

NAVIGATING THE WORLD
I was constantly comparing this game to Grandia.  Grandia is the older game, I think.  I admit, I am very dumb, but the maps in Grandia were easier to navigate, and I like it when games makes it easy for the player to nagivate around towns and dungeons.  The compass is confusing enough, and with this game being newer, the analog stick doesn't function... and there is no "Select" function where users are able to see the entire town map in a bird's eye view sort of way.  Another thing to add to the confusion and frustration was the jumping.  There was a lot of platforming instances where I missed the landing just because of camera angles. Speaking of camera angles, sometimes the terrain of the area blocks your sight so you cannot see your character at all.  So bleh, I did not like the controls and the map.

Also, when shopping for Gear Tune-Ups, I did not understand in the beginning, which part would increase my stats, as there is no indicator.  It turns out, after searching online, that a higher number next to the part means an increase in stat.  There are a lot of things like this in this game where you have to search outside to understand things.. I guess it is the lack of a tutorial that I have problems with... which brings me to this...

BATTLE SYSTEM
I did not like the battle system either. Mainly the speed and the music.  I did not like the battle music.  It was just boring, and does not get me pumped up like the main battle theme in Wild Arms, and it lacks the funness in Grandia.  But overall, the training and grinding was fun.  There was more to grind for than just "levels" which the game does not explain to you!

STORY

It's extremely memorable, and I will not spoil it.  But little notes to look back on that I will undersatnd: LIMITER, not wanting the painting to end, CAPTAIN OF THE SEA, Elly not wanting to love someone in desperation and being one practical mofo, "fighting yourself's willpower" (could mean that our enemy is our own Will To Power motive), "the coward".

This is my favorite scene in the game... I won't explain it. 

I do have something to say about the ending... I did not like the ending only because of all the naked people. If you are finishing the game, finish it in a room, alone, by yourself (unless the people around you are open-minded individuals).

Overall, really really loved this game.

It is merely just a WILL.  It does not have to be done.

Next up, going to finish up FFV.

I do not watch movies that much...

Usually when I watch a movie, I cannot watch it all the way through.  Ten minutes, even five minutes in, I usually pause it, do something else, and come back to it.  Sometimes it takes me years to finish a movie...

But not this one.

This is the best romance movie I ever watched.  I'm not kidding.  I even waited a week to write this.. and yes, this is the best.  No question.  The best movie, I watched... at least, for a long time.  So good, I logged in Facebook to like a fanpage of this movie.

But I heard it is based on a novel, so if you can read Japanese, just read the novels because novels are always better for this kind of stuff...

Anyways, the concept of the movie was unbelievable.  It's magical, like a Banana Yoshimoto novel, or an extremely complicated love story that breaks the boundaries of space and time like Xenogears or the Your Name movie, or even the Angel Beats! anime.  It's crazy, it's bonkers, and it's... so cool and I like it a lot, and yeah, you should totally watch it (I'm talking to myself...) but yeah, again!  Because I watched it twice already.  Watch it again, me. Or whoever reads this.

I do have problems with it, but it's after deep thoughts after watching the movie, in retrospect.  I did not have any problems in the journey.  And these problems are minor, like plotholes that do not need to be filled up.  Yeah, plotholes that do not matter.

The ending is the best part. But to understand the ending, you must watch it without any distractions from the beginning.  The secret can be spotted in the beginning if you pay attention!  So watch with 100% attention... if you plan to watch it... though you should watch it...

I just remembered something sad...

Crazy movie.  It's going to make you appreciate each moment in your life... like Heidegger's philosophy. I'M NOT GOING TO SPOIL IT!! But... everyone...  yeah.  Watch it.

At the same time though, it conflicts with my takeaway from Grandia!! Specifically the being able to handle goodbyes part.  And yeah, I finished it!!  I liked it a lot... Guido is one of my favorite characters as well... it's like he embodies Aristotle's philosophy, like get rich, make a lot of money, and it's only the rich people who can help "the poor."  So yeah, the purpose of getting rich is to give back... it's supposed to be like that, in an ideal whatever.  But I dye grass.

Summer of 2004

Yeah... I got a computer in my room that summer, and neglected to finish Grandia.  If I never got a computer... well actually, if I never got into Golden Sun that led me to be addicted to Gamefaqs, I probably could have finished Grandia...

But maybe it's only now that certain lines of dialogue struck me, like rereading a book, you see things you do not see the first time you read them... I was still a little kid back then, so I probably wouldn't have thought about it too much as I am now...

The part of Grandia I am referring to, that I missed when I was still a kid, but could have saved me so much from life's troubles is the quotes of mutherflippin GADWIN.

First of all, he's 38!  Yes!! Older than me!!!  His work ethic inspires me...

And of course, my two new favorite lines of Grandia:

"Justin... you've grown a lot as a result of your work in overcoming obstacles.  Now you've succeeded at the toughest challenge, which is to leave your friends behind."

I like the next one better though... it goes:

"Yeah well... a man must learn to handle good-byes.  When you can handle hard stuff like that, then you're a real man."

Real man... but... I... I'm a fake man!  Nah, I'm a man, manly man man.  Anyways, I'm on disc 2 now.

I finished Dragon Quest VIII...

There's stuff to do after the game, but I won't be doing it... yet.  I will get around to it someday when I'm craving for some more DQ.  Maybe I'll 100% it when there is DQXI hype here in North America.  The ending... made me want to find a Princess of my own LOL.  Actually, I found her, in Keyakizaka46's SUGAI YUKA.  She's so pretty, and her episode in the outdoors with Habu Mizuho was my favorite episode of Keyaki tte, Kakanai EVER.  They were just too cute.

She's the one on the left....

...

...

Okay, fine.  Here's her face.

So since I finished DQVIII, there was another game I played a long time ago... right before I got a computer with cable internet.  It was right before this online addiction, before MapleStory, before online friends, before... losing my life!  It was during the time when I was so cool, and there were like five girls in school that had a crush on me at once.  

That game was GRANDIA for the Playstation1.  

My mom took me and my bro to Gamestop.. or was it Funcoland at the time?  I forgot, but I was allowed to pick up a game, and it was this one.  There were a whole bunch of scatches and the disk case was a bit broken, but it still worked, and it was complete with the instruction manual.  There was a part where the screen froze, but I just left it on, and it proceeded after about 30 minutes of worrying and waiting.  

Anyways.. the instruction manual!!!  I was a 13 year old at this time, and it was the first time I had in my room, a picture of a super cute girl.  It's this picture right here, of Feena!

When I knew I was alone in the house, or just alone and everyone in the house was doing something, I would just get out the instruction manual of Grandia and just stare at her.  Just stare, because that's all I knew.  I wouldn't do anything else, just stare at her because she was so cute.  (No, I did not do that! Because I didn't know about that until two years later.)

I remember playing this and my cousin and her boyfriend (now husband) stayed over at my house to attend one of their friend's wedding.  He was also the one who helped install the cable modem, networking my computer to the modem or whatever it was, and I would be playing this game.  It turns out, he played this game too along with his brother back then and told me to just keep going... like, I guess I do not need to grind (because I was grinding a whole lot).  But after that day, I stopped playing it, because well, internet addiction starts. The Golden Sun message board on gamefaqs was what I was addicted to at the time... which led to... all of this. 

TWENTY SEVEN

On August 1st, I turned 27.

So what do I do?  Of course, I compare myself to other 27 year olds!! Or those around my age at least...

This gay guy. From FFXII.  He's the same age as me.  Supposedly he's the main nemesis I think.  Him or Basch's brother.  I never finished the game, I got to around 40 hours and I got stuck on this Bomb boss.  I just found out a couple of weeks ago that the boss I was stuck in was optional. I'll be getting back into that game after I'm done with Grandia,  Dragon Quest VIII (having a blast with this game.

Speaking of Dragon Quest VIII, I never understood it, and I found it extremely boring when my brother bought it for me back in 2005ish.  It is a Godsend to me now. The key to having fun with this game is to treat it like an Open-World game and utilizing the Tactics option so that battles do not take so long. Also, do not rush this game!  Just marvel at the graphics... (well, I can marvel at the graphics because the PS2 was my newest console until I got a Wii U last month).  I am 90 hours into the game and supposedly at the last dungeon.

I also started playing Xenoblade Chronicles X.  I actually wanted to just try it out, because there's a backlog of games I wanted to finish before I play it... well, I got hooked and I'm 40 hours in that game. Anyways, I'm glad that Elma is older than me, she's 29.

I love this game so much, it's giving me Xenosaga vibes. The artwork and the setting, the game definitely feels like Xenosaga's succesor. Elma reminds me of Kos-Mos, and the little girl reminds me of MOMO. I see that people have issues with the story, but right after finishing... either chapter 5 or 4, I forget, I was totally mind-blown.  I went into this game treating it like an Open-World game too, so that's probably why I like it so much compared to others... also, I did not play the first Xenoblade Chronicles, and of course, I'm coming back into gaming after the PS2 years (skipped the 360, Wii, and PS3 generation) so of course the graphics stand out to me, it's a surreal experience, coming from playing a game where the characters have fat blocky fingers to... these graphics. So yeah, that's probably why I think this game is so great. Anways, she's 29!

Older than me!  Yippie!!!!

Honorable mentions ... of characters also the same age as me.

Skies of Arcadia person.  I'm currently playing this game as well.  I finished the first dungeon I think, but I had to unplug the Dreamcast for a bit and haven't plugged it back in since.  

And some Suikoden characters...

This guy should be 27 when Suikoden II takes place.  Also Flik, maybe, but, psh, Flik is overrated.  But you know who I am older than?  This guy!

Wild ARms

So I just finished Wild Arms for the PSX.  My brother bought it for me for Christmas, so it took me like seven months to complete it off and on.  I did not 100% complete it.  Looking at Gamefaqs, there are like two sidequests left.  I tried one and died in three turns, so that's that.

Did I like it?  
Absolutely!  The Tools system reminds me of my beloved Golden Sun series.  Though the story is simple and has been done before, it gets its job done.  The three characters who band together are likable, and certain side characters like Jane can leave an ever-lasting impression.  It also helps that one of the main characters is the same age as me.  The villains stood out (Mother's laugh echoes in my head), but they were generic for the most part.  My favorite part of the game is the music.  It gets really repetative though, but the tracks are likeable.  Also, the localization was subpar.  They used the wrong "your" a couple of times, and they spelled "quiet" as "quite" a lot.  But overall, you can tell that they tried their best in translating from the original Japanese.  It is a video game in the mid 90s after all, and it is not translated by Ted Woolsey.

The battle system is like any other traditional JRPG with an easy to learn add-on.  It's not overly complex like what I experienced in Xenosaga (it took me two playthroughs to understand the battle system, and even then, I am not 100% certain what things are for).

THINGS THAT I WILL REMEMBER:
-The opening scene, "she" questions umm, the guy, about courage...
-If you are destined to be with someone, you will find... that person again.
-The music.  The battle theme especially got me pumped up each time.

It never got old. Also, the opening anime scene, I always let the guitar play until the whistle, then I press start to play the game.  The guitar (Hiroshi Imaizumi) strumming was just eargasmic.
-Outcast pride.
-Jane was cool.
-Cute graphics.  It was a month before the release of FFVII.  The graphics are like an enhanced FFVI.  Did you ever look at the N64 trailer for FFVI?  It kinda reminded me of that.   Only bad thing was that the color on my screen was kinda dark.  I don't know if it was just my TV, or my eyesight, but the resolution felt off.  Maybe I just played it on the wrong TV though.

I give it an 8/10.

Now I'm going to finish up Grandia.  I started it... spring of 2004. Right before I got a computer, and I am picking up where I left off, I'm not starting a new game, Lol.
I am also playing, on and off: Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Shovel Knight, Pokemon Trading Card Game 2, Tales of Phantasia, Steambot Chronicles, Persona 2 (Innocent Sin), RPG Maker FES.