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Just playing around with my new camera, this time with Yuki Nagato in her ‘evil alien witch’ costume and a lightbox below her. She looks positively ominous. :3
“What’s that Kyon? You say you choose Haruhi?”
“I guess I will have to erase you out of existence then. Farewell, Kyon…”
Pictures of Chua Chuaram to come tonight!
Bought it earlier at Berjaya Times Square for RM1999. They were having a special promotion for the bundled IS Lens Kit, which came with a 1GB SD card, 2GB USB flash drive (exchanged it for a 2GB SD card instead since I’ve a zillion flash drives already), and a camera bag.
I’ve been playing around with it for the past hour and I’m already in love with it. Now that I’ve my own DSLR camera, expect to see more pictorial coverage. 
One of the few scanslations that I’ve been eagerly waiting for its releases for the past year was Bitter Virgin by Kei Kusonoki, a mature slice of life romance that sees a 16-year old Suwa Daisuke accidentally hearing a confession by Aikawa Hinako, a classmate who holds a dark secret: she was raped by her stepfather when she was 14 and is a teenage mother. It’s a stark difference compared to cheery shoujo series which rarely tackle such heavy subjects.
After a delay of several months, Solaris-SVU, the group responsible for scanslating the series, only recently released the last 8 chapters a few days ago. Although the series is only about 32 chapters long, the subjects that it raises in its collected 4 volumes are pretty dense - rape, sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, abortion, stillbirth, mental trauma…they don’t make for pleasant reading on a Sunday afternoon, but the story is engaging and each chapter often ends with a cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more.
If there were any weaknesses to Bitter Virgin, I would say that the resolution to the series arrives too quickly before we are actually allowed to see any major development between Daisuke and Aikawa. It also leaves a few hanging plots - what happened to Aikawa’s baby in the end? Would she reconcile with her child when she is older?
The open ending to Bitter Virgin may seem frustrating to readers who might want a more conclusive and happier ending, but upon reflection, it does somewhat reflect the harsh reality of high school romances. Nonetheless, the ending also hints of that both Daisuke and Aikawa will achieve happiness in the future, be it together or in their own separate ways. Like the title, Bitter Virgin has a bittersweet conclusion. Highly recommended.
In case you forgot, the Gamer’s Hideout LAN 08 party starts tomorrow at - where else? - Gamer’s Hideout at Cineleisure Damansara; I’m gonna be there to rock out in Guitar Hero III. Rock on, bitches!
The World GameMaster Tournament 2008 kicks off! Mini event report and pictures after the jump!
(Image source: KaneNash on deviantART. Larger version available from his site)
Yesterday I took a day off work to collect my passport from the Japan Embassy, hoping that my application for the tourist visa would be approved. Initially I was concerned that my lowly bank account wouldn’t be enough to convince the authorities to approve my visa. But to my relief, I found the approved visa in my passport when I collected it from the collection counter.
Now I can’t wait to meet up with Japanese high school girls! I hear they can be quite a blast.
Multiplay reports that Sony is close to launching the Sony PlayStation 3 in the country. Well, since there’s no official word from Sony Malaysia and I can’t exactly confirm anything at the moment, I guess this news is best filed under ‘rumor’.
But if you take into consideration that Malaysia has already launched the PlayStation Portable here, the chances of Sony Malaysia bringing in the PSP’s bigger brother into the country are high. It’s just a matter of when and where.
P.S. Just don’t forget to bookmark your calendar.
Wondering why your order for that Chu Chu Astram figurine hasn’t arrived yet in your local figurine store? Well, chances are it may have been consficated. Harian Metro, a Malay-language tabloid did a special investigative report on anime figurines, and reported it to the authorities, who promptly took action.
Young collectors with fetish for obscene dolls
PORNOGRAPHIC dolls, which can cost up to RM200 each, have flooded the local market and are being snapped up by well-off young collectors.
Harian Metro reported that collecting these dolls was a hobby to some, especially children from wealthy homes, according to the Home Ministry Quranic text control division central enforcement unit head Mohd Rizal Abidin.
The dolls were being sold in shopping malls in the Klang Valley.
“The traders told us that most of these dolls are popular with teenagers who bought them for their own private collection, or as gifts for their friends.
“Action has to be taken as such pornographic dolls affect society’s moral values,” he said after raiding several premises which sold such dolls in Bukit Bintang, Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya and Brickfields since last Monday.
Mohd Rizal said they confiscated 114 dolls valued at about RM10,000.
(source: The Star Online)
The original report can be found here, courtesy of Google Cache.
Selling Indecent Toys (retrieved 12th August 2008)
I like it how the reporter grossly generalizes that these figurines are mainly bought by ‘anak orang kaya’ (children of rich people). I’m hardly wealthy, and I know quite a number of collectors who aren’t rich either - we just save our money like anybody else.
This incident reminds me of the infamous KOSMO! incident two years back, when the tabloid reported that anime was animated sex. Well, glad to see yet another tabloid of journalistic integrity picking up the pace!
Figure Mall’s Kevin is understandably pissed about this. Valho has a more reasonable outlook on the whole situation, though Setsuna is panicking.
Love at first bite. Lots and lots of Chu Chu Astram pictures after the break to sink your fangs in.
The Star has published a letter/email from the President of the Consumer Association of Penang, recommending that the Malaysian government follow the footsteps of the Thai authorities in banning the Grand Theft Auto series, after a young Thai man robbed a taxi and fatally stabbed the driver. It was widely reported that the young man wanted to see how easy it was to hijack the taxi like in the game.
As the CAP has raised the issue of increased aggression of violent videogames in young viewers, I’d like to point out that there are also several well-publicised studies that show that these videogames do not have a lasting negative impact on most players. These instances of raised aggression tend to be short term and are even quite common in teens who participate or watch competitive sports. So do we then start banning football for its links to ‘increased aggression’ in teens? In fact for most cases, videogames can be cathartic, especially for players with pent-up stress. I would advise Mohamed Idris - president of the CAP - to read the insightful Grand Theft Childhood by Harvard Medical School researchers Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson.
Furthermore, I find it odd that while the CAP mentions violent TV programmes in the email, the CAP do not demand that these violent programmes receive the same treatment as violent videogames. If the CAP is fair, then they should also demand equal action to be taken against violent TV programmes, movies, and books that are already in the market. Why single out videogames? Is it because the CAP still assumes that videogames are only for children? Yes, there are videogames for children, but a good deal of games are catered towards us young adults who are mature enough to tell right from wrong, and make sensible, responsible decisions. Too bad I can’t say the same for most of our local politicians.
As a final note, I’d like to inform the CAP that the GTA series have actually been circulating in the country, legally and illegally, for over a decade. Just how many violent crimes commited by young children or teenagers in Malaysia have been attributed to GTA or videogames? As far as I know, there has been NONE. Zero. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong though.
While I can understand the concerns that the CAP has raised, I do believe they have overstepped their boundaries on requesting the government to ban the game, especially when the association’s primary concern should be about protecting consumer rights, NOT, as Game Politics rightly pointed out, limiting our choices as consumers by requesting censorship. Gamers are consumers too, especially us adult gamers who have a right to play and enjoy games with mature content.
Danny Choo Canned Dogs Kotaku