What should I do?
So here I am, just floating around... I mean, how else I am supposed to spend summer vacation? I'm not a really active person, I'm not that fond of beaches and I'd rather spend my free time in front of my laptop.
Though I kinda have uh... bad habits during vacation. NO, NOT THE ILLEGAL KIND, don't panic. >.<
It's about my sleep. I sleep at 6 or 7 in the morning and then wake up at 6 or 7 o' clock at NIGHT.
Now, THAT... is more like the sleeping pattern of an owl, not a human, right? Er, unless you count the people who have night shift work but I'm not working so... I have no reason. And boy, does my mom NOT like it. (Which is an understatement). Yeah, I know it's bad for my health and I know the bad effects it could have (and my sister who's a nurse points out some to me) but I've been doing this every summer vacation since high school. I am well aware that it would be my fault if something bad happens to me because of this...
I don't really know exactly why but I like being in front of my laptop at night. Maybe it's the feeling of privacy, or maybe it's the comfortable silence that comes along with only a few noisy vehicles passing by every once in a while unlike during the day when they're literally the noise of the main road in front of our house. I don't mind the darkness and I often tend to write a LOT when it's nighttime. Majority of my fics were written during the night until way into the dawn. I have very strange thought processes. Or more like schedules. My mom's been nagging me to sleep by 3 or 4 am at the most, but I still consider that part of night because it is still dark by then. Sigh...
Anyway, because of distractions like free manga reading time and free anime watching time, I haven't been writing much actually. I've got several incomplete chapters waiting to be finished (and have been, since March) and man, it's already the half of April. X.x WHAT HAPPENED TO DETERMINATION? It got mind-wiped by Yami no Matsuei manga, Pokemon TCG Online, and LJ Roleplaying.
But well, at least, I got to fulfill one thing on my to-do list. Not sure if I mentioned it here in LJ or it was just in a conversation with somebody but I did tell myself that I would start watching Yu-gi-oh 5Ds by the time it had finished showing. Well, now that Yu-gi-oh ZEXAL is underway, I felt it was time, and I DO have the time to marathon it anyway. I am quite neutral in stance about the fanbase being divided over opinions such as those who insist the original YGO is the best, or fans who hate GX or those who scoff at 5Ds being unrealistic. Frankly, I try not to be affected by such things, I wouldn't have plunged into GX otherwise given that majority are not fond of it (Yes, I am aware). But in my observation, rabid biased fans of an anime can have psychological effects. For example, a fan of Anime A declares that Anime B is stupid, not worth watching etc. and is basically being a troll to Anime B fans in general, you can't deny that you'd eventually think that "What kind of thing is Anime A to produce such unpleasant fans?" and then your opinion of Anime A would lower consciously or not, even if it was the best anime ever produced.
This might not be true and it could be just coincidence but I generally find fans who hate GX liked 5Ds (when I was already immersed in the world of GX). I'd be lying if I said I wasn't initially turned off by 5Ds because of the fans. But that wouldn't be fair, would it? I believe in giving both sides a chance and that when it comes to judging, you shouldn't only hear one side of the story and I have this weird concept of infinite perspectives but it's not the point at the moment. I reconsidered that I shouldn't completely judge the show by its fans, so I made that promise that I wanted to see 5Ds for myself once it was over. I wanted to see it with a clear and open mind. Because, if I end up liking 5Ds as well, who's to say that I can't be a fan of both? Or all three YGO series in general (when I'm already a fan of YGO and YGO GX)? Why, is that impossible for this broken fanbase or something? :l
I started watching sub episodes yesterday. So, what do I have to say about Yu-gi-oh 5Ds? I'm only at Episode 6 now so I don't have a concrete overview yet but I guess I could give initial impressions...
CONCEPT/WORLD OF THE SHOW: 3.5/5
Since it has no connection to YGO and GX aside from the game, it feels a bit... weird, because it tightropes on the line between continuity and being a different series on its own. Perhaps if 5Ds was my first YGO experience, then that feeling wouldn't be there but as it's not, then that feeling is there. However, it jumpstarts the action/duel at once so it garners attention. Dueling on motorcycles/D-wheel seems crazy dangerous and maybe even ridiculous but hey, they have auto-pilot anyway, so why not? Aside from the fact that it looks cool... Besides, they do show non-riding duels from time to time so I have no complaint, the variety is a nice fresh change. The Neo Domino City-Satellite situation all but screams discrimination in terms of wealth and it's quite the basic set-up for drama about crossing-over and the like, not that I mind that... It's interesting to see how they would play it. Duel-wise, I needed to watch two duels before I could get what Tuner Monsters and Synchro Summoning is all about, sry2say.
ART: 4.5/5
The team did their Art homework on this one, I admit. Unfortunately, they got an F on their Physics homework in return. xD Playing a game on a 200+ km/h speeding motorcycle isn't worksafe. But, it's for the appeal so... the laws of mechanics can take a backseat, okay. Yeah, the Speed world is awesome, the D-wheel designs are futuristic great, the new monsters are interesting, the character designs are fine (Crab-hair is cool) and the CGI... The CGI is... Er... It's not noticeable? Bah. It's in Riding Duels and sometimes the background of the Speed World. It was THIS close to being 5/5. Oh well. I could give it 4.75 for the awesomeness that is STARDUST DRAGON <3. I've fallen so in love with it. I wanted to draw it like freaking hell when I first saw it.
Um, I just like dragons. :)
SOUND: 3/5
Hm, the OP's rock and cool but it'd take a while before I warm up to this one, unlike in YGO and GX. I prefer the ED though (which is rare). I think the BGMs are very good, and sets the mood nicely for duels.
CHARACTERS: 4/5
Quite unusual... and interesting. Yusei is clearly the stoic character but unlike the usual portrayal of this type of person, he is not heartless. In a nutshell, he has Atemu's silent stoic demeanour, Yugi's characterizing care for his friends, and 4th season Judai's tendency to not be obvious about cherishing his friends with his actions (when he tried to leave them out of the new threat). This guy has determination, and he did learn from his mistakes. He's not perfect, and I wonder how he'd develop as a character. Meanwhile, Jack is setting up to be a rival character and while he appears rude to Yusei, you do get the hints that not all is as it seems. My only problem with him is his voice. He's a Large Ham character so I get the point for his voice, but oftentimes to me, the voice is like gargling at the throat with a mix of nasal tone and whooping cough thrown in, and it's frankly grating for some reason. Meh, I might grow out of it later since he's a main character and he'd be speaking often. As for minor/one-shot/recurring characters, I'm fine with them... Though you really can't help but frown at all the discrimination acts thrown around.
OVERALL (First Impression): 3.5/5 Well, I'm still at the beginning so don't think I've marked the anime for bad because of that rating. It's subject to change once I've grasped the whole story. If anything, I'd consider that good by my standards. If it was 3/5, I might push it aside for later... but it's 3.5, meaning it has grasped my interest enough for me to continue marathoning it everyday. The first few episodes can be seen as boring if you really look at it, but they had to start the series without continuity and I say it was necessary they needed to set the scenario up. I'm glad they did that, without dropping the action, so I could applaud that.
... As for my writing... Well, I could write while the video is loading? Uh, yeah. Ehehe...
Though I kinda have uh... bad habits during vacation. NO, NOT THE ILLEGAL KIND, don't panic. >.<
It's about my sleep. I sleep at 6 or 7 in the morning and then wake up at 6 or 7 o' clock at NIGHT.
Now, THAT... is more like the sleeping pattern of an owl, not a human, right? Er, unless you count the people who have night shift work but I'm not working so... I have no reason. And boy, does my mom NOT like it. (Which is an understatement). Yeah, I know it's bad for my health and I know the bad effects it could have (and my sister who's a nurse points out some to me) but I've been doing this every summer vacation since high school. I am well aware that it would be my fault if something bad happens to me because of this...
I don't really know exactly why but I like being in front of my laptop at night. Maybe it's the feeling of privacy, or maybe it's the comfortable silence that comes along with only a few noisy vehicles passing by every once in a while unlike during the day when they're literally the noise of the main road in front of our house. I don't mind the darkness and I often tend to write a LOT when it's nighttime. Majority of my fics were written during the night until way into the dawn. I have very strange thought processes. Or more like schedules. My mom's been nagging me to sleep by 3 or 4 am at the most, but I still consider that part of night because it is still dark by then. Sigh...
Anyway, because of distractions like free manga reading time and free anime watching time, I haven't been writing much actually. I've got several incomplete chapters waiting to be finished (and have been, since March) and man, it's already the half of April. X.x WHAT HAPPENED TO DETERMINATION? It got mind-wiped by Yami no Matsuei manga, Pokemon TCG Online, and LJ Roleplaying.
But well, at least, I got to fulfill one thing on my to-do list. Not sure if I mentioned it here in LJ or it was just in a conversation with somebody but I did tell myself that I would start watching Yu-gi-oh 5Ds by the time it had finished showing. Well, now that Yu-gi-oh ZEXAL is underway, I felt it was time, and I DO have the time to marathon it anyway. I am quite neutral in stance about the fanbase being divided over opinions such as those who insist the original YGO is the best, or fans who hate GX or those who scoff at 5Ds being unrealistic. Frankly, I try not to be affected by such things, I wouldn't have plunged into GX otherwise given that majority are not fond of it (Yes, I am aware). But in my observation, rabid biased fans of an anime can have psychological effects. For example, a fan of Anime A declares that Anime B is stupid, not worth watching etc. and is basically being a troll to Anime B fans in general, you can't deny that you'd eventually think that "What kind of thing is Anime A to produce such unpleasant fans?" and then your opinion of Anime A would lower consciously or not, even if it was the best anime ever produced.
This might not be true and it could be just coincidence but I generally find fans who hate GX liked 5Ds (when I was already immersed in the world of GX). I'd be lying if I said I wasn't initially turned off by 5Ds because of the fans. But that wouldn't be fair, would it? I believe in giving both sides a chance and that when it comes to judging, you shouldn't only hear one side of the story and I have this weird concept of infinite perspectives but it's not the point at the moment. I reconsidered that I shouldn't completely judge the show by its fans, so I made that promise that I wanted to see 5Ds for myself once it was over. I wanted to see it with a clear and open mind. Because, if I end up liking 5Ds as well, who's to say that I can't be a fan of both? Or all three YGO series in general (when I'm already a fan of YGO and YGO GX)? Why, is that impossible for this broken fanbase or something? :l
I started watching sub episodes yesterday. So, what do I have to say about Yu-gi-oh 5Ds? I'm only at Episode 6 now so I don't have a concrete overview yet but I guess I could give initial impressions...
CONCEPT/WORLD OF THE SHOW: 3.5/5
Since it has no connection to YGO and GX aside from the game, it feels a bit... weird, because it tightropes on the line between continuity and being a different series on its own. Perhaps if 5Ds was my first YGO experience, then that feeling wouldn't be there but as it's not, then that feeling is there. However, it jumpstarts the action/duel at once so it garners attention. Dueling on motorcycles/D-wheel seems crazy dangerous and maybe even ridiculous but hey, they have auto-pilot anyway, so why not? Aside from the fact that it looks cool... Besides, they do show non-riding duels from time to time so I have no complaint, the variety is a nice fresh change. The Neo Domino City-Satellite situation all but screams discrimination in terms of wealth and it's quite the basic set-up for drama about crossing-over and the like, not that I mind that... It's interesting to see how they would play it. Duel-wise, I needed to watch two duels before I could get what Tuner Monsters and Synchro Summoning is all about, sry2say.
ART: 4.5/5
The team did their Art homework on this one, I admit. Unfortunately, they got an F on their Physics homework in return. xD Playing a game on a 200+ km/h speeding motorcycle isn't worksafe. But, it's for the appeal so... the laws of mechanics can take a backseat, okay. Yeah, the Speed world is awesome, the D-wheel designs are futuristic great, the new monsters are interesting, the character designs are fine (Crab-hair is cool) and the CGI... The CGI is... Er... It's not noticeable? Bah. It's in Riding Duels and sometimes the background of the Speed World. It was THIS close to being 5/5. Oh well. I could give it 4.75 for the awesomeness that is STARDUST DRAGON <3. I've fallen so in love with it. I wanted to draw it like freaking hell when I first saw it.
Um, I just like dragons. :)
SOUND: 3/5
Hm, the OP's rock and cool but it'd take a while before I warm up to this one, unlike in YGO and GX. I prefer the ED though (which is rare). I think the BGMs are very good, and sets the mood nicely for duels.
CHARACTERS: 4/5
Quite unusual... and interesting. Yusei is clearly the stoic character but unlike the usual portrayal of this type of person, he is not heartless. In a nutshell, he has Atemu's silent stoic demeanour, Yugi's characterizing care for his friends, and 4th season Judai's tendency to not be obvious about cherishing his friends with his actions (when he tried to leave them out of the new threat). This guy has determination, and he did learn from his mistakes. He's not perfect, and I wonder how he'd develop as a character. Meanwhile, Jack is setting up to be a rival character and while he appears rude to Yusei, you do get the hints that not all is as it seems. My only problem with him is his voice. He's a Large Ham character so I get the point for his voice, but oftentimes to me, the voice is like gargling at the throat with a mix of nasal tone and whooping cough thrown in, and it's frankly grating for some reason. Meh, I might grow out of it later since he's a main character and he'd be speaking often. As for minor/one-shot/recurring characters, I'm fine with them... Though you really can't help but frown at all the discrimination acts thrown around.
OVERALL (First Impression): 3.5/5 Well, I'm still at the beginning so don't think I've marked the anime for bad because of that rating. It's subject to change once I've grasped the whole story. If anything, I'd consider that good by my standards. If it was 3/5, I might push it aside for later... but it's 3.5, meaning it has grasped my interest enough for me to continue marathoning it everyday. The first few episodes can be seen as boring if you really look at it, but they had to start the series without continuity and I say it was necessary they needed to set the scenario up. I'm glad they did that, without dropping the action, so I could applaud that.
... As for my writing... Well, I could write while the video is loading? Uh, yeah. Ehehe...