Paper Mario: Sticker Star + Child of Light

Ey-yo, it's been about a month since I last made any posts and boy are you going to get a lot of posts this coming weekend because a lot of things have happened regarding Arashi and I need to talk about these things, but first! The most important thing - within the month that I disappeared I have played two games and these are Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Child of Light.

They were both relatively short games, so I'm just going to be really brief with my thoughts which is why they're going to be squished in to one post. Ready? Let's go!

Bravely Default

I finally finished playing Bravely Default the other weekend - took approx 105hrs. I didn't 100% it, I was trying too (hence the extended hours) but partway through and with 4 or 5 jobs remaining I was like.. you know what, I'd rather just go and beat the boss now, thank you very much.

But anyway - let's talk about this game shall we? (This isn't necessarily a game review, I just want to talk about it).

*WARNING SPOILERS*

Stravaganza Series by Mary Hoffman

I went on a trip to Italy for the first time this winter and it brought back a wave of nostalgia for a certain book series that I had absolutely adored as a child. In fact I loved it so much I "tried" (I told myself I would try) to learn Italian and dreamed of going to the beautiful city of Venice. 11 years later the dream of going to Venice finally came true - but I'm not making this post to talk about Venice. I want to talk about the book series.

This series is not well known from what I understand, but is called Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman. The series consists of six books, it started with three (which I had read when I was 9) and then apparently she had written three more, which I have just finished reading now. The book is set both in our modern London, England, and in an alternate version if Italy, named Talia, from 400 years ago. The premise of each book is quite simple - an unhappy teenager from Barnsbury Comprehensive finds a special talisman that transports them to a specific city in Talia where they go, change, and ultimately help to save the day.

The thing about this series, is that I love it, and I would recommend, but it is not amazing nor is it out of this world. It's no Tamora Pierce novel, no Harry Potter, but it is sweet, simple, and I truly understood why, as a child, I adored the books so much. With that being said, it's simplicity leads to cliches, lots of eye-rolling moments, and a bit too many happy coincidences. While the first three books were very strong, and ended on a good (but still open-ended note) - I feel the last three books, particularly the final ones, are lacking. With that being said, let me get started talking about each book, give a very brief summary and basically the thoughts I associate with each book. 

Once Upon a Time

So... this is what has been taking up most of my time (and reading The Digitalian concert reports - and yes, I've seen FNS and Best Artist) - but this is what has been taking up most of my time.

I don't normally watch American shows, but it's a modern fairytale AU, how could I not watch? So I did, and I am enjoying it a lot. I mean, some times it gets a bit draggy, especially with the extended story of Charming and Snow's romance together and their adventures and what-not and it's just like "eh, I could do without" and in general I tend to skip through a lot of the past stuff. Let's be real here - I'm in it for the modern. I love seeing the characters in the modern world.

Also, this show is so sassy. It has some of the best lines between the characters - especially between Regina and Snow. Like, they have the best dialogue and just work so well off each other.

So where am I at so far? I haven't caught up, still mid-way through season 3 (Neal just died - I CANNOT BELIEVE HE DIED WHAT ABOUT TRUE LOVE?!). This season feels really long for some reason. Maybe it's because the whole first part was the Peter Pan thing and now they did the 1 year restart so it feels like I'm starting a new season, when I'm not? I'm not sure.

So, why do I love this show so much? It's really just the take on the characters. How they've made some tales darker, how they've merged certain tales together - how the characters have turned out in modern day. I love it all. And the sass. So much sass. And sure the show has its corny moments but it's based off of fairy tales. What should we expect? Normally I am not one for corny romance "true love" stuff, but in the context of fairytales it works and I'm just drinking this stuff up.

Random thoughts?

In season 2 I really gravitated between thinking Regina was a total bitch and feeling sorry for her. In season 3... well since she's not technically the bad guy anymore, I am beginning to like her more. I mean, I liked her as the bad guy too but like I said, this is all fairytales and happiness and I was just like "OMG WHY ARE YOU BEING SO UNREASONABLE". Although honestly - Emma and Regina need to stop fighting. When Emma didn't believe Regina at first about re-casting the curse, I was like are you serious Emma? Are you two really going to go through all this shit over again?

Rumple and Belle is cute but at the same time kind of weirds me out - not sure why yet.

Henry has the most fucked up family ever. His grandfather is Rumple, great grandpa was Peter Pan, father is Neal. Hook also took care of Neal (and potentially sees him as a son?) yet this same guy is now interested in Emma who is Henry's father. Regina is Henry's adopted mother but also his step-grandmother and thus Cora would be his step great-grandmother. And then you have Snow White and Charming. This kid. That line Charming made about Thanksgiving dinners honestly killed me, because I would love to see that. Like, with the fairytale context but without the drama. As in if the characters really were just a regular family and came together... can you imagine  how fucked up that would be? (Hook included).

What else? NEAL DIED. WHAT. Still kind of miffed because I liked Neal and Emma. At first I kind of liked Emma and Hook too, but once we got Emma's backstory and Neal came back... they just look so much better and happier together. Hook and Emma are all hot and steamy, but Emma and Neal are love. Love.

Also Regina and Robin Hood - she needs to get one that ASAP (although I hear this falls apart later - WHY?).

And do I have more to say? Not really.  Just wanted to get some thoughts of the show out of my head and in general just talk about how much I am enjoying it. 

嵐にしやがれ [2014.11.01] - Hawaii SP 1

This is going to be a super long post since I'm doing a review, but adding in a couple translations of some parts I found the most interesting. And there are also photos I'm putting in this time, so... enough talk - let's get started.

LOVE Concert - quick thoughts/review

The DVD came out when I was too busy to write a review and despite not being a huge fan of the LOVE album, I actually really like this concert and what they did with a lot of the songs. In fact this concert really helped me come to like the LOVE album a lot more. Since it's been so long since the DVD came out though - and because I've rewatched the concert multiple times already so I'm not going to just sit do a live review, but I will sort of speed through the concert and give my general thoughts of what I thought throughout it - and then I'll end off with specific thoughts on each of the solos cause that's always one of the big things about Arashi concerts.

So without further ado - the LOVE concert

Arashi - Zero G PV + Making

Alright, so I guess you could say this is the "second part" to my The Digitalian review. You can find the review of the actual album [here], and now I'm going to talk about all the extra stuff and boy do I have a lot to say.

So. Let's get started.