I swear I didn’t get into (and write about) Quiz Magic Academy on New Years’ on purpose…

Happy New Year’s Eve!

With that said, here’s my resolution: by the end of the year, I want to be able to play Quiz Magic Academy confidently. And by that, I mean “man I can actually read Japanese to the point where I can play online and not look like an enormous gaijin by missing obvious questions I’d get if I could actually read”.

Trying to play Quiz Magic Academy DS (single-player, of course!) while I’ve only got not-even-a-3-kyuu’s worth of Japanese language knowledge is interesting. A lot of the questions I get right are the ones that are heavy on the katakana, because they’re references to Western (pop) culture –

Q: In the movie ‘Star Wars’, what’s the name of Mark Hamill’s character?
1. Luke / 2. Knight / 3. Bishop / 4. Mark

– or are pretty simple Anime & Game category questions like the following:

True or False:
Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) has a character named Heart, who is female.

I figure QMA would be a fun game if I knew how to read the Japanese it throws me, which is most often heavily draped in kanji, unlike the original equivalents of the two examples above. When I can read the questions, it’s an enjoyable experience. When I can’t, it’s a less (but still somehow) pleasant experience in guessing.

That, and the fact that I’ve wanted to get into QMA for a while (I played it once two years ago during a visit to Japan, and never again, for that meant that I would actually have to play against people who could actually read Japanese!) combine to make this New Year’s resolution.

And, lastly, as an aside, it only helps that Aloe, the character I chose, is voiced by Ochiai Yurika. Which makes sense; the script changes according to character, and Aloe’s is all too reminiscent of ToHeart 2‘s Konomi. Too good!

College finally gave me some free time. I decided that I should use my time productively and actually catch up on this thing called “modern-day Japanese animation” and “the fall 2008 season”.

Hidamari Sketch x365 (12 episodes watched): THEY NEED A THIRD SEASON HURRY UP AND ANNOUNCE IT DAMMIT HOUBUNSHA/SHAFT/WHOEVER OH AND MAKE IT 52 EPISODES AND GIVE IT A REALLY HUGE BUDGET

Kemeko Deluxe (1 episode): The most random thing I’ve ever seen since FLCL. In short, I’ve got a love-hate affair with it.

Tales of the Abyss (5 episodes): A pretty good adaptation of the game. Also, a pretty fast-paced adaptation of the game (but that’s to be expected). Good going, Sunrise.

Lucky Star OVA: This actually had me laughing all the way. Also, best ending ever (“It’s true that I asked for water, but this is SORTA DIFFERENT, YA GET WHAT I’M SAYIN’”).

Natsume Yuujinchou (completed): Episodes 7 and 13 are the best. He’s too damn good. He better come back in Season 2.

Strike Witches (4 episodes): I initially was really wary of this, due to the copious amounts of fanservice, but once I got over the culture shock (if you can call it that), it became tolerable. Also, Gonzo fails at rendering 3D; I’m not sure whether or not it’s me, but there are a lot of places in episode 1 in which the 3D rendering lagged a bit.

Bounen no Zamned/Xam’d (12 episodes): As Rome pointed out to me, this series holds the honor of being an action series in which all the episodes are good, but none of them really stand out in any way in that Code Geass SHIT’S GONNA HIT THE FAN THIS EPISODE way. Also, Furuichi is a dumbass and needs to die already.

Quiz Magic Academy OVA: Konami continues its track record with really bad anime (read: Saint October, Sky Girls, TokiMemo Only Love)! Alas, I kept watching it anyway. Aloe is awesome.