June 2015 1UP Box [Arcade]

June's 1UP box theme was Arcade!
Sorry this was late once again, but hey, I'm getting it up in June so that should count, riiiiight? Honestly, I wasn't much looking forward to this theme since I am not a street fighter or pac man fan and Arcade didn't appeal to me much but the past few boxes have been great so I was looking forward to it~

Here is the page that came along with the box this time
Six items, as per usual

First item I pulled out of the box was this bobble head figure. I'm not really a huge fan of Street Fighter and honestly I have a little something against Ryu because I got totally stuck playing against him in a level and kept losing so I have decided to irrationally dislike him. I would have preferred a Chun-Li figure but boyfriend seems pleased with it.

Next item was this pacman candy tin. I think the idea of the tin is really cute! I tried to focus on the teeny inside of the game. The detail on it is really nice but I'm just not a pacman fan.

Pretty much the only item I was happy with in this box and it's a simple little zipper pull. I love Spiderman (The 90's cartoon series and comic, not the constant reboots of the movie) so I thought this was a neat little item. I'll probably attach this to something of mine since boyfriend doesn't care for Spiderman much.

A Metallic Arcade Decal... It's alright. Nothing special.

Boyfriend will probably stick this on his computer case or something.

Space Alien Lanyard. I think it's neat enough. I like the space invaders and arcade phrases on it. Boyfriend said he will probably end up using this. I just don't use lanyards at all myself.

And of course, the item we look forward to most which is the t-shirt! This one combines two arcade favourites "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Street Fighter" together. I think it's a really neat shirt and I really like it ! I reiterate what I have mentioned in past reviews, the sizings are really big. Me and boyfriend are not super skinny but the mediums just seem really large. We are going to switch to a small and hopefully the sizings will suit us better.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this box. I did like the t-shirt and I feel the value was there but not many of the items appealed to me. If anything, I am feeling a little apprehensive about next month's theme is JUSTICE! too which is just not appealing to me. DC heroes and Teenage Mutant Turtles... eh. I was actually going to cancel but I got billed a couple of hours before I did so, so I guess I'll be getting the box afterall! I hope it manages to impress me a little more than this last box. The themes just aren't appealing much to me but the value makes it worth it if you like the theme!

Cat challenge~!

I thought this looked adorable so I'm going to do this with my two kitties.

1) Name/Nicknames: Bean, Beany Baby, Little B
2) Favorite Food: Catfood :p (I don't like my kitties have people snacks)
3) Afraid of: Bizzare, but he is really scared of paper towels (the cardboard bits)
4) Best friend: His pink cat paw pillow
5) Age: Five years old
6) Adopted: Don't remember the exact date but it was mid-2010. Adopted him when I still lived in Toronto from a kind lady. (She handled his adoption very well in a way I would like most people to. I had to bus her her house a few times for an "interview" but it wasn't a bother at all. We would sit in her backyard and chat while Bean would play around us. I visited twice and she visited my apartment once to see where he would be living. Some others may have been bothered by this, but it was nice to see her care enough to see where and whom he would end up with.)
7) Siblings: He had quite a few siblings. Originally him and all of his kitten siblings were up for adoption and he was one of two left. The other was kept by the lady herself. He was just a little too rambunctious and I had an older kitty at the time so I didn't think she would have like him much. Bean was playful but also a little more docile.
8) Favorite Activity: He loves to look out of the window at the birdies. Loves snuggling in papa's robe. Really likes to rub his face on everything. (I think this is to claim ownership on things?) Doesn't really care for toys, but he likes laser pointers.

1) Name/Nicknames: Fruit, Little Bear, Fruit Bar
2) Favorite Food: Reiterating above, I don't feed them anything but cat food. She wants everything though.
3) Afraid of: Strangers. She gets really nervous when unknown people knock on the door or come into the house.
4) Best friend: Bean~!
5) Age: Four years old
6) Adopted: I adopted her on my 21st birthday. Saw her picture on the adoption site and totally fell in love. She was pictured with all of her kittens and she was chubby and had such a cute, happy face. 
7) Siblings: Don't know much about siblings but she had two litters of kittens prior to me adopting her. I wish I could have saved her picture on the adoption site of her and her kittens but I didn't think to do so. 
8) Favorite Activity: She loves, loves, loves to snuggle. She really likes rubbing her face up against mine/boyfriends and also likes to roll around on our hair. It's kind of.. hard to explain. She is also very chatty and meows quite a bit. Also, much to Bean's chagrin she loves to chase him around. Also, springs. She loves them. 

Anyways, that's a little bit about my kitties! 

I love my snuggle babies lots and lots!

AKB48 Milkidoll Covers~!

Newest cover is out~!

Returning to an AKB English covers this time like my previous "Koisuru Fortune Cookie" and "Kokoro no Placard" covers! I have wanted to cover this song since a recording I made two years ago after KFC but I just never got around to it. I am not happy with how I mixed it since it sounds slightly muffled but I'm still happy with how it turned out. AKB's summer songs are so cute and catchy that they're so much fun to cover!

Here are my other English covers of AKB songs~! ♥

☆  Koisuru Fortune Cookie  ☆ 

☆ Kokoro no Placard ☆

I have also covered another Summer AKB48 song, Everyday Kachuusha~! ♥

Summer Steam Sale!

Another Summer Steam sale has appeared!

The Summer and Winter sales are pretty fun and and exciting since it's a chance to increase our backlog of games we won't get around to playing for a long while..! Since my backlog is so big already I actually didn't purchase many games at all and I thought I'd share which ones I did (pretty much at the end of the event)~

First was Resident Evil 6!

Went 75% off so I decided to purchase it for 7.50

I was really excited when this game was first announced since I really do love the Resident Evil series as I had pretty much grown up with it and though I do know it catches a lot of flak I am excited to play this game! It also gives me a chance to play more fun co-op games with boyfriend.

Then.. I purchased Hatoful Boyfriend!

It was 80% off and less than 2 dollars so I went for it...

I hear a lot of things about this game and I just think I need to play it to understand all the fuss about it. It looks pretty cute and funny so I am definitely intrigued.

Though, I didn't purchase this, it's worth mentioning!

Boyfriend had been wanting to play the Legend of Korra game for awhile so when it went 76% he jumped on purchasing it since it was less than 3 dollars! From what I've seen of it, it looks fun! Might definitely be worth it if you're a fan of the show like we are.

I also earned the Summer Badge!

Last year I earned the pink team badge so I went for it again this year~

Though Steam trading cards don't really hold that much value at all, they're still fun to collect and making badges adds another fun element to the games since I am a collector at heart.

Anyways!

That's basically all.. 

There were a few other games that interested me but I decided not to go crazy and start tackling the games that I already have and maybe hope for better discounts in the future. Games that I'm waiting to go a little more on sale are the Skyrim Legendary Edition, Tropico 5, Borderlands the Presequel and various others that I may be missing~ But until then, I have some games I need to start playing! Also, not Steam sale related but I am also definitely waiting for the Sims 4 Stuff/Expansion packs to go on sale!

Love Live Covers [Update]!

My latest few covers that I have done!

Pretty much corresponding with the events on the EN version of School Idol Festival~

From Honoka's and Eli's events from this past month

First one I did was Someday of my Life from Honoka's event~!

I really, really love this song and really wanted to cover it ♥

Usually I sing to the instrumental when I record but this time I did it to the vocals

I don't know if it made much of a difference, but I feel it made me off pitch a few times

Oh well, it was an experiment~

This one was very, very much out of my comfort zone!

I covered Arifureta Kanashimi no Hate which is an Eli solo off of Soldier Game

I tried to sing it ~normally~ but I was getting frustrated with the song itself

so I just decided to sing it as deep as I could >:| 

Then! I decided that the ~deeper voice~ one was pretty interesting!

I am a little self conscious of it since I know my low notes are not great :p

But, it is something different! I probably won't attempt a ballad for awhile.

Did a rerecording! Felt really self conscious about it so....
I still will have the ~deeper voice~ version unlisted though!
I guess I am more satisfies and comfortable in my normal range ( > w <)

Anyways, these are my covers from the past two weeks~! ♥

I plan on doing Bokutachi wa and Manatsu no Summer soon!

Country Girls Resignation

Very unexpected turn of events for Country Girls.

I had been following the thread on H!O for Shimamura Uta that was speculating on why she has not been showing up to events and there were many rumours circulating around but it had finally been said that she had left the group. I will definitely continue to be a fan of Country Girls as a member leaving groups has happened many times before. It is unfortunate though as she had seemed like such a promising new member of Hello!Project and I was excited to see her growth as an idol. As such, she will join the ranks of other idols who left their idol groups soon after.

I'll just share some other members of the like here~

Fukuda Asuka from Morning Musume

Ishimura Maiha from Berryz Koubou

Murakami Megumi from C-ute

Otsuka Aina from Juice=Juice

I may have missed some members and for that I apologize! I included members who left their group shortly before or after debut so I do not include Yuuka or Saki from S/mileage or members who may have graduated soon after like Kanna or Erika in C-ute. Graduations are always to be expected in idol groups but these members definitely all showed potential. Though their paths did not lead them to be Hello!Pro idols, they all did make a lasting impression, at least on me~!

May 1UP Box Review!

Late!!! Since it's already nearly mid June buuut~

Here is my unboxing of the May 1UP Box!

The handy dandy page with everything in it

Sorry that it isn't very clear, my lighting is wonky

(I.. need to buy a light box! Or make one.. but probably buy one)

First item I saw, this decently sized plush BMO!

I love it! Adventure Time is amazing (though I really need to catch up on it) and this seems like a really nice quality plushie. I have a few Adventure Time merchandise and I am glad to add this to my collection!

Robin Dog Tag

Not an item that really interests me since I'm not really into Batman or dog tags but it seems like a decent quality little item.

Beep Boop Drawstring Bag

Yet another item that doesn't really interest me as I'm not really interested in Star Wars and am not sure what I'll use this bag for but it's still a neat little item! 

Love My Sidekick Wristband

Cute colour but I don't have much use for this.

I put it on my boyfriend ♥

Jack (Jake) of Hearts Decal

Another Adventure Time item! This time it's Jake and he's a... a transformer? I'm not sure. Not sure what to use it for but I always love more Adventure Time merchandise.

The main item, the T-Shirt!!

I really love it, it's a cute design! Featuring Teemo and Yoshi,, the sidekicks but in a Tron-like battle with one another. The shirts do seem a bit big even if this one is only medium but I think they do shrink slightly in the wash.

Robin Pin

Each month comes with a pin and this time it is Robin  to go with the whole sidekick theme.

Overall, as a whole!

This box wasn't really my favourite. I'm not a big fan of the Batman or Star Wars themed items but the Adventure Time items make up for it! I love the plush and I really like the print of the T-shirt and honestly those make up a huge chunk of the value with the others being decent extras. I'm always happy with 1UP Box and I feel like the quality is always up to standards! I'm excited for next month's box as the theme is Arcade! Hopefully I get the review up a little sooner.

7th AKB48 Sousenkyo

Sasshi has won, once again!

As a fan, this is my 6th Sousenkyo that I have been able to experience. I became a fan right when River had come out so I missed out in Iiwake Maybe (which remains one of my favourite singles) I don't recall there being a live stream for the 2nd Sousenkyo so I stayed in an AKB48 chat in the dark on my little laptop in the middle of night as the anticipation between Atsuko and Yuko increased, as to who would be the winner. Of course, Yuko won and Heavy Rotation was born.

As for the last couple of years, the sousenkyo has been a bit of a toss up. Sashihara won very surprisingly two years ago as people were saying the initial preliminaries were a fluke. She had been a member that had seen an increase throughout the years but for center after her scandal? No way...? But alas, she had actually won that year. Last year, many were wondering if she could live up to her Sousenkyo title but she was dethroned by Mayu. Unfortunately for Mayu, she got stuck with Koisuru Fortune Cookie pt 2 and wasn't able to replicate the success of Sasshi's single. (Though I actually did like Kokoro no Placard and covered the JKT version of it!)

This year was the year that I feel that three girls especially stood a chance of gaining the throne. Sashihara, Mayu and Yuki. Yuki has always been a dark horse but maybe this was her year to shine. After the prelimanaries showed her in second place, many were excited that it could be the year that she take the top. I even predicted that Yuki may win this year. My predictions put Yuki, Mayu and Sashi in that order.

Well, of course Sashihara would prove them all wrong. She not only won but crushed them with her votes. An impressive nearly 200k vote count almost 30,000 votes ahead of both Mayu and Yuki showed that she really deserved to win this year. Sashihara has always been one of my favourites and though she may not be the more orthodox idol, she has always managed to be an entertaining one to watch. Yuki and Mayu took their defeat very graciously and it is admirable that they were truly good "losers" in this year's Sousenkyo battle.

For the actual night itself,  I was actually pretty sick feeling  so I had managed to watch the beginning of the live stream for the concert but went to bed when the actual event was starting. I woke up around 7-8am when the top 10 were being announced and got up and figured I wanted to be there to watch it. I didn't want to miss a year of Sousenkyo! Unfortunately, it was very laggy when I watched so I was spoiled by chat/twitter comments. (Only a couple of minutes ahead of time, but still a spoil regardless!)

I'm glad I got to see Jurina rank even if it was at a disappointing 5 for her. She aims so high and her determination is admirable but I can see how it could turn some off. She is always striving for more. She wants to prove that she deserves to be center. Most fans of hers, including me, would like her to relax a little bit more but that is just simply not in her vocabulary. She is hard working and I am sure she will meet her goals, in time.

If anyone could beat Jurina, I am glad it was Takamina. Takamina, one of the first members I noticed in AKB48 and the first girl I really grew to love from the group. When she announced her graduation, it wasn't surprising but it was still very sad. She is definitely the heart of AKB and nobody can replace what she is to it. I am glad she ranked at 4th and reached her best. She deserved it. I am glad that Acchan showed up for her, two of my favourite girls.

I was actually partially asleep for Paru's ranking but I was sad to see her drop and I know she was sad by it as well. I really thought she would make kami 7 this year but Sakura and Sae managed to overtake her. Paru is one of my favourite members and though her chara isn't for everyone, I do enjoy it a lot. It is disappointing to see her rank drop and I hope she continues to climb in the rankings next year.

Anyways!

I could talk a lot about the rankings but I feel like I shared enough of my thoughts about it. Sousenkyo is an exciting time and it is the AKB event to look forward to in the year. I look forward to Sasshi's single and hope it's just as great as Koisuru Fortune Cookie (but please, no more fortune cookie clones!)