I started on Harutoki4 and I'm enjoying it so far, even if I don't really understand 50% of what's going on even if my Japanese understanding has improved from the time I played Haruka3 (which reminds me, I still need to finish up Atsumori's story). I've played it until after you meet Ashvin in chapter 1 and here are some thoughts:

Story pacing: So far it's good, it doesn't feel as if there are any awkward pauses. Probably because of the whole RPG-like feel? At least I'm not falling asleep pressing the 'O' button thanks to the voiced parts... for now.

3D/Character sprites: It's a big jump from the 2D Harutoki3, and the detailing for everything is pretty good. And the backgrounds! I go all sparkly-eyed at them. There are some parts that annoy me though, like the character movement on the field which isn't all too fluid. I do however like the character sprites and their expressions at the sides (SO MADE OUT OF WIN) when they're having a conversation.

Battles: It's quite challenging this time, because you have absolutely NO control over your Hachiyou AND you can only attack one monster (the one that's in front of you). Which is why I'm quite glad that Chihiro can learn the ability to heal, or else you'd be a dead duck in the later chapters when monsters get stronger. Collecting the megumi this time round is really hard though, because from what I read in forums, you can only get certain types of megumi when you unlock certain characters' kokoro no tenbin. I just hope that the battles won't get too me too much, even if I am used to all that Megaten grinding (MOAR POWER ROCKS 8D).

Music: WAH. It's so different this time! It's gotta completely different feel and I'm not dissapointed in it at all.

Also this time you'll have to rely heavily on your memo (R1) to find out what to do for a character, and because my TV is dying and all the kanji hurts my eyes, I'm going to have one hell of a time playing this game. T^T

I'll resume playing after I've done some more assignments...

Today was a pretty good day! My idea for our final project got approved, and thus I will be illustrating a picture for HARUTOKI4. *PIKAS* 8DDDDDDD

So I will probably be drawing a Tooya/Chihiro picture BUT THE PROBLEM IS. I have no idea what Tooya's character personality is like because I have no time to play the game or rush it at the moment... So to those who have played, what's Tooya like? DDDD8

this is probably a good excuse for me to get started though

If not I'll probably just illustrate Hinoe/Nozomi or Benkei/Nozomi since my lecturer probably can't tell the difference between all these multi-colour haired people lol 8DDDD

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
MY DREAM, IT HAS COME TRUE.

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3 SEIRYUU figurines

asiahiosjasiofjiofiodfsdf OMFG the detailing looks pretty good too! As well as the face modelling. But it's 6900yen sobbb I think it'll be very expensive by the time it gets here...

I AWAIT THE DAY THEY MAKE SUZAKU. WHEN THEY MAKE THE SUZAKU PAIR, I'LL GO INSANE. BENKEI-SAMAAAAAAA 8DDD

{EDIT} finally the other thumbnails loaded and hot damn, I'll actually do a full fledged super awesome commission just so I can get these babies *___*

Yesterday was an epic day. Let's break it down into various times of the day, shall we?

Morning:
- God is giving me a sign to wake up early at 7am by making sapphire_1010 crash at my house at 8:15am. I had a good time showing her Rose of Versailles and looping that stupid Tuxedo Kamen video I linked two days ago.
- Made it my day's goal to GET OUT OF THE SECOND HOME sob in SMTImagine with ultra_butterfly and sapphire_1010 sitting next to me. A busy server coupled with a SUCKY local connection equals a really SUCKY GAMING EXPERIENCE. Like getting disconnected just before you reach the next stage. And restarting over. AGAIN. For three times. Aughhhh! I now have to go and get myself a Pixie, OTL.
- I will have problems playing SMTImagine with the AMOUNT of stringed kanji in it. HALP ;A;

Afternoon/Evening:
- My worst fears had come true, I had to see a dermatologist because my mouth infection wouldn't get any better, after 1 1/2 months. Turns out that I've got contact dermatitis! Or eczema! sigh. What made matters worse was that I went to do groceries with my parents right after that and went off into a couple of shops by myself, and I had gotten funny looks from some of the store staff and customers. Well, that really busted my confidence and I can't look at anyone in the eye anymore (I DO look like The Joker from The Dark Knight right now, or Kusuriuri who applied the wrong brand of lipstick and got a mouth infection). I'm so embarrassed about my skin condition (both face AND mouth), I should cosplay as Faust from GGX permanently. Everyone should be spared from my hideous face. :||

Night:
- Met up with dearest carneaglariel after quite awhile, and had a good chat! AND I GOT THE BIGGEST SHOCK OF MY LIFE WHEN I SAW MY PRETTY PLAY-ASIA BOX SITTING IN HER HOUSE.

MY HARUKANARU TOKI NO NAKA DE 4 HAS ARRIVED!!!!!111oeneoene 8DDDDDDDD

This would not have come true if not for all the commissions I got. You really don't know how happy I am right now. 8D

( First impressions of the game and some photos of the package! VERY LONG, MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IN MUH RANTINGS. )

Whew that was long.

{EDIT} OMG HOW AM I GOING TO JUGGLE MY ASSIGNMENTS, OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES, DS:KR, HARUTOKI4 *ANDDDD* SMT:IMAGINE AT THE SAME TIME?!?!!! ORZ. matilah saya

My dad sends me way too many emails, so much until I still haven't read like 200+ of them yet. Among them are funny stuff, summarized versions of the sermons we have in church (because he knows I tend to nod off.. ORZ) and of course, life-related stories. Let me share some with y'all today. :D

( The Turtles )


( The Frogs )


( The Pretty Lady )

I particularly like the story about the pretty lady, because I kind of relate to it. I still find it hard to let go of some baggage that I've been carrying for the longest time ever. And at the end of this email, there was this quote and I kind of like it.

"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."

Unfortunately, wisdom really eludes me at this point of life... It's like being stuck in a field with endless forks and crossroads, and you have no idea which direction you want to head into and you're given such a limited time to think and decide on something that'll change your life.

On other lighter life-related events; I just came back from watching Speed Racer and I LIKE IT. <3 <3 I wouldn't mind watching it again though.

{EDIT} Oh yeah, go watch this if you have a Nicovideo account. The person who made it has good sense, seriously. D: It's Harutoki, yes, but IMHO I like the direction of it (even if the art isn't like that awesome or the animation isn't super fluid). The game's not out yet, but I like how the uploader made up a story of Tooya and Chihiro and it corresponds to the song really well!

【捏造遙か４】Hungry Spider（遠夜→千尋）

The more I progress further in Atsumori's route, the more my heart aches. Continuing off from this entry...

( Chapter 5 retry #3, some progress! Oh, spoilery as usual )

Also, here's the timetable for this term. Hello, third and final year of TOA! I will do my best.

( IL065-1 timetable; 3rd year 1st term )

Sometimes I don't know if this hypersensitivity to the feelings of people around me is a good thing or not. Or my sensitivity to detect an aura change in people. *sigh*
I hate getting weird signals that I can't detect and know for sure whether it's just me thinking too much or something bad has really happened.

Anyway, I thought I'd take my mind off it by rewatching someone's entire Harutoki gameplay of Benkei's route. I miss playing Harutoki3! ;A; Also, by rewatching, I understand some parts even better now... though I wish I could understand Japanese a little more.

Some scenes were rather heart-wrenching to watch again.
LIKE THIS SCENE.
It's so painful to rewatch... ughhhhh. ;_____________; *sobs into her pillow*

BENKEI-SANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN ;A;

{edit} It just hit me that Nozomi is a STALKER. 8DDD She stalks Benkei all over the place ahahahahahahha (I would do the same as well, if I were in her shoes!)

{edit2}
Kurou: 弁慶ぇつ！　お前だえけは、許さん！！ <-- everytime Kurou says this, I die a little inside. T^T urghhhhh But anyway, I think Izayoiki gives a more indepth feel to Benkei's story? *shrugs*

I don't know if I should finish off Harutoki3 and then import my save data into Izayoiki and then replay everyone's stories. To those who have played it– is it worth the time? If not, I'll just start on Unmei no Labyrinth and forget about finishing the rest after I finish Atsumori's route. ._.

HEY, FOR ONCE IT'S A MORNING THAT AIN'T BLAZING HOT!

Erm. I can't stop looping this Ten no Suzaku medley on Nico. '3' Someone made a medley out of all of Inori, Isato and Hinoe's songs and that means 46 minutes of Takahashi Naozumi goodness! ♥ AURAL BLISS. ♥ TakaNao's such a good singer and yes, I really love his voice... Perhaps I should upload my entire TakaNao music for y'all sometime. :3

Also, some art I did yesterday but was too tired to upload right after.

( art x2, trying out new stuffs )

If I had never followed a guide for Atsumori's route, I think I would have tore my hair out playing the game, despite me feeling very sympathetic for the poor kid. lol But Atsu-kun is so cute ;A; ♥

It's interesting that as you go along with different characters, some scenes change or some are only activated if you're aiming for that character's route. Watching some scenes again was like a trip down memory lane when I first played this game T^T Like the one when the Genji team just arrived in Kumano and meet Hinoe for the first time. I wonder how Benkei must've felt like, just standing there and watching his nephew go all nanpa on Nozomi lol. 8D;

( Gameblog + rants up until chapter 5 (Fukuhara no Jihen), sorta spoilery for Atsumori )

NO CUT FOR THIS BECAUSE ATSUMORI IS TOO CUTE WHEN HE SMILES T^T



I foresee that I'm going to take a long time to finish this game... D: And do forgive me if there are disrepancies in the storyline; my understanding of the language isn't good at all and so understanding it is sort of like a hit and miss thing, with the help of Rikaichan and various online kanji dictionaries T^T

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH (saw this on a Nico MAD)


SO CUTEEEEEEEEEEEE ♥ BUT IT'S 1890yen asdasopsadargh D8

IT CAME OUT LAST DECEMBER. Animate doesn't seem to have it in stock now but it doesn't really matter cause they don't ship overseas. And I don't think it'll ever be sold in Malaysia. ))))): *wonders about KKMM in SG*

Cute Benkei plushie aside, I am terribly nervous and scared of my marketing examination later today. ;_; I will study my hardest when I wake up later ORZ

After the long wait, it's finally out! 8DD I've watched it about an hour ago, and oh dear, I cannot seem to watch anything while keeping a straight face anymore. As much as the overall mood of it was very serious like the game itself (my heart felt like breaking at one point), I just couldn't stop snerking and laughing at some parts, like when the Hachiyou stopped at one village to rest and Masaomi was there.

( *teasprays* Not a spoiler. x6 :D )

That aside, here's a rant about it and some screencaps! ( SPOILERS & 10 screencaps )

Ahh, I hope a sub for this comes out soon! And I really want to finish Harutoki3 so badly now... especially before my holiday ends. But I still have my holiday homework to finish and I'll be going out again for the next two days. T_T

iyori, for some strange reason I can't seem to make a duplicate of my PS1 Harutoki1 game. Trying to copy the disc's image always seem to freeze at 16%, so I gave up for now. I'll try again later though! >< I've already burnt all of the games for Harutoki3 for you though... so in the case that I really can't burn it out for you, I've uploaded the GBA version of the game (which is the one I played btw-- I never even touched my PS1 disc lol!) for you. 8D

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de (GBA)

For everyone else, feel free to download (and please comment if you do)! *is trying to get everyone into this fandom*

Visual Boy Advance - The emulator. Just unzip it into a folder and you're good to go! There may be an updated version of this emulator out there though as I just dug this one out from one of my backup CDs.

[Game Guides]
Peche - For all your renai guide needs. I'm serious, this site has VERY detailed FAQs for numerous otome/renai games and this site has saved my life with Harutoki3 many times. T^T You need not worry that much with Harutoki1 though as the gameplay is really linear.

Kagenka - The first site I found that has guides, but I still cross-refer this site and Peche so I know which path I'm going on, especially for Harutoki3 because it's full of choices, involves travelling back and forth through time and brainbreak especially if one's Japanese isn't so good or completely nonexistant.

Neoromance.info - God bless extensive game guides. Really. T^T

I can't stop listening to NewS' "Ai Nante". axtar let me listen to it earlier on at Jac'Kee's house, in which she then played it on the piano several times and I AM SEVERELY HOOKED. I'm not really into NewS yet, but I dare say that it's a really good song because it's been awhile since I've felt so moved by a song. Moved enough to set it on indefinite loop (the other two being KOTOKO's "agony" and Chiaki Ishikawa's "uninstall").

Also, college is seriously addling my brain. I can't think straight anymore, and also because it took me a very long time (15 minutes omg) to register what had just happened:


I REALLY REALLY NEVER EXPECTED THIS. SRSLY I NEVER DID WTF WTF WTF DDDDD8

yuncyn suddenly rang me up in the evening when I was already half dead from work and told me that she's coming by (with Ax and Jackee) to drop something off at my house. The first thing I thought of was food until they came by. 8DD; I COULDN'T EVEN RECOGNISE THE PERSON ON THE COVER WTF, I THOUGHT IT WAS _TOMOMASA_ OF ALL PEOPLE. I SHOULD BE SHOT AS A SUEFUMI FANGIRL. asdjasodjaopsdoapsdadajaidjaisdaaaa DDDD;

Thank you so SO much guys, you just sprinkled a little more chocolate flakes in my day. And is it me, or does Mizuno Tooko's art get so much more detailed with each volume? I ADORE the way she draws hair and cloth folds now, I really do. T^T

That, and I felt really happy when I found most of my elementary schoolmates in Facebook... or rather one of them messaged me and it went on from there. While most of them aren't in the country anymore, it's good to see how they are now and it felt really nostalgic. And I actually feel really quite grateful and glad that some remember me. ^^; This may sound rather silly, but I used to think that I wasn't really remembered throughout my schooling days because I was a rather quiet person who didn't seem to leave much of an impression. OTL

{EDIT} ZOMG 30 minutes worth of '80's cartoons clips! Talk about your trip down memory lane omfg. I see Double Dragon and other random cartoons I used to watch on a daily basis. D8

I'm wasting my life away watching this HOARD of Harutoki videos which I found on Youtube, hehe, even if I have like so many things to trace for CGPP. I'm digging my own grave MUCH FANGIRLING AHEAD.

* I FOUND AN EVENT VIDEO FOR SUEFUMI, WHICH IS REALLY SAD. It's pretty clear too, and oohhh Suefumi is so wax lyrical with the rain and screams ANGST. But you feel like giving the poor man a hug. ALSO, GRAPHICAL EVIDENCE THAT SUEFUMI IN HIS ONI MODE = NIOU MASAHARU FROM POT. ( seriously )

* And THEN, here is his really sad and angsty ending! There's another ending for him, a better one where he actually LIVES, but the person hasn't finished it yet and I can't seem to find it. Perhaps I'll try to look it up on Nicovideo when I can... You really feel for the poor dude though. Poor Suefumi. ):

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I REALLY WANT TO PLAY HARUTOKI MAIHITOYO NOWWWWWWWWWWWW
I WOULD BE SO HAPPY IF I COULD EVER FIND IT IN MALAYSIA T______________________T
BUT I DOUBT IT, I SERIOUSLY DOUBT IT. *WEEPS LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW*

* PV for the movie ending, Harari, Hirari. I am so in love with this song. ;_;

* Benkei event「その涙はちょっとずるいな」. I'm not sure where exactly this happens in the game; I'm assuming it's the bad ending where Nozomi decides to go back to her own world? Because I definitely didn't watch this scene when I was playing. carneaglariel did a quick translation of this (because I was bugging her to 8DD;;), and you can ( view it here. )

OKAY I REALLY AM GOING TO DO MY WORK NOW.

{EDIT} Whoops, forgot. A HILARIOUS subbed version of Akram's Harutoki1 ending. Couldn't stop LAUGHING... God, even if you're not a fan, just go and watch this. XD

After chatting idly for awhile with axtar and yuncyn, and then a random outburst of a word prompt that combined a word and one PoT and Harutoki (and the occasional La Corda!) character led to yet another round of complete madness. Here goes!

order: Harutoki character - PoT character - object

( Axtar's )

( YunCyn's )

( Fenix's )

It was short, but yet another session packed with crack. ILU GUYS ♥ And I think I'm too rambly for my own good... ORZ

Trolling foreign forums can prove to be quite useful at times. XD For my own reference to probably try and romanize and translate them one fine day. Somehow, Akifumi's song sounds so otona (by just roughly guessing at the lyrics), it can put Tomomasa to shame. o_o

( 満月雫は媚薬 / Mangetsu Shizuku wa Biyaku )

( 夜籠りの夢 / Yogomori no Yume )

My life will be complete if I can find the kanji for 玲瓏なる覚悟よ(Reirou naru Kakugo yo) and 紫陽花の残夢で逢いましょう(Ajisai no Yume de Aimashou). Haaa. *flops*

蝶紋の賽よ 天空に転がれ.
Super Heike boyband song of doom.

Choumon no Sai yo Tenkuu ni Korogare (Taira no Tsunemasa, Taira no Koremori, Taira no Tomomori)

From the Haruka3 Yukimachizuki/雪待月 album. I got around to reorganizing my PC yesterday and as I was sorting out the songs, I finally gave the entire album a listen and I couldn't stop LAUGHING when I heard this song. Don't get me wrong, the song IS nice and I quite like it (in comparison to Hojou Masako's image song) but but when the chorus kicked in, I died. xDD;;

I can totally imagine Koremori as the vain guitarist or vocalist like whoah.

{edit} ... uh wtf, why does the sky look like the miasma from ToTA right now? D; onoeess lol

At long last, I watched Harukanaru Toki no Naka de ~Maihitoyo~. I can at least understand a good 80% of the show, and I wish that there were subs so I can clear up some explanations but anyway, it's pretty okay as a movie that features just another day in the life of Akane and her Hachiyou in Kyou and Akane finding another guy to crush on YES. :O

What I DON'T like about this movie is that just another one of my OTPs just died. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, KOEI. Namco Bandai has already killed TWO of my damned OTPs in ToTA, and I don't need another in Harutoki which happens to be one of my major fandoms now. Damn. T_T

BUT! At least some very pretty Suefumi/Akane moments made up for it. Like this. :D


Oh, how this scene made my inner fangirl squee. ♥

Other random things to note:
- People, you do NOT have romantic moments on a burning stage!
- Tenma is obviously shocked (and peeved) that Yorihisa took Akane to a lovely sight-seeing spot, alone.
- I think that the amount of crying that Akane does really got to me, but not in a bad way. I feel for her, because I think I would totally ORZ if I was in her shoes.
- White haired!Suefumi looked a LOT like Niou (PoT) at some parts. Uh. D;
- My love for the ending song (Harari, Hirari) has just soared by another few levels.

I SO NEED TO PLAY THE ACTUAL GAME, BADLY. JUST FOR SUEFUMI. DDDDDDX Harrrrrrrghhhhhhhh!!!!

{edit} ONOES LOOK AT THAT PRICE. RM152.37 *VOMITS BLOOD AND WEEPS* And omg the Maihitoyo comic anthologies look so pretty. TTATT

You know? My face right now? Looks like this:

D:
D8
O_O
DX
>_<
:O
D:<

( SPOILARZ FOR CHAPTER 7/8/END. WHY. *TWITCHES* )

First off, I'd like to apologise if whatever I type below is incoherent or wrong... I was playing with half a mind and half the strength because I'm really tired.

( Don't those rumours bother you at all, Benkei-san? )

Oh, Kurou is not only dense but he's cute too. He gets flustered easily. ( You'll see what I mean )