Conversations, Replying Back, and Respectability

I recently came across an article that dealt with analyzing the details behind healthy marriage relationships and not so healthy ones, and although I'm pretty sure I won't have to deal with the issue of marriage for a long time, the contents of the analysis were intriguing. Usually I would put the link on the top of the blog post but here I want to emphasize more on my thoughts than on the article itself, so this time I'll just provide the link at the bottom, while giving a brief summary before I go into my thoughts.

The study that they did - or the one that I really thought was interesting to see - was that they observed several couples in a honeymoon (?) situation at a bed-and-breakfast lodging. Specifically what they did was they observed the couples' interactions with each other, in short if they were engaged with each other in conversation or not. For example, one of the two members might comment on something that seems trivial or insignificant - the example they gave was a husband mentioning a species of bird seen flying by the window. What researchers found was that how the spouse reacted to this seemingly trivial comment was heavily correlated to whether the relationship ended up healthy or not - those who engaged in conversation with their partners, however silly the topic was, had a much higher chance of maintaining their relationship status than those who ignored the comment or replied harshly to it.

In a way this seems like an obvious result, but I particularly thought it was interesting because it was so obvious - obvious not only in marriage relationships but in almost all forms of daily life conversations, both in real life and online. The interactions between the individual and his/her friends and family is highly representative of their thoughts for each other. Online conversations in general are an interesting medium to look at for various reasons - logs of the conversation are displayed on the screen for all participants, and off screen and beyond the chat there is no indication whatsoever at what they are doing... unless it is indicated in the chat.

Basically I want to extend what was already stated in the article in that, ignoring or curtly/rudely responding to a comment without thought, regardless of how trivial it is, can damage relationships - this blanket statement of course missing some legitimate exceptions. Being in an online environment, people may be legitimately busy or away, or maybe even just not being in the right mood. However, excuses often attempt to exploit such situations where people lie in conversations as if to think by doing so everything will be fine, or simply putting it on a lower priority list, therefore doing other things of higher priority makes them too "busy" to respond. The former is a common misconception that people won't see through the lie - at least in my experience, the lie is generally very obvious and results in a lot of toxicity. The latter is a blatant indicator that the relationship is being damaged, as one person has a higher value in their relationship than the other and is being hurt because of it.

I need to mention that I am undoubtedly guilty for some of these actions. In a way I needed to be in order to understand the full circle of how it works - how an offlayish comment or slight can seem innocent to one but destructive to the other. How people respond is also drastically different. Some can shrug it off easily and do other things, others have the unfortunate mentality of being tormented over being ignored. I can hitherto (at least in this paragraph) only describe my own thoughts and opinions on it.

It seems that there is a sense of fear that develops after being ignored. Initially there may be some anxiety of talking to a stranger and being ignored, but at least in my case, if it were to happen, this would not fall out of the bounds of expectations. Established friendships, however, are incredibly more emotionally linked. A built of friendship means that there is some kind of trust between friends and so - if one were to ignore or slight a comment - the damage is heavy the first time around. The second time, the friend who was ignored is now much more afraid and much more reluctant to talk to his/her former friend - meanwhile the one that makes the slight notices not much difference at all. Ultimately in a worst case scenario the two friends stop talking to each other, cutting off the relationship.

It does seem like, however, that if the person who ignored his/her friend started another conversation with the same friend, the damage is mitigated. This is because starting a conversation with a person is automatically an indicator that they have at least some form of lingering respect for each other. Doing so seems to salvage the relationship much more quickly to a state where the two friends can understand each other again.

On the other hand, if the person who ignored his/her friend starts talking to someone else, the situations is exacerbated. This gives the most clear confirmation that one has priority over another, and will make the friend making the comment feel utterly miserable. There are really no exceptions that I can think of for this.

What's the best way for dealing with such situations? This I'm not sure of, as even I have trouble dealing with it at times as well. I found that re-starting conversations with people I have did that to seems one of the most effective, and as such I had highlighted the action earlier. Otherwise, replying in some fashion - and honestly - is probably the best way to prevent a relationship from getting worse. People generally understand if they are not in the right mood (I think) so mentioning that they aren't in a good mood to talk right now is overall a better excuse than making up a lie or saying that one is busy (ie prioritizing other things). Besides that... I'm not sure. Emotions are a complicated thing and tend to be what pre-occupies my mind a lot simply because of how illogical they are (thinking of them in an objective sense that is, not that I'm raging or emoing all the time... I think...)

Hmm. There was really not much I wanted to get across, maybe just express some of my thoughts that came to mind after reading that article. In honesty I wish that some of the people I knew would read this, but I'm sure they don't read my blog (or not anymore). Damaged relationships can be hard to mend - as I mentioned, the person that is hurt doesn't want to try anymore and get hurt again, thus resulting in the breakdown of the friendship. Additionally I can't say its all their fault and not mine - my interactions do not always end up being the nicest and I am ashamed of that.  But such is life and to live is to move on. Form new relationships, engage in happier activities that can help mitigate the past pains. Learn from from the past, consider how it could have been better, and apply it to the newer relationships. That, possibly, can be the key to a happier future life.

Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/lasting-relationships-rely-on-2-traits-2014-11

Atelier Rorona 3DS

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/11/05/atelier-rorona-announced-nintendo-3ds/

The first thing I thought WAS "omg I must get this" but then it became "well crap I need to get my 3DS I loaned out back"...


...well I think I'll have a year or two before it comes out here anyway!

Optimism

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0110470

Support Pessimistic Thinking!

Idolm@ster Movie

I got to see Serika in so many costumes!! Hurray!! Honestly though I don't think Serika is cut out for a role as a dancer, and her dancer outfit looked kind of unnatural on her... but the mini concert outfit was super cute! So was her outfit during the rainy scenes. \o/

Unfortunately Serika's character and personality wasn't that pronounced in the show - besides the way she talked, she was pretty much as flat as the other million live characters besides Kana and Shiho. :(

They should have gave her more lines and attention! D:

I guess we can just hope for another season based on ML. /o/


...? Wait, was there something else in the movie? Plot? Other characters? Hmm... I don't remember anything else... Oh well!

金曜日のおはよう

After realizing the reappearance of characters in Honeywork's songs I decided to look up his stuff and see the character songs for each character. I realized the artist does the songs in a really cute manner - that is, each song actually has two versions (almost), where for each couple there is a viewpoint from both sides.

(This also explains why he almost always has perfect coupling in his stories - its like for every girl there is always a guy, and vice versa! Except Inokori sensei, but that one is a little unique v:  )

As an example, take a look at his most recent coupling and the two songs the artist made out of it (its probably more neat to play them back to back):






It's probably not too complicated, but pretty fun and cute way of doing the songs. Also I really like the couplings... I'm guessing they were designed to be deredere fluffy fluffy. :V Apparently there are anime clips alongside some of their CDs too... It would be pretty awesome if they had an actual anime come out for them too... Maybe?!? Right?!? Right?!??

Masculinity

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0110497

This abstract is kind of amusing to read. :V


Wait, why include a pathogen section... :|


http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/278/1714/2032


Oh.

夢色トレイン

(I can only find a preview version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBxjzK-DkWs )

I have to admit Serika is great but her first song was only ok, didn't quite have its appeal as I would like it to have.


...BUT THIS ONE.

Man after I heard this one it was like an instant favorite. It seems to capture the essense of cuteness, and Serika herself is pretty much an embodiment of that so it represents her so well. There's just two things I wanted to note about this song:

1. What is the deal with trains?? First there was Kotori's single, and now Serika. What does this mean?? Should I become a train otaku?? What is the link with cuteness/purity and trains...???

2. I really wish there was MV or live out for this song out right now. I will probably melt at the performance of this kind of song. The dancing... the cuteness... kyun kyun...

Jewelpet Tinkle

It was a pretty bad show with a lot of inconsistencies, I wouldn't suggest anyone to watch it.


That being said, after watching a few episodes I couldn't help but continue watching it... the reasons why are not really clear. Perhaps I just have this natural affinity towards shows aimed at little girls since it portrays a highly idealistic world but still has elements of comedy and action at the right amount... shonen shows tend to have too much competition at times, and shojo often has a lot of drama which I don't like. But shows like these are often in situations where everyone wins and we can all live happily ever after. Probably, just a fun show to watch during times when stressing over other stuff like work for me.


...Or maybe I just like Akari. Starting off she didn't seem like much but she turned out to be pretty adorable D:

Food Imitating Products

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0100368


Remember everyone, as much as it might smell like the real thing, don't try to eat FIP. Even if it's shampoo that smells like Mimorin.


*end joke no one will ever understand*

Fashion

It's amazing what an open-access journal can bring. PLOS ONE is pretty interesting in that they only rigorously look over your methods, then let the community judge whether your research is important or not. Check out the wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLOS_ONE


So of course, alongside these serious, in depth detailed articles on computational neuroscience and the likes, we have articles that... study fashion. :V

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0102772


It seems like its best if your colors are slightly matched but not totally the same or totally different!!

What better way to learn about fashion through science!

And in case you didn't notice this is the same journal with the mobile game study I had posted previously. 

Mobile Games and Research

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0100662

People are putting up mobile games and collecting data from them.


In the future I am not being distracted by mobile games, I'm contributing to science!

Idol Units

Random thoughts.

If I could produce any three-idol unit like they have in idolm@ster but instead have no restrictions of what series they'd come from...

I'd probably do Serika (c), Arisa, Kotori.

However, although Kotori is my favorite idol in μ's, I don't think she would really match the unit. Her appeal is different than the other two -- although they'd all classify as Pure, the type of Pure that Kotori possesses is distinctly different from the other two. 

...maybe I can substitute Totori as an idol?!?!?!?!?


Putting favorites aside, if I chose someone for talent (in particular for singing), I think I'd do something like:

Reika (c), Emily, Eli

Reika is a really amazing singer -- just hearing her voice in ML made me really like her. It's too bad she herself isn't that popular, I kind of think she deserves better than just a character role in ML. Then again if the seiyuu wasn't voicing a ML character (like a normal idol role or in a group such as AKB) I probably wouldn't know of her in the first place.

Hmm I realize I didn't pick anyone from Aikatsu. I guess I would put Ichigo somewhere but she's already the main character... :V

...Totori as an idol is a brilliant idea. ATELIER SERIES IDOL SPINOFF PLEASE!



EDIT: Also something very distantly related. The next big idol game! http://www.siliconera.com/2014/07/08/mages-5pb-publishing-super-cute-idol-rhythm-game-3ds/

Rhythm of Fighters

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/06/19/rhythm-fighters-mixes-king-fighters-music/


It's LLSIF!!! ...No wait no its not... waaaaaiiiit a minute.....

Neptunia Rebirth PC

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/06/12/wait-hyperdimension-neptunia-rebirth-1-coming-pc/

Eer... Hmm. I guess that would be more convenient.

GMO Cautionary Point

http://io9.com/forget-the-evil-gmo-hype-here-are-the-real-problem-1586203046

This seems pretty reasonable. There is much potential in GMOs, but correct usage is important such that it won't get out of control. I would think that most genes are not just clones of each other but more like variations of plants that happen to have a similar gene -- therefore the chance of a complete wipeout shouldn't be there unless it relates to the targetted gene in itself. But considering the situation environmentally is a nice way to look at the impacts of GMO.


...But most people don't care about the environment anyway I think. :v

Box Gachas

This is what my box gacha looked like (in Granblue Fantasy) when I finally drew the event item I wanted. Note that I didn't really want ANY of the other items, just the main one on top...

Meanwhile my friend got it after about 50 draws.

Needless to say, I hate box gachas. 

Million Live

I ranked for the Serika event, ie "I tossed Namco free money."

Overall stats:
Rank: 938
USD spent: 132.99
Serika kizuna lv: 192

I would have also put down the number of books I used but I lost count. Suffice to say she ate a lot of books.

...Still less than the amount I spent trying to draw for Kotori in LLSIF!!

The current market price on the card is about 240 spark drinks, which can come to around 220 USD I think (with the given free deals). It's not as high as I had hoped it would be, but ranking was still a much better deal than getting it from the market. Of course I also had a crap ton of drinks stored up for the event so that eased costs a lot.

Now excuse me while I go and get rid of Serika's glasses.

Omega Quintet

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-05-08/compile-heart-teases-ps4-idol-rpg-omega-quintet-in-video

Props to (Hoshizora) Rin for getting the lead protagonist role in Compile Heart's new PS4 game.

Arcadia

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/05/07/battle-princess-arcadias-coming-west-june/


OMG JUNE?!?!?!? HYPE


MOE DRAGON CROWN LETS GO

Eiyuu Senki

https://twitter.com/FruitbatFactory/status/463713193907732480


Hmm this is pretty interesting, in part because I (accidentally?) have a bunch of stuff from Comiket revolved around this game... maybe I can finally open that huge artbook after I play it!

...Maybe. v:

Asian-American Students

http://news.sciencemag.org/education/2014/05/scienceshot-why-asian-american-students-outperform-their-white-peers


Har Har this is pretty obvious to almost everyone, but I am still amused that there was a study and an article about this.

イノコリ先生

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm23348919

(Seems like I can't get the embedding to work right now, so I'll have to try and do it later...)


A post that was long overdue, probably because I haven't listened to a lot of VOCALOID songs lately. This one was kind of interesting and caught my eye despite being fujoshi bait... in the end I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. The VOCALOID used is a new VOCALOID (flower) and I'm not particularly fond of its voice, but I really like the music, instrumental, theme and lyrics of this song... which goes to say something, since the art is not significantly appealing (well some of the girls that appear are cute but probably don't play a big part... probably) and again the voice is only mediocre at best. To me it takes quite a lot to make up for those two lacking parts and then come around and still say its a great song...

Speaking of the theme, I do think it's a pretty interesting video-- an angrily passionate pop song rather than happy and sad ones which we see all the time. Anger is usually something I imagine in more of the rock or death metal genre in terms of music, so something that could express such emotion in more of a lyrical pop type environment was pretty nice. Hopefully they'll put it into Joysound in the future and somehow I can find ways to sing it. Angrily. ANGRILY.

Neptunia VII Previewing

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/04/08/see-neptunes-3d-model-hyperdimension-neptunia-victory-ii/


long haired neptune??!? does that mean she might actually be a likable character now?!?????!!?

Atelier Escha (Unfinished)

Hmm... I sincerely hope that there is more content in New Game+ because right now I am completing all assignments + synthesis before each deadline and ending up with a ton of free time where I have no idea what I should be doing, even though this is my first playthrough...

Dusk Ateliers

If I were to make slogans of the two Dusk atelier games out right now:

Atelier Ayesha: "You can't get any frillier than this!"

Atelier Escha and Logy: "MORE FRILLS!"

Some New Atelier Game

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/24/atelier-shari-alchemists-dusk-sea-will-feature-two-protagonists/


Black hair Shari so cuuuuute aaaaaaa omg best alchemist design since Totori.

Fireflies

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/03/20/first-look-nippon-ichis-adorable-vita-game-play-firefly/

Ok, for real now, time to get a Vita.

40mP's Mozaik Role

40mP's cover of DECO27's Mozaik Role. Less Guitar, more piano. I guess that's fine by me.

Sakura Gakuin

A while ago when I watched Zettai Karen Children I thought that the girls that did the intro (Karen Girls) were an interesting group, and I thought it would be interesting to check up on them later. So for 3 years I went off to do other things and just yesterday I decided to look them up again to see what they were up to. 

...First off I would like to say, I never truly believed that there were actual idol competitions like they talk about in Idolmaster and Love Live until yesterday. I guess it was always in the back of my head saying something like "yeah sure yeah right, it's all probably not real" but apparently, there is something called Tokyo Idol Festival... and there really are idol competitions!! I haven't watched through them all yet and there's probably too many idols to list (much more than Love Live/Aikatsu/Idolmaster/etc I'm guessing) so this post won't be on that. It was more of a "omg something like this exists" kind of thing.

Next... I guess it never struck me how prominent the "groups of large idols" was in japan and whether an environment similar to 765 pro exists, but after seeing Sakura Gakuin I'm guessing some places come pretty close. Sure there were large groups like AKB and whatnot but... wow everyone in Sakura Gakuin is so young :V I guess I should have guessed since the Karen Girls video but idols really do train at young age (some of them anyway)... >.>

Anyway I decided to check out a few of their videos and its actually pretty fun to watch. I think its almost like watching irl Aikatsu except... not... but I still think they're worth knowing about. Their voices aren't always the best, but I think given their age and that they're doing performances they're at quite a high caliber, at least some of them anyway. Well it doesn't matter because the videos I want to link aren't the ones with them singing anyway V:

random episode drama about switching... or... something... First one I watched. It was kind of cute and funny. Ok well most of these videos are kind of cute and funny.

As it turns out young idols have hilarious answers to questions! I thought this one was really amusing to watch, I think it paints a nice view of the environment they try to make with the show.

They do graduation parties too! Nothing like the ones we have. :| Speaking of this person, this girl was one of the girls in the Karen Girls group. Also amusingly enough she's the lead singer in the Babymetal pop/death metal group... She's really cute but that she's doing Death Metal kind of makes me sad since her image can be so much cuter than the type of goth death metal is associated with imo ;_;

Another girl of the Karen Girls group also graduated from the Sakura Gakuin group and is actually going solo really soon. Her webpage and debut information is here:

http://www.mutoayami.jp/cam/debut/index.php

It looks quite a lot more mature than when we first saw her Karen Girls and Sakura Gakuin. Well that's what happens after a couple years I guess. V:

There was one more girl but I wasn't able to get much info from the last one. I guess some become more famous and others don't? Sad but probably how these things work. If only idol life was always happy and smiling like these videos... 

World is Mine MV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOTWV3MhTRo

I think they mentioned this at AX at one time... looks like they finally finished it.

Sket Dance (Unfinished)

Screenshot says everything.

A Story of Kans and Doras (Mahjong)

Everyone knows that when you kan this always happens.

Always. See?

Ok so it happens and it's all normal. What's the safest, most sane and logical thing to do when it happens, though?

Obviously drop the initial dora.

Random Spring 2014 Anime stuff

I am extremely excited for Magica Wars. It's still up in the air how well it will turn out but I feel like it has really high potential especially considering how amazing the contest submissions are, from some of the absolute best artists on pixiv. If fuzicoco's entry made it to the anime level... well I don't want to miss that.

Still, it's up to studio to make it a work of art, which is what it mostly was with the characters anyway. I guess if the animations and battles are done nicely (and that they occur frequently enough) I can accept whatever bs story they may come up for it, because it probably won't be good coming from an original TV series based on character illustrations. :V


Atelier Escha is also something to look forward to, although I'm more worried about the animation quality for that show given the poster image. Obligated to catch up on the Atelier games before this show starts.


Hmm I guess I should also watch Love Live.


Either way I will probably end up not watching anything until the season is over and then marathoning it mostly. Or maybe I'll remember mid-season and watch like 5 episodes of each series at a time. Still, I feel like it's been a while since I felt remotely excited for any season. I guess we'll have to see how it turns out.

EDIT: in other news aikatsu movie-- well I guess it would happen.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-02-22/aikatsu-franchise-gets-film-in-april

...Maybe a movie version of Naughty Police + Chocopop Detectives vs Swallowtail Thieves???

AND SPECIAL CAMEO OF POWA POWA PURURIN

Ignorance

Sometimes people will say "knowledge is power". This is a true statement, because with the appropriate knowledge comes the ability to manipulate and control (tools or human beings, whichever). However, I don't think many people may see this, but ignorance is also a power. Being ignorant in some circumstances is a very strong and powerful concept. The idea of this may seem absurd but in reality, being less aware of knowledge of certain kinds can become a powerful defensive and motivational force. Let us provide a very simple example. A person who takes drugs versus a person who doesn't. Here we can have two situations of ignorance. One is that the person who doesn't take drugs does not know of its addictiveness. This allows the person to be non-dependent on drugs and be able to live his life free of that kind of addiction. Another type of ignorance is the person who is taking drugs but does not know of the health consequences. Perhaps not quite as beneficial as not knowing the addictive power of drugs in itself, but if the drugs are providing the addict with a reasonably content lifestyle, then without knowing about any possible health consequences, could not this person live rather happily as well?

Ignorance is a powerful factor, but the real key to using it properly is to know what to be ignorant of. A highly paradoxical case, but knowing how to be ignorant can be very beneficial. Many sources of doubt and misgivings often come from knowing too much. Of course, there are some that can probably take in such knowledge and still continue to have confidence in what they set out to do. Still, not knowing would be better. Not knowing would mean that there is full 100% confidence (even if it might be wrong) in their beliefs and their goals, and there is nothing perceived wrong about what they will decide to do.

Obviously not all types of ignorance are beneficial. As a researcher myself, I understand how if one attempts to tackle a subject without knowing anything about it it is roughly equivalent to swatting a fly in the dark. Controlled ignorance is what one should think about seeking after. This is not actually a foreign concept, although people may be unaware that they are engaging in it (yes, its quite ironic). This is very prevalent in politics where people will refuse to fully understand the points of the other party. Why they would do something like that, is to keep their faith unwavering and follow their beliefs regardless if in reality they are true or not.

Likewise, both ignorance and knowledge is a powerful tool to use against other people, instilling people what you want them to know, forbidding them from learning what they shouldn't know. People always outcry this as a type of "evilness" but this is perfectly normal. Like many things in life, there is a balance, a balance between knowledge and ignorance. One is not better than the other any more than light is better than dark. So once in a while, consider the ignorance and feel appreciative of what you don't know. Additionally, think about what you should continue to not know about, but also where knowing will be more advantageous. Knowing what to tackle and what to ignore... may be a key to making one better in his/her entirety.

Zombie Idols

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/02/06/akb48-arcade-game-pretty-much-akb48-house-dead/

Yeah... :V or dancing zombies?!?

Guess I made a similar post earlier, although the contents are different. Not an original concept it seems!

http://enigmatic-cube.blogspot.com/2013/03/zombie-idol.html

Anime Synthesia

(Disclaimer: I am not actually a synesthete. I think.)

A lot of times when I watch anime, I tend to get hungry. (This is even more so with Rune Factory, but that's because 70% of the game revolves around food and making incredibly good sounding dishes.) I do not know if it is because of this that I began making analogies of anime to food in my head, but for quite some time I've been making some associations of the genres of anime with flavors and textures found in food. I never really had the analogies completely thought out or solidified, but recently when I was thinking about it I realized that perhaps the associations I have in my head may be more "developed" than what I had thought up before, and so for this reason I thought about writing something on this.

It is pretty clear to me that anime is not food, because it would be great to survive on just watching shows all day. Actually, maybe not. But regardless, the way I watch anime, to me, tends to reflect how I think about eating. While some people prefer to watch an episode or two a day and suffice with it, I tend to enjoy marathoning shows, because when watching only a single episode sometimes it feels like I'm not satiated enough-- kind of like having a taste of a good dish but not finishing it. So if an entire series can be considered a single dish, doing one episode is more like trying the sampler at a COSTCO wholesale foods store -- either you try it and you don't like it or you want to eat it all. So, oddly enough whenever I start watch anime I am constantly having the image that I'm "eating" it: as I watch more I eat more until I am full, the dish is finished, or I need to go to sleep because I have work the next day.

Just as anime is not really food, the genres of anime can't really be considered absolute flavors. In fact, I specifically specified the genres as being not just flavors but also textures. When people think of describing food, usually the first thing people would consider is how it tastes. However, texture is also really important. Taking sushi as an example, I don't mind the flavor of fish but the texture between cooked fish and raw fish is significantly different, even if the flavor is mostly the same. The difference between me enjoying cooked fish vs disliking sushi is simply that the texture is different. Anime, too, has its flavors and textures, defined into genres many shows typically get cast into. In the following I present a few genres as an example of how I would make the analogy between a show and a dish.


Moe = Sweet
Moe type shows are the easiest type of show to classify into a taste. I will admit that I may have been influenced through other portrayals of moe, because there has been none to few images and analogies throughout anime and fanart relating the aspect of moe to a sweet-tasting food such as cake. The reasoning behind this is really simple: cute things make a person feel happy, in a similar way that eating something sweet will make you feel happy. Yes, this is not true for everyone, and everyone has different tastes. However, I consider myself a sweet tooth when it comes to anime, so I always look for shows with at least a little sugar in it.
It should be noted that it is possible for an anime series to be too sweet. For me if this happens, I don't necessarily abandon it but I am actually unable to stomach the entire series in one go. This is significant. Making a food analogy, it is possible for example to eat an entire sandwich for lunch but then come to dessert and find that I can only finish a portion of that chocolate cake. It's not that I do not enjoy the cake, but simply that the flavor is too strong to finish right now. I may finish eating the cake later during the day.

Comedy = Crisp
The first thing I think of when I think of generic comedy is chips. Usually comedy shows are the ones I can blow through in one go without even feeling full afterwards, simply because they are airy and lack certain depth to make one feel fully satiated. However, chips are very tasty. Even if they are not fulfilling, when I start eating chips I want to keep eating them. Comedy shows I feel much the same about. They may not satisfy you in the end with their lackluster (if at all) conclusion, but they're still delicious and entertaining to watch.
What about moe comedy shows? Here I introduce a concept that I had been considering when thinking about all this. Genres are not hard-lined categories. Most of them can easily blend into each other. So how does this work with the analogies? Notice that I defined Comedy as more of a texture than a flavor. In that line of thought, Comedy can be placed more easily with "flavored" genres like a moe themed show, to create an analogy similar to a cookie is both sweet yet can be crispy (crunchy?)  at the same time. Hence, you can see shows that begin to have a gradient of flavors: cookies for those more moe-focused, chips for shows more focused on comedic moments.

Action = Meat
Sometimes, I just feel like watching a show where things blow up. This kind of feeling almost relates a type of primal, instinctive drive to eat meat which many people have. While some people really love their meat (and likewise, some people enjoy their pumped up shonen shows) I am typically fine most of the time going without it for quite a while, but a little action and some meat is always delicious to watch at times.
Meat goes even better with seasonings, though. Again, genres can be combined such that moe action shows are possible, comedy shows are possible, or anything else really. Eating meat alone can be fulfilling, sure, but not always enjoyable as having some sauce on top of it, or giving it a different texture such as frying it.

Slice of Life = Bland
By bland here, I mean typical types of staple/starch foods like rice or bread. Usually slice of life on its own is pretty boring. I mean if you think about it, real life is the best example of a "slice of life" show without much of anything at all. Spicing it up with different other genres, even at low concentrations, can make a bland show much more entertaining, in part because the flavor here is not as strong as those that are hard-classified as they would be in their respective genres.
Just as starch foods is a staple for meals, slice of life can typically "fill you up" in terms of your watching quota. It could just be because you're done with watching such a slow show and don't really want to watch more, though. :V

Drama = Vegetables
All of these classifications I have made so far are biased and this one is probably the most biased classification I have made yet, mainly because I am not usually a fan of drama. Most of it is either under the radar (covered with other flavors so I don't care much about it) or very distasteful such that I don't really want to eat (or watch) it anymore. That's not to say I don't like any types of vegetables at all, but certainly if I could go for something different to eat I probably would. (And, seeing how I'm not required to "eat an anime series", there's no harm skimping on the healthy foods simply because they taste bad).
Drama could be done well though. Of course it could, or else all those shows in the top hit spots wouldn't be there at all. But for me the drama is (almost) always the least important aspect for the taste of an anime series. Just like girls with glasses, typically its simply better without it.

Horror = Bitterness
Bitterness is an acquired taste. Give a 5 year old child some coffee and I'm pretty confident the child will not like it. Horror, to me, is much the same. You can't like it immediately when you see it the first time, because your first instinct is to be repulsed and run away. Still, many people like horror, just like people can get accustomed to coffee. For me, it would have to depend. Straight up horror is typically never pleasurable, but perhaps if prepared delicately and tastefully I can enjoy certain elements of horror too... typically combined with other elements.
I going to seem to go out on a limb here and state that the Ecchi genre is, to me, chocolate. Why chocolate? First off, when thinking about sweet and bitterness people will consider them pretty much opposites, since sweet foods taste "good" while bitter food tastes "bad". But there is one food that actually combines them pretty well: chocolate. Chocolate is (from my experience anyway) a sweet and bitter food at the same time. The level of sweetness and bitterness of course changes (milk vs dark chocolate) but this is essentially the nature of chocolate. In this respect, erotic content is much like a combination of "moe" and "horror". Here horror isn't the absolute "make people scream" type of horror but more like "make people disgusted" kind. Erotic content and the concept of intercourse IS disgusting, and many people think so. But at the same time, it can give pleasure, a similar type of sweetness that a moe genred show can garner. So in essence erotic content in a show can be in a way both sweet and bitter - delicious and repulsive - and ultimately addicting to some. To me, the nature of this and the nature of chocolate are therefore very similar. (As a side note chocolate is considered an aphrodisiac, I think, so its not like this is a completely original idea I thought of... chocolate is pretty ero by nature V: )

Mystery = Liquids 
When eating solids you can typically eat a certain amount, and then stop, and the amount that you eat is quantifiable. Liquids, however, are a bit different. Where you stop and where you begin again is arbitrary unless you really go down to the molecules. Furthermore, for liquids one may typically drink and continue drinking until you can't really drink anymore. Why I attribute mystery or suspense type genre to liquids is the exact kind of feeling. In a mystery when you're watching a series, despite being sectioned out into episodes, the show ends in suspense so you don't really have a "stopping" point - you're obliged to keep drinking. Furthermore mysteries to  me have a pretty high tendency to get "full" - once I'm finally finished with a mystery or suspenseful series I'll probably stop for a while, and maybe just think about what I just ate (or drank?). The nature of mystery is just such that you don't know when to stop but when the cup is finally empty you are probably done (well, until someone pours you another cup).



So in the end I classified what I imagine how certain genres "taste" with certain anime dishes, but even with these genres listed some things might be different. For example, dishes with the same genre could taste differently. A moe show may have a different sugary feel than another moe show, which would cause preference in flavor for one over another (think possibly brown sugar vs white sugar). Also, and possibly the most important aspect is this is how I may see anime, but everyone sees things differently. In a way I am intigued how other people may see certain series. Would fujoshi see bishonen much the same way as I had classified Moe, or would the flavoring be different to them? It's hard to say, since I don't think many people if at all would think of anime as a type of food.

Rune Factory 4 (Unfinished)

Things I keep accidentally doing.

1. Eating things I don't really want to eat, because the "use" button (B) is the same button normally used as "cancel". (Yes I totally wanted to eat that weed and poison myself.)

2. Give people and pets stuff I didn't really mean to give, because they stand right next to me and I was actually wanting to pick up stuff instead. ("Oh my, thanks for giving me this level 10 crop that took 90 days to grow!")

3. Talking to people/pets when I want to pick up stuff instead. There should be a "BTW You're stepping on my egg I want to pick up" option in every menu.

3. attack and destroy save spots/treasure chests. Because I really didn't want to save, really.

4. Allies attack and destroy save spots. Because Amber really didn't want me to save, really.


Well all in all its a pretty fun game despite the controls I need to get used to for the reasons above. I don't think I would find a normal harvest game really that interesting unless I like the characters (Harvest moon has potential, but I will never touch Animal Crossing). Rune Factory though, because of the character designs and the fact that there are RPG elements, I felt like it was "almost" the perfect game. There are still things I wished they improved on though (besides the terrible controls, which again for reasons above).

While the character designs are great, the avatar models are pretty terrible. I hope in the future they can improve on the graphics to something like Neptunia's level (probably impossible for a 3DS...). More importantly I'm not terribly sure about that plotline... then again I'm progressing really slowly in plot considering that you could stall it forever in order to raise your crops.

As expected of a game like this its rather grind-heavy. Grinding for high level crops, grinding your cooking skills, grinding for items, grinding for levels... each one in itself doesn't take a lot of time to do, actually, but given the limited time you have per day sometimes I find myself doing all of one thing and not getting done what I wanted to do for other things. Especially harvesting when all your crops are ready. Other times, I finish things faster than I thought I would and then I'm like "well crap what am I going to do now?" This game takes even more planning than the Atelier games sometimes...

There's still a lot of other things about this game I haven't check out yet (like marriage) although my interest is already waning after I finished the first arc of the game. Nevertheless the game is quite amusing to play. I'll probably keep at it for a while then switch to Ayesha since Escha is coming out later... time managing games about time management!

Also, Amber calls me "Master" after I start dating her = +10 points for amusement. 

My Classic Fairy Tale Can't Possibly Be This Cute

http://kotaku.com/check-out-japans-ridiculous-anime-fied-fairy-tales-1502540700

Kotaku posted something about classic novels and stories being "light-novelfied" so that they have anime portraits, for better or worse.

And I am totally okay with this.

In fact they should go overseas and publish these kinds of novels in English. With stories like Hitchhiker's Guide. Light novel version of Hitchhiker's? I would read that again. V: