There are a lot of ways you can do a YGO movie. I'm just hoping to the Gods, or higher powers above, that they do it thr sensible way. But, really? I'm a sucker for teamup movies. An absolute sucker. It's probably why I used to watch The New Scooby Doo Movies series as a kid. Hell, I don't know why Don Knotts is teaming up with Scooby and the gang, but I know it's gonna be fucking awesome. Same with other shows where two semi-related shows would come together to beat some big bad/a collaboration of big bads spread across other big bad scenarios. My off-the-beaten-track rambling aside, I'm seriously gonna reserve my judgments until I see a viable trailer that isn't just "TOKUHOU: NEW YUGIOH MOVIE COMING OUT THAT'S TOTALLY AWESOME YOU GUYS." You know me: I'm all for blind pessimism...but I dunno...if the original manga-ka oversaw it, it has to be at least half decent, I would think.

Anyway, here's hoping a piece of Paradox's D-Wheel breaks off and impales Judai in the gut (EN THREE DEEEEE) during the Riding Duel for no reason 8U

Also, the NY Anime Festival is coming up this week and I still have to get stuff ready. Hopefully I withdrew enough money to pay for expenditures...and textbooks. Textbooks are ridiculously expensive new or used nowadays and I have no idea why. They make you pay upwards to 100 bucks for a single book that probably took some poor Guatemalan child, who gets paid 5 cents an hour, named Enrico Baudelio Reyes Anselmo five minutes to make by pushing a button on a machine. [/rant]

But, I'm really looking forward to the end of this week. It's gonna be a magical time filled with sparkledust rainbows and lollipop rivers.

...Or the multicultural funk of Penn Station and an unforgiving sea of nerds. Either way, I see it as win-win.

I saw a pigeon in a parking lot earlier. It made me wonder...what if rats really did have wings?

....

...No, really. What if they really did have wings and flew? That'd be fucking insane! There'd be rat droppings falling from the sky! They'd land in people's hair! When they died, they'd drop from the sky and hit the ground! Vermin blood everywhere! What the hell kind of world would be living in!?

...Then I drew this picture. Yay.

Brb, seeking professional help.

8U

No posty on Livejournal lately, but that's cool, I really haven't had anything to post.
( Random musings beyond here. )

Well, a couple of days ago, I ordered my new tablet. I said bye bye to Genius buttfuck faggotry and decided to upgrade--super upgrade.

Excuse my blurry ass pic-ness D:

Ahem, yes, well, as you can see, I don't think I'll have to be worrying for a while. (Unless the drivers decide to crash and burn for some odd, cruel reason.) Godbless, Wacom, you severely overpriced gods of digital art.faggotry. It's a 260 dollar investment, but I did it anyway (because I'm worth it[/loreal].) I would show you all more pics, but I took them at too low a resolution and they ended up looking like thumbnails when I uploaded them[/fail] Maybe once I feel like it, I'll take them over again.

In the meantime: TABLET TEST 2, GO!

Well, I said I had more for you all, and I do. This is from the Valuable Book 1. It's a little faux-interview with Takahashi-sensei where apparently Yugi (or a representation of Yugi) is asking Takahashi questions. Kind of odd, but, hey, I'm not one to judge. I began translating this a little while ago, but I never finished it. I think I only got the first page done before I had to go and do other things.

Since this one has a lot more visuals and whatnot of Takahashi, I'm including a link to the (resized) page I received from my partner, Shriek, so you can all follow along.

VB1 - Page 128

Character's Deck
Construction Secrets
Above Picture: Yu-Gi-Oh Author, Kazuki Takahashi-sensei

Learn from Takahashi-sensei!!
Constructing a deck is an important task in Duel Monsters! Author of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kazuki Takahashi-sensei has talked to us with information about deck building!!

Play Duel Monsters
Yugi: Duel Monsters is an OCG (Official Card Game) modeled after the game played in the manga, Yu-Gi-Oh. Meaning that Takahashi-sensei would be its originator! Have you ever dueled, sensei?
Takahashi: Plenty of times.
Yugi: Tell me your impressions when you duel!
Takahashi: What I would worry about before I play is that, "I hope this doesn't become a card game where the strong win," because I think the interesting part of dueling is going, "What Magic or Trap cards should I use to take this strong monster on?" In Duel Monsters, there are a lot of different types of Monster, Magic, and Trap cards, so I'm really glad that the things like tactics and offense and defense are enjoyable.

PROFILE (Mispelled "profiel" here)
Kazuki Takahashi-sensei
A very popular artist/author who has had Yu-Gi-Oh! run in Weekly Shonen Jump since '96! He is also deeply attached to the OCG and, of course, regarding the OCG Duel Monsters, has played his fair share of games.

Picture:
"I'll duel when I have a break." says Takahashi-sensei. Do new card ideas spring up here as well!?
Never Before Seen! This is the dueling space in Takahashi's house!!

Side:
This is where the Sensei duels!

Well, this is the last part. I can't believe I actually translated the whooole thing. (Lol, no one will get that reference.) Anyhow, it's always nice to see how damn warmhearted Takahashi-sensei can really be. In the end, he just wants kids to enjoy YGO--in all its creepy alter egos with suicidal tendencies and giant monsters with snake dongles glory! Huzzah!!

[Rough Sketch] Making of Yu-Gi-Oh! (1) Next, inking and toning will be done to complete it. See (2)
[Inked Piece] Making of Yu-Gi-Oh! (2)

You're Not Calling Me a Losing Mutt!
--So, basically, you're saying not to get worked up over winning or losing?
It's okay to lose because each person has their own personality that won't lose to anybody that's exclusive to themselves. Having people read "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and get that message makes me extremely glad.

I don't think there's any need to get down in the dumps on parts of losing because people are guaranteed to get stronger as many times as they lose. When they lose, there is a definite meaning as to why they lost, so people who keep that in mind are likely to succeed. What you gain from losing is likely to be substantial.

Today's society seems to be stuck in a world of nothing but "winners" and "losers," but I don't agree with that. People who lose are never really 'losers,' they should take it as a step to search for more, or, a test for winning. You may have lost, but life goes on. So, please, don't ever think, "I'm such a failure," or anything of the sort. If you go about things thinking, "It's okay to lose," you'll not only relieve the shock from losing, but you'll build up the energy to go forward. I can assure you that losing has substantial merits. So, I wish that everybody tries their best and not fear losing. You could almost say that is one's true strength.

[Panel Text]
Jonouchi: I'm not gonna lose!!

The Mediocre Man's Humble Spirit
--In that case, you could say Jonouchi is very "strong," couldn't you?
Yes, you could. I believe that Jonouchi has a quite important place in the story. I think he has great potential strength. That's why a little loss would never be enough to make him give up. There are many messages I try to convey to all my readers through Jonouchi's role.

Compared to Jonouchi, I consider Dark Yugi and Seto weak characters. In specific, I draw Dark Yugi with heroic qualities, but he has his really weak points as well. In a way, the normal Yugi is overwhelmingly more strong than Dark Yugi. It's no exaggeration to say that Normal Yugi, Jonouchi, and the others' strong points help support the single 'piece' that is Dark Yugi.

[Panel Text]
Anzu: See? Peace!
Jonouchi: What's this!?

We Are Pieces of Our World!
-- The "Circle of Peace"?
That's right. I wanted to draw human society itself. I think that our society is made up of the weak's mutual support. There is no such thing as a 'perfect human being.' I think that we each have our own levels of ability, but that it's all not perfect. It's my belief that by each person turning into a 'piece' and fitting them together to form a structure, this world would be completed. Though I believe there to be many people who long to aspire to be someone who constantly wins and pursue those dreams, people just aren't that strong.

[Page from Viz Manga Vol 1 - Chapter 1]

A Hit Even Overseas!?
--It seems to be quite the hit over in America as well. You just entered a new chapter in your story, but we wish you the best of luck.
I'm happy that it's a hit in America. What makes me swell with pride was that it was after the terrorism. I'm glad that, in that world of despair, the children were able to construct a world that they wanted. I will be doing my best, so please make sure to cheer me on!

Hah, I finally got around to translating a little more of this. I didn't really translate a whole "part," per se, but the next two sections of the interview. These deal with Pegasus' role and some general words from Takahashi about YGO's theme.

[Panel Text]
Pegasus: Punishiment Game!!

Just Who in the World is Pegasus?
--What role does Pegasus serve?
After getting the Millennium Eye in Egypt, Pegasus spontaneously decided to make the cards. The card game gained reputation in America, and, through a joint business venture with Kaiba Corporation, converted their monsters for Solid Vision. But, it seemed that Pegasus' own goals involved taking over the Kaiba Corporation. He wanted the technical strength of the Kaiba Corporation to revive his lost lover, Cyndia.

However, the Millennium Items have always had a quality to attract to one another. Pegasus, guided by that quality, resurrected the cards that would prompt the Items to assemble. This was, rather than the Millennium Eye giving him a revelation, he had been brainwashed washed by the Millennium Eye. It's also possible to think that, in the end, the cards were created by him, or, that, they were made to be made by the Millennium Eye. Since he was originally good at painting, he may have been chosen by the Millennium Eye.

And, having created one world and gathered the Millennium Items, he ends up dying, his role being finished. "Yu-Gi-Oh!," fundamentally, also has elements with a "death"-based theme.

Search for "Only One"!!
--Please tell us about Yu-Gi-Oh's theme.
"Yu-Gi-Oh!'s" fundamental theme, aside from the triad of "friendship," "death," and "love," also includes the keyword "independence." I would like all my readers to have something--one thing--that they'll rise above others to.

For example, even though the card game takes center stage in the story, I would hope you all make friends and form a friendly rivalry with one another. And while doing so, I hope you all find something unique to yourself--your 'only one.' I may present only the card game aspect during the story to everyone, but I'm glad that it could be provided as an opportunity for communication to allow everyone to meet one another and explore new possibilities. By fighting through cards, I wish you could all learn about people and build good relationships.

Well, this semester is pretty much my first 'official' Japanese class and since it's mandatory, it had to be the Elementary 101 class. Anyway, since that was piss easy to me, I basically asked the teacher if I could move up. After going to the wrong classroom (because of hearing the vague directions of 'going next door,') I finally went to the right classroom. I made a complete ass of myself and basically tripped over all of my words (which I normally don't do) and when asked to write, as a sort of a faux test, "11:15" in hiragana, I went "uuuh uuuh じゅういちご" (which I, of course, knew was １１時１５分（じゅういちじじゅうごふん） but I couldn't write it for some reason) but then I read a sentence and a half from the textbook verbatim and everything was awwwright.

But, yeah, I just found that sort of funny considering what I do and what I'm known for. I just think it's my tendency to get flustered around certain people, especially native speakers (which this certain 教師 is.)

Damn you, Genius, and your cheaply priced albeit somewhat unreliable hardware!

My tablet started to freak out on me a few weeks ago but I thought nothing of it. Then, when around today, it stopped working completely. I think it's just something wrong with my computer since it's 9002 years old, but it might just be the tablet since it doesn't seem to work on my laptop (which is just as old, if not older, lol inferior technology.) Iunno, it's working now, but I'm trying my best not to fucking move it for fear of it causing lol usb power surge of doom like it 'was' doing. I also tried tech support, but I literally got a sequence of transfers that led me to a disconnect ala abort retry fail? I really don't get it, though. It just started working for no reason as you can plainly see from the related image...still...really fucking bizarre...also, tits.

You steal men's franchises and make them your slaves!!

So, looks like there's trouble in paradise in the form of Konami basically abruptly revoking UDE's distribution license, UDE not liking that one bit, Konami patting us on the head and calling us beautiful like the sleazy guy you met at the bar who only followed you home to sleep with you, UDE calling Konami a doodyhead, Konami calling UDE a dildolicker, blah blah blah. The whole thing is one big mess and it's no doubt the precursor of things to come. That combined with 4Kids laying off 15% of its workforce and voice actor/actress Maddie Blaustein's sudden death, I can only imagine the future of Yugimons in the US....lawl.

Also, anyone find it ironic that the SoTN lines I ripped off come from translator Jeremy Blaustein? Maddie Blaustein's brother? Lawl, unwitting coincidence.

Good Going, indeed....

If any of you may or may not know, there was a massive blackout here in Joisey which affected more than 90,000 homes, making them go without power for almost 5 hours (some places up to 6-7 hours.) It started around 5:30 Tuesday, in the form of a slight surge. All the lights in the house quickly went out and then flicked back on. I thought "lol weird," but since it only happened for a second and nothing devastating was done (except my computer being shut off which was more annoying than devastating,) I thought nothing of it and went about my merry way.

It wasn't until my mom came back from work that I was informed that places up near the Shoprite we live near by had gone completely black, including traffic and street lights. I had told her what happened earlier and we both figured that whatever power fuck up was happening wasn't going to happen to us.

"Man, sure am glad we have ligh--*everything goes black*...Son of a bitch."

It wasn't halfway through my sentence that we experienced TOTAL FUCKING BLACK. I've never seen it that dark before. It was like God himself flicked a big 'off' switch on our neighborhood to give us the middle finger so we couldn't see it. So, basically, everything was dead, even our phone lines since they share the same digital source. (Luckily, we both had our cell phones charged, so we weren't completely fucked.) Having busted out the scented candles (because you know you all have some form of scented candle faggotry lying around your houses somewhere D:,) and traversing the corridors of the house with a dim flashlight and the lights from the display screens of our cell phones, we sat in a cold house (did I mention no heat either?) waiting for the lights to come back on like refugees waiting for that one care package filled with Pop Tarts and bologna to come flying down from the sky.

After about two hours of being huddled in our beds like shivering rats, we finally said "fuck. this. shit." and decided to call around on our cells to see what was going on (because, previously, our cellphones wouldn't even dial out, less known get someone on the line,) which finally resulted in us getting an answer. Apparently, a transformer (which I later found out to be minutes away from our house) had caught fire/blew up/spontaneously combusted/whatever, which then caused a chain reaction to other power grids, basically fucking over three counties all at once.

However, it's funny. The power outage seemed to be selective in what grids were and were not effected. For example, our town was completely fucked all the way to the highway, but in an adjacent town where my sister lives (and where we eventually ended up going) there was more than enough power to spare. So, either they had some sort of backup generator for the building, or...well, I dunno what the hell--All I know is, shit sucked, shit sucked, and shit fucking sucked D:

We didn't get power back until around 10:00 (EST of 10:30, but I guess we were closer or something so we got our power back earlier.) Luckily, none of our food spoiled and no blackout looter-types tried to break into our house, so we got out of this lucky. Unfortunately, the 5D's script I was working on at the time of the blackout did not, and since Aegisub didn't autosave the script for whatever damned reason, I had to do a whole big section over again; lame shit is lame D: But, hey, I got to see my 1 yr old nephew and that's always a treat since he is a laugh riot. (They're like little tiny drunk people, after all :3)

So, yeah, just needed to rant about that. We're hoping JCP&L sends out vouchers or something to compensate, if anything, but that's CRAZY TALK AMIRITE.

What has science done!?!?!?!?!?

Uploading takes forever, just like I remember. I'll probably post some non-comic related YGO nonsense there, too. (Don't lol too hard at the old shit I've tucked in the far corners, either, plz. )