MMORPG lovers! Come here, come here! Look!

Yup, yup! *nods* *nods* DEKARON SEA!! There's a Close Beta Registration going on at Mobius Games right now~<3

I'm not a hardcore online gamer. I just wanna share this fact to everyone while sugar-coating my real nature that I simply can't resist a game with good graphic features and game play and that goes without saying - sexy MMORPG characters ftw! (I'll beat you before you ask me: err, I'm a girl. I just love sexy things. XD)

But worry not, Dante! No matter how many cool MMORPG that comes in, you're still my number 1 hero and I'll always be a console gamer for you~<3

I'm actually quite happy to announce that we at Eien no Shoujo, a shoujo scanlation group (of course I would be a part of it! Shoujo = Smut! =P) has been granted with a join project of Kisu Yori Mo Hayaku with Intercross and Serenus Dreamers. We'll be starting with Love 03 (or chapter 03). We'll be releasing it soon, so watch out for it at Eien no Shoujo's website or IRC Channel.

Kisu yori mo Hayaku falls under comedy, romance, school life shoujo and Tanaka Meca is the mangaka. To be honest, this is the first manga I'm reading from this author so I can't tell you anything about his previous works.

Kisu Yori's story revolves around a girl named Fumino who lost her parents in an accident. She and her little brother, Teppei, kept moving from one relative to another until she grew tired and run away. Then, her teacher came to their rescue and wanted to take care of both of them but she refused and on a whim and said that she would agree only if he marries her. And he agreed immediately. But was it just on an impulse? Now you can enjoy a thrilling marriage life between a teacher and a young wife of a student~ <33

I actually quit being an editor because I'm busy IRL. I only do proofreading and quality checking in full time and a few sidelines on editing once in a while. When Kiatsu went up to me and said she needed help on typesetting a series for ENS's joint, I thought that I was typesetting an interesting manga until that moment I saw Teppei yelling "Buncha!" with pompoms on his hands. Kyyaaaa~~~!! <33 He's so cute!! And then, I decided to edit again! =P (Yey for Teppei!) Okay, fine. My driving force to edit is measured on how cute the character is. Whatever. But as everyone knows, I have requirements for editing too - (1) I wanted smexy bishonen, (2) I prefer seinen manga, (3) it should be either a smut or ecchi. Without any one of those, I'm not editing. But this is an exception since Teppei is cute and Maa-kun and Ryuu-kun could pass as a smexy bishonen too. XD

There you were lying so comfortably
In the couch beside the window.
With a fix gaze up on the ceiling,
As if thinking of something deep,
As if dreaming of something grand,
Staring into nothing at all.

You lighted your favorite cigarette
With that same lighter you usually carry around.
As always, you used your left hand to smoke.
And you gently closed your eyes as you breathe in.
When you exhale the smoke and slowly opened your eyes,
It was as if you're letting go of everything.

You started strumming that worn out guitar
That was lying in your lap for hours.
You tapped it gently with your long fingers,
And you seemed to enjoy every bit of its vibrations.
Faintly, you started to hum an unknown song.
As if you never wanted anyone to hear it.

The room's ambiance started to change.
From the window, there was a beautiful scene of a sunset.
The proud sun smiled at you and waved goodbye.
And it left a trail of bright orange that glittered like tiny jewels in the sky.
A warm light kindly hit your face,
As your shadow from the floor started to grow in pace.

I love it when you just lay there on the couch,
With a guitar on your lap,
Smoking your favorite cigarette,
And staring at nothing at all.
I love it when I hear that faint humming,
And the you beside that sunset was stunning.

As I had mentioned, yesterday, at The Final's updates blog, Dir en Grey is releasing their new single called "Glass Skin" on the 10th of September, this year (more details here). That is to say that they're back? I am really hoping a lot from this and is waiting patiently for their new album to come later, because seriously, I wasn't quite satisfied with their last album, The Marrow of a Bone. I just think that their earlier works before that were better, or is it just me that thinks so otherwise that this new style they have isn't quite as appealing? After all, I got hooked into them in their visual style, in the first place?

Anyway, going back to Glass Skin, this thing you see above is the CD cover for Glass Skin. I've heard that it's Toshiya who made it. He seemed to be fond of painting using fingers as a medium or something? As a basist, I have nothing else to say or want from Toshiya. I mean, he rocks! He's my favorite among DEG members and I squeal at the site of his image. And as a visual artist, with regards to the medium used and the art portrayal, down to the art concept until the final artwork in itself, I would give him a 7/10 for this. Since I am always with the rule of "art for art’s sake" and that this piece of art is quite good (well, in my opinion - not that anyone cares though). But then, I honestly think that this piece of artwork is not quite suitable for a CD cover, taking for a fact that the single's title is "Glass Skin." It kind of surprised me, and a bit of it that it bugs me that this piece of work came up from his concept of a "glass skin." But, it can always be that they chose it for the sake of choosing anything or something like that.

In my point of view as an artist, I would rather portray "glass skin" as something else. It could be either a person with a crystal like skin in terms of texture; or a person with shiny, smooth features that of a porcelain; or a person who has a transparent type of skin where you could see through everything within it. (I prefer the last, best, though.)

Even so, I liked the feeling of this artwork. The dark feel in it, that the person seemed to be covered in mud makes it intriguing to the point that it could either be him being swallowed by darkness or that he covered himself with mud to hide something. I especially love the eyes that looked so shock that it leaves the feeling that he's seeing something for the first time and he's torn in the feeling of both amazement and horror. And the red at the back seemed to have been a portrayal of blood. He might have died. And that expression was his feelings when he was killed.

Somehow, my interpretations and deductions of things with regards to this artwork made me feel a bit better and that it made my dissatisfaction of the cover less. Well, actually, I was pretty simple minded to be all happy about what I've interpreted. XD

Glass Skin

On the 10th of September, Dir en Grey is releasing their new single, Glass Skin.

Details are as follows:

1. GLASS SKIN
2. undecided
3. AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS -UNPLUGGED-
4. 凌辱の雨 RYOUJOKU NO AME [LIVE]

※ "凌辱の雨 RYOUJOKU NO AME [LIVE]" is only contained on Initial Limited Version.

【Initial Limited Version】 SFCD-0056 ￥1,260 (tax in)
【Original Version】 SFCD-0057 ￥1,260 (tax in)

Toshi's New Band

There had been a confirmation that Toshi, vocalist of X Japan, formed a new band called T-EARTH. Jun, guitarist of Phantasmagoria and Touya, guitarist of Charlotte, seemed to be a part of the said new group. Toshi said that the new group aims to give value for nature and children, thus, it's called an "eco hard-rock" band. He also confirmed that this new band will be touring 6 cities in Japan starting from the 12th of August until 4th of September of this year.

Oh, and he also mentioned that X Japan's World Tour will be cancelled because Yoshiki is said to have been sick. I don't have details regarding the said illness yet. I'll look into this very deeply. I'm seriously worried about it, since this is my Yoshiki we're talking about here.