After a (somewhat) long absence, I make my (sort of) triumphant return!

That's right! Junior year is officially over! THANK GOD! I can't believe that in one year, I'll be graduating...

Last week was finals week, but I thought that they were pretty tame compared to 9th and 10th grade. That's kinda odd because 1) I didn't nearly study as much as I did for the other 2 years (I mostly goofed off and watched TV/played video games ) and 2) you'd expect Junior year in general to be a pain in the... ahem... you know. This is how I believed that I did:

Physics - B
U.S.History - A
American Literature - B+/A-
Sociology - A+ (according to my teacher, I aced it... with a 105% )
Pre-Calculus - B
Theology - A
Latin I - B+/A-

Report cards will be mailed this Friday, so I'll know how I really did soon enough.

Other than that, I haven't been up to much (aside from my usual video gaming fare). Hopefully, I'll do more than just sit at home and sleep, but I'm not promising anything.

Also, expect some new stuff (reviews, fanfiction, etc.) this summer since I'll have free time (theoretically).

Before I move on to the normal stuff, last blog's quote ("Read the mood!") came from an obscure source that not even most (non-Japanese) SNK (Playmore) fans would have caught onto. See for yourself...

Gaming Updates!
No More Heroes: Beat the game (again) and unlocked the real ending (Henry makes Jeane look like a walk in the park). The only thing that I'm missing are a few of the cards as well as some of the balls you need to collect for that drunk guy whose name escapes me at the moment. Can't wait for NHM: Desperate Struggle, but 2010 seems so far away...

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption: After a long absence, I've returned to this game. I've made it past the Leviathan Seed portion of Sky Town and I'm now en route to the Pirate Homeworld. I have a premonition that I'll have to fight Gandraya here. In Metroid-related news, Metroid: Another M looks sick!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl & Mario Kart Wii: Still honing my skills to make sure that I don't get rusty. By the way, I'm hyped about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Mario & Luigi: Inside Bowser's Story. I need to get a job so that I can pay for all of this...

Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Saurian: Beat the main final boss (Le Mu, who happens to be worse than Andromeda from the previous game), and opened the pathway to the extra set of bosses (cheap!), and obtained all of the Indie Frags. I'm currently completing the new side-quests as well as trying to obtain most of the Boss battle cards (I have a feeling that I'll need 'em). I think that Mega Man Star Force 3 should be due in a few months.

The King of Fighters '94: Yup... still playing it. I did get a greenlight for going to GameStop soon, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to get my hands on KOF XI or KOF '98 UM (or both! ) in the near future.

Well, that's all for now. The next blog may be a bit different than what you're accustomed to because I'm considering writing an editorial blog for GS' User Soapbox. I'll be making my rounds soon. Tata!

A cookie to whoever figures that first line out before my next blog. Trust me, you'll probably have ample time.

So, I hope that everyone is enjoying a well-deserved break. I know that I am. Yes! Only two weeks of school left! And now, for some somber news...

According to news reports, Wayne Allwine (the voice of Disney's beloved mouse since '77) died on May 18, 2009 due to complications from diabetes. He was 62. Normally, I wouldn't make such a fuss over the death of people I don't know on a personal basis, but I mean, c'mon! It's the voice actor of one of the most iconic characters in all of animation, and he's been doing that falsetto voice longer than most of us have been alive! Surely, he'll be missed.

I've heard rumors that he finished recording for Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days before his passing. I wish good luck to whoever Disney finds to be his replacement, but I'll always think of this guy when I see Mickey.

*silence*

Yeah... kinda a joy-killer, right? *scratches head* Sorry...

Well, I went to go see X-Men Origins: Wolverine last Saturday. If you've seen the movie already or don't care for spoilers, you can read the mini-review below (it is possible to read it as is, but you may need to highlight it). If not, go on ahead to the next part. BEWARE!

WARNING: A spoiler is below.

*sigh* Well, let's see... I don't like debunking the film with actual facts (since you can argue that the movie is AU), but there were so many wrongdoings, so I feel like I need to. Here goes:

What was done wrong:
1. Sabretooth and Wolvie are (as far as we're concerned; the origin story is still a bit hazy) not half-brothers. They are bitter enemies/rivals. End of story.
2. Kayla Silverfox can't persuade people via telepathy via touch; her powers were a healing factor and age suppressant. On top of that, the Silver Foxpresented inthe comicsgave me the impression of a femme fatale with skills in firearms. Finally, Emma Frost and Silver Fox are not sisters. Seriously, WTF?
3. The Blob and Chris Bradley were never a part of Weapon X/Team X. Never.
4. Deadpool (at the finale). This honestly deserves its own section. Deadpool is not Weapon XI. Wade Wilson was a dude with cancer who was augmented with a healing factor in an attempt to cure his ailment. He also had mad skills and reflexes. The only thing the movie gets right is his regeneration powers and martial arts skills. To hit the most obvious one on the head, Deadpool does not have the abilities of Kestrel (teleportation) andCyclops (optic beams), norwere his katanas grafted with adamantium and placed in his body akin to Wolvie's claws. Heck, it's even implied that if Stryker had more time, he would have given Weapon XI Emma Frost's diamond form. And how the *insert word here* can he be the "Merc with a Mouth" if his mouth is swen shut until a post-credits scene?! Way to *insert word here* drop the ball.
5. Continuity. X2 implies that Wolvie lost his memory from the adamantium bonding procedure, not from a *insert word here* adamantium bullet to his skull.

What was done right:
1. Aside from the stuff I pointed out above, the rest of the film sticks (mostly) to the established story (i.e. Wolvie's relationship with Sabretooth and Silver Fox) and powers/abilities of the cast.
2. The actors. Hugh Jackman brings that "gruff n' tough, but well-meaning" charm as Wolvie, while Liev Schreiber has the conflicted, animalistic nature of Sabretooth down pat. Ryan Renolds satisfyingly wisecracks, slices, and dices as Deadpool for all of the 12 seconds that his character sticks to its root. And Taylor Kitsch plays a surprisingly good Gambit. He definitely has the Cajun charm down. His accent could be a bit better, but yeah... no complaints here.

WTF Moments:
1. If Cyclops was captured by Sabretooth, wouldn't he recognize him in the original X-Men? I mean sure, you could joke that Sabretooth was played by two different actors...
2. Professor X cameos at the end when he telepathically directs Cyclops and the other mutant children out of the island base to his helicopter. Why didn't Prof. do anything else to help out? In the first movie, he telepathically controlled Sabretooth to stop Magneto from killing a bunch of officers. So why didn't hedo the same with Stryker?
3. The fight with Weapon XI. *facepalm* For once, Weapon XI deserved to lose because he was so *insert word here* stupid! If you have the powers of several mutants alongside a mastery of martial arts, why the *insert word here* would you only use one power at a time? At the end, when Wolvie decapitates Weapon XI, he is busy firing an optic blast. When Wolvie slashes him, the beam stops as Weapon XI falls into the tower, his head starting to detach from his torso. It is then that the optic beams miraculously restarts, blasting through the tower on the way down. My dad says that it's because the blood was still rushing to his head, but if that was the case, why didn't the beams stay on the entire time? And heck, why didn't he just teleport out of harm's way? Brilliant.

- END OF SPOILER -

Overall, there were some nice action sequences, and the plotline (despite straying from actual continuity; how come Marvel does that in a lot of their movies?) did flow quitenicely. My dad jokingly calls Wolvie "Gerald Butler" (y'know, Leonidas from 300) when he emerges from the adamantium bonding process. For those who disregard/don't know the actual plot, Wolvie gets a B; for those who don't/do, it's more like a C.

I plan on going to see Star Trek with my family soon. I've been hearing a lot of good things about the movie. Set phasers to fun! In more bad news, it seems that Hollywood refuses to stop screwing over every video game and anime seriesthat we

love. Aside from movies based off of Tekken, The King of Fighters, Death Note and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (IMO, my money is on the Tekken one), it seems that Sony Pictures is adapting Shadow of the Colossus into a film. No joke. Funny thing is... that's not even the worst part. The script is being wrote by the same guy who wrote Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, while the producer of The Scorpion King is negotiating whether or not he'll produce. Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? Yep; it's a 'lil something called failure.

However, I have some good news! Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes is coming to the States and Europe under the new title of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars! Capcom USA (and The Man, Seth Killian) worked out the licensing issues! I'm so happy, I could cry!

Animation Updates!
Wolverine & The X-Men: It's about time! New episodes! One question... why is Bishop bald?

Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Glad to see the Boy Wonder in the latest episode.

Gaming Updates!
Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Just honing my skills and earning the remaining trophies from All-Star Mode. In order to help the process go smoother, I've decided to focus my attention on training solely with Ike and Meta Knight.

Mario Kart Wii: Ditto, although it really doesn't take much toregain your skills in this. I've finally managed tounlock all thefast staff ghosts, so I unlocked the second Mii outfit as well as the Sprinter.I'm definitely thinking about making a mock version of the attract mode from F-Zero GX, only with Baby Mario in the Blue Falcon (or Mario in the Wild Wing/Sprinter).

Ōkami: Just finished the Moon Cave and beat Orochi. Obviously, there's much more to do, but I'm glad that I found the time to pick this back up again.

The King of Fighters '94: Beat the game again. It was actually pretty easy this time around (Rugal included). I'm planning on picking up KOF XI and KOF '98 Ultimate Match once school is out. By the way, when will KOF '02 Unlimited Match reach the States? I want to burn people with the black and red flames of Nameless!

Now if you'll excuse me, it'sfun time! I may not be able to reach you guys until after June 6th, due to the last two weeks of school (finals included). 'Til then, au revoir!

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's been awhile since the last blog. But then again, it's me we're talking about.

Well, first and foremost is the fact that school is just about over (finally!). I have one week until a short Memorial Day break, and then I'll only have two more weeks of school. *sigh* I'm glad that it's almost over; junior year has been, hands-down, the biggest pain in the... ahem... you know.

Other than that, nothing notable has happened. My work load is finally starting to wind down, so I should be able to get back to my other work (fan fictions, AMVs, etc.).

So... how are you guys holding up?

Gaming Updates!
Shadow of the Colossus - The 12th Colossus is a pain in the rear; that's for sure. Dormin (the disembodied voice) keeps on telling me that I need to get to higher ground, but the only elevated pathways I see either take me far away from the Colossus or end up having me be swept up by a raging river and off of a waterfall. Oh well... I'll figure it out eventually.

Tekken 3: Man, I'd almost forgotten how much fun this game was. Almost. Jin Kazama was such a god in this game. Not to say that I don't like playing as him now, but I'm glad that Devil Jin retains most of Jin's moves from this game. They're epic with a capital E.

X-Men vs. Street Fighter: Just playing for fun. Still hate the fact that the PlayStation port removes the ability to switch between both characters, thus hampering the game's fun factor. Tsk.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Forbidden Memories / Duelists of the Roses / World Championship 2004: Why am I playing three video games based on a trading card game based on a manga/anime series that has now lost its appeal? I dunno. Maybe it's because I bought the games when I actually liked Yu-Gi-Oh! and now I'm just bored. In Forbidden Memories, I started a new file, and funnily enough, I'm farther than I was before. I made it back to Ancient Egypt, but of course, my deck has few good cards, so I'll probably be stuck there for awhile. In DotR, I've started a new file as well. I've made it to the final opponent of the Red Roses campaign, but in typical end-boss fashion, he's a tricky 'lil sunnuva... In World Championship '04, I've finally figured out how to unlock the third-tier duelists as well as some useful booster packs. Yeah...

I'm somewhat surprised that this blog is so short. Hm... bah, what the heck. I'll make my rounds soon (probably during this weekend) and hopefully, you'll hear from me again sooner. Catch you guys later.