Feline Friday #17: 29 April 2016

We've pretty much seen cats doing their usual tricks, maybe even pretending to be humans sometimes. But this cat is taking Japan by storm recently. This real-life kitty is "modeled" after the famed cat of the manga by the title of Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai, which author is Hiroyuki Takei.

Below is the image of the actual Samurai Cat of the famed manga.

This is how the plot summary of the manga goes:

In medieval Japan, a bell hanging on the collar is a sign that a cat has a master. Norachiyo's bell hangs from his katana sheath, but he is nonetheless a stray—a ronin. This one-eyed cat samurai travels across a dishonest world, cutting through pretense and deception with his blade.

Asian Spaghetti

This recipe originally appeared on Taste of Home and the original recipe yields 5 servings. I do not claim ownership of this recipe

Ingredients:

• 226g uncooked angel hair pasta
• 220g sliced fresh mushrooms
• 220g fresh snow peas
• 227g shredded carrots
• 4 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 tbsps reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Ingredients Notes:

• You can substitute angel hair pasta with any other types of pasta of your choice
• You can used canned button mushrooms if you do not have any fresh mushrooms on hand
• Don't like snow peas? Swap it out to another green color vegetable of your favorite choice
• Too much onions? Just reduced the amount of green onions used, if you want to
• Switch out the canola oil to another healthy choice of cooking oil if you preferred to
• You can substitute fresh garlic clove to those pre-prepared bottles of minced garlic
• If halfway through cooking and you realized it tastes a little too salty, just add a splash of water to slightly dilute the saltiness of the soy sauce
• You can omit sesame seeds to another vegetable garnish of your choice if you're not a fan of sesame seeds

Cooking Directions:

• Cook pasta according to package directions
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the mushrooms, snow peas, carrots and onions in oil until crisp-tender
• Add minced garlic; cook 1 minute longer
• In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sugar and cayenne.
• Drain pasta
• Add pasta and soy sauce mixture to skillet and toss to coat and heat through
• Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds

Cooking Direction Notes:

• If you had prepared the ingredients before hand, you can start cooking the ingredients as soon as you toss the pasta into the boiling water to cook as it does take a while to saute the various vegetables
• Alternatively, you can place a lid onto the skillet and let the heat take care of the saute-ing, if you prefer
• I normally cook my pasta to almost to the point of al dente and switched off the fire. The heat from the boiling water will slowly further cook the pasta to al dente
• Accidentally added too much cayenne pepper? Fret not! Just add a splash of water or tip in a small teaspoon of sugar to tone down the spiciness. Although I used quite a lot, it wasn't that spicy for me
• Be sure not to add the salted water used for cooking pasta as a substitue for the soy sauce mixture, just trust me on this. The level of saltiness is different

Tada~ Your Asian Spaghetti is now done. Enjoy~

Quickie Review #1: White Musk Libertine Eau De Toilette

White Musk Libertine feat. Bun & Skip

Q: So tell us, what's the notes for this particular Eau De Toilette?

A: It's is a fragrance with vegetable musk note in the top, middle and the base note. The composition also includes Turkish delight (rose, almond, honey) and whipped cream. We just love vegetables also, it is so healthy and hearty for small furry folks like us ❤❤

Q: What does this Eau De Toilette reminds you of?

A: *sniffs* It smells like Burberry Brit EDT's younger, and much more shy sibling and a little bit sweet~

Q: How long does the Eau De Toilette lasts after spraying?

A: The scent is strong at first, smoky and heavy with a rose scent at the beginning, but then slowly dries down to a cozy sweet musk of cream and honey that lasts quite long ❤❤❤ Omigosh!! Sweet cream and honey!!

Q: Is this Eau De Toilette good for the climate in Singapore?

A: As woodland creatures, we know the 4 seasons very well. We even know where to gather berries and nuts when winter is nearing. During winter, this scent seems to be only just a pleasant light sweet musk, nothing too heavy-headed. But now that it's getting really warm recently, we can smell every single note! And this is the first time we noticed how soft, sweet and creamy it smells. ❤❤ Definitely a must-have for months when the weather is slightly warmer.

Q: How would you rate this Eau De Toilette as a whole?

A: This is a really versatile scent no matter the scenario, weather or location. Reminds us of running freely in the woods, dreaming of cream and honey ❤❤❤

Q: How many points would you guys rate this Eau De Toilette, out of say, 100 points?

A: 90 points!!! We love the cream and honey ❤❤

~ The End ~

Awww...Mondays: 25 April 2016

~Image Source: @mumitan~

I don't know much about rabbit breeds, but this mega adorable Holland Lop by the name of PuiPui is living a lavishly fashionable life and sharing all these delightful photos on the Instagram thanks to @mumitan.

* "Hang in there, and you can do it" きみならできるぉ。 がんばってくれたまえぉ( •̀ .̫ •́ ) * #部長ぷいぷいシリーズ * *

A photo posted by mumitan (@mumitan) on Apr 17, 2016 at 7:18am PDT

But what I can say is that, this bunny sure looks more fashionable than frumpy me, on a another level. Perhaps it's over level 9000.

Talents versus Looks

Spoiler Alert: Some parts of this post is dedicated to dissing Korean pop stars. You've been warned!

Previously while browsing around the Internet while looking for more songs to download into my iPod, I came across this blog about utaite's looks and how disapppointed when they realize said singer doesn't live up to their expectations at all. (utaite a.k.a 歌い手, a Japanese term for people who cover previously released songs and post them on Nico Nico Douga and YouTube under the utattemita category. The term "utaite" is unique to Nico Nico Douga singers, making it different from Kashu (歌手), which means "singer" in general.)

Generally, utaite do cover songs for VOCALOID original songs, anime and game related songs, and J-Pop. They also do parodies with different lyrics for popular songs, intended for amusement. Most utaite exclusively cover songs and upload under the utattemita section, but some of them have doujin circles and release original music/drama CDs during events like Comic Market and VOCALOID M@ster, frequently referred to as Comiket and VoMas respectively. A few utaite also have become partly or wholly professional singers and have released/will release their albums under official labels. Some examples are Valshe, Piko, clear, 96Neko, and Lon.

Just to just quote 2 of my personal favorite utaite turned professional musicians: ナノ (Nano) and Glutamine. An image of them as avatars on the Utaite Wiki prior to being famous:

~Image Source: Utaite Wiki~

Now, another image of ナノ (Nano) and Glutamine in front of the cameras for their music videos:

~Image Source: Google~

Well, sadly in our current world and the social media influences we live in, looks are pretty much everything. Back in the 1990s, there was this male Taiwanese or Hong Kong singer who never once revealed his real face on his CD Album cover art finally showed his face for the first time. Oh boy, were all his female fans disappointed sorely. He was wasn't what the female fans expected him to look like based on their imagination. Needless to say, his popularity went from high to an all time low. Fast forward to 2016 now, looks are practically everything and nothing can escape the fans when they're dedicated to uncovering a person's looks in real life.

But personally, I pretty much have enough of this kind of bullshit. Do their looks even really matter when they can sing, dance or even act? If they look all so pretty, like the current K-crap stars from all your favorite boy-bands and girl-bands, but ended up being a factory molded pop group with no distinct personalities or whatsoever. It doesn't even remotely help that Korea is the capital of plastic surgery, with some stars such as So-young Park even conveniently forgetting she had plastic surgery and still look shocked and unsure until she was busted on National TV whereby she admitted to having a slew of other plastic surgeries for aesthetic enhancement.

Not saying the Japanese entertainment side doesn't have their fair share of plastic surgery tales, although, in Japan, I doubt plastic surgery really took off there. But at what cost do we have to focus on our looks, to the point where having plastic surgery is the equivalent of an afternoon tea and money being spent on these surgeries can probably be used to buy a home or a car? I blame social media and maybe China for it. Coming up with ridiculous methods to prove that one has the ideal body type and so on. Just exactly when did we stop focusing on one's abilities to focus on how hot, pretty and young one can look.

Sure, no one looks like they've stepped out of fairytale with prince charming or princess looks, but isn't it okay to overlook the fact that some people aren't born exactly the way they want but to focus on what they can bring to us on a whole? Take for instance the case of Sia, we all know her famous song Chandelier that instantly propel her to fame. Good song, good music video, but she hides her face under wigs and hats. Sia for one knows that talent or the ability to carry out a tune, or even write a song is more important than how she actually looks in real life. Personally, I don't care if Sia looks like a goblin in real life, as her songs speaks volumes for itself. Even ナノ (Nano) ensures her face is covered enough in her album art and in her music videos, we'll probably be able to see how she actually looks like in real life if we go to a ナノ (Nano) concert.

Honestly, I don't really care how current pop stars or rock stars looks like anymore, as long as they give me a wonderful time listening to their music, watching their videos and knowing that they took the time and effort into writing out a song that means something instead of using all that time to look perfect because social media demands so. Because in the end, as we age, looks will go. It's impossible to look like a 20-something when you're already in your 70s. Therefore, looks aren't that important. What's important is the "talent" your favorite celebrity has that makes them endearing to you and makes you look up to them. On the contrary, Piko looks utterly blah with that haircut that he claims "is dedicated to his mother". He doesn't look that bad, but that girly hairstyle just gives me the creeps sometimes :/

Swordsman Online: Self Cultivation

Disclaimer: I don't really remember at which level does the Self-Cultivation button shows up on the screen, but I believe it should be at level 30. But I will try to explain this based on a specific level for using self-cultivation, which is level 60 onwards. I do not claim to be really good at this, but I'm just trying to explain exactly what goes on despite the fact that I myself probably won't go through all the settings when I grind ^^;

From Level 1 to level 59, it is generally easy to level up fast so I wouldn't recomment doing self-cultivation (or if you prefer other terms such as grind, SC or Self-culti). As long as you do your Main and Side quests, daily in-game events and daily guild base events, it is relatively easy and pain-free to level up rather fast. But from level 60 onwards, you will have to start grinding, partly because NPCs will not sell Health medicine, Chi medicine and Food pots beyond level 50 so you won't be able to buy medicine and food pots if in the event you ran out without warning.

Therefore you have to self-cultivation, not only to level up since it does help to boost your EXP gain, provided you activate your x2, x8 or x10 EXP. Also, you can set your pet to start collecting all the drops from mobs that you killed. These include materials (or if you prefer this term, Mats) for crafting pots using Herbalism and Cooking, materials for crafting gears and weapon and stuffs that you do not have any use for but can be sold to any Vendor NPC for extra Notes (a.k.a bound currency).

So, you finally decided that you needed to do some self-cultivation, or in other words, grind on mobs for some much needed EXP and crafting materials that you really need. But upon opening up the Self-Cultivation window, everything looks a little daunting. For some of us who have played MMO games from PWE and encountered something similar, it looks similar but at the same time confusing since every PWE games grinding option is a little different. Don't worry too much, let's take it slowly from here in point form so you know what on earth each tab is for.

General

#1: Range Settings - This actually sets how far you will roam while you are using Self-Cultivation while away from your pc/laptop (a.k.a AFK). If you are someone who generally hates the idea that your toon might wander off somewhere to another area with higher level mobs and you don't think you can survive the hits, set it between 0 to 2 so you still wander around getting to mobs and killing them, but at the same time, you won't stray off too far from your initial starting point. This is also useful to prevent your toon from wandering into someone else's self-cultivation spot and getting accused of kill-stealing and such.

On the other hand, if you feel that you are well-geared and can generally self-cultivate on mobs at least 5 levels or more than your own current level, then feel free to set it at a much higher figure. But honestly, I don't really set mine too high either. I always stick with either 0, at most up to 2 or 3 cos I don't like the fact that my toon(s) can actually wander off some random cliff that I've never encountered before or even get stuck without being able to get free. This, in turn, meant that being unable to attack would have wasted my EXP for nothing. So tread with caution with the range settings here.

#2: When to Stop Cultivation - Sometimes, just sometimes, your Self-Cultivation decides to act up and start hitting mobs once or twice before deciding to attack another mob. Especially if you are using Self-Cultivation inside the appropriate dungeon for your level, where attacking one mob will ensure other mobs start ganging up on you. If you find yourself frequently dying due to the mobs and not because of random PK, you might need to set this figure a little more higher than the default 5 times as you can see in the image above. As there is a limit to the figure you can enter, go ahead and enter in a number that is unusually high, say 999 if you really need to Self-Cultivate for the EXP and material loot.

In the event that you are marked for PvP and players tend to PK you when you are AFK during Self-Cultivation, like literally away from your keyboard for extended amount of time, you can set this figure as high as you want to as there isn't a limit to how many times you will stop Self-Cultivation when you get pk. On the contrary, if you have PK other players before and used to be red-named and don't really want to be PK repeatedly, you can set it to 1 (highest digit is 999). But only in the event that you intend to Self-Cultivate without activating your double EXP, but wanted to collect material loot instead.

#3: Target Settings - Most of the time in open world, you will see some mobs that seems to run around in a big circle. It is unfortunate that if you are using Self-Cultivate on Open World mobs and your Self-Cultivate decide to target said mobs that loves running around in circles in groups of 3 to 4, it is best to set this to at least 1 minute. I know it sucks that we cannot set it according to seconds instead, but well, we can't really work around on that other than to set it within 1 minute. However, if you are using Self-Cultivate on dungeon mobs, there's no chance of mobs running around in circles in groups of 3 to 4. In which case, just set it to 0.

#4: Collection Settings - Easy to read part. If you need loots of anything, just check this option. It helps that you select the Collection Settings that you pet have as well, in the event bugs or glitches happen, and your pet decide to ignore picking up any loot. The other 2 options in Collection Settings is according to the individual player, whether you are using Self-Cultivate in a party with other players or your own alt toons.

#5: Loot Management - Short of bag space? Check this option so that unwanted Sundry items are automatically sold. This ensures that your bag is always empty enough to loot dropped gears from mobs that you have killed. Sundry items referred to Normal Items that mobs dropped each time they are killed. They generally do not have any use at all, other than to be collected and then sold to any Vendor NPC for extra bound-currency.

NOTE: Remember to click on the Save button after choosing your preferred options in this tab. If you do not click on the Save button, you lose whatever settings you have previously entered, thereby having to manually change the settings back to what you originally wanted.

Skills

#1: Available Skills - this is the option for you to choose which Direct Cast Skill is more effective. Generally the consensus is that, skills that need not have you to go right up to the mob(s) face to initiate the first attack is the best. Unless you're a Sun & Moon class, which means you don't have much choice. Just remember to drag your preferred Direct Cast Skillto the Use Skill slot so you can use it as soon as you activate your Self-Cultivate.

#2: Available Powers - Depending on which skills from which tier you prefer. If not, you can generally only choose a set of skills from 1 tier at any time. I highly recommend only using between 2 to 4 skills that cost really less Chi, partly because this helps to save your Chi pots from being overused due to using skills that costs lots of Chi. Same thing also, drag the skills you needed/wanted/preferred to the slots beside Power. I generally leave the time settings under the Power section to 0.0 so that I won't end up having to depend only on my Direct Cast Skill only. DO NOT place your healing skills at this section as this uses up more Chi than usual and it is harder to gauge how much time your Health will drop before your Self-Cultivate starts healing.

#3: Restore Settings - If your class have healing skills or you have a Lost Art that is a healing skill, this is where you want to place them at. For classes like E'mei, they have 2 heals where one is a solo heal (Synergy) and one is an aoe heal (Chi Pool). You might want to drag your healing skill to the first slot on the left and just leave the 2nd slot beside it empty. And also for E'mei classes, I honestly don't recommend using Synergy (solo heal) as the animation itself takes slightly longer than Chi Pool (aoe heal). Remember to check both options for yourself and your Companion.

#4: Companion Focus Skill Settings - If you have bought skills for your pets, such as Chi Recovery or your pet itself already has Bleed Air skill, this is where you can check the settings to ensure your Self-Cultivate will activate your pet skill(s) to your advantage. Sometimes, we can't recover our Chi fast enough when using Self-Cultivate during AFK, this is where the checking this option ensures your pet helps you to recover a least a small amount of Chi for you.

NOTE: Remember to click on the Save button after choosing your preferred options in this tab. If you do not click on the Save button, you lose whatever settings you have previously entered, thereby having to manually change the settings back to what you originally wanted.

Healing

#1: Character Healing - This is pretty straight-forward as it looks, you just need to drag your pots and food to the respective slots that you can see in the image above. Depending on your gears, you might want to tweak the settings closer to 70% or 80% if you're unsure how much damage your can take before your Health depletes. But if you have any type of Healing skill available to use, you can generally change the percentage to lower than 60% if you want to.

#2: Companion Healing: - There are 3 options for Health, Drive and Loyalty.

#2a: Health This option here is for your Companion, if you have a Battle Companion you might want to tweak the percentage to ensure your companion doesn't die in the middle of Self-Cultivate. A dead companion simply meant that you probably won't be able to pick up loot since you're afk. Some thing goes for Assist Companion, somethings your companion runs off to pick up loot while in the process attracting the attention of mobs and getting hit. Tweaking this option meant that your pet will not die but will have their Health auto-recover.

#2b: Drive - This is actually your own Drive and by Drive, it meant your World Energy that you can see in your Character tab (when you press C on your keyboard). If your Drive a.k.a World Energy drops down to zero, you won't be able to use Self-Cultivate at all. So if you have Drive pills, you might want to stock up a few in your bag if you intend to Self-Cultivate for extended amount of time. As of now, I am unable to tell you exactly how much Drive/World Energy is depleted when using Self-Cultivate. So you might want to tweak the percentage to a figure you think is good enough.

#2c: Loyalty - If your Companion Loyalty drops to zero, your Companion will automatically be un-summoned. An un-summoned Companion results in loot not being picked up when mobs are killed.So you will want to tweak the percentage to your preference as well.

#3: Rest Settings: - I can't stress this enough. When your Health drops to a certain percentage, your Self-Cultivate settings will actually not pot you back to 10% Health. Instead, your toon will simply just stop whatever it is doing during Self-Cultivate and start to Meditate until your Health reaches back to 100% again. Not good when you're using Self-Cultivate inside a dungeon and mobs won't stop attacking you. Always ensure your Character Healing is tweaked appropriately for your Health and your survival.

And so far, I haven't encountered a drop in my EXP bar whenever I get killed by mobs by accident. So, just tweak the percentage to your liking in the event you do not have anymore Drive pills to utilize at all. Unless you have activated your double EXP and don't want the clock to carry on ticking while your double EXP is still running.

#4: Durability - So far, I have never encountered situations where my gears durability dropped to less than 70% while using Self-Cultivate for a few hours. Unless you are trying to use your Self-Cultivate at a map or mobs where you're grossly under-leveled to be there in the first place. Similar to Companion Healing, if all your gears and weapon's durability has unfortunately dropped to zero, you just simply stopped during Self-Cultivate. Zero durability gears and weapon is the equivalent to not having any gears at all. So always, always, repair your gears and weapon at any Vendor NPC before you set off to Self-Cultivate.

NOTE: Remember to click on the Save button after choosing your preferred options in this tab. If you do not click on the Save button, you lose whatever settings you have previously entered, thereby having to manually change the settings back to what you originally wanted.

Gear Upgrade

This is also rather straightforward as what you can see in the image above. Open World mobs that you use Self-Cultivate on will definitely drop green gears at any time and this is when you need to check this option. Checking this option automatically enables 3 further refining options to be available.

Moderately upgrade all equipped gear: In the event your bag is full, this option helps to automatically upgrade all gears and weapon you are equipped with. By moderate, it simply meant all gears and weapon you have equipped on your will be at the same refinement level. If one equipped gear is at +5 refinement, all the rest of your other equipped gears will automatically be equipped up to +5 as well, or simply put, an even match on refinement level.

First boost: Check this option if you only want your Self-Cultivate to automatically help you refine a selected gear, one piece at a time.

Only boost: Check this option if you only want your Self-Cultivate to automatically help you refine only 1 piece of equipped gear

NOTE: Remember to click on the Save button after choosing your preferred options in this tab. If you do not click on the Save button, you lose whatever settings you have previously entered, thereby having to manually change the settings back to what you originally wanted.

Dungeon Mobs

I've never encountered dungeon mobs dropping green gears, but dungeon bosses inside dungeon do drop blue gear upon being killed successfully. However, dungeon mobs will always drop materials of every type within the level range you're in. So, if you are using Self-Cultivate in a level 40 dungeon, all the mobs will drop all types of level 40 materials, so on and so forth. I still recommend setting the options in Gear Upgrade so you don't have to worry about it thereafter.

Swordsman Online: Mastery Cultivation

Disclaimer: Different players have different ways and methods of distributing their points. What works for one player may or may not necessary work for another. I am just presenting a guide to explain Mastery Cultivation a little so newer players know what on earth is going on when they open up their Mastery Cultivation for the very first time. I do not claim to be an expert at this either as the actual game forum itself with it's own guides states to put points here and there based on their classes. I personally find it a little confusing as blindly following what others suggested means that I am ignoring my own style of play due to the points distribution given by others.

By the way, I distributed my own Kung Fu points all into my School Node as it is easier to know what I am doing and what leveling each School Node actually does for me. If you feel that you want to distribute your points your own way, then I do not claim responsibility that mine nor yours could be better. Different folks, different strokes. I just prefer my School Nodes method since I know where on earth my Kung Fu points are being distributed to and what it can give me in return. Anyway, what I presented in this guide is my own way of distribution of Kung Fu points so it is easier to explain this in my own terms and words.

Just note that I wrote this guide into 2 parts, namely: Mastery Cultivation for the 1st time and Mastery Cultivation and points distribution and I am using a Sun & Moon alt toon to better explain this since this toon has lower Kung Fu points and I just barely started to distribute points to boost his stats.

Mastery Cultivation for the 1st time

So, you've finally leveled up and got presented with the option of placing all your precious Kung Fu points into your Mastery Cultivation. But the thing is, you are presented with something you have never seen before. It looks confusing to the core, and you have no idea what on earth seems to be going on. The image right below is an example on what the Mastery Cultivation window looks like for a brand new player who is encountering this for the very first time.

Now, if you refer to the image above, I first clicked on School Node and then hover my mouse over Might 1 and it tells me that I first need to place 90 points into Strength. Of course blindly cliking on the Strength button itself won't do anything yet as I have not level up my Mastery at this point yet.

Now, if you refer back to the image just right above, you will first of all need to level up your Mastery first. Click on the upward arrow (circled in red beside #1) and level up your Mastery as much as you possibly can until the game system tells you that you are out of Mastery/Kung Fu points. Once you're done leveling up your Mastery, you need to place 90 points into Strength (#2 in red). Just click on the Strength button to add points, go slowly at this point, please do not panic. In fact, don't panic!

Once you've successfully placed 90 points into Strength, you need to level up Might 1 to make it go from 0/9 to 1/9 instead. Of course you need to click on Might 1 to bring up the correct School Node to level it up. If you have the right School Node shown, it will look like #3 on the image above. There will be a curved line on the School Node Might 1. Do note that for different classes, the School Node names will be different.

I am showing an example of a Sun & Moon class, therefore it is called Might 1. If you're a Zephyr class, it wil be Aptitude instead. If you're a House Tong, it will be Fortitude, so on and so forth. Each class School Node is a little different, but if you were to distribute your points via School Nodes, then just go accordingly to what you learned in this guide.

Keep referring back to #1 to see how many more points you need to put into Strength, then click on Might 1 under School Node to bring up an image on Might 1 on the left at the constellation image. Click on #3 a.k.a Might 1 to level it up. Repeat until Might 1 is fully leveled at 9/9, whereby Might 1 will be a bright shimmering golden yellow instead of the white-silver color you see above.

Mastery Cultivation and points distribution

Now that you've successfully leveled up Might 1 to a full 9/9. it is now time to move on to Might 2. Do be aware that Might 2 might start to feel like a pain in the ass partly because when you placed the points accordingly, bring up Might 2 on the constellation chart on the left doesn't seem to want to level it up. Don't fret, sometimes, our Mastery Cultivation can be confusing or literally a douche bag in this case.

As you can see in the image above, we are now proceeding to figure out how to level up Might 2. In this case, I need to put 60 points into Strength and 120 points into Constitution. Notice that I already have 130 points in Strength because I have maxed out Might 1. So we can safely ignore the Strength part and focus on Consitution. Place 120 points into Constitution. Once you're done, click on Might 2 under School Node to bring up Might 2 on the Constellation shown on the left.

If you look at the first and 3rd image in this post, Might 1 and Might 2 looks different. So don't be confused and be patient. Don't rush only to realize that you've placed your Kung Fu points into the wrong might/stats accidentally.

From Might 2, Might 3 and Might 4 onwards, just repeat what you did for Might 1. Check to see how many points are needed, input the points accordingly on the right. Then click on the correct Might under School Node and level up your School Node accordingly.

Swordsman Online Bandit Camp

This is just a guideline for when Guild Event a.k.a Massacre has started and you're late logging in.

Under normal circumstances, when you want to auto route to the location in front of the Event Agent, you will go straight up all the way without any detours. But get this, running in a straight line ensures that the Guild Event bosses are going to smack you facedown onto the ground without warning. It can be rather scary and daunting if you are doing Guild Event for the first time and you logged into your Bandit Guild Base, only to see a few huge bosses roaming around. What do you do?

You can actually go by another route, by bypassing the Guild Event bosses without having to sacrifice your Health at all. I accidentally found out about this route while trying to get to the Veteran Kidnapper but fell off the small cliff behind the NPC I need to get to. I tried to auto-route back to the Veteran Kidnapper NPC, thinking it would bring me along the usual route. Instead, I was auto-routed in what you can see from the image above.

In the event of a late log-in during Guild Event, just manual your route from Point A to Point B as shown above. Easy way to bypass Guild Event bosses without having to die without knowing what happened lol

Mercenary Guild

Unfortunately, if you have an alt in a Mercenary guild, there is absolutely no way to bypass Guild Event bosses at all. Your spawn-in area is the same place where Guild Event bosses spawn. Dying doesn't cost you anything at all, so just accept being smacked dead by Guild Event bosses. You can resurrect to the nearest Doctor to heal yourself up :D

Characters in Swordsman Online

Do note that I am posting information on some of the characters you may or may not encounter when starting and completing Main and Side quests in the MMO, Swordsman Online. If you think any characters are missing but supposed to be here, drop me a comment and I will edit it again. Also, I don't own the copyright to the images nor information. Images originally belonged to the MMO, Swordsman Online while information was gathered from Wikipedia :D

Lynhu Tsong: (令狐沖; Línghú Chōng) is the scruffy, happy-go-lucky protagonist of the novel. He is an orphan and was raised by Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze as their most senior apprentice. He learns the 'Nine Swords of Dugu' from Feng Qingyang and becomes a formidable swordsman. His sudden and tremendous improvement in swordplay causes his teacher to suspect him of having stolen the Bixie Swordplay Manual and mastered the skill. Even after his expulsion from Mount Hua, he remains loyal and respectful towards his teacher. Although his kind nature and heroic attributes make him a likeable person, they also negatively influence him by increasing his affiliations with jianghu lowlifes, resulting in him being misunderstood by his fellows and other orthodox sects. He retires from the jianghu eventually to lead a peaceful life with Ren Yingying.

Yue Buqun: (岳不群; Yuè Bùqún) is the leader of the sect also second generation of the hua shan sect. He is an expert in using the 'Violet Mist Divine Skill' (紫霞神功). Although he is nicknamed "Gentleman Sword" (君子劍) for his seemingly gentlemanly conduct and behaviour, as the story progresses, he gradually reveals his true personality – a bigoted, selfish and power-hungry hypocrite. He lusts for the Lin family's Bixie Swordplay Manual and plots an elaborate scheme to seize it, after which he castrates himself to fulfil the prerequisite for learning the swordplay. He is incidentally killed by Yilin while attempting to trap and kill his rivals inside a cave on Mount Hua.

Nin Zonzeh: (宁中则; Nìng Zhōngzé), nicknamed "Heroine Ning" (寧女俠), is Yue Buqun's chivalrous and kindly wife and junior in hua shan sect. She is also the only person who believes Linghu Chong's innocence in the theft of the Bixie Swordplay Manual. She loses her will to live after seeing her husband reveal his true colours and eventually commits suicide after being humiliated by the Mount Hua Sect's enemies.

Yue Lingshan: (岳灵珊; Yuè Língshān) is Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze's daughter and Linghu Chong's first romantic interest. She falls in love with Lin Pingzhi later and marries him. However, she eventually learns that she is actually a pawn in a struggle for power between her husband and father. Lin Pingzhi kills her after she refuses to follow him to join Zuo Lengshan.

Lin Pinzhi: (林平之; Lín Píngzhī) is Lin Zhennan's son and the sole survivor of the Lin family, who were massacred by the Qingcheng Sect. Yue Buqun sympathises with him, accepts him as an apprentice, and arranges for a marriage between him and Yue Lingshan. Driven by hatred and resentment after discovering Yue Buqun's ulterior motives, he becomes increasingly vicious and brutally kills his family's murderers in revenge but is blinded by Mu Gaofeng. He is eventually imprisoned in an underground dungeon by Linghu Chong, who agreed to Yue Lingshan's dying wish to spare her husband's life.

Lu Dayo: (陆大有; Lù Dàyǒu) is Yue Buqun's sixth student. He is nicknamed "Sixth Monkey" (六猴兒) for his monkey-like behaviour and affinity with primates. He is very close to Linghu Chong and even once stole their teacher's 'Violet Mist Divine Skill' manual to help his senior recover from his injuries. He is murdered by Lao Denuo.

Zuo Lengshan: (左冷禅; Zuó Lěngshàn) is the ambitious and ruthless leader of the Mount Song Sect (嵩山派) and chief of the alliance. He practises a skill, 'Freezing Inner Energy' (寒冰真氣), which allows him to freeze his inner energy to sub-zero temperature and increase its power tremendously. He sends Lao Denuo to infiltrate the Mount Hua Sect and steal the Bixie Swordplay Manual from Yue Buqun. He does not know that the manual is a fake one and practises the techniques described in the book. He then calls for a special assembly of the alliance and attempts to intimidate the other four sects into submitting to him. He is defeated and blinded by Yue Buqun, who uses the real Bixie Swordplay against him, and then pretends to concede his position as the alliance chief to Yue. Later, he leads his followers to Mount Hua to kill Yue Buqun, but Yue sees through his plan and traps them inside a cave. The trapped martial artists start killing each other out of paranoia and mistrust. Zuo Lengshan is eventually killed by Linghu Chong.

Sister Jade: (儀琳; 仪琳; Yílín) is Dingyi's student and the daughter of Monk Bujie and Mute Granny. She falls in love with Linghu Chong after he rescues her from Tian Boguang's sexual advances, but has to suppress her feelings because she is forbidden by her vow of celibacy.

Mo Dah: (莫大; Mò Dà) is the mysterious leader of the Mount Heng Sect (衡山派), who is known for playing melancholic tunes on a huqin, where his sword is concealed. His swordplay techniques, which correspond with music themes, are very fast and unpredictable. He is the sole surviving person from his sect at the end of the novel.

Liu Zenfy: (刘正风; Liú Zhèngfēng), nicknamed "Third Master Liu" (劉三爺), is Mo Da's junior. He plays the dizi and befriends Qu Yang of the Sun Moon Holy Cult, who shares the same passion for music with him. The duo compose the music piece Xiaoao Jianghu (笑傲江湖) together. He intends to leave the wulin and invites fellow martial artists to witness his retirement ceremony. During the event he is confronted by Zuo Lengshan and his followers and comes under attack. While fleeing together with Qu Yang, he meets Linghu Chong and passes him the music score for Xiaoao Jianghu. He and Qu then commit suicide by bursting their arteries with their inner energy.

Ren Yingying: (任盈盈; Rén Yíngyíng) is Ren Woxing's daughter. Although she is intelligent and caring towards her subordinates, she can be ruthless and cold blooded at times. She meets Linghu Chong in Luoyang while in disguise as a guqin-playing old woman, and falls in love with him after being attracted by his chivalrous personality. She succeeds her father as the cult's leader after his death, but eventually retires to lead a reclusive life with Linghu Chong.

East the Invincible: (东方不败; Dōngfāng Bùbài, "Invincible East") is the leader of the Sun Moon Holy Cult (日月神教; Rì Yuè Shén Jiào), an "unorthodox" martial arts sect. In his quest to dominate the wulin (martial artists' community), he castrated himself to fulfil the prerequisite for learning the skills in a martial arts manual known as the Sunflower Manual(Chinese: 葵花宝典; pinyin: Kuíhuā Bǎodiǎn), and became a formidable martial artist after mastering those skills.

Lan Fenghuang: (蓝凤凰; Lán Fènghuáng; "Blue Phoenix") is the leader of the Five Immortals Cult (五仙教). She attempts to cure Linghu Chong of his internal injuries but fails. She becomes Linghu Chong's godsister later.

 Chiu Yang: (曲洋; Qū Yáng) is an elder of the cult who plays the guqin. He befriends Liu Zhengfeng, who shares the same passion for music as him, and composes the musical piece Xiaoao Jianghu with him. He commits suicide together with Liu Zhengfeng when both of them are cornered by Zuo Lengshan's followers. Before dying, he and Liu pass the score of Xiaoao Jianghu to Linghu Chong.

Chiu Fayan: (曲非烟; Qū Fēiyān) is Qu Yang's granddaughter. She is killed by Fei Bin.

Ghost Marriages - A Brief Interest

~Image Source: BuzzFeed~

In Chinese tradition, a ghost marriage (Chinese: 冥婚; pinyin: mínghūn; literally: "spirit marriage") is a marriage in which one or both parties are deceased. Other forms of ghost marriage are practiced worldwide, from Sudan, to France since 1959. The origins of Chinese ghost marriage are largely unknown, and reports of it being practiced today can be found.

Ghost marriage (Chinese) Wikipedia

In Japan, man-doll marriage replaced man-ghost marriage in the 1930s. In order to thwart a dead man's "resentment toward the living" over being "denied the sexual and emotional fulfillment of marriage and procreation," and thus tormenting "their more fortunate living relatives," the man is married to a bride doll. The doll is placed under a glass case along with a picture of her ghost husband, and the two stay there for 30 years. After 30 years, the ghost husband can pass on. It should be noted that dead Japanese women can also take a doll husband. However, it seems to be less common.

Creepy Corner - xoJane

To be honest, ever since I first started reading my "true ghost tales" from a locally published author (Russell Lee, anyone?), I was instantly hooked into the world of the supernatural, the paranormal and the old myths and folklores that you hear grandmothers talk about. Over time, I realized that those books were not enough for me. Reading about someone else ghost tales didn't quite cut it for me, not to mention that one entry about encountering the Hell Girl sometime shortly after the actual Hell Girl (Jigoku Shoujo) manga and anime somewhat took the world of anime and manga fanatics by storm and died down after a short while. We all know Hell Girl isn't real in the first place, since it's a work of fiction. Didn't expect said author of the book to actually believe the bullshit though xD

And some time later, I found myself at the topic of ghost marriages. Initially, I thought it was quite scary at first when I first see this topic being discussed on a television show about supernatural/paranormal accounts. But after reading up about it, I thought it was somewhat fair that our dearly departed shouldn't be deprived of the little things we humans are entitled to, just based on the fact that they are deceased and we're not yet. I mean, if you're dead and all your living siblings are happily married with a family of their own but because you're dead. therefore you are not married, don't have a spouse at the very least to call your own, it would suck big time huh?

Chinese Style - Dead Spouses

For Chinese ghost marriage, a not-so-normal scenario would have been something like this:

Family A has a deceased daughter who died at somewhere around age 12, X years ago. Recently, the mother of the deceased girl has been having recurring dreams of her deceased daughter asking her mother for help because she found a boy (deceased, of course!) that she likes. Family B has a deceased son who died at somewhere around age 13, X years ago. Recently, an elder sibling and his mother has been having recurring dreams also, of their deceased brother/son asking for their help regarding a girl he knew in the afterlife. Both deceased sides will have give some information such as the name of a temple. Now, note that both families do not know of each other in the first place, but because their deceased love one(s) mentioned the name of a particular temple which brought both families there. They may not be at the temple at the same day and same time, but most probably a few days apart.

But because the temple medium keep track of these types of afterlife requests, such as afterlife marriages, there's a high possibility that the other half the deceased one(s) are talking about happened to be the very same spirit they were referring to. I mean, there can't possibly be at least 10 different deceased males and females are deciding to get married in the afterlife all at the same time, or it would be disastrous to marry another when it's someone else they were interested in. Once the temple medium established correctly that these 2 deceased are actually talking about the intention to get married to each other, the temple medium would contact both sides of the living and inform them of the good news that both deceased agreed to be married to each other.

Next would be to find out both deceased parties horoscopes, which surprisingly is compatible with each other. Then followed by the picking of an auspicious date for both deceased parties to get married. After that which follows, would be exactly the same as what a chinese living marriage would go through, but with a slight difference! A ghost couple at their marriage feast, the bride and groom may be constructed of paper bodies over a bamboo frame with a papier-mâché head. On either side of them stands their respective paper servants, and the room contains many other paper effigies of products they would use in their home, such as a dressing table (complete with a mirror), a table and six stools, a money safe, a refrigerator, and trunks of paper clothes and cloth. After the marriage ceremony is complete, all of the paper belongings are burned to be sent to the spirit world to be used by the couple.

The effigies wore real clothing, similar to that which is typically used in marriage ceremonies. This includes a pair of trousers, a white skirt, a red dress, with a lace outer dress.[11]:71> Additionally, they were adorned with jewelry; though similar in fashion to that of a typical bride's, it was not made of real gold. Most of the marriage ceremony and rites are performed true to Chinese custom. In fact, "the bride was always treated as though she was alive and participating in the proceedings" from being fed at the wedding feast in the morning, to being invited in and out of the cab, to being told of her arrival at the groom's house. One observable difference in a ghost marriage is that the ancestral tablet of the deceased is placed inside the effigy, so that "the bride's dummy [is] animated with the ghost that [is] to be married", and then placed with the groom's family's tablets at the end of the marriage festivities.

Chinese Style - 1 Dead Spouse

The scenario I think would be even more rare in any case. In this case, it doesn't matter the gender of the deceased but some families would take to choosing the prospective living bride or groom by leaving a red packet lying in the middle of the road and hiding within viewing sight. Anyone curious enough or rather, greedy enough to pick up that red packet and pocket the money knowing of the money's existence would then be "ambushed" by the living family that they are "chosen" to marry their deceased son or daughter. In short, the one unfortunate to pick up that red packet containing money will find themselves in a predicament. They can't really reject this offering since they knowingly picked up that red packet themselves and have only themselves to blame for this happening. Although I do believe there is a way out of this situation, but it will still involved the deceased and whether the deceased is willing to forgot this person for another "sacrifice" instead. In this case, another living person to take over the prospect of a spirit marriage.

A check on the Japanese side is somewhat similar, but is a man-doll marriage instead of a man-ghost marriage. What is a man-doll marriage? By substituting the deceased with a meikon doll a.k.a ghost marriage doll. But the information I have on Japanese ghost marriage is somewhat hazy, so I won't go much further detail into it. But what I didn't know is that, just for 2 deceased to have the desire to get married can actually involve so many steps is somewhat mystifying itself.

Hoozuki no Reitetsu [Anime Review]

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

I do not claim any copyrights to the images shown in this post. All images are copright to and sourced from:

• Hoozuki no Reitetsu Wikia - hoozuki-no-reitetsu.wikia.com/wiki/Hoozuki_no_Reitetsu_Wiki
• Hoozuki no Reitetsu MyAnimeList - myanimelist.net/anime/20431/Hoozuki_no_Reitetsu

Anime Info

Movie: Hozuki's Coolheadedness

Romaji: Hōzuki no Reitetsu

Japanese: 鬼灯の冷徹

Director: Hiro Kaburaki [鏑木ひろ]

Author: Natsumi Eguchi [江口 夏実]

Producer: George Wada [和田丈嗣]

Release Date: 10 January 2014

Episodes: 13

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural

Broadcaster: Animeism (Mainichi Broadcasting System)

Language: Japanese

Country: Japan

Opening Theme Song(s): Jigoku no Sata mo Kimi Shidai [地獄の沙汰も君次第] by Jigoku no Sata All Stars

Ending Theme Song(s):

1. Ookina Kingyou no Kinoshitade [大きな金魚の樹の下で] by Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus (東京混声合唱団) (ep 1)

2. Parallax View [パララックス・ビュー] by Sadesper Record feat. Sumire Uesaka (eps 2-7, 9-13)

3. Caramel Peach Jam 120% [キャラメル桃ジャム120%] by Peach Maki (Sumire Uesaka) (ep 8)

Hoozuki no Reitetsu - Anime Synopsis

Hell is a bureaucracy, and business is running smoother than ever thanks to the demonic efficiency of Hoozuki, chief deputy to Lord Enma, the King of Hell. Whether offering counsel to the Momotarou of Japanese folklore or receiving diplomatic missions from the Judeo-Christian Hell, the demon who runs the show from behind the king's imposing shadow is ready to beat down any challenges coming his way into a bloody pulp.

Metaphorically, of course...

The poster boy for micromanagement and armed with negotiation skills worthy of Wall Street, Hoozuki no Reitetsu follows the sadistic and level-headed Hoozuki as he spends his days troubleshooting hell. With an abundance of familiar faces from popular Japanese legends and East Asian mythology working middle management positions, this referential and anachronistic dark comedy brings new meaning to the phrase "employer liability."

Just exactly how hard could it be to manage employees from hell, anyway? You might wonder....

Hoozuki no Reitetsu - Recurring Characters

Hoozuki/鬼灯: Hoozuki is the talented, sadistic deputy of the King of Hell, Enma. He tries to solve various problems in Hell. In his spare time, he takes care of the animals and raises Goldfish grass. Despite his cool and sadistic exterior though, Hoozuki is extremely fond of animals. He expresses disgust, and even outright hatred for humans who abuse animals and treats Momotaro's three animal companions like his friends. In the first episode he is also seen discussing plans with Enma to visit the Outback so he can see Australia's great variety of interesting animals. Hoozuki also admits to visiting a great number of zoos all over the human world during his vacations there, hiding his ears and horns under a hat while telling curious tourists that he is training to be a ninja.

Enma - The Great King of Hell/閻魔大王: Despite what we know of The Great King of Hell or Enma in Japanese as an imposing and strict figure in the afterlife via old texts and history book, the Enma in this anime is practically a goofball. He is always at the mercy of Hoozuki's hands, whether it's a slipped disc or a sore throat. He dotes on his grandchild way too much, and even went as far as bringing his grandchild to work and letting his grandchild sentence sinners to different parts of Hell without so much as a trial.

Karauri/唐瓜: A hell minion who is sensible and thoughtful despite his young age. A good friend of Nasubi, another hell minion. When both Karauri and Nasubi get together, laughter and wacky scenario ensures even though Karauri doesn't intend things to go wacky. Karauri has a secret crush on another hell minion called O-ko, although it's more like a puppy-crush to be honest.

Nasubi/茄子: A hell minion who says practically anything that pops into his head, also a good friend of Karauri, another hell minion. Nasubi is supposedly good at arts such as painting, clay works and such. He was even commissioned to do a mural art for Hoozuki, although it resulted in a life-like version of our real-life contemporary version of the Mouth of Truth partly because of a certain paint material mixed in slyly by Hoozuki.

Hakutaku/白澤: Hakutaku is a Celestial Beast and pharmacist living in Togenkyo at the Sentou Farm in Heaven. He took in Momotaro as his assistant and has been imparting his skills to the ex-ogre slayer ever since. He dwells among rabbits who also learn medical skills from him and aid him in preparation of herbal concoctions. Hoozuki is his arch-nemesis despite their many similarities. Hakutaku comes across as gracious and charming and is extremely popular with the ladies, much as Hoozuki is. However he is an unrepentant womanizer and flirts with every pretty woman he sees including Peach Maki and Oko.

O-ko/:お香 Another hell minion whom Karauri has a secret crush on, she works in the geisha quarters in Hell. Most impressionable moment of O-ko was when Hoozuki approaches her for ways of dieting in a bid to get Enma to slim down drastically. We see Hoozuki, Enma, O-ko, Kakisuke, Shiro and Lurio/Rurio following O-ko through Greater Hell and Cold Hell. Basically, he diet includes light exercise in the sweltering Greater Hell, followed by a quick cool-down in Cold Hell, and then rinse and repeat.

Momotaro/桃太郎: A popular hero of Japanese folklore originating from Okayama Prefecture. His name translates as Peach Tarō, a common Japanese boy's name, and is often translated as Peach Boy. Leaving Momotaro's history aside, this Momotaro we see in the anime started out as an obnoxious guy challenging any and every Oni he sees in Hell but was cruelly defeated by Hoozuki's club with a blink of an eye. Momotaro ended up working as a trainee physician alongside Hakutaku, since Shangri-La is full of peaches and Hakutaky needs help in his physician work.

Kakisuke/柿助: A talking money who went on a oni quest with Momotaro, I find that Kakisuke's beginning before he joined Momotaro on his oni quest a little similar to our very own Journey to the West, although with a slight twist. Kakisuke started out by killing a crab and to atone for his sins, accompany Momotaro to Onigashima (鬼ヶ島) to defeat the Oni's that have been terrorizing humans.

Shiro/シロ:> Originally, Shiro was Momotarou's companion, from the Japanese folklore Momotarou aka Peach Boy, but now works in animal hell helping to punish deceased people who used to abuse animals during their life. He gets on well with Hoozuki, although sometimes Hoozuki's scary demeanour freaks Shiro out.

Lurio or Rurio/ルリオ: Another companion to Momotaro and gang during their Onigashima (鬼ヶ島) days, Rurio currently works in animal hell helping to punish deceased people who used to abuse animals during their life. Frequetly compared to as a dish in a restaurant by Shiro due to the fact that he is a pheasant.

Anime Review Overview

For this anime review, I will just randomly pick an episode/chapter to review with while at the same time try to find something in common that con connect with English readers who may find such anime shows confusing due to the history and knowledge one supposedly need to have in order to know what is going on. But honestly, just a quick Google check will probably acquaint you a little with Japanese history on Hell, making it slightly more easier to "grasp". But it definitely does help a lot if you are a Japan-fanatic as you instantly know what is going on, which Japanese folklore certain characters belong to, to quote for example. This time, I will however talk about Episode 2 Chapter 2 which also includes first impression of the start of the opening anime song instead as most of each episode actually comes in 2 chapters, titled The State of Hell, and This and That a.k.a 地獄の沙汰とあれやこれ (Jigoku no Sata to Are ya Kore).

My review..

Opening scene for Hoozuki no Reitetsu anime

Before I started watching this anime, I thought I already have the knowledge needed through my many years of reading, googling and researching through folklores, myths and history of Japan's Hell. But this anime actually challenges the already known knowledge of what I have learned about it. In fact, one cannot take this anime too seriously as it is more like a parody comedy version of what we expect to see. In other words, Hell is presented here as a modern corporation. Granted that the opening scene for this anime starts out with the denizens of Hell gathering and lining up for the opening song pretty much sums this up as a comedy rather than a straight-laced history of who is who in Japanese Hell. Just from the scene pictured above, you can pretty much see the similarities between Japanese Hell and Chinese Hell, with the appearance of Cow Head and Horse Face, but as females in this anime version. You can also see the Japanese Wanyūdō (輪入道 or わにゅうどう) beside Enma, but with a slight variant to what we already know.

Even the lyrics to the opening song literally introduces the viewer the different parts of Japanese Hell, how wonderful Hell is whad the fact that the denizens of Hell is actually keeping a close watch on you in the mundane world. In other words, behave yourself as a proper human when you're alive or risk getting tortured for the various sins you committed when you're still alive. To take a closer look at the lyrics:

Japan’s Hell is a multi-sectional Hell.
All together it has 272 sections.
This is Hell, Hell, a wonderful Hell.
This is Hell, Hell, Hell, Hell.
Sanjiva, Kalasutra, Samghata, Raurava,
Maharaurava, Tapana, Pratapana, Avici,
Visashana and Kumbhipaka,
Sarameyadana, Lavana
Asipatravana, the Lake of Blood.

All in all, a surprisingly upbeat tune describing the types of Hell that we will be shown throughout the anime.

Satan, arriving as a guest to Japanese Hell. In actual reality, to spy on and take over the Asian side of Hell.

In this particular chapter, we see Satan, King of European Hell paying a diplomatic visit to Japanese Hell where Enma and Hoozuki resides and work at. It is obvious from the get-go that Satan is here for a much more nefarious visit. But in all honesty, I was expecting to see Satan with a goat's head here though instead of a somewhat hairy and baldy looking Satan. Throughout most episodes and chapters in the anime, we can see lots of characters from various folklore and mythologies being referenced and poked fun of in the show for our amusement. Like Satan here for example. Luckily, the extent of my knowledge on the paranormal side isn't just limited to only Japan itself, so I definitely had no problems understanding the cross-references and jokes peppered throughout the entire series.

Satan, not Santa. Oh Shiro, you goofball.

I like that the comedic timing in this series is always strong and the characters’ facial expressions are always spot on, making this a really enjoyable anime to watch when you are stressed out. To use as an example from the scene pictured just above, Satan is given a journey through Hell and one of them is the Anime Cruelty Hell where sinners who tortured animals in their mundane lives are sent here after they passed on. Shiro is introduced to Satan who initially thought he could get Shiro to shake hands (or paws), and promptly greeted Satan as Santa. In this anime's Japanese Hell, the background is portrayed using beautiful ink painted backgrounds with muted colors, thus giving a sense of agelessness and otherworldliness, despite the cell phones and televisions the characters uses in the anime. There's even a cafeteria in Hell too, if you are curious.

Demon Cure-All Remedy needs a Santa, not a Satan.

We finally see this chapter culminated in a visit to Hoozuki's residence for a meal, along the way spooking Santa Satan with a field full of Goldfish flowers that trembles every so slightly in the gentle breeze. Wait? Hell has gentle breezes? Oh never mind that. Satan is treated to a sashimi meal prepared on the spot with a giant Goldfish flower that coincidentally happens to be a winner in the Goldfish Flower competition. Midway through, Satan excuses himself to go to the toilet but ended up sneaking into Hoozuki's room and chancing upon a Demon Cure-All Remedy scroll. And at the end, we still see Satan being made a fool of although eventually we realized that there wasn't any ill intention from Enma and Hoozuki's side. It's just regular hell error on their part, but yea, Satan sure freaks out a lot here.

My thoughts..

Dark humour infused with comedy and eccentric characters that Japan-fanatics and paranormal fans would recognize make this Hell a lively and wonderfully fun place to visit on a stressful day. I give it 9/10 as I was never once bored with the show. And I didn't know a ghost's version of a ghost story actually involves living humans too.

New update

~Image Source: Line Up~

To be honest, I disappear again for more than 6 months to try my hands at making videos. But let's just face it, I am really intellectually stupid at making or even creating videos. It didn't help that I even took the time to borrow video making and video creating books from the library to get a better idea. The previous decision of learning how to make videos is that, in the event that I cannot write up a blog post, at least I still have a video or 2 to tide my blog over.

But let's just face it, after a year or so on my secondary beauty review blog, it's actually apparent that I have a better flair for writing than trying to create videos. Let's just say vloggers make vlogging looks superbly easy and I'm just an idiot for even trying to think of learning to vlog to complement and boost this blog. When I thought I understand something, I just simply messed things up and make the video un-watchable, on many levels.

So, I think I will just stick to plain old typing and traditional blogging instead as I am more suitable with the keyboard than to show my face in a video. Meh~