FFXI: Great Katana Relic Upgrade Stage I >> Stage II

Really makes you wonder if 300 Bronzepieces, worth roughly 10k each along with about 100k in synthesis items was worth an item that can only do damage in Dynamis.. but, once I collect 3 lesser Great Katanas and about 1300 more T. Whiteshells I'll have..

Wait... that doesn't look that much better. I follow a path a handful of Samurai before me have. All in a goal to make my Samurai as efficient as my BLM and SMN.

Neo Dynamis - Bastok 10/22

   Another great job to everyone who went to Dynamis - Bastok this previous weekend. We left with 101 coins, not quite beating our best overall but still doing fantastic. Got a few relics, but we're still looking to return for SAM relic for Elly & an Ito for myself. I'm going to be almost done with the 2nd upgrade before I get the base weapon. XD

   Looking to get the city win in Bastok if anyone else is interested on Quetzy. We'll be running this upcoming Saturday. Going to head in, kill Mega Boss, then possibly farm if everyone else is up for it. :D

New Pictures from new Rurouni Kenshin anime! 10/19/11

   The Rurouni Kenshin Japanese website has released new images from the "New-Kyoto Arc" Two-Part movies slated to begin in Japanese Theaters this December. There is also a contest to name the two parts that are currently titled "Part I" & "Part II." Here are some of the pictures from the Japanese RurouKen site.

We've scene the part on the left; Middle scene is the fight against Cho the Sword Hunter using the "Principle Forge Reverse Blade Sword" for the first time; The right picture seems to be a new scene where Shishio is confronting an almost dead Usei. Unsure how this plans out.

Character sketches of Kenshin

Click on this! It's wallpaper size. :D

Thanks to Anime News Network for this great news.
More images can be found at the Japanese RuroKen webiste: http://www.kenshin-tv.com/

Random: Evangelion Ascii Art

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Found this at Chris.com. Personal site with some pretty neat things. :D

Goodbye, Shonen Jump! (Sorta) 10/16/11

    About six months away from it's 10 year anniversary, Viz's Shonen Jump Manga Anthology will be going the way other anthology magazines such as Animerica & Viz's own Shojo Beat. The final issue, April 2012, will be a farewell issue for the most successful manga anthology to date. Viz announced this at the most recent NY Comic Con, but also then announced the release of the digital Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha that will act as a replacement for the magazine. WSJalpha will begin the in Januaru of 2012 with weekly releases "that are just a few days after Japan" of Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach. Viz's shonen jump website already has older SJ as well as newer series like Toriko and Bakuman that I'm sure will be implemented into the new WSJalpha subscription. You'll be able to read these mangas on your PC, Laptop, Notbook, iPad, iTouch, and any sort of iThings. Don't worry current subscribers, you'll get your first year of WSJa for free as well as three graphic novels (unknown titles of someones decision.)

Quickest photoshop mesh-up ever.

   It'll be sad to see the printed Shonen Jump no longer on my store shelf, but all things must come to an end. My bookshelf was running out of room anyways, as I've had to recently pack 2002-2007 Shonen Jumps away. Shonen Jump introduced me to some great series that I will continue to like for along time. To celebrate such a long run, I'd like to comment on some of  the series that have ran though the magazine that I have enjoyed.

Good old Naruto started on issue 2 of SJ. I can easily say I loved the series until the time skip, now it's a "like-like" relationship. The greatest part of this series was being about to watch the anime with my daughter.

I can't say I loved this series from the get-go, but 10 years later it's become one of my top favorite series. Carefree, fun, never takes itself to seriously. Partial credit goes to Misato-san for getting me into this series.





With the first few chapters published in the monthly magazine, I was provoked to purchase the first novel. (Awesome marketing job, Viz!) After the first volume was read (on the car ride home), I was hooked to see Light's journey all the way to the end.



Really REALLY enjoyed the series, until they removed it from the monthly line-up and published it in novel form only. Damn them, I'll never know Hao's true intention!!



Great series that I look forward to reading more of in the future!

Ok ok, so Shonen Jump had nothing to do with this series becoming my number 1. The reason it's here is because I shit bricks when I saw Kenshin on the cover of SJ with the announcement of the graphic novels being released in English!

   Hopefully this new digital print will be successful. I'll be damned if I have to go back to reading raw scans of the manga like I did back in 1996. XD

Pictures, that will perhaps give you a hearty laugh!

The guard on the left looks a little to peaceful.

Victory for Dominos!

I don't always post pictures with meme faces, but when I do.. it's fucking funny.

And all daddy wanted was a sandwich.

Thanks to the posters on FFXIAH.com for these fun pictures.

Ifrit bleeds, we can kill it!



   Ifrit has scorched his way, finally, into the world of Eorzea. Ifrit is the Primal (or avatar, esper, or guardian force if you'd rather.) of Amalj'aa, who plan to summon Ifrit as a way to battle the Garlean Empire. He is the first Primal, or Eikons, to come completely out to the open in FFXIV. This new variation of Ifrit quite possibly the most intimidating version I've ever seen. Let's take a quick look back of Ifrit throughout the years..

First appearance had 3 colour variations depending on the move he used. Looks more like a demon with long horns then anything. Kept this basic look until..

VI's Ifrit started looking a little more beast then humanoid-like demon. The green and purple colours would be eventually make way for..

VII's started getting a little tent of red over the skin. Getting there.

The Ifrit I think of when I hear the name. VIII's Ifrit was perhaps the most impressionable.

XI's Ifrit is more beast & elemental like of any of the previous forms.

Ifrit's back! And in pog form! (Button from The World Ends with You.)

   Now with Ifrit coming to life in XIV, this opens up the door to see more Primals in the coming future. We've already seen Leviathan, the (maybe) Sahagin primal (Or who we think is Leviathan) attacking Limsa Lominsa's ships. Garuda the Primal of Ixali has been heard of in game and who's character art can be found on the Internet. (kotaku.com) Titan, Primal of the Kobolds character data can be found in game already, and one can assume that he'll be the next Primal that adventurers can battle.

Yopo thinks he has a cute face. I think he still needs pants.

     Also a Giant Dragon can be seen leading a army of dragons against airships from Garlean during the opening, character sketches of Odin have started surfacing, and a creature that resembles Diabolos has been spotted in-game as well.

     FFXIV has come along way from it's dismal release a few years ago, and good signs are appearing that the game will be more acceptable by the time version 2.0 hits the market. PS3 release had also been slated for release late 2013 along with the current "Free Trail" mode turning into a monthly fee.



Neo Dynamis - Valkrum Trio 10/8/11

   We attempted a Dynamis - Valkrum over the weekend to check and see how hard it was to farm. Originally, we were aiming to enter with 5-6 players but only ended up with three players. So, out set-up for this first attempt: Elly as BST, Yopo as RDM, Kaji as SMN. The DD for the most part was pet DD with Yopo focusing on back-up and magic proc'ing.
   We spent around 30 minutes locating the TEs, successfully taking out all three with the new BST pet Hobs and Fenrir. Once once did I die, due to aggro from some nearby Goblins at TE1. Once we recovered we went to battle Manticores for the 0:00-8:00 hours. Our first mistake was our set-up didn't work well for farming currency. Our second mistake was not thinking this battle through a little better. Finally, our third mistake was proc'ing with magic. Magic only has a 5% proc rate, while Weapon Skills (15%) and Job Abilities (20%) While we were able to farm roughly 60 coins and 3 relic accessories. (Congrats to Yopo WHM, and Ely THF, DNC.)
   Next time I hope to bring more then 3 people. I'm starting to consider making a small LS for events 2-3 times a week. (Hopefully this one would last longer then my previous Abyssea group.) We'll see what life brings in the next couple weeks.