My review is based on playing the Xbox version of the Final Fantasy XIII game. There are so many contradicting reviews about FFXIII, but one thing is certain, the graphics in this game were amazing, and some of the places where you got to travel in were exciting, when I was in Gran Pulse, I felt like I was like in the prehistoric times, it was cool to see all the huge monsters, and Dinosaur-like animals running around.

The characters were interesting, though I got tired of the way they kept switching who you control for the first few hours, they wanted you to get to know all the characters, and sometimes you were stuck playing as a character you might not like. I really like the main character, I’m so glad to see a strong female main character, that is confident and able to kick butt. But at the same time she is compassionate and grows throughout the game.

I wont give away too much of the story away, but the gist of the story is that there is a group of people that have been branded with a mark, it gives them special powers, but they are forced to perform a “focus” some time of job, and if they complete it they turn to crystal, but if they fail they become monsters. Now for the negative, personally, I found the Game play boring, i was 3 hours into the game and I wanted to stop because i was so bored. I mean literally the entire game is mostly running around fighting monsters.

Normally I like fighting and leveling up, but I like the balance of fighting when I want, or doing side quests, or exploring a town/city when i want, in this game all you do is… fight. It didn’t feel like an RPG game. I feel like this FF game lost the sense of adventure and the excitement that the other games have. Speaking of the battling system, during battle you control one character, and should that character die it is game over, you cannot be revived.

This is the main characters from the game, from the left is (Sazh, Snow, Hope, Lightening, Fang, and Vanille.)

The game has “roles” you can assign to each person, and they can only use magic or attacks from that role. Meaning if all three of your characters are commanders, you will have to use a button to switch to another “Paradigm” so they can be a medic. You have to set up a list of the types of paradigm you can switch to during battle. To level up you get CP (crystal point), which you spend on a system that lets you decide which role you want to develop your character as, but you don’t get to decide  which roles your characters will have until later in the game.

I read reviews where people complain that the game is too linear, i don’t think that’s what is wrong, i don’t mind linear games, its just that there is nothing to do in this game besides level up. The story was interesting and it held my attention enough that I could finish the game. But overall, this game was okay, but in my opinion, not the best game out there.

Here is the Game Trailer, so you can see a little more about the game.

Status: 8 Volumes (Complete)

Haruna Aizawa has to transfer from her high school because she is tired of the rumors about her dad, who went to prison. He is a politician who was caught doing something illegal. Anyway, Haruna likes to compare her new school to a monkey mountain, how they all act like monkeys, how they band together, and sometimes fight and get back together again. There is a boy in her new school that even acts like a baby monkey (no he isn’t a real monkey), his name is Macharu Yamashita. Everyone calls him a monkey and teases him.

(Left) Macharu (Right) Haruna The main characters of the Manga.

I actually really liked the female main character, she was once popular at her school and other girls looked up to her, she is not weepy or annoying. But what I liked most about her is that she didn’t go “Kyah!” every time a hot guy walked by, and she didn’t fall for the school’s most popular guy Atsu, although he did try to go after her. Which kind of sucked since his best friend is Macharu (the aforementioned baby monkey). Atsu is an interesting character you never know if he is trying to help Macharu and Haruna, since he does things to help them out, but he also does things to make them fight and feel awkward around each other.

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It was nice to see a girl that falls for the guy that is actually a nice guy and not a jerk that is hot, and she is not indecisive about her decision. Which is something most Manga girls are; indecisive. She is not overly emotional, if anything she sometimes comes across as cold since she doesn’t like to express her feelings, but in reality she is a caring person. I also liked Macharu he has a complex because of his height and wants to be taller than Haruna. He helps Haruna open up more and make friends with all their classmates (a bunch of weirdo’s with no lives that like to make fun of their relationship), and she helps him to accept himself how he is.

Its kind of sweet to see how he becomes more confident, and how hard he tries to make their relationship work. And later on in the Manga, there is this one scene I really liked, when Haruna’s dad tries to get her a fiancée he grabs her and rides away to the sunset (on his bike…lol) and takes her to his house. The Manga is basically about the 3 years of high school and all the ups and downs their relationship has, it wasn’t the best Manga out there but it made me laugh and it was sweet to see how their relationship grew in those three years…

(Left) Atsu (Right) Macharu This is one of the scenes that I mentioned where Atsu, kind of messes with Haruna and Macharu’s relationship. Despite the way he acts he really does care about Macharu.

It sparked my interest to know about this ancient Japanese tradition using bird feces! The guano is sterilized with a UV Ray. The natural enzymes powder of the Nightingale feces helps remove dirt, shed dead skin cells and also leaving skin softer and brighter,  it contains an amino acid guanine with anmonic whitening qualities. This Japanese beauty secret has been used for Geisha make up as well as a make-up cleanser, it has been utilized for generations in Japan since the 18th century. Sounds very intriguing! yet malodorous. However, something I’ll definitely try for its known results.

         Look how yummy these pastries and cookies look! They only make them in Spring in restaurants; Kobeya Kitchen and Tsudayen in Japan.

     Sakura Mont blanc- a cake with cherry blossom cream topping. And Sakura Pastry- shape of a cherry blossom petal and has cherry blossom flavored jam in each of its five petals.

    Sakura no Happa cookies- cookies with salt preserved cherry blossom petals.

     Pink wrapper: Sakuramochi flavored white beans jelly with sprinkles of cherry blossom leaf.
Brown wrapper: Sweetened chesnut wrapped in red bean jelly. These are sold in Mitsuwa Market here in several locations in the U.S.

Source: TimeoutTokyo

     UVERworld is a Japanese Rock band which formed in 2003, the band consists of five     members, Takuya, Katsuya, Akira, Nobuto and Shintarō. They are most known for their song D-Tecnolife which was the 2nd opening theme for Bleach. The band’s name “UVERworld” is a mix of “Uber” (In German meaning over) and world. UBERworld became UVERworld for a unique mien. Those of you who haven’t checked out this band do so, they’re pretty rad.

     We recently attended an Asian Cultural Festival at Fruit & Spice park in Homestead, Fl. The Festival had a variety of foods, performers and vendors. Although the day was cloudy, it did not stop anyone from enjoying the festival. Of the many shows they had the one we enjoyed the most was the Japanese Taiko Drumming, even though some of the drummers weren’t Japanese themselves they seemed to have skill and passion.

     The Merchandise vendors had nice things, and we did not have a chance to try the food but we did try a Taiwanese drink called Bubble tea that had soft and chewy like pearls called Tapioca at the bottom of the tea. 

    Our favorite flavor was the Mango Bubble tea. We found a website that shows the recipe: Ellen’s Kitchen

Videos of the Taiko Drumming:

      Final Fantasy XIII, is the newest release in the Final Fantasy franchise. The game was released on Tuesday and I can’t wait to play it! The graphics are amazing, it is so detailed, you can see every strand of hair on the characters head. The main character is a girl, named Lightning, she seems like a strong and likable person. I also think the story sounds interesting, the people live in a place called Cocoon (a utopia in the sky) and they are protected by fal’Cie. Until one of them betrayed everyone and awoke fal’Cie from pulse (from the lower land) and their peace was destroyed. A few people were cursed with magic powers that they were forced to use. Join the heroes in their fight for freedom, and watch the trailer.

     Forming in 2006, Anli Pollicino is a five member J-Rock band from Japan. The Members include Kiyozumi, Shindy, Takuma, Yohichi and Masatoshi. Their first CD was released in November 21, ‘09 called Fahrenheit31. As of 2010, they will be doing a European tour in May and June.

 Tour Dates:

2/05 : Wattrelos (France) @ La Boite à musique
13/05 : Colmar (France) @ le Grillen
15/05 : Winthertur (Switzerland) @ Japanim Manga Night
16/05 : Munich (Germany) @ Feierwerk
18/05 : Clermont-fd (France) @ Salle Camille Claudel
19/05 : Lyon (France) @ Lyon’s Hall
20/05 : Marseille (France) @ le Baby
21/05 : Saint Jean de Vedas (France) @ Secret Place
22/05 : Perpignan (France) @ le Crockmore
26/05 : Madrid (Spain) @ Wurlitzer Ballroom
27/05 : Bilbao (Spain) @ Santana 27
28/05 : Bordeaux (France) @ le CAT
29/05 : Brest (France) @ le Vauban
30/05 : Rennes (France) @ Mondo Bizarro
03/06 : Liege (Belgium) @ le Tipi
04/06 : Amsterdam (Netherlands) @ Winston
05/06 : Cologne (Germany)@MTC
06/06 : Paris (France)@ TBC

     Hailing from Tokyo, Japan. Aural Vampire consists of two members Exo-Chika and      Raveman, they compose Electronica and Industrial music. Active since 2004, they released a self debut album called Vampire Ecstasy. Aural Vampire continue to do music and touring. It was recently announced that they will make a Musical guest appearance at Anime Central at Rosemont, Illinois in May 2010.

Check out their new album “Abingdon Road”,  its their second album and was released on Jan.27.  So far the new tracks I like are “Souen”, “Sweetest Coma Again” and “Shiosai”. Of course “JAP”, “Strength” and “From Dusk Till Dawn” were already in my iPod months ago.