Okay first, you buy a cake. Then, ask the counter if they have birthday
candles. Buy 3 of them. Bring the cake back home. See if you have a lighter
around- Haha you think I'm going to describe this process 30 years in? Get a
life dude lmao
What I will do though, is talk about my step-by-step process for change from
here on specifically on novelties, actually. So welcome back to another
non-descript post where I talk about what I have made changes in my already
stay home life and actually contribute to the world out there while still
pursuing the stuff I want to do moving forward. It has been so long, after
all. I will not deliberate further, let's get to it!
[You have been warned about this text-heavy long post; Leave if you do not
want to know more]
THE IDEA
So far in my pathetic life lol okay I will stop that we are trying to be
positive here, I've only been living a life of coming back home from work and
just binging on YouTube or even re-watching YouTube clips and/or watching
Twitch archives every night because I just want to take breaks and not think
too much after work. Sadly, that has not made my nights any more interesting
as I constantly miss the world out there in Japan, and it's also not helping
me on my Japanese since I'm choosing not to listen them on a regular basis.
Also, recently in the past couple of years, due to the rise of purchasing
physical goods from Japan and the now necessity of paying taxes of stuff I
bought, it would be wiser to focus more on digital purchases which would
otherwise remove that footprint and not accumulate stock at home which is of
course, taking up much space. Therefore, the objective of this list of plans
is to achieve all of not any the following:
- To move away from "easy" and "addictive" entertainment, and not just watch YouTube all day
- To focus on purchase of items from Japan with lesser physical footprint
- To gain more knowledge relevant to what I actually am interested in, through getting involved in more content from the (female) voice acting (idol) industry
- To listen to more varied Japanese music instead of sinking on popular or idol music
- To play more video games per year instead of just watching people play
We will talk about how to achieve most of these in a bit, and how my progress
on these have been so far, but suffice it to say that overall I really just
want to ignore all the boring stuff and/or stuff I really am too nonchalant of
and focus on the things I want to support. Not everyone will keep to that, but
I want to stay true to the things I like. That's entertainment, after all,
whether you subconsciously know about it or not. The idea is also about
paying: I've spent enough years NOT paying for content, and either I shall or
I will be around them as much as I am able to afford time to. That's what I
think is support today.
THE PLAN
From here on, I stay more than committed to the following things I would do on
a regular basis, at this point let's say with weekly progress. Let's talk
about them individually. Boy, is this going to be a long one.
I'll split each of them into two sections: The ideal/planned state
which is where I want to achieve, and the current state which is
where I am now. And if I've not started on it then current will just be empty,
just so you know. "Did not start" doesn't mean "have not achieved", thanks.
(Not in specific order to the objectives above)
[1] Revive APoL
If you have not known, I have a personal novel project I have been working on
since... halfway through my middle/secondary school? Yeah, so around 2008, I
came up with the idea of writing about life but through the choice of power.
It's not the next Harry Potter, and obviously my English writing is not great
as you can see from just up till here to be honest *laughs*, but I am
committed to writing stories my way. In recent years though, ever since I
started work almost 5 years ago, I've not touched this story much. But now
that I am bent on getting this going, I will talk about what I will do moving
forward.
| Current | Planned |
|---|---|
| To continue writing on Chapter 17 | To finish until Chapter 20, end of first minor story arc |
| To come up with a proper design for Duels in the story (see Chapter 3) | To find more popular Internet literature platforms to publish up till Chapter 20 (eg. Wattpad) |
| To write a full plot summary document if do not wish to complete story |
And I can tell you, the publishing part is going to be rough. I still have not
garnered any courage to list my story online for the world to see, as much of
it is still in private sites I host. We shall see though, if I can refine my
writing and storytelling enough to achieve that. But first, I gotta start
writing on what happened in Chapter 16 with the introduction of a new
character pivotal to the story arc. *giggles* No more spoilers, I gotta get to
writing. And then if I really don't want to do this I can sketch out an
overview for anyone who will want to continue my so-called legacy. I already
know what I want based on (spoilers) Anime I've been exposed to around that
time.
[2] Play New Video Games
Yeah, not bullsh*t talk with just buying games to support indie developers
which is what I did for the past few years, dude, we gotta play them. I think
I've gotten enough of just watching people play video games, and especially
popular games because
who gives a f**k about Hogwarts Legacy
haha so instead since I've always loved to play simulation games and am keen
to support indie developers on their work, since I've enlisted GOG.com to do
this task for me, and as their library grows and more new games appear there,
I'll be playing more games more often.
| Current | Planned |
|---|---|
| To play more video games | To play a new video game every month, so 12 per year |
| To pick up on games to play if interested and not just watch others play online, ideally short story indie games |
So far I've already played a handful of games but not yet completed them,
because this is still subject to the other new rule I've slapped on myself:
switching games every month. Even if I do not complete them, I can move on to
another. Or more like, if I want to move on, then I HAVE to finish these games
in a month. They are normally not very long in story, and they are achievable
if it isn't role-playing, for example, simulation games can get dry real
quick, so ending those and moving on isn't that hard. It's more like if I can
achieve the balance on those or not. By the way, this month's game which I
barely started over the weekend was "Indoorlands", a miniature theme park game
which isn't doing well on reviews, but I had a ton of fun in it. It's good ol'
theme park simulation, dude. What else can I ask? Yeah something better than
Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, I know. *giggles* Next up will likely be "Spiritfarer"
as I've forgotten the story long enough for me to want to play it and cry I
guess. *silence* I don't cry on people dying lmao don't cancel me pls
[3] Listen To More Japanese Voice Actresses' Podcasts
Ah okay NOW we are at the bulk of the conversation here. *laughs* If you are
still unaware just walking into this blog I call my personal haven haha, you
might have noticed I am super intrigued by the idea of the voices behind
Anime, specifically if they are female. Call me a dirty hetero male lmao, but
yeah, over the past decade and a half I've learnt to appreciate them more, and
with the idolism sub-genre growing on this industry, it's natural to see more
of them having some dedicated slot to read fan mail and talk about the stuff
they do. Fans naturally gather to witness more inside stories and/or
screw-ups, so I truly am missing out. So, for now, I'll focus on listening to
their solo podcasts, because this is a good way to test if I can get used to
listening to them talk for half an hour minimum, AND the content they talk
about lol I tell you some people only like to talk about work and not
themselves so I am very wary of how dull those can be in the long run.
| Current | Planned |
|---|---|
| To listen to as many solo voice actress' solo podcasts every week | To listen to more voice actress' podcasts as long as I know of them, every week |
| To listen to all of the solo voice actress' podcasts every week, regardless of platform | |
| To give more group podcasts a chance, dependent on content |
Okay, the limitations in this are aplenty, so let's see if I can cover them
all. Firstly, listening format. Not ALL of them will be ready to listen on Day
1. For example, Minase Inori's podcast airs on Sunday nights... but on Japan's
AM/FM radio "Bunka Housou" which is not available for the Internet. Another one I know of is "radiko"
which is also a radio station in certain parts of Japan, of course including
capital Tokyo. Fortunately, there are archives of these so we might still be
able to catch them, but as you can see this will be a challenge I've yet to
find a solution to listen in live. In addition, most of the ones I will
mention in a bit will be either on YouTube as Japan finally acknowledges the
reach of the platform,
Niconico Live which
is Japan's YouTube which concept of floating comments across the viewing
screen has been stolen by China's Bilibili platform, and less known is Bunka
Housou's Internet bretherin "Cho A&G+" which allows me to catch a lot of the podcasts there. (Trust me, these are
all very daunting a decade ago for me) Many of them have schedules and/or
subscription lists I can follow so it isn't too bad so far. Moving on, there
is also the irregular programs will also pop up from time to time, and worst
off, they do not have a fixed timing and will announce their next simulcast
and/or live (typically the latter) whenever, and not like I will have the time
after work sometimes literally at dinner time due to the time zone differences
(here is 1 hour behind Tokyo), so I may just miss out on these if my schedule
got caught up with others, especially if in conflict. Maintaining all these is
actually harder than you think, because you will need a lot of collated
knowledge to know when and what is happening online, and boy, is Twitter not
the best place for all of them. Which is why I had to spend some time to
collect all the information I know, and list them here! Don't worry, the ones
here are just for the purpose of this post, where I will also explain for a
bit the terms and the podcasts themselves and what they are.
We will need some definitions right here, so I'll try to explain them all,
keyword being try:
- First half free - A concept to bait people into subscribing into their channels for a fee, eg. an hour podcast can be free for half an hour and paid for the other half, where of course the latter will have more relevant content and former be just reading fan mail and doing PR. The Seigura Niconico Channel is known for such a tactic.
- Alternating weeks - As per definition, the podcast will be aired every 2 weeks, and the issue here is this can be categorized into two factions; Either referred to as "airing every other week" which is dependent on which week it originally started on (eg. aired last week, next will be next week) or "airing in certain weeks" which is now dependent on which week number of the month it airs on. (eg. Week 2 of February 2023 is considered to be on the week of Valentine's Day)
- Simulcast vs Live - Each podcast has their own relevancy with respect to their broadcast timing. Some will choose to air at late night but not require their talents to do it live, so it will be pre-recorded and aired for the first time where people will tune in regularly known as a simulcast, similar to TV shows. Some will air live though, even with video content on special occasions or straight up as regular, nowadays taking it to YouTube for higher quality and audience reach compared to Niconico though with a more interactive comment system.
With these out of the way, let's see if you can figure the table below out!
*laughs*
[All schedules below are subject to change, time in HHMM format, in Tokyo time
ie. GMT+9; Anything after 2400 is considered after midnight, and is known to
extend to 2700 ie. 2am next day]
["Current" defined as viewed on time at least twice this year]
Regular Programs
| Day | Current | Planned |
|---|---|---|
| Mon |
Nagae Rika no "17 Henge" "Nagae Rika's 17 Changes" where every other week: - She does a "talk" week, reading fan mail mainly and talking about herself - She does a "changes" week, indulging in 17 different challenges from staff or fans YouTube Seaside Channel 2200-2230 [Audio, Simulcast] Touyama Nao no Radio@Living "Touyama Nao's Radio@Living (Room)" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 2300-2330 [Audio, Live] Kanno Mai no Mai Pace Mai World Kanno Mai's "My Pace My World" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Niconico Live 2430-2500 [Audio, Simulcast] |
Minase Inori MELODY FLAG "Minase Inori MELODY FLAG" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Minase Inori YouTube Channel Mondays [Audio, Archive] Lynn no OshaberRin Radio "Lynn's talking radio" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 2530-2600 [Audio, Live] |
| Tue |
Aizawa Saya no Ending wa Joukigen de "Aizawa Saya's ending in a good mood" where she eats good food and reads fan mail in a chill atmosphere Voice Garage Niconico Channel 2100-2130 [Video, Live, 2nd & 4th week] |
TrySail no TRYangle harmony "TrySail's TRYangle harmony" where Amamiya Sora, Asakura Momo and Natsukawa Shiina gather to discuss about them as a group, read fan mail etc. Secondshot Niconico Channel 2200-2230 [Audio, Simulcast] Sakura to Shitai Oonishi "Sakura to do with Oonishi (radio)" where Sakura Ayane and Oonishi Saori talk about each other and read fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 2330-2400 [Video, Live] |
| Wed |
Takamina to Oonishi no Takahishi-ya "Takamina to Oonishi's Takanishi-ya" where Takahashi Minami and Oonishi Saori adopt a general store atmosphere to answer fan's inquiries, issues and troubles Secondshot Niconico Channel 2200-2230 [Video, Simulcast] |
Kitou Akari no smiley pop "Kitou Akari's smiley pop" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 1930-2000 [Audio, Simulcast] Secondshot Niconico Channel 2000-2030 [Audio, Simulcast] Pyxis no Kirakira Daisakusen! "Pyxis's shining great strategy!" where Itou Miku and Toyota Moe talk about each other and read fan mail Secondshot Niconico Channel 2230-2300 [Video, Simulcast] |
| Thu |
Meiji presents Hanazawa Kana no Hitori Dekiru Kana? "Hanazawa Kana's Can (She) Do It Alone?" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 2300-2330 [Audio, Simulcast] Ueda Reina no Himitsubako "Ueda Reina'a Treasure Box" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 2330-2400 [Audio, Simulcast] |
Tomatsu Haruka no Kokoro Harukasu "Tomatsu Haruka's Broad Heart" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Secondshot Niconico Channel 2130-2200 [Audio, Simulcast, Alternating weeks] Kotobuki Minako no Rafu Lafu "Kotobuki Minako's Rough Laugh" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Secondshot Niconico Channel 2130-2200 [Audio, Simulcast, Alternating weeks] Toyosaki Aki no Okaeri Radio "Toyosaki Aki's Come Home Radio" where she does a variety of impersonations, talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 2200-2300 [Audio, Live] |
| Fri | ||
| Sat |
Taketatsu Numakura no HatsuRaji! "Taketatsu Numakura's First Radio!" where Taketatsu Ayana and Numakura Manami talk about each other and read fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 1900-1930 [Audio, Live] |
|
| Sun |
Kohara Konomi no Kokoro Okinaku "Kohara Konomi's Open Heart" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou Cho A&G+ 2000-2030 [Audio, Live] Minase Inori MELODY FLAG "Minase Inori MELODY FLAG" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou 2200-2230 [Audio, Live] Meiji presents Hanazawa Kana no Hitori Dekiru Kana? "Hanazawa Kana's Can (She) Do It Alone?" where she talks about herself and reads fan mail Bunka Housou 2230-2300 [Audio, Live] |
Irregular Programs
| Current | Planned |
|---|---|
|
*"Kanno Mai no Mai Pace Mai World" (Monthly video livestream apart from weekly audio) "Tomita Miyu no MIYU Gaku'in Housoubu!" (Where Tomita Miyu dresses up as a student to read fan mail) |
"Natsukawa Shiina's CultureZ" Mondays, 2500-2700 (Considered irregular live since she can skip
certain weeks, and I don't watch often until 2am)
"KidoMada Season2" (Was initially dubbed "Kido Ibuki wa Mada Mada FRESH! Desu" due to
the series streaming on the "FRESH!" video platform but was revived on
another platform, of her playing video games)
From the Seigura Niconico Channel
"Atelier Reina" - An art-focused video podcast where Ueda Reina talks
about art
"Hondo Kaede's Work Radio" - Audio podcast where Ede-chan just talks
about her work as a voice actresses
"Ookubo Rumi's Something Incident" - Audio podcast where RumiRumi
tries out stuff for herself and reads fan mail
"Moeshi Tours" - Video podcast about tourism in Japan hosted by Toyota
Moe as she introduces destinations all over the country
|
(*Paid video livestream, and yes, I paid as the little simp I am to Mai-chan
hehe)
There are many, many more which I've missed even on the
Japan gaming channel Famitsu
so I'm going to stop here for now this post is way too long for me and
I AM NOT EVEN DONE YET!! *laughs*
[4] Increase Digital Purchases
This I think I've mentioned earlier in the post and I guess this is
essentially what I'm achieving here, if I can choose not to buy a physical
version of anything if it's available in digital, I will now go for digital
editions if possible, giving money to the idea of renting items through
Internet services (in case you don't know what capitalism scheme you signed up
for lol) instead of physically possessing them, potentially taking up space.
| Current | Planned |
|---|---|
| To buy as many digital exclusives as possible as long as it is available in Amazon Kindle Japan | To buy as many items as possible if available in digital or slated to be released in digital (see below) |
| To support mobile/free-to-play games if played for long time, only for paid aesthetics (see below) |
The best example I can give you is photobooks. If any photobook is available
through say, Amazon Kindle (Japan) because that's my best friend since 2 years
ago lol, I can just buy those to support them which I recently did with
marupi's photobook
she did for a gravure magazine Shupure. *silence* Maybe I shouldn't have said
that but you have seen the bikini shots on her social media accounts so what
else is new. *laughs* Others like the taking photos for each other photobook
series "Seiyuu Tomosha!" with
Suguta Hina's
released recently and upcoming Kido Ibuki's (hehe) I'm just glad I don't have
to buy more books in hopes that a digital version of it will appear some time
later.
For mobile and/or video games it's the same principle, but that for now is
still based on my years with the game, and I will NEVER give a game money
straight off just to progress, namely for aesthetic purposes mostly. I don't
believe in pay to win, by the way. My only success case now is with "Dead of
Alive: Venus Vacation" also known as DOAXVV. I've only paid money for pay-only
birthday
gacha which
ignoring the results of the roll, are guaranteed extra items to be included in
the game itself, not affecting gameplay. (Yes, I don't want any of us to be
reminded of "Alternative Girls", thanks. *sob*)
And moving on, I hope I can keep this up but damn did I ruin that for the year
already lol, apart from CDs and bromide photos, anything physical I buy will
so far be limited to photobooks, the first of any single person reviewed, so
if say Kitou Akari released another photobook recently I am obliged to not buy
it again since I bought her 1st back in 2020. And I also know it will be
released in digital thanks to their publishing firm Seigura, which will ensure
this to appear in the future. That is if the Internet doesn't spoil everything
for me first. *wink*
[5] Devote to Fanclub Subscriptions
Of course, in addition to buying digital content, I've made a declaration to
follow voice actresses and of course subscribe to as many fanclubs as possible
as the most direct way to support the ones I like. Trust me, if you buy
anything from them they don't get the full amount. I won't say much for
fanclubs but at least I don't have to buy stuff or get anything physical back
which will stay true to my vision for supporting more digital content as
mentioned earlier. There is an exception to this though, because Inorin's
fanclub "Inori Machi" is the only one which ships newsletters and even
greeting cards physically on a regular basis, so there goes my wallet for
shipping fees every time they send me stuff. *laughs* Oh, and this also
extends to now Niconico channels which require a paid subscription more often
a times, to watch the full livestream and/or podcast. My only example is Kanno
Mai for now. *giggles* Regardless, let's talk briefly about what I've seen so
far. The recent streak comes from
getting all the married ones in this year haha yeah their fanclubs are
still running by the way. People like married women and it's not me *dabs*
Well we don't need the usual table because this is pretty straightforward. So,
we're doing the same thing for podcasts but for it's for fanclubs now. Here
are my current, recent within the year and (unlikely) future plans for joining
voice actress fan bases:
| Current | Recent | Future |
|---|---|---|
|
Minase Inori "Inori Machi" [Yearly, 4400yen, 1100yen registration] (Account will defunct if did not continue subscription) Kitou Akari "Smiley Light Village" [Monthly, 440yen] Kouno Marika "Tonari no Marinka" [Yearly, 6600yen, 1000yen registration] [Monthly, 550yen] (Mobile Optimized) Takahashi Rie "TakahaShiritsu Rie Koukou" [Yearly, 6500yen, item purchase] Touyama Nao "Niji no Wakka" [Monthly, 440yen]
(Mobile Only)
|
Taketatsu Ayana "Ayana Koukoku" [Monthly, 440yen] (Content six-month backlog only)
Tachibana Rika "FLOWER CHEERS!"
[Monthly, 550yen]
(Blog content only as of now)
[Yearly, 5500yen, 1100 registration]
|
[Monthly, 660yen]
(The only maybe?)
[Yearly, 4400yen, 1100yen registration]
(Old haha but I do miss something about her)
[Yearly, 4400yen, 1100yen registration]
(Social media fuel)
|
Well, as you can see for this part it's just giving the money especially even
on a yearly basis, and we'll enjoy the benefits immediately. The registration
fee is only one-time unless you decide to bail and then join again like what I
did with Inorin's fanlub lol. Of course this isn't as straightforward because
did you remember how I got into Rieri's fanclub? Haha if I have to do it again
then I'll have to ship the physical item releasing in April just to register
for a new year of content, by the way. *ugh* That's the life I'm into now, I
guess.
...
Yeah okay please stop counting how much I'm paying a month haha I know a lot
of people, that's all. Also the yearly ones doesn't count anyways they have
been paid for. As for the future ones I maaaaay pay for them but unlikely and
I'll state why above as a note for now. No really, stop counting I'm buying
like, two photobooks a month, okay? Just... stop. *laughs*
This shall be it for now; These might be too much even for me to dedicate to.
Because damn, I'm still not over with how I think I will be able to achieve
all this AND avoid a life of watching YouTube. *silence* We will try, the
change for support for the causes I believe are real. It's hard to convince
anyone these days about this, but seeing as I am such a simp for these
so-called "idols", I can't help but do my part and not see these fade off.
*giggles* See you guys maybe in a year or so then to see if I have honoured
what I've listed here haha I will try my best I've already burnt my 20s I
can't even, and then maybe, maybe, I will get my personal life
together.
Thanks for the read if you have read this far anyways, this is the most I've
talked about the stuff I'm doing in front of the computer lol I'm going to
prepare for sleep now and wait for Kanno Mai's radio show if you don't mind
lol I think I missed Moeshi Tours haha have a good night people
[Note: All information accurate as of 20 Feb 2023]