Yukie made some simple baked salmon for mom and dad today ^^

Just took out oven, and 3 pieces already got taken away xD||| I only got taken pictures for the other 3 pieces, which were gone in another 10mins. Glad my mom, dad and uncle all like it. ^__^/

Hmmm comparing to the salmon I made for them last year..with turkey stuffing and cheese

Its actually more tasty this time  yay~ =P

I think I’m still not good enough at cooking…I want to be a good wife when I get married >o</

It’s almost new year! Kohaku is coming and Anime LA is coming~~ Yukie ate a lot at home and grow some meat=___=||| But I still feel happy and healthy. I’m sure I’ll start losing weight fast when I got back to silicon valley.

There are many “The Top XXXX of 2008″ things on the news lately. So Yukie will post some “otaku’s top XXX of 2008″ here too! =P

Newtype Anime Ranking ‘Academy’ 2008

I saw the Japanese version somewhere on the internet, but I only found one English version at mikage24’s LJ. To saveup time of typing, I just directly put it here. (hope mikage-san doesn’t mind).

Anime Ranking:

1. Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
2. Gundam 00
3. Macross F
4. Lucky Star OVA
5. Clannad After Story
6. Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu
7. Gintama
8. Rebuild of Evangelion
9. Shakugan no Shana II
10. Soul Eater
11. Gundam Seed Destiny
12. Minamike Okawari
13. Goku: Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei
14. Da Capo II: S.S.
15. Kuroshitsuji
16. Natsume Yuujinchou
17. Tora Dora!
18. Persona: Trinity Soul
19. Seikirei
20. Bleach

Male Character Ranking:

1. Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass R2)
2. Setsuna F. Seiei (Gundam 00)
3. Tieria Erde (Gundam 00)
4. Lockon Stratos (Gundam 00)
5. Kira Yamato (Gundam Seed Destiny)
6. Kururugi Suzaku (Code Geass R2)
7. Kyon (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu)
8. Saotome Alto (Macross F)
9. Alleluja Haptism (Gundam 00)
10. Gintoki (Gintama)

Female Character Ranking:

1. C.C. (Code Geass R2)
2. Izumi Konata (Lucky Star)
3. Lacus Clyne (Gundam Seed Destiny)
4. Suzumiya Haruhi (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu)
5. Kouzuki Karen (Code Geass R2)
6. Sheryl Nome (Macross F)
7. Ranka Lee (Macross F)
8. Shana (Shakugan no Shana II)
9. Ayanami Rei (Evagelion)
10. Furukawa Nagisa (Clannad After Story)

Seiyuu Ranking:

Male:

1. Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch)
2.Miyano Mamoru
3. Nakamura Yuichi (Alto)
4.Kamiya Hiroshi
5.Ono Daisuke
6.Sakurai Takahiro (Suzaku)
7.Hiroyuki Yoshino
8. Miki Shinichiro
9. Koyasu Takehito
10. Souichiro Hoshi

Female:

1. Yukana (C.C.)
2. Kugimiya Rie
3. Hirano Aya
4. Tomatsu Haruka
5. Sakamoto Maaya
6. Nakajima Megumi (Ranka)
7. Mizuki Nana
8. Koshimizu Ami (Kallen)
9. Nazuka Kaori (Nunnally)
10. Noto Mamiko

CD Single Ranking:

1. Gake no Ue no Ponyo - Fujioka Fujimaki & Oohashi Nozomi (Gake no Ue no Ponyo)
2. NEXUS 4/ SHINE - L’Arc en Ciel (Seirei no Moribito)
3. Lion - May’n & Nakajima Megumi (Macross F)
4. Ai ai gasa - Tegomass (Neo Angelique Abyss)
5. Diamond Crevasse/ Sarittagius 9p.m. Don’t be late - May’n (Macross F)
6. O2 - Orange Range (Code Geass R2)
7. Gekidou/ JUST BREAK THE LIMIT! - UVERword (D.Grayman)
8. Triangler - Sakamoto Maaya (Macross F)
9. Seikan Hikou - Nakajima Megumi (Macross F)
10. Resonance - T.M.Revolution (Soul Eater)

CD Album Ranking:

1. Macross F OST 1 - Nyan Fro
2. Macross F OST 2 - Nyan Tra
3. The Best of Detective Conan 3
4. Moira - Sound Horizon
5. D.Grayman COMPLETE BEST
6. PERSONA 4 Original Soundtrack
7. Naruto Super Hits 2006-2008
8. Gake no Ue no Ponyo Original Soundtrack
9. Exit Trance Presents: Uma Uma Dekiru Trance wo Tsukutte mita
10. 39 Anime x Music Collaboration ‘02-’07

Anime Song Ranking:

1. Triangler (Macross F)
2. Diamond Crevasse (Macross F)
3. Seikan Hikou (Macross F)
4. Northern Cross (Macross F)
5. O2 (Code Geass R2)
6. WORLD END (Code Geass R2)
7. Waga Routashi Aku no Hana (Code Geass R2)
8. Hare Hare Yukai (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu)
9. Kimi = Hana (Junjou Romantica)
10. Ash like Snow (Gundam 00)

Saw a nice game PV today, I was surprised it is actually an wii game (thought it was on xbox360 =P)

The feeling of the whole game and the music are both beautiful, I really wish the game system could be nice too..I love this type of song,  I haven’t seen any song like this for a long time.

Somehow its pure feeling reminds me an old game I love..Umihara Kawase (海腹川背).

『FRAGILE～さよなら月の廃墟～』Promotion Video

Yukie went to family gathering on last Saturday for X’mas and New Year =D

After the gethering we took a walk to neary stores so that we could digest the food faster =P

Yukie found an very cool anime store near the resturant we went, but very unfortunately the store is closing we I got there. I mean, not closed just for that day, but moving out business.T________T

Since the store is not open on sat, I can only see through the glass door. everything is packed, nothing is left..I’m feeling very sad;__; I’m sure it must have been a great store.

(pictures are from their web site. the store got nothing left now)

Yukie really wish there are more anime-related stores avaliable so that the otaku spirit can be spreaded much further =)

We also saw someone was selling super cute puppies..I couldn’t resist to take pictures for them >.</// (gosh they look much cuter in real life though!)

Hello~~doggy~~=D

Oh, she likes me! Because we have the same hair style!!!xD

The black puppy is super cute too..
How about me taking him home and start a “Yukie’s Delivery Service”? =P (*1)

Then we went to a small Japanese store right next to the anime shop. I found something cute there!

No, I’m not on sale for $5.99..no way!=o=
(If you add another $3.99…I’m just kidding xD|||)

OK, that’s about it for the day! I brought the cute pinku apron =3 It’s cute and much cheaper than cute aprons at marukai/mitsuwa (usually $15-$20). Yukie is happy ^-^v

Hmm..now I think maybe I should buy 3 of them since they look very cute >.< “One for collection, one for display, and one for real use”xDD (mysterious voice: They are not anime figures!!!! = D =;;; ) (*2)

================

I’m just puting a side note here making sure you understand my otaku jokes =P you are super otaku if you already got them!^-^@

(*1) Yukie’s Delivery Service: From Miyazaki’s Movie “Kiki’s Delivery Service” . In the movie, the little witch kiki and her black cat Gigi using her ability to fly to do express dilivery for people.

(*2) “One for collection, one for display, and one for real use”: From otaku pop culture and also animes “Welcome to N.H.K” and “Gintama”. For a lot of serious otakus in Japan, when they are buying some very rare limited edition items, such as CDs and anime figures, they usually buy more than one. mostly CDs. But in the above 2 animes, it is said some otakus do the same for anime figures. Now you need to think what for “real use”=o=||| Those figures are usuallly made very real..^^;;;;

..please correct me if I were wrong..>.<

Yukie is going to Anime LA for a day with bff Tsubasa-chan!^-^v

I just decided yesterday so I didn’t make any plan for the convention (I don’t even have a complete costume set ~>.<~) , I’ll probably get there on Sat and have some fun with friends =D

It was a long day today. My mom needs a new car, so we went to nearby dealers and got an Acura the end of the day. (I know thats too fast..they have really good deals now because of the economy and its the end of the year)

Yukie is tired and feels lazy now..will rest like tarepanda on bed…m=______=m

I will keep fighting for my dreams. The path is still unclear, but I wont give up.

It’s almost the end of year again~ Yukie has been watching Japanese New Year TV show “Kohaku Uta Gassen” with mom and dad ever since 1994 ^____^v (Read “what is kohaku?“)

The song list and singers of Kohaku came out already~
http://www9.nhk.or.jp/kouhaku/artists/index.html

Yukie got sooooo excited when I saw that SPEED is coming back and will sing their [White Love] >_____< That’s the best song for Christmas!!!

The song was first released in 1997…one of the most classic Jpop songs of all time T________T

White Love by SPEED

果てしない　あの雲の彼方へ 私をつれていって その手を　離さないでね

The MCs this year are Yukie Nakama and Masahiro Nakai! Yukie Nakama is my most favorite Japanese actress, I love her TV drama Trick a lot!!

This is the English Kohaku song list, note this is not their sequence on stage:

This year there are a lot of new faces come to Kohaku, such as  Girl Next Door and Perfume.  I’m super surprised that this is actually the first time Mr. Children get on Kohaku. They had a lot of very famous songs such as Shirushi and Kurumi(my personal favorite):

The video of Kurumi is about chasing one’s dreams.. ;__; so touching..
Kurumi by Mr. Children

On the red(female) side,

I’m pretty happy to see nakashimia mika is on Kohaku again(ORION is a very nice song as always), but too bad yuna ito is not there =(
Ayaka, Angela Aki, Yo Hitoto, Ayaka Hirahara..they are all ballad style singers..hmm. But they are all good too. Ayu and Kodakumi are there as always, but because of ayu’s sickness, her singing is getting worse..I’m feeling sorry for her. Yukie is not a fan of kodakumi at all-__-|||, so I’ll just pass commenting about her.
Osaka Ai and aiko are on again this year. Interesting, morning musume will not be singing this year, instead they use the new group perfume. Sure perfume got on oricon more often than morning musume I’d say. But their dancing style is really..kinda….weired to me LOL. Just listenning to their song is pretty cool though, at least its much better than many other long and boring ballad songs =P

I just checked Ikimono-gakari, their song is good too! xD
I love singers who put their souls into the songs!

SAKURA by Ikomono Gakari

More about Girl Next Door. I do like their debut song [Guzen no Kakuritsu]. but there are a lot of argument on the internet about the vocalist. She just graduated from a pre-singer school and got a title of “special good student”. The record company avex spent a lot of money on her / her debut music video and trying to put her as the next big super star for the company. However a lot of comments goes as her singing is very normal etc etc.
Yukie feels that the song is much easier to listen to comparing to some other songs, the singing is nothing special yes. but as long as we have a nice song to listen (thanks to the composer and director, other memebers of the band and all the artists worked on this whole project), there isn’t really much to complain about. After all, all these people putting things together is to entertain the audiences. (expressing themselves and make money too =P)

Yo Hitoto and Hideaki Tokunaga will both on kohaku this year.. Too bad they are not singing together, that would be wonderful! Yukie’s reccomand song:

HANAMIZUKI originally by Yo Hitoto

君とすきな人が百年続きますように…

I guess you are bored of my endless talk (I can still talk about all these singers for at least another hour lol ;P)

So now songs Yukie’s most looking forward for are:

1. White Love by SPEED
2. ORION by Nakashima Mika
3. SAKURA by Ikomono Gakari
4. Perfume’s Dance (since their voices will first go through some symphasizer to add electronic feeling to it) and Gril Next Door’s Live singing

As for the White(male) side..since yukie bearly crazy about guys songs..I’ll just talk a bit.

I’m looking forward to:

1. Mr. Children!
2. Takeshi Kitayama and Kiyoshi Maekawa (2 talented young Enka singers)
3. Ken Hirai because he really put his emotions into his songs, that’s what i like
4. Sasoriza no Onna 2008 by Kenichi Mikawa (I do remember he sang the same song called Sasoriza no Onna 2006 LOL)

OKOK thats it for now. I guess you already @_____@ about all the Japanese names hahaha xDD
Sorry about it nya~ =3

My friend sent me a video today…

I was like… omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg.. >o< I have to play it!

Dissidia: Final Fantasy..Enjoy.

I love Terra!!!!!! I will only use her as my character >.<///

All the main characters and final bosses of FF1-FF12…memories..memories…;_;

It’s good they didn’t make the FF5 main character the same as in the game pfffft >.< but just like the character illustration by Amano Yoshitaka (who is one of my favorite illustrators =)

The game is on PSP and its $70…@_@ I think I’ll get it later since I haven’t finish my currrent games ^-^

Here is Yukie’s Merry Christmas Gift to all the friends visiting here during this holiday season~~

メリー・クリスマス & Happy New Year~~~

(click to view full size)

I didn’t bring my copic with me so I just draw it with pencil..>.< The flowers actually take much longer than drawing miku haha =P I’m too used to CGing where I can just stamp all the flowers ^^;;

Sorry it is not completed done, when I got back to Silicon Valley I can then color it and scan it ;3

Yukie got a pair of Hello Kitty Slippers as X’mas gift..Really happy ^____^v

Here is a cute mikumiku song for the holiday spirit~

Yukie just got back home! YAY~~=D

I received a very special gift on youtube

7kageru sent a video of his friend shibobu playing [NicoNico Douga Medley] as a thank-you for my Fanime performance. It made my day! ^________^

Yukie used to play Bust A Move, but I could never be this good! o>.<o

Thank you~~ <3<3<3

Part1

Part2

This picture of Yukie at Bacardi Rum Distillery during Caribbean Trip is specially contribute to shibobu-kun for the great performance \(^-^

Thank you, shibobu and 7kakeru!!! and Everyone visiting this blog~~~

Merry Christmas~~~~o(^-^)o

Sorry for not updating for a while.  Yukie was working up till 4am yesterday @.@||| Although the company shutdown for X’mas, our group is still running >”<||| I’m thinking if what they are doing is against the labor law now ….=_________=

Sorry for delaying on relaying all the messages (Youtube/blog/bbs/etc). I did read all of them (Thank you guys for the support TvT), I just need some time to reply. I really appreciate them all, that’s great encouragements for me to keep updating and improving myself to be a proud otaku!^-^v

Thank you so very much, Everyone!!!^_________^

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Yukie went to SF Japan Town for the Hello Kitty Fundrising Sale~ The selection of items are not as huge as I imagined (no plushies ;_; Maybe I went too late>_____< ), but Yukie did got some cute items with very good bargain ^-^v

Yukie brought a pink hello kitty travel bag for $35 (originally $70) and some kawaii stickers.

I tried green tea ice cream crepe with redbean paste and strawberries, omg it was sooo good! Life is good^ ^v

When Yukie saw this bag…”I should just buy one and take it to work and throw it on my desk =______,=” (okok, thats not very ladylike =P)

I took some PuriKura Pictures as always =3, tried 2 machines this time:

Hello Kitty & Me ^o^ (The first machine only has hello kitty related frames):

2nd Purikura machine:

Yukie now is packing. I will be flying to LA tomorrow~