Now that Thanksgiving is over, 2015 is almost coming to a close. With that, it’s time to focus on the plans I have in store along with my thoughts on the recent announcement regarding Love Live.
With Christmas and the New Years coming around the corner, it’s time to focus on some posts I usually write, namely the 12 Days of anime. Since I am busy with work and such, I will be doing it in one post. Hopefully, I will have it up before I leave to my parents to spend time with them and my younger sister during Christmas. As for what I plan on focusing on is a secret.
Aside from that, there are two changes I plan on making on the blog. First is the forums, which is sitting idle for a while. I plan on moving it and perhaps changing the focus of it to mostly on anime and Japanese video games discussion rather than try to cater it for the anime blogging community. In addition, I will make a better skin rather than use the default and just change the logo. This change will happen sometime in January.
As for the other addition, I am trying to implement HTTPS/SSL encryption on the main blog. SSL is something I want to add since it will encrypt the traffic to prevent snooping and increase security. Not only that, Google will give your site a little boost by doing so. Of course, trying to get the URLs moved to HTTPS is the difficult part since they will not budge at all. Until I figure it out, it will be awhile until it happens.
Update: I have finally got around to adding SSL and it’s now enabled. The site will now default to HTTPS instead of HTTP. If you experience any problems, contact me ASAP.
Lastly, I finally got my new recording setup, meaning that I no longer need to unplug my laptop in order to record footage. So far, I have a Mac Pro with an upgraded nVidia Geforce GTX 950 graphics card, 16 GB of RAM and a SSD in addition to a hard drive, meaning that I can play the PC ports of Japanese RPGs out there while making easier to stream.
Sadly, the HDMI to Component converter got fried, meaning that I am not able to record any Vita footage for now. With that, I plan on upgrading to an Elgato Game Capture HD so I do not I have to use an expensive converter. However, this has to wait since there are games I want to get next year. Hopefully I will get a new setup sometime in spring so I can begin capturing videos for reviews and maybe live stream some games once in a while. As for the games I plan on getting, they are the Gochuumon Vita game, Kantai Collection (if it does not get delayed again) and Atelier Shallie Plus.
With that out of the way, it’s time to focus on my reactions to Muse disbanding next Spring. While I am not a big fan of their music since it mostly consists of group songs (aside from the separate subunits) and the type of music they sing is simply not my thing nor I play the mobile game, I do enjoy the character development from both seasons of the anime a lot. Although I do not like two of the characters, the cast is very enjoyable.
While I plan on seeing the movie when I buy it in January on Blu-ray, the anime and the movie already suggests that the group is eventually going to disband given that three members is going to graduate. It is simply not going to be the same without all the members. Since Muse has enjoyed record-breaking CDs sales and being very popular in general, it is understandable why some fans will be upset by the announcement they made regarding their last performance at the dome along with releasing their last album in March 2016.
Sure, two years for most new fans might feel too short given that the anime came out in 2013, but people forget to realize that the project actually started in 2010. It’s not until 2013 that they start becoming popular, especially after the aforementioned mobile game.
At the end of the day, I think it is for the best to stop at their peak. Sure, Bandai Namco (who own Lantis) can simply milk the franchise as its worth, but I think that it will harm the franchise in the long run. With that, it’s best to end it off there and end it on a happy note. Like with actual idols, things do not last forever. The members will eventually go on doing better things such as having their own singing career, becoming actors/actresses or even becoming a voice actor. This is already evident with some of the voice actors from Muse having their own singing careers in addition to their voice acting with varying success. While I do not plan on getting any Love Live music, I am pretty open to possibly buying CDs from the voice actresses who voices these characters in the future.
On the topic of Aqours bashing because of Muse disbanding, I think it is unfounded. Sure, legitimate criticism is okay, but hating them or blaming them on the disbandment is unfair. Since they only have one single that recently came out without an anime at all, this is silly. Eventually, the characters are going to be fleshed out with fans input, especially when the anime will come in a few years. To me, this bashing reminds me a lot of the Genwunners in Pokémon who believes that the first generation is the only good generation and that anything else is crap. I think it is better to see how they will develop as time go on until there is enough content to make a good enough judgment. Believe it or not, Muse developed the same way and it is not until the anime came along where they finally got defined personalities and traits beyond their archetype.
With that, this pretty much wraps up on what I have planned and my thoughts on Muse disbanding. What are your thoughts about it? Feel free to share.
Looking forward to your 12 Day posts too. I already got all 12 posts of mine prepared, which I slowly worked in bits and pieces over the year :p What it will be is going to be a secret as well, but you probably won’t have to wait long considering I also got a prologue post talking about it which I already plan to post once the date hit December 12.
As for Muse disbanding, like you said, all good things don’t last forever, and it’s best to just end it there when everything’s on a high note.
That’s good. I usually let thing go along and then plan out what things to write over the past years. I guess it depends on the focus I suppose.
But yes, not everything lasts forever and it’s the fact of life… but hopefully, the voice actresses behind the voices for the characters will have successful careers to come.