Why can’t I be in this picture?

Never before have I felt such adoration yet jealous rage in the same moment:

[12 Days of Christmas] Day 11 – International Saimoe League

Aside from working full-time now, much of my extra time lately has been on developing the 2010 website and programming for International Saimoe League (ISML).  Since my first involvement as a statistics guy in 2008, I have found inspiration to take the tournament further, and I have now been elected to the Commissioner position for the 2010 season. This means a lot of work but a lot of potential for something exciting.

The main event will be the same as the previous two years: round-robin tournament lasting a few months, then a double-elimination finale for the championship. But don’t discount the preliminary period early in the year; it’s been revamped to something that’ll be a lot better than in 2009.

ISML Server Flooded

UPDATE — After a downtime of 3.5 hours, we are back. Voting has been extended for 4 hours until 1900GMT. Results will still be released at the usual time.

 

Apologies to all voters who are experiencing delays on the International Saimoe League (http://www.internationalsaimoe.com) website.

Since it’s the championship match between Hinagiku and Shana, I suppose we’ve had a lot heavier levels of traffic than our usual limit-breaking waves during the regular season and earlier rounds of the postseason.

Our host has temporarily suspended us, but I’ve called them in hopes to resolve things … and set up an upgrade plan for ISML 2010.

Please try again later today if you can’t vote this morning.

~Crisu

Hm, Bakemono 11

Hm.. I wonder where he put down the swimsuit and bloomers so he could scratch his cheek like that.

Stuffed in pocket temporarily? Transferred to other hand? Because it was made rather clear he gripped the two fabrics quite tightly… both right before this scene occurred and at the end of the episode when Tsubasa said so.

~Crisu, back to lurking >_>

ISML back on track

Following up on a previous post, hosting and registration fees have been paid for at internationalsaimoe.com, so the ISML tournament will continue. The latest match, Diamond 3, originally scheduled for Friday, August 14, has been pushed back a week to Friday, August 21.

The Double Elimination tournament will still keep to its original schedule.

~Crisu

ISML Domain Issues

International Saimoe League (http://www.internationalsaimoe.com) staff are working to resolve technical issues that have suddenly come up. ISML Staff apologizes for the site’s disappearance (it might not be gone quite yet for some of you) and are working towards bringing it back 100% with as little interruption to the 2009 schedule as possible.

No temporary website is available at this time; however, the IRC channel #isml on rizon.net is still active.

~Crisu

Saki 19 – A difficult illusion

I had to stare at this several times before realizing that it is actually drawn correctly.

A first glance suggest it’s Nodoka’s arm on top … but it really isn’t. The right hand sticking out of the sleeve plus the darker skin tone makes it Saki’s arm.

I blame Nodoka’s hair, which drapes over both girls’ shoulders and is the real cause of this potential illusion.

~Crisu

Endless Eight #8

“One tsundere moment can wash away the pain of 600 years…”

Umineko character log 1

Let’s see what I get so far when I compile what I know after 4 episodes. Spoilers are ahead for the 4 Umineko episodes. However I have not played the games or read any of the original material; everything will be purely speculation from an anime-only-viewer’s perspective. This story is getting quite exciting, and I’m interested in being surprised further as more episodes air.

Again, those who know the entire story are welcome to read more (but censor your comments so I can continue to enjoy the story, ne? -_^). Those who’ve watched through ep4 can also read on, as it’s all that I know as well, and I’m just brainstorming out loud. Haven’t watched ep4? Well go do that first before clicking onward.

Revisiting Zettai Karen Children

While I dropped it last year out of boredom (or maybe because I had been burned out of SynergySP stuff through the first season of Hayate no Gotoku!), Zettai Karen Children is now tons of fun again this summer. With HnG’s second season going down a different (and so much better) path, it’s now been a while since I’ve enjoyed a series with random references, cameos, and just fun humor (and admittedly some cute fanservice).

Shiho is… fearsome.

My favorite’s still Aoi, though.

It’s too bad [Deculture] stopped at episode 14, which is also where I stopped. Eps 15 and 16 were pretty good, and then the story keeps developing, too. I think [Chihiro] is the only available source, and these releases came during what seemed like a controversial time (as far as fansub drama goes) for them. It’s visible in the quality of the subs, but I can’t complain much — I’m glad I get to watch them at all.

~Crisu