From what I can gather, the concert was a great success with over a thousand fans gathered according to Atlus. Famitsu did some coverage themselves and according to them, the female and male ratio of the fans that attended were pretty much balanced. Take a look at their site for more photos.

If only Japan wasn’t so far away, I would have “joined the battle” - 参戦 as they say, probably because all the excitement and noise at these events.

They were selling all sorts of Persona goodies outside which included t-shirts, a CD full of piano versions of the Persona soundtracks (check the official site for the full details). I think the main attraction was a limited edition poster with the illustration below, designed for this particular event. You can see the three MCs from the three Persona titles that’s been released so far.

Just noticed the variation in personalities. The MC from Persona 3 who’s quiet (or should I say “emo”?), the MC from Persona 4 who seems to be a cocky one and Shin who’s the normal nice guy from Persona Trinity Soul.

Looks like they had a big screen at the back showing footage of the game just like what Pentavision’s DJ Max Live Miracle did.

Electronica in Velvet Room played in the hall as the fans gathered but, slowly faded away as Igor appeared on the big screen on stage. The fans cheer according to Ect, as he greeted them with his familiar, “Welcome to the Velvet Room…” followed by “I see you all already possess a ‘ticket’, your contract and key to this room.” Elizabeth also appeared together with her “Onee-sama” older sister Margaret which gave the crowd a laugh as they have a little argument and Igor tries to calm them down.

After the little humorous greeting, the rock version of the Velvet Room theme song The Battle for Everyone’s Soul is played from P3. Shihoko Hirata, the vocalist for P4’s soundtrack then follows on with four songs from P4 which were Pursuing the Truth, Signs of Love, Heartbeat, Heartbreak and Your Affection. Unavoidable Battle was played afterwards.

Shoji Meguro can be seen on stage with a guitar in hand. He laughs, not expecting to find himself speaking at the event before the crowd. It’s been 21 years since he last played the guitar.

Following on after Shihoko was Yumi Kawamura, one of the vocalists for the P3 and PTS songs singing Burn My Dread, When the Moon’s Reaching Out Stars, Want to be Close and Mellow Dream.

Funny thing was, according to Kuran and “P4 Shibuya Airlines“, apparently she was asking the crowd these questions in between her songs.

“This the first time you people are in Akazaka Blitz, right?!”
“Yeah!”

“You wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t for this event, right!”
“Yeah!”

“People who play Persona games usually don’t go out, do they!”
“Yeah!”

Last one was pretty cheeky but the people were laughing at it and I think I would have done the same.

Lotus Juice then made an appearance together with four dancers rapping Reverse the Destiny, Mass Destruction and Deep Breathe, Deep Breathe.

Next up was the Persona Trinity Soul theme songs, Shuuhei Kita with Breakin’ Through and Nana Kitade with Suicide’s Love Story. After another instrumental track, The Almighty, Shihoko re-appeared on stage to signal the end of the event with P4’s ending theme, Never More…

No one left though. After the song ended and no one appeared on stage for a while, the crowds cried out for an encore and Heartful Cry began streaming into the room.

Lotus Juice also re-appears rapping Soul Drive and Burn My Dread -Last Battle-.

Shihoko follows on by singing Heaven then sings together with Kawamura for Found Me, Reach Out to the Truth and Memories of You. Just before the last song Memories of You, Kawamura joked about how it felt like Meguro was trying to kill her when they recorded the song because of the way the song is sung.

And so, the two hour event came to a close. The good news is that it appears Atlus is indeed planning to release the whole live concert on DVD sometime.

Here’s a photo of the singers and staff that I decided to “borrow” from Shihoko’s blog. Lotus Juice looks giant here compared to his shot with Taku Iwasaki back on the PTS blog. From left to right on the first row there’s Shuuhei Kita, Shihoko Hirata and Lotus Juice. The rest are the dancers that were there. DJ Waka at the bottom-right.

You can view the full size photo at her blog including one of Yumi Kawamura.

勝手に転載してすみません！外して欲しければご連絡してね。
すぐ外します。

To finish up, here was the list of tracks that were performed at the concert.

Suzaku continues to stand inside the crater before he notices Nina had arrived too. He walks past her, congratulating her on her success. The FLEIJA really was a powerful bomb and it had killed millions. Just what Britannia needed to reach ultimate victory.

Meanwhile, Lelouch was standing before Rollo’s grave. He thought over his father’s actions and concluded that he will find him at Kamine Island. He was right because that was exactly where his father was planning to link all the Geass ruins together using the Ragnarok Connection to restore the Akasha Lelouch had damaged earlier.

Anya feels something tapping into her mind again but this time, it manages to take over completely. She flies to the Ikaruga and lands there to find a frightened C.C. She approaches her and are transported into the World of C. She walks pass C.C. before turning round to greet her. Seeing that she was not recognised, she reveals herself as Marriane. C.C. had sealed herself away all this time but quite know why she did it herself. Marianne laughs and invites C.C. back to the real world so that they can help her find out why. She’s thankful for the Geass that C.C. gave her even though she had violated their contract.

At another part of the Ikaruga, Viletta was having trouble deciding to return to the Britannian forces or not while Diethard, suggested they announce Zero’s death to the world. They were not going to reveal the Geass power because people may end up thinking they’ve gone crazy. And so, the news report that he was wounded during battle but passed away during treatment aboard the Ikaruga.

Returning aboard the Avalon, Suzaku enters the break room and tries to borrow the new Lancelot Albion from Lloyd but he was willing to. Suzaku tries to convince him but is interrupted when Schneizel and Cornelia enter. The mood tenses as Cornelia asks what happened to Guilford. At first, Schneizel and Kanon tries to tell her that Guilford was the one who fired the FLEIJA but, Suzaku steps into say it was his responsibility and didn’t want it being used to cover up what Guildford had done. Suzaku claims he wanted to do it to become the Knight of One.

Lloyd laughs, saying only the Emperor himself could grant such a promotion but their surprise, Schneizel says he will take the Emperor’s place. The Emperor was considered unfit for the throne because of his involvement with the Geass research and frequent absence. He simply didn’t care about the world enough to stay Emperor. Hearing that, Suzaku decides to offer his service to assassinate the current Emperor so that he may atone for what he has done to the people.

Suzaku had now reached the Emperor on Kamine Island while Weinberg was being held because he wasn’t comfortable about Schneizel’s idea. Suzaku had no problems eliminating the Emperor’s guards and thanks him for giving his promotion. However, he was now here to assassinate him because of two crimes, namely not taking his position to rule and staining his hands in the research of Geass.

He slashes out at him but ends up facing the Knight of One. Suzaku was no match for him. The “Live on!” Geass that Lelouch had placed upon him was telling him to run but he struggled to fight on. Just as the Waldstein was about to finish Suzaku off, an explosion occurs nearby and out of the smoke appears Lelouch.

The Emperor’s Royal Guards were caught up in the friendly fire Lelouch had arranged using his Geass power. Waldstein is forced to go pilot his Galahad to help control the situation while leaving Monica, the Knight of Twelve in charge of the Great Britannia ship. Marianne was on the way and ends up fighting Waldstein, pretending to think that he had joined the coup d’etat. After getting the Mordred damaged, Marianne manages to convince Waldstein to leave the area claiming that her aerial capabilities were damaged and thus, will have to cover the land. C.C. was with her inside the cockpit but they were hesitating whether they should help Lelouch or not.

Lelouch soon makes his way into the Akasha. He greets his father, thanking him for sealing his own fate. Charles laugh knowing that he was completely immortal but, his expression changes as he feels a number of explosions. They were both sealed inside the Akasha.

Next episode, “Ragnarok Connection”

Thoughts

Hmmm, so C.C. only lost her memories because she sealed herself away… Thought it was Charle’s doing. And Marianne seems so much more playful than she looks. Don’t judge a book by its cover, eh?

Things are looking good for the series although it should be now that we’re nearing the end of season two. I wonder if there will be a third season after this.

And this time, they gave out first volume Blu-ray and DVD copies of the show.

Entitled “Prinny ~ Can I Really Be the Hero Too? ~” (Prinny ~Ore ga Shujinkou de ii’su ka?~), Etna is mad that her precious sweets have been stolen and now it’s up to her Prinnies to get them back before the day ends. If not, they are in for some serious punishment worse than death!

Taking control of one Prinny at a time, players must fight their way through the stages in the game with 1000 lives to spare. There are catches of course.

The Prinnies explode the instant they get hit by the enemy!

Also by beating each stage (a total of ten), time will pass in the Demon World, affecting the difficulty of each stage such as the little gimmicks that appear will change. Naturally the enemies of the underworld won’t be at their full potential during the morning and daytime when the sun is out, getting stronger as night closes in. You’ll also find the dialogue with the bosses change depending on the time.

New maps and bosses will also be available for download.

Available on November 20th, the obligatory pre-order gift will be soundtrack CD with a selection of the game’s BGM, composed by the Disgea’s series music composer, Tenpei Satou.

A playable demo will also be available on the Playstation Store towards the end of this month on September 29th. Check out Game Watch for a whole bunch of screenshots!

The only catch is this can only be done within the Mirage Tower, a dungeon that is also available in the PC version during special events. Using characters that you’ve levelled in single player mode, players can make their way up through the 50 floor randomly generated dungeon fulfilling the various conditions laid out before them.

Those who manage to get hold of the first press edition can also get their hands on the following:

• “World of Ragnarok Online” Premium Fanbook.
• 30 day trial on the PC MMORPG.
• Tickets to unlock two special items on the DS and online.

I played the beta version of the PC game back when I was still in high school and when it was free. Well… It’s still free now I think if you play the version set up with private servers. Cute game but got very boring, grinding with no story which is kind of like all Korean MMORPGs I’ve played so far…

Ragnarok Online DS is due in Japan on December 18th.

“Hatsune Miku Project Diva” will be a music rhythm game featuring Miku in her full form instead of her Nendoroid self and will, of course, use her Vocaloid voice.

While tapping away at the four buttons (× ○ △ □) in time to her songs, players will be able to see a close-up shot of Miku making various expressions by fulfilling the right conditions. And if your timing is really good, you’ll even unlock a challenge where Miku dances away.

Besides tapping buttons in time to her songs, players will be able to enjoy various short stories and go collecting parts to allow them to decorate Miku’s room. Miku’s behaviour will change depending on what her room looks like.

Game is over 40% complete and will be coming sometime next year from Sega.

Click for the full view.

Going “Moe” yet, guys? Don’t go buying Under the Knife 2 now because remember it’s fanservice. There is no summer beach scene in it. Atlus… It can’t be selling that badly in the US.

Anyway, one of the questions they happen to ask is if the series should go multi-platform. I don’t see how the games will be fun or even work without the Wiimote or touch screen when the action can be so furiously fast and difficult sometimes.

Now when are we Europeans going to get New Blood, Atlus? It’s nearly been a year since it’s been released in the US. Should be about time now. There’s a serious draught on the Wii here just now!

According to Famitsu, it appears as part of a future firmware update, you will now be able to play ad-hoc games over the internet with other players - as long as you have a PS3!

Not all games will be supported though apparently but the latest title in the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G will be supported. Not only that, players will also be able to do text or voice chat over the PS3 while playing.

All models of the PSP will support this update so don’t worry if you have a PSP-1000, the PSP Slim or just plan to buy the new PSP-3000. Do note that the 20GB version of the PS3 won’t work because it doesn’t contain a built-in Wi-Fi.

Think I’ll just stick to the Xlink Kai method for now.

We’re going for a wander on our date!
No- No- No way! Tears??

Just as Sora and her friends were about to head home from Shimokitazawa Station, Asagi gets a call. It was from Kuroda and he wanted to speak to her about something.

Arriving at Nakano Station that evening at around seven o’clock, Asagi wonders why Kuroda invited her out. He smiles saying that he wanted to know how she would react by bringing her to Nakano Broadway, a place she’s never been to before. They enter Nakano Sun Mall and make their way up as Kuroda explains it was a nice place for both the old and young. Asagi was surprised he was an Akiba guy.

Kuroda ignores the remark and explains the place was built in 1966. The first four floors are filled with stores while there are plenty of high class apartments between the fifth and tenth floor. Together, they spend some time wandering around. Asagi spots some figures based on Akatsuka Fujio’s Manga.

Soon they arrive at an area where a lot of the shops had closed. As Asagi leans back on one of the shutters, saying she thought it was fun place, Kuroda begins to look serious. He asks if Asagi is satisfied with the training they were going through. He didn’t. It was all very small magic that was so easy to perform and most of all, he had to follow the client’s desire and not get frustrated at them even though they knew nothing about magic. He wanted something on a much bigger scale. However, Asagi was getting fed up of listening to his complaints already.

Feeling that Asagi didn’t understand him, he walks out on her. Asagi chases after him and stops him, demanding to know if that was all he had to say to her. She then tells him that no matter how small or big the magic they had to cast was, magic was magic. And who did he think he was, looking down at the clients like that? It was a complete waste of time. She didn’t want to listen to his pitiful complaints. Kuroda was annoyed wondering if she ever considered other people’s feelings. Asagi is taken aback saying that she treated her own feelings dearly and respected others too. She walks off just as Kuroda tries to speak to her about his troubles.

Later that night, Gouta receives an e-mail from Kuroda. He was planning to quit his training. Seiichirou and the others wondered what was wrong. They didn’t know none of the requests have been going well for him so far. A man had wanted him to return his watch to normal but had never told Kuroda about his name that was etched on in. In the end, he restored it without the client’s name and was forced to apologise.

The next day as Gouta and Sora made their way to the station to go to school, Sora wonders why Kuroda was quiting when he had always seemed so confident. Gouta replies by asking if she ever thought about returning home. She hesitates to answer. Gouta then continues that the responsibility was heavy on them when trying to fulfil a client’s request. That’s why he was sure that all the trainees must get troubled now and then just like Kuroda now. On the other hand, it was great when the clients show their gratefulness. Sora doesn’t disagree and suddenly thinks out loud that Gouta had matured.

At break time, Sora and her friends gather together to discuss Kuroda’s situation. He had tried to run off home straight after class but ended up being caught. Yamabuki was surprised to hear about Kuroda’s decision too because he seemed to perform magic so easily. Asagi interrupts saying that people who have too much self-esteem like Kuroda usually find it much more difficult to face problems than the average person. Apart from her of course. Gouta decides he won’t let him run away just because he’s come across a little problem and Yamabuki suggests they go visit him. Asagi wasn’t willing to go because she thought it would be a waste of time.

Unfortunately, Sora ends up with a very bad fever that evening and had to stay home. It must have been all the stress she had been under. Gouta wonders why she never told him and suddenly felt like they were strangers. Fuune sits next to him in the garden and explains girls can have a lot on their minds sometimes. Gouta blushes and changes the subject, asking about the goldfish. Fuune wishes Saori’s daughter would come by to visit sometime but she doesn’t. Both their personalities were very similar. They then move onto talking about Kuroda and Fuune suggests he doesn’t push him too hard. Life was like a marathon race after all. Just before Gouta leaves, Saori also gives him some advice. All he has to do is show his support by going to visit him.

On his way to the station, Yasuko stops him wondering where Sora was. Gouta lets her know she caught the fever and decides to stop and listen to her play for a moment, a new song named “Hakanai Mono”. Soon, he arrives at Nanako Station. Yamabuki was surprised he was alone but secretly blushes realising she was alone with Gouta now.

Together, they reach Kuroda’s home. He was in his unlit room, struggling to type an e-mail to his father to let him know he was giving up. He hears a knock and thinking it was his instructor, he tells her to go away because he wanted some time alone. He is surprised to find it was Gouta. Without entering his room, Gouta explains that Kuroda’s still got a long life ahead of him. Even though he maybe running into problems now, he can surely pick himself up again. Yamabuki on the other hand had a different opinion but Gouta quitens her down.

To their surprise, Asagi comes stomping up the stairs and taking a deep breathe, she cries out addressing him by his full name Kouji Kuroda, warning that he should get out of the room and face her right now or she will break the lock with magic and go in. She was angry Kuroda was upset over such a little problem when someone like Gouta who couldn’t use magic, was working very hard to learn it. If Gouta was to run away, she would understand. On the other hand, Kuroda isn’t even trying and was already running away which was why she had no sympathy towards him.

Asagi continues telling Kuroda has failed at his magic. Kuroda cries out angrily trying to silence her but then Asagi corrects herself. She tells Kuroda that humans make mistakes and will fail sometimes. Since magic is being used by humans, it’s only natural magic will fail too sometimes. What’s important is what one does after they have made a mistake. If one can accept their mistake then they can move on and make progress. However, if they run away now like Kuroda, they will run away forever. She demands to know if Kuroda’s pride can live with that.

Asagi wasn’t finished. She tells Kuroda that Sora was down with a fever and most likely because she gets over-concerned with others. She goes onto ask where Kuroda’s self-esteem had gone now. Was what she saw the first time just a lie? She couldn’t find anything good about him any more. And with that she storms off while Gouta and Yamabuki follows. As they made their way to the station, Yamabuki giggles saying that she knew Asagi would come. Sitting themselves down, Gouta sends an e-mail to Sora to let her know what happened and hopes Kuroda will change his mind.

Next episode - “Mage”

Be sure to take enough vitamin C, everyone. - Kana

Thoughts

Kuroda doesn’t have a very good instructor does he? Not as much attention and encouragement from her as Seiichirou and Saori gives.

Asagi was great in this episode, storming up to Kuroda and waking him up like that. I think we can guess that he’ll be going back to training.

Nice to see they brought up Akiba and the famous Nakano Broadway too. Seems a popular place to shop outside of the “sacred” Akiba amongst the Otakus from the blogs that I’ve read. Danny Choo (NSFW) did a bit of coverage about the place. All those little shops and narrow paths remind of the little shops I always visit in Hong Kong.

Yasuko’s song this time was “Hakanai Mono”, Short-lived Things.

Ruliweb has just posted up some screenshots and details regarding the new Korean music game which will be available in two versions as part of the “DJ Max Portable Metro Project”, Clazziquai Edition and Black Square. The difference? It appears Pentavision is trying to cater for two different groups of players, the newcomers and those who are familiar with the game already.

Clazziquai Edition will contain a large selection of songs from well-known Korean artists such as (as the name suggests) Clazziquai, BJJ (Hwang Seong-Je) and 015B so that new players will be comfortable with the music right away. You can check out some of the group’s music on Youtube.

Black Square on the other hand, will feature a whole new game mode as well as all the familiar artists from the previous two titles such as Ruby Tuesday, Croove, Makou, ND Lee and PlanetBoom.

Check out some teaser videos on the official site! No gameplay footage yet unfortunately but they do list some of the new features you can expect in English. Wonder if this will be multi-lingual like DJMP2…

Now what about this other music game for the Xbox360? And whatever happened to that shooter S4 League Portable?

Zero had now lost his composition as he sits in his Shinkiro overlooking the giant crater created by the FLEIJA. The casualties were estimated to be over ten or even twenty-five million.

Everyone was in shock. Lelouch tries to order his followers to find Nunnally, not believing that she was dead. However, Toudou knew he was no longer rational and takes command, telling everyone to retreat. Lelouch desperately tries to contact anyone else he could but receives no answer. Instead he is escorted back by Jeremiah and Rollo as a temporary ceasefire is held.

Lelouch is brought back to his quarters still in shock. Rollo tries to cheer him up by saying they will still manage together because he will be there for him. Jeremiah calls asking for Lelouch on the phone but Rollo wanted to let his brother rest. Lelouch looks over as the locket hanging from Rollo’s phone catches his eye. He angrily grabs it from Rollo and stands up demanding why he had the present he bought for Nunnally. He throws it violently to the floor and tells Rollo to get out. Rollo was just a dispensable tool he despised and had tried to kill many times. Rollo will never take Nunnally’s place. Lelouch orders Rollo to get out. He never wanted to see him again.

Meanwhile, Nina couldn’t believe what her bomb managed to do. Lloyd reminds her she must choose to sacrifice her heart for science or, abandon to science to save her heart. He had made that decision long ago. Nina breaks down as she tries to get to grips with the reality that was before her.

Elsewhere, Schneizel manages to board the Ikaruga just as Cornelia was making an escape. It was a good chance to capture him but noticing his ship was equipped with another FLEIYA bomb, he decides not to. He demands to have a meeting with Zero and the Black Knights but of course, Toudou and the others couldn’t contact him. They hold the meeting alone and to their surprise, they find out Zero’s real identity was Schneizel and Cornelia’s younger brother, the former 11th Britannian Prince.

Schneizel continues, telling them Lelouch possesses a power known as Geass that allows him to control people which was how he managed to create all the miracles he has so far. His words are backed up by Ougi who appears with Viletta. They are shown a list of the Geass victims that Lelouch controlled including Eupheumia his very own sister, who they had believed to be responsible for the massacre of the Japanese during the first establishment of the Special Administrated Zone of Japan. Furthermore, they had already warned him about the FLEIYA but he never told the rest of the Black Knights about it.

The Black Knights were losing their faith now, wondering if they’ve been used and were being controlled by Geass too. To them, it explained a lot of things such as why so many influential people suddenly changed sides. Schneizel continues calmly, asking if they were willing to hand over his brother now. Ougi agrees but only on the condition they get Japan back.

As the meeting went underway, Jeremiah was out looking for Nunnally within the crater hoping she was still alive. He spots Suzaku and lands to thank him for saving him before. Meanwhile, Ashford Academy was being used as a refuge shelter. Both Milly and Rivalz were happy to find each other still alive.

Soon, Kallen arrives in Lelouch’s quarters. They were summoning him to one of the storage rooms, number four. She is surprised to find C.C. acting oddly and asking Lelouch to take his clothes off until she learns C.C. had lost her memories. As she and Lelouch travels down in the lift, she starts to worry about him knowing that both Nunnally and C.C. were gone. Her thoughts are interuptted when Lelouch apologises for taking so long to rescue her.

Together, they enter the storage room but find themselves suddenly blinded by bright spot lights. Kallen tries to protect him but was also hesitating with the others now. Was she being used too? Zero pauses and spots Schneizel standing high in a corner. He decides there was no way out now and lies to Kallen that he has been using them all along, her being his greatest pawn of them all. It was all just a game. Just as she walks away slowly in tears, he whispers to her to live on.

Just as the Black Knights were about to execute Lelouch, the Shinkiro appears before him blocking the gunfire. Despite the cruel things he had said to Rollo, he was there to save him. Lelouch tries to stop him because he had no reason to live any more now that Nunnally was dead but, Rollo ignores him as they made their escape. HIs time stopping powers allowed them to escape Anya’s attack and the other Knightmare’s pursuit but, it was taking a heavy toll on his heart and was beginning to show. As he desperately tried to escort his brother to safety while grasping his chest in pain, he thought about the happy times they spent together.

Landing in a forest, Rollo sits at the controls of the Shinkiro. Lelouch asks him why he tried to save him and learns Rollo didn’t believe what he had said about hating and trying to kill him. Lelouch smiles and lets Rollo believe just that as he dies. After burying Rollo, Lelouch realises he had really lost everything now but also found something else that he must still do and that was retribution. He swears he will bring his father Charles with him to hell.

Next episode, “Unfit to be Emperor”

Thoughts

Yay, so Ashford Academy’s fine and both Rivalz and Milly are still alive. Nice to see them reunite but no hug.

What an end for Rollo. Can’t help but feel sorry for the guy but that track was too sweet for him. They should have used something a lot more “manly” sounding. Now Lelouch has really lost everything. Wonder what his plan is now?

The changes just have to happen on a big scale to make it dramatic enough. Show’s starting to get a little more interesting again but also feels like it’s all happening a little too quickly.

Hmmm, “Geass Injured Person List”… So these people are all injured? Not to be picky but, there must be someone on the team that has better English. “Geass Victim List” would be more appropriate I think.

Interesting how they chose the storage room number four, a number which is associated with death in Asia because it has the same pronunciation. Wonder if any of the fansubbers noticed this little bit of detail?

Not a bad prize this time round… The second ending theme song single, “World End”. I think I prefer Flow’s PTS OP “Word of the Voice” though.