Queens. A Logic Game that’s on LinkedIn. I get notified to play this game every day to keep my streak. I gave up on playing one game, but I went ahead and got my first 7-day win streak after.
On this puzzle, a crown should be placed without overlaps. Per area, per row, per column. If this is the reason why you’re visiting LinkedIn every day, I will not judge you. More power to you. I hope you solve that puzzle faster, even.
One account I follow nowadays is this page called “Hey DJ” which is related to the D4DJ franchise. There, they don’t just post D4DJ memes and stuff, they also cover other titles such as BanG Dream! and recently Girls Band Cry.
As far as I can recall, that’s where I learned more about one of those moments which led me to today’s post. I got spoilers for BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!, and you’ve been warned.
The moment I saw the clip where ex-CRYCHIC Soyo Nagaski, now with MyGO!!!!!, goes kaput after performing that one specific CRYCHIC song as MyGO!!!!!. Zooming out, that moment happened on Episode 7 of the BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! anime.
My first appreciation with “Why did we play Haruhikage” as a meme was with the Chinese audience singing the song. Who wondered MyGO!!!!! will be an actual hit in China after all.
I was specifically looking for specific clips of cosplayers in China reenacting scenes from that anime, and not just this one from the beloved Hey DJ Facebook page. (I need help.)
From my observation, you’ll know if your BanG Dream! anime have reached a peak levels especially when a song you play triggers a reenactment, like this one below.
I spent way too much time looking for the reactions from watch parties and stage performances, and just as I was about to give up, itshowedup, thank goodness.
They also released a tool where anyone can make posters using some of their assets to promote the movie, and the Twitter tag was full of good art and memes.
Segway: Am I a stranger to Bandori?
No, not really. I know that the idea for the whole BanG Dream! franchise started with THE iDOLM@STER (sauce).
This is just one part of EiEn Subs’ documentary on Aimi, go watch the playlist to understand more about Aimi before Bandori and fill the gaps about her history.
…and before most of you got to know Bandori, I was already playing Konomama, Zutto. (Not knowing that that exact song is the ED theme for Weiss Schwarz Portable) The lady didn’t know the impact she brought to my life.
If there’s any chance that Aimi visits the Philippines, I would heavily love to meet her in person and ask her what she thinks of the song that left a lasting impression in me.
I do not know every single one of you reading this if you knew Aimi during her solo singer days, her iM@S days, as Millaarc Cranstoun or Carla Vargas. In this house, we love and respect leaders past and present. I describe Aimi as a pioneering leader despite all odds.
The whole point of this post was to talk about Bushiroad Expo 2024 Manila held on the weekend of October 12-13 at Ayala Malls Trinoma (Triangle North of Manila).
The Expo featured Bushiroad’s intellectual properties, primarily the games it publishes under its Bushiroad Games brand, trading card games like Shadowverse, Weiss Schwarz, CardfightII Vanguard, figures, its BanG Dream! media mix as well as its Yumenokessho AI singing synthesizer.
A Bushiroad Expo experience won’t be complete without guests: For Manila, Bushiroad got Kris aka DifferentFight and voice actress Rin Tateishi (Chihaya Anon in BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!).
When the guests were first announced, this popped up:
When I looked up what Anon Tokyo is, I get directed to this website which I think was set up as a joke (it must be, that isn’t what I wanted to find out about Anon Tokyo first). I found out what Anon Tokyo is, but I ended up riding along the Anon Manila gag and it was ok.
Kapag hindi ako nakakakita ng cosplayers na pwede kong picturan ay nanghihina ako, so I am thankful to the cosplayers who went to the event, including the Merm4id crew. (Also watch my interview with Ai Negishi, the voice of Dalia Matsuyama at TOYCON 2024)
Rin Tateishi’s segment happened and we are all standing by at the stage area to know what’s the latest. While photography was not allowed, I got my notes ready:
This is Rin Tateishi’s first time in the Philippines. “I’m very happy to visit Manila and meet you guys!”
It’s getting a bit colder in Japan, but when Rincharo arrived in Manila, she was surprised to feel the warm weather.
The audience was hyped watching a clip from MyGO!!!!!
New bands in 2023: Ave Mujica and Mugendai Newtype (Yumemita). (I have to talk about Yumemita on NewsDrop soon, because we overlooked this group who debuted first as VTubers).
Rincharo’s opinion on the It’s MyGO!!!!! anime: It’s emotionally fulfilling. In the anime, the band resolves their conflicts and move forward together.
The character of Chihaya Anon is different from Rincharo, she says. She’s the type of person who gets pulled along, in contrast to Anon who keeps the band together.
More news out of Garupa (BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, the mobile game): 7th year anniversary celebration is set, and now MyGO!!!!!’s songs will be added to the English version of the app. Here are other schedules for the EN gamers:
Starting from the end of October 2024, a 6.5th anniversary campaign will be set, which includes the following campaigns:
Free 10 play a day gacha
Celebration login
Medal gift camp
Item exchange
5-star member guaranteed gacha
Special miracle ticket sales
Star discounts
Premium item set
Social media campaign and more
If not for the poor internet connection, select audience members could have played with Rincharo. “Muzukashii kamo shiranai.” However, she looks forward to do it in the future.
Rincharo said dried mangoes are one of her favorites. Due to regulations, you can’t just carry fruits like Cebu mangoes (y’all forgot the ones from Guimaras, smh) from other countries into Japan.
Audience members were allowed to send gifts to Rincharo, so one of them bought dried mangoes for her.)
The one who cosplayed Anon (named Kaya) suggested Polvoron and Yema as souvenirs.
Capping off Saturday’s talk session, Rincharo always wondered about the fandom in the Philippines, and she’s happy to see everyone appear to support the BanG Dream! game and the anime.
An autograph signing session happened afterwards. Then we got to watch It’s MyGO!!!!! the moment after.
This is how the autograph looked like. Fans queued up as earely as they can, even before the mall opens, to get the opportunity to meet and greet Rincharo. (Not mine.)
By this time, I have only watched two episodes of the MyGO!!!!! anime, and it’s already done as we speak. That gives me more time to watch the full 13-episode series, and I hope I can appreciate it beyond the memes. The Ave Mujica anime will air next year, so I still have time to understand why people watch the Raging Teenage Hormones-induced series.
*Some notes about Day 2: I wasn’t present that day, but seeing a MyGO!!!!! cosplay group is a blessing, more so the moment when Episode 7 was screened and they did what I’d like to see:
I started writing this at 10pm on the date mentioned, and I hope to write a lot of good stories from this Desk Diary before (a) doze off or (b) I forget stuff.
I have no regrets taking more time off the NewsDrop desk (or anything, really, at least for a single day) to meet friends at Cosplay Mania 2024. For once, I asked myself to stop being bothered by the stuff happening on my news feed, meet familiar and new faces, and touch grass. I had several goals in mind:
Produce a highlight video using the classic Move Closer to Your World news theme package in a last-ditch effort to prove to myself that I still got the knack to edit videos (note to self: I still have pending backlogs from June)
Take photos of rare cosplays (90% accomplished, not bad)
Have fun for once (I always go to these events with objectives related to what I do in the media)
This is not meant to be an event review, so I’ll leave the rest of the nitpicking about the event into their feedback form. Andito ako para magsaya, baka matuluyan na yung burnout ko.
I secured a Gold ticket through a good friend, and we meet in good spirits. I also got to introduce him to fellows with similar interests along the way. The rest of the day was me chasing in circles as I move from place to place checking the rarest cosplay I can capture with my phone.
Yung mga tropa kong photographer, nag-adjust na sa katotohanang walang photo area sa CosMania ’24 – ‘pero ‘yung iba naka-carts na, and may nakita pa ako na na-inspire sa iconic na walking light ni big man Erving Go (lodi).
If there are two rare cosplays I’d like to find, it’s Ai Natsumi’s cosplay of VSPO! EN’s Arya Kuroha and Coffeine’s cosplay of NEXAS’ Momoko Nuihara. I did miss a unique duo cosplay of ChroNoiR, but I’m sure they had fun. Also, we got a RARE Rin Penrose cosplay! John VTuber is real!
My good friend Hoshiin finally did the BIBBIDIBA Suisei (complete with the shoe). I also saw a rare Eureka Seven cosplay too! ⬅️
I was also having fun with the straightest male naokomama and friends. This illustrator and the gang kind of gets me when I go nuts, so I feel I’m in a great company.
hololive Indonesia’s Anya Melfissa and Vestia Zeta were scheduled to have a live presentation that afternoon, at yung mga tropa ko sa side ng hololive Fans, they’re winning. Consider this: In a trivia game segment, they were able to force Zeta to meow twice. Fantastic.
Back to the cosplayers, I really look forward to capture rare cosplays, na kapag di ko nagawa nanghihina ako. Ganun. Thankfully I get to mark off my checklist before I get back to getting more recorded footage.
As for stage events, I only went to a few: at the EX Hall, I was listening to ASHA‘s second major solo performance. She really went a long way, and I made the right decision to support her. Kahit tameme na at pagod, I was able to leave positive feedback to her after her performance.
As for Marienyan, she also wants to perform at Cosplay Mania, and I’m happy to know her wish is granted. One more Suinigang, please!
…and now we focus on BRADIO. I’ve heard their hit single Flyers from Death Parade, on top of other songs from their powerful POWER OF LIFE album. In fact, my music history with BRADIO involves most of the songs from that album. I was waiting for them to play Hit Parade, but their set list is so groovy, I wanna do a ballroom dance (I don’t have a partner to dance with).
The last time I had this satisfied feeling was when fhána performed here in 2018, at the height of their success with Maidragon.
It’s been a long time coming – around 9 years – to see BRADIO in person and jam at their hour-long concert set. Sobrang saya. Thank you for coming.
If there’s one thing I learned from being online, it’s the fact that I have overshared my presence. In the past, I told people, “go share your content online, on multiple platforms!,” but nowadays I am but a shell of that.
I would now tell you to be wary of what you share, for several reasons:
You speak your thoughts in public, and all of a sudden there would be people who will stress you out, call you names, etc. Or you’re on the other side calling out the worst people for reasons you find right and/or justified. And then you end up hurting them, with others hurt along the process.
You share your important milestones such as your birthday, and a quick OSINT could reveal how old you are and when you were born. This can be used in social engineering if you’re not careful enough.
You share a lot on your Facebook/Twitter profile with the idea of being helpful or updating your friends on relevant matters. You end up turning your personal social media profile into you own kind of bookmarking service a la Pinterest or Reddit. There’s nothing wrong with that, however, do you really remember to look back into it from time to time? (I don’t, and Facebook has to remind me of the posts I shared from the past).
You’re a fellow tito/tita who shares every moment, to a point you’re sharing what happens with you every hour (to which I ask you to please pick the people you share your status updates with).
If you find yourself in these situations – and calling yourself “chronically online” – you must have been oversharing. I have been doing this, so I decided to take down the stuff which no longer makes me proud.
For example, I’ve done podcasts with several people, and the episodes I had with them end up being taken out of the public eye because they:
Are no longer my friends
Are now frowned upon because of their actions and I’d like to distance myself from them
Are the ones I tried to please but I have to let them go because I just don’t feel it
Something happened that needs no further elaboration
Same goes with my past blog posts which I have taken down either because I am embarrassed with what I written, or it’s no longer relevant to the me today.
If you happen to be in those four categories, and I am no longer communicating with you (or even speaking of kind regards), it’s best to just ignore each others’ presence. I will do my best not to to reopen wounds. Go and be happy.
I see no fear in starting from square one again, it’s something I am used to doing whenever I am no longer satisfied with what I do. That’s why I recycled a reserved Twitter account I own.
Even so, be unique still in what you share to the public, and enjoy what you do. Do not die in that rabbit hole a terribly sad and angry person. Take back your inner peace. Do not tolerate bad actors. Pick your battles. Remember what makes you happy in the first place. Remember what makes you feel alive.
Every year there’s always a case of a streamer (or in this case, a VTuber) getting drugged/spiked at parties around TwitchCons in the US (this you can fact-check in depth), and it’s quite concerning that victim-blaming and harassment happens afterwards. No, rephrase that, it’s deplorable that those who got drugged get torched by some guys online after saying they were drugged.
I have been fortunate enough to not see any of this in the bar events I attended here in Manila so far. The one time I see something crazy at the bar in person was the time where one would barf up after getting intoxicated with alcohol.
Going back to the issue at hand, I read this thread and quickly picked up on a few details.
My statement about being roofied at the 2024 Friday Twitchcon Blerp VIP party – Trigger warning –
To start with, this was mostly a vtuber party full of larger creators who were not wearing their usual facial disguises and coverings meaning we ALL thought it was a safe space to…
Security was present but it’s not adequately doing its role to help the bar-goers
Drink covers were there but not handed out
It was a VIP party
Of course the comments in this thread ask Blerp to take responsibility (it’s too late), that Blerp extends help (it’s too late), and as Blerp confirms, it was the second incident to happen at that party (why).
If by any chance of a silver lining I get invited to a bar party of that kind I, am only sure to get Ginger Ale and ask for a cover. I swore off not to drink any alcohol either, give me soft drinks or water.
However, it is not my responsibility to be paranoid and think all drinks are spiked. I’ve been in the events industry for years and I can spot some faults which are actionable in the future:
Get a Security provider who doesn’t just put bouncers in the area, go ask for a proper risk assessment too (additional charges may apply)
Have the security join you in the ocular inspection, which can be done days before the party happens so everyone is made aware of the scenarios which could happen and take action accordingly
Make it mandatory to cover all drinks (proactive approach), let the baristas have all the drink covers they can use as they prepare the drinks on the spot in front of the partygoers
I cannot just assume and just say that the bar and the host did not made any mandatory safety checks hours before and during the party. That’s carelessness if it’s proven true.
There’s a lot of resources online that tells bar owners, hosts, bar-hoppers etc. what they can do in order to make a party a safe space. Knowing what the angel shot is, the emergency numbers saved in the restrooms, briefing the security personnel and reminding them before each party of the rules and proper decorum, etc.
This video was shared to me, showing HOW EASY IT IS TO SPIKE A DRINK.
What else can we do to prevent another case of spiking, a checklist? Do we need to be paranoid and assume that all drinks are spiked? No, I do not need to be paranoid, we got to do something. Anything.