Blog Archives
Firing it Back Up (Life Update!)
Where do we start? I started this blog about 10 years ago or so and have had varying degrees of motivation. I’ve always said running my YouTube channel was my main side hobby and the blog has often taken backseats when I’m in a YouTube mood or when I was really having to work a lot for my old company.
Well, a couple of things have happened. A. I left my old job. Me, my wife and kids moved 1 state over to be closer to my dad. B. My wife was the one who landed a job when we moved, so I have the honor of being a stay at home dad for now.
Next, and this is sadly unfortunate. My PC didn’t survive the move. I’m thinking the graphic card died (though maybe it just got roughed up from the move). Either way I haven’t been able to resolve the issue yet. That is unfortunate because I wanted to take this time to get better at video editing as well as continue to further my YouTube channel. I also prefer writing on PC, but at least I can still publish my blog via my phone so not all is lost.
Well, I’ve also taken to trying to write bigger projects. I am currently writing what I hope will turn into a comic book. My wife and I will try to run independently as well as writing an all ages fantasy story for my daughter. Those are both ambitious for me, but something I’d like to do.
Some topics I hope to return to the blog are: Manga Monday, Random Anime Review Wednesdays, and Top Five Fridays. I may add TCGs back into the mix. However, leaving my old job has limited my interaction with them lately.
When the blog started, it was all about video games, mangas, and anime. I’ll try to do a post talking more about what I’ve read, watched, and played during my hiatus. I have several blog topics saved from where I wrote YouTube scripts that are easy to turn into blog posts.
I’ve also had a second kid. Something I feel like I haven’t really posted about.
Lastly, if there’s anything you want the blog to focus more on, let me know. Right now I’m into retro games (Xbox, PS2, N64, Gamecube), watching One Piece to try to get current (episode 812), and watching my Switch 2 pre order everyday to make sure it doesnt get canceled.
Lately, I haven’t really been in a writing for the blog mood. As described, I’ve already mentioned the things that currently interest me in writing. However, while I wait to see what I’m doing about my PC, the blog may become my outlet to talk about mangas and video games.
Expect blogs to return starting Monday with some sort of Manga Monday update. Some post may or may not trickle out over the next week.
I’m also trying the keto diet this summer, coupled with walking 10,000 steps a day and planning our family’s 2nd Disney World vacation. So, if you’d like to see me make posts about that, just let me know.
I think that’s everything to cover today. If you happen to read this, give me some ideas. Otherwise, expect Manga Mondays and topics about video games to start pouring out later next week.
Thank you for reading. Have a great day. Subscribe to the DaHubbz YouTube channel to see the content I was making the last few years.
How’s Life Been
A few months back, it became very clear to me I was the best employee at my small, local job. I had a decision to make. Go all in on work and focus on it, try to get a raise, and distance myself from co-workers. Or, keep living a life where YouTube and the blog are just kinda durdling about as well as work. I chose to really hone in on work. What a journey it has been. I ended up getting a $2 raise, thus becoming the highest paid employee there. Mission accomplished. But it was a real grinding task. It compromised a lot of my mental and physical health. That’s because there was stuff going on in the background.
Namely, the company is doing poorly financially. As an employee and not an owner, it’s tough to say how rough. It’s a ma and pa store that never figured out all the financial parts of the business. And the economy is all over the place right now (more on this later). But this has made me go “All this hard work, just to get to here?”. It’s got me questioning a lot.
Next, my Brother-in-Law passed away essentially two months ago. He was battling poor health, but we still didn’t expect it when it finally did happen. Jessica took that week off to recover. When the following Monday came around, she was informed that the company she worked for was going out of business. She was out of a job 2 days later. A business in the same industry swooped up and let Jessica apply for one of their positions. We thought, “Oh, what a blessing.” Well, two months later, and she still has not started. I’ll leave the personal shots out of it, but let’s just say it isn’t Jessica’s fault she hasn’t started working yet.
Losing a family member, losing a source of income, and losing a creative outlet have taken its toll on us. Yet, it has certainly given me prospective.
For those of you who don’t know. I work 12-9pm and part of my job is actually live streaming online sales. I go live and interact with our audience for 3 hours (6pm-9pm), making sells to our viewers. Now, with a daughter who is a year and half old, it was getting hard to get home around 10pm and say “Yeah, I want to go live for a few more hours” when I’d rather see my family. These are more factors that have led me to not being active on here.
I want to come back. I want to hone in on my skills outside of work, such as editing and writing. So, I want to start incorporating these hobbies back into my life in a healthy way. Where I don’t get burned out or feel like it is dragging me away from my family.
So just know I’m working on several blog post such as: a new Manga Monday, The Games I’ve Played Recently, Ranking My Favorite Alolan forms (that’ll probably become a series of sorts), and Ranking the next Super Mario 64 course.
So those are what I have in mind. Please follow the blog and stay tuned for more content!
Thank you for reading! Have a great day!
Idea for upcoming reviews!
My latest semester of college is over in a week and a half. That means hopefully some more free time. Now’s the perfect time to recommend a Manga or anime. Remember, as far as animes go I mostly just watch on Crunchyroll, so that’s your best bet of getting me to watch it. Its been entirely too long since I’ve done a review on here. Hopefully I can change that within the next two weeks.
As always, thanks for reading and have a great day!
Pokemon Sun and Moon Latest Update!
Pokemon hit us with it’s latest video. If you have not seen it yet, check it here Pokemon Sun and Moon Video.
Let me just say, I have loved everything Gamefreak is doing with this installment. Some Pokemons are still hit or miss but the ideas and creativeness they are trying with mechanics and style is welcomed.
Here’s some of the takeaways.
#1 Pokemons getting fresh make overs:
Have you been playing 20 years of Pokemon? Well Gamefreak is giving some new life into old pokemons, and I like it, personally. Vulpix and Ninetails are getting ice forms as well as Sandshrew and Sandslash. They retain their design but get new colors and typing.
Exeggutor has an Alola form as well. I’m more or less on the fence but I am sure it will work out.
#2 Region based forms are back:
Much like Shellos in Diamond and Vivillion in X and Y, where you catch a pokemon matters. Shellos would be green or pink depending on where you caught it. Vivillion would have different designs depending on where you caught them. Oricorio will have four different forms depending on which island you catch them on. The four forms are the Baile form (Fire/Flying), the Pom Pom form (Electric/ Flying), Pa’u form (Psychic/Flying) Sensu form (Ghost/Flying).
This is a pretty sweet addition if it works how I think it will, because it will be four Pokemon for the price of one. I don’t know about you, but I am always down for more Pokemon!
Their ability is dancer which I did not realize how powerful it can be the first time I watched it.
Here’s a list of all “Dance Moves”
Quiver Dance- Raise Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed by one stage(Most have special based typing so this my be the most useful to steal)
Dragon Dance- Raise Speed and Attack by a stage
Rain Dance- Summons rain for 5 turns (Seems redundant)
Swords Dance- Raise Attack by two stages (Depends on stats and move pool, but does not seem as good.)
Teeter Dance- Confuses all other active Pokemons (Seems like a funny interaction)
Lunar Dance- KO yourself, heal the next Pokemon up (This could be used against you, be careful)
The rest of the dance moves are all attacking moves, we will have to wait to see how this interaction works out.
It’s an awesome ability that could stop a dragon setting up dragon dance, but it does not stop there. Assuming it works how I think it will, it becomes amazing in double battles. Have Pokemon A use Quiver Dance and your Oricorio will copy it. However, I do not know if this counts as your move. If it does, it becomes worse then I think it is. If it does not count as your turn, it can get pretty broken in double battle.
I wish the wording was “Copy the effects of dance moves”. Also I could see Bellossom getting this ability.
Minior has shields down, which seems to act like a substitute ability (much like disguise), and it has four different cores. Not much has been shown yet.
#3 Island Trials
We now have an Island Trial on the four islands, beating them will unlock the leader of each island. This is how you will gain access to new islands. I’m curious to learn more about this aspect.
#4 Z attacks are a thing:
They look broken. Just look at this
Here’s a couple things that stand our about Z attacks.
Look at the levels. It shows Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio, and Pikachu. All baby forms. So how early do you get access to this broken mechanic?
Also, as the video shows, the trainer is the one doing the dance, so it is possible that any Pokemon can use its corresponding type attack.
With new forms, z moves, and tons of variety, this could shake up competitive play as well as how we play Pokemon in general.
The future is as bright as the Alola regions, and I for one, am super excited for what it hold.
Three Take Aways from the Latest Pokemons!
I am not reviewing each Pokemon this week because, well, they were mostly bland. Here’s the three big take away though.
#1 Mudsdale looks legit.
Own Tempo can make him a sweeper using moves like thrash or even in a double battle swaggering it. Stamina is a new ability that allows him to raise his defense. I can easily see this guy being a mixed sweeper, for sure.
#2 Substitute is now an ability.
Mimikyu is a terrifying little guy I almost brushed off just by looking at it (This is literally a Pikachu clone). However, he is actually kind of cool. He is a ghost/fairy who made a Pikachu disguise most likely out of bed sheets. Disguise is an ability that nullifies the first hit it takes once per battle. Pretty sweet. People have already mentioned the idea or fear of using substitute on the first move to safely set up. Do not worry. I doubt they would slap this ability on anything relevant.
#3 This generation might just be the scariest one yet.
Just when you thought Mimikyu was going to be the scariest thing on this blog.
The bear and fist in question do not seem to go together, but hey, that’s why we play this wacky game. Take a second to realize how deadly this guy might actually end up being. Plus GameFreak is rolling in the bear puns. Bewear and Beartic. I love it.
Manaphy Givaway! X&Y ORAS
So I put this video up on my youtube channel over a week ago and got… well, no responses. So I’m turning to my amazing readers on here.
Yeap I have a Manaphy that I am giving away and all you literally have to do is follow and comment (oh, the struggle we put on our followers). And I guess you also have to own a copy of the game. There will be 4 winners
2nd-4th will receive:
a Phione and a Kanto starter of your choose (that’s Squirtle, Bulbasaur, or Charmander)
1st Place will receive:
A Manaphy and all three Kanto starters!
Seriously, all you have to do is follow the blog and comment. If you know anyone who also plays X&Y or ORAS, then please pass them a link to this pages so they can enter as well.
If this goes well, I might just giveaway a Shamin as well.
As always, thanks for reading!
My Thoughts: Brand New Pokemons!
Oh boy, I’m back!
New Pokemons got spoiled today and hey, were all Pokemon nerds one way or the other so lets jump into this!
Anytime we get treated to new Pokemons, it’s a good day… except, when it’s not. Okay, I’m probably being over critical here (after all Game Freak can just kill it off whenever they feel like it). It does feel like GF is just throwing together weird “stuff” and slapping Pokemon on it. If you havent seen them yet, I will be providing pictures of each as well as my thoughts.
Okay, first up! Togedemaru: Electric/Steel
(I do not own any copyrights to pictures displayed. All credit goes to their owners)
So, I mean cute factor is there I suppose, and I want to lean on the side of liking him, but this type of pokemon seems overplayed. Anyway, not too much to say. Time will tell I suppose. Bonus Points for being part steel
Score: 5 out of 10
Next, Cutiefly: Bug/Fairy
Where do I start. I actually do not mind the design of this pokemon. Nice, early bugish pokemon to get the team going. But this name man. Cutiepie? I do not know if it’s suppose to be a play on words with the type of bug/insect its suppose to be or just cashing in on the cute factor, but I am so blah on the name.
Design score: 5 out of 10
Name Score: 1 out of 10
Overall score: 4 out of 10
Drampa: Normal/Dragon
At first glance, this one was my favorite. Drampa is kind of Dopey and laxed looking, which kind of puts me on the fence. Another Pokemon I really want to like. He is Normal/Dragon and if he wants to be memorable, he will have to be anything but normal. I wanted something fierce, but if he pans out well I will accept him. This does give him poor typing for steels, but oh well.
Drampa Hype: 8 out of 10
Overall Score: 7.5 out of 10
Bruxish: Water/Psychic
Another meh looking Pokemon that has potential at least. Water and Psychic make for some of my favorite types and Dazzle looks exciting. Goodbye sucker punch and quick attack. It’s new move looks interesting as well.
Score: 7 out of 10
Charjabug: Bug/Electric
Well, we were on a roll and now… Char-Ja-Bug (I assume this is how it’s pronounced). Man, a battery Pokemon actually sounds pretty spot on with this tech world we live in, but somehow out of place if the world is suppose to be a tropical getaway. Design wise, just mediocre. Concept is actually cool. Good news to him, he evolves into an extremely cool Pokemon!
Score: 3 out 10
Vikavolt: Bug/Electric
Okay, so Charjabug kind of cramped our style, but he’s back as this nice hulking dude. Pretty excited about this guy. Imma bug kind of guy and this guy is getting me kinda pumped despite a fairly average to slightly above average pool of monsters. Really hoping he pans out into something playable and we finally get a great new bug pokemon.
Bug Hype: Is Real.
Overall score: 8 out of 10
Lastly, Tapu Koko Electric/Fairy
I’m saving prehaps the most intriguing for last. In a day where they showcased so many electric and/or fairy Pokemons (only two of the pokemons did not have some ties to electric or Fairy), this guy may be the best. Out of the seven, Drampa is my pick to actually be useful, while Vikavolt is the one I’m hoping they dont screw up. But Tapu Koko looks to be the one they just straight up nailed. Seriously, I love everything about this guy except his typing. Sure he joins Dedenne as the only other electric fairy but I was rooting for fire. Fire/Bug, Fire/Electric or Fire/Fairy all look sweet in this spot, but alas, oh well. No big deal. I think he will be the best of these 7.
Score: 9 out of 10.
So there you have. Four Pokemons scoring at least a 7. Is this a good sign, or just inflated by lack of real competition? We shall see.
Please, leave a comment or like if you enjoy this style of blogs! I want to do these for each round of spoilers. The hype is real.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Life Update: New category, Youtube, and time away.
I fell in love with blogging almost a year ago. It was place to talk about anything: Mangas, School, games, you name it.
So why is it I havent made a post in nearly a month?
Multiple reasons.
- I’ve been sick and and unmotivated.
I had this cold back in February and it was not that bad. It keep me bed for long periods of time, because more than I was sick, I was just always tired. I don’t sleep right to begin with but I was always woke up before 11am. I can’t really say I have since I got this cold. Which makes being productive hard when I sleep for half the day.
2. School work out of nowhere.
If you follow my blog any you know in January I was doing a daily blog(If you didnt check it out than I highly recommend it) and was taking five classes and trying to start working. I was completely fine than. However, somewhere along the line my classes up’d the work out of nowhere and so many test, and written assignments, and discussions were due. I had to drop 2 classes just to even be able to balance all the things I was doing. It sucked.
3. Started a Youtube Channel
I’ve stated before Youtube was my first love. I started my first channel back in ’09 and slowly fell out of it. I went out and bought my first mic and editing software and fired up the dream once more. I started blogging back last summer. This Youtube channel has been in the works since the summer of 13. While the blog was a spur-of-the-moment thing and the youtube channel has been very calculated, I wanted to give equal attention. Sadly, I have not. The blog actually takes a lot of time and money(in some instances). Somewhere along the lines my time shrunk. This also goes hand in hand with motivation. Sometimes recording a youtube video is as easy as hitting record, playing the game, and just talking along with it. The blog, however, I either have to watch an entire anime, read a volume, or what have you, and than plan it out.
4. Decreasing Quality
Maybe the biggest reason. Watching anime, reading manga, playing the games, is not the the hard part. It’s the planning the post. I like to be insightful, unbiased, and salt in my own brand of off beat humor. I begun waiting to the last moment and just throwing together material and it got to the point of asking myself “Would I actually read this myself”. This has slowed me down greatly. Everything stems from being unmotivated. I get basically no hours at my job, my apartment is up for inspection later this month, I’m in this weird transition period between possibly transferring colleges and moving nearly 6 hours away, and everything kind of has me in a funk. One of the few things making me happy is making videos and my voice has been gone for the better half of a month so I cant even do that.
*Next topic*
As the title suggest, I am going to talk about youtube.
I am currently doing a Pokmeon Golden Age Let’s Play. I think it is going to finish up with 8 or 9 videos. I also do unboxings every Saturday. I’ve already opened two mew collection boxes and will be opening the Celebi box sometime this week! I also will be opening the dual box for Magic the Gathering and the latest structure deck of Yugioh. My top fives will eventually migrate over to the channel as well. I’m working on putting together a let’s play of Pokemon Gray Topaz and Zelda: Minish Cap. I’m debating on doing Dragon Ball Z Legacy of Goku 2 and Super Mario 64. Anime and Manga reviews may or may not move over to the channel(They may stay a blog exclusive)
Go Subscribe to Dahubbz on Youtube.
*Last Topic*
A new category. Crunchyroll has a random feature that will assign you a random episode to watch. I want to integrate this into the blog. I will watch episode one of a random anime that crunchyroll spits out at me and give my opinions on it and call this “Random Wednesday”. It’s just a test run but I’ll try it out either this Wednesday or the next so be on the look out!
Update- Daily Blog Challenge, Finally an announcement
So if you follow this blog in any capacity, you know I do daily posts. You also probably know I havent been doing it regularly. I’ve talked about this once, and I’m still having trouble with it.
A. I’ve been sick all this week. It’s just a running nose, sore throat, and cough. With the occasional headache. I do not take medicine for anything that wont kill me, so I’m naturally fighting it with water and sleep. Which takes time.
Also, I had a three page paper due and a test. Albeit, these are not hard, but the study and prep time take time away from the blog.
I’m happy to say I shuld get a top five out today for favorite Majora’s Mask mask. So if that interest you, stay tune!
I’ve talked about it before, but I’ll mention it again because it is relevant. I started this blog with the hopes of creating a safe and healthy environment for lovers of anime/manga/video game/etc to come together, to meet and discuss interests. I’m proud to say I took the next step today. I made a forum.
Here we have topics like “Suggest a manga to everyone” or “What anime are you currently watching” I’m open to suggestions and I really want to turn this into a hangout spot for everyone.
When I was Freshman in High School, I took part in a forum that changed my life. It was a pokemon forum and I made awesome friends. Unfortunately, those people(Myself included) all took a break from it and we failed to stay in touch. But that truly made my summer incredible. I was an introvert and did not have real good friends in school yet(that changed my junior year). But this was a big stepping stone into helping me grow out of some of those problems. I would love to give back to a community, the way a community gave to me.
Please do not hesitate to check it out, make suggestions, and tell your friends. Of course it is small now, but we can make it grow!
Here’s a link http://dahubbz.proboards.com/
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Check back later today for a top five, and next week for more big announcement
Daily Post: February 15th
Hey guys! Leave it to me to get sick on the day my three page paper is due. Ugh!
I’ll be back tomorrow, given it does not get worse.
Oh, well.
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Check back tomorrow where I might be better and back to writing! haha
Da_Hubbz 