The Return!... (for now)
Well this is awkward...Hi!... It's been a while. Almost... *looks at date of last post* holy moly! Just over 4 years!
I'm sure some people have questions on where I've been and what I've been up to and I'll certainly try to get to them. Hopefully by just talking here. This post will be more of a ramble than any solid format (but I will try to keep it cohesive).
(Also, any future memes in this post aren't made by me and I don't remember their sources. They've been on my phone for years)
In the Beginning...
So... I guess first things first, where have I been for 4 years? Well, to start off, I don't ever really "quit" something until I see it to completion. So while I didn't write anything for 4 years, the blog was still in the back of my mind... in a dark closet... bound and gagged... with no food... or toilet... in deep freeze...
Second, I should mention the one thing that made me start to feel less motivated to write blog posts and that is the official cancelling of English print Buddyfight and any official support in North America.
Yeah, I was pretty devastated but in hindsight, I could see it coming. People seemed to be losing interested in Buddyfight primarily due to power creep. I commend Bushiroad on trying something different with the crossover sets but that only seemed to do so well. I didn't hate the idea but I personally didn't have any interest in the anime's they printed.
Once that was official, I just, kinda stopped caring about the game. Like, sure I still collected (and oh boy did I collect) and played casually but without new content, the flame just kinda dies down into an ember. Still there but not that hot or bright.
The Hunt for a New Hobby
At the same time, COVID was in high swing so, what does a guy do locked up during COVID and subsequently the following 4 years? Oh you know... the pretty reasonable thing of learning Japanese and becoming semi-fluent in it.
Why? Well, a few reasons:
1. I wanted to test something about myself and see if I could learn a language and have fun doing it? For context, when I was in high school, I hated learning Spanish. I had no interest, want or need to learn it nor did I care about the culture. I did pass Spanish in high school. Without a problem actually. I had an average my last class at around 90. Once the class was done, I dumped the knowledge.
If I was going to try to learn a language, I wanted it to be one that I had the most interest in. So, being a weeb, and having a distant, bird's eye view interest for Japanese culture, I decided to go with Japanese. Which studies have shown is the second hardest language for a westerner to become fluent in. Funny enough, being a fan of Katana World was NOT a reason for wanting to learn the language.
2. My local friend group and I were talking about planning on going to Japan for a trip "soon"... that was in 2020 and due to Covid, that has been pushed back now to 2025 which seems to be a solid plan right now. So, I have been learning to help our group navigate Japan when we go.
After 4 years (in March 2024), knowing Hiragana, Katakana, roughly 2,400 kanji and more than 10,000 words, I would say it was well worth it and have had legitimate fun and I'm still practicing and studying. I do want to get to know 100 more kanji just to make it an smooth 2,500 but there's other things like speaking, listening and comprehension that could use more attention so I'm still plugging away at Japanese. For me, it's more about the journey to fluency and not the destination. So I guess you can say I'm jouzu at Japanese now (if you get that, you get a high five).
Oh, I also binged my old school childhood game Maplestory for about a year. That was fun and while there's never an end to MMO's, in my eyes, I got to the point that I'm done and happy. Maybe in the distant future, I'll return to check it out again but will the whole current fiasco around Nexon, I'm done with the game for now. I'm not one for drama but Nexon seems to be digging themselves a grave with the game.
I've also had a couple job changes in the past 4 years that kept me busy from thinking about the blog but that's settled right now. I have a good job that I don't plan on changing anytime soon.
Back to the Present
It's currently unknown if Bushiroad will ever print new English cards. I hope they do. I have sent an email asking them to bring back the game. While I'd prefer they start from scratch with a new season and keep the power creep in check, I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be happy if they just continued on as is.
That being said, I'd urge anyone who wants Buddyfight back to send a politely worded email to Bushiroad's support email and give them your feedback on wanting the game to come back.
Looking to the Future
So, now that all that's behind us, where do we go from here? Well, I have a few things I want to complete. Both on the blog and on YouTube:
Blog:
- Finish the Archetype Archive posts. I stopped on Japanese Blades and never finished Oni Assassins, Electrodeity or Bladedancers
- Go back to completed Archtype Archive posts and refine/expand them
- Finish my set reviews. Mainly just Buddy Ragnarok which shouldn't be a huge post
- Do a review of the Katana World promos. There's not that many and there's not to say about most of them but for the sake of completeness, I should do it.
- Think of maybe one or two more posts on Common Rulings and Misconceptions. They're fun to do and they can help others with confusing situations
YouTube:
- Make an individual deck profile for each of my Katana World decks as they stand now. The games complete in English so there's only so many options now to optimize a deck. I also have a few non-Katana World decks I love just as much as Katana World that I want to make a deck profile on as well.
- I might (strong might) make a few YouTube clips about Buddyfight cards and little tid bits of facts but I want to get everything above done first or at least started
So yeah, that about sums up everything. Hope that answers most or all your questions!
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