Lucky?

I finally decided to sign up for Passion Card sometime last week. Part of the pulling factor is the SG50 special design although the main pulling factor is the free Skechers bag worth $59. My current Converse bag was near its end with the velcro no longer sticky and the broken zipper. I brought the redemption slip to work today but I felt lazy to go to redeem. But on the bus, I realised that my current bag was torn and had a hole. Win liao lo... Die die must change the bag already.

The free bag is available in 3 colours: blue, green, and orange. From the start I have been thinking of getting blue. As much as green is my favourite colour, I have too many green things so a variation will be good. Hmm... I guess I am destined with green after all. Blue is no longer available. Haha... Obviously I did not choose orange. At the very least, I am happy to be able to get the bag. Since the day I registered, I was always worried about the 'while stocks last' terms and condition.

Upon reaching home, I received 2 surprise letters. The first is about me winning a Sodastream Genesis Titan soda maker (worth $155) from my credit card. Waaaa.... The second one is about me winning a $50 Robinsons shopping voucher from my insurance. Wooohooo ^^ I have never felt this lucky.

As a homeless person, I am not too excited in getting a household appliance as I have nowhere to put. In addition, my stomach is weak so soda drinks are not something that I like. But since my family is visiting me in 2 weeks time, I guess I can redeem the gift and ask them to bring them home. I could not remember what this promotion was all about. After searching for it, instead of being lucky, I think it is ironic that this soda maker is the result of my surgery. The first 1700 persons spending $10000 - $15999 during the promotion period will definitely get this soda maker. If only my insurance did not reverse the hospital bill (and just did the refund via cheque), my total spending would exceed $15999 and I would get the next tier gift: a digital camera instead! Damn it! That one then I want..

I keep telling myself not to be such an ungrateful jerk. So I decide to be happy and thankful about this instead. Similarly with the $50 voucher. I don't usually shop so I don't know how I can make use of this. I hope I can find someone willing to exchange it with cash. Hehe... This $50 is even more mysterious. The letter mentioned about an insurance plan that I purchased but I did not purchase any insurance plan in the past 6 months leh...

CNY is over and life is back to its monotonous cycle of rinse and repeat. I was hoping to use the holiday period to catch up with my studies but obviously that did happen. Other than blogging about my toys, I continued with watching Natsume Yuujinchou and currently I am at season 2. I also decided to watch the 3 concert DVDs that I had in my laptop since 2012. Ooops. Haha...

The first one is Sexy Zone Arena Concert 2012 which I find to be very boring. Haha... Well can't really blame them because it was not long after their debut so they had limited song choices. The second one is Sexy Zone Japan Tour 2013 which is slightly better because by that time they had released their first album and thus they had more songs. I follow Sexy Zone since their debut but as much as I want to like them, ultimately they are just not my cup of tea. From their concert interaction, I think they are trying too hard to be "cool and sexy" which is not too appropriate considering their age. In the attempt to be cool and sexy, they end up being too generic and similar with other Johnny's groups. I don't know why but they really remind me of KATTUN lately, in terms of music and personality. It does not help that none of the members really have a unique/recognisable voice.

The third concert DVD that I watched is Hey! Say! JUMP - JUMP World 2012. Perhaps I am biased but I really enjoyed watching it. It is my first time watching HSJ concert and it reinforces my liking towards them. They strike a good balance between "cute genki" songs and "cool dance" songs. Most of their songs have the unique JUMP feel while those few that don't have are usually those I don't really like. Lol. And it definitely helps that HSJ has so many members with strong and unique vocal.

After Come On A My House, I don't really like subsequent HSJ singles. I did not realise that their latest single is actually double A-side with 2 songs: Weekender and Asu e no YELL. Not long after the release, I was only aware of Weekender which is not my cup of tea. Yesterday I tried to listen to Asu e no YELL and wow, this is the typical JUMPy song that I like. I don't like PV which only involves dancing in the studio but Asu e no YELL is an exeption as it seems to be a fun video. The feel that I get is that they are dancing for fun, and not dancing seriously to impress others and to act cool.  And I guess blond or bleached hair does not suit Asians that well. Yuto and Ryosuke look ridiculous with their new hair colors.

Just enjoy the PV

WDCC Aladdin: A Whole New World

WDCC Aladdin A Whole New World was released in 2002 as Gold Circle Dealer Exclusive (which means that it was only available from retailers with Gold Circle Dealer status) to commemorate 10th Anniversary of Disney's Aladdin. As a numbered limited edition, it is kinda expected that the edition size is 1992 which is the year of Disney's Aladdin release. The original retail price is USD 395 which makes it one of the more expensive WDCC figure. As a 2002 release, it bears Sombrero mark.

The figurine comes in a box measuring 37.5cm (L) x 37.5cm (W) x 37.5 cm (H). The figurine itself stands 23.2cm tall and its largest dimension (which is the carpet) is about 23.5cm x 16cm. That is considered a big piece. In addition, semi precious stones are used for Aladdin and Jasmine's headband decoration and the flower that Jasmine is holding is made of metal. This is rather unique as usual WDCC figurines are just made of porcelain. Do these gimmicks justify the high price tag? Hmm.. I honestly don't think so.

The box, the figurine, and the certificate of authenticity

The box is not exactly in mint condition

The price tag condition is driving me mad!

Ample room for the packaging to minimise possible damage

I can show you the world...

The texture of carpet, Jasmine's hair, Aladdin's cape and feather on the headgear  give a very realistic feel of wind blowing against them as they fly

I love the cape. It makes Aladdin look like a super hero.

Aladdin's face looks a bit too thin here.. I like the golden linings on his attire but the semi precious stone on his hat is disappointing

Pretty Jasmine.. nice golden earrings but another disappointing semi precious stone on her bandanna

The voluminous hair

A bit of imperfection on the stem of the flower and Jasmine's fingers

I am glad that they do not neglect the Magic Carpet.

I am not a fan of the finger-shaped tassels

Great details for Magic Carpet too

The bottom side of the carpet is also painted in full! Splendid

Shading creates great effect for the cloud but I feel that lighter blue will be better

Can you see the Sombrero mark?

Should be able to see now?

A card for Disney's membership, the certificate of authenticity, and an advertisement booklet

The limited edition number is also written in the CoA

The advertisement booklet to tempt you to buy other WDCC pieces

After looking at the details, I think USD 395 is justified. This is truly a masterpiece with the amount of details and craftmanship put into every aspect of the figurine: Aladdin, Jasmine, Magic Carpet, and the cloud base. I am glad that Aladdin and Jasmine have a dark skin colour here which is true to the cartoon. I mentioned the wind effect above already and they are not lazy with the effect for Jasmine's hair. After 10+ years, the gold effects do not flake off and I hope they will never flake off. I still don't understand why the advertisement puts emphasis on metal flower stem and semi-precious stones on the headgears when these things do not actually stand out on the figures. Lol...

Now comes the heart-breaking part. How much does this cost from secondary market? It is typically between USD 700-1000. I was impatient and I bought it from a seller for USD 925 but he only shipped in USA. Thus I had to use comgateway which incurred me an additional 5% service fee. With the subsequent tax and international shipping, everything cost me USD 1143.52 in total. It broke my heart when a week later, there was another seller selling for 700+ bucks and he also shipped internationally. Haiz.. that is what happens when you have been looking for an item which is rare and most of the time you see a damaged one on sale. The moment you see an undamaged one, you just lose control. Oh well.. it was more than 6 months ago. At least I have to be grateful that I can get this safely in one piece and I don't need to camp on eBay looking for this item anymore. But still, remembering those USD 300+ still makes my heart and wallet hurt.

Swarovski Disney's Christmas Tinker Bell Limited Edition 2012

It has been almost 6 months since the last time I wrote anything about my toy collections. I already took pictures but I was too lazy to re-size the pictures and write the post. Haha.. Before I go to my Aladdin collection, I shall finish my Peter Pan collection first with Swarovski Disney's Christmast Tinker Bell Limited Edition 2012. In reality, this was bought after these loots.

The box, the certificate, and the figurine

I mentioned here that I was not sure that I would ever purchase this because of the price. But surprise, not too long after that, I purchased this piece for USD 303.03 inclusive shipping which is considered cheap as the usual price from secondary market is somewhere near USD 400 and above. At the price that I bought, it was even cheaper than the retail price. Hehe.. It is still a bit more expensive than the normal green version but I gladly paid the extra 50 bucks for a limited Christmas edition because who does not love Christmas?

Retail price USD 315

Although Tinker Bell is irritating and not a character that I like, I have to admit that this figurine is gorgeous and more beautiful than Peter Pan who has a boring pose of just sitting down on a rock. Tinker Bell is posed with beauty and grace in the pose which also boasts the intricate details put into the figurine. Christmas limited edition thingy is not only a gimmick of just changing the colour of her costume from red to green. Her dress is Santa's dress, Santa's hat, the pompoms at the shoes, and the stars decorations on the base. Everything just 'shouts' Christmas!! Without further ado, let's enjoy the pictures.

Starting with 360-degree views:

Zooming in to the details

Her wings look brownish because of my table top. It is actually as clear as the main body

Love the sculpt of the hair

Could have been better if she grips the wand..

Another great details for the hand and fingers

Want to show how the wings are attached to the body but I guess cannot really see anything :p

The pompoms on the shoes

I can only think of 2 negative things about this: it will be better if the wand is gripped on her hand instead of just being glued to her palm and the base should be wider/bigger. As you can see, the wingspan makes her weight distributed rather 'widely' to the sides. Although the figure is stable, it feels and seems 'unstable' with the wing's centre of gravity falling outside the base. Yes, I prefer a wider base for a peace of mind. In addition, a wider base can potentially utilise more snowy Christmassy elements.

If you notice, I did not put any size and dimensions. I forgot to measure and all my Swarovski pieces are already in Jakarta. Haha.. I am giving them to my mother and I want to put them in her display cabinet together with her other Swarovski collection. Putting these in my action figures cabinet will not be wise as sometimes some action figures will just fall. Haha..

To end this, I will consolidate all my Peter Pan collection thus far with the photos below. Enjoy!

Swarovski Disney's Peter Pan set

Showing off the wings results in dissymmetry

With their boxes

With other Peter Pan figurines

With other Peter Pan figurines

Swarovski should have used a lighter green for Peter Pan's clothes...

Have a Goat year ahead!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

There is much controversy surrounding the correct English translation for "yang" but since I always know one of the 12 Chinese zodiacs is goat (in Indonesian), I will always consider goat as a zodiac rather than sheep.

I am quite a superstitious person so I am quite interested in horoscope and feng shui stuff. Goat is rabbit's ally so in the year of the goat, rabbit is expected to have quite a good luck. With that, I should actually be excited for this new year. In reality, I am not as excited. Last year, rabbit was also expected to have quite a smooth sailing and healthy year. Guess what, I had to do surgery. So yeah, because of that, I no longer believe in this kind of thing. I don't want to have high expectations and be disappointed in the end. That is why usually I am not so bothered about the good things and I only pay attention to the bad things that may happen and I will try to avoid. But if you are expected to be healthy and you end up with a surgery, what will happen when the year is expected to be bad?? Jeez...

Of course the superstitious me will try to do things that may enhance my luck and avoid things that may reduce my luck. One of the feng shui masters recommend rabbits to consider donating blood during CNY period this year to enhance the luck. I deliberately delay my blood donation and this morning I got a call from Red Cross. As expected, I am not eligible for a donation because of my surgery. I need to wait at least 6 months! Bleah...

This year I learn a few more superstitious things surrounding CNY. From the advertisement in MRT stations, one of CNY traditions is actually staying overnight to welcome the new year. It seems that my dad has been teaching me the wrong thing. He usually asks us to sleep early on CNY eve and wake up early on the first day of CNY. At my aunt's place, I read a newspaper article about 15 taboos to avoid on first day of CNY. As expected, sweeping and throwing rubbish are to be avoided as it may mean getting read of good luck from the house. I know that washing clothes are also not recommended but I don't know that the reason is water god's birthday on the second day of CNY (if I am not wrong). So it is best to wait until water god's birthday before washing clothes. One thing that I just come to know is that people should not take any sort of medicine on CNY because it symbolises poor health and the need to take medicines for the coming year. Okay, I shall skip my supplements just for today. Lol.

Thank goodness I believe in God and thus I am not too bothered with most of these things. People usually wear new clothes but I hate buying clothes. Haha.. My home clothes are even torn and tattered which are not good according to Chinese superstition. To make things worse, all my home clothes are white. Black and white are to be avoided. I sort of know this but I consciously don't follow. Hmm... perhaps my luck has not been as good as it should be because I never follow all of these? I don't know.. Okay, I sound quite contradictory here: claim to believe in God but still am bothered about these superstitions after all.

Talking about God, this year's CNY eve coincides with Ash Wednesday. Lent has begun and I have yet to decide on what things I should fast and abstain from. Food is definitely out of the question as nowadays I only eat proper meal for lunch. My breakfast and dinner are very minimal that it is not even possible to halve them. I have given up the food I love such as potato chips and bubble tea for the past 1.5 months so there is no point of giving them up. Perhaps I should try to avoid Starbucks. The thing is I don't drink Starbucks when I have nothing. Recently I go to Starbucks rather frequently because of my studying. I have to force myself to read outside as I will end up sleeping if I study in my room.

Luckily the archdiocese of Singapore has decided that we can change the fast and abstinence for Ash Wednesday to another day of our choice because it coincides with reunion dinner. I will still have a little bit of time to think about this year's fast and abstinence.

Hoo... it is almost 3 A.M. now so I hope that is considered staying awake long enough for a good luck in the coming year. Haha...

Really cannot tahan...

It is just a matter of time before I really get a big complaint. I have been in and out of office for various attachments and today is the third time I got comments about how fierce and unfriendly I look. The good thing was the person still told me colleague that I was being helpful and nice. It was just my face being too fierce and unfriendly. Haha.. She tried to joke by asking my colleague if I am already attached. And excuse moi, I am still single not because I am fierce. I choose to be single for my own reasons.

There is a famous saying: don't try to change people but start by changing yourself. Someone really needs to teach me how not to be a perfectionist, how to work more slowly, how to be less efficient, and basically how to be worse than I am right now! Sigh... I really don't know how to change these aspects of me when it is sort of my personality already.

At the end of the day, I just feel pissed when people take all the credits for their smiles, good customer service bla bla bla while I get all the shit for clearing the things that they fail to do. Others spend like 30 minutes for 1 thing and in mean time, I have to do many other things. If I am also doing 1 thing for 30 minutes, then how will the rest of the work be moving along?!!

Haiz... Chinese New Year holiday is coming and so is Lent. I guess it is a good time to take a step back and decide on my future.. what kind of person that I want to be at work.. Anyway I am already in a festive mood and hence I did my grocery shopping -to stock up for the Chinese New Year holiday when shops are not open- at town. Lol.. Although I was successful to resist buying sake on the weekend, I ended up with Makolli today. Just don't think about it and enjoy la.. But must make sure that potato chips are still avoided. Haha...

Loving myself

For a single like me, Valentine's Day is a day to treat, pamper, and love myself. Surprisingly, I only ate at hawker centre yesterday. Haha.. For the past few months in 2014, I almost ate extravagantly every weekend. What I mean by extravagant is a meal which cost $20++. I guess it was an overkill because so far in 2015, every weekend I only eat from hawker centre. Not sure if my willpower to lose weight by not overeat is that powerful or I become more stingy with money.

My intention to treat myself was also not very fruitful. I only purchased Kuroko Master Stars Piece Limited Edition. I honestly want this simply for Ni-gou (the dog). Kuroko himself looks better in the original version which comes with the jacket. Can't expect much from a prize figure but with a lot of black on this version, the paint imperfections become more outstanding. I am happy with Ni-gou but Kuroko's right leg does not fit in snugly. Jeez.. The good thing is he is stable enough to stand without the plastic piece to support. The original version of Kuroko that I have feels unstable even with the plastic piece but his legs fit snugly. Oh well, I just need to tell myself that they are just prize figurines.

The most expensive dog figurine I ever buy. Lol.

After a long deliberation at the shop, I decided against buying Sailor Moon Girls Memories figures. Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars are already available. The main pulling factor is the pose at the end of their transformation. I kept telling myself that I am already collecting S.H Figuarts and the Figuarts Zero versions so I should not have so many figurines of the same characters. Sigh.. I am also running out of storage and display space. Okay, not running out but I alreadyrun out of them. Haiz.. In the evening, after my disappointment with Kuroko's paint work, I feel quite relieved that I did not buy the Sailor Moon figures earlier. Bleah.. But honestly, if space is not an issue, I will still buy them.

Jupiter and Venus are out in a few months time

Kinokuniya is still not having its members sale and the list of anime books that I want to purchase is getting longer. Now there are 5 books that I want to buy: Free! Eternal Summer TV animation book, 2 Black Butler art books, Kuroko no Basket TV animation book, and Natsume Yuujinchou PASH magazine. If there is still no sale the week after CNY, I don't know how long more I must wait T_T As my impatience grows, the rational side of me still holds the upper hand. With the amount I will spend for 5 books, even the additional 10% discount means a lot. Haha...

To end this in a low tone, I am very emo because I forgot to top up my Indonesian mobile phone number. Dammit!! When I returned to Singapore in January, I did not have 2015 calendar yet. Usually I will indicate on my calendar when it is time for me to top up. It just slipped my mind by the time I have a 2015 calendar. Sigh... I know I should learn to let go and not to be upset over trivial matters as it does not do any good to my health...

Printvenue.sg (review)

The first time I came across Prinvtvenue.sg was from the advertisement on facebook. For a vain pot like me, personalising everyday items with my name and my photos is always tantalising. The reviews I found from googling initially deterred me from purchasing from them but I decided to give it a try when my feng shui book recommends stationary as my "lucky" pattern. I told myself that those online reviews I came across were from India but this website has the .sg so perhaps the Singapore branch will not be that bad. 

I was wrong -very wrong- this time. My parcel was literally sent from India it is indeed from the same company that gets all the negative reviews online. The website mentions that delivery will be via DHL so I was really angry that the item was sent by a courier company that I never heard before: XPS. They fucked up and although it is not Printvenue.sg's fault, I am still irritated the fact that they lie on the website. I will write how the courier fucked up later. Back to Printvenue.sg itself, they did not update me when the item was sent and the tracking number. I had to request them for the tracking number. The pens (I ordered 2) are quite disappointing. I am not a user of branded pens but I honestly don't expect Parker pens to look this shabby. The name engraving is disproportionally small and not outstanding. "Parker" is written everywhere but I can't help but worry if I am getting the real Parker pens instead of some fake cheap pens from India.

Moving on to XPS which apparently is a courier service originated from India. Nobody was home when they attempted to deliver my item and they called me to inform that I had a parcel from India. I did not ordered anything from India so I did not expect that this would be this parcel. The sender's name is some dubious name that the delivery man could only say "from India" when I asked who sent me the parcel. For the failed delivery, I expected a note left behind for me to re-arrange delivery but that was not the case.

To cut the story short, 1 week later I discovered that XPS tried to steal my item. Until 5 Feb, there was no update on the status of the item. On 6 Feb, XPS informed me that the item had been delivered on 2 Feb. After that.. tada... the status on the website showed an update. The woman even scanned me the delivery form showing that it had been signed. From the delivery time recorded, there was nobody at my home.

A few days later, the delivery man tried to "investigate" and dared to say that he found the item was still under my door. See the fucked up attempt on lying: if the item had been received and the form had been signed, how could the item be at the door? And if the item was under my door, how could I be missing it for 1 bloody week? I am thankful that in the end I got my item and upon delivery, I was asked to sign on the carbon copy of the consignment note which was still empty!!

Gosh... My suspicion is true: they really attempted to steal my item. After e-mailing the woman back about this, she did not even reply or apologise. What a rubbish service. In fact, most of the time I got help from their main office in India. As much as the main office wants to help, I am appalled with their English.

So basically think twice and take risk when you want to buy something from Printvenue.sg and AVOID using XPS courier service! No offence to India and Indians. It just happens that both these screwed up companies originate from India -_-"

Pride

Every Sunday, I feel a great sense of achievement when I am able to go for mass. I can feel that with each week, the temptation to delay or even to skip mass is getting stronger. Devil is getting stronger and I have to consciously pray.. just to go to church. Bleah... It makes me realise that even for a simple thing like going to church, I can't do it alone.

I just realised that my prayer trend is usually only wishing for happiness and health. That's all. As much as I want to find a girlfriend, I realise that I don't pray for it. Even if I pray, I just say 1 line about it and move on. I don't know if I am ready for one to seriously ask God to guide me. I feel quite 'depressed' when I see my pretty girl friends are engaged and married and their husbands are ... erm... so so.. Haha... I mean I expected that these girls can find someone better looking, if I were to based it on looks. I guess this trend proves 2 things: pretty girls do not always look for hot + handsome guys and my "perfectionism" will just get me the leftovers =x I don't think I am prepared for a relationship yet because I am still selfish, I still need a lot of my "me time", and most importantly I feel that I am still poor. How can I provide another person (+ kids etc) when I don't think I have enough for myself? Gosh... If I tell this to someone, they will just ask me to pray and trust in God. The thing is I am not even prepared to take that step. I don't know if I pray and God does give me his best plan, am I ready?

I am back in office for the past 3 days and there are so many things that I need to do. There are things that I have not finished since December and there are more new things. I get upset and irritated with my colleagues. I know that perhaps my own pride is contributing to this. I feel that I am good, I am efficient, I am bla bla bla and I get upset that they are not as efficient as I am. I need time to do my own work which I can't get because of their inefficiency. When I am outside to work, I am efficient that they can just sit in office and do their own things. These are facts. A part of me feels that my own pride and sense of self-entitlement are rather disgusting but I really can't help myself from having these thoughts given the fact at work.

I have not matured because I am actually happy that my branch failed telephone audit. I am happy not because I am no longer in charge of customer service but I am gloating given the facts that the 2 years I was doing customer service, my branch never failed the audits and now that it is done by someone else, we failed. I know the boss will say that these kind of things are shared responsibilities bla bla bla but why should I be the evil one to do something which is not directly under my purview? I don't wanna be seen as a kaypoh anyway. I think deep inside me I still have bitter resentment. I tried my best to give my contribution and my honest input and in return, I only got criticised: always like to complain, being a negative person, unable to embrace change, etc. Well at least despite everything I said, I still did my best (although grudgingly) and I earned that KPI for you, ok boss?! Since you love those people who always paint you a good picture and the ideal -but unrealistic- condition, let's see how well they do their work.

Okay stop gloating.. better start preparing a script for confession for this coming Easter. Lol...

Free! Eternal Summer

I still remembered how excited I was when I saw "See You Next Summer" at the ending of Free! 2 years ago. Ironically, I still chose to have a delayed gratification and only finished watching Free! Eternal Summer in 2015. Lol.

Sequel is usually a disappointment and this time, I am quite disappointed. Unlike the first series which still has a story line (forming the swimming club, Rei's training, and the competition), the writer seems to be confused for the sequel. It will be boring to just repeat the same plot of swimming competition so to spice things up, let's add more eye candies. In addition, to make enough episodes, filler episodes such as Nagisa running away from home, Makoto teaching kids swimming class, are also included. The last few episodes makes Free! Eternal Summer feel more like a J-drama than an anime. It revolves mainly about future plans of Haru, Makoto, and Rin who are graduating soon. Gosh.. in fact the last few episodes are too draggy and wimpy.

To be fair, since this is marketed towards females, I should not be judging this based on shounen style. Swimming still takes a back seat. I don't really see any training but suddenly everyone improves on their timing and they even qualify for national competition for relay. That does not make sense considering Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei are not good enough in their individual events to qualify for national competition. 

They do put in a bit more shonen theme like how Rin needs rivals to boost his own desire to swim. Any sports anime/manga will not be complete without any rivalry but since this is targeted to girls, rivalry is also depicted as mushy mushy here. Lol. Seriously, we guys don't tell one another things like "I really admire your swimming". Haha.. And we are okay with sharing a queen or king-sized bed when going on a trip. There is nothing wrong about that. I believe that reaction is just to make all the fan girls go "kyaaa!".

Few new characters are introduced at the expense of reduced screen time for the old side characters. I find it quite a waste because Gou, Miss Amakata, and Coach Sasabe have more personality and make things more funny than the new characters. The main new character is Sousuke which is obviously meant to be Rin's yaoi-pairing. Lol. Unfortunately, there is nothing unique about his personality. In fact, he turns out to be quite an asshole. Mikoshiba is a new character which becomes the funny guy for this series. He is a bit over the top but I actually like him. He is even better than Sousuke. Even Kisumi (another side character who is Makoto and Haru's friend in junior high school) who has less screen time is more like-able than Sousuke.

Among the 5 main characters, Rin has the most change in personality. He seems to be an ass-hole in the first series. In this sequel, he seems to be back to his childhood personality. He becomes like-able. Rei and Nagisa lose their funny genes quite a bit here which I find to be quite a waste. Haru and Makoto remain flat and boring as ever. Haru does change a little bit at the ending which I think is too late. He should have that personality right from the start as that is a more believable personality as a "cool guy". His usual personality is more "antisocial" or "I can't be bothered about anything/anyone else" than being "cool" after all.

Overall, I feel that Free! Eternal Summer is quite underwhelming. It is much worse in all aspects (story, characters, comedy) and it does not touch my emotion as strongly as the first series. Too many things are re-used from the first series and those similar scenes lose their impact this time around. The new things introduced end up worsening instead of improving this sequel. Boo hoo.. Oh and one more thing that I miss out, the songs are quite terrible too. At least I love "Ever Blue" from the first series.

And just a little feel-good spoiler, Iwatobi relay team ended up with 6th placing in Sengoku Taikai. That made me tear a bit but not as bad as the final relay of the first series.