音時雨 ～Regentropfen～

Yesterday, to colour-code for a colourful listening-thoughts for KOKIA's new album, I indeed spent a lot of time, to find the proper colour code, to create the gradient, and to add span tags for each text segment.
W3school's color mixer is a good choice to generate gradient, but it only does two colours at the same time, and the start points are limited to basic colours. While there are also lots of online tools to create such a gradient and apply it onto your text, but 1) it may not be able to render utf8, but I need Japanese; 2) it splits the entire text into single letters, each letter has its own <span> tag. For small things like a forum signature there's no problem, but for longer stuff, it's a pain to further edit the text; 3) there may be a really perfect one, but I didn't want to spend much time to google for it.

So the best way is to make one myself, so I know what's going on, and will have the full control.

↓exec_gradient_maker/.

Features:
- output both HEX and RGB colour codes, so I don't have to either photoshop or google for a converter when doing "rgba" in CSS.
- create gradients between more than two colours, go making a rainbow!
- customisable mixing-levels, depending on whether I want a fine or coarse change.
- write to html for visual preview, with pre-written <span> tags that're ready to use, reduce my time spending with npp and regex find-and-replace.

However, it doesn't apply the gradient effect to given text. As for lots of times, I prefer doing the colouring manually -- these three words should be in the same colour, while next two words have different colours each. If I really want to apply all the colour changes in an automatic fashion, I can then make another script to handle it.

Also, I'm not bothering to make it to another color mixer. Before, I always wanted tools that are visually easy to use, but now, I more like to do things in batch, via the simple yet mighty command line.
and another reason is I can't survive in javascript, which is required in this case I believe...

Before, I used to wonder how colour mixer worked. How the script mixes two colours? Later on, I learned the relationship between the hex colour code and the rgb code -- I never knew it's such a straight forward fact: you just need to know how to convert between hex and dec. I was shocked when I learned it... orz
Then the rest is nothing but doing some basic math, and then sending to the screen, or a html file.
Of course, it's still hard for me to understand how a computer can interprets these colour codes and display different colours on the screen >>> out of my field!

Once you know it, you can do the magic too!
Isn't it so obvious? (´ω`*)

KOKIA just melts my hearts unconditionally~♥

"I Found You".

Since "Where to go my love?" two years ago, finally another new album released on March 18th (today).
My copy won't be delievered until next month, it's all Noriko's fault!! but I believe it's okay for me to get someone's rip for now--I can't wait, can't.

"Delicious melody" is the motif, which is also what I often imagine about music. I tend to say "this piece is delicious" when I find it's actually beautiful. Although somehow affected by Amano Tooko, I think I've completely accepted such a relationship. Good music has great tastes. This time, I'm really happy that this appears in KOKIA's release -- we see things in a similar way.

The entire album gives me a fresh sweet image, especially of various fruits (perhaps the CD jacket somehow led me there). From the first chord, soft, smooth and lovely. That's the KOKIA style that I'm so familiar with, full of peace, love and prayer. The world is then tinted with the prettiest harmonious colours. Everything is so beautiful and pure. With music, leave all my thoughts outside. Simply let my mind drifting with it, feel the gentle touch. While I immerse myself in the resonating ocean of sound, smile, in the next moment, my eyes have been misted by tears of bliss...
Unconditionally, KOKIA oscillates the my emotion-meter stronger than anything else.

Meanwhile, I have to say colours triggers my othse senses, including the feeling of taste. So instead of making this post a review, I tried to match each song with one or more image colours (which is also how I play with my girls ^^).

1. Family Tree
Brown to orange. // Moderate pace, warm and rich chrous. A very KOKIA-ish opening song to an album!

2. おいしい音 yum yum music
Light shaded rainbow combination. // Quickly the motif is introduced: music can be "delicious".

3. Recover
Transparent powder blue-purple-pink. // Mainly affected by the background sound effect, while the song itself is vibrating as if shedding some magic dust.

4. Solace ～記憶の森に積もる絵画
Deep forest green and night blue. // My favourite No.1. This song kind of gives me a similar feeling to Shikata Akiko's "化石の楽園 (Kaseki no Rakuen)", while the latter is closer to a faded grey blue.

5. オギャーと産まれて
Grass green and golden. // A song of hope.

6. I Found the Love
Pure pink to ruby red. // My favourite No.2. Earlier I was indicating this one made me in tears of bliss.<3

7. Make Sense
Sky blue. // I can feel the sweet scent of the earth after a light rain.

8. Dear Armstrong
Afterglow red to purple // But... sorry I have no idea about Armstrong... >_< so would you like to make a cover album of him in future? :3

9. I Found You
Milky white with various pale hues: pink, blue, and green. // Try to say the title in another way: 「あなたを見つけた」. How adorable! <3

10. 旅列車 life train
Bright orange. // Cherish every encounter in our life, and thus people change from strangers to close friends.

11. 無力と知った日
Ocean blue. // Getting to the end (in normal edition it's the end), a slow and a bit sorrowful song.

12. Spirits
Dark orange-red (perfect if with flowing clouds). // It's for a RPG, so why Ito Masumi isn't the arranger! -- never mind, it's a "delicious" song any way.

Alright, after the delicious KOKIA new release, now I'm gonna dumping a lot of complaints regarding to what I'm working on recently.

--Perlプログラマーとしてのプライドを捨てて何とか道端で拾っていたpythonコードのバグや不具合を全部修復したのだが、イライラする。

You may have the ability to create a better one, but if you've found some that are ready to use, don't bother to waste time starting over. But, as non pro-programmers, none of the solutions I found are perfect, not even easy to use.
Yet I believe to use those free stuff would be eventually more time-saving, so I had to swallow my pride as a camel-tamer perl programmer to explore into their source codes and try to fix this or that bugs/issues (in python that I don't love at all). As a result, things are fixed, but I was fairly irritated.
And I have to use both, because PAML doesn't deal with indels at most times, while laz was written to handle it.

↓
1. laz creates soft links to actual files, but this isn't favoured by PAML, and thus PAML strikes.
→ solution: copy the files instead of making links.
2. (I assume) PyCogent's sequence loader thinks *.fasta is FASTA, yet *.fst isn't... it's just stupid.
→ solution: use *.fasta as the extension although I prefer the shorter 3-letter *.fst.
3. PAML doesn't like trees with bootstrap values, it thinks they are also species names.
→ solution: remove all bootstrap values before sending the tree to PAML

Another one. I even want to sue the author of this script:

I can still endure if you didn't use sprintf, but why the hell you didn't set up variables for all these paths with File::Spec?! °A°

...I really want to throw bricks to the people who distribute very imperfect codes, while more people use them to create even more imperfect codes. orz

Maybe an unrelated event. I was so happy to modify someone's twitter post fetcher javascript code. I didn't realise until this morning that twitter now converts some texts to their own emoji images without an option to opt-out! On their website, those images are small and it's still acceptable, but since I'm using a 3rd party API js file, those images appear super big, that rule my entire page.
It didn't take me too long to figure out where I need to tweak. Twitter recognise emoji-like char(s) and replace them to images, while adding "alt='xxx'" to refer to the original plain emoji text. So I just needed to extract the "alt", and remove all the rest inside of the <img>. Frankly, I can't even do the simplest "Hello World" with js, but after distinguishing between all the "{}" or "()" pairs, I eventually made it~( ´∀｀)

My point here is, if the script is well organised, I bet even normal people can make the adaptation, but if everything is dead stiff, probably the original author(s) would fight with themselves in future to make modifications.
-- It's possible for people who don't understand biology to make perfect bio-programs, while not vice versa. =_=

From now on I'm going to hate Japanese dolls! ∑(ﾟДﾟ)
-- It all the fault of Akane and the doll of Azami. They look the same, while the doll is damage-proof. And their speed is fairly slow and the invisible time is long. It could take me almost more than 10 minutes to fight them, and actually they are the ones cost most of my recovery items.
Meanwhile, Chitose-chan is so cute -- Let me purify your soul and turn you into a real Zashiki-warashi! <3

↑ Yesterday was Friday the 13th (look at the calendar again I just noticed last month had another Friday the 13th..), so (?) I finished Fatal Frame 2 for the first time.

... and then got traumatised.

Since the true end of Silent Hill 2 and various hunters in Biohazard series, FF2 hurt me seriously again: the ending under normal difficulty. Listening to the ending theme song alone long time ago didn't give me any special feelings until yesterday's game clear. Before I was thinking Mio would find out Mayu and the two escape together, but who knows the possessed Mayu (I can't tell who is who any more) chose to die under her sister's hands, so they could thus stay together forever.. Hey, you two can still stay together as long as you escape from the village; there's no reason to stay in the past you, don't waste your new life! << I know I shouldn't complain. Such an ending is good and much more impressive than an everyone-lived-happily-after. orz

Perhaps the yuri-ish ambience in FF2 contributed releasing my emotion. In FF1's normal ending, I didn't feel so much. Maybe I would if Miku had an older sister instead of brother.. ← sis-con declaration. >w<

The overall gameplay of FF2, on the other hand, is good and more smooth than FF1. The regular battles are so "delicious" as zero-shot (and fatal frame indicated by a special sound) could just come without too much trouble (or because I'm experienced after doing FF1?). Except the bothering Akane and Azami, other non-final-boss fights were not a problem at all (FF1's blind woman was the biggest challenge as a non-boss character to me).

As for the final boss, I mean the poor folklorist. Although his first time appearance in 3rd (or around) chapter didn't make me falling into the death trap -- people who've done FF1 all know, when everything loses colour, you can do nothing but escape, he game me a harsh time at the end of game. I sort of figured out that only zero shots could give him damage, but I wasn't sure and simply kept running around and retried about ... not less than 6 times (because the camera was not even charging!) until by chance I saw the focusing circle turned red at a moment (also I complain the closest save point is too far away! °A°). I even thought I might miss some key items to "unlock" his invincibility and reload my previous save to go back to Kureha shrine, yet thus I got a bad-ending-ish game over.

It's okay that the final boss demands zero-shot only. But I don't understand why a "kagami-ishi (= mirror stone?)" doesn't work. Is that the true power of a final boss? It's so unfair! ~_~

As a result, this old man cost me 5 shots in total, each consisted of one type00 film and one zero shot, with or without the fully powered zero lens.

Similar to the poor folklorist, when our hidden true final boss (under hard mode or above) Sae-chan shows up in chapter 7 (or around), everything fades into a black-and-white world. Although it was quite stressful, technically it wasn't hard as you know you should just run away from her (well, I almost forget that you can't really do anything else since you don't even have camera at that time..). To me, this part was the scariest across the entire game, and in this sense Siren 1/2/NT can be the scariest series...

Other than the colourless time, this game wasn't really that scary even only because the girls are so cute. Like what I said before, I've experienced enough in Silent Hill, Biohazard, Siren, Ju-on and The Ring, and I do believe I'm horror-resistant. I often play it at (usually late) nights, calmly -- of course I was scared at the jump-scare scenes, but they aren't the key to build up a horror game.

Although sometimes it's stressful when you open a door and see the filament turns to red, it can also be a fun moment. One example is in chapter 4 or 5 or around, Mio opens the door in Oosaka's house, and seeing Miyako (Masumi's girlfriend) stands still in front of her. Oh, hello, so it's you again! xD

It's all the fault of getting lost in Tachibana/Kiryuu's houses.

First: I knew I should go to find out Chitose-chan to get the key to the "bell-lock"; I also knew she's hiding in various closets. But I spent almost 2 hours wandering around, and eventually when I by chance hit the "wooden furniture" by the entrance I was honestly shocked: that thing is also a closet!? ∑(ﾟдﾟ#);
Second: the map indicates the location of Kiryuu's family crest, and I've also taken the picture of the creepy doll standing in the hallway. Then I spent another 1.5 hours to look for the wall and the hidden room, and was astonished when finally realising it's right beside this hallway.

Therefore, FF2 took me over 14 hours. Thanks to it, I feel like I won't need a map in future rounds.

While I don't even want to mention the annoying moving controls (radio-control would reduce the confusion but they preferred the left-stick...), I still wish:
The Project Zero staff should furigana everything as we normal players aren't folklorists who can read all those rare kanji!

Mendelssohn's Sinfonia for string orchestra No. 11 in F major-2.Scherzo: Commodo Schweizerlied is the only track that I've been looping endlessly since this Monday. Another absolutely addictive piece! And today, after doing the looping for 3 days, I followed my inner desire and switched to "The Ninth". That began how I found something quite interesting.

I haven't touched my portable music player for almost 1.5 months, because there's no earphones attached -- in the end of January because one side is dead and can't transmit any more audio signals so I took it off and left it in my workplace. Single-sided music every day, great. Literally great actually. Before, I would have got a new pair of earphones, yet this time I just didn't mind. Classical music never made my ears hurt, from Mozart's adagio to Beethoven's presto. But if that's Jpop, Shikata Akiko, Mitose Noriko, even KOKIA or Ito Masumi can hurt my ears in various degrees.

So that's it, classical music is physically different from contemporary (Japanese here) music!
-- or I just need to get a new pair of earphones.. (why it's always only one side broke while the other works perfectly instead of both go insane at the same time??)

Began with this image, I took some more personality tests just for fun -- Of course, what you can really expect from those free online tests (not mentioning some questions are just ambiguous)?

Which reminds me what my boss ever said to me, "it's so hard to tell what you're thinking about".
-- and I see this as a kind of compliment~

↓ Personality

No more comments. I always get it from different tests. Yet this time the bars seem much more extreme.

↓ Cognitive Function

Hey, my pattern doesn't fit into any of the 16! xDD

↓ Freudian Type

The most confusing part here. No comments at all since I don't understand their meanings.. orz => I've added Freud into my future reading list.
I'm also so curious about my "0%": what the hell is "classic hysteric"?? Google doesn't give me a clear description for none of the last four.

↓ Style

I don't deny I'm compulsive (although never know in terms of the degree). But it's actually more fun to browse whether a person is more of M or S.. nope, I wanted to point out most of the values are by times of 14, one should be able to figure out how they score these different "disorders"...
Okay, I didn't mean to switch topic. ^^;

Interesting, really. Then when I went to their sidebar links, and found Mao Zedong is known as an ENTP, I was so released: "Thank god I'm not an ENTP!" lol

Anyway, every individual is different and there's no 100% accurate way to tell what category a person really belongs to. Regardless such tests indeed can serve as a reference, and thanks to it, I had a great time learning some basics in psychology, especially the personality disorders -- I enjoyed a lot!

At last, good news: my SIM card adapter finally arrived and I can insert my micro card into the dear Xperia Arc! ♥
Bye-bye the rubbish iphone5, which requires itunes/3rd party software to accomplish almost everything. You don't deserve my love.

まさか月曜はマイナス17なんては信じなかった。でも確かおかしくはない、『この町』のことなのだから。正直、寒い方が気にいるんだが、こうしてつまった雪がだんだん融けちゃって、土に滲み、その雨の日にしかない土の香りが好き。ただし、風が本当にイヤだ。静電気も起こりやすいし、風の強い日にはいろいろ大変なのね。
ーーこんな私は、髪を20㎝ぐらい切る勇気があるのでしょうか。

It's kind of hard to really believe it was -17°C on this Monday. Yet it's not that surprising, in this city. Although I like the weather to be cold (=subzero), when the snow melts gradually and soaks through the earth, the pleasant smell still makes me happy the same as the rainy days. As long as there's no wind, which causes static and always gives me a hard time.
-- So do I really dare to get my hair cut by 20 cm?!

考えみたら、もし私を「ゼロ」の霊に変えるのなら、多分「三つ編みの乙女」のような説明文かなぁ。Σ(´∀｀;)
「ゼロ」もいろんな意味ですごかったなぁ。ホラー（実はそんない怖くなかったが）だし、和風だし、主人公可愛いし、シャッター音綺麗だし、幽霊たちとの戯れ（？）も楽しかったし、ラスボスの霧絵ちゃんが一番弱くて驚いたし。
しかし、髪をあれほど切ったらもう三つ編みできないでしょう。だったら説明文に何にしようかなぁ…
↑ こんなこと考えてもどうしようもないからやめとこう…

Try to think about it, if I were a ghost in "Zero (Fatal Frame)", my description would probably be something like "Girl with plaits"
"Zero" is so fun: as a horror (not that scary though), with a pure Japanese environment, Miku is cute, the shutter sound is nice, having fun (?) with ghosts is a great experience, and Kirie the final boss is actually the weakest shocks the most.
But if I do the haircut I won't be able to make long plaits any more, so what kind of description would fit then...
↑ Thinking about it is just meaningless, I should stop.

ちなみに今でさえちゃんと覚えてるのは、自分の手のひらの大きさ。もう少し10㎝になると頑張って指を伸ばした昔の私と、指先の距離はなんともう少し20㎝じゃないかと今の私。そして、結構成長したなぁと感心する私。
Right now I still clearly remember the moment when I was little. Before, I tried hard to stretch my fingers so the distance between the fingertips of my thumb and index finger could reach 10cm. A few days ago, I noticed distance between the fingertips of my thumb and middle finger could almost reach 20cm. And then I felt how much I've grown.

None of the above is really important, so, next topic... ^^;

As a super music looper, I was repeating Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 18 movement 2 for the whole day during work. So elegant and sweet and beautiful << I don't have a big vocabulary, but these simple word should be enough to convey my feeling. Purely as a listener, I feel that to write a slow melody would be harder than those being fast. The fast ones tend to be more catchy and thus impressive, while the slow ones are mostly less tasty. From classical to contemporary, this happens on any composer I know. But it's also one reason that makes great slow pieces greater, and that's how this Mozart piece stayed in my mind forever -- I personally enjoy it much more than his well-known No. 21's slow part (well, that's pretty sweet as well).

Speaking of work, recent it's making me cry (in a different sense).
According to MrBayes user manual, it's recommended to stop your run when the probability goes below 0.01, but for one of my dataset, in spite of I've been running it for months, it's still lingering above 0.01. Last time I iterated it for another 2 million times, and the result was: from 0.017 down to 0.013.
Conclusion: This dataset is hopeless, perhaps it's time to stop. (I believe if I keep adding more generations it will eventually go below the "good line", but I feel like the results won't show too much difference. u_u)

There are also things happening that will make me happy, while making my purse crying...

>>>No.1<<<

KOKIA's 2014 orchestra concert DVD will be released very soon, together with her new album "I found you". People say someone will change a lot after marriage, so shall I expect some dramatic changes in KOKIA's newest releases? *w*

>>>No.2<<<

Mitose Noriko is having ANOTHER best album!! She's having way too much compared to release new song (I know she's busy with her lives, but at least release some live DVDs as compensation...), and the motif (?) this time is... astonishingly of love songs. I'm not having a good hunch and I felt so chilled when reading the news. Noriko will be great if she casts the darkest curse through her voice, but about love songs... just let KOKIA handle it would be safe and decent enough.
Yet I'm actually a bit looking forward it.. hope it can be better than previous "nostalgia" (remix isn't fun) and "round and round" (the band versions are kinda "flat").

And as usual to title my post is the hardest thing -- I write whatever came into my mind so there's no a certain topic each time. ~_~

Sing a song if you feel scared.
People always say this, but in my case, the very first song popped up in my mind was "Tooryanse", followed by "Kagome-Kagome", and then "Akakakushi"~ While the first two belong to the canonical Japanese horror folk songs, the last one isn't a relax and happy either~♪

And recently I'm addicted to Eiko-sensei's newest single: Kokuchou no Psychedelica

Both songs are great!

To someone who has experienced Silent Hill 1-4 + biohazard 1-5 + Siren 1-NT + Juon series (Japanese + US) + The Ring 2 (didn't get chance to watch 1), "Zero (Fatal Frame)" can't create enough horror to me -- I was rather amused.

The character and stage design are very pretty (Miku simply looks like Claire Redfield IMO), and the ghosts are so "plain" compared to those in bio and SH (I'd like to see something much more grotesque -- I'm resistant to the grotesque, at least visually). Although it's true some battles can be stressful, but since I've got enough experience in biohazard 4 and 5, to use the camera (I indeed enjoyed this battle system) isn't that hard, just like how to shoot with a rifle~
The story is quite interesting. It's exciting to figure out what happened in the past and the connections between all (living and dead) people through various files -- this game is surprisingly full of reading materials, while lots of them have rare kanji -- hey, people can't read them, at least put ruby beside!! Σ(ﾟДﾟ);
However, the control is not smooth (she can get stuck by even a hanging rope!). Also, to chase those quickly-flashing-away ghosts and get snaps is fun, and very harsh sometimes (like those kids). The worst, your snaps isn't saved unless you put them into albums, and I was out of space in the memory card when I realised it!! ( ﾟдﾟ) Hope there's some kind of extra after game clear.
Briefly, it's not like a horror game but more like an errand-game, in which you go between a few places endlessly to complete quests, in a huge mansion where ghosts drifting around (I especially like the appearance of that Ina-Bauer female ghost [Miku's grandmother?! or maybe not]). Besides, the riddles are too easy and to be called riddles. Shall I be looking forward nightmare mode?! (´∀｀);

The dead's blue fiery balls remind me nothing but the Ring Spirits in Shadow Hearts.
Perhaps it's a good time for me to do "Zero" because I've been taking snaps like mad in SHF! (・ω・`)

this shot is awesome ↓

Before I start:
SH = Shadow Hearts as a series
SH1 = Shadow Hearts
SH2 = Shadow Hearts II
SHF = Shadow Hearts: From the New World

Even I myself couldn't believe that I've finished all three Shadow Hearts games, with a rather high degree of completion, after declared to no longer touch RPG about 2 years ago. Why I said that was simply because lots of RPGs have so many hidden flags that hard and tiresome to find out. Yet I still decided to resume my RPG playing with SH1, after watching someone's SH1 play video. The story and world setting were interesting, the battle system was unique, also, for quite a lot of times, the ambience is like those you'd see in a horror. So I stopped following that player's videos (when they just arrived at Da-Lian) and decided to try SH1 on my own. Which then led me to my lovely four months with Shadow Hearts since last November.

However, my first SH1 experience was so sad and so bad. Apparently I wasn't prepared after a long RPG-free (horror-only) time span. This game have so many time-limited flags. Once you missed it, it's gone forever (in this round). Therefore, some boss fights was deadly hard (because I couldn't put the correct soul monsters), and the bad ending came with no surprising (because I didn't know how to get the good one!).
So I did get my lesson: while playing an RPG, find a story-spoiler-free guide first.
and here, I'll show my special thanks to this website:
http://www.geocities.jp/sky_peace000/
Without this guide, I won't have so much fun with SH series. I might miss lots of hard-to-see items, miss proper flags to trigger hidden dungeons, and fail due to the lack of good "boss fight preps" (I remember my first Maiki-battle was so harsh, due to his instant-death skills).

The stories are all good with no doubt. SH1 and SH2 are gloomier compared to SHF: People in SH1 die mercilessly, SH2 connects to the bad ending of SH1 (which indeed shocked me), while in my opinion, SHF is more limited in a small circle of people and the connection to the-destiny-of-the-world is weaker -- although I don't mind it at all. The story flow is rather (or at least made me feeling) smooth compared to lots of others (recently I'm following the game DEAD SPACE, and each time when Issac completes an objective he gets the hint/direction from other people -- that I don't even have the desire to poke in).

Then, about the endings, SH1 and SHF are straight forward, but SH2's both endings are rather intriguing and make people want to think more.

On the other hand, as of the characters, most of them are so impressive that I couldn't refuse (or wish if s/he is playable) to keep in my party, while a few are out of my favourite type and hardly get a chance to go with me, and the existence of the rest is just as invisible as the air.

Fixed party members:
Yuri: no body should complain about him (and you can't really remove him from the party ^^;)
Alice: I personally don't want to include her in the party, but only she is able to do the arch-cure.
Keith: Ikemen Mr. Vampire! High HP + SP + PAtk, my choice in the "super god fight". The event with his gold-flashy brother is excellent!

Why I didn't use others
Zhu-zhen: I wished I could use him till the end as I love his skills, but he's low on HP and can't heal the entire party with high efficiency.
Margarete: her rings are hard, and her skills are... to be honest, I've seen enough in Biohazard series so I didn't use her that much.
Harry: skills are ranged from supporting to attacking, flexible, but same as Zhu-zhen, he's not as strong as Keith and can't do supports as Alice.

Fixed party members:
Yuri: guess no body would complain about my choice toward him. xD
Blanca: with fully powered up soul comet, strong party cure and full HP revive, and with my affection of a wolf.
Gepetto: has the highest MP and SAtk, easy to switch attribute, and Cornelia is cute~
Joachim: same reason as why I stick to Keith. AND MORE, HE'S SUCH A FUN GUY (I kept his frozen tuna till the end of game)!

↓ Joachim's symbolic pose (both before and after battle):

Why I didn't use others
Kallen: yes, she's strong and her skills are great -- I'd consider using her more if she keeps her military uniform.
Lucia: cute is justice, being sexy is worth nothing! lol;;
Anastasia: the album-skill isn't useful, normal attack is weak, and isn't as cute as Kawashima Yoshiko (I want her to be a party member though!).
Kurando: I'd like to use him more but he appears too late while the top four already occupy my heart. :P

Others who I wished to become party members:
Nicolas: for Koyasu's voice!! <3
Yoshiko Kawashima: as a magic girl that would be fantastic.
Kato: a tough guy (expected to be as strong as Joachim).

Fixed party members:
Johnny (=可愛い): the main character should be within the party! Not only he's essential to take snaps, which is much more important than SH2, he's cute! Lots of players say Johnny is weak, but I maxed all his chart nodes for attacking magic to turn him into a true magic warrior~
Natan (=渋い): another tough guy (I just love tough guys, complaints?)
Frank (=面白い): another Joachim. His bowling ball attack is my favourite skill => "ミーにパワーをぉぉ"
Ricardo (=格好いい): high PAtk + MP, fits into various situations, and he's also an ikemen. ;3

↓ Johnny's most attractive face -- perhaps that's my first time having so much love toward a boy!

Why I didn't use others
Shania: she's supposed to be in the party all the time, but I changed my mind to have a fusion-free SHF, because, the same reason as Lucia. Too sexy = loveless. Moreover, I want to complain about that I had to "farm" soul energy points in order to get into the dungeon for Tirawa, what a pain it was! While after obtaining Tirawa, the appearance is even worse than her previous three spirits that I had totally no desire to use. orz. She's strong with them? -- who cares! (btw, I hardly used Jutendoji for the same reason)
Nyanko-sensei Mao: I love cats! I indeed hesitated between her and Frank and Natan, but eventually I went with the tough + funny combination. (Also, to get her skills powered up was tiresome so I lost interest halfway.)
Hilda: I love her brothers much more, but she's not my type at all! ^^;

Summary: In SH1, non party members can't get Exp at all, and it hurts! Plus I fail a lot at hitting rings so my Sh1 party members are fixed since the very beginning. But thanks to the customisable magic system, I could choose my party members more freely based on my personal taste, rather than how strong (or weak) s/he is. (・ω・`)

The sense of humour of SH series is currently the most marvellous, and reached the climax in SH2 (thanks to Joachim's join) -- although it's hard to explain to people who didn't play.

Such as:
Motion of Maiki's skill: the death game (both as a human and a monster),
Joachim and Man-Festival and Man-Sushi,
Roger and his collection of Shanghai-Tengoku and N.Y.Heaven,
..and our environmently-friendly heroes! ( ´∀｀)

↓ Joachim thinks seriously in front of a postbox:

↓ Joachim's frozen tuna:

↓ Frank's ultimate Oden-stew:

As of the music. Actually I didn't think SH OSTs are so great until I finished the games. Lots of battle BGMs can be looped forever, especially the final boss BGM: Imbroglio and The 3 Karma (SHF's final boss BGM isn't as good as these two IMO). And need not to mention the Akiko-singing-Mozart-aria. In game, the sound was twisted as being played by a near-death gramophone (or record). At first I was disappointed as with that aria only a man was eaten by a monster, but later, when that man reappears -- so you're sort of important, and your death with that aira is now acceptable. << I don't know what I'm talking about...

But, how come the SHF OST has no the piece for Ninja's hideaway?! °A° That BGM (Frank does Momonga flying) is so relaxing and adorable.. maybe I should get record from the game some day..

Shadow Hearts series is really great. Now look at the GUST's Ar Tonelico I and II (because I can't recall other RPGs right now), they look so cheap (except the gorgeous music/hymmnos..)!! Fine, that's a thing called style.

↓ At last, my personal pride: