Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash - Gun(dam)s N' Roses

 So I finally got around to watching Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway Sorcery of Nymph Circe (or the Japanese title 機動戦士ガンダム：閃光のハサウェイ　キルケの魔女 / Hathway's Flash - The Witch of Circe). Going to my local cinema, the audience was mostly older folks - some older than me, and maybe one 6-7 year old kid, though I'm pretty sure it was because his dad dragged him along.

A piece of art I received when I purchased my movie ticket.

Plot wise, there is a bit more going on, but it's mostly focusing on Mafty's preparation for their attack on the Adelaide conference. Though on the way to Australia from Davao, they make the decision to meet up with the so called "Mafty's Army" in Oenbelli, led by Fabio. 

You get to see the Federation's Gustav Karls as absolute menaces when combating "Mafty's Army" at Oenbelli. Since they have no mobile suits of their own, it's essentially a slaughtering of rebels or to borrow an analogy from a certain Pirate Lord - it's like using cannons to hunt rabbits. Later on when Mafty arrive at Oenbelli, the Xi Gundam makes short work of the Gustav Karls - oh, and the Messers help a little bit too.

Even though Mafty was able to acquire the Xi Gundam from Anaheim Electronics, the problem is that most of its equipment was lost in the ocean while fighting off the Earth Federation's Circe Unit. As a result, the Xi has to be treated as a precision tool, rather than a bludgeoning weapon as Mafty no longer has the means to adequately resupply - or even repair - the Gundam. One of the engineers warns Hathaway to avoid using missiles as much as possible, which highlights the dire situation they're in. Keep in mind that unlike the Federation, Mafty is simply a ragtag group of rebels, that doesn't even come close to the Zeon remnants. Whereas Zeon at its lowest point still had connections and means to acquire mobile suits, even older ones, Mafty is not as fortunate. Even during the Gryps conflict, the AEUG had way more resources and troops available, not to mention Anaheim Electronics supplying mobile suits to the group. Combine this with the fact that this conflict is on Earth and not in space, and it's become a game of cat and mouse between Mafty and the Federation, with the Federation slowly closing in on them.

The final battle of the film was a lot more brutal compared to the first movie, and watching this fight, you can tell that Hathaway was holding back in the first fight - When he defeated the Penelope, it was simply to neutralise it and escape with the Xi Gundam. But this time, being haunted by the memories of Amuro and Quess upon seeing the inner core of the Alyzeus, Hathaway Noa went all out with the intention to kill Lane Aim - just to silence Amuro and Quess' voices - if not for a last minute intervention. Some nice little cameos here and there, including the Re-GZ Custom, as well as the Mass Production Nu Gundam, which I think is a nice touch, plus it's a way to connect to Hathaway still being haunted by Amuro Ray. Also, I noticed that one of the Gustav Karls was armed with a ReZEL beam rifle? It was hard to tell, but it certainly wasn't the usual Jegan beam rifle. It nice to have an appearance of Bright and Mirai Noa, though Cheimin is noticeably absent? Hopefully she'll appear in the 3rd film at least.

As for the soundtrack, the opening song (Snooze by SZA) - played more than 35 minutes after the film started - didn't really hit like Mobius did in the first film. On the other hand, the choice for the ending song was a surprise.

Yeah, it was the Guns N' Roses' song Sweet Child O' Mine. 

Just like the previous film, this requies some basic UC Gundam knowledge - at the very least, you need to have already watch Char's Counterattack - though that also does require watching the original Gundam, Zeta and ZZ. Watching Unicorn Gundam isn't required, but in the context of Hathaway's Flash, you realise that revealing the truth of Laplace's Box didn't change a thing, and in fact things got worse under the Federation.

It looks like the film will be finishing its run in Japan soon - more than 2 months after its initial release in cinemas. I believe that it will be released outside of Japan next month.

Licensed Househusband (aka I got my Spousal visa)

I only realised recently that Tatsu is voiced by Seto Kaiba

You may refer to me as Househusband Toji. The "Immortal Toji" just doesn't have the same ring to it...

So I received my spousal visa today. I will admit that I was a little worried that my application would not be approved, but that was due to me not getting my shit together and scrambling to get all my necessary documents together. 

Until now, my employers sponsored my visa (first Instructor, and then Specialist when I switched jobs), so there wasn't much I needed to do on my end other than check that my details were correct, and pay a small handling fee for my employer to submit the visa application to the Immigration office for me. Applying for a Spousal visa however, I had to do that on my own, and I was not adequately prepared. 

I will go through the documents that I had to submit, though other people's experiences will likely differ from mine. 

• Family register
  I got this from my city hall for a small fee. This is a document that lists the members in the family (just me and my wife in this case)
• Marriage certificate (Japan)
  Obviously for a spousal visa, proof is needed that we are married. We got this city hall when we registered our marriage last year, and just in case we requested for two copies.
• Marriage certificate (home country)*
  *Technically, you have to submit the marriage certificate from your home country too. Thing is with Australia, they don't issue marriage certificates if the marriage was carried out overseas. Furthermore, while they don't register overseas marriage, they do recognize them as long as legal requirements are met (of legal age, not forced to get married etc).
• Certificate of Employment
  I got this from my work. It proves that I work and have income while in Japan.
• Letter of Guarantee
  Needs to be signed by your Japanese spouse, it's proof of affirmation that they will support you of your stay in Japan.
• Photos of proof of relationship.
  We had been dating for over 10 years before getting married, so I picked a couple from over the years. It's visual proof that the relationship/marriage is genuine, and not just so I could get a visa to stay in Japan.

In my scramble to submit my visa application, I did not have the signed letter of guarantee from my wife, assuming that since I was working I wouldn't need it. When I went to immigration, they explained that I did in fact need that guarantee letter, along with the Australian marriage certificate. Fortunately, they gave me an envelope, along with a list of documents that I am missing, and said that I can mail the remainder of my documents instead of having to come in person a second time. In the meantime, they held on to my application and the rest of the documents I submitted. 

I had spoken to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs previously, and knew I couldn't give them an Australian marriage certificate because of the reasons explained above, so when I mailed the guarantee letter, I also included a letter (in Japanese) explaining why I couldn't give them the Australian Marriage certificate.

Despite it being the busiest time of year for foreigners to renew/change their visas, mine only took about 2-3 weeks fortunately. Though my Specialist visa expires in just over a week, the thing about renewing the visa is that they slap a letter in my passport explaining that I'm in the process of having my visa renewed/changed, with an extension of 2 months applied to the Specialist visa if the application process is not finished by the time my current visa expires. 

After two or so weeks, I got a post card in the mail telling me that my visa is ready to be picked up, along with a list of required items I needed to bring. Those being

• The post card they sent me
• My passport
• My current residence card
• The letter explaining about my visa change that was attached in my passport
• Revenue stamp
  You need to get this from the post office beforehand. For my visa it cost me 6000 yen (which is up from 4000 yen now). You have to pay cash for the revenue stamp. The staff were kind enough to put the stamps in a small plastic bag.

With all of that prepared, I headed to the Immigration office to submit all my required items. They had me paste the revenue stamp on the form they presented to me, and asked me to sign it before I had to wait for about 45 minutes or so. There were plenty of people at the Immigration office today, but fortunately, most were there to apply for their visas rather than picking up their new residence cards.

Eventually I got my new residence card, with my old one now having a hole punched through it to indicate that it is now no longer valid.

The thing that actually surprised me the most when I received my spousal visa is that it's valid for 3 years, which is what I requested for in my visa form. From previous experience when my employer submitted my form for a specialist visa, they requested 3 years, but I ended up with only one year initially - I got a 3 year specialist visa when I had to renew it a year later. Because it's been less than a year since we got married, I assumed I was only going to get the 1 year. Not sure the reason why - perhaps because my previous visa was also 3 years? Feel free to correct me if you know the reason.

In terms of employment going forward, I have no restrictions and can work in just about any field now. It also means that when job hunting, I no longer have to worry about whether an employer can sponsor my visa. 

With everything that has been going on lately, it is nice to have a little bit of good news for a change. Also, I'm surprised I have not done a post about visas since I started living and working in Japan.

Canary in the coal mine

Work front, I have recently witnessed the canary in the coal mine moment with many people leaving - some after many years of work, some only after one year. I'm not going to lie, I was considering looking for other work too, but due to my circumstances of preparing for a wedding, switching my visa (future post maybe?), I felt that the timing was not in my favor. However, with the fallout of so many people leaving, it means my workload is going to increase - and I predict a lot more business trips for this year. 

As I have committed to a one year contract - and sticking to a contract is a much bigger deal in Japan compared to other countries - my plan is to stick out this year, but I'm going in to this with the expectation that I won't continue after this year is over... unless something pops up at my work that would be favorable to me. 

My wife has suggested looking for work related to my interests, as I'm at stage in my life that I can't keep jumping between jobs every few years anymore, and I am inclined to agree with her on that last point. If we are to start a family, we both need stable jobs, with permanent work being the ideal situation. However, finding a job that I would genuinely enjoy is something that I think is not realistic, and I like keeping my work and hobbies separate, though it is something that I shouldn't quickly dismiss either.

I have asked around about job hunting, as the usual channels are usually advertising ALT work, or work related to ALT dispatch companies. Searching a little bit in to jobs similar to what I do right now, I found I have to search beyond those channels, as those kinds of companies very rarely advertise there. However, someone did point me to a Japanese job hunting website, commenting that with fewer foreigners using those kinds of websites, there will be less competition there - of which I have bookmarked that site for when I will most likely begin job hunting towards the later part of the year.

There has been a lot more that has happened in the last few months, but I may share about them later when the time is right.

Lower House election on February 8th

Recently, Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi announced an election for the lower house (aka House of Representatives) for February 8th, with campaigning starting today.

This has caused quite a bit of stir, as the timing is highly unusual, among other things. For one, priority is usually given towards deliberation of the budget for the 2026 fiscal year. The call for the election has meant that the 2026 budget gets delayed, though the LDP is compiling a provisional budget in the meantime.
The timing of calling the election is also rather convenient, as it means that Takaichi doesn't have to explain why she gave several members in her party key posts in her cabinet, despite being involved in financial corruption, instead of... you know, kicking them out for financial corruption. Publicly, the LDP claims that those involved have been punished, but to the common folk, they only got a slap on the wrist at best. 
Observers believe that Takaichi called the election to capitalize on her current high approval ratings, suspecting that once parliamentary debates begin, her ratings will take a significant hit. The LDP has seemingly done nothing to address the increasing costs of living (with the price of rice still high, despite the previous PM's measures to address the issue). In addition, the sudden call for an election means that all political parties have very little to present in the way of policies.

The one major topic has been addressing the increasing cost of living, with parties all pitching the idea of either temporarily halting the 8 - 10 % consumption tax, or outright abolishing it - though no explanation has been given on how they will make up for all that lost tax revenue.

On another interesting front, a new political party has emerged - The Centrist Reform Alliance (中道改革連合, Chudo Kaikaku Rengo), or simply known as "Chudo". This party is made up of the combined Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and Komeito. For those who don't know, Komeito was the former ruling coalition partner of the LDP for 26 years until they decided to break off last October, due to issues with Takaichi keeping scandal hit LDP members in her cabinet, and her apparent unwillingness to address any kind of campaign finance reform. As a result, this new party holds 172 seats in the lower house against the LDP's 199.

This article gives a very simplified take on each party's policies (which aren't many, given the sudden announcement), but at first glance, it seems that hating on foreigners is still trendy at the moment.

From what I have observed, there is a bit of grumbling that their workload has suddenly increased to be able to prepare for the election on time. As mentioned also, there is very little put forward in terms of policies aside from what is covered in the article above, with voters having to take leap of faith going with either the devil they know or the devil they don't know. 

Reflecting 2025 (in 2026... Oops)

あけましておめでとう。今年もよろしくお願いします。

Initially I planned to post this before the turn of the New year, but got carried away with other things. In any case I wanted take the time to again look back on my highlights of 2025.

1. I moved
After 3 years, I moved apartments again. This time, I moved in together with my now wife in an apartment meant for more than one person, and we are enjoying the extra space compared to the tiny LeoPalace apartments I have lived I for the last 8 years.

2. I got married
After 10 years, we finally got married at our local city hall. We're currently planning celebrations for this year.

3. Mum came to visit
Mum came to visit us during the summer break. Though there were some frustrations, it was a chance to visit parts of Japan we usually wouldn't go.

We're planning to visit a shrine either today or tomorrow. Hope everyone has a safe and healthy 2026. どうも！

Christmas 2025

A lot has been going on in Japan lately, and where do I begin? I'm still trying to figure that out, but for now, I will simply say:

オフィスからメリークリスマス　(Merry Christmas from the office)

Oh yes, and I did take the time to draw this. Foreshadowing of an update involving my drawings in the near future?

New female Japanese PM, but is it really that big of a deal?

Ok, a lot has happened recently here in Japanese politics, so I'll try and keep it brief.

As you already know, Japan has it's first female Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi. Personally, I'm not so quick to jump for joy, as Australia had its first female PM in Julia Gillard years ago, and that did not go over well - though I felt that was a combination of high expectations, undelivered promises, and Kevin Rudd. From what I have seen of Takaichi, I don't see her pushing for more inclusion of women in positions. I am also concerned that her cabinet is also made up of ministers that have in recent years been tangled up in financial corruption. Takaichi says the matter been resolved, and the ministers involved had been punished - but the fact they have kept their jobs, when your average peasant's head would be rolling in an instant if they did the same thing. Rules for thee but not for me I guess. 

Regarding the policies I have seen so far - the issues of foreigners is the current trend at the moment here in Japan. Most likely in a reaction to Sanseito's sudden rise to relevance in the Upper House elections back in June this year made foreigners the scapegoats by puffing up how crime is rising because of foreigners (it isn't). Some of her policies make sense - basically kick out any foreigner who is breaching their visa or illegally staying in Japan: That is a no brainer. Another is for Japan to refuse "economic refugees" - those leaving their country not because their lives are in danger, but fleeing from poverty and lack of job opportunities. Keep in that mind that successfully getting asylum in Japan is pretty damn difficult, only a handful of people get their refugee status recognized in Japan each year, way less than other countries. Thing is though, some misinformation has been popping up recently about Sanae Takaichi's policies:

The post is absolute BS, if you watch the video in that post, she is reiterating her stance against economic refugees that those illegally staying in Japan. That's it. Don't get why some folks are trying to claim that it's more than that. The fact of the matter is, Japan needs foreigners for labor due to the ongoing declining birth rate, and to get rid of the people who not only fill in gaps in labor, but also contribute to Japan's Health insurance and pension systems would be absolute stupidity on Japan's part. If some politician was dumb enough to pitch that idea, good luck explaining to the people why their health insurance premiums and pension fees are increased without any significant improvements. Very hard sell. 

Unrelated, but the Japanese government did revise the business manager visa earlier last month. The rules and requirements have been tightened to stop certain people from abusing the benefits of the business manager visa. By that, I mean it was clearly intended to stop mainland Chinese from abusing the system to easy Permanent Resident visas for themselves and their families. When this revelation came out, a lot of Japanese people were pissed, and the fact that a of Chinese were bragging about it online did not help one bit. I think there's nothing wrong with tightening the requirements - if you're not going to contribute to the betterment of Japan and simply leach off the benefits, why should you be rewarded with permanent residency?