Let me ask you this, Which is better, The original soundtrack or the Remixed rendition? or maybe it doesn't matter in the first place, While yes. often times the Original will always beat out the Parody and leave it in its shadow entirely, there are times where copies are more popular and more impressive than the original.
In my previous post about the "normal" HHKB, i said that it is good but is leaves a lot more to be desired from a keyboard that is worth 1.8k ringgits i mean really its hard to swallow the fact that you only get pieces of plastic, and not very much else and the layout leaves a lot more to be desired, while yes, it is elegant and is nearly the original design of Iwata sensei. I still find myself finding the lack of dedicated nav keys really annoying.
Enter the HHKB Pro 2 JP - Type S
This keyboard is a different rendition of the original design made by Iwata Sensei for the Japanese market, and yes, i was willing to spend another 200 USD on another version of the HHKB because i want to, but also because it was free for me so yeah. #NOTSPONSORED . the version i chose is the white one with Type-S sliders in it from factory so yes, i did spend extra on silencers that are miles better than what the market can offer so far.
---------------------------------------------------UNBOXING--------------------------------------------------------
When you first receive the HHKB PRO 2 JP in general, instead of the god-level weird ass packaging that seems like it was made in the 1970's i mean really red white and a giant wash of black with a vista badge (for my version)
Unlike that horrible vestigian abyss that seems like something only the god awful mind of shitsuju would come up with, the JP model comes in a more traditional box entirely. instead of the Colour wash that seems like a toddler made in 2 minutes, it is a more interesting black and grey, why? there is a blurred background of the black version of the HHKB
of course as the japanese say "when poisoned, one might as well swallow the whole plate" so of course i got myself some hhkb alternate keycaps, and a rugged carrying case for the absurdly expensive and new keyboard *cough* -TOY- *cough*, when you proceed to open the box, you will find the keyboard itself ( this is not EA) wrapped in a plastic baggy that really is ok ish, a long 1.5m ( yes, we use the metric instead of imperial because we are civilized) white rubber coated cable that i wish was sleeved or at least included a 90' extension/adapter. a boatfucking load of paper work, and when i mean a boat fucking load, i mean only 2 pieces of paper.... and no 20th anniversary sticker which i really wanted badly. fucking strange on why they didn't bother to do so in the first place.
-------------------------------------------------------Experience----------------------------------------------------
The typing experience on the Japanese International Standard layout or JIS for short. in really interesting, no, really interesting. while yes the spacebar was small but i find it really normal to use it in the first place, not needing the extra space, and yes i am used to the typing entirely. the 3 strange keys from left to right actually have a use. You see the Japanese language has 3 written forms. i know strange. is in order, Romaji, Hiragana and Katakana. in windows 10 and mac, they serve no purpose at all... until you buy a Hasu Controller for it. the enter key while i am not a fan of, i can forgive it after all PFU practically crammed a 65% layout into a 60% the size of a hhkb.... so bonus points there?
Onward to typing. When you first type on this keyboard. you will feel that even from fucking brand fucking new, the fucking keyboard loves to move like a whore from one person to another, and the extra keys really help a lot more instead of relying entirely on my pinkie to hold down on the fn key everytime i need to navigate. it has dedicated keys meaning that my pinkie will not be needed to do a lot of contorting for navigating to the previous line. However, many of the keys have poor lengends... like really the legends are not where they should be. many of the keys have weird things going on, but hey, it's Japan. we are talking about a country that has a summer festival held in one part of the country where the boldly carve Dicks into statues.....
not to mention the fucking Feet...... OH GOD FUCKING THE FEET IS NOT RUBBERISED>>>>> the entire keyboard has been ruined by this little issue and even then it doesnt even have flat rubber feet, minus the two miniscule ones in front, its criminal.
And as usual as expected from fujitsu like from all of their keyboards, they don't bother to stabilize the larger keys except for the spacebar, probably to show how much confidence they have on the keyboards power.
the keycaps are a thin 1.1 dye sub probably abs keycaps that are still to remain on this keyboard until someone makes a MT3 style keycaps on topre mount.
--------------------------------------------TYPE-S, HEAVEN OR NOT?------------------------------------------
when it comes to silencing a Topre keyboard. there really is a few options, either 1 you lube it properly, 2 you get some hypersphere or KBDfans Type x rings on to them which makes things quiter but effects key feel or 3 you dental band it which makes everything feel less tactile and more like typing on Membranes and also damages the domes as well. or you can go for the last option is to get the Stock Type-S variant which costs a little extra but has a shorter stem than the normal ones and has a better silencing and key feel balance. for obvious reasons i will not show you how it looks like mainly due to the fact that i do not intend to open it up before i send it to a certain someone to lube it for me because i am not confident in my abilities. and also i am scared of brikking it. But what does it feel like typing on type s sliders?
its pretty good, unlike the normal sound, these are a lot more muted in terms of sound, and they feel just the same as normal feel with just a bit of minute dampening on the up-stroke. which everyone beside you will appreciate and not plan your untimely demise or SCREW you over on assignments like i have.
these then are like the childhood friend of the topre modding world. sure they aren't easily recommended like hypersphere rings, but like Childhood friends, They are always at the background being your pillar sure while you can fall in love with them. sometimes they might not be your type but they can be sometimes willing to go down and dirty with some Ero action. which then leads on the my final thoughts
-------------------------------------------------Final thoughts-------------------------------------------------------
When it comes to the HHKB world, there are many things that people will say about it, but they will always be polarizing and hard to counter against and certainly with Vicious Fervor that makes our resident Goblin Slayer look like a child compared to the fury that the MechBoard Community brings. ( MechBoard, is that a type of Goblin?) . but no one as far as i know ever compared the JP to the US layout... but let me give my cents here
If i were to say that the HHKB world is like an anime. Then the "normal" us Layout hhkb is like Rem from re:zero or Kaori from Your lie in april... they are popular and are socially entirley accepted, there is no debate on it. its the original, the one true maiden that people will love. they are bascically the meta
The JP version would be more like Shiro ( mein waifu), from no game no life, Re=l from akashic records. while widely debatable and sometimes EWWWW (police sirens intensifies), they are not as popular and certainly not the ones that people will easily say they are the best girl. But they do, they exude their own originality and if they were real.i would happily take it in a heartbeat.(FBI, OPEN UP) . they are the original spice balls but they are still parodies of the original. *FLAT IS JUSTICE* They are the different ones, they defy the idea of meta and their flaws makes them realistic.
Which happily brings me back to the original question, which is better the Parody/fake or the original? TBH, its hard to say that one is better than the other. if it was me i would say both have equal footing, and thats not being biased. both have their own pros and cons. each and everyone of them have their own unique twists and turns that make them themselves. so it's hard to recommend so easily, the price for this one is higher, but it hits so many things right. but if its anything. i will say this. if you did not like the normal HHKB just because that it lacked the dedicated nav keys and only that problem, then the JP layout is for you. if not well get ready a pen and paper and do some research.But i know one thing, It will be replacing the US layout entirely as my out of room daily driver
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Well that's a good review done. this took longer than i first expected. i wished there was more to be done but my S9+ review is long over due but hey at least you will love this in the meantime.
what do you think, write it down in the comments below and hey share this page if you think that this is a nice review that people should know.