its the time of the year again and we're all ready to welcome the year of 2012!
Looking back at 2011, it was actually a pretty fun year and lots of things that I've never thought that I'll be able to do it, had been done in this amazing year.
2011 was the year that I actually had the longest hiatus away from blogging that had to be given up in light of my studies and throughout the year, heading out and studying out with friends were fun and truly beneficial and I enjoy every moment of that. 2011 was also a very important year for me with the major A level examinations which is now finally over. What's done has been done so I wouldn't have any regrets for it, just that it was honestly a tough, yet enjoyable year.
2011 was also the year which I had my first experience in an actual "seated" concert, with Miku's LIVE in Singapore @ AFA 2011.
I had always wanted, to one day, be able to attend such memorable concert which I had initially thought possible in the future when I actually am able to head to Japan. Lady luck seemed to shine on me this year with Miku's Live concert being actually held in Singapore itself! Initially when the schedule for AFA 2011 was announced, I had a tough dilemma as it was smacked right in between my major examination, which ain't that bad since the back-to-back papers were all over. And then the concert details were released with Hatsune Miku's banner smack right in my PC monitor. I was instantly elated but slightly disappointed at the same time since this would make my choice of whether to head to AFA 2011 waver even more. With much thinking and planning, and an awesome nod from my parents, I decided to go for this probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, while pushing my revision schedule way ahead to accommodate the time lost for that. Nonetheless, it was a truly enjoyable time spent at the concert, screaming, shouting, singing along and waving lightsticks like some die hard fan, it was all worth it and amazingly magnificent. Being able to be part of the this experience that I had always yearn to be in made me very happy, very very happy. :)))
Unfortunately I had to limit this year's AFA visit to only half a day since the examinations were hot on my heels so I wasn't able to truly enjoy the event as much as the other years but after all, some things have to be given up, a choice had to be made :) Well, I'll be looking forward to AFA 2012!
After so long, I had finally stepped back into Sentosa, which had actually drastically changed. The old attractiveness seems to have faded away from the island, having now replaced by many, many buildings. No more trees, greenery and beaches that can be easily seen. The moment I stepped out of the Sentosa Express at Beach Station, all I saw was a large building right in front of me. I definitely missed the old Sentosa after all these years. Should have returned to this island before such rapid upgrades were done :X
With a pure coincidence, my first Lunar eclipse experience was on the same day as I stepped into Sentosa after so long. Rushing home to witness such a historical event that I had always missed due to the cloudy skies were finally made possible on that day. It was just eye-catching and simply beautiful to watch, as the red-coloured moon slowly returns to its original white shading, it was just awesome :)
Some further updates about recent days:
Headed down to RapidCulture just recently after spotting a restock of WS Angel Beats! Extra packs and with the rare stocks, got 2 packs for myself which I discovered that extra packs are really much much more worth than normal WS AB packs. A normal AB pack would consist of 8 cards, 4 belonging to AB and chances obtaining one foil is about 10%. An extra pack would consist of 6 cards, all belonging to AB and 2 guranteed foils which are simply beautiful. Even the extra pack design is great too xD So above are the 4 foils that I got from the 2 extra packs :) Somehow this December has all the great stuffs coming into SG and wallet's having a rather large hole now... luckily more goods would come slower this time :D
Just something random as well, finished collecting all volumes of Madoka Magica's manga, consisting of 3 volumes, short and sweet :)
Arranged a HnG shelf as well, looking great!
Headed down to the nearby beach these days well and on low tides, you could actually spot many, many, many different sea creatures. To date, me and my friends have spotted a seahorse, hermit crabs, clams, sea anemones, worms, starfishes, sea snails and flower crabs. Never did I expect to find so many different creatures in just 2 low tides and it was actually cool since we're able to get rather close to them, not alarming them in return. The seahorse actually came as a surprise since I was LEAST expecting that to appear up the shores on the beach. Do note that all these sighted creatures are alive as thankfully the water had not retreated to the point where they are deprived of water, although there were a few unfortunate ones that couldn't escape the low tide :( Sitting down and enjoying the sea breeze is super shiok too :D great way to slack for the last few days of 2011!
Had been organising some stuff earlier today and took the chance (after finding most of my mod pens) to actually put them together to have a history picture :)
The oldest being on the right and gets newer to the left. Fixed my 2nd generation as it was broken before but the 6th generation couldn't be fixed since most of the parts are added to future generations. The one on the extreme left is a pre-mod that I bought and I only added Sailor grips to the end to suit my style so I guess that's a mod too? :P It's truly been a long time since I've started penspinning so actually looking back at all this mods really do bring back some great memories :D
Once again, 2011 could be said to be one of the more "impactful" year that I had and to one and all, wishing everyone a happy and successful 2012!
AND of course a good song to accompany this :)
Migikata no Chou by Rin & Len
(migi kata ni murasaki choucho) (kisu wo shita kono heya no sumi de) (setsunai to iu kanjou wo shiru) (hibiku piano) fukyou waon
migikata ni murasaki choucho kisu shita kono heya no sumi de setsunai to iu kanjou wo shiru hibiku piano fukyou waon
warui yume ni unasareta watashi wo hayaku okoshite donna koto demo hajimari wa sasai na koto deshou? doko ga ii ka nante kikarete mo komaru kirei na yoru ni modowasareta mama yukue fumei dakara
nagai matsuge mikkadzuki airain mabuta ni nosete hikaru rippu
migikata ni murasaki choucho kisu wo shita kono heya no sumi de setsunai to iu kanjou wo shiru hibiku piano fukyou waon
(fukyou waon) (ga suki de) (maru de...ma-ma-maru de) (wa kono heya no sumi de) (maru de...ma-ma-maru de) (fukyou waon)
kizuguchi kara tokedashita mono wa aijou sore tomo aa...
koukai wa shinu hodo shiteru sono bun dake kaikan wo yobisamasu kurui dashita watashi wo tomete isshun de raku ni shite yo
dakiyosete yuganda karada umeru no wa anata shika inai sou deshou? Wakatteru kuse ni kyoukaisen tokku ni koeteru
migikata ni murasaki choucho kisu wo shita kono heya no sumi de setsunai to iu kanjou wo shiru hibiku piano fukyou waon
migikata no murasaki choucho (kisu wo shita kono heya no sumi de) setsunai to iu kanjou wo shiru (hibiku piano)
alrighttt, with almost visits to many, many different outlets of CC the last few days, I've now been able to get most of the earlier volumes of HnG and that would finally complete my collection. Hadn't intended to get the collection complete so fast but the offer was just *slap!* right on time! Am still currently lacking 5 volumes which about 3 of them are from the Taiwan publisher so that'll have to wait since they ain't cheap. Missing out on volumes 1 and 2 as well, just couldn't find them anywhere D: Picked up a special limited edition volume 28 with the cover art of the movie by Hata and of course a piece of original illustration of the movie. It was said on the envelope that it was the 3rd original illustration that comes with a volume of manga, so I guess I've missed out on the other 2. There was Maria's one as the 2nd illustration, not sure about the 1st, but oh well, I should be getting future volumes of HnG from Kinokuniya bookstores instead since the special stuffs are generally there 1st. So looking back, I now have 2 of volume 28. A normal cover with Ruka and the special cover. Seems like I am sinking rather deep into HnG's fanbase... but... I riek :D
since its the end of the year, got to do some junk clearing and rearranging so currently my shelf is gonna undergo some changes for HnG volumes so I'll post something up in the next entry.
now a couple of series has ended in light of the incoming new season, but unfortunately, the endings that were shown were rather disappointing. Well that's what I saw for 2 of the series this season. It could pave the way for a second season but a standalone series by itself, the ending that was given was just clearly disappointing.
without further ado, the targets are shown below:
C³ - CubexCursedxCurious
I had initially dropped this series out of the league after watching its preview which was clearly a fanservice promo, but had later picked it up after seeing another PV and their 2nd episode that was surprising. A normal little harem series turned into a rather violent one with bloody fight scenes here and there was indeed shocking and that was perhaps the spur I got to follow this series.
So the story basically follows the Haruaki family, where they are in charge of handling cursed objects which some of them takes the form of a human. One of the cursed objects is a girl, Fear in Cube, is one of the most fearsome cursed object and is able to use many different torture equipments by materialising them out of her black cube. In order to remove the curse of killing many innocent people, she arrives at the Haruaki household to perform good deeds instead but is soon caught in many incidents revolving her and other cursed objects.
Many small arcs occur here and there with more and more cursed objects being introduced. Plot wise it was quite an interesting series to follow, story development wise it was a little bland. Fear is one of the main protagonist but the way she acts and speaks is a little too cliché. Not sure if it was the correct word to use here but the way she puts forth her actions like believing her friend was an enemy and then realises her misunderstanding and apologises, all those happen just too quickly and it seemed "unreal". Nonetheless the action scenes were rather good, would appreciate more if Fear could actually show more of her hidden equipments, and of course less fanservice. Meaningless fanservice is seen to run rampant in this series. When I mean rampant, I mean everywhere. It just spoils the series. Perhaps the novel itself was similar in this way but watching it just makes me go facepalm: "not again?! .____."
Leaving that aside, the story itself was progressing rather well where more things are revealed, such as a hidden organisation and the Intelligent Disk that is related to cursed objects but then, it just ended with the enemy retreated, no news about what happened after that, nothing revealed about the Intelligent Disk, no hint that Fear was relieved of her curse, nothing. Worst of all, I didn't even know it had ended until I checked the episode number on another site that I finally realised that what I had just watched was the end of the 3 month series that I had followed. WOW. just WOW. Never had I experience watching an end of a series without actually realising that it was the end. Maybe I was simply too nonchalant on this series since I had to deter myself from all the FS that they show, but their last episode really did seem like a standalone episode.
I wouldn't be sure if I would continue watching this if there was a 2nd season, but I don't think this series was highly considered to be good so I guess if you would wish to watch some rather awesome action scenes and do not mind the FS, this series would be good to go.
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
I had very high expectations for this. Like VERY, but the last episode was just ARGH. WHAT WAS THAT?!
honestly I would think that this is a good series. The comedy level is there, the FS they have is acceptable, plot wise was good as well, but the last few developments were disappointing. I was definitely expecting more developments between the 2 main protagonist but it all seem to be concluded with just one episode.
The series consists of a blonde hair protagonist Kodaka who because of his scary appearance, is unable to make any friends in his new school since everyone appears to be afraid of him. His only best friend was only with him when he was young and before moving house, but had lost touch with "him" after he had moved. The other female protagonist is Yozora, who is actually quite bullying in nature but is always quiet and thus, have no friends as well. One day Kodaka sees Yozora in the classroom alone and discovers that she was actually talking to herself. With some conversation, Yozora obtained the idea of starting her own club by herself to make friends and forms the Neighbour Club which aims for the members to make friends. It was later revealed that Kodaka's best friend was actually Yozora but he had mistaken her to be a guy when they were playing together as kids and both were given nicknames which they use for each other, Taka for Kodaka, and Sora for Yozora. More members started to join the Neighbour Club with the same goal and with all their different perky personalities, everyday seemed to be enjoyable in the Neighbour Club until Yozora got a bit jealous of how another female protagonist, Sena, was rather close to Kodaka, when she was actually the closest to him when they were best friends. Yozora later trims her hair short in the later part of the series, which makes Kodaka remembers her as Sora and with the Neighbour Club back to normal as Yozora didn't want to reveal their friendship to the others, the series ends on a light note.
It was a good comedy series to begin with, with the rather hilarious antics that each of the character shows. Some of the characters were rather annoying, like Sister Maria, but most of the others were rather lovable. FS were used too in the series, but it wasn't that bad as it seemed to be. When the Taka and Sora story started to kick in, the story seems to have headed to a better arc, or so I would hope, which obviously didn't. I was really expecting the truth to be out in one or two more episodes after Yozora overheard Kodaka mumbling something that they knew while they were kids, but it all dissolved after that and the truth was only out in the 2nd last episode. This all heads down to the final episode to conclude the Taka and Sora dilemma, which felt that it was lacking and there should be something more to it. I do not mind the comedy side of the series as it was rather good, but there could be much better story development starting with the reconciled friendship between the two. Watching the series past the halfway mark, I was already hoping for one of the members of the Neighbour Club to acknowledge the fact that if they wanted to make friends, they are already a group of friends. But it seems that no one acknowledges that rather obvious fact even till the very end. It was vexing to see them talking like they still have no friends when what was in front of them was the answer that they wanted. The conclusion didn't feel much like a conclusion unless it was meant for the truth to be out for both Kodaka and Yozora, it was alright I guess, but it definitely could be better IMO, if that was actually developed into the series as well or that the others discover about their secret as well. More materials could have been covered but I guess this does pave the way for a second season which I doubt would happen.
Overall, this was a good series but the ending was simply disappointing. Guess I shouldn't keep my expectations high...
Addictive song :) World's End Dancehall from Wowaka
lyrics in video!
apparently if I had saved a post as a draft, it'll be posted as the same date as the draft was saved. So incidentally, my previous post was kind of merged into one, making it seems like 2 posts in a day and it was kinda long. Not to worry, with my slight absence, this post is going to be much much longer than the rest.
P.S. somehow w/o synopsis, the posts are getting longer by its own. Hm...
P.S.S. there is an embed song below which you can listen to while going through the WOTs. =X
OK. So I guess I'll work on the 1st section first.
Had been sick for the past week, missed hanging out and just randomly slacking around but I guess I have no choice. Only in the last few days have I actually headed out with my family and managed to grab some great deals on offers. Seems like being sick does have the positive side as well, just that it'll come in one way or another. Hayate no Gotoku! old volumes are going at 1 buck each, published under ChuangYi which has only up to volume 16. Managed to grab almost all of the front volumes but am currently still short of certain volumes, and that actually makes the goal of collecting them all sooner or later coming faster than expected. Not only HnG's on offer but other series as well, some with the entire series in which each volume is also 1 buck, though Get Backers was one of the series on offer that caught my eye. Leaving that aside, ready-made spin pens are now available at some (or maybe all), comics connection branches. It was quite surprising to spot them here in Singapore which I don't think the community size of pen spinners are as large as other countries. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant surprise and I kinda felt happy that a hobby has now like "commercialised", allowing more youngsters to join in the fun as well. Bought one of the 19cm mods there and added some more grips from my own collection of parts. Do note that Sailer Gel pens which have one of the best grips are now available at Daiso outlets across Singapore. The weight is customizable and the length was just right for me so I guess this would be a good substitute for the time being. Sadly though, skills have became rusty over the months in which studying for exams was a priority but I hope to change that now :D
well heres how the mod (originally) actually looks like:
The re-sketch I was doing is still currently on hold, still wondering what kind of shading should I do, or should I say, I'm rather afraid that I'll screw it up as the outlines aren't actually easy. Will see how it goes before I do finish it up.
Moving on to the next section:
many series have already finished airing as of now, such as Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukinai and C^3 but I'll leave this 2 series overviews at my next post and perhaps more as other 11/12/13 episode series are wrapped up soon.
So in this entry I'll be talking about the Fafner Movie: Heaven and Earth, Hayate no Gotoku! Heaven is a place on Earth, and also the 2 season series, Arakawa under the Bridge. Yup, so I guess that's going to be long.
Fafner: Heaven and Earth
(Had to type this twice, apparently the saving speed of drafts isn't as fast as I thought it was and had lost the entire chunk of text)
The movie was actually aired in Singapore at a certain theatre, think it was on AFA or something but was unable to turn up due to exams and nevertheless, I managed to grab a copy of the DVD itself and was entertained for the full 88 minutes. It was real great and was a good supplement to post fafner-missing-syndrome.
The movie takes place 2 years after the series where Kazuki is now almost blind, could be said to be banned from piloting a fafner again as he might totally lose his eyesight, and Miwa, the child of Yumiko, is now born. The core of the island is now in its maturity stage and in line with the transition, the island's Mir is not protected from the outer polluted environment and the passive shield that makes Tatsumiyajima island invisible is not up yet. Commander Makabe, as a result, is suffering from certain illness, likely caused by the lack of their own atmosphere. Minashiro Tsubaki, now merged with the island's Mir, is now taking care of the current island's core which need to be in extreme care as it passes the maturity stage. The war that was supposed to have ended took a big turn when a festum attacks the island during a festival that was held and in Mark Sein, Kazuki heads out to fight the festum which had evolved to have a much clearer face and is seen to be murmuring some words. Further evolution of the festum made them able to use human weapons as well and that came as a surprise to everyone on the island. Shortly after the fight, an unmanned ship arrives on the island, with a festum taking the shape of a human on board, who claims to be called Misao Kurusu, and sent by Soushi to the island. He talks with Commander Makabe to ask him to cooperate with the festums and fight the other humans together but the plan was put on hold as much more details have to be known. It was later revealed that Kurusu had came from a mothership, which housed Makabe Akane as well and other "seem-to-be" nests of festums and from there, more attacks on the island was made, with more evolved festum and more utilisation of human weapons.
More fafner pilots were selected, and among them, Seri, the friend of Minashiro Tsubaki was chosen as well and she was the first to be able to decipher the words that the festums had murmured when they are about to meet their end: "It hurts. Save me." And that made the others wonder if the fight was necessary and they really need to communicate with the festums in order to stop this war once again. Tsubaki needed another core host to support the island's Mir and Seri volunteers herself to go to Tsubaki's side and together, the 2 were added to the Mir, supporting the transition of the current core to maturity. Kurusu was however unable to escape from what the other festums felt, pain, and had took it out on the island in the end, taking Kazuki along with him and disappears into the sky. A mission is then planned for the attack on the mothership of the festums and also to attempt to communicate with the festum and the Zero Fafner gets its debut with a dual pilot system and the attack was made, while the others protect the island from invading festums. It later turns out that Miwa, was the only one that could actually communicate with the festums and when Kazuki returns from his assimilation, he fights it all out with Kurusu's fafner, telling him that he can choose exactly what he wants to do and not just follow what he was told to do. Makabe Akane returns to the island where the core system was damaged by festum attacks and she assimilates herself with the growing core, stabilising it and with it, the shield of Tatsumiyajima island had returned and the island is once again shrouded in secrecy. Kazuki then awakes to find Soushi in front of him, who had managed to get his existence back from the festums and returns to the island with Kazuki.
Honestly w/o the screwed subs, I'd have enjoyed this movie much better than I already had. There was an amazing increase in animation quality, the fafners were given more details, weapons and explosions and stuffs, everything looks real good. Story wise was quite well done as well as it had featured the "sequel" to the original series where Soushi had disappeared and was finally reunited in this movie. Not so sure about what exactly happened to the core as the shield was not up until the end when Makabe Akane appeared and whether the sacrifice of Seri was really required. Mark Nicht seems to have made a return as well with Kurusu as the pilot but it looked more badass now. Furthermore, the pilot suits have now been enhanced and are looking better than the previous ones they had in the series. Overall it was a nice sequel, seeing how the original anime series was fitted with a prequel of Right of Left and a sequel of Heaven and Earth. It was also nice to see that everything was concluded in the end, with Soushi returning, and much less deaths were actually seen in the movie. Good to note, Sakura who was previously assimilated, is now up and kicking ass with her own fafner as usual, and there seems to be another sniper who takes the role of Toomi now. All in all, this was actually a good movie and with its upgrade in quality, no fafner fans should miss this. Honestly.
Hayate no Gotoku! Heaven is a place on Earth
Now this movie was actually disappointing in some ways but it does have its good points. The plot seems to be a little "common" or would I say, predictable. I'm not quite sure if it was meant to be a parody of other anime series or it was intentionally done to made it similar in some ways, but in humour level and characters, it was rather good. We get a glimpse of the current developments with more characters appearing from the manga in this movie as well. Such as Kayura and Ruka. Ruka's movie promotional pictures are all looking fantastic and it's great to see her being animated as well. Kayura is more of a cosplay character and she seems to have changed into many different costumes over the course of the movie.
It was a short 58 minutes movie but its humour was of the HnG level so it was actually quite enjoyable to watch it through. It was now summer break and the timeline was placed after Nagi had participated in the comics convention and had vowed to make a better manga and had (or should be) just met with Kayura who would be her manga advisor. However as school term was arriving, Hayate did not want Nagi to become too accustomed to the school breaks and not go to school once the breaks are over and thus, Ayumu suggests that they all go to the countryside where they could relax by doing absolutely nothing. Nagi was attracted to the offer and took it up, only to regret after there was lack of entertainment when they finally reached the countryside. However, Hayate sees a stranger, a woman with white hair in kimono outfit but disappears without a trace when Hayate wishes to confirm her identity. Until one night, where Hayate manages to chase her down but ends up in an amusement park in the middle of the forest and where other girls who had came along with the Sanzenin family were there as well. Nagi was then captured by the mascots there and as Hayate approaches them, he sort of awakes, from a dream, which he believes he had seen. He awakes, not knowing that he had been brainwashed, and the others as well, that Nagi was non-existent. And that Maria was now the girl that he is serving as a butler and even Hinagiku could not recognise Nagi's name. Isumi and Sakuya later arrives to help resolve the issue after the Hayate who was normal then, had contacted Isumi as he was worried about the stranger that he had saw. Nagi and the others were actually in the amusement park that was of a separate dimension as the outside world and they were trapped in it. Nagi later attempts to retrieve some telephone signal from the ferris wheel and was met with the stranger, who tells her that Hayate would not be coming for her anymore. She had given Hayate a diamond worth enough for Hayate to clear his debt of being Nagi's butler and so he'll be free once again. Hayate later finally remembers about Nagi after many flashbacks of him serving her and he really did come to her rescue, telling the woman that Nagi was his saviour and he would repay her and stay by her side as her butler. The amusement park then collapses and everything was back to normal once again and Hayate looks back to the amusement park, which was constructed from his memories, for he had came here before once with his grandmother, which was hinted to be the stranger that tried to return freedom to him.
Seems like not the entire Ayasaki family were gamblers, his grandmother actually do care about him much more than his 2 parents. It was great to see how the opening of the movie was actually tied to a concert that Ruka was currently having and that in the OP, we do get to see a glimpse of Athena as well. With the 3rd season announced, I do hope to see Athena real soon! :) It was also good to see how they had placed the sword that Hinagiku had used during the Athena arc into action in the amusement park so it was actually nice to see that it followed the manga rather closely. Animation quality was alright, even though it was different from the original anime series, after all, HnG is about its puns! :D More and more characters are being introduced and none of them seems to be totally left out. Humour level is still there, plot wise maybe not so good yet, but I am definitely looking forward to the 3rd season! :)
Well, mainly the references are commonly seen on Kayura's cosplays as she is said to be unable to fend of enemy mascots as her Excalibur was made of cardboard when she was in a Saber cosplay. Other references I thought of, and was said in the movie itself, was actually the amusement park which had represented a replica of a closed space in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. It was actually really similar and funny to see that Kayura noticed it as well and had grabbed her Haruhi outfit in response. Some other funny jokes were also there, including the apparent one where Saber Kayura locked herself out of the ferris wheel whilst promised Nagi that she'll be together with her. It was LOL & I was already laughing from all the sillyness. Good laughs! :D
Arakawa Under the Bridge
Now this series is real cool, real unique and really funny. It kind of represent a 4koma manga where the episodes actually consists of short episodes, mainly about 4/5 short episodes in a 20min full episode. The plot is silly, the characters are silly, the jokes are lame, BUT! the series in overall was extremely enjoyable, the characters are all lovable and most importantly, I was seriously laughing through the 2 full seasons of this wonderful series. I had kept it aside after seeing how silly the characters look but after certain good recommendations and a push from a friend, I went all in to this series and had not regretted watching this. This is clearly magnificent by itself, well definitely, since it has a live action and a live action movie adapted for this. :)
The plot for this series is actually quite simple. We have the male protagonist, a rich boy who has a large asset, Ichinomiya Kou, and his family rule is not to be in debt with anyone, one day finds himself indebted to a girl called Nino who saves him from drowning in a river and to repay her, Nino asks Kou to be her lover and that begins the story and the plot was overall about life under the bridge and the difficulties that they face and that Nino would always hope that everyone under the bridge would live together forever and ever. Now that seems to be a rather typical or normal plot, until the characters kick in. Nino is a girl who believes that she's a Venusian and has a gifted ability to catch fish in the Arakawa river by her own hands. The village chief who dresses himself in a Kappa suit, a musician Hoshi, who paints his head yellow and wears a mask so that his whole head is a star (which is Hoshi in Japanese), a man who follows only white lines and walks ONLY on white lines, a Sister who is a previous war soldier and is a male, 2 metal brothers who are 2 kids wearing metal masks all the time, P-ko, a clumsy girl who has her own vegetable farm, a born sadist called Maria, a crazily strong little girl Stella, a barber who uses a Katana called Last Samurai and 2 lovers Billy, who has a bird head, and Jacqueline who wears bee-like clothes. Now that's only the main cast that we see, with some other minor characters as well. Most of them do lack common sense in which Kou is trying to beat into them by later taking the job of a teacher there.
There isn't really much story development nor character development of each and everyone, but the sweet lovers, Kou and Nino is interesting to watch as a rich but innocent man dates a girl who believes that she's a Venusian? Now that is interesting. Much of the gags involved revolves around the personalities of each of the characters which we learn more about them after each episode and most of the time it's really just pure random jokes and random storyline. If it was me, I would have definitely went bonkers living under the bridge with them, but time over time, it did seem as a good retreat from hectic business life and even Kou seems to be more accustomed to their living styles as well. I wouldn't say that this series is a definite must watch, but it is entertaining enough for me, and for anyone that wishes to have small laughs now and then, this series would be good to go for. Bagging two 13 episode seasons, this series has obtained rather good viewership and the live action seems nice as well. In short, this is a good comedy. A really good comedy IMO. :)
Now that was actually a long post. Would be touching on the series that had recently ended in the next entry in preparation of a new year and a new season!
A Usual Life and the Earth's Frame: wowaka, Hatsune Miku
Rusubanden wa SABISU fuki kon da teishuuha
nichijou no saizensen watashi wa doko ni ike ba?
Tame kon da joudan wo ichido ni hakidashita
soryasokka ima datte toma razu
nanimo kamoga kawatterunda
Susuketa konjota mochikon da chouonpa
nichijou wo nigedashita watashi wo warau no desho
machigatta hontou mo tadashi uso saemo
kiritotta seikai wo nando mo
tashika merudake no mainichi da
Aa sorewa tooku natta.
Kurai kurai yoru wo matta.
Futo iroai naku natta.
Wazawaza fura tsukunda.
Mou tooi took ni itte
mujaki ni tada shizumi tainda
demo kotae, wakannaiya,
muda ni kirei na heya no naka
Kitaishi chaikenai yo itai kurai no sainou
SUPOTTORAITO butsu kowashite
takai takai dedoudai?
Nigemichi mo nai yo koko wa tada kyuumen jou
Kitaishi chaikenai yo itai kurai no kanjou
nichijou no kao wa tsumeta ina
takai takai wa doudai?
Saa, oi de yo
Aa sorewa tooku natta.
Kurai kurai yoru wo matta.
Futo dareka sure chigatta.
Wazawaza kawashiteta
Mou tooi took ni itte
hitori kiride nemuri tainda
demo sorewa kanashi souda
tsukare wate ta michi no soko
Nikaime no shippai da kitaishi tandaga son da
tanjunsagyou bakkari wo
kurikaeshi te wa doudai? Nigemichi wa nai yo
kizui te iru no deshou, ne
Sankaime no shippai wo kitaishi naideitai yo
nichijou no kao wo ukagae ba
takai takai mo doudai,
saa, oi de yo
Kitaishi chaikenai yo itai kurai no sainou
SUPOTTORAITO butsu kowashite
takai takai dedoudai?
Nigemichi mo nai yo koko wa tada kyuumen jou
Kitaishi chaikenai yo itai kurai no kanjou
nichijou no kao wa tsumeta ina
takai takai wa doudai?
Saa, oi de yo
having some problem with the old interface: unable to switch between HTML and normal compose mode so I had to do some adjustments before clicking on the beta new interface of blogger (which I am using now), and it turns out to be pretty neat. So here goes...
Upcoming Series!
And so... we have a couple of new upcoming series which I guess would be one of the weaker seasons in recent years. Unfortunately due to NS enlistment next year, I don't think I can follow the new series that frequently, maybe weekly. Having looked at the list of new anime series coming up for the next season, not many got my attention, there's only a few in which I'm definitely watching:
1) Kyousogiga
The 1st episode has already aired and I can say that I'm actually having high expectations for this series. It all seems like a mix of Soul Eater and Summer Wars which make the opening of this series really really eye-catching. Simple & "free" animations does make this series very promising. The series basically starts with 3 kids creating chaos as they fight against "things" which I believe are demons or spirits and the world that they live in seems to be a mix of both existence, humans and spirits alike. The eldest of the 3 kids, Koto, wields a hammer that can vary in size and uses it rather efficiently to fend the spirits off. The 3 kids are apparently looking for a way back home and the current town they live in seems to worship a spirit queen which has the same name as Koto. The 3 kids are thus chasing some Rabbit that they name and incidentally, Koto realises that she has some connection with the town itself and seems to have a direct relationship with Queen Koto.
From the animation quality and the action scenes, this series does pull off a great start and a strong mysterious storyline. Simple animation with just enough details given, gives me the impression that the series is going to focus more on the storyline too which I'd appreciate. It'll be a waste if this strong start would be dampened by unwanted factors. The suspense is kept rather high for now, with nothing much actually revealed in their 1st episode, which opened with some girl on a rampage with her hammer, which I do think that it was a unique and definitely a promising opening.
After watching the PV, it had immediately caught my attention with its uniqueness that it possess which was unlike the other typical anime series that had aired. I would definitely follow this, provided it doesn't start to disappoint me like what happened to Guilty Crown.
Here's the PV:
2) Black Rock Shooter
Following the OVA, BRS had wow-ed me once, and I hope it's going to wow me again for this short 8 episode series.
Firstly, bravo for huke for coming up with this amazing character and supercell for bringing BRS to a whole new level as well and it's now finally on official anime screens. The OVA was highly anticipated and it was also well received. It shed some light on the background of BRS, not entirely sure if it was following huke's idea but it turned out to be rather interesting, with a parallel universe acting as a place where people can express or hide their true feelings in it. Not much were shared in the OVA with only brief introduction of BRS and Dead Master and 2 other characters that were kept in the shadows. The TV series would possibly reveal more about the 2 and I'm definitely hoping for an appearance of White Rock Shooter which had made her debut in the PSP game. I was rather shocked when it was going to be just 8 episodes long (as shown in the PV), but dragging a series just to make it 12 or 13 episodes might make it more boring so I guess I wouldn't mind much about it being short, just for the awesome and wonderful story of BRS to unfold. Just a thing to hope, that there would be much clearer and possibly less transitions between the real and the alternate world and hopefully there would be much linking. Was a little confused over how it turned out in the OVA but it all worked out in the end and honestly, their high school life's a little plain so I'm hoping for more scenes to be of the parallel dimension and transit to reality when needed or showing a particular character's development.
All in all, I had definitely waited for this to come and I ain't missing this.
3) Nisemonogatari
I wouldn't be missing this after watching the epic 15 episodes of Bakemonogatari. It was an eye-opener for me since it seems to be totally different from what normal anime series would look like. Together with Kyousogiga, I believe Nisemonogatari would be the 2nd unique series this coming season.
Unfortunately, 1 of the great losses of Nisemonogatari was the character looks in this sequel. WHY must Hitagi get her hair cut short? NAZE DAAAAA..... She definitely looked better in the 1st season with her long purple hair. Seems like the short hair fad had spread in this sequel. More would be shed on the past of Araragi, hopefully, and of course the eluded Shinobu which I would definitely appreciate more light to be shed between her encounter with Araragi. Nothing much to be added on for this, just a simple must watch for me. Quite missing its animation style as well :)
P.S. somehow I'm getting more attached to SHAFT works these days, well they do have rather amazing works that just happens to be of my taste lately. Had recently finished Arakawa under the bridge S1&2 as well, will cover that in my next entry.
Here's the unfortunate PV of Nisemonogatari, note that I am referring to the dreadful loss and not the storyline :X
4) Another
Alright, this was a totally new series that just happen to catch my attention. Horror and mystery anime? Now I'm missing that. Higurashi and Umineko did serve as a rather promising series that had this similar genre and now this looks really really interesting (until it freaks me out 1st), but the plot given seems kinda normal for series of this genre so I do hope that there's more than just mere simple developments on the common plot. Would definitely consider watching this.
...
Other series don't seem to have caught my attention yet, perhaps after possible previews of their 1st episode I might consider them, but these 4 series are definitely on my priority list. I can't wait for this season to arrive! :D
Leaving off a beautiful song here as well from wowaka: Rolling Girl
もう一回！もう一回！xD MO-II-KAI! MO-II-KAI!
rollin' girl wa itsu made mo todoka nai yume mite sawagu atama no naka o kaki mawashite kaki mawashite
"mondai nai" to tsubuyaite kotoba wa ushina wareta?
mō shippai mō shippai machigai sagashi ni owa reba mata mawaru no!
mō ikkai mō ikkai "watashi wa kyō mo korogari masu" to shōjo wa iu shōjo wa iu kotoba ni imi o kanade nagara!
"mō ii kai?" "mada desu yo mada mada saki wa mie nai node iki o tomeru no ima"
rollin' girl no nare no hate todoka nai mukō no iro kasanaru koe to koe o maze awase te maze awase te
"mondai nai" totsubuyaita kotoba wa ushina wareta dō nattatte iin datte sa machigai datte okoshi chaō to sasou sakamichi
mō ikkai mō ikkai watashi o dōka korogashite to shōjo wa iu shōjo wa iu mukuchi ni imi o kasane nagara!
"mō ii kai?" "mō sukoshi mō sugu nanika mieru darō to iki o tomeru no ima"
mō ikkai mō ikkai "watashi wa kyō mo korogari masu" to shōjo wa iu shōjo wa iu kotoba ni emi o kanade nagara!
"mō ii kai? mō ii yo soro soro kimi mo tsukareta rōne" iki o yameru no ima
being completely out of a studying atmosphere, everyday has been slacking, slacking and more slacking :D hanging out with friends, spending some quality time with my family, doing the things I missed while studying, this carefree life is indeed very enjoyable, gotta enjoy these days to the fullest before they end!
Wanting to do something special instead of just plainly being online on the computer, learning more about guitar would be currently put on hold 1st while I get around and get more tab sheets. Recently just picked up sketching once again and I'm still on the level of re-sketching, whereas original sketches are still off the optimum. Just ain't familiar with the shading and stuff but chibi forms seems to be rather acceptable now. Currently doing a re-sketch of a rather nice illustration of Rin and Len Append Vers. and for now, I've finished the outlines but lacking the shading which I believe I'm gonna have a hard time doing it. Mainly due to the large amount of colours used and I'm using only black and white to finish the sketch, I doubt I can use the same style as what I used for the re-sketch of BRS so for the shading I bet its gonna take some time. Shall update this when I get the re-sketch done and scan it in. Credits belong to the original illustrator as well :) Gotta do more re-sketches till I get familiar with the shadings and proportions too.
I guess thats what I'm going to try and "learn" to make this short break a bit more meaningful, which I had intended to fine tune my guitar skills (which is now on hold) and also I planned to be a WS (weiss schwarz) player but I think that is gonna be postponed for now. For the cards, yes, I've been collecting them for a while now, aiming for foils and rares but WS was attractive due to their artwork on the cards and the layout looks rather promising as well. But since I seem to be the only one among the people I know that has WS cards or plans to play, going to the RC shop alone and playing with strangers would be much more fulfilling if I actually had someone I knew to tag along or something. So oh well, collection will most probably continue since the card designs and illustrations are good, but the playing might not be achieved so soon. (Furthermore the card details are in Jap, so I'll have to either memorise the card effects or effectively learn Jap WHICH I do plan to do so in the future)
will update on upcoming series in my next post so till then!
Leaving yet another nice song over here by Gumi!
turn on annotations for the english sub!
arittake no omoi wa kore dake no kotoba ni aishita kedo omoi wa sore dake no koto nano?
aishita nowa dare dakke? are hodo no jikanga kie te mie naku natta mada fure teru hazu nanoni
wasure te shima eba kieru hanshō
hontō datte ī to omoe nai no atashi wa mada yowai mushi kontorakuto kaigi atashi wa mata kimi no naka ni ochi te iku no
arittake no omoi wa kore dake no kotoba ni aishita kedo omoi wa sore dake no koto nano?
aishita nowa dare dakke? are hodo no jikan ga kie te mie naku natta mada fure teru hazu nanoni
masui o kake te yo hoteuru naisei
hontō datte ī yo modore nai no atashi wa mada kowaku naru monburan wa kanmi hadashi no mama sono amasa ni obore tai no
sōten kimi ga iru tōta kie te iku mō atashi wa kimi ni tsutae rare nai
"kimi ga shineba ī yo ima sugu ni"
hontō datte ī to omoe nai no atashi wa mada yowai mushi kontorakuto kaigi atashi wa mata kimi no naka ni ochi te iku
"uso de atte" to negau nowa hajiki otoshita kekka atashi ga mada yowamushi monburan datta kara
kimi ga haitteru kuri kaeshi hateru sore ni kotae yo to atashi wa aegu no
this entire post would be dedicated to School Days, which I had recently finished in 4hrs+ straight.
oh you thought this was a normal harem anime like Akane iru ni somaru saka? not exactly, but this has got to be one of the series with an amazing and shocking end, but a bland and boring front 11 episodes.
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Honestly, to me, this series can be said to be a waste of time. It was only 12 episodes long, poor character development, poor story and most importantly, it makes you pissed while watching the series. In short, I can even summarise the whole series in just 3 words: Confession, Betrayal, WOW. I'll get to the "WOW" part soon enough but if you've watched the series b4, then I believe it's easy to guess that.
I have never, ever, felt so pissed watching an anime series before. All I wanted to do was to punch the facts and some common sense into the main male protagonist which Mr. Makoto is so poorly lacking. I mean, WHO THE HELL is so oblivious and stupid? A main GUY character being such a horrendous airhead? No please. Just no. Maybe when this series had aired, it had tried to inhibit some possible perverted thoughts a healthy young man could have, but honestly, it had went overboard, too much overboard. So much so to the point where the "story" that was so weak in the first place, seems to have vanished into thin air. So OK, we have Mr. Makoto here, apparently got his eyes laid on some girl called Kotonoha and wanted to confess to her but lacked the courage or opportunity to do so. Apparently some other girl, Sekai, was now seated beside Makoto and realise that he has a crush on Kotonoha and tries to help put them together. Now that's where I thought: Oh! A love triangle setting, normal normal. And THEN when Makoto and Kotonoha are finally together, BAM! We have this idiot who totally ignores Kotonoha's suggestion and possible hints and was always aiming for the physical contacts. I MEAN WHAT THE HELL?! 1ST DATE AND YOU EXPECT SO MUCH?! So poor Makoto goes disappointed back home and had to be reprimanded by Sekai.
The cycle continues and Mr. Makoto becomes bolder, possibly due to the fact that he could always make up with Kotonoha if he did something bad, up to the point where he really didn't feel any remorse at all. That was just the 1st step of pissing people off. And then, as Kotonoha still remains rather conservative, Makoto gets bored of her and moves on to Sekai, who starts to develop feelings for him but is less conservative than Kotonoha, making Makoto "like" her more. So without breaking up with Kotonoha, Makoto begins his wild schedule with Sekai, ignoring Kotonoha, and when Makoto finally tells her that he wants to break up with her, Kotonoha suffers a mental breakdown. What the hell Makoto... you get bored just because a girl can't satisfy your desires?! zzzzzzzz
What's worse, was when other girls come flocking in with their feelings with Makoto and our dear male protagonist start to flirt and sleep with almost all other girls that throw themselves on him. Honestly, what do they see in him... So poor Kotonoha gets thrown away, discarded, even Sekai as well, with Makoto cheating on almost everybody. And then, Sekai announces her pregnancy, forcing others to leave Makoto, but him, not wanting to take responsibility, asks Sekai to go for an abortion and gets back together with Kotonoha. ... After making someone pregnant and still throwing girls away, treating them like mere items? Damn you Makoto.
And so all the mental build up and stress was released in the final episode with the "WOW" factor. 3 main protagonist, down with 1. Sekai stabs Makoto to death due to his betrayal and later a mental broken Kotonoha kills Sekai to confirm her pregnancy which was a lie. It then ends with Kotonoha hugging Makoto's head off to their little cruise on her private yatch...
Now that's where the "WOW" factor came in. Seeing how screwed the series has become, with totally random girls, who have least connection with Makoto, come to sleep with him, I wonder if the series was just showing how beastly a man can be. Well, I don't think there'll ever be some dude like Makoto but still... the series was ruined. The love triangle thingy could be handled more properly if we have a really proper male protagonist and a proper storyline, not just bed, bed, and more bed. Absolutely meaningless. The only plus point I could find in the series was the WOW factor. Where Makoto actually deserves his retribution and Sekai as well. Kotonoha should be the once pitied the most. Having to put up with Makoto's rubbish and having putting all her feelings on him after his confession, she ends up being betrayed and cast aside. Sekai is another Makoto-wannabe. She knew that Makoto already has a girlfriend and yet still tried to pull them apart? And even after succeeding, she still had the guts to tell Kotonoha off for stealing him away from her. Seriously? ._____.
I wouldn't have started watching this series if I had not seen how it had ended. And being curious of how it actually led to THAT ending, I actually started the series. Constant reminders to "keep the anger in" was needed. Like the front few episodes. It was honestly boring. And then the craps start to happen when Makoto goes around getting more and more girls... Haiz. Personally, this has got to be one of the worst series I've watched but with the most amazing ending. Still, the bad points of this series clearly outweighs the good and so nope, I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone. Avoid this.
I'm not sure if its just me, but the last 2 days or so have been extremely surprising, the weather that is. Somehow there's this connection between staying at home or not and rain or shine... When I'm heading out for outdoor activities, it rains. And when its indoor activities, it's all hot and shine. Furthermore, the weather forecast seems to be entirely off the last few days. It was supposed to be showers with thunder on Monday and Tuesday, but it was shine-all-day for both days and today with forecast of cloudy sky, it rained. I'm not saying that forecasts are always unreliable, its just that this coincidence is honestly disrupting certain plans I have for the day. So much for holidays at the end of the year accompanied by a rainy season. Oh well, nothing much to do about it, at least we do get some slack-time and I'm extremely thankful for that.
Thankfully, the rain subsided for a moment in the afternoon, giving us the opportunity to head back to the small cafe in Pasir Ris park. I was honestly missing it since it was like 2 years ago, after O levels, where we almost headed there everyday... Played Pool the 1st time at the cafe today and I had to admit, it was a pretty hard game. I have absolutely no idea, WHY, even if I had hit the white ball straight and in line with my coloured target, it just does not go straight... Where's all the supposedly conservation of linear momentum!? D: Got thrashed pretty much there, Pool ain't my cup of tea lol. Perhaps monopoly or some other games next time! Shogi or Hanafuda sounds great :D
and so now, its the time to talk about time. (pun intended :D)
Steins; Gate
This series had been quite a significant series back in the season it aired it and was pretty much one of the best series in 2011.
WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD
The storyline was strong, character development was strong as well, although there were places where the series had actually felt draggy, everything pieced together nicely for the impactful finale and a happy end that I would loved to see, which did. For a mid-long series of 24 episodes, it can be said that it had been a successful series.
The concept of time travel had always interest me and I guess that's one of the main reasons why I exceptionally love this show. Most of the dangers and risks of time travel were pretty much shown, and how real this could actually become was very "attractive" in a way. It had definitely opened up much more possibilities that time travel has as well. The moment when you could predict that something's going to go wrong with Okarin fooling around with time travel and his time influencing text messages, and the seriousness that can be felt when Okarin realises just how much impact his actions had on the world, was honestly captivating.
This then leads me to wonder: if one had the ability to change the past and affect the future, and for those, like Okarin, has the reading steiner (the ability to keep their memories as they transit to another timeline), what exactly happens to the individual that was left in the previous timeline? For me, I feel that perhaps another set of memories will automatically replace the one that had transited and continue to live as that individual in that timeline. Or perhaps the individual would just disappear, resulting a distortion of the timeline and the destruction of one of the countless number of alternative timelines. It could all be true but the clear thing is that when the past is changed, the future changes in terms of a transition to another timeline and not resulting in a direct change to the timeline itself. In other words, there wouldn't be any significance in time travelling at all. Assuming that every identical individual in each timeline has their own unique set of memories of living in that timeline, if a third person decides to change the past and transit to another timeline, or create a new one, the us in the original timeline would just see that individual disappearing or becoming a new "him", without any change in our future as the future that he had changed is in another timeline now. So, isn't time travelling just mainly a key to create a world that is a personal utopia?
Steins; Gate didn't explain what exactly happens to the individual that travels through time, even if SG had used the transfer of memories instead, which I did found very original and interesting. If all was true, Okarin is truly an individual worthy to be looked upon, after travelling through so many different timelines, and in each of the timelines, he had to watch his childhood friend, Mayuri, lose her life in one way or another. That vicious cycle would definitely continue if Okarin had not sought the help from his dear assistant Makise Kurisu. Indeed, she was a great help in the timelines that Okarin had revealed to her that he had time-leaped, and it was easy for her to believe after her "future" self had instructed Okarin to reveal some secret that she keeps to gain her belief. The climax of the season then arrives when Okarin realises that the reversal of the sent D-mails would save Mayuri, but in return, Makise Kurisu would die as his very 1st D-mail had saved her life, in return of a fated death of Shiina Mayuri. That moment of dilemma made me felt for Okarin and after Kurisu believes in Okarin and asks him to save Mayuri instead, the scene where both confessed their feelings for each other and ultimately Okarin leaving Kurisu behind was heartbreaking. Whats worse was when Okarin realises in his original timeline, that he was actually the one that killed Kurisu which his other self had found in the timeline and had thus sent a D-mail.
The last 2 episodes were clearly the best, where Okarin actually had some idea to fake the blood of Kurisu to deceive his past self and to shift the timeline into another, where both Mayuri and Kurisu survives. His initial plan to stun Kurisu unconscious and use a red liquid to fake her blood fails when the red liquid had solidified and the answer became clear, where Okarin decides to use his own blood instead. That heroic attempt was probably what led to the happy end, with Kurisu actually knowing Okarin who had protected her and had searched for him in Japan, whilst using the red liquid would make Okarin and Kurisu strangers all again. Either way, the memories of Kurisu with Okarin that spreads over all the different timelines would likely be sufficient for Kurisu to be able to feel something towards Okarin but in the end, they reunite and Kurisu obtains the badge of Okarin's lab assistant. The ending was easily predicted but was the best that the series could give, with the two lovebirds together once again. Honestly it would be better if Angel Beats! had ended similar to Steins; Gate, where the characters that reunite actually talks but I guess it might be much more difficult to explain why reincarnated people retain their memories when they're dead in Angel Beats!
Either way, I do like how the series had moved, with innocent Okarin experimenting on time travelling messages, to discovering the ability to change the past, to finding out that they're being watched after sending D-mails, to the point where Okarin had fell into despair of the seriousness of his actions and ultimately, resolving into a good end. I wonder how Kurisu and the others must have felt with Okarin leaping all over the place through time, with them retaining in their own timeline, as what I had said as of above.
All in all, I guess time travel does have its own "attractiveness", but in terms of practicability, maybe its just not there, unless more secrets are unlocked about this eluded idea. Nonetheless, Steins; Gate is a series that should be followed, tears and laughter are indeed all brought out by this amazing series. Thumbs up!
kisei sareta shikai mujihi naru juuni no shihai nogarerarenai
ansoku no asu o negatta te no naka no toutoi jishou no chihei e
torawareshi meiyaku arawareta gishou no rinkaku seimei no tenchi wa moumoku na jikan o kizanda habatake BATAFURAI kiseki no BATAFURAI anata e sasagu namida no BATAFURAI mabushii BATAFURAI subete ga– ima kakikaerareru
mado sae nai rou ni tozasareta juuni no kanshi damashikirenai
atatakai inochi o kanjita aitai ni yuganda shinri no mukou e
kizamareta keiyaku zankoku de wazuka na hokorobi tsumibukaki shinkou inochi sae michibiki no mama ni habatake BATAFURAI kiseki no BATAFURAI anata o kanji namida no BATAFURAI mabushii BATAFURAI sore de mo– tomerarenu shuusoku
fui o tsuite shimesareta keshiki aragau hodo ni muryoku o azawarau sora
torawareshi meiyaku arawareta gishou no rinkaku seimei no tenchi wa moumoku na jikan o kizanda habatake BATAFURAI kiseki no BATAFURAI anata e sasagu namida no BATAFURAI mabushii BATAFURAI subete ga– ima kakikaerareru
kanousei no hitei imashime wa juuni no shihai seijaku
