New season has arrived!

Friend leaving sg for overseas training! Good luck and take care! Bon Voyage!

Got myself stuck at home most of the time over the weekend... Only headed to Changi City Point to have dinner on sat and then a meetup with friends earlier in the afternoon. I would say the food over at Changi City is not bad, though the quantity in some restaurant is slightly disappointing but overall the food quality is real good. Got my taste buds really burning over there.. sambal FTW! Went over to have a look at Chrisford too, the red electric guitar is really tempting. D: So gonna get a red one in the future, think a mustang's really too ex though :X Will see how it goes...

The new season has arrived! And together with the new series, the old ones are having a hyped up time with Eureka Seven Ao going on a hiatus after showing a glimpse of Renton and are showing the last 2 episodes back to back. Madoka-style perhaps? I would really say E7 Ao is really exceeding my expectations after each episode, it's just getting more and more exciting from here on. Hoping for a good ending too :) Sword Art Online is moving its pace back to the front lines and the Aincrad arc should end perhaps in the next episode. Removing the marriage part and fully develop the storyline and ending the series at the end of Aincrad arc would possibly be the best and show Kirito and Asuna reunited in the real world would make it a perfect ending IMO. That was quite some filler episodes in between for character development but I would definitely prefer more focus on its MMO-styled genre and story development and definitely more action. Would've appreciated it more if there were more revelations and more insights on skills such as Kiirito's dual wield ability. 

Leaving them aside, over the weekend, we're greeted by 2 new series, an OVA and a new series on its on.

Shinsekai Yori

having watched the 1st episode, this series really seems promising. What had captured me was how mysterious the series turned out to be, with little or no explanation on how or what the world has become and no introduction of the story setting at all. It begins with a scene in today's world with people being killed off by special powers and the next moment, it revolves around a totally new world where little children already wield special powers. What captured me more was the OST used in the series. It was really epic and unique in its own way. Supernatural and mystery? Hell yeah i'm on the boat!

Code Geass Akito the Exiled

well well, an alternative story for Code Geass. This time with enhanced graphics. REALLY enhanced. And thankfully, the characters retained the character art from the 2 famous seasons years ago. Nostalgia FTW. Unfortunately the series is going to run for 5 episodes if i'm not mistaken, with a 51min 1st episode being aired. The knightmare designs retained their unique aspect of wheels except Akito's debut knightmare which was more like a transformer and more high tech. Plain story development on the 1st episode and a breakdown on the main characters, some actions here and there to complement the episode as a whole. I would honestly say i'm awed by the new graphics of knightmares in combat, macross quality is what i'm seeing in this code geass series. C.C. would be introduced in the 2nd episode as hinted by the preview, nothing much is revealed about Akito's geass (or being geass-ed). What I believe the series is lacking is the mission planning driven characteristics of code geass. All the planning by Lelouch to win battles were definitely the  main key to code geass and currently that's not what I saw in this OVA. Perhaps they've relinquished that aspect but it'll be missed dearly.

Akatsuki no Kuruma - still a beautiful song up to now :)


Kazesasou kokage ni utsubusete naiteru
Mi mo shiranu watashi wo watashi ga miteita
Yuku hito no shirabe wo kanaderu GITAARA
Konu hito no nageki ni hoshi ha ochite

Yukanaide, donna ni sakende mo
ORENJI no hanabira shizuka ni yureru dake
Yawarakana hitai ni nokosareta
Te no hira no kioku haruka
Tokoshie no sayonara tsuma hiku

Yasashii te ni sugaru kodomo no kokoro wo
Moesakaru kuruma ha furiharai susumu
Yuku hito no nageki wo kanadete GITAARA
Mune no ito hageshiku kakinarashite

Aa kanashimi ni somaranai shirosa de
ORENJI no hanabira yureteta natsu no kage ni
Yawarakana hitai wo nakushite mo
Akaku someta suna haruka koete yuku
Sayonara no RIZUMU

Omoide wo yakitsukushite susumu daichi ni
Natsukashiku me fuite yuku mono ga aru no

Akatsuki no kuruma wo miokutte
ORENJI no hanabira yureteru ima mo dokoka
Itsuka mita yasurakana yoake wo
Mou ichido te ni suru made
Kesanaide tomoshibi
Kuruma ha mawaru yo

Deceleration

Accel World

 An halted acceleration and an arupt end to the 24 episode series of Accelerated World.

The story revolves around 4 main characters and their ability to enter another world called the Accelerated World by literalyl accelerating their brain processing and accessing their own Brain Burst program that is installed on a device called the Neuro-linker. Kinda similar to SAO's nervegear but of a smaller scale and more high-tech I would suppose. In the Accel World, each character have their own battle avatars which they fight for points which are used for acceleration and to level up. Currently, level 9 avatars hold the title of a King and becoming level 10 would be suggested that he or she would be able to discover the true purpose of Brain Burst and the Accel World. So our main protagonist, Haru, gets his brain burst program from Kuroyukihime and together with the others, venture into the Accelerated World.

It had quite a notable plot to begin with and it was definitely one of the more promising ones in the season. Some of the arcs are really good, with action scenes slammed in together with great plot development whereas others were simply fillers to drag the series on which I thought would've been better if they would care to insert a more story driving arc.

Two of the more notable arcs I would presume to be would be the Armor of Catastrophe and the Nomi arc, whereas the short trip of Kuroyukihime was simply just filler, adding more mystery and questions to the already question flooded series. The Armor of Catastrophe added on to the stress of a guardian and student relationship, where the student tends to surpass their master and succumb to temptation for power to protect their own guardians. And the Nomi arc which shows how quick something precious can be taken away from you and how important believing in yourself is.

So for the plus points: I would say that the plot is good on its on. Interesting storyline and adds a lot of suspense that could be further developed. Unique character interactions. Interesting use of avatars and a versus like game system, which combo / death move gauges and deathmatch settings. A major twist in the arc where I didn't expect Chiyu's plan was THAT and had some link with her avatar's ability. A character development moved according to the trauma that they face that makes up their battle avatar.

There was a fair bit of downside too: Most importantly, whatever happened to the armor of catastrophe? It was heavily hinted after the previous armor had fell and had itself attached to Haru, and the armor taking effect when he went berserk on Nomi. And then the armor was left forgotten for the rest of the series. Very little time was spent on explaining the neurolinker and their non-battle avatars, would've helped if they would explain a little more on that. Little is revealed about other kings, except mainly the Black and Red King. And the main goal of reaching level 10 does seem difficult for the main character since I still believe that Black Lotus, being at Level 9, would definitely have reached Level 10 faster than the rest and to do so, she'll need to have a deathmatch with the other Level 9s so I think there's little plot flow that link to Haru. And lastly, the characters talk way too much during a fight.

Not a bad series I would say in terms of the plot. An advice would be to skip the fillers if possible, since they have very little impact on the main plot and they're rather boring too. Otherwise, this would be a good time-killer with just some questions still left unanswered at the end of the series. Time to head to the novels I presume...

6hr Karaoke

dang, karaoke is awesome :D

went to Teo Heng KTV @ Katong this time round, cheaper pricing and have more updated songs compared to PartyWorld. Not so sure about KBox though, but maybe i'll try CashStudio soon haha.

spammed Chinese songs here and there and some few japanese songs, which are at least slightly up to date. I found Mami Kawada's Borderland, Kalafina's Magia and LiSa's Crossing Field. Awesome much. Time really flies in KTV though, the 6hrs really did fly by. Literally. I guess I'm not the calm singer type or maybe I get too high in KTV cos I really am like shouting like how I was "singing" in NS. Some diaphragm upgrade!

Later in the day we went on to Parkway Parade to grab our dinner, guess I was quite a burden cos I really didn't want to spend a lot on food, felt quite bad since its like a once-in-a-while thing but my conscience is hitting me back :( Went on with the cheapest of the available options: PastaMania. Didn't actually head there to eat before so I guess this was the 1st time I'm actually stepping inside the restaurant. Got myself a spicy bacon aglio thingy, which I found the portion quite disappointing. It was like a palm size plate of pasta which tastes great but not actually filling at all. Oh well, it was a first hand experience but I don't think I'd head to PastaMania to grab another bite anytime soon in the future.

OH. and Tampines have now a LaoBan beancurd outlet! Simply Awesome. I no longer have to head down to Dakota to grab one with one nearer now :D YESS!

Cashstudio next? 

A rather unique song by IA, from Vocaloid 3! Awesome voicebank from Lia!

 

na mo nai jidai no shuuraku no
na mo nai osanai shounen no
dare mo shiranai otogi banashi
umare tsuita toki kara imigo oni no ko toshite
sono mini amaru batsu wo uketa
kanashii koto wa
nani mo nai kedo
yuuyake koyake te wo hikarete sa
shiranai shiranai boku wa nani mo shiranai shikarareta ato no yasashisa mo
ame agari no te no nukumori mo demo hontou wa hontou wa hontou wa hontou ni samui nda
shinanai shinanai boku wa nande shinanai? yume no hitotsu mo mirenai kuse ni
dare mo shiranai otogi banashi wa yuuyake no naka ni sui komarete kietetta

hakidasu youna bouryoku to
sagesunda me no mainichi ni
kimi wa itsu shika soko ni tatteta
hanashi kakecha dame nano ni 「kimi no namae ga shiritai na」
gomen ne namae mo shita mo nainda
boku no ibasho wa
doko nimo nai noni 「isshoni kaerou」
te wo hika retesa
shiranai shiranai boku wa nani mo shiranai kimi wa mou kodomo janai koto mo
narenai hito no te no nukumori wa tada hontou ni hontou ni hontou ni hontou no koto nanda
yamenai yamenai kimi wa nande yamenai? mitsu kareba korosare chau kuse ni
ameagari ni imigo ga futari yuuyake no naka ni sui komarete kietetta

hi ga kurete yoru ga akete asobi tsukarete tsukamatte
konna sekai boku to kimi igai minna inaku nare ba iino ni na minna inaku nare ba iino ni na
shira nai shira nai koe ga kikoete sa boku to kimi igai no zenjinrui
aragau mamo naku te wo hikarete sa yuuyake no naka ni sui komarete kietetta
shiranai shiranai boku wa nani mo shiranai kore kara no koto mo kimi no na mo
ima wa ima wa kore de iin dato tada hontou ni hontou ni hontou ni hontou ni omounda
shiranai shiranai ano mimi nari wa
yuuyake no naka ni sui komarete kietetta

Hyouka ends.

Hyouka, a magnificent series of 22 episodes, written by a wonderful author and had a simple and unique ending to mark a full stop to the series.

Hyouka was one of the more interesting series that I have followed in terms of mystery. Where the mysteries that were involved were not those of big crimes but of minor things that we might not actually be curious about yet Chitanda does. And to complement with her curiosity, Oreki Houtarou steps in as the detective of the series. Not every detective really solves everything but there were a few impactful scenes in the series that really make it one of the better series of its season.

1. The movie arc. With Oreki given the role of the detective to finish a unfinished plot and to solve what exactly the scriptwriter had wanted the movie to continue. In the end after he solved a supposed mystery, he was solving the mystery for himself and was tricked into solving a mystery that wasn't one but made into one by him. And that arc was really kind of like inception where I really didn't see the arc heading that way at all and it was after this particular arc that I really started to like how the series is going.

2. The cultural festival arc that had Jumonji involved. That arc too showed the flaws of certain deductions but was the turning point for the series, showing major character development for characters such as Oreki, who started to change and not follow closely to his motto anymore (an influence from Chitanda) and Satoshi, who begins to feel jealous of Oreki's deduction skills and had to admit that he was nowhere near Oreki's caliber of solving mysteries.

3. Episode 21, the valentine episode. It wasn't really a big story arc as it just revolves around a lost chocolate Mayaka made for Satoshi which in the end it was Satoshi who had "stole" the chocolates to prevent his personality from hurting Mayaka. The scene where Oreki reveals to Satoshi that he knew it was him who had taken them was a memorable one where Satoshi actually showed how much he had changed and that he was inferior compared to Oreki. "I became obsessed with not being obsessed about anything."was the change that Satoshi had and he didn't want himself to be obsessed over Mayaka which might turn out to be boring in the long run and he's afraid that might hurt her feelings. And that, is some backlight for Satoshi.

Overall it was a good series with a few main arcs and short mysteries here and there that patch them up to become a wonderful series. The ending of Oreki thinking about Chitanda's reaction if he had "confessed" was sweet too and it had a nice touch of an ending. That's the end and now it's all for the novels :)

within a short span of 4 weeks, or a month I would say, 3 out of my 4 weekends were burnt. unfortunately so that I've been coping myself at home for the past few short weekends to at least be able to rest and recover.

that aside, been actually learning music theory from fellow army friend and I would say it's rather mindblowing or in other words: Chim. Remembering the entire fretboard of the guitar is one thing, but remembering all those chord pattern and understanding them is a whole new level. Now I think it takes me a minute or so to get a correct chord by applying chord principle of 1,3,5 such as like F# minor etc. Am trying hard not to use tabs for these so I can improve on reading and comprehending chords and notes. Seems like a good use of admin time in camp haha.

the website for this year's Anime Festival Asia 2012 has already been up since months ago but the ticketing information has yet to be released. am hoping dearly that I do not have any events clashing onto the same dates though. been waiting every year for this to come :X

the Fall season has arrived and it's goodbye to Summer 2012!

the Summer season was pretty bad IMO, had only followed 2 series: Kokoro Connect and Sword Art Online and what's worse it that the later is plunging down the drain.

Kokoro Connect is still going well with the little arcs here and there which continues to deliver strong character development and we get to know 1. what people might actually be hiding inside themselves 2. what people actually are thinking and 3. bringing past memories, both good and bad, back into the present. A rather refreshing and defining series that really changes my perspective of how people really act. Seems like studying human behavior haha.

Sword Art Online on the other hand is getting boring after each episode. The episode with Kirito showcasing his unique dual blades skill was simply awesome and I was kept at the edge of my seat watching the boss getting owned but latest few episodes of extremely fast developing romance and honeymoon went way overboard. It was plain simple to see that Kirito and Asuna were a couple but I din't expect their love to blossom so fast. Indeed there was a time skip in the series of a year or two, but not showing the viewers how their relationship developed and showing them married within a few episodes into the series was really too fast. Having read the wiki, there seems to be multiple arcs in the series itself but at this rate I'd rather see the series ending with its 1st game and stop there rather than become a long and draggy one or become another series similar to Guilty Crown.

Fall 2012 is arriving and it really brings out one of the most refreshing seasons we have yet to have for a long time. Possible series that I'd most probably follow were listed in the previous post so yea, I am looking forward to the upcoming series.

Spotted an upcoming work from SHAFT too:



yes, another Mahou Shoujo series. On 1st look it'll be all going : wow, another magical girl series. more magic and monster wacking. On a CLOSER look:

...

SHAFT?

oh no.

Many would most likely think of this as a 2nd PMMM, but considering how cheerful madoka's PV was and similar to his, I wouldn't simply discard the thought that there would be something dark in the story. Honestly I would want another redefinition of a magical girl series and since it's by SHAFT, I'm having really high hopes for this.

FLOW - Brave Blue



光る水平線 始まりと終わりの
溶け合うそこは 涙の故郷なの
Hikaru suiheisen hajimari to owari no
Tokeau soko wa namida no furusatona no

ふるえてる手で 信じられる物 ポケットに詰め込んだ
彼方(かなた)で 揺らめいてる蜃気楼
Furue teru te de shinji rareru mono poketto ni tsumekonda
Kanata de yuramei teru shinkirou

空見上げれば 導いてくれるような
懐かしくて熱い光をくれる
あなたは小さく手を振るよ
行かなくちゃ もう泣かないよ シャングリラ
新たな世界へとダイブしよう
青色に抱かれた僕は...
Sora miagereba michibiite kureru youna
Natsukashikute atsui hikari wo kureru
Anata wa chiisaku te wo furu yo
Ikanakucha mou nakanai yo shangurira
Aratana sekai he to daibu shiyou
Aoiro ni daka reta boku wa...

目指すは地平線 遥かなこの道を
歩は遅くとも 風味方にしてさぁ行こう
Mezasu wa chiheisen harukana kono michi wo
Ho wa osokutomo fuumi hou ni shite saa ikou

ひび割れながら 戸惑いながら 君は今日も生きているんだ
それをね 望む人達がいる
Hibiwarenagara tomadoinagara kimi wa kyou mo ikite iru nda
Sore wo ne nozomu hitotachi ga iru

空見上げれば 導いてくれるような
懐かしくて熱い光をくれる
あなたは小さく手を振るよ
行かなくちゃ もう泣かないよ シャングリラ
新たな世界へとダイブしよう
青色に抱かれた僕は...
Sora miagereba michibiite kureru youna
Natsukashikute atsui hikari wo kureru
Anata wa chiisaku te wo furu yo
Ikanakucha mou nakanai yo shangurira
Aratana sekai e to daibu shiyou
Aoiro ni daka reta boku wa...

闇の向こう側 どこまででも 変わらぬまま
深くて美しい 海と空の青 青 また会おう
Yami no mukougawa doko madede mo kawaranu mama
Fukakute utsukushii umi to sora no ao ao mata aou

空見上げれば 導いてくれるような
懐かしくて熱い光をくれる
あなたは小さく手を振るよ
聞こえるか?待っていろよ シャングリラ
無限大の「I」でサバイブしよう
必ず見つけ出してみせるよ
行かなくちゃ もう泣かないよ シャングリラ
新たな世界へとダイブしよう
青色に抱かれた僕は
この胸の高鳴りと共に
Sora miagereba michibiite kureru youna
Natsukashikute atsui hikari wo kureru
Anata wa chīsaku te wo furu yo
Kikoeru ka? Matte iro yo shangurira
Bugendai no 'I' de sabaibu shiyou
Kanarazu mitsukedashite miseru yo
Ikanakucha mou nakanai yo shangurira
Aratana sekai he to daibu shiyou
Aoiro ni daka reta boku wa
Kono mune no takanari to tomoni

Credit: FLOW - Brave Blue (ブレイブルー) Lyrics | KINGRPG
http://www.kingrpg.net