This Livejournal is semi-friends-only - comment to be added.

Anime chatter, memes, and reviews are usually left public, and anyone registered with LJ can comment on public posts. However, nearly everything relating to work or personal life (i.e. about half my LJ's contents) is friends-locked. Feel free to drop me a line in this entry to be added to my f-list. I don't bite, and I'll generally friend anyone back who shares some common interests. Defriend me, and I'll defriend you back no questions asked. For more information about me/this LJ, please visit my profile page.

A third and final warning for anyone who may have missed it that I'll be doing a major friends cut in a few days. If I don't know you outside of LiveJournal and you have not done so already, please comment HERE if you'd like to stay on - if not, no hard feelings.

Got the email just now! From early August I will be living in Ainan, a large town in Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku.

I have a bone to pick with Angel Beats!. Not with the show itself, because I'm watching it for the third time and still sniffling over it, but with the DVD set. It's the official collection released by Siren Visual, purchased at the Armageddon Expo in Auckland last year. And yet I'm actually less impressed with this copy than I was with the fansubbed version.

First off, there are a few mistakes with the subtitles. Not many, to be sure, and they're relatively small mistakes - nothing that makes me want to bash my head against a brick wall like mixing up "your" and "you're" or anything like that. Still, when a fansubbed version of an anime is technically better than the official copy, you have to scratch your head a bit.

Secondly - and this actually bothered me more - whoever handled the subtitling went a bit overboard. Like most official anime DVDs these days, there are four options: English dub, Japanese with English subtitles for everything, Japanese with English subtitles for writing/signs only, and Japanese with no subtitles. Because I'm nowhere near fluent enough in Japanese to follow an anime without subtitles, I usually pick the second option.

Only with Angel Beats!, someone decided it would be a good idea to subtitle absolutely everything - including the lyrics for any and all background music. Both the Japanese words plus the English translation. Not only does this clutter up the screen since there's quite a lot of music vocals going on in Angel Beats! while dialogue is also happening, but I feel it's just plain unnecessary. I don't need to see the lyrics of the songs to know if it's a sad moment or not; if anything, it just ends up detracting from the atmosphere when I'm trying to read three things at once while simultaneously trying to pay attention to the visuals.

I know, this is a stupidly geeky thing to get disgruntled over, not to mention being the epitome of a first-world problem. Still. It's Angel Beats!. And I prefer my downloaded copy. So there.

This wasn't the most fun photoshoot I've had, but to be honest, shoots of this type are rarely all that fun to do anyway - it's literally having to put on dress after dress after dress, and only getting about 2-3 minutes in each one, so you mostly just end up hot and tired. It's also probably not that interesting from a fashion perspective, since there's no real concept as such beyond showing off the pretty. On the other hand, some of these gowns were really gorgeous, and I already knew the photographer, who is lovely and also easy to work with. The other great thing was that the second model and I were very well taken care of by the designer, who was super-organised (yay!) and kept scurrying about making sure we weren't getting hungry or thirsty. Seriously, politeness and friendliness goes a long way in my books, and New Zealand is a small place; word gets around about everyone.


( A few of my favourites under the cut. )

I don't think I could ever love Legend of Korra the way I loved The Last Airbender - mostly because nostalgia counts for a lot, but also because no Avatar character could ever be as awesome as Uncle Iroh. EVER. That said, I'm enjoying the new Avatar series a lot, and was particularly impressed by episodes 5 and 6. In terms of production quality, there's also very little I can fault. The artwork is in the same style as The Last Airbender, the animation is just as sound, and the voice acting is as good as to be expected from the show. More generally speaking though, here are a few of my thoughts:


- Korra herself is cool. I think the creators made a wise move in making her character completely different from Aang's, since people would be forever comparing the two otherwise. In a lot of ways I think Korra is more flawed than Aang as an Avatar, especially because she's 17 years old, whereas Aang (biologically speaking) was introduced to us at age 12. I like that about Korra though, because it makes her seem realistic. She's not perfect, she knows it, and in a way I think she actually enjoys it. I also like that her physical design is as separate from Aang's as her personality is. If her character is modelled off of any one person in particular, I think it would probably be Avatar Kuruk's.


- At first I was more a fan of Mako than Bolin, since I don't really go for the naive, optimist, heart-on-sleeve types. Episode 5 totally turned that around though (the humour completely nailed it!), and now I'm quite the Bolin fan. While I'm not currently rooting for any one pairing (it's way too early for that, the series will likely introduce us to several more characters yet), I love the friendship that has now developed between Bolin and Korra. Their shared enthusiasm for pro-bending, their competitive but fun-loving natures, and the way they just let it all out and burp to their heart's content in each other's company is really sweet. Whatever else happens, I hope these two remain close.


- There's no character I especially dislike as such. I heard on the grapevine that there's a lot of Asami-hatin' going on, and I just don't give a crap. Granted, she's done nothing to make me particularly interested in her, but she's also done nothing to make me want her out of the picture. Right now my favourite character other than Bolin is probably Lin. As the daughter of Toph I'd probably find her pretty interesting anyway, but like Toph, she's also the very definition of 'kick-ass female', albeit in her own unique way. I hope we get to see a lot more of her in the future.


- I understand that Legend of Korra probably wants/needs to distance itself from The Last Airbender in order to stand strongly on its own merits, but I still hope like crazy that there will be more insider references to come. I squeed like the fangirl I am when the pro-bending announcer mentioned Flameo noodles, and I assume that Cabbage Corp is a nod back to our ever-unlucky cabbage merchant, who apparently gave up on cabbages in exchange for automobiles at some point. I heartily approve of this type of fanservice.

I heart cello. It and the violin are my two favourite musical instruments to listen to. I never thought I'd see two guys duke it out with a killer rendition of Smooth Criminal, but there you go. The video's a year old now but I only found it yesterday, so perhaps some people on my f-list will also be amused.





Speaking of rock music covered with weird instruments, have another favourite of mine - Enter Sandman played on the kazoo.

In less than 3 months I'll be living in Japan. This probably means I'll be talking a lot more about work (i.e. being an English assistant language teacher), but possibly also writing a bit less in general since I'm sure I won't have as much time as I currently enjoy to do so. I want to try and keep up with things as much as I can here on LJ though, so over the last couple of days I've been making things a bit more manageable by cleaning up the communities on my watch-list and such.

I also have over 120 people on my f-list. I hear from about a third of those people on a relatively regular basis, so I figure I have some cleaning up to do on that front as well. I don't want to cut people who are perfectly happy lurking though, because I guess I lurk a fair bit myself - I just don't talk if I feel like I don't have much to say.

So if you ARE currently on my f-list and DO want to stick around, please leave a comment here at some point within the next month (although if I know you offline then you don't need to worry about it). All comments will be screened, so if you want to say anything else then you are most welcome to - I'm not going to get upset or stalk anyone who would rather not be here. Defriend me and I'll do the same, no questions asked.


EDIT: This post is totally not meant in any finger-pointing kind of way. I know I haven't been commenting as much as I probably could/should have been, especially over the last few months. Part of the reason I'd like to trim my f-list a little is so that I can try to be a better f-lister myself. This post is therefore aimed at people who either don't use LJ much at all anymore, or else who will get bored (or are already bored) when all I talk about is anime, Japan, and my upcoming teaching work.

You know those anime like Nodame Cantabile or Nana or BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad that make you irrationally want to start a band?





Yeah. Also, I predict that Sakamichi no Apollon will be directly responsible for around a third of its viewers suddenly getting into jazz music.

I wanted at least some of my articles for Otaku Lounge to be just as accessible to non-anime fans as to the hardcore anime viewers, particularly the first few. The latest article is exactly that. http://www.forcesofgeek.com/2012/04/anime-for-virgins.html

I may continue to post updates here for Otaku Lounge now and then, but I won't be doing it for every article because that would probably be annoying. Please follow me on Twitter if you want continual article updates: https://twitter.com/#!/crsg_tweets

Had a good time on the weekend at Hamilton's first Armageddon Expo - in previous years Armageddon has only been hosted in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, so quite apart from the fact that I love going anyway, I was interested to see what the expo would be like during it's first run in the city I live in. And there were definitely a few things that could possibly be improved upon fairly easily for next time:


- For some reason (I didn't catch why), the AMV competition was cancelled literally last-minute. A shame, because it was the only thing on the events programme that I really wanted to see.
- The reason I only wanted to see the AMV competition was because much of the rest of the programme consisted of Twilight-centric events. In all fairness, Armageddon is a general pop culture expo, and Twilight is certainly pop culture. On the other hand... well, it's Twilight. Even putting my personal tastes aside, part of the reason I like Armageddon is to get away from the mainstream, not to indulge in it. I refuse to believe that Twilight constitutes as 'geek culture'.
- I noticed right away that there were fewer stalls than Auckland Armageddon regularly has. This could have been out of control of the organisers, I'm not sure. However, because I go to Armageddon solely for the anime, and because anime is a small part of Armageddon to begin with in comparison to the comics/sci-fi aspects, it really sucked that only Madman was there. What happened to Siren Visual??


These relatively minor complaints aside, I had a really great time. Unfortunately I work on Saturdays and could only make the Sunday session, which I'm told was far smaller and less exciting - I believe there were roughly 8000 people the first day, and around half that the second day. But by all accounts it was a very successful weekend, and Armageddon will likely continue to be held in Hamilton for the foreseeable future. Even though I won't be able to make the next one since I'll still be in Japan at that point, I'm really glad that the city gets something to boast about other than certain events involving loud cars or a heap of farmers.


( A few photos under the cut. )

This is basically part 2 of the post I made in March about the new season anime, which can be found here: http://crsg.livejournal.com/296092.html


Sakamichi no Apollon
I've only seen the first episode which became available to watch subbed yesterday, but I'm already in love. The artwork is nice, the animation is extremely fluid (which always comes across especially well whenever anyone in anime plays a musical instrument), and unsurprisingly, Shinichirō Watanabe clearly knows how to tell a great story. I'm really excited about this one because while both Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo are excellent, I've been very into my slice-of-life/realistic drama anime lately, which I don't believe Watanabe's ever done before. I'm fully expecting Sakamichi no Apollon to be the best anime to be released this year.


Eureka Seven: Ao
I actually have no idea what this anime will be like yet. I loved the original Eureka Seven, but there's no telling how similar the sequel will be in terms of overall feel. The first episode gave very little away, so I don't know where the story is going or if I'll like the new characters. To be honest, I spent the twenty-odd minutes of Eureka Seven: Ao episode 1 in a state of mild confusion. I'll be looking forward to the next couple of episodes, but I do hope things become clearer as to what the hell is going on.


Hiiro no Kakera
I won't be watching any more of this one. I don't like most of the character designs at all, and when it comes to reverse-harem anime, that tends to be important. In fact, I just can't bring myself to care about what's going on as far as plot goes, and while I've seen far worse, I pretty much just found myself bored for the first 2 episodes. I know that's not exactly a long time, but I doubt the story is going to get any more compelling.


Sankarea
Wait, this is a comedy right? Because if I was supposed to be laughing when Rea tells Chihiro that her dad takes naked pictures of her each year on her birthday to track her growth, I wasn't laughing. I could deal with the fact that Chihiro dug up his dead cat and kept it on ice for a few days to try and resurrect it, because it's not like the anime is attempting to be realistic and frankly, I've seen things far more disturbing over the years. Still, I didn't find much in this anime to giggle about, and all that's left over is a lot of fanservice courtesy of Chihiro's big-breasted cousin, so I think I'll give Sankarea a pass as well. I don't mind the zombie thing, but unfortunately I don't think that's going to be the selling point of this particular story.

Ieiri Leo's second single 'Shine' is out, to be officially released May 16th. Here's the music video:





I think I like her first single 'Sabrina' better, but only just. The chorus in 'Shine' is pretty darn catchy though, and the song is being used in Fuji TV's new drama, Kaeru no Ojousama. I'm really looking forward to Leo's debut album, whenever that may be, because based on her first two singles I'll definitely be buying it.

I GOT IN. ASDFGHJ SO EXCITED.

Leave a comment saying you want to do the meme. I'll respond by asking you five questions to satisfy my curiosity. Update your journal with the answers to your questions. Include this explanation and offer to ask other people questions.

nagasasu gave me these questions:


1. Who is a musical artist you wish more people knew about?
Although I probably listen to some music that a lot of people have never heard of, I wouldn’t count my taste in music alternative enough that I listen to a whole lot of super obscure artists, either. So I’m just going to pick a band off my CD rack that I haven’t heard many people talking about (although I’m sure one or two f-listers will know them): Eve 6. I first heard of them when a friend of mine had made up a mix CD and played 'Think Twice' when we were driving somewhere. I got curious, then heard 'Promise' and fell in love.





2. What was one of your alternate ideas for your doctoral thesis?
Actually, I never did come up with a solid alternate idea. My original proposal had a lot of work done to refine it once I had convinced people that the idea was sound, but nobody ever told me that I needed to come up with something different – and in all honesty, I can’t really imagine having the motivation to write that much on any topic other than anime. So I suppose that if I had come up with another idea besides representations of sexuality in anime, it would have been something else to do with anime. Religious appropriation, perhaps?


3. What is an anime you loved, but didn't expect to?
Toradora. I remember that when I watched the first couple of episodes, I didn’t think much of the anime at all. Not that there was anything bad about it per se, but for whatever reason I just wasn’t clicking. I’m very happy I kept going with it though, because the series is now in my top 20. I think the main reason I had trouble with it at first was because I had been told it was primarily a comedy series, and so I was expecting to be rolling on the floor laughing the entire time. Once I realised it was actually more of a drama with a few comedic moments, the anime made way more sense to me. I was addicted by the halfway point.


4. Now that it's been a few weeks, what do you think of the Lasik surgery?
It’s brilliant. My vision is perfect and the procedure itself was quick (seriously, about 10 minutes) and painless, albeit a bit scary. The healing process sucked because my left eye was giving me trouble, while my right eye was fine the entire time. It turned out the irritation in my left eye was just due to a corneal scratch though, and not an infection or anything like that. It’s totally fine now, and I think the surgery was well worth the money – particularly because it came with a 10-year guarantee. If my eyesight regresses during this time enough that I’d need to wear glasses or contacts again, they’ll do surgery again for free.


5. What food dish would you like to try that you haven't yet?
Haha, it’s not really a dish as such, but I’ve always wanted to try broad beans. I’ve heard they’re horrible, so I’m curious! My mum had to eat them a lot as a kid because her dad grew them, and it’s about the only food that I know my mum still can’t stand. The Boyfriend doesn’t like them at all either, which makes me doubly curious since he and I have quite different tastes in food. I’m guessing the beans must have a fairly strong flavour to them – anyone care to share their opinion?

At some point over the next week or so I'll make a post about the new season's anime, but since not all the titles I want to catch have been released yet, I thought I'd write a bit about some other, slightly older anime I've been watching instead.


- First up, a big thank you to demented_koneko, brimdoga and rainsprite67 for reccing me Tiger & Bunny. I suggested to my little weekly anime group that we give it a go, and we're now halfway through. I'm really enjoying the concept; not only is it quite cleverly thought out, but all the little touches like the 'ad' in the middle of each episode also really make it stand out. To be honest, if superheroes really were flying around like that, I can definitely see someone attempting to create a reality show out of it, complete with heavy corporate sponsoring. That's exactly how society functions these days, so in a way, Tiger & Bunny really hit the nail on the head. Not to mention the animation is pretty top notch.


- We've also just finished watching Kino's Journey. I had seen the first few episodes a while back, and then I got really busy with PhD stuff and for some reason never managed to get back into the series. I'm glad I got to watch the rest though, because it's an excellent anime. It reminds me a bit of Mushishi as far as the overall feel goes; both titles have the same type of impassive, non-judgemental protagonists, and both are made up of small self-contained stories that usually fit into one episode. Best of all, you can never quite tell how each story will end. At times the anime is just kinda quirky, but at other times it gets surprisingly and unapologetically dark, although never in a way that's overly dramatic.


- A couple of weeks ago we also started Steins;Gate. I'm not really sure what I think of it so far. On the one hand, we're 8 episodes in and although things are being explained, nothing has actually happened as such. I feel like things are moving too slowly. On the other hand, the scripting is great and I can't fault the production qualities either. I also really love the OP. Usually I'm drawn towards high-pitched female vocalists, but when it comes to Japanese female singers, I've really been getting into lower-pitched vocalists lately. I'm putting that down to a reaction against the sugary-sweet idol groups like AKB48, because no matter how much I listen to them, they just sound screechy to me. Nothing against female idol groups, but their singing is simply too harsh on the eardrums for my taste. Anyhow, I hadn't heard any of Kanako Itou's music before, but 'Hacking to the Gate' is very catchy, and she has that slightly husky quality to her voice that I also like when I'm listening to singers like Kokia, YUI, or Leo Ieiri. Here's the song if anyone wants to give it a listen:

Otaku Lounge is now up and running! I won't be posting updates here every time a new article goes up (that's what I'll be using Twitter for, so please follow me there if you're interested), but a couple of you wanted the link to the first article, entitled Re-thinking 'Otaku', so here we go: http://www.forcesofgeek.com/2012/04/otaku-lounge-rethinking-otaku.html. Feel free to comment on articles - I believe anyone can do so, although as per site rules, any spam or unnecessarily rude comments will be deleted.

I'll put the review under a cut just in case there are people reading this who don't want to hear a single thing about the movie before seeing it themselves. I won't be posting spoilers or comparing things to the book in any what whatsoever, though - I haven't even read the book, in fact. So this review is based on nothing but what I saw on screen.


( Review under the cut. )

I don't understand Twitter at all. I mean, I get why it could be convenient like a cell phone is convenient, but then again, I never use my cell phone for fun. And I get why Twitter could be considered cool in that it utilises some savvy features, although I've never really been one for drooling over new tech (obviously). What I don't understand is the actual appeal of Twitter.

Is it that people are able to stalk their favourite celebs that much easier? Or that they get yet another online tool for creating drama and generally feeling like an up-to-date teenager with up-to-date problems? Or maybe people just like it because it's the next big thing in terms of advertising for a business or project?

So who here is on Twitter? What do you use it for, how often do you use it, and do you actively enjoy using it?

You Know, I think I might join to see if it's as addicting as it's apparently meant to be. Then you guys can either laugh at me for not grokking the hip new(ish) service, or for suddenly converting to it.

I always adore the clothing these girls wear in their promotional material - it usually has something of a fantasy goth/punk feel to it, maybe with a little lolita influence, yet it's somehow never over the top. Anyhow, this is their new single, set to be officially released April 18th. It's also the second OP to the Fate/zero anime.



tothebeginning by Bored4Lyfe


I'm not sure what I think of the song yet. I mean, it's lovely of course, and I don't think Kalafina is capable of producing a song that I would dislike. This particular song feels like a blend between 'Lirica' and FictionJunction's 'Parallel Hearts' to me - the latter mostly because of those violins in the intro and the overall feel of the chorus. Not that that's a bad thing at all; FJ's 'Stone Cold' is still probably my favourite song of all time at the moment, although Kalafina has it's own unique quality about it that I love for it's own merits. I hope they never lose that individuality.