You Can Feel the Pain, Don’t You?

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I kinda like the pace like that. Not too bogged down with IG work so I have some time to blog my thoughts.

I have been using Spotify a lot lately. Gone are the days of downloading mp3s. This is much more convenient. Doesn’t take up space in my laptop too. But one thing irks me. I can’t find certain songs. Olivia Lufkin, NewS… it is akin to going to KTV and not finding the song you want to sing. Urgh.

I mad love Olivia Lufkin (and her super dolphin voice). Especially her inspi’ Reira (Trapnest) songs. They convey the exact emotions of the characters in NANA.

My favourite song.

I call the latter ‘the impossibly sad song’. You can really feel Reira’s sadness and loneliness in the song. Coz of that, I have good mind to attempt this song at KTV even though it is quite high pitched for me.

If you haven’t read/watched any of Ai Yazawa’s works, you damn well should. NANA, Paradise Kiss…the raw emotions are conveyed very clearly. She portrays the mundane life and struggle to break free to reach one’s dreams very well.

Someone left a comment in one of the YouTube videos saying that Ai Yazawa has a great understanding of humans that a lot of writers don’t get. In NANA, relationships and friendships shift and change a lot like in real life. It is not always a happy ending. People who seem a perfect fit (e.g. Osaki Nana and Ren) do not always end up together.

I need to revisit the manga some time…

what’s in your heart?

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I’m halfway through a rather interesting anime titled ココロコネク (Kokoro Connect). At first I thought it was a romance anime, but it turned out to be not quite that. It’s a little deeper than just about the friendship between five high-schoolers.

These five friends find themselves in unlikely situations all because of a spirit called Heartseed, who is able to control their thoughts and souls. In the first part, Heartseed switches their souls with their bodies. They learn about each other’s real selves through the experience. Just as they figured out one another, Heartseed begins another experiment by making them act upon their real desires/thoughts without any interference from their consciences or ability to reason.

I couldn’t help but begin to think what if it happened in real life. I think I could handle body swapping, but acting upon my real desires/thoughts? I think I’ll just end up hurting a lot of people just like the characters in the anime did. And of course, what do we do when we have such thoughts? We keep them inside (restrained by our ability to reason) or stay away from the people whom we think we’ll end up hurting. Again, just like the characters in the anime did.

Then, one of the characters said this:

If you play it safe the whole time, you’ll lose what’s important to you.

— 後藤先生

The meaning of his advice was to talk to the very people we want to prevent ourselves from hurting them. He believes that only by talking things out, can there be a possibility of reconciliation of friendship. If you stay away from the person, nothing can be done and soon the friendship will fade away.

I think that statement is rather powerful by itself. I can’t help but start thinking about my own relationships with my friends and family.

devils and realist

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Just completed 魔界王子 (Makai Ouji): Devils and Realist. I thought the author/manga artist was rather creative in using characters from heaven and hell to spin a story. While there’s the usual power struggle between both factions, there’s a twist to the qualities of the characters. Some devils are portrayed as kind while an angel is portrayed as one with negative qualities.

Who would have thought that Baphomet would end up a butler?

And the character I hated most was Archangel Michael. He is just a terrible arrogant fella who enjoys tormenting Archangel Uriel. In fact, he chopped off one of Archangel Uriel’s wings. (Note: This is fiction so don’t take it too seriously.) If only I could reach across the screen and bitch slap that character and wipe that smirk off his face.

some things are better left as memories

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As quoted by a friend, “…some things are better off as just memories.”

Couldn’t agree more.

Normally I wouldn’t start watching an anime series until I’ve got all the episodes. It’s a weird habit but I would rather have uninterrupted viewing than have to impatiently wait for a new episode to be released. This rule sticks unless I’m too excited about something. In this case, said friend wanted to discuss it a little and ok (I admit), I was curious.

So I watched it. The first two episodes of 美少女戦士セーラームーン Crystal (Bishoujo Sensei Sailor Moon Crystal) — a remake of an old anime series I watched when I was a kid. Halfway into the first episode, I decided that Sailor Moon was just too darn aho and her speech was annoying me to the max. Like seriously, I felt my brain cells were dying listening to her talk. The last time I felt like that while watching anime was バカとテストと召喚獣 (Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu). I deleted the entire series after watching the first episode because it was just too stupid.

I can’t believe I liked this anime as a kid. Maybe the speech pattern in the old series wasn’t as annoying? Maybe the Mandarin-dubbed version that I had watched was not as bad? I mean, I do occasionally watch kids/mahou shoujo anime, but this is too irritating. Even しゅごキャラ! (Shugo Chara!) was way better than this.

I think I’ll just sit through this entire anime series for the sake of…”reliving” my childhood, but I sure hope as hell that I don’t get frustrated halfway and start pulling my hair out.

Geez…

high school romance

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I used to go crazy on manga but stopped for a while since it became a little too costly to keep up. Instead, I turned to online scanlations. Yes, I broke the cardinal sin of turning to online English scanlations, but hey, I read English much faster than I do with Chinese.

Well, it lasted for a while until I realised that the online scanlations take awfully long to be updated. Unlike anime where the subbed episode gets uploaded in a matter of days, scanlations take months to have new updates and they could be slow by at least five books. Not that I don’t understand that scanlations take time to produce, but I don’t think I can wait that long… So, recently I bought a new manga series. 花君と恋する私 (Hana-kun to Koisuru Watashi) is a typical high school romance shoujo manga. (I’ve said thousand of times before that I’m a sucker for such manga/anime.)

I’ve read up to book four where the couple have just started dating. They both feel a little awkward…

(Will type the exact words in Chinese.)

Hana-kun: 我的心情，也跟你差不多。没什么真实感，觉得很紧张。感觉象是在。。。做梦一样。

(Translation: My feelings are about the same as yours. So surreal; I feel anxious. It feels like…I’m dreaming.)

Oh my goodness. I think I really felt that the first time I got together with my hubby. He was not my first love, but it was definitely my first relationship. The day after we got together, I was in an Asian Literature class and we were going through a lover’s poem. My TA called on me to figure out whether the narrator is male or female. To help me, she asked if I have a boyfriend. For a minute, I was stunned. Then it hit me. Yes…yes, I am attached. And suddenly I got this rush of emotions that made me feel a little embarrassed.

You must understand that I never thought I would find somebody. Me, the plain Jane. The one, whose sister said I might as well marry the computer since I never went out to socialise and was always stuck in front of the computer. The one, who was rejected twice. It all felt too surreal.

Oh well, but that was years ago. I am now happily married.

amnesia

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Another kyaa-ing post. I have discovered that such anime are usually part of an otome game or visual novel’s franchise. Yes, these anime usually have rather weak storylines but have characters that make you go all doki doki. In Amnesia, the main character (her name is not mentioned at all) loses her memory after an accident and she interacts with the different guys to recover her memory. However, a mishap (whether fatal or not) always happens and she is transported back to 1 August and a different world each time. In each world, she is romantically linked to each guy.

The guys represent each suit in a deck of cards.

Heart — Shin
Diamond — Toma
Spade — Ikki
Club — Kent
Joker — Ukyo

Continue reading →

brothers conflict

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It’s here! It’s here! The kyaa-ing post for Brothers Conflict. So the story goes where main character, Ema goes to live in a mansion with her 13 step-brothers after her father remarries. All of her step-brothers develop feelings for her (I think it’s coz they are just surrounded by guys all the time and suddenly a female enters in the picture!) The anime is adapted from the otome game, but I honestly think such anime exist for girls to kyaa over hot bishounen.

The brothers in their birth order:
1: Masaomi Asahina — Paediatrician who supposedly cannot stand the sight of blood. He is closest to youngest brother, Wataru. Father figure of the Asahina household.
2: Ukyo Asahina — Lawyer and mother figure of the Asahina household. He cooks for the family.
3: Kaname Asahina — Monk? I wonder if he’s really a monk or a host? Has a casanova attitude.
4: Hikaru Asahina — Novelist and fashionista. Into cross-dressing. He is rather observant and knows that his brothers have romantic feelings toward their step-sister.
5: Tsubaki Asahina — Seiyuu. Eldest triplet; has an identical twin and a fraternal twin.
6: Azusa Asahina — Seiyuu, like his identical twin brother Tsubaki.
7: Natsume Asahina — Works in a game company. Lives apart from his brothers. He is the fraternal twin to Tsubaki and Azusa. Has two cats named after his triplet brothers.
8: Louis Asahina — Hairstylist. He is an adopted son. He is the only brother who can communicate with Ema’s pet squirrel, Juli.
9: Subaru Asahina — College sophomore who is the most athletic of his brothers. On the basketball team. Closest to Natsume? Or rather Natsume acts like his strict manager.
10: Iori Asahina — High school senior with a prince-like behaviour. Loves flowers and knows the meaning of them.
11: Yusuke Asahina — High school junior (a delinquent) and Ema’s classmate. Has a crush on Ema even before he finds out she is his step-sister.
12: Fuuto Asahina — Famous pop idol.
13: Wataru Asahina — 10-year-old kid.

Continue reading →

uta-pri

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I’ve been on an anime roll for some time now. I watch mostly shoujo anime that involve magical girls or bishounen or romance or any combi involving the first three mentioned.

Recently, I completed うたの☆プリンスさまっ♪ (also known as Uta-Pri for short). I must say the story line is a bit blah (with a weird-ass principal), but who cares? There’s great music and great looking bishounens. *kyaaaaa~~~*

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why are you like that?

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I recently completed watching 会長はメイド様!  Ah yes, I must say I’m a sucker for 少女 anime/manga.

Typical 少女 anime with cute/pretty girl, charming guy (to die for), and a happily ever after ending. What puzzles me most is the way the guy is portrayed when pursuing the girl. I think it does happen in real life too. So someone please tell me why do guys like to tease girls they like so much? I think it’s rather confusing for the girl no? One minute you’re so sweet making my heart race and the next minute you’re irritating the hell out of me. Why? 教えてくださいよ~~~

Hahaha…I guess that’s why they say “men are from mars, women are from venus.” Guys say girls are complex creatures. I think guys are rather complex creatures too. Hahaha..

PS: By the way, I’m reading the manga too since the anime is only half-way through the manga’s contents. However it seems that earlier volumes of the local publisher, Chuang Yi version are out of print already. I’m missing volumes 1, 2, 5, 6. Anyone willing to part with those books?