It's time for another edition of Midweek Men! ^_^ Let us review our past few chapters:
Week 1: Hyun Bin (Snow Queen), Daniel Henney (My Name is Kim Sam Soon), Miyavi and Mr Rabbit Week 2: Lelouch (Code Geass), Tom Schilling (NAPOLA), Saga (alice nine.) and Mr Rabbit Week 3: Tachibana Keita (w-inds.), Terashima Nobu (NANA), hyde/HYDE (L'arc~En~Ciel) and Mr Rabbit Week 4: Initial D Special! Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, Jay Chou Week 5: American Music Special! Christ Brown, Adam Levine (Maroon 5), Justin Timberlake, Mr Bunny
And so this week, because I am totally biased and I really cannot get over how good Saga looks, we're going to have Japanese Bassist Week featuring HOT! bassists from Jrock bands. =D =D =D
So for the first time, Saga is featured AGAIN! because he fits into this category and hello. He is goodlooking. You can't deny it..xD xD xD BEAMS.
Saga is the bassist of the visual kei band alice nine. which comprises of 4 other members [vocals, drums, 2 guitars]. He composes and mixes the music for the band and collaborates with the other members to produce that unique alice nine. sound. At home, he has a dog and in the alice nine. blogs appears to go out with NAO often to eat ramen. ^_^
alice nine. holds annual tours in Summer and occasionally over the Christmas and New Year period. Signed on to PS Company, alice nine. has just released their PV collection on 2 DVDs, including never-before-seen videos of 月光浴 (Gekkouyoku) and 春夏秋冬 (Shunkashuutou) and also a new single will be out in August entitled "RAINBOWS".
Next up we have REITA from The GazettE!
The GazettE comprises 5 members: Ruki, Uruha, Aoi, Reita, and Kai with the same band layout as alice nine.. They are also signed on to PS Company and release heavy visual kei tracks on their albums. Reita is famed for never showing his nose, covering it with a band of cloth, handkerchief, or something similar, and his skill at the bass.
The GazettE has released 3 top selling albums and 1 compilation album in their career so far. Their latest single is 紅蓮 (Guren) and the PV, as with all their other videos, contains rich imagery. They are supposed to be releasing a single soon, and with their "Stacked Rubbish" tour DVD being released in August, I can't wait to see what else they will have!
Finally, we have Toshiya from Dir en grey!
Originally part of the visual kei scene, Dir en grey members have adopted less flamboyant attire in recent years but remain a solid member of the jrock genre. However, they are one of the most famous jrock bands on the international level and has gained a great following in Europe and USA.
Dir en grey has released only 6 albums in their entire career but sales have done extremely well worldwide. I can't claim to know much about them but I do know that they make terrific music.
And finally, since no one can resist the charms of Bunny-san, let me introduce to you Kapibara-san's friend!
Ｌ’Ａｒｃ～ｅｎ～Ｃｉｅｌの歌「ＤＡＹＢＲＥＡＫ’ＳＢＥＬＬ」が大好き! この歌はグンダム００のＯＰ歌だよ! 特に：願いよ風に乗って夜明けの鐘を鳴らせよ 英語の意味：Please, ride on the wind and ring the daybreak's bell (source: http://pieces.deadsunrise.net/laruku/viewtopic.php?t=5591)
Notes: It's probably more accurate to use 面白かった rather than 楽しかった when describing ドラマ but I don't know.. I always feel like 楽しかった conveys the "fun" feeling better.. Haha..
Anyway, I've finished watching 絶対彼氏 (Zettai Kareshi) already!!! Haha.=D The ending is... Not quite what I wanted but I think they managed to bridge the gap quite well... Still.. I think Riiko should end up with Soshi because HELLO when the perfect guy for you is RIGHT THERE, I think you should grab the chance right around NOW. Haha..=P
So I'm trying to finish 風林火山 (Fuurin Kazan), Darker Than Black and Code Geass R2 while my other anime take zillions of years to be released.=D Wee!! I was trying to look for summer doramas to watch but there don't seem to be any so I might just watch あつひめ (Atsuhime) and 大奥 (Ooku). Haha.. Otherwise, I think there's a dorama about the Tokugawa coming out soon so I'm looking forward to that as well!!! =D
I think I need to practice typing more in Japanese.X__X I can feel it dying already..
I am currently working on my there-is-no-page-limit-because-I-don't-want-to-limit-you-guys-and-what-you-want-to-say Philosophy paper.
It is getting horrendously, horribly, completely, totally long. Thank god she didn't give us a page limit. At the same time, it would have meant a lot less pain and a lot more summarising.
As it stands, I currently have 7 pages of non-double-spaced, font size 12 ramblings on Epistemology, or theories of knowledge. And since I haven't even gotten to my wonderful reflections yet, I shudder to think of how long this will be when it is double-spaced, which seems to be a favourite pastime of the Americans. Why o why would anyone double-space their paper? To make it seem longer? I would think teachers like to think they have less shit to mark!
O Woe is Me!
Despite the no-page-limit thing, I have a feeling I'm the only insane person in the whole class who is writing so much. Like hello international student and your bizarre ways!!! (T_T) (T_T) (T_T) What if my professor kills me! "YOU WROTE TOO MUCH. YOU FAIL!!!" *squirms in horror*
And I pity my poor friends who have unwittingly befriended someone who will ask [beg] them to edit her extremely long paper. *Deep Sigh* Maybe they will no longer be my friends and I will have to bake many cookies and brownies to make up for it.
O Woe is Me!
I could write a long poem on the pain of Kant and Epistemology in general but I don't think I have the energy for that. I still have to write my reflections! And finish Bertrand Russell's precious words. Horrors.
I shall now return to my suffering. And hope that my brother will send me photos of my gingerbread house soon. Then I can post pictures and feel happy!
cheers *[-witchstone-]*
Randomly, Laruku's new album, KISS, is amazing! Now Gackt! Shame on you! Can't you come up with something like this?!
[music : DAYBREAK'S BELL + MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM L'arc~en~Ciel + Kaze no machi he FictionJunction KEIKO] [mood : dying] [food : MILOOOO!!!]
Liu-yi: I'm waiting for it to snow again! Haha.
Jiamin: Sorry, I'll be in school for a while yet. My last exam is on the 18th. Woe is me again!
I just finished the whole series of Red Garden, the anime that finished airing in March on TV Asahi. It was created by GONZO studios and featured songs by Jill-Decoy Association [Jolly Jolly, the opening song] and LM. C [Rock The LM. C and OH MY JULIET., the 2 ending songs].
The only pretty thing about this series is the beautiful starting sequence and the "middle pause" section [where they are supposed to insert a commercial break]. In fact, that, and the storyline, were what attracted me to the series in the first place. Other than that, I'm really not a fan of the drawings. My friend described it as "very old school/80s" and well. Let's just say it's not the prettiest anime around.
I'm also puzzled as to whether I liked it or not.
Overall, there was certainly a gripping storyline that was marred a little by too much angst. But then again, one when is dealing with 4 teenage girls, one DOES expect angst right?
Allow me to quote Wikipedia on the plot: Kate, Rachel, Rose, and Claire are all students at a private institution set on Roosevelt Island, New York City. Waking up one morning, all feel uneasy and restless as they deem strange that none of them can recall anything about the previous night. Their anxiety escalates when the school announces that Lise, another classmate of theirs, was found dead.
They are then embroiled in a deep dark secret that will change their futures and affect their lives [hence the angst].
Plot was gripping at first but because they also focused a lot on how their experiences affected the girls in normal life, I got a little bored. There are only so many ways to show them angsting around and sobbing their hearts out. The writers also inserted subplots about the girls' backgrounds which proved interesting in some cases and utterly sleep-inducing in others. [One of the girls has absolutely ZERO plot value. Seriously.-_-"]
At first, they had a lot of shocking moments and alluring cliffhangers that just made you want to watch on and on [even though I really was appalled by the drawings. O.o I think I am a strictly CLAMP and shoujo girl. Haha.], they later focused more on the plot development as well as long and drawn-out character development bits.
Interestingly, they had musical-ish sequences during the first half of the series where the girls suddenly broke out into song [and luckily not dance]. O.o It wasn't unpleasant I guess but it was certainly weird. They later abandoned this completely so I'm not sure what exactly it was for. Filling up time perhaps?
This series has apparently broken new ground in the anime world by the use of various techniques that have never been utilised in anime before. For example, the voices/sounds were recorded BEFORE the animation and the characters' speech was then synced with the soundtrack. This made the sync-ing much smoother actually.=) They had a lot of US TV-ish filming techniques as well. I'm pretty sure the breaking-out-into-song bit was inspired by the US also.
Character development wise... The lead characters were well-developed. Seriously. They spent 3/4 of the time on it.-_-" This made me a little grouchy because I'm not THAT interested in the angsty lives of rich teenagers. However, it was quite dramatic at times which was rather interesting.
They had great action sequences though, considering that sometimes the animation was quite stilted [funny walking movements for example]. Mostly though, the animation was pretty realistic.=) Yay! Anime is getting better animation wise on the whole thanks to new technology.^_^
Overall, I still say that the plot was interesting though whether I'd rewatch this is doubtful. They only tie-in the title right at the end of the series so watch out for that.=) There are a few unresolved issues if I'm not wrong such as how the girls got together in the first place. But they did develop the rest of the little details so it wasn't altogether terrible.
Still. I'm puzzled as to whether I liked it. Let's see. The Good 1) Gripping storyline 2) Nice action sequences [the girls get to fight!] 3) The occasional surprise 4) Development of angsty characters was well-done 5) I liked the opening song and the 2nd ending song
The Not-So-Good 1) I really do not like the drawings 2) Unresolved/unexplained issues 3) Occasional slow bits 4) ANGST 5) Too much crying
While this series is complete, there will be an OVA in August called "Dead Girls". Sounds... intriguing?
On a side note, I DESPERATELY NEED A WAY TO SCREENCAP. Windows Media Player doesn't let one screencap DARN THING.-_-" I couldn't get the shot I LOVED! So I've had to find all sorts of ways to get images.-____-" *is annoyed*
And I also finally got down to watching the new L'Arc~En~Ciel PV "Seventh Heaven". Ahh. Hyde. *gestures above* You look great! *beams* The song is almost pop-sy though. What is up with that? And the psychedelic colours in the video.O.o Still, it's not horrendously bad and I like how all the members go for a matching colour scheme! ^_^ And Hyde looks good.=) Yay.
But Hyde really shouldn't attempt to dance.^_^"
Ahh. I cannot wait for more Darker Than Black as well as Kekkaishi to come out! Oh. And NANA. Which is ending soon! *sobs* [I mean, yes, it has technically ended its run in Japan but hello fan-subbers. Hurry!!!] Speaking of which, I will also be starting on Dennou Coil, a new anime series that is supposed to be very good.^_^
Randomly, it's been a busy week. Now I see how my friends at work find watching TV a relaxingly mindless activity.^_^ I'm kind of sad that this will end in less than 2 weeks though.
Hooray for anime! Now to find a screen-capping device.-_-" cheers *[-witchstone-]*
Joyce: You've also got Snow Queen by the way. *raises eyebrows* Which we need to finish soon. *pointed look* And Darker Than Black is really interesting so far! =D
Wendaye: Ahaha. You keep volunteering to be my guinea pig. But do we ever see you? HMM. *ponders* Squee! I think Roy Mustang is a hilarious character. Ahaha.=D And I haven't watched Animax in a REALLY long time. But I really doubt that they are showing Darker Than Black because it would first have to be subbed in Chinese and dubbed in English and it is still showing in Japan I think.=S And squee again! =D I love those bunnies. Beams. I have nyunyu already thankyou.=D SO ADORABLE OMG. Haha.
Jiamin: I don't like Kim Jeong/John Hoon! -_-" I really don't see how he's better than Hyun Bin or all those other Korean actors. And no Darker Than Black isn't eerie. Just VERY VERY VERY addictive. The eerie one is *points above* Red Garden. Trust me. I didn't think he was cute at first either but he grows on you! =D Then again, our tastes are quite different. For example, I don't like any of your favourite guys from all those shoujo manga with funny names. I don't know if I should waste anymore time/money on Canele.-_-" I still swear by their Le Royale though. Haha. Beams.
pixiezdust: Yar! I was wondering if they aired it in Singapore. Apparently not. O.o
My Emotible!
starry-eyed: filled with such youthful hope and optimism that one's eyes twinkle even when it's dark
Wish List
ie: motivation to save money!
- clothes
- shoes [heels! boots!]
- the perfect tote
- coats/outerwear! [Soïa & Kyo, Burberry...]
- Gackt - nine*nine
- Gackt Photobooks:
1 The Gift The Sixth Day & Seventh Night Tour Document (2004)
2 Crescent Photobook (out of print)
- Cookbooks!
1 Thomas Keller The French Laundry Cookbook
2 The Nobu Cookbook
3 Emily Luchetti A Passion for Desserts
4 Alice Medrich Pure Dessert
- Anime/Manga
1 Rurouni Kenshin
2 xxxHOLiC
3 Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- Proficiency at Japanese!
- Learn French for Food!
