Wednesday, January 31, 2007

More Ouran Fun!

Woot!. Mid-term's finally over and now we're back to more anime blogging! Hmmm... Well, manga blogging actually, for this post. Do you still remember how much you enjoyed watching Ouran High School Host Club (桜蘭高校ホスト部) last Spring season? Ouran (for short), is without a doubt one of the anime I enjoyed most. Its fun-filled episodes and eccentric characters crack me up without fail everytime. So here is something for you Ouran Lovers, particularly TamakiXHaruhi fans to rejoice over:

So, here you have, a down-with-cold Tamaki musing over his relationship with Haruhi. After the Ouran High Festival and the departure of the Monacco Princess, Tamaki suddenly felt the desperate urge to pull Haruhi into his embrace and gave her a kiss. For thinking such unpure thoughts, Tamaki felt that he may actually be more of a hentai (pervert) than he thinks and thus, is having second thoughts about being Haruhi's father.

And hahaha, the joke here is Tamaki's father telling Tamaki that it's okay to want to kiss your kid, even if he or she isn't a child anymore. So our finally-enlightened-hero, relieved that wanting to kiss your kid isn't abnormal behaviour, goes:

Bam! There you have it! The foolishly cute chronicles of Tamaki's silly but loveable antics. ^_^

Monday, January 22, 2007

Nodame Cantabile


Yes people! It's the anime of the winter season, Nodame Cantabile! (Lol, dear. Sorry I wrote something anime-related again. Guess I don't have it in me to deny the existance of the ever-so-significant anime in my life. Besides, it's not sinful awakening anymore if it's not about anime :p)

Boy, just a few days ago, I felt like giving up on this season's anime. None of them particularly caught my eye. So while I was browsing through the bittorrent directory for anime, C1 anime (a fan-subbed group) released it's first episode of Nodame Cantabile. Just to let you know, I never had any expectations in this series to begin with. In the first place, Nodame Cantabile is produced by Kenichi Kasai, who directed Honey and Clover, the unartful, lolicon (short for lolita-complex) anime series.

The story revovles mainly around Nodame and Chiaki, the main characters of the story. Chiaki defines the word perfectionist itself, not only is he popular in school and smart, he's the son of famous pianist Chiaki Masayuki as well. However, even the perfectionist himself harbors a few flaws. He's terribly afraid of getting on a plane, due to some hard landings he experienced when he was young. And now, that has become an obstacle in his goal to become an orchestra conductor, which is why he is sill remaining in Japan.

As for Nodame, she's your typical clumsy heroine who has an air of innocence around her. Not to mention, she hates cleaning up as well, which is often an annoyance for Chiaki, a cleanliness freak who lives just next door.

The best part of the anime does not lie in their unique characers, but the plot itself. I'm not gonna spoil the plot for you but there's no doubt the show interest me to no end and it came as a pleasant surprise to me that I'll like this show. Nodame Cantabile is filled with lots of comedy goodness, romantic fun and it has got piano playing as well, since it's an anime with music as it's core.

For those who enjoyed Ouran High School Host Club, This may be just the anime for you this season.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Maid Cafe, anyone?

Singapore must have been trying really hard to keep up with the anime and otaku (hardcore anime fans) cultures of Japan. Just recently, a maid cafe opened up in Far East Shopping Centre, located at 30 Victoria Street #01-11 CHIJMES, which is within walking distance of otaku and fujoshi’s favourite gathering spot in Singapore.

When I mean maid cafe, I'm not referring to those Phillipino or Indonesian maids that people employ for physical work like cleaning. When I say maid, I mean those cute babes dressed up in a combination of lolita-fashioned and french-styled maid costumes. When a customer enters the café, the maids typically give a flattering greeting such as "Welcome home, Master" (お帰りなさいませ、ご主人様!) in order to play the role of a house servant. People who have a fetish of hearing others call you "Master" or "Mistress", here's where you can unleash your desires to the limit. Usually, when Japanese Otakus think of maid cafe, they usually think: MOE!!! Moe (pronounced: mo-eh) is an onomatopiea of the inner passion of your spirit burning.

CosCafe (name of the shop) is, surprisingly, opened by only a sixteen-year-old girl. But of course, the revenue for the business came from her parents (duh.) Before I go off-topic, service staff in maid cafe do Cosplay too. So in maid cafes, not only are you able to enjoy a delicious meal, it's a delectable feast for your eyes as well.

Here's an article for you to go more in-depth on the maid cafe opened in Far East. Remember to check out the first link as well, as there's an interesting interview with CosCafe done by Channel U.

So yah, maid cafe, anyone? ^_^

Friday, January 12, 2007

Bleach 110

So after countless fillers, we're finally back to the mangaline. Banzai!!! After the Bounto arc, Ichigo and company went back to their world and reunited with their family and friends. It seems like family play a big part in this arc, but we'll come to that later.

Remember the Shinigami combat license Ichigo have? Well, apparently the combat license itself is invisible to the human eyes - due to various reasons. However, Tatsuki (one of Ichigo's classmates) seems to have noticed it. So while Ichigo was trying to figure out why, the combat license gave off some kind of alert and Ichigo and Co. were out to kick some Hollow's ass again.

The group then returns to class to hear the introduction of a school transferee, Hirako Shinji. Shinji had met ichigo before, intentionally, while he was fighting the hollow earlier. He was seated beside Ichigo in class and introduced himself in a rather weird manner. Ichigo, however, thinks nothing of it and turns his attention back to class.

Later that night, Ichigo is alerted to another hollow. This time, he puts Kon into his body and is confronted Hirako Shinji. Surprisingly, Shinji, like Ichigo, has the abilities of both Shinigami and Hollow. He appeals to Ichigo to join their side, as he is, quite obviously, of the same species as him. Ichigo, of course refuses, and they got into a fight.

At the same time, Ishida and Kon (who's still in Ichigo's body), were faced with two Hollows, one of them being the Grand Fisher (the hollow that killed Ichigo's mum, and was supposedly dead). Ishida who has lost his quincy powers, is having trouble fending off his opponent. When he's about to get hit, someone fires an arrow and saves him. Still reeling from the shock, he looks up at the man and uttered one word: Uryuu... (his father's first name).

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Another OST review.

Okay, I know it's been some time since I've last updated (As noted by an oh-so-adorable friend of mine. Haha you-know-who, can't you hear the sarcasm dripping :p)

As the title stated, this post is gonna be another OST review. (And I know she wouldn't be interested.) This time, I'm reviewing the Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto Soundtrack. I know it's a terribly long name, so I'll just shorten it to Bakumatsu.

The soundtrack is done by Hideyuki Fukasawa. OST lurvers out there, rings any bell? Anyway, the soundtrack has a traditional japanese feel to it, which made it all the more ear-catching. I especially like the theme song [Jidai ~ Douran no Kiza] and the more upbeat [Shinnen].

OST aside, the anime's not all that bad either. Aparrently, the anime is produced by the same producer who did Rurouni Kenshin. The lastest news is that there seems to be something brewing between Akizuki and Yuyama, although it's pretty one-sided. But god, let there be something more, something nice, something sweet, something... romantic ^_^

That's about all for this post. I'll try to update as constantly as my schedule permits. Fortunately or not, I'm having another post prepared on another OST review. Look forward to Code Geass's soundtrack review, people!

P.S. Pardon me for not putting up the cover image of the Soundtrack. I can't find any appropriate scan for that. So, until then, I'm using this.