orenjinokoe

2010-04-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

Harem shows make me a vulgar person. Half the time I'm saying things like "Oh shit! Noo!" or "Dumbass, you are missing the point!" . This is what happens when you get too attached to a show.

Currently watching: Kimikiss Pure Rouge. A generic harem show and like most harem shows, this one is really sweet to watch.

K-ON! Season 2

2010-04-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Before I begin, I would like to inform readers that whatever that is written here is largly based on my personal opinion. Most portions might come across as extremely biased so please take them with a pinch of salt.

That being said, I shall carry on!

The long awaited season 2 is out! If you noticed, it's now being referred to as K-ON!! (notice the difference yet? :) ). Look forward to hearing new songs (fingers crossed in hopes of hearing the song titled "Can't stop eating strawberry parfaits"), watching more great live performances & hopefully, seeing new band members! If episode 1 had that much impact for me to create a blog entry here, I'm sure subsequent episodes wouldn't fail to impress.

What is K-ON! about? Let's take reference from the first season. In short, it's about 4 + 1 girls (because some people stick to their blasphemous belief that K-ON! revolves around 4 girl & every other character is nothing more but a mere extra) slacking around in their music room after school. Apart from eating high class snacks & sipping hot tea, they also write and perform their original songs. Not an easy feat to achieve considering the fact that they had such limited time to write that many songs.

Why is K-ON! the most popular anime among all the other animes that belong to the same genre? I could think of a few core aspects. One would be high production value, which indefinitely leads to high entertainment value.

Why so? Just by comparing the live performances from Beck with those you see on K-ON!, you'd concur with my statement written in the previous paragraph above. Since we are on the topic about production value, shouldn't Detroit Metal City be like comparing Oranges with Oranges?

Well if I were to compare K-ON! with Detroit Metal City, I would say K-ON!'s genre of music is more "radio friendly". Not everyone likes death metal. That being said, I still prefer Detroit Metal City to K-ON! just because I end up rolling on the floor laughing after every episode. Although K-ON! has it's fair share humourous scenes, the story focuses more on the things they do in their daily school life. Therefore in conclusion & also my opinion, Detroit Metal City is a comedy while K-ON! is a slice of life story.

When the entire cast in the anime are girls, guys will watch it regardless of whether the music is good or not. Guys like to look at girls, that is a primitive instinct & there is nothing we can do to deny it :). I assume that is where most of the viewers come pouring in.

One last thing to note is that the musical instruments used in the anime/manga are readily available in music stores. After the first season was aired, left handed 3 tone Sunburst Fender Jazz Basses, Cherry Burst Gibson Les Pauls, matching headstock Candy Apple Red Fender Mustangs were all flying off the shelves.

I actually saw someone selling a Candy Apple Red Fender Mustang for $2k SGD when it's supposed to be a budget student model within the < $1kSGD range. Ridiculous prices meant for ignorant Otakus who would do anything to get a piece of the action.

I bet the bosses of both Fender & Gibson are sitting on their big arm chairs and rubbing their palms with glee.

IMHO, K-ON! won because they excelled in 3 aspects, production, fan service (Hellooo? Their skirts are like really short? They probably trimmed it down by 2cm shorter just to fly further than yesterday.) & last but not least, marketing.

Ok, time for a short introduction.

The band members:

Hirasawa Yui - Guitar

A doofus that became a zero to guitar hero over a span of a few months. Those who have a thing for air headed girls, Yui would most definitely turn out to be your favourite character. She can only be good at something only if she puts her heart into it. Things like scoring full marks for your paper after a few study sessions or learning guitar techniques just by listening to a few records. Amazing in her own kind of light I guess. I don't really dig her singing but that is just personal opinion.

Yui plays a 90s Gibson Les Paul Standard in Cherry Burst finish. (The only reason why I can safely assume it’s made in the 90s is because the newer LP standards do not have the word “Standard” on the truss rod cover).

Tainaka Ritsu (Ricchan) - Drums

Pretty ironic for the president of the club to be the resident trouble maker in the band. In Hokkien, she is simply known as "si beh di siao". In English it would probably be translated to "always making trouble" but that expression in Hokkien is much cruder. Her favourite target is her best friend Mio because Mio is a scaredy cat in nature. Ritsu actually looks good with her fringe down but I guess the hairband is like a representation of her bubbly character. Her drumming is quite mad in a sense that all the notes are extremely loud.

I think she plays a Yamaha Rick Morotta signature Hip Gig set because it’s yellow & it’s the closest thing I could find that has some form of resemblance. Zildjian cymbals too (apparent only in the first season's OP)

Akiyama Mio - Bass Guitar

Almost everyone adores her. Might have something to do with her little wardrobe malfunction on their first live set. Hordes of guys (myself included) now swear by the blue and white striped panties. Apart from that, she is equally good at playing with guys heart strings by expressing her shyness through forms of extreme denial. What do I mean?

yada!

yada!

yada!

yada!

Besides playing bass, she also carries around a LCA lomo camera hence appealing to people who are into lomography. Also, her voice is fantastic, plenty of feel. With such overwhelming traits, how could you not fancy a character like Mio?

She plays a left handed Fender Jazz Bass in 3 Tone Sunburst. I think that adds to the appeal because left handed female bass players are rarely sighted. That being said, her existance is almost comparable to that of a Gazelle.

Kotobuki Tsumugi (Mugi) - Keyboard

Everyone calls her Mugi. She is very humble person considering the fact that she is a rich man's daughter. She is the band's main supplier of snacks. Always gentle with her approach. She is quite good at the keyboard since she has won a few competitions back when she was younger. It has been noted a few times that her eyebrows resemble pickled radishes. Quite an eccentric person though. Throughout the entire series, you'd be wondering what is going on in Mugi's head half the time.

She plays a Korg Triton Extreme keyboard (a surprisingly cheaper instrument compared to Yui’s Gibson Les Paul).

Last but definitely not least, my favourite character Azusa!

Azusa Nakano (Azu-nyan) (kyaaaa! ♥) - Guitar

The latest addition to the band. One year younger compared to the other members. The most serious member who gets mad when she feels that the band is not taking music seriously. After ranting off, she'd turn her "emo" mode on & sulk at a corner. Yui would never fail to give her a nice hug. I guess that is what makes her so lovable!

She is well versed in the guitar and has been playing it for many years. She swaps lead guitar roles with Yui from time to time. She herself is blown away by the fact that Yui's guitar playing is on par with her own. Talented people have it easy.

She plays a 1965/1966 reissue matching headstock Fender Mustang in Candy Apple Red. This guitar fits her image almost too well. First, a Fender Mustang is meant to be a student model. Despite being a more affordable guitar, the scale length is shorter hence more ideal for those with smaller hands. I love small things :) .

Practice

The starting portion features Yui heading straight to the club room to practice the inhuman rhythm section for the song "Watashi no Koi wa Hotch Kiss" aka "My love is a Stapler". In reality, it is quite an impossible feat to play that part let alone sing along while playing it. Only goes to show that Yui has a massive amount hidden talent within her.

I hope the author of K-ON!! doesn't go overboard like the author for Bleach. What the author for Bleach did was portray Aizen as some god-like character that could deal with any adversary with a wave of his hand.

I don't want Yui to go around melting everyone's faces :( .

Even the way she holds her pick is correct.

I tried playing what Yui did. Despite Kyoto Animation paying extremely close attention to the details, I shouldn't have expected them to make Yui play the exact chords. I think that would be too much of a hassle since they figured that not everyone is going to take this as reference to tab out their songs. I must say that the timing for both the animated strumming and song was spot on. Well done!

Wth are you doing?

Yui came up with some new strumming pattern that might attract some attention. It most definitely would because that is a signature move by Pete Townshend; guitarist from The Who.

Pete Townshend. See the resemblance?

I love it when they make references with the real guitar heroes. Hope she doesn't progress to the point where smashes her beloved guitar into some amplifier after going crazy on stage.

Random scene featuring Azasa (kyaaaa! ♥)

I could never get enough & neither could I ask for more. It's good that this new season reserves more screen time for Azusa. I bet it has something to do with the sales for her merchandise (the plot thickens heh heh heh) . Diamonds need to be polished before they can prove their worth!

Ritsu giving Azusa the perverted look

It's nice to see them messing around as usual at the start of the school year. Another year filled with more chattering & bickering. Yeah!

Yui chowing down her jam bread

Yui certainly is looking forward to being a senior. She has decided to take necessary steps to make her presence felt.

Taking drastic measures like changing the parting of your hair.

That isn't going to make much of an impact Yui -.-'". However, the effort was there.

A few new things to note in this season. One very obvious change is that they've modified the "crying face T.T" expression. What do I mean? Lets see...

From this:

Season 1 Episode 14

To this:

Yui making a fuss after tumbling down.

That look is not exclusive to Yui alone.

There is also:

Mio's crying face

And:

Ritsu's crying expression after being teased by Sawako-sensei.

We carry on to the scene where the girls sing the school song. Notice that their individual voices are amplified the moment the camera focuses on them.

Look at their stoned expressions. Everyone is just not looking forward to school :) .

This is the last school year for the founding members of the band. Hence, finding new members is an absolute must for the sake of keeping the band alive. Azusa is desperate for new members and she's going try do whatever it takes to get them!

よし!

Of course, the other band members are chipping in to help. Who gave them the idea to reuse the same strategy that failed miserably the last time anyway?

Why is Azusa a pig?

That plan was a complete waste of time. If they don't find new members, Azusa would end up being all alone. This is where Mio's delusions start forming up.

I'm lonely...

It's up to Ritsu to save them!

Whoops!

*Thump*

The idea was to get the new girls to carry Ritsu up to the music room so that the band members could convince them to join the club since they were already there.

Cheap tactics like playing the sympathy game could only get you so far. Spying on other clubs would be a better idea.

Not the most appreciative tea drinkers around. Yui's face is priceless.

Azusa starts succumbing to fate.

This little packet of juice could actually be used as a secret tool for flirting!

Yui then decided that it'd be nice if it was just the 5 of them. At least they are happy in the mean time. Azusa was eavesdropping from the outside all along. Touched by Yui's words, she promised to be even more strict with their practice.

EHHHH?!

That concludes episode one.

The new ending song was fantastic! I couldn't say the same for the opening song but I guess that one needs a little time to grow onto everyone. I like their dressing sense for this song. Simplicity at it's best?

I bet 3 handful of girls can't wait to do dress up like them for the next Cosplay event. Their clothes can be easily attainable at City Plaza (some shopping centre near Paya Lebar MRT station) & would never cross the $100 mark no matter how hard you try. I can't wait to compare between the good, bad, happy and sad.

I liked Mugi's outfit the most because she has a nice sailor peaked cap.

The best part? Mio gave a wink! WOW!!!

すき!! だいすき!!! ♥♥♥

That concludes my review. Till next time (probably in a few months hahaha!)

2010-03-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

Who is the cuter looking one?

Kurumizawa Ume

Kuronuma Sawako

I know many of you who watch Kimi Ni Todoke support Sawako with all your heart in hopes that there would be some epic kiss scene at the end of the series. I don't want such a thing to happen. Not that I don't like the idea, it's just that it'd be such a cliche scenario I might just click the X button on the top right hand corner of my screen.

Anyway, we cannot ignore the fact that Kurumi's screen time was short. Not enough room for character development at all! I mean, they could make things really messed up with Kurumi ran up to Kazehaya and stole a kiss from him. Now that, would make things complicated and drag this series about 10 episodes more. What is there to complain? More KNT!!!

In all 23 episodes, these 2 pictures are the best of the best, no doubt about it.

Lets think about this for a bit. In all anime history, there is hardly a scenario where some 15 year old girl glares at her rival and gives her the "bleh" face while maintaining her cute image at the very same time.

THAT WAS AN EPIC SCENE DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT LASTED FOR LESS THAN 5 SECONDS!!

Yeah I know the part where Sawako dolled up was pretty good too but the cuteness of that "bleh" owned it all, hands down!

Kurumi banzai!!!

Winryのかたき!

2010-02-09T07:03:00.000-08:00

Today's topic would be on Winry Rockbell; probably the most prominent female lead from the anime Full Metal Alchemist. Although my favourite character in the series is the ever so hot Riza Hawkeye, Winry is not too far behind. I mean, how difficult is it to choose your favourite female character considering the fact that your choices are so limited?

This might seem a little random but since we are not entirely off the topic, let me selfishly ramble on about Hawkeye for about 5 minutes before heading on to the main topic.

My blog, my rules unfortunately.

hai de arimasu!

It is no secret that this blogger has a thing or two for girls who are as rough as 300 grit sandpaper. Using my limited knowledge of their mother tongue, I shall try my best to think of a nice way to ask Riza out on a date!

Jerry: Ano...Hawkeye-san, de-to shimasu? Janakute........ de-to shite, itadakemasenka?

Riza: gomi.

Fail! That's it, I am so heading down to Kinokuniya in search of the book "Dating for dummies - Japanese edition".

The focus here is not Roy Mustang.

I love the way she tucks her hair into a "bun" (That is what girls call it, not me). It might not take much effort to tie it up yet such simplicity actually makes it very appealing.

"Guys tend to prefer girls with long hair."

Not exactly true. At least I don't agree to that statement wholeheartedly. I believe that guys with a strict preference for girls with long hair are being plain stereotypical that girls only look good with long hair. Be water my friend.

Shichika is one fine example of a long haired girl lover.

If you like someone, the hairstyle doesn't really matter IMO. For example we have......

the short hair Riza :)

OK enough! On to the main topic.

The first Full Metal Alchemist series + the concluding movie Conqueror of Shambala was nothing but a joke IMHO. It was moving in the right direction until some wise crack from the top with an itch up his butt decided that they should expand on their own ideas instead. Sure they might have produced 51 episodes but a legion of loyal viewers like myself are super cheesed off!

HOW COULD YOU LET EDWARD CHOOSE ALPHONSE OVER WINRY IN THE END??!! I can understand the fact that the two brothers are really close knitted for obvious reason but come on! You do not leave the woman who waited so long for you behind! What if Winry doesn't get over Edward and becomes a spinster? The first thing to blame would be their studio; BONES!

We demand justice for Winry!

This is a quick rundown on what happened in Shambala...

Winry receives a phone-call from Mustang regarding Edward.

Fueled by the power of love, Winry makes her way to search for her beloved Edward.

This is what happens the moment women take their eyes off their man.

Edward: I gotta save the world! Sorry!

Alphonse: ARE YOU GOING TO LEAVE WINRY BEHIND??!!

Edward: Yeah, that's right! Tell her thanks for the new arm. Okthxbye!

Winry: Basket Edward! How dare you leave me behind!

Winry: You should have told me that you weren't straight from the start! ばかばかばか!

The movie ended with this gay scene.

To sum things up, they should have given Winry a prize for being so patient with this guy who has some sort of younger brother-complex.

BONES might have messed it up for the first series and the movie but they made an excellent comeback with the 2nd series, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Although the title sounds a little misleading, the anime is really progressing very smoothly. I'm contented with what I saw.

Extracted from episode 22, 23 & 39...

YOU P.O.S. SCAR! I'll SHOOT YOU BH!

Obviously, Scar was getting impatient with Winry because she was acting like an indecisive bimbo. Example: "Hmmm should I or should I not? I don't know what to do. How?". Since Scar is not known for his patience, he attacked her before she did.

Don't you dare lay a finger on her!

Edward is like a cockroach. No matter how many times you trample on him, he'd be ok. Taking that fact for granted, he was prepared to take the blow for Winry!

Scar was stunned. He has never seen such a touching scene before in his entire life. To hide his embarrassment, he took flight.

Winry: hur hur hur ~.~ !

Apparently she was pissed off to tears at herself for not having the guts to shoot the guy who killed her parents.

Edward: Chill Winry.

Edward: Listen, these hands of yours are not made to kill people.

Edward: They are for you to help me repair my automail whenever necessary :D!

Winry: I guess you are right ~.~.

Edward: Alright! That being said, I shall go find Alphonse now.

Winry: Don't leave me here you gay prick!

Winry: Oh whatever! At least I got this sweet jacket :) .

If that scene did not convince you, how about this?

sweeeeet!

Finally, some justice :D !

Nendroid Azusa Nakano by Good Smile

2010-02-07T02:35:00.000-08:00

かわいいねこみみ

Take a look at this Nendroid. Innocently sculpted in the form of Azusa Nakano; the 5th member of Houkago Tea Time Azusa Nakano; doing her signature "Nyan-pose" while wearing an extremely "moe" set of ねこみみ (Neko mimi: cat ears) given to her by Sawako-sensei.

Expect the unexpected? Well, I should have because this particular Nendroid is no longer available for pre-order despite the fact that it was released no longer than week ago. In such a case, Haru (Katekyo Hitman Reborn!) would say something like: "Hagi! Haru wa shock desu!"

Haru.
(dedication)

The power of the Otaku is overwhelming. I was left speechless in front of the lady boss of KKNM (this time it has nothing to do with my vocabulary.). This has got to be 83019235 times more devastating than the time I was told: "Sorry, the pre-order for the Nendroid Fate Testarossa has closed". The harsh reality of life.

Patience is a virtue. I'll see you very soon.

Let this be known to all that Azu-nyan is my favourite character in K-ON!. Always was and always will be *salutes*. First of all, the dual pony tails never fail to appeal. Second, she plays a matching-headstock Fender Mustang; a short-scaled guitar suitable for younger people. I bet that the creators of K-ON! spent a little more time working on the character design for Azusa. Everything about her just sums up nicely. I don't really like the fact that she is left out in most of the K-ON! posters. Its as if the makers simply passed her off as a mere extra band member. Unforgivable!

There is close to no justice in the world of Anime. Its the same feeling you get when your favourite character dies because he only role in the show was to be a scapegoat.

Mehh.....

Anyway, I know I sound like a spoilt child ranting off but I really do not like it when people want to buy the Azusa Nendroid solely because she is doing that particular pose and not because they liked Azusa from the very start.

There is a difference between being "hensem/pwetty" from the start and being "hensem/pweety" somewhere in the middle. Weird analogy I know but I hope you get the message.

The fight is on! I will get my hands on Azusa!

I'd do whatever it takes.

SOY'B' 2010

2010-01-22T09:35:00.000-08:00

Start of year Cosplay 2010.

Date: 30th January 2010

Venue: Ngee Ann Polytechnic, , LT68A-E

Time: 11am- 6pm

Admission Fee:
At the Door: $5 (being renowned for my cheapness, I didn't go in =x)

It's feels great stepping on ground that you were once so familiar with. There were quite a lot of people but I felt as if there was plenty of room for more. I assume that they are all hiding within the lecture theater since that was the only conclusion that could save my enthusiasm from getting killed.

"Jerry, did you dress up as some guy wearing a dress like those members in a J-rock band? Lets see those pictures now!"

I'm sorry to disappoint you guys but there was no way that I'd go to that event dressed up as some girl wearing a frilly dress. Nope, not even lace.

"Fine maybe you wore a butler's tuxedo, set up an elegant looking table, placed 2 matching chairs along with it, prepared some high class TWG tea & tried to please your female customers by ending every sentence with the term お嬢さま ("ojousama" - a term used on a girl from high-class family) in hopes that you'd be able to do horrible things to those unsuspecting girls after tricking them into drinking your spiked tea? What a terrible thing to do!"

Bzz bzz! Wrong! I didn't participate in the Cosplay event at all, unfortunately. I was just a random wandering photographer looking for nice things to take.

Although it is a known fact that Cosplaying makes it easier for individuals to exchange photographs, I felt that I am not in the right shape (literally) to pull it off nicely. My personal opinion though. Lose 20kg or bust!

Sorry for the lack of pictures =P.

Level 1

Pretty little thing.

The first thing that I would do at any Cosplay event is to look out for a circle of camera men focusing on a particular person/object. I don't know why but it's really quite a dumb habit of mine to follow the crowd. Sometimes you win & sometimes you lose. However, I wouldn't deny the fact that crowds gather attention, both wanted or unwanted.

Len? & I

Guys say "Oha!" to my friend Chee Lup. Apparently my friend over here claims to be Len from the Vocaloid family. Although I did a Google search, I could not find any pictures of Len wearing that outfit. Hence the "?". 2 possibilities, I could either be lousy at using search engines or my friend lied (I hope its the latter :D).

Hmm, maybe I should try searching in Japanese instead. For a person who thinks Japanese is on the same level as Rocket Science at this very moment, a lot of hard work needs to be done. A better alternative would be to ask for a link hahaha!

Anyway, good job man!

He the man!

After quite some time, this character surfaced.

Spank them bottoms!

Epic fail. I did not manage to snap a picture together with this character (baka baka baka!!). Patapon is one of the very few games that robbed me of a life back in NS. My God-like Save Files are stored safely in the depths of my 4GB SD card. Loading them could make a beam light shine down all the way from the sky and onto your PSP.

Pata pata pata pon!

可愛い少女

Kenneth was particularly attracted to this girl. Few obvious reasons.

Hitotsu, she is cute.

Futatsu, she is wearing a Japanese styled school uniform.

Mitsu, her skirt is short, very short.

Yotsu, we have no idea which anime/manga her character belongs to.

When in doubt, just SHOOT!

While messing around with the camera's zoom feature, Kenneth noticed this Hatsune Miku munching on some biscuits. The settings, the angle & the moment was just too right.

Click~

An irritated Miku

The problem with Cosplaying is that when you are there to get some attention by dressing up as your favourite character, you would most definitely get it whether you want it or not. Although that reason might sound like an excuse for voyeurism, you can't simply deny the truth behind that explanation.

Level 2

Who is she?

I kept asking Kenneth, who is she? Not that I'm particularly interested, I'm just amused by how little I know about both anime & manga. It was pretty obvious that she could hear me, I was less than 2 metres away from where she stood. I swore she gave me the "WHAAAAT?? YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM????" face after we started to walk off.

It was then I saw Spanner-san!

No no no not the null element Spanner-san

This one.

The Cosplayer.

Jerry: Spanner-san desuka? Take picture leh!

CPSpanner-san: Har, 我很矮 leh.

I totally laughed at her.

Not bad at all，she even did Spanner's tattoo. IMO I think she did a great job with the character selection. I mean, both Spanner-san and herself have a set of slack jack looking eyes. I wonder if the sweet that she's eating is formed in the same shape as the one seen in the Anime..

All the people who Cosplayed Katekyou were girls (I saw a female version of Hibari-san). That further affirms Kenneth's theory that Katekyou is an anime more suited for girls.

NO SUCH THING.

Anyway, that was probably the highlight of the day for me. At least I didn't come back empty handed like Ivan & Kenneth.

Thats it for now, jaa!

今晩は

2009-12-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

Hi there readers.

I've created this side-blog for the sole purpose of commenting on the animes that I've watched so far. Meaning to say there is no point doing stuff like changing the blog's template or adding a tagboard as they are totally unrelated to the things that I'm going to write about.

Did that sound like a cover up? I hope not *fingers crossed*.

Anyway, a truckload of stuff to write about. My topics would range from worshiping voice actors/actresses to praising song compositions. Well, hope I do a good job.

As こばとちゃん(Kobato-chan) would always say..

"こばと, 頑張りますっ!! "(Kobato, ganbarimasu!!)

Only in this case, I should swap her name out and replace it with mine.