Thursday 26 July 2007

Making a New Blog

Damn you Yulyang (Scions of Fate)! Why do you always make this game addictive?

Oh, well, going to make a Yulyang blog, just for any SoF people out there and telling them about my latest journey.

Quote of the Moment - "Prisoner breathe new life into Michael Jackson classic" - Yesterday Metro's headline. Erm...

EDIT: I finally made my Yulyang/Scions of Fate blog, which you can click this very blog here. And it's called 'Across the Border of Order and Chaos'. Ugh, I should have made the title better.

Saturday 21 July 2007

W00T! 100th Post!

And also...

DO NOT DISTURB ME!
As I'm going to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and I'm on up to chapter 10 as of now. And no, I'm not giving any summary, as I couldn't be bothered writing this down. So, haha!
And no, Quote of the Moment this time. I knew Baileys with strawberries was a bad idea. D:

Friday 20 July 2007

More Den-O in Anime!

If you thought people in Japan just couldn't get enough of seeing more Den-O in anime, then think again!

Recently, I got interested in this manga and anime called Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (or the official translation, according to the animation staff, called So Long, Mr. Despair) and what I found while watching episode 2 was seeing Momotaros' famous catchphrases appearing on the wall and the chalkboard! XD If you don't believe, try clicking on these two links below.

'Ore, sanjou! (P.S. Look at the right hand side of the wall)'

'When I start, it's already the climax!'

Quote of the Moment - "I'm in Despair!" - Nozomo Itoshiki from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (or So Long, Mr. Despair, depending on which side you're on).

Sunday 15 July 2007

Yay! Den-O's going to be an Anime

Not! I'm just kidding, but right after I watched the RAW version of Den-O episode, I saw this screenshot from this anime I don't know. What's so surprising to me, is that for some odd reason, not only does this strange-looking DenLiner appears, but also Owner, Hana and Momotaros are in there as well! O_O What? You don't believe me, why not look at the screenshot below (and if some kindly person would tell us what anime is this from, I would be grateful).

Look! Even Den-O has invaded anime!

Oh yes, before I go, even Keroro Gunsou (Sgt. Frog for those who don't know Japanese), parodies Den-O too. Seriously, I think TOEI might going to do an anime spin-off of Den-O!

So, is this going to be called Kamen Rider Frog-O?

Quote of the Moment - "Listen very carefully. I shall say this only once." Michelle from 'Allo, 'Allo! God, I love this show, even though it's only a couple of years old.

EDIT! I know now that the first screenshot is actually from Hayate no Gotoku (or Hayate the Combat Butler for those who have the VIZ manga).

Friday 13 July 2007

Gonzo's Making Mark AnthonyXCleopatra!

Okay, I lied. It's actually RomeoXJuliet that I'm going to watch (no good thanks to my younger sister when she told me about this), since I read (and studied in Secondary or High School if you're not British) the original William Shakespeare play (which is Romeo & Juliet), then watched the 70s film (which has some medieval clothes in it) and finally my favourite out of the two films, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (which, thankfully, has kept the original dialogue, even though this takes place in the modern version of Verona), as well as flicking through the UK manga version (which was surprisingly better than I first thought) of the tragic star-crossed lovers.

Well, it all started when my younger sis told me that Gonzo's own version was a lot different than the original play, I couldn't believe, so thankfully, I sat down, download a few episodes and I can come up to the conclusion of what I think about:

  • The setting takes place in Neo Verona that has full of winged horses. Yes, you heard me right, winged horses.
  • Capulet gets overruled by Montague (through killing) and has full control of Neo Verona. Hey, wait a minute. Where's the frickin' Prince?! He's supposed to quell the fighting between the two.
  • Years later and somehow for some odd reason, Romeo and Juliet had swap role reversal, with Juliet being the main focus instead of Romeo, even the fancy dress ball scene.
  • Hey, what happen to Mercutio? Isn't he supposed to be the more eccentric friend of Romeo? And since when did he filled Tybalt's shoes?
  • The opening song really is something similar to what that stupid Irish pop band, Westlife, had sung not long ago.

But despite my constant bickering that Gonzo went off-tangent from the original play, I still find it a very interesting take on Romeo and Juliet and I like the animation, as well as the characters and storyline, so I'm continue to watch this show and find out if Gonzo's going to take the tragic ending, like the original play, or just gone completely different in a way that would either delight people or just enraged Shakespeare fans further more (which I doubt, since there's not a lot or young fans ranting about this). I'm also delighted that Gonzo put some homages and references to Shakespeare plays, including William himself (though I don't remember him, being blond).

Quote of the Moment - "Why isn't Gonzo going to make Julius Caesar?!" - Me in thought that the chances of getting my favourite Shakespeare play (which I studied as part of that GCSE English literature exam) turned into an anime is going to be slim.

Wednesday 11 July 2007

How Not to Get Your 15 Minutes of Fame

Mwahahahahaha! My Bleach fanart and even though I'm not much of a fan myself (my younger sis is and she got me into this manga and anime), I sometimes watch some episodes just to get some heartful laughs, whether it's the side story episodes, that Shinigami Colour Illustration Golden shorts or something or that Arrancar Research Timeshort Gin 'Urataros' Ichimaru hosts or something. And now, thanks to Kamen Rider Den-O (and mainly the voice actors who were in BLEACH), I have this funny dream recently about Ryotaro, Hana, Yuto and the others ended up visiting that Soul Society place and follows in really unexpected events. XD

Quote of the Moment - "Ka-GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-mi!" - Tsurugi Kamishiro from Kamen Rider Kabuto

Tuesday 3 July 2007

Gorillaz + Saiyuki - Three Good-Looking Men = Monkey

Last night, I went to see Monkey in the Palace Theatre in Manchester (England) with my cousin and what we watched as really amazing. At first, he and I thought this opera might not have the appeal to many young people and children, but once we found our seats, I was surprised to see that so many of them were waiting to see this collaboration by the makers behind Gorillaz (aka Jamie Hewlett and Damon 'Blur' Albarn) and Chen Shi-Zheng. And once the curtain draws up, the intro started wonderfully as our main hero, Monkey was born out of the egg (via stone) with wonderful animation and really amazing music that blends Western orchestra with Chinese traditional music and under the 'Gorillaz' music.



So, what are the bad points? Well, because the all of the songs were in Mandarin Chinese, I had a hard time trying to look for the subtitles (and it was below, dammit). However, that was only the bad point I've ever come across.



Now that the bad points out of the way, it's now time for the good points. I really love how this production mixes live-action with animation (that's really some great animation I've ever come across, plus it's British!) and I love the set and costume designs. I just want to hug Jamie Hewlett for producing this wonderful design, as not only original, but very charming indeed.



And then there's the music. It's really endearing and wonderful to listen to the performers singing Chinese harmonically with his [Damon Albarn] compostion and in actual fact, I want to get the soundtrack ASAP. No, really.



And what about the performances? The most important factor of them all and safely to say, they were wonderful and surprisingly funny. I love how Monkey is the star of the show and how the actor portrays him as a very comedic character (and I lol'd when he said about the Smoking Ban in England). I just love the acrobat and the action scenes that were choreographically spectacular (and better than the musicals I've ever come across).



I won't spoil the ending for you, but here are some pics of the programme that I picked up; with beautiful artwork by Jamie Hewlett.



Just click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you want. Whew, that's done, so now I'm going. For some odd reason, my favourite character happens to be Sandy. Not sure why.

Quote of the Moment - "The catchy chorus makes it a perfect attention-getter at karaoke parties." - Newtype USA's Climax Jump review. Now, how did this Toku opening from Den-O got to a mainly anime and manga magazine is beyond my knowledge. No, really.

Sunday 1 July 2007

Me Going to See Monkey Tomorrow


Yes, Riku-kun. You heard Rena-san right. Can't wait to see this interesting collab 'Circus' Oprea tomorrow at the Palace Theatre with my cousin (in Manchester, England of course), because it has the makers of Gorillaz did most of the music composition and art for this and I'm a fan of these two men.
Quote of the Moment - "When you put that way, it's a strong weapon. But, a skewer?!" - Johnny Garland from Shadow Hearts: From the New World. Aah, good ol'Nautilus. Still as crazy as ever with those final weapons. Though a rocket-launcher-flamethrower-shotgun-inside-one-guitar would always be my favourite unorthodox weapon. What?