ODEX: really just stupid? And this isn't just about them.

Yes, I'm updating again. Previous attempts having been plagued by frequent disconnections, etcetera. It's as if the blogging gods (if those even exist) are trying to stop me from throwing out one of my reviews. Well, this time, the subject of discussion is the much-b****ed about company in the online anime community, ODEX.

" sure,while anime DL is illegal and what the company is doing is right in some sense, but, getting ISP to reveal over a thousand IPs, forcing each violaters to pay up 5000 dollars or face Court charges is NOT THE WAY TO HANDLE THIS CASE. furthermore, a 9year old kid had to pay 5000 dollars for illegial anime DL, A F***ING 9 YEAR OLD. what would his parents feel. like f***s! thats right.

the company way of handling things is just out of hand, hell do we even know where all this money goes too? I would speculate the company is gonna bag all the money into their banks....."

-NCH, a Singaporean deviator on DeviantArt who does not download anime and WAS maintaining a neutral stand until this happened.

ODEX HOLOCAUST by =NCH85 on deviantART

"Odex Burning Ceremony on August 25th @ Youth Park CHANGED TO CD RECYCLING DRIVE."

What some parts of the community think.

"I actually have nothing much to say about the whole fiasco of ODEX since it has been over run by so many people lately including me during the past two months. However, the latest blog entries surrounding this issue about Stephen Sing reeks of mere punitive naive flaming."

By Impz. His post here.

Now, I think this whole thing is kind of stupid. It is pretty obvious to the lawmakers that the anime community has pretty much shot themselves in the foot by ILLEGALLY downloading anime, but it appears that they are shouting furiously against the matter by saying that ODEX sucks, ODEX is shit, ODEX is a dictatorship, Stephen Sing is a bloody arsehole, etc. This does not help their case. It's obvious who is in the wrong: The community, having downloaded anime in the first place, is considered pirating and infringing copyright laws, and this is pretty much obviously not in our favour when brought up against ODEX. Heck, if they were the ones in the wrong, would it have been possible to obtain a court order in the first place? There's no law against shoddy work or whatever, so we can't do anything about it. Wearing a black ribbon and trying to obtain funding to go up against the company won't do anything, they've got the upper hand.

Of course, ODEX did shoot itself in the foot by trying to kill off the local anime downloading community. Of course, they have a list of licensed stuff that they search for, and send out those lovely little letters (now nationally recognised as "The Odex Letter"). Anything outside that list would be spared. Basically, if you had paid, even bought DVDs from overseas as do most of our local high-profile anime bloggers, and downloaded only those that are unlicensed and impossible to find, then you would be pretty much safe. They're pretty lenient in that aspect - they're only protecting intellectual property rights. Now, I'm not saying that what they're doing is right - the oft-stated example of fining a 9-year old for downloading anime when he probably did not know sh*t about copyrights pretty much means you're off your rocker. Also, if you've got the telcos fighting against your advances, it might be time to check your actions.

Now, I download anime myself, I admit that. I enjoy my stuff. But I'm not an idiot to think that I can go up against ODEX just by arming myself with a black ribbon and proclaiming war on them when the whole case is obviously against me. Burning their stuff may be a way to show them what the community thinks, but the money's in their pockets, we're just making a loss by burning off the product that we paid cold, hard cash for. Some guy making a comment on a local anime blog said "I would rather buy American R1 DVDs than buy ODEX DVDs, no matter that it costs double." Shit then, BUY IT. Don't just spout out remarks that you aren't going to work on, that's killing your own credibility.

Our community is quite fine in thinking it can boycott ODEX. It's been doing that for a long time. However it is tiny, naive and stupid in thinking it can fight its way against international copyright laws, overseas companies, and most of all, the Singapore Government just through willpower and a few thousand dollars. The difference here is that the people running ODEX know that by taking the legal side, it can gain the upper hand. We people are useless against them, but people don't understand that. Just face the truth, we can't fight it. Even if we can blow holes through ODEX's case, remember this: In any debate the side that is on the opposition of any "do not have the right" motion only need to prove one point and justify it to win. This is the sort of battle that is going on now.

Face it. ODEX is smarter than us, and that is not going to change. Putting Stephen Sing's face on a WANTED poster is definitely not going to change that.

No idea.

Nothing much has changed recently, except that I started on Jigoku Shoujo for some reason and that I'm bored. So, on to the intros!

	Y. Sanau (http://ysanau.deviantart.com) I found this really good deviator through some random linking from others. That was when she still had around 450 pageviews (current count around 15,000 and rising). From the first deviation her standard was already of this kind of standard, soft-cel shaded and all. Which is why I admire her stuff so much.
	Arehandora (http://arehandora.deviantart.com) A very, very good anime-style artist. Inuyasha fans might be familiar with one of her works, "Kagome in the Wonderland", which was frequently mislabeled as official art, much to the chagrin of the artist. Have a look.

No idea.

Update: Anime and art.

Actually, I'm kinda off anime at the moment, except for Lucky Star because it's done by - who else? - Kyoto Animation. Currently I've dropped Hayate no Gotoku because I am not really interested in continuing with it, but I've started with Nagasarete Airantou, which has the basic premise of a guy stuck on an island of girls, with the normal stuff ensuing.

So now for the introductions!

Kuridoki (http://www.kuridoki.deviantart.com).

Singaporean who (if I remember correctly) won Mangaka 05 (check the '06 posters, they feature one of her works). This is her latest featured deviation, Saber from Fate/Stay Night, which apparently will go on sale at future anime conventions (I believe one convention is Cosfest). Featured once in the Straits Times, through a letter submitted by her father(?) after the featured LifeStyle article on manga (which I still have in my cupboard somewhere). Check it out. :)

























ml-11mk (http://ml-11mk.deviantart.com/)

Apparently, from the random remarks I heard by people in AEP (namely seniors and the teacher), this guy used to be from AEP in my school as well - or rather, is in the JC section now. Of course, I felt greatly depressed for a while after that. Of course, from what you can see in this picture, his digital painting is great stuff. Some of these really great people come around once in a while - the person on top flagged this digital painting as a must-see. Go see his other stuff.










These are, once again, top-of-the-line (in my eyes) deviators who deserve the recognition they are getting. And as you might have noticed, I do actually look for stuff other than anime.

Newest updates.

 

So, it's been just about forever since my last update. Of course, knowing the nature of the internet, once you're gone, you're gone and your popularity has waned. Giving that I was not very popular in the first place. >.>

Anime Update: Still watching Lucky Star. Also trying out Hayate no Gotoku, waiting for CLANNAD due fall and trying to complete homework. Lucky Star is still very funny, and Hayate no Gotoku is a riot.

Main Update:

LOOK AT THIS GUY'S ART. (Hotlinked off DA)

Done by http://murasaki-hoshi.deviantart.com/.

This guy is stationed in Singapore and freaking imba. Of course, there are other better people around Singapore, or about the same standard (those I have no shortage of), but I like his style.

SECOND GUY! (once again, hotlinked off DA.)

 

Done by http://toounit.deviantart.com/. Complete ownage.

This guy (actually not really sure about his/her gender) is stationed in Malaysia and has really good skills with Copic markers - and really deep pockets as well. Each marker costs $5, and he easily has over a hundred of them. Well, when you've got skill, money's no matter, right? xD

Update for today - complete. Off to play Fatal/Fake. :3

::BLOGPOST ARCHIVE:: April 24th - Anime Review.

[ARCHIVE - drafted but unpublished.]

And of course, everyone hails my frequent postings. >.>

Today I will be reviewing a new, currently all-the-rage anime: Lucky ☆ Star. :3 Reason being? I'm too busy to watch anything else.

First Impressions!

Lucky ☆ Star is an anime based off a 4-koma strip (basically, the manga version of your average dailies). Animated by Kyoto Animation, who did, of course, Full Metal Panic!, AIR TV, the ridiculously popular The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Kanon 2006, the expectations for this are also, of course, ridiculously high.

Firstly, the animation style is very different - it's a style that suits the subject title, but most people see it as a degeneration in production quality. Personally, I feel it's just a different style, because the proportions and frames animated are pretty consistent, which of course, cannot be a degeneration of quality.

And now, for the OP - a very, VERY hyper opening to the whole series. Major caffeine boost, I would say.

  (Images off http://randomc.animeblogger.net.)

And that's just the opening scene of the opening. Of course, for sheer quality and hyperactivity, the OP scores almost a perfect 10. That in itself values it a must-watch. So go watch it. (This is merely a cut-off so I can go do my homework.)

Update - Regarding St. Valentine's Day.

This was a post written on the 13th of February, just before St. Valentine's Day.

St. Valentine's Day: A simple yet painful reminder of the loneliness one experiences when without a partner to share joy and sadness with. It is absolutely mortifying if you think about it: People around you recieving gifts one after another, and you sitting alone, with nothing to pass you by but a few token yellow roses of friendship.

Come to think of it, St. Valentine's Day is indeed but a moneygrabbing scheme, where various non-living objects take on new prices to widen that already large hole in your wallet, still smouldering from exertions over Christmas. St. Valentine's Day may hold significance to the lucky few in relationships, but for the rest, it is but an ordinary day with no special meaning, except perhaps an enhanced sense of loneliness. Of course, if I were to recieve a gift, I would be very happy. =)

This was a post written on St. Valentine's Day, 14/02/07.

An absurdly uneventful day, if you are talking in terms of St. Valentine's Day. The only thing that reflected what occasion it was was Terence going around giving out free hugs and proclaiming "Happy Valentine's Day", and an interesting coincidence in that I happened to read the chapter detailing St. Valentine's Day in the seventh book of the Suzumiya Haruhi series today.

In fact, I felt nothing on the matter - I even forgot entirely about it, until I saw some girls going around with roses in hand. So I must say, the points I raised in my previous musing have come to naught - I spent more time today pondering the beauty of the stark difference in shadow and light cast by the evening sun, which was not quite dim enough for a sunset, but enough to generate wonderfully soft shadows and contrast between the light and the dark, so beautiful one could paint it. Observing sunsets, I must say, makes for a pretty interesting hobby, if somewhat weird; it is never possible to tell what you might get the next day. Oh, and best of all, it's free.

And that concludes my St. Valentine's Day musings.

Update Sunday 04/02/07 - Best.

Is there really something anyone can be good at? People say that my drawing is good, but if you look at the artists and painters of the past, is my work even of ten percent the standard they exude? Even if you narrow it down - my friend said I'm good at manga and cartooning - but even then, the numerous examples of good artists on Deviantart bring me down to my knees. See below, Notes 1.

I am extremely conscious of my shortcomings - one of them being unable to put heart into close to anything at all. Why would this be so? That's because you can never be the best at anything. Wherever you look, there is always someone bound to be better than you. Though this may spur some on to try to become the best, in the end, everyone comes to the same bitter conclusion - there is no such thing. In everything, there are styles - different styles that get the job done in different ways. It may not neccessarily be the best way, though - because there cannot be a best. There is no such thing because everything, at higher levels of skill, branches out into different genres, with different styles. Different artists and writers have their own individual styles that appeal to certain people - in a way, everyone is the best at everything they do, which is to say no one is.

So, when you can't ever be the best, why bother in the first place? It's completely irrational to stress oneself over something that you can never win at. Why not just live life as did the grasshopper? The ant may have survived the harsh winter, but is spending your entire year working just so you can live for another year of work really meaningful? Why not just have fun, enjoy yourself, fornicate or whatever pleases you, then disappear from the surface of the earth? That way, it would be better for everyone - Mankind would have more space, animals would have more forests and less polluted seas, the Earth would be less squeezed for resources - and it would be a much better life for all.

Note 1:
http://kuridoki.deviantart.com/
http://arehandora.deviantart.com/
http://lasaro.deviantart.com/
http://kaze-hime.deviantart.com/
http://damashii.deviantart.com/
http://phantom-paranormal.deviantart.com/

About more stuff.

Hello guys.

This is the first time I've drafted out a blogpost before submitting it, but I believe a lot of people should do this as well because not everyone is interested in the fine points of your life, unless you're blogging about what you did with your boyfriend/girlfriend last night - and have pictures to show for it.

Now, about my AEP project. I have to work on a compulsory AEP (Art Elective Programme) project for Projects Day (equivalent of IRS), which I am doing together with two other people (from Mediatech, thus owning). Now, there is one emo scene in this video that I am submitting for my project. Actually, I'm doing all the scenes, but the emo scene is specifically by me since the others chose me to do the emo scene. Or rather, I am storyboarding it. However, my choreography is very time-based - I really like sunsets, and one of the scenes requires a heavy downpour. So it's like, emo scene in the sunset. A major side effect of watching too much emo anime where they can paint the background (Kanon, to be exact). But, BUT, I've seen the sunsets in Hwa Chong. They are beautiful (if you have very little clouds). Combined with the looming expanse of the school, it sets a scene for beautiful stuff to happen.

Now, to anime. Do you know what a trap is when used as an anime term? (If you do, good for you.) It's a person who looks like a girl, acts like a girl, dresses like a girl, heck, sounds like a girl but is actually a guy.

That is a guy. Jun Watarase from Happiness!.

Terence (Tsang) describes traps as "bad for the heart". Of course, this is only possible in anime, unless you go for plastic surgery to reconstruct your entire face and probably body stature as well, after which you might be able to pull it off, and possibly even look more appealing than actual girls (it's been done, but you must be able to act well as a girl first. Really well. Being gay helps.) Then gain endless amusement from their faces when you tell them you're male.

(insert emo facial distortion here)

This will add a whole new perspective to harems other than the Itsuki class. Lol. All harem guys beware. (Except for Shiratori, who was himself the trap. Wtf.)

About harems.

Wouldn't it be nice to have your own personal harem? (I'm directing this at guys here, but it can apply to girls too. However, examples are less easy to find - excluding Ouran High School Host Club, which I do not watch. Therefore this applys to guys only. Lol.)

For those unfamiliar with this term, it means a single guy with a load of cute, pretty and very skilled females. Hilarity usually ensues - at the expense of the male lead - unless you are watching Kanon or Air. Or Fate/Stay Night. Upon which hilarity still ensues, albeit at the expense of other characters. Lol.

Of course, having your own personal harem means that you would have a group of really cute girls lusting over your guts. Makes you smile just thinking about it. (Maybe though, if you're Keitaro, you might want to run.) Then again, maybe they aren't really lusting after your body, but then the second type of harem comes into play, and you become really good friends with the same group of really cute and skilled girls, much to the chagrin of your fellow male classmates. (One of these is Yuuichi, who is an idiot because he cannot appreciate the fact that all of the girls he met seven years before are really really cute and adorable and just waiting for him to sweep them off their feet. Or maybe he's gay.) Of course, you could also fall into a harem with REALLY skilled and REALLY cute girls lusting after your guts, which is usually your gain. I envy you, Kyon. But Itsuki is kind of a problem there. (Your face is too close.)

If I had a personal harem though I'd be very happy about it. Then I could spend less time staring at anime and more time going out and having fun. Unless you're Yuuichi or Yukito, on which other hand you would be all sad and stuff from various parts of your harem leaving for various reasons, death etc. Very sad indeed - less cute girls to hang out and have fun with. But of course those harems are outliers - the girls are incredibly cute and have tragic pasts. Complete vulnerability, but because the guys are idiots, they do not take advantage of that fact. Normal guys, on the other hand... never mind.

Concluding, I REALLY WANT A PERSONAL HAREM. Lol. I am such a dreamer.

Happy New Year, whatever.

Yeah so it's three days late, I KNOW THAT.

The arrangement of the furniture in my home has been changed to allow for extra space in the study area and for a better flow of feng shui in and out of the kitchen and dining areas. However, after all this shifting and all, the computer is still in a common area and not in some personal place even though only I use it now. Basically, it's so I can't log on and play in the middle of the night.

I am a boring person, therefore I have nothing to blog about, be it outings, movies, games, funny weird happenings or such. Unless, of course, you consider taking about twenty pictures of the same sunset at three different levels of exposure, different zooms, and in colour, B&W and sepia tones to be interesting - if which I would tell you to go get a book on digital photography basics and go start your own photo studio.

The only thing I have ever blogged about is anime and I do not intend to change that anytime soon. However, there is nothing anime-related to blog about at the moment 'cos:

1. Kanon episode 13's sub has not been released yet, DAMMIT;
2. Negima!? sucks and Death Note is really boring;
3. I have not yet watched Shakugan no Shana;
4. I finished watching AIR about half a year ago;
5. Fate/Stay Night is long over;
6. I have no intention (yet) of watching anything else.

Spring 2007 also brings several new series that have recieved quite a bit of publicity, but nothing that interests me (there's a lot of yuri, incidentally). I don't think there's going to be anything good until hopefully, Summer 2007, or at least Halo 3.

So, until I've watched Shana, don't expect too much from me since I don't go out anyway.

Maintaining the Balance.

lolol 1337 5p34k 1s 4 F*CKING PIECE OF CRAP.

Just felt like venting, that's all. Hey, at least I censored that.

1337 5p34k is a language that was created last time for people to converse without being regulated (for whatever reason) - but nowadays people use it freely for absolutely no reason other than to supposedly sound cool. Other words in this class are abbreviations like "lmao" and "lol" which have made their way into common everyday speech - which means, even if something is not funny or exceedingly funny, you can never tell since everyone is just saying "lol" or "lmao" instead of laughing or staring at you half-liddedly. What emotion can be expressed from a flat one syllable word? So please, try to refrain from "loling" all over the place, and instead try to LAUGH.

Another matter on hand are plastic bags. The next time you go to a supermarket, try bringing along reusable bags instead - and if it's just one object, request not to have a plastic bag and carry it in one hand. Unless it is, of course, something too big, like a car, which on the other hand you wouldn't need a plastic bag for and can just DRIVE AWAY.

And no, the subject header is not related to the post. Thank you, and goodbye.

Signing off, Corporal Ho Wei Rong

Spreading the Word.

Yes, it's related to anime again.

Yesterday was the NPCC Annual General Meeting - a really boring thing where people sit around and go through stuff about the previous year. However, everything was very half-hearted and most of the powerpoints were about three slides long. I spent most of my energy trying not to fall asleep.

Well, at least there was no marching. It ended prematurely, about one hour earlier - which I took advantage of to spread anime, my favourite hobby. Target? Taylor Ong Yik Sin, someone I had previously got to watch Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.

The anime I chose was Kanon, which is what I've been blogging about for the past two months. I made my way into the 2M (now 2B) classroom, which had not been locked since school closed. All needed equipment had been predetermined and was in working order. I then proceeded to show it on the projector, and there you had it: Thirty minutes of DVD quality, Not-Available-In-Singapore animation.

His reaction was expected - he found the girls undeniably cute, especially Nayuki, who is the most popular character at the moment (and I have to agree on that point, she is really very cute). He said he would watch it on YouTube - success.

Signing off.

Update 19/12/2006

This is the first post I am sharing between my LiveJournal and Blogger accounts. I think I will be continuing this in future.

Picking up from where I left off, Kanon 2006 episode 11 has just been released. Which is actually not all that big news, since like only I watch it. Why do I watch stuff that no one else does? And counting in the fact that half my contact list on MSN watches anime, that proves how big the show's fan base here is. Which is, coincidentally, not very big. Which is why I am valiantly giving my best effort to spread this wonderful anime - but nobody wants to watch it (Except angsty emo sadistic character-focused people - which Singapore is devoid of).

On another note, I have three AuditionSEA accounts now - if you have one please PM me if you see me online. They are Melvin334, Earthspace and Hitoel.

Currently my favourite quote is from AIR - and was used in a Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu fan comic.

"Yukito-san... like a leaf from a tree..."

Random and very fun. It's the scene where Michiru runs headlong into Yukito's side with Misuzu looking on, in case you've forgot - unless, of course, you have not watched it, which is more probable.

Back to Kanon 2006 - since Makoto is now gone the focus, of course, has to turn to someone else. And this time it happens to be Mai. Now, the preview looks really interesting, so now I am just waiting for episode 12 to come out - the episode that marks the middle point in the anime. Now, it's been two months so I think the show is going to span four.

And just for info, I am going to elaborate on the characters now. Please skip the following parts if you hate anime, for which I do not understand why you would be on my blog at all.

1. Aizawa Yuuichi
   
   The main male lead. Mysteriously, he does not seem to have romantic links with the other female characters, which is the norm in anime with a significant gender difference.
   
2. Minase Nayuki
   
   The first girl Yuuichi meets, and his first cousin. In the style of anime Nayuki has a hair colour which significantly distinguishes her from the other characters - in this case, blue - and a hairstyle that would require a fortune in hair wax to maintain. One of the more popular characters of Kanon for her lightheadedness and character. She tends to talk slower than the other characters.
   
3. Tsukimiya Ayu
   
   The second girl Yuuichi meets, and with the least complicated hairstyle (i.e. could actually be natural). She has a fondness for taiyaki and has a childlike nature. Her hair colour is light brown, and she has a red hairband which apparently serves no purpose other than as a hair accessory. Has a habit of saying "Uguu~", which has become a very famous catchphrase - the most famous of Kanon. She has been friends with Yuuichi from seven years ago, and has been waiting for all that time.
   
4. Misaka Shiori
   
   A girl who first meets Yuuichi by having snow falling on her. He later has frequent liasons with her on the school grounds, which she tends to loiter around during school times. She is a first year student at the same school, but does not attend due to an apparent illness. Her hair is blackish-brown, a similar colour to Kaori's hair colour, and is another of the more natural hairstyles.
   
5. Kawasumi Mai
   
   A very silent girl, reminiscent of Nagato Yuki, and Yuuichi's senior. He first meets her during an accident involving Mai, Sayuri, Nayuki and a flight of stairs. She shares a connection with him from seven years ago, but this has not yet been mentioned so far in the second anime adaptation. Her hair is dark blue-black, and is tied on the back with a blue ribbon.
   
6. Sawatari Makoto
   
   A mysterious girl with seemingly no past who attacks Yuuichi out of the blue. She also shares a connection with Yuuichi from seven years ago. However, her part in the story is completed near to halfway through the episodes, and subsequently disappears physically from the anime. Her hair is reddish-brown, and is tied up on two sides with ribbons.
   
7. Minase Akiko
   
   Nayuki's mother and only parent. She is seemingly familiar with the supernatural nature of the town, and knows how they apply to Yuuichi (which is a lot). One of her defining features is that she will give responses to questions within one second of being asked, and also her jam, which is greatly feared by Nayuki and Yuuichi.
   
8. Misaka Kaori
   
   Nayuki's best friend and classmate along with Yuuichi, Kaori mainly features in Shiori's story and is introduced early on in the anime.
   
9. Amano Mishio
   
   Exclusively featured in Makoto's arc. Mishio is familiar with the supernatural nature of the town, and possesses experience with it. After Makoto's arc is concluded, she seems to have changed somewhat, becoming much more open and expressive, or at least to Yuuichi.
   
10. Kurata Sayuri
    
    Mai's best friend, and features in only Mai's arc, playing no part in the others.
    
11. Kitagawa Jun
    
    Yuuichi's good friend, and one of the only other named male characters. Mainly serves as a plot device.

Oh, and someone should make some quiz about "Which Kanon character are you?" or something. This now is my most favourite anime because everything is just so darned cute. -.-||

Another update.

Like yay going for a badminton game with Wilford and a few others tomorrow.

Currently I am bored and don't really do much besides watch anime (which incidentally I do very well). But watching it is no fun when you are the only one in a group of like, 100 people. That's because there's no one to discuss it with: Anime in this category for me are AIR, Kanon 2006, Zero no Tsukaima, Mahoraba, Maburaho, and a few others that do not fall into conventional categories that those who actually watch anime rarely watch. Those that like 5 out of 100 know of include Gunslinger Girl, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (which coincidentally is incredibly highly rated), Negima!?, and a few others I cannot recall temporarily. Of course, I do watch mainstream anime, but these have plots that mainly focus on fighting. I mean, doesn't anyone like character development? Relationships and all that? Anime that fall into this category are Bleach, Naruto, Gundam SEED Destiny and Full-Metal Alchemist (which differs in that it actually posesses good plot). The only redeeming point of these kind of anime (besides Full-Metal Alchemist which, coincidentally, has quite bad animation [even though everything seems pretty bad once you've seen Kyoto Animation]) is the action. Of course, there are the anime that everybody knows about, but the problem is that these totally suck and some aren't even considered anime. Anime in this category are Inuyasha and Pokemon (which is considered by some to not be an anime but a game). Inuyasha is pretty okay but Pokemon is pretty poor. The plot of each episode focuses around six main points that you can find in detail on forums and the anime itself serves nothing more than as a money-grabbing scheme.

Okay, we end it there. Now I just watched episode 10 of Kanon 2006, which admittedly is the only anime I watch right now. I heard that most people cried when they watched this episode since Makoto disappears in this one, but I felt nothing much else than a slight tingle. That's what social conditioning and NPCC do to you. Maybe it's a good thing, but really good anime should be able to make you feel the agony of the characters which means you're really into the story, and which also means the characters are as close to human as possible. So far the only anime I have seen that come close are based off Key Game material, but even those made me feel not much other than a tingly feeling in the pit of my stomach and slight bouts of quietness afterwards. Even playing one of their games, or rather the visual novel Planetarian, didn't do much more. Maybe it's good for tissue saving, though. Problem is that anime based off their material, though made by Kyoto Animation, is not mainstream because it focuses so much on character development and is, as some would describe, "f***ing unbelieveably slow", and thus are known by, say, 1 in 100 people. The anime are AIR and Kanon 2006, incidentally.

Now for those people who actually recognised most of the anime names up there and can say that they know the plotlines, PM me. For those who so totally want me to screw off for wasting precious server space on this, PM me too. For those who don't give a damn, keep to yourselves or post your views on the little tagboard on the side.

Another update.

Okay, so now after a really long time I am updating. Wow.

Kanon episode 9 is out. As is episode 9 of Negima!?. I have watched Kanon episode 9. I have ignored Negima!? since episode 5. Death Note was out since episode 2. Perhaps my interest in this area is waning - perhaps going to manga instead. Which does not help much.

Actually since I can't play much anymore my interest in the computer and gaming is waning. So is my interest in watching the TV and playing games on the Xbox. Unfortunately, interest in my homework has not gone up, but down 20%. I'm even losing interest in drawing. And guitar. So I have all these fabulous skills and stuff to do that I am starting to dislike. Basically, at this point in time, life sucks because there is nothing I am interested in (I'm losing interest in blogging too. And I am really hungry right now but I'm too bored to get up and go and get food).

My life is dead as of 5/12/06. Wish me happiness in futility.

Lalala.

Today while playing squash I saw a young mother pushing her child in a pram, coming to a stop and watching us. Expectedly she told her child, "Look, it's a ball! It's bouncing, it's bouncing! Ooh it came so close!"

So what's so unexpected about it? Well, nothing. But, have we ever considered what the toddler might be thinking?

For all we know, the toddler might be responding mentally with a "Yes you idiot I know it's a ball and I know it's bouncing. Now all I want is just for you to tell me why the laws of physics act in such a strange way on the ball." Maybe now a child points at an Xbox controller. What is he thinking? The mother, bathed in joy that the child is taking an interest in objects, exclaims, "Well, look! That's a game controller! You use it to play GAMES."

"Yeah shut up and turn it on so I can play Halo 2."

"See, this controller has BUTTONS. They help you to..."

"Look, my GamerTag is gonna expire soon if you don't turn it on. I purposely stole your credit card for this so don't waste it."

Yeah, whatever.

Oh my heck.

I had the weirdest meeting online today.

Thanks to the efforts of Si Hui (thank you very much, yes I know you found my blog), I managed to meet Ian. Who is he? An anime fan as well. Albeit one who knows what TYPE/MOON is, has actually heard of Kanon, is interested in Gunslinger Girl, had a passing fancy for Ai Yori Aoshi, has a display picture of Belldandy, likes Shakugan no Shana, and (get this) can draw well.

Besides all this, he lives less than 100 metres from me.

Seriously like wth. I never thought this day would come.

Back for another post that barely anyone will read.

After screening randomly through the various blogs that I link to (I don't actually read blogs on a daily basis), I have determined that the number of people who actually use proper English (read: Full sentences, complete words and punctuation and capitals) in blogs is of a phenomenally tiny amount. Though of course there is no need to actually use it, seeing as how online netspeak has gotten so popular. I, however, still prefer standard English online for some unknown reason.

There is nothing anime-related to blog about at the moment, as Kanon 2006 episode 7 is not out yet, Negima!? episode 5 is still in the wings and chapter 154 of the manga is still being subbed. I guess the majority of the people who actually visit and bother to read are happier at this.

And Key is really, really good. My Planetarian download completed recently and I slowly clicked my way through the kinetic novel over the span of three days (English patches open these games for the masses). Great ending but yes, kinda sad as expected of them. And somehow I am guessing that the majority of the people who actually read this blog do not actually understand any of this.

I need a new hard drive.

Melvin's Weekly Update.

Okay, I'm going to make this short because the computer hanged on me after I wrote a 500-word long essay. Hoorays. -.-"

I started watching Kanon 2006 on October the 6th, when the first sub came out. Now I'm on episode 6, and for the moment it's still looking very good. Compared to the 2002 Toei version, which I will not emphasise on, the character design, animation and backgrounds have significantly improved. The gals are that much cuter and Yuuichi has undergone a makeover. Kyon = Yuuichi, anyone?


Yuuichi is one sarcastic guy.



Shiori is looking much cuter. <3


Is it just me, or does everything look so much better when it's done by Kyoto Animation? Now, Key's material has all been done by KyoAni. Joy. <3

Late now, signing off.