Disco ball!! *_*

After weeks of hair pulling, nail biting, chest pounding, Alice Nine has finally released their 12th single today ^_^ So, let us welcome ‘Mirror Ball‘, the shiniest, grooviest single in the WHOLE world. I’m not exaggerating. What else can be better than a ball covered in pieces of mirrors, hanging above the centre of the disco floor and turning round continuously. Moreover, it helps you save electricity *wink* you know what I mean.

For those who know who’s Alice Nine, you’re probably jumping with joy right now. But for those who full of ??? in their head, no worry. I will introduce Alice Nine as time to come. So, if you are interested, just stay tune to this blog. I will try my very best to deliver the information to your screen as fast as I could.

Okok. Now back to Alice Nine.

Alice Nine is a visual kei band signed under the record label of PScompany just like Kagrra,. In fact, it is the junior of Kagrra,. Making up of 5 members namely:

Shou, the vocalist
Hiroto & Tora, the guitarists
Saga, the bassist, and
Nao, the drummer (leader),

Alice Nine has released a number of singles and albums since about 3 years ago when they started out in Year 2005. And today, they just released a new single called ‘Mirror Ball’.

‘Mirror Ball’ single basically comes with 3 songs titled,

1. Mirror Ball
2. 奇跡
3. イレイザー -Memoire d’une fleur-

Accompanying their release of ‘Mirror Ball’ single, the song ‘Mirror Ball’ in the single is used as the theme song for a coming-soon-to-the-screen Japanese movie called Aquarian Age (アクエリアンエイジ). This movie is in fact a live-action movie based on a popular Japanese trading card game (TCG) as well as the anime that comes in the same name. You have probably come across this anime before.

‘Aquarian Age’ Live-Action Movie


 Source of pictures: http://www.aquarian-movie.com/

‘Aquarian Age’ Anime

For now, let us watch their latest PVs. If you want to know more about them, I will gradually post up their discography as well as their past PVs. Since they are my favorite visual kei band members, please don’t be surprised if I post a lot about them.

Alice Nine – Mirror Ball PV

Alice Nine – イレイザー -Memoire d’une fleur- PV
 

Spice and Wolf 13 (End)

Noe: I wish you both happiness.

In this episode, Horo turns into a big wolf again. Lawrence got his ‘revenge’. He make them pay him 500 Lumione over 10 years which he is clear of his dept for the time being. Shortly after, he and Horo is going to leave the town and travel again. However, he got the chances to tease her before leaving. Then, Nora came back to town and Horo commented that her dog is a better partner than Lawrence. This got them into a ‘love-fight’. Nora then say: ‘ I wish you both happiness”.

My comment: Another anime had ended. Though there is the Spring 2008 anime coming up. I will miss these ended anime. Well, if this could be a longer show, i think that this would be quite a nice show. Not bad to see how they scam other people.

Spring Anime 2008

Many anime had ended. Thats means there is a new season starting soon.

Soul Eater

Story: It’s about the student in a shinigami school who are trying to let their weapon become a death-scythe which is the highest level of weapon that is only fit to be used by a “Shinigami”. In order to obtain that, they had to collect 99 evil souls of human and 1 witch.

Comment: Seems interesting. Since it is a comedy action show. Somehow it gives me the feeling of bleach.

Nabari No Ou

Story: Rokujou Miharu who is living alone, is a person with great power hidden inside of him. Then, his teacher who is a ninjas, tried to convince him to learn ninjutsu. On day, he was attack and he used his power to fend off the enemy. Hence, he had to enter the hidden world to become the king to survive.

Comment: Another action anime. To me, this seems like hero tales. It seems like Rei Kugimiya is the seiyuu for Rokujou Miharu.

Neo Angelique Abyss

Story: Angelique is going to attend the all girls school to become a doctor to help others. However, monster that drain life out of people starts to appear. Hence, she decided to dispel them with the help of others.

Comment: Seems like a romance show. Endo Aya is the seiyuu for Angelique.

Da Capo II S.S

Story: well, this is Da Capo 2 second season. Season one talks about Sakurai and Koko becoming a couple but in the end the break up. This is the second season to continue the unfinished story.

Comment: Why can’t they show everything at one go instead of breaking them up? Though I am not a fan of Da Capo but i think i will watch this show. Yumei is voiced by Yui Horie

XXX Holic Kei

Story: Yuuko is a witch who can grant people’s wishes. However, in return, they need to give up something precious. Watanuki, a person who is ‘tasty’ to the spirits by accident, came to her shop. She promise to get rid of the spirits that are following him. In return, he works for her.

My comment, I had been waiting for this show for sooooooo long. Finally it had come.

The cultural exchange

Hi, everyone.. Ractic has finally posted something. Sorry to those that have waited so long for my posts. Well a few days ago, I went with my friend, Delon to another friend’s cultural dinner at his home in bedok. He had organised a BBQ and catering dinner to welcome 14 japanese students who will be here on a cultural exchange. Delon and I practiced our Jap speaking skills a lot with them. Just to share some of the pictures.

The one on the left is Kanako chan, a shy girl who didn’t talk to us much unlike Delon(right) who kept talking non-stop.

This is me with one of the Jap students’ teachers. Forgot to get his name. careless of me.

Me again. This time i am with Satoru kun. He is very friendly, helpful and most importantly, talk to us very enthusiastically. Enjoyed having a coversation with him.

I have a lot more better pictures with me. But it is with my friend. When i get them i will post them up too. Meanwhile, I will be going to Japan, Hokkaido in the next few days. Will post my those pictures too.

Kimikiss- Pure Rouge 24 (end)

This is kimikiss, so I thought I would show the picture of kisses.

Eriko and Kazuki. Expected huh?

Moe and Koichi. Another expected couple?

How about this? Anyone see this coming?

Kimikiss had ended. The plot was just a normal love story. I am quite surprise that how this could last for 24 episodes. The plot i think is good for short story. However, for a 24 episodes, it is a bit tiring to follow.

True tears-12

The episode starts with Shin finding Noe at the beach. Where she say things like she thought that Shin is the same as her who could not fly. But she was wrong. Shin did not fly because he choose not to. However, he still faces the front and move on. To Noe, this is the same as flying. So when Shin return home, he finally figure out his way. Towards dancing, towards drawing the picture book.  got a nice eye expression back there. So, the next day is the dancing thingy, and Hiromi helped him to dress up. Then, when Shin left, Noe turns up. Hiromi wanted Noe not to bother him anymore and cried. Noe commented that her tears is beautiful.

So Noe decided not to go to the festival and watch Shin’ichiro dance. During that time, she got a phone call from a publisher stating that her brother is going over there to work and will leave. So she went to find Jun. During that, Jun explained that he had actually like Noe and request for a kiss. He said that he wanted to kiss her on the lips. Then, Noe went to the beach again.

Back at the festival, Shin is thinking about the continuation of the picture book while dancing. The reason that he wanted to finish the picture book is for the reason of the person that believed that he could fly. At that time, his eyes show an image of Noe.

Noe did turns up at Shin dancing stage. Hiromi seems a bit shock at that. After the dance, Shin tried to find Noe but in the end he saw Hiromi. Then, Hiromi told him that she asked Noe to leave them alone but Shin doesn’t seems to care. In the end, he leaves to find Noe. Hiromi then takes off one of her shoe and started saying “don’t leave me alone”. Shin found Noe in school but by the time he reached, Noe had jumped off a tree.

My comment: A Noe ending? The previous episode also hinted a Noe ending. However, it still hard to say now. Hiromi had taken the move on Shin and Shin had like Hirmomi for quite some time. So, in the end is either Noe or Hiromi, it still hard to figure out. But judging by this 2 episode, Noe had a higher chance.

H2O~Footprints in the sand -12 (End)

I haven been following this series that tightly. But the moment that the show had ended. I went and watch it. Overall, i think this is a nice show that ended nicely but there is some part that I don’t understand.

The village chief had tried to kill Hayami but is stopped by Takuma. Then, Hotaru come by and told her granddad that she had already called the police and she would tell the truth to the police. Takuma had lock his memory and he only remember his childhood stuff. He went back to the apartment that he live with his mum before moving to the village with Hayami. Takuma thinks that Hayami is his mum.

When they move back to the city, Hayami constantly wrote back to Hotaru-tachi. On one incident, Takuma had a dream about Hayami and ask Hayami about it. One day, Takuma wanted to follow Hayami to the market. Near to the place where there is train coming, Hayami told Takuma that his real mum would not leave him behind. In the end, a small boy had drop the ball into the track and Hayami rush to save him. Takuma had a flash back that his mum did the same thing. Seriously, I thought this was the ending. But there is more.

In the end, they all grew up into adult. Hamaji still cross dress even when he is a father. It seems like Hotaru is the new village elder.

In the end, Otoha had make her appearance again. She is being reborn. He come to give Takuma a wish. And there the person appeared before him is none other than Hayami.

The show ended nicely. For the storyline i think that 12 episodes is enough for it. However, there is traps in the show. Especially Hamaji’s part.

Clannad-22(End)

Sad Nagisa. She thought that it was her fault that her parents gave up their dreams.

In the club room, they thought that Nagisa is feeling nervous.

Nagisa and Tomoya touring the school.

This looks like Chobits. Nagisa version~

The gang giving Nagisa some more encouragement.

Akio: Fullfill your dreams Nagisa

Couldn’t resist myself. Kyou still rocks. I would like a Kyou after. =.=

Celebration for the successful of the play. Button really can jump high.

Sunohara with the envy look. Well, he only dances with his little sister.

What a loving family.

Nagisa and Tomoyo on a date.

Nagisa’s expression is cute. ~_~

Back at you~

Shock by Tomoya’s confession.

Happy tears.

In this episode, Nagisa went to school without saying goodbye to her parents. In school, she kept thinking that it is her fault that her parent gave up their dreams. Sunohara sense something is wrong and tried to cheer her up. Tomoya and Nagisa decide to tour the school festival but got separated. In the end, Nagisa went to find Yukine and dug out some old video on drama plays.

Tomoya managed to find her and he tried to convince her that it is not her fault. When it was the drama club’s turn to perform, she stood in the stage and start crying. Then, Akio dash in and started shouting at Nagisa, telling her that the dream of the children is also the dream of the parent. They are happy baking bread everyday. Sanae and Tomoya also joined in. Tomoya told her to fullfill the dream that sunohara and he couldn’t.

Ending nicely and they held a celebration at Sunohara’s room. The next day, Tomoya and Nagisa went out playing. Then, they stopped by the school. Nagisa notice that she is on the cleaning duty and Tomoya admits that it was him who wrote it down. As a revenge, she wrote his name back on the blackboard. Then, Tomoya confessed to Nagisa and Nagisa was so happy that she cried.

Clannad had ended. I am sad. To me, this is too short. They did not animate the after story which i was hoping for. Hope that they would make one in the near future. Compared to Key’s previous animated visua novel, Kanon or Air, Clannad ended with a very weak ending. However, this is the funniest out of the three. Mostly thanks to Sunohara. The confession part was the same as the visual novel. Cool. There is still one more special episode next week. Seems like a wired episode to me.

The insert song is called 影二つ. It is still nice. It reminds me of the visual novel.

Kagrra,

Kagrra, is a visual kei band that consists of 5 members, namely:

> Isshi, the vocalist
> Akiya and Shin, the guitarists
> Nao, the bassist and
> Izumi, the drummer

Initially when they started out, they formed an indies band and were signed to the record label, ‘Key Party Records’, under the band name of ‘Crow’. After some times, they moved to the record label, ‘PS company‘ where they formed a new band called Kagrra,. It is said that the band name is spelt as Kagrra in the first place, without the comma. As a visual kei (视觉) band, the band members decided to add a comma after the name to give it a darker feel.

Rather than saying visual kei, Kagrra, is in fact a neo-japanesque band. Different from other visual kei bands, Kagrra,’s songs have a mix of rock and traditional Japan flavours in them. So don’t be surprised if you come across a picture or video of them in girls’ yukatas/kimonos. This kind of uniqueness makes it a point I liked about them. But let’s exclude the ‘dressing up in girl yukatas’ part. I am embarrassed about seeing them dressing in girls’ traditional clothes when they don’t look feminine. Well, it is the past anyway.

Until now, Kagrra, has released a total of 19 singles and 10 albums, including 12 indies singles and 6 indies albums. Their latest release is an album named ‘Core‘, which came out on 9 January this year. It contains 10 new songs whose titles are as follow:

1. Irodori no sanka
2. Ujo
3. Shigatsu tsuitachi
4. Guilty
5. Bokyaku no hate no kogoeta kodoku
6. Sai
7. Kaze no kioku
8. Kamikaze
9. Yuki koi uta
10. Shin hyakkiyako

Before ‘Core’ album came out to the market, they released a single named ‘Utakata‘ and an album called ‘Shizuku‘ on 22-11-2006 and 14-02-2007 respectively. Among the songs in these two productions, my favourite would be ‘Utakata’, a song that is played using several music instruments, ranging from classical violin, ascoustic guitar, electric guitar, drum to guzheng (chinese name ‘古筝’). I like the neo-japanesque (rock-japan mix) feel and impact of the song. It is absolutely brilliant.

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Kagrra, – Utakata PV

Kagrra, – Irodori no sanka PV (Latest!)

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The followings are also my favourite Kagrra,’s PVs ^_^ They are ’Satsuki’ and ‘Chikai no Tsuki’, from their past singles. Pls enjoy~ ^_^

Kagrra, – Satsuki PV

Kagrra, – Chikai no Tsuki

Chikai no Tsuki was used as the closing song for the 2nd series of ‘Ultimate Muscle’, a Japanese cartoon. A picture of ‘Muscle-man’ (kinnikuman) is shown below. 

Taken from: http://www.esmaya.org/foro/viewtopic.php?t=11273&sid=c7f42c8c6bfe09243d63bf2ad1072454

Movie-恋空

Koi Zora. A sad love story movie that I had watch recently. Though it was screen in Japan last November , it has been screen here only recently. Well, this is one of the perfect show to bring your girlfriend to watch. Typical love story but it was nice. Moreover, it’s modify after a true story.

Story goes from a girl who wanted to fall in love during high school period. She lost her phone in the library and was pick up by Hiro who constantly called her up to chat. In the end, they met up in school and got together. In the middle happen a lot of things but in the end, Hiro decided to break up with her due to illness. She found out later and decided to stay by his side. Well, he died in the end. Quite a sad ending.

I was telling Tsukumi jokes of what could be made. Feel kinda bad destroying the feeling. Well, someone cried very loud and I was quite far from them. I could hear her/his voice. Very nice show. Oh ya, i hate the english subtitles. Who the hell translate 子供看たい (looks like a child) into pervert?