无题

""Suara"（スアラ）とはインドネシア語で "声" を意味する。"

“Suara” means “voice” in Bahasa Indonesia.

(She’s the singer for OP/2nd ED Utawarerumono)

Wow.

Indon class sure is fun. Guess how many guys shouted “BANKAI!” when the word “bangkai” (carcass) was mentioned. That was seriously rather amusing. Of course, I had to join in the fun as well, though I’ve long given up on Bleach. And as you can see, this language course has a rather morbid focus on terms to do with death and destruction. Krauser II would be pleased.

Btw, I’ve pre-registered for the Sheryl Nome thingy on 22-23 Nov. Note that I call it the Sheryl Nome thingy cos I wouldn’t be going otherwise. =p

蓝绿各打五十大板

Was bargain hunting for cheap retro games and found Giren’s Ambition PS2 version. Not really retro but it is at least six years old so what the heck. Burned pretty much the whole weekend playing, but got a bit sick of having dirt cheap Type-61s overrun my shiny Zakus through sheer numbers. Makes sense, since for the same weight-class a tank would probably be the more efficient design, it’s just less shiny and less popular with the kids.

I remember one show which did try to “realistically” portray its mecha though. What the scriptwriters for Gasaraki came up with was that humanoid mecha, Tactical Armour (TA), are specialized weapons designed for urban ops in which the TA relies on its flexibility to beat the tank’s superior armour and firepower, e.g. it can fire around a street corner but the tank cannot. What they forgot was that Taliban militants armed with RPGs and IEDs can be stealthier than any mech, even those equipped with mirage colloid / minovsky / GN particle camo. Can’t really blame them, the show was produced pre-2001. Then again, a squad of TAs proceeded to pwn an entire mechanized battalion in wide open desert several episodes in, so what can I say besides “hey, at least Sunrise gave us Gintama”.

Mighty busy with Indon class as well; up to my neck with revision and homework I’m supposed to be doing but obviously not. I don't even want to think about the reports that are very behind schedule and the weekend duty coming up. Fuck, i just did.

Instead of mugging for my vocab test later in the afternoon, I shall now write a rabu reta to Rierie in Bahasa Indonesia. Behold the power of procrastination:

Rierie yang tercinta,

Anda wanita yang tercantik (dan tergarang) di dunia ini. Saya cinta kepadamu untuk selama-lamanya dan tidak akan lupa kepadamu. (Tapi saya juga suka Miyukichi. Dan Kugimi. Dan Mami. Dan Ayako. Maaf.)

Kentang.

Ok, random pic spamming time.

Minorin and Sakakibara "live" in Taipei this Dec. That's good, they avoid mass protests that the DPP is trying to pull off. But who knows what will happen in Dec? Taiwan is so fun.

Mami's room layout apparently, though a few years old. She's got a huge bed. Hmmm....

Meronpan. Wow! Meronpan. Yay! Superduper yummy! (i'm singing the Paddlepop ad jingle from aeons ago if you haven't realised. Anyone knows if they've changed it?)

PS. Title is no indication of my political inclinations, just tot it's a cute little slogan. (Btw, i'm pan-blue cos green is just such a hideous colour.)

2008 Fall

So far I've only caught a few shows this season, and there are so many more left...

Clannad AS: As expected from KyoAni, this one delivers and I am enjoying this season of Clannad. I'm a little jolted by the RakiSuta faces in ClannadAS 03 though, as it was rather unexpected. All the characters are cute as usual, except Kyou seems to have morphed a little into "dark" Kyou, which is scary... Tomoyo is rather aloof though. Probably a post-Clannad 24 effect. Kotomi-nano is still very cute. Nagisa became rather endearing, and she should wear her new hairstyle more often! I shall not venture into Mei and Sanae's territory lest I start blubbering here.

Kannagi: Great OP, fun storyline. Nagi is quite a amusing character, though I wonder how the story will progress from here as there doesn't seem much that both of them can do other than hunt bugs or start uncovering Nagi's past and fighting "bugs" ala Shana. From the OP, it may well take a Slice of Life-ish comedy turn and then things may be looking good (maybe).

Toradora: Wasn't particularly drawn into this show as I keep getting Shana-vibes everywhere. Actually, just from Taiga alone. I have a little more interested in the Taiga's friend and that is not a good thing I think. Male protagonist is very dull.

To Aru Majustsu no Index: Cute and cute, Index is cute, lightning-girl is tsuntsun and there is a crazy smoking loli who is a teacher which scares me. Male protagonist isn't too bad. Storyline so far is very Shana-ish (again, what's up with that? Must be the JC Staff effect) and the antagonists are beyond dull. Next episode with some nice swordplay may be more fun, but then again, I'm not really into sword-swinging-shojos (I don't hate them, but I don't award points for that). Still, there's quite a bit more character development and history to look forward to, and the animation so far is nice, so it's been enjoyable.

And that's all I've managed to catch up to this season. 4 shows is mad, and still got more. Last season I only caught how many ah... So many kena temporarily dropped. Oh well.

And I spammed Utawarerumono today. A crazy 13 episode marathon to reach the ep15 mark now. Aruru-chan wa kawaii! But the middle of the series is starting to become a little sian because nothing much is happening besides some soldiers slashing each other and house-burning. Also getting a lot of supernatural elements coming into play suddenly which makes the power balance in the show go out of whack. The crazy emperor of the too-long-to-remember-the-name country also has a horrifying which grates me every time he laughs. I like how the transition Hakuoro had from village head to emperor is carried out though, how life changed for him and Eruru/Aruru, how responsibilities changed, and the calm samurai-general is quite a cool character. Yuzuha just needs to open her eyes ala Nunnally.

Oh and the twin archers are cute.

Yes and their gender are (rather) undefined.

So, they better be onna no ko's.

Mutilasi Rambutan

The Fall 08 study guide has been reviewed and reissued, with changes to the following items.

Tytania – Good to know. Dune-ish Space Opera. There was some attempt at showing large-scale battle tactics but I can’t guarantee that degeneration into mobile suit/knightmare frame duels wouldn’t happen. At least there aren’t any mobile suits yet.

Ga-Rei Zero – Upgraded to Must Know. The action is well choreographed and smoothly animated, plus the WTF factor has got me totally hooked. I have no idea where they’re going with the *spoiler* high body count of characters *spoiler end* and I can’t wait to find out.

Skip Beat – Upgraded to Must Know. The protagonist is a spunky mad girl who is mad. Think of her as a powered-up version of Kasahara from Toshokan sensou with a much less innocent, and crazier, motivation.

Kurozuka – Level of advice remains unchanged. I see a naked woman in ep2.

And the following additions.

Tentai Senshi Sunred – Might need to know. A spoof of the tokusatsu, i.e. “power ranger” genre. The hero Sunred lives off his girlfriend. The evil monsters have part-time jobs at the supermarket because scheming to take over the world doesn't pay very well. Short episodes good for a laugh when you have 15 minutes to spare.

Stitch – Mana ada subs?

Meanwhile, at the Tokyo Game Show…

…Rierie Vs Amisuke Part 2. Can you feel the animosity radiating from Rierie’s cleavage? Let’s just hope Asumi managed to escape the collateral damage.

Refer below for a brief history of the Rie-Ami Feud (?)

The fact that both were looking in opposite directions during the Kimikiss interview has been cited as evidence of less-than-pleasant feelings between them. What a shining example of investigative journalism. Rierie does look bloody fierce in the video though (it’s somewhere on youtube or nico).

My hypothesis is that Rie looks pissed bcos she sprained her neck, which also explains her inability to turn around and face Ami. And no, Kagamisumi, I dun think she’s pissed at Ami for stealing her loot on Monster Hunter because that is just so juvenile. You make her seem as if she’s some 29 year-old gaming otaku who wastes her life away in some MMO-

Oh.

Shit.

My Head Hurts

A topsy turvy schedule alternating between day and night shifts over the past 2 weeks has split my head in two, i think. Ouch.

But that won't stop me from watching TV!!!

Kagamin, here's your Fall 08 study guide as promised:

Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka - No need to know. Double Rie + Emiri fails to save this show.

Casshern - Didn't watch. It's on TV on Wed nights though.

Chaos Head - Good to know. The bloody loli murder mystery nonsense has my interest piqued.

Clannad - Duh.

Ef - Must know. Seems to be both a sequel and prequel to last season. Naked girl self-portrait wins all.

Ga Rei Zero - Good to know. Brilliant(?) shock ending to first ep. Minorin appears in 2nd ep.

Hakushaku to Yousei - No need to know. You jump i jump, shojo-ish stuff.

Hyakko - Good to know. SOL-ish comedy ala Manabi Straight.

Jigoku Shojo - No need to know. Season 2 DVDs are still sitting on my shelf nearly untouched.

Junjou Romantica - Up to you.

Kannagi - Must know. The OP itself is reason enough to watch if you ask me. Go, Tomato!

Kemeko - Must know. Crazy show with crazy nearly naked girls.

Gundam - Didn't watch.

Kurogane no Linebarrels - No need to know. Great cast, but i dun like the designs, both the character and main mecha. The grunt robots were quite cool though. Going by the first ep, the protagonist is bloody retarded.

Kuroshitsuji - Good to know. Think of it as a semi-gender-swapped HnG with black humour. Watch out for Emirin as clumsy meido.

Kurozuka - Yet to watch. Fast forwarded through it, looks very dark. might watch for Park Romi.

Macademi Wasshoi - Might need to know, but likely to be crap. Feels like a ZnT rip-off.

Mouryou no Hako - Yet to watch. Fast forwarded through it, looks very dark. Might watch if there's yuri.

Nodame - Must Know. Gyabo!!

Noramimi - Didn't make it through season one.

One Outs - No need to know. Didn't like baseball to begin with.

Rosario + Vampire - No need to know, but i'm following for reasons previously stated.

Shikabane Hime - Good to know. I guess you've already got your mind made up on this one, since it fulfils your fetish for seifuku and long black hair all at the same time.

Shugo Chara - What's that?

Skip Beat! - Good to know. Inoue Marina is delightful as the lead, but it's still shojo so probably have to watch out for sparkling guys and stuff. Watch this on TV on Fri nights.

Tales of the Abyss - Yet to watch. RPG-ish stuff tend to turn me off though. Druaga wouldn't have been very good either if not for the humour.

To Aru Majutsutsutsu no Index - Good to know. Naked loli. i guess that's enough reason for you, but just for the record there's Satou Rina too.

Kyou no 5-2 - No need to know. Almost exactly the same as OVA, which was way better (read: ecchi-er).

Toradora - Must Know. Shana/Louise returns. Plus there's Tanaka Rie sensei. Watch this on TV on Thu nights.

Tytania - Yet to watch cos i somehow confused it with Hakushaku to Yousei. Hey, Tytania is a yousei what.

Vampire knight - Screw it.

Yozakura Quartet - Good to know. There's rierie (ninja cameo) and miyuki, plot wise nothing much yet. We'll see.

And some extra stuff to feed your aforementioned fetish.

Even the pantsu is black.

Gadis yang berambut hitam ini seiyuu Makina.

Emiri Has a Swollen Eye

NO SHIT

May'n is going to sunny island south of Truly Asia!

Woohoo!

If i had just checked the news a day earlier i would have had an extra day of euphoria. Haha... Every little bit of morale boosting news helps when you're serving the nation, even the lunch menu (it's grilled black pepper chicken today, alright!).

Good thing i've been prepared since Sep and have gotten my annual leave planned out nicely.

Kagamisumi you coming along?

MOTTEKE!!!!!!

いっぺん飛んでみる?

I see plenty of flighsuits during lunch but, unfortunately, none of them contain a Mamimami. Oh well. Is that suit on auction at eBay? Most prob not, what with the security issues and all.

Coming back to dusty old earth, my long-awaited Indonesian course finally started yesterday. The first lesson was full of fun stuff since we have yet to get to the grammar bits. The instructor, a jolly Indonesian lady, kind of took us on a verbal tour of Indonesia, with a bemusing emphasis on tourist spots. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to know where the prettiest girls can be found. (Java and Bali, according to our teacher. Obviously, she’s from one of these islands.)

Btw, I learnt that “kupu-kupu malam” (night butterfly) means commercial sex worker. Is that some piece of essential knowledge for, like, anyone on an overseas posting? I don’t really want to find out.

Bahasa Indonesia and Melayu are almost the same, yet different enough to give me a mini migraine. Like “kerata” is train and “lori” is a small train that carries sugarcane. Wow. And let’s not forget that “awak” might mean “I” in certain Indonesian provinces. Maybe it’s a good thing after all that I’ve forgotten 97.23% of my Malay.

The confusion doesn’t stop there though. The word “nakal” (naughty) came up and the first thing that came to my mind was “cry”. I realized it wasn’t 泣くonly a few seconds later, as in ひぐらしのなく頃に. Just hope I won’t be blurting out “Ini berapa desuka?” in class anytime soon.

Cyber-Loafing on Night Duty Part 2

Hope you enjoyed my craptastic (mis)traslation of emirin's blog post. Emirin's as cute as ever while Gotou looks like she really wanted to be somewhere else. Asumi looks round. If you think this post is more retarded than usual, it's bcos i've read about 200 reports since the afternoon. I believe that sort of activity kind of fries my brain.

そろそろ眠いので, but unlike emiri, i can't sleep just yet bcos i'm at work you see.

Well, at least payday is next week.

Just for a picture

Google Translate for Jap to English is fail, and I can't decipher the moonspeak on Emirin's blog, so we'll have to make do with a nice yukata pic.