Video: Monochrome Factor (produced by TV Tokyo, original manga by Sorano Kairi)
Audio: Random WAVs
Audio: Random WAVs
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
-AMV- Sexyback [MF]
What happens when one really needs a break from studying. And just so happens to think that Sexyback would be the best song. O_o
Video: Monochrome Factor (produced by TV Tokyo, original manga by Sorano Kairi)
Audio: "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake
Audio: "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monochrome Factor, Vol. 1 [DVD]
My bright light at the end of the first couple of weeks of college arrived last night: my box set of Monochrome Factor.
I adore this show. It's witty, cute, and funny, but with plenty of underlying value. And since it doesn't look like it'll be truly licensed in America anytime soon (thank goodness for that... if I hear Vic Mignogna or Johnny Yong Bosch are hanging around it, I think I'll have to cry), and I would feel bad for cheating the system if I didn't support the series somehow, I decided to go ahead and start buying the Japanese DVDs.
It didn't come with much as far as bonus video material is concerned - the bonus disk only holds some chats with the main actors, Suwabe Junichi and Ono Daisuke, and other actors, but having clear, remastered episodes (along with extras that weren't included in the TV version) is a nice breath of fresh air compared to watching digital, heavily-pixelated stuff online.
The set also came with an extra cover (it makes me happy... Akira is my favourite), along with many Akira stickers and an Akira phone charm.
Episodes 1-3 are some of the most unobscured ones in the series, meaning they're in place for purpose of plot and not fillers, which unfortunately most of the series is. (I can count plot-related episodes that have been released thus far on one hand, quite literally.) While having nothing but fillers up until the very end is a good sign of a second series, I'm not sure I want to go through another season of 25 episodes, with 17/25 being fillers and very little related to the plot. But, perhaps, if a second season does ensue, maybe since they will have reached a part of the climax with this first series, the second will be a little more intense. I like this series mainly for the interaction between the main characters, Akira and Shirogane, and their struggle with Akira's true identity rather than seeing the same tired "plot device" recycled through almost every episode (except said ones I can count on one hand.)
So, let's see how this treats me. Box set 2 should be here by the end of next week. I'm excited for some spare time to sit down, watch everything through, and see what treasures I have really come across.
I adore this show. It's witty, cute, and funny, but with plenty of underlying value. And since it doesn't look like it'll be truly licensed in America anytime soon (thank goodness for that... if I hear Vic Mignogna or Johnny Yong Bosch are hanging around it, I think I'll have to cry), and I would feel bad for cheating the system if I didn't support the series somehow, I decided to go ahead and start buying the Japanese DVDs.
It didn't come with much as far as bonus video material is concerned - the bonus disk only holds some chats with the main actors, Suwabe Junichi and Ono Daisuke, and other actors, but having clear, remastered episodes (along with extras that weren't included in the TV version) is a nice breath of fresh air compared to watching digital, heavily-pixelated stuff online.
The set also came with an extra cover (it makes me happy... Akira is my favourite), along with many Akira stickers and an Akira phone charm.
Episodes 1-3 are some of the most unobscured ones in the series, meaning they're in place for purpose of plot and not fillers, which unfortunately most of the series is. (I can count plot-related episodes that have been released thus far on one hand, quite literally.) While having nothing but fillers up until the very end is a good sign of a second series, I'm not sure I want to go through another season of 25 episodes, with 17/25 being fillers and very little related to the plot. But, perhaps, if a second season does ensue, maybe since they will have reached a part of the climax with this first series, the second will be a little more intense. I like this series mainly for the interaction between the main characters, Akira and Shirogane, and their struggle with Akira's true identity rather than seeing the same tired "plot device" recycled through almost every episode (except said ones I can count on one hand.)
So, let's see how this treats me. Box set 2 should be here by the end of next week. I'm excited for some spare time to sit down, watch everything through, and see what treasures I have really come across.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Do I belong?
I've written before that I feel very out-of-place now. I don't live with a real family, and I'm moving all over the place.
I'm facing something that brings back memories that only intensify the feeling of 'not belonging' - study abroad.
Is it strange that I spend six months in Europe, and I felt more at home in the busy streets of London than I do now in the area that I grew up in? Is there something deeper in me that says: This is where you belong?
For a little while now I've been struggling with my Japanese. As college begins, I find myself wondering: is that really what you want to do? I know, deep in myself, that I want to pursue Japanese. Being rejected from the Japanese Government program shook me pretty hard, and that's probably why I'm experiencing such difficulty with it now. It was something I wanted, more than anything else, and I didn't get it.
Is it that I'm not supposed to be in Japan?
This horrific thought is haunting me. I've given up so much for simply the idea of living in Japan that the idea that I'm not supposed to be there is painful. But now, as I look through the list of study abroad options that's available right now (Japan is not on there as of yet), I feel drawn to London and Wales.
The memories of the busy bustling street, soaring cathedrals, and the majesty of the land brings tears to my eyes. I feel a longing to be back at 27 Palace Court in Bayswater, Kensington, or back in Cardiff, where I spent only one day.
Is that where I'm supposed to go? Is England where I'm supposed to be?
I suppose the only way to figure it out is just to go. But the question is - should I go to England immediately? Or should I take this spring to go to Japan and confirm for myself whether or not that's where I should be?
I don't know. I don't feel like I know anything anymore. Where I want to be now feels like it's forbidden. I'm already so lost... how much longer, and what more do I have to sacrifice to find where I belong?
I'm facing something that brings back memories that only intensify the feeling of 'not belonging' - study abroad.
Is it strange that I spend six months in Europe, and I felt more at home in the busy streets of London than I do now in the area that I grew up in? Is there something deeper in me that says: This is where you belong?
For a little while now I've been struggling with my Japanese. As college begins, I find myself wondering: is that really what you want to do? I know, deep in myself, that I want to pursue Japanese. Being rejected from the Japanese Government program shook me pretty hard, and that's probably why I'm experiencing such difficulty with it now. It was something I wanted, more than anything else, and I didn't get it.
Is it that I'm not supposed to be in Japan?
This horrific thought is haunting me. I've given up so much for simply the idea of living in Japan that the idea that I'm not supposed to be there is painful. But now, as I look through the list of study abroad options that's available right now (Japan is not on there as of yet), I feel drawn to London and Wales.
The memories of the busy bustling street, soaring cathedrals, and the majesty of the land brings tears to my eyes. I feel a longing to be back at 27 Palace Court in Bayswater, Kensington, or back in Cardiff, where I spent only one day.
Is that where I'm supposed to go? Is England where I'm supposed to be?
I suppose the only way to figure it out is just to go. But the question is - should I go to England immediately? Or should I take this spring to go to Japan and confirm for myself whether or not that's where I should be?
I don't know. I don't feel like I know anything anymore. Where I want to be now feels like it's forbidden. I'm already so lost... how much longer, and what more do I have to sacrifice to find where I belong?
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