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Update (15/5) - Added the song to the Blog's Playlist

Was randomly browsing through my com's playlist, and came across this song from the show entitled 'Ayashi no Ceres'. It was the first japanese song that I had ever memorised the lyrics to (actually, probably the only one that I've memorised since it was relatively easier) because I felt that it was kinda' sad and embodied somewhat sorrowful lyrics. It also provided an insight as to how hard it is to actually retain the emotions and meaning of the original language when I attempted to translate it to english, so I ended up mostly using a translated version which was already available.


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遥かな星空に　夢はまだみえますか
幼いあの日より　鮮やかですか

胸にあふれて　つのる想い
眠り忘れて　情熱のいろ

たとえ遠くても　きっとたどりつける　強く信じてた
あの日の私が　今も心で眠っている

ガラスの薔薇よりも　儚くて脆いのに
夢見ることはなぜ　運命なのでしょう

二つの夢が　愛になって
愛になれないこともあって

人は一人だと　分かり合いたいのに　なんて難しい
言葉は無力で　時には銀のナイフになる

人は一人だと　わかりあいたいのに　なんて難しい
言葉は無力で　時には銀のナイフに

たとえ遠くても　きっとたどりつける　強く信じてた
あの日の私が　今の心で眠っている


Can you still see your dreams in the distant, starry sky ?
Are they more vivid than when you were little ?

When one forgets to put to rest,
the emotions which overflow within one's heart
They burn the color of passion

I used to believe without a shadow of doubt
That no matter how far off they may seem, I could reach my dreams
But the me of those days is now asleep inside my heart

Dreams are more fragile and fleeting than a glass rose
Why then, are we able to dream ? Is it our destiny ?

A pair of dreams can sometimes turn into love
Yet there are also times when they can't

Even when they are alone
It can be so hard for people to express their feelings
Words are powerless to aid, and sometimes they become a silver knife

Even when they are alone
It can be so hard for people to express their feelings
Words are powerless to aid, and sometimes they become a silver knife

I used to believe without a shadow of doubt
That no matter how far off they may seem, I could reach my dreams
But the me of those days is now asleep inside my heart

Ponder upon thy actions . . .

Taken from the latest album (The Heart of Everything) by Within Temptation, 'Our Solemn Hour' is one of the more appealing tracks to me. It has a strong theme, filled with the rich vocals of the lead singer and backed by a choir. The overall melody is well arranged too, in my opinion.

As a side note, the few lines of speech recited in the background occasionally is from 'Be Ye Men of Valor' by Winston Churchill. (You can select the song from the playlist located in the column on the right)



'Our Solemn Hour' - Within Temptation

Sanctus Espiritus *
Redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus
Insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus Sanctus Espiritus Sanctus Espiritus

In my darkest hours I could not foresee
That the time could turn so fast to this degree
Can’t believe my eyes
How can you be so blind ?
Is the heart of stone, no empathy inside ? **

Time keeps on slipping away and we haven’t learned
So in the end now what have we gained ?

Sanctus Espiritus
Redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus
Insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus
Is this what we deserve,
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony ?

Are they themselves to blame, The misery, the pain ?
Didn’t we let go, allowed it, let it grow ?
If we can’t restrain the beast which dwells inside
It will find it’s way somehow, somewhere in time

Will we remember all of the suffering
Cause if we fail it will be in vain

Sanctus Espiritus
Redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus
Insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus
Is this what we deserve,
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony ?


* Latin for Holy Spirit

** Not too sure if this line's accurate, since I couldn't exactly make it out clearly. You can select the song from the playlist on the right and correct me if I'm wrong.


The theme seems to revolve around some sort of evil (or evil in general) present and spreading within mankind, and their ignorance towards it. Should they choose to forget instead of learning from all the painful experiences in history, and in turn allow the evil to fester, detrimental consequences such as misery and suffering could be forced upon mankind.

With the inclusion of lines from 'Be Ye Men of Valor', would the lyrics be refering to War and Fighting ?

An overdose of Moe-ness . . .

Will simply let this OP of Lucky Star do justice to the post title . . .



And just as a side note, this was done by Kyoto Animation, the very same group that animated the ever so popular "Hare Hare Yukai" dance from Suzumiya Haruhi. If you've forgotten how that looks like, here's a reminder (subject to YouTube removal =p) :




Update :

Short synopsis of the anime adaptation of R X J is up. The trailer for it is shown about 3 posts down. For the sake of convenience, I'll re-link it here, together with the OP. Have I mentioned that I like the OP song too ? Added the TV Size version of it to the playlist on the right. ^^

Trailer :

OP :

Hayate no Gotoku!

The series, also known as Hayate The Combat Butler, is one of the more highly anticipated offerings of the new Spring Season.

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Plot Summary:

Hayate is the son of two unemployed parents. One day, his parents rack up such a huge debt that they decide to abandon him and leave him to the Yakuzas whom they owe money to. After initially escaping from their clutches, Hayate spots a frustrated young girl (Nagi) having trouble with a drink dispenser. Seeing how well off she seemed, his 'angelic' side prompted him to come up with the bold plan of kidnapping her and holding her ransom in other to pay off his debts. However, his choice of words used on her instead gives the girl the impression that he was confessing his love for her!

Needless to say, he was too much of a "Mr Nice Guy" to really follow through with the plan, and instead, eventually rescues her from other thugs who had kidnapped her. In return for his service, he asks her for a job. After some contemplation, she decides to make him her butler, and henceforth, the story starts. After the first 2 episodes, I've decided to stick with the series since it seemed like it was packed with comedy and a little action, as well as having a 'tsundere-type' of main character in the form of Nagi (Yes, she does resemble Shana a little, especially when she goes "urusai urusai urusai!")

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Since many other blogs have already written their reviews of the first two episodes, I've decided to forego writing a review of my own, and instead, proceed with Quiz #2 : Spot The Anime/Character References ! You can write out your answers under "Comments". (Warning: May contain spoilers. Do not proceed past this point if you don't like spoilers. Check out the previous entry if you have missed out on Quiz #1)!




Reference A)



Reference B)



Reference C)



Reference D)



Reference E)





Reference F)





Reference G)



Reference H)

Quiz

After temporarily running out of ideas for blog entries, I decided to post a quiz instead. Please answer the questions honestly and abide by the instructions that follow, depending on your answer. All the best!

(Note: There is no time limit. Feel free to take your time and think through carefully when answering the following questions.)
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to survive the onslaught of silliness that follows all the way through until you hit 'Comments'. It is a highly dangerous mission, which only even involves the viewing of a Classified Video stolen from Section III of the Imperial Army, aka Pumpkin Scissors.
Q1: Do you think you possess a great sense of humor ?

If you answered 'Yes', proceed on to the next question. If you answered 'No', please click on the '[X]' located at the top right corner of your browser.


Q2: Cutesy Stuff. Like them or hate them ?

If you like them, proceed on to the next question. If you hate them, please click on the '[X]' located at the top right corner of your browser.


Q3: Look at the image below and choose either (a) or (b)





(a) What the heck was that ?! Such horrendous sketches and stuff, I'm outta' here, stop wasting my time.

(b) This looks like it could be interesting . . . I wonder what it's used for!

If you chose (a), find the closest thing that looks like a [X] on your browser and click it. If you chose (b), proceed on.




Last but not least . . .

Do you satisfy any of the below conditions ? In other words, are you :

1) Yearning to cheer up a friend who's feeling down ?
2) In need of new, interesting ideas to include in a dance ?
3) In need of something to pass a teeny weeny bit of time ?
4) Wondering if the above quiz served any purpose ?
5) Bored enough to press CTRL-A to look for hidden words at the start of this entry ?

If you answered positively to any of the above questions . . .

Look no further! Let Stekkin introduce you to 'Plan A: Lunatic Dance' !

One Piece Movie 8 - Episode of Arabasta : Sabaku no Ojou to Kaizoku Tachi

This movie seems to be some sort of recap / re-telling of the Alabaster arc . . . with the title roughly translating to "Princess of The Desert and the Pirates". Perhaps they'll lay more focus on Vivi's perspective this time round, who knows ? Should make for an interesting watch anyhow!

Coming soon to theatres near you!*

* We wish. This picture was taken outside some cinema in Japan, along some street (Pic 2) leading towards the Ikebukuro Station (Pic 3). The last I saw, movie ticket prices averaged about 1800 Yen, which would be converted to about $24-$25.

Pic II)

Pic III)

Spring Anime Season :

Claymore OP and ED :
"Raison D’être" by Nightmare and "Danzai no Hana~Guilty Sky" by Riyu Kosaka

And next up, we have a short trailer of an anime adaptation of . . . Romeo X Juliet ?!!!

Dum di dum da . . .

Even more random stuff for now . . .


[Warning: The Elfen Lied music videos aren't suitable for minors aka TWAChRara]

#1 : Forbidden Love, created by CRiMSoNWoLFX. This video shows the soft side of Elfen Lied, with focus on the relationship between Lucy and Kouta. A rather sad video, especially since it uses one of my favourite songs from Within Temptation.

#2 : Let The Bodies Hit The Floor, by IceTsuki. This video is basically the opposite number of Forbidden Love. Whereas the 1st vid is gentle and touching, the other side of Elfen Lied is displayed in this video.

#3 : Death Note Trailer - The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi version. Starring Kyon as Light and Yuki as L.

#4 : Sparking 1000% MV by Crusader1985. Posted this as I was starting to like the OP song of Negima?!, and also because it shows some of the action from the anime itself.

#5, 6 : Yuki Nagato Related - Typing of Nagato and AMV

#7 : Recording of Haruhi's 'Lost My Music'. For those who haven't heard the real voice of Haruhi's seiyuu, this would certainly be a surprise!

#8 : New MV by Within Temptation feat. Keith Caputo, entitled "What Have You Done". Been some time since I last listened to their songs, really like this one too!


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#1 Forbidden Love - Elfen Lied




#2 Let The Bodies Hit The Floor - Elfen Lied




#3 Death Note Trailer - Haruhi Version




#4 1000% Sparking Negima?!



#5 : [MAD] The Typing of Nagato



#6 : Yuki Nagato AMV, song used is from Yuki Nagato's Character CD. The lyrics seem sad and lonely from whatever little bits I could make out. Another song I'm starting to like now :D



#7 : Aya Hirano - 'Lost My Music' Studio Video



#8 : "What Have You Done" - Within Temptation feat. Keith Caputo