Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou

Hmm, this would be the 3rd time that the topic of Haruhi has popped up on this blog . . . you can view the previous posts here and here.

「Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou」 was the name of the concert event held back on 18th March. Pretty entertaining performances by the seiyuus, though of course, the CD versions still sound way better.


Kentai Life Returns! - Tomokazu Sugita (Kyon)
Wow, he actually somewhat resembles Kyon! Pretty fun and lively song with Aya prancing around as well.



God Knows - Hirano Aya (Suzumiya Haruhi)
Sadly, it dosen't sound anywhere near as good as the non-live version, but still pretty decent overall. Perhaps her voice wasn't steady due to her playing the guitar as well, or because she was the one performing the most number of songs with very few breaks.



Lost My Music - Hirano Aya (Suzumiya Haruhi)
Same verdict as 'God Knows'



Yuki, Muon, Madobe Nite - Chihara Minori (Nagato Yuki)
Some mess up at the beginning, but definitely one of the better live songs, since her voice didn't seem strained at all.



Hare Hare Yukai - SOS Brigade
Probably the best Hare Hare Yukai performance around XD

Final Fantasy Vocal Collections I : Pray

Final Fantasy Pray is a vocal remix of several tracks from FFI - FFVI, inclusive of the Prelude and Final Fantasy Theme. It features the vocal and lyrical talent of Risa Ohki set to the ingenuity of Nobuo Uematsu's music. The songs are sung mainly in English, Japanese, Portuguese and French.

Having never heard the music from all those earlier Final Fantasy titles, I was pleasantly surprised by the album. From the melancholic tune of The Promised Land and the hauntingly beautiful Toki no Hourousha to the more upbeat Esperanca do Amor and soothing Au Palais de Verre . . . listeners can expect a diverse range of songs, a real aural treat.

As always, opinions would differ from people to people. Fans of mainstream types of songs would probably be unable to appreciate Pray. Some others have found the album to be pretty boring or lacklustre, especially if compared to its successor Final Fantasy Vocal Collections II : Love Will Grow. Personally, I like most of the tracks, especially since they somehow seem to transport me to a different world. The only way to judge the album yourself is to give it a listen.

Here are the lyrics to one of my favourite tracks, with translations taken from one of many available out there.


Toki no Hourousha - The Wanderer of Time (Terra's Theme FFVI)

はるか遠く夜を越えて
砂漠の海をさまよう

神を声はしんきろう
忘れられた人々

影は白く揺らめき立つ
今一たびの幻

青く燃える勇者の夢
永久に眠る人々

はるか遠く夜を越えて

Crossing the distant night,
Wandering the desert sea . . .

The gods' voices are mirages;
The forgotten people.

Shadows flicker palely, then stand;
For one moment, an illusion.

A hero's dream, burning blue,
The people, sleeping forever.

Crossing the distant night . . .

Samhain

Samhain is generally referred to as the day marking the end of Summer and the Harvest Season in the beliefs of the ancient Celts, a transition between the Light and Dark halves of the Gaulish calender.

As the people were traditionally pastoral, this also marked the period where the livestock to be slaughtered in preparation for the coming winter was decided. It was said that on the night of Samhain, the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead became blurred, allowing spirits to wander the Earth. To the Celts who were dependent on the natural world, the presence of these spirits were believed to aid their Druids in making more accurate prophecies to tide them through the long, harsh winter.

Festivities, feasts and rituals have usually been associated with Samhain, with the Celts supposedly donning costumes as part of the celebrations. Bonfires were also lit in order for purification rituals to be conducted as well as to ward off malicious spirits, perhaps even for the sacrifice of animals to certain deities. Certain customs also dictated that specific areas be set aside for the dead at the Samhain Feast.

Perhaps unknown to most people is the fact that Samhain seems to be the basis of what is better known today as Halloween.

クレイモアNo.47クレアのフィギュア

For starters, web Newtype has spoilers for the upcoming episodes of Claymore, so take a peek if you're interested. (In Japanese only)

Next up, a preview of an Excellent-Grade model of Clare to be released in the future . . . it even seems to come with an Irene arm XD

ワンダーフェスティバル 2007夏のメガハウスブースにて展示されていた、「エクセレントモデル クレイモア　NO.47 クレア」のフィギュアです。

The Face on Mars

The Face on Mars is one of numerous mesas located in the Cydonia region of the red planet. In a photo taken by NASA's Viking 1 on July 25, 1976, the formation was observed to resemble a human face, stirring up a relatively large amount of interest at that time. Several people believed that it was evidence of another civilization or some sort of ruined city.

( Can you spot the Face ? )

However, a much higher resolution image taken by the Mars Global Surveyor in 2001 reveals a natural looking Martian Hill, similar to the many other mesas present in that region. This suggests that the face-like illusion observed is dependent on both the viewing angle and the angle of illumination, since the facial features are largely created by shadows.

Another interesting feature on Mars is the crater named Galle, located on the impact basin Argyre Planitia. Also first observed from photos taken by the Viking 1, it took a backseat due to all the interest generated by the more humanoid Face in Cydonia.

Galle is also known as the 'happy face crater' as the illusion of a smiley is created by the mountain range and 2 smaller craters located within it.

It can't be put into words.

「運命なんて言葉ではかたづけられないよ」

綿流し編 II

この世でもっとも見つけ難いもの。
砂漠に落とした針一本？

この世でもっとも見つけ難いもの。
闇夜に落とした鴉の羽？

この世でもっとも見つけ難いのは。
自分自身の思い違い。

Darker than BLACK AMVs

A Darker than Black AMV by DecodingDoom, set to "Escape" by Craig Armstrong. It's the epic type of music that appeals to some and not others, but I liked it. A pity the vid was made with the subtitles intact, might've been better without. (Note: Spoilers Included)

~ Cloak and Dagger ~



Next up is a AMV focused on the Yin arc, set to the piano piece which she played in the anime itself.

Darker Than BLACK

So, at long last . . . the synoposis on the right has been changed to Darker Than BLACK. The show is animated by BONES, with music done by Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Vision of Escaflowne, Ghost in The Shell etc.)

The overall animation quality up til' now is impressive, perhaps due to it being broadcast in HD, though I may be wrong about that. Thus far, the show has been following a 2 episodes/arc trend, and my favourites as yet were those with focus on Havoc, Yin and Amber.

Below are the the OPs for the show. Of course, due to it being YouTube, there's a compromise in the quality. Personally, I prefer the 2nd OP over the first.


Darker Than BLACK OP 1 - Howling (Abingdon Boys School) :




Darker Than BLACK OP 2 - Kakusei Heroism ~ The Hero Without A Name ~ (Antic Cafe)

The Price of Power Abused . . .

"If you continued killing people, if you had the power of life and death over other humans, no matter what your purpose in killing them was, you would inexorably sink into self-centeredness. You'd always put yourself first. As though you'd become a god. And ultimately you'd begin to believe your thoughts and judgements superseded all others." - Crossfire

ひぐらしのなく頃に: 綿流し編

あなたの乾きを癒せない。
真実を欲するあなたがそれを認めないから。

あなたの乾きを癒せない。
あなたの期待する真実が存在しないから。

それでもあなたの渇きを癒したい。
あなたを砂漠に放り出したのはわたしなのだから。