I’m going in for a CT scan in a little bit after experiencing some chest pains, and I may end up in the emergency room again. No clue when I’ll be back.
EDIT: Back now. Looks like I won’t be getting radiology results until Monday, so I’ll be around (and blogging hopefully) until then.
Newly-anointed host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show”, literal and figurative behemoth Conan O’Brien, has always been pretty damn funny – lately he’s been getting a bit more buzz in some online circles after his set was recognized to look like a level in Super Mario – and now, he’s made his foray into the anime industry. Turns out their studio is not far from Bang Zoom, one of the companies that does the English dubbing for anime, so in true Conan fashion, he and co-host Andy are put to work voicing none other than… Ghost in the Shell.
Of particular interest is a cameo from Tenjou Tenge chibi Maya’s rocket tits; also, I would’ve liked to hear them tackle Gurren Lagann instead – but then again, watching Conan shout “I WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS WITH MY DRILL” might have been the end of all anime in the English-speaking world…
This is a summary of my first (and probably last) experience at a maid cafe in Japan from over the weekend. The cafe was called ‘MaiDreamin,’ which, if read in the unintended way (as I choose to do), is an unfortunate choice of names and leads me to believe the owner is unaware of what it means to ream a maid. I can’t speak for the customers.
Anyway, two of my friends wanted to experience a maid cafe for the first time while we were in Akihabara, so we set out on a mission. We were troubled momentarily by the fact that none of us actually knew where one was. Luckily, if you’ve ever been to Akihabara, you know that you don’t have to walk very far to find a maid on the street handing out fliers to attract customers. So we literally just crossed the street, and lo and behold a super cute maid was awaiting our arrival.
She had medium-short hair and an adorable costume, complete with what I assumed were fake bandages on her arm, thigh high black stockings, and super cute glasses. One of my friends waited in the background suspiciously while my other friend and I went up to talk to her. She told us that the cafe was nearby, and that she’d be more than happy to guide us, so we all tagged along. By the way, letting a maid guide you through back alleys in Akihabara is a very surreal experience. Looking back, that was probably my favorite part.
You may have noticed that I had fairly good things to say about the first episodes of Wednesday shows Aoi Hana and Umineko (and to an extent, Umi Monogatari), yet I haven’t blogged the second episodes of any of those. The main problem is that my Wednesdays (and Thursdays) are unexpectedly busy this season, so it’s hard for me to find time to blog any of those three shows on the day they air, and none of the first two episodes have sold me on any of them enough to free up time by dropping and replacing one of the shows I’m already following. This may of course still change if one of the other new shows I’m really interested in (Princess Lover or Sora no Manimani in particular) greatly disappoints in their second or third episodes, in which case I’d probably find time for Umineko or something, albeit later in the week.
Chances are you’ve already spoiled yourself by reading Omni’s preview, or visited the official website and seen what a stunning cast this show has. I, however, had not done so prior to watching the episode. Above is a clip of the show’s intro, and these were my reactions:
“Hey, it’s Noto Mamiko!”
…
“No, wait, it must be Hayami Saori.”
…
“Yep.”
…
“I am so sure now, cos I watched Eden a few days ago.”
…
“WHAT THE FUCK? ARE THESE CREDITS CORRECT?!”
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In my dark and depressing pre-20 anime per week days, I would usually scoff at those who listened to anime and game OSTs – why listen to some pew pew soundtrack when you could be listening to… oh, Puff Daddy or DMX or uhh Ayumi Hamasaki. Y’know – cool people music. Ah, those were the days. Since then my music collection has slowly been overtaken by an abundance of [nipponsei], and I’ve even uploaded some Youtube videos of me playing those same songs I used to scoff at. Times have changed, and I’ve really started to appreciate the amount of talent that goes into this kind of composing. Still, I believe there’s a difference between the music that goes into the likes of K-ON and that of Gundam, specifically it how well it translates to classical orchestra music. Which is why I was thoroughly surprised with Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou, the concert by the Tokyo Philharmonic on April 29 that was just released on CD. The music from Haruhi was largely… teenybopper and/or rock, both of which I wouldn’t imagine translating well into classical. Surprisingly enough, the adaptation is quite good! Some tracks remind me of Hisaishi’s work in Totoro, others sound like it could’ve come out of some classic Disney movie. Well, the instrumental tracks, at least. Several tracks have Hirano Aya and Chihara Minori blaring away, and while some of you will probably love these alternate versions, their inability to hit or hold the right notes is a bit hard on my ears. Check out orchestral Mikurun-run and a Hiranofied God Knows! |
Prototype has been eating my life lately, but I found a few minutes to make a fourth quiz, just for you. No doubt it’ll be solved within, oh, 3 minutes or so. The last clip might seem unfair, but there are hints in there! Later quizzes will be “themed”, so expect actors to reappear.
If you haven’t heard of ELLEGARDEN or Hosomi Takeshi, watch the above video first before reading the rest of this. Having not heard of any of those before now, my first reaction to it was that it was surprisingly good English from a Japanese band (and it reminded me of how I recently found out that Mizushima Hiro also speaks good English). You probably could have fooled me into thinking that this was any random American group, and only after looking them up did I realize that the HIATUS is a Japanese group led by former ELLEGARDEN vocalist Hosomi Takeshi. I’m not writing about it just because it features good English though – it’s a very catchy rock song too, and I love the way the song starts and the chorus. The PV was interesting to watch as well, if a bit abstract with that man made of rock. It’s pretty good stuff overall, and I’ll have to pay more attention to Hosomi Takeshi’s music from now on.
The album Trash We’d Love that Ghost In The Rain came out on was released a couple of weeks ago.