NKDS

Animelo Day 1 and Day 2 thoughts

dodgethis — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:33:53 +0000

I just got back from Saitama Super Arena and I thought I would pen down my thoughts for this year. Nothing but words so be careful.

Day 1
1 『レスキューファイアー』/JAM Project×栗林みな実

OH MY GOD THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING.KONO MOTTO MOTTO! MOTTO MOTTO! IMHO this should be listed as just JAM. Heh. Talk about power-packed openings.

2 『only my railgun』/fripSide
3 『LEVEL5-judgelight-』/fripSide

NANJOU-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN. Man, they rocked. Sat’s gotta be happy that he’d finally got the chance to be at Animelo. And thanks for telling us ‘KIMI TACHI WA LEVEL 6!’. Props for that, man!

4 『オルタナティヴ』/angela
5 『Separation』/angela
6 『蒼い春』/angela

They’re okay, I guess. Atsuko was really pushing her voice in the first two songs. Aoi Haru was fun, though. HAI HAI HAI HAI! And KATSU did his Gihren Zabi thing during the final messages. Watching the entire line-up do SIEG ZEON was epic.

7 『遠くまで～infinity～』/高橋直純
8 『クローバー』/高橋直純

He’s finally back after two years. The girls screaming for him were plentiful. Some guys joined in as well lol.

9 『月導』/南里侑香
10 『雫』/南里侑香

Yuuka’s always good but I’m not to familiar with these songs.

11 『Dear My Friend-まだ見ぬ未来へ-』/ELISA
12 『Real Force』/ELISA

People were using UOs for these two songs, that is all. I never expected her songs to be UO ones. Oh, and Elisa got us to call her name duing the B melody parts.

13 『逆光』/石川智晶
14 『涙腺』/石川智晶

Read my comments on Yuuka. People were hoping for them to do some see-saw songs, but oh well.

15 『Find the blue』/いとうかなこ＋志倉千代丸
16 『スカイクラッドの観測者』/いとうかなこ＋志倉千代丸

Not into her sorry.

17 『Bad Apple!!』/nomico(のみこ)+Masayoshi Minoshima

Good distraction while they moved the backline. Nice song, pretty rocking.

18 『Braveheart』/THE GOMBAND
19 『ブラック★ロックシューター』/THE GOMBAND

Okay, I was not expecting them to BRS but that really got the crowd going.

20 『鳥の詩』/Lia
21 『My Soul,Your Beats!』/Lia

The new mother returns! Awesome as always.

22 『Alchemy【marina】』/Girls Dead Monster(LiSA,marina)
23 『Crow Song【Lisa】』/Girls Dead Monster(LiSA,marina)
24 『Brave Song』/Lia×Girls Dead Monster(LiSA,marina)

Marina was okay. Lisa was FREAKING AWESOME. And cute with that pink skirt. But Brave Song redone as rock? Come on! And Ichiban no Takaramono

25 『Butterfly Kiss』/米倉千尋
26 『WILL』/米倉千尋
27 『ゆずれない願い』/米倉千尋×田村直美

Chihi’s good as always. BUT YUZURU NEGAI WITH NAOMI TAMURA. YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

28 『Crystal Energy』/栗林みな実
29 『冥夜花伝廊』/栗林みな実
30 『あんりある♥パラダイス』/栗林みな実

Minami’s always good. Her getup was cute this year. Red and white frilly thing. BUT PLEASE! THREE OF HER UO SONGS IN A ROW? That is enough to kill a lot of people. And followed by…

31 『Now loading…SKY!!』/Sphere-スフィア-
32 『Super Noisy Nova』/Sphere-スフィア-
33 『Future Stream』/Sphere-スフィア-

I felt like I was going to die. Six UO fast paced songs in a row. But it was worth it. Daddy’s proud of his daughters

34 『欲望∞』/GRANRODEO
35 『ROSEHIP‐BULLET』/GRANRODEO
36 『Once＆Foever』/GRANRODEO

\m/ Tokyo Dome, bros. Tokyo Dome.

37 『MAXIMIZER』/JAM Project
38 『TRANCEFORMERS EVO. 』/JAM Project
39 『HERO』/JAM Project
40 『GONG～SKILL』JAM Project

The intro video for JAM this year was EPIC. Transformers EVO is a muffler song. And I not afraid to admit, I was crying during the GONG singalong. It was so beautiful…

～アンコール～
EN-1 『RE:BRIDGE～Return to oneself～』/アニサマ2009テーマソング
EN-2 『evolution ～for beloved one～』/アニサマ2010テーマソング

Day 2
1 『創聖のアクエリオン』/茅原実里×May’n

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. BUCHOU, MINORIN, AISHITERU!

2 『Paradise Lost』/茅原実里
3 『優しい忘却』/茅原実里
4 『Freedom Dreamer』/茅原実里

YES, I GET TO PARADISE LOST CALLS AGAIN! EVERYBODY JUMP! HEY! But, don’t use that sort of hairstyle again, Minorin, it doesn’t suit you.

5 『バカ・ゴー・ホーム』/milktub
6 『Happy Go!!』/milktub
7 『Get Wild』/サイキックラバー×milktub
8 『超!最強!ウォーリアーズ』/サイキックラバー
9 『侍戦隊シンケンジャー』/サイキックラバー

Baka Go Home was nice. Imajo was rocking as usual. Other comments resevered.

10 『Astro Rider』/Crush Tears
11 『Communication Breakdown』/Crush Tears

Their songs ain’t half bad. But Yuu’s a mad woman who belongs in a mental institution. She was screaming like a mad woman during the MC. And the costume person ought to be shot. She was wearing pants D: And I hate the tech guy that had to adjust her mike and monitor at her butt.

12 『SERIOUS-AGE』/飛蘭
13 『戦場に咲いた一輪の花』/飛蘭
14 『Errand』/飛蘭

Skip.

15 『雨上がりのミライ』/ミルキィホームズ

They’re cute and got a really huge reception.

16 『恋華大乱』/奥井雅美
17 『Flower』/奥井雅美

Okay lar.

18 『Arrival of Tears』/彩音
19 『Angelic bright』/彩音
20 『Northern lights』/彩音×飛蘭

Okay. Northern Lights was a bad choice for both of them, honestly

21 『ドンドルベイビー』/桃井はるこ
22 『21世紀』/桃井はるこ
23 『勝利の女ネ申』/桃井はるこ

No cosplaying kickboxer for the last song? C’mon, Momoi!

24 『BELIEVE IN NEXUS』/遠藤正明
25 『Carry On』/遠藤正明

WAH LAO, NO YUUSHA OH TANJOU!

26 『薔薇獄乙女』/ALI PROJECT
27 『刀と鞘』/ALI PROJECT
28 『亂世エロイカ』/ALI PROJECT

In the words of mai Angel Beats waifu, TOI RE!

29 『ユニバーサル・バニー』/May’n
30 『愛は降る星のごとく』/May’n
31 『Ready Go!』/May’n

BUCHOU DAISUKI. And thanks for noticing the Animelo t-shirts that I have been wearing to AFA for the past two years.

32 『教えてA to Z』/田村ゆかり
33 『Tiny Rainbow』/田村ゆかり
33 『fancy baby doll』/田村ゆかり
34 『You ＆ Me feat.motsu』/田村ゆかりfeat.motsu

MOTSU! MOTSU! MOTSU! MOTSU! MOTSU! MOTSU! And I was trying to attract her attention with two UOs when she asked for overseas fans. I hope the rest of you didn’t steal my thunder.

35 『Shooting Star』/KOTOKO
36 『Loop-the-Loop』/KOTOKO
37 『Re-sublimity』/KOTOKO

Words cannot describe how I felt about this. It is a dream come true to see her live, much less at Animelo. And that she did Shooting Star and Resub was just perfect.

38 『Don’t be long.』/水樹奈々
39 『NEXT ARCADIA』/水樹奈々
40 『PHANTOM MINDS』水樹奈々
41 『UNCHAIN∞WORLD』水樹奈々×奥井雅美

It’s Nana, what else needs to be said. And looks like Makkun laid down the law, no one is to do duets with Nana except her, after what came out of the past two Animelos.

～アンコール～
EN-1 『Generation-A』/アニサマ2007テーマソング
EN-2 『evolution ～for beloved one～』/アニサマ2010テーマソング

I will not compare which was a better day because both are great in their own ways. But if I were to go by how tired I was, I was actually lying in front of the Bushiroad booth after the first day to recover. Kishow and Kage-nii both mentioned going to the Tokyo Dome for Animelo and that it should no longer be a dream but reality. And I met that Nana cosplayer today.

I love you, Animelo. I love you, anisong.

Key Sound Label Live World 2010- Way to the Kud Wafter

Mycstea — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:37:43 +0000

Here’s a short report of KSL 2010. It was long due but here it is. Pictures by me and Anselm (thanks!)

The event site itself

Key Sound Label Live World 2010 – Way to the Kud Wafter is a concert in Differ Ariake in Tokyo Japan held at 21st May 2010 and 22nd May 2010.

Read more to look at full report, with limited number of photos (lol)

The concert features songs from various games and anime produced by, or under Visual Arts’ Key, namely, Air, CLANNAD, Tomoyo After, Little Busters!, Little Busters! Ecstasy and the anime Angel Beats!

I obviously bought the live goods and was in the first live on 21st, and went to the last live with my friend Anselm on 22nd.

As i can only take photographs of things outside of the live, i’ll have to place them here and there over this whole post to avoid wall of texts.

Attending singers include: Lia, Euphonius (Riya), LiSa, marina, Chata, Tamiyasu Tomoe, Rita, Tada Aoi, Suzuta Miyako, Suzuki Keiko and Maeda Jun himself.

The crew setting up.

First off, the live goods that were available was staggering. Two tee-shirts (various sizes, 2 different designs), of black and pink were available. An amazingly beautiful pendant (design is of Kud’s hairpin and a key combined), a plushie, a lightstick pouch, light sticks, towels, wrist band and a tote bag were also available. A huge booklet was also on sale with 2 CDs within. Each item is only limited to maximum of 2 per person except for the book and the tote bag which are limited to 5 per person.

My budget of 19 000 yen grew to 38 000 yen in 2 secs after the announcer called the item limits.

The queue for the goods. Yes i was that close to the front.

The guy in front of me was a Key fan for 12 years (wearing that black cap), even before the company was made! Talk about dedication! I wonder if i’ll become like him in future.

The concert itself lasted for 3 hours from it’s starting time. The concert was MC’ed by 2 people, namely Rita and Shinji Orito. Rita is the main singer for most LB songs while Orito is the other half of the epicness of KSL as he composed a fair bit of the soundtracks written for the games.

The concert began with a great screening of the games made by Key and had a wonderful instrumental medley that went along with the video. It made me remember every game and many of the more memorable scenes. Obviously i teared.

VA/Key’s CEO ride. Wow it looks great lol.

The concert’s setlist started with 5 Little Busters!/EX/KW songs, specifically, one’s future [KW, Opening theme sang by Suzuta Miyako]. The song brought up the excitement of everyone who attended as it’s a cute and uplifting song. Miyako sang in her kigurumi again but was better prepared for it (she drank through a straw during the MC www). Apparently everyone knew about her performance in the previous performance a few months back (which she looked as though she’d die of exhaustion inside the suit) and even made a joke about it in the latest Style magazine.

Next are character songs by Tamiyasu Tomoe. Lead voice actress for Little Busters! (pretty much), she voiced not one, but 3 characters in the game, namely, Naoe Riki, Natsume Rin and Sasasegawa Sasami. She sang different character songs for all three lives, starting off with neko to garasu to marui tsuki [LBEX,Sasami's character song sang by Tamiyasu Tomoe] which debuted in Comiket 77’s KSL 050. Tamiyasu wore Sasami’s ribbons and looked really adorable in a slightly goth outfit (if i remember correctly).

On the 2nd live performance, she sang rin no hisoka na koi no uta -my style remix[LB, Rin's character song sang by Tamiyasu Tomoe]. I didn’t attend the 2nd live so i wouldn’t know how she performed but according to G’s Magazine, she wore the same clothings as the concert later which i had attended. During the last live, she sang Mission:Love sniper [LB, Rin's character song sang by Tamiyasu Tomoe]. Awesome and energetic song. Tamiyasu wore a modified version of the Little Busters! school uniform and was really cute and energetic.

The other view. You can see how sunny it was that morning…

Next, Kanata’s seiyuu Suzuki Keiko was invited to sing her character song, raison [LBEX, Kanata's character song sang by Suzuki Keiko]. Truth be told, there could have been improvements in her performance as sometimes she ran out of breath. She tried really hard and i applauded at her performance.

Rita, the lead singer for LB’s songs came on next, starting with Alicemagic – Rockstar ver [LB, Insert song sang by Rita] and Little Busters! – Little Jumper version [LB, Ending theme sang by Rita]. These 2 energetic songs really hyped up the crowd, with everyone bursting ultra-orange lightsticks. Everyone was jumping when she reached the chorus (“takaku tobe, takaku sora he, takaku kere, takaku koe”).

Next the concert featured 3 songs from CLANNAD, namely Mag Mell [CLANNAD, Opening theme sang by either Riya or Chata], Over [CLANNAD, insert song sang by either Riya or Chata] and Kage Futatsu – Mintjam Remix ver [CLANNAD, Ending song 1 by Chata]. The concert on friday had Chata sang all the above songs. However, the next day’s lives were all performed by Euphonius. Chata did a really awesome job doing the covers and i cried to her Mag Mell. Her voice was just so enchantingly cute! Interestingly, euphonius (riya) taught us a hand gesture for the song Over. It’s a little hard to describe it with words but it does look like Flemming’s left hand rule, only that it’s done with the right hand.

Staff carrying that giant adorable plushie!

The live next featured a few songs by Lia, the famous Crystal Voice. She graced the stage with a grand entrance and accompanied by one of her most popular songs, Light Colours [Tomoyo After, Opening theme]. It was obvious that her popularity was insurmountable because the moment she entered the stage, the crowd went insane. I teared on looking at her for the first time in my live (kinda like a dream come true). The very sight of her was one to behold. Graceful and sophisticated, she was just everything i thought she’d look like.

Her 2nd song varies for the 3 different lives as well. During the first day, she sang Birthday Song, Requiem [Song from single of same name], the second day Hanabi[Song from Single Spica/Hanabi/Moon] and finally Farewell Song [Air, Ending theme]. Farewell Song brought back memories of Air and at that point, i was wondering if she’d sing Tori no Uta.

Next she sang Karma [Song from album Dearly]. Karma was really special as it was a song Maeda Jun wrote and it was sang by Lia. Although it wasn’t in a KSL, it was pretty well known amongst the fans present. This time however, it had a whole MV drawn by Goto-P and it was just epic. 30+CGs just for the song. I did cry at this point.

Her performance was just mindblowing.

Sample of the MV. Karma insert CG from her album. And i’m almost out of pictures orz

Shortly after, Tada Aoi was invited to the stage and she sang Brave Song [Angel Beats!, Ending theme] in the live as well. During the first day, it was a full 6 days before the official sales date of the full version of the single. Everyone listened and heard the song for the first time during that live and it made the first live way more special then the proceding ones in its own way.

The lights went dark, then flashed screen shots of Yui, Iwasawa and the GDM band on the giant screen!

Exactly what happened. Really.

Girl Dead Monster took over the stage! LiSa jumped onto the stage, singing Thousand Enemies [Angel Beats!, Insert song]. The ultra blazing pink lightsticks still linger in my memory as i remembered how the crowd went absolutely wild. LiSa looked absolutely hot in her goth outfit and everyone sang the chorus chants with her.

Alchemy [Angel Beats!, Insert song] and Crow Song [Angel Beats!, Insert song] was then covered by LiSa as well and she did not disappoint. Ultra orange lightsticks came ablaze again as everyone jumped to the beat of Crow Song’s rap portion. Amazing.

marina then took over the stage and did her ballet, My Song [Angel Beats!, Insert song]. It was so simple. marina stood alone in the spotlight and started the song, with everyone in the audience knowing the significance of the song. The first live audience was hesitant of waving lightsticks, as it wasn’t done in the anime.

Everyone was reliving the experience of AB ep 3.

Everyone however, did wave lightsticks during the last performance and she did comment about it and was really touched by it. Her voice was really powerful and it touched everyone present.

Maeda Jun shocked the stage when he entered the stage next with an electric bass guitar and brought down the house with Highest Life [Song from Angel Beats! Thousand Enemies single]. His passion was clear. He sang with all his effort and those feelings certainly reached all of us. The final live chant in the song is probably something i’ll never forget in a while…

I have no idea why this single is so hard to find in Akihabara.

Finally, Lia was supposed to end the concert with 2 last songs, of which are, Toki wo Kizamu Uta [CLANNAD After Story, Opening theme] and finally My Soul, Your Beats! [Angel Beats! Opening theme]. Toki wo Kizamu Uta had a special place in my heart, as it really signified the essence of Nagisa’s route in CLANNAD. The song totally bled all the tears i could muster from my eyesockets. However the crowd insisted on an encore.

The organisors complied and sent Lia out for the 1st encore song, and to everyone’s pleasant surprise, she sang Tori no Uta [Air, Opening theme]. It was clear that some people came to the live just for this legendary song. Everyone had the calls on time and all the lightstick routines down to the last beat. I personally was really pleased that she performed the song. “Now that’s a Key concert” was what i thought in my head.

After the climax of Tori no Uta, Chata took the stage and mesmorized everyone with the enchanting Dango Daikazoku [CLANNAD, Ending theme]. The atmosphere of that song is nothing short of breathtaking. I cannot express it in better way. Everyone, sang and waved their lightsticks to the same song exactly like a giant family. It was just terrific. Magical.

And really to end off the event, Suzuta Miyako graced the stage again and performed one’s future again, since the concert is about Kud Wafter anyways. The concert ended with a phototaking of everyone at the concert along with the stars on stage.

Fond memories forever

The MCs also announced that this live would be recorded into CD form and probably will be on sale soon (i’m guessing C79). Unfortunately, as my memory isn’t really that good, i didn’t include the jokes nor the small-talks made during the MCs. More notable ones are

Miyako not dying from lack of air and heat (drinking from a straw through the opening underneath the kigurumi)
Tamiyasu Tomoe made her own costumes apparently
Keiko describing how she was asked to sing Kanata’s chara song
Chata, cute. Kawaii. Adorable. Yep you get the idea. Also how she always wanted to sing Alice Magic or Tori no Uta during Karaoke.
Lia describing how she got a job with Key (she started during Air, which is 1 year after the company started)
LiSa trying to get the entire audience arroused with the way she taunted (or rather seduced) everyone (wwwww)
Maeda Jun imitating Kitamura Eri’s “Otonashi-kun!”

As i left the live hall, the PA crew was playing Little Busters! on the speakers and everyone sang along with it on the way out. We’re now one big family.

In conclusion, the concert left me stunned. It was too much emotion to absorb, and too much to express as well. Rest assured, if there is a KSL Live 2011, i’ll be there.

ACME 2010 Product List

Julius_Firefocht — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:18:48 +0000

The Nanoha Movie 1st deskmat

Link here: ACME Product Page

Suffice to say, you are going to go broke if you are a K-On, Little Busters, Angel Beats, Nanoha or Touhou fan. I am still trying to figure out if I should get the Feito dakimakura that is so awesome that I can’t even post its picture here.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

No i did not go to comiket

Zelfi — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:01:46 +0000

: As the title of the post says >_>

Help bj0rN attain his hopes and dreams

bj0rN — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:08:39 +0000

Yes. I somehow got myself into this contest whereby I was ambushed by several people in school and got “interview” on how I would spend $8000 if I had it. Of course I could have been lame and said something like, I could just pay for my one semester of school fees and call it a day, but ended up saying out my inner desire of getting things like a PS3, a new PC (so that I can do my work and my present laptop is like 5 years old), and a trip to Japan (simply because it’s gonna be my “virgin” trip there) and etc.

So help me out to try and win this by voting for me and spreading the word around. Yes, I know the video clip is lame and all, but I was caught on by surprised, so I wasn’t prepared. I’ll be so grateful to those who helped me vote and I shall keep my fingers crossed in hopes of winning and fulfilling my wishes.

You’ll need a Facebook account and you can view the video and vote for me here.

http://apps.facebook.com/yescardchallenge/index.php?id=93&ref=mf

Mazinkaiser SKL PV2 and seiyuu cast

Julius_Firefocht — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:18:48 +0000

Let’s start off with this… and yes. Turbo Smasher Punch is back, baby!

And now the voice cast, which I can assure you is nothing like any of the past Mazinger series.

~~~~~

Satoshi Hino as Ryō Magami
Shintaro Asanuma as Ken Kaidō

Atsuko Tanaka as Aira
Banjou Ginga as Garan
Kikuko Inoue as Himiko
Nobuyuki Hiyama as Kiba
Saori Hayami as Tsubasa Yuki

~~~~~

Yes, Satoshi Hino, aka Saito from Zero no Tsukaima and Yuuji from Shana. Shintaro Asanuma’s latest role is Tsuda-kun from the ongoing Seitokai Yakuindomo. Remember the spineless guy who was always getting sexually harassed by Shino and Aria? Yeah, that’s him.

That’s quite a formidable combination we have there, right off the bat. These are the two lucky guys who will be piloting Mazinkaiser SKL and raping faces with the super robot.

Then we have Kikuko Inoue and Hayami Saori, both of whom are seiyuus that I really like. And finally, we have the King of Braves himself, NOBUYUKI HIYAMA. I don’t care if he is playing a good guy or a bad guy, he makes the show more awesome just by being in it. You don’t go wrong with Nobuyuki Hiyama in a Super Robot show. You simply don’t.

The first episode of Mazinkaiser SKL will be released by the end of this year. I can feel the hot blood pumping in my veins already.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

Rosario+Vampire S2 Chapter 33: My most important treasure

Julius_Firefocht — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:19:13 +0000

Lots of stuff going on in the latest chapter of Rosario+Vampire, mostly centered around Akasha Bloodriver. Burn that name into your brain, because she is Moka’s mother, an uber-hot MILF that kicks ass.

Akasha regenerated her body after getting chopped into halves in the previous chapter. These ancient vampires sure are tough.

And then she strips down into…

This. I sort of lost my composure at this point of time. Akasha is damn hot. I can envision exactly how Nana is going to voice Akasha, and its nosebleed-inducing.

She then proceeds to kick ass, in the process showing us where Moka learnt her fighting style and catchphrase from.

Unfortunately, she sacrifices herself to save her daughter Moka.

Moka lives because of Akasha’s sacrifices, and I was tearing a bit by this page. A child is, indeed, a mother’s most important treasure.

This has gotta be one of the better chapters of R+V S2. We have nice fanservice from Akasha, good action scenes of Akasha kicking faces, and a touching conclusion at the end of it all. I really hope they somehow bring back Akasha into the present timeline, but something tells me it is not going to happen.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

Tickets for the Mikuni Shimokawa Live in Singapore are now available.

Julius_Firefocht — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:30:00 +0000

The entire event is actually called “Mikuni Shimokawa ASIAN LOVERS Tour 2010: Replay! in Singapore (with Band Version)“, but as you can see the full name of the event is a bit too long to put in the title of this post.

Anyways, we can buy tickets now. Link to the ticketing website here. Each ticket costs SGD $93 excluding booking fee, which is about right for a 2 hour concert here in Singapore.

Dodgethis and me have already bought our tickets, so see you there if you are attending the concert.

This is Julius Firefocht, signing off.

Nell is cute

Zelfi — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:54:41 +0000

Previously, I have mentioned about pangya getting a new character. And here she is. She might start a trend of bringing cats into the golf course XD.

Aniplex to Release Nanoha movie DVDs/BDs?

dodgethis — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 04:36:02 +0000

Click for link to said page

I just got linked this on Twitter. It seems that Aniplex could very well be releasing the Nanoha movie soon on DVD and Bluray formats.

This is very surprising. King Records has always been the ones doing the releases related to both music and videos. And now, a Sony Music subsidary is doing the videos? If you ask me, they seem to be more interested in someone related to the franchise, rather than the franchise itself, going by the happenings of the past few months. This is just pure speculation on my part.