NANA MIZUKI LIVE CASTLE 2011 -Queen's Night-

-Queen's Night- へようこそ!

Well as a special celebration of the New Year, here is my LIVE CASTLE -Queen's Night- entry finally! Only like a month late, whoops. I hope I'll be a little faster with -King's Night-, I'll definitely try to be.. Anyways, best of luck to Nana on Kouhaku Uta Gassen today! And now then...

<<WARNING! This is going to be a very very long entry, so make yourself comfortable and make sure you have some time before reading it. xD>>

Also as a point of note, this is not a very objective account - it's a personal account. So be prepared for me to mention how I loved hearing every song live in my account of all the songs haha and stuff like that. Also on another point of note, I tried to write about things exactly the way I thought that night. So some revelations on stuff and whatnot will be appearing on the -King's Night- entry and not here.

Japan Travel Journal [Day 1]

So during my first day in Japan (Friday 2nd), I got this great idea of making a blog post for each of my days there separately and also to make it even more fun I'd write the day entry at the end of the day itself. Yeaaaah, was never gonna happen. xD I was too busy enjoying myself, which is definitely a good thing! It was a very successful trip. So anyway, here is the first day entry, a week or so late. :P Btw, I must apologize in advance on how late all of these entries will be, I am trying to write these little by little during the short periods of time when I am awake before/after work. >.<

So, I arrived in Japan a few hours later than I was supposed to, due to technical issues with the plane. How fun. So needless to say, I was feeling pretty messed up. I managed to get on the Narita Express without incident though luckily. On the Express they were showing train info and I was shitting my pants because the JR line that I was supposed to take from Tokyo, Yamanote line, seemed to not be running because of an obstacle thing. Well tbh I wasn't sure whether to worry about complications or to laugh about obstacle THING. xD Fortunately, the line started running again before I got as far as Tokyo.

Graduation

So last week I went to the UK to graduate. It was a very important week to me so I figured it deserved an entry. I won't write about the Nana London Pilgrimage here, as I'll probably write a separate entry on that since well, Nana. <3 Anyhow, I'll start with the travelling related crap first. xD

Thoughts on LIVE GRACE -Orchestra-

I've been dying the past two weeks, since I was saving watching LIVE GRACE till I knew the results on my KMD application - that way, it could either serve as a celebration or as something to pick me up after a big disappointed. Glad it wasn't the latter. xD

So yeah! I watched LIVE GRACE yesterday finally! Ah the bliss....

(This is mostly a pic fest because I am too tired to write a lot, plus Nana concerts should be experienced not read about anyway)

The KMD Application Adventure

Yesterday I got accepted into Keio University's Graduate School of Media Design! Holy hell, how amazing is that?! Doing my Master's in Japan is not just a dream any longer. I am so happy right now.

This probably came as a surprise to most people, not because they were doubtful about me getting in, but because they did not know I had already applied there. I made a conscious decision not to really tell anyone about it, only really told the people that I had to tell it to (such as my family + my supervisor, his wife and my Japanese teacher since they wrote recommendations for me), since I did not want a whole bunch of people feeling sorry for me if I happened to fail. I wanted to bear that alone this time around. Don't ask me why. I guess since not getting in would've made me fall from so high I did not want to intensify my pain by having other people's sympathy. I apologize for this. m(_ _)m

Aamun Kuiskaus - AMV and Lyrics Translation

Holy hell, I just uploaded an AMV today! How long has it been?! I've been working on this one for quite some time, the longest I've worked on one AMV really. Not that this was particularly hard to make or anything, there just happened to be many obstacles on the way of making it - that's all. My editing program wouldn't work during the hot weather, had to find alternative versions of Dog Days since the one I had did not convert properly, general lack of time and so forth. xD Hopefully it won't take this long for me to release my next one - one can only hope, haha.

So anyways, this AMV is for a friend of mine who was the most sad to see me go when I left the United Kingdom last May. I made it in order to show her that I am not leaving her behind. Without further ado, here is the video. Enjoy!

Master & Apprentice Tribute AMV - Aamun Kuiskaus [w/ subtitles]

(To watch without subtitles click [here])

Playing the Violin

So I've been going to violin lessons for about a month now. It's been pretty hectic and very different from how I was taught a long time ago - I love it.

I have learned so much, that it's really unbelievable. I mean, I don't think I even learned this much in the 4 years I played before. Well it's understandable since you can't really proceed fast with a child but still - pretty amazing.
 

List Updates!

My face when I realized I had totally ignored the fact that I own テルミドール.

This entry is really just about list updates, since I updated a lot. My Nana song list got quite a makeover, mainly by songs just switching place A LOT. However, before I get on with my updates I have to point out something that happened today. For the past few days I've had this feeling that I should ogle at my Nana Mizuki Livedom -Birth- at Budokan DVD, so I did today and HA what do you know. She sings テルミドール in it! How the hell did I never pay attention to that??? I've had テルミドール sitting on my shelf all this time!! I suck. Oh well, at least it gave me something very lovely to watch tonight. xD

Cheque, please.

Okay so I thought the unbelievable day I had yesterday deserved a blog entry, so here it is. I really don't know whether the day was hilarious or just really shitty, because it felt like I consecutively had the worst and the best luck possible.

I should mention the whole mess was triggered last Monday when I went to request a cheque from the bank. Another good point of note is that cheques are really uncommon in Finland, we have never really gotten into the habit of using them like the Americans or even Brits. Things just work better with well, means that are not so old-fashioned. So yes, I went to request a cheque. An international cheque. After much perplexity from the bank employee we got things rolling and they told me it should be done in a few days and they'd call me then.

And now, let's zoom ahead to Friday 9/9.

Dance Dance Dance

So I finished another Murakami book today - Dance Dance Dance. Oh and for the record, I have read more than just the ones I've written about on here - I just feel compelled to write about some and not the others, even though I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them.

The Magic of Music - テルミドール

So today while I was sitting on the train making my way to dance class, I was, with immense intensity, reminded of yet another aspect that makes Nana's music special to me.

Have you ever felt the story of a song, just from the melody? Just from the tone of voice? Just from lyrics you cannot understand? And with this I do not mean just the atmosphere of the song, but the actual content - the message it is trying to convey.

Top 10 Mizuki Nana PVs

So I randomly remembered today that I was going to make a Top 10 Nana PVs list. That had somehow completely escaped my mind, but I guess that's understandable with the new single hype and then me going to Germany and whatever else.. I remembered it today only because I was listening to Trickster, which made me think of the PV, which in turn reminded me I had not put that on my list for some reason and had to make amends.

Norwegian Wood

I read this book recently - Norwegian Wood by Murakami Haruki. It is one of the most beautiful works I have ever read, hands down. It is also very sad. I felt quite melancholic the whole time reading it, which only proves it is a great book - it makes you feel something.

The Wait for Persona 4: The Animation

First off I would like to say that I wasn't expecting much from the Persona 4 anime and was actually awaiting it with dread to begin with. Why? Because most of the time anime based on games are shit or boring to say the least. So far the only exception to this that I've seen is Tales of Symphonia, which I greatly liked. Oh and just to be clear, I am not counting anime based on visual novels here (like TYPE-MOON or Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom), because they're visual novels, not games, and they are usually quite excellent. Also, if it was going to be anything like Persona Trinity Soul I knew I would be very disappointed. When I watched that series I thought it was alright - slow but alright. Now though that I've been playing Persona 3, I am perfectly aware of how Trinity Soul did not do it justice at all (I Think I was subconsciously aware of this all the time, just ignored it). They even managed to turn Akihiko boring and stuck up! Why did you do that to my Akihiko? (┯_┯) I don't understand why they changed the personae to look so boring too. So since that was the only example of a Persona anime, I was quite worried.... but....

My Dad and Nana

I had a pretty interesting conversation with my dad a few days ago about what makes Nana so awesome. It was quite funny because it was him who started it, not me. I was visiting him in Germany, since he has to stay there for now due to his work and in the evening he put on Radio Rock. Eventually this song came up that was the sort of heavy metal he did not like and he exclaimed that "I don't like this", turned Radio Rock off and put Nana on instead.

Nana's 25th Single Junketsu Paradox!

Well this entry is a bit overdue, my apologies - I disappeared to Germany for a while. I was quite anxious about whether or not I would hold my copy of Junketsu Paradox in my hands before I was leaving to Germany on the 4th as the FedEx delivery estimate was for that day, but this time CDJapan and FedEx had a pleasant surprise for me - I got a call from FedEx on the 3rd (which was even the actual release date!) asking if they could come drop off my package within the next 20 minutes to which I nearly screamed a lustful " HELL YES", but managed to contain myself and reply appropriately. Fievel rewarded the hardworking young FedEx delivery man by screaming his lungs out. Dear delivery man, if you ever happen to read this - I am very sorry for my dog's misbehavior. NOW, BEHOLD MY BELOVED COPY OF JUNKETSU PARADOX!

Animelo Summer Live 2011 -rainbow- Theme Song

The album, the poster and a random rock.

The Animelo Summer Live 2011 -rainbow- Theme Song CD (+DVD with music clip and making of) was released a couple of days ago and of course I had preordered myself a copy. As a pleasant surprise a free poster came along with it. Hooray!

Nana Live @ Tokyo Dome for the First Time!

So I was originally planning on writing about Final Fantasy Type-0 this time. This plan was overridden yesterday when I saw the new trailer for Persona 4 The Animation, which got me excited like a little kid. And now the plan has changed yet again, and I shall instead be writing about..... Nana, because Nana > everything.

So who was honestly surprised by that turn of events?

I think no one.

「純潔パラドックス」 PV

I was threatening in my previous entry that I'd write about this next, so here it is!

So yesterday morning I managed to find the PV for Junketsu Paradox to my great delight. I had no idea it had actually come out already, so it was a really nice surprise to start my day with. (^-^) Later on I even stumbled upon the second song of the upcoming single, 7COLORS - how lucky is that?! If you want to give it a listen you can do so [from here]. I probably won't write about it before the single actually comes out, not long till that now anyway!

Top 20 Mizuki Nana songs *Updated 2011/09/12*

It's here finally! My top 20 Nana song list, done to commemorate my 77th entry in this blog! So now you know why I kept stalling this... ;) I have to say I've changed the order of these songs like a million times during the process of coming up with it, so most likely the exact order will keep on being alive and changing even now. xD

Enjoy the list and look forward to my entry on the Junketsu Paradox PV next!

今日は。。。

So time for some random stuff for a change.... and some stalling concerning my song list yet again. Today has been quite an eventful day, so I figured it deserved an entry.

Top 10 Mizuki Nana Songs I Want to Learn on the Violin *Updated 2012/02/28*

So since my Arfu loves it when I stall the revealing of my Top 20 Nana song list, I shall stall yet again. (^o^)/

I went to buy myself an electronic violin today and I was really surprised at how much they sounded like a normal violin. I was expecting something... else. Obviously. xD I found a really lovely one that I bought. It looks so cool and it's red. (^-^) So now I am really stoked about finally having a good quality violin again and I am actually very excited to start relearning to play. So considering how that was the highlight of my day, I felt making a top 10 list of the Nana songs I eventually want to learn how to play was a very appropriate thing to do.

So enjoy~!

７月７日! + seven pieces～NANA MIZUKI LIVE JOURNEY 2011 side-B～ o(^-^)o

So originally I wasn't planning on doing anything special today (hard to believe isn't it? But I swear it's the truth!), but yesterday when I was eating pancakes (my mom tries to fatten me up every time I stay at home xD) in my blissful ignorance my mom walked into the kitchen and casually asked "So how are you going to celebrate tomorrow?" and at first I was wondering what she was going on about until I realized what was special about that day haha. I wasn't expecting her to be so in tune with my obsession with sevens. xD Bless her. So after that I of course had to come up with some ways to celebrate the 7th of the 7th, since hell, even my mom was expecting it!

Gotou Yuuko @ Desucon 2011

I've been promising this for a long time haven't I? Here it is, rejoice!

First of all, I would like to thank Gotou Yuuko-san for taking the trouble of coming all the way to Finland to tell about her career to us Finnish anime fans. Though it really disappointed me how Finnish con-ners seem to not appreciate such a great opportunity, as listening to an actual seiyuu, as much as they should considering how empty the Sibelius hall was during her session (and frankly a lot of the people that were there, were behaving like retards -_-). Really a shame considering how packed it was for the AMV-competition and let's face it - you don't learn anything interesting there! Anyway, for it's worth listening to Gotou-san was definitely the most worthwhile thing to me that weekend.

Oh and btw, if you have no idea who Gotou Yuuko-san is (shame on you!) here you can find a list of her anime roles: [click for list]. Most people probably know her mainly for the role of Mikuru Asahina in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Thoughts on 「純潔パラドックス」

ZOMG I LIED AGAIN. No Gotou Yuuko this time either (Forgive me Gotou-san, I will honor you soon! （；_・）), since I heard Junketsu Paradox thanks to it being aired on smile-gang and I just cannot resist writing about a new Nana song.

So yes, Nana's new song which is used as the ED of Blood-C, Junketsu Paradox, was heard in full on smile-gang last night. The name, like she's been explaining in LIVE JOURNEY MCs, means pure-hearted paradox. Sadly I cannot make much out of the lyrics at the moment with them not available anywhere yet　(ごめんなさい、I need to better my Japanese （；_・）), but judging by the atmosphere the song creates it revolves around urgency and desperation - well, a paradox obviously. xD

王立学術研究院主席ここでありますつ！

Okay so I lied - my next post (this) is not about Gotou Yuuko-san, but I promise the one after this will be! I just had to do a short entry in between about me as a researcher, since I have no idea how I managed to end up in such a favorable position. It seems like yesterday when I first stepped into my supervisor's office, unsure of what I wanted to do with my dissertation but desperate to show that I had thought of something before showing up.

My first trip to Japan!

Okay, so I'm super late with this entry too. ごめんなさい....! （；_・）
Though I would like to say it wasn't my fault.....
Oh yeah, I was actually thinking of starting to write something in Japanese in all my entries in order to practice, but we'll see if that'll catch wind.

Anyway! I was planning on taking a phrase book and my Kanji book along with me on my trip, so if nothing else I could at least do something useful during my flight there, but when mom saw them in my bag she exclaimed "No studying on this trip - this is vacation!" and thus I left them at home. Which was probably a good thing. I need to learn how to chill out... 

Also, it's curious how I've been quite unbreakable when shit hit the fan in the weeks before my trip. Like, after getting over the initial shock of the car breaking down on the Scotland trip I thought "Who cares, I'll pull through and then I'm going to Japan!!" and during landing on my flight to Japan I got a really bad ache in my right ear (been over 12 years since I last had that) that went all the way down to my jaw and I thought the right side of my face was gonna be ripped open, and in the midst of all this agony I just thought "This I can handle, I am almost in Japan hell yes!!" Fun times!

Now to the main attraction...!

NANA MIZUKI LIVE JOURNEY 2011, Station 5 Niigata, departs!

Welcome on board!! A fantastic journey!!

So, I think I've stalled this enough.... I just wanted to build up the suspense and savor my experience on my own before writing about it. Also I must warn you, this will more than likely be a very long entry (BECAUSE LOL IT TOOK ME OVER THREE DAYS TO WRITE) - so go make some popcorn now and then enjoy! I have to say I would never have dared hope to see Nana so soon, but dad got me and him (x'D) a ticket to Nana's concert in Niigata for my birthday! I was so ecstatic I could've exploded. Anyway enough of my explosions, time for.....

STATION 5: NIIGATA!

The Nana Inquisition Pilgrimage #1: DORNEY COURT

Well I have to say that THIS blog entry is super late. Sorry about that. Also I must admit I probably wouldn't be writing it yet either, IF I wasn't dying to write about something else (what could that be, I wonder???).... and insisting on keeping these entries chronological at the same time. xD

SO!

THE NANA INQUISITION MARCHES TO DORNEY COURT!

What's to come...!

HELL YES!!!

Holy shit - long time no see! I bet you're all thinking now hell yes epic entry coming, but no - my entry today has a few purposes without being very interesting in itself. The first purpose being just to inform that I haven't died or anything, I've just been very busy with moving back to Finland from the UK and all that jazz and the second purpose being to give a heads up on the awesome stuff to come.

I AM GOING TO JAPAN TOMORROW! HELL YES!

Captive of Babel.

Phew, I am now finally starting to feel a bit more alive than dead. Hopefully soon I'll have the energy to take care of other things apart from uni work. The dissertation might be done and over with (Wohoo~~!) but there is still a lot to do the next week or so. So bear with me until I make a proper comeback... 

Anyway, I had to write here today just to inform everyone how I am totally hooked on Nana's 囚われのBabel today. Why didn't I pay much attention to this before? I love it. Can listen to it from [here] if interested. The first two seconds of the song remind me of Michael Jackson (Songs like Dirty Diana and Another Part of Me, start with a similar sound!) and then it turns to a game-ish style which makes me reminiscence the great times I had with Megaman X4 - I need to play that game again!  I love the lyrics as well, very powerful song. Definitely would be nice to see live. 

Which brings me to another point. I saw the set list for the concert she had today and it was amazing. Very strong start with songs like SCARLET KNIGHT, ETERNAL BLAZE, 恋の抑止力-type EXCITER- and HIGH-STEPPER. Can't really get much better than that! Later on really great stuff too like DISCOTHEQUE, 囚われのBabel (yay, fun coincidence!), Zankou no Gaia, UNBREAKABLE among others and the place of last song went to POP MASTER, as was to be expected. I always did say it would be a very good encore song. Really can't wait to get a combination like this on Bluray! Hopefully the set list among concerts does not change too much, since this combo kicks ass. :)

Kristiina - Translation.

So after seeing my sister perform this song yesterday (very powerfully and well done!), I felt inspired to translate it - the lyrics are so fun in my opinion. So yes, gasp! I will actually do an entry on something I listed as a purpose of my blog.. rejoice!

Nana's 23rd and 24th Singles!

I would like to apologize for the lack of entries lately, my dissertation has really chained me down completely. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to ramble on about useless things a bit more, such as finishing my 30 day song challenge...

ANYWAY. So, I'm visiting home currently and I spent the other day throwing a lot of my past away. It's funny how many memories something simple like a shirt or a magazine can have. It was time to let go of those things however and now I feel like I have a lot of room in my life for what the future brings! So bring it on!

And now for the main topic of the evening - Nana's new singles, SCARLET KNIGHT and POP MASTER. I regret not having the time to write about them before but hey, at least I am doing it now! I nearly exploded from joy when they arrived in the mail last Thursday and needless to say, I quickly ran to my room to open them. I really loved the casings for the pair, and was completely enchanted with the plastic CD cover for SCARLET KNIGHT being well, scarlet, and the one for POP MASTER being white! Brilliant idea! But shit, I realized I neglected to take a picture of them.... I'll add one here later, sorry!

Arigatou + 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 16

I really love days like this. Even if it was because of some scary shit, it's nice to experience how many people care so much. Makes me realize I am surrounded by very lovely people over here as well, even if my own family is far away. I am truly grateful for everyone who I talked to today, so thank you so much! I love you all very much! <3 I couldn't ask for better friends nor better supervisors. I gotta say that Kinue's little cameo today brightened up my day surprisingly much too. Really nice of her to offer me a lift when driving past, even if I couldn't accept it since I was going to the wrong campus.

Also I have to say the combined dad ambush was.... creepy. o_o

Now onward to today's song..

Day 16 - A song you used to love but now hate

No song

Ha I lied, no song today. Like before, I still think hate is too strong of a word and in my case this usually happens the other way around - I'll dislike something first but then fall in love with the song. That happens quite often actually, and the songs are ones I really end up loving a LOT later. I do that sometimes with people too... >.> Whoops.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 15

Just a song entry again, being a university student on her last semester is a bitch... :(

Though on a random side note, according to our Japanese teacher I am apparently a himo (himohimohiimohimoooo!) and Amy is a hobo. Bless her.

Day 15 - A song that describes you
Sharada by Skye Sweetnam

Once upon a time there was a girl, you wouldn't really call her typical - had her own definition of cool, she lived in her own world. There are probably quite many people who could've guessed that I'd pick this song for this day. I remember how I the very moment I heard this song the first time thought that it was so about me. I think it nicely brings out major qualities I have - such as never really being one of the crowd, always doing/planning something weird and fighting to make my dreams come true. It's fun also how you can very easily say that I've got my head up in the clouds, even though when I aim for something that I want to achieve I do make sure that it is within possible boundaries for me to reach. I think the happy drive of the song also very well depicts a certain love for life, which is something again that I do possess no matter how shit things might sometimes seem. One day she's gonna be famous! ;)

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 14

I was going to write something extra with this but.... now I don't feel like it after all. Maybe tomorrow! ;)

So onward to today's song!

Day 14 - A song no one would expect you to love
Goodbye Earl by Dixie Chicks

So this one was a really hard pick - every time I thought of some weird song that would be fun to put here I remembered that there was this person and that person who knew I liked it. Usually it was just one person too, but even then I felt I could not put that song there! So in the end I decided to go with Dixie Chicks, mainly because I don't think anyone actually knew I liked their songs. Not that I've heard much of them, pretty much just the album(s) my mom has, since when we lived in the States we had a CD rota going on in the car when she drove me to and from school that consisted of Pave Maijanen, J. Karjalainen, Dixie Chicks and a fourth one I can't remember now. I don't think I ever told her, but I did hugely enjoy everything we listened to together back then - especially this fun song, Goodbye Earl. So yes, I did not choose this song because it was a shocking pick for someone like me, just because there was no one I ever told that I liked it.

Daisy×Daisyの１０歳平和同盟普及計画！ + 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 13

So thanks to my trusty stalking site... I mean.... Twitter, I noticed Nico Nico was streaming some program with Nana's little sister, Mika, in it today. I figured I'd give it a watch since I thought it was a good opportunity to become more familiar with Mika and see what sort of person she is. :) Ha, boy that program was some crazy shit - I had a hilarious time. She had a lot of similar cute mannerisms as Nana, but at the same time she was definitely her own person. She even had this one silly laugh that I do too! Yay, I am one step closer to the Kondou family! O_o *waves flag around* Ehum but yes, she and this guy (I assume he might have been from the Daisy x Daisy band?) had a drawing competition and sang a couple of songs, of which the first one was sadly affected by echo.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 12

Well I'm going to be boring with this one. Sorry.

Day 12 - A song by a band you hate

So yeah, I can't think of any band I hate... Sure there are ones I dislike but I don't think there's any I outright hate. Hate is such a strong word and I tend to avoid using it. So yeah, no song today. Booyah.

Here, have hamsters peeing instead:

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 11

So I'm running a bit behind, whoops. I can only say in my defense that university is seriously sucking the life out of me lately so I really have no energy or time to do anything extra. Sigh.

But anyway, here is the next song..

Day 11 - A song from your favorite band
Dreaming Wide Awake by Poets of the Fall

So, I can't say I had any particular reason to choose this specific song - I really love all of Poets of the Fall's songs and I just picked the first song that caught my eye on my iTunes. I love Poets of the  Fall as I think they're one of the only bands who actually have a lot of things to say in their songs. Their lyrics are very carefully woven into a net of gracefulness and cleverness that it is a huge pleasure to listen to them again and again, especially for me as I love to play with words myself as well. Their songs also really make you think about stuff and life in general. Very deep. Also they are quite consistent in  their quality - I have yet to encounter a Poets of the Fall album I do not love. :)

And I actually have an idea concerning this song but I am not sure if it's any good haha. That'll remain to be seen.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 10

Ah a very fitting song challenge considering how tired I am now.... So without further ado I shall get to it!

Day 10 - A song that makes you fall asleep
Someday the Dream Will End by Nobuo Uematsu

Not a very cheerful song, but I remember already thinking when I came across this song while playing Final Fantasy X a long time ago that it had a sort of drowsy "heavy weight on your shoulders" -sort of feel to it. Not really that surprising considering how the name of the song is Someday the Dream Will End - it really fits the theme perfectly. I can't say for sure I've ever actually fallen asleep while listening to this song, I do have a hunch that it has very likely happened, but what I am certain of is that if I did listen to this while lying in bed I wouldn't take too long to fall asleep. At the end of the day though, I would fall asleep while listening to any song thanks to my incredible "out like a light in a matter of minutes" -skillz. Oh and btw,  just to be perfectly clear, I wouldn't fall asleep every damn time I listen to this song, I'd need to be tired for that... That'd be kinda bad wouldn't it if that was indeed the case? I mean, I could be walking to uni and this song would come up on my iPod and boom I fall face first on the pavement and start snoozing. O_o

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 09 + End of Challenge

Alright so finally, it is time to reveal the right answer to the challenge I set [here in Day 07]. The scene that was being depicted by our conversation is referring to Nana's Justice to Believe music video. The fun starts at around  2:34, enjoy! Also, my apologies - I could only find the actual music video with Indonesian subs...

Nana's Charity Program + 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 08

Nana <3

Holy hell, I am stunned - Nana's charity program was just simply amazing. I was expecting the heart-felt 7月7日, since that is one of the usual songs Nana sings accompanied by her harpist friend, Mika, but Innocent Starter and SUPER GENERATION were a surprise and were so very damn beautiful! The program started with Nana offering her condolences to the victims of the disaster and you could really see how sad she was. During her songs you could sense how much she cared and hell I was so touched that I might've even cried if stupid things didn't keep interrupting my lovely experience. Grrr. Anyway - Nana you are so pretty! (*゜Д゜*) I'm glad she ended with a happy song like SUPER GENERATION, as otherwise she probably would've cried herself. At the end of it all she didn't even give us an ending speech, but instead just whispered a very very sincere "Arigatou" which totally blew me away.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 07

DAY SEVEN! HOW I'VE WAITED FOR YOU! :D

And I finally have the energy to write something extra as well, hallelujah. So know my good fellows, I shall present you with a challenge. Anyone who knows what is being depicted by  the following conversation gets kudos (and maybe a cookie). Aaron is not allowed to participate as he is also part of the conversation.

R: :O

A: *gets shot*

R: *puts mask on your face*

A: *turns all evil and shit*

R: *gets angry and battles you*

A: *mask falls off dramatically*

R: *is shocked by unexpected plot twist and defends herself with the gun she got as a gift from you*

A: *waits to get shot*

R: *points trembling gun at you and gets the resolve to press trigger*

A: *falls in a stupidly overacted manner*

R: *places trampled rose on your chest and majestically walks away*

End of story. Any guesses? ;)

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 06

Again just a song post, wanted to write more but my time seems to slip away somewhere...

Day 06 - A song that reminds me of somewhere
Real Emotion by Koda Kumi

I chose this song as it reminds me of my trip to California to visit my dad in 2003. I was really obsessed with Koda Kumi's two songs that show up in Final Fantasy X-2 and also the soundtrack for Final Fantasy X at the time. I mean, we literally listened to her two songs + the short 13 song soundtrack of Final Fantasy X I had back then (now I have the full one of course) the whole way from where he lived to Los Angeles. It was a really nice trip and I enjoyed every moment of it. Definitely brought me and dad closer. It's fun how even now, whenever he hears this song, he will say "347 miles to Los Angeles!" since it was playing while we passed a sign saying that when we were driving there. It's a nice fun little inside joke thing I have with him that has stayed with us all these years. :)

Click to see bigger!

On a random side note, this was the first Japanese song I ever loved.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 05

So some curious things happened today that I just must mention here before I go on with my song thing.

1. We were at seminar minding our own business when our lecturer's woman, who also works on the module, randomly came up to me and started talking about Japan. She said that when she heard about the situation she immediately thought of me and was very worried about me. She asked if I had family in Japan and I told her I didn't but that I do have friends there and then we talked about how terrible the situation is and she kept repeating how she had been so worried about me and was relieved now. Quite odd I think, I couldn't even remember telling her about my Japan plans at first, but after thinking about it I came to the conclusion that I must've mentioned them last semester when she came around asking about our future aspirations during 3D Modelling. I wonder if she even knows my name though...
2. When I was walking out of uni with Aaron and we were crossing the road, these two high school girls walked past us and one of them really happily said "HI!" to me. Eehh?! There is absolutely no way I could possibly know a high schooler, apart from perhaps my Japanese teacher's kids but they look Japanese not British! I think I mumbled a "hi" back in the midst of my confusion... but very very odd yet again.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 04

So I'm a bit late with this one, my apologies. I blame an awesome evening for this. ;) 

Day 04 - A song that makes you sad

Nobody's Home by Avril Lavigne

Embedding is not allowed on like any of the videos of this on YouTube so [click here to listen to it].

Alright, I have to say that there are many songs that make me sad because the atmospheres in songs really affect me very much. I was very tempted to put Hime Murasaki by Mizuki Nana as it is probably the most touching song I've listened to lately, but since my last entry was a song by her already I decided not to use it. Instead, I decided to use the first song that really awakened sad feelings in me whenever I listened to it. That was purely because my life wasn't very fun when Nobody's Home came out and I could see myself in the lyrics very well. Though just to be clear, I did not feel I was alone at home - my family's always been very amazing, but back then I really didn't talk to anyone about how I felt. My home was actually my only safe haven and I was very much alone elsewhere. So yeah, this song reminds me of that time and that's a shame, because I do like this song a lot but at the same time I really don't want to remember what I went through.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 03

Again too tired to do more than a song entry, but bear with me and my exhaustion... :3

Didn't want to put any of the songs I already had on my happy songs list, so.. Ta-dah:

Day 03 - A song that makes you happy
Mr. Bunny! by Mizuki Nana

Oh god this song is just so wonderful. I only added it to my Nana playlist a short while ago, but I've grown to love it a lot. The song is so happy that it just really makes you feel happy as well, no matter what. That effect is boosted by the fact that every time I hear this I also see Nana's smiling face (I mean, look at that [adorable face] - how could it not make you happy?!) while singing and performing this song in my mind. The lyrics are really upbeat as well, as far as I can tell (I always seem to be saying this phrase), and seem to tell you to keep going with the smile someone important to you gave you no matter what happens. The English bits in the lyrics just really make me smile as they're so cute, like Nana English always is. So every days, every smile. <3 Couldn't make it through the bad times without you Nana. :)

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 02

So yeah, just the song challenge thing today. I'll hopefully write about my thoughts on Nana's new songs UNBREAKABLE and POP MASTER soon. :)

So anyways, does least favorite song mean a song that is your favorite but not as much as some other songs or a song you just purely dislike? What a confusing way to state the matter...

Day 02 - Least favorite song
She Wolf by Shakira

So, I chose this song because I really used to like Shakira. I mean, she clearly had her own style and it fit her so well. This song really crashed down all the reasons why I admired her so - Shakira suddenly became just another main stream singer with this song, or so I felt and I have to say seeing the video now just makes me think so even more. The energy and drive her songs used to have was gone and it was just like anything else you hear on the radio. Not to mention, it disappointed me even more for the fact that I was expecting something grand from a song that had wolf in the title... So yeah, I really don't like this song - it marks the moment that my opinion on Shakira changed and I doubt I can ever like her the way I used to again. :/ Don't get me wrong, I still do love all her songs that I used to love before as well, but I just doubt she will win me over again with any new material she dishes out.

30 Day Song Challenge: Day 01 + List Updates

Okay so, I just had to update some of the Top 10 lists I've done before, as them not being up to date really bugged me and gnawed my insides. The lists that got updated and the new additions are as follows:

• Mr. Bunny! added to Top 10 Mizuki Nana Choreographs
• Darker than BLACK: Shikkoku no Hana added to Top 10 Manga
• SCARLET KNIGHT and Hime Murasaki added to Top 10 Mizuki Nana songs

 Take a Shot, Love Hina, ミュステリオン and BRAVE PHOENIX / Don't be long were dropped.


And now to the song challenge!

Day 1 - Favorite Song
Goodbye Happiness by Utada Hikaru

This song hasn't been with me for very long, as it was only released last November - but even so I've already sold my soul to it. Already the preview clip I listened to before the actual release date told me that this would be one of the most beautiful songs that I'll ever hear in my life. It creates a very balanced mix of happiness and sadness, and at the end of the day those two things are what life is about. The melody is very soulful and man, Hikki's singing brings across all the emotion so well that it really amazes me every time I listen to it. And this song, like quite many of Hikki's songs to be honest, really makes me think about my life and what is truly important. I know that this is probably at least the 4th time I'm talking about this song in my blog, but what can I do - it is so amazing. Hikki will always be my #1.

The new single SCARLET KNIGHT

I know I already went on about this on Facebook, but I don't care! I'm going to go on about it here too - it's so awesome. I tend to be very skeptical towards new songs of the artists I like, as quite many of them have let me down, like for example, I used to like the unique style of Shakira and Avril Lavigne a lot, but the way they've been going with their latest albums they've just basically invaded the main stream which really doesn't do it for me at all. Bleh is all I have to say!

But yesh one of Nana's new singles was aired on the smile-gang the other night, and thankfully the radio rip of it can be found on YouTube, hallelujah! I have been saved from an agonizing few weeks (still agonizing, but not as much as it could've been).  Nana, just like Hikki with her batch of new songs in her Single Collection Vol. 2 earlier, has succeeded in impressing me. SCARLET KNIGHT is a very unique and powerful song that just screams Nana from start to finish. Needless to say, I am quite in love. Sadly my Japanese is not proficient enough to make out the whole song yet, but judging from the parts I do understand it seems like a very fitting song to be released at this time. I am sure it getting to hear this song has helped and brought hope to her fans across Japan. They definitely need something wonderful at a time like this, and Nana delivered for sure.

A Candle for Japan.

Well I just felt like I needed to write an entry about Japan.

It's been ripping me apart reading about everything that's been happening there the past couple of days and I've been greatly saddened by the fact that there is nothing I can do to help. It really leaves you feeling so hopeless when you realize how powerless you are against natural phenomena. I've been thinking about it a lot today and wanted to say that even though I cannot go there and help with the rescues and such, there is one thing I can do - and that is to show that I care, that I really do care. I'm going to look into how I could donate something from my limited student budget tomorrow. I think I saw a link for that on Twitter earlier today.

My whole heart and all my prayers go to Japan.

And I also have to say that everyone who says something as stupid as "serves them right for Pearl Harbor" is a retard. Seriously.

Kore wa boku desu.

Thought I'd do something fun and this idea of dividing my personality up by using five anime characters popped into my head. Figured it might be an interesting way to tell more about myself and you might learn something you didn't know before. :)

Top 10 Seiyuu

This week's list is a bit special, as I decided to do it in picture format inspired by the seiyuu memes I saw on Deviant Art. Enjoy~! I hope I remembered everything correctly. :D

Top 10 Seiyuu

Okay so, since most of the list consists of duplicates, I figured it'd be good if I also listed ALL the animes I've seen these seiyuu in, just to prove that I did have many roles to choose from! I didn't include all OVAs and specials, but included some - just so you are aware. :'D

The Place of Happiness.

I figured my crazy day with the Japanese deserved an entry, so here it is.

My Japanese teacher, Kinue, asked me to show her nephew around town when he came to visit, so I agreed as having a variety of activities to do does really good for me and the state of mind I've been in lately. So, on that day I was waiting for them in town and when they arrived, Kinue just pushed her nephew towards me and said "He doesn't speak much English, gomenasai, I'm going shopping" then left. Haha, bless her.

He says: I'm sorry, my English is not very good...

My thoughts: OMG, someone who speaks English like Nana! KAWAII!

Top 10 Mizuki Nana Choreographs *updated 20/03/2011*

Well since my friend Amy is working on her Nana song list, I wanted to do something similar to that again too! Plus, I need to think of fun Nana things after this anime we just watched, Natsuiro no Sunadokei, which didn't give her or itself any credit - a true shame, as the synopsis sounded quite promising. So yes, that's when I came up with this splendid idea and my eyes began to twinkle....

Now, onward to the list of the week!

The Anniversary of the Best Day of My Life

So a couple of hours ago it had been exactly a year since a very happy girl wobbled out of the O2 Academy in London drunk from the captivating presence of one Utada Hikaru. It was a magical night the girl would  cherish in her heart and never forget.

Yes, that girl was me.

Top 10 Manga *updated 17/04/2011*

I was gonna start this with something that reflects my current state of mind, but meh..that's no fun, so...

Well time for this week's list! Continuing on a similar theme as last week, it is now time to list my favorite manga. A very hard top 10 to make yet again, as even today I switched two series in my top 5... whoops. Oh yeah, and I won't add duplicates with my anime list, which means that if the series was on my anime list it will not be on this list even if the manga is really amazing too, like for example, Neon Genesis Evangelion. Except, I do have to include BECK in both. Can't be helped. :x Oh yeah, and I was actually tempted to put Naruto here (quite unbelievable coming from me, I know), but since it doesn't have a definite end (yet), I did not. Very good manga though I have to say.

Top 10 Books *updated 2011/09/12*

OMFG why is that circle there?!

So, I've gotten quite hooked on Osu! even though I remember thinking that the game seemed rather boring when one of my friends first told me about it ages ago. Well, that was before I realized it was the closest thing to a Nana game that I could play currently. :P Funnily enough I get better results on higher difficulties than lower ones, probably because they go more on beat than the easier ones. Also, I get my best scores on Final Fantasy X songs - listening to them non-stop when I was 14 has burned them to my brain I guess. :')

(￣▽￣)ノ＿彡☆バンバン！!

So today I was feeling surprisingly happy. Not that I've felt particularly unhappy the past few days, just quite bleh and unmotivated, since I've been feeling like I need a break from studying right now and instead of plowing through one more semester. x_x;

Today however, quoting Nana - sunshine again, sunshine again. There were many factors that probably played a part in this, such as 1) me finally going to bed early enough to get a good night's sleep, 2) my awesome package of awesomeness arrived yesterday, 3) multimedia scripting was revealed to be flash, not lingo (!) 4) Nana as psycho boy has distracted me from the sorrow of Basilisk (lol) and 5) I know tomorrow will be epic. 

Well anyways, I got a lot of stuff done today which I am quite happy about and I think I found a spark of motivation from somewhere, oh my! So hopefully I will be able to work hard this semester and graduate with pride. :) Looking forward to a fun spring with you people here and everyone else too whom I talk with!

In other news, I think I might have some sort of dust allergy going on. I've been sneezing and having a stuffy nose for the last couple of days without any sign of a flu and it's really annoying me. I hope the fact that I hoovered today will help...

Oh and, I misread retail premises as retail penises today. That is all.

And last but not least, this is what I looked like today:

(and I meant Hoshi of course)

Basilisk: Kouga Ninpou Chou

Well I wasn't going to write a review about an anime series (just movies) in this blog, but I can't help it - I really want to write about Basilisk. I know you're probably as shocked as Oboro-dono about this, but bear with me! Now without further ado, I shall begin. :)

Basilisk: Kouga Ninpou Chou

First off I would like to give a word of warning - if you want something with a happy ending don't watch this. Basilisk is very sad. Excellent, but sad.

Top 10 Mizuki Nana songs - Happy birthday Nana-chan! *updated 2011/09/12*

Well like I said, I would be making two lists this week, so here's the second one! Yet again something I talked about with Chris last week.  This list was just as hard to make as the Hikki one and even throughout the thinking process I changed my mind a thousand times. I'll probably change my mind again the moment I post this, but oh well, I shall live with it. Anyways, I wanted to pay tribute to the lovely Nana-chan on her birthday as well, as she inspires me to work hard in pursuing my dreams. Nana's always lived with the attitude that the future is bright - even when her agency went bankrupt, her dad was quite ill and the bad economy situation caused her family to nearly have no money for food, she kept believing in her dream and never gave up. Finally after all the hardships, her hard work paid off and she got to do what she wanted to do and got to be who she wanted to be. That determination and strength is something I admire and respect very much and knowing how she fought her way up from the very bottom really inspires me not to ever give up on my dreams or what I hold dear. Nothing is impossible. <3 I have to say it was probably thanks to her that I found the determination to go back to the UK to finish my degree with my head held high after last summer, as I really did not want to go. LoL these entries are making me sound really emo..

Top 10 Utada Hikaru songs - Happy Birthday Hikki!

So, since I talked about this with Chris last week and since it is also Hikki's birthday, here is a Hikki list finally. ;) Also I have to say, that I will exceptionally make two lists this week, as on Friday is another special day ^__^ ho ho hoo. I have to say this was a very difficult list to make, as I really love all of Hikki's songs and they all mean so much to me. So, chances are that if I did this list every week it would slightly change each time depending on what was "in" with me at the time. Anyways, I felt that I should pay tribute to the lovely Hikki's birthday somehow, as she was the one who helped me get over the biggest slump of my life the beginning of last year, which I probably would not have recovered from if it had not been for her. So a very big thank you to Hikki and without further ado, it's list time!

Why have I decided on a career with computers?!

So now that I've gotten the assignments out of the way and recovered from the stress to some extent, I can finally rant about all the extra trouble I was put through thanks to the lovely thing called computer. It all began with the issue of Blu-ray region codes that I discussed [here] before. That was only the tip of the ice berg though...

I tried to get a move on with the coding side of my 3D Modelling assignment, but after compiling the codes Unreal Editor kept crashing every time I tried to open it. Not good. I did the usual trick to solving this problem, but still nothing. I nearly gave up when I noticed a curious fact - the code program did not seem to actually compile at all. After pressing compile nothing happened. I had no idea why it happened so I uninstalled and installed the program again and then installed some patch for it and still nada. The whole time I had this gut feeling that it had something to do with me having Windows 7. Good thing I got some help from a friend and was able to solve the problem by giving admin rights to the .exe file, as indeed, it was a Windows 7 caused problem. Someone could have warned me about this before hand. >:(

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Well since I did not grace Suzumiya Haruhi with a spot on my top 10 anime list and also raged about The Endless Eight, I shall now make amends by doing a post about the new Haruhi movie, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. This was yet again something I had been waiting for forever, pretty much since last spring and I can tell you that there were times when it was really difficult. Damn things take too long to get released on Blu-ray/DVD! Well, at least Haruhi had the decency to apologize:

That's Haruhi for you, always considerate of others. :')

So yeah, onwards to the movie! *drumroll and fanfare and what not*!

Top 10 Animes

Suggestion week again and this time it is Aaron's suggestion's turn. :P Also like I keep saying, gimme more suggestions! Oh and just so you know, I did not add animes that are just one movie on here, I will probably do an anime movies list later.

Nana teaches: How to break up.

Here is some more of my awesome logic for you Chris. >:D 

Nana's guide on how to break up with someone

Elvis knows talent when he sees it!

I think my dog Elvis likes Nana too or then he can somehow smell through the computer screen that she has a chihuahua too. :o A few days ago before starting to write code in the morning, I decided to watch a couple of songs from Nana Mizuki Live Games x Academy -Blue- to get me in a good mood. The moment I put the Blu-ray in my laptop, Elvis, who had been peacefully sleeping on my little sofa, had sat up completely erect and stared at me intently. I took him on my lap and he slumped down instantly with his head on top of my right arm, facing the screen of my laptop. The two songs I picked also had dance routines, and every time Nana would change the pitch of her voice or do an interesting move Elvis would raise his head and stare. Once I took the Blu-ray out he left. Haha he is definitely MY dog! He seems to like Hikki as well as we watched her concert together during the summer holidays. It is indeed nice to know that the man of my life approves of the women in my life! ;)

Rock on my little Elvis!

Top 10 Songs That Make Me Happy

So yeah, that pic pretty much sums up this week's list topic. I was going to do a completely different topic, but considering the emoness that has been caused by overwhelming assignments (mainly talking about Java here) this topic seemed more appropriate. I was actually even going to write something else than a list today as well, but hell it's been a week from the last one and I won't break my vow to do one each week again! So now to what I am actually going to do. This list is of the songs that make me feel happy (even if it is only for the duration of the song) no matter how I am feeling otherwise. I also have to say that I had to make an additional rule, namely that I am not allowed to add more than three songs from Hikki and Nana each, since otherwise the list would be just full of their songs and I am not supposed to be making a Hikki+Nana list this week. Perhaps another week. ;)