One Piece theme park ATTRACTION

news from ANN:

it's not like previous One Piece exhibits in theme parks.

but REALLY a One Piece theme park attraction that will be hosted by Laguna Gamori marine resort complex!

so if you're in Japan during Spring (20Mar-27Jun 2010), don't forget to go down to Gamori City in Aichi.

OMG.

i'm so sad i'm only going in Nov.

DAMMIT!

*sighs*

do you think they'll extend the attraction to Nov?

exciting upcoming episodes

in One Piece,
- Luffy is facing Magellan in the next episode (#435).
- THE Okama Queen will be revealed soon.
- Ace's pending execution! also soon.
- Whitebeard VS World Government!

in Reborn,
- Choice game starts!
- Vongola family in suits. most of the time.
- more Hibari.
- more Hayato.
- more Mukuro.

in Cross Game,
- Seishuu starts its summer baseball tournament.
- Kou and Akane are advancing.
- Aoba and Azuma are advancing. (?)

in Bleach, not that it is particularly exciting but,
- the current filler arc is finally ending. YAY!
- we have another couple of smaller filler arcs before going back to the main Hueco Mundo arc. YAY!!

Winter 2009

thought i'll do it different this year and blog each new Winter series as i watch them. if not, it'll be another 2 weeks before i can get all my biased opinions up.

all biased opinions are up!

posted 19 Jan,

Dance In The Vampire Bund
a vampire princess and her werewolf protector. sounds similar to Underworld anyone? though the vampire princess definitely looks more like Kirsten Dunst from Interview with the Vampire compared to Kate Beckinsale.

at least i wouldn't need to read the manga, given that it's not following the manga story, just using the settings and characters. the first 2 episodes were good, so it's safe to say i will continue watching to the end.

Nodame Cantabile Finale
once again, i'm not happy that it is another 11-episodes season. i mean, this is the Finale, how are they gonna round everything in 11 episodes? they have at least 5-6 books of materials to cover!

they've also changed the flow of the story, as i've noticed from the Paris-hen, so i'm not very sure how they're gonna fit Chiaki's dad back into the story.

well, as long as they don't have to rush through it. seriously though, it should be a longer series.

update on Haru Toki 3:
turns out, this is only a 1-hr special!! i totally missed all the parts that said it was only a special!

the only decent news is that the DVDs that ships in March will extend the special to 1.5hr. but still, this is somewhat depressing.

i need Ryuuki Kuro-sama.

posted 12 Jan,

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu
although this has the magical aspect that usually appeals to me, i'm not very convinced by how the "summoning war system" is being carried out. each team "fight" by summoning chibi-versions of themselves, but there's really no actual fighting involved, even though they went to the extent of having battle systems in place.

once in a while, there'll be that one harem show that will interest me enough to watch. like Toradora, or Tokimeki Memorial.

this just happens to be it. at least for now.

as long as it doesn't irritates me as it progresses, i will probably follow through to the end.

Hanamaru Youchien
4-year-olds starting kindergarten with a new male teacher in tow. how they're gonna create havoc in school is basically what this show will be about.

i'm loving this for the same reason why i love Potemayo.

cos it is just too kawaii!

it's not as brainless as Potetan is, but it is definitely a more refreshing one, especially with the overload of ecchi/moe fanservice shows this season.

someday, they will have a season where it's fanservice for the ladies.

bring out all the BLs and romance dramas that wouldn't show any part of the female anatomy!!

posted 11 Jan,

Durarara!!
set in Ikebukuro with lots of urban legends and other supernatural encounters, it has a very Bakemonogatari feel to it even though it is by separate production companies. which hopefully wouldn't kill my interest in it since it looks quite promising for me to keep watching.

episode 1 was a major character-intro, so much so that i'm abit confused/overwhelmed. i'm sure future episodes will go into the characters in more details.

i'm quite happy to hear Miyano Mamoru back. and not just back, but voicing the more "genki" type of character that i prefer him in. although with this kind of genre, i wonder if he will have a different side to him halfway through the show.

posted 06 Jan,

So-Ra-No-Wo-To
a more serious version of K-ON. that's the first thought that came into my mind after episode 1. and i'm sure everyone else who've watched this will do the usual comparison between these two.

story-wise, i'm quite happy with the pace. but then again, i'm also more used to these slice-of-life dramas than anybody else i know.

i'm also starting to love trumpets more than the usual piano/violin/guitar that appears frequently in most music-based anime. especially after watching the Macross F Galaxy Tour where they had 2 fantastic trumpeters who totally stole the concert right under the divas' (Megumi and May'n) noses.

so yes, i think i'm gonna enjoy this show quite well.

posted 05 Jan,

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3: Owari Naki Unmei
final anime to come out of the whole franchise. looks to be a direct sequel of some sort to the special from 2007 (HaruToki: Kurenai no Tsuki).

episode 1 was one-hour long instead of the usual 20min, which totally threw me off since i kept thinking it was gonna be a series. after checking again, found out it is actually a TV special. not sure how many episodes it will be, neither when the next episode will be out.

it's not just me. the boys are really getting cuter.

or maybe because it's been ages since i last saw them. in any case, i'm still swooning all over the place.

the other good thing is that they tend to bring back all the seiyuus for HaruToki, so many of my favorites are back together again.

No.1 pulling factor: Seki Tomokazu as Minamoto no Kurou Yoshitsune. seriously, i'm getting addicted to him voicing nobles/kings. and it's not just due to my SaiMon withdrawal. fine, it has everything to do with my SaiMon withdrawal. RYUUKI!!!

Haiti Earthquake

a friend of mine was asking around the office today about pooling donations for the Haiti earthquake.

i'm rather ashamed to say that though i've prayed (during last saturday's YF program) for the earthquake victims, i've not taken the more practical step and help by giving monetary aid.

there's tons of NGOs who are collecting donations through their websites. i've listed a few of them at the sidebar of the blog.

i've just taken that step.

what about you?

MAYDAY @ Padang

latest news from a friend of mine,

Mayday (五月天) is having their encore and their Singapore's first outdoor concert, DNA創造演唱會, at the Padang!!!

it's supposed to be a similar experience to their Kaohsiung concert in Taiwan.

we're finally gonna get a taste of how their outdoor concert will be.

so exciting!!!!

keep your 17th April 2010 free for the fantastic experience!!

P.S. for those that might have already bought the S.H.E. concert tickets for the same day at indoor stadium, maybe it's time to get a refund. (that's you, ah gu.) mwahahahahaha.

Hetalia Ep 50

Episode 50: enlightenment and civilization of Japan Part 2

Kaze wo Sagashite PV

couldn't resist putting this up.

KAWAI!!

lots of straw hats, Jolly Rogers, and they tried dressing the backup singers/dancers as the crew characters. (you can see Brooke's afro-head and Zoro's swords on two of the guys.)

the single is due to be released this wednesday, 13 Jan.

gr8 story by SuG

one heck of a fantastic ED for Reborn.

black suits really do bring out the awesomeness of it all.

like what it did for the One Piece Strong World film.

and we have to remind ourselves this is probably the one manga that started the black suit craze.

can't wait to see what's gonna happen when they go into the Choice game proper.

in the meantime, i'm enjoying the ED.

Kimi ni Todoke Film

latest news from ANN is that a live-action film adaptation has been green-lit for Kimi ni Todoke!

i’m excited. but i’m also worried about who is gonna play the characters, especially our two main leads.

so i hope they do a good job. much like how the Lovely Complex movie was.

Hetalia Ep 49

Episode 49: enlightenment and civilization of Japan

Happy New Year minna-san.

hope everyone had a good start to 2010.