Author Archives: DarkMirage

Maaya Sakamoto 15th Anniversary Concert

The cherry blossoms bloomed early this spring, just as it did thirty years ago on Maaya Sakamoto‘s birthday. The date was 31st March and the venue was Budoukan. I stood in line at the entrance of Kitanomaru Park along with … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | 25 Comments

Summer Wars

Summar Wars is director Mamoru Hosoda‘s second feature film (that counts) since the unexpectedly successful Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, which rose from obscurity by word of mouth. Summer Wars is the second child in the family, the one who has … Continue reading

Posted in Anime, Reviews | Tagged , , | 23 Comments

A Tribute to Anonymous

Tomorrow, 6th of January 2010, is YouTube Porn Day. Yes, 4chan’s Anonymous has once again declared war on YouTube as a reaction against perceived injustice in YouTube’s ban policies. YouTube junkies can look forward to stumbling upon some titillating surprises … Continue reading

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Avatar

Up until recently, I had been under the impression that industry giant James Cameron was reduced to making a movie adaptation of this. This misconception was finally shattered when I saw the trailer for Avatar and it piqued my interest. … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

EOY Cosplay 2009

I missed the EOY (End Of Year) cosplay event last year as I was in Japan for a month. Little did I know that it was to be the last EOY ever, as the organizers had run out of people … Continue reading

Posted in Otaku | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Anime Festival Asia 2009

I just woke up with a throbbing headache. I feel like I’ve spent the past two days walking. Of course, this comes nowhere close to the time when I queued overnight in the winter rain for Comiket 73 and fell … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Otaku | Tagged , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Animation Asia Conference 2009

Animation Asia Conference 2009 (AAC) is an industry event held in tandem with Anime Festival Asia this year, acting as a sort of pre-event for the commercial participants for AFA to share their experiences and exchange name cards. Having been … Continue reading

Posted in Anime, Otaku | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Why I did not accept my PSC Scholarship offer

This is one of those rare posts I make about my personal life so that one day I may look back at this blog and realize that I was once a young and naive idealist. It is the cumulation of … Continue reading

Posted in Blog, Rant | Tagged , , , | 66 Comments

Turn A Gundam

OMG it’s three dee I find it infinitely difficult to quantify Turn A Gundam (∀ Gundam) as a narrative. After watching it on and off over the course of a few years, I finally finished all fifty episodes this week. … Continue reading

Posted in Anime, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Anime Festivial Asia 09 – Preview

So all the cards are finally on the proverbial table. In addition to whatever was announced during the first press conference, the final details for Anime Festival Asia 09 was released this Wednesday (or last Wednesday depending on your preferred … Continue reading

Posted in Otaku | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Animation Nation 2009

My last post turned out a lot heavier than I intended. Rest assure that while it is probably not an isolated incident, it will be some time before I recharge my energy enough to churn out a similar piece. So … Continue reading

Posted in Anime | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Dreams are not for Asia

There’s a pretty good essay on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong‘s call for young Singaporeans to “dare to dream” over at The Online Citizen. The gist of it is that this statement is highly ironic when interpreted against the realities … Continue reading

Posted in Rant, World | Tagged , , , , , | 59 Comments