Guns don’t kill people, people kill people

Posted on April 17, 2007 by DarkMirage

But guns certainly make it easier.

Like most people living Asia, I woke up to the morning news and the first RSS feed I read was on the Virginia Tech shooting, the worst of its kind in American history. I think it’s about time some people get it through their thick skulls that private ownership of guns is a stupid thing. I am disturbed that any emotionally unstable teen can pick up a gun from his father’s locker and kill. I am disgusted that Republican politicians like Mitt Romney have to suck up to the NRA to please the conservative voters. I think the Second Amendment is a good idea badly conveyed and horribly misinterpreted.

Read on for why.

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Posted in Rant, World | Tagged , , , | 89 Comments

Korean music video rips off FF7:AC

Posted on April 11, 2007 by DarkMirage

Anyway, Korean pop artiste Ivy recently had a music video “Temptation of Sonata” banned from TV because it ripped off recreated a scene from Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children without Square’s consent. Here’s a comparison made by some bored person:

You can also view the original music video here.

It’s actually a pretty cool live action recreation. Too bad the music is terrible. Beethoven is spinning in his grave. Those crazy Koreans.

[ Via Japan Probe ]

P.S. Okay, so it appears that I’ve been posting nothing but YouTube videos recently. It’s purely coincidental. Really.

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | 31 Comments

2ch’ers do Hare Hare Yukai in Akiba

Posted on April 10, 2007 by DarkMirage

A bunch of 2ch’ers made offline to dance Hare Hare Yukai in the middle of the main road at Akihabara on Sunday. In case you are concerned, the main road is close to traffic on Sundays so no otaku was harmed in the making of the following YouTube videos…

First performance:

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Posted in Anime, Otaku | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

The Making of Gunpla

Posted on April 9, 2007 by DarkMirage

Here’s a pretty interesting video of a Bandai plastic model design factory in Shizuoka prefecture, which by the way is just south west of Yokohama (capital of Kanagawa prefecture) and I know that because I just had a test on Japanese prefectures in school today. LOL.

Interestingly, according to the video there are a lot of plastic model factories located in Shizuoka because the Tokugawa shogunate gathered woodworkers there from all over the country to build and maintain shrines and created a woodwork industry there. When plastic modeling first began, the design prototypes were carved from wood and the companies naturally looked for the best people in the field. I’m sure their shrine-building ancestors would be proud of them for their great contributions to otakuism.

Of course with 3D prototyping machines and precision laser cutters these days, 3D Studio Max is probably a more relevant skill than wood-carving.

I love how their work uniforms are designed based on Gundam military uniforms. LOL. It’s so geeky that it’s cool.

[ Via Japan Probe ]

Posted in Otaku | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Nanoha StrikerS — the S is for Sucks

Posted on April 7, 2007 by DarkMirage

It seems like the entire world is against me on this, but I hate Nanoha. The entire series is generic and uninspired. The story is cliched and predictable. The characters are flat (in more than one way) and uninteresting.

Nanoha StrikerS

I thought that maybe it’s because I am not a lolicon. Maybe it would be better if the girls were older. Nanoha StrikerS sounded like a pretty good idea. But apparently, I was wrong. It’s just as boring as ever. Let me summarize the first episode the way I saw it…

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Posted in Anime, Rant | Tagged , | 96 Comments

Happy Birthday Maaya!

Posted on March 31, 2007 by DarkMirage

Phew, I made it! Today, 31st March (ending in Japan in another 30 10 minutes), is Maaya Sakamoto‘s birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! お誕生日おめでとう！ Yay!

Maaya Sakamoto

For the uninitiated, Maaya is the talented singer whose songs are featured in Escaflowne (she also voiced Hitomi), RahXephon and Wolf’s Rain. She also happens to be my most favourite-st artiste ever. (I own almost every CD ever released under her name.)

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Posted in Music | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Kyon’s Death Note

Posted on March 27, 2007 by DarkMirage

What if Kyon gets the Death Note and Yuki is L? Who will die first? My bet is on Taniguchi. Pretty cool MAD video. XD

[ Source: おもしろまにあっくす via Japanator ]

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

School Days 2007 Update

Posted on March 26, 2007 by DarkMirage

School Days

Here’s an update to the announcement for the upcoming anime adaptation of School Days. While it is not stated on the image, it appears, judging the from lighting and layout, to have been taken during the Tokyo Anime Fair 2007 which just ended on Sunday.

The series will start airing in July on Chiba TV and will contain a total of 13 episodes.

Director: Keitarou Motonagake (Yumeria, To Heart: RMM, GetBackers, Amaenaideyo!!)

Series Composition / Script: Makoto Uezu (Utawarerumono, Ah! My Goddess S2, Amaenaideyo!! S2)

Character Design / Overall Art Director: Junji Gotou (original character designer for School Days)

Animation Production: TNK (Kyoushirou to Towa no Sora)

Production: Marvellous Entertainment Inc.

Nothing unexpected, though I can’t say that the staff list so far instills much confidence. Well, I guess it will probably be fine if they remain faithful to the game…

TVシリーズは全13話構成で、原作のどれかのエンディングを再現するのか、アニメオリジナルになるのかは不明だけど、何らかのバッドエンドになるのは確定だそうで。

According to the above line from Moon Phase Zakki, it is still not confirmed whether the ending will follow one of the paths from the game or a original anime path. But apparently, it will be a bad ending. (WTF? I hope it’s just rumours.)

[ Source: ASCII.jp via Moon Phase Zakki ]

Posted in Anime, Games | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

Code Geass 22 and the path to hell

Posted on March 25, 2007 by DarkMirage

I think most of you should have watched the subs for episode 22 of Code Geass by now. If not, go watch it now! It will totally blow your mind apart. (Something that CLAMP stories never hope to achieve, so we can all thank Sunrise for that.)

Code Geass

Spoilers and thoughts after the break.

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Posted in Anime | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments

E2046 Gathering

Posted on March 20, 2007 by DarkMirage

Rei

E2046 has added a few awesome entries to their Gathering series of pre-painted resin recasts. (In case I haven’t repeated it enough times, their Haruhi recast rocks!) It seems that the Gathering series must be selling really well because they just keep coming.

Gathering

Some of the new items up for preorder include:

They are also bringing back Haruhi Bunny, this time with the ears painted all black and a checker base that was used in the special red version.

Kan’u looks pretty hawt in that pose.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of updates. I’m busy with something right now. Real-life is tough.

Posted in Figures | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments