Song titles that don’t make half sense

Girl drumming

I’m sure you have encountered plenty of song titles that sound cool at first but don’t seem to make much sense when you think about them.

I’m not talking about Engrish titles (e.g. “Can you feel crying alone?” by tiaraway) because you can still make out the general meaning of the title, I am instead referring to songs like “JUST COMMUNICATION” by TWO-MIX. Just what exactly is it trying to say? It certainly is a blast trying to figure out what the person was thinking when he/she penned the title.

Let’s take a look at some of titles that have been bugging me since forever…

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New Evangelion movie project announced

Yet another one from Moon Phase Zakki:

[アニメ]「新世紀エヴァンゲリオン 新劇場版」前編、中編、後編、最終話の4部作にて製作決定。

以前のタレコミ情報では、TVシリーズの総集編3部+完全新作の全4部作という話だったけど、4部全てが新作という位置付けらしい。続編でもリメイクでもないとか。タレコミ情報を頂いた時は、正直まゆつば情報だと思ってたんだけど、本当に4部作で再映画化だったとは。

Un-moon-ed:

“New Evangelion Theatrical Version” will be a 4-part project.

According to previous leaks, it was thought that the new project consisted of 3 summary movies of the TV series and 1 new movie, but now it turns out that all 4 movies will be new productions. Also, the movies are neither sequels nor remakes. We had previously thought that those leaks were faked, but apparently there really are going to be 4 new movies…

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Posted in Anime | Tagged , , , , | 29 Comments

New Shuffle! anime this Winter!

Shuffle!

Fresh off the press! From Moon Phase Zakki:

ニュータイプ10月号早売り情報。

WOWOWのディレクターズカット版、総集編仕立て+完全新作?「SHUFFLE!MEMORIES」が今冬放送とか。

De-moon-ified:

News from early copies of Newtype October.
WOWOW’s director’s cut version, summary episode + a completely new work? “Shuffle! Memories” airing this winter.

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Posted in Anime | Tagged , , , | 23 Comments

Aya Hirano can’t sing

That’s the truth and you know it.

Well she certainly sings better than me, but so does most of the entire population of this planet! I will be lying if I say that I don’t like “God knows…”, but I think Aya’s over-hyped popularity comes almost entirely from her role as Haruhi.

So anyway, Aya’s 3rd Single “Asu no Prism” went on sale today and the first pressing sold out in a matter of seconds with people queuing overnight, selling their first borns and whatever not for a copy of more mediocre music from a cute-looking girl. Surprise, surprise.

Asu no Prism First Press
Image from Akiba-blog

After listening to the song, I can safely say that I do not regret not having pre-ordered it, neither do I intend on ever buying it except maybe from a second hand store for 200 yen the next time I’m in Japan.

Seriously, if it wasn’t Aya Hirano I think no one would’ve cared for a song like “Asu no Prism” at all. It’s the kind of song that grows on you after a while, but really, it’s nothing special. It makes me wonder how long Aya Hirano’s fame will last once Haruhi is all but forgotten.

Okay, I think I should stop provoking the Hirano fanboys out there. You can get the torrent for the single and listen to it for yourself.

Posted in Music | 42 Comments

愛と勇気のおとぎ話~A true story

The entry title “ai to yuuki no otogibanashi” means “A fairytale of love and courage” and yes it’s totally ripped off from jpmeyer’s old blog title. Why can’t I come up with cool blog titles like everyone else?

Mahoro on Bike Illustration

Anyway, I have a story to tell today. It’s a story of love, passion and courage. Okay, so there isn’t really any courage involved and the love is somewhat superficial, but screw it! The title is cool. ねぇ?

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Neowing has caught up with my trickery

Why won't Kyon die? :(

My perfect strategy for saving up on CD/DVD shipping has been flushed down the infinite void of a JR train station toilet by the insidious conspiracy known as Neowing (better known as CDJapan).

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Posted in Blog, Money, Music | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Official Suzumiya Haruhi Cels

I was browsing Kyo-ani’s official site when I came across these Official Haruhi cels on sale at Kyo-ani’s web store.

Haruhi Cel 1Haruhi Cel 2

The cels are created from the original data used in the anime (which is pure CG) and limited to one per person. Each one comes in an album that protects the cel and an accompanying certificate is printed with your name, the episode number and the cut number. They are not mass produced and it takes about two months upon ordering to ship.

Haruhi Cel 3Haruhi Cel 4

15,000 yen is a shit load of money, though. It’s also somewhat disappointing that my favourite scenes from “Live Alive” and “Yuuutsu VI” are not included. Still, it may be a good investment to buy one of these and keep it for a few years… <_<

Posted in Anime, Money | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Zipang and WW2

zipang.jpg

Zipang, or Zipangu, or Jipangu, or however you think it should be spelt, is the ancient European name for Japan. It was believed by foreigners to be a land of immense wealth and the name carries a somewhat mythical association.

Zipang

Zipang the anime is about Mirai, an AEGIS class cruiser belonging to the Maritime Self Defense Force (de facto Navy of modern Japan), travelling 60 years into the past by accident while in the middle of a joint military exercise in the Pacific. The ship found itself right in the middle of Japan’s attack on Midway in the Pacific theatre of WW2.

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Posted in Anime, Rant, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Doremi-Fansubs = AnimeJunkies v2.0

Here is a note to all fansub groups: Please make sure that your translator actually speaks Japanese! And please make sure that you have at least one other team member on the project who speaks Japanese so that he/she can make sure that the translator isn’t pretending to know Japanese by making random guesses and checking Babelfish!

NEVER TRUST YOUR TRANSLATORS WITHOUT SEEKING A SECOND OPINION!!! (I was one. I know what we do.)

Shitty Fansubs

Now here’s a sad, sad example of a “fansub” gone horribly wrong. The following translations are from Doremi-OTOME’s fansub of Mai-Otome DVD Special 8. The torrent can be found here (way at the bottom).

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Posted in Anime, Rant | Tagged , , , | 100 Comments

In Defence of Bandai

Yes, defence. It’s British spelling, okay? Deal with it.

It seems like Bandai has been getting a lot of, to misuse tj han’s term, “negative energy” recently for the whole Solid State Society fiasco. Some people see my latest rant on the Long Tail phenomenon as an indirect attack on Bandai.

The truth is, as hypocrite as this may sound considering my rant on the Wind incident, I support Bandai in its business decision to protect its profits. Bandai exists not to spread the love for anime but to make money. Popularizing anime is one of the ways through which Bandai can make money but the difference between an end and a mean to an end must be made clear.

It does not serve Bandai’s purpose as a company responsible to its investors to continue to turn a blind eye on fansubbers, especially for its most popular franchises.

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Posted in Anime, Rant | Tagged , , , , , | 52 Comments