Music Spotlight: Angela Aki - Tegami ~ Haikei Juugo no Kimi he

Angela Aki - Tegami ~ Haikei Juugo no Kimi he (Greetings to a Fifteen-Year-Old)



I have kept an eye on singer, songwriter Angela Aki for some time now ever since I heard her ending for the anime Blood+ "This Love." My favorite song by her is "Tegami ~ Haikei Juugo no Kimi he (手紙 ～拝啓 十五の君)," which was originally written for the NHK National School Music Contest in 2008, Junior High Division. The first time I heard the song and read read the lyric translation, it brought tears to my eyes, and it is a song that still makes me tear up when I listen to the lyrics.

The song cleverly weaves together the POV of a fifteen-year-old letter to his or her adult self and the message of that adult self addressing his/her fifteen year old self and something about this imagery rings home to a lot of us. Angela Aki accompanies herself on the piano and while the melody is simple, the lyrics are very poignant and I think reaches out to that lost fifteen-year-old in all of us. I find this song a "healing" song that rings true without any pretense. The clever use of shifting points of view creates a multi-layered tone of the song. The song's message uplifting and optimistic but the point of view of the adult holds a bittersweet sense of nostalgia. It makes me recall my fifteen-year-old self. That year was sort of the black hole of my teenage years, so I guess that is why this song is even more meaningful to me.

Translated lyrics by PhatParis:

Dear you,
Who is reading this letter
Where are you, and what are you doing now?

For me, who is 15 years old,
There are worries that I can't tell anyone.
If this is a letter addressed to my future self,
Surely I can confide in myself.

Now, it seems that I'm about to be defeated and I'm about to cry
For me, who is seemingly about to disappear
Whose words should I believe in?
This one-and-only heart has been broken so many times
In the midst of this pain, I live the present, I live in the present.

Dear you, thank you,
I have something to tell the 15-year-old you.

If you continue to ask what you should do and where you should go,
You will be able to see the answer.

The rough sea of youth may be tough
But row your boat of dreams on towards the shores of tomorrow.

Now, please don't be defeated and please don't shed a tear
During those times when you're seemingly about to disappear
Just believe in your own voice
For me as an adult, there are sleepless nights when I'm hurt
But I'm living the bittersweet present.

There's a meaning to everything in life
So build your dreams without fear.
Keep on believing

Seems like I'm about to be defeated and I'm about to cry,
For me, who's seemingly about to disappear
Whose words should I believe in?

Please don't be defeated and please don't shed a tear
During those times when you're seemingly about to disappear
Just believe in your own voice

No matter era we're in
There's no running away from sorrow,
So show your smile, and go on living the present
Go on living the present.

Dear you,
Who's reading this letter
I wish you happiness...

The song was paired with animation from drawings by mangaka Natsuki Takaya of Fruits Basket fame for Minna no Uta, a short NHK program geared towards children pairings songs from various musicians (including Maaya Sakamoto and Utada Hikaru) with various animators, artists and directors. I especially like the one by Makoto Shinkai. These Minna no Uta segments are sort of like MADs/ AMVs with professionals, broadcast on national television.



When I first heard the song, I could see Sakura in Arc 4 of New Trials looking back to herself in Chapter 53: Yesterday's Letter. It also reminds me of that scene in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: Tokyo Revelations when young CCS!Sakura shows up and tells Sakura-hime that everything is going to be all right. As adults, I think many of us have moments where we think, "Ah, I wish I knew then what I know now." But on the reverse, there are times when we think, "Ah, I wish I can go back to those days when those little things that I worried about seemed like the greatest worry in the world and those little things that made me happy were the greatest bliss."

Japanese lyrics and translation also found here.

Fanfiction Spotlight: Chronicles and Trials

Chronicles and Trials TheamPic by ~WinxC1ub on deviantART

I've been promising WinxC1ub-chan that I would be able to read her fanfiction "Chronicles and Trials" once I finish Chapter 64. Gomen, I took a long time! Anyhow, I finally got around to reading it finally, and I love the premise. Our main characters are Hiiragizawa Daidouji Renae and Li Kinomoto Seiru (yes, you can do the math ^_^) and there are lots of familiar faces everywhere, from both the CLAMP universe and New Trials characters cameos as well!

It's very fascinating reading about an alter-universe New Trials amongst other things. Lol. It's like one of those Russian matryoshka dolls, a fanfiction within a fanfiction. Lol. Needless to say, I was most excited to see Eron's appearance. I'm sort of ashamed to say it's been many years since I read a CCS fanfiction. Don't get me wrong, I love reading CCS fanfics, but I think I sort of made a conscious sacrifice when I began writing New Trials that I probably will not be reading CCS fanfics and use that time to write New Trials. I remember when I was 12 and very innocent and naive as a newcomer to the world of fanfiction and stumbled upon a CCS one-shot lemon. There were just a handful of CCS fanfics at that time, and I really just read randomly (no picking and choosing back then.) I had no idea what a lemon was at that time and was a bit traumatized with the one-shot about a certain Lust Card and Sakura and Yukito-san. Don't ask anymore. Well, in the long run, I think all the trauma I felt when characters were OOC helped me write New Trials. When I began writing New Trials, I used to be afraid of the "bleeding" of ideas, which was sort of why I did not even read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle for the longest time. But I've reached a point in New Trials were I became so comfortable with the realm, characters and plot, that I no longer have those worries. Heck, CLAMP parodies their own work. Lol.

Anyhow, check out WinxC1ub's fanfiction "Chronicles and Trials" which is a big crossover between New Trials and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle among other things. The fourth chapter is on its way. She has many adorable CCS-related artwork up on her devianart account. She also makes lots of wonderful New Trials AMVs that you can check out on her youtube channel. Arigatou!


Lost Sunrise by ~WinxC1ub on deviantART

Merry Christmas! Chapter 64 Up!

Chapter 64: A Christmas Miracle is up!



As usual, it's version one. This month has been such a hectic one, and even though I had most of this chapter written months ago, I almost thought I would not finish on time. It is a much more character oriented chapter more than anything else and also perhaps a transitional chapter. The "Memory" arc is finished, and we will sort of move to the second part of arc 4. For those of you who are wondering, Arc 4 will definitely be longer than the other arcs.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!


Kiseki: The Promise of Spring by ~wishluv on deviantART

Fanfiction: The Writing Process

I have a personality where I love to start projects but never finish them whether it is cross-stitching or novel-writing (or this blog-entry which I began writing in July). Thus, I can confidently say that my ten-year-old fanfiction The New Trials of Card Captor Sakura is by far the most persevering I've been on anything. Over the years, I have received numerous emails from various readers who also are writers themselves, telling me how they were inspired to go write their own fanfiction. This always makes me very happy. The root of any creative endeavor is the inspiration. But of course, then comes the concrete writing, pruning and publishing. There are so many unfinished fanfiction out there because people lose inspiration midway, I believe. Each writer has his or her own method of writing, but I thought I would like to elaborate on how writing a typical chapter of my fanfiction New Trials is like.

0. Introduction aka Inspiration

I was first introduced to the anime Card Captor Sakura on Korean TV back in June 1999 (though I became aware of the franchise when I was around sixth grade when my Japanese friend gave me stationary with Sakura and Tomoyo (and didn't even realize it was them until I went back and looked at the artwork years later). I immediately fell in love with the show. Those were the days of dial-up modem, I believe, and anime was not streamed online. Watching anime meant I had to sit down at 6:00PM to watch each episode of CCS dubbed into Korean. At one point, I also watched on cable TV the NHK2 broadcast of Season 3 of CCS (ending in March 2000) though at that time I didn't understand a word of Japanese.

So, back in early fall of 1999, when I was pretty much new to the internet and anime fandom in general (I had just gotten a PC less than a year ago), I began reading fanfiction for the first time. At that time, there were only a handful of CCS fanfics online, and I remember using anipike.com to find them. I haven't read fanfics before in general, so I basically had no clue what I was doing when I got started (that header note on the Prologue makes me wince a little time whenever I read it, but it also feels like a shout out from my 13-year-old self.) Because I couldn't find many CCS fanfiction that I thought were believable continuations off of the characters I've grown to love, I had two intentions in mind when I started New Trials and that was 1) make characters stay true to character and 2) entertain myself and indulge in my own fantasies.

Thus, I began writing New Trials at the age of thirteen with that inspiration in mind. The way I write fiction is very much like the way I write my school essays. There are two types of writers--the ones who make an outline and write according to the outline, and then those who just write the body first and then copy and paste to structure the essay (okay, I know there are other ways as well). I'm the type of person who for an English essay will type up all the quotes, write up the body, then the intro and conclusion. I know, all in reverse order. That is pretty much the way I have written all 64+ chapters of New Trials. I write the scenes that I feel like writing at that moment, sometimes in the middle of work, sometimes in the middle of writing something else; when I have a dialogue replaying in my mind, sometimes I hurry to type of the conversation as fast as I can before I lose the essence of it, then go back and make sure it's all coherent.

The Writing Process of a Chapter of New Trials

1. Brainstorming: The foundation of any story; this process can take a couple minutes or years and usually is the fun part because I derive ideas from everywhere, from dreams to lectures to something I see on the streets (ie. the fashion show in Chapter 63 was inspired by a mannequin wearing a pastel green shirt and beige blazer in the Men's Section of Banana Republic). I have only recently jotted down some of my ideas on Words because I'm afraid with my declining brain cells, I might forget something essential down the road. Also, the plot now in Arc 4 is much more structurally complex than it was in Arc 1. I mean, back then, I never thought I'd be still writing this fanfic 10 years later.

2. Scene writing: This can be considered as brainstorming on paper/MS Word. I often write the core scenes, the vital conversations or events of the chapter out first before I forget them. These scenes aren't written in chronological order, and I might have scenes from several chapters in advance depending on when I feel like writing them. For example, last year I was inspired to write a scene for last chapter of New Trials. My defense to my friends who think I'm lazy when I miss out on a night out, it's actually because my mind is very busy plotting. ^_^

3. Plot configuration and scene replay : Most writers would do this first. But for me, once I know what key scenes and story I want present in a chapter, then I have to figure out all the technical details aka. the action/climax, ie. what dark forces there will be (unless the dark force plays an important role in the chapter development and I planned it out in brainstorming process) and how the force will be sealed, what outfits people would be wearing, where the action will take place. I used to end a chapter when I got tired of writing it, but now that we are in Arc 4, I pay more attention to what information is revealed/withheld each chapter and how much development along the plot line there is. This part usually takes the longest time, and I am consistently replaying dialogue or sentences in my mind while I'm walking back home, exercising, though not so much before falling asleep at night anymore (but back in high school, I used to fall asleep to playing out scenes out in my mind which was a lot of fun). The reason this process takes so long and is important is because I have to put myself in the character's position and think how the character would react in a certain situation. I believe there are plot-writers and character-writers. Plot-writers use their characters as a means to convey the plot whereas character-writers use the plot to convey the characters, and I am the latter. Oftentimes, I have to rewrite certain scenes or dialogue because I realized that the character would not act in a certain way, and hence, I would have to reconfigure the plot.

4. Pruning and rearranging (aka fitting the pieces of the puzzle together): This process might be sort of unique to me, but it's when I actually get to writing out the chapter in a coherent fashion. It is also when I start to reorder the scenes because being me, I don't necessarily write in chronological order, especially now that there is a cast of two dozen characters and five different subplots going on. I ask, is this information needed in this chapter and are there any loopholes in the story of the chapter or anything that will create loopholes later on. Somewhere along this process, everything "clicks" together in terms of plot and language, and it's a satisfying feeling because it indicates that the completion of the chapter is near.

5. Editing: Usually, this is when I do some final pruning. I usually end up pushing some scenes back to a future chapter, which also means that I have the foundation for the next chapter to work off of. I used to love this process until the chapters turned 80 pages long. Ideally, I would like to have perfect, errorless chapters, but I am only one person. I actually edit a lot in the process of writing, so at this point, it's usually purely grammatical and typos that I'm checking. I've had people offer me to edit, which I am very grateful for, but at the moment, getting out chapters with speed is priority, so doing a one-man-show has worked out best thus far. There was an earlier chapters editing process going on last year... I wonder what happened to that. One day, I will go back to edit everything, hopefully.

6. Publishing: Finally, when I decide I'm too sick of the chapter to work on it any longer, I upload the newest chapter up at http://wishluv.revolutionhosting.net at some wee hour in the morning, post a message at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newtrialsring/ announcing latest chapter and fall asleep. Usually, I don't want to look at a chapter again for at least a week, but usually, within the next couple days, I discover some major typos and then freak out, edit and repost--or ignore because I am too burned out and it's a hassle to reupload everything.

7. Recuperation: For the next two weeks, I don't think of anything about New Trials (completely not true, actually). I catch up with responding to backlogged email, feeling guilty about emails from a month or two ago. (I am sometimes very quick, sometimes very slow to response, not on purpose though. I usually read emails on the run, so I oftentimes don't have time to respond and forget to later on.) But even if I don't respond, remember, it might have been your email which motivated me to actually go back and finish up that next chapter. There is usually a point in the midst of writing a chapter when I run behind schedule because of a writer's block or just from hecticness in real life. And then, a lovely email awaits in my inbox which inspires me and then I revert back to "Wish-chan-mode," inspired to hurry up and pump out the next chapter. Lol. Anyhow, after recuperation, it's back to step 1. (But usually, I have at this point a bit of stages 1 and 2 already done because we are now in Arc 4 and everything's culminating).

8. Every writer's enemy - the Writer's Block: Each writer has a different means of writing and there is no right and wrong way. The method I have described is one that developed from writing a chapter by chapter long-running series. Hence, I suffered from many long periods of writer's block or overload with school/life/work. It's sometimes difficult to balance real life and hobby. Because writing is sort of a meditative hobby/ life calling for me, I could keep at it for so long. Writing takes many many hours and lots of patience. The funny thing about writer's blocks is that some of my favorite stories derived from such periods where I was stuck in the main storyline. If you suffer from writer's block, take a break from writing, go out enjoy the sunlight, take a walk, watch TV, read. I think more ideas generate when you engage in life. Or, write about something else, a different character, a different plot line. I think a lot of New Trials Specials derived from having a writer's block. On the reverse, there is something very fascinating how when I'm so busy with other things, I always suddenly get an idea or an urge to write. We all know the phenomenon where it's so much more fun to do something when you're procrastinating studying.

The main difference between "fanfiction" writing and "academic" writing for me is that in New Trials, I do pour a 100% of my soul into my writing. But if I were doing academic writing, there would be another step after #6 which would be "sentence-by-sentence pruning." That oftentimes takes as much time as it takes me to write. For school writing or something published, I would read over each sentence and analyze whether each word is necessary and prune, show restraint, edit more and fine tune the writing technique. But the joys of fanfiction is that there is no word limit, no time limit (arguable) and no limit to the imagination, hence I can truly be me.

Anyhow, RIP http://geocities.com/wishluv, my first website and first real home of New Trials. Geocities is gone forever. I have a horrible feeling I still had stuff left on the server but I guess time will tell.

New Trials Character Profile: Akagi Aki

I've always been meaning to do a character profile for the original characters in my fanfiction New Trials of Card Captor Sakura, but never got a chance to. I decided to start off with Akagi Aki, Sakura's classmate since Junior HIgh.

Akagi Tomoaki (16) is the youngest child in the Akagi family, who are considered "nouveau riche" and made their fortune in the horse racing business in partnership with the Tamemura family. He is younger brother to famous actress Akagi Arima, and his older brother is currently heir to the Akagi business, a graduate of MIT. He used to be a grade below Tanaka Mikai back in elementary school at Eitoukou Academy. Aki transferred to Seijou first year of junior high and has been in the same class with Sakura-tachi since then. He is currently class president at Seijou High, Editor-in-Chief of the Seijou High newspaper and pointguard in the Seijou Basketball team even though he is only a freshman. He was captain of the Seijou Junior High Basketball Team and voted MVP two years consecutively and student council president. Though he has a carefree demeanor, he has a tendency to be bossy and a perfectionist when it comes down to his work.

Relationships: Since Christmas of their third year of junior high, Aki has developed a big crush on Daidouji Tomoyo. Because of his extroverted personality, he gets along with everybody at school and is liked by everyone but despite his flirtatious nature, he has trouble finding a girlfriend. Syaoran used to dislike him a lot because of the Winter Wonderland incident (Arc One), but since then has grown to value Aki's steadfast presence in class. Sakura grew closer to Aki when she was recruited into the journalism club and finds him one of her few male peers that she feels comfortable to talk to. Miho and Aki clash a lot because they both are so headstrong, but Miho genuinely respects Aki as an editor and journalist. Tomoyo thinks Aki is like a big golden retriever (she thinks Syaoran is like a Siberian Husky and Eriol like a tabby cat). Aki's greatest idol back in elementary was Tanaka Mikai, but he gets greatly annoyed by Mizuki Kai. The person he is most scared of is his older sister.

People have been requesting for a picture of Aki, and unfortunately, I only have a rough sketch I drew quite a while ago. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a color picture of him when I have more time; he's actually a pretty fun character to draw. I mentioned before that Aki was originally named because there needed to be more male characters in Sakura's class, but somehow, he just stuck around. Unfortunately, I find that he is the only "ordinary" guy in the entire cast of New Trials; he has a very simplistic nature. He has trouble hiding his emotions, and he speaks what he thinks, hence is an antithesis to Syaoran, I guess. His fashion style is sporty and on the flashy and flamboyant side (think Hawaiian Tropical). In the sketch above, the boy on the right is Aki. The boy on the right... can you guess who it is? It's young Tanaka Mikai. You learn more about Akagi Aki's past in the Kaitou Magician Origins Special I actually should post the next chapter up, because I think I've caught up to the point in New Trials where I can reveal more about Kai's past. Anyhow, I wonder which character profile I should do next.

New Trials of CCS Chapter 63 and xxxHolic 192

Sakura and Syaoran Ending by ~wishluv on deviantART

Chapter 63: The Joining of the Circle is posted at http://wishluv.revolutionhosting.net/nt63.htm (ver.2) or http://www.fanfiction.net/s/197453/105/The_New_Trials_of_Card_Captor_Sakura_and_Friends and refer to Sakura's Magic Circle chart after you read the chapter.

I don't know why it is whenever I try to post my chapter, something happens and the revolutionhosting.net server is down briefly (which always gives me a little heart-attack.) This chapter was very difficult to write because of its length and also content--it's 80 pages size 11 font Arial in Microsoft Words. I've written all my chapters size 11 Arial in Microsoft Word, for a whopping ten years. Anyhow, Chapter 64 is another 80+ pages (currently in editing process) but I might hold out releasing Chapter 64 till December because I'm really busy right now, and I also like to synchronize the story with the season . ^_^ Chapter 63 and 64 were meant to be one chapter-- I mistakenly thought I could fit the entire Christmas storyline in one chapter. It was strange writing a non-action chapter and more of a drama saga. I'll refrain from commenting anymore until the next chapter comes out, which I had more fun writing. I wrote the beginning of this chapter, with Sakura's father in the hospital early in the summer (right after Chapter 62 came out). Anyhow, I had the worst dream that night about losing my father; I still remember it vividly because it was one of those dreams where you wake up feeling like you were crying and crying. The next day, I kept wondering why I had such a sad and disturbingly realistic dream, and it was because I'd been writing that particular scene in Chapter 63, and also, that previous day, my coworker had been talking about how her mother was ill with cancer. Dreams have often inspired ideas to write about, but this was one of the rare times that it was vice versa.

Exciting xxxHolic manga chapter this week. Chapter 192 refers to Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle characters again. Mokona Black mentions that Syaoran-tachi are still traveling and have recently returned to Piffle Country (my favorite!) and that Kurogane got himself a new prosthetic arm/ automail if this were Fullmetal Alchemist (yay!) I'm feeling a little better knowing that we will be hearing updates of Syaoran and crew like this, which leads me to believe that the TRC crew might play some important role in the future of xxxHolic. After all, there will be a point when Syaoran/Tsubasa will be freed from his price of always traveling and Watanuki from his price of always staying at the same place, hopefully. The new artbook cover for TRC is lovely as well, showing a grown up Sakura and Syaoran (Tsubasa and Tsubasa), actually looking like Mama and Papa S+S; we can tell it's them Tsubasa!S+S because Syaoran is wearing his awesome outfit from the final chapter in TRC. Maybe Tsubasa/Sakura will give birth to Clone!Syaoran some day in the future in a wonderful loop of events (hopefully not).

I like the idea that Watanuki is still learning his trade, that he doesn't always know how much is the right price to take from a person, and that he gets hurt by this. And perhaps Yuuko is in the same place where Clone!Syaoran and Sakura, because to me, TRC was THEIR story and whatever seemingly semi-happy ending CLAMP left us with Tsubasa!Syaoran and Sakura in the Epilogue of TRC is an illusion, disguising that "Clone" Sakura and Syaoran's story actually is a tragedy (thus far). I ended up feeling so sorry for Syaoran writing the new chapters that the Christmas chapter turned into semi-fluff. Lol.

Spoilers: My favorite scene this chapter is Mike and Erika's breakup scene. Maybe I'm a little evil like that. I enjoyed continuing off the "father" theme from last chapter, but this chapter I think was all about girl-power. Well, next chapter's all about the boys.

Sakura's Magic Circle of the Star Version 1

SPOILERS for Chapter 63: The Joining of the Circle>>>

It actually took a long time to figure out the order everybody is seated on the Star Circle in order to keep balance, etc., but I like how it came out. I created this diagram more for my own benefit, because I kept getting confused. It's even color-coded. This is just version 1 of the Star Circle from Chapter 63. As you can see, it's slightly different from Sakura's regular star circle because as of Arc 4, Sakura's magic circle has an extra crescent moon around the five-pointed star. Also, Sakura's regular magic circle is centered differently (the moon and sun and each have one point). The original vector of Sakura's Magic Circle is done by Yamamoto114, which is probably the best vector of Sakura's magic circle out there, except the alignment of the stars is slightly off. Still, I based the star-moon circle off off this model, and I just left it so that the centering of the stars is off and the sun and the moon aren't at equilibrium. (You can compare with image below of Sakura's regular upright magic circle). I had a hard time deciding whether to use this format or not, but in the end decided to stick with the off-aligned version for the star-moon circle because I like the idea that Sakura's magic circle is off balance in some way. Click on chart for a larger view.

A sign that you've been working on a chapter of New Trials too long is when you start counting 13 points on Sakura's star instead of 12. (Yes, this is a real life story). I panicked and thought, how could I for the past 9 years think there were 12 points and how come nobody pointed it out before? I was really really tired. I recounted later and voila, there was 12 again. Anyhow, Eriol's guardians are more like his minions. I technically should have erased Kai's name as well. In the Li spot, Meilin is currently standing. The positioning of everyone is important because the powers need to balance each other so that "equilibrium" can be reached, and because of this, the positions aren't stationary but will change accordingly to who is in the Magic Circle.

Sakura: Nee, Kero-chan, what order are people going to stand on my star circle?

Kero-chan: Random order? Height? People who get along?

Sakura: Hoe, this is so complicated!

Kobato Episode 2

Episode 2 is about as sweet as the first episode. I didn't really notice the background music in the first episode but this time around, I remember being pleasantly surprised by some of the bgm numbers. I'm not sure if the OST would become as iconic as the Card Captor Sakura bgms (which I think represents a series where the bgm itself embodies the series) or as in Tsbasa Reservoir Chronicle, which I think the soundtrack MAKES the anime.

Kobato is so adorable, I can't help loving her despite her ditziness and lack of common sense. Which is rare. CLAMP's heroes and heroines are usually a hit or miss for me ie. Hikaru from Magic Knight Rayearth may be one of my least favorite characters, though I have no idea why. I think she is so bright and optimistic, it grates my nerves. Then again, I adore Fuu and Umi is one of my favorite female CLAMP characters (mainly because she is pretty). CCS Sakura inevitably has become my favorite female CLAMP character and is probably one of the most iconic female majou shoujo heroines in the history of anime. Now, Kobato is a little bit older but probably has the mental capacity of someone younger than Sakura. She is loveable nonetheless because rather than being plain stupid, I find that she is just genuinely childlike and naive in an alienesque sort of way. And she's adorable. In a 'I want to pull her hair and pinch her cheeks sort of way.' I know, it's horrible. I want a younger sister like Sakura-chan that I would squeeze into a tight hug, but with Kobato, I want to tease her or something. Yes, I am very much sympathetic to Ioryogi-san.

I like how CLAMP made Sakura and Syaoran's character design reflected each other, like how Kobato and Fujimoto's designs reflect each other (with their layered hairstyle and long hair). Their colorings are even sort of similiar, but Fujimoto's eyes seem a little greener while Kobato's is a bit more hazel (I find the anime made her eyes greener than I anticipated). I find Fujimoto's character design really appealing because it's very unique for a CLAMP character to have the perfect balance between "tough cool guy" and "bishounen," and I dig his glasses and piercings juxtaposed to his gentle occupation. The most nostalgic part about the series though is the way Madhouse did the eyes of the characters so much like they did Card Captor Sakura eyes. Especially the kids looked like they would pop up in CCS.

The encounters between Fujimoto and Kobato this episode reminded me of Sakura and Syaoran's relationship in the beginning. Kobato's indignant reactions to Fujimoto's crassness was very reminiscent of Sakura's reactions to Syaoran when he was being mean. Fujimoto playing the organ reminded me of Kinomoto Touya, as well. I find Fujimoto's personality a cross between Syaoran and Touya (their love child?), while Ioryogi makes me think that Tomoyo-hime one day decided to punish Kurogane and turn him into a blue plush dog doll. They sound the same and they act the same). I adore Ioryogi-san and think he's the most badass "magical animal" sidekick any shoujo heroine has had.

Fumiko Orikasa is wonderful as usual as Sayaka and never fails to impress me with her versatility. I swear, she never sounds the same. Kobato's seiyuu is perfect for the part, albeit sounding sort of like a Clannad girl, as is Inada Tetsu as Ioryogi.

It's been a while since I've seen a "magical girl" theme anime, and forgot the doki doki sense of anticipation waiting for the potential hero to appear at the opportunate moment and the fact that they don't appear all the time. I remember going through episodes of CCS where Syaoran barely showed up or did not show up at all. And in those days, I judged how good an episode was by the role Syaoran played in it. The only episode I really enjoyed without Syaoran in it was Sakura and the Calendar of Memories, the episode about Touya and Nadeshiko and the organ. Anyhow, Fujimoto might make it to my list of top 3 favorite CLAMP males. I've only read the manga on and off, but I'm looking forward to some character development and the appearance of Okiura (Shinichiro Miki).

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Epilogue and AMV: This is my Road

CLAMP's Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles manga has finally come to an end. Unlike the final chapter, the epilogue is very much in line with the kind of ending I had envisaged for TRC, along the lines of "and the journey will continue on." I have a feeling we'll be seeing Syaoran/Tsubasa and crew again in the future.

My favorite part of the epilogue was seeing Nadeshiko and Fujitaka again, happy and loving. At least in the Clow universe, they are alive and together (though pretty much everybody else seems to be suffering, except Touya and Yukito who are always the same, what ever world they're in). I also liked the idea of Syaoran and Watanuki's sacrifice, Syaoran to keep moving on, whereas Watanuki to stay in one place for ever. I like the simple equilibrium created. Unfortunately, something about the ending reminded me of Pirates of the Carribbean 3: At the World's End, where Will is bound to sail The Flying Dutchman as captain, which can surface only every ten years, hence he can see Elizabeth only every ten years. It's one of those cases where we already had a good ending, like the first movie which was the best of the bunch, and then everything just became messed up because of sequels. Lol. No, but I really appreciate the ending of TRC because while the previous chapter ended with a sense of bittersweet nostalgia, the epilogue at least gave us a forward-looking sense of anticipation. Almost to the point where I feel like there could sucessfully be a whole new series on the adventures of Syaoran finding Clone!Syaoran.

We finally learn Sakura and Syaoran's real names. Surprise, they have identical names as if we already do not have enough clones and Freudian warpedness running amock. But I like the thought that the name "Tsubasa" connects the two individuals and furthermore, brings new meaning to the title. I am curious what Sakura saw in her dream that makes her decide to stay in Clow (that could be any worse than anything that has already happened), but I hope it's something related to a means of getting Yuuko back. Because R!Sakura and R!Syaoran's given names are something else, somehow, I have even stronger a feeling that to me, the Clones were actually the "real" Sakura and Syaoran, especially because reincarnated C!Syaoran was alternate-universe Hong Kong Li Syaoran. Yes, it is confusing. I am going to save further analysis on the series until xxxHolic unveils some lingering questions.

Meanwhile, to celebrate (mourn?) TRC coming to an end, I have made an AMV with one my favorite new songs from the ending of the anime Guin Saga. (Many thanks to Tragrendd for introducing me!) The first time I heard the song "Saga~This is My Road," I immediately thought it fit with TRC. Hence, this came about.

The AMV is made with Sony Vega 8.0 Pro and Adobe Photoshop CS3. I didn't realize how much less painful it was editing videos with a faster processor speed. It makes me cry thinking about how long everything used to take and how many times the program crashed on my old computer and how long everything took to render. Some AMVs make good use of putting random clips together to music, but for me, I like AMVs that tell a story. I put lots of effort into the "epilogue" of the video, which are actually scenes from TRC chapter 222 and 232, one of the most beautiful chapters of the series, IMO. The lyrics of this song and the ambiance, I thought, fits TRC very well. Kanon is a very talented singer/songwriter, and this song is absolutely beautiful and haunting. There are two versions of Saga~This is My Road, Japanese and English. I prefer the Japanese version because it is more fluid and Kanon's voice really soars in that version. But I had to add in a verse from the English version because the lyrics were so resonant with TRC, especially if you read to the ending. You can find Japanese lyrics at this blog. Check out this blog for English lyrics. Because I could not find raw videos, I had a hard time clipping all the subtitles out of the episodes of TRC, Tokyo Revelations and Tsubasa Shunraiki, but I really didn't want subtitles flying about this AMV. My favorite part of the video is probably the last clip after credits, just because I like how it turned out. I colored the manga picture and animated the text, and I thought it came out nicely, and I will keep hoping that the later volumes get OVAs or TRC season 3 or something.

On a side note, I saw the premier episode of Kobato. Isn't Kobato just cute or, what? It reminds me of a good, old-school shoujo anime with a CLAMP flavor.

Yui Makino Concert at the New York Anime Festival 2009

As we all know, Yui Makino is the voice of our beloved Princess Sakura in the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles anime. Thus, when I heard she was going to be at the New York Anime Festival, I had to go just to see her. She held an hour-long concert on Saturday 26 and also did a Q&A session on Sunday, along with an autograph session.

Yui Makino's debut role as a seiyuu was Princess Sakura from Tsubasa, though she had done several anime songs before, namely Omna Magni from Sousei no Aquarion by Yoko Kanno. She said there were at least 200 people auditioning for the role of Sakura-hime. The first impression I got of her voice was perhaps childlike, pure and very pretty. I think they did a good job casting the seiyuu for Tsubasa and loved Irino Miyu as (older) Syaoran(s).

(Sakura poster signed for girl (cosplaying Vocaloid Miku) standing in front of me. Yui even drew her a picture! Cute!)

After seeing Yui Makino perform live, however, my respect for her totally skyrocketed to a different level. Whoever said that she is not strong live was completely mistaken. Yui Makino was amazing during the one-hour concert. I was thrilled with that Yui Makino played the keyboard while singing her first song, "Yunagi Loop," the ending theme of Tsubasa. She also played a couple songs from her new single, which has not been released in Japan, but we were able to purchase at the NYAF. I got my copy autographed by her (see picture above).

The best song of the day was the piano version of "Amrita." I was hoping that she would play it and it was by far her strongest performance and also my own favorite Yui Makino song. Her voice was strong, sweet and emotional, as she self-accompanied herself on the keyboard. Yui Makino has been trained on the piano since age 5 and you can tell that she has a very strong classical music background. When asked what her favorite music was, she replied "Debussey and Chopin" rather than contemporary artists. I was actually able to ask her during her Q&A session what her favorite song out of her own albums was and she say "Amrita" as well. I was happy. ^_^ She mentioned her favorite American singers were the Beatles and Vanessa Carlton. (I knew she had good taste in music.)

I was a little disappointed that she didn't perform "Synchonicity" but other than that, I was left impressed by Yui Makino's concert and began looking at her more of a "musician" than a "seiyuu," someone who I think really has a bright future ahead of her. Unfortunately, I think half the audience didn't really know her songs too well. The theme song from Aria is one of her more famous songs, and I don't think people even knew that one. Either way, Yui's strongest performances were the ones where she was accompanying herself on the keyboard. But she did such a cute dance move to one of her new songs. She has a serious side and an adorable side, so I see her appealing to the popular "idol" image and also appealing to more classical music scene and continuing to collaborate with famous composers (having worked with Yuki Kajiura and Yoko Kanno is already an impressive resume).

Yui Makino is very pretty in person (prettier than photos, in my opinion) and more petite than you can imagine. She mentioned that the animal she would most be like is a cat (just like Sakura-chan in Tsubasa)! The sense I got from her is that she is quite introverted (her favorite activity is sleeping), and also that she is a serious musician rather than an "idol." She said that in the future, she would love to perform in Suntory Hall which is a concert hall in Japan that holds over 2000 seats and it is considered one of the pinnacles of a musicians career to perform there.

My favorite part about the Q&A session is when Yui Makino was asked if she enjoyed karaoke, and she replied that the CLAMP-sensei-tachi took her to karaoke and made her sing her own songs. It was very cute. And she mentioned that the kimono she wore the the Paris Anime Expo was borrowed from Mokona-sensei (famous for her large collection of beautiful kimono.) It made me sort of fangirl squeal thinking how wonderful it would be to be so close with CLAMP (and how like them to make Yui Makino sing her own songs as karaoke). She also went to watch the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. This made me sort of nostalgic for the "New York Arc" of the New Trials of Card Captor Sakura.

Over all, I felt that seeing Yuki Makino was almost like seeing Sakura-hime in person. Or at least hearing her voice a whole lot, anyhow. (Her real voice is not as high and childish but once in a while she would say cute phrases which made her sound a bit like Sakura). I would say the New York Comic Con is a stronger convention on the whole, but my first time at New York Anime Fest was a good experience (because of Yui Makino being the guest of honor); the crowd was younger in general, a bit more rambunctious, and I was impressed by the high quality of the cosplayers. I even saw a Sakura and Syaoran (Card Captor Sakura version). I had several people ask to take pictures of/with me as well. FYI, I wasn't dressed up like any character but was going for a schoolgirl look my first day and a sort of dark Misa-Misa inspired version of that look the second day. There were less Bleach and Naruto cosplays than I expected (not saying there weren't a lot anyway), and lots of Vocaloids, namely Miku and the Kagamine twins. Lots of Yoko cosplays from Guuren Lagen, L from Death Note and many many maids and lolitas everywhere. I was impressed how in character some people were. Oh, and I even met for the first time a CCS fanfiction reader who's heard of my penname. Lol.

Picture I sketched on the spot of Sakura on a thank you note to Yui Makino that I gave to her for the CD signing:

Check out Yui Makino's new single (my autographed copy pictured above!) Check out outtakes from her interview that I recorded for your viewing pleasure so that we can share more of her quirky cuteness with everyone!

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Chapter 232: The End?

Spoilers...


How should I put it... This ending leaves a lot more wanting. I had a firm belief that Tsubasa could become and epic manga or it could become a huge disappointment for me simply because I have invested so much in the characters of "Sakura" and "Syaoran" since Card Captor Sakura days. Either way, I'll refrain from making a final judgment until I see the final epilogue chapter and how xxxHolic unfolds.

Ever since the whole Clone controversy began, I began to feel a little cheated. Because Tsubasa has been the story of the clone's journey. I haven't followed Tsubasa that carefully and I think it could do some good to read everything through without all the interruptions.

There are lots of parallels between TRC and some Jungian principles; I recommend Carl Jung's Synchronicity as a start. Hence, I feel confused when I read TRC whether there is deeper meaning or whether the ending is simply rushed or there is just a lot of explaining to be found in xxxHolic.

Maybe it was naive of me to think there could be a happy ending for the clones. I knew clone Sakura and Syaoran meeting in the alternate modern day Hong Kong world in Chapter 222 was too good to be true. My heart broke a little bit in Chapter 223 when I learned that Syaoran's surname in that world was also Li. I think CLAMP indicates that the memories of the Clones will live on through real Sakura and Syaoran, hence they are not truly gone. But then, they are gone and at the end of the day, while I initially thought that Tsubasa was a manga about the epic journey of a boy who wants to recover the memories of his most beloved person, it is actually the story of a glitch in time, the story of how duplicates of the real Sakura and Syaoran escape from an infinite loop. It was never a story about characters but rather archetypes. I have a feeling we'll probably be seeing the vampire twins (they'll probably get their own spin off someday) and KuroFai in the future (truthfully, I feel more sorry for these two than anyone else in the manga--they lose arms and eyeballs and find out that their travel buddies are clones that disappear in the end, not to mention that they've had quite crappy childhoods on top of that).

From the beginning, I decided to differentiate between CCS!Sakura and Syaoran and TRC!Sakuras and Syaorans. I don't know why CLAMP wrote this manga. I initially thought it was fanservice, reintroducing characters we knew in a big, grand universe and showing us the interlinking of CLAMP worlds. The second half of TRC seemed to then twist into a torture-fest of how much we can make our main characters suffer as much as possible. I can't tell if this ending is the true ending that CLAMP intended for TRC (though obviously we'll understand more through xxxHolic), or whether they just grew tired of this project and wanted to move on to other projects (that would likely get a more decent animation production).

I read TRC eagerly to see glimmers of further insight of characters I am familiar with. Truthfully, though TRC!S+S are not CCS!S+S, nonetheless, this story has made me reevaluate the dynamic between Sakura and Syaoran. I'm not sure I can ever look at the beautiful ending of the CCS manga where junior high Sakura and Syaoran hug, finally reunited without thinking of a very similar composition in TRC where clone Sakura and Syaoran are reunited in Hong Kong. Furthermore, it is indicated throughout TRC that CCS!Sakura and Syaoran are aware how much suffering their alternate world alter-egos are undergoing.

I've been working on a TRC AMV recently, but now I feel like I'm going to cry if I see poor S+S.

Anyhow, does anybody feel like it's time for some Kobato-healing?

xxxHolic 籠 186 Review

SPOILERS>>>>> XXXholic Rou (Cage) again with the bird in a cage analogy...


Wow, I really was not expecting a time jump. It's strange seeing how much Watanuki has changed, especially when he's lying Yuuko style on her couch, wearing a draping kimono and smoking a pipe in this languid, laid back manner that you never saw from him before. I keep thinking back to how Watanuki was such an irritable, cranky, slightly boisterous and very silly boy. His eyes were so expressionless in that panel that it was rather heartbreaking, and I constantly applaud CLAMP's artistic execution of the full two-page spread of the "new Watanuki" to give us the full impact and also eye-candy. It is like Watanuki has taken on as much of Yuuko's characteristics in order to keep her alive within himself.

The bright side of this chapter was Doumeki's appearance and his interactions with Watanuki evokes the faint traces of the old Kimihiro Watanuki that still remains in him. Doumeki is now a folklore major? It was funny because I thought the same thing as Watanuki; that image really doesn't fit Doumeki but also reality hits how four years have already passed in the world outside. People outside are changing, developing, but Watanuki is forever trapped in one moment in time, in one mindset, with one strong desire. I'm personally very interested in Doumeki's folklore professor. Who knows if there is anything significant about this professor or not. Of course, our favorite CLAMP professor will always remain Kinomoto Fujitaka aka Clow Reed's half-reincarnation. But again, there is the painful reality that time outside of Yuuko's house is moving and shifting but for Watanuki, he is always trapped inside that house frozen in time, just waiting. It reminds me of poor Syaoran trapped inside the glass cylinder with his time and freedom sacrificed. It's also reminiscent of Princess Emeraude from Magic Knight Rayearth who was so lonely and trapped because of Rayearth's pillar system. Hence "cage" I guess.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is coming to an end very soon with only a few chapters left. I'm actually surprised it's ending so soon because I feel like there are so many loose ends to tie, and I was hoping that all the numerous characters would be able to get some resolution. Unfortunately, I feel like Kurogane and Fai have only become a backdrop to the whole Sakura and Syaoran plotline. The part of Tsubasa that I actually enjoyed the most were the little character interactions in between all the chaos like Fai and Sakura's mutual understanding (Fai is like the sister Sakura never had in my mind) or Kurogane and Syaoran's mentor and student relationship. I'm hoping that Tsubasa ends with a satisfying conclusion. I have a feeling that it will be XXXholic's role to tie all the loose ends that Tsubasa does not manage to tie up. I'm just going to trust CLAMP to let the stories come to a fitting end without fans having to rip their hairs out in agony.

On a side note, I finally watched the XXXholic Shunraiki OVAs, and I was sort of peeved at the difference in animation quality between XXXholic and the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles Shunraiki, especially because of the overlapping scene in the dream world. I have to admit, the battle between Syaoran and Syaoran in Tsubasa Shuraiki OVA 2 was awesome. But all the budget seems to have just gone to that particular scene. Also, I loved all the Tomoyo and Kurogane interactions. It makes me wonder if the rest of Tsubasa would ever get animated properly. It's a pity because Tsubasa could have become an epic anime with the right direction, supervision and budget.

I have high expectations from XXXholic's ending because for me Tsubasa was all about chaos and in-your-face shocking plot devices whereas XXXholic's strength was its restraint, gradual character development and the unique strange, artistically melancholy and mysterious ambiance of the manga. I wonder if we'll get a time jump in Tsubasa at one point as well. I'm still waiting for CCS!Syaoran and Sakura's appearance before the end of the series. It's a problem when I'm looking more forward to getting lots of pretty Sakura and Syaoran artwork in the next couple chapters than having a happy resolution. I'm also waiting for Clow Reed to make an appearance, and even more so waiting to learn that Watanuki actually becomes Clow Reed in the future and we'll have a big incestuous circle of S+S being Wata's parents, and Wata/Clow Reed being Clone!Sakura's father and we get an impossible eternal loop. Lol. I'm joking. Half. After all, I'm a fanfiction writer. It's just that as I was coloring Watanuki in this particular frame, I thought how much he resembled Eriol-kun. Anyway, who else thinks Watanuki aged very well? ^_^

Oh well, if all fails, then I'll just eagerly await glimpses of Kinomoto Touya in the upcoming Kobato anime. ^_^

Card Captor Sakura Fanart - Let's Go to the Beach!!!

Cardcaptor Sakura Summer Lovin by ~wishluv on deviantART

My first fanart on my new laptop! I would rather work off a full monitor, and I find laptop widescreen monitors annoying to work on because I feel like they're shorter. But then my painting programs were not freezing up on me every other minute, so that was awesome--I would not have been able to draw a picture this big on my old laptop without it crashing up.

The theme is "Summer Lovin' "-- I wanted to capture a breezy beach full of sunlight. I guess this is more of a Card Captor Sakura fanart than a New Trials one, but you should spot two familiar faces from the New Trials scene. :) I wanted to draw everyone happy and carefree for a change. The inspiration for this pic is CCS episode 17 (?) where Sakura is repeating "Umi umi umi" over and over again because she's so excited to go to the beach. Ah, she used to be so adorable. I wanted to draw Eriol and crew as well, but he wasn't there when Meilin was, unfortunately. And young Miho and Mikai are playing in the background, not knowing Sakura and crew at all.

Ten Best Anime Ending Theme Songs

My top ten favorite anime ending songs in no particular order and not complete by any means. I went more for a survey of good anime ending themes out there that might not always be the best known (or may be very popular already.) I think I cover a wide range of anime between shoujo, shounen, jousei and mecha.

1. I love it when the first chords of the ending song kick into the end of the anime episode. The quintessential example of this of Fushigi Yuugi's ending "Tokimeki no Doukousen," especially with the ending of the first episode which gave me the feeling, ah this anime is going to be epic. The Yuu Watase manga illustration at the end was beautiful as well. Note: I have not watched the anime nor read the manga in its entirety and still plan to one day.



2. Full Metal Alchemist is noted for its great music, and if I could, I would include all the songs in my list. If had to pick my top (and it's a real hard choice), I would pick FMA's second ending theme Yellow Generation's "Tobira no Mukou E" because I love the way the beginning of the song kicks in at the end of the episode, which gives me a tingling sense of anticipation. I didn't really fall for FMA until the mid-teen episodes, and then rapidly, before I knew it, I was hooked. Oddly enough, Crystal Kay's "Motherland" is probably overall the crowd's least favorite ED, but it's the most re-listenable one and is a constant on my playlist, more so than most other songs. FMA did the progression of ending themes very well from the angsty and slightly bitter-toned Nana Kitade song "Kesenai Tsumi" or "Inerasable Sin" (I love the acoustic raw-breath version even more), the frustration and desperation felt in Tobira with it's opening lyrics, "The two of us are screaming, even now" (paired with music that is somewhat forward-looking and ends with a sense of hope), the nostalgic "Motherland" and finally the wistful Sowelu's "I Will." I found the last image in the ED 2 video very poignant, when the snowflake melts from the warmth of Ed's real hand and doesn't in his metal arm.



3. Honey and Clover 1st ending Sunohair's "Waltz" just pairs one of my favorite ending songs with my favorite anime. One of Honey and Clover's winning points (besides great character, plot, comedy drama and animation) is music, since it was named after to albums. Especially since the first half of season 1is so much more light-hearted than the rest of the series, this ending just embodies hope and youth. (And yes, I love it when the first chords of the ending kicks in at the end.)



4. Detective Conan Ending 17 - "Overture" by Inaba Koshi (of B'z). Yes, this is the song I really fell in love with B'z, who have done other Detective Conan related music. There are songs that the first time you hear it, it sense shivers down your spine. It was once said that Inaba Koshi's voice is one of Japan's national treasures, and I whole-heartedly agree. Matsumoto Tak and Inaba Koshi are really a dream combination. Overall, Detective Conan boasts an awesome OP and ED collection--sometimes I like the animations of the OP and ED even better than the story because they're angsty and more romantic than the actual series.



5. Full Moon wo Sagashite is a music anime so inevitably the music has to be good. I loved all of Changin' My Life's songs for this anime and Myco truly made "Mitsuki" shine. My favorite songs, if I had to pick one, would be first ending "Myself" (though my ultimate favorite would be Route L version of "Eternal Snow," which I wish was longer and recorded with better acoustics.) Nonetheless, I pick for best ending "New Future" because I just love how they use the song in the last episode and it ties the whole anime together-- it really brought tears to my eyes. And I loved how Tanemura Arina tied in the "New Future" lyrics in volume 7 of the manga. Anyhow, love them all.




6. Naruto's 1st ending theme Wind by Akeboshi. I know it's a cliched choice, yet is there any other subsequent ending theme that fits "Naruto" so well? I personally find this one of the most beautiful and poignant anime ending themes ever, the way it starts out with the flute, the vocals kick in, even the wispy animation. This was my first introduction to Akeboshi, and I fell in love with his music and lyrics. They are simple yet so poignant, and Japanese mixed in with a Celtic flair was very refreshing from the typical pop scene. I really like "Yellow Moon" as well which has been on my playlist quite frequently. Someday, I will catch up with Naruto Shippuden.

7. Wolf's Rain - "Gravity" by Maaya Sakamoto. You can't go wrong with Maaya meets Yoko Kanno, and this song, with complete English lyrics is a hauntingly memorable ending. I haven't watched the anime yet, and the ending sequence animation is boring, but I love the ending. I first heard just a short clip of the song at the end of an anime and then set out on a quest to find the song--I didn't even realize it was a Japanese anime song let alone Maaya.



8. Beck Mongolian Chop Squad Ending 2: Sowelu - "Moon on the Water." Good songs bring you back to the moment you hear them. The first time I heard the acapella duet between "Koyuki" and "Maho," it was 5 am sophomore year of college on the day we had to sign up for courses online for the spring semester at 8 am sharp (yes, it was a battle of speed), and I had not yet decided my classes. I was procrastinating and began watching Beck, and I still remember the shiver I felt down my spine when I heard the guitar strumming in and the clarity of Sowelu's voice (of course, I didn't know she was the singing voice of Maho then.)




9. Inuyasha - Do As Infinity - "Fukai Mori." DAI was one of my earliest J-pop hooks, and this probably is my favorite DAI song. Inuyasha, like many Shounen Jump anime, has great songs. Ending 4 Boa's "Every Heart" is also a favorite.



10. Nodame Cantabile's 1st ending "Konna Chikan de..." Yes, this song does it too--I love it when the beginning notes kick in at the end of the episode--this song gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling, and the lyrics are so cute too. (Makes you nostalgic hearing Tomokazu Seki aka Kinomoto Touya as Chiaki-senpai. Their personalities are actually surprisingly similar, down to the violin-playing. Lol.



Other notable anime ending themes.
Mahoujin Guru Guru - "Wind Climbing" I first heart the ending done in Korean, and the song is strangely memorable though anime itself is cute and silly. It still retains much popularity in Japan as well, it seems, according to polls.


Bleach ending 3 - Youhna - "Houki Boushi" The singer is actually Korean, and though I was introduced to her because of Bleach, I enjoy her Korean songs as well--she is talented and a breath of fresh air in the K-pop scene. I especially love this ending because the animation changed each episode to match a division. How awesome is that? Bleach, like FMA, boasts an awesome repertoire of theme songs, (unlike Naruto which is a hit or miss for me.)



Macross Frontier Ending 1 - May'n - "Diamond Crevasse." Since Macross is mecha music anime meets Yoko Kanno, of course it should have a spot on the list. I loved many songs on the soundtrack; I personally prefer Megumi's voice to May'n's voice, and my favorite song is "Ao no Ether." But Diamond Crevasse, I believe, is THE song of Macross. I love all subsequent versions of it.

Nana Ending 1 - Olivia's aka Reira's "A Little Pain." I think it's the best song of the bunch in another music-centric anime.

K-on Ending 1 - "Don't Say Lazy," which I don't think needs anymore pimping than the hype it has already gotten.

Slam Dunk Ending 2 Wands - "Sekai ga Owaru Made Wa"

Saint Tail Ending 1 - "Junshin "

Rurouni Kenshin Ending 3 - T.M. Revolution - "Heart of Sword."

Lastly, the Fancy Lala Ending Theme. The plotline is the typical young girl transformed into older popstar story. There was nothing outstanding about this anime (which was supposedly overshadowed by the reigning shoujo anime of the time, Card Captor Sakura). It is a typical coming of age story, but the last episode which segued into the ending theme really made this anime linger longer than just another typical magical shoujo anime. I actually prefer the Korean dub of the song, which is rare for me.



Favorite opening themes I think would be easier to do because openings have bigger animation budgets usually and need to capture the audience and are better publicized/ easier for me to recall. I feel like anime OPs should draw you in, and I do value good opening theme animation sequences. But with ending themes, I like songs that gives you a lingering sense after the episode has ended (hence oftentimes the more ballady ending themes in contrast with upbeat openings). With my favorite songs, I think there is a pattern of a. music animes, b. shounen anime c. anime I watched as a child d. anything involving Yoko Kanno or Maaya Sakamoto or both. You will see this pattern manifested more in the next list I make. ^_^

xxxHolic 185 and TRC 226

Wow, I never thought I would come to say this, but at the moment, I am more in anticipation of the new xxxHolic chapter than the Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles chapter. Truthfully speaking, I was never that into xxxHolic in the beginning. I was nostalgic of CLAMP's old style of drawing, and I read xxxHolic for the tie-ins with TRC.

Watanuki is a reluctant hero, and starts out as a crabby, whiny and ungrateful high school student. He is always grumbling, he is silly with his crush for Himawari-chan. Over the course of xxxHolic, he has matured greatly starting with the spider incident and the eye-swap with Doumeki. We can see how far he has grown as a person in Chapter 185, when he claims he will take over the shop. That last shot when he takes a puff out of Yuuko's pipe will remain one of the most poignant CLAMP images to date because you see a gravity in his persona, a sense of dignity, sadness, determination and responsibility all in one panel.

I find the relationship dynamic between Yuuko and Watanuki a fascinating one. They are not exactly mentor and student, they aren't friends, they aren't lovers. You wonder what was the significance of her existence to Watanuki. Watanuki has a strong pillar system going with Doumeki by his side, but you can clearly see that "Yuuko" is the one who has left an imprint on Watanuki, changed him for better or worse. On the contrary, I find Himawari a rather shallow character, and I can't figure out her significance in the bigger pictures of things, but CLAMP may surprise us yet. Yuuko reminds me a bit of CC of Code Geass with her will to die.

In TRC 226, I found Fei Wong Reed's reaction to Yuuko's disappearance funny. You can't tell if he is angry or sad that Yuuko is gone, declaring she must be revived. I wonder if Fei was bishounen like Zagato, would he be more likable. He is possibly the most despicable character in all of CLAMPdom, but that can still be overturned. Who knows what inner demons he suffers from. TRC has come to a full loop now with the explanation of the glass cylinder scene in Chapter 225. I am glad to know that they were the clones after all aka the "original" S+S that we start off with, that we weren't cheated of the main characters, that the story is indeed the clones' story. It was jarring to see Clone with Son though, same age. I wonder if Ohkawa-sensei shed some spoilers to Maaya Sakamoto when Maaya wrote the lyrics for the Tsubasa anime ending 2 "Yunagi Loop."

Either way, I look forward to the conclusion of both mangas. It will really feel like the end of an era to me. At least we can look forward to the Kobato anime!

The New Trials of Card Captor Sakura - Translation Project

I am very blessed in that the New Trials of Card Captor Sakura has readers from all over the world and has connected me to people from numerous countries in numerous sorts of occupation and studies. I have received emails in the past requesting New Trials to be translated to a certain language. Unfortunately, I lacked the resources and time to do so. I have also received in the past various requests regarding adaptations of New Trials including if New Trials can be made into a doujinshi in Thailand (?) and several other countries, if the musical "Star-Crossed" can be adapted into a school play, if there can be fanfiction involving original characters or events in New Trials and if New Trials could be made into a movie for a film school project. Way back in the days, there was even a plagiarized version of New Trials called "Trials of the Heart" or something of the sort, which didn't come into my attention till a reader pointed it out. There have been many New Trials projects that I never heard back about, which makes me always wonder if there is some derivative of New Trials out there that I do not know about. ^_^

Recently, I received an email from a Spanish reader who stated that English was not her native language and requested for a Spanish translation of New Trials. It got me thinking that though I consider English a universal language, likewise, there are many anime/manga fans out there who don't speak/read English fluently. I was very enthused when Rikku-chan offered to translate New Trials into French. Rikku-chan is a beta-reader on a French website and commands excellent use of both English and French.

Rikku-chan is handling things in a very professional manner, and I trust her to handle the translation at her own pace and leisure. So far, the Prologue has been translated, and I think Rikku-chan did a great job (albeit my poor French-comprehension skills). She wants me to mention she does not do translations by request. ^^

Without further ado, the French translations can be found here at fanfic-fr.net which seems to be the French counterpart of fanfiction.net. Rikku-chan is doing these on a voluntary basis, in her own free time, and I am deeply grateful to her. Please do give her a warm round of applause.

http://www.fanfic-fr.net/fanfics/Animes-Mangas/C/Card-Captor-Sakura/The-New-Trials/20758.html

There has been mention of other translation and edit projects in the past, but I really don't wish this monster of a fanfic on anyone. Translation into any language would take an enormous amount of time and effort, especially come later chapters. But I think perhaps having Arc 1 translated into several different languages won't be too bad because I think it is shorter and structurally and gramatically more simple than the following arcs, it might be more straightforward to translate. It will then provide non-English speakers a gateway into New Trials. And there always is Amethyst Beloved's summaries of New Trials for those who want a simpler version of NT.

Meanwhile, Desi-chan/ desiree_li80 from the New Trials Yahoo Group has expressed interest in starting up Spanish translations. If there's anybody fluent in Spanish and English and interested in helping out, please feel free to contact her!

This is another opportunity to thank all those people who have been so supportive and helpful to the development of New Trials over the years. Merci beaucoup and muchas gracias!

VAMPS Concert in New York July 11

L'Arc~en~Ciel has always been one of the first J-Rock bands I have been introduced and are probably my second favorite Japanese band besides B'z. B'z are just on an untouchable level, and someday, I pray I will get to see them in concert.

I started out liking L'Arc~en~Ciel for their fun songs like "Honey" and "Stay Away" and their anime songs such as "Seventh Heaven," "Ready Steady Go" and "Driver's High." I usually start liking a band for their songs, and then one day, I decided to look up the band and figured out who Hyde is. Not only is Hyde one of the most beautiful male musicians out there, but he also has an incredible voice (when he is not ruining it by smoking). I had a serious Laruku faze a couple years ago, when I was listening to nothing but Laruku, and I was a little obsessed with Hyde and Gackt. I love their duet in "Orenji no Taiyou." I think the moment I fell in love with Hyde's voice is when he hits this beautiful high note in the 10 minute song, harmonizing with Gackt. I would love to hear a live version of that song (I can imagine how difficult it would be to replicate that beautiful recording.) I love Hyde's solo work stuff as well, especially Roentgen. "Cape of Storms" is a most haunting song and matched perfectly the movie "Last Quarter" based on the manga by the same name by famed Nana mangaka Yazawa Ai.

Vamps consists of Hyde from Laruku and Kaz from Oblivion Dust. I don't know much about the latter band, but Kaz in an amazing guitarist and very hot--my friend loved him. I was intending on attending the concert anyway, but I got two free tickets because I got picked by an MTV contest. I've been lucky with stuff like that. I managed to attend the much coveted premierof the Yatterman movie in New York with Miike Takashi and JE idol group Arashi's Sakurai Sho. It's the first time they premiered a Japanese movie outside of Japan. This was my second J-Rock concert. I went to the T.M. Revolution concert last year and actually met Takanori Nishikawa at New York Comic Con last year. He was really friendly and nice, and I shook hands and got an autograph from him. He has an awesome stage presence and the concert was exhilirating (loved the live preview of the Soul Eater opening as well.) Anyhow, so I had a little idea of what to expect from the Vamps concert.

First off, the concert was AMAZING! I don't know what people say about Hyde's live performances, but his voice was FLAWLESS. He sounded even better than recordings (and we all know he doesn't always sound so fabulous). And for a small man, his stage presence is just mindblowing. The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza is not a big venue but there was a pretty huge line waiting down the block. There are some hardcore fans out there, and I was about to get trampled alive by the CRAZY concert-goers. I'm not kidding when I say I think I've never been more suffocated or moshed. It was like I was in a human panini-maker. Anyhow, my friend and I were stuck in the smack middle center of the mosh pit, so after the first song, my friend and I clambered to get away from the craziness. I had a perfect spot perched on the guard rail to the side and had a wonderful view of the entire concert. Since the venue is quite small, you can almost just hop onto the stage if you want to. At one point, I was waving my arms and screaming my lungs out, and Hyde looked over and did a pouty kiss in my direction and winked. Kyaa!!! I'm pretty sure it was towards me because I was the only one sticking out from the crowd since I was standing on the guard rail keeping all the crazy fans fenced in. (At one point, the guard made us get down, but I climbed on again because the other people were huge and I was wearing flats.) For the record, I am usually a very reserved, calm composed person. It's just certain triggers that unleashes the crazy fangirl in me.

Kaz had mad guitar skills, and he was very nice, throwing all his picks at the audience. At one point, Hyde through his water bottle too. My friend is not a J-Rock fan, and I was slightly afraid the madness would scare her, but I think I converted her. She made fun of Hyde's little dance though. Lol. One of my favorite songs of the night was "Trouble" because Vamps did a refreshing rock rendition of a pop song already familiar to the audience, and it was lots of fun and catered to a more "Western" audience I suppose. I thought it was cute that Hyde spoke in English, which was surprisingly very good. He talked about how big the pizza in New York is. My Chinese friend said that he always talks about food.

I also saw the band exiting the back of the building into a large van. A bunch of people were waiting in the front, but I was smart and convinced my friends there must be a side exit. Lol. I don't think I'll ever be an arm's reach away from Hyde again. Lol. I'm jealous of those people who will be able to get his signature at Baltimore.

Needless to say, I was very sore and my voice was compeltely hoarse the next day. Lol. I would love to see L'Arc~en~Ciel in concert one day because those songs are a lot more familiar to me and it would be a lot of fun. I would love to hear "Jyoujoushi" which I prefer live versions over the recorded version. All the FMA songs would be awesome--but I also like their album stuff and their older songs as well. I know even those who are not J-Rock fans have heard of L'Arc~en~Ciel (especially since they're more on the commercial pop side anyway), but do check out Vamps if you get a chance. They are on tour in the US until August.

Now, if I can only see B'z and Akeboshi in concert, I can rest in peace.