Ten Reasons Why I L♥ved Ryoga Hibiki!

1. His Bokusai Tenketsu can penetrate through bricks, rocks and stones.
2. His clothes serve an even greater purpose. Headband: 5 autofires of razor shaped messiles. Belt: Virtual Sword or Steel Pole.
3. His umbrella can fire reserve shots, deflect attack, and can be used as a weapon.
4. He has strong chivalrous streaks. An honorable person.
5. He knows iron cloth martial arts and kenpo.
6. He has fangs.
7. He can survive a temperate wilderness and subtropical mountains.
8. He can send you exotic gifts and local goods from different places.
9. He can be your pet.
10. Douse P-chan with cold water and you get a naked Ryoga!

Sad Rain

Blassreiter

Looking for the complete lyrics of Sad Rain by Aki Misato?  It’s no wonder then because Animax Asia is currently airing the 2008 action-drama anime, Blassreiter.  Another anime flick from studio Gonzo, it’s one of the reason why youngsters are rooting on their TV sets nowadays. And watch out, Blassreiter manga is still ongoing! 🙂

So here’s the complete lyrics of the ending theme song

Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama!

There’s a main reason why the name Usui Takumi is brewing hot in the anime world today.  A new ongoing romantic comedy anime series Kaichou Wa Maid Sama! (The Student Council President is a Maid!) currently airing today on Animax every Sunday at 8:30 am has to do with this.

The anime is classified as “shoujo” which means the anime caters to young girls and women.  This distinction can be easily grasped because of the anime’s romantic flavor brewing between two major characters: Ayuzawa Misaki and Usui Takumi.  The chemistry between them is absolutely hilarious and anime viewers find their love-hate relationship turbulently sweet and fascinating.

Ayuzawa Misaki

Ayuzawa Misaki (voiced by Ayumi Fujimura), is the first female student council president of Seika High School.  Seika is renowned for its boisterous and wild students, once an exclusive all-boys school which makes its reputation even more intimidating and terrifying to young girls.  Misaki, fueled by her determination to put the recently co-ed school into a good light, tries her best to tame wild and hardheaded Seika students.  Her own reforms are relentless and ruthless but at the end of the day they all boil down to Misaki’s best interests for the school.

However, there’s one secret that Misaki has been nursing to herself all this time.  While she poses a dominant stance toward Seika students all throughout the day, she is actually

My Secret

by Mizuno Saaya

Kaichou Wa Maid Sama Opening Theme

This is the opening theme song of the current hit anime on Animax.  Kaichou Wa Maid Sama! airs its new episodes in Japanese audio (with English subs) every Sunday, 8:30 pm.  Also, catch up the last episode before the new one on the same day at 8:00 am (in Japanese audio, without English subs).

The ending theme song of the anime is entitled Yokan (Premonition) performed by heide.

Full Lyrics

dou ka… please!
Can you keep my secret?

kirakira to

About Natsuki Takaya

Natsuki Takaya

If you are a certified manga addict, then perhaps you would know her.  Natsuki Takaya is the Japanese manga artist of the famous manga Fruits Basket (you probably have seen the anime adaptation) J.  That’s her pen name – she is born as Naka Hatake, on July 7, under the star sign Cancer.

 

I love her manga really – oh, I also love the 26-episode anime adaptation.  Because of the famous Fruits Basket manga, she received the Kodansha Manga Award for shojo in 2001.

 

My favorite Fruits Basket character is Kyou, the cat – hmmm, I can’t deny he’s really appealing, and I also like the character of the wacky Shigure-san.

 

I’m currently reading her manga Boku ga Utau to Kimi wa Warau Kara, though I’m really slow in terms of reading it because the semester is going to be over soon and lots and lots and lots of things are to be done.  whew!

Paradise Kiss

If you have read Ai Yazawa’s manga Gokinjo Monogatari and you happen to love it, then probably you would also enjoy the semi-sequel of this work – Paradise Kiss.  Paradise Kiss, or ParaKiss, is an original 5-volume manga written by Yazawa, and has been adapted into a 12-episode anime produced by Aniplex and Studio Madhouse.  I’ve seen the anime in Animax, who broadcast the series and widely distributed it and it was so amazing.

The protagonist of the story is Yukari Hayazaka, also nicknamed Caroline, a highschool student who is already bored with her life driven by routines, thus, when she meets the Parakiss crew, she models for them and decides to stop her review for the university entrance examinations.  She matures little by little through her relationship with George Koizumi, a chic and handsome university student, and a fashion designer.  George designs Yukari’s outfit when she models for them, or for anybody else.  Along with the Parakiss crew are Miwako Sakarada a cute and childlike university student who fondly calls Yukari ‘Caroline’ a lot and Arashi Nagase, the punk, rock and hardcore guy who is a band member and Miwako’s girlfriend.  The mother figure of the Parakiss crew is none other than Daisuke “Isabella” Yamamoto, but she is actually a crossdresser.

But one character that I will not forget in this anime is Hiroyuki Tokumori, Yukari’s classmate – a handsome, appealing, silent and intelligent young man, who always looks out for Yukari and concern for her studies. In the first part of the anime, Hiroyuki is the object of Yukari’s affection, but her emotions shifts to George when she meets him.  I like Hiroyuki because his character reminds me of my highschool crush (and I still like that guy) – both are intelligent in the first place.  *giggles

Oh yeah, too much for digressions.

Not to forget the theme songs of the anime – Lonely in Gorgeous performed by Tommy February6 is the opening theme, and Do You Want To by Franz Ferdinand is the ending theme.

If you really love fashion, you’ll fall in love with this anime. J

Emma: A Victorian Romance

Emma

It was a pity that I didn’t have the chance to finish watching a Cinderella-like story of Emma: A Victorian Romance in Animax.  It was first aired on the channel when I was still in high school, and because the evening schedule wasn’t just fit for my schedule, I didn’t have the chance to watch the later episodes.  The storyline was great though, very heartwarming but still, it’s no good to think that still I haven’t had the chance to watch it.  I only watched a few good earlier episodes.  I also watched the continuation of the anime via YouTube but I was too broke at that time.  In short, I just don’t have the chance.

Now that I’m starting downloading a few manga copies of my own choice I stumbled upon the manga version of Emma and I was perfectly happy to download and finally finished the whole story! I was so delighted, it was a very good story, mind you, and sometimes I think about the romantic story in my serious, so-called reflection moments.  Ha! I just like the character of William Jounes and I also like Hakim too! I think Hakim is much more appealing to me, though his ‘girls’ are kind of disturbing.  Then again, I think I’ll prefer Will.

The story was about the maid Emma, who came to work with the retired live-in governess and widowed Kelly Stowner. One day, William Jounes, who was Kelly Stowner’s former student, visited her.  There he bumped into Emma, and fell in love with her.  But William is the oldest son of the noble family of Jounes, and her father Richard already decided that his son would marry Eleanor Campbell, who was a daughter of a viscount.  And then, the conflict starts here.

But I’m not spilling out the whole story here though, I would like you to read it yourself because it’s a very nice manga.

Probably by far, the most dramatic page in the manga.

The manga series was written by Kaoru Mori.  I would like to thank Iihan Translation Group for coming up with a good manga release such as this and Stoptazmo as well for the distribution.  I’m so happy and would like to thank personally the people who were involved with this manga project especially to

the translators whispers and mogura;

to by_request for a good editing job;

to squeeks and jedi_vader20 for the distribution;

to the quality checker boke;

to !waha.06×36 for providing the raw volumes;

and to the scanners winny and anonymous!  I saw your names in the manga copy that I have.  Thanks a lot guys, you rock!

The manga has a total of 52 chapters in 7 volumes, so its not really painstaking to read it.  Besides, it’s all worth it.

And What About Junpei Manaka?

Junpei Manaka

Nah, don’t believe that a guy like Manaka can attract so many girls.

But in Miyuki Kawashita’s Ichigo 100% manga, it is almost convincing that a dim-witted guy who doesn’t know much about choosing the girl he really likes and understanding his own emotions can get so many girls.  He couldn’t just decide the best among the girls around him! But the best thing about Manaka is that he is a cute when he is in that way, and probably that’s why girls love him.

And he is also a good film maker, I suppose.

He is also determined to pursue his dream to do movies in the future, and he

Inuyasha

Good news! New Inuyasha episodes coming up soon! very soon!

—–

Inuyasha

Inuyasha remains to be one of my favorite anime shows I have ever seen, second best to Rurouni Kenshin. I constantly watch the encore run in Hero Channel even though I already watched it a long time ago. The anime is classified as ‘shounen’ – action-packed anime whose lead protagonist are usually boys, and often referred as ‘for boys’. Other shounen titles include Prince of Tennis, Death Note, Naruto, Bleach and many more.

The manga was written by Rumiko Takahashi, and I’m currently downloading the scanlated volumes from the internet (oh, I wish that I knew who were the scanlators to give proper credits, but unfortunately it was not indicated in the manga copy that I have). But to tell you honestly, I rather much prefer the anime adaptation than the manga itself. I don’t know how to explain it, but if you have seen the manga version, then you’ll surely know what I mean. I was even quite surprised that the manga won the 2002 Shogakukan Award for the Best Shounen title for that year. Uhmm, maybe the manga was really good (given its nice anime adaptation) and I might be too early to rate it, when in fact I only started to download a few titles and I am NOT even halfway through it! Can you believe that I only download eight chapters when the latest volume release was just this May 2008 which ended in chapter 554, and still ongoing? Tssk… it is a long-term project for me, to think that the manga is still released in Japan, though it is said to be nearing its final story arc.

The 167-episode anime adaptation was produced by Yomiuri TV and Sunrise (like Kekkaishi) and directed by Masashi Ikeda and Yasunao Aoki one after the other. Even though it was officially premiered in year 2000 (in Japan), but until now, I still haven’t seen a hell lot of a conclusion in the story. The anime adaptation ended in chapter 356 of the manga. So basically all I’m seeing all the years are the encore runs and replays all over again, but that’s okay because I’m not tired to watch them at all. But I just wish for new anime episodes, something to look forward to, or is it better that the anime is unended?

Inuyasha and Kagome

Although there were four movies produced, these movies didn’t serve as a conclusion to the story either, and their plots exist independently from the original story line. I recall the time when Animax Asia premiered these movies every weekend of the month, and I’ve seen them all. These four movies are (1) Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time; (2) Inuyasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass; (3) Inuyasha the Movie: Swords of the Honorable Ruler; and (4) Inuyasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island. My personal favorite is the third released movie, the Swords of the Honorable Ruler because Inuyasha’s brother Sesshoumaru made an appearance in there – and he’s got to be the hottest antagonist I’ve ever seen in the whole anime series (laughs)! Even though I also consider Naraku as a handsome guy, but he is still second-best to my Sesshoumaru.

The anime was broadcast in Japan and in other parts of Asia in its networks in East Asia, Yomiuri TV, and Nippon Television. The anime songs for the series are licensed by Avex Trax. I downloaded quite a few songs, but I hope I can complete the whole set. I only downloaded Change the World by V6, My Will by dream, I am by Hitomi, Deep Forest by Do As Infinity, Unending Dream by Nanase Aikawa, Dearest by Ayumi Hamasaki, Grip! by Every Little Thing, Every Heart by BoA, One Day, One Dream by Tackey and Tsubasa, Come by Namie Amuro, Angelus by Hitomi Shimatani, and Brand New World by V6. I still haven’t found a copy of Shinjitsu no Uta by Do as Infinity, and Itasura na Kiss by Day After Tomorrow, as well as all the movie theme songs.

Inuyasha

The story centers about the high school girl Kagome Higurashii, who was transported into the feudal world of Inuyasha through an old well. There she accidentally broke the Shikon no Tama (Jewel of Four Souls) into pieces, which is utterly dangerous because any creature that would use these broken pieces in a bad way may be dangerous. Inuyasha, who was a half-demon also pursued to get all the pieces by himself, but he ended up pairing with Kagome in this quest since Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyou, a former priestess who stood guard of the of the jewel and Inuyasha’s beloved. There, the two meets Miroku, a lascivious monk I say, who asks every girl he meets to be the mother of his future children, Sango, a demon exterminator who is in the quest for revenge against Naraku, and Shippo, a cute fox demon. The main villain is Naraku who is responsible for the misunderstanding between Inuyasha and Kagome, Miroku’s curse hand, and the death of Sango’s family. Sesshoumaru appeared once in a while to add conflict elements (and he’s so cute!) but I know deep inside that he’s a very compassionate guy. Ha-ha!

Again

By Yui

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Opening Song

Edward Elric

Last night, I watched the premiere of the new Fullmetal Alchemist franchise entitled Fullmetal Alchemist – Brotherhood and it was amazing! I was so astounded with the effects, and as usual, I’m delighted for Col. Roy Mustang presence, as ever.

The opening song for this most anticipated anime is entitled Again, and this was performed by Yui. I posted here both the romaji lyrics and the English translation.

This is the lyrics guys. If you have any suggestions, just email me at kyrillevin@gmail.com. Cheers!

Japanese/Romaji lyrics

Kono omoi o keshite shimau ni wa

Mada jinsei nagai desho

Yarinokoshiteru koto

Yarinaoshite mitai kara

Yume no tsuzuki

Oikakete ita hazu na no

Magarikunetta hosoi

michi hito ni tsumazuku

Ano koro mitai ni tte

modoritai wake ja nai no

Nakushite kita sora o sagashiteru

Wakatte kuremasu you ni

Gisei ni natta you na

Kanashii kao wa yamete yo

Tsumi no saigo wa

namida ja nai yo

zutto kurushiku seottekun da

deguchi mienai kanjou meiro ni

Dare o matteru no

Shiroi nooto ni tsuzutta you ni

Motto sunao ni hakidashitai yo

Nani kara nogaretain da

Genjitsu tte yatsu

Kanaeru tame ni ikiterundatte

Sakebitaku naru yo kikoete imasu ka

Munan ni nante yatterarenai kara

Kaeru basho mo nai no

Yasashisa ni wa itsumo kanshashiteru

Dakara tsuyoku naritai

(I’m on the way)

Natsukashiku naru

Konna itami no kangeijan

English Translation

Isn’t my life still too long

for erasing these thoughts?

I have things left to do

Because I want to try doing them again.

Even though I must have been pursuing

the continuation of my dream

I stumble over other people

on a narrow, winding road.

It’s not that I want to return

to how it was like back then

I’m searching for the sky that I’ve lost

I wish that you’ll understand me

Stop making that sad face like

you’ve been sacrificed

There aren’t tears at the end of sins

I’ve painfully bore them all this time

In the labyrinth of emotions

where I can’t see the exit

Who am I waiting for?

As if having written it in a white notebook

I want to divulge myself more honestly

What do I want to flee from?

…something known as reality?

I’m alive so that I can fulfill myself

I feel like shouting so;

Can you hear me?

Because I can’t be doing it safe and sound

There’s no place for me to return to

either I’m always grateful for kindness

So I want to become strong

(I’m on my way)

I even welcome such a pain

that turns nostalgic.