A Night In Fantasia 2009

Last Saturday, I went to this event where an orchestra is held. This orchestra, performed by Eminence, concentrated on anime and games soundtrack. I seldom heard of something like that, so it definitely interests me to go.

I went with 2 friends, which are cousins of my good friend. They are also interested in going.

This event is held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. I went out at 1pm for a walk. Then met them at 4pm for dinner (because the event starts at 6pm). We had japanese for dinner, which we might not go another time for a reason. Below is my dinner.
We got to the place, and the inside is beautiful. There the stage filled with seats and instruments, and also a screen for footage. For some reason we are able to choose where to sit, and theres so many empty seats, so we chose to sit in the middle (our original seat is like the left side of the stage).

The program is divided to 2 parts, with a break in between. In between the musics there are sometimes interviews with special guests. Some of the guests came from Japan, and one of them is a seiyuu, Takahashi Chiaki, who voices Miura in IdolM@ster. And the director, a japanese violinist, does the translation for the japanese guests.

The quality of the music is spectacular. I dunno how to say it but they performed really well. And the conductor's moves are very fun to watch. Footage of games are shown on screen, but sadly no footage for anime, which i can understand why.

The programs are as follows:
Part 1:

• Red Alert 3
• Laputa, the Castle in the Sky
• My Neighbour Totoro
• Princess Mononoke
• Darksiders
• God of War 2
• Soul Calibur
• Astro Boy
• Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
• Tsubasa Chronicles
• Ace Combat 5

Part 2:

• Death Note
• AFRIKA
• Chrono Cross
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Prince of Persia
• Shadow of the Colossus
• The IDOLM@STER
• Gears of War 2

And finally it is ended with an encore, featuring Metal Gear Solid.

SMASH!

I was so tired and busy lately that I have to write this a week later. And since this a pretty exciting thing, i suppose i should share my experience with everyone.

Anime SMASH! was held in the UNSW Roundhouse on 8th and 9th of August. It was my first anime convention event, and I was very excited on that day.

I reached there 15 minutes earlier, and there was already a long queue in front of the building. By the time i got in there, it was 10 passed. There's stalls around the circumference of the building, and seats in the middle in front of the stage. Some of the stores were actually anime clubs from other universities. By looking at the stuff they sell, I could probably tell which one is animeUNSW, since they sold the same thing as during UNSW foundation day on 31 July. And they cosplay as the Code Geass gang. Some other stalls sell limited edition figurines, manga drawing supplies, transformers figures, manga and DVDs. I bought the Code Geass Season 1 DVDs.

Upstairs, theres an art section, where people sell their own artwork and some doujins. Theres also a maid cafe, for eating cake. I am very interested with the maid cafe, but damn how long was that queue -.-. I cant be bothered waiting in the queue so I didnt end up going. Theres also a section where theres an interview with internation artists on stage, and also for them to sell their products. Among them is Cuson Lo from Hong Kong, with some of his art looked familiar for some reason. There is also a screening room, showing various anime ranging from those airing this season, to some classic ones.

In some other rooms outside the Roundhouse, there are also the Karaoke room, and gaming room, and model building room, and the craft room. I am very tempted to sing in the Karaoke room, but same as the maid cafe, theres a long queue. There are some of them singing without looking at the lyrics, and i was like Wow! The gaming room, well, fighting games and the dancing thing. Model building room and the crafts room, are as their name suggested, namely gundam models and... clay figures i think?

Theres a lot of cosplayers as well. Code Geass, Rozen Maiden, Halo, Lucky Star, even Sailormoon. Theres also quite a few people dressing as the same character, such as L from Death Note, and one of them even acts like him during the whole session. Should have took a picture of him. I was in a quest of find all the Rozen Maidens, but only 3 showed up, they are Shinku, Suiseiseki and Kanaria. Theres a guy who cosplays as Sailormoon. Damn!

The cosplay competition is certainly one of the main attractions of the convention. I almost missed it, because i was hanging around in the Karaoke room and the gaming room. Some of the cosplays are not really interesting. The one that I like is the guy as Sol Badguy, and the guy as King Bradley. The King Bradley dude made the eye patch covered his eye, which reveals a white object on his eye, which he then turns on a switch and make the eye shine a red glow! Thats is where his Ouroboros tattoo is on. I left before they announced the winner, therefore I do not know who the winner is.

Due to being busy and all, I didnt go on Sunday. For pictures, please click here.

Theres another one on September at the Australian Technology park. It is during my mid sem break, so theres a possibility that i am going on both days. Weeee~~~

Game: Persona 4

Just realized that my last post was written on 7th July, which is Tanabata, a certain day in Japan. I am not gonna say more about it so wikipedia if you're interested. Wahahaha...

So, one of my best friends told me that she played Persona 4, and she played it twice. And said that she loved it. And the main character is handsome and blah blah blah. So my first reaction was: "See? Told you it is fun."

Indeed, Persona 4 is a late ps2 game. And it is certainly the game that will make you regret that you got rid of your ps2. To me my favourite RPG were the Shadow Hearts series. Which is then taken over by the Ar Tonelico series. But now the Most Favourite RPG throne belongs to Persona 4.

I am always in a state of fantasizing things. In this fantasy of mine, I am a student, but at the same time I am also in an adventure of some sort. Like, day time student, night time super hero, kind of stuff. And Persona 4 actually fits that category. Kind of a very free game.
You play as silent protagonist with a name that you gave him. In the manga he is called Seto Souji(瀬多 総司). Due to his father's work, he has to live with his uncle in Inaba. There he attends school and made some friends. But then there is this strange occurence in town, and he and his friends are pulled into this mess. With their new found powers, the Persona, Souji set out to find out the mastermind behind these mysteries, while attending school in the morning.

Other than typical RPG play styles, this game also have the Social Link system, which is the raised by socializing with people corresponding to a certain arcana. As the social link levels up, persona that belongs to that arcana with become stronger. Through this system, Souji can date certain female characters through answering the right choices. This system makes Persona 4 an RPG that is also a dating sim.

Making new persona is the fun part of the game. Each persona has their own abilities, strengths and weaknesses. In the Persona series, the main character is always the one that is able to change to different persona, while the other characters can only have one persona, which compensates for the fact that if the main character dies, its instant game over.

This game has events that a school normally has, such as trips, festivals, so on. These events are fun to watch and often cracks me up. Makes me think that our school should set up more of something like this.

I really like this game, I think that everyone should play it if they have a chance. Personally i think the english version ruined the characters due to the voice acting. Mine is the japanese version, and hearing the voices that i know makes me happy as well.

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Summer 2009 anime

Its been a long time since i last post something. At first it was because I am busy with exam. But after the exam, I cant seem to think of something to write about. I actually have quite a few topics that i can write about, but for some reason cant get myself to write it. That said, i might start getting myself to write stuff now.

Well, its that time again, the new season anime. At first glance theres really nothing special this season. Some of the anime doesn't even draw my attention until this blogger talked about it. So my list of anime to watch might increase over time.

My watch list:
Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When the Seagulls Cry)Murder mystery sort of thing, set in 1986 (my birthyear ^^). Opening is sung by one of my favourite singers, Shikata Akiko. Most people know her as one of the singers of the Ar Tonelico series.

Aoi Hana - Sweet Blue FlowersYuri drama, didnt pay attention to this until the blogger talked about it. My last yuri drama anime is Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl. Too lazy to watch Maria-sama ga Miteru since theres so many seasons.

CANAANOne sentence says it all. Original story and original character design by Type-Moon co-founders Nasu Kinoko and Takeuchi Takashi. I am a big fan of Type-Moon, therefore this anime is at the top of my list.

Sora no ManimaniRomance drama. Might have some other elements but i would love to watch it.

Spice and Wolf 2I am a fan of the novels due to the interations between the characters. So I am gonna follow this season as well.

Might have some other series that i might follow such as Bakemonogatari and Needless but lets see how it goes.

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All down except one...

Phew.... what a long week. 3 assignments needed to hand in this week.
After struggling for a few moments due to brain blankness, finally finished the job. Just submitted the last one a few minutes ago.

Now all but one is left. Ah yes, the exam.
Looking at the date, its seems that I have less than 2 weeks to prepare for it.
Today is friday. I will start prepare on Monday.
Have to let my body rest after all that work. Haven't have much sleep. Maybe not as bad as some people but still need to.

Theres several movies that I wanted to watch. One of those is the Terminator. And the new Transformers looks nice. But its not out yet is it? I can't remember.
And catch up with anime, of course.

Watched Night at the Museum 2 last week. Reminds me how much I loved the prequel. Its like Toy Story, but with really big toys. Well some are small, which reminds me of Small Soldiers. Used to love that show.

Don't know what should I add, but maybe its time I show you how my dog looked like.
CHIANG~~
Mickey-chan desu!
Should ask mum if he changed a bit. I mean the looks.
He's still the same hyperactive dog that somehow becoming more like a ninja dog. Maybe sometime later he upgrades to ninja god, since DOG = GOD.
LOL!
By the way this is last year's photo.

Random random...

Recently duno what to write about. Is it because I am too lazy? or is it because like my result in one of the quizzes in facebook -- my life is too boring? -.-

Just did my presentation, I think i did well enough since the lecturer didn't complain about anything. All he said was well done after i finished with the presenting. So... good sign perhaps?

Anyway, 2 more weeks in uni for the semester, 2 projects and 1 essay to do. As well as catching up the stuff that i have missed, or do stuff that I kept on forgetting to do. And also the exam, its only one subject, but then still have to study for it.

This time of the year, everyone's busy with their thing, hence less chatting, less facebooking, and more assignment rushing and studying. Life is sooo much less colourful like that. But then again, life IS that way, so why complain, and cope with it. Unless you are a NEET, then life will be easier.

Just watched an OVA called Denpa Teki na Kanojo(電波的な彼女). Interesting, with murder mysteries, human nature, and stuff. only 1 OVA is out, and it is scheduled to be 3 OVA episodes. Based on light novel of the same name. I have to say a lot of light novels are getting animated recently, but i am not complaining, because i prefer light novels being animated than manga. When it is being animated, there is a chance that it will be translated to chinese. So there will be another series for my collection soon, if i decide to buy it. Dont mind me, just being random here. Just getting everything that happened recently and then squeeze it in this post. I couldn't think of better things to write at the moment. And need to tidy up my computer harddisk, too. Too much unused stuff.

Back to the past mode: ON

Chat a lot with my friends recently. Random stuff like school life, work, food, gaming, anime, and occasionally, the past. In the past, we have countless events that were memorable, and talking about them brings back the emotions of the time of event. Things like how we met, how that certain someone was, how fun was that certain event, are the things that often talked about when concerning the past.

Feel nostalgic at some point but at the same time makes us realize how merciless time can be. Time makes us move forward, makes us change. And talking about the past implies that we dont wanna change, and wanting to go back in time (even though I dont think i have changed in anyway). But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't talk about the past, because it means that we treasure every moment that we have, we keep them in our hearts. Thats why we are able to talk about it. We wont be able to do it if we dont give a damn.

By the way did I sound like an old guy? Coz talking about past events are usually what old people do. I admit it is a fun thing to do though. When i am stress i usually pick out old games, or old photos to look at, makes me feel calm. After calming down, I can continue with my work.

Also recently, been playing on Facebook a lot. Never realize that it was that fun, with all the quizzes and comment spamming ^^. I never really bother with these things except for like looking at other people's photos. I havent touched my friendster account since a long time ago. I think it can be dumped.

Anyway... chatting about random stuff is fun. Thats why any slice of life comedy shows like Lucky Star goes really well with me. If anyone have recommendations about this sort of anime, let me know.
(Seems to be straying away from the topic -.-)
(Maa ii ka ^^)