On an unrelated note, I am extremely upset that Google Reader is being retired.

Maaya’s latest album You can’t catch me was just released a few days ago. The best song in the new album is by far Utsukushii Hito, a collaboration with Yoko Kanno for the Kentoushi Fune Saigen Project at last year’s Shanghai World Expo. The exhibition itself was basically a replica of a ship used during the Tang Dynasty to bring Japanese envoys to China and Utsukushii Hito was the official theme song for the project. Maaya performed it live at the ship’s departure ceremony from Osaka but didn’t actually show up at the Expo.

Lyrics and translation after the break.

Click for: Kanji | Printable

Interestingly, the chorus contains two short phrases sang in Mandarin Chinese but rendered in Japanese kanji in the lyrics booklet (probably out of typesetting convenience). I am not 100% certain, but I think this may be the first time Maaya sang anything in Chinese. :O

Such an awesome song. Gives me chills in a good way. 美丽的人 :D

P.S. Speaking of Chinese lyrics in Japanese songs, check out ALI PROJECT’s Feihong De Mudan.

An extremely short trailer for Makoto Shinkai’s latest project “Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo” has been released on the official site. The length and amount of plot details contained are about the same as the Byousoku 5cm trailer.

It looks like he is actually moving out of his comfort zone into more adventurous fantasy territory. There’s a really strong Ghibli vibe in this one, both in terms of design and setting, but since the character designer is still Takayo Nishimura as in 5cm, I suppose this is more of a deliberate homage and probably doesn’t actually have any Ghibli involvement.

Judging by the trailer, this seems to be one of those girl-falls-into-the-well fantasy stories with a slight edge. Other than the mecha fight in Hoshi no Koe, I can’t recall any other scenes of violence in Shinkai’s past works so this seems new. Hmmm. But I’m sure unrequited bittersweet adolescent love will find its way in somehow.

The Japanese title translates to “Children Who Chase Stars”, but the English subtitle in the official art says “Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below”. I suppose this is like one of those kanji with unconventional reading situation where the writer tries to imply a plot connection between the mismatching versions of the title. But really, let’s just pray that it won’t turn out to be the official English title because it sucks Pokéballs.

Still, more Shinkai is always welcome. At least until he jumps the shark.

It’s a strange crossover, but not the strangest. Certainly makes more sense than Kingdom Hearts. Also, is it just me or is this the first time Ryuuichi/Phoenix and his Not Love Interest appear fully voiced and animated? I’ve played all the games including Gyakuten Kenji, but maybe I’m missing some spin-offs.

The general idea is intriguing enough, but I worry the more serious-looking storytelling and art directions may undermine Gyakuten‘s good old 16-bit charm and quirky humour. I just hope it doesn’t get raped the way Front Mission did. Get off my lawn and all.

I was just given YouTube links to what may possibly be the most incredible videos I have ever seen. I realize that this is a claim that I often make, but this time it’s different. Really.

Videos are embedded after the break.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

The short OVAs were made based on a manga called ムダヅモ無き改革 (Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku), the details of which can be better explained by Wikipedia. The gist is that it’s a comedy where caricatures of world leaders resolve political disputes by playing Japanese-style mahjong. It also happens to star Junichiro Koizumi, the former Prime Minister of Japan, as a bad ass son of a bitch who wins every game with his “Rising Sun” move, which is basically a rebranded 十三么 (Thirteen Terminal) or 国士無双 hand. The parody works because it is so incredibly over the top that you really have no choice but to laugh.

It’s interesting how Japanese anime and manga (well manga in particular due to the lower barrier of entry) have a unique way of intentionally stepping on political land mines without batting an eyelid. For example, I really just can’t imagine any other country in the world produce a mainstream title like Hetalia: Axis Power. It’s just unthinkable, except maybe as a fan-fiction on 4chan.

Perhaps this no-sacred-cow attitude towards political parody is a backlash against the highly rigid and conformist social order, or perhaps people in Japan simply do not find politics to be something that has to be taken seriously. Whatever the reason is, I think it’s an awesome subculture. There’s just something about our obsession with political correctness that makes me uncomfortable at times. I guess this is why I actually find shows like South Park and Harold and Kumar can be rather meaningful beyond the toilet humour or George Bush on a Segway.

From a Chinese perspective, I can easily see how such parodies could be construed by outsiders as nationalistic propaganda, and I understand why. But really, it’s all a matter of perception. The nature of the show’s presentation is really no different from, say, Team America. People are easily offended and I don’t think that creators should try too hard to appease them, ala Nice boat.

To conclude, the Internet is an awesome place.

P.S. Anime Yulia Tymoshenko collecting protection money is adorable.

Tomorrow, 6th of January 2010, is YouTube Porn Day. Yes, 4chan’s Anonymous has once again declared war on YouTube as a reaction against perceived injustice in YouTube’s ban policies. YouTube junkies can look forward to stumbling upon some titillating surprises tomorrow.

Just don’t do it at work.

At some levels, pranks are generally awesome and fun to watch from a safe distance. Deep down inside, even as we deride Anonymous for its immature mean streaks, we secretly want to be part of this public conspiracy. The complexities hidden in our reactions to Anonymous’ works are almost Freudian in their elusiveness, as intangible as the loose collective of “hackers on steroids” itself, and yet as real as the effects it engenders.

From Scientology to Dusty the cat, 4chan’s influence on the “real world” is undeniable even though it possesses neither structure nor organization. Driven by powerful ideas encapsulated in memes, Anonymous is the ultimate form of anarcho-libertarianism, free from all authority but the common consent of peers.

It is the epitome of al-Qaeda’s modern strategy to inspire unknown independent actors through commonality of ideology to effect change without the liabilities of a chain of command. It is mob justice without any concern for personal responsibility. It is the fifth estate as envisaged by the deepest believers of crowd wisdom. It is a conscious but anonymous act of rebellion against the system. It is a game for the thrill-seekers and an addictive sense of empowerment for the disenfranchised. It is also nothing one can describe in words because it has no authority to define its own existence.

The past few years brought us the rise of online social networks — a wealth of information that further empowered the collective’s capability to effect change upon the physical world. As the Internet extends its reach, who knows what tomorrow will bring? Anonymous’ power can only grow.

The actions Anonymous takes and the opinions it generates are not ones that can be conveniently shaped by paid consultants and media gurus. Its credibility lies exactly in the fact that it has none. As it grows, the anarchic influences it thrusts upon our orderly society will eventually become a force of nature, an untamed wild bull in a carefully-planned china shop, to be reckoned with by the old establishments.

Perhaps, they will eventually strike 4chan down, for one reason or another. But just as al-Qaeda survived the destruction of its physical networks, the powerful sense of identity behind the driving wheel of this invisible force is not something that can simply be outlawed.

Though grass-roots movements of similar nature grew and died in the past, they did so because they existed in the old world, where size and power eventually meant leadership and the vulnerable points of failure that it led to. But Anonymous has thus far proved itself capable of surviving this critical flaw of human societies that has over millennia dismantled empires, conglomerates and alliances. After all, how does one kill that which has no life?

Perhaps one day, someone clever and insane enough will learn to shape and direct this untameable power. After all, in the online world of loose circumstantial evidences, it is not impossible to tactically unleash the fury of anonymous mob justice upon one’s enemy with an expertly-crafted false flag.

I, for one, welcome our new anonymous overlords.

I attended the press preview for Anime Festival Asia 08 today. The actual event starts tomorrow at 9am. The preview itself consisted of a short tour around the booths that were being set up and a press conference to introduce the invited guests.

Note: This post is backdated because it took longer than expected to upload a 25-minute video to YouTube…

In case you’ve been ignoring all my posts on the topic, AFA08 is Singapore’s first anime convention and it will be held on Saturday and Sunday at Suntec Convention Hall 403 and 404.

The guests are (left to right):

• May’n (singing voice of Sheryl Nome in Macross F)
• Yasufumi Soejima (director of LaMB, former GONZO animator)
• Koji Morimoto (Studio 4°C founder)
• Kunio Okawara (original designer of Gundam)
• Ichiro Mizuki (anime and tokusatsu singer)

The press conference itself is just a short sales pitch of the whole event, and you can already find all the information on the official website, including the details on exclusive merchandises.

Shawn, the head honcho

There is a Q&A session at the end with each of the five guests. I’ve uploaded a video recording of the whole thing to YouTube using ShakyCamâ„¢ technology.

The best part of the whole thing was actually after everyone else left and they started doing stage rehearsal. May’n performed all the songs she’ll be doing for the concert. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed for the rehearsal, so you have to use your imagination for that, or catch her actual performance on Sunday. All I can say is that she is one of the few singers who sound even better in real-life than on CD.

Also, for no reason, here’s a picture of a Sheryl cosplayer who was a member of the press.

Head down to Suntec City tomorrow or on Sunday if you want to see more. I’m really tired now, so I shall retire…to the world of Azeroth. Well, Outland actually.

UPDATE: Yes I realize that this post is really, really late. The YouTube video took years to upload overnight before failing and I had to upload it again using the non-beta uploader. Just pretend that you are reading this post on Friday night, okay?

On another note, I just got back from AFA08 day one. I’m really tired. Will blog about the whole event tomorrow because I didn’t get enough pictures today. (I forgot to put a CF card into my camera and only managed to borrow one from Windbell just before I was going to leave the venue.)

I hereby declare Macross Frontier OST 1 to be the animé soundtrack of the year, and all upcoming titles for the remaining half of the year shall have to live in shame knowing that they will never live up to the greatness that is this collection of pure awesome. It’s so good that I translated half the songs on it already.

Frontier

As you may or may not know after all my constant fanboying, Macross Frontier’s soundtrack is composed by Yoko Kanno, known overseas for her works in Cowboy Bebop.

The main vocal locomotives in the show are May Nakabayashi (May’n), who provides the singing voice of everyone’s favourite galactic fairy Sheryl Nome (<3), and Megumi Nakajima, a debut seiyuu who also sings quite beautifully.

Interesting facts: They are both the same age as me, and Megumi Nakajima (中島愛) is NOT read as Ai Nakajima.

The OST contains all the songs that appear in the series so far, as of episode 9. (Edit: Except Ranka’s Miss Macross song apparently. Forgot about that.) Going against industry convention, both the ending and opening themes are included in full in the OST. Then again, most shows don’t make music such a central part of their story dynamics. Some of my favourite songs from the OST:

Infinity
インフィニティ
by May’n

This is probably my favourite song in the series so far. It totally blew my mind the first time Sheryl performed it in episode 7. (Though the choice of costume leaves much to be desired.)

Iteza ☆ Gogo Kuji Don’t be late
射手座☆午後九æ‚Don’t be late
by May’n

This is the “wow” moment in episode 1. It’s pretty good too. That said, I still can’t figure out what the first part of the title (Sagittarius ☆ 9pm. Don’t be late ) is supposed to mean. Is Sagittarius the meeting place? A bunch of stars light years apart sure is a huge ass volume of space to find someone in…

Diamond Crevasse
ダイアモンド クレバス
by May’n

This is the ending theme. So good. T.T

Triangler
トライアングラー
by Maaya Sakamoto

This is the opening theme. Maaya-sama! XD (I scare myself sometimes.) And I’m pertty sure the title is “Triangler” and not “Triangular”, however nonsensical it may be English-wise. It’s even spelt that way on the CD cover.

Aimo
アイモ
by Megumi Nakajima

This song, along with Ranka, will probably end up saving the universe or something. I can’t say for sure since I don’t speak many languages, but I think most of the lyrics are in Yoko Kanno’s (aka Gabriela Robin) trademark gibberish.

What ’bout my star?
by May’n

This song has actually been performed by both Sheryl and Ranka in the series, but I prefer Sheryl’s version. I haven’t translated this one yet.

And many, many more! (i.e. I’m lazy.)

Macross Frontier’s music is just amazing.
Do buy the OST if you can. (Amazon JP | CDJapan)

Oh my god! It’s finally here! The Holy Grail! The first song that Maaya and her former mentor Yoko Kanno have worked together on in almost half a decade!

Triangler is the first opening song for Macross Frontier. Lyrics translation and fanboying after the break.

Kanji | Printable

This song is a marked return to Yoko Kanno’s faster pace. The lyrics, credited to Gabriela Robin (one of Yoko’s pseudonyms), is quite noticeably different from Maaya’s other recent songs. While most songs in general are clear and elaborate in their messages, Yoko’s lyrics tend to be highly condensed and open to (mis)interpretations, which makes translation difficult.

The prevalent grammar contractions present quite an obfuscated challenge, and the systematic omission of overt pronouns in Japanese certainly doesn’t help either. Hopefully I got the crucial meanings right… Do comment.

I hope this song is a sign of more to come, because Maaya and Yoko are just meant to be. As a Maaya fanboy holding IDS membership, I approve of this release. That said, my favourite Maaya songs are still the ones from her Nikopachi singles collection.

And oh yeah, I think Macross Frontier is great too.

You can purchase the single from Amazon or CDJapan. First press is sold out though. (I have one of them.)

Dancing in the velvet moon is one of the songs on Nana Mizuki’s new mini album STARCAMP EP, and it also happens to be the ED theme to Rosario + Vampire‘s unbearably fanservicy anime adaptation, which, I shall once again take the opportunity to remind everyone, is a travesty to the awesome page-turner that is the original manga.

Lyrics translation and more fanboying after the break.

Kanji | Printable

This song suits Moka really well. It’s so awesome. I hadn’t loved a Nana song this much since her 2002 single suddenly ~meguriaete~, which if you think about it is already more than half a decade old. Time passes fast. (Yeah I said it: I didn’t like those Nanoha songs! So there.)

According to houkoholic, who is the undisputed authority on seiyuu stalking appreciation, STARCAMP EP suffers from really terrible clipping. I didn’t really think it was a technical issue; I thought the clipping effect was what the producers were going for. I guess I’m just too used to overly-amplified synthesized music.

I should really find real stuff to blog about.

As usual, you can get the CD for this song from Amazon JP.