Moving Homes

I have moved my blog to http://balhaza.wordpress.com so remember to link that place now :). There is not much reason for the move, just that I want to. Hah~!

Review: 幕末機関説いろはにほへと

Review: 幕末機関説ーいろはにほへと

I have been wanting to do a review on this anime for some time, now I never seemed to go about doing it (read: procrastination). Nonetheless, now that I am here, facing a blank notepad page and feeling the words flow through these silicon padded keys, I shall now formally introduce you to this anime series.

For one, this series is not for the comedy-seekers or those whose visions anime encompasses blue skies, puppy shaped clouds, big-eyed girls whose skirts always flap the wrong way, big-eyed boys who always love to pose and yell some mumbo jumbo before a big ass robot comes down and kick some alien butt. For those, skip to my other reviews. I repeat: this series is not for you.

Now, if you are still reading, before you embark on watching this anime, do yourself a favour and polish up your understanding of Japanese history. I am serious. This anime is as serious as that. No quarter is spared. As the title suggest, you should be pretty fluent in the events and the main players during the fall of the Shogunate - the infamous 幕末 . If you are considered a Japanese history buff, congratulations, you will be able to fully appreciate the depth and nuances embedded within this anime. If not, well, it is not that you cannot watch it, but the significance of quite of a lot of stuff will slip by you, just like it did for me the first time round.

That said, the story portrayed in the anime is but a sensationalisation of the actual events. Some things happened and some didn't; they are quite obvious. But nonetheless, the story flows in the same vein as that in real life. Again, you will appreciate that better if you have a good grasp of the Japanese history.

Framed in the light of the Boshin War, the anime is about the endless struggle of a young man sworn to destiny that takes him farther than he imagines. Akidzuki Youjirou. In order not to spoil the series, all I can say is that his mission in Japan is to seal an accursed head that is known to bring war and disaster on wherever it visits.

The anime begins in Yokohama, then a confused region with peace balancing on the tip of a knife. Western and Japanese cultures clashed on the streets daily and often broke into gunfight/sword fights. His wanderings soon lead him to the door of a particular Kakunojou Yuuyama Kabuki Troupe. The Troupe is out for blood and somehow, Akidzuki seems to sense that his mission is inevitably tied to them. And so the story goes.

On that note, Kabukis are traditionally done by males therefore having Kakunojou Yuuyama - a lady - star in a Kabuki is a little violation of the norm. However, it can be argued that perhaps hers was one of the few exceptions that existed in Shogunate Japan.

I give this series very high marks for the execution, the depth and the story. However, I will not really recommend this to everyone - for criteria, see second paragraph. Other than that, here goes the scores:

(All Scores Upon 5)

Title: 幕末機関説ーいろはにほへと
Genre: Action, Historical-Fiction, Shounen, Swords, Military
Graphics: 4 (Considering it is an internet release)
Story: 4.5
Action: 4
Relevance: 4
Overall: Awesome, if you can handle the weight.

OP: 荒野流転 (kouya ruten) - FictionJuction feat Yuuka

:Reading: Across the Face of the World - Russell Kirkpatrick
:Listening: abingdon boys school - Howling

Geek is the colour of Fall

Emptiness

Just this Tuesday, Blizzard had opened the Dark Portal into the expansion pack to World of Warcraft, ushering a new wave of online gaming fanaticism into the stellar MMORPG. Just this Tuesday, I received a note from a dear friend of mine on Deviantart asking if I would continue to discharge my duties as an administrator to a writing guild. Just this Tuesday, I was sitting in front of the computer, twiddling my fingers in hopes of something to do.

Now that I think of it, my actions in the past year were rather baffling, if not stupid. I was given a free hand over the writing guild which I had supported, helped and directed for almost a year, conducting some 5 - 8 writing competitions and setting up a number of projects, published its second magazine, organised and re-organised the structure and flow of the daily journals - which acted as weekly bulletins - and I was happy. No. Not just happy. Damn happy. People were enjoying themselves, we were all writing to our hearts' content, holding online chat sessions, putting forth projects and building so-called alliances between writing clubs. In short, it was a great time to me. Aye, it is a virtual reality, where the only tangible thing is the electrons flowing through millions of miles of cables to flash on your screen, but for writing, there is something else: the words on the paper.

Come June, when I was enjoying my winter holidays in good o' Sydney, I stumbled into an EB Games stores screaming out for blood at a half price sale storewide. And right in the front of the store was a giant World of Warcraft poster. To others, the computer graphics that made up the poster was just that, pretty pictures. To gamers like me, it is seduction.

And so began my skirmish into the wilderness of Azeroth, and I thought I was armed to the teeth with the experience needed to moderate my gaming time. An hour became four. Four hours became eight. Before I knew it, what began as a trial at 11am saw me stumbling to bed at 7 am the next morning. I failed utterly at trying to stop myself from being sucked into the game. Aye, it is my weak will I admit, but then, now that I have spoken to so many others, only one had not been drawn deeply into the game as the rest had; it is that addictive.

Now before I go on, I have to tell you that being an administrator of that writing guild isn't all that time-consuming, but it is needless to say that you have to dedicate a couple of hours a week to upkeep things. With the introduction of WoW into my life, I couldn't bear to even part a few hours to do just that. Even worse, WoW ate into my academic priorities. School wasn't all that important; leveling and questing were. Walks out of my room became routines to rest my eyeballs before another intense session of gaming. It was extreme, and I know I can be intense.

What pulled me out of the game was mainly that my subscription to the game ended and receiving a failed grade was like having a smarting slap on the face. More so that the subject was English, a subject that I can tell everyone I am pretty darn adept with. Still, it was too late in the semester and by the time I left the game, I was on my way to fail yet another subject in the second semester. Great.

By the time I got out of the game, it was late September and I have neglected the guild for almost half a year. Dust and cobwebs have crept up on the guild's homepage and the members that were buzzing before now quietly left the guild to its final moments. There were the occasionally squeaks about what happened and were there going to be anymore competitions, but me being in that state that I was, I couldn't bear to answer them. And the reality stings me as hard as the fail grade: I've abandoned something precious for a temporal illusion. It is like making it big with the lottery and the blowing every dollar and dime on booze and alcohol only to end up on the street penniless and vomit-stained. Okay, that is an exaggeration but it is a pretty good analogy. Now that the note has arrived, I cannot help but agree to retire to the backgrounds and watch someone else try to pick up the great amount of slack I left behind. It does not feel good at all. I know what I can do, but I just somehow ain't able to do it. Pride perhaps, or maybe it is just the denial that I can start anew.

And then there is The Burning Crusade - or what we gamers call affectionately, TBC/BC - which is pretty darn tantalising. An article in The Straits Times this Wednesday highlighted the increasing cases of game addiction with particular emphasis on online games. Ladies, game addiction did not start with the internet, nor will addiction end with just games. As long as humans are around and there is technology and the means to keep someone supported without doing an actual work, situations like game addictions, alcoholism, gambling addiction, drug dependence, the Japanese-turned-global-phenomena of hikikomori (Shut ins) will continue to persist in variations and in style. So as much as this expansion pack itches my fingers and tickles my imagination, I have a deep inherent fear of what might happen if I let the wave ride me instead of me riding the wave. MMORPGs smothered me for three long years during my JC days. Five years later, they are back to haunt me. But all in all, I know what it will make me feel at the end.

Empty.


:Reading: Tales from Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
:Listening: 五月天 - 忘詞

A Trip down Memory Lane (I)

Warning: Long post. Old memories. Lame-ness.

Found this nifty little list down by Ivan's blog. Decided to steal it and use it here. Basically it is things that my generation most remembers when we were still kids - primary school and earlier. Most of the things we did back in those days would probably warrant a 'lame' label by kids these days, but nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed my childhood and youth and cherished every memory I have of it.


1. You grew up watching He-man, MASK, Transformers, Silver Hawk, and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, Ninja turtles, My Little Pony and Smurfs too.

MASK, Ninja Turtles, Ghost Busters, Mighty Max and Vigil and all those compact dungeons. Imagine an entire compact set of cosmetics but for boys, and toys instead of powder and foundations. Not forgetting Gummy Bears and Care Bears, Smurfs, Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Scooby Doo... Plenty more.


2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too.

Not much memories on this I have to admit. But yes, the each side 10 times was often misunderstood as each tooth 10 times.

3.You know what SBC stands for.

Either Singapore Broadcasting Company or Singapore Broadcasting Corporation. The logo was fondly called the Old Granny, simply because it looks like one. And that colour test screen whenever there is nothing on. That circle with random spots of white and grey and a whole colourful row right at the bottom. I used to stare at that for hours at a time. Ok, I am a queer kid.

4. You pay 40 cents for Chocolate or Strawberry MILK every week in class.

40 cents? Was it that expensive? I know that I was forced to drink two packs a day because I was, well, hideously underweight.

5. You watch a very popular Malay dubbed Japanese drama on RTM1 about schoolgirls who possess powerful skills in volleyball called Meoro Attack.

My Japanese craze started late in my secondary school days and then into the Army days. So nope. No recollection.

6. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in Secondary school.

Handphones were a rarity. My dad got a area specific handphone where there were spots where you can use - i.e. Bishan Park - and others where there is no reception. Needless to say, they were expensive and definitely out of the kids' budget. I didn't have a pager until late secondary school and even then I did not use it much. People would jostle for the public payphones to page their friends and there were all kinds of models and colours for it. All I got was a hand-me-down from my sister.

7. SBS buses used to be non-air conditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushion is red. The big red bell gives a loud BEEP! when pressed. There are colourful tickets for TIBS buses. The conductor will check for tickets by using a machine, which punches a hole in the ticket.

Aye. The buttons were enormous as well, not the petite ones squared into the black/dark grey plastic or yellow these days. Those in the past were big red buttons surrounded by a ring of stainless steel and it was always thrilling to beep it because the beep was just so jarring. Double deckers were a rarity - as were Volkswagon Beetles - and I remembered ooo-ing and ah-ing at it when I was about primary 2 to 4.

The tickets craze began in secondary school. Each ticket has a specific number from the roll and there was this popular urban legend going around that if you add up all 4 digits of the serial number and get 21, it is a lucky ticket and you are granted a wish. As such, my friend managed to hoard a big pile of such tickets and gave it to his then girlfriend in heart shapes. Was a rather sweet thought.

I still have some recollection of bus conductors issuing the tickets but that was rather rare when I started using the public transport. It was the days of coins and the filmy magnetic cards.

8. Envelopes given to us to donate to Sharity Elephant every Children's Day.

Charity Elephant and Courtesy Lion. How can one forget them? One is pink and fat the other looks ridiculous. Of course, then, they were adorable and funny. Now, just ridiculous.

9. You've probably read Young Generation magazine. You know who 'Vinny' the little vampire and Acai the constable.




I didn't care much for Vinny the little vampire but I was totally absorbed in the Bookworm gang and Mr. Kiasu who was very popular back in those days. The person who got the latest issue of the comic was bestowed a temporary hero status until the next issue comes out. And we would often read it in the school hall when there was some reading to be done or something like that. I think.

10. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery.

My uncle brought me on my first ride on the MRT from Ang Mo Kio to some place which I have forgotten because I fell asleep. But yes, kneeling on the seat and wowing as the blocks slide by. Similiarly for the buses. But the buses then had low floors and high windows, so being a short kid, I had to stand on the seat, which inevitably elicits a cry of dismay from my mother.

11. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.

No idea how much movie tickets cost. I wasn't in charge of paying then. But movies always had to go with kacang putah and that old Indian uncle with the push cart.

12. Strawberry ShortCake and Barbie Dolls fascinate Gals.

Barbie and Ken were my mutilation subjects whenever I was bored. The were subjected to my sadistic Batman's nefarious schemes and often found a limb torn out or the hair squished between some lego blocks. Ah...those wonderful days.

13. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.

Not really but his laugh is infectious I'll tell you. So is Cookie Monster's cookie escapades. My favourite is still Kermit the Frog and a year ago when I was watching a documentary on the puppeteer for Kermit, I cried when I heard him sing the 'Rainbow Connection'. For your information, the puppeteer has past away.

14. You longed to buy titbits called Kaka (20cents per pack), and Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy init and it changes every week not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.

Yup those lollipops were fun to wear and great to show off but a mess to eat as you slobber and slaver over it and it drips onto your finger. Of course, not many actually eat it from their finger. Animal crackers were great but my favorite was visiting the temples and always getting a packet of those colourful frosted sugar biscuits that was meant to be urm... altar offerings. Urm.. LoL.

15. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.

Nope. I was in my Uncle's place so everyday of my primary school life was either sleep or watch the China production of Journey to the West, which is the best television rendition of the epic tale.

16. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest storybooks you ever thought you have read. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers.

Ah ha! Speaking of books, there was this craze back in my primary school days where we would become libraries unto ourselves. Somehow someone thought it to be cool lending books to other friends and that craze caught on so we were borrowing and lending books, writing our names on the books we borrowed and on our checklists etc. But it was for a short while. But I remembered that probably sparked my interest in books. My sister already had a tonne of Enid Blyton so those books, plus Three Investigators, R.L. Stine - Fear Street anyone? - and a couple of other odds and ends. My thickest book then - if you can even consider it story reading - was my encyclopedia volume H. I remember reading from Harem to Hypnos and fascinated with the colourful transparency of the human body and organs and muscles - nothing perverted alright. But then again, that was not a story book albeit I read it for leisure purposes.

17. KFC used to be a high-class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives.

Nup. The high-class fast food joint was A&W with all the American themes and the tall mugs of root beer floats and knives and forks. Not to mention the hotdogs and onion rings which are pretty much more expensive then the other franchises. KFC was my staple for mashed potatoes, and to this day, I can never finish a meal from there without the mashed potatoes.





18. Catching was the IN thing and twist as the magic word.

Twist is the magic word if you wanna escape the catcher although how that came about beats me, though it sounded more like 'Tweeze' to me. In primary school, we ran around everything we can find: scaffoldings (Sonic the Hedgehog was a phenomenal success then and we imagine we were Sonic running through the rings) hedges (verdant portals running the length of our school field), under the stair cases and the disused or little used part of the school. I still remember playing near the school dump where there was this nice little hideaway facing a field outside the school (yes... parents of these days would be screaming and shouting "What???! DUMP!?? The rubbish dump!!???!" but kids those days don't care.)

And yes, those days, I call myself the ball magnet, because no matter where I am on the field - be it on the edge or right in the centre, the soccer ball would always find a way to strike my head. Once I was guarding a striker in a soccer game and he just rammed the ball - unintentionally - into my face. It was so hard that my face was imprinted with the relief of the ball's company's logo for a few hours. No blood but a tonne of pain. No doubt the teacher was fussing and fumbling over me for a couple of minutes there.

19. Your English workbooks were made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.

No recollection, but we had a chinese subject called Hao Gong Ming - Good Citizen. That was hilarious.

20. CDIS were your best friend.

What's CDIS?

21. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you maths.

Mmmm... can't really remember using computer when I was in primary school but in Sec school, St Gab's was the pilot school for the Student Teacher Workbench and we watched videos of exploding Caecium and Frucium I think. Those elements below Sodium.

22. Water bottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go.

Hmmm I didn't like the water bottles then. Too bulky. The only use I had for it was to ward off stray dogs by swinging it around like a nanchuck. Haha!

23. Boys loved to play soccer with small plastic balls in the basketball court.

Balls? Hell we would kick anything that is kick-able. I remember a bunch of folks using someone's shoe as a soccer ball. The goals were all variable as well. One could have it as wide as the length of a car the other as small as the shoulder length of the goalkeeper. And kids would mob each other for the ball so you will know where the ball is.

24. Teng-teng, five stones, chapteh, hentambola and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too...

Five stones and hentambola, those were the games that my sister and mom played. We played catch and something crocodile.

25. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives, guppies and swordtail being the most important fish.

Hmmm Angsana yes and the rain tree. Then it was frogs and toads. LOL! Oh and Hibiscus as well. Because there was a row of hibiscus near the field.

26. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wally & Mr. Yakki. What about Miss Lala??? And Zaki and Tini in Malay Textbooks?

Hmmm when I read this I thought of the soccer players Abbas Saad and Fandi Ahmad. Wonder how are those two doing. They were called the Dynamic Duo and feared by most players in the Kadah and the Malaysian states. My sister shook hands with Abbas once and refused to wash her hands for a week after that.

27. We carry out experiments of our own to get ourself badges for being a Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.

Aye. You were given a list of 20 or 25 tasks and after each task you were given a stamp and once all done you get the badge. I managed to get only 15 stamps. :(

28. Every Children's day and National day you either get pins or pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or dumb files with 'Happy National Day 1994'.

Somehow they all got lost before I get home. LOL!

29. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.

Was there such a program? No recollection. Perhaps I was too talkative and my form teacher didn't exactly took a liking to me.

30. We wear BM2000, BATA, or Pallas shoes.

BM2000 and Bata. BM2000 was the 'higher class school shoe'. Those with a red stripe. The branded one. Bata was just Buy-and-throw-away. And every weekend you were armed with a stick with a bit of sponge at the end and a bottle of shoe whitener. If it rains, you are screwed because those things are hard to dry.

31. Your form teacher taught you Maths, Science and English.

It varies. Some taught Maths and Technical, some taught English, Science and Maths, but it was all the same.

32. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality.

Aye. But I do miss those poor quality paper. I don't know why. I prefer it to the white sheets we are issued now. That was why when I was given Japanese notes in that poor quality paper, I was elated. LoL.

33. You went to school in slippers and raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

Nada. I took the school bus and even so, if the shoes got wet, they got wet. There is nothing you can do. But I think in Primary 1 we get to take off our schools before we entered the classroom. Hmmm... Can't remember.

34. School dismissal time was normally around1 pm.

For morning sessions but it was sleepy time and when we assembled to go home, we were sit on the floor and play hand games. Ji Ko Pa and the others which I don't think have a proper name like the game where need to kill off your opponent by making the number on their hands more than 5. We had tournaments for that. Ji Ko Pa as well.

35. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.

Mental sums baffled me. I was told to do mental sums but come exam time, we were told not to do mental sums. So it was all so confusing.

36. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.

Hmmm.... in primary school I remembered giving 50 cents for a braised chicken wing - a delicacy of the tuckshop. In secondary school I remember drinking fishball soup with assorted ingredients everyday with a couple of friends. Can't remember how much it was though, but definitely less than $2.

37. You see Wee Kim Wee's face in the school hall.

I attended St Gab's for primary and secondary so all I saw was St Gabriel the Angel.

38. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.

Was in a boys school so no freaking out. But the fingers to your lips was annoying. Very annoying. Once we went out of line in secondary school and had to stand on our chairs. LOL! Ms LIZZZZ CHAN!!!

39. Boys like to catch fighting spiders.

My dad used to bring me and my sister to desolated areas in Singapore just to catch fighting spiders. And my mom would be off collecting Saga seeds - which are actually red palm seeds.

40. Collecting and battling erasers was a pastime for boys.

Aye. Country erasers was treasures to us kids and everyday there would be a sizable crowd before the stationary shop (we call it the bookshop) 'perusing' the available countries there. LoL. That gave way to the pencil battles where we would draw some form of dungeon and have a couple of dots at the bottom and hold the pencil by the top with a finger. To play, you have to strike the opponent's base with your strokes. It is a little hard to explain though.

41. Autograph books were loaded with "Best Wishes", "Forget Me Not", and small poems like "Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friend like you, hard to forget".

It was a craze but guys don't bother to be this romantic.

42. Class monitors and prefects loved to say, "You talk some more, I write your name ah!"

LOL! My name was written and I had to spend 2 weeks staying back and writing some repetitive nonsense in two exercise books.

43. There were at least 40 people in one class.

And small clans within each class.

44. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.

Mine was a dark blue Sierra Lonne (I think it is spelt this way) bag that lasted me till late Secondary school.

45. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one thing called the timetable.

Yes. My mother was afraid that being the forgettable kid I am, I would forget to bring something to school. Which I did often despite having most books in my bag.

Other than that, I remember gallivanting with Kok Leng down by a stream in Lower Pierce Reservoir. We used to cycle there and catch prawns/guppies/whatever we can find. Then we will be following the stream as it opens into a wider and faster flowing creek and just absorbed in the nature there. It was so quiet and tranquil there. Ah... I just miss it.

That was before the age of Playstation. When the PS came, such things were gone by the names of Final Fantasy and the likes. LoL! I remember turning down a number of outing requests just to play games. Aye, I was then rather bias to my PS. :p

:Reading: Tales from Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
:Listening: Mr. Children - 口笛