It's only the fairytale...

Yours truly is realising more and more that the reason why the world is so intensely beautiful is because there's an equally, if not deeper, layer of pain behind it all. The perpetual yearning to be released from this world, that every living thing inherently carries, is both beautiful and so incomprehensibly sad at the same time.

"Happy is the person who finds wisdom and gain understanding. For the profit of wisdom is better than silver, and her wages better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. She offers you life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying. Wisdom is the tree of life to those who embrace her, happy are those who hold her tightly." (3:13-18)

I won't ever let her go.

"Don't turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her and she will guard you." (4:6)

I do love her, more than I can put into words.

"I love all who love me. Those who search for me will surely find me. Unending riches, honor, wealth, and justice are mine to distribute." (8:17-18)

Your love alone is more than I could ever ask for.

Will be out of contact for a week, Lord Mayor of Perth coming to town, will be escorting from morning to night the entire time.

It's ouuuuuut!! :D Just watched ep 1, and it's still as enjoyable as ever. ^^ Can't say I really like the new OP though, it's too happy and bouncy and doesn't really fit the series. But the ED is nice, especially the animation sequences which are just ♥ ♥ ♥

Also, looklook! Special limited edition Pizza Hut boxes!

Source: http://www.gokigenyou.com/news.htm

Remind me order pizza sometime between 9th Feb ~ 8th March 2009!! xD

I also finally got around to watching Kara no Kyoukai 4, another great show.

That's the tagline of an anime series I'm really enjoying at the moment. Ga-Rei Zero.

I'd always liked the artwork of the manga, but I thought it would be too shounen for me. However, the anime is actually an original story set before the manga, acting as a prequel. And it has really strong character and emotional focus, which I like, and foreboding angst done well.

While the story is nothing really new, the artwork is good, music is good, the humour is good, and I'm really taken by the OP/ED animation. I adore the way the show flows into the OP, and the way it later flips to the ED, or either is removed completely, attuning to the episode. I think it's stylish and maintains the mood very well. There are several, several undertones in the show. ;) It reminds me of My-HiME crossed with Bubblegum Crisis, but with useful male characters.

At this rate, I think I may give the manga a go later.

I've seriously been having trouble pulling myself away from it (it's also the reason I've haven't been online as much xD). The other day I overslept and was almost late for work; I made it like 2mins before the bell. Hopefully it's because this is the first time I've ever had cable, and the novelty is still fresh, and I'll get my watching more under control soon. ^^;; But so much interesting stuff on! I spend most of my time on the (4) anime and (5-7) music channels, but also watch stuff on the movie, drama and national geographic channels too if something catches my attention. If I'm feeling nostalgic, I just flick to the Australia Network, and it's like I never left home. =P But I've been having heaps of fun with it, a lot more than I expected, the only con is that you can't record. But perhaps that's for the better. xD

The middle school talk I had to do on Friday went better than I expected. ^____^ All the kids were really well behaved, listened attentively, and even laughed at some of the amusing parts of my talk (like the random picture of Harajuku fashion I put in, and when I said it was annoying that buses don't come on time in Australia. ^^). They also asked a lot of questions (to both me and Sunhwa-san), which was really encouraging, and made my first experience of a Japanese middle school a good one. :) I don't remember our grade being anywhere near that well-behaved in year 8. xD

Today, I found and bought something I've wanted for a while: the white NERV mug from Evangelion. I'm going to bring it to work tomorrow and start using it from now on. ;)



I also couldn't help getting this keyring as well, you actually slide your key between the front and back black pieces so it protects the key.:



There were many many other awesome Eva stuff, thanks to the renewed attention it's getting from the new movies: http://www.animate.co.jp/evafair/index.html

I went to Kagoshima University last night to listen to a country talk the international students were supposed to be doing on Australia (but it changed last minute to Tonga xD). Bahh every time I go to around that area I get massacred by mosquitoes! >< It's terrible, I hate it, they must have a breeding nest there or something. I got bitten 10 times last night. =_= Combined with the bugs that keep biting me in my apartment, I'm so itchy it's almost driving me insane. Argh, I'm so tired of feeling itchy. ><

On another note, Happy (Belated) Birthday Jeff! ^-^

( If a man tried to buy love with everything he owned, his offer would be utterly despised. )

(Song of Songs 8:7b)

I really need to get rid of the some stuff in my room which is just sitting there. I have some stuff I want to sell, but for now we'll do the freebies.



These are all stuff I picked up when I was in Japan last time, including exclusive items distributed only at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2006. In detail:

- Some sentai sticker set (TAF 2006)
- Digimon Savers 2006 desk calendar (TAF 2006) - __tang, unless you severly object, I'm going to give this to you because you'll probably appreciate it more than anyone else. =P
- Yoshinaga-san'chi no Gargoyle keyring (TAF 2006)
- Manga sample booklets you pick up from anime stores (Animate, Mandarake, etc.). They usually contain the first chapter or so of the manga and some anime/game/seiyuu information. The series I have there are: Princess Princess, True Tears, REC and Joshi Kousei (High School Girls).
- Keroro Gunsou, Naruto movie 3 stickers (TAF 2006)

Will maybe put up more stuff as I continue to try and clean out my room! I'm really sentimental about these sorts of things, which is why I hadn't parted with them sooner despite not liking these series at all. But really they're not doing anything in my room except adding to the clutter and I really need more space!

If nobody wants them, they're probably going to end up in a recycling bin. Or maybe UWAnime can throw them about the club room? XD

Hehe I couldn't resist taking this picture of my dog as she was harassing me to feed her. So cute~ <3



(No, she's not one of the items I'm giving away. =P)

I got absorbed in my Sailor Moon!HxM phase again last night (but when am I ever not? xD) and went through downloading/reading doujins of them, including ones my favorite circle/artist Studio Canopus/Yamada Mario. Her art is so beautiful, and as such her doujins are super rare and go for ridiculous prices on eBay. But I am determined to hunt down all of her Haruka x Michiru ones when I get to Japan~ ^_^

As such, I also went about reading some of the Sailor Moon dub vs. sub episode comparisons on SM Uncensored and, well, I can't remember the last time I laughed so much. We all know how hacked up the dub is, but the detail this site's authors describe it in, plus their super sarcastic flaming of DiC/Cloverway (the American companies which dubbed SM) is sooo funny! XDD I HIGHLY recommend this site for any Sailor Moon fan; every episode they've gone through they've meticulously commented on all the cuts/edits/script changes in detail. It's a truly impressive effort with some awesome humour. XD I'd always known the site existed, but never really browsed it in detail until last night. Definitely going back to read more on it when I need a good laugh. XD

Unrelated:
Haha, I just realise LJ implemented some sort of "Random Journal" feature (you can find it on the top user bar)! You click it and it randomly takes you to some random stranger's journal. XD Good for all you bored office workers I see chatting on here. =P

Episode 9 of Last Friends was just D: !!! I was shaking at the end, oh man it was intense!

Somebody watch it as well so I can discuss it!! xD The last few eps were a bit mellow, but this ep totally makes up for it! I can't wait till the next ep (which is also the finale)!

Everything that I was thinking about posting has totally gone out the window now! XD

Personality test meme taken from skyewishes, I got:


Harmony-seeking Idealist (HI)

The description was amazingly accurate. It's probably one of the most accurate personality quizzes I've taken.

I can't believe how busy I've been this morning. I came online at 11am and got so absorbed doing all these things, that before I knew it it was already 2pm! And I haven't even done all my "standard checks" (sites I check each time I come online) yet! Or watched ep. 9 of Last Friends!

But one of the things I got absorbed in was this amazing discovery I made. Apparently, the Outer Senshi transformation music (you know, the one with violins used for whenever Haruka and Michiru transform) was performed by Vanessa Mae! I was like NO WAY *jawdrop*! This leads me to believe that the violin pieces used for Haruka/Michiru scenes, and even Michiru's violin playing itself were actually performed by Vanessa Mae!!!! I checked my Sailor Moon S OST in an attempt to verify this but unfortunately the booklet doesn't list any of the instrument performers. I can't find any sites which say much about it either. But wow, it makes so much sense why I instantly fell in love with Vanessa Mae's music! It was because (subconsciously?) it was transporting me to a world of SailorMoon!Michiru~ <3 This, for some reason, makes me ludicrously happy! :D

I have to go feed my dog (she is harassing me ^^;;) and make dinner now so will post more later maybe!

How could I have not discovered this amazing musician until now?!! I feel like I must have been living under a rock or something. How I stumbled upon her is quite typical of me though: Sailor Moon -> Michiru -> violin -> music -> Vanessa Mae. XD

I love the violin (and violinists)! <3 <3

I love techno/electronic/trance music!

She's a half-Chinese/Thai (but grew up in London) violinist, who mixes classical with techno/pop/dance. It's just like the type of music Kajiura composes! But also unique in its own way. And it sounds so awesome!

I was totally mesmerized watching her PVs on YouTube. It's all just so beautiful ;_; Like this one:



How come I didn't discover her sooner?! T_T She's been releasing albums since she was 12 (1990)! I guess it's never too late to start, but I have lots of catching up to do~ Wow, haven't been this impressed by a non-Japanese musician for a long time. ^^ Would so love to see her live in concert!

I worked out how to extract the OST and booklet from the [Q-R] release of Kara no Kyoukai chapter 1 (thanks to Nyaa Torrents ^^), and found that this particular Kajiura composition is a little different from usual. First of all, the CD is released alongside the limited edition of the DVD, and contains all the music/sound effects featured in the first chapter of this series only. Also, none of the 18 tracks have titles, they are just called M01, M02, M03a+b, etc. I was a bit curious about it, so I checked Kajiura's blog, and thankfully she wrote a long, detailed explanation of the release. <3

Because I have some time, and am a hopeless Kajiura fan, here's a rough translation of some of what she wrote:

( It includes everything, even short sound effect pieces which I'm not sure you can call Music... )

Joy forwarded me this cool optical illusion this morning.

This is very weird...

'The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.' A. Einstein

This has to be the best illusion ever created.



If you look at the above images from your seat in front of the computer, Mr. Angry is on the left, and Ms.Calm is on the right.

Get up from your seat, and move back 12 feet, and PRESTO!! they switch places!!

It is said this illusion was created by Phillippe G.Schyns and Aude Oliva of the University of Glasgow.

Does this prove that we sometimes may not be seeing what's actually there?

It's both freaky and cool at the same time. ^^

Hey, I just realised today that tickets for Supanova Perth (June 28-29th) are now on sale! There are a number of packages available, but I think I'm going to just get the standard weekend pass ($36.50). It entitles you to free entry into the preview night on the Friday.

Buy tickets here: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=SUPANOVA08&v=CSW

Who else is going? Are people cosplaying? ^^

Lately, I seem to be getting back into my old fandoms, and it's starting to scare me a little. Scared because it's not just one fandom, but lots, and I might start buying all this merchandise and go on some sort of high and crash. XD

Like, last week I'd been rewatching Sailor Moon, but that might have been slightly triggered off by Last Friends, so okay. But then the other night, I don't know why, but I just decided to listen to some X music, and that just moved me like it always does and I rummaged through my manga and listened to the drama CDs too. And then, yesterday I just finished rewatching Banner of the Stars II (only intended to watch a couple of eps, but ended up watching like 7 XD), and I got the usual chills cos this series is REALLY good. And then just now, I finally watched the new Evangelion movie You Are (Not) Alone, and wow, Eva is magic. Even after all these years, even after watching the series countless times, I still found it mesmerizing. Eva is the show that really got me into anime and it's just so nostalgic even now. Hearing terms like "AT Field", "LCL", "Geofront" and "Human Instrumentality Project", brings back so many great memories. =^_^= The movie itself is basically a compressed retelling of the first 7 or so episodes of Eva, and there is very little new footage, but the animation has been completely cleaned up and it looks beautiful. There's also some amazing use of CG, especially with the 5th Angel (Ramiel, the drilling one), and the music is used better too, IMO. There are some new scenes, and one in particular really made me ^___^. On an unrelated note, I don't remember Ritsuko smoking so much. XD But best of all, the seiyuu all reprised their roles~ <3 Oh, how I missed hearing the Eva cast. <3 <3

Ah, fandom is such a great thing, it always fills me with a warm happiness and excitement I can't describe. I'm sure you guys understand it anyway. ^^

But...must...resist...buying...too much...merchandise.... X'D

Time for my weekly fangirling session! XD This week's ep was painful as ever; I felt like crying for all the characters. T_T

I got my Ruka-inspired haircut yesterday, and I'm pretty happy with it! ^_^V For once. I had a good feeling about the hairdresser, because when I pulled out the picture to show him, he didn't just glance at it and say "yeah, yeah no problem", like a lot of other hairdressers have done to me, but actually looked at it properly and talked it over with me. And then when he was cutting, he kept referring to the pictures and comparing it what he was doing, which is a good sign. When he had finished, and explained to me how to style it, he did a really cute thing where he opened the pictures again and asked me "how is it? does it look like it?" and then before I could answer, replied to himself, "no, it looks better." LOL ^^;; I just laughed - I don't think I can even compare to Ueno Juri's, but he did a good job, and it was close enough (style-wise). The only real difference is that I didn't get my hair coloured like hers, mainly because I still had red highlights in my hair (from my previous cut) and I wanted them to grow out first. Next time! But I somehow got convinced to buy an expensive $56 styling mud, no idea why I did, must have been caught up in the moment (it happens a lot to me there, I've come to notice). X'D

After I washed my hair, I noticed that he left the back a bit long, but it's not too bad. Hopefully when the other parts grow out, it'll mix in better, otherwise I might just hack it off myself (joking). XD I'll rectify it the next time I get it cut. :) But I love short hair! I don't even need to comb it anymore. =^__^=

I was rewatching some eps of Sailor Moon Stars last night, and I still love it~ <3 Then I came online today and was downloading some LastFriends!RukaMichi images, and one really captured me with its strong Haruka x Michiru vibe. The hairstyle, the clothes, the pose, everything! ^_^ So I will finish this entry with it~ =3

There are just too many similarities between Ruka x Michiru of Last Friends and Haruka x Michiru of Sailor Moon, to the point where it can't be a coincidence! Almost every HxM fan has picked up on this and jumped onto the show. ^^ If you are a fan of HxM, I implore you to watch this drama!! It's like a more angsty, realistic embodiment of Haruka and Michiru! Whether they are aware of it or not, Ueno Juri and Nagasawa Masami are playing it perfectly. C'mon, look at this picture and tell me you don't see live-action Haruka and Michiru right there! 0^__^0



Something else that points to the resemblance between the two series, is how much the promo/OP shot of Last Friends resembles this Sailor Moon manga image (someone on D-addicts originally posted this):

( put under a cut to prevent stuffing up people's Friends pages )

In related news, I have become a moderator of the lastfriends community - the fandom is growing fast! I made some icons last night: http://community.livejournal.com/lastfriends/1759.html. When I get the time, I would really like to make some walls too. ^^

Episode 3 airs tonight, yay~ <3

I officially have no work left to do (as with a lot of other people here), so they are literally now paying us to do nothing. ^_^V Only 8 working days left! Anyway in some of my spare time here, I was reading the Japan Times online, and I came across this really interesting article about "KY-style Japanese". It's really awesome!! KY-style Japanese (stands for "kuuki yomenai", the reason for this is another story) is when Japanese people abbreviate their Japanese phrases using the first letter of each word. What results are some really cute phrases!! Some examples the article gave included:

JK - joshi kousei (female high-school student)
IW - imi wakaranai (don't understand a thing)
MM - maji mukatsuku (be really pissed off)
CB - chou bimyou (very hard to tell)

The two below are so compact! LOL
GMM - guuzen machideatta motokare (bumping into an ex-boyfriend in town)
ODD - omae daigaku dou suru (What are you going to do about university?)

And possibly my favorite: "IT". No, not Information Technology, but "aisu tabetai" (I want to eat ice-cream). XD It's interesting that this abbreviation is based on the original English word "Ice" not "Aisu", so it's actually I(ice)T, not A(aisu)T.

I think KY-Japanese is so efficient and cute~ ^_^

Ahhhhhhhhh, sooooo goooood!!!!! ^____^ I think I'm going to have to do a post after watching each ep otherwise I will burst with the fangirlism. XD This show is everything I could have wanted in a drama and more. The pacing of the buildup of the relationship between Ruka and Michiru is perfect, and each episode ends with a cliffhanger scene that makes you want to see what happens next so bad. And so much of the dialogue makes me o^___^o. Like, in a scene Takeru and Ruka are talking about motocross, and how he would like to come see her race.

(rough translation by me)
Ruka: Don't come! I don't want to be nervous for no reason.
Takeru: Well, your dad goes, doesn't he?
Ruka: Ah, well yeah my family comes. Even if I told them not to, they'd still come with flags and stuff. *smiles*
Takeru: Isn't there anyone you'd like to come see you?
Ruka: *a sort of sad, longing expression crosses her face* ...Michiru.

( More fangirlism~ Cut just in case people don't want to know yet~ )

Michiru introduces her DV boyfriend to Ruka, somewhat under duress. Look at the fear in her face.


Love the expression on Ruka's face when they're introducing themselves.


Michiru's boyfriend is such a bastard. And Ruka is so entirely awesome~

Oh man, now I have to wait an entire week before the next ep...I've never looked forward to each episode of a show like this before...it's quite...torturous. XD I'm just glad I have plenty of other things to do, so my mind is not always on it, but it has been wandering to it VERY frequently this past week. XD But it's all good, cos every time I do, I can't help but break out into a smile. I've lost count of the number of times I listened to Prisoner of Love at work in the last few days.

Has anyone else watched it yet? ^^

A slight shift in topic onto real life, today a friend said to me "I asked God for help and He sent you". Even though it was for something small, I think that is one of the most encouraging things someone could ever say to me. It really made me so happy. ^_^

Over the past few weeks, I've well and truly emerged from that dark passageway I'd been persevering through. I've finally reached that warm, comforting, beautiful light, as I trusted I would. And it feels great. ^_^