音時雨 ～Regentropfen～

2013-Oct-25 (Fri), 24:51@GMT-7

❋ Drugged in Turaida

First, a bad thing, the shipment of my "Turaida" got delayed to November--even there is no shortage of it on amazon at all. (I never know how those online stores work though.)
Second, a good thing, there is always kind people (not me definitely, I buy music, but lazy and not that willing to share) who share the newest releases. Good thing always happen on Friday morning--just like two weeks ago's Haruka release! Now I have a copy of "Turaida", and like what I expected, Akiko never let me down, she's so fantastic! The music, and the CD jacket. ^^
Goddess, she could just cosplay like Kalliope or any other muse then use that as the CD jacket!
♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦
Since my last being-kiyoed at Haruka's new release for ~350 times (online, and plus another 350 if counting offline), I bet this time I may go beyond the previous degree. Even solely because Akiko is one of my Top Three~
I remember this afternoon, one labmate told me that we identified some new entries (entry = something only I myself know), and blah blah. I could know from her tone that she was excited. Then, she asked me, "Aren't you excited?"
"No, not really." I said.
--Because I'm much, much more excited by Turaida at that moment, and also right now! :3
Guess I could start here...


↓I'm not listing any old works.
1. 時に埋もれた言葉 (Words Hidden in Time)
2. Arcadia
3. 光降る場所で～Promesse～ (At Where the Light Falling)
words: Isoya Yoshie
4. アラベスク (Arabesque)
words: Isoya Yoshie
5. 化石の楽園 (Paradise of Fossils)
6. 翅亡キ花 (Flower With Broken Wings)
words: Isoya Yoshie
7. Buonanotte (Good Night)
8. ひらいてさんぜ (Blooming in Profusion) ?? I really have no idea about how to properly translate ancient Japanese @_@
9. 萼-utena- (Calyx)
words: Amano Tsuki
10. 祈りの果てのひとふりの (Turning at the End of Prayer)
words: Isoya Yoshie
11. 刻限のロンド (Rondo of the Destined Moment)
words: Isoya Yoshie
12. Leyre
Bonus CD
4. 歪 (Deformity)
5. それぞれの道へ (Toward Their Own Paths)
8. 月待ち茶話 (Moon-Waiting Tea Party)
Tr. 8 captured my heart immediately. My first link from it was "Akakakushi". Koto, or some people use Sou, is my favorite Japanese traditional instrument. I was totally heated up when its clear sound plays. That song is an excellent mixture between contemporary and traditional styles. The melody, the lyrics, and the arrangement make me so happy=>my Top 1 in Turaida.
For other songs, they are all good and I can't pick up more special favorites anymore. Similar to Haruka's release, I love the entire album. Tr. 1 and Tr. 2 are like the most typical Akiko style that you're familiar with, multiple-part chorus, "homemade" language, opening the gate to Turaida (Garden of God interpreted by Akiko). Tr. 3 is a beautiful and gentle song in Italian. It's another aspect of her style but may not show up as frequently as those in first two tracks--and it's good there is translation!
When the first I listened to the introduction of Tr. 4, I felt like I was listening to some old Kalafina! "Don't tell me the composer/arranger is Yuki!" << I really had such thoughts. But, anyhow, that's Akiko's own work. The arranging work is so well-done. I love the string parts echoing with each other.
Tr. 5 and Tr. 6 are kind of at the hash side--if you read the lyrics. Yet the ambience of them are nice. Especially looking at the booklet together. Then Tr. 7 is a soft lullaby. Without the multiple-part chorus, Akiko can do sweet songs (the harp is sweet too)! The following one, I've just talked about, and it's a cute song.
Long time ago in the period of "Harmonia", I liked the song in which Amano Tsuki wrote the lyrics. And this time, I'm happy to see this combination again. This time, the song is still so intensive and impressive. Even the booklet gives a strong constrast between the black background and scattering petals.--Are Amano Tsuki's own songs all like this? Or it especially happens when they two go together? (I'm not familiar with Amano's songs, so I don't know. ^^;)
Tr. 10 is a bright folkish song... in Turkish (I spent a fairly amount of time on matching those irregular letters!). It's a story about a girl who looks for the help from the Princess of Rain for her hometown. So in the booklet, the major part is all in golden that indicates the sorching weather, whereas on the very right side, there is a patch showing the tender blue water and the peaceful reflection of sunlight--I like happy ends.
Tr. 11 is another intensive piece but a little bit less impressive comparing to Tr. 9. To matching that page, there is a huge clock in the booklet. Finally, Tr. 12, a rather calm ending hymn converges this album to the end but written in a language I have no clue. At the same time, Tr. 12 makes a good connection to Tr. 1, so you can simply keep looping this album from the start to the end, then back to the start smoothly. Right, a perfect flow. It's convicing you also getting kiyo-ed!!
About the bonus CD, some are short versions of other released works, and some are the selected BGM tracks plus the short version of one UNRELEASED work.
Bonus Tr. 4 is the unreleased one. I basically don't listen to short versions. Bonus Tr. 4 is just as impressive as Tr. 9 from the main CD. After listening to the short version here, I more and more want that full version gets released. For the rest two new tracks, Bonus Tr. 5 is too short to comment, although it's good, and Bonus Tr. 8 is a cute one. It reminds me her "Haguruma no Erude" back to this August. Well, tea parties are supposed to be sweet and cute, aren't they?
♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦
Counting the languages--although I'm not surprising anymore when she uses any new language--I'm still kind of amazed that she used Arabic in Tr. 4. Continuing from "Harmonia", Tr. 10 has Turkish (I assume!). Then, for tracks 2 and 12, I totally have no clue what the language is. Anyone knows whether those symbols correspond to any non-homemade language? :P
I did have a tough time while typing the lyrics (because they're not available online yet). For lots of times, they gave pronunciations for words I know, but not for those I don't know!! °A° I spent lots of time looking up those words via the hand-writing-detecting feature of Google JP IME, and not unexpected, that feature can't hit to what exactly I want, so I had to write again and again and again because otherwise I don't know how to reach it.
--Akiko's lyrics is definitely NOT good for Japanese learners!
Then I have to say, I just CAN'T stop thinking that jacket looks weird. It's something like the overall arrangement of elements or the colour harmony. The contrast is sorta too sharp to me--or maybe it's because the tree and she's too REAL comparing to the way too FANTASTIC sky in background? Anyway, the booklet is prettily designed as usual. What is excellent is that all songs have their proper background/images like what I've interpolated previously. One page I didn't cover is about Tr. 8 my favorite. This page has a neat design: maple leaves, butterflies, and other patterns in a clear white background. Above all these elements, the lyrics appear on a translucent orange colour block. I'm specially saying it here because it reminds me an old blog template of mine! XD Since I got especially love for this one, I even set up the wallpaper of the lab PC I use using this one. Others will be surprised while seeing it, though I doubt much people will use it since it's on the Pepen OS.
And now I'll stop writing. Should just wait for my own copy! Meanwhile, I'm having a report due 2 weeks later; have to get it done ASAP so I won't rush at the last minute!
♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦♫♦♫.。・*゜*・。.♦
Ahhh, I just realised that I totally almost forget to write about that. I tagged this post as "otherworld", because of that.
It's just what popped up in my mind. If you read her lyrics very carefully. Of Tr. 6, somewhat in Tr. 5, a little in Tr. 9. Not only in this album, take a look at Laylania's background set-ups (and that's where I initially got that idea)...
Akiko, you're a shota-con, aren't you??!!
--I'M KIDDING, DON'T BITE ME!
When your imagination flies beyond the ground, you start to make delusions... u_u
2013-Oct-20 (Sun), 25:28@GMT-7

★ Adpoting a penguin is definitely cheapter than having your window frame fixed

I have completely no idea what exactly I'm busy with recently, but I'm just busy. So that having no time to play Silent Hill, or even watch Rozen Maiden.
And the fact is that you always gotta deal with several non primary yet important life-bugs, and thus get sidetracked and causes you even busier.
In my case, my impulse of officially adopting a penguin unlashed my supposed-to-be-well-organised weekend time.
At home with Pepen~
A few weeks ago, I suddenly decided to wipe out my illegal Windows 7 and install a penguin OS onto it. It's not a bad idea to be familiar (and to master for the best) both OS'. So since that time I installed Mint.--You may wonder why not Ubuntu??
In fact, I knew linux from Ubuntu because my lab PC's have it. But I myself chose Mint.
Three reasons,
1. Ubuntu is sorta hard to configure (or maybe it's not my own PC so I can't really try around), and I hate the left-side taskbar, whereas Mint, at least the version I have is very like Windows. As a heavy Windows user, it's so nostalgic that Mint has a XP-like default interface.
2. I NEVER know how to pronounce "Ubuntu",
3. Mint is by default fresh green, which is much better than Ubuntu's dusky orange.
I might get a pure UNIX (which sounds super cool) but I'm not that geek yet to deal with such a stranger. ^^;
Since my first time installation, everything was good, except the screen brightness. I tried the preview version via my USB disk on "LipAura" (my current legal Win 8), and it had no problem with adjusting it. So it must be something wrong inside of that machine. I went online for others' suggestions, from installing VAIO drivers to general controlling tools, but none worked.
At Saturday noon, I was (again) search for solving the way to high screen brightness in order to use this OS without hurting my eyes. By chance? or because I was lucky? I saw someone's posting a line about "nvclock". Alright, lemme have a try.
sudo nvclock -S 40
Alghough I didn't expect anything good, IT JUST WORKED LIKE MAGIC!
I was so happy that I finished my homemade red bean paste--which took me almost 12 hours! >w<
Therefore, I decided to re-install Mint to clean out all previous stupid test prog's for the brightness issue. While giving my laptop a name, I thought over, and finally typed as below:
"SilentHill".
So now, each time when I start a terminal, I see kiyoko@SilentHill.
And I got super moe-d by simply staring at it! ≧▽≦
*:..｡o○☆ﾟ･:,｡*:..｡o○☆*:ﾟ･:,｡*:..｡o○☆ﾟ･:,｡*:..｡o○☆ﾟ･:,｡*:..｡o
On the fluffy cloud
Linux isn't that hard to configure (as a regular, non-geek user of course). Probably it's also because it includes most programs you might need, and you'd just follow the default settings since you're new to this OS. All stuff that I need to take special care aren't that messy to list: Wine, Notepad++, foobar2000, and google drive.
Speaking about gdrive, it's really a shame that there isn't linux version for the syncing. But anyway, there are still things that can achieve it. Before, I ever made attemp to switch to dropbox, but eventually I reached my conclusion that dropbox is rubbish. I do agree that it's great for people who work with both windows and linux (and mac?), just, no matter what kind of free promotion you offer, the initial 2 GB is no way to be enough. We're not staying in the floppy stage, even my USB stick is at least 4-8 GB, and I'm not that type who forgets to carry important data easily.
Maybe Ubuntu One is a good alternative (5 GB is decent enough). But UO can't make me pointing a folder outside of drive C to be the syncing directory, which terminates all my curiosity of trying more with it. Meanwhile, I got Skydrive worked on my "LipAura". It's such a waste if I don't use it since I have 25 GB during the old-user-event (even though my microsoft account is bound to my gmail).
*:..｡o○☆ﾟ･:,｡*:..｡o○☆*:ﾟ･:,｡*:..｡o○☆ﾟ･:,｡*:..｡o○☆ﾟ･:,｡*:..｡o
The DUMPY 8.1
After making both my peguin OS and cloud home happy going, another impulse got me crying for the whole Sunday.
I've already read about win 8.1pro, and based most people's review, it does worth to upgrade it. So I did it in the morning. Good thing was I don't even need to re-configure all my system settings, which always causes me super headache. The entire upgrade was smooth. Download-install-reboot, followed by a few simple set-up's then you're done.
But--right, I always make things worse by attaching this word--while I was happy with the new tweaks that can turn off the top-right/left corner hover that originally wakes up the app-switching thing, I was ready to update my user interface back to Japanese. I just can't stop doing it as a Japanophile. :3
There it came the first issue. Guess you already know what it is.
The Japanese language pack isn't yet available!! °A°
Then why German pack is downloadable?! I wish I could use it but I don't know much German. u_u
Fine, I may endure it until they release the pack, no problem. Then the second issue dragged me heart back.
--I'd assume it's "forever".
Some of my programs now have a rather ugly interface. My entire system is beautifully set to the highest resolution as usual, yet those programs are like what you might see from an old win98. I searched online, but I haven't seen many people complaining about it. Was it my own issue with my hardware improperly configured? So I installed the original VAIO graphic driver got from official website again, and also tried to update it. No doubt none of my effort worked.
The thing was, I had NO ISSUE while configuring win 8 on the same machine. x_x
Another bad thing. Thanks to win8's removing of start button, I've stopped using win 8's start up menu. I use cmd to call whatever I want. Now you made it back, not bad, but why it still calls the stupid huge metro-flat-board?? If you make the traditional start button re-appeared, at least summon back the traditional menu! Σ(ﾟДﾟ；
--Win 8.1 isn't that charming like people commented.
IT'S DUMPY.
It seems not possible to reverse my upgrade back to win 8. It's not like an update-patch that you can remove either. I also looked on microsoft's webpage for installing win 8, but all I got was 8.1. When I was almost in despair, I recalled that there is a link to download and install win 8 when I bought it. Fortunately, that link is still alive!! I'm not sure if it's still visible on MS's webpage; I just wish they never remove/redirect it to 8.1 unless they solve the resolution issue.
Thus I ended up at almost 20:00 -- from 10:00 in the morning, solely for the stupid upgrade. It's also my fault that I should have made a backup USB disk, but who knows SUCH unexpected and silly problems exist!
My happy mood was ruined completely by 8.1 pro. Perhaps the only good thing for my computer today is, I finally connected to my EHD so I have more disk space now.
↓ See how much I have left before (or right during the upgrade, and I haven't changed my laptop name to "LipAura"). (´・ω・`)
2013-Oct-12 (Sat), 26:43@GMT-7

✽ MOE-D! BLESSED! and KIYO-ED!!

No doubt, this is probably my first time being kiyo-ed at Haruka seriously.
After the rather dull September, this album for sure exicates me. I just got this album on Friday morning, and since then, I've been keeping the songs on and on and on for 2 days and I can definitely keep going.
My last being-kiyo-ed record should be in this March, when I played KOKIA's "Where to go my love?" for 500+ times. I may not be able to break that record this time, but I did get satisfied.
So, let's bow to shimotsukin haruka for this excellent music! m(_ _)m
What? You don't know what I'm talking about?

2013.10.09, 『レムルローズの魔女 (Remlerose's Witch)』
Official HP: http://www.fwinc.co.jp/music/remle_rose/
At the very first, this album sounds a bit like the old Sound Horizon, but this one is indeed much, much better than even the old Sound Horizon!
Project: Shimotsuki Haruka, Hiyama Nao (The perfect music-story combination!!)
Musicians involved are great too (although I had no idea about who Sakamoto Hideki is... ^^;).
1. 朱の月に唄う魔女 (The Witch Who Sings On the Crimson Moon)
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao, Music: Shimotsuki Haruka, Arrange: Hirota Yoshitaka
2. 虚空(そら)が朽ちるまで (Until the Hollow Sky Collapses)
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao, Music/Arrange: Shimotsuki Haruka
3. 映らない記憶 (Unseen Memories)
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao, Music/Arrange: MANYO
4. 呪われた姫君　～忘却のレムルローズ～ (The Cursed Princess ~Remlerose of Oblivion~)
Lyrics: Shimotsuki Haruka, Music/Arrange: Sakamoto Hideki
5. 夜を待つ二人 (The Two Who Wait For the Night)
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao, Music: Shimotsuki Haruka, Arrange: Sakamoto Hideki
6. 死の舞踏会 (Ball of Death)
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao, Music/Arrange: Hirota Yoshitaka
7. 緋色の薔薇 (Scarlet Rose)
Lyrics: Hiyama Nao, Music: Shimotsuki Haruka, Arrange: MANYO
I couldn't recognise Yoshitaka's arrange/compose, but I did get MANYO's track 3 and most of Haruka's composing melody, which made me happy.
While listening to all these songs, even after days, I still keep exclaiming how amazing, gorgeous and perfect the songs are. So if you by chance see me, I'll always be with a blessed face, being drunk in Shimotsukin's marvellous world.
And, I CAN'T pick up my favorite track. They are equally great. So is the connection between every individual song. Tr.1 and Tr.2 bring the opening of story, Tr.3 is a link between "now" and "past". Tr.4 is in an epic-poem style telling, bringing us to the "past", and in Tr.5, it goes back to the normal timeline. Finally, Tr.6 concludes the story while Tr.7 is like a summary.
Then, the booklet is so well-designed. The illustrations triggered my nerve of moe again! But what's behind the illustrations? What's the story about the songs?--Everything is there in the lyrics; it's pretty straightforward comparing with Sound Horizon's written riddles--it doesn't mean I don't like hidden message! However, I'm not digging into the story. You should have fun to derive your own fantasy from the songs while reading the lyrics. If you don't understand Japanese, it's your fault~ :3
Haruka is perfect too! I mean her newest photo, found on Remlerose's HP.

GothLoli Harukaaaa!!!!! <33333333333
Since everything is so perfect, I decided to buy myself a real copy.
....BUT THIS ALBUM IS TOO PERFECT TO ALLOW ME BUYING ONE!
Yesterday evening there were still 17 in stock on amazon, but this morning, when I was going to order it, it says it's out of stock and the next arrival is not set up..
WTH! Σ(ﾟДﾟ；
I can only wait. Hope they get some in future soon. u_u
†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†
Another bad news, for some reason, the release of Akiko's Laylania 2013 concert DVD got delayed to next March. Fine, I still have KOKIA's DVD for this winter--haven't got time to watch all of them!
And the jacket of Turaida is out now.

This kind of colour scheme keeps ringing in my head about KAGAYA--especially the background purple-blue sky. Oh well, I shouldn't pick on such things, I'm a fan of KAGAYA. XD
Yet still... the jacket looks a little weird. Something about balancing the front and back colours but I can't explain.
I do perfer her RAKA/Harmonia much more. :P
Also, I'm not used to her short-cut yet (even it's not my first time seeing it). I keep thinking she's Nagi because of the hair! But, on the other hand, she looks perfect with this hairstyle. Because she sang for Saki in A.T.3, who has a quite similar hairstyle. lol
By all means, it's my own feeling that I can't imagine how she actually sings "EXEC_EP=NOVA/." (again, something hard to explain regarding to people's appearance and actions).
†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†:.｡.:ﾟ:.｡.:†
Akiko (and Kokia too) will always satisfy us. So I have no worry about what I can listen to for the rest of October and the early November. But I also realised that my extreme love toward Haruka this time masked other nice works released around the same time. So guess I should give the rest of this post to those works.

Kalafina - アレルヤ
Thanks (?!) to Kara no Kyoukai, this song is definitely better than what I expected. I'm happy they didn't sing like a cheap Jpop that even an amateur artist can achieve, although the overall image isn't my favorite "dark song", it's okay, they were sing for a story so they might simply not be able to sing dark. But I'm not saying I like the rest songs. I have totally no comments for "dolce" and I don't like the live versions of "fairytale" (I didn't even try Tr.4 because that song is never in my fav list).
Alright, I'm not leaving. I'll go with you for a little longer anyway, like what I promised before. They'll have another single(?) in November for Madoka's new movie, but I'm not expecting too much for the music/song since I've got my lesson from the previous Madoka movies. I just wish the movie itself being good, the old one is nothing but a shortened TV flow!

Mitsumune Shinkichi - Rozen Maiden Original Soundtrack
That's the person who composed for "Shoujo Kakumei Utena"! I love the strings and piano in this work. I also appreciate that they didn't include the song used in anime this time. However, it would be nice if there are tracks for all dolls that are all under the naming style "roze of xxxxx".
Saying about Rozen Maiden, I haven't even touched the later episodes since I'm now in Detective Conan mode. Maybe I should do a little switch and move the finished stuff to the EHD.
because...

see my miserable hard drive!! XD
2013-Sep-26 (Thu), 22:08@GMT-7

❀ losing 2/3 of my luck!

Ordered a bit late, while their delivery service was unavailable for about 5 days, I couldn't receive it until today.

No matter how long I wait, KOKIA is just pretty that makes you having nothing to complain.
Although I have the impulse to
So, this post, which was supposed to be written in my "otherworld", is still white. :3
--Nothing to complain, just this time, I'm really a little depressed.
KOKIA - 2013 release - Where to go my love?
Yes, I love them all. But I'd still like to have a few "special" pieces.
So, if not including the one recorded in concert...
Dance with the wind
愛はこだまする
you are not alone
liar liar ～ロマンティックワルツ
something blue & something red
ヒトの中にあるもの
微笑みを忘れないように
夢の途中
映画のような恋でした
Where to go my love

↑Bold=my top 3.
HOWEVER!
In this year's concert, two of them were not performed...
Why!??
I want to hear KOKIA singing all my favorite pieces in concert so hard! But seems luck isn't by my side. Anyway, look at the setting list, 8/10 were there, in the same order as shown in the CD; was it hard to arrange the rest two as well? Or KOKIA you have some reason to not sing these two?
I don't understand. u_u
Well, maybe I should say I still have some luck since there is still one of my top 3--guess I'll cry if not (although missing two thirds IS indeed making me want to cry... .__.)
☆:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::☆
September is toward its end. A dull month with no exciting new releases. The last (and is also the only new) release in this month is Mitsumune Shinkichi's Rozen Maiden 2013 OST, released on 9.23. Rozen Maiden is probably the most well-drawn anime in this season (yet it's one of the only two animes I'm following ^^;). The previous OSTs are not bad (not as good as Shoujo Kakumei UTENA), so I believe this one will be good too. Right now, solely from watching the anime, I haven't felt any piece of melody sounds especially beautiful, but there should be some impressive pieces so I'll keep a copy that will be the only entry in 2013 September (Ahh, never mind what I'm writing here, I just realised there is nothing in November yet!).
Then, I've said before, in early October, Haruka's new release will definitely be my love (I wish?! xD), a few days before Haruka, I'll be nervous about Kalafina's new single. And right after these two releases, it's this year's biggest (?) impact: you know, Akiko Shikata's first concert DVD plus her fourth (of course it's not the real 4th) album (by some reason, this way of counting someone's album is silly)--Well, the first is much, much more important.
-- We know that Akiko sings so well in concert that the quality can compete with recording in a studio, do you think this Akiko will also be the same? :P
2013-Sep-21 (Sat), 23:22@GMT-7

❀ I'm not a private eye, just an otaku-girl

Saturday evening, the happiest moment of the whole week--especially when it's getting cold. After taking a shower, stay snug and warm, and enjoy some exciting murder scenes.
In fact, I've been in Detective Conan (D/C) mode since 3 weeks ago.
Although stalled for quite a while due to Kogoro's cast voice got changed, I decided to resume during the summer. One of the earliest animes I ever loved, and one that connected me to several nice GIZA artists. --And it indeed does have its long-and-well-being. Being not a simple daily-life-cuts styled work, it does have its main story and, how many years it have been since its first on air in 1996 (I can only talk about the anime since I'm never a manga girl)?
1996, I was merely in the fourth grade, GARNET CROW (GC) hadn't started and KOKIA didn't debut... yet magically they are still trapped at that time, now in 2013, in which GC arrived their terminus and KOKIA had her 15th anniversary!
Anyway, I'll remember to pray for this anime ends peacefully without any other disruption (it hurts when someone "changes" his/her voice by any reason!).
So, after some nostalgic memories, I'll show my big thanks to my dear laptop. I've kept it on for almost two weeks without even turn it to sleep--Because I was passionate about getting a complete copy of all D/C animes on my hard drive.
At first I thought it would be super hard unless you buy its DVD releases, but there are just that many Conan fans and nice people who're happy to share.
A total of 152GB including all ep's from 1997 to 2011 plus movies and OVAs and magic files. WHAT A MONSTER! This delicious sweet thus locked my laptop for two weeks. I didn't even dare to run some heavy-duty programs or I might harm the system. ^^; And don't ask for too much, you can always find out the most recent releases. :3
Another thing I know is I won't be bored for this xmas. I was on J-horror mode for last year's winter season, it's time to switch (I'm actually out of J-horror movie stock, what I have left is only Silent Hill 4: The Room, which is J-horror, but isn't a movie. And someone suggested me trying Hard Action Mode, without knowing how bad I'm at action games!).
Now I'm wondering when I'll be able to catch up the only two animes I'm following "Monogatari 2nd" and "Rozen Maiden". The latter is probably the most gorgeous anime among this season. However, I'm NEVER a fan of Shinku the standard tsundere. Tanaka Rie Suigintou is my choice! (´∀｀)
As of it. Seems I don't really dislike tsundere people. What I don't like is twin-tail plus this personality => the stereotype. --Did I ever mentioned I'd go to Chroche route first if I have a chance to play Ar Tonelico 2 (the best one among A.T. games)? XD
Enough about D/C, now lemme change my gear.
About 10 days ago, when I was ordering KOKIA's newest concert DVD.
Even though they said they support international shipment, I couldn't do it due to their destination form was designed for Japanese addresses. But on that day, I re-checked their faq section.
"For international shipping, we use tenso.com."
...
I was such a fool who did't see that! Σ(ﾟДﾟ；
At least now I know it...
Till now I've been giving my working email address to 5*24+20 people in total, but none of them recognise it, which confirms that neither KOKIA nor Ar Tonelico is really popular here. ゜д゜)・・・
It did turn me a little bit down.
However, out of this many of people, there are two told me that they felt the email address is cool.
Fine, I know they know nothing more about this, so I told them that is a song.
If they are curious enough, they may youtube it, though I guess they'll never do it.
The world I'm living is for sure different from theirs!
Finally, probably because I watched too much D/C, I was getting interested in Okonomiyaki.

↑ My first trying, isn't bad!
I've never known that cabbage can be so delicious! (･∀･#)
--- Above, an otaku-girl's happiness. (・ω・｀) ---
2013-Aug-30 (Fri), 6:03@GMT+8

♡ CPTS - Spoiler & Complaint

コープスパーティー Tortured Souls -暴虐された魂の呪叫-
↑ Let's call it CPTS.
Although I wanted to talk about my own thoughts a few days ago, I couldn't because there was things much more interesting than writing for this failed work. I was planning to keep a 1080p copy but now I changed my mind. u_u
However, I did enjoy this "happy" anime -- I couldn't stop laughing while watching the 4 episodes in a row. As a big fan of the original game (hmm, I didn't play CP2U because I don't have a PSP), there are so many scenes to place my butting-in comments.
I bet people who are new to this work will be lost unless they watch solely because it's a horror anime. Fans of the original game will not be satisfied because it lacks proper structure to make everything continuous. As an OVA, the characters are not that well-drawn.
Probably, the only good things of CPTS are its opening theme song and the unchanged cast voice list...
★SPOILER ALERT★
I'm not responsible if you get spoiled by reading any of the following text.
The rest three episodes are still acceptable, but the first episode goes so quick and -- what is also more fatal -- it lacks proper transitions.
I noticed it since the very beginning: how they got trapped. (They missed some funny moments). However, the beginning, though changed a little bit, is not bad. I actually don't ask for 100% original content as long as the entire framework is reasonable. But the following ep1's main story is getting rather funny -- Yes, all major events in the game between our Bilibili (Naomi) and Hentai Lady (Seiko) were included: that at the entranceway, that in the infirmary, and that ointment event. :P Such parts excite me, but as I said before, they flow too quick and lack connection. I couldn't stop complaining while seeing the previous frame just ended their conversation and being jumped into the infirmary in the next frame. Also, the quarrel at the end looks a bit abnormal -- do you believe Kuroko can run away from Naomi solely because of Naomi's impulsive blame? I don't.
By the way, the famous "stepping-onto-someone's-large-intestine" happened when Seiko is by herself. << They should at least keep this as original, the conversation was so funny!
◆Seiko dies, and Naomi is warned by Mild Seven (Naho) that she's the only living person in this dimension.
CPTS changed the situations of our Class Rep (Ayumi), the Badness (Kishinuma) and Sensei (Yui) a little bit. Seems Sensei isn't together with the rest two (they changed it because they also think it's too odd to have a closet with kitchen knives, chisels and scalpels? xD). She goes into the infirmary and triggered Mayu getting smashed and thus became Mayu-chanjam. (And I still wonder at what speed a person's body can be smashed like that...)
Our Necrophilia (Morishige) looks as usual at the beginning. Since there were quite a lot of scenes of him, I though they might take things from "Book of Shadows (CPBS)", but I was wrong. His turn is too short. Being seen by our Ordinary Hero (Satoshi) and his Bro-con sister (Yuka) while taking photos of his favorite "artwork", being exhausted and thus enjoys his "collection", followed by the canonical calling -- No, it's not the end here! However, this change made me deducted an additional mark from my overall rating of CPTS... I'll go back to this point shortly.
◆Yui witnesses Mayu getting smeshed; Morishige takes shot of Mayu-jam and soon knows the truth.
Meanwhile, in case of Satoshi and SatokoYuka, they got attracted by Illya (Sachiko) too early -- their part is likely adapted from BS. Only after a moment, Satoshi is transferred and leaves Yuka by herself. I personally don't like the scene when Satoshi found Kizami's student ID, which is also Kizami's first entry into CPTS. -- Right, before I go more into Kizami's part, I need to go back to Morishige. Yuka is in the annex looking for his brother, so she meets Morishige, who is beating a dead person. In CPBS, he's at least keeping sane to not hurt Yuka, but here in CPTS, he completely turns into a hopeless murder. "Because you made a promise with Mayu to be together with her, now let me beat you onto the wall to get it come true." (--don't you think you should be the ONLY one being with Mayu??) This makes Yuka running away and hiding herself, which getting this work's No.1 Sis-Con (Kizami) stepping onto the stage. He at first helps Yuka and finally wants to kill her but unfortunately gets struck by the Berserk (Yoshikazu). Think it's the same as the original work? Well, sort of. Before, Kizami killed Kurosaki Ichigo, now, he kills Morishige. Fine, I know the staff hate him (but I don't!) and this does make sense. Yet comparing with our Necrophilia Morishige, Kizami's part is even worse. I think the biggest failure here is the staff didn't include even a tiny piece telling how Kizami developped his mental status (killing small animals and enjoying watching the end of life). In CPTS, Kizami just looks like a broken person, has no difference from any others who turn insane at this place.
◆Yuka gets separated from Satoshi, runs away from Morishige. Morishige is cut at neck by Kizami, Kizami goes broken.
On the other hand, the main culprit who bring everyone into that place, Ayumi, with Kishinuma, talk to Naho, get an old doll when her spirit disappears (I myself prefer the creepier appearance of the doll in the game), and then find out a bloody bag. They haven't confirmed what's in it, the Yoshizawa attacks them but then they by chance know the bag can help those brats (actually the scene of they opening the bag is more interesting... and, aren't you just a Classroom-komori?), so they go for all the rest bags. After the next house-quake, they are taken back to their normal world. Soon, after a boring talk with the Eye-less (Yuki), Ayumi experiences the scene of murder, knows the truth and decides to return and help others.
This whole part is so crappy. They skipped the swimming pool part (which is the most interesting), and the last words from the doll (which I even wanted to set the laughing as my ringtone) and how they meet Morishige and get the last bag from him (well, he's dead already in CPTS). Such changes made the combination of our Class Rep and the Badness isn't that "entertaining" as usual? -- Probably it's also because most of their funny stories are from wrong ends. :3
Another failed point is the scene of murder, I remember the anxious feeling at this part in game. But in CPTS, they used only few minutes -- Don't you think a long span of silence + black screen can make people feeling nervous? -- I guess some people would not realise what's going on when the scene ends.
◆Ayumi and Kishinuma help the kids and are sent back to the normal world and Ayumi decides to return.
But like a wrong end in game, Kishinuma refuses going back. Yet unlike that wrong end, he indeed does something rather than turns darken. Ayumi enters the science room and tries to help Yuka and meets Kishinuma who hits onto Kizami the Model (a human model can kill others -_-). But seems the staff hate Kishinuma too, so our Badness is also killed by the Berserk. Satoshi, who knows the way to return, goes across dimensions and meets Naomi. He followes Yuka's voice and finds Ayumi and Yuka and the dead Kishinuma. Anyhow, maybe Yuka is the hardest person in CPTS?! She doesn't die after being stabbed at thigh, eye, and heart (or somewhere near it). Plus, isn't Yuka supposed to ask Satoshi saying he loves her? It's a shame that her last words were "going home together"! XD
◆Yuka and Kishinuma are killed by Kizami and Berserk.
Satoshi doesn't going broken in CPTS either. Based on the previous events, I thought the staff were planning the "all-dying" end (Ayume the Invincible Iron Fist is so MOE). But up to this point, I thought they were going to the "loop end". Anyway, afterwards, Ayumi, Naomi and Satoshi watch Kibiki's video tape, know what happened between Naho and him. They then split up to find out how to make Illya rest in peace.
Naho knows the truth about herself and disappears; Naomi and Satoshi see how Illya's mother dies and how headmaster kills Illya. Yui dies in front of Ayumi. The staff hate Yui as well (I feel like they hate everyone). They killed Yui in one second by an accident -- she might only die in this way, she didn't get hurt by the knief-closet after all... Naomi and Satoshi enter the dissection room and see the Berserk cuts off Seiko's tongue. Naomi then follows him and sees what happened during Seiko's death. But she retrieves sanity after receiving tons of Seiko's message (or she accelerates turning dark while seeing them). Satoshi and Ayumi first find where Illya's body is, and try to convince her. You'll know, they all have the "main char's aura" and this or that necessary props, they success and go back to the normal world. But, since Naomi lost her piece, Satoshi gives her his and he says he'll use Yuka's because they don't know what will happen if you don't use the same piece as what you used to come here (again, I want to see Ayumi burns her piece!).
Eventually, the last three survivors -- I should say the last two -- Ayumi and Naomi successfully return. You ask about Satoshi? Only his two cut-off arms return, and no one knows where his body is. Because Yuka already dies, he thus has no intend to live so he passes his own piece to Naomi? << My guess.
What the hell is the end!? (ﾟдﾟ )
◆Yui dies. The rest three people convinced Illya and go back to the reality. But only two remained alive in the normal world.
The end, same as the beginning of BS, but without the faceless photo of Seiko. (That's why Ayumi asks her instead of Satoshi to go Sachiko's house in BS?!)
Absolutely not a good adapted work, but suits watching for entertainment -- and it's NOT horror!
♥:━:♥♡:━:♡♥:━:♥♡:━:♡♥:━:♥♡:━:♡
Ciel nosurge Genometric Concert Vol.2 just got released a few days ago, can I say I love Haruka and Noriko's parts, and I still dislike Minami Kizuki's voice and keep skipping her tracks.. ^^;
2013-Aug-17 (Sat), 10:52@GMT+8

✽ A So-Late C84 Wishlist (Plus Edition)

Seems everyone is talking about C84, so am I, but a bit late this time.
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C84: MUST GET
↓ I know my wishlist is always full of my Top 4 (I really don't have a clear order, I love them all equally).
★753(=霜月はるか／日山尚／MANYO) - canoueII～最果ての塔～

Haruka's canoue circle's newest work. Her fantastic style is always my favorite and no doubt this one will be superb. I'm so excited seeing she composed two new songs--I love her style and thus Manyo's works accordingly got less priority. Another I want to mention is their works are always like old tales but never written, triggering me into my endless fantasy (or illusion?!).
★志方あきこ - 歯車館のエルデ

Akiko orgel arrangements are back~! yet it's not found online for free yet. It's a pleasant thing to visit Akiko's website (although not that up-to-date) and enjoy her colourful and delicate banners lining together. If you think only the orgel is not enough, jump to the later section. (￣ー￣)♪
I now have only gone through its tracklist, every one is like a poem -- no, like a fairytale (well, in case of Akiko, it's not rare. xD). Abour the last word of the title, Erude. Probably it's the german word Erde according to google search. So can I expect a german styled Akiko orgel performance for C84? But no matter what, don't spoil me until I finish my own fantasy toward it. :3
★Annabel - caracol

Annabel's self produced 1st album. Looking at the credit, it's a mixture of various composers, but since I'm so used to Annabel+myu's sexy combination that it's very hard for me to accept all of them, I have completely no idea how it will be. Well, I'll see... hope someone share it soon!
-- Why this cover art looks like a little bit Dalí? xD
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C84: Should at least have a try
感傷ベクトル - pianismic3
Since their previous work starring Annabel, I started to pay attention to that unit(band?). Shouichi's voice is very nice (that's all I can say. I don't listen to that many of songs by male singers ^^;). I also plan to read the web comic sometime 'cause this kind of work may require additional context. :3 Moreover, actually it was Annabel's caracol's credit list directed me here. She has a song "Call Me", and here, it's the songwriter's self-cover -- it's always fun to try different versions like this~ (Annabel and Shouichi's voices match perfectly. ☆彡)
☆Kanade.org - 子どもたちは時待つ花の夢をみるか

How I reached here was because I checked bermei.inazawa's site and there is Haruka+inazawa this time. . . But since I haven't heard a single note from this work, I'll simply stop and transfer to the next item.
It will be good because inazawa's introvert+noisy style is good.
Finally, not from C84, but what's this? °_°
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New Discoveries
---- One thing I need to clarify in the beginning is that it was really inazawa's blog got me here.
...考えてみたら今まで
自分の曲ではるかさんに歌ってもらった曲と言えば、
飛び降り自殺したり民謡調だったり児童虐待されたり疲れたOLが酒のんでくだまいたり、
そんなのばっかりだったかもしれません。
thinking about all works I asked Haruka to sing...
like committing a jumping-off suicide, or with strong ethnic ambience, from an abused child to an exhausted OL getting wasted...
maybe they're all like that.
strong ethnic ambience = ACI
a wasted OL = kanka 2
-- Ehh? So what about "suicide" song and the abused child song???
Such descriptions can attract me easily (*yandere mode*), and thus I was linked to this album.
↓
☆ぼくらのうた

I myself won't be attracted by solely looking at its cover art! (I mean this kind of cover can't remind me my favorite melodies.)
Yet after having it a try, I'm in love of this album.
Briefly, this album can be summerised as "inazawa's unique interpretation of 9 familiar songs", and the "suicide" song is tr.7 "翼をください / Tsubasa wo Kudasai".
There should be lots of versions of this song--so famous that I'm bored with it. But bermei's arrangement...
My frank words, this version makes me hyper!! (*yandere mode* x 1000).
Although there are a few arrangers can make great noise effect, you must admit that only bermei can perform noise that rhythmically and beautifully. His type of percussion and noise usage is easy to recognise. The combination of harmonic notes and noise, his music is like an old film in sepia hue and with intensive grain, like a tranquil storm and characteristic like Akiyuki Shinbou. The beginning 20 seconds are okay, you don't feel anything bizarre yet. However, when the familiar melody is sung by Haruka with a rather dry, unstable, vain and spacey tone, his unique field is thus fully developed, the warm and gentle feeling of the song's original image is distorted completely. In addition to the superb editing, he himself even performed thefunny impressive background voice. From left to right, from low to high, these voices drift around and are everywhere (like this or that thought jumping out of your mind, or like the wind around your ears when you're falling down).
Bless me with wings, and then,
-- (silence).
But you're wrong, the song isn't ended here. The rest part returned to a rather normal and cheerful mood, isn't it what happens after s/he reaches the ground...?!
I'm not good at describing the overwhelming images in my mind, refer to "Kara no Kyoukai -- Fukan Fuukei".
About the "abused child" song, that's good but not impressive. Conclusion: to make distorted covers of famous songs will gain much.
Seems I've wrote too much, so I'll go to next section:
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Past Release
I'm never planning to link all new releases (although I do want).
☆Annabel - Alternative

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PHOTO!!
The A-side song is beautiful too. But I don't like the B-side song. Since here again, we are meeting the Annabel+myu combination, I want the dark and introvert aura and I'm not expecting any "delightful and bright" melody. Now, let me go back to "Alternative". The features of myu's arrangement is probably the "smooth" flow of strings (especially the low-middle range). There is no much of violin/cello solo, and thus makes the music sensitive and delicate. In addition, her use of percussion is unique too. Not like most other arrangers who tend to keep the beat (or some term like that) unchanged, she knows how to make gradient of percussion beats, and to me, this is perhaps a key reason I describe Annabel+myu's dark songs as "sexy". (・ω・)
Also, DON'T MISS ITS PV. Not only the music, Annabel is so sexy there! I'd say this PV is my current favorite Annabel PV. ♥
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Future Releases
☆霜月はるか - レムルローズの魔女@2013.10.9
Haruka mentioned this project back to this April (May). Although no much more info other than the homepage address, I see Yoshitaka Hirota is there. I'm already used to Mitose+Hirota, so I'll see how Shimotsukin+Hirota this time.
P.S. they can draw the black cat chubbier! XD
☆志方あきこ - Turaida and 2013 Laylania Concert DVD@2013.10.23
Our beloved Akiko Shikata is back again in today's post!
It's definitely NOT Akiko's 4th album!! -- Well, that's how they define what is an album and what isn't. I don't care, I just know Akiko's album is absolutely loopable.
What is "Turaida"? Luckily wikipedia has it. But if you can read its official webpage, they noted the 4th album as "Turaida（神の庭）" whereas the Japanese means "The Garden of God". Is there more background stories hidden in the place of Turaida? I'd like to know more behind this title!
However, my biggest focus should be on the other item.
HER FIRST CONCERT DVD!
I can't wait, just can't wait! I'll get a real copy of course!
KOKIA will have her 15th anniversary concert DVD released in this September too. I'm not mentioning it specially because everyone knows it. (・ω・ )
So it's the time for Noriko to have a live DVD too! She is having so much fun with lives!!
☆Kalafina - アレルヤ@2013.10.2
Yes, I'm listing Kalafina! xD
I did leave them since "After Eden", and I did try "Consolation" (and deleted it after I looped it twice).
But you know, it's hard to forget your first love (not Kalafina, I'm saying Yuki) completely, isn't it?
Their "Hikari Furu" had no good to me. But when I saw the description on amazon, this will be the theme song of "Kara no Kyoukai -- Mirai Fukuin" that will be released on Sep.28. I'll be interested to have a try because I love KnK, which is also where Kalafina came from.
Don't let me down, or I'll leave for real! (>_<)
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That about music releases always looks like unorganised. Now I'm gonna end up here and prepare to watch Corpse Party's newest OVA. Hope I can sleep after it (I don't want a similar experience of my first time watching Higurashi alone at midnight! lol)