Cardcaptor Sakura

All right then, another anime review for you all! RELEASE! Hehehe... This is yet another anime that is kiddie-safe, with no physical violence and plenty of kawaii (cute) factor, Cardcaptor Sakura. This is actually an old anime, from 1998 (Hey! It isn't THAT old after all!) but it still has enough magical power to ensnare anime-hunters like me... MWAHAHAHAHA....

Alright then, the premise of Cardcaptor Sakura is thus: Kinomoto Sakura is an ordinary girl that finds an old locked book in her archaeologist father's library. She opens it to find 52 cards, but these aren't ordinary cards... Each card has a name, such as Windy, Firey and Shield, accompanied by a picture of the description. Sakura scatters the cards by accident, calling out the Beast of the Key, Kerberos (Cerberus, they mean). Kerberos tells Sakura that the cards she had scattered were made by Clow Reed, a powerful magician from olden days and that he (Kerberos) was the Guardian of the Clow Cards. He hands her the magical key that locks the book (with the right incantation, it turns into a magical staff), thus making her the new cardcaptor. She is to hunt down the scattered cards, which have reverted into their physical forms, turn them back into cards, and keep them as their new master. Sounds easy? Well, that depends...

In this anime, Sakura meets and befriends many other people, and that in itself is an integral part of the anime. Of course, there is Kerberos (affectionately called Kero-chan) who looks like a cute plush toy in his initial, powerless form. He LOVES sweet things and would often raid the family fridge in search of the stray piece of cake (it doesn't help that the whole family are good cooks). He also LOVES video games and plays them non-stop when Sakura is at school (hehehe, starting to sound like somebody I know...) Then there is the father, who loves his daughter and son and takes the place of the family dad and mom (Sakura's mother died while Sakura was young). There is the older brother, Toya, who loves to tease Sakura all the time but will always keep an extra eye on her (they say he has a sister complex, don't know what it is exactly =>) There is Tomoyo, Sakura's best friend and second cousin, who ADORES Sakura, making her battle outfits and insisting on filming her cardcaptor battles and other other important stuff lolz. Then there is Yukito, a form-mate of Toya who makes Sakura feel positively dreamy everytime she thinks of him... Whoops, I will never get anything done if I start describing every single character in this anime...

The artwork in this anime is SUPERB, as expected of CLAMP. For the blur, CLAMP is a group of 5 Japanese ladies who are the mangaka (manga artists) of Cardcaptor Sakura and other works. They have won numerous awards in Japan for their work, so almost perfect artwork is expected. The fight scenes and the soundtrack are nice, suited for this particular type of anime. Well, if you don't want to see the anime for anything else, watch it just for the cute-factor. Hahahahaha, and that coming from a macho guy like me too... Hahahaha.... Certaintly in my top 5 list of favorite anime, a must-watch. Well then, time to run! Ciao! lolz

First Hurdle

Hi all, can't stay the night, gotta sleep early tonight... Tomorrow marks the first set of interviews for admission into the National University of Singapore, for both the Medicine and Dentistry faculties. Tomorrow's interview for the Dentistry side is a Manual Dexterity Test, at 8.30 AM. However, my aunt tells me I would have to get going by 7 o' clock in the morning. *sigh* Why does this remind me of school? I thought I was past that already... LOLZ

Anyway, Lt Dr Lian tells me that the dexterity test, as the name implies, would test me on my dexterity. According to him, I would have to make models out of Plaster-of-Paris, bend shapes out of wires and such exercises. Kinda reminds you of pre-school doesn't it? Except that this time if you mess up you don't get kind words from the teacher, but rather a kick in the rump, marking your exit from the faculty. Oh, alright, I am exaggerating, but can't a fellow have some fun?

Anyway, to fellow brothers and sisters of Christ reading this post, please pray for an alert mind, stable hands and a calm spirit for me. Most importantly, pray for HIS wil to be done in me, not mine. Thank you, dear brethen. Alright, curfew is enforced! Get to bed young man! Erk! Alright! See you all later, and wish me luck! =)

My Arm Hurts!

Even as I'm writing this, I feel a slight trobbing pain in my right shoulder, extending all the way down to my elbow. I feel like I have experienced something like this before.... Oh yeah, I had a similar complaint the last time... in my wrist. That came of playing Command and Conquer Generals for a whole day non-stop, if my memory serves me right. Ow! According to Dr Symeon, he said my muscles were cramped, and recommended some muscle relaxant.... which I do not have. Sigh...

Anyway, this reminds me of one exchange between my hero, Dr House (Yay! Power to House!) and a patient in the outpatient clinic. The patient was complaining about a pain in his arm, preventing him from sleeping, if I remember correctly. House was asking him if he used it in any way that might be medically relevant. The fella says that he sleeps on it (!). Okay, House tells him to go back and sleep on his back for a change, and get out of my clinic so I can make an early stop (he's always doing that, isn't he? lolz). Then the patient says he can't, he always sleeps that way (what the....) and asks House to think of another way. Then, in his usual style, House gets up, puts the file under his arm and says, ' Then it has to come off.' *Stunned patient gapes* 'Well, can't have you feeling uncomfortable on acount of your arm, can't we?'

....Ok, I admit that maybe I got the conversation and style wrong, but at least I got the gist of it, right? At least you see the connection between the arm and my arm problem, do you? Well? Guys? *Silence all around* *Grumble grumble...* Well at least I still have my sense of humour, so there! *Sulks in a corner* ..... And my arm feels just fine now! Thanks for the concern! I'm off to bed! *Runs upstairs, holding back sobs*

Yeah right, get a grip on yourself, Matt. Anyway, hopefully I get up feeling more alert tomorrow. See ya!

Yakitate!! Japan

Phew! Finally finished this anime! It has been almost 2-3 years since I have been introduced to this anime by my Chea (Big Sis, my godsister, that is), and after all that time I finally have the leisure to watch each and every episode, and enjoy every one. Don't ask me why I took so long to finish it, I just got broadband 2-3 months ago, so downloading via torrent or such methods were not an option then. And I've found a more efficient method to watch them, via Youtube! Yes, people actually upload anime into Youtube for other surfers to enjoy. By the way, to those that are screaming at me right now about copyright issues and intellectual property and how I should not be promoting such stuff, I don't really know if I right, but subbed anime done by fans that are NOT to be sold are not against copyright laws, at least in my country, as I see it. Anyway, Youtube allows me to watch anime without jamming up my hard drives with *.avi files.

Alright then, lets forget about the legal issues here and talk about the anime at hand. Yakitate! Japan is an anime about..... BREAD! Oh es, you got it right the first time, the theme of Yakitate! Japan is bread: the baking of bread, the health benefits of such-and-such ingredients in bread, techniques of bread baking, yadda-yadda-yadda. Huh, puzzled about how such an anime can be interesting? Hehehehe, watch it and you will see!

The main protagonist of Yakitate!! Japan is Azuma Kazuma, a boy just out of middle school, who aspires to become a baker, but not just any baker. You see, he has a dream inspired by a baker who used to stay in his hometown, a dream to create "a bread made by and for the Japanese people, that can be presented to the world proudly!" You see, bread in parts of the world such as Europe has become a symbol of pride and identity to the local populance, thus French bread is different from German bread, for example. Japan, being a nation where the local staple is rice, has no such bread as its national icon. So therefore there is no choice but to create it, and that is what Azuma Kazuma is aiming for, with his Japan. Still it is tough, since bread is not a staple food, but that's where Azuma's love for bread, tenacity, genius (apart from bread, apparently he is a genius at maths too =>) and Solar Hands will get him through.

Alright, a few concepts for those who can't wait to find out for themselves, I won't spoil much, as these concepts will be explained in the very first episode. Solar Hands are hands that are warmer than usual, found only in certain people. It is a very rare gift, and coveted by bakers, as warmth helps fermentation in bread dough, making it rise better. And, more importantly, for your humour appetites, this anime is VERY pun and parody orientated. Take for example, Japan, pronounced Jah-pun (rhymes with fun). Pan is japanese for bread, so the pun in the name is obvious enough, I hope =P. You will see even more of this in this anime, in act in every episode LOLZ. And the parodies often come in forms of reactions, in other words, when the tasters of Azuma's bread are overcome with the taste and start hallucinating or acting weird. The anime makes parodies of some other anime, such as Gundam, Naruto, Dragonball and even the Lord of the Rings! Maybe this makes for some conflicts in the legal world, but just lighten up, will you?

Anyway, this anime ROCKS, seriously. You will be laughing at all the different reactions that the writer has come up with, and at the antics of the characters, in particular Kawachi Kousuke, a baker with the right reasons, but not the right gear for baking whom Azuma befriends. He is constantly going 'Naniatte?' (What?) whenever Azuma pulls something out of his bag of tricks. A Youtuber once commented that if you took a chug of beer everytime Kawachi says that phrase, you would be blitzed after 2 or 3 episodes.=> Mind you, I never tried it myself but I totally agree with that statement. The artwork is superb, too, and the soundtrack as well as the background music is kinda nice. Oh, and there is a tiny segment at the end of nearly every episode that tells you stuff about certain ingredients, bread or techniques used during that episode, called Yakitate! Seed of Knowledge.

Well, what can I say? Definitely on my top 5 list of favorite anime due to its neverending ability to make me laugh myself hoarse and make me feel good. Its highly recommended for those who are yet to be hooked into the realms of anime, and for those that are interested in anime that are non-violent and safe for kids. 14 over 10 for this one. Lolz Oh btw, Cass, good luck on finishing all 69 episodes,if you're reading this. Cheers.

P.S. There seems to be people selling bread licenced by Yakitate!! Japan somewhere in Japan. Cool, huh.

System Downed

Woke up this morning, or was it afternoon? I guess it was somewhere around twelve... Well, my biological clock seems to have been through a serious adjustment. From only the last 3 months where I slept at 10 and woke up at 6, I seem to be shifting to sleeping hours of 3 to 12+ now. Well, being a free lark does allow you to do that.... Wait, larks are early birds, right? Wait, 3 in the morning IS early....

Oopps, okay, I digress. Turned on my laptop to get in a morning look at mail, and maybe to watch some anime while I was at it... But then I noticed that icon thingy with the two computers with the red cross there (yeah, I DO know that that is the network icon, thank you very much) and I was saying to myself, "That shouldn't look like that..." Anyway I popped down to check out the modem, and everything looked fine. (Later, my dad pointed out that the light marked 'Internet' was not on... Go figure.) So being Internet-crippled, I decided to continue my long-overdue continue in Rogue Galaxy (Great game by the way, will review it once I'm done).

It was only at 6 in the evening when my dad came back after having sorted out the problem and reset the modem that I was finally able to get back on the Net. Not that I wasn't enjoying the game, in fact, I played for at least 3 hours straight, but I was looking for something in the game and did not seem to have much success in finding it. That is usually where GameFAQs comes in. Thanks guys, 'preciate it =>. So it's good being back online and communicating with the outside world again. I'm beginning to believe what Symeon claims, "I can't live without the Net". Ok, maybe I won't reach that level of dependence anytime soon, but I DO appreciate the Internet. Where else can you see people from Batu Pahat and Penang meeting in a 3-way conversation like what I'm in now? This is how it goes : Symeon says something, Cass blasts him, and I lol at each exchange. Feels like some form of therapy to me XD. Oh, and Symeon, I with you all he way, bro.... Until Cass gets the better of you, that is. laf

Law of Ueki

Ok, today's review is in the field of manga and anime. Recently, in my country there was an imbecile, opps, a columnist in the daily Malay paper that sent in an article saying that ALL manga and anime, period, were associated with nudity and sex. (I know, and I agree, fellow manga/anime lovers out there, it's an outrage.) For the viewers information, there ARE manga and anime that are based on that, but they are considered a branch of their own. Anyway, my point is, there are many mangas and anime that are wholesome and good for people of all ages.





That being said, I now bring up the review of the anime, which is a good point for my argument above. The name of the anime is Ueki no Housoku, or The Law of Ueki. It was shown on Animax for some time and that was how I noticed it. Ok then, lets go to the story...

The story is about a boy called Ueki and his quest to attain the Blank Zai..... Oh ok, maybe some of you are lost already, so I'll start from the beginning. The god of this world was due to hand over his powers as god to the appointed successor. Being pressed to find a suitable candidate, he proclaimed that a contest be held between god candidates to decide exactly that. However, there was a catch : the candidates were to use secondary school students to do the fighting. Candidates will give ONLY one battle ability to their chosen student and the student would battle other ability-given students to win. Candidates are not allowed to help their students during battles. Zai (normal talents, ranging from the studying zai to girl magnet zai XD) are used as points, defeat another ability-given student and you get one zai, but hit non-gifted people and you lose a zai. Lose all your zai and you...disappear. The final student to stand will see his candidate become god, and he will receive the Blank Zai as a reward. The Blank Zai is a zai that is *obviously* blank, so you can put in anything you wish.

Ueki Kousuke (for Westerners, note that for the Japanese the surname is in front, just like Chinese names...) was selected by Kobayashi to become an ability user, with the power to change trash into trees, hence the 'green' themes of this anime. He is selected not because of his strength (though he has a lot of that), but because of his strong sense of justice that Kobayashi was looking for. He pledges to get the Blank Zai, to prevent anyone from using it to do harm.

Well, comments.... It is a good anime (I haven't read the manga, so I'm basing this post purely on the anime), with nice artwork and music (fantastic! Both opening songs are really nice, I have them =>) and seiyuu (voice actors, somebody correct me if I'm getting anything wrong). The voice of Ueki particularly is done by Paku Romi, who has done the voices of Temari in Naruto and Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist. The storyline is darn funny, with Ueki being really dumb sometimes and Mori Ai whacking him non-stop for using his abilites to punish non-ability users who were commiting crimes and what-not. It is also a short anime, with only 51 episodes, so it's good for those who do not want really LONG animes to watch.

All in all, really enjoyable and moving anime, for those who like a bit of action and love to see the good guy beat the bad guy against all odds in the end. And as I said earlier, there's NO NUDITY! I mean it! Just clean fun with even a few moral values thrown in for the mix. I really recommend this. =>

Transfer Pending...... Transfer Complete

Alright! All done here with the transfer of my previous posts from my old blog to the current one. See, you CAN do it if you put your mind to it, right? => Ahhh, busy day alright. Aside from getting over my things over from the last blog, I was rushing about getting documents ready for my application to the Singapore university. So with running to school and then across town to Lt. Dr Lian's clinic for their signatures on my recommendation letters and manning the photocopier machine in my dad's office, it was a bit of a strain, coupled with the fact that I was tired after yesterday night. What was I doing? Well, in my school batchmates' terms, 'lateh' which roughly translates into 'drinking tea', although some food was consumed and conversation wandered away from food altogether.

We had the dynamic and perpetually 'cannoning' Chee Kim who could be relied upon to supply us with numerous stories, all of them outrageous and in my opinion roughly half untrue, and of course sprinkled with anecdotes that are not meant for everyone's ears... *clears throat* Anyway, the gathering started at 10, but with all the joking, occasional swearing (happens in boy schools all the time, trust me) and all round laughter... Anyway, checked my watch on a whim and then... Huh? 2 o' clock? No way.... Anyway that signalled a hasty drink and payment before all of us rushed home to get in before our parents decided we were to put up in the streets for the night. I DID get home before the dor was locked completely, but I had to wake up at 6 to fetch my bro and sis to school. =<

So now that the initial rush is over, I would enjoy a few lazy days before I scoot up to Singapore for the interviews. I really need the rest... XD Anyway, time to quit telling stories and hit the sack. Or maybe I will work on my pictures before I go...

Shifting the Den

Hi all, mattleon87 here. After much deliberation and pondering, I have decided to move my entire blog to Blogspot. Just couldn't take it anymore, what with the hard-to-use settings and lame upload speeds with my old one, I have finally decided to move on... Well then, hopefully with the incentive of being able to publish more and at a faster rate here, I hope I will devote more time to keep his place up-to-date and more 'lived-in' than before. Hopefully, that is...

Anyway, I have moved my previous posts in the old blog here so that at least you can see some form of continuity here... I'm warning you though, it may not be the best blog in the world, so if you want to comment on a few ways I can make up for the lack of experience and creativity on my part, feel free to drop a comment or two. There, now that I've set up the basic furniture, maybe it's time to take a cat-nap for now. Zzzzz

Midpoint??

In actual fact, I have nearly forgot about this blog altogether. Call it whatever you like, I just... I just... I just... Oh all right, I was lazy ok? *sigh* If not because of Symeon, I would have just forgotten it all together... THANKS A LOT, SYMEON! Hehehehe, don't worry, I appreciate the advice, and thanks for the huge packet of food in Penang. Geez, you would have thought that my family was facing a drought or something =P. Anyway, just got back from Penang, where my siblings and I were visiting previously mentioned godcousins Cass and Derrick while parents were in a Brigade Council Meeting. Had a lot of fun there, what with the food (every two hours, if the reports are to be believed), the late mornings and the fooling around. But the highlight in my opinion was the introduction of Symeon to my godcousins. Poor Symeon, getting shot after shot of pointed barbs and .38 caliber armor-piercing rounds... Hey Symeon, next time bring along more Kevlar, if not more ammo... Hahahaha, good times, good times.

Anyway, what was I talking about again? Oh, midpoints, right. I have just been asked to go to Singapore to take an interview for two faculties in the National University of Singapore, namely Medicine and Dentistry. That probably means that I will be scooting down to Singapore this weekend for the interviews starting on the 30th of April to the 3rd of May. Another letter from the University of East Anglia in England as well, offering me a Medicine course there. Well, perhaps a last resort, but an expensive one, with me paying international rates... As I am now stepping on the threshold of the next chapter of my life, maybe it's time to change a few things around here. In al probability, I will jump over to Blogspot in a matter of time. Don't ask me why, but I feel that I may more freedom there instead of Friendster's blog system. What is it with a limit of what, 25 pictures every month btw? Haih, decisions, decisions... Well, perhaps I will get down to it... later.