Celaka Copyrighters...

Wondering about the topic? Well, it happened when I was in the office today, as I was sitting in front of the computer. "Okay, I'll update my blog at home, I'll check my mail on my laptop, so what will I do? I know, why not stream some anime?" And thats what I did, or at least tried to. Avoided Youtube, knowing that any anime that otherwise would be there WOULD NOT be there, and went to my current favourite anime streaming site, MangaSpot. Searched for Tsubasa Chronicle (Chronicle of the Wings, a really COOL anime) and to my surprise, I was slammed with the words : 'No matches for the keywords "tsubasa chronicle" '. Strange. Tried again, but met with the same words over and over again : "No matches for the keywords..."

And then I tried a new technique : using a secondary site to locate the anime and play it. But then the screen flashed a message : instead of the usual opening credits of the anime, I got a 10 second clip, saying 'The said video has been removed because it is copyrighted and we do not want to get shived'. And then it struck me : the copyrighters have done it again.

Now as far as I know that as the legal owners of the said products, the copyrighters have the right to sue anyone who puts up anime copyrighted by their companies on the web, it does not change the fact that it manages to piss off the community of anime lovers on the web that do not depend on torrents and whole day downloads of their favourite anime. I mean, we do not have the time, hard disc space or the patience to watch them, so you are depriving us of a way to enjoy our favourite anime without having to wait the whole day for them to finish downloading. You may say, well, we bought it, so get used to it, we do not want to hear your complaints. Well guess what, bozos. Users of Youtube who are anime lovers have been heavily criticizing the disappearance of their favourite animes, all because of the money-grubbing hands of the copyrighters. Do you demand streaming sites to remove these anime episodes because you wanna make more money? Well, if I find out you are the ones who did these, then rest assured you will never catch me dead buying even one cd of your stupidly-dubbed, badly subtitled and jumpy-quality copied anime.

Alright, cool down, Leon. So looks like it's all about downloading via torrent again. HAIH... Hehehe, but seriously, I laugh at these people who actually take (wasted) time in dubbing these anime episodes. In all sincerity, the end result sounds completely off, completely fake, and does not fit in with the flow and beauty of the original anime. Give me a break and subtitle it instead! =P Ok, now I will have to find SOMETHING to keep me occupied online...

A Morning Ill Spent?

Today I woke up at about 6.00 A.M. to my brother's handphone's alarm. Yeah, nice choice of song, Mal, those annoying 'Woo-oo, WOO-OO!' verses ARE irritating enough to wake me up from my beauty sleep, no offense to Gwen Stefani, Akon and co. Anyway, stumbled out of bed, went down, got some breakfast (Note to Dr Symeon, is Cintan in the morning a balanced meal?), got in my car, and drove at breakneck speed to school, Malcolm in tow. I guess I was pretty sleepy and my mind was cloudy, so it was upon arriving at said school gates when I suddenly realised: "Where the heck IS everyone!" Then my mind (I guess it was Leon finally going lucid) went, "Silly boy! It's Saturday!" "Wait, why am I driving to school on Satur... OOOOH."

Well then I remembered, Malcolm being Head Prefect was supposed to be early to school for the annual 'Majlis Anugerah Kecermerlangan Akademik' (Academic Excellence Awards Ceremony, for those without the Malay language advantage.) Anyway, I was part of the ceremony as well, for my achievements in the last STPM examinations. Well, some of you might be excited, even exhilarated at getting prizes in these ceremonies, my mom and Malcolm being prime examples, me and my dad being prime ANTI-examples. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the idea of receiving prizes, but in this case, the disadvantages of the said awards ceremony FAR outweighs the advantages. Well, I will let my story be my point...

But first off, I was awakened at 8.00 A.M. by mom to get ready for the ceremony... WHY 8 o' clock may I ask? Civil servants start work at 9.00 A.M. (Okay, they don't, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt shall we?), heck, even my FATHER complains that he dosen't go to work that early... Anyway, dressed in a brown Converse T, and slacks. Formal enough for you? Well, apparently not for my mom... "Are you sure you wanna go in that?" Well, I could have argued, but lets go with the inevitable, and go change into... a checkered short-sleeved shirt :

Huh? Looks like I'm going for my wedding? Heck, sure feels like it! Hehehehe, ok, bad joke that... Okay, no issue with the clothes... yet. Left at 8.30, figuring that if we went for breakfast (oh, in hindsight, that Cintan packet was more of a snack...) we would get to school just as the speeches winded up. But no, we came just in time for the first speech, then the second, then the third... Born loser, me. And, I find to my exasperation, this:
Notice: SHIRT, SLACKS (that is me, btw, and the rest are my friends, here for the ceremony as well...); T-SHIRT, slacks; T-SHIRT, JEANS; T-SHIRT, JEANS; T-SHIRT, JEANS andddd... T-Shirt, Jeans. Ok, mom, to be honest, I kinda expected that. Well, never mind, don't mind the discomfort... and the stifling heatwave that seemed to have struck Batu Pahat... and the... But I digress.

So in the trapped heat of Highschool's Dewan, we waited... and waited... and waited.... Notice that Mom is missing the usual Sudoku puzzles and Malcolm, being the Head Prefect, had to pretend to be listening to every single word from the VIPs... Haih, pure torture, and here I thought torture was illegal... Oh wait, this kind of torture was legalised long ago... Cheh...

And so, after sweating it out, I got the award from the VIP, Wakil Rakyat (Assemblyman) Koh Chee Chai. Eagerly I looked at the package, and what I got was : a certificate, standard issue, with some flattering words and stuff ANNNDDD... a voucher from Bank Simpanan Nasional. Okay, maybe not that bad (heard that last year's batch got at least RM150)... Wait, let me see that voucher.... "RM60" Wait! ALL THAT WAITING AND SUFFERING FOR 60 measly dollars? Haih...*Slumps* too.... tired .... to.... throw... tantrum....

No Tears HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~

Close your eyes and imagine your average city street, moderately busy, with people walking here and there minding their own business. Imagine the sunlight glinting off shop windows as the shopkeepers busy themselves with the day's work. Imagine finding a bit of peace and tranquility in that moment, as you direct your gaze down the street, taking in colours, shapes, and people, blending into a harmonious memory in your mind. Then just as you prepare to walk away, something catches your eye. A shadowy fiqure, in black coming towards you.....

'HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!'

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! This scene always cracks me up... *ahem, ahem* Okay, I know that people are not always happy and they are not always in the best of moods. Well then, this is where I introduce my very own version of medicine, that is, PURE LAUGHTER!!! (Doctor Symeon's approval included! HOOOOO~) [WARNING! I do not imply any joke or ridicule to anyone who feels strongly about the below. If you do not like it, I'm sorry. That also applies for the prodigious amounts of HOOOOOOO!!!!s below. =p]

Welcome to my entry about one of the most entertaining fellas on the planet, namely, from downtown Osaka.... RAZOR RAMON SUMITAMI-des! HOOOOOO!!! (No relation to famed superstar Scott Hall of WWE fame) This wacky fella is also known as the one, the only......

HARD GAY!!! WHOOOOOOO!!!!

Alright, Hard Gay (pronounced Hardo Gae, Hardo Gaei, Hardo Gei.... watever, you get the idea) or simply called HG, is a Japanese wrestler and comedian. Coming on regularly on the Japanese show called Bakusho Mondai no Bakuten, he is now a celebrity in Japan, loved by the people and the media for his crazy antics, ridiculous capers and his trademark pelvic thrusts. OKAY!!! He, my friends, is the comic relief of the Japanese people. Coming on the show with his trademark pose and with Ricky Martin's song Livin La Vida Loca coming on, he would make even a sad day into a remarkably hilarious one! As part of the show, he would often do things that would either:

A, help people out, or :

B, promote himself.

All his efforts will end up with hilarious results and lots of red faces (on the people unlucky, I mean lucky enough to interact with him.) Alright, for example: he devotes an entire afternoon helping out people in the episode 'Hard Gay and Social Improvements'. Events include helping a man to carry crates of beer into a van, helping a lady to give out tissues (Hard Gay Tissues? lolz), helping a street performer to get more attention on the streets (or more likely making people looking at him with giggles and avoiding both of them, for OBVIOUS reasons), and manning a gas station for the owner ('Welcome to Hard Gay Stand, HOOOOOO!!!').

In some episodes, he looks for children with aversions to some food (OKAY! This time it is GREEN PEPPERS! *pulls out a green pepper out of the front of his hotpants* Errrrr, maybe the kids shouldn't see this...) How does he do this? Why, first, by setting the mood! Music please! Errrrrrrmmmm, don't bother trying to see what the lyrics are, you REALLY don't want to know... HEHEHEHE.... And if setting the ambience dosen't get the job done? Then it is time for HARD GAY COOKING! He cooks up a simple meal using the said food, and the kid eats it. Success! In yet another episode, he helps an ailing ramen (Japanese noodle) restaurant get business by giving out flyers (Come to Hard Gay's Ramen Restaurant, you have the choice of your favourite noodles being Hard, Hard or Hard. XD).

As for his promotional stunts, he once mentioned a company using his trademark HOOOOO! without his permission. The company, of course, is YA-HOOOOOOO! XD Then he insists that Yahoo! allows him to be in one of their promotional advertistments. Going up to Yahoo! Japan headquarters, he then proceeds to 'convince' them to do his ad.And in the end, this is the result :

Ermmmm.... I rest my case. In another episode, he claims that he, being Razor RAMON, and a television magazine, being LEMON, he HAS to get the magazine to use him as a cover model(???? Logical? *shrugs*). He then invades the month's photo shoot and humorously blotches up the shoot with certain, ah, 'parts' of his anatomy (now, look at the video before you start commenting, you perverts! =P) till he gets his way. In yet another episode, he uses singer Hiromi Go (who happens to sing a Japanese version of Livin La Vida Loca AND is also 'HG') in a promotional video, all without the singer's knowledge. WAHAHAHAHAHA.! In yet another one, he invades toy company TOMY to make them produce this:

A Hard Gay version of TOMY's best-selling toy, Pop-Up Pirate! Hahahaahaha, what a whacko! He even challenged TOMY's CEO to a game just to make him do it! (P.S. It seems that this particular edition of the toy was sold out at an unbelieveable speed, so TOMY was grateful to him after all.)

Well! If I were to start telling all of you all his exploits, then there won't be any end, so watch the episodes yourself! They are on Youtube, and if you want subtitled ones from the source, the link can be found below:

http://www.bakakage.net/

Well, it's time to go! Sleep HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Other facts : Hard Gay is actually NOT gay, he married a swimsuit model and has a kid and he has a degree in Commerce (!). He once wrestled in a team with RG (Real Gay), another wrestler before his retirement from wrestling, though he was involved in Japanese wrestling show HUSTLE! for a few of their shows. Hard Gay products are selling like hotcakes! WHOOOOOOO!!!!

Magician

Alright, this is for those people who have no idea what anime is about, but would love to burrow themselves in a good book. This is a review of the very first book done by my favourite author, fantasy genius, Raymond E. Feist. I was captured and enthralled from the very first time I received this book from my aunt, who had it somewhere stored in her bookcase. Anyway, a bit of background on the author (what little I know about him, anyway).

The author was born and raised in California, and graduated with honours in Communication Arts at the University of California, San Diego. If my information is correct (and I think it is), he used to work as a videogame developer before he became an author. The world of Midkemia featured in his books is an idea created by the Thursday Nighters, a group of his friends who got together and made this fantasy world. He has written many books, and has collaborated with other writers such as Janny Wurts and Joel Rosenburg to produce books based in the world of Midkemia and Kelewan (this world will be explained later.)

Okay, so on to the book itself: Magician has been around for a long time, but recently has been republished in two books, namely Magician:Apprentice and Magician:Master. (the reason for this is that the original is DARN thick, with roughly a thousand pages...) The cover of the book looks like this :

Alright, the story of this book concerns a boy named Pug, an orphan boy who is raised in the kitchen of the castle of Crydee, a duchy in the Kingdom of the Isles. He meets the magician Kulgan, advisor to Duke Borric of Crydee, who then realises that Pug has an untapped talent for magic. At the Choosing, when all boys of a certain age are apprenticed to a craft, Pug is left unapprenticed to any master in the end. Kulgan, out of pity, apprentices Pug to the study of magic. Life changes again for Pug as he later kills a few trolls using magic while protecting the Duke's daughter, Carline. He is adopted into the line of Duke Borric, and is made a squire. Then, just as Pug is getting used to his life, strange things begin to happen.

A strange ship from another world is found washed up on the beach of Crydee after a violent storm. Upon examining the ship, Pug and his childhood friend, Tomas encounter a strange warrior from another world. Risking their lives, Father Tully and Kulgan delve into the mind of the dying warrior and a mysterious message found on the ship, only to report grim news: the warrior is of the powerful empire of Tsuranuanni, from the foreign world called Kelewan, and the strangers have the power to travel from their world to Pug's world, Midkemia. Alarmed, the Duke consorts with the elves, who confirm sightings of the invaders near their forests. The Duke, together with his son, Arutha, Kulgan, Pug, Tomas and his guards set out to warn the King of this coming danger. Along the way, they met the dwarves who offer them a way to the King. Tomas is separated from the party when a wraith attacks them in the MacMordain Cadal, a mine passing through the mountains. Separated from his friends, Tomas finds refuge with a dragon, who gives him magical armour, sword and shield before its death. Pug and his party arrives at the capital of the Kingdom, Rillanon, only to find that no help will be forthcoming from the King, who is losing his sanity. On the journey back, they are ambushed by the Tsurani. Pug is captured and taken to Kelewan. There is where Pug realises his full potential of his magical powers, even as his friend Tomas is changing into an ancient terrible power in Elvandar, the city of the elves....

Alright, if you got lost in that condensed summary, I apologise. But it is difficult to condense such fine writing into two short paragraphs. In all sincerity, the author is a wonderful storyteller. His descriptions are vivid, his characters are perfectly developed and fleshed out, and the story is gripping and imaginative. Words cannot describe the true art of this book, so.... GO GET THIS BOOK AND READ IT! You will not regret it, I promise you.=>

Fullmetal Alchemist

Alright, now since that I've broken the ice with Chobits, it's time to look at yet another anime with slightly darker themes... No, it's not about nudity, but it is a slightly gory and scary anime. Yes, in this anime you may see violence, blood and death... Not a good idea for those below 15 years of age. So....

Fullmetal Alchemist is based in a world where alchemy is as highly developed, if not more advanced, than technology. For the unknowing, alchemy is an ancient art of turning or 'transmuting' an object into a different one. The most talked about example is the turning of lead into gold, which needless to say, failed. Hehehehe... Anyway, some practices of alchemy have brought about certain discoveries in the field of science, but that is a topic for next time... Anyway, the anime is based on the lives of the Elric brothers, two alchemists in an alternate Germany. Edward Elric, the younger brother, is a State Alchemist, in other words, he is an Alchemist in the employ of the military. He is given the name 'Fullmetal' beacuse of his steel mechanical arm and leg. Alphonse is the younger brother, but stands a full head above his brother... as a moving, talking steel suit of armour. They travel the whole world in order to find the ultimate holy grail of alchemy : the Philosopher's Stone.

You see, alchemy is a process that follows a very strict law : the law of equivalent trade. Lets say you want to make an iron bar using alchemy. Then you would have to present an item of equivalent value or worth to exchange for the bar of iron. Using the Philosopher's Stone, the user is allowed to negate that law for any transmutation, even those concerning the forbidden tranmutations : humans. The brothers search for the Stone, to return themselves to their original forms, and reveal a dark conspiracy from within the military...

*WARNING! SPOILER PARAGRAPH!*

The reason for the brothers' loss of their bodies and limbs are made clear in a flashback of their past. They were two budding alchemists in the care of their mother, after their father left them while they were young. Their mother died due to an illness and this drove them to do the forbidden : to transmute a living person. They failed, and as 'payment', Edward lost his right leg, while Al was completely absorbed. At that moment, Edward saw a strange gate, which opened to reveal the secrets of all alchemy, in exchange for his leg. When he returned to the present world, all that was left of their experimental effort was a pile of 'dying' bones and flesh, something that wasn't human. Edward, in desperation to save his brother, transmuted Al's soul into a suit of armour nearby using the knowledge he gained. He managed to do it, but at the price of his arm. Blaming himself for what had happened, he set off to find the Philosopher's Stone, to return Al to his former self.

*END OF SPOILER PARAGRAPH*

Alright, after all the stories and the mystery, let's see my review! All in all, this anime is GOOD! Artwork that is easy on the eyes, great thought to plot and character development and intriguing concepts. It has a HUGE following in Japan, with an extra movie added to finish up the end of the anime story. HOWEVER, this is an unusual anime in the sense that the anime has been completed BEFORE the manga, so the story differs in many ways. I have not read all of the manga chapters yet, so I can't comment on it... yet. Well, all in all, an enjoyable, short anime (20+ episodes, if I recall correctly) that will be interesting to those wanting more serious, thought-provoking anime.

P.S. : There are actually TWO different anime with the name Fullmetal, that is Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Panic! I will be doing a review on the latter when I am done watching.