i wanna… esc-a-pay!

looks like i have to bear with the pain a little bit longer.

Avatar the Legend of Aang was one heck of a smash anime hit on Nickelodeon. It was based on a warring element-manipulating world in which the Avatar, reincarnated every hundred years or so in the form of a boy named Aang who also happened to be the last existing airbender, went on stop the atrocities of the ruthless and power-hungry Fire Nation. In reality, the bending of elements, the wealth of hilarious moments, the sarcasm, the battles may all seem absurd, but they were captured in all their glory in the form of skilfully-crafted animation.

Convert the brightly-lit anime world into a real-life action movie and everything seems to go off-course, according to the numerous reviews sprouting on the Web. Being a huge fan of the series, I thought I would give it a shot but with the rating at RottenTomatoes standing at an agonisingly low 5%… I may as well start planning on spending the movie ticket’s worth elsewhere.

Reviews :

Roger Ebert (acclaimed critic)

Terrible Minds

You Say Too

The first songs of Orange Caramel, the first offshoot from girl group After School, have just been released in the wild!

First up is Raina’s solo, Love Does Not Wait (사랑을 미룰 순 없나요). Those expecting it to be a cover of M2M’s evergreen ‘The Day You Went Away’ (as suggested by rumours earlier, but now proven grossly inaccurate) would not be disappointed by Raina’s vocal showing in this soulful RnB song, interlaced with piano accompaniment. I enjoyed this song pretty much, and I actually thought the song sounded “light” on the ears, even with all her highs and voice-gymnastics, as I like to call it. In fact, I thought it sounded like a Mariah Carey song. And it goes without saying that I always wonder in awe how Raina can reach such high notes with such an effortless face. Given a harder song, she would definitely rise up to the challenge.

I didn’t have much to say about the other single, Magic Girl (마법소녀), in which all three members sang. I didn’t really love it at my first listen. My first impression? This is definitely going to be a hit in Japan. Yes, Japan! Magic Girl is screaming “heavily-synthesised-with-cutesy-voices-bubby-J-pop” all over. We’ve known for some time now that Orange Caramel will be marketed to the global market, but who would have guessed Japan as their first pitstop.

Out of these 2 songs, I would definitely prefer Love Does Not Wait. Magic Girl would probably grow on me over a short while, given that I started out loving J-pop initially (and already accustomed to it), but the question is, will the fans accept it as readily as me? Or will Orange Caramel win over new legions of fans?

[Update: Magic Girl MV added! and yes, with the moe-like costumes, very cutesy themes and *gasp* Haruhi dance-like moves... Magic Girl is definitely japanese]

Love Does Not Wait :

Magic Girl MV :

Finally, their teaser MV is up!

But truth be told, it only reveals the very, very cute side of Nana, Raina and Lizzy….. and nothing else. Nothing much on their actual songs unfortunately, save for a certain short piano dabbling at the very end.

Orange Caramel, After School’s first sub-group comprising the youngest members Raina, Nana and Lizzy, will be releasing their teaser MV today (14 June 2010) at 11 am (+8 GMT) today. Orange Caramel will be gunning for the global market, but it seems that they will start their journey with Asia with a cutesy and young front, judging by their pink outfits on the album jacket cover.

[adapted from dkpopnews.net]

The tracklist was recently revealed on online CD retailer YesAsia.com.

01. Magic Girl (마법소녀)
02. Love Does Not Wait (사랑을 미룰 순 없나요)
03. Magic Girl (마법소녀) Instrumental
04. Love Does Not Wait (사랑을 미룰 순 없나요) Instrumental

Love Does Not Wait is rumoured to be Raina’s cover of M2M’s hit The Day You Went Away.

[from allkpop.com]

Geisha, or Geisha Band, is an Indonesian band, with a female vocalist backed by four guys playing various instruments. They were formed back in December 2003, and tasted success in their city of origin Pekanbaru and performed alongside establised bands like D’Massiv before finally releasing their first ever album Anugerah Terindah under record label Musica Studios in 2009. Their most popular and recognisable song is arguably Jika Cinta Dia [ If (You) Love Him/Her ].

~ Translated and summarised from http://www.musikji.net/2009/04/profil-geisha-band.html

Jika Cinta Dia is a mellow, soothing song on a heartbroken person seeking to be released from a relationship when the other has secretly fallen in love with another person. The vocalist has quite an angelic (and captivating) singing voice, and the ethereal effects employed in the chorus have quite an effect on conveying sad emotions from the lyrics. To top it off, I thought the orchestra-ic instrumental music complemented her voice perfectly. Overall, it’s a pretty enjoyable song that is sure to stay on my playlist for a long time.

Lyrics
Terlampau sering kau buat air mataku
Tak pernah kau tahu dalamnya rasa cintaku
Tak banyak inginku jangan kau ulangi
Menyakiti aku sesuka kelakuanmu
Ku bukan manusia yang tidak berpikir
Berulang kali kau lakukan itu padaku

Jika cinta dia jujurlah padaku
Tinggalkan aku disini tanpa senyumanmu
Jika cinta dia ku coba mengerti

Teramat sering kau membuat patah hatiku
Kau datang padanya tak pernah kutahu
Kau tinggalkan aku disaat ku butuhkan mu
Cinta tak begini selama kutahu

Tetapi ku lemah karena cintaku padamuJika cinta dia jujurlah padaku
Tinggalkan aku disini tanpa senyumanmu
Jika cinta dia ku coba mengerti
mungkin kau bukan cinta sejati dihidupku

Jika cinta dia jujurlah padaku
Tinggalkan aku disini tanpa senyumanmu
Jika cinta dia ku coba mengerti
mungkin kau bukan cinta sejati dihidupku
Jika cinta dia ku coba mengerti

Jika cinta dia jujurlah padaku
Tinggalkan aku disini tanpa senyumanmu
Jika cinta dia ku coba mengerti
mungkin kau bukan cinta sejati dihidupku

My life seriously sucks.

There was this rule in the zombie-comedy flick Zombieland in the face of adversity (because of the zombie-infested world) : Enjoy the little things.

Heck, I can’t even enjoy the ’small things’ in life!

So I randomly and aimlessly surfed around the Web, and stumbled upon this familiar site called GivesMeHope.com.

Reading all those inspirational and sad stories not only reminded me (sort of) of myself, but also of the fact that I’m probably not the only one going through all this.

I guess those stories are truly one of the those rare gems that really gives me hope.

~ Dead links updated! Apparently someone did a full translation!

I’m supposed to be studying heavily now, and here I am bragging about how I love Durarara!! (Yes, the exclamation marks are part of the title)

As unique (or weird) as that title may sound, the supernaturalist, romance-themed anime is pretty out-of-this-world and really engaging. The animation quality is superb, and the dark color palette really paints a mysterious and dark aura over the fictitious Ikebukuro city.  Plus,  its latest opening song rocks too – not only does it exudes so much energy, its lyrics on the unpredictability of life fits the Durarara!! characters perfectly. Actually, it kinds of remind me of how unpredictable our own lives really are, and it matches how I’ve been feeling about life lately….. Simply love the lyrics!

And not to mention… the band has a unique or weird name too, depending on how you see it.

Full song (the youtube link has the full romaji lyrics too, but if you want a bit of translations…please scroll to the bottom of the page) :

OP version :

LIVE! version :

Romaji lyrics by Sakura-no-kaori / English subs by Ecliptic-BSS subs

nakidashi sou na kao de uneru hikui sora (The low sky looks like it’s about to cry)
iradachi majiri no tsuba wo haku (I spit a mixture of saliva and agitation on the sidewalk)
nani mo kamo ga kowaresou na (I cower at the sight of tomorrow)
fuan daite asugi obie (Worrying that everything might fall apart)
asatte bakka mitetatte (In my heart, I know that looking ahead)
kotae ha denai koto dake wakatteru ( To the day after tomorrow won’t give me a single answer)

After School is back, with a bang (pun intended) and a new addition to the 7-girls-group, Lizzy!

Bang! is pretty much a cheerleading song, the kind of songs you would hear in movies like Step Up!, but its smooth and ethereal-sounding bridge brings a certain different feel to the song. I thought it was a pretty cool and creative idea. Not to mention the slick dance moves.

Live Performance of Let’s Do It (real drum performance btw) and Bang!

I have to admit, I was very excited to see that another ballad song was bundled with Bang!. After ‘When I Fall’ had won over many fans with their heart-pulling and comforting vocals, expectations can be said to be quite high on ‘With U’. Unlike the former, ‘With U’ is more low-key, calm and soothing even through its chorus but turns emphatic towards the end in pretty much the same fashion as the bridge of ‘When I Fall’. Overall, another great AS song featuring the raw vocal talents of the singers.