Yes I'm supposed to do this yesterday but I just found out about this meme this morning.
I stole this from another blog so here goes.
DISCLAIMER: All images belong to their respective owners, they don't belong to me.
First Fandom of 2012
Well it is because I just started playing most the games this year. I started joining the fandom this late. I think I started playing Altair earlier this year.
Favourite Main Character of 2012
[EDIT]
Kagami Taiga & Kuroko Tetsuya from Kuroko no Basket
I also forgot to add, Sherlock Holmes from BBC's Sherlock ehehehe~
Favourite Secondary Character of 2012
Not sure if i can consider Rider and Waver Velvet (Fate/Zero) as secondary though, but the pic below it - i really like Hyuga Junpei and Kiyoshi Teppei as well (Kuroko no Basket)
Favourite Villain of 2012
[EDIT]
I realized that there aren't many good vs evil anime I watched this year, so there isn't much villains to choose from. Haytham Kenway (Assassin's Creed 3) is a swag. One of the very few things I like about AC3.
And wtf I almost forgot about Loki (The Avengers), and yet I was all over him half the year. Consequently I have a real life celebrity crush towards Tom Hiddeston.
Favourite Het Couple of 2012
I think Jellal x Erza became officially canon this year, and since Fairy Tail is an ongoing manga/anime I'd include it in this post. Then we have Morgiana x Alibaba from Magi. Looks like I have a thing for strong red haired girls XD
Favourite yuri Couple of 2012
Not much of a yuri fan but this works. Valmet x Koko from Jormungand.
Favourite Yaoi Couple of 2012
too many to list LOL but I seem to be all over the Fushimi Saruhiko x Yata Misaki from K. I've already started a doujin about them. I really wanna get serious about this.
Fandom That You Never Expected to Get Into This Year
I know Kamen Rider OOO is old but I just started checking out the show this year, it's the most unexpected show I fell in love with. As for Kuroko no Basket initially I was discouraged by a fellow fangirl from watching this show (it didn't suit her taste she said, no story and the art is horrible lol), but it didn't worry me much since I'm not a sports fan let alone basketball. Ironically KnB was 're-introduced' by a guy friend aaaaand everything started from there.
No regrets for both of them, and I'm glad these unexpected fandoms have brilliant OSTs.
Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback This Year
Actually, I knew I'd be loving Tiger & Bunny forever. The moment it ended last year I had this "there'll be no anime as great as this" kind of feeling. But what I did not expect is to successfully influenced a friend into the fandom, and then I went back to fangirling T&B with her. And then I got myself T&B plamo and 2013 calender.
Fandom That Inspired The Most Crack This Year
If you think this is video is funny wait till you hear about the 'Alternate Universe' version where me and a dozen of other K fans came up with (unfortunately I am not going to spoil it here). Halfway through watching K, I met with other fangirls (via facebook ofc) and we started making up loads of weird CRACKS based on this show. Thanks to these random shits I couldn't watch K seriously, I keep laughing at any angsty part cos I kept getting reminded of our 'discussion'. I am somewhat glad this show has a weak plot and comes off rather shallow cos we have freedom to fill in the plotholes!!
Last Fandom of 2012
Cos it just ended last week. No new fandom has started yet.
I would love to do a full report on this event, but unfortunately I missed the morning sessions on both days due to several reasons. I planned to watch the cosplay competition but I missed it, so all I did was to browse the doujinshi booths. I didn't even look at the 'official' merchandise much.
And the afternoon events didn't interest me much. Danny Choo, Bless4 and Redjuice came but I wasn't a much of a fan. I do acknowledge each of their greatness though so don't get me wrong. Personally wish that there were people that I am truly more interested in lol but I understand that they can't satisfy everyone. One thing I'd like to have in the future events is SEIYUUs! So CF2012 was a little bit boring for me, and I've been to better ones in the previous years. Maybe it's because I was not present in the hall when the best things happen :(
Nonetheless, on the bright side, it's the best time to hang out with your anime people friends and it's perfect excuse to meet up with new cyberfriends (CF is always the only time I feel damn popular LOL). I think the best part is the gathering and having funny yet memorabe conversations with them.
I'm not gonna do any review but I'm gonna write my thoughts on... well... CF.
When I arrived late on day 1 (glad the line wasn't long anymore), when I entered the hall i felt rather uneasy. The reason is there were so many... SOOOO MANY people. It was so hard to move, and it takes forever to get to the doujin booth area since we had to walk through the sponsor booths. My mind instanty brought me back to December year 2004 - my first Comic Fiesta, in Balai Seni Lukis Negara (I was 16). Where the crowd is dispersed and you can still see 95% of the floor. As years passed, as locations changed, more and more people attended the event. And last year it was over 15000 people (source: http://comicfiesta.org/comic-fiesta-101-cf-a-history/ ), this year the number reached to over 25000!!
While I really hate crowds, I remember back then I felt kind of 'alone' seeing very little people coming to CF and other conventions. Like we're the only freaks in Malaysia. Seeing the number of otakuweeabos attendees especially cosplayers and doujinshikas increasing every year makes me feel like "oh so there are THIS many weirdos in my country!" *gets shot*
Yeah I speak as though I am not one of you guys lol.
Yes, I may dislike/disagree with some of the subfandoms of Anime-Comic-Games fandom or the attitude of their fans but it's just great that CF and the likes bring us together.
Thanks to comicfiesta for giving me a chance to meet people of the same wavelength, and meeting more and more people, and making me feel less like a social outcast.
Why do I sound so goddamn positive lol
So here are the stuff I bought...
Those capsules were from Tiger & Bunny. I was playing gashopon and fangirling there alone w.
I bought the Rurouni Kenshin badges from a fellow RuroKen fan, Iwashi-kun. It's her first ever set of badges! Thank you so much! It's hard to see 'nostalgia' in CF booth nowadays XD
D-chan gave me the K file she got from Animax booth and I fangirled the moment I got it. The Avengers postcard by ChibiMie onee-san.
I just had to buy the Kuroshitsuji T-shirt since it's black. The Sinbad doujin is also from Kii_ru's booth. While the Assassin's Creed posters were by Virus-AC
I don't have much photos, not even videos of the event so you can look for it somewhere else. Uncle google can help you. I wish I could stay longer for the closing ceremony but I had to go home early. Overall it's sad to not be able to enjoy the 10th anniversary to the fullest.
We've been waiting for any Final Fantasy Orchestra to come to Malaysia. And finally, when Distant Worlds was announced that they will be performing in Kuala Lumpur, we immediately bought the tickets the moment the sales are open! The tickets sold like hot cakes. And the seats we got are the cheapest, and three rows in front of the stage. But that doesn't matter because what's important is to enjoy the live performance of our favourite tracks!
Venue: KLCC Philharmonic Hall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Date: 17th November 2012 Time: 8.30pm
no pictures allowed at all times. But sorry, we are Malaysians, we don't give a f*ck. Photo by Reppu_kiri
Just for this concert, suddenly all the nerds/gamers/otakus look like a sir.
Oyeah, before the concert started, we bought some merchandise.
The show started with the Final Fantasy Prelude, the song you hear in most FF intros especially the classic ones. While it was played it brings me back to the days I started playing the games, the times we watch the opening FMVs, holding on to the controller getting all excited about beginning the adventures. Damn you, you made me wanna play all the games again!!
Next was Liberi Fatali. The local choir did a great job imitating the eerieness of the original song. Though FF8 was my least favourite game, it's one of my faves. Well, don't we all love Liberi Fatali? Thank you Dithyrambic Singers! Right after that the conductor, Arnie Roth did a bit of introduction, and relayed a message that Nobuo Uematsu feels bad for not able to come here. I think if he did we'd totally go wild.
you can see Sephiroth's face peeking at the side
Suddenly Victory Fanfare *Victory pose* (they could have played the longer version, you know the part where we see how much we level up and what battle spoils we get? yeah that)
Followed by Final Fantasy III Medley. I don't remember if it's similar from the one in the CD, but of course there's the world map song (OMG THE JALAN2 SONG IS SO BEAUTIFUL), Matoya's Cave - slow version (honestly i prefer the original catchy one xD), and then there's probably an FFIII song that I didn't recognize (cos it's the only classic I have not played), then comes the epic 'Final Fantasy', which is often played at the end of the ending credits. Lastly, FFII's Castle Theme. Wondeful medley ;__; but I really wish to hear FF1's battle theme and Mount Gulug.
Edit: I forgot to talk about To Zanarkand. To me it's one of the songs that really sent shivers down my spine and got me almost teary eyed. I think I was too focused on the video behind the orchestra, and I started recalling the whole gameplay and the story. It was beautiful indeed.
Next was Memoria De La Stono - Distant Worlds, a music from Final Fantasy XI, sung by a guest artist; Stephanie Van Driesen. I believe I've heard this before, but nonetheless, it was still awesome. And then, FFVIII's Man With the Machine Gun - however, I still cannot brain any orchestra versions of Laguna's theme no matter how many times I listen to it. Cos the song suits as techno, if not, The Black Mage's rock rendition of it could bring the whole machine gun guy image in my mind. And then there's Final Fantasy IV's Theme of Love! Again all those video cutscenes makes you wanna play the game all over again.
Prior to the concert, the Friday show attendees spoiled us with the programme list. I'm very much excited the moment I saw You're Not Alone, from FFIX. I mean, really. Only several weeks ago I was all over that song after something bad happened. I'm really surprised to see that particular song in the list, cos it was only played once in the game, and near the ending, I never thought it was so popular. Though it was only played once, it remains in my memory (and heart) for so long... because Nobuo Uematsu is just amazing. I guess that's the thing? So being able to hear it live, words can't describe how I really felt at that moment.
Then, as the conductor said, the concert is incomplete without the infamous Chocobo song, much to my friend Choco-tan's delight XD. First, he introduced us to FFXIV's version of Chocobo theme, the way Uematsu wanted it. And then the ever popular Swing de Chocobo. I'm sure we all felt like dancing, but we could only tap our feet.
Then there's the intermission. Fan-talk about the games.
ninja snapshot
And then we had the FFVII: Opening Theme. We never get tired of this. How it began with slow music and later with something more catchy. Then Az Samad, another guest artist went up the stage to play something from FFV, Dear Friends and also another favourite, FFIX's Vamo' alla Flamenco! And there's the one and only song from a different composer, from FFXIII, Blinded by Light. Probably the only best song from the game, and a little disappointed that the specific violin part wasn't apparent enough to feel its epicness.
Suddenly there's the cutscene from FFVIII, where the problem team; Squall, Zell and Seifer was about to start a mission. The video shows the battle scenes while the orchestra plays Don't Be Afraid. I guess this is one of the favourite battle themes, but in fact I love ALL the FF battle themes, that I wish for a show that only plays the battle themes XD. And then, comes another one of my favourites, Clash on the Big Bridge from FFV. Though it's sad that I couldn't hear the beginning of the melody, but still... HELL YEAH GILGAMESH!!! (although he is the enemy) Just so you know this theme is also present in FFXII :3
And then Aerith theme. I'm not sure how many people got emotional, but, in spite of not being my favourite character, it's sad when you recall that cutscene. I dreaded the video showing the stabbing part, but I'm glad it didn't. But when the video shows the part where Aerith is saying goodbye to Cloud... that's just... well... in memory of Aerith.
Near the end of the show, we have two of the greatest FFVI songs; firstly the OPERA "Maria and Draco" (which consists of Opening, Aria di Mezzo Carattere,The Wedding, and Grand Finale?.). The conductor summoned Ho Chi Mei, James Leong Cai Hunt and Mok Chi Hoe to sing as Maria, Draco and Ralse. I think they did a great job with it, they didn't sound too creepy with their singing. The thing I love about the mission in the opera -in the game- was the story behind it. It wasn't even about that love triangle *coughlockexcelescough*. Secondly, the sad and full of pride... Terra's theme. It really made me want to play FFVI all over again.
why did they not show this? It's not even a spoiler....
The end?
or not...
Arnie Roth said, "we decided to do something a little different for the Malaysian fans"
And different is different indeed. Because he called upon Stephanie again, to sing Suteki Da Ne (FFX)... in ENGLISH! oh wow all the Japanese lyrics disappeared from my head, I couldn't sing a long. It was if i'm not mistaken, a literal translation of the original song. Also the video shows us the FFX FMVs.. and lastly Tidus and Yuna's underwater sex romance. Anyway the dude in front of me hugged his girlfriend cos he was excited to have this performed lol.
Then we have the epic grand finale, the song that initates the existence of many other creepy choir battle themes, and also the song which we've all been waiting for... the MUST HAVE song in every Final Fantasy concerts... the One Winged Angel. It is my second tie hearing it live, but that night felt like we were literally chanting for Sephiroth to descend into the theatre. Yeah the creepiness was there, it was like some kind of ritual I almost felt like an infedel (owait-). I'm not even a fan of Sephiroth but it doesn't hurt to sing along to your favourite final battle theme :3
After the concert, we camwhored a lot we had an autograph session with the artists. Long before the concert, I got the Japanese version of Distant World's volume 1 MWAHAHAHA man I wish Nobuo Uematsu was there to sign that one.
autograph session
note that, my friends sang something special for Arnie Roth likeaboss.jpg before we left. I pretended not to know them wwww
In spite of a few weaknesses, it was a dream come true to attend a concert of your favourite game series. Will definitely hope and pray that they'd come next year. New tracks, new arrangement please! Especially battle music! And Nobuo Uematsu MUST come next time!
le spoils
Edit: For the younger players, I know most of you started becoming a fan since at least Final Fantasy 7. I'm the same too, but I'd like to recommend the classics. You could start with the first installment, where everything was goddamn simple and straightfoward - you get to at least feel what the original FF is actually like, and that was the game that saved Square from closing down. Hence, the name "FINAL FANTASY", as they thought that would be their final game that they'd release. And especially FFVI, where there are wide range of characters which I think have more depth and have much much more interesting backstory. You can hear more wonderful music than just Terra's Theme. Forget the lack of fabulous graphics, in the end it's basically the same. Where there's a slope, be it 2D or 3D you still cannot climb it. When you're hit the random encounter, you're still teleport into a different stage. What makes the classic games great is how the prioritize the gameplay and story more than eyecandy CGI.
As I mentioned in my previous post, it was last minute plan. But thanks to Kiru for helping me buy the tickets and booking the hotel. And I took the train all the way to Singapore, alone. Coincidentally I was in the same coach as a bunch of cosplayers but I didn’t actually talk to them.// You know, they have their own circle.
6 am: Kiru woke me up lol but I was already awake. But it’s hard to hop of the bunk bed since I had to sleep on the top.
7 am: Breakfast, before taking the MRT with Kiru and Kazami. When we reach the venue, there were many people already. Wow otakus and their dedication. I bet when it comes to 8 am class, we’d still be sleeping at 7.30
wakuwaku!!
8 am: already lined up in front of the entrance. It was hot. And crowded. Now we don't get to see these early birds coming to class, do we? The ticket booth was outside the hall, unlike in AFAMY and previous AFASG where everything is indoors.
9 am: We can go inside! Otakus were like wild animals released from a cage, but instead we’re going inside a closed area. And by the time me and the two guys were in, so many people were lining up at the SAO booth that Kiru gave up on it. Instead he and Kazami went lining up in front of the booth with Scandal stuff. So I separated myself from them and wander around by myself. There's a Rurouni Kenshin booth, where there's a life sized cardboard of Takeru Satou as Himura Kenshin, plus they bought the costumes used in the movie. I'm also heartbroken that Singapore will have the live action movie in their cinemas.... MALAYSIA Y U NO HAVE DISTRIBUTOR TO BUY THIS AWESOME MOVIE? And I found the K-project booth! It’s the first place I bought stuff (ironic that I once said I don’t plan to buy any merchandise!!) which costed over RM150. Also took a picture of 2D Isana, Neko and Kuroh…
10 am: I think I went to the doujin booth and got some KuroBasu badges. And later that time I went back near the K booth… where I noticed that the butler café was open, and there aren’t many people lining up. At that moment I already felt ronery cos I was bored… it’s not like I want to enter but well I went on ahead. For such a small cake it costs a LOT pfffftttt- but at least I got a nice butler to serve me. And guess what he is a fan of Fairy Tail too! Then we started fangirl/boy-ing about it XD
11 am: I went back to the K-project booth cos I was informed that there will be a cosplay session. So Kaname was there! I think I spent a lot of time there, lining up and waiting for my turn to take a photo of him. Unfortunately if you want to take a photo with him you have to pay like 50 dollars. Well, that’s one way to rake money.
12 pm: later at this hour I went into the stage. Amuse was presenting its segment, introducing their singers and actors. Plus, FLOW and Baby Metal came on stage as a teaser for tonight’s show. Seems there are quite a number of Baby Metal fans. Right, they’re cute and all, their songs sounds nice but the thing is they don’t play the instrument. So… nope! Anyway, most of the seats are empty. Even the ones in front row. i kept moving towards the front, and all the way to the middle. But still it was too far to get a close up snapshot. My camera ran out of battery, and i left the spare battery in the hostel =__=. At the end, there's Rurouni Kenshin stuff and also an extended trailer of the live action movie ksakhdskjhfskjdf aparrently it became a no.1 blockbuster movie in Japan, after the Avengers!!
waiting to be stolen by fangirls
1 pm: The moment I’ve been waiting for… it’s k-project segment! The director of K was there, and he talked about basically what we already know about the anime. But the best part of the event is the K Radio video, which is presented by Tsuda Kenjirou and Komatsu Mikako (seiyuus of the anime). Who talked about the terms found in K, which are “Battou!”,“Zugatakai”,“Seibai” and “Kizuna”. Then there was a K cosplay competition, where I think the ‘performance’ was quite interesting. I wish I had a good video for that. They were surprised that there were quite a number of K cosplayers, and there was only one neko who won the grand prize.
2 pm: I went outside for a bit, then came back in and… I dunno wander around?
3 pm: it was time for K’s T-shirt signing session with Go Nakanishi… unfortunately I don’t have the redeem ticket so I only watch the lucky 100 people line up. I was boiling with envy indeed. Rather than staying there I went walking around again…
4pm and 5pm: I seriously can’t remember what I’ve been doing at this hour. I know there was one time I was sitting on the floor watching people walk about lol. Yes I was alone goddammit. I went inside MUSE’s store, only to find that the Tiger & Bunny towel I’ve been eye-ing is sold out!! SERIOUSLY?? HOW MANY FANGIRLS ARE THERE!? Oh yeah I also met Volvagia356 while lining up to enter the store.
6 pm: Went back inside the stage area, just to watch the solo cosplay competition. I like the way they select the cosplayers, they were selected on the spot by judges. The judges were pro cosplayers from different parts of Asia. But I don’t actually like the way they select the winners. I was hoping for some… you know, solo performance where the cosplayers act in character as often seen in ComicFiesta. But the intermission of the competition was gold. Team Shikon (champion of WCS 2012) and Lunar Asterisk (from Indonesia) had a game of Janken. It was really entertaining watching them fighting to become the most kakkoi man ever lol.
7 pm: I think that was the end of it. I had dinner with some old friends after that.
Overall the event was great. Just that I wish I had my fellow fangirl friends to come along with me. I mean, imagine fangirling about K alone and seeing your fave characters in doujin/fan merchandise or someone cosplaying at them…. And you need to express yourself, but instead the friends pop up in your head whenever you see their fave character :(
But then my main reason of coming all the way here is to watch T.M. Revolution’s concert. Or else I wouldn’t have come. I don’t think I’ll be coming to next year’s AFA in Singapore. I’m hoping that more great artists would come to next year's AFAMY.
And during the stage event I was disappointed by the lack of screaming… or just during certain stuff, only a group of fangirls or fanboys would get excited. But during K, even with the person next to me who seem to be liking K doesn’t get super excited. Well, there’s CF to look forward to :3
Also, during AFAMY (in the middle of the year) I thought Danny Choo makes a dull host but he seems more entertaining this time. Well, not that I attended AFA many times.
I like the spaciousness of the hall. If I’m not mistaken 1/3 of the hall is totally empty, and attendees can rest on the floor while cosplayers can do some preparations, touch ups and also take photos. One thing that could be improvised is uh… put some carpets or more seats so we can rest comfortably? I guess it’s too much to ask lol. Oh and there’s also food stalls and tables WITHIN the hall, so you don’t have to get out when you’re hungry. Except that you need to queue up. It’s not something easy to get in our homeland.
really large loitering area
There were times where I feel like going back to Malaysia that very moment. But I already bought a train ticket back next morning. No offense but whenever I come to Singapore I feel homesick the moment I set my foot on the soil. But I do like the country; people are so disciplined and the streets are clean and the MRT is super convenient! I guess it’s much easier to run a small country to set things straight…
so that means I don't have any report on the next day. I don't plan to see anything else, but I did wish I could stay for Fairy Tail's movie. But then i was running out of money.
The link is on the song title, if you would like to listen :3 I probably have newer ones but I forgot already. This one has been in the drafts for too long.
Composer: Ken Nakagawa and Daisuke Achiwa Video Game: Mana Khemia Well kinda surprises me the battle theme is "rock" themed when you were walking around listening to folk music. Probably not the best battle song out there, but it's my favourite anyway. Well I'm in a dillema to put Final Fantasy X's normal battle in this place though...
4. Battle Theme III Composer: Jang Sung Woon Video Game: Magna Carta - Crimson Stigmata Since the video game is originally from Korea, therefore so is the composer. A friend of mine noted that she couldn't think of any Japanese composers who did something like this. I dunno music, but yeah you can feel teh awesome-ness *_*
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Video Game: Final Fantasy VII The original sounds lame, but I love this one more: Tatakau Monotachi Advent Children version. I can feel the adrenaline rush!!
2. battle 1 Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Video Game: Final Fantasy I Yea classic! Can you believe it? I really like it! I made it into my alarm tone once, but the one I had is probably the newer version of the midi. Might wanna try the initially scarier and later romantic version ofBattle Scene - Dissidia Final Fantasy
Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Video Game: Chrono Cross In the end the number one spot for goes to my number 1 RPG. It's also my first ever RPG I ever played the moment I own the PSOne. Imagine after being lost in the beauty of the intro song, after clicking "new game" you start in a middle of some dungeon with this panic driven music. I almost thought that there was something wrong with my CD!
Gonna do more top fives and anime reviews. I'm on a roll here so sue me DX
Once again, imma remind you that I don't play too many video games. Here my top 5 are from my limited collections. Oh yeah. Some are not actually the Opening video before you start playing, but it's the intro you see once you click 'new game'.
Composer: Junya Nakano Video Game: Final Fantasy IV DS
No I have not played this! But I saw the opening movie... and I like how it started from "Theme of Love", transited to "Main Theme" and epicly moved to "Final Fantasy (theme)".
Composer: Hironobu Sakaguchi Video Game: Final Fantasy XII
old Final Fantasy games often start off with different arrangements of 'Final Fantasy' themes, then FFVIII broke the tradition up till FFX-2. Then the song returns in the twelfth installment (of the main game) and I'm happy to hear a revamped version of it.
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Video Game: Final Fantasy VIII
Means "Fateful Children". Surprisingly, for a soppy romance themed video game, the intro is quite epic. The choir is in latin btw. I think it has a meaning related to the game, the set of main characters but not the romance.
1. Time's Scar
Composer: Yasunori Mitsuda Video Game: Chrono Cross
Or "Scars of Time", whichever way you wanna put it. This is my first RPG ever, and it has the best intro music ever, and IMO the game has the best OST EVAR. Honestly, in other games I have only several favourite songs, and some songs deserve my hate. But I like every single one of the songs available in Chrono Cross album. Mitsuda is truly a genius, he captures the mood of the environment/situation/events perfectly well!
I don't play a lot of video games, and since only less than 10 final battle themes are meroable to me, so I will only list 5. I'll write them in order:
5. Dark Messenger
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu
Video Game: Final Fantasy IX
Boss: Trance Kuja
[it's a TRAP!]
'cos it starts with a lovely pipe organ intro and has some electric guitar 8D. I dunno how to explain it, but I really like this as bgm when fighting Kuja (but this is more like 'almost' final battle than the actual one). Dark Messenger is an epic version of Kuja's Theme, which is in piano (one of my faves as well). Another name for it is The Darkness of Eternity.
4. Slasher Zero
Composer: Neo Geo Music Performance Group
Video Game: King of Fighters 2000
Boss: (Clone) Zero
[Personally, I think Original Zero and Igniz are sexier]
- Well I don't exactly remember the video game version, but I have the KoF'00 Arranged OST album and fell in love with this song. Here's the Arranged version of Slasher Zero if you'd like to listen. Just another song with the pipe organ and choir thingy. The intro is scary yet appealing :3
3. Subete no Hito no Tamashii no Tatakai Composer: Meguro Masashi Video Game: Persona 3 Boss: Nyx Avatar
["You cannot avoit death. To live is to die. They are one in the same..."]
- looks like rock music really suit final battles, especially for Persona 3, which is set in modern times and in an urban area, very much unlike most Final Fantasy series. Suddenly, somewhere in the middle of the track there's a soprano voice singing the Velvet Room tune!! *A* Then the vocalist is accompanied by violins, thus giving you the symphonic gothic music feel. The battle is looooooong and irritating but thankfully the music makes the battle worthwhile. Preview now!
2. The Sun Rises Composer: Rei Kondoh Video Game: Okami Boss: Yami
['Darkness' apparition in a form of a hand lol]
- I kinda forgot about the song in my first gameplay, but then my friend gave me this track and I thought it was some ending sequence or trailer music. I played Okami the second time, and the final-est battle with Yami where Amaterasu (the protagonist, yes the Sun goddess) goes all shiny and got all her brush skills back, and realized it's actually a final battle song DX. Too bad I couldn't indulge myself with the song while fighting the big ball boss cos Ammy is already invincible - the fight last for 2 seconds. Anyways, this isn't the final boss' theme, but it's actually the sun goddess' theme when she rose back from the brink of death. Here you go, it's PURE JAPANESE MUSIC I tell ya!
1. One Winged Angel
Composer: Nobuo Uematsu Video Game: Final Fantasy VII Boss: Sephiroth
[i'm bringin' sexy back~]
- Although I'm no fan of Sephiroth, but I can't deny that his theme rawks! It's the first final battle music I fell in love with, although the tune back then is not as awesome as the recent Final Fantasy games. I collected various version of it, and my fave is the one with high-pitched violin intro. I'm not sure which Orchestra/band played it but I don't think it's by The Black Mages. TBM's album version is awesome too, but the second best for me is Advent: One Winged Angel (from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie).
***
That's all for today. Maybe I'll write about best intro and best battle theme next :3
Red is not my favourite colour. It once was, but then red is an overrated favourite colour so I switched to purple instead. I have my own view on what purple means to me, and I do agree what the colour generally symbolizes. But my primary favourite colour would be none other than black.
But when I look back, and analyze my list of favourite characters... a lot of them, are associated with red! It makes me wonder why. Maybe deep down I like red more than I thought I would?
Okay, allow me to list down chronologically on the red themed characters I fell for.
1. Sanosuke Sagara
AKA the one who started it all!
Frankly speaking, he's the first character I ever fell head over heels for. I was about 10 years old back then when Rurouni Kenshin (Introduced as Samurai X) was aired in AXN. At first my favourite character was the protagonist himself, but one night I had this weird dream and Sanosuke made a cameo in it *swt*. When I woke up I found myself fallen in love with Sano so much more than Kenshin. So I squealed every time I see him on TV. I squeal when he first appear in the manga too when I bought it. Although I barely think about him now, I still find myself delighted to see him when I reread the manga. (Ok, I've yet to see the OVA!)
Although his primary colour isn't red, but look at his bandana :3
2. Vincent Valentine Several years after that, I was introduce to video games. Then final fantasy franchise. but my first FF was the 9th, but I was gaming the 7th and 8th at the same time. with 8th being the first to be finished (due to cheat codes lol). Because of cheat codes, and because I was still a n00b in RPG games - I was careless about character abilities, statuses (ATK? DEF? STR? INT? AGI? whut??) and I didn't care about sidequests. All I did was to go with the flow. So I ended Final Fantasy 7 with pretty much lvl 50 characters but one thing sparked my curiousity before I went to the final battle. Somehow I had this long ranged weapon in my items list. It's a gun, so I thought Barret could equip it but nay. It was not for him. That's when I thought I might've missed one character (and if it was not for my friend, I wouldn't know Yuffie's existence!). Curse this game for making a character only available if you do sidequests!
So I make good use of the internut to find list of FF7 characters. I saw a name that I had never seen before. I clicked to see his profile and what did I get?
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT YO!
He was so mysterious, and then I actually decided to replay the game for his sake, and I'm happy that his attitude is up to my expectations. But unlike some people, I had never believed that he's a vampire although he seemed like one. Shelke can go to hell, and I wish he can be happy with Lucrecia ;m;
3. Axel, The Flurry of Dancing Flames I never really had a favourite character in Kingdom Hearts. I tried to play, but apparently the Disney stuff was a bit too childish for my liking. Until now I think the Square-Enix partition is more dominant than Disney's, which apparently only provide the worlds and side/guest characters. However it was interesting to see cartoony characters together with manga-ish characters. Then comes Kingdom Hearts II, I only watched my sister play (she was the one who complete both games) from the main story to sidequests. It's fun to watch her play because she never gives up easily when she loses even if it means a 100 tries. Unlike me, I'll stop playing forever if I can't find the easiest way to defeat a boss XD. But I was the one who provided strategies to her so that she can use it lol.
So anyways, there was this scene were an extremely slim hooded character made his first appearence. He had a manly voice, my sis and I was ogling at his body shape. Really, he IS SLENDER (every Organization XIII members have their own body shape though). Then he uncovered his hood, revealing crimson hair and a pair of emerald eyes. The both of us squealed at the bishonen (in fact, we did a lot of squealing in KHII everytime a Square-Enix bishie appears). His favourite quote, "Got it memorized" is just too sexy. Although it's not a literal translation from the original japanese dialog, Quinton Flynn (the English voice actor) made it sound damn good. 8D And then, he seemed kinda gay towards Roxas, so ask me why I do love him again? XD
4. Mitsuru Kirijo I can't remember why I liked her. But I know when it comes to female characters, I favour the stoic type. She doesn't have to be a tomboy. She could be ladylike, but not a damsel in distress (i hate those types) or too girly. Before I played Persona 3, I've met Paine of FFX-2 and Gascogne of Vandread. But Mitsuru caught my eye most probably because of her dark red hair. I wanted to 'date' her, but it was a bit too late because my main character's intelligence level wasn't high enough until 3/4 of the game. Yeah, too bad she's only into smart boys. But I guess I understand. She's like the top student of Gekkokan Private School and the president of the Student Council, it's natural that she prefers not to be caught dead with a dummy. When handling death of a loved one, she doesn't go emo like Yukari (another character). It's a big turn off when she sides with that b1tch once. And in spite of being intelligent, her behaviour as a party member is annoying cos she often cast useless spells on the Shadows (MARIN KARIN).
I could date her in my next gameplay, but I didn't like P3 as much as P4 so I don't bother replaying.
5. Kallen Stadtfeld/Kouzuki Among the rebel elevens, as the racist Brittanians call the Japanese in Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, she stands out the most because of her crimson hair. Or issit a dark shade of pink?? Oh well. That's due to her mixed heritage, I assume. While other people worship the so-called angelic C.C., I lavish my admiration towards Kallen. She's just a human like many others (with feelings and all), but she's an ace knightmare frame pilot. I love Gurren Mk-II's radiation surge. C.C. may be superhuman and cool/kuudere, but all she did is to bless Lelouch with Geass and sit on her big a$$ eating pizza. No offense, I do not hate C.C., but I personally think Kallen is a better character. Besides, I never really liked non-human-like beings as a heroine to pair up with a human hero (I dislike Belldandy of Ah! Megami-sama, I dislike the alien teacher from Onegai Sensei, I dislike Chii from Chobits, I dislike it when Shirou of Fate/Stay Night falls for Saber). Yeah, C.C. may be 'better' and Kallen may be stupid... but remember, C.C. had lived longer and experienced a lot, that's why she's wiser. Kallen is 'stupid' cos she's still young, and blinded by devotion, but she's smart enough reject Lulu's offer to sleep with him although she admires him (more like his alter-ego, Zero) a lot.
I love her devotion towards Zero, I love how protective she is to her master. I find it fascinating to see a strong girl protecting a man (but the man should not be a total wimp either). I kinda like her to be paired up with Zero, instead of Lulu himself. Ah, please don't be surprised that I have favourite hetero pairings too okay. and then there's this gender blender version of CG characters; ironically, I like the original female Kallen better than the bishonen version XD. She has nice boobs btw lol. Yeah I'm gay for her~
6. Erza Scarlet My current love! As of now, I'm watching Fairy Tail anime, and just resumed reading the manga. I like Erza because she's KAKKOI - the cool big sis! She reminds me of Mitsuru, but she's much scarier. Erza is one of the class S mage of the mage guild called Fairy Tail, and most of the time the story didn't lie about her status (Fairy Tail never lies about the good guys' abilities, it does not need to surprise the readers that a badass foe can beat a holy mage etc. Unless he runs out of energy). She's not only a powerful magic knight, but also excellent in tactics where she willingly take risks to find an enemy's weakness. It didn't take 5 chapters for her to finish off a strong enemy. In fact, she can easily PWN'd an evil mage who was said to be the most powerful among the bad guy's team. No need to make massive earthquakes like those so un-ninja-like ninjas to eliminate a villain. All she needs is a couple of henshin!! into different kind of armours to suit the battlefield (ok, the Sailormoon effect in the anime is a turn off for a shonen theme).
Erza will butthead you if you don't answer her immediately, and Erza will manhug you with a thunk of her breast plate if she's proud of you. But like Mitsuru, she ain't a tomboy. She's not girly, but she's feminine, just that sometimes she can't control her strength. Strong yet feminine female characters FTW! I wish I could be like them but... meh... lulz. Anyways, Erza is a Kuudere. She's strong and cool outside, but she's tender inside. She can cry, but not too often. And when she does, she cries alone. Because of her insecurity, she literally wears an armour all the time to protect herself.
Other minor red-themed crushes~
1. Freya Crescent of Final Fantasy IX - Prior to Mitsuru, she's the first stoic video game female I salute. She remains strong in spite of 'losing' her beloved right to the very end.
2. Grelle Sutcliffe of Kuroshitsuji - He's supposed to be in the main list, but he did not re-appear in the manga as he often did in the anime (I regard his second/third appearence in the anime adaptation as 'not really him' because I only believe in how the original author decide to portray him). Grelle is a pansexual, and reaches orgasms every time he sees red LOL. I don't care if he's not as 'perfect' as the demon butler [perfect supernatural beings turn me off, honestly], I just love him cos he seems rather... gay XP.
3. Murtagh of The Inheritence Cycle - The cool big bro stereotype... quite emo too. I can't remember how Murtagh is described in the first book (Eragon), but I can't help but to imagine him clad in red. In the movie adaptation, he does wear red. And then, in the second book... whaddya know? He rides a red dragon!
4. Mai Shiranui of King of Fighters/Fatal Fury - Actually, I don't even like her. Her clothes are too revealing... for a ninja. It's just that I often pick her in my team in the game because I'm good at using her skills. I like fast and agile characters FYI.
5. Vanessa of King of Fighters - She fights in short sleeveless shirt with a necktie, and a dark green pair of trousers with suspenders... and more importantly, RED HAIR. She used to be a normal housewife, until her husbands death, which turned her into a beautiful boxer and joined the tournament to avenge him. However, she does not seem to show her suffering as she casually greets her opponents with her sex appeal.
***
So here ends my pointless post. I wasted plenty of minutes writing this lol.
If there are other red-themed well known characters out there, it's not in my list because I'm not genuinely attracted to them. It's just a coincidence that most of my favourite characters are associated with red X3. If there are others that you know (that I might have overlooked) please mention his/her name :3
[on a side-note, the author of this blog was clad in red when this article is written]
