Tattered White Sneakers

[Tribute to Dr. Burhanuddin Kamaluddin]

A year ago,

We thought....

Taking on microprocessor lab was a pain,

Programming - what is this.... nonsense?

Machine language?

To hell with these funny codes!

Then he comes in...

So cool in his tattered white sneakers,

Always smiling,

It had never crossed my mind that he was a middle-aged man,

He scribbled the whiteboard to guide us,

Whatever it meant,

It helped us,

Though I still didn't get it.

We grumbled at his absence,

Like dangling on the edge of the cliff,

With no other branches to grab,

For when he was around,

He showed us a lot of things,

An average young adult couldn't see,

That microprocessor thingy...

And what is inside it.

He tried his best to spark our interest,

He gave us the relaxed atmosphere,

He let us submit our reports at the end of the semester,

He gave me an A-

If only I could thank him properly...

***

Two days ago I heard the news,

Only yesterday we went for a visit,

He looked so different,,

Motionless on the hospital bed,

Oblivious to our presence,

Then we had a flashback,

On how lively he used to be...

Today we wanted to pray for him,

Pray that he would be fine,

We woke up early,

For his sake,

But alas, it was too late...

I thought that if he wakes up,

The card we left (wishing him 'get well soon!'),

Would put a smile on his face,

That he'd return to the department,

Knowing that everyone's waiting for him,

Strutting in his tattered white sneakers.

But I guess...

It's time for him to go...

To our dear lecturer,

Professor Madya Dr. Burhanuddin Kamaluddin,

Thank you for your kindness,

Rest in peace,

Al-fatihah.

forgive me, but I think his 'tattered white sneakers' are cool, so don't take it as a bad thing. And I don't know how to say it properly in English the way Malay express its Islamic expressions.

Review: Nodame Cantabile Paris (anime)

[WARNING: May contain spoilers!]

Author: Tomoko Ninomiya
Studio: J.C. Staff
Demographic: Josei

In my opinion, this second season is much better than the previous one, and the Paris arc of the drama adaptation. I guess it's the plot, how Nodame and Chiaki develop individually and as a pair. And there are more instrument playing animations than a mere static shot.

Summary: Finally, Shinichi Chiaki has the courage to fly to France. This was all due to Noda Megumi (Nodame), and she ended up tagging along to go to a music Academy (Conservatory) there. The old characters lack appearence (but Kuroki Yasunori makes a come back!), but new characters are really funny too. So while Nodame is struggling to adapt with the French environment and new school, Chiaki working hard in the conductor's competition.

New characters are:
Frank Latoine - a French piano student at the Conservatory, a tenant at the apartment complex Nodame and Chiaki stayed. He's an otaku, a fan of Puri Gorota just like Nodame. He's favourite series is 'Shakugan no Shana'!

Tatiana Vishneva - also known as 'Tanya'. A piano student at the same Conservatory as well, staying at the same apartment. But she lacks practice because she worries more about vacation, thick make-up, mismatched clothes and love life.

Jean Donnadieu - A conductor, and by 'coincidence' he has a b1tchy Japanese girlfriend whom he regards as 'Goddess of Victory'. He's considered the opposite of Chiaki (white roses bs black feathers lol) and also his rival. But even Chiaki is intimidated by Jean's positive energy!

Son Rui - A pianist who had been famous since childhood, and plays in a piano concerto Chiaki conducts (to replace Stresseman - yea he is back). Apparently she has a strict parent, so she takes advantage of the freedom she got. She likes to shop a lot and use Chiaki as her slave.

[it's not what you think!!]

Well, I thought in the end Nodame would finally get to play with Chiaki in an orchestra. Almost, but then Son Rui got in the way. I predict Nodame's dream will come true in the final movie. But that's OK. What I am happy to see is how sweet Nodame and Chiaki became a couple. There wasn't a need for uber romantic stuff, and Chiaki isn't the type who gives a damn about becoming a Romeo either. They slowly realized that they needed each other. Such an odd couple they are~

JOSEI ROMANCE WINS!

I don't really know what else to say cos the second season seem to have a 'cliffhanger'. I rate it 3.9/5 roughly.

Oh yea... I think I like Mozart now. Twinkle twinkle little star!

[Mozart cosplay]

p/s: I don't like the OP. btw I rly liek the first season's ED, Konna Chikaku De... by Crystal Kay.

Review: Nodame Cantabile (anime)

[WARNING: May contain spoilers!!]

Author: Tomoko Ninomiya

Studio: J.C. Staff

Demographic: Josei

Before I start, allow me to tell you that I watched the Jdrama first before the anime. And after finished watching this, honestly, I prefer the drama version. So you will have to expect me comparing the anime with the drama.

Nevertheless, both versions had given birth to my love for classical music.

Summary: This story revolves around two completely different students at Momogaoka College of Music. Yes, a school where you're trained to become professional musicians, especially for orchestra. Nodame and Chiaki meet by accident, and indirectly they depend on each other to grow mentally and improve their musical skills. Nodame is a naturally talented pianist who at first didn't really have a high goal, while Chiaki is prioritize perfection in playing music due to his musical family background.

Protagonists

Noda Megumi - Also known as Nodame. She's an extremely talented pianist, but the way she plays is rather sloppy in inaccurate as she depended on her hearing (instrad of reading the score) and used the piano as a medium to express herself. Other than being messy and disorganized, she's completely useless and irritating. But as a friend (or a lover) she's a fun person to be with. In spite of her love in music and composing songs, she doesn't really have a high ambition (she wants to become a pre-school teacher!). She fell in love with Chiaki after they played Mozart's "Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major" together. Another thing about her is she's actually an Otaku, and a huge fangirl to Puri Gorota (Even comparing one of the characters with Chiaki).

Chiaki Shinichi - aka Chiaki-senpai~! He grew up in a musical family (specifically in classical music, 'kay) and studies in the same college as Nodame but one year her senior. He's the top student, and although he is very arrogant he's extremely popular among girls and boys (including those who are jealous of him). However, he looks down on those who play music badly or inaccurately. Yet he is attracted to Nodame's unorthodox way of piano playing, but would still rather see her play properly. Even so, he doesn't hesitate to hit Nodame for being annoyingly delusional. Ironically, for being a brat from a rich family, he's more organized than Nodame and is quite a cook. He secretly wishes to become a conductor, but his fear of flying is stopping him from going abroad to meet his mentor in Prague.

I'm a little lazy to talk about other characters, but I have to say that they do play a part in their development and orchestra. One character that I can relate to is Ryoutaro Mine, who's the type who likes to express himself through music, but is under pressure of lagging behind by those better than him. I like to express myself through drawing, but I never really had the motivation to improve D:.

Anyways, the anime has more details than the drama, and probably follows the original manga most of the time. The drama had to cut out a few scenes or insert this or that in earlier episodes. Since it's an animation, and it is Josei (not shonen or mahou shojo), action scenes are limited. There are many sequences where the images are frozen and there are only a few scenes where you can see moving fingers, moving fiddle etc. In the drama adaptation, everything is moving; the 'Jimmy Hendrix' performance by the S-Oke is EPIC WIN.

[S-Oke doing JimiHen]

I'm quite glad the story started of with a fun-orchestra performance to keep me following. But in the later episodes, the childishness is toned down and the musicians become more and more serious. But the main reason why I came to realize the beauty of classical music is because of the awesome drama adaptation, since the progress in the anime is rather vague.

Another reason why I prefer the drama is the character appearence. Now, I know that the anime adaptation's character designs are more accurate with the original manga, but the drama improvised their looks even more. Chiaki is totally handsome (ilovehiroshitamakikthxbai), Mine's rock image is more convincing, Takahashi Noriyuki's gayness is more apparent and Yasunori Kuroki's attitude is more like a samurai. Even the drama's Maestro Franz von Stressman (in spite of not looking like a true foreigner) is more memorable because of his weird gaijin speech!

The benefit of watching this anime (or reading the manga) is that you get to learn what is the story, mood or meaning behind each classical scores - which is something you can barely find in the internet. Basically, this is how I started to appreciate classics (i used to think that they're boring~)

What I love about Nodame Cantabile, is that it's not a straight-foward love story. The main plot is about how Chiaki reaches his dreams to become a conductor, and how Nodame evolved from a half-hearted student to a musician worth acknowledged by her love interest. Many obstacles are in their way, so we can see that being a conductor does not mean you just have to mindlessly swing your baton, and we can see that there's actually a difference in between playing an instrument individually or in groups. The romance part is like a secondary or tertiary element, and I like the way it grew throughout the challenges.

[random scenes]

I'll roughly rate this 3.5 out of 5.

Will review the second season next~



Side note: My family bought two albums of modernized classical music (ADYA). My parents previewed it first, but only decided to buy it when I said I wanted it lol.

Review: Needless (anime)

[WARNING: May include spoiler]

[WARNING 2: you may not like reading this...]

AUTHOR: Kami Imai

Studio: Madhouse

Genre: Action, Sci-fi, Ecchi

I thought this is another GAR anime like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. But I regret watching it. I stayed loyal to the end just to see shota Adam but is happy to see 2 dudes fighting in the nude (censored lah).

Summary: it's year 20XX where World War III already happened and an unknown element dropped on Japan (where else?) and left a Black Spot there. Which country did it, is unknown. Funny why it is unknown cos by that era technology should be freakin' advance that they should've anticipated who's coming and easily track down who did it. Okay, let me tell you a little secret. Malaysia did it. FOR IT WAS I who will develop some badass nuclear technology which lead to the incident where my beloved people decided to pay back Japan worse than what they did during World war II. But my nuclear techno is so awsm it mutate some guy's cells consequently giving him many superpowers that people decide to call him "The Second" (so-called the 2nd god la). Other people got expxosed by the radiation too but they can only weild one power each (called Fragment). They are dubbed the "Needless".

Why are they called that way, I dunno. But the term is misused because in the end justice and evil needed the Needless LOL.

PROTAGONISTS
Adam Blade - This dude is a goddamn muscular priest who carries a bible, which is actually a box where he kept a bomb. Pretty much equivalent to Kamina until it is revealed that he's actually a loli-con; -50 points! His younger self is a sweet little kid though 8D. His fragment is Zero, an ability to memorize other Needless' powers.

Eve Neuschwanstein - (WTH with the surname??) a girl in lioncloth... perhaps it's a fashion trend in the future but I don't see anyone else wearing that. What's funny about her is her tendency to forget names and give random nicknames to people she just befriended. And also the Dero Doro protein drink. Her fragment is Doppleganger; my fave!

Cruz Schild - No fragment, therefore seemed rather useless. Cowardly like Simon but he doesn' have any drill (Eve does) but he has something even better. He's quite a strategist but he's a little slow when noticing 'something strange' stuffs so what's the point? Ok at least his plans succeeded twice.

Ok there are others but they're not worth my time.

ANTAGONISTS
Adam Arclight - the main Antagonist, which is a mixture of Iori Yagami and Ash Crimson (both from King of Fighters). He has the same power as Adam, but he's too spineless that he needed a bisexual harem.. i mean, bodyguards around him called Simeon Four Strongest.

Simeon Four Strongest..... nah, you go wiki 'em.

Overall aa... there were more typical shonen stuff. Funny scenes exist but I find myself unable to laugh because of the excesisve panty-shots. But more inclined towards boys because of the endless fanservices (for boys). Not that I mind fanservice, but I do find it annoying when it happens every single minute. The first few epi started out okay with all the GAR-ness and all, but everything is ruined ever since the Simeon Girls Squad came into the picture. Why? Because apparently they're not trained to be modest ladies because they don't really mind if their panties are seen. But I guess they were trained to be shameless, like Setsuna (one of the members in the squad) said, "The mission is more important than our clothes". There you have it! Then why doncha do your job naked??

But they're not the only ones abused, female allies are too. Okay, why are there so many female allies in skirt and the male allies are not even attractive?? (except for my dear Cruz) And I was hoping that Disc is a dude, but instead it's just another loli *vomits*. And why are there only Girls Squad in Simeon, what about Boys Squad? They don't recruit men do they? If they don't, then how would Adam Arclight find his new Uten? LOL. Speaking of Uten.... he was one of the Four Strongest but he died easily, but the B1tches Squad is SO F*CKIN HARD TO DIE.

Related to the previous sentence, fighting them is one hell of a trial because you kinda had to watch the dragginess in a fight which ranges for so many episodes in the very same stage (a giant bedroom dunno what for. I lol'd at how a serious organization wasted their money on such a room...). Finally, after battling for hours, dying and reviving, the main villain came and kindly said, "Hey GUYYYSSS Let's switch stage!!". Okay that was funny. The good guys shud've kicked the bad guy's asses. Okay, the fight was boring too... but the flashback sequence is WIN.

Conclusion: It's biased. (Or maybe I am the one who's biased). But i've seen other shonen anime/manga that is balanced, not too explicit 'fanservice' for both boys and girls. Oh wait... the demographic is Seinen. no wonder la. Okay, perverted guys would like it, naive boys stay away. And girls... if you hunger for bishounen... DO NOT EVER WATCH THIS.

in the end I deleted the files. I wasted my time downloading. Sorry, Deru-tan for making u go thru this.

I think I should add rating here. erm... WTF's rating: 2.5/5

Side note: I just found out in the manga version.... CRUZ CROSSDRESSED!!!!!! \*A*/
and... and Adam B. thought he's a girl! YAY FANSERVICE!

(my) Top 5 RPG Normal Battle Theme

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.


5. The Menace


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 *_*


3. Those Who Fight / Tatakau Monotachi / Fighting


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 of Battle Scene - Dissidia Final Fantasy

1. Gale



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

(my) Top 5 Video Game OP

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'.

preview link provided at the song title;

5. FFIV DS Opening Movie



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)".


4. 00



Composer: Neo Geo Performance Group
Video Game: King of Fighters 2000

Yes, that's indeed the song title. Anyways... I dunno. I just like it 8D.


3. Final Fantasy ~FFXII version~



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.


2. Liberi Fatali



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!

more to come~

(my) Top 5 Final Boss Theme

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