I’ve just finished  national examinations yesterday and I don’t really have a good idea what’s going to happen for this year’s AFA. I suck.

I must be the slowest blogger in the world.

Tickets
The pricing of this year’s tickets are sure more costly than last year’s probably due to the amount of celebs AFA is bringing in. I’m not one to complain but it’s just natural if one wants more, one has to pay more.

Entry tickets: $15 for 1 day, $25 for 2 days (Students get $12 for 1 day, $20 for 2 days)
Ani-song concert tickets: $108 for 1 day, $188 for 2 days

The best part, cosplayers still get in for FREE!

Performances
Entertainment wise, this year’s AFA has installed quite a lot of performances but I shall just merely list each of them out as I’m not really a fan of them.

For starters, May’n and Ichirou Mizuki are back by popular demand. Other artistes that are coming include Shokotan, Yoshiki Fukuyama from JAM Project and the VOCALOID, Hatsune Miku.

Seiyuus
This would be a first for Singapore to have seiyuus attending an anime event and the seiyuus from K-ON! would be here for a live-dubbing session of the anime as well as a Q&A segment. Also, since it’s their first time making a live stage appearance out of Japan, I advice all K-ON! fanboys to strongly suppress your kowtow abilities when you feel like you’re gonna do something crazy.

Speakers
Another guest appearance is by the blogger, Danny Choo himself whom I’m sure needs no introduction about how he makes money from blogging. Topics in his talk would include anime and otaku-related stuff. Personally, I’d only be interested on how to earn more income. The rest is unimportant.

Maids
Maids, maids, maids. The Moe Moe Kyun Maid Cafe currently has 8 maids inclusive of Ferlyn Yoshimi, the new maid. She’s the ex-boss of the Maid Cafe at Chijmes if I’m not wrong and that’s right, the link to her blog’s there for you perverts.

Others
Exclusives, cosplay, competitions are present as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary but there seems to be a Weiβ Schwarz competition going on. The trading card game, Weiβ Schwarz, seems to be getting popular for the frequent visitors of Sunshine Plaza. Though I’ve not picked up the game, it’ll be interesting.

Overall, I am looking forward to the event though I’m not that hyped about it as some of the other more hardcore otaku. Local events these days just seem “distasteful” and unsatisfactory. How does an anime convention stand out then? I don’t know. We’ll see.

See you guys at AFA! Or rather, you guys see me instead as I’m cosplaying. Hah.

Please look out for a gay assassin.

TAIGER!

So Taiga (from Toradora) is in Blazblue. ROFLWUT? I am sorry but the character they are referring to is Tager, who is a big guy, has muscles of steel or something, generally punches through 3 meters of reinforced steel walls with his strength, and things like that. Now imagine the horror of replacing that guy with TAIGA.

Excerpt from Panther.

I hope you had a good laugh lol.

P.S. My major exams are coming soon – basically the prelims and O levels that every secondary 4 kid has to go through. In haitus mode I shall be.

I’m back… With an update!

I’m not really that fond of game conventions but this one lured me in because I heard that BlazBlue machines are going to be present. Heh.

This post won’t be that long, considering that I did rot all so boringly along the corridors of the Suntec Convention Halls after a few rounds of playing Rachel. And boy, was I glad to have been there because of one thing – an awesome Bang player appeared to display his impressive talent of playing the 2D fighter game with no, not three, not seven, but one hand! !111oneoneone

Just imagine what he could do it with his other hand! Fa-

Moving on. For once, I actually feel that the cosplay standards were actually better than I had expected. I just hope more freaks do not show up for Cosfest though. Enjoy!

Hatsune Miku and her leeks.

I don’t really like D. Gay Semen but… This Lavi was exceptional.

And I want some bunny headphones too, Yuki.

A cute Ranka Lee. When would the Macross Frontier cosplays  ever die out?

Kurohoshi – a familiar face for some.

A schoolmate of mine who unexpectedly turned up for TGX.

+1 to Jesuke who cosplayed Squall from Dissidia: Final Fantasy, woooooo! I failed to recognise her at first. orz

Photographs of the cosplayers do not belong to me but to their respective photographers, Hexlord, Kula and zerartul.

P.S. I thank the people who did not do a /ignore yumeno on me.

Something smelled fishy about her and I knew it.

All this while, you think Sawako-sensei’s just a teacher who wants to hide her past as a hardrock band member who seeks love? Wrong. She has something more than that – skills of a traceuse! Let’s take a look at some of the moves she has used.

Passement (vault).

Franchissement (jumping through a gap).

Roulade (roll).

Saut de précision (precision jump).

Planche (wall climb).

And this? It is not even parkour.

I would expect more from Sawako-sensei. More insight on parkour here.

You may have recognise the above image as Mirror’s Edge but that’s just all fun and games when compared to the moves behind it.

Note: the following content has no relation to anime or anything pertaining to Japanese culture. So please expect something that you may or may not enjoy reading.

Parkour is the actual term that is to be used if you want to describe the mentioned game and I’ve actually picked up parkour with a pal of mine and it made me rethink about what parkour really is about after seeing videos, articles and documentaries as well as the philosophy behind this discipline.

Yes, for those who were wondering, parkour is a discipline and not a sport. This is really something I want to stress after seeing the way some people view parkour. I am utterly disgusted by their thinking. In any way parkour does not promote eliteness, competitiveness, teamwork and it has no set of rules, as David Belle, the founder of parkour says.

David Belle at work.

David Belle founded parkour through his training as a fireman. His brother was one, his father was one, and even his grandfather as well. His father had imparted skills of what a life saver should be to David – to be strong and useful. With that in mind, David had created a set of basic movements 20 years ago which is now know as parkour.

Having said all that, the definition to parkour varies since it is subjective to individuals but this would be a more generic one. However, though traceurs (parkour practitioners)have their own perspective towards parkour, the philosophy behind the so called ‘acrobatics’ should be uniform.

Now, parkour or l’art du déplacement (or English for the ‘art of movement’) is relatively complex to define. To me, there are a few key aspects of parkour.Firstly, it is the use of only body movements to get from point A to point B as efficient and effective as possible and to get back from B to A but different movements can be used. The movements are kept simple and traucers  use movements in which they trust and are confident in. Anything fanciful falls under the category of free running,  an extension of parkour where it is more freestyle. Kinda like skateboarding.

Flips of any sort are not parkour.

Having trust in a one’s own moves leads to the 2nd aspect – having the mental strength. I’d say that parkour is having 30% physical and 70% mental capability. Now why do I say so? Through my experience doing parkour, it is in actual fact that most of the time that I am not able to overcome an obstacle becase of fear, a mental blockage that would restrict my movements. Afterall, it is our minds that tell our body what to do and hence, psychological factors play a part in parkour too. Most of the time, I know I have the power to do it but the thought of negative consequences got he better side of me. It is not always about having the brawns. In martial arts, martial artists face obstacles know as their opponent and overcome them by beating the crap out of them. A similar concept applies to parkour. Now the obstacle is just an inanimate object. It can be either a rail or a wall.

Jumps like these require precision and focus.

You may say that people practising parkour are nuts and that it is dangerous to practice parkour. This is false. Well, maybe there are exceptions to people who try to jump off a 14 storey building but those are clearly people with psychological disorders. Parkour will only be safe if one wants it to be. Having mentioned about my past encounter with obstacles, a person’s fear over an obstacle can act in 2 ways. One, it tells you that overcoming the obstacle is impossible. Two, it can be a safety gadget to inform you that it is indeed impossible. Hence, these 2 things are actually going through a traceurs mind before they perform any jumps of some sort. Jumps from heights and similar acts are not done on instinct.

In parkour, the world is viewed in a more positive manner.

Parkour teaches one to be more aware of his environment, and teaches one to be careful. By learning parkour, I have indeed viewed the world in a different way than others. Ordinary people see walls as an obstacle and think “I need to walk around it” whereas traceurs see this challenge as an opportunity to overcome the obstacle. Instead of having negative thoughts, it is now turned into positive ones and can pretty much be applied to real life.  Resiliency is promoted in parkour.

That, would be my own definition for parkour and how i feel about it but this would be a more generic one. However, though traceurs have their own perspective towards parkour, the philosophy behind the so called ‘acrobatics’ should be uniform. David Belle found parkour through his training as a fireman. His brother was one, his father was one, and even his grandfather as well. His father had imparted skills of what a life saver should be – to be strong and useful. With that in mind, David created a set of basic movements which is now know as parkour.

Parkour welcomes anyone who wants to practice it. And the real goal of parkour and what really matter is “what can you do with it?” Here’s a short video of an interview with David Belle himself about parkour:

All I can say now is that parkour is not something that can be taught just by having it read up. Not that I mean that all of you readers need to practice some hops to understand parkour though. Having read articles and watching videos, I think I have done a great deal of reflection about parkour.

More articles about what’s behind the philosophy of parkour here.

P.S. Do not practice parkour under any circumstance without professional help. You don’t get respawned if you die jumping off a building like in Mirror’s Edge.

Wow, is it me or am I actually blogging on anime again? Wait, I don’t really care. Or maybe you don’t. Whatever.

I’m at episode 5 of K-ON! now and I am starting to think that KyoAni’s doing some shameless advertising with the latest addition to the list – a pair of AKG headphones. All this for what? Boost their show ratings or get Mio-driven otakus to purchase some Fenders and AKG headphones? The latter would probably make me lol really hard.

Anyway, why not we look at the band members and figure out if the plot makes some sense.

Yui Hirasawa (Gu)
The most klutzy girl I have ever seen on any anime series. Looking at this trait, it might seem that she would be the one where decent character development would be good enough to promote the guitarist. But no, being a klutz seems to be able to generate Yui’s latent guitar skillz within her. Just after 3 months of practicing and she can already play a solo and play it by ear too. At episode 2, I would have thought that Yui would still face some difficulty with learning the guitar. However, it would seem the only difficulty that Yui has now is coping school work with the club activities.

Mio Akiyama (Ba)
The bassist of the band and very clearly, the most popular girl in K-ON! as seen from the massive amounts of Mio fanart all over image boards like danbooru. Not only can Mio play the bass, give super tuition, she also has a very high chance of working as a part-time maid! Basically, Mio is a very organised girl who follows her plans meticulously. She is also very shy and can be sensitive to certain things: barnacles and bleeding fingers etc. Somehow, Mio reminds me of Asahina Mikuru from SHnY. I can sense a strong resemblance there. It’s not just the boobs, trust me. MOE MOE KYUN!~

Ritsu Tainaka (Dr)
President of the keion club; her purpose of creating such a club was to perform a live at the Budokan when she and her childhood companion, Mio, decided to form a band one day. Being a very outspoken person, Ritsu is the one who usually makes the most noise and most of the time, she’s the one responsible for Mio’s funny moments. It is interesting to look at how Ritsu interacts with her band mates, especially with Mio. I would call her an entertainer if I must.

Tsumugi Kotobuki (Pf)
Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, aren’t those thick eyebrows something? Tsumugi or Mugi for short, is the keybaordist of the band and she would be the most richest girl in the band. Maybe that’s where all the funding come from. Which also might explain all the instruments in the music room or were they all their own intsruments, except for Yui’s gift? I can’t remember and I am too lazy to rewatch. ^^; Though I wonder what may Mugi’s real reason for joining the club without much hesitation, I might add. Afterall, she did mention that she intended to join the Choir. Perhaps KyoAni just wanted to find someone who could cover plot holes. Pft. Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mugi would be the vocalist in one of the episodes.

And now, I’ll try to make as much sense as possible of the storyline so far.

Once upon a time, a girl named “Yui” didn’t know how to read an analog clock and thought she was late for her first day of high school life, blah blah blah… She was clueless as to what club she should join until she saw a poster that wanted a guitarist for this keion club but she thought the picture of a guitar was actually a pair of castanets. “Un-tan!” she went and she soon found herself with a Gibson and 3 new friends who apparently are quite adept with their own instruments. The pressie, Ritsu wanted the band to perform live at the Budokan but before that, something short-term to aim for – to perform live at the Sakura festival or something. However, with Yui being the weakest link, she made incredible progress with her guitar playing in 3 months, especially during the bikini training camp, considering that she is a total klutz. Blah blah blah… And at the end of episode 5, the girls are left with just 3 days to their debut. Oh and, they have gotten themselves an awesome advisor for their club.

Great summary, eh?

Okay. I think the money/funding issue of the band has been solved thanks to Mugi and her eye brows. Yay! Still, I find the plot somewhat mad even though K-ON! is a “slice of life” anime. Yeah, I do know the bands ultimate goal is to perform at the Budokan one day but I feel the character developments could go a few beats slower. The “tempo” is kind of too fast for my tastes. The comical parts are fine and K-ON! hasn’t gone beyond moe-overload for me, which is good – too many cooks can spoil the broth. I just hope that the role of the vocalist won’t be something interchangable between Yui and Mio. Then it’ll be like something similar to P’unk-en-Ciel, where the members of L’Arc-en-Ciel switch roles to form an alter-ego band.

As for the band itself, do they actually have a band name for their own, you know, like the GazettE or something? I mean they say that they are from the keion club. But that’s just a club right? If more members would’ve joined the club, there would be more bands, am I right to say so? Just wondering.

One could say this event was organised for the lulz by chance on a random day. Well actually yes. Most minor cosplay events in Singapore are done like that. But I shall save that topic for another day. For now, we’ll move on to the Black Rose @ Liang Court!

I spy with my little eyes, at least 5 of those you-know-what-tards.

This time round, the number of Naru/Bleachtards and the like wasn’t as bad. Variety is somewhat still there but somehow, not satisfying. What kept me entertained was the fashion show at the start of the programme since I had expected the not so unexpected. However, there were a few exceptions.

The models. I liked the 2nd and 3rd one from the left >:D

But first let’s look at the fashion show, sponsored by Atsuki(?) since it was what allured me and almost killed my borrowed D40 with the extensive flash used ^^;

Anyone mind telling me what particular term is used for their clothes or are they just known as dresses?…

It’ll help me in my English oral examinations…

And if you think guys have no fashion sense…

You may be correct…

…Guys really have no fashion sense.

And my God… These two are cute indeed :3

Next up, the highlight of the event – cosplay? Nah. I was still more interested with the fashion show and considering my failure to charge the camera’s battery the night before, it died halfway along with my motiviation. orz

The emcees. One on the left’s Akime, the organiser if I’m not mistaken.

A cute Taiga from Tora Dora. Not tsun enough though.

The vajras’ have eaten up Ranka cloned Sheryl, face it.

So, no more Ranka for you! Muahahahahaha…

The miniature Klan.

Yami from To Love-Ru.

Photos taken with a Nikon D40.

And usually I would decide a list of best cosplayers but Kuro Bara did not have any lasting impression on me so I would just blatantly say perhaps, none? Majority as I have seen just came here for “dressup” only, sadly.

Well, on a serious note, observing the cosplay scene for a span of 3 years, it has come to my mind that Singaporeans are rather dead in their right brain of creativity, ingenuity and whatever not. Reviving does not bring in new things, it only repeats. Be it good, or bad.

Nevertheless, each event has it’s ups and downs and I do hope organisers will come up with better themes to improve the cosplay situation in Singapore. Or am I just expecting too much? Please share your views on this.

P.S. Seems like I’ve side-tracked abit towards the end ^^;

Kuro Bara, meaning “black rose”, symbolises revival. And that, would be today’s cosplay event’s theme at Liang Court – to revive what’s forgotten. Which is kinda dumb, and totally uncreative to be honest. Who would consider overdone cosplays to be “revived”. Nevertheless, I attend such events just to give you coverage, regardless of how lame the themes can be.

So, stay tuned!

Taking a slight break from school stress (or from work) and welcoming the wonderful weekends, let’s have Ayano Washizu, 鷲巣あやの, born on 2 March 1983, standing at 163 cm to start off the weekend!

A perfect angel indeed.

For some reason, I feel that she has a strong resemblance to Aki Hoshino? Maybe it’s me. Anyway, here’s similar post of another short-hair babe can be found here. Cheers and have a nice weekend!

Yes, this is indeed quite an old release, but nonetheless, a magnificent figure from Kotobukiya. Now that I think of it, it is quite worthy to collect the Shining Wind figures from Kotobukiya for a sense of “completeness”.

Anyway, the only reason you’d want to get her if you have not heard already, is her magnetic head that surpasses the quantam brain waves of Hallelujah. Embedded right smack in the middle of her beret lies a magnet that gives Seena the ability to summon forth her beret whenever needed, which might explain the reason why I spent some time playing with her head and magnet – because it is just too fun to play with. ^^; I can see that the force is strong in this rapier-wielding Jedi…

Not forgetting to mention Seena has striped pantsu too! \o/

Striped pantsu is always a win factor for those into it.

The beret of the Force. Get yours in local Jedi stores now!

Floral light sabers sold separately.

Overall, this figure has probably no flaws at all. This young female Jedi, paired with a rapier and cute face will bound to end up being on your shelves. Better yet, it will be an added bonus if you have the other Shining Wind figures from Kotobukiya already. A shining 9/10 from me.

Photos taken with a Nikon E3700.

P.S. School and blogging are natural enemies, it seems.