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I hate it when a mistake happened twice - ESPECIALLY when it again happened to an otherwise perfect concert!

In this Musicademia 6 we have a very experienced orchestra, the TO. We have an assembly of great singers, from the Australian Tenor James Egglestone to the young aspiring singer Sherina and pianist Kevin (it’s not his fault he’s TO conductor’s son). We have a fabulous repertoire of great songs from Indonesia Raya (yes, THE Indonesia Raya) to Tatakau Monotachi to Superman’s Theme. We have all that mixed into an unforgettable performance.

WHY IT HAS TO BE RUINED IN THE END BY A GROUP WHO CAN’T EVEN GET ITS SOUND SETTINGS RIGHT?!!!!

Grrrrr.

First off, a short summary:

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Jo, already at the limit after losing his beloved parents and sister in a car accident, was ready to take his own life when a little girl, badly bruised, appeared seemingly out of nowhere at his place in the middle of the night… Worse, Shina - as her name turned out to be - couldn’t remember anything except her own name and Jo’s!

Even though still somewhat perplexed, Jo decided to take in the little girl. Initial resistance from his close friend Lei and harrassment attempts from his somewhat *cough cough* ‘little-girl-loving’ acquaintance Toni didn’t faze Jo’s resolve. Gradually, the pain of loss began to fade, and Jo looked forward to living happy and lively days with Shina.

However, the three of them realized too late that a woman has been shadowing Shina all the time, a woman willing to do whatever it takes to return the little girl to her real self none of them wish they know about…

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Elex put Shina on Sep 06 release date, and they didn’t disappoint… Kinda funny that I will probably have to read the printed release days later than everybody else, but when you guys do I’d really appreciate your comments and feedbacks

The concert ‘Beginning of Fantasy’, featuring soundtracks from the Final Fantasy series, was held on Senayan Indoor tennis court on Friday, July 28th 2006. The queue line snaking for hundreds of meters outside to the parking lot and the fact that the court was jam-packed inside were enough signs that this concert was long overdue for us Indonesian gamers, who had never been able to listen to the glory of Nobuo Uematsu’s masterpieces live before. Most of them were kids and teenages (a lot were still escorted by their parents), but quite a number were adults who probably have been playing since the first Final Fantasy installment hits the Nintendo console (that’s a LONG time ago). One thing for sure - all were lured in by the promise of Final Fantasy scores performed live by a symphony orchestra and choir. This is also the first orchestra concert in Indonesia (and probably in the world) featuring a STANDING festival class… a brilliant idea that probably had doubled the number of audience AND organizer’s profit (and pain in my legs! Oh my poor legs…).

Despite the usual organizer antics that delayed the concert for half an hour, Adhie M.S. and the Twilite Orchestra didn’t intend to disappoint - the opening piece, none other than FF8’s infamous Liberi Fatali, blasted through the audience with the full force orchestra and choir, bringing lively applause at the end. Not only the wonderful FF soundtracks and performance of the orchestra itself, the selection of (most of) the featured performers could only add to the excellence of the concert - Arina (vocalist of Mocca) with her beautiful voice and impeccable spoken English sang FF English songs like the hit Eyes on Me perfectly, Sherina’s performance was simply stunning (The way she sang 1000 no Kotoba is so unspeakably wonderful - IMO she’s done it better than the original singer!), and the two pianists Jessica and Kevin successfully introduced the audience to the wonders of piano solo (FFVII Battle Theme rocks!). FF fans present were in heaven and they let their appreciation show - every piece ended with spirited applause!

However, this near-perfection was tainted by one guest performer - J-rock band Wasabi that was supposed to blend rock into the classical flavor. Until now I don’t know whether it was their fault or their sound engineer’s, but their drum and bass guitars virtually drowned everything else whenever they sounded, including their own excellent lead guitar and even at times the entire Twilite Orchestra! Even worse, their vocalist stuttered on stage, missed quite a few tones, and visibly forgot some of his lyrics, making him probably the most miserable man on stage that night ^_^;

That and a bloody concert howling loudly nearby were the only faults I could find that night - with the enthusiasm for a blend of classical and game music this concert generated, I almost couldn’t wait for the next game music concert

Only weeks before Shina goes to print, I stumbled upon a great joy and disappointment: Shinigami no Ballad a.k.a Momo the god girl of death.

Momo is a scythe-toting Shinigami, ID number 100100 (what? Shinigami comes with ID card nowadays?), complete with a bat-winged cat named Daniel for companion - except this one is a kind-hearted, crybaby, and nosy white-haired little girl who would go to great length to address the issues and grievances of the souls she carries to the afterworld. These particular natures of her brought the episodes to life as again and again she and the people she comes into contact with weave stories of how death should be coped with - not by endless grieving and remorse, but by forgiveness, love, and willingness to let go.

In short, SnB is one of those rare gems of anime that manages to entertain AND impress without the slightest sign of excessive violence, nudity, or bad language (among the other few are Kokoro Library, Haibane Renmei, and Figure 17). Six episodes of pure blissful anime experience that would leave you pondering about the true meaning of life and death… I wish there is more, but there are only six of the novel series this anime is based on

The other disappointment? If only this already came out when I was butting my head against the wall trying to think of Shina’s story….

There is already a lot of anime featuring capital ship space combat, ranging from the hilarious Muzekinin Kanchou Tylor to the deadly serious Seikai no Senki. However, methinks the latest series in this flavor, Starship Operators, deserves its own mention.

First off, SO ships adhere to real physics comprehensible in 21st century technology level (well, mostly). No capital ship in this series can turn like a dime - with the enormous mass of the battleships, limited structural strength and human ability to sustain excessive G forces, and the relatively small power side vernier thrusters generate it takes an awful lot of time to make a full turn. Inertia combined with high speeds makes SO combats one-pass affairs - miss your approach and you’ll have to turn in thousand-kilometers radius to have your enemy back in sight. Shields? What shields? Thick and heat-dissipating armor technology are what’s keeping SO warships from their demise, not some fancy force fields without even the slightest basis in real physics. Even the fictional warping has its Einsteinian physics limitation in place - warping in too near to a gravity well and you’ll risk warping out somewhere you don’t want to be (like the core of the nearest star).

Also, SO combatants are already exchanging fire from a LONG distance away from each other - like THOUSANDS of kilometers - as they should be considering the long range and power of their weapons. Star Trek warships, for example, seems to prefer to have the enemy in front of their noses first before they shoot. Seeing ST starship battles, I can’t help thinking that all Federation officers are either blind or near-sighted ^_^;

But enough dissing ST - even without the intricate political intrigues, captivating personal relations, tragedies, and romance, as well as the finely woven storyline, the excellent capital ship battles alone are more than enough to make Starship Operators a must-watch for any sci-fi afficionados out there. All hail Shinon!

Finally, after two years of sweating ink, tears, and blood (yeah right :-), my first comic book is done! (Samples of it could be seen in my ‘Photo Album’) Just finished final editing phase and delivered it to the editor last Friday, she said it should be able to be published in a month.

Still wondering about the contract and royalty technicalities and such, but considering that my initial motive of making it is revenge (!) I guess the small prints can wait.

Now to think new ideas for the second book… you have any? Please let me know!

… Just watched Suzuka. Mood: severely irritated. Again the same plot, another typical stupid, insensitive, and irresponsible boy as leading man chasing a stubborn yet indecisive girl as leading lady… and another shy, quiet girl who had tried her best left alone and hurt in the end while the happy couple ride into the setting sun. I thought KimiNozo was the end of it… If that is the kind of male character Japanese boys identify themselves with, I pity Japanese girls.

And why the hell is the series named after its most pathetic character anyway?! That bloody oaf of a girl whose pride, stubbornness, and refusal to face reality have brought trouble and suffering to virtually everyone around her?! Heck she’s done even more damage to others through the entire series than the supposedly annoying sidekicks Saotome and Megumi combined!

Gaaaahhhhhh. Despite knowing that all these are simply part of the plot to stir the audience’s emotions, I still feel so bloody irritated. Guess they’re successful after all… in a negative kind of sense

And yes, after you read all this, you should be aware that the shy, quiet girl is NOT that oaf Suzuka the series is named after.

Kawaisou na Honoka-chan…

It’s been two months since my three units apart neighbour was murdered (see post far below. Yes, somewhere amidst all those H-Game posts), and finally the police, in a rare display of competence, caught the perp. Which may not be competent enough since he had been primary suspect since day one and it takes the cops two months to get a confession out of him… then again Indonesian police farce (if you pardon the typo) never fails to amaze me.

The perp was desperate. He needed money, and the victim didn’t loan him as much as he needed (and probably dished him unnecessary insults in the process)… and in a flash of anger he stormed into the apartment and whacked her as she was taking a bath. What do you know, he read criminal novels for fun too - hence his smartness of not leaving any prints, turning off her phones, and arranged the scene such that the smell of her decomposing body won’t reach her neighbours, yours truly included. We ought to ban criminal novels and all those gory live crime news on TV while we’re at it - who knows who gets what kind of idea from there. Really.

The perp, also turned out, was one of the apartment management personnel - hard working, competent, and had done much to improve apartment administration during his tenure. And maybe had a duplicate key of every door in the complex. Now that’s a sobering thought.

Your reporter live from the scene… signing out.

Really. Until now, I never seriously considered that possibility. Because, like, an H-Game is supposed to make its player excited (in more ways than one). That’s why it’s called an H-Game (H stands for Hentai, which is itself the Japanese word for Pervert, for you innocent commoners who happen to fall into this carnal den of desire for heaven’s sake!

Then comes After ~ Sweet Kiss. I know, I know, corny title - Japanese isn’t exactly famous for creative English copywriting. In fact, it’s famous for the awful lot of English misspellings in its anime instead (not the case anymore in the latest releases though, thank God)! I sat down and installed the thing expecting a few hours of ‘excitement’ and byte-hacking challenge. Its character design is by Tony, who IMO has smooth lines, good anatomy, and a heckuva coloring skillz - and such nicely drawn girls! ^___^ But there’s a lot of H-games with that already… Yawned thru the first episode, stopped to capture the initial state and each saves (byte-tweaking is soo much fun ^_^;)….

Then the second episode smacked me down through the floor.

Your avatar, Yuuichi, has a lovely little sister named Nagisa. Having grown up without their parents (who worked abroad) most of the time, the two developed a closeness that even Yuuichi’s girlfriends can’t match… Nagisa does the household chores, while Yuuichi helped (or tried to) with her shoppings and by becoming a dependable elder brother.  Until a few years before, both even bathe together. Both learn and know intimate things about each other. And eventually, as the story goes, both realized… that both have fallen in love with each other.

This is where it hurts.

Both Yuuichi and Nagisa know that incest is forbidden. Both know that they can’t express their feelings for each other, let alone letting them loose. Yet, living in the same house and going to the same school, it is so hard to keep it under control… Why is it forbidden when it feels so wonderful? Why do they have to refrain from holding eachother when it feels so good being together?

Thus they live, day after day, night after night… trying to be the best for each other, but striving  hard to restrain their feelings not to show. But they are only human, and it is an H-Game after all… and thus I got to see the most tragic H-scenes I’ve ever seen… (can’t describe em here, minors might read this ^_^;)

KimiNozo, Air, and Kanon (watched the anime, but haven’t got time to properly play the game) might make me consider bringing a good tear-absorbent kerchief along… but for now, I will remember ASK as the first H-Game to make me cry.

One thing I dislike about living in an apartment is that I don’t get to know much about my neighbours - and vice-versa. Maybe because we spent most of the day at work and come home too tired to socialize, or maybe because we are all ignorant SoBs, but even after nearly four years I only know a few people in my floor - though when some of the neighbours don’t even bother to say hi or return my greetings, it sometimes seem to be a wonder that I have as many friends here as I do now in the first place.

Yesterday one of them, a young woman only three apartments away from my place, was found dead, beaten and possibly raped. The shocking news is… that she had been dead undiscovered for three days!

What little was left of my social consciousness is deeply disturbed. In a very closely spaced apartment, how could we neighbours didn’t hear or see (or smell!) anything at all while a woman was being beaten, raped, and killed next door? Why did we not wonder at all when she didn’t show up or go out to work for three days straight? Bloody hell until I read the news in the net I didn’t even know her name or see her face!

Granted she never introduced herself even to the local authorities (RT/RW chief and the apartment management), granted she never went out or speak with her neighbors, granted that until her death she maybe lived in her own little world, but still the fact that me and my neighborhood is ignorant enough to let a neighbor dead for three days undetected is very disturbing… and makes me wonder how long, if I’m suddenly dead, would it take for my neighbors to discover it

P.S: I pass in front of her place twice every day, when I go out to work and come home… the door and window are closed all the time. I only knew something was wrong when yesterday I came home and saw the door nailed shut and taped all over with police line