Say Nya-llo to Azusa ; K-ON! episode 9

I know that everyone is posting the same thing these days, but I just want to do it no matter what. So, welcome to keionbu, Azusa! I hope you will find other members nice and kind, and enjoy your everyday-leisure-eatingpractice in the club room.

What do we know about Azusa?

She is a freshman at Sakurakou.
Her full name is Nakano Azusa (中野 梓)
She's been playing the guitar since she was fourth grader. Even so, she proclaims herself a novice guitarist.
Her parents are members of a jazz band.
She was strongly disappointed by the stride in keionbu.

Despite this fact, she finds some pleasure in eating cakes and drinking tea.

Her guitar is Fender Mustang.

She is capable of expressing her disapproval in a very clear and vigorous way.

Her nickname is Azu-nyan, even though she might not agree with it.

I'm glad they added her at least to the opening video.

Although this is Azusa welcoming post, I couldn't leave this scene aside. You understand my reasons, don't you? Neko-mimi Mio is a perfect combination, and the fact she put it on her head deliberately signifies that she is in the state of personality change and her dere-dere part is gradually coming to light.

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zts - Doujin Music Composer

A week ago, when I was playing/reading the first episode of Umineko no Naku Koro ni visual novel, the background music had a really strong impact on me. Sometimes it scared the hell out of me and gave me the creeps. Each song fitted well in the actual scene and they were the main reason why I was scared so much. Though, it was even multiplied by the fact that I played it at night in pitch black room. But if it wasn't for the music, nobody would get scared by reading it I guess. The text alone is not enough to make one feel anxious.

After I finished the game, I downloaded the background music. I could have copied it from the game folder into my music folder, I like to have all my music in one place, but I would have to rename all the files and insert ID3 tags. Furthermore, all the tracks were in .ogg so I would have to convert them into .mp3 or .aac so that I could add them to my iPod. Therefore, it was much easier to download them from some site.

There weren't any songs I didn't like, but there were some songs I really loved. What they had in common was that most of them had written "zts" in artist line. I really liked those compositions so I decided to look for some details about that zts. After wandering through some sites that were found by Google, I found a link that led me here, to zts' homepage.

Zts is a person who leads a doujin circle called CODE ZTS LABEL. Although I said "leads", zts is the only one in that circle, but sometimes cooperates with some guests. He has released over 15 albums that contain his own works and also remixes of musical pieces from various games, for example Kanon or Clannad. In addition to his own albums, he composed music for Ryuukishi07's visual novels, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai and Umineko no Naku Koro ni, which is obvious from what I've said above. His musical pieces are usually trance, but he is capable of making almost anything, heartwarming music, creepy music, easing music and some of his compositions are very hard to describe with a single adjective. My favorites are probably his eerie tunes, such as 'stupefaction' or 'witch in gold'.

The best way to introduce you to zts' music is to let you listen to some of his compositions, so try listening to some that I have put here.

The four links are songs from Umineko.

stupefaction

play

witch in gold(cembalo)

Worldend dominator

And now something from his other works. Following videos are his remixes of songs from some games.

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Hatsune Miku Project DIVA New PV

July 2, release date of Hatsune Miku Project DIVA PSP game is closing and a new promotional video has been streamed to please people who can't wait for the game to be in their hands. This time, it is a 3 minute long video that consists of the game's opening and some gameplay shots. It also tells how to control some things, what is available, and what can one do.

The woman who speaks in this video is actually Fujita Saki, Miku's seiyuu.

It really is a shame that I don't have PSP. If I knew two years ago that such a tempting game would be released, I would probably think again if I really should buy NDS.

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Wakamoto Norio Madness

Wakamoto Norio (若本 規夫), most of you surely know him, but if you don't I will briefly tell you who he is. One word is enough for me to perform this task. GOD! He's a god of seiyuus. So know when you know who he is you might wonder what roles he has voiced. Again, one word will be sufficient to describe those characters. COOL! At least all the characters I've seen voiced by him were like that.

My favorite role of his is undoubtedly Ten no Koe (Voice of Heaven) from Hayate no Gotoku. It can't be put into words how cool he is in this role.

Other of his roles that deserve to be mentioned are Chiyo's dad in Azumanga Daiou, Charles di Britannia in Code Geass, Gntarl in Munto, or Hiromichi Mito in Tayutama. His distinctive point is his extraordinarily strong pronunciation of "r" which is very unusual for Japanese, because they usually pronounce "r" as a consonant somewhere between "r" (Spanish or German or Slavonic one) and "l".

And now for crazy videos I've found, which are the reason I write this post. Wakamoto seems to enjoy singing various popular anime songs and his way of doing it is quite, well, original. At any rate, it's awesome.

Lucky Star OP. I went OMG when I heard that. I dare say you will experience the same sensation XD

Evangelion OP. Nigecha dame~

Wakamoto singing Oh my Darling Clementine.

More craziness.

Call of Duty by Wakamoto Norio.

More and more.

We didn't end yet.

If you liked it, you can try to look for more videos and various compilations of Wakamoto's voice either on YouTube, or at Nico Nico Douga. There's definitely more of them at NND but make sure you type 若本 規夫 in the search bar, or else you may not find anything, or just few of them.

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Spice and Wolf's Horo Hand Puppet

ANIMATE has announced new Spice and Wolf merchandise to be released, Horo hand puppet. It is to come to shops in August, more accurately August 6 according to ANIMATE's sites, but I wouldn't dare say that the exact day couldn't change. Its proportions are 36cm x 18cm, so it is quite big. Your hands will get swallowed up by it. She also wears her tail, without which it wouldn't be complete, would it? Judging from the pictures, it will probably be possible to change her expression, more precisely her eyes.

Even though Lawrence's puppet has been made too, as we may see in the pictures, it is not planned to be mass-produced and sold in shops.

The retail price of Horo's puppet has been set at 3,990 yen.

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Hatsune Miku - What's Wrong With Being Naked?

Influence of Kusanagi Tsuyoshi and his incident (草彅 剛) is very large and even one composer of Miku's songs used it as a theme for his song. The title is "What's Bad About Being Naked?" (裸だったら何が悪い?), exactly the same line that Kusanagi was saying when being arrested. It is a really nice idea, I said to myself at first, but having said that, I didn't expect it to be any good. However, contrary to my expectation, it turned out to be very well done, both skillwise and ideawise. Judge it yourself.

This song definitely needs translation, doesn't it? It's actually the whole point. Well, I will do my best to translate it now.

葉っぱ1枚なくたって
Without having a single leaf
この身ひとつあればいい
Just having a body is good enough
生まれたままの姿で
Standing here as I was born
胸をはっていればいい
I should stand up proudly
sing go、 sing go
裸だったら何が悪い
What's wrong with being naked?
自分の殻を脱ぎ去って
Reveal one's own husk and throw away the clothes
裸だったら何が悪い
What's wrong with being naked?
声を上げて歌おう
Let's raise our voices and sing
sing go 、 sing go
服を着て、自分隠し
Wearing clothes, hiding myself
人と同じように生きる
Living in that way like other people
それよりもオンリーワンを目指し
Rather than that I want to become the only one
裸になればいい
So I should get naked
裸だったら何が悪い
What's wrong with being naked?
自分の殻を脱ぎ去って
Reveal one's own husk and throw away the clothes
裸だったら何が悪い
What's wrong with being naked?
服なんて飾りだ
Such things as clothes are only for decoration
裸だったら何が悪い
What's wrong with being naked?
お前も裸になればいい
You should get naked too
裸だったら何が悪い
What's wrong with being naked?
声を上げて歌おう
Let's raise our voices and sing
sing go 、sing go 、sing go 、sing go

If you would like to save the above picture of Miku, but without Tsuyoshi's face, here you shall go.

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Hayate no Gotoku!! OP Song - ELISA - Wonder Wind

Wonder Wind, opening song for Hayate no Gotoku!! sung by ELISA, was finally released as a single today (May 20). If you want to buy it, you can find it for example at Amazon Japan.

It is a nice song and I like it very much since the first episode of second season of Hayate. Well, it's hard to describe what exactly I like about that song, so if you haven't heard it yet, you can listen to it now by watching the opening video below and make your own opinion on it.

Now, something about ELISA. She was born in Kanagawa on April 14, 1989, which means she is 20 now. So she officialy became an adult according to Japanese law not earlier than a month ago. She played piano since she was 3 years old, and later she participated in national choir competition and joined an opera. In year 2007, she applied for model audition called "elite Model Look 2007" and now she belongs to an elite model management in Japan.

Her debut single was "euphoric field", opening song for anime ef - a tale of memories, which reached the 22nd place in Oricon chart and it sold over 30,000 copies. It was a great achievement for her since it is not typical of debut singles to sell so well. In May 2008, she released her second single, HIKARI, an opening for Nabari no Ou. Late in 2008, ebullient future, opening for ef - a tale of melodies, was released, and in the beginning of this year ELISA released her first album, White Pulsation.

Here is the full song.

Lyrics:

Wonder Wind
追い風を　追いかけて
果てしなく
過去から未来まで
キミを守る！

Life
コラボレーション
キミとボクは
メビウスのコンビネーション
Love
運命事情↓複雑→心拍数上昇↑

失うことが怖いんじゃなくて
あきらめたりしたくないそれだけ
キミとの約束があるから

Fantastic!
悠久で見たような　めぐり逢い
神のミステイク？！
Wonder Wind
向かい風　向かってく
新しいStageを目指して
キミと行こう！

Chance
プライスレス
可能性は
未知数のエンドレス
Change
人生模様×色々△予想外な展開〇

つまづかずに　生きてくことよりも
転んだって立ち上がってく勇気
心の強さに変えてゆく

Never Mind!
奇跡さえありふれたStory
天使のアドリブ？！
Wonder Wind
つむじ風　紡ぐたび
開かれるDoorのムコウにある
夢の中へ！

ひとつひとつ輝きが繋がり
夜空照らす　星座たちみたいな
きらめく笑顔を信じてる

Fantastic!
悠久で見たような　めぐり逢い
神のミステイク？！
Wonder Wind
向かい風　向かってく
新しいStageを目指して
キミと行こう！

---

Wonder Wind
Oikaze o Oikakete
Hateshinaku
Kako kara mirai made
Kimi o mamoru

Life
KORABOREESHON
Kimi to boku wa
MEBIUSU no KONBINEESHON
Love
Unmei jijou fukuzatsu shinpakusuu joushou

Ushinau koto ga kowai n ja nakute
Akirametari shitakunai sore dake
Kimi to no yakusoku ga aru kara

Fantastic
Yuukyuu de mita you na Meguriai
Kami no MISUTEIKU
Wonder Wind
Mukaikaze Mukatteku
Atarashii Stage o mezashite
Kimi to yukou

Chance
PURAISURESU
Kanousei wa
Michisuu no ENDORESU
Change
Jinsei moyou iro iro yosougai na tenkai

Tsumadzukazu ni Ikiteku koto yori mo
Korondatte tachiagatteku yuuki
Kokoro no tsuyosa ni kaeteyuku

Never Mind
Kiseki sae arifureta Story
Tenshi no ADORIBU
Wonder Wind
Tsumuji kaze Tsumugutabi
Hirakareru Door no mukou ni aru
Yume no naka e

Hitotsu hitotsu kagayaki ga tsunagari
Yozora terasu Seizatachi mitai na
Kirameku egao o shinjiteru

Fantastic
Yuukyuu de mita you na Meguriai
Kami no MISUTEIKU
Wonder Wind
Mukaikaze Mukatteku
Atarashii Stage o mezashite
Kimi to yukou!

The other song on that single is Rinrin to, and of course, instrumental versions of both songs are included.

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New Episode of Suzumiya Haruhi? For Real?...

I'm sure you've already read it somewhere. The 8th episode of Haruhi's re-run is entitled Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, which is different from the original 8th episode of Haruhi that would follow now, if everything was left untouched. TV Wakayama had this title in their program schedule, but then they were asked to remove it. Did Kadokawa wanted it to be a surprise? Maybe. But why removing it when it had been already leaked? I can't help feeling something fishy about it. It's really hard to believe anything concerning new Haruhi episodes at this stage. You remember that Nice Boat trailer, don't you? Since then, I think that no regular new episodes of Haruhi will make their way to TV screens. Even now, I'm very sceptic. New episode title doesn't mean anything yet, because they could have just changed the title of the old episode to confuse people and create false hopes, couldn't they? I wouldn't be surprised at all. On contrary, I would be quite surprised if a new episode really was aired.

I don't want to say anything as if I was sure of it, but I just won't believe anything until I see it with my own eyes. I don't want to be tricked by Kadokawa yet again.

Update:

So they really made new episodes. Great! They seem quite good so far.

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Anime and Japan (De)Motivational Posters

You probably know what are those (de)motivational posters, and I guess you have seen at least some of them. Still, I thought I could post here those I really liked and had them on my harddisc. There are some real (de)motivational treasures among them.

I wonder if there is any other purpose in those pictures than make people smile.

Censorship in SZS. The creators were very resourceful, because this kind of censorship is not something anybody would come up with. When I was watching Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, I was quite surprised when some heads of an unknown man appeared where secret parts, alternatively steam or sunshine, should have been seen.

Agreed XD

These poor childs will never get married... I feel really sorry for them.

Pipirupirupiru.. eghm.

Who wouldn't want to be stalked, right?

Storage rooms are ideal places for training. And some people say there's no point in going to school. School is place where you polish your skills before heading to the real battlefield. Tomoya didn't practice in the end, so his life almost got screwed up.

No comment ^^

Yes, Rena likes strawberry jam, but it must be fresh.

When you think you have seen everything you could and nothing can surprise you anymore, go to Japan.

Thou shalt not go any farther, Nunnally!

Yeah, if you think your life sucks, then go watch Elfen Lied.

There's something positive in every negative.

I wonder if this is possible of happening in Japan.

Danny is in motivational picture! Cool!

Boy: "Mom, it's a tunnel, right?"
Mom: "What makes you think so?"
Boy: "You know, I see a black hole up there."
Mom: ... *epic fail*

Is this what they call "to die in a happy moment"?

*waiting in the queue for audition for being the next patty*

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna enjoy both parts of the bun ^^

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Nendoroid Shana Figure Review

Finally after getting my hand on Shana Nendoroid I did a quick photoshoot. She is really awesome and I love her face expressions.

Regular price: 3333 Yen
Approximate height: 10cm
Release Date: November 2008

She comes with 6 interchangeable hands and 3 faces in total. Apart from that, she has her sword, Nietono no Shana, and her talking and thinking pendant, Alastor.

She has an adorable ahoge. I wish I could hang her somewhere on it ^^

Awesome detail has been put into her eyes. No slurs, no blurs. As expected of Good Smile Company.

Shana looks nice in artificial light. I used a lamp with yellowish or orangish (warm) bulb and it matched her colors perfectly. It adds a little to her flamy appearance.

Some minor flaws on her hair, but it practically can't be seen by mere eye. You always notice more when you look at the close-up photos.

Angry Shana looks lovely, too.

Alastor is sticking out a lot unless you bend its chain. Fortunately, it's made of some kind of metal, I guess, that bends pretty easily, so you can alter the shape of it to not stick out too much.

Angry face detail.

Sword is made of some plastic.

The design of seifuku in Shakugan no Shana is quite interesing, don't you think? It's quite plain, but still it really looks stunning.

This face is probably my favorite.

Is she mad? I guess she's missing her meronpan.

"Prepare yourself!"

Nendoroid Shana is truly fantastic. I like her very, veeery much. It's one of the best nendoroids, if not the best one. Frankly, I consider her the best and cutest nendoroid up to now, and I'm glad I decided to get her. She's pointing her sword at me right now, but I don't feel scared at all. More to the contrary, it brings forward a smile on my face.

What sucks is that something happened with my camera and I couldn't take any more photos. It can barely focus and makes everything blurry now. I claimed it yesterday but they said they would have to send it to the manufacturer. I wonder what they will say. Hope they will repair it or replace it for me. But I'm not so positive of that happening. Anyways, I'll have to postpone the next photoshoot of Teana by Alter, which should be mine by the end of next week. I bought her in the HLJ's Anniversary Sale for 4760 yen. Great bargain!

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