My day with Kawai... Totoro... and life

How often is it that we realize that what really matters in life isn't something that can be bought with money. And yet... it can be? Confused? Well, I'm talking of those instances when we lost ourselves as children in the frolics of Tom and Jerry, cheered Popeye when he gave Bluto a beating and laughed merrily when Charlie Chaplin tripped the bad guy non-chalantly! Those moments are stuff that cannot be bought no matter how much money you brandish. But one can get close! And if you're like me, you can get asymptotically close! You can get the DVDs or the Blue Rays of these cartoon series and atleast for a while, lose all inhibitions and become the child you once were.

I had the wonderful opportunity of doing just that a few days ago. I'd gone over to my cousin's place and she has the cutest and the naughtiest boy on the face of the planet! And he has one weakness - a weakness he shares with me! He loves watching "Tonari no Totoro". If this name means nothing to you and you were born in the eighties or later, I pity you... Your childhood has been depraved! But if you know what I'm alluding to, good for you!

I watched the DVD version of the movie and for the amount of time that it ran, everything was perfect with the world. I envy Satsuki and Mei from the movie! Their innocence is something that children these days seem to lose so fast! And Totoro... my darling Totoro! How I'd love to cuddle up to that huge mountain spirit and sleep like a baby!

And then there's the Catbus! That's hands down the best way to travel wherever one wants to go! And to think that Appa from Avatar was inspired by the Catbus! Excuse me while I have a moment of pride here! :P Seriously though, if we really did have something like the Catbus, wouldn't it be the AWESOMEST thing EVER?!!!!! Why can't it exist, god?! WHYYYYYYYYYY????!!!!!!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's Catbus!!!!

As expected from Hayao Miyazaki, Tonari no Totoro is such an enjoyable watch! The lessons one takes home from the movie are simple but to the heart. And in an age where fairy tales are misconstrued left right and center, one needs to go back to movies like these to remember what fairy tales were really like! This movie literally put Miyazaki into the spot light and he in turn shared that attention with the Japanese animation industry. And the rest... as they say... is history!

And speaking of Anime, I have another source of inspiration to share with you, my darling readers! If you've heard of Kenji Kawai and the kind of music he makes for Japanese animation series and films and numerous other movies and video games, you'll know what's coming up next! If not, don't worry... you don't know what's coming up next but you'll enjoy it none the less!

Kenji Kawai is the maestro who composed music for the Ghost in the Shell series and he infused traditional Japanese Shinto music to Western musical arrangements and the result is spellbinding! I find that the more I listen to his music, the more I am at peace with the world and the more I mourn for those around me... the more selfless I become!





Do give it a listen and you'll know what I mean!

Life's more or less like a see-saw right about now. But hope, I have! Bucketful of Hope! Do you want some? :D

I am Azu-nyan! :3

I was getting a little bogged up with the preparations for my Japanese test what with random Kanji popping up and me conjugating verbs in the middle of my dreams, I think I truly deserve a slight distraction! And so, just for the heck of it, I took the "Which character in K-On! are you?" quiz! I was secretly hoping I'd get Yui or Ritsu because I'm more like them! But... surprise! After answering all the questions honestly, I got..... *cue drumrolls*

I got Azu-nyan! :3

That was unexpected! But I guess it does make sense in a way... And I think she has the cutest name ever! Azu-nyaaaaaaaaaan! :3

So, do you guys watch K-On!? Who's your favorite character?

Lucky Star... My latest craze!

WARNING: A lot of Anime lingo ahead! Proceed with caution!

Aaaaaah... My first Model Exam for JLPT N5 is over and I did worse than I hoped for. And that means I need to put in more effort!

As for the sudden involvement in doing better at studies? Well, this is what a clean table and bookshelf can do to you!

Now, all my books are arranged neatly and can be accessed when I want to. It was quite something trying to find a particular book from the mess that was my table before! :) And I'm also watching Lucky Star. It's a slice of life anime series about an Otaku girl named Konata Izumi. I believe I've positively fallen in love with all the characters in it. Especially Tsukasa!

Tsukasa... kawaii Tsukasa!!!

I don't know... something about her seems so pure and well... adorable! I feel like hugging her whenever she's bullied and smiling when she does something clumsy. Ah, how I wish I had a sweet and lovable sister like her! I'd protect her from all the baddies of the world and be so happy when she smiles! (Kagami-san, I am beginning to understand you a lot better now!)
And the other characters are just as sweet! From the gaming geek "Kuroi-sensei" who secretly is worried about her single status to the Manga freak "Otou-san" of Konata! I absolutely love all of them! :) This is quite a change from the usual type of Anime and Manga that I read. Most of them have a lot of fighting or are equally random - like Gintama! But this anime, sure, it's random like Gintama but somehow it's not as risqué as Gintama is!

Well, I shall be writing a detailed review on the anime after I've completed watching it! So, wait a while longer for that folks! :)

Inuyasha....it's farewell, isn't it?

I saw the final episode of Inuyasha today... It was nice... Well... sort of... I guess I'm still recovering from the fact that it is actually over!

*sigh* What a weird world we live in and how much weirder are the ones who inhabit it! I'm actually depressed about a show being over! Sheesh! Right... Just so you know, I hope they make another movie out of it but then again, I guess it would be like spreading too little butter on too much bread. I should just let things be...

And speaking of letting things be, am I the only one who actually felt sorry for Naraku? Seriously... All the guy wanted was to be loved by Kikyo. Sure, any girl who's at the recieving end of his affection isn't exactly going to be in a "traditional" relationship of sorts! (Imagine your guy falling apart once a month and then pulling himself together... quite literally!) Poor dude... he just wanted something that simple and instead of just asking nicely, he decided "Kill Kill faster! Faster!" was the only way out!

Aaaaaaanyway, I'm really sad and in a funk that the show is finally over but hey! Maybe, I'll watch it again... The Internet is a wonderful place afterall! But still... It's not going to be the same knowing that it's all over. Rumiko Takahashi-sama! Please write some other story with the same characters! Maybe how Inu no Taisho met Izayoi... their love story... or.. or... Sesshomaru's love story... wait... that's not good! That would mean I can't fantasize! Ahem... Anyway, Please Takahashi-sama! Onegaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~i!!!

Alrighty, enough sadness and despair! As the wise often quoth,

So, onto further tales and good ones retold!

Yeah yeah yeah! Whoa Whoa Whoa! Yeah Yeah Yeah! Shinryakushaaaa!

For all those well meaning readers who're politely and silently on the verge of getting as far away from me as possible or possibly about to inflict untold miseries in the form of a baseball bat trajectory to my head, do hear me out!

It all started when I beheld the fourth ending theme of the Anime "Keroro Gunso". And without a doubt,

I'm smitten! The cute I've been humming this tune for a good two days now and had momentarily forgotten about in the excitement that is my new wallet! But not for long! This song is sure to get all of you either smacking your booty  under the guise of a dance step or smacking your forehead with exasperation.

My mother is on the verge of murdering me and burying my body for good measure, thanks to me going "SHINRYAKUSHA" on her every two minutes complete with the shaking hips! Ah.... I make the world such an eventful place!

Here's my current favorite from the Anime Keroro Gunso. (Yep! I'm watching a lot of Anime these days! I'm in heaven, I tell you! :D)

P.S. I find the frog wearing the Elvis costume with an afro to boot just plain awesome! Keroro Gunso rocks your socks off or what?! Wooooot!

P.P.S. According to the lastest polls, girls world over are actually voting for Sakata Gintoki from Gintama in the "who's the best Anime Bridegroom?" section! Well well well.... Of all the men out there, I didn't expect Gintoki to be on that list!! And they call me weird!

I'm finally finally finally.... getting ANIMAX!!!! KYAAAAAAAAA!!!!! :D

Are you the kind of person who gets the "oh-god-she's-at-it-again-like-a-ten-year-old!" stares on a regular basis? Are you the type to fall madly in love with an Anime character and go out professing your love for all to hear irrespective of there not being anyone who's listening? Are you the one cries when your favorite character dies or worse... finds a girlfriend? Well, that means you're an Otaku!

For those wondering why I'm rambling on about Anime and Otaku now,
And I, for one, am one! Wooot! :D
I'm really over the moon to let you all know that I have access to Animax once more! Yayayayayayayayayayay!

For those wondering what Animax is, were you living under a rock or something?! It's the only Anime oriented channel in the country and goes out to show how different Anime is from *pfft* cartoons! Exactly why there is an Animax apart from a Cartoon Network, people!

I remember a time when Animax was a free to air channel and suddenly, I felt like I actually belonged somewhere amidst all those characters and I didn't need to be someone else as my other 'real' friends expected me to be, most of the time. And then, Fate dealt me the "Hand of Death" and Animax went bye bye into the land of paid channels. And suddenly, I was left with nothing but mindless soap operas and silly reality shows! To make things worse, I didn't have anyone around who appreciated my need for Anime and everybody I turned to tended to laugh at me and tell me to grow up. (In spite of my constant reminder that Anime was NOT a Cartoon!!)

But today, I finally saw some of the old shows I'd watched years ago and suddenly, it was like being home... Sure, there were minor changes here and there.... but still.... the love is still there... the characters have not changed. Ah... to see Inuyasha battle it out with Naraku over the final shard of the Shikon no Tama, stuck to Housenki's body... Ah... to see Sesshoumaru fight for his brother even though he claims not to give a damn! Ah, Bliss!!!

Now if they only decide to air Gintama, I'll definitely die of Happiness! Hey, folks at Animax.... are you listening? Hmmmmm? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

P.S. Excuse the raccoon nose digging pun... and if you didn't get it, I guess you haven't watched Gintama yet! Go watch it NOW!!!

P.P.S. On second thought, Ali the Raccoon looks more like a fox! -__-;;;

P.P.P.S. I'm going to shut up now! :D

Mr.Raindrop... playing around in my head!

I seriously think I have transcended the border that separates the surreal from the mundane! Yes... I've become psychic people! I was just browsing through Gintama media on the web when I see the Elizabeth rain-dance. And if you don't know what that means, it's part of the ending theme of the anime Gintama, which in my humble opinion is one of the best there is! Sorachi-sensei, you rock! =D
And so, I was wondering how nice it would be to listen to that ending theme. You will not believe it, the very next song in my iPod happens to be "Mr.Raindrop" by Amplified! And that's exactly the song that was featured in that particular ending! And is so addictive! Now, I can't get that song off my head!! =3

Amazing, ain't it? I know it's kinda lame.... ^__^;; but the otaku out there should be rejoicing with me right about now! =D

P.S. The picture was taken from here -
>>Clickity Clickity<<

P.P.S. Did I mention I LOVE Gintama? ;)

Twin Spica

Ah... to actually get back to something that's been a part of one's pleasant past memories!! And this time, I want to mention one such memory of mine.

I recently managed to get hold of the Manga version of a Japanese Anime that I adored that goes by the name Twin Spica.

It's a heart warming story of a little girl Azumi Kamogawa whose desire is to go to space as an astronaut and the trials and triumphs she faces and achieves along her way towards the dream. The story is interlaced with numerous other characters that lend such a lovable sheen to the series! Especially, Lion-san...

I must say, I cried the first time I saw the episode that dealt with the past of Lion-san. It was so sad yet... there was a distinct tinge of hope that shimmered through all the bereavement associated with it! And for some reason, I'm very proud of myself for being capable of feeling these myriad emotions when I see that episode!

I'll tell everyone reading this blog to give that manga or anime (or preferably both! =D) a chance. It's not exactly the 'boy and girl falling into love' kind of story. It's different... unique... bittersweet.... full of hope... and so many other things that I wish I could express as words!

Though the anime can get a little draggy in the middle, I'll advice you to stick to the end. You will NOT regret it!

So, while I drown myself in this series and cry a river thinking of time gone by and the flowers that have wilted, make sure to get yourself a copy of this Manga or Anime as soon as you can!