Onaga Maki is leaving HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR!?
It was days ago when I've heard (read) about this news but I only got time to blog about this today. Thanks to anemone-san, who gave the news and translation. According to Maki's blog, she will leave the band about a year from now because of she's planning to marry and have a family. And she's now married to Nakamura Masato of Dreams Come True. (Note: He is 50 years of age.) Maki will be with HaMC for about a year and will leave by the end of 2008, after completion of HaMC's fifth album; hopefully an album.
Okay. Of course, I was disheartened. I've been a HaMC fan for about three years, since the Gou On Progressive (STYLE, Ichirin no Hana) days. Moreover, I'm a such huge Maki-fanboy. I know it can't be helped that sooner or later, Maki will get married. But the timing is pretty bad. (at least for me.) I mean, they just recently released a superb single and then boom! I even created recently a DA club for Haikara fans. T_T Come on! Maki-chama, is it really your honest decision to marry the old dude? I'm not being rude to the guy, but oh.. X_X I hope Maki-chama's really happy now. =D
To be honest, I'm feeling that HaMC is about to get disbanded soon. Despite they're good debut and insane sophomore album, HaMC didn't quite receive a good mainstream treatment on the third and fourth album. (Although fans still love their work up until now.) So after a year, will HaMC still live without it's (seriously) light? The rest of the band said that they will not disband though. And they won't add a new member yet. So yeah, it's Anti-Nobunaga time again! Yusuke, Mackaz, MEG, Kazuto, SASSY, do your best!
I remember the last time I got sad about a band breakup, it was Do As Infinity's. They disbanded the time when I was starting to like them more. (But Van Tomiko's still around though.) And now for Haikara.. This is too much... T_T I'll still give my sincerest support for HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR in the future!



Mood: Sad
Listening to: HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR - HOT LIMIT
Reading: Lecture notes in STS 1
Watching: Random lives on Youtube
Playing: Diablo 2
Eating: Food
Drinking: Liquid

Here it is! Haikara's 13th(!) single. HOT LIMIT is still addicting! The B-sides Kira Kira Summer and MIRROR are only average, though.

EDIT: I take that back. MIRROR is not average, it's amazing too!

HOT LIMIT is a cover of T.M.Revolution's song. Again, I didn't include here the HOT LIMIT less vocal track (for some reason.)

EDIT: Added HOT LIMIT -Instrumetal-

*going senti before going to school* Very heartwarming. I like my love songs to be like this, melodic vocally with a tiny bit of rock in it. I always am amazed on how most Japanese can write songs this poetic and touching.

Okay, enough cheese. The title means "Madder Red-Colored Promise." The single was released on late 2007, and the song is included on Ikimono-gakari's second album, LIFE ALBUM. (sounds redundant. xD)

Visit: http://www.ikimonogakari.com/

Just discovered this band recently. Holy ~! The guitars are insane! I think they're a new band, so they have a long way to go. But for now, this song is just awesome!

Visit: http://9mm.jp/

"Aoi aoi ano sora..."

Finally! Been waiting for this vid for months. Even though I truly resent Naruto Shippuuden fillers, I still love this song as Shippuden's opening theme. I truly love this song!

The band's in a huge bird cage (or so I think), and Kiyoe's looking really good.

Visit: http://ikimonogakari.com/

Brand new PV from チャットモンチー. The video is pretty much like their live performances: jawsome! Visit http://www.chatmonchy.com/

Bright colors on this vid. Probably because it's a summer song?! Whatever. xP YUI-licious song anyway. Visit http://www.yui-net.com/

{WARNING: A bit long of a blog entry}

I always strive to make my summer vacation fulfilling. And this year's summer vacation? It's full of obvious contradictions. Meaningful and pointless. Profound and shallow. Pleasing and disappointing. Exciting and boring. Happy and sad. Dead and alive. Day and night. Okay, whatever that means. But seriously, I used to take summer classes and made my vacations useful. And because of my utter naivety, I decided not to take my practicum this summer and to focus on other non-academical things, that I thought would make me a better human being. Yeah, I'm always a boring person, so I spend my life at home, on computer shops to play LAN games, and sometimes at friends' houses. And this summer's pretty much the same, but a slight variation. What variation? Here's my attempt to summarize my summer vacation. My stupid self, here's the rundown...


The Artist in the Making?!
Not a film actor. An artist, traditional or digital artist. Someone who draws something using some medium and a good volume of imagination. I told myself that I would try to improve skills in drawing, coloring and stuff. I don't want to be "professional-good", but quite good would be enough. But then, enemy arrives...again. The name is LAZINESS. But then I tried to conquer it. I ended up doing some fanarts, and studying some art style and technical skill. I didn't put what I've learned in my efforts though. Everything's always half-assed, always, always half-assed, just like these ones:Especially the last one, which due last June 7, I didn't finished it (the rendering is incomplete) because of indefinite hiatuses, and the abrupt change of mood each time I continue my work. So, the art didn't make it to the contest. I'll still finish it though, for the sake of wasted time and effort.

I remember my sempai's advice, that in the professional art world, there is no such thing as "I'll draw when I feel like drawing. Circumstances won't permit you to rest. So draw, and draw." But I don't strive to be a professional artist, but only to inherit professional artists' traits in work. I think it has something to do with motivation, or the lack thereof. Motivation? What/who could motivate Kej? Who knows?


The Coach Potato Evolved into a PC Bum
I lost interest on watching TV. I only watch very few shows nowadays. I even reduced my daily anime intake. But then, I became too sticked on the PC instead. Reading manga like there's no tomorrow, browsing weird to nonsense websites, invading forums, playing online and emulation games, etc. Yeah, I do this before, but this vacation, I spent roughly 85% of my time on front of the PC. Eye cramps? Butt osteoporosis? Yes, I have those!
Besides Superkids and WCG /WEG on Arirang, Noctural Emissions on MAXXX, random shows on NHK and Nat Geo, I watch Witch Yoo Hee on TV. So don't worry! I'm still on the borderline of abnormal(geek) and extremely abnormal(geek).


Moar Manga
Though not as much as Shalnark-sama, I manage to read more manga titles this vacation. Oh, is it any good? Somehow. My otaku-ish Spidey sense tells me it's alright to read lots of manga on vacation, so I can catch up with the latest and match up with those know-it-all suckers! Ah...

...besides the ongoing titles that I already caught up with the latest scanlations...

(Naruto, Bleach, D.Gray-man,.. blah blah blah);

...I read some completed works...

(BLAME!,  Battle Royale, Chobits, some one-shots and doujins);

...caught up with the latest scanlations of other titles

(Soul Eater, Hunter x Hunter, Hajime no Ippo, Nabari no Ou, Deadman Wonderland, Xblade, Nodame Cantabile, Liar Game, Doubt);

...and started reading some others.

(Air Gear, Angel Densetsu, Gintama, Kekkaishi, Mysterious Girlfriend X.)

Reading these titles implies, eye cramps. I almost died.Everyone can learn something by reading these. Me? I've learned a lot: that a messy room doesn't mean you're useless, but maybe eccentric (Nodame); lying can save your life (Liar Game, Doubt); and the only way to get to the Netsphere without breaching the seemingly impossible program of the Safeguards is to find a human with the Net Terminal genes and use him/her to access the Netsphere (BLAME!). See, I've learned a lot. And that's the good point. And another, because I read too much, I wouldn't be reading much when classes start. Just like the wise ant or a good congressman.


The Magnificent World of Cosplay!
I've already talked much about this. Ozine Fest 08 and Mangaholix 08 are such a blast! It's quite fulfilling. Cosplay. Not a cheap and easy hobby. But real fun. You can even get to meet friends. Some can be as weird as you. Some can be as evil as you. And some can be so damn cute that you can't resist temptation and you'll eventually lost to oblivion. (And no, I don't think like this.)


Body, Mind, Heart and Soul
One of my goals this vacation is to gain weight. But damn, it's quite hard to when you always lack sleep and the summer sun's heat drains your energy. No exercise too. My mindset was okay, though it seems I sometimes space out or seem to hallucinate. Kinda freaky, but it's true. Hope my concentration gets back when classes start. Need a healthy body and mind to beat the semester stress. And I'm even planning to be a student assistant again, so more load! Haha, I'll go kill my self real slow.
*wrist-cutting EMO mode ON*
The heart. Kinda sensitive. I never felt really confused about my feelings before. It seems that the fortified lock that I use to keep these uncontrollable feelings is not enough to stop this impending burst of emotions. I dunno. I never experienced what people call 'love', but somehow, irrational thoughts flood my submissive self. You. When time comes that the lock can no longer withstand this chaos, I will pave way and do my best so that each fragments of this feeling will reach your heart.
*wrist-cutting EMO mode OFF*

I didn't get to any beaches (that sounds dirty) this vacation. I was invited by some relative once, but I refused, because I found those kind of outings, boring. Glad I attended two  (probably will be three) conventions this vacation. The smell of sweat, foam rubber, and spray paint is so much better for feeding my soul than fresh breeze from the mountains or lively gust from the beach.


Human Relations Department
Status quo. On family. Nothing's really changed. Indifference remains. Though we're still one big happy family. Most especially when Baby Rianne was born! New life means new hope to me. She brought vitality to us.
Dynamic. On friends. Met new friends. Talk to them mostly online though. (And some of them who calls me UKE, stop it for God's sake!) But em losing contacts to old ones. Some are really mad at me. (I met one personally, and she almost punched me for not having a cellphone.) Now come to think of it, I think I'm going to break my "No Cellphone Legacy" already. It's been almost a year since the lost of my cellphone, and now I'm deciding to have a new one. And Kej is no picky on cellphones. I can even have a 3310 for a reasonable price. (P200 lol)

Lost. On special persons. Refer to wrist cutting EMO mode above.


Money Matters and Miscellaneous and my Messed-Up Mind are Random

Yeah, no money sucks. No summer job sucks. Being rejected for three times for summer job sucks. People responsible for Kej being rejected on the applications for three times sucks. No money sucks!!!!

I lost some of my favorite t-shirts. I can't find them. Now I will be doomed when classes starts! Why? HINT: UP Los Banos doesn't require uniform.

J-music floods my vacation soul trip. Em introduced to more bands. (e.g. Onmyouza, Aqua Timez, Chatmonchy) See, I also planned to learn to play any instruments during summer, but seriously, I don't have the patience and the talent maybe. So I just stick to my passion: listening and appreciating music. That's why I tried to expand my love for modern music. More J-music and OPM. It seems like the OPM scene is not doing well these days though. (Urbandub is the only strong remaining force in the mainstream.)

Though I'd love to make this my diary, this blog's getting really long and incoherent, so I'd cut it here. No one would even want to read this. So there. Kej's waiting for a better tomorrow...

Mood: Bittersweet
Listening to: Seimeiryoku album by Chatmonchy
Reading: Doubt manga
Watching: Witch Yoo Hee
Playing: GBA Emulator again XP
Eating: Dreams
Drinking: Brain juice

Chatmonchy performs three great songs at Rock in Japan Fest 07. I'm starting to love them more and more! I wonder how many girl fronted bands I listen to right now. (HnMC, Onmyouza, Ikimonogakari, the brilliant green, D.A.I., Jinn, Zone, blah blah blah....)

The crowd here freakin' rocks! Head-banging like there's no tomorrow!! MTH Live! on ROCK IN JAPAN FES 2007. They performed in this vid two of the best songs from Buiikikaesu album.

Why post this live? Because there's no other band like Onmyouza. And you need to see them live.

Long song is LOOONG! And oh, Kuroneko-sama is GOD! (I mean, GODDESS!)

Oh, it's D-Gray Man 4th opening song. Em not watching recent DGM episodes, but I've heard of the newest OP, and from UVERworld, and I think the song is great! The video is, okay.

Haikara!! New PV!! Haikara!! New PV!! Maakii-chama made me fall in love with her again for the nth time! Anyway, HOT LIMIT is T.M.Revolution's original. The song quite has the same feel of the original, and even got the same star platform on the original. (Oh, TMR's here in the PV, too.) And yeah, Yuusuke's line here is like 10 lines or something...

*Still mesmerized by Maakii-chama's cute, goofy dancing..*

For some reason, I can't download the .avi format of the video, so I uploaded the .flv file instead. Please bear with me.

I lol'd hard the moment I saw this PV. I didn't expect the setting; very much different from the anime (Code Geass R2) counterpart. Anyway, it still one of the best Orange Range song for me.

Start:	Jun 25, '08
Location:	Japan =P

NEW SINGLE 「HOT LIMIT」
OUT 2008年06月25日

CD+DVD Limited Edition ￥1,500 (tax in)
Regular Edition ￥1,223 (tax in)

CD Tracklist:
01. HOT LIMIT
02. キラキラSummer {kira kira} [Sparkling Summer]
03. ミラー {mira-} [Mirror]
04. HOT LIMIT-Instrumental-

DVD:
HOT LIMIT PV

HOT LIMIT is a cover originally by T.M.Revolution.
Details also say that T.M.Revolution will have a guest appearance in the PV.
The star platform used in the original PV will also be included in Haikara's version.

Note: Many thanks to anemone-san for the info! =D

Oh, I just can't get enough of Onmyouza. (Already downloading their full discography) Wish I new them earlier...

I'm so into Omnyouza right now!! They look and sound so, uh, Japanese! I've heard a number of their songs and every single one is just so good. But I decided to upload this one because this may seem familiar to most because it's a theme song from the anime Basilisk. And yeah, Kureneko-sama, the female vocalist, is just awesome. She sings like she's taking you to both hell and heaven. =D

A horde of Japanese high school girls charging towards you; kinda freaky and cool at the same time, doncha think? Anyway, Aqua Timez with all this pop-rock-rnb-techno-whatever music is always amazing! And the best part is always the lyrics; so poetic but realistic and dreamy.

And oh, Niji is a theme song for the upcoming drama Gokusen 3, which I would like to see soon! =D

YUI's 3rd album!! T'was realeased some time this month of April. I really love the overall feel of the album. Laugh Away is still my favorite, but I'm starting to like each of the other songs now. Love her rock vibe in this album.