From The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya {Anime Insert Song}

Thoughts: It's tough to get any better than the sound and lyrics of this song, from an equally amazing and unimaginably unique anime series. I suggest anyone who has not seen at least an episode of Haruhi Suzumiya to go now and watch the first episode. The sheer amount of inverted cliches and the very essence of the storyline, not even taking the top-notch comedy into consideration, makes the show very well worth it. Oh, and it has some great romance, too. | MP3

( Rough Translation )

( Japanese Original Lyrics )

Anime (Haruhi Suzumiya) Insert Clip

~Alexius

Click To View the Mosaic

Also check out my new About Me page on my Wordpress blog, too. Finally managed to put something of interest up for anyone who cares. [Laugh]

Oh, and for an amazing piece of orchestra, check out this song from Code Geass R2 (the second season of Code Geass).

~Alexius

Forever...
savage genius
From Erementar Gerad {Anime OP}

Thoughts: A really great-sounding Japanese song with lyrics that astound me in their potency. | MP3

( Rough Translation )

LyricWiki Japanese, Romanized, English Translation Lyrics
Anime (Elemental Gelade) OP

~Alexius

So, I brushed through four anime series since I last posted up my information and thoughts on Darker Than Black, three of which have their covers displayed so nicely above. These four anime series are: Tsukihime, Lunar Legend, Eureka seveN, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, the last of which I dropped after approximately 30 episodes.

My thoughts are as follows:

( Tsukihime )

( Eureka seveN )

( Gundam SEED / Gundam SEED Destiny )

So, that's about it. MAL is down, so I'm struggling to do some other stuff, ergo this post. Until next time.

LJ Edit: Some OP links.

OP 1 of Eureka seveN [Days]
OP 1 of Gundam SEED [INVOKE]

~Alexius

Darker Than BLACK
Watched [Shinsen-Subs]/[Syndicate] Fansubs
~25 Episodes (~20 mins. each) + 1 OVA (Side Story)

( Thoughts )

( Links )

~Alexius

End Title/The Best Is Yet to Come
Aoife Ní Fhearraigh
From Metal Gear Solid {End Credits}

Thoughts: I've always loved the Irish Gaelic language. I love the way it flows, and just how poetic it sounds. This song is a perfect example of its poetic nature. | MP3

Gaelic Lyrics:

( Gaelic Lyrics )

English Translation:

( English Translation )

This song was originally written in Japanese, and then translated to Gaelic and sang for the game MGS.

~Alexius

( Thoughts on movie [Spoilers] )

22-07-08: Can't wait. I'm going to the first showing at 12:40 pm!

Edit: It appears that I'll have to unfortunately wait for Monday now. Oh, well. ^^ Can't wait.

~Alexius

( Summaries )

( Reviews )

~Alexius

Enchantment
Orson Scott Card

...in Enchantment, Card works his magic as never before, transforming the timeless story of Sleeping Beauty into an original fantasy brimming with romance and adventure.

The moment Ivan stumbled upon a clearing in the dense Carpathian forest, his life was forever changed. Atop a pedestal encircled by fallen leaves, the beautiful princess Katerina lay as still as death. But beneath the foliage a malevolent presence stirred and sent the ten-year-old Ivan scrambling for the safety of Cousin Marek's farm.

Now, years later, Ivan is an American graduate student. Yet he cannot forget that long-ago day in the forest — or convince himself it was merely a frightened boy's fantasy. Compelled to return to his native land, Ivan finds the clearing just as he left it.

This time he does not run.

This time he awakens the beauty with a kiss . . . and steps into a world that vanished a thousand years ago.

A rich tapestry of clashing worlds and cultures, Enchantment is a powerfully original novel of a love and destiny that transcend centuries . . . and the dark force that stalks them across the ages. -Hatrack

( My Praise )

( Quotes & Online Text )

~Alexius

Blood+ (50 Episodes, ~20 Minutes Each)
Watched the [Shinsen-Subs] fansub.

Throughout the passage of time and the shifts in backgrounds, a particular war continues to leave its mark on history, extending its influence into the modern world. There are two major groups involved in the ensuring war. The first group consists of monsters known as Chiropterans who can change their appearances into that of human beings. They are actually immortals who feed on the blood of the living. The second group is an organisation known as the "Red Shield", formed to track down these monsters and exterminate them. Otonashi Saya is a high-school girl who lives a peaceful life with her family. The only problem is, she has no recollections of her life beyond that of the past year. However, her happy life will be destroyed by an event that will lead her to her destined fate. -ANN

( Review )

( Good stuff. )

~Alexius

Dark Angel

Dark Angel is an American cyberpunk science fiction television program, created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee, which ran from 2000 to 2002 on the FOX network. Dark Angel chronicles the life of Max Guevara (X5-452), a genetically enhanced super-soldier, portrayed by Jessica Alba as an adult, and Geneva Locke as a child. In the year 2009, a genetically enhanced, 9-year-old female (to whom creator James Cameron refers as "transgenic") super-soldier who calls herself Max Guevara, (also known as X5-452, a truncation of her barcode tattoo on the back of her neck 332960073452), escapes along with eleven others like her from a secret government institution. At the institution, codenamed Manticore, they were created and subsequently raised and trained to be soldiers and assassins. On June 1, 2009, months after Max's escape, terrorists detonate an electromagnetic pulse weapon in the atmosphere over the U.S., which destroys the vast majority of computer and communication systems, throwing the country into utter chaos. The first season begins ten years later in 2019, as it follows the life of the now 19-year-old Max as she struggles to search for her Manticore brothers and sisters. In a United States which is now barely more than a Third World nation, she tries to live her life, evade capture, and learn to trust and love. -Wikipedia

I only just watched the Pilot episode and I'm shocked by the quality of this television show. It only lasted two seasons and was then cancelled due to financial losses and time issues (it was trumped by Whedon's Firefly), yet just the broadcast and special effect quality of the first episode made it feel like a far-above average full-feature 1hr30min action movie (which is actually the length of the first episode). Really, I came into watching the show with some average expectations (I was recommended it by a friend) but I'm amazing by how well this series was made (and I hate Jessica Alba, but this show so far is making me respect her a great deal more - well, at least at that time in her career). Yet, it was only the first episode I watched, so I'll edit this post later with my final critique!

Clannad is set in a high-school located in some Japanese town. Okazaki Tomoya is a third-year student who doesn't take his studies seriously. Always late for class, he's seen as a delinquent by the rest of his classmates who are busy preparing for their entrance examinations. Needless to say, he hasn't too many close friends either.

Tomoya seems not to mind too - until one day he meets a girl, Furukawa Nagisa, who is left alone without friends on this school, because everybody she knew already graduated. What a clumsy girl, he thinks at first. But he can't leave her alone and so, while helping her, he meets a few other girls from his school. Although he doesn't care much about them at first, he soon opens his heart to them as they get to know each other better.
[taken from AniDB]

So, I just finished watching an anime film called Clannad, an adaptation of a similarly-named TV show (which I haven't seen since this seemed to be recommended more-so than the series). A fairly good show, overall, I was impressed by the depth taken into the background of the characters and in how one chance meeting changed the lives of two particular depressed individuals and all those around them and close to them. If you like slow-paced anime dramas, than this would be an interesting choice for a weekend night or whatever other time of leisure you may have. It is especially saddening yet brightening in its message.

Spice and Wolf

This is a fantasy story based on a light novel series.

The peddler Kraft Lawrence travels through the world selling all kinds of things. After visiting a village he discovers a sleeping girl under the hay. She has wolf ears and a tail. The wolf girl explains that she has been called a "God" but her name really is Horo and nothing else. Lawrence teases the girl a little, but after hearing more of her story is moved and decides to accompany her further north. On their travels the two have all sorts of adventures & often get into trouble but slowly the bond between them grows stronger.

( Brief Review )

( OP Theme Link )

( Episode Links )

~Alexius

I was taking a look at AMD's boasting on their new RV770 GPU chip which would allow you to "not only watch movies, but play in them." Uhm. Okay. So, their model is this "Ruby" person, and they have a site dedicated to "Cinema 2.0 experiences" she was in. Looking at the videos, I can't help but scoff at their use of this model to describe the Cinema 2.0 experience. They look very much like modern video games from the 360 or PS3. Even she looks pretty plastic-y. If this is what we are to expect from "Cinema 2.0", or the "New Cinema" or whatever you want to call it, I'd rather wait until whoever's offering it has a better way to back up their claims.

~Alexius

For all of my reviews, even done from this post on, go to http://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?uid=68421.

So, I've stumbled upon www.myanimelist.net recently and, what else is there to say? It's an amazing site that tracks all of the anime you watched and has sort of a recommendation/compatibility system similar to last.fm's (but for anime instead of music, obviously). It also allows you to write reviews for anime, so here are three for some of my recently watched anime (sans WHR, which I've rewatched recently and not for the first time).

( Noein ~ Mou Hitori no Kimi e )
( Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo )
( Witch Hunter Robin )

~Alexius

So. I've been beginning to watch a great deal of anime lately, now that I've finished The X-Files (amazing show) and now that my input of Farscape is slowing down (grr to the library and those who have holds on the episodes I want).

( Why not click this link to see more? )

~Alexius

So, I was playing around in GarageBand and was interested in creating a mash-up of different classic and one-hit-wonder songs; that’s exactly what I did, and it ended up becoming so huge, I had to split it up. Here’s the first of my series (if I continue with my mash-ups, at least) of mash-ups containing a series of classic songs, with tweaked instruments and arranged in a flowing manner. Try and recognize the songs and comment with your findings, or just comment and tell me what you think.

Song can be found on my blog in the cross-posted post there: http://aleius.freehostia.com/?p=16

you are mediumspringgreen #00FA9A

Your dominant hues are cyan and green. Although you definately strive to be logical you care about people and know there's a time and place for thinking emotionally. Your head rules most things but your heart rules others, and getting them to meet in the middle takes a lot of your energy some days. Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Those are my results. Seems a lot like me, but as I checked off on my quiz, I'm mostly unexplainable in a lot of areas. The results did get the gist of a number of things about me, though, so [shrug].

~Alexius

I think it might be fitting to upload these icons I made in 10 minutes. Everything JKR says anymore is just contradicting her stories. She should just let up.



Anyone is free to use them.

~Alexius

Well, this is my first post over here at LiveJournal. This really isn't my official/real blog, per say, since I have my real blog over at http://aleius.freehostia.com, but I like to use LiveJournal to communicate with some of my friends who have a LJ blog of their own. I've finally gotten a nice small break this weekend (not as much homework as last weekend, for sure; that took me over 5 hours), so I'm happy in that regard.

Well, I guess there really isn't anything else to say. I'll post when I do have some inspiration.

~Alexius