Death Note Fever

Yes it appears I have caught it, I was bored this afternoon (as with every sunday) so decided to watch Death Note, I've heard nothing but good things about it so i thought id give it a try, and boy was i not dissapointed, It is an amazing show, one of the longer seasons at 37 episodes, this is a deeply engrossing show about a book (i wont reveal spoilers dont worry), yes thats right, a book, this series, beautifully animated, Light Yagami, your typical high school student in tokyo discovers this book, the Death Note, carries this message "the human whos name is in this book shall die" Light soon discovers this and uses it for his own warped sense of social justice (á la Bleach's Tousen). The Police however have other ideas and are out to stop him, including a young super detective known only as "L". Light gets more and more insane as the story progresses, it is very emotionally involving, as some of the characters that die, you will honestly feel bad for and, although Light is cool at first and his "world view" is admirable... things take a turn for the worse. Im now upto episode 9 and i just cant stop watching it ad Light and L try to second guess each other, a true battle of the minds. Bravo. Episode 25 is THE best episode of ANYTHING ive ever seen!
And thus i award my first ever 10/10



Light and the death note

Sakuran / さくらん

So today was the event of my week (says a lot for my week i know) me and some friends (7 of us in total) went to London to see a new japanese film, Sakuran, Set in 18th Century Edo, Japan - “Sakuran” traces the life of Kiyoha as she ascents from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. Sakuran takes the familiar feudal era Tokyo and infuses it with the hip modern day style of Tokyo. With an epic rock/jazz soundtrack and stunning visuals, a very good film, extremely interesting to watch. Im not gonna give to much away, go and see it.


8.5/10

Reviews again

Cellt - Lydia [Single]

Now this band have been a little hit and miss with me, the "Hakanai inori..." single was great, with the exception of despair garbage, and the Candy monstar single was a bit Meh, so i was hoping for more this time, and i was not dissapointed! I like the synth/electro power chords of the title track, works well with his voice and is a very well put together song, unlike this blog it would seem haha. Especially the palm muted bridge leading to the chorus. the second song seems to be an almost jazzy song with a distorted high riff, which is pulled off i feel, the last track is called Impulse and i love the drum and bass at the beginning, funky, and the power chords come in with great effect then the solo over the chords, its great.
KEEP IT UP!
9.0/10

In preparation for mail

I just love it when the postman comes each morning, especially when im waiting for mail, this morning was no exception, i heard the bang of the spring loaded finger trap we call the mail flap in our front door and jumped out of bed to see what, if any mail was for me, and what a bounty today, i got my new Japanese dictionary, huge thing it is, for university and also my CD that i ordered from Amazon, Shinjuuka by Kagerou (their best of album), i always liked this band, then they disbanded, i spotted this gem on amazon for only £8.99 with 30 tracks on 2 CDs thats a bargain by any standards.

So i thought id give my review:

Kagerou - 心中歌 (Shinjuuka - Suicide song) [Best of Album]

To be quite frank this is one of those marmite bands, you either love them or hate them, if you haven't heard them before this is the best place to start, a mixture of fast paced punk songs to driving ballads this is a varied album.
As a best of album this album is true to its word, this truly is probably one of the best selection of their songs you could choose. A mix of all of their most famous songs, "wrist cutter" "XII Dizzy" and "Kogarashi"; their unreleased rare and B-sides such as "sakurakurakura" and even a new song "Ichirin no Aoku" which is absolutely amazing. there is the odd song perhaps that you might not like, but in a compilation of 35 SONGS theres a little something for everyone.
8.9/10

音楽のNews

There have been far too many releases during my time in japan for me to fully review them all, half of which ive not even listened to yet, but i shall do my best as I feel it is my duty.

D=Out - Heisei Bubble [Single]
This isnt a new single but I LOVE their style, the vocalist has a really cool voice and they stand out from the sea of predictable VK, jazzy and bluesy tunes with saxaphones and jazz piano MY KINDA THING!, I like it a lot
8.7/10

D=Out - Zipang [Album]
This is their new album and in a similar vein to their above mentioned single, but as a larger portion, this is my sort of thing, i absolutely adore this band and this album is no exeption, finger clicking, toe tappin', thigh slappin' jazzy awesomeness
9.3/10

Deathgaze - Abyss [Single]
They certainly have improved since "im broken baby" and with the arrival of their new bassist too, i like this single, i can garuntee you have not heard guitars detuned this far and vocals this deep, but it suits them, his singing is good, but his growls still need work, but good work.
7/10

Siva - Demolish and Liberalism [2 Singles]
Ill review these as one and the same as they really make up a single between them with 2 songs each, which seems a little bit of a rip off spendin lyk about £10 on 4 tracks, but its a good result, only thing is each song is a little hit and miss, there are truly awesome parts of songs, eg Public opinions chorus, but the rest of the song is not as impressive, all to prevailant on the other songs as well. More consistency please.
6.2/10

Rentrer en soi - UNENDING SANCTUARY [Single]
Right, this had the potential to be such a brilliant single, the title track is rockin' as usual, though as i had expected not a Stigmata beater, but the B-sides, i just wanna know WHY they keep doing silly rehashes of old songs THERES NO NEED, especially as half the time the originals are better anyway, because of this, even though the title track was great i can only award a :
5/10

Ill review more later, ive not had a chance to listen to more, spent hours listening to D=Out THEY ARE TOO GOOD.

TADAIMA - IM BACK IN ACTION

Ive been meaning to update this since i got back from holiday, but that was a really hectic week, what with results etc and i never got round to it, secondly i realised that no-one reads this anyway HAHA, and thirdly, most typical of me, i forgot.
Well here i am, back again.

Got back from Japan (best frikin' holiday EVER) on the 13th of August, only to be met the next day, dreary eyed and jet lagged, with my A-level results.
I got an A in Biology, a B in Chemistry and a C in History, which is dissapointing because i found out that i was only 3 and 7 marks away from an A in chemistry and B in History respectively. But i did get my first choice uni, MANCHESTER HERE I COME! still got a few weeks left here yet so, make the most of it i suppose.

But yeah back to the Holiday, absolutely the best holiday ever, not to everyones tastes but wow.
Went to Tokyo, Saitama, Omiya, Osaka, and Nishinomiya (where Haruhi is based on hehe)
good times, many laughs were had, went to loads of concerts, bought loads of clothes and CDs.
I am now officially broke. oh well was worth it. Hopefully i can go back soon and see all the guys and gals again soon