Yuki ゆき

although he often refused to look into the camera lens, going as far as purposely looking away or turned his back towards me, he is still a charm to look at. we love patting him, rubbing him, hugging him, even teasing him. but, like all cats, Yuki has a temper, n he is particular. some cats can tolerate for hours, happily dozed off on your lap while being patted for hours, others can only be patted for a few minutes. Yuki was the latter. we often rely on the sign when he starts moving away, or sometimes suddenly nip at us while being pat, it means that he had enough "dose" of the pleasure.

Moe-tan (2007) もえたん

he was outcast to the earth in a duck form. he needed her to transform into magical girl n do good deeds for him to become human again. short despite being in high school, she was often teased. a beautifully drawn anime, typical plot n disgusting with the duck being a perverted character.

Saturninity.

she gazed around, taking in the crowded sidewalks, to the long lines forming in front of the cinema and cafes, realizing that she had no answer to his question. just how many of them were like her? tired and fed-up, disillusioned and found their way here with the hope of dropping out of their daily routines, of life. she looked at him again, knowing there was nothing she could say to convince him, especially when she remembered what she had chosen for herself. she was every bit selfish like him, every bit involved in her small little world. he was just like her when she first stepped into this vacuum years ago, a younger her, out of morbid curiosity that longed to get something out of sheer nothing.

幻滅と失わ。

Unstoppable (2010)

Frank was on his usual duty, training a freshly hired conductor Will. they picked up a number of train cars to be transported to another location. however, due to Will's carelessness, they picked up 5 extra cars, which they realized only after they left the yard. they continued their journey instead of returning the extra cars back to the yard. at the same time, at the rail yard, Dewey was instructed to move a train named #777 off its current track to clear the track for the arrival of a train carrying schoolchildren. Dewey was overconfident and left the train running while he jumped down to manually switch a track where #777 will be moved to. but when the train suddenly sped up, Dewey failed to climb back up into the train and thus the train was speeding out of control on the railroad in full power. the incident was reported to Connie, the yardmaster. many attempts of stopping the train was performed, some even led to the death of employees. Frank and Will was warned of the oncoming train, but due to the extra cars picked up by WIll, they barely escaped being rammed by #777. to save everyone from the explosives carried on #777, Frank decided to go after the train with the intention of stopping it.

based on a true story, the setup was very straightforward. Frank and Will each had their own share of family problems, which really wasn't so important for the film. but the first half of the film was spent introducing these 2 characters, showing their background and differences. the rest of the film was all about the pursuit of stopping the deadly train. each failed attempt to stop the train highlighting its destructiveness. but although more screen time was given to the train instead of the 2 main actors, we were given time to connect with with their characters, which easily had us spellbound with their heroic act.

The Immortals #2: Blue Moon (2009)

the story continued after Damen saved Ever from the car accident that killed all her family, and Ever in returned also killed Damen's possessive ex-wife, Drina, when she attacked Ever in her house. they were the supposed remaining Immortals left roaming the world. but while Ever was taking her sweet time familiarizing and adapting to her new skills that she learned from Damen, Roman appeared. unlike Damen who was a pure Immortal, Roman was a Rogue Immortal. he shared a history with Damen, Drina, and even Ever's past incarnations. despite her love for Drina, Roman had forced himself to stay out of their love triangle until Drina was killed and he swore revenge. on the surface, Roman was just another handsome student that had just enrolled after Damen. he easily influenced everyone, controlling them into believing that Ever was the freak, isolating her even from her 2 best friends, Miles and Haven. his spell weakened by the end of Blue Moon (each year has 12 full moons, but with the extra days accumulated for every leap year, there will be a Blue Moon, an extra full moon every 2-3 years). Roman successfully poisoned Damen through the Immortal elixir. when Damen started behaving like an average teenager and rejecting Ever of her love, Ever panicked and became desperate trying to save Damen, where she also started to believe all the wrong people, making things worst.

Blue Moon (2009) was every bit as captivating as Evermore (2009)! it was so full of suspense and unknowns cleverly put together in an unsuspecting way. i never would have thought with the introduction of Roman, the story would have me climb aboard a roller coaster ride while Ever fought against life and death. i loved how the bits and pieces of their past were put into motion, making the whole scene played before me and at the same time clarified their connections, which immediately made perfect sense. in this series, the spooky identical twins Romy and Rayne, were also introduced. their mysterious aura, coming out of nowhere claiming to help, yet looking highly annoyed and unwilling had one wondering whether they were truly friend or foe. all in all, although it could be a little frustrating watching Ever struggled to trust some wrong people but i can't hide my surprise that even i was deceived by some characters that had stayed around for so long that no one would have suspected them to be untrustworthy otherwise.

Hourou Musuko (2011) 放浪息子

Nitori was a shy and quiet boy. after transferring to a new school, he became friends with the tomboyish Takatsuki who sat next to him. but they were more than what they appeared to be. Nitori who appeared to be a sensitive boy, wanted to be a girl; where else Takatsuki who appeared to be a masculine girl, wanted to be a boy. Takatsuki soon knew about Nitori's desire and confessed that she wanted to be a boy as well. Nitori were also friends with Saori, a girl from his class. Saori liked Nitori especially after he told her about his secret desire. since then, she loved urging him to cross-dress. together with Takatsuki, Nitori started his journey in becoming the person they wanted to be.

it has been quite a while since i came across such art style for an anime. although at first glance, it appeared relaxing, the storyline was actually very grounded. the struggles of the 2 main characters, their internal conflicts as well as the desperation for acceptance. during the changing period of a child's life, Nitori found out that he was different from any average boys, he seek for support from less than a handful of people, including his own sister who found him disgusting whenever she caught him cross-dressing. with his pretty face, he even modeled for magazines in his girl form. the flow of the story was unique enough to capture my interest. despite the relaxing art style, the storyline made it felt realistic, especially when Nitori and Takatsuki was in fact, dealing with real problems that some youngsters were actually facing.

Maroon 5: Moves Like Jagger ft. Christina Aguilera (2011)

the song was released in Maroon 5's third album, Hand All Over (2011). the lyrics was about a guy who tried to impress a girl with his dance moves, which he compared to The Rolling Stones's Mick Jagger. with the song involving popular Rock legend Mick Jagger, the band mentioned it was definitely a risk, but it was also exciting to do something different, to do something new for a change. fortunate for Maroon 5, the song received positive appreciation from many. what originally attracted me was hearing Christina Aguilera's voice. we haven't heard much of her since Burlesque (2010) and it was refreshing to catch her in one of the songs on the radio.

Remember Me (2010)

ever since his brother Michael hung himself to death, Tyler remained moody and uncertain of his future. the relationship between him and his father Charles, has gotten worst since then. although he had moved out into an apartment with his friend Aidan, Tyler was very close with his younger sister Caroline, whom Charles remained distant with. Tyler got to know Ally from school and they started going out. 10 years ago, Ally watched her mother being killed in the subway thus led to her detective father being overprotective ever since. she bonded with Tyler over their losses and she moved into his apartment after having a fight with her father. at the same time, Caroline was bullied by a group of classmates and her hair was cut off. this resulted to Tyler being violent in her class, threatening the bullies. Charles was impressed with Tyler standing up for his sister and with his influence, he also backed Caroline up just so she won't be bullied by the same group again. through the incident, Tyler finally reconnected with his father. one day, just when he was waiting for his father in the office, the unthinkable happened. it was the exact day where the 9/11 terrorist attack took place. it was then revealed that Charles' office was located at the World Trade Center.

we weren't a huge fan of Robert Pattinson. like many, we feel that he tried too hard to look cool in the Twilight Saga, which the very same expression also reflected how dispirited he can be in Remember Me (2010). we thought we had to drag ourselves through this movie, which we absolutely did not! the characters were represented in so much angles that had us easily connected to them, including multiple impressive supporting casts. they were so believable and lovable. neither Robert Pattinson nor Pierce Brosnan was there to be just an average eye candy, it was far more intense and thought provoking than that. not to mention that the final twist was tremendously effective, giving weight to the film instead of being just another family drama!

Encroachment.

she started running. turning into the alley just as she crumpled to the ground. fingers clamped to the temples, head aching as thought it was penetrated from all sides. a swirl of images unfold in her mind, a series of sketches, one turning into the next like pages of a book. she made it to the forth page before she realized what it was all about. calmly she got up on her foot, letting these sketches comforted her as she walked. the thing was, he had always been prone to charm his way out of difficult problems. before long, he had her obediently answering his series of questions, his interrogation. exhausted, she decided to give it a rest. the images effectively diverting her attention away from being upset with him. she hasn't quite been herself today, and she wasn't so eager to make it the longest day in her life either.

スケッチのシリーズ。

Genji Monogatari Sennenki (2009) 源氏物語千年紀

"The Tale of Genji" was originally a classic work of Japanese literature. it was sometimes referred to as the world's first classic novel. Genji was called the Shining Prince. he was the second son of the Emperor, although he cannot be an heir to the throne of his father, Genji spent his life surrounded by love and pleasure. despite the readily available love he had access to, he longed for a person even the power of an Emperor cannot give him.

for an anime adapted from a novel more than a thousand years old, it appeared strange yet included so much senses that would definitely be a feast for some. the anime was all about romance, with prince Genji moving from one woman to another, easily brushing aside any responsibilities or commitment. the emotions were intense, bringing out the characters, especially the women and their desire so strong just to have Genji all to themselves. thanks to the straightforward storyline, it was fast-paced and Genji's life was easily introduced to us who knew nothing of this man.

The Immortals #1: Evermore (2009)

after an accident that killed her family, Ever was the only survivor. but the accident changed her, she can now see people's aura, hear their thoughts, and even knew their entire life when she came in physical contact with anyone. in order to avoid human contact and not hear more thoughts than she can handle, she started distancing herself by pulling up her hoodies and blasting musics that she didn't even recognize in her ipod. she was called a freak at her new high school. but things started to get a little more interesting when Damen, a new kid joined their class. Damen was beautiful, mysterious, and wealthy. he was the first person Ever came in contact after the accident that doesn't show any auras or overwhelmed her with his thoughts. in fact, he can even silence all the noises around when they came in physical contact. Ever was uncontrollably drawn deeper into his world of secrets and mystery. she had more and more questions about Damen that just made her more desperate to find out who or what he is.

the book was written in a way so simple yet so captivating that it had me completely hooked! it was more like an introduction on Ever, the accident, the feeling of loss, the struggle to move on, etc. it was easy to get drawn to her character, especially how much she tried to hang on to the ghost of her younger sister, Riley who came to visit every now and then. Damen on the other hand, still had way too much secrets i can't wait to uncover. fortunately though, the main secret was finally out on the second half of the book and i was left feeling quite impressed and eager for more. how often do we get to read about new fictional creatures? Ever's best friends, Haven the attention-seeker and Miles the gay character, were unfortunately unrelated to the main plot. they could have connect a little more with Ever other than just on the surface. but with 5 more books to come for the series, i'm sure there will be more to read about them. and of course, there was Drina the "bad guy", girl in this case, who completely made the story came alive! she was a sadist alright, bullying and torturing Ever, but she also had a image of her that made her stand out, made me always anticipate her next appearance. the story, or perhaps the way the book was written, was so engaging! i was often left not knowing what was going on, and always eager to know more.

Real Steel (2011)

the story took place in the far future where robots replaced human in boxing. Charlie was a formal boxer who got his money through illegal robot boxing matches. he owed the loan sharks more and more money after losing all the robots he bought because of his unskilled control over them. at the same time, cops showed up and told him that his ex-girlfriend died and left behind his 11-year-old son Max. Charlie agreed to give the child's custody to Max's aunt Debra after she returned from her 3 months honeymoon. the first night together, Charlie was forced to bring Max along to attend one of his illegal match. after losing another match, they drove to the junkyard to steal some parts to put together a new robot. Max accidentally fell over a ledge and was saved by a half-buried robot arm. Max insisted on digging that robot out and they returned with it. the robot name Atom, was an obsolete sparring bot. Max convinced Charlie to get Atom to fight, which it won and they instantly upgraded it to take vocal commands. one match after another, Atom earned them more and more money and also a chance to fight in the WRB (World Robot Boxing) league. their first match against a robot named Twin Cities was tough but miraculously they won. due to the attention received, Max challenged the WRB champion Zeus and the final battle was on.

it has been eons since we enjoyed any movie that had us forgot where we actually were, cheering and clapping as if we were part of the audiences that got to witness the matches in that arena! the characters were so in depth we were easily connected and influenced by their emotions. although we were more used to Hugh Jackman being so fierce and non-approachable in his Wolverine character, we were surprised that the unlucky average-guy role suit him perfectly as well. Max, casted by Dakota Goyo, was a young boy who appeared briefly in Thor (2011) together with Ted Allpress, as young Thor and young Loki. not only did he managed to have us viewers rooting for him, he also brought out Hugh Jackman fatherly side. instead of a mindless flick like its trailer indicated, the film actually presented so much heart and great performances, putting together delicious actions that made it so much fun to watch!

Yuki ゆき

for most who love cats, we love squeezing their soft paws. however, paws, including ears, tail, especially belly are labelled as sensitive spots for a cat. if any human they did not trust tried to touch them on these parts, will probably resulted to being scratched or bitten mercilessly. when Yuki first came, he was extremely defensive, hissing n scratching anyone that tried to befriend him. he was a difficult child. years after hanging with us, he finally accepted us as well as placing his trust in us. it took me long enough to proceed from one part to another, training his tolerance so he would not cause any family member to bleed like he did during his childhood. now he becomes so tame i was able to grab his paws or rub his belly, sometimes even squeezing his tail. as much as he dislike these gestures, he trusts us enough to let me off with just a meow to show that he was annoyed.

Fractale (2011) フラクタル

the story took place in a distant future, where the Fractale system created a perfect human world, tending to their every need and creating a peaceful world for everyone to live in. the system was created with large number of networked computers, indirectly connected to every individuals through a terminal implanted in their bodies. however, Clain was fascinated by the old technologies. he helped a girl name Phryne, who left him a pendant before vanishing the next day. Clain tried accessing the data on the pendant and activated a human looking Doppel named Nessa. he set out a journey with Nessa to discover the truth behind the Fractale system.

the anime started out feeling simple and relaxing. but once their journey started, it was far from being enjoyable. it felt messy, with little explanations, the scenes switch from one location to another easily had me lost track of the storyline. while some believed in the Fractale system, others believed in God, however the God in their world was actually the Fractale system, which also made their worshiping felt completely unnecessary. loose ends were left untied, making the anime felt like a bunch of random ideas put together. and most importantly, it focused so much on Phryne and Nessa, yet i didn't quite understand how or why were they vital in the Fractale system.

Temptation to Go Home (2011) 回家的欲望

the drama was a continuation from 回家的诱惑 (2010), took place after Pinru was saved by Wenyen, an adopted son from a successful single mother. Pinru's new mother owned a big company that sold makeup products, n she trained Pinru to be her successor. after a difficult transformation, Pinru whom originally was never exposed to the outside word, became a trustworthy leader. it was then that she started her plan of revenge to take back all that she deserved from her ex-husband family. with a different identify, she approached her ex-husband, now the husband of her best friend named Ally. step by step she approached the family members, taking their properties one after another. when they finally realized who she actually was, it was too late, they had already lost the family business as well as their house to her. but just when Pinru thought she won, Ally again, tried to take back what was taken from her.

like its previous season, the story went around their game of revenge. the first season didn't exactly finished with a full stop, easily we decided that it was a must to watch its second season. with Pinru behaving like Ally resulted to us having more interesting scenes to watch. the second season had some boring moments for us, but in the end, it still depends on who we choose to like or dislike.

Sanctum (2011)

young Josh joined Carl the financier and Carl's girlfriend, Victoria, to a beautiful yet unexplored underwater cave. Josh father, Frank was the leader of this particular underwater cave exploration site. right before Josh met with his father, an accident happened and the diver that submerged together with Frank was dead. arguments started among the group, some fingers were pointing at Frank while others defended him. moments later, a fierce tropical storm started on the surface, causing water to overflow into the cave. only half of the divers managed to get out, the remaining few was forced to fight raging water, deadly terrain and their panic. with the remaining diving equipment, they must navigate the underwater in search of a yet unknown escape route towards the sea.

first time ever, we were taken on a brutal underwater adventure. it was so believable that we find it absolutely difficult to breath! based on a true story, although we did see a few dead people in making, the plot was still far from predictable. it would have felt so much more familiar for a real diver, which we were not. but it did successfully overwhelmed us with its details. there were even some gore moments just to make things spicier, but with only minimal visual. it was quite a pity that we were not given much chance to connect with its characters, therefore feel nothing of their deaths. on the upside, the underwater scenes were remarkable. personally, all i remember doing while watching the film was taking one big breath after another.

Racy.

he repeated the question in her ear, slower this time. she heard him the first time but pondered further on what to say in reply. she knew he wanted her to say yes reflectively, so he can have the pleasure to challenge her in return. but she knew better, she loved to delight by overthrowing such scheme, which often surprised him of his attempts. but in real, he had never been so bewitched as he was by her. her wittiness, her spirited counter often had him mesmerized. what could be going through her mind right now? he thought, highly anticipated.

刺激的な組み合わせ。

Ergo Proxy (2006) エルゴプラクシー

the story took place in a futuristic city called Romdeau. it was a doomed city, built to protect its leftover citizens after a global disaster thousand of years ago. human coexisted with the AutoReivs, androids made to follow human's instructions on a daily basis. however, there were a series of murders committed by these AutoReivs after being infected with the Cogito virus. the virus gave the AutoReivs self-awareness, a mind to think for themselves. the government secretly conducted experiments on a mysterious life form called Proxy. the Proxy beings are God-like and immortal, believed to be the key survival of mankind. Rel together with her AutoReiv, Iggy was assigned to investigate some murders. during her assignment, she came across a Proxy, also an immigrant name Vincent. the connection remained mysterious and Rel was determined to find out who Vincent really was.

it was not often that we came across an anime as unique as this. it was set in a special world, with special beings that coexisted in ways unimaginable. despite the dull color and unattractive appearances, it had a rich and deep storyline. the first half of the series was mostly mysterious, some part even confusing. but the loose ends were tied up soon after. the characters had such depths that it was easy to get drawn to them, and this doesn't only apply to the few main characters, but also the supporting ones. not to mention that the battles between Proxies were absolutely engaging! each with their own skill, it easily had us sitting at the edge of our seats during these scenes. the anime, despite having quite a number of episodes, left us feeling satisfied and wouldn't mind watching a second season at all.

Tiger's Curse #2: Tiger's Quest (2011)

after risking her life to rescue Ren, a handsome Indian prince, from a 300-year-old curse, Kelsey returned from India, continued or at least hoping, to return being a normal teenager that attend college. she was determined to move on, despite still having feelings for Ren. she met with Li during her new wushu class, arranged by Mr. Kadam, getting her ready to fend for herself, fearing danger from India would follow her to Oregon. just when she was about to accept Li as her boyfriend, Ren reentered her life, capturing her heart all over again. followed by new danger, they fought for their lives against the dark forces and spell-binding magic, while Ren fought to reclaim Kelsey's heart. but during one of the missions, Ren was captured while Kelsey was saved by Ren's brother, Kishan. they escaped and started a new journey to retrieve magical items that would help to save Ren from the evil mastermind.

the second book from the Tiger's Curse series started out way better than its first book: Tiger's Curse (January 2011), especially when it easily had me connected to Kelsey's character through her every day life at college, with boys, with her struggle to not compare every boy that approached her with her ex-boyfriend, Ren. but at the second half of the book, where she returned to her adventurous life in India, things started getting boring for me all over again. more and more pointless information that are completely unrelated to its plot, were included, which like its first book, had way too many things i don't want to know about India! it was hellish and i dragged myself towards the end while started skipping lines as well. the difference between the first book and second book was her facing Ren in the first book, facing Kishan in the second. clearly i cannot understand why these 2 handsome brothers would be interested in her. brilliant for Colleen Houck, she again left the ending hanging, but i was thankful for the break, for while waiting for her to publish the next book in November, i can happily proceed to other series that hopefully returned me my passion of reading again.

The Three Musketeers (2011)

D'Artagnan left his hometown Gascony and traveled to Paris, with the intention of joining the Musketeers. coincidentally, he was challenged to duel with each of 3 musketeers, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos. but just when they were about to duel, they were attacked by the Cardinal's guards. they united and escaped successfully. Cardinal Richelieu, who tried to start a war between France and England, created a false affair between the Queen of France with the Duke of Buckingham from England. he had Milady, a skilled felon who deceived not only the 3 musketeers, but also the Duke of Buckingham, stole a diamond jewelry from the Queen and secretly hid it in Buckingham's possession. D'Artagnan and the 3 musketeers were sent by the Queen to silently retrieve the jewelry.

we can't help feeling a little disappointed with how much D'Artagnan and Milady got all the attention in the film, instead of the 3 musketeers. although we do enjoy the colorful costumes and beautiful locations of the film, it felt a little too trendy to be a classical. one of the very first scene that had our jaws dropped was seeing matrix-like bullet evasion, and not to mention the the scene that required them to Fly through a network of invisible wires. for the first impression, we believed the reason Milla Jovovich was appointed to be Milady was because Paul W.S. Anderson missed working with her in Resident Evil. however, she wasn't especially sexy nor seductive, as the film constantly tried to suggest. but i completely got it after i found that that Milla Jovovich was actually married to the director, Paul W.S. Anderson. which had me thinking, perhaps these stunts that reminded us of the all-too-familiar Resident Evil was actually custom made for her! back to the film, it could be a little less fancy and really tell the story of the famous musketeers, for it was definitely far from what i had read. or perhaps changing of title so we would not expect watching the story of the 3 musketeers? because honestly, we did enjoy the film perfectly action wise.

Britney Spears: I Wanna Go (2011)

taken from Britney's seventh album, Femme Fatale (2011), I Wanna Go (June 2011) was released as the third single, after Till the World Ends (April 2011) and Hold It Against Me (January 2011). the song was a combination of dance and techno, with heavy bassline. the lyrics was mostly about losing restrains and breaking through the boundaries. there were also a remix version released in July 2011, featuring an Indian singer named Sonu Nigam. the music video was said to be an exaggerated version of Britney's life n career, which definitely reminds me of Terminator!

Zero no Tsukaima (2006) ゼロの使い魔

she was a complete failure with magic. she summoned a commoner when everyone else summoned magical creature as servant. the duo were then stuck with each other, working things out despite her bad temper. it wasn't impressive with everyone bullying her for her inability, fortunately things took a huge turn proving her a powerful magician. it was entertaining watching her adorable clumsiness, especially when it comes to team up with him.

Discrepancy.

she hardly knew how did she became an object of his admiration. yet him looking at her because he dislike her, was still more strange. she could only imagine however, that she drew his notice because there were something more wrong according to his idea of right. but the supposition did not pained her, for she liked him too little to care for what he thinks or feels. drawing nearer, his gaze still on her, he felt her attention turned towards him even though she refused to look him in the eyes. a victorious cheer bloomed in his heart, urging him forward.

変なライバル。

Dream House (2011)

Will quit his work and moved from the big city to a small town with his wife Libby and 2 daughters, Trish and Dee Dee. he wanted to spend more time on his upcoming novel. here, he met with their new neighbors, Ann, a single mother with a violent ex-husband, who was fighting for their daughter Chloe's custody. Will started getting suspicious when Trish and Dee Dee kept seeing a man watching them from the windows. it was then that they realized the precious house owners were actually murdered in the house, where the father was the main suspect. Will traced the story and he was directed to a psychiatric hospital, where Peter the main suspect was kept after murdering his family. only then did Will discovered that he was actually Peter, the new identity he subconsciously created was to help himself to cope with his family's death. he returned to the house, this time finally seeing how rundown it was. believing that he was innocent, he fought to remember what happened the day his family were murdered.

we originally went to the cinema for a fright, expecting a horror film with those 2 little girls in the poster being its main attraction. seeing Craig's name had me confused but i just might have brushed it off a little too quickly. the film was a success because no one buy the fact that Craig looked like any mentally disturbed man! but for a change, we had this tough guy playing victim for once. fortunately for us, we didn't catch a glimpse of its trailer, which from many i heard, ruined the whole psychotic feeling of it. we were also puzzled with the film's marketing that had everyone thought it was horror instead of a psychological thriller. but either way, we absolutely loved how the ending changed all the assumptions we made.

Yuki ゆき

cozily Yuki sat on his lap n slowly dozed off. as he started swinging left n right, influencing us both into getting drowsy ourselves, i grabbed the camera n started shooting them instead. among the 2 of us, he was much more patient than i, in offering himself as a pet cushion. on the other hand, if Yuki does have a choice, he would still choose him, for the reason he is warmer than me. secretly, even i seek warmth from him! n of course, he is also a bigger pet cushion than me. Yuki is bigger than any average domestic tabby. on my lap, he would fell off the sides if he sways too much. n often this big furball will need to balance his body weight by placing at least one of his hind legs on the chair for support.

Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra (2009) 戦う司書: The Book of Bantorra

in a world where the dead will leave behind a book, stored in the library for others to learn their past. those with psychic powers were gathered to fend off a religious society that goes against the library. the anime has too many characters to keep track of, making it too complicated to be entertaining. with its plot running all over the place, stories were told in a confusing manner.

Avril Lavigne: Hope, Love n Rock & Roll

Avril has just announced herself part of the Live Nation's "Hope, Love n Rock & Roll" t-shirt program. ever since she formed her own charitable foundation: The Avril Lavigne Foundation, she has been actively participating in related activities. she mentioned that her goal was to encourage her fans to support the research, treatment n education that takes place at the City of Hope, helping patients n families who fight cancer or any other life-threatening diseases. featured artists for the program includes Eminem, Green Day, JAY-Z, John Lennon, Justin Bieber, Lady GaGa, Madonna, New Kids on the Block, Rihanna, Rod Stewart, n many more. Avril's limited edition black n green tee is available (US$21.95) with 50% of the price going straight to the City of Hope.

Punisher: War Zone (2008)

a disfigured gangster returned for revenge from the punisher. forced back into war, he had to fight off the gangsters to save an innocent family he put into danger. a movie with great visual effects as well as actions! definitely a recommended catch for those who watched its first sequel.

Temptation to Go Home (2010) 回家的诱惑

the drama turned out to be a huge project for China's film industry because of its connection with the Korean drama named Temptation of a Wife (妻子的诱惑) broadcast in 2008-2009. it gathered not only artists from mainland China, its cast also included artists from Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

the story was about a girl named Pinru, who got married into a rich family. she was gentle and kind, often taken advantage of. her new family treated her like a maid, having her took care of their everyday's needs. after an incident where she lost her first unborn baby, she failed to get pregnant within the next 5 years, which caused her to be mistreated even badly than before. her best friend named Ally, went to Paris on the same day as her wedding. 5 years later, she brought back a son, whom she claimed to be the child of Pinru's husband. when everything was a mess, with Ally demanding to join the family by plotting everything just to chase Pinru out, Pinru realized that she was finally pregnant. being divorced, she decided to raise the baby alone. but to make things worst, her ex-father-in-law wanted the baby after it was born. her ex-husband tried to talk her out of abortion, which she strongly refused. during an quarrel, she accidentally fell into the sea. they failed to find her, but because of the fact that she can't swim, they declared her dead. but she was actually saved by another family. she returned a different person, demanding for revenge.

although the drama was slightly long-winded, it managed to held our attention until the very end. the story went on and on about the never ending game of revenge. it was too easy to get influenced into liking one character or hating another. but the fun part was liking a character you originally hate, or vice versa. Pinru's character switching made the story interesting to watch. we were confident with the success of her plan, but it was the twists that we didn't expect that kept us glued to the screen.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu (2010) バカとテストと召喚獣

at Fumizuki Academy, the students were divided based on their academic results. the higher the grades, the higher the class n benefits. for Class A, the classroom was filled with air conditioners, cushion seats, laptops n even a snack bar. while Class F could only have broken tables with students sitting on the floor. however, students were able to call forth Summoned Beings during the summoning war between classes. the strength of the Summoned Beings depend on their owner's last test score. the winning class shall enjoy the luxury of exchanging classroom with the losing class. Akihisa was one of the student in Class F. during their exam, an intelligent girl name Himeji failed to complete her paper due to fever. for that, she was placed in the same class as Akihisa.

the anime introduced an idea slightly weird yet unbelievably fun to watch! its comedy usually hit right on the spot, changing the direction of the anime abruptly, caused me burst out laughing from time to time. the class representative of Class F, Yuuji, often with a straight face pointed everyone into taking part in the summoning war. although Class F was obviously at the disadvantage, they were eager for the exchange of classroom facility, thus risk taking hellish replacement classes to get their scores up. the motivation itself was already hilarious, not to mention having Akihisa as the idiot (Baka) to spice it up. not only comedy, the anime has a little romance here n there as well, for example the pairing between Akihisa n Himeji, although Akihisa was too dense to realize anything, they were still a fun pair to watch.

Pessimist.

she knew clearly the line particularly set for her not to overstep, responding accordingly to every upcoming situation but still, she obediently stayed within the border. when she thought she finally achieved minimal result, assumptions started flying around like some incurable disease, coming n going at will, eagerly initiating chaos under every originally peaceful engagements. such incidents reflectively showing one not only assumed solely the worst of others, but also of oneself. for often the one who lack self-esteem is the one assuming such thoughts on others. believing that she had tried everything that she could think of, she finally admitted that staying invisible was way easier said than done. steering clear didn't help, staying out of the way didn't either, even avoiding unnecessary eye contact resulted to null.

ほかに何かやるする。