Kafka on the Shore

It came today! I still don't have my 5566 CD (I ordered it with the VCD because I was feeling cheap even if it was only like a dollar more and I really want to see the MVs on it!) but I'm content to have my Kafka on the Shore.

I think someone on my flist was talking about it before (although I think whomever it was had talked about the original Japanese version and not the translated one that I'm reading) but at the time, I didn't pay it much mind. But after my Sounds TA asked me about it, I became interested since I had heard about it for some time now.

So on a whim, I bought it on Amazon and it arrived today! I've started reading it, but I haven't gotten very far yet (about 70 pages in) so I'm still pretty mystified by all that's happening. Nakata has just been introduced and the first time you meet him, he's talking to a cat so I'm still wondering how this all fits in with Kafka running away. From what I've heard Murakami Haruki's writing style is meant to perplex you a bit and I'm definitely a bit perplexed as to how everything connects, from the kid who ran away, to the reports on Rice Bowl Hill Incident and from the man who went through the Rice Bowl Hill Incident who can talk with cats now. I don't know, but I want to.

God, after reading so many fanfics and so many essays and assigned book readings for my classes, I had forgotten what it mean to just pick up a novel and read for fun. I really need to do this more often but I know that it's rare that I actually have time to waste on something like this. It's actually my first new book that wasn't manga in a long time as well so I'm getting all happy just from having a new book. I really love books -- somehow that got lost and I had almost forgotten that books were always my first love.

Right now I'm enjoying just sitting back and reading a book with substance. It really is refreshing. :)

Oh my god!

Ouran High School Host Club -- so much love!!!

Even the girl is a cute guy! So many cute guys! Love love love!!!

I want the next episode now! I'm so glad I decided to download this as a whim -- the best type of shoujo out there! I usually don't do shoujo but...

Okay, now I need to go to my study meeting! :)

It arrived!

I didn't think it would arrive today but it did! My 5566 CD+VCD! Right now I'm feeling kinda stupid for not getting the DVD version because while I do know how to rip a DVD, I have no idea about a VCD! Plus, I'm betting the quality on the DVD would have been better as well... It really was only a dollar more so I should have just said screw it and bought that version instead.

But it doesn't matter all that much now. I mean I had wanted the songs most of all so that's the good thing. It really is a good album! And really, 同一個世界 is a wonderful song! The MV for it is like OMG, it's so good! And of course, I've already fangirled over the signing in the 好久不見 MV. Watching it again, it really was wonderful! Right now I'm trying to get through all the songs because I hadn't had a chance to listen to them all yet.

But what I've heard, they're all wonderful!!! Well, I'm not all too fond of 偷心Yes I love You or 寶貝快睡 all that much (the latter song because the MV totally soured it all for me with all the slowness and the babies... *makes a face* Not all too fond of children...) but there are a few gems that I hadn't heard before like 世界最美的風景 and 回到我身邊-山塔露琪亞...

Now for Diana, because I know she likes 5566 too! The ripped 好久不見 album in 320 kbps!

http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3BAX0L1WZRYDN0LPS0OSVAJ9AY

The tracklist is as follows:

01. 好久不見 (Long Time No See)
02. 偷心Yes I love You
03. Crying in the Rain
04. 回到我身邊-山塔露琪亞 (Please Come Back, Santa Lucia)
05. 一起冒險 (Adventure)
06. 同一個世界 (One World, One Dream)
07. 白色花漾 (White Floweriness)
08. 追趕跑跳碰 (Chasing, Rushing, Running, Jumping, Crashing)
09. 世界最美的風景 (The World's Most Beautiful View)
10. 寶貝快睡 (Sleep Well, My Baby)

I wil try to figure out a way to rip the MVs because they are just way too cool (with the exception of 寶貝快睡 because that's just basically babies and 5566).

The 同一個世界 is really weird. But at the very same time, very cool. I swear, it's like partly an advertisement for the Summer Olympics (the Olympic rings, the parallel bars, hurdles and other track and field activities all featured in the MV). The other MVs were of 好久不見 and Crying in the Rain. The Crying in the Rain MV -- my god, if that doesn't just make you love Tony so much more!!! They all do pain so well, but when Tony falls to his knees with his head bent -- KYA!!! Such a fangirly moment for me! I am seriously adoring this album and it's MVs. It just makes you love 5566 so much more!

Right now I just want to go back and rewatch My MVP Valentine again and see all the great Prince moments. I swear, that drama totally made me love Tony and 5566 and now I can't get them out of my head. They're all so wonderful. And with Zax, how could you forget his wonderful voice! My god, that boy has talent! I would listen to him sing forever! And with Tony's voice, I think they have the perfect balance!

What I love most about this album is the way they've incorporated different sounds form around the world. 好久不見 has a definite Irish sound to it, while 同一個世界 and 白色花漾 have some traditional Chinese sounds to them. Crying in the Rain is actually a cover of an A-ha song, while 回到我身邊-山塔露琪亞 samples an opera (I feel like I should recognize it because the tune is very familiar but I'm hopeless when it comes to stuff like that) and 一起冒險 has the sounds of Indian music. Not only that, but 追趕跑跳碰 has the sounds of old American swing music! It's really a nice mix of a sounds for this new album and I'm actually happy to see that it worked in the end. :)

Okay, right now I have to go and write my monologue for Japanese... :\ I don't want to do it at all but unfortunately, I promised Park-san (it's really sad because I really don't know her first name because all we've ever all called each other is by our last names in class) that I would so I have to. And tomorrow is the last soup kitchen -- of which I'm infinitely glad to be finished of.

I don't think anyone's gonna go but me, so it'll be a bit sad... :( But it's over and I won't have to do it ever again because there's no way in hell I'm going to run for this position again! Waking up so early on a Sunday -- what was I thinking??? I'm just glad that it's over. :)

edit x1: Diana-chan is hiding from me... I tried calling her but I got forwarded immediately to the voice messaging center...twice, which means she saw that it was me calling and immediately click "ignore."

T_T

Diana-chan doesn't want to talk to me...? :(

edit x2: I'm such an idiot!!! The name of the opera that actually wasn't really an opera but just a song in Italian, and apparently a very famous Italian song at that, was "Santa Lucia" which was in the name of the track! *head hits desk* I'm an idiot, an absolutely idiot! Anyway, yeah, the song they sampled in track 4 was "Santa Lucia."

KYAH!!!!

Miyano Mamoru is Tamaki?!

KYA!!!!

Who would have thought that he would have such a nice, cute, voice! And cool -- my god, he does cool as well! He does cool so very well! I am going to become a huge Miyano seiyuu fan now!!! Kya! Kya! Kya!!! Me like him! Me like him a lot! I never knew he could do such voices!

And I thought I recognized Kyouyai's voice! He's voiced by Matsukaze Masaya! Who also did Sakuya from Kaikan Phrase! I would NEVER forget that voice!

And Honey-kun! Or is it supposed to be Hani-kun? Anyway, it's just as well that he is as cute as he was when his seiyuu was playing Momiji from Fruits Basket! ^^

God, you don't know how much I wish Haruhi was a real boy (and wow, can Maaya Sakamoto do a low voice!) and I can get some nice Tamaki/Haruhi yaoi action! But it's okay because even if she's a girl (god, I can't believe that that makes sense to me), she can still have some nice moments with Tamaki anyway.

I don't know how I'm going to survive this entire anime because it's just cute and there are just so many cute guys and it's like a complete and total overload! My god, I'm even falling for Haruhi! But she's a girl! Just a little crisis now but it's a good one because I can just die happily amongst all these cute people.

*dies*