Bisdak Babbles

I stayed in Japan for years but only Ai Otsuka captured the musical fan in me. To me, most of the Japanese female artists sound the same, and honestly (no offense to the Japanese), I don’t really like how they sing - kind of irritating to listen to. I can be close-minded at times so I never sought out J-Pop, except for a handful of good anime opening and closing themes. But there had been no anime theme that I ever desired to memorize.

I even tried listening to FM radio stations in Osaka but it is just so hard listening to something I can’t fully understand. Makes me more stressed than being relaxed.

Anyway, I’ve been watching this anime named Blood+.  I often just skip almost every opening and closing song but in Blood+ later episodes, the closing song “This Love” by Angela Aki really caught my attention. The melody is so relaxing and I love Angela Aki’s voice. The lyrics is also really touching. I may have already left Japan but I admit I’m still so attached to the country and almost everything in it. I may have already decided not to improve my Japanese anymore but artists like Angela Aki makes me wanna learn Japanese again.

Intrigued by the song that changed my mind? I’ve attached it for you. You may not understand what the song is trying to deliver but I’m pretty sure you’ll gonna love it, too.  The rest of Angela Aki’s songs are really good, too.

I’d never liked boxing before. I thought it was such a brutal sport. I hated watching two people hitting each other. But this changed when Filipino boxers started to conquer international boxing rings, especially when Manny “Pacman” Pacquaio started to show his boxing prowess to the world. I’ve watched Pacman’s matches because I love to feel this sense of unity with my fellow Filipinos in rare occasions such as this one.  Aside from that, I just saw two people hitting with each other.

Just recently, I came across this wonderful anime entitled “Hajime no Ippo“.  Yes, you’ve guessed it right. It’s a boxing anime!  By watching this anime, I have learned a lot about boxing and boxers.  I was so ignorant.   I just thought that whoever has more powerful punches and whoever has more stamina, wins.  I never thought that boxers have to have strategies.  I never thought that weight control could be so tough that boxers have to starve themselves just to reach the required weight.  I never thought that boxers need to have a lot of determination and discipline.  After watching this anime, I now have more respect for boxers.

A few days more and I’d be watching the Pacquiao-De La Hoya match (through live feed, of course).  Well, at least I could now identify which boxing style Paquiao and De La Hoya will be using.  I think I could now identify the types of punches they’re gonna throw.  I’m now aware that when a boxer leans or embrace the other boxer, that’s called “clinching” and why it isn’t illegal. This time, I’d see boxing in a different light.

Finally, here are the photos of my boxing idols:
Manny Pacquiao

Makunouchi Ippo

A colleague told me about the anime Moyashimon (もやしもん）. Tadayasu Sawaki, the main character, is a freshman at an agricultural university. Tadayasu can see and communicate with microorganisms. The anime is really funny and educational as well. In here, you can see the cutest bacteria ever:

The opening theme is very cute, too. I am actually planning to buy one of those stuffed microbes.

I’ve taken an Inuyasha quiz and here’s what it said:



I know that cute giant dog beside me is not from Inuyasha. At least it’s a character from the anime I am currently watching. Do you know him? Yep, he’s Sadaharu from Gintama.

One of the main reasons for my absences from the blogging world is Inuyasha (犬夜叉). Yes, I’m gaga over this anime. The story’s not yet finished but I’m done watching all of the 167 episodes and the 4 movies.

Inuyasha, the main character of this anime, is a hanyou (half-demon, half human). His father was a great warrior and a human-loving demon who died when Inuyasha was still a baby. Later, Inuyasha’s mother died also. As a hanyou, Inuyasha was subjected to discrimination, both from the humans and demons. With the longing to find his place in the world, he sought to be as great as his father.

Then he met and fell in love with Kikyo, a powerful miko (priestess) who guarded the Shikon no Tama (Jewel of the Four Souls/Sacred Jewel). However, Onigumo, who was a paralyzed criminal who was in the care of Kikyo, wanted the Sacred Jewel for himself so he offered his body to a horde of demons. That horde of demons became one and formed Naraku, the main villain of this anime. Naraku then deceived Inuyasha and Kikyo. At that time, Inuyasha and Kikyo agreed to use the Sacred Jewel to turn Inuyasha into human. Naraku took in the form of Inuyasha and tried to kill Kikyo. Because of this, Kikyo went after Inuyasha and fought with him. Inuyasha felt betrayed so he tried to steal the Sacred Jewel. Unfortunately, Kikyo caught up with Inuyasha and sealed him by pinning him with a sacred arrow into the Goshinboku, a tree believed to withstand time. With the fatal injury she got from Naraku, Kikyo died. Before her death, Kikyo ordered Kaede, her younger sister, to burn the Sacred Jewel together with her body.

In the present time (500 years later since Kikyo’s death) , Kagome lived an ordinary 15 year-old schoolgirl life. Her family takes care of the old shrine where the Goshinbuko still stands, and where the Bone Eater’s Well is located. The Bone Eater’s Well connects the present time and the Sengoku period (Inuyasha’s time). One time, Kagome and her brother followed a cat near the Bone Eater’s Well. Kagome fell into the well where a centipede demon attacked her and tried to take the Sacred Jewel which was inside her, while dragging her to the Sengoku period. Trying to escape from the centipede, she came across Inuyasha who had been pinned into the same tree for 50 years. To defeat the centipede, Kagome was left with no choice but to free Inuyasha.

Inuyasha was still determined to get hold of the Sacred Jewel, so to keep him from doing mischiefs, Kaede magically put in the Beads of Subjugation into his neck. With Kagome’s “osuwari” (sit) command, Inuyasha plunges to the ground, pretty much like a dog being forced to sit down.

Then a bird (kind of) demon stole the Sacred Jewel. Trying to retrieve it, Kagome shoot the demon with arrow, killed it, but at the same breaking the Sacred Jewel. Sacred Jewel shards were then scattered, even into the place of the dead. Kagome has the ability to sense a Jewel shard and Inuyasha has the strength to fight, so they teamed up to gather again the jewel shards. In their journey, they met Shippo, a fox demon, Miroku, a cursed monk, and Sango, a demon slayer whose brother was possessed by Naraku. They all have one aim: to find and eliminate Naraku.

I want to enumerate why I love this anime but I think I babbled a lot already.

Image from Wikipedia
“All is one… One is all”
You’d definitely know what this means if you have watched Fullmetal Alchemist. Yes, it’s an addition to my anime favorites. ^-^

To those who are not familiar with this anime, here’s a brief overview:
(Note: The anime’s story is different from that of the manga’s)
In this anime/manga series, alchemy refers to a technique used to transform one material into another (referred to as a transmutation).

The main protagonists are the Elric brothers, Edward (Ed) and Alphonse (Al). I still don’t know what happened to their father (about 20 episodes more to go ^-^) but their mother died when Ed was 11 and Al was 10 years old. Determined on bringing their mother back to life through alchemy, both became apprentices of an Alchemist (forgot her name).
When they tried to revive their mother, the attempt backfired, resulting in Al losing his body, and Ed his left leg, as well as bringing to life something inhuman. To save Al’s soul, Ed sacrificed his arm and bound Al’s soul in an armor suit. Ed then got himself artificial metal arm and leg. The story focuses on their quest to find the Philosopher’s Stone, a medium that could help them regain their normal bodies.

Sorry, that’s the best introduction I could come up with. I recommend Wikipedia for more details. Better yet, watch the anime… you won’t regret it. ^-^

The fight scenes are great but not as exciting as that of One Piece, Bleach, or Naruto. So, why am I really hooked into this anime? It’s because of brotherly love. ^-^

The bond between Ed and Al is really amazing… and heartwarming. Ed is really bent on protecting his younger brother, and Al wholly trusts Ed. So far, Al never blamed Ed for what happened to him. Of course they have some serious disagreements but the strong bond between them is their ultimate weapon against those who try to harm them.

And I thought animes were just for exaggerated stories and jaw-dropping fight scenes… ^-^