Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha was alright but it was not enough to convince me to compose accolades for it. But things are slightly different for its sequel, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s.

The reason why I watched Nanoha and Nanoha A’s is because I wanted to see what was the big deal about it. Having heard praises for them from my acquaintances, I have to say I was curious.

Alright, so since I was not exactly awestruck by Nanoha, I had my reserves about whether its sequel would be able to impress me. So people might say Nanoha A’s is great but it is simply my human nature to doubt things. Sometimes it is hard to truly evaluate the worth of an anime that has been viewed if one is sort of influenced by peers prior to watching a show. Resulting in a pre planned intention to join the bandwagon in jeering or screaming how great that show was. So it was with that mind set and my stubborn individualism, I was determined to watch Nanoha A’s without expecting it to be as good as others have claimed it to be.

After watching the credits and the epilogue of Nanoha A’s, I can only say ‘SHIT I HAVE BEEN CONVERTED’. A’s was a pail of sweat and blood and the misleading title of the show did not help in giving any hints of being so. ‘Lyrical’ feels too flowery to me.

I started my anime loving days as a stuck up dick who assumed that everything is supposed to be straight and serious. And that sure made me unable to appreciate a lot of shows. But at a certain point of time I snapped came to realise the truth and I am glad I did so because I would have just dismissed Nanoha A’s as being ridiculous.

Um so I am not going to write tl;dr stuff on Nanoha A’s because it IS Nanoha A’s. It is one of those shows, to me that is, that is all about being ‘hot blooded’. Apart from being a shocking trap of a Mahou Shoujo show, Nanoha A’s is also a story that is blatant and totally not poseur-ish for it does not try to attempt to present itself as being complex.

In fact, I could just publish this post with just one sentence- ‘NANOHA A’S IS AWESOMESAUCE’. Yes the caps are necessary.

Why do I think Nanoha A’s is AWESOMESAUCE? Well my heart would thump in excitement when friendship is forged and raised from the flames of battle. The foes of today will be the comrades of tomorrow, that is cool to me. And will we ever be tired of the classic notion of fighting for your beliefs and all that is precious? Well it worked well because of all the hot blooded cries and explosions. While watching Nanoha A’s, I would constantly check my pants to check whether I actually I am a male because damn those girls were more inspiring as manly role models than I am.

Having said that, I think the secret in Nanoha A’s ability to impress lies in its relatively short number of episodes. And because of that, Nanoha A’s was one heck of a blaze. Yet I cannot help but wonder how would the story have been if it was extended slightly to give Graham and his cat-girls more involvement near the end of the story. What Nanoha A’s lacked was a specific antagonist to direct our animosity towards, and that would have amplified the AWESOMESAUCE-ness of the show when the bad guy gets totally creamed by Nanoha’s magical beams of love and friendship. Also, the ending was rather anti climatic because the final boss was just a sitting duck, eating all that delicious damage from the final attacks of the heroes. I lol’ed when final boss gave an orgasmic cry of pleasure after Fate dealt a powerful blow. HAR I WAS BEING SUGGESTIVE.

Oh crap. This is supposed to be where I end but AWESOMESAUCE-ness is like a never ending echo that keeps rocking my soul. WHY ARE THE CARTRIDGE LOADING SCENES SO FRIGGIN AWESOME? WHY WAS I SHAKING WITH AWE WHEN NANOHA BROKE THE BOOK OF DARKNESS’ SHIELD AND PUMPED THREE CARTRIDGES INTO ONE ATTACK?

So much for trying to be reserved and calm while writing this post. I have been totally biased.

Side effects of watching Nanoha A’s includes a tendency to mimic Raising Heart’s voice in real life.

P.S I shall now move on to Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS.

[ID SOJOURNER]

ELLO. Sojourner is too reserved in expressing himself so I shall do him a favour. Suffice to say, the post should have been written like as follows!

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

NANOHA A’S = AWESOME

Yup.

]]> http://bluefoxalley.com/2008/07/03/nanoha-as-taught-me-the-value-of-friendship-and-courage/feed/ 8 The Sojourner http://bluefoxalley.com/2008/05/11/omg-omg-rocking-my-pants/ http://bluefoxalley.com/2008/05/11/omg-omg-rocking-my-pants/#comments Sat, 10 May 2008 17:24:57 +0000 The Sojourner http://bluefoxalley.wordpress.com/?p=276 Continue reading →]]>

I could have used a more presentable heading for this post but I believe my title effuses raw beauty and plain honesty. It more or else sums up how I am feeling. HURRGHH!!!!!

I mean, how long has it been since exaggeration has been that great? Gurren Lagann is blatant in stating that ‘hey fiction does not have to be that realistic’ and goes straight into the point which is to entertain the hell out of us. Up to this point, I will not bundle up a summary of what the first five episodes are about because the very first episode deserves a post for itself. How should I describe it? Like the thundering and sonorous sounding of a trumpet the first episode was; simply explosive.

 It only took 30 seconds for me to absolutely fall in love with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and the screenshots above speak for my cause.

It is amazing how the atmosphere of the show changes completely, from an adrenaline pumping battle scene to a dull setting where the protagonist Simon is introduced. I did not really want to ruin the story by checking out spoilers so I am assuming that the awesomesauce dude who was grinning confidently on that giant ship is actually Simon in the near future. That was my assumption and it generated interest in me to ponder over the huge contrast between the Simon of the future and the current Simon as told through the ongoing time line.

And here we are with the introduction of ZOMG Kamina. No time is wasted in showing his brazen personality huh. Now this is the point where the appetizer for story’s theme is served. We see Kamina convincing Simon and other members of his small gang to attempt to break the ceiling of the underground village only to be halted by their village chief.

Rare Drop

Oh Gainax.

 If this was Code Geass, there be yaoi pandering by now.

*Insert witty comment*

Suzaku! I hereby knight yooo…

Kong!

To me, the origins of Simon and Kamina is metaphorical in a way that living as a digger or living underground is somewhat connected to the notion of an life being unfulfilling. And Kamina’s desire to reach the surface is equivalent to us wanting to accomplish our ambitions. Alright, that is a typical theme revisited over and over again. Common is the message of never succumbing to adversity and chasing your dreams, yet I believe that greatness is accomplished by doing ordinary things with extraordinary results and that is what Gurren Lagann has achieved so far to me.

Sorry, no witty comment here as well. =(

It’s… it’s…

It’s the P-Meister! Barf.

The man whose manliness causes me to doubt my own manhood.

I wet myself during this scene.

I would have ran. This is what makes Gurren Lagann so awesome.

Huh? Woman?

How dare you! But at least you have a big gun.

Hurgh!!! Big bad guy arrives and the village is threatened with danger. Yoko arrives and the village is in for a treat.

Um, I will kinda try and hit its transmitter.

That is gonna immobilise the thing. Just gotta take it slow and steady.

I am coming up with a 69.69 percentage of hitting it.

All right chums, let’s do this!

I loled at Kamina.

When it comes to blogging about Gurren Lagann, I realise that there is a limit to how much I can type before breaking into senseless war cries that are the result of the infectious influence of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. So allow me to end here.

 Lagann.

Just simply starring at him can get me pregnant.

BELIEVE IN THE ME THAT BELIEVES IN YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Pinocchio

GARness rising.

Oh gosh. I actually shouted with them. Seriously.

Oh yeah!

HURRGHH!!!!!!!!

Shippu Jinrai Kyaku

‘Gone With The Wind’

Pierce the Earth, then the Heavens.

When I see clouds, I think of Shinkai Makoto but that is so wrong for this case.

So when is the next episode?

I am so ashamed of picture spamming. orz

P.S to P-Meister: STOP COMMENTING IN OLD POSTS IN OTHER BLOGS ALREADY!!

There are times when you would doubt the worth of your own pathetic existence and that is what I am experiencing at the moment.

Yes I missed it due to my unfortunate case of being a newly born anime fan and I feel ashamed to have done so. Oh and something tells me that I will be looking back at this moment and feel embarrassed about myself feeling embarrassed over not watching anime.  

I believe no introduction is needed for this show since everyone is like so acquainted with it. In fact, this post is not meant to share Gurren Lagann but a confession of disappointment in myself. But perhaps it is a blessing in disguise since I was not exactly equipped with the right mentality to appreciate shows like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann back then. So that could have been disastrous do you not think so?

Anyway I doubt I am in a composed state to write my thoughts in a decent way because the powah that is surging through my burning body is so great that I feel like I can do push-ups capable of pushing the Earth down. Pardon me but The Blue Fox Alley is going back in time to blog about Gurren Lagann as I proceed deeper into the story.

The P-Meister has yet to watch Gurren Lagann so he was subjected to some fervent promoting from my side. This is what he had to say… pfft the ignorant fool.

An excerpt of our conversation on msn:

 Sojourner: Gurren Lagann is awesomesauce to me.

P-Meister: But eventually it will fade away.

Sojourner: ? huh?

P-Meister: Even awesomesauce will fade away with the passing of time! But my Sakura-chan will never! LOL

Sojourner: Sakura of Cardcaptor? What does she have to do with Gurren Lagann?

P-Meister: Look at her! She has withstood the test of time and has been around for almost 13 years.

P-Meister: I mean… I have known Sakura-chan longer than my girlfriend.

Sojourner: But not as long as your mother. You have known her since she spat you out of her birth canel. Now let us get back to the topic of Gurren Lagann.

P-Meister: Hmm…. I might have known Sakura-chan when I was still a sperm but I shall not disclose the details behind that.

Sojourner: Sakutard. And Gurren Lagann is awesome.

 Anyway, I intend to blog more about Gurren Lagann in the future. :3

I would like to start this entry by stating that I am rather VERY MUCH into Macross Frontier. So great is my love for Macross F that I even attempted to translate the 2nd ending song of the show -Diamond Crevasse- (TV Cut) despite the fact that I am lacking in proficiency for the language because my weaboo journey in taking japanese classes had only began 5 months ago.

I am now going to attempt to figure out the lyrics by listening to the song so let’s see how far can a noob advance with only love and courage. 

The Sojourner’s Attempt 

kami sama ni koi o shiteta koro wa

konna wakare ga kuru towa omottenakatta yo

it’s long long good bye <—- The easiest part

sayonara sayonara… nando datte

jibun ni *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* kikasete

*BEEP* *BEEP* *desu desu desu!!!*

*BEEP* ga hoshii

anata ni deai, *BEEP* *Shinkuuuuuu miissiillllleeeee!!!111*

ai sureba koso, ai areba koso

*fumofu!* *fumofu!* *fumofu!*

hitori jya nai to *BEEP* planet.

So basically it is translated like this according to my 1337 skills

When I was so in love with god,

this seperation was never expected.

It’s long long good bye.

Over and over again, I say my farewells. (But I do not understand the datte part)

I tell myself *BEEP*

*gero gero gero gero gero gero*

I desire for *melonpan*

My encounter with you… *leeeeroooooyyyy*

If there is love, *urgh I just realised how illogical this next part was so it failed too*

*BEEP*

Not alone? *mikuru beam!* planet….

Oh for Frodo’s sake! I had spent 3 hours acting like an idiot by constantly rewinding the youtube video which I was using as reference to figure out the lyrics. So yes, go ahead. LAUGH at me. Also as you can see, I am pretty weak at ‘deciphering’ colloquial stuff and my vocabulary is far from being reasonable.

The Pre-Order for Sheryl Nome starring May’n-Don’t Be Late is out now, so grab them before they are gone.

And if you want REAL translations instead of the Fumblings of Sojourner™, refer to Atashi’s post on Diamond Crevasse.

This has been a rather pointless post and speaking of the Japanese language, I have to meet a few Japanese businessmen for lunch tomorrow. This sucks and I suck too.

I was minding my own business until a friend of mine accosted me and gave me the url to that youtube video. Apparently it is the music video of an upcoming movie directed by The Wachowski Brothers called Speed Racer. Guess what? This movie is an adaptation of an anime from the late 60s called Mahha GoGoGo.

Yes, my current knowledge on Mahha GoGoGo/Speed Racer is all currently based on THE Wikipedia. Oh the shame but it cannot be helped. Hey! Did someone just threw a tomato at me?

Basically the original anime/manga tells the story of a talented young racer who steps onto the international racing platform with his racing driving machine, the Mach 5. The P-Meister tells me that Speed Racer was really popular in America; is that true? Woots! I dodged a rotten egg thrown at me.

 Speed Racer’s Mach 5. Looks more like a Tripe-Car to me though.

I know I am being carried away with my imagination so let it stop right here. Has anyone seen MahhaGoGoGo/Speed Racer before? Did you enjoy it? Oh heck! I am going to check out the original anime right away! Go Sojourner Go!

P.S If the video does not work. I hope the direct url will work! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX8F3B4FkPg]