(Fourth post in the “12 days in anime” 2009 project led by Mega Megane Moé. Other participating blogs include Shameful Otaku Secret!, Continuing World, Fighting for Nippon!, We love maids., Bokutachi no BLOG, Anime Profiling, Desu ex Machina, Blogging about Anime, I Will Show You Terror in a Handful of Flans, Pontifus, Open Your Mind, ∑Xce7ion, Ganbatte Forever!, Mikotoism, wat u say, Memories of Eternity, Simplicity, Gabrielino Anime Club, UNMEI KAIHEN, Nigorimasen!, Mainichi Anime Yume and We Remember Love)

I already mentioned last year the fact that I like anime that screw with my head. The more I’m completely lost, trying to grasp the meaning behind all that is happening, the more I usually like the show. Not to say I can’t enjoy a simple show, that would be very far from the truth, but I need my regular fix of convoluted storytelling or symbolism.

It’s a good thing that I don’t actually scratch my head when I don’t understand something and ask myself questions, because I would probably be bald by now.

Of course, there is this other way some series make you “scratch your head”. The way that makes you go silent for a bit, because of the sheer “WTF” power they hold. In general, those two kind of head-scratching aren’t shared by the same anime. Or at least they don’t intend to, even though on a personal level, you can switch from the “OMG this is complex” to the “OMG this is dumb” if a show exceeds your tolerance.

But anyway. Let today’s reminiscence take us back to an anime that managed to merge the two kinds of head-scratching, and which had one of the weirdest first episodes ever.

An by that I mean Eden of the East.

Eden of the East and its first episode already appeared on several other lists of moments accross the anime blogosphere, but with good reasons.

The previews had hinted at a pure mystery/thriller series, on the whole quite serious. And as you sat in front of that infamous first episode, you were greeted by a young man running around Washington naked. And making fun of/using that state to boot ! I guess many viewers won’t be able to look at someone called Johnny anymore…

Yet, in between all the crazy antics of that young man (and the girl that follows him), the foundations of the plot are laid down. And at the end of the packed 25-or-something minutes, you want more. At least I wanted more, that’s for sure. But more of what ? When does Eden of the East exactly goes from being an “WTF” show to becoming a gripping story ?

I don’t really know when, but it sure does. For one, the plot is complex, yet easy to follow. I spent a lot of time pondering each protagonist’s intentions, but never did I struggle to remember who did what. Which is the good way to go for a “complex” plot. Then, the characters, without being masterpieces or the most rememberable ever, are very well developped. It didn’t take long for me to care about them, and it will be a delight to join them again in the conclusion of their adventures. Because Eden of the East is concluded by two movies that are supposed to bring an end to the plot which ends on a cliffhanger (of course, they want people to buy tickets for the movies, what were you thinking ?). The first movie aired at the end of last month, while the other has not been released yet.

I suppose that one Eden of the East’s strength is that it manages to stay focused on its characters and their “normal” side even when they’re thrown into events of epic proportions. It doesn’t let go of its lightheartedness even when “the plot thickens”. And that is something I really appreciated from this series. If you take Mai-HiME for instance, once it starts its descend into despair-land, it’s powerful, but the silly beginnings are but a thing of the past. The change is irreversible, and may seem a bit too overdramatic for some.

By mixing different “moods” throughout the whole series, Eden of the East becomes more than the sum of its parts. And it creates many memorable moments along the way. I could easily have chosen the epicness of Akira shooting down missiles, the silent understanding when he takes Saki with him on the boat, or half a dozen great scenes, but what the heck, I guess episode 1 just takes the cake with its completely over-the-top weirdness.

And I couldn’t leave without touching on the “technical part” of this show. The animation is top-notch, the backgrounds are detailled and the character designs are awesome. The ending also deserve a special mention, and I recommend everyone to watch it, if only for the excellent song by school food punishment, a band I can’t say enough good of. Also, it’s probably the first show where I hear native english speakers playing the parts of American characters in a Japanese anime. A nice touch, even if the voice actors aren’t particularly good.

Well, there you go, the 9th moment of 2009: the crazy start of very, very intriguing show.

(Third post in the “12 days in anime” 2009 project led by Mega Megane Moé. Other participating blogs include Shameful Otaku Secret!, Continuing World, Fighting for Nippon!, We love maids., Bokutachi no BLOG, Anime Profiling, Desu ex Machina, Blogging about Anime, I Will Show You Terror in a Handful of Flans, Pontifus, Open Your Mind, ∑Xce7ion, Ganbatte Forever!, Mikotoism, wat u say, Memories of Eternity, Simplicity, Gabrielino Anime Club, UNMEI KAIHEN, Nigorimasen!, Mainichi Anime Yume and We Remember Love)

Some anime series have a way to associate themselves very strongly with a particular season. On the other hand, some either span such a large timeframe that one isn’t predominant, or really don’t emphasize the months they take place in.

But some which do are best viewed in the same kind of weather they’re set in. Take Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~ as an example. This show was so much better when you watched it in the end of a sunny afternoon… I suppose it would have lost some of its appeal, at least for the first episodes if I waited until winter to watch it. And I’m so glad I didn’t.

But time and again, you’ll come accross a show that is so powerful in its evocation of a given season that it simply doesn’t matter. That you’re no matter what projected in the right mood, barely avoiding putting on shorts and sunglasses while opening wide your windows even if it’s freezing outside. Or getting your Moon Boots out of the closet while the scorching heat menaces to melt everything in the room.

One such show that brought summer into my November was Air.

The first half of the show was nice, with its funny moments, its fairly likeable characters. Its overabundance of girls, too; it is, after all, a visual novel adaptation.

But then episode 6 came, and then I knew Air had me more than I thought.

Granted, it used a cheap trick that is almost guaranteed to work on me : the crying-yet-smiling parting scene.

And as a sadistic torturer, it keeps doing it again and again, until another of those heart-rending endings that Japanese storytellers seem to be so fond of. It has become somewhat of a cliché these days, yet I wonder if I’ll ever be able to get over that nasty mechanism.

There is something so powerful about the mix of feelings this kind of scene evokes in the viewer’s heart that they often make even better tearjerkers than “pure sadeness” scenes. And it just hits me right in my weak spot.

What’s weird with this scene is that for the most part I wasn’t too fond of Minagi. Nor Michiru, for that matter. But episode 6 did a very good job fleshing them out, and slowly building up tension for what comes at the end. Even when you find out the truth about the two, and know for sure they probably will have to part, you think it won’t be so soon, just like that.

But it happens, and right there on that rooftop, as they exchange their last words, you’re in their shoes, in a way. You know it is meant to happen, that it’s the good way to go. Yet it feels sad all the same. And before you’ve decided to either if you’ll be crying or cheering them to look towards the future, the moment is gone. Their story is a thing of the past. And you move on.

This is another strange thing about Air. While it did shake me on several occasions, I usually recovered pretty fast, as opposed to some other shows who left we wrecked for sometimes several weeks (ef, I’m looking at you).

Truth is, if the scene this post is dedicated to is engraved into my memories, the same could be said for the ones related to Kanna’s mother and Kanna herself, and of course for the ending.

I don’t really know what to make of this. Maybe it goes to show how easily I am moved by this kind of scene, regardless of the characters. Maybe it’s because all those characters managed to earn a place in my mind… I don’t know, but all those scenes really proved that I did care more than I tought about what happened to all these characters, after all.

And then, after all is said and done, when all those characters go join all these moments in your mind, they’ll become happy memories. As Michiru says : “Even if you awaken from a dream, the memories will remain”. So partings, especially those that are the inevitable conclusion of a period of happiness, especially if they make you sad and feel miserable, should leave you with a smile on your face. Because goodbyes should not taint all those beautiful memories.

(Second post in the “12 days in anime” 2009 project led by Mega Megane Moé. Other participating blogs include Shameful Otaku Secret!, Continuing World, Fighting for Nippon!, We love maids., Bokutachi no BLOG, Anime Profiling, Desu ex Machina, Blogging about Anime, I Will Show You Terror in a Handful of Flans, Pontifus, Open Your Mind, ∑Xce7ion, Ganbatte Forever!, Mikotoism, wat u say, Memories of Eternity, Simplicity, Gabrielino Anime Club, UNMEI KAIHEN, Nigorimasen!, Mainichi Anime Yume and We Remember Love)

What makes you watch anime ?

Makes you read books ?

Watch movies ?

These questions share a lot of potential answers, yet if I had to make an educated guess, I’d say that most of them would be something akin to “to experience something else“. What this else consists of is up in the air though, as is the reason behind one’s urge to experience this “something else”. But amidst all the possibilities, I’m sure most of you experienced this one time when the movie/book/anime you’re enjoying aligns exactly with something you’d really want to see become real.

This eleventh moment in anime 2009 goes to that thrilling sensation, which was something .hack//SIGN made me feel.

I know, Monster, then .hack//SIGN ? … not really the newest animes, right ? Shows that many people urged me to watch to no end, and that I only got around to pick up this year. But oh well, what can I say, I’m always a bit late on everything. That said, I’m somewhat familiar to the .hack franchise, having played some of the games, and having seen .hack//Dusk, .hack//Liminality and parts of .hack//ROOTS. But above all, I was enraptured by the .hack//SIGN soundtracks since I first heard them. They’re still two of my most beloved soundtracks, and all in all the “.hack” period is for me the true peak of Yuki Kajiura’s talent. I’ve yet to hear something as good coming from her, nowadays it seems like she just rehashes her trademark gimmicks. But I digress, this post is not about Kajiura, nor is it about .hack//SIGN’s soundtracks.

It’s about how .hack//SIGN matches one of my deep wishes.

One of the main selling points of the whole .hack offering was The World. This fictionnal MMORPG is where most of the action takes place, and good grief does it sound like a great concept. True, at heart it is a “grinding” MMORPG, where your only goal is to go to a field full of monsters, kill those, then go into a dungeon with more monsters, at the end of which a treasure awaits you.

Not very exciting, is it ? And clearly not a game you could possibly think about using as the setting of several animes, games, mangas and whatnot. But take this barebone game canvas and make things go wrong. Then you’ve got yourself something much more interesting. A game when, more than achievements to unlock, or fierce beasts to slay, there are mysteries to unravel. Truths to be looked for. A game running on curiosity more than competition. And that, my friends, is one of my wildest dreams.

Time and again, I’ll try a MMORPG, but my reaction is pretty much always the same, and I usually can’t continue to play for more than a week or so. MMORPGs tend to be technical games, where the most incertainty you can get is the one brought by player versus player combat. Everything else is known, indexed in a list, analyzed… All in all, the only goal is to become more powerful, and that’s it.

What ? Fair enough, there is the social side of things, but still, in the end of the day it’s about banding together to defeat this ultra-hard boss, get these ultra-rare items and/or gain a lot of “fame” by doing so. And that kind of goals just don’t do it for me. I want a game to engage me. It either has to be an intellectual challenge, or provoke thought with its plot, or appeal to me aesthetically. If the “best way” to play is to replicate known sequences, it’s not much fun…

Now, let me entertain (or bore ?) you with what would be my kind of The World-like MMORGP…

First, it would be distributed. As in, not running on a central server, but with anyone being able to start their own server, and have it accessible through others. Each server would be centered around an entry point, be it a town, a stronghold, or whatever. From there, players would be able to access this server’s locations using something akin to .hack’s Chaos Gates. There would be a mechanism to generate pseudo-random locations, while others would be specifically crafted for different purposes.

To create such zones, server admins would have access to specific tools that would let them insert content into the game. It could be new NPCs, new items, new locations, or what have you. In addition, they would be capable of taking over any NPC and play them like a standard character. People would be able to take any role in the game, so that a pre-scripted NPC selling stuff would be a-priori indistinguishable from a real player or admin doing the same.

The main idea behind this would be to have admins and maybe other players with a special status capable of creating original storylines. Unexpected storylines. Possibilities would include everything from server-wide special events right down to throwing a particular group of players into a thrilling scenario crafted for them. What a thrill it would be to constantly be asking oneself “Is this normal ? Does everyone get this when they come here ? Am I the first one to behold this ?”

Well, of course it would pose a lot of very significant practical problems, but I’m fairly confident something close to this could be pulled off. I regularly toy with the idea of trying to start such a project myself, but the task is so daunting…

Well, anyway, enough rambling, I guess it’s pretty clear now how much .hack//SIGN resonated with this desire of mine. Even though the show is really slow-paced, it’s awesome combination of setting, art style (the design of the root town that lies on floating islands in the sky is just awesome) and mystery kept me going all the way through.

And the music of course didn’t hurt. Being so familiar with a score before seeing the show it’s meant to accompany is a weird feeling. You’ve already associated so many memories with the songs than when they’re used in a totally different context, you find yourself hearing it with new ears completely.

Plus, the plot itself isn’t bad either. It’s may not be the “deepest” anime around (do such a thing even exist ?) but it touches some topics that are very interesting, like identity and the lack thereof on the net or the escapism inherent to many online experiences.

And you, what is the best example of anime-meets-wish you’ve ever experienced ?

(First post in the “12 days in anime” 2009 project led by Mega Megane Moé. Other participating blogs include Shameful Otaku Secret!, Continuing World, Fighting for Nippon!, We love maids., Bokutachi no BLOG, Anime Profiling, Desu ex Machina, Blogging about Anime, I Will Show You Terror in a Handful of Flans, Pontifus, Open Your Mind, ∑Xce7ion, Ganbatte Forever!, Mikotoism, wat u say, Memories of Eternity, Simplicity, Gabrielino Anime Club, UNMEI KAIHEN, Nigorimasen!, Mainichi Anime Yume and We Remember Love)

What a year. What an incredible year. During the past twelve months, I’ve had the chance to experience so many new things that it’s almost overwhelming just thinking about it. It’s also my most anime-watching intensive year ever, which is part of why I really wanted to take this chance to remember some of its highlights.

And the first one of those twelve shining moments is one that takes me back to January. At the time, I was starting to work, and was using a mixture of busses and trains to get to my workplace. Each trip was about 2 hours long, so I had plenty of time to kill (4 hours is 1/6 of a day, that is reaaaally long). And what better way to spend those monstrous amounts of time than watching a long series like, say, Monster ?

And that’s just what I did, albeit in pretty bad conditions. I do recommend against trying to watch shows on a Nintendo DS… Anyway, I made do with what I had lying around, and despites being on a tiny screen, bouncing around while the bus was making its way to the station, or in the freezing cold while I waited for the train, Monster managed to deliver a gripping experience.

Yet I must admit something. I’ve not completed the show. I’m stuck at episode 28, and I really need to pick it up again. And I will, because I really want to see what happens to the good Dr. Tenma. In any case, what is this particular moment that made Monster worthy of this list ? It’s in episode 3, when one learns why Inspector Runge incessantly moves his fingers.

The guy is doing this kinda irritating movement because he’s “entering information in the disk in his head by typing on his keyboard”. Now this sounds silly, doesn’t it ? Yet it works. It’s one of the first examples of what makes Monster so great : being able to make everything seem at least plausible.

Now, of course, some elements of the plot are still far-fetched, but I really think my point stands. Up to where I’ve seen it, Monster pictures a cast and a world that are extremely believable and coherent. And it’s quite a feat with such a long and convoluted plot. A particularly impressive aspect of the show is the way Germany is depicted. Usually, when Japanese shows include Europe-inspired settings, the result is exaggerated, and full of clichés. But for Monster, a lot of effort was obviously made to make it all seem genuine. And that’s really a good thing. It also helps giving Monster a fresh feeling, what with not being set in the center of Tokyo and all…

On top of that, it doesn’t hurt that Monster has stellar production values. The animation is very fluid, the music really fits the show, and the art style is awesome, really reinforcing the “serious” tone of the anime. What’s weird is that I’ve never been fond of the art style of the manga, yet I find it excellent in the anime adaptation. Go figure. Special points for the ending sequence, done in a children book drawing style, and slowly changing as the episodes pass, reflecting the story in a symbolic way. Coupled with David Sylvian’s “For the love of life”, it really makes for a great conclusion for each episode.

But when all is said and done, the single thing that sets Monster apart is the excellence of its plot. It’s at heart a crime mystery/thriller, but each time you think you get it, another layer of explanations make you reconsider your assumptions. And even if the gist of the problem stays the same (for example, the “bad guy” is known almost right from the start), the new insight you gain as the show progress get you ever more involved.

It makes you ever more worried for Dr. Tenma as you learn that what he’s gotten into is really more than meets the eye. And this time the main protagonist isn’t a total badass ready to crush every opposing force. An episode has him learning how to fire a gun, something rarely seen in anime (or movies, or books, even). He’s a good guy, in the truest sense of the term, but he’s not a hero.

And maybe that’s the true reason Monster clicks with me ?

Because I’d want to react the same way as he does if I were in his shoes ?

Who knows…

So, it’s this time of the year again, heh ? That time when I feel compelled to write something here. What for, I don’t know. Maybe I subconsciously want to leave a mark on a small corner of the web, maybe it’s simply for the satisfaction you get by clicking that “publish” button. Or maybe because it’s winter. The heavy clouds, the warmth of my room, the night falling early, the year slowly coming to an end…

Or, you know, it may just be because I love the “12 moments in anime” concept. As last year (though I only did five), I’m going to participate to this challenge of sorts, launched by CCY of Mega Megane Moe two years ago. For those who didn’t bother checking the link, the idea is to use the twelve days preceding Christmas to sit back and fondly reminisce about what were the highlights of the anime you watched this year. And of course write about it ! So, each day, starting tomorrow, I’m going to tell you which moments defined my anime-watching year. What made me cringe, cry, hold my breath, scratch my head, laugh, feel sympathy or othewise moved me. Hopefully, you’ll either recall those moments if you are an anime fan yourself, or at least see what anime can do, without dismissing it as something that is meant “for children only” as many people around me tend to do.

This year, I’ve been planning this series of posts a lot better than the last time(1), and if you go back and look at some of the posts that were written then, you’ll see that they already were pretty long. Yet I think I’ve consumed more anime this year than any year before, so not only was choosing the moments harder, but the resulting posts will probably be even longer…

So, be sure to come back next week, alright ? I have so many stories I want you to hear, and Christmas is already drawing near…

(1) Not only that, I’ve been eagerly wanting to write them. The urge was strong enough as to get me to write this silly “foreshadowing” little drabble. Forgive me, it was cheesy, I know.

Somewhere, out of sight, left undisturbed for many days, a machine lays. No one really knew what made it work, and when its cogs grinded to a halt, no one knew how to fix it. It has been months since it stopped moving, and now it seems as if it was completely abandoned there to rust. Slowly, it is becoming a part of the scenery, a mere reminder that once new things were created there.

But some of those who watched over the machinery knew better than the rest. They knew it wasn’t the first time it fell asleep, standing perfectly still – on the surface.

Deep in the bowels of the dormant machine, ambers from a fire gone out were still glowing. They were almost gone, but they remained. And as winter came, they felt the wind pick up, blowing through the maze of pipes and conducts, bringing new energy to the remains of the fire.

And slowly, but steadily, a new fire was born. On the outside, nothing was happening, but in the innermost parts of the metal beast, life was brought back. Wheels were turning, pistons were set into motion, gears were spinning. The machine was awakening from its slumber.

Soon enough, faint clicks would be heard in the most silent hours of nights, then a steady low humming noise, and little by little all the parts of the machine would start functioning again. And some were aware of that. They had seen it happen before, and although they didn’t know why it was that way, they knew that, this year again, the big machine would come back to life.

They were right.

Deep in the bowels of the dormant machine, cogs were already turning.

Here we go again, after some big internet woes… I’ll try to catch up but I’m not sure I’ll be able to. Just pretend this is a differed broadcast 😉

The third full day was another day where every minute was put to good use. We started to grab something to eat at the nearby “combini” (those are small convenience stores found everywhere that stay open 24 hours a day) on our way to Hakata station, we met there with, you guessed it, another subset of our friends from Fukuoka. Ayano and Rei were to take us to Dazaifu, a smaller town in the vicinity of Fukuoka, where there’s a temple and one of Japan’s National Museums.

On our way, we met with Mayu and yet another one of the students of the University of Fukuoka we knew, Yuki. When the six of us reached Dazaifu, we started off the day’s activities by walking through a reconstituted traditional street leading to the shrine. Everywhere, there were shops selling almost everything : things to eat, pop posters, traditionnal gifts, dancing cats, you name it.

It’s fake, yet it still looks pretty. And you should have seen those plush cats dancing…

At the end of that road was a bronze cow that seemed like a popular photo spot. Rei told us it was because ‘cows bring good fortune’. We refrained to say that cows aren’t that special, seeing how they spend their time chewing on grass watching train pass by, and as they wanted us to pose while touching this statue, we did just that. Of course having to touch a piece of metal that stays under a blazing sun… Well you get the idea.

The cow is somewhere behind Yuki, Mayu, Pascale, Ayano, me and Miki. Other clue : it’s in front of Rei, who is the one taking the picture.

We then continued through a bridge – on which you must not look over your shoulder if you don’t want to bring bad luck upon your unfortunate person. Then we followed the ritual that asks that you wash your hands before entering the shrine befor, well, entering the shrine itself.

There we prayed after making a small offering, and had our horoscope read. Turns out that Pascale’s future is brighter than mine… Well, she IS going to live the good life when she’ll come back at Fukuoka, so I guess it’s at least partly true. After this pause at the temple, we continued towards the National Museum. The building itself is huge and really impressive, but the exposition itself is… kinda hard to enjoy if you’re not Japanese yourself seeing how little english text there is.

Speaking of which, Japan is a very curious place. In most countries, when you go to popular tourist destinations, you find the placed filled with people from all over, especially Japanese people taking a lot of pictures. But here, it’s even worse. The place was filled with Japanese, and Pascale and I were the only westerners. How do they manage that ? Do they have tourist fabrication facilities or something ?

The museum was filled with works of art from Japan’s history, and some of the paintings from the Edo area were really beautiful, but I must say that most of the objects displayed weren’t that much interesting.

Anyway, after concluding the visit, stopped to eat a well-deserved ice cream of the same kind we ate the previous day, and of which I know remember the name : it’s called a kakigori. And it was still incredible. Honestly, that thing is just too refreshing.

So, this is it. Finally, after all those years wanting to go, I’m finally – with my sister of course, you know how inseparable we are – in Japan.

I’ll try to blog about our trip here for the next three weeks, and you see I’m already on the right track : a single post for the first two-and-a-half days. But nevermind, you’ll see WHY this is. That is, if you decide to continue reading. What a way to tease you, huh ?

Fukuoka has streets. This is one of them.

Day 0 -[Travellin’]-
The first “day” was of course dedicated to us getting to Japan, which sounds like a pretty good way to start off a trip to Japan. So after saying good-bye to our parents at Zaventem, in Brussels, we flew all the way to… Francfort. In that faraway german land, we discovered that yes, airport CAN be big. Or at least very big along one direction. And of course when that’s the case you land at one side and need to go exactly at the farthest point of it. But without fear, we went to find Gate 49, where we would be boarding our next plane. There we felt like in the first Harry Potter, you know that bit where he has to find the 9 3/4th platform ? Well it was just like that. Gate 48 ? Check. Gate 50 ? Check. Gate 49 ? Of course not.

But we were saved by a helpful employee that saw we were puzzled and came to help us, because you know, he was, like, helpful. And that’s what helpful people do, they help. Turns out we were looking for the wrong gate, of course. Door 46 was more like it. Maybe the little 6 in our head was badly fixed and fell, like in those movies where someone swings a hotel room’s door and the numbers turn around, hanging by only one nail.

Then it was mostly “smooth sailing”, except for little details like the on-board movies : we had to suffer through Dragon Ball Evolution (though another one, Monster vs. Aliens, was pretty funny). And the meals. The “Japanese” meals.

You know, I’m not even sure everything on that plate was even food.

I’ll let you know : that was bad. As in REALLY bad. The meat was tolerable, but everything else was really not good. So far, my fears of Japanese food seemed justified. But the next day would be the real test… How did it go ? You’ll have to wait for the next episode to know that. Hang in there, it’s a whole title away !

Day 1 -[First Train Home]-

After a very short night, and a glorious, glorious sunrise (if you get the chance, try listening to some post-rock, or songs like “Still Alive” or “City of Blinding Lights” as you’re watching the sun come up above the clouds, it’s mesmerizing), we’re finally coming to our destination. Japan !

Our first view of Japan. Look at this mountaintop : it’s just so typical !

After landing in Narita, we had to face our first real challenge. The customs. Thing is, Pascale has a student visa, but we learned in the plane that those were incompatible with the “Japan Rail Pass”, the 300-euros ticket we were to use for our two first weeks. So we were a bit stressed out. But amazingly, the custom officer agreed to let Pascale through not on her student visa, but as a regular tourist ! Awesome first contact, and everything was to continue this way. We got our seats in the shinkansen (the japanese high-speed train) reserved (nice surprise again, we thought we would have to try and get a non-reserved seat, in a packed train it often means no seat at all), and detailled instruction where to go when. Easy enough, isn’t it ?

But no. We managed to miss our correspondance in Tokyo… We were penniless – or rather yenless – so we had to find some money. Easy, just go to a post office, they have international withdrawal machines that accept Maestro cards. Guess what ? It turns out it isn’t the case. And with the time it took me to go look for one of those post offices near Shinagawa station and see that our cards wouldn’t work, we were late. And you cannot count on Japanese trains to be late. They’re NEVER EVER late, it’s almost frightening when you’re used to the Belgian way of handling train schedules – that is to say don’t handle anything, at least trains are running.

But we took the next shinkansen, again with reserved seats – I LOVE those rail passes. Then it was time for another 6.5 hours of train, and we had a glimpse of Japan’s panoramas. A funny thing is the way the cities look ‘chaotic’. The buildings seem arranged in no particular order and you get as many colors as there are houses. And with the afternoon coming to an end, we arrived at Hakata Station, Fukuoka.

And then there was the heat. And its friend, humidity. We were told Japanese summers were hot, but gosh, it’s incredible. Although the sun had set when we arrived, it was still somewhere near 30°C when we stepped out of the train. But inside the station, it was pretty cool. What was also pretty cool (oh my, lame pun) was the fact that despite us being near an hour late, there we met some of our Japanese friends : Ayumi and Ayu were waiting for us there, and we were so happy to see them again ! And two other joined us before we got to the exit of the station. Daiki and Misa, the two main ‘organisators’ of our next days were there too. It was a very very nice moment, meeting them all back after all those months.

And they even went as far as taking us to our hotel. Not having to concentrate on finding the way, we had the chance to let the atmosphere sink in. It was all we anticipated, and then some. The big advertising screens, the music, the people, the school uniforms, the vending machines, the salarymen… Sounds cliché, but seeing the real deal really was something. Waiting for us at the hotel was our second challenge. Remember how we couldn’t withdraw money earlier ? Well we still had none, we were hungry, and more importantly we had a room to pay… But once again, we were pleasantly surprised when the owner told us we could pay the next morning. Really, Japanese people are nice. Though we didn’t have much time to ponder about that, because we had to be taken to our first real Japanese meal. And, boy, was I anxious…

Good food, which is usually served between tasty food and succulent food.

Good first surprise: another friend, Ikue, was there! Second one : it was a really beautiful place, complete with a low table (there was a hole underneath though, so it was like sitting on a bench. And third, BIG one : I liked almost every single thing I ate. And that is saying a lot. Usually, I dislike pretty much everything that’s even remotely ‘refined’. But there, in that über-long-ten-thousand-courses meal, so many good things. I even loved the shashimi and the suchi (me ? RAW FOOD ? Raw fish, even ? No way !). And I wouldn’t put everything on account of the psychological effect. It was extremely fresh, and just plain delicious. And copious. And funny : seeing Pascale break a sushi in two just after saying she was afraid she would, and even as she’s usually the most gifted with chopsticks in the family was fun. 😉 Also, even if it was into a very very beautiful restaurant, and even as we ate a whole lot of many different stuff, it was still pretty cheap, amazing ! We also received awesome gifts : Pascale got a yukata (summer kimono), and I got the man version. We were left speecheless by those presents. It was just too nice.

From left to right : Ikue, Ayumi, yours truly, Daiki, Misa

And then we though we would get to sleep. But they had other plan, namely taking us to a ‘purikura’, some kind of Japanese photo booth that is design to make your eyes melt and break your sanity with some kind of supposedly ‘cute’ music played to loud. Also it’s kitsch. Wait, no, not only kitsch. JAPANESE KITSCH.

I swear I was slowly but surely becoming insane in there.

The idea behind those ugly things is that you take your friends, you cram yourselves into the photo booth, and make a bunch of photographs. Then you get the chance to edit and write stuff on the pictures, which are heavily-processed shoots trying – no kidding – to make your eyelashes look longer and stuff. Then if you’re a Japanese with a cell phone (that is to say everyone) you get the pictures sent to you via infrared, and you get a printout of the pictures on adhesive paper. So even though every bit of the experience is a threat to your senses, you’re left with some really nice mementos.

So after this little foray into frantic grounds, we finally got to crash into our (small, but nice) room and sleep… Pfew, what a day…

Day 2 -[Just Cruisin’]-

The second day started off with us finally finding a way to get some cash (thank you credit card) and then wander around for a breakfast. We went into a Starbucks, and I assure you, they will never see me take another of their ‘asparagus-salmon rolls’. We went with the day’s current breakfast option, but god it was awful. Even for Pascale… After this brief bad experience, we went around looking for an adapter for our electric thingies. Because, of course we bought not one, but two before leaving, and they work great, except for the computer… So we entered a really big, BIG electronic store : Yodobashi Camera.

And it was again some kind of maddening experience. A very vicious thing is the background music. At times you can’t hear it well, but it’s there. And the playlist consists of only one song : the store’s theme song. That is again something I’ve never seen before. I mean, a whole song about a store ? Played continuously ?

But we found what we needed and escaped before our minds were broken. We forgot to take some pictures though, so we’ll probably need to go there again to let the world see (and yes, it’s really impressive…).

We then met again with Daiki and Misa (and Mayu, it’s cool, in the end we’ll be seeing almost everyone !) that rented a car to take us around to… do stuff, basically. We didn’t knew the program beforehand, so we let them guide us first through the countryside until we got to a waterfall. And there, fun was to be had !

Chifumi, Misa, Pascale, Mayu and Daiki and a boy and a guy having fun at the waterfall.

The fun was not only made up of striking poses in front of a camera, putting our feet in the water or debating wheter cicadas or the waterfall made the loudest sound though. It was also in eating nagashi somen. Did your mother tell you it was bad to play with your food ? Well, here it’s not, and it’s awesome ! Basically, nagashi somen is noodles and some sort of soup to give them some more taste. But that wouldn’t be very fun, so you have to stand next to a long bamboo cut in half in which water is flowing. Then you put the noodles at the top, and they slide along until someone catches them with his or her chopsticks. It sound weird and/or silly, but believe me it’s really fun. And need I say it’s good too ?

Man I’d love to try that with bolognese and spagghetti. Just how messy would it get ?

We also tasted some snacks, like fish-on-a-stick, or yakitoris. All in all, this was again very good, honestly it was still surprising. After that, we went to a beach, near a little shrine and a big cliff.

Don’t be fooled, the cliff was actually much taller than Pascale.

Then, because one beach isn’t enough, we went to another one, and ate something that I forgot the name of, but was refreshing as hell : it’s some piled ice with fruit juice. Oishiiii !!

Seems like Japanese people love to build impressive-looking stuff on beaches, but no one really knows why…

Then it was time to get back to Fukuoka, and get dressed for the evening. Because we couldn’t let our new yukatas in their boxes, they planned a ‘dressed-up’ supper. At first we were a little wary of putting them on, but once we took the plunge it was fun. Pascale had shoes that were too small, so her feet hurt, and I thought I had forgotten my sandals, so I was wearing my ugly baskets (and no, that doesn’t work well, and yes, Pascale found them sandals the very moment we got back to our room). But as we saw that we weren’t looking like dumb tourists trying to ‘play Japanese’, it was good fun. Not to mention that yukatas are very very beautiful attires (for girls that is, the men ones are more plain).

Misa, me, Pascale, Ryo and Daiki all dressed up. And see, I told you those shoes didn’t work well with the rest 😀

It was another fun supper, with some more friends joining us (Keiko and Ryo, to cite them) and also a nice french friend of Keiko ! It was interesting for Pascale to get some advices for when she’ll come back here. It was also another hundreds-of-plates supper, and it was again incredibly good. Especially the udon (a kind of noodles, a little like ramen). My legs weren’t having much fun though, sleeping there under the low table the whole time, lazy bunch…

I must also say I was a little embarassed, because each time I had emptied something, Ryo, whom I was sitting next to, would take it and serve me something else. As an end result, I think I only filled my plate once or twice :s

And after that, guess what ? Time for purikura again. Fortunately, the booth they chose had a music that was a little less horrifying, and again we’ve got some pretty fun mementos.

Our merry group : (up) Pascale, Daiki looking cool, Jérome trying to make bunny ears to Mayu or something, Keiko (down) me who is leaning to the right for no particular reason, Mayu who does it more though, Misa and Ryo. Also features a pretty common elevator door.

So that was it, we’re ready for what’s to come (I think) : tomorrow we’re going to a big (probably more huge than big though) mall, then to Dazaifu, a town near Fukuoka. Thanks for putting up with this mega-post and choosing to ride with us !

Yes, I confess, that last sentence was a lame way to introduce this picture. But I’m doing what I can 😀

Finding good music is always a pleasant experience. Finding good music for free is even more awesome. Recently, I got lucky and stumbled upon a fabulous record, “In today already walks tomorrow”, by the band sleepmakeswaves, distributed on the net by the Lost Children netlabel.

Hailing from Sydney, Australia, the four guys play a very cinematic kind of post-rock, including sweeping strings and ambient electronic elements as well as very heavy guitars. And whereas many newer post-rock bands simply recycle ideas from the genre’s big names (think MONO, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, …), sleepmakeswaves manages to create something very original. With a strong emphasis on melody, the tracks never seem to drag on for too long, waiting for a climax that comes too late. Instead, with relatively short songs – the longest on the E.P. is only 8 minutes long -, the band keeps things fresh and interesting, and strike an excellent balance between pure beauty, epic sections, and heavy rhythms. That said, sleepmakeswaves never finds themselves on the aggressive side of things, even during the most intense parts of their songs.

Anyway, I don’t think I can really do them justice only by speaking of their music, so I’ll let you taste it for yourselves. Don’t hesitate to tell me what you think of it in the comments !

sleepmakeswaves Myspace
Download the E.P. here.

What the hell ?

Out of all the games I’m currently playing, I managed to finish that one first ? Ah well, guess it was the nostalgia factor. I was a fan of Sonic once, especially of Sonic Chaos on the Sega Master System. That said, I only managed to complete the main mode once, with Sonic, without any Chaos Emerald. And I’m not going to try and get them, it would be too hard, and the game isn’t THAT good. It’s fun, but nothing more. Fun and fast, to be fair.

So I won’t praise it using a plethora of superlatives like I’ll probably do with Persona 4 which I should complete soon. That one is going to be a much longer post…

Well then, farewell for now !