Que Sera Sera..

Went to rectify my IC number on the offer letter plus submit in my appeal letter today. And this is what happened when I submitted in the appeal letter.

Me (M): Hello tuan, saya nak hantar surat rayuan saya pada hari ini.
Officer (O): Ok boleh. Tapi, rasanya susah nak dapat tau.
M: Yeah. Erm, ok, tapi saya rasa cuba kot.
O: (opens letter and reads it) Kenapa tak nak ke Sabah?
M: Erm, kerana jauh dan ibubapa saya sudah tua..
O: Oh ok... Kamu ada berapa adik beradik ya?
M: Termasuk saya, terdapat lima, tuan.
O: Oh begitu, di mana mereka semua ya?
M: Kakak saya bekerja di KL, yang lain overseas belajar.
O: Kakak kamu di KL boleh jaga ibubapa kan?
M: ..... (mistake number 1)
M: Tapi, tentu ibubapa saya rindu saya kan?
O: Kamu graduate kat mana?
M: University of Strathclyde tuan.
O: Itu di luar negara kan? Berapa lama kamu di sana?
M: Erm... satu tahun tuan.
O: Sama seperti pergi ke Sabah la... Itu kan oversea juga. (laughs)
M: (laughs).... (mistake number 2)
O: Sebenarnya, saya tak nak discourage kamu atau apa tapi ada ramai yang juga appeal tak nak ke Sabah dan sekarang ada kekosongan di sana. Jadi unless ada 3 solid reasons, susah nak dapat appeal tau.
M: 3 sebab? Apa itu?
O: Berkahwin, samada kamu ada masalah kesihatan atau ibubapa kamu ada masalah kesihatan.
M: Oh..
O: Sekarang ada yang appeal yang mempunyai clinical depression, ada pula yang dari keluarga ibu tunggal (must be Soo Fen I think), ada yang ibu atau ayah mengalami kanser, jadi kalau dibandingkan, kes kamu susah sikit la.
M: .... Erm.. Tak apa la. Saya rasa tengok macam mana nanti... Terima kasih ya atas masa tuan.
O: Ok.. Anyway, good luck ya.
M: Terima kasih.

And that's why you should just post in your appeal letter. But the officer was very nice though. It's just that it'll be quite hard to get an appeal. Sigh. Nvm, there's one more month left.

To Go or Not To Go...

That is the question.

Worries

Papa has not been feeling well these past few days. He looks tired and haggard most of the time and complains of stomachache and right sided chest pain which he self-diagnosed (although he's not a healthcare professional!) as a muscle strain... Plus he refuses point blank to see the doctor (and I'm certainly not qualified or confident of recommending any treatment... I'm not a doctor!)

It seems that he's been overworking. Are our finances in any way compromised? Hmm.. Plus I'm not working as yet and hence not generating any income... in fact I'm adding to the household expenditure... Sigh. I know I'm going to regret saying this but... I need to work soon.

5 Centimeters Per Second

..... one more time, one more chance...

“5 centimeters per second… is the velocity of the sakura petals falling from the trees… I wonder, if you’ll be there watching them fall with me next year?”

“I will, I promise.”

“Even if I were to send you messages everyday, our hearts will not be any centimeter closer, as you always seem so far away..”

5 centimeters per second is a Japanese anime movie, which is normally not something that I will normally look for when I search for anime as it doesn’t fit any of my “usual” genres. By usual I mean it is not a shounen-y anime with heroes battling villains, nor does it fit into the romantic comedy genre.

In fact, it is a poignant romantic drama with underlying tones of melancholy and loads of nostalgia.

It is certainly no comedy as it is just so… earnest. There were monologues by the main characters throughout the anime which gave deep insight into the characters’ feelings in the anime. Another plus point was that the female characters did not have the squeakily high and irritating voices so common in romance anime. The piano background music in the anime also enhances the mood of the anime, making it one of the most memorable ones, despite being so short.

The animation was also very well done, although the only complaint that I may have is that the characters kinda look similar. But staying true to its Japanese roots, all the characters have dark brown hair and eyes, which is an oddity in the world of anime and manga. The background and landscape were also beautifully designed with breathtaking views and colours.

This anime is broken into three parts and centres around the main protagonist Tohno. It depicts love in a wholly realistic manner, with the beauty and poignancy of first love as well as the difficulties of long distance relationships; unrequited love, understanding and acceptance, as well as the inability to let the past go and the angst when one’s motivation is gone. It is also rather interesting in a sense as it focuses a lot on the male’s point of view yet at the same time did not demasculinize the male lead too much by making him to sappy as some shoujos are wont to do.

The title of this movie as well as the sakura petals are reminiscent of the slowness of life and how people often start together but slowly drift into their separate ways

Below is the entire summary of the anime, so read no further if you do not want any spoilers.

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Young Tohno and Akira amidst the falling cherry blossoms.

The first part introduces Tohno, who as a result of his parents’ jobs, is constantly moving from one place to another. He met a girl Akira, who also suffers from the same circumstances. In addition, due to their frail physiques, neither are very sports-inclined and hence spend most of their time together in the library, borrowing the same books. They’ve managed to establish a good friendship, that not even bullies who enjoy teasing them together as a couple (as children and some adults are wont to do!) can destroy such a beautiful relationship. Both enjoy talking to each other and realize that they are both on the same wavelength. One day, whilst watching sakura petals fall down in the springtime, Tohno promised to watch them every year with Akira. Deep down, both Tohno and Akira probably realize that there is something going on.

However, Akira was due to move again after elementary school. Both of them were devastated. But what can they do as they were merely children, not able to voice out what they feel.

Half a year after the move, Akira began writing to Tohno (this was before the time of e-mail and handphones… snail mail!). Tohno responded eagerly, and hence began their correspondence. Before they knew it, the year has come to a close and it was almost spring time again. This time, Tohno was due to move even further away, which makes train visitations between him and Akira impossible. However, he made a plan to see Akira and the sakura petals once more before he moves and made the necessary arrangements. Akira was to meet him at her station at 7.00pm.

Tohno was optimistic, however, it began snowing heavily. As a result, his train and all the subsequent interchanges he had to make (5 in total!) were delayed due to the snow. His final train was also delayed for almost 2 hours due to wheel friction. Desperation, despair, hurt, hunger… At this moment, Tohno’s feelings were so palpable. Even the viewer sympathises for who has not experienced before, the feeling of letting a loved one down?

The weather was becoming progressively colder such that, despite his heavy heart, Tohno wishes that Akira did not wait for him any more and would just return home.

When Tohno arrived at the station much later than anticipated, to his utter joy, Akira was sitting there, patiently waiting, with a bento in hand to welcome him. They enjoyed catching up with each other and finally realized the depth of feelings between both. However, neither dare to vocalize those three words as yet, even though they came tantalizingly close to do so, just prior to Tohno’s departure the next day. And hence ends the first part.

The second part centres around Tohno in high school, and his classmate Sumita who has a crush on him because he always seems different. Tohno, who moved here (probably Okinawa as it was surrounded by the sea), is now into archery whereas Sumita was determined to be able to “ride the waves”, which she constantly fails at currently.

As a result of their after school activities, they both return home together at the same time on their separate motorcycles everyday. Or rather, it’s Sumita who waits until Tohno is ready to depart at their school’s parking lot so that they can return together.

On their way home, they’ll stop at the same convenience store where Tohno will always purchase the same drink and wait for Sumita who has a problem deciding, outside.

Often she would see him messaging someone on his handphone eagerly, though he’ll always stop when she’s around.

Time constantly passes, and it was time for them to decide on their future. However, Sumita is in a limbo as she couldn’t decide on what to do, couldn’t surf at the moment and is still to act on her feelings for Tohno.

However, she realized herself that these are shortcomings that must be overcome immediately. And hence, she set to conquer the waves, which she finally managed to, thanks to iron clad determination as high school days were coming to an end.

Teenage Tohno and Sumita.

Giddy with her victory, she decided to confess to Tohno on that very day. However, although opportunities were given, she found that she just couldn’t, as she finally realized that part of Tohno’s appeal was that he always seem so far away, and that his heart always seem to be elsewhere. Finally understanding him, she realized that a confession would be futile and would in fact hamper her friendship, thus, she desisted on letting him know her feelings.

It was also revealed that Tohno has been composing messages on his phone all this while, but not sending them.

Teenage Tohno and Akira.

And hence ends part two.

Part three begins with both Tohno and Akira in the working force. The setting was once again Tokyo. Both of them had a similar dream of their thirteen year old selves once again, which triggers memories and melancholy for both. This made Akira message Tohno once again, to let him know of her impending marriage. She also tried to call him but couldn’t get through as he never answers her calls. However, Tohno was devastated and had lost his motivation and his feelings which had sustained him over the period of time. The anime ends with both of them passing each other at a railway crossing, however as they reached their opposite destinations, both turned to look at each other. Unfortunately, passing trains hindered their view, and when the crossing was clear, Akira was gone.

Adult Tohno and Akira passing each other at the railway crossing.

If you enjoy this movie you might also like other works from Makoto Shirai who is the author and director of this movie such as Voice of A Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days. Both look very nice as they incorporate romance into science fiction. However, as they sound sad, I think I'll KIV these two, to let my heart recover, haha.

Note: The music on my blog has been replaced with the OST from this movie which I hope will set the mood and interest to watch this gem of a piece.

The Laws of Anime

I've been watching so much anime nowadays (Kure-nai, Ryoko Case Files, Lovely Complex, Tokko, Library Wars, Kare Kano, Code Geass plus the old staples of Bleach and Naruto, to name a few) that I've actually forgotten half of what I watched. Old age = poor memory I guess. So, I was supposed to write a review for each of the anime I watched to solidify the fact, however, laziness and sluggishness got into the way that I've ended up with lots of half-assed drafts, sigh. However, I came across this cute cute posting bout anime in general, that I felt must be shared with all other anime lovers, if just for the lulz. So, let me present to you, the Laws of Anime!!

Originally compiled and edited by Darrin Bright and Ryan Shellito

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Law of Metaphysical Irregularity

The normal laws of physics do not apply.

Law of Differentiated Gravitation

Whenever someone or something jumps, is thrown, or otherwise is rendered airborn, gravity is reduced by a factor of 4.

Law of Sonic Amplification, First Law of Anime Acoustics

In space, loud sounds, like explosions, are even louder because there is no air to get in the way.

Law of Constant Thrust, First Law of Anime Motion

In space, constant thrust equals constant velocity.

Law of Mechanical Mobility, Second Law of Anime Motion

The larger a mechanical device is, the faster it moves. Armored Mecha are the fastest objects known to human science.

Law of Temporal Variability

Time is not a constant. Time stops for the hero whenever he does something 'cool' or 'impressive'. Time slows down when friends and lovers are being killed and speeds up whenever there is a fight.

First Law of Temporal Mortality

'Good Guys' and 'Bad Guys' both die in one of two ways. Either so quick they don't even see it coming, OR it's a long drawn out affair where the character gains much insight to the workings of society, human existence or why the toast always lands butter side down.

Second Law of Temporal Mortality

It takes some time for bad guys to die... regardless of physical damage. Even when the 'Bad Guys' are killed so quickly they didn't even see it coming, it takes them a while to realize they are dead. This is attributed to the belief that being evil damages the Reality Lobe of the brain.

Law of Dramatic Emphasis

Scenes involving extreme amounts of action are depicted with either still-frames or black screens with a slash of bright color (usually red or white).

Law of Dramatic Multiplicity

Scenes that only happen once, for instance, a 'Good Guy' kicks the 'Bad Guy' in the face, are seen at least 3 times from 3 different angles.

Law of Inherent Combustability

Everything explodes. Everything.

• First Corollary - Anything that explodes bulges first.

• Second Corollary - Large cities are the most explosive substances known to human science. Tokyo in particular seems to be the most unstable of these cities, sometimes referred to as "The Matchstick City".

Law of Phlogistatic Emission

Nearly all things emit light from fatal wounds.

Law of Energetic Emission

There is alway an energy build up (commonly referred to as an energy 'bulge') before Mecha or space craft weapons fire. Because of the explosive qualities of weapons, it is believed that this is related to the Law of Inherent Combustability.

Law of Inverse Lethal Magnitude

The destructive potential of a weapon is inversly proportional to its size.

• First Corollary - Small and cute will always overcome big and ugly. Also know as the A-Ko phenomenon.

Law of Inexhaustability

No one *EVER* runs out of ammunition. That is of course unless they are cornered, out-numbered, out-classed, and unconscious.

Law of Inverse Accuracy

The accuracy of a 'Good Guy' when operating any form of fire-arm increases as the difficulty of the shot increases. The accuracy of the 'Bad Guys' when operating fire-arms decreases when the difficulty of the shot decreases. (Also known as the Stormtrooper Effect)

Example: A 'Good Guy' in a drunken stupor being held upside down from a moving vehicle will always hit, and several battalions of 'Bad Guys' firing on a 'Good Guy' standing alone in the middle of an open field will always miss.

• First Corollary - The more 'Bad Guys' there are, the less likely they will hit anyone or do any real damage.

• Second Corollary - Whenever a 'Good Guy' is faced with insurmountable odds, the 'Bad Guys' line up in neat rows, allowing the hero to take them all out with a single burst of automatic fire and then escape.

• Third Corollary - Whenever a 'Good Guy' is actually hit by enemy fire, it is in a designated 'Good Guy Area', usually a flesh wound in the shoulder or arm, which restricts the 'Good Guy' from doing anything more strenuous than driving, firing weaponry, using melee weapons, operating heavy machinery, or doing complex martial arts maneuvres.

Law of Transient Romantic Unreliability

Minmei is a bimbo.

Law of Hemoglobin Capacity

The human body contains over 12 gallons of blood, sometimes more, under high pressure.

Law of Demonic Consistency

Demons and other supernatural creatures have at least three eyes, loads of fangs, tend to be yellow-green or brown (but black is not unknown), and can only be hurt by bladed weapons.

Law of Militaristic Unreliability

Huge galaxy-wide armadas, entire armies, and large war-machines full of cruel, heartless, bloodthirsty warriors can be stopped and defeated with a single insignificant example of a caring/loving emotion or a song.

Law of Tactical Unreliability

Tactical geniuses aren't....

Law of Inconsequential Undetectability

People never notice the little things... Like missing body parts, or wounds the size of Seattle.

Law of Juvenile Intellectuality

Children are smarter than adults. And almost always twice as annoying.

Law of Americanthropomorphism

Americans in Anime appear in one of two roles, either as a really nasty skinny 'Bad Guy' or a big stupid 'Good Guy'.

• First Corollary - The only people who are more stupid than the big dumb Americans are the American translators. (Sometimes referred to as the Green Line Effect.)

• Second Corollary - The only people who are more stupid than the American translators are the American editors and censors.

Law of Mandibular Proportionality

(from A. Hicks)

The size of a person's mouth is directly proportional to the volume at which they are speaking or eating.

Law of Feline Mutation

(from A. Hicks)

Any half-cat/half-human mutation will invariably:

1. be female,
2. will possess ears and sometimes a tail as a genetic mutation,
3. and wear as little clothing as possible, if any.

Law of Conservation of Firepower

(from Tom Williams)

Any powerful weapon capable of destroying/defeating an opponent in a single shot will invariably be reserved and used only as a last resort.

Law of Technological User-Benevolence

(from Tom Williams)

The formal training required to operate a spaceship or mecha is inversely proportional to its complexity.

Law of Melee Luminescence

(from Tom Williams)

Any being displaying extremely high levels of martial arts prowess and/or violent emotions emits light in the form of a glowing aura. This aura is usually blue for 'good guys' and red for 'bad guys'. This is attributed to Good being higher in the electromagnetic spectrum than Evil.

Law of Non-anthropomorphic Antagonism

(from Tom Williams)

All ugly, non-humanoid alien races are hostile, and usually hell-bent on destroying humanity for some obscure reason.

Law of Follicular Chroma Variability

(from Spellweaver)

Any color in the visible spectrum is considered a natural hair color. This color can change without warning or explanation.

Law of Follicular Permanence

Hair in anime is pretty much indestructable, and can resist any amount of meteorological conditions, energy emissions, physical abuse, or explosive effects and still look perfect. The only way to hurt someone's hair is the same way you deal with demons... with bladed weapons!

Law of Topological Aerodynamics, First Law of Anime Aero-Dynamics

*ANY* shape, no matter how convoluted or odd-looking, is automatically aerodynamic.

Law of Probable Attire

Clothing in anime follows certain predictable guidelines.

Female characters wear as little clothing as possible, regardless of whether it is socially or meteorologically appropriate. Any female with an excessive amount of clothing will invariably have her clothes ripped to shreds or torn off somehow. If there is no opportunity to tear off the afore-mentioned female's clothes, then she will inexplicably take a shower for no apparent reason (also known as the Gratuitous Shower Scene).

Whenever there is a headwind, a Male characters will invariably wear a long cloak which doesn't hamper movement and billows out dramatically behind him.

• First Corollary (Cryo-Adaptability) - All anime characters are resistant to extremely cold temperatures, and do not need to wear heavy or warm clothing in snow.

• Second Corollary (Indecent Invulnerability) - Bikinis render the wearer invulnerable to any form of damage.

Law of Musical Omnipotence

Any character capable of musical talent (singing, playing an instrument, etc.) is automatically capable of doing much more "simple" things like piloting mecha, fighting crime, stopping an intergalactic war, and so on... especially if they have never attempted these things before.

Law of Quitupular Aggultination

(from Daniel Mikula)

Also called "The Five-man Rule," when "Good Guys" group together, it tends to be in groups of five. There are five basic positions, which are:

1. The Hero/Leader
2. His girlfriend
3. His Best Friend/Rival
4. A Hulking Brute
5. A Dwarf/Kid

Between these basic positions are distributed several attributes, which include:

1. Extreme Coolness
2. Amazing intelligence
3. Incredible Irritation

Law of Extradimensional Capacitance

(from Jason Bustard)

All anime females have an extradimensional storage space of variable volume somewhere on their person from which they can instantly retrieve any object at a moment's notice.

• First Corollary (The Hammer Rule) - The most common item stored is a heavy mallet, which can be used with unerring accuracy on any male who deserves it. Other common items include costumes/uniforms, power suits/armor, and large bazookas.

Law of Hydrostatic Emission

Eyes tend to be rather large in Anime. This is because they contain several gallons of water, which may be instantaneously released at high pressure through large tear ducts. The actual volume of water contained in the eyes is unknown, as there is no evidence to suggest that these reservoirs are actually capable of running out. The reason water tends to collect in the eyes is because Anime characters only have one large sweat gland, which is located at the back of the head. When extremely stressed, embarrassed, or worried, this sweat gland exudes a single but very large drop of sebaceous fluid.

Law of Inverse Attraction

Success at finding suitable mates is inversely proportionate to how desperately you want to be successful. The more you want, the less you get.

• First Corollary Unfortunately, this law seems to apply to Otaku in the real world...

Law of Nasal Sanguination

(from Ryan Pritchard and Jason Aylen)

When sexually aroused, males in Anime don't get erections, they get nosebleeds. No one's sure why this is, though... the current theory suggests that larger eyes means smaller sinuses and thinner sinus tissue (see Law #38 above). Females don't get nosebleeds, but invariably get one heck of a blush along the cheeks and across the nose, suggesting a lot of bloodflow to that region.

Law of Xylolaceration

(from Lyndon Harris)

Wooden or bamboo swords are just as sharp as metal swords, if not sharper.

Law of Juvenile Omnipotence

(from Erin Alia)

Always send a boy to do a man's job. He'll get it done in half the time and twice the angst.

Law of Quadrotriscadecophobia

There is no Law #43.

Law of Nominative Clamovocation

(from Luiko-Ysabeth and Adrian Hsiah)

The likelihood of success and damage done by a martial arts attack is directly proportional to the volume at which the full name of the attack is announced.

Law of Uninteruptable Metamorphosis

(from R. A. Hubby)

Regardless of how long or involved the transformation sequence or how many times they've seen it before, any 'Bad Guys' witnessing a mecha/hero/heroine transforming are too stunned to do anything to interrupt it.

Law of Flimsy Incognition

(from Conrad Knauer)

Simply changing into a costume or wearing a teensy mask can make you utterly unrecognizable to even your closest friends and relatives.

Wahahaha. True rite?

That saying, I also want to promote my brother's fanfic, yup, my Little Cute Brother also known as Slimy!Sheldon's fanfic. For a guy, I admit he writes pretty good fluff. Although his style of writing is a bit... pretentious. And too self conscious. But he gets the characterisation down quite well.. Wow, too much praise already!! It could also be because he's my brother and I'm biased. (But then again, if I'm biased, then it should be twice the criticism rite? LOL). Anyways, the most important flaw in his writing is that... he writes Ichigo/Tatsuki!!! Terrible!!! But at least it's not Ichi/Hime or I won't admit we're related anymore. (Must persuade him to write Ichi/Rukia one day..) Anyways, go check it out, it's not too bad, haha. Now why can't I write something besides these inane blog posts, haihz.

Of Shinigamis and Karatekas.