K-pop Girl groups ~ My Top 20 Songs for 2013 (No. 6 - No. 1)

This is the final part for my 2013 favourite K-pop songs from female groups in which you will finally find out the Top 6 songs in the chart. If you missed the first part where I listed number 20 until number 14, you can click here. For part 2 (number 13 until number 7), please click here. Ready to find out which song hold the top spot?

6) Nine Muses ~ Wild

To be honest, I'm not really interested in this group before. The group which currently consists of 9 members; Hyuna, Minha, Lee Sem, Sera, Kyungri, Hyemi, Sungah, Eunji and Euaerin; finally caught my attention with the release of Wild, a fast-paced and energetic song about love and sexual desires. I love Wild, I think the vocal performance was good and overall I really like the song especially the rap parts. The group is very active with several other songs released in 2013. I'm a new fan of the group and I hope they will gain more recognition in the future as I feel they are a very talented bunch.

Wild MV

5) Jewelry ~ Hot & Cold

Despite currently being the longest running Korean girl group with more than two members ever, I'm still unfamiliar with the group's past songs. I think I did heard some of them before but I'm totally clueless or didn't noticed the rest of them. However, Hot & Cold managed to surprise me with its great tune and great vocal performance by the current members; Eunjung, Baby J, Semi and Yewon. I like its funny music video too which featured label mate Hyung Sik, one of the member from ZE:A. I think I should pay more attention to Jewelry after this.

Hot & Cold MV

4) Sistar19 ~ Gone Not Around Any Longer

Sistar19 is a sub-unit of Sistar with members Hyolyn and Bora headlining the group. Gone Not Around Any Longer was released early in 2013 but I must say, the song is still fresh in my mind. It is a well-written song with strong melody and powerful vocal performance and just absolutely a great song. The voice of Hyolyn in the song blew my mind away. How come I didn't noticed her powerful voice before? But I bet a lot of people already know this since I always read comments praising her voice before. I have to admit though that this song sounded more like a Hyolyn song rather than a Sistar19 song. I feel Bora should be more involed in the song as well since this is a sub-group of two and not a solo project.

Gone Not Around Any Longer MV

K-pop Girl groups ~ My Top 20 Songs for 2013 (No. 13 - No. 7)

Welcome to part two of my K-pop chart featuring my 2013 top 20 songs from K-pop girl groups. In part one, I've already listed out songs from number 20 until 14. If you missed it, you can find it by clicking here. For this second part, I have listed the songs from number 13 until number 7. What songs would they be? Scroll down to find out. Hope you enjoy it!

13) AOA Black ~ Moya

As I mentioned in my first part for the chart, AOA has an idol division and a band division. At number 13 is the song Moya from the band division, AOA Black. Comprised of Choa, Jimin, Yuna, Mina and Youkyoung, the group performed the song while playing musical instruments. Although Moya doesn't have catchy lyrics or addictive beat that usually associated with K-pop music, I still like it very much as I found it simple and unique, and I'm also impressed with the vocal performance from the group, especially from the member Choa. It's very rare for K-pop female groups to have their members playing musical instuments and performed as a band rather than a normal dance group, that is why I'm impressed with the concept that the company is doing for this group. Vey impressive indeed.

Moya MV

12) 4Minute ~ What's Your Name?

4Minute, which consists of Jihyun, Gayoon, Jiyoon, Hyuna and Sohyun, has lots of great, ear-pleasing hits under their belt. "Muzik", "HuH", "I My Me Mine" and "Volume Up" are all great songs from the group. And for 2013, What's Your Name? would definitely be added to the list as one of the group's best effort. Topping various music charts when it was released, the hip hop influenced song became one of the most well-received song for the group. The music would definitely makes you want to dance to the tune, and I also love the fact that the song suited the fun and funky image of the group as well. Bravo 4Minute!

What's Your Name? MV

11) T-ara N4 ~ Jeon Won Diary

T-ara N4 is a sub-unit for T-ara with Eunjung, Hyomin, Jiyeon and Areum as the members (Areum had officially left the group and a new member, Dani, will replaced her but only in the sub-unit T-ara N4 and not for T-ara). Jeon Won Diary is such an energetic and fun song but judging from the lyrics, it seems that the song was the group's response to haters regarding the controversies that had been clouded T-ara since 2012. Although I think there is no statement to back that up and it might all be just a coincidence, when you study the lyrics it does seems possible that the song is their response to all that had happened to them. Controversy aside, I still think Jeon Won Diary is a great song and no one can argue that T-ara continuously delivers when it comes to great music.

Jeon Won Diary MV

K-pop Girl groups ~ My Top 20 Songs for 2013 (No. 20 - No. 14)

This end of the year would be all about K-pop music (or Korean pop music for those who are unfamiliar with the term) as I would count down my favourite K-pop songs from female group for 2013. I started this K-pop chart last year when I listed down my favourite K-pop female group for 2012 based on the songs they had released.  But for this year, I would do the chart a little bit different as I would list down my top 20 favourite K-pop songs from female groups instead of counting down the groups themselves. Originally I only want to do Top 13 (as I thought Top 13 of 2013 sounds cool) but there are so many songs that I like that I feel I need to do Top 20 instead. The chart would be separated in 3 parts and for this first part, let's start with number 20 until number 14. Let's begin!

20) AOA ~ Confused

This group which debuted in 2012 is kind of unique because 7 of the members (Choa, Jimin, Yuna, Mina, Hyejeong, Seolhyun and Chanmi) are in the idol group while at the same time 4 of them (Choa, Jimin, Yuna and Mina) including one additional member (Youkyoung) also formed the band division (there are all 8 members altogether). The song Confused are performed by the idol division and was released back in October 2013. I like the song's tune especially the chorus which was quite catchy. The music video has a sexy concept and seductive feel to it and eventhough I don't have any problem with the music video, I feel that it might not be too good for the younger viewers.

Confused MV

19) Tahiti ~ Love Sick

Another group who debuted in 2012 is the six-member group Tahiti, which consists of members Jungbin, Minjae, Miso, Jisoo, Ari and Jin. For the song Love Sick though, Jin was taken out from promotioning the song as the concept for this album was deemed unfit for her age. Love Sick is a good song, however it sounds too similar to Potential Breakup Song from Aly and AJ which makes me guessing that their company purchased the copyright for the song and made a cover version of it. I'm not sure about it since I didn't find anything that state this but considering they hadn't had any trouble like so many Korean artists in the past who were accused of plagiarism before, so I guess they did made the copyright purchased after all. Anyway, it's still a great song and I'm looking forward for more music from the group.

Love Sick MV

18) BESTie ~ Love Options

Eventhough the four-member group BESTie debuted in 2013, three of its members were originally from the group EXID, so it's safe to say that the group are not entirely new to the industry. Consists of UJi, Hyeyeon, Haeryung and Dahye, Love Options was only their second single. It's an energetic song with upbeat tempo and great vocals which hooked me immediately after my first time hearing the song. Although Love Options is a pop commercial song, it does showcased the group's strong vocals and presence (in the music video) which I feel will help them garnered more fans.

Love Options MV

17) Tiny-G ~ Minimanimo

I had post about this group before which you can find it here. I'm such in love with this song that it got stuck in my head for weeks. Released in the beginning of the year, Minimanimo is a cute and catchy song which I think would catch people's attention even without seeing the cheerful and coulourful music video that comes with it. Members J.Min, Mint, Do Hee and Myeong Ji definitely have strong stage presence even being physically small. I feel Tiny-G is one of the new group which has such a huge potential to be big and hopefully that's where they are heading.

Minimanimo MV

Masterchef Malaysia All Stars ~ 1st impression

Tonight is the premiere of Masterchef Malaysia All Stars on Astro Ria (ASTRO Malaysia Channel 104) and here's what I think about the TV show after watching its 1st episode.

Basically this All Stars season of Masterchef Malaysia gathers back some of the memorable contestants from Masterchef Malaysia season 1 and 2, and also Masterchef Selebriti Malaysia season 1 and 2. So it means some contestants from the original version of the show will compete alongside their celebrity counterpart from the celebrity edition of the show. Although some celebrity contestants can be larger-than-life in terms of their personality, but I think the contestants from the original version of the show should not have a problem competing with them as this is a cooking competition (not a popularity contest!) and they have their own talents as well when it comes to cooking. This is not to say that the celebrities have no talent in cooking as these crop of contestants had proved themselves before that they can definitely cook and be a tough competitor.

Some of my favourite contestants that had come back for this All Stars season are Brian, Imelda, Zamil, Celina Khor, Ary Malik and Sharifah Shahora. Although I'm a fan of the TV show, but I must admit that I didn't really watch season 2 and Celebrity season 1 of the show hence I am not really familiar with some of the contestants. But I am looking forward to watch the rest of this season as it seems that they have an interesting batch of contestants here.

For this first episode, the contestants had to prepare the same dish that got them eliminated in their previous season. It was an interesting twist as we can see how the contestants had to improvise their dish and make it a better dish than before. Raja Azmi won this round and was excluded from taking part in the next round which is the Invention Test. She were given a chance to pick two other contestants to sit out from the Invention Test and she chose Ah Hong and Karl Shafek. In the Invention Test, the remaining had to cook any type of dish but only using six ingredients. Shahriah and Celina Khor had been declared winners for this round with their dishes while six contestants will have to face Elimination Round in the next episode.

Overall, it was a fun episode and definitely got me interested to continue watching the show. And the crop of interesting contestants with their funny comments also add flavours to the show and make it even more exciting. As this is an All Stars season, I expect the challenges would be far more difficult compared to previous seasons with a few interesting twist along the way. Hopefully this will be another fantastic season for the popular cooking competition.

Image from Masterchef Malaysia website.

Septimus Heap Book Three: Physik ~ review

Title: Septimus Heap : Physik

Author: Angie Sage
Illustrator: Mark Zug
ISBN: ISBN 0060577371

Warning! This review might contain spoilers. If you don't like spoilers, please leave this post right away.

Physik is the third entry in the Septimus Heap book series by Angie Sage. The book once again featured Septimus Heap as the Apprentice of the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, and Jenna the queenling of the Castle, who both would meet a new enemy in the form of Queen Etheldredda, a former queen of the Castle 500 years ago. Joining in their adventure would be Septimus's big brother Nicko, a young trader from the Northern Countries named Snorri Snorrelssen, Septimus's friend Wolf Boy, and Septimus' pet dragon Spit Fyre. As the spirit of Queen Etheldredda was accidentally released by Septimus's father, Silas Heap, she had planned to take over the Castle and sent Septimus back in time with the help of her son, Marcellus Pye. It is now up to Jenna and the others to save Septimus and the Castle from the grip of the evil Queen.

Magyk, the first book in the series, is still is one of my favourite children's novel that I have on my book shelf right now but I thought the second book, Flyte, while is still good, didnt't quite live up to the first book. So what about this third book in the series? In my opinion, the plot for Physik is entertaining with new twist and new characters. The author also included time travel in the plot which makes it even more interesting as I always love time travel-related stories in books and movies. Although I think the plot is good, it can get tricky sometimes when it comes to story with time travel and I feel the plot for Physik was hurt by it a bit. But it might be me being picky about it as it was the details such as the Glasses of Time that I'm complaining about and not the main story of Septimus, Jenna and the others travel back in time to 500 years prior. So readers do not have to worry about getting confused of the plot as it is actually the small details that I'm worrying about. But it might be good if the author did tight it up a bit as it might get frustrating to readers like me who are worrying about tiny details in the plot.

Studio Ghibli anime films ~ Films I had watched

I think most of the anime fans had heard the news about Hayao Miyazaki retiring from making any more films. So it means that the recently released The Wind Rises would be his last film. For those who didn't know, Hayao Miyazaki is one of the founder of Studio Ghibli, a respected animation studio from Japan that had produced many great anime films such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro.

Although I love the works of the studio, I must admit that I didn't watch every one of them, in fact I had only watched 5 films. But that is enough to convince me that the studio is one of the great animation studio in the world because of their high quality anime films. In a way to honour the announcement of Hayao Miyazaki's retirement, let me introduce you (at least to those who are not familiar with the works from the studio) to the five films produced by Studio Ghibli that I had watched. Enjoy!

1) The Cat Returns

Out of the five films, I have to say that this is my least favourite film from the studio. Nevertheless, I found the story to be quite charming. The Cat Returns tell a story about a girl named Haru who were taken to the Cat Kingdom to marry a cat prince after she saved him from being hit by a moving vehicle. The characters in the movie, especially the cats, are very cute and although I feel the story could have been longer, it still offers an exciting journey into a fantasy world ruled by cats.

2) The Borrower Arrietty

Released in Japan in 2010 to much positive reviews, The Borrower Arrietty tells a story about a group of tiny people living under the floor of a house and live their lives by borrowing items from humans. Based on children's books called The Borrowers by an English author Mary Norton, the film was praised for its animation and music. I love the animation too and the different view of the world seeing from the point of views of Arrietty. You can check out more of my comments about the film in my review here.

3) Princess Mononoke

This would be the 1st film from the studio that I had watched, and it was such an amazing film. Princess Mononoke is an epic fantasy adventure film released back in 1997 and regarded as one of the film from Studio Ghibli that garnered worlwide attention. It was such a rich, fantastical and at the same time, serious film that made me realised at that time that animation was not just for children. The film is about the struggle between the spirit of the forest and the humans of a town who had been consuming the resources of the forest. Loved by critics, the film had also made into various top movie list.

K-pop group ~ Introducing Tiny-G

Tiny-G is a South Korean four-member girl group which debut in 2012 from the music label GNG Productions. Consists of J.Min, Mint (she's originally from Thailand by the way), Do Hee and Myeong Ji, the group first debut with their self-titled single around August 2012. Before their debut though, they made an appearance on a TV show called Show Champion and performed a song made for them by singer Park Jae-Bum and actress Lee Si-Young titled Polaris (the song were given to them through another TV show, Her Lyrics His Music). So far in 2013, they had released another two singles; Minimanimo back in January and Miss You in October.

I started to notice this group through their Minimanimo single when I found their music video on Youtube. I instantly attracted to the song because of the catchy beat and cute image of the members. Although I felt their debut single was not as strong as I hoped it would be, it was still interesting to see the strong image that they originally begin with. Their debut music video also show-off their good dancing skills which get me impressed. Their latest single Miss You, another track with an addictive beat, cemented my love for the group and proved to me that this is a group to be reckon with despite their small physical appearance (suits with the group's name, which referred them as 'tiny giants').

If you haven't check them out, you can do so by clicking the link below for the music videos of their singles in Youtube. Have fun!

Tiny-G MV
Minimanimo MV
Miss You MV

Images from Tiny-G official blog.

Hell Girl: Three Vessels ~ review

Animax Asia had just recently finished airing the third season of Hell Girl anime series called Hell Girl: Three Vessels (known in Japan as Jigoku Shōjo Mitsuganae). The anime is about a girl named Enma Ai and her assistants who run a supernatural system that allows people to send other people to Hell through Hell Correspondence website. As with previous two seasons, this season also see each episode follows different people who are having difficult time with other people that eventually lead them to use the Hell Correspondence website. This season also introduces a new main character named Yuzuki Mikage who has a strong connection with Enma Ai due to being possessed by her.

Before I start reviewing the anime series, let me start by saying that this season had long been overdue. I remember the channel aired season 1 and season 2 years ago, and only now they decided to air the third season. I'm not sure what are the problems they are having that made it delayed but I am glad that they decided to air it anyway eventhough it had originally aired in Japan back in 2008 (that's almost 5 years apart). As one of the anime series fan, Hell Girl: Three Vessels is certainly on my watch list.

Let's start with the plot. Basically this season also follows what the past two seasons had established where each episode is like a short story featuring characters that are involved with the Hell Correspondence website. So usually you would have the predator who would usually ended up being sent to Hell, and the victim who is the person who use the Hell Correspondence website (it can be the other way around where the victim is the one sent to Hell). Although I did missed a few episodes, but those that I've watched definitely have good stories. The stories are deep and give you something to think about, and that's what I like about the anime series where it raised discussions among the viewers. Although I didn't quite like some of the punishment scenes (where the characters were tortured before being sent to Hell) that have comedic elements in it as I think it was a bit unfitting for the serious tone of the dilemma that the characters faced, overall the story of each episode are really well done. My favourite episode is the second-to-last episode of the season (episode 25) that featured the backstory of the new main character, Yuzuki Mikage. It was a sad and emotional episode that answers a lot of questions that had been raised about the character's involvement with Enma Ai.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones ~ review

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is a supernatural action fantasy film based on the first book of the The Mortal Instruments series by author Cassandra Clare. The film follows Clary Fray as she discovers her true identity as a shadowhunter, a warrior who hunts demons hidden on Earth. The film stars Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan, Kevin Zegers, Jemima West, Lena Headey, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and many more. A word of caution! This review may contain spoilers.

Let me start by saying that I love this movie. I was a bit skeptical at first but after watching it in the cinema, I can pretty much say that I'm a fan. I'm even inspired to pick up the book that this movie is based on. So what about the movie that made me love it? First, lets look at the plot. Surprisingly, the plot is deeper than I thought it would be. It is very unfair to compare this movie to the successful Twilight movie series because whereas Twilight is front and foremost a love story, City of Bones is not. In fact, it is more of an action / adventure film with supernatural and fantasy elements thrown in. And the love story in the movie was just a part of it, like any other movie would have. I love how the story blend the vampires, werewolves, witches and all those supernatural creatures into the modern setting, and it works in making me believe the world they are living in. And the interesting conflicts between the characters help to bring more depth into the film's plot. To be honest, I was a bit surprised to found out about the more mature themes of the movie but I think the studio played it well to make it more accessible to the younger audiences.

 

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters ~ review

 

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is the sequel to the movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Starring Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson alongside Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Leven Rambin, Douglas Smith and Jake Abel, the movie follows Percy and his friends as they try to save the poisoned Thalia tree that has been protecting the Half-Blood Camp from their enemies. To do so, they must travel to the Sea of Monsters, or better known as the Bermuda Triangle, to find the Golden Fleece in order to cure the ailing tree. The movie is based on the second book of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians book series by Rick Riordan.

 

I'm not a reader of the novel which this movie was based from but I had a great time watching the first movie in the cinema when it came out, so I was looking forward to this movie when the studio announced that they were producing the film. But after watching it, to be honest, I think I like The Lightning Thief more than Sea of Monsters. Although the plot was overall good, it felt rushed at times and the story feel like it was not been carefully developed. This lead to inconsistency in which some scenes were felt really great while others felt like it was half-complete. But I really love the intro scene as well as the ending scene very much, the one involving Thalia, it's just the middle part of the movie which was a bit of a letdown.

The Wolverine ~ review

The Wolverine is the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a spin-off movie of the X-Men movie franchise and set after the event of X-Men: The Last Stand. It starred Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rila Fukushima, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Will Yun Lee and Famke Janssen. The film follows Logan / Wolverine as he travels to Japan to meet old acquaintance and, unexpectedly, new enemies as well as trying to coop with his own inner dilemma.

As one of the person who did not really like X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which I only watch on television), I decided to have more faith in The Wolverine and went to watch it in the cinema. Fortunately for me the movie turn out to be quite good. I really like the plot surrounding Logan's ability or mutant power of regeneration (which enables him to live longer than normal human being) in which he thought as more of a curse but valued by others who thought that the ability is indeed a blessing. Personally I think this is quite different than previous X-Men movies where mutant powers are usually scared by normal people or viewed as source of manipulation for weapon creation. But in this movie, it is viewed as a gift and being used in any way possible to assist in everyday life, in which in this movie it is to sustain the family business empire. Even most of the bad guys that Logan fought throughout the movie are normal people with no mutant powers whatsoever. In fact, mutant powers are not the main attraction of this movie as it usually are for previous movies in the franchise, and that I promise you, is not a bad thing at all. It allows the movie to focus on its characters and their struggles without being too distracted by the special effects coming from using the mutant powers. For that, I think this movie is unique and refreshing for a movie coming from the X-Men universe.

Salam Ramadhan 1434!

Time flies and it's that time of the year again for Muslims to have their one month fasting in Ramadhan. Salam Ramadhan to all Muslims! I wish this holy month would treat you well and will give you all the energy to do your prayers, fasting, charity or any activities for Allah's blessings. And for those non-Muslims who are travelling especially to my home country Malaysia, this would be the perfect month to try all the local delicacies that's available. There's plenty to try, I guarantee you that. Have a blessing month everyone!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince video game ~ review

It is widely known that films based on video games are hardly successful at the box-office. The only one that is successful that I could think of is the Resident Evil film series which has now span 5 (soon to be 6) films. Even that series haven't been truly faithful to their source materials. But what about video games based on movies? I rarely played them and I hardly read anything about them but if this video game (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that is) is any indicator, then I would say that their fate is somewhat the same; not successful.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the video game, was released back in 2009 to coincide with the release of the movie. It was released on multiple platforms; PC, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, XBox 360 and mobile. The version I played and review here would be the PS2 version.

In short, the storyline followed much from the movie. It follows Harry and his friends in their sixth year in Hogwarts, and shows how Dumbledore prepares Harry to fight with Voldemort and how they work together to find the key in breaking Voldemort's defences. I noticed there are some things in the storyline doesn't really match from the movie but I'm not sure whether they are plot points from the novel that were left out from the movie or they are just things made up for the video games. But of course there are some plots that are made up for the video games but since I didn't read the book I can't point out which one. To be honest, plot is one of the thing that is not important in this game as I feel the whole point in it is to let gamers feel like they are truly attending school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Yuna new single I Wanna Go ~ Awesome stuff!

Yuna is a Malaysian-born singer-songwriter who is currently working hard to expand her career in the US and so far, I might say, she's doing pretty good although she still has a long way to go. For those of you who don't know, she's the voice behind The Croods soundtrack, Shine Your Way with Owl City. She was first known through MySpace and with a strong following, entered the Malaysian music industry and became popular with songs like Yang Sebenarnya, Penakut and Terukir di Bintang. And now she's promoting and performing her music in the US after signing with a music label there.

She had just released a new single called I Wanna Go. Although I was never really a fan of her songs before (I'm more in love with her voice than her songs), but I must say, I Wanna Go is a pretty solid song, and I like it! It has good, kind-of-happy beats and Yuna's voice works perfectly well with the melody. I hope this song will get her more fans and recognition because I really think she deserves it.

You can check out her music video for I Wanna Go here. Enjoy!

The Borrower Arrietty ~ review

 

I am a fan of Studio Ghibli animations after I watched Princess Mononoke when I was young, but of course at that time, I was not aware of the studio that made the film. Then years later I watched Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, which I feel are great animations for children and adults alike, and cemented my love and support for the Japanese studio. Although I didn't watch all the movies from them, but based from the few titles that I had watched, I could conclude that they really know how to make a high-quality animation movies.

The Borrower Arrietty (or The Secret World of Arrietty / Kari-gurashi no Arietti) is a 2010 Studio Ghibli's anime fantasy film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. It is based (I think loosely based) on the children books, The Borrowers, by Mary Norton. The film grossed more than USD100 million worldwide and received critical acclaimed from critics. The film is about one of the tiny people living under the floorboards of a house, Arrietty, and her friendship with a normal human boy, Sho.

Personally I think the plot is very entertaining, especially when it comes to the dynamic relationship between the young Borrower, Arrietty, and the human boy, Sho. They lived close to each other but they are worlds apart, and yet they have quite similar problems; Sho's life is restricted with his heart disease while Arrietty's life is confined due to her physical appearance. It's heart-warming to see how they rely and help each other despite their limitations. But the plot is very slow-paced which I would suggest for people not to watch this late at night, in which case you might dozed-off, which is unfortunate if you do because The Borrower Arrietty is a very good film. Although the plot is good, I feel that a lot more can be added (like more conflicts between the two protagonists' world) to make the plot richer and more engaging. Nevertheless, the story is still good as I think the studio purposely made this anime less on the action and more on the emotional journey of Arrietty and Sho.

The two characters who took centre stage in this anime are, of course, Arrietty and Sho, while the others are more on supporting roles, but I have to say that they are all well-designed not just in visuals but also in their personalities. They are all very likeable, eventhough some of the roles are not as stand-out as I would like them to be like Arrietty's father Pod and the lone, bow-wielding Borrower Spiller. The animals featured in the anime like Sho's cat Niya and the crow who flew into Sho's window are also likeable (and funny!). It is great to see that even a small character can have an impact on audience, which shows that every character is important no matter how small the role is.

The visual design for this movie is just amazing. The landscape and characters (like I mention before), are all well-designed and beautifully crafted. You can really see that every detail is taken care off, especially when the movie show scenes of the surrounding forest with the tall grasses, flowers, trees and insects. I also love the play of angles in one of the scene, where Arrietty join her father in the kitchen to find some stuffs that the family need, and the camera zoom in to show the kitchen's view from Arrietty's perspective. The scene together with the sound effects really made an impact on me and showed how different the world is from the view of a small being like Arrietty and her family.

Speaking of sound effects, the music for this animation suits with the theme of nature that prominently featured in the film with its dreamy and soothing sound. And even the sound effects without the music like the sound of rain and insects in the forest are a pleasant to listen to. As for the voice casts, since the version I watched was the Japanese version, the voice acting is quite good and sounded natural as any anime would with Japanese language. Mirai Shida, who voiced Arrietty, was a stand-out though and my favourite voice actor for this film. Other casts include Ryunosuke Kamiki as Sho, Tomokazu Miura (Pod, Arrietty's father), Shinobu Otake (Homily, Arrietty's mother), Keiko Takeshita (Sadako Maki, Sho's great aunt) and Kirin Kiki (Haru, the house caretaker).

As a conclusion, I really feel like The Borrower Arrietty is another great anime movie from Studio Ghibli. Although some parts of the story are a little bit slow, the overall plot is very entertaining with loveable characters, great visuals and beautiful music. A must see for fans of animations from Studio Ghibli, while for newcomers, I would suggest that you rent other films from the studio first like Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away before you watch this to really appreciate the kind of story-telling The Borrower Arrietty has to offer.

Images from Wikipedia and Yahoo! Movies.

America's Next Top Model Cycle 19: College Edition ~ favourite photos

StarWorld Asia had just finished airing Cycle 19 of America's Next Top Model which is the College Edition (we are a little bit behind). So I think this is the perfect time for me to feature my 10 favourite photos from Cycle 19 (in no particular order). Since this is the first time the girls have a chance to make a comeback into the competition after being eliminated based on fan's votes, so there are a lot of photos to choose from. To make things easier for me (because some of the girls took amazing photos while eliminated), I would only pick photos of the girls who were not eliminated during the photoshoot.

A word of caution though, I think a few photos in this post would be a bit inappropriate for minors. Parents, you've been warned. Now let's begin!

1) Leila - Waterfall warriors

I love Leila. I think she looks amazing in photos and this particular photo is one of her best, in my opinion at least. I don't know much about fashion, but looking at this photo makes me think that she's already a working model. Since I like her so much, you can expect to see more pictures of her in this post.

2) Nastasia - River raft love triangle

I think Nastasia is a beautiful person, but her photos can be a bit inconsistent. The photoshoot that she did with Rob Evans and a Jamaican male model here is definitely one of her best. She looks great, she's in control and she shines eventhough there are two other models in there. Although I'm surprised that she made it into the Top 4, this photo just proves to me that she deserved it.

3) Laura - Steampunk

Laura received high praise from the judges for this photo of her, and I cannot agree more with them. She looks great here, and I didn't even notice that there is an owl on her hand. She's one of the strongest and consistent girl in this cycle when it comes to photoshoot, and judging from this photo alone, you can tell that she's amazing.

4) Brittany - Apocalyptic zombies

Brittany looks like a sweet, cute girl but don't be fooled by her face. She can take strong pictures too, just like this one from episode 4 of cycle 19. I like this zombie picture of her because she doesn't look sweet and 'Disney' like she was always referred to. Although there is nothing wrong of looking sweet, but in this type of setting, I don't think sweet going to do you any good, so I'm glad Brittany pulled it off.

5) Leila - Cheerleaders

Another photo of Leila. As always, I love her because I think she photographed well. I like this photo with her legs positioned like that. It looks awkward and somehow it looks great. Ironically, this is the photo that got her eliminated. I missed this episode so I'm not sure why people aren't really feeling this photo like I did. Personally, I think this is one of the best photo from this episode.

Artemis Fowl Book Two: The Arctic Incident ~ review

Title: Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident

Author: Eoin Colfer
ISBN: ISBN 0-7868-0855-1

As usual, this review will contain spoilers. If you haven't read the book and would not like your story spoiled, please leave this post right away.

The Arctic Incident is the second book in the Artemis Fowl book series, preceded by the hilarious and entertaining first book, Artemis Fowl. In this second book, criminal mastermind Artemis is back with his manservant / bodyguard / friend, Butler, but this time they are not looking to make more fortune. Instead, they are on a mission to save Artemis's father who had been missing for almost 2 years, believed to be dead by many, and had even been declared legally dead by the courts. At the same time, trouble is brewing underground, in the fairy settlement of Haven City, where an uprising will cause major trouble to Captain Holly Short, Commander Julius Root and the centaur genius, Foaly. Furthermore, Artemis will be unexpectedly involved in the mix in the hope to get some help from the fairy folk in saving his father.

YuYu Hakusho Volume 15 ~ review

Continuing on with my review for YuYu Hakusho manga series, here is the review for Volume 15. This review will contain spoilers, so if somehow you haven't read the manga and would not like your story spoiled, please leave this post now.

For Volume 15, the story continues with the former detective of the Underworld, Sensui, getting closer to open the hole that connects the human world with the demon world. He and his team have also kidnaps Kuwabara, who has the ability to use an aura sword that can cut through dimensions, an ability that Sensui surely needs to complete his mission. Along the way to rescue Kuwabara and stop Sensui from opening the hole, Yuusuke and his friends have to fight Sensui's followers'; Makihara (code name: Gobbler), Kaname Hagiri (Sniper) and Amanuma (Game Master). One of them however, Kiyoshi Mitarai (Seaman) decided to join team Yuusuke and help show them the way to the hole site (where Itsuki the Gate Keeper is performing a ritual to open the hole). With time running out, could Yuusuke, Kurama, Hiei and the others stop Sensui before it is too late?

This volume definitely has a lot of great moments; Kuwabara kidnapping, Yuusuke's fight with Hagiri, Amanuma sad ending, and Kurama's fight with Elder Toguro, who by the way made a special appearance in the final chapter of this volume. I am personally in love with scenes where Yuusuke and his friends have to fight against Amanuma. The scenes have a different vibe or rather a sad tone compared to the other fights which are more fast-paced and action-packed. There are some gory drawings too in the last chapter in the manga (the one involving Elder Toguro) but since the story involves demons, I guess it's kind of normal. But for those who are concerned, then you better keep this volume away from your minors. This volume, although slightly more serious compared to the previous volumes, still has jokes here and there (usually in regards to Yuusuke) which I think in line with what YuYu Hakusho is quite popularly known for; its humorous jokes. Overall, I personally think this is one of the best volumes in the series so far when it comes to the story.

What will happen next? Stay tune for my review of Volume 16 coming soon. Thank you for reading.

Image source from Amazon.

2013 Summer movies ~ What to watch? (Part 2)

I already covered movies that caught my interest and will be released between May and June 2013 in Part 1 of the post. Now in Part 2, I will cover a few other movies that will be released in July and August 2013. Let's start!

July

1) Pacific Rim

I love watching Ultraman TV series when I was a kid so it's little wonders why Pacific Rim caught my attention so much. Starred Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Hunnam, this movie is about the world in the near future where monsters started coming out from beneath the sea and bring chaos worldwide. In order to fight these giant monsters, humans had created giant robots to fight them. In between the struggle, two unlikely heroes need to team up and fight these monsters to save the world from total destruction. It may be a bit too much for a non-fan of such genre to take but I really hope this movie will do well at the box-office because if it does, then I'm pretty sure a sequel would definitely be made.

2) The Conjuring

The Conjuring is a supernatural horror film directed by James Wan who had previously directed Saw and Insidious. Starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, this movie will tell the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators who were famously involved in the investigation of the Amityville Horror case. But in this movie, it will focus on the disturbing events in the Perron family's Rhode Island farmhouse. Originally planned to be released in early 2013, it was then postponed to open in July due to positive responses it got during test screening. I love a good horror movie, so hopefully this will be one of them as suggested by the test audiences.

Asia's Next Top Model Cycle 1 winner!

Congratulations to Jessica Amornkuldilok from Thailand for winning the first season of Asia's Next Top Model. Congratulations too to both runner-ups; Kate Ma from Taiwan and Stephanie Retuya from the Philippines for making it into the Top 3.

Asia's Next Top Model is hosted by Nadya Hutagalung (also served as head judge) with model mentor Joey Mead King, fashion photographer Todd Anthony Tyler and fashion director Daniel Boey took on the role of secondary judges. The show featured 14 women from all over Asia such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal, Taiwan, Japan and India compete to win the title of Asia's Next Top Model (and some awesome prizes as well).

Personally, I think the show was a bit slow in the first two episodes most probably because I was still trying to get used to the whole new contestants and environment, but the show did get better and more interesting after that, and the photoshoots were great as well. Hopefully season 2 would be green-light for production as I feel this show has a lot of potential to become big and influential in Asia. And if they do, hopefully they will keep the current line of judges as I feel they had done a great job in this first cycle.

Again, congratulations Jessica! Hopefully this will be the start of an amazing career for you. By the way, my favourite contestant was Aastha Pokharel from Nepal who finished 5th in the competition. What about you? Who was your favourite contestant?

Image from Youtube screencap.

K-pop group ~ Introducing CHI CHI

K-pop groups (that's South Korean groups or bands for those who are not familiar with the term) keep popping up like mushrooms these past few years and it seems like the industry is kind of saturated with them right now. Personally, I find it hard to keep tracks of these new groups. They are too many of them with almost similar style and sound that sometimes they made me confused which is which. So instead of focusing on their sexy outfits and fancy choreography, I would concentrate first on their music to decide which one would I like to know and follow in their journey to superstardom. But of course, unique choreography and dressing style help as well to stand-out from the rest. One of the group that caught my interest is CHI CHI.

Originally a 7-member group, CHI CHI is now consists of Boreum, A-zi, Sui, Semi and Shine. They have an electronic sound to their music which is logical since their group's acronym stands for Creative electronic House Idols. The girl group debut with Jangnanchijima (meaning Don't Play Around in Korean) in 2011. Then they came out with a powerful somewhat ballad song (which is currently still one of my favourite K-pop song) called Longer.

After that in 2012, they came out with Love is Energy, a great pop track with a unique dance move called the hand blender, handcopter or mirrorball. This is also the song that made me first noticed them. They also remake their first single Jangnanchijima for Japanese market called Karakawanaide!! (Jangnanchijima). As of now, I have no news yet about their comeback in 2013. Although they are still considered 'green' in the industry, I think they have a chance to stand-out from the rest of the groups because of their electronic-sound pop music. I hope they will work hard and I pray that they will become successful in their career. All the best CHI CHI!

Click here for Longer MV.
Click here for Love is Energy MV.

Image from CHI CHI Japanese website.

*UPDATE ~ October 2013*

On my new search for the group's possible comeback, I sadly found out that the group had officially disbanded this year. What an awful news! I like the group and I honestly think that they got a lot of potential. But it looks like its not working out for them (or maybe the company who manage them). I wish all the best to the former members of the group and hopefully they will have success in their next venture in life.

2013 Summer movies ~ What to watch? (Part 1)

Last year summer movies season was packed with great movies that I truly enjoyed such as The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and Prometheus. So what movies would Hollywood brings us this year? And can they top the great box-office numbers of 2012 summer movies? Let's check out some of this year summer movies that had caught my interest. For Part 1, let's look at movies released in May and June 2013.

May

1) Iron Man 3

The first movie had really good story, while Iron Man 2 had pretty good action sequences. What about this third movie? Judging from the trailer, I think it would have the combination of both. Robert Downey, Jr. is back as Tony Stark aka Iron Man and this film would also introduces new characters and villains such as Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin, Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian, and Rebecca Hall as Dr. Maya Hansen. I am not sure about the plot, but it will revolves around yet another terrorist organization and a type of virus called Extremis virus. The conflict in this movie seemed to be more personal too to Tony Stark compared to the last two films. Will he prevail this time too?


2) Epic

This computer-animated movie by Blue Sky Studios featured the voices of Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz, Beyonce Knowles and Aziz Ansari. The film would tell the story of a young girl who is forced to join a group of tiny forest warriors in a war against an evil force to save their world. I think those who already watched the trailer for this movie would agree that it is visually stunning, and I think the movie would be funny too especially with the slug character. The trailer did impressed me a lot so hopefully the movie would not disappoint.


3) Fast and Furious 6

To be honest, I am not a fan of The Fast and The Furious movie series. It's not that I think they are bad movies, but more because of my lack of interest in street racing. But after watching the trailer for this sixth installment, I must say that I might be watching it in the cinema when it come out this May. The movie looks fun with its wickedly awesome stunts and pack with heart-pounding action scenes. And the story seemed to have evolve too and will not just focus on the street racing. Will that be a good move for a movie series known for it street-racing action? Personally, with its loyal fanbase, I think the movie will do just fine.

Beyond the Trailer ~ Exciting YouTube channel

I seldom watch channels on YouTube, but early 2012, I found this great channel called Beyond the Trailer. Created, produced, written and hosted by Grace Randolph, it featured a lot of great stuffs about movies.

The episodes were divided into several categories. On Monday, usually they have Movie Math where the box-office performances are analyze. Then on other days they have Movie Bytes where movie news are discussed. While Friday usually they will have Movie Review either by Audience Reaction or by the BTT (Beyond The Trailer) Crew, although review by the crew are rarely done. Other than that, they also have latest movie trailer with Trailer Review right after the trailer, interviews and special episodes like interview with screenwriter on how to make a good screenplay.

I like the show a lot because unlike the entertainment news I usually watch on TV, Beyond The Trailer is less on the glamour and more on the art and business aspect of making movies. The show is very informative and educational, and takes viewers into the gritty world of movie business in Hollywood.

You can try and check out the channel by clicking here. I hope you will find it very useful and entertaining like I did. Enjoy!

My 2012 Top 10 Films ~ Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of my Top 10 films of 2012. For those of you who had missed out my previous post, you can click here for Part 1 where I revealed number 10 to number 6. In this second part, I present you my top 5;

5) John Carter

John Carter is a great sci-fi / fantasy / adventure film that fills with wonders and amazement not just with the visuals, but the story as well. It is a live-action debut for director Andrew Stanton who previously directed Pixar's animated films Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Unfortunately, eventhough the film grossed more than $250 million worldwide, it is still considered a box-office failure due to its high production and marketing budget. Personally, I think it is one of the best movie that I've watched in 2012. It's epic, action-packed and emotional in certain parts too. Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins were great as John Carter and Dejah Thoris respectively. Since it is based on A Princess of Mars, the first book in the Barsoom book series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, there are sources for Disney to do more sequels but with the box-office records, sadly to say that any hope of sequel is now gone.

4) The Avengers

This film is definitely one of the most fun movie to watch in 2012. When you get Iron Man, Thor, Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye in one film, what could be more interesting than that? The Avengers not only bode well with film critics, it also well-received by audiences and currently is the highest grossing superhero movie of all time. That's an impressive record! It's a light, action-packed and, at times, humorous movie that almost everyone (old and young, comic book fans or movie fans) can enjoy. Although Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man steals the light everytime he's on screen, but my favourite character from this film has to be Hulk played briliantly by Mark Ruffalo. With an impressive box-office numbers, the superheroes will definitely team-up again in a sequel set for release in 2015.

My 2012 Top 10 Films ~ Part 1

It's that time of the year again when almost everyone on the web came out with their Top 10 films for 2012. Well, so do I. I watched a number of interesting films in 2012, from action-adventure to drama, from horror to animation, with a total of 25 films. I know it is not a lot but since I love most of the films that I had watched, it is quite a challenge to come up with this list. So here I present you my Top 10 list of films that I had watched in 2012. In the past years, I usually listed them in no particular order but this time, I'm going to rank them properly. For Part 1, here are number 10 to number 6;

10) Rise of the Guardians

We start off this list with one of the best looking animation of the year, Rise of the Guardians. It packed with action and some interesting fight scenes (The Sandman vs Pitch was a really good scene). Add that with colourful and magical visuals of the animation, you have one of the best animation that Hollywood could offer. Sadly to note though that the film suffered a lackluster performance in the box-office. I personally feel that Rise of the Guardians is a high-quality animation movie that have good moral values and great visuals, so it is sad to know that people are not responding well to the flick, or at least not as well as the studio might have hoped for.

9) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

This film would be the first entry of a new trilogy from Peter Jackson about Middle-earth set around 60 years before the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's a great fantasy film with fascinating tales and mythical creatures, and who would not love a little dose of Gollum. Although it is more light compared to the dark-themed of LOTR trilogy, it is still a fun movie to watch for adults. I do feel that it was a bit slow in the beginning but fortunately it became better in the middle and ending parts. Two more sequels; The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again, would be released in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Happy New Year 2013!!!

I want to wish Happy New Year 2013 to all readers! May this year brings a lot of fortune and good luck to all of us. Also wishing that we (the world population that is) can work together in bringing peace and joy to the world. Together, we are stronger! :-)

Happy New Year!!!