So today marks my return to the academic world after 8 months of idling. A day which started off with anxiety and some form of anticipation has after the speeches, day dragging out, the rain and the dreadful traffic jam, just left me feeling numb, with sediments of dread settling down at the pits of my being.

After some contemplation, I do realise that despite these being barriers, our friendship at least, has managed to transcend that of time and distance.

This is probably the outcome of a lack of more peer interaction the last couple of months and/or thoughts that have always lingered. Time might really tell, after all.

New Year. Same goals. Old regrets.

It's about 16 days late to for a post to kick start the new year but up til now, my 2013 has consisted of trying fervently to watch as much anime as possible before I return to schooling, steeling myself to face the dungeons of Skyrim, a return to CHS for gerko day, a meetup with a friend and the first(today!) of the few more Wednesdays I have left with the kids at the ULC.

December started off with some blows, resulting in me succumbing to what fate has planned for me. And eventually, hopefully, coming to terms with that decision. The highlight was the family trip to Japan, fulfilling an otaku pilgrimage of sorts. Though, it was a pity we didn't get to visit Akihabara in the day. The area was not in the itinerary so our best shot was a quick trip at night, only to find that most of the shops had closed. Still, brother managed to acquire a Makise Kurisu(Steins;Gate) figure and I got a Zoro figure+ a Totoro plushie from the airport. Ah, the snacks in Japan expire so fast, so if I don't meet you soon enough, you probably won't get any of that for a souvenir.

Some selected shots, rest are in my album on Facebook:

There was this amazing toy shop in Ginza, only 4 floors( the size of each floor possible just the equivalent of 2/3 classrooms) but the kind of stuff they had there...

Studio Ghibli merchandise had a section to itself

So much detail but, look at the price :O 

 Latest Gen Pokemon

 Disney Castle

Mickey and Minnie. Designs limited to Tokyo Disneyland 

 The Universal Studios Globe

 Taken at a historical park near the Mt Fuji Area

One of the many shots I have of Mt Fuji

So, back to the new year. After 8 months, I'm finally going back to school. Gods know how much I miss that kind of lifestyle. Everyone's at the next phase of their lives, and I'll finally be going on to mine. Not that taking this break was a mistake, I just worry that my brain will rust and with so many years of medical school to come, I don't think I should my time of graduation any longer.

El. Psy. Congroo

I am glad that I'm having time to rediscover my Otaku ways. It's not that I ever stopped liking the culture but I used to be more fanatic about it. At least, from the aspect of manga appreciation. Friends who have been to my room would probably understand, having seen how probably half of my bookshelf is filled with manga. I used to make regular pilgrimages to shop(s) in Petaling Street to buy the latest volumes of manga I was following. Malaysia also has this magazine reminiscent of Shouen Jump where a few manga titles are "serialized" so new chapters of the mangas are out each week.  There used to be a pullout in the Star called Otakuzone. I normally get news of the latest manga/anime there, the pullout's no more though. And as I turned to the internet for faster updates on manga chapters, the passion somewhat died down until my only routine was reading the weekly chapter updates online.

(Fortunately)some college mates were fans of One Piece and it made finally start on the series. Seeing that it is probably the one of the mos popular mangas of all time, really would be a shame if I never gave it chance. I initially had reservations about the somewhat eccentric artstyle but after you start following the series, you notice the great detail Oda(mangaka) puts into his art, not to mention the brilliant story-telling. After A2, I started following Katekyo Hitman Reborn, which just ended recently. (And pretty abruptly too. Though it does seem that there's nothing to cover anymore..., I think there were still some loose ends.) To mark a return to Otakudom, I even visited Animangaki. Planning to head for Comic Fiesta later this year too.

As for anime, I've started watching a few series too. Frankly, I'm not a fan of adapted anime, mainly those adapted from mainstream shounen manga. The anime rarely compares to the manga(except some rare few) and viewers constantly have to sit through fillers. I've watched 2 of 2011's most acclaimed anime and am currently following another series which just started airing October this year. I've enjoyed the two anime from 2011(very much) so I think I shall do a write-up about them.

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai
The title translates into "We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day" though everyone just refers to it as Anohana for short. This tells the story of a group of childhood friends-the "Super Peace Busters" who after the death of one of their own, Meiko Honma, start to drift apart during the ten years leading up to the start of the anime. The main protagonist, Jinta, once the smart and charismatic leader of the group has stooped to the life of a "hikikomori", which is a recluse that stays holed up at home. One day, he sees the apparition of his long dead friend, claiming that her wish has not been fulfilled, resulting in her inability to pass on.

 The Super Peace Busters- Then

The anime is 11-episodes long but has managed to bring enough development for the characters. With the reappearance for Menma (Meiko's nickname), Jinta is forced to reunite with the other members of the Super Peace Busters to try and figure out her wish. Throughout the show, we see how each member comes to terms with the feelings and emotions that have been suppressed since even before Menma's death(except Poppo, who I think didn't have as much backstory). It's a story that would constantly tug at the heartstrings of those more emotional. Now every time the ending theme plays, I get all melancholic because the instrumental versions comes on at almost every emotional scene in the show. One peeve though would be the nicknames. The Peace Busters refer to each other with portmanteau of their names ie. Menma is derived from Meiko Honma, so it would be a bit confusing when you're just acquainting yourself to the characters.

And Now.

Steins;Gate
I remember seeing a friend of mine post a status last year about how he finished the series, and though I did nothing about it immediately. The name stuck and a year later, I've decided to watch it myself. Right now, I'm still suffering a withdrawal. Fortunately, there are many spin-offs to satiate my longing for more of this anime. Steins;Gate is an anime revolving around time travel and subsequently, the consequences from it. One of the many strong points of this anime is its cast of characters. The main protaganist, Okabe Rintarou, is a self-proclaimed 'mad scientist", constantly spouting delusional made-up conspiracies as well as monologues with his cellphone. Some may tire of Okabe's antics but there is of course more to him than the arrogant, flamboyant disposition he gives out.As the series progresses, we too see Okabe develop as a character as he faces the outcome of his experiments. The seiyuu contributed tremendously to the success of the anime by giving life to an array of characters with distinct personalities and backgrounds. Mamoru Miyano gives Okabe his eccentricity (Trivia: He is also the voice of Yagami Light from Death Note,Riku from Kingdom Hearts and Suoh Tamaki from Ouran). We also have Shiina Mayuri, Okabe's happy-go-lucky childhood friend who has a deeper understanding of everything going on than made out to be, Makise Kurisu, a prodigy, initially cool and level-headed, she soon warms up to Okabe and the gang.

Being 24 episodes long, Steins;Gate takes a while to build up, but viewers should be patient, the climax does come and rather shockingly too. Before that, the stories mostly revolves around the introduction of characters, most ending up as Laboratory Members of the Future Gadget Lab that Okabe founded, as well as the building up of the basis of time-travel, which might be a bit confusing if you plan to analyse it more thoroughly once the anime is over.

Though it falls mainly in the sci-fi genre, Steins;Gate has a mix of everything and balances it out perfectly: a blend of drama and comedy, a bit of action, friendship and even hints of romance. The art is clean, yet I admit, that of the visual novel which it was adapted from(Anohana is an orginal anime btw)  is much more stunning. Story was brilliantly told, and everything connects eventually. Its position as one of the great animes of 2011(or maybe even all-time) is duly justified.

P.S: Japanese seem to like their portmanteau nicknames, or maybe it just so happens in these two anime. Mayuri refers to herself by Mayushii and to Okabe as Okarin (much to his irritation).

Our 8 lab members. Okabe far right with his cellphone, Kurisu with the red hair and Mayuri with the blue summer hat. 

If you do start watching these two anime now, it'll be perfect timing to welcome their respective movies next year! Steins;Gate is scheduled to have an original movie in Spring 2013, and Anohana has one planned for Fall 2013.

Senescence

With this much liberty of being in the situation that I am now, comes too fear and sorrow that seems to lurk around every idle moment. It is during days when it seems that the only things to look forward to are whether Naruto will become Hokage or who Ted's wife will be that you feel so stagnant. You can't help logging onto Facebook/Twitter and inevitably be bogged by your friends' updates about their new lives, leaving a hollower feeling.

Sometimes, I have this selfish yearning for the world to just end in December, as 'prophecised". At least, then, there will be no grief for future sudden losses, with the knowing of when the end is near and for everyone to meet it together. There would be no need to face the fears and uncertainties of a shrouded future. No more emotions, no more assumptions, no more need for decisions.

Other times, I remember not-knowing is what makes up the excitement of life. I know that there's more that I need to discover and fulfill. I am aware of this is a means of escapism.

Like when faced with the decisions one has to decide on in life, my mind continues to oscillate

Oh Education..

It's a sad fact but I believe that I was quite possibly more brilliant as a child than I am now. It's true that children possess a natural inquisitive nature, eager to know about everything and anything about this world. An aunt of mine worked at Grolier, which was a publishing company. I used to be excited when she came bearing gifts in the form of encyclopedias and those trivia books, not to mention some disney picture storybooks. Time was spent flipping through these and if I ever had a query, I would go look it up in the encyclopedia. History used to be a favourite of mine, I had this one book which compiled biographies of famous historical figure, and I would go look up those of figures I read/heard about elsewhere. A TV show from the past, "Time Squad" (pun not intended) played a part in introducing said historical figures to me.

The Internet replaced these encyclopedias. Everything was now a search button away. Yet with all the convenience and limitless information, I'm not anymore intellectually stimulated. On the contrary, precious time has just been wiled away with all the Facebooking, Tweeting, and catching up on TV series. Not to say I don't learn other things, but it could have gone at a much more faster pace.

Pretentious as it may be, I felt that I used to have a larger advantage over my peers in our younger days, that I was already at a higher level in some academic aspects. I read up any thing that interested me so some historical or scientific facts we would learn later were mere general knowledge trivia to me, giving me chances to flaunt once in a while. Unfortunately, I never did expand this bank of knowledge. Soon enough, it was either the syllabus we were learning finally caught up or I started meeting people of equal or higher calibre. 

Our education system probably contributed to this deterioration, being so restrictive. Who knows how much untapped potential was never discovered, and will never be know as our brains age. But then, it's not only exclusive to Malaysia, we did model ourselves after the Brits.

Coincidentally, I just finished "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" today (or it was this book that prompted the post). Afterthoughts: what would I be like now, if I was handled more strictly in my youth? I know, I have my regrets, not continuing the piano or the violin, and maybe not swimming a bit more harder during classes. But then, would I have read as much or explored all the other enlightening aspects. Might I be like Amy Chua's daughter, attending college at Harvard or maybe in Oxbridge now if I was drilled harder? 

Who knows? And there's still time to learn. I might take longer than I would have in my younger days but there's still the opportunity, with the gap year and all. I can revert back to my free learning methods of the past, absorbing information from any source at my own pace. Schooling has disrupted most of my education, fortunately, not to the point of no return.

Keep it Personal

I'm gonna be cheating here. This may look like a pretty long post but most of the content won't be mine. Below is apparently from a writing competition but was submitted to some colleges for admissions too O.O, and it garnered quite a lot of attention:

"I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, I manage time efficiently.

Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo women with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge.

I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat 400.

My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA.

I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid.

On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prize-winning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin.

I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not yet gone to college."

Whether it really got the author admitted into college or not, it is pretty cool >:D