GHP 01/13/10: Happy New Year

Nagpahinga muna ako sa pag gawa ng newsletter, but here it is again. I know wala pa Chinese new year pero I'll greet you guys Kung hei hwat tsai! (Its Hokkien, so its different from the Mandarin greeting) It’s the year of the tiger, and it is a great time to use the...

TIGER CLAW!! Who's the beeatch now!?

I wonder if it will be a lucky year for us Metal Roosters (born in the year 1981) hehehe. Anyway, added a few new names sa mailing list hehehe.

Breakfast of the day

Almost everyday after work, paboritong stop over ko na ang Hen Lin, baket? Yung braised beef nila tastes way better than the present Chowking version. This is how it used to taste like nung si Kwan(surname po ito) pa yung may ari ng Chowking. I always get this with the quick pick letter A which is three pieces of siomai na may iced tea. Di siya nakakasawa. Although masarap din yung Goto at tokwa quick pick meal nila, yun nga lang paso ang dila ko after eating.

 Pasensiya na, medyo makalog ang camera habang kinukunan ko, gutom na kasi ako hehehe.

Wacky Laws Still on the Books in America

From changing the color of baby chicks to shooting effigies to properly honoring the glory of the log cabin, Americans have spent valuable legislative hours throughout the years making sure we're on the straight and narrow.
As a New Year arrives, here are 10 wacky laws that remain on the books across the country:
1. In Billings, Mont., it is illegal for anyone to sell, harbor or give away rats as pets or toys for any purpose other than to feed snakes or birds of prey. Scientists, however, can keep lab rats.
2. Using profanity is against the law on playgrounds and in public parks in Columbia, Md.
3. The last Sunday in June each year is Log Cabin Day in Michigan.
4. In Michigan, it is legal to kill a dog for attacking chickens, livestock or people, but you can't snuff the pooch in a high altitude decompression chamber or by electrocution.
5. In West Virginia, anyone who taunts someone who decides not to participate in a duel or who declines to accept a challenge is guilty of a misdemeanor and can be sent to jail for up to six months and fined up to $100.
6. In Kentucky it is illegal to sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange, display, or possess living baby chicks, ducklings, or other fowl or rabbits that have been dyed or colored. It is also illegal to dye or color baby chicks, ducklings, fowl or rabbits. And unless they are at least two months old, the aforementioned animals must be sold in batches of six.
7. At shooting ranges in Massachusetts, it is illegal to shoot at targets depicting a human -- whether as a figure, effigy or a silhouette -- unless you're a public safety officer performing official duties.
8. In Alabama it is against the law to alter the natural appearance of the teeth of a horse or mule to make the animal appear younger than it actually is.
9. In Alabama anyone performing a marriage rite is entitled to a fee of $2 per marriage.
10. In Alabama it is against the law to exploit a bear by promoting, engaging in or being employed at a bear wrestling match, or by subjecting a bear to surgical alteration of any kind, including, but not limited to, declawing, tooth removal and severing tendons.

Bring out the Aliens!

Here are the foreigners I liked most in the shows I have seen and the mangas I have read.

Kate (Sketchbook ~full color'S~)

Kate is a transfer student from Canada, and a member of class 1-10. She speaks Japanese quite well, and likes to show off her ability to write Kanji by writing almost everything in it, even when it isn't appropriate, such as when she wrote her own name as “keito” (毛糸), which means “yarn”, and her home country's name, Canada, as Kaneda (金田), a Japanese surname.

Patricia Martin (Lucky ☆ Star)

She is a transfer student from the United States. She is in the same class as Yutaka and Minami. She has short blonde hair and blue eyes. Patricia loves anime and manga and has learned all her Japanese through them, so in effect her Japanese is very weird. She is extremely energetic and lively and has a high interest in boys love. Aside from Miyuki, she has the second biggest chest size, which she is often ashamed about. Patricia works with Konata at the cosplay cafe.
Her voice is meant to represent Minnie Mouse's in both the Japanese and English version. In Japanese, it is supposed to highlight her American heritage, while in English it merely follows the Japanese version.

Harry Mackenzie (School Rumble)

Harry Mackenzie is a blonde-haired exchange student, skilled at fighting and a rival of Harima and Hanai. His name is pronounced the same as Harima's (in traditional Japanese use of family name first, Harima Kenji) when using Katakana, which leads to more than a few misunderstandings between the two. He is once mistaken as Harima Kenji by Hanai. He rides a gold-coloured motorcycle with a Hyaku decal and often wears red clothing and red shades, making him a parody of Char Aznable's Quattro Bajeena persona. He was first mentioned in chapter 2 of the manga when Yoshidayama misread his name and told Harima that the latter was in class 2-D. He is popular with the opposite sex and can easily attract them.

Lala Gonzalez (School Rumble)

Lala is an exchange student from Mexico, and a skilled practitioner of 'Lucha Libre' fighting. She belongs to the same amateur wrestling club as Ichijō, who she sees her as a rival, often shouting "Ichijō!" when she meets her. Lala dislikes Ichijō's name because her mother, who abandoned her and her father when she was a child, was also named Karen.
She detests the D-cup-hunting pervert Imadori, especially when he managed to grope her chest while being choked. She thus tends to beats him up whenever she sees him after sufficient provocation. Lala works in the same fast food restaurant as Ichijo, where no one dared to go to her counter because of her violent temper. She even grabs customers that annoy her and drags them inside for a beating. Lala's closest friends appear to be Harry Mackenzie and Masakazu Tougou, who both look out for her. Later on, her animosity towards Ichijo softens. Her character is the direct opposite of her rival Ichijō, being that she is tall, well-endowed, sour-faced, hot-tempered, and very easily provoked.

Eleki Battery (Hajime no Ippo)

The junior lightweight champion of the Philippines, Eleki also boasts an odd hairstyle with a lightning bolt shaved on top of his head. He is a skilled outboxer like Kimura. Eleki's weakness was his exceptionally weak body. He toughened up his body for his rematch with Kimura. Kimura has fought Eleki twice, with both matches ending in a draw.

Which non-japanese characters were depicted as stereotypes and not stereotypes? (taken from an anime forum)

I have noticed that many Chinese anime characters such as Li Syaoran, Revy (Black Lagoon), Hei/Li Shengshen (Darker Than Black), Lee Bailong (Shaman King), Li Kohran (Sakura Wars) and the main character cast of Cooking Master Boy were portrayed positively. However, some personality traits that many Chinese characters such as Syaoran, Hei, Bailong, Tao Ren (Shaman King) and Revy have in common was that they are angry, aloof and bitter individuals with a chip-on-the-shoulder atttude.

In the anime Cooking Master boy, Chinese people, usually in crowds, all look alike/the same, aside from the major characters, who however can easily be distinguished.

Why are almost all half-Japanese/half-Western characters blondes? In reality they have black hair.

Tamaki Suou (half-French, half-Japanese) from Ouran Host Club
Rebecca Miyamoto (half-Japanese, half-American) from Pani Poni Dash!
Momiji Sohma (half-German, half-Japanese) from Fruits Basket
Elise Housen (half-French, half-Japanese) from Canvas 2
Eri Sawachika (half-British, half-Japanese) from School Rumble
Maria Tachibana (half-Russian, half-Japanese) from Sakura Taisen
Heindrick and Elizabeth K. Strawberryfield (half-English, half-Japanese) from Kamen no Maid Guy
Niina Isokawa (half-American, half-Japanese) from Tona-gura
Sophie Balzac Kirisaki (half-French, half-Japanese) from Yakitate Japan
Meister Silvan Kirisaki (half-French, half-Japanese) from Yakitate Japan

Kouji Jefferson Sakai (half-Swedish, half-Japanese) from Hungry Heart~ Wild Striker has silvery-blonde hair.

Orihime Soletta (half-Italian, half-Japanese) from Sakura Taisen 2 and Yuki (half-Greek, half-Japanese) from the manga Love for Venus have black hair, not blond hair. But then again Italians and Greeks, being mediterranean, generally do not have blonde hair.

I have taken a look at the American characters.

The American main characters David, Lewis and Julia in Blood+ are depicted positively. But the U.S. government officials in Blood+ were characterized as duplicitous, manipulative and deceitful as snakes.

Many people say that Americans in anime are stereotypified as lewd, loud-mouthed, nosy, rude, boorish, obnoxious and inconsiderate. Roy Focker (Macross), Monica Adenauer (Yakitate Japan), Sarah McDougal (Love Hina) and Tina Foster (Ai Yori Aoshi) are typical examples of that stereotype. Another classic example of "loud and rude foreigner" stereotype is Kaere Kimura (Sayonara Zetsubo-sensei).

I read that Black characters were portrayed as stereotypes in anime. But when I saw Rodrigo (Afro-Brazilian) on Hungry Heart~ Wild Striker, he didn't look like stereotypical but rather a real person with fairly rich character depth.

The English/Britons such as Eri Sawachika, Heindrick Strawberryfield, Elizabeth Strawberryfield, and the full-blooded British guy from Gatekeepers are depicted as arrogant, snobby and acting high-class. Mayu Miyuki (Ai Yori Aoshi) may be full Japanese but grew up in England, so she acted the english stereotype of an arrogant and vain snob on a high horse.

As for the characterization of French people in anime, every French character (Iris, Glycine, Erica, Lobelia, Mer Raison, Ci Caprice, etc) in Sakura Taisen has their own distinct personality traits and do not share the same behavioural traits.

What's more interesting is that all half-Japanese, half-French children such as Suou Tamaki, Sophie Balzac Kirisaki, Meister Silvan Kirisaki, Elise Housen, Christine Hanakomachi have French mothers and Japanese fathers. Hanabi Kitaoji's grandmother is a Frenchwoman.

New Downloads:

Complete Series

Nodame Cantabile (Season 01, Season 02, Finale, Live Action, Live Action Special)

At a top music academy in Japan, Shinichi Chiaki's arrogance is matched only by his top-notch piano playing. But when Chiaki and the teacher get into a fight, he's demoted to the reject class. Chiaki is left to pursue his dream of being a conductor while surrounded by a bunch of loser musicians and one annoying girl, Noda, who has proclaimed herself Chiaki's girlfriend. It doesn't help that Noda, who insists on being called Nodame, lives right next door to him.

You're Under Arrest Live Action

Natsumi and Miyuki are policewomen at the Bokuto Police Station. This story recounts the exploits and adventures they have in dealing with the strange characters they are forced to deal with 'all in a day's work'. Ending theme is Mariah Carey's "Through the Rain"

Basquash!

Yep, Nike is the official sponsor of this show, and the shoes are real, only not that big. Oh I love advertising in a show when they do it right.

On the planet Earthdash, its inhabitants gaze on its moon and the technologically advanced lunar city of Mooneyes with awe. Dan JD, a boy living in Rollingtown on Earthdash’s surface, gets caught up in Bigfoot Basketball — a fast-paced sport played with giant Bigfoot robots.

Colorful

The adventures (and mis-adventures) of Men, staring, peeking, glacing, looking, glaring at women and their efforts to get that extra eyeful of harmlessly exposed panties, bra, and occasional cleavage. Following at most, a few regular males and the outrageous consequences of their actions.

Sora no Otoshimono

Tomoki Sakurai often encounters a strange girl in his dreams asking for his help, but he can't remember her face when he wakes up. When an Unidentified Mysterious Animal (U.M.A.) falls out of the sky, his life of pacifism suddenly becomes complicated. The animal turns out to be an angel, Ikaros.

Hidamari Sketch

Yuno has been accepted to her dream school: Yamabuki Arts High School. To attend the school, Yuno moves and starts to live in a small apartment building named the Hidamari Apartments located near the school. Once there, she starts making new friends like her classmate Miyako and the second year students, Hiro and Sae. Surrounded by good friends, Yuno starts moving towards her dream of being an artist.

Zero no Tsukaima (Season 1-3)

Meet Louise, a budding magician. The students at the Tristein Academy call her "Zero Louise", due to her current record of zero successes with magic. In fact, her magic tends to go spectacularly wrong. Now, as an important test of her aptitude for magic, she must summon a familiar to be her servant. At this critical moment, she summons up all her magic and wishes for a familiar that is "devoted, beautiful and powerful", and gets... Hiraga Saito, an ordinary Japanese boy. It's difficult to say who is more surprised and dismayed, but the rules don't allow for second attempts. Louise is stuck with her strange familiar, and he with her.

Polyphonica

In the continent of Polyphonica, Spirits materialized in the world, surviving on the music that is played by humans, and lives together with them. While the spirits doesn’t appear often, some spirits has enough power to materialize in human or animal forms and live together with humans. Dantists, who play special music called “Commandia,” are widely respected in this world. They also usually are in contract with powerful spirits. The story of Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica revolves around the new Dantist, Phoron Tatara, the spirit that he made contract with, Corticarte Apa Lagranges, and their friends, in their daily life and work.

Go Nagai Special! (Shin Mazinger Z & Shin Getter Robo)

The retold stories of the best super robots ever created!