ドラえもん のび太と緑の巨人伝 : Doraemon - Nobita and the Legend of the Green Giant
And here's the price tag. Well, I think this is the most expensive comic book I've ever bought. Somemore...this period of time watashi wa binbo desu. (Very similar to bimbo...but binbo means poor).
Check out the price tag!
Yes it's $11.30. It's directly imported from Japan of course. Printed in Japan. Anyway I told a lot of people already I saw a $880+ Chemical Engineering book in Kinokuniya, printed in Japan but it is written in ENGLISH. So maybe this comic is rather affordable in Japan.
But anyway, the Mr Fujiko's successors did a very good job for this book! The drawings are getting very natural now, the story flows much better, and it is much more touching than the previous books.
And it was worth the money because I took around 4 to 5 hours to finish the book. The reason?
Step 1: Read the words
Step 2: Know how to read the words
Step 3: Read the words aloud and then figure out what it means. If not, roughly guess.
LOL most of you may be interested on the last page. Pardon my scanning. I don't want to hurt the book spine so soon. Next time when I'm better in Japanese I will try to read the book again. My first Japanese book! Anyway if my translation is wrong, I apologize for my noob translation and I hope my translation makes sense.
I know how tired is it to make "scanlations" now.
And I really really want this movie to show in the cinemas! It's such a great movie. But looks like Singapore has to wait...and wait...and wait. And very few cinemas will show this wonderful story.
Ayaka really gave a very nice song to a very wonderful movie.
The plants are rooted to where they belong. They have a very close sense of belonging to where they are born.
Let's not take away their right to survive on the planet.
It was lucky that I knew about this video and this show through the Taiwanese news. There I saw this plump, short and a "potential William Hung" on the latest reality TV "Britain's got Talent", a British version of "American Idol".
Again Simon Cowell is the chief judge with his co-judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden. And you thought Paul Potts will perform like William Hung and make a fool of himself. He looked as if he was not prepared to sing. But no, he made Simon Cowell's jaw drop. He made Piers Morgan speechless. And he made Amanda Holden cry. Everybody's nodding, cheering and giving him a standing ovation.
Then I went to search the video on youtube. The video of Paul Potts singing Nessun Dorma was posted only for 1 week (1 week since the telecast of the show) and it was already a 2 million hit. (I've never really recommended any music / youtube video before, I'm recommending it because it's really very inspiring and touching...)
I found myself suddenly really pulled by the music and really gets absorbed by it. Then when he was hitting the high notes I started to cry uncontrollably. It's very strange but I'm really touched and inspired by his singing.
It's not like anything you find in American Idol, let alone Singapore Idol or any Superstar. This is really superstar performance. It's really music. It's really singing, singing with all his heart and full of his own sincerity and emotions. I watched it again and again, and I was still astounded and continued to tear again (I really can't help it). It's really good music. This totally defines what makes a good singer and what is a sincere rendition of the song.
I personally like this opera song a lot. It's actually the ending song for Sisy's World News on Ch 52 (which also is my favourite show now) but it never made me so emotional. Not even after hearing Pavarotti's rendition of the song. I don't know why but Paul Potts really have this magic and making music alive.
Paul Potts is not a very confident man, and he was troubled by a lot of health problems so much so that he could not continue to develop his talent. He attended some lessons on opera singing, but he did not continue to pursue his passion. He's really going against all adversity. I am rooting for him to win on today's (17th June, 10.15pm UK time) final of "Britain's Got Talent".
He is a normal salesman, with much of his talent undiscovered. From his example, I realised that when people have the talent and do the right things, your talent and work will eventually get recognised. An extraordinary talent and power is hidden within all of the ordinary people. All of us do need patience to discover it.
This song Dessun Dorma is a song from the opera Tunradot by Giacomo Puccini, a play talking about an exiled prince attracted to this Chinese princess. This princess promised that she would only wed the person who answered her riddles correctly.
Q: What is born each night and dies each dawn? A: Hope
Q: What flickers red and warm like a flame, but is not fire? A: Blood
Q: What is like ice, but burns like fire? A: Tunradot (The princess's name)
But the princess backed on her words. So the prince thought of an idea to make her accept the results and carry out her promise. He asked her to find out his real name before dawn. If he wins, he will get to marry her and if he loses, he will be beheaded. The song Nessun Dorma, is the song sung when the prince was celebrating his victory and winning over the princess.
The song's lyrics:
_______________________________
ITALIAN Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma! Tu pure, o, Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza, guardi le stelle che fremono d'amore e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero e chiuso in me, il nome mio nessun sapra! No, no, sulla tua bocca lo diro quando la luce splendera!
Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio che ti fa mia! (Il nome suo nessun sapra! ...e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
ENGLISH None must sleep! None must sleep! And you, too, Princess, in your cold room, gaze at the stars which tremble with love and hope!
But my mystery is locked within me, no-one shall know my name! No, no, I shall say it as my mouth meets yours when the dawn is breaking!
And my kiss will break the silence which makes you mine! (No-one shall know his name, and we, alas, shall die!)
Vanish, o night!Fade, stars! At dawn I shall win
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This singer, this song has really added my interest and love in opera. It all brought me to the "moving point" - it moved me and it makes me want to get my life moving. And I'm really thankful for what Music has given me. It is indeed a common human language that can pass through all language, racial and even time barriers.
Last weekend had been a very crazy weekend...with some bit of mahjong, tutoring and great lunch / dinner outside...
But it's really crazy because I've finally watching Eureka Seven on Youtube :) (full name Psalm of the Planets : Eureka Seven) and I think it's a very very nice anime. Finished watching 20+ episodes this weekend before book in and the ending was really nice and romantic... Haven't wrote an anime review before but this anime is too nice till I think I have to write a review for it.
Ray=Out
"Don't Ask For it, Go Get It and You'll Be Rewarded"
The wonderful quote that attracted Renton to board the Gekko State. This particular teenager who is such a fan of ref-boarding (a term for sky-surfing in the anime) suddenly came across the Gekko State and the crew in his village. He also came in touch with Nirvash, the robot with this mysterious girl Eureka. Gekko state (the spaceship) was pursued by the enemies, where everything started... he thought he was dreaming when he could board the Gekko State and chase the Trapar (the winds for ref-boarding) with his idols.
Reality Hits : Childish Behaviour
But things turned out to be totally different from what Renton expects. Gekko state is an anti-government group. The world is flooded with Scab corals, and it's continuously growing, up to a point which its growth is gobbling up human's living space. The military wants to get rid of all the corals, but the Gekko State believes that humans can communicate with these corals.
Then things get very tricky. Renton doesn't know what's Gekko state is all about until he's already on board. And Eureka is not as simple as just "a girl of his dreams". She is not a human - but a Coralian, a creature created by the Scab corals - as a way to communicate with the humans. Then Eureka and Renton fall for each other, decide to show the world how to communicate with the Scab corals.
Moreover, it's not the first time that humans tried to eradicate the corals. Renton's father and sister, both tried to stop the world by postulateing the fact that corals are living things and humans can communicate with the corals. But they have failed in helping "First Summer of Love" and failed to negotiate how to co-exist with the corals - and had not returned home since then. So it's an utomst difficult task for Renton and Eureka to communicate and perform "Second Summer of Love"...
Things get even worse when Holland, the leader of the Gekko State is ultra protective of Eureka. He was an ex-militant and stole Gekko state and got Eureka out of the military. Initially he was really a bastard in the series, hitting Renton for no reason, thinking that he is not doing any good for Eureka.
But finally he did realise that Renton and Eureka really fell in love...things get a bit better. And finally Talho (the vice-captain) revealed her true feelings for him and that's when Holland gets little less childish and really becomes a hero at the end of the series...
"Do You Still Want Me"
Then the military also has their weapon against the Gekko State and the "invincible" TypeZERO Nirvash. They had their own version of Eureka and Nirvash - genetically modified girl called Anemone and TypeTHE END.
Up to the final test - the couple went on fine. But after the two found out the truth of the corals, Coralians, even the truth to Eureka's existence, things start to change. Eureka started to evolve and changed. She became paranoid and came out with this - "Do you still want me?"
The reply was indeed very sweet.
"You gave up being a Coralian to save the world. I'm willing to give up being a human just to be with you".
And Holland finally told Renton, the quote was supposed to be for him. The message was by his father and meant only for him, and Holland was merely the messenger. "Don't ask for it. Go for it and you will be rewarded."
A very sweet anime with tons of emotions and touching scenes.
