December 4, 2011
Last Exile – Fam The Silver Wing – Ep8: Jetstream
The concept and practice of rocket propulsion has been in use even during the ancient Chinese eras, but it was during the second world war that jet propulsion really came into being. I forget who was credited with the original basis for rocket propulsion, but the first widely publicized use of jet engines was under the Third Reich. Upon the defeat of Germany during WW2 their most talented scientists fell into the hands of the Americans, British and the USSR. These countries benefited from the rather advanced technologies they captured, and this helped form the weapons of war the would ultimately shape the Cold War.
The jets and rockets in this series look pretty basic, as opposed to the rather thick Russian accents, but presents even then just how different the techs between countries really are. Ades may have the number, but Glacies have the obviously superior technology.
November 14, 2011
Last Exile – Fam The Silver Wing – Ep5: Head of State
As long as the people exist, as long as their beloved leader exists, a nation will keep on going, or so they say. The lands of Turan are gone but it’s people live on in the wilderness, and it’s leader lives among sky pirates on a wandering battleship. So then as long as Millia keeps on believing that Turan has a future, as long as the Turan people live to see that future, Turan will exist again on day. Until that time of course she has to set up her government in Exile (pun and irony intended) by hook or by… maid costume.
Yeah.
October 31, 2011
Last Exile – Fam The Silver Wing – Ep3: Prayer For The Departed
War is hell, war never changes. During the lull between battles one will realize that the bigger the war, the more dead lie in the streets. Who will bury the? Who has the time to? Would even care to give a proper one for the dead of your enemies? Perhaps one single piece of humanity that still exists in the middle of a bloody war is the way we treat our dead. Behind the front lines, between the battles when everyone is supposed to rest, it is characteristic of humans to pay respects to the dead, any dead for that matter, even of your enemies. We give the time of day to bury them even if they were just shooting at us minutes ago. No matter the circumstance, humanity honors the dead and departed no matter the reason.
It’s almost ironic that this episode comes out mere days before November 1 and 2.
September 16, 2010
K-On! Finale: The Music Lives Forever
I don’t think I can really remember my graduation days, both in college and in high school. It’s been so many a year since the day that I had to step out of those institutions, propelled to challenge even greater horizons ahead of me as I plan and planned for my future. For the longest time I had already had my sights set on medical school so, for the most part, I saw most of high school and college as stepping stones towards this goal. Not to say that I didn’t like those days or that I had chosen to forget them, but in retrospect it makes me remember how perhaps I never cherished those days as I could have.
If there’s anything I remember about graduating though, it’s that I likely cried after the ceremonies. It’s always been a solemn ceremony no matter how you slice it. It’s a big event both for those who now are to leave and for those who are to be left behind.
This is a fact that Azusa now has to face, after so long of putting it away.
September 10, 2010
K-On! S2 Ep23: Tying Up Loose Ends
I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t really mind at all if there’s no performance or no music at all in the final episode. Their school festival performance was a rock it to the shit display as it is and it’s enough of a fitting end for HTT’s high school incarnation.
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August 18, 2010
K-On: The Music Never Dies
It’s been many, many years since I was in high school. Many years since I was really a child. Okay I’m not really that old yet, and in many ways I’m still childish inside, but it’s already coming to me how even the memories of almost ten years ago is becoming fuzzy in my mind. Not to say that I’m forgetting, but looking back at those years, it really tells me how long the road in between has gotten. I got into college, graduated, got into medical school and I’m almost about to get my MD as well. Ten years for older generations might feel like a short span of time, for young adults like me it feels like an entire lifetime of change and advancement.
There are times when I actually felt a little jealous of the girls in K-On!, even though I’m a guy. High school was so long ago, yet watching this series that revels in its silliness, I still get reminded of days long past. Days that are over and will never return. This doesn’t mean that I want to return to those days, but nostalgia is sometimes a funny thing: It makes you want the days of old but makes you realize you can never have them again. It makes you sad in remembrance, but makes you happiness with its fondness.
Life as always inevitably goes on, even in anime. I never expected that these girls would be in high school their entire lives, but you never really expect that sort of self-awareness of the inevitable future. They’ve skirted the issue before, as seniors, content in ignoring the gorilla in the room as they eat cake, sip tea and procrastinating before eventually going on to practice.
But again, life goes on. In this finite universe, things that start must invariably end.
Medical Student vs. Anime 