Oh god KitaEri, what are you really doing to us?!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
AFA11: 『I ♥ Anisong presents ROCK YOUR SOUL!!! Super Anisong Concert』
AFA11. Singapore. 11-13 November 2011. This time however, NicoNico would be broadcasting live from Singapore. And not just a few cameo shots. They would be broadcasting live across the world from the concerts.
Naturally the highlight of AFA11 this time round would be LiSA @ Oribe Risa. The singing voice of Angel Beats. With her performance streamed across the globe live by NicoNico. This is probably the closest I'll ever get to AFA, so having cleared my calendar, I decided to tune in. It was my first live stream of a concert. Heck, I think it is even my first concert, real or otherwise. (I don't get out much)
「I ♥ Anisong ROCK YOUR SOUL!!!」 would take centre stage this time round. Starring Sea☆A, LiSA and Hayakawa Toshio.
So at 9pm AEST (7pm SGT, 8pm JST, 3am PST), I tuned in.
8.54pm: The (virtual) doors on NicoNico open. Live viewers so far: 1551.
9.04pm: The live feed from Suntec comes on. I see a stage and people. Can hear the Singaporean accent of people talking in the background.
9.08pm: First pictures from the ground
9.12pm: Still tuning up. Doesn't look they're going to start on time
9.16pm: MC comes on stage. Cowboybibimbop falls in love with her.
9.24pm: Sea☆A comes up on stage. First up: the theme song for AFA11 - 「DREAM SHOOTER」
I'll be blunt: Sea☆A a artificially created sugary mess that is an attempt to bring the "aidoru" culture to Singapore. Its not going to work. Japan is not South East Asia, and South East Asia is not Japan. That said, I do admire them for taking the effort to sing in Japanese (but then even SNSD could do it, so......) and entering the Japanese entertainment market. Showbiz is harsh. They did put some effort into their choreography.
And I thought that SNSD was an artificial blob. I suppose one pro of all this is that they're all English speaking. But bloody hell, they've picked up the terrible naming convention that seems to be the traits of mass J-pop.
Other songs performed:
-Soda Sound Fountain
-DELI-DELI☆DELICIOUS
I was hoping LiSA would be coming on next. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one glad seeing Sea☆A wrap up. Then Hayakawa Toshio @ ANIKI came up.
After one song, the live stream was cut. So I have no idea what ANIKI performed. He was apparently performing a medley, which pretty much brings up all kinds of licensing issues.
Still, I got to take a break, grab some fruit, and swung by the toilet. Things I would not have been able to do if I was physically there.
10.49pm: Nico live stream back.
10.53pm: Tuning up. Can hear bits and pieces of GalDeMo. :)
11.03pm: LiSA comes up on stage!
Her opening song, "Believe in myself" was pretty apt. It certainly got the crowd pumped up. And no mention of her appearance would be complete without mentioning her zettai ryouiki. She certainly knows how to work up and crowd.
Next up was "Day Game", a GalDeMo song. For the first time in my life I finally understood why anyone would want to see line up and jostle with a million other people simply just to see their artist in the flesh performing. The song itself as a Angel Beats album was great, but the live music was just electrifying. And man, they really went crazy with the drums with this song.
By this time the late hour didn't matter too much to me. I couldn't get enough of her.
And after "Day Game" LiSa did not disappoint, trying a a few words of English. I think it was her attempt that actually had the crowd going totally wild. For me, I took my proverbial hat off to her. It is no joke trying to speak in a language that you're not familiar with.
She then broke out into "Oath Sign", the highly anticipated OP of Fate/Zero. Having seen her perform it earlier in the day, it was a double dose hit. To have LiSA performing the same song twice in the same day, it was too much for me. I had to dial down the volume. And restrain myself.
Living in high density living means you need to be considerate.
When "Ichiban no takaramono" was next it was just pure ecstasy. A beautiful song, very tastefully done by the musician's to be a bit more upbeat, while maintaining the essence of the song. By the end LiSA was crying. I think. It was hard determining whether it was tears or sweat. I have a feeling the airconditioning of Suntec was working overtime that night.
Mind you, that is no small feat. Having been to Suntec personally, I can vouch that the greatest risk of being in Suntec is frostbite.
Her next rendition of the Angel Beats OP, "My soul your beats", was solid, but I think Lia can rest assured that she need not worry about her job security. But this piece showed that LiSA has some incredible lungs. Especially towards the end. LiSA doesn't quite have Lia's smooth high pitch through.
LiSA eventually took a breath, and went "Singapore is the best!". As if I needed to be reminded. As usual, Singapore shows the region how to do things. Properly. I have a feeling AFA will be annual event in Singapore's MICE calendar for a while.
Amongst all this, I couldn't help but feel the vast gulf that separates Singapore from their neighbours. And I'm not talking about the South China Sea either. Kuching is little under 90 minutes from Singapore by air, yet the type of clientèle that BCCK and Suntec play host to couldn't be more apart. With Marina Bay Sands (just don't call it a casino), the gap will only get wider.
"妄想コントローラ" next was a new song for me. I'm not quite sure how to comment on this. But it was what was after this that was noteworthy. She pumped up the crowd and got them to sing along to some of the beats of "妄想コントローラ". LiSA then expressed her appreciation, first in halting English, the switched to more confident Japanese. She expressed her gratefulness, and noted that it is music that bonds people across cultures and languages.
And I lost her after that. This is why I have respect for those who can comprehend multiple languages coherently.
"Crow Song". Where do I start. Arguably the 2nd best of the Angel Beats GalDeMo songs, just after "Thousand Enemies". While I was sad that she did not perform the latter, she was at her peak with "Crow Song". I just wanted to break out the Angel Beats eps and do a marathon.
I just wish the English language had better comparative and superlatives. "The wild crowd became the wildest crowd" somehow doesn't cut it. Singapore (+ all the other people that came in) loved her.
And she loved Singapore, promising to come back. Her "I promise you, I'll be back" drove people crazy. The twitterverse lit up on that single sentence. If she does come back to Singapore, there will be no lack of hospitality. I do hope she becomes a regular feature in AFA like May'N.
"LxixSxA!" was her last act. She got the crowd spelling her stage name. And with that, at 12.00am, she wrapped up. One hour of LiSA goodness.
Final thoughts:
Again, Singapore shows how to do things properly. This year was a sweetener, as much of AFA11 was streamed by NicoNico. And I was impressed how well the stream was from my end. While not 1080i HD, it was a lot smoother and clearer than I expected. With the exception of a few dropped frames quickly forgotten by LiSA's awesomeness, it was almost as good as being there. The camera angles were numerous, and I have no doubt that the footage will be used as a DVD release.
We have come a long way from the postage stamp sized videos of RealMedia. I remember trying to watch the funeral of Princess Diana via the BBC RealMedia stream in 1997. It wasn't so much a video as viewing still images with buffering every other minute. Sure, NicoNico did rope in Akamai to provide such a seamless experience, but shows that AFA is no longer a niche event. It is very much mainstream, with big money and a global audience involved. Those who could not be there in person were no less involved across the Internet.
Japan is no longer the regional and cultural power it once was. The Hallyu wave shows no sign of slowing down, and the Koreans have learnt from the mistakes from the Japanese in asserting their cultural prowess. While KBS and SM Entertainment have no qualms of harnessing the power of social media in promoting their brands such as SNSD and SHINee (just look at Youtube. And I'm not talking about the official MV's either), the old giants such a Sony Entertainment and King Records, and even Aniplex spends their resources hunting down anyone who dares upload any of their intellectual property to Youtube.
It is this kind of disconnect that alienates all but the dedicated of fans. Something these companies can ill afford in this converged world.
While there are positive developments, such as Aniplex's announcement in AFA11 that the Fate/Zero Japanese BD will not only be sold worldwide, and that it would come with English subtitles, this is more the exception than the rule. From my conversations, the AFA organizing committee jumps through a lot of hoops trying to get performers. The Japanese domestic market is not growing, and with competition from foreign talents it is in fact shrinking.
Such a unique experience, especially for those outside Japan, is something that cannot be copied.
The Japanese anime and entertainment industry could learn a lesson or two from AFA.
 |
| Source. |
「I ♥ Anisong ROCK YOUR SOUL!!!」 would take centre stage this time round. Starring Sea☆A, LiSA and Hayakawa Toshio.
So at 9pm AEST (7pm SGT, 8pm JST, 3am PST), I tuned in.
8.54pm: The (virtual) doors on NicoNico open. Live viewers so far: 1551.
9.04pm: The live feed from Suntec comes on. I see a stage and people. Can hear the Singaporean accent of people talking in the background.
9.08pm: First pictures from the ground
9.12pm: Still tuning up. Doesn't look they're going to start on time
9.16pm: MC comes on stage. Cowboybibimbop falls in love with her.
9.24pm: Sea☆A comes up on stage. First up: the theme song for AFA11 - 「DREAM SHOOTER」
I'll be blunt: Sea☆A a artificially created sugary mess that is an attempt to bring the "aidoru" culture to Singapore. Its not going to work. Japan is not South East Asia, and South East Asia is not Japan. That said, I do admire them for taking the effort to sing in Japanese (but then even SNSD could do it, so......) and entering the Japanese entertainment market. Showbiz is harsh. They did put some effort into their choreography.
And I thought that SNSD was an artificial blob. I suppose one pro of all this is that they're all English speaking. But bloody hell, they've picked up the terrible naming convention that seems to be the traits of mass J-pop.
Other songs performed:
-Soda Sound Fountain
-DELI-DELI☆DELICIOUS
I was hoping LiSA would be coming on next. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one glad seeing Sea☆A wrap up. Then Hayakawa Toshio @ ANIKI came up.
After one song, the live stream was cut. So I have no idea what ANIKI performed. He was apparently performing a medley, which pretty much brings up all kinds of licensing issues.
Still, I got to take a break, grab some fruit, and swung by the toilet. Things I would not have been able to do if I was physically there.
10.49pm: Nico live stream back.
10.53pm: Tuning up. Can hear bits and pieces of GalDeMo. :)
11.03pm: LiSA comes up on stage!
Her opening song, "Believe in myself" was pretty apt. It certainly got the crowd pumped up. And no mention of her appearance would be complete without mentioning her zettai ryouiki. She certainly knows how to work up and crowd.
Next up was "Day Game", a GalDeMo song. For the first time in my life I finally understood why anyone would want to see line up and jostle with a million other people simply just to see their artist in the flesh performing. The song itself as a Angel Beats album was great, but the live music was just electrifying. And man, they really went crazy with the drums with this song.
By this time the late hour didn't matter too much to me. I couldn't get enough of her.
And after "Day Game" LiSa did not disappoint, trying a a few words of English. I think it was her attempt that actually had the crowd going totally wild. For me, I took my proverbial hat off to her. It is no joke trying to speak in a language that you're not familiar with.
She then broke out into "Oath Sign", the highly anticipated OP of Fate/Zero. Having seen her perform it earlier in the day, it was a double dose hit. To have LiSA performing the same song twice in the same day, it was too much for me. I had to dial down the volume. And restrain myself.
Living in high density living means you need to be considerate.
When "Ichiban no takaramono" was next it was just pure ecstasy. A beautiful song, very tastefully done by the musician's to be a bit more upbeat, while maintaining the essence of the song. By the end LiSA was crying. I think. It was hard determining whether it was tears or sweat. I have a feeling the airconditioning of Suntec was working overtime that night.
Mind you, that is no small feat. Having been to Suntec personally, I can vouch that the greatest risk of being in Suntec is frostbite.
Her next rendition of the Angel Beats OP, "My soul your beats", was solid, but I think Lia can rest assured that she need not worry about her job security. But this piece showed that LiSA has some incredible lungs. Especially towards the end. LiSA doesn't quite have Lia's smooth high pitch through.
LiSA eventually took a breath, and went "Singapore is the best!". As if I needed to be reminded. As usual, Singapore shows the region how to do things. Properly. I have a feeling AFA will be annual event in Singapore's MICE calendar for a while.
Amongst all this, I couldn't help but feel the vast gulf that separates Singapore from their neighbours. And I'm not talking about the South China Sea either. Kuching is little under 90 minutes from Singapore by air, yet the type of clientèle that BCCK and Suntec play host to couldn't be more apart. With Marina Bay Sands (just don't call it a casino), the gap will only get wider.
"妄想コントローラ" next was a new song for me. I'm not quite sure how to comment on this. But it was what was after this that was noteworthy. She pumped up the crowd and got them to sing along to some of the beats of "妄想コントローラ". LiSA then expressed her appreciation, first in halting English, the switched to more confident Japanese. She expressed her gratefulness, and noted that it is music that bonds people across cultures and languages.
And I lost her after that. This is why I have respect for those who can comprehend multiple languages coherently.
"Crow Song". Where do I start. Arguably the 2nd best of the Angel Beats GalDeMo songs, just after "Thousand Enemies". While I was sad that she did not perform the latter, she was at her peak with "Crow Song". I just wanted to break out the Angel Beats eps and do a marathon.
I just wish the English language had better comparative and superlatives. "The wild crowd became the wildest crowd" somehow doesn't cut it. Singapore (+ all the other people that came in) loved her.
And she loved Singapore, promising to come back. Her "I promise you, I'll be back" drove people crazy. The twitterverse lit up on that single sentence. If she does come back to Singapore, there will be no lack of hospitality. I do hope she becomes a regular feature in AFA like May'N.
"LxixSxA!" was her last act. She got the crowd spelling her stage name. And with that, at 12.00am, she wrapped up. One hour of LiSA goodness.
Final thoughts:
Again, Singapore shows how to do things properly. This year was a sweetener, as much of AFA11 was streamed by NicoNico. And I was impressed how well the stream was from my end. While not 1080i HD, it was a lot smoother and clearer than I expected. With the exception of a few dropped frames quickly forgotten by LiSA's awesomeness, it was almost as good as being there. The camera angles were numerous, and I have no doubt that the footage will be used as a DVD release.
We have come a long way from the postage stamp sized videos of RealMedia. I remember trying to watch the funeral of Princess Diana via the BBC RealMedia stream in 1997. It wasn't so much a video as viewing still images with buffering every other minute. Sure, NicoNico did rope in Akamai to provide such a seamless experience, but shows that AFA is no longer a niche event. It is very much mainstream, with big money and a global audience involved. Those who could not be there in person were no less involved across the Internet.
Japan is no longer the regional and cultural power it once was. The Hallyu wave shows no sign of slowing down, and the Koreans have learnt from the mistakes from the Japanese in asserting their cultural prowess. While KBS and SM Entertainment have no qualms of harnessing the power of social media in promoting their brands such as SNSD and SHINee (just look at Youtube. And I'm not talking about the official MV's either), the old giants such a Sony Entertainment and King Records, and even Aniplex spends their resources hunting down anyone who dares upload any of their intellectual property to Youtube.
It is this kind of disconnect that alienates all but the dedicated of fans. Something these companies can ill afford in this converged world.
While there are positive developments, such as Aniplex's announcement in AFA11 that the Fate/Zero Japanese BD will not only be sold worldwide, and that it would come with English subtitles, this is more the exception than the rule. From my conversations, the AFA organizing committee jumps through a lot of hoops trying to get performers. The Japanese domestic market is not growing, and with competition from foreign talents it is in fact shrinking.
Such a unique experience, especially for those outside Japan, is something that cannot be copied.
The Japanese anime and entertainment industry could learn a lesson or two from AFA.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Cables
Business Times, 22 Sept 2010: RM2b undersea cable to HK, US proposed
The Star, 1 Feb 2011: TM to invest RM427m in submarine cables
I found this 2 pieces of news interesting. 4 months prior PEMANDU made clear an intention to enter the submarine cable business. Down the road it was scaled back to purchasing 2 fiber's from the Asia Submarine-cable Express.
Regardless, this is nothing but good news. Malaysia is chronically short of Submarine Cable capacity. Bandwidth requirements are only going to go up, and Malaysia, in particular non-TM communication companies, rely too much on transit provided by Singaporean upstream providers.
I was hoping for a cable hugging the coast of Sarawak and Sabah, skirting across Mindanao in southern Philippines, and connecting to Guam. We would avoid the notoriously geologically unstable south Taiwan area, which caused the great outage of 06.
Guam is slowly surely starting to become an important hub for international transit.
The Star, 1 Feb 2011: TM to invest RM427m in submarine cables
I found this 2 pieces of news interesting. 4 months prior PEMANDU made clear an intention to enter the submarine cable business. Down the road it was scaled back to purchasing 2 fiber's from the Asia Submarine-cable Express.
Regardless, this is nothing but good news. Malaysia is chronically short of Submarine Cable capacity. Bandwidth requirements are only going to go up, and Malaysia, in particular non-TM communication companies, rely too much on transit provided by Singaporean upstream providers.
I was hoping for a cable hugging the coast of Sarawak and Sabah, skirting across Mindanao in southern Philippines, and connecting to Guam. We would avoid the notoriously geologically unstable south Taiwan area, which caused the great outage of 06.
Guam is slowly surely starting to become an important hub for international transit.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Surviving a fan convention
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| The Courier Mail, 1 Nov 2011 |
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