Review: Death Note

Yagami Light is an ace student with great prospects, who's bored out of his mind. One day he finds the "Death Note": a notebook from the realm of the Death Gods, with the power to kill people in any way he desires. With the Death Note in hand, Light decides to create his perfect world, without crime or criminals. However, when criminals start dropping dead one by one, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer, and a battle of wits, deception and logic ensues... From Anime News Network

Story and Characters - 5/5

Light, a mysterious but eccentric genius, stumbles across a Death Note, which allows its owner to kill any person by writing his/her name given that the owner knows the person's face. If the death is not specified within 40 seconds, the person will die from heart attack. Light desires to create a perfect world using the Death Note. As he tries to achieve it, the famous detective L is assigned to track him down.

At first, I am a bit hesitant to watch this because I thought it was full of violence. But to my surprise, the physical violence is not too many. After all, the Death Note provides instant death.

Light and L are so incredible when it comes to deducing. I pity Misa, the main girl character, because Light is just using her for his own interest! There are also numerous plot twists that keep the story intriguing. Yeah, a lot! I’ll not spoil it to keep the thrill.

Art - 5/5

The character animation is excellent and realistic. You can feel a certain connection with them. The art of the anime sets the mood well. Sometimes it’s creepy especially in death scenes.

Sound - 3.5/5

I find the opening and closing themes average. I don’t like some of it. Some of the background theme is scary. It gives me goosebumps. On the other hand, the voice actors portrayed their characters really well. After all, they have experience. Light’s VA is Mamoru Miyano who voiced Tamaki from the anime Ouran High School Host Club. Misa’s VA is Aya Hirano who voiced Haruhi from the anime Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. L’s VA is Kappei Yamaguchi who voiced Inuyasha from the anime Inuyasha.

Overall - 4.5/5

Death Note (37 episodes) is really impressive. I even bought a notebook in Comic Alley. Hahaha. The Shinigamis here looks so different from the Shinigamis in Bleach. Lawl! If you are a fan of thriller anime, this is for you. :)

Review: ABNKKBSNPLAKo?! by Bob Ong

I re-read Bob Ong’s ABNKKBSNPLAKo?! because I am bored. Well, it is still funny as ever. I also can’t help myself but remember my high school and elementary days. Bob Ong is, indeed, a genius because I find his way of delivering wonderful message amazing.

Bob Ong also struggles with Math! He said though that Math is the universal language because it is everywhere. He tells that there are 12 kinds of high school students found in pages 99-102. The tone becomes serious in the middle part wherein Bob Ong narrates his college life.

ABNKKBSNPLAKo?! makes me think what will happen after college. I’m so nervous! Anyway, I know this book is old and many have read it. Still, buy this Bob Ong classic if you have time because it’s worth keeping. You can go back to your memories of your school life while reading it. Surely, Filipino students, teachers and the likes can relate to it. :)

Rating: 5/5

I'm # 897!

I'm # 897

It is said that 70,000,000 blogs are existing today. Million Blog List is experimenting how long it will take to get 1,000,000 blogs to list in their site. Is it possible? Well, I really don’t know. :) They started it on April 10, 2008.

Review: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

On the first day of high school a beautiful girl named Haruhi Suzumiya introduces herself as having "no interest in ordinary humans". She asks for any aliens, time travelers, sliders or espers to join her. Watching her weird behavior is Kyon who sits in front of Haruhi and is the only person who talks to her. When Kyon comments about Haruhi's joining every club in school and then quitting he unwittingly gives Haruhi an idea to start her own after school club. Thereafter Kyon and several others find themselves dragged, literally, into the Save our world by Overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi's Brigade (the S.O.S. Brigade for short). From Anime News Network

Story and Characters - 4/5

Presenting “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”, one of the weirdest, funniest, and coolest anime series I have seen. It is weird because the episodes are not chronological in order, funny because I can’t stop laughing with unexpected scenes and cool because it covers various genres. Actually, this is the second time I have seen this series but now I watched it in chorological order.

Apparently, this anime follows the life of Haruhi Suzumiya, a young and very active girl who has no interest in ordinary humans. Even though she is the central character, the story is told from Kyon’s point of view, her classmate. Kyon is the one who gave Haruhi the idea to form her own club because she quits every school club she joins after feeling bored.

Haruhi names the club S.O.S Brigade or “Save our world by overloading it with fun Suzumiya Haruhi’s Brigade”. Kyon is unwilling to, but Haruhi forces him to join. She didn’t even give poor Kyon a chance? Lawl! Soon, 3 more “victims” (Yuki, Mikuru, Koizumi) having strange identities join the club. Watch the anime and you’ll find out.

Even though Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya has 14 episodes only, characters are greatly developed. Anyway, just don’t forget to enjoy Haruhi’s devilish acts. Don’t also be fooled with the first episode! It’s not really the story. Lawl!

Art - 5/5

Well done, Kyoto Animation! For me, everything is superb: impressive animation, detailed backgrounds, cute character designs and all. Enough said. :)

Sound - 5/5

The opening music and the ending music are sung by Aya Hirano, the voice actress of Haruhi. Many are hooked dancing the ending music entitled Hare Hare Yukai. In fact, videos of people dancing it are uploaded everywhere. The voice actors especially Aya Hirano have done a good job because their voices suit well with their characters.

Overall - 4.5/5

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is not your typical High School anime. An anime packed with fun, adventures and misadventures. Again, don’t be fooled with the first episode! I’m also a bit shocked when I played the first episode but it is not really the ‘thing’. Lawl! If you have time, watch this anime. By the way, the chronological order of the episode is 2, 3, 5, 10, 13, 14, 4, 7, 6, 8, 1, 12, 11, and 9. I can’t wait for the second season!

Review: Fate/Stay Night

Shirou Emiya lost his parents in a fire when he was young and was later adopted by a sorcerer by the name of Kiritsugu Emiya. Although he was full of admiration for his adopted father and yearns to become an ally of justice, Shirou has limited powers and was unable to become a strong sorcerer like his father. That is until one fateful day, he was drawn into the Holy Grail War and had to summon a female "Servant" known as Saber in order to protect himself. It turns out that the Holy Grail War involves a series of battles among powerful sorcerers to fight for the possession of a relic that will grant one's wishes, the Holy Grail. There are altogether seven "Masters" who can summon their respective "Servants" from different classes known as Saber, Archer, Rider, Berserker, Lancer, Caster and Assasin. These "Servants" have to hide their names in order not to reveal their weaknesses to the enemies. The story revolves around Shirou and his entanglement in the Holy Grail War. From Anime News Network

Story and Characters - 4/5

Fate/Stay Night has a very interesting story because it involves sorcery, history and mythology. You’ll get what I mean if you watch the series. There are 7 people who are chosen to become masters. Each of them can summon a servant, a heroic soul from the past, who will fight for them to achieve the “Holy Grail”. The Holy Grail grants any wish, noble or wicked, that the master and the servant desire. Of course, normal people in the city don’t know about this war.

Shirou, one of the masters, is the central character of the anime. He is a half-magician and a young naive man who wants to end the Holy Grail war without inflicting harm to anyone. Heroes are always like that after all. Shirou accidentally summoned Saber who is known to be the strongest among the servants. He teams up with Rin Tohsaka, also a master. Rin is a pure magician and nearly kills Shirou when they are not yet allies. Ilya is also there. A sweet and innocent child but has a cold heart when it comes to fighting.

As the story goes on, Shirou and Saber’s relationship deepens from that of a master and servant. Rin starts to care more about Shirou. Even though some characters are not developed fully such as Archer (Rin’s servant), the anime still goes well. There are a lot of characters that you will see: from masters, servants and to normal people. Each of them has unique characteristics you may admire.

I find many questions in my mind while watching this anime. All of it are answered after watching the whole series. Some of my speculations are wrong and far from what I expected. This show is really addicting because of its twists and turns. I also feel some goose bumps because of scary and emotional scenes. But there are also funny moments especially with Tiger (Shirou’s teacher). Lawl!

Art - 4/5

The art in Fate/Stay Night is nice. The artists did the job well to make the character designs, backgrounds, and special effects great. The fight scenes are superb especially the Noble Phantasms.

Sound - 4/5

The opening and closing songs are quite decent for me. The background music used throughout the anime sets the mood well. Depressing and lonely music are for sad scenes, creepy for intense scenes, and lively for funny scenes.

Voicing is done well. Saber’s voice is the best in the anime. It really fits her personality because the seiyuu’s voice is sharp. Ilya’s voice on the other hand is cute because it’s like innocent and pure! Archer is hawt when he speaks English in one of the fighting scene. Lawl!

Overall - 4/5

Fate/Stay Night (24 episodes) is not all action; there are parts that are funny, parts that are emotional, parts that are intriguing and all. I enjoyed this anime so much because when I finished a single episode, I can’t stop myself from continuing.

The anime shows the sad reality of people being greedy because some of the masters kill innocent people even they have nothing to do with the war just to gain more power. Also, if you are fond of history, mythology or history, you can watch this series because some characters are derived from the three. Fate/Stay Night, recommended!

Remarkable Quotes

The longer you embrace an ideal, the more friction, contradiction you have with reality – Archer to Shirou

My weakness that embraced death turned into strength and desired life – Shirou

Never forget this. The thing you image is always your strongest form. The only opponent you have to fight… is nothing else but your own image – Archer to Shirou

My principle is that if I have time to worry, I should just take action – Rin to Shirou

Memories become the foundation for us, and I believe they can change the people who are still leaving. No matter how much it hurts, even if it’s a wound that will never heal, I believe this path is not wrong – Shirou to Kirei

Review: MacArthur by Bob Ong

I can say that MacArthur is really different from Bob Ong's other books. On his first five books, you will be laughing hard the whole time because it is full of humor. Now, you will be shocked because Bob Ong writes another fiction (first is Alamat ng Gubat) but in a serious tone.

MacArthur is a story of four young friends namely Cyrus, Voltron, Jim, and Noel who are struggling from the sad realities of poverty and corruption. Being those who live in the squatters' area, vulgar words are common throughout the book. The ills of our society such as drugs are shown too.

In case you don’t know, MacArthur is a Filipino slang word for feces that don’t easily go down the toilet as if saying “I shall return”. But if you dig deeper in the story, you will see how the four young men try to return to their normal lives and change for the better.

MacArthur is a recommended read especially to those people who want to fix their lives. You can finish this book in less than two hours because it has 98 pages only.

Rating: 5/5

Yuna is Blue

My very first attempt in making a wallpaper. It is entitled "Yuna is Blue". The program I used was Adobe Photoshop CS2. This is a product of boredom. LOL! :)


Yuna is Blue by ~iamredel on deviantART

The meaning behind my name

When I was a 4^th year HS student, we had a homework in the subject Christian Living and Values Education (CLVE) about the origin of our name. We should also find out what our name tells about us. I kind of hate my second name (Henry). Well, I can’t do anything about it.

ORIGIN OF MY NAME

Redel

From my father’s name Rey and my mother’s name Delia.

Henry

From the Germanic name Heimiric which meant "home ruler", composed of the elements heim "home" and ric "power, ruler". This name was introduced into Britain by the Normans. It was borne by eight kings of England including the infamous Henry VIII, as well as four kings of France and seven kings of Germany. Other famous bearers include arctic naval explorer Henry Hudson, novelist Henry James, and automobile manufacturer Henry Ford.

I remember that I spent a lot of time searching in the internet for the origin of my name (Redel) but I didn’t find anything so I decided to invent the origin. LOL!

WHAT IT TELLS ABOUT ME?

Redel

You are a visionary with courage and enthusiasm if a little hasty at times. Your ambitious nature can be satisfied when you apply wisdom, patience and self-discipline to your vitality and zest. You have wonderful way with words and may be drawn to the communications arena where there is the potential for great success. Your generous and warm nature attracts many friends and loved ones.

Redel Henry

Confident in yourself with a strong mind and creative flair, you have the ability to apply your ideas to practical purposes. Your wisdom and balance means that others seek you out for counsel and guidance. You set high objectives for yourself based on your idealism and then achieve them with boundless energy and determination. You are loved for your understanding and positive attitude to life.

From www.bostonuk.com/name_meanings.php

Conquering an obstacle

It’s been eight days since our graduation but I can’t forget the project that really tortured my brain and wallet. The project I’m talking about is our English thesis/research paper. We have done it step by step in the first and second quarters. We finished and defended it in the fourth quarter. My topic was about coping mechanisms. I’m lucky enough because I found several references in the internet. Credits to Google and Yahoo for being such great help! LOL.

This is about the tortured stage. It tortured my brain because it required critical thinking. Every chapter should be explained completely except for Chapter 2 (Review of Related Studies and Literature). I just copied and pasted related articles, studies, and information to my topic (LOL) but of course I made revisions. For me, Chapter 4 (Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data) was the hardest part. Even though the results came from the questionnaire, explanations were still needed like why did that thing happened, why did majority of the respondents chose that, etc. It tortured my wallet because of the revisions. The pieces of bond paper and the ink from the printer were wasted every time the English teacher finds a flaw. Actually, I used up a ream of bond paper for the damn revisions.

But to think of it, I’m still lucky because I have a background in thesis writing while other high school graduates don’t have. It will come in handy especially in college wherein thesis is a requirement. And after enduring all those tortures, I finally got a decent grade for my hard work.

Review: Romeo x Juliet

This is a story of a young and tragic love, set in the aerial city of Neo Verona. Tyranny rules this island in the sky after the Montague family took control 14 years prior. The disparity among the wealthy and poor is apparent in the present state, the earth dries and water stagnates. The sky itself is wrapped in a deep dense fog. Both Romeo and Juliet's lineages are of present and past ruling families of Neo Verona. Romeo is the son of the current Montague dictator, Juliet (a beautiful woman) masquerades as a man (Odin), she's the last descendent of Capulet the previous rulers who were killed by an assassin’s dagger 14 years ago. Her true background is not to be revealed to her until her 16th birthday while being raised by her sister. The cruel hands of fate introduce 2 people who will become "Star Crossed Lovers". From Anime News Network

Plot - 5/5

The title seems familiar, right? Indeed, Romeo x Juliet is inspired from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet but many twists are added. The plot is well played out. Imagine, fate is really unpredictable because Romeo and Juliet fall in love with each other even they belong to warring families. The anime takes place in the aerial city Neo Verona. There are flying horses, a mysterious tree called Escalus who sustains life in the world, and many more that contributes to the plot’s beauty.

Characters - 4/5

It’s amazing how Juliet played three roles (Odin, Red Whirlwind, and Juliet herself) in the series. Juliet is the heroine while Romeo is like the person in distress. But still their love story is admirable. They hold to their vows until the last moment of the final episode.

The more focused sub characters are the allies and relatives of the Capulets who protected Juliet, the remaining Capulet, for fourteen years. They are very loyal and wholeheartedly serve Juliet.

There are also mysterious characters in the anime such as Ophelia (the guardian of Escalus) and the Old Man (lives in the abandoned village where Romeo and Juliet stay for a while).

Animation - 4/5

The art and the character designs are done elegantly. The magnificent structure of Neo Verona, landscapes and others would make you feel you are in the renaissance period. You will love the field of flowers.

Music - 3/5

The opening music sang by Lena Park is the Japanese version of “You Raise Me Up”. You’ll be excited to watch the episodes because the scenes in the opening theme are really good! It suits the song. I just don’t like the ending songs. I don’t know why. LOL.

Overall - 4/5

Romeo x Juliet (24 episodes) is an awesome romance/tragic/fantasy anime with a lot of twists in it. Even though I’m not familiar with the original Romeo and Juliet, I adored the story. Romeo x Juliet highly recommended.

Remarkable Quotes

There are times when all we can do is stand aside and watch – Cordelia to Antonio

For you, I will forsake the name of Montague – Romeo to Juliet

I want a world without Montague and the Capulets, without hate and grief. That is the Neo Verona I want to make with Romeo – Juliet

Because, if you love too deeply, you cannot bear the pain of its loss – Juliet to Romeo

Discord. Hatred. Sadness. Pain. There’s an emotion that could stop all that. It’s love – Willy

5 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer

I got these pieces of information from Microsoft and DataSoftSystem. I added some ways that I also do. These ways will help the computer to run faster.

1. Use disk cleanup

Go to Start / All programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup

Check those that will apply. It is recommended to leave uncheck the recycle bin if you have some important files there. Also, leave uncheck the Office Setup Files (these are the installation files used by Office). Just leave those two alone. Others are safe to remove. It may take long if you will be doing this for the first time. I recommend you to do this step at least twice a month.

2. Run Disk Defragmenter

Running disk defragmenter monthly is optimal. Defragmenting your hard drive/disk puts the data back into consecutive order. Hence, it makes access to files easier. This way may last for hours.

Go to Start / All programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Defragmenter

First, click analyze on the hard drive you wish to defragment. After it, you will choose if you like to view the report, defragment or close the program. Choose defragment and wait until it finishes (may last for hours).

3. Repair Disk Errors

Go to My Computer; right-click the disk (i.e. Local Disk C:) you want to check for bad sectors and click Properties. In the properties dialog box, click the Tools tab. Click the Check Now button and check Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. Finally, click Start.

This will help the hard drive recover from bad sectors. I recommend you to do this step at least thrice a month.

4. Install Anti-virus, Anti-Spyware, and Anti-Adware Programs

A computer virus is a program that can copy itself and infect a computer without the knowledge of the user. The Anti-Virus program I use is Avira’s AntiVir PE Classic.

Spyware collects personal information (usernames and passwords), tracks web sites you visit, and can even access your computer. To prevent it, install a good anti-spyware program that can help combat spyware. The Anti-Spyware program I use is Windows Defender.

Adware is software that displays advertisements in your computer. The program I use is Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware 2007 Free. It is also an Anti-Spyware. I use this for scanning only.

5. Uninstall Unnecessary Programs

Go to Start / Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs

Uninstall programs that you don’t use to free up space on your computer.