The Entertainment News 2018 Edition Issue #47

Hey, guys. I've been busy this weekend. Good thing it's not about work even though I think I'll be worked dry by next week haha enjoying while it lasts tbh

What have I been doing? I've been rushing to finish The Klassic Note Spirit, for starters. As you can not see because I just said it got delayed, I brushed up the posts and pushed all of them until Year 10, so yeah, that'll be done with the (oops) announcement next week. Yeah, we're getting to it, finally. So yeah, until then, I guess. For now, let's get this week done and over with I can't wait to play Nintendo Switch games I just bought- oh, no console yet? I can't wait to finish Mafia III and rebuild Sammy's Bar then. *laughs* Okay let's move on.

アニメ BANANA FISH

"Food hasn't tasted this good for so long" I mean, you like to eat trash, Ash? *laughs*

Haha I love how Lee dug himself the grave in which Blanca protects him and he can't do anything on his own or even instruct Blanca to do anything lol Defense Mode right there haha. I must say, this new episode (#BANANAFISH20) must be a good exhibition of whatever underground powers we have now in the storyline. First, we have the old man. An experienced fellow, someone who still has a strong desire but wants control over the world, lacks of the intelligence to act diversely when necessary. Golzine is one heck of a power, but is not going to be one without people around him. Secondly, we have the getaway kid. He always has friends who can help, he likes the little boy, and he's way too smart for even the government to handle. Ash Lynx has always lived up to his surname for some reason, and when he gets to bite back as he falls he makes sure he balances the scales. Then, we have the careful leader. He asked for power by killing his brothers, he doesn't believe in the ways of the extreme in America, but he knows when to not hold back especially when he has to and has a bit of brain on that. Lee Yut Lung (for the last time I'll spell his name in full here since it's been mentioned so many times this episode) is a China underground lord, but he may have found power which makes his decisions way more important that he thinks to act in. Finally, we have the observer. There to make minor decisions that matter, knows where to take sides to control the situation, and a skilled assassin and killer himself. Blanca has shown the ways of battling the intelligence that is Ash, deal with old friends like Golzine, and control little leaders like Lee. However he still can't play with the likes of the lynx, who is more likely playing him way too much than he wants. On this episode, we went from Ash half-blind in a party to the subways to a museum and to the safety of himself and the two gangs who decided to save him out of his hell hole. Yeah, he probably ate little and the IVs were basically just drugged I assume, but he's still fine, this super, super fit boy haha. Anyways, it's exciting to see things level itself out once again, and with Lee's apprehensive approach falling in shambles and giving Ash the edge on his own homeground again, it'll take more time for the no-brainer boss Golzine to get his hands on his favourite boy once again, I guess. We shall see, Blanca. We shall see.

Sorry Lincoln Clay; this guy is WAY cooler in killing than you haha

Sorry Lincoln Clay; this guy is WAY cooler in killing than you haha

P.S. It's like we know Blanca for a couple of episodes and Eiji be like "so this is the guy who got Ash worried?" yeah what do you know about that man assassin you little boy haha

アニメ Uchi no Maid ga Uzasugiru!

"I said I'll be fine with the garbage room, but-" Man, sometimes Midorin, I wish you wouldn't trample on yourself- On she's a masochist? Never mind then haha 

"I'd love to keep you in, but this maid right here was too expensive and too good not to hire" is if I'm Misha-chan haha if only you knew. In this quote-filled new episode (#UzaMaid08) where if Tsubame marries Misha (and this will be a fact when I say it) the marriage won't last long lol, we live a day of the rich. Specifically, Midorin's rich family at the biggest hotel in the area. Yes, finally Misha gets to live the rich life for once. Sorry, Yasuhiro, your name is as poor as your financial situation lol. (I wished your daughter will understand your situation, but...) So yeah, it happened. Misha sleeping on the same bed with Tsubame. Okay, to phrase that correctly, with Midorin in between because you know, "insecticide repellant" haha. Many things happened that are sure to make you laugh as much as be in disgust (referring to Midorin most of the time), but it's the father who got the most shame out of this right in front of his house lol. This show is real good in the sense that even for a moment they wouldn't let you think otherwise (besides the quote above maybe) that none of them would not step in to say what is necessary of their character in any situation, and they did, which is a good thing. Then, there's the panties stealing incident. Or incidents, I would say. Firstly, on Misha's. I mean, it's way too natural to point Tsubame as the culprit considering she called it out herself, but I hope you had guessed it like me along the lines of "she just placed it somewhere and forgot", which she did, so that's that. And then, there's her panties missing, that lolicon maid. *laughs* This one wasn't that complicated considering it concluded quickly, but suffice it to say that the small animals wanted something comfortable lol. Hey, the maids aren't the only ones that are sick in the mind haha. To conclude, congrats Midorin on mastering the stock market and if you're rich enough instead of a cleaning service can you open a community stock trade company and make people like me rich too? Thanks in advance! *laughs*

This show in a nutshell

I love how the pets are doing the same action too haha

P.S. Midorin has a rich hotel room to stay in but doesn't want to => Misha wants to stay in it because it's expensive => Tsubame wants to stay in it because of Misha => Midorin has a rich hotel room to stay in and wants to stay in now. Ah, how it all comes around...
P.P.S. "I wish someone would trap me in a place like this" Yeah me too... Wait, Tsubame you didn't react??? Oh she's not M *laughs*
[We really need Nu-chan to scream more haha. Also, another GIF for your own pleasure. Nope, it's not just for Midorin only btw]

Misha-chan is really cute tbh

[Update 2018.11.28: Sorry for the delay because that Nintendo Switch arrived at my place on Monday so gotta test it out and yesterday was because of Super Mario Party and just now that motherf**ker of Windows Update popped out a restart while I was typing. And this post was published in Blogger already so it won't autosave. Let's do this again, shall we? Ugh]

アニメ Gaikotsu Shoten'in Honda-san

"HOW DOES HE KNOW MY NAME?? Oh, my name tag" lol Honda-san

In this new episode (#HondaSan08) of this wonderful series which will never make you forget what kind of people you are dealing with, we have people who will appreciate buying at the bookstore. Like someone who will buy in bulk because he probably got scolded for an accident and is compensating for it, for example. Like someone who is buying for someone else because... because they can't make it to a bookstore, for example. Spoiler alert, it was because they're in prison lmao. And yes, I didn't notice the finger until Honda-san screamed about it haha they did show you in the cut though I just missed it BECAUSE I DON'T JUDGE THEM HONDA haha okay let's move on it's freaking me out lol. And then we have kids. It's great and all, but just don't go into the adult section haha. Then again, I don't think the bookstores in Japan will put BL books right in the entrance nor will they put it in the restricted area since as long as it's not physical I guess we're fine? Well, just don't kids. The mother is right you can't get out of it once you're into it hehe. And we also learnt that some of the bookstore staff are actually lolicon haha. Then, there's foreigners. Hey, I think I won't be as surprised as them seeing familiar work in Japan, but I'll definitely talk about it non-stop, just like the one time I went into a bookstore with my friends recently. When we walked into the Japanese section with all the manga and magazines I can't stop talking because I was the only otaku there technically haha. (They sold seiyuu magazines too apparently but I think that's just a coincidence lol) Lastly, a production perspective of Honda-san the author himself being adapted into Anime, but with a proper face. Haha not that his personality will balance his looks out, but man it wouldn't be what is now, isn't it? So yeah, thanks for not turning this show into some Shoujo series that I wouldn't watch lol

How you know you're into kids. In real life.

Haha this is funny I'll give you that #AnimeReactions

P.S. TFW you wanted to buy a book which you had saved pocket money for three whole months and you forgot to include tax haha #MathFail Also harsh realities are a thing kid live with it haha

音楽 This Week on Klassic Note

Wow this was quite a week in Klassic Note, and I don't think I'm done with it yet. Did I say that every week? Okay, in this peak week of the season which is near December, firstly BLUE ENCOUNT's new single is rather disappointing at the topic song as I've heard earlier but that one B-side is kind of okay. They remind me of SPYAIR btw, as mentioned in my Tweet. So yeah, no wonder I never gave their songs even from two years ago. So yeah, this one is for the Anime in fear of not being able to give the ending theme which comes next month. I think they are fine though, but SPYAIR technically has filled that gap back in 2010. Sorry, guys. ClariS' new album came in weak to be honest, and after showcasing their topic songs at the front half of the tracklist the rest of it proves diverse but weak in melody for most of them. Don't get me wrong; I was real thrown off by whatever that was before the last song. GLIM SPANKY's new album is by far the most disappointing of releases reviewed this week as their new songs failed to capture my attention whatsoever, so I'm sticking with that one song which was released as a commercial months ago and was only in an album release after like, 4 months in YouTube.

I also sort of caught up on earlier releases before this week. LuckLife's new single wasn't that impactful, but that also meant I did not skip any of the songs on first review, which means I still like their style. Sadly, I think I'll be taking the topic song for now. The B-sides aren't that good compared to BLUE ENCOUNT at this point to be honest. Tokyo Karan Koron's new mini-album which was released recently also wasn't that memorable, but I think I can give the topic song which I heard last month while waiting for it to release and maybe one more if I have the mood for it. For now... I'm feeling a little moody I'll update next week haha. I also got disappointed with Asakura Momo and her 1st album after noticing that it was missing the one song which I totally wanted to give from her 2nd single if it appeared again after I missed it last year, so I went back to the single to give it. Literally. I said sorry to my past year self and gave it. So yeah, she'll end Klassic Note Review this year, it would seem. Oh also, her 4th single after 3 months of "hibernation" is out on Apple Music, in case you liked the topic song as much as I did which is A LOT haha

Next week... ah, next week finally brings us the long-awaited (at least for me) Cidergirl's 2nd album after being impressed by their first album months ago and knowing of this news. I'll see if this can hold up even just in melody. Man, artists these days... Ahem. Also on the list next week is fumika's new song after whatever that cover album is so I'll give myself a heads-up because I missed her releasing new songs already tbh. *Looks at Twitter like feed* Wait, that's it? Well, might as well catch up on "new" songs from last week then lol (Hey, it's new according to people who listen to the same damn thing every year lol)

In Twitter this week, you must have noticed my comments and promotion of releases available "This Week on Apple Music" (Get it? Read through without pausing and you'll get it), some artists are releasing new singles upcoming January including Minase Inori, Kotobuki Minako (as mentioned last week) and Amamiya Sora. Yeah, all technically idols by the way. Not too surprising after you see Klassic Note 2017 tbh. I can't wait to make sure this doesn't happen to my Top 20 songs this year haha *shakes head*




Okay that's about it. If like last week I'm not bothered or just plain busy to fill in the blanks here so be it haha. Cya guys next week then, and until then... I think I need more sleep even though my brain wants me to finish that Bar so I can be fulfilled playing this sub-par game people call Mafia III lol bye

The Klassic Note Spirit Part 10 – The Year 2016 and the Smooth Return and Rise

In the previous part of this series, we talked about one of the dullest years in Klassic Note history, showing a change in perspective of giving only good songs, not letting my gender preference get in the way of giving songs, and trying to rid of the criticism on social media despite my hate for artists coming up with disappointing tunes. In this, we decide to come up with a standard which can balance between subjective and objective opinion such that more songs can be given instead of limiting potential for my desire for searching for new melodies.

The Klassic Note Spirit Part 10
"The Year 2016 and the Smooth Return and Rise"

TAKING IT TO THE INTERNET
With indie artists on the rise and many of them I know of getting their major label debut, it's no wonder I like to give more of them on their new songs to support them. And the easiest way to do that is to listen to their music videos online, specifically YouTube. And the trend for this did not stop ever since last year, as I give more male vocalist groups in hopes of balancing the scales. Artists like LuckLife, LILI LIMIT and The Floor became big contributors in the next few years as I find more wonderful tunes that aren't written by Anime producers and sung by voice actresses. This was also an example of the huge increase of music videos I'm getting every year on that YouTube playlist I created a couple of years ago, which makes music accessible to more even though I'm already in Apple Music Japan by now.

Speaking of Apple Music, I subscribed to Apple Music Japan by the end of the year to firstly, listen to new songs more reliably on the date of release, and also, to be able to listen to more artists easily following the listening to less famous artists who would otherwise not leak their new songs online. Examples include Tsuzuri Zukuri, which have hard to find resources to listen to due to lack of popularity, so I decided to invest. Paying up to $130 a year, this might be the most expensive and best investment I've contributed to the Japanese music industry till now. I know it's a streaming service and not buying music so they let a small cut of my subscription, but still, this is the easiest way to support them as I listen to it more often and more artists open up their music library to the rise in music streaming services.


THE SELF-DOUBT
Due to the drop in new songs from the previous year and much criticism from my own methods for not giving songs off the bat which I used to, this year I decide to come up with a stronger standard  based on much research from the past year. With this in mind, I cam up with the Song Integrity Survey, asking honestly about how I felt about the song in first impression as with how I started with giving J-Pop. However, I also added on long-term review opinions, making 2.99 Star Project a little less like a trip to hell and never coming back (which saw significant comeback for some of them who went there), and giving better chances to promoting star ratings on the flat 4-star song majority I've been stagnant on. This became a definitive benchmark for future years but it was hard to not create bias to familiar melodies with this system. This eventually was fine-tuned to follow past year standards accordingly as I have to manually change ratings to create a flexible rating system.

The first year results utilising the Song Integrity Survey. As you can see there is a healthy trend towards higher rating songs shown by the green line.

QUALITY AND QUANTITY
Over the years, I noticed that giving songs every year seems to have a trend, and I naturally try to break a trend sometimes to avoid following into market trends. In general, and since the financial year in Japan starts in April, most songs are releases in certain peak periods following each season's start and end (mostly end) so to promote sales and of course, show a better report every year to be honest. As much, in Klassic Note, it is always dull in January following the start of the year after Song Awards which is good. It also gives me time to find new songs and recover from the season end that is December. February and March are riddled with releases as many push new songs whether it's for Anime or just because it's going to end the year on a good note. May is the next best month to release new songs following the Spring season conclusion, So is August which is lesser compared to May, and November and December months are the most hectic in releases. It's like Black Friday for music releases, to be frank. This in turn will also make giving songs tend to peak on those months, as seen in the Hall of Fame document. The balance between quality and quantity thus heavily depends on these peak months as I tend to give more songs on peaks and less songs but focused on quality and songs I'll remember on in other months of the year.

This yer's Song Appetite Report is a good example of song increase trends.
The line represents average growth in Klassic Note song count.

LIVING IN THE TIMES
At this point we should appreciate the fact that we are blessed with so many songs to listen and enjoy, and it's as if it feels like a dream. Firstly, despite knowing this many artists up till now and knowing many artists don't even release songs yearly, it was still a relief to see so many songs release every month, even without having to find them myself. This, and the fact that it is easier to find them simply by following them on Twitter on Apple Music makes this such a joy to do despite my busy schedule. Also, seeing artists grow and get more popular as you have heard them from indie times or even Collection Artists who have been around develop new styles and break their own music barriers to reach greater heights... that can never be described as I'm living in it enjoying all of it. Finally, that Twitter account made me happier over the years as I continue to get recognised by artists and some of the people in the Internet alike, which is just a joy for me to keep sharing my thoughts about music (positively) as much as I can, promoting as much as I deem necessary even if they aren't Songs of the day. This, is truly good times in Klassic Note, which also explains the back of the increase in new songs for the year, as I truly learn to appreciate how far Klassic Note has come.

@KlassicNote Thank you for listening to our sound!!

— ライトパレット (Light Palette) (@light_palette) May 5, 2016

@KlassicNote arigato-!!!

— ライトパレット (Light Palette) (@light_palette) May 5, 2016

Thanks, guys. Sadly it's the one song I can hear from you though.
A proper conversation on the Internet, by the way.

@KlassicNote such a great song 😍

— Mishi (7-3) (@Mishiiiii_) February 18, 2016

Next up: The Klassic Note Spirit Part 11 – The Year 2017 and How It All Lasted
(How it has been a wonderful decade of music appreciation I don't even know...)

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(**All linked references ago were active at time of publishing this post. They are meant for educational purposes and not are not taken directly from any intellectual property)

The Klassic Note Spirit Part 9 – The Year 2015 and the Initiation Plateau

Previously, we mentioned about how after the 5th anniversary I became serious about wanting to give more songs that are different in melody. Something more towards what I truly liked, instead of giving many songs off the bat. And so, I kept setting requirements and introduced measures to enforce them. Also, I created a new home to display all of Klassic Note and I had a wonderful first year on Twitter. Let's see how the setting of standards will set some pros and cons for the year ahead.

The Klassic Note Spirit Part 9
"The Year 2015 and the Initiation Plateau"

THE MELODY JUDGEMENT
As mentioned in the previous part of the series, it was hard to give songs off the bat after listening to this many songs and only giving a fraction of them, so requirements had to be set to give songs more objectively then to be swayed by various aspects of the industry to attract people to listen or buy their releases. Idolism and Anime are two easy examples I can think of, and I'm sure I'll mention them in future posts, but here I'll talk about how it impacted me giving songs for the year. Being more judgemental than intinuitive, it ended up making me reject more songs which buffed up the 2.99 Stars Project list. This blog post which I boldly posted criticises on what I dislike about some of the songs I reviewed, which is also a small fraction compared to those who aren't even worth of mention. Furthermore, not giving based on first impression also affected later years as I struggle to give songs more promptly compared to the past, where songs are easily given or rejected. 5-star ratings are also harder to give, which you will see next year, that I had to come up with a way to make sure I can force myself to give songs I know are good but underestimated due to this judgement.


CORNERING THE PLATEAU
Because of a more objective opinion of giving songs after the past few years, this has led to a decrease in the number of new songs in the song list for the year, reaching levels of Klassic Note 2011. This is likely also due to me trying to give other artists which are further from what I listen, mainly on female vocalists and Collection Artists which I normally just give off the bat. Speaking of Collection Artists, since most of them have already been around for at least 5 years, the number of best albums I see released for the year has also increased over time as they "mature", including Aqua Timez, sphere and ClariS. This year has also been the first year that I noticed that it was hard to give the Top 20 rankings in Klassic Note history, as I spend less time to listen to songs and more time giving new artists and finding new melodies out of what artists I know of now.


THE GENDER UN-BIAS
Also affected by the objective opinion is the increase of male vocalists in new artists appearing in Klassic Note. Investing time in listening to them and finding new songs and creating strict requirements to artists I've known which are primarily female, I've managed to draw the ratio of female vocalists from the previous year's 4.5 to 1 female to male solo vocalist ratio to 2 to 1, which was astounding as my continued recognition of artists and vocalists from both sides continue to grow. New male-only artists which affected the change for the year include KANA-BOON, THE ORAL CIGARETTES, Yoru no Honki Dance, amazarashi and Cocoro Auction.

This was the first from Yoru no Honki Dance, with strong rock dance beats you'll never forget.

This is THE ORAL CIGARETTES< with so much power you'll fall in love with.

Later in the year they also released one of their most popular songs till date.

MORE CHANGES IN SONG AWARDS
After spending more time from the past couple of years refining methods to automate the yearly process, by this year I have effectively dropped the buffer period from more than two weeks to within a one week period. This is likely due to me spreading the data collection over the year (Songs of the day, song list update to label song ratings and the day they were added) to allow a more consistent update then deal with everything by the end of the year, which I had plenty of time for since back then I was a student. I had to find an easier way to then based on this, bring in more Excel skills to auto-compute Song of the day data collection, data references in statistics, and more. In addition, the Song Integrity Survey was tested after increasing much criticism on songs after the 5th anniversary, which brought a concept of allowing songs to be promoted or demoted in song ratings to expand the range of ratings I can give despite by narrow, more flat opinion of songs now, if you get what I mean. This ended up being the standard of what would determine how I give 5-stars and 3-stars every year.

Commendations also got more recognition this year compared to Song Awards, which kind of led to me thinking about how Klassic Note Song Awards should be viewed in general in terms of outside of Top 20 rankings. Commendations, as you may not have known, are songs recognised for being unique, different, or significant in contribution to Klassic Note, and everything in between we can't give as an Award, for example, Klassic Note Review and let's say, songs with the same song name (of course, compensated for pronunciation because translations), and so on. These got more recognition as I re-arrange how they are represented as seen from the Song Award Results page of the year, giving artists and songs alike a new level of mention due to what they have brought in to Klassic Note.


GETTING RECOGNISED ON TWITTER
Ever since the start of the Twitter account I opened for this and an avenue to share what I'm listening which will eventually turn into a news column, I find myself strangely amazed back then when I got recognised for even posting a Tweet violating all the rules of post... posting. You see, if you did see my Tweets, they are neither on hashtag, doesn't have any catchy lines, is in English (compared to Japanese if you ever see my own Twitter feed), and is designed (I thought about it) to make sure I get as little social media attention as possible. However, this does not deter some artists from finding me because I still have to put their names in, and searching without the hashtag isn't as tough as you think. Apparently some of them just camp on the search term and find interesting Tweets to re-post. This is seen even more clearly in future years where artists like mol-74 and nano.RIPE get on the retweeting fever. But first on the line of many encounters, as I have mentioned in this blog back then was yucat, also YUKARI from RYTHEM. And with this, I must say I felt more of the need to speak up my mind (still without hashtags) whenever I listen to music. Of course, criticism won't be on my Tweets, I assure you.

That's right！！ RT @KlassicNote: When it comes to treatment, yucat has the best doctor on the planet. Listening to yucat - Dr.Code #yucat

— yucat (@yucat1031) January 11, 2015

RT with comment instead of replying? Seriously? She placed the hashtag in btw

Next up: The Klassic Note Spirit Part 10 – The Year 2016 and the Smooth Return and Rise
(After years of being more and more like a robot, I had a realisation...)

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(**All linked references ago were active at time of publishing this post. They are meant for educational purposes and not are not taken directly from any intellectual property)

The Klassic Note Spirit Part 8 – The Year 2014 and the Transformation Period

Previously, we witnessed the freedom in Klassic Note after the stress that is the 5th Year Anniversary which led to a whole bunch of songs given off the bat. As Klassic Note moved on I started to think about how to give songs again and despite the many changes in this year, it did not stop me from thinking about how I would want to give songs in the near future.

The Klassic Note Spirit Part 8
"The Year 2014 and the Transformation Period"

CHANGES IN SONG AWARDS
Attempted revamps of the Song Awards have been done to facilitate easier computation of results, and continuously done over the years ahead. For example, Song of the day got a revamp so that calculations can be made to a minimal. I'm not going to talk Excel here, but yeah most things can be references so that it is easier to compute Song of the day results just by inputting the entries in the right places. Further automation did not happen as for most of the time it is complicated to do, and mostly my initial attempts at them aren't very satisfying, and it took longer to do the usual work I had to do for Klassic Note every year, and that wasn't good.

Furthermore, due to increased emphasis on giving songs and settings song ratings based on the new motto of "Always Searching For That Melody", I created the 2.99 Star Project to list down every song that did not make it to the list but had an impact, was compelling or just something I did not want to give for a certain thing that irritated me. It's also a way to show how close many songs have been to stay on my list but failed in certain aspects. This ended up drawing attention to melody, song structure or even genre as I continued to focus on certain categories of music after the break that is the 5th anniversary.

Klassic Note fact: I'm inclined to reject songs I've given chance instead of ignore at the start.

That's why there's the 2.99 Star Project.

— Kaineng (@KlassicNote) November 6, 2016

This year also showed the highest vocalist ratio among female to male, climbing above the usual 2.5 to 1 ratio to extreme levels of 4.5 to 1 by Klassic Note 2014. This shows a heavy bias to female (solo) singers in the song list which obviously represented a lack of balance. It would continue into the future that I find more artists with male vocalists to combat this, but that has been over the years, and as a male listener I felt that was rather unfair. In Klassic Note many male vocalists have stood out, but it isn't enough to win over me in my case, as this misaligns itself to what I want to focus on which was the melody instead of who is singing it.


THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
The previous year also brought about a concept of an official website firstly to offset the unappealing list of results that is the old results page and also to summarise all the stuff such that I can give an overview and hopefully previews about the songs I listen. I then thought of a way to sum up all the results in neat statistics instead of putting up front all the things involved, including the new media. For artists, images were used to spice up the webpage and if any, YouTube videos can be referenced to give a more interactive site. Overall I liked the feel of it. The Strikingly-hosted website has then stayed to be the place to showcase all the stuff over the years, including Ultimate Collection which was crammed into a page in the old web page, Reviews which would help me post to social media neatly, and also a Hall of Fame document showing all the statistics which I made to easily show changes in Klassic Note. (Both will be discussed in detail below)

Prototype website no.2! How does this look, eh? pic.twitter.com/rGn0YMdfYq

— Kaineng (@KlassicNote) July 27, 2014

THE KLASSIC NOTE REVIEW
At this point, I would like to bring your attention to how much I've listened over the years. Going into the 7th year brings my desperation to share what I feel for each release. Obviously I cannot cover all, but I started the year with covering a couple of releases (not shown here but on the old site) listing what I liked and disliked about it. I then noticed it'll take a lot of time to talk about the songs I already listened, let alone all of them I did not give. So in came Klassic Note Review, where I review - as fast as I can get them - new releases on my shelf, and treat it as a recommendation panel than something of strong criticism. Backed by the fact that within the year I reviewed many singles including an album which passed the stringent requirements, the Review also pushed me to add these from my blog to putting alongside the website I created which can be found here. That, and throughout the years that I have reviewed many artists of different genres, vocalists and so on, the Review is here to show how diverse I give songs and artists even though most of them may still be female. Yes, idolism became a pushing force in most reviews since they ended up having less strict "requirements".

SCANDAL has the highest amount of singles reviewed in 2014, focusing on self-produced songs


THE HALL OF FAME
Along with the changes to Song Awards are revealing of statistics in Klassic Note. After 6 years running there seems to be a lot of information lying beneath the songs I listen every year, and in this year I decided to give an overview about it, in the form of charts and tables. Not for Song Awards or rankings or calculation, but for observations so I can let the world see the information. And so I did, adding an updated online document showing trends, lists of artists, and review statistics all into one, and is available for viewing right here. It was also a good place for me to keep record of new artists, new song trends and so on so I'm glad I made the effort to start it.

Examples of what the Hall of Fame document contained
(Click to enlarge)

THE FUN IN SOCIAL MEDIA
I think I had a lot of fun since the opening of the official Twitter account (which is kind of my personal account anyway) and the artists are somehow the focus in these engagements for some reason. Mostly from indie artists, this is a good way to promote their songs as well as... you know, make me look good online lol. I totally enjoyed it, by the way. This was also used to post Song of the day rundowns so that I can find a way to track them down without using a notebook or whatsoever, so getting recognition from the artists or bands are just adding on to the wonderful times I have in social media. I also took an effort to share lyrics from certain songs as I slowly learn the Japanese language and start to comprehend songs old and new, giving them more impact as I discuss them online alone. Furthermore, I tried to source the legitimacy of listening to songs, but that got kicked off real fast not until there was music streaming platform Apple Music to share my opinions and recommend songs, but that is not something to detail here.

Klassic Note fact: Recent singers (I could hardly call them artists) who got their first three CDs on my shelf pic.twitter.com/vuJDxA5TUf

— Kaineng (@KlassicNote) March 5, 2014

『笑って せつなくて 泣いて
うれしくて もう一度泣いて』

So happy I could cry. TGIF, everyone.
From Kotobuki Minako - Chiisana Tegami

— Kaineng (@KlassicNote) September 26, 2014

Yeah. She deserves to be higher in the ranks. I'll reconsider her position. pic.twitter.com/31XFuX8Wk2

— Kaineng (@KlassicNote) December 30, 2014

Next up: The Klassic Note Spirit Part 9 - The Year 2015 and the Initiation Plateau
(Where things took a turn and did not come back, a resolution had to be made...)

---

(**All linked references ago were active at time of publishing this post. They are meant for educational purposes and not are not taken directly from any intellectual property)

The Entertainment News 2018 Edition Issue #46

Hmm...

I'm still tired from yesterday and I've not been sleeping much today, and I want to do a little more for Klassic Note Spirit posts this week (It's done already, I just feel it's too media-empty), so it'll be delayed for now. I'll try to finish in the next couple of days, I promise.

Let's finish this and sleep early I seriously need more sleep haha

アニメ BANANA FISH

Ash is not just sick, he's lovesick. You know, just like how Golzine is of him as he is of that boy haha

Hey just in case you guys didn't figure out Ash Lynx was quite an American senator in the late '90s lol they manipulate history like you don't even know how. In thie new episode (#BANANAFISH19) which I must say fills my brain with nothing but boys love, talks about more of the life after Ash, you know, submitted to Golzine because of that little boy lol. Anyways, it wasn't good, as he's probably just resisting helping Golzine out to take over the world as we know of it. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if he's involved in world affairs haha. On Eiji's side, he found out that Lee helped in making Ash submit to Golzine, and hates him for it now. And now, he wants to save him? I don't know. What's even the point to that now? Well, considering his physical condition now (if he isn't faking it) he may not even be able to make it out of that party himself, let alone out of that crowd of protection, it would seem. But hey, someone's face gives a lot of motivation to a person, you know. Even if it's transgender-related I don't know haha. Blanca however, has other options besides leaving for the Carribean after he's made his stay. Lee found out his history and that he was a soldier fighing for the Soviet Union in the Middle East to sum it up, because no one should know about this apparently, but Lee managed to do it himself. And so, Blanca decided to form a contract with him, but just to be his bodyguard. No guns, no fighting, just protection. If you need firepower I guess this guy beside you won't be it. And against Ash too? We shall see. All in all, a mote content-filled episode to make sure you can catch up to what has been happening for all characters in the story now and quite a set-up to the next episode where the party starts and we may see Ash leave the clutches of Golzine? I mean, without anyone covering for him it may be tough. We shall see it for ourselves, yeah?

How to trick someone that your friend is gay lol what

How to trick someone that your friend is gay lol what

P.S. I like how Lee or even Eiji gives so much of a f**k to this situation about Banana Fish and all even though Ash don't even give a shit about the whole thing lol really? I thought this show was about the gay-

アニメ Uchi no Maid ga Uzasugiru!

"Normally you'd notify someone that they're being let go a month ahead of time" lol Misha breaking labour laws right there

Wow even I just forgot that Midorin was a masochist haha Misha-chan what have you gotten yourself into haha. The new episode (#UzaMaid07) proves that firing that awesome yet irritating maid off was a bad choice, and we have a counter-example to demonstrate that. Ah, I love this Russian tsundere especially when she doesn't know she's in it haha. Well, there's two parts to this as usual (man, stop updating the eyecatch already haha) so let's talk about them separately. Firstly, we have to deal with Tsubame being fired as a maid. Well, Misha had to. *laughs* Yeah, and by finding a replacement which wasn't any better at the one thing Misha wished Midorin was better at, and that is cooking. So yeah, she had to either eat trash (which Midorin liked cooking them) or just eat outside food which obviously wouldn't be any healthier since it's, you know, never geared to take care of your body. That probably was the only downside though as Misha got to enjoy less irritating stuff from that ex-maid and still gets the other maid stuff from Midorin done quite well. Yeah, just the food. Okay maybe also the fact that she doesn't have to deal with a full-on masochist lol. So Misha decided to ask for Tsubame back. Just for the food. And if it's not obvious enough, it was all Tsubame's plan to leave anyways because she knew that she had already gained the trust of Misha's stomach as much as you have every other reason to hire someone else to be her replacement, and to be honest? I expected that too actually. *laughs* Second half bring us a (balanced) day in the life of Tsubame (with Midorin) working in the house and also shows us the extent of how much of a masochist this Midorin is because she is quite an extreme one to be honest. Although with reference to last week's episode of her getting referred to trash and peed by a dog please show some self love Midorin it's real disgusting to have to deal with scat and all those stuff. *imagines Midorin being happy reading this* Oh well anyways (haha), the life of the maid is mostly justy house chores, dealing with meals, and the occasional spying on the kid. Yeah, including that last one which is totally not suspicious and illegal. Also, that Tsubame clean's only Misha's room is kinda creepy haha. I mean, which one do you want: a lolicon who expresses love so much it's irritating, or a masochist where whatever you say or do will have a positive effect, even if it's something bad. *laughs* I'll leave you guys to think about it yourself and by the way the show's selling Misha figurines with Russian blonde hair and with a changable clothes lineup better than Barbie Doll? If so SIGN ME UP haha

When you know you ate something terrible lol

When you know you're dealing with a masochist lol

P.S. "I licked up the curry I had leftover last night this morning" Wow Morikawa can you don't AND THEN SHE IMMEDIATELY ACTED SICK lol
P.P.S. Ladies, if there's one thing you can take away (food pun not intended) from this episode is that (and may I quote Tsubame) winning over someone's stomach is the best tactic ever. Ladies, you hear that? Well I'm not so picky but if you make food the standard of Midorin I'll just eat outside lol
[Omake: I really enjoyed Nu-chan (who voiced Tsubame) getting irritated by Midorin (voiced by M.A.O.) to be honest totally liked it also Midorin's disguise it's getting all the lesbians cross-dress fans excited haha not me btw]

アニメ Gaikotsu Shoten'in Honda-san

"It's not really that interesting in real life!" Wow the author burnt himself there lol

The new episode (#HondaSan07) brings two things that we'll go to love and hate in life as a bookstore staff, and I'll leave you guys to say which one was the love and which was the hate lol. Firsly, wholesalers. In case you aren't aware of how it's designed, bookstores get their books from wholesalers - places who stock up the supplies - which are then taken from the publisher either directly or through the inventory network as far as one can stretch across the country considering how big your franchise is. So yeah, it can be hard to keep up with stock. Aren't you glad there's online shopping now? *laughs* And then, there's the party. Not that I don't know how to drink alcohol (yeah, thankfully), but going to a drinking party won't be fun. Well, not if you're a nerd like me and some of the others in the store, so Honda-san volunteered himself for the task. As much as it's a time to bond, it's also good time to learn about stuff happening around working for a bookstore, and that... someone was an author of one of those hot-selling books which just recently became an Anime. *laughs* Yes, the author's writing about himself. Read on the original work or look at earlier episodes for the background. All in all, not that it's mundane like he described it himself lol, but that since this is Slice of Life you gotta appreciate what happens with such a workplace, and how your books appear in your hands as they will today. And I'm not talking only of Japan; next time relate this to your local bookstore and you'll get what I mean.

What it feels like being raped lol
(Man, what's with all the masochist references)

What it feels like being scolded at but in a good way lol
(Man, what's with all the masochist references)

P.S. Since I thought about talking of that list of manga artists that I knew, let me go through them starting this week. Or when I have nothing to write here lol *ahem* Tite Kubo, as you all have known, is famous for his big work "BLEACH" which made 300+ episodes of Anime and FOUR MOVIES goddamn, and sold millions of copies just in the Soul Society Arc himself. What was less known about his work was his previous work "Zombiepowder." which I actually liked its characters and action but its story borrows too much on earlier major works of that time, say Dragonball for example. So yeah, he eventually stopped it with one arc of story in four books. The reason he gave when he stopped was that (other than the reason above) he was pressured by his manager and publisher to come up with this kind of story, and it doesn't represent his own creative work. So yeah, no wonder it was so good? I loved it though, and prayed every day that it'll continue. I even name my self-created characters after his artwork. She's not that fierce in my story though, just the image. Maybe I'll prove my point when I can finish writing APoL- oh yeah one of them was in Chapter 14! Here's a shot from the manga for reference. No good? Here's another haha. And I'm not going to force you to read the chapter, just the front one about the HQ will do haha

漫画 A Channel

In the new chapter (109) of... who's that girl? No, not talking about Run-chan or Tooru, the other one. Anyways, the three went to a cat cafe because someone wants to try out her skills on her resume lol, and in case you don't know what they are these are places where you can hang out with cats, situated as a cafe. So yeah, as the name implies. So this Hira-chan apparently can make cat sounds but only one that's in pain so maybe don't make more of that sound alaready? Haha this series just needs more dumb people, and I don't mean Run-chan or Satou-sensei lol

#SeiyuuGoals

音楽 This Week on Klassic Note

Okay, not much on new releases, but I did do some digging, literally. wacci's new album got some conclusion in Klassic Note, as I only picked out a couple of songs I'll only give, which is fine btw I think this is good enough imo. fumika's cover album is just a listen for fun for now, and I'll see if I can give more time so I'll give a couple of songs. Then again, it's because she chose more recent songs to cover anyways. TrySail's new single is... short of fantastic despite leaving the electronic genre, and I'm only prepared to give the B-side. The topic song? Meh. LuckLife's new single was a hit and go for first impressions since it's been some time since I listened to them (I still haven't heard of their latest album) so I'll have to listen again to see if I can even give the topic song. Lastly, Tokyo Karan Koron's new mini-album was... okay, and I want to give new songs from them, so... again, I'll need more time next week.

Speaking of next week, besides re-reviewing the above releases, we have a couple of new releases upcoming. BLUE ENCOUNT's new single for Anime "Banana Fish" will be out, and as of now I've watched the music video and heard the topic song and... man is it hard to give. Kind of explains how I didn't give that one song I heard from them 3 years ago and joined the group of artists who represent the male voice in Klassic Note. (Be sure to read on the Klassic Note Spirit to learn more) GLIM SPANKY's new album will be out too, and I have listened to the topic song and honestly I'm not impressed. There's the one music video/topic song from a couple of months ago which I'm probably prepared to give right now, so that's something to remember for now. ClariS' new album also appears next week, and honestly I don't know what I'm expecting, so fingers crossed for that I guess. It's the second time the new duo is releasing new song and the previous one wasn't that impressive so... we shall see.

On Twitter news this week, Survive Said The Prophet's new single releases in December for Anime "Banana Fish" (yes, the new ending song), and what the f**k did I just watch a music video of. Yes, I know of Fuchigami Mai and her solo music debut earlier this year, but that doesn't mean I've been giving her songs. And this, might be her first. If I can remember you, Mai-chan, I'll give. On other news, Kotobuki Minako's new single is coming out early next year, along with Mai-chan's new mini-album. It's not the same week though, just same month.




Okay I'm done here I can barely keep my eyes open. I've also been watching streamers play Pokemon Let's Go on the day it releases which is yesterday and... I think I'll love the game overall but hate the catching mechanisam because motion controls, man. I'll be getting myself the game as part of a surprise for my sis' birthday present which is, you guessed it, a Nintendo Switch console. So yeah, Black Friday sales hopefully will give me an offer. I know of Singles Day, but I REFUSE!! Haha no I got a new phone anyway. Surprising how the Google Pixel 2 phone case came from Amazon faster than the phone itself which was imported but sold on a local online store haha. Oh well. Cya guys next week.

The Entertainment News 2018 Edition Issue #45

I hope you guys are enjoying your weekends. I sure am not. I'm too busy working OT that I did pretty much everything below the moment the weekend starts before work, so that I could try to not screw up when I'll see the results of my own efforts on coming Monday. Fingers crossed if anything bad happens because I may not even make it on time. You know, I love sleeping, so staying awake overnight won't be fun.

And sorry for not having any manga in recent weeks. I'm planning to read up on the K-ON! Shuffle series after next week is over (same thing btw, so...), and I'm also planning to get my first set of Japanese manga books. Yeah, I'm going to need a shelf to keep books soon haha. Meanwhile, I'm just reading them casually for now and at work hehe let's start

アニメ BANANA FISH

"Someone ate some (of the salad)" WELL NO SHIT haha

Why Ash? Why talk about kids porno in front of Eiji?? *laughs* Anyways, the new episode (#BANANAFISH18) is what we mentioned before, bringing in the fear of Ash with his only weakness as of now: the Japan boy. Remember Blanca, that professional of a killer who retired but is back by Golzine's orders to lure Ash out to surrender? And so he did. After killing enough people to make it look like accidents even though it's just his big gun doing it all (sex pun not intended), Golzine and the others found out where Ash was hiding: on the apartment near his hideout. That, and how important Eiji was to Ash. So yeah, Lee's plan of instilling fear in Eiji by targetting his only weakness technically worked, and Ash took to surrender all of his current possessions which could work as evidence against the old man, to Lee. So yeah, all is done, yes? Well maybe. The end of the episode leaves us with a big question on hold: will any of them honour their promises? You wanna guess? I don't think so though, if Golzine has other plans. If you need a reminder he's into little boys so... yeah, I suppose he likes Japanese too lol. The more interesting part of the episode this time around are maybe two things: why Lee was so surprised that Ash is willing to sacrifice everything for Eiji's survival (because why not), and whether Blanca will ever, EVER help Ash in any way. In both situations, it's basically due to Ash seeing a speck of light in the darkness and resorting to any means to protect it. Living in a live of danger, even I would like that life of hope and happiness which Ash wouldn't be able to get the moment he was born. So yeah, maybe that is why. Even with the mentor's advice, it wouldn't work on Ash too. Not that I'm implying anything with regards to gay sex (lol), but it seems like so; It seems like the author was just promoting love over everything else in hindsight. Well, would be better with a girl but you know, they gotta make it compelling to make it good. And so they did. Blanca may be right though, that Ash is the successor (not to be head prostitute lol, but) to Golzine's everything once he dies, so why not all of that instead? The story does real well in the series to make sure emotions are stacked well so that even we have to follow Ash's decisions to give up everything for one person's safety. (Sorry Ibe-san they didn't mention about you haha) Anyways, I wonder where's the liability to make this fall apart, for Golzine isn't going to get whatever he wants that easily to be honest. Ash has fought before (without Blanca), he'll do it again.

Because he looked so good, I decided to give him another shot.

#NotSpoilers Eiji is fine btw he's just sleepin'

P.S. "Hey I'm (Blanca) enjoying my retirement getting rid of you" would be a great tagline for the next season of this show but I guess not haha
P.P.S. "And I don't want to be like Golzine and f**k little boys with all the power I've got I wanna marry a little boy" haha Ash please don't

アニメ Uchi no Maid ga Uzasugiru!

"Is the JSDF full of perverts?" Yeah pretty much it's a place where otaku gather and develop fetishes lmao <insert sick made-up name of JSDF here>

But seriously what's with the wide angle camera animations we got here? *laughs* The new episode (#UzaMaid06) brings us a new character, and to be honest I'm not quite ready for it, but whatever I'm no masochist I don't have to feel this much haha. It's Midorin, previously Tsubame's superior but also, a real masochist. I won't talk about the many stories which are mentioned in this episode because I'm as bored as Misha-chan at this point lol, but suffice it to say Midorin found someone to look up to, but more than just in formality in a workplace, it seems. That, and Misha-chan took it to her hands to not only use her fancy of Tsubame and specifically her cooking as bait to fish her out (literally), but also to get rid of that irritating maid that has been in her house all this time. That'll be interesting to watch because the dad probably won't disagree on this (I mean, the father's got a good share of her weird antics), but that then still depends on whether Midorin will be able to do her job. You know, cook spectacularly (probably not), take care of the kid as efficiently as when you pull that alarm that's on every kid in this show lol, and more importantly, not be distracted by anything else. For the last one, I have a feeling Midorin would not be able to do. Anyways, this was a wonderful episode of stories (a lot of them), wide angle shots for some reason, and so many puns if I list them all out I'll have to do a dozen of postscripts so I wouldn't go watch the show youself you masochist haha

The less than spectacular wide angle animation shots this episode

The less than spectacular wide angle animation shots this episode

P.S. Okay wow I did NOT expect Misha-chan to pull the alarm lol that is a thing?? *laughs* Nice.
P.P.S. "This woman's stupidity must be rubbing off on me" haha this is real funny tbh the realisation of stupidity
[OMAKE GIF because I can and if only there'll be a Twitter/Instagram account where Tsubame posts all her images of Misha-chan it'll be about a dozen every hour haha]

MFW I found out someone's taking images of my life lol

MFW someone found out I was taking images of her life lol

[Update 2018.11.14: So sorry it took this long because as I mentioned I didn't sleep on Sunday so sleep deprivation propagated and I slept for two nights haha]

アニメ Gaikotsu Shoten'in Honda-san

To be frank? That one fan that Honda-san received a call on is LITERALLY me when I saw special gifts for CDs when I started buying them I'm like "I hope they don't get fingerprints on them" lmao (Eh, now? Not so much haha)

In this new episode (#HondaSan06) which got me engrossed once again to how wonderful this series is, we got a strong guy for a new colleague, a sorcerer as a manager, and fans who are literally that superhero Two-Face lol. Firstly, the bookstore got a transferred staff who worked, to translate, at logistics. So yeah, he's strong. He makes carrying boxes of books and paper like he was carrying a pebble. Not even breaking a sweat, this guy. On the other hand, he's probably going to be the kindest customer-facing person in the store which already beats all the women in the house lol. Secondly, we have a legendary manager. Unlike many others, this guy anticipates book stocks better than the pros can do at playing with the stock market. Upon the death of a manga author, book stock can already be arriving the next day as if by magic, but I guess the only downside is it's going to be hard to search through everything which I would say is their fault so whatever haha. Lastly, this series teaches us about the purposes and the creation of book fairs inside the store. With more releases participating, of course it'll bring up the popularity of the store, but it also drew in freaks who can't stop thinking of getting their hands on whatever you put inside those books. If you have not been reading Klassic Note Reviews, like CDs those are called special gifts. Also known as "tokuten" in Japanese, these small gifts are exclusive to the release and kind of a way to encourage buying typically First Edition or pre-order stock to drive sales, I believe. That, and there actually are fans who will ask about whether they can get their hands on a copy and that THEY MUST and that THEY ONLY WANT THE GIFT which is NOT FOR SALE by the way (Don't look at me I only bought from the auction site once, I swear) and the staff still have to ensure NOT TO LAY HANDS on them even though they have to package them? Yeah, therefore, also to prevent theft from just looking at it, they flipped it around to the illustration instead of the photo on the other side, which many fans blindly ignored it and confronted the staff like they owed them money. Retards. *laughs* Haha another wonderful day at the store, and I can't believe there are more stories to behold. "We're halfway there, guys, we can do this!" Haha said the manager while preparing for the fair facing a wall of unpackaged books lol

Now I know why they got a skeleton to do the reactions lol

#StopWorkplaceViolence lol

P.S. Once again, too obvious of a voice because I can recognise it anywhere, that mage bookstore manager was voiced by, yours truly, the guy who voiced Kurotsuchi Mayuri in BLEACH. God, his voice is so good.
P.P.S. Thanks to this show for showing us what it means to prepare for a bookstore fair. I never gave a sh*t even in the bookstore fairs where I'm at, so... maybe when I go to Japan I'll take a selfie of them cut-outs to appreciate their efforts. *salutes*

音楽 This Week on Klassic Note

Keeping this short and writing this early as I have work to do blah blah blah look at intro haha. I forgot about Ryokuoushoku Shakai's new mini-album which dropped off this week, and also that they got signed into a major label so congratulations (RIP online YouTube music videos), and the album is... I didn't give the new topic song. I did give two songs though, one being that one song they sang months ago after their 1st album, so that's good. wacci's new album was okay, and I think I can give a couple, but a couple more it isn't qualified for. Then again it isn't bad, but you kow, Klassic Note is all about melody so... most of them already couldn't make it pass the checkpoint haha. I also concluded on Kalafina's best album by letting them go with a "blaze", if you get what I mean. I may finally be giving up on Chatmonchy's best album as personally I think the mini-album in June was more pivotal to their end than this. Stay tuned next week to see if I mention them again here lol

Talking about next week... *searches "14" on my Twitter likes page* (FYI 14th November is next Wednesday which is when most Japanese music releases are officially out) (if you need me to explain why they have digital pre-release and on-store flag days I'll do that for KN10YEARS maybe) we have fumika's cover album which I'll probably not give any songs considering Aki-chan and Yoshioka Kiyoe didn't make the cut either, and TrySail's new single (try clicking anything else in there from like, after Valentine's Day next year haha) which will probably be a pass again. The topic song isn't terrible, so that's a good start.

On Twitter news this week (sorry for the spamming of overlays for PC viewers because I see the agony in moving the mouse through this paragraph), yanaginagi is releasing a best album come early 2019 and ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION will release their new album in December. That's it, actually. Maybe I missed something or I didn't have enough time to listen to songs, but I'll try. Really should go listen to some indie artists sometime maybe no promises even to myself




I'm done. Cya guys next week then, and until then... Honda-san will be up provided if I'm not dead from lack of sleep tomorrow, pop-ups will arrive when I'm able, and hopefully you've been reading up on The Klassic Note Spirit because I took time writing it. It's going to be hard finding thumbnails for next week's posts so I'm finding ways to do it now. Enjoy your weekend while it lasts, yes?