Here Is An Irrelevant Title

Let this (Re)set the tone for the rest of this post.

Except probably not. So I figured that I'd take some time to write something before the year ends. There isn't a whole lot to say but I must admit this festive season has been quite good for self-indulgence (read: eating); well it's fine since for some strange reasons I can't seem to gain weight. Anyway I talked about a2c being featured on Maon Kurosaki's Vanishing Point back in July, and I have been meaning to do this for a while now so here's Maon's first full-length album, "Butterfly Effect", which was released at the end of last month.

Move your mouse over it. The album starts with an introductory track which really doesn't seem to flow into "Vanishing Point", the highlight of the album, all that well. Indeed the more pop-oriented songs that have been put in between the heavier rock tracks make the album feel as if it is lacking in consistency, which is rather unfortunate because it ends up destroying the album's momentum. I wouldn't really know but some of you may find that a few songs sound familiar; Magic∞world and メモリーズ・ラスト, the ending songs of To Aru Majutsu no Index II; ANSWER, the opening to the To Aru Majutsu no Index PSP game; and SCARS, the ending theme of HELLSING IX OVA. All in all it's not a bad effort from Maon for her first album. It'd be interesting to see what directions she will take for her next release; will she stick with rock songs that seem to suit her or will she go for dance pop that feels a little off? The butterfly effect indeed.

Where In The World Did November Go?

Give me back my November. Actually on second thought, please don't. So yeah, changing the blog design was really troublesome. I'm beginning to think maybe I should just leave the background plain. In the end I decided to settle with Sanae and Kogasa; it seems to fit in with the overall theme quite well. While I'm not much of a fan of that particular pairing or just any pairings in general, Hang in There, Kogasa-san can be quite fun from time to time.

Anyway remember back in my first post I mentioned a manga series called Bloody Cross? Well I went back and read up to the latest chapter, since I liked the cast and thought the story was actually getting a bit more interesting as it progressed. However the days of seeing Tsukimiya and Hinata coming together are still far ahead, because I'm getting the feeling that Shiwo just loves to pit them against each other.

Insert inappropriate texts

Tsukimiya disappeared for a few good chapters, having been captured by a new organization called "Divine Burial (神葬, Shinsou)" who really showed up out of nowhere and overwhelmed the main cast with their superior numbers and prowess. They claim that their objective is to locate and take care of every single one of God's Inheritance, and supposedly they are also in charge of the second Crusade (?) after the first one finished without a victor. Anyway the Divine Burial guys are a secretive lot and literally live in a parallel or self-created dimension from what I understand. It's impossible to get in or out by normal means, as Hinata and Nao found out the hard way. Hinata had intended for Nao to go in as a spy alone but he was outsmarted by Izumi who forced him to go along as well. With the help of two traitors from Divine Burial - Ooma and Kanade, the captains of the third and sixth divisions respectively, Hinata and Nao manage to sneak in and make contact with Izumi. After rumours of traitors within Divine Burial's ranks begin to spread, Kanade (who started the rumours herself) and Ooma successfully frame the fourth division captain Yamabuki, who is then immediately executed.