From the ashes, the Phoenix will rise...

Ok, pardon the fancy title, but Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which I caught yesterday for free (it was an Electronic Arts private screening since they publish the official games) was a true ride that I expected the disappointing Goblet of Fire was.

Forget about the hoopla over Harry's first kiss with Cho Chang. That's overrated.

Instead cast your focus on the atmospherics that David Yates has so deftly created from the get go - the creeping darkness of the Dementor attack minutes into the movie, the Dante-inspired courtroom full of medieval-ish horror, Snape's forbidding past as well as the truly dark overtones of the rising and penultimate battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore himself in the grounds of the Ministry of Magic itself.

Watch for those and I guarantee you that you will be blown away by this 2.5 hour flick.

Oh and by the way, the movie though well-handled, is no Lamborghini which can rev from 0 - 100km in less than 10 seconds. I.e. it's slow, at least in the first half (which even then I still feel it's kind of choppy due to the many details left out like Sirius' mother's screaming portrait, the detailed introduction of the members of the Order of the Phoenix; we know Moody, but Tonks and Kingsley? etc).

However, when you get to the part when Harry forms Dumbledore's Army (or DA for short as it's written in the book), the movie quickens, culminating to one hell of a fiery (literally) finish in the Ministry (which kind of reminds me of good old PAP in its handling of matters).

And yea as usual Hermione's hot hot hot and Ron's the perennial clout. However the addition of Luna Lovegood to the cast does balance things a bit since she plays the calming voice of reason to Harry's tumultous life despite being widely labelled as "Loony Lovegood" due to her eccentric ways.

Also look out for Neville Longbottom, I cannot help but feel that HE is the second most important Hogwarts student to watch. Not Hermione, not Ron, not Malfoy, not even Ginny Weasley. This blur sotong will definitely have something to do with the overall prophecy, mark me words.

To end, Phoenix IS a great movie. Watch it and don't forget to practise on your Patronus charm. ;)

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi!

Friends of mine would know that I am such an anime geek. In fact, I scour every now and then for some of the tastiest animes to head of Japan over the good old Internet sometimes. Discovered Cardcaptor Sakura this way before it even went ballistic over here a few years back.

Recently, my efforts have rewarded me with a wierd-ass series known simply as "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya".

Wikipedia has this to say about it:

The Haruhi Suzumiya story focuses around one girl named Haruhi Suzumiya who has an obsession with the supernatural. To find the supernatural, she forms a Brigade of five members in order to find the supernatural and play with them. Without realizing it, she recruited an alien, time traveler, and esper into her ranks. It is later found out that Haruhi herself is not a normal human, as she has the ability to alter, destroy, or create the world as she wishes. The story is narrated by her classmate, Kyon, who had just recently given up his beliefs of the supernatural.

of course, the series comes with the usual Jap hentai shenanigans with a very generous dose of high school humor reminiscent of Love Hina and School Rumble.


Haruhi cosplay costume!

The interesting thing about this series is that it's not birthed from an existing manga series but rather from an award-winning youth novel series of the same name by Tanigawa Nagaru who has of date written nine Haruhi books all entitled similarly in accordance to the title character's moods e.g "The Wavering of Suzumiya Haruhi" and "The Indignation of Suzumiya Haruhi" etc.


This is one HAWT Haruhi! I think she's Japanese...

Very nice to watch! The wife and I are currently hooked, convinced that if we wait till the day that Starhub shows it, we would have been octogenarians...


One of the book covers

And finally, THE video that got the entire worldwide cosplay community dancing to - Hare Hare Yukai or the ending theme of "The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi".

Damn cute and catchy.



Now compare it with real people dancing to it - with the exact dance steps! Amazing, it sets my otaku blood on fire again! LOL!!



If you are piqued to read the Japanese to English translations of all the books till date (Book 9 is still under works), the URL is here.