What a week.

Coughing like a heavy smoker. The hacking debilitating kind of cough that keeps you up all night. Then get greeted by the news that Onemanga, arguably one of the most popular online reading will be following in the footsteps of Mangatoshokan and removing all its manga by next week. WTF. There's always other ways of obtaining one's fix of manga, true.

Though if the current trend of publishers pressurizing scanlation groups and manga sites to shut down continues, it'll become more and more difficult to do so in the future. RIP Onemanga.

Don't Play Play.

If there's one thing I detest more than being played out (and trust me I am pissed when people play me out), it's being played out by unapologetic sods with an attitude to boot. You all know W., that wonderfully smug first ex whose glib tongue belies an ego bigger than the sum of J Lo's and Queen Latifah's butts.

I know. I've ranted about him before. But after six months of relentlessly ignoring his calls and smses, I finally relented and agreed to meet him once. It was to have been last Saturday but after returning quite smashed and considerably broke after dinner and drinks with the gang at work the night before, I called it off. So we arranged to meet again, yesterday. Lunch and perhaps a movie.

You dumb fuck! Didn't you rant and rave about him not too long ago? Or have you forgotten that you bid good riddance to him? Thoughts probably zipping through your mind as you read this.

All of which undeniably true. But you know how it is. We all know what we should do, whether we actually do it though is a different story. You know you should just stick to your dressing less salad to squeeze into that fabulous dress for xx's dinner but you just can't help ordering your tiramisu. Or in Alxx's case, her 4 servings of toffee nut latte. haha. After all, there's always the garter.

So yes I am fully aware. And W.'s not even a palatable let alone delectable temptation. But that's how it was. I digress. So we'd agreed the night before (friday) to meet around 1-2pm for Lunch and a movie. He wanted to drive over to pick me up. (Which I agreed to) And tried to squirrel a treat from me in the process. (Which naturally I refused to)

"Make Sure ah. You're always so busy, you might just end up at work." W. ended off in his usual smugly sarcastic tone.

Next day, Saturday. I got up earlier than usual (ie Noon ^^). Got ready by 1, then waited. And waited. Soon an hour passed and after a couple of SMSes and unanswered phone calls, I decided to take up Alvin's invitation for Red Alert 3 along with CS at Paradiz. As I was leaving the house, that bugger called.

"Lunch now?"
"It's 3 o'clock. We agreed to meet around 1-2 and you didn't even answer your phone."
"Aiya was sleeping wat. Lunch now?"
"Are you mad, I had my lunch already, not going to starve waiting for you. Went drinking last night is it? At least inform me then."
"Ha ha you're as adorable as always."
"...."

So after a couple more lopsided exchanges, we agreed to meet at Paradiz because I curtly informed him that I was already leaving and he insisted on going down to meet me ("I can play RA3 too! You can just say we're classmates."). Call me when you reach then, I informed him. He agreed. And you would have thought that would have been the end of the matter.

Apparently not. When I reached Paradiz it was already 4 plus and Alvin, CS and his gf were already busy annihilating virtual enemies to smithereens (or being annihilated..haha). So we gamed and I expected his call any minute. An hour passed, the Omnia remained dark and silent. Around 5.30 I sent W and sms, "Ok, meet at 6.30pm, town. Call me."

Another hour passed and still no call. By then the other three had been gaming for almost 5 hours and I presumed W. was already on his way down or something so I said my goodbyes and we parted ways. I called thrice. The bugger failed to pick up. Thoroughly annoyed, I shot him a quick sms, "Missing in action again? I'm heading to town. Call me."

By the time I reached Orchard, I was pretty famished and choleric. The massive crowd did not help. And the Omnia still remained dark. Downright annoyed, I texted the sod, "Never answer your phone never even bother to reply and we agreed to meet. If you are coming down let me know I'm at Orchard."

Whereupon I was rewarded with a single pathetic "Can't". Which of course made me ballistic. If he was there that very minute I would have socked/slapped him and kicked his balls for good measure. Assuming he has any. That sorry pathetic cunt.

You agree to meet. No, let me correct that. You WANT to meet and therefore we AGREE to meet. You sleep late. Call and expect people to have lunch with you at 3. Agree to meet again. Fail to show up. Fail to reply to SMSes. Fail to answer any phone calls. And then reply with a single pathetic "Can't" without a single apology or explanation and expect any sane reasonable person to accept it?

Good grief. Just the thought of it is sufficient to send me into an apoplectic rage. Obviously basic courtesy and common sense is something he sorely lacks. But why should I be surprised. It's one thing to play other people out (and that of course has to be distinguished from inevitable situations ie: life-threatening wardrobe malfunctions kind of situations), it's another to do so without being in the least apologetic or having the courtesy to come up with a viable excuse.

No wonder I dropped him like a hot potato. Well good riddance.

*Takes a deep breath* On the other hand, I did manage to get a decent gift for Suzie who's turning 40 tomorrow. Happy Birthday girl! I'm terrible with prezzie shopping be it for birthdays or Christmas. I mean god knows what everyone wants. And besides, you know you won't be pleasing everyone.

Oh I know, gays are supposed to be fabulously fashionable, with an eye for good clothes, girl's best confidantes/sisters and perfect shopping kakis. Shopping for presents should by extension be a real breeze. Well yes, that is the general perception. But just like not every heterosexual male loves soccer or oggles at girls all day, not all gay males are your fashionable fag hag friend.
For me, I hate shopping for presents. So when I do find a present I'm satisfied with, it's a personal accomplishment of sorts. haha

I shall be looking forward to tomorrow's birthday celebrations for Suzie, if anything, it'll be the first time I'll be meeting her, WG and SL for the first time after over a year of slinking about on each others' blog posts. :)

I leave you now with the psychedelic and catchy ending song, Hitohira no Hanabira, from Bleach. It's chirpy and almost para para-esque though I'm certain the animation adds to that effect. ^^

Hitohira no Hanabira by Stereopony

A single flower petal brushes against my skin
I don't want to believe
our romance was a mistake

We've got a bad, bad habit of saying "everything's fine" and bottling it up
I always thought about how i wanted to be with you forever
but we don't see eye to eye
I assumed i could always make you smile
in that soft, gentle way of yours
like when we first met
I want to hold you...

A single flower petal brushes against my skin
I don't want to believe
our romance was a mistake
I thought I loved you
I wanted to hear your voice more and more
and while my hand still reaches yours,
I can't see what your future holds.

Of Demons and Fairies

When one watches anime, you don't expect stellar plots or character development. You expect to be entertained either via slapstick jokes or flashy totally out of this world maneuvers or tricks that preferably lead to multiple explosions and entire buildings being levelled. And the respective characters always emerging relatively unscathed other than a few scrapes and superficial cuts who then proceed to level the rest of the city, base, etc. Either that or they're horribly wounded but still find the strength to pull off a spectacular KO move that usually destroys everything in sight.

Anyone who has watched a decent amount of anime, at least of the shounen variety, will be able to confirm the aforesaid. Sure you get the usual 'I'm strong cause I fight for my nakama (friend)' theme and the occasional relationship between different characters where love inevitably blossoms. But nothing more substantial and often nothing very realistic. Though then again many of the activities we do, anime watching included, is often a welcome escape from reality.

You don't expect anti-heroes, a gripping plot and characters who while strong remain vulnerable in that they remain plagued by their inner demons. Or a believable plot where characters are killed or obliterated on an wholly unexpected basis. Code Geass and the sequel, Code Geass R2 - Lelouch of the Rebellion has all that.

In a way, Code Geass is probably in terms of suspense, plot and character development, hands down the best anime I've watched so far. Death note coming in a close second. The characters are not your typical heroes, everyone has their inner demon or motives which drives and torments them. The interaction of the main character, Lelouch, his persona as Zero and his interaction with the characters sets the groundwork for this series which is as captivating as it is unpredictable.

Code Geass is a mecha type of anime, I've never been the mecha sort of anime fan, preferring by far the flashier abilities/magic/jutsu kind of anime which tends towards fantasy. But I never regretted trying out Geass, I'm still not a mecha fan but Geass is just on a whole different level.

I shall be sad after it ends in 5 episodes.

On the manga front, I've demolished Ubel Blatt and started on Fairy Tail which looked very promising and hasn't disappointed so far. Style wise, it's rather similar to One Piece, it even has the occasional over the top slap stick moment but it's flashier and revolves around magic.

Pity it hasn't been adapted into an anime series yet. I like the drawing style which again reminds me of One Piece, cute guys (with the kind of killer abs you'd only find in manga) and hot girls who are highly expressive. A couple of whom (the girls) are dominatrix who make She-Ra look like little Miss Muffet.



Which is probably how most hen pecked husbands view their wives. Though I suspect there's an inner Valkyrie in everyone of us.

On an wholly unrelated note before I run off to catch this week's Geass, I realised to my mild consternation that my dad has taken to watching weepy Korean love dramas with startling alacrity. Which might possibly explain his entirely off the cuff remark when the mother was proclaiming how one could spot young couples a mile off from their 'lovey-dovey ways'; "but old couples can also be lovey dovey what". Dead silence.

Oh that poor man.

The Move

If there's one thing I dislike more than packing, it's moving. Especially when it involves having to uproot oneself from a relatively spacious and decently pleasant surroundings and move to decidedly cramped quarters. Not to mention the fact that it also involves a lot of packing.

We're moving office, the top management says it isn't a downgrade but no matter how you look at it, it is a downgrade. Cramped quarters. Check. Further away from mrt. Check. Old building. Check. Single to shared room. Check. I could go on but at the end of the day we're moving and we're stuck there for the next couple of years or so. No point griping about the inevitable.

Moving office along with the furniture is highly disruptive, which does not bode well when you have a crazy amount of work to be done and a number of upcoming trials and hearings. The doors were the first to go, to be reused for the 'new' workplace. It was a little surreal to be able to stare right across the corridor and into a partner's room. So much so that a colleague joked that for once the firm's 'open door' policy was truly being practiced.

The cupboards and pedestals will be carted out on Monday with the workstations and computers the day before the actual move. In the meantime, all the files have been packed into boxes which means piles of boxes all over the office and the need to dig through boxes for files that we are still working on. Which is a pain in the ass and I'm not talking about the pleasurable kind that involves romping in bed with a hottie. So the entire place is mess, the seccies are still packing while it's supposed to be business as usual. All in all not a very conducive working environment.

On an wholly unrelated note, I've started reading Ubel Blatt , since I've run out of manga to read and waiting for the weekly dosage of Naruto, Bleach, D Gray man, Hitman Reborn and the monthly ones of Claymore and Full Metal Alchemist can be more than a little tiresome. Ubel Blatt is slightly different from the rest so far in that it's catered for men (seinen) rather than for the usual male teenager (Shounen) and there's a whole lot more boobs and gore (because boys will always be boys).

'Pornographic' wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration. But apart from the occasional explicit sex scene and the very graphic gore (more so than claymore), the manga has a decent plot even if it does have a little too many boobs and taut nipples for my liking. The plot certainly fleshes out what would have been mindless slaughter. Though sometimes, some brainless gut spilling gore is appreciated. Especially when one mentally envisages certain individuals at the receiving end.

Tinkle Twinkle

It's occasional, unexplainable and downright inevitable. Nope I'm not talking about the mountains of files/documents that turn up unannounced on your desk. God knows they turn up on a regular basis as it is. It, rather refers to the unavoidable mental block that afflicts every blogger from time to time, 'bloggers' block' I prefer to call it.

Bloggers' block is akin to creative constipation. You know you have to go but you can't. So your shit remains stuck inside instead of staying on your blog where it rightfully belongs and you feel constipated cause well you're full of shit and no one wants to be full of shit do they? So we find other avenues of getting the shit out: more work, friends, activities, sex, you get my drift. Or we just be stubborn fucks and sit and stew in front of the comp till we expel it all, almost always with the help of some laxatives.

Said laxatives ranging from the tried and tested 'talk about others' to the peculiar remedy idiosyncratic to the individual blogger. For yours truly, it happens to be that delightful thing called incoherency where the lack of need to write in proper prose or cohesive coherent topics does wonders for unclogging the work weary constipated system. Six day weeks, the sheer volume of work and staying back regularly past nine for the past 2.5 months is starting to take its toll.

And in the usual tradition of things when bloggers' block strike, you talk about others. Which unfortunately (or otherwise) happens to be my clients due to the fact that statistically speaking at least, a large portion of my life revolves around my work. Sometimes I don't know whether I should laugh, console or scold clients when they tell me the things they do. Take Mr A, vengeful and bitter, who wants to fight every single step of the way.

Mr A: She's been sleeping around ever since I was overseas, they even went out on my birthday! Can you believe it!

moi: Ok and how did you find out she was sleeping around?

Mr A: I have records of all her msn conversations with that guy. She told him, "You're really hot you know that?" What kind of married woman goes about saying that to other men when her husband is overseas?!

Moi: So you believe she slept around because she told a guy he's really hot?

Mr A: Yes!

Moi:.... That's hardly very conclusive..

Mr A: *Interjects while staring at my unadorned ring finger* You married?

Moi: No...

Mr A: Ah see that's where I must explain to you, you might not understand otherwise since you're not married. You don't go round telling a member of the opposite sex you're hot when you're married! It's almost sexual!

Moi:....

Which is where I did all three and had to go through the usual "must be pragmatic, cannot be so acrimonious but yet of course she wasn't very reasonable" crap. For the record, Mr A did sufficiently justify his otherwise ludicrous position later when he recounted to me in vivid detail just what his wife said she would do to Mr X, stuff that didn't involve giving a piece of her mind to said Mr X but rather her whole body and in particular various naughty bits in prolonged contact with his.

But of course since it's a sensitive private matter between husband and wife and invariably mundane, I shan't bore you with the details. If it included sordid details about a husband and his male lover caught in the act by an aghast wife, now that would be quite different.

On a wholly unrelated note, I like the piano piece that Allen plays in episode 93 of D Gray Man. It's beautiful, haunting, hypnotic and for some reason it's like a song that never ends. I can't quite decide whether I like the arrangement by itself or as the song with the surreal vocals. I quite suspect the unadulterated vocal piece without the voice overs from the actors will be quite stunning.

But till then this eerie haunting tune keeps floating in my head. And I am thankful that the much needed break is almost here, where I will be travelling back to where it all ended or perhaps really started. More enjoyable than before for sure. Alone, a first of sorts but then again solace in solitude, for now at least.

Musician's Song

Rain & Respite

It's one of those less coherent entries but I make no apologies for the lack of prose or seeming sloth.

I like it when it rains and I'm at home, when night's fallen and the rain comes down hard and fast. The gusts of wind that flail the curtains, the occasional blast of fresh dampness cool on the face. As the symphony unfolds, rain drumming against the roof tiles, the erratic percussion of droplets on asphalt, skittering across the road like a drunken snake, the breathy sighs as the trees sway in the wind, leaves rustling and falling, torn from their branches to litter the ground like green confetti.

I like it when it rains in the morning, the sky grey and overcast, the insistent patter of rain, comforting and soothing. When all one wants to do is to snuggle deeper under the sheets, to bask in the warm coziness as the cool air caresses one's face, the clean smell of rain fresh in the cold morning air.

I like it when it rains like now.

A little lost bird flew into the parent's room, a little wet and disoriented from the downpour, seeking shelter perhaps though it may well have regretted its choice. Greeted by loud shrieks from the mother and strident shrieks of potential diseases and feathers over her newly changed bedsheets while that woman attempted to trap the poor thing with all things, a pail.

I turned off the ceiling fan, to avoid the wholly unpleasant and albeit gruesome prospect of the poor frenzied bird getting decapitated and bits of bird all over the room. She'd trapped the poor thing meanwhile. Flapping frantically in the pail, it sounded plaintive, stricken with fear no doubt. But she wanted to leave it there. Even though it'll suffocate? I don't care, leave iiiiiitttt.

So I let it out. Whereupon she shrieked and ran out of the room. This coming from the woman who previously bashed roaches with her bare hands. Gack. The poor thing had by this time perched itself on the armchair, looking quite dazed and traumatized.


Armed with a wad of kitchen towels, I gingerly plucked it from the seat. Warm and soft, I could still feel that small bundle of feathers trembling gently even as I wrapped the papery blanket round it. It remained immobile and for a fleeting moment, I was cognizant of this overwhelming sense of vulnerability. For a creature so soft and fragile to be so hapless and at the mercy of this ..thing now enveloping it in what must have seemed like a vice like grip.

So gently, I went downstairs, opened the door, and as it was still pouring, set it down slowly on the shoe cabinet beside the fern. If anything, just to leave the bird beside something vaguely familiar besides the alien and traumatic environment it had just been escorted from.

It stirred slightly but made no attempt to flee, settling beside the potted fern. head slightly cocked, feathers fluffed out. An hour later it was gone, flying off to familiarity and home, amidst the dying rain.

I leave you now with the very apt full version of Blue Bird by Ikimono Gakari. Best known as the most recent OP song for Naruto Shippudden. But I told you before didn't I. This entry was meant to be incoherent.

Blue Bird by Ikimono Gakari




飛翔(はばた)いたら　戻らないと言って
目指したのは　蒼い　蒼い　あの空

You say if you could fly, you would never come back down
You aimed for that blue, blue sky

“悲しみ”はまだ覚えられず
”切なさ”は今つかみはじめた
あなたへと抱く　この感情も
今”言葉”に変わっていく

You've yet to remember "sadness"
Just now began to grasp "pain"
Even the feelings I held onto for you
Are just now changing into words

未知なる世界の　遊迷(ゆめ)から目覚めて
この羽根を広げ　飛び立つ

As you awaken from the dream of an unknown world
Spread your wings and take off

飛翔(はばた)いたら　戻らないと言って
目指したのは　白い　白い　あの雲

You say if you could fly, you would never come back down
You aimed for those white, white clouds

突き抜けたら みつかると知って

If you break through, you know you'll find it


振り切るほど　蒼い　蒼い　あの空
蒼い　蒼い　あの空
蒼い　蒼い　あの空

So try until you break free to that blue, blue sky
That blue, blue sky
That blue, blue sky

愛想尽きたような音で　錆びれた古い窓は壊れた

With a sound like all civility was gone
The rusted, old window broke

見飽きたカゴは　ほら捨てていく
振り返ることはもうない
高鳴る鼓動に　呼吸を共鳴(あず)けて
この窓を蹴って　飛び立つ

Look, you're so sick of looking at that cage that you're throwing it away
Without ever looking back again
That throbbing beat takes your breath away
And you kick open that window and take off

駆け出したら　手にできると言って
いざなうのは　遠い　遠い　あの声
眩しすぎた　あなたの手も握って
求めるほど　蒼い　蒼い　あの空

You said if you could run, you would obtain it
You're tempted by that distant, distant voice
It grasps your far too dazzling hand
Until you pursue that blue, blue sky

墜ちていくと　わかっていた　それでも　光を追い続けていくよ

I understand that you are falling
But still, continue to follow the light

飛翔(はばた)いたら　戻らないと言って
探したのは　白い　白い　あの雲
突き抜けたら　みつかると知って

You say if you could fly, you would never come back down
You searched for those white, white clouds
If you break through, you know you'll find it

振り切るほど　蒼い　蒼い　あの空

So try until you break free to that blue, blue sky

蒼い　蒼い　あの空
蒼い　蒼い　あの空

That blue, blue sky
That blue, blue sky

Conflicting Complications.

One, afraid to love yet affected by it nontheless. The other, gave it all up on a stirring of the heart but remains in stasis, unable to move on. I'm glad we talked.

In a sense, it was like the old days, some things need not be said, others readily understood. But still there were things we could not comprehend, views that remained unfathomable. But the heart is a quirky thing.

And here we are, two adults unable to really move on, like that part of us died what seemed like eons ago. One, weary of losing another person so important to him and an unwavering dedication to commitment that stands battered but intact. The other, devoid of the faintest feelings of attraction to another, who left to find himself but lost himself in the process.

Conflicting complications. How else would one explain the illogical, irrational workings of the heart, to take joy at the other's singlehood, not out of malice but a sense of relief and yet to take offence should he fall into the arms of another? To the extent where it was frankly raised and confessed that friendship is no longer an option in such a scenario.

For it was once said was it not? To hate a person you once loved because he/she loves again is proof you once loved him/her. Though that colloquial nugget of wisdom can often be readily dismissed as an anthropological observation. We hate because we cannot forget, cannot release willingly and remain embittered that the other has been able to do what we cannot. To move on.

If love is like a naked boy as Ovid once wrote, we clothed him well and brought him up. Then became clueless when he brought back the resident whore and disowned him thereafter.

And so we ended on that note, one confused, the other pensive but both thoughtful and more cognizant of the situation and underlying tensions. We might not move on yet, maybe not even in the direction we want or envisage. Baby steps baby steps for grown men stumbling towards whatever lies ahead.


On a wholly unrelated note, I've found my new favourite anime song, it's the kind that grows on you... or maybe I just like the part about breaking free to that blue blue sky...aoi aoi ano sora...

Greased Geass.

The favourite subbers who did the first season of Code Geass have resurrected the group for the second season. (Remember orange kun?) Which was a pleasant surprise since Menclave/ Conclave-mendoi are not known for their speed.

And true enough the subbed first episode of Code Geass R2 is out, just in time to go with them donuts. ^^ Woot.

Sad to say but the JCo donuts beat the ones from Donut Factory hands down.

Code Geass R2 episode 1 (subbed)


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Code Geass Hangyaku no Lelouch R2 Episode 1 (Raw)

It's out!!!

We always wanted to know what happened after Season 1 ended with that nail biting cliff hanger scene of Lelouch (Lulu) and Suzaku, two former bosum buddies, facing off with guns levelled at each other's heads. And the triggers being pulled back ever so slowly as they yell in hoarse frustration, tears streaming down their faces.

Well, thankfully neither died and this Season promises to be just as exciting if not better. There's like something for every anime fan, mecha transformer like units for the geeks and techie boys, lots of svelte females and an inordinate amount of cleavage for the average male hentai anime fan, soulful, angsty yet broodingly attractive males for the female fans and lots of angst, gore and drama for the drama mama lovers like me.

Seriously, this is one of the few series I'll probably buy the DVD for when it comes out.

Ok now back to preparing the stupid cross-ex questions. sighhh

Code Geass Season 2 !!!!

Woooooot!!! After a long hiatus of 9 months, the second season of Code Geass is finally here, with the first episode scheduled for release in Japan on 6 April 2008!

So we get to see more Lelouch, Suzaku and CC, with a couple of new characters in the classic CLAMP style that is gory yet visually pleasing with lots of drama to boot. Mecha was never this good. One more anime to watch and add to the current trinity of Naruto Shippuden, Bleach and D Gray Man. ^^



Now to see which fansub group's going to take it on.... I want my Code Geasssssss 2!!! ^^

Ho Hum

I'm suffering from LPS which stands for Last Paper Syndrome, not Lowly Piece of Shit though there are days when one feels like the latter. In a little over 13 hours, the last exam of my life will be over. No euphoric highs, no jubilant shouts of glee, certainly no nostalgic reminiscing. It seems strange how humans always want to celebrate the passing milestones in their life, to go out with the euphemistic bang.

With great fanfare it started, this prodigious embarkation on a 20 year long journey of formal education and with a whimper it dies. Like a pauper in an unmarked grave uncared and forgotten, this signpost in the journey of life will be passed by with nary a nod of recognition. It seems ironic yet it remains a fitting end. One day I'll look back with some nostalgia as we are wont to do, but not now.

As far as preparations for the papers are concerned or rather the lack thereof, LPS didn't change things much, if only serving to reinforce the pervasive miasma of slackness that was never really dispelled for this exam. Went out with Annie for coffee and a little impromptu shopping, something we haven't done for ages, walking the entire length of Orchard Road from Plaza Sing to Forum, buying CDs from HMV and dinner at the same old Turkish place, Anatolya, where we laughed and gossiped so many years ago. All in all, a day of doing things we'd done so often, so long ago and it was pleasant.

I've become a lot more impatient lately, having stumbled on the online manga site, One Manga, with its free voluminous scans of scanlators' works of the different popular manga series, I gave in to curiosity and embarked on a marathon session of Naruto. Which just keeps getting better and better. Then having finished the series to its current chapter, boredom rapidly set in because we all know studying/reading notes is like wading through pee after having tasted the ambrosia; so I devoured more series, Bleach, Claymore, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, D Gray Man and the highly amusing Full Metal Alchemist.

666 Satan (which no, isn't an occult offering but the name of a cute manga by Kishimoto Seishi, the younger twin brother of Kishimoto Masashi, author of the immensely popular Naruto.) is currently the latest target. It's quite amusing really, how their drawing styles are really similar and there are common elements in the plot. Still it remains an entertaining read, though of course nothing seems able to beat Naruto in terms of sheer suspense.

Jio in 666 Satan. Looks familiar? :)

So as you can see, studying for this exam has been rather non-existent, even if one does attach very generous definitions to the term 'studying'. 'Relaxed, intermittent reading' would be a more apt description to sum up the state of preparations and amount of effort input into this last enterprise. Listening to that glorious piece by Clarke, The Prince of Denmark's March from the newly bought Unforgettable Wedding Classics cd, it just makes one feel like marching down the aisle I swear.

Ah well, at least I do get to meet Sean at long last on Sat. Oh and does anyone want to buy a (normal) wii, I found a shop selling modded ones that play english as well as Jap (Read Naruto Shippuden games on Wii) games for a cool $560. Crap. Now excuse me while I attempt to speed read the remaining 6 chapters of this dreary subject.

AarinSecret #2: By Fans for Fans.

The second issue of AarinSecret, a free online Yaoi magazine, has recently been released (3rd October '07) by the staff of Aarinfantasy, that mega one-stop english portal for all things Yaoi. That's the same fansubbing and scanlation group that churned out favourite Yaoi (as well as some non-yaoi ones) series and titles like Loveless, Enzai, Close the Last Door and of course the glorious, extremely smutty and uncensored Sensitive Pornograph.

Professional right? I'd even buy it if they sold it. Thankfully it's free. Download your copy here.
Cover picture is a wonderful piece of fan art of Itachi & Sasuke done by a very talented Russian fan, Yanagoya.

As expected, this release while free as usual, lived up to the same professional standards of all their other works. And at 104 pages, it's chock a block full of goodies ranging from high quality fan art, reviews of the different mangas, movies and anime titles to quizzes and interviews. Even the layout is what you'd normally expect from a published(ie: not free) magazine, attractive cover, detailed content page and easy to read layout.

The magazine starts out with an editor cum Yaoi fangirl's insightful article about her obsession with Yaoi and the reactions of people around her to her interest. The team also included a section on fans which included short interviews and features of artworks and fan fictions but I found the real life experiences about getting caught watching/reading Yaoi highly amusing.

Which I guess is excruciating if your mom walks in while one is watching the very explicit Sensitive Pornograph just as one of the graphic sex scenes is unfolding replete with sounds that leave nothing to imagination. A situation a forumer faced and in her(assuming it's a her) own words:
"My mom saw me watching Sensitive Pornograph! Whimper...it was during a sex scene..Agh!! What do I do?!! Well actually since I handled it badly, there's not much I can do now." -Lunefin
Yeah, well I can imagine.
Lunefin's mom: "...What is that?"
Lunefin:" Ah ah.. er .. the play we need to review for school.."
L's mom: "What? Let me see!"
L: NO!!! *panics and jams the power button while frantically attempting to block the screen with her body*

Maybe the thought of locking the door and using headphones never crossed their minds. Though if I would ever be unfortunate enough to be caught with my pants down (in all senses of the word), which I have no intention of ever being, I'd probably experience something akin to what the poor MrsTaraYuyMaxwell faced when her mom found her previewing some steamy man on man yaoi action.

"You might be startled to hear that when my mother found out she tried to exorcise me... three times. She'd throw water in my face and slam me up against the wall before proceeding to shake me harshly against the wall. All the while she would scream things like,'DEMONS BEGONE!!! LEAVE MY CHILD IN PEACE AND TAKE YOUR PERVERTED DESIRES WITH YOU!!!' And crap like that."- MrsTaraYuyMaxwell.

Yeah, not kidding. It's always easier to blame the devil for things they deem unacceptable than to recognise and accept the fact that their kid is perfectly fine. Though perhaps at this juncture, it'd be good to give em a run for their money and do your best 'Exorcist' impersonation, replete with the peasoup vomit and booming demonic voice. Sans the 360 degree head turn, not unless you're really possessed or you'd like to die trying. I doubt the Yaoi Demon empowers twisting anything more than a turgid part of the male anatomy.

So anyway, kudos to the team for releasing the second issue. Better late than never. And if you're a Yaoi fangirl or fanboy and haven't downloaded the AarinSecret magazine yet, watcha waiting for? Scroll up and grab it.

Nanashi's Anime Friday

I stumbled upon nanashi's anime blog while surfing for more details on the upcoming Code Geass Season 2. It's an interesting site, always nice to stumble on fellow anime fan sites especially those who put in a lot of hard work and effort into reviewing the various anime series. Nanashi has an innovative FAnime Friday feature where there's a weekly friday feature about anime from episode/anime reviews to soundtracks and various useful nuggets of information.

I've always found reviews by other anime fans helpful, you get a gist of what the series is about and then get to decide for yourself whether to go preview it. It's nice to see that Claymore isn't an anime just popular with the guys, which one might be inclined to believe since it's all about hot, passionate women wielding huge claymores(duh) as they battle monstrous youma (monsters) and there's gore a plenty. I may be gay but I absolutely loved Claymore even though Raki was a bit too weepy at times. Which made me want to slap him, well maybe hug him after that ^^.

Though I must say that the voice actor Motoki Takagi who also played Midori in Loveless nailed the part rather well. That weepy, wants to be tough but really vulnerable character bit. Nanashi's Fanime Friday feature is certainly worth checking out, though it would be nice if she could start some contest or other more interactive features, that would certainly spice things up. :)

Random Ramblings

Because I'm too lazy to come up with a more descriptive name unlike last time, and it is a convenient way of blogging about small, wholly unrelated events. If it seems too disjointed, too bad, coherency seems to be something I'm lacking in today. The headings should help though.

Insolent Casanovas and why they should be shot.

Sean told me yesterday that G. one of his closer friends called up crying in the morning while he was at work and asked for advice. I don't really know G. very well having only met her twice but other than being a little over the top and slightly divaish, she appears to be nice. Which Sean says she is, mostly that is. Apparently, she'd still been seeing the guy at work and continuing their relationship both in office and out of it in spite of the fact that she has a loving(or so I'm told) boyfriend studying in Australia and had been advised by mutual friends to stop seeing that guy. But like Sean said, pussy itchy la, which aptly sums it up.

She'd been sleeping with him for close to a year now, and having unprotected sex, something she'd denied doing till G called Sean up that morning crying and blurted out everything. Which I guess was not really surprising, I had been marvelling at how they had in her own words, just gone as far as heavy petting with some foreplay but no penetration and just stopped there. It didn't really sound correct but naturally you give people the benefit of the doubt when they talk about their personal activities in bed.

So anyway, this chap was diagnosed with TB and informed by the doctors that it was extremely rare for a young-ish guy (30s) to have Tuberculosis and HIV was listed as a potential cause. Which naturally sent G. into a tizzy and panic attack mode. Most people would certainly be considerably upset. What made matters a lot worse was that casanova (and he certainly doesn't look like one.. bleah) told her point blank to her face that even when he got the results of the HIV testing back he wouldn't tell her the results. Which I think is quite ridiculous.

You possibly get someone infected with HIV yet instead of doing what you can to come clean with the people you've had sex with to allow them to decide on their next course of action, you act like a total bastard. True the person might have been a consensual sexual partner but that doesn't mean they consented to sleeping with a potential HIV partner and even if they are partially to be blame, it doesn't give one the excuse to be a total bastard and not let people whom you may very possibly have infected know about your condition or lack thereof when you get the results back.

So G went for the full battery of tests and after a nerve wracking 24 hours was informed that the test results were negative. She does need to abstain and go again in 3 months time to get a clean bill of health because they only just stopped having sex recently. Naturally, she is not blameless but I will not comment on the infidelity aspect, being in no position to do so having myself been guilty of it before while attached to Sean and he was studying( in australia too). Suffice to say, the temptation is strong, the flesh is weak and one stumbles if one doesn't know very clearly what one wants in the relationship.

She'll have to come up with something when the boyfriend returns the following week, to explain just why they can't get it on like bunnies, at least not for the next 3 months. My take is it's pretty hard to come up with a convincing and plausible excuse(lie) for that so confessing would be the best but it's certainly not easy and it's a decision G. will have to make for herself. At the end of the day though, aside from the infidelity bit, it is wise to choose one's sex partners with care or at least those you have unprotected sex with.

HIV unfortunately remains a very real threat and sometimes I am thankful I escaped unscathed from my own escapades. Unprotected sex with casanovas is literally like Russian Roulette and insolent bastards like the one G slept with should be shot and castrated for good measure.

Anime & Manga Blitz

The past few months saw the avid consumption of a number of great anime series, most of which have sadly come to an end. Series like Claymore, Death Note, Code Geass Season 1 and now Darker than Black (sob sob no more Hei). It's always a mixed bitter-sweet feeling I have at the end of a good series, the glad that it has concluded nicely yet wistful, wishing it would go on kind of mixed emotion. Often, I even rue the fact I'll never see the characters (the animated ones at least) again but I guess closure is good sometimes. Better to end splendidly then to drag on and on.

Thankfully, there's still Bleach and Naruto Shippuuden to look forward too, and the anime is now following the manga and the plot is captivating even if they seem to be slowing down on releases lately. In other news, I'm really glad D Gray Man isn't ending at 52 as originally planned, that would have totally sucked, since at episode 51, the show is nowhere ever near the end or some sort of decent closure. Anime news network shows more upcoming episodes till at least 64 which is scheduled to air on christmas day in Japan so hopefully we'll be in for a lot more action.

Been doing a lot more Yaoi reading lately especially since the allure of CoV is starting to wane, to catch up on the unread hardcopy mangas and the softcopy scanlations. More gems amidst the sometimes fluffy stuff of lightweight plots and glorious smut that is typically yaoi. In particular, a few mangakas like Fujiyama Hyouta, Keiko Konno, Yamada Yugi, Shiuko Kano and Miyamoto Kano depict the relationship and real life issues very accurately in ways that are both moving and heartwarming. And just like the good anime series, I get that same bitter-sweet, happy yet wistful feeling upon finishing a good book/series.

Finishing volume 3 of Miyamoto Kano's moving and thought provoking Rules which depicted the obstacles and intricacies in the relationships between two couples and various old flames/friends was no different. Little sigh.

My abysmal luck with Taxi Drivers and Sister's Bakes

Ok I get crappy taxi drivers on a basis that is annoying in its frequency. Remember the taxi driver from hell? This one must be his compatriot. Grabbing the passing cab after catching Resident Evil: Extinction at AMK Hub with Sean today (which was typically almost identical to your average Zombie-Undead-Only remaining human Survivors left on a barren earth plot. The only redeeming grace was watching a trench coat clad Mila Jovorich hack off heads like a demoness on crack.) proved to be a mistake.

Slow old man who didn't know half the roads (come on ok, he didn't even know when to turn into the CTE, it's a fucking EXPRESSWAY), drove at 40 km/h, kept going "Oh Jesus!" every two mins or so and was bloody rude (Cause he was so blur, I had to tell him turn left at road XX instead of just turn left, closer to my place I told him turn left at XX which was like the only way to turn anyway but I gave the wrong name YY whereupon that stupid sod said, 'what you don't even know the name of the roads of where you live?' Well hello I normally just say turn left or right here and every other taxi driver knows, besides you don't say that to a PAYING CUSTOMER. So I was tempted to snap at him but I resisted cause he may just have Jesused me or something.)

Sean even whispered,"Eh can I change cab?" That's how bad it was. So anyway apparently, when he dropped Sean off at his place after mine he declared that the meter was spoilt and charged Sean an extra self-determined $3.00 surcharge since 'tomorrow is Hari Raya Puasa, Public Holiday'. Talk about stinky service with a snarl.

There are things to look forward to, like the Sister's sinfully good Cream-cheese chocolate muffins topped with chocolate chips, which while fattening, is undeniably dee-lee-cious.

I polished two straight out of the oven and had one after the infuriating cab ride to cheer myself up. Nothing like a good dessert to perk one up. But which also means it's time for my jog to burn off a fraction of the calories and with that I bid you adieu.

Naruto & Bleach on Wii.

Ok, maybe it's time to save up (after paying off certain sums I owe someone ^^) for something other than a new laptop. Something like a Wii playstation for instance, that innovative gaming system where you actually exercise, through varied hand movements and body movements while playing anything from tennis to all time favourite hero combo games from popular all time favourites like Dragonball-Z and Marvel vs Capcom.

Imagine your average arcade 2 player fighting games (which I absolutely suck at- joysticks of the inanimate kind are not my forte) like King of Fighters, then picture having to do all the combos with your hands as the controls and not the joystick, which may look pretty silly at first but it's infinitely more appealing cause hey it's fun and it's a whole lot easier (to me at least) to churn out the correct combos with hands that are decidedly more agile than a joystick.

So when Anthony told me he intends to get the naruto shippuuden and bleach wii games, perhaps even the Jap version before the English one (which will be monthssss more), like any avid fan of the series, I told him I'd certainly visit his place and camp there the whole day. Good workout, Splendid fun, Excellent animation, and based off two favourite anime series, now how much more entertaining can that be.

I'll leave you with some youtube videos of the action between the various characters and trust me they have all the major characters, naruto, sakura, kakashi, all the akatsuki, even ten-ten looks like a veritable sexy bitch when fighting, flashy and smug. ^^ Without further ado.

Deidara vs Gaara

And their moves are both so flashy!!! Especially Deidara's bird. And them Ka Chwar (spiders). Guess who won in the end, just like in the anime and manga. ^^

Naruto vs Kakashi

Naruto vs his 'sensei'. Lol this fight basically entailed alot of hopping about and dodging though there were some nice parts like Naruto's Demon Fox coat and Kakashi's devastatingly spectacular chidori.

Itachi vs Kisame

Akatsuki vs Akatsuki. How much more entertaining can a fight between baddies be? Kisame hits hard and his Special is spectacular but it is Itachi's mangekyo sharingan that steals the cake. And true to form his attacks are like those of an assassin, swift and from the back.

Itachi vs TenTen

TenTen, the weapons specialist of the Gai team generally isn't one of the stronger characters in the series/manga but she sure does have some very flashy moves. And the wii game reflects that, fast and flashy moves that deal less damage say in comparison to Kisame's slower but harder hitting ones. Still that big sword of hers hits hard. ^^

Then of course, there's bleach. And the Wii version looks so good... Basically you can bash anyone up, regardless of which side one is on.

Ichigo v Ulquiorra

This one isn't Wii acually, rather it's from the Bleach computer game(?) Heat the loss. Still the graphics is great, and everyone loves seeing these two face off

Ulquiorra v Grimmjow

The Number 4 and Number 6 Espada face off. While the front looks like alot of bitch slapping, you realise its generally right, cause unlike shinigami, arrancar don't fight with their zanpaktous released in their human form. Grimmjow's attacks are the expected direct, frontal hard hitting ones. Ulquiorra's are well, really cool. Much like the disinterested, destroy and take apart from a distance kind. And his special is the best. No prizes for guessing who won.

Urahara vs Ukitake

Spectacular fight between two taichou class shinigami, this is where you get to see the graphic swordplay and zanpaktou effects in action. ^^

Byakuya vs Ulquiorra

Get to see Byakuya's very pretty bankai in action and more of Ulquiorra's special. Which makes the fights very eventful.

Ichigo v Byakuya

And of course, who can forget the classic rivalry between Ichigo and Byakuya, immortalised in those two 50-something episodes in the fight between the two in soul society. You get to see both bankais in action, but Ichigo's is so fast, it looks almost brutally unfair. ^^

So you see why Anthony's quite hung up over getting the two games, never mind that it's in Jap first and why I fully intend to go over and test run it with him. ^^ Never mind, that we can't understand a word or what they're saying, how hard is it to come up with the hand combos from the manual? Wel, perhaps a little, but still you get to be even if for a couple of minutes those very same characters bashing each other up from the anime series that one avidly follows without fail, every week.

The Little Things.

I was reading 'Stars' by Keiko Konno, one of the two new yaoi manga I bought the other day. I'm glad I did, even though the cover work didn't look very attractive initially. It dealt with the complexities of a working relationship rather nicely and the main characters and their reactions were something any gay guy could relate to. To sum it up shortly, not your usual Yaoi fluff but a more in depth look at the problems two gay guys would face in their relationship as it progresses and how they handle it.

But the last two pages at the end really did hit home the axiom that in a relationship, the little things are what make up the whole and it so nailed the 'Morning After Sleep In' situation, it's a snapshot almost. We've done that too, in some of those rare sleepovers together, repeated almost the exact same words ( well except about the BO part) : your breath stinks, I'm so hot - move a bit, your bristles hurt and yes let me sleep a little longer.

(Snapshot from 2nd Last page of Stars by Keiko Konno- Read from Top right to bottom left in the typical manga style) Click to enlarge.

But inspite of the complains, to wake up beside the one you love is a simple but beautiful thing. A comfort sometimes taken for granted, even if only in the bleary-eyed mildly grumpy moments of half-awakeness.

(Snapshot from last page)


And the mangaka sums it up nicely, we do what we can for each other (something all lovers gay, straight or bi would), doing the little things together to pass the time while enjoying the other's company. Then when I realised I was happy, I knew surely that I could call this bleary eyed man beside me, tousled hair and prickly bristles, my one true love.

Spell by Fujiyama Hyouta

Yaoi Heaven!

An interest that was first jump started in January this year and rapidly ballooned to fill the gaping void left by the erstwhile all consuming obsession that was World of Warcraft; Yaoi continues to remain a keen interest to this day. While it no longer commands an intensive compulsion as it once did during the zenith of the obsession back in March where I was searching the various yaoi forums for new offerings on a daily basis as well as translating full time for two scanlation groups (Obsession and Bliss), often finishing an entire book (translating) in a couple of days; it remains a pleasurable past time.

Those translation days are gone, Sean was right that I'd be too lazy to keep it up for long but it was good while it lasted, which was about 3-4 months. I genuinely enjoyed translating and giving back to the community as part of a scanlation group. My free time these days is split between Yaoi, Anime and the occasional gaming session. Once in a while I even manage to spare some time for the PLC stuff. I still trawl the forums, just not so regularly and more selectively, finding my favourite mangakas then making a mental note to get the english release when and if it has been licensed.

The one bad thing about living in Singapore is that your english manga is normally damn expensive, about 15-25 bucks A book, and it's usually available only some time after the mangas are already released by the licensed US companies in US. One can always e-bay from Amazon but I did the math, unless one is buying 10 books or more, it's still cheaper to buy from here. Aileen usually screams at me for not buying the cheap Chuang Yi Chinese version ones but it doesn't really bother me because

1. some of the titles from my favourite mangakas like PlayBoy Blue by Shiuko Kano are not available, usually the more explicit ones. Censoring also tends to be prevalent for the Chinese copies. Which bloody sucks.

2. My Chinese is not fantastic, when translating I had the help of a dictionary for the more complicated terms. And the complex Chinese as opposed to the simplified Chinese Singaporeans learn is even worse. I'm sure I can scrape through while reading the manga and comprehend what it's saying with some difficulty but the whole point of reading manga is to have a light and enjoyable read. Scrutinising every other sentence and deciphering it, isn't enjoyable.

So I was particularly thrilled today to find that the store I frequent had stocked up with a lot of new titles since I'd last visited a month back and more importantly, that they were from my favourite mangakas and series that I've been following (Kizuna, Level C, Love Mode). They even had the tantalising 'Love Pistols' vol 2 by Tarako Kotobuki (which incidentally is known as Sex Pistols in Japan, the US company which bought the license probably thought love has a nicer ring to it). Like they always say, a picture says a thousand words.

Yaoi Fanboy's new haul (Clockwise from top left): Kizuna Vol 8 :) , Spell by Hyouta Fujiyama :P, Love Mode Vol 6 by Yuki Shimizu, Hate to Love you by Makato Tateno of 'Yellow' fame and Love Pistols (Sex Pistols) Vol 2 by Tarako Kotobuki. Which left him a hundred bucks poorer - if only the bill was as nice.

Sorting through the buys, I realised that I hadn't unwrapped the previous month's purchase for some reason, choosing to stow them away instead. Which in effect means it's like a second haul. Double the entertainment value. ^^

Last month's stash (clockwise from top left): Alcohol, Shirt & Kiss by Yuko Kuwabara, Picnic by the yaoi mangaka queen Yamada Yugi, A King's Lesson! by Aoi Futaba & Kurenai Mitsuba and Delivery Cupid by CJ Michalski.

A few of my favourite titles I have in my current stash of 50+ hardcopy mangas (as opposed to the softcopy scanlations).....

Select All-time Favourites (clockwise from top left): Gakuen Heaven by You Higuri, Little Butterfly (1-3) by Hinako Takanaga, Desire by Yukine Honami (I love this one - this reviewer reviews it nicely) and last but certainly not least the fantastic yaoi classic, Close the Last Door by Yamada Yugi (one i can read and re-read again.)

Of course what decent semi-otaku would be without his plushie? I saw the seated Ichigo a month ago at the store and just couldn't resist not getting him. Plus he looked so much better than the ones you find at the vivocity shop where the head is disproportionate and the features just don't look right.

Ichigo and his Number 1 favourite yaoi title by the mangaka he absolutely adores for her drama, hot guys, anatomically correct bodies and pure smut, Play Boy Blues by Shiuko Kano. All hail the Queen!

Odex: A Welcome Reprieve?

In what appears to be a stunning reversal of position and possibly an acknowledgement of just how much ill-will the ongoing saga has generated for the company, Odex has announced that it will no longer take action against anime downloaders who stopped downloading anime with effect from 3rd September 2007. This means that the previous, very pertinent complaints of Odex being unfair in issuing letters to those who had downloaded in March and April but whom had stopped by the time the Odex saga first went public in June, will be addressed, partially.

Is this a welcome reprieve? It would be unwise to assume that this signals the end of the Odex saga or even that Odex has finally seen the light. But it certainly is a reprieve. One must admit that this move is probably the smartest and shrewdest that they ever made throughout the whole Odex fiasco. Like I raised earlier, it largely addresses the complaints that Odex was unfair in issuing the letters when no widely available public warning or media coverage was announced. Pacnet and Starhub users may now rest easy and Singnet users who haven't already been Odexed should be safe too as it appears that Odex has already sent out all the letters to the Singnet subscribers.

Thus anime downloaders are effectively given the warning that they have been clamouring for and everyone (who hasn't been Odexed yet) is effectively given a clean slate till 3rd September 2007. Download after 3rd September 2007 and Odex will go after you. That much certainly sounds fair, you have to be a total blithering idiot to continue bit torrenting anime after all the glaringly obvious media coverage the Odex saga has received. What isn't so nice and rosy though is for the Singnet anime downloaders like Shi hao who have already settled or have received the dreaded Odex letter but not settled yet.

For those who have settled, there's certainly no talk of re compensation and after signing a letter of undertaking that admits your liability and relinquishes a lot of your rights, attempting to reclaim the sum paid to Odex will be well nigh impossible. To put it simply, for those who have paid, all they can do is to suck thumb. For those who have received the dreaded letter but have not paid or settled yet, the situation is murkier but not much more promising.

In the Straits Times article, it does not appear that the 'olive branch extended to anime downloaders' is similarly extended to the Odexed anime downloaders. After all, Stephen Sing even says that Odex will continue to negotiate with those who have not settled yet or take action if instructed to by the Jap companies. And in the Odex lingo, negotiate normally means negotiating as to the sum to be paid and not whether the Odexed people still need to pay or not.

It's much like being the last batch of say students studying the old syllabus, they have the misfortune (or luxury) of being the last batch and are not affected by the requirements or benefits of the new syllabus. Similarly, the Odexed people who have not paid yet are like the last batch of students, still subject to the pain and trauma of having to settle and not privy to the new 'olive branch' or clean slate offered to other un-Odexed anime downloaders.

So you still do have a little unfairness in that a small minority, the Odexed Singnet anime downloaders in no way benefit from this 'olive branch'. In fact, I suspect many would be embittered by the fact that they had settled or were simply unfortunate enough to be caught. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be much that can be done about that. For the majority though, this piece of news certainly comes as a welcome reprieve. This doesn't absolve Odex of the numerous faults and faux-pas it committed.

But it is a step in the right direction.

Odexed? 8 Things You Should Know.

So you've received that dreaded Odex letter. What now? Xedo Senshi the founder of Xedodefense, an online community that provides support to Odexed anime fans and explores different avenues of handling the crisis, raised 8 pertinent questions on various legal issues in a comment on the Showdown post. I will attempt to address and answer these questions to the best of my abilities in this post because they are relevant and will assist you in your decision on how to proceed.

Before I begin though, the standard disclaimer. These answers are answered to the best of my knowledge after some legal research but are not meant as a substitute for professional paid legal advice. If one intends to pursue legal avenues to settle this issue after reading this article, please by all means consult a lawyer(s) and get their second opinion on these and other issues. After all, you will be paying them. With that I'll proceed to answer the questions.

1. Although the general impression is that Bit-Torrent requires uploading, it is not necessarily so. In view of this, is it considered an offence if the accused only downloaded for personal consumption and not for distribution?

• Alright, correct me if I'm wrong about the technical aspect of how Bit Torrent works. But from what I understand, when you start downloading a torrent file from Bit Torrent, you get connected to other peers and seeders online and your IP address is publicly visible. As you download the file, the data is obtained in parts from the various online peers and seeders. At the same time, parts of the file that you have already downloaded are uploaded to other peers who are on the same torrent. It is this aspect which in my opinion, is sufficient to satisfy the 'distribution' element under the Offences Section 136 of the Copyright Act.

• If it is really the case( and you can prove in a court of law) that there was no uploading when downloading the file on bit-torrent, Odex would have failed to prove the distribution element. This means they would not be able to haul the downloader to court for Copyright infringement under Section 136(1),(2),(3) or (6). It is still an offence under Section 136(3A) which is extremely broad and simply requires that the copyright infringement is
  1. wilful (ie: deliberate downloading = wilful) and 2. that the extent of infringement is significant or that the person does the act to obtain a commercial advantage.
  Your strongest argument for an offence under S 136(3A) would be to dispute that the extent of infringement is significant. Of course if you downloaded say 7 or more episodes, you can be sure that the infringement would be regarded as significant. S 136(7) might be a helpful indicator of how many episodes would be regarded as significant. It basically provides that if a person is found to be in possession of more than 5 infringing copies of any work, shall be presumed unless otherwise proven to be in possession of the copies for purposes other than domestic or private use or for the purpose of sale.

• I won't go into the debate about what constitutes copies, etc. Suffice to say, the Court has explicitly stated there is no fixed formula, they will look at the circumstances of the case and determine. So basically, no, EVEN if you are simply downloading and not distributing, you can be guilty of an offence under Section 136(3A). Do note that the defence in Section 114 for recording TV shows DOES NOT apply to downloading anime, mp3s, etc.
  

2. Given that a single IP address can be the exit point for several computers, i.e. the father, the mother, the sons, the daughters, the maids etc. Is it actually legal to simply sue the father because the account is under his name? Would that not imply that the owner of a residence can be charged for murder if the evidence only points to the murderer being one of the six in a house?

• I get your point but you can't draw an analogy like that between the two. Odex is sending letters to the subscribers/account holders because that is the information obtained from the ISPs based on the list of IP addresses after obtaining the court order forcing the ISPs to release customer information. (Do note Odex has just very recently released a clarification on their webpage stating the court order was to release the customer information for 1000 IP addresses and not 1000 subscribers as reported. You can also check out this blogger's comments on it.)

• Should Odex bring the downloader to court, they will need to obtain hard physical evidence because it is clear that IP addresses alone is insufficient evidence to prove copyright infringement. This will almost certainly entail a private search warrant taken out to search the house of the downloader contesting the case to obtain physical evidence(computer, CDs, etc).
  

• When the case goes to court, the suit will be against the downloader and not the account holder/subscriber because the subscriber himself(if found to be so during the discovery of the evidence stage) did not infringe any copyrights by downloading anything. The most he is guilty of is perhaps negligence but the copyright infringement charges will be brought against the actual downloader unless there is evidence that shows the subscriber was aware or ought reasonably to have been aware of the copyright infringement but did nothing about it.

• So just like you go after the actual murderer, they(Odex) will need to go after the actual copyright infringer.
  

3. If it can be proven that the IP addresses collected by Odex is not conclusive about the nature of the connection, i.e. no evidence the connection was uploading or downloading, is there still any basis for the charge?

• I assume you're emphasising on the fact that IP addresses by itself might not be sufficient evidence to establish copyright infringement. If so, you are absolutely correct and as I mentioned earlier, Odex will need to obtain hard, physical evidence that is admissible to support their claim that the downloader has actually infringed the copyrights of the work by downloading anime illegally. And they will do that by obtaining a private search warrant and searching your house/premise.

• This question is a little academic though because should the case proceed to trial, Odex being the plaintiff will have to produce evidence to prove their case on a balance of probabilities and they will proceed to do so as mentioned above. Hence, if the person Odexed is really innocent (ie: never downloaded a single episode of anime at all), then Odex would fail to obtain the requisite evidence at the discovery stage. Otherwise, you can be sure that they will not be relying solely on IP addresses as evidence of your copyright infringement. They can't.
  

4. If challenged in court, and no evidence of alleged content can be found on the accused's computer, where would the legal costs fall?

• So they've searched your house, dissected your comp and found no hard tangible evidence of any copyrighted works in your possession. I seriously doubt they'll be foolish enough to proceed to trial on such a basis. They'll probably attempt to settle, paying you a sum of money to mollify you.

• Assuming they do go to trial and they lose because of the lack of evidence, if it is a civil case as it would be unless they commence a private prosecution after obtaining approval from the Attorney General's Chambers, the court usually orders costs against the loser. This is of course at the court's discretion. The court may order full costs against the losing party or simply order partial costs. Where it clear the vindicated party is innocent, it is likely that the court will order full costs against the losing party ie: Odex.

• This means that Odex will need to pay for all costs of the court proceedings, the cost of filing the various court documents and your party to party costs. This DOES NOT mean that the victor does not have to pay for anything. The victor will still need to pay the solicitor-clients cost ie: you will still need to pay the legal fees of your lawyer.

• If Odex is granted permission by the Attorney General's Chambers to commence a private prosecution on behalf of the Public Prosecutor, the trial will be a criminal suit and for criminal suits, all costs lie where they fall. That means no matter who wins or loses, you still have to pay for your share of the legal proceedings, party to party costs and solicitor-client costs. Everything is split except for the cost of your lawyer's fees which is paid by you personally.
  

5. Can the accused persons act as a group in any legal proceeding, i.e. class action suit or must they take on Odex one by one?

• Yes they can and they should. They can proceed against Odex via a class action suit and the well known case is that of the Raffles Town Club case where club members joined together in a class action suit to sue RTC for breach of contract. See the initial case, Tan Chin Seng and Others vs Raffles Town Club Pte Ltd [2002] 3 SLR 345 (High Court) & [2003] 3 SLR 307 (Court of Appeal)

• Proceeding as a class action suit has various advantages, foremost amongst which is that it is considerably cheaper to do so rather than commencing separate individual cases and you have more resources pooled together to fund the suit. One thing to note about Class action suits in Singapore, ours is DIFFERENT from the American style of Class action suits. So don't read up on American class action suits, the procedure and consequence of a judgement in a class action suit is different from our system. I'll touch on this more in the next question.
  

6. If one person takes the fight against Odex to court and proves that Odex did not have a case, whether due to a lack of concrete correlation of IP to person, or lack of evidence that the person was in possession of alleged content, does it mean all who are involved in this situation can rely on this judgement?

• I'll answer this in two parts. First on the face value aspect of the question which says if one person obtains a judgement against Odex, can everyone else rely on this judgement? For obvious reasons, the answer is most definitely NO. Why? Because they are not a party to the suit and hence the judgement is not binding on Odex regarding the other downloaders/people and also because the circumstances of the case are different in each case. There may be no evidence that one guy illegally downloaded anime and infringed copyrights but that doesn't mean that there's no evidence that the other 1000+ (assuming) Odexed people didn't download anime and infring copyrights. This is with regards to the any ruling on evidence ie: lack of evidence that the person was in possession of alleged content.

• Of course if the ruling is with regards to a point of law, say for example that: IP addresses are never, on its own, good evidence of copyright infringement. That ruling on a point of law will affect similar cases until and unless it is overturned by a higher court, the highest court in Singapore being the Court of Appeal.

• Now assume a class action suit is brought against Odex. First things first, as mentioned earlier, the class action suit in Singapore is different than in the USA. Firstly, people who wish to join a class action suit must Opt-In by application to join the suit. In the USA, everyone in a similar class that is affected by the subject matter in question is automatically a member of the class action suit, you leave the suit by 'Opting-Out'. Secondly, the holding/judgement of the court in a class action suit only binds the parties to the suit. Which means that in our case(Singapore), if you failed to 'Opt-in' to the class action suit by actively applying to do so, you would not be able to enforce the judgement or rely on it. In the USA, all members of the class are automatically bound by the decision in the class action suit and can enjoy the benefits(depending on their perspective) unless they have Opted-Out of the class action suit.
  

7. As you mentioned, the quantum of compensation is a sticking point. If it can be shown that
a) such alleged activities did not prejudiced the copyright owner's interest and/or
b) copyright owner did not suffer any significant loss in revenue (imagined or actual) and/or
c) the amount of losses was aggravated due to the the copyright owner's action or lack of
is it possible to challenge the quantum or the case itself on these grounds?

• (a) if you can prove this (and you will need to go to court to show this) then they cannot win a case against you based on Section 136(1),(2),(3). And you can successfully challenge the case itself, let alone the quantum. Do note however that S 136(3A) has no requirement for prejudice, but simply that the infringement is significant.

• (b) this would be a factor possibly in the determination by the court as to whether the copyright owner was prejudicially affected. Which means the response would be exactly the same as for (a). You may attempt to rely on the defence of Fair Dealing in Section 35 as was mentioned in my earlier post and the court will then take into account the factors listed in S 35(2) but this list is NOT exhaustive, which means the court will look at other factors too.

• (c) this is not a ground for challenging the quantum or the case itself. The fact that the amount of losses has been aggravated by the Copyright owner's inaction( assuming that you can even show it in the first place) is irrelevant in the court's decision when determining copyright infringement. Like they say, two wrongs do not make a right. And any negligence on the part of the Copyright owner or the exclusive licensee would not detract from their rights to enforce their copyrights.
  

8. If it can be proven that only Odex is prejudiced by the alleged actions and not the copyrights owners, does Odex still have a case of copyright infringement against the users?

• Yes. Odex has been exclusively licensed by the copyright owners, the Japanese Animation companies. Section 123 of the Copyright Act states that the exclusive licensee shall have, except against the owner, the same rights as the owner possesses and be entitled to the same remedies the owner is entitled to as per Sections 119 -120A which detail the right of the Copyright Owner to enforce his rights by bringing an action and the remedies he is entitled to.

• The fact that Odex is a licensee is irrelevant, it has the same rights as that of the copyright owner. Section 124 of the Copyright Act further provides that the licensee or owner may proceed with an action without having the other party join as a plaintiff to the action unless the court orders otherwise. This means Odex can sue without having the Jap companies join in as a plaintiff. Lastly S 126 provides for the Assessment of damages for the exclusive licensee. When taking into account damages or statutory damages, the court will take into account any liabilities, royalties or otherwise, to which the licence is subject.

Hope this article answers some of the more pressing legal issues and questions people, Odexed or otherwise, might have. Once again for those who have been Odexed or strongly suspect that they will be Odexed, take some time, do a little level-headed research and browse through this article and the others on this or other blogs about Odex. But do not use it as a substitute for professional paid legal advice, especially if you intend to pursue a legal recourse.

Update: A surprising twist in the Odex court order application against Pacnet. Pacnet Wins!