Despite the rather profound title, this is a post that won’t hurt your head.
The band-aid is the killing blow.
It’s interesting how Valentines Day, the Chinese New Year and the Vancouver Winter Olympics all fall within the range of this day. There’s planning in the Olympics, but the rest is coincidence. Anyhow, I believe this image serves as the ultimate amalgam of all three events: The Chinese martial artist Hong Meiling giving chocolates. See, three birds with one stone. David would be proud. Now if only she were skiing, the circle would be complete.
So, happy Chinese New Year to you all, from this fashionably late Canadian timezone (and blogger). Wishing you all good health and fortune, that things go as you will it, and that the ladies flourish with beauty. Yes, those are all actual Cantonese expressions.
Happy Valentines Day, and a toast to those who are single and lonely. Don’t spend too hard, because it’s a consumerism holy day, but also remember that a special day allocated to giving heart shaped cookies is pretty sweet.
I made this post to defuse a little. I’m just not the type that can pump out strict editorials every other day; today was one of those lethargic ‘no-brainer’ days where you wake up comfortably at 4 PM and want to go back to bed all the way until you actually do. An inconsequential post like this is vital too, because this is a blog, and not a newssite. I feel that it’s just too impersonal for me not to do this.
I was simply wondering where the ‘align the stars’ trope went. Remember back in the day, when an inexplicable disaster was caused by the alignment of some far off stars? By aligning these stars, the cosmic energies, waveforms or radiations unknown to an unprofessional crowd somehow facilitate the actuation of some huge catastrophe, like a natural disaster or rebirth of demonic race to terrorize mankind. Cue the hero.
Of course, this could also mean that the hero obtains her powers from the same inexplicable cosmic energy, a la star spangled spandex. And yes, tv tropes doesn’t seem to make a mention of this theme, and I haven’t seen any series or movie use this mechanic for a while. For the better, I suppose. Still, in a present where moe-types run rampant, what’s the loss of a chiefly Western trope?
And who else to tell us about the stars on Valentine’s Day than the origin of the love spark herself?
Anyhow, I was mulling over something earlier. I can easily say that Hong Meiling is my favorite character of all time, of any series and any medium of pop culture, any work of fiction, above Hatsune Miku, above Haman Karn, above Rachel Alucard – but how does this stand among other anifans or pop culture enthusiasts in general? Can you easily say a character is your absolute favorite? Or is it much more normal to not be able to select a single character? Right off the top of your head, who is/are your favorite character(s)? Can you explain your fondness of them, or is it an inexplicable fascination, ‘I just like it because’?
If a tree falls in a forest and there’s nobody there to hear it, there’s nobody there to hear it.
Regardlessly, remember to vegetate sometimes. It’s psychology teacher proven to make you mentally healthier.
Ningyo
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February 14th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
I recently saw 2012, and it had some sort of star alignment or galaxy alignment or something (honestly, the science behind that movie was so bad that I sort of blocked it from memory).
I can’t really easily come up with a favorite character… I suppose it might be Suigintou from Rozen Maiden, but not in a sexual way and also not as lovers.
February 15th, 2010 at 1:45 am
Oh China, I love you too.
February 15th, 2010 at 1:45 am
Happy Chinese New Year! And Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!
I remember there was some sort of “scientific” theory of some disaster that was supposed to happen 4 years ago (or around there), when several of the planets lined up with the sun, opposite of the Earth, and the gravitational pull was supposed to cause the North and South poles to flip, natural disaster, etc. etc.
Turns out, the gravitational pull is as strong as a baseball held in front of you.
However, I think the stars did align tonight, with Canada finally winning an Olympic gold on home soil for the first time in Canadian history since it hosted the games 33 years ago.
From the sounds of it, you’re not only Canadian, but you speak Cantonese, AND you live on the west coast? If that’s the case, then we definitely have MUCH in common! ;)
Happy Valentine’s Day! <3
February 15th, 2010 at 3:19 am
@Yi
Oh wow, really? That’s surprising, I would’ve sworn it’d be a yuri series character, and that you wouldn’t be able to single one out…
What’s wrong with loving dolls ;)? I’d totally write another 3000 word editorial about how one can’t be condemned for loving dolls. Of course, I’d make plenty of references to ancient civilizations.
I understand you though – Suigintou is a very striking character, possessing both the superiority complex and the capacity to do good. Along with her (two?) origin episodes, it’s really hard not to empathize with her.
And I do recall watching Spoony’s vlog on 2012 now that you talk about it. I think there was something about stars in there.
@Shin
Whoa, hands off buddy. I was fine with stepping back and admiring Hideyoshi from afar, but this is preposter-
Ehehehe, J/K. Are you sure you’re safe to say that though? You’re already queuing up a list of Ranka, Rinko and Hideyoshi… Check for Yandere-like behavior and laced drinks.
@radiant
Now I too recall a presentation I’ve heard once that listed out like fifteen different cosmic catastrophes that would mean the end of the world. When the sun heats to prodigious temperatures, the first part of us to melt will be our eyeballs ;D
Really, it’s like looking at a list of documented diseases. It seems practically everything can kill you, until the point where you only look at it slightly amused, because it feels like if it were right, we should all be dead already. By turn of logic most would convince themselves that such things couldn’t possibly be right.
That statement has some very romantic patriotism, though. I think you could actually write a poem about it! I have moved to Canada recently. I hope I remember how to speak Cantonese, but unfortunately I don’t think I’m part of the west coast; I’m currently in the backwater lesser Toronto (not really Toronto at all) and decaying of cabin fever. I miss the bustle of Hong Kong city life, which probably explains why I’m not catching much of the patriotism. I can say that the people here are much kinder though, much kinder.
February 15th, 2010 at 4:07 am
Happy Chinese New Year ^_^
After talking to Aska for so long and you always being offline, it’s difficult to attempt in contacting you >_< How have you been? Going to enjoy Family day off?
February 15th, 2010 at 4:17 am
It’s fine to slack off a little. Blogging may be a responsibility, but hey, it’s a matter of doing or not doing it. And that’s regardless if you like it or not!
Just don’t, y’know, vegetate too much, or you’ll end up in China’s shoes: Having a raging Sakuya of expectant people knifing you.
February 15th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Haha you are right about holy consumerism on Vday ^^;;
My favorite character is actually Gai from Gaogaiger along with his mech! Nothing like hot blooded screams when he does his ultimate finishing moves :D Taking a breather is good, actually rejuvinates you for more post! Btw I read your Kamille post lol! I’ll never look at Zeta gundam the same way again…more punches and slaps were thrown than any other gundam series I ever seen!!
And Happy New Year to you too!!!
February 15th, 2010 at 8:29 am
That’s a hard question to reply to. I make make a post to answer them. Keyword: might.
February 15th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
My comment is also fashionable late. Happy New Years, Happy Valentine’s, and Happy Start of the Olympics day ;)
I don’t think I have a single all-time favorite character. I tend to arrange my characters into different tiers. Ones I dislike, ones I don’t mind, ones I like, and ones I really like. And as I watch more anime/read more manga, my tastes and preferences gradually change over time (they do), I sometimes swap characters from one tier to another xD
February 15th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
@Ningyo: There’s nothing wrong with loving dolls. I just don’t feel that way for her. ^ ^
Anyway, forgot to mention this…
Happy Chinese New Year and Valentine’s!
February 15th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
happy CNY and V day :D
wow my touhou fave is sakuya ^^(I like the 2nd pic)but I don’t have fave character all the time -_- all charcater in cute outfit and tsundere will make me fallen easily and I never tempted collect all figures since I don’t know if one day I change my fave so better don’t have ^^(for me)
and don’t think me as mio fan lol I just like maid outfit ^^
February 15th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
@robostrike
Thank you! Yeah, I don’t quite frequent msn much, but you can leave me offline messages. I get to those. Usually. I’ve been doing fine, I really enjoy some aspects of the overly-peaceful Canadian life. I’ve nobody to spend family day with though ^^; And you?
@Shance
Yes, everything in moderation. Luckily in that regard, the only person to keep me in check right now is myself. Still, I would trade all these freedoms for the actualization of a single, romantic fantasy. Oh, Meiling…
Okay, maybe not all of them.
@chubbybots
Thanks!
Nothing like that indeed! A very manly choice ^^
I still remember not being able to watch Gaogaigar in my childhood; my parents disallowed me from watching it after they saw a scene where some female character’s clothes got blown to tatters.
That’s true, hadn’t thought of it like that; rejuvenating the mind does allow for better posts. Thanks for reminding me about that Zeta Gundam post too; I seem to have some unreplied-to comments there.
What really slays me about Zeta Gundam is that the mobile suits punch one another too, but oh well. It is an old series.
@klux
Sure. To counteract the possibility of me being disappointed by not seeing it because you end up not making it, I’ll ‘maybe’ anticipate it.
@anonymous_object
Thank you!
I don’t think there’s much as ‘late’ right now in the blogosphere… Valentine’s Day has been extrapolated across several days, because of different time zones, and the general laziness of the blogosphere. It seems one can basically say ‘happy Valentine’s Day/Chinese New Year on any of these days and it would apply.
That’s actually a very logical way of determining favored characters. Visualizing it in tiers makes a lot of sense; my likes also shape a certain hierarchy, but I’ve never actually sorted them.
@Yi
Indeed, no worries. Thanks!
@moemoekyun
Thank you!
Sakuya and I have a strange relationship. I’d never call her my favorite character, and she doesn’t even fall into my top 10 favorite Touhous, but for some reason I’m fascinated with her and her ability. Control over time is so significant, especially in a world of fandom. It can be used to explain so many things, used to fuel so many epic plots… Or maybe it’s just because I put myself in her shoes all the time. Maybe.
Hahaha, a moe-type fan as opposed to a character fan. Hey, that works too, to each their own cup of tea, right? That makes sense really; not getting figures because one never knows when one’s own tastes change. Unfortunately, I’m sort of an impulse buyer, so I end up getting stuff I end up not being very interested in anyway.
February 15th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
dunno why but my fave mainly character that live in scarlet devil mansion hahaha ^^ means that I like remilia,Patchouli,flandere and hong meiling too ^^ the others are sanae and alice
maybe you don’t like sakuya because of breast pads LOL
for me maybe because sakuya figures are easier to be find I thinking getting the nendoroid form or griffon but -_- touhou figures always exclusive and hard to get+ expensive
February 15th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
I’m late for everything here! I’ll skip the V-Day and go ahead with the Lunar New Year… Happy Lunar New Year!
I’ve seen a bit too many of those movies with the stars being aligned… Ok maybe not that much. One of them that I remembered was the first Tomb Raider movie. It was very nonsensical. I notice a lot of people still say this expression though, especially for something so rare. I’d hate it when it gets overused though… It’d be like the stars are aligned every fricking month!
Anyhow… to me it was just like another day yesterday. Don’t really celebrate anything since I’m only Chinese descent.
Hmm… I hate to say this but a lot of my favourite characters are based on their appearance. Rei Ayanami… blue haired beauty, but she is rare because I’ve never seen someone who was blue haired and red eyed before. Not only that, but she was voiced by Megumi Hayashibara (the first Japanese name for a girl that I knew of is “Megumi”), my favourite voice actress. It goes the same with Saber, I first liked her because of that blue armour with yellow lines (second fave colour), but I learned more about her and starting to like more and more about her. MEIKO is a different story though because red is not my favourite colour, but listening to MEIKO’s voice was my eye-opener to the world of Vocaloid! Such a great voice! I was starting to like red a lot because of MEIKO.
February 16th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Yeah, relaxing posts are always the best. You know, Hatsune is from vocaloid, that singing program right…? Is there other stuff where people are getting her from…? Cuz there are so many pics online of her I don’t know what to do with >.>
February 17th, 2010 at 12:42 am
@rob
Thanks! People use it as an expression? Seriously? Wow, they’re either professional actors or very dramatic people…
My only memories of Tomb Raider consist of perpetually drowning in the first PS1 game.
It’s not as if it wasn’t just another day for me, either :p Can’t have many spectacular holidays here when it’s just me, all day, seven days a week.
Why not be charmed by aesthetics? When it comes to fiction it’s as good as any reason, right? Ayanami Rei was also an infatuation of mine maybe when I was about ten. Yeah, that sounds a little extreme, but I remember her being in the first doujin I ever read. Whew, could’ve potentially gone into a very dark place in my childhood.
Wait.
Saber was the same for me too; the armor design was what pulled me in. I think I was about thirteen when it was the ‘time of Saber’ for me. I went as far as to have ‘SABER’ carved into my bed. Hmm, maybe I should reevaluate my childhood.
That’s a very romantic reason to like MEIKO for. I’m pretty sure my obsession with Miku back then started with her character design.
@FaS
Ikan! You are unfamiliar with the songstress?
Start here. It always starts here nowadays >.>
Miku is conclusively a voice synthesizer program, but a great character design and how people can still ingeniously compose awesome songs with her despite her limitations has made her very popular. Of course, being a perfect doujin implement due to lack of canon helps as well.
And no, don’t stop at World is Mine, Ryo is a great composer; continue onto his other works, like Black Rock Shooter, Koi wa Sensou and Hajikoi. Then branch off to other groups like OSTER project, and fan-favorite songs like Saihate. I recommend Scissorhands right now, off the top of my head.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:08 am
@Tim: Yeah, funny enough I was typing my comment here and then the figure skating commentator on TV when I was watching the Olympics was saying that “the stars are aligned” for this pair or something like that… I would’ve spit something out if my mouth was full. Very coincidental, lol.
I worry that by liking a character through aesthetics make me feel shallow, lol. And wow, I think we’ve discovered H around the same age then… Except it was still limited back then for me ^^;
I do like a lot of Miku’s songs, but somehow her voice wasn’t cool like MEIKO’s when I first heard her in Sorekara Bokura no Justice. It gave me the same feeling when I first heard Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis.
February 19th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Happy late Chinese new year and happy valentine.
St Val is not a very important event to me because when you love someone it’s Valentine everyday. Moreover i think this is way too commercial just like Christmas, New year and so on… Their charms as fadded away.
My most favorite character is Clare from Claymore. Simply because i like her usual self, and her deep look. :)
February 20th, 2010 at 7:50 am
I couldn’t agree more with Lyli on this one, when you love it’s all the time, a continuous series of good attention during the year.
Well for now i’m single so a i welcome your toast with pleasure :)
And i completely despise the amount of mediatization around events like Christmas … boring.
For your question … i just couldn’t decide which characters is my favorite. Impossible lol :)
February 21st, 2010 at 3:28 am
@rob
Oh man, that is eerily coincidental. And also cheesy.
I wouldn’t call it shallow; these characters ARE designed to be aesthetically pleasing, after all. More often than not it really is the looks that strike a chord first.
I guess I’m of the luckier half then, with 70% (or so) of the internet being erotic materials ^^;
Miku plays on other themes besides coolness I suppose, because of the nature of her voice. Though Black Rock Shooter is pretty damn slick.
Is that feeling you got in any way attributed to goosebumps? Hello, Planet gives me goosebumps every time.
@Lyli
Yes, why only show love for them on one day, right? Valentine’s Day’s feelings should be perpetual. You’re right, in the city-face of things, they have lost their charms. Still, one can make their own out of the holidays, and that would be plenty charming. Set up a Christmas tree, hand-made presents, the like.
Hooh, surprising! You were able to pick out a definitive favorite as well. I thought you’d have troubles like many others, given how many characters you like ^^ But arriving at a conclusion is good too.
@Katsura-chan
I agree too. It’s quite unideal to make so much out of a single day when one is supposed to be showing their love everyday. Still, I think valentine’s chocolates are cute.
I’d thought it’d be impossible for most people. Characters are meant to have all sorts of points that attract people, and different characteristics that one enjoys would be on different characters. I’m still surprised as to how I so definitively have a favorite character.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:40 pm
Back when I was younger all we got was a 2400 baud modem and a bunch of BBS access and if I’m lucky enough I can find a stash of pr0n that my brother downloaded from the adult BBS…
Yes, pretty much that goosebump feeling when I hear it. Especially if I haven’t heard it in a long while. Agreed with you on Black Rock Shooter. Though I lean more towards Melt and I MELT whenever I hear that song; kek, awful, awful pun.
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:32 am
Right off the top of my head… I’d say it’s that chick from Umi Monogatari. :p
I have to admit, I’m not particularly good with names.
I wasn’t too sure who Hong Mei Lin was, so I did a little googling. Lol.
Her twitter came up… Lol.
http://twitter.com/HongMeilin
-.-”
February 24th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
@rob
Mataku da. I should pay you a visit with my boomstick for that. Be ashamed! Burn! BUURN!
You needed to be lucky to find pr0n your brother downloaded? Damn, if my brother ever got his hands on my computer for those purposes, he need only be able to see :/
@blur
That Twitter account seems to be advertising false internet products and is thus obviously an impersonation. The real Meiling would be infinitely more endearing.
C’mon blur, you gotta at least be able to name her to call her a favorite character T-T
February 25th, 2010 at 5:41 am
You gotta remember it was still DOS back then and I wasn’t so well adept at computer commands. Oh and I think he pointed it out to me instead of me finding it ^^; I’ll be waiting for your boobstick.