Neil Dylandy's car: Lancia Rally 037?

Back with the topic about Neil Dylandy, my favorite character from Gundam 00. I'm not a huge fan of cars, even in anime, but in some episodes of G00 season 1, Neil was pictured with his funky car, even in the 2nd opening song. I thought he looked cool as a driver, and his car looks pretty unusual and sexy.

Rumors had it that Neil's car is a Lancia, but no one confirmed what series of Lancia it was. There were some talks that the car is a Lancia Stratos, since Neil's codename is Lockon Stratos. But when I tried to check the picture of a Lancia Stratos, it didn't match Neil's car. Lancia Stratos is too aerodynamic and smoothly bullet-like compared to Neil's.

Just now I saw a random picture on web, and I was like "Oh goodness, this is Neil's car!" The shape and the driver's seat and dashboard is indeed similar to some scenes in season 1. This is Lancia Rally 037. The color scheme of the real car doesn't match the car's color in G00, but yeah as I said, so far this is the most convincing assumption about which type of Lancia that belongs to Neil. I'd be really glad if there is any further confirmation that Neil's car is indeed Lancia Rally 037... for my "future references"~ *rubs hands and grins evilly*

Neil, Anime Counterpart and Gender Problem. Huh?

I'll be randoming here so brace for impact~ 

Sometimes, people find similarities between themselves and a fictional character. Some of the anime characters like Kino from Kino no Tabi have similarities with my personality. But I think I have more in common with Neil Dylandy, a pilot from Gundam 00, above any other anime characters. Look at the picture above. Now, comment. Some buddies of mine said "but you're a girl..." and you know why they said that. Neil is Irish, Neil is hot, Neil is a DUDE. But, hey come on, why can't I have some things in common with a male character just because I'm a girl? I guess he describes my personality quite well. The me who shows up in front of my good friends is similar to him: easy going, not easily get pissed off, being serious when it is needed, a mood maker (although I'm less cheery than him) and 'baby-sitter' for some, a trusted confidant, a keen and silent observer who quickly reads atmosphere and understanding things, an 'unofficial leader' at times, but little does people know that he (and me) hides a lot of deeper emotions inside. I just don't get why I can't choose a man as my anime counterpart. Puzzling me. Hmmm...

On ANZAC Day

I'm almost blind when it comes to Australian history, so I can't explain properly what is ANZAC day. The only thing I know is that it resembles Indonesian Veterans day, but not quite, since ANZAC has something to do with commemoration of a big battle in Gallipoli, Turkey, where a huge number of Australian and New Zealand military personells were died. 

Yesterday was the ANZAC day, and I actually wanted to join the parade, but instead I went jogging in the morning and came to the city later on. I thought I missed the entire event. Luckily, I still saw the last part of the parade, a ceremony in the court near Swan River. It was freaking hot for me, yet I saw many Grandpas and Grandmas, with stars and medals on their chests, stood proudly near the stage where the Governor gave speech. When the ceremony was finished, the streets of Perth city were filled by those Veterans, walked proudly with smile.

I continued my adventure to Kings Park, where the entire parade of ANZAC day started earlier that day. It is a beautiful place on the hill where people can see the view of Perth city, its sky-scrappers, Swan River and the bridges. I chose to go uphill manually by stairs. 242 stairs were almost enough to bring me an asthma attack, but then when I reached the top, I was satisfied. When I sat on the park, I remembered my Grandpa. He wasn't my Mom's Dad, but he's my Mom's Uncle. He was the one who saw me grew up in my childhood, and he was the reason why it was never be so lonely although my parents were busy. He passed away when I was 14, but his stories about war time were always in my mind. Come to think of it, those stories were never miserable. He was always proud about serving Indonesia, as a pharmacist who became the army's medical corps member and occasionally smuggling secret letters from one batallion to the other. Maybe he was the one who inspired me to be a close-to-medical-field person, I don't know, I can't remember. But one thing that I remembered the most was that he once said that no matter whatever I would be in the future, he believed that I would be a great person. Being great is hard, and although it is not always mean "being famous", it never comes naturally, but that's why I try to be. 


And when I sat on Kings Park, I wonder, if he were one of those Grandpas, which stars or which medals he would wore on his chest during the parade. I never thought if he even had any of them.

HETALIA: Favorite Characters Line-Up!

A cute friend of mine recommended Hetalia for me to watch (thanks little missy R.P., wherever you are, miss ya!), and indeed this is a refreshing anime series. Like she said, this anime is good for you guys who like world history, without giving you frowns or much thinking. The setting is pretty much around World Wars, and the characters here are representations of the countries which mainly took part on the war, and there are also some stereotypical things about each country which can make you roll on the floor laughing. But anyway, here are my favorite characters from the series.






#1: Germany
Discipline and seriousness! What more could you ask from Germany? But despite the stereotypes, I really love how they made him as a tsundere character, who is actually more than willing to compromise with others, or saving good-for-nothing Italy every time he got into troubles. When he got crossed, he never beat anyone's ass up, but rather sulking and grumbling alone. Aw. I really adore his hidden cuteness. LOL


#2: Russia
Perhaps the most bizzare character through the whole series, Russia is somewhat like a cute little boy. He's the tallest among all characters though, but his face is sweet like a child, and indeed he has dual child-like persona: likeable and innocent, but sometimes also cluelessly cruel. The thing that I like to imitate from him is his weird "kol kol kol" noise when he felt annoyed, somewhat like a clacking sound from his mouth XD


#3: Japan
Germany said once that he couldn't comprehend Japan (as much as he can't understand Italy XD), but indeed Japan is all you wish for a mysterious taste. Doesn't talk much, reserved but also extremely dextrous are interesting facets of Japan's personality. He's a serious, proper and polite man, but actually he's pretty shy to those he has just met and doesn't really speak up his mind. And actually I like Japan for his similarities with my own personality in daily life ;)


P.S. To anyone who follows this blog, I have a question: from those 3 characters above, actually who is my #1 favorite character? Contact me, and your reward will be waiting~

POSITIVE Impacts of Anime Addiction!

Who says that being addicted to anime only harms you? Here I come with some well-thought theories of the benefits of anime addiction:

1.   Anime addiction keeps you from evil deeds. Proof: no one would kill, pickpocket or punch someone else when they are watching anime.

2.  Anime addiction reduces the risk of death. In fact, there is no news which reports someone die while sitting and watching anime.

3. Anime addiction promotes familiarities and friendships, especially in cosplay events or in anime-based social networks. You’ll always try to start conversation with those who share the same interest with you. Try to offer them money instead, or try to flirt with them by saying, “hey there, you look sexy in that costume”, they’ll run away with your bucks or think that you are a weirdo. It’s just basically won’t work. 

4.  Anime addiction provides employment opportunity, from production houses, model kits manufacturers, porn industries, and even doctors and psychologists when you have sleeping difficulties because you decide to have an anime-rally session for more than 48 hours.

5.   Anime addiction helps singles. You can try to think of having imaginary boyfriend/girlfriend because sometimes those anime characters are way more interesting than real people.

6.  (In connection with number 5) Anime addiction or, say, anime character addiction helps reducing birth rate. It suits over-populated countries. 

7.  Anime addiction helps you to proof that you’re not a slacker or lazybum. Try to watch some science fiction or detective anime, so when anyone come and scold you while you watch them, you can say “Look, I’m thinking here, this episode is telling about blah-blah-blah”, proofing that you are actually ‘doing something’. 

8.  Anime addiction suits people who has allergy towards polluted air or sunlight. It’s just basically securing you inside your room and thus keeping you healthy.

For Indonesia, for Arema!

Got news that AREMA, my hometown football club finally got a point in group phase of AFC Champions League 2011, after playing draw (1-1) with the Chinese football club Shandong Luneng. Nice one, after being defeated (2-1) by Japanese football club Cerezo Osaka, weeks ago. Go AREMA! At least I hope they won't embarass Indonesia and South East Asia. I really hope that AREMA would get past group phase and play an Australian team. Will be so friggin' interesting LOL

"Teruslah berlari, jangan takut mati,
Teruslah berjuang sampai di akhir jaman, AREMA!
(Keep on racing forward, don't fear death,
Keep on fighting until the end of the age, AREMA!)"

- "Satu Jiwa" by D'Kross Arema

Natsume Yuujinchou: Natsume's Book of Friends - a Review

I just browsed through Hikikomori and I saw the list of upcoming anime this Summer 2011. I thought might be too busy to watch all of them, but I'm particularly happy to see the third season of Natsume Yuujinchou  will be aired. 


Natsume Yuujinchou is not your massive-action anime, though it has the taste of action in it. This anime is about Natsume Takashi and his adventure of releasing the contracted spirits inside a book created by his grandmother, Natsume Reiko. Different from Reiko, who bullied and sealed the spirits inside the book, Takashi (let's call him Natsume from now on) was busy dissolving the contracts and thus freeing the spirits from the book. Originally, Natsume was seen as a weird, awkward boy who has no friend due to his ability of seeing spirits, which made him freaked out at random times and that made his classmates took a distance from him because they thought he was insane. Upon meeting with Madara, a spirit of (I'm not sure?) giant fox which assume a form of a fat cat when he's not fighting other spirit, Natsume learnt of the book created by Reiko. And he started his adventure as a freedom-giver to those spirits, as well as providing help to them and making new friends.


Personal note: rather than an action-supernatural anime, I would say that this anime is more to heart-warming series of events. I liked how this anime paced up steadily, although few of initial episodes were a bit slow, but it certainly add the warmth in the whole story. Sometimes, the help that Natsume and Madara provides for the spirits were really touching. Despite being spirits, they actually formed bonds with humans who could see them. Some were friendships, some were love, and those spirits patiently sit in silence when humans started to drift away from them. And of course, I was glad that Natsume wasn't trapped in stereotypical plot. We've seen many plots which describe the main character ending up hating their fellow humans because they were treated bad in the past. But Natsume was different. Indeed he made friends with the spirits that he freed, initially, but later on, human friends also come one by one to his life, and he welcomed them in his calm and warm way. This anime, solemn and heart-warming as it is, silently provide a revolutionary idea of accepting new things (and friends) happily without being burdened by one's past. A highly recommended anime for tired souls (I've tried it, you have my words!).