Journal archive: July 2004

Xenosaga II — 善悪の彼岸 (Jenseits von Gut und Böse) — OST

Well, from my regular sources, I managed to obtain the music two days from its official release. I played the music in one setting and to be honest I’m not that all impressed by it. (Note that I am listening to the music again as I type this, hoping for a change in opinion.)

Overall it’s a pretty album but nothing really stands out for me. It’s new-age styled music that just goes on and on. The image song with the Scandinavian-like chorals (theme of ‘fatal fight’, etc) is probably the only decently memorable song, but I feel it’s far too repetitive.

Essentially, the album sounds like a continuation of Hack//Sign, with only a few minor themes of Xenosaga I in the background providing some sort of continuity with the previous game. It has nothing of the spiritual-depth of the Xenogears and Xenosaga I OSTS. Honestly, the Nietzsche-inspired title (trans: “Beyond Good and Evil”) sounds a lot menancing than the music is.

Namco, please persuade Mitsuda-sensei to return for the next installment (which will be uh…2006? 2007? :() He really is the link to the series’ continuity.

Subjects: Music 音楽

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: CD, Mitsuda Yasunori 光田康典, Nietzsche, soundtrack, Xenogears, Xenosaga

Bindings

Neuroticism and its greater counterpart, insanity, must be the results of their environment. Is it possible to turn insane, being drowned in a pool of silence, where the only signs of disburbance come from the annoyances of small talk? Chatter chatter [how is the weather] chatter chatter [how was lunch], and so on.

A restless mind in captivity, seeking to break from its bindings. But the attempt to escape is rendered futile by circumstances unforeseen and beyond control. Certainly, the escapee-aspirant is not without blame — indecisiveness is a factor of futility.

Each soul is formed from a myriad of characters, one of whom is called ‘Loser’. In a fashion that is bitterly ironic, Loser’s personality dominates and shuts away Optimism and Optimism’s friends into the soul’s asylum. Ever so frequently, the characters with hope call out from the asylum’s cells. The calls are the cries of freedom-desired. Loser is physically-free yet trapped by its loneliness and tormented by the calls of its prisoners. It needs companionship but can see no other way to communicate this need. Entrenched in its subconscious is the want to control - everything - and its selfishness finally leads it to the conclusion that if companionship is beyond its ability to earn, the enslavement of others is the best alternative.

Subjects: General

Mood: Philosophical Musings

Tags: loser

I love Spiderman 2

大好きだ‼

Spider Man II promotional still

Subjects: Film, Television & Anime 映像

Mood: Raves and Rants

Tags: Spider Man

Space Elevator

Arthur C. Clarke’s one of my top 5 favourite sci-fi authors, and my favourite book from him would have to be . Set in both imaginary past and the not-too-distant future, it is the tale of two visionaries, a king and an engineer, who envision and put to science fiction reality, the towers of babylon.

And we are now a further step away from this being a mere dream if Bradley Edwards, Director of Research for the Institute for Scientific Research, is to come closer to realising his vision.

An article two years ago that I read from SPACE.com, “The Space Elevator Comes Closer to Reality”; and its follow-up just a few days ago, “Space Elevator: Momentum Building”.

Subjects: Books 書物, Technology 技術

Mood: Philosophical Musings

Tags: Arthur C. Clarke, physics, science fiction, space elevator