When love is complicated

Some stories need to be told...anime style.
I found that catchline by Animax particularly apt but never would I have thought it would apply to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Last year, Animax broadcasted Romeo X Juliet but I wasn’t drawn to it. I thought it wouldn’t work. Last week however, I stumbled upon an episode of Romeo X Juliet. It seemed interesting. I particularly like the opening song. It was a cover version of “You Raise Me Up” sung by Korean R&B singer Lena Park. I had always liked the Josh Groban version of the song, but somehow Lena’s version reached out to me even more. The gentle arrangement of the song seemed to set the tone of the relationship between Romeo and Juliet.


In the anime, the world they live in is slightly more volatile than the Shakespearan setting. Their story takes place in a floating continent called Neo Verona where pegasuses are a normal sight in the city. Neo Verona was previously ruled by the Capulets but Montague usurped the throne in a bloody coup. Every member of the Capulet clan was killed except for Juliet who, at the time only a toddler, managed to escape with the help of Capulet loyalists. She then had to disguise herself as a boy to avoid being detected by Montague spies. Fourteen years later, we see Juliet as a sword-fighting vigilante who protects Neo Verona’s citizens from the injustices of the Montague regime.
It’s quite different from the Shakespearan setting but the basics are still the same. Montague and Capulet are two clans who hate each other (in this case, for good reason) and the love between Romeo and Juliet is as doomed as ever. And that’s exactly what makes for a captivating story. There’s just something about star-crossed lovers that appeals to the masses, me included. Maybe most of us want to believe that despite all odds and despite all the hate in the world, love will triumph in the end.
The anime started out well but it seemed to lose itself halfway through. There were some inconsistencies with one or two characters and the villain seemed too one-dimensional to me but everything tied nicely in the end. There is a twist towards the second half regarding the Montague/Capulet relationship that would definitely irk Shakespeare purists but this is an adaptation. It’s not supposed to be the same.
As always, with any story I like, the music works itself like magic to bring the story to life. I haven’t heard a good original anime score in a while. It really immerses you in the helplessness felt by the characters as well as their determination to remain hopeful no matter what fate throws at them. This is the closing line from the anime:

Strife, hatred, sorrow, pain...
The one thing that can bring all of those things to an end...
That is love.
The joy of loving someone. That is what you taught us.

Picture courtesy of Riley.

Cat Commentary - The Orange Visitor

Lately, I keep seeing an orange tomcat hanging around the garden. I suspect that Cookies and Arrow are wary of this new visitor as they always seem a little tense whenever he’s around, especially Arrow. I’ve seen on more than one occasion where they would let him eat their food rather than fight for it. Yesterday, when I went out for some late evening stargazing, Cookies came up to me, so I stroked her. I noted how chubby she had become. I then heard a rustle coming from the bushes behind the birdbath. A feline figure streaked past and for a moment I thought it was Arrow. It turned out to be the orange tomcat. Strangely enough, Cookies didn’t seem afraid of him. She stared at him and then followed him. They seem to be friends now.
This morning, when I wanted to feed Cookies and Arrow, I saw the orange tomcat again. He kept staring at me like how he usually does. As Cookies and Arrow munched on their breakfast, I beckoned him to come over but he still just stared at me.I left some extra food and sure enough when I went back in the kitchen, he ate the food. I decided to name him Leon :P

Steve Jobs - the biography

I wanted to read this book when I first saw it but I wondered whether I was just caught up in the whole Apple-wave since Steve Jobs's passing. So I withheld from buying it. As the days passed, I kept seeing the book and couldn't keep my curiosity at bay. I wanted to know about Steve Jobs even though I've never bought an Apple product in my life. There is only so much about him that you can read online. Though I had finally bought the book, I wondered if it would take me a while to read it. I'm not a fan of non-fiction books and have never really read a biography from start to finish. Howeever, once I started reading it, it was "unputdownable". It was probably the combination of an iconic person and a masterful writer. The early days when Steve Jobs founded Apple read like a movie but what stayed with me was his perfectionism. He was dedicated towards making great products, not great profit. Profit is what follows a great product. Its refreshing to read about a CEO who cares about the product. Most companies are run with profit as the goal and the companies themselves are almost always run by successful salesmen. It's always about the sales target. There are countless of sales meeting, sales conference and more sales-related activities throughout the year. Hardly enough time is spent on improving the quality of the product itself. I find it frustrating dealing with people who accept mediocrity and people's refusal to challenge the status quo. Anyways, this book was a real eye opener, not just to the person that Steve Jobs was but also to how great companies are born. Jobs is far from perfect but through his vision and perfectionism, he makes it happen and I think that's something everyone can learn from.

The Princess’s Man

I recently finished watching a period Korean drama on KBS and what a tale it is. What started out as an unassuming love story evolved into an epic tale of love, revenge and power. It had the right mix of light-heartedness, tense action-packed moments as well as heart wrenching tragedy, which sets it apart from other Korean dramas which in my opinoin, are either too sappy or too tragic (I'm always a fan of the comedic, light-hearted ones). There's quite a bit of violence that I could do without but it realistically portrays the senselessness and helplessness evident in more ancient times. The lines are well written and what's more impressive is that the overall quality in terms of the lines and acting as well as plotline, remain the same from the beginning until the very end. The soundtrack is a mix of original score and current K-pop fare which works incredibly well together in bringing the scenes to life. Overall, a great production :D