Hiro's scrap notes

Poco a poco

2011-12-30T00:45:00.001+09:00

Summer, 2011

So much for promises of updating my blog everyday. My sincerest apologies, I'll make sure not to promise anything I can't guarantee.

I've always thought myself as a bit special... or unique. This has always been my source of (over) confidence. Of course, I've made sure that I've had a great string of success stories... but my story is one our of billions. This has lead me to start thinking that being able to help just minutely for mankind, is a great feat in itself.

A lot of my close friends would probably think, this isn't like me but this is me. Just making small progress a little by little. Everyday, I feel I'm beginning to understand my place in this world.

Maybe one day, I'll learn that I don't need to "fight" everyday.
Spreading my wings and learning to fly shouldn't involve fighting.

My thanks to those that allowed me to grow this year.

Conducting

2011-11-15T12:47:00.001+09:00

Time is of the essence during a recording!

Recently we completed the recording of SOULCALIBUR V.
Instead of our usual conductor, Philip Chu, I had to conduct instead as Phil couldn't make the first day.

Conducting requires a lot of preparation. I had to supervise, produce and direct on top of that so it was very challenging for me to juggle all these jobs at once.

I feel more appreciative of Philip's work now as I can understand what he is going through. I guess I'll turn down the rage from the control room by a notch!

The end of TGS2011

2011-11-08T00:34:00.000+09:00

As with all good things, anything with a start, always has an end. Although it was a hectic four days at TGS, it was a very fulfilling one.

w/ my mate Kei who helped run the booth

w/ the whole CIA crew

Real arcade fighting during TGS (for realz)

2011-11-03T23:52:00.000+09:00

Our booth babe got into some serious combat during TGS with our specialist booth security personnel. Huge crowd watching and taking photos of the scenes, it's a miracle it didn't make the headlines in World News.

Look at that wicked right hook!

They made peace too soon imo

CIA Booth

2011-11-02T23:28:00.000+09:00

Here is our booth at TGS during the most busiest moments of the convention.
So many people in such confined space! We're planning something bigger for next year!

The lights looked pretty awesome!

Speaking at the forum

2011-10-31T00:59:00.001+09:00

I had a great opportunity to speak at the TGS 2011 forums. There was a lot of people from the industry and even professors from Universities. It was a great honour to be able to speak in front of such esteemed guests.

I feel the urge to improve the music industry starting from my own experience in music, to specialised knowledge and experience that my colleagues have. The importance of categorising and knowing how to utilise in practical terms are the main objective of the ongoing growth in our industry.

I hope I inspired a lot of people that day!

At the forum presentation

Cup Udon Noodles

2011-10-28T23:15:00.000+09:00

So I visited the Cup Udon noodle promotional restaurant in Shibuya.
Awesome stuff. They even have things which can be created in a microwave these days.

They even gave us a miniature Cup Udon mobile strap thingy

TGS2011

2011-10-27T23:15:00.000+09:00

Although we hosted a booth at TGS2011, it was actually the first time for me to be there. Really exciting stuff with lots of company and people! I'll be uploading heaps of pics soon!

Within the CIA booth during the SOULCALIBUR V fan event

Freebies from CIA @ the Tokyo Game Show

2011-10-26T23:15:00.000+09:00

Here's a pic of what we were dishing out at the Tokyo Game Show.
It's like a bag but it will become like a clear file.

Cute!

CIA's designer Kyoko did this for us!

New website

2011-10-25T23:23:00.001+09:00

I know it's a bit late, but we've updated our CIA website! It's in Japanese but please do check it out here at www.ciaonline.jp

The illustration for the website is done by the usual Mr Murayama. We've themed each character to fit a certain "job" in the music industry.

Rebec, the performer

Hector, the composer

Gyull, the engineer

TOKYO GAME SHOW 2011

2011-09-05T01:25:00.000+09:00

I'm so bad at keeping this blog alive.

Anyway, our company CIA Inc. will be presenting a booth and doing a panel at the Tokyo Game Show! Come by and have a look if you do happen to be in Tokyo.

More info on TGS here:

http://tgs.cesa.or.jp/index.html

Congratulations Jillian!

2011-06-26T02:19:00.004+09:00

A big congratulations to Jillian!

Today NDA was lifted for her involvement as solo vocalist in the upcoming HALO: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Jillian had always been a big fan of video game music and our staff at Creative Intelligence Arts are all overjoyed with her success!

Well done Jillian and I hope you are celebrating because we are in Japan!

w/ Jillian after a photo shoot in Tokyo

Master Chief still looks pretty good in greyscale

Operation Dinner Out

2011-06-23T03:02:00.000+09:00

We're up to something again.
I had dinner with my singer Mari Yoshida, our composer Hiroki Kikuta and a special guest, Masato Koda, who is a composer in charge of big titles such as "Monster Hunter" "Devil May Cry" and "El Shaddai".

It's been nearly a year since I met him last, which was during the recording for "El Shaddai".

Yeah, we're up to something, but we won't tell just yet. It's because we really haven't finalised this plan we have together!

Kouda-san and Mari (she got drunk... again)

Working on an anime project

2011-06-22T00:39:00.000+09:00

Some people may already have noticed that I'm working on an anime project. It's called "Last Goodbye". Not much information has been released, nor is this little character rough drawing "official"... let's called this a "controlled leakage" lol

Anyway, please enjoy this drawing! Leave a comment if you like.

A character from EDAMAMATION's first project, "Last Goodbye"

Non-disclosure for Video Games

2011-06-19T22:11:00.000+09:00

Non-disclosure for Video Games are serious business.
We really need to keep our mouth shut, to protect the "surprise" for the future fans of the games that we are working on. Unfortunately, it only requires one weak link in the chain to break all this.

"Leaks" break the anticipation and surprise for our fans. Of course, some companies "leak" information on purpose, but the majority, simply want to announce it when it's ready, at the proper spotlight like E3.

In our case, we don't talk about these things to anyone. Mike Morhaime is to have said he don't even talk to his mother about these things. And rightly so.

We are proud to have kept these secrets in anticipation for our fans. These titles include "Chronicles of Valkyria", "Diablo III" and "El Shaddai".

Every week, I receive questions from our fans "What are you guys working on now?". I hope you all understand why we can't tell. Thank you, to all our fans, for supporting us!

In the control room during the recording of "Diablo III"

Working on "Chronicles of Valkyria" w/ Sakimoto and ex-Eminence orchestrator, Nicole Brady

Nissin instant noodles

2011-06-18T22:22:00.000+09:00

A lot of you would probably know Nissin's instant noodles. Well the kind of instant noodles which are mostly exported from Japan is the "RAMEN" type noodle (the one that Naruto likes). I like "RAMEN" noodles but at the same time, I have also much love for "UDON".

When I moved to Australia on a permanent residency basis as a kid, the thing I missed most from Japan were these instant noodles and FANTA GRAPE. Yeah, I couldn't believe only Japan had grape.

Anyway, much to my surprise, at Shibuya station on the Yamanote platform, I find this restaurant which serves instant noodles! I rush in and order this special "Hokkaido limited edition instant udon noodle", and below is my review.

It was epic

A-BUTTON

2011-06-17T22:29:00.000+09:00

Went to "Game Bar A-Button".
It's a pretty slick bar with old and new video games. They always serve pretty fancy beer and food.

One of the dishes I ordered was the TKG. It stands for "Tamago Kake Gohan". It's basically egg rice, and I know a lot of you probably feel disgusted hearing this but it's basically raw egg on rice with a bit of soy sauce and it's DELICIOUS.

Anyway, it was great meeting the bar owner and having a nice chat with my friends. Good times!

This soy sauce pwns

Memories of Fantasia

2011-06-17T03:23:00.000+09:00

Everytime I try and constantly update my blog, it fails.

Actually, I fail. I fail because I try to put too much info about my everyday life and end up with the same old crap, and also, there are so many things I can't talk about. 80% of the things I am currently doing, are so hush hush I'll probably get sniped when I go out the door tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm going to release small contents at a time. Here's the logo for the concert we're doing in Sydney next month.

Here's the link to the concert: http://bit.ly/j7fDHT

And here's the link to buy them tickets!: http://bit.ly/mnzgSw

The Governator and me

2010-09-22T02:40:00.000+09:00

You wanted pics? You got it!

So yeah, went to Arnie's trade mission speech thing.
Had to wake up real early for this stuff... like at 6am.

I actually really enjoyed his speech. It's good to hear things about business from a different perspective.

Going away for a few days

2010-09-15T23:26:00.000+09:00

during the photoshoot w/ Kow Otani

Going to Kansai for a few days.

Will be fun!

To the skies!

2010-09-03T00:28:00.000+09:00

So we've started something. Something to really look forward to.

We don't really have a lot of time. But with the time left within us, we'll do what we can. We'll make it out there!

Anyway, keep looking forward to what we're going to do. One day, we'll be there!

Working with singers again

2010-07-27T11:47:00.000+09:00

A beta stage drawing from the cover of "Shackles of Night" single

I've been working with singers since this year. It was Sarah Alainn in the beginning, teaching how it all works in a studio (she's never been in one till Xenoblade's ED with Yasunori Mitsuda) and giving her experience with different styles of music. Now, I'm helping a young lady called Shihori who happens to be a composer herself, writing for pop divas like Nana Mizuki.

So some may have already heard the announcement but we're working on a project called "Shackles of Night" which is a single for the opening animation to Otakon (US Anime Convention in Baltimore). We're working with Hiroki Kikuta who did the music for Secret of Mana, and the music is purely "Hard Rock" anime song.

Stay tuned for an upcoming music video!

You can pre-order your CD here -> http://bit.ly/cv38DP

Thanks for the Birthday wishes!

2010-07-23T03:58:00.003+09:00

In the past 2~3 days, I received 3 pages worth of birthday wishes on Facebook. It's just feels nice to know people just giving you a yell to wish a happy birthday, felt much love.

I spent the day working on various projects, ending with a dinner w/ Mr Kikuta and Mr Kishimura. The two only met for the first time that day but they do seem to work well together. I look forward to their future collaborations.

I really must sleep now, sleeping at 4am before a concert hall inspection almost certainly spells doom for me.

Time for an update

2010-07-08T23:44:00.003+09:00

It's been some time since my last entry. I apologise for the lack of updates from my end. So many things has happened, I really can't possibly update everyone on everything I've done in the passed six months so I apologise in advance.

At the very least, I will endeavor to update everyone on what I'm actually doing now.

Here's us having a photoshoot. Yes, you can see that. This is a promotion for a up and coming event and CD release called "Shackles of Night".

You can pre-order your copy here =>
Shackles of Night pre-order

Sung by SHIHORI
Music by Hiroki Kikuta
Lyrics by Sarah Alainn
Directed and Produced by Hiroaki Yura

So what's this for I hear you ask.
It's the opening theme to the Otakon 2010 convention. Pretty neat eh?

So I got together a cool team to bring good music to the people of the United States and eventually, the world.

That's all for today, encourage me to keep writing!

Oh yes we're coming!

2010-01-29T02:33:00.001+09:00

Some random boring but nice shots out from the plane between Sydney and Perth. On our way to Wai-con where we will take part in an Eminence's Destiny concert. Wait a little for the full report...

Farewell Sydney

2010-01-23T03:42:00.003+09:00

Dear Australia,

Thank you for bringing me up. I owe you my upbringing and who I am to you.
I'm proud to be brought up in Australia and I will never forget this.

Words are not enough to express my appreciation and love for this great nation and what she has done for me.

Hopefully I will be back here often. Australia will always be my home at heart.

Yours sincerely,

Hiroaki Yura

Rehearsal starts for Destiny: Promised Legacy

2010-01-20T23:12:00.008+09:00

Luke and Jem at the MoS after a meeting for Destiny: Promised Legacy.
Preparing for concert is such a bore... I wished we have twice the sex with half the foreplay! Meaning... (for clarification) I wished we can prepare quickly and perform more.

Good friend Nicole

2010-01-20T04:59:00.003+09:00

w/ Good friend composer Nicole at the Botanic Gardens near the Sydney Conservatorium. Good to see her doing well and looking good! Everytime I come to Sydney I feel like I need to catch up with everyone. Tokyo is just so different...

There's a tempura growing out of it...

2010-01-17T03:11:00.001+09:00

Always a first time for everything. This is the most amazing riceball I've ever eaten.

Blowfish, hell yeah

2010-01-15T00:38:00.002+09:00

My favourite meal is blowfish sashimi. And that's what I usually have on the first week of the year since it's forbiddingly expensive. Sorry, it was nicely laid out but I couldn't help myself to some pieces before I got the idea to have it up on my blog.

My Paddington

2010-01-14T01:50:00.002+09:00

Yup, he's my favourite bear! He's 22. He's so old he can drink and do lots of other things.

Yokohama

2010-01-13T11:20:00.005+09:00

Yokohama is a nice big city. So not crammed like Tokyo, spacious and tidy, and the cleanest Chinatown I've seen in my life. Trust me, I've seen lots of Chinatowns from all around the world...

From Japan, with Love

2010-01-13T11:08:00.003+09:00

Working as a music supervisor can be cruel. Most people don't really care what time of the year it is nor do they care about your personal schedule especially when they want their music NOW!

Ok, maybe I said too much...
So when my film director friend Mr Lance Yuen told me that he needs like music to his short film in a week, I nearly started singing "Goodbye Christmas~". No really.

Fortunately for Lance, Mr Tada was able to complete his request and did a fantastic job out of it! You better win that award in the film festival Lance, or only god knows what I'm going to do to your Christmas this year.

PROMISE event report @ Animate Akihabara

2010-01-11T14:45:00.013+09:00

In December, Eminence have been extremely busy with the promotion of PROMISE album.
So here is our little report on it =D
Day 1:
Jem arrives in Tokyo. Roger doesn't because he missed the plane whilst out in the surf. No, I'm not kidding, it really happened IRL.
Here is Jem with his trademark smile as he exits customs in Narita airport.

As soon as Jem landed, we went through some music at Victor Studio. Here is a picture of him, Mr Saito (CEO IMAGINE INC, on the right) and Mr Ogawa (Producer Comix Wave Films, on the left).

Day 2:

Roger arrives in Tokyo. We pick up from Tokyo central station and take him to our rehearsal studio in Roppongi.

Jem (piano), myself and Roger (guitar) at the studio.
After our going through our repertoire several times, we thought it'd be a great idea to go around Tokyo as it was Jem's and Roger's first time over here. So we took them to Harajyuku. And of course, they couldn't resist taking a picture in front of the famous Condomania at Harajyuku crossings.

Afterwards, we went to dinner with Mr Ogawa to a nearby Chinese restaurant. I really wanted to take them to a Japanese restaurant but nothing was open because we finished pretty late =(
The beer taste pretty good after a long days work doesn't it Jem?

Day 3:
So the next day, after having a nice Japanese breakfast at Akihabara, we were getting ready to rock the Animate store. Director Makoto Shinkai and the composer Tenmon-san was coming to hear us perform to so we were pretty psyched up. We needed to show people what we're made of... live, because that's what we're best at!

Here's Roger with his game face ON.

If you're desperate to see mine, click here!
Naturally, being the only person from Eminence that can speak Japanese at the event, I had to MC with Mr Ogawa. It's my first time in Japan to MC (I only kinda briefly had a "chat" on stage with Mitsuda san and Sakimoto san in Tokyo in 08) but I guess I did alright.

The Japanese crowd was extremely well mannered and there was an intimate feeling in that small event space at Animate.
Then came the big announcement...

Director Makoto Shinkai announces his new work!
Well no name to the title was given or anything, but he outlined the story and everything. I knew about his new work prior to the event but him announcing it during our event, it is a raelly big honor.

The event was very successful and we did the usual signings. Took us like 3 hours to get through everyone but it was all good =D

After the event since it was only early afternoon, we took Jem and Roger to a "Maid cafe" which they thoroughly enjoyed. No photos there for obvious reasons. And then we went to join the after party with Director Makoto Shinkai and Tenmon-san + staff from Comix Wave Films and IMAGINE INC. People got a little tipsy so no pictures here too. Oh, we found out the Tenmon-san can do drunken style kung-fu.

Day 4:
We took Roger and Jem to Sushi which they both loved...

...and took them on a shopping spree (?)

Unfortunately for them, they have to catch a plane back to Sydney but I'm sure they'll be back in Tokyo soon! Well before that, we've got that beastly concert in Perth at the end of January so you'll see more of us soon.

Jem & Roger in Harajyuku

2010-01-11T00:58:00.002+09:00

First night out in Tokyo.
After rehearsal, went out for a beer and some fine food.

From Kawasaki FM with LOVE

2010-01-07T03:10:00.003+09:00

Went to Kawasaki FM as a guest for their radio show, "Saturday motto fever!" Don't ask what they mean or what it means cuz I really don't know. Anyway, as guest, I promoted our new PROMISE album heavily and tried to get our message across about what Eminence is all about.

Oh, you might have realised I'm stretching my right leg in this photo. It's not because I want to make quick exit after the show, my kneecap is fractured so I needed to stretch it a bit.

Recording for "The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya"

2010-01-06T03:27:00.003+09:00

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Just letting you know that I'm really sorry for not keeping the blog updated at all since mid December. I have a reason for that and simply, it was because I was busy.

Here's what I've been up to.
Eminence has been recording "The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya".
It's the movie of the story after the animated TV series "The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya".

The movie will be out in February this year but I don't know when it will be out outside of Japan. When you do see it, please think of us =D

Naaaaaaaadia-chaaaaan!

2009-12-15T23:38:00.002+09:00

Here's a pic of the beautiful Nadia from the photo shoot the other day!
Photo taken by Henri.

Looks pretty bad but it's not bad.

2009-12-06T22:01:00.002+09:00

Italian style tomato ramen. Just before the A Night in Fantasia 2009 final mix session

Phil in Japan again

2009-12-02T17:56:00.002+09:00

Had dinner w/ Phil again. This time at some nice hotpot restaurant in Shinjyuku. Nice view of the city, I hope he was satisfied!
Oh, and I took him to a shooting range. Phil seemed to like shooting so I'll take him to a place where we can shoot real people. Don't worry, we don't kill people. Not in Japan anyway haha!

I'm suffering from this cold. I hate it.

Promise event @ Animate Akihabara shop!

2009-11-26T22:53:00.003+09:00

Eminence artists will be performing at Animate in Akihabara on the 20th of December to promote the upcoming release of PROMISE.
Come check us out!

Here's a link. Unfortunately it's only in Japanese =(
http://www.promise-project.jp/event.html

Photo is from the streets of Roppongi Hills. Pretty lights!

Bye bye Henri~

2009-11-23T01:55:00.001+09:00

At Kichijoji after Nadia's shoot.
Was fun!

Lemme know when you're coming back to Grey City.

So cold!

2009-11-19T23:57:00.001+09:00

Woah, it was cold today. 8 degrees today!
It's not even winter yet.

Here is a pic of "Ichounamiki" near my work place. This tree line never gets old... always so beautiful.

Survival game

2009-11-18T18:23:00.002+09:00

Went to "Survival Game" on the weekend. It's like paintball but it's using air guns (BB pellets). I found it more fun than paintball. I wish I could use shoulder weapons instead of those pansy subs. Here's a pic of Henri, my photographer friend from Sydney and Saori holding and H&K G3.

Macau for the first time!

2009-11-18T18:02:00.002+09:00

Hit up Macau during my stay too. Nice place. I saw a huge diamond in one of the Casinos. Or hotels. Whatever it was, it was huge and painted in gold!

Hong Kong!

2009-11-18T17:55:00.002+09:00

Went to Hong Kong for work. Met lots of old school friends. The food was good, the company was excellent. What more can I ask?

Body and Soul

2009-11-04T00:53:00.004+09:00

Just realised... or rather remembered how important it is to keep fit. I've been really busy lately and haven't been excercising at all. I felt mental health is really connect to how well your body's health is.

Tokyo Disney Sea

2009-10-30T02:56:00.002+09:00

Yeah I know I went several days ago but I got nothing else to write about since I'm forbidden to talk about things I'm doing now so get over it.

@ Tokyo Disney Sea!
Haven't been to Tokyo Disney Sea at all so it was a pretty cool first time experience. Last time I went to Tokyo Disneyland was like when I was 6.

No time to scratch my head

2009-10-24T01:39:00.003+09:00

There is a saying in Japanese. "I even want to borrow a cat's hand for help".
That's exactly the situation I am in now.

I recently met up with Mr Kousaki who composes for music from Haruhi Suzumiya. Last time I met up with him was... at "Suzumiya Haruhi no gensou" concert. I miss everybody from that concert so much. I should start emailing everybody for drinks or something.

Sarah Alainn!

2009-10-19T03:25:00.004+09:00

Had an informal unofficial unpublicized photo shoot with Sarah Alainn today. Here's a sneak peak. Shooting at noon, on a bright sunny afternoon with no assistant is an epic fail. I got what I needed though =D

Looking outright gorgeous!

Dinner w/ Mr Nakatsuru

2009-10-12T20:24:00.002+09:00

I was invited to dinner with the Nakatsuru family. Mr Nakatsuru and I have worked on Soulcalibur series however tonight wasn't really about work, it was all about great food!
Mr Nakatsuru being a very skilled cook himself cooked us some delicious Pasta and Okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza).

Here's a pic with Muta, his pet dog and Soulcalibur Broken Destiny. He later gave me the PSP game... now I have to buy a PSP!

Gamebar A Button

2009-10-11T01:59:00.002+09:00

Went for drinks w/ several composers and game industry related people at Akiba. The place was called Gamebar A Button. Full of game consoles from all over the world (even an old US nintendo or PSP Slim which isn't even out in Japan).

Good times!

It wouldn't be an Eminence concert without this pic.

2009-10-11T01:12:00.002+09:00

As is the tradition.
Myself, AIKA, Kow Otani, Inon Zur, Philip Chu, Wataru Hokoyama, Go Shiina, Yasunori Mitsuda, Cris Velasco, Chiaki Takahashi and Aubrey Ashburn.
Go to my japanese blog site for the normal version.

To round things up...

2009-10-11T01:07:00.002+09:00

The concert was a success, I was pretty impressed by the lightings and the videos to be honest. The audio could have been better, but I guess we were too used to performing in a hall with better acoustics.

Photo by Mr Nez.

Anyway, here's a photo of Terence, myself, Kow Otani and AIKA during the concert.
Photo by Mr Saito of IMAGINE.

PROJECT PROMISE announced

2009-10-11T00:48:00.006+09:00

In the week after A Night in Fantasia, we were all busy in the studio working on an album called PROMISE.

Comprising of music from the films by Makoto Shinkai, the release of the album marks the 10th anniversary of collaborations between Shinkai and Tenmon. Eminence joins to celebrate the joyous event by co-releasing a joint album with Comix Wave Films.

Here's some pics from after the recording.
With our guitarist, Roger Lock.
Photo by Mr Nez.

AIKA!!!

2009-10-07T01:01:00.001+09:00

AIKA's debut rehearsal with Eminence for A Night in Fantasia 2009 as HYPER LITTLE TOY'S.
She sang beautifully as usual =D

Audio dudes

2009-10-06T12:30:00.001+09:00

Here's a pic of the Audio dudes from Norwest who did our Sound Design for ANIF09. Great work =D

Interview with Good Game

2009-10-02T01:12:00.002+09:00

After the interview with ABC Good Game about ANIF09.
Tracey, Cris and Go in the studio.

China Town (Sydney)

2009-09-10T23:11:00.001+09:00

Had dinner with my good friends, Matt, Vicka and John @ East Ocean. Good to be back home.

A Night in Fantasia 2009 Trailer

2009-09-04T08:16:00.002+09:00

The trailer for our annual concert A Night in Fantasia 2009 is finally done and public!
Approval took ages and it was tough but all worth it. Take a look and tell me what you think!

Yuya again...

2009-08-31T23:44:00.001+09:00

Yuya came to Tokyo! In the past few months, he's been working at some degenerate country place no one's ever heard of but he decided to rejoin civilization for a change.

Good for him.

EARPLUGS FTW

2009-08-28T23:42:00.000+09:00

And went clubbing afterwards. If you can't read the neon lights, it says CAMELOT.
I bought earplugs and it worked!

At the Aussie Embassy

2009-08-28T23:39:00.000+09:00

Was invited to the Summer Matsuri at the Australian Embassy.
Lots of fried noodles, okonomiyaki and alcomahoool.

Picture is with Saori from the embassy and Mr Saito from IMAGINE.

Pictures of food

2009-08-28T13:14:00.002+09:00

When I post pictures of food, it's either
1) I'm bored and have nothing better to write
2) It's actually awesomingly delicious
3) I have news but can't say due to Non-disclosure Agreement

Right now, it's a combination of 2 and 3.

ANIMELO SUMMER LIVE 2009

2009-08-24T11:43:00.002+09:00

I've been going to a lot of live concerts this summer. Both voice actresses from Haruhi whom I met through a concert we all worked together in April invited me to their solo performance.

Yesterday was the famous Animelo Summer Live 2009, held at Saitama Arena it was absolutely incredible. Around 20,000 people turned up, sea of lights and energetic explosive performance is something you have to check out once in your life.

Thanks to Aya Hirano for the tickets, really appreciated it! Your performance was awesome!

Composers of Soulcalibur and Ace Combat

2009-08-22T15:40:00.002+09:00

Today was an interview session with Mr Nakatsuru and Mr Kobayashi. Well known for their works with Soulcalibur and Ace Combat, they have been kind enough to spare some time with us to share some insight to their work.

PIZZA

2009-08-18T14:59:00.001+09:00

Found a restaurant in Nakameguro... they have like the bestest Pizza. And they only have a selection of two pizza. OWNAGE.

Katana Hilt Guard

2009-08-18T14:50:00.002+09:00

Went to a jewelry shop owned by my colleague's friend in Tokyo. He showed me his very good Japanese sword and several hilt guards. Work of art!

Tokyo from Roppongi Hills

2009-08-15T17:01:00.002+09:00

Climbed up Mori Tower and onto the helipad. Awesome view of Tokyo.

In progress...

2009-08-11T17:46:00.002+09:00

Here's a semi-draft pic of our A Night in Fantasia 2009 pamphlet.
One final push and we'll be done! Bring it!

On my way to work

2009-08-09T02:48:00.003+09:00

I usually ride on the front end of the train.
So I thought I'd take a pic of how it looks like.

After observing the train dude for a few minutes, I noticed he mumbles to himself a lot...

Summer Camp!

2009-08-04T00:43:00.001+09:00

Went to Summer Camp!, a concert full of Minori Chihara. We had an awesome time. So glad to have gone there!

Nadia-chan!

2009-07-30T23:17:00.002+09:00

After a long day of mooching around at Victor Studio, thinking of marketing for A Night in Fantasia 2009, and being busy in general, I got to go out to dinner and drinks with my wonderful new friend Nadia Gifford! She is a wonderful singer and since she was singing so well in our office, I decided to have a little chat. And who would have guessed that there would be another English speaker at our office haha!

In other news, I need a hair cut.

Where is this?

2009-07-26T04:16:00.001+09:00

I bet no one can guess =P
Let's see if you guys and girls can figure out where this was taken!

These two are so environmentally friendly

2009-07-24T00:08:00.003+09:00

These two never run out of happy energy.
Really.
If happy energy can be converted to actually useful energy source, these two would happily (?) power whole of Tokyo city.

I mean... who would try screaming into a french horn...? Or even who would willingly let AIKA scream into a french horn?

Anyway we had happy meetings. For more info, go to www.eminenceonline.com whenever they decide to write about it!

Go go advertisement!

Cheese Ramen

2009-07-22T23:42:00.002+09:00

This looks like a generic Tonkotsu (pork soup) ramen shop.
It ain't. It has Cheese Ramen in the menu (the first ever... or so it claims) and it is awesome.

CHEESE RAMEN. I should open a cheese ramen shop in Sydney haha!

Come back soon Lance~

2009-07-21T00:46:00.002+09:00

Come back soon Lance.
And make that movie soon!

Gundam!

2009-07-19T22:40:00.001+09:00

18m, 35 tonnes.
This is the meaning of awesome.

TORAYA

2009-07-17T21:31:00.002+09:00

Ate shaved ice with my good friend Lance. He decided to get Strawberry flavour only cuz he didn't know any better to get the ultimate flavour, the macha green tea flavour.

Victory.

I guess I shouldn't give up on Tokyo just yet

2009-07-15T04:39:00.001+09:00

There's no beaches, no huge parks that takes 40 minutes to run around, but there are nice trees and grassless parks.

I guess Tokyo isn't totally dead yet.

Gratitude...

2009-07-10T22:29:00.002+09:00

I've been in bed for a couple of days now because I had a fever.
I wasn't able to get food myself but Mr Saito kindly brought me tonnes and tonnes of really yummy stuff.

Thank you very much Mr Saito =D

New bike!

2009-07-05T21:23:00.002+09:00

Bought myself a new bike so I can ride to and from work. My butt hurts...
It's been so long since I last rode a bike.

Awesome bags

2009-07-05T01:20:00.002+09:00

A pic of a shop inside Suntory Hall. Found some pretty nice bags.
Maybe I should start designing an Eminence bag?

FUNKY YO

2009-07-02T11:55:00.002+09:00

Yup, it's Chiaki Takahashi.
This is a snapshot after a meeting we have about a certain project. Since I can't tell you what it is all about, you can all go put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and start investigating.

And no, I'm not going to tell you. Yet.

Characterisation?

2009-06-29T22:30:00.002+09:00

Working on characterisation of some key people for our upcoming concert. Can you guess who they are??? besides Vicka of course!

Arena concert

2009-06-29T01:46:00.002+09:00

Just received a ticket to go to an orchestral concert by Yoko Kanno. Pretty excited by the prospect, never been to a real arena orchestral concert. I heard they will do some pretty fancy stuff.

So, the legend begins...

2009-06-25T02:05:00.003+09:00

This is a picture from A Night in Fantasia 2003.
This is where we all started. We weren't even called Eminence back then.
This concert was the first ever Anime/Game concert outside of Japan.

Pic is of Maestro William Motzing conducting... what became Eminence in 2003.

Huh?

2009-06-22T23:13:00.003+09:00

Nope. Just an old picture from when I was in Venice 3 years ago.
I'm still in Japan! Just decided to dig through old pictures.

BNGI Future Research Facility

2009-06-19T02:07:00.002+09:00

This studio is called Studio One of the Bandai Namco Games Inc., Future Research Facility. Pretty fancy name eh? So is the building. It's a hollow pyramid. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

Something big will be going on in this room in about 48 hours... are you ready?

Food is pure pwnage in Japan

2009-06-15T21:57:00.003+09:00

Corn soup ftw.
I love this stuff!
Wow... I write about food everyday. I'm going to get fat.

Yakitori

2009-06-15T00:39:00.002+09:00

I went to a strange place for dinner today.
Usually when we "cook" your own food like the pic above, it's usually beef. However this restaurant made you cook chicken. So I guess it's DIY Yakitori.

We all need to run

2009-06-12T02:49:00.002+09:00

I attempted to convince Yas to run in the morning.
Running in the morning creates motivation for the rest of the day and... generally makes you feel happy. Well that's what they said on TV anyway, and it works for me nonetheless.

Anyway, here's a photo somewhere in Shinjyuku station w/ Mr Mitsuda. Thanks for taking the pic Miya!

It's all about the CUP RAMEN

2009-06-08T02:25:00.003+09:00

I'm a health freak at most times.
When I train, I feed myself constant high protein diet. I don't drink that much and I definitely don't smoke.

That been said, I ate CUP RAMEN today. Yeah, it felt good somewhat. I remembered this song called "The Animal Song" by Savage Gardens. I think there was a part in the lyric which said something along the line that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you.

Oh yeah, it tasted good.

Tokyo is rainy, hot and miserable

2009-06-06T02:43:00.002+09:00

The umbrellas flower in the scramble crossing in Tokyo. Sometimes I wonder what the meaning of meeting another person mean. There are so many people to meet, so little time. There are so many people to meet...

MINORUN

2009-06-04T13:06:00.004+09:00

I went for dinner and drinks with Mr Minoru Shiraishi!
Wow, he is one hilarious dude, his work as a voice actor... goes well beyond the boundaries of voice acting! And he is still going strong!

Hope we can do something together soon.
Not to mention he kept up with my drinking. We'll see next time.

Practicing

2009-06-01T23:53:00.002+09:00

Although I don't have a lot of time, I wake up as early as I can (which isn't as early as many people in the world...) and practice. Because I don't seem to have time to practice otherwise. Right now, I'm reworking on Saint Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso.

Oh, and gratz to Ray Chen who used to learn from my teacher Professor Zhang for winning the Queen Elizabeth! Wow, I thought I'd never live the day to see a former Prof. Zhang student win one of the big three.

I'm a winner!

2009-05-29T22:31:00.002+09:00

I went to the local convenience store for some groceries and the guy at the counter pulled out a little box and told me to pick something from it because I bought more than 700yen. And I won some Jelly Cafe Cream mixed thingy.

I'm a winner.

Fully HI TECH

2009-05-29T01:48:00.003+09:00

My apartment is "Fully HI TECH".
Even when I leave my lights off, motion detectors trigger the lights on when I enter my home. My toilet is a super hygienic washing machine and I can set what degrees I want my warm water to be.

I know all this... but it takes so long to really get comfortable with everything they can all do.

Memories of Haruhi

2009-05-26T03:04:00.003+09:00

Just got a bunch of photos from IMAGINE. I'm doing the Frankie pose from ONE PIECE before my performance. You like?

So I'm settled

2009-05-25T00:26:00.003+09:00

So I'm settled in Tokyo now, in my new place.
Getting everything sorted was so much work! I'm totally exhausted getting everything I need to get my life going. It was pretty fun though.

I hope I can make a change to my life in a positive way, new beginning, new friends, new challenges. I'm full of anxiousness and hope right now.