takashichea (Level 21)

After working on Robotics;Notes for a while with my teammate, Acura Max, we come across this mysterious song. At first, I thought this song was exclusive to Robotics;Notes until I look it up. It's a children's song sung in Japan just like Ring Around the Rosie is sung across Europe and America.

Here is how you play the game

It's similar to Duck, Duck, Goose game where the one player is the Oni. The Oni is blindfolded, and while the children join hands in a circle, they walk around the Oni and sing. Once they stop singing, the Oni has to guess the name of the person behind them.

Interestingly enough, Kagome Kagome song has some eerie meanings just like Ring Around the Rosie. Ring Around the Rosie is a song referring to the Bubonic Plague. You put a flower called a posie in the deceased's pocket before you burn the dead body.

For Kagome Kagome, Wikipedia has listed a few theories:

1. It could be referring to a prostitute where she is trapped and wonder when she can escape.
2. It could be referring to a pregnant woman who was pushed down a flight of stairs. This causes her to have a miscarriage.
3. It could be referring to a prisoner who is wondering when he will be executed, and the cage is his prison.

Robotics;Notes

I wonder how this song ties in with the anime series. Who's the little bird in the song?

As a bonus, here is a creepy Vocaloid version of the song.

Barnes & Noble's stocks dropped 7.3% on Thursday after the company warned of bad news regarding its Nook e-book reader. The bookstore chain expects that the tablet's revenues for the fiscal year that ends in April will fall below US$3 billion, and the cash flow loss will be “greater than it was in fiscal 2012.” Barnes & Noble stated in January that it expected Nook revenue to exceed US$3 billion during the current fiscal year.

This is the third fiscal year where Barnes & Noble came in under its expectations, according to Maxim Group Analyst John Tinker. The NOOK business “is proving to be expensive — and with slowing revenues makes spinning it off to tech investors harder,” he said. “At some point the company has to quantify the amount it is prepared to lose.”

The company began closing physical stores across the United States during and after a low holiday 2012 sales season. Nook segment sales also fell 12.6% during the same period.

From Anime News Network.

Note: Even though it's not anime and manga related, I put ANN's article up because we fans buy anime/manga merchandise from stores. Not much back then because of the internet and illegal scanlations. Plus, it reminds me of Borders' bankruptcy event back in 2011.

Viz Media of North America has announced that Shinobu Ohtaka's manga series, Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic will be part of the Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine. It will premiered in the 16th issue on February 18. Furthermore, Viz Media will be releasing the first volume in the U.S.A. and Canada on August 13, 2013.

Jan 2013 Issue

For those who are new to the Magi series, here is a synopsis from Crunchyroll:

Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy

The story follows the travels of a boy named Aladdin around a strange land in which mysterious ruins called Dungeons are said to house priceless treasures. Together with Alibaba, a friend he met during his travels, Aladdin strives to conquer all of the Dungeons and obtain their treasures. Through all the meetings and partings he experiences along the way, Aladdin will also learn of his own fate...

Source

• Anime News Network

This is from Magi Wikiawritten by Manikworld and Tvb10data. I was going to post this in the Magi anime discussion thread that has the wiki project, but I felt posting in a separate blog was more better.

I post this because the Magi anime series has names originated from Arabic, so translations from English and Japanese are rough. Spellings are going to vary. For example, in Japanese, the letter "L" becomes the letter "R" since there is no "L" in the language. Judal will be called Judar because it's a reference to the tale, Judar and His Brethren from One Thousand and One Nights.

Right now, I will change every name according to Magi Wikia.

Magi Translation

List of all vocabulary translations of different languages.

Hello Fate Zero fans! There are some good news. Your beloved anime is streaming on Neon Alley and dub by these talented and wonderful folks.

For folks who haven't tried Fate Zero yet, here is a synopsis by ANN and Fandom Post.

Taking place 10 years before the events of Fate/stay Night, this series chronicles the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War.

The Holy Grail War – in this ultimate battle field, in order to obtain the power of the “Holy Grail” that grants any unattainable wish, seven “masters” summon “servants” and fight against each other until the last one survives.

Staff

• Original Story: Gen Urobuchi (Nitroplus) / TYPE-MOON
• Director: Ei Aoki
• Character Design: Tomonori Sudou, Atsushi Ikariya
• Music: Yuki Kajiura
• Animation Production: ufotable
• ADR Director: Tony Oliver

Voice Actors and Actresses

Instead of a bullet list of your favorite characters and their voice actors/actresses, I went with pictures. It might be messy, but I prefer giving everyone and the VA faces for you to recognize them. Don't worry, I pick the character shots that have no spoilers.

Saber Kari Wahlgren

Kiritsugu Emiya Matthew Mercer

irisviel von Einzbern Bridget Hoffman

Kirei Kotomine Crispin Freeman

Assassin Patrick Seitz

Tokiomi Tohsaka Marc Diraison

Rider David Earnest

Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald Doug Erholtz

Lancer Grant George

Waver Velvet Lucien Dodge

Rider Jamieson Price

Ryunosuke Uryu Johnny Yong Bosh

Caster Dan Woren

Kariya Matou Liam O'Brien

Berserker Kyle Hebert

Sources

• Anime News Network
• Crunchyroll
• Fandom Post