Radio KAC - Tuned in yet?

Radio KAC was launched just 10 days back, and as I write this out, has already garnered over 300 unique listeners (and patrons), managed tons of airplay, hundreds of requests, and a couple of guest RJs too. Needless to say, RadioKAC has been a roaring success (big enough to warrant a separate post on the blog :P). But this is just a beginning.

So let's look a bit deeper into what the deal with RadioKAC is and how you can get a more complete experience out of it :)

How we function:

The Radio is jointly handled by Ria, Sunny and Reetam. We have slightly different tastes in music (which is a good thing since it adds more variety to what you hear) and have different timings on the radio. We split time amongst us and try to keep the radio up as long as possible. Since weekdays are, well, weekdays, the radio does not get much up time on weekday mornings. we try to keep it on afternoon/evening onwards, and normally have it on till 1-2 at night (sometimes later). On weekends, however, we go all guns blazing and try to play as much music as possible. Who mans the station when is still a very fluid thing though, without any hard and fast schedule. Along with the 3 in house RJs, we also have guest RJs  from time to time. If you are interested in being a guest RJ on the channel, do get in touch with us :)

Getting the most out of the RadioKAC page:
So there are a few sections in the page that need to be noted:

 

This would be on the right hand side of the page. Please don't forget to Like the Radio Page. Once we get a hundred likes here, we can start using the podcasts feature alongside the live radio :)

Some or all of the modules will be visible on the radio page. 'Request a song' and 'Live chat' will work only when the radio is playing, and the former might be kept off at times if the RJ does not want to take requests through the site. The schedule will more often than not be empty, but we have other ways to keep you updated about our schedule (yes, they involve FB).

Clicking on this will open this up at the bottom of the page:

 These links can then be saved and used on our local mp3 players to play the stream.

This is probably the part which is easily ignored but should not be. Note the Twitter and Blogger buttons up there beside the RSS feed? Well, they work. The Blog button will show you updates from our blog right there, and clicking on any of the posts will redirect you to the blog. And as for the Twitter, the idea is to use that in conjunction with FB to post updates regarding schedules and stuff. So do be sure to check in there whenever you visit for quick updates :)

This last bit of course calls for no explanation. The three rather eye catching buttons will redirect you to our IDs on the other sites.

RadioKAC on FB:

We are present on FB too. It is the primary channel of communication between RJs and the listeners. It is here that upcoming shows will be announced, polls created for user reviews and suggestions, and song requests would also be mostly taken here (it's a much safer option that using the requests module on the radio webpage). Please subscribe to this page to keep yourself appraised about what we are up to on the radio.

Common issues:

There is this common issue with the player links asking for ID and password (in some cases even the page asks for credentials). Well, this is not something that is going to be easily fixed. Basically, only one user per IP is supported, and so if this sort of error comes it's probably something to do with that (and Caster seems to be in no hurry to fix it). Caster, however, advises that accessing the radio using a proxy server might help.

Looking ahead:

As I mentioned, this is just a beginning. We believe radioKAC is capable of a lot more. In the near future, we intend to bring you podcasts, Japanese lessons, anime music covers by our own members, and of course, MOAR MUSIC!

Want to RJ for us? Get in touch.

Have a suggestion? get in touch.

Got a great idea to make RadioKAC more awesome? Get in touch.

Lastly, keep spreading the word, keep tuning in, and we hope you have a great time here at KAC.

Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!

KAC Banzai!

KAC Showcase : May - Creating a World With Shades & Colours.

For the month of May 2012, we have chosen to showcase - Abhyam Shukla.

Abhyam's introduction in his own words- "Abhyam is a little monster, who doesn't give a damn about studies & dreams about standing out in the crowd, someday." (OK, he's a student who just gave his 12th Boards)

He's being featured here, for his awesome drawing/sketching talent.

 A small interview with Abhyam:-

How did you learn to draw?

- "Well, I never learnt drawing. From a very young age,I had this craving for drawing everywhere possible and I guess through practice and the constant support and encouragement that I got from my friends and family helped me realize my true potential. Ever since that day,there's been no looking back."

What kind of drawings do you usually do? What tools do you use?

- "I'm mostly into sketching. Pencils,pens and charcoal are some of the things I am comfortable with. I hope to learn oil painting If I can. I like to indulge in conceptual art. Something that never fails to send a message."

What are your plans regarding drawing, in future?

-  "No matter,what I choose as a career or where I end up,I will never give up drawing. So it's a forever sort of relationship."

What do you think about KAC?

- "KAC is an amazing place with amazing people. Never thought an online club would be sooo much fun. They're warm people who are always ready to support and entertain when required.
I've always wanted to make it to my first proper meet,but exams have been a bitch for a very long time. Now that I am finally free, I'm looking forward to some really amazing time at the meets. :) "


 Some of his drawings/sketches:

A note - We love your drawings and we love having you here at KAC. We hope to see you at future meets. Let your talent be an inspiration for other KAC members in the future. We look forward for your future works! :)

KAC Bulletin

So, here's an update on what KAC has been up to and what all we can expect from the KAC in the coming weeks -

1. KAC now has an HQ! Reetam's house at Garia (which till now has hosted 3 meets, Feb 2011, March and April 2012) shall be KAC's base of operations from now on. This definitely does not mean that all meets have to be compulsorily held there. Meets can be held anywhere that is convenient, but the purpose of the HQ is to always have a backup location for meets and other KAC activities from now on. :)

2. KAC members participated in numbers in the Feel Japan Event . There are so many pictures and so much to write that it's taken us a month to write a post about it, but it'll be up soon XD. FJ was an amazing success thanks to all the anime lovers who worked non stop to make it happen. We look forward to more such events in the future, and more participation from KAC members, irrespective of which city it is held in.

3. Radio KAC was launched yesterday, on the 27th April. With this, we become the pioneer of a unique initiative whereby we try to reach out to anime lovers with (primarily but not just) Anime Music. Radio KAC would be helmed by jobless KAC members for the time being and will be on air as frequently as possible. For now it is just songs (and song requests too!), but we see Radio KAC as a Pandora's Box of opportunities for connecting with anime lovers around the country. Few things bring people together like music does, and Radio KAC will sometime in the near future have live events, Japanese lessons and a host of other stuff. We are only limited by our imaginations (and to an extent, money :P). But for Radio KAC to flourish, we would need all the support we can get. Visit Radio KAC (and there is also a widget on the right of this page, check it out!), click Like on the RadioKAC page (I'm assuming that you would definitely LOVE RadioKAC), but most importantly, spread the word!

4. A Design for KAC contest is currently underway. Details can be found here. The contest tentatively ends at the end of May. There will be prizes, so go ahead and give it a shot!

KAC is always expecting it's members to step up and make KAC even more awesome.We have amazing members, and that is why we hold contests and that is why we love to showcase our members. We intend to have a lot more events and a lot more contests in the future (replete with custom made KAC goodies we shall soon unveil). We would love to see our members participate more, and would love to hear their opinions, their views and their suggestions. KAC exists for it's members, and we hope you all are enjoying this joyride called KAC as much as I am.

BANZAI!

The April 2012 Kolkata Anime Club Meet

Date: 22nd April
Location: Reetam's house, Garia.
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This meet was originally supposed to be held at Mani Square, so that it's close to members from North Kolkata (for a change), but my (Reetam's) sudden decision to come to Kolkata helped the admins convince the others that having the meet at my place instead was a better idea. Of course, the turnout of this meet was not expected to be much, and having it so far down in South Kolkata didn't help things either. Still, we decided to go on ahead with the meet and hope for the best.

ADG was the first to arrive at my place on the day of the meet. I had to go out for a few hours, so I handed the keys over to him and left him in charge. By the time I came back, it was close to 1 PM, and I was greeted by a gaggle of ladies in my room, Sayanee and Nia and Aakansha. ADG went out to bring Roopkatha from her home around the same time.. Soon, Aesha arrived followed by ADG & Roopkatha and later, Nilakash. Sunny also landed up, surprisingly managing to find his way to my place on his own. I was also excited to hear that Abhishek Jain was gonna come to the meet (I don't think he had come to any meet since the 3rd KAC meet last year). This was also the first meet for Oishi (who came down with her dad whom we carted off to another room before continuing with our meet).

This meet probably had the shortest screening ever, with only an episode of Daily Lives of High School Boys was screened. Soon after, Sunny, Nilakash & ADG went out to get food (it was late afternoon by then) and the rest of us lazed around, too tired to do much in the heat. Roopkatha had to leave before lunch arrived since she had a curfew at home, but it was great to have her over, only if for a few hours, Sayanee went with her to accompany her to the bus-stand. They fetched Abhishek Jain from the bus-stop & brought him over. (Apparently) coincidentally, Promit made his arrival almost as soon as the food was brought.

                 Sunny the Hero                                          Them pretty ladies, Aakansha and Oishi

Lazing about on the terrace (Reetam, Aesha, Oishi and Nia)

The laziness continued post lunch. Oishi, unfortunately, also had to leave (she had a tuition to attend), but she gifted KAC an awesome hand drawn poster before she left. We didn't feel like watching any more anime at that time, so Nilakash and I decided to play some music. We didn't play any anime tracks, but it was a fun session nevertheless, and the other members seemed to have a good time too.

Nilakash takes KAC by storm

Awestruck members recording the performance (Promit, ADG, Aesha and Sayanee)

The meet was supposed to be wrapped up early since many of the members had other work, and once the music session was over, we decided to not waste much time and continue with our Anime quiz. This time around, Sayanee and I had prepared the questionnaire. Though most of the questions proved a little too tough for the members, we found Nia on a roll, answering one question after another, leaving her closest competitors far behind. The most fun part of the quiz was probably the Music round, where anime songs/OSTs were played and members were asked to recognise which anime it belonged to. This led to a lot of animated expressions and jumping and outrageous answers from the members, but it sure was a ton of fun. Nia, unsurprisingly, came out as the winner, and ADG was a distant 2nd. Nia claimed a Fate/Zero poster as her prize, and ADG a poster from Another.

 

Winners of the quiz

And with that, we were done with the meet. It was a fun meet as usual, but contrasted to the epic meet of Feb, this meet was kinda more toned down, and in many ways more intimate. There was not much planning done and we all kind of went with the flow. But it still turned out pretty awesome.

 

And it's group photo time!

 

The awesome poster that Oishi gifted us

Minutes from the meet:

• Oishi was the first timer to the meets, and wowed us with her drawing skills. Her thick note book filled with posters had all of us wide eyed in admiration. the Detective Conan poster that she gifted KAC was a beautiful piece of work.
• We found out that both Oishi and Roopkatha are classical singers. I could not convince either of them to sing a word, though.
• Nilakash was the other new member that we had in this meet. He turned out to have tastes similar to me in anime and in music. It was really fun playing with him, and I do hope we get to play a lot more in the future.
• This time around, Hizibizi stayed till the end of the meet. (It is always a surprise to see KACs resident pervmaster such a quiet and nice person IRL :)
• Sunny was awesome, since he treated everyone to free food (which, incidentally, was his birthday treat). :3

Kill Me Baby review

I was asked to write a review, so, here goes nothing. Unlike the other writers, I won't be breaking stuff up. You'll get the idea as we go on.I haven't been watching a lot of anime recently; however there were a couple of series that caught my attention.


Kill me Baby tells the heartwrenching story of one Yasuna, and her best friend, Sonya. Sounds pretty normal, doesn't it? Well, it is, until you find out that Sonya happens to be an assassin. Much to the chagrin of those around her, Sonya's assassination skills don't quite do what they're supposed to. As if that weren't bad enough, Sonya's joined by Agiri, a trained ninja, specialised in confusing people with elaborate 'ninjutsus'.

Now before we move on, I'd like to take a moment to state that comedy happens to be one of the most subjective things known to man; you might find it funny, rude, or even offensive. As such, writing a review for a comedy anime is quite a tough job. In addition, the animation for Kill Me Baby isn't top tier, it's one of JC Staff's side projects after all, but they do manage to squeeze laughs into every scene (Some of them have been copied directly from the 4koma strip, or so I've been told).

The story isn't anything new. If you've watched Mitsudomoe, you'll recognize the setting almost immediately. A funny airhead, an serious girl, and Sonya. (Sonya keeps reminding me of Mortal Kombat, aww yeah). The story's simple. Very, very simple. Character development is nearly 0 (which in fact, is a very good thing). No elaborate battles and stuff, yeah, you can put those arms down now, no charging spirit bombs over 10 episodes any more. I do feel a little bad over Yasuna breaking her wrists and neck, though :(

The soundtrack's okay, not too bad, the OP is kinda wtf, and the ED is well, catchy. The best part of the whole show, is the unused redhead, voiced by Kugimiya Rie. The world can use more of her. She's the best, seriously. All your VA's can lick Rie's feet. The BGM reminds me of my kindergarten days, which suits the show well.

All in all, KMB, isn't a bad anime. It's definitely suited for people who want a short and light anime to kill time with, without scowling at the screen every 30 seconds trying to figure out wth is going on and why that ninja fox in an orange suit's trying to grope that emo guy. It's childlike, that's all I can say about it.

Rating: (7+1)/10.
+1 thanks to Kugyuu. (I'd give +2, but the other guys would kill me)