What do you think of the Ongaku Blog v2.0?

Now that the new layout and the new plastic Ongaku logo are finally in place, I'd like to have your thoughts on the new changes... Also, a big thank you to Smashing Magazine for their amazing photoshop tutorials, and great logo and visual ideas... It helped me a lot throughout this whole creative process, and I hope it paid off. I also made a couple of others logo, which I might show you later on!

Please answer the poll:

New Layout, New Logo - New Beginnings

As some of you may have noticed, the last couple of weeks have been pretty intense for me and for my blog and ex-forums... I'd like to apologize for the lack of news and updates during those weeks... Most of you may have noticed that all the forum links and downloads have disappeared! Due to lack of time and irreconcilable differences with some of the forum team members, I had to part ways with the Ongaku Forums. So the Ongaku Forums is no longer... I was deeply saddened that it had to come to this, but it was the only way for me to move on, and to focus on my blog and my music without having to deal with unnecessary stress and unprofessionalism... I wish all the best to Senakunes and his team in their new endeavour, and thank them for the great times we had together at the forums!

Now that I've adressed the forum issue, let me tell you some of the things I have in store for the Ongaku blog of Anime Music. Despite my busy schedule, I spent the last week working on a new layout and a new Logo (so many hours spent in front of photoshop!!!). It should be ready in a few days, so keep your eyes open for the big changes... I hope you'll like them as much as I do! I've also been thinking about some great post ideas and new music. I'm still not sure if I'll be posting download links again though. I'll have to think about the pros and the cons...
Please tell me what you think about that!

See you again soon for some fresh contents and new updates...
Ryvius

Some updates on the Ongaku Blog...

Yes, I'm still alive... Sorry for not being very active these past few weeks. As some of you may know, I've just started working at my first job as a SEO consultant, so I haven't had much time for my blog. But I'll try to be more organized from now on, and write more regularly! There's been a lot of new shows and new music lately, so there's much to write about. I'm also working on recording my first anime piano composition, a tribute song to Yuki Kajiura in true kajiuran style...

And if you're wondering about the Ponyo picture for this post, here's the answer: Last week I saw it for the first time at the movies and it was so good! I can't wait to go back and see it. The music was amazing as I remembered it. Thank you Joe!!!

Ongaku Blog - The 100K Milestone!

It only feels like yesterday, when I was announcing (at the end of January) that my blog had reached 50 000 visitors (here). Now I'm proud to announce that the Ongaku - World Of Anime Music blog has reached the next level with 100 000 visitors. The past few months have shown a snowball effect for this blog, and there's been a rapid increase of daily visitors...

So I'd like to give a big and warm thank you to all the people that are supporting me and reading my blog! (Thank you Madi for the beautiful 100K picture!)

In other Ongaku related news, the forums are also doing quite well, with its 2 000 members (and counting)! We even have a TOP SECRET project that's currently in beta thanks to our forums expert Senakunes!!

So thank you for joining the Ongaku forums everyone!!

Ryvius

Disillusions - My Current State of Mind...

As some of you may have noticed, I haven't been posting for a couple of days. The reason is that I've been feeling a bit down these past two weeks. The picture perfectly describes my current state of mind...

I'm not used to discussing private or personal feelings on this blog, but please bear with me, since this has to do with my blog... These past few weeks, I've been feeling kind of disenchanted by the whole virtual and blog world. I guess that's what happens when you give a lot of your time away, work hard and then start receiving some negative feedback, backlash and rude comments. Maybe I'm being a little oversensitive, but I only just started out in the "anime blogging world" a couple of months ago, so this is all new to me... I knew beforehand that having a website involves trolls, people with bad intentions and jealousy, but I had never thought I would be getting caught up in it this soon.

What some people tend to forget is my motives for having an anime music blog. This is JUST a hobby for me. I do not have any ulterior motives or bad intentions... I am only blogging about anime music, because I want to share my passion for anime music, and help people discover the things I like. And I am NOT gaining anything from it. People also don't realize the kind of amount of work that this all represents. I've been lucky enough to be able to build a great community with the help of amazing people in just a few months, so this all means a lot to me.

Now that I've explained why I do this, here are some ground rules I'd like to set for my website:
1. If you don't like this blog, just don't read it!
2. If you want to diss me or argue with me, do it in a constructive and polite way! A lot of people tend to forget the most basic rules of politeness when they're on the internet. I always try to answer to negative comments, so don't run away and be cowardly when I ask you to explain yourselves. I'm always open for discussions!
3. If you want to give me some advice concerning my website, or anything else, please tell it to me in a civilized way, so I can understand it's advice. And always argue your views please!

You'll find the rest in the Disclaimer I added to the right side of my blog.

Ryvius

Latest Downloads at the Ongaku Forums

Here's a little update on the latest downloads available at the Ongaku Forums of Anime Music:

• [DISCOGRAPHY] Nirgilis
• [ALBUM] Eufonius - metafysik
• [ALBUM] Eufonius - Subarashiki Sekai
• [ALBUM] Rosario to Vampire IDOL COVER BEST
• [OST] Kemeko Deluxe!
• [OST] To Aru Majutsu no Index
• [ALBUM] ALI PROJECT: Keikan Shijin
• [REMIX ALBUM] Jazzin' for Ghibli
• [REMIX ALBUM]Ghibli of life
• [ALBUM] Samurai Champloo Music Record ~ Departure
• [VIDEO] Joe Hisaishi Ghibli Live Concert 2008

So why wait?? A lot of other downloads are available in the "Anime Music Downloads" Section. Come and join us now and register here!!

New Milestone at the Ongaku Forums - 600 Members!

This is going all so fast!!! Already 600 Members at the Ongaku Forums of Anime Music!!! Thank you very much to everyone who has joined our awesome community... Please register hereif you haven't already joined the forums!

Meet the fantastic Ongaku Forums staff:

Senakunes, The Portal Expert.
Our resident Tech God!!! It's thanks to his awesome godly tech powers that the Ongaku Forums are even possible. He's the one doing all the hard work, hehe...

Fairchild, Head Moderator.
You've probably met her already by now... She's a longtime reader of my blog and I'm also blessed to have her as co-author, writing some articles for the blog. Not only is she very active here, but thanks to her dedication and hard work, she's also the Head of the Ongaku Forums Moderation Team.

MadiZor, Moderator.

Madi is the youngest Team member, but that doesn't mean she hasn't got any skills... She's our resident Cook, Photographer, Sketch Artist and more...

MrB, Moderator.

MrB is a also a long time reader of this blog, and a former Cbox Addict, hehe... So it was only natural to have someone as dedicated as him on board of our team! He's also got some very developed relationship and dating counseling skills, in case any of you need help...

Danchou, Moderator.

He's the latest addition to our team. He's our American Anime Guru and he's very helpful in creating great new topics in the forums... And he also speaks fluently Japanese...

Ryvius, Your humble servant/Anime Music God.
Nothing much to say about this jerk here... xD!

More than 200 Members in the Ongaku-World of Anime Music Forums

The Ongaku Team (Fairchild, Senakun and me, Ryvius) is proud to announce that we have reached more than 200 forum members in less than 2 weeks! That's pretty cool! Thank you very much to all the people that have joined us... We are all having a lot of fun in the forums...

We have a lot of songs and OSTs available, the latest ones are:

• Michiko To Hatchin OST
• Joe Hisaishi - Studio Ghibli Concert 2008
• Zoku Natsume Yūjin-Chō OP - Ano HiTime Machine
• Toaru Majutsu no Index OP2 Single - masterpiece
• NIRGILIS-BOY

We also have a lot of games going on (From which anime am I?-pictures, and lyrics games), and threads with Japanese lessons as well as Japanese cooking lessons...

SO DON'T MISS OUT ON ALL THE FUN! JOIN HERE NOW...

Exclusive New Anime Music Downloads at the Ongaku Forums!

As I've been saying these past few days, now that we have great new forums, all the anime music downloads will be added to the "anime music downloads" section of the Ongaku forums. This way, it will be easier for all the readers of this blog to get their anime music fix without having to search for hours... There is also an "anime music requests" section in the forums for all of those who are looking for anything specific.

Also, from now on, I'll be adding all the download links on the forums, before I even write about the songs or OSTs in the blog. And there will also be a lot of exclusive downloads on the forums, with songs or albums that I don't necessarily write about in the blog. You are all of course welcome to contribute to the download section of the forums by adding your download links of your own...

Here's what we already have in the download section of the forums:

• [ALBUM] Kaiba OST
• [ALBUM] Toradora! Original Soundtrack
• [ALBUM] Ponyo On A Cliff OST (♥♥♥♥♥ Amazing)
  
• [ALBUM] Ponyo On A Cliff Image Album
• [SINGLE] Druaga no Tou ~the Sword of URUK~ ED Single
• [SINGLE] Druaga no Tou ~the Sword of URUK~ OP Single
• [ALBUM] Code Geass Complete Best
• [SINGLE] White Album ED Single - Maiochiru Yuki no You ni
• [SINGLE] Toradora! ED2 Single - Orange [Various]
• [SINGLE] Asu no Yoichi OP Single - Egao no Riyuu (meg rock)
• [SINGLE] Kodomo no Jikan 2 Gakki OP Single - Guilty Future
• [ALBUM] Kara no Kyoukai OST 5
• [TV-size] Gundam 00 S2 ED2 - Trust You by Yuna Ito
• [SINGLE] Toradora! OP2 Single - silky heart by Yui Horie
• [SINGLE] Gintama OP6 - Anata MAGIC by monobright
• [SINGLE] BLEACH OP9 - Velonica by Aqua Timez

Now that you have no excuse not to join the forums, REGISTER HERE ASAP!!!

Exclusive New Feature: THE ONGAKU FORUMS HAVE OPENED

Hi everyone! Today I told you, I was going to make a big announcement, so here it is: I'm officially retiring from the blog and anime music world... No, just kidding! We're taking this blog to the next level, and opening the new ONGAKU-THE WORLD OF ANIME MUSIC FORUMS. Cbox is slowly starting to show its limits, so this is the best way to start a new community with cool people... I'd like to say a big thank you to Senakunes who is hosting the forums, and did all the work himself, including the banners, forum sections layout, options, you name it, everything... Thanx for all the hard work, it really paid off!

So please register here, and once you're a part of the Forums, don't forget to introduce yourself in the Introduction section... There's also much more: you can talk about anything anime, manga or music related, also post your own music covers, fanworks and drawings, and talk about general things too...

I hope I'll see many of you there, so we can have real conversations for a change (sorry Cbox...)!

New Banner for the Ongaku Blog - The World of Anime Music

2 Days ago, as I was raving on about my 50 000 visitors-Milestone, I mentioned a few surprises coming up. Here's a small one, I'm not sure if it actually counts as one, but let's be a little pompous for a change...

I have a new Blog Banner thanks to Senakun from Senakunes.com. I hope you guys like it! And soon, I'll have a big announcement to make, so stay tuned...

Ongaku, The World of Anime Music - A New Milestone!

50 000 visitors! I'm proud to announce a new milestone for the Ongaku Blog of Anime Music! This blog has just passed 50 000 visitors (yesterday morning)! My initial expectations for the blog have been far surpassed. Thanks to everyone... especially the loyal readers who come here every day, also to everybody who leaves interesting comments, and of course other bloggers generous enough to link here every now and then. WOW! I am so amazed at how many of you come to visit my blog daily!

I feel like I've accomplished so much already since September the 28th, when I first created this blog. And I've still got plenty of ideas for this site, so be ready for more... Just last week for example, I had the chance to welcome a new author to my blog: Fairchild! (thank you so much). I also have more surprises coming up in the near future, so stay tuned...

Fairchild here, yoroshiku!

Hello everyone, you've probably seen me around and now, the time to invade the World of Anime Music has arrived!

I really am privileged to be writing some posts from hereon. It's all thanks to the amazing Ryvius for allowing me some space in here. I was really excited when he asked me to! I'm a huge fan of his piano covers for random anime tracks and we share the same love for goddess Yuki Kajiura whose music is par excellence and that's great!

I am admin to Fairchild's Raging Domain and blogging has been one of my obsessions lately. Through this media, I've got to unleash the other side of me, the kid in me who's an anime freak and a manga addict (though I've been trying to keep my fangirlings at bay! :P). Being here, in the same way unveils another side of me who appreciates music in its many forms!

Since I still have so much to learn from the Master Ongaku, please take care of me till then okay? I'll do my best!

Alright, now let's get down to business! c",)

New Blog Feature added!

Some of you have probably noticed already, but today I added a new Youtube Google gadget to my blog. It's on the right side, just underneath my welcome message. I called it my piano videos. I basically embedded my Youtube Channel, so you can directly have access to all my piano videos from that widget! Tell me what you think about this feature...

Mediafire Issues

I've been having some issues with Mediafire, some of my files have disappeared. If you can't download a file, please report back in the comments section, and I'll upload it again.
I think I'm going to use Megaupload againg for a while!

New posts are coming soon...

Happy New Year 2009!

Happy New Year 2009 from all of the staff here at the "Ongaku-The World of Anime Music" blog (well actually that's just me, if you don't count my many multiple personalities...)!
Thank you to all the regular and non-regular readers of this blog! It's been 3 months now that I've started this blog and I really didn't expect to have so many visitors in such a short time span. So thank you again to all those 34,468 visitors! I've really worked my ass off for this blog, so I'm pretty satisfied to be getting such positive feedback. And any negative feedback or comments are welcome... They will help me improve this blog. So if you have any ideas or just comments, try the shout box or any comment sections. I try to reply to every single one of them!

Since creating this blog I've met (virtual meaning of course) really nice people as well as great supporters such as Fairchild (check out her awesome blog), Ga Rei Zr0, Avenger, Dxj, Connie, Kamen, Riene, Lydel, Shawnz and many others I'm sure I forgot... I've also discovered some amazing music, and been able to create some music of my own (check out all my Videos here...). I hope that I've been able to inspire some people with this blog. Even one person is enough for me!

I hope to see you all next year, and be sure to except lots of music, games, news, piano covers and some surprises... I have a lot in store for this blog!

PS: I'm going away for a few days and I won't have any internet connection, so don't worry if I don't reply right away! I'll be back January the 5th!

What day are we today??

Ongaku Christmas Changes

Since Christmas is just around the corner, I felt compelled to add some color and some snow effects to my blog. I hope you (and your CPU) like it...

And Merry Christmas to all of you out there!

Thank you!!

A big Thank You to all the readers of Ongaku - The World of Anime Music. I've reached 10 000 visitors on my blog in just over a month. So thank you for all your support. If you have any suggestions or questions, you're welcome to use either the shoutbox on the right sidebar, or the comments under each post... Give me your feedback!

A mp3 version of my piano covers!

Some people have requested an mp3 version of my youtube piano covers. It's always nice to have a few fans, so here are the mp3 versions of my piano covers. The sound quality however is the same as in the youtube videos, so it doesn't sound professional at all. I'm really sorry for that, but I'll be recording these songs again with a real mic this time instead of just my webcam. So I'll keep you all posted!

Sato Naoki - Sprinting Spirits (Eureka Seven)- Youtube version
Yuki Kajiura - Everlasting Song (Erementar Gerad)- Youtube version
Yuki Kajiura - Hoshi Ga Kanaderu Monogatari (Mai Otome)- Youtube version
Yoko Kanno - Ao no Ether (Macross Frontier)- Youtube version