Original.Tough.Adaptable.Keen.Unique

I love that song. The song by Sugar, Real Identity. It's a really neat song, and the video that goes with it is possibly the most awesome mix ever.

Now then, on to the "elephant" in the blog, Christmas. For those of you who don't celebrate it, or have taken enough crap for it, just wait til next week and the newest post. I'm just here to say that it's not overrated, it's underrated. I'm not talking about shopping or any of the material baggage that comes with it, it's just a holiday whose meaning we have really lost sight of. It's a shame to think we can actually celebrate this holiday without thinking about why it's there in the first place.

Before anyone asks what I got for Christmas, I'll tell them that I got the greatest gift. Peace. Finally after a long time, I woke up this morning and I didn't have a headache, my eyes didn't hurt, my legs weren't sore. I just felt really great. It was icing to the great cake I call Christmas. Normally Hindus and Buddhists like myself don't celebrate Christmas, but it's always been a longstanding tradition in my household to honor those who shaped our country, and yes, most of the world. In an awefully shallow world, I felt like I've had a deep moment. *single tear*

Now on to the great news, Windows Vista finally WORKS!! Yay! After like months of a shiz-nizzy computer, it's finally got its balls in order and Vista is going strong. I spent all day troubleshooting. But whatever, this is a great present to myself. Awesome! This year, I think I've found my own "Real Identity".

Merry Christmas, folks!

Alright, here's a dirty little secret I've kept. I'm a c-walker. No, not a CRIP walker, but a CLOWN walker. Now don't go runnin away, because you think I'm in a gang or something... I know, what type of otaku does this? Well a person who's not an otaku. I'm not OTAKU. Here are a list of moves in the clownwalk, which shall henceforth be known as cwalk. I'll go in the order you learn them.

1. V
2. V Variation
3. V Stepback
4. Shuffle
5. Shuffle Hop
6. Shuffle Spin
7. Shuffle Stepback
8. Heelhop
9. Heeltoe
10. Inverted/Reverse Heeltoe
11. Snake Heeltoe
12. Air Heeltoe
13. Heeltoe Combo

13, yes, baker's dozen moves to learn before you can say you can cwalk. I'm on number 12. Here are 2 videos of me cwalking. It's not like I'm very good in these vids. They were taken a few weeks ago, and I've gotten soooo much better.

After 3 weeks and no new post, by which time you probably assumed I was dead, I have made a triumphant return. To point out some figures, I've got an arsenal of 254 manga now [2 more than when I last posted], 3 anime series, and 30 bucks worth of gift cards in a pear tree. Just kidding about the last one.

Here we are at last in the final run for your money. The last chance to grab those gifts. The last days in which we run around malls for hours on end only to buy like $20 worth of stuff. Right at this moment, I LOVE YOU BABY blasting and all, I realise that it's all worth it. This one day that no one really appreciates. When the procrastinators come out and prowl. December 23rd. A day everybody just forgets. Stuck between the beginning of the end of the holiday shopping season, December 20th [when all the schools let out, too] and the biggest shopping day of the year [face it even the folks who started in October go out this day], December 24th. I personally believe even the procrastinators cover their bases and go out on the 23rd. Well, let's pray that they do. The congestion's killing me.

Well.... yeah, that's what's going on with me. On December 14th [it was a Friday, I believe] I recieved a Christmas present for myself. At $1.99 a pop [plus 3.99 shipping *grumble*] in other words, 5.88 a pop, I recieved vols. 1 and 2 of Suki by CLAMP. Sounds familiar? Probably not this book went out of print back in 2005 I think. Great story, but unfortunately vol. 3 [the last volume] is $6.XX in other words, I'll be spending like $11 on that, which I really don't want to. Even though it's probably totally worth it. I also bought the Deluxe Edition of the Harry Potter 5 movie. Let's see if I can get any manga or anime for Christmas, today or tomorrow.

It's Sunday morning, and I don't think I could be at more peace. But unfortunately, my morning's coming to an end, it's almost noon. And so my day of disaster, and shopping, will begin. Lastly, I leave you with a Merry Pre-Christmas Shopping Bonanza!

Huzzah for non-denominational holidays. It's a shame this isn't one of them. LOL, just kidding!

---BTW, the timing's wrong on the posts, right now it's actually 11:59 AM. Just in time for the morning!

While watching Gone in 60 Seconds, yes that old movie from like 7 years ago [has it really been that long...?], I decided to finally write the Nodame Cantabile review. Nodame Cantabile, a series written by Tomoko Ninomiya revolves around the life of Chiaki Shinchi, a classical music-major college student with an impossible fear of flying which disables him from studying abroad where all the greatest musicians and composers teach. The basic plot is about his troubles with what he should do with his life. He wants to be a conductor, but he's a piano major. He wants to study abroad but he's afraid of flying. He wants to graduate peacefully, but there's Nodame. Enter Megumi Noda, another second-year college student who majors in piano. According to Chiaki, she has no talent nor any direction in life, which is a problem for him, since they got paired up to play a duet. Wait, rewind, I'll start from the beginning. Superstar musician Chiaki Shinchi is the top student at his music university. He aspires to become a great conductor like his role model Maestro Sebastiano Viera and is already on his way by become a great violin and piano player. One day, he gets into a rift with his teacher, the top piano teacher at his university, and gets kicked out of his class. He then gets reassigned to a new teacher who is supposedly supposed to only work with the "problem" students. One of this new teacher's students is Megumi Noda, a weird girl who's a brilliant piano player. In the first volume, Nodame and Chiaki have to play a duet as part of their class... which is difficult since Chiaki's all follow the music.... EXACTLY. And Nodame's quite the opposite, play what you feel! After that whole episode we can see how this story goes, wonderfully well, with a basic theme of music, and a dramatic plotline, that actually has a legitimate basis here and there. Not your usual shojo with big eyes and whatnot. It's simplistic artwork makes the series easily identifiable, but then there are those times when it looks a bit TOO plain. Translation and all is great as is expected from Del Rey. Presentation is really great, I love that glossy cover. Overall, this is a great series if you're not really the uber-romance type.

Here are the pics I promised yesterday. The box itself was pretty heavy [about 18 lbs], but once you took the manga out, it was soooo light. Along with the pictures comes a narrative of my life.

First, the box came. Rather quickly too, only took 3 days to get to my place [from the time of shipping]

Here's the whole set [which was wrapped BTW]

And some extras that came with it [the registration card, a Naruto card & a booklet with the first chapter of vol. 28 & the first one-shot story]

Here's my lucky number [211 of 5000] which is weird since I saw a blog post about 2 weeks ago that stated that theirs was number 25XX out of 5000...

Here are the poster that came with them


The two boxes

And finally the whole set.

I just received the Naruto Shadow Box by VIZ in the mail today [around 2.00 PM]. It has all 27 volumes of the first story arc, a HUGE box, a wooden case, and then an "outer shell". It also has a booklet that comes with an original story & the first chapter of the SHIPPUDEN. Which is great since that comes out in March '08. I'll post pictures later. The Puffing Tom has been been updated too, check it out.

This Sunday, my family went shopping for some presents. We bought clothes, perfume, and most importantly books. I bought Hanazakari to Kimitachi He [Hana-Kimi] vol. 20 [yes, finally!],Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle vol. 15 Nodame Cantabile vol. 1 [a review which will come later...] and a one-shot manga, Kedamono Damono vols. 1 & 2. Kedamono Damono is only 2 volumes, published by TokyoPop and both volumes have been released as of this date. So no more. This manga is written by Haruka Fukushima, the author of one of my favorite series, Instant Teen! I'll do my best to review this one. It's been released for about 2 months now, so... yeah, I'm kinda late, but it's something you should look into... or is it? Read on to find out!

Story
Konatsu, the manager of a basketball team likes one guy who plays on the team. She confides in another player, Haruki, a shy boy who seems to be a cool guy. Later that day, Konatsu goes to change and a mysterious girl pantses her. Embarrased, she demands to know who this girl is. Much to her surprise, the girl introduces herself as Haruki! She then goes on to explain that by day, she is a shy guy, but at night she turns into a pervy girl. Kewlie! Gender-benderation! Now, a lot of manga like this have some form of Yaoi/Yuri, usually just a little bit considering how the gender crossing one's "normal form" is that of being the opposite sex of the one s/he likes. Get it? Not really... Well this one goes straight into the yuri label. Girl Haruki [now shall be known as G.H.] is a lot more aggresssive than the B.H. [boy Haruki]. So there's a lot of Girl-Girl action going on, which isn't a bad thing, but sometimes it goes to the extent that's kind of uncomfortable. That's an unfortunate thing considering how this story is pretty good. It's like one moment, something happens, usually Konatsu is wondering whether B.H. really likes her, and if it's only G.H. that likes her, then the next page they end up kissing. It's really abrupt and kinda annoying at times, since the story doesn't have much flow in the second volume. OK, we got it, they can kiss. Now then... moving on. The way this story ends is really disappointing. It ends very abruptly, and for some reason, there's a "To Be Continued in Volume 3" but there is no volume 3, so what's up with that? There's an extra story in the second volume, so that was good. But other than just being a really fanservice-y 2-volume fling, it's not much. This story only gets 6/10.

Pros: Great short series to keep around for those days that you're reallllllly bored. Nice artwork, and great scenes.

Cons: Yuri to the uncomfortable extent and doesn't end very well.

Haha-Update
It turns out that there really will be a volume 3... when I don't know, but it's advertised on TokyoPop's webpage [after all the trouble I went to on Wikipedia too...] But then again, Suki Dakara Suki is still advertised inspite of going out of print.

It's been a while since I posted a topic relevant to graphic design so I thought I'd make one. I just recently [today] made a signature tutorial featuring one of my favorite creations. I've only posted this on a few sites, so feel special! BTW, Thanksgiving & Black Friday is coming up, so I'll write something about that later. This tutorial is about 500x10528 pxls, so don't fall asleep while reading it~ Well, edit that, I decided to spare you [and myself] and I linked it. 10,000 pixels takes up about a third of all my blog entries to this date. Happy Life~

LINKAGE

Ah, I feel so special. Yesterday, I hit B&N and to my surprise, I found Fruits Basket 18. Cool, huh? I got it let's see.... 3 days before release! Coolio! Well anyways, as a recap, in the last book a few things happened:

1) Yuki wants Tohru as a mother [wait no, that's book 1, nevermind]
2) Isuzu Rin was trying to find a way to break the curse
3) Kureno already broke the curse
4) Holy **8*, Akito's a girl!

Alright, now that shock's over, I've got to say that book 18 is a tad bit disappointing compared to book 17. Book 18 does have the same amount of plot developments, but volume 17 had something that 18 didn't. Oh, that's right, it had a very-rare-until-this-point thing called Akito backstory plot development. No wonder I got bored reading the other 16 books. The first thing you'll see in this book are a couple of side stories which focus on Yuki's development with other women besides his mother [and Tohru, of course], like Machi and her problem with a rumor going around about how she tried to kill her little brother. In spite of the little developments between Yuki and other people, volume 18's plot development is almost entirely focused on Isuzu Rin, which is good, since we never got to see her much except for the cover of book 13 and her and Hatsuharu's little... ehr, fling. While the book does focus on the family curse, we actually get to see how people outside of the curse, but still in the Sohma family feel about things like Akito and how she treats others and whatnot. There's also a little bit from Ren, Akito-chan's mummy! Go to your local book joint and pick up a copy of Furuba 18! It's one more volume towards the truth about the Sohma family curse!

Del Rey has a lot of great manga. A LOT of great manga. But there are also their manga that aren't so popular. My Heavenly Hockey Club is one of them. Like a lot of Del Rey releases, the translation is good, there's no editing [as if there was anything to be edited] always fun to read. In My Heavenly Hockey Club, author Ai Morinaga blends in the elements of humorand above all, it's and a tiny bit of hinted romance to create a silver in the rough.

The story is about lazy Hana Suzuki. There are only two things in her world, eating and sleeping. The story revolves around her and this hockey club. She encounters the leader when he almost runs her over [with his car] and she quickly jumps out of the way. Seeing how well her reflexes were, he decided to get her to join the Hockey club. That... and he thought she was cute. Unfortunately for him, she turned out to only like food and sleep. She was unmotivated to do anything and that was a problem for them, which turned out to be the comedic motif for this story. Basically put, this story is about the hockey club trying there best to live and hang out without getting shut down or anything like that.

Volume 1: If you've ever read a shoujo manga before, you know that there's a distinct feature about it that is always there. It's always some form of harem. In this case it's similar to Bisco Hatori's Ouran High School Host Club, being a reverse harem. For those of you who don't know, a harem is when there is a male character in a situation where there are many female characters. A reverse harem is the opposite, one female and many males. Volume 1 will hold your attention, but it does slip off in the later chapters which basically show where this manga is going. Nowhere. From what I can see in Vol. 1, get this manga if you really like shoujo, or you're really bored with other ones. Ai Morinaga does give you some scenes and elements that aren't really there in other shoujo, but it's not as worth it in the first volume. Keep getting volume after volume, and this story might go somewhere.

Volume 2: I picked up this volume a few weeks ago under the impression that this was a cute manga, and I should really give it a chance. I was wrong. Well, I was also right, too. Very much like the first volume, the story goes on about there various adventures including trying to find an opponent to not get shut down and all. The story is basically the same, except volume 1 had a little bit more plot development. I can' see where this story is going, but it'll it's sure worth your buck on a rainy day.

All in all, this book is worth it, but also not at the same time. Don't bother if you ain't got the money.

I know it's a bit early to start with this, but what the heck? Everyone else is doing it. As we all know Christmas season usually starts from the end of November and ends somewhere in the first week of January. The mark of the beginning is usually Thanksgiving, and more specifically, the wholesale holiday known as Black Friday. Three years ago a tradition started, a very bad, annoying tradition. It was the unfortunate beginning of the extended Christmas season. For some reason, people started to think that they should start their Christmas shopping before Halloween. There are a few flaws with this plan:

~ Presents sit in your house for 2 months [while you resist using them...]
~ Around 75% of the time, you won't get your best deal. Retailers give that false sense of security, knowing that you spent 150 bucks on something that's 200 bucks. Come a week before Christmas, the price is down to 100 bucks. *hehe, suckaZ!*
~ Prices tend to drop at the end of the season.
~ Newer/better electronics come out at the last quarter of the season.

All of that, and it's really annoying to see some lame-o, random, and manic couple buying gifts in a mall that's filled with Christmas decorations.... on October 25th!

THANKS FOR READING! TUNE IN NEXT WEEK [or whenever] WHEN I FINISH THAT MONEY-SAVIN' GUIDE!

Are you having trouble amassing that collection you wanted? Then here's a guide for you. I'll give you some tips on how to get that dream in 5 easy tips. Through these

1. SALES
You heard it, the big S word of shopping, sales. Go to Best Buy, Suncoast, FYE, and I almost guarantee that they'll have a sale going on. Now getting off your butt and doing some old-fashioned shopping is good for health and all, but without ripping your heart [and your wallet] out, you could try and go for online sales. Online prices are almost guaranteed to be less. Whether you buy "Normal Price" or at a discounted rate [like at RightStuf International] you will almost always get a discount. Here's a snapshot of the price for the Spiral DVD Boxset from RightStuf

That's roughly a 69% discount.

2. Buying Used & New
I know I'm just repeating myself here, but the second tip is to shop online. Amazon is probably the best thing ever invented in the world of book collecting.
Here's an example of how to save with online stuff: buying Used and [nearly] New books.

For this book, I can buy it at $9.31 or at $4.99 + 3.99 [S&H] I know that totals around 9 dollars, but still we're saving pennies, why don't we check out this one which is even less? This is the book SUKI by Clamp. TokyoPop stopped distributing this some time ago, but does that mean we can't get it? Sure we can! and for a discount price too.
Am I the only one loving this stuff? Yea, it's awesome

3. Coupons
Now you don't see these every day, but Borders has them, Barnes and Noble has them, BAM has them, all the places have them, it's up to you to find them. Take up one of those "free memberships" and that'll save you a lot. Here's a free one from BORDERS: 20% Just so ya know, it expires in about a week.
Well.... now to go and think of the rest 2 tips. I mean, time for a break, tune in next week for the next 2 tips as well as a preview look at my current collection, and how I got there.

That is your look at the FUNimation dub of One Piece. I'd write a full-length review, but I don't have the time now... But I'll do it tomorrow.

Today was an auspicious day. For the Jewish, it was Rosh Hashanah. For the gentiles, though, it was just another day. Today I received some ordered anime, Kannazuki no Miko. Which, to my surprise, turned out to be a yuri anime. Now, I just entered a contest, and I won this as a prize. Now, it's about 30 bucks on Amazon, so I should be happy, right? It's FREE anime. But... it's yuri. I'm not a guy, so I don't like yuri so much. Aside from that quick bit of ShizNat in My-HiME episode 25 [which I own on DVD, by the way] my life has been relatively free of any yuri. But when I saw episode 1, well, what can I say? There was the slightest bit of yuri-ness at the end of the episode. SO NOT My-HIME! It was... weird to say. Now the plot's actually interesting, so nothing against that. If you're lookin for a good mecha, and don't mind yuri, this is good for you. It came in, the words of Eric Henrickson, "an Utena-esque package." That, for the most part was true. Picture Time!
[I know, bad image quality.... It's a picture of my boxset on my lovely carpet!]

[A picture of my bookshelf/TV stand, which makes about 30% of my collection]
[I really need to take better pictures.]

Holy Crappers! Tomorrow's Friday! In other news, school started and I ran for Freshman Class President. I lost. To a black kid, which of course would happen. But I'm glad, now that I think about it, I'm not cut out for that work.

I just finished my first week of school. And that is a big thing considering how it's my first year of High School. All my classes are kind of lame... I have Drama [my elective] first thing in the morning. Next is US History, which is kind of interesting on account of my teacher, who has like ADD or something [not in a bad way...] Then I have Team Sports [it's the equivalent to your P.E.] and lunch after. Not really interesting. I sit with Seniors, they don't really mind, they talk to me sometimes, though I'm usually talking to my friends. Right after I have Algebra, then Japanese I. Japanese class in interesting, since I'm actually learning something I don't know. We even learn how to make origami. Then it's my favorite class, Biology 9. And we end the day with a mellow English Honors. WHOO! Have a great school year. Go class of 2011!

While at a routine outing to Barnes and Noble booksellers, I happened across Alive: The Final Evolution vol. 1. Written by Tadashi Kawashima and published by Del Rey manga, I couldn't really expect anything less than an above average story. Fortunately for me, the story was better than I expected. Much better.


Pt. 1 THE STORY
What makes a good manga? The story. The artwork, the characters, the style, it's all COMPLEMENTARY. What makes a book good, is the story. Most of the manga I read have generic plotlines, but also have something else that distracts you from that. In the case of Welcome to NHK or Genshiken, the plotline was odd, so were the characters, the style, etc. That's why it's such a good manga! Same thing for something like Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, it's a reverse harem. Keyword: Reverse. It's not normal and generic, it's different and creative. Now take for example something like Maburaho, it's not exactly best manga/anime series out there, but it's pretty good. You could say it's mediocre, which is what it is. It's just a harem story, and that's all it is. That is the reason why I tend to read books that nobody else reads, because they're different and usually don't have a generic plotline. And Alive vol. 1 is no exception. The story is interesting and captivating, the characterts are free of cliche. And, let's not forget, the biggest thing here, the plot is unpredictable, but not in a bad way. Props to Tadashi Kawashima, he made a really good concept for this series. Currently, the series is on it's 12th book in Japan.

Pt. 2: Complementaries
As mentioned in the previous part, complementaries are what make a story good. Love Hina and Mahou Sensei Negima, 2 of the great Akamatsu's works, are not generic, but they wouldn't be half as popular unless they had Akamatsu's touch. It's because of his style that he is an international author. He can relate to anybody, and so can his characters. The characters in Alive are by far, some of the most sophisticated set of characters. There's our main lead male, Taisuke. His best friend, a girl, and his other good friend, a child who gets bullied, are not your usual characters either. His sister is by far the most practical character, maybe because she's an adult. The artwork is kind of plain, but that gives it such a charm especially when contrasted to series like Full Moon or other series with complex art styles.

Pt. 3: Promise
Does this series have promise? Well that depends, we have to weigh the pros and cons. All the pros are listed in the parts above, so we'll just skip those. One bad thing is that the story may have told itself already. In the beginning chapter, there is a small excerpt of two people... er, things talking. They tell about how there's human life on earth. Okay, big deal, now we know what's going to happen. Now we know what's going on and where the virus is coming from. The story has an excellent concept, but how would that be carried out if, in a mere two pages, we were already told what was going to happen? Personally, that ticked me off a bit and brought the main part of this review down. As for the question, I'd say that the series does, if there's 12 books, then why wouldn't there be? It should be a loooong time before we can judge if the series is truly worthwhile or a waste of time.

Pt. 4: Presentation
Presentation is based on how it was presented and how the publisher did. I am a BIG fan of Del Rey manga, with great titles [that are mainly long series], you have to have a good translation. And I think Del Rey did a great job with it. The presentation is top notch, with the glossy cover and minimal number of advertisements in the back, as well as in-depth translation notes [as said on cover :D].

Story : 9/10
Complementaries : 8/10
Promise : 7/10
Presentation : 10/10
OVERALL SCORE: 8.5/10
GET THIS BOOK! It's gonna be worth your while for the most part. But if you don't have time or money to spend on books excessively, this book can go on your wait list.

I started doing a bit of Lineart. Reason being, a group in KF started manga coloring and I decided to join them, but it was too.... long of a process. So I just decided to do isolated images, here's my first *complete one. Which I put at the bottom because it's too big for the top....
Sorry if it doesn't fit in the page, hehe.


And here are a few more that I made, smaller in size but probably harder...

Now that I've watched all of theanime and read some of the manga of My-HiME and My-Otome, I've decided to step up my fandom and read My-HiME Destiny. Looks quite interesting, I wonder if they'll make an anime.

The scanlated chapters can be found here, thanks MakiMaki
Mai-HiME Destiny @ MakiMaki

It's been a bit over two weeks since my last post and a lot has happened. For starters, my summer finally started rolling with an impromptu vacation, thanks to my parents' skill at getting things done in an amazingly short time. In truth and actuality, I have been having a hard time coping with the fact that I'd have to miss an episode of my wonderful Kiddy Grade, but it seems I can't do much about it. *sniffle

Anyways, my parents finally got the news that you need a visa to fly into the Dominican Republic, unfortunately, time was not on their side, it was the day before the trip was scheduled. We raced to the embassy and filed a visa. So now we were going. I quickly packed my bags that night and we headed off to our vacation the next morning. At 6 AM. Now that was hell on earth. When we came back, all was well. Our house was left undisturbed, and we had a lot of mail waiting for us. As well as newspapers. In the mail came my registration for my old school, but I skipped a grade, so I don't much need that, do I? Along came the movie 'Otaku Unite' which I won from a giveaway. What a pleasant surprise. Now I have something to watch. Huzzah!

Still on my way to achieving self-actualization and anime fandom, I will watch this movie and learn. What it means to be a true Otaku.

I should write a book. :)

~Kagurazaka

Ty on SI is collaborating with me to create a new website. I'm creating the front page right now. It's called Death Brawls Prime as I believe and it's the website to go with our forum. Once I find a good theme to go with it, I'll get it set up. That means I'll be busy as hell.

In other nonchalant news, I've gotten a new haircut, once I get a decent picture, I'll put it up.

I just started listening to a bit of JPOP after watching a few AMVs. I was watching a Naruto AMV with the song 'Game' by Ayumi Hamasaki, it's quite addicting.

Get this widget | Share | Track details

In another 4 weeks, schools will be flooded with students. Morning traffic will worsen once again due to the sudden number of big yellow school buses teaming the streets. But this year will not be the same for me. Instead of waking up at 5AM to catch a bus that doesn't even stop at my house, I can wake up at 7 for a bus that comes to my house at 7.45AM. THANK GOD for public school. I can finally rest in peace. I can go to sleep at 10 knowing I'll have 9 hours of sleep.

But as summer is ending, so is my time as a middle-school student. I'll be propelled into a sea of high-school students, where the only thing that differentiates me is my age. And by 1 year no less. I'll be behind everybody but ahead of them at the same time. The scary demon of a school year is also my salvation from private school hell. The contrasts are abundant, but they also make up what I'll be seeing and experiencing. I don't know what to do. But then again, I know what exactly I should do.

Due to a faulty mod control for the prizes in our competitions, Shonen Island has moved to an IPB board located here. Since this happened only recently the site is still under construction, but we are accepting new members. But do not be surprised of frequent changes of templates, icons, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

I've also switched up the link at top.

Okay, not so breaking. Just call me slow, but I went back to doing research on Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna and when it'll come out. Turns out, just a little snooping, will help ya find a lot.

Here's the Yen Press Site. I'll link it up at top, too.

SPIRAL: The Bonds of Reasoning, Vol. 1

Story by Kyo Shirodaira | October 2007 | ISBN: 978-0-7595-2341-8 (0-7595-2341-X) | $10.99 ($13.99) | 5" x 7 1/2" | 192 pages | Teen

That's for the first volume only. They had a second volume information too.

Spiral Vol 2 | January 2008 | ISBN: 978-0-7595-2407-1 (0-7595-2407-6) | $10.99 ($13.99)

By the looks of that, it seems the books will come out every 3~4 months. That's okay, but since I've watched the anime, I'm dying to know what happens after that storyline [which is like book 4 or something, I think] It'll be years til I'm okay with the story. It's kinda like Fruits Basket. Except I'm hoping Yen Press will have better quality. 'Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning' is a good translation of it. The anime was called Spiral: The Melody of Logic. They're both good, but the anime never answers the unanswered questions.... WAHH~~!! Finally, though, the manga has been licensed and will finally come out.

My-Otome Episode 1 Review

Well, I finally saw episode 1 of My-Otome. It was, to say the least, quite interesting. I'm a big fan of the original series, and as so, I am pretty judgmental on these sort of things [adaptions of the original work]. First thing I have to say is that the voices were pretty good. Arika was as annoying as ever, Nina was as indifferent as ever, and Sergey was.... absolutely perfect. He sounded exactly like the original seiyuu, which was weird, since that doesn't occur very often. I don't normally like English dubs, but it seems Bandai is on a roll with this franchise, it's one of their best.
[Dub Voices:4.5/5]

The art was okay, too. I can see they improved the quality quite significantly [The size on my hard drive was 250 MB]. Everything was cleaned up from when I first saw the TV raws over a year ago. I've watched the first episode at least a dozen times now [subbed version], and I haven't ever seen a better first episode [in any series] with the exception of it's predecessor, My-HiME. With action, drama, and comedy along with a lot of questions, the first episode is packed with all the elements to make a show successful and to keep the viewer interested. I can't tell too much of the story [for those who haven't seen it yet], but this is good. WATCH IT!
[Art/Story:4/5]

The music is as terrific as ever, with a genius musical score that includes the pseudo-opera battle theme, MATERIALISE. The music, which was produced by the musical genius, Kajiura Yuki, is all based on a proper-theme type and is semi-opera. Just like, My-HiME, the beat is fast, the words are a mix of Japanese, English and Latin, in some areas [Or is that German?], and the whole score can be described with one word: marvelous.
[Music:5/5]

This show is entertaining, while it may look like another magical girl comedy-action-romance anime, it's not. It's worth your while, I'll tell ya that. Either that, or I'm just some crazy fangirl.
[Entertainment Factor 4.5/5]

Overall Score: 4.5/5 :: 90% :: Great Series, Worth checking out, Great example of a balanced anime.
_________________________________________
Here's a look at the first volume Special Edition Box and DVD [Amazon]



By kagurazaka_sha at 2007-07-12

Product Details

• Actors: My-Otome
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating
• Studio: Bandai
• DVD Release Date: July 17, 2007
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Price: $44.99[LE Box]/ $24.99 [DVD]
  

As you can see, there are a few new changes to my blog. Which includes a One Piece background. Over the course of the next few weeks, there'll be changes which include new templates, links, etc. Be patient, especially if your resolution is less than 1024*768

I just read Densha Otoko. It was an interesting book. It taught me the importance of friendship. In real life and in the cyberworld. This makes me happy for having a family like the ones on Shonen-Island or K-F. Hermes had a friend, and so did Ikumi [Densha Otoko]. The shojo manga version is great, and I'd recommend it to anybody. Ever since I finished it, I've been so much happier.

So happy, I made a banner for Shonen-Island.
It can be found here: One Piece 'Sunny' Banner

Summertime is soooo boring. There's absolutely NOTHING to do, unless you have plans. And I don't. Everything we did this summer was spontaneous and stupid. Talk about stuck in suburbia. There isn't even a mall around. All my friends are out somewhere doing something (I guess it's karma for leaving them. hehe.).

SUMMER IS SOOOOO BORING!!!!!!!!!!!

Though I did make one helluva signature for this "Mini-Comp/make sigs for yer friends" thing.

I made a few forum sigs and banners for my friends at Shonen Island




Shonen-Island Banners:

[SI]Kurosaki Ichigo Banner
[SI]Naruto Banner
[SI]One Piece Banner

Banners for Arigatou
[Arigatou]Fate/Stay Night
[Arigatou]Shakugan no SHANA Banner
[Arigatou]Tsubasa Feather Banner
[Arigatou]Arigatou Banner

*Note that these banners were made for the groups and their websites only, and should not be taken and/or modified for external use unless otherwise stated by owner of this property [Kagurazaka]

I'm back from my 1-week vacation!! Truth be told, I've been back since Monday, hehe. I got a bit of money to spend for some anime and/or manga. But I didn't spend it. All in all, I have around $80 some. A few things I plan to GET are,

~My-Otome vol. 1 Artbox [$44.99 USD]
~Kiddy Grade Boxset [$59.99 USD]
~Gunslinger Girl Boxset [$39.99 USD]

Altogether, that's $144.97 USD + 5% tax.... equals a grand total of....

As you may have guessed, I haven't been on to post something in a while because I'll be on vacation. I'm going to Detroit for this convention or whatever that my parents want to go to. I'll be back on the first, but I'll try to check out the blogs, here and there. All of you find a way to have fun!!

Never posted those pictures did I? Whatever. Anyways, I got around to making a Photoshop CS2 Signature Tutorial. It was for the forum I'm part of [in K-F] under the alias S.H.A. Here's a look at it.
http://img123.imageshack.us/content.php?page=done&l=img123/2262/shasigtutnw8.png


This was my first tutorial, so I think I did a SPLENDID job on this.

Today we went shopping. Nothing much happened. I only got like 5 books, including Newtype, so that sucked. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

I got:

Hot Gimmick S
Tsubasa 13
Love Com 1
SHANA 1

Newtype USA Jul. 2007 [vol.6/issue no. 7]

you know, except for Nagato Yuki-chan.

I made this as a tribute to her [2007-06-26]

Yesterday was probably the weirdest day ever. My mother, who indiscreetly cleaned the whole house, because her pen pal from Texas was coming over was possibly the happiest I've ever seen her. I thought that maybe she should do more political stuff like the activities she's doing now if she's this happy. Anyways, while they were away talking to a lawyer or whatever, I got a phone call, telling me that I was accepted into the school that I chose for HS. Now, I'm not one to brag about such a thing especially considering how easy the examination was, but there's something special about my case.

I'm skipping 8th grade.

That's right, I'm going from 7th grade to 9th grade. Skipping. Wow, I can't even believe it's happening to me. A lot of people told me that I was going to miss out on a lot because 8th grade is your best year. But I think it's a waste of time. Honestly. There's no point in wasting a whole year if you ain't gonna learn anything. That's all I have to say about the matter. My personal belief is that I will have less time for things, but that doesn't mean I won't have one hell of a school experience. I think that me skipping will just intensify it even more.


Why don't we say my report card looked something like this....

My-Hime [舞-HiME] and
My-Otome [舞-乙HiME]
My-Hime is one of my favorite animes that I watched. It helped me get a sense of mecha-manga or anime. This story, taking place in the future, is a lot about robots and magical, technological and medicinal advances. The story is rather entertaining and you can relate to the characters. One of the coolest animes ever. Mai Otome is the "sequel", but it's set in an alternate universe with the ame characters. It's awesome! I got the DVDs and Artbox for My-HiME and am going to get the Newtype June issue late this week. For the new My-Otome dub.


My-HiME Overview [SEMI-SPOILER For EPISODE 1]
The Fuuka Academy is a unified school (having students from primary school and high school). In the Fuuka Academy, a rumor that a mysterious monster appeared has spread, and that the only match for the monsters were girls called “HiME.” They have the abilities of HiME (Highly-advanced Materializing Equipment).

Mai Tokiha is an average high school girl and devoted older sister who earns a scholarship to the prestigious Fuuka Academy. During the ride on the ferry to the academy, the crew spots and rescues a young girl who is afloat face down in the water, gripping a large black sword. They rescue her, and attempt to resucitate her, yet Mai happens to be the only one present licensed with CPR training and is forced to assist. She is successful but soon afterwards, Mai notices that the girl has an odd birthmark, one identical to her own.The recovering girl is sent to rest, and everyone disperses. Everything returns to normal on the ferry, until a young female who is searching for the girl found in the water comes aboard the ferry during the night. A battle ensues between the girl from the water and the searching female, destroying the ferry in its wake. Everyone evacuates safely without Mai, and the first sight of HiME alongside Mai's dormant powers manifest, as she goes down with the sinking vessel.

~My thoughts~
Though it may seem like the normal girl gets powers/too much fanservice type of anime. It's quite the contrary. As a girl, I was a bit skeptical about this because it [wikipedia] said that this series was Shounen. I don't normally like Shounen mangas or anime, but this one is excellent. There are a lot of characters in this series, so you're bound to find one that suits your liking or that you can relate to. I know I did. Mai is one of those characters that you can see is a well rounded lead heroine. She isn't wavering in her thought and is responsible. She's the "big sister" type. If you want a big sister, you want one like her. She's caring and smart [to an extent] and always thinks of others before herself. What makes this series great is that they have a character, who, at first, seems like everything is good for her and everything is fine, but then they find her flaws and make them and the decisions that come from those flaws and insecurities. This goes for Mai Tokiha and every other maiden that is in this battle.

My-Otome Overview
The MAiDs (Otome; maidens) aren't quite your usual run-of-the-mill maids. They support royalty and politicians, and act as advisors to them as well. It's a profession all the girls want to do when they grow up. Girls who want to become MAiDs are gathered from each country and attend the Otome training school, Garderobe, for two years and undergo intensive training, after which they become Otome. The chosen among them who have the abilities might dream of becoming "Meister Otome". My-Otome's story takes place on the planet Earl in the distant future. "Old technology" has survived in the form of nanomachines that allow female virgins to take the role of Meister Otomes - bodyguards and warriors that serve the royalty of various kingdoms. Arika Yumemiya has come to Windbloom Kingdom in search of her mother, whom Arika knows was an Otome. On her arrival she meets the top Coral Otome student, Nina Wáng, and Windbloom's heir to the throne, Mashiro Blan de Windbloom. The series follows Arika's progress as a student at Garderobe Academy and the machinations of those desiring the destructive power of the old technology for themselves. The chosen among them who have the abilities might dream of becoming "Meister MAiDs".

~My Thoughts~
My-Otome, was in fact, in my opinion, the better of the two series. Anything else I tell you would be a spoiler, so WATCH IT!!! But I will say that most of the characters in HiME are in Otome but are just in alternate roles with different names/circumstances. It's really something to watch. Especially if you like the sci-fi/mecha mixed with super-powered girls type of animes. [That's what I like by the way.] I've honestly never watched more original anime. Buy the DVDs, too. They're really good! The dub, that is. Definitely worth your buck.

[for those of you who have seen it] THIS IS IN MY OPINION!! [highlight to see]
The ending was dissatisfactory in My-HiME *coughTatecough* so Otome was dubbed the better one.

Definately worth looking into. If you like Love Hina or Mahou Sensei Negima then you might be interested in My-HiME, as well as Mai Otome. They may look like some typical shounen junk, but I think you'll find yourself a lot more interested in this than first appearances.

I'm sure all of you have heard of the new manga publishing company, Yen Press. But then again, probably not. I found out about it a few months ago when the news came out and was absolutely ecstatic about it. First of all, here's what was stated in Publisher's Weekly

Yen Press, the much-anticipated graphic novel imprint launched by Kurt Hassler and Rich Johnson, will debut its first list in the fall with four licensed properties from Japanese videogame and manga publisher Square Enix and a new original manga work, Nightschool, from Svetlana Chmakova, author of Tokyopop’s bestselling original manga DramaCon. The new imprint also has plans for a monthly manga anthology that will likely start publication in early 2008.
...
The four Square Enix titles are Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna, story by Ky Shirodaira and art by Eita Mizuno; Black God by Dall-Young Lim with art by Sung-Woo Park; Zombie-Loan by the creative duo Peach-Pit; and Alice on Deadlines by Shir Ihara. The titles will be published in October and November.

As you can see, in the BOLD and italicized letters, I have highlighted the main manga that I look forward to: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna. If any of you have seen the anime, which is dubbed by FUNimation, you should know that Spiral is one of the few mystery animes that is actually, well, good.

Look forward to this.

Here's the 3rd part of my collection. My collection is sadly [tear] not growing. I have to go shopping this weekend, because it is the last weekend before the new JULY Newtype comes out. And I still haven't gotten June. It sucks to be late in getting your magazines. I hardly have half the collection in those than I do for tankoubons. Personally, I hope I get my allowance this month, so I can buy some stuff... Like Rumbling Hearts or something. After my "homework operation" was shut down in school, due to the ending of school, I have no means of getting money whatsoever, and as so, I'm broke. Except for the few dollars I have stashed away.

Anyways, sorry for rambling on, but here's the third part to my collection!
Manga/Anime Collection Part 3: T-Z + Anime DVDs
~Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle [Vol. 1-3, 7, 9-12]
~Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge [Vol. 1-7]
ANIME
~My-HiME [Vol.3, 5-7]
~Burst Angel [COMPLETE BOXSET]

There was a discussion going on in AnimeNation about the best Manga Publishing company. I said:

"Del Rey, because their presentation and style of the book is really good. Unlike TokyoPop and Go Comi!, the books are easy too keep and don't bend or tear as frequently. Viz also does a pretty good job in this aspect. But the best, hands down, is Del Rey. They also keep their manga edit-free, as said before, and keep it as original as possible. Del Rey did an awesome job with Mahou Sensei Negima! and Air Gear.

Second would probably be Go Comi! for me because of Crossroad, it doesn't seem like they censored it that much and they have a lot of the honorifics in place and they're original like that. One negative [as mentioned before] is the durability of the cover, which bends quite easily.

Weirdly enough, about 60% of the books I own are Viz titles, so I have mixed feelings about them. Their "Shoujo" line, not Shojo Beat, is the best part, for me, because it has more mature titles, though some Shojo Beat titles could go there. And the editing isn't too swift there, unlike Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump titles.

Last, and least, would be TokyoPop. Two words; Love Hina.

Overall, it's Del Rey."

As promised, I've come to deliver the pictures. Enjoy!


The top shelf: My-HiME Vol. 7 Collector's Edition, Japanese books, Shonen Jump, Shoujo Beat, Newtype USA, Anime Insider, Protoculture Addicts

First half of middle shelf [right above is stereo]

Second Half of middle shelf

First half of bottom shelf

Second half of bottom shelf

1/2 of all books

2/2 of all books