Anime Update!

I just received word that Black Cat may be licensed. If this rumor proves to be true, I'll probably have to change groups, but I don't intend to stop watching. ^_^

New Season of Anime

First post since...October. Just get used to it. Anyway, I found some time that I decided to spend blogging (which could have been better spent on Chemistry homework) so here I am with what has been eating up all my time besides homework, this season's newest anime series! Lot's of new shows being subbed this time and a lot of potentially good shows, too.

Let's start off with the shows currently holding my attention. Below are some screencaps of the titles, since I don't have time to do caps like some bloggers out there.

First off is "Noein ~mou hitori no kimi e~" from Shinsen Subs.
This is one seriously awesome anime. It is a remake of the "heroine transported to another world" genre, but this show throws in a twist. The heroine is not USELESS! The fate of many shows like this one is to have the female lead be completely helpless and in constant need of rescue. Noein's heroine can...destroy universes. Also, it is a good series for the fan of the infinitely branching time theory. That each decision a person makes, creates not only the branch of time that person exists in, but also a branch for every decision that person did not make. So yeah, it's something like that.
Next up is a series I really enjoy: "Mushishi" by Animeforever.
This series gives off a very "Princess Mononoke" vibe. It's all about nature and mysticism and magical creatures that live in the forest. It is an interesting look at this under-used genre. This series manages to come up with magical explanations to scientific and medical problems. These problems, according to the show, are caused by mushi, magical creatures that, while invisible to most humans, cause many problems to humans such as blindness and deafness. Truly an original, if sometimes disgusting (ep.2^_^;;), series.

Next, we come to "Aria: The Animation" by CrystalNova.
This series, weighing in at only 12 episodes, is the animated incarnation of a lazy Sunday afternoon. It has the pace, according to one blooger, of "frozen molasses", but when your in the mood for a good time and relaxation/laziness then this is the perfect thing. Each episode follows main character, Akari, on her everyday life in training to become an Undine(gondola driver) on the planet Aqua(formerly known as Mars). Not much happens in any one episode, but Akari has the special knack of finding enjoyment in normal, boring tasks. All in all: good stress reliever. BTW, Aria is a cat. Just trust me on that. ^_^

Speaking of cats, that brings us to our next new series: Black Cat by RevQuest and AnimeForever.
A fun, action series similar in style to Gungrave only with comedic portions thrown in to lighten the otherwise serious mood. And don't even get me started on the weird ending theme (ie Cat People). Not much to say except a lot of fun to be had from this one. I'm a liittle behind on this series due to Animeforever using the high-resolution widescreen version that airs like a week later than the normal version.
Next, we have one of the wierdest shows this season, a romantic comedy known as "Karin" from Anime-Empire.
This series is wierd in that the main character is a vampire, but she is not a normal vampire. Apparently Karin is a genetic throwback who creates blood as well as sucking it and the blood is expelled from her body by, you guessed it, EXPLOSIVE NOSEBLEEDS! It truely has to be seen to be believed.
And finally, there is a series that I did not seriously believe I would like but found myself drawn in anyway: "Paradise Kiss" from AnimeForever and Froth-Bite.
Now this series is about fashion and i'll be the first to admit that i know NOTHING about fashion. I can't even tell you whether your shirt matches your pants, nor do i truly care, but this show still managed to hook me with its strange art style and unusual characters (Tell me a guy with a safety pin in his lip is normal). Oh yeah, and the Opening theme is the greatest thing ever.

Finally, all the shows i've been downloading but haven't had time to watch: Animal Yokocho (kids show about animals), Jigoku Shoujo (AKA Hell Girl, watched 2 episodes so far, not bad, Ayu is slow to release them), Lamune (appears to be a childhood friend/new girlfriend, harem sort of anime), Shakugan no Shana (seems good, not enough time to watch, "Shana, kawaiiyo Shana!"^_^), Blood+ (interesting action series, vampires and blood, cool-ass sword),
Mai-Otome (parallel world of Mai-Hime, not gonna watch until I finish Mai-Hime), Magical Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's (sequal to Nanoha, not gonna watch until i finish Nanoha).

And there you have it, i have no life. Now back to your own...

Bloggin from IU

Just wanted to drop a line to everyone. It's Sunday and not much is going on today. I moved in to Teter-Thompson room 428 on Wednesday, August 24. I have been constantly bombarded with how different this place is from high school and classes haven't even started yet! There is just an air about the place that speeks of higher learning. I've been rideing my bike a lot and I believe that I will be able to make it from class to class on time now. It takes me almost 10 minutes to get from Teter to the Union and that is near most of my classes. For me classes start bright and early tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. -_- Well, that's all for now.

Final Thoughts from Home

Well, last night at home before I head out to IU tomorrow. Hopefully my classes will be interesting. I have almost everything packed and most of it is in the car waiting for tomorrow. The few exceptions are: my stereo box (speakers are alredy loaded), some computer software and hardware, one suitcase, and of course Sakaki-san is packed in her box and sitting in the dining room. Hopefully all will go well and we will encounter no problems tomorrow. Until then.

Currently jamming to: Mega Man X3 House Hornet OC ReMix by mp Beatdrop

Just trying out mobile blogging.

Just trying out mobile blogging. See everyone later.
-Michael

Adieu...

Tomorrow is my last day at home. I'm already packing my stuff up for the trip. I did get my bicycle finished, which is going to be my main means of transportation at IU. Here's a quick pic from my camera phone. We put a lot of time into it and yes we did airbrush flames. ^_^


Finally, some random thoughts and concerns reguarding move in day and college in general: "Will my 19 inch CRT monitor fit on my desk?", "Does Teter have an elevator, and with that many people will it even be useful?", "Do they really know where most of my classes are going to meet?", and finally "What will I do when I finally get high speed internet?" (answer to that will probably involve changing the name of my blog.)

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to post more when I get a chance. (Probably after I move in on Wednesday.) Until then...

Preparing for college

Well, first post in a loooooong time. -_-;; Anyway, i'm preparing *for* (ha ha! Kara!) IU college life and the first step to that is a new computer. I saved up all my graduation money and now I have my glowy, shiny box.



SAKAKI-SAN as I have named her, is a custom Widow PC. She features an ASUS K8N-E Deluxe motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ CPU, 1GB PC3200 RAM, a Sony dual layer DVD burner, a multi-format memory card reader/floopy drive, a 250GB SATA-150 harddrive, and an ATi RADEON 9600XT 256MB 8x AGP graphics card. All of this is packed into a Thermaltake "Tsunami Dream" case. And did I mention the glowies? I also installed a TV tuner so i don't need to take a TV with me to college.

I suppose you could say i'm fairly excited about going to college. I move in on the 24th, which is next Wednesday. I'm going to be living in Teter, which is one of my choice residence halls, and one of the few with air conditioning!

My classes start with Calculus at 8:00 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I am not going to enjoy this, but atleast this is the same class that i took last year in high school so I know how most of it goes already.

This class is followed by chemistry at 9:05 am on M, Tu, W, and F.

That is followed by Japanese at 10:10 am M-F.

Then, at 12:20pm on Tu and Th, I have class called "Welcome to the College of Arts and Sciences" which is a Pass/Fail course, i.e. you show up, you pass.

In that same slot on M and W plus at 1:25 pm on Th, is my required "Topics" class for the year called "Language and Thought". It's not my first choice, or even my second, but it was the only one that would fit in my schedule.

After that, on Th I have another Chem class at 3:35pm and a Chem lab period at 6:30pm on Tu.

It's a pretty confusing schedule, but i think i'll manage. I will also be able to post a lot more and possibly add some more pictures since I will be plugged into the near limitless IU T3.

Well that's about it for me, until next time...See You Space Cowboy

I'm Back...

Well, I've graduated from high school and am off for the summer. I used some of my graduation money last night and bought a mouse of ultimate godliness. It's the Logitech MX1000 LASER mouse. It's cordless and is a lot better than the ball mouse i've been using. I'll probably blog more over the summer. Until then...

Mmm...Anti-Spam

The Awesomeness...

More later...

Catching Up

Well haven't blogged for a while...A few things of interest have happened since last post.

First, i got GitS 2 back and there are no annoying SFX labels!

Also, I am getting ever closer to finishing the R.O.D the TV collection. Disc five (the latest of seven) ends at the greatest cliff-hanger of the entire series. This makes for great fun (since I've seen the show before) when I loan it out to my friends ^_^. On a R.O.D side note, Sunday I got the second OST that I'd been searching for since it came out in November. This disc features both the ending themes as well as a BGM that sounds suspiciously like "America the Beautiful". -_-(??) Still trying to figure that one out...

I have spring break this week, so I'm living it up by doing nothing. This revelation at anime club induced a reaction from the guys up there who just got back from break last week.
--Josh(club "chairman")-"So did you enjoy your break?"
--Me-"I have break this week."
--Josh-"Lucky bastard."

Then, my brothers truck broke down yesterday and left me stranded on the side of the highway. Luckily i had just taken my brother's girlfriend to get her car at the (inept) garage and she picked me up and took me home. (Thanks Kara!) We had it towed home and pulled the engine out last night to discover that the brand new oil pump had frozen and twisted the intermidiate shaft in two. We got a new one today and got it put in tonight and have the engine nearly in already. We should finish tomorrow and get it back on the road.

Finally, today I received the demo CD of "amateur" rock group Tally Hall. It came with the unexpected surprise of the entire band's autograph on the insert. (Thanks a lot guys, you're awesome!) These guys are very good and really deserve to make it big.

That's it for now (and probably the next month or so), until then...

GitS2 n Stuff

Long time no blog! -_-;;

For those that care, around Christmas I bought Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocense and later, was dissapointed to discover that the subtitle stream was a closed caption stream. (with [dog barking] and other annoying SFX subtitles) But all is not lost! I have discovered that Go Fish Productions (a division of Dreamworks) is offering an exchange program at no cost, not even shipping! As soon as I get the new disc I'll prolly post a review or something (don't hold your breath). Tonight I'll be celebrating Valentines Day in the following manner (excerpt from Anime Club mailer):

"Valentine's Day is almost upon us, that time of year when all of us
succumb to romance one way or another. And of course nothing says
romance quite like excessive violence and bloodshed, which is why this
week we'll be taking a break from our regular schedule to watch all 13
episodes of Elfen Lied. Elfen Lied is the touching tale of Kouta, his
cousin Yuka, and the cute, amnesiac mass murderer they find washed up on
the beach. And it has hearts. Hearts are romantic, right?

"Beware of nudity and extremely graphic violence, but join us if you can!"

Aside from that, I'm going up to Bloomington (IN) in an hour to complete my FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Also, I'll probably go to some bookstores and Best Buy and see if I can find R.O.D the TV disc 5 a day early. Finally, the show occupying me currently (thanks a lot Jon) is Naruto. You can read more about it on Jon's blog, but as for me, I'm playing catch-up because I had stopped around episode 70 (a low point in the series for me), but now with a new story arc fresh from the uh... oven? I'm now burning through them at about 2-3 episodes a night. At this rate, episode 87 will turn into episode 120 in no time, right? (at least in Shonen space) ^_^

Well, until next time...kagebunshi no jutsu! ^_^ ^_^ ^_^ ^_^

Life Is Getting in the Way of This...

For anyone who cares, this probably going to be a usual occurance (the 1 post every 1.5 weeks or so, thing). The reason is that with the final push toward the end of school, my teachers are all conspiring against me by giving me more homework. In other news, the girl who said she was afraid of me apparently isn't anymore, since she started loaning me some of her manga (Yes, the OTAKU disease is spreading^_^). I'm going to give her a list of my manga in case she wants to borrow some of mine. Also, I finally finished a show I started back in October last year. It's not that I didn't have all the episodes, it's just that I never found the time (Oh yeah, and my mainboard died...). The name of the series is "Kyogoku Natsuhiko Kosetsu Hyaku Monogatari", aka 100 Stories, aka Requiem from the Darkness. I won't go in to much detail now, but I will be posting a review...eventually. Until then...

Current Blogging Music: Yasushi Ishii - Hellsing O.S.T. Raid - Certain Victory Lotus Sutra Tune

Warning: rant alert (and an Azumanga Daioh Review)

I haven't been able to post the past couple (looks at calendar)...er, in nearly a week. I have been keeping up my daily life as well as filling out some scholarship applications that are due tommorow. During this time, I have been watching a little bit of anime on the side (Imagine that!). A got to see episode 2 of the two shows I'm watching that are new this season (in Japan), Mahou Sensei Negima (aka, Magister Negi Magi) and the Ah! My Goddess TV series.

The landmark moment though was finishing Azumanga Daioh (for the second time). This show is one of my favorites of all time. It is the story of a group of high-school girls (away perverted thoughts! Hentai! Sukebe!) who are just going to school. They enjoy their days off, study, prepare for school festivals and college entrance exams, and go to the beach in the summer. It follows them through their high-school careers, so when the show begins they are 10th graders (highschool in japan is only three years) and ends when they graduate and are accepted to college. The thing that sets this show apart though is that you really get to know the characters. You rejoice with them when they complete a goal, laugh with them and cry with them when they graduate and go their seperate ways. The group is made up of a veritable cross-section of high-school personalities. You can personally relate to at least one of the group or are reminded of a classmate in the way a character acts. I recommend this show very highly and, though plot is somewhat scarce sometimes, I believe that anyone can fall in love with this show if he will give it a chance. If your not in high-school like I am and don't see these sort of personalities everyday (and believe me, you do), then it may be a nostalgic trip down memory lane. So go ahead, go find the DVD, or the manga, or at least download the fansubs. You won't be disapointed.

This brings me to my actual rant. The other day a classmate told me that her friend was scared of me. I don't know if this was in jest (since I haven't talked to her friend much), but it made me start believing more and more that of all the characters in Azumanga, I can most relate to Sakaki. Sakaki, for those who don't know, is kind of quiet. This makes everyone who doesn't know her to believe that she is tough and scary. Once they get to know her, which no one ever does (including her circle of friends), they would find that she is actually very sweet, very kind, and a truly gentle soul. I can relate to this very well because I believe this describes my personality rather well, too. I understand where people can get the idea that I'm kind of scary. Not that I believe it, myself. But then again, unlike other people, I actually know me pretty well. ^_^

Well, sorry for the rantage, but I had to vent somewhere. If you got far enough to read this, you must either be really bored or have a high tolerance for teen angst. Until we meet again, sayonara.


-Current angsty-blog blogging music: U2 - Beautiful Day

The Last few days...

--
--
(steps away frow the bad title of today's blog)

Anywho, I haven't posted the last few days because... there is nothing to post. I had to go to a scholarship meeting at my school on my birthday! This was a little bit annoying, but oh well, I got home and stuffed my self on pizza so it's all good. I heard from Jon at school that the Hyatt Regencey O'Hare where Anime Central is going to be in: (looks at countdown timer) 3 months, 29 days, 16 hours and 30 some odd minutes, is BOOKED SOLID!! This affected him greatly since his brother tried to book a room and was told this which he in turn got bitchy about for the next few days. Not that I would blame him for doing so, but anyway...I believe that a hotel being sold out for 4 months in advance is rediculous.

Also, on the subject of ACEN, if we can swing it, next year I will be going up with a group of friends for the con. That ought to be interesting, 5-8 people in one hotel room designed for 1-4. This year, I'm going to be cosplaying as Claus from LAST EXILE. If anyone is going, look me up. Also, if anyone knows where to get any components for this costume (for cheap!) let me know. Well, I succeededin rambling on about nothing.

Fear my badly-structured post, Comp. teacher!

B-Day

(assumes a lankey posture and adjusts voice a la Kimura-sensei)

Ahem...

Haaaapppppy Birsdayyy toooo meeeeeee,
Haaaapppppy Birsdayyy toooo meeeeeee,
Haaaapppppy Birsdayyy deeeaaaa Kimurrinnnnn,
Haaaapppppy Birsdayyy toooo meee!

I got the last disc of Azumanga Daioh for my birthday. Expect a review...
Later.

Initial D and A!MG

First post in a while huh? The local anime club kicked off this semester's schedule with a movie night last night. We saw the first 4 Kimegure Orange Road OVAs, followed by 2 Dirty Pair movies (Retro!) and finished up the night with the RahXephon movie. RahXephon is kind of an odd case in my book. After finishing the series last semester I didn't really like it as a whole, but after the movie last night, I think the series was actually quite good. Not a favorite, but not bad.

Also, since I am blessed with the wonders of dial-up at home, I took the opportunity to go to the lab and download some digi subs. I got Initial D 4th Stage episodes 7-9, which IS a favorite. Check it out if your into cars and racing (though you outta get ahold of the of the first 3 Stages before watching it). Then I got a couple of the new shows from this season. Negima, by Ken Akamatsu the creator of Love Hina, which takes harem anime to the eXtreme. Ten year old mage assigned to teach English at a Japanese junior high school.

Harem Proportionality: 1 guy to 30 girls

The other series is the new Ah! My Goddess TV series. That's right, instead of just a measly 6 episode OVA and a movie (no mini-goddesses dosen't count) this wonderful story of an unlucky guy and three goddesses who live with him is finally getting a full 26 episode series! If the series is anything like the first episode, it should prove to be one of the best new series this season.

That's all I got, see you later.

Quickie

Not much to say, my watch is a piece of shit. Gonna call Casio tomorrow. Driveway still flooded. Off to watch "Who's Line Is It Anyway?". Good night.

A Little Break

Well, first time since I started this little thing that I've missed a day. Not that anybody cares. Recently, I finished the latest Hellsing manga (volume 5). For anyone who doesn't know, the manga goes in a completely different direction than the TV series and comes highly recommended (by me). This volume features the spirit of Alucard's gun the Jackel played by Bruce Willis and others and also undead Nazi's from South America attacking London...and Kouta Hirano (the author) being wierd.

Finally, as a carry-over from last night, the school has now cut the student drivers (~70% of the school) to one usable entrance to school (there used to be three), also we can only use three entrances (none of which are anywhere near the student parking lot). Finally, IT'S WET. I mean, been raining for three days straight and now my driveway's flooded, wet. We have an agreement with our neighbors that allows us to use our neighbor's driveway when this happens, but it's still a PAIN! Well, off to play some KoL. See you tomorrow.

First day of Second Semester...or it the Last Day of the First Semester?

Confusing first day of school today. When I got up this morning, it was dark. Not just early morning dark, but pitch black. When I got to school, I found out that instead if being the new semester like I expected, it was actually the last day of the first semester for who knows what reason. Also, while we were on break, either the a/c quit or the heater was set on ~400 degrees so we were sweatting all day. And finally, they have closed all but ONE of the mens' restrooms in the school! Though I suppose it isn't all bad, we did nothing today since it is the "last day" and we'll be doing nothing again tomorrow since it is the "first day".

That's all for today, more tomorrow I'm sure.

The Last Day of Temporary Freedom

As the title shows, i go back to school tomorrow ;_; and since I did little to nothing today, I'll keep this brief. I slept in, then got up and after an intriguing show about Big Foot (sasquatch not the monster truck) narrated by Leonard Nimoy (Spock!), I went into to town with my brother in search of Onegai Twins disc 2, which we did not find but I did see ROD TV disc 4 which i can't buy due to my birthday being 9 days away (and lack of money). Then I came back home, fed cows, and am now going over to my brother's girlfriend's house to watch anime. To those of you who know me, I'll see you in school tomorrow; to those of you who don't, I'll post again tomorrow. See you then.

Back from Hell on Earth

Just got home from my grandparents...I won't bore you with that story. Instead I'll bore you with something else. While we were there, I went to Wal-Mart (since Evansville has no Best Buy) and got the new Ghost in the Shell 2 movie. Now I'm not too big a fan of Mamoru Oshii, or the original GitS, but the visuals are so amazing that I thought it was worth $20 to see it again. Also, I went to Borders and got the new Hellsing manga (volume 5). I haven't read it yet, but it ought to be amusing and bloody... Well, more tomorrow (last day before the return to school).