Bucket of Update

Okay, so I lied. I never did the posts on REC, and the books. I'll do it eventually....maybe. >> For now I'll just post up a quick update on what I've been doing.

I haven't had a lot of free time the past 2 weeks. I was being trained for some new stuff at my job, which is really exciting. Now that my schedule is switching over I should be able to balance my time better. I hope. LOL. I seriously love my job though, so I'm thrilled to have learned so many new things!

I also finished Physical Therapy which is great. So that should help with the time management too. YAY!

Now even though I've been busy I'm still feeding my fandom frenzy. I finally finally finished Special A. For now I'm not going to make a separate post about the series. It was a good series, however, I feel like it could have ended 20-25 chapters earlier than it did. For me, I get impatient when a plot is going nowhere. Manga has a bad habit of being dragged out longer than necessary. Shounen is especially guilty of that. (I'm looking at you Naruto, Bleach, One Piece...) The only problem is when Shoujo stretches longer than it needs to it's almost worse. Since Shoujo is usually based around the romance category there's only so much you can stretch out until it gets repetitive or boring. In my opinion, Special A got to that point.

I felt like it got to the point that Hikari was no longer developing. Even more so, I thought Hikari changed in later chapters. She got DUMBER. And if it was possible she managed to get more oblivious after her and Kei got together. How is that even POSSIBLE? I get being oblivious to his affection before the relationship, but AFTER it was formed? Really??

There was a lot of good parts in the series too. I really liked the side characters. Megumi, Tadashi, and Finn especially. Out of all the relationships I actually liked Megumi/Yahiro the most. I'm not sure why it appealed to me more than the others. Maybe because at the end of the series it still wasn't set in stone. Or that Megumi didn't really want to like him. In fact, she kind of hated him. What can I say? I like improbable relationships.

So yeah, I did enjoy Special A. I wouldn't have finished it if I didn't. I just think it would of been a much better manga if they ended it earlier. So all in all, I'll give it a 6.5-7 on a scale of 10. If you like Shoujo, you'll like Special A. It will definitely make you laugh, and in the very least, smile.

Okay! Now that I covered the finished series let's get to the stuff I've started/been working on.

Since we finished Samurai Champloo so quickly, we are now watching Baccano!. All I can say is, Oh my God. I am so glad we decided to watch this series. I am absolutely positively in love with it. I don't even know how to explain what is so great about it. It makes absolutely no sense at first. We're up to episode 7, so I'm still not positive about what's going on. The first episode leaves you extremely befuddled, yet intrigued. The show is based in the 1930's, and the characters have some of the best designs, (some very accurate too!) and the MUSIC. The music is silly, and fun one minute, and serious business the next. I'm not going to say too much since I still don't have a strong grasp on some things, but let me just say that the opening to Baccano! is the best anime opening I've ever seen. You get a feel for each of the character's personality in 3 or 4 seconds each.

Oh, and we have managed to recognize 3 voice actors from other shows we watch. LOL. GO US.

My mom and I also started a new show. We finished the Monk season we were on, and now we started Criminal Minds. It's GREAT. Probably the most suspenseful show I've ever watched. I'm in love with the soundtrack to the show. Sadly, I can't get my hands on it. =( It has some of the best instrumentals. Oh, and the COOLEST screen transitions. Seriously. The show just oozes awesome. All the characters are badass, and the character development in just the first few episodes is great.

I'm watching a lot of shows that I'm seriously loving.

Other than that I started reading "Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama!" which translates to "Class President is a Maid!" or something like that. LOL. I started reading it more out of curiosity since a lot of my favorite artists on DeviantArt say how good it is. I figured I'd give it a shot while I can still catch up to how many chapters are out.

We went to see a play on Thursday night. It was "The Last 5 Years," and there's not too much I can say about it. It was good, but sad. (Obviously, since it's about a deterioration of a marriage) EPAC never ceases to amaze me with the talent we have around these parts.

I ordered Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. It should be here tomorrow or Tuesday!!

Alright, I think that about covers it! I've finished 2 more books since last post, (I think) and I'm just trying to enjoy the pool while it's still open.

Till next time~

Samurai Champloo

So on Sunday I finished Samurai Champloo, and now that it's been absorbed, I would like to make a post for it.

The story for Samurai Champloo was written by Shinichiro Watanabe, the same person who wrote Cowboy Bebop, so I automatically had high expectations for this series. I was not let down in the least. In fact, Samurai Champloo has now become my favorite anime of all time. Any anime fan should at least watch one of Shinichiro Watanabe's shows. Once you do almost no anime can measure up. He sets the bar extremely high.

So the plot for Samurai Champloo is for the three main characters to find a samurai that smells like sunflowers. That's it. That's the goal for the whole series. Sounds pretty boring doesn't it? Only it isn't. From the first episode this series will grab you and demand your attention till the very end. There are three main characters in this series and they're all complete opposites in every way. The characters are Fuu, a cute 15 year old girl who has no family and was working in a tea house when Mugen, a loud-mouthed, crude, idiot who lives for the thrill of a fight, and Jin a proper, quiet, serious samurai get into a fight and destroy the place. A series of events then follow, and Mugen and Jin end up owing a favor to Fuu. So that's where their journey begins, Fuu demands that they not fight until after they find the 'sunflower samurai' to prevent them from killing each other till their journey is complete.

As you go through this series you barely learn anything about the Sunflower Samurai. It's not really until the very end that you find out why they're looking for him. Only it doesn't matter. As you follow them on this journey you watch the characters relationship grow and develop. You get to know the characters bit by bit in a very natural way that doesn't feel like they're just announcing things so the audience watching knows. You start to feel like you know them personally, and in other ways it feels like they're a mystery. The characters don't even like each other, especially Jin and Mugen, yet they manage to have this odd bond that is just so interesting to watch.

Samurai Champloo is heavily influenced by hip-hop. Both by music, and dance. How does that work? I wasn't sure either, but oddly enough, it fits right with the show. The animation is so fluid and real. You can tell that they based it off of real human movement. Even with Mugen's outrageous way of fighting the movements are just so realistic. Mugen's fighting style is completely based off hip-hop dancing. His feet are rarely on the ground, and he's spinning and flying all over the place. His fighting style is offensive, and in your face. It fits his character perfectly, and if you like fight scenes you'll love watching him. Jin's fighting style is based more off of traditional martial arts and sword fighting. More defensive, and strategic, but just as fun to watch. The art is just as great as the animation with the grafitti type style suiting the whole hip- hop theme perfectly.

The character designs are all so fun. It's based in the Edo era, so the clothing is very traditional. There's a wide range in how the characters look as well. You will never find yourself confusing someone for someone else which is nice. Mugen being the more rugged type has stubble on his face, his hair is bushy and untamed, and even his teeth look a little nasty. Jin is clean cut, he has long limbs, and a long face, he keeps his hair in a ponytail like most traditional Samurai do. Honestly, it's just fun to watch the show to see the art in it. It really is a masterpiece in it's own way.

Some episodes will make you laugh hysterically, others will make you start to tear up and want to burst out crying. By the end of the series you will be so attached to the characters you will want to cry just because the series is over and you don't get to spend anymore time with them. This is another series where you feel like you're getting a glimpse into their lives when they're together. That's a mark of a truly great series. At least, that's what I think.

Now, the only complaint I have is the horrible HORRIBLE opening song it has. It is the worst opening I have ever heard. I muted it almost every time the opening came on. LOL.

I think that's all I can say on Samurai Champloo. If you haven't figured it out by now, I loved it. Loved it. I'd give it a 10/10. To me it couldn't have been any better than what it was.

Unless they changed that opening.

Till next time.

Professor of the Special Abyss

Okay, by not posting for awhile I have LOTS to talk about so instead of making excuses I'm just going to get started. Heee.

Since I last posted I've read/finished 4 books? Maybe 5. I finished two different animes and started a new one. Finished Professor Layton, watched the last episodes of Dead Like Me, and finally started Season 7 of Monk. Or whatever season that's before whatever season is starting now.

I think what I'm going to do is make a couple different posts. I want to be able to concentrate on specifics when I talk about some of the books/series I finished. I remember that worked really well for me when I used to post about Vampire Knight Guilty episodes. I miss doing posts about Vampire Knight episodes. D=

So what anime series did I finish? That's easy, Tales of the Abyss (finally), and Special A! I'm going to cover Tales of the Abyss first. While I really enjoyed the anime I was a tad disappointed with the ending. The fight with Van was very...easy. After all the work of GETTING to that point they made the battle way to easy. (If you played the game you would probably feel this way even more since that fight was extremely HARD.) However, I was very impressed (as I mentioned previously) with how the anime was made.

Tales of the Abyss has one of the most confusing plots ever, and in anime form it was even more confusing. The diagrams that would come up to try to show you what they were talking about were no help at all. LOL. Not that I hold it against the anime. As I said, the plot is CRAZY. So I still stick by my "If you're going to watch the anime watch it with someone who played the game." suggestion. You might still get lost, but it's nice to have someone who can explain it to you. Or, do one even better, and PLAY THE GAME! The original format is always the best. Really.

Onto Special A. The last couple episodes were cute. The final episode was packed with cheesy goodness. This is one of the few times where I tend to stick by the manga. Where the anime was fun to watch and enjoyable, I really enjoy the story more in the manga. It might just be that I never really adjusted to the anime Kei. I'm not sure. I have yet to finish the Special A manga. I'm in the 70's so I'm getting there. I'm in burn out mode again where I read too much, and now don't feel like reading manga. It's just how I work.

Professor Layton's ending was extremely cute. I loved it. Actually I just loved the animations in that game. There was something so adorable about them, and they were very well done! I'm working on finishing all the puzzles in the game. I'm already excited for the next one coming out. I think it's called "Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box". Sounds mysterious.

Another anime I finished was R.E.C., which I'm going to do a separate post for. I'm just going to say that it was a lot better than I expected it to be.

The books I read were "Death By Latte," "Death by Denim," and "Goddess Boot Camp". I also finished "Duplicity Killed the Dachshund" and we're finishing up "Fearless Fourteen". I'm in a reading mood lately. *__*

I finally hit Chapter 4 in "World of Goo". YEEEEEEES.

Tomorrow I think I'll post up some stuff about R.E.C., and maybe some stuff about the books I read. It's my dad's birthday tomorrow so we're going out to eat. Yay!

I should be in bed soon.

Work tomorrow.

Physical Therapy is going fine. Even though I don't really like it. (Mornings, peh.)