Fandoms at War

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

2011-10-08T00:51:00.008-04:00

"I'm sorry, do you have a plan to go with that grenade?" -Nathan Drake

I recently bought Uncharted 2 because a friend of mine wanted to be able to play online with me on the Ps3. We both didn't have any online co-op games, and after some extensive research we decided this game sounded promising. I never considered that I'd try the story mode, I'm not a shooting game fan, and they've never held my interest.

It was a fluke that I decided to try the actual game itself, and I LOVED every second of it. From the very beginning to the last chapter I was enraptured by the story. The main character is a fortune hunter, Nathan (Nate) Drake, who has given up the life. However, two old friends show up with information on Marco Polo's lost fleet and the legend of the Cintamani Stone. Nate embarks on a quest to find Shambala which supposedly holds this legendary stone.

From the second you press "Start Game" you're thrown into the action.

The opening scene has Nate waking up terribly wounded in a wrecked train car that's about to fall off a cliff. You're drawn into Nate's world of betrayal, intrigue, adventure, and excitement.

One of the best parts about this game is the fact that you never feel like you're repeating yourself. In many games you'll go to a new location and it feels the same as the previous one with just a few variations in the appearance. Every chapter you end up doing something different. Whether you're saving yourself from a falling train, to stealth missions in a museum, to swinging across a giant cliff. The gameplay doesn't get stale.

The only thing that works the same throughout the game is the gunfighting, but they managed to keep it lively enough with different formations, and the way the enemy would attack that you hardly felt fatigued from repeating the process.

The story is full of intrigue and just enough mystery you keep you interested but not confused. So many games bog you down with technical jargon and complicated names that you can get confused and lost. I never once got lost in the leaps of logic, and could easily follow and it kept me eagerly ready to continue in the story to find out more. The cast of characters were all really fun and fleshed out. Nate is a fantastic hero, I love that he manages to be both the hero and the anti-hero (because a treasure thief isn't exactly a good guy). His dry sense of humor, and his own set of morals makes him a very likeable character. The two women in his life are fun additions to the story as well, where I was expecting Chloe to just be annoying fanservice she turned out to be an interesting character. They manage to make you never sure who's side she's going to be on. And Elena's history with Nate creates a fun chemistry when they're together, and their witty banter (at the worst times) helps lighten some serious moments. Even the villain was extremely well done, they managed to make Lazarevic seem extremely evil without making him too cliche'.

The dialogue was FANTASTIC, and so was the voice acting. It was extremely easy to forget you were playing a game. The cut scenes made it feel like a movie at times, but they weren't intrusive enough to have you wondering when you'd get back to playing the actual game.

I could go on forever about how wonderful this game is. The online gameplay is really fun, but I don't have anything to compare it to so you can't count on me for that.

I'm mad at myself that I haven't played the first one, but I'll be fixing that shortly. (Ordered the first one off Amazon tonight!) I look forward to getting some backstory, and getting to know this cast of characters even more.

If you have a ps3 and you haven't played Uncharted 2, GO BUY IT NOW. Believe me. It's worth it.

"I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed." Marco Polo

Kaichou wa Maid-sama! (Anime)

2011-09-27T22:29:00.007-04:00

I started watching this series back when they first started releasing the episodes in Japan. I always enjoyed the manga, so I remember posting here about how excited I was for the anime. However, I almost didn't bother finishing, I was pretty disappointed with this show.

The story of Kaichou wa Maid-Sama! (Class president is a maid!) revolves around Misaki Ayuzawa, a female class president at the once all boy school of Seika High. Misaki makes it her task to reform the wild male student's, and make Seika a successful co-ed school. As she succeeds in her goal she gains a reputation among the male population about being the "demon president" and instills fear among them.

However, Misaki has a secret. To help support her family she works part-time at a maid cafe! When Usui, a male student from Seika finds out her secret what will she do?

I feel that everything I love about this manga fell flat in the anime. I always found the story in the manga to be cute and fun, the characters lovable, and the art lovely. In the anime, the way they presented some of the situations made it feel STUPID. The art got lost in garish colors i.e.- they chose to make the uniform jackets LIME GREEN, and the characters lost some of their depth in the transfer.

I don't think it helped that I didn't care for the music they chose either. Some of it was appropriate but after hearing it in every episode it got old relatively quickly. The voice acting was done well. In particular, I really liked Misaki's voice.

Throughout the series we watch Misaki struggle through different problems. Usui becomes an odd sort of presence in her life. He enjoys teasing her and they form an odd friendship/rivalry. Usui ends up helping her out of a lot of difficult situations, and as the series progresses Misaki has to deal with her growing feelings towards Usui.

So while we have the headstrong Misaki and the trouble making Usui with their budding romance, there are a lot of fun side characters to help flesh out the story. The manager and staff of Maid Latte are a fun addition and help support Misaki. One of my favorite characters is Aoi-chan, a 14 year old internet sensation, who is famous for being cute and adorable. (And it just so happens he's a boy with a penchant for crossdressing.)

There are so many more characters all with quirks of their own that make the story different, and entertaining.

They followed the manga story-wise for the most part. I was happy that they didn't veer off and create their own ending when it was winding down to the end. They left a lot of loose ends and it seemed to hint that they may continue the series in the future.

Overall I didn't think the anime had anything overly special going for it. It felt like generic shoujo that you can find in almost any series. If you like series like Special A, it's very similar to that.

I definitely recommend the manga over the anime. I don't know if I'd bother with watching a second season.

Home sweet home

2011-06-01T00:55:00.018-04:00

I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say....Hi. How ya doin'?

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted an entry. I started writing a review on Ghost Trick months ago and then forgot to come back. I miss blogging, so I decided I'd try to get myself back into it again. I changed my layout (I got sick of the other one) -- if I wasn't so lazy I would dedicate myself to learning things I said I'd learn three years ago, and make an awesome banner to go across the top. Alas, that has yet to happen.

I thought about starting a brand new blog. Getting a fresh start. Mainly using it for reviews since that's what I started using this one for, but I hate the idea of letting this die. In September it will actually be three years since I started this (wild!) and I enjoy looking back and seeing how much I've grown as a person! (Or at least, I feel like I've grown a lot.) A lot of things have changed since I typed up that first post -- but I'll stop there at the risk of getting too mushy.

So, it's been six months since I posted last. I've stumbled upon new fandoms that have dragged me into their clutches. The worst of which being "North and South" which is a book by Elizabeth Gaskell. My mother and I watched the BBC mini series and I instantly fell in love. (Particularly with Richard Armitage, who plays John Thornton.) I proceeded to read the book which I enjoyed immensely, if not a tad less than the mini series.

I've also joined the liege of Ghost Trick fans, and tentatively I've stepped into the Hetalia fanbase. Two other fandoms slammed into me in the forms of Disney's Tangled, and Dreamworks How to Train Your Dragon. I was pleasantly surprised by both and wasn't expecting to enjoy them nearly as much as I did. (Flynn has become my favorite male Disney character.) Lately I spend a lot of time listening to the soundtracks on my Zune, enjoying the creativity they seem to inspire.

I've also been writing and drawing more. There was some time where I was too busy to do most of my hobbies, and I forgot how refreshing it is to create. It's not even that I think I'm good at these things -- it's that I enjoy them immensely and I feel happier when I do them. I'm trying to manage my time better to fit these things in.

Some exciting stuff happened the past couple months, I attended Zenkaikon for the second time this past March. One of my friends went along and we had a wicked good time. We cosplayed Ryuuji, and Taiga from Toradora! and we got to meet Todd Haberkorn. (And get a picture and autograph!) The only downside was that we didn't get Vic Mignogna's autograph, but we still got to see him which was pretty sweet. (Alas, we took no pictures together which was a total FAIL on our part.)

I also just turned nineteen, and received L.A. Noire for the Ps3 and 9 hours 9 persons 9 doors for the n Nintendo DS. I've been playing both on and off and they're pretty cool. I've been playing 999 more, and while I'm upset that I somehow managed to get my favorite character killed, I'm too curious to not finish it. I look forward to playing through it again in the future so I can get the "True Ending." WHICH I FIND IT VERY FRUSTRATING THAT I HAVE TO GET A BAD ENDING FIRST! D: I don't like bad endings!

I'm also playing the first Portal on my computer. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm SO CLOSE. I see why people love it so much. GLaDOS is hilarious with her witty (and cruel) comments.

Well, I feel I've rambled on quite enough for this post. I look forward to bringing this place back to life.

Till next time!

Heavy Rain

2010-12-30T22:50:00.007-05:00

"How far are you willing to go for love?"

This question is the center of Heavy Rain. One of the most stressful, upsetting, thought-provoking and GREATEST games I have ever played.

There is a serial killer on the loose. All the police know is that he kidnaps children and several days later they turn up dead, drowned in rain water, with an origami animal and an orchid on their chest. This time he takes a boy by the name of Shaun Mars. Will you be able to save him in time?

You play as four characters. Ethan Mars, the father of Shaun who has already lost one of his sons to a tragic accident. Ethan receives trials from the Origami Killer challenging him to see what he's willing to do to save his son.

Norman Jayden an FBI profiler called in to help with the case. Norman has special experimental glasses called ARI to help him investigate crime scenes and struggles with some problems of his own as throughout the game.

Madison Paige a photo-journalist who suffers from insomnia. She accidentally gets herself deeply involved with the case.

Scott Shelby a retired police officer who works as a private investigator. He's currently looking into

the origami killer case.

With these four characters you slowly unravel the story and work toward a common goal. Save Shaun Mars.

The most stressful thing about this game is that every decision you make effects the outcome. Your characters can die and the story will continue without them. Every choice you make matters. Every mistake counts.

There were so many moments in this game where I had to pause and really think about what I wanted to do. The choices they give you are extremely hard to make, and caused many heart-pounding, cold sweat inducing moments. And each time I finally made my decision I was terrified it was the wrong one and that;

a) I just got Shaun killed

b) I got one of my own characters killed.

The reason this game is so compelling is that it's very personal. From the moment you start playing you are put in these characters lives. You're not playing as a bystander, somehow the creators manage to pull you in and make you as much a part of the story as the characters. You feel the character's emotions. Their pain, their fear, their hesitation.

The visuals are gorgeous. As I played through this game I felt more like I was watching a movie instead of playing a video game. The body language is great, the voice acting believable. Every once in awhile something might look a little funny, but it's rare and quickly fixes itself as you move on.

There are a few downsides. I had the game freeze a couple times. Nothing a restart won't fix, and since the game autosaves you shouldn't be too far off where you were. Still frustrating nonetheless. If you're not a hardcore gamer the controls can be a tad frustrating at first (even set on easy.) However, like with everything, it gets much easier as you move on.

This has to be one of the most original games I've played in a long time. There isn't anything quite like it out there. I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys games with deep story lines, fans of psychological thrillers/mysteries, or someone looking for something completely different.

I have one other note. This game is not meant for children. Not only is there language, violence and sexual content, but the story itself is very deep and at times can be disturbing. It's not something to be taken lightly.

Till next time.

Durarara!!

2010-12-03T00:58:00.004-05:00

I decided to watch Durarara!! when browsing around on my myanimelist account. I was reading about the show and I was pleased to find it was made by the same gentleman who wrote Baccano! another favorite show of mine. I saw the positive reviews and decided I'd give it a shot.

Hooo, boy. What a show it is. Like Baccano!, Durarara!! has no specific plot. It's not about one particular goal. It's about a whole pile of characters and each of their stories and when their paths cross how they change each others lives. (No matter how brief the encounter might be.)

The entire story takes place in a city called Ikebukuro. Tension is mounting between three gangs and an all out war is about to come to a head. There's a slasher on the loose attacking random victims, and there's the mysterious "black rider" who's rumoured to not have a head...

The show is full of quirky characters bursting with personality, and everyone has a secret. Friendly gang leaders, sadistic deal brokers, angry bartendars, underground doctors, etc, etc. What more could you want?? Even better is that the voice actors do a fantastic job. There wasn't one voice out of place in this set. From the first episode these guys charm you and you won't be able to stop until you reach the end.

My only complaint was with the art style. While I liked the art I got frustrated with the fact that all the faces looked the SAME. With such a diverse cast in personality and age, it would have been nice for original appearances to go along with it.

However, this complaint is small and not enough to change the fact that this is one of the most original anime I have ever watched. It easily became a favorite, and in my opinion, has a very high rewatch value. I love this way of storytelling. It's refreshing to not have a predictable rerun of some anime you saw some other time with the same plotline.

Not to mention there's no spoon feeding the story with inner monologue. Always a treat to have a break from that.

There was one minor let down in the storytelling. I wasn't satisfied with the ending. It felt a tad rushed and a little too perfect for me. There were some things they left in the air -- which suited the series. Something in the ending just didn't sit well with me.

This is just another small fault in my book. It was not nearly enough to change my high opinion of the show. The adventure from episode 1 was so enjoyable and so interesting that it makes it worth it even if the ending wasn't what you were looking for.

Overall I'd give Durarara!! and 8.5 out of 10. I'll definitely be checking out future stories by Ryohgo Narita.

Peace.

It LIVES.

2010-11-01T22:19:00.007-04:00

I'm alive, I SWEAR! Wow, I totally and utterly failed. I talk about posting more and then go months without a peep on here. Well I'm BACK, and I'm going to try to do better. Not making any promises though. Last time I made a promise on here I died for quite some time.

Last time I was on here I mentioned a bunch of projects I was starting. None of them have gotten off the ground yet. The secret project (the one I planned with a friend) had to be put on the back burner for now. We both got really busy and haven't had the time to get it off the ground.

I haven't gotten around to making my book review youtube account either. I chickened out because I'm really not comfortable in front of the camera, but I'm still tempted to give it a shot.

There is LOTS I want to post about on here though -- so in the next couple days (HOPEFULLY) I'll be putting up posts about the following --

White Collar (My latest obsession. Finished both seasons in 2 weeks.)

Durarara!

The Chrissy McMullen Mysteries by Lois Greiman

The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross

Heavy Rain (Yes, I finally got a ps3!)

The Bewitching Mysteries by Madelyn Alt

Criminal Minds Season 5

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

Those are just some of the things off the top of my head. I'm also seriously SERIOUSLY SERIOUSLY pumped about the news of not only "Ace Attorney Investigations 2," (WOOHOO!) but the announcement for "Professor Layton VS. Phoenix Wright". I'm so very excited I can hardly contain myself!! If I wasn't getting the Nintendo 3DS before I most certainly am now! I DON'T WANT TO WAIT!!

If those two titles weren't enough to have me buzzing about like a crazed lunatic, the upcoming gaming forecast is so wonderful with titles like Ghost Trick, and Epic Mickey coming out in the Winter. And let's not forget about the impending Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword which looks FANTASTICAL.

Also, being that I was severely disappointed in the Kaichou wa Maid-sama anime I put it on hold. I don't know if I'm going to bother finishing it. I wasn't enjoying it at all. I'm currently watching an edited version of the Hellsing OVA's because a wonderful friend, who knows of my squeamish babyness about violence, spends what little free time she has editing out the freakishly violent bits. (Isn't that lovely of her?) I've only watched the first so far, but later this week we're watching the second and third. I LOVED the first. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest.

Like I mentioned above, in the time since I've last posted my brother and I bought a Ps3. I only have two games for it, Eternal Sonata (eh.) and Heavy Rain (FANTASTIC). I'm not a huge fan of M rated games (Heavy Rain being the only one I own) and I'm not overly fond of first person shooters/killing games so in some ways the system is wasted on me, but I was so thrilled with Heavy Rain that I can't regret the purchase.

I also invested in an upgrade for my lovely Kindle. Yes, that's right. I'm the proud owner of a Kindle 3. It was worth every penny. My old kindle was wonderful, but the upgrade has so many improvements! Mainly the screen just looks BETTER. It's so much clearer. Turning pages is quicker now too. The only thing I don't care for is the sliding power switch, but that's just a minor annoyance for me in particular.

One more thing, then I'm done with this post. I decided to start a tumblr account. I was playing with the idea for awhile and I finally caved. If you're interested check it out here.

Alright! That's everything for now. Hope you all had a ghoulishly merry Halloween!

I bid you adieu.

Image at the top found at Court-Records.net!

News, updates, ideas.

2010-07-26T22:18:00.005-04:00

Since this post is totally boring have a picture of Claire Stanfield from Baccano! because he's adorable.

I felt like I should do a post explaining myself a bit. I haven't been posting much, and even though I don't know if anyone reads this I wanted to post explaining what I've been doing and what I'm planning on doing. I'm really proud of myself for keeping this active for as long as I have. I really enjoy blogging and I've learned a lot these past (almost) 2 years I've been doing this. (Holy crap, two years!) When I go back and read over past entries I'm happy to have them. I feel like I've grown as a person since I've begun this and I want to keep growing.

Anyway -- the reason my activeness has plummeted into barely a post a month is because of a couple things. First off, about 2 months ago I turned 18. (Wahoo!) Right after that a bunch of stuff happened at work and they decided to move me to the Passport office. They moved me right away and I started training. I also had to become certified which involved taking a 14 part test.

Since then I've been busy busy busy.

Besides that I have about 5 projects going on at once. A long time ago I mentioned a project that's still under wraps. My friend and I are still working on that, but I'm hoping that by mid-August we'll unveil it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm really excited about it!

I'm also planning on starting a book review account on youtube. I'm thinking about hooking a blog with it so that people who prefer to read reviews have that choice. I don't know -- I haven't decided yet. I don't know how comfortable I'll be in front of a camera.

I also want to talk about what I plan on doing with this blog. Lately I use it as a place to post my practice reviews. I love talking about the things I watch/read/whatever. I like reviewing but I also LOVE to speculate. I'm going to continue using this blog to talk about things I'm excited about, and to post some of my wild theories about the series I'm into. I'm hoping that things are calming down and that I'll have time to post here more.

So (hopefully) in the near future I'll get these projects kicked off and I'll start posting more often again. Patience, lovies, patience. ;)

Forgive My Fins

2010-06-18T01:24:00.005-04:00

Normally I wouldn't read books like Forgive my Fins because when I read the description it sounded like something I wouldn't like. However, I read Tera Lynn Childs' other books (i.e. Oh. My. Gods. and Goddess Boot Camp) and enjoyed them so I figured I'd give this a shot. I love Tera Lynn Childs' way of writing. It's funny, cute, quirky, and just down-right FUN. I was feeling in the mood for something light and fluffy and this is just what I needed!

SO if you're looking for something soul-shatteringly deep then this book isn't for you. The plot might even be considered a tad shallow (not to use ocean puns!) but if you're up for a cute fluffy and light-hearted read then by all means pick it up!

The description goes as follows--

"Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it’s not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you’re a normal teenage girl, but when you’re half human, half mermaid like Lily, there’s no such thing as a simple crush.

Lily’s mermaid identity is a secret that can’t get out, since she’s not just any mermaid – she’s a Thalassinian princess. When Lily found out three years ago that her mother was actually a human, she finally realized why she didn’t feel quite at home in Thalassinia, and she’s been living on land and going to Seaview high school ever since, hoping to find where she truly belongs. Sure, land has its problems – like her obnoxious, biker boy neighbor Quince Fletcher – but it has that one major perk – Brody. The problem is, mermaids aren’t really the casual dating type – when they “bond,” it’s for life.

When Lily’s attempt to win Brody’s love leads to a tsunami-sized case of mistaken identity, she is in for a tidal wave of relationship drama, and she finds out, quick as a tailfin flick, that happily-ever-after never sails quite as smoothly as you planned. "

Okay, okay. Cheesy, right? I know, but like I said. Tera Lynn Childs' has a way of making it work. As soon as you start reading you're pulled into Lily's world and you don't want to leave until you turn the last page. Her descriptions of the underwater kingdom of Thalassinia paints a beautiful image and left me wishing that it was a real place. The ocean slang was giggle worthy and a lot of fun. You could see how much creativity she put into it.

I really enjoyed Lily as a main character. She managed to be strong while still having her insecurities. She was headstrong and at times borderline selfish, and where that's not always a good thing this felt right. When you're in a situation that you don't want to be in -- especially with someone you don't like -- you won't act perfect. She wasn't a selfish brat throughout the book, she just had moments like anyone would and she acted human. I liked that Lily had flaws.

The other characters were interesting. Quince in particular was a lot of fun. I loved every scene involving him. The author definitely did a good job at portraying the hot bad boy neighbor.

However, Brody and Lily's best (human) friend, Shannen needed to be fleshed out more. They felt generic to me, like I could open any other young adult novel and find them there. Nothing sparked my attention and made me feel attached. One of them could have fallen off a cliff and I wouldn't have cared. (Okay, I might have cared a little for Shannen. You get my point.)

The mermaid magic was fun. I thought the "bond" was an interesting concept. Having someone being able to feel whatever your feeling is a cool idea. I also thought that making mermaids eyes sparkle when they cry was cute. It was a fun way to make it possible to tell that someone is crying in the ocean. I did want to know more about the magic, but the story was fine without it.

The one thing that bugged me about the story was that Lily being a mermaid was accepted very easily. (That's not a spoiler. Obviously, from the summary, someone finds out!) I don't know about you but if someone said to me, "Hey, just so you know I'm a mermaid." I'd brush it off with a "Yeah, right. Who are you kiddin'?" I felt like there was a bit of a cop out there, and it frustrated me. There should have been demands of proof, and less teenage drama.

Overall I really did enjoy the story. I've been overloading on murder mysteries and I felt like I needed something light-hearted and this was exactly what the doctor ordered. A perfect book to read over the Summer! I'd give it 4/5 stars. I will definitely be reading Fins are Forever.

Now all I need is for a hot guy on a motorcycle to move in next door....

Till next time~

Toradora!

2010-05-16T01:36:00.006-04:00

I was horrified to realize I never did a post on Toradora! so it's 1:30 in the morning and I'm typing up a blog entry. GO ME! Haha!

Toradora! is a romantic comedy that would also fall under the slice of life category.

Probably one of the most unique romantic comedies I've watched in a long time, Toradora! manages to tug at your heart strings while being laugh out loud funny. The plot goes as follows;

Aisaka Taiga, a short girl who's violent nature has gotten her the nickname "The palmtop tiger," bumps into the schools mislabeled delinquent, Takasu Ryuuji, who's scary appearance has gotten himself to be rumored the schools most dangerous student. Some crazy events occur and the discovery is made that each of them is best friends with the others crush and so the agreement is made that they will help each other to gain their hearts desires.

The plot is the reason I kept putting off watching the show. I thought it sounded cliche' and borderline stupid. Then a friend of mine told me I **HAD** to watch it so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm really glad I did.

Where the plot sounds really silly, it's actually pretty cute. The characters are all really unique. Taiga is borderline awful throughout the whole series. She's brash, short tempered, bossy, and violent. Of course she has her charming qualities like her fierce loyalty, and as she grows throughout the story you start to sympathize with her. Ryuuji, being her complete opposite, is everything you don't expect him to be. Considerate, sweet, kind, shy, non-confrontational. They're both really easy characters to like.

The rest of the cast is a lot of fun. They're each different, and where there are a few predictable ones it doesn't take away from the show. Of course there's the rival of love for Taiga, and the best friends, but like I said. They all add to the show in their own way.

It's pretty obvious where the story goes. They each work towards their goals of getting their respectable love interests attention, and somewhere along the way they fall for each other. Even though the storyline is pretty predictable it doesn't make the journey any less interesting.

They throw a few curve balls into the plot. Things you might not see coming, or just silly things you didn't expect. I think it makes the series more enjoyable, and keeps you watching till the very end.

The art is really cute. It instantly made me think of "Zero no Tsukaima" with it's chibi-like style. The animation is pretty nice. Every once in awhile something will seem off, but it's nothing offensive to the eyes.

The voice acting is WONDERFUL. Minori, in particular, has a very unique way of speaking and her voice actress does a great job.

Basically the show is light hearted, fluffy, and fun. There will be moments where you will laugh out loud, and other moments where you'll feel like crying. The former more than the latter. I'd recommend this show to anyone who enjoys a good romantic comedy.

I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

Till next time~.

Kimi Ni Todoke (Anime)

2010-04-22T18:40:00.007-04:00

So this review is for Kimi Ni Todoke (the anime not the manga.) which falls under the shoujo, romance, slice of life, comedy categories.

For the most part Kimi Ni Todoke followed the manga pretty closely. I'm really happy about that since I love the manga and I hate when it gets converted into anime and they suddenly veer off track. With where the show ended it seems like they were setting up for what I hope will be a Season 2. If not they left some major loose ends!

The story follows a high school girl named Sawako Kuronuma who struggles with being "heard" by her fellow classmates. Because of her gloomy appearance she gains the nickname "Sadako" and rumors float around about her being able to channel spirits and such. This leaves her with having no friends and most of her classmates won't approach her.

That is until the most popular guy in her grade, Kazehaya, starts talking to her. Suddenly Sawako finds herself in situations she doesn't know how to handle.

And so the love story begins....

Okay, I know. That sounds really cliche (and lame), and if I'm being honest, it is cliche'. The entire story is so adorable you might start puking rainbows. There are a lot of things that happen that are so predictable that it's almost painful, but there's something about this story that is really enjoyable.

One of the things I enjoy most about this series is the characters. Sawako in particular is a breath of fresh air. When I start a shojo series I'm usually expecting a headstrong female lead with strange quirks that come with the territory. Sawako is the complete opposite of most female leads. She's actually very weak and lets people push her around. Her goal is to be accepted by her classmates so she does anything to please them. She's also really naive and old fashioned. I really enjoy watching her character develop even if I find myself getting impatient with her.

The other characters are also really enjoyable. Ayane and Chizu's friendship with Sawako is fun to watch, and the growing love interest between Kazehaya and Sawako is always charming. One character to watch in particular would be Coach Pin. He really stands out to me and he's always good for a laugh.

Both the animation and the art in this series is lovely. Sometimes you'll see some awkward stuff (like a hand that seems too large) but I think that happens with every series. I really really like the way things are colored. It's simple and clean, and I like that.

Oh, and I have to give props to everyone having real hair colors. I'm glad I haven't seen a random blue haired fellow pop-up anywhere. That's nice for a change.

I'm not sure what makes this series stand out. I think part of the reason is that it's very easy to relate to. Sawako's situation isn't that strange, and in most cases, everyone has been in her shoe's before. Whether it's feeling alienated from a group of people, or just being uncomfortable and not knowing how to handle a situation.

On the romantic level of the story, Kazehaya and Sawako will drive you insane. This story progresses slowly. Sometimes the characters spend whole episodes dancing around each other and it's enough to make you want to scream. I don't really think anyone is that naive, but it's not enough to make you stop watching.

So if you're looking for an action-packed thriller with awesome weapons and crazy enemies... then this isn't for you. Kimi Ni Todoke is a slow progressing story that tugs at your heart-strings and makes you turn into a puddle of mush. If you like fluff, romance, shojo, slice of life, and general adorable-ness, give it a shot!

I'd give it 4/5 stars.

Till next time.

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

2010-03-15T23:26:00.007-04:00

Oh my God. This game just about took over my life. Two years after playing Apollo Justice Ace Attorney we finally get a new installment into the series.

AHHHHHHHHH!

So not only has this game managed to respark my obsession with the Ace Attorney games, it also seems to have sparked my imagination. I've been drawing up a storm and I even wrote FANFICTION. Really bad fanfiction, but fanfiction nonetheless.

I reread the post I made way back in May about the game and it made me smile at how excited I was. Not that anything changed. I'm still excited and the game is over now. LOL.

Onward to the spazz-fest! I'll try to keep it spoiler free.

The first case was exactly what I expected from the Ace Attorney series. The first cases are always just a practice run with an awesome storyline. You won't bust your brain figuring it out but they're not so easy that it leaves veteran players bored. They're great introductions for both people who have never played the games and people who have. Even better is that we get to see Gumshoe -- and another familiar face! -- Maggey Byrd! She has a whole new design this time and she's looking pretty spiffy if I do say so myself.

After playing the first case I came to the conclusion I LOVED playing as Edgeworth and seeing inside his mind. I found it hilarious that where Phoenix and Apollo had a "Court Record" and their respective devices to help them seek out the truth, Edgeworth gets an ORGANIZER and a LOGIC mode. Phoenix, Apollo, I love you but in comparison you really seem a little scatter-brained.

Case 2 -- So what do we get to see in case 2? Bondage Edgeworth. Yesssss!!!

There's a murder on a plane, and Edgeworth gets involved. Of course there's more to it than that, but that's the gist. Instantly we get carried away by a cast of crazy Ace Attorney witnesses/suspects/characters that instantly brought a smile to my face. We don't get introduced to any characters that stay with you throughout the game but this case is anything but boring and it sets up the rest of the game for an awesome plot.

Case 3-- Now here's where the meat is. Why do I say that? Well because...MORE BONDAGE EDGEWORTH, YAY. Ok, no. This is where our "Thief of Truth" comes bouncing into the scene. Kay Faraday.

If I'm going to be completely honest I thought I was going to hate Kay. I was nervous that the creators were just grasping at straws with a "Thief of Truth" (which sounded pretty lame at the time) that just happens to be a girl in a very short skirt. I was pleasantly surprised that I instantly fell in love with her. She definitely has the Maya/Ema/Trucy vibes. All of the series female side-kicks are teenagers with very strong personalities. Usually that would annoy me but the creators make them realistic enough and surprisingly, it doesn't feel like pedophilia. LOL

Not only do we get to meet the sunny personality of Kay, but we also meet Edgeworth's newest rival for the first time. An Interpol Agent Shi-Long Lang and his assistant Shih-na. Oh my god. Let me just say that Agent Lang instantly became one of my favorite characters. I love everything about him. His design, personality, his THEME MUSIC. I just about died. His assistant Shih-na is also an interesting character. Very mysterious, and all that.

So yes, Case 3, The Kidnapped Turnabout, is awesome. New characters pop in, and old ones flutter about throughout the case. One happens to be Ema Skye which just about had me bursting from happiness. I love seeing her develop throughout the series. In the first game she's 16, and by the time she becomes our lead detective in Apollo Justice she's 25. Seeing her grow up is a nice little extra on the side.

Case 4- FLASHBACK CASE. We are taken back in time to Edgeworth's prosecution debut! Wait, what?? We did that before?? No, silly. We were at his first trial. This was supposed to be his first case but everything went awry!

This competes with Case 5 (the final one) as my favorite. Not only do we get to see Edgeworth being adorably nervous and trying so hard to dress to impress but we also get to see 13 year old FRAZISKA VON KARMA. I'd say she was adorable but she'd whip me to pieces.

So why is this case so lovable? Well, besides Detective Badd, who is badass, and a great storyline that I can't say anything about for fear of spoiling, I got so much joy out of this case for the simple reason of the Franny and Edgey interaction. I knew that they thought of each other as siblings...kind of. But seeing them interact really gives you an idea of their relationship. I was hysterical at the banter when you examine the snack machine in the hallway of the court house.

This game not only gave a whole new dimension to Edgeworth, but also to Franziska Von Karma. In the other games they made a point to make a whip wielding bitchy prosecutor. They gave her some nice character development but still managed to make her seem rather...cold. So while poor Edgeworth had to deal with some lashings from her whippity whip we get to see some whole new sides to little Franny.

Okay phew. One more case, and what a case it is.

Case 5, Turnabout Ablaze is.....wow. Just wow. You switch between partnering up with Kay, and Franziska in this one. There's a lot of twists and turns and around the corner are some good lulz. There is so much that happens in this case...and as you reach the end it really explodes.

It's mind-meltingly fantastic. I'm not sure if it tops Justice for All's Farewell, My Turnabout, but man. It's good.

So, is this game a great addition to the series? Yes. Good stand alone game? Eh. I think people new to the series would enjoy it but would miss out on a lot of the humor when characters from the other games come into the scene. The incorporation of being able to move around freely at crime scenes is really nice. It gives a new element to the game that the just pointing and clicking at crime scenes didn't have. I really enjoyed the logic mode which involved tying bits of information to each other. It was nice to be following Edgeworth's train of thought most of the time.

I could go on and on forever. If you can't tell I really positively absolutely enjoyed this game to the fullest and I can't wait for the next release to the series. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long, but I don't think there is any information currently out about the next one.

Will I replay it? Most definitely.

Only downside? LACK OF PHOENIX. D:

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth was a wild ride and I loved it. I hope to see more of Agent Lang in the near future...(Creators please? Just a little??)

Lang Zi says: Till next time!

Updates

2010-03-09T00:26:00.004-05:00

I keep putting off updating until I finish the Ace Attorney: Investigations game. I plan on doing a massive (and I mean MASSIVE) post on it as soon as I finish case 5.

Okay, so one whole month has passed. (Wow! So fast!) In that time my friend and I finished Ergo Proxy (Very disappointing) and Nodame Cantabile. I'll be doing posts about both of them later. By recommendation I started watching Toradora! last week and I'm up to episode 15. Really cute anime. I kept putting off starting it and now I'm glad that I finally did. It's adorable and good for a laugh.

Oh, and now my friend and I are watching the Aoi Bungaku Series. It's depressing but the animation is lovely. More on that later as well.

I find myself wondering about the anime with an exclamation point on the end of the title. Baccano!, Toradora!, there's another one but I can't remember how to spell it. Does that make the series seem more appealing to the watcher? Maybe it does...since obviously I tend to watch them. Hmm...

Video games I've, obviously, been playing (and drooling over) Ace Attorney: Investigations. Which is amazing. And I won't talk about anymore than that. But it's amazing. Did I say that already?

I haven't been reading much manga as of late. This past month has been really busy for me. I'm hoping after the next two weeks pass things will calm down a bit. I have, however, continued reading the updates on the series I already have started. Last night I read the latest chapter for Kaichou wa Maid-sama. If I'm being completely honest I'm starting to get bored with the series. I think the author is dragging the mystery of Usui out too long. I'm hoping she changes that soon because I'd be sad if the series starts to go downhill.

I'm still pumped about the anime being released in the Spring though!

Regular book-wise, I've been rereading Pride and Prejudice by the lovely Jane Austen (bow down fools), and I also started James Patterson's "First to Die". This is the first James Patterson book I've read (SHOCK!) and I'm not very far yet. I like his writing style a lot. I'm hoping I can jump into this book some more later in the week. I was in the mood for a good thriller after finishing up The Haunted Bookshop mysteries (which are wonderful). I miss Jack. ;___;

Oh, and just to state where I stand on American Idol -- Crystal and Lee are my American Idols. Period. No questions asked. I also like Andrew, Casey, and Lily.

Alright, so this post wasn't anything productive. Just an update on all the crap I entertain myself with.

Will post again in the near future. (I hope)

Sleep now.

Till next time, cupcakes!

Welcome to the NHK

2010-02-07T00:22:00.007-05:00

Welcome to the NHK is a psychological shoujo anime that would fall into the slice of life, comedy, and romance categories.

The story follows Satou, a 22 year old college drop-out who has given into his fears and has become a hikikomori. (Hikikomori's are people who are so reclusive that they won't leave their own home, and in some cases have an extreme fear of doing so.) He believes everything to be a conspiracy, and that there is an organization behind it all. The NHK. (Nihon Hikikomori Kyokai) Which in reality, he has made up as an excuse for his own fears. He lives out his days in his apartment having conversations with his appliances and only going to get food at a convenience store late at night. That is until one day a girl and her Aunt knock on his door trying to sell something to him. That's when the girl decides to make him her project and cure him of his "disease".

And so the story begins...

I have to say this anime is one of the strangest shows I have ever watched. And that's saying something. This show can manage to draw you in, while still being completely ridiculous. I think what's so compelling about this show is that the characters are very real. Their emotions and short comings are things you see in real people. Of course it's anime so everything is over the top, but that's what makes it fun.

So you have the main character Satou who is a complete screw up and when he's not completely pitiable, he's being an ass. Then Misaki, the girl who decides that she's going to cure him. Misaki is one of the most fascinating characters you will run into in a series. There is a lot of mystery surrounding her past, and why she wants to help Satou. In fact you don't find out her ulterior motive for helping him until near the end.

Then there's Yamazaki, Satou's neighbor who also happened to be his junior in high school. Satou and Yamazaki shared a short incident in school together, and after finding out that they're neighbors become friends. Yamazaki becomes an important character in the series, and is probably the most likable.

The whole cast of characters in this show are original with strong personalities that complement each other. They all have their own quirks and flaws which really helps flesh them out. In fact most of the characters have more bad qualities than good which makes them seem more realistic.

You follow Satou through his whole journey starting with admitting he is, indeed, a hikikomori. Watching him struggle through his problems is a hilarious trip of it's own. Like, for example, when he's feeling anxiety about doing something his appliances gain faces and encourage him not to do it and that it's all a conspiracy planted by the NHK.

Another great thing about this show is that they're not afraid to make the characters look ugly. People aren't perfect, and they don't look perfect all the time either. You see Satou in so many stages as he works through his problems you feel like you personally know him, and even understand him.

And Satou isn't the only one with issues throughout the series. All the characters are struggling in their own way to find themselves and make a place in the world. All this is done while keeping a light and airy atmosphere. How they managed that I don't know, but it's very impressive and makes it a very enjoyable anime that you get a lot of laughs out of.

Now the animation isn't anything grand. There are times the faces look off and nothing is very detailed. It's so-so and could have been a lot better but it's nothing that should turn you away from the show. The facial expressions are over-exaggerated which makes them hilarious and the voice acting is superb. The soundtrack suits the show and helps make a lot of the scenes. Especially the ones between Satou and Yamazaki.

Overall I give Welcome to the NHK an 8/10. The story is fun but manages to keep a serious undertone about it. The comedy comes in at the perfect times and you're laughing more than you're not. I highly recommend it for people who enjoy a bit of drama and a whole lot of silliness.

Oh, and something interesting I learned after watching this was that hikikomoris actually exist. I had never heard of a hikikomori and I assumed it was made up for the show. I was reading a news article about it and it's actually really sad!

Anyway, that's all for tonight.

Till next time

I have no idea what to name this

2010-01-26T22:26:00.008-05:00

Ahoy there! I'm feeling pretty dandy tonight so I thought maybe I'd pop on and dust off the cob-webs with a good old-fashioned post.

Ok, so as of late I've been using this place to post up my 'reviews' (if they can be called that) of shows/books/games etc, etc. There is a reason for that and it's still currently under wraps but bear with me. I need practice and this a good place to start. I still plan on posting up my over thought-out speculation of shows. I just haven't found any that are currently airing that need speculation. I'm keeping my eye out for any that might intrigue me.

Another thing I want to work on is making a nicer layout for this place. I've always thought it looked kind of junkie and boring. I just never sat down to try to figure it out. I'm hoping that by posting this it will force me into wanting to get it done. So we'll see.

The last couple posts I kept mentioning how I wanted to go to Setsucon. Sadly, my plans didn't work out and I had to skip for this year. However, I think it's almost a definite (almost) yes that I'll get to be at Otakon. Which is exciting! I'm already planning out what to do for cosplay. I want to have two ready, and while it's months away I feel like I need to get started so I'm going to have to set in stone which characters I want to do.

Alright, that's enough of that.

I'm almost finished with Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. I'm in the last temple and I'm going to try to finish that up this weekend. The only reason I haven't finished it already is because I couldn't wait any longer and I had my brother pick up Final Fantasy: Crystal Bearers for me. I know that the game itself is really short and probably isn't worth the $50 but I'm having so much fun that I can't regret buying it. The graphics are gorgeous and the gameplay is pretty nice. It took me a bit to get used to the controls but now it's no problem. I'll admit that the characters aren't anything earth shattering. They're all a bit cookie cutter and (at least where I'm at in the game) there isn't much depth to them. However, I LOVE the character's designs. I'm looking forward to playing the game some more in my free time.

My mom and I finished all the seasons of The Closer that were out on DVD so now we're going to be starting Psych. I seriously love The Closer. I think the characters are quirky, fun and extremely diverse. The character development over the seasons is some of the best character development I've seen. I also like that the lead character is a very believable strong female. She's not a genius, she can be very emotional, and she can be borderline awful at times. This is one of the only American television shows that I've felt like I could walk down the street and actually run into one of these characters. It's refreshing to see.

Anime and reading-wise not much has changed. I'm still watching Kimi ni Todoke, and I'll be finishing up Ergo Proxy with my friend this weekend. I'm finishing up the last book (that's currently out) in the Haunted Bookshop mysteries and I haven't added any new manga series to the never-ending list.

In other news my 8 gb Zune died after only owning it a little more than a year and a half. I was none too thrilled to have to fork out the cash to buy another one. This time I bought a three year warranty so they won't be able to pull the same shit again and now that I have my new one I have to confess I love it. It's a touch screen which is really spiffy, and now that all my music is back on it (and I upgraded to 16 gb's) I'm pretty happy. I named it Ranger.

I have to give Amazon some major props. I ordered it Thursday afternoon and I had in my hands on Friday morning. Amazon you are the shit and I will never doubt you. Take my soul.

Oh, and now our printer is dieing. It won't scan stuff anymore. LOL. ELECTRONIC HELL.

Alright, that's enough for now. I have to go stop the dogs from chewing on the wall.

Ciao~

2010

2010-01-01T23:40:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year! Another year has passed already! I was rereading my post last year to see what I said and I realized that while 2008 had been such a joy for me, 2009 just...wasn't. I'm not going to go emo, and bore anyone with the details. I'm just saying that for me and my family this year has been a tough one.

But besides all the sad/bad things things there were a lot of good things that happened to me this year too.

The biggest one being that I got my first job, and while it's still a job and sometimes it's the last thing I feel like doing, I really truely love it. I'm overjoyed to work where I do and I don't think I'd be this happy anywhere else. So I'm very grateful.

I've also gotten into a lot of different series this past year that I love. The Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich being a huge one. Then there's Bones (was that only this year?), Criminal Minds, The Closer, and many more I might be forgetting.

Anime-wise I got to watch some series on my own, and I watched a lot with a great friend. Because of her I experienced Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo which I normally wouldn't have watched if I had been picking the series myself. I also fell in love with the show Baccano! I could list tons and tons of series I've watched and enjoyed but those are the few that I wanted to mention.

I've also read piles of manga this year. I think it was this year that High School Debut ended. It was also this year that I picked up on Dengeki Daisy, Kimi Ni Todoke, and Kaichou wa Maid-sama. I'm looking forward to continuing reading Faster than a Kiss, and Karin (whenever they update it) and all the other series I started.

In regular books (besides Stephanie plum) I've read great series like The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, Jaine Austen Mysteries, and the Dixie Hemmingway mysteries. This year I rediscovered how much I love the mystery genre. Not just computer games, but BOOKS. I was also disappointed that Young Adult books severely lack in the mystery genre. You can hardly find any! I also continue to enjoy the Morganville Vampire series, and anxiously await the next Kitty Kitty book by Michele Jaffe.

I can't think of any games that left a huge impact on me this year, but I continue to carry my fandoms of the Ace attorney games, Professor layton, and the Tales of series. Playing Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was a great way to end the year. Especially since I think it was one of the best games of the year.

I really do feel like I've done a lot this year. I watched movies, had fun with my mom, drew, chatted with friends, grew apart from friends, and got to know new ones.

I joined websites, procrastinated, played games, saw plays, smiled, laughed, cried, grumped, joked, and just tried to enjoy what free time I had by doing what I love.

I have also gotten to experience the joys and woes of having puppies in the house. They have brought such joy into the house. There really isn't anything quite like a dog.

Now, I have a few resolutions for this year --

- Try to be more confident in myself and my abilities.

- Improve myself in the things I love. (i.e. drawing, AMV making, writing)

- Stop worrying so damn much.

- Keeping my room CLEAN. I MISS MY FLOOR!

Those are just some that I've been thinking about today.

And there are a few things I'm looking forward to this coming year. Later this month (if all works out) I'll be going to Setsucon. In February Ace Attorney: Investigations comes out. Kaichou wa Maid-Sama the anime will be premiering sometime in the Spring. I'm also planning on attending Otakon this Summer as well!

All in all, I feel like I have done a lot of growing and maturing this year. I'm far from being an adult, but I feel more grown up. And as much as I don't want to turn 18 later this year I'm not scared anymore.

Let's see what the future brings, yes?

Happy New Year...

2010, here we are.

Till next time

Merry (belated) Christmas

2009-12-28T23:25:00.005-05:00

Hello blogger, long time no post! It has been a very hectic month. I hope that anyone reading this had a very nice holiday. Mine was pretty nice. I'll admit that I'm glad it's over now. As much fun as I have in the weeks getting closer I just wasn't on the ball this year. I'll be sad when we get rid of our Christmas tree though.

Anyway, I'm a little disappointed with my updating. Or lack thereof. I do plan on updating more now that my schedule is getting back to normal. I definitely want to post about Welcome to the NHK, which is a fantastic shojo anime. And since my friend and I finished that series we've moved on to Ergo Proxy which is proving to be very interesting.

Game-wise I had gotten two mystery computer games for Christmas. One was called Twice in a Blue Moon which is based off of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club mystery series. I ended up beating it yesterday and I had only loaded it on Saturday. The story was awesome, but the game was really short so I was a little disappointed. The gameplay was interesting -- different than what I'm used to in my usual computer games. It would switch between a search and find where you had to find and click on different items on a list, (I wasn't overly fond of this, it's alright but gets old after awhile) then after you find all the items on the list you get a puzzle. I LOVED the puzzles. They were a lot of fun and solvable with a little brain power. The lists of items you had to find were really random so it didn't even feel like it was relevant to the mystery. I'm still not sure what finding 2 clocks has to do with a copy-cat serial killer. LOL

So overall the game was OK. I'd give it a 6 out of 10. The art was really pretty, and like I said, the story was great. It just went a little too fast for me and I think they could put a little more to the game-play to keep people interested.

I can't remember the title of the other mystery game I got but I know it's about discovering the truth behind Edgar Allen Poe's death. It looks really interesting so I'm excited to play it.

I also got a Nintendo DSi and Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for Christmas so I've been playing with that too. I like the Nintendo DSi a lot. I had been thinking about upgrading for awhile now. I still had the original Nintendo DS and as much as I love it I thought that I might upgrade since my top screen has a scratch (Ok, so it's barely noticeable...it just drives me nuts) and it was starting to get old so I worried the battery would kick out on me. I was playing Spirit tracks on my old DS on Christmas eve so when I got the DSi on Christmas I was pretty surprised at the difference in quality when I switched the game over. The colors are so much richer now. I also like having the larger screens. Especially with Ace Attorney: Investigations coming out in the near future!!

I'm having way too much fun with Spirit Tracks. Seriously. I think it's becoming my favorite Zelda game. I love that Zelda is actually PART of the adventure, and she has such a strong personality it makes me laugh. The game-play is a lot of fun, and I love that -- unlike Phantom of the Hourglass with the Ocean place-- you don't have to keep repeating what you've already done in the Tower of Spirits. I also like riding around on the train. I think it's a fun change for Legend of Zelda.

Oh, and I've been fanspazzing over the sequel to Hotel Dusk. I think it's called Last Window, and I had a fit of fangirly joy when I first saw some info on it. I AM SO HAPPY. Oh, THE ART. FKAHfjHKAH

Okay. Enough about gaming.

I lied in my last post. Instead of starting Lie to Me after mom and I watched Season 4 of Bones (which sucked, in case you wondering.) we started watching The Closer. Which is the shit. I love strong female characters. I'll talk more about it next time. We're only on Disc 4 of Season 1.

Last but not least, I'm still watching/reading Kimi Ni Todoke. The series is so adorable I can hardly stand it. One of the few times I don't mind that the main character is almost infuriatingly naive`. (It's probably because she's so damn cute) The series can only be described as heart-warming. I just hope the anime keeps sticking with the manga story-wise. It would be a shame if they ruin the ending with a rush job to speed up the story.

So that's my insanely long post for today. If I don't post again till next month I want to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

2010 here we come. Where has the year gone?

Till next time~

Merry late Christmas and a Happy New Year!

P.S. I'm still trying to work out going to Setsucon. If I do get to go I plan on cosplaying as Hobo!Phoenix. WOOHOO

Zenkaikon! And some other stuff.

2009-11-22T23:21:00.008-05:00

Oh jeez, its been such a busy month I don't even know where to begin this entry. Well, last entry I talked about how I might get to go to Zenkaikon. I did get to go and I had so much FUN. I cosplayed the Undertaker from Kuroshitsuji. I didn't even like the series that much, but I LOVED the Undertaker so I couldn't resist the opportunity to cosplay him. I took lots of pictures, and I was surprised to have so many people want mine! I also got lots of hugs from various people. I really enjoyed it.

I'm trying to work it out that I get to go to Setsucon in January. It's possible that it won't work out but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I haven't fully decided who I want to cosplay but I think I have an idea. We'll see~.

Besides that I've been helping with our new puppies. We got two yorkie puppies on Wednesday. They're MONSTERS, but I love them. We've been putting little fences up to prevent them from killing themselves. LOL.

Anime wise I've been watching Soul Eater, Welcome to the NHK, and Kimi Ni Todoke. I'm enjoying all of them very much. Soul Eater has some very interesting concepts (I love the human weapon idea) but in a lot of ways I feel like I'm watching a better version of Naruto, Bleach, etc. I loved Naruto for the longest time but there were so many flaws, and the fact that it's STILL going on 470 chapters later, that caused me to drop it. I'm hoping Soul Eater doesn't turn into another one of those series that never end. On the bright side the anime is only 51 episodes and it ended already. (That doesn't mean a second season won't come out but we'll see.) I also plan on reading the Soul Eater manga since I've read that the anime reels off track. My favorite characters ended up being Stein and Death the Kidd. That wasn't predictable AT ALL. LOL.

I'm also seriously loving Welcome to the NHK. I plan on making a post specifically for the series once I finish it but I'll throw out what it's about now. Welcome to the NHK centers around a 22 year old college drop-out who has withdrawn himself from the world. He has become a "Hikikomori" which is someone who is afraid to interact with other people or even leave their home. He believes everything to be a conspiracy and even has hallucinations where his household appliances are talking to him.

The show is hilarious, but there are so many moments where you just feel horrible for Satou (the main character). There's something really sad about him. The cast of characters in the show are all so REAL that the show grabs you right away. At least it grabbed me right away. I'll definitely talk more in depth once I finish it but it's one of the best shojo anime I've watched in a long time.

Last but not least I've been watching the anime adaption of Kimi Ni Todoke. I've read all the translated chapters of Kimi Ni Todoke and talked about it awhile ago. In all honesty I was a little nervous about how this would be turned into an anime. The manga is ALMOST in first person in a lot of ways. It's very much centered around the main character's thoughts. However it has adapted into an anime perfectly. The only way to describe the story is heart-warming. I think there are about 7 episodes out now and I look forward to the release each week. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the story will play out in both anime and manga form.

I've also been reading a lot of manga lately. I read the series Cherry Juice, and I read all the translated chapters of Suki-tte Ii na yo (Say I love you). Cherry Juice was OK. I wasn't all that impressed and I thought all the characters looked the same. I hate when that happens. However I really enjoyed what I've read of Suki-tte Ii na yo and I look forward to reading more in the future.

I can't think of anything else I want to talk about this time. I should be heading to bed since it's now midnight and I have work tomorrow.

Today we put the Christmas lights on the house. I can hardly believe it's almost Christmas again.

We're on the last disc of Criminal Minds. Then my mom and I are going to watch Season 4 of Bones and after that we're going to start Lie to Me. YAY!

Till next time~

Happy Halloween one day late!

2009-11-01T23:44:00.009-05:00

So much for posting more often, huh? Sorry about that. Still busy, busy, busy.

So what have I been up to the past couple weeks? Well, I've been reading a lot lately. I finished Libba Bray's newest books "Going Bovine," and then I read the book "The Amaranth Enchantment,". Now I'm working on a mystery "The Ghost and Mrs. McClure". I'm really enjoying the mystery. There's something really cute and charming about it. The ghost is this detective from the 30's and I've discovered I love almost anything related to the 30's story telling-wise.

I've also been reading a lot of manga. I started the series "Dengeki Daisy," and it bounced onto my favorites list. It's by one of my favorite shojo mangaka's, Motomi Kyousuke, whom I recently found out is a man! LOL. I had never knew that before. I found it really interesting.

Anyway, the story is about a girl named Teru, who's parents have both died and lived she with her only relative, her older brother. Her brother got sick with an illness and before he passed away he gave her a cell phone telling her that she can contact someone named "DAISY" using that phone anytime, and they will always protect and care for her. So she keeps in contact with this DAISY, sending him messages daily about trivial things like what happened to her that day, or a picture of herself.

Then by a turn of events she ends up breaking a window and getting stuck as the slave for a pushy janitor at her school named Kurosaki who turns out to be DAISY himself. Only she doesn't know it.

I know, I thought the plot sounded really lame too. XDD However, after I started reading it I was surprised to find out that Kurosaki's personality is the complete opposite than what you expect in a shojo manga. The second you find out he's DAISY you expect him to be some really sweet and encouraging type of guy. He isn't. He's actually pretty mean to the main character, and not in the classic shojo mean where they're just cold and do stupid things that are really cliche'. He's not cold. Not at all. I think what I like so much about him is that he acts like an actual GUY. His real age hasn't been revealed yet, but I'm assuming he's in his twenties, and that' s how old he acts. He's brash, obnoxious, and crude. Another thing I really like about the character is that he smokes. I know that sounds like an odd thing to like about a character...but it just adds to his personality.

Then the main girl, Teru, she's around 16 or 17 years old. In the beginning of the manga she lives in an apartment by herself and she's poor. I really really like Teru as a main character. She's a very strong individual. If you haven't figured it out by now, I like strong female leads.

There are only 15 chapters of Dengeki Daisy translated, but I love the way the story has played out. Lately I had found myself getting fed up with shojo manga. I felt like I was reading the same storys over and over again. I'm really thrilled to have found Dengeki Daisy. I think one of the main reasons I like it so much is because it's written by a guy. Besides it being a romance genre manga, it's not super prettified. In fact, I LOVE the way the art is, and the expressions are hilarious. I've liked all the manga I've read by him so far.

I've also read some short series in the past week like "Adarushan no Hanayome," which was about a prince who gets stuck marrying a 10 year old princess to stop the war, and "Koi, Hirari," which was about a girl falling in love with a Kabuki dancer. They were both cute, and rather interesting.

Then this past weekend (which is sadly over D: ) my friend and I finished up the anime Paranoia Agent. Weird series. Really weird. Then it was my turn to pick what show we were going to watch. I decided on "Welcome to the NHK," which she watched before. We only got to watch the first 3 episodes, but so far it's hilarious. I'm really loving the main character, and his neighbor Yamazaki. XDD

I also started watching Soul Eater out of pure curiosity. It's interesting. I haven't found what all the fuss is about yet, but its definitely snagged my attention.

So besides AAAALLL that, I've been watching Criminal Minds with my parents, working, and getting my cosplay together for Zenkaikon. Which is still super secret. There's also been some not-so-fun stuff going on in my personal life. In all honesty this Fall hasn't been the happiest of times, which is a shame since I love Fall. Oh well. Maybe Winter will be better!

As always, till next time lovies! Oh, and if someone is reading this and you're magically going to be at Zenkaikon let me know! I'm so excited!!

A fountain of rambles

2009-10-17T23:44:00.008-04:00

ACK!! WHERE DID HALF MY OCTOBER GO. UPDATE FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. In my defense my life has been one big explosion of stuff that hasn't left me with the free time, or want, to update. However I'm here now so lets get this party started.

So let me rewind it back to the last time I posted. Hmm, what have I been doing? Besides work I've been watching some shows with my friend. We've been blasting through shows together lately. It's amazing. xD The latest anime we watched together was Kuroshitsuji. We finished that and now we're watching Paranoia Agent. I might do a post on Kuroshitsuji later. It was a very interesting show. I can't say I loved it but I didn't hate it either. It was pretty nifty.

Separate from that I finished Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens. That was one of the most pointless shows I have ever watched. I'm still not sure what the plot was supposed to be about. xD However, it was pretty entertaining. And the animation was pretty. That's always a plus.

Now I'm watching Kimi Ni Todoke. A couple months ago I stumbled across the manga in Shojo Beat when they translated the first chapter and it automatically tugged at my interest. Since then I looked it up and read all the chapters that have been scanned. Then I found out that it was going to be made into an anime. (I even posted about it a couple times. =D) I'm so happy to see this as an anime. It's just such a cute story. Cliche' as hell, yes, but the main character is just so charming. She's a sweetie-pie that you automatically find yourself rooting for. Actually, almost all the characters make you care for them. I think the art style is another charming aspect to this anime/manga. It just adds to the character of the story. I dunno. Maybe I'll be able to explain better later. This will definitely fill my fluff quota for the month.

I also got myself all caught up in Kaichou wa Maid-sama. Another manga that's being turned into an anime, which I'm also very excited about. WOOT!

A couple weeks ago I had someone recommend the manga Shinobi Life to me. So, instead of doing the smart thing and just ignoring it, I went and looked it up and ended up reading ALL THE TRANSLATED CHAPTERS THAT WERE AVAILABLE. So that tacks another unfinished, non-scheduled fan translated manga I'm reading to add to the list. xD The interesting thing about Shinobi Life is that the story is completely out there. It's about a ninja that's from the past and falls into a time zipper to the future and sees a girl that looks exactly like the princess he has sworn to protect. I read the first couple chapters and thought it was really...awkward. Then suddenly the story kind of became it's own and I couldn't STOP reading.

Chalk another one up on the "Waiting to be updated" list. Fail.

Oh, and I've been watching Criminal Minds with my mom. That show is love. It eats my soul. I would throw myself at the feet of any of the men in that show.

I might even throw myself at the feet of the girls in that show.

Awkward.

In the land of gaming I finished Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. It was so adorably cute. The animations in those games are just the shit.

Now I'm playing Tales of Legendia and I'm not sure if I like it. Shirley is more annoying than MARTA from Dawn of the New World. I never thought I would say that! And Senel has a one track mind. SHIRLEYSHIRLEYSHIRLEY MUSTSAVESHIRLEYSHIRLEY. The first 7 hours of the game I've spent trying to rescue Shirley after I already saved her one time and she got RE-KIDNAPPED. I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS.

However Cam Clarke voices Will Raynard which brings me to have ecstatic fits of joy everytime he speaks.

And last but certainly not least, I am reading Libba Bray's latest novel "Going Bovine". I'm about halfway through and I must say it is so refreshing to be reading a novel where the main character is a guy. Even better is that he actually thinks like a guy. I love Libba Bray's ability to write dark humor.

Well, I think that's everything! I'm a busy little bee (buzz buzz), but I'll try to post more often now that I'm thinking about it again.

OH, OH, OH! In about two weeks (if all is well) I'll be going to Zenkaikon! (Anime convention!) I'm going to be cosplaying, but I'm not going to say who since that is a se-cret~. I'm so excited though! This is something I've wanted to do since I was 14, so I'm really happy that I might have the opportunity to go this year.

Till next time, cupcakes!

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

2009-09-30T22:52:00.008-04:00

So I watched this movie with high expectations from all the people who loved it. I'm going to say that I was severely disappointed and expected a lot more from it.

The story is about a 17-year-old high school girl who discovers her ability to leap through time. The movie basically follows how this affects her life, how she chooses to use her ability, and what happens when she makes some big mistakes.

I assumed that there would be some really interesting concepts with her ability to 'time leap'. I was mistaken, since half the movie is about how she jumped time to get better grades, redo a moment when she might have embarrassed herself, and making sure she gets the last pudding. While I was expecting at least a little frivolity (who wouldn't?) I didn't expect this to make-up the majority of the movie.

I was also disappointed with the ending. There were some twists to the plot that I felt came out of nowhere. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that the ending was pretty predictable and wasn't explained very well. The entire ability to 'time leap' was completely shrugged off as something that young girls can do sometimes. I found that to be a very lame plot fail.

On the up side the animation in this movie was lovely. Most of the movements were very fluid, things you could see happening in reality. The voices were all done really well, too. My only complaint in that regard was that some scenes would run a little too long that it seemed awkward. For example -- There's a scene where Makoto (main girl) was running and was short of breath. The scene spanned for quite awhile and it became that her gasps seemed off, or fake. That could have been easily fixed if they cut that sequence down a bit. At least, that's what I think.

There wasn't anything overly-special about the characters. You could watch almost any high school based anime and find the same characters, so there wasn't anything that stood out too much in that regard. Same with the character development. It was there, but it was average and predictable.

I can't think of too much to say about the movie, to be honest. The whole thing was JUST average. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't wonderful either. If you like the slice of life, shojo genres then you would probably like this movie. Just don't expect anything ground-breaking.

In fact, I found myself getting bored at some parts. This is something I won't ever rewatch.

So overall I'd rate it a 6/10. It's okay, but it left a lot to be desired.

Baccano!

2009-09-23T23:51:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I'm finally doing my post on Baccano! Here we go!

Baccano! has a little bit of everything. There's alchemists, demons, immortals, thieves, assassins, the mafia, and there are about 20 main characters. The story mainly centers on two out of the ordinary thieves, and the affect that they've had on the other character's lives. Throughout the entire show there are 3 stories being told that are only a year or two apart from each other. What makes Baccano! even more interesting is that it's based in the 1930's. That alone adds a lot of character to the show setting it aside from other anime. The actual plot to the show is just how all these characters were/are connected to each other. Whether the relationship was good, bad, or ugly there was some form of connection between almost every character.

The show is a lot of fun. The characters all stand on their own. No cookie cutter syndrome going on. However, the downfall of Baccano! is that the way the story is told can be extremely confusing. Not only is it jumping time frames randomly, but the story is being told almost backward. The first episode is actually the end of the adventures. It's a very interesting way of telling a story, and I enjoyed it, but half the time I felt really lost. Really, if you want to understand the story completely you're going to have to watch it a second time.

That's my only complaint on this series. Other than being confused throughout the whole thing everything else was top notch.

I really want to talk a bit about the humor. I found it astounding how funny this series was. There were some downright horrendous moments. You could feel sick with disgust, and then a few scenes later you're crying from laughter. Isaac, and Miria (the two idiot thieves) add so much to the show with their crazy antics. Or Ladd (an assassin), who adds a morbid sense of hilarity to the show that you know you shouldn't be laughing at, but you just can't help yourself. I am so very impressed with the variety in the characters of this show, I can't even express it in words. I would tell someone to watch this JUST for the diversity in the characters.

The music was superb. There was a lot of swing, but there was also the dorky little tunes for those silly moments, and it all just fit the show perfectly. It helped make the setting even more, and that's important. You'll find yourself humming some of the songs after you finish because they're just so catchy.

Oh, and a must mention is the opening. The opening to Baccano! is the best anime opening I have ever seen. You get a feel for every characters personality, and there are A LOT of characters. You actually feel like you know what you're getting into. You can SEE the thought that went into it. The music, what the characters are doing, the art. It's all so great that you must watch it. YOU MUST--

Overall, I think this is a really great series. In truth, I absolutely adored it. I found myself not being able to wait to watch the next episode. The animation was lovely, the music was great, the plot was interesting, and the characters were just amazing.

And a shout-out to the voice acting. It was all very well cast. There wasn't one character that's voice didn't match the character they were recording for.

The only people I wouldn't recommend this show to are gore haters. I, myself, am not a gore fan, and this was about as much as I could take. So if you're super squeamish about these kinds of things -- this is not for you. Also, if you're easily offended, then no. Don't watch it. Come back when you gain a sense of humor. There are some things people might find offensive.

So all in all, I'll give it a 8/10. Even though for my personal taste I'd give it a 10, because I loved it so much.

Maids? What is this??

2009-09-10T21:03:00.007-04:00

Okay, so on the 7th this month it was officially one year since I started this blog. Yay! It doesn't really feel like a year, but I'm proud of myself for keeping this going for as long as I did. Here's hoping for another year of mindboggling rambles from me!

Even though I haven't been updating as much as I used to. =(

Finished Baccano! (OVA's and all) today with my friend. Will post about it later. Absolutely loved it. Just want to bake over what I watched, and what I want to say about it.

So I mentioned last entry that I was starting Kaichou Wa Maid-Sama, thankfully it's only 40 chapters in so far, and I'm all caught up. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would. I've come to notice that it's very rare for Shojo to come out of it's cliche' over-used plot shell (and Maid-Sama is no different) but there's something very charming about the story. I'm not sure if it's because the characters are so likable, or the fact that she introduces some of the over-used plot-lines in interesting ways. Yes, Usui is a tad too perfect, but I actually like him a lot, and I like how boisterous Misaki can be. I like the fact that she can be downright mean. Most of the time they make the main female either extremely ditsy and unintentionally troublesome, or something of the sort. Misaki is tough, and being tough she has a reputation that she doesn't mind having. I don't know. There is just something very refreshing about her character, even if there is the usual "I'M OBLIVIOUS TO HIS FEELINGS" thing going on. (Which can get old, Special A, I'm looking at YOU. xD)

So I'm looking forward to reading the chapters coming up, and watching the anime adaption that is coming out in the future.

Oh, and I now know the official airing date of Kimi Ni Todoke! YAY! October 6th~! I'm really excited. Even stranger, if I remember correctly, October 6th was the airing date of Vampire Knight Guilty last year! Too bad Kimi Ni Todoke won't be a show that needs much speculation or I'd do a post for each episode. =( Who knows? Maybe I'll find a series soon enough.

Still playing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. It's so cuuuute! The little animations are just as adorable as the last games. Apparently there is also going to be a Professor Layton movie! EEEK!

Criminal Minds is the shit. Seriously. If you like crime shows and have yet to watch it then you should go watch it. Right now. Get going, shoo!

All the guys are extremely attractive.

I'm just saying.

I can't think up much more to say. I feel like replaying Tales of Symphonia again. Or the Ace Attorney games.

Not sure how I'm going to spend this weekend. Maybe playing Professor Layton, and Boom Blox.

I can't wait for Ace Attorney: Investigations. I want it NOW.

Oh, and my friend and I are coming up with ideas for a shared blog thing. That's all I'm going to say for now. We have all these ideas, and it's really exciting. I hope it all goes as planned!

Till next time~!

Bucket of Update

2009-08-30T22:04:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-18T22:22:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-10T23:37:00.006-04:00

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.)

The art of procrastination

2009-07-28T21:48:00.005-04:00

The lack of updates. Oh, dear me. XD Sorry, life is just really busy for me right now. I'm still adjusting to my work schedule even though I've been working for quite awhile now. Now I'm starting physical therapy next week. According to the doctor I have a winged scapula, which isn't anything serious, the doctor just hopes it will help make it less noticeable. I'll have to get up and be ready to go before 9 in the morning. Waaaah!

Hmm, so I think I have around 5 episodes left of Special A, and I'm at chapter 70 of the manga. Really cute series. Cliche', cheesy, a lot of WTF moments, but enjoyable. It's made me laugh out loud multiple times. It's definitely shojo. Some of the episodes are altered from the manga, but they stick pretty true to it. I always appreciate that fact.

My friend and I are almost done with Tales of the Abyss. We're really excited to get started on Samurai Champloo. I think we'll be able to start by the weekend! YAAAY! I really am enjoying the Tales of Abyss anime. They made Guy even more adorable in the show. Then after Samurai Champloo we're doing Baccano! which looks really good.

I sat down and started playing "Art of Murder" Sunday. It's a pretty interesting game. The only complaint I have so far is that it's another one of those games where if you miss ONE SINGLE ITEM, you can't do anything else. I hate that. I multi-task in reality, I can multi-task in games. Plus it's frustrating not being able to do ANYTHING. That's the big mistake most mystery games make. They concentrate too much on the one item you need to find at that point in the story. Hotel Dusk was great, and so was Trace Memory. While sometimes you got stuck, you still had a pretty good amount of options of what to do. If not, you at least had a general idea what to look for. So we'll see how the game goes. Knowing me it will take me forever to finish since Okami, Professor Layton, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and Vampyre story sit unfinished. I also have two games I have yet to start. Ehehe

And I'm replaying Apollo Justice. LOL. FEAR MY ULTIMATE FAILAGE!

I've been watching Hetalia on and off because it amuses me to no end. I love love the idea. The fact that they make fun of every nation makes it even better. It's just so ridiculous you can't help but enjoy it. Germany is the shit.

So I think that's all I have to update about for now.

I know it's kind of short, like I said, I've been really busy.

We went to see "The Producers," again on Thursday. It's even better the second time. Then Saturday night we had a producers marathon for our girls night. Fun!

Till next time, lovies!

Weekend jig

2009-07-17T22:42:00.007-04:00

Can I have one now, please?

Weekend, yay!

I said I have a lot to talk about last post, and I guess I do. I'm really happy for the weekend even though I love my job. I'm looking forward to some pool time, and I have a list of stuff I want to get done this weekend. Namely some hardcore gaming!

I have a whole pile of games sitting that need to be finished, and some that need to be started! I think I might play one tonight. I already drank a soda without knowing the friend I stay up late with is away for the night. So I'm kind of on my own. I'm probably good till 3 in the morning too. Heheh

In other news I splurged and bought myself a tablet. I've wanted one for years, and I finally caved. It came with some software that from what I've played in, so far is easy to use and fun. That doesn't mean I'm giving up work with a pencil. Absolutely not. It actually might make me work harder so that I can get into coloring. *__* All I know is last night I was paint chatting with a friend and we ended up laughing so hard the game skipped her turn because it thought she was away.

So I started reading the manga Special A. I'm around chapter 62, or so. I decided I'd give it a shot since it was complete and under 100 chapters. (99 chapters, LOL) It's a very interesting idea, with all the cliches you expect from shoujo manga. It's cute though. I'm really enjoying it. I'm also watching the anime while I'm at it. It sticks pretty true to the manga even though they changed almost all the hair colors. I'm not sure why they did that. I really like Kei and Hikari's relationship. It's so out of the ordinary, and I think that's what makes the story so entertaining. I always find it interesting to see how writers are going to liven up a story that has been told so many times before.

My friend and I continue on in Tales of the Abyss. I think they did a really good job of turning a game into an anime! It's so much better than the Tales of Symphonia OVA. The only complaint is that while both the game, and the show are hard to understand, it's really complicated in the show. If you haven't played the game it tends to get even more confusing. The diagrams that they put in almost every episode are no help at all, and it tends to overload you with information. However, if you just go with the flow you get the gist of it eventually. That, or talk to someone who played the game, someone who doesn't mind explaining some of the more complicated parts of the plot. The anime has managed to make me fall in even more love with Guy. He is such an amazing character, and his costume design is wonderful. That's the most appealing part of the "Tales of" games for me. The character designs! I absolutely LOVE how crazy the costumes are! Even the most insignificant characters get their own detailed set of clothing, and I just love that. Same with the Ace Attorney games. GREAT CHARACTER DESIGNS. LOOOOVE.

I finished reading Northanger Abbey. I'm not sure if I mentioned I was reading it before. I really enjoyed it. I think it's possibly my favorite Jane Austen. Even though I love Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park too. Okay, in actuality, I like all the Jane Austen's except Emma. I didn't care for that one at all. There was something very endearing about Catherine, and Henry Tilney is now my favorite Jane Austen male EVER. Mr. Darcy is still amazing, but there was something very charming about Mr. Tilney. We also watched the 2007 film for Northanger, and I loved it. They changed a lot of the story, but the cast was GREAT. Especially who they cast for Tilney. His smile was enough to make any females insides go to jelly.

I'm sure there was more I wanted to say, but this will do for now.

I have a physical on Wednesday. Icky.

However, Thursday we're going to see "The Producers," again. YAY!

Dead Like Me rocks my socks.

Till next time~.

The Producers

2009-07-10T23:59:00.008-04:00

Hello again. It is I, the epitome of fail, who hasn't updated in almost 2 weeks. However, by waiting as long as I did I have a good amount of things to talk about, but this post will be fully concentrating on the play I went to see last night.

The play was called "The Producers," and it's a comedy about two guys who decide to try to cheat the system by producing a flop of a play on Broadway, and then taking the money they raised for themselves. The two main characters are Max Bialystock (a once big name producer, who now hasn't produced a good play in forever), and Leo Bloom (a sheltered accountant with an anxiety problem who has never really taken a chance in his lifetime.). Together they hatch this scheme, and start their crazy adventure.

Now if the main characters weren't funny enough the cast of characters is extremely diverse. Every single character has their own set of strange quirks, and they were all hysterical. All of the actors, and actresses were very talented, and did wonderful with their parts. The most notable characters were the director, Roger Debris and his assistant Carmen Ghia. Really, Roger lit up the room, especially when he came down wearing a glittering evening gown. The whole scene in his office was just too much. Really those two stole the show.

All of the choreography was impressive. With as many people in the cast as there is there was always something to be watching. I'd find myself watching the other people instead of what I was supposed to! There were plenty of little jokes to always keep things amusing, from a blind violin player, to a bunch of pigeons with swastikas on their wings. One of the most enjoyable numbers was when all the old ladies were dancing with their walkers. The entire show was just FUN. There wasn't one scene where you weren't laughing or smiling.

The interactions between the two main characters Max and Leo were nothing if amusing. Max who is very full himself, with shy Leo who hugs a blankie whenever he gets stressed was very entertaining. Throw in a Swedish secretary with language barriers and you have a very interesting setup. Of course Ulla (the Swedish secretary) is extremely annoying, but that was her job and she did a really good job at it.

I just want to take some time to give major props the guy who played Franz Liebkind, the Hitler enthusiast who wrote the play that Max, and Leo decided to produce. Not only was his German accent great, but he has one heck of a voice on him! There was something very endearing about him, even as he put on a swastika and pledged his allegiance to Hitler. LOL. His dancing was snazzy too.

So yeah, the dancing, the singing, the acting, the costumes!, all of it was superb in my book. EPAC knows how to have a good time, and put on a great show. It was just so much fun! Who knew that you could put cross-dressers, and Nazis all in the same play!

If you can't tell by now, I absolutely positively loved the play.

We're going to go again in a week or two.

Hee~

Busy, busy, oh so busy

2009-06-29T23:22:00.009-04:00

Hey there! I was thinking about what I should do while I'm sitting here, and I decided to update my blog. Sorry if there are some mistakes, I'm talking on the microphone with my friend so I'm a little distracted.

So what's new with me? Hmmm. Well I watched the Cowboy Bebop movie. I really enjoyed it. Seeing Spike again made me happy, and just seeing the whole Bebop team together was nice. I didn't quite understand why Faye was chosen to be kept alive by the psycho, but whatever. It didn't matter. It was a good movie, even if the ending was a little abrupt. The animation and music made up for any faults. The animation was GORGEOUSLY AMAZING, THE PEOPLE SEEMED SO REAL. BAAAH. I'm sad it's over. Like, really sad. But that's when you know a series was great. When it leaves you longing for more, instead of like "Gee, that's finally over."

Kind of like how Naruto is.

Only that's not over yet.

Yeesh.

Don't get me wrong, I love Naruto. I just think all good series must come to an end. I mean really.

My mom and I just finished rewatching all three seasons of Bones. It makes me sad. I want to start over again! D=

I was playing Ocarina of Time tonight. I'm now in the Fire Temple. WOOT! FINALLY OUT OF THAT HORRID FOREST TEMPLE. I HATED THAT PLACE. I've been told by two people that the water temple is worse. Oh joy.

Faster than a Kiss has been updated more frequently lately. It makes me really happy since it's such a cute manga. Even though they reuse the same scenarios way too much. Good for some laughs though~.

I spent a good 5 hours in the pool this weekend. It was great. Then Sunday night I went to a Bowling banquet since my brother is super awesome, and won 3 awards. (I'm proud of him, sue me.) It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. His friends invited me to sit with them, and we all played spoons. We were laughing almost the whole time. I'm glad I went along.

There's not much else to talk about from me. I've been really busy lately. I'm meeting up with a friend tomorrow to watch some Tales of the Abyss. WOOT. When we finish that we start Samurai Champloo!

See you space SAMURAI.

See you Space Cowboy

2009-06-22T23:54:00.007-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I've been really busy with stuff, some good, some bad. I'm not here to talk about the bad though, this place is all about the good! SO, what have I been up to in my free time?

Well, I finished Cowboy Bebop awhile ago. The ending almost made me cry. It was probably the best series I've watched. There isn't anything I can really complain about. It was just a great series, and it had a great ending. What's really interesting about the story is that it's just a brief moment in time. When the series ends there's this feeling that those characters lives go on. What makes it even more believable is that they didn't all stay together for a happily ever after. Spike went and did his own thing, Ed being the tumbleweed that she is, left. They hint that maybe Faye stays on the Bebop with Jet since she finally found where she belongs. I hope she did. The idea of Jet being all alone makes me sad. Jet with his apron, and bonsai plants. What was even more interesting was that the plot was almost in the background. It was going on, you got pieces of it as the series went on, but it was never once shoved in your face. That is the first series I have ever watched/read that ever managed to keep the plot as a BACK STORY. Bravo, Cowboy Bebop. Bravo. Any fan of anime needs to watch Cowboy Bebop, it will raise the bar on all anime you watch forever.

I read a manga series called "Ringo Nikki," for fun the other night. It's written by the same mangaka who wrote Lovely Complex. It was cute. You could see that the main characters Ringo, and Mic-Chan looked very much like Risa, and Otani from LoveCom. I like reading popular mangaka's early series. You can always see elements of their characters from previous series in the newer ones. I've recently hit a kick where I'm trying to read complete manga instead of adding more to the list of waiting to be updated ones. I have too many that I might never get the chance to finish.

I've been playing "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," with one of my friends. We get on the mic. and play at the same time. It's mega fun. I always end up laughing so hard I think my face might fall off. I just got to the point where I got Epona, after putting Link to sleep for 7 years. I love how Link is perfectly OK with the fact that he was asleep for the past 7 years, and is all grown up now. XD Gotta love the Hero of Time.

I got my other friend started on watching "Tales of the Abyss" the anime now. She has confessed that the costumes ARE amazing. Oh yes, I have backup on this fact now. XD I absolutely love Tales of game costumes. They're so crazy fun. We just watched episode 8 together the other day. WOOT! I think tomorrow we're going to watch the Cowboy bebop movie. I'm excited. I had to get it from Netflix since I couldn't find it anywhere on the interwebz.

It keeps raining, and I haven't had the chance to swim at all this past week. I might have jumped in once. So not cool. The weather was AWESOME today though. I hope it stays that way all the way to the weekend.

I'm currently reading "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It's actually a good book, but I always get so fed up with the run on sentences in the classics. The foofy way of talking gets old too. JUST SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, PLEASE. Besides that I'm also still reading "Death by Latte," by Linda Gerber, and I put "City of Ashes" (Cassandra Claire) on hold for now. I might put "Death by Latte" on hold too. I really, really, want to read "Carpe Corpus," so we'll see what happens.

I should probably get to bed soon. I have work tomorrow. YES. That's right. I got a job. I'm working at the library. How cool is that? 8D

I'll try to get back into the habit of updating more often. It's just been really hectic lately.

I've been having trouble sleeping at night too. D=

See you Space Cowboy (till next time ;D)

Rambles of a distracted person

2009-06-12T22:04:00.005-04:00

Doesn't the coach look like Larry Butz from the Ace Attorney games!?

Hello all~!

What's new with me? Well, today my friend and I watched the 20th episode of Cowboy Bebop. We only have 6 more episodes!! That makes me sad. I like the show a lot more now. I really love this batch of characters, and I can see why people consider this to be one of the classics. It's amazing. I'm going to have to rewatch episode 20 because it was so awesome. I don't even know how to explain what's so great about the show. It's just very personal. My friend said something to the effect of -- "It's like you get a chance to look into their lives for awhile." I agree with her. You don't really feel like you're watching a show. It's very in depth.

Besides that I've also been reading "Kimi Ni Todoke" (Reaching You, or From Me to You) I found out about it in my Shojo Beat magazine, and after reading the first chapter decided I'd like to read more. Sadly only the first 8 chapters are scanalated. So I read all those, and now I'm sitting here longing for more. The story is about a high school girl who doesn't have any friends. She's named "Sawako," but everyone calls her "Sadako" (which was a character in a horror movie whom she resembles) because she isn't very good at speaking to others, and when she smiles she appears scary instead of friendly. Everyone assumes she can see spirits, and there are even rumors that if you look in her eyes for longer than 3 seconds you'll get bad luck. Sounds kind of like "Perfect Girl Evolution," at first, but then you see her personality and I think that's what makes the manga so appealing. You expect her to be dark, sadistic, or maybe depressed. Instead she is the complete opposite. She's optimistic, and cheery, and all she wants is to make friends with the entire class. She volunteers herself to do things that nobody else wants to do so that nobody else is unhappy. Of course a boy is the first person to talk to her, and of course it's the most popular boy in school. Cliche, yes. Predictable, yes. Yet, somehow, it's really enjoyable. The characters personalities are all fun. She ends up making two girlfriends later, one is a tomboy who proudly claims the fact that she battled (and won) 99 guys in junior high. The other is more girly (lots of make-up), and is dating a boy in college. They're both really loud, and laugh obnoxiously in many situations. They don't really fit in anywhere either. So they're the perfect friends for Sawako.

In Autumn they're making an anime out of "Kimi Ni Todoke,". I'm excited!

Also, I think I found out the date that "Another Code: R" will be released in North America. I believe it said September 4th. So now I can look forward to that in Autumn, and "Ace Attorney: Investigations" in Winter. Tonight I downloaded "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," even though I should probably be finishing up the other games I've started or, you know, start a game I own that I haven't even bothered with yet. I'm a genius. 8D

We went to a play last night. We saw Steel Magnolias, which was very good, but very sad. They did a wonderful job. They had a real mother daughter pair for the parts of M'Lynn, and Shelby which I think gave it an even more realistic feel. It's not really a play you can talk about much, but I will say that it was really great, and I enjoyed it very much.

This morning I went swimming for the second time so far. The water was freezing. I'm hoping tomorrow will be nice so I can go down and not freeze to death in the water.

Not a very long post, but it was a very busy week. So I'm spending the weekend being lazy, and swimming, and maybe some gaming. I think I might also be finishing up Cowboy Bebop this weekend. Which is both exciting, and sad. After we finish Cowboy Bebop I think we're watching "Tales of the Abyss." I hope she likes it.

My friend is chatting in my ear on the mic. I can't concentrate anymore. XD

Later lovies~!

Beboping

2009-06-04T23:25:00.007-04:00

Hello all! It's been awhile. I've been quite busy so I didn't really have time, or feel like sitting down and updating. If you look at the time stamp on this one you can see I even waited till late. Well, anyway, let's just jump right in!

What have I been up to....well, I've been reading a lot, and I've been watching anime on and off. I've also been rewatching the Bones episodes with my Mom. We ended up watching "Judas on a Pole" 3 times in the past 3 days. xD We both really love that episode. I even downloaded the Placebo song that was in it.

My friend and I started watching Cowboy Bebop together. We're up to episode 8, I believe. We watched 3 episodes today. The series is pretty cool. The animation is absolutely WONDERFUL. You can tell just by looking at it that the creator studied how people actually move. When Spike (main character) kicks someone it's a little sloppy, it's not perfect. It's wonderful! I'm not big on spaceships, and 'future technology', but they do a great job on it. So this wouldn't be something I normally watch on my own, but I'm enjoying it. I'm really looking forward to watching Samurai Champloo with her too. I think that one will be more up my alley.

One really great thing about Bebop is the characters. In the past 8 episodes you already feel like you KNOW the characters. The show doesn't even put you on the edge of your seat that much, which is strange. Most shows push for that. Cowboy Bebop has a very mellow feel, and the music is wonderful! They even managed to give the token big boobed anime girl that is scantily clad a PERSONALITY! That NEVER happens! Her name is Faye, and she's lovable, and obnoxious. Her clothing actually makes SENSE! I'm looking forward to continuing on with this series.

My mom and I also finally finished "Lean Mean Thirteen," and it was awesome as always. I can wait to start the next one! I already know I'm going to reread all of them after we finish. Rangerrrr

Haven't watched Tales of the Abyss for awhile. I might watch one or two tomorrow.

I've also been playing "Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn" on and off. I'm working on finishing it, that way all my Wii RPGS will be finished. I really want "Another Code: R" to come out over here, or at least get some information on it. I keep scouring my Nintendo Power magazines every month for some information on it.

The Twilight -- New Moon trailer came out. The acting still sucks. LET US ALL SPEAK IN MONOTONE WITH NO EMOTION WHATSOEVER. When Jacob phases he looks like a giant teddy bear. RAWRRR, I WILL EAT YOU WHILE LOOKING FLUFFY AND ADORABLE.

I'm a tough critic.

The High School Debut extra still has yet to be translated. Whhhhhy? I don't want to wait any longer!

Carpe Corpus came out. I'll download it once I finish "Death by Latte".

I think that's everything. I should draw before I go to bed. I haven't been doing that as often as I should.

Till next time~.

Chitter chatter

2009-05-26T14:02:00.009-04:00

My poster! Isn't it AWESOME?!

Alright! Update time.

So what have I been up to...hmm.

Well, last Wednesday was the American Idol season finale. Kris won!!! I was so happy! I didn't like Adam at all in the end. Probably because they pimped him so much, and I always reject that. I also didn't think he was that amazing since I go to the theater all the time, and I see people just like him or BETTER than him. He's not that different. Really. I also think he'll lose some of his fanbase after he's recorded. Adam was all flashy performances and screaming. Once you take away the visual he won't seem that great. Not that I hate him, or anything. I think they both have great futures ahead of them. Not that I regret voting for Kris for 4 hours. :D

It was also my birthday on Wednesday. I'm now 17. Ick. Okay, it's not that bad. I'm now the same age as a lot of my favorite characters. Lloyd from Symphonia, Luke from Abyss, Jas from Kitty series, Tamaki from Ouran....17 must be an ideal age for writers. XD Not quite an adult, but old enough to make their own decisions.

My birthday was fun. We went out to dinner (my grandpa came along and picked on me), and I got a new TV for my room. It looks HUGE. I have a small room, and now I have a 22" flat screen. How epic is THAT? Gaming will be even more awesome now. Plus my amazing online friend's always make me feel really special. I love them to pieces. The friend's I actually know in person are pretty spiffy too. ;D

So on Sunday my friend and I finished watching Gungrave. Wow. Just wow. The ending was....great. Not at all what I expected, but great nonetheless. This series was very...morbid. There was very little happy moments, and even when there were, you knew it was going to come to a halting stop at any moment. You're kind of on the edge of your seat the entire time. I almost started crying at the end. I was really close. They really painted a great image of how the syndicate can work, and like Death Note, the deterioration of Harry as his hunger for power grew. I generally avoid sad series (and VIOLENT), but I'm really glad I watched Gungrave. The one thing about this anime however, is that you can definitely tell it was based off a video game. I don't consider that a bad thing, but (especially during the Lee fight) it was a tad over the top. I mean Bob turns into this giant thing that looks like a turnip. I was half hysterical during the Lee fight because of the way he was SCREAMING. It shouldn't of been funny, but it WAS. I was really happy with the Bunji vs. Grave fight at the end. Very in character.

So now that we finished Gungrave we have now started watching Cowboy Bebop, and then after that I'm making her watch the Tales of the Abyss anime with me. Speaking of which. I've watched up to episode 9 so far. I'm very very happy with the anime. They're sticking to the game, and it's really enjoyable. I'm glad I've reached the point where Luke decided he wanted to change. It was hard to watch him being such a jerk again. He makes it so hard to like him in the beginning.

Alright, so I wanted to save this for last since I'm so HAPPY, and I would of put it in the last post but I wanted to put a picture of it up so I waited. Last Thursday my mom and I get home from the grocery store, and there was a message on the phone. She comes back and plays a message from EPAC saying that I won the Altar Boyz raffle I entered. I SCREAMED. Friday we went and I got a poster that all the boyz signed. I couldn't believe it! I'm going to hang it up on my door since I don't really have space anywhere else. I'd hang it on my ceiling but it's on a wood board. Not that I mind. It means that if I ever want to move it I don't have to worry about it tearing.

EEEEK, how awesome is THAT!?

Alright, I think that's everything. I downloaded World of Goo for my birthday and for such a ridiculous sounding name the game is a lot of fun. I might go play that for awhile. Or draw...drawing is good.

Till next time!

P.S. Don't ask me why there's a huge white gap at the end of the post. I have no idea.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World--FINISHED!

2009-05-22T15:31:00.006-04:00

Eeeep, I've been busy the past couple days! I'm in an extremely good mood today! I think it's because the sun has finally been out, and it seems like it's here to stay for awhile. (Now it will rain tomorrow)

I finally finally finished "Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World". I think I finished it on Sunday. I was severely disappointed with the ending. I'm a huge fan of the "Tales of ..." games habit of giving a bitter sweet ending. You're happy, and sad, and sometimes a little confused, so you have to think about it and (especially with Abyss) kind of come up with your own theories on what happened. The ending was cute, and it was nice for the characters to be happy, but it was just a tad too cheesy for my taste. I'm not putting any spoilers up this post. I might do another entry where I go into detail and elaborate, but I'll leave this one safe for anyone to read. Right now, I'm just going to stick up some of my opinions on the game in general--

The good--

+The battle system is fun and pretty easy to learn (If you've played other Tales games, it's the same as those)

+Story is good enough to keep you interested

+The new characters are pretty entertaining, especially the villains

+Graphics are good, a little choppy at parts, but overall enjoyable

+Z skits are FINALLY recorded, instead of having to read them

+Lots of monsters to choose from and level up for your party

The Bad--

+Some of the voice actors were just plain annoying. If fans of Symphonia pick this up it will be a hard to get used to some of the new voices

+You can only level up Emil and Marta. The other characters level up automatically, and you can't change their weapons

+Took away the ability to skip through cut scenes.

+Short. You'll be lucky to get 40 hours of gameplay.

+Flashbacks to things that happened 5 minutes before.

Really, this game was made for the fans of the first "Tales of Symphonia". If someone new to the Tales franchise picked this game up they probably wouldn't bother to get another one. Overall I'd give the game 7.0 on a scale of 10. Just because I know the Tales games are a lot better than this. So I would tell fans of the first game that it's worth playing just to see our beloved characters again. If you've never played Symphonia, or a Tales game for that matter, I'd tell you to go pick up Abyss, or Symphonia. Both are much more worth the money, even though they're harder to find now that they're a couple years old.

I started this post on Friday, and I'm only posting it up now on Monday, so it's going to be a little shorter. I'll do a post a little later today, with more stuff I've been doing so that I don't confuse myself. Mostly I just wanted to talk about "Dawn of the New World" in this post, so it's all good. =)

And remember kiddies, courage is the magic that brings dreams to real-*bricked*

Later~!

Books, books, and more BOOKS!

2009-05-16T18:13:00.009-04:00

Since I already used Lord of Misrule's cover, I'm using Midnight Alley since it was one of my favorites.

Helloo~. It's been awhile, well a week. Which is awhile in my book, and I'm back with a new update. So lets get to it!

Today I was concentrating on finishing up some stuff I've started. I originally planned to finish "Dawn of the New World," but I didn't get to that yet. I might to that later tonight, or tomorrow. I did however, sit down and finish Itazura Na Kiss.

The last two episodes were really cute. I'm not sure if I like their kid very much. XD She's a little brat. The entire series was cute. I probably won't bother to rewatch it, but it was enjoyable. Even though I never accepted how rude Irie was to Kotoko. Even though Kotoko could be extremely annoying most of the time.

Now I can concentrate more on Tales of the Abyss (the anime). I also watched a few more episodes of Gungrave with my friend. Wow. Just wow. The character development in Gungrave is so awesome, and the fight scenes are LOVE. This is about as violent as I can get in a series, anymore gore and I wouldn't be able to watch. Really, though, I don't know why more people haven't watched this series. It's great. After we finish Gungrave we plan on watching Cowboy Bebop together. I'm excited!

I also finished reading "Lord of Misrule" today. After I got by those few chapters that I was feeling bored with, I rediscovered why I love these books. I really enjoy the element that vampires ARE evil in these books. They aren't out to be your best friend, and they generally look at humans as property and food. Along with my favorite character, Myrnin, a vampire who is slowly going insane, (and isn't that far from it) and wasn't that normal to begin with. In the excerpt of the next book (Carpe Corpus) Myrnin is walking around in what she described as "Good will looking pants, with a long open jacket, flip flops, and a couple strands of Mardi Gras beads." That is just epic win. I love that character so much. He constantly betrays the heroes, yet somehow manages to keep Claire's (the heroine of the books) trust even when he openly tells her he's going to break it.

So yeah, "Lord of Misrule" was really cool. I still think my favorite will either be "Midnight Alley," which I believe is the one where Myrnin is introduced, and when Claire sells herself to Amelie and starts making her own decisions, or "Feast of Fools," where Myrnin is up to crazy shenanigans again.

Oh, and now I downloaded "City of Ashes," by Cassandra Clare. I read "City of Bones," back in June so I can't remember too much about the book. I just remember how much I hated the ending. The story was really good, though, and now that "City of Ashes" is on the kindle I downloaded it. Since "Carpe Corpus," doesn't come out to June 2nd this should hold me over till then.

Still reading "Lean Mean Thirteen," even though my mom keeps putting off reading more chapters trying to conserve it since she doesn't know what we'll do when we run out of Stephanie! I really want to read more though. She's been with Ranger a lot in this book too. Heeee~.

I've been reading a lot. *__*

That's all for now, lovies~!

Till next time.

EUREKA!

2009-05-09T14:27:00.007-04:00

I can't think of a good opening line this time. XD So here I am. Updating after 6 days, which is better than 9. Really. It is.

Last night we went to see Altar Boyz again! It was great, as always. Tonight I might get to go to a benefit they're doing for the Playhouse. They're trying to raise some extra money. I've been begging my mom to go. They're just going to be singing some popular songs and stuff, but I loved the play so much I want to go! There was also talk we might go see the play one last time tonight. O_o That would be CRAZY AWESOME. I've seen a couple plays two times, but never three. My dad acted like he might want to see it. The only problem is that it seems there might be severe thunderstorms tonight so my mom is hesitant to go.

I entered the raffle last night. >> If you win you get a poster signed by all the boys. ROFL. I REALLY WANT IT.

Okay, so, my Nintendo Power came in the mail yesterday and they had info on the new Ace Attorney game. They were calling it "Ace Attorney: Investigations," which in Japan is called Gyakuten Kenji. In other words, Edgeworth's game. The bad news is, they act like it won't be released over here till Winter. Which makes me sad. I was keeping my fingers crossed for a Fall release. The good news is, the game sounds extremely awesome. There's been a lot of changes, and it's not quite what I thought it was going to be, but I'm really looking forward to it. Really.

Okay so, there is literally no court trials in this game. They're focusing solely on gathering the evidence and piecing it together to figure out what happened. I was a little sad when I read this, but the way it sounds there will be plenty of other things to keep you busy. That's not the only thing that changed, instead of being in 1st person perspective when you're looking at crime scenes you will now be guiding Edgeworth with your stylus or control pad. There is going to be a mix of new characters, but also some old ones popping up here and there. The creator refused to say if Phoenix would make a definite appearance or not. Which is killing me. I want Phoenix to be in the game!

Besides all that, in this game there is going to be a new 'mode'. It is called 'logic mode' and while Phoenix had his magatema to unlock the secrets in peoples hearts, (LULZ, that sounds really lame in text. It's badass, I promise you.) and Apollo had his bracelet that made him able to zero in on people's nervous habits, Edgeworth has his logic mode. The Logic mode is going to allow you to piece together the information and evidence you gathered and put it in order so you can figure out what happened. (At least, that's what I gather from the information they gave us. My own logic mode. ;D)

You will not only get to play as Edgeworth, but also as whoever he's partnered with on the case. I know that the first chapter of the first case your partner is our much loved detective from the past Ace Attorney games, Dick Gumshoe. Later a new character comes in, a girl named Kay Faraday. The article called Kay Faraday, a "self-proclaimed thief of truth," and she's the one that has the strange device in the game. So while Edgeworth doesn't have a nifty magatema or bracelet, Kay will make up for that with her machine that will allow you to reconstruct the crime scenes even if its been tampered with, or evidence has been removed.

Cross examinations aren't completely gone. When you're interviewing suspects it will be very much like cross examining witnesses. You can present evidence, and you will have to watch for contradictions of the things you already know. The voice recognition commands (Objection, Hold it, Take that!) will still be in the game, and there will also be an all new one joining the set. "Eureka!" which will be used for Logic mode.

Finally, there will be an all new rival for Edgeworth in this game. Your rival (as the article described) will be an "aggressive but charismatic international police agent, and his lovely but cold assistant". I'm curious to know what his name will be in the game.

Besides all that, the game is set both before, and after "Trials and Tribulations," there will be appearances from miscellaneous characters from throughout the game. Including Wendy Oldbag, the scary security guard that has a huge crush on our wonderful Edgey, and Franziska Von Karma the whip wielding prosecutor whom Edgeworth considers his sister. Maggey Byrd will also make an appearance in this game, and of course, we already know Gumshoe will be around.

All in all, I'm really excited for this game. I miss the vibrant cast of the Ace Attorney games, and can't wait to see them again. I'll be curious to see the personalities of these new characters coming in. Oh, and the character designs!! *swoon*

OBJECTION! TAKE THAT! HOLD IT!

Till next time, lovies!

P.S. The image found on this post was from this wonderful site right here.

Hey, it's May!

2009-05-03T15:23:00.005-04:00

Am I really cheesy enough to make my title that? Yes, yes I am.

I really don't have anything to update on. I'm just bored out of my skull and can't think of anything to do. All of my video games hold little appeal to me currently, and the books I've been reading aren't holding my interest either. Besides "Lean Mean Thirteen," of course. Which I'm not allowed to read on my own because my mom and I read them together. Boo. I don't really feel like watching any anime, and thinking about drawing just makes me feel like "meh..". I blame the weather. It's gray and ugly out and that always affects my mood.

I can't remember how I spent the first half of my day yesterday. XD However, I do know that around 4:00 I sat down at my desktop computer and started working on an AMV I started for fun to help get my juices flowing for another AMV that I started in January. Instead of doing it's purpose, I ended up finishing the AMV I started for kicks. I worked on that from 4:00-9:30. Then after celebrating about finishing it, I go to post it up on youtube....to find out that the song I used is copyrighted by WMG and I can't use it. ULTIMATE DISCOURAGEMENT. Ughhh, I don't understand what the big deal is. I paid for the song, and it's not like I'm posting it on a file sharing website. People can only view it on youtube. Unless they have a program that can steal video off sites, but that can happen on any site with any video!

Then today I got up at 11:30 and have been migrating around the house trying to figure out what I want to do. I did play Pokemon Coliseum for an hour and a half. Then I got bored and shut it off. SUN WHY WON'T YOU COME OUT? I HATE BEING LIKE THIS.

And for some reason I was shaky earlier. I'm not sure what that was about. I drank tea and I think it went away. Tea is amazing.

SO, Friday I'm going to go see Altar boyz with my mom and one of her friends. We're going out to dinner before the show too. I'm excited! I'm paying for our tickets this time since Mothers day is coming up. I asked my mom if she wanted to go see the play again, or if she wanted me to take her out to dinner. She chose the play. WOOT!

My one source of entertainment just left. Her phone battery was dieing. NUUUU.

Oh wait, I remember what I did yesterday before AMV making. I cleaned my room. =0 I also sat down to play "ToS: Dawn of the New World," and I died facing stupid Richter THREE TIMES. Do you know how frustrating that is? Especially since I beat him two times before but I had to turn it off the first time to go do something and didn't get a chance to save. Then the second time I was being a smartass and instead of losing to Lloyd, and Marta I killed them and got the crappy ending. That's when I turned the game off to go make an AMV I couldn't post. MY FAIL METER IS ON HIGH CURRENTLY. XD

Pushing Daisies is slightly fascinating. It's so strange, but highly addicting. I'm still undecided about what I think of the show.

I suppose I'll go scurry off in search of something to entertain myself. I feel like I've wasted the weekend.

Altar Boyz

2009-04-30T22:32:00.007-04:00

I went to a play toniiight! It's called "Altar Boys," and it was truly amazing. It's about these fives guys in a catholic singing group on the last day of their "Raise the Praise" tour. It's your typical boy band stuff. You have Matthew the leader, Luke the tough guy (..and recovering alcoholic and kinda stupid), Mark the sensitive one, (and flaming gay), Juan the suave Latino sweet talker, and Abraham who is kind of your average guy (and Jewish, ROFL).

The whole play they're making fun of religion, and boy bands. I absolutely, positively, loved it. Between the dancing and the lyrics in the songs...I was laughing the entire time. The entire show they're counting the souls they've cleansed on a screen they had hanging at the top of the stage. The show was witty to an extreme and just a lot of fun. If you have a good sense of humor about these things and won't get all offended I would recommend it to anyone.

I'm trying to convince my mom to take me again. One of my favorite lines out of the whole thing was:

Mark: Are Jewish people allowed in the church!?

Abraham: Well there's one hanging off of your cross over there.

Ahhhh! I always love all the plays we go to, and this has to be in my top 5. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Oh, and at one point Juan unbuttons his shirt and goes up and there's a fan blowing so his shirt is billowing out. He plays a sexy Latino extremely well. He kept flirting with the girls in the audience which was even funnier because at the beginning of the show he announces that he was raised by nuns.

The audience was into it! The whole time they're screaming, and clapping, and just whooping it up. It was so enjoyable. The whole experience was just great.

I think it was a great opening night.

Till next time, lovies!

Biiiitch, please!

2009-04-29T23:33:00.008-04:00

HELLO PEOPLE.

Not much to update on. Been busy as always. Mom and I started watching "Pushing Daisies" tonight. We watched the first episode and I thought it was pretty funny. I'm curious to see how the series will go on.

Hmm, well, on Sunday I finished reading "Princess Ben," by Catherine Murdock. Then Monday night I went to her meet the author. She was really cool. I never imagined she would be so funny. It was a lot of fun. "Princess Ben," was actually a really good book. It got more interesting in the second half, I think. I really enjoy her characters since their thoughts are very believable. With Ben her snarkyness was always very amusing. I wish we would of gotten to read more about her magic. I definitely thought it was going to be a bigger part of the story, but it was an enjoyable read and I would probably read the sequel if she comes out with one.

My dream would be able to meet Michele Jaffe, or Janet Evanovich. I'd have them sign my Kindle. *__*

Saturday I helped my dad mulch. It's about as fun as it sounds. Which is not at all, but I made 20 bucks which was pretty awesome. Then Tuesday I mowed my grandma's lawn and my brother was teaching me a few tricks to make it easier since I don't really have the strength to mow the hills there. I'm not ready for the weather to be so warm. I miss Fall. I feel like Fall, especially, flew by.

My arms hurt.

Been reading "Lean Mean Thirteen," and I want more Ranger right NOW. ...Even though he's been around recently, I just want more. I'm happy that Stephanie's sister Valerie has been gone the past couple books. I really didn't care for her. Oh, and Lula and Stephanie's conversations are win. Period. Simple as that.

I'm not sure if I've posted since we watched "Benny and Joon," but if I didn't I just want to say how much I LOVED that movie. Johnny Depp has to be one of the most talented actors I've ever seen. I'm going to have to own that movie. It was so...different, and amazing.

I think I might go for an adventure for info on the games I've been waiting for. I'm really wired for Gyakuten Kenji, and Another Code: R. I want them NOOOOW.

Tomorrow is my friends birthday. =0 I haven't decided what I'm getting her yet. My birthdays in less than a month too. Most of my friend's birthdays fall on top of each other. It's kinda crazy.

I couldn't sleep last night, and I'm dreading trying tonight. There's nothing like falling half asleep and then jerking awake a bunch of times.

Meh.

BIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH PLEASE! (Click it, you must: http://www.hulu.com/watch/67442/saturday-night-live-update-celebrity-blogger#s-p1-st-i2 )

TTFN!

Boneless (SADFACE)

2009-04-24T21:08:00.004-04:00

I just made a new discovery. =0 I can set this up so I can update from my phone, and from my e-mail. That's kinda neat. Not that I'll bother. xD

Soooo, what have I been up to the past week? Well, I've been working on web design, (FINALLY!) and reading. Lots of reading.

Today I watched the first two episodes of xxxHolic. I watched the first episode a long time ago, but decided I wanted to give the series another shot and watched the first two again today. I also watched the first episode of Tales of the Abyss (the anime) yesterday. I'll probably watch them both on and off. I really love Luke's voice in the anime. Actually, I like all of the voices I've heard so far. I thought it would bother me since I'm so used to the American voice actors in the game, like with the Tales of Symphonia OVA where I didn't like Kratos' voice at all.

I'm talking on the mic., again, while I type this. So if there are some sentences that don't make sense, I apologize.

We're going to the play in 6 days, AHH!!!

My mom and I finished watched the 3 seasons of Bones, and the first 4 episodes of season 4. I'm so sad about Zack. In the 4 episodes he hasn't been around I miss him terribly. Even though I'm fangirling over the relationship between Booth and Brennan. I love how much they've grown over the seasons. Character development is the best, it really is.

We watched two movies the past two nights. Last night we watched "Lost in Austen," which was a really great movie. I'm not sure if people who haven't read/watched Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version, not the new one) would enjoy it nearly as much. There were so many Colin Firth jokes in it that would go over your head if you haven't seen the BBC version.

Tonight we watched another British movie called "Kinky Boots," which was enjoyable to say the least. XD If anything it will make you laugh. I love singing transvestites. Really.

SPEAKING OF SINGING TRANSVESTITES. My mom and I started "Lean Mean Thirteen" the thirteenth book of the Stephanie Plum series. LOVELOVELOVE Too bad Ranger's not living in her apartment anymore. That was awesome.

I want to play a pokemon game, like, really bad.

Charlie the Unicorn 3 is freaking awesome.

Peace out.

Professor, I've solved it!

2009-04-17T22:10:00.009-04:00

10 days later....this updating stuff...I swear I'll get back to doing it more often.

It doesn't help that I haven't been doing much that merits an update on here. Or at least, nothing I can spazz out in mass speculation mode. Right now I'm on the mic. with one of my friends so I'm very distracted so I'm not sure if this will come out making sense. XD I'll do my best though!

So we have two more chapters of "Twelve Sharp" left. We've been trying not to read them as fast since we're almost DONE with the books now. Which makes me sad. WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT RANGER, AHHH. I love that Ranger's kid is smart ass, by the way. It's just too perfect.

I've finally started reading "Lord of Misrule" which is the 5th book in the Morganville Vampire series. I downloaded it in January onto my Kindle, but I never got around to reading it. I'm about halfway through it. It's good, I'm not enjoying it as much as the other books, but it's definitely interesting. I'm not a huge fan of war since I hate not knowing if the characters are alright. I don't handle suspense very well. XD It's different when you're playing Fire Emblem and the characters are YOURS to command, and you are watching what's happening. When reading a book in first person you're following one character and you don't know where the rest of them are. Along with the fact you never know when someone will pop out and try to kill the character you're reading about. SHANE BETTER LIVE! IT'S DRIVING ME INSANE NOT KNOWING WHERE HE IS.

I tried replaying the Richter fight in "Dawn of the New World," and lost. Shut the Wii off and sulked about it for awhile. I'd have it done by now if I didn't have to sit through that cut scene EVERY TIME I need to start over. In the other Tales games you couldn't skip over them but you could make the speech go faster so that you get through it faster. They took that option away and it annoys me. Especially since you can't even PAUSE the cut scene.

I've been playing "Professor Layton and the Curious Village" more these past couple of days. I have EPIC ADD when it comes to series, and gaming. I eventually finish the games but I play them in phases. It's just how I work. I really do love how much this game makes you THINK. It really gets my mind working which is a great feeling.

I'm debating quitting yoga. I've skipped the past 4 weeks. I just can't stand getting up early in the morning to get relaxed. Especially since I can stay relaxed in sleep.

I'm not sure how I plan to spend my weekend. I might spend tomorrow gaming most of the day. Especially since I got my grandmother's lawn mowed today. WOOT! I really didn't want to, but now I'm glad I did. It means that I won't have to go anywhere tomorrow. YAAAY!

We're about halfway through Season 3 of Bones, which means we'll have to wait for Season 4 on DVD and that makes me sad. Boohoo D=

I want Another Code R, and Gyakuten Kenji RIGHT NOW.

If I ever get into cosplaying I'm doing L (Death Note) and Maggey Byrd (Phoenix Wright). I actually really look like Maggey, and I think it would be loads of fun.

Love and Peace!

Reading, watching, gaming

2009-04-07T15:45:00.008-04:00

Lack of updates, FAIL.

I've been really busy with stuff lately. I haven't had much time to sit down and think out a post. I actually don't really know what to talk about this time around. I've been watching a lot of Bones, (2 or 3 episodes every night) I think it's become my favorite current TV series. I'm around episode 14 of Gungrave. Still haven't finished Itazura Na Kiss. I'm not sure if I have the patience.

I haven't been gaming as much as I'd like to be. I've been playing Fire Emblem on and off, as I mentioned before. Radiant Dawn is one of the longest Fire Emblem games I've played. Not that I mind. I love long games. It means I didn't waste my money for only a couple hours of gameplay.

Not much info on Another Code: R in Nintendo Power yet. I really hope they decide to translate. I want to play it SO BAD.

Finished reading "Off Season" the sequel to "Dairy Queen". For teen angst books they're not so bad. It's not really what I'd normally read. I have problems relating to books like that, I guess, since I'm not an overly angsty teenager. I don't really worry about that kind of stuff. I'd much rather read humor, and lighthearted books. I will say that I think "Off Season" was better than "Dairy Queen"," in my opinion. That might just be because I'm not a sports fan and really don't care for the sports mumbo jumbo and there was less of that in "Off Season,". I have laughed out loud at some of the things the main character, D.J, thinks during the story. She's a really fun heroine since the author made her a nice mix of sarcastic humor, and the fact that she might not be the smartest person in the world. Which makes her more real, since D.J. grows up on a farm and isn't really the best at school. To sum it up, they're certainly aren't my favorite books, but they have held my interest enough that I'll probably read the next one coming out in October.

I've also been busy reading "Twelve Sharp". Which is love, by the way. RANGERRRRR!

Been drawing a bit more than what I have been which is GOOD. I really hadn't been making enough time to draw, which isn't good if you want to improve on something so I'll continue working on that.

Well, that's all I can think of.

Went to get tickets for Altar Boys today. We're going to that play at the end of this month~.

I kind of miss Vampire Knight. Boohoo

Till next time.

Rambles of the worst sniper in the history of snipers

2009-03-29T10:51:00.006-04:00

Morning! Well, kind of. Morning for me.

Not much to update on. Been busy the past 5 days. Still loving Bones. I just downloaded the theme song to the show, and I'm listening to it as I type this. I love when themes rock out.

Went to play on Thursday. It was called "House of Blue Leaves," and it was really good. It was a dark comedy so the humor was pretty morbid, but I like that kind of stuff. The woman who played Banana's (the woman is literally clinically insane) is one of my favorite at the playhouse we go to. She did an amazing job. I found myself watching her more than anyone else. The other characters could of been throwing stuff at each other and I was more interested in what she was going to do. I laughed at the worst possible times. The main characters son, Ronny, was making a bomb to blow up the pope. After a series of events the bomb ended up in the elevator with a woman and two nuns. It blows up and I started LAUGHING. I couldn't help it. The smoke started to fill the room from this little hallway and the main character dives onto the couch and falls off and I'm have hysterical. My mom's friend looked at me and said "You're not supposed to be laughing!!" which made it 10x worse.

Finished "Eleven on top" and will probably start "Twelve Sharp" at some point today. Eleven was really good. Okay, I admit, all my favorites include more Ranger than usual. Living with Ranger, working with Ranger, sleeping with Ranger...it's all good. ;D

Been playing Fire Emblem on and off the past couple days. Also thinking about finishing "Dawn of the New World". I thought I'd love it a lot more than I do. I guess that's what always happens. You build up your excitement and then get disappointed. At least for sequels. I think I'd enjoy it a lot more if the main characters weren't so ANNOYING. Don't get me wrong, I like Emil a lot more now, but I just can't stand Marta. I have to agree with Alice. She's ANNOYING. (Which is ironic since Alice is also annoying and I love her.)

Going to be watching more Gungrave later today. Made plans to meet my friend in the afternoon.

Still excited about Gyakuten Kenji. It's not even OUT in japan and I'm wired. Ahhhh!

I saw the Final Fantasy game I was looking into didn't get a great review from Nintendo Power so I'm waiting that one out to see what some of the other players think. Instead of planning on buying MORE games I should work on finishing the ones I actually own. That would be smart, huh?

My cousin is coming over today at some point. That makes me happy. He's crazy fun.

It's almost April, baaaah, how did that happen?

My brother made me download this game S4 league onto my computer. It's fun, but I suck at first person shooters. Especially first person shooters that you have to dodge really fast and keep people in your scope to kill them. With a crappy mouse. FAIL. Oh well, I'll keep practicing.

I'm off to try (and fail) to do something productive with my Sunday.

Ninja out

Series, series and more series

2009-03-24T22:49:00.006-04:00

50th post. =0

I really do fail, 8 days since the last post. In my defense I went to update the other day but I wasn't sure what I wanted to talk about and put off updating. Okay, so that's not much of an excuse but it's all I got.

Hmm, well, currently I'm about 3/4 through Eleven on top. (Book 11 in Stephanie Plum series) Blowing up Macaroni, working for Ranger, CELLO PLAYING? More importantly, WORKING FOR RANGER? DO WANT NOW. Morelli's leg is broken and he can't do anything. Nyahaha.

Mom and I finished Rosemary and Thyme. I'm sad it's over, it was a cute series. The last episodes got really good. We have now started Bones. We've watched the first 8 episodes. I am in love with it. I'm already a supporter of Bones and Booth. All the Squints are hilarious. There's just something very charming and very wrong about this show. XD It won't take long to get through all these episodes.

I'm still waiting for season 7 of Monk to be on DVD. AHH.

Been playing Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn the past couple days. I always play Fire Emblem in bursts. I love the games, but if I play to much I have crazy dreams. I love mages. They die so easily but I just love them anyway. Character designs in Fire Emblem are awesome too.

Around episode 12 of Gungrave. Great series. Already you're seeing signs of Harry's greed and corruption. It also amazes me how sad Brandon's eyes are. He barely has any lines yet you feel the pain radiating out of him. Him and Bunji are the dynamic duo. I love the relationship those two have. XD The fact that Bunji calls him brother is really sweet. Especially since you know Brandon never really had a family.

HE CUT HIS HAIR THOUGH, NOOOO. THE PONYTAIL SHALL LIVE ON.

It's weird to see him being a gunman with glasses on. Really.

Bear Walken is a badass, who, when he's at home, wears a kimono. That is epic. win.

That's all I can think to say right now. My friends birthday is on Saturday. I'm excited to give the presents I got her.

Going to a play Thursday night!

Ciao for now.

TITLES ARE FOR SQUARES

2009-03-16T11:43:00.009-04:00

BAAAH, NINE DAYS. MY BAD. I got really busy for awhile and I couldn't find the time to sit down and update. These entries take me over half an hour at a time.

Hmm, so what have I been up to? Well, I read Enkoi Debut (or Enren Debut) on, I think, Wednesday night. It was cute. I was disappointed since when I read about it, it sounded like it was going to be based 1 month after Haruna showed up in Tokyo. Instead it just picked up a month after Yoh left for college. Haruna handled Yoh's leaving like I thought she would. The entire time you're reading you're fuming over what her boss is saying, because after reading the series the last thing you want to hear is that Haruna and Yoh won't last through the long distance relationship, when you know they will.

Besides that, I started Gungrave with a friend. We're around episode 5. I like it so far. The animation is amazing. Brandon is such a sweetie when he's younger. I already know this series is going to make me cry. It's weird how some of the characters are so likable even though they're involved with the mafia. I'm impressed with what I've seen so far.

Started and over halfway through book 10 of the Stephanie Plum books. SHE'S STAYING IN RANGER'S HOUSE, WHAT? Too bad he's not there. D:

Spent the entire day on the computer yesterday. Not the worst way to spend a Sunday, but certainly not productive. Got farther in Okami. I had to find all the "Canine Warriors" which I DID, but guess what? The last one killed me and I hadn't saved before I went into Agata forest, so now I have to redo that one. DO NOT WANT. I hate redoing stuff. That's why I've been putting off Dawn of the New World. I don't mind redoing stuff when I replay games, but when I JUST DID SOMETHING it's such a PAIN.

Read two different Manga. Beast Master, and Bloody Kiss. Both short. Both pretty good.

I've been reading up on Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. My brother and I have the gamecube Crystal Chronicles and we loved it. We'd spend hours going through trying to get specific artifacts (and yelling at each other along the way.). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the wi-fi connection works really well for this game, and of course, that it's a really good game. If it is then I'll most certainly be buying it for my collection. I'll probably go in search of some game trailers later today.

Alright, that's all I have to ramble about for now.

Till next time!

P.S. I COULDN'T THINK OF WHAT TO TITLE THIS.

I can haz boredom?

2009-03-07T15:07:00.006-05:00

Well, I was just playing Dawn of the New World. I have done Richters fight 3 times. The first time I won, but had to shut the wii off because American Idol came on and it was in cut scenes that I couldn't save or pause. So then today I went to redo the fight, lost, and had to play again. I finally WON, and the battle with Lloyd and Marta started.

Okay. I was stupid. I decided to be a smart ass and defeat them. In the Tales games I've played, even if you're doing really well, if you win the fight the cut scene will be the same afterwards. Your character will fall to his knees and be all "they're strong," or whatever. NOT IN THIS GAME. I end up beating them and Marta falls to her knees and Emil spazzes out and STABS HIMSELF. Then it shows Marta's journal saying how she wished she could have saved Emil and that's THE END. ACK. NOW I HAVE TO REDO THE BATTLE AGAIN AND LOSE TO LLOYD AND MARTA TO GET THE AWESOME TALES ENDINGS I LOVE. JFAHFJKHAKFA FAIL!!!

I'm kind of mad right now. I'll play again later tonight, maybe. I really don't feel like sitting through those cut scenes again. Meh.

I've been skimming the Naruto Manga chapters. I go through phases of "OMG NARUTO" and "Oh cool...Naruto". I love it but it just never ends. I'm really happy Hinata isn't dead, though. I've always loved Hinata. Actually I love Team 8 in general. They've been my favorite team for a long time. I wish we'd get to see them more! So after 437 chapters Hinata finally confesses her love for Naruto and then ALMOST DIES. JEEZ, HINATA. JEEZ. AND WHERE IS KIBA? WE NEVER GET TO SEE HIM OR SHINO. GIVE ME MORE KIBA, DARN IT!

Last night I watched the movie "It Could Happen to You" with my mom. Good movie. I love Nicholas Cage. He looks so SERIOUS.

I haven't bothered finishing Itazura Na Kiss yet. I kind of burned myself out on anime. I watched so much in 2 days that I'm not in the mood to watch anymore right now. Plus tomorrow I think I'm watching a couple episodes of Gungrave with a friend. She's been poking me about it for awhile now.

Finished "Hard Eight" and started "To the Nines" I love this series way too much. My mom keeps trying to get me to explain more thoroughly why I want Stephanie with Ranger. She doesn't seem to accept the explanation I give her every single time. XD

I have a friend coming over in 15 minutes. I'm bored and trying to pass the time.

I need to work on the AMV I started in January. I got stuck in what I want to do. I know what I want to do for the final chorus and ending, but I have to get through an over minute long musical interlude. GO ME!

My computer was being awesome for a couple days, but then the past two nights it's been acting majorly slow. Not cool, Norm. Not cool.

I might play Okami tonight. Sounds like fun.

10 more minutes. Yarrrr

Ciao for now, cupcakes!

Rambles of the sleep deprived

2009-03-04T23:50:00.010-05:00

Heehee, I just got done watching the beginning of the Phoenix Wright opera clip again. The dancing group of Edgeworth's is so awesome. xD

So it's Wednesday night once again. Blurgh. I enjoy yoga, but I really dread it the night before. Getting up so early in the morning is really unappealing, and I'm TIRED. I didn't get much sleep last night.

So, update on what I've been doing. Well, I've been working on finishing up the series I've started, and the games. There's a bunch of stuff I would like to start. Some games that I have yet to load, and open. However, I want to FINISH some things before I start more stuff.

So in the past week I finished Karin, and I am almost done with Itazura na Kiss. I have 2 more episodes. Cute anime. Not something I'll go back to, but it's enjoyable. Same with Karin. Only Karin is so different from the manga it's almost annoying. Even her grandmother's back story gets all changed around just to suit the needs of the ending of the anime.

I'm also almost done with Dawn of the New World. I just defeated Decus and Alice. That took me forever. I kept DIEING. It didn't help that I tried to be lazy and my characters were extremely under level. So I ended up training them up to level 50. I'll probably work on finishing that and Itazura Na Kiss tomorrow after yoga, and going to my grandmother's. I can't say I'll accomplish both.

After I finish that I plan on starting Legendia soon. I'm not sure if I'm up for a Tales game right after another one. I might wait a week or so, but it won't be too long. I also need to finish up Hana-Kimi, but that's not a top priority for me.

Almost done with book 8 of Stephanie Plum series. LOVE. I miss Mooner.

I'm mad at the wild card choices on American Idol. I can't believe they're giving Tatiana another chance.

Watched a lot of good movies in the past week or so. Chocolat, Mickey Blue Eyes, Music and Lyrics, ect. Also continuing on in Rosemary and Thyme. That's always fun.

Well..I might try to force myself to draw, but I'm pretty much heading to bed. It's midnight and I have to be up at 8. Yarrrrrr

Love and peace

P.S. I freaking love Alice

Opera Objection

2009-02-26T23:10:00.006-05:00

Well, it's been a little while since I updated. Sorry about that. Been a bit busy, and I also didn't have much to say! Today however, I was wondering what I was going to post up when I ran into some new Phoenix Wright related stuff. To say I was excited would be an understatement.

First off, I watched a clip of the Phoenix Wright opera. If you didn't know, Takarazuka, an all female opera group in japan has turned Phoenix Wright into an opera. I was terrified when I heard this news. Especially when I saw the pictures of the woman playing Phoenix....PHOENIX IN LIP GLOSS, IT DOES NOT WORK. After watching the clip they actually do a great job! It looks like a lot of fun. Part of me is like "AHH, THEY'RE ALL FEMAAAALE" but after awhile you get used to it. The group of dancing Edgeworth's made me LOL.

Watch clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zYapmRsNZE&feature=channel_page

Then, after that, I found a trailer of Gyakuten Kenji! AHHH, I CAN'T WAIT!!! I'm not sure if I'm going to like running around or not. Part of the charm of the Ace Attorney games is the point and click game style. Then again, I'll probably like whatever they do to it. As long as the cases are good I'll be happy. I can't wait to find out who the new girl is, and I didn't realize how much I really missed Edgeworth and Gumshoe until I saw the trailer and spazzed out. I really hope they come back in the next Apollo Justice game. I want to know where they went and why Phoenix was all by himself when he ***MASSIVE SPOILER*** lost his badge. ***END SPOILER*** I mean even Maya and Pearl weren't there. There was a hint in Apollo Justice that Maya brought/sent him a whole massive pile of DVDs in the hospital, but that was it. It makes me so sad.

I can't wait to play as a prosecutor. That will be a fun change. EEP! Oh, and I love that music they play in the trailer.

I've played more of Dawn of the New World. I'll definitely do another post on it. I'm not sure how close to the end I am. Emil sealed away Ratatosk and is now going to pull a Luke from Tales of Abyss and is going to be all self sacraficing. xD Marta is driving me insane. I thought I'd grow to like her, but she's only getting more and more annoying. Even though the scene where she tries to molest Emil in the hot spring was slightly hilarious. Especially since Lloyd gets his peeping tom title again, and Emil joins the legion.

Laptop overheated and powered off tonight. That sucked. I'll try turning it on later.

Skipped yoga this morning because I felt sick last night. Bleh.

I'm off to do...something. Not sure what yet.

OBJECTION!

Smiley face

2009-02-18T23:21:00.007-05:00

I am ashamed of myself. Positively ashamed.

Last post I forgot to mention that I have gotten a hamster. I got him last Tuesday. I was planning on getting a black bear hamster and naming him Ranger, but I ended up getting a brown and white one that put his paws on the cage bars when I was looking in. He completely won over my heart, and after the lady let me hold him for awhile...I knew this was the one I had to get. I named him Morelli. One of his ears is missing a chunk and I found this amusing since in the books Morelli has a scar in his (I think) right eyebrow. He's already at least 1 year old, but he was just too sweet not to get. He's rather fat for a hamster but it just makes him cuter.

Not much else to talk about. I've been watching American Idol since it started. EVERYONE is amazingly talented this year. I'm really really excited. I can already see Danny as the winner with Alexas and Adam being in at least the top 5. I love Nick/Norman too. Positively, absolutely, LOVE HIM. I want him in the Top 12 SO BADLY. We need someone who can sing AND have fun. I was a major supporter of Taylor Hicks in season 5. I voted for him for hours on end just to make sure he'd make it through. Every week was stressful not knowing if it would turn out right. Then voting for 2 hours and on the finale 4! Season 6 was a bust for me, but season 7 was also pretty awesome. I was a David Cook supporter the whole time, and voted for him once he reached top 12. I tended to split votes with him and Carly because I thought Carly deserved to go SO much further.

I have been reading Hot Six. (Stephanie Plum series) Mooner is amazing. Him, Sally Sweet, and Ranger are easily my favorites. Major clash in personalities going on here. XD

I discovered in the past week or so that I really love The Offspring. Their music is a lot of fun. The lead singer doesn't have an amazing voice but for the music they play it suits perfectly. LOVE.

Tomorrow morning is yoga. I haven't gone for 3 weeks. Every time something comes up. 1st week it was icy and freezing out in the morning. 2nd week it was once again, icy and freezing. 3rd week my friend was sick and I decided I'd rather sleep an extra hour. If the class was ONE HOUR LATER then it wouldn't be so bad. This getting up at 8 is crap. XD

I need to shower if I'm going in the morning.

I really want to game. I'm still kind of annoyed with Dawn of the New World since it's hard to see a storyline that isn't doing justice to the characters that you love so much. It's good, but it could be better, really.

I kind of want to replay Tales of Symphonia again. Both games are on my mind because I just got done reading an oyako fanfiction. (Family love, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.) I don't know why, but I've always been WILD about AnnaxKratos and just the Kratos and Lloyd, father and son fluff. Their story is so SAD and the fact that they are finally reunited after 14 years is just so...*wibble*.

The only down part was that Kratos then LEFT to go float around on a planet for the rest of eternity. HOW COULD YOU LEAVE YOUR SON, DON'T GO!!!

Alright, I'm off to shower and maybe draw for a bit.

Dwarven vow # 7: Justice and love will always WIN!

Teehee

Karin & High School Debut

2009-02-15T15:10:00.007-05:00

YAAARRRGH, already a week went by since I last updated. Not cool. Time keeps getting away from me.

I haven't been up to too much the past week. I hope everyone had a lovely Valentines day, or "Singles appreciation day". I spent the day finally beating that Nancy Drew game that I got stuck in, and talking on the mic. to one of my best friends. Not too bad a way to spend the holiday.

I've been watching episodes of Karin here and there. I'm not sure what it is about this anime that keeps you watching. If you read the manga it's a slight disappointment with all the things they leave out and change, but it still manages to hold your interest. I've watched up to 10 now. Kenta and Karin are so cute. xD

Also read chapter 51 of High School Debut. I am seriously curious to see how she is going to wrap up the final chapter. Yoh hasn't left for college yet so I have a feeling she'll let us think what we want happens with their long distance relationship. There isn't a lot you can do with one chapter so I'm hoping she manages to tie up most of the loose ends. I might of mentioned this before but Kazune Kazahara is also releasing an extra for the series called "Enkoi Debut" (Eternal love debut). It's coming out next month in japan, and it's a follow up to the series. I'm excited to see what she did. If it's going to be a few years after the series, or just after Yoh goes to college. It will be interesting.

I really wish High School Debut would be made into an anime. I see so much of Lovely Complex in it, and it would just be a lot of fun to see Haruna's antics animated. Here's hoping!

Watched 3 episodes of Rosemary and Thyme with mom last night. Then we put the movie "Two Weeks Notice" in. I love Hugh Grant movies. I really do.

I'll probably watch another episode of Karin at some point today.

Oh, and I was extremely amused to find out that when asked, Yuna Kagezaki (the author of Karin/Chibi Vampire) said that she imagines Boogie's voice is kind of like Cartman's voice from South Park. It really does fit. XDD

Ciao!

Trigun

2009-02-08T17:43:00.004-05:00

Weekend almost over. D= This is not cool.

You know what I hate? Backing up computer files. My laptop has been acting kind of funny, and I have been putting off backing stuff up for weeks. Finally, I'm doing it and it's taking FOREVER. SO BORING. I had backed most of my files up in August, but I'm doing all my pictures again just to be sure I have them. I have a few scattered song files I need to do, and of course, a few video. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to sit here monitoring my computer to make sure it does it. I also organized ALL my pictures into folders. I love organized computers. I can't stand if my files AREN'T organized. So I figured I'd do a blog post while Norm here, gets the files ready to burn to disc.

So I finished Trigun yesterday. Wow. Just wow. Trigun has managed to wriggle it's way onto my favorites list. Just like Death Note, I can't believe I hadn't watched it sooner. However, unlike Death Note, I HAVE to re watch this one. It had a plot that you enjoy the first time through, but it all comes together the second time. You miss things you don't even realize the first time you watch a series. It's kind of like Tales of Symphonia. I played that game and I loved it, I thought it was really cool. Then I played it a second time and it REALLY hit me how awesome the story was. I, personally, LOVE series, games, books, ANYTHING like that.

Anyway, I think the most amazing thing about Trigun was how deep the story really was. They managed to make every episode hilarious, but they still got the point across. Not only that, but the serious moments were so well done. There was a perfect balance of humor, plot, depth...character development. Trigun gets a 10/10 in my book. The animation was amazing as well. The action scenes = LOVE.

**Trigun Spoilers ahead**

I almost broke down crying when Wolfwood died. I was so extremely sad. I didn't even SUSPECT that he was working for Knives. That plot twist caught me so off guard. It wasn't out of place though. It was ...perfect.

The funny thing about Trigun is that all the villains have these amazing designs. They're so DIFFERENT, and most of the time, they get 5 seconds of screen time...and then they die. The only ones that were even in more than one episode (and were ALIVE) was Legato, Knives, and Hornfreak. (...I'm serious, he was called Hornfreak. I just can't remember his first name.) Even Wolfwood who was in around 10 episodes, the minute it was shown that he was working for Knives he DIED.

At the end though, where Vash DIDN'T kill Knives and it shows he saved him instead of killing him, my friend pointed something out. WHAT do they do with him? That is an extremely good question. What DO they do with him? I mean it's pretty obvious his opinions on humans was never going to change. He wanted them all dead. That's not really something you can change.

So we decided.

They opened a bakery. Vash shows what humans are good for, MAKING DOUGHNUTS! Everyone wins! Except Wolfwood. Who died. D=

**end spoiler**

Vash and Wolfwood have to be some of the best characters I have ever seen. Vash has a 60,000,000,000$$ bounty on his head for destroying almost all the towns he's visited. He has recieved the nickname "Vash the Stampede". The irony is that he has never killed anybody with his own two hands and usually tries to save everyone's life. Even the people trying to kill him. It's impossible NOT to love him. He's whiney and scared one minute, then he's brave and ready to take on anything the next. He has a weakness for beer, and donuts and always hits his mark.

Then Wolfwood is the traveling Priest who carries a giant cloth covered cross. Which is really a giant gun. That...has to be the best thing ever. Really. He also has some of Vash's qualities, but he'll kill someone if he has to. He's a little more serious, but it appears he also loves food and beer. Even more so he loves his cigarettes.

The thing about Wolfwood and Vash is that they are BOTH right when it comes to their own beliefs on killing. You can see both of their sides perfectly, and I love that.

So yeah, Trigun is grade A materiel. This makes up for Vampire Knight ending as badly as it did. Much love Trigun, Much love.

Besides that, I watched Penelope on Thursday (I think.). Cute movie. I'm reading the book now too.

Friday night I went to a Dinner theater. That was a different experience. It was alright. The food kind of sucked, and compared to the playhouse we go to the acting didn't seem all that great. It was interesting though.

Ugh, barely through half of files backing up.

Love and Peace.

Love and PEACE!

2009-02-04T22:25:00.006-05:00

Howdy! I'm in a really good mood right now, and I'm not sure why. I'm not going to question it though. I love being happy. Oh, and if you're wondering about the subject, it's from Trigun. Vash is a dorkfish. (Gotta love him. GOTTA!)

So I've been busy these past 4 days. One of my best friends and I have once again started watching Trigun together. She's the one that got me into it, and now she's pushing me to finish it. I love watching anime with her. We have so much fun spazzing out together. I don't know why I haven't been working on this series. It really is GREAT. It has made me laugh SO hard. I've stopped on episode 15 right now. Between Vash, and Wolfwood I don't know who my favorite is. They compliment each other PERFECTLY. Then throwing in Millie the tall awkward girl who loves to drink and shoot people (With a HUGE stun gun), but is a total sweet heart, and Meryl who just doesn't know what to think of everyone and gets exasperated with all three of them, it's just pure awesome. KURO -NEKO WINS AT LIFE. That is all.

I've also been watching episodes of Karin here and there. I watched episode 8 today. You know, this is the first time that a male japanese voice ever got on my nerves. I mean the females can get annoying since sometimes they get really high pitched, and can jump into plain SHRIEKY, but I never had a problem with a guy. Until Winner, that is. His character, as I said before, is fun, but I don't really like him. It doesn't help that he wasn't in the manga. He really does just feel like a third wheel. That's what he's meant to be though. Someone to cause Kenta to get jealous later, probably. It also adds ANOTHER reason that Kenta needs to be with Karin all the time. Since Winner has decided that Karin is the perfect woman and he wants to be with her, while he's a vampire hunter who obviously, doesn't know Karin is a vampire. Which, in turn, makes Karin's blood increase. I just don't care for him is all. Not only is he obnoxious, there's something about the way he talks. I can't even explain what it is, but it gets really annoying after awhile.

Started book 5 of Stephanie Plum series. Ranger, how I love thee. AND TANK. TANK IS EPIC WIN. Actually, all of Ranger's crew is epic win. I'm not sure if I posted this before, but I'm going to be getting a hamster soon. I decided that I'm getting a black bear hamster, and I'm naming it Ranger. My mom finds this amusing.

Oh, and I've been playing a lot of Dawn of the New World. The game is fun and I'm enjoying it, but there is something that needs to be said about sequels. THERE. IS. SO. MUCH. CHEESINESS. All Tales games have a certain degree of "Nobody would REALLY say that out loud," but I think that's part of the charm of the franchise. There's a dorky cliche`ness to it at times. I love the Tales games. ADORE them. However, if I hear "Courage is the magic that makes dreams reality." ONE MORE TIME I might scream. That, and the name they gave the gate that protects Nifelheim is absolutely horrendous. Ginnungagop. WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT? Nifelheim sounds awesome. It works, and it fits. Nifelheim, the demon realm. THE GATE TO NIFELHEIM IS CALLED THE GINNUNGAGOP? AND THE CHARACTERS SAY THIS SERIOUSLY? I start laughing, every. single. TIME! I can't help it!

Besides all that, I'm still loving Tenebrae, and the story is heating up now that you found out that Emil is really Ratatosk. Finally Lloyd has joined my party. FINALLY. I'm really bummed though. I really find myself missing the old voice actors. The characters really aren't the same without them. They helped make the characters who they were. They made them believable. Now it's just weird.

Tenebrae turning into Celsius to distract the guards made the whole game worth while. It was TOO FUNNY. Then his GIGGLE. AHH

I drew a picture of Vash, and he ended up looking like Phoenix Wright cosplaying Vash.

I'm ready for American Idol to be done with Hell week.

I'm off to read Hana-Kimi, or draw, or something.

Yoga in the morning!

Love and Peace~ *thumbs up*

Another Code: R

2009-01-31T13:51:00.006-05:00

11 days between posts. Wow, I fail. Well, I'm here now, and that's all that matters! Heehee

I've been busy this past week and a half. I haven't had a lot of time to get on and post something up. I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I'm almost finished with "Four to Score" the fourth Stephanie Plum book. I love Sally Sweet. That's all I'm saying.

Anyway, besides reading till my eyes are gonna fall out I've also started watching Karin. I found a place with the subbed episodes, and instead of finishing one of the series I've already started I started another one. I'm a genius. Really. The anime is a lot of fun. I definitely enjoy the manga more. I've never been a fan of bringing in characters that weren't even IN the manga/book. Winner is a fun character but he's not supposed to BE there. It just kind of turns the entire story upside down and changes everything. Besides that the series makes me laugh. They play this music..almost like angels singing, every time Karin has a dramatic nose bleed. Plus Kenta's mother is hilarious in the anime. I mean she was fun in the manga after Karin bit her, but to see it animated just makes it 10x better.

I was flipping through my February issue of Nintendo Power, and made the most amazing discovery. ANOTHER CODE: R. In other words, THE SEQUEL TO TRACE MEMORY! Trace Memory (Called "Another Code: Two Memories" in Japan) is a DS game that I played 2, or 3 years ago. I loved that game, and have replayed it 2 times since then. Another Code: R is the sequel to that, and it's on the Wii. There wasn't much info on it in my magazine. They're not even sure of a North American release yet. I seriously hope for one though! I spent last night looking up trailers, and it looks GREAT. It's set 2 years after Trace Memory. Ashley has been living with her newly discovered father for those 2 years, and while they're not very close..what with not being together for 11 years, she seems happy with her life. Her dad invites her to go camping at Lake Juliet, which is where her mother was killed 13 years ago. I'm not sure WHY her father would ask her to go camping at the place where she witnessed her mothers death, but her father is kind of weird anyway. After she arrives it seems memories of her mother are slowly coming back to her, and with your choices you will slowly start to unlock her past. Pretty cool, huh? I'm curious to see if Ashley will find another ghost at Lake Juliet. I liked having D around in Trace Memory. Discovering his past while trying to find her father made for an interesting story. I really hope that Another Code: R is longer than Trace Memory. While the story in Trace Memory was great, and the gameplay was fun it was so short.

Here's the trailer:

Another Code: R comes out February 5th (my brothers birthday =O) in Japan. I also found out that Gyakuten Kenji (Edgeworth's game!!) is coming out May 28th in Japan. I WANT THEM BOTH TO BE COMING OUT IN AMERICA. AHHHH! I CAN'T WAIT.

I think that's all I have to say for now. I'm going to go spend my Saturday playing video games, and loafing off. What more could you want to do on a Saturday?

Books, Manga, Drawing, Oh my!

2009-01-20T23:11:00.004-05:00

Time flies when you're having fun. January 20th..how did that happen? Ugh, I'm not going to think about it.

My mom has managed to get me into the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. We have been reading them aloud together since it's a lot of fun. When we get to the more...romantic situations we usually just stop, read that paragraph to ourselves, then pick up after it ends. I figure if the books get more intimate we'll read that chapter separately and read the next chapter together. Works for me. I think Ranger wins in my favorites so far. I can't help it.

High School Debut Chapter 49 finally got translated. It was cute. One thing about High School Debut is that you will get extremely embarrassed for Haruna. I also kind of wanted to die when Yoh started singing Karaoke. I was happy they didn't have any cheesy lyrics up, but it felt SO out of character I was ready to rip my hair out. I'm really sad that the series will be ending soon, even though it seems now we're stretching out 2 months between chapters. So who knows? Maybe it WON'T end. I also found out that Kazune Kazahara made an extra for the series. I think it's going to be something like "a few years later..." and give you one last look at the characters you fall in love with. I actually love when authors do that. It kind of ensures what happened to the characters. I wish LoveCom would have done that. Then again I didn't read the manga, I watched the anime. Maybe they did.

I've been working on drawing realism more often lately. Finally decided that if I'm gonna get anywhere I have to practice the stuff I don't know too. I don't like failure so it's a challenge sometimes. I'm doing a little better than what I thought I would which makes me happy.

Haven't finished Hana-Kimi as of yet. Still where I was the last time I posted. I kind of fell out of it because I got frustrated that the author did that sudden jump into a filler arc. They pull a "Sano, your father collapsed, he's in the hospital," and then suddenly they're doing a treasure hunt in the dorms. Way to kill a climax of a story. I might just skip over the next chapter, and try to get back to the interesting stuff. I can come back to it later. I'm a Naruto fan. You can only take so much filler from so many series.

I slept over at my friends house over the weekend. It was a LOT of fun. Besides being woken up at 6 in the morning by a demonic snow plow, and getting itchy from being around her cats. We ended up dancing around in silly hats, and making sound recordings. It's was pretty awesome.

I'm tired. My eyes hurt. I watched the inauguration, and read most of the day. Not exactly a BAD way to spend a day, I guess.

Later

Gray days

2009-01-13T16:03:00.006-05:00

I love winter, I really do. I just get tired of the lack of color. It makes me feel lazy all day long. I had a list of stuff I wanted to get done today, and here I sit. Loafing around on the computer. Blargh.

I have yet to give up my mourning over Vampire Knight. I also miss it. It gave me a reason to post on here. Now I have no series to fuss over while I wait for the next episode. Boohoo! Plus I miss my spazz sessions with my one friend. Maybe I'll do some research to see if I can find another good one that is still coming out. I'm planning on starting Soul Eater eventually, but that already has over 20, or 30 episodes out.

Just got done reading chapter 100 of Hana-Kimi. I'm soon done! ..Okay maybe not. That makes me sad though. XD There are 144 chapters, plus a side story that is based a few years after their graduation. I figure once I finish Hana-Kimi I'll go finish up Trigun, and Itazura na Kiss. Then I can start on some other shows I've been itching to see.

High School Debut hasn't had a new scanalation since November 25th. *emo corner*

Mom and I have started another series called "Hamish Macbeth". It's pretty good. Definitely more of a light hearted mystery compared to Lynley. Which we finished, and I miss. I also want season 7 of Monk on DVD NOW. I miss Disher.

I should be reading my book for tomorrow. Instead here I sit. I'm barely a hundred pages in and it's a 500 page book. GO ME.

I blame the grayness.

I want to play Okami or work on my AMV, but I have to go help shave the dog and give him a bath.

Blargh.

Aiming to get to chapter 120 of Hana-Kimi tonight.

Peace out.

Colors of the wind~

2009-01-09T19:11:00.004-05:00

Am I really lame enough to steal a song title from Pocahontas? Yes, yes I am.

Only reason I chose to use that as my title was because I started Okami tonight. I turned it on thinking I'd play for an hour, get through the whole 'learning how to play' part that you go through with every game. (That starts to be a drag after awhile.) I ended up playing it for 3 hours and 40 minutes. It's AWESOME.

I fail. I totally fail. I haven't finished ToS: Dawn of the New World, I haven't finished Vampyre Story, I haven't finished Professor Layton. So what do I do? I START A NEW GAME. I just couldn't resist...I'm currently concerned when I'm playing Dawn of New World because my Wii sounds like it's eating the disc during Z skits. Vampyre story I like to play an hour or so at a time since the main characters voice can really grate on your nerves, and Professor Layton I have to be in the mood to really really think when I turn it on. Today I just felt lazy. Okami was calling..I couldn't resist.

The art style really IS gorgeous. The gameplay is a lot of fun and very different. The story has already caught my interest. Which surprised me. Since I figured the story might be a little like Legend of Zelda where it doesn't really snag my complete attention, but I love the gameplay so I play it anyway. (Nothing against Zelda's stories, they just aren't that in depth) This seems to have a good story to back it up.

I'm not going to go into great detail yet...especially since I'm not that far. I will however, say that fighting, and restoring deteriorating land with the paint brush is a lot of fun. I kept fixing the trees that were dead as I was heading back to a save spot. The art is just so PRETTY that I can't skip watching them change every time.

Besides gaming I've also been reading Hana-Kimi. I accidentally stayed up till 3 in the morning because I kept going "ONE MORE CHAPTER, JUST ONE MORE". I ended up stopping at chapter 86 last night. There's like..147 chapters. It's such a cute series! The whole plot is so convoluted.

-Mizuki (Girl) leaves America and joins an all boys school to get to know the person she admires most, high jumper Izumi Sano

-Mizuki ends up DORMING with Sano

- Sano figures out that Mizuki is a girl, but doesn't say anything.

- Nakatsu (friend of Sano) starts to fall for Mizuki, and begins to panic because he thinks he's gay

So basically Nakatsu thinks he's gay when he's really not since Mizuki is a girl, and Mizuki continues to try to hide the fact that she's a girl from everyone, especially Sano since they're roommates, while Sano already knows she's female. Right.

Then there's Umeda-sensei who is the doctor at Osaka Gakuen. He figured out that Mizuki was a girl the first time he met her, and told her this the minute they were alone together. He decided to keep her secret for her, and Mizuki goes to talk to him whenever something is bothering her, or when she has her monthly troubles.

So basically where I'm at there are four people that know Mizuki is a girl, and Mizuki only knows that Umeda knows. HA. HA. HA.

Along with the fact that Sano has fallen in love with Mizuki, and Mizuki is in love with Sano. Problem is, Sano is pretending he doesn't know that Mizuki is a girl. This series is great. Really. XDD

I'll say now that Umeda is my favorite character in the series. He's a sarcastic doctor who kicks people in the head when he gets mad at them. He has rather violent tendencies and he hates to be woken up. He DOES take his job very seriously and will lecture people on taking care of themselves if needed. Besides all that he's gay and enjoys wearing flashy clothing when he is not in his uniform, and it seems, the reason why he doesn't like women is because of his older sister. Who dressed him up as a girl when he was little, and is more violent than he is.

How can you NOT love that? Really?

So that's what I've been up to the past week or so. Besides watching Rosemary and Thyme with my mom in the evenings, reading The Book Thief, and working on an Ouran High School Host Club AMV.

Went to see my friends new puppy today. She's adorable! I told her I plan on stealing it.

Still licking my wounds over Vampire Knight. Every time I watch a ZeroXYuuki AMV I almost cry. Every. Time.

Ciao for now!

Vampire Knight Guilty 13

2009-01-03T21:28:00.008-05:00

Vampire Knight Guilty 13, the final episode, the finale. I'm pretty sure there won't be another season after this, which is extremely sad, in my opinion.

The finale was a disappointment for me. I was close to sobbing at certain points of the episode and the whole time I was feeling depressed. It was so SAD.

I thought Rido was extremely easy to kill. For all the building they did on his character throughout this entire season we barely got to see his skills. Zero shoots at him with his giant glowing orb, and Rido disappears. Then Zero chases after him, and finds Kaname blasting off his shoulder and uses his gun for the final blow. Yet part of me wanted to scream, "BOOM! HEADSHOT" when Zero shot him...even though it was nowhere near his head. XD;

This in itself, was a let down. I was positive that Yuuki would have more to do with this battle than just someone who needed protected. I thought reawakening Artemis was going to mean something, and I surely thought we'd find out why he craved Jurri's blood so.

Then Kaname tells Yuuki that it's soon time for them to leave. I can't help but wonder WHY they have to leave. Yes, the association was going to be angry and out for revenge. There's a little problem though. WHO THE HECK IS LEFT AT THE ASSOCIATION? Ichijou, I assume, killed his grandfather. Rido's dead, and that psycho dude with the fan was defeated by Chairman then finished off by Ichijou's grandfather.

Yuuki managed to completely let me down this episode. She decides to go with Kaname to God knows where. I understand she wants to protect Kaname and that she loves him, but what happened to the other people she wanted to protect? What about Zero, Chairman, and Yori? Heck, even Yagari and Aidou (Yeah, I know he decided to go along at the end. She didn't know that though) became closer to her. No. She completely leaves them behind to follow someone who used everyone as a pawn.

I think Zero got the shortest end of the stick in this whole thing. I was so close to tears during his conversation with Yuuki. The fact that when he said "Drink my blood if you're really a vampire." and then Yuuki DOES it shocked me. I was sure she would refuse, but I guess she did change after she became her old self. Then again I'm sure Zero did that only because he wanted Yuuki to know how he felt for her before she was a vampire. Then he tells her that the next time they'll meet he'll try to kill her. Only thing I didn't understand was the "I'll be waiting." from Yuuki. She'll be waiting for him to come kill her? Does that mean she'll let him kill her?

Oh, and now Zero is a freaking SUPER VAMPIRE HUNTER PURE BLOOD. XD WITH RANDOM VINES THAT SHOOT OUT OF HIS ARMS. (Yes, I know it was connected with the bloody rose, it was just amusing.) Oh, and he can now heal himself. Which is a little confusing.

Zero wasn't the only one completely left behind. There was also YORI. Who's, it seems, only friend was Yuuki. So she's basically abandoned without even a goodbye from Yuuki. Great friendship, huh?

Ichijou is somewhere in a pile of rocks. Alive, or dead who knows? That SUCKED. We didn't even get to see the fight. "SORRY ICHIJOU, WE HAVE NO SCREEN TIME LEFT SO YOU END UP DEAD WITHOUT ANY EXPLANTION." That is going to drive me insane. IS HE ALIVE? IS HE DEAD? IS HIS GRANDFATHER STILL ALIVE?

I also almost started crying when Zero imagined the human Yuuki at the gate calling him over and he started to go to her.

Zero, why?? I thought they would at least give him a somewhat HAPPY ending. He started as an angst infested teenager, and he ended as an angst infested teenager who's in love with a girl who doesn't exist anymore. Oh, and he plans on killing the girl who is a shell of the one he loved.

THE END =D

I was talking about the ending with my friend and I decided that after Yuuki leaves, Yori and Zero end up together.

Because we all know Yori is really lezbo for Yuuki.

And Zero is still hot for her.

>:D

Aidou is awesome through and through. Rima and Shiki are adorable together. Akatsuki and Ruka will end up together in the future.

I think that about covers everything for me.

I'll just go weep over my loss of canon ZeroxYuuki. I need chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

Maybe in a week or so I'll start reading the manga since it's still going on. I haven't decided yet.

Bye Bye 2008

2008-12-31T21:32:00.010-05:00

(They're wishing you a happy new year, I swear!)

In a mere 2 and a half hours it will be January 1st of 2009. That's really hard for me to believe. I feel like it was just Christmas of LAST year let alone this year. A lot of really great things happened to me in 08, and I'm hoping that 09 will be just, if not more, awesome. I hadn't realized how many series I got into this year, but most of my favorite series I have only found this year.

Like:

- Ouran High School Host Club

- Lovely Complex

- High School Debut

- Cat Street

- Death Note

- TWILIGHT! (I got into Twilight in January!)

There was a lot more, but these were the ones I just realized. I did so many cool things like going to plays with my mom, and seeing Mamma Mia! 4 times. I spent hours on IM with some of my best friends, and had sleepovers with the three best friends that I know in person. I got back into making AMVs, and continued working on my drawings. I played games, and read books and spent my time doing almost everything I love.

I have a few resolutions for this year that I'm hoping I can live up to:

- Learning how to sew and maybe doing my first cosplay

- Learning HTML, or just getting a grasp on it

- Continue to improve on my drawing, and actually put more time into it. (Currently I'm aiming to just make a three panel comic. JUST THREE PANELS.)

I have some new things I'd like to try, like learning flash, and attempting to learn an instrument, maybe. Procrastinating less is the ultimate goal.

So here's hoping I can live up to all that, huh?

Besides thinking about what I want to do in the coming year, and playing video games that I got for Christmas I've been reading a manga I started. I finished all the chapters I could find of Chibi Vampire/Karin and started Hana-Kimi. I'm around chapter 40. It's extremely cute and FUN. It reminds me of a more serious Ouran. You know, with an actual plot. xD

So tired. My friends spent the night last night and we did our Christmas exchange.

I got a dog tag necklace that says Bubba on it. OH, YES. BE JEALOUS. I also got a Death Note L necklace (LOVE), a BFF necklace, and a tiara (bow down). I HAVE BLING. OH YES.

Happy New Year! 2009 here we come!

Vampire Knight Guilty 12

2008-12-28T23:07:00.004-05:00

Ok, I say this a lot..but..BEST. EPISODE. IN. THE. SEASON. YES! Which is to be expected since the next episode ends Guilty.

This will be a rather short entry. This episode really was straight forward. Since we're getting near the end of the Rido arc (I think) they're answering a lot more questions. Which usually doesn't mean anything, but there aren't many NEW questions appearing. I'm really hoping there is another season after this. Since the manga is still going on I don't want them to pull a Fruits Basket and barely touch down on the story. However, if they do, I will certainly read the manga because this has to be one of the best shojos out there.

Ok, ok, it's official. Chairman is a badass. WE ALL KNEW HE HAD IT IN HIM SOMEWHERE! Cross the vampire hunter...just WOW. I want to know HOW he knew Juuri. Obviously he knew her before all of this happened. Was he good friends with her? Did he help her after Rido took advantage of her? I have a feeling she is the reason that he stopped being a Vampire Hunter. The reason he made the academy.

Yagari also knew Juuri it seems. Part of me wonders if she was always a vampire. Maybe she was a human at one time? Or even a hunter? Even though I'm not sure how people are turned into vampires without being Level E's like Zero. Then again it seems that Vampire HUNTERS that are bitten can control themselves better if they're strong enough. That's the conclusion I came to after this episode.

Zero's arm spazzing out the way it did was cool and creepy at the same time. It looked like it was going to EXPLODE. I was trying to figure out..was that the level E inside him trying to escape, or was it something to do with absorbing Ichiru? That had happened before he absorbed Ichiru though..so I assume it was the level E. Especially since most level E's skin is constricted over the bones like that.

When he asked Yuuki to 'slay him' I assumed she was going to chop off his arm. ESPECIALLY when she starts barreling toward him like she was going to hack him in half! Then they pan out and his arm is still attached to him..HOW DOES THAT WORK? DID SHE POKE HIM AND THE EVIL OOZED OUT LIKE A PIMPLE?? XD I love this series. Really I do.

OH, AND NOW WE KNOW THE TRUTH. KANAME CAN TURN PEOPLE INTO CONFETTI. IT'S LIKE A VAMPIRE PARTY! YAAAY. *Stare* *POOF* *colored sparkles rain down* BEST. POWER. EVER!!!!

Now back to serious. It seems that in the Vampire world, drinking from somebody when they don't want you to is almost as bad as rape. Rido had bitten Juuri without her permission at some point, and she had screamed for Haruka, who I assume was her husband (I KNOW HIS NAME NOW, YAY!), or whatever he was to her at that time. So he's HAD that blood before. Now he needs Yuuki's which is also Juuri's by being her daughter AND I think that Yuuki has a lot of her mothers blood in her from when she had locked the pure blood away. I want to know WHY Rido needs/needed that blood. I know right now he needs it to regain the rest of his power, but what caused him to drink from Juuri before? Besides taking pleasure in her pain. Then again that might of been the only reason at the time. He just seems to...strategic for that.

Even though I admit, when he was going to make Yuuki cry out for the one she loved and she stopped to think about it, I was on the edge of my seat. Then of course (as I predicted, wahaha) Zero appears and saves her. BUT WHY. WHY COULDN'T HE LET HER FINISH HER THOUGHT PROCESS? BLOW OF HIS SHOULDER IN 5 SECONDS, PLEASE. I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHO SHE LOVES. XD

The character development in these past couple episodes is great. Aidou seems to actually like Yuuki as a person now. He's not forcing it, he actually WANTS to protect her. It's amusing when you think about how much he hated her at the start of the series. I love that kind of development. LOVE.

AND WHO CALLED IT? WHO? Yuuki managed to use Artemis, OF COURSE. Then she gets herself in trouble, Zero comes and saves her. Then she hacks (OR PRETENDS TO) of his arm and the incredible hulk arm is gone. THEN HIS GUN STARTS GLOWING. THAT WAS COOL. IT'S LIKE A GIANT BALL OF LIGHT IS FUSED TO THE BARREL OF HIS GUN.

I'm really glad that Ichiru DID care for Zero, and even though I'm sad he's no longer going to be in the series, I'm actually happy with the outcome. The idea of them being fused together like they were supposed to have been is both tragic, and sweet. Since Ichiru willingly gave himself up for it, and seemed to want it to be that way all along.

Oh, and Kaname realizes that he has formed bonds with other people. Maybe he isn't such a selfish asshole.

OH, AND ICHIJOU IS GOING TO GO AGAINST HIS GRANDFATHER. THAT IS EPIC. I love Ichijou. He has the best eyes in the entire series.

So much for a short entry. xD

Yuuki has finally started taking care of herself a bit. I'm happy.

ZeroxYuuki, FOR THE WIN!!!!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T23:02:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas, and happy holidays to anyone who reads this. =) I hope that everyone had an awesome holiday. I know I did.

I'm hoping that as the New Year passes I'll start posting more often once again. This past month has been really busy. I haven't seen my friends since we went to see Twilight. Busy busy. Haha

I got a lot of really cool stuff for Christmas. I actually got more than I was expecting since this year I split cost for a Kindle. (If you don't know what a kindle is go here: http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/dp/B000FI73MA/ref=sr_tr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230352731&sr=8-1 ) I LOVE my Kindle. I haven't gotten to use it much even though I've had it since November, but just the other day I finished a book I was reading "Blood and Chocolate," and I'm working on one called "A Change of Heart," by Jody Picoult. I didn't care for Blood and Chocolate that much. It was good but it lost my interest 3 quarters of the way through.

I also got SIX DIFFERENT VIDEO GAMES FOR CHRISTMAS. HOMG. Three I asked for, and three my mom surprised me with. My mom gives the BEST surprises EVER. Everything she has gotten me I ALWAYS fall in love with. (Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk, Trace Memory...) I still need to finish Dawn of the New World too! I hadn't had the chance to finish it this month.

So I've been playing Professor Layton on DS, which I asked for seeing that Phoenix Wright fans, and Hotel Dusk fans LOVE it. It's already becoming a favorite of mine. The art style is CUTE, and the puzzles are intriguing. I LOVE puzzles. I got stuck on a matchstick one and had it setup on the table. My mom and I were crouched over it trying to figure it out. xD

I also loaded "A Vampyre Story" onto my computer. That was one of the games my mom surprised me with. I haven't gotten very far but the characters are cute. I've already decided my favorite character is Froderick.

This year I mailed out presents to two of my friends in different states. This was the first year I ever did that, and I was very excited and happy. Then one of them sent me a pin and a belt buckle. The pin is the same one Phoenix wears on his hobo hat in Apollo Justice!!! I LOVE IT!!! I've been wearing it everywhere. Then the buckle has the leaf symbol on it from Naruto. I have to get a belt that will work with it, but once I do I'll be wearing that all the time too!

Oh, and I'm currently keeping myself from playing Okami on the Wii. I want to finish some of the games I already started before I start ANOTHER one. IT LOOKS SO AMAZING THOUGH. AHHH!

My brother and I really had a great time on Christmas. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time, and we were being crazy all day. He comes in and yells at me to get up at 8 in the morning. Then when I start to fall back asleep he comes running in and JUMPS ON TOP OF ME. I was excited too, but sleep was appealing before he attacked me. XDD We had managed to gross my grandma out at lunch, and then in the evening I had him pinned in a lock on the couch for like 20 minutes before he escaped and tried to make me smell his feet. Then my grandpa came out and bit his toe. (EPIC WIN expression appeared on my brothers face.)

I love my family.

So much stuff happened it felt like two days instead of one. Then today we all just lazed around since Christmas is always exhausting. Especially for my mom who makes all that food and is constantly on her feet. I think everyone had a good holiday. We got my dad a TV for his bedroom since our Sony downstairs is still KO'd. (Since Halloween) So he went and hid in his room for the day with it. xD

I'll probably check for Vampire Knight Guilty 12 tomorrow, or Sunday. I'm tagging along to a family thing tomorrow, and then I'll be home alone for a couple hours so I'm either going to loaf around playing video games or text one of my friends to see if they can come over. Vampire Knight Guilty only has 2 more episodes till the season ends. Then we will probably have to wait till April for a new season.

INSERT SAD FACE HERE

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and I LOVE YOU ALL.

Vampire Knight Guilty 11

2008-12-21T21:52:00.006-05:00

I watched this last night so I might not cover EVERYTHING but I'll do my best.

This was another pretty straight forward episode. Lots of action. I enjoyed it immensely. We're finally getting somewhere!

We got to see more of Ruka fighting. Which I never thought she would be such a badass! I mean, if I were Yuuki, I'd be scared for my life. XD "YOU STOLE KANAME NOW I WILL MAKE YOU KILL YOURSELF BY LOOKING AT YOU"

Chairman fighting the leader of the association was awesome. I wish we would of gotten to see more! His sword is so COOL. The animation in these scenes was really nice too.

We finally found out that Rido more or less planned EVERYTHING. Even the assassination of the Kiryuu clan. By adding Shizuka's lovers name to the associations list of Level E's the Kiryuu vampire hunters killed him. Then Shizuka after revenge for the death of her lover kills them and turns Zero into a vampire. Why she chose him to be a vampire I'm not sure. I don't think it was a coincidence that the Vampire Hunter family with twins was the ones to be attacked by Shizuka. I think EVERYTHING was planned. Him and Kaname work exactly alike. T_T

Oh, and the scenes with Ichiru and Zero. They were so SAD! I knew that Zero wasn't going to die after Ichiru shot him but I didn't know that Ichiru was going to let him absorb him. I can't say I LIKE Ichiru after seeing him smiling at the scene of his brother lying on the floor suffering, and his parents in puddles of their own blood. I got what he was saying. I just didn't care. It's like..I respect that Shizuka wanted revenge..but to sell out your own family..especially the brother that loved you SO MUCH.

I also didn't understand why Zero said he was taking that love away from Ichiru. I would understand if his parents had rejected Ichiru, but their parents loved them equally. Unless Zero was feeling like a monster for partially absorbing Ichiru in the womb and blaming himself for his weak state. That's the only way it makes sense for me.

I want to give my props to Zero's voice actor once again. I have heard him as Light, Tamaki, and Zero. In every role he does a phenomenal job. In this episode Zero lets out this scream of ANGUISH and it was so painful to just hear. Sometimes you see stuff like that and start laughing because it sounds so cheesy. This man can make it believable almost every time. I am never disappointed with him.

I almost started crying when Ichiru died. My heart broke for Zero in this episode. When he had said "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE ANYONE ELSE" I almost started crying. Nothing EVER goes right for him. Oh, and the monster that is trying to come out of him. I figure it's the Level E he is fighting so hard to keep from getting out. That, or it's something to do with the Vampire Hunter in him. The only reason I think that is that Ichiru said that once he 'absorbed' him he would be able to fight it. Why would that help him with the level E? Unless Vampire hunters ARE immune to becoming a vampire and Zero never had his full potential since Ichiru made it out of the womb alive.

And at the most serious part when my eyes are glued to the screen and I am in shock over all the events that happened, in the very back of my mind I'm mentally screaming at the very end "ZERO IS NOW THE INCREDIBLE HULK!!!!!!" xD

Oh, and Shiki and Rima are adorable.

4 days till Christmas!

Night all~

Vampire Knight Guilty 8, 9, and 10

2008-12-14T22:43:00.009-05:00

Yes, a week later and I am FINALLY doing a post. I apologize. I won't make excuses. I am a lazy bum who needs to stop sitting around. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

OK, just got done watching episode 10. I wanna say it was AMAZING. One of the best episodes, in my opinion, of the entire season.

Right, I'm going to jump right into this and say - HOLY CRAP. HOLY FREAKING CRAP.

I'm going to try to go in order. I honestly can't remember which episode is which. They all seem so meshed together since they all end with cliffhangers! So I know my thought process might be hard to follow this post.

I do know that episode 9 was when Yuuki went to see Zero at the beginning. Zero was holding a gun up at the door, and basically told her to go away. Then Yuuki said, "That's right Zero. The Yuuki you knew was eaten by the vampire Yuuki." while smiling evily. (Which was creepy, just so you know.) My friend asked WHY she would do that. Since she was obviously very upset after she left Zero's door. My opinion was that she was trying to give Zero an out. She knew that Zero would never hate her if she told him that she was exactly the same as before just in vampire form. It would be KILLING him though. All his life he HATED vampires, especially the pure bloods. To suddenly have his best friend (and love interest) turn into the thing he hates most AND still have this need to protect her...well he would never be able to live with it peacefully. The fact that she was Kuran just made it worse. She was severing the tie FOR him.

Yuuki being a vampire wasn't a big surprise for me. I wasn't sure HOW it was going to work but it was almost inevitable. I want a more lengthy explanation on HOW Julie (Juuri? They keep changing it in the sub) put the human disguise over Yuuki. I mean it changed her eating habits and EVERYTHING. She lived without blood for ten years! Unless she was living off her mothers blood, but even then...you would think it would run out after ten years. We finally saw their father too. I'm a little confused by the vampire aging process. Her parents had said they lived over three-thousand happy years together. They DO age it seems. Just over what time span? There are really OLD looking vampires, then there are these vampires claiming to be alive over three-thousand years and looking like they're in their mid twenties.

Yuuki suddenly having long hair bugs me. Ok..I respect that she was somehow a human when she was really a vampire. THE MAGICAL HAIR GROWTH HOWEVER, I DO NOT APPROVE OF. That's when you know you're watching shoujo. Magical hair growth.

I really enjoyed seeing the vampires fight a bit in episode 10. I never knew what Ruka's special ability was. Akatsuki uses flame, Aidou uses ice, and Ruka can control thought process? Or at least she gives the evil eye to people attacking her and they turn on EACH OTHER. I'm also hyped to see Chairman in his badass vampire hunting mode! I'm currently torn. I want to see him fight more, but I don't want to see him being SAD. If he fights he'll be sad. D=

Oh, and Aidou was amazing these past three episodes. Watching him have to switch to referring to the 'sama' honorific with Yuuki is hilarious. He so badly just wants to YELL at her. "PUT ON YOUR SHO- I MEAN, PLEASE PUT ON YOUR SHOES, YUUKI-SAMA." When Yuuki pulled up her skirt to attach Artemis to her thigh and Aidou FLIPS out....it was just too great.

Speaking of Artemis. That was one of the things that bothered me about Yuuki and Kaname being siblings. The fact that she could wield Artemis with vampire blood in her confuses me. I know it was more than just a DISGUISE but wouldn't her blood still be that of a vampires? I just don't understand how her body could of changed that much.

I got sick of Yuuki crying all the time in this episode. I know she's dealing with a lot but I want her to stop crying and TRY to take charge. Which obviously, at the end of this episode, she decided to do. I find Kaname to be positively selfish. He wants Zero to defeat Rido while he takes Yuuki away after having it SLAMMED in his face that Yuuki is a pure blood vampire that happens to be Kaname's little sister. Then he guilt trips Yuuki saying that he had her ripped away from him and has suffered from it for the past ten years. "And you don't want me to continue on living this way, do you?" Ugh. UGH UGH UGH. Kaname is making it positively IMPOSSIBLE for me not to hate him. He treats this entire thing like a game of chess. EVERYONE is his pawn. Including Yuuki.

Ok, so I'm just a little confused. Was the voice that Yuuki was hearing all the time (not her little kid voice, I mean the more adult one) Shizuka's or her vampire self? Was that apparition of Shizuka just because she was in THAT room, or was it because, for some reason, Shizuka is a part of Yuuki? Also, who exactly was Shizuka talking about? "I'll lend you this flesh and body, if you give me your heart." Was she talking TO Yuuki? Was it a flashback to something Rido said to her, or something she said to Rido. OR was she talking about Ichiru? I should probably go re watch it. That might shine some light on the entire thing.

I'm glad we got to see another side of Yori. I always thought she was very...vague. I like that about her though.

So now we have three people who are going to try and kill Rido.

Ichijou, who I assume is going to go after him. That was my take on what he said. After witnessing Kaname's failure to kill Rido's body and seeing that he COULDN'T, and the fact that Rido is now in his own body. Not Shiki's. I'm almost positive that he is going after him.

Yuuki who just wants to protect the people she cares about instead of being the one protected.

And of course, the ever wonderful Zero. Whom we all know still cares for Yuuki deeply even after she tried to sever the ties for him. He will go after Rido and will find Yuuki there, and more than likely, Yuuki will be in a situation she can't control. I have a feeling that she will manage to use Artemis during that battle. There's a reason it shows her holding Artemis in the opening. After all, as she kept saying in this episode, she may be a vampire, but she's still a guardian.

I have said my piece. So now I will leave you with this:

http://www.thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/bum-reviews/2741-twilight

Watch it if you've seen the Twilight movie and you didn't enjoy it. (OR if you have a sense of humor about the series) I cried I was laughing so hard. It seriously WAS how the movie went.

Till next time!

BusyBusyBusy

2008-12-07T23:11:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the sudden halt in updates. The only excuse I have is that I've been really busy the past week.

I didn't do a post on Vampire Knight Guilty 8, and I'm sorry about that. There wasn't much to speculate on. It was all pretty straight forward. I do have some new theories, but I'll post them up when I watch episode 9. I should do that tomorrow. So I'll aim for that.

We went to get our Christmas tree Friday. Then we decorated it last night. That was all a lot of fun. My brother and I camwhored the whole time we were at the Christmas tree farm. XD The guy who was working there was staring at us the whole time. It was starting to creep me out.

I have something going almost everyday this week AGAIN. So forgive me if I have lack of updates. I've barely had a chance to continue on in Dawn of New World. THIS DOES NOT PLEASE ME.

I got into a new manga series recently. It's called "Chibi Vampire," or "Karin" depending on which version you're reading. It's pretty good. It's shounen and it's about a girl so that means there's a lot of pantie shots. xD Besides that, I actually really like the art style. The story is interesting as well. It's about a teenage Vampire girl who moved from Russia to Japan with her family of Vampires. They all have a blood 'flavor' they prefer. I.e her mother, Calera, likes the taste of liars, or her brother, Ren, likes the taste of stress. When one of these Vampires drinks from a person who is their preferred 'taste' they're actually taking that from their blood. As in, Ren drinks from a stressed out woman. He is literally taking her stress away.

However Karin is not your regular Vampire. Instead of DRINKING blood she gives it. When she gets around someone with her preferred 'flavor' her blood multiplies! So Karin is prone to blushing and getting excessive nose bleeds. Literal blood waterfall. Now I know it sounds strange, but it's actually a really great series that has already caused me to laugh numerous times.

I'm excited to continue on in the series. I also need to start watching the Tales of the Abyss anime. I found it a couple weeks ago and I got really excited, but I haven't found the time to sit down and watch it!

I also tried my hand at some fandubbing. It really is a lot of fun. I'm not very good but maybe if I work at it it will start to feel less awkward.

Dog sitting ended on Friday.

I still need to Christmas shop.

Oh the fail.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

2008-11-30T23:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, I lied. I didn't post later that night. XD In my defense I had a really busy weekend. I still have to watch Vampire Knight Guilty 8. I keep falling slightly behind. Ugh.

Okay, update on the awesomeness that is ToS: DotNW. I am over 22 hours into the game, and things are beginning to come together a little bit. Questions are answered, more questions are asked.

So Emil's split personality was always more than Ratatosk mode. Anyone playing the game would realize that, but now it's come out that he looks exactly like someone whose name is Aster. During the game Emil keeps having 'waking dreams' of Richter killing him, and apparently this Aster was killed by Richter. So it's easy to connect the dots that Emil might be Aster. The question is, WHICH Emil? Or are they both just creations of his mind because of his amnesia?

The enemies in Tales games are always awesome. However they have reached a new level in this game. They are truly...some of the most amazing characters I have ever seen. Alice is a sadistic 18 year old girl who fights by commanding monsters and she carries a whip. She talks in a baby voice half the time, and nicknames all the girls she hates, and she nicknames all the guys she likes. One of her lines is "I just LOVE breaking cute little girls arms~," she is almost NIGHTMARE worthy. XD Then there's the true winner. Decus. (He got the screenshot spot!) Decus is madly in love with Alice, and would do almost anything for her. He also has a habit of buying mail-order items. He wears this cologne Eau de Seduction that smells HORRIBLE, but he hopes that it will cause Alice to fall for him. He also does these amazing poses while he's talking..he's just...like Zelo's x10 and devoted to one woman.

It was explained that Lloyd wasn't really the one who attacked Palmacosta. (I knew it) It was really Decus who has the ability to transform into other people. I really SHOULD hate Decus since he managed to kill Lloyd's reputation, but I really can't. My whole party is being killed and I'm sitting there laughing my ass off at his special attack. I love characters like that.

I still think Tenebrae knows a hell of a lot more than he's letting on. ESPECIALLY about the effects of Ratatosk's core on Marta. If the same thing that happens to people whose Exspheres were removed, but it was the only way to protect Ratatosk I'm pretty sure Tenebrae would keep it to himself. I don't WANT Tenebrae to be bad but it's almost impossible for him not to be.

I WANT MORE YUAN!! We saw him ONCE! THAT HAD TO MEAN SOMETHING! WE HAVE TO SEE HIM AGAIN. IT'S NECESSARY! XD Oh, and the summon spirits too. It annoys me that Sheena can't summon them in battle anymore. I want to see my favorites again!

I had more to say on this subject, but I started this at 11:50 and now it's 1:20 in the morning. I need sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow.

Only 1 week left of dog sitting.

Good night

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T21:59:00.008-05:00

I hope every ones Thanksgiving was wonderful, mine was pretty good. My dad and I went to get spiral Christmas trees for our front yard, and then we put them out. After that we ate. (and it was all delicious so I overstuffed myself x_x.) Then I passed out on the couch for an hour and spent the rest of the evening playing Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, and taking care of the neighbor dog who I'm petsitting currently.

I'm going to do two posts tonight. One on Twilight, and the other on ToS:DOTNW. That game...has made me laugh, and smile SO much. Not as good as the first, but it's definitely one I'll treasure.

I realized earlier that I hadn't done a post on the Twilight movie. So I decided I'd post some of my personal opinions up.

I'll admit..if you didn't get this from my one post, I wasn't going in expecting it to be great. So I wasn't surprised when I was disappointed with a lot of it. There WERE elements I liked though. Very much.

I'll list those first. I thought that Kellan Lutz as Emmett did an AMAZING job. Every time he was on screen he actually FELT like Emmett. Even the way he held himself was in character to Emmett Cullen. He was the only actor I was actually THRILLED with in the movie. I really wish they would of given him more screen time even though Emmett didn't really get a lot of attention until Breaking Dawn.

The other characters I was OK with were - Jacob, Alice, Esme, Carlisle, Mike, Charlie, James, Victoria, and Jessica.

While Charlie was the complete OPPOSITE of how I pictured him I actually enjoyed every time he was on screen. I never thought Charlie got enough attention in the books. Especially the first. So the subtle threatening of Edward, and the added pepper spray stuff was amusing.

I thought that the way they opened the movie with the deer running in the forest and then having a vampire attack it was very well done. I wasn't excited UNTIL that started. Then I felt the static electricity of excitement shooting through the room and it was affecting me as well.

The Baseball scene was epic. I thought that it was extremely well done, and very cool. Especially when Emmett and Edward collided in the air. Along with the added scene in the kitchen where they were making Bella something to eat when she was coming over. "How do you know she even LIKES Italian?"

"Her names BELLA!"

Now onto the disappointments-

Edward and Bella. I flat out didn't like them. Whenever they were on screen it felt DEPRESSING. I thought their way of speaking sounded MONOTONE. There wasn't a very large range of emotion. Even when they were happy it felt exactly the same as when they were in the hospital having that little fight.

I also thought that Edward just seemed so AWKWARD. In the books Edward was more 18th century than modern teenager. In the movie he was just an awkward teen with the urge to drink blood. I couldn't even THINK of him as Edward. Same with Bella. They weren't the characters, they were just people with the same name. I was cringing when they had Edward even mention the word sex because it just felt so out of character. He couldn't even say it in the third book when he had been with Bella for over a year, let alone for a couple weeks/months.

I thought they were concentrating too much on the high school scene in the movie. They had 2 hours to work with, and most of it was Bella at school. They completely botched the ending, but they managed to make room for Jessica to say that her boobs looked great in a dress. Let alone the fact that they made Angela seem so SHALLOW. UGH. Oh, and that Eric was completely different. He was funny, yes, but he was supposed to be a DORK. I hate the fact that they manage to change almost every character just because they can. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE CHARACTERS BEFORE? The teenage lingo was overdone as well. Nobody, and I mean nobody talks like that. At least no one I know.

I don't think they touched down on the subject that the Cullens were vampires. They didn't even MENTION that Jasper had a special ability. Alice's was barely used. Edward said he read minds and that's how he found her at Port Angeles, but that was IT.

Let alone that they did the ending all backward. They basically took out Jasper, and Alice's most important parts. If you've read the books you would know that Alice doesn't have a vision of something until AFTER a person makes a decision. In the movie they had her see the Ballet studio before Bella even DECIDED to go. In the movie Bella gets the phone call after Alice see's the Ballet studio, and THEN she decides to go. She also sits there saying whatever she wants into the phone instead of the well thought out strategy that Jame's had in the book. Jasper, and Alice SHOULD have been able to hear her, but no. Suddenly Vampire's hearing is the same as anyone elses. Go. Figure.

Then at the airport when Bella had to use some brain power, and sneak away from Jasper by slipping out the other exit of a bathroom, and then hailing a taxi as fast as she could. Then RUNNING to the ballet studio so that they didn't get to her before she made it and stop her. Do you think they did that? No. Do you think they even TRIED to make it look challenging? No. SHE WALKS OUT THE DOORS, AND GETS IN A TAXI. THAT. WAS. IT. It's almost INSULTING to the characters. It makes Jasper and Alice seem PATHETIC. It also took away how much of a genius James' REALLY was. Instead they just had him as a bloodthirsty Vampire who wanted a fight. The thrill of the hunt was barely there.

The battle scene, even though it wasn't necessary, was entertaining enough. I don't have much to say on that part. I understand that they were going to make it as appealing as they could. It would draw more of an audience if there is some epic battle at the end. I can live with that. The noises Bella was making before and while Edward was sucking her blood was creeping me out though. xD; I wish they would of just LET her have her eyes closed like she was supposed to. I, as horrible as it is, started laughing at one point. When she crossed her eyes...it just made me laugh. You just wanted to go "GIRL, JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES YOU PSYCHO."

I DID find it amusing that it was Alice that went over and broke James' neck. Alice you badass you.

Then the prom. It was cute. I got bored when Edward, and Bella were dancing. xD It just seemed to never END. I did get exasperated when they walked in and I saw the back of Victoria's head, and then when she was upstairs looking out at them dancing. I'd like to point out that EDWARD WOULD HEAR WHATEVER SHE WAS THINKING. I KNOW they wanted to make sure people knew there was more to come, but REALLY. EDWARD WAS STANDING RIGHT THERE!

So as Twilight being turned into a movie I give it 2 and 1/2 out of 5 stars. Maybe 3 stars. Emmett gets a whole star for himself.

As just a regular movie it would be a 3 and a half to 4 stars from me.

It just felt rushed in my opinion. It could of been worse. Much much worse.

So Happy Turkey Day everyone, and if you see Twilight then I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

Peace~

Vampire Knight Guilty 7

2008-11-25T23:27:00.002-05:00

I watched Vampire Knight Guilty 7 on Saturday. I just re watched it so that my speculation might at least pick up most of the details from the episode. Wow! And what an episode it was. Lots of stuff happening. You only get one or two questions answered each episode, and they make sure to give you 5,000 more.

Alright lets start with Yuuki's hallucinations. The slow deterioration of her sanity is extremely well done. Not that she goes insane. It's just they started off really slow, and made them not really a big deal. Over the episodes they became more frequent, creepier, and she couldn't deal with them as well. Sometimes stuff like that can come off as silly, but they managed to pull it off.

I've come to the conclusion that the blood in the vial Ichiru tried to slip Yuuki was Kuran Rido's. (Shiki's father. I FINALLY KNOW HIS NAME!) I have a feeling that it was meant to speed up the process of her 'awakening'. Since Kaname's blood is what 'woke' her it would make sense that Rido's blood would do the same. If not a little...differently. They're both pure bloods, and they're both Kuran's so it's a high possibility.

It was finally announced in the anime that Yuuki, and Kaname are siblings. I'm not sure what that last line from Kaname meant but I'm going to ignore it in my next theory. I had known they were siblings because I had accidentally seen a spoiler on Wiki when I was doing some research on the series.

I have had this idea rolling around in my head since I watched episode 7 the first time...so I'm going to type it out now. It's very unlikely, but it could still work. We've seen what Yuuki's mother looks like now. (Her name is Julie, in case you were wondering.) Both Kaname, and Yuuki look VERY much like her. Especially Yuuki. We have yet to see their father so I was thinking at the possibility that Rido may have taken advantage of Julie (We saw he was very capable of taking what he wants. He was planning on forcing himself on Ruka, after all.)and Yuuki might be his daughter. Might. That could be why her blood is so important to him. By using Shiki's body, and Shiki's blood he was able to come to half his previous power. If it's a direct bloodline connection then that would make sense why Yuuki would be the target, but not Kaname.

I also want to know which side this Uncle is on. Their mothers, or their fathers. Along with the eyes. I think that's a huge part in this. As you can see I included a screenie of Rido in Shiki's body with that evil smirk of his. I'm going to tack on that I feel extremely bad for Rima. You can tell the two were together no matter how unenthusiastic they were about it.

Also, what is the connection between the engagement of Rido and Shizuka, and the Kuran's and Zero's family? The fact that Chairman ended up with Yuuki, who's family was murdered by Rido, and Zero, who's family was attacked by Shizuka, can't be a coincidence. They're all tied together by these two pure bloods, and the Vampire Council.

Oh, and I think Kaname and Yuuki were engaged, or they were GOING to be once they were older. The clip where someone was playing with Yuuki's hair saying "We're going to be just like father, and mother one day." made it clear that they were going to be more than siblings when they were older. (This was in episode 5 or 6) Along with the fact that I don't think Yuuki has anyone else who would refer to her parents as "Father, and Mother".

I think that covers all my thoughts on this episode. Or at least most of them. XD

Peace out, my friends!

Vampire Knight Guilty 6

2008-11-20T00:01:00.005-05:00

Alright, I just got done re watching episode 6 so it's fresh in my mind. FORWARD TO THE SPECULATION AND RAMBLINGS!!

I'm a little confused. A lot of stuff happened in this episode. Lots to absorb. Here's what I've come up with though-

My speculation of the woman leaning towards Yuuki being a Vampire was wrong. Or at least, I THINK it was. If the woman in Chairman's memory is the one leaning towards Yuuki then that has to be her mother. I mean they look EXACTLY alike.

I'm assuming Ichiru was trying to kill Yuuki with that vial of blood he had. There are one of two options here -- He has orders from the council to eliminate Yuuki, or he was going to kill her as part of his revenge on Zero. He blames Zero for Shizuka's murder, so he takes the most important person in Zero's life from him. Seems logical to me. However, HOW did he obtain that vial of blood? Shizuka was killed by Kaname. Nobody was around when that happened. So maybe the council were the ones that gave him that vial. Hmm....

I have to say that Kaname has made me hate him. This episode especially. The fact that he made Zero watch his interaction with Yuuki was just CRUEL. He KNOWS that Zero cares deeply for the girl, and he flaunts the fact that Yuuki has agreed to be his lover. While really, Yuuki only agreed because she wants him to tell her about her past. He is STILL dancing around the subject even though she has given into his demands. URGH. I WANT TO STRANGLE HIM.

Speaking of Yuuki's past -- I think that the bloody hand reaching out to her in her dreams is Shiki's father. While my speculation about Shiki's mother seems to be completely off, I still think that Shiki's father has a big part in this whole thing. He is obviously power hungry. From what he said at the end of this episode, "What will he think when the true heir appears" or something to that affect, makes me think that he thought they belonged in the Kuran's place. It's always a power trip, isn't it? Haha

Chairman, as always, made me laugh almost every time he was on screen. I felt bad when Ichiru walked out on his dinner. HE WORKED SO HARD! D=

Another cliff hanger. This episode was only available in high quality subs on Monday. I'm still holding out hope that episode 7 will be made available on Friday.

Oh, and Friday I'm going to see Twilight at the movie theater with my friends. I'm actually dreading it. I was never excited when I heard it was going to be made into a movie. I'm going, and if I hate it at least I'll be able to explain WHY. If I actually enjoy it (fat chance) then hooray!

I have Yoga in the morning.

Should sleep now.

Peace

EPIC

2008-11-19T13:07:00.003-05:00

FAIL! NINE DAYS BETWEEN POSTS? What is my problem!? I can only say that I wasn't feeling well last week (Seriously, I canceled almost everything I was doing.), and then my new game came when I was feeling better. I'm going to be doing two posts today. One on Vampire Knight Guilty 6 a little later. I want to re watch, and make sure I absorb EVERYTHING before I go on my mass rambles. This post, however, is going to be an update on what I've been doing the past week. Along with some mass spazzing about Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. My love for Tales of Symphonia never went away...it just became dormant over the years. Now the flames of my love has come back with a burning passion, and I can't stop spazzing about the characters. *insert floaty hearts*

Honestly, I really HADN'T done anything much last week. I texted a few of my friends and lazed around the house waiting to feel better. I also helped clean my grandmothers house which doesn't exactly fall under the category of fun. It's not so bad though. We blasted the Mama Mia! soundtrack while I mopped the floors. (She called me weird about 3 times for prancing around like a fairy. xD) I also spent all of yesterday reading the book "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" It's pretty good. It's not a book I would usually pick out to read, but I'm enjoying it.

Okay, time for the epic spazzing I promised. I posted more than a month ago about Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World with the opening in my post. I never did a huge profiling on the game for one big reason. I didn't want to read too much about it, or I wouldn't be able to contain the excitement of the sequel coming out. I'm only 8 hours into the game (it came for me on Monday) which since I don't breeze through games as quickly as some, only puts me in Iselia's Human Ranch. I like to explore way too much for me to just breeze through dungeons.

SO, from what I've seen about the game so far I have to say, I'm enjoying it. I scream almost every time one of the original characters appears. The main character Emil is OK. I know his character will build as the game goes on (he already has grown a bit) but his constant apologies, (Yes, I know Colette apologized all the time too.) and fears of EVERYTHING is an extreme difference from Lloyd. Plus it's hard for me to play as characters who HATE Lloyd! You fall in love with Lloyd when you play the first game. You KNOW that he would never have attacked Palmacosta, and killed Emil's parents even if you DID watch the scene at the beginning. So it's hard for me to hear the constant bashing on Lloyd and all his friends. Even if Emil thinks Lloyd is the murderer of his parents.

Marta, however, is the complete opposite of Emil and she manages to get on my nerves as well. XD Her constant flirting with Emil is enough to make me want to strangle her. Don't get me wrong, I actually DO like these characters. I just have to get used to their quirks. Colette got on my nerves my first two play trough's of ToS, (I have played that game at least 6 times. More than 120 hours of my life was put into that game.) but I still LIKED her.

Then there's Richter. I'm not sure what I think of Richter yet. I DO get the feeling he knows Emil more than he's letting on. I have a hunch that he MIGHT be related to Emil somehow. No, I don't think he's his father. LOL (Even though I guessed right about the major spoiler in the first game. HAHAHA Never letting my brother live that one down.) Maybe a brother, or an uncle though. I'm not sure yet. I have to play some more and see how they interact. My mom hates all three characters from what she hears when she's doing her hair in the bathroom. She keeps telling me to kill all the main characters off! XD

Tenebrae is my favorite of the new set so far. His sarcastic nature reminds of Jade Curtis from Tales of the Abyss. The dry wit of his humor is great, and he plainly speaks whatever is on his mind. Yay for forward characters! I have a feeling he knows more than he's telling Emil, and Marta. I just hope he doesn't betray them later on. That will make me sad. WHY ARE ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS TRAITORS?

The battle system is, as usual, excellent. I'm not sure if I like the addition of adding monsters to your party to fight with you. I always liked having four people fighting. This change makes me feel like I'm playing Pokemon. Not that there's anything wrong with Pokemon, I just don't care for the idea of all the Tales games going in this direction. I CAN'T BELIEVE I CAN'T PLAY AS THE OLD CHARACTERS WHEN THEY'RE IN YOUR PARTY. I mean in the middle of a BATTLE you can change to one, but other than that you can't even RUN AROUND as one. I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING AS SHEENA, AND LLOYD AGAIN!

Voice actors are pretty good. I never like when voices change in a series. I'm happy they managed to get some of the originals. I.e, Presea, Colette, and Kratos.(EVEN THOUGH HE ONLY NARRATES!! WAAAH! My favorite character! *wibble*) Raine's voice is pretty close to the originals, and Zelos' is OK. I heard a clip of Sheena's on youtube and almost cried. Lloyd and Sheena's are a disappointment for me. Their original voices were so PERFECT for them.

There is so much to say about this game, and this probably won't be my only post about it. This game has made me so happy in the span of two days. XD I'm planning on playing some more when I get back from the store today~.

I will say that the Lloyd I know and love appeared in the game. Defeated my characters (I swear it was the fastest kill I have ever received. Span of .2 seconds.), and sealed us in a room. Leaving behind a sign with the poorly drawn Lloyd from the first game, and it read "LLOYD IRRVING WUZ HERE!!!" I had gigglefits for at least 10 minutes. It was so LLOYD. I loved it.

"...and that began the regeneration of the world."

LATER!