Supaa Raburii 百合 Attaku!

The iDOLM@STER Anime Final Picspam

2011-12-30T02:02:00.000-05:00

Summary not included (due to excessive fangirling)

OK, I lied, there will be a summary. But not of this ep, just the series as a whole.

Overall, this was done WAY better than Xenoglossia especially and most importantly in terms of keeping with the original source material. But what I especially liked was how the anime told the girls' stories. Sure, it did that in the games too, but this way, it'll hopefully get more people interested in the games outside of Japan. Also, it totally gave me lots of Chihaya x Haruka fodder, and I always appreciate that. Story/Plot-wise, I thought it was pretty well paced, and it worked character development in there too, which is ALWAYS a plus. The nods to the fans were particularly great~

And that's basically it. As a final episode, I really didn't pay too much attention since I was busy screencapping. But then again, most of the tension was resolved so... Anyway, I'll just leave you with this last thing:

Chihaya went from this...

to this.

The only conclusion is that OBVIOUSLY HARUKA MOVED IN. BECAUSE SHE LIVES 2-ISH HOURS AWAY AND CHIHAYA LIVES ALL BY HERSELF AND WOULDN'T IT BE MORE CONVENIENT FOR THEM TO MOVE IN TOGETHER.

The iDOLM@STER 20 Summary/Picspam

2011-11-18T15:15:00.000-05:00

So, I just watched iDOLM@STER episode 20, which anybody who kinda sorta follows my Twitter or Tumblr will easily be able to see, since I just spammed both. Unfortunately, Blogspot doesn't have a 'post-to-other-platforms-too' function that I know of, so I'll just put a main overview here.

WARNING: FOLLOWING THE CUT LEADS TO PICSPAM. And lots of Chihaya x Haruka.

This episode is basically Chihaya's backstory, which is awesome. Mostly because Haruka was running around trying to make Chihaya feel better. From last ep, Kuroi-shachou's paparazzi man took a picture of Chihaya and her mom in front of her little brother's grave, which then got splashed into magazines everywhere. The reason it's a big deal is that the accompanying article was basically blaming Chihaya for the death of her brother. While Chihaya is content to pretty much ignore it - from a professional standpoint - things fall apart when she can't sing for always remembering her brother.

After trying for a couple more times, they (Chihaya and Haruka ~~and the producer too :/~~) find that it's a psychological block preventing Chihaya from singing. And then Chihaya says "I can't do this anymore" and locks herself in her apartment. I could go into a big essay about how sad this is because Chihaya is preventing herself from singing, something she loves, by making her goal in singing to hold up her memory of her brother, but that'd get a bit too long.

Anyway, the rest of the ep plays out with Haruka and then the other girls banding together and getting Chihaya to go to the concert and finally to Chihaya being able to sing again.

What I really liked about this episode was the minima amount of Producer. It really puts the focus more on the girls rather than as a semi-hidden dating sim type of thing. If only they did this for the other episodes... Like the Yayoi one. I also liked how Chihaya's mother appeared, though not how she didn't do anything. D< I mean, it's understandable, but she should've at least tried.... Oh well, it got me some Chihaya x Haruka in the end, so I'm all good.

Aaand that's it! I'll try to do this more often, but this entire thing basically took about an hour what with stopping every few seconds to post on Tumblr/Twitter and then writing this out, so posting like this might not happen on a regular basis.

Rolling Girl~

2011-11-01T22:37:00.000-04:00

As my anime viewing has gone down in percentage, somehow my 'regular tv show' viewing has gone up. Don't know how that happened... Anyway, since I'd like to keep this blog more anime/manga/game/drama cd/Japan focused, I made a tumblr for myself. It'll have some anime stuff, but mostly I'll probably reblog stuff from other shows and the occasional thought that is longer than 140 charas (in which case it'd go to my Twitter, since I'm crazy and have a million different social media accounts all of a sudden). But yeah. Now there's more ways to stalk me! Orz

And here's some tangentially related media, just 'cause.

スーパーヒーロタイム！

2011-10-10T18:12:00.001-04:00

For those of you who have been following my Twitter feed, you'll find I'm not dead (yet). Just... Otherwise engaged. I've found my life's gotten a lot more complicated recently, so the number of shows I'm watching has dropped. Well, number of anime, at least. I'll give myself another couple of months before I'm all over anime again. Anyway, the point of this post is: Why I Watch Kid Stuff like Super Sentai and Magical Girl Anime.

It's definitely not because stuff like this happens. Nope.

As someone who is decidedly older than the market for super sentai and magical girl anime, some people look at me weird when I tell them what I'm watching. I don't really care; I just kind of pity them for having their minds closed to some truly powerful, engaging storylines. Sure, the plots are all clichéd "someone/thing is invading, only you can save the world!!" type, but there's something to be said about clichés.

(The following list is in no particular order.)

One is that it provides a truly safe way to turn one's brain off (instead of something like drugs). I mean, really. Especially in something like Super Sentai, all 35 seasons are basically the same. It's just a matter of who's invading, who's defending, and who's got the awesomest weapon. So if you're just looking for background noise, here's a great way to do it. It has the added bonus of not having anything too gruesome or explicit, so you can watch it in public with only the label of 'He's/She's such a kid' being applied versus 'Dude, he/she watching porn in public!'

This totally isn't porn! Just because it looks like one girl is looking at the other's boobs...

Second, unless you're a true villain, everyone likes to see the good guys win in the end. And even if we sympathize with (one of) the bad guy(s), there's a pretty good chance that the TPTB are going to give them a totally rocking ending. (And sometimes the bad guys themselves are pretty awesome.) Example one: Precia's last scene at the end of MSLNanoha. Everyone hated her, but she totally gave Fate a cool scene (or five).

Come, Mother. Give me more and more backstory so people can use it in their fanfics about me wangsting.

Third is just the sheer awesomeness that comes from the fight scenes (and explosions). Sure, the rest of the story may or may not be crap, but the one thing that's almost guaranteed not to be crap is the fighting. The very fact that a series is part of a cliché means that it has to do something to keep things interesting. And if the plot is just dressed up, why not do something interesting within the show? (Also, let's face it, these shows are marketed towards kids. What other way is there to get a kid's interest but action?)

TOTALLY ROCKING FIGHT SCENE

Fourth is I can put yuri undertones in pretty much anything with at least two girls in it, which super sentai covers pretty well and magical girl has almost as a matter of course.

Imagine her looking like this towards Yellow, yesssssssssssssssssssss

There're probably other reasons, but these are the ones I thought of. d: Suraki, signing off ~~to watch more Super Sentai~~!

The iDOLM@STER vs. Idolmaster Xenoglossia, or Why You Should Watch The iDOLM@STER and Not Xenoglossia

2011-07-09T02:09:00.001-04:00

VS.

BIASBIASBIASBIASBIASBIAS

This post is biased! But I wanted to write it anyway. Just so's you know.
Also, this post is about the 2011 iDOLM@STER anime vs. the Xenoglossia incarnation, not the actual game(s) itself.

Since they announced the iDOLM@STER anime, I've been eagerly waiting for July. Now, for those of you who don't know what iDOLM@STER/iDOLMASTER is, it's a game by Namco (and Bandai?) for (at least) the XBox. You play a producer of an idol company and you have to train different idols to become #1 in Japan. What makes the game interesting (at least for me, I can't speak for everyone else) is that each idol actually sings. Songs made especially for the game! And original dances! With real singers! (Not that there's anything wrong with Vocaloid...) And the character designs are AWESOME. In other words, it's like a visual novel where you actually do something (and without sex, mentioned or otherwise)! But the biggest thing is how the fans could manipulate the videos. In fact, there's a whole site dedicated to iDOLM@STER videos. So there were a lot of fans who, in playing the game, grew to love the characters, voices, and graphics.

When an iDOLM@STER anime was announced in 2007, I was indeed one of the excited fans. Finally, we could see our favorite characters come to life in a different way than the choose-your-own-adventure type game. It was even being produced by Sunrise, special in my heart for Gundam Wing and Mai-Hime, and it was named Idolmaster: Xenoglossia. But then...

Help! I've fallen and I can't get out of this genre!

It was horrible. Terrible! What happened to idols? Appeals? What's with the mecha??? It was like Xebec's Negima all over again, instead this time instead of ruining the ending, they ruined everything. In hindsight, a mecha turn was probably really obvious. I mean, it's Sunrise. What does Sunrise do? Giant robots. And it usually works for them. But not in this instance. Oh no, iDOLM@STER fans everywhere got angry. I'm sure some stopped watching or even wrote disparaging letters. I mean, come on! We want to see HarukaxAny-Other-Idol, not HarukaxGiantRobot! Even the small OVA they made couldn't appease us (although I loved it). Then, a couple months ago, they announced another iDOLM@STER anime. There were a lot of skeptics. I, for one, wasn't even going to watch it if it was like Xenoglossia. But then previews came out and fans rejoiced, for here it was! An iDOLM@STER anime actually about the iDOLM@STER game! The first episode just came out yesterday/the day before (so SO excited) and it followed the game really well. It was all I wanted and more.

But then, I decided to go forum-hopping for the iM@S anime. And let me tell you, you don't know how limited a view you have until someone says something completely out of left field. (Or right, I'm not picky.) There were people who actually liked and wanted to re-watch Xenoglossia. It was like a completely different animal! But, as I read it, I began to think about why, exactly, iDOLM@STER fans disliked Xenoglossia so much. I mean, taken from an outside/newbie perspective, it apparently wasn't that bad. (I'm not about to go re-watch it to try and see it from another perspective, so don't expect a review about that.) The way I see it, there are two reasons: Expectations and Eagerness.

Something like this would've been a perfectly all right adaptation.

Expectation was probably by far the worst thing about Xenoglossia. When it was announced, fans expected an anime about the game. They expected lots of singing and dancing and hours and hours of practice. What they expected... Was not what they got. So basically, the weight of failed expectations fell squarely (and heavily) on Sunrise. Personally, I have no idea what Sunrise thought they were doing. The mecha weren't even that good. (Because they also failed that test with me.) There's also the fact that the cast list was COMPLETELY different from the game seiyuu. I kind of get why they did that; the original seiyuu were not that well known, and famous seiyuu are a way to get new fans in. And that brings me to my next point.

When you like something, you want to show it off, right? So another aspect of the anime was a way to reach out to people who don't have Xboxes, who don't live in Japan or speak Japanese, who haven't yet been drawn in. What Xenoglossia did completely ruined all of those efforts. Think about it. If I told you, "Hey, there's this really cool game about idols called iDOLM@STER and there's an anime coming out about it!" and I showed you Xenoglossia, you'd look at me like I was dumb. Because Xenoglossia is definitely not about idols. I mean, idols are involved. Sort of. If I remember right. The characters are also different from game and anime. For example:

If only today was actually her birthday, that would be SO AWESOME.

This is my favorite idol, Kisaragi Chihaya. In the game, she's kinda stoic, serious. Singing is her hobby and her only hobby is singing. But, when you achieve more perfect communications, you get a girl who is calm, but sometimes gets upset at things you wouldn't think with her personality. In Xenoglossia...

Evil Psychotic Lesbian, yup.

You get this. There are no words to describe just how they perverted Chihaya's character. Out of all of them, I think this change in personality was the worst, and not only because original Chihaya was my favorite. While the others had a reboot that at least had one little similarity with the original, Chihaya... Nope. Not even body type. It was, in effect, a completely different character that had the same name. It was the greatest disappointment in my life. I mean, don't get me wrong, Evil Psychotic Lesbians are hilarious. But not when it's supposed to be someone else. I don't want to say "This is my favorite character" and have people look at the Xenoglossia incarnation.

But anyway. That's my thoughts on iDOLM@STER. The last thing I'll say is please watch the real anime! (Or any one of the game videos.) Later!

Another awesome if-only incarnation.

Dogeza... m(_ _)m

2011-05-20T11:08:00.000-04:00

What's this? It's been six months since I last posted? Nonse-

OH CRAP.

HAI GAIZ, GUESS WHO'S BACK. Or rather, guess who is finally getting off her lazy butt and actually posting. Yeah, that's right. It's me. Orz

I feel like we go through this process a lot. Which is probably because we do. Well, let me explain. Aside from being a blog about yuri, this was also a chance for me to not just lurk. Which I have been failing miserably at. All I can say is that changing yourself is hard. And takes a while. So while I want to change, that won't happen right off the bat. But I'll keep trying! So for now, you guys'll have to read my ridiculously late season reviews.

~~Or maybe I just have writer's block.~~

Oh, but! I'm not completely inactive. It's just writing blog posts. If you're looking for something more random, more up to date, and more broad, I do have Twitter! It's just to your right, look, look! I generally tweet while I watch series, ~~so you can see just how little I'm watching this season~~ so you can get a play by play of what I think about while watching something. Please be warned that my Twitter feed is not completely about anime, as seen in the explosion of tweets when Eurovision came around...

But what has Suraki been watching? Well, not a lot. Of course, my yuri goggles are still in place, but there hasn't been something that hasn't needed high power. At least out of the things I've watched so far. I will warn you that I have been sucked into J-drama and Tokusatsu recently, so there may or may not be more posts involving that. But that's enough from me!

Suraki, signing off!

Oh, I guess this is a yuri blog, so... Here you go!

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st

2011-01-15T11:11:00.002-05:00

Yeah, that's right. The post you've all waited for. The post you've all hungered for. It's the Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st post!!

OK, that long title is not giving it the oomph it needs. Also, the "the Movie 1st" totally messes up with "the 1st Movie" vibe...

Did everyone read my uber-long Nanoha post? Yes? No? If you haven't, you might want to read the summary I put for the first season. And then possibly read the rest of it. Go ahead. This post'll still be here while you read. For the people who don't need to, here's some pics:

Dang, Fate's a BAMF.

Whassat, you finished? OK, let's get to the good stuff, then. Oh, and Extra Warning: This post will likely be highly spoiler-ific. Well, it already is, but it's going to get worse from here. If you haven't watched the movie ~~or the first season~~ yet, do that first. Now onto the show!

Small incident my butt.

Summary

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st is basically Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. But enhanced with ultra-steroids. Instead of 6.5 hours or so, everything (and plus some more) is condensed into 2 hours. The graphics and insert songs get huge upgrades. More of Fate's backstory is j-j-j-jammed in. And the fight scenes? FREAKIN'. AWESOME. About the only thing I can do that can aptly convey the amazingness of Movie the 1st is to tell you to go buy ~~download~~ it.

Can't get better than this...

...Whoops, that was a lie.

Technical Details

Of course, if the movie was perfect, the world would implode, so there are some problems. The first is the transformation scene for Nanoha and Fate. OK, I understand this is a movie. And that the target audience is not, in fact, young girls, but rather geeky males in the age range of 19-47 (on average). But really? Did you have to make the transformation scenes worse? It's bad enough in the original and that had the Conveniently Placed Magic Swirls. Yeah, that's right. In the Movie 1st, the Conveniently Placed Magic Swirls have been erased. Ni*beep*les are in full view! That's just not cool. Not cool at all.

Even Yuuno agrees and he's just a ~~ferret~~ kid!

The second problem is the device voices. Now, as far as I know, the directors didn't change any voice actors, just cut people's scenes. But on the first listen, Raising/Raging Heart's voice is definitely weird; Bardiche's weirder. And the reason is this: Intelligent Devices they may be, but as heard in the original three seasons, Raising Heart and Bardiche don't really have emotion or inflection in their voices. But yes, in the movie they do. It's actually a little irritating. But maybe that's just because I'm a hardcore fangirl.

Bardiche is telling her off for reprogramming his voice. And not fighting too, I guess.

The last problem I have is with the translation. Now, by all accounts and purposes, this should be the translated version from the official blu-ray disc. Yeah, Seven Arcs actually added an English subtitled version on their blu-ray disc. So it should be that a subbing group just ripped it and distributed it (because let's face it: I'm too poor to get a blu-ray player). This means that, rather than blaming a subbing group for not following fan and official translations, it's Seven Arcs fault. Because instead of the ever-so-intimidating Time-Space Administration Bureau, the TSAB is instead forcibly renamed Dimensional Administration Bureau. Really? DAB? That's just stupid.

If you're dyslexic, TSAB can look like STAB. And that's a lot more threatening than DAB-ing at criminals.

I did like how they translated the devices' lines into Japanese though... That was fun. Oh, and one more thing.

Chrono: Once a ****-blocker, always a ****-blocker.

Upgrades

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st got a lot of upgrades. First, of course, is the graphics.

But apparently not the translation.

The graphics in the movie got a huge upgrade. And I mean huge. I know that they had to draw a lot of new stuff for Fate's backstory, but not only did they do that, they redrew everything. As far as I can tell, there were no re-used cells at all. Which is expected when you're making a movie on a source material that's comparitively old, but it's still nice to see. They even changed the scenery of a few locations and upgraded the Jewel Seed corrupted enemies! I do miss Ein the Giant Cat though...

Where'd the lake come from??

The next upgrade is Fate's backstory. When comparing the TV series and the movie, if I had to 'calculate' the percentage of backstory out of the entire season/movie, the season had about... 20%. The movie? About 45%. If I could do math, I'd give the percentage markup. ~~If I could do math, I wouldn't make up numbers that are probably equal when taking into account the total time difference between the two media.~~ Essentially, what I'm trying to say is that if they kept the same backstory scenes from the original season and put it into the movie, rather than two hours and ten minutes, the movie would instead be around an hour and a half long. What makes this even better is that all the backstory comes from the Sound Stages (drama cds) that most casual Nanoha fans have no idea exist. And makes the second season make a lot more sense. So, yeah, it's pretty awesome.

The descent into madness.

Two words: Fight. Scene. I won't elaborate on it since it's hard to put how awesome it is into words, but here're some screenshots. You really should go watch it yourself to fully appreciate the experience though.

You can't see it on the reduced size, but... Pink sparkles.

In case you can't tell the difference ratio, that little circle in the middle? That's her average spell circle.

Fate's response: Five-layer shield.

Four-layer.

Three-layer.

Absolutely useless.

The building's just there to show the absolute carnage Starlight Breaker does.

Yeah, you gotta see it for yourself. In high quality.

The last thing I want to say is about - drumroll please - the Yuri! *fanfare* Yup, couldn't go an entire post without saying something about it, right? Anyway, unlike the first season where there was actually some screentime for Yuunoha (not bashing), Yuuno is almost completely cut out. I'm pretty sure Raising Heart has more lines than he does. Really! On the other hand, NanoFate is... Well, I wouldn't call it an upgrade, but here. See for yourself.

*blush*

So that when you reach... completion... it will be even sweeter.

'All the better to **** you with, Fate.'

In bed.

Yuuno the Voyeur.

This image montage brought to you exclusively by Suraki's Yuri Goggles. To order your own, high-quality, high-power yuri goggles, go to http://getmesomeyurigoggles.com/ Thank you for shopping with us.

And that's it. Holy crap, that took forever to type. And they're making another movie. Watch that take even longer than this one did. Actually, I think the time was mostly because I kept forgetting what I wanted to say. And because I kept getting sidetracked. >_> Anyway, thanks for reading and see ya next time!

Merry Christmas (belated)

2010-12-26T04:15:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! :D

As a side note, Dynasty Scans are wonderful people. They always have the nicest Christmas presents! :D

Video Game: Embric of Wulfhammer's Castle

2010-12-25T02:42:00.000-05:00

I realize everyone's waiting for my posts about Nanoha and such, but real life has taken me hostage for a bit. It's probable that substantial posts will not continue anew until after the new year. Sorry. Orz

Despite that, today I've come to talk about something I should've a while ago. I applied to be one of the last round betas for the game Embric of Wulfhammer's Castle, a homemade yuri rpg (screens available at the website)! The game is absolutely amazing. Wondering how it would fit your interest? Check this out:

Old-school style game

Hilarious writing

Pretty artwork

Interesting music

Great characters

YURI!!!!!!!!!!!!

Embric of Wulfhammer's Castle

On the technical side, the game was made in RPG Maker 2003. It's a Windows program, so for those unfortunate people who have Macs (and don't have a Windows emulator like I do >D), they're out of luck. (Although I wonder if you could just keep the game on a thumb drive and then play it wherever you go...)

Everyone should get this free game as a Christmas gift for themselves! :D

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

2010-12-16T04:15:00.000-05:00

Just a heads up from me:

1. Finally finished catching up to Heartcatch Precure, so that post should be upcoming.

2. Finally started winter break, so more time to post stuff.

3. Finally stopped beta-testing a game, so more time to post stuff... Until I start playing again.

4. Finally in winter break, so Nanoha Movie the 1st post should be upcoming.

5. Finally learned something amazing, so that will be its own separate post. Or maybe part of one of my upcoming ones.

6. Finally ran out of things to say, so obligatory picture:

This picture brought to you by Tales of Vesperia. Because this Rita plush thing is so. Freakin'. CUTE.

Credit goes to this Pixiv artist, or Blowback, according to Danbooru.

NANOHA MOVIE THE 1ST

2010-12-05T04:42:00.000-05:00

SAW THE MOVIE, ZOMG IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! But real post will have to wait until after finals, so just have the poster version of a COMPLETELY AMAZING FIGHT. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAITWASSOGOOD.

‎(┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻

2010-11-29T05:11:00.001-05:00

Recently, it seems like I've been collecting drama CDs. I don't know why, since I'm not fluent in Japanese. But FUCK. Listening to them makes me want to learn SO. FREAKIN'. BAD.

Also makes me retarded, but meh. Anyway. This post brought to you by Procrastination! Oh, the joys of not doing homework until the wee hours of the morning...

This picture does not do enough GREAT JUSTICE to the amazing-ness of Hayate x Blade. But apparently it's the only volume 3 drama CD picture I have (even though I have at least 3 different pictures for volume 2).

Fall 2010 Impressions: Tamayura

2010-11-25T18:35:00.000-05:00

Today's post was originally going to be a GAC. But then I realized that the GAC I would be posting about would require actual searching for pictures, so I changed my mind. Instead, here's my impression of a fall anime: Tamayura. When news first broke about Tamayura, it hit everyone's yuri lists right away. I mean, come on, slice-of-life with a bunch of girls? That's only the most used genre for yuri fanboys ever. (K-On!, Marimite, StoPani, Lucky Star, etc.) Of course, this means that the yuri is probably fake. That's not so much of a problem, though. Set your Yuri Goggles high enough and you'll see yuri in everything. But even I, whose Yuri Goggles are always on the highest setting, was defeated.

Tamayura has absolutely no yuri in it. Shocking, I know. When I finally figured it out, I was like this:

What do you mean there's no yuri??

I mean, seriously, how could I have not found yuri? I found subtext in Ponyo, for goodness' sake!! But indeed, there is no yuri, and to explain, I'll have to tell you about Tamayura itself.

Tamayura is set in a small town somewhere in Japan. The story is about this girl who loves photography and somehow manages to catch weird glowing lights in some of her photos called Tamayura. As a slice-of-life anime, there isn't much other plot needed, just characters, so on to character sheets!

Apologies for bad screenshots, but DailyMotion is being dumb. The rest of the 'shots will be like this too. Orz

Sawatari Fu, aka 'Potte'

Fu-chan is the main character. Like Yui from K-On! and Yoshika from Strike Witches, she's one of those innocent types who spaces out at every opportunity. Unlike Yui and Yoshika, though, she actually has some idea of what she's doing (in this case, photography). She isn't some innate genius either; some of her photos actually suck! Her nickname is 'Potte' which I think is an onomatopoeia for either stepping or hopping. 'm not quite sure. Anyway, the nick name comes from her friend, coming up next!

At least she's honest...

Hanawa Kaoru

A typical childhood friend type, Kao-tan is probably where the limited yuri points hang out. If not 'cause of that last picture of her, she knows all sorts of things about Fu-chan, as expected. Her quirk is that she loves the scent of things.

Norie and Whistle Bug

I'm sure I'll remember their names sometime, but as it is, only Norie's was said outloud in the first OVA. Norie is the one with twintails, by the way. Anyway, Norie and Whistle Bug's quirks are that Norie is a shotacon and Whistle Bug... Whistles. Constantly. She can and does talk, though, so it isn't completely irritating.

But anyway, as I was saying about the yuri. THERE IS NONE. The only hints we had of it are in OVA 1, in the scene between Fu-chan and Kao-tan. But all that is gone by OVA 3. JUST FACE IT. THEY'RE ALL FRIENDS. If they expect me to continue watching because it's 'yuri',' they'll have to do better than that.

Don't know if I'll keep watching, but it's pleasant, so who knows. Til next time!

Geeky As Charged 9

2010-10-23T01:56:00.005-04:00

Yo!

The next couple of posts will probably just be GACs or other random nonsuch. I was going to seriously do a Heartcatch Precure post next, but I was a fool and took too many screenshots. As usual. So that will be on hold until it actually shows up. For those people waiting for action, don't forget to check out my Twitter feed! It's much fun. But now, to the GAC!

Today's Geeky As Charged is:

More classroom antics. In my philosophy class the other day, my teacher was talking about Kierkegaard and whatever he said in that one book he wrote. I was zoning out ~~as usual~~ but for some strange reason, I kept re-focusing at random times. Then I figured out that it wasn't quite so random: I always looked up whenever my teacher said 'Despair.' If you have no idea what I'm talking about after that last word, watch more SHAFT. Specifically this one. Anyway, after that, the urge to shout "ZETSUBOU SHITAAAAAA!!!" rose a thousand fold.

Here's a picture 'cause I figure you guys like it. What I really like is the Black Rock Shooter reference.

In other news, I spent about an hour making an if-my-life-were-a-video-game playlist instead of studying for one of my midterms. I'm so productive... Not. At least I found out that I have a freakin' lot of video game music...

What's also geeky is that I opened up my emulator version of Super Bomberman 2 specifically so I could take this picture.

That's it from me! Til next time!

Tweeeeeeeet~

2010-10-19T11:00:00.001-04:00

'Ello, 'ello!

Just wanted to pop in and tell you guys that I've added a Twitter feed! This'll just be for the random things I think when I watch anime. I could probably do the same thing with blog posts, but that would be unfairly inflating my post count. Also, posts will come! I just have to kick myself into taking screenshots...

Oh, and the Twitter feed will be filled with stuff from Heartcatch Precure, because I'm catching up on not watching anything this summer...

Also, SPOILER ALERT for every tweet. I'll try to keep things vague, but I might slip up in the heat of the moment...

'Til next time!

Geeky As Charged 8

2010-09-26T23:27:00.004-04:00

As a step towards renewing my verbosity in this blog and to keep myself from dying by homework, I've decided that my next new post should be a GAC, as seen in the title.

Today's Geeky As Charged is:

For one of my classes, I have to read some of Plato's works, specifically those dealing with Socrates. It's rather boring, not least because I'm not really interested in this. But one of the biggest problems I have is that the style of writing reminds me of a fanfic I read, called Inter Nos, which is very much in my interests. It's a Mai-Hime fanfic set in a universe very much influenced by Ancient Rome. So as I'm reading these selections, I'm constantly reminded that these people are set in Ancient Greece which just reminds me of the fic and makes me want to read it. Which I shouldn't do because I have a test coming up. So I'll just leave you guys with a random picture. Until next time!

This was a picture I found after searching for 'toga' in Danbooru. It has nothing to do with anything, but it reminds me of Inter Nos, so let's just leave it at that, hm?

Well, This is Awkward

2010-09-03T15:52:00.008-04:00

Erm, hello. Long time, no see? Ahahahaha...

SORRY I HAVEN'T POSTED ANYTHING FOR A LONG WHILE. OTZ

I really don't have any excuse for not posting anything for ever and ever. As it is, I still don't know if I'll start updating regularly again. I'll do my best, but... Don't expect to see lots of posts suddenly popping up. I'm actually surprised I got a good few months of regular posting in before I petered out. This blog was started as a mixture of me wanting to put my ideas out on the internet as well as, and most importantly as, an experiment in writing and updating something regularly. It seems like I've failed a bit at that, but I won't give up yet! For those people who for some reason keep coming to this blog and commenting, thank you for that! I'm going to use those good comments as a motivator to keep me going! わたし、がんばります！

Later then!

Geeky As Charged 7

2010-05-15T14:10:00.005-04:00

It's been a while since one of these happened, huh? Well, as I prepare to marathon what Heartcatch Precure there is so I can get screencaps for you guys, here's a GAC to keep you a little occupied.

Today's Geeky As Charged:

While helping a friend move out, my friend's friend asked for her folder and said, 'Don't look in, it's got personal stuff.' Somehow, I heard, 'Don't look in, it's got Touhou stuff.' I have no idea how that happened, but I still got a little excited... >_>

Later in the day, the same person was talking about Chiba in reference to something I don't know, but all I could think was Chiba Mamoru, a.k.a. Tuxedo Kamen in Sailor Moon. I'm such a sad person.

Something like this would've been pretty awesome.

NOOOOO

2010-05-10T12:52:00.005-04:00

I finally finished with my exams and was going to settle down to some anime when what do I find out? Black Rock Shooter is delayed until June! DX I was so looking forward to it, too...

Anyway, as I said, I've just finished my exams, so I'm shipping home tomorrow. After that, I'll be able to start posting again, starting with a new series (and possibly more of the Magical Girl Series). And if I take a few days, please remember, it's all for the sake of the pictures! See ya next time!

This is what I was like during my last exam. Well, not on the veranda, but definitely daydreaming about what anime I'll watch now.

Old Stuff(ish): Heartcatch PreCure!

2010-05-03T20:33:00.008-04:00

I'd heard that Heartcatch PreCure! had had yuri in it for a while, but I was a little skeptical of watching it. I mean, pretty much all the PreCure seasons have 'yuri' in it, if your Yuri Goggles are set high enough. But after reading this review and finding out that my beloved Mizuki Nana is voicing one of the main characters, how can I stay away? This is going to be bad for my finals week...

I have no idea who is who, but I figured that if I didn't have a picture, you guys'd be sad. Or something.

Now I'm off to try and not watch this series so I can study for my final tomorrow... See ya next time!

For Love and Justice, We Will Punish You~! ♥ Part Three

2010-04-30T02:58:00.005-04:00

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Welcome back to another installment of the Magical Girl Series. Today, we're only going to talk about Gathering the... Stuff and Keeping the Identity Secret, so that I can try and keep my brain intact for finals.

Gathering The... Stuff
So you've finally finished with the Standard Gear for Magical Girls Kit and have chosen your Magical Costume. Now what? Well, now you have to learn why, exactly, you are a Magical Girl in the first place. And that reason is to Gather The... Stuff. What is The Stuff? The Stuff is whatever collectible Items of Magical Destruction that has been unleashed on an unsuspecting world by you or some other evil force. The Stuff comes in many different shapes and sizes, which is why, rather than calling it 'Gathering The... Cards/Orbs/Jewels/WhateverTheHellItIsTheyHaveToFindInPreCure' or 'Gathering The... Items of Magical Destruction,' I just use the collective term 'Stuff.' As a Magical Girl, it is inevitable that you will have to Gather Stuff at some point in time. There are some Magical Girls whose quest is to save the world; however, they, too, will try to Gather some Stuff sooner or later. Half the time, Magical Girls with saving the world quests have to Gather all The Stuff in order to save the world. Depending on how long you want your season to run, and how good of a Magical Girl you are, it can take a long time for you to Gather the... Stuff. If you happen to have a long season, chances are you will have to gather around 50 or so Stuff. If you're a pretty awesome Magical Girl, it is possible that you could have a shorter season fo 13 or 26 episodes, with a lot of capturing done in the gap between episodes. Whatever The Stuff you have to Gather, just remember: You can't quit. At all. So make sure you're really sure you want to catch the first of The Stuff, otherwise you'll be stuck in a shitty job.

Keeping the Identity Secret
Keeping the Identity Secret is actually an optional selection that doesn't cost money!. While it's certainly easier to Keep the Identity Secret, in most cases, the only problem that will happen is that the enemy will figure out who you are and then you might have to watch out for ambushes. Otherwise, being revealed doesn't have any real, terrible effects such as losing your powers for ever and ever and ever. (That only happens if you lose your transforming device.) If you're lucky, there will be a magical face recognition inhibitor in place, so even if you look exactly the same in and out of your Magical Costume, no one will be able to recognize you. If you don't have that effect, I would suggest using masks or fighting from high in the air and far away so that your opponent can't make out facial features.

And that's really all I have on Magical Girls. If I think of anything else, I'll make another post, but, as it is, that's the end of it. I'll be finished with finals in about a week and a half, so expect to see me two weeks from now. Probably. See ya next time!

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Spring 2010 Impressions: K-On!!

2010-04-25T12:21:00.003-04:00

I'm approaching the end of my spring term before summer starts, so it's been incredibly busy over here. Unfortunately, that means all my anime watching has ground to a stop, and I was only able to start watching K-On!! today. (Please note the presence of two exclamation points. That makes all the difference when differentiating between series. See Mahou Sensei Negima!, Mahou Sensei Negima!?, and Mahou Sensei Negima!!) Even then, I've only been able to see the first episode, so everything in this post is based on the first episode and the parts of the manga that are relevent to this episode.

As an anime sequel, I'm actually a little disappointed with K-On!! Sure, the animation's great, the opening sequence is amazing, and the seiyuu are all as they should be, but I felt the storyboard was choppy. In fact, it's more like the 4-koma manga with how it jumps from scene to scene. K-On! was a smoother in comparison. (Please note that I am holding these two in comparison to the ultimate 4-koma anime adaption, Azumanga Daioh.) Well, it's not anything that'll make me stop from watching it, at any rate. Let's move on to what I really want to talk about: the music.

As K-On! and K-On!! are about a light music club, particularly a light music club that is apparently playing well, it's important that the music be at the very least good. Which it is. And since I can't bash the music, I'll have to settle with comparing first and second season openings and endings.

This is the K-On! opening, Cagayake! Girl.

This is the K-On!! opening, Go! Go! Maniac.
As you can see, the animation has really stepped up from the first season to the next. I like the ~~laurels~~ 3-D elements particularly. Music-wise, I feel like it's moved away from the pop element; it isn't as happy sounding, and you can hear how it matured from something younger girls would sing to something older girls might sing.

K-On! Ending, Don't Say Lazy!.

K-On!! Ending, Listen!!. Skip to 1:36 unless you want to watch my favorite idol dance.
Again, KyoAni has really stepped up the animation. As for the music... Well, frankly put, Listen!! reminds me of some 60s music. It also has a lighter feel than Don't Say Lazy! which reminds me of some indie or hard rock music. I was kinda sad that they didn't go with a motif like Don't Say Lazy!, but I can't say that I don't like Listen!!. In fact, it's growing on me as I listen to it while writing this post.

But what I like most of K-On!!'s ending is Mugi's style. Nice sailor hat you got thar.

That's all from me. I think one more Magical Girl post, and I should be done with the series. See ya next time!

For Love and Justice, We Will Punish You~! ♥ Part Two

2010-04-23T12:17:00.002-04:00

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Acting Like a Magical GirlEven though that's everything inside the Standard Gear for Magical Girls Kit, that doesn't mean your worries are over. Next, you have to learn how to act like a Magical Girl. The one thing a Magical Girl needs to remember is that she must always be energetic (genki). It is impossible to have a lazy Magical Girl. The universe would explode. A Magical Girl also should be, if not naive, at the very least extremely optimistic. Leave the worries for the Magical Mascot. The brooding goes to one of your Magical Partners, unless you are nearing the end of the season. And maybe, if you're lucky, you also get to be Smart.

It is a well known statistic that most Magical Girls are Not Smart. (The exact numbers are 3 out of every 4 Magical Girls will be Not Smart.)* This is not to say that they do not become Smart later, but most start and stay that way. Personally, I think it's because they choose to use their Intelligence role for their Strength roll. Anyway. All is not lost! The number one way to become Smart is.... Actually listen to your Magical Mascot! The Magical Mascot's primary reason for existence is to teach you, the Magical Girl, how to use your Magic. When you don't listen or are too shell shocked to listen, you get beaten up easier, which leads to losing brain cells, which leads to loss of Smart. So if you're really pushing for becoming Smart, all you gotta do is listen for once.

*This statistic used data from PreCure, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

Transforming Into a Magical Girl~~All Magical Girls need to have a Transformation Scene.~~ Sorry, forgot about Cardcaptor Sakura. Let's just say that all Magical Girls transform, but most have a Transformation Scene. Anyway. It's (mostly) inevitable. What happens during the Transformation Scene is what counts. Typically, the sequence in a tranformation scene is: Flashy Magic, Pose, Disappearing Clothes, Reappearing Clothes in order of Body Suit > Boots > Gloves > Bows > Weapon, More Flashy Magic, and then Final Pose. Depending on what you're watching, the order can be a little different, but these are the main points. Strive to hit most of these when designing your own Transformation Scene. Don't like showing off your nudity? Invest in Conveniently Placed Magic Swirls that will let you keep your modesty for until you hit puberty. Now, while most Transformation Scenes are supposedly instantaneous, you have to be careful that the enemy doesn't know about the split second vulnerability you have while transforming. Then you might end up with a situation like this:~~Ooooooh yeaaaaaaaaaaah...~~ I mean, be careful that something like this doesn't happen to you. Yes.

Dressing as a Magical GirlNow that you've crafted your Transformation Scene, you have to figure out what exactly it is that you're transforming into. And by this I mean your costume/battle suit, of course, not some strange summon-animal. Anyway, you have to be careful about what you pick. Sure, you may like ribbons and lace ~~*coughTomoyocough*~~, but if you're above 16 or so, that means you've just been transported into a hentai game. LIkewise, if you go too dark, then you are not the Magical Girl and have, in fact, turned into the Magical Rival. Here are some examples:

This is an example of a typical Magical Girl costume (and strangely conservative considering it's Tomoyo who made it). Note the light colors and skirt. These are some very important points when picking a costume. Pastel colors are preferred and skirts are required. You can, of course, upgrade to pants, but for some reason Magical Girls don't really like that... Here's what happens if you go too dark:

The darker colors practically scream Magical Rival here. Don't like light colors? You could try for the darker colors, but be prepared to be mistaken for the Magical Rival a lot. Actually, if you're an older Magical Girl, it is permissible to have darker colors, cases in point:

As you can see, there is a change towards darker, more serious colors. And of course, black is reserved for Magical Rivals, unless it's only used for accents. And be careful about picking your costume. Unless you have an obsessive best friend who can make new ones in the space of a day, you will be stuck with your costume until you get a power upgrade, and even then, sometimes it doesn't work so well.

That's it for this post. Next time, we talk about Gathering the... Stuff and Keeping the Identity Secret. See ya next time!

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For Love and Justice, We Will Punish You~! ♥ Part One

2010-04-13T19:43:00.007-04:00

(The post got too long, so I'm splitting it into parts.)

It's a lovely day outside. Birds are singing, school just ended, and generally, life is good. Well, you had a weird dream last night, but you've managed to forget what it was about after the school day. Your friend(s) are all at their club activities, so you decide to go home, change out of your uniform, and go romp around with the neighbors. Except... What's this?! You've found something weird! You:

A) Run away. It could be a bomb!
B) Ignore it. Some kid must've dropped it and will be wanting it back later.
C) ~~J-j-j-jam it in!~~ Are too busy thinking about ~~sex~~ food to worry about things on the street.
D) Pick it up. People shouldn't litter! It's just a hurt animal/stuffed toy/weird toy anyway.

Click the link to see the paths for each answer.

You picked A.
That's a good idea... if you're in the middle of a war zone. But you aren't, and instead get run over by a car since you didn't look both ways before running into the street.BAD END.
You picked B.
Well, you won't get a Good Samaritan award, but at least you live. For a little while. Then you're apathetic attitude offends some gang member and you get beaten up and die of internal injuries.BAD END.
You picked C.
~~Congratulations! You've walked into a hentai game. Please make your purchase at the far counter. Thanks for the business!~~ You go home and eat, but in your haste to fill your belly, you choke and die.BAD END.
You picked D.
Achievement unlocked: Good Samaritan Award You pick up the hurt animal/stuffed toy/weird toy and bring it to the vet/your house/your neighbors house. Now you can go play! Just as you turn around, though, some weird light/wind erupts from behind you. You turn and...Achievement Unlocked: Attained Magical Girl Status You find that you actually have magical powers and must use them to save the world!TRUE END.

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So you've finally become a magical girl, just like the ones you see on T.V. But before you go out gathering the... stuff you need to save the world, you must first check your gear. When going on a quest, it is important that you have all you need with you, else you might get stuck on a high cliff with no way out except to die because you forgot your escape rope. Have no idea where to start? Luckily for you, there's a Standard Gear for Magical Girls Kit!Found Item: Standard Gear for Magical Girls Kit
Now then, let's see what's in this sucker, ne?

Standard Gear for Magical Girls Kit
Magical MascotOne of these pictures is not actually about a Magical Girl. But he looks like one, so... There ya go.
The first thing you need to get is a Magical Mascot. The Magical Mascot is a must for any Magical Girl. Unless you live in a place where magic is well established, which almost never happens, the Magical Mascot is on hand for the much-needed exposition factor... And to tell you how the hell you use your magic. It is important to keep your Magical Mascot with you on hand at all times... No matter how much you want to chop them in half at times. And since they're Magical, they probably wouldn't be dead for long anyway.

Magical Weapon ~~of Mass Destruction~~ If you're lucky, you get a real weapon, like... A Wrist Watch.
You can't be a Magical Girl if you don't have your Magical Weapon. The Magical Weapon can take on many forms, most popular of which is a Staff. Typically, the Magical Weapon is what you channel your magic through. There are, of course, exceptions, depending on which universe you are in. Lately, it seems like energy shots from the body itself rather than a Magical Weapon are growing in popularity...

Normal Best Friend
Or
Magical RivalI'm probably reusing images, but I'm too tired to go looking for better ones.
In order to be a good Magical Girl, you need at least a Normal Best Friend, if not a Magical Rival. Luckily, you get to choose, and if you get the special upgrade, you can get both! Disclaimer: Just because you get the upgrade does not mean that one or the other will not get shafted. That depends on your treatment of the character(s). This position is important for a Magical Girl in that it gives her an outlet for stress. With a Normal Best Friend or a Magical Rival, a Magical Girl can relax for a bit, even under the pressures of Saving the World, Gathering the... Stuff, and, most importantly, Keeping the Identity Secret. Of course, how the Magical Girl in question uses each as a stress reliever is up to the Magical Girl. Since most are young, they have fun with the Normal Best Friend and abuse the Magical Rival. Usually. When picking a Normal Best Friend or a Magical Rival, it is of the utmost importance that you do not pick someone who is Inherently Evil. That path leads to the dark side. ~~Or a freakin' good series, but the logistics of that are rather long-winded.~~ But what if you can't choose one or the other, want both, and are too cheap to get the upgrade? Read on!

Magical ~~Flunkies~~ Partner(s)Yes, I did just do that. プリキュア！
Sometimes the Magical Mascot determines that you, the Magical Girl, need allies! This is where the Magical ~~Flunkies~~ Partner(s) come(s) in! With your combined power, nothing can stand in your way! In fact, the only thing the Magical Girl Group can't defeat together is the Big Bad, because everyone knows that only you, as the Magical Girl, have the ultimate power to defeat Evil! The Magical ~~Flunkies~~ Partner(s) position(s) is/are special in that you need to fulfill two criteria. First, they should have the initial status of Normal Best Friend or Magical Rival. Then, with the intervention of the Magical Mascot, they convert to become a Magical Partner. How do you know if someone will become a Magical Partner? Well, the selection is random, but if a new episode focuses on a particular character that is not you or the Magical Mascot and is around the same age for more than three minutes, that's your new Magical Partner.

You shake the box.... Looks like that's all that's in it. Before you go adventuring, make sure you digest all of this information. What that means is 'Wait for the next post!' See ya next time!

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Geeky As Charged 6

2010-04-11T16:10:00.003-04:00

I was walking back to my dorm today, and what would pass me but a Geeky As Charged! It's been a while since I've had one of these, actually. I must be doing tamer things than I thought, recently. Anyway, I passed these two pretty girls on the sidewalk, and I swear, one of them looked exactly like Kitagawa Keiko-san. Don't know who that is? Well, I hear that she was in the Fast and Furious Tokyo edition, but I know her as Sailor Mars from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.

And I just spazzed out and took 77 screenshots of her and Komatsu Ayaka from episodes 40 (a.k.a. the Everyone-Has-Fun episode) and 47 (a.k.a. the ZOMG-REAL-ANGST episode). I couldn't pick out any specifc ones that I liked, so go check them out here. Also, some of those pictures include Komatsu Ayaka (Sailor Venus), who is also very pretty ~~and is Rei's top~~. I need to do a post about them sometime... But anyway. That's it for today's GAC! The Magical Girl post is coming along... and getting bigger and bigger. I might need to separate it, actually. ^_^;; Hopefully not though, 'cause I like to make one post rather than separate posts, which is why I usually do overall season reviews rather than one review per episode. Some episodes defy that trend, though... Anyway, see ya next time!

GRAAAAAAAAR and the Awesomeness of Mahou Sensei Negima

2010-04-09T11:17:00.006-04:00

As with the last post, please refrain from continuing if you have not read the latest chapter (285) and care about being spoiled. If you have read the latest chapter and don't care, onward ho!

Negi is becoming more and more of a Marty Stu. It's actually becoming slightly annoying. I mean, at least make him 12 before you super bad ass upgrade him please? 10 year olds shouldn't have that kind of power. I say, completely ignoring the fact that Nanoha created Starlight Breaker and she was one year younger.

Anyway. This chapter is awesome for many reasons, one of them not being Negi. Here's a quick summary. We find out for sure that yes, the inhabitants of the magic world are, indeed, illusions. BigBaddy!Fate has decided that he might as well just eliminate everybody as well as the Magic World. And then we find out that Negi's Pimp Powers are still working perfectly. Even though he's 10. Afterwards, Negi goes to talk to the Eva-in-the-Scroll about his runaway powers and encounters...Eva, have I ever told you how awesome you are? You're pretty awesome. Bad Ass, in fact. Also, is that an NES you're playing? And is it Mario? I wish Akamatsu-sensei had drawn it in more detail, but he'd probably get copyright trouble...XDDDDDDDDD Gotta love Eva. Though I wish she wouldn't appear naked and playing video games in the middle of my astro class... >_>

What's that? You don't know who Eva is? Oh, that's right, I didn't include her in my previous post... Well, as an apology, she's the only character I will introduce in this post! :D That'll come after the chapter summary, so stay tuned!

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Negi opens the scroll and poof! There's Eva! She explains that the technique she passed down, the Magia Erebea, was originally only for her use, so of course a mere human like Negi wouldn't be able to control it. The only possible way is for him to not become human. In other words, she says that he has to embrace it and make it his own. ~~Actually, the latest chapter in Naruto is something like that too...~~ She forces the transformation and then makes Setsuna and Kaede fight him. This is where it gets awesome. Well, not for Setsuna and Kaede, but just the fight scene in general. We also get reacquainted with the idiots who got them into the whole mess in the first place. FUCKIN' GIRLS. Poor Akira, that she has to suffer with them... We also see the beginning of the epic Nodoka x Yue talk, which makes me hopeful for more subtext. ~~Forget about Negi, Yuedoka all the way!!!~~ And it ends. Once again, Akamatsu-sensei, you kill me with your cliffhangers. Now, onto the chara profile!

Evangeline Athanasia Kitty MacDowellEvangeline is a 500+ year old High Daylight Walker. In other words, she's a vampire. And she's around the same age as Touhou's Remilia... There needs to be more pictures of these two together. Must... Not... Write... Fanfiction...! She was turned on her 10th birthday, which gives her the permanent appearance of a child, unfortunately. (Unfortunately because Adult!Eva is hot.) As a regular vampire, she was not able to live a normal life. Cast out of the normal world and unwelcome in the magical, she did what she needed to survive. Eventually, she became known as the Dark Evangel. She has a lot of other names as well: Undead Mage, Puppet Master, Advent of Evil, Apostle of Calamity, Demon Lord of Darkness, Gospel of Darkness, Maga Nosferatu, The Girl Queen of Darkness, The Visitation of Woes, and The Disciple of Dark Tones. (About half that list is from wiki, the other I confirmed in the scans of chapter 181, page 9. Of course, if the translation is accurate or not is a different question...). She has an ice affinity and rather than chanting in Latin, as Negi does, she does so in ancient Greek, showing her age. (I say it shows her age as, I assume, Latin had become the standard in Western incantations after the schools were formally standardized. Further evidence is that BB!Fate also incants in ancient Greek and he's the third clone of some powerful mage... Or it could be the level of the spell itself. >_>) She is also a Doll Master, as you might have noticed from one of her titles. Her main doll is Chachazero who can't actually move unless there's a lot of magic supplied. Her ministra (partner who protects the mage) is Chachamaru, a magical robot built specifically to serve Evangeline. About... twenty years ago? She encountered the Thousand Master Nagi Springfield, Negi's dad. She developed a crush on him and followed him around for a few years. Then he sealed her at Mahora Academy when her guard was down. Nagi tailored the spell so that Eva would have barely any magic and only he would be able to break it, which would've been fine... If he hadn't disappeared soon after. So she's been stuck at Mahora for fifteen years, staying in a class for a couple of years before dropping back to 8th grade as she doesn't age. She becomes the advisor and sometimes direct teacher for a lot of people, namely Negi, Asuna, Kotarou, and I'm assuming Setsuna... at least a bit. Most of the training takes place in her pocket dimension that she can change at will. At the moment, it seems there are two of her; she sealed a part of herself in the scroll with the Magia Erebea while she herself is still stuck in Mahora. I hope she's able to leave at the end of it all...

Wow, longer post than I expected it would be. That's it for this post! I'm still working on the Magical Girl post. It might end up being my longest post ever. I've hit writer's block with it, though, so you might not see it till the end of April... >_> Well, see ya next time ~~hopefully in the Magical Girl post~~!!

FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!

2010-04-01T23:36:00.003-04:00

So, April Fools' is over. I'm sure everyone could guess which of those three points I put in the earlier post was a lie, but actually...

They all turned out to be lies. I'm so happy! April Fools' is a great day. :D

Oh, and for something actually related to yuri, at least a little bit, I'm working on a post about magical girls. We'll see how much yuri infiltrates. But till then, I'm going to be enjoying my HxB 6, my Sasameki Koto chp. 31, and not moving to Canada. See ya next time!

Oh, and in honor of the new HxB, have these pics:

I wish I was savvy enough to find HxB fanart... ~~And wasn't lazy.~~

EDIT: FUCK NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. DAMN IT. I FELL FOR IT AGAIN. DAMN YOU DYNASTY. DAMN YOU ALL.

GAH.

2010-04-01T11:09:00.004-04:00

It's April Fools' Day. You know what that means?

1. Hayate x Blade is not going to come in the mail. SHIT.

2. FUCK YOU, DYNASTY SCANS. I LOVE YOU BUT I HATE YOU. At least release the next chapter tomorrow... Please? T_T

3. I'm moving to Canada.

If you don't know who Hard Gay is, make sure no one's around and check out his vids. (Seriously. Not safe for work guys.)

Blast from the Past: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

2010-03-28T23:53:00.013-04:00

I'm actually pretty free this weekend, so today, I'm going to be posting about one of my favorite series ever, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. Now, if you haven't seen this before, this is a pretty epic series. Three seasons, a freakin' movie (not just an OVA, a movie! It's pretty awesome), countless drama cds (they call them 'Sound Stages), and manga for each season and the movie as well as two new manga storylines. Pretty epic, considering that the idea is actually an AU of an H-game. >_>

*cough* Anyway, this post will be about all three seasons, possibly some of the manga, even less of the sound stages, and none of the movie, since it isn't coming out on DVD until summer T_T. If you haven't seen this before, I urge you to go watch it. You might be thinking, "With a title like 'Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha'? No way!" But even though it's called that, you'll quickly see that this isn't a normal magical girl show. Oh no. It's even better. Still need convincing (and aren't afraid of spoilers)? Read on!

Edit: Long post is long. If you're in a hurry, I basically summarized the three seasons and talked about main characters. And if you're looking for a reason to watch this:

That is why.

Setting and Story
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha is set sometime in the early 2000s in Uminari City, Japan, if I remember correctly. Takamachi Nanoha is a normal, 9 year old girl with a happy family and good friends. The problem is that her family gets along a little too well, her brother and sister pairing up, and her parents still acting like newlyweds. Her friends, both rich, have a pretty clear idea of what they're going to do when they're older. And here is poor Nanoha, feeling a little bit like an outsider in her own home and with little to no idea what she'll be doing later in life. Never mind the fact that she has another 9 years to find something she's good at... But then, BAM! She has this weird dream (a la Card Captors) about a ferret, and she actually finds it! It turns out the ferret is collecting these magical items called 'Jewel Seeds' and needs her help! Being the enterprising young girl she is, Nanoha agrees, and gains a magical artifact - called a 'device' in this world, 'Raging Heart.' (It's later changed to 'Raising Heart,' but 'Raging Heart' was what they used in the first episode, so...) She successfully defeats the monster and captures the Jewel Seed. It seems there are about 20 more out there, so she'll have to do her best! The next few episodes read like a regular 'Magical Girl' show - she captures jewel seeds, and finds out she has a rival in trying to gather them! The girl's name is Fate Testarossa, and with her is her familiar Arf (apparently, official is 'Alph' or something, but Arf is closer to the pronunciation, I think) and her device Bardiche. Nanoha ~~falls in love at first sight~~ is intrigued by this girl with the kind, but sad eyes, and wants to become friends. Fate is having none of it. So the two go on and oppose each other, Nanoha getting beat like the n00b she is. Except that, unlike regular Magical Girl titles, she actually gets better quickly. She also ends up being a magical genius! Cool, eh? Eventually, you find out that Fate is following orders from her cruel mother. How cruel? How about 'She whips her own kid' cruel? Yeah, it's bad. Anyway, Fate and Nanoha have a 'final confrontation' type battle, only to be stopped by an officer of the TSAB (Time-Space Administration Bureau), basically the galaxy patrol. Nanoha joins up with them and Fate is again punished. Eventually, it all gets out that Fate is actually a clone of her mother's real daughter, and her mom was just using her so that she could get the real daughter back. Cue angst. But it's OK, because Nanoha is here to save the day! The bad ~~guy~~ lady is defeated, and Fate, though a victim, is asked to go to court so that they can legally say she was. Or something like that. Cue sappy scene as Fate and Nanoha part. End of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's is set approximately 6 months after the first season, in the same place. Someone's been going around attacking mages and draining their power. Of course, Nanoha, being the prodigy she is, is targeted, and we find that these new enemies, the Wolkenritter, totally outpower Nanoha. Oh noes! But Fate is here to save the day! Except not, because the enemies are haxx and just have to be within sight range to steal a person's magic. They just have to be in one place and BAM! They're goners. So Nanoha gets her magic drained. We find out that the enemies are stealing magic to help fill a magical book called "The Book of Darkness." But lo and behold, they're doing it to save their master, 9 year old paraplegic Yagami Hayate. The book is draining Hayate's magical power, but since it has been doing it since she was born, it's also taking her life force. The Wolkenritter hope that, by filling all the pages, the book will stop relying on Hayate's life force. This and that happens, Fate and Nanoha get upgrades, and we find out that the book is actually cursed. It was originally called 'The Tome of the Night Sky,' a compendium of magic spells. However, over the years, it was reprogrammed by one of its masters, but that guy was a shitty programmer and so the Tome of the Night Sky became warped into the Book of Darkness. The Wolkenritter are programs of the Tome of the Night Sky meant to protect the master, but because of the programming, they believed that they're main objective was to gather pages. More stuff happens, and we find that the Book was actually planted with Hayate in the hopes that when it activated, it would be simple to defeat it. That guy, for all his good intentions, gets taken down, and Hayate join Nanoha and Fate and everyone else for some good ol' magic whoopin'. There's angst and cool battles, but those details are just a little too much for one post. So go watch it yourself. The last episode has an epilogue where everyone joins the TSAB.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is set 10 years after the first two seasons. The location has moved to the base planet of the TSAB, Mid-Childa. Hayate has become a high enough rank within the Ground Forces of the TSAB to request the creation of a new division that will be more able to respond quickly to incidents involving the magical artifacts 'Lost Logia.' With some help in high places (Fate's adopted Admiral brother and basically Hayate's sister who just happens to be the head of the church), they manage to get it worked out. Now the old crew is all together again! Hooray! Nanoha, now an ace instructor for the TSAB Air Force, is asked to train a hit squad for the new division (Lost Property Riot Force Six, or Mobile Division Section Six - not quite sure because of wiki >_<). Fate, a top Enforcer (investigator for the Navy), is also called in to help with cases. And Hayate, of course, is the head of the entire thing. It's difficult to compress this season, as it's 26 episodes rather than the 13 of the previous two, so a lot of things are going to be cut out. Actually, a lot of fans disliked this season, as most of it was Nanoha training the n00bs to become non-n00bs. Also, there was a lot of military politics, which, while interesting, is not really something you want to see when you're used to the pretty pink explosions of the previous two seasons. Anyway, the big bad in this is a guy named Jail ~~Spaghetti~~ Scaglietti, an evil scientist who worked with the cloning project that created Fate. He has backing from corrupt military officials, who asked him to build weapons to aid in defense. Of course, he takes those funds and goes in the complete opposite direction, using the DNA of the last Sankt Kaiser, the true head of the Church, to grow a little kid that can control the Sankt Kaiser's ultimate weapon, the Cradle. The little kid, Vivio, is found by Riot Force Six, and they take her in. She's particularly taken with Nanoha, who helped calm her down after she woke up confused and scared ~~and needing to find a bathroom~~. Eventually, Nanoha 'adopts' her, with some help from Godmother Fate. And just when things seem peachy and keen, Scaglietti decides to show his cards at last, prepares a trap for the entire military, but mostly Section Six, and kidnaps Vivio. He then gives her a Lost Logia that changes her into an adult that can control the Cradle but is also under his control. Cue epic rescue plan. Cue epic battle scenes. And then, finally, he's defeated and everyone is happy! Yay! There's an epilogue in this too, but it focuses on the new characters, who I don't really care about (except for 2!) so I'm not going to tell you.

Holy Shit that took a while. Um, the tl;dr version is... Uh. Nanoha = magical girl, saves world(s). With her friends. The end.

Well, let's move onto something a little more interesting, yeah?

Characters
Captain Takamachi Nanoha
One of the main characters, Nanoha is voiced by the awesome Tamura Yukari. From her beginnings as a normal 9 year old to the feared 'White Devil' of the Air Force, Nanoha has some great character development. Her family owns a bakery, but in the original, Triangle Heart 3, they were actually ~~ninjas~~ bodyguards. In Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, they kind of touch on this background, as Nanoha's dad got into an 'accident' and was critically injured. Since her mother had to take care of her father, and her older brother and sister had to take care of the newly opened bakery, poor Nanoha was left alone a lot as a kid. Because of this, she grew to be self sufficient ~~and emo~~. But once her father got better, they were able to be a family again, so she wasn't anti-social. So now, Nanoha has the ability to fight by herself, but also with others. Add that to the 'prodigy' title, and you've got one hell of a character. There's a running gag that Nanoha gets her friends by beating them up. Here's the tally:

Arisa Bannings - best friend ~~before Fate showed up~~ along with Tsukimura Suzuka; got slapped by Nanoha because she was bullying Suzuka
Fate Testarossa - best friend ~~and lovers!!!~~; got hit full on by her most powerful attack, Starlight Breaker
Yagami Hayate - best friend; was trapped in the Book of Darkness and Nanoha blasted it with Excelion Buster to get her out
(Yagami) Vita - probably also Starlight Breaker'd, but I can't remember at this point

Along with the fact that her motto is basically 'Full Power All The Time,' Nanoha is one scary bitch. No wonder they call her the 'White Devil.' Well, that and she basically told Vita that if Vita didn't listen to her, she'd just have to beat the answer into her. Her device is Raising Heart, and she is a bombardment/shooting mage.

Enforcer Fate Testarossa-Harlaown

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

*cough* I'll try to keep my enthusiasm for Fate to a minimum, but it'll be hard. Please forgive run-on sentences if I start giving details about why she's so awesome. Thank you.

...Ahem. Um, this is Fate Testarossa-Harloawn. She's voiced by my favorite Mizuki Nana!!! She first showed up as Nanoha's enemy, but it's quickly apparent that she doesn't really want to hurt Nanoha - just gather all of the jewel seeds. Her mother, Precia Testarossa, was a scientist involved with an illegal cloning experiment, Project F. An explosion at the lab caused the TSAB to find out about it, as well as kill her real daughter, Alicia. Precia created Fate at first as a way to 'bring Alicia back to life.' However, she quickly made up her mind that Fate could not measure up to Alicia, and so started using her as a pawn to find the Jewel Seeds. Fate was saved from this existence by Nanoha, for which she is eternally grateful. Kind and strong, she became an Enforcer to help those people who were in situations like her own, being controlled by those they trusted, or in some cases, simply thrown away. She was adopted by Admiral Lindy Harlaown after the events of the first season. She has a lightning affiliation and is accompanied by her device, Bardiche, and her familiar, Arf. She's a bombarment/melee fighter.

Lieutenant Colonel Yagami Hayate
Voiced by the prolific Ueda Kana, Hayate is the last of the main three. The master of the Tome of the Night Sky, she started out as sort of an unwitting villian, you could say. She is at least technically a criminal, since her charges, the Wolkenritter, went out a stole magic from people. Her parents died when she was extremely young, but she was able to survive thanks to the help of some of 'her father's friends'. (The reality is that the admiral who planted the Book of Darkness in her home felt guilty that he was doing it and wanted her to live a life of ease before he killed her.) When the book activated and the Wolkenritter released, she was just happy to have a family. Although she is introduced in a wheelchair, that is actually because of the magic drain from the Book of Darkness, so after the corrupted part of it is defeated, she regains her ability to walk. There's a running gag that she's obsessed with cosplay... and breasts. That last part might have actually been confirmed in one of the sound stages, but I can't quite remember... Anyway, Riot Force Six is basically 'Hayate's Lesbian Army' to the fans, as there are only... 3 males in it, not including Zafira and the pet dragon. Her device is Schwertkreuz, and she can do a 'unison' with Reinforce Zwei to become stronger. She also has all the spells of the Tome of the Night Sky in her repetoire. She's a bombardment/wide area affect mage.

The Wolkenritter: Signum, Shamal, Vita, and Zafira
The Wolkenritter are Hayate's ~~slaves~~ personal bodyguards, but because they are an asset in magical power and tactics, they were also contracted to the TSAB. Well, that and to atone for their crimes. They, along with Hayate, use Belkan style magic, which uses a cartrige system. It's much stronger than the Mid-Childan style, as the cartriges are pure magic power that augment the user's abilities. Of course, Mid-Childan style has its advantages... What they are is a different question, but I'm sure there are some! Signum, the Sword Knight, is the leader of the Wolkenritter, and uses a sword, Levantine (alternate, Lævatein), that can transform into a chain-link mode (much like Ivy from Soul Caliber) and also into a bow. Shamal, the Lady of the Lake, is the healer of the group and can also scry with her device Klarer Wind, Ring of the Breezes. Her scrying ability is what allowed her to take Nanoha's linker core without physically being next to her. Vita, the Iron Knight, is the forward attacker of the group with her device Graf Eisen. She ends up becoming Nanoha's main rival. Zafira is the Shielding Guardian Beast and, like Shamal, is a defensive type. He carries no device and attacks much like a familiar, though he technically is not one. The Blessed Wind, Reinforce I and II, seen in the first picture, are the main control programs for the Tome of the Night Sky. Reinforce I sacrificed herself to make sure that the berserk defense program of the Book of Darkness did not regenerate and cause the whole mess of problems from A's to occur again. Reinforce II looks like the first, but has a vastly different personality.

Takamachi Vivio
Nanoha's adopted daughter. She was created to control the Sankt Kaiser's Cradle, but after it was destroyed, she's just a normal little girl. Well, as normal as a girl can be when one has the DNA of the Head of the Church in one's veins. She has heterochromia, as you can see, with her right eye green and her left red. A manga series, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, is based on her life after the events of StrikerS. Fate is her godmother, but young Vivio got a little mixed up, so now calls them both 'Mama.'

Pairings
You can't talk about pairings in Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha without having the inevitable shipping war. In this case, the battles are between the shippers of NanoFate (Nanoha x Fate) and Yuunoha (Nanoha x Yuuno). I'm just going to say, right here, right now, as a yuri shipper, of course my vote goes to NanoFate. HOWEVER. I will not bash Yuunoha. ~~Maybe Yuuno, because he's a ferret, but even Chrono does that, so it should be OK, right...? >_>~~ Fans choose whatever pairing they want. We do NOT need to ram our preferred pairings down other people's throats, nor do we need to give reasons as to why such and such pairing will not work. Here's a hint, guys. IT DOESN'T MATTER. If you like a certain pairing, fine. You read it, stick with it, and you don't go batshit crazy on anybody who doesn't. Get it? Got it? Good. Now on to the good stuff.

Nanoha x Fate, a.k.a. NanoFate
7Arcs, the production company for the Nanoha series, has been teasing us with the NanoFate idea from day one. Well, OK, from the first episode Fate appears in, which would be day 4 or so. I mean, even when they're nine freakin' years old, Nanoha's all, "ZOMG, FATE, YOU HAVE PRETTY EYES, BE MY FRIEND." And then after the events of the first season, Nanoha is naturally the person Fate would be closest to (besides Arf). Follow that with a sound stage where Fate promises to protect Nanoha forever and ever (or something to that effect), the fact that they live in the same room and sleep in the same bed... Yeah, 7Arcs is just playing with us. For all that they're playing me, thuogh, I don't care. As long as the NanoFate doujin come out! XD

Man, that was a long post, wasn't it? I have nothing else to say... Any other characters would require a huger post from me, and I don't find them interesting enough to include anyway. So that's it for me. Oh, wait, have this picture, then I'll leave. See ya next time!

Spring 2010 Impressions: Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan

2010-03-28T11:55:00.010-04:00

I really don't know why I do this to myself... I watched the first episode of the new Koihime Musou series, Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan today, and, as I thought, it was painful. Not without laughs, of course, but sometimes, the idea of a strong warrior being changed to a girl and that worries about her weight is a little... I don't know.

Anyway, in this season, one of the emperor's generals is slowly getting turned into a cat girl. How? With this:

It's almost like Ranma 1/2 all over again.Because of this mysterious pill, the general has to go into hiding, and the doctor who found her is asking the main band to find the ingredients to the cure for him, as he has to secure a dangerous magic book. Of course, you only find this out at the end of the episode. The rest of it is about Ryuubi and how she's getting fat. She tries to exercise, but it doesn't work because she only ends up eating a lot after (just like me! DX). Eventually, she gets to the point where she tries starving herself. Of course it doesn't work, but not only does it not work, everyone else also assumes that she's pregnant. For no apparent reason. Well, OK, the first person who came up with the idea had this evidence:

If you look closely, there's a bump near the center bottom shoujo bubble of the first picture. It's actually a boot.
You might think that's not good evidence. You're right. It isn't. This is what played out:

Yeup, that's what the season's going to be like. At least Black✭Rock Shooter is coming out this season... Can't wait for that! :D

Oh, I remembered, there is a reason I'm watching Shin Koihime Musou: Otome Tairan. That's because of Chouun, personal name Sei. She's a great character.

But that's it from me! I'm working on a giant Nanoha post which, knowing me, probably won't come out for another week or so. -_-;; And have one more picture before I'm off!

GAWD THAT SOUNDS DELICIOUS.
That's it from me! See ya next time!

Sora No Woto 11 & FINAL

2010-03-25T16:45:00.002-04:00

ATTENTION: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. AND IS VERY SCATTERBRAINED. READ WITH CAUTION.

ADDITIONAL WARNING: LANGUAGE Though if you aren't allowed to read curse words, what are you doing reading this blog? XD

ZOMG GERMAN.

XDDDDD Filicia!!!!!!!!!!!

QUESTION: WHAT IS WITH THE OBSESSION WITH AMAZING GRACE????????

XDDDDD Gotta love that textbook pronunciation.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDX Noël-chan! T_T

I'm waiting for that owl to go bat-shit crazy.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Why the hell do the Romans know about the Flame Maidens' Legend? Not just Aisha, but all the Romans???

KUREHA, YOU FUCKING IDIOT. FREAKIN.

NOËL X AISHA FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT'S A CREEPY TANK. But I love that Owl insignia.

How did the legend get so warped across countries??? I mean, regions in a country, I understand, but... o_O

KYAAAAAAA RIO-SAMA KAKKOII!!!!!!!! >_>

All in all: NAISU ENDO DA. (Fail Trans.: Nice end!)

Wow, that was jam packed. I liked how the pace went pretty quickly. It was a nice contrast from the slow pace of the show. I actually thought that it would go to 13 episodes, but apparently I was wrong. But anyway. The plot went off about how I thought it would after the first minute or so. Does this mean I watch too many military shows or that I'm too used to endings like this? Oh well. Doesn't matter. What matters is that I have solidified my position for Noël x Aisha, Rio x Filicia, and... Well, maybe Kureha x Kanata. But definitely the first two. Also, Kobayashi Yuu's voice was great in the last ep. Not quite what a princess would be (well, not one wearing a dress, at any rate), but it worked. I'm just glad that she came back. It makes me warm and happy~ :D

It's been a good day. And even better are that I actually screenshot stuff! Hooray! Of course, since these are screenshots, SPOILER WARNING for the following. But that's all I got until next season! See ya next time!

Oh, Filicia, Filicia, Filicia. I know you're just checking her language comprehension, but man. That. Was. Awesome.

Filicia, you're expression makes me go HNNNNNNNNNNGG. I especially love how there's still gunsmoke coming out of the nozzle. I wish I was productive enough to find the same screenshot from the raw, so that the words don't mess it up. But So~ sexy~~~

I was so hoping that I'd get a good pic of Rio saying "I'm home." Unfortunately, the angle is not so good, and they didn't even go for a close up! T_T

Character Mystery Files: The Case of Nazuna

2010-03-25T14:25:00.005-04:00

Today, I'm going to attempt a small, hopefully semi-regular series called 'Character Mystery Files.' Basically, I'm going to post about a character from an anime, manga, or game that I simultaneously like and dislike or that I disliked and came to like and my reasons why... Or something like that. Who knows how it'll turn out? Hope you enjoy it all the same though.

Edit: Whoops! I forgot I hadn't done a Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu post yet. If you haven't seen that or would like to read my impressions of it first, don't read this!!!

Case Number 1: Nazuna
Today's case is going to be about Nazuna from Hidamari Sketch x Hoshimittsu. I know I said I didn't like ditzy or disgustingly naive in character traits, but somehow, Nazuna is extremely MOE to me. I especially like her with Nori, ~~but it looks like they're trying to get her with Yuno as well.~~ Never mind, I'm pretty sure Yuno is going to end up Hidamari-sou's pimp, so she could go with anyone. But this post is about Nazuna.

What's weird is that I have no idea how I came to like Nazuna. Maybe it's just the Hidamari affect where you can't dislike anybody. I'm sure that if I encountered her exact same character type in some other show, I'd extremely dislike her. Oh well. Have a picture, and then I'm off! See ya next time!

Aww, don't they look adorable? (Nazuna's on the left and Nori's on the right, by the way.)

Geeky As Charged 5

2010-03-22T10:28:00.002-04:00

I have a couple of tests I should probably actually study for, so not a big post from me. So instead of a GAC! :D

Today's GAC: In my astro class, we were talking about the Gas Giants, namely, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Of course, being the yuri lover I am, this immediately reminded me of the Outer Senshi (plus one Inner and minus one Outer sob Poor Pluto.... T_T) of Sailor Moon fame. Well, fame if you didn't follow the English releases which SUCKED ASS. *ahem* Anyway, it just reminded me of how cool the Outer Senshi were. Can anybody guess who my favorites are?

Also during the lecture, my professor was talking about how there's a gap in the rings of Saturn. Of course, me being me, I noticed only the word Gap being emphasized every so often. And then *BAM!* Touhou reference. I'm thinking that Astronomy is going to become a whole lot geekier for me. (The reference being, of course, to Yakumo Yukari, a youkai who has control of GAPS.)

Edit: I forgot about pictures, so... Here they are!

Oh, Pluto, how unrespected you are.... T_T

It's a lot harder to find a good solo picture of Yukari than I thought.

But anyway, that's it for now! See ya next time!

Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture Episode 8

2010-03-19T01:42:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted anything because of lack of material, but after this episode, I just had to post something. I'm actually not going to put any pictures in this post because: 1) It's late and 2) You must see the cuteness of the microbes yourself. Anyway, spoiler alert, 'k?

Edit: Ara, reprising your role as Asuna-san, eh? (In reference to episode 10, with Kanda Akemi voicing Oikawa.)

Moyashimon is a show about this guy who can see microbes without using any equipment in his first year of agriculture college. It's pretty hilarious, and the microbes are awesome. But if you're just interested in the yuri, that doesn't really matter. What does matter is that in episode 8, there's yuri! Hooray! XD Anyway, I started watching this show after hearing about it from some friends, and I actually saw it hosted at a yuri only website, which was weird. But then I saw episode 8 and all was resolved. I actually prefer the Haruka x Aoi (Hasegawa x Muto) pairing, but any yuri is OK with me. Also, Muto is voiced by the illustrious Noto Mamiko. At this rate, she's going to become a yuri seiyuu favorite, much like Ito Shizuka, Toyoguchi Megumi, and Ogata Megumi. (Respectively, Shimako-sama from Maria-sama ga Miteru, Rei-sama from the same, Sei-sama from the same, and Tenoh Haruka from Sailor Moon S and Sailor Stars.) Well, I say favorites because they're *my* favorites and because they are the people who either have a lot of yuri roles or yuri roles so overpowering I don't pay attention to what else they do...>_> But anyway. Watch Moyashimon! XD

Geeky As Charged 4

2010-03-13T21:40:00.005-05:00

It's time for another Geeky As Charged! And once again, it's related to a movie I watched. Well, most of it is. This is actually going to be a rather packed GAC, because if I don't do these all at once I'll forget about it.

Anyway, I went out with some family and a friend to a sports restaurant place, and the restaurant, of course, had all sorts of screens up showing different games. The screen in front of me had a basketball game, and just when I paid attention to it, it played a slow motion two pointer that swished nicely. And all I could think of was Kuroko no Basket, a manga about, surprisingly, basketball. There's a character in there who can sink a basket from anywhere on court, and I immediately thought about him when I saw that point. It was pretty sad.

I also went to see the new Alice in Wonderland (fantastic movie, by the way). As it is not uncommon to see things based on Alice in Wonderland, I had a hard time not thinking about Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, one of CLAMP's earlier works and surprisingly has no overt or subtextual yaoi in it AND IS RATHER NSFW. (If you want to see the OVAs made, head over here.) It also reminded me of a... well... Um. It is "famous" in the shadier lands, shall we say. >_> But yes, very inappropriate when you're trying to watch Anne Hathaway glide. Er, walk. Be queen-thingy.

What Alice in Wonderland reminded me of the most, though, was a lovely novel by Robin McKinley. Well, two of her novels, actually. Heard of them? Really well written, and almost yuri if not for the pesky fact that the heroines have to have children, and that universe doesn't quite have magic. Anyway, the two novels are The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword. Check it out sometime.

And if you want a preview of Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, please, continue.

Really, it isn't safe for work. See ya next time!

Sora no Woto Episode 10

2010-03-10T19:10:00.003-05:00

While Sora no Woto is almost finished, I felt that I actually had enough material to post now rather than later. So if you haven't watched up to this episode yet, please be aware of SPOILERS.

This episode was pretty much all about Sergeant Major Kazumiya Rio. As such, all pictures will be of her. d: But really, she had so many screenshot-able pictures it isn't funny. I picked the ones I thought I liked the best, but there are a bunch more in the episode. Anyway, in this episode, we finally get the climax of the mini-plot that was building up for the past couple episodes. We find out that she is actually the younger half sister of the girl that saved Kanata in the beginning of the series! *shokku!* And that she's the illegitimate daughter of the emperor of the state! *more shokku!!* Actually, this episode and the episode about Filicia's past were the most interesting ones and definitely propelled this series way above expectations. I thought Sora no Woto would go the route of slice-of-life series that just happens to be during a war. Luckily for me, it didn't. Hooray~

Besides being a big plot episode and making me appreciate it more, this episode also delivered to me something I wasn't expecting but was hoping for. And that was... Rio actually wearing her uniform! :D :D :D That made me happier than you will ever know. In fact, I was so happy, I ended up picking the screenshots that have her in uniform rather than any of the ones that are actually about the plot. >_> Well, let these pictures serve as my good-bye, as I really have nothing else to say. See ya next time! :D

Rio's perplexed look is great. XD
I spent forever trying to get the textless screenshot, but the video was stupid and I kept missing. T_T
She looks so cool in her uniform! *squeeeeee!!!*
Rio's neutral face is also nice~

Aria

2010-03-09T09:46:00.017-05:00

It's here! It's finally here! The long awaited Aria post has come to us at last! Praise the Gods!!!!

Note: I went a little picture happy on this one, so... Please bear with me. Orz

EDIT: I was a stupid face and didn't remember that they use the romanized version of the nicknames in the anime. So any harping I have about the names comes from the fact that I wiki'd stuff. I'm sorry. Orz

Aria is very much a slice-of-life, makes-you-feel-happy series. Consisting of three series, Aria the Animation, Aria the Natural, and Aria the Origination, and an additional OVA, this is very much like my beloved Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, which I have yet to blog about for size and time reasons. No, seriously. That post would be full of Nanoha and Fate pictures and how much I love them and... Yeah. Well, this post is about Aria, so I suppose I should go ahead and start talking about it, huh?

Story
Sometime in the distant future, the planet Mars has been made fit for human survival, with the hidden aquifers being released. However, the scientists accidentally let out a little too much water. As a result, the original colony has become overflooded so that it is pretty much Venice, Italy. They call this place Neo-Venezia, because they are AMAZING at names (Seriously, who else calls the planet they live on Earth and then changes it to 'Manhome'???). They also rename Mars Aqua because of all the water. Anyway, one girl, Mizunashi Akari, comes from Manhome to Aqua, because she wants to become a Prima, the best of the best of the best of the gondoliers in Neo-Venezia. Never mind the fact that all original gondoliers were men. Or that she doesn't really have any good reason that she tells us for wanting to become a gondolier in the first place. Ah, well. Such is anime. At any rate, let's start with character introductions!

Characters
The Seniors

These are the teachers of the three main girls. I would have put them after the main girls, but then I'd spend too little time on them because I'd be waxing poetic about Akira and Alicia... Anyway.

Alicia Florence
The current head of Aria Company, she is one of the so called Three (Great) Water Fairies. Her nickname from this group is Shiroki Yousei; this somehow translates into 'Snow White' even though the literal translation is 'White Fairy.' (I'm pretty sure the Japanese version of Snow White is called 'Shirayuki Hime' which is why I'm skeptical of this English translation. Feel free to prove me wrong though.) Her main talent is how graceful she is at gondolier-ing. Oh, and her beauty, which is nothing to sneeze at (though I prefer types like Akira >_>). Her main trait is her kindness. Gah, I could write pages and pages... Well, at least one page. But I want to hurry up and get to Akira. Um, her catch phrase is 'Ara ara' or 'Ufufufu.' These basically mean something like 'Oh my' or a lady's laugh, if I am to believe subbers.

Akira E. Ferrari
Reference to fast cars aside, Akira is my favorite character. Not only is she awesomely cool, she's also really amazing. But I should start with some factual stuff first, huh? She's the best gondolier in the Himeya Company, and she is another of the Three (Great) Water Fairies. Her nickname is the Shinku no Bara or 'Crimson Rose' (which has a much more palatable translation, by the way). Her talent is the way she gets along so well with her customers. There was even this scene they showed in one of the Origination episodes that had this annoying guy stand up and rock the boat (Don't rock the boat, baby, don't ro-*shot*). Actually, I found it!

IT'S SO CRAZY AWESOME. I was so sad that they saved this scene for the last season. Imagine what would happen if all three seasons were like that? IT WOULD BE SO AMAZING. But, um, anyway. Her catchphrase is 'Suwa!' which means 'Hey you!' ...I'm pretty sure. But yeah, she's the I-teach-you-with-tough-love type character, which makes me like her even more (not that I like being on the receiving end of that... >_>) AND SHE'S HOT *cough* which makes her the best in my book.

Athena Glory
Pronounced 'A-te-na,' she is the third of the Three (Great) Water Fairies with the nickname Tenjou no Utagoe, literally 'Heavenly Voice' and translated 'Siren.' Not as bad as Alicia's, but still a weird translation. As her name suggests, her talent is singing. In fact, since I'm feeling so nice, I'm going to include a link of her singing! Just go here and you can listen and read at the same time! :D Anyway, despite her beautiful singing, she is an extremely clumsy person, always accidentally overspicing/filling things. And despite that, she can be incredibly sharp when it comes to Alice, which I'll touch on later.

The Juniors

These are the main characters and the students of the three above. There will be spoilers, so read with caution~

Akari Mizunashi
The main character of the three, the series is basically narrated by her and her correspondence with her friend Ai on Manhome. She's in the Aria Company, so her teacher is Alicia. It was pretty funny because she actually learned to row backwards by mistake (standing in front of the customer rather than behind). Anyway, her main trait is how well she gets along with people, as well as her kindness. She's probably most famous among viewers for the embarrasing things she says. Akari is the last of the three to become a Prima (i.e., SUPER AWESOME), and her nickname becomes Aquamarine (Harukanaru Ao, 'Distant Blue'). Her trademark phrase is 'Hahi' which she uses as a catch-all... I think. Please forgive me bad, roundabout translations.

Aika S. Granzchesta
"Hazukashi serifu ha kinshi!"
Aika is the heir to the Himeya Company, so it's only fitting that her teacher be the best of the bunch: Akira. She's very much a tsundere. Well, at least a tsun. Like Akira, she has a kind of rough teaching style that comes into play whenever she and Akari go out to practice. Besides declaring that 'Embarrassing remarks are prohibited!', she is known for the hard work she puts into becoming a gondol- er, sorry, a Prima. She idolizes Alicia. Her nickname when she becomes Prima is Rozen Queen (Bara no Jouou, 'Queen of Roses').

Alice Carroll
The youngest and most skilled of the three, Alice is the first gondolier to jump from being a Pair to a Prima. In Earth terms, this would be like a Page going straight into a Knight, or an Apprentice becoming a Master (skipping the squire and journeyman stages). Drafted by Orange Planet in middle school, she comes under the instruction of Athena... But because of her personality, she ends up scolding Athena more than Athena does Alice. Although there is no indication of it throughout the series, Alice also has a good singing voice, so it's a good thing that Athena is her teacher. In fact...

Yup, that's Alice. Her trademark is saying 'Dekkai' (lit. 'Huge' but she mostly uses it with a connotation of totally/really, if I'm to believe fansubbers). When she becomes a Prima, her nickname is Orange Princess (Tasogare no Himegimi, 'Twilight Princess'). Yes, yes, I know. That was a pretty good game, wasn't it?

Cats
Cats are a kind of good luck charm for the gondoliers, so every company has a cat 'president'. It's actually pretty funny to watch them. Since I don't have a lot of info or pictures for them, I'm just going to lump them together here. Aria Company's cat is President Aria Pokoteng, Himeya Company's cat is President Hime M. Granzchesta, and Orange Planet's cat is President Maa. I prefer the 'shachou' title that is given to them, but in the interest of translation ~~read: Aria Pokoteng-shachou sounds weird~~, I'm keeping it as 'president'. Note: You can see President Hime in one of Aika's pictures.

Yes, Aria-shachou, you can has third season.

President Maa has this really cute sound. You can hear it at the end of Alice's song.

Pairings
And now for the long awaited pairings section! Despite the fact that you can pair up all of the seniors and juniors like this:
I prefer to have Aika x Akari, Alice x Athena, and Alicia x Akira. So on we go!

Aika x Akari
Even though Aika adores Alicia ~~and likes Al~~, she and Akari interact so much that sometimes you can't help but think that they're together (unless you don't have your Yuri Goggles on). In other words, it's fan delusion. >_>

Alice x Athena
These two are so funny together. It's great. And it's more fan delusion. Orz

Alicia x AkiraThis is my favorite pairing. Although they get pitifully little screen time together, they have a kind of... I don't know what to call it. They've been friends since they were little (Aria the Natural episode 15), and Alicia even followed Akira into the gondolier business! While there's no indication of Alicia being so, Akira at least has a lot of yuri vibes already. In fact, in one of the episodes, there's a festival where you give a rose to the woman you admire/love, and it's canonically stated that Akira gets them from women (Aria the Natural episode 8)! But yeah. At the end of the series, Alicia retires and supposedly gets married. We never see the guy, though, so I'm hoping it turned out like this:

d:

And of course there are the requisite het pairings which I'm not going into because they're uninteresting. 8D

Some bonus images that didn't really fit anywhere else

I love the chibified faces they have.

And that's it! Gawd, that was long. Now back to Spring Break for me~ See ya next time!

Streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeess

2010-03-03T14:27:00.010-05:00

I finally finished my big paper, but I still have two exams tomorrow, so nothing big today. In fact, I'm just going to talk about this coming season.

Haven't heard about any new yuri-ish anime this coming season, but apparently there's another freaking season of Koihime Musou. I'm not sure if I'll watch it yet, but I'll probably end up doing so because of ~~bouncing breasts~~ completion's sake. Actually, on the topic of Romance of the Three Kingdoms remakes, there's another Ikkitousen coming out, which leads me to this question: Should I watch it or not? I'm not a big fan of service + guys (hence why I can watch Koihime Musou even though there's lot of service - there are not, in fact, a lot of guys). However, I do like martial arts, and there are yuri parts... somewhere. Or so I've heard. Actually, following this logic, I shoud've watched Queen's Blade, so maybe I won't end up watching Ikkitousen after all.

For stuff I actually will watch, definitely Black Rock Shooter, K-On! 2, and, uh, that's it. Huh. The rest of the stuff I'll probably not watch/catch up on later. But yeah, back to studying for me... Orz See ya next time!

Oh, and an image for you guys. I was going to use it in my Hidamari Sketch post, but apparently I put it in the wrong folder... Whoops! ^_^;;

Yuri and dinosaurs. Can life get any better?

EDIT: WHERE'S MY SECOND SEASON OF SAKI?????????? That is all.

女, 女女, 女, 女女女! 少女!

2010-02-25T21:28:00.009-05:00

If you don't know what the title of this post is referring to, go to The Original, then The Vocaloid version. If you've seen it and get all the references, see The Strawberry Panic! version.

Hello, all! The Aria post has been indefinitely postponed due to unforseen circumstances. In other words, my midterms snuck up on me, so now I have to actively focus on them. And since I don't want my flow of posts to completely stagnate ~~(read: I'm procrastinating)~~, today's post will be something more light hearted.

Today's post will be about... GIRLS!

That's right, girls. And by girls, I don't mean those icky real ones that are mean and kinda gross sometimes. No, I'm talking about the epitome of beauty, the wonderful personalities, the hair...! I'm talking about anime girls. Yes, those girls that you watch on the internets and love to pair together with other girls in the same show (or maybe from other shows!). Those girls that got me to see the light and yearn to spread the wisdom of yuri...!

[/sarcasm]

While I will be talking about girls today, rather than the over-dramatized position I gave above, I'm just going to go over my favorite type of girls in anime. The presence of these types of personalities will instantly have me watching the series. Whether I continue watching or not is a different matter. So, basically, this post is just me ~~procrastinating~~ being bored and wanting to update. If you're here just for the reviews, I'm sure Aria will be up... sometime. Now, without further ado, let's go!

In an effort to make this as simple and succinct as possible, here's a list of Do Wants and Do Not Wants.

Do Want
Noble Lady Type (Ojou-sama)
Quiet
Vamp
Tomboy
Tall and Cool
Fighter
Eccentric/Random
YURI

Do Not Want
Loli
Gloating
Ditzy
Yandere
Clingy
Tsundere
Disgustingly Naive
NOT YURI

Those of you who read other yuri blogs may notice a couple familiar points. This is because I took most of this list from Yuribou's Guide to Fanservice for Animators - Character Types. WARNING: BANNER MAY OR MAY NOT BE WORK SAFE. PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Of course, these are just generalizations that I tend to like. There are exceptions. For example, Kagami of Lucky Star fame is widely considered a Tsundere, but I do like her. Also, Tomo from Azumanga Daioh is definitely a Tomboy type, but I dislike her. A lot. And the YURI and NOT YURI only mean potential for yuri. Therefore, if someone is canonically taken and is not a person I really like, she is NOT YURI. Everyone else would be YURI. Get it? Got it? Good.

And that's it for... What's that? You want pictures? OK, then, how about pics of my favorite characters! What an egocentric post this is... And no jokes about Freud please. Kudos to anybody who can sort these characters according to Yuribou's Guide.

Pictures with multiple people mean that I like all of them. And, as always, click on an image to magnify.

Sakurazaki Setsuna

Amachi Hitsugi and Miyamoto Shizuku

The Outers

Fate Testarossa-Harlaown

Megurine Luka

Miura Azusa, Kisaragi Chihaya, Kikuchi Makoto

And that's it for today! See ya next time! ~~And hopefully it won't take more than a week again...~~

Geeky As Charged 3

2010-02-16T23:32:00.004-05:00

It turns out that the Aria post I was going to make will have to be delayed about a week or so, as I somehow am very busy this week. -_- Anyway, I don't want to leave you guys on a lurch, so here's a Geeky As Charged post!

Today's Geeky As Charged: I went to see a local band and their keyboardist had a KORG Triton series keyboard. This pretty much instantly reminded me of Tsumugi from K-On! Here's a couple pics...

From what comments were posted on these pictures, it seems like Tsumugi's Triton is top of the line. Of course, the one I saw today wasn't. I wish I could remember the exact model... But yeah, that's it for today. See you next time!

Mini-Aria Post

2010-02-14T22:49:00.003-05:00

I'm too tired to do a real Aria post with pictures and stuff at the moment, but I had to vent, so have a mini post!

I've finally finished watching all of Aria. What with Aria the Animation, the Natural, and the Origination, that's a lot of stuff to wade through. Even though it's the same amount of episodes as Nanoha, I feel like I have a quota of 'feeling nice time' that Aria fulfills very quickly, so it took me longer than usual to finish all three seasons. But speaking of that, WHAT AN UNFULFILLING END. Part of it was that the particular version I watched of the last episode was very badly subbed. They need a proof reader or something. Or even a quality checker - a good one - because that was just very, very badly done. The capitalizations were spastic, the ellipses were oddly placed, and most of all, they tried to make the karaoke fancy and ended up making it look tacky. So that was annoying. Also, what the hell? Alicia is going to randomly marry? That makes no sense at all, especially since there was no love interest and no wedding. ~~I'm blaming the subpar subbers.~~ Even wiki says that there's a wedding, so I guess it's not a lie... Anyway, since they don't show that she actually married anybody, I'm pushing that she married Akira. 8D That thought actually made me not hate the last episode so much. Oh well. I'll be back sooner or later with an actual Aria post, so stay tuned! Till next time!

Final Fantasy XIII... Well, sort of.

2010-02-12T23:53:00.009-05:00

This post based on what sporadic videos I watched and what sporadic Japanese I know. Please read at your own discretion. If you do not wish to be spoiled, even by a little bit, stop right here and wait for whatever post I do next. Thank you.

Dear Square Enix,

WHAT. THE. FUCK. Really? Really? Why the hell did you do that? Any ending but that, and I would've been happy. Did you have to have the yuri couple be the ONLY PEOPLE NOT TO REVIVE? NO. NO, YOU DIDN'T. WE COULD HAVE A HAPPY ENDING FOR EVERYBODY, BUT NOOOOOOOOOO, YOU GUYS NEED A BITTER SWEET ENDING. I HATE YOU AND I HATE YOUR NEW GAMES.

~~But I'm probably still going to watch the full playthrough when that comes out, and I still love your Dragon Quest series.~~

Sincerely,
Suraki

And now for pic spammage!

I <3 Fang so muuuuuch. >_>

Oh, and extra stuff for you! Here's an English subbed (not dubbed, because even though it's good, Lightning's VA is Sakamoto Maaya. There's currently no English VA who can beat her, so... Yeah. Fang's voice is also cool. >_>

Sora no Woto

2010-02-11T15:44:00.013-05:00

While I'd rather wait until the season is over or at least mostly over, I'm not watching anything old at the moment that I can review. This means that, in order to keep this blog from being a lonely place, today I'm going to talk about new series Sora no Woto. There's only six episodes out, so far, so there's not a lot I can say about it. There will be spoilers though, so if you haven't started watching yet and intend to, reader discretion is advised. Thank you.

Sora no Woto is set in a post world war-esque world. A long war that we know nothing about has recently ended and the world is at peace... Or so we think. I'll get into characters a little later, but first I want to say something. I like this series. It's a little slow, and the protagonist is the same naive type girl that will sooner or later get on my nerves, but what they've shown so far isn't bad. But while I wish I could say that there's nothing wrong with this series, that would be a lie. Because whoever did the anime character designs really has only one design, so PEOPLE LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THEY ARE FROM K-ON!. They all have round faces and pudgy fingers and IT'S JUST NOT AN ATTRACTIVE DESIGN. IT REALLY ISN'T. WHY COULDN'T YOU USE THE MANGA DESIGNS, HUH? THOSE AT LEAST LOOK COOL. GRARGH!!! In fact, here, have a sample of the similarities:

Disregarding the Strike Witches photos, LOOK AT IT. WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE A BETTER DEFAULT DESIGN, DAMMIT.
In other news, this is a completely true picture. You take the military idea from Strike Witches and add them to the character designs from K-On! and you have yourselves Sora no Woto. The only thing that's making it better than the other two series is that the plot is marginally better. And it's about music, which is always a nice thing to see in anime. But I digress. Let's move on to the characters.

Characters

Private Second Class Sorami Kanata
That first picture of her is from the manga. Cool, right? Much better than stupid pudgy body parts. But anyway. Sorami Kanata is the naive type protagonist. In the beginning of the series, you find out that she got lost when she was younger and found inspiration to become a bugler because of a trumpeter who comforted her about being lost. Unfortunately, she sucks at bugling. In fact, the only cool thing about her is that she has perfect pitch, and even that is not enough to put her in my good books, because Hirasawa Yui of K-On! fame also has perfect pitch and I HATED HER SO MUCH. SO. FREAKING. MUCH. Actually, I'm pretty sure she's the reason I'm not doing a K-On! post. Moving on...

Sergeant Major Kazumiya Rio
Voiced by my favorite, favorite Kobayashi Yuu, Rio might end up being my favorite character. But this might just be because I like her character design: Long hair, cool type, good at what she does and voiced by Kobayashi Yuu!!!!!!!. If only she wasn't drawn like that... Then again, I don't really like her manga design either. And of course her biggest failing is that she doesn't wear a uniform like it should be worn. I really hate sloppy types with uniforms. With any other type of clothing, I wouldn't care, but wearing a uniform sloppily is a real turn off for me.

Private Second Class Suminoya Kureha, Tank Gunner
The token tsundere, there's really not much I can say about her. There's nothing that distinguishes her from other tsundere. At all. Well, I guess you could say that she gets over her jealousy of Kanata pretty quickly...

Second Lieutenant Filicia Hiedman, Tank Commander, Captain of Platoon 1121
The mother hen type. Pretty much Miyuki from Lucky Star (they even have the same VA!) and Tsumugi from K-On!. She'd be like Minna from Strike Witches, except that Minna was pretty cool, whereas I'm not quite sure Filicia will be.

Corporal Kannagi Noël, Tank Engineer and Driver
Ayanami Rei with a personality. Probably.

Shuko, Mascot
This guy's funny just because of this.

Pairings
There's not much you can say about pairings so far. Really, the only thing I have is this:
which is just Kureha liking Rio who is simply helping out Kanata who is oblivious.

Those of you unfortunates who watched Strike Witches will notice this is pretty much Major Sakamoto + Yoshika + Perrine. Any other pairings will have to wait until more episodes come out.

That's about it. I'll end this post with a couple of group shots. See you next time!

SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER (And Mahou Sensei Negima)

2010-02-07T20:23:00.013-05:00

SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILER

PLEASE DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE LATEST CHAPTER OF MAHOU SENSEI NEGIMA. PLEASE DON'T. I'D HATE TO RUIN SOMEONE'S READING. AND IF YOU HAVE OR JUST DON'T CARE, PLEASE DON'T SPOIL SOMEONE ELSE FOR ME. THAT'S JUST NOT COOL, MAN.

OK, so. If all the Magic World inhabitants are getting erased, but people in the 'real' world are not, DOES THAT MEAN THAT SETSUNA DIES? IT DOESN'T, RIGHT? RIGHT? Right? right? ...right? T_T Gah, if my favoritest of favorite character dies, I don't know what I'll do... ~~But if she does die, I demand a really good ending for her, dammit!~~ But yeah. For those of you who don't care and have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a rough synopsis. If you've read the manga, you don't need to read it.

START SYNOPSIS

OK, so there's this kid teacher Negi, who, after a whole bunch of mishaps, finds himself trapped in the Magic World supposedly on Mars with about half of his class. They're fighting the Big Baddy Fate (no, not Fate Testarossa, but if she turned evil, that'd be interesting...) and BB!Fate and his team are erasing everything. There's some speculation that this erasure of people and things only works with the Magic World inhabitants, as Yue, one of the students, was shot and pierced by an erasing projectile, but she was not erased whereas the person who was protecting her was. Plus a whole bunch of other Magic World people have been erased. Of course, this is an incomplete theory, because one of BB!Fate's main erasing guys is tracking down Nodoka, another of Negi's students, with his erasing techniques, and he seems completely sure that Nodoka will be erased. So, we, the fans, don't know if this erasing thing will only affect Magic World people or not. BUT ANYWAY.

STOP SYNOPSIS

Setsuna is a half breed, half crow demon, half human. So if she gets hit with one of those beams (which is doubtful, but we're going by worst case situation here), would she get erased? Would she just lose her awesome, beautiful wings? WHAT WOULD HAPPEN???? Gah, it worries me much... And the manga isn't getting released as periodically as it used to... T_T

And I suppose since I'm at it, I might as well write a little about this manga.

Plot
Mahou Sensei Negima, by the wonderful Akamatsu Ken, is an ongoing story of Harry Potter-like proportions. Well, OK, not really. The only thing they have in common is magic, and even that isn't the same. But anyway. As it is written by Akamatsu Ken (who, for those of you who don't know, also did A.I. Love You and Love Hina), this does have the requisite 'Harem' genre. While I'm not a fan of this genre, the only thing it has going for it is that the male in the middle of it all is 10 years old. A sometimes REALLY FUCKING ANNOYING 10 year old, but still. Any romance is out of the cards for him. But what really keeps me reading are two things: Setsuna and the action scenes. Let's go into action first, as I tend to over talk the characters.

Action

SOME OF THESE IMAGES ARE DOUBLE SIDED. PLEASE CLICK TO ZOOM IN AND SEE THE ENTIRE THING.

These images are from the Mahora Budokai battle, chapters 107-109.

Sorry for the bad scans, but I just went and picked up the easiest to find images instead of downloading it. But anyway. The action scenes in Mahou Sensei Negima are typically pretty clean. It's pretty easy to at least sort of figure out what has happened in the battle, which is better than most other manga. There's also a lot of explosions, which, aside from being drawn amazingly, I happen to like. But yeah, that's part of what has me hooked. Now to the other part!

Characters... Well, some of them.

As there are 31 kids in Negi's class, plus Negi, plus some of his friends, plus the bad guys, I'm not going into a detailed introduction to each character. Instead, I'll only go over my favorites. But here's a picture of everyone in the class, at least.

But yes. On with the Characters! Today, I'll be going over my favorite characters, plus some people that I guess are important.

Negi Springfield
Aside from having a name that reminds me of the capital of Illinois, this kid is the hero of the series. He's pretty much a token hero, with the painful backstory and stuff. The only that's different about him is that he's actually a genius, though that doesn't really translate into his fighting. He ends up overthinking things and getting into trouble. He's also nice, not a jerk, and not completely incompetant, which is a nice change. Of course, this leads to the problem of him being perfect, but I don't really care about him anyway, so let's stop now, shall we?

Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia, currently known as Kagurazaka Asuna
I wasn't originally going to talk about Asuna, but she's pretty BA, so I guess I will. She's the main heroine of the manga, as she is the first one to find out about Negi's magic. The Dumb!Tomboy!type, it could be argued that the only thing she's good for is physical abuse, but I happen to like Asuna and not only for her huge sword either. She tells things like they are and really uncomplicates things for me sometimes. Also, she can be funny. ~~Her fan relationship with Ayaka doesn't hurt either.~~

Sakurazaki Setsuna

You can always tell when I get to a character I like because I start adding more pictures of them. XD But yes, Setsuna. She really is my favorite character. Loyal, strong, fights with a sword, has some AWESOME wings, and has a haircut that I can at least try to imitate. Of course, she has some faults, especially being really insecure when it comes to not protecting her Ojou-sama, but that's OK. Perfection means a Mary Sue, and those need to die a horrible death. Sometimes. But I'm not going to go into how some Mary Sue's can be cool, because I don't remember which ones I thought were an exception. XD But anyway. What really made me fall in fan idolization over her was chapters 26-53 (volumes 4-6). I'd post it here, but, 1) most people have already read it, and 2) if you haven't read it yet, I'll let you see how awesome she is by yourself. She also kicks ass at the Mahora Budokai (some of which was shown above) and during the Chao arc. She is pretty much the only character I read this series for. Well, there is also...

Konoe Konoka

Bah, I couldn't find a good picture of her that I wasn't saving for something else or didn't have someone else in it. But anyway. Konoka is the daughter of a long line of magicians, and is Setsuna's Ojou-sama. She wasn't told about her magic, as her father wanted her to have a good childhood before being thrust into the politics of magic (in her case, western magic vs. eastern magic). She's the healer of the group, and generally shows a Dumb!Brunette kind of attitude. She is actually smart though, something like top 5 in the class? She's very kind and doesn't want Setsuna to just guard her because she wants to be friends.

Now to pairings, because I don't feel like writing about other people

Konosetsu

This is really the only pairing with substantial subtext in Mahou Sensei Negima. I mean, sure, there are other yuri pairings out there, but you don't really see a lot of subtext with those, as half of the characters think they're in love with Negi. Nevermind the fact that he is 10 and the majority of them are only 14. But anyway. Those of you who have seen the anime will have recognized this, but I don't believe I've actually said it. This pairing was pretty much my first serious foray into yuri, so my banner reflects that. If you look at the top of the page, you'll notice that the arms have numbers on them. These numbers are the seat numbers of Setsuna and Konoka. Here's the video, if you want to watch. Oh, and a warning, if you haven't seen this before: This is from the second season which was produced by SHAFT. What this means is that it's full of CRAZY RANDOM STUFF. So please don't worry too much about some of the things that happen in the video. Banner and video aside, this pairing really is one of my favorites. One reason is because Setsuna is my favorite character, but I also think that the characterizations of Konoka and Setsuna can work out pretty well. As it is pretty popular, have some of what I think is well written, fic-wise. First, there's the beautifully written Around the Clock. And of course, there's also my favorite author for this pairing, Cloverfield. The way she writes is just...! If you think her name sounds familiar, I actually recommended her latest fic a little while back. But don't just read that! Read all of her stuff! It's good. For those who have a sweet tooth, there's also Ryûchan and her amazing stories. Not only is her Negima stuff good, her original work is also amazing! And now, I'm going to reread this stuff, because I love it so much. See you next time!

Hidamari Sketch

2010-02-04T23:54:00.014-05:00

'Sup? Long time, no see, eh? Well, this month is sucky for me, so you probably won't be seeing a lot of me. But it's OK! 'Cause I have watched something yuri~ I don't know why it took me this long to watch Hidamari Sketch. I think it was just that by the time I heard about it, 1) I couldn't find any subs, 2) I was busy... somehow, and 3) I found out that SHAFT directed it and was a little leery of them after they DIDN'T DO THE AWESOMEST ARC EVER IN NEGIMA. GAH! SO. ANGRY. AND SAD. I mean, after Xebec absolutely ruined the first season, I thought the second season would be better... Which it was. But it still didn't have the Mahora Budokai arc, which was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I want to see it animated so badly. T_T But anyway! We're talking about Hidamari Sketch. Yes.

Hidamari Sketch is included in the 'everyday life' genre of anime and manga. Which is really not so bad. Somehow. Basically, the story follows four girls who live in the Hidamari Apartments. This building is conveniently across from their school, Yamabuki High. What really differentiates this from other 'everyday life' anime like Azumanga Daioh is that the characters in question are all part of the art program in their school. Not something you see everyday. Well, OK, now we see stuff like this all the time, but only because Hidamari Sketch became so popular! But let's move on to the characters.

Characters

Yuno

I think we don't actually know any surnames in this. Well, except for the teacher, but she comes later. Anyway, the main main character that everyone else seems to revolve around is Yuno. A first year high school student (a sophomore for those in a four year high school), she's... Uh. Kinda boring, actually. I mean, yes, she's nice, and kind, and all those sorts of things, but you really can't say anything about her. She's an only child, so she's envious of her friends who have siblings. And that's about it. Next!

Miyako

Oh, Miyako, Miyako, Miyako. You are one awesome character. Any way I try to describe you won't do any justice to your character. But let's try, shall we? Miyako is the token airhead in Hidamari Sketch, though Yuno sometimes fights for that title. Yuno and Miyako are in the same grade and class and floor. What a coincidence, eh? She's apparently poor and as such is super concerned with food, as seen above. Well, it isn't like she wants for food, but whenever there is free food, or food in general, she's all for it. And eats it quickly. She's the quirky type of person that I love and she's also super talented in drawing and singing. And being a horse, apparently. She's not a complete airhead, though, as she is nice and stuff like that. But she still can't help teasing our next person.

Hiro

Damn, the only good picture I liked of Hiro has her hair not in buns. Oops. Well, there'll be a picture of her with buns later. Just wait for it. Anyway, Hiro is a second year at Yamabuki High and lives directly under Yuno. She's the housewife type, which works out well in two ways. One, her VA is Yuki Goto, who I'm pretty sure also did Mikuru in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and is pretty housewife-y in that also. Two, yuri. Which I'll discuss later. Anyway, she's rather worried about her weight, and is seen trying to go on a diet many times. I'm not quite sure it works. I don't think Miyako thinks so either, as she often makes sumo wrestling jokes and then gets hit. I'm sure Miyako'll learn one of these days... Maybe.

Sae

Sae is also a second year at Yamabuki and her room is under Miyako's. She's actually a published novelist under the pseudonym 'Tachibana Aya'. The only reason she's taking art is that she feels that the only person to be able to draw what she wants in her novels is herself. As the boy look-a-like character, she surprisingly is not all that tomboy-ish. That title goes to Miyako. It isn't like she's completely bad at sports though. Tennis, for one, is something she's very good at, according to Hiro. She gets surprisingly riled up whenever people talk about dates, and always whenever she is pushed about it, she starts saying things like "Of course I've been on a date! I've been on a hundred already!" or "Yeah, I always go here for a date!" when it is pretty obvious she hasn't. That's just Sae trying to keep her cool upperclassmen points though. She has a little sister who appears only in the anime.

Yoshinoya-sensei

Yuno and Miyako's current teacher and Hiro and Sae's past teacher, she's one of those crazy, over-the-top-but-still-nice teachers kids love. She gets really into cosplay (though she doesn't refer to it as such) and is always in some trouble or other with the principal (also an awesome character, but you really need to see him animated, and I unfortunately do not have a gif of him). Surprisingly, she's a pretty good teacher. Well, when she's not getting scolded by the principal at any rate.

~~Metapod~~ Ume-sensei

A self-insert of the manga artist. He (she?) doesn't really do anything. I only included him/her for the Metapod joke. XD It really looks like one, doesn't it?

Yuri

And now onto our yuri! I really only see two pairings, but (on Danbooru at least) apparently people have been mixing things up a bit. Oh well.

Hiro x Sae

The most overt pairing, these two are a pretty good match. Hiro is always worried about Sae, especially when Sae goes into Novelist!mode and forgets to eat. They're always together, and the vibe between them is pretty good. Also, they pretty much always know what's going on with the other. In fact, in one episode, Miyako and Yuno are surprised when Sae says she doesn't know where Hiro is. I like this pairing, because these two are pretty cute with each other. And they have TONS of subtext.

Miyako x Yuno

Not a lot of art for these two by themselves for some reason. I guess I should start looking elsewhere for my images. Anyway, these two are also together all the time and have a good vibe around each other. For some reason, though, I really can't see them as being a couple. Huh. Weird, isn't it?

Well, that's it for me. I really have nothing else to say... Except that I need to start watching the new season. I hear they introduce new characters (and possible yuri). If that is actually true, I guess I'll just have to make another post about it. Well, whatever. As a closing note, I leave you with group pics!

Hey, I actually used all the pics I had in my Hidamari Sketch folder! ...I need more pics for this series... T_T

See you next time!

All's Quiet on (My) Yuri Front

2010-01-27T21:11:00.006-05:00

*sigh* Besides the continued broadcast of Kobato (YES.), I haven't heard aaaaaaaaaaaaaanything about new yuri stuff. I guess this means it's time for me to rewatch old stuff, huh? Even my manga fixes are pretty scarce. What a terrible season. Also, probably one of the biggest things on any yuri fan's watchlist, the MAHOU SHOUJO LYRICAL NANOHA movie came out a couple days ago, and I have heard nothing about it. T_T I WANT TO SEEEEEEEEEEEE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!! Gah.

But yes. Let us move onto my actual point. Today is another Geeky As Charged post! Yay...? *cricket noises*

...I guess I'll just move forward, huh? So I'm taking an acting class this semester and all I can think about throughout it is manga like Skip Beat and Glass Mask. I wonder if reading/watching stuff like that will actually end up helping me...? But anyway, that's it for today's Geeky As Charged! Oh, and I suppose I should put a picture up... Hm. I'm hoping for this in the Nanoha movie:

I know it's unlikely, but a fan can hope, right? ...right...?

Pokémon Platinum

2010-01-24T11:07:00.004-05:00

Some good news! There's finally a good DS emulator out there! Hooray~♫ It's for Windows, which sucks, because I have a Mac, but I somehow manage to make do with my Windows... emulator. >_> But anyway. The first game I got on my emulator was Pokémon Platinum! While you might say "What does this have to do with yuri?" you're too naive! Of course there's yuri involved! XD In this case, putting aside any knowledge you (or I, for that matter) have of the Pokémon anime, the yuri couple is Hikari x Shirona (Dawn x Cynthia). I have no idea how they emerged as a couple, just that the fanart of them can be pretty cute/funny. XD Plus, I hear that they get a date in Platinum... Who knows if that's true though.

.....................................*girl is doing research*...........................................

So apparently, the manga is a likely suspect for where this pairing came from (although there is still only a little subtext). I don't really mind except that NO ONE FREAKING SCANLATES THE POKÉMON MANGA. *sob*

Oh well. Have some pictures of the pairing (plus a really cute one I found~):

All right! I admit it! I got a Turtwig solely because of this picture! BUT IT'S JUST TOO DANG CUTE.

Geeky As Charged

2010-01-19T16:11:00.003-05:00

Have you ever had those moments where, while walking around or doing something random, you notice something that reminds you of a fan work? It seems to happen to me a lot, so I'm going to start a new feature called "Geeky As Charged"! It won't be a weekly post or anything, but everytime I notice something, I'll make a small little post with the Geeky As Charged tag and possibly on the title too. OK! Explanations are over, so let's go!

Today's Geeky As Charged: I went to see the relatively new "Sherlock Holmes" movie the other day, and the only thing I could think of after was DezoPenguin's AU Mai-HiME series featuring Shizuru as Holmes and Natsuki as Watson. As of now, it's up to the third story. Here is one, two, and three. He also has a side-story up.

Sad, innit? Also, have a complimentary image! It's not official fanart for this fanfiction, but I think it works OK with DezoPenguin's series.

Sasameki Koto

2010-01-13T16:39:00.004-05:00

Pre-Edit Edit: It occurred to me that I kept telling you guys to go and read Sasameki Koto but I didn't include a link to do so. Orz I'm sorry. But yeah, go here for the greatness that is Sasameki Koto!. And if you can't get there for some reason, go here instead and then click on the project page to find the previous chapters~

With the end of the year 2009 also comes the end of the winter anime season. And one of the things I'm saddest to see go is Sasameki Koto. I'll also miss Kobato, but it hasn't ended yet, so it's not applicable. XD ~~I was going to try and release this post before the new year, but I ended up getting sidetracked and not finishing before midnight. Orz~~ I was going to try to release this post sometime during the very start of the new year, but ended up getting sidetracked. *headdesk* BUT ANYWAY. THE SASAMEKI KOTO POST IS ~~FINALLY~~ HERE.

This post will be very image heavy. There might also be some NSFW images. Please proceed with caution.

Sasameki Koto has a very typical plot. You know, the "I'm in love with you, but you're dense/have a problem and can't love me back, and because I love you, I'm going to ignore my love so that you will be happy ~~but I'm still gunning for you~~ even at the expense of my happiness" ones. What makes up for its plot, for me at least, is the characters and the humor. Because, really, there's some great stuff in here. And since some jokes you just have to read the entire thing to get, we're mainly going to talk about characters. Again. ~~I promise I will someday write a post that is mostly about the plot rather than the characters. But that day is not today. And this post is about the characters, not the plot.~~ Oh, and the images used in this post will be from the manga, since the anime follows pretty faithfully (with the exception of episode 12, I think), and the manga has funny little asides. :D

Characters
Please note that all names will be written in the Asian style, i.e., Surname Firstname, unless otherwise specified. Also, click on images to magnify them. Thank you.

Murasame Sumika
One of the protagonists, she's the one who has unrequited love. She's also the straight man character, though amusingly, she goes off into her own fantasy world sometimes. Anything else I could say is neatly summed up in this picture:
It's nice when the manga does your work for you. 8D

Kazama Ushio
The other main protagonist after Sumika, she's the one that Sumika likes. Unfortunately, Ushio only likes cute girls, a fact that is repeatedly rammed down the readers' throats. Also, she's unexpectedly a bookworm. ...Oh? Why is that unexpected? Must be an anime thing where good looking girls are automatically not bookworms. Or something. Ushio's reluctant to actually fall in love, because she was rejected by an apparently close friend when she was younger. So it seems that as long as a girl is cute and Ushio's not friends with her than it's a hit for Ushio. Too bad Sumika doesn't fit those criteria. Do your best, Sumika! Ushio will fall to your awesomeness sooner or later!

The We're-together-all-the-time-so-I'm-going-to-put-both-your-character-descriptions-in-one pair, Hachisuka Tomoe and Taema Miyako!
Tomoe is the taller one and Miyako is the blonde. These two are, so far, the only official yuri couple ~~unfortunately~~. They make friends with Sumika and Ushio early on in the series after the latter two catch the former two kissing. Their role, besides being the instigator of a plot arc or two, I'm pretty sure, is pretty much to be a yuri couple in a yuri manga. XD Miyako, despite her cute looks, is "the type that will crush a fly without flinching," or so Tomoe describes her. Tomoe, in contrast, is actually two years older than everyone else, since she took off two years in order to bring back the family fortune. Or something like that. Perhaps because she knows that high school won't last forever, Tomoe is very gung-ho about participating in school activities, particularly about joining a club. But not just any club. It's a club with "club activities by girls, for girls, and about girls! A Girl's Club for girl-loving girls who had no choice but to enter a co-ed school! We won't speak of males or give them a single glance! After school, it'll be just us girls! Only girls! We'll spend our time delightfully, beautifully!!!" or so Tomoe describes it to Sumika. But because it's a ludicrous idea, it gets shot down. Later, the group forms a girls' karate club that is sort of like Tomoe's description, but not really. Here's an example of what they do:
The explosion in the background is the car that they rode in.

There's also the straight friend who eats a lot and reminds me of Hayate from Nanoha (but not because she eats a lot), but I couldn't find a good picture of her, no pictures. DX These five people form the core group in Sasameki Koto.

Along the way, they are joined by more people who each make up a mini story arc:

THE FUCKING TRAP
And because he's a trap, we won't talk about him.

Aoi Azusa
A classmate of the group's, she's initially protrayed as snobby. But this is because she likes yuri of a gentler nature, like from Marimite (which is, incidentally, also a very good series that I should review but might end up not because it's pretty extensive. She turns out to be a huge fangirl of Ushio's older brother, who writes yuri light novels. And because Ushio and Sumika don't want to tell her that her beloved author is a man, Ushio tries to distance herself from Azusa, and because Azusa's only friend in the group is Sumika, it ends up like this:

So Azusa ends up being an obstacle. But it's OK, because she figures out that Sumika is madly in love with Ushio and doesn't try to get between them any further. Yay!

Charlotte Munchausen (written in western style)
A transfer student from Germany, her father and her belong to the German branch of Sumika's family's karate style. Because of that connection, she's currently staying with the Murasame family in order to get a little more acquainted with the Japanese lifestyle (and to more easily go to practices). However, because Ushio likes cute girls and because Charlotte can look like this:
Ushio really, really likes her. Or at least always wants to dress her up in cute things. Sumika, on the other hand, wants Ushio to stop fawning over Charlotte, so she puts into operation a plan to buff up Charlotte and make Ushio not like her anymore. This leads into Charlotte saying how she really admires Sumika and wants to be just like her (big, strong, and kind, or something like that). This causes Sumika to overdo things, which causes Charlotte to get sick and collapse at school, which causes Sumika to feel guilty, so when Ushio confrotns Sumika about making Charlotte go too far, well... That's what sets off the current arc. People are getting sick left and right (and by people, I mean Sumika and Ushio) and people are avoiding each other or at least pretending to be just like always (and by people, I mean Sumika and Ushio) and people are remembering the good old days (and by people, I mean Sumika and Ushio once again).

Pairings
I'm only going to talk about Sumika x Ushio because I'm a sucker for that pairing. XD And by talk, I mean I'm going to post a bunch of pictures of them because anything I could say is pretty much said in the manga. XDDD

.........................I had so many other things I wanted to say, but I can't remember them anymore. I also have a bunch of pictures left but I'm tired of having to insert pictures and then scrolling all the way to the top just to paste them at the bottom, so I will leave you with these last few pictures. Later then!

Edit:...I am so glad the manga is continuing. SO. GLAD. THAT LAST CHAPTER WAS JUST... GAH!!! NEXT CHAPTER PLEEEEEAAAAAASE!!!

Edit Edit: I'm also including this picture because my reaction is much like Sumika's. XD
XD

Fandom wins and woes

2010-01-11T02:15:00.005-05:00

So, I should be sleeping right now, but instead I'm going to post a little something for you guys. Doesn't this show how much I love you? ~~Please disregard the still in progress post on Sasameki Koto.~~ Today- well, tonight really- was pretty awesome yuri-wise. Not because of any new series or anything. Just, my favorite story EVER got updated today, and it was as awesome as ever. If you know at least a little bit about Negima and if you like Konosetsu, go ahead and check it out. I promise it's worth your time.

While we're on the subject of fandom, I might as well discuss some of my views about fandoms. I'm not going to lie, I'm largely removed from the various fandoms I like. I don't join every possible forum about my favorite pairings or series and, while I do buy the merchandise of my favorite series, I don't obsessively collect everything. I read a lot of fanfiction and try to get my hands on whatever doujin is out there, but my one epic fanfiction masterpiece is still in my head and not on paper. And I'd die trying to draw a doujin. So you could call me a passive fan. But recently, it seems that shipping wars are again growing.

I was lucky when I entered my first fandom. I came into it years after it had been popular, so the shipping wars- if any, actually- were pretty much over and done with. It also helped that I was pretty naive and open-minded and didn't really care who got with who as long as the story was good. I was lucky with the next big fandom too, as the major shipping war in that fandom had also largely vanished to the backburners (though of course there were a few battles here and there still raging). In one of my more recent fandoms, though, it seems that the war is going to come back. And that brings me to my main thought: Why can't people block themselves from reading something they don't like?

I've read of plenty of stories where authors get flamed just for writing a pairing that the flamer doesn't like. Why does this happen? I mean, really, it's not like you, as a reader, are compelled and must read every single story in the fandom. And while I can understand getting angry if the author intentionally mislabels his/her stories as one pairing when in reality it is another, most of the time the author clearly states about which pairing the story is written. It really irritates me that people in the fandom will flame an author just for writing something they don't like when it's the fan's fault for reading it in the first place. That's like getting a cleaver with a clear warning sign about how dangerous it is, purposefully chopping off a body part or something, and then trying to sue the maker of the cleaver for your injury. How stupid is that? And then it makes the rest of the fandom look stupid too. So I just want to say to the people who do this: Fuck you and I hope you get a lobotomy or some other gruesome death. You are the people that make fandoms look bad and you are the reason that shipping wars happen. Go take your Helen-of-Troy acts somewhere else, and GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FANDOM.

plzkthxbai.

This is what happens when I don't get my sleep and instead trawl the internets. So now I will sleep and hopefully that post I've been promising will finally come out. Orz Also, a small image to keep you company:

...Oops.

2010-01-08T10:47:00.006-05:00

Damn. I had this nice post laid out that I was going to release on New Year's Eve. And then that passed. I decided to post it on New Year's Day instead. And that passed. Now I still don't have it done and I haven't posted in about a week. Please forgive me. Orz

Normally, as compensation for leaving you guys with nothing to read, I would post something big, but that post is still in the works, unfortunately. So instead, I'll give you some of my news updates. Of the past anime season, Kobato is still going (pleasedon'tstopat13pleasedon'tstopat13pleasedon'tstopat13), Sasameki Koto has ended, which a post about is forthcoming, and Kimi ni Todoke is on hold because I can't stand the arc they are at right now. With my anime watch list pretty much empty, I'm going to try to catch up on old stuff, namely Aoi Hana, which I was going to watch when it came out, but was unfortunately with family and without a laptop. I heard it was good though. Besides watching old anime, I've also gotten really into Vocaloid. This is bad in many ways. One: It is similar to iDOLM@STER in that there are many characters and I like ~~all~~ ~~most~~ many of them. Two: It is similar to iDOLM@STER in that I've gotten hooked on it. So part of the reason I haven't been posting is because I've been trawling ~~Danbooru~~ the net for pics of Luka, who is one of my favorites. And I might go back to doing that now, so see ya! 8D

Shin Koihime Musou

2009-12-26T12:57:00.004-05:00

....Why do I set myself up for this? I knew this would not be good when I first heard of it, I knew that I probably wouldn't like it after the end of the first season, and I knew I didn't like it as I watched it. So why did I watch all of it? One word: Fanservice. And it is because of this fanservice that there will be no pictures in today's post because I'm sitting in my family room and if I searched through the no doubt softcore porn filled pictures right now, it would lead to awkward questions. So instead you'll have to look them up yourselves. Or something. Anyway, Shin Koihime Musou and its prequel Koihime Musou (not to be confused with the visual novel, which has considerably less yuri than the anime, I'm pretty sure) are remakes of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in anime form. Except ~~all~~ most of the characters all changed genders and have considerable... assets, we shall say. I would put a spoiler tag EXCEPT THAT THERE'S NOTHING TO SPOIL. AT ALL. Really, the plot is so... And the characters are very... Yeah. You'd really have to watch it yourself just to understand what the heck is going on ~~but that's only if you can keep yourselves from watching the bouncing brea- ba- assets~~. Of course, the only thing of importance to me is the ~~fanservice~~ yuri. And GAWD THERE IS A LOT OF YURI. XD You can pretty much pair up everybody above the 4'8" line and it'd be OK ('cause everyone under that is lolibait). And episode 7 of the first season is... Well, let's just say it gets a little steamy, shall we? 8D

And that's it for today! Look at that, only one paragraph. That just goes to show how little of anything this series has. Oh, and because I forgot to do it yesterday, Merry Christmas! >_>

(If anybody's wondering, I got Beatles Rock Band and a WHOLE BUNCH OF YURI for Christmas. That's why today's rating is 10! Yes!!!)

Canaan

2009-12-25T16:11:00.000-05:00

All right, now that finals is over, it's back to business! Today's post is going to be about Canaan! And no, not the religious place. The ~~fourth BeeTrain~~ girls-with-guns anime! Yay~ Today's post comes with pictures because people apparently like them. 8D

Canaan
Canaan is one of the main characters, of course. She's the guns for some secret government agency or something. Synesthesia, which is in the real world the ability to link senses, is somehow used as a super ultra awesome weapon enhancer, so Canaan is super ultra awesome because of her synesthesia. (Don't ask me. I don't know either.) Her backstory's weird. Apparently, some mercenary guy or something went around destroying stuff and picking up orphans he thought would suit his needs. And every time he picks one up, he names them 'Canaan,' meaning 'Land of Hope' which is helpfully told to the viewers many times in the series. Luckily, we only meet one other Canaan...

Alphard Alshua, a.k.a. Canaan
Alphard is the other Canaan that we meet in the show. She's the head of the terrorist organization called 'The Snakes.' Strangely though, her goal isn't terror. Not really. What she wants most is to see the ultimate weapon that the mercenary guy was trying to create and who turns out to be Canaan. So the entire show is pretty much about her picking on her, which kinda sucks. It's OK though. While she has a totally worthless cause like that, the main terrorist mantle falls upon...

CRAZY BITCH and her little lapdog
She has a real name. I don't remember what it is. But this girl is definitely crazy. She got picked up by Alphard (or Canaan #1, if you prefer to call her that) after she left the mercenary guy and has stuck with her ever since. This somehow gives her the power to call Alphard her older sister. What makes her crazy is that she's a sadist. And she's in love with Alphard. Like, crazy in love. (Sorry about that pun, couldn't help it. >_>) And because she's crazy in love, she gets super jealous. When Alphard starts focusing on Canaan, she goes ballistic and does all sorts of stupid things to prove that she's better. Or something. And while we're talking about romantic partners...

Maria Osawa
She's the one that doesn't look like Canaan. XD Anyway, she's a photographer friend of Canaan. I don't remember how they met, because that flashback was in one of the earlier episodes that I recall badly, but it had something to do with diseases. Or something. Anyway, she's the helpless I-don't-want-to-hurt-anyone type that Awesome Badass girls like Canaan seem to pick up like lint. Which is not to say that Maria is like lint! Not at all! In fact, she's pretty smart, which makes me like her ever so much more than Meg in Burst Angel (and look at how many similarities there are here, eh?). Of course, because she's smart, we don't have the epic yuri ending that I was waiting for. Dammit!

Yuri
Speaking of yuri, there are two... No, three main yuri couples in this.

Maria x Canaan
First off is Maria x Canaan. These guys are so in tune, it isn't funny. In fact, towards the end, when Maria is stuck in a train next to a bomb and Canaan is off fighting Alphard, she says that she doesn't need to worry about Maria because she can still sense her kindness. And GOD I hated that part. I was all, go save her! But wait, you have to kick the shit out of Alphard! Nooo, what will happen?! It was stressful. They also get this one scene where they basically say, "I want to stay with you forever and ever and ever and ever and-"

...Well, OK. Maybe not like that. But it was a very touching scene!

Canaan x Canaan or Alphard x Canaan or Canaan squared
Of course there's also the requisite BA-Girls-Should-Go-Together pairing, as seen here. (More info about that will probably be written about if I do a Madlax post. Maybe. >_>) It isn't very plausible, as Canaan sees Alphard's color as white, which to her signifies death. Also, I'm pretty sure Alphard was in love with the mercenary guy. Or at least had 'strong feelings' for him. Or this could just be my wanting Maria and Canaan to get together reaaaaaaally badly.

The last couple is Alphard x Crazy Bitch. And Crazy Bitch dies in the end. Pairing over. XD

That's about it for Canaan! Oh, and because I happened to have this picture, here's another character:

Comic Relief Girl

See ya next time!

Opinion Wanted!

2009-12-23T20:35:00.004-05:00

So, I know it's been a while since I posted anything. This isn't because of lack of interest or effort on my part. On the contrary, I've been trying to write out my post for Canaan for the past several days and have been failing miserably at it, as can be seen by the lack of a post. XD But thinking about it, I realized that my difficulty with writing anything isn't because I can't think of anything to say; rather, it's because I can't think of any good pictures to put in my posts. So here's the question: Should I not include pictures so that I have more posts or should I include pictures and then take ridiculously long to post something? I know what my preferences are, but I want to know what my scant few readers think. So option 1 or option 2?

We I eagerly await your thoughts! ...If there are any. Orz

Needless 24

2009-12-13T01:07:00.002-05:00

This'll just be a short little post, no pictures or anything.

Oh, yeah, and SPOILER ALERT. Just to let you know.

So, apparently Needless ended. I only say apparently since it's at ep 24 when most seasons of this size are 26, but it has a very 'ending' feel to it. We'll see if anything else happens. I've already written a post about Needless, so if you haven't read that already, click on the 'Needless' tag and read up on what I've said. Instead, this post'll be about the ending itself. Little to no yuri, sadly. The Shoujo Butai Squad or whatever they're called is mostly dismantled but running a cafe. But what I really want to talk about is Cruz's older sister. (For those of you who don't remember, Cruz is called Yamada by mostly everyone else.) And I just want to say that I reaaaaaaaaally want to pair her up in yuri ways. >_> I know she liked Arclight (not as much as the psychokinesis lady THANK GOODNESS *shudders* That was definite DO NOT WANT moment), but still. I really, really want to see that. >_>

In other news, though, the Needless specials will probably have a high level of yuri. Cruz is supposed to infiltrate a girls school for whatever reason. And BAM! Yuri. You can see it coming from a mile away. Well, that and harem and good ol' pantyshots, but that's beside the point. There will be Yuri, especially when the animators used such a suggestive first ending. (Note: NSFW) I'm slightly looking forward to that, but not really because ~~Cruz's older sister most likely won't be there~~ the yuri will be just fanservice and there will be no actual yuri. Except that doesn't make much sense because most yuri in anime is fanservice. Orz Oh well. We'll just leave that alone, shall we? Now, off to watch more Yuri ~~fanservice~~!

Much Ado about Yuri... Not.

2009-12-12T16:03:00.004-05:00

Well, a new week has gone by, and again, nothing new has happened. Wait, that's not true! The latest English translation of my favoritest favorite manga EVAR came out four days ago! Yes! But they don't have it in the local bookstores! No!

Orz

Somehow these things always happen to me. In other news, though, it will probably be another week before I can post something of importance. I am currently immersed in the hell that is FINALS WEEK, so... Yeah. But that's real life, so we're not going to talk about it. Instead, I want to direct you to the 'work' I've recently been doing. It's not exactly yuri, but, it's relevant. Ish. If you have high power yuri goggles on.

But now I'm off to real life. Next time, we should be seeing some old school yuri. Maybe. >_>