I've just finished volume 16 (chapter 142) and I just have to say...
SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER
Musashi~! Oh man, I was squealing so much for those chapters. Best volume yet, easily. Man oh man. It's filled with so much awesome. Hiruma lowering his defenses to allow us to see how much he missed Musashi was the highlight for me. Aaaaah. So much goodness. I never would have expected Kurita to get so worked up, hahah! And Musashi himself is awesome.
Being the avid HiruMamo fan I am, I also loved Mamori's commentary right when Musashi joined the team again. It's nice to see her so involved with their lives.
Oh man. I still can't get over it. I may go out and buy 16 now. <333
Now on to read more!
~Ria
I'm feeling rather lazy, so I'll only count the anime I've started/seen new episodes of.
Aria - I'm speechless. I had low expectations of this series, simply because I tend not to enjoy slice-of-life as much as others do (so it always comes off as over-hyped to me). But Aria has far surpassed these expectations. I love it. Gosh, I love it so much. I can't get enough, and I wish it would be released in the US quicker so I can own it. <333
Azumanga Daioh - Yay. I'm still enjoying it. I wish there was more Yomi, though. D: She's one of the most realistic girls, in my opinion, and she gets so little screen time. T_T I like Sakaki quite a bit, but she could do with a little less... give it to Yomi, Sakaki-san~
Ghost Hound - Watched episode 16 and was reminded of how awesome this show can be. :D The long, confusing explanations keep it from getting a higher score, but I do enjoy it quite a bit.
School Rumble - I dropped this a while ago at episode 5, but this week I had the strange urge to start it up again. It's a lot better than I remember. Tenma's an idiot, though. Absolutely adorable, but an idiot nonetheless. I've been watching this dubbed, since that's the only way I can on veoh, but it's actually very well done IMO.
Vampire Knight - Same old, same old. I'm glad Toga's here, though. I've always liked him. And he's absolutely HOT in the anime. Yay. :D
xxxHOLiC - Kei - KOHANE-CHAN~~~~~!
I just bought the first volume of Lucky Star today. I've only watched one episode dubbed, but I'm suitably impressed. I actually really, really like all the voices. They translated everything pretty well, methinks. Ria ish happy~
I've also finished reading Pretty Face. It was... okay. The ending could have been a lot better, but whatever. :P
~Ria
Allison and Lillia - It's a pretty nice series. I still need to watch episodes 4 and 5, but I'm enjoying it so far. There's something about it that makes it seem incredibly slow at times, but Allison far makes up for it. ^^
Azumanga Daioh - I had the sudden urge to rewatch it, so here we are. ^^ I'm enjoying it a lot more the second time around. Of course, the first half of the series outstripped the second half for me first time around, so we'll see how it ends up.
Chi's Sweet Home - ...can anyone say "CUUUUUTE~!"?
Cowboy Bebop - Urg. I need to start watching this again. I really like what I've seen so far, although it doesn't quite reach the "masterpiece" level for me. Spike is uber cool, though. :D
Fushigi Yuugi - The manga is a lot better so far. The anime isn't half bad, but Miaka annoys me greatly. >.>
Ghost Hound - Hmm, now that this is finally finished being subbed, I really should catch up.
Itazura na Kiss - My favorite of the spring shows~ Man, this show is soooo good! :DD I love everything about it. If it keeps it up, or gets even better, it just may become one of my all-time favorites.
Kure-nai - Another winner. The animation, characters, dialogue, and plot are all just so good. I can't find a single thing wrong with it so far (well, besides the first ten minutes of the first episode being way too confusing). I love Murasaki~ <3
Marmalade Boy - Hoo-boy (pun intended~) am I enjoying this! It's so cheesy, it's great. The music always makes me giggle, but I honestly am really digging it. Old-school ftw~
Mokke - Started out strong, is getting progressively weaker. We'll see.
Special A - Ugh. This is pretty bad so far, which is sad considering all the potential. I probably won't drop it unless it gets a lot worse, but it's nothing good. Kei and Hikari are so annoying I can barely stand them. >_> Even though I've only read two chapters, the manga is way better.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Like AzuDaioh, I'm liking it better the second time around. Haruhi is awesome now instead of a bitch. :P
To-LOVE-Ru - Hmm. It's not half-bad for an ecchi, but Lala and Saki seriously annoy me. Saki is an okay character, but her laugh (HOW many times did she laugh in ep. 5?!) is horrid. And Lala... well, she's just kinda stupid. Cute, but stupid. At least Haruka and Rito are okay characters. Oh, and then there's Zastin. <3333
Vampire Knight - Not terrible. The animation is shitty, and the drama isn't executed as well as it is in the manga, but it's pretty good. I enjoy watching it at any rate.
xxxHOLiC - Kei - YESYESYESYESYES. I love Kei. Seriously. Spider Grudge, Doumeki and Watanuki goodness, and the lovable Kohane-chan (whom I honestly like, so shush Kohane-chan-haters XD). w00t w00t
I doubt I'll be this extensive every week... or, at least, I won't say anything about a show if I haven't watched more episodes. *nods*
In other news, I just bought the first two volumes of Glass Fleet today. They were only ten dollars apiece, so I couldn't resist. I'll probably start it tonight or later this week.
Also bought I-O-N by Arina Tanemura. It's quite obvious this is one of her first works, for the artwork isn't as great as FMwS or SDC, and the story could use some fleshing out, but it was pretty decent.
Got caught up on D.Gray-man, and my love for it has rekindled. TYKI~~~
Finished Zombie Powder. It could have been epic. Instead, all the potential was wasted as it came to a too-early conclusion.
Next up on my manga list to finish: Pretty Face.
And that's about it. XDDD
~Ria
I finished my newest cosplay. ^^ It was really easy, seeing as I only had to make one thing. Heh.
Yes, Higurashi has taken over my life. Which is why I'll be cosplaying as Shion whenever I go to a con again.
I would have preferred to do Mion or Hanyuu, but I had all the materials for Shion's uniform in Kai. Pleated blue skirt, white shirt, blue socks, brown shoes... all I had to make was her little tie. I already had a gray/brownish tie-thing (not quite the right color, but it's close enough), so I simply glued a long stripe of blue fabric around it. EASY~
...I don't have a green wig, but a friend of mine might have one. I do have a yellow ribbon.
Lucky~!
*wants to go to a con now*
~Ria
S-so. I was going to write an entry a looong time ago, but I completely forgot. *sweatdrops*
I completed my first goal of the year! YAY~ The Masks We Wear is complete, half-way through its first edit, and at a solid 87,000 words. :D Ria ish happy.
I've finished a few books since the last time I blogged...
Homeland by R. A. Salvatore -- 8/10 (My favorite of the first triology)
Winter Moon by Dean Koontz -- 8.7/10 (Sogood! The ending was a tad rushed, though)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain -- 9/10 (Absolutely a delight to read)
Right now I'm working on The Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden. His style is good, but I can't decide if I like how he writes dialogue or not yet. I'm still on the first chapter, though. XD
And now comes time for rants! Yay! Because we all know Ria loves to rant. The topics for today? The Air movie and Weiss Kreuz Gluhen. Oh, and Higurashi. But that isn't a rant. It's a glory-fest. :D
SPOILERS AHEAD~
Air (movie) [4/10]
I had rather low expectations and, unfortunately, I was not pleasantly surprised. The first twenty or so minutes were okay. Everyone seemed pretty normal. The more I watched, however, the more the characters began to change. Misuzu was still cute, but I don't think she would have been that bold. I mean, really. Yukito, too, was much too cold and standoffish for the majority of the movie. He barely seemed to care about Misuzu at all!
One of my favorite things about the series was the relationship between Misuzu and Yukito. It was tender, caring, and not explicitly stated. Did they love each other? Yes, I think so. But it was different, and I loved that. The movie made it much more open and in-your-face. I'm all for the subtle nuances, so this really bothered me.
The Haruko/Misuzu relationship was changed, too, and again I disliked it. Haruko wasn't as great in the movie as in the series, which saddened me. D:
Oh. And there was no beach, Mama! scene. That broke my heart. It was my absolute favorite part in the series.
One of my little peeves was how Yukito was there for Misuzu's death. While the events in the movie made it necessary, I preferred the pure mother-daughter aspect.
One thing I did like (gasp!) was how Kanna's story was told. It flowed much better to have it interwoven with Misuzu's story. It wasn't just stuck in the middle like in the series. On the other hand, Kanna and Co. didn't get much screen time.
So yeah. I did not like the movie, as you can tell. Heh.
Weiss Kreuz Gluhen [6/10]
...I think I have a love-hate relationship with this series. On the one hand, I love the animation. Everything is so pretty~! The music was awesome, too. On the other hand, the characters changed. Ken was fine; his change didn't bother me. In fact, I like him much more in Gluhen than WK. Youji turned into an angst-bucket. I wanted to slap him so badly. I ended up actually hating him. He was fine in WK! A little angsty, but it was nothing compared to this. And really. Ending up married to an Ouska (no, I don't know if that's spelled right...) with amnesia? Psh.
Aya was too nice. It wasn't horrible, I guess, and I can see why he would change with Aya-chan back, but it seemed a tad sudden to me. Not a big deal, though, I guess. *shrugs* And he certainly turned pretty. *-*
Omi, being my favorite character, was beyond awesome. I love him so much. The problem? Not enough screentime! Instead of our beloved Omi, we get an annoying brat named Sena. He wouldn't have been so bad, I guess, if he wasn't such an obvious replacement for Omi and a half-developed one at that. *cries in the corner*
At least Schwartz came back in the end. I love those guys so much. <3 I do wish we could have learned what happened to them, though... *sighs* I know Nagi survived, so I assume Crawford and Schuldig did as well.
The second to last episode was EPIC, I must say. I would have been perfectly happy to end it there. Well. I would have if those four guys with explosions and helicopters had been explained. What the hell, guys? Seriously.
Still, I guess thirteen wasn't so bad. Omi was badass, which is always a plus, and Ken was amusing. Youji... well, whatever.
I was, however, very surprised with Aya's death scene.
I've been told that he doesn't really die, since in the manga sequel he's alive and well. Still, his "death" was dramatic and rather well done. I was pleased with it, seeing as it could have been uber cheesy. The music was very, very good, so that helped quite a bit.
Yeah. Not as good as the first season, despite the animation, but it was fairly decent.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai [10/10]
Aaaaah. I love this series. So, so much. I just finished it a few days ago, and boy oh boy. What a ride. While it wasn't as wild as the first season, it was still awesome. So, so awesome. I'm in love~ <3
My favorite character ended up being Hanyuu. She's so friggin' cute! <33 Rika was awesome, too, although I actually didn't like her in the first arc and a half. I can understand why she would be like that... but yeah.
Rena grew on me a bit, as did Shion. Satoko is still my least favorite of the group, but she's okay. Mion I love dearly. My second favorite after Hanyuu. And Keichi! He was totally awesome here~! So was Akasaka. What a badass! :P
Hauu~
I even grew to like Miyo... or, at least, little!Miyo. She was adorable! I felt really, really sorry for her, too.
A-and, um... I can't think of anything else... besides saying that it was awesome a few more times... oh! The animation was absolutely gorgeous. I loved it. <3
...I would have liked a little more mindfuck, like the first season, but whatever. Kai made me really love the characters, and that's more than enough.
END SPOILERS~
I guess that's all... Oh yeah. I did start Kanon (2006), so a blog about how awesome it is will probably come at some point. :D It should offset the rawr-ness of this one, anyhoo.
Catch ya later, alligator!
~Ria
Finally got caught up on xxxHOLiC~ This will actually be the first series where I can read each chapter as it's released. :D It was so good~! I love Doumeki. So so much. I've finally grown a bit fond of Himawari-chan, too. She's not just some side amusement/annoyance now. Now all I need to do is get caught up with Tsubasa! ...yeah, that won't take any time at all. x_x
SPOILERS FOR FRUITS BASKET UP TO 121 LALALALA.
Before that, however, comes finishing Fruits Basket. I've finally realized that there are other places than onemanga to read it. *is stupid yeah* And... OH MY GOODNESS. The Tohru/Kyo confrontation in Ch. 120? I think a little part of me died, it was so good. Gah. Amazing. And THIS is why this series is my number 1 favorite manga. It just has... everything. I can't stop reading! ...and, while I'm all caught up in the drama of Tohru, Kyo, and Akito, a little part of me is screaming, "Where is Kureno?!" T_T I need to know what happened to him... *whimpers* Surely he didn't die, right? Surely... that little bird was a sign, I know, but... waaaaaaaah. He CAN'T die. *runs around in circles*
...I have the feeling I'm gonna marathon the rest of Furuba this weekend. Yeah.
Oh, and Hiro-chan hugging his little sister? I just about starting crying, it was so sweet.
END SPOILERS~
SO YES. For those of you who haven't read Fruits Basket, go do so immediately.
Alrighty, off to read more~!
~Ria