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Why I loved Pokemon and why I still do · 16 July 2007

This post is tagged ’emotional detachment issues’, because well, it’s my emotional detachment issues!

If you asked me what I remembered most from my childhood, I’d give you this memory: crowded bedroom, my cousins and I sitting around an old television. My first cousin, a tall, lanky girl, two pigtails tied with cheap rubber bands that snapped easily sat on the bed. Her brother, my other cousin, sat next to her, a boy of moderate height who had a knack for playing brass instruments. My third cousin, a chubby and cheeky, bespectacled girl sat at her table. Silence settled over the room as the clock struck a new hour and the television screen darkened. And that familiar theme song started to play…

There was a recent 33-hour Pokemon marathon on Cartoon Network and had it not been for some prior engagement which required that I leave my house, I would’ve stayed for 33 hours to watch the entire thing. To call Pocket Monsters a cultural, world wide phenomenon would be an understatement. The fact that I, along with my friends, armed with our Gameboys and DS Lites, a decade or so later, still ‘gotta catch’em all’ is an exemplification of the power and influence Pokemon had. There is not a person out there who has not heard of Pokemon, even my grandmother knows what a pikachu is.

Ash Ketchum wasn’t much of a looker, in fact, he was quite plain, the hair, the cap, the cloth, that cocky attitude made him the perfect pedestrian protagonist of this epic shonen adventure. Misty, the voice of reason, was one of the few admirable female leads, that while annoying, managed to win me over anyways. Lastly, of the original trio, Brock, Brock the woman chasing, crazy, good natured guy essential was to any good adventure. (Come to think about it, Ash, Misty and Brock set the mold for a lot of other series, in particular Inu Yasha. Ash – Inu Yasha, Kagome – Misty and Brock – Miroku.) I just can’t bring myself to hate these people, not even Gary, who was a jerk. The best part of it all was Team Rocket. There is no Pokemon without Team Rocket. Meowth, Jessie and James are as equally important as Ash, Misty and Brock to the Pokemon franchise.

There is no single reason as to why I loved Pokemon, it was a whole combination of things melded together that formed the basis of my love for this show. Pokemon, technically, was nothing truly exceptional. The animation was plain, the concept was borrowed, even the main character was based on the hero of another, unknown and unheard of manga. Perhaps the reason that Pokemon stayed with me all these years is because it was one of the few shows that honestly had heart. It preached everything morally ethical, about saving the day, self sacrifice, doing the right thing and most of all, friendship. The foundation upon which the entirety of Pokemon is based on, to this day, is friendship. What’s so perfectly timeless is the bound between Ash and Pikachu, ever since that very first episode. The whole reason there was even Pokemon was because Ash made friends with everyone. I’m telling you, he made friends with everyone. There is not an episode where, by the end of those thirty minutes, Ash did not make friends someone he met in that episode. That’s what was so charming, so idealistic and so profound about Pokemon, the world goes around because you have friends. It’s as if everyone Ash met was connected because they were all friends.

My favorite movie, out of the dozens that spawned from the series, was Pokemon: 2000. It was monumental. I wanted so desperately to see it in theaters. I wanted a ticket stub for that show, I wanted a stub to document it’s premier. My mother never understands me. Nonetheless, I saw the movie and I was amazed. Half a dozen movies and specials later, I still can’t shake 2000 from my mind.

I’ve seen all of the movies, I’ve seen at least a dozen episodes of all of the new seasons, I’ve played the games, I’ve collected the cards, and yes, I’m in high school and yes, I’ve been doing this since I was seven, and no, I’m not tired of it yet. I’m never going to grow out of Pokemon. Every time I hear that theme, every time I see pikachu, every time I so much as even talk about the series, I’d become incredibly nostalgic.

I miss the old Pokemon, that’s the whole point of this. With the release of Diamond and Pearl and my inability to get my hands on either versions of the game, since I have no DS, made me feel left out. I haven’t felt left out since third grade. What bothered me even more was the new season of Pokemon of the same title, Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl. The main reason I stopped watching Pokemon, aside from the fact that there’s over 500 episodes and I don’t have the mind to keep up with all of it, was the declining quality with which the episodes were produced. I’m under the impression that after the first couple hundred, the animators developed a Ford assembly line, a mass production system that just churns out, episode after episode, of the same thing.

The dubbed versions of Diamond & Pearl scared me. Ash was no longer voiced by Veronica Taylor but instead by some other girl. I wanted to hear good ol’ Ash Ketchum, I wanted to see him turn back his cap and in good ol’ 1997 style send his Pikachu out to battle. What have they done with my Pokemon? What have they done with my childhood?!

Pokemon, for what it’s worth, did not make it on my list of memorable anime was because, well, it can’t really compare to Cowboy Bebop, but Pokemon is special. It will forever have a place in my heart as one of the fondest memories I have of my unfortunate childhood. Better yet, it probably was my childhood.

I loved Pokemon. Yes, I did.

Code-E – Episode 1 · 15 July 2007

Code-E I watched out of boredom, it wasn’t on my “need to see” list of the summer season, but I can’t say I regret the decision, or regret not having it on my list. It was cute, fun, and it looks some what promising. My first impressions have been often wrong, for better or for worse.

Opening The opening was instrumental, it was nice, though I didn’t really understand why it was so. It sounded a lot like happy, jazzy James Bond, spy music. Anyways, I liked the way it focused on the four main characters and at the same time managed to fit everyone else in the show in. It’s not anything to write home about, nothing to dismiss either. I was quite indifferent, slightly perplexed by the choice of music, but I’m not complaining.

Plot Seventeen years ago, a meteor hit Amizawa Lake, due it’s small size, it disappeared after impact and time passed. Seventeen years later, Chinami Ebihara, the normal high school student, found of reading, cooking and gardening, has just moved midsummer, to a new house, and a new school.
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The cream of the crop, the best of the best, the most memorable anime series…ever (to me anyways.) · 15 July 2007

There are about a dozen anime series that almost everyone has seen, wants to see, will see and needs to see. Although not always the case, the general consensus regarding these dozen or so series is that, in no particular order, they are the best shows around. Of course, they’re not everyone’s cup of tea (yes, there are people who hated Neon Genesis Evangelion. Shocking, I know, but true.) But what makes these dozen or so series truly worthy of being crowned the best series (…ever) is the fact that they are ubiquitous. They are everywhere, they’ve infiltrated our lives, canvasing every aspect of everything. They simply just are. They are there, unavoidable almost.

Even the English dubs of these shows were good! The English dubs! Good! The biggest contradictory sentence ever written in a blog: good English dubs! When the American companies dubbing these shows even acknowledge how amazing these series were, it’s time, even if you hated them to pieces, to recognize that they were indeed, if not the best, the definitive anime series (as of 2007 and not including the shows airing right now. And also, excluding movies, which would just turn into a Miyazki fest.)

Evidently, the series vary from people to people, but at least one of that dozen appears in everyone’s list. Anyways, that’s not to say that the series listed below are the best-est things ever. I just thought that they were the best-est things ever to hit the planet.

So, to the totally subjective list, in no particular order, of the most memorable anime series…ever (to me anyways)

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Hagaren is somewhere between great and extraordinary. Hagaren is the “it” action and adventure anime. The Hagaren universe, a strange blend of turn of the century Europe with fantasy serving as a metaphor for the problems of the world as a whole, was one of the most distinguishing factor of the show. The show not only has a great sense of humor and comedic timing, but at the same time an emotional and dark edge that captivated me. However, the most memorable part, the reason that it’s on this list, are the characters. From heroes to the villains and all of the characters in between, there is not one character that failed to serve a purpose. My favorite characters had to be from the military, Roy, Havoc, Riza, Maes just to name a few. Another testament to the brilliance of Hagaren is the fact that Ed is missing and arm and a leg and his brother, Al, is missing a body entirely, yet they managed to kick ass anyways. That’s an accomplishment. Also, it spawned one of the greatest anime romances ever to happen, Roy and Riza.

Gundam Wing

Gundam Wing is the best gundam series, ever…Gundam Wing is the best gundam series, ever! I’ve never expected much from the gundam shows, really. The recent Gundam Seed killed a lot of things I enjoyed about gundam and had it not been for my memories of Wing, I probably would’ve lost faith entirely in the franchise. Wing was the perfect mecha show. I swear, there’s a generation of people who watched it on Cartoon Network that would understand my sentimental feelings. Wing had everything: cute guys, kick ass mecha designs, enough action to keep me sated for thirty nine episodes and three OVAs turned movie, enough philosophical babble to alienate itself from other less ‘complex’ shows of the same genre and last but not least, silly, almost irrational love. Relena and Heero, as couple, can be crowned the most dysfunctional pairing from anything. He swore to kill her the first time they met and ended up almost sacrificing his life to protect her. And the most decisive factor behind my rationale for choosing Wing: it had one helluva a good ending, one of the most satisfying endings, one that did not butcher everything the show set up. After seeing the ending to the series, I sat there grinning like an idiot for the longest time. It was a happily ever after ending, I like happily every endings, it just felt right. Everything about Wing was just…right.

Saikano

If you actually read my blog, I have a post on Saikano that consisted of about two lines. Saikano killed me, in such a wonderful, painful way. Basically, I spent the last three episodes crying, weeping, incessantly. It felt like my heart was bleeding, like I was dying and I didn’t know why. I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the OVA, it was traumatic. I can’t even bear to hear the opening theme. It was so emotionally turbulent, it’s off the scale. It’s the best love story I’ve ever seen. It’s the best love story I’ve ever seen. The relationship between Chise and Shuji redefined the term ‘love’ for me. Every character, every character, they all died and when they died, it was like being stabbed, it was like being stabbed over and over again. Tetsu, Akemi, it was as if I knew them, and that my childhood friend, my husband died. It was so real and so depressing and so heartbreaking, it was like the world truly ended and all I had left were the memories in my heart. It was like feeling despair and hope at the same time, bittersweet doesn’t even come close. This is an instance where the animation and character designs didn’t really appeal to me, but the story was so overwhelming that I stopped caring. I think, I think this was the first time I cried so much over anything.

FLCL

Wtf? That was the only reaction I had to FLCL the first time I watched it. After re-watching it several times, it was still a “wtf?” show. It was crazy, it was so damn random. You start to question your own sanity after watching it. Am I still sane? Am I still capable of producing coherent thought? Am I okay? And at a certain point into the series the answers become, “No, I am not.” It was a total trip. The animation was beautiful, the story line was non existent but there, like sugar in water, you can’t see it but you can taste it. Haruko made the show, she brought the craziness, the randomness, everything. You can’t have FLCL without Haruko, she is the essence of the show. Regardless, each character in the show had their 15 minutes of fame and some of them really shined. The amazing thing is, under all of the randomness, it was one of the most mind blowing-ly twisted sci-fi anime, ever. It’s everywhere, it’s honestly a must see in the sense that you haven’t experienced anime until you force yourself to sit through FLCL.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

There is no good way to talk about Evangelion, it doesn’t exist. Infamous for it’s complexity and incomprehensibility and also the totally unexplainable ending, Evangelion is very close to being the definitive sci-fi anime. It’s a love it or hate it thing. There is little room for a middle ground, a no man’s land for people like me who, while acknowledging Eva as a classic, never truly cared for it. I will praise Evangelion for the impact it had on the anime world. The thing was extraordinary, it’s Gainax’s masterpiece. All the deep, thought provoking banter, coupled with mecha and violence, enough skin to satisfy the minds of viewers, Evangelion, in my mind, was the biggest, most successful mind fuck, ever. My first and foremost reaction to Eva was, “What?” It’s different from a “wtf?” reaction because you understand what had happened, you’re just lost as to exactly why it did. The ending was just a big, “What?!” Personally I preferred the original anime ending. It happened entirely in the mind and it explained and settled a lot of things. At the end of the whole roller coaster ride of a last episode, you understand Shinji, you understand everything. The movie, The End of Evangelion, made me loose what little understanding I had of anything related to Eva. Shinji Ikari goes down in history as one of the most hated and love protagonists in existence. Sometimes, I wanted very badly to just slap him, hard. His actions are so painfully pathetic sometimes, I really just wanted to hit him. In the end, all I could do was agree Asuka, “how disgusting.” Neon Genesis Evangelion was the anime atom bomb. It hit with such force, such destruction and such a prolonged side affect that’s worse than the radiation that plagued generations of those who survived the actual atom bombs. Be it good or bad, Evangelion belongs on this list, it sure as hell was memorable.

And my personal favorite of all time…

Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is the best thing to hit the planet. That’s the end of it. I loved it. Every single episode, the movie included, but somewhat to a lesser degree. Bebop was just so damn cool. It screamed cool, everything was just so freaking cool. Spike Spiegel is the epitome, the paragon of coolness. He redefines everything. The music, the characters, the plot, the mecha, everything, everything was just so bloody cool. The atmosphere the show had to it was just incredible. It was dark, omnious, eerie with a deep, overwhelming melancholy that embodied the show. The animation was exceptional, it was beautiful. The fight scenes were so fluid, it was, as Spike himself said, like water. There was a certain charm about the series, that despite it’s murky undertones, made it shine. Undeniably cool, unparalleled its brilliance, Bebop, in my mind, is the definitive anime.

Honorable Mentions

Samurai Champloo The music was nice, it was nice, soundtrack music I actually enjoyed listening to. The characters were so quirky and the interactions between them were so fun. The show had such a good feel to it, even when it ended. Deeply satisfiying, very cool show.

Cardcaptor Sakura The “it” of the maho shoujo genre. Cutest, most adorable show, ever. Sakura is the sweetest heroine, with a new outfit in every episode. Touya and Yuki, the only shonen-ai couple I liked. Sakura and Sayoaran, the cutest couple in existence, my heart goes out to them. The best part was the feeling that nothing could go wrong, when you watch it, you just know that everything will be alright.

Death Note I just finished this recently, and I was impressed to pieces. The plot was so intricate, so amazingly detailed and planned. Yagami Light was one hell of a character. It was just so damn interesting watching the thing play out. It was less about what happened and more about how. Cured me of boredom, just as it did Ryuk.

Ergo Proxy Most confusing show ever made, I loved it though. Re-l and Vincent were possible more dysfunctional than Relena and Heero. Right up there with Evangelion on incomprehensiblity. It draws from so many different things, so many bits of information that it was pretty hard to follow. The ending was nice as well, a happy ending to a dark, overwhelmingly dark and lurid anime. It had this ethereal feel to it, almost like being high, it was good.

Black Lagoon I liked Black Lagoon, I liked Black Lagoon. It was a bit crude compared to Cowboy Bebop but it was right up there with the action. Revy, the killer babe with her custom Berettas and that psychotic smile of hers, not to mention she’s Chinese AND from New York, was a great character. Rock, her polar opposite, was an immensely interesting character. The interactions between these two were as fun to watch as the action.

RahXephon Reminded a lot of Evangelion, but there were certain things I really liked about RahXephon. The animation and art were amazing. It was such a killer series to watch, pure eye candy. For one thing, Ayato Kamina was just cute. The love story between Ayato and Haruka was nicely done. The arc with Asahina broke my heart. In response to the series ending, “blah!” In response to movie ending, “eh, alright, you can get away with it.” The movie explained a lot of things, tied up loose ends. However, Saikano is definitely a level about RahXephon when it comes to sci-fi with a timeless love story. (Also, ‘nirai kanai’ came from RahXephon.)

The 08th MS Team My second favorite, all time, gundam anime. It incorporates nicely the human element into a mecha series. It’s been called the most realistic of the gundam series and I have to agree. It does nicely to display the emotions of actual soldiers and really hits home with the ending. It sidesteps awing the audience with flashy mecha and concentrates more on the people, which is ultimately what I liked about this show. Gundam Wing just had both. Shiro and Aina were a nice couple, too.

Shows that I haven’t seen, but heard were good

Kenshin OVAs I haven’t seen the entirety of the anime series, but have been wanting to see the OVAs for a while. I have to get around to it. I really wanted to see them.

Wolf’s Rain Some say it was just dumb, some say it was good. I personally enjoy the art, so I’m going to check into it anyways.

Berserk It does not look like my cup of tea at all. I don’t even like tea, but that aside. So many people have told me it was good, curiosity killed the cat. If I have time, I’ll look into this as well.

Shows that I think were overrated

Ghost in the Shell I’ve seen the majority of Stand Alone Complex and I liked it, the animation was smooth, the storyline was interesting, but it didn’t really leave that big of impression. I don’t know why people rave about this so much, maybe because I didn’t see the original series, but I thought it was quite plain, the standard sci-fi, investigative crime, realistic gun action show. There was one episode that left a particular mark whose name I cannot recall…

Eureka 7 In all honesty, after the first two episodes, I was so excited about Eureka 7. The animation was stunning, the plot line was interesting, the colors and the atmosphere was jubilant and it was just so nice. It made me feel like I can fly. And then it kinda went downhill from there. I don’t know, it bored me after a while, it lost that edge, got too caught up with superfluous things? Too many questions? Too slow, even? Any case, I can understand the hype, it started out so good, but it didn’t finish with half the energy it started with.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzuyami At one point, I was interested. I wanted to see what the hell it was all about, this cult classic, as they called it. And then I lost interest. When I actually looked into it, it struck me as being very silly. Haruhi’s eccentricity, the SOS dan, that….dance? Something just made me avoid seeing this like the plague.

Inu Yasha, Bleach, Naruto Inu Yasha was okay, Bleach was somewhat okay, and Naruto made me want to kill myself after it hit the 100s. Bleach and Naruto, the mangas, were really nice. I enjoyed the art a lot and the stories were good. Too many characters and a plot that resembled a labyrinth, but it was nice to just marvel at their artistic talents. The anime, however, killed a lot of things. Inu Yasha, on the other hand, I actually tried to watch. I saw all of the movies, the majority of the series and it occurred to me at one point, it simply was not going to end, even if the last episode rolled around. None of these were ever going to end. The length of these shows just drove me away. How do I keep up with a billion episodes, a million characters with names I can’t pronounce and even more filler episodes? I can’t! And I don’t!

Currently Airing

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann when it finishes airing, deserves a spot on that list. It’s amazing. End of story. Gainax has a knack for making epics.

Darker Than Black depending on how the ending turns out, may be considered for a spot on that list or at least being honorably mentioned. It’s not as cool as Bebop but it’s radiating the same aura.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is just funny, it really depends on how it turns out, but it’s brilliant thus far (one episode) and has potential, I think, to be a good one.

Baccano! hasn’t even aired yet, but from what I see, read and hear, I’m expecting this to be my next favorite show. 1930s New York? I’m a sucker for historical anime series, I’m a sucker for history in general, especially in the turn of the century and early twentieth century history, regarding Europe and America. Baccano! better be good.

Claymore – Episode 15 · 14 July 2007

This episode was pretty slow, calm, a bit of an interlude from the fighting, setting it up pretty nicely for the rest of the arc, which judging from this episode, will be, quite frankly, a blood bath. There’s a large, male awakened being, sticking robs into claymores to force them to awaken. I repeat, sticking ‘rods’ into claymores, while the sadistic mastermind behind this, possibly very sexually perverse, scheme sits and watches.

Plot Number forty seven, Clare, after her last mission went missing. After some really slow, monotonous conversation, the upper echelon decided that Clare could not have possibly killed Ophelia after she awakened. The higher ups at the organization are concerned nonetheless and sends Ermita and Galaeta out to get her.

Clare, cross dressing as a man, is searching for Raki. She stops a man and a woman pulling a cart of apples and asks if they’ve seen a boy with a sword, ‘her’ brother. The man replies that no, they have not and that she should try looking in a town up ahead, many people pass through there. Clare thanks them and the man tells him good luck. His companion calls him rude, thinking that Clare is a woman. The man replies that there’s no way it’s woman, seeing how he’s carrying a large sword and how deep his voice is. Clare, slightly concerned at her guise, lengthens her vocal chords for a deeper voice. She arrives in the town and checks into an inn. While bringing up dinner, the Inn keeper tells her that there are four claymores in town, and that she should be careful. Just then, the four claymores past the inn, their steel shoes clicking against cobblestone streets. Judging from their numbers, Clare concludes that they’re an Awakened Being hunting party. She spots a short haired claymore and deems her the single digit member of the party. She thanks the inn keeper and pop a few yoki suppressing pills.

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Harry Potter – a general rant and the new movie · 14 July 2007

I know this be an anime blog, but I just saw the fifth movie…Eheheh…

I commend David Yates, he’s actually made a decent, re-watchable, worthy of my $10.50 Harry Potter film. After fourth grade, I lost interest entirely in Harry Potter. After half a decade of hearing all of my friends rave and rant about the boy who lived, I’m actually thankful this whole obsession will be over after the release of the seventh book. Honestly, Harry Potter was a pretty good idea, it was cute, lil’ kid with his magic wand, the magical world living parallel to the muggle world. It was ingenious conceptually, actually. Rowling had one helluva an imagination and absolutely no skill as a writer. I’m not much of a writer myself, but I’m not exactly marketing my blog posts either. After a thousand pages of reading her boring, very dry, very monotone prose, I’m ready to kill myself. It baffles me how anyone can even remember what happened back on page twenty one, seven hundred pages later, much less three or four books ago. Why in the world would you devote so much time to a mediocre fantasy series that isn’t even that good? If you want a good fantasy story, read Neil Gaiman, read Artemis Fowl even.

My hatred for Harry Potter aside, I actually enjoyed the fifth movie. After watching the four previous movies, I was read to give up and suicide the next time Harry Potter made it to the big screens. On the verge of suicide, I took a gamble and saw it yesterday. And once again, I commend David Yates. It was a damn fine movie, considering that it was Harry Potter. When you sit there and you watch the dementers attack Harry and Dudley, Fred and George’s fireworks, that big ass dragon that came roaring down on Umbridge, the fight between the Death Eaters and the Order, Dumbledore and Voldemort, you have that feeling, you know that this is what a Harry Potter film should be. Grand, epic, bloody mind blowing and just big.

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Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – Episode 1 · 14 July 2007

I’ve been looking forward to this show ever since I started reading the manga. It was just so funny, I was literally rolling on the floor laughing, it was hilarious. It was basically just random nonsense. Totally pessimistic teacher, totally optimistic girl, thirty something kids with totally deranged problems under the totally pessimistic teacher’s responsibility, I’m in! Not to mention I had a feeling the animation would look nice. And it was! So, now, to overdosing on screens and a plot line that isn’t really even a line…

Opening “Hito toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru (人として軸がぶれている)” by Kenji Ohtsuki featuring Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue, Yu Kobayashi, Miyuki Sawashiro and Ryoko Shintani. I thought it was actually a fitting song, the opening was just as wacky as the show and it worked. That bald man in the glasses scared me to pieces, but it was fitting. “Bure bure bure bure” reminded so randomly of Buta from Gurren Lagann. Maybe I’m confusing the sound he makes with “Bure” but it reminded me of Buta. The three second animation clip in the beginning was so cute. I’d love to have it as an AIM icon, or an animated icon or some sort. Reminded me also of a black and while silent film.

“Plot” Spring, April, the beginning of hope, the beginning of everything. Jolly high school girl skipping, frolicking amidst a sea of sakura blossoms runs into an estranged, bespectacled man hanging himself from a tree. Meet Itoshiki Nozomu (he actually does have such a pretty name) and Kafuka Fuura, polar opposites, two people that should’ve never met. After giving names to all of the sakura trees (pink Minister, pink Devil, pink CEO,) and a trash can (treasure chest for the poor) she names Itoshiki “Pink Supervisor” since he was hanging from pink CEO. Obviously, Itoshiki rejects the name, saying that people have to pay money to name things like stadiums and baseball parks. Soon enough, Mount. Fuji would be Mount. Shonen Jump.

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Zombie Loan – Episode 1 · 13 July 2007

It’s official, this is the one and only time that I will ever take this many screens and actually endeavor to put all of them up. I suppose I got excited, Zombie Loan being the first show I’m blogging about from the summer season. In any case, they were supposed to be in rows of four, by I over estimated how big they should be, so they didn’t all fit.

Zombie Loan was one of the shows I was really looking forward to, along with Baccano! and the second season of Tokyo Majin. From the previews on various blog, it looked promising, full of your usual anime cliches, but quick and fun and suitable for my summer vacation attention span.

The opening, OOKAMI no NODO by The Birthday according to my fellow bloggers, has been condemned as the most disastrous opening ever devised. I’m trying despicably hard to disagree with the general consensus, and I’m failing miserably. In all honestly, I kinda, sorta liked the theme. The guitar riffs in the beginning, despite screaming generic pop rock, was catchy. I thought it was quite fighting for such a genre, until the poor man started to sing. It was shocking to say the least, his voice brings croaking to a new level. The line that stuck with me the most from the lyrics was something about a vulture screeching, only because a screeching vulture is the only way to describe the sound. The animation was also pretty generic, nothing to write home about.

Plot Kita Michiru, the female protagonist, is sprawled across the floor in a pool of blood, a large wound down her stomach. Standing nonchalantly in front of her are the other two protagonists, Shonen A and Shonen B, Shito Tachibana and Chika Akatuski respectively.

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Um…What? · 12 July 2007

There’s something wrong with WordPress, this text editor box is just getting weird. For one thing I can’t switch to ‘code’ to edit the HTML. It’s not giving the little buttons to do it in ‘visual’ mode, either. What the heck is going on!?

Ugh. It’s stuck on permanent ‘code’ editing mode. Ick.

Done with editing the theme…. · 12 July 2007

Oh man, that took a long time. And I still have to revise that damn essay. God, I waste my life being stupid when it comes to code. Alright, well, um, it’s looking like something. I mean, at least it looks normal, at least I have widgets now. I still miss my old theme. But, time to move on! It took me most of the time to find a good header picture. I got this off some site, I thought it was so cute!

I was planning to watch Claymore 15 and Zombie Loan 1 and subsequently blog about both today, but seeing how this whole theme editing fiasco took up most of that time, I’m going to have to do it tomorrow. Technically, it’s already tomorrow, but you know what I mean. For now, I’ll go ‘revise’ my essay for prep school and try to get to bed by at least three.

And still, after all that, I’m still not satisfied with that bloody sidebar! Why are my categories organized in such a weird hierarchy? Why doesn’t it do the indent thing that Leia did? Ugh! Ugh…Paper…sleep….Will be back later….

The New Theme · 11 July 2007

I really liked my old theme, but I couldn’t figure out how to get it to become ‘widget aware’ and it really bugged me. So I switched to the very generic fspring theme because the other very generic Water theme, aside from not really appealing to me, failed to work. I’m pretty much totally inept at anything above basic HTML and CSS, Php is a lost cause to me so, I changed themes. But I did really, really, really, really, really (I had a Chinese chemistry teacher who, when wished to be taken seriously, said really five times to make his point) liked Leia. It was such a pretty, unique theme.

Oh well, aesthetics comes second, practicality first. To customizing the theme!