Anime, manga, and lots of wittering about train journeys.
Post weekend in Cambridge and week at home, I am having a lazy slobbing about kind of evening, wearing slobby clothes and watching DVDs. So far that has extended to the first disc of Azumanga Daioh, which is very cute and funny and silly (thanks for lending, Ross!). Now I'm debating what to watch next. I'm probably going to watch the first episode of Green Wing series 1 again and start from the beginning there, but after that I'm not sure. At the moment it's between two Miyazaki DVDs - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke. But which shall it be?
But really, I am feeling rather drained tonight. The train journey up here was as boring as ever, and had the added fun of me having to wait for half an hour longer than usual at Reading station for my train, which was delayed because of a points failure. Then I spent the whole train journey in a seat with hardly any view out of the window so I had to crane my neck in awkward positions to stare out at the countryside and blue sky. Also, people sat next to me nearly all the way there.
It's not that I'm antisocial. It's just that I like to have space on train journeys, because being tall, it's good to be able to stretch out a bit, especially on a train that you have to sit on for four hours. So thanks to people sitting next to me I arrived in Lancaster cramped and stiff. Also, one of the people who sat next to me started making conversation. That was quite nice in a way. He saw me reading Fruits Basket #2 and asked me about it. It told him it was manga, and he didn't really know what that was, so I kind of explained it to him. Later he said maybe he should start reading manga and looked at the book, and laughed because it was girly. I explained that that particular manga is slightly aimed at girls more (it won a shojo manga award in Japan one year) but there might be other mangas out there that he would appreciate.
(I don't think FB could *exclusively* be enjoyed by girls although it is shojo (i.e. basically, girly manga) and has a lot of pretty male characters in it. There is a really good review on Amazon.co.uk of the first volume which explains its appeal a bit better than I could - the one by 'Marco Antonio "Psyboyo"'.)
Anyway. That was a nice instance of a conversation with a stranger, even if we did run out of things to talk about in the end (although pretty near where he got off, so that was lucky), and even if it was cramped sitting next to him. But the train was crowded, so I guess that was to be expected.
(Wow, I do go off on tangents, don't I? First I'm talking about feeling drained, then I'm wittering on about strangers on trains!)
I think after all I might watch Howl's Moving Castle again instead of PM or NotVotW. I need something light-hearted and romantic to crash to. If only I had some more ice cream ...
But really, I am feeling rather drained tonight. The train journey up here was as boring as ever, and had the added fun of me having to wait for half an hour longer than usual at Reading station for my train, which was delayed because of a points failure. Then I spent the whole train journey in a seat with hardly any view out of the window so I had to crane my neck in awkward positions to stare out at the countryside and blue sky. Also, people sat next to me nearly all the way there.
It's not that I'm antisocial. It's just that I like to have space on train journeys, because being tall, it's good to be able to stretch out a bit, especially on a train that you have to sit on for four hours. So thanks to people sitting next to me I arrived in Lancaster cramped and stiff. Also, one of the people who sat next to me started making conversation. That was quite nice in a way. He saw me reading Fruits Basket #2 and asked me about it. It told him it was manga, and he didn't really know what that was, so I kind of explained it to him. Later he said maybe he should start reading manga and looked at the book, and laughed because it was girly. I explained that that particular manga is slightly aimed at girls more (it won a shojo manga award in Japan one year) but there might be other mangas out there that he would appreciate.
(I don't think FB could *exclusively* be enjoyed by girls although it is shojo (i.e. basically, girly manga) and has a lot of pretty male characters in it. There is a really good review on Amazon.co.uk of the first volume which explains its appeal a bit better than I could - the one by 'Marco Antonio "Psyboyo"'.)
Anyway. That was a nice instance of a conversation with a stranger, even if we did run out of things to talk about in the end (although pretty near where he got off, so that was lucky), and even if it was cramped sitting next to him. But the train was crowded, so I guess that was to be expected.
(Wow, I do go off on tangents, don't I? First I'm talking about feeling drained, then I'm wittering on about strangers on trains!)
I think after all I might watch Howl's Moving Castle again instead of PM or NotVotW. I need something light-hearted and romantic to crash to. If only I had some more ice cream ...