Online Life and Marathons
Situation:
State: confused, addicted, indifferent
I am currently on term break. But this vacation only lasts for a few weeks. My classes resume for as soon as this coming Monday. I admit that I'm not ready to face school yet. It's like a brand new set of challenges and headaches. Though when the previous term ended I promised myself to become a better student . . . as usual, I broke it once again. I think this laziness had overcome me. The desire for relaxation and worry-free activities had made me neglect my preparations for my future responsibilities. Though I know that I will regret it later, at the moment, I still didn't care.
So what were the things that had kept me occupied these past few days? Well, they're none other than my activities in online communities.. I often check out and participate in discussions at forums like the Kids Next Door Fan Forum, 3/4 Heaven, and Strawberry Death. Also, I had been gone from deviantArt for approximately two months, and at the time I logged in to my account once again, it pretty shocked me to discover that more than a thousand messages awaiting me. Attending to those missed messages had consumed a lot of my time. Actually until now, I still haven't finished all of them despite the number of messages I've already deleted. Last but not the least, my time was also consumed by my roaming here in LiveJournal. I've joined a lot of communities in this site, so of course everyday I get to see new posts, new interesting stuff. My desire to be active here has progressed slowly. First, I only comment on other people's posts, then I eventually thought of personalizing my profile further, later I've thought of doing posts in those communities I belong,. and now finally I've thought of updating my own entries.
Oh yeah, that's not all. I'm currently addicted with anime and manga marathons. People in the house often see me watching at youtube or reading a manga scanlation. Once I got interested to a story, I won't ever be satisfied until I finish it. So what have I been reading? It was Black Cat. Thanks to my beloved friend who burned me a copy of the complete set of that awesome manga! The one I planned to read next was Ichigo 100%, which I already began before but had to pause from reading when I reached chapter 60. Sadly, I can't continue reading it because . . . . I lost the CD X_X. Yeah, I know the friend who burned it for me is gonna kill me for that. And how about the anime I've been watching? I'm proud to admit that I got hooked up to Princess Tutu. But after this one, I'm also watching other anime, which I'm still in the process of watching, and they're Black Cat and Ouran Host Club.
Pocketbook Reading: American Gods by Neil Gaiman
I'm only at the fourth chapter now. To be honest, I find many of the scenes there to be quite . . . disturbing. I thought that, from the title, this will only have something to do with myths and violence. I didn't expect it to have . . . sexual scenes. Not that I'm not used to reading that kind of stuff. It just, in a way, had given me a weird feeling. Nonetheless, the progress of the story had caught my curiosity. So I'm still continuing to read it.
Pocketbook I Wanna Read: The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
As the title suggests, it has something to do with Dante Alleghieri's Inferno. I don't actually believe in Dante's concept of hell, but I find it interesting. And when I found out that there's a book that uses that masterpiece as a theme, I can't resist. Even Dan Brown, one of my favorite authors, liked that certain novel. So of course I am confident that I will be enjoying this book.
However, I'm still not done with American Gods. I've still got hundreds of pages to go. Damn.
Manga Tuning: Bleach, D Grayman, Full Metal Alchemist, etc.
Full Metal Alchemist manga only updates once a month so I only get hyped up when a new chapter is up, then afterwards I'll be back to normal. With D Grayman though, I get myself updated with this one but not as devoted as I am with Bleach. I always await everytime there's a chapter release on this manga. I can no longer wait for the scanlation, I go after what's released first, the translated script. And if I find the script interesting, I'll go hunting for RAW scans then eventually, the scanlated ones.
Manga Marathon Accomplished: Black Cat
I find this series as a combination of Trigun and Get Backers, with a little of Detective Conan, Rurouni Kenshin, and Naruto. Because of its resemblance with the other series that I've mentioned, in a way, it had lacked originality. Nonetheless, though the plot was pretty much like a mixed of existing ones, it was hell of a good mix! I totally enjoyed the humor, the drama, the action, and the love that it brings.
I love a lot of characters in this series that it gives me a hard time to choose a favorite. But to name a few, I love Train, Sven, Eve, Saya, Leon, Janus, Sephira, and Kyoko.
I'm a loyal shipper of Train x Saya. Their story was a tragic one, yet beautiful. I love romances wherein it's the girl who had changed the guy's heart. I'm also glad that Saya wasn't the typical damsel in distress, like the other main female characters I've seen in other series.
Though there are so many characters that are worth to be loved in this manga, there are also those who are worth to hate. And the one I hate most is Creed. I usually find villains either boring or cool, but with Creed? He's GAY. Not just with the looks, he was actually addicted to Train that he'll go ballistic if someone had polluted his Train's mind or had injured his Train's body. Eeeeee . . . he's CREEPY.
Overall, this is an awesome manga. it had been worthy to read.
Anime Marathon Accomplished: Princess Tutu
I know that the title suggests crap, but believe me, it's a series with a beautiful storyline. At first I thought this was just a typical shoujo anime with a fancy fairytale . . . but I was wrong.
Princess Tutu is no ordinary fairytale.
Princess Tutu is basically an anime series with some story telling accompanied by ballet dances. I appreciate almost any form of art, and that includes ballet (only watching ballet, I hate to dance . . .any form of dance). The story is not simply narrated in
third-person point of view, you actually get to see the actual story teller's point of view, who always gets excited when there's an upcoming tragedy or worries when the things he planned go wrong. Yes, Princess Tutu is not a typical fairytale that always ends with a happy ending, it's a story destined for tragedy.
Besides the story, the characters are impressive as well. The leading character is a princess with a tragic fate. She's literally an ugly duckling who turns into a beautiful swan, however, once she fulfills her mission, she will vanish. And there's a prince who tore his heart to pieces to seal the monster raven, thus he no longer feels any kind of emotion. The one who protects him is a knight, who will do anything for the prince but is destined to be die in vain in the hands of the raven. Lastly, there's the daughter of the raven, and though the prince is her enemy, she's actually madly in love with him that she'll do anything to have him.
Now, aren't these characters unbelievably unique for a "typical" shoujo anime?
As for my comments on the leading characters . . . well, the leading girl, Ahiru aka Princess Tutu, is okay. Her being naive, lazy and hyperactive reminded me of a character I hated, Sakura from Card Captor Sakura. But there are times that she's pretty okay. I love her selflessness and she's not actually stupid. So honestly, I neither like or dislike her.
As for the female cast, Rue had caught my attention. I adore women who are in command, yet not bitchy. And not to mention that she is beautiful. I also have a liking for female villains and Rue is a part of that list. What I only don't like about her is her blind love to her father (though she can't be blamed for that) and her love interest to that . . . prince!
The prince, whose name is Mytho, in my humble opinion, . . . is GAY! Seriously, just look at him!!! His face is already filled with gayness. Even the way he dances is so feminine. And with the way his knight and Princess Tutu protects him he's so much like a damsel in distress to me. Eeeee . . . . I can't bear to look at him any longer! I'm disgusted with his gayish features and attitude. Uuurrrggghhh . . . .
But his knight, Fakir, is his complete opposite. Fakir definitely looks and acts way more manly than Mytho. So of course, his awesomeness had qualified him to become my favorite. Hehe. Fakir appears to be a cold-hearted and possessive person but deep inside he has a very beautiful heart. He's selfless, loyal, fearless, and talented. He often doesn't show it but he certainly has soft spots, especially on Mytho and Ahiru. What I admire about him more is that, he's not perfect. Yeah, yeah, his role is some skilled knight, but he has experienced defeats (but he wasn't put down that easily) and had also shown weaknesses emotionally, yet he doesn't give up and strives to get stronger to protect those he care for. I don't find him good-looking at first, but as I've watched more episodes, I've found scenes of him where he looks so gorgeous! Especially his wet look; he's HOTT. And of course I won't ever forget his blushing face, it's absolutely adorable. This boy is certainly a remarkable character. He's the only one who got my 100 percent respect among all the other characters in this series.
Anime Marathon in Progress: Black Cat & Ouran High School Host Club
I've already finished the manga, so why bother to watch the anime, you say? Though I enjoy reading comics, watching its story on screen also brings a new kind of excitement. It's not satisfying just to stuck the flow events in just in my imagination, it's still cool to actually see it in action.
My other reason for tuning in the anime is that the story has become . . . kinda different. The characters and the main plot is the same but the story flow is entirely different. The most obvious one is the chronology of the story. At the anime, it began while Train was still an assassin but in the manga, the first chapter already introduces him as a Sweeper and his assassin days were just flashbacks. There are also many other changes besides that, but I don't have the time to enumerate all. And heck, I'm not yet done with the anime. I've only reached episode 10 so far.
Anywayz, so which do I think is better, the manga or the anime? Honestly, I can't decide since they're equally good. I like the original story flow in the manga yet I also like the chronological order of events in the anime. The manga had plus points when it comes to art, but the anime had satisfied me with events that weren't explained in the manga. An example is how the heck he got his bell collar! it was not explained in the manga but was shown in the anime.
Another thing that I had so far admired in the anime is that Saya has more scenes here. She only existed in flashbacks and in Train's heart in the manga, but in the anime we actually get to see her alive! She's one of the leading ladies that I believe shouldn't ever be looked down upon. Her fate had been tragic but her character is absolutely remarkable. It's pretty difficult to find such characters these days.
The reason why I've become interested to watch such a series was because it had so many fan arts at devianArt. And you know me, popular series always catch my curiosity/interest.
At first I just watched the opening theme. First impression: This anime is definitely yaoi. But a comment below that video said that the anime isn't really yaoi, especially once you ignore the twins. So I gave it a try.
I was, in a way, correct. Some dialogues and actions there actually suggest yaoi, however, it still isn't. Except for the twins I guess. They were like sibling love gone to an . . . .eeee . . . incest. But despite that, I cannot deny that their devilish and naughty attitude are adorable. And the little boy there highly resembles Momiji from Furuba aka Fruits Basket. Momiji fans would certainly love this little one. But this boy seems to have a lovey-dovey interest to the tough guy, who is actually soft to him. Eeee . . . the only ones among the main characters that I see as straight are the glasses boy, the blonde guy and leading character, Haruhi. I actually find Tamaki, the blonde one, to be funny and smexy, even with his narcissist attitude. Hehe. Lastly, Haruhi was the one who had surprised me most. I thought this person is gay who looks like a girl, but is actually a girl who dresses as a guy. Talk about twists. And her character is not the innocent and naive type (like Tohru from Furuba), she's a character with sense. I actually admire her.
Some of the scenes in these show may be pretty disturbing, but they're all amusing as well. This show had certainly entertained me, so much that I'm now downloading the following episodes. Hehe.
Oh please, don't think of me as a yaoi fan girl. I only take yaoi as a joke. Simply for amusement and hilarity. As for gay characters, I have this strange taste that I despise those characters who act and look so gay, yet they aren't (e.g. Creed from Black Cat, Kurama from Yu Yu hakusho); however, I adore characters who do look gay, but totally acts like one (e.g. Kazuki from Get Backers, Haku from Naruto). That's why, the "gayness" in this anime actually amused me. The plot is pretty interesting as well (ignoring the Hosting part though, honestly, they're somewhat like the male versions of female "hosts" . . . ya know what I mean by "host" . . right? very very disturbing . . .and no, I don't mean prostitutes). So in short, ignoring the disturbing scenes, this is certainly a very entertaining love comedy.
Now how am I going to end this . ... oh yeah! QUIZ TIME!
You scored as Numbuh One. You are â??Numbuh Oneâ??
Youâ??re focused, and a leader. You tend to obsess over things and can get annoyed easily but that doesnâ??t distract you very often. Youâ??re intelligent and a take-charge person along with brave and daring one, youâ??ll always come out of a situation ok.
Numbuh One
80%
Numbuh Four
60%
Numbuh Two
50%
Numbuh Five
50%
Numbuh Three
45%
Which Codename Kids Next Door Character Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com
EDIT: There are PLENTY of HTML errors in this entry. Though they looked fine at Microsoft FrontPage. Sigh. I don't have the time to fix all these now x_X I'll do it next time.