rabidpeach

Hey!! XD

It occurred to me after a while that I ought to keep this journal alive. :) After all, why not? I'm busy this year, pretty damn so, but that just means that I have to be more consistent in keeping up with the numerous things that are going on.

So what has been going on? I worked at a day camp all summer, and got like the first serious tan of my adult life. XD It was super fun, and I got to be the boss of the cutest bunch of 5-year-olds ever to have been created from sugar and spice and everything nice. And girls too!! XD I felt like the biggest princess out of the princess superclub. To continue on the PPG analogy, a little like Bunny, I think? XD

After that, I went back to school, saw everybody I loved, joined 4 clubs simultaneously, tutored for a while but found it no fun whatsoever, and generally blanched in the face of the sciences, which, no joke, are getting seriously harder. Physics especially. DAMN! But I resumed ballet, which I'd quit during the summer, and am generally feeling psyched despite occasionally getting tonnes of hives for no reason at all, for serious.

And of course, I read manga. But incidentally, not a whole lot. :D I wrote a webcomic called "The Valley-Glades" for a little while, and I still have some pages, but I decided that it wasn't getting anywhere with my schooling. Though surprisingly the art wasn't that bad, despite the fact that I have since changed my style slightly.

I think I am effectively cancelling all of my comic initiatives - this time for real - until at least after this semester. :) Boy I feel better! :D

I'm still keeping track of Kobato and Tsubasa. I've begun reading Yuji Iwahara's works too. The man is a monster at inking - when I first read "King of Thorns", I was rather fond of his dynamic artwork without being overly excited by the Jurassic-Park-meets-Battle-Royale storyline that was, frankly, getting nowhere fast. But since then I've gotten to see "Koudelka" and a little of "Chikyu Misaki" and my opinion has begun to change.

The stories and characters are still average as a whole...but only now am I starting to appreciate the art for what it is. It absolutely blows the mind, and is practically so alive that it kicks the crap out of real anime. CLAMP and others can try to draw shounen but they can't touch a real master. XD

I'm trying to read One Piece again, or at least sort of know what's going on - though it seems like Water 7 has way overstayed its welcome majorly?? Been catching up on Mankin, slowly. Read more Reiko Shimizu, how can I not? And Masami Tsuda's short stories, too, which were surprisingly alright in a bizarre, old school way. :) The incest is kinda wonky, but hey, we can only write it so well while staying legal ourselves. XD I don't like the fact that Kobato. (trying to respect that retarded 'dot' but it's sooooo aggravating XD) is starting over because Kobato (temporary) was getting so damn gooood!! Please for the love of God finish that Kobato vs. tax-collecting government ganstas arc 'cause I can't see the story going anywhere else, I might actually cry. ;_;

Gotta go back to work. How much can I write about luge?? XD

So where was I?

SPOILERS AHEAD.

9. You know all that hype, about Magneto getting his own spinoff? He deserves it. Dear lord, I think during a lot of X3 it was like he was the only one doing any work holding it all together. Jean was off sulking in the corner and Logan was busy healing like a madperson and all the while Sir Ian McKellan was exuding charisma like nobody's business.

It wasn't his job, I thought. This was supposed to be the story of Wolves and Jeanie, but it ended up being Magneto's one man show. More important than Logan and Jean and Warren and Raven and Charlie and all of their more developed storylines...here was Magneto, STEALING IT, scene by scene, by pulling everything out of his lines that he was capable of. And...he's brilliant. Mesmerized me all through.

10. The last scene before credits. I think I coughed up a lung. THE TENSION.

11. I love Logan's scene with Jean when she wakes up. Like, when she snaps out of Phoenix mode and she's looking down on Scott's sunglasses and realization is finally sinking in - I don't much like Jean, it's true, and movie Jean is especially irritating 'cause I keep thinking that she's an anorexic 80-year-old, but this was so, so powerful. And Logan's holding her, trying to maintain a connection, trying to break through. That's the Logan everyone remembers. The jackass with a heart of gold. This was a good scene.

12. On the other hand, the climax was LOLWTF for sure. Logan loses everything but his trousers - not complaining about this part, BUT - and he's all like "I love you aaaaah" and I'm contemplating the millions of ways she could blast him into pieces if she wanted to and the millions of ways he, getting close enough, could lop off her head like a turkey but they just HAD TO FALL BACK ON THE OBVIOUS ENDING.

13. Okay, now somebody move that bridge back where it belongs.

14. Ooh, and I almost forgot. Warren's scene as a child, trying to cut off his wings. That was so, so good. Much better than adult Warren about 90% of the time.

And thass all I havta say about that. Go see the movie if you haven't already, it's worth it. :) END SPOILERS.


I was reading Claudine yesterday as well. It's not bad, it runs so smoothly in the manga format and covers Claudine's life so succintly that it almost seems like it began in another medium, perhaps a classic Jane Austen novel.

However, Riyoko Ikeda throws enough curveballs to keep us entertained even though the ending is tragically clear. I mean, everyone knows how Sirene and Claudine would be resolved, that was more of an archetypical love story, but. The conclusion of the whole Cecilia Lacques arc was AAAAAH CRAZY, like plot points just started popping up out of the woodworks! Damn I love a good drama.

Claudine herself is very charming. As a guy. XD Honestly, when Riyoko Ikeda pulls out one of her butch female characters I can't help but see them as guys? I imagine that was the point with Claudine. She is a guy at heart and in practice, but she loves like a woman, perhaps more deeply.

And as always, Ikeda pulls out the three central conflicts of all of her best stories: you've got your self-loathing, you've got your pride, and you've got your deceit. I personally never get tired of reading it. :)


Meanwhile as far as Oniisama E goes, I'm done...a lot. O_O I'm on ep. 29 by now. Mariko's arc was resolved very tastefully, and I think 28 will live on as one of my fave eps.

As much as I want to see the sorority disintegrate, though, I really want to see Rei again. How do they plan to resolve the triangle between her and Nanako and Miya-sama? It seems like it was put on the backburner in favour of Mariko development. I can't wait for it to bubble back up to the surface.

Recently, I went through the latest chapter of Naruto. I think it was three hundred something. Anyway. Something in it brought back the things I liked best about the old series, and so I'm picking it back up where I left off, around 260.

And you know what? It is the old series. Nothing has really really changed. Sure, the pacing is slow, but the pacing was equally slow during some stretches of the Chuunin exam. And Kishimoto might have some of the worst tone usage I've seen in shonen manga ever but he's definitely still working his magic with the imagery and symbolism. He is, in subtle ways, extremely clever.

In short I think the fanbase was making mountains out of molehills again. XD

I haven't read that far, I think I'm still in the 260's right now, but I'm looking forward to meeting the characters I've heard so much about. Namely, Sai and Yamato. Who are these guys, who have taken the fan community by storm? :) I'd like to know. But I'm not one for skipping ahead.


Saw X3 last night. LOLWTFBBQ. XD Some small but powerful points.

PLEASE BEWARE SPOILERS, I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH, you'll want to see some of these scenes for yourself.

1. Juggernaut is AAAAH LOVE. Sure he's full of bull for most of the movie but that one line just WINS. If you've seen the movie you'll know exactly what line I'm talking about. (On a related note, when Kitty was stuck with Baldy, all I could think of was that I wished she'd run into the wall juuust a little harder. XD )

2. Why is there, like, no screen time at all for Colossus? I'm serious. What a rip. But what limited scenes Petey had were all very cool and squee-worthy.

3. Actually, you know who really gets the rip? Cyclops. Oh my good man where ARE you for this movie?! I don't have to tell people that it is totally unforgivable for old Scotty boy to be THIS uninvolved in the one installment dealing with the Phoenix. I mean, you're kidding right? She kills him? Just like that? And no one looks twice?

4. To extend on that, Scott's absence left no one for Wolvie to banter with leaving Wolvie and Storm to exchange some very weak jabs leaving Storm's character completely tweaked. What the hell.

5. (To further extend on that, it also resulted in zero Scott/Logan action. I MEAN INTERACTION. I mean. XD XD XD )

6. I don't like Logan/Marie. But if you're going to substitute the Wolvie/Jubes relationship with something, you've got to do it right. They had one convo the entire movie. ONE. Not to mention where was Rogue the rest of the time? (They have got to find a haircut that better frames her face, too. Perhaps something more reminiscent of her comic book counterpart. Hey, someone bring the 70's back.)

7. Sadder than that though is Storm getting her ass handed to her by Callisto. I mean not just defeated. She got slaughtered, completely. (Although the electrocution scene at the last was very satisfactory payback. :) )

8. Chuck vs. Jean. That was one of the best scenes in the movie. Sad too.

Will continue later.

This is something I don't ordinarily do, because, doy, I don't read. XD It's a sad but true assessment of the past few years of my life. But please go on and read this book.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles. You know you don't like fatalism when you dismiss one of your favourite artist's central works is moulded around it, except that the artist is really a group of irresponsible artists called CLAMP. But I digress.

This is an incredibly powerful book, and yes, it's fatalistic. I had to do it for an English project, I'll admit, but even now it has stayed in my head, about a good two months or so since I'd initially picked it up. Some have criticized it for its weak-willed heroine, her bastard husband, and some amusing plot developments. Like sleepwalking. So let me give you a decent impression, at least, of why I liked it.

1. For sure, if it's been a long LONG time since you've laid eyes on any classical novel, or any novel period, this will go down easy. It's written in a very timeless sort of way. Casual, almost. If you want a Victorian era romance, there's a lot to recommend Tess above its more famous and wordy counterpart, Pride and Prejudice. (Yeah, that's right, I said it. I denounced Pride and Prejudice. Without even reading it. Try to kill me when I'm sleeping, kthxbye. XD )

2. This is not a historical novel. Sort of. I generally find that the term turns people off. People like me. It's not. However, it does touch on important historical issues, such as the beginnings of industrialization. But, guaranteed, if you skim those parts, you won't miss a lot. (Sorry Thomas Hardy)

3. At first you might find Tess annoying. I know I did. Don't worry, she's not, she's quite pretty, and for a while it'll seem like EVERYBODY knows it, but that's no reason to hate her. Tess is one of those rare characters who is completely pure. You can tell, because she's caught doing some pretty dumb things. Sometimes she's just such a melodramatic goofball that she actually brings you to laugh. And then at times her sadness is so profound that it tears you right down the heart.

4. Angel. What a guy (and what a name!). You know what he's going to do to her the moment he tries to flirt with her. You know when he finally does that he'll live to rue the day. And suddenly, when he comes back and Tess makes her final stand, you just don't know anything about him. Does he love Tess? Does he really? What happens to the guy?

5. Now you'll have to take my word for this, but the ending is magnificent, and that is my most compelling reason for reading without ruining the whole thing. If you're anything like me, something this powerful will stay wedged in your head for months, years even.

For a while after finishing this book I couldn't even think, couldn't speak to the people around me. I was on my lunch break. I went to class but couldn't do anything for the rest of the day, I was practically paralyzed. I went to bed that night thinking about what Hardy was trying to say.

When next morning came, I pulled out a sketchbook, and started drawing Tess. I would continue to draw Tess for the next two days, in between classes, during classes. I'm not normally a bad student, but it needed doing. When it was done, all of the feelings of misery and heartache were down on paper. Poor little Tess was standing in Stonehenge, looking to the sky miserably, her hair blowing. And then and only then, when I had purged my frustrations with the ending, could I start gushing about the book to my friends.

True story.

Also: For artists, this is a neat experiment. Try envisioning Tess. For a while after reading the book, I was really compelled to do so. What I always ended up with was a plump, innocent looking girl with brown curly hair and big, sad eyes centred in her moon-shaped face. She always looks startled when I draw her. Interestingly, most artists who have read the book and acquired an understanding of the character will draw her as a very pretty girl with a sad face, much as I have. I particularly like her incarnation on the cover of the Penguin Classics edition.

Also!

Did I ever mention I love Penguin Classics? They're the best. They always find the best covers to slap onto their overpriced classics. Try finding the version of the Turn of the Screw and the Aspern Papers they have. The actual picture, if you read the footnotes, doesn't really have anything to do with TOTS, but still, that has got to be one of my favourite covers of ALL TIME. It's just...wouldn't it jump out at you if it was on the shelf? I know it would me.

Oh, and FYI about that Fai splash page.

I've been looking at it and looking at it and am even now avoiding work just by looking at it, and I think I can conclude pretty confidently that there's NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE between that smile that he has on and the smile he has on ANYWHERE ELSE THROUGHOUT THE MANGA.

Ashura/Fai shippers, get over yourselves you are not the only OTP in the building or even the prettiest one so there. XP

Naaaah I'm just kidding with you. After all, most Ashura/Fai shippers are Kuro/Fai shippers too! I guess I've considered the possibility but didn't like it very much. Truthfully? I'm just upset 'cause it gave me false hope, that Fai can crack a real smile OMG. ;_; (But then how would we know? We've never seen it. O_O Wouldn't it be outrageously funny if it was the exact same thing as that...thing he wears all the time?)

It would have been interesting if there was something there. There could still be. I don't know. I'll get back to looking at it some more.

As if to aggravate one of the hottest days of the year, I got followed home by a bee today. It was just sort of hovering in and around my head, and I could hear it in my ear. Never gotten stung by a bee before, I thought. I tried standing still, walking slowly, walking quickly, running quickly, and it still stuck. I was NOT going to let it in the house, but it almost got through. It left, finally, at the last minute.

Maybe it wasn't a bee. Maybe it was just a giant fly.

O_O


We were having DataMan in school and it was like, we did work for about thirty minutes and then me and my friends started talking about hot guys and all of a sudden we mentioned X3 and how I was going to see it, and then our teacher chimes in. Turns out he has about 10 years' worth of X-men comics under his belt, and used be a hugely insane fan. Our little Tiny Tim, karate-chopping teacher. :D

So anyway. We talked about the X-men franchise for THE ENTIRE REST OF THE CLASS, and touched on just about anything you can think of: Wolverine's height change in the movies, our mutual hate for Jean Grey, Shadowcat's kickass power (and I thought I was the only one who thought that O_O), underappreciating Cyclops, who dies in X3, who gets hit with the cure, what Brett Ratner changed, Kelsey Grammer...hell, we even went back in time to the old old vintage storylines like Gambit's 15 minutes, and Wolverine and Mariko, and Jubilee's stupid yellow trenchcoat.

That was mean fun. It was almost as though our entire class grew up in the 1960's. XD And those of us who thought the movieverse was all there was got a nice eye-opener out of that. See? Educational and possibly even nerdier than the usual DataMan class. And it finally proved that 99% of the population loves Wolverine. I REST MY CASE. We should all have a course called the Evolution of Graphic Art, with Special Emphasis on Hot Hairy Men.

(The written exam should involve an essay detailing wardrobe malfunctions throughout the history of Alpha Flight. >:D )


So, yes, Tsubasa. I'm not even going to PRETEND I know what happened in 117. XD

If Subaru is a vampire, and Kamui's really wearing Seishirou's little chain necklace, this would just...one day, Tsubasa will become so preposterous it will become practically arthousy. Just watch. YOU ALL JUST WATCH. XD

Splash page was okay. Means nothing to me 'cause I don't care for Ashura or blue-green colour schemes. I mean, really.

I'm waiting for Syaoran to get rescued. But by whom? Dun dun dun. Come on, someone be a hero. I'm getting minor Rayearth flashbacks, though. Fountain of Eterna and all. ^_^ Fond memories!

Yeah, okay.

I was a little reluctant to admit it at first but I might as well do it now.

Next to One Piece (which still rocks though I hesitate to read it nowadays because THE INTENSITY would blow my shoujo-loving head to bits if I don't ease into it XD ) and Naruto (which, okay, I still really like, doesn't everyone? :D ), Shaman King has to be one of my all time favourite SJ series of all time.

Of ALL TIME. It is sooooo good.

It is preachy but not too preachy, intense but not too intense, sometimes dangerously close to treading shoujo territory but still managing to balance on that precarious thread. It is true to life and bigger than life. It gives a damn about each and every one of its characters. It's about history, fate, what we choose to do with the present, how hard we try to move on, and all those things we must remember in order to keep going.

Also, Osorezan Revoir kills the competition. Just...obliterates any recent arcs I've read in any shounen manga PERIOD. It. Is. So. Good. Why aren't YOU in on it, I think, is what I'm saying.

SPOILERS for vol. 20.

I'll keep this super short. The best thing about this arc...the standout, is obvious. Yoh and Anna are great. They're so in love and finally you get to see how hard it was for Anna to open up that part of herself to Yoh. Normally I find grade school relationships in manga to be wholly unconvincing (can you say Full Moon? XD ) but these two need to be together. I can't say enough good things about them. They are my OTP.

But the standout is obviously Matamune, I won't even argue. Matamune is Yoh's oversoul, now and forever. He's wise and charming and terribly kind, but more than anything, he cares even more about Yoh than Amidamaru does in the present, more than probably Yoh's own parents care about him. (I still get the feeling that they might have some misgivings towards their son, I mean just looking at him must give off such awful vibes of Hao. XD Yeek.)

He taught Yoh what he could in his time, poured all of his love into Yoh, died for Yoh. Matamune was like a grandfather to him, or a friend from childhood who is now only a gentle blur in Yoh's mind.

Maybe being a teenager has caused Yoh to lose sight of some of the things Matamune told him when he was a little boy. Maybe he no longer remembers the promise they made on Osorezan so long ago. (But the painful thing is that I remember. DAMN IT - ) And yet some of those words will have totally meaningful implications for the future.

I just felt a huge gaping hole in my heart when Matamune made that last speech to Yoh. When he told him about Hao. "Love is absolute, unwavering trust - because I couldn't trust him, gave up on him when he needed me the most, he died."

And so he had been living like the Oo-Oni. Matamune had lived a thousand years of misgivings, collecting furiyoku, just an embodiment of regret as transparent as the Oo-Oni, trying to come to terms with the wrong he knew he'd committed. Yoh helped him do that. Matamune had taught him well - they don't need to meet again, but somehow I think they will.

Matamune was right, about Yoh being a person who could trust anyone. Even after so many years it still holds true. That gives me hope. It makes me believe that things will be okay.

Oh my god I love this series. ;___; It's one of those rare series I will read regardless of what adolescent phase I'm going through 'cause OH GOD.

Oh dear. XD

You know what? Everybody's right. Kuro-sama protecting Sakura IS probably the cutest thing since bath duckies. In addition to restoring my faith in humanity they make a handsome alternative couple. >:D

116 has so much Kurogane. I like Fai as much as the next girl (okay, so not really, I like Kuro at least twice as much, but it's only slightly short of a lie ;D ) but it feels like he's really been getting shafted in the last two arcs in favour of more Kurogane development. It's true that he's had a few moments to really shine in the last little while. Infamous 112. That uncalled for burst of magic. But now it seems as though CLAMP is really pushing Kuro to the forefront, as a guardian to Sakura, a teacher to Syaoran, and the one initiating the interactions between himself and Fai.

And you know what? It's not bad. X) It means more harrowing situations for our disgruntled leading man, getting to see him panic once in a while. I just loved the snatches of his conversation with Kakyou, that was AWESOME. Not only was he deliriously upset over Sakura's condition but there was that tension when he was sort of trapped in a corner and that just made my day, because we all know he could swipe Kakyou down with one clean stroke but obviously he's thinking about his curse, Sakura, the rational and non-confrontational thing to do.

Struggle is good for the soul, Kuro-chin, you just keep resisting. (Also it would be inexcusable for you to lose to Kakyou even in an inconsequential staring contest because he is the biggest sissy in this and any CLAMP continuum, THAT'S RIGHT, okay, I find him gross. Especially applicable to his scenes with Hokuto and huge flocks of seagulls. I wonder if he cries angst concentrate? )

Oh, God. There's also this.
http://www.geocities.com/hidakaonna/unmei/ohhoho.html
CLICK. XD


I was reading Kobato, incidentally, as well. And only now do I learn that CLAMP has put it on hold.

ARE YOU KIDDING.

It's getting better than it was the first four chapters.

It is, in fact, getting GOOD.

...ARE YOU KIDDING.

>______O;;;

Okay. Reasons that Kobato should continue.

1. Sayaka-sensei. What an awesome lady. The strength of her interactions with Kobato are palpable, and her love for the little kiddly-widdlies rings true. At the same time, there are moments where she seems to be doing more than entertaining the impractical ideas of her precocious students (and work staff X) ) - she seems to be only a small child herself.

2. Kiyokazu X Kobato. Essentially this is what CCS would have been like if Sakura was isolated from the rest of society and the only logical love interest for her was her own brother. XD That's right. For anyone who ever wanted CCS to be Touya/Sakura centric, though I'm not sure how that even works, here's your guilty pleasure.

In a nutshell, the relationship? It's the same. The same, but better, and funnier (CLAMP comedy, though rare, is always a joy), plus it doesn't leave you with that awkward guilty feeling for liking it so much.

3. Kobato.

Not because I like her but because YOU GUYS REALLY OUGHT TO SEE THIS, IT'S LIKE CLAMP IS WRITING OUR DARLING KINOMOTO SAKURA ALL OVER AGAIN just to prove that they can tap into that winning formula. Their personalities are LIKE THIS (pinch pinch). So far I have not found any meaningful differences between Kobato and CCS Sakura and that both worries and delights me, worries because Kobato's at least 5 or 6 years older, and delights because we all loved Sakura at one point or another, ne?

Furthermore. If CLAMP remembers CCS Sakura, that means that their writing for Tsubasa Sakura is closer to the mark, truer to her character. It means, potentially, that there is a calculated trajectory for Tsubasa RC that we haven't even begun to think about. That makes me smile. ^____^

4. The direction of CLAMP's art.

But first let's think about Charles M. Schultz. (LOL, I know, bear with me.) Think back to the classic Peanuts cartoons, and think to the collections from more recent years, the 80's and 90's. During the latter portion of his life, Schultz's line quality noticeably suffered - though, let's admit it, we still read about the adventures of Charlie Brown, it's still one of my all time favourite things to do. Still, it's a visible change.

So let's think on that. I think CLAMP foresees that their art will eventually suffer from lack of precision as the group members age. The solution, of course, is to gradually reduce the art style, favouring sparsity of line, looseness, impressionism. To make it look purposeful, to make it easier on themselves, all valid reasons. To look at Kobato, I'd say they did exactly that. It's a brief but important experiment in CLAMP's history and I wouldn't be surprised if they started trimming down this style, too, but even if this farfetched theory is true, I wouldn't worry. I suspect that a supergroup like CLAMP will not compromise line density if they feel that the experiment looks stupid. They might recruit more members instead. IN WHICH CASE I AM TOTALLY HERE. XD

5. The ending of Kobato 5. THE DEBT COLLECTOR, OMIGOSH, for a moment I honestly thought that it was going to be from that point on Kobato's one woman fight against the Japanese gang underground. (I LIKE HAVING HIGH HOPES. XD ) I would SO buy that. But a debt collector is as good as anything, sure.

(Peach is mildly disappointed. She hopes to see more gang movements in Kobato in the near future however. XD )

6. Thank GOD the series is not a story-a-day mess a la almost every series CLAMP has done since Chobits. Because I don't know if I could swallow another one. >:P Sorry Holic fans, truly. I just...I can't. Eeek.

The fact that Kobato, Sayaka-sensei, and Kiyokazu have stayed together for 5 chapters thus far is very good, very good news indeed. It means that the story is grounded and, if it is ever picked up again (FAT CHANCE, though ;___;) can go places. Believe me, if it turned out to be Touched by an Angel the manga I would not be recommending it this heavily, but the fact that it's set in the same universe as Chobits, that it might be a series with some measure of continuity, delights me. (AND NOW IT'S OVER. WHAAAAAT.)

Sleepy time now.

I have watched a few episodes of the anime for Oniisama E - I skipped a lot of the stuff I already know about but I'm up to 10 now. The sound doesn't work so well on my old machine (did someone say "lag"? X( ) so I turned it off throughout but HOLY HORSEFEATHERS.

This...is so awesome. It literally fills in almost all of the gaps in the manga and then goes beyond my expectations and makes the characters EVEN MORE CRACK.

Observations.

1. I love Kaoru no Kimi. She is just...she's like, my hero. With the exception of Nanako she is literally the only normal person in this entire show. I especially love the scenes she shares with Mariko, because I think it goes without saying that that girl NEEDS someone. Even just to make sure she eats on a regular basis. MAN.

2. Rei is hilarious in the anime so far. (I'm sure it's unintentional... XD ) Is the girl on Earth? I mean, at all?

3. Miya-sama is such a queen bitch. However, it's scenes like in the first ep when she throws the umbrella out at Rei that grate on my heart and make me anticipate future character development, so it's all good.

4. Mariko. She has to be my fave character. I think despite her penchant for momentary bouts of madness almost every girl can relate to someone like her, someone who wants to be the best friend, the girlfriend, the bosom buddy, who pours out love but doesn't know how to quite receive it. What escaped me the first time I read the manga was that Mariko is strong - she has difficulty admitting to herself that she is alone but eventually, she gets over that hill too. In the anime, it's even better, because Tomoko and Nanako both learn to trust her, and she reciprocates their feelings. When Nanako called her a hero...that was just so, so apt. These two girls are going to need each other.

5. Nanako is more solid in the anime. It's great to see her growing a spine and really reaching out to other people. Unlike Kaoru, who gives unconditional affection, Nanako really has to work to overcome her fear and lack of understanding of some of these girls. Palpable? Yes. Understandable? A resounding yes. But she takes after her sempai in that she does not presume to judge others, and this contributes to her winning personality. She is, in a sea of crazies, a wholesome and gentle heroine. Also, I really like her design in the anime. It was a little strange at first but now I see the purpose. Her new hairdo in particular contributes to her lack of sophistication and her down-to-earth character. Blonde is beautiful but she looks better now, way better.

6. Tomoko really blossoms in the anime, too. She's so detached from the sorority scandals, it's wonderful to be reminded that not everyone is quite so, um.

Am watching Episode 11 as I type. Needless to say I'll be back.

(No - Rei, you perpetually high sociopath - DON'T meet her at five o'clock under the elm tree - make your crack last or go grab a cherry soda with Nanako-chan, don't you like Nanako-chan?? PLEASE. Oh, for...it's like watching the most organized train wreck in the world. XD )

I have things to say about Tsubasa 115 but I'm running short on time. Will do next time.

Okay. I've finally updated my profile on lj.

The problem is that after doing the first round I went back and I realized that I've totally forgotten Hayao Miyazaki.

MIYAZAKI.

I think I might need a breather. XD I'll put in my fave webcomics and bands at a later hour.


Can I complain? I think everything's messing up all around me. Just when I've patched up relationships with people and things are looking up, I'm struck with huge bouts of complacency and forgetfulness - and work, too, of course. All this negativity is emanating from me and I really hope no one else catches the stupid, 'cause I've felt really, REALLY stupid these past couple of days.

Forgetting my assignment at home, forgetting my pencil case, forgetting MIYAZAKI, forgetting birthdays...not reading instructions, not working at full capacity, not paying attention...maybe it's a sign that I should exercise more and sleep more. Can't tonight, obviously, but, well, soon. Oh, please.

Soon would be so, so good.

Plus, the folks are going on a hike next weekend and I'm coming along. God, I love hikes. Just an hour or two in the forest in my short shorts, swirling around like a bee or something, it's not like I'd be too productive anyway. :)

Thank God for hikes.