The good old days

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing brings such nostalgia! I was so addicted to it. Good times, good times, those were... The "golden age" as they say. I'm only surprised that I actually prefer the english voices for this one. At least now I can watch it in chronological order. 

Yes, my blog layout is stupid and cuts the video off. Just click on it to see it in YouTube.

New posts

Since I don't have much to talk about-- or at least anything I find interesting about my life, I'm going to dedicate some future posts about one of my hobbies. That means lots of eye-candy and review attempts at anime and manga series I've come to love. For now I'll start with the ones I've already completed, so I can better recommend, I suppose. But I'm going to try and not give away too many details. ;d

I'll be editing this post later. Until then!

True Tears

Usually I firstly go by looks when it comes to anime. I tend to be picky and not pay attention to the typical "big-eyed- small mouths-disproportional heads" type. Because they tend to have either really pointless story-lines, going-no-where-comedies, or the humor is mostly all about panty-shots. Of course not all anime in that style are like that, but it's a lot of what I find. So normally I stay away from those and stick to the ones which at least have a different style, with a more realistic touch.

But True Tears really caught me by surprise.

I first decided to take a look at because it was being mentioned in a lot of blogs. Secondly, I liked the pace of the story. It wasn't too fast nor was it too slow. Although, the story itself isn't that interesting (the first 2 episodes seem to be a bit boring at first). It tells the story nicely, as each character goes through much development-- and might I say a lot of emotions during 13 episodes!

The animation is simple but swift when needed and the voice-acting shines at its most touching moments. I found myself extremely touched when the main protagonist Shini'chiro's voice starts to weaken as he starts to cry, all the while singing a seemingly childish song. I seriously wanted to cry with him! I could feel the lump in my throat already.

And like most-- a lot of stories rarely give you a satifactory ending, but True Tears almost did. ALMOST. I was just unhappy about who Shini'chiro ended up with. I still felt very sympathetic about his choice regardless.

Yes, I will not tell you the story or give you a summary. Because if I do, you most likely won't watch it, 'cause the story is that simple. But the characters are so well acted that you forget that part, and the story suddenly becomes so suspensful as you wait for what'll happen next. All I'll say is that it is a drama-romance.

True Tears was a great watch. It touched me at the last episode, (yeah, I'm a softie anyway) and even left me a bit sad even after having finished it nearly an hour earlier. But despite that, I really loved it.

My only real complaint is about the opening and endings songs. I couldn't warm up to them. But the music otherwise, throughout the anime, was very well done. That is, it all seemed to fit at the right moment.

Lately I've had the pleasure of finding many great animes to watch! <3 I reccommend this one to you!

Honey and Clover

Honey and Clover is a story of several college art students in Tokyo. The story starts with 3 male college students, Mayama, Takemoto, and Morita, who all live in the same, cheap apartment complex, as well as go to the same art college. Other people in their life come into the story, such as Ayumi Yamada, a pottery art student, Shuji, a teacher of art, and of course, the passionate artist Hugu, who comes across as a petite child, although she is 18-- and of course many others.

Honey and Clover narrates the story of these several college students and their friends, their life to adult-hood and maybe even self realization, as they meet new people, make friends, fall in love, and make the decisions of life. It sounds quite simple and least to say-- boring. But the wide variety of characters make up for it, as you start to fall for them and simply wish for their happiness as you would your own friends. It's an anime that has a meaning.

The anime consists of 2 seasons, the 1st having 24 episodes, and the 2nd having only 12 episodes. I'd recommend it to anybody who's willing to try an anime with a simple but heartfelt plot-- and much silliness as well. It's bound to make you sad, but also to make you smile and laugh at the many silly jokes flying through it all. Please give it a try, I'm sure you'll like it after a couple episodes.

To start watching it online, go to the infamous site called YouTube and search for "Honey and Clover 1" for the 1st season. If you don't feel like doing even that, then just click my link I just put here and it'll direct you to the 1st bit of the 1st episode of H&C. Stick to the author who uploaded it, and you'll be able to find all the episodes of the 1st season easily. Hope ya enjoy it.

Also, try not to judge it by the weirdo opening. It's supposed to be funny, I guess. In a Japanese humor-ish way.

E.R. No, not E.R. the tv show.

Feeling: nostalgic
Listening to: kiddos playin' in ze pool

Of all the things I could possibly talk about right now, I choose to talk about… a story that has ended. You know when you read a book, fall in love with the characters, creating a slight connection with each and every one—you then follow their story, watch as the it unfolds and then folds once again—folding to an end.

When that happens, I feel sad. Sad that it ended. Sad that the end of the end that I so was waiting for hopefully—the one that came out all good after all, where the man finally got his hat back and everybody could come back home. A happy ending.

But why? Why… why must stories end when they only got soooo very very very good as it did, at the end? It’s so sad.

I know I sound really serious right now. Really broody, actually. And you’ll be even more shocked that I am so serious sounding when I am actually talking about a silly, touching sci-fi anime. Anime, yes. Anime. Goofy, uplifting anime. That stuff that's almost as addictive as candy. You know that stuff, right?

It went by the name of Eureka Seven…

But I guess it being cartoon, book, or just plain fiction… doesn’t really change the fact that it’s just as effective and heartfelt as any other story.

Now… a change of mood.

I HAVE A NEW OBSESSION ON MY OH-SO-WONDERFUL LIST, MWAHAHAHA. <3 XD

Death Note? A new obsession, perhaps?

Death Note is a story, in manga or in anime, that I have always been curious about, but never had the courage to actually read or watch it. Coincidentally I came across some screenshots of the anime today, which made me even more curious, so I searched for it on You Tube. And I found it... Still not convinced if I should watch it or not, I read a review of the manga, which gave me the gist of the story. The review reassured me, so I watched the 1st episode.

And I liked it. It totally creeped me out.

The first thing that I noticed was the subtle background music that made a slight creepy atmosphere. The animations is also very nicely done. Besides that, the voice actor who does Raito Yagami, one of the main characters in the beginning, sounds like Tamaki from Ouran Host Club. I know, it's strange, but it does! And after seeing the whole episode, I am sure of it! That's awesome! <3

Not to mention that there are some creepy and complex characters taking place here. Despite that, they don't cease to be charming, like Ryuk, a shinigami, or a demon of death. He's actually funny!

The ending of the 1st episode kind of creeped me out the most, though. Light is waaay twisted, and for once I am not swooning over such a character at first sight. He's cool, but morbid. Good-looking, but not as cool as someone like Kadaj. <3 XD But who knows. Maybe there's chance I'll like him more later...

P.S. I only didn't explain the story since I expect you guys to take a look at the review, har har.

[EDITED: Just saw the 2nd episode. It is comfirmed. I am hooked. <3 ]