The BlackSheep Project

Random Thoughts - Plans for the Future

2012-03-03T22:32:00.000+08:00

Spring season isstill a month away and I have already made up my partial plans since come Apriland May I'll be having my vacation from school.

For the mean time, Iwon't be posting the list of Spring season anime that interests me. That'llhappen a couple more weeks later. But I do have my potential 'to-blog' animefor next season and they could be: Kimi to BokuS2, Hyou-ka, Zetman and Tsuritama.Most likely these 4 will be blogged and another more anime which I will decideafter reading a couple more Spring 2012 previews and it also depends on thefirst episode of the series. It's quite a lot for me but I am considering thefact that I'll be having more time than before during spring so I would like totake this opportunity to post as much as I can and in time as well. Of course,despite having around 5 series to blog every week, I don't have any plans ondropping my weekly coverage of Bakuman andNisekoi since I really enjoy writingabout both(:

Other than reviewingmore anime than before, I have also gone to a more busy schedule since Irecently joined as a contributing author to the anime blog Oasis Crossing which is owned by webkid94. I'll do my best to blog around 3shows there this coming Spring so it definitely won't be easy on my part.Practically, I don't really know why I'm doing this myself. Probably some wayto learn to manage my posts and be more responsible and timely? Meh! I don'treally want to know either way.

Finally, aside fromdeciding on my Spring 2012 shows and joining another blog, together withjoining OC (Oasis Crossing), I suddenly made a wordpress account which haspractically opened myself for another blog which I really don't know what doto. Know I have this huge problem. What should I do with my wordpress blog?I'll actually feel bad if I'll just leave it open and nothing :/

Bakuman - Chapter 169: Voices and Responses

2012-03-02T23:20:00.000+08:00

So the conclusionfor Mashiro and Miho's issue has finally ended and it definitely is aheartwarming chapter.

Miho'sConfession + Bashing Phone Calls.

Miho sure is braveand I have to commend her for that. Openly admitting that she's datingMashiro's is certainly a good thing and the better decision which is shown atthe end of the chapter. The first phone call sure is trolling Miho. Adding somefaking effect to be able to broadcast her stupid opinion which I don't reallywant to hear. The second caller, on the other hand, sure was interesting andsure loves the rumors. "Are you a virgin?" WTF? But it wasn'tentirely surprising that Miho calmly answered since she's just being her.

Miho'sdefinitely admirable.

Like I mentionedearlier, I commend Miho for being so brave in facing her angry fans. She didn'tbreak even after that 1st caller just told her right off the bat that she's abitch. I guess things like that do happen to idols when they get burned with stupidrumors. Other than being brave, I really liked Miho's calmness in facingeverything most especially when the 2nd caller ask her if she's virgin. I meanfor crying out loud, of all questions, why that? Moreover, I liked her whileshe tells her story to the 2nd caller. She's happy and all while thinking aboutthe times she has seen Mashiro :3

Yes, I always domention that I'm not a fan of Miho but this arc has brought me to her sidebecause of how good the story has been told, it has moved me and made me reallylike her. Ohba-sensei sure have improved in terms of his heroine's character.

Thethird caller sure have the guts.

It was really cutefor Mashiro to came to Miho's rescue to back her up from all the bashful fansand tell his side of the rumor.Moreover, he just shouted over the at the radiohow much he has been believing in Miho's talent which I'm pretty sure somethingMiho really wants to hear. AND everyone's faces when they know Mashiro's the3rd caller sure is epic.

TheResult.

The manager sure waspanicking and it was hell funny when the result turned out really great. Lookslike things are still going pretty well. Will Miho be able to get the role? Idon't know. The truth right now is that I would like to see Mashiro's face whenMiho gets the role but I sure don't want to see Bakumanend. Plus, I believe that the real battle between Ashirogi and Niizuma has onlybegun. I wonder what'll happen next.

vistlip - Updates on Upcoming Single: Recipe

2012-03-01T20:33:00.002+08:00

The moment I checkedtheir website, I was really happy to see the new look. Though actually, it wasfunny at the same time since nothing's really new about their look. Also, moredetails are finally given about the new single(:

For those who have read my post about their 8th Single, Recipe. Finally, here's the update!

vistlip's new look!

regular edition.

I hate the fact thatvistlip gives so much hype to theirupcoming single by revealing it early. Again, the new single will come out on April 11, 2012. It will come in 3 editions (asusual): the regular, the vister and the lipper. Each of them has their wondistinction. Particularly the regular edition will contain all three new songs.The vister, on the other hand, will contain Recipe + another song together withthe music video and the making of the video. It's like the normal CD + DVDLimited edition we see but vistlip justcalls it differently :D AND finally the lipper will have the 3 songs, the twosongs that'll be included in all CDs and the 3rd song being their so-calledself cover song and will also include two instrumentals(:

Further more, forthose who'd like to listen to the new song, Recipe.A preview is available at the official website. Click here.

TRACKLISTS:

vister.

vister[CD+DVD]

Recipe
Einstein

[DVD]

Recipe (music video)
Recipe (making)

lipper[CD+Booklet]

Recipe
Einstein
the surface[Re:birth]
Recipe (inst)
Einstein (inst)

Regular

Recipe
Einstein
トロイ

Now that the newlook has finally been revealed as well as the tracklist and the cover of thesingle. All we need now is the preview of the PV and we'll all be fully hype for this! :D

vistlip official website: click here.

vistlip on last.fm: click here.

Recipe on cdjapan: vister | lipper | regular

UVERworld - 21st Single: 7th Trigger

2012-03-01T10:30:00.000+08:00

So I haven't reallylisten to them much other than their CORE PRIDESingle, Hakanaku mo Towa no KanashiSingle and their Life 6 Sense Album. This21st Single should be interesting.

UVERworld(ウーバーワールド, Ūbāwārudo?) is a Japanese rock band known fortheir mixture of musical genres such as hard rock, electronic, and beat-boxing.- last.fm

After their lastsingle which was BABY BORN & GO / KINJITO,UVERworld is releasing their 21st single 7thTrigger. From what I've read, the title song's got some strong messagewhich gives me the interest of actually going over the lyrics. I have nevergotten over their lyrics other than CORE PRIDE's

Anyway, if youhaven't tried listening to UVERworld and you're into jrock, I suggest you gotry this. UVERworld have some interesting music. They're one of those must try jrock bands.

The said 21st singlewill come with 2 other more songs and will be released on March 28. One week after the release of 7th Trigger, UVERworld will release a live DVD UVERworld 2011 Premium LIVE on Xmas. This willbe on April 4 and a blu-ray edition willbe release on May 2. The live DVD willalso come in regular and limited edition. The limited edition is said toinclude a 36-page photo book. Cover of the album is not yet release.

TRACKLIST:

7th Trigger
Baberu ~koutei no atarashii fuku ver.~
AWAYOKUBA - kiru

UVERworld official website: click here.

UVERworld on last.fm: click here.

7th Trigger on cdjapan: Regular Edition| w/ DVDLimited Edition

UVERworld 2011 Premium LIVE on Xmas: Regular | Limited | Blu-Ray

Source:JPOPASIA - UVERworld Announces 21st Single, Xmas Live DVD, And New Live Tour,tokyohive- UVERworld announces new single, “7th Trigger”

Another - Episode 8: Hair stand

2012-02-29T21:53:00.002+08:00

I have to admit, sofar Another have been really great untilnow.

I knew I'd hate thisepisode the moment I saw the preview. I mean seeing a beach episode andpractically doing nothing exciting for more than half of the episode sure isboring. But to make up for that the ending sure was pretty interesting.

i'm seriously thinking she likes Kouichi :3

What I again wouldlike to stress in this episode is how Izumi sees Kouichi. I did mentioned wayback then that it seems that Izumihas interests on Kouichi. I'm not entirely sure if this episode backs thatidea up but she sure made me think that way. I mean moving cars and askingKouichi what he thinks of her and such. She definitely likes him but I'm prettysure that the story on that won't be focused on and be further shown since it'snot entirely important.

Anyway, this episodemainly dealt with their summer vacation away from Yomiyama with no worries ofanyone dying and only thinking of talking to Reiko's old classmate. Somehow,other than being boring and such it was pretty funny to watch them as they lookfor something to eat. Better yet to say, it was kind of funny how Another tries make this episode as light aspossible with some additional light comedy. My only complain on their attemptfor a summer episode is the wrong background music for the scene. Sure theyhave made a really outstanding soundtrack for all the eerie scenes but you suredon't want to here something really relaxing and calming when you see themhaving fun while swimming at the beach or playing sand by the shore. Butprobably, it would also feel weird if they play something lively. Overall, itcould have been a good beach episode without the fan service thing that wealways see in many harem series. The problem only lies in the background musicwhich definitely breaks the summer mood.

Going to their realbusiness, meeting Reiko's old classmate. I waited so long in the episode forthis and all he has to say is that he can't really recall what he particularlydid to get reed of the curse. What he did mention is that one of the 2 people whodied was in the mountain. No other information was given. Also, both him andReiko said something about something happening in the shrine but they don'tquite recall it. So much for hoping to see some enlightenment here. Anyway, hedid gave us something to look forward to. The note he left in the classroom.It's probably some note saying what he did and what happened to them in theshrine during that class trip. With 4 episodes remaining, I wonder how willthis curse will end. Moreover, they haven't really figure out who the heck isthe ghost in the class.

Finally, what mademe burst with excitement in this episode is the death of one of their classmatewhose name I do not know. Okay, when they were talking about the class trip ofclass3 15yrs ago, the strong wind that blew already told me something's goingto happen and it's not going to be good. I don't have to describe what happenedbut it sure was terrible. Now, what happens to the explanation that a persononly dies when they are outside Yomiyama? Is this a complete accident? It's sohard to believe it that way.

Episode 9 Preview

this is Sakuragi, right? O.O

Looks like next episode's going to be interesting.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Complains + Gagaga Magician

2012-02-29T15:42:00.001+08:00

I went back towatching Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal after placing it on-holdfor quite some time and I never get tired of laughing of how stupid themonsters have gotten or whatever else I find half stupid in this series. Forthe record, I'm currently in episode 21.

As a huge fan of theoriginal Yu-Gi-Oh! Series which is Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, I'm stillirritated by the fact that Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexalhas gotten way funnier and annoying that what I was expecting it to be.

I wouldn't like tocomplain so much of other things such as plot, story, characters, art, etc. I'dlike to focus on the new cards and monsters that were added in this series. Ofcourse, I couldn't go into details of all the cards since I practically can'trecall everything. First off, it's a distinct idea that every series, a new wayof summoning monsters are done. In Duel Monsters, it's the typical summon everymonster you have in your hand with no limitations until Seto Kaibaintroduced the sacrificing of lower level monsters to summon higher level ones.Other than this typical rule, Duel Monstersalso uses the Ritual Monsters or monsters that are summoned through variousrituals. In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX, even though Ihaven't gotten into half of the series, I'm assuming that the prevailing styleof dueling here is the use of the not-so-old fusion as well as the use of duelfields (or whatever it was called) and finally for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, other than riding the so-called 'D-Wheels',the new dueling style that was introduced is the use of synchro-monsters anddoing synchro-summon through the use of tuner monsters. As for Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, it introduced to us exceedsummoning. By overlaying monsters with the same level, you can summon a monsterwith overlay units which can be used for their special abilities. Well, thatwasn't so bad, yes?

Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl

everyone's fave Dark Magician

Well, that was somelong stupid rambling anyway. I don't really think that this is a problem. Ijust gave an overview of what the heck happens in the new dueling systems in Zexal. As I have mentioned, my real annoyancefor this series is the monsters. Let's take for example Yuma's trumpcard, Gagaga Magician. I find GagagaMagician as a cheap-knockoff of Yugi's trump cardin Duel Monsters, Dark Magician. Though GagagaMagician isn't as strong as Dark Magician,it also comes with his very own partner, GagagaGirl which has the same style as Dark Magician Girl. Other than GagagaGirl, Gagaga Magician also hassome magic card under his sleeves. I did some quick research and Gagaga Monsters has this so-called Gagagabolt (okay, that's some stupid nameindeed) which destroys a selected card on the field. Dark Magician, on the other hand, had this Dark Magic Attack which allows the user to destroy all spell andtrap cards on the opponent's side of the field. So they have one commonsimilarity and a couple of differences. I wouldn't like to raise the idea ofone being stronger or weaker than the other but the main idea is that themonster from Zexal were most likely acopy of the monsters from Duel Monstersor from the other series perhaps. If notthat, they're just plain monsters created out of nothing that looks reallyannoying.

Looking at thebigger picture of all the monsters I've seen so far in the series, I just haveto laugh at most of them. A couple would have to be pretty decent particularlyspeaking Shark'sdeck as well as Kaito's.The so-called Numbers would be pretty decent as well, Ithink. AND Yuma's Aspiring Emperor Hope (KibouOu Hope) reminds me of Judai'sNeos Monsters. LOL. Well, that proves its decency. Other than Hope, the rest ofhis monsters are complete bullshit. There's GagagaMagician, Dododo Warrior, Gogogo Golem, etc. Stupid Names. LOL. Oh and Ialmost forgot Kuribolt, Kuriboh's version in Zexal.

Certainly, I havebiases as a fan of the original Yu-Gi-Oh!and I have to admit that I'm more into DarkMagician since I hated Yuma's deck from the very beginning because ofhow poorly it was thought and how his deck doesn't have prevailing theme orsuch other than his monsters having repeated syllable names. Actually, Ibelieve that the entire concept of Zexalwas poorly thought. AND I would like to go over this next time(:

*IfI had mentioned anything wrong with regards to the concept of dueling orwhat-so-ever, please do notify me since I'm not really into dueling oranything(:

Black★Rock Shooter OVA (review)

2012-02-27T23:13:00.000+08:00

I havealways been in awe with how great the character design is for Black★Rock Shooter but after watching the OVA, I hated myself forover expecting. Sure, Black★Rock Shooter is a popular OVA and after watching it, I have noidea why is it popular.

I haveto give a good cheers to the pretty interesting opening. I always believe thata good action-battle anime is always best to start with an interesting andintense battle. With pure silence, Black★RockShooter opens in the middle of thebattle between a girl with a black dress and long horns and a girl with a hugelauncher and blue fire in her eye. It was intense and it was good. I wasstunned with the art and graphics. That has got to be BRS's best point.

The actual story isbasically about two really close friends but due to certain changes, they grewfarther from each other each day. Mato Kuroi (Hanazawa, Kana) andYomi Takanashi (Sawashiro,Miyuki) reminded me of Kagura Tsuchimiya and Yomi Isayama from Ga-rei: Zero. The really close friendship andthe action (but BRS has lesser). Butthen, BRS, on my point of view, had aproblem regarding the battle. Sure, it was good but it wasn't that interesting.It lacks something but I seriously can't explain it. Probably more emotions onboth the battle and the drama part of this story. Further more, because of thelack of time since it's a one-episode OVA, it didn't had much time to tell theentire story (if there was any) and touch its viewers.

I wouldn't lengthenthis review. In a quick view on this OVA, as mentioned, it's strongest point isthe outstanding art which I had to admit really did attract my attention. It’sworst point on my opinion is its almost interesting plot but poor execution.

Random Drawing - Shiirakin, Ririchiyo

2012-02-27T22:46:00.001+08:00

I rarely likeTsundere characters 'cause most of them are just plain annoying. AND for somereasons, even though Ririchiyo is a complete tsundere, I just can't stop myselffrom liking her :3

As usual, for thosewho doesn't know Ririchiyo-samaor the series Inu xBoku SS, here's a quick synopsis:

image scanned by: Weskalia over at MiniTokyo

The Shirakiin house's daughter, Shirakiin Ririchiyo,who has a complex about being unable to live independently and unprotected,feels the need to move out and live on her own under the condition of residingin the mansion named "Ayakashi Kan." In this mansion, only those whohave cleared a very strict examination could reside in it, and for eachresident, they are accompanied with one agent of the Secret Service (S.S.).Although Riricho has rejected the company of the S.S., while residing in themansion she finds out that the agent dedicated to protecting her is actuallythe Fox Spirit whom she previously rescued. - MAL

So what I have hereis just some random drawing of Ririchiyo-sama. She always looks fierce (see thebanner) or calm and really cute when in chibi (you should go watch the series).Anyway, getting to my work, drawing her hair was practically the easiest partsince her bangs was the easy-style :3 Her clothes reminded me of Keima's (fromKaminomi) uniform. lol. That felt weird since Ririchiyo-sama's a girl andKeima's a guy. It was a pretty good thing that the picture I copied doesn'tshow much of her hands 'cause that's practically a huge weakness of mine. Notmuch shading is done and I did my best to keep my work clean. I added a purplegradient shade after scanning it to add a little life to the drawing since Istill couldn't do coloring well(:

*Bigger image can beviewed in my dA account: clickhere.

*Watermark is '-blacksheep' and 'randomly--random'. -blacksheep is obviously my name inthis blog as well as on my MALaccount while randomly--random is my deviantArt && MiniTokyo accounts :D

comments are wellappreciated | constructive criticism is welcomed | may be viewed in 900px widein dA | do not save and post as your own.

Bakuman - Chapter 168: Correction and Declaration

2012-02-26T23:38:00.000+08:00

I sure find thischapter really good. AND once again, I liked Miho(:

Fukudasure did said it all.

Well he did saideverything I had in mind. The idea of idols falling in love and die hard fanscan't even take the idea which is really stupid. Moreover, Fukuda just revealedto everyone about Mashiro and Miho's story. I guess it's okay. No harm done on Fukudaand Giri. They said there have been a couple of positive feed backs but onMiho's part, things sure have gotten worse.

Other than thepositive feedback on what Fukuda just said on the radio and the bit moredamaged he has done to Miho, Fukuda was told to take back what he said. Afterwhat Miho has to say, I wonder about that. Plus, we all know Fukuda. He won'teven think of taking it back anyway. Apologizing is one thing but taking backwhat has been strongly said is an entirely different story.

Mihomust deny their relationship.

Sure it's probablysounds simple but I do believe that it's stupid to deny a true relationship.Moreover, it's the Miho and Mashiro relationship. The pure and innocentrelationship that's always so cute to see.

how sweet :3

It's probably a goodthing that Miho didn't even denied their relationship when she finally went onair in her radio show. This. This is the part in which I liked her again. She'sbrave and she truly loves Mashiro. Her memories with Mashiro was showed and Isomehow felt said when I saw them while having the idea that she'll just denyhim. ANYWAY, everyone sure was surprised when she did a straight up confessionon airing radio. Better yet, she just declared their dream of Miho voicingMashiro's manga and marrying. The marrying part sure is controversial. I wonderhow will her fans react. What her manager will tell her after the radio show.What's going to happen next!?

Another - Episode 7: Sphere joint

2012-02-26T23:15:00.000+08:00

This episodepractically dealt with what happened 15yrs ago wherein the curse stoppedmidway. It's still a mystery but it looks like this year's class 3 is willingenough to try everything out to stop the curse.

Kubodera-sensei haslost it. He killed himself in front of his students. With a kitchen knife (Iassume). He murdered his bedridden mother. He's a batchelor. Is this a resultof the curse as well? Probably. Kubodera-sensei's death could most likely be partof the curse but it just didn't happened in an accident. Anyway, theinteresting part in here is that along with Kubodera-sensei's suicide is thelifting of the non-existence of both Kouichi and Mei. I complete don'tunderstand why is it that they exist now. That people are allowed to talk tothem again.

is he looking at Kouichi?

and so, she's the first one to break the silence.

As I have said,there're aren't much things happened other than further discussions on whathappened 15yrs ago. AND now, after Kubodera-sensei's death, Mikami-sensei hastaken the initiative of taking class 3 to a class trip. The destination of thetrip hasn’t been announced but has got to be to the shrine Chibiki hasmentioned. What bothered me here is that when Chibiki was about to mentionabout the shrine being the place the class went to as well as the time 2 morepeople died, an image of the mansion in the OP was showed for a couple ofseconds. What does that mean?

the mansion.

Other thanMikami-sensei's action of taking the class to a trip to the shrine,Teshigawara, Mochizuki, Izumi and Kouichi talked to Mochizuki's sister who wasable to talked to a guy from class 3 15yrs ago. He mentioned something aboutsaving the class and leaving something behind. I've been thinking about thisthing quite a while. To put things together, the class went to the shrine for aclass trip. This guy saved the class and two people die as well. Correct me ifI'm wrong but did the two people died is what he was talking about he leftbehind? I wonder about that.

Finally, thecommotion about who the heck is dead isn't over yet. Sure I had the idea thatit was Kouichi and somehow, there're a couple of things that could strengthenthis idea. First off, Izumi said that the dead is really cold but she did alsosaid this time that she doesn't believe that. AND second, Teshigawara said thatthere's no way he's going to be the dead one since he clearly rememberseverything he did in childhood which struck me with Kouichi whose past hasn'tbeen revealed yet. Well, I'm not saying that it's necessary or anything butwhat I do remember is that his father blabbering something about getting backto Yomiyama after sometime and I still believe the fact that he can't rememberthat he lived in Yomiyama. Plus, remember Kouichi's dream? What does thatsuppose to mean? ANYWAY, since Izumi raised the idea and Mei said that itwasn't him, I kind of had second thoughts.

A couple of finalquestions I have in mind, Izumi mentioned something about meeting Kouichibefore. What is their relation to each other. AND what's the point of knowingwho's dead in the class?

Episode 8 Preview:

Beach episode. Will this be good? x.x

Nisekoi - Chapter 15: Rival

2012-02-25T14:48:00.000+08:00

Okay. So lastchapter was a bit boring and this one is pretty interesting. Claude's evil plan. Thetransfer student. The fight for Chitoge.

Thetransfer student.

He's good looking.AND knows Chitoge since childhood. Everybody thinks Raku's no match to him. Iguess it's true that you can never judge someone with just looking at them.Transfer student, Seishiro Tsugumi, has showed us that. He's got that fiercelook when he introduced himself but the instant he saw Chitoge, he startedlooking like some excited child when he finally got the toy he wishes for. BUTwhen he personally talked to Raku, the difference in his personality is prettyobvious.

He's Claude's evilplan and on the looks of things, the plan is to break Raku and Chitoge apart.Well, practically speaking, it's not going to happen since they don't reallylove each other (yet) on the first place and they both know that they're doingthis so-called relationship for the sake of their families. So there's no wayTsugumi will be able to break them apart. The only exciting thing I'm lookingforward from this arc is that the possible further development on Raku andChitoge's relationship. Plus, they'll be all cuddly now on the class sinceTsugumi is there. How will this affect Onodera? :3

Piece of advice: Never lose your guard when you don't really know someone. (OvO)

Iwon’t give her to anyone!

It's exciting tothink that there're are times that Raku actually thinks about Chitoge. Betteryet, the ending of this chapter declares a further development for Chitoge andRaku's relationship. When Raku said that he wont' give Chitoge to anyway, helooks hell serious and not lying at all. Is he actually developing feelings forChitoge? Moreover, it is shown that Chitoge actually heard what Raku justdeclared. Her reaction's pretty funny. I wonder what'll happen next. Is sheeven going to say something about this matter?

that's the spirit!

Bakuman - Chapter 167: Foolish Words and A Word

2012-02-25T12:12:00.000+08:00

I don't know why,but for reasons I'm getting tired of this arc but this chapter sure was great.Rather, I was really happy to see an all fired-up Fukuda once again.

Mashiro'snot even a bit problematic.

Sure Miho's in areally tight spot right now as a voice actress and idol. AND for some reasons,Mashiro's not even a bit worried about Miho not getting the part of Nahobecause he's so sure that she's getting it. Well, I don't want to ruinMashiro's merry making 'cause even after the chapter he's still in it for Miho.BUT then, I guess we'll see who gets the role at the end of this arc, will itbe Miho or Ririka? My bet's not changing.

Takagi'sgetting angry for Saiko.

Noticed how pissedoff Takagi is for Mashiro. It's not really weird or anything. In fact, it'sMashiro that's weird because it seems that he's not even a bit bothered by allthe issue. It's like, he finds out the issue, he's surprised and next thing weknow, he's over it. Oh well, Mashiro will be Mashiro.

TheProducer or the Director?

I really don't knowwho will get the final decision. Sure the producer is really important in theproduction of the anime but the director sure is a huge part of it as well. ANDwhen the producer found out that Miho and Mashiro are in a relationship, he alreadythought twice about placing Miho in the role. Sure enough, there are somepeople who cares about which voice actor works on which anime and whichcharacter. AND I am undeniably one of the people who looks at the list of voiceactors. ANYWAY, the director did said that he'd like to give Miho a chance andthe role of Naho will be decided on the auditions. Personally, I think thatMiho has a good chance if it comes to the director's decision AND that meanswe're still not entirely sure that Miho's getting it because I'm still intoRirika getting the part.

Fukudais one of the best friend I'd like to have.

Fukuda sure is aperson who'd poke his head into other people's problem whether it's concerninghim or not as long as they're friends it's enough reason for him to but in.Anyway, what will do this time will sure be exciting. He could defendAshirogi's point but I wonder how the fans will react to this. Moreover, if thefans reacted negatively, he might even get involved in all of this and receivednegative comments. Could Road Racer Giri end upgetting into a tight spot because of his actions? We'll find out I guess.

Nisekoi - Chapter 14: Lending and Borrowing

2012-02-19T18:26:00.000+08:00

Everyone sure lovesmaking promises 10yrs ago, huh?

MissionFailed.

When I thought thatthings have gotten fast ones again and Onodera's finally going to confess toRaku, a stupid baseball ball camecrashing into the classroom, breaking both the glass and the mood. Guess thisisn't really the right time for Onodera to confess to Raku. A right time willcome and I'm willing to wait for it. I'd love to see Onodera confess and Rakunervously receive her feelings x3

Raku'slost locket.

Ah, so there's onlyone reason why Chitoge took all the effort to return Raku's locket to him. It'spaying him a favor for saving her. I guess it's no shock since it just showsChitoge's natural character of not having any debt on anyone.

Claudehas some evil plan. >:]

First off, after acouple of Claude-less chapter, he's back and it looks like he's planning ondoing something to Raku. AND it may seem like it but I'm pretty sure it hasnothing to do with killing Raku. But what I noticed at the last part is Claudementioning a promise to Chitoge 10yrs ago. Well that sure cleared things up.Now we all know that Chitoge has got nothing to do with Raku 10yrs ago. OR is theresome major plot twist? XD

Another - Episode 6: Face to Face

2012-02-18T01:01:00.000+08:00

Somehow this episodeturned out a little lighter than before. This is probably something to breakeveryone watching from over thinking.

I'm still intoknowing the reason why was Mei chosen to be the non-existent in their classthis year. Sure she accepted it because like what she told Kouichi, she choosesto be the one being ignore than be the one who ignores. I guess it can be apretty good thought if you're trying to be kind or whatever but if you do wantto have a normal middle school life, it's best to choose the one who ignores.Anyway, going back to the question, it still is a mystery to me why was Meichosen as the non-existent. I'd still like to push through the idea that it'snot random or just by chance. There mustbe a reason behind it.

Another thing I'dlike to bring up in this episode is the idea of Kouichi being the ghost in theclass. I've read a couple of blog posts about this idea though it never occurto me to think of this after last week's episode. They did said something aboutthe number of chairs being equal to the class number until Kouichi came. ThoughIzumi did assured that Kouichi wasn't the ghost since he's not cold. Moreover,Kouichi did said something about not leaving in Yomiyama until now. The creepyidea begins here. Why did I said that? Remember when Kouichi was talking to hisfather through the phone? He mentioned about Kouichi being back in Yomiyamaafter one and a half year. Question is why can't Kouichi remember that? I don'twant to make conclusions anymore at this point in time. Plus, the line got cutoff again AND the idea of him being backin Yomiyama seems to be something his father is keeping. Since after mentioningit to him and Kouichi rejecting the idea, his father probably said somethingthrough the crappy signal noise and finally said "my mistake". Ireally do wonder about Kouichi's identity.

I wouldn't be goinginto the details of everything but here're a couple more things that caught myattention:

Mochizuki talking to the entire Art Club when he saw them talking to Mei.
The librarian, Chibiki (Hirata, Hiroaki) being the homeroom teacher of Ritsuko and Misaki. Explains why he knows Ritsuko.
Apparently the Misaki that died 26yrs ago was a boy. This explains the empty space at the top-right corner of the class picture.
Chibiki's reason for staying at the school but as a librarian. He did said that Misaki's house burned down. Was he the one responsible for it? :/
Chibiki explained the confusing class roster that changes - adds students, removes them, brings them back, etc. and other things concerning the class roster.
The calamity can be stopped midway and this can be done in summer break. It happened in Reiko's class.

Now who really isthe ghost? I think that Mei could probably be the one who can tell. She didsaid that she isn't the ghost but she never did said that Kouichi wasn't. Iactually remembered her left eye being able to see "things that should beseen" (did I recall that right?).

Episode 7 Preview

Bakuman - Chapter 166: Rumors and Articles

2012-02-15T20:25:00.000+08:00

Okay. Now the morereason why Miho won't get the part.

Blogpost deleted.

Actually it waspretty weird for Ashirogi to think that no one actually able to read Ririka'sblog post when she's a seiyuu and the post lasted for more or less two days.I'd say even a couple of people could have read it. Anyway, what I noticed onher blog post is the idea that she really does like Mashiro :3 When she getsthe role, could she battle her idol "Azukyun" to get Mashiro? :3

Japanesefans really go crazy over their idols.

Takagi sure knows a lot.

I've watched otakusin Oreimo going crazy over Witch Meruru (orwhatever) and Idol fans (Otsu-san's Fan Club headed by Shinpachi) in Gintamaand I have to admit that they really go crazy over their idols. Now we all seehow Miho's fans react after knowing that Miho has a boyfriend. Personally, Idon't really care about the personal lives of the voice actors, idols, jpopartists jrock artists I listen to. If their happy, I'm happy. As long as theirdoing their job I won't care what they do.

Kindof funny that this issue actually reminded me of the recent break out news onthe marriage of Jin Akanishi (赤西仁) and Kuroki Meisa (黒木メイサ) whom I both listen to. On my short personalopinion on this, I don't really want to make a huge ruckus about theirmarriage. They're married and that's probably good. Whatever the reason is, Idon't give a damn as long as they make good music it's all good(:

ANYWAY, sure do hopethat everything will be fine regarding Miho's career. I'm pretty sure Ashirogidoesn't have any issues in here BUT their dream sure is at steak. I'm stillbetting for Ririka to get the part though.

Ishizawa'srole.

Now we all saw whatIshizawa really is doing in this arc. Guess he'll be the one breaking Mashiroand Miho's dream because he wants Ririka to get the role so badly. Bad fanboying. Tsk.

Nisekoi - Chapter 13: Zawsze in Love

2012-02-15T16:49:00.000+08:00

When we're all fixedto the idea that Onodera's the promised girl, Chitoge suddenly gave us a hintthat she could be the promised girl.

I did a quick research and "zawsze" is Polish. I was able to search jak zawsze meaning as always while zawsze alone means always. Looks like Onodera isn't the only one holding onto some 10yr-old memory.

"Iawakened an unknown power to save my girlfriend"

By all means, inRaku's head, it's just natural for him to save Chitoge in the pool since he'ssuppose to protect her as her "boyfriend". Chitoge was probably justdoing her character as a tsundere that she really can't understand why the heckRaku saved her when he was so pissed off of her on that day. She was reallycute when she thanks Raku in english AND what I believe that she says things inenglish whenever she's too shy to say things directly to Raku.

Rakudrops the locket.

Somehow I wassurprised that Raku didn't even noticed that the locket fell off because it wasbig. Oh well, guess some things are just meant to happen to make things moreexciting. Better yet, Chitoge was the one who saw it. Guess it won't really bea huge problem, yes?

Rakux Onodera.

Okay. I don't reallyknow how many times I've said that I really like Onodera and Raku's pairingbecause they're both so innocent looking. They blush and stutter and getnervous whenever the other is around. Better yet Onodera even heat up becauseof blushing x3 Now I really understand why Onodera likes Raku. Well, a guybeing nice is probably one of the reason a girl will like him(: Raku, on theother hand, really panic and care so much, it sometimes seem annoying buthim panicking over Onodera's "cold" is really funny.

Moreover, by the endof the chapter, we see Onodera about to confess. I'm betting she's not going todo it :3 but then, who knows?

Whoreally is the promised girl?

After this chapter,Komi-sensei is making us all think of who really is the promised girl afterChitoge's words. Well, I'm still thinking it's Onodera because she did saidthat she has the key and she did said that the boy she promised to 10 years agoand Raku were the same. Chitoge's probably talking about someone else we'llsoon meet in the future. Or am I wrong in here? :/

Bakuman - Chapter 165: Practicing and Charging Up

2012-02-10T00:09:00.000+08:00

AND you all thoughtit's all over.

Theheroine is not in their hands.

I actually thoughtback then that once they get an anime it'll be all over since Hattori did saidway back then that the mangakas get to have their picks as well in theproduction such as choosing who'll voice who. BUT it looks like this timechoosing the voice actor for their heroine won't be in their hands and I'mbetting that even though how much Miho have practiced and memorized the lines,she's not getting the role.

Theintroduction of Ririka wasn't for nothing.

Remember that Kitami,Ririka was introduced in Chapter161? Well, the reason for that is finally shown here and it looks likeshe's going to get the role of the heroine instead of Miho. This is going to beinteresting :]

ANDcan anyone remember this guy?

Sure it has beenforever since we saw him AND he sure have changed A LOT. The best descriptionhas got to be: he turned into Nakai :)) Well, for those who have forgotten thisguys, he's Ishizawa,Hidemitsu, Ashirogi's middle school classmate as well as collegeschoolmate. It sure has been awhile and what we all know about him is that he'sserialized in some unknown magazine and he's a 100% pervert (remember theincident with Aoki? -- the anime reminded me of this :D).

Anyway, on the looksof things, he's a huge fan of Ririka and he could be routing for her to get theheroine role for Reversi's animeadaptation. I wonder what his reappearance mean in this point of time.

Another - Episode 5: Build limbs

2012-02-09T23:39:00.001+08:00

Answers. Finally.

For a 12-episodeanime, I'm glad that answers finally started rising. First off, I was glad thata couple of my theories were correct. It's finally cleared to all of us thatMisaki, Mei is actually alive and well and what she meant that she"doesn't exist" is explained. What I've been thinking about this isthat what's the reason why she was selected. Was it on random? I don't reallywant to think of it that way. There must be some reason behind it.

Anyway, one bigquestion that came to me was probably the reason why Takabayashi died. I dounderstand that he died because he's going to break a class rule (assuming thatthe rule includes to never talk about Mei) since he did offer to answer all ofKouichi's curiosities but what bothered me here is why is that? I think thatthis goes back to the question why is all of this happening? Even Mei can'texplain this to us when Kouichi asked her.

After Takabayashidies, the next thing we know was that he was already isolated from the rest ofthe class. The number one thing that came to me in here is that since Kouichiseems to have been the number one cause of the deaths since he talked to Mei andnot talking to him could stop everything. OR could it? I believe that this wasadded to the class rules. Anyway, Mochizuki wasn't stopped by the additionalrule (assuming that ignoring Kouichi has been officially added to the rule) andeven proved to us that Mei actually exist since he mentioned her in his letterto Kouichi. Well, I won't summarize their conversation but Mei gave answers toKouichi's questions up to the things she knows. Or what she would like Kouichito know?

Other than thesetwo, what seems to have stirred my mind in here is when Mei said that there issomeone among their class that is aghost. Remember what's carved in her desk? Whois dead? There're only a few recognizable characters in their class leftand I still can't make my mind up on who the heck it is :|

Now there're acouple of big things that has been bothering me after this episode. First off,from the previous victims, I'd say that those who die were actually the peoplewho'd mention Mei's name: Sakuragi whom Kouichi first said Mei's name to rightat episode 1, I believe she said Mei's name as well after Kouichi did (in afreaked-out questionable manner); the death of her mother is out of myknowledge but probably it's because people related to those in class 3 alsodies; next up is Mizuno who died last episode said Mei's name a number of timessince she's somehow helping Kouichi uncover Mei's identity or the mystery inclass 3 (she's not in class 3 but since her brother is, she's part of it aswell); now Takabayashi obviously died because he's going to answer Kouichi'squestions regarding Mei. I think it all makes sense but I can't be so sure. Asfor Reiko-san who seems to be on the death row as well did mentioned Mei'sname, I'm not so sure which episode but I believe that she did AND finally Mikami-senseiwho's the newest person to be on the notice for death row is still a mystery tome. Adding her to my list probably breaks my theory but she must have donesomething OR is the series of deaths really random? BUT I wouldn't believe itto be random. From what I've been thinking, it all boils down to Kouichi. Otherthan the curse, Kouichi's interactions to other people triggers their death.Could Mochizuki be next?

After going throughthis assumption that the people who mention Mei's name dies, the question thatfollows this is that why hasn’t Kouichi die? In fact, he didn't only mentionedMei's name, he even talks to her on a regular basis (by going to the doll shop).I'd say that this has actually got something to do about his mother being partof the class 3 Misaki (the one who died 26yrs ago) was in. It was also said that she died 15yrs ago (when he wasborn) and it was also the same year that Reiko was in class 3 (I believe thiswas mentioned in the earlier episodes). I'd like to assume that she diedbecause Reiko who was in class 3 is their relative. Now I'd like to see whatthis relation's meaning to the entire story.

I wouldn't go on thedetails of everything that happened but these things are probably the ones thatreally caught my attention in this episode. If ever I missed a few seeminglyimportant points, please do tell me and I'll be glad to add them to my thoughtsand questions(:

Episode 6 Preview

Nisekoi - Chapter 11 & Chapter 12

2012-02-06T21:47:00.001+08:00

There's always onedescription that comes to my mind whenever I need to describe Nisekoi. It'sfast. Really fast.

Chapter11: Keyhole

ANDDDDD, Raku wasn'table to open the locket :))

Raku's WTF face = EPIC!

It was both funnyand weird that the key to the girls locker room looked vintage than Rakumistaken it as the key to his locket but we all know that he's not mistakenwhen it comes to the girl that he's suspicious of. AND I'm pretty sure I'llnever get tired of Raku's WTF face. LOL.

who wouldn't fall for a dead serious face like that? :))

Anyway, I'm prettysure that the main highlight of this chapter is Raku's act of hero when hesaved Chitoge when she had cramps (for not doing proper warm up). When sawChitoge drowning, he didn't even think, he just jump into the water and savedChitoge. The funny thing was when Shuu was fooling around again and said thatChitoge wasn't breathing and needs CPR AND Raku was the only one capable ofdoing so. Ah, Shuu sure is one funny guy.

Onodera, on theother hand, just keeps on praising Raku while Ruri is still in doubt of Rakuand Chitoge's relationship. Moreover, I seriously thought back then that sheknows that Raku's the promised guy, but it seems that Onodera haven't told her.I guess it's better that way? Or is it? Guess it doesn't even make adifference, right?

Chapter12: Spoiler

Okay, I seriouslydidn't see that coming.

Chitoge's attempt tosay "thank you" to Raku forsaving her sure was funny. Probably the funniest one was when Chitoge wassaying thank you for saving her while Raku was thinking of the kiss. LOL.Misunderstanding sure is funny.

Anyway, the mainhighlight on this chapter was Chitoge's confession to Onodera and Ruri abouther situation with Raku. Well, we all know that Raku has also shared the storyto Shuu, so I guess it isn't much of a surprise that Chitoge will tell someoneelse about it BUT I seriously didn't had the idea that she'll tell it toOnodera and Ruri and this early of the story. BUT she sure did hide the factthat her household is full of gangsters but I guess it's also a pretty goodidea to hide that.

On Onodera's part ofthe story, it looks like she has more motivation on confessing to Raku BUT itsure was un-motivating whenever Chitoge would say something about someoneliking Raku as if it's entirely impossible to like him. BUT at the end of thechapter did showed us that she'll confess. I wonder when and how. The shy andinnocent Onodera is definitely someone I'd like to see confess(:

vistlip - 8th Single: Recipe

2012-02-02T21:29:00.002+08:00

Just the news I'vebeen waiting to see(:

Similar to mostj-artists I listen to right now, I also first heard vistlip from an anime particularly from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's which until now I haven't finish :( Anyway, thefirst song I heard from them was -OZONE-and it was really good to listen to, pretty fitting for 5D's and until now, I still listen to it over and over(:

screen-cap from their official website: vistlip.com

After the reallyoutstanding album, Order Made,they released last December, their announcement of their new single Recipe which will be released on April 11, 2012 really caught my interest. The"vister" Edition is said tohave two new songs and a DVD with the PV for "Recipe" as well as its making-offootage. While the "lipper"Edition will also have two new songs, a self cover track, as well as a deluxebooklet. AND finally, the regular edition will have three new tracks and twoinstrumentals (the typical single). Tracklist as well as cover of the new single is yet to be announced(: I'll just keep up with the news and update once it goes out :D

I have to admit thanI'm excited for this and I'd like to hear what vistlipwill sound this time because as a fan for over two years now, I have to admitthat every single, they get better and better(:

vistlip official website: click here.

vistlip on last.fm: click here.

Recipe on cdjapan: vister | lipper

Source: VistlipAnnounces New Single, “Recipe”

Another - Episode 4: Put Flesh

2012-02-02T20:24:00.002+08:00

Looks like it'sgoing to be one death after another.

looks like everyone's on a silent treatment

It seems that this"curse" that they are speaking of is that one student (or relative ofa student) dies every month in class 3. The reason? I have no idea but it seemsthat it has something to do with Kouichi's interaction with Mei since the hospitalincident. Kouichi is probably getting some little isolation from his classmatesand the story after what happened 26 years ago was not told to him even thoughTeshigawara promised. He said something about the situation changing. Whatexactly is the problem here?

oh, the fear of dying

I don't really wantto over think things but from the scene when a glass pane almost fell onKouichi and the girl whom he was talking to seems to be something important.BUT then, could it only be showing that the students on class 3 has gotten moreafraid than before because of what happen to Sakuragi? Or is it a signal thatshe'll die next? She went on saying, "No, I don't want to die!". Iguess it's pretty normal but it looks like she's really really scared because she knows that there's something going onin class 3 and she could be the next to go any time soon. Could there be apattern in whom will die next?

Anyway when Kouichiwent back to the doll shop, he saw a girl who went up to the second floor andI'm assuming that she's Kirika whom Mei have mentioned last episode. I stillhave no idea what her role is but probably it's something important since she hasn'tgotten any formal introductions yet. Her role must be a major part of the storyitself. When Kouichi entered the doll shop, he instantly went down the basement and looked at the doll that looksexactly like Mei. First off, I want to know the reason why he went back to theshop. Is it because of his curiosity of Mei? Plus, I'm pretty positive of theidea that he actually got scared when he saw Mei suddenly came out from thebehind the doll again. Is the idea of Mei being dead really getting in him?

you just know something's about to happen.

Anyway, in Kouichi'ssecond visit to the doll shop, what I would really want to know is the meaningof what Mei said to Kouichi. Because she asked, "are you going to schooltomorrow?" and when he said yes, she said, "then I probably shouldn'tshow up". What does that suppose to mean? Is she admitting that she hassomething to do with the death of Sakuragi? O.O Better yet, she did mentionedthat it has begun. Everyone's been sayingit but what really has begun? Was it thecurse?

Reiko on the otherhand seems to be on the death row as well. Her sudden sickness is a hint ofthat but what I notice about Reiko is that she finally revealed that she wasfrom class 3 as well and she kept on saying to always follow the class rules.AND I'm pretty sure it means something because Izumi said something about beingabsent on Kouichi's first day and wasn't able to warn him about something(probably about Mei). Now, what I have in mind is what was Izumi talking aboutthat happened two years ago? Damn, there's a lot of things they aren't saying!

Finally, when I wasactually liking Mizuno, she went off in a not-so-good -way like Sakuragi BUTbefore that happened, she talked to Kouichi about Mei and what struck me therewas when her brother said that there's no student like that in their class. I mean,why couldn't he just say the he doesn't know someone with that name orwhatever? Why does he have to freak out or something? Right now, I'm reallyconfused if they can see Mei or if Mei is dead or alive and just being isolatedand ignored. Moreover, the signal was scratching again which was similar towhen Kouichi was talking to Teshigawara before Sakuragi die. I'm assuming thatthe signal-loss is a sign that someone's going to die. Now about Mizuno'sdeath, it didn't me freaked out as much as Sakuragi did but damn, her face first hitting the floor of the elevator was epic. O.O I wonder who's going nextweek and how.

Episode 5 Preview:

Bakuman - Chapter 164: Decisions and Delight

2012-01-31T21:39:00.000+08:00

While reading this,I'm really fired up for the decision and after reading it, I was like:seriously!?!?!?!!!!

Zombie☆Gun's name for anime.

Niizumareally is an amazing mangaka. The idea of writing different names and aseparate track for Zombie☆Gun's anime adaptation is pure talent. It's noteasy to write two things at the same time and keeping them both in highquality. BUT then, I guess if it's Niizuma, it's possible.

Theeditor-in-chief's decision.

Okay, the decisionsure was quick. He said one month but after Hattori told Ashirogi that theeditor-in-chief will still think about it, next thing we know, Hattori'srunning back at Ashirogi's and announcing the great news. AND the 1-page ofpure "WHOOOOAAAA"sure was epic. lol.

TheBattle for the REAL FLAGSHIP & the future of WSJ.

WhileAshirogi's celebrating, Niizuma's sulking (again) because Zombie☆Gunwasn't chosen. BUT after Heishi-san gave Niizuma a call, that sure made him allfired up again :D

Bakumanis nearing its ending?

Based on therankings which I am religiously following through livejournal, Bakuman is never at the bottom of the list.Moreover, it's usually at the top10 so chances are, just because this chapterstated that Ashirogi'll be having an anime soon doesn't mean that Bakuman will end. I'm pretty positive about theidea that Bakuman will go on, hopefullyfor another year, and the following arc looks like an interesting one. Niizumabeing all fired up. Mashiro finally getting his happy ending. Ashirogi finallygetting their anime after 4 tries of serialization.

What'll happen next? I'mexcited to know but the highest possibility that could happen right now is Miho not being the heroine of Reversi. Better yet, if the heroine of Reversi became the voice actress that Mashiro met at the party at Chapter 161, that will add up to the excitement of the manga :D

Nisekoi - Chapter 10: Swimming

2012-01-29T22:19:00.000+08:00

This chapter wentoff a little off my expectations but the ending sure was big.

Just when I was really enjoying Nisekoi a swimming chapter is introduced but what made me really get through this is the really fun character of Raku who never cease to make me laugh.

Eavesdroppingis never good.

Onodera isdefinitely not giving up. AND Ruri-chan sure is an amazing person. Moreimportantly, she's got some good woman's intuition for thinking that Raku andChitoge's relationship is suspicious. Well, I guess intuition isn't reallyimportant in seeing how fake their relationship really is. LOL.

Unexpectedswimming w/ you know who.

Swimsuit shots isdefinitely expected for a shounen manga anytime in the series. I'm preparedto see more of this(: But then, what I like in this part is Onodera and Raku. Ireally like their pairing because they really look like the innocent couple whichis always so cute to see! Onodera always looking so shy around Raku and Rakualways looking so nervous around Onodera :D

Ruri-chanis the coolest character in Nisekoi.

Ahh, she has good eyesand good intuition. Better yet, she's always so straightforward and straightlyasked Raku for a group study, asked Raku and Chitoge about what they were doing in the warehouse during thegroup study and asked Raku to teach Onodera to swim. AND finally, we all know that she's a really nice friend for clearingthings up for Onodera in a not-so-obvious kind of way. BETTER YET, she kicked Maiko into the pool:))

Swimminglessons.

Raku is teaching Onodera. What more would I ask for? :3

TheEPIC cliffhanger! O.O

Okay, the endingreally freaked me out. This manga really have things going really fast it'samazing but it gives me a lot of thought as well that soon enough things mightend up getting boring since all of the exciting things was already published atthe beginning. Oh well, guess I don't have to think about it too much. I'lljust enjoy each chapter :D

Will Raku be able to open the locket? I'm betting he'll be interrupted or whatever. XD

Various Seiyū - Disney Cover Album

2012-01-29T21:07:00.001+08:00

Okay since I'm a huge fan of male seiyū because of their amazing voices, I sure was excited when I saw this news(:

On February 22, a Disney Cover will be release by various popular voice actors entitled: Disney Date ~Koe no Oujisama~. The participating voice actors include: Kamiya Hiroshi, Suzumura Kenichi, Fukuyama Jun, Sakurai Takahiro, Sugita Tomokazu, Midorikawa Hikaru, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Seki Tomokazu, Irino Miyu, and Yamadera Kouichi. I'm not a huge fan of all of them but I am looking forward to hearing Kamiya, Suzumura, Fukuyama, Sakurai, Sugita and Miyu-Miyu :D

When I saw this news, it instantly reminded me of last year's V-ROCK Disney which featured various jrock artists: Aoi from Ayabie, Kawamura Ryuichi, NIGHTMARE, PENICILLIN, Plastic Tree, Sadie and THE KIDDIE. It was fun listening to it most especially to the English songs.

Here's my quick comment on this cover: I don't really know what to expect from ~Koe no Ouijisama~ but what I do know is that it looks like they won't be doing this in English since the titles were translated to Japanese. Oh well. So much for hoping that they'll be singing in English. Plus, I was pretty disappointed with how a couple of my fave seiyū were not included in the list *cough* MIYANO MAMORU *cough* Okamoto Nobuhiko *cough* Tetsuya Kakihara *cough*. Though I have to admit that Kakihara isn't that popular yet but Mamo-chan and Okamoto sure are popular. Doushite!? BUT still, I'll look for a copy of this and hopefully enjoy listening to it as well. Can't wait for February! :D

TRACKLIST:

Kimi mo Toberu yo (Peter Pan) / Kamiya Hiroshi
A Whole New World (Aladin) / Suzumura Kenichi
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (Cinderella) / Fukuyama Jun
Hoshi ni Negai wo (Pinocchio) / Sakurai Takahiro
Hito Ashi Osakini (Cinderella) / Sugita Tomokazu
Ai wo Kanjite (Lion King) / Midorikawa Hikaru
Itsuka Yume de (Sleeping Beauty) / Morikawa Tomokazu
Go the Distance (Hercules) / Seki Tomokazu
Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid) / Irino Miyu
Circle of Live (Lion King) / Yamadera Kouichi

Source: Tokyohive: Voice actors to release Disney cover album

Another - Episode 3: Bone Work

2012-01-26T01:07:00.000+08:00

A couple ofquestions are answered but more rises.

One thing's forsure, what's behind the eye-patch isn't important. What's important is thestory behind it. She did said that her left eye can see "things thatshould remain unseen". Does she mean ghosts? Who knows? The reason for itbeing a doll's eye probably isn't much of a question since it can clearly bescene that she has some connections to the dolls and the shop itself. What Iwant to know is what it is.

is he scared or what?

Anyway, it's rightthis episode that I liked Kouichi even more since finally, he showed curiosityand suspicions. Moreover, I liked it when Kouichi finally showed that he'sscared when he asked Mei about her business in the hospital when they met. ANDhe remembered that Mizuno, Sanae (Yoshida, Seiko)said that the girl died was named Misaki or Masaki (and she confirmed that it'sMisaki), the old lady in the shop said that there are no other costumer andMisaki is an only daughter. BUT what's even interesting is when Mei actuallytold Kouichi about the story 26 years ago AND told him that the girl's name isMisaki. Kouichi's face is EPIC.

Once again Izumi hasmade me notice her again. AND on the looks of things, she has gotten intereston Kouichi. Well, I don't really know for sure but I would like to see theirrelationship development more and see what really is Izumi's role here.

don't mess with things that don't exist.

Other than Izumi,Sakuragi sure is an interesting character as well. She's like someone reallycrazy yet looking calm on first impression. Moreover, Kouichi's curiosity hasdefinitely gotten to the next level that he has been asking people about whathappened the following years after the incident 26 years ago. BUT what isannoying is the idea that the people are still avoiding the issue even thoughit's clear than he has an idea and now wants answers. The question that lies inhere for me is why Teshigawara said that he'll tell him about it next month?Why not tell him now if he'll tell him anyway? Also, looks like things havegotten more interesting when he actually told Kouichi to "not mess withthings that don't exist". No second doubts, he surely mean Mei in here.

Finally, Kouichiasked Misaki about his number one curiosity since the first day and Meianswered him fast and directly without even letting him finish his question."I don't exist", she said. Moreover, she said that no one else cansee her other than Kouichi AND I was pretty certain of that until this episodewhen I saw Kazami's reaction when Kouichi went to the rooftop when he saw Meiand Sakuragi when she freaked out when (I assume) she saw Mei and startedrunning off and finally met her doom through her umbrella. That scene isprobably the most well done gore-scene (if you can consider it gore orwhatever) I've seen yet on anime. The point of her umbrella clearly shown atthe back of her neck, it wasn't darkened, censored or pixilated. It made mefreak out and cover my eyes when I was watching it the first time, the secondtime and even the third time. Great job P.A. Works.

For this episode,quite a number of questions rose again. The number one has got to be, what is the rest of the story about the incident 26years ago? Who is Fujioka Misaki? I was heck curious so I checked thecharacter list in MAL but shewasn't there. Is Mei faking their relationship? If so, what really is thereason why was Mei in the hospital that day? Also, since I've been curiousabout Mei's connection to the doll shop and since she mentioned Kirika beingthe one who's making the dolls, who is Kirika and what is her relation toMei? From this episode, I'm assumingthat everyone can really see her since Kazami seems to see her as well asSakuragi but pretending not to. Why is this so? Is it because she's dead or isthere something else?

Episode 4 Preview

Bakuman - Chapter 163: Confirmation and Consent

2012-01-24T00:26:00.000+08:00

FINALLY!

The question is: Is Reversi getting an anime or what?

Animeoffer...

Lastchapter's hype was heck of a cliffhanger and I have to admit that my predictionwas wrong. I thought for sure that it's going to be Niizuma's Zombie☆Gun but I was stand corrected. In fact, it took acouple of pages as they talk about Reversi and Zombie☆Gun's reasons for having and not having an anime and it is prettyinteresting.

Hattoriis over thinking things.

It's kind of funnyhow Hattori was going insane about Reversi'sanime adaptation. Though his idea is pretty reasonable but the initial reactionfor an anime adaptation has got to be: YES! When, he asked Ashirogi's thoughtsabout the adaptation, their response was really predictable until Hattori gavethem his thoughts but it was pretty funny that at the end, Hattori finally madeup his mind after hearing Mashiro's personal dream.

Niizumawon't lose!

Just when we allthought that Niizuma will be happy for Ashirogi's success for an animeadaptation, this time it's not going to be like that. Niizuma sure have gottenmore mature than before and has set his goal and made sure to never lose toAshirogi. At first, he was decided not to have an anime this early but afterhearing Ashirogi getting the adaptation, he instantly submitted his names forthe anime.

Niizuma sure is interesting.

Looks like anotherbattle is about to begin and I'm guessing Niizuma's going to win this one'cause I surely don't want to see Ashirogi get that adapation since it'll meanthe end of Bakuman that I like so much.

the Sketchbook - 3rd Single: Message

2012-01-23T00:03:00.001+08:00

Okay, I'm runninglate on SKET Dance but I was sure gladthat I checked out the Sketchbook'swebsite on some random note.

TheSketchbook Project was launched in connection to the anime Sket Dance due toits popularity because of the episode with the Kaimei Rock festival where thethree main characters (Bossun, Himeko and Switch) formed a band, which waseventually called the Sketchbook. After an audition to gather similar membersthe real-life version of the band consists of three members in total: TadaHiroshi (多田宏) on bass and vocals, Kohara Riko (小原莉子) onguitar and Watabane Yuu (渡邊悠) on drums. Their debut single was Michi (道),released on September 28, 2011. - last.fm

Finallyafter their first two debut singles, Michi (道) and Clover (クローバー),their third single which is also the 4th OP of SKET Dance,Message, will be release on February 1. This single willinclude Hero which is also the ED the arc about Onihime (ep37) which also marked the end of SKET Dance's 3rd season of airing.

TRACKLIST:

Message
Hero
Message (Instrumental)
Hero (Instrumental)

The Sketchbook Official Website: click here.

The Sketchbook on last.fm: click here.

Message on cdjapan: Regular Edition| CD+ DVD

Nisekoi - Chapter 9: Getting Closer

2012-01-22T11:34:00.000+08:00

Anobvious trap.

The Yakuza reallyhave done it now. I can pretty much declare their trapping operation asuccess. First off, just when Raku and Onodera were on some pretty goodknowledge of liking each other, the Yakuza trapped Raku and Chitoge inside adark room. Second, looks like Raku has saw Chitoge's feminine side and on thelooks of things, he just might like her. The way he describe her and sayingthat she's cute, there's no doubt that he's going to like her one way oranother. Third, Onodera just saw Raku with Chitoge in a misunderstand-able way.AND finally, read Chitoge's description of Raku in her diary (or whatever).

Wheneveryone knows everything, Chitoge knows nothing.

It's funny that Iactually thought at the beginning that Chitoge actually knows that Raku likesOnodera but I was stand corrected when they suddenly talked about Onodera whilestuck in the dark room. She might have been blind, deaf or whatever and it's funny.

and he was half-nervous.

It'sCLAUDE!

Claude is back inaction!! Oh where have you been Claude? HAHA. AND in his come back, he actuallysees a close-to-a-kiss position of Raku and Chitoge and it's not tolerable for him.Remember Chapter2? :)

HE'S BACK!!

AND for somereasons, the ending wasn't that exciting but what we all know now is that thereal relationship between Chitoge and Raku couldn't be that far away.

-on the side note: isit just me or is this the first time Raku's friend's name is given? Shu Maiko.

Nisekoi - Chapter 8: Home Visit

2012-01-20T10:40:00.000+08:00

I hate myself fornot reading this chapter earlier

Ruriknows everything.

If you really knowsomeone and for instance, you hangout with him/her for like all the time,there's a high possibility that you'd know whom he/she likes without evenasking or being told too. AND that's exactly what we had this chapter. It wasfunny how surprise Onodera was when Ruri told her that she knows that Onoderalikes Raku. Moreover, Onodera was even MORE surprise when Ruri told her thatRaku likes her back.Probably one thebest things you'd like to hear but something difficult to believe as well atsome point.

Moreover, looks likeOnodera has moved on the attack. Now that's something new and good to see(:

StudyGroup

Both Onodera andRaku sure are funny. It's the really cute kind of love that reminds me of Mihoand Mashiro from Bakuman. They both getnervous around each other and they somehow get difficulties approaching eachother. It's the innocent kind of love! :3

Moreover, it's funnyhow Chitoge actually wants to ruin Raku and Onodera's moment. Like how shehelped Onodera with her Math problem and when she asked Onodera if she hassomeone she likes. Onodera's && Raku's reaction = FTW! xD

On the side note, Inever get tired of Raku's different WTH faces.

Raku'sfriend is Souma :))

Okay, so I didn'tgot the idea that he knows Raku likes Onodera until the cake incident when hewas looking at how Raku reacts. BUT then, when he said that he didn't saidanything because he was amused really makes him like Souma from Working!!. Moreover, things have gotten evenMORE interesting when he told Raku that Onodera likes him x3

At this point, I'mreally glad that I've not yet gotten anywhere near disappointment because ofthe continuous excitement and revelations each chapter. I wonder how long canKomi-sensei keep this up.

Tetsuya Kakihara - Second Mini-Album: CONTINUOUS

2012-01-19T19:05:00.001+08:00

Didn't know himuntil I heard him as Amaimon on Ao no Exorcistand I found his voice really good.

"Tetsuya Kakihara (柿原徹也) is a seiyū from Düsseldorf,Germany who is affiliated with 81 Produce (junior). He is the only Japaneseperson to voice a device in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s, with theGerman-speaking devices Lævateinn and Graf Eisen. In fact, Kakihara can speakin five languages: German, Japanese, English, Spanish, and Latin. -last.fm" I noticed hisvoice as Amaimon from Aono Exorcist and believe that his mostfamous roles has got to be Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail.

After his firstmini-album, Still on Journey, TetsuyaKakihara will finally release his second mini-album entitled CONTINUOUS on February15. I'm not entirely excited about it but something new to listen towill be pretty good. BUT sure do wish he'll do a pure English song :D

TRACKLIST[Regular Edition]

Chaos Breaker
Good Luck
Labyrinth
Bible of Heart
Hikari
Continue

TRACKLIST[w/DVD Limited Edition]

Chaos Breaker
Good Luck
Labyrinth
Bible of Heart
Hikari
Continue
[DVD] Chaos Breaker (MUSIC CLIP)
[DVD] making of 'Chaos Breaker'
[DVD] TRAILER

Tetsuya Kakihara under kiramune: click here.

Tetsuya Kakihara on last.fm: click here.

CONTINUOUS on cdjapan: Regular Edition| w/ DVD,Limited Edition

Another - Episode 2: Blue Print

2012-01-18T23:57:00.001+08:00

AND for somereasons, he wasn't scared even if he had an idea.

The second episodedidn't disappoint as well.

The opening part ofthis episode somehow puzzled me. Misaki and Sakakibara didn't really exchangedmuch words but Misaki did said something like it's about to begin. I have noidea what it could be but it has got to have something to do about Misaki's pastor death and Sakakibara reliving something that happened in the past. Probably.

why is she always making that face?

AND so hisclassmates did it again. When Teshigawara (Maeno, Tomoaki)said that he's been meaning to tell Kouichi since the last episode about it andMochizuki (Yamamoto,Kazutomi) tried stopped him, I don't know if Kouichi is getting clues. BUTanother situation happened after class and I don't know if that's when he got alittle suspicious. All I'm sure of is that whenever he sees Misaki, he alwaysapproach her. Also, I was able to understand why Izumi always has that grumpyface. Well, from what she said, there could still be more reason behind it oram I over thinking things?

Finally, whenKouichi followed Misaki and found the strange doll shop. It looked strange andcreepy but Kouichi went in. Moreover, when he saw the doll that looks likeMisaki, he mentioned her name and she just came out of nowhere. AND for somereasons, he didn't asked her about being dead or whatever. I really want toknow what's going on in Kouichi's head 'cause he's always going after Misakilike it's on impulse and he never reactswhenever his classmates goes on about not telling him "something",talking about class C being a "special class" or his classmatesfidgeting over something.

now show us what's under that eye-patch.

Now this episodejust makes me think more about things. First off, I really want to know what'sgoing on in Kouichi's head. Before talking to Misaki in the doll shop, hegained knowledge that Misaki could be dead. Why didn't he asked her about that?What does Misaki mean when she said that it's about to begin? Also, who reallyis Tatsuji, Chibiki (Hirata,Hiroaki)? AND what's wrong with the library? In addition, what's theconnection between Misaki and the doll shop? Moreover, what's wrong withMisaki's left eye? Why is there an eye-patch?

Need to watchepisode 3 now!!! o(>A<)o

Episode 3 Preview

Bakuman - Chapter 162: Hot Spring and Two Nights

2012-01-18T01:54:00.001+08:00

Lots of thingshappen and this chapter still made me feel warm(:

Reversi gets an anime. Soon.

We all know that Reversi will get an anime (or will it?)because of its overwhelming popularity as well as the fact that the volumes areselling really well. AND as expectedwhen Tanabe Futoshi, a guy from ANN, both Mashiro and Takagi freaked out.Nothing new, huh? What's pretty good in here is the idea that Ohba-sensei seemsto be giving some pretty good hype on the possible conclusion of Bakuman but still, who knows, this manga couldstill go on for another two or three years without Ashirogi Muto getting ananime. LOL.

KAYA…

For some reasons,I've hated Kaya since the very beginning and no part of the manga nor animemade me like in even the tiniest bit. And yes, that includes the arc when sheconcluded that Takagi is cheating on her. In fact, I hated her even more foreasily jumping to conclusions without even a little talk to Takagi.

Anyway, back to thecurrent chapter, it's nothing new that in this chapter she's even more annoyingthan ever. Yes, she's drunk and she's bossy. AND I pity both Mashiro and Takagifor getting stuck with her but I guess by the end of the day, Kaya is stillalways there to help out Ashirogi when they need her and probably that's Kaya'sbiggest role for me. LOL.

Toalways be good friends…

I really liked itwhen Mashiro said that his wish was "to always be good friends with Shujinand Kaya-chan like I am now." More or less, I could also wish for the samething. It's practically simple and not really something we would think aboutwhen wishing. But then, after reading this, my mind suddenly drift off withrandom thoughts about my friends back then etc. as well as jealousy to Mashiroand Takagi's long and unbreakable friendship. Sure do wish I can find someonelike that.

Apretty good way to even raise the hype

Ohba-senseididn't end the Reversi anime adaptation hype in the beginning. The way heended the chapter with another hype of Reversi is reallycatching me. I'm pretty sure a lot of fans would cheer for Ashirogi's Reversi to get the adaptation BUT we all do know that onesan adaptation is made, it could mark the end of Bakumanthat's why I'm betting that it's either non of them will be chosen for theadaptation or Zombie☆Gun will be chosen.

Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou - Episode 1

2012-01-14T20:28:00.000+08:00

After the all-boysslice of life Kimi to Boku last season,this season offers another boys-centered slice of life anime which is Danshi Koiukousei no Nichijou :D

First off, I can'tstop myself from comparing Kimi to Bokuand Danshi Koiukousei no Nichijou eventhough they seem entirely different other than they are both all-boys centeredslice of life. Personally, I find Kimi to Bokumore enjoyable though I'm pretty sure that a number of people will be againstthis. Sure DKnN was funny and I did laughat every segment but something sure is missing for me. Unlike in KtB, the jokes get stuck in my head while in DKnN, they don't entirely get stuck on me.Moreover, KtB also offered drama andromance while DKnN would probably onlyshowcase pure comedy about the typical everyday life and hopefully, it'll befunny as is.

Getting over with myimpression on this anime and episode, like I mentioned, the per-segment episodeof DKnN sure was funny. The openingsegment really did caught me. I was first like, "aaahhhh… running withbread on your mouth. IT IS a slice oflife" until the gundams appear! I was like, "is that a zaku? Orwhatever it is they call that? But I'm pretty sure it's from Gundam.o(O.O)o" Well that was a pretty interesting way to start the show. Iwouldn't go part-by-part of the episode but with this first episode, I'm prettysure that I'm definitely watching this and look forward to every week. It partially reminds me of Shinryaku! Ika Musume because of the idea of being having many different unrelated stories per-episode.

Other than the manyhilarious parts of DKnN, what also caughtmy attention is suddenly hearing Sugita, Tomokazu inthe show. I was like, "this Tabata guy sounds awfully familiar. He soundslike Sakata, Gintoki from Gintama.LOL." The cast is definitely amazing. For some reasons, I always getcaught with anime having a good set of casts. Particularly casts that involvesseiyuus I like listening to. Other than Sugita, Suzumura, Kenichiis also one of the main characters and I personally note him for voicing Okita,Sougo from Gintama as well. AND finally,my recently listened to seiyuu is also in this show, KtB's Tachibana, Chizuru's voice, Irino, Miyu is playingTadakuni here.

Character-wise, Ifind the three main characters equally funny. First off, Tadakuni seems to bethe one playing the straight-guy act. Straight-guys are funny because theypoint out stupidities but moreover, Tadakuni actually gets played by thestupidities like when he asked about how to get a girlfriend and when three ofthem were suppose to wear Tadakuni's imouto's skirt, he was the only one whowore it. Next up, Tabata seems to be the one with the most stupid ideas likethe one acting about talking to a girl after class as well as his stupidexchange of lines with the Literature Girl (Hikasa, Youko).Finally, there's Tanaka whom, on my opinion, is the one who usually followsTabata's stupid ideas. AND the three of them form a pretty goodtrio-comedy-act.

Overall, Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou seems to be in parwith Lucky Star on this one. Just talkingabout the practical funny sides (and doing them as well) of the typicaleveryday life. Similar to Kimi to Boku,it's pretty good to watch given the idea that this is a pure comedy anime andhas gotten away with the typical all-girls slice of life and is now focusing onboys' activities.

Another - Episode 1: Rough Sketch

2012-01-12T18:31:00.002+08:00

My most anticipatedshow this season. It was worth the wait and I wasn't disappointed even onebit.

Another doesn't seem to disappoint when you seethe genre mystery and horror under it. The opening of the first episodedefinitely gives off the creepy feeling and this is definitely one thing why Idecided to pick this series up.

First off all, it'sundeniably obvious that the art is really amazing. From the two P.A. Worksanime that I have finished, Anotherdefinitely went in par when it comes to the great background art and music.They all blend well with each other and make the series good to watch becauseof the atmosphere they create.

The first episodeopened up with the story about Mei Misaki (Takamori, Natsumi)26 years ago prior to the actual date of the series (1998). The story was toldin the simplest manner, as if two people are simply gossiping about her death.Through this simple opening, questions already rises. I have a couple of themand I surely want to follow this series and find out the answers to the mysterybehind Misaki's death.

Next thing we know,Kouichi Sakakibara (Abe,Atsushi) is already being introduced but first off in the hospital becauseof lung problems. The thing that made me think in here is the hesitation hisclass representatives are showing him as well as their strange interview abouthow long has he lived or stayed in Yomiyama. Moreover, I'm pretty sure thatthere was something up when Akazawa shook Kouichi's hand. Her expressionchanged. I wonder what it was.

Furthermore, theelevator setting was both creepy and strange. First off, I have no idea whyKouichi went on the elevator. He went all the way down to B2 and did nothing atall, he just watched Misaki leave. Second, the missing 4th floor wasintentionally shown. I did a little research and found out thatin East Asian countries, number 4 is usually skipped in buildings because it isassociated with death. And finally, it seems that he didn't even felt strangethat Misaki is going to the morgue section of the hospital and told him she'sgoing to "deliver her poor other half". Things sure are strange. ANDon the side note, Misaki's doll sure is creepy.

I don't really wantto get going with everything but the main point in here is that Kouichi couldprobably be the only one who can see and talk to Misaki. Or does his classmatessee her too but never talk about it? Moreover, it seems that his classmates keepson going about saying something. Due to obvious reasons, that something isprobably about Misaki. Everyone in the school probably knows her and her story.It wasn't even surprising when Sakuragi got shocked when Kouichi was asking thewhereabouts of Misaki. Finally, when Kouichi saw Misaki on the rooftop and mether there, Misaki told him that he'll find out soon enough. Surely it won'tprobably take long for him to find out and hear the story going around. OR itcould also take him some time since everyone can't seem to talk about Misaki.

So the questionsthat got me after watching this is first, how did Misaki died? Sure enough, I'massuming that she was murdered, killed or whatever. But for what reasons? ANDby who? Moreover, why can't her soul rest after all those years? AND finally, whydoes she have an eye-patch on her left eye?

I don't have planson reading the manga or look for anything that will spoil me here. I want tofind all the answers as I watch this interesting horror-mystery.

Episode 2 Preview

Kill Me Baby - Episode 1

2012-01-11T23:40:00.000+08:00

I was really gladthat I picked this show up.

I was a littlehesitant in picking this show since it was a pure comedy but then, I wasreminded of Nichijou was on the same genre.

Surely the firstepisode was not even a bit disappointing. With only three charactersintroduced, Kill Me Baby was never short on comedy and punch lines. It somehowreminded me Nichijouwhich also had the same quick jokes and had lots of them though Kill Me Babyhad some rough transitions in between jokes but that's pretty fine.

This episodepractically gave us a good look on each characters. There's Sonya (Tamura, Mutsumi)who's suppose to be an assassin but for some reasons, she's scared of almostabout everything while her friend, Yasuna (Akasaki, Chinatsu),on the other hand is the energetic one and always gets hurt by Sonya when shegreets her in the morning. And for some reasons, she reminded me of Yuuko fromNichijou :D Moreover, Agiri who's said to be a ninja was also introduced alongwith her false ninja tricks or 'jutsu' which was really funny.

What's noticeableabout Kill Me Baby other than the simple yet really funny characters is thebackground art. The background people were simple and looks the same and theylook like cut-out drawings but it's fitting enough for the anime and it getsyou to focus more on the main characters themselves. Also, the backgrounds werereally comedic. They look fun with the crayon-styled background.

Overall, Kill MeBaby is certainly an anime worth watching for those who likes comedy-type ofanime and definitely something to avoid for story-type fans. This also lookslike something that will appeal to Nichijou fans like I mentioned above(:

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED HD Remastered - Episode 1: False Peace

2012-01-08T22:30:00.001+08:00

The news aboutMobile Suit Gundam SEED HD Remastered was pretty good for a Gundam SEED fanlike me but while watching it, I hate to admit it myself but it was prettydisappointing.

First off, for thosewho have never watched Gundam SEED before and for those who doesn't even knowGundam SEED on the first place, here's a synopsis:

"C.E. 71: In the midst of war between the Naturals(OMNI) and Coordinators (ZAFT), a unit from ZAFT is dispatched to hijack theEarth Alliance's newly developed mobile suits on the neutral colony ofHeliopolis. Orb Civilian Coordinator Kira Yamato attends the technical collegeon Heliopolis. After ZAFT hijacks 4 of the 5 mobile suits, Kira stumbles uponthe last one, Strike, forced to pilot it to save his and his friend's lives.During this confusion, Kira also reunites with his childhood Coordinator friend,Athrun Zala, who ironically turns out to be a ZAFT soldier and one of thehijackers at Heliopolis. Having control of Strike, Kira joins the EarthAlliance boarding the ship known as Archangel, to protect his friends whiledespairing over becoming the enemy of his childhood friend and people. - MAL"

Gundam SEED was thefirst Gundam Series I watched and I certainly enjoyed its simple plot which wasmainly about the battle between the OMNI and ZAFT and the discriminationbetween Naturals and Coordinators. When I first watched Gundam SEED, it was onTV and was English dubbed and about one and about half year ago, I rewatchedGundam SEED in English subbed and it turned out a lot better. I enjoyed everyarc, loved and hated characters and enjoyed every battle. I didn't care aboutrepeated scenes and poor art/graphics during that time because I focus more onthe story and characters.

Gundam SEED HDRemastered opened up pretty well and from what I can remember when I rewatchedthe first episode around a week back, it's nothing but the same. BUT what Inoticed is the quality of the video itself. If that's what they call HDremastered of Gundam SEED, well I'm seriously disappointed with how much Ilooked forward to this and how bad the quality is. The first thing I thoughtabout this is how the characters look like cut outs from a comic or cartoon orhow the background looked like watercolor-edited AND it looks bad (on myopinion). Also, I accidentally screencap-ed a recycled scene. LOL. But then,the mobile suits, on the other hand, as well as the battle on the outer space(minus the recycled scenes) do look good and I'm not really sure if that's howthey exactly look on the original but I like them.

characters look bad in close-up && bg looks watercolored

but the gundams still look good :)

On the side note ofhow disappointing the graphics is, I'd like to agree that the remixed versionof the ED, Anna ni Issho Datta no ni by See-Saw was pretty good and sounds alittle more dramatic than before.

Anyway, the firstepisode opened up with a brief introduction of what's currently happening, thewar between OMNI and ZAFT. There're quite a few questions that still needs tobe answered and lots of characters who needs more introduction but 50-episode GundamSEED can definitely introduce them all well. As of this episode, what iscertain is the relationship between Kira Yamato (Hoshi, Souichirou)who's an engineering student in Heliopolis and Athrun Zala (Ishida, Akira) who'sfighting in the frontlines of ZAFT.

Anyway, with howdisappointed I was with the graphics, I still want to watch this and I'd liketo look forward to more and better changes in the upcoming episodes(:

Kuroki Meisa - New Album: UNLOCKED

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000+08:00

Itwasn't until I listened to her in Ao no Exorcistthat I learned about KurokiMeisa (黒木メイサ) and I have to admit that her voice really isgood.

After releasing hersingle "Woman's Worth / Breeze Out" last December 7, 2011, a secondalbum is

already announcedthat will be released on February 15. I'mrather excited to hear her 2nd album since I have never really heard any of hersongs other than Wired Life which was theED2 of Ao no Exorcist. Judging the songsby the title, they certainly can't meet my love for miwa's songs but I can't really make conclusions right away.February sure is a long way so I'm hoping that I won't be disappointed in anyway(:

TRACKLIST:

Hit the Road
Shake it Off!
Wired Life
One More Drama
Take me Away
Flashlight
Woman’s Worth
LAST CODE
Happy to be ME
Parade
S.O.S-Watashi Sagasanaide Kudasai
UPGRADE U!
Aimaide Zeitakuna Yokubou

Kuroki Meisa's official website: click here.

Kuroki Meisa on last.fm: clickhere.

UNLOCKED on cdjapan: Regular Edition| w/ DVD, Limited Edition - Type A | Type B

Source: JPOPASIA- Meisa Kuroki’s 2nd Album Slated for February 2012

Random Fan Art - Makise, Kurisu

2012-01-02T16:22:00.000+08:00

If you still don'tknow who Makise,Kurisu is then you must have been really outdated this past year 'cause shehas got to be one of the most interesting tsundere characters I've came across.

If you really don'tknow Kurisu, it’s time for you to watch Steins;Gate which hasbecome one of the most outstanding anime this past 2011. It’s a great animemost especially for those who would like to do a little thinking whilewatching. It's also recommended for those who likes thriller anime(:

Anyway, this isobviously a chibi Kurisu and I based it from a nendroid.It's a little failure if you compare them but I personally don’t want to lookat it that way 'cause even though there obviously are differences, I don'tthink it's that bad as it looks. Personally speaking, I like how her eyesturned out as well as her expressionlessface. It's my favorite part of the drawing. The overall look doesn't really standout that much because there isn'tany movement in her pose but I guess it's fine as it is.

My next projectregarding this is to color this either using Paint Tool Sai or vector it usingmy Photoshop CS3 but I'm still in the learning process on both so it'llcertainly take some (I mean a lot of) time.

*May also be viewedin my dA account: clickhere.

*Watermark is '-blacksheep' and 'randomly--random'. -blacksheep is obviously my name in this blogas well as on my MALaccount while randomly--random is my deviantArt && MiniTokyo accounts :D

comments are wellappreciated | constructive criticism is welcomed | may be viewed in its actualsize but do not save and post as your own.

Nisekoi - Chapter 7: Handmade

2011-12-31T21:09:00.000+08:00

Though last chapterwas a little off, I have to admit that this time, it's pretty interesting andfunny. Every page was funny and I was seriously imagining it as an animebecause Raku's reactions were really epic.

Kirisakisure is a messy & unpredictable cook

It was really funnywhen Raku was freaking out with everything that Kisaki's doing. From measuring90g of flour to beating the eggs. But Raku sure is nice, don't you think? Wellprobably it was only because he got totally pissed off of Kirisaki's cooking.But still, he did helped her and more importantly, their cooking turned outunexpectedly well. I seriously didn't expect that but that sure was good, huh?

Onodera'sthe next thing

I can't entirelyjudge how Onodera's the next popular girl to Kirisaki since I've never actuallyseen most of their classmates but it sure became a shock to Raku since he knowsthat Onodera's a quiet girl and probably someone we can all think that doesn'tentirely make a huge impact to other people. Guess that was wrong. BUT whywasn't she that popular before? Kind of weird, huh?

Raku's WTF face = EPIC

They'repretending & it's obvious && where's Claude?

Well, it sure isobvious that they are not entirely in good terms simply through observing howthey treat each other. How much they seem to yell and each other in just aboutevery page of the chapter. Plus, Raku's best friend (I assume) - the glassesguy (whose name I forgot) seems to have notice Raku's dilemma but probably hestill doesn't have the exact idea yet that Raku actually likes Onodera. Iwonder how long will their fake-relationship last? Raku's friend could know itany time soon, Onodera already overheard them that they are pretending andClaude is MIA. Too bad.

Onodera'sCake…

Ahhh.. Raku's beentrying his best to take a peek at Onodera's cake and it turns out her cake isfor her mother. Moreover, since we all know that she likes Raku, she still didher best to make one for him and it seems that Raku learned something new thischapter, never judge a book by its cover. LOL. Remember when Kirisaki's cakelooked so burnt and yet it tasted good? Onodera also had the same thing butit's the other way around. You get the idea :))

Raku Ichijou - death by Onodera's cake

Bakuman – Chapter 161: Breather and Party

2011-12-31T20:07:00.001+08:00

Ahhh…So we're back to the battle between Reversi and Zombie☆Gun. There's nothing really wrong with it but somehow it is exciting yeta little tiring already. The short arc about Hiramaru and Aoki seemedinteresting and was relaxing which was probably the reason why it was broughtup, to relax the reader from the intense battle between Ashirogi and Niizuma.

The Difference Between Reversi and Zombie☆Gun

So thespeculations are true, Zombie☆Gun is ahead of Reversi because of Niizuma's fans from Crow. It sure is true that there are people who neverbuys the magazine but buys the volume and this could be the number one reasonwhy Ashirogi is still ahead of Niizuma in terms of the questionnaires. Chancesare Niizuma can get ahead of Ashirogi one of these days.

I can't entirelyjudge either of them since I can't really read any one them. But through whatthey are saying, I'm more in favor of Reversisince, I think, it's a story-battle manga. But when Niizuma said, eachindividual chapters is a good read, I've been wondering but is he talking aboutReversi here? I'm assuming that's thecase. But somehow, I think that when you say that each individual chapter isgood to read, it won't be good in volume. AND for some reasons, I'm starting toget confuse here. But Mashiro's explanation sure is more understandable, soI'll be going with that. I want to take my time understand what Niizuma istrying to say here and see the next chapter.

Reversi'sgetting a mascot character :3

When I saw the ideaof mascot character, for Reversi, Ithink that it'll be weird but somehow if Ashirogi can just think of a prettyinteresting mascot character it'll all work out. I sort of laugh when Takagisuggested a child-like animal or cute demon 'cause that's exactly NOT what Ihave in mind. I'm thinking of some mascot character like Ryuk, wouldn't that begreat?

Whoknew that Mashiro can be Popular with the girls?

It seriously nevercross my mind for girls other than Miho to like Mashiro 'cause he doesn'treally look like the type girls will fall over. But when I was watching the 2ndseason of Bakuman, I just rememberedthere that Kato was actually thinking if Mashiro has a girlfriend, blah-blah,stuff like that which means that she could have actually like him. Moreover,this chapter introduced another girl that actually showed interest in Mashiro. Furthermore,it's another seiyuu and for some reasons, when she said "Azu-kyun" itmakes me think that they actually know each other.

Prettystandard and good way to end an arc.

Nothingreally new here, Mashiro and Niizuma just made those challengeaccepted look at each other and said that they won't lose to each otherin terms of questionnaires and sales. AND from there on, both Mashiro andTakagi seemed to have looked in deeper onto what Niizuma just said. And withthat they looked fired up again. Looks like they're not entirely aiming ofovertaking Zombie☆Gun's volume 1 sales 'cause they're pretty sure that they can't ratherthey're just aiming on lessening the gap between the sales which is really big.

Kimi to Boku. (series review)

2011-12-31T17:45:00.000+08:00

For starters, I wasnever of huge fan of slice of life anime but I do watch them. And when I saw Kimi to Boku. on the list of Fall 2011 anime,it was no doubt that I'll watch it but I was surprised on myself for lookingforward to it every week.

I'm pretty muchaware of the fact that a number of slice of life anime fans were disappointedof how Kimi to Boku. became the typicals'life anime (meaning the s'life anime with girls and doing random things abouteveryday life and making them seem funny or whatever) but with the bromancepart. What I mean is that yes, it's a slice of life anime with guys instead ofgirls but what seem to bother most anime fans is the fact that these guys seemso close to each other that their action is no different from the girls onother s'life anime. Did I get that right? :\

On my point of view,Kimi to Boku. sure is an enjoyable animeto watch. Story-wise, it changes episode-per-episode and one episode isn'tentirely connected to the other but it's still better to watch the previewsones as to understand some of the jokes. As for their comedy part, I'm not entirelysure if it's everyone type of comedy but it sure has captured me, include tothat their tidbits of look back on their nursery and middle school times. Ilaugh at most part of each episode and sometimes get a little sad when it comesto the dramatic parts though they aren't entirely that moving. But then, what Kimi to Boku. mostly caught me in other thatthe comedy is the romance. Each one of them had their fair share (is it?) ofromance in the series and I have to admit that the romance episodes has got tobe the most exciting ones.

aww... how cute :3

Character-wise,they're pretty standard yet I still enjoyed all of them. Though I'm pretty surethat they aren't entirely developed but I guess sometimes it jut doesn't matterif you're going to think that it's just another slice of life-comedy anime. Butthen, looking deeper on their emotions each episode, you can definitelyunderstand them and know what kind of person they really are.

There's the AsabaTwins, Yuki (Kimura,Ryohei) and Yuta (Uchiyama, Kouki),who plays poker face for most of the times and still gets me laughing withtheir sarcastic punch lines and it's still pretty easy to tell them apart ofeach other in terms of both physicalappearance and character. There's also Shun Matsuoka (Toyonaga, Toshiyuki)who has got to be one of the densest guy ever. Chizuru Tachibana (Irino, Miyu), on theother hand, is the liveliest on the group who obviously always keeps the energyup. And finally, Kaname Tsukahara (Ono, Yuuki) who, interms of comedy, is the straight guy who has to pin point every stupidity hisfriends does. Together, the five of them make a good combination for a comedyseries :D

Other than thestandard story and characters, the art looks really good. That's the firstthing I noticed right from the very beginning. I like how everything seem sonatural and light. The art reminded me of HourouMusuko way back at Winter 2011. But then, what seems bothering (and Icertainly didn't noticed it until I read it from another blog) is how annoyingall of the characters' eyes are crossed. Well, it's not entirely annoying butsomehow, it's a bother if you look at them directly. As for the music, adifferent insert song plays every episode and somehow that's what makes theepisode moving.

Overall, Kimi to Boku. is a pretty good slice of lifeanime though I have to admit that it's not everyone's type of anime. Well, notuntil you watch episode 3 perhaps. Certainly, Kimito Boku. had a rough start but a little patience could be worth it sinceit's a pretty good anime(:

Ben-To (series review)

2011-12-30T23:53:00.001+08:00

I have to admit thatBen-To was not really on my list to beginwith since I find fighting over half-priced bento kind of ridiculous but afterreading a review of the first episode from a blog, I decided to add it to mylist and I have to say that I was not entirely disappointed.

The main idea of Ben-To is that these so-called"okami" or wolves fight each other in the supermarket/grocery to getthe bento they want in half-priced. One night, main character, Satou You (Shimono, Hiro), enters a supermarket to buy some food fordinner. But when he was about to grab a bento he suddenly lose consciousnessand when he checked out the supermarket again for bento, they were already soldout. The next night he came there, he saw the war going on over half-pricedbento and met Yarizui Sen (Ise, Mariya) and wasinvited to join the Half-Pricer Club and since then he enters the war overhalf-priced bento.

What made Ben-To interesting is basically its ridiculousstory together with its typical comedy. At first, it was typical every nightfight at the supermarket for bento and meeting other wolves. It was good and Ienjoyed them most probably because of Satou :D But then the main problem inhere is the final arc which somehow dragged the anime down (so much for wishingfor a good ending). I would like to write my entire complain on this but it might turn out to be a spoiler so I'd like to keep quiet about it.

Other than thefailed final arc, I would also like to take my time complaining about thecharacters. Well for one, I don't have any complains on the main characters:Satou, Yarizui, Oshiroi Hana (Yuuki, Aoi) and ShagaAyame (Kato, Emiri).Certainly they were likeable characters and I enjoyed every episode mainlybecause of them, most especially both Oshiroi and Satou which had been thefunniest ones (for me, that is). Side characters such as Agohige (Higuchi, Tomoyuki),Bouzu (Takahashi,Ryoukichi), Chapatsu (Nakamura, Eriko),Inoue Asebi (Taketatsu,Ayana) and Nikaidou Ren (Okitsu, Kazuyuki)were certainly enjoyable as well. But then, I was disappointed with Kaneshiro Yuu (Miyano, Mamoru) formaking such a brief appearance. At first I thought he's going to be a majorside character and I ended up being disappointed. Also, I have to admit that Ireally disliked the Shiraume Ume (Kayano, Ai). Not onlydoes she talk less about what she's intending to do but she also hit Satoureally bad without even hearing his explanations.

Forgetting about howdisappointed I was, I still enjoyed Ben-To.For starters, it doesn't take a huge plot to entertain me, that's for sure, butthrow in some simple battle and a couple of comedy acts and add to that thepeculiar idea of Ben-To and you alreadyhave some interesting anime that's probably worth some time. The battle scenesare not entirely my favorite but definitely not bad either. Story-wise, itcould have been better, the final arc was a little drag but it could stilldepend on who's watching. As for the characters, they were fun to watch, I getexcited, I laugh and I certainly also got annoyed but combine them all, theywere good. Fan-service? Expect a little, starting from the very first episode.But for those who aren't fond of those, they're aren't really anything tooflashy to make the show look annoying ('cause I certainly am not intofan-service either). Music-wise, nothing really stood out other than Satou'sringing tone which I would also like to put on my phone. As for the art, it'spretty decent, meaning, not entirely good and not bad either.

Overall, Ben-To is a fairly interesting anime to watch.It's nothing big and probably not top 10 material. But it sure can be a goodanime to marathon on spare times :D

Note: This is not entirely my first attempt to write an anime review but this sure is my first time posting a series review online. I'm not yet good at this so please bear with me(:

Nisekoi – Chapter 6: Similar

2011-12-21T01:59:00.001+08:00

Nisekoi never fails to make melook forward to the next chapter because of its epic cliffhangers. Well, thischapter certainly didn’t open up that well but as the story goes, it graduallybecomes interesting and at the end…

Key to an old bookshelf?

Yeah, right. Like I would buy that.But then, Raku bought it. It was funny how Onodera can’t make up her mind onwhat excuse she was going to use for the fallen key that looks really old. Forone, Raku’s heart skipped a beat and seriously thought of the key as the onefor the locket but Onodera nervously denied it and he just… well… accepted herdenial.

Chitoge should join the Neighbor’s Club

Not much of a surprise to Raku,Chitoge told him that she’s no good at making friends that’s why she’s making anotebook with their classmates’ names with descriptions. Certainly, forsomeone, it’s like a stalker diary but when Raku saw what Chitoge’s doing, heeven told her that he was doing the same thing way back then and he evenoffered her his help so that she can make friends, as in friends whom she canreally talk to about things.

Onodera’s eavesdropping…

I don’t know why she’s outsidethe classroom but it seems that Onodera was listening to Raku and Chitoge.Moreover, she heard Chitoge say that she’s just pretending. Somehow, she can’thelped but feel a little confuse on what she heard because she does know thatChitoge and Raku are on a relationship but what is up with “pretend”? Nowthings are certainly going fast and interesting.

Bakuman – Chapter 160: Doing Your Best and Nine Hundred Thousand

2011-12-21T00:36:00.000+08:00

I really enjoyed this chaptermost especially Hiramaru’s proposal to Aoki-san :D

“Please make me happy”

I was surprised with Hiramaru’ssudden urge to go on a second ride on the Ferris wheel. But then, I was evenmore surprise that he desperately searched for the ring inside the cart, takingoff his suit, while Aoki-san is there. But then, I was really glad thatAoki-san isn’t one of those really dense female characters. In fact, when sheheard Hiramaru-san say “ring” and corrected himself, she already knew what’sgoing on, why Hiramaru was so nervous the entire day and why he looks sodesperate even taking out his suit right in front of her.

She saw Yoshida-shi outside ofthe cart and finally initiated the move for Hiramaru-san. She was like: “do youbest and say it.”But then, Hiramaru’s head went blackout so he suddenly said, “pleasemake me happy.” Ahhh… Being too nervous isbad. But then, that didn’t matter to Aoki-san, actually it was funny thatAoki-san seems to be the one that proposed to Hiramaru-san when she said, “marryme. Please make me happy too.” I was like, awwww :3 I’m really happy for the twoof them.

Volume 1

Other than Hiramaru and Aoki’sengagement, the editorial department is also talking about the upcoming releaseof the 1st volumes of JUMP’s potential flagships, Reversi and Zombie☆Gun. An initial of 300,000 was printed for both of them and Reversi is followed by 50,000 morecopies for the second batch while Zombie☆Gun printed 100,000 more copies for its second batch. Through the secondbatch, Mashiro and Takagi can already see the difference between Reversi and Zombie☆Gun. But then, everyone just keeps on saying that Zombie☆Gun has more sales because of Niizuma’s previous series, Crow. Well, I couldn’t really disagree tothat since Crow really was a popularmanga and has sold over millions of copies. But then, what really separated Reversi and Zombie☆Gun was the third batch printed. Reversiwas asked for 30,000 more copies while Zombie☆Gun is confirmed to print 900,000 copies. That’s really surprising for a1st volume. I mean, over 1 million copies sold? That’s amazing.

Nisekoi – Chapter 4 & Chapter 5

2011-12-19T00:03:00.000+08:00

It seems that it took me foreverto post something about Nisekoi and I feel that it’s been forever since I lastread these chapter ‘cause of being heck busy.

This chapter really went on whatI was expecting. The school knows it. And there’s no denying this anymore. Themore reason for this relationship to turn into reality, yes?

Chapter 4: Encounter

The sudden meeting with Onoderareally did excite me. Moreover, she actually heard Raku saying her name. Toobad (or is it?) Chitoge suddenly burst her energy on calling Raku “darling”.How fancy. LOL. They were like: Raku + Onodera, chatting – Chitoge, thinking ofhow to not make their relationship seem fake in front of the gang & yakuza –Raku + Onodera, still chatting. – Chitoge suddenly enters the scene and was like:DARLING!~ - Raku = WTH!? – Onodera = silence – Chitoge = Shimata! Wrong timing!– I was like: LOL.

Ahh… SO Raku’s initial reaction,as expected, was denial. Definitely he doesn’t want Onodera to think that theyreally are going out since he likes her and she’s his number one prospect to behis childhood promised girl. Well, Chitoge knowing how much Raku likes her, shegave them the time to actually talk. But then, so much for talking. Rakudefinitely can’t tell Onodera that they aren’t really going ‘cause of annoyingClaude’s presence who still doubts the hell out of their relationship.

With their moment together, Rakutook the opportunity to ask Onodera if she’s the girl who’s holding the key toRaku’s locket. And as expected because of Onodera’s character, she denied herownership. I don’t really want to blame her for hiding it but now it’s tougherfor both of them.

Chapter 5: Plenty

Too bad for Raku, he still can’trecall his promised girl but his dream does look so sweet.

Okay, so when Raku and Chitogeentered their classroom, everyone immediately congratulated them. It’s kind ofweird that their wishing for the whole class not to know their relationship butto think of going on a date in public without even a disguise. LOL. Well, toobad for them. Furthermore, they can’t deny their relationship ‘cause stalkerClaude is right outside their classroom window probably eavesdropping.

oh sure, I'll buy that lie. LOL.

As for Onodera, she always givehints that she actually like Raku (or is that a hint) by actually saying hisgood points. It does seem that she has been observing him, yes? But he justdoesn’t get it. But then, when she said that, “I can see why she likes you.”The look on her face says that she’s confessing indirectly to him. And Raku waslike: What do you mean? More importantly, by the end of the chapter, Onoderadropped a key, could that be the key to Raku’s pendant? Things sure arehappening fast, huh? :D

Bakuman will go on a third season!

2011-12-18T00:01:00.000+08:00

As a huge fan of the mangaitself, I sure can’t contain myself when I read the news from ANNthat Bakuman will be having a third season next fall.

I remember myself way back in2010 when I first saw Bakuman and didn’t immediately watched it ‘cause I thoughtthat the idea of an anime about making manga will not be good. But then, whenboredom strikes, I just randomly watch anything. Good thing, I did watchBakuman. I can even remember that I marathon Bakuman until the 6 or 7th episodein one day (the current airing episode, I think). From that last episode, I hadthe urge of reading the manga and seriously enjoyed it.

Sure for me the announcement ofthe 3rd season was big news and what better more to say is that my predictionon the direction of the second season is correct. First of all, it was statedin ANN that the third season will focus on Ashirogi’s PCP which will be their 3rd serialized manga on Shounen JACK. As ofreading this news, it seems that the ending of the second season will be anotherinteresting conclusion, Ashirogi’s road to PCP.It’s going to be lots of hard-work on them but pure victory once PCP is finally serialized :D

Thanks to this early news of thethird season, I sure can’t wait for another 2-cour series of Bakuman once thissecond season ends.

Source: ANN:3rd Bakuman Anime Series to Be 25 Episodes Long

Bakuman – Chapter 159: Tempo and Ferris Wheel

2011-12-14T23:32:00.000+08:00

After the short two chapter-arcabout Reversi’s weakness, I was sudden because of its early end but thischapter has certainly made up for it because this chapter main centers aroundone of my favorite mangaka in Bakuman and his oh-so scary editor.

Serialization Meeting…

I don’t really know whatOhba-sensei is trying to do here. Probably, catching some phase or whatever orprobably something pretty good will come for this Ashirogi and Niizuma battlefor 1st and 2nd place. Well through this ranking battle of Ashirogi andNiizuma, the editorial department is again talking about what will happen tonew authors, blah-blah… But the highlight of this meeting, for me at least, isYoshida-shi’s announcement of Hiramaru-san’s Bokutsu anime adaptation. Yay! But then, Aoki’s What God Gave Me is about to end whichopened up for Hiramaru-san’s opportunity to talk to Aoki.

Calling on impulse is bad. Or is it?

Well, when Hiramaru-san suddenlycalled Aoki thinking about her series going to end soon, he took theopportunity to ask her on a date. More importantly it’s not just some regulartea party rather it’s a normal date on an amusement park. And the best part inhere is that, Aoki didn’t even have second thoughts and immediately answered ‘Yes.I’d love to.’ :D

Other than sudden impulse,Hiramaru also had the sudden idea of proposing to Aoki. What could his proposalactually do to their relationship and his motivation as a mangaka? Who knows?Well, what we all know is that if he gets happy, the direction of his mangacould suddenly change ‘cause I actually remember Yoshida-shi (was it?) sayingthat Hiramaru-san’s genius ideas actually comes from his negativity. LOL.

Please Make Me Happy

Somehow I find this chapter kindof cute not only because of the date but also because of Yoshida-shi actuallythinking about making Hiramaru-san happy for real. We were shown in thischapter that Hiramaru-san actually decided to become a mangaka because he wantsto be happy and Yoshida-shi was like: I guess you’ll be happy ‘cause you’ll bemaking money. So does money = happiness? Who knows?

I guess Yoshida-shi can bedramatic sometimes that he just suddenly had random thoughts of has he doneenough for Hiramaru? Probably as an editor yes. But then, thinking aboutHiramaru’s wish to become happy, he suddenly thought about taking responsibilityfor making Hiramaru happy.

And so, Yoshida-shi is doing hisbest to help Hiramaru-san make a successful proposal to Aoki-san to make himhappy. For real.

Dating like highschools…

I usually just see dates inamusement parks done by high school students in anime. Remember how oldHiramaru-san and Aoki-san are? Probably they’re in their late 20s but whocares? They still look cute! :D I like them better than the Mashiro x Mihopairing (no offense to fans!). Well in dates, I guess riding the Ferris wheelis no question. They say being on top of the Ferris wheel could be one of themost romantic alone places to be and probably a good timing to make a proposalbut then, it looks like Hiramaru-san failed his proposal attempt ‘cause he’stotally getting nervous and all. More importantly, after getting off the Ferriswheel, he noticed that the ring is missing. Plus, Hiramaru-san suddenly grabingAoki’s hand and making another round on the Ferris wheel without the proposalring, what is he thinking? I sure can’t wait to find out.

Bakuman – Chapter 158: Drawn Out and In One Go

2011-12-14T22:37:00.001+08:00

I’d say that after last chapter’ssudden problem, things instantly worked out just like that. And I seriouslythought that Reversi’s weakness was going to be a big arc. Well, that sucks.

Bakuman’s 2nd Popularity Poll: Manga

Well, that was a reallyinteresting poll. After seeing this, I suddenly thought of all the good mangaand one-shots featured here in Bakuman and here’s my top5:

1. Classroomof Truth by Nanamine Tooru >> There’s no doubt that this is my number one‘cause ever since I read this, I really enjoyed it. Plus, it made me readEnigma :D

2. DetectiveTRAP (疑探偵ＴＲＡＰ) by Ashirogi Muto >> Ashirogi’s veryfirst serialized manga definitely is my favorite. What’s not to like, anyway?Too bad it lose popularity because of Ashirogi’s hiatus.

3. PCP (Perfect Crime Party) by Ashirogi Muto>> I found PCP an interesting manga because of the psychological elementsTakagi is trying to pull here. Plus, I certainly enjoyed the part of Bakumanwhen Mashiro and Takagi were coming up with this.

4. You Can’t Reach Me by Hiramaru Kazuya >> Iforgot the Japanese title (x.x). This is based on the popular shoujo manga,Kimi ni Todoke and it’s written by one of the favorite characters in Bakuman,Hiramaru-san!

5. Otters11 by Hiramaru Kazuya >> If you haven’t read the one-shot of Otters 11,this could be your best opportunity to do so because it certainly is comediceven if the protagonist is a weird talking otter in a business suit.

Reversi’s Weakness

Sure every series could havetheir weakness but then, let’s just say Reversi’s is something quite difficultto handle on the writer’s part because of its fixed storyline and characters.There could be a number of things Takagi can do to lengthen Reversi like whathe just did in this chapter, he wrote a chapter with more battles than dialoguewhich shadows Reversi’s strength, Takagi’s great dialogues.

The Solution…

When Takagi finally came up of hissolution for Reversi after talking to Mashiro, Ohba-sensei and Obata-sensei’sprevious manga, Death Note suddenly came to me. Probably it’s because Takagiand Mashiro were talking about Reversi not being a long running series but isstill a popular series with good quality.

Death Note sure is a reallypopular series even up until now. I wasn’t able to follow the rankings of DeathNote ‘cause I still don’t read manga when it was being publish but I’m prettysure that Death Note has made a huge impact on many people. Though the qualityisn’t at best during the second half of the story, it still has its goodpoints. Plus, the ending sure is outstanding. With a short 108 chapters,meaning two short years of serialization, Death Note had become a manga evennon-manga and anime fans even knows about.

And somehow, I think that thiskind of popularity is something Ashirogi wants for Reversi. The popularity thateven after years later of its serialization, many people still knows about it.