My sister has been so encouraging lately, it seems. She told me I would be good at bass guitar when I was pondering it and having some doubts at trying. She was glad that I was taking even a slight interest to try my hand at poetry. Sometimes, Becca really does outshine her flaws, rather than live within them, like some people I've known.

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 09:23 a.m.

Tuesday, January 14, 2003

I actually went to bed at a somewhat decent hour. I was planning on staying up all night, reading HunterxHunter, but I only got past Vol. 1 Chapter 3. I downloaded Chapter 4, got tired of having to wait for them to download, and went straight to bed. I'll read Chapter 4 when I get off of work and start on the rest of Volume One. I think I'll tackle this manga one volume every two days, deleting each 1/2 volume after each day- to save space.

Heh heh heh...Kurapika is so Kurama. Can't wait till I get to Kuroro, the only HunterxHunter character I knew before reading the manga (and that was only because of Dooti & Evel).

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 09:09 a.m.

Monday, January 13, 2003

w00t! It's an all-nighter tonight! I'm starting to download scanlations of HunterxHunter at Toriyama World. I've read the first chapter of volume one already and I loved it ^^

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 10:01 p.m.

Monday, January 13, 2003

Note: Must go to Sam Goody's sometime soon. They have used copies of the complete season one and two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for $18 each *is becoming addicted to Buffy*

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 05:31 p.m.

Monday, January 13, 2003

I've been putting this off for a while, so I better do it now...

ANIME REVIEW: Hellsing

I've heard a lot about this anime from various people in various groups. It's a fan-favourite amongst the fanboys and even some of the fangirls with some fanboys tendencies. I liked the animation- it was superb. I liked the music- cool jazz with a touch of blues, always good (as proven in Cowboy Bebop). The concept was okay (I've seen better). The two things that made me not like this anime as much as Cowboy Bebop (which I will compare things to hence forth, because comparing everything to Evangelion is just unfair) were (1) the characters and (2) the time.

(1) The Characters: They were all pretty set in personality except for Seras. I felt no emotional connection, nor could I see any potential for character development, except in Seras. Integra is your typical stoic bitch leader type, Alucard is the typical cool, tough-guy character, Walter is the epitome of the Butler (though, I do admit his wire trick seems very cool), and anybody else I'm forgetting is just too bloody typical- including Anderson, the insane Irish priest (or he could have been Scottish. Either way, his country-of-origin would be the butt of cultural jokes in England). I couldn't develop an emotional connection with any of the main characters (sans Seras) like I could with the cast of Cowboy Bebop, or, hell, even with the cast of X (including everybody's favourite dismembered femme, Kotori).

Alucard is the fans' choice for no. 1 character in Hellsing. I felt like I was being forced to try to admire a bloodier, more primal version of Santino or a male Gabrielle with a gun. I admit that he is a cool character, and he probably carries the whole fandom- without him, people probably wouldn't even want to watch the show.

(2) Time: They seriously needed more time to develop the plot of each episode and add in cool battles. I felt gyped after watching the creme of the first dvd, Alucard versus Anderson. Each episode averaged out to 25 minutes, or they should have (the first dvd is 75 minutes). With five more minutes, they could have added more plot-progressing devices, such as dialogue and actions. And they still would have been able to do the silly little bit at the end (hey, Cowboy Bebop managed it. Look at episode 5; it's one of the best episodes and it uses the 30 minutes well, producing a sufficient plot and one of the best battles in the entire series. Plus they had enough time for the nonsensical bit at the end). I really wished they could have added more time to Hellsing. Then it wouldn't be so incomplete.

I am graciously giving Hellsing three sticks of pocky (which equals three stars). It should have gotten two, but I have some form of faith that the following dvds will be better. After writing this, I realized that I should have picked another anime to compare other animes to, because Cowboy Bebop is definitely up there with Evangelion, and it would be unfair to compare any other anime to those two.

And now I wait for the flames from the one Hellsing fan who reads this journal.

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 03:26 p.m.

Monday, January 13, 2003

YES! Gundam_Next is slowly restarting! As mod and the person in control (Kit-sama gave the reins of power to me some time back), I decided that the best plan of action would be to restart the RPG. We were losing members, new ones and old ones, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was because we were in deep with the plot and the newbies were getting confused (the older members had good enough reasons). So I asked the remaining active participants if they wanted to start over from the very beginning (clean slate) and they all agreed ^_^ So I deleted all old messages, laid down the rules that Kit-sama made, and gave everybody a locale at which their characters were to meet. I even made the first post to push them a bit. I'm so happy! This proves to me once more that I kick ass at the role of moderator! ^_^V

Anyways, gotta go to work. When I get back, I have to call USF to see about re-submitting my application from last year and I have to call my high school counsellor and ask him if he can send my high school transcripts to BSU. I even wrote myself a threatening note to remind me to call both of those people/places! *tapes threatening note to door*

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 09:24 a.m.

Sunday, January 12, 2003

Becca: *in British accent* We could watch Harry Potter!
Fox & Becca: HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Fox: Heh. Good one.
-Fox and her sister bored and thinking of what they can do

((it's not that we're anti-Harry Potter...it's just that the first movie isn't exactly our favourite))

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 05:07 p.m.

Sunday, January 12, 2003

Manga Review:

Kare Kano ("His and Her Circumstances") Volume One, by Masami Tsuda (TokyoPop): Kare Kano lives up to its popularity (or at least the popularity of the animated version). The story is about overachiever Yukino Miyazawa and her rival for top of the class, Souichirou Arima. That's the initial story. Most of the manga focuses on them, but the last story ("The Tiger and the Chameleon: A promise for one week") is about the silent girl in the back of the class (Koharu Mizumoto) and the promise that the tough guy of the class (Toshiro Sakajo) makes to her after he accidently breaks her glasses. Personally, I liked the last story more than the main story. Yukino was too shallow for me to like. I'm sure that her character will develop more later on, so I'll be looking forward to reading more of Kare Kano. Fluffy high school romances make me feel happy inside :)

Card Captor Sakura: Master of the Clow: Volume Two (actually Volume 8 in the whole CCS storyline), CLAMP (TokyoPop): CCS hath proven once again to be a high addictive substance. There was more fanservice in this one (woo hoo!). The text was great. The appearance wasn't too bold (TokyoPop made a mistake by making another CLAMP title, Wish, too bold). And fluffiness abound! The bookmark that comes with it is Nakuru (still annoying as usual). It's really just like the other CCS volumes (sans volume 6). There's trouble abound and Sakura's there to take care of it! And there's Spinel Sun. I like Spinel Sun. SOUPPY!

Shounen Jump: Issue Two: NARUTO! I *heart* Naruto! It's the story about this boy who turns out to be a kitsune sealed in human form. It's, wow, addictive. One Piece was good as usual (LUFFY!). DBZ was DBZ. Sandland was okay; there's nothing unique I can think of for it. I haven't read Yuu Yuu Hakusho because it's just like the tv series (exactly like the tv series) and I've watched my fansubs of the first two volumes of YYH so many times already. Yu-gi-oh is slowly growing on me. It's an okay manga, but not something that I would follow devoutly.

ANIME REVIEW

Shinesman (Animeworks): I've seen this anime three times already and I still love watching it. It's a parody of all those Power Ranger-like tv shows out there and it's still bloody brillant! I never tire of the puns, the jokes, and the shameless parodies. On the dvd, there's a gallery too...Oooh. Fun Fact: Shinesman was actually a manga. There was much more to it too. Shina (the ditzy cousin of the evil!Prince of Planet Voice) wasn't a character. Her role was actually covered by the Prince (or at least the part where she declares that seeing the skin of royalty means she has to either kill you or take you as her boyfriend. The Prince says this...to Matsumoto, the main character XD).
Favourite Line: "If you ask me, she's one OVA short of a series."- Shinesman Sepia on the sanity of Shina

Now I really want to make a Shinesman layout...the pictures in the gallery were sooo pretty!

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 02:37 p.m.

Saturday, January 11, 2003

I finally got around to calling Carla-chan last night. We talking till some odd time past midnight XD Our conversation was mainly about anime and manga, but we sidetracked to a lot of other things. We decided that it would be cool to have an End of the World anime marathon around next New Years Eve. We'd get a whole bunch of people together and watch Apocalyptic anime (X, Evangelion, ect). Another idea for an anime marathon would be an All-Fangirl Night, but we only have so many fangirls (there's me, her, Blyss, and possibly Dy-sempai if we could ever get a hold of her- Dy-sempai being the one who trained me in the ways of fangirlism and introduced me to the world of yaoi.). We could invite Cayman, but that would be weird after a while, having a boy there. Somehow, male fangirls just aren't the same as fangirls.

I've got to invite some fangirls up here sometime (well, Carla-chan and Blyss). Hell, I need to find some fangirls in my area, but I'm beginning to think that I'm the only fangirl in Indiana...

Well, my new layout should be up by tonight or tomorrow. It's Gravi XD

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 11:25 a.m.

Friday, January 10, 2003

I stole Pablo Honey (Radiohead's first cd) from Becca. Meh. It's okay. I still like Amnesiac. PH is too pop (granted it is their first album). The only song that was popular/played continuously on American radiowaves was "Creep". It's funny that "Creep" was more popular over here than in Radiohead's country of origin, England. Then again, it was sort of predictable that it would be. The song is about a self-loathing guy who wishes he was as perfect and beautiful as everybody around him (angst angst angst). If you compare the song to other angsty Radiohead songs, likesay, "Exit Music (for a film)", "Street Spirit (Fade Out)", and "Life in a Glass House", "Creep" is very inferior. That's the way it is with the entire Pablo Honey cd; it's inferior compared to later Radiohead albums. It's somewhat equal with "The Bends", but then again Radiohead didn't really start changing in sound until "OK Computer" (well, at least you notice a major difference with "OK Computer" when compared to its two predecessors).

The new Radiohead cd is coming out sometime in the spring. It's been described as not too dissimilar from "The Bends", but that's forgivable, considering it's apparent that their musical transcendence hasn't gone to waste ("There There", the theoretical first track is a mixture of the sounds on "OK Computer" and "Amnesiac" with a new style thrown in). The sound is supposed to be "dark pop" which makes me more interested.

I still need to make a layout with some Radiohead lyrics as a theme. The last one I did was at my old blog and was Subaru-centric with the theme song being "Packt like Sardines in a Crush'd Tin Box". For a long time, I've been toying with the idea of using "Knives Out" and "There There" in layouts, but I could never find a good picture or characters around which I could base the songs.

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 02:58 p.m.

Friday, January 10, 2003

Early morning quick bloggage!

Does anybody remember the show Blossom? I was thinking about that last night...It's strange because I used to watch the show out of boredom almost everyday, and now I really can't remember anything about it except that the older brother was an alocoholic. O.o

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 09:22 a.m.

Thursday, January 9, 2003

Hello again. I'm bored once more. I need more Gravitation, too. It's like crack. Or pocky. Gravitation is super addictive *_*

I'm considering making a SubaruxKamui layout. Those who know about X and my obvious pairing preferences would be going "WHAT?!". To tell the truth, I like the idea of SxK, especially if/since/when Seishirou is out of the picture (*enter gun with silencer*) It's not for the love, of course, my like for the pairing. It's because their relationship would be so damn therapuetic and may cure them of their major character flaws (neurotic tendencies, obsession, depression, too much angst, and not being able to get over something that happened, likesay, nine years ago- Oh, wait...those are just Subaru's flaws).

In the perfect X world, where Kotori didn't die, ect, ect, I would love to see KamuixKotori. Not many people like it, and I admit that it does require bit of an aquired taste and better understanding of the latter character. I'm not one of those silly bints who's always screaming online, "YAoi sucks!!1 Kamui + Kotori 4-ever!!!!11", but I'm not exactly the most enthusiastic KamuixAny X male fan out there (mainly because I am not a big fan of Kamui in the first place). I recognize that perhaps Kotori has a greater role in the series than we thought. I would love to see an Aeris-esque thing happen with Kotori, but I don't think CLAMP would stoop to levels of immitating the endings of other stories. Think of it this way: Kotori is sort of like Oruha from Clover, only not as strong and present. Oruha's spirit can be felt throughout the story of Clover, especially in the first two graphic novels where she has been dead for some time. She's the Beatrice of Suu and perhaps even of Kazuhiko. She's always watching over them someway in spirit. That's Kotori's role. She's Kamui's Beatrice, only not as prominent as she should be. ((ugh. I'm not even going to attempt to explain Beatrice. If you want an explanation or at least some insight into what I'm talking about, read Dante's "Divine Comedy", and for a further reference, look into Hermann Hesse's "Demian")).

Don't take the whole rant above in the wrong way. I'm not pro-anything when it comes to Kamui's potential relationships in X. X is so chuck full of fanservice at times, that it's hard to determine which is the correct pairing to support. But that's what makes X-shipping fun; it's more subjective than the idea of what Hell is really like. I tolerate and even like some of the alternative pairings involving Kamui. There's the afore-mentioned belief that SubaruxKamui would be a healthy change for the both of them ((therapuetic sex, anybody?)), of course. FuumaxKamui is pretty much set and unargueable, though I confess that the sadistic side of me loves it to bits and pieces. KamuixYuzuriha would perhaps be really cute, ditto with KeiichixKamui. As for the "squicky pairings", I am most amused by the concept of SeishirouxKamui.

Moral of the Story: Kamui is a major slut when it comes to pairings. He can be paired with almost anyone, and the best thing to do when dealing with alternative Kamui pairings is take it all in good stride, maybe even have some fun with it.

Bleh. I'm finished.

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 10:45 p.m.

Thursday, January 9, 2003

Will & Grace was hilarious tonight X3 It's been a while since I sat down and watched it. Usually I forget.

Gay Soccer...hee hee hee

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 09:55 p.m.

Thursday, January 9, 2003

one word: POTATO!

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 06:46 p.m.

Wednesday, January 8, 2003

*points to tagboard in the side column*

Have fun.

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 08:49 p.m.

Wednesday, January 8, 2003

After much thinking, I have pretty much come to the conclusion that the only "unique" community/group of online friends that I'll ever truly belong to consists of myself and my sempai. Unless Stacy gets the 'Net and gets a blog...Then there might possibly be three of us. One big happy dysfunctional family.

I really need to start talking to the people I blogstalk.

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 08:31 p.m.

Wednesday, January 8, 2003

I went thrift store shopping with Emily today. okay, so there is only, like, one thrift store in all of Decatur. We made good use of it. Ke ke ke >:)

I got this nice heavy suade jacket for $ 12 and a Greek Sailor cap (actually made in Greece!) for $ 3.

Shortly after, I left Emily to her fate at work. On my way to the Antique Mall (which is next door to my workplace), I discovered a Used Book/Videogame-vhs-dvd rental place! The bookstore portion of it wasn't ready yet, but they had some books out in the videostore part. I found a paperback boxset of Lord of the Rings for $7.50 XD I made out like a bandit today. Go me!

Kumagorou Miracle Beam!- 08:11 p.m.