Hmmmm *archives*

~Kimi

Rhapsody: "Achmed! Where are you?"
"Here," a voice behind her said, closer than her own shadow. "As I told you I would always be."

Any guy who says that deserves a bear hug and a sloppy kiss. Regardless of physical attributes.

Although it's marvellously cute and 'awww'-y I think I'd still be a little unnerved if a voice came out of the shadows like that.

Anais: How sweet!
Lujan: He's just a great big soppy fool, arn't yeh? Arn't yeh? *noogie noogie*
John: A true romantic at heart!
Achmed: Am not! Am not! >_<

Must archive page.

Kam

It's not that I don't like it. Because I do, I love it. How can you not love a book that has a character who fits every box of the leechability checklist? Tall, pale, dark haired, blue eyed, young and angsty like hell. Even if he is a bit flat as a character.

It's not that the other characters are weak. Because they're not. Well, most of 'em aren't. Cosmos and Ellen were. But that's what you get for having a boring protagonist and a villain who comes into the plot far too late.

And it's not that the romance was bad. Because it wasn't really. It was cutesy daggy. And that's alright in my book as long as it isn't... you know... /sappy/ daggy. *coughcoughahckhack*

And I actually quite liked the female character, Mona. She's alright. Which is impressive because normally authors can't write female characters for, well, you know.

And it wasn't even that the plot was weak. It was there, I could see where he was getting at and the basic sketch of it was alright. He just had a little difficulty in fleshing it out. But it is a children's book after all, they don't really go in for detail.

Heavens! It wasn't even that the ending was predictable! Because I guessed that Stefan would give up his obsession and find another hobby. Heck, he could run that damn orphanage. Those kids seem to like him enough. He could teach 'em how to blast invisible creatures into smithereens. He could, you know, be happy. Because the boy so desperately needs to let go of the past and /grow up/

So I don't really know what it is about /The Supernaturalist/ that left me dissatisfied. It was a little annoying actually. It wasn't even bitter-sweet like Artemis Fowl 3, it was just... bleh. There were good moments, sure, but I dunno. The ending just felt really incomplete to me.

As far as I know, it's not like there's any plan for a sequel.

Kam

*spazzes out* I don't get it

The trading figures are now listed as discontinued, and my order is still listed as "items on order", while it lists the figures there as being "future release". The hell? Are they shipping or what. Did they run out of stock when they were having that holiday? God damn it, arggg~! *laments* I don't know. This is all rather confusing.

Am going to be majorly farking annoyed if they ran out of stock.

[edit] Arggg! It's back! What the farking fark was that... I hate it when it does that >_>. It went from in-stock to discontinued, then back to low-stock. Give me a freaking heart-attack why don't you, HLJ. I'm not particularly fond of the idea of trying to scrounge double-price figures off E-bay shops which have incorrect grammar. Anyway. Looks like HLJ was just spazzing out for a little bit, and the figures will be shipped after all.

~Kimi

*stayed up to watch 200m freestyle x_X* Thorpie won~! w00tage! *does dance* XD We are teh rox0rz~

*crawls into bed*

~Kimi

Yeah. Her. I don't like Arche. It's kinda funny though, the one of her floating in mid air without the broom. Oooh! But could I have the Chester? I like him. Angsty, hmmm. And Dhaos is good too. I suspect you'r hording all your Klarth ones, arn't you? :P

Some other good news. My daddy is coming on the 21th. But Mark forgot to ask which month. LOL. So it's either this month, in which he'll be coming in a few days, or next month in which he'll be coming for Mark's B-day.

Kam

//3 4r3 //1||n1ng t3h g0ld m3d4lz! Au7+r4l14 0//nz j00 is t3|-| l33t.

Watching the Olympics is rather infectious, actually. Watching with my mum is fun. She likes to point out all the good-looking guys. Hmm, fangirlish behaviour from my mum. Maybe it's not just a teen thing? :o Nyargg, must stop watching and study~ Yep, last exams are tomorrow. Freedom~! Well.. I still have to finish my English major... but after that there will be freedom~!

Um, you mean Arche? I have two stone copies of her, although for some reason one of them doesn't have a broom... These are the ones I have; you'll definitely get the colour ones, and at least one of the stone ones, depending on my luck (12 per case, 7 figures in total always = one full colour set plus 5 extras.) If you're lucky I might get two versions of Dhaos, and they're both in colour~

And now... to study! >:O

~Kimi

W00T!!! Go Thorpe! Go Australia! W3 r0x3r j00r 50x5, f00!

Yeah, I'll buy your figures but not if it's that girl with the pink hair... Uh, what's her name, again?

Good luck for tomorrow, it's your last exams, huh?

Kam

Yes~! XD Just ordered a box of Tales of Phantasia figures. Now I will have the whole set! Mwahaha. I can put Klarth on my desktop *squee*. Am gonna kind of run out of room though. My desktop already has lots of stuff. with my existing ToP figures, Rinoa and the ToS figures. And since they're in-stock they'll be shipping next week when the HLJ staff get back from their holiday. Hmm, that means I'll have some extras though... You've played ToP; would you want to buy them off me for cheap? Half price! Three dollar each! (or two dollars, I dunno. They cost me roughly 6 each. Or more, for those eventual-ones-from-Tamarket) I'll have colour extras of Suzu, who was in the Playstation version, and Mint. And, depending on which stone ones I get, I'll have extras of Mint, Chester and Arche. If I get a stone version of Klarth I may be tempted to sell him too... (seeing as you joined the fanclub and all XD...)

Hmm, anyway. Must endure wait! And shell out more money! Argg~! Why do I get the feeling I'm just doing this for that Klarth figure (although the Cless and Dhaos ones look quote cool). Aeiii! The overpowering nature of fangirl attachments! When the HSC is over I'm going to have to actually finish that game. I got so far! But them my game got erased twice >:O

Only two more exams left, plus my English major. Am more worried about latter. Blah. Blah I say! Blaaahhhhh

~Kimi

I want Traitor's Knot NOW!!! Wow!

Latest installment of excerpts: Lysaer's gotten himself into real deep shit now, metaphorically speaking. I KNEW IT! Those freaky sons of bitches really were draining him dry of blood! His cabal is planning to kill him and resurrect his corpse? Hell! Stupid boy, why don't you just kill yourself outright? It'll save alot of effort in the long run! Man, I /never/ thought I would say this about /Lysaer/ but the poor guy really, really, really needs a hug.

And that stupid kid who said: 'but he can't die! He's an avatar! How dare you suggest he's mortal! Blah Blah! I'm an ignorant prick who couldn't see my lord bleeding himself to death even if he was sprawled unconscious on the bed!' Die, brat! Die! Gee, Lysaer's really getting what he asked for.

And what's gonna happen to Sulfin? Damnit, that poor bastard!

Kam *estatic with plot revelations*

Can you actually 'get' people money? Raid a bank and get those crispy new bills that don't get spat out by train-ticket machines~! :o. But yeah, I should be able to chip in about 15 bucks~ It'd probably be better to give her money than to try and figure out what manga she likes. I wish I could be let loose in Kino with lotsa moneh e.e. Dunno what I'd buy though...

Yay for secretness~ *wonders what you'll get me*. Oh, that reminds me, in a vague-ish way... I was reading an article on narutofan.com, and Viz's translations are truly horrendous! Reminds me of that failed Warner Bro's bid for the Naruto anime. I wich I could see the concept art, just so I could laugh and roll around on the floor in horror. Anyway

The next technique for them to rename was of course the 'Sexy no Jutsu' that was cleverly called the Ninja Centerfold Technique in VIZ's appauling job of translating. The Byakugan that is unique to the Hyuuga Clan, whose literal translation is "White Eyes" was renamed - prepare yourself - Evil Eyes, I kid you not. The next skill that caused an uproar in my mind is Sasuke's 'Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu' which in English would be translated to mean "Grand Fireball Skill" was renamed to be 'Blaze of Glory'. The next and possibly the worst changed name that I have ever heard of would be Ino's 'Shintenshin no Jutsu' (Mind body Switch Skill) which was APPALLINGLY renamed to be and I am totally serious when I say this, 'Valentine Technique'. Put down the knives folks.

Omgawd teh horror x_X. Thank goodness for Inane and fan translations. The thought of a dub just make me want to scream and lynch someone

And now back to Modern study ._.

~Kimi

You were born on the same day as Artemis Fowl.

Imagine trying to buy him a birthday gift. SexyAntisocial little bugger.
And I thought thinking up one for Shiori was difficult. Oh yeah, do you wanna chip in $20 and get her money? I honestly think that's the best present I could ever want. Really. Or maybe we should just take her to Kino and let her loose with a $40 money limit. :P

I won't tell you want I'm geting you then. Don't want to spoil it.

Kam

Argg, the twitch is back again >_o. Bloody thing. Anyway. Been thinking about sturf, so here's a list of things which might make things easier for you.

Things Kimi would like to get if she had any money:
Shiny things. Silver, that is. I have an aversion to gold... Tree of Life has some nice stuff. Favoured stones (or stuff that matches) are Turquiose (probably spelt that wrong...), Red Jasper, and green. Leather bracelets are cool too. You know, like the grungy nifty ones. Or something.
Fluffy things~ Like fuzzy pillows or creatures. You can never have too many large fluffy things XD
As far as music goes, I have an great inkling to get a Muse album. I don't know which one though... Other ones which caught my eye while I was in Chatswood were the latest Eskimo Joe album, anything by Placebo (Maybe the latest; I'm not sure which album is better than the other). Maybe Franz Ferdinand. I know HMV is having some fancy sale on now, and Ten Seconds Down out the back of the Interchange sells cheaper 2nd hand stuff too.

As far as recomendations go for what not to get me;
Picture frames. For some reason I never use them. Also beauty/health/bath products. I haven't even used that make-up thing my mum gave me two years ago :o.

I think that's it~ Should be a good starter if you're feeling stuck anyway ;D

You know, it feels kind of... freaky but anticlimactic to know that I'll be 18 in three weeks. Oh well, I'll be able to drink and go to +18 gigs and stuff~! w00t. I mean... I'll have to get an I.D thingy first though. Hmmm

~Kimi

Ow ow, not cool x_X. There's this effing knot in my left shoulderblade that won't go away >_>. It feels like, well... a knot. And right now it feels like some bug has stung me there too. Hmm, subsiding slightly. I'm sure It'll come back. It always does~! Rarr. It's like some reccuring muscle twitch. Only instead of twitching it hurts. Piece of crap~

Hmm, this exam is going to suck. Been so worked up over getting Art major finished that I haven't had much time to study for it.

~Kimi

This stuff cracks me up~ XD [link]

"In 1999, a federal judge in Syracuse, N.Y., rejected another in a series of lawsuits by Donald Drusky of East McKeesport, Pa., in his 30-year battle against USX Corp. for ruining his life by firing him in 1968. Furthermore, Drusky sued "God ... the sovereign ruler of the universe" for taking "no corrective action" against any of Drusky's enemies and demanded that God compensate him with professional guitar-playing skills and the resurrection of his mother."

"In 1998, Josh Hempel, then 16, in Calgary, Alberta, became the then-latest person to be hit by lightning shortly after ending an argument by inviting God to strike him with lightning if he was wrong. (The subject of this argument was whether God exists.) He was hospitalized but recovered. And at the Bathgate Golf Club in West Lothian, Scotland, two months before that, Father Alex Davie was playing in the Clergy Golfing Society tournament when lightning struck the tip of his umbrella and then, when he sought refuge under a tree, struck that, too. He suffered a sore arm but continued his round. [Edmonton Journal, 8-22-98] [The Sunday Times (London), 6-7-98]"

Hmm, I'm not sure when the extended version comes out... Late October/November?

~Kimi

Let me see...

Traitor's Knot - 29 Nov
Elegy for a Lost Star - 18 Nov
Howl's Moving Castle - 20 Nov
+Anima vol 09 - 30 Nov

What's the deal? Not to mention in October that the re-releases are scheduled. When's the RotK extended coming out?

Kam

NOVEMBER! NOVEMBER 29! WHY?! WHY?!!!!! ARRRGH! I so can not wait that long.

It freaks me out to know that I'll be free by then... I sorta want time to hurry past but I sorta don't.

Elegy is released in November not August (here, anyway. Stupid UK publisher). The cover for Traitor's Knot is so damn purty that I want to go: 'squee' and roll around on the floor hugging myself. So purty. So so purty.

Cover spurge: [Japanese] Rhapsody, Rhapsody, Prophecy, Prophecy, Destiny, Destiny (As the forum said: she's a little too booblicious but they're cool anyway.)
And finally, the cover that's making me all giddy inside: TK

Squee.

Kam

XD!!

~Kimi

Ahaha~ XD. I've been seeing reviews of that, and whenever they show previews I have fits of laughter. Apparently the theatrical release is a dub that's 30 minutes shorter though :o. Ah, that was such a cracker of a film though ;D. *looks at magazine cover*. First thing that popped into my head "My, he's suggestive looking XD". Can't dissagree with that caption though.

On the subject of humerous asides, this cracked me up. You don't even need to take-off George Bush. He's so stupid anyway XD

~Kimi

I probably shouldn't be doing this but... I saw this and laughed my head off.

Had to share.

[edit: and then I saw this (please let it work)]

Kam

Now watch Kimi and Kam angst for the next three weeks. Aren't exams fun! >:D *nudge-nudge, stab-stab*

*goes back to studying english and making up some psuedo-intellectual crap*

~Kimi

Oh fark.

Oh well. I mean... it doesn't look that hard. Just time consuming. I was going to get it off Roundtree, but somehow the opportunity either did't arise or got sidetracked with something. Probably extension. Due tomorrow? Crap. Maybe if I don't get it done I'll hand it into her during ancient on Wednesday instead.

~Kimi

Hey, Jess told me you don't have the history sheet. Do you still need it? It's due tomorrow, you know.

There's a visual source. I can direct you to another sheet that we got for it, but I dunno if you have that sheet.
Pfah! Why didn't you get it off Rountree? OK.

Task 1: With reference to Source 1 and including evidence of your own research, describe the family background of Agrippina II.
Source 1: 'Germanicus is everywhere described as having been of outstanding physical and moral excellence. He was handsome, courageous, a past master of Greek and Latin oratory and letters, conspicuously kind-hearted and gifted with the powerful desire and capacity for winning respect and inspiring affection.' (Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Gaius 3)

Task 2: With reference to Source 2 and including evidence of your own research, explain the significance of Agrippina's marriage to Claudius.
Source 2: (Cameo depicting Claudius and Agrippina (left) and Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder (right)) This is found on the worksheet she gave us entitled: /Unit 10.5: the demise of Agrippina/

Task 3: With reference to Source 3 and including evidence of your own research, explain how the source contributes to our understanding of Agrippina's use of power.
Source 3: 'When the prefects Crispinus and Lusius Geta would not yeild to her in everything, she removed them from office. No-one attempted in any way to check Agrippina; indeed, she had more power than Claudius himself and use to greet in public all who desired it, a fact that was entered in the records. She possessed all power, since she dominated Claudius and had won over Narcissus and Pallas.' (Cassius Dio, Roman History 8.66)

Task 4: With reference to Source 4 and including evidence of your own research, describe what caused the declining relationship between Nero and Agrippina and how it ended.
Source 4: 'The over watchful, over-critical eye that Agrippina kept on whatever Nero said or did proved more than he could stand. He first tried to embarass her by frequent threats to abdicate and go into retirement in Rhodes. The, having deprived her of all honours and power, and even of her Roman and German bodyguard, he refused to have her living with him and expelled her from his Palace; after which he did everything possible to annoy her, sending people to pester her with law-suits while she stayed in Rome, and when she took refuge on her riverside estate, making them constantly drive or sail past the windows, distributing her with jeers and cat-calls. In the end her threats and violent behaviour terrified him into deciding that she must die.' (Suetonius Nero 34)

This is all copied directly from the sheet. I've noticed some disrepencies like the source content and reference don't quite match up. Meh. And I still think that on the last one, it should be 'disturbing' not 'distributing'

Well. Good luck.

Kam

Oooh, Kam has teh shades XD.

I was just thinking of adding that link the other day (I'm too obsessed with referring URL's from that tracker on Capri...), but I noticed you already did it~

Just came back from watching too many movies. 's not my fult channel 7 was showing MiB and Predator 2. Although the first Predator was better, I'm a sucker for the nifty ending of 2. You get to see that Alien skull! And all the other Predators :o. There's something strangely appealing about an alien who has dreadlocks, wears fishnets (technically...) and has a face like a crab. That sounded odd. Anyway. Saw King Arthur with the gang. Kind of wanted to see Spiderman 2 instead, but oh well. Will hopefully see that later. King Arthur wasn't too bad a movie, but it wasn't all that great either. The 'realistic' spin was an interesting touch (Oh those pagan Celts...), but I like my more traditional Arthurian legend, thank ye. Couldn't tell who was who, apart from Lancelot and Aurthur. Is Percival the one with the axe? Eh, I don't know. I only really liked Bird-boi anyway, and that guy with all the kids. The rest were sort of an indistinct blurr... *gets character info from website* Crap, there is no Percival. Maybe I'm getting mixed up with something else. Tristan, yeah; That's Bird-boi's name. He has a cool sword. And a cool bird~. Agh! That reminds me. You know that sword on the trailer? That British longsword looking one with the crossguard? It's effing not in the movie! Arggg! When some Celtic dude went on about the "Excalibur" pointed at his throat by Arthur, my mental reply was "F*ck me if that's Excalibur. It's some puny little Roman sword". Oh, mighty Excalibur, what have they done to you! ToT. Even if it would have been incorrect to have a British longsword, I still think it's funny to have it on the promotional material. I want the real Excalibur, damn it >.>. And Merlin looked like some grubby Druid with a fettish for dark makeup, whom I couldn't tell apart from several other old druid-looking guys. The whole movie was somewhat of a dull blurr, actually. I mean, some of the battles were kind of cool, such as the battle on the ice, and some scenes were interesting to watch. But there was no real sense of climax. I didn't really care enough about most of the people for it to have a meaningful ending. The movie was just kind of... there. If anything some of the opening scenes were better than the ending scenes. I think the next time I want to watch the Aurthurian legend on film, I'll go rent Excalibur on DVD. At least that had the magic and fantastical elements which made the original legend so inspiring.

~Kimi

Indeed. I now have ultra funk-a-dory sunglasses.

Oh and new glasses.

But who cares about that.

Now, I'm off to practise my 'oh-you-think-you're-so-damn-important-but-I'm-the-one-with-the-sunglasses' look in the mirror.

*squints at screen but no one can tell! Mwahaha!*

[Added link in capricious.]

Kam

Have come to the conclusion that I cannot spell 'paid' properly. I keep on spelling it as payed .

Anyway. Just thought I'd add that the hosting has been renewed for another year~ Had to sort out some random business from last years strange mess, but it's all good. The domain-name was for three years, right? Oh well, even if it was for two it shouldn't be too hard to renew. Here's to two years of angst-boi[dot]net-ness~! *cheers*

[another edit]Oooh, pretty Hyung Tae-Kim art from new Magna Carta. But... *nosebleed*. There has to be something against protagonists looking that feminine and showing that much thigh. Especially when they're guys x_X.[/edit]

~Kimi

[edit: *snorts*. Okay, so the concept is kind of, um, twitchy, but that comic just cracks me up XD. Kisame's expression is just priceless]

Cute~ ^o^.

Heh, that reminds me of that Arithon one you made.. and that cute Lujan one. I think I made one ages ago too... They take so long but look so cool when they're done >.>

I have been, um, doing stuff too. We should have more very-small-round-table Naruto discussions. They make for wierd but good inspiration XD (and random laughter). I'm on some kind of quasi Sasuke high right now, which has led me to the conclusion that he's really f*cked up right now. What with the curse seal and stuff, it's almost like he's not entirely human any more o.O. And he was such a cute kid before too ;_;. I hope Naruto knocks some sense into him... or something. Watching some of the older episodes makes me realise how strangely misguided he's become. Anyway. I was thinking about that whole clothes thing and ended up drawing this;

His eyes still annoy meh >_o. Gah. The lineart wasn't so bad, but then I had random fangirlish spasms while turning it into a parody. I think somewhere in the middle of it I said out-loud "But he looks so sexy when he's older >:o". And then I kind of fell off my chair giggling. Ah, such is the life of a fangirl.

~Kimi

Look at what I made!

What do you think? Isn't he cute? Go you little bugger! W00T!

It's Anais, BTW.

Kam

I only gave you three? Whoah, could have sworn I burnt more than that. Oh well, I have 36 songs; I'll jam them on a CD for you, and we can swap CD's tomorrow (Spitz makes me happy~ XD w00t. Feel free to stick anything else on there which you think I'll like). Oh, and could you tell me sometime what that Ancient source-thing we were supposed to do is? I forgot to get a sheet >.>

Something has to be wrong with me and my propencity for downloading stuff. I had two Gackt songs yesterday, and now I have 25 o_O. Doomsday still rocks, although I found a better version of it.

Gimme a moment and I'll find my playlist, in case there's something else you want; I should have a CDR around here somewhere.

[edit] Aha~! Here is is. This playlist only has anime/japanese stuff on it though. Even then it's hell long. I also have some nifty game soundtracks, like ToP, Valkyrie Profile and Baten Kaitos.

~Kimi

I have the Hachimitsu album from Spitz. I love it, it's so chill. Do you want it? I could upload or just burn a copy for you. (It has Robinson in it so you may have it already. Me, on the other hand, I love that Togari one.) I do have some Yellow Monkey songs, but like... what three? I don't think you gave 'em to me, most of the ones you did were Bonnie Pink and The Pillows. Ho hum.

Well... I sorta want my +Anima volume. Like now. ^^ So are you free tomorrow? Let's go then! *cheers* Drop me a note on MSN, I'll be "away" for the entire day.

Oh yes. Went to Hornsby (yarrgh, so far...) to get new glasses. Will pick up on Wednesday, I think. Very snazzy, comes complete with magnetic sunglasses. Bweee! I love my optomistrist. They're so uni-student like. Frames are a bit smaller than what I'm used to. I really couldn't be bothered to stand in there for ages picking, so we just went with the 'it'll do' pair. It'll do.

Kam

Hmm, I don't go into Kino until the end of the month to pick it up. But if you want to go in some time before that I could meet you at the station or something.

Spitz officially r0cks my s0x~ They have such a nice, mellow sound, refreshingly apart from boy-band teeny boppers and grating techno sounds. Can't remember the place where I got the first two songs, Robinson and Escargot. But this site has a nice collection of songs. Encoded at 96 instead of 128, but meh; I don't really notice on these crappy speakers. The songs still rock in any case. I have heaps of Yellow Monkey, but I think I already gave them to you... I also have a duet between Shiina Ringo and the main singer from Spitz. It's cool, in an undescribable sort of way. Although arguably Shiina's voice could get on one's nerves. Even if she does screech a bit, sometimes, I still like her stuff.

[edit: You know, despite the girlyness, Gackt has some pretty cool songs. The Doomsday song from the link I gave you is worth a download~ It seems kind of odd that a guy who's so feminine looking can have a voice which goes down that low . I think I like his mid-range voice better though...]

~Kimi

+Anima 08 is in Kino... Must resist urge to run to city... Hey, Kimi! When are you going to pick up Asuka? Can you pick it up for me? Or can I go with you, since you have the magic discount card?

Me and Lina are in disbelief. That guy is way too girlly. I mean, if it was a manga image that would be alright... but it's not!!! Arrrgh! A bit like that TMRevolution CD cover we were looking at. Although that image sorta reminds me of Gigi. She's pretty cool.
Oooo! Spitz! Gimme! Yeah, anything Spitz, Yellow Monkey or The Boom. That's right. I'm an old fashioned gal.

Kam

Have gone on a spazzy late-night mp3 splurge, hopping from rotation site to rotation site. Maybe when the HSC is over I'll make one... goodness knows I have enough random crap on this computer (playlist kills winamp... Have now got Spitz's "Escargot" thoroughly stuck in my head >.>). Anyway. I swear to goodness that when I stumbled upon this site, I thought that the layout covergirl was familiar. At least, she was kind of pretty, jugling oranges and all; nice light backdrop. And then when I read further and realised it was Gackt, my reaction turned more to the side of "Well f*ck me o_O". It's just not fair so wrong that a guy should look so pretty!

In retrospect his masculine features are not all that undescernable. But still *snigger*. That reminded me of that picture of some guy, Mana, from Malice Miser (I think) who was fully wearing a dress and whatever. And he looked so good in it too ._.

~Kimi

*hands Kam a belated box of tissues*. May take one for myself actually. Have been reading this Shounen manga called Gantz (also partially available in http here), after randomly downloading the ending song for the anime ('twas by Bonnie Pink, and rocks muchly). Whah~ *sobs* It's so depressing in some parts though. It's kind of like Battle Royale meets Men in Black.

Synopsis
Kei, the main character, is an apathetic highschooler who enjoys looking at cute girls in magazines. But while waiting on a station platform, he sees a drunk fall onto the tracks. He can't be bothered helping him; indeed he finds the prospect of someone getting splattered to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Unfortunately for him, Kato, an old childhood friend who's also on the platform, is not so apathetic. He goes down to help the drunk, but can't do it on his own. He spots Kei and calls out to him, unwittingly forcing the other youth to get down and help. They get the drunk back onto the platform but can't stop the express train from coming through; much blood and flying body parts ensues when they get killed. Or did they really? Only problem is, just as the train apparently hits them, they stumble out of thin air into an apartment room filled with others who have 'died'. And soon the game begins. Basically they have to eliminate a target alien designated to them by this black ball in the middle of the apartment called 'Gantz'. For a black ball it has a rather sly sense of humor though. It speaks in the japanese equivalent of l33t, of all things XD. Anyway. For each mission they rack up points; supposedly when they reach 100 they'll be set free from this life of limbo and subservience.

Leechability
Kurono Kei:

He's a bit of a horny and self-centered teenager, to be honest. I'm kind of apathetic to him, although he gets a bit better later on. He's not annoying enough to dislike, but neither is he all that leechable; sometimes I really want to punch him somewhere, and other times I can't help but cheer him on. Maybe in time I'll warm to him more.

Masaru Kato:

*fangirlish grin* He's so gosh darn nice, damn it! XD. He kind of reminds me of Pape, actually. You just feel so sorry for him sometimes though. He desperately tries to avoid letting others get killed, even when it's at his own expense ._.

Masanobu Hojo:

Pure eye candy; somewhat admitedly so, actually. He comes across as a bit aloof, but he makes me crack up sometimes XD. Aparently he was working for a top modeling agency for guys, but he quit because "Oh, you know... the president was queer. Hojo could tell he was about to get banged". *snigger*. He's also being stalked by this creepy girl called Sadako (obviously apropriated from The Ring...). Although they turn out to have quite a sweet thing going in the end.

There's lots of minor characters too, but I honestly don't know half their names. Lots of people die pretty quickly anyway ._.

Comments
Damn is this one bloody manga. Lotsa blood and guts, and people throwing up from said blood 'n guts. Don't mind that so much, actually; there's a lot of expendable characters because Gantz is always 'recruiting' new members, as it were. Although some people die in some pretty gruesome ways. What has a tendency to irk me is that none of the girls on the chapters pages seem able to put on all their clothes. Or when they do get them on, they can't do it properly. Seriously. I suppose it's fanservice for the male readers, but er, yeah. As Gantz said, "t00 mvch t1tty. t00 mvch w4nd3r1ng 4r0nd w/0ut p4nt135". Haha XD That thing cracks me up. Especially this scene (Abridged slightly); 1 . 2 . 3. Anyway. I wouldn't have read 9 volumes if it wasn't good. But why must so many people die~!? 'snif'. Volume 8 was a real tear-jerker, I swear.

Overall. If you don't mind blood and t1tti35, then by all means [edit; Uhm, add to that situations which are best not read where anyone can glance at the screen; this is definitely an MA15+ kind of manga ._.]. The fights and missions can be a bit drawn-out (nine volumes and they're only on their 4th mission >.>), but the characters are believable, realistic and interesting. The plot is rather intruiging too. Apparently it's also a lot better than the anime, which cut out much of the blood and mature content for the TV series. In context, I think the blood and soforth is what gives it such an impact in some scenes.

[edit, after reading Ch101]. Fuck, that's nasty *twitch*. Certainly not adverse to blood, are they...

~Kimi