|
Saturday, August 20, 2005 @ 08:12 p.m.
Today is sis’ birthday. We were suppose to go out for dinner tonight but since my visiting uncle will go back to US tomorrow, sis just cancelled it for my parents to attend the party for the uncle. Well, it isn’t really a party but more of a meeting regarding the fate of the studio. I forgot to mention that yesterday I went out with Asher to a mall. I had a minor fright there when I forgot to load up my cellphone and had used up all the available ‘money’ in it. I even wondered if I got the right phone. ^^; I called up my mom through a payphone which cost a peso to ask her to tell Asher that I’m already at the bookstore but good thing, after I hang up, Asher texted me that she is already there. The payphone even coughed back the peso I paid. ^-^; I toured Asher around the mall and ate pasta at this restaurant. We exchanged stuff and called it a day. Thanks Asher for the stuff. ^_^
I got my computer again, thanks to bro. Last night, after restarting again, it won’t go in windows again. They now changed the power supply. I’m still observing it if it hangs which would mean that the computer is overheating and if it works fine, we would pay for the power supply. Good thing that bro has an extra cable for direct plugging to the outlet for the monitor since the technician covered up or removed the outlet for the monitor.
I had currently been watching The Legend of the Condor Hero which turned out to be a bit interesting. I think it is made by a Chinese productions, iirc, Jade Television and dubbed in Japanese. This is based on a novel though I’m not sure if it is a true story. I have seen the book in the Chinese library before. The story is about this kid who was orphaned and was suppose to be a student of the true sect group but they tend to bully him and not teach him anything. He later got into the tomb sect, which was lead by Kuo Kuo or Dragon lady. She became his sensei and it seemed that it is forbidden to change teachers without permission of the former teacher. I do know in some older episodes that I glanced before in the Taiwanese channel, the two would become somewhat like lovers and there are always other men trying to get to the Dragon lady for she keeps some secret teachings.
Some scenes are quite unrealistic but I guess that is the tendency for kung fu shows. Isn’t it amazing for a kid to fall down a cliff and survive? Poisons can be removed through meditation and concentration. I’m watching this as a poor excuse to at least know the story of a Chinese novel. I’m somewhat interested in Romance of the Three Kingdoms since it was mentioned in some manga like School Rumble. I wonder if this is what you call, exploring one’s roots.
I watched Guyver [ep. 3]. I assume that in the last episode, the enemy pretty much learned that the lead is the one who has the armor since after threatening him, he transformed. In this episode, the lead is having trouble believing over what has happened to him and blamed his friend for tossing that thing to him and made him like that. In the end, they met again at the place where they found it though the enemies were already there. The lead transformed to protect his friend and he easily dispatched the enemies turned monsters. Then, there was a octopus monster that he wasn’t able to defeat with simple punches and his beam has no more power. In the end, he got a new weapon, sword-like beams from the elbows and made chopped tako. Then, a blond man approached them and also turned into a guyver. As usual, when the monsters appear, I somewhat felt queasy looking at them. ^^; Overall, it is an okay anime I guess to watch to pass the time.
Thought of the day:
To put failure behind you, face up to it. ~ Daily bread.
 Friday, August 19, 2005 @ 08:22 p.m.
I finally got my computer back. It turned out that my motherboard had conked out. My bro bought me a new one. I’m currently testing it now as it is still under observation for the power supply was the old one to see if it can work before buying a new one. There are some glitches while connecting to the net though the technician said that maybe it is an isp problem. Right now, I just realized that my drive d is missing/was not read. ^^; I wonder if they forgot to install that in. That drive has some of the movies and sis’ back up files. I guess we would have to bring the computer back. ^^;
In Full Metal Panic TSR [ep. 6], the military is interrogating the spy through torture. Elsewhere, the twins are in another killing spree while at school, Sousuke managed to come back in time for his exam. On their way home, Chidori brought Sousuke to a beauty parlor to cut his hair. He tried to control himself from trying to kill the beautician but in the end, he pointed at gun at the poor guy when he saw him holding very sharp scissors. Hehehe, in the end, Chidori was the one who gave him a haircut. He fell asleep while she was cutting his hair. She almost wanted to kiss him but just shoved his head in the sink. Sousuke went back to the apartment and got a report that someone else is going to take his place in guarding Chidori and that he should stay away from her...something like that. I understood since it is in English. Sousuke promptly punched the laptop as he breathes heavily in anger. Okay, obviously from this episode, this is indeed a continuation of the series before. ^^;
Nothing much happened in Trinity Blood [ep. 16]. A new character was introduced who got an audience from the veiled lady. Esther and the kid met a young girl and then tried to stop an assassination but were too late. Esther saved the kid from being killed but she ended up being hurt. The girl came and helped them. I wonder if this was the one before in green..in a picture, I saw that person’s surname is the same as Abel’s.
In Gankutsuou [ep. 8], the families of Albert, Eugenie and Valentine were invited into a spooky mansion of the Count. I guess they are all included in this revenge. The good-looking prisoner was introduced. I forgot his name and was made to be interested in Eugenie. Maximillian apologized to Valentine regarding what happened earlier. Then the Count wanted to play a game about finding a secret room. Albert together with the public prosecutor [Valentine’s father] and the financer’s wife [Eugenie’s mother] found the room first. The financer’s wife was quite edgy as if she has done something as the prosecutor tried to quiet her down. Inside a hidden chamber, the Count revealed to Albert that he has an illness and asked him to keep it a secret. The Count then gave Albert a small treasure box. When Albert went back to the room, the financer’s wife saw the box and she freaked out about it and fainted. I’m guessing that she has something to do with the former owner of that house who was Valentine’s real mother like something to do with her death.
Thought of the day:
Coming together is a start; keeping together is progress; working together is success. ~ from Daily Bread.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005 @ 03:22 p.m.
I'm currently using my bro's computer which he brought to the house for me to put some software in it. I managed to get the internet going but then, the speed is super slow. I wonder if it is because of the modem. Anyway, my computer is currently at the computer shop to check what could be wrong with it. It started last night. I started it then there was this message that pci.sys file is either missing or corrupted. I should press 'r' to restore it. I did even though I dont' have the cdrom for it. It went back to that same message. I pressed 'r' again and then the screen went blank. I panicked a bit, tried to restart it and still nothing happened. I just shut down the computer. Still weird out as to what could have gone wrong, I opened the computer again and the message appeared again. I then went to the bios screen hoping to make it boot at the floopy disc but then, it is already made that way so I went out of bios and let the computer ran again. Miraculously, it got into windows.
First thing I did was to check in the net as to what have caused. I have totally forgot the reason why I opened the computer in the first place. ^^;; From the net, there are many reasons that it seemed to be pretty random - from software problem to hardware problem. There are a couple of suggestion which mentioned the showing of bios. Anyway, hopefully, the technician would know what the problem was and fix it. It was only know that I remember that I should have also asked bro to bring bro-in-law's portable harddisk there since files being transferred tend to become corrupt, inaccessible or vanishes. Maybe I'll ask bro to drop it there tomorrow if he will drive mom to aunt's office.
In Tsukihime [ep. 12 - final episode], Shiki quickly went around trying to find Arcueid and ended up at the playground. He met Ciel there and they had a little chat. Ciel ended up telling Shiki were to find Arcueid. On the way there, Ciel ,without her nun-like outfit that shows off her tattoed body, told Shiki that they ought to separate when they get there since fighting straightforward is a disadvantage to them. Meanwhile, Arcueid is currently at school fighting Shiki/Roa and apparently she is losing. Shiki came and Arcueid tried to drive him off for Shiki/Roa's target is Shiki. Arcueid managed to tear apart Shiki/Roa but he regenerated and killed Arcueid. Shiki tried to offer his blood to Arcueid but she turned him down so she died and vanished. Shiki and Shiki/Roa fought and Shiki was about to be killed when Ciel intervened. With that distraction, Shiki stabbed a line on the ground, causing the hanging hallway/bridge to fall down. Then, he has caught Shiki/Roa from the back. I think Ciel was the one who pushed the knife in Shiki/Roa so he died. Ciel then left.
Shiki went back home to tell Ahika that everything is over. Akiha then cried over the death of her brother. Shiki went to the green field by a tree and met the woman whom he met when he was a kid. He called him his 'sensei' for she taught him how to use his powers and gave him the glasses. She told him to never come back there again as Shiki thanked her for everything. Shiki left his knife there then went back to Akiha's house to live there as her brother. He went back to school and no one knows Ciel. During lunch time, I think,Yumizuka has confessed her love to Shiki at the penthouse. The end scene was Shiki who was sitting in the empty classroom and saw a vision of Arcueid telling him to forget about her and about their promise of having a date after everything is over.
Overall, the anime is okay though the pacing as I wrote before is slow and reveals things only at the end of each episode. Many questions are left hanging as to why Shiki killed Arcueid before and such. Yesterday afternoon, when my computer is still working, I was a bit curious as to why this is a hentai game for I couldn't see it as such. I surfed about the game and well, what I learned was the full story of Tsukihime which is way better than the anime. ^^; It turned out that one of the maids, Kohaku is not so nice afterall. That is the indirect cause of why Shiki had killed Arcueid in the first place. Yumizuka had became a vampire after that hotel attack. There are still many things that actually made the story really interesting. It is really a shame that the anime skipped on those other important details. It also seemed that Shiki in the game is an optimist and he had a split personality of an assassin since he came from a village of assassins/exorcists in the anime unlike in the anime, he seemed a bit gloomy. The ending of the game was meeting with the sensei again and knowing that he will die soon but still he will try to live life to the fullest. I still haven't read the translations/scripts of the game to know what really happened in full detail.
Thought of the day:
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 @ 04:31 p.m.
In Tsukihime [ep. 11], Arcueid quickly left after being confronted that she really crave for blood unlike her claim that she hates blood. Ciel told Shiki that Arcueid is a moon princess who used to be untainted until she tasted blood because of Roa, the snake. Ever since then, for the last 800 years, she wakes up to ‘kill’ Roa then sleeps again. Instead of making Shiki afraid of associating with her, Shiki rushed out of the playground as he tried to look for Arcueid. What he found instead is a confrontation between the bandaged man and his sister, Akiha who has red hair now. It was revealed here that the bandaged man is the real brother of Akiha and is also known as Shiki. This Shiki is currently possessed by Roa. Roa tried to kill Akiha so Shiki shielded her but they were interrupted by Ciel. Ciel ended up being stabbed but she miraculously came back to live with her wound all healed. Roa escaped as he vows to kill Shiki next time they meet.
At the Tohno residence, it turned out that Akiha knew everything. Her hair color is back to normal. She gave Shiki their father’s journal. Shiki learned that he was just an adopted son from a certain village that was exterminated. The village is known for their exorcism. One reason that the father adopted him and another is that he has the same name as his son. One day at the garden, the real son Shiki tried to kill Akiha and Shiki ended up being killed in contrast to his memory that it was his father who killed him. The real son was stabbed by the father but he was still alive so they just put him in an underground jail. The father then switched Shiki with the real son. Shiki was brought to life by Akiha’s powers. Meanwhile, the real son tricked Akiha to free him and because of that, the son has killed the father. Back to the present, Shiki went to Acueid’s apartment. He comforted her that she would no longer be alone for he is there for her. He spent that night with her but in the morning, she is gone. She left him only with a note saying ‘Bye bye’.
I have a feeling that this will be a sad ending based on the preview hints. Just when Shiki realized his feeling for her, she would be gone from his life soon. I still think that she was the one whom he had met when he was young. There was no revelation yet as to why Shiki can see those lines. I also wonder why did the father have Shiki separated from the family if he wanted Shiki to ‘exorcise’ the family. ^^; Also, why did Shiki 'killed' Arcueid the first time they met.
This time it is Valentine’s family background that was shown in Gankutsuou [ep. 7]. Her father is a ruthless judge who can send people to their death even for petty crimes. The stepmother and her young spoiled son hate Valentine especially since the grandfather left all the inheritance to Valentine. Albert brought Maximillian there for him to confess his love but Valentine got irritated by their behavior for they already knew that she is engaged though not for love as she called them selfish. I wonder if it is because she loves someone else instead. My guess she likes Franz. Anyway, Albert and Maximillian then saw the Count together with Valentine’s stepmother. At the greenhouse, filled with beautiful poisonous flowers, the Count gave her a ring wherein if one presses the jewel, there is a small needle with poison. I can already guess whom she plans to use it on. The other happening is the Count and his men have freed a good-looking prisoner. I wonder what they plan to use him for.
In Skip beat! [chp. 73], everyone prepared for the scene that Ren kept on freezing. Kyouko is very happy that Ren is back in his acting form. Itsumi has agreed to let Ren do a bit of adlib. Before going on stage, she thinks that anyone would be irritated if the other actor kept on making bloopers but then, she does wonder what Ren plans to do. The scene is about to start. Ren took a short glimpse of Kyouko and sighs while Kyouko is still smiling for she can’t wait to see Ren act.
The scene starts with Itsumi giving tea to Ren. She was all giggly as a girl in love with her teacher. Ren changed his act by not showing any reaction to her but when she isn’t looking, he smiles. Everyone agreed that it is better that way. Then, Itsumi’s character, Mizuki realizes that Ren’s character, Katsuki likes a different kind of tea so she tries to change it and he tries to say it is okay that the teacup fell on the floor and shattered. Mizuki tried to pick up the pieces and ended up cutting herself. Everyone braces for the moment of where Ren kept on freezing is right there...holding her hand then pulls it away when he realizes that he is holding her hand. Katsuki took her hand as he say that he will bandage it. There was a flash on Ren’s eyes as he suddenly smiles at her. Mizuki was surprised. Katsuki then held her hand to make her fingers pointing out of his grasp then he pulls her fingers near his mouth as if he is going to lick them. That made Mizuki flustered that she shout out as she quickly pulled her hands back.
Everyone blushes after seeing it as Kyouko thinks that she can relate to Itsumi for it was Ren’s ‘emperor of the night’ stance. Itsumi was still blushing as she thought of what Ren saying of making her act the way he wants her. Then, Katsuki starts to laugh at Mizuki’s reaction. Kyouko immediately remember that this was the same as in their practice. Katsuki told Mizuki that he doesn’t plan on licking her for he is a teacher and even if she isn’t a student, she doesn’t plan to do it to her for he doesn’t like her. While saying this, Katsuki was thinking of making her want to leave him alone. I guess that is acting that one hates the other but actually loves that person. Mizuki was surprised by this as well as Rory and Kyouko. I think the director, too. There is a blooper here of Rory moving his hand from his face but the panel below, it is still showing his hand on his face. Hehehe Anyway, I guess the next chapter would be a continuation of that scene.
Thought of the day:
Give praise to others while they are here; they won’t need it in the hereafter. ~ Daily Bread.
Sunday, August 14, 2005 @ 05:39 p.m.
Yesterday, around late afternoon, we all went to ego uncle’s company anniversary at this trade show. We didn’t get to hear his speech though I saw him saying it while outside waiting with sis for bro and bro-in-law. We went around as my bro bragged that he’ll know someone there and he did. It was his high school batch mate. We went around and said hello to ego uncle and others then, went around some more. Later on, we went outside to go to the nearby Toyota show. They showcased their cars and the new one being made which does look quite futuristic.
After that, we went out for dinner at a seafood restaurant. It seemed as if it was a long time since we had a dinner together for we talked and laughed at almost every silly little thing. Then, it was late that sis and her husband stayed over at our house. This morning, they had already left for lunch with her husband’s family. My bro couldn’t go out since his car is under repairs. My bro took this time off to mess with the plants and my cacti and now, messing around with my aquariums, which he said are now his. ^^;;
In Vampire Knight [chp. 8], the author must have forgotten to draw Zero’s wound for it is currently fine now. I even have to double check if I saw it wrong before but there is indeed blood in the previous chapter. Anyway, this chapter started with a flashback wherein young Zero was apologizing to his sensei that it was because he saved him that his eye got injured. Zero then asked why does vampires hurt people and his sensei said that the vampires just couldn’t control their instinct so he and the ‘Kiriyuu’ family hunt them – vampires are their enemies.
Back to the present, Zero is hurting and I’m not sure if it is because of the injury or the want to drink blood. I think his sensei said that it is because of that pain that makes vampires have that ‘need’ to drink blood. His sensei also asked him after drinking lots of blood, won’t he later on regret it. Zero somewhat realized that he close his eyes as if to accept his fate but Yuuki quickly intervenes as she holds Zero close. Zero’s sensei realized that she was the chairman’s ‘daughter’ and told her that it isn’t up to her whether Zero should live or not. Yuuki insisted that she wouldn’t let Zero die. Zero’s sensei continued if he haven’t reach level E. Zero told Yuuki that is enough.
Then, the chairman came as he shouted that things have came to this that is why he dislikes vampire hunters. He quickly pulled up the two from the freezing water. Yuuki asked who Zero’s sensei was. He replied that he is ‘Ten Tooth’ – based on Chinese. ^^; He is a vampire hunter and former sensei of Zero. Zero confirms it. ‘Ten Tooth’ then told her that he is thinking what is best for Zero and she shouldn’t intervene. That night, Yuuki was very worried about Zero and realized that maybe the pills are not working for him as she realized that she couldn’t do anything for him.
The next day, Yuuki noticed that Zero didn’t went to school. She quickly asked ‘Ten Tooth’ where Zero was. He replied that Zero is in seclusion for one day, his teeth? would change and that hopefully, he won’t hurt anyone but for now, he is in a safe place. Yuuki asked where he was but ‘Ten Tooth’ told him not to bother him since he is the night class’ ‘theory’ teacher. The other vampires knew him as no. 1 vampire hunter and were a bit anxious about him. He told them that for now, he is their teacher and he has the credentials for it. Kaname (Kuran) asked if he is investigating them. ‘Ten Tooth’ told him that currently, his list is blank but maybe if they were all asleep, there would be new additions. Kaname then said that they would be careful.
After class, ‘Ten Tooth’ found Yuuki waiting outside for him. He told her that she is a nice kid unfortunately, she can’t do anything for Zero anymore. He then told Yuuki where to find Zero. Zero was pretty much surprised to see her and quickly tries to close the door but Yuuki tries to keep it from closing. Zero told her to go back already. Yuuki asked him why he follows what they told him to do. Zero told her that ‘Ten Tooth’ was their guardian when their parents were away. One day, their elementary clinic doctor, who turned out to be a vampire, attacked him and it was ‘Ten Tooth’ who shielded him. That is why ‘Ten Tooth’s right eye is injured. Right there, it was the first time Zero saw a vampire being killed – teeth falling off? Zero told her that it was his sensei who taught him everything and that, ah, I think he said that it would be okay for him to die that way or something like that. ^^;
Yuuki told him as if he has given up and that she still has the gun. She also told him not to try to ‘escape’ from it all. Yuuki noticed that Zero wouldn’t look at her so she took his hand and brought him to the bathroom. She closed the door and said that now they are all alone. Then, she removed her uniform coat as she told Yuuki that they continue where they stopped from yesterday. Hehehe...is she seducing him? Somewhere else, Kaname was reading a book. A classmate, I think that is Ichijou, [katana guy, thanks to Alya for the names of the two guys ^_^] asked him if he is going to the next class. Kaname seemed to say that he isn’t interested in the subject. Ichijou then mentioned that he doesn’t see Yuuki around. Kaname looked somewhat downcast as he just said that Yuuki is just being too nice.
Back at the bathroom, Yuuki declared that she knows something that she can do. Zero looked a bit confused though I’m sure he knows what she intends to do. Yuuki told him that this is for the best and asked him to drink her blood to be free of the pain even if it is for a moment. Zero told her to let go of him for he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he did that. In the end, Zero stops hesitating and did as he was told to. I think it was Yuuki who was saying the last lines, “Sorry, for together, we did an unforgivable thing.” That line sounds like they are doing something else. ^^; Anyway, I’m still quite unsure if that is indeed for the best. Won’t drinking blood make him lust for it more? She just helped him become a ‘real’ vampire and I guess the lust for blood makes him forget about not wanting to be something he detests. Yuuki does seem pretty more mature than Zero. Then I realized that girls do tend to mature earlier than boys. ^^; I think that Yuuki is just doing this for being ‘motherly’ or ‘sisterly’ to Zero and well, as his friend.
Reflection of the day:
Instead of giving up on a person, give that person to God. ~ Daily Bread.
Saturday, August 13, 2005 @ 02:26 p.m.
After watching Tsukihime [ep. 10], I pretty much get the style of the episodes. Hehehe..with only two episodes left. ^^; About 3/4 of the episode are slow and nothing much happens. It is only at the 1/4 of the story when things are revealed and something actually happens. In this episode, Arc/Arcueid went to Shiki’s room and announced to Shiki that she wanted to have a date in exchange for making her wait on night for him. They went to places and Acrueid hinted on things like enjoying everything as long as she is with him, that she will be going back to ‘sleep’ after this is all over and such. It is pretty much obvious that Arcueid likes him but somewhat thought that their time together isn’t long.
They end their date at the playground. It was there where Arcueid told him about Ciel being part of the Church who used to be the host of Roa. Arcueid had killed her before and so Ciel hunts for Roa to atone for her sins. Ciel thought that Shiki is the current host. Shiki wondered if it is the bandaged man he saw then suddenly, his wound started bleeding again as he thought that the man knew him. Then, on cue, some zombies/vampires attacked them. Arcueid quickly dispatches them and somewhat couldn’t control himself when she saw Shiki’s blood. She was stopped on her tracks by Ciel, who told her that Arcueid couldn’t resist the call of her instincts. The next episode might be about Arcueid.
I guess there are times when reading spoilers ruin something that I would be watching/reading. It happen in Gundam Seed Destiny [ep. 42] ^^; The surprised look of Shinn seeing Kira alive isn’t that satisfying to me...more shock please. Maybe I would get that when he sees Anthrun alive. The ones he is gloating to have defeated are actually alive...isn’t that a blow to his ego? Hopefully, Anthrun won’t wreck his new Gundam anytime soon. Also, I think Shinn’s new Gundam, Destiny, is not that powerful since the other one before, can change parts that he can continue fighting without having to refuel and stuff. Does that mean he got a downgrade? Somehow, it is ‘scary’ that Kira knows Anthrun best then anyone else. I guess a best friend knows you better than a lover.
Almost everyone have graduated in Honey & Clover at around episode 15. Morita is really talented, I must say and I guess he somewhat is a match with Hagu, leaving poor Takemoto out. I feel sorry for the guy. Mayama has started to make his moves on Rika and I do wonder if he doesn’t really have feeling for Yamada...maybe he thinks of her as a ‘sister’ that he becomes overly protective when there is a guy courting Yamada. Anyway, I still love these series and I read that it will end after 10 more episodes. I also have to keep in mind not to drink anything while watching since the funny scenes can come out of the blue and well, I almost choked on my water twice or was it thrice already. ^^;;
In Initial D 4th Stage [ep. 15], Tankumi is still thinking of ways to defeat the 4wd. As his friend hinted to him, their next opponent uses a 4wd car. This time, this group doesn’t play fair. Since Keisuke somewhat provoked the other guy, they decided to use their ‘trap’ on him. While practicing half the time they are used to, Keisuke saw oil on the road. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to crash his car in a good way so his car is a wreck. Ryosuke reprimanded him for not staying cool that he could have prevented damage to his car. Ah..really? They learned that it was the opponents that has made this for they wouldn’t even allow them to move the racing date to fix Keisuke’s car. Anyway, I wonder if Ryosuke would be the substitute for his brother.
Thought of the day:
It’s better to give others a piece of your heart than a piece of your mind. ~ Daily Bread.
Friday, August 12, 2005 @ 03:08 p.m.
It has been raining a lot these days since there is a typhoon passing by. As usual, there is a short electric disruption and as if on cue, it is when Tsukihime [ep. 9] was about to be shown. ^^; It is a good thing that the electricity came back on right on time so that I can watch. Hehehe Shiki was recovering from his wound, which suddenly disappeared the next day, courtesy of Hisagi. Shiki wanted to know what is the secret of their family but everyone is numb about it. When everyone left, Hisagi gave Shiki a tip that he can explore everything in the house. Shiki did just that and found a secret room with a cell. It reminded me of Hisoka’s house [Yami no Matsuei]. ^^; In the cell, there are words written in blood repeatedly, Help me. Then he followed some fathoms of when they were kids. He learned that his wound was not from an accident. It seemed that he as a twin. He had stabbed that other boy and in turn, his father stabbed him.
Shiki realized that the man the other night that tried to ‘kill’ him was the other boy. His wound started bleeding again as he noted that everyone has been lying to him except Arc. Somewhat Akiha learned about it and rushed home from school. She reprimanded Hisagi. Hisagi told her twin that she did it because only Shiki could ‘save’ Akiha. I assume from the foreign/nonhuman blood in their body and those who have it becomes the heir of the family. Geez, really sounds like Hisoka’s family. Somewhere, Arc buys movie tickets and hopes that Shiki won’t be angry with her.
I guess I would appreciate Trinity Blood [ep. 15] better if I could understand it but then, from what is happening, I’m not that interested anyway. ^^;; They returned the kid vampire to his kingdom and some fighting occurs – I’m not sure what. A brief hot spring scene with Esther and Astharoth who saw the star mark on Esther’s back and finally, a scene of a veiled woman talking to Abel. I was hoping for Isaak’s group to appear though. ^^;
In D. Gray-man [chp. 57], a mysterious girl saw Allen and ‘took’ him away. Rabi and Rinali saved Timcampi from the pursuing akuma. Of course, when they arrived where Allen was supposed to be, he is gone. They returned back to ship and I think was told to continue searching for General Cross. I think the ‘king’ told them that they got Allen and that he can no longer go with them since he no longer has an ‘innocence’. Then, Miranda appeared and I’m not sure if she will be the one joining them or helping Allen. Anyway, nice to see her back...she really had a drastic make-over. I wonder if her new outfit reflects her personality.
Thought of the day:
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
Thursday, August 11, 2005 @ 08:33 p.m.
Sis stayed overnight at our house last night since mom got worried over the blood results even if I told her that it is pretty much the same as before. Not getting worse = more or less okay. We went there around 9am. We got our results even if there is a minor glitch since the computer won’t print a certain blood result. ^^; It is also weird since their computer couldn’t email to me the results. The technician said that it works for yahoo so I might use my in-law’s email next time. They won’t refund the money since it is too small and that I can use it the next time I had my blood work. I just realized that the next time, I could take them at the nearby lab since it doesn’t have that special blood test which that hospital has. Only two hospitals in the country have this kind of blood test.
Like before, Nii told me that my kidney function has decreased from the ideal 70% to 50% so we ought to maintain that. My sis thought I was silly to ask if it can still be returned to 70%. Now that I think about it, I guess organs are not like machines once damaged or decrease in functionality, it couldn’t be replaced. I wonder if there is something to do with the ‘age’ of the kidney since it did came from my mother. All medications and stuff remain the same until the next check-up.
After that, we went to sis’ house for lunch then I downloaded some manga scans and a couple of Tsukihime mp3 that I luckily found. Then, we went to pick up mom at aunt’s store. My mom has to introduce me to a couple of people there. I felt embarrassed somewhat especially when one of them said that I shouldn’t think that my kidney could give out in a certain period of time..say, 10 years..for she knew someone who has had it and lived after 40 years. Finally, sis brought us home and she returned home.
Good thing that I recorded Tsukihime [ep. 8] for when I got to sis’s house, it has already ended. Akiha suddenly didn’t felt good and Shiki felt that something has happened when they were in the amusement park. Shiki has to skip a meeting with Arc because of that. Arc then told him that Roa’s host[?] tend to have mixed with unknown/nonhuman blood. Shiki sees something at Akiha’s room. The tv signal is bad so I couldn’t quite make it out. He later confronted one of the maids and said that she wasn’t in Akiha’s room at that time. Shiki then learned that in their family line, the people tend to die young and that night, he saw Akiha’s body turning red. He got worried that Roa was in her but Arc told him that he was not.
They went on a goose chase and later, Arc said that Roa is gone. Arc also told Shiki that there is something nonhuman about Akiha but it doesn’t concern Roa. She then asked if there are other relatives of theirs living in the house. Shiki told her that it was just the two of them from the Tohno family. On his way home, he saw this man with bandage face. The man actually reminded me of the shinigami of Zombie Loan. ^^;; The man suddenly attacked him and Shiki realized that this man can also see lines on things. The man told him to remember his wound before and Shiki started bleeding with flashbacks of being stabbed. Akiha sensed something and rushed to Shiki. Shiki was saved by Ciel, who used her fork-like weapon to stab the man. The man turned into flame. Ciel then went away leaving Shiki bleeding as Akiha tends to him. I do wonder if Shiki got that man’s power if that guy is a shinigami for Arc did mention that Shiki has shinigami eyes.
While in Fullmetal Panic! The 2nd Run [ep. 5], Sousuke went on a mission with Kurz and Mao to get the traitor. There is a pretty nice action in the car chase scene along with some comedy. Funny that Sousuke even have time to chat with Chidori on the phone. In the end, they were rescued by a mysterious AS. I came to like FMP! after reading a few scans of the manga. It was mentioned in other blogs that this was based on the novel. I wonder if it is from the start that Chidori doesn’t know that Sousuke is in the military or she already knows for it is the 2nd run so...it should be a continuation. ^^;
Thought of the day:
What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 @ 04:17 p.m.
I have to get another blood test again today because it turned out that a test has to be taken at the same time with another test. It was already past 3 days so I have to get another one. ^^; The emailing of the results is a flop for it has already been about a week and we still didn’t have the results. My instinct had told me before that there is a chance that they might blunder it and it came true. Mom called the lab yesterday and re-dictates the correct email address and up to now, there is no email. But then, she asked a few of the results. The creatinine is still above the borderline but it is the same as before.
Good thing that I watched Tsukihime [ep. 7] last night for I would have not be able to watch today’s rerun. I’m beginning to notice that nothing much is happening in this series except for some hints that makes me wonder about Shiki and his family as well as the others. This is already half-way the series so I’m beginning to doubt if there is a resolution at the end for nothing much is revealed unless it is all cramped at the end. In this episode, they all went to the amusement park. Akiha went with Shiki for she wants to ‘guard’ him after catching up going home late at night. Akiha quickly told the others that she doesn’t like Ciel. When they arrived at the amusement park, Arc was waiting for them there.
Arc and Ciel kept on bickering all throughout that pretty much stress Shiki out. At the hot spring, [I didn’t know amusement parks have hot springs. ^^;] Yumizuka asked if Arc is someone special to Shiki. Arc said that she isn’t for Shiki is just being nice to everyone that his treatment to her isn’t special. Outside, Ciel asked Akiha about secrets in their family as Akiha denied it. Ciel then touched Akiha’s hand and told her that there is something un-human about her. Akiha got angry about it and quickly left ahead of the others. Then, there is another vampire victim. Oh ya, it is confirmed that Shiki is the older sibling and I guess it is puzzling that the heir is Akiha.
In Gankutsuou [ep. 6], the Count gave Albert tickets to the opera. Albert went to Eugenie’s house to invite her and there is a glimpse of Eugenie’s parents. It also turned out that one of Albert’s friends sleep with her mother. The father is pretty greedy that even if the contract with the Count is dubious he went ahead after being shown the amount of money that the Count has and even sold the mother’s favorite horse. It got returned anyway after the Count did something to it. It was also shown that Eugenie just wanted to travel and play the piano that when Albert even suggest that they elope, Eugenie just left him there. ^^; At the opera, the Count went with this girl, forgot her name. The girl made a scene when she almost jumped down the balcony after seeing Albert’s father who had probably had done something to her. Things are getting interesting.
I finished watching the Gundam Seed Destiny episodes that I have. I’m checking if the episodes are okay before burning them for Asher. There are some things that are annoying if the repeated flashbacks and the ‘debates’ that they have with Anthrun in the losing end. From ep. 22-41 what happened are: Kira’s group intrudes, Orb intrudes and around there Anthurn lost his mobile suit, Stupid Shinn returned Stellar to the enemy that Kira had to finish her off, Shinn wanted revenge and got it after wrecking Kira’s Freedom. Anthrun begin to notice something is off when Zaft declared war against those who make weapons. But then, screaming Kira’s name [the enemy of Zaft] when Kira was shot down will make the others think that he is a traitor. ^^;; In the end, he has to deflect after learning that he was just ‘used’ by the Commander and managed to escape with the help of one of his admirers, Meyrin. Weirdly enough, her sister ended up with Shinn, the one who ‘killed’ Meyrin. I do find it weird that Shinn got all confused about killing Anthrun. Didn’t he hate Anthrun? I guess it is because killing someone one knows is a bit different than killing a stranger. Currently, they are all back to Orb to defend it from Zaft as Kira just got his new gundam, Strike Freedom, courtesy of Lacus.
Thought of the day:
We don’t know who we are until we see what we can do.
Tuesday, August 9, 2005 @ 02:17 p.m.
I finished downloading the last three chapters of Lilim’s Kiss. It was indeed a typical ending though for a moment there I did wonder if this would be a happy ending after Lilim got sealed back in. In the end, of course, the two are together.
Things are happening really slowly in Tsukihime [ep. 6]. At school, Shiki is pretty much clueless as to why Ciel and Yumizuka are quite edgy lately. His friend tried to clue him in but Shiki still didn’t get it that those two are interested in him. They made Shiki promise to go with them to the amusement park. At home, Shiki is trying to learn more about his sister as he is getting somewhat adjusted living there. I’m still wondering who’s older between the two. ^^; I tend to think that it is Shiki who is older but then, Akiha tend to be more ‘bossy’ that I tend to assume that Shiki is the younger one.
Because of the night tea, Shiki was late with his meeting with Arc whom he had a little rift with earlier since I think he found him a bit intrusive. He found her receiving payment for modeling. Shiki is pretty much clueless that Arc wanted to earn money so that she can treat him out. ^^; Then, after they had a minor battle with some missing students who became ‘zombies’, they went on top of the building and pointing out different places. Arc seemed to hint that she had been to their house before then she asked him if they could go on a date. Meanwhile, Akiha had found out that Shiki is not on bed when Hisagi said he was. Uh-oh.
In Gankutsuou [ep. 5], the Count was showing them around and somewhat the subject of getting married without love came up. Maximillian, a soldier and friend of Albert, got angry about it since he was in love with Franz’s fiancé whom Franz doesn’t love. He mentioned that Albert’s parents could have such an arrangement too. Albert got angry about it and then they ended up with a duel with the Count encouraging them. Albert lost and fell into the waters and the Count saved him. Later on, Albert asked his parents if they were indeed in love when they got married. His father said yes it was while his mother seemed to have spaced out. Albert began to have doubts about it.
Things are approaching to the arc’s climax in One Piece [chp. 377]. The cover page pretty much hints on the possible duels in the future chapters. Luffy used some new attacks to get over the marines and pass another gate. The Frankies also arrived at that gate but were greeted by two giants. While inside, Luffy is going to fight 10,000 marines.
In Bleach [c. 190], Hiyori was about to fight with Sado and Orihime but was dragged off by Shinji who told her that they should not drag others into it for they only need Ichigo. At Ichigo’s house, Isshin managed to get his hit in, as Ichigo is pretty much down and went to mope at his room. Kon almost blurted out that Ichigo’s father is not ‘normal’ but then, he remembered Urahara telling him to keep it a secret. Seeing that Ichigo is pretty down, Kon decided to go out. Ichigo was thinking as to what he should do for he does know that the hollow in him is becoming stronger. Then, Karin came and asked him to tell her what is wrong. Ichigo denies it and was surprised when Karin told him that she knew that he was a shinigami. I’m quite surprised as to how Karin knew what a shinigami is..has she seen one before? Aside from seeing Ichigo in that outfit..how could she know that it is a shinigami? Anyway, elsewhere, two new characters have arrived and I’m assuming that they could be from Shinji’s group, the Vizards.
Thought of the day:
Brains aren’t everything, but they’re important.
Monday, August 8, 2005 @ 01:42 p.m.
I’m downloading a new series again but this one is short for it is complete in only 2 volumes. The title is Lilim’s kiss. It is a pretty much cliché type of story. A boy has released a Lilim from its seal and she wants to drink people’s energy by kissing them to survive so the boy made a proposal that she only drink his energy in order to spare his classmates. Of course, that leads to making others think that she is his girlfriend, some rivals appear and other possible things that could happen. Around the end, the author must have ran out of ideas as the story is going nowhere that it went back to the possible love angle between the lilim and the boy. I lack around three more chapters to know the ending but overall, it is an okay series to pass the time.
Nothing much happened in Tsukihime [ep. 5]. Shiki has decided to help Arc out with the new villain in town – Roa. The househelp, Hisagi also helped out Shiki by giving him keys to the house so that he can enter and leave anytime. Since there wasn’t much to do one night, they had a semi-date. Somehow, after running from a diner when Arc tries to pay the bill with counterfeit money, Shiki has cut himself. The sight of blood pretty much changed Arc and that is interesting for Arc has earlier declared to Shiki that she doesn’t like the taste of blood. Arc quickly ended their meeting and fled. Near the park, she met with Ciel, a classmate of Shiki during the day who had warned Shiki about Arc being dangerous. Ciel warned Arc not to get Shiki too involved and if anything happens to him, she will ‘kill’ Arc. I wonder if Ciel is also a vampire though she has hinted about it in the first episode to Shiki.
I had finished reading the available English scans of Yotsubato! that were done before it was licensed. It is still fun to read Yotsuba’s life even if the stories are quite episodic. She is really a strange kid but then, that's what make it fun to read. ^_^
Thought of the day:
No life is so hard that you can’t make it easier by the way you take it.
Sunday, August 7, 2005 @ 03:38 p.m.
Niece and nephew stayed in for the night last night. Niece was pretty much tired already so she fell asleep after watching a Korean drama in Arirang. Amazing that she can already read subtitles. I guess it was because in this Korean drama shown in the afternoon one time, this channel had subtitled something what was said in English into the local language that I do wonder if people are too illiterate to understand English. It took a longer time to get nephew to sleep.
I was surprised that they woke up pretty early today. Is it because they are at my house and wanted to wake up for all the fun stuff to do or it was already habit from waking up early at school? We tend to wake up late during weekends. ^^; Niece helped me make lunch – tacos and they already left with bro to watch a movie. As usual, after they left, the house is a mess. I guess babysitting is a bit easier when the kids are growing up.
I watched Guyver yesterday. I researched the plot ahead in the net. It is about this bio armor, which was stolen from some sort of secret science lab and they want it back. In episode one, the police had stopped a car, which had an accident. In it, there was a man holding a suitcase. Then, the man transformed and killed off the two policemen. The lead is a boy who lived with his father. I’m not sure if his mother is alive and they are divorce but seem like it. At school, he seems to be an officer at the school council. The president doesn’t look like a high schooler though. ^^; Later that day, he went with his friend near the woods that is near a lake. Elsewhere in that woods, some military men who seems to be from a science lab, together with a beast, went hunting for the man carrying a suitcase.
They caught him and they talked a bit. The man had transformed himself into an ugly beast but he knew that he was no match for the other one that he decided to blow himself up. Somehow, the contents of his suitcase flew out. I think there are two of those ring type thingies. Of course, one of it landed near where the two boys where. It suddenly absorbed the lead and pretty much terrified his friend. Then, the military men arrived and were asking the friend some questions and was about to be killed by the beast but the lead, in Guyver suit, kills the beast. After the military men left, the lead freaks out after seeing himself at the lake and luckily enough, the thing can be removed and it submerged into the lake. The two boys were confused over what had just happened. Later that night, the class president just found the other ring type thingie in the woods.
Overall, this isn’t my type of anime since it is somewhat ‘ugly’ in terms of the monsters..I don’t like it. It is like watching a sentai show in animation. But still, I’m curious as to what will happen in the next episode when the military men cornered the two boys in some warehouse. I also watched a few episodes of Honey & Clover and I’m still loving it. The characters are slowing going into adulthood and their love lives is still the ‘quiet type of admiration’. The funny scenes are still quite funny but the twister game scene is still my favorite.
In Gankutsuou [ep. 3-4], the Count has arrived in Paris and Albert fulfilled his promise to introduce the Count to his friends. Then, the Count met with Albert’s parents. Albert somewhat deduced that there is something between his mother and the Count. The last scene was the Count inviting Albert to his place there and giving Albert a sword as a present – after pointing it at Albert, thus, scaring the poor boy. ^^;; Things are happening slowly and I still don’t have any favorite characters in this series. Hehehe
Word of the day:
Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry ~ James 1:19
Saturday, August 6, 2005 @ 02:13 p.m.
I woke up a bit early yesterday for my blood test. Bro drove me there and it is raining. There was a kid there who had a pop-eye. I try not to look at it since it somewhat scary though I feel sorry for the kid. We even met the kid three times in different places. ^^; The hospital has a new ‘gimmick’ of emailing the results. I tested it out and at first thought that one transaction is one whole blood test but it turned out to be per test. Since I got 4 tests, it will be P20. A single test cost P5. Bro said that it is cheap rather than asking sis to go here to pick up the results. So far, they haven’t emailed the results yet. I didn’t ask if they only email it during work days. ^^;
After that, we had a late breakfast at this small café, Little Angel’s Kitchen. It is pretty much like the type of food at Cibo where Asher and I ate. The price is quite expensive and it tasted good except in this one, I find it a tad salty. Bro then dropped me off at sis’ house. I watched Tsukihime there and finished uploading the downloaded files to the hard disk for me to take home. Later on, they drove me home after late dinner.
Now, I’m dead tired. ^^;; I guess I haven’t quite recovered from Sunday for a walk from bldg A to B and back at SM Megamall got my body aching all over again today. My throat is a bit sore. I hope I didn’t catch anything. I watched the recorded Trinity Blood episodes I missed this morning.
Life is back to normal to Shiki in Tsukihime [ep. 4] after what happened that night. After a bit of reprimanding by his sister, Akiha, they celebrated a little welcome party for him. Akiha mentioned that the twins who served them were their childhood friends. Shiki tries to remember that time and then remembered a boy whose face was covered grinning at him. He was quite surprised over it but the others don’t remember the boy he mentioned. Later on, Shiki learned that his classmate is still alive since she didn’t get to go to that party in the hotel. I do find that strange for why would the news mention her name if she wasn’t there in the first place. Did they just read it off a reservation’s list? Anyway, there is news that some people are getting killed again and much to Shiki’s surprise, Arc just visited him at school. I like the way others were envy of him when Arc started smiling at him and waving at him. Hehehe Well, I guess Shiki’s normal is pretty much over for they have a new murderer to go after.
Trinity Blood [ep. 13-14] finishes off the arc regarding the kid vampire assassin. The kid’s companion tried to kill him but the kid managed to escape since the others saved him. They took him in as ah..I guess witness or something and Esther bonded with the kid somewhat. The kid’s companion was contacted by Dietrich who has really cool powers. Every moment, like a snap of a finger, can actually hurt someone. I don’t quite get what it works but it is indeed interesting. I think he got told by Dietrich to assassinate Catherine already. And so he went with a huge tank and two airships. Tres and Paula quickly dispatched the assassins, who were sent to kill Catherine. The others faced the tank, which was drove by the kid’s companion. Petros actually protected the kid but they ended up being wounded. Abel transformed and became powerful after sucking the kid’s spilled blood. He suddenly can use electricity that wiped out the airships and gave the companion the dead blow. He almost tried to kill the kid but thanks to Esther, he snapped out of it. At the end, the kid talked with Catherine while Abel apologized to Esther over what happened, I guess, for losing control. The next arc seems to be interesting – Night Lords.
Thought of the day:
When you squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out - because that's what's inside. When you are squeezed, what comes out is what is inside. ~ Wayne Dyer.
Thursday, August 4, 2005 @ 02:33 p.m.
It is time to go for my bi-monthly check-ups so I would get my blood work tomorrow. Good thing that they changed the schedule from M-W-Sat to M-W-F for my med of two tablets is good for Friday and that is tomorrow. I guess at around next week, I will be visiting Nii.
In Tsukihime [ep. 3], Arc, the blond girl has briefed Shiki, the lead, about two kinds of vampires – the one that drinks blood and the one that doesn’t. Arc belongs to those who doesn’t drink blood and was tasked to kill those who do for they are increasing in numbers and that can be disastrous to the human race. Shiki finally decided to help her out when he learned that one of his classmates got killed when Nero attacked the hotel the other night. Shiki explained to Arc that he can see lines on things and if he cut them, the lines that pass on that thing, that thing [living or non-living] will be destroyed. They managed or rather Shiki managed to kill Nero by cutting the lines he was on. I had seen an update of this title on the Chinese site so it does have a manga and that is where I saw this series before.
There were some cool action scenes in Full Metal Panic! 2nd Raid [ep. 4] last night. As a whole nothing much happened for the culprits – crazy guy and the twins – managed to escape even when they were cornered. The mission is successful for they managed to rescue the hostages thanks to some brilliant strategy work.
I watched an episode of Rozen Maiden last night. The story is about this boy who is quite anti-social and tends to bully his sister. He tends to buy ‘mysterious’ or supernatural things and return them and he signed a contract to get something. It turned out to be a doll. He was forced to make a pact with it – making him its medium/source of power – to fight against other possessed dolls. Then, he somewhat soften up a bit with his sister.
This is an earlier work of Peach-pit - the same author as Zombie Loan. The doll looked pretty much like the gothic girl and the sister looked like or has some resemblance with Michiru in Zombie Loan. It is interesting to note that the titles written by Peach-pit tend to be animated. Aside from Rosen Maiden, there is DeaRS that, I think, seems to be like Chobits. Back to Rozen Maiden, the animation is nice and I like the bright colors. The characters would really need to grow to me though. ^^;;
Thought of the day:
The longest journey of any person is the journey inward.~ Dag Hammerskjvld.
Wednesday, August 3, 2005 @ 05:16 p.m.
I just glimpse a bit on Gankutsuou since I plan to just watch the rerun this weekend to catch up as to what happened on episode 3. In Tsukihime [ep. 2], the blond girl who told the boy that he killed him started stalking him. It turned out that she wanted him to be held responsible for ‘injuring’ her that it made her helpless against this guy called Nero who can call forth wolves. For this time, they managed to escape. Oh ya, she claims to be a vampire for she still lives even after being killed and it seems she is a princess as Nero called her. When looking at the opening, a scene there of the blonde standing in front of a full moon. I think I recall this scene somewhere in some Chinese site. She actually looked awfully familiar. I still don’t remember their names. ^^;
I checked out D. Grayman [c. 56] Chinese scans though what I understand is quite hazy. The English is still not out. Well, Ticky has destroyed Allen’s arm that has the Innocence. Allen asked Timcampi to escape with the Innocence they got from Soman. At first it was reluctant but in the end, it escaped. I think Ticky called out to the others to track Timcampi. Then, Ticky stabbed through Allen as he put in a ‘tease’ – cannibal butterfly into Allen. Then, Ticky grabbed the medal that has Allen’s name on it and threw the cards he gave Allen around Allen so seemed to be in a daze, telling him to have a nice dream. Poor Allen...elsewhere, Rinali just told the others to save Allen but then, I guess it is too late. ^^;; I don’t think Allen would die anyway since he is the lead here. Maybe after this predicament, he would probably power up or something for this is a shounen manga.
In Skip beat! [c. 72], Kyouko happily went to the studio since Ren will be back that day to do his role. But the atmostphere in the studio isn’t exactly light for Rory, wearing Emperor clothes, was talking to Ren that if he failed in doing the scene, he has to quit this role. Ren confidently said that he could do it. Ren went backstage to see Kyouko is a dark mood. She told him that she isn’t very happy for it turned out that she is the only one who didn’t know about the deal regarding Ren. She said that it is pretty much the same when she was young – everyone knew except her.
When Itsumi [the lead actress] arrived, they re-brief everyone that they are going to do the scene which Ren failed to do before. Ren heard Itsumi sigh and quickly proposed if he can change how the scene is shown so that he can do his role in his own way and that Itsumi must be ‘tired’ of repeating the same scenes over and over again. He assured the director that how things happened in the story will not be adversely change. So, next episode is how Ren would do this role. ^_^ I’m curious though as to what was the incident in Kyouko’s childhood wherein everyone knew something except her.
Thought of the day:
Greed creates the illusion that having more and more power, money and material things bring forth happiness. ~ Elvie Punzalan-Estavillo.
Tuesday, August 2, 2005 @ 03:03 p.m.
I didn’t get to watch Gankutsuou last night because our electricity flow is unstable or rather too low that it doesn’t have enough power for the lights which goes dim and bright. ^^; If we close the light and open it again, it won’t open anymore since the neighbors had already ‘sucked’ up the juice. It seems that there is no rerun for this except on midnight so I missed episode 3.
Luckily enough, the electricians had managed to fix the transformer which got busted up by the short thunderstorm yesterday before 12:30pm. So, I got to watch the rerun of Tsukihime [ep. 1]. The story is about a boy who had an accident and ever since then, he can see lines on everything. Then, he met a ‘witch’ who gave him glasses to prevent him from seeing the lines and iirc, a knife if he ever needs to protect something/someone. He has already attending high school and seems to be weak of health since he tends to pass out all the time and has no memory or hazy memory of what had happened.
Around this time, there is a serial killer who sucks the blood of his/her victims roaming around the place. His first dream is of killing a girl he just met. After that, it was his classmate with super long claw weapon, almost attacking him. With this, he has to adjust living with his sister who took him in after their father had died. It seemed that the father sent him to live with relatives ever since the accident has happened. The end was meeting with the blond girl whom he ‘killed’ in the first dream saying I have found you..the one who had killed me. Overall, the story is interesting and a bit disjointed. I’m thinking that it is too keep the story interesting and keep the audience thinking as to what is really happening. This is in Japanese dub with sub so no English dubbing to bear. Hehehe
Jettv is still missing. According to the cable operator, they are supposedly still looking for a channel to put it in. That is the hassle of getting hooked in any of the programs in Jettv. Anyway, at least it isn’t a case of last episode missing as what happened to my mother before when watching a drama series in Jettv and on the last episode, the channel went missing.
Thought of the day:
The human spirit can gain new hope from an encouraging word. ~ from the Daily Bread.
Monday, August 1, 2005 @ 03:39 p.m.
I went out with Asher yesterday. I, together with mom and bro, were supposed to go to church first but because of circumstances, we won’t arrive there on time. So, I asked Asher that we would meet 30 minutes earlier and unfortunately, I still ended up being late for around 15 minutes, I think. ^^; It was because we had stopover at sis’ house to drop of some stuff and get a few things. Anyway, since it was already past noon, Asher and I had a late lunch. Then, exchange some stuff, look at some works and the usual chit-chat – gomen if I kept on talking about Zombie loan. ^^;; Thanks for the pens and Luffy, Asher. ^_^
After Asher left and I met with mom and bro again, we went to church then ate dinner at another mall and the finish it off with a visit of bro’s family. I think I need some exercise. ^^; My body is aching a bit especially my legs and knees. I feel old. Anyway, it was worth it though I’m now regretting that we should have played air hockey. ^^;
I think last Thursday’s Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok was the last one I’ll see because our cable has probably removed that channel again for the nth time. In 15-16 episode, Loki has to fight it off with the 3 fates who also wanted to kill him by entrapping and almost succeeding but unfortunately, Loki’s doggie gave Loki an opportunity to destroy Bellandy’s bell. The earlier episode hinted of Loki doing something that is why he is punished by Odin but Loki seemed to have no idea what it is.
I have been re-reading the earlier volumes of Zombie Loan and I guess that there are really two groups who are fighting here. One group is having dead people sign contracts for a wish I guess and they are to ‘send’ off lost spirits, which is the job of Chika and Shito. The other group also has a contract but they are focusing on making lost spirits, which create havoc. I’m still puzzled over Shito who was presumed to have live off for so long. I noticed that Chika has not been mortally wounded while Shito has and is still alive. Could he become an immortal [forever young at 16 and never dies] because of a contract before or could it be because of something else? I would tend to think that it is something else since they could have gotten other ‘zombies’ like Chika but they chose Shito. Anyway, I would just have to try to re-read to decipher some of the Chinese and maybe I’ll get to understand this more or maybe, it would reveal in the next volumes.
Operation: Save Robin and Franky is underway in One Piece [c. 376]. After a scene of Luffy and Chopper actually thinking that Soge King is a friend of Usopp as the others knew that it is actually Usopp, they detail down their plans to save the two. As usual, Luffy doesn’t care that Robin doesn’t want to be save for he just know that Robin doesn’t want to die so he’ll rescue her. They have to rescue them before the captives are brought to the huge door – the door of no return and that the Franky family would charge first. After 5 minutes, the Straw Hats crew would be the one to finish it off with CP9.
When the near the gate, they were surprised that Luffy had already charged in first. As usual again, Luffy doesn’t know how to follow instructions. ^^; Luffy went ahead first, defeating everyone he meets as he asks where Robin is. The Franky family then charges in as they defeat the rest of the marines. The other marines were informing Spandaman?, head of CP9 as to what is happening but the marines ended up being ‘knocked’ out. While walking, Robin stops and looks back. I was thinking maybe she sensed the commotion as the others ask why she was stopping. Back at Rocketman, the rest are waiting for 5 minutes before charging in.
In Bleach [c. 189], both Ichigo and Ishida were thinking about the proposals that were asked of them the other night. Ichigo then confronted Shinji who told him that Ichigo has to join them since the hollow in him would consume him. Only their group can show them how to prevent that. Tatsuki was observing the two of them. Then, Shinji got reprimanded by a young girl with freckles and ponytails, Hiyori for not yet convincing Ichigo to join them.
Inoue and Sado came to ask them what they want from Ichigo since Ichigo tends to keep things to himself, Hiyori replied that she won’t answer just because she’s asked. Meanwhile, Ishida went to his father’s office to accept his offer to help him get back his powers in exchange of cutting off ties with shinigami and their companions. I guess that leaves Ichigo as to which side he will be on.
Word of the day:
Take care of the possible and trust God with the impossible.
Saturday, July 30, 2005 @ 05:36 p.m.
I had finished downloading the last two volume [3-4] of Zombie Loan and I wasn’t prepared for the inevitable unfinished arc. The author has gotten smarter that he ends a volume at the climax of an arc. Argh! Where’s the rest? Well, volume 5 has just been released in Japan this month so I would have to wait for around 3-4 months for the next volume. Interesting enough, from the scan, it is published in Taiwan but from the manga sites that sell Chinese manga, I can’t find this title. Anyway, I finally know the names of the leads, thanks to the author, Peach Pit, who wrote their names in those omakes. ^_^
In volume 3, Michiru [the lead] and split-personality girl were invited in the party regarding the butterfly but when Michiru mistakenly shouted about humans are not play things, they were attacked. The split-personality girl temporarily went to the more aggressive self and stalled the attacks and in the nick of time, the others came. They chased the culprit and saved the victim. The friend of Chika [previously Akatsuki but it is easier to type Chika ^^;] volunteers to bring the girl back home. Later on, they were attacked by the same girl in their office. Otsu, the flame master of the group, easily killed the girl who became a zombie-monster. It finally dawned to the group that the friend is actually the enemy.
Chika was devastated when he learned about it. It turned out that his friend had committed suicide and was ‘saved’ by this beautiful secretary type of woman. I think they made a deal to make him change into a ‘butterfly’. Anyway, after some stalling for Chika still couldn’t believe what was happening and moved only when Shito [dark-haired boy] and Michiru were in danger. Chika wasn’t able to fight seriously so the friend only got hit when Chika used Shito’s gun to shoot him. Shito’s hand was injured. The friend was about to fall and Chika wanted to save him but the friend doesn’t want to be saved and let himself fall. I’m not sure if the friend actually became a shinigami or the friend was taken by a shinigami. Shito said that it is a loss cause already. Somewhere else, the secretary woman was reporting to a person about losing another one – the friend, and now have to find a new one. Something like that. ^^;;
Then, they went to the victim’s funeral and then, Michiru and Chika had a discussion about death..it seems that Chika fears it. Then, they had a vacation trip to yet another haunted hot spring resort. The gothic girl loves haunted houses, it seems. ^^; Michiru and Shito were assigned to buy some groceries. Then, they were attacked by a wolf-boy. Shito let it bite him to let Michiru escape but Michiru managed to drive it away by throwing the groceries at it as they escape. At the end, the gothic girl befriended it and made it her ‘guard dog’. Hehehe Meanwhile, at their dorm, a Chinese guy was vandalizing Shito’s things.
In volume 4, Shito was pretty angry over the vandalism and quickly goes out of the house. Then, Chika’s father [who is overly genki and looking pretty young that I thought it is some gay character at first ^^;] and his sister [who keeps on playing games on her cell phone] arrived to see Chika. They have a bit of bonding that somewhat made Michiru and split-personality girl a bit nostalgic. Meanwhile, Shito went to that mysterious place before with a huge aquarium. The Chinese guy reprimanded Shito for trying to be friendly with the others for he is doomed to be alone since he is a ‘monster’. Shito arrived back pretty much tired – I think he got tortured or something by the Chinese guy – and Chika is there to cheer him up by pinching his cheek. Hehehe
While doing the laundry, Michiru found a comb at Shito’s room and because of circumstances managed to bring it with her. They have a new case of people being turned into zombies – I think. The secretary woman has made a deal with a scientist [not sure if a guy or a girl but looks like a girl to me] so that she can make herself a body that doesn’t die nor grows old – be immortal. She has made two zombies already. One is a big burly guy with a chainsaw while the other is a little girl. Back to the trio, Chika was asking why Shito kept addressing them formally and then, Michiru brought out the comb that she mistakenly took. Shito quickly snapped at her and that made Shito and Chika fight with each other. They quickly separated ways and not wanting to play the ‘friends’ game anymore. While walking, Shito suddenly got stabbed by a chainsaw through the back as the mad scientist and her zombie looks on.
Shito has been missing for a couple of days and it was then, the Chinese guy came to tell them that Shito was kidnapped. They later learned that Shito is actually from a Chinese mafia and that Shito was actually an ‘immortal’, which pretty much shocked Chika and Michiru for they thought he had just died recently. The Chinese guy left as he told them to wait as they bring Shito back. Chika’s right arm has started to droop and the Chinese guy played with them by making some shinigami to attack them. They were rescued by a punk with an eye patch on a motorcycle, who is also in their group. I’ll call him Dub as mentioned when he went back to school. After some explanation regarding Shito and finally a reward money to get him back, Chika is ready to save Shito. ^^;; They, Chika, Michiru and Dub, went to a subway station and bought a chibi shinigami which can find Shito. Michiru got another use for she understands shinigami language and loves it for it is cute even if it has stabs her. ^^;; Then, they finally arrived at the place, crawling with zombies.
Elsewhere, Shito was chained to a bed as the girl zombie was treating him of his wound. He has somewhat ‘bonded’ with the girl. I’m still wondering why the scientist hasn’t started any experiments though she has talked to him already. From Shito’s dreams, it seems that he has a lover before and probably the owner of the comb. Otsu was also investigating and learned that this other scientist who used to be in their group, I think, was the one who leaked the information about Shito. It ended there. There is a character poll result at the end of volume 4. Shito wins the popularity contest with Chika and Michiru around the top 3. Around volume 4, I begin to think that this series has some similarities with Yami no Matsuei. Hehehe
Thought of the day:
The optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist sees the hole.
Thursday, July 28, 2005 @ 02:25 p.m.
Gankutsuou got interesting at episode 2. Albert got kidnapped by some gang and wanted ransom for his release. The guy that got pardoned was the one who informed Franz about it. Franz couldn’t get the money in time so he sought the help of the Count. They rescued him and here, it was revealed that something is on the Count’s forehead – alien? Anyway, the Count later asked for a favor from Albert to introduce him to the Paris socialites. Albert agreed and refused to go home when Franz wanted to since he plans to date the girl he met last night. The Count then revealed to him that the girl is actually a guy. That got Albert packing hurriedly and finally, thanked Franz for saving him. The last scene was the Count was going to drive them to the ah..airport/spaceport? whatever and he was looking at a picture of a married couple. The guy looked suspiciously like Albert and said that Albert would have to bear the blunt of his revenge for he is the fruit of betrayal.
I’m not quite familiar with the plot of Count of Monte Cristo, only that it is about revenge. Two best friends and the other backstab the other and got to get the other’s girlfriend. I’m not quite sure on the revenge on the son though. ^^; Anyway, that plot is pretty much like what is happening in Green Rose. I do find that there are a lot of commercials in that drama that only a bit of events happened every night. The lead has finally learned who was the one who framed him but then, the guy isn’t really a friend. He had teamed up with the girl who also got used by the protagonist. Together with the swindler who got swindled and a kid, they are out to become rich and well, revenge later on. Target – A rich tycoon who was about to be killed. They are going to intercept an assassination attempt and I guess with gratitude, the rich guy would take them in.
Finally, Loki got to be all grown up in yesterday’s episode of Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok [ep. 13-14]. The guy is really a lady killer. I guess he had fun wandering around ‘teasing’ everyone as he wondered what their reaction would be. The other episode is Loki got his dog back. I guess he got all of his ‘children’ back now. I’m not quite sure if in the Norse myth, Loki has a dog and a snake as children and certainly, doesn’t have a mascot flopping on his head. I tried to read it as a child but I didn’t manage to really read it. Anyway, I also tried looking for the opening and ending songs. Unfortunately, this is a really old anime and since it is licensed, I couldn’t find the songs anymore – dead links.
In last night’s Full Metal Panic! 2nd Raid [ep. 3], Sagara and his group are going to save some hostages. From the hostages, I knew that Chinese girl is one of the enemies. So, the rescue turned into a trap. Sagara is going to have a face-off with the crazy guy. Just when things started to be fun, it has ended. ^^;
I had finished downloading volume two of Zombie Loan and am beginning to like this series. Of course, there is a bit of regret again – if only my Chinese is better, argh. Well, there aren’t many sites on it that I have no idea how they are called in romanji. The only one I found is the light haired boy, Akatsuki. The lead girl finally got a bit of spine and will no longer get ordered around to buy food for the others. She then ate with the two boys. Next, she is going to live elsewhere which turned out to be a dump or rather a haunted house – looking outside the window is a cemetery. ^^; The one who runs it is this gothic Lolita-type of girl. She has a roommate who has a split personality who unfortunately, has a crush on the lead and tried to seduce her – even stole her first kiss. Poor girl. ^^;
Elsewhere, the two boys had a mission and were pretty much beaten up. There was a mention about shingami – I’m not quite sure what it was about yet. Anyway, Akatsuki went to work and got fired when his right hand fell off while the dark haired boy met with a mysterious person. The next day, the lead told the two boys about the split personality. She was then forced to kiss the girl again since the other personality can ‘be possessed’ by the victim whom they are currently investigating. Akatsuki then forced her to accompany him in his part-time job. While there, someone had shoplifted. The culprit escaped but Akatsuki met with his old friend. Then, they were attacked by rats but were able to escape them with the help of the friend.
While at the office, the group are talking about what to do next regarding the murder incidents and I think the culprit is typing stuff on the internet/computer. They were surprised when Akatsuki’s friend was there. The dark haired boy tried to kill him and later on, refuse him from joining them. Since the friend is helpful, they let him join them as they discuss over the things that they learned so far – mysterious numbers, something about the Quabalah/Kabala and a strange butterfuly mark. After helping them, the dark haired boy wanted the friend to get out but Akatsuki doesn’t want to so that made the dark haired boy and Akatsuki wanted to ‘kill’ each other. The ‘boss’ commented something about they share the same body so they cannot really kill each other. The fun part was when they are eating at a sushi bar. The dark haired boy kept on taking the shrimp sushi, which Akatsuki wanted to eat. Hehehe
After that, Akatsuki told the lead girl that he is connected with the other boy for they had exchanged right hands and if they are too far away from each other, the hand droops. Something like that. ^^; Akatsuki then told her not to think of BL – boy’s love between the two of them or else, he kill her. Hehehe Then, their ‘healer’ managed to get into the site of the killer. They learned that something would happen at a certain place at 6 o’clock. So, they rushed there. Meanwhile, I’m not sure why the lead girl and the split personality girl is wearing maid uniforms. They were at the meeting place and the lead girl saw a boy with glasses to have a black ring on his neck. The other girl shouted at him and the others surrounded the two girls. That is the last scene. I am really getting to like this manga.
Thought of the day:
Remember the good of your past more than the bad.
Monday, July 25, 2005 @ 09:28 p.m.
I spend the day yesterday at home. After lunch, sis and her hubby came. Then, my nephew and niece came. Sis went out with mom to a nearby mall, bro-in-law plays Viewtiful Joe and I play/entertain the kids while their parents are doing some errands. I had finished up cleaning all the mess today.
I just watched Gankutsuou/Count of Monte Cristo at Animax after being told about it by Asher. In the first episode, two friends, Albert and Franz, went to a city and being invited by the count. Then, they witness an execution wherein Albert was granted a way to save one of the criminals by picking a card. He later on regretted what he has done. He actually freed the one who admitted his crimes. Then, he met a lady who just pointed a gun at him.
The art is nice as the backgrounds reminded me of the ones in Trinity Blood but then, that isn’t a surprise since they are made by the same company – Gonzo. I have heard of this anime before and thought it was shounen ai. ^^;; In a mailing list, many complained that the latter parts are not good and I now remembered that if it is based on the novel. I guess much like how different Trinity Blood is compared to the novel. I’m not quite used to the idea of the different style they do the hair and clothes of the characters though. The dubbing isn’t that horrid so I guess I will continue watching this one since I got nothing to watch around 7pm on Mondays and Tuesdays.
I saw an advertisement of Tsukihime, Lunar Legend which looked interesting about a boy who can see some lines on people/vampires and a vampiress. I'm guessing that they will be solving mysteries and stuff. ^^; It is scheduled late at night and Asher said that there is a rerun at noon the next day so I would watch it the rerun when it starts on August 1. The reviews are okay and I’m somewhat amused that it is based on a hentai game.
I had finished downloading the first volume of Zombie Loan. The story is about this girl who can see ‘dead’ people – the ones with a black collar on their neck. Two of her male classmates have them so they were somewhat forced to tell her that they are actually dead and are tasked to kill ‘monsters’ in exchange for their extended life. The black haired boy uses a gun while the other one uses a sword. They get this power by..uh, removing a hand. ^^;;
They had ‘used’ her to find the undead that they are looking for and because of that case, the girl got herself slashed badly when she tried to save her friend. I’m not sure yet how that store works but I think the boys ‘bought’ her to extend her life and by the end of the volume, she decided to go with them since she is bored with her life. The art is not so good and funny that what attracted me to this series was the cover art. ^^;; I think I might download the rest to just get to know more of this story as to what happened next.
In Bleach [c.188], Isshin had just finished off Grand Fisher. It pretty much shocked Kon that not only Isshin was a shinigami but a very powerful one, too. Then, he got more surprised when Urahara came. It seemed that Isshin has a gigai/temporary human body before so he was powerless and regret not saving his wife before. Then, the two talked about the latest happening of different groups already making their move to bring the world down.
Since the translation is not yet up, I can only guess what is happening in One Piece [c.375] Robin told Frankie that Iceberg is alive. Then, they talked about the weapon since they are the two people the marines needed to build it. They had arrived at Eneas Lobby and proceeded to go to the base. Meanwhile, Rocketman got separated with the others since Luffy is trying to fight with the frog, which was attacking it. Kororo managed to convince it to join forces with them. After Frankie family had picked up Sanji and Sogeking, they had met up with Luffy and the others as they all proceed to Eneas Lobby.
Allen is still safe in this chapter of D. Gray-man [c.55] though I’m not sure for the next one. Ticky had recognized Allen as the one whom he played cards with. He explained to Allen how he killed Soman using a carnivorous butterfly and that his power is that he can make his hand go into a person’s body and ‘destroy’ any organs he want. He even demonstrated it to Allen but since Allen didn’t budge, Ticky let go of his heart. Then, he asked if he is Allen Walker. I wonder if the command was really to kill Allen since I remember that Rhode wanted to be the one who would kill/play with Allen or maybe the order is kill everyone close to him. Well, I can’t wait for the next chapter.
Thought of the day:
Take time to choose the words you live by.
Saturday, July 23, 2005 @ 03:27 p.m.
I am already updated with Penguin Revolution. Well, Yukari and Ryou had overcome the ‘bullying’ of that other actor. Then, there is a chapter on Ayaori ^_^ and the rest is on those two again. The current one is about this other actor who seemed to want Yukari to be his manager because she knows martial arts. Overall, I somewhat find this series unbelievable and I might be biased that I like Skip Beat! better in regards to showbiz being the theme for SB! is a bit more realistic. I mean, Ryou just got hit and bled on stage. Why didn’t they find the culprit?
Regarding Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, I read that the anime ended abruptly so I downloaded the last chapter of the manga. Mm..I don’t quite get it as to how that happened but at the end, Loki got back to his original body and still worked with the girl as a detective in this wrecked house – his former mansion. His butler is back in his original form though. The other gods were back where they belong. The story is basically about Loki acting as a detective while this girl decided to be his partner since she is interested in mysterious/supernatural cases. Loki is actually a god banished and has to take the form of a kid. Then, there are other gods who are out to ‘kill’ him but ended up being his allies.
In Trinity Blood [ep. 12], there is a kid vampire wearing somewhat Arabian clothes, trying to kill Catherine but was stopped by Tres. Esther went out of her way to capture? the kid but was instead caught by the kid’s companion. But then, Abel came to help her and then there was this blast. Abel tried to stall the knights as the two accompanied by Esther escapes. The nice scene here was Esther’s short action scene. Hehehe
Thought of the day:
Do today what should be done. Your tomorrow may never come.
Thursday, July 21, 2005 @ 03:01 p.m.
I managed to enjoy last night’s episode of Full Metal Panic! 2nd raid [ep.2]. There is someone who is taking pictures of Chidori and putting them on the net. Sagara tries to know who it is and manages to irritate Chidori when he goes over the top about it – harassing anyone who goes near Chidori and breaking the sprinklers. In the end, they learned that it was this nerd guy who is putting them on the net and warned them not to go near him or else, he would send a picture with Chidori picking her nose. Sagara just used this machine to blow up all electronic devices and tackled the guy. At another building, someone is taking their pictures.
The other part of the episode dealt with this lunatic guy who had massacred the enemy in the last episode. He likes to sing and kill those who dare talk back to him. I wonder what it the role of those two girls [twins?] who was working for him though there is another guy who also contacted them. Is he the real boss – from the opening. Anyway, I now know why this anime is late at night – there are some naked scenes of the twins after they took a bath and well, the violence.
So much for trying to wait for the English releases of Penguin Revoluion, I ended up downloading the other chapters. ^^; In chapter 3 – 4, there is this actor whom Yukari and Ryou look up to but unfortunately, that actor tried to ruin Ryou. Together with his manager, they are now trying to reveal Yukari’s true gender. Ayaori still doesn’t appear much though. =( I’m still on denial stage that he is ‘stupid’ as to not really know that Yukari is a girl..I’m hoping that he is just acting he didn’t know.
Thought of the day:
Do not sacrifice your principles to please anyone.
|
