Dagger

I've neglected this show for way too long, so I today I sat down and vowed to catch up. Just watched eps. 7 through 20 (with a break in between for Lost, which made for quite the contrast, haha). Hoping to get up to 23 before turning in for the night. Good lord, Utau and Ikuto are a ridiculously attractive pair. I hope we get more Nana Mizuki insert songs out of Utau; I like Meikyuu Butterfly (and I want to see the full PV!). For some reason I find myself thinking them as being like those curiously incestuous-but-not-quite siblings you see a lot in anime... I keep expecting Utau to say "Ikuto-onii-sama" or something. They sure have trouble communicating, though. Or rather, how can Ikuto have [i]no reaction whatsoever[/i] when someone like Utau flings herself into his arms? Poor girl. :animeswea Although there have been some down episodes in terms of animation, I'll repeat myself by saying that this continues to be the most visually delightful mahou shoujo series since CCS. Occasionally there are parts that seem almost KyoAni-esque in how excessively they're animated, like the first snowboarding episode, and [spoiler]Kukai's reaction shot in the episode where he's pretending to fight with Tadase and everyone seems to suspect him of hiding Amu's speech.[/spoiler] Glad that [spoiler]Nikaido's cover got blown.[/spoiler] Was kind of worried that it wouldn't happen for another thirty episodes or something. ~Dagger~

Not that it has any bearing on anything important, but I just wanted to put it out there that I totally called [spoiler]Tom being gay.[/spoiler] :p Speaking of which, this episode felt like some kind of dead character reunion party. [spoiler]Totally loved the Libby cameos. They brought out her well-buried (no pun intended) creepiness to great effect--which I thought would never be touched on again, post-DUI and all.[/spoiler] I wonder if this creates the possibility that the writers will, in fact, explain [spoiler]what she was doing in the crazy house with Hurley?[/spoiler] ****ing cliffhanger. Is it: [spoiler]the Others? (Ben could've sold Alex out. Or he wants her safe but would prefer to have Carl and Rousseau out of the way.) Or: Widmore's people, somehow. Or: someone tracking them from the camp (Locke finally snaps?) Or: ???[/spoiler] ETA: Here's a thought. [spoiler]Maybe Sayid outing Michael is the unwitting first step in the chain of events that leads to the tragedy alluded to in his flash-forwards.[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

Currently watching and (re) watching more delicious Aria the Natural.

Just finished [strike]weeping over[/strike] watching Gundam 00 23. [spoiler]NOOOOO ANIKIIIIIIII~~~[/spoiler] From the beginning of the series, I could never have imagined that I would get so emotionally engaged with the characters. I have a weakness for shows that build up like this. And who could have guessed that the mascot character would create one of the most affecting moments? [spoiler]Haro: Lockon, Lockon. Lockon, Lockon. Lockon, Lockon...[/spoiler] Using that, and showing us as [spoiler]the crew members realize what it means, not to mention including that incredibly moving Cowboy Bebop tribute,[/spoiler] was just masterful on Mizushima's part. At this rate, I think he could easily take season 2 to heights even greater than FMA. No idea what I'll watch to tide me over, though. ~Dagger~

Recently finished [B]Hana Chirasu[/B], a samurai-themed bishoujo game. It was depressing--for instance, in the true end, the main character [spoiler]commits seppuku.[/spoiler] But it was well-written, witty and beautiful in a savage sort of way. The characters left a strong impression on me. After that I played two quick BL games (neither of them really good enough to bear mentioning by name). Still in the process of deciding what to tackle next. There's a doujin yuri game that I've been wanting to try out, but I've heard that it's not that substantial, and I'd like something I can sink my teeth into. ~Dagger~

I WEEP. :animecry: Setting that aside for a second, I hope I wasn't the only one who got mortally confused by the flash-forwards. I thought they promised not to mix up flashbacks and flash-forwards in the same episode! At least it all sorted itself out by the end. [spoiler]Dunno how I'll feel about Michael this time around (or how long he'll last, haha), but I do like his new look.[/spoiler] As for the next-episode death [strike]bellowed out from the rooftops[/strike] hinted at in the preview, I hope [spoiler]it isn't Jin yet.[/spoiler] That would be too quick... [spoiler]Does the fact that there's a grave suggest that he died off-island or in the process of getting off-island?[/spoiler] ETA: Oh ****, so [spoiler]the captain's[/spoiler] name is John Galt? (Just found out online... couldn't hear what he said too well in that scene.) Damn you, Ayn Rand!! ~Dagger~

Clannad movie: Horribly unimpressive compared to both the Clannad series and the AIR movie. The one thing it made me understand is that the TV series really does need more than the 22 scheduled episodes. I finally get why the After Story is so important and meaningful, although the movie handled it clumsily. Aria 10: Aria-style romance is always a treat. Gundam 00 22: God, this show is awesome. Aniki (Lockon, haha) gets an [spoiler]eyepatch! Two out of three of the Thrones kick the bucket! Ali gets Omnislash'd![/spoiler] The wait between seasons is going to kill me. ~Dagger~

So that's what he was reading? I saw the Philip K. Dick but didn't catch the title. Neat. My question for this past episode: could they possibly make Kate any dumber? My friend's question: did Sawyer and Hurley's actors get paid as much as usual for their three seconds at the end? :animesmil Man... Locke seriously deserves what's coming to him (not that he didn't already), if he's going to keep getting suckered so easily. I guess the issue is that he wants so badly to feel like he's finally gotten the better of Ben that it's clouding his already questionable judgment. Also, the weekly juxtaposition of Locke + bloody hands is laying it on a little thick, haha. It's funny--I really like Juliet this season, and I have no idea why. Maybe I had an instinctual aversion to her last season because of her strong presence throughout the draggy love triangle episodes. Speaking of that, though, [spoiler]the kiss made me cringe. While Jack with Juliet is vastly preferable to Jack with Kate, the fact that we know Jack's going to be back to his old routine of confessing his love to Kate in the future makes me a) fear for Juliet's life and b) wonder what the writers are really trying to get at. Sigh.[/spoiler] Glad that next week will deal with the [spoiler]Sun and Jin[/spoiler] issue. A little surprised that [spoiler]Aaron[/spoiler] counts as a full-fledged member of the Oceanic 6 (since the next ep. preview said that they're going to reveal the final member), but oh well. ~Dagger~

Yeah, the fourth DVD contains the recap episodes and nothing else. You can skip it without any problem. (Enjoy the rest of the show!) ~Dagger~

That's a tough call. I would probably have to say Envy--his attitude, bitterness, back story and vocal work appealed to me a lot--but I also liked the Colonel and Ed very much. Both of them grew on me tremendously as the show continued. (I preferred them in their more serious moments.) ~Dagger~

Another update on the holy trinity of Clannad, Aria and Gundam 00. (You know, it's occurred to me that these three shows collectively represent everything I need in televised anime. Pretty girls. Pretty boys. Ravishing music. Stunning animation. Melodrama. Despair. Slice-of-life soothingness. Romance. Non-abrasive comedy. Sheer beauty.) I don't understand why some people dislike Nagisa. I'm delighted that she's coming to the forefront. It's also starting to look more and more like Clannad will need a second season or some other kind of continuation... whether or not the rest of the show holds together or falls to pieces will probably depend on that. Aria is Aria and therefore flawless. The production values of Origination continue to floor me. It's almost [i]too[/i] gorgeous, haha. Gundam 00 is the show that's killing me with the wait for each new episode, though. The gap between 21 and 22 is turning out to be especially excruciating. I'm desperately worried about the possibility of [spoiler]Lockon dying.[/spoiler] It's too early! He has to at least survive until the second season. :animecry: ~Dagger~

Just started one of mini-games on the Nitro+ CHiRAL amusement disc. It's called Kuims and is your typical Tetris/matching game. I wish the 1P/storyline mode were longer, and it'd be nice if you could toggle the difficulty in Endless mode, but for the most part it's a great time-killer. The other two games are some sort of typing thing, which I will probably be terrible at, and a variation on poker. ~Dagger~

A really focused episode; I liked it. It actually explained a lot (by Lost standards, that is) as well as raising the typical 100+ new questions. I'm most curious about [spoiler]why Des would be Dan's constant... even if they're going to become best buddies in the future or something, he doesn't know how to contact Des in the past. Or maybe Dan's going to be flipping forward? He said there's only one possible future. At first I wanted to say that this goes contrary to Desmond's experience with trying to save Charlie, but I guess Charlie did die in the end after all. Still, I get the sense that there's a difference between what Desmond experienced in this episode and his future visions from last season. Last season, it wasn't quite so physically real or disorienting, right?[/spoiler] ~Dagger~

I just want to point out [url=http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/hb23TEJHs-6DAMVb0F/browse/item/78559/4/0/0][u]how awesome this cover is[/u][/url]. The artbox is on the same page. I had no intention of getting any of the LEs, but it would look sweet next to my Haruhi set... :animeswea ~Dagger~

[SIZE="1"]Oh man. Episode 10 was well worth the wait. The thing I'm most curious about is Tieria's true nature, but it looks like episode 11 will be about Allelujah (given that it's named after him and all). That's good too, though. "Ore wa..." "Boku wa..." "Watashi wa..." What could it signify in concrete terms? Naming [spoiler]Gundam 004[/spoiler] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadleeh][u]Nadleeh[/u][/url] is either Sunrise dropping a huge clue, throwing fangirls some bait, or two birds with one stone. Anyway, some great action & excitement in this one. [/SIZE] ------------------------------ Currently scrambling to keep up (in the middle of episode 19, and hoping to catch 20 shortly thereafter). Ever since the Thrones appeared, this show has been overflowing with all kinds of awesome. As in: [I]OhgodGrahamisGAR[/I]. And Setsuna [spoiler]charging the Thrones all by himself to keep them from continuing to defile the name of Gundam[/spoiler] showed him to be pretty damn GAR in his own right. At the least, he's got a lot of promise, and he and the other original Meisters are soooo much more sympathetic and compelling than they were earlier in the show, even though it's the situation (and not necessarily them) that's changed. [spoiler]Tieria and Setsuna[/spoiler] working in tandem got me totally fired up with hot-blooded mecha passion, especially when [spoiler]Tieria Nadleeh'd the Thrones.[/spoiler] The Louise/Saji storyline finally paid off with [spoiler]the tragedy in Spain.[/spoiler] I'm desperately curious about how Lockon will deal with the fact that [spoiler]Setsuna was a member of the org that killed his family.[/spoiler] Most of all, though, I want Tieria to magically turn into a girl, jump into the world of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and have tons of deliciously bitchy, Kamiya Hiroshi-voiced babies with Itoshiki-sensei. ~Dagger~

Every second that the love triangle gets prolonged makes me throw up a little in my mouth. So in that respect, this episode was kind of a drag... but the final scene almost made all of that worthwhile. The writers totally had me wrapped around their respective little fingers there--I would never have seen it coming even though it makes so much sense in retrospect. Also, I liked the fact that Sawyer explicitly pointed out how Kate has been ping-ponging between him and Jack, which at least shows that the writers are aware that it's ridiculous. I'll forgive them this time because of the twist at the end. Locke = WTF. I have my fingers crossed for him to die this season. Awesome as it was, the twist did leave me a little puzzled... [spoiler]wouldn't it be obvious that Kate would have had to be pregnant much earlier for Aaron to be as old as he is in the flash-forward timeline? Or is that why she was so set against him appearing in public for her trial? If so, how did she and the others manage to keep him away from scrutiny before? Anyway, it was interesting to hear more of the O6's cover story.[/spoiler] Looks like we get [spoiler]more Desmond[/spoiler] next episode! ~Dagger~

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial] No, [COLOR="DarkRed"]Dagger[/COLOR], Big Lots is over on the East Coast, too. I used to live in South Carolina, and they got it there, as well as NC, VA, and MD. You ain't a Yankee, are ya? =P[/FONT][/QUOTE] Born in NJ, raised in MD, currently in NY. So I guess... no? :p ~Dagger~

Still on my BL streak, but will probably turn back to bishoujo games soon. :) Just started Live x Evil: Nessa no Prometheus, right after ripping my way through the first game (Live x Evil: Shakunetsu no Edema). The plot involves the mafia, narcotics, military-governmental corruption and other tasty stuff. In Edema, the main character is a newly recruited secret ops member who gets sent to a remote desert city to gather information on the activities of a rising terrorist group. The cool part, storytelling-wise, is that although Prometheus is a retelling that covers the same time frame, the role of main character switches to the leader of the terrorists. ~Dagger~

[quote name='Panache']Seems convenient. To bad I don't have a big lots near me.[/QUOTE] Is Big Lots a regional chain? I don't think I've ever seen one (I'm on the East Coast), although I've heard things about them carrying cheap anime from time to time in the past. ~Dagger~

Picked this up and read it over the weekend. NisiOisin, a popular Japanese author, was commissioned to write it. It's a prequel featuring L and Naomi Misora, and he does a bang-up job with their characterization. Absolutely a must-read for Death Note fans, and the only anime/manga spin-off (as opposed to source) novel I've encountered that's worthy in its own right. Although it takes place before the Kira case, you definitely need to be familiar with the manga--all of it--to enjoy Another Note. In fact, the central twist cleverly uses assumed knowledge of the manga to fool the reader. The humor is delightful, the tone is spot-on, and the murder mystery tricks are satisfyingly byzantine. Although it's a story about L as he's perceived by Naomi, the narrative voice belongs to Mello... who openly states at the beginning that he hopes his notes on and knowledge of the BB case will double as a thorn in Near's side. Not to repeat myself too much, but the highlight is really the characterization. In many respects, NisiOisin outdoes the manga--which wasn't too focused on character development to begin with--while staying true to it. Using Mello as the storyteller was an unexpected but intelligent choice. It's neat how the novel fills in parts of the Death Note backstory, in areas ranging from Wammy's House to the reason L began studying capoeira. On a side note (kukuku), Another Note is gorgeously produced (thanks, Viz), with a half-jacket, color frontispiece, silver embossing and all kinds of other fun stuff. ~Dagger~

HOLY ****ING ****. WHAT THE HELL. !?!?!?? There is no way I can discuss this calmly right now. Worst of all, the friends I normally watch Lost with are at a Rufus Wainwright concert, damn them! In terms of sheer shock value, though, this might be the best episode ever. And god did I love it. Um, see you guys on Monday, or whenever I've cooled down a bit... ~Dagger~

Apparently there [i]is[/i] [url=http://www.animenation.net/news/index.php?id=12118][u]going to be more[/u][/url]. Not sure if that means full-length or mini-episodes, though. Whatever the case, I hope they show other couples as well... preferably ones that aren't related by blood or adoption or what have you. ~Dagger~

The CDs each come with that character's version of Hare Hare Yukai plus an original character-specific song. ~Dagger~

I knew there was a reason [spoiler]I didn't care for Chloe...[/spoiler] Still an interesting episode, although they had Horo go too heavy on the tsuntsun for my liking. There were times when she went too far in the other direction, too, but at least that always gets tempered by a quick recovery & some teasing (loved the part where she threw Lawrence off by calling him cute). Nevertheless... animators, use the blushing in moderation, please. Given that this is a journey story, I'm curious to see how they bring back the recurring characters (which I'm assuming are the ones shown in the OP). ~Dagger~

The Howl's Moving Castle novel utterly pwns the movie in every respect imaginable, but they're so different that I prefer not to compare them, really. The movie is a lovely if somewhat slapdash piece of work. More than that, though, it's worth bearing in mind that Miyazaki came in relatively late in the production process. ~Dagger~