...what are you watching...

Ouran Host Club jdrama CM...hmmm.

Interview with the cast of Ouran Host Club: I have very low expectations for this drama. The actors have to be really good to be able to sell those characters.

Just read the recent chapter of Kuroshitsuji. I'm glad Elizabeth turned out to be more than just the innocent girl obsessed with cute things. Yay for kickass fighter and girl power qualities. Since she is now suitable to be Ciel's fiancee, there goes the most of the BL factor. It's a shame the anime took such bad turn with its storytelling; killing off Ciel. The manga had some pretty good story arcs that the anime never got it.

Tiger and Bunny 12! Jake still holding the city hostage, challenges the Heroes one by one. I was expecting Tiger to do something unexpected, but nope, he gets defeated fairly quickly.

So this July will be the battle of the ikemen jdrama? Hana-Kimi, You're Beautiful and now...
Ouran Host Club live-action drama confirmed starring Yūsuke Yamamoto and Haruna Kawaguchi.

Ouran School Host Club manga ch 1-83! with this month's chapter another shoujo manga has finished, but I expect there will be some sort of epilogue special. Admittedly, I wouldn't have picked up this manga if it had not been for the excellent anime. I don't like the mangaka's art style. There's something odd about the way the characters' heads are attached to the body. The faces & chins are off much of the time. Her toning and coloring isn't as aesthetically pleasing as other shoujo artists are.

Anyhow, the story after the anime was pretty fun. The mangaka has a good sense of comedic timing, and there was no real 'bad guy' to bring the light-hearted story down. The conflict between Tamaki and his grandmother didn't cause too much angst for too long. I'm glad the mangaka didn't introduce a bunch of girls to pair off the host club members at the end or something similarly inane. The study-abroad device was cliche, but turns out to be more cute than I thought. I also thought it was cute that the fangirls thought they knew Haruhi's secret, and later found out that what they thought was in error. ~7/10 rating~ While a charming piece of fluff, the anime was the better media for the story. Mamoru Miyano and Maaya Sakamoto really brought the story to life.

Why does Mori have a chicken and an odd-looking raccoon with him at the end?

Ouran Koukou Hostub 25! features the school festival. *spoilers* Although I'm disappointed by the oft-used surprise-fiancee tactic, it was to be expected that the show had to end with Haruhi realizing her 'feelings' for Tamaki..or vice versa. There are little things throughout the show that bring out the more developed personalities of each host member; Honey's statement of dislike, Kaoru's observation of different hobbies, Kyouya's liking of Tamaki how he is, Mori's...eh. It'll be interesting to see what Tamaki and Kyouya's fathers were talking about. oh no! the end....

and for oryssein
a special gift here that I insist she d/l and listen to because it is that good. (It's Soubi's character song.)
oh yeah, here's a kuro x fay doujinshi someone uploaded...where're the really good ones?

and for those who want to hear Watanuki's seiyuu sing, here's Yayoi's character song from Loveless.

ETA: For my future reference, Devil May Cry anime website is open. The anime will start spring 2007, be made by Madhouse and will be 12 episodes. The teaser trailer shows a couple character sketches.

$10 penguins...woot, but had to go to 4 different stores. darn ebayer probably bought up all of them at the first 3 stores.

not penguins, but
xxxHOLiC 21! was the anime-writers' interpretation of the toe-nail clipping story. It wasn't bad. There was a flashback to Watanuki's childhood and he talked about his parents a little. The highlight might be Doumeki's presence in Watanuki's apartment. He doesn't seem that pushy in the manga, but he apparently is a bit more gay and horny in the anime.

Ouran Koukou Host Club 23! finishes off Kasanoda's presence in the anime. Poor guy didn't have a chance. The moe-ing of the customers was very sweet. Honey and Mori's observation was somewhat surprising. There hasn't been any obvious hints to Kaoru or Kyouya's feelings towards Haruhi...other than plain curiousity. She is quite cute...*snuggle*.

I took a little roadtrip during the tropical storm which I'd have considered a drizzle...unless you had lived near a creek/river/anybodyofwater. Wasn't bad, but I did witness a car spinning out of control in the opposite lane. It hit the guardrail with a *crash*. That's what happens when you vroom down a hill in the rain in your little red sportscar. It didn't explode and there was another car stopped, so I went on my way.

Closing in on my destination, I also witness a squirrel carrying a dead, bloody rat. Definitely not a cat, it was a squirrel; a weird city squirrel.

Anyway, relaxed and gobbled up some asian fast food. yum!

Here's what I didn't post during the time.

Mushishi 25! Eyeballs missing, gouged-out and/or oddly colored continue to intrigue the masses...well, the otaku-like masses...or maybe the sci-fi-loving masses. In this episode Ginko meets a formerly blind woman whose eyes were infected by mushi. She asks Ginko for help and tells him her story. It's interesting what she had been able to see with those eyes; first, clearly; then a great distance; then the future & past; and then everything. She wasn't able to see Ginko's past and even though the anime already addressed his past, he himself doesn't remember. Thus, her eyes see what is known and unknown...except for what is not remembered?....something like that.



Ouran Koukou Host Club 21! is the Halloween episode which is pretty different from the manga. Kaoru's little introspective take on the club gives the whole anime series that binding theme. The manga up through volume 7-ish doesn't address anything serious yet...(although I think I browsed 8 and the recent chapters and saw some serious relationship woes.) The test of fear story was very cute and funny. Although the mangaka, Bisco Hatori, writes wonderfully, her art doesn't quite make the comedy come alive, so this'd be one of those series in which the anime is more successful in telling the story. (well, Viz's inability to use spellcheck and their seme/uke cut also prevents me from enjoying the manga)

Honey and Clover 9! *weep* so close to the end. As Hagu recovers, unseen aspects of the other characters are revealed. The resolution between Kaoru and Morita was very sad. Their story was interesting and unexpected. Hachikuro wasn't a series that I actively search for, so I never went ahead and looked in the manga to see what happened(haha, too much intimidating text in the manga). Bittersweet brotherly love is a wonderful thing. Nomiya's thing for Yamada seems to be fading...at least I hope. Hanamoto-sensei and Takemoto continue to be my favorite characters and this is probably because they are the most easy to understand and relate to. Their concerns and actions are the most down-to-earth. *sniffles*

in movie news--
"The Host" and "The King and the Clown" both applied to compete at the Academy Awards in the foreign-language film category. Yay! go Korea! Yay, go domestic release! No! no dubs please.

Ouran Koukou Host Club 17! is a humorous episode revolving around Kyouya. Tamaki and gang drag a sleeping Kyouya to a commoner's mall. They run off to have fun leaving Kyouya behind without a wallet or cell. I do love that WcDonalds appears all shows. The facial expressions of Kyouya and Haruhi are great in this episode. Haruhi's analysis of Kyouya was interesting. It made me want to see the background stories of how Tamaki met everyone in the club. Fun episode..ya!

Honey and Clover II 5! brings Yamada's weepiness to a sorta end and starts Morita and Kaoru's story. Takemoto's admiration of Mayama was very cute. Another good episode from this series. I've never smelled olive groves before. The health spa looked like odd fun. ++

Welcome to NHK! 3! I skipped episode 2...whoops. It's odd that an anime show about the patheticness of otakus...and/or hikikomori is so well-made...that it'll just attract the thing that it criticizes. Anyway, besides the Roundtable link, this show is also similar to Chobits in terms of character design and visual production...set and other stuff. There's also the "even seemingly pathetic losers deserve love" theme running through the anime. Not sure what this is really about (encouraging viewers to live life or saying it's ok to be like that), but the show is again, well-contructed. Nevertheless, end of the road for me; the comedic moments aren't too successful. The main character obsessing over naked girls gets old. The female character who wants to make 'project' out of him isn't too interesting. Sooooo, no fun...('cept for....haha, use qoogle and mindows xx for porn-search...hhahahaa).

Innocent Venus 1! I did the fastforward version of viewing this new show. Jin and Jo and random comedic kid try to protect Sana from the military. Much of the population of Earth was destroyed by hurricanes. A new system of living was devised where the rich get richer and the poor live in slums. huh. The anime is trying to be serious, action-packed and cute via Sana...code name, Venus. It's a bit dull 'though it might pick up since it is slated for only 12 episodes.

Nana 16! eyeballs and noses are randomly placed on the characters' heads. Ren's relationship to Nana is revealed to Hachi. *snooze*

Sapuri 2! This is a pretty enjoyable series. Like all jdrama, they really emphasize how one character represents one type of working ideal while another represents a conflicting type. Fujii is the honest, by-the-book employee while 'Ogi-sama' is the manipulative..but covertly sensitive type...(but he kinda looks like he's faking it) employee. Yuya is the newbie who tries to get recognized...and will no doubt encounter evil temptations. This also has a age-gap theme as Kimi wa Petto did and it would be very weird if Fujii and Yuya end up together. I'm guessing the series will be one of those 'how our meeting influences our lives' type shows.



Ouran Koukou Host Club 15! takes place during a summer break. Tamaki and gang hunts Haruhi down as she is doing part-time work at a pensione run by a transvestite friend of her father's. The host club vie to get the last room available. The twins are the focus in this two-part story. I enjoy the twins' interaction with Tamaki, Haruhi, between themselves and the development of their personalities. They seems too be the most interesting characters so far. This part ends with the host club meeting a friend from Haruhi's past.



Tsubasa Chronicle S2 11! was a cute chibi episode. Bee Train didn't take advantage of all the comedic potential as the Prince of Tennis chibi fillers did, but it was a cute episode nonetheless. The next fillers look as lame as can be.

other mentionables--

NHK no Youkoso! opening song, Puzzle, by Round Table feat. Nino is another one of their fun, listenable songs. The anime looks nicely made but storywise, not as interesting.


Fruits Basket is at the next to the last chapter. Chapter 130 *spoilers* has Kyou finally free of the curse which sets off a chain reaction to the rest being free. I think each jyuunishi had to reject 'god' to free themselves...or in a way accept 'god' as human...this was assuming Akito was a god-like representation. That interpretation kinda got lost when he became a girl. Aaand the last page of the chapter links god to a faceless looong haired bishie. I'd hate to think that they were freed because they found 'love,' but that is to what the translations seem to refer. Then again, rejecting Akito/pseudo-god's kind of love and finding it elsewhere is an interesting concept.