Yeah, another grinding week in the real world. Office-chained client-work for IBM continues to be grueling. I continue to endure burn-out mode while my blood-shot eyes (including my supernatural left eye, lol) approach boil-out mode. Yet despite it all, I manage to limp along with anime and web design as my crutches, lol. So, in no particular order, a few highlights over the last couple weeks…
- Slapped together a last-minute website for Catia Vitoria – Muay Thai Fighter in a few eye-burning nights.
- Received an out-of-the-void email thanking me for keeping my ConstructFic Matrix-fanfic website alive for all these years, lol.
- Replaced the near-dead battery in my 6-month-owned Jemma Chernaya. Time flies! Uh, I mean, time drives!
- Triggered by this post to reminisce about my geeky high-school Sci-Fi & Fantasy Club and its “Futures” magazine. Back then, I was geeky enough to be Vice-President, haha.
- Faced some minor drama fighting over a fallen puppy.
- Began sketching a new 3rd *Mirai* fanart. Hopefully I’ll finish it before 2009?
- Received my combined shipment of 3 suddenly acquired figures (SAFs): Figma Fate-Stay Saber [#84], Figma Code-Geass Lelouch [#83], and Little-Busters Yuiko [#82].
- Also received notification that my new Edelweiss Fumie figure (pre-ordered 13 months ago) should be shipping any day now [#85].
- Yeah, I know I stopped ordering in June at 87 figures, but they still come in months later. Plus in August, I just had to order my first-4 Figmas to see what the play-acting and stop-motion fuss was all about. Okay, maybe I’ll stop at 91 figures. Just like 400+ CDs in college, 200+ DVDs during marriage, and 90+ figures as a bachelor again, maybe I’ll find something new to collect~~ like MONEY this time, lol.
- Continued my current anime-watching list: “Bleach – S1”, “Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad”, “Code Geass – R2”, “Vampire Knight – S1”, “Kiddy Grade” (3rd-4th time but 1st time with Japanese audio, English subs).
- Finished 26th-29th anime title of the year: [#29] 3-ep 2004 anime OVA “Phantom – The Animation” (wow, obscure title but unexpectedly breath-taking, 4 of 5 stars), [#28] 27-ep “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” (double-wow, heart-pumping yet heart-breaking final-7 episodes, finally worthy of 5 of 5 stars!), [#27] 47-ep “NANA” (wow, still a sweeping and soaring, bittersweet and melancholic rock-and-roll masterpiece, 5 of 5 stars!), [#26] 2007 anime film “Appleseed – Ex Machina” (not bad, slick and slammin’ 4 of 5 stars).
- Also finished the 26-ep “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” (3rd-4th time but 1st time with Japanese audio, English subs).
- Also watched “Harry Potter III – Azkaban”, 2007 high-school comedy “Superbad”, and “Katt Williams – The Pimp Chronicles”.
- Even continued to read “Catcher in the Rye”, lol. Yup, actual reading! Never read the 1951 classic in high school, but ever since watching “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” again, and since my roommate had a copy of it, I thought “Why not?” Currently about 40% of the way through. >_<
finally you have finished TTGL! epic movie, that one is. Just loved the final battle scene, where they used the galaxies to do battle!
Congrats with your new SAFs! figma Saber is a joy to play with, believe me…
Haha, I can see why you;re slowing down on figures and anime. Such is the working man, I believe?
@J85: Yeah, work-work-work, lol… But there’s a TTGL movie too? Or maybe it’s just a condensed version of the entire series? LOL, true, impossibly larger-than-reality. But maybe those galaxies were just a bit too *small*, haha… Thanx, yeah, my first Figmas. So tiny, but so poseably cool. ^_^
The newly released TTGL movie sounds like a repeat of the series until EP8. The new stuff would be some added scenes and maybe more Yoko eyes? ^^;;;
Tiny…yes. Poseable? Definitely! I can see you were having loads of fun with them in the DC and Barbie post. Somehow, Lelouch’s pose reminds me of the Spinzaku…only with a gun! cool!
Hrmm… that website looks strangely similar to another one I’ve seen before… hehe~
TTGL, epic win~! I loved it, except for a certain episode near the start >.<; and of course the end was so sad too ;_;.
I just watched a bit of the classic Gunbuster series, it seems like Gurren outer-space battles were totally inspired by it except the 2 main fighters are girls xD;
@J85: LOL, then I guess I can postpone the TTGL movie till later… Yeah, definitely cool Figmas. Actually, that’s the first posing scene I imagined for Saber and Lelouch, and I haven’t changed their poses since the photoshoot. Too cool. LOL >_< @Koshiko: Yeah, hahaha, if I understand u, that's why the website was setup so fast! Just stole my own template!... Ah, haven't seen Gunbuster, but wait~ anime inspired by other anime? Is that legal? ^_~... As for TTGL, I agree, yeah, there was a badly (or differently) drawn episode near the start. I think ep-5, which is why I almost gave up the series. Hey J85, could u verify that episode?
The EP with the unusual/bad drawing is actually EP4, which has a different animation director (his name was Osamu Kobayahi). Don’t know what was GAINAX’s reason for this, but it would seem that they invited him to direct that EP. Yeah, many people were disgusted/dismayed by the animation drop but there are others who love it. So, it’s really up to the viewers! ^^
Um, speaking of GAINAX, it’s okay for them to take Gunbuster’s direction for TTGL. That’s because Gunbuster was made by them! ^^ So, no legality issues here, mate!
Ah, if you ask me whether I like EP4 of TTGL…I hated it. =.=
@J85: Ah, I see… Yeah, not my preferred animation style. Especially if it’s a drastic change from the established look of the series.
As for *legality*, I was being lightly sarcastic (haha), since 90% of anime is somehow inspired by other anime, directly or indirectly. Which is understandable, even preferable. >_<
“…since 90% of anime is somehow inspired by other anime, directly or indirectly…”
Hints at Lucky Star, Nogisaka Haruka no Himitsu, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu!
All of them have references to many anime titles, so it’s not really a surprise. However, some anime references do not state the obvious, which is why Lucky Star is not liked by many due to its many references. Much like a spider-web, if you ask me! ^^
@J85: “Too many” references? Ahhh, I see. While I feel bad for those watchers who gave up, that’s not a real reason to dislike an anime. Even if I missed 33% of the total references, I still loved “Lucky Star” for the lovable characters and overall story.
But for the references I *DID* catch, it’s icing-on-the-cake! Especially those “Haruhi” cafe, “Full Metal Panic” doujinshi, “Kanon” excuse, and “Da Capo” reenactment scenes! Those were freakin’ hilarious! I guess I was *lucky* to see those anime before “Lucky Star”. ^_^
Actually, I almost got turned off by Lucky Star after the first episode. I mean, all they talk for the first 8 mins was food, food and more food! That was like…boring. I didn’t follow up with the next episode after that, until like 3 weeks later…and that was when I said to myself, “Thank God I’m watching this. This is like…utterly random! You don’t get that everyday! You…” yadda-yadda-yadda…you get the point!
And the references? Oh man. I laughed off loud when I watched EP5. The racing on the mountain top was so Initial D that I almost fell off my chair laughing ^^
The Haruhi-cafe was cool as well. But what I liked most about this series was the randomness it brings with each growing episode, and the originality in making puns and such. Never seen that kinda-punches since Azumanga Daioh! XD
@J85: Oh yeah, Initial D! That’s a case where I never read the manga or saw the anime, but I’ve seen enough of its title online and offline to figure out the reference, hahaha.
But man, u gotta watch more comedies! Maybe the *randomness* didn’t affect me cuz I’ve seen so many random-topic slice-of-life comedies: Azumanga Daioh (perfect example), Genshiken, Ichigo Mashimaro (like an elementary school version of Lucky Star, hehe), School Rumble, Manabi Straight! (slightly sci-fi), Hayate no Gotoku! (more exaggerated slapstick, but still kinda random), even Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei (one of the most bizarrely and mind-bogglingly random!). LOL ^_^
Is Ichigo Mashimaro that good? Maybe I should catch up on it soon…just like Ghost in the Shell. Man, a lot of anime in my watchlist, I hope this fall not much series are they on show for us to watch on… ^^;;;
@J85: Hmmm, I can only guess if u’ll like it, but for me, “Ichigo Mashimaro” is another one of those gentle-and-random slice-of-life tales that made me wonder and laugh at the littlest things, lol. ^_^
Meanwhile, at the other extreme end of the spectrum, “GitS” is one of those relentless sci-fi epics that makes u ponder the future cyber-socio-political possibilities, both horrible and delightful. >_<