Wow, Maria, thanx! Sadly, this is a fabricated message, lol. Japanese AV idol Maria Ozawa never sent me any congratulations of any kind. Dammit, lol. However, according to the mathematically approximate yet amusingly curious WebsiteOutlook.com, my site-and-blog’s estimated worth has leapt from $5861.90 to $7774.50 USD in a mere 3 weeks. Just as page hits and views and loads can be quite illuminating, my site worth (or lack thereof) must largely fall in the hands of my passing visitors and long-time readers. Humble thanks. Arigato gozaimasu. Muchas gracias. And may Maria watch over us. Hehe, anime joke. But on top of adult-video starlets and saintly anime, this blog week burns through itchy skin, drives through mystical fog, and hops through harems of women, lol. So on that nonsensical note, let’s begin the show…
Anime Watching Update. Beginning with anime, here are my latest anime speed-reviews. Four more anime titles-seasons watched and completed since Rurouni Kenshin [1] this month, for a total of 5 in this newborn year.
Mobile Suit Gundam [2]. My 2nd anime title-or-season of the year. Original series, finished the first 24 of 43 episodes. Heyyy, the mecha-robotic action and interpersonal drama still hold up after 30 years. Impressive 4 of 5 stars! Can’t wait to finish the rest. Could even hit 5 stars, hehe.
Maria Watches Over Us (Maria-sama ga Miteru or “MariMite” for short) [3]. My 3rd anime title-or-season of the year. First season, thirteen episodes. A gentle but satisfying slice of an all-girls high-school life. Solid 3 of 5 stars. Haha, no-no, this Maria-sama is the Virgin Mary, not Maria Ozawa above, lol.
Kannagi [4]. My 4th anime title-or-season of the year. Thirteen episodes. Wow, beautiful animation, hilarious hijinks, and mysterious high-school drama. Max 4 of 5 stars for a short season! The “closet” episode and “karaoke” episode are two of my memorable faves, hehe. A definite contender for one of my top picks of 2009. And it’s still only January, lol.
Devil Hunter Yohko [5]. My 5th anime title-or-season of the year. Six OVA episodes. Hehe, not bad for 1990. An amusing Sailor-Moon-type high-school heroine thrown into a skin-baring demon-fighting role, lol. Like I mentioned in my Blog 184, this title in 1992 “was the first-ever release of ADV Films, was a #1 top seller, and could be considered one of the first seeds of the anime revolution in the Western world”. While by its very OVA nature, the connection from episode to episode is disjointed, its entertainment factor is still respectable. A pretty decent 3 of 5 stars for today’s standards. And for its random nudity, lol. I appreciate that, Lene-chan.
Itchy & Cloudy Reality. Taking a slight detour from animated sci-fi and fantasy, the Real World popped into view more often than preferred, lol. First of all, in an allergic reaction than began last Saturday and burned for five more days through Thursday, the skin across my entire body burst into a hive-like rash. Ughhh! Beware, here’s a shot of my rashy left thigh last Thursday. Thankfully, I ruled out specific foods and items one-by-one. Until the final possibility came to light. Freakishly-strong laundry detergent! So for several days, I found safer sensitive-skin detergent and rewashed my clothes like a madman. Then on Friday, my new doctor pretty much confirmed my assessment. Whew. Thank the gods for Benadryl, lol.
Then following the heels of this rashy ordeal, I woke up on an ultra-early Saturday morning to leave by 7am and pick up NaTasha by 7:30am. So we could pick up Barbara’s car (my old Toyota) and drive it to NaTasha’s DMV driving test as early as humanly possible. Because we all know DMV’s are notorious for taking forever, lol. So while driving my Nissan, here’s a cellphone shot on my way to pick up NaTasha. What the heck? Is that fog?
Damn, it’s getting closer…
And huger…
And freaking enormous, lol.
After picking NaTasha up, we headed in the opposite direction towards Barbara’s place. Wow, that actually looks awesome…
And back to clarity with hardly a raindrop.
Eventually, NaTasha took Barbara’s old Toyota, and followed me to the DMV. Arrived about 8:30am. Across the street from the DMV, here’s a shot of my Nissan parked in the “Wal-Mart” parking lot.
To make a long story *longer*, as NaTasha waited at the DMV, I drove around the area. Spent an hour getting an oil change. Took a nap in the “Wal-Mart” parking lot. Strolled into a going-out-of-business “Circuit City” electronics store. Visited a “Barnes & Noble” bookstore. Until *RING!*, NaTasha called me back on someone else’s cellphone. As of 12 noon, she was still on line! With five more ahead of her! At this point, I drove home while she decided to wait. Went grocery shopping. Checked my email and internet activities. Then *RING!*, at 3:30pm, NaTasha called back. It was finally her turn. But because the car horn on Barbara’s Toyota didn’t work at all, she couldn’t take the driver’s test! After seven freaking hours of waiting! Seven!
In fact, when NaTasha and I met up again, and brought back the Toyota to Barbara’s place, Barbara coincidentally drove up in her parents’ car. And through our respective car windows, NaTasha told Barbara the *whole* story, lol. Apparently, Barbara knew about the horn. But none of us thought about it. Nobody. Because there was no reason to think about it. Oh well, lol. Pretty much a big waste of time. For all three of us. Well, at least, I got the oil change done, hehe.
Question of the Week. So here’s my question~ If your life followed an anime gender-ratio structure, which structure would it fit the best?
- [a] “Harem”. Lead boy among multiple girls. Or 90% girls. Such as “Kannagi”.
- [b] “Reverse harem”. Lead girl among multiple boys. Or 90% boys. Such as “Fruits Basket”.
- [c] “Same sex”. Lead boy among 90% boys. Lead girl among 90% girls. Such as “Lucky Star”.
- [d] “Equal”. Lead character among 50% girls and 50% boys. Such as “Genshiken”.
- [e] “Coupled”. Lead pair among many friends. Such as “Nodame Cantabile”.
- [f] “Loner”. Lead character among few friends. Would “Death Note” qualify?
- [g] Another structure?
In my own experience, my life followed a married “Coupled” structure for 8 years. Since then, following my roommate Lisa and best-friend Vanessa, it’s glided into a “Harem” structure, lol. Hmm, I wonder why, hehe. But really, I wonder. Despite a huge loss of trust in one female, my general trust in women hasn’t wavered at all. If anything, it’s grown! But that doesn’t mean I’m not cautious, of course. So to celebrate my trust in women, here are a few of the (mostly non-otaku) women in my life. Those who’ve influenced or impacted upon my internet, artistic, or everyday life. In chronological order, lol.
[1] From Lisa, I’ve learned to live a little more on the rock-and-roll edge, lol.
Lisa
[2] From Vanessa, I’ve learned to be more mindful of my actions and reactions.
Vanessa
[3] From Anouck, I’ve learned that wherever your path leads, whatever pain you suffer, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.
Anouck
[4] From Lena, I’ve learned to enjoy the commonalities and comedies in translations, lol.
Lena
[5] From Anna, I’ve learned to embrace the immaturity in acting younger than I am, hehe.
Anna
[6] From Jennie, I’ve learned that I don’t need to learn something new every day, lol.
Jennie
[7] From Miko, I’ve learned that we all, even I, have limits and boundaries. I shouldn’t ignore them.
Miko
[8] From Mimi, I’ve learned (or remembered) that there should be no reason to fear excellence or perfection. Whether it’s studying, writing, drawing, calculating, building, performing, or being an otaku. To take pride in it, hehe.
Mimi
Over time, these names will undoubtedly change. But maybe I can add a few more too. Hint-hint, nudge-nudge, hehe. Along with a few more laughs, giggles, chuckles, and a swift but trust-worthy kick in the pants. Mine included! Oops, almost forgot the question~ So which anime gender-ratio structure would fit your life the best?
In Conclusion. That’s it?!? Yeah, well, that’s all for this week, lol. It’s Sunday night, gotta hit the treadmill soon. But I hope Maria, Nagi, Yohko, my shiny wallpapers, and the rest of my fog-filled female-oriented cast brightened your day. Try to forget about the laundry detergent, okay? Hmm, Maria Ozawa. I wonder if I should make her a weekly thing, lol. >_<
@J85: Hahaha, so in other words, gotta find friends with wills weaker, or attention-spans more distractable, than our own! Nice, dude! Although… I… wonder… Isn’t there the possibility that they’ll become more annoying than ourselves too? LOL ^o^
More annoying than us? Well, let’s think of it as an adaptation for better things to come (I suppose)!
But, to find someone who is easily adaptable is like finding a needle in a haystack. Not many are adaptable, but once you do find one, it’s worth it!
You have more female friends then me! I have (counts…counts…) probably 1 female friend…2 if my little sister counts. When I get married someday I think I’ll need to rent female friends to have any bridesmaids. I mean hell that 1 female friend I have is only because one of my male room mates found a girlfriend I was introduced to! I didn’t even find her myself! All my friends are dudes and I’ve gotten to the point where I’m a lot more comfortable with men then women. I have a male harem. My harem is very useful when I need to move a mattress or when I need to figure out what’s wrong with my computer…but can I borrow your harem when I need to buy clothes and do hair?
My love of the anime Kannagi was a completely unexpected surprise for me. I took one look at the main character and decided she was too moe and probably annoying. Even though I had a lot of shows I devoured last season Kannagi is probably my favorite.
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@J85: LOL, yeah, “more annoying” would be pushing it. So… are u comparing people to USB-Firewire adapters? LOL!
@Luckie-chan: LOL, seriously? Hahaha. But it definitely makes sense. Most of my female friends have more guy-than-girl friends. In the comments above, Lene-chan also has a “reverse harem” structure. So then I told her we don’t trust our own genders! Or more in my case, catching up to what I missed out during my school days. And during marriage, lol… Hey, sure, why not? Of course, they’re all spread out across the globe. Anna is staying in NYC until September. But Mimi-chan should be attending MIT this coming fall. ^_^
Ahh, yeah, “Kannagi” was such a pleasant surprise! Those “closet” and “karaoke” episodes were classic. Including that “Lucky Star” cameo, lol. But overall, the series flowed like a gentle mix of hmmm, like “Clannad” and “Please Twins”. My fave of 2009 so far. Gonna be tough to beat.
Maria looks pretty in her FHM photo shoot
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/maria-ozawa-fhm-taiwan-video-photoshoot/
@Henry: LOL, no argument here! ^_^