Psyren 15 has ARRIVED!!!

I totally forgot I'd ordered this, so my immediate response was YYYYEEESS!!

WOOT WOOT! Cannot WAIT.

And I saved?! My happiness transcends words :D

... okay Amazon, I get it. Yeesh, getting a little creepy here! Never had that one before.

Hello,

Your order has left the warehouse.

Hello,

Your order has completed 1% of its journey.

Hello,

Your order has completed 5% of it's journey.

Hello,

You order has...

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the alerts but dang, Your order has been put through your postbox? Really? Come now. No need.

I can't wait to read, though! I'm saving it for one of my Dark Days. It always cheers me up through those. =]

Previously: Psyren 14 :3
Previously: Psyren 13
And even you care that much: ADDICTED TO PSYREN


Star xx

Psyren 14 Just Arrived.

Sorry.. you know I can't stop going on about this dang manga!

Thought I'd make it a bit interesting this time so I made a video =D But both Blogger and Youtube are just totally f***ing this up (e_e) so we'll see if I can actually post it.


Star xx

Review: Psyren 13 - Toshiaki Iwashiro

Psyren 14

I preordered it in December, when the release date was said to be January 16th. I hadn't even realised that I received it until January 17, when I suddenly thought 'Hey... where the bloody hell -?!'

I was soo anguished to realise I had to wait longer - at the time, I'd recently caved in and read 13 and was on a high, for the reasons detailed below. So I'm super happy that it's on it's way now. That's going to make my week. ^_^ Next week, that is.

This artwork is amazing.

Psyren 13


There's so many great things about this volume.

First off, Ageha's crazy plan is ensuring some fast paced action up ahead, which I can't wait for. The devilish look on his face when Matsuri asked if he could actually skip to the last level of the game and beat them was seriously creepy. I'd get a picture in here but I can't really be bothered, lol. Exhausted today. SORRYDUDESANDEES.

Second, Ageha and Sakurako finally know that they like each other and the almost-kiss was SO tense - the fact that it ended with the kids spying on them was HILARIOUS! Me bursting into laughter shook of all that tension, so it's one of my favourite scenes in the book.

Plus, it meant that in the alternate timeline, there's tension between Sakurako and Mari as it's now clear that they both like Ageha, which makes perfect sense and yet I was no expecting it to pan out in that way!!! I am seriously excited to see how Sakurako vs. Mari goes down O_O

FINALLY, but by no means least of all, SHAO!!!
I was extremely happy that he got so much of Volume 13 to himself, being my favourite character and all. And I'd mentioned that in my last post as well!

Shao and Sakurako. SWWWEET! I love this picture. It's a detail from a Psyren volume cover.

Extras

I love Kagetora and Junas' little banter at the beginning. Kagetora is such a teddy bear under the roughness, it's so sweet! And I love how that infuriates Junas. We all know that means they're gonna fight again in the future because Junas can't wait to get back at the guy! I was wondering what happens to the little girl, the Creator (can't rememebr her name, lol.) She's gonna grow up with the bad guys. =// Will she end up twisted?

I LOVE Kyle sooo much, kid and adult. He always makes me laugh. As a kid, he's loud and dramatic, the bit when he knows Ageha has to go back to Psyren and he's sad, is so sweeet. Just before the fist bump, there's this panel of kid Shao and kid Kyle looking so sad that Ageha has to go, and you can tell those kids think the world of him! As an adult, he's very confident almsot cocky, but it's not exactly misplaced as he's become a lot stronger, and that sort of bravado helps him power through the squad Scourge when he's being overwhelmed.

Okay, so....

WhoTF are Scourge???!!!

At first I thought the blonde lady was Matsuri turned evil!!! Didn't take me long to realise I was wrong, hehehe. When they were introduced, it made me realise just how many characters this manga now has. Iwashiro-san handles it really well. I like how none of the characters look identical expect for hair - they are actually distinct.

Granar, Ageha and Miroku!!! (l-r)

The crazy zone diver guy is entertaining too. My favourite part when he appears is when he goes "Mari, that's your name? I'll see you soon Mari!"
- and adult Shao gets mad (because he has a crush on her and is kinda defensive) and goes, "Don't be ridiculous. You won't ever see her again - because I'm about to finish you!"
- and then the ZONE DIVER GUY gets furious (because he is literally and positively insane) and goes, "How dare you call me ridiculous?!!!!"
- and then they start to fight. c:

The reason why I found it so great is because Shao is usually a calm and kinda placid character, so to see him get mad and knowing that he's stronger now was really something.

It made me feel really weird to know that the future had changed and nobody in the future knew. I guess I was thinking about how their actions have very real consequences.

Okaaaay!!!! Psionic Powers Poll !!!! O_O

I was super glad to see this as I wrote about it in my last Psyren post. Like I said, what I originally wrote was lost so what's there now is a watered down version, but nothing has really changed in terms of who I think has the best powers. I do like how imaginative the author is both with what the powers do and with naming them well.

Anywhoo that's it for now. Simply can't wait until Psyren 14 gets here maaaaan.

Star xx

ADDICTED TO THIS MANGA RIGHT NOW: Psyren - Toshiaki Iwashiro

How do I put this?

I wrote a VERY LONG review for this manga I am obsessed with, took me about 5 hours straight, but to my dismay Blogger malfunctioned and I lost it all. I was so upset (and pissed at myself) that I didn't have the heart to rewrite at the time, so I made it a draft and tried again. Hence, a New Year's post ten days late. I will be adding as I go along, no time to write it all up now at once now. Sorry.

__________________________________________

Hey heyyyy! Still here? Great. Excellent. c: Welcome to '14.

Am I still here? O_O
Well thank fuck for that too.

As I said before, all blogs will be updated today;
Alter Ego Writer, Image Archive, Pink Sovereign, DVTJ, and BGF.

But unfortunately, the other 4 blogs took so long that I missed 'today' but 30 mins, and it is now the 2nd of January =( I'm sad. I didn't achieve my goal.

=(

That's actually made me very very sad. I hate not sticking to my word. What a failure. (e_e) I'm gonna have to try not to be gloomy now.

Mind Numbing... Just What I Needed.

I am getting back on my feet, it's a slow process but isn't it always? I'm just glad that I don't feel as down as I did before. So, overwhelmingly relieved. My Mum can tell. It's making her a bit cheerier, and that makes me even more at peace.

I'm so thankful for the people around me, supporting me at this time. Beyond grateful.

SO, ANYWAAAAY!

I did some calculations, (looked on the blog archive list :3 ) and in 2012 I made 60 posts. That works out to be, on average, 5 a month. Which is really not that much at all! I remember not posting for ages and then posting a lot at once and then drips and drabs. Gonna try and make it consistent in 2014. I now have seven blogs in total... seven days in the week... catch ma drift...

This year, I posted 53 (I think? Including this?) Posts. I was wondering whether to do 7 more and make it even but - no. Why the heck would I do 7 posts in three days? No dude. No.

This last month has been a bit of a bummer, as I said before I haven't written much of my book. That makes me feel a bit *makes a fart noise*.

And as that's a goal very close to my heart, (buried inside, actually) the two blogs I was posting fiction on (One and Two) are sadly languishing away e_e

The one thing that has been cheering me up beyond measure is reading this manga that I have become obsessed with called Psyren, but Toshiaki Iwashiro. I hate to say it but remembering past phases of my life, I seem to be very happy when I have an unhealthy obsession with something. But look, whatever. It's manga. Manga is awesome.

I will do a review of it when I get the chance, ASAP if I can help it. I ended up reading one more volume than I was meant to, so I'm really excited for the next one and that wasn't meant to happen because it won't be released for another month or something. (e_e) That's cutting the long story short. I think between that and trying to put on motivating music, trying to sing a lot more, things are improving. I say that a lot, here and there, but I've kinda got to. I have to keep trying.

This is the sort of mind-numbing music that's been helping me get by lately. Don't usually listen to much music like this, but there are some times when I can't bear to hear myself think.




Strobe Light - by Andy Heller (SOUNDCLOUD)

Trancesaur - by _ensnare_ (YOUTUBE)

The music from this Anime Dress Up Game ^_^ (GAMES WEBSITE =] )




And all of this upbeat music brings me back to the song that got it all going...

If it's still showing, I got the heart from Glitter Graphics. I LOVED that site when I had a Myspace. Such cute things on there.

I don't know how I feel about New Year's Resolutions. I feel that on one hand, what's the point as they are always strongly linked to goals being broken.

On the other hand, I feel that just being proactive enough to ATTEMPT a change is better than doing nothing. Always. So I'm going to do the same thing I did in Jan 2013, which is change my diet. I am actually very eager for it, because when I did it last January I kept it up for 6 months. It may be one of my proudest achievements ever.



Mata ne.

My Experience Of MCM Comic Con London 2013 - Saturday

Of the two festivals I had lined up for this weekend, Mind Body and Spirit festival on Friday and MCM Comic Con expo on Saturday and (possibly) Sunday, I fully expected to be blown away by the latter. I WAS NOT prepared to come home disappointed from MCM and wishing that I'd gone to the MBS festival twice!

MBS festival was AMAZING. MCM was, at best, 'Meh'.

Okay no, it had some pretty sick moments in there. But let me start from the top.

My Favourite Manga Of All Time: Immortal Rain

SPOILER ALERT: There WILL be massive spoilers. It's not like this manga is new - you can get it from your library or online at Manga Fox. Read it first, or you will regret it.


I want to blot out my life like knocking over a pot of ink onto the page of a book.

It will, quickly or steadily, spread to all of the other pages and leave you with a big, black fucking mess. You can't read the pages - the content, the whole story is gone, although the stained pages leave you with proof that it was there. But is that how I want to go out?

This whole week went to shit. I am not surprised. Today I did more solid work towards my final essay than I have done all week. My healthy eating habits have been on and off. The days feel monotonous.

Yesterday, I went for a walk - I had to go when it had stopped raining, so I ended up going at sunset - and smelling of the air and seeing the setting sun and listening to a couple of my favourite songs (Paramore's 'Stuck On You', along with 'Hello', the opening theme to Ergo Proxy called 'Kiri' - Monoreal, And from Nabari No Ou 'Departure' and 'Aru Ga Mama'.) made me feel overwhelming sad. My whole world felt kind of empty. I kind of wanted to die.

When I got home, it was kind of impossible for me to work. I ended up playing The Sims 2 again until I really didn't want to anymore. I wanted to sleep, but I didn't want to go to bed and lie there waiting for it, thinking about my troubles. I just wanted them to end, quickly.

Whenever I feel like that, I read and reread and reread my favourite manga of all time, Immortal Rain, slash Meteor Methuselah.

- Rain & Machika look so cute and so sad, I wanna fucking cry. -

Why I Love It

So, it's a shōjo. But, unlike many, it's not completely driven by romance, in fact, it's pretty much action and adventure until we get to Volume 3.

First off, it is SO. DAMN. FUNNY. It never fails to cheer me up, especially Rain himself!

Then again, it kind of has to be, because the bits that aren't funny or action-based are incredibly depressing and tragic, like for example, pretty much all of the characters are orphans, and the one set of parents in it have lost a child. But it all forms a wonderfully well-told and illustrated story.

Second, Kaori Ozaki can REALLY DRAW!!!!

If there's one thing that can put me off a manga, it's when the illustrations are really bad. As manga, like comics, are image based, it's really hard for me to get through it if the characters are badly drawn. There is something so subtle about Immortal Rain. I find that it's not flashy or showy or overdone - even for Ayla, who could've easily had many more kawaii features and bigger eyes. I love love love the design of all of the characters. Will talk about my favourite character designs below.

Also, Kaori Ozaki draws action really well. There's this other manga I was reading years ago that I liked called King Of Hell by Ra In-Soo and Kim Jae-Hwan. The story is great, plot moves a little slow, but the action is really messy. It takes away from the satisfaction of seeing Majeh fight the demons because there's so many motion lines that you can't actually see what he's doing. It's really frustrating as him fighting demons and rival fighters is quite a lot of the manga.

But in Immortal Rain, it take you from one step to the next in a series of short pictures. I see the fighting sequence so clearly and quickly in my head that it gets me excited and tense even though I already know who's gonna win.

Also, for a shōjo, it's pretty gruesome! I mean, the Angels look horrific. They were drawn AMAZINGLY, especially Mother May, who is as creepy as FUCK. She's got a damn baby staring out of her stomach! There's a lot of action in there, its fast paced... this is why I love it.

 - 2-page spread from Chapter 7 of the Evans Gang. I LOVE AMY SO MUCH! (holding the spanner.) Why does Eury look like such a cocky idiot? Oh wait - that must be because he is. -

Next, the characters of Imm.Rain are the BEST.

They are so great, that I realised Rain had begun to influence my Architect character from my story 10 Lives Of The Immortal Architect Which By The Way Will Probably Not Be Called That Anymore. In appearance only though, not in personality. In personality, the Architect originally stemmed from Vega as he's depicted in the Street Fighters animated movie (I LOVE ME SOME VEGA) and Yoite from Nabari No Ou (Aww, Yoite... let's not go there, or I really will cry). In fact, the Architect is such a hybrid that he became an original character before I had a chance to decide what made him a special protagonist. I kind of wanted to revert him back to his original brutal nature, but I can't bloody change him b/c he's too unique how he is now.

Anyway.

Sharem began to influence my Danica character from Detonator, but again, in appearance only. Her personality is more like... well... actually, quite a bit like Rain's!

- Rain being a doofus -

I love that at the beginning/end of some volumes, you get a little character bio and some fighting techniques. I LOVE THAT. It's so cool!

Many of the characters change throughout, and it's all believable. The Doctor and Dora Folk immediately stand out as characters that are not central, and yet the story couldn't continue without them as Dora Folk is the one who makes Rain take out his cross, and the doctor saves Machika from the crumbling Angel Sanctuary. They do more, but just in brief, yeah. They're boss.

But there is something even more important why I love Immortal Rain: IT ENDS.

Manga volumes are known to span on for ever and ever. I think the Naruto volumes spans in into the seventies? Beyond? It seems Kaori Ozaki wrote this with an end in sight, that is why it's so perfect. The story was set in stone, complete, perfect, packing a punch, and ending on a high.

I am SO GUTTED because I only have eight volumes sitting on my shelf, but there are eleven. I read the end to the series online; I had no choice, Tokyopop didn't print the last three in English - maybe due to lacking popularity. I think they have been printed in French, however. How could it be more popular in France and not in the UK or US?! That sucks!

It really does suck, because I jumped on the bandwagon years after it had been first printed, so I'm guessing the original hype about it had come and gone. I don't care. I'm just going to learn Japanese and buy the Japanese version to read...

Characters And Kiki

Rain - This guy.... my God. No description could do him justice. It surprises me to remember that he came from an unusual background, I think he grew up at the church-place from orphans? It's so sad that Rain and Machika don't have much family and always seem really lonely...

Soo, Methuselah, aka. Rain Jewlitt. Adorable, loveable, and has such... moral righteousness, I guess. Because of that, I think he'd be brave even without being immortal and invincible. Yuca sealed him into a terrible fate. But because he knows that he is, he takes even extra opportunities to help and save people, and it's not really clear whether he can feel the pain and is hiding it, or not. His body gets mangled in quite a lot of different ways... um, quite a lot of times. Poor guy.

LOVE LOVE LOVE him with short hair at the end!

There... IS one thing that gets me. Not exactly a flaw, but it stokes my fires of curiosity. It's evident that, for Yuca, being immortal robs him of all feeling and makes him apathetic, cruel and brutal, but only in the sense that he no longer has any regard for human life. Rain has been alive for SIX HUNDRED YEARS - how the hell can he still be willing to save people when he's witnessed all the terrible, horrible things they do out of greed?

I mean, it just makes him an even more amazing character, but still, it's interesting. It's hard to think that he can, but that was the test Yuca sent him in the first place by making him immortal. Even Yuca couldn't believe that he was still willing to save humanity when he came back. Damn. This guy.

Machika - she's such a wonderful character. I love that she has the inner conflict of carrying on her Grandfather's legacy and being a strong fighter, and on the other hand just being a teenage girl trying to stumble her way through life. Ugh, I can't. She's too cool.

Sharem - my favourite female character from any manga ever full stop. Short blonde hair, cold eyes, very slender and very tall (for a woman, compared to the male characters). From this manga, she battles with Rain and Machika, but still I think she would come out top. Where do I begin? She's powerful, beautiful, influential, manipulative, a mother figure to her several dozen adoptive children who are willing to fight and do anything for her, she's one scary, mad-strong fighter, and she has a backstory that makes me choke up. You don't fuck with Sharem! Oh no you don't. If she was a Game Of Thrones character, she'd be Cersei. Pardon me - Queen Cersei.

- Yuca and Sharem -

Yuca / Ys - such a brilliant character. Effortlessly terrifying. The scene where he is born (not as a baby but as a young boy) is fucking creepy. Seeing him as a young adult in Rain's flashback was really interesting as well. To be honest, Freya must be weird to love someone so emotionless. How can she prefer him to Rain?! Rain's adorable! But anyway, perfect character as a baddie - hes not evil through and through, his experiences have made him the way he is, which makes it even sadder.

Besides that, there's one thing I don't quite get - and that is at the very end, (SUPER SUPER SPOILER! I DID WARN YOU!) when he is finally released and no longer immortal. I REALLY DON'T GET THAT! How exactly did that happen? I'm going to need to read it over and over until I get it.

Ayla (above, if the pic is still showing) - She. Is. Gorgeous. Kaori Ozaki did say somewhere that she was the most glamorous character, but her outfits are amazing throughout the series. Mind you, she only has a few, but each one is stunning in it's own right. It's kinda funny to see her running around in heels in the middle of all of this action. Her backstory about the King she was in love with (Yakoh, I think) was so tragic. That was REALLY tragic, and right at the beginning of the story too, like, Volume 1. Man, everytime I think of it I get sad.

There's this spread at the end of Volume 5 that I really adore. I just look at it and slap my hands to my cheeks saying 'omigod! Shesocute!'

Eury - this guy is the best fucking badass EVER. Okay? Ever! He is a super flirt and his antics are hilarious. He's also really cocky and standoffish. His flirtations with Sharem got me grinning cause she must be in her early 30's or something and Eury's got to be like 18? Hahaha! That's kind of why I like his character, he's never afraid to try. He gets himself into so many scrapes. I like how he ends up in Rain and Machika's lil group, when he was at first a baddie. I should really say 'antagonist' but whadafuk. Who cares.

Dora Folk - This man is really really original. I don't really know how because he's your typical I Want To Be Powerful And Rule The World bad guy but it stems from Yuca/Ys's messing about with angel experiments and he's very clever about how to get what he wants. Maybe that's no excuse, idano. I can't say much more because trying would just be a disgrace to this character.

- from Kaori Ozaki's Website. Like the last 2 pics on the post, I love it because you get to see most of the characters together in this happy little scene (Dora Folk, WTF?) but sad as well because you know this would and can never... never happen... -

The Doctor - I love this man! He's sooo science-obsessed, yet so calm and cool and suave. Also he gives Rain and Machika really good advice and his glasses make him look cute.

Freya - This is gonna be very very bias as I am pro-Raichika and anti-Raiya, plus she is kind of annoying, BUT, I didn't really like Freya. I think she's one of those characters that's meant to be ambiguous as of course we as the reader are rooting for Machika. But it's sad because you feel Rain's pain, as obviously he loved her, and Yuca killed her in cold blood. And Freya wasn't mean or a bad character, just boring and flat compared to Machika.

Jileena - I like her spunk. The fact that she tried so hard to get Sharem's love and approval brings on my weepy face. It makes me laugh how she's always out to get Machika. It's a perfect match! I love seeing them face off in a fight.

Kiki - I want me a Kiki so bad. It's an abandoned angel experiment that Machika takes care of, it's cute little cat/fox thing with three eyes and when it grows up, it TALKS! That really shocked me when I picked up Volume 5 and saw it TALKING! But it was a great addition to the story.

To Wrap It Up

Here's the thing... just a little thing really. Well... at the start of the series when Chi develops her crush on R, she's fourteen. Fine. But... like I said, here's the thing... Rain is 624... although he behaves like a ten year old... and he's been immortal for 600 years so that in principle makes him TWENTY-FOUR!

It's a bit weird! I have no problem with 10 year age gaps, any age gaps for that matter - my own Mum and Dad are 10 years apart in age but they met when my Mum was 20, not when she was 14! Anyway... so yeah, that had me wide-eyed. To be honest, I think saying he's been immortal for 600 years may not be strictly true. It may be slightly more or less. He could be in his late-teens, early-twenties. I suppose 24 is early. LOL! But other than that, I Don't Give A Fuck, RAICHIKA ALL THE WAY.

Next step?

Well, again, it's been years since I.R. came out. I discovered it so long ago and keep going back to it time and time again. But I have heard that there's this mini serial of Rain and Machika's grandfather Zol (who looks REALLY young to be her grandfather by the way) and their adventures together, which must be supercool so I should really hunt that down.

 - Both images from Kaori Ozaki's website, if they're still showing -

Wow. What a super long post.

I feel miles better after writing that. Of course, I should have been writing my essay, but this made me happier and therefore was worth it.



Star.
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HUUGE Manga-to-Anime Ending Changes

SPOILER ALERT: HUGE SPOILERS, dude! I will be primary speaking about Fruits Basket and Nabari No Ou, both mangas and animes. And other things. But mainly that. If you haven't seen them, you shouldn't be reading this unless you like having endings spoiled.

So, what the hell?

When I read up on the manga of Nabari No Ou after finishing the anime, I discovered that Miharu really does go back and ERASE YOITE! I was stunned. The manga ending, in that case, is even worse than the anime ending. In the anime ending, Miharu doesn't erase Yoite, seals the Shinrabansho away inside of him, and happily lives out Yoite's last days with him until Yoite dies by disintegrating into fairy dust.

I. DON'T. UNDERSTAND.

The entire story revolves around Miharu learning to use the Shinrabansho to erase Yoite, so changing the ending... ? It's a risky business. That would change the future of all of the central characters. That's.... that's... ! SHOCKING! Frankly!

Don't get me wrong. I love exploring other possible endings - but by making them different between anime and manga, it's like WE as the reader have to decide which version we are accepting as 'real'. It sucks!

One other manga-to-anime f***-up would probably be Fruits Basket....

Let me just say, I love the manga to death. After hearing how the anime ended - how Akito isn't secretly female as she/he is in the manga - I didn't even want to watch it. That is what the ENTIRE story relies upon. Akito's irrational and terrifying behaviour stems from the way her father, mother and Shigure treated her, and that was influenced by the fact that she had to pose as male her whole life. But in the anime, 'she' is biologically male.

It really got to me because I love Akito as a character, and after the plot twist, she just gets better. So why, or why, did somebody decide that this change would be okay?!

Now let me think, I think the ending of the anime was something about the 'God' of the Zodiac - Akito - being possessed by death curse? Which has got to be, more or less, the worst thing I have ever heard.



Star xx
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Nabari No Ou Anime Verdict!

SPOILER ALERT: My view on the anime after having seen it. So if you haven't, watch it on Netflix or read it online.

It was quite a lot of weeks ago that I watched Nabari on Netflix. The moment I saw the opening, with the musiiiiiic and with Raimei and her swoooord and Koichi and his leaf-teleportatiooon.... just like Gunslinger Girl, I was hooked. Of course, I didn't know their names then. But the premise of ninjas in a modern world was so gripping!

I was really into the whole five regions each with their own kinjutsushō, or forbidden art, which I will probably have to look up again cuz I forget but that was awesome. It really did inspire me. Okay so first of all, and characters are pretty much the most important aspect of any story for me, so lets start with those.

MIHARU I WUV YOU!! So very apathetic, so very adorable. Having him as the main character was a good move. I love how he changed over the episodes after meeting Yoite, you could see how much they affected each other. One thing I kinda don't get is why he could fight in the manga and not in the anime. It pissed me off that he was so helpless! It was like JUST FIGHT! But then, with him containing the shinrabansho, it's not like anybody was gonna kill him anyway.

Yoite I ADORED. His past was so, so tragic, I couldn't stop thinking about it for ages. It sickens me that parents can treat their children that way, but also made me so (tearfully?) happy that he found a new family in Miharu, Raimei, Kouichi, Tobari (to some extent lol), Hana (LOVE HER!), Yukimi, Raiko and Gao.

The way they came together was really endearing although it crushed me that Yukimi couldn't bring himself to see him once more before he died. His bond with Miharu is so heart-wrenching! Although it did seem like bordering on Yaoi. Maybe because Miharu's... well, prepubescent so he looks like a girl. I guess the creators can get away with it hahahaha.

Okay, fucking Raimei! She annoys me so much! Especially her voice, no offence to her voice actor. Towards the end, you get used to her, but when she first appears, URGH! I like that she's a samurai but that's pretty much it. Argh I can't believe Kouichi likes her.

The bit when you discover Kouichi is immortal is completely like WAHHH!!! It explains why both him and Shijima have white hair and red eyes, (lol you think somebody would have noticed!!!) and the outcome for him did NOT make me feel good. I wish Miharu could've uncursed him. Kouichi's fighting abilities are epic, but then he is immortal. Call me twisted, but I did laugh when Kouichi put a sword through Miharu because he thought he could stop the shinrabansho... like DUH?! UNSTOPPABLE POWER HERE?!

One of my favourite characters is Shijima Kurookano, I love her voice, her name, and just the way she acts and looks. The discovery that she is Miharu's cat really shocked me because it was so subtly revealed. (How can she be such a pretty human but such an ugly cat? Cats don't look like that!)

So many secrets in this damn anime makes it so damn gooooood...

Okay, so I really liked Tobari (I couldn't help laughing that a grown ass man is travelling around with a bunch of kids) and I felt HORRIBLE for him when Miharu stops trusting him at the end. I could see that he was only trying to help him while keeping his promise to Miharu's mother. It was a nice addition that he was a ninja who couldn't kill anybody. It made him complete in my head. A well-rounded character.

HANA! She should be my Godmother! Her place the anime was just perfect, she was always there when they needed her. She's too wonderful.

Tobari's relationship with Hanabusa was so, so sweet. Also, and I don't know why, but it seems really fitting that she is older than him.

-Probably missing out a shitload of people but there you go. WHY is Saraba's boobs spilling out of her clothes? If you have a huge bust then fine, but wear a decent kimono or something!!

-GAHH Kotarou was so clearly evil! He was an EXCELLENT character though, soo funny, I did really like him. But God couldn't anybody see he was up to something?!

-Gao was a little irritating but his good-nature and loyalty to Raiko was sweet. Always fucking complaining though.

-Raiko's voice bugs me a little - why does he sound almost English? Like, transatlantic? WTF? But by the end, it suits him perfectly. I cracked up when he crashed Yukimi's car because I didn't believe he would really do it - at least not so fast!!

Okay, abilities.

So Fuuma's forbidden art, the Tenpenka - which is basically shapeshifting, was pretty cool. You know. Seen it before but it's cool. Though, compared to the Kira technique, why  is Tenpenka forbidden?

The Kiroushu's forbidden art, Kira, was an AMAZING concept. There are so many little parts to it that make it intriguing, like eventual loss of all five senses. It infuriated me that Hattori makes Yoite use it. How you see him deteriorate is freaky, but realistic.

The Togakushi's forbidden art, the Izuna Shingan, is actually better than it first appears. Yae Oda pissed me off quite a lot but you knew her motives for everything. When you think about it, this forbidden art is really powerful.

The Kōga's forbidden art, the Daya, was also an excellent idea, and in my opinion should REALLY be just forbidden and locked away like the Kira technique. You can't just go around killing people to heal other people, but people in this world are fucking crazy, so be on the safe side... lock it up.

Okay now, Banten. RIGHT. After trailing through two seasons to find out what Tobari has kept soooooooo secret, I thought that Tobari's Engetsurin was a COMPLETE hax. Like, how convenient! Something that takes away and restores memory. But then, ironically, it was also very good how every single person forgot who that last Shinrabansho possessor was because of it. Tobari has this secret hanging over him for the whole anime. Even though the idea was really good, I still this his kinjutsushō was a shit little cheat. But there you go.

So yeah, that kept me busy for a long time. the art above is for the soundtrack to the first season, which I LOVE. (And MAAAN look at the scenery of Banten, in the artwork above! So beautiful!) As you know, I'm addicted to anime soundtracks. I'm addicted to every type of music, hahaha (listening to Phil Collins and Genesis right now) but ANYWAY my favourites are Main Theme - Seijaku, Tobari no Ketsui (FREAKING LOVE THIS ONE), Koakuma Shounen (the violins are too good), and Shinra Banshou no Sasayaki (every time the shinrabansho activates, this song plays. Love it.). This soundtrack is, although sad at times, also quite lively. But Soundtrack 2... damn...

Art above is for soundtrack to the second season, and oh my God, it is so damn depressing. I can understand that though, because Yoite is dying in the second season, but damn. This soundtrack is titled in English. My favourites are The Tragedy of a Brother and Sister, Deep Darkness (I always think of Yoite drinking Yukimi's lemonade at this song), Miharu's Perplexity (so sad! so good!), The Profile of a Death God (SO DEPRESSING! SO AMAZING!), Hanabusa (I LOVE HANA!!!), Two People (cough Miharu Yoite... lol Mihite...? Yoharu? Okay wait stop, that's Yaoi if I do that right? OKAY STOP NOW), Wailing, Main Theme Piano Solo, and Departure.

Main Theme Piano Solo and Departure are variations of Main Theme - Seijaku and I think that's really cool. Like in Gunslinger Girl with TEMA I, II, III, IV and V.

Last but ABSOLUTELY NOT LEAST! I just HAD to get Crawl by Veltpunch because the opening credits make me pumped up for every episode. The full version is even better than the TV size. Hikari by Elisa, which plays at the closing credits for season 1, really annoyed me when I heard it, I used to skip it. But the full version is actually very good. I surprised myself because I don't normally like ballads like that.

Favourite song ever - I would trade all the songs for this one - is Aru Ga Mama by Anamu and Maki, which played at the closing credits of season 2. I love it to death (no pun, sorry Yoite). The full version has extra harmonies that the TV size doesn't have so naturally, I'm in love with it. I've never heard Japanese (?) Alternative or Acoustic music before and I'm desperate to find more. It's a beautiful song.

And it sums up Mihite perfectly.

Still making my way through the mangas online when I'm not doing Uni work. Pretty good so far, but no urge to be buying them yet. I DID just buy Psyren 3 and 4 after reading 1 and 2 in the library - they are fucking awesome, about kids projected into a game which may possibly be Earth's future - but that's a story for another day.

Star.

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