Appa's Thoughts

I was just thinking this morning, "man, out of all the scanlations I'm following, I'd really like to see how Bokurano ends".

And then the last chapters were put up today. ;___;!

I liked the ending. I really, really liked how the manga went. I LOVED the first half of the anime, but the manga was just... wow. It's different, but I was really into it.

And totally off-topic, I've been drawing hyper-shoujo pictures on sticky notes lately. If only I had the courage to throw away my potentially succesful future to chance everything on trying to become a mangaka. XD Ahhh, it's still my dream. One I've had almost every day for the last seven years.

Anyway, my friend has her big anime party tomorrow. :DDDD *ssoooo excited* I get to be a dork and sing karaoke!@!! And I'm only working on a few hours of sleep since I was up so late last night re-finishing a thesis...... I should try to get some of the little sleep I'll get this weekend. XD I am setting myself up for a huge migraine.

Ugh... I'm so tired and my stomach hurts for one reason or another... I just want to be back on a normal sleep system. x__x;; I had to cancel all of my plans today because I'm feeling so much worse than yesterday... ugghh. I'm glad this didn't happen abroad.

Well anyway. While vegging around yesterday, I read some more chapters of Bokurano. Wow, this had gotten so much different from the anime, and I'm so pleased! Seriously, the anime died as soon as they brought in the yakuza. I'm glad that it's not even winding down to a conclusion, there are still so many twists everywhere! I hated to see that happen to Machi, but after her request to Ushiro I'm kind of glad to see that it didn't pull through. Anyway, I'm really happy that it's staying so serious with just those little jokes here and there instead of introducing some super-happy character like the anime did. And it's staying complex. I'm so glad there's so much analysis in this... and even Koemushi has grown into a complex character himself!!

I also wound up getting some inspiration from a footnote in Chuushingura (the samurai bunraku/kabuki script I was reading). While sitting in the bus, I wound up planning out a whole new story based on a couple of characters of mine from when I was 15. XD I gave up on that whole thing a long time ago, but still liked a couple of the characters in my own kind of crack pairing. Their relationship back in the original story was that they were cousins (although they don't find out until later), and the younger girl chooses to be a retainer for the older boy even though he was disowned from the family she serves. Nothing ever comes of it and he never has any idea, but she develops feelings for him down the road, when he's already happily married and everything.

So! The footnote in Chuushingura just explained one line of text, mentioning the notion that a parent and child's bond lasts for one lifetime, a husband and wife's last for two lifetimes, and a master and retainer's last for three lifetimes. I thought, "but if the master and retainer get married during that last lifetime, do they still get to be married in the next so that they get four lifetimes together?" Hahaha, I don't know how many of my stories already have to do with reincarnation, just because I find it such an interesting plot device. ^^; Anyway, I wound up taking the inspiration from the original character designs and making a whole story out of it. It was fun reinventing a few versions of some old characters.

So I had this dream last night. It started with an argument with my dad because he was skipping out on training for his new job and wanted to take me home early from college, and I yelled at him that we had already bought the tickets so it'd waste our money not to use them. I spent most of the dream running from him so he'd go back to work.

( Then Bokurano and Haruka came in )

16005 words in one week. I'm pretty happy with that. In June (or whenever later) I'll probably go back and do massive edits on the first chapters.

I'm doing a play on the OVA focusing on Keisuke & Tetsuya. Originally it was only going to be a Tetsuya story, but it turns out I'm putting in more parts for Keisuke! ^^;;

Rewatching the entire Oni OVA in one sitting last weekend helped a lot, although watching it straight through just made all the plots holes so much more obvious. XDDD And the music!! Why in the world were they playing Tatara's image song while discussing things with Nakago's ghost? And poor Tomite was called "Hatsui". Those first three episodes aren't even worth trying to make much sense out of as it is.

---

In other news, I found more chapters of Bokurano this week!! :D There are some things from the anime that I'm like "noooo, why'd that have to be the same? *gag*", but others that I much prefer in the manga. Poor, poor Kana, though. ;__;

---

Now I really, really must go write a paper about monogamy and study for tomorrow's Chinese test... and translate those Japanese poems... and try not to leave anything else for tomorrow when I should be studying for one of my econ tests... *sob* I am so unmotivated right now. I would much rather waste time, but I'll regret it later. What happened to that lack of stress I had last night?

BWaah!!! XDDD

So instead of studying, I'm reading the Bokurano manga. FINALLY. I'm just shocked by some of these stuff that I wouldn't have expected just from watching the anime. Some of it I like, other stuff is making me yell "noo!". But this exchange is post-worthy:

Tanaka (to Seki): Why did you join the academy, then?
Seki: P-please! Let's not get started on me!
Tanaka: It was because you saw some anime, right? What was the title again?
Maki: What is it? My dad might have it!
Tanaka: Idol Defense Force --mming Bird
Seki: Don't say it!!!

XDDDD I know that one. Even though I only saw one OVA, I can still sing that whole song myself.

*sudden transformation into pop-star clothes* You don't know my! Love! Naze sunao ni AL!WAYS! Naze anata ni iiiiimaaaaa suki ni narenakute.... SETSUNAI!! MY! LOVE!

Okay, stopping now. I'll continue reading, not stay up too late, and get some real studying done tomorrow. Yaaaaay economics.

Kyaa! Sasuga put up volume 14 of Haruka- finally!! Dooooooushiyou? Should I buy it now? Should I wait a few months for them to put up more, or see if they ever put up more of Boku Tama? Better not hold my breath... I haven't even read volume 13 yet because I've been so nervous about leaving myself off at a cliffhanger. ^^;; Who knows, 14 might be even worse! This series was so much more fun when I was still catching up to where they were in Japan. This waiting stuff is not fun.

( ACen and MONEY )

( Oh, I'm playing with a story I got from a dream in which I was a Thanksgiving Turkey )

Ha ha. I'm having so much trouble staying focused on term papers, if you couldn't tell.

*sniffle*

*whimper*

I just finished episodes 23 & 24 of Bokurano. That's it, I've finished the anime. It was a great, great series, despite from WTF stuff the director threw in.

( You know one thing that sets this apart from other anime? )

I really must be going. At some point, I will read this manga. Those poor kids.

First: I had strange dreams last night, including a scene where I was in my backyard back home in Colorado. The moon was low in the sky, between a couple of trees, and it was going through an eclipse. It was moving unusually fast, and the shadow, instead of going from one side to the other, was swirling around in the middle before doing a full lunar eclipse. And then, a bigger moon which if it were a donut would have made the original moon look like it's donut hole, started to encompass and completely cover up the original moon, growing in shapes that mimicked the regular stages of the moon. It didn't emit any light, but was bright and clear enough to make out most of it's small craters. When it became full, it shattered, sending it's pieces across the sky before fading completely.

What I then recalled was that I had seen this before in other dreams, or at least lunar eclipses very much like it. Each time, it's about at the same height in the sky when viewed from my backyard, but at a different place along the horizon.

dreammoods.com says that a lunar eclipse represents some hidden aspect of myself coming to the surface. Hmm. What about an apocalyptic lunar eclipse? *goes off to look up other reoccurring themes*

Oh, here we go: "To dream that the moon in odd in any way, signifies infidelity of your lover and disappointments in business."

Ha. Not really stuff I've had to worry about. ^^;;

Oh, then he POINT of this entry: Bokurano 22. The fansubbers said they didn't like that episode, but I rather did. I'm really enjoying Ushiro-kun by this point, even though some of his radical changes make me go "bwuh"? The two parts I loved most where his reaction to seeing Machi and Kana asleep while he was doing the verbal flashback, and his reaction when his father tells him not to leave so suddenly ever again. BAM! That's gotta hurt!

;_______; Unngh!!

Please forgive how much I was complaining about recent episodes of Bokurano. I just didn't have an attachment to them. But this episode, 21, oh, 21 makes up for it.

*whimper*

These are the gut wrenching feelings I so strongly associate with this series. ;____; *babbles senselessly about it*

Why, I'll even spare you all the LJ-cut with my detailed impressions. Uwaaah.

How about some other anime, then?

I watched episodes 14-19 of Shounen Onmyouji last night, and I remember just enjoyable that one is. The characters aren't totally original, but I love them. And the art is quite nice. And I love how cool Masahiro is while still being such a 12-year-old. And I still find Mokkun totally lovable, but as far as mascots are concerned, totally ugly. Although I also love how strong he and Masahiro's relationship is. There's nothing subservient about it.

And yes, all those stereotyped spirits helping out Seimei-sama? I love them. And stereotyped princess Akiko? I love her. Seimei and Masahiro are definitely two of the best characters... and what really tops this series off? It's set in the HEIAN era and keeps making all sorts of Heian references for me to enjoy. On that note, I should be reading Genji Monogatari.

Also watched a couple more episodes of the second season of Saiunkoku this morning while waiting for Bokurano to finish downloading. I remember why I got tired of the first season: too much needless, slow paced character fillers. Granted, I love character development and get irritated when there's no action, but when it's just "la la la... let's go shopping, Seiran!" it makes me want to gag myself. I love the Saiunkoku characters, and I know they have these pauses to throw in unimportant littles scenes just to indulge in and enjoy the characters, but it's like, come on. DO something.

I guess that's why the first half of this season was so interesting to me. They had PROBLEMS to handle, not just little hints of personal or impending problems. Although, I do like the addition of Kairin. She's usually the kind of character that bugs me, but I'm intrigued by her and hope to see more of her (of course, with Saiunkoku, it's like all my usual likes and dislikes of character types get reversed. It's nice to like ones I don't usually like, though). Hearing Seiran coin the nickname "Tantan-kun" was awful, but in a good way, you know? XD



Waaaaahhhhh!!! I don't think they will, but I hope the last episodes of Bokurano have the same effect as this one. I have a feeling I'm going to hate the ending, though. That's what the manga is for, right?

( Cut for spoilers as usual )

On that note:
http://bokurano.jp/goods.html

Scroll down... I WANT KOEMUSHI GOODS! Is it bad that I'm a fan of Koemushi? As EASY as he is to hate?

Meh. I'm feeling a little down right now.

Some anime I'm really pining for:

Shoujo Kakumei Utena, totally!! I am craving Utena so much right now. I need to freaking see the rest of this series.

Shounen Onmyouji, before my Heian-high wears off. But it doesn't help that the downloads are going slow.

Bokurano, because it's Bokurano.

Saiunkoku Monogatari, mostly 2nd season episode 10, because it has Eigetsu angst. I think I'm in the mood for angst.

.....I want Utena. ;___; Utena-samaaaa~!!

( Cut for spoilers as usual )

I'm disappointed that so much of the focus of the series has been on the government lately. I want this to be about the kids. The kids are getting jipped! At least the next episode will the be the unhealthy dose of Ushiro-kun angst we've all been waiting for.

But all my complaining is not to say I don't still love this series.

What luck! I had episode 17 to watch today!!

( Thoughts, more like a novel )



*pause*

*reads over last paragraph*

*sweatbead*

Since when did I become such a vulgar, blood thirsty fan? Honestly, I've never been this way with any other series.

I went to bed last night and still had Bokurano episodes 14-1 on download, and episode 14 had about 5 hours left. When I woke up, it was up to 15 hours. u___u So much for having it after class, I thought. Which did not really add to my not feeling great earlier.

When I got back, though, all THREE episodes had finished. *happy whimper*

( Total spoilerness!!! )

What I really like about this series is the continually newly added facets of the plot. As I've said before, this series breaks it's own rules and can't follow a formula.

Of course, as happy as I was to have new episodes (finally), that means it'll be another who-knows-how-long until another one comes out. ;____;

(But speaking of updates, a chapter two of Split Loyalties went up today.)

First things first: OMGOSHIWANTTHISSOBADANDHAVEWANTEDITEVERSINCEIFIRSTSAWITOHWHYDOINOTHAVEEBAYWHY!!? http://cgi.ebay.com/Fushigi-Yuugi-Yugi-Hotohori-Mirror-w-orig-Case-RARE_W0QQitemZ230168672256QQihZ013QQcategoryZ31378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Now that that's out of the way, I'll just blurb a bit about some other anime my friend burned for me to watch.

Seirei no Moribito
I could see myself getting into this, as the animation is very high-rate- even though trying too hard on lipsync bugs me in any style of animation. It's nice to see a strong heroine who isn't just a teenage, but is an adult (even though her unnaturally low voice bugs me). Chagum, who I thought would bug me, isn't too bad. He's pretty good for a prince, actually. I've only seen episodes 1 and 3 at this point, would like to see more.

Baccano
Is pretty entertaining, and I really liked some of the characters. Great screen play and character interaction, and set in the American 1930's fo' shizzle. Just a bit confusing and a little 'too much' in some areas, it feels. Can't put my finger on anything in particular that I don't like. Saw episodes 1-3, would see more if it was offered to me, but I'm not going out of my way.

Toki o Kakeru Shoujo/The Girl Who Leaps Through Time
I really, really, really liked this movie.The animation was simple and yet lively enough just to enjoy, as well as had some particularly nicely animated scenes. Makoto was a fun, realistic main character. She and many of the other characters reminded me of people I knew at the Japanese high school. The story also showed the tiresome as well as ethical implications of using a power such as time travel, and played them in nicely. The overall plot was also very nice once you twacked yourself in the forehead and said "why didn't I see that coming!? This thing DOES have a plot!". I would recommended this for just about any viewer. It was a real treat to watch.

5 Centimeters Per Second
Interesting way to tell a story, but the ending just felt like crap to me- even if it accomplished exactly what the director was looking for. The way the people were animated was decent, but this movie definitely had the most impressive background, landscape, and setting art as I have ever seen. Hands down. I can't think of anything to top it in that respect. The movie kept me very interested just because I was looking at the settings so intently. XD

New episodes of Bokurano are supposed to come out tomorrow, yay!! *can't wait*

...*sigh*

I want more Bokurano. Do you all mind if I go on and on and about all the great things about Bokurano as SPOILER FREE as possible?

To start you all off with my little commercial, here's the opening I keep going on and on about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05p646nlYS0

( And now more fannish rambling )

So... can you tell how eager I am for new episodes?

Okay, so I finally got the full versions of the Bokurano opening and ending themes (the "Uninstall" song I keep going on and on about, and the ending theme, "Little Bird", which I also love, both by Chiaki Ishikawa). That's great. No, that is more than great.

Right now, however, I have the second ending stuck in my head. That song is also great... but I don't have it to listen to. *grumblegrumblegrumble*

But man, I love that series.

If anyone can find "Vermillion" (the new ending theme), I would love that. And "11:00 AM" by HK, because that was playing all over Japan while I was there and I'd love to hear it again.

Also, I'm still accepting replies on Memes 4 and 5 on this post: http://appaku.livejournal.com/55079.html

*bursts out laughing* Oh my gosh. Timing is everything.

My dad just lined up a few of my little brothers and told them to clean the kitchen. As soon as he did so, my 11-year-old brother's nose started bleeding so he ran away, out of the kitchen. Ha ha ha, way to avoid doing chores, kid.

Bokuranobokuranobokuranobokuranobokuranobokuranobokuranobokuranobokuranobokuranobokuranobokurano.

AHHHHHHHH!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppp!

I did plan to keep that super-meme post up longer, but OH MY GOSH.

DO NOT read behind this LJ-cut if you have any intention whatsoever of watching Bokurano. Too many spoilers. You will hate yourself.

( I just watched episodes 6-11 in a row. )


Ha ha ha. Despite it being 1:49 in the morning, my friend is on the phone with another friend she infected with Bokurano, and that friend is screaming about it. XDDD

The BEST part about this series is that it totally breaks it's own rules. COMPLETELY BREAKS IT'S OWN RULES!!!!

I just... ugh! I need more of this series. Just... ahh. Who knew in the 1st episode- or even the 2nd one!!- that it would turn out this way? Please, please, please, should you choose to watch this series, avoid my LJ-cuts and any other spoilers. Sore wa tada.

Now when my friend and I both stop ranting in various forms, we'll watch Hayate no Go... go... go-something or other to bring our moods back up. Osarabai!

EDIT: Just watched episodes 12 and 13 because we woke up this morning and THERE THEY WERE READY FOR DOWNLOAD OH WHAT GOOD FORTUNE!!! or not...

And... and... and... OH NOES!!! Why did my friend have to be right about that!?! Those were two very important episodes. And and and and and... ahh! Oh, the turmoil! These poor kids! B'GAWK!

I had been consistently hitting 2000+ words on my MayFicWriMo lately, but tomorrow I had no words. But I have a good excuse! I was giving my fandom an exercise!

My friend Laura (one of my favorite kohai) had her graduation party yesterday. Because she is a huge Chichiri fan, I wore my Chichiri shirt, and as soon as I arrived half the people yelled "CHICHIRI!" and the other half were like, "...wha?". Later on, I got a little irritated with Laura because she left me and one of my other kohai behind when she and the others left to hike off to another park and we got lost, so when we all got back together, I playfully splashed her with a little water.

She got me back later in the back with a squirt gun. I faced her, showing off my white shirt and hoping she'd get the message that it was WHITE and I didn't want to be involved in those kinds of contests, and challenged her that she would never hurt Chichiri.

"Unless I were Hikou" she replied.

( Mysterious Playing-Around: Then started the full-on melodrama. )

I haven't ran around and pretended to be a character- especially with that big a group -for I dunno... seven or eight years? XD My gosh, that was worth feeling so stupid in public. (We did pull together and win against Nakago, though.)

Well, I had intended to go home after that and write, but I wasn't informed that a few of the guests were spending the night- and she just ASSUMED I knew that. Well, screw writing if I'm going to hang out and fangirl all night! So that's what I did.

*glimmer* Reminds that my friend's huge annual anime party is next weekend... and she said she finished sewing that last part of my costume for me today... I love summer.

( Anyway. You know how fun it see to watch something again with people seeing it for the first time? Of course you do. )

YAY!! My friend just got here with my finished Myao costume! WAI!! Hey.. there's some stains on the back of this... oh well. They aren't noticeable and it IS Myao. (Oh, and the picture she pictured out for my invitation this year works nicely. I love how careful she is with picking out pictures for all her guests. Can you tell how much I lover her parties to notice these things?)

Uwaaahhh. Truly love summer. I love the freedom, I love the weather... I just don't like the wasps and mosquitoes. I hope that when I move to a university next fall, they'll have people I can party anime-style with (read: FANGIRL, a verb). I was accepted to another school that had a really good anime club, and I don't know about the quality of the one this school might have. I avoided the one at my community college for good reason. And no, I am not willing to start a club of my own! >__< Mendokusai!