So... Manifest... I just have one word to say

AWESOME~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!

*LOL* I swear I haven't had that much fun in ages!! Bought over a hundred bucks worth of stuff, including the Jap X Zero artbook and an X-tshirt ^_^ Which I will wear to work when the weather gets warm enough!! *L* Also bought pencil boards of Goku and Hakkai and Fuuma doing Fuuma-like things to Kamui *snickers* And also got a Watari hanger-thingy and a chibi-Aoshi pin ^__________^ So yes, very happy with my purchases~!! Would have got a drinking glass with chibi Weiss characters on it, but wasn't exactly prepared to pay $39 for it....

In terms of anime... saw a LOT~!!! Saw the first YYH movie~!! *L* Can we say Kurama and Hiei hints??!!?! ^___________^ Am now obsessed with Kaikan Phrase (Sakuya and Yuki~~!! *droool*) Also saw Hikaru no Go (Sai~~~!!! ^_^) which somehow makes me wanna go and learn how to play Go.... ^^;; which I s'pose is why the Go association in Japan is funding for another season or whatever *L* And also saw Shaman King.... CUTE~~!!! Amidamaru looks so cute in that little ball form~!!! *LOL*

So yes, will get Kaikan Phrase to watch soon.... even if Animezone doesn't have the full series of it *pouts* Then must watch Hikaru no Go and Shaman King.... although Shaman King's apparently a 52 ep anime.... *sighs* I used to like long series........ but somehow I'm more into the shorter ones at the moment.... like the 13 episode ones like Gravi and Yami and Hellsing.....

Which reminds me, will finish watching Hellsing after I finish Full Metal Panic... ^_^ Which will be soon considering that all the tapes are already back at my house... ^_^

Back to Manifest... went to the Great Debate on whether a giant robot is better than a good romance *L* That was hilarious!!! With strikers and everything and lewd jokes every time you turn around, it was a blast~!!!! I am just so glad that my cousin didn't come with me on Saturday because some of the jokes I swear, even I wasn't old enough for~~!!! *L*

But then again, I only really said "I'll try not to procrastinate this semester" ^_^ So everything is allllllll good ^___________^

GOING TO MANIFEST THIS WEEKEND~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!

Finshed Furuba~~~~!!! ^_^

Went to work yesterday and got the rest of the furuba tapes and finished 11eps from the time I got home which is around 6pm-ish till 11-ish... *L* Waaaaiiii~~~~!!! Gorgeous series~!! *nodnod* Very much a gorgeous series! Everything's just so cute! Especially the fight between Yuki and Kyon-Kyon when they were in their rat and cat forms in that ep when they went to the river *L* Sooooo cute~~!!! Yuki surrounded by all the mice was hilarious~!! ^_^ And then the big eyes when Tohru started laughing~!!

Love this series.... very much love this series.... one of the very few shoujo series I seriously love. The last 3 eps were almost enough to move me to tears... *sniffles* Kyoukichi was such a cute kid~!! And that scene with Kyon-Kyon in his other form and Yuki and Tohru was just sweet. Very very very sweet~!! ^^;;; I dunno... maybe I'm getting sentimental, but it was extremely sweet.... *L*

Now I *really* want this on DVD... Tohru surprisingly doesn't get on my nerves ^_^ Usually female characters in shoujo series tend to get on my nerves -- eg. Miaka... *L* As much as I love FY, Miaka seriously gets on my nerves... or maybe that's the "Miaka" "Tamahome" "Miaka" "Tamahome" -ing that goes around *giggles* But yeah... Tohru doesn't really bother me... which is... like I said, surprising *L* I tend to like female characters in shounen anime better -- they usually have more of a back bone - eg. Fuuko from FoR....

I recommend this to anyone who just wants a sweet series that doesn't take itself too seriously ^_^ The funny bits in it are what really makes the sweet-ness stand out. So yeah, love this series... will definitely get the DVDs once they become available and may go and borrow the manga... ^_^

But yeah... that's about all for today... I'm going back to school in a week... *sighs* where did my hols go??!?!!! So yeah... expect another layout soon to tide me over the start of a new school semester... ^^;;; I will work harder this sem~!! *sweats*

I was overjoyed at the news that Project Weiss was making a sequel to the Weiss Kreuz anime: Weiss Kreuz Gluhen. Then I saw the character designs.... And all I have to say is: Who the hell are these people and what did they do to the WK boys?!?! *sweatdrops*

Yes, I understand the concept of the ageing process and that Gluhen would most likely be set a few years after the end of the anime... therefore, the characters, Omi especially -- considering that when WK was screen he was still 16-ish, would have aged and so on and so forth... But did they HAVE TO change the character designs so drastically?!?!?!!!!

Okay, I will admit that Aya is still drool-able... The new look agrees with him, despite the shock the system gets when you see him for the first time. ^^;; but my first reaction was that he looked more like Brad Crawford now.. *L* Which probably wouldn't be too far from the truth considering that Brad was a few years older when he appeared in WK.

But the others~~!! *major cringe* What did they do to my Ken-kun??!?!?!!! What happened to that gorgeous hair that's always falling into his big baby blues?!!! What happened to that magnetic grin?!?!!!! *wails* And Yoji~!! How could they CUT HIS HAIR??!??!?!?!! Him and Omi both!! Their hair styles now look like they're out of some early 80's show........... *sniffles*

Despite all this, I will probably give Gluhen a try ^^;;; and drop it if I feel the new character designs a bit too much to deal with. But they must be taking a humongous risk pulling a total make-over like this on the boys, especially when the existing fanbase have been familiar with and already love to pieces the originals.... Seriously, Yoji just isn't Yoji without his sunnies....

I just hope I don't cringe every time Ken-kun comes on....... *shudders*

And an even scarier concept... Judging from the end of the OVA Strafe, there is still conflict going on between Weiss and Schwarz, or at least Brad and Schuldich, which is fully what I expect to be addressed in Gluhen. Now, if they pulled this makeover on the Weiss boys.... imagine what they did to Schwarz.... *double cringe* And if Farfie comes back older.... *major shudders* oh God... that would NOT be pretty............

Oh well... guess we'll have to wait till September to find out.... meanwhile, I'll have to keep a closer eye on the WK fandom to get any further updates on Gluhen's progress......

On that note, I am also debating whether I would want a covergirl to go with the possibility of a furuba layout. *L* Big honour indeed considering that I'm still not yet sure if Tohru lives up to Arashi's coolness factor (which may or may not be enhanced after a likely defection to the Angels *grins*) in order to snag the spot for the second covergirl that Chaos has ever honoured... *sweatdrops* Come to think of it though, Chaos really hasn't honoured too many characters despite it's 14-odd layouts... *L* I've featured Kamui, Fuuma, Subaru and Sei-kun repeatedly. Arai-kun and the whole gang from Sotsugyou M have appeared, so have Shuuichi and Yuki and the Sanzo-ikkou.... And of course, Arashi... But aside from them, considering my long list of favorite characters, you'd think that I would feature more characters... *shrugs* ^_^ Maa naa... whatever mood strikes me I s'pose... ^^;;; and I think it's all been CLAMP-dominated ever since I saw X-Zero.....

So... the World Cup finished... I'm curiously finding my time very free at the moment, now that I'm no longer glued to the tv with my dad watching the night matches every day ^^;;; I found the last two games really good to watch. Brazil was flamboyant as always, and Germany certainly didn't lose for lack of trying. But the images that came from the end of the Turkey-Korea match was definitely heart-warming. That will, most likely, be the most lasting image I have of this World Cup... ^________^ Just watching it gives you fuzzy feelings I swear...

But yeah... so football fever has come and gone, and it'll be another four years before we all catch it again *L* Unfortunately, with 2006 begin hosted by Germany, it means that we poor folk here down under will be forced to watch it in the middle of the night again.... *major sigh* Prime time broadcast was sooooo good while it lasted....

And I wasn't able to get more furuba today... *pouts* very upset about that! =P Must go back soon to see if people have returned it... And the more I watch it, the more I'm loving this series. As it is, it's coming very close to Fushigi Yuugi in terms of being able to make you laugh one minute and go teary-eyed the next. And placing it anywhere near FY is a BIG compliment in my book considering that FY is one of the very few shoujo animes I've loved over and over again. With most shoujo-shoujo animes I find that I have very few instant compulsions to finish the series, in that I can watch 'em and leave 'em... a few examples being Utena and NukuNuku... And so in terms of favorite shoujo animes, Furuba is now coming in at a very close second ^_________^

It's curious to note that Sailormoon, who was the one anime/manga that got me into the anime/manga world in the first place, doesn't top any of my favorite lists... ^^;;; Maybe because it's targeted at a much younger audience. Instead, I find that I still love the good SM fanfic whenever I find one and that of my overall favorite fanfics, there are still a number of SM ficcies in the top ranks. A lot of fanfic writers put their own spin onto the series that basically deepens the depth of character that they show, and in a way enhances the characters beyond what Takeuchi-sensei was able to do. Still, I maintain that SM is a good starting point for any younger person to start off with in the anime world ^_^

Btw, knowing my love of fanfics, the fact that ff.net is experiencing so many problems as of late is really pissing me off... *growls* Was a hardware upgrade really necessary?! ^^;;; Myah... me just grumbling...

And you know I'm really getting into the series when I start referring to the characters by their nicknames *grins* I can't seem to call Shigure by his proper name anymore... since I saw Ayame, it's always been "Gure-san" ^^;;; and the same with Hatori... I'm always calling him "Ha-san" now.... Well at least with Yuki, I don't call him anything but Yuki..... but Kyou is just so cute~!! *L* It's now always either "Kyon-kyon" or "Kyoukichi"~! *sweatdrops* I seem to be picking up a lot of Ayame's speech patterns..... ^____^

But yes, furuba is a gorgeous series~!! Me very much wanting the dvd box set at the moment *L* Now I just gotta find the cash for it... *sweatdrops* oi oi...

Also started watching .hack//Sign... First impression was that it was a weird series. I love the opening... the ending, for some bizaar reason, has me thinking about "Kaze no Uta" from the Hunter x Hunter first ending -- and let's just say that that ending has me shuddering every time I hear it ^^;;; But 'tis not a bad song, so I guess I can tolerate it.

The animation style reminds me distinctly of Evangelion... dunno... maybe it's done by the same company, but the styles are definitely similar, if not identical... Plot-wise, after six episodes, I'm still going "HUH?!" as to the overall plotline of the series. I get the things that come up at face-value, but the finer points such as "the Key of the Twilight" get lost on me.... I think it's gonna turn out to be one of those animes that you have to watch twice because the whole key to the plot is gonna be revealed somewhere towards the end of the series, which makes you have to watch it again just so you can point at a specific place and go "ahh... that's what they meant". In this respect, the plot's making it just a slight notch above Lain... which therefore makes it at least watchable... ^^;;

Character-wise, Subaru has me cringing because this one and the one that I'm so used to drooling after is SO DIFFERENT that every time they say "Subaru-sama" I have to cringe ^^;; Sora pisses me off for a number of reasons, being the not-so-blatant-but-still-tangible feminist that I am *sheepish grin* Picked out Hiramatsu Akiko's voice as BT's as soon as she spoke ^_^ reminded me so much of Fuuko ^_______^ *huggles Flame of Recca dvd box set* And definitely picked out Miki Shinichirou's voice as Klim after two sentences *L*

Oh and I also picked out Ueda Yuuji as the annoying school president in furuba episode 13 (that ep was hilarious btw!!! *L*) ^^;;; and also Seki Toshihiko as Momiji's dad in ep 14. Yes, I am obsessed... *LOL*

So yes, .hack//Sign... overall, not very impressive at the start, although this may change in the future... but for now, at least watchable... ^^;; which is more than I can say for Lain...

On the issue of conspiracy theories, I have to say that whoever's thinking them up has a lot of free time on their hands. I'll concede that the refereeing in this World Cup has been pretty atrocious, what with bad offside calls, inappropriate red cards and so on and so forth. But the point is that this is a wide-spread problem. It does not center, and certainly does not favour, any specific team.

The most obvious example of this would be Brazil. In the Belgium game, Wilmots scored a goal against Brazil which was disallowed. From the replay, there was no indication of the reason for this disallowance, so conspiracy theorists might suggest that Brazil was being favoured by FIFA. But then in the match against England, Ronaldinho was sent off with a red card for what was clearly, in the replay, not an action intended to inflict injury to the English player. So then is FIFA stil favouring Brazil? By sending off the player that effectively won the game for Brazil and suspending him for a semi-final clash against Turkey? I think not.

Others might feel that the Koreans are getting favoured by FIFA because they are a host nation and that they wouldn't have gotten this far otherwise. Now, I need to point out that Korea is a co-host nation. If FIFA was honestly favouring the host nations, we'd be seeing Japan still progressing through the tournament. So is FIFA then involved in a conspiracy theory that favours Korea above the other co-host Japan? And if, in the one in a trillion chance, this is true, then why is it that we don't hear the Japanese screaming conspiracy theories?

Having watched all the games, I challenge anyone to say that Korea did not play their hearts out. There are a myriad of reasons why the bigger European nations have not done too well in this World Cup as the dates were brought forward and the players are probably still fatigued from playing so many games for their individual clubs beforehand. But this is no reason to yell conspiracy theories.

Yes, the refereeing needs to be looked at -- with the possibility of video-evidence. But it's clear that this is a problem across the board. I still laugh at anyone who screams conspiracy theories at me. And the fact that an Italian TV company is considering suing FIFA for the loss they'll sustain from not having Italy in the quater/semi-final and final that they broadcast is an absolute JOKE! Are they so arrogant as to presume that Italy would 100% get into the final?

So yes, this has been my little take on the World Cup so far... needless to say, there'll probably be more as we wind down to the last few days...

Meanwhile, I'm going to get off this topic and go back to staring at Subaru-kun ^_^

The verdict?

Screw the Seals man, I'm rooting completely for the Angels now!! *LOL* The only good thing about the Seals up until this point in time has been Subaru. Sure, Sora-chan is cute and Kamui looks pretty, but they have nothing on the likes of Fuuma and Sei-kun and Yuuto-san... But now that Subaru's officially defected... *WIDE grin*

As much as I hate the fact that Sei-kun is dead, Sakurazukamori!Subaru is, in my opinion, THE most droolable thing on the face of the planet!!! *is attempting not to scream and wake up the entire house at 3am* That hair... that brooding expression... those CLOTHES~!!!! *drools* Me will now proceed to melt into a happy puddle of Shikami-goo...

I swear I love this series... And the movie is oh so good~~!!! The CG effects were DAMN perfect!! *giggles* And now I see what people mean by the Gojyo shower scene and then spending at least half the movie shirtless *L* There definitely is not enough space here for me to sing praises one by one, so suffice it to say that if you're a Saiyuki fan, you absolutely NEED to watch this...

I got a shock when I heard Gou Dougan's voice the first time... I was like: "Oh god... don't tell me that was Okiayu Ryuutarou... please don't tell me that's Okiayu Ryuutarou..." After a few more sentences... me: *cringing* "That was Okiayu Ryuutarou... WHAT DID THEY DO TO HIS VOICE?!?!?!!!" ^^;;; While I'm not of the opinion that his voice is liquid sex *LOL* like some people, I do think that his is one of the smoothest deep voices you'll find in the seiyuu business ^_^ along with Koyasu Takehito and Hayami Shou.... So when you actually hear him do a hentai yarou like Gou Dougan, I seriously cringe.... It's painful.... Although that's not to say that he doesn't play the role perfectly... he does... but it's just that the concept is painful... Although I s'pose if they could do thinks like Sakano and Tanaka to Koyasu Takehito, they can do it to Okiayu Ryuutarou... *cringe* But still~!!

Amusingly enough, despite the fact that I don't particularly like Yajima Akiko, she is one of the few female seiyuus that I can pick out first time 'round ^^;;; Picked her out yet again the in movie ^_^ And as much as I'm trying, I still can't pick out Morikawa Toshiyuki... *pouts* Of course, he only played one of the youkais and I've only watched it twice.... must watch it more and pick out Morikawa Toshiyuki's voice!! *nodnod*

And while we're on the topic of Saiyuki, I need to mention that when I was working at my anime supplier, I happened to recommend someone to watch Saiyuki and she refused coz she didn't like the way the artwork was done. That's fine and all, I don't particularly begrudge someone for not liking something because of its artwork... Me, personally, I don't really have any compulsion at all to read Garasu no Kamen simply because of its artwork... I'm not a fan of a lot of the older styles, especially 70s/80s hairstyles as in the original Bubblegum Crisis. But for all the people out there who don't know why us Saiyuki fans gush about the bishounen in Saiyuki so much when you think that the artwork is so bad, I'd just like to say: you very much get used to it.

When I first saw Saiyuki, I wasn't much impressed with the art either. But it definitely grows on you. An important thing to note in the style that Minekura Kazuya draws in and another mangaka such as CLAMP, is that they aim for different things. In CLAMP artwork, you know to look for perfection: delicacy, smooth curves, fluffy detailed hair, pointed noses, beautiful liquid eyes and so on and so forth. It's their style and it is definitely one of the reasons why CLAMP artwork is to die for... *L* or at least drool for.... With Minekura Kayuza artwork, the style is different. It's rougher, it's not meant to portray the delicate perfection that are inherent in a lot of shoujo manga styles. It's technically more reminiscent of a shounen art style, despite being (I think *L*) a shoujo manga/anime.

The best way I could think to describe the two is like voices. CLAMP's style would be some thing like Sakurai Takahiro's (yes, I'm still listening to Love Breaks *L*) or Hayami Shou's. Very smooth and easy on the eyes. It flows, and your eyes just flow from one smooth line to another. It's addictive and it just makes you wanna melt in your seat *L* isn't that why so many of us are obsessed with CLAMP bishounen? *grins* Minekura Kazuya's however would be some thing like Seki Tomokazu's when he did Souma Kyou from FruBa... It's rough and tumble, and it goes for shock value. Everytime you see it, it's like a slap in the face (in the nicest way possible ^^;;) in that your eyes can't flow from line to line, they're just simply presented with the whole picture as it is.

So anyways, enough of my attempts at a metaphoric explanation *L* In short, they're two distinctly different styles. The way Minekura Kazuya's just makes instantaneous impact with your line of vision may be what turns some people off. As soon as you're presented with it, it's one of those styles that you either love or hate and nothing can convince you otherwise *L* But like I said, give it a second chance, and it'll grow on you.... and if I had to make yet another distinction between CLAMP art and Minekura art in one word, I'd say that CLAMP's art is sensual, but Minekura's is sexual ^______^ Me? I love both!! *L*

So yeah... that's gonna be the end of my rant for today... just had to get that off my chest *L*

Like it says over in the column on the left, this layout was actually designed to match the winamp skin, not the other way around as it usually is nowadays. This picture was DEFINITELY much too yummy to pass up as layout fodder. "Affinity" is titled for the special *coughs* relationship *snickers* that Kamui and Fuuma share... ^_^ It's always the one word that comes to my mind when I think of the two of them, and it's appropriate for them on so many different levels *grins*

"Kono yo no hatetemo hanarenai..." comes from the theme song for v2.3 "One" by Daybreak, from the first ending of Ayashi no Ceres -- the proper title for that song would be "One ~ kono yo no hatetemo hanarenai" -- which effectively means something like "even if the world ends, I'm never letting you go" ^_^ the image phrase for v2.3 and again so appropriate for both Kamui and Fuuma on so many different levels... *snickers* Although for Fuuma, the meaning may be entirely different to Kamui's interpretation..... *evil laughter*

So yes, am loving this layout, am loving the combo on my desktop at the moment and am SO loving Fuuma and Kamui~~~~~!! *LOL* Just do beware that the next layout won't be so nice.... ^________^

Meanwhile, me is now in the middle of watching FruBa~~~~~~~!!! Started and finished up to ep 12 yesterday ^_^ 'Tis GOOD~~~~~~~!!!! From what I've seen of it, it's a gorgeous series! Lighthearted and very good for a laugh *giggles* Though I s'pose it'll develop a more substantial underlying plot once we get the evil Akito onto the scene ^_^

The art work's not first rate -- at least in my book -- but good nonetheless... But I swear Yuki looks like a girl ^^;;; or was that intentional?? *L* And with his voice done by Hisakawa Aya, it's difficult not to think he's a girl when he speaks sometimes. And another thing I'm loving about this series: the seiyuus~~~~~!!! Horie Yui as Tohru, Hisakawa Aya as Yuki, Seki Tomokazu as Kyou, Okiayu Ryuutarou as Shigure, Inoue Kazuhiko as Hatori.... waaiii~~~!! so many recognizable seiyuus!!

And the whole Seki Tomokazu as Kyou thing *L* It's such a change from the "Yukiiiiiiii!!!" I'm used to from Shuuichi from Gravitation -- also played by Seki Tomokazu *LMAO* I mean, we've gone from "Yukiiiiiii!!!!" in this almost disgustingly cute voice to "Kuso Yuki" in a rough and tumble tone ^___________^ It's just such a paradox!! And Seki Tomokazu is just SO DAMN talented!! And Shigure is just CUTE!! Even if he is a sukebe oyaji *snickers*

Hatori's story is very very very sad *sniffles* And Akito in that reminds me of what whattaface did to Kurei from Recca... *glares at Akito* Meanie!! And I refuse to believe that Momiji is 15!! *gapes* I swear, the kid acts like he's in g-damned kindergarten!!! Too damn cute for his own good *L* And Kagura reminds me of Akane *snickers* and then there's Hatsuharu... that first scene with him when you see him flip his coat and step onto his bike with his biker gloves, you think: "whoa, cool guy on a motorbike" and then you figure out that he's on a bicycle instead!! *LOL* That's just hilarious... but he's still cool... and I laughed my head off when he actually turned into the cow *LMAO* you'd think that with his personality he'd turn into something a lot more aggressive than a dairy cow *snickers* though with his "white Haru" and "black Haru" personality, I probably should have guessed *LOL*

And then there's the "baka neko" and "kuso nezumi" arguments~~~~~~!! Waaiiii~~~~~~!! *dances* Me like this series very very VERY much!! Need to finish it soon ^_____________^

And just for curiosity's sake, I wanna state that I can't see Tohru in a pairing with anyone in the Juunishi unless it's with both Yuki and Kyou... yes people, I said BOTH *LOL* This has become yet another of the inseparable love triangles that are just better off all together *L* Like Hikaru and Lantis and Eagle from MKR... And let's not mention how cute they both are when they're worried for Tohru or trying not to be jealous *LOL* Kawaii~~~~~~~~!!

Very much loving FruBa at the moment!! ^_^ Need to finish....

And just before I go, while on the subject of very much loving something... I've said it once and I'll say it again: Pretear's Sasame has a DAMN smooth voice!! Listening to his image song "Love Breaks" on repeat at the moment.... and trust me, I could melt right here in my seat.... *drools* What a voice!! Sakurai Takahiro will definitely be added to my fav seiyuus list!! *WIDE grin*

And now I shall go before I become completely incoherent from listening to Sasame's voice.... and my fingers are freezing and I need to be up early tomorrow so I can make it into the city to shop for my friend's 18th b'day presents....