As you probably know, I have a thing for magical girls, possibly because most classic magical girls are so different from myself. ^^; My old all-time favorite is Pretty Soldier Sailormoon (I also like the original Sailor V series!), my newest obsession is Umi Monogatari and right now I'm downloading Kamichama Karin and Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch. What a title, guys. What a title. ^^;;; Now that I'm done with the super-dramatic Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 - which, by the way, is really damn amazing! - my brain needs something cute and light-hearted. Well, to be fair, stories about magical girls can also be dramatic, but at least they can rely on magic... Hmm. I also need to re-read Sailor V. I like Minako.

I'm watching Tokyo Magnitude 8.0! I didn't download it back when it appeared for the first time, probably due to some technical reasons, but now I have the whole series in a convenient format, with subs. It's definitely my type of anime. Very much so. It's a dark, realistic drama with interesting, complex characters. I already know some major spoilers, but that's because I almost always read spoilers for bloody films and anime (in order to be able to avoid squicky and triggery stuff... I'm hyper-sensitive like that ;;;). That, however, doesn't make the story less enjoyable for me. Well, okay, maybe not enjoyable but... exciting? I'm REALLY afraid of earthquakes, so it's not exactly a feel-good series for me. Still, it's excellent. Give it a try if you're looking for something great.

What's your opinion on Adobe Photoshop CS3? I know many artists who like it, and while I never really draw or color my pictures in Adobe Photoshop programs (I only use them to edit stuff, apply text and such), I'm slightly curious about it.

Today we saw episode 1 of Urusei Yatsura, Rumiko Takahashi-sensei's classic love comedy. It was pretty good, silly but rather funny. ^^ I think I understand why Lum is one of the most popular Magical Girlfriends™ out there.

Aoki-san was so cute in this chapter. *Δ* ♥ ♥ ♥ Her inner monologues really made me squee. She might seem aloof and cold sometimes, but deep inside, she's a pure and sensitive girl. Oh man... I'm both pleased and worried. I'm not sure whether I want her to fall in love with Akito or not because I don't want her to get rejected. ;-; NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO HURT HER. NOBODY. Well, I'm also concerned about Iwase for the same reason, but Iwase's chances are so low... while Aoki-san's romance with Akito doesn't seem entirely impossible. They have this kind of chemistry, and they seem to be honestly interested in each other, and they actually have something to talk about. I admit, I do have problems with Akito's attitude towards girls in general, but heck, this might be a chance for him to grow up. And really, no matter what happens, I just want Aoki-san to be happy. And Iwase, too. Iwase may be arrogant and elitist, BUT SHE IS MY BELOVED AIKO-TAN. ;o; ♥ Miyoshi's jealousy annoys me though... I mean, I KNOW that technically, she has some reasons to be jealous, but... argh, it's a very personal issue. Iwase's jealousy is easier for me to deal with because she's more reserved, haha. DOUBLE STANDARDS YAY. I'm totally not objective and I don't want to be.

I've just finished Yu Yu Hakusho. Don't look at me like that... ^^; today is a national holiday, so I don't have to work or anything, and I'm a pretty fast reader. Anyway, Yu Yu Hakusho is very good! It's not as amazing as Hunter x Hunter, simply because Hunter x Hunter is more mature and has a better plot (in my opinion), but Yu Yu Hakusho has a nice cast of characters and many great scenes. My favorites are Hiei, Kuwabara, Itsuki, Yukina and Mukuro, and as you can easily guess, I also ship Hiei x Mukuro and Kuwabara x Yukina. HIEI HIEI HIEI ♥ okay, can you tell he's my type? As for the super popular Kurama x Hiei pairing... I dunno, I just don't see it. To me, they're comrades, not lovers. It's as if... there's no real chemistry between them? Though it doesn't mean that I can't enjoy Kurama x Hiei fanart and doujinshi... Hiei looks so adorable as a tsundere!uke. >ω< ♥ Especially when he's with seme!Youko-sama. My BL OTP is the dark and twisted Sensui x Itsuki pairing, and I adore their image song, Eien no Requiem. There's something beautiful about them.

Last Sunday I saw the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho at our anime club and today I read the first volume of the manga. Heh... even though it's a classic shounen manga and also a favorite series of many BL fans, thanks to Hiei and Kurama, I'm still completely new to it. ^^; But I've heard a lot about it, mostly good stuff, and I'm a big fan of Yoshihiro Togashi-sensei's other work, Hunter x Hunter (I'm eternally in love with the Zaoldyeck family and Genei Ryodan ♥). Yu Yu Hakusho looks interesting so far! Just like Hunter x Hunter, it has lots of funny scenes and touching, emotional scenes. Really, Togashi-sensei is a great writer. I can't wait to meet Hiei. ^^

I need screentones. Lots and lots of screentones. I guess it's time to learn how to make them myself.

I really need the raws of Hoshi wa Utau (chapters 37, 38 and 44). ;-; The most recent installments seem to have quite a bit of Kanade x Sakuya content, and I like Kanade x Sakuya - I'm rooting for them and Chihiro x Sakura. I'd also like to mention another interesting comic, Dear My Girls (available here), a Korean manhwa loosely based on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Dear My Girls features Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in a Victorian private school setting, and Beth is strikingly different from her novel prototype. Unlike Alcott's pure and innocent Beth, this Beth has a somewhat dark personality and is bitterly jealous of her talented, charismatic sisters. I'm rather fond of such alternate interpretations of classic novels. And I honestly think that Beth is the prettiest in the manhwa version. ^^;

Chapter 60 made me extremely happy because my beloved Aiko Iwase reappeared in it and had a short talk with Aoki-san. ♥ I'm super glad to know that she's doing fine, and that she's an award-winning young writer and a Literature major. Ha! Take that, Akito! It's also interesting how she resembles Kiyomi from Death Note - their appearances and dressing styles are very similar, both are students at the Tokyo University... and some guys seem to believe that Aiko should be Miss Touou. I totally agree. Again, like Kiyomi. Well, to be fair, Aiko isn't interested in this title (...or so she says), but that's another question. The point is that there are many parallels between her and Kiyomi's lives. It's as if Kiyomi is alive again, in a different world... ;o; ♥ I can dream, can't I? Although I do like Aiko as an independent character, too. So does Ohba-sensei, apparently. Ha. Of course. I'm also curious about Akito's possible future relationship with Aoki-san. This will make Miyoshi jealous, and a jealous Miyoshi can be dangerous. @.@; Last but not least, I'm kinda happy that Aoki-san doesn't really want to talk to Nakai - it doesn't look like she's secretly in love with him or anything. Not yet. She's just honestly focused on her work. Understandably enough, she isn't too fond of Yamahisa either.

I'd like to recommend FWD/Forward, a blog focused on and written by feminists with disabilities. It's a great and highly important resource, so please check it out.

Volume 5 of Baku-man will be released on November 4! The cover features Fukuda and his gang. ^^ It's really funny... and I can totally relate to Fukuda's anger and anguish. ^^;;; I rarely work with traditional ink these days because I ink everything in Paint Tool SAI, but I remember the pain of seeing an ugly blotch on your drawing... ;o; Hehe. And because I'll get paid for my translation work very soon, I'll be able to buy it without problems. Hmm... you know, I actually enjoy working as a freelance translator. I mean, I wouldn't want all of my jobs to be freelance, I DO need a regular job in order to feel safe, but it's still nice. Well, ideally, I'd like to be a cat or a panda in a zoo. Much like Hiramaru. ^^;;; Incidentally, I want volume 6 to have Hiramaru on it! Or maybe Aoki. Or both.

Hmm, apparently, Kanade actually has some musical education and experience. I like that. I adore Kahoko, but I do want to see someone who KNOWS how to play the violin, too.

Another thing I need to talk about is the new La Corda d'Oro game that Koei is planning to release sometime soon. I haven't even played the original games yet, due to various technical difficulties, but I'm actually very excited about this, especially since it's not a direct sequel but a new story with a new set of characters. You can see some pictures here. I'm very interested in Ritsu Kisaragi, the serious-looking guy with glasses. >.>; I'm shallow and predictable, I know, but... for me, he's the hottest of the bunch. Kanade Kohinata, the heroine, is also lovely. Gah, I want them to make an official manga adaptation of this... I know that Kure-sensei is not done with the original La Corda d'Oro manga yet, and it's not like I want it to end sooner for the sequel's sake, b-but... I'm kinda shipping Ritsu x Kanade already even though there's nothing to ship at the moment. o.o; They're just so pretty, I can't help it, and Kanade has the cutest smile. As usual, Kure-sensei's designs are excellent.

Chapter 55 is out! \^^/ As usual, I've got lots to talk about, such as the fact that Ouri-sama is apparently Sara's fiance. I'm very curious about him now, since he, in Sara's own words, treats her as a little girl. Does he look like a mature man or is he a pretty-looking guy (who only seems young)? I'm also glad that Takuma doesn't act like Sara's brainwashed doll: his mind is fully intact and he honestly likes her, even though he's still her prisoner. ^^; Hehe, Vampire Knight is kinky like that. I'm not even particularly interested in Takuma, yet this is just lovely. Oh, and Yuuki is being awesome, if also somewhat reckless, again. I adore this girl so much. Her and her cute relationship with Yori-chan. This month's LaLa cover features Yuuki with Zero, and it's a very beautiful image - I'd like to get a textless version of it somewhere.

Yesterday I ate some Caesar salad with salmon for the first time (my friend and I ordered some Japanese food, including a Japanese-ish version of this famous salad). It was so good. *o* I love salads with so many different ingredients, and salmon is one of the tastiest types of fish in my opinion. ♥

I've started reading Fairy Tail! I probably won't have enough time or strength for the anime (though it's still early, so maybe I'll try to catch up with it sometime next week... I'm not sure), but the manga is quite enjoyable. I'm not even a huge fan of magic or fantasy in general, yet I do like the world of Fairy Tail so far, possibly because it has funny little things like magazines for wizards and such stuff, and the main characters, Lucy and Natsu, are pretty great. It seems to be very popular, too... and honestly, I do need another fandom that is not completely dead. >.>; So yeah.

Hahaha, Hiramaru has a good taste in women. It shows how similar we actually are. Now I want him to hook up with Aoki! ...though she doesn't seem to be interested in him (she probably doesn't even remember him in the first place). ;;; I don't want her to end up with Nakai. I doubt that she's in love with him, it doesn't seem so right now - I think she's just honestly interested in a guy's opinion because of her current work. I can't be sure about that, but... argh, I have no idea. In any case, I love her and her hidden emotional vulnerability. ♥ Miho's text messages crack me up as usual... and I love how Shujin wants to stay with Saiko forever, no matter what. ♥

I'd like to recommend this set of video clips to all artists and everyone else who's interested in manga. These are step-by-step records of Kaoru Mori-sensei's drawing process. Even if you're not a fan of Victorian Romance Emma and Otoyomegatari, you really need to watch these anyway because Mori-sensei's art is absolutely stunning. *Δ* She's like a goddess to me. Her inking skills are frighteningly good. I'd sell my soul for 10% of her talent. ;-; And... heh, I guess I won't stop wasting my money on manga after all because I want to buy volume 1 of Otoyomegatari, now that it's out. I just... want to keep it in my personal library as an example of What Good Manga Must Be Like™, along with Obata-sensei's works. Sure, it'll give me a gigantic inferiority complex (...as if I don't have it already ;;;), but still... it's simply so gorgeous. ;o; I really like the cover, too. Amira looks very graceful. ♥

My friend and I saw the first episode of Mahou Sensei Negima! yesterday... and surprisingly enough, I enjoyed it. As you probably know, I'm not a huge fan of harem anime or manga (unless it's something really... special like School Days or subtle and unique like Kure-nai), but I honestly want to read the Mahou Sensei Negima! manga now. I won't lie, I like the fact that it has SO. MANY. HOT. GIRLS. A whole class of gorgeous girls, to be more exact. And the protagonist, Negi, is not annoying at all, possibly because he's an innocent 10 year old boy and thus is not a pervert - heck, some of the girls are much more perverted than Negi will ever be. ^^; Basically, he's not a typical Harem Owner™. I do suspect that his relationship with Asuna is meant to be Potentially Canon™ since she acts like a total tsundere around him all the time, but right now Negi is simply too young for anything of that sort. Overall, it's quite amusing. Oh, and according to the rumors, there's strong yuri subtext between some girls, and, well. I can't miss that. >.>;