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. ^^;

Today I skimmed through the first 2 chapters of Akaboshi (a new Shounen Jump manga based on Shui Hu Zhuan, or Water Margin) and suddenly felt like reading the original Chinese novel. I must confess that even though I find the Chinese culture truly amazing, I really don't know much about Chinese literature. This needs to be fixed. I've read the first part of Journey to the West, but that's it. I'm also really interested in Dream of the Red Chamber.

So, about the whole thing with Lambda Literary Awards (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6): this, I think, is my favorite post on the subject. It's an adequate and intelligent analysis of the problem, and I applaud the author for her great work. I don't have much to add to it. I keep failing to log in for some mysterious reason, so, alas, I can't thank her personally, but yeah, I sincerely appreciate it. To me, the most important part of the linked essay is the one that explains the academic meaning of the term LGBT literature; I believe that we need to keep it in mind when we approach the issue.

I'm going to start reading Flowers for Algernon tonight. Judging by the summary, it must be interesting.

Wow, Sasameki Koto is really great, very funny and adorable! It's different from Aoi Hana, but both stories are wonderful in their own ways. My favorite character in Sasameki Koto is Ushio Kazama, she's so funny. ^^ As for Kimi ni Todoke, hmm... while it's certainly cute, I honestly don't know where the plot is going to go. The first two chapters reveal that the protagonists clearly like each other a lot, they just haven't confessed yet (Sawako in particular seems to be unaware of her own true feelings), so they simply need to get together? Oh, and Sawako's personal aim is to become more open and social. It might work well, and I guess it's popular among shoujo readers for a reason, but... argh, I dunno. It hasn't grabbed me yet. I'm not concerned about the characters' futures. I don't hate it, it just doesn't feel dramatic enough, and Sawako's similarity to Sadako doesn't sound like a convincing problem to me. Sure, people get bullied and ostracized for the most ridiculous reasons - trust me, I know that from my own experience, but perhaps Sawako's situation is simply not too well-written. Um, I apologize in advance if you like Kimi ni Todoke. ^^;;; I want to like it, I'm generally quite fond of mild, slow-paced slice-of-life stories, so I will give it a chance. It's quite possible that I'm in the mood for some epic shoujo tragedy at the moment, and Kimi ni Todoke can't deliver that by definition.

So what are you planning to watch in the autumn season? Here's a list of new anime. I'm definitely interested in Sasameki Koto, which is a yuri series; I've already started reading the manga, and it seems good. Since Aoi Hana is going to end pretty soon, I'll need something else from this genre... I'm also curious about Kimi ni Todoke because it's a shoujo story with references to Sadako from Ring (I'm a big fan of Sadako-san *.* I even own all Ring books). ^^;;; I won't necessarily fall in love with it, but I must check it out. Winter Sonata sounds promising because it's an anime adaptation of a Korean TV drama, and while I don't watch dramas, I'm somewhat fond of Korean movies in general. Is it just me or do Koreans really have a thing for bittersweet stories? Sangoku Engi might be good - sadly, I'm not familiar with the original Chinese novel. And Yumeiro Pâtissière will most likely be a story for younger girls, but... I'm a big old dork who likes cute Ribon manga. ^^;;; Though I'm afraid I won't follow all of these anime anyway, I'm seriously bad at focusing on things. ;;; I'll simply pick the best ones and stick to them.

So how are you, folks? I'm searching for freelance job offers (somewhat desperately because most of my skills are useless ;;; and nobody needs people like me) and reading The Flower of Evil, a Korean manhwa about incest. It seems interesting so far, very dramatic and twisted, though I guess I can't recommend it to people who are seriously squicked by incest - the heroine is extremely obsessed with her brother and their relationship is quite dark. I like creepy love stories, so it doesn't bother me at all - rather, I find it absolutely fascinating. And the artwork is pretty, too. Oh, and the title is a reference to Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal, which is awesome in itself.

I've just finished reading This is Your Life by John O'Farrell. I have a good sense of humor, but I rarely laugh out loud while reading (it's not even because I don't find most books funny enough, I'm just... not very expressive by nature; my online self is much more open and emotional than my offline self); this book, however, made me giggle several times. The ending felt a bit corny, to be honest, but aside from that, there were many great, amusing moments and twists.

My friends took me out to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yesterday. I'm not a huge fan of the books, but I like watching stuff on big screen, and Harry Potter movies are usually full of cool special effects, and... yeah, it's just fun. See how shallow I am. Um, the movie was alright, I guess? I loved Luna! She's one of the few characters I honestly care for in the books (along with Draco and Bellatrix), and her actress is wonderful, very sweet and natural, maybe a bit too pretty for Luna, but I certainly don't mind that because, hey, I like beautiful girls. I'll have to see the 5th movie now, too, just for Luna's sake - I haven't watched it yet. Lavender was adorable, too. Hermione's fit of jealousy squicked the hell out of me, for highly personal reasons. Harry and Ginny's kiss felt... different. I mean, wasn't it... public in the book (sorry, there are many details of the plot that I don't remember well)? o.o; Oh well. Bellatrix and Draco were awesome. I think I'll watch it at least one more time.

Yesterday I saw the first part of the Les Misérables movie with Lino Ventura. It was very good! I didn't watch the second part because it was too late and I wanted to sleep, but overall, I enjoyed it greatly. Les Misérables is one of my all-time favorite books, and I like Jean Valjean very much, although my favorite character is Javert (which... is probably not surprising, I have a thing for characters who are somewhat crazy about law and order - just look at Teru ^^;;;). I think that Jean Valjean is the best person in the novel, along with bishop Myriel, who is pretty much a saint, but Javert is the one I personally like more than anyone else in the book.

I downloaded a DVD rip of Twilight from our local P2P network and watched it during supper. Hey, I had to relax after several hours of freelance work! The movie was... slightly more entertaining than the book. Edward and Bella's interaction felt awkward and some scenes creeped me out majorly, but overall, it was... amusing? And I liked Alice. She was pretty and rather charming. Heh, I have a feeling that most people like Alice even if they aren't exactly crazy about Twilight in general. Oh, and I... loved the woods around Forks. I'd like to take a walk at such a place (...not with Edward though; his sparkly skin makes me think of various icky diseases and... not sex, sorry). We have woods here where I live, too, but they're different, and what's worse, they're getting cut down... =.=; but that's a whole another story, I'll rant about it later. Hmm... now I want to work on my original vampire stories again. I don't read that much vampire fiction (I only really like Vampire Knight and Dracula, as well as various movie adaptations of Dracula, preferably parodies), but I do love vampires as mythological creatures, and my own stories... well, I'm not planning to write them down anytime soon, but they're just fun to think about. By the way, my vampires are not undead humans; they're a different species, so you can't get turned into a vampire in my universe.

I saw episode 1 of Umi Monogatari today and enjoyed it quite a bit. Perhaps I'll follow this series - it's not extraordinarily deep, but it's funny and well-drawn, and Kanon, the human protagonist, is very cynical and sarcastic unlike most normal shoujo heroines (Marin, the mermaid, is more like an ordinary shoujo character); she also appears to be depressed due to her failed relationship with a boy. Urin, Marin's younger sister, also provides many comic moments and lines. Anyway, it seems like a watchable magical girl series, even though Kanon doesn't get to use any supernatural powers in episode 1 - I guess episode 2 will be more action-packed, and judging by the preview, an antagonist will be introduced. Oh, and I like the ED, which is based on The Little Mermaid. ^^

Last night I read Dernières Lueurs Avant la Nuit by Serge Brussolo. It was... uh, interesting. I won't recommend it to those who are easily squicked though, since it contains things like really twisted child abuse and other stuff that might be difficult for some people to handle. But check it out if you're in the mood for something... dark and not strictly optimistic. Personally, I don't know how to feel about it because I'm not sure whether it's supposed to have A Point™ or it's just the author's exercise in creepiness (not that I don't like pure horror without subtext, I do, but only when it has monsters). I suspect that the author doesn't really believe in humanity because all of his characters seem to be at least slightly wrong in the heads. Oh well. I did finish the book very quickly, so it obviously was... thrilling enough.

If you're interested in unique books and African spirituality, try to find Ben Okri's The Famished Road. It's a fantastic, surreal novel based on the concept of abiku from the Yoruba mythology. I can't really retell the plot because it's too complex, but here's a nice review that explains some things well.

Many of you probably remember RaceFail-09; well, here's the next part of the epic literary debacle, MammothFail-09. This time it involves famous sci-fi and fantasy writers, such as Patricia Wrede and Lois McMaster Bujold, whose names are familiar even to me (and I'm generally not very interested in their main genres). I won't summarize the whole story here, just follow the links and read it all. I'll tell you the truth though, it's as painful and embarrassing to read as any other heated race-related discussion. And I honestly don't like Wrede's plot at all. I'm rather fond of historical AUs, but Wrede's idea strikes me as an example of lazy writing simply because of how she describes it. This is not how you approach such themes. It's not how you're supposed to deal with the existing historical context - and people. Real people, your readers and fellow Americans. I do believe that it's possible to write a decent, non-offensive story about the American continent without the indigenous nations (...if you try hard enough), but you can't approach this kind of task carelessly. I'm afraid I can't argue adequately about this, I'm still processing the enormous amount of information about the whole issue, but... yeah. To all POC who may be reading this: I don't take such matters lightly. I'm a clueless white chick from a mostly-white society and I sound awkward sometimes, and I KNOW that educating me is not your job at all, but I'm always willing to shut up and listen. So that's what I'll do now.

So who's going to watch the new X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie? I don't know much about the X-Men universe (it's... way too big and complex and many comics are impossible to find here, although I'm slightly familiar with Sabretooth thanks to a certain Russian artist that I like), but I'm sort of interested in it. Besides, wolverines are awesome animals, very aggressive and extremely strong for their size, so a character who's named like that has to be at least somewhat cool. ^^; But really... American comic universes are hard for me to get into because they're so large and there are many incarnations of the same characters drawn by different artists. Manga universes are generally simpler, even if they have sequels and prequels and such. Speaking of that... I'll probably start reading Saiyuki sometime soon. I know the original Journey to the West novel (well, partially) and I'm curious about Minekura-sensei's interpretation.

...I've finished Victorian Romance Emma (the main story; I haven't found the side stories yet)! ^^; Why, yes, I AM a fast reader. It's all thanks to our Foreign Literature teachers and their courses. Well, I've always been like that, in fact. If a book is truly interesting, I can devour it in a very short period. I guess it says something about the quality of Victorian Romance Emma! I won't spoil you though, just find the manga and read it. It has an amazing cast of complex characters and the artwork is stunning - Mori-sensei is a genius of hatching! I also love the way she structures her manga pages - they may look simple at first, but there's something... classy about her drawing manner. Oh, and I must admit that Hakim is hot. ^^ Her latest work, Otoyomegatari, is even more gorgeous than Victorian Romance Emma. There are only 3 chapters available in English since it's a new manga, but I'm already addicted. The plot is fairly unusual. ( SUMMARY ) Argh, I want the next chapter to come out soon! >.<;

Aoki-san wears reading glasses. *ω* MOE. And... haha, Shujin thinks that her manga is a bit like Harry Potter? Nah, it doesn't seem so to me. As for her personality... I dunno, I find her arrogance and critical attitude amusing. And Fukuda isn't exactly humble or polite either, but nobody is bothered by HIS behavior. >.>; Don't get me wrong, I like Fukuda a lot, I just don't think that Aoki is much worse than him. In fact, it'd be easier for me to get along with her in real life. Well, to each their own. ALSO, EIJI, YOU ROCK. ♥ ♥ ♥

Today we met at Kotodama's place and spent some time digging an old bookcase out of snow. ...DON'T ASK. MY LIFE IS SURREAL LIKE THAT. ^^;;; But it was... fun, although I destroyed my gloves. Also, Kito brought me volume 2 of Baku-man and an English copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. I adore that book, it's one of my absolute all-time favorites, but I've never read it in English. About Baku-man... guess what, one of Ohba-sensei's side notes says that his editors like Azuki and Miyoshi, but Ohba-sensei himself likes Iwase. HA. Of course, she's the best. ♥ M-maybe it means that he likes Kiyomi, too? ;o; At least a little?

RULES: Comment on this post and I will give you 5 subjects I associate you with. Then post this in your journal and elaborate on the subjects given. ( MEME )