I’m feeling natsukashii (get it?).

Does anyone have ANY information on Garten from the now defunct Memento Anime Blog? I cant even find a cache of Memento. I’ll take ANYTHING.

He is my hero, and that will never change.

I doubt anyone ever comes here anymore, but this is the only place I could think of putting the link below. It’s a blog run by my Japanese friend. There’s not much to say about it. He’s a Japanese guy who really just cares. I wish I could make a difference, but I have nothing. It hasn’t even been a year since I’ve been to Japan but seeing as I’ve been so immersed in this culture, I cannot help but feel a strong connection.

I dunno, just wanted to place this link here.

http://pray4japanworld.blogspot.com/

So, it’s finally happening. You know how when you start to REALLY get into this anime stuffs and in a wave of passion you declare that you’re going to Japan only to have the reality of life smack you down? Yeah. Suck it, reality. For two weeks (may 14/15-28), I am gonna EFF UP JAPAN.

Now I’ve been out of country before (England) but I was a wee lad and I was with my family. This time, I’m all by myself. Problem with going by myself -and considering that it’s me- is that I’m pretty noobish to this traveling abroad thing. I have no idea what to do. So here I am, asking the community I once considered as close as a brother/sister -now you guys are more like a cousin- for some help.

What do I bring? Practical things like a plug adapter? Impractical things like my Aya Hirano photobook in case I randomly run into her? Do you have tips? Keep one of those lame ass traveler’s packs? Bring a credit card? I need to look up what traveler’s checks are. Where should I go? If you’ve been to Japan already, tell me things I should know!

Read the remainder of this entry »

I haven’t written a post in over a year. This blog is dead. To me and about 5 other people, we will look back on this website and think “Natsukashii~” (Get it? Because it’s the name AND the expression! THAT’S how clever I once was). Others will look back, and scoff, especially after that last attempt to be funny. I doubt don’t think anyone during my “time” (which I have deemed The Golden Age of ani-blogging) still blogs, either. Well, I can’t say “doubt” because I haven’t actually checked, but I think it’s a safe assumption. I also think it is okay to claim that I am officially an “oldbie” now. I don’t even know if Lolikit still blogs, and he’s the one who hosts me. What I DO know, is that my hero Garten doesn’t blog anymore. I always wanted to meet him, shake his hand, thank him, kidnap him, and have him tell me bed time stories… anything. Unfortunately, that stuff wont happen and  it seems I’m going off on a tangent already, so I’ll get to that in a bit. I need to set it all up first:

The other day, I was killing time before going out to dinner, so I decided to check up on Anime Nano. After skimming the first two pages, NOTHING was familiar to me. “How could that even be possible?”, I asked myself, but with more profanity and saying something entirely different (the idea is the same though). I used to check Anime News Network, Blogsuki, Animeblogger.net, Anime Nano, Tokyo Toshokan, and all these different blogs religiously. I would put aside at least an hour everyday to go through the works and catch up on the latest news and start downloading the “it” shows. I WAS AT THE TOP OF MY GAME. I KNEW WHAT EVERYONE WAS TALKING ABOUT. I WAS THE SHIT (hence the caps).

Now, I go to none of them, and recognize nothing (here, caps are only at the beginning of the sentence and proper nouns). Read the remainder of this entry »

So I’m supposed to be paying attention in class when my eyes wander across the large periodic table hung up on the auditorium walls and it just sticks out to me like a sore thumb. I cant believe I never noticed this:

I really should start paying more attention…

…that was until I read the recently translated chapter of Nana.  THEN the results ended in tears.  My boyfriend had the nerve to question my mental health!  Arse!  Okay so read chapter 78 and not be pissed….

I actually HAVE been away from civilised internet connections for quite some time, hence the lack of blogging activity, however I can’t reveal any details of my time away.  To do so would be a breach of national security in some random country you don’t care about…

Anyway, that aside.  I am back (and yes I pity all of you for having to put up with my dumb rants) and I need to blog like a maniac.  While I was away someone brainwashed me into liking Cat Street, and then they made a drama out of it… get ready to be inflicted by my fangirlisim.  AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE?!

I LOL now…  Love & Martinis,

Newt (New With Tags)

I didn’t go to NYAF, but I’ve watched about 5 minutes of the video of the anime blogging panel so far and all I gotta say is… NEEDS MOAR HUNG-HOSTING.

This doesn’t count: Clever, play on words, JPMEYER… “DAN-GO”…

Oh, the irony…

So I’m a bit pissed about the ending of Tetsuwan Birdy Decode which is a bit weird because I didn’t have any expectations going into this show, and while it was actually pretty good it’s not top 10 by any means. The reason why I’m pissed is perhaps a minor detail to some, or even a boon to the show to others but it really got under my skin.

I’m talking about the god damn piss poor cowardly cop out between Senkawa and Nagasuki. Memory loss? You have got to be f-.. did they just do that? What was the point of slowly building up their relationship and actually giving them some great chemistry if you’re just going to throw it all away in the end. It’s time to grow a pair and actually show some progression and development at the end of a show instead of this reset bullshit.

There’s a friending meme spreading around the Livejournal fangirl blogs where one lists down a series that she feel has a small fandom, and through the meme, eventually meets other like-minded individuals who also enjoy the anime/manga, thus making small fandom feel not-so small.

(Though, of course you have the one kid who puts down Code Geass as a “small fandom,” to the bemusement and confusion of all.)

Has this been important to you?  Is it important to you that there are a lot of other people who also like the same series as you do?

Having a Livejournal vs. an anime blog, the online community dynamics are remarkably different.  Through LJ, you can add a particular series on your “interests list” and discover other people who have put it down on their own profiles.  That’s not the case with the anime blogosphere, where it can take many pages of reading through someone’s blog (or archives) to really figure out if you have things in common. It’s easier to feel alone in the otakusphere, especially if you’re blogging about a series or a topic that isn’t on the radar of the average blogger.

When I used to write-up episodic summaries, I did feel somewhat weird that I would be the only person writing up Show X, when everybody else was writing about Show Y. (Granted, there were far less anime blogs then, but there I am sounding like an old fogey again.)  Was I so weird that my tastes only gravitated to shows that no one in their right mind would watch?

To be honest though, there’s a lot to be said for liking obscure things. Even this past Otakon, I met a couple of girls who were diehard Immortal Rain cosplayer/fans. When they realized that I had the only fansite devoted to the series, it was instant recognition. It definitely had the feeling of being in a secret club where you don’t even know who the other members are, but when you see each other, it’s almost like you’ve known each other forever. If you’re in a small fandom, you feel a greater solidarity with the other fans, who have probably felt just as isolated as you have, so knowing that you share this interest is the one way of reaching out.

So maybe it’s not so bad to admit that you like a series that only five people have read. I would even suggest writing and blogging so that you always end up as one of the first hits on any search engine, not just Google. Fans are created everyday, and what may have been a small fandom today may be tomorrow’s next big thing.

You know what I say to that? LAPE LAPE LAPE SETSUGAI SETSUGAI SE YOOOOO~

Okay, enough of that. I mean, how funny is this show? It’s literally IS laugh out loud funny.

I was first very skeptic about it at first, I admit. I had the OVA just chilling on my laptop for a long while and it was only when I saw the trailer for the live action DMC movie, I immediately had the urge to go check out the OVA. Add that to the fact that this is animated by Studio 4 [Degree] C, I thought this would just be another one of those weird messed up shows that just scares the crap out of me.

Okay, so this is show IS one of those weird messed up shows that scares the crap out of me. Huh. Go figure. Yet, I cant help but enjoy this show immensely. Could it be the fast pacing, the comedic timing, and/or the overall low budget animation? Whatever it is, I’m hooked and I look forward to the next episode… or half an episode, if you consider 23 minutes a full episode. POINT IS, IT’S KICK ASS.

Read the remainder of this entry »