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Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (or His and Her Circumstances) was the first shoujo I ever watched, and made me appreciate the genre so much that I veered away from limiting myself to mecha, arena-style fighting and other testosterone-filled anime titles. It was made by the same people who created Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gainax… but this one doesn’t have any robots or technological wonders in it, even though the angst is still there in some parts…

The Karekano series is undoubtedly funny, and the romance is more realistic than the tons of “loser guy gets liked by super beautiful girl(s) for no apparent reason”… More than half of the story takes place in school, which is a nice thing and has made me somewhat aware as to how some of Japan’s educational system works.

Having looked at some of the manga that inspired this work, this anime is almost a direct translation – even some of the iconic scenes are displayed almost verbatim, as well as the onscreen text. The use of SD characters in Karekano also adds to the enjoyment, as it displays comedic and ludicrous emotions across more effectively.

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The animation is obviously dated compared to the latest romance comedies that are now out. But a huge amount of creativity was used in depicting situations (a Gainax trademark, no doubt).

However, the animation at the latter part of the show (or rather, the lack of it), somewhat spoils the dynamic style that made this series very fun to watch. But I guess it’s all a matter of taste.

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Karekano has one of the best soundtracks in any anime I’ve watched. Each bit of music enhanced the scene they were played in. One of the few anime shows where I bought the OST after watching it. The effective use of music is also very nicely done, as funny moments become more funny and dramatic scenes become more enhanced. Very nice and catchy opening song, and a cute ending song. The 60s/70s style background music are bubbly and some of them almost makes you laugh upon hearing it rather than the dialogues themselves.

Also one of the few anime where I thought the English dubbing was excellent and, in my opinion, surpasses the already outstanding Japanese seiyuus in the series. Yukino MIyazawa, particularly, exudes more character and personality with the English dub.

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Buy Karekano from Amazon Now!

Although Karekano didn’t have a grand overreaching plot associated with it, except for the brief “boy meets girl” arc between Miyazawa and Arima, the show surprisingly shows a lot of heart in its storytelling. There was a perfect balance between comedy, romance and drama, and you end up involved in the show on a per-episode basis.

Each major character in the series ws fleshed out very well, from Miyazawa Yukino’s quest for ultimate adoration and subsequent acceptance of being normal, to Arima Souichiro’s angst-ridden past and unconscious quest to be perfect. Most of the secondary characters are also characterized very nicely.

The episode where the Miyazawa family was playing UNO together was an excellent example of how great character development was handled in a simple canvas. A stroke of genius.

The sidestories for the secondary characters were very well done, particularly the ones concerning Tsubasa, and especially the episode recounting how Miyazawa’s parents met. the flashback of how Yukino’s parents met, how it depicted Yukino’s parents’ first meeting and how they fell in love was very touching and memorable, and was the best episode I’ve seen for this series…

Along the end, however, the introduction of a new character does not help the show, especially when it had its wings clipped before it could even fly.

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Probably the biggest caveat I have about Karekano (as well as one of its biggest disappointments for many who have seen it) is that the story is largely unfinished by the time you get to the very last episode. It leaves you hanging precariously and doesn’t end up as satisfying as I’d hoped. This is due to the anime catching up to the manga and running out of meaningful stories to tell, as well as some type of management dispute over what direction the show should take…

Also, the constant use of “what has happened so far” before almost each episode can get very tiresome after the third time you view it. I had a funny feeling that those who made the show think that some of their viewers had A.D.D. or something, or perhaps it was a cheap way to stretch each episode to the appropriate length. Add to the fact that there is a full one-and-a-half episodes dedicated to recaps, it reduces the enjoyment of an otherwise very unique, enjoyable show.

Speaking of unfinished, the gradual degradation of show’s technical aspects affected the storytelling as well, especially the “14 days” arc. Running out of episodes to tell was hard, but I felt that the show’s creators could’ve taken a more graceful exit rather than aiming to begin a sidestory and ending the whole show abruptly, with no resolution.

If you want decent enjoyment and none of the annoyance, don’t bother watching the last few episodes that are part of the “14 days”. You’ll just get left hanging, and not in a good way.

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Karekano was a joy to watch over and over again. I still laugh at the same jokes sometimes. Notwithstanding the lackluster episodes at the end, Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou was an excellent addition to my anime collection, and primarily because it removed the blinders I had for the shoujo genre and allowed me to try out similar tales with a lotta heart and a lotta character.

All in all, a very good show. Very highly recommended for those who like romantic comedies that don’t deal with anything in space, with magic or with giant robots…

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Below is the complete first episode of the Karekano, english dubbed. Check it out and see if you like it (until Youtube decides to remove it, that is). You can get the His & Her Circumstances – TV Series Collection (5pc) on DVD on Amazon!

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Technorati: amazon, anime, dvd, gainax, jijou, kanojo, karekano, kareshi, no, review

So yesterday, I was ready to go to E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) at the Los Angeles Convention Center, but I left the house a bit too late.

And when I got there, I spent two hours circling the damn place looking for parking. Convention parking was fully packed, and all other potential parking spaces were taken. And the traffic was horrendous. The only “available” parking I found was this stupid little lot that charged a flat rate of $50! I was like “what the fuck!” And the funny thing is it was also decently packed as well. I guess if I had the dough to shell out I woulda allowed myself to be suckered into it.

So I just spent most of the day driving along Los Angeles, visiting Best Buy and CompUSA, and when I got home I watched DVDs (the remainder of Fushigi Yugi anime series). It was a good thing most of my DVDs I ordered a couple weeks ago arrived yesterday (Fushigi Yugi, RahXephon, Dual Parallel, Midori no Hibi, and Happy Lesson). I still haven’t received the El Hazard OVA series I won at eBay, but I’m counting on it tomorrow.

I also have some Netflix DVDs that I haven’t touched too much since Monday coz of the DVDs that arrived. One thing I can say though – Serial Experiments Lain is SO EFFIN BORING! After watching just the first disc, I’m tempted to return the remaining three coz I literally yawn while I’m watching it. That anime series is a tad overrated, I think.

Anyway, I’ll be leaving very early in the morning so that I can snatch some parking space at the convention center. I’ll post some pics that I take at E3 when I come back from the movie I’ll be watching later that day…

… and that movie is, of course, Star Wars Episode III! I reserved some tickets for the 7PM showing, so I’ll be heading straight there after E3. Opening day would probably be a bit bothersome coz of the guaranteed long lines, but coming to it after E3, I would already be used to it…

Technorati: center, convention, e3, electronic, entertainment, expo, fushigi, los angeles, parking, yugi

Yes, it’s that time of the week again.

It’s been a hot day althroughout, and my face feels like there are molasses sticking to it. It’s not that I don’t have anything to do today, it’s just that there are so few things I can do to pass the time that I’m having a bit of trouble trying to budget my time so that I can make all of it last until Monday.

As you can see, I’ve begun resurrecting the “Tagalog Word of the Day” thing. I figured that this will motivate me to post something everyday, and maybe educate the measly visitors who visit this site about the intricacies (or lack thereof) of the Tagalog dialect.

It’s still kinda sad that the tagalog word that was a big hit in the past was kulangot (which means “boogers”). But starting today I’ll post common Tagalog words instead of the usual obscure ones. Hey, I should at least teach ya how to say normal greetings first before I tell you what “scab” in Tagalog is…

After I make these two journal entries, I’ll be spending most of today reading a new manga series I “procured” online (thanks to torrents, no less). It’s a fun series called Ichigo 100% (ichigo in Japanese means “strawberries”). It’s a tale of a high school semi-loser whose life became more meaningful after a certain girl stumbled down in front of him and he caught a glimpse of her strawberry panties. Uhm, yeah, it sounds stupid, but it’s actually a nice read. Maybe not as over the top or as funny as the Love Hina manga, but so far it’s a page-turner, so to speak.

So anyway, I also have two anime DVDs on hand to watch either later tonight or tomorrow. They’re the last two discs for the Last Exile, and I hope they stave off the remainder of my weekend boredom.

I might plan to do some weekend driving tomorrow, and maybe get a haircut while I’m at it. And buy some groceries. And maybe check out which movie theater I’ll be watching Star Wars Episode III. Next week is gonna be a busy one due to E3, so I’ll be at the Los Angeles Convention Center for most of the week, and at a friend’s place for a LAN party by weekend.

Oh, and I gotta do the laundry, too… Come to think of it, with so many things to do this weekend, how can I be so fuckin’ bored…

Technorati: 100%, boredom, episode III, ichigo, star wars, weekend

This was a lesson I learned in the last couple of weeks as I tried to deal with Netflix’s annoying habit of sending my queued DVDs out of order (I’ll try to explain this in another journal entry).

Anyway, I had this little trouble of picking out the anime I would like to watch. Of course, the most popular ones are a no brainer (i.e. Evangelion, Tenchi Muyo, Cowboy Bebop, various Studio Ghibli productions, etc), but lesser known ones are what I always considered a hit-and-miss proposition. Granted, I could just easily visit any anime review site and look at the synopsis, but this has also worked against me on a few occassions, where seeing the synopsis turned me off that particular DVD.

So for some reason or another, I decided to queue up three series on Netflix – The Last Exile, Full Metal Panic, and Ninja Scroll TV series. I didn’t particularly read any reviews or synopsis for these DVDs, so I didn’t know what to expect. Well, that’s not exactly true – The Last Exile was ranked highly at AnimeNfo’s top 200 list, and a quick look at the plot was kinda interesting; Full Metal Panic had an interesting trailer in the extras section of a DVD I viewed recently, and even though it’s mecha, it had a unique premise so I thought why not; and Ninja Scroll is, well, Ninja Scroll, so a TV series for a great feature film shouldn’t be too bad, right?

I was surprised to see that The Last Exile was actually very good. Very topnotch animation and the premise was very interesting, and the air battles were nicely done. Full Metal Panic turned out to be a fun series, lotsa humor and totally not as boring as I expected like other mecha I had watched. I couldn’t wait for the rest of the DVDs from both series to get to me next week

Ironically, the letdown was the Ninja Scroll TV series. It was bland, boring and uninspired. It’s a good thing I only tried the first disc, coz I’m not gonna bother watching the rest of it. What made it ironic was that it was the series that I thought I would enjoy the most. Big mistake.

So I learned a lesson from this – not to underestimate anime titles based on the genre and the lack of hype. I guess the ranking they have at AnimeNfo is a pretty reliable gauge as to which DVD I’ll be renting/buying next. So what’s next…

Hmmm… Rorouni Kenshin maybe? But I don’t like samurai shows… oh wait…

Technorati: dvd, exile, full, kenshin, last, metal, netflix, ninja, panic, rurouni, scroll, tv

Sometimes they come back… (Imagine me saying this in a low, raspy voice with a faint hint of phlegm dribbling around in my throat, with the cold wind blowing outside, and a faint wolf howl in the distance, while…)

Okay, maybe that’s going a little overboard

Anyway, are you prepared for one of the looooongest weblog entries I have ever made? Are you prepared to be overcome by an onslaught of incoherent musings while being drowned in a deluge of half-pondered thoughts that would violate your virginal sensibilities?

Hmmm… (checking thesaurus to see if I used any words out of context)

Anyway (again), I guess you’re probably wondering what the hell happened to this site after November of last year? I would have been glad to say that the new world order – I mean – the Bush government ordered me to do it because of potential sedition and insurrection, but sometimes you can’t have what you wish for. For those who have seen this site before, you know my weblog habit by now – prolific posting for about a couple of weeks, then drop out of the face of the planet for a few months. That’s coz I’m a chronic dilettante – someone who obsesses over an activity for a specified amount of time, and when something else catches his fancy, pursues it and drops whatever he is doing… finished or not finished. A quick way to become a jack of all trades but master of none. Almost like having Attention Deficit Disorder. Always finding something else interesting in mid-thought as I…

… oh hey, I just noticed my keyboard letters are starting to be worn off… I can’t even see the letter A in the keyboard anymore…

*cough* Anyway (third time), what have I been doing in the last seven or so months since I wrote my last entry? All kinds of things, I guess. And I’m gonna write a synopsis of several hundred words to let you know. And wouldn’t it be funny if there was a blackout just before I finish… (feels a cold shiver down my back) Well, I guess it can’t be helped. No one ever reads these things anyway (except a person or two who is still interested at what I’m doing, or the occasional stalker who thinks I’m worthy).

Honestly, I have sorta lost faith in the American system after that idiot got reelected. Who ever thought that religion would be the deciding factor. I didn’t see it coming – I thought this country was more intelligent than that. Unpleasant surprise for me. The angst has become real. I don’t know how the fuck I’m gonna be able to think of this country the same. Maybe I should go ahead and rethink my earlier decision to move to Canada. But then I have to learn French. Damn.

Anyway (fourth time), I’ll split the recaps into easy, understandable parts, and use very small words. I’ll even pitch in a few visual aids. Make sure to keep up…

Recap One: The Lord of Terror

So late last year I finished the game module I was working on for Neverwinter Nights. It was a remake of one of my favorite games, Diablo, and it was intuitively titled “The Lord of Terror”. I had been working on the damn thing for almost 8 months, starting January last year. I finally finished it in September, and submitted it at the Neverwinter Vault.

And yeah, it was a hit. I knew it was gonna be popular, but I never thought it’d get to the Hall of Fame in so short a time. In less than three months it got more than 20,000 downloads, and to this day it still has a pretty high 9.72 average rating. Damn, I guess I’m good, having my very first module get to Hall of Fame. Now, excuse me while I fondle myself…

Recap Two: The World of Warcraft

A few weeks after I finished working on my NWN module, the long-awaited MMORPG World of Warcraft came out. I initially planned to just play a couple of hours a day on it, but the game sucked me in, and there were times when I was playing it for more than 8-10 hours, often extending into the early morning hours.

I eventually started a guild consisting of people who visit my tech support site, plus other people who just wanted a guild to be in. My race of choice was Tauren, and I got my druid to level 30 in just over a week. Afterwards I started a Tauren warrior, and got him to level 58 in less than a couple months, two levels shy of the threshold level 60.

But as usual, it was a doomed cause as well, as another adjacent interest started to sprout on the side, and some responsibilities in real life began to surface. So my prolific WoW slid down the totem pole and thus another addiction began to rear its ugly head…

Recap Three: The Anime Attack

I have been using the Netflix online DVD rental service for more than two years now, and up to a certain point, I was content with renting 2 DVDs at a time, except when I wanted to finish some TV series like 24, The West Wing and the Star Trek series DS-9 and Voyager. But when I ran out of TV series to rent, and new movies to watch, I had to look at other genres. I came upon an anime site, AnimeOnDVD, that had detailed reviews of tons of anime DVDs. Until that point, the last anime DVD I had watched was the Tenchi in Tokyo series, which was middle of last year. Having found an interest in romance comedies (eww, don’t tell other people about this, okay!), I began searching for similar genres, and found a good review/recommendation for a series called Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (His and Her Circumstances, to the Japanese-challenged folks out there). So I queued it up on Netflix and when they arrived, watched it with no high expectations.

It was either the best or worst mistake of the year, depending on how you looked at it. I was hooked – bigtime. After watching the first two DVDs, I returned them immediately and couldn’t wait to get the next few DVDs in the series – to the point that I increased my DVD rental limit to the “8 DVDs out at a time” plan… Goodbye $50…

From that point on, 99% of all my DVD rentals had been anime – and not just feature films, but most of them were full-blown series, from 10-episode ones to 26-episode ones. I’ve also started splurging on eBay for import anime DVDs (okay, maybe a few of em are bootlegs, but don’t sweat the little things, okay?). I think I’ve spent more than $300 in DVDs in the last couple of months. Damn.

So anyway (fifth time), I’ve developed a really annoying attachment to this genre that I have lost my taste for “regular” live action DVDs in my collection. The other day, I ran out of new anime to watch, so I popped in a Babylon 5 season 2 DVD into my PS2 and started to watch. I had to eject the DVD after less than 30 minutes because I couldn’t stand it anymore. So yeah, I replaced it with a DVD of Onegai Teacher (it’s anime, in case you didn’t get it), and was finally able to watch something that interested me.

So yeah, I sometimes have anime withdrawals on those boring nights when I run out of things to watch. I think I’ve watched the Love Hina series about 4 times already, and it isn’t even “that” good, either. Maybe it’s a new psychological sickness, enjoying moving artwork as opposed to moving pictures. Is there a psychiatrist out there who can comment on this? A comedian, maybe?

Recap Three Interlude: The Anime Fansub Torrent Syndrome

Did I mention that I run through anime DVDs like cigarettes? Well, that always leaves me with a day or two of “downtime” as I wait for my next rental DVDs to come to me. So what was my solution? Torrent files of Fansubbed anime. (I’d like to give a primer on what “torrent” and “fansub” means to those among you who are clueless, but I’ll let mister Google handle it)

Anyway (sixth time), I came across a huge variety of torrent files for various fansubbed anime – specifically, shows that just aired in Japan less than a year ago, and some ongoing ones as well. And here I am, with a broadband connection, actually salivating at the chance.

So what was a poor bored guy supposed to do?

Unfortunately, most of the fansubs I downloaded were anime versions of H-games. What’s an H-game? Well… most are adult games, and some are mere dating sims played on consoles like PS2. I was a bit intrigued coz I never played any game like that before (that is, if you don’t include the Leisure Suit Larry series). Most of them were surprisingly good, if not a tad ridiculous and out of this world.

But hey, whatever quenches my need for anime, right?

Right now, this is still my current obsession, until the dilettante in me decides to stalk some other hobby. I think I’ve been more exposed to anime in the last 2-3 months than I’ve been for my entire video viewing life. Does that mean I am on my way to be an otaku? I dunno. I don’t think so, but then again, who knows. Let me ask Pikachu…

(What’s otaku? Ask mister Google)

Recap Four: The Financial Services Surprise

Reading all this, do you think I’ve been wasting my time all day doing all sorts of lazy hobbies? Not exactly.

I’ve also began getting into financial services. What financial services? Insurance, annuities, securities, mortgages, etc. I have been hearing that financial services will be the next big thing in the next few years, what with the baby boomers fast reaching their compensation period.

So I’ve been trying to study for state exams and getting my license(s). I just recently passed the Life Agent exam, which means I can now legally sell life insurance in the state of California. Next thing I’m doing is studying for the Securities exam.

I heard a funny anecdote about people lambasting the insurance business. Someone even said “Are you that desperate for money that you wanna sell insurance?” I guess I wasn’t surprised that the someone” who said it was earning minimum wage.

Maybe later in my journal I’ll discuss why financial services is a very important business to get into nowadays. Then I’ll email it to that guy and attach a trojan virus in a file attachment that says “EARN MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP”.

Final Recap

So, that’s basically what I’ve been doing since November last year. Lots of things have changed, but then lots of things also haven’t changed… I still smoke. I’m still a bit overweight. I still clean my room once in several months. I still haven’t gotten a haircut. I still don’t have a girlfriend. And I still don’t go to church.

So with all that, I guess I could say that … it’s the same old shit, only with newer nuggets… If you read this far, I guess you really like what I write…

…and I guess I should be afraid, or something…

Technorati: anime, campaign, diablo, fansub, financial, karekano, license, life, lord of terror, module, muyo, netflix, neverwinter, nights, nwn, of, recap, services, tenchi, torrent, warcraft, wfg, world