Here's my current to-buy DVD list up until August of this year. There are 11 that I have to continue buying because I've already started. The others would be nice to have, but not really that important since I don't already have a commitment to them. This list was created to help me budget my anime some more rather than being so spontaneous at times. Of course, this doesn't include music CDs and/or manga and such that I might still want to buy. If you feel like you want to contribute or give one as a gift to ME, please do so!
Must Continue Buying:
Mini-Goddess #2 4/9
Love Hina #2 4/23
Rurouni Kenshin #17 4/30
Cardcaptor Sakura #9 5/14
Rurouni Kenshin #18 5/28
Mini-Goddess #3 6/11
Love Hina #3 6/11
Rurouni Kenshin #19 6/25
Cardcaptor Sakura #10 7/9
Rurouni Kenshin #20 7/30
Love Hina #4 8/20
Would Like:
Saber Marionette J-X 4/23
Evangelion Death & Rebirth 4/30
Now and Then, Here and There Box 5/14
KareKano #1 w/Box 5/28
Slayers Collection (Remaster) 6/11
Saber Marionette J-X #2 6/11
Escaflowne Movie 7/23
Evangelion Movie 7/30
Strawberry Eggs #1 8/13
Saber Marionette J-X #3 8/20
Santa Cruz Sentinel sucks. I was perusing the movie reviews from their staff this morning and found a few reviews of interest. The person who wrote the mini-review for the "Lord of the Rings" gave it a B-. The other one who wrote the mini-review for "A Beautiful Mind" gave it a C-. Note: A Beautiful Mind won best picture this year. Seems like the Sentinel's credibility has dropped even more.
Score one more for the Japanese companies. I just received my order from animejungle.com, which consisted of two used and out-of-print Saber Marionette J soundtrack CDs. The thing is that even though the price is half of what it would have been if new, the CD and associated packaging is practically new. The only thing missing is the original celophane wrapping. On top of that, I just placed the order earlier this week and it came already. Compare that to animenation.com, where I also placed another order at the same time (animenation.com sometimes has leftover stuff that have become out of print in Japan), and as of yet, I have yet to get a confirmation email. Both animejungle.com and cdjapan.co.jp (don't go to cdjapan.com...you'll see why) keep great communication with their customers and offer prompt service, as opposed to anime companies in the U.S. Oh, let me tell you about the Anime Plus store in LA. It's arguably the biggest anime store in LA when I was there two years ago. However, the people who worked there were arrogant jerks who really didn't care about their customers. I once went in there wanting to buy a little Asuka and Rei model (prefinished) that costs about $100 bucks. However, on the day that I went, it wasn't on the shelf. I ask them to see if they had sold it already, and they just said it wasn't available anymore. When I walked out, I saw a box that had the label "Asuka and Rei" on it that was about to be sent off to an anime convention. I was willing to pay for that little item, yet they wouldn't sell it to me. Talk about bad business practice. And later I realize that they sold bootleg soundtrack CDs. Consider it blacklisted. Compare that to when you go into a real Japanese store where you're practically treated like a king. Hell, when you walk into the used bookstore "Bookoff!" in NYC, the clerk yells out "irassyaimase" (welcome) when you walk in. When the employees working the shelves hear that, they also join in and yell "irassyaimase." I'd much rather put spend money at a place where I feel like I'm special.
When will they ever learn. You kinda figure that after the 2000 presidential race, people would keep their mouthes shut and not predict a winner if it's a close race. However, in the HP-Compaq merger hotly contested HP-Compaq shareholder's vote, the CEO declared that the merger was approved. This speech was given only moments after the polls closed last Tuesday (I believe), and were based on preliminary results (read: guesses based on what people would say). But alas, history is destined to repeat itself, despite the past. Personally, I'm on the side of the Hewlett and Packard families, quite simply because it's their family's business (yah yah, it's a public corporation now, but it still retains the family name). Carly Fiorina might be a smart business person by making a public announcement that could influence confidence among her workers and investors, but in light of fairly recent events, I think she should have just stayed quiet.
Saw "Blade 2" this evening with a friend. Usually, I'm not the type to see gory movies, but I kinda enjoyed it. I think what made it different was that, like the previous movie, the death scenes were really nicely animated with the disintegration of the vampires. The action scenes in there are also very nicely done, except for the fact that sometimes, you can tell when they digitally modified the person for the action sequences. Story's rather plain, but you would expect that.
I've been thinking the past few days about my anime addiction and questioning why I like to watch it. One of the primary reasons that I watch it is because it tells happy stories and that's why I primarily stick with cute, romantic comedy anime. I've always said that if I want something more depressing, I could just pick up a newspaper or watch a live action movie (like "Blade 2"). In all honestly, with the exception of cute and comedic anime, human acting is usually better than some drawings.
Secondly, I want to learn the Japanese language. I think that's about it. So I've been wondering why I am so obsessed with getting "box sets" and "limited editions" of these DVDs and paying premium bucks for them. Neither of them contribute to my #1 and #2 reasons, yet, I piss in my pants when something is said to be a "limited edition DVD." Plus, being a "limited edition" anime DVD distributed in the U.S. is like a second hand product. Although DVD releases in Japan are mad expensive, the packaging is usually several steps up from the American release. So why should I get all excited about a "limited edition" second hand product? I really think I should curb my spending on anime. There's always going to be more anime than I can buy, and I'm just a sucker for their marketing ploy. If it doesn't change the story I'm watching or improve my Japanese, then there really isn't a point to getting all excited about a cardboard box or card. The money would be better spent on other items like the music (giving me more raw material to learn Japanese with) or even the manga to try and read.
Which brings me to my last item of the day, which is why I buy all my anime. They don't rent anime at the local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video and I can't stand fansubs. The quality is horrible, both video and audio. Plus, they also leads to an effect among viewers that I don't like. A lot of people watch anime because it's free. There are anime fans who have seen a lot more series than I have, but they've never spent a dime for the artists and animation studios. That's the same as being a music expert from only listening to the pirated mp3s. It just doesn't seem right. Of course, there's always the argument that anime takes so long to get released in the U.S., so fansubs fill in the gap, and therefore are legitimate. It sounds nice, but I'll believe it when people actually shell out the money to purchase everything they've previously seen when it officially gets released in the U.S. And in my opinion, not many people would re-purchase something they've already previously seen illegally. And yes, fansubs are illegal no matter how you spin it. Ah, this reminds me of the fact that anime fans are stubborn too. They're CARTOONS! Sheesh.
Me don't like. WinXP on Notebook Kazumi crashed 3 times in a row, as in a huge bluescreen. Rather unsettling.
The remake, "The Time Machine" isn't as great as the original 1960s version. It doesn't follow the H.G. Wells book, and instead of time traveling for intellectual curiosity, the protagonist travels back because of his murdered girlfriend. I guess that's what people want to see, and I have to admit, the remake is a lot less "dry" than the original, but I still believe that the book was one of the best stories every written. It also suffers from the U-572 (I think that's what it was called) movie where the hero is now an American instead of a British native. Then again though, the hero is also a Columbia University professor, so I give it some brownie points. =)
I don't understand some people who just hang out in downtown Santa Cruz and ask for money. These are the 20-something year old people who don't seem to have any physical disabilities to prevent them from finding some type of job. My encounter with them tonight was when I was walking from Bookshop Santa Cruz to Borders. One of them calls out to me, "Hey bro, do you have some spare change?" Of course, being the seasoned New Yorker (and Santa Cruzian for that matter), I walked past the guy without a hitch in my step. While I usually have sympathy for the homeless, I can't really understand why they just don't find a job. Yah, yah, I realize that this is a gross generalization and that each case is different, but that's just my first reaction when I saw them. I eventually got the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," which was recommended to me by a good friend of mine.
I also got to reprogram some of the cash registers at my parent's store. The cash register manual had clear instructions on how to change the tax rate, however, the cash register didn't have the keys that were mentioned in the book. Everything time I did something wrong, it would do this annoying beep. After about 30 minutes of "hacking" the cash register, I found out that the keys that were mentioned in the book had been on the cash register all along, EXCEPT that they were *unmarked* keys on the cash register. Geez. So after I discovered that, reprogramming was a breeze. If it's something this stupid concerning my parent's business, I would usually go rant to my dad concerning the stupidity, but then I realize...
The highlight of my night was that I had a Turkey while bowling. That means I got three strikes in a row, and as a result, I accomplished my goal of reaching a score of greater than 150 (I got 151). Hurrah!
Two weeks really goes by fast. I'm trying to get everything back to normal again after all that's happened in the past fortnight, so pardon as I lag on updating this little web site.
No, I havne't gotten my computer yet, but I expect it to be coming either tomorrow or the day after. The place I ordered it from, J&R Electronics in NYC (no sales tax for me in Cali) just got it in stock today since the model only came out last week. It's on overnight shipping too.
But what I did get was the first DVD of Love Hina (w/collector's box). It's a very entertaining series, but the basis of the show does remind me of a few bad situations in the past. In fact, if I had seen this show between 2-3 years ago (which isn't possible since it wasn't even released in Japan that early, but hypothetically speaking), I would have turned it off after the first 10 minutes. Promises to go to the same college together does not go down well with me.
One last thing, if you write me or sign my guestbook and expect a response from me, PLEASE leave a valid email address I can write two. This is the second time I've gotten a request/question where the response email I write gets bounced back to me.
You gotta love those credit card companies. I placed an order for Love Hina, Vol. 1 w/box from Amazon last Thursday. Considering it's just a $30 order, I didn't expect there to be much problems. But then, I get this email on Saturday saying that my credit card has been denied, and asked me to change payment options or retry the card. Thinking it was their error, I retried the card. It didn't go through again. I called up Discover to see what's up and they tell me that they put a hold on my card because one of my bills got returned. I got that cleared up, but Amazon still didn't process my order, so I gave up and used my other CC, a Visa, and my order has shipped. It's leaving Nevada for California as I type.
I'm planning on not writing in my journal from now until my new laptop comes, simply because I'm going to be using my laptop exclusively, and the laptop I have now has a pretty beaten up keyboard so it's a lot more frustrating to type. It always seems to drop a letter here and there when I type. So, until I get the replacement (it's already ordered, and should be here soon), I'm going to refrain from typing. Of course, this pushes me back on my plan to fix my web page and emails, but I'm playing Final Fantasy X over again (with walkthrough this time). Which do you think is a better name, Sae, Kasumi, or Hikaru?
All it takes is a little motivation to get me back on the road to writing for my web page. Current developments on my web page have come to a halt this semester, with the exception of this journal. However, I got a nice message on my guestbook today which is giving me a reason to work on my very outdated web page (it's so outdated that a visitor read my intro page, which is dated last year and thought it was this year). Take a look. Comments like those are what the web's about.
You know, sometimes you just need to read the directions. Occationally, I get emails from my web site from people who say that my file downloads don't work. But on all my pages that have downloads, I have a paragraph or two that's highlighted in RED that describes the current condition of the FTP server. As of today, the message says that the FTP site will be down for a few weeks while I migrate from Windows to Linux. BUT I STILL GET THOSE ANNOYING EMAILS. If you want to download something from my site, please do me a favor and read the instructions. Sheesh. That's one of the reason I don't put more downloads up. It's because of those people who just click on multimedia file links without even reading the page.