It turns out that my honesty yesterday was justified. Turns out that the the bookstore changed all their pickup orders into mail orders, so I should be getting my magazines in the mail every week rather than picking it up at the bookstore. In a way, that helps me since the drive to Torrance is a bit far ~25 miles and also, it lets me keep up with the magazine better than I have been since I used to pick them up once every two weeks. But yeah, that's settled. Apparently my name is now "George Nagano" according to the address label. And yet, the bill of sales inside still has George Chang. Strange. Maybe I should give them my chinese name next time, 張偉康 (Zhang Weikang in Chinese or Chou Ikou in Japanese).

Speaking of which, I got my Amazon package today which included:
Negima Drama CD #1 (First Press)
Ai yori Aoshi Drama CD #2 (First Press)
Kuromi-chan DVD OVA 1
Kuromi-chan DVD OVA 2
Ai yori Aoshi Enishi DVD #2 (First Press)
Maburaho DVD Vol. 1 (Limited Edition)

Manga:
Sailormoon Rerelease Vol. 6
Negima #4
Iro-Hina #13
Koi Koi Vol. 1
Sugar Vol. 2-3, Special Book

So, let's see, I've finish two manga in the past week (mostly due to the fact I've been working on the layout code for 'scribbles) . I've acquired 7 today. I'll never finish...

Title: がぁ～でぃあん Hearts (Guardian Hearts) Vol. 1
Artist/Author: 天津冴 (Sae Amatsu)
Book Size/Pages: B-6, 180pp., w/furigana
Original Serialization: Monthly Shonen Ace 1/00, 2/01-7/01
Rating: 3/4
To Purchase

The first of the 5 Guardian Hearts comics I have sitting on my shelf. Two things, first off, 6 of the 7 chapters, a new character, a girl (obviously), is introduced. Seems like a little overkill to basically start and end each chapter with a new character, especially for the first 6 chapters in a row. Secondly, if you want to choose a tagline, choose it so it sounds somewhat respectable. Something like "Tsuki ni Kawatte" or the likes. The one used in here "Gattsu no Na ni Kakete..." Dunno, but "Gattsu" (short for GUArdian hearTS) just doesn't cut it for me.

But besides those two minor complains, the comic was fun to read. Okay, there were some fan-service in here, but not enough to get alarmed about. In this book, nothing really serious goes on. Like I mentioned before, it's mostly an introduction to all the girls. The story revolves around 和也 (Kazuya) and the girls from other planets who come and live with him. Apparently, his mom doesn't mind that she's housing all these young and pretty girls with his one son, not to mention the fact that they're all from other planets.

Bonus includes a mini-comic at the end plus a letter from the author on the back cover beneath the dust cover. Front cover features a pencil drawing of the picture on the dust jacket.

1. 空が降る日に出会った少女 (The Girl I Met on the Day at Nightfall): ひな (Hina) is sent here from the Planet of Light to protect the people of earth. However, having failed before, she must not screw up this time, and this includes revealing her true identity. However, the moment she comes down to earth, she transforms right in front of 和也 (Kazuya). Not wanting to be sent back, she begs to live with Kazuya and her mom. Her mom is more than willing. During the day she attends class wtih Kazuya, during nights, she does her patrols. Recently, she's been overexerting herself, so Kazuya talks to her telling her she doesn't need to do that.

2. 始まりの時、集いし想い (The Beginning, Gathering and Memories): There's been a uniform thief at the school. Kazuya finds out that it's one of his classmates, くるす (Kurusu). However, before they can discuss anything, Hina jumps in, apparently jealous at the fact that Kazuya and Kurusu were alone together. That night, Kurusu comes over and reveals herself as person from another planet who is collecting uniforms in order to obtain a super power. This time, they get caught again by Guardian Hina and again, Hina is jealous. Kazuya prevents her from murdering Kurusu and they head home. Only to find out that Kurusu is moving in.

3. ひと時のやすらぎを求めて (Seeking a Moment of Peace): A third girl appears named 大葉真夜 (Maya Ooba) appears at the house. She's an extremely good cook, but is really cold towards Kazuya. Kazuya (again) finds out that she has a secret identity, this time being that she's a Space Ninja whose on the run. She, Kazuya and Hina duke it out a bit before Maya decides it's not worth it anymore to keep on running and tries to kill herself. Kazuya and Hina convince her otherwise.

4. いつかあんたの住む町へ (Someday to the City Where You Live): A new girl appears at Kazuya's school, チェルシー・フォークル (Chelsea Fokle???) and she has a taste for Kazuya which makes her Hina's enemy. Chelsea uses some mischief to bug Hina and make her look bad. That evening, Kazuya discovers that Chelsea is a new tenant in the house, much to his and Hina's dismay. Hina and Chelsea duke it out

5. 迷い、迷われ、迷い人 (Bewilderment, Misguided, A Lost Person): Hina reports back to her superiors and is told to be on the look out for the missing princess 琴 (Koto). After the transmission, Kazuya and Hina discover a new girl eating up all of Hina's food. She says her name is "Koto...no. Kotono." Kotono finds out that there's a Guardian Heart roaming around and asks if she can train with her, unbeknownst that she's actually Hina. She then reveals her true self and attacks Hina to take her broach. Koto gets defeated, but once recovered, she asks to stay at Kazuya's house.

6.　ハコの中で泣いてた子猫 (The Small Cat Inside the Box): Hina is almost attacked by a bear and she comes home to ask for help. Meanwhile, Kazuya's mom has taken in a strange looking and talking cat. It turns out that this cat is a mascot of Chelsea's planet and belongs to Chelsea. Chelsea explains that the cat, when transformed, becomes a bear. Hina, being annoyed that Chelsea is occupying most of Kazuya's time, wants to do something to change that. The cat, "デイジィ" (Daisy), tells Hina to submit her request to a box at the shrine. After she does that, the cat becomes a bear and tries to kill Chelsea. Hina had asked for some time alone, which the cat/bear interpreted as getting rid of Chelsea.

7. ネコまっしぐら (Cat at Full Speed): Daisy remembers that she hid a weapon and asks Kazuya to help her find it before the police do. They romp around the entire house asking all the tenants.

Title: 宇宙のステルヴィア (Stellvia) Vol. 1
Artist: 秋月亮 (Ryou Akitsuki)
Creator: XEBEC
Book Size/Pages: B-6, 194pp., w/o furigana
Original Serialization: Monthly Dengeki Daioh 5/03-11/03
Rating: 2/4
To Purchase

Another manga based on the anime. One of my higher priority comics to read as I have the entire season of Stellvia (The two Japanese box sets) sitting on my shelf waiting to be watched and the only thing stopping me was this (yes, I do buy DVDs even if I have minimal knowledge of the show. It's called taking a chance).

Bonuses include a mini-comic on the book cover under the dust covers and a few 4-panel comics at the end of the book.

My impressions of it is a lukewarm. It seemed like it was a story was about a few young cadets training in space and that's what I got. The character design is from Makoto Uno, the same person who did Love Hina anime, which I like. But besides the pretty pictures, the story seemed a little lacking. A few funny spots here an there, but nothing really to catch my attention, whether good or bad.

1. ようこそ！ステルヴィアに！ (Welcome to Stellvia): 片瀬志麻 (Shima Katase) has always to go to space, despite objections from her mom. . However, she is finally leaving for Foundation 2, Stellvia. She takes a flight on which she meets アリサ・グレンノース (Alyssa Greennorth?) who is somewhat simple minded but becomes her friend. After their arrival, they attend a welcoming ceremony.

2. とまどい Don't mind! (Embarrassments, Don't mind!): Through Alyssa, Shima meets 藤沢やよい (Yayoi Fujisawa) and 栢山晶 (Akira Kayama). They study together and prepare for the piloting training the next day. During the exercises, Shima can't control her ship and tries to hack into the ship's computer system. At the end, she gets slighly reprimanded for her poor piloting ability but her teacher レイラ先生 (Reira) admires her programming abilities. Shima earns the nickname "Shiipon" for her "pon pon" flying ability.

3. ごめんなさ～い (Sorrry): Alyssa had just invited a bunch of classmates to come over to study programming with Shima. However, she leaves and Shima's left with all the cleaning. Upon hearing a knock at the door, she hurls a vacuum attachment hoping to hit Alyssa. Who she hit was a classmate coming over to study, 音山光太 (Kouta Otoyama). While everyone's study degrades in a party, Shima and Kouta diligently work and Shima gets the idea to log into the main server without authorization to get some real data for their project. While logged in, Kouta gets a surprise and presses the keyboard which activates the alarm system in the building.

4.　がんばろ (Do Your Best): Shima screws up another flying exercise. Cut to 3 of the Big Four who talk about a "Great Mission," the purpose of 6 Foundations. Cut back, Shima's friends are worried about her. Kouta gives her a pep talk and Yayoi relates her story and despite having dropped out two years ago, she's back at school.

4. 燃えよしーぽん (Burn it up Shiipon): It's the start of the Astrobowl competition. Shiipon and Kouta practice, but she's still rusty so Kouta gives her some candy to help her relax. Their first competition is against the Big 4, who are all excellent pilots. During the game, all of Shima's mates get defeated except for her (since she didn't involve herself). She takes a candy and eats it, which gets her intoxicated and she defeats her opponents. Turns out that Kouta had given her alcoholic chocolates.

5. ステルヴィア上等（前編） (Stellvia Greatness, First Part): For her excellent work in previous rounds, Shima is on the team for the finals as the goalie. In the first round, she fouls out. That night, she and her friends discuss it over dinner when the opposing team arrives at the same restuarant. They exchange some words and prepare for the challenge the next day.

6. ステルヴィア上等（後編） (Stellvia Greatness, Last Part): Shima wins the game for the home team.

Gotta package today! (I'm also testing if I can crash my moblog system by uploading a digicam image==larger image rather than a camera phone.