Title: カードキャプター　さくら (Cardcaptor Sakura) Vol. 8
Artist/Author: CLAMP
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 188pp., w/furigana
Volume: 8/12
Original Serialization: Nakayoshi 12/98-3/99
Rating: 3/4
To Purchase

もっと進もう！

This volume seemed quite uneventful. While it did have one fight scene, I think the reason I get that feeling is because there's some more focus on each character. Yukito is troubled by his loss of memory (when he turns into Yue), Shaoran is starting to show some affection towards Sakura, and Eriol doesn't seem like such a bad guy. While slow at times, it still does the job of giving some more depth into the story.

There's a teddy bear exchange going on. Shaoran wants to give Yukito the bear, but Yuki tells him to give it to someone he really likes. Yuki changes to Yue and Yue tells Shaoran the reason he's attracted to Yuki. Meanwhile, Sakura gives Yukito a bear which was fixed by Eriol and transforms into a giant beast. She defeats it with her new Jump, Fly, and Sword cards. Afterwards, Yukito starts wondering why he has memory lapses. Touya tries to tell him, but is always interrupted by Akizuki. The next story has Sakura sick from a fever. Despite being bed-ridden, she decides to find the source of Clow's presence. When she meets Eriol, he says he didn't know her sickness and heals her. It's now Valentine's day and Sakura makes chocolates for all the guys, including one for her great-grandfather which is delievered through Tomoyo's mom.

Title: カードキャプター　さくら (Cardcaptor Sakura) Vol. 7
Artist/Author: CLAMP
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 188pp., w/furigana
Volume: 7/12
Original Serialization: Nakayoshi 8/98-11/98
Rating: 4/4
To Purchase

進もう！ Susumoo!

Another wonderful volume as the second arc/story begins to unfold. Rather than beating around the bush, the supposed villians are revealed doing some dirty deeds to our protagonist. Can she overcome? Does she have enough power?

Things are back to normal or so it seems. But then a rain storm arrives dumping rain only on Sakura's town, so it must be a supernatural presence. Sakura tries to fight it, but it's too strong. A new student, エリオル (Eriol) transfers into Sakura's class and immediately, Shaoran has some bad feelings about him. Meanwhile, a new student appears in Touya's class, 秋月 (Akizuki) and has fallen for him. However, behind his back, she suggests to Yukito that she knows about his other personality. Kero and Yue meet to discuss the rainstorm and to fight it. It's a struggle, but Sakura beats it and earns a new Fiery card, a "Sakura Card" (as opposed to Clow). Eriol is revealed to be Clow and Akizuki is his counterpart for Yue. He also has a lion スピネル (Spinel) who's his counterpart for Kero. One night, Sakura and Shaoran sense Clow's presence and try to find him. They get attacked by Eriol (although they don't know it's him) and Sakura gets a new Sword card.

This is my "TV." I don't have live programming in my apartment, so all I have this for is DVDs and games. Getting an HDTV feed would be awesome, though.

The screen measures a little bigger than 105" diagonal; it's about 5 feet high by 6.7 feet wide. Among the ranks of material and equipment, it's actually pretty cheap but there are some sacrifices. It's in a 4x3 layout rather than a widescreen format because most of the DVDs I have are in 4x3 (mostly TV shows).

Behind the screen is my balcony. The sliding door and window that leads outside is as big as the screen itself. This poses a particular problem. With lower end projectors like the one I'm using, the room has to be pretty dark in order to get a good image, like how it is in a real movie theater. The solution was to get lots, around 8 yards if I remember correctly, of blackout cloth (which I got from Joann's at around $6 a yard). It's a type of specially treated cloth that blocks out light, completely. It also makes for a decent projection screen, as I've read from the people at AVSForum. So for me, it was a win-win situation. On one side it blocks out the sun (vampire-friendly environment), on the other, I use it as the projection screen. Because I have it free-hanging from the curtain rod, there are some wrinkles. However, it's pretty much invisible once the movie starts rolling. The borders (masking) I have are made of suede cloth. Velvet is the best material, but it costs $13.99 a yard or something like that. I got the suede cloth for about $1.99 a yard in the bargain bin of Joann's and it does pretty well for my purposes.

The total cost for me was $50 for the cloth, $5 for the iron-on no-seam hemming material to combine pieces of blackout cloth, $20 for the black suede, $25 for the industrial strength velcro that I used to hang the cloth with, $20 for some rods to stretch out the cloth, $5 for the foam board that holds up the bottom of the masking, and of course some double-stick tape and binder clips for minor alterations.

The system I have hooked up to project DVDs onto the screen is an Infocus X1 projector connected to a Panasonic XP-30 DVD player via component video (using DVD player's de-interlacing). It's also hooked up to my PS2 via component video (using projector's de-interlacing, which I believe is the same DCDi chip as the XP-30). The audio is fed through a Panasonic XR-45 receiver. It's the same slim size as my DVD player and has three optical inputs, one connected to the DVD player, one connected the PS2, and the other connected to a computer which pumps out music from my CD collection encoded in FLAC (80+ gigs of music in non-lossy format!).

The video is accompanied by a 6.1 surround sound setup, which cost me the price of a center speaker. Everything else, the front speakers and the surrounds, I managed to "permanently borrow" from my parents. It's not a very high powered system either on the receiver side nor speaker side, but I live in an apartment complex so that's not a big deal. Despite that, I do have everything calibrated, so at least it'll sound balanced.

This is the table where I do most of my reading and writing. A Kotatsu (コタツ) is a Japanese style table with a heater attached to the bottom. You can optionally get a Kotatsu futon for the top which is almost like a blanket used to retain the heat and/or the bottom which makes the seat a little softer (I actually didn't need it as I have carpet underneath, but it was a matching set). The tabletop is a separate piece of wood and the futon/blanket is sandwiched between the bottom part of the table and the table top.

The table is about a foot high off the ground, so it's not for the long-legged. I can manage to cross my legs under the table, but just barely. The heater underneath glows orange when it's on, but it's actually safe to touch. The grill surrounding the heater has some sort of fuzzy coating that feels soft and cool to the touch.

Living in LA, I was able to procure my table from Marukai Forum, probably the largest Japanese supermarket chain in the US, even if there are only two. The table itself costs me $150 which is a lot cheaper than what you would find online. The futon set cost me around $80 and the two cushions I have cost me $10 a piece, although I'm thinking of getting new and softer (read: more expensive) cusions. There are also "chairs" for a kotatsu, which you can just imagine as a chair without legs. I opted with cushions as I can't imagine how I would get out of one. Of course, the question is: why do I need a heated table in hot hot LA? It's actually a bit chilly in my apartment, especially now in the winter. Plus, it feels good sitting under the kotatsu with shorts. I guess it's (still) a novelty to me. It would have been nice to have one when I was living in NYC!

Title: カードキャプター　さくら (Cardcaptor Sakura) Vol. 6
Artist/Author: CLAMP
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 188pp., w/furigana
Volume: 6/12
Original Serialization: Nakayoshi 4/98-7/98
Rating: 4/4
To Purchase

Mas mas mas!

This was a really good volume in which it seems to conclude at least the first arc of the story. It seems like they could have finished the story right here and ended it, but they decided to prolong it for another 6 volumes. I guess, but they'll have to get another story going. The artwork in here has some very nice action sequences during Sakura's judgement. Everything about the different characters gets revealed, and at the end, a new mystery is introduced.

Sakura and pals get attacked by Fiery (card) and she has to defeat it as it's one of Kero's attributes. Since Yukito is there, Shaoran knocks him out so Sakura can transform. She defeats Fiery, which causes Kero to manifest into his true self. She then has to defeat Earthy, which completes her collection and Yue is revealed, and it's none other than Yukito. In order for Sakura to become the true Cardcaptor, she has to defeat Yue, but she's too weak. That's when Mizuki comes in with a helping hand; she explains that's her purpose in the story. Sakura ensnares Yue and he acquiesces realizing that Clow Reed had planned for her ascention all along. She meets Clow Reed who mentions that he's going to show up later. After all is said and done, everyone returns to their normal selves.

Well, I never have buyer's remorse, but I decided that I didn't need the item.

So I'm trying to bid for something from Yahoo Japan Auctions. 2 Kiminozo video games in fact. I have about 3 hours left, so I decided to place my bid. However, Rinkya's system currently has problems in that it's labeling any and all auctions as "closed." So I can't bid on the item.

And then I thought, "Would I really be that much happier with those games?" After all the shipping, poor exchange rate, and Rinkya's commissions, I would be out more than $250 bucks! Just for two games! And then I remembered my philosophy. If it's not going to help my Japanese, then there's always something else that will. Reading dating sims is a nice way to practice reading, no doubt. But I can always do the same with manga. And for $250, I can sure get a crap load of manga. Heck, I could buy the entire 10+ CDs/Drama CDs of Kiminozo for that much (and the reason I know is because they're in my shopping list for April, when it'll come with FFX-2 Piano Collections). And then my second motto is to let go of the past. There's so much new stuff coming out that there's not need to look back, especially if it's not at "used" prices.

So it's a pass. Quite unfortunately for Rinkya in that their downtime make me change my mind, but I don't think it's just coincidence. Or at least my superstitious self believes.

Maybe I can go to sleep now too...I've been keeping myself busy with the CCS manga while I waited, but there's no point in waiting anymore.

Title: カードキャプター　さくら (Cardcaptor Sakura) Vol. 5
Artist/Author: CLAMP
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 188pp., w/furigana
Volume: 5/12
Original Serialization: Nakayoshi 12/97-3/98
Rating: 3/4
To Purchase

Still going...

A little better than the previous book. Although I didn't care much for the play, the overall plot is slowly being revealed by Kero and Mizuki. It's getting darker and darker as the pages progress. By this time, we're still not sure whether Mizuki is a good person (or so thinks Sakura) or someone evil (or so thinks Shaoran). Good stuff.

The first story has the Kinomoto family, along with Yukito, going to their summer house. At the summer house, Sakura meets an affable old man and spends some time with him. It's later revealed that he's her great-grandfather. Second story has Sakura's class doing a play, Sleeping Beauty. She's the prince, and Shaoran is the sleeping beauty. During the play, she gets engulfed by darkness all alone. After some despair, she gains her confidence and the opposite card, Light appears to cancel out Dark. They tell her about her judgement day by Yue. Meanwhile, Mizuki and Kero have met and they mention Yue as well. The next story occurs in a restuarant where the main characters discuss what's been going on, including the topic of Yue.