Spent the last 4 hours of my life setting up my own webmail service. One of the toughest things about doing it is that my web host doesn't have all the new versions of anything, so I had to download, compile, and tweak everything by myself. On one hand, it's good since I'm in charge of what changes and won't be surprised when the web host decides to install something that breaks my scripts. On the other hand though, I really wish they'd keep up to date. But for the price I'm paying, I guess it's what I should expect.

If you find the reviews I have helpful, that's great. However, the stuff I've posted here are mostly for my benefit and I limit myself to a maximum of 20 minutes in writing every review.

While I remember characters based on their appearance and voice, I usually have the darnest time trying to remember their names. And given that I'm reading so much, and watching so much, it's so easy for me to forget who's who. That's one of the reasons I decided to start writing them down. Once I have them down, I can briefly look over my own summaries rather than flipping through pages and pages to find names out. I may actually remember some of them if I take the time to spell them out too.

Secondly, I limit myself to a maximum of 20 minutes per review, the shorter the better. The way I figure is that if it takes me longer to write a review than to actually read the book (or watch an episode), then I could have been using that time to read another book (given that I'm always backlogged). This doesn't give me a lot of time to write a complete summary or even how I feel about it during every stage of the story and so my reviews will be lacking to a large extent. However, again, it's because the primary audience is for my amnesic self.

I also realize that I tend to give many more favorable ratings than the other way around. First, I buy everything that I read/watch/play, so I already have a vested interest in the series. It's a lot hard to be objective when you aren't indebited to the company selling the anime or your own wallet. Second, having been enjoying anime and such for a while now, I think I have pretty good instincts as to figuring out stuff I will like. Add that to what I read in magazines and recommendations, as well as going with familiar authors and such, I usually pretty consistent in picking out series that I will like.

Title: 心晴れて夜も明けて (A Clear Heart and A New Day)
Vocals: 堀江由衣 (Yui Horie)
Release Date: 2/4/2004
Catalog No.: KICM-3061
Rating: 3/4

This CD comes with the full length intro to Jubei-chan 2 and a second song, as well as the karaoke to both songs. Second song first. Listening to the second song reminds me of a few songs from her first two albums. It's not really like her to sing somewhat solemn songs on anime tracks, but I've heard a few on her solo albums. It's alright, but nothing special.

Now the first track, the opening, is very good, as is to be expected since it was penned by the main songwriter for Love Hina and music by the Ai yori Aoshi composer (and Jubei-chan 1 composer too). Yui Horie has no variety, unlike her contemporary Rie Tanaka. But the strange thing is that even though everytime I hear Yui, I always complain that she sounds the same everywhere. But I also enjoy her voice at the same time. The song is upbeat, as to be expected. I still like the old theme songs from Jubei 1, but I'll have to watch the anime to gain appreciation for this one.