I get a ton of junk mail in my email account. But I can't make heads or tails at to what the people are trying to sell me. I have images diabled on my email client (Mozilla and Apple Mail), so I can't see images. The result of this is that half the spam I get have no text in them!

The rest of the mails I get are so convoluted with letters, numbers, and random words mixed together (to get pass spam filters), that I don't know what I would be buying if I were even interested. Gah.

Title: 君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Drama Theater Vol. 1
Original Creator: Age
Release Date: 10/30/01
Catalog No.: LACA-5072
Rating: 4/4

What a pretty CD cover! The CD itself also has the same image as a picture label which also looks incredible. It doesn't appear to be a first pressing, so I guess all CDs have it.

The story included here pretty music follows the Haruka ending of the game and has some dialog between the characters that occurred when Takayuki wasn't around. These dialogues give more insight into the characters motives and thoughts which lead to their actions.

There's a duet version of the theme song on this disc. When I first heard the song while playing the game, I was thinking that this would be a perfect song for the two main females, Mitsuki and Haruka, to sing together. And guess what? The creators of the game thought of it already. I personally would have changed the places where each seiyuu sings, but the song is still incredible. The song has a very forceful and powerful beat. It starts out sounding mysterious but ends with resolution. This feeling I get when listening reflects the same feeling I got while playing the game and having the two main leads singing emphasizes how strong the character's personalities carried through the game. Awesome song.

1.　ゆめ (Dream): It starts with loud screeching and then Haruka goes into a soliloquy. It then proceeds into various scenes at the hospital after she awakens, her interactions as well as her thoughts. Akane also appears and gives her thoughts of the situation as well as her hatred for Takayuki and Mitsuki, or as she says, "That Person."

3. おまじない (Good Luck Charm): Haruka and Takayuki perform their charm and recite the poem. Each giving thoughts about what they think about the current situation.

4. マヤウルのおくりもの (The Gift of Mayauru): Akane gives Takayuki an earful of hateful words. Afterwards, while Haruka is reading the picture book, Takayuki explains the history of the book. How she was looking for it at the bookstore, how he didn't get a chance to give it to her, and what he's done with it and how he wants to give it to her now.

5. 三年前の写真 (The Photo From Three Year Ago): There's some monologues by Akane and Takayuki. Despite being sick, Takayuki brings the picture book and the old photo to Haruka's hospital bed. He gets caught by Mitsuki and Haruka sees the picture which makes her realize that something is wrong with this time and place.

6. 夏の記憶 (Memories of Summer): Flashback to when the picture is taken. Come back to real life where Haruka is freaking out. She finds out that Takayuki has been dating Mitsuki. She falls back into a deep sleep from shock. There's a monologue by the doctor and then by Mitsuki.

7. つみかさねた思い (Piled Up Memories): Takayuki takes Haruka out to the beach and tells his true feelings to her. He chooses her over Mitsuki.

8. 見送るもの (Going Away Present): Atop the hospital, Takayuki has angst over why he's in this situation where he has to hurt Mitsuki in order to be with Haruka.

9. おかえる (Welcome Back): Haruka formally welcomes Takayuki back to her. Akane also has a monologue at the end where she forgives Takayuki and Mitsuki.

10. きっとかなう夢 (The Dream That Will Certainly Come True): It has the dialogue between Mitsuki and Haruka during her last day at the hospital where she explains that she's leaving town because she can't stand seeing Takayuki suffering because she's around. The last few minutes of this track contains the ending song to the game. This ending is always a tear-jerker for me.

Title: 君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Vol. 1 LE
Original Creator: Age
Volume: 1/7
Catalog No.: ZMBZ-1760
Release Date: 2/25/04
Rating: 3/4

These past two weeks have been almost nothing but Kiminozo. Despite having this DVD for a while now, I had to wait until I finished the game to watch it. And as predicted, the anime isn't as good as the game.

The first two episodes cover the first chapter of the game. Whereas the anime only takes 40 minutes to get there, the game took me about 10 hours. As you can expect, the game had a lot more exposition and flesh out a lot more of the story. The anime is very rushed and before you now it, Takayuki is in bed with Haruka. Hmm. Story elements are similar, but some things are left out, such as the whole incident with fireworks and some scenes are shuffled around (i.e. the game starts with Takayuki on the hill looking up at Mitsuki, whereas in the anime, it happens a little later).

The artwork in the anime is so so. At some points, it really looks terrible and rushed. If it looks this bad starting next disc, I'll have to take it into account for ratings. The only character I thought was better was Akane, who looks more like her age. The music inherits a lot from the game, but sounds a little different. I'll do more of a comparison with the OST. I'm still quite moved when "Rumbling Hearts" plays at the end of second disc. This also plays at the same point in the game.

This limited first edition includes the actual picture book that Haruka was looking for in the bookstore. The reversible cover is good too as the anime art isn't as good as the original creator's artwork on the reverse side.

1. Mitsuki introduces Haruka to Takayuki. The next day, Mitsuki tells Takayuki to go to the hill after class, but that's just a setup as she has Haruka go and confess her love to Takayuki. Takayuki accepts her proposal and dates her, but they don't really do things that boyfriends/girlfriends do in a relationship, like hold hands. Haruka calls him and he admits he doesn't know if he likes her, so they break up. Mitsuki has a talk with Takayuki and pretty soon, Haruka and Takayuki are dating again.

2. Haruka and Takayuki go out on a date where he meets her little sister Akane. They go out and have a picnic. when they return, Takayuki joins Haruka's family for dinner. They make plans to attend the summer festival, but ends up talking to Mitsuki about her relationship issues. Shinji comes with Haruka, storming to where the two are yelling at Takayuki for leaving Haruka alone waiting, but he's forgiven for helping Mitsuki. Since the four of them are atop the hill, they decide to take a picture. Afterwards, Takayuki goes to Haruka's place and they mess around. The next day (or few days after), he has a date with Haruka. Due to being delayed by Shinji and Mitsuki (it's her birthday and he buys her a ring), he reaches the station late for the date and finds out that Haruka's been in a serious car accident.

Title: まぶらほ (Maburaho) Vol. 1 LE
Volume: 1/12
Catalog No.: BIBA-4201
Release Date: 1/22/2004
Rating: 3/4

I read about this series a while ago in Animage/Newtype and knew that it was something I wanted to watch. The manga is a little different than the anime, it turns out. I'm guessing that the manga is moving a little faster than the anime so a lot of the stories in the manga occur in later DVDs. Just have to wait and find out.

The story is pretty good. It didn't seem as "filling" as it could have, but it has plenty of fan service and the story is light and whimsical. The prologue reminds me a lot of Love Hina, and Kazuki's apartment manager reminds me of Chobits, but the story is very different from the two. The DVD has an insane number of corporate logos when you first put the disc in. Good thing is that you can skip them, but man, they have like half a dozen or so.

The whole series is going to be 12 discs long, which is not going to be pleasant for my wallet. But it has a lot of bonuses, which satisfies the collector in me (which I'm always trying to suppress) and Amazon's 20% off pre-order discount helps out.

There are two editions, regular and limited edition. The limited edition, as mentioned before, has a lot of stuff. Volume 1 has a keyholder (Yuna), a few cards, a voice CD with the seiyuu saying little soundbites, an album for the cards, a mini cloth/tapestry, liner notes in the form of a school newsletter, and a picture label. This is all contained in a colorful tin case.

1. きっちゃた (I came): A slient prologue where child 式森和樹 (Kazuki Shikimori) shows another child magic. Kazuki leaves for the school where he is the only person who doesn't have any usable magic. Meanwhile, two of his schoolmates, Kuriko and Rin both start taking notice of him. When he goes back home, a girl, Yuuna is waiting for him at his apartment saying that she's his fiance. The next day, she properly transfers into his class where the three girls fight over her. A professor explains that Kazuki has a special magical gene that the girls want (for their child).

2. ふっちゃた (It Snowed): Kazuki has nightmares about the girls chasing him, but remembers the little girl that he made a promise to to be his fiance. He heads off to school where the three girls fight over him. When he arrives in class, his classmates put him on trial being so popular with the girls and for having the special gene. He gets sick of being the center of attention and tells Yuna to leave, but he sees her pendant and remembers that she was the girl from his childhood who me made a promise to.