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君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Drama Theater Vol. 3
This drama CD pretty much parallels the Mitsuki drama CD in timeframe, but instead follows Akane's trials and tribulations. It starts off probably the spring of 99, several months after the accident when Akane is enrolled in high school and ends with her confrontation with Mitsuki that autumn. This confrontation is the same one as the last track from vol. 2. Having heard Akane's side of the story, I can fully understand why she would be so bitter against Takayuki and Mitsuki. To have your dreams crushed and to be backstabbed is not something anyone would take lightly. The printing on the CD is a little better than vol. 2, but is still monochrome unlike the Haruka picture label on vol. 1. At the end of the last track includes an acoustic version of "Rumbling Hearts" with only Minami Kuribayashi's vocal and a guitar. The song has a different feel to it when it's heard without all the sound engineering that went into the original version (I still like the duet version better). 1. 後輩として 妹として (As a Junior Student, as a Younger Sister): Akane has joined the swim team at her new high school and during her self introduction, she announces that she wants to be like Mitsuki. She is greeted with a lot of gasps (Mitsuki had fallen out of favor with the team last fall). After school, she goes to the hospital and sees Takayuki there. Always being preoccupied, he hasn't noticed her new Hakuryo High School uniform that she got since a week ago. 2. 背負うべきもの (The Thing One Ought to be Burdened With): Akane wants to change seats in class, but she meets resistance from 榊千鶴 (Chizuru Sakaki), the class leader. At swim practice, the upperclasswomen bad-mouth Mitsuki. During her lap, she has flashbacks to when Mitsuki told her that she was quitting and is still in denial about it. After she finishes her swim, she gets an excellent time, but the only thing Akane can think about is that the time is still worse than Mitsuki's old record. 3. 茜の戦い (Akane's Battle): Akane isn't doing so well in English, but she doesn't really care. At swim practice, the upperclasswomen bad-mouth Mitsuki in front of Akane. So they have a race. If Akane wins, they stop talking trash about her idol. If Akane loses, she stops praising the swim team dropout (Akane is still in denial about Mitsuki's quitting). Akane wins...quite easily as she's the strongest swimmer. 4. 千鶴 (Chizuru): During English class, she doses off and has a very happy dream about competing with Mitsuki and having her say that the only rival she has is Akane. Chizuru and Akane get in a little argument over her attitude with the teacher when he woke her from her dream. After class, Chizuru has a heart-to-heart with Akane talking about her dreams and Mitsuki. 5. お兄ちゃんと。。。 (With Takayuki...): Akane wants to cheer up Takayuki, who is always moping in the hospital room. So she suggest they go on a (platonic) date. On the train, Takayuki is reminded of Haruka, which is what Akane doesn't want since those thoughts only make him more depressed. 6. 涙の行方 (The Ways of Tears): Akane falls asleep on the train and Takayuki only wakes her up at the last exit. There, she accidentally buy meatloaves for the two of them. Takayuki starts crying and only then does she remember that Haruka made meatloaf for her date with Takayuki. The date is a failure, but Takayuki forgives her. Back at school, Chizuru brings up the fact that she saw them and asks if Takayuki is her boyfriend. Akane takes offense to this remark saying that she just wants to cheer him up. 7. 震えるこころ (Trembling Heart): It's a while later and Takayuki has stopped coming to the hospital. In the street, she sees Mitsuki and Takayuki together and realizes that Takayuki has chosen Mitsuki and that Mitsuki really did quit for a guy. 8. 激情 (Fury): She appears in front of Takayuki's apartment and confronts Mitsuki. |
Title: 君が望む永遠 (Kimi ga Nozomu Eien) Drama Theater Vol. 3 |
電撃大王 (Dengeki Daioh) May '04
During my little manga run yesterday, I saw that Kino had stacks of these available. Knowing that it had the first episode for Gunslinger Girl, I thought why not. I don't subscribe to this as of now, but it's one of the magazines I'm thinking about switching my Young Magazine subscription to when it runs out because there are a lot of comics in here that I read in tank form. The other magazine I'm interested in is, I believe, Kadokawa Dragon Ace or something like that. But I'll have to wait until August when my subscription expires. Since I don't like starting in a middle of a series, I didn't read any of the comics. However, I did peruse it and it has a lot of titles that I'm either currently reading or currently interested in. The ones that I'm currently reading from this magazine are: Stellvia, With Yotsuba, Gunslinger Girl, and Strawberry Marshmallows. The stuff I'm interested in are: Jubei-chan 2 (last chapter though), Onegai Twins, and much to my surprise, Maburavu. Maburavu is another video game created by Age, the same creators of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. As I was flipping through, I saw the words "Hakuryo" which is the high school that the Kiminozo characters went to. Interesting, interesting... The Gunglinger Girl DVD is pretty nice for a freebie. It comes in its own thinpak case with cover an everything. Most of it is to pimp the videogame/anime DVD bundle though. It doesn't have the intro or ending, but that's to be expected. The episode pretty much follows the first chapter of the manga with some scenes switched around. Henrietta and the other girls look a lot younger in the anime than they do in the manga, which I believe is a good thing. Her age is one of the factors that she's so attached to her "master." The show is presented in 1.78 aspect anamorphic widescreen, but the sound is still Dolby Digital 2 channel. I don't think I'm going to get the series though. It was one of the series I had thought about getting last year when I saw it in Animage/Newtype, but they didn't get their DVD out in a timely fashion (plus, it's coupled with a game) and by the time the game/dvd came out, I already used the money I reserved for that show for Kiminozo. There will be others...like MADLAX. |
Title: 電撃大王 (Dengeki Daioh) May '04 |
少年マガ (Shonen Magazine), '04 Vol 20 & ヤングマガ (Young Magazine), '04 Vol. 20
Featured girl is 平山あや (Aya Hirayama). She has a photo book set to be released on 4/22. Tsubasa returns with a color page this week. According to the preview, Yuuko-rin will be featured in the next two issues! Joy joy! Negima: ５０時間目 このかのために・・・ (For Konoka...): Negima arrives too late. Using Konoka's powers, Chigusa has summoned a super monster. Asuna and Setsuna, Negi's "partners" come to help, but to no avail. A petrification smoke spell is cast and the three of them get out in the nick of time. However, Negi's right had touched the smoke and is slowing turning into a rock. At this juncture, Setsuna reveals her true self. She sprouts wings and says that she herself is just another monster, like the ones they were battling. She has kept this a secret from everyone, especially Konoka since she might hate her. Asuna refutes that belief and says she's quite cool. Setsuna flies off to save Konoka. Suzuka: ＃９自覚 (Conscientious): Yasunobu and Yamato talk about Yamato's apparent love situation with Suzuka. That night, a storm hits and the lights go out at the apartment. Suzuka crawls over to Yamato's room, quite quickly as he notices. They try lighting candles around the room, but that just makes the mood more scary and occult-like. They resort to having one candle. When banging sounds happen outside, Suzuka grabs on to Yamato, each time claiming that she slipped. From their talking, Yamato infers that she's afraid of the dark, unfitting for someone as strong as she is. The lights come back on and life goes back to normal. Tsubasa: ４１ 永遠の友 (Eternal Friend): Shaoran is training with Kuro and is doing especially well. However, he still has his weakness in his left eye. Kuro tells him to blindfold himself and walk home. This is to train his ability to sense, which is much more important than seeing. So he stumbles home and on his way, he encounters something that's attacking him. Ryuuou jumps in and tells him to take off his blindfold and he sees a monster. They vanquish it. They then take a walk where he explains to Ryuuou what he's doing. Suddenly, the human-like monster appears and it's none other than Seishirou, the person who has the same eye injury from the "X" and Tokyo Babylon stories. Hamanaka Ai: ０３２天野ミサキ (Misaki Amano): On the day of the test, Misaki is sick so she hands over the title of class leader to Ayana because a class can't wait until the next test for a class leader. Even with her abjuration, Ayana still waits for the next test to challenge her. Futatsuki: １２口目／桃色の衝撃 (12th Taste, Pink Shock): For the next competition, it's going to be a 4 way. Futatsuki has 2 opponents and the third opponent is a team that had a bye in the first round. The judges for this competition are 3 idols who won't eat ramen because it's low-class and potentially not good for their slender bodies. So for the next round, they have to think up (and cook up) something that isn't ramen. The other teams have chosen pasta and such. Futatsuki and his two teammates head back to the school where they're welcome with great applause, but they know that they have a serious challenge ahead of them.
Same girl as Shonen, back page girl is 小川すみれ (Sumire Ogawa). Minamike is a once-every-two-week, as I thought it would. Actually, I thought it would disappear quickly, but it doesn't seem to be holding. I still like it though, although it should be in Shonen rather than Young if it wants to stick around. Redlight: 3: Work is finished early, so rather than having Satoshi wait for his ride, Chiko takes him back to her place (on her scooter) for the time being. There, he finds out that her family works in a little factory making nuts and bolts. She's currently studying for her driving test. They take a nap (not together) and eat a meal together with her family. He helps out around the house when some burlish guy comes in collecting some debt. The family members ignore him and when that guy grabs and questions Satoshi, the family doesn't help out either. XXXholic: 47: Kimihiro is chased by another spirit and as he's running away, he sees a boy who tells him to throw some salt on the spirit and it'll disappear. They hang out for a while. From Kimihiro's name, the boy, deduces that his birthday is April 1st. He says that the day is important to him too and tells him to meet him and he'll give Kimihiro a present. On that day, He gives him a present and like a ghost, disappears. He mentions that the day is important because it's the day that he'll have to part from Kimihiro. The present he gives him is his bone...which later turns into Sakura petals.
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Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 20
Title: ヤングマガジン (Young Magazine) Vol. 20 |
少年マガ (Shonen Magazine), '04 Vol 19 & ヤングマガ (Young Magazine), '04 Vol. 19
A little late this time, but I was busy with a certain video game... It looks like that time of year again when they choose who Miss Magazine is going to be. They have 16 potential candidates. There's minimal biographical information (body measurements being one of them) so judging is completely based on looks. By looks only, I don't think any of them are that pretty. No Tsubasa in this issue. Suzuka: ＃８空転 (Standstill): Yamato is still preoccupied with what Suzuka's embrace from last chapter. However, he overhears Suzuka talking to some other guy with glasses and agrees to accompany him somewhere for something. He frets for a while, but later finds out that the guy is a scout for the men's track and wanted to recruit Yamato for the team and was talking to Suzukua for a recommendation. The scout leaves with telling him that it looks like Yamato is Suzuka's type; a remark to which Suzuka takes some embarrassment to, but one that gets Yamato's head spinning again. Negima: ４９時間目 開放・秘められた力！ (49th Hour, Release - The Hidden Power!): Asuna, Setsuna, as well as the other girls who helped battle the monsters seem to be winning. And despite a little obstacle, Negi is able to reach Chigusa and Konoka. Results are in from the 3rd Negima poll! The two time most popular character, Makie is down to #7, Asuna is now #4 instead of 2). Hamanaka Ai: ０３１初日からの果たし状 (Letter of Challenge from the First Day): It's the start of a new school year and the three students Misaki, Masahiko, and Rin are all together in the same class. Since Misaki was class leader last year, it's only natural that she'll be the leader this year. However, a student that she knows, 若田部アヤナ (Ayana Wakatabe) challenges her to the position with the next test as the duel. Futatsuki: １１口目／ラーメン記念日 (11th Taste/Ramen Memorial Day): Futatsuki's ramen is a hit among the brat judges. He reveals the ingredients as acorn and Amaranthus, which none of the judges could have imagined. He wins the competition with a score of 16-0 which allows him to enter the next round.
Cover girl is Mayuko Iwasa (again) and like its little brother magazine, this issue also has the 16 contestants for Miss Magazine. The age range for the girls are as old as 19 to as young as 14. Sketchy. XXXholic: 46: This arc comes to a close. The older sister is literally "bound" by her "words." Yuuko interrupts their lunch at the restuarant and frees her from the string that entangles her. Redlight: 2: Chiko tells Satoshi to be more steadfast in his direction of traffic, but when he does so, he causes a car accident. Meanwhile, Chiko seems to have gotten sick, so Satoshi gives her a milk tea to drink and tells her to rest. When she wakes, she gives her thanks which gets his head spinning in love. |
Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 19
Title: ヤングマガジン (Young Magazine) Vol. 19 |
Spring Cleaning, Part 2 I'm finally done with cleaning. The good thing about having a 1 bedroom apartment is that there's not much to clean. Had a lot of boxes to throw out, but that's about it. Wipe down the bathroom and kitchen counter, whip out some swiffers and my lint remover/vacuum. Pika pika desu! I spent this evening traversing town. I usually have a ban on shopping at anime stores, especially if they're outside a Japanese community, but I made an exception today and went to AnimeGamers. The reason I boycott most anime stores is because most of them sell bootlegs this and that, not something I want to support. Animegamers, I believe, has ties to a Japanese corporation, so I guess it's still okay for me. It's no different than AnimeJungle in downtown LA. Anyhow, I am very impressed with their store. I had expected them to cater to western audiences only, but I was happily surprised when I saw that they had a nice selection of Japanese manga there. While still more expensive than Asahiya, they're a bit cheaper than Kino. On top of that, they have a bunch of limited edition items that are out of print elsewhere. I came out of that store with the limited edition volume #25 of Ah My Goddess. I have books 1 and 2 of that series, but haven't even started yet. Their location is okay as I can park in the shopping mall across the street (which has a big Barnes and Noble, where I also bought another Al Franken book today). Good stuff. Will return to buy things someday...it's kinda out of the way for me as they're closer to West Hollywood though. |
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