chibiforte

I received my true tears OP CD single, earlier today.  It's pretty good.  I enjoy "Reflectia" the most, obviously, but I didn't particularly care for "elekta".  Maybe I'll have to give it a few more listens.  The piano in the background was obviously nice to hear, but the vocals didn't really catch me.  Maybe because it's slow?

My nephew should be born on Monday, at the latest (since he was due last week, they are going to induce her on Monday if he isn't born till then).  His name will be Matthew Jr., after his Dad.  He better be cute as a button.  I wonder how Sarai will take not being the only baby anymore?

I'm picking up Mario Kart Wii, tomorrow.  I actually wasn't really planning on picking this game up until the summer, but my Dad ended up preordering it for me, so I don't really have an excuse.  I was wanting to pick up The World Ends with You for the DS, but eh, it can wait.  This is kart-racing with Mario, and I hear the online is fantastic, so I'm looking forward to it.

I just had an idea a little bit ago, while vacuuming the living room.  I think it'd be really neat to have a remix album of, what else, but Haruhi Suzumiya music.  Not just any remix album though, but a PIANO album.  Where all of the songs are done on the piano, without vocals or anything.  I think it'd be pretty easy to fill up an album with music from the series and games.  The OP and ED for the anime, obviously, but you could also branch off and do songs from the character albums, or use the BGM for the anime, or even do the OP/ED from the two games they have out.  Even Mikuru's Love Legend!  I could see it being done... maybe being distributed using Bittorrent... I'd need to buy the albums, though, just so I can hear all the music that can be done... and I'd need to find someone else who can play the piano with me... hmmm...

 I'm going to be talking about media items I've partaken in within the last few weeks, which means I'm be giving little mini-reviews on them.

Premiere - Enjin Sentai Go-onger
The premiere of the new Sentai season!  And, like many were guessing, it's, more or less, a parody season.  And I actually liked it, even if I did watch it RAW.  It was fairly simple to understand, and I enjoyed the Henshin sequence and fights.  It seemed to be a bit over-acted, but I can only guess that it's part of the whole parody motiff.  From what I can guess of the story, it's mostly some kind of fight against pollution-making monsters, which just screams Gaoranger to me, but whatever, it's not a big deal.  I just hope somebody subs the episode, soon...

Premiere - Kamen Rider Kiva
It's a new Kamen Rider.  What else do you need to know?  It's got vampires, action, organizations, a rival dedicated to bringing down Kiva, all that fun stuff.  I'm up to episode #4 right now, and I'm really enjoying it.  I like having Tomokazu Sugita in the role of Kivat, and I really enjoy the actor who plays Wataru's father, Otoya.  He's just such a funny character, I found myself laughing out loud most of the times he made an appearance.  And having the young-looking and innocent Wataru as Kiva was just an interesting choice, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this show goes.

Premiere - Powers Rangers Jungle Fury
Yeah, baby!  Another new season of Power Rangers!  And wouldn't you know it... I fell in love just by watching the first two episodes.  This show has got it goin' on.  While it is, more or less, a translation of it's Sentai counterpart, it just seems to work, for some reason.  I'm not diggin' the sunglasses as morphers, but I'm sure it'll pass (I don't know why they changed from the wrist morphers, but whatever).  I'm really impressed by how they kept in so many Japanese and Chinese names for various aspects of the series, instead of localizing them as simply "Jungle Weapon ______" (which they did do for some things, but they were necessary changes)
I like the rangers, especially the Blue Ranger, Theo, since it seemed that they wanted to translate the character of Retsu in a way that worked in America, and it does work.  The supporting characters are actually interesting, including Fran and R.J. and Master Mao, and the villians are good counterparts of the originals.  I even enjoy listening to the theme song, which is a first in a long while.  Can't wait to see what they do with the Kensei, Violet Ranger, Chopper, and some various other things.
One more thing, though: I'm actually really confused as to why they kept in a few certain parts that happened in the original.  I'm talking about things like the FLOODING of a MAJOR CITY, in particular, which is strange considering how recent the New Orleans Hurricane has been.  Usually Disney wouldn't touch something like that with a ten-foot pole, but they seemed to not have a problem using it this year.  I'm also speaking of how the giant monster DESTROYED the TOP of a SKYSCRAPER, which just shocked me to no end.  I mean, they stopped using exploding building footage ever since 9/11, but now they actually have a monster committing the act intentionally?  Woah... that's all I have to say.  Quite impressive, Disney.  Now, let us use the word "kill" instead of "destroy" and you'll get your teenage audience.

General Thoughts - Rosario + Vampire
I'm a bit disappointed on how this anime is proceeding.  I was so interested in this show before it aired that I went and read what was released of the manga just so I knew how this whole plotline would go.  And yet, they're not only diverging from the manga on what I consider important points, but they just throw faaaaar too much fanservice in the mix, as well as rushing through manga chapters to the point that you lose any emotional connection to the characters.  I'm disappointed at that.  They should've chose an animation studio that would NOT turn it into a typical fanservice show and give it to one that would actually take the story that was given to them and make something out of it.

General Thoughts - H20 ~footprints in the sand~
This show has impressed me soooo much within the last few weeks.  Not many people were expecting anything from this show, but I don't know where all this dislike comes from.  This show can pack so much drama and humor into the episodes that I'm amazed it's not one of the top shows this season.  And even though it's supposed to be a short series, I don't feel that it's being rushed at all, and it's proceeding at a pace that's not too fast or slow.  I know for a fact that I'll be buying these DVDs when/if they are licensed here in America, I find it that enjoyable.

General Thoughts - true tears
This is another show that I'm impressed with.  At the beginning, I thought it was somewhat boring and not too interesting, but these last few episodes have really piqued my interest, to the point where I don't find it the least bit boring, anymore.  I love how they always end the episodes with SOME kind of cliffhanger, and while some may see it as a cheap trick to get more watchers, it just grabs my interest all the more.  Since this series is actually licensed, I'm definitely going to pick up the DVDs, as I'm curious as to which voices they'll choose for the dub.

And... that's all I have.

 Just thought I'd post up the names of anime titles I'm going to watch this Winter.

+Ayakashi
It's a visual novel-based show, but it doesn't really look all that... good?  I might pass on this one if it doesn't entertain me with its subject matter.

+H20 ~Footprints in the Sand~
This one looked interesting to me.  I suppose it's mostly the art style that gets to me, since it looks really nice.  If nothing else, it'll look good.

+Rosario + Vampire
Oh man, I'm definitely looking forward to this.  I've already read the first four or so volumes of the manga, and it looks pretty awesome to me.  Hopefully the story moves along quickly, which it probably will since they show that ninja girl on their home page, and since she doesn't show up for quite a few volumes, they'll either change the story or move it quickly.

+Shigofumi
I don't know what it's about, but it looks cool.  That's all I have to say, really.

+They Are My Noble Masters
I don't really have anything to say about this one.  It's eroge-turned-anime, and that's all I can describe it as, since I've never played the game.  I'm sure it won't have THAT much fanservice... or, I can HOPE they don't have very much...

+true tears
Yeah, baby!  This one is the show I'm most interested in watching.  I can't explain what about it attracts me so, but reguardless, it'll be awesome, I'm sure.

There'll probably be other shows that I watch, but these are the biggies for me.  I'm going to be so loaded down once they all air...

Oh, and of course, I'm going to continue watching Clannad, since it's the only one that continues into the New Year that I'm watching right now.