music:::Mandalay – Beautiful

The September issue of Shoxx came in… fangirl swooning lies ahead:
I was waiting like a little girl for this particluar copy to arrive… counting the days till it came out in Japan, counting the days it might take to be shipped to OCS in Frankfurt, and counting a few more days till it came here. And there it is, on my carpet, Ryoutarou (PulaTori) on the cover. But it’s the inside that counts, isn’t it.
Akiya is in there. Lots of Akiya (oh, Shin too, right). I didn’t even have the nerves to read the interview, I was just so paralyzed by the pictures. I swear those are the most beautiful pictures of him, ever. He’s so damn pretty &heart;
Oh and there are a lot less Aki&Shin pics than there were Nao&Izumi pics in the last issue of Shoxx ;_; *sends letters to complain to Shoxx editors*
But ah. Ah. *_* The location and the lighting are so ’sunny’, the photos have an awesome summer flair. The little pics in the center of the article are so cute *_* Like, there’s that purikura-like pic that must be one of the cuuutest Shin&Aki pics ever. *dies*
So yes, it was well worth the waiting, the article exceeded all my expectations and I’m a happy little Akiya fangirl. Please ignore me, thank you. *goes off to read the interview*

music:::See-Saw – Tasogare no umi

I watched .hack/Liminality earlier tonight. It’s so different than .hack//SIGN, the atmosphere, the music, yet they have that same feel to it… And the moment the two shows ‘overlap’ is just magic (whoa, when ‘Obsession’ starts you just ‘feel’ the link, like totally). Excuse me, I’m just… outta there.
Don’t ever trust rumours: Sadamoto Yoshiyuki is supposedly not working on a .hack manga ;_; At least that’s what one of the production teams’ official site says. But even their dementi was pretty vague so… The first tankoubon of the .hack//Tasogare no Udewa Densetsu is being published on August 1st, but from what I was able to get, it’s more of a slapstick manga than a serious piece of art ;_; (And it’s not by Sadamoto-sensei.)
I forgot to say a few days ago that Due’s Rodeo PV is actually brilliant. From a technical point of view plus considering financial situations of indie bands that is.

music:::Sneaker Pimps – Destroying Angel

So instead of watching the raw version of .hack//LIMINALITY, I thought it was time for episode 13 of .hack//SIGN last night. Whee, that was easily the best episode so far. Sarcastic Mimiru vs Sora talk, Tsukasa coming to terms with what he really wants, in fact the whole episode was so action-packed (in a story-developing sense). And I so loved the ending sequence with Krim and BT. BT is such a cool character *_* (And who’s that character that appeared right in front of Bear??) What a cliffhanger, argh *shoos fansubbers to release ep. 14*

Mou, my Betsuma 8 still isn’t here ;_; I hope OCS didn’t forget about my order (again), just to tell me they sold out of the issue when it’s already too late to order it somewhere else >_< I need my monthly dose of shoujo manga, dammit. There's the Akuma de sourou encore yomikiri that I just don't want to miss... damn, I wish I was living somewhere near a Japanese bookstore so I wouldn't need to mailorder everything. Bah.

My financial situation is just pathetic, really. I had to postpone my plans for Japan because of buying the notebook. (But hey, I’ll probably enjoy the laptop for much longer than the trip to Japan. Besides, I’ll be in Japan for at least one year as soon as I get my scholarship.) But having lost the money for my TS order wasn’t good at all, cause not only did I lose the money, I don’t have the CDs I ordered and now I have to order them again >_< Add my monthly manga and anime needs, and you'll understand my desperation. Plus, I have something in my head telling me to order the .hack//SIGN OST 1 and there's absolutely nothing that could stop me from giving in to that sweet voice between my two ears >_<

music:::Smashing Pumpkins – Mayonaise (acoustic)

Bookstore Nippon sent me Asuka 8, the issue that was sold out at OCS… yay ^_^ I’m so glad they still had it in stock eben though Asuka 9 is already out in Japan. I’m quite disappointed with its contents though. X is briliant as always. There was nothing else that caught my attention, unfortunately, besides Akira Onodera’s Hayabusa, but that series is being released every 3 months only which makes it quite hard to follow.
Yuana Kazumi’s new series started in that issue. I haven’t read the chapter yet, just flipped through it. It’s called Fukai nemuri no hana and it has that very same weakness that all of Kazumi-sensei’s manga seem to have: It’s the same character scheme, again and again – two guys, one blond (usually the nice guy), the other with darker hair and a girl with long curly hair. Maaa, boring.
I looooove Akira Onodera’s Hayabusa though. He mixes traditional Japanese settings and clothes with bits of modern fashion so well and thus creates a whole new version of the supposed ‘future’. The characters are all gorgeous (bishounen anyone?), I just wish that the series appeared more often than just once every three months.

I think I’m going to drop Asuka nevertheless. Unless Gouhou Drug returns this autumn (which it is supposed to, but you never know…), it’s goodbye to the glorious Asuka times. I always loved the fantasy stories in it but as I’ve complained sometime earlier, the characters in most of the series are getting younger and younger and I just don’t like manga centering around 12-year-olds.
My best bet would be to subscribe to a clich� shoujo magazine and a shounen one. That would be a good combination I think. And once I’m off to university, I’ll be a whole lot closer to OCS so I can pick them up myself.

I got the OVA that came with the .hack game for PS2. .hack//LIMINALITY is the OVA’s title, it runs 45 minutes and the quality is awesome! I only managed to get a raw copy of it (I think no one has subbed it yet) and I only had the time to watch the first 10 minutes of it but I’m so amazed by it’s quality. The chara design is quite a bit different than in the game and the TV series but it’s the first time you get a view on the outside world, the real world, as the TV series concentrates on what’s happening with the characters in the game and you pretty rarely get to know what’s happening in the real world (but that’s part of the mystery, isn’t it). Speaking of which, .hack//SIGN 13 ranks number 2 of things to watch (it’s on my HD, ah), right after .hack//LIMINALITY so I better stop here ^-^

music:::See saw – Obsession

It’s so depressive to see through my logfiles and notice the absence of all my baroque stuff. When will S’cube stop ignoring me? Just a few things are worse than waiting for a letter/mail, just a few only.

OCS is being veeery slooooow with sending me my Betsuma August issue >_< While being totally deprived of shoujo manga, I started to read a few shounen titles. Shounen Jump series. Argh, I never thought stuff like that would actually have any sort of effect on me, someone should have warned me, it's so addictive!

Btw, can anyone deny the fact that Tsumi to Batsu is one of the best songs Kagrra have ever released?! The song has been in my head for almost 2 months straight. This can’t be healthy. But oh do I like it. Akiya’s birthday is in less than a month, wonder if I should get him something…

Got Kagrra’s Yume izuru chi PV.

My hopes on the quality weren’t that high, most indies videos just don’t grab me. This time, it just did grab me. (Like anything Kagrra had ever disappointed me, haha.) Isshi got too much screentime, but I think Akiya got the second-most so it’s all right ^^; Ah yes, the video is beautiful. No random scenes like in those aweful Matina videos (Syndrome at the beach, Syndrome in a white studio… >_<), but beautiful Japanese-themed sets. The cutting is very good for an indies video, thank God there are no fast cuts that give you epileptic cramps (Nightmare, Kagerou anyone?). Isshi's movements and facial expressions are a bit too dramatic for my taste sometimes... Akiya has some lovely scenes though (aah, the guitar solo).

The colour scheme is orange-blue, giving the video a wonderful dreamy atmosphere. All the blending layers effects are so pretty and create a dream-like image that suits the song wonderfully.

It’s a very very well done video, much above indie video standard. I wish there were more… hm, what about a nice PV collection sometime soon? *pokes PS Company*

music:::Kagerou – Wristcutter (tekubi tekubi tekubi^^)

Oh my God oh my God: Kagerou will release a video clip collection on September 25 *_* It’ll be out on both video tape and DVD… I’ll buy the DVD, of course. Nothing’s better than a digital Daisuke. Oh, video and DVD? So the rumours might be true then… we’ll see. They’ll have that double oneman at Shibuya AX in September. If there’s anything big to be announced, they’ll probably do it there. O-ya-su-mi. *wanders off to bed*