Darker than BLACK (anime review)

****

[watch legally for free on FUNimation's DTB Youtube]

I'm surprised it took me this long to watch the first season of Darker than BLACK, but the second season (Gemini of the Meteor) started this Fall 2009... usually when something really good gets a second season, my anime friends like to chat up a storm about the first season and this means spoilers galore! It took me little over a month to watch all 25 episodes and the 1 ova episode, but this is because I tend to watch 15+ anime at the same time (more recently more because I've been watching some old anime I never saw such as Speed Grapher).
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Darker than BLACK is an original anime (meaning it is not based on an anime, manga, game, etc but is an original creation by the company that made it) produced by studio BONES. It has two manga adaptations. Season 1 (Kuro no Keiyakusha) ran for 25 episodes and had one ova (it's known as episode 26, but takes place in between episodes so is not actually the end of the series but more of an extra episode). The second season premiered during the Fall 2009 season of anime and has 1 ova episode planned, but this ova is set to tell more so Hei's story from before season 1 started. FUNimation entertainment has the license for an English dub and season 1 has already been released completed in English.
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In Tokyo, an impenetrable field known as "Hell's Gate" appeared ten years ago. At the same time, psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. Hei is one of the most powerful of these psychic agents, and along with his blind associate, Yin, works for one of the many rival agencies vying to unlock the mysteries of Hell's Gate. [ann]
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I was expecting this anime to let me down mainly because when people overly fan boy/girl over a series, it ends up being extremely cliched or something I've just got no interest in seeing (there are a few cases where a really popular anime was one I liked). I found it to be brilliant to add a payment for these 'powers' used in the anime, which without would have made this over used "we haz powahs!" concept even more over used and I probably would have been bored within a few episodes, but add the amazing character relations and this mysterious grim reaper type character BA BOOM you got a winning series :]

Jennifer's Body [2009]/ Surrogates [2009]

***

The premise for this movie was that popular girl Jennifer (Megan Fox) can get any boy she wants and all girls want to be her. Well... one day at a concert miss Jennifer is used as a virgin sacrifice, only she is not a virgin. Instead of just being killed, a demon is transferred into her body for all of eternity. This demon has to feed on flesh in order to sustain itself. The only way to rid earth of this demon is to kill Jennifer via her heart...
I'm not one who chooses readily to go to this type of teenage horror flick but my friends wanted to go and my vote to go see Fame had become out numbered. BUT I actually enjoyed the movie. The background music was really good, and the story was not half bad. If only there would be a sequel :)

***1/2

The movie is about how individuals can live their daily life's via surrogate robots. The best part is that if your surrogate self gets 'murdered' or 'harmed' that the you in a stem chair should not sustain any damage. One day people start dieing in their stem chairs after encountering a hooded man with a very deadly weapon.
This movie had a concept that could have worked out very well, but the movie had been too short which also resulted in it seeming rushed. If I had the choice to watch it again, I would because it was a good start of a movie but I wouldn't pay to see it in a theatre.

Baby Mama [2008] [dvd rental] (mini-movie review)

***

The premise for the movie itself was not what made me want to watch this- it was the leading ladies. The movie did it's best not to drag, and the over the top comedy that Saturday Night Live (of which Faye and Poehler are pretty big parts of) is known for was not too present in this movie. Big plus! This was a hearwarming movie that was actually able to teach a small lesson in the end. Go watch this when you need a decent movie to watch =D

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince [2009][movie theatre] (movie review)

***

~Summary~

Emboldened by the return of Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters are wreaking havoc in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that new dangers may lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. He needs Harry to help him uncover a vital key to unlocking Voldemort's defenses, critical information known only to Hogwarts' former Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn. With that in mind, Dumbledore manipulates his old colleague into returning to his previous post with promises of more money, a bigger office, and the chance to teach the famous Harry Potter. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry's long friendship with Ginny Weasley is growing into something deeper, but standing in the way is Ginny's boyfriend, Dean Thomas, not to mention her big brother Ron. But Ron's got romantic entanglements of his own to worry about, with Lavender Brown lavishing her affections on him, leaving Hermione simmering with jealousy yet determined not to show her feelings. And then a box of love potion-laced chocolates ends up in the wrong hands and changes everything. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof with far more important matters on his mind. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again. [official website]

~Impressions~

This movie is most definatly one for the fans of Harry Potter (more specifically the ones who have read the books) because there are many moments that non-readers will be confused on. Several of the actors did a superb job with playing their characters while others just didn't cut it. I have to point out Tom Felton's portrayal of Draco Malfoy in this film because in past films I found his acting to be too over the top while in this one he played the distressed 'chossen one' that the character in the book version was suppose to be. What I am saying is that Mr. Felton has finally become the Draco I've read about.Daniel Radcliff continues to be a very annoing Harry, but he did hit the mark when having to force Dumbledor to drink.... oh crap. That would be a spoiler, so you'll just have to go see the movie to know what Akia is talking about :]~Film~

This film in the Harry Potter series has the same feel as the previous one. If you're looking for the magical feel the first few films had, well, you will be dissapointed. This film is much darker than others, but it is also a little too light hearted. I bet this is the reason HP 6 got it's PG rating when, if the book was followed, the movie should have at least been rated PG-13.

Bakemonogatari [ep.1&2]

Bakemonogatari is the product of SHAFT.

~Episode 1~ [screencaps]

Episode 1 of Bakemonogatari definantly made me want to continue on with the series not only because of the interesting story of a girl who had her weight stolen by a crab (which is later revealed to be a "god"), but also because of the animation approach which reminds me of the Ef series! The episode ended on a note that made me want to watch the second one ASAP.

~Episode 2~

The second episode solved the problem the first one presented, and also made it look like the anime was over with only two episodes. If it was not for the next episode preview, I probably would have mistake this series for an OVA anime (it's actually scheduled for 12 episodes). I warn people who plan to watch this that episode 2 deals with the topic of rape; it gets pretty deep.

[3/50] Chasing Yesterday #1: Awakening (review)

[book 3 out of the 50 books in a year challenge 2009/2010]

[this book was checked out from a library]

***

"At first, there was nothing but the pain. It began as a low rumble, background noise. It was almost soothing, the way it folded around her like a blanket. It made her mind dull, gave her a place to hide. It throbbed. It hummed. It came in waves, tossing her up, dragging her under, washing over her, carrying her away from herself, from everything." Awakening; pg. 1

Awakening opens up with a girl laying on the ground in the aftermath of major explosion. She is without memories... yet she knows how to move her eyes, how to speak, how to function. Once the girl is found and taken to the hospital, her story is show on the news and she is now known as "little girl lost." This girl does not like being called this, nor the name she has been given by the media- Jane Doe. She, instead, wishes to be called J.D. J.D. is soon shipped to a home for kids no one wants any longer. Here she meets a boy named David. At first the two don't hit it off, but eventually she ends up telling her the few days worth of a life story she has....

I ended up reading this 207 page book in a few hours. It is a book for those 8 years of age and older, but I really enjoyed it and can't wait to read the second book (which I checked out from the library when checked this one out). Overall, the book had a story that kept me interested- made me want to read untill I finished.

50 bk Challenge [2009/2010]

I originally started this challenge back in Febuary but never really got around to reading books as I had planned... so I've decided to restart the challenge this month (july) and go to next year, this month (july 2010). The rules are simple. I can't read how-to books, non-chapter books for this challenge. The book has to be AT LEAST 250 PAGES IN LENGTH. That is all. If you're going to participate in this, let me know :]

I'll do my best to review most of the books I complete.

I'm counting books I read last month as ones towards the challenge... yep.

Completed books in the challenge (in order of being completed):
1- Skinned [review]
2- Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Darkside
3- Chasing Yesteray #1: Awakening [review]

Gattaca [1997] [dvd rental] (mini-movie review)

****

My anatomy teacher had her students (the ones who weren't seniors or seniors who had finished checking out of high school) start to watch Gattaca. I was still checking out that day, so I missed the first part of the movie. The chunk I did get to see made me want to run off and rent the movie. I did the same day (after school of course) and really enjoyed this movie. What surprised me the most was that Gattaca was realeased in 1997. If you're looking for a different kind of science movie, then this is a really good watch.

Cyborg She [2008] [download] (Japanese movie)

****

-Summary-

On November 22, 2007 Jirou Kitamura spends his birthday alone with no girlfriend to even speak of. This has been the occuarnce for quite a few of his birthdays. He goes to a department store to by him self a present. As he is doing this, Kitamura notices a 'cute' girl following him.
After buying himself a present, Kitamura goes to a resturant to eat his birthday meal. Before he is able to finish eating, the girl appears before him only to say it is her birthday as well. The two eat together, but Kitamura realizes he can't pay for both meals. The girl, in responce, drags him out of the resturant. The two end up runing around town only to end up at Kiramura's house. Soon after, Kitamura ends up realizing this girl knows him somehow but before he can ask, she tells him that she is a time travelr before dissapering for a year.
On his 21st birthday, the girl comes back- or so it seems... turns out this time the girl is a cyborg sent to prevent Kitamura from dieing in a tragic earthquake!
-Initial Impressions-
If you've known me long enough, you'd know I adore anime and movies of this type- ones involving cyborgs. The first part of the movie really got me excited, but did not work on my emotions as much as when the cyborg version of the girl came. It was most definantly a thrill ride and one that worked on my emotions. I can't really say 89% of what I want to say on this movie because it'll be spoiler-rific!!
-The Music-
I don't really remember the music very well... thusly leaving me unable to review the music!
-Film-
The way this movie was shot is impressive (but I do have to admit that the graphics during the earth quake were a bit cheesy). There is something about the way Japanese shoot their movies that really make me feel like I'm experiencing the movie first hand. I do have to say that the fiture shots are abnormal feeling, which is probably the way it should feel because the future is not something I'm used to or have experienced.

Henry Poole is Here [2008] [dvd rental] (movie mini-review)

****

[Movie Information]

After watching Race to Witch Mountain earlier in the day, I was ready for a movie that does not rely on effects to make it a watchable movie. Henry Poole is Here was the movie I was looking for, to an extent. While watching the movie, I could pretty much predict what would happen but I wasn't too upset by this because the story was what the movie relied on rather then effects (this is in no way an effects movie! In fact, it's more of an independent film because there were many creative shots rather than computer effects). This movie is well worth the watch =)

H2O: Footprints in the Sand [2008] [download] (anime review)

*** Image copyright goes out to Zexcs.

I’m actually typing this at around 12:15am on March 14 2009- right after I finished the last episode of H2O: Footprints in the Sand. I was watching this mainly to pass the time while waiting for someone to log on to Yahoo IM (but due to a two hour time difference and their friend visiting before a major event later this morning, this person I was waiting to log back on probably ended up crashing before they remembered to logg back on to Yahoo) but ended up continuing not because the anime was “interesting” but because I honestly had nothing better to do because ToraDora is on the computer at the moment which my sister is using. Oh, and the reason this is being typed before posted is because my hand me down laptop sometimes doesn’t connect to the internet. *le sighhhh*

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H2O: Footprints in the Sand is based on a Japanese adult visual novel by Makura that was released on June 23 2006. The anime was released from January 4 2008 through March 21 2008 spanning a total of 12 episodes. Even though there is a sequel to the visual novel called Root After and Another, there is currently no second season scheduled. There was a manga adaptation released before the anime adaptation. The anime is licensed for an English language release by Kodokawa Shoten.

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The anime opens with the male lead, Takuma Hirose a blind middle school student, reciting part of an adaptation of the poem Footprints (a Christian faith based poem where a human is asking God why there is only one set of footprints in the sand if God said he would always be there). At one point in the anime, towards the beginning, he meets a girl who calls herself Otoha. Otoha tells Hirose that she is a spirit and he is the fabled Chosen One. In order to prove she is a spirit, Otoha takes Hirose’s blindness away. This, in turn, opens up a lot of new possibilities for Hirose’s life and also opens up old wounds.

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I’ll warn you right here, this is a very cruel anime as well as very perverted (I know, it’s an odd combination). One of the female leads, Hayami Kohinata, is constantly picked on an beat up. Other female leads end up tripping onto Hirose’s face to the point where he gets to see their underwear but he always says he saw nothing (this is, of course, after he is given the ability to see). Yui Tabata, another one of the female leads, is the leader of the cruel insults aimed at Kohinata. As the anime goes on, things go from bad to worse to good to magical girl to even worse to time-to-throw-up-from-all-the-drama. Usually I do not mind drama, but this anime did get a tad too far on the drama meter. The first episode had a girl getting beat up and she didn’t put up any sort of fight. Everyone knows this does not happen to such an extent in real life.

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That being said, this anime did have really good moments. I especially loved episode 8, the magical Otoha episode! This and some interesting plot twists did save this anime from getting a two star rating rather than a three. I would have given the anime another half star, but the animation was not that good- especially for a visual novel based anime. Usually, visual novel based anime have excellent animation, but H2O’s was a little below average especially for an anime released in 2008. Also, another saving quality of this anime, was the lack of every girl chasing the male lead. Even though most of the girls seemed interested in Hirose, this was not what controlled the anime’s plot. A really nice breather!

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I’m not jumping up the pick up the OST because, in all honesty, the background music was a bit overused. I found myself tired of the same track being used but the ending theme was very nice while the opening was annoying.

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All in all, H2O: Footprints in the Sand was not too long nor too short of an anime (even though the first few episodes did seem to drag on). The 12 episode length was very suitable for a story of this magnitude. I recommend this anime to fans of visual novel based anime and fans of drama, especially the cheesy kind =)

Yakuza Girl [2008/09] [read online] (Mini-manga review)

**

[link to read online]

... at yesterdays I-studios meeting Shadow brought up a good point- this manga is aimed at mature shounens (boys). I'm a shoujo (girl) but I like shounen series' such as Bleach, Naruto, One Piece and more recently Letter B. Apparently, this manga does follow the typical shounen style... but with a much darker and mature way of doing things. I personally did not like this approach because such an approach makes a manga seem like it's only real point is to please the sexual desires of the Japanese male. Of course, there is nothing really wrong with that (ok, there is, but in Japan some manga artists draw to sell to this type of audiance). I'm not a Japanese male, nor am I a pervy girl (ok, I take that back. I am, but I don't really like overtly perverted manga *sigh*). Yakuza Girl could have been really good, but it was rushed and the story was too perverted (on mainly one females part, but you can find that out by reading this manga when you have nothing else to read). I do not reccomend this manga at all... hardly an "if you're bored read" at that. You're better off reading something else. GO READ SOMETHING ELSE!!

NOTE: A "mini-manga review" is a review where I just give my opinions rather than a full fleged review of a series. I hope you are ok with this but if you would like me to make a full review, let me know and I will.

Blindness [2008] [dvd rental] (movie review)

**

"The only thing more terrifying than being blind is being the only one who can see," The doctors wife.

I was really excited about seeing this film because I had been waiting to see it for over a year! To my surprize, the reviews on the internet were spot on. This movie is a very painful watch; not the good kind.

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The movie starts out with a japanese man who mysteriously goes blind while driving. He ends up stopping traffic. In order to get traffic moving again, a set of men rush over to help; one of the men volenteers to drive the Japanese dude home. Well, this man ends up being called The Theif because after dropping off the japanese man at home, he steals the car. Soon after this man goes blind, people around the world also start going blind. This blindness is not your ordinary kind. In fact, people can still somewhat see through a milky white haze. Due to this, this special type of contagious blindess ends up being called a disease. Once the blindess is seen as a disease, the people who have this desease are put into a sych ward in order to issolate them from the rest of the world. They end up having to fend for theirselfs because even doctors won't see them. Eventually, the guards who were making sure the blind people were staying in the building end up dying........

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Story wise, this movie is brilliant. I really wanted to buy the book, but could not find it. Before I could easily find it! Oh well. I'll still be on the hunt for that book because I keep hearing the book is brilliant and that's why people who have read the book hate the movies guts! Visually, the milky white haze was done really well. Other than that,this movie was VERY LACKING. I don't care how good the "story" was because that did not save the watchability of this movie.

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You're better off watching a different movie. Don't give this one the time of day unless your into women getting rapped in order to provide food... even that would not happen in real life.

.... I honestly don't know what to say about this movie. It's that bad!

Ergo Proxy [2006] [dvd rentals] (anime review)

****

Have you ever watched one episode of an anime and knew that said anime was going to be all sorts of epically awsome-amazing? Well, Ergo Proxy did just that (at least for me)! Not because of the studio Manglobe and not because of the art; because of the epic story. I'll explaine more in my review. Read on, readdddd onnnnnnnn.

ALSO, there is a new feature for these reviews- the AkiaDex! It's a dictionary that explaines various words and concepts found in any of my blogs (mostly for reviews).
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-Summary-
Romdo is a domed city built to protect it's citizens from an global ecological dissaster that made the outside world a place that life could not thrive on. Romdo houses all sorts of citizens- humans, androids known as AutoReives, companion type androids, and sepical types of citizens (who had to earn citizenship) called Fellow Citizens. One day the Cogito virus began affecting androids causing them to murder people and commit crimes they otherwise wouldn't even attempt to commit. Re-L Mayer is then assigned to investigate the Cogito virus. During her investigation she comes into contact with a Fellow Citizen who is connected to the creation of Romdo in a way that Re-L could not even imagine.....
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-Credit(s)/Disclaimer(s)-
All opinions expressed here are that of their individual owners and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Goggle Blogger nor that of their partners. The above image belongs to Manglobe Studios and FUNimation. I claim no ownership to any images used in my blogs unless stated otherwise, nor do I claim all these opinions as my own; just the ones that have Akia and/or Akia Tomiyo beside them (unless I'm the only one reviewing because then all the opinions are mine unless stated otherwise).
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-Initial Impression(s)-
I already knew I was going to love this anime because of the company that produced it. I had been wanting to watch this anime for about two years now; I would have watched it sooner, but I wasn't "old enough" when I saw the trailer on a FUNimation DVD. Initially, the anime really provoked my emotions =) I seriously love anime with robots who have minds of their own. I don't know where this fascination comes from, all I know is that it's there to stay for a long time.

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-The Music/ English Dub-
The dub! It. Is. A-ma-zing. This is one of those rare anime where the dub surpasses the Japanese version! And the music! I'll just say I got my hands on both OSTs =)
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-The Visuals-
I don't have much to say about the visuals because if you know how Manglobe's anime looks, you know how this one looks. Excellent animation that hardley ever failed. Even side episodes were brilliantly animated =D

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-The Story-
The story incorperates (probably not on purpose) the Jesus Christ story, but in a twisted way. I adored this! I was watching every episodes wondering where they would turn (some dragged on a bit, but that's expected from an anime such as this). There were a few moments where I wanted to skip an episode, which is enterially ok to do with this anime because it's not an overly confusing one. I do not reccomend skipping because each episode has some nice tid bits of information that others did not have. You'll notice a tone change once you're half way through the series, but please don't let this turn you away from such an amazing anime!

AHHHHH! [#2] Dangggg FUNimation 0_o ((I loveee Ergo Proxy))

I'm still working on summaries and my opinions for this list! ~Akia [2/20/2009]

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FUNimation is taking over the anime world by storm!

They have been aquiring rights to anime that Geneon

had before and bunches of anime from Japan that

have become popular thanks to fan subbing 0__0

FUNi, you rule!

Just to name a few of the aquirements

(ones that I am most definantly looking forward to):

1] D.Gray-man [3.31.09]

2] Dragonaut [2009]

3] Gakutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo [2009]

4] Kaze no Stigma [summer 2009]

5] Nabari No Ou [2009]

6] Romeo & Juliet [spring 2009]

7] Sgt. Frog [coming soon]

8] Soul Eater [coming soon]

9] Rin ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ [coming soon]

10] Blasreiter [coming soon]

11] Bamboo Blade [late 2009]

And some more

(not looking forward to these as much):

12] Evangelion 1.01: You Are (not) Alone [AFI Film Festival 2009]

13] Heroic Age [spring 2009]

14] Ikki Tousen [coming soon]

15] OH! Edo Rocket [2009]

16] Shinguri: Death Frenzy [comign soon]

17] The Tower of Druaga [coming soon]

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1] Allen Walker was a homeless boy who made a choice that gave him the power to see the Akuma - skeletons in people. He also has an alchemists arm. Today, Allen Walker has decided to become part of a group that fights Akuma with the power of Innocence (Allen's arm is made with Innocence) and to find the person who trained him in the ways of fighting Akuma. [[this anime is based on the Jump manga of the same name]]

2] The International Solarsystem Development Agency (ISDA) in Japan has started creating "dragons" (mecha) in order to combat the threat of an asteroid only to find out that this asteroid is not their ownly trouble- dragon like creatured begin to cause chaos on Earth! [[this is an original anime produced by Gonzo]]

3] Albert had one goal in mind- to escape the reality that was his life. During his attempt to fufill this goal, Albert meats a count who seems to have a luxurious life. Intriged by this count, Albert ends up inviting him to paris to experience the Pari right life. [[loosley based on the book Le Comte de Monte-Cristo]]

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Did I ever mention that I loveeeee the FUNi dub of Ergo Proxy? I didn't! How silly of me!

[2/50] >.< Ughhh and OH YAH!!

I turned in Skin two days ago not only because it was due, but because I could not get into that book! It's just one of those books that gives you the end at the begining then goes to the past to lead up to the end. *sigh* First fail of the challenge!

BUT I picked back up Med Center: Virus and Flood =D

It's an omnibus.

I'm on the Virus part.

[2-6/50] Oh the excitment!!

So, I'm suppose to be reading one book at a time but a book worm can never do such a thing!!

Sooo, because I'm a bookworm

these are the 6 books I'm currently "reading":

*Skin

*Sight

Blue Bloods

The Hunger Games

Paper Towns

The Host

*= checked out from a library

= I own

The ones that are checked out are the ones I'm more likely to read right first because they are due on the 9th of Febuary in the year 2009 =]

AHHHH!! [#1]- Those With Wings & Rave Master [NEWS]

[Akia] I recieved an email today from Tokyopop that went like this....[Tokyopop] Hey all you Fruits Basket fans! We have another new series by Natusuki Takaya right over the horizon. And though it doesn't come out until March, we're hooking you up with a juicy sneak peek now!

[Akia] Can I just say, about time Tokyopop!!! Tsubasa: Those With Wings (Tsubasa o Mostu Mono) was released after Phantom Dream and before Fruits Basket in Japan. Tsubasa has a total of 6th volumes =D I'm looking forward to buying this one because I don't plan on buying Phantom Dream any time soon (the art is pretty horrid. No offense).

Also, the email mentioned that Rave Master will join Sci-fi channel's Ani-monday line-up on March 21, 2009. YES! I know a lot of people are going to complain about this because apparently the Rave Master anime wasn't that good (I beg to differ! I remember being excited for each new episode when it used to air on Cartoon Network). Ohhh, now I'm excited for March!!

Skinned [bought the book] (review)

****

"A person is created by God./ Gifted with a natural body, a divine soul. A person thinks and feels, is born and dies. A person has free will. You, on the other hand, are a machine. Built by man. Programmed by man. You may look like a person and act like a person; you may even, in your own way, believe you're a person." Skinned; pg. 175

Look at that cover! I actually picked up this book because the printing I bought has a comment on it by Scott Westerfeld (of Uglies and Midnighters fame) who happens to be my current favorite YA author- "A spellbinding story about loss, rebirth, and finding out who we really are inside." *faints from her fangirl-ness* Ok, this blog entry is not suppose to be about S.Westerfeld (no matter how fantastic his YA novels are). Besides that, I picked up this book because of the type of series it is- young adult sci-fi. I happen to love YA sci-fi =D

The book opens with Lia Kahn (a rich girl who is, not a surprize, the most popular girl in school and on the interwebs) somehow trying explain that she is dead yet not. This is because her little sister, Zo, asked Lia to do a huge favor which resulted in Lia getting into a car accident (the cars autopilot ended up malfunctioning) that resulted in her mortal death but her Skinned birth. To be Skinned, in this book, is to be downloaded into a fully prostetic (robotic) body after having razor thin pieces of the brain scanned into a computer. Chapter one set up the story really well, and was nicely paced. I haven't read such an orderly book start since Uglies, which made me, the reader, extremly pleased. I went on to chapter 2 with enough knowledge behind what a Skinner (person who has recieved the download- Skinned- process) is and how one might think- at least, in Lia's case. I felt like a mech-head (I would use the term skinner, but in the book if you have recieved the download process, skinner is suppose to be an insult).

No matter how awsome the first chapter is, the chapters that followed seemed to drag. At least, untill page 187 where Lia meets some of her own kind- er... at least they were suppose to be like her (but what's a good story without a twist? this is where that twist occurs for Skinned). At this point, the book became one that I could not put down. The pages before seemed either like the author was trying to fit too much at once or too little, but by page 187 Wasserman got her act together resulting in a nice reader experience where the reader, in this case me, became Lia Kahn, the skinner. I mean, mech-head. A teenager struggling with the fact that what she now is has many advantages, but the sacrifice for these advantages is ones mortality.

Overall, Skinned had a nice start, rough middle, and crispy end. The first chapter was brilliant because of the pace and structure of the story, but by the next chapter and on, I became a little frustrated with the stories structure yet by the time Lia meet some of her own kind, I realized why this story is written the way it is- to have a non-organic flow. Lia's no longer and org (mech-headders term for organics- humans), thusly, the way she tells her story would have to have some geometrical sort of style. In the end, I'm left wanting to reccomend this story to all sorts of readers: sci-fi addicts, YA fannatics, people looking for something to read that is along the lines of the Uglies series, bored people and anyone in between (unless you don't like chessy romance, because there is some in here. Really well done chessy-ness if I may say so).

Oh, I'm so sure I did not tell you! By the time you finish this book, you'll long for the next one. That's right, folks! This is the first book in a series- a trilogy. The next book, Crashed, is set to be released in September of 2009. You can check out Wasserman's site to learn more.

"I was a ghost in the machine./ A mech-head./ A Frankenstein./ A skinner." Skinned; pg.32

Ok... if you've seen anything in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, you'll understand my surprise when I saw "a ghost in the machine" in Skinned. I actually would not be surprized if Wasserman got this little piece of her story from the GITS franchise, because it is an amazing one that spans 3 movies, an ova and 2 anime series. GITS also tells the story of a character that has a fully prostetic body and a cyber brain (but in GITS, almost everyone has a cyber brain which makes having a cyber brain the way to go while in Skinned, having a downloaded brain is seen as messing with what God created- at least for a radical group that tries to harm Lia in the book). Other than that, I did not find very many connections between the two because in GITS everyone knows they are still human where as in Skinned, Lia struggles to find proof between her still being 'alive.' I like this connection (because I'm an anime nerd).

Blockbuster Online

Heyyy, hey! Just in case you've never heard of Blockbuster Online, I'm posting about it!! What Blockbuster Online is... hmm. It's a site where you make a list of videos to be sent to you via snail mail (mailbox) and you get to keep the videos as long as you want. Once you send a video back (I get three at a time. You can pay more for more videos at a time, but 3 is the minimum), another will be shipped to you. You can also trade these envolopes (the videos ship in an envolope) in at a Blockbuster store for an emidiate rental and a new video will still be sent to you!

January 3, 2008 (7:54pm)

For minuet by minuet updates of what I'm reading/watching, be sure to follow-stalk me on Twitter-> akiachan (I always follow the people that follow me... unless they are creepy)
And if you are looking for Twilight updates, follow -> twiakia

I'm currently reading:

Skinned [YA Novel]

Bogus to Bubbly [Uglies series guide book]

1/2 Prince [manga, waiting for chpt. 6]

Bakuman [manga chpt. 16+]

Deadman Wonderland [manga chpt. 2+]

D.N.Angel [manga vol. 13+]

Ga-rei [manga chpt. 1+]

Kodocha [manga chpt. 1+]

Kurozuka [manga chpt. 8+]

Lament of the Lamb [manga chpt. 3+]

Love Monster [manga chpt. 16+]

Lovely Complex [manga chpt. 1+]

Shugo Chara [manga chpt. 1+]

Solanin [manga chpt. 1+]

Tsubasa Chronicle [manga chpt. 50+]

Yesterday I read:

Lament of the Lamb [manga chpt. 1&2]

I'm currently Watching:

Akikan [anime ep.1 (pre-screen version)]

Beck [DVD 4 -english dub-]

Casshern Sins [anime ep. 3-5]

Chaos;HEAD [anime ep. 5-12]

EF: A Tale of Melodies [anime ep. 4-12]

Ga-rei-zero [anime ep.2-4]

Kurozuka [anime ep. 7-12]

Yesterday I watched:

Bridge to Terabithia [movie]

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Yeah, yeahh... I know I've been "reading" Skinned for over two weeks now!! I happen to be very distracted with manga and anime and schoollll right now. And I just realized I STILL have to go to the art musem, design a poster to warn teenagers about drinking, finish coloring a huge art project, study for anatomy andddd finish my english paper (it has to be between 5-6 pages)- all in two days. I've decided NOT to list manga that I've bought under 'what I'm reading', but I will post them under 'what I read yesteday' =] Sometimes the manga I buy sits on a shelf for over a year (Amazing Agent Luna v.1-3 omnibus was unread for almost a year). AND, now I will be putting all these lists in ABC order for ease of comparing what I was going to read to what I have read!! You know I rule ^_^ I saw Solanin at Barnes and Nobles today.... but it was $2 out of my price range, so I purchased From Bogus to Bubbly (I seem to like buying series guides these days. I've almost got the Bleach one, and I've bought the Fruits Basket fan book and I'm excited for the Twilight one) and the Janaury issue of Anime Insider.

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I finished downloading Chaos;HEAD today and also downloaded some anime previews, trailers and made an anime line-up video (oh yea, I also DLed the first episode of Akikan today, but it;s the prescreen version so there is no opening or ending theme on it)!! Be sure to visit my other blog for those and also please visit this youtube account for up to date anime previews and trailers as well as line up videos then visit this youtube account to keep up with my vlogs and what ever else I post on that account!! I'll be downloading the rest of Casshern Sins. OHHH, I also finished DLing EF: A Tale of Melodies since I last posted in this blog (I know the previous entry -i mean two entries ago- said that I had episodes 1-12 of EF: A Tale of Melodies, but one of the episodes wasn't DLed yet and I know the same was true for Chaos;HEAD, but several of those files were screwy). =D

January 2, 2008 (11:58pm)

I found scans of Lament of the Lamb today, soo I'm also reading that manga.

January 2, 2008 (7:46pm)

For minuet by minuet updates of what I'm reading/watching, be sure to follow-stalk me on Twitter-> akiachan (I always follow the people that follow me... unless they are creepy)

And if you are looking for Twilight updates, follow -> twiakia

I'm currently reading:

Skinned [ya novel]

Solanin [manga chpt. 1+]

Kurozuka [manga chpt. 8+]

Love Monster [manga chpt. 16+]

Shugo Chara [manga chpt. 1+]

Tsubasa Chronicle [manga chpt. 50+]

1/2 Prince [manga, waiting for chpt. 6]

Bakuman [manga chpt. 16+]

Deadman Wonderland [manga chpt. 2+]

D.N.Angel [manga vol. 13+]

Kodocha [manga chpt. 1+]

The Wallflower [manga vol. 1]

Fruits Basket [manga vol. 21]

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories [manga vol. 1]

SA [manga vol. 2]

Dorothy of OZ [manga vol. 1-4]

Code Geass: Lelouch of Rebellion [manga vol. 1]

((there are probabbly others that I can't recall at the moment...))

I'm currently watching:

Wanted [movie]

Batman: Gotham Knight [movie/ anime]

Gai-rei-Zero [anime ep. 2+]

Kurozuka [anime ep. 7-12]

EF: A Tale of Melodies [anime ep. 4-12]

Casshern Sins [anime ep. 3-5 (going to DL the rest once done DLing Chaos;Head)]

Chaos;HEAD [anime ep. 5-12]

((there are others, but these are the ones I'm watching like now, as in they are on my MP4 player or are next to be on my MP4 player. Yo))