H2O: Footprints in the Sand

 

H2O was a short yet sweetly tragic romance. The story revolves around a boy who is blinded by the psychological trauma of watching his mother die by what I guess you could call train slaughter. He not really injured or blind but thinks he is because his brains is telling him that if he can’t see then he never really saw his mother’s death. So he moves in with his uncle in this screwed up village with a screwed up past all centered around two families. The family of the village elder forces his granddaughter to earn favor with the boy. But the boy chooses the outcast girl from the other family. But a supposed spirit comes along and grants his sight back to him. And so the story progresses and all the bad things about the past are cleared up and everybody becomes all happy. But of course that’s just not possible right.

 

SPOILER!!!!

Yes I’m putting a spoiler here because I’m hoping someone who’s played the Visual Novel can answer my question at the end. So due to the shock of the boy thinking he killed the girl he loves in a fit of rage (which she egged on) his sight goes away again (never really regained it, everything he did was real but he only thought he saw it all). And then to make matters worse the “good” girl makes him chase after the “outcast” to stop her from leaving town, but in doing so, he winds up saving her life and his memories regress to where he thinks his mom’s alive and that the girl he loves is his mom. They move back to Tokyo on the doctor’s orders and she dies the same way his mother did while saving a boy. This snaps him out of both his memory regression and his blindness. The story jumps a few years and he’s back in the village and the spirit comes back after he completes making a windmill in his girlfriends memory, bringing her back to him. NOW, my question, is she really, miracle of God, back alive or is she just a ghost like the other girl? From what the anime shows, he moved back to the village after Hayami’s death, got with Hotaru, and even had a kid. So where does this put the dead/alive Hayami? I’m SOOOO confused. If anyone knows, please leave a comment below.

"The fall and return of the X" or "How I painfully updated my Android OS"

LOL. So this all came about when my Droid X began, for lack of a better term, "playing" with itself. It just  started randomly interacting with icons and menu items and even the apps i was in. It got so frikkin annoying when i was trying to read in my Kindle app that I decided to call tech support. Since my droid is my only phone, I was limited in how to deal with their instructions. After going through several troubleshooting steps, it was decided to wipe and reinstall the OS. But the fun part was that my phone was still using Froyo (Android 2.2) and they wanted the newer version installed. The problem with that was I've had my phone "rooted" since day two. Any official means of updating was thereby negated and I was left to my own devices in how to accomplish this feat. I easily found all pertinent info with a quick search on Google. But the difficulties started then. Gingerbread (Android 2.3) doesn't have any means to be rooted. As I use several apps that require superuser priveledges this was a necessity. So deeper and deeper I dug until i found a wonderful article at DroidXforums that offered a prerooted Gingerbread that met Verizon's version requirements and even provided an easy to follow walkthrough. So I accepted the risks of bricking my phone and got to work. The only downside was having to purchase a bootstrap app to install the new software.

Now that all is said and done and spending nearly 12 hours of trial and error before finding that easy guide, I can say i feel it was worth it. It looks nicer, runs just as smooth, and i haven't found anything bad...yet. If I do run across anything I don't like I'll update this post so others know what to watch out for if they choose to do this as well.

*UPDATE* - It's been a few weeks and I can truly say that there are no issues concerning the update I made. It took a couple of days to get everything reorganized to the way I like it but in the end I've found it well worth it.

Gosick

Yet another great tsundere romance. This time set in Europe during the 1920's just before WWI started. I can't divulge hardly any info due to the fact that almost anything could be deamed a spoiler. What I can say is it was a lot like watching a female tsundere Sherlock Holmes and a very obnoxiously noisy Watson whom she falls in love with. As they solve mysteries, which all relate to the plot, forces are at work to entrap her and separate them. This awesome show has easily earned its place in my Top 5. Every little detail from start to finish in this 24 episode anime is part of the bigger picture/plot. The only drawback which I chose to overlook was the male lead's extreme obnoxiousness. Reason is that if it wasn't for that characteristic the uber happy end would never have been possible. I griped and moaned all the way until I witnessed how far he could go because of it, and that's when I chose to just overlook it. It can be watched on Crunchyroll or gotten from UTW for the time being. To explain why this show being in my Top 5 is so astounding is because it actually contains a few of my dislikes that i usually keep away from. First is that it takes place in the 1920's.  I usually don't like shows that take place more than 2 generations behind me. Second an obnoxious main character that i can't stand listening to. No need to explain that one. And last, psychological abuse. Enough said there too. But even with these downsides, it built and presented a truly captivating story filled with way to many elements to put here, and pulled off a solid plot from start to finish with no fillers or fluff. The closest thing to fanservice is the fact that the female lead resembles a beautiful ceramic doll and is presented as a Tsundere Victorian/Goth loli throughout. So there's always some moe for the guys who like that. LOL

Colorful

 

Colorful was an interesting movie. I could watch this movie again. It was a very hard movie to watch because of the element it concerns. Its starts dark but works it’s way to a light movie. To give a short summary, it deals the idea of a soul being given a second chance to live, but being placed into someone’s else’s body after that person dies from suicide. The idea is to remember his own sins and learn to accept this “dirty” world and try to be a better person. He’s given just a few months to accomplish this goal. He has a guide, but he’s hardly ever around and tells him to use his own brain to figure out most of his issues. It’s a very interesting, thought invoking  and also leaves you thinking “Wow! This world is screwed up and shit happens. But what can you really do?”

 

It’s not in the US yet so I don’t have purchase links. You can get it from a couple of fansubber sites.

Clannad

 

Clannad, Clannad After Story and the Another World Kyou and Tomoyo chapters have been around for some time. Since the translation for the manga has been on hold for about a year now, and no one’s picked it up, I was getting kind of antsy about seeing the story end. In what seems to be Key’s standard for their stories, it brings you to the deepeset point of despair and finishes in what is an uncertain decent end. Other stories/VN’s be Key are Kanon and AIR (the titles are purchase links). These were animated long before Clannad and also rip your heart out, before giving you any simblance of peace. The two episodes of Another World weren’t any better in that regard. I was quite capable of handling the show’s events all the way until episode 18 of After Story were I couldn’t take it anymore and broke out my stock of tissues and blubbered like a baby for the next/last 5 episodes. They’re a neccessity for watching the Key franchise animes. Clannad being the longest of them of course dragged the tragedy on and giving them plenty of time to escalate it into despair. Seriously, how much suffering can one human go through before he mentally breaks. Lucky we’re saved from seeing something like that but the fact of hitting rock bottom definitely happens and that’s why the tissues are needed. These stories are definitely not for the weak hearted so be prepared if you choose to watch them.

 

All of the characters of this show have had very difficult experiences in their past and that’s what made their personalities the way they are. Although the protagonist is considered a dilinquent, in truth he’s a very kind person who’s just awkward and clumsy. The story tells of Tomoya and Nagisa, who met at the foot of the hill heading to school, where Nagisa was trying to decide if going was the right thing to do. Tomoya awkwardly talks to her about it, and that’s where their story starts. Between the two seasons the story tells from the start of their senior year of high school, to marriage and on to having a child. There’s another story inside of the story and it is what makes this tale not only hard, but also heartwarming and beautiful. It may contain all elements from Romance, Drama, Tragedy, Comedy and Slice of Life, but it all comes together in a very wonderful story that I’m glad I got around to experiencing.

 

The Clannad seasons are not available on Blu-Ray here yet, as of this posting. But Clannad and Clannad After Story can be found here on DVD to buy. Just click the titles. There’s also a movie but it’s just a telling of the first season. I didn’t bother with it since going through the season gave much more meaning, emotion and character building than the movie was capable of. I’m not saying the movie was bad, it just didn’t give the same fulfilling feeling that experiencing everything from the show did.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion & R2

 

Code Geass & Code Geass R2 have been on the backburner of my list of anime to eventually watch. Well I finally got around to it and I really feel stupid for putting it off for such a long time. My original idea of the story was so far off. I can be called a fan of this story now. I originally thought it was some crazy wanna-be Gundam show. HAH! I laugh at myself for such ignorance.

 

The story itself is centered around Lelouch and his ever changing goals. Originally starting out to get vengeance for the wrongs done to him and his sister as well as the assassination of his mother. But his hidden identity as a former prince of the empire must remain hidden for several reasons. But his goals slowly changed throughout the series until ultimately uniting the world in peace. This isn’t really a spoiler as the term Rebellion in the title says quite a bit about his eventual plans. But there is an underlying tone of love throughout, which they never truly made a major point of, but let me say that, without spoiling anything, the series has what you could call a bittersweet super happy end. And only by paying attention to all the little details will the viewer even realize it.

 

I would love to post purchase links but at this time I can honestly say I would love to support the creator as much as possible by not placing bootleg DVD and Blu-Ray links here. The first 25 episode season on DVD is the only thing available for the US. The 2nd season hasn’t hit our shores and the Blu-Rays may or may not ever make it. Why? I don’t know. I could post the links to buy the Japan imports but that would be a waste since anyone reading this most likely won’t understand the language. You can find it online on several sites, so I hope some of you get to experience this awesome series.

 

I’m actually at odds with myself on whether or not to place it in my Top 5 favorites. The biggest issue regarding this is that it has the mecha category weighing down on it. I’m not a big fan of Mecha series, even if I have enjoyed watching the biggest ones. I have enjoyed Gundam W, Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny, Eureka Seven, Macross, and a select couple others. but none have ever been as engaging as this. Reason is that it takes place right here on Earth, doesn’t involve outer space, and the main characters are purposefully playing the bad guys turning the whole world against them. It’s a story fraught with lies, betrayal, war, and ideology. But it’s all for the sake of peace and happiness for the world. It’s truly the greatest chess game ever played.

 

Lelouch vi Britainnia hereby commands you to find it, watch it and love it.

 

P.S. If you’ve seen it and have that lingering question of Lelouch and C.C. still over your head, then you really need to rewatch and then reread the title of season 2 in it’s entirety. And to give a huge hint, the letter L is not used in the Japanese language. The closest and commonly used adaptation is R. So remember the nuances of the language when you read that title.

Usagi Drop

First Meeting.

When I hear this story was being brought out as an anime I got pretty excited. It's a slice-of-life drama that tells a very heartwarming tale of Daikichi and Rin. Since only the first episode is out at the time of this post I won't give the whole thing away. If you've read the manga, then you know what to expect, if not, then please enjoy the anime before reading it. The story starts off with Daikichi's grandfather's funeral where he meets Rin for the first time upon arriving at his grandfather's house. After a bit of talk with his mom, he learns that Rin is actually his grandfather's illegitimate child...meaning 30 year-old Daikichi has a 6 year-old aunt. LOL  But that's not exactly all that important, it just means that she's family to him. Daikichi is single, lives alone, and has no former relationships to speak of. So after a few sweet moments between the two during the couple days of the funeral, the family sits down to discuss who will take Rin. Hours pass by and everyone says they can't and then their real goal comes out...to put Rin in a facility. Daikichi, not being a part of the discussion, but still there, gets pissed about how uncaring his family is about this little girl. So he asks Rin to come stay with him. And that's how the story starts.

As the story progresses in the manga, which I hope the anime keeps the same, Rin and Daikichi have a very precious bond and relationship. He doesn't want to call her aunt, she doesn't him to be her dad, so they keep a status quo of looking after one another. Mind you, Daikichi is her Guardian/Caregiver, but that's all it ever amounts to. So the bonds and trust that's built between them feels much stronger than a general family type. There's a lot to this story that you really have to either watch or read between the lines to really understand how deep those bonds become. But overall, I loved the manga, and can't wait to see more of the anime. Hopefully more of you will enjoy it than I expect.

slipknot - snuff

It's better to have had it and lost it, than to never had it at all.Click the link to enjoy the Music Vid.

Slipknot - Snuff

Canvas & Canvas 2

Originally Visual Novels, but acquired animes sometime after.

The 2 episode OVA of Canvas is extremely rare so I guess i got lucky to pick it up, even online. Although short, it was extrememly well done. I truly don't think they could have portrayed that love any better.

Canvas 2 had 24 episodes and they gave it rather good attention as well. The fact that it took place a bit after Canvas, and included some of the heroines from it, made the story flow better. My only gripe is the male protagonists obtusive views. I feel I have the right to gripe since I'm not any better, LOL. He doesn't realize his own heart's feelings until the last 2 minutes of the show,  and even then you don't really know what his response is. Luckily I watch ending credits almost everytime when the final episode of a show is on, so I got to see the true end and the relief that came with it. Canvas 2 made certain you felt for the characters so I was glad to see a super happy end, even though watching the credits was necessary to see it.

I do suggest this one as a watch, but I can't say must. The drama is a bit too tight knit for some people,  but if you go all the way to the end it gives you that warm feeling that you were waiting for the whole time.

Blood-C

One of the new Summer '11 shows. As the title suggests, it's a new Blood The Last Vampire Series. What's the C stand for? Good question. The C stands for Clamp. For those not in the know, Clamp is the group that has given us Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, xxxHolic and a couple of other shows and manga. I was quite shocked and still not sure what to think or expect from the first episode I've seen. In fact the main character Saya, didn't quite have the same feel. I don't know if it's due to the Clamp touch or just an alteration to the story. Don't expect any part of Blood+ to grace this series. Although I really enjoyed Blood+, I promise not to judge this new series too quickly. In the case of both Clamp and Blood, they're both slow starters so I'll be patient with it. I do find it interesting though to see this series brought out in Clamp's art style (tall and lanky characters), so that's something else to get used to. This marks the 4th rendition of the Blood story. First came the animated film Blood The Last Vampire, then came the anime series Blood+, next they brought us the live action Blood The Last Vampire (aka Last Blood) and now this one. Blood+ showed that Saya's story does much better as a series over movies. So I do hold some hope for this new one.

I'll add a pic later to show the new Saya and art style.

Vocaloid Concerts!?

 

I knew it would happen sooner or later since the Vocaloid buzz went wild after Crypton Future Media created Hatsune Miku (CV01). And it’s only expanded from there to heights left only to the imagination, and that’s exactly where they’re headed. They’ve created several singers so far, and I actually hope they create more, since I kinda like the music and voices.

 

Vocaloid? Don’t know what it is? It originated as a Voice Engine and music software made by Yamaha, and then some genius minds took it from there and created virtual artists, which by the way, are extremely popular and sell fairly well. But now they’ve gone from PC screens and CDs, to nearly straight into our world. It’s still a far fetch from getting that real.

 

So back to the subject at hand. Yes they now have concerts, in real places, one of which was yesterday in Los Angeles. I found a Tube user who has posted a ton of vids from the Tokyo concert (see link at the end). I decided to watch a few and I was in awe of the technology that has given life thus far. Not only are the singers not just projected onto some silly white screen, it looks like they’re nearly 3D holos that are life size. What’s more, I can’t even imagine the processing needed to produce these virtual singers.

 

When I say virtual singers, it’s in the completely virtual way. The voices are computer generated thanks to the above mentioned software. Even though it’s slow coming, at the rate that this software is being built upon and being further upgraded, there won’t be a need for a band to desperately hunt for a replacement singer if something goes wrong. But that’ll be quite a bit further into the future still. LOL

 

So check out the concert and the amazing Vocaloid singers by visiting this link here.

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi

 

I won’t bother giving a review. Why? Because it’s Haruhi. She’s so awesome that she needs no amplifying information. If you haven’t seen the show, that’s if you watch anime, then you need to get off your dead ‘n’ dyin’ and get a copy to watch. Haruhi is still just as popular today as she was 5 years ago when I watched the first season. With the release of the movie “The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi” a while back, they practically reopened Pandora’s Box and respiked her popularity. With that said I will update with purchase links later.

 

P.S.  Pray Asahina Mikuru doesn’t have a nervous breakdown before more shows are made. The poor girl definitely doesn’t deserve the mental torture Haruhi puts her through….even if she’s so damn cute in whatever Haruhi puts her in.

Haruhi AMVs

 

There’s just something about Haruhi that I just can’t get enough of. She’s not Tsundere, but she’s definitely not honest about a lot of things…*cough, Kyon, cough*. LOL

 

So anyway, this post will be for some AMVs that I found and liked. Since I don’t have a clue as to what the size limit is to put the videos right here on the blog, I’ll substitute them with Tube links below. They’re in descending order of my linking. I.E. my favorite is the top one. If you watch them, and know about Harhi, then tell me what you thought. BTW, I felt the second one was quite fitting, seeing as Kyon likes her but can’t say it, no matter how much he wants to. It could cause Armageddon if Haruhi couldn’t handle it. LOL

 

Sharada – Skye Sweetnam

Hate That I Love You – Rihanna

Crazy Beautiful – Ashley Parker Angel

Catch Your Wave – The Click Five

God is a Girl – Groove Coverage

 

Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.

Sucker Punch (2011)

 

Sucker Punch was not exactly what I was expecting. It’s been quite a while since I last followed the movie scene. When I put the scene on hold, this movie was just about finished with production and the first trailer had made it’s debut. So, where I was expecting this awesome action packed fem team movie, and found something just on the other side of “One Flew Over the CooCoo’s Nest”, I was shocked and disappointed. This movie actually falls under my “watch once” list. I found the soundtrack more appealing than the movie itself. Which is pretty bad. If it wasn’t for the fact that once I start to watch something, I will at least finish it….then I would’ve stopped watching it after the first 5-10 minutes.

 

I’m sure there will be some people who enjoy it, so let me say that I won’t slam it, BUT I will say that I won’t be seeing it again…ever. I actually found the bits that tapped from “One Flew Over the CooCoo’s Nest” where actually in bad taste, and that mixing that with the worlds inside Blondie’s head made this film feel like something that should’ve been left on the drawing board. The thing that really annoyed me was that it involved bouncing between the real world, the world inside her head, and the world that was inside the head of herself in was inside the world in her head. Yeah…The only way to describe it would be to imagine dreaming that your waking up from a dream, only to wake up again to the real world but wondering if that’s not a dream as well. It was bad enough the give me a headache. I’m definitely not saying it was hard to follow, but it just makes a mess of everything when keeping track of 3 different situations that are actually taking place in the real world but are being portrayed by the events that are being shown from the worlds in her head.

 

Whew…Enough of that. Good luck if you watch it. I’ll update with the usual purchase links later.

Dance in the Vampire Bund

If I had Kinji's Hysteria Mode, it would be active through quite a bit of this show. LOL

This is about the ruler of the vampires and the boy who gives his all for her, and the love they share.

Yes it’s a supernatural romance showing not only the unwavering love between the queen of the vampires and her personal bodyguard who’s a werewolf, but a strong force of politics and the trouble and tribulations about keeping chaos at a minimum when the vampires are revealed to the world.

Even though there are differences between this and the manga (see below for explanation), I do watch it with the intent to enjoy it and not nitpick between them. The anime itself is very good, with excellent art, a great and well written story and characters you can empathize with.

This marks the 3rd time I’ve watched this series. I had hopes that they would continue the series since the manga goes further and is even still ongoing. But that won’t be happening as it was never really intended to go beyond that. (again: see below for explanation)

Here’s the reason. For those who’ve read the manga and slam the anime, I would like to point out that yes there are changes, but SHAFT didn’t want to change it at all. The author himself TOLD them to write their own story, and when they refused and said they wanted to follow the manga, the author made a compromise by telling them they could use the plot but had to make their own story out of it. So I ask everyone to please watch it objectively. I actually enjoy both the anime and the manga. I like the manga’s storyline better, but the plot was fulfilled in the anime and the wrapped it up nicely with no real loose ends.

As I certainly hope that people will add this awesome, though short lived, anime to their collection, I will offer the following link to get an awesome deal that gives you BOTH the Blu-Ray and DVD in one set. Click here to see it. I picked this box set up myself so that if someone wanted to borrow it, I could just lend the DVD’s and keep the Blu-Rays safe. For a newer series, being a limited box set of the complete series, and containing both media types in their own cases in said box, I thought $33 was a steal. If you feel $33 is a fair or good price, then grab it before it disappears.

P.S. I don't care what anyone says, but I find Mina to be hot in both forms. ;P

Apparently I have strange tastes....

Mina from DIVB

The anime culture's favorite Tsundere's which happen to conform to the loli aesthetic as well. (From left: Shana, Louise, Nagi, Taiga)

In the early stages, right before the dere moments truly happen. (I may be mistaken but I think that's Lum, it's been a LONG time since I watched that show)

I have come to realize the the majority of my favorite animes have tsundere lolis for main characters. And what's more is most of them are voiced by Kugimiya Rie. You could say that makes me a fan of hers but while that may stand as true, it's the characters that she brings life to, that I like even more. First I'll give the characters, then I'll give the definitions for Tsundere and Loli.

Characters


Kanzaki H. Aria (Hidan no Aria / voiced by Kugimiya Rie) 
Aisaka Taiga (Toradora! / voiced by Kugimiya Rie)
Shana (Shakugan no Shana / voiced by Kugimiya Rie)
Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière (Zero no Tsukaima / voiced by Kugimiya Rie)
Mina Tepes (Dance in the Vampire Bund / voiced by Yuuki Aoi)
) *Point Of Note - Mina is much older than the definition of loli, she just chooses to hide her true form/age to save herself from having to be taken away from Akira and to keep her position as ruler of the vampires

So that's to name a few. But you can see where I say I must be a fan of Kugimiya Rie. LOL. But currently Aria is my favorite Tsundere. The interaction between her and Kinji in the books is priceless. When Kinji's just good ol' normal Kinji, she's like a demon, but when he's in hysteria mode and acting all suave, she goes all quiet and obediant. It's frikkin hilarious since after book 3 his Hysteria Mode gets activated quite often, and the best moment I've read so far is in book 7 where they're tied together and trying to get free so they can stop Koko from blowing up the train they're on.

Definitions


Tsundere - a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms Tsun Tsun (ツンツン), meaning to turn away in disgust, and Dere Dere (デレデレ) meaning to become 'lovey dovey'.


Loli - (Short for Lolita and is derived from a novel by Vladimir Nabokov where the narrator/protagonist becomes sexually obsessed with a young girl) -  refers to a young woman who is ready or suitable for marriage by virtue of her age or maturity. In the Otaku culture its meaning comes down to any young and cute girl shown to be in the pubescent/adolescent age group.


So that's the skinny of it. Something about the fact that they are horribly mean but as cute as a small animal, if that makes sense. The small animal bit I've picked up from several shows with simalar styled characters, where the protagonist uses it as a descriptive and endearing way while observing said characters. But by no means is this an obsession or a personal want. I just seem to prefer to see this type of character as the main heroine. But whether or not the charaters were portrayed as lolis or not makes no difference in my favoritism towards the above mentioned animes. The well written stories and the characters (personalities and interactions) that put them at the top of my favorites list. Speaking of my favorites list it does seem to be filled with several High School depicted shows. Guess I need to branch out more. LOL

Hidan no Aria (Aria the Scarlet Ammo)

Pic from episode intermission.

So Season 1 has officially ended. Aria is in my top 5 favorite anime series now. It's a little disappointing that they rushed the story through the first three light novels for the season but that's not a big issue. I still think it progressed rather well. The end of the season (ep 12) differed slightly from the end of book 3. Kinji still saw Kana, but the anime shows it as being seen in passing on the street while Aria is shopping for a swimsuit, whereas in the book Kinji gets called out by Kana to meet through a message from Riko where Kana politely asks Kinji to help her (*cough*) kill Aria. I think they changed it to save their skin in case they don't make enough profit from season one's sales to make the second season. Which they are already saying...but from my findings I'm thinking they set themselves up for failure. Reason I say this? Take a look around at Amazon or some other retail sites that sell official anime and see how many episodes you get with each single volume. From 2 to 4 on average, right? Well J.C. is trying to pull a not-so-smooth profiteering act by putting out single episode discs for practically standard prices. Sales are crazy low, and honestly, I wouldn't want to buy it that way either. I'll wait for the complete season.

I do hope a 2nd season comes though, since I love this story. Click the Aria link above to get the gist as always.

Now, I'm sure some people who've not read the books are wondering where the whole "Scarlet Ammo" thing comes from. Well, if you don't intend to read the books then you'll figure it out about halfway through the 2nd season (if there is one) since it comes to light, finally, in book 5 titled "Overture's Fine". This series is like a mix of "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" with a lot of the standard rom-com harem animes. The whole part about each of the main characters being descendants of some great influence in history (both fictional and non), makes the story much more entertaining. Which brings about a lot of the story due to Sherlock Holmes involvement as the current leader of EU and a metal ore (-kane) that comes in several colors and each has their own special powers. The ore that was put in Aria, is extremely rare and even more difficult to use. Of course during the beginning she has no idea that Sherlock is alive still, to this day, nor anything of the ores.

I strongly suggest reading the books if you like to read. Since Light Novels hold a ton of dialog versus detailed filler like regular novels, they move along fairly quick and you still get the same enjoyment as you would any other full size novel. The first 6 (7th is extremely close) have been fan translated and available on Baka-Tsuki. I hope they don't mind me putting their name here, but like them, I want to spread the enjoyment of Light Novels. Since I can't translate, this is my only real way of passing it on. But so far there are 9 novels, I've read the first 7, own originals of all 9, and am quite excited to read more since the story took an interesting turn after book 5. Book 6 starts off with Reki taking Kinji for herself, by force, and forcing Aria away while not letting Kinji talk to her properly. Book 8 should prove a clearing of the air between Aria and Kinji, but until it's translated, I'll never know. Go, read, enjoy. And if the 1st season of Aria comes out for sale, I'll update my post with a link to find it.

Fractale

Fractale  was a short and sweet show that was lightly focused on the human condition and mostly how friends and love can help you persevere through anything, even through the possibility of losing someone. I know it's not the best rundown of a show, but there's not a whole lot that can be said about it. It was an 11 episode anime that actually pushed the plot through each episode, without a single filler, which I found rare, but definitely worthy. No worries though. It does have a happy end. I was worried at first during the first few eps that it might be a "1-time-only" show, but now that I've finished, I have no qualms about seeing it again. When DVDs are available I'll update this post with a link. Until then you can find it from UTW. There may be others that subbed it, but I'm picky about which sub groups I watch from.