Musings of the Obsessive Kind

Somewhere between volumes 3and 4, the Red River manga went from 'I like' to 'must feverishly mainline more.' I am now on volume 6 and basically bought out every volume (through 17) available in the local Borders.

As I mentioned earlier, RR is a story about a Japanese high school girl, Yuri, who gets catapulted back in time to the land of ancient Hittites. There she gets involved in the politics and wars of the time and also catches the interest of one of the Hittite Princes, Prince Kail (a real historical figure which amuses me to no end).

Why is it so awesome? Unlike the usual shoujo this isn't just 'does the cute boy like me?' No, it's more of 'yeah, the cute general Prince likes me. Now how shall I return back to my time? And how will I survive the Queen who seems to want to have me as a human sacrifice in her black magic rituals so her son could inherit? And how will I be involved in the battle between Hittites and a neighboring empire for dominance? And deal with political backstabbing?'

It's really great. How to explain it? Think Fushigi Yuugi, only if Miaka annoyed you (I adored her but I know some don't care for her) you'll like Yuri as she learns sword-fighting and comes up with clever schemes and rescues herself as often as she yells for Prince Kail to rescue her. Though if Kail is like anyone in FY, he is much more of a Hotohori than a Tamahome. My favorite scene is where he gets himself invited to an enemy town and makes a grand entrance with concubines all over him and an air of an utter idiot :P

I also don't mind the whole 'she is staying in the past' thing as she does want to get back to her time but she can do it at a particular time of the year so she has 10 months to go (Kail promises her to get her back to where she needs to be by accelerating the war. Roses? Candy? Passe. Beating the enemy in 10 months so your OTP can return to the capital and depart back to her world? True Love). Even the usual cliche of 'he wants sex but she isn't so sure' doesn't bug me as it's clearly a cultural thing. He is a guy from 3000+ years back. To him it's pretty simple. They love each other and she's his officil concubine and why not. She is all 'I am a high school student.' Heh. This not being the awful Haou Airen he is all 'blah, this sucks, off for a cold shower' and not 'rapey now.'

Oh, and good news, meganbmoore. Since I fell in love with this despite the artwork, and the artwork is actually very similar to Basara, I decided to get all the Basara volumes out there, now that I know that a good story can overcome my dislike for this particular art style.

I bought a whole bunch of books actuall, manga and non, including Matt Ruff's Sewer, Gas, Electric: Public Works Trilogy, a boo about vampires in Austin called Tantalize, Jasper Fforde's Fourth Bear etc etc and two first volumes of W Juliet.

EEEEEE

Oh, and I stole this MV of Summer x Summer from autumn_yaar. I think I just added a drama to my currently airing roster back again :)

First off, have to share: the other night I dreamt Aishwarya Rai was married to Harry Potter. My fandom hats are getting confused, I think.

So, Fruits Basket. It even got me to read scanlations which gives me a headache. Oh well, a sacrifice well-worth-it ;)

I am in the middle of volume 16 which deals with Tohru’s parents. Awwww. And I almost cried when it dealt with her Dad’s death.

But anyway, that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about volume 15. And Yuki. And Kyo.

( Cut for ramblings )

In other news I also read massive season finale spoilers for Battlestar Galactica. If true, whoa! (You can find them on TWOP and elsewhere).

Oh, and Amazon? Bizarre. I bought 6 volumes of manga (1-5 of Can’t Lose You and 1 of Basara) and it delivered volumes 1 and 4 of CLY and said the rest will be delivered separately. Why? Bizarre.

I am also midway though ep 8 of Beautiful Life. Kyoko is rather high-maintenance. I am getting mildly annoyed with her skittishness and distrust. So yeah, he knows other women. Chill. But of course, we find out she has a 30% chance of dying (this being a jdrama, it’s a 100% chance ;)) so I’ll cut her slack. She is dealing with it better than I would. I love the scene where Shuji finds her and basically tells her he loves her in this really awesome, matter-of-fact fashion. But the scene I love the most is where he learns about 30% from Kyoko’s Mom and just Kimura’s face: the shock, and trying to process, and disbelief and everything.

Yes, I'll reply to all the fanfic thoughts posts. I just need to get my thinky cap on.

1. There are rumors that there will be a third season of Hana Yori Dango. I don't know what I think about it, except for amusement that Hanadan will clearly never die.

2. There is a Veronica Mars hate meme going around. You know the fandom is dying when even that is anemic.

3. When is vol 2 of Vampire Knight coming around? Ditto for more Absolute Boyfriend and Genbu Kaiden. Yes, I've read the scanlations (though I've been hoarding VK scanlations until I can binge), but it's not the same. I really want to do a list of the manga I like.

4. Ayashi No Ceres!!!! Still rocks. Aya/Toya is my shiniest OTP now (which is deja vu, as they were when I watched the anime).

( Lengthy AnC spoilers for vols 7-8 )

5. hope_fuleigh's watch of Fushigi Yuugi is making me want a rewatch. I started with tatterpunk but then she had to leave.

6. Next manga on the list after AnC? Basara. meganbmoore finally convinced me :)

7. I started rewatching Buffy's S1 Finale yesterday. So awesome. More meta comin' up.

8. TOYA. Yes. (LOL at Watase admitting in Vol. 8 that he's her fave). Someone needs to do an AnC live action. Starring Takki as Toya (yes, he's the one I wanted for Tamahome, too. I just think he looks like a Watase bishounen). Horihita Maki can be Aya. Yamapi would actually make awesome Yuhi, but then I'd have to ship Yuhi/Aya and that can't be.

Yes, I'll reply to all the fanfic thoughts posts. I just need to get my thinky cap on.

1. There are rumors that there will be a third season of Hana Yori Dango. I don't know what I think about it, except for amusement that Hanadan will clearly never die.

2. There is a Veronica Mars hate meme going around. You know the fandom is dying when even that is anemic.

3. When is vol 2 of Vampire Knight coming around? Ditto for more Absolute Boyfriend and Genbu Kaiden. Yes, I've read the scanlations (though I've been hoarding VK scanlations until I can binge), but it's not the same. I really want to do a list of the manga I like.

4. Ayashi No Ceres!!!! Still rocks. Aya/Toya is my shiniest OTP now (which is deja vu, as they were when I watched the anime).

( Lengthy AnC spoilers for vols 7-8 )

5. hope_fuleigh's watch of Fushigi Yuugi is making me want a rewatch. I started with tatterpunk but then she had to leave.

6. Next manga on the list after AnC? Basara. meganbmoore finally convinced me :)

7. I started rewatching Buffy's S1 Finale yesterday. So awesome. More meta comin' up.

8. TOYA. Yes. (LOL at Watase admitting in Vol. 8 that he's her fave). Someone needs to do an AnC live action. Starring Takki as Toya (yes, he's the one I wanted for Tamahome, too. I just think he looks like a Watase bishounen). Horihita Maki can be Aya. Yamapi would actually make awesome Yuhi, but then I'd have to ship Yuhi/Aya and that can't be.

I have finished episode five of Majo No Jouken. It keeps breaking my heart and I can't stop watching. I've also decided that Takizawa Hideaki has replaced Vic Chou as the most gorgeous guy in a dorama I've ever seen (and it's a tough competition, trust me). If they'd ever did a live action version of Fushigi Yuugi (no chance in hell), I'd want him for Tamahome and if you know me, it's kinda a big deal :)

( Thoughts on ep 5 )

In other news, I was reading first volume of Ayashi No Ceres and third volume of Beauty is the Beast (meganbmoore, I tried to find Basara, but the better stocked place only had Vol 4. I'll try the best stocked place I know later in the week).

( BitB and Ceres thoughts )

In the kitchen sink news, I am obsessed with this song by Andrea Bocelli and Marta Sanchez. I am a sucker for duets.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: This isn't a quote but a paraphrase because I don't have the volume with me, but I think it's such a great description: 'He is the guy who comes through the emergeny exit and doesn't look ashamed.' (Description of Wanibuchi from Beauty is the Beast).

ETA: My dorama to-watch soon list continues to expand as I'd gotten my hands on Devil Beside You (a Taiwanese one, MV here) and Boku Dake Na Madonna (a Japanese one).

After finding that watching Full House in too large a swathe was inducing fits of freaking out at the TV (OMG! I am going to hyperventilate with that show), I went to B&N to hang out.

Specifically, I went to check out Basara manga. The store didn't have it (I am going to go to a better stocked one later in the week), but I did end up reading Hana Kimi Vol 2 and E.S., Furumi Soryo's (of the Mars fame) new manga.

E.S. has the most amazing artwork. Almost no dialogue because it doesn't need it. And such different story from Mars. I am only done with the first issue of the first volume but can't wait to read more.

And Hana Kimi? So much love. crumpeteer asked me who I thought was the hottest anime character, and I decided between Aoshi and Tamahome, but if I was asked about who is the hottest manga character, I'd say Sano, hands down! OMG. Sano IS love. And Sano/Mizuki are a HUGE OTP. And there was kissing. And the whole, he is in love with her but he can't let her know he knows she is a girl, and she is in love with him but she thinks he thinks she is a guy and she can't let him know she is a girl. I was cracking up at a completely hot gratuitous shot of Sano in the shower.

I also bought the first volume of Ayashi No Ceres. I've loved the anime and the manga has gorgeous art-work and the story has been compressed in the anime, so I really wanted to get Ceres. Also, Toya is wicked HOT. And yes, the artwork is gorgeous and everything is beautiful, but I'd forgotten how depressing it was. I am in the very beginning and I see Aya and Aki normal and I hurt for them. I don't think I could read it actually, I realized. AnC is the anime that maxed out my angst capacity after all. (Trigun made me devastated near the end and Fushigi Yuugi made me bawl in the second half, but nothing has hit the angst thing as much as AnC).

On Full House front, ( Spoilers for 14 )

After finding that watching Full House in too large a swathe was inducing fits of freaking out at the TV (OMG! I am going to hyperventilate with that show), I went to B&N to hang out.

Specifically, I went to check out Basara manga. The store didn't have it (I am going to go to a better stocked one later in the week), but I did end up reading Hana Kimi Vol 2 and E.S., Furumi Soryo's (of the Mars fame) new manga.

E.S. has the most amazing artwork. Almost no dialogue because it doesn't need it. And such different story from Mars. I am only done with the first issue of the first volume but can't wait to read more.

And Hana Kimi? So much love. crumpeteer asked me who I thought was the hottest anime character, and I decided between Aoshi and Tamahome, but if I was asked about who is the hottest manga character, I'd say Sano, hands down! OMG. Sano IS love. And Sano/Mizuki are a HUGE OTP. And there was kissing. And the whole, he is in love with her but he can't let her know he knows she is a girl, and she is in love with him but she thinks he thinks she is a guy and she can't let him know she is a girl. I was cracking up at a completely hot gratuitous shot of Sano in the shower.

I also bought the first volume of Ayashi No Ceres. I've loved the anime and the manga has gorgeous art-work and the story has been compressed in the anime, so I really wanted to get Ceres. Also, Toya is wicked HOT. And yes, the artwork is gorgeous and everything is beautiful, but I'd forgotten how depressing it was. I am in the very beginning and I see Aya and Aki normal and I hurt for them. I don't think I could read it actually, I realized. AnC is the anime that maxed out my angst capacity after all. (Trigun made me devastated near the end and Fushigi Yuugi made me bawl in the second half, but nothing has hit the angst thing as much as AnC).

On Full House front, ( Spoilers for 14 )