Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda

I'm still sick, or allergic to stuff, or whatever. Last night/this morning it felt like I had bathed in codeine (I'm allergic to codeine... it provokes an intense response, to say the least), but now I'm better. Just TIRED. And weak. Benadryl is nice though. It drugs the hell out of me.

Anyway, Recently, within the last three episodes or so, I've noticed that the drawing for Inuyasha: The Final Act has gotten weird. It didn't seem this weird when I first watched the show. I wonder why now? Either way, I'm so enjoying it! It's nearly done too. The anime is up through chapter 525 of the manga (out of 558), so not much more to go. Kinda sad, actually.

I'm actually having some success trying to finish some dramas for Drama K.O., but that's a separate post altogether.

Note: I feel no sympathy for you people down in the DC area :D
Last year we had over 50 inches of snow. In 2008 we had about the same. In 2007 I think we had more. On Wednesday they're predicting about a foot of snow. And since we're used to it here, rarely are things (school, work, etc) canceled. I do love Massachusetts, but man... I hate snow.

I do, however, feel sympathy for people who like in Alaska, or in the mountains out west, where they can receive over 300 inches of snow a year. That kinda makes me want to cry.

I swear there must be something wrong with me.

Today I've eaten at around six clementines, an entire pommelo, and a navel orange. Why the citrus overload, body? I don't even know.

At least I won't get scurvy.

(In other news, I started Paradise Kiss, and while it's still a little early to tell for sure, I think I LOVE it)

Today I went to an Asian food store, and I managed to get some of the things I enjoyed in Taiwan. I also finally tried an Apple Sidra. It's not bad (NOT BAAAAAD [which reminds me, I totally said "NICE BEAM" the other day at a store]), and reminds me a lot of apple soda I used to get in Germany. I'm actually not a big fan of soda at all. I like regular coke and fresca. That's it.

Anyway, the transition from Taiwan to home has been strange. It's a lot more difficult that I was expecting, and I miss Taiwan a lot more than I thought I would. Oh well. Nothing I can do about that now!

I am officially obsessed with Inuyasha. It periodically takes over my life (my media obsessions, whether it be Pirates, or Firefly etc, come and go), but it's a lot more intense this time! I'm currently making my way through over 180 episodes (well, currently 180, it's still increasing), and 558 chapters. PLUS fanfic (which is essential, because of all the UST).

I swear to God it's taking over my life. Right now my time consists of Big Bang, Inuyasha, freaking out over what to do with my life, planning my trip to Korea (which is creepily less than a month away...), the gym, and trying to stay warm in this horribly cold climate (another reason I miss Taiwan... the warmth and lack of wet slushiness everywhere I go). Also Big Bang.

*cries* My time in Taiwan is almost over. I comfort myself by saying I'll be back soon enough (when, I'm not sure, but I'd miss it too much to stay away fr too long!), but I only have four days before I leave for Korea/Japan, and then only two days back here before I fly home.

*CRIES A LOT*

I'm excited for Korea and Japan, I really am. Korea will be hard (I can say exactly six things in Korean: "I love you", "Hello", "I'm Sorry", "Thank You", "Day", and "Man"... I understand a bit more, but just a bit), but I half don't care. Can't be worse than initially being in Taiwan. I didn't speak/read Chinese before I came here, and I survived. Plus being in Taiwan has got me used to people STARING AT ME CONSTANTLY (which I'm sure will happen a lot in Korea). Seriously, it's like being famous. They stare a LOT, they occasionally take pictures, and often they'll nudge each other and say "美國人!" (Americans) or "外國人!" (foreigners)... Sometimes it amuses me, sometimes I don't notice it, and sometimes it annoys the hell out of me. Honestly though, I'm not that interesting.

Anyway, tomorrow we go to Taroko Gorge. And if we can find a trans mountain bus, we'll go to Sun Moon Lake on Friday (to go from Taroko to SML you need to cross the central mountain range). We won't be able to get to Alishan. I wanted so much to go there, but since the typhoon, the train (which is the #1 thing to do there) has been closed. I want to go to Alishan when I can go on the train. It's not the same without it.

In other news, I've been watching the anime Bokura ga Ita. Lisa told me about it, and I was all like "...I'm not watching anything right now...", so I downloaded it. It's really good so far, but I'm kinda getting sick of the innocent, no-idea-about-sex, wishy-washy girls in animes and dramas. Yes, they're young, but hell, when I was 15 I knew what was going on! I know it's a cultural purity thing, but it really gets old to me. Hopefully my next drama Hon, as suggested by darkeyedwolf, will solve this for me!

I also have solved my suitcase crisis! It involves buying another suitcase, but whatev, I needed one anyway. My big suitcase got destroyed on the way here.

Anyway, some random pictures from the last few days here!


Christmas decorations are out full force here (this was outside the Core Pacific Mall). It prompted a very American response of "But it's not even Thanksgiving yet!" from me...

( PICTURES! )

And since it's already the 26th here, I will wish all of my American friends a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

ALSO! Almost forgot! Anyone else want anything from Taiwan/Korea/Japan?
Some things I can easily procure from Taiwan: Tea, tea sets, Chinese charms, cell phone straps, Taiwanese entertainment stuff, calligraphy stuff, adorable stationary, adorable jewelry/hair accessories, bento boxes, bento supplies, Chinese language books/CDs/DVDs, name chops with your Chinese name on them, jade, silk bags, parasols, Chinese paintings, ETC.

As much as I tried to resist the lure of manga, I couldn't. On Friday I went back to the bookstore and bought four more volumes, two more of Wild Ones, and two more of Special A.

Speaking of Special A, it's totally my new thing. phrenk alerted me to the presence of a Special A anime, and I was all over that. I ADORE this anime/manga. It's shoujo, but the heroine isn't stereotypical. You know how usually shoujo heroines are kinda stupid, considered homely, klutzy, etc? Well, Hikari is none of those things. She's really smart, really pretty, and (generally) graceful (and OMG everyone isn't in love with her!). She's pretty damn awesome.

The hero, Takishima Kei is so my type of anime guy. You know, the reserved, slightly angsty, loving secretly kind. Plus, his hair is awesome (even if it's not blonde/white, red, or blue... woah there, American color scheme?).

To be honest, I was destined to love him. His name is Kei, and ANY character who's name is Kei is good in my book. My favorite character in the world EVER is Kei-kun from Marmalade Boy (MV!). Marmalade Boy Kei-kun is basically Rui (except slightly more awesome). In fact, MB and HYD are really similar. HYD has more rich people, and MB has more fakecest. They should make another Marmalade Boy drama... If for some reason I were ever in Japan, and had a boy, I'd name him Kei (doesn't work in America, sounds kinda girly).

Anyway, back to the point at hand... I ADORE Special A! Kei is always looking at Hikari smolderingly. It's adorable. And although Hikari is super smart, she's SO oblivious because she doesn't notice that Kei is in love with her. She kinda reminds me of Otani from Love Com in that aspect. Kei is all ridiculously protective of her, and she just doesn't see it! Ah, I love it so much! I'm through episode 10 right now (today and yesterday I was reading the manga!), so 14 episodes left!

So yes, I have a small picspam!

Hikari and Kei! See their awesome hair?
( more caps )

So now the problem is, what drama do I watch next... I finished Zettai Kareshi and Nodame Cantabile. I might start Nobuta wo Produce (already partially downloaded)... I've been on a Japanese kick recently; manga/anime/dramas...

Oh, and FYI; the manga Red River is pretty damn awesome...

Finally watching the end episodes of BBF.

Also, finished Twenty Something Taipei (OMG sooooo good!!), and might post some stuff about it later. Sometime. Maybe.

I downloaded some Taiwanese movies today (including Cape No. 7!), so I'll be watching those in the coming days, and possibly posting about them.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I am currently really loving Mayday and Machi (hilarious opposite each other in music styles).

( songs! )

Also, while watching Xiao Zhu's MV for 箇中強手 (Hot Shot) I literally yelled out "SPARKLY GLOVE!!" Because yes, there is a sparkly glove... thing. I understand why he calls himself the Taiwanese Usher.

I also downloaded something incredibly awesome and dorky... The opening song from Marmalade Boy! The clip is from the second season. And yes, they're in New York (aw, the twin towers kinda made me sad). SQUEEE!!! Kei-kun is there too!! (Kei-kun is my all time favorite anime character EVAR). Also; *shakes fist at Jinny*

I ended up NOT watching BBF 23... Instead I watched a bunch of Vampire Knight Guilty episodes.

I have two or three picspam posts in the works. Tomorrow will be a relatively slow day at work, so I might get one or two done tomorrow.

And I DID get to all my comments! Go me!

I'll eventually get to the rest of my top twenty tw-guys list, but God, I've been tired recently. So not right now.

In the meantime, have a cap of Zero!

So I watched the first episode of Peach Girl, and it was cute, and I liked it. BUT I'm having issues with Kairi's voice. Apparently I don't really like how Suzumura Ken'ichi is doing his voice (he does Shin in Gokusen as well... I haven't seen anime Gokusen yet, but I hope he does it better than he does Kairi). I'm a very audio centric person, so voices matter a lot to me.

Which got me thinking, which seiyuu do I like?

♥ Okiayu Ryotaro as Yuu in Marmalade Boy
♥ Seki Tomokazu as Van in Escaflowne
♥ Nakata Jōji as Folken in Escaflowne (If that dude came up to me, and spoke in his Folken voice, I'd totally be like "Take me now!")
♥ Kanna Nobutoshi as Tasuki in Fushigi Yuugi (TASUKI!! I love Tasuki SO MUCH! Tamahome should be my favorite Suzaku Seishi, but he isn't. Tasuki is!)
♥ Miyashita Naoki as Domyoji in Hana Yori Dango
♥ Yamamoto Koji as Rui in Hana Yori Dango
♥ Miyano Mamoru as Zero in Vampire Knight, and Sho in Skip Beat!
♥ Konishi Katsuyuki as Ren in Skip Beat!
♥ Nagata Akira as Otani in Love Com
♥ Inoue Marina as Kyoko in Skip Beat!
♥ Sakamoto Maaya as Hitomi in Escaflowne (Maaya's my favorite female seiyuu of all time. I LOVE her a ton. Yakusoku wa Iranai from Escaflowne is one favorite songs of all time. I have it memorized in BOTH Japanese and English...)
♥ Koyasu Takehito as Aya in Weiß Kreuz, and Hotohori in Fushigi Yuugi (Aya's probably my second favorite anime character of all time, after Kei-kun from Marmalade Boy)

The whole seiyuu thing got me thinking about Weiß Kreuz, how much I loved it, and how I never actually finished it. I should download it again. Then I started watching a bit on youtube, and heard the BEST interpretation of Weiß Kreuz ever;
"It's like Charlie's Angels, except with Bishonen!"

IT IS!!

Speaking randomly of Bishonen, anyone else remember Pocket Bishonen? Apparently the site is back up, but the old content is gone. I remember I had the original submissions for Miwa Satoshi (Marmalade Boy), and Dryden Fassa (Escaflowne). I remember being super upset that someone else had submitted Kei-kun (Marmalade Boy) first. I love Kei-kun. I also had submitted a bunch of trainer badges. In fact, I think I had a large amount of trainer badges. I remember I was on fairly good terms with the webmistress too...

I also totally just rewatched the Boku wa Imoto Ni Koi O Suru OVA again... It's really kinda disturbing how much I love that damn story

And then I rewatched a bit of the HYD anime, and I had totally forgotten about the kinda-lesbian school nurse who was friends with Tsubaki! God, that anime was great...

Random: Basmati rice is my favorite, but it's really not the best thing to use when making onigiri... Oh! That reminds me! I saw a bag of Basmati rice at the grocery store the other day, and it said "INDIAN RICE" on it, yet it was decorated with Chinese characters...

Yeah, I was supposed to go to sleep, but then started watching Tropic Thunder (btw hilarious), and then somehow segued into watching the Koizora movie. I didn't really watch it, mostly just skipped around, but from what I can see, I like it a ton better than the drama.

Mostly because I actually LIKE Hiro. Miura Haruma is about 10 times hotter than Seto Koji (it's weird though, Haruma looks to be the older one, but he totally isn't. He's only 18!! I feel pervy), and his hair is a ton better (and we all know that not only am I a hair person, I'm intrinsically drawn to blonde hair on guys).

Aragaki Yui is okay, and definitely pretty, but she has nothing on Mizusawa Elena, who I swear is one of the prettiest people EVER. I'll watch the rest of it sometime. I'll also finish the drama at some point too...

Oh, and the ending, I would have been sobbing if I had watched the movie from the start.

And OMG I actually found a version of Marmalade Boy that doesn't make me want to jam things in my ears to STOP THE PAIN! That excites me to death! Marmalade Boy = one of my favorite anime/mangas OF ALL TIME. Though it's probably not very faithful to the manga... Like, Kei-kun isn't there at all (Kei-kun = the (mangaboy) love of my life). Still, it's exciting, because it's Marmalade Boy! And Ken! I adore Ken!

Fushigi Yuugi always confused the hell out of me. I mean, the ending is so bizarre, it's a wild mishmash of reincarnation, and it's just confusing.

It's also monumentally sad. I rewatched some parts of the anime, and holy crap is it sad (I rewatched the part that contained Tomite and Hikitsu, which was incidentally right after Nuriko's death... I also watched the part where Tatara died). And it's kinda fucked up that the happiest ending is present in Miaka's story. Like, Takiko gets devoured by Genbu, and Suzuno gets thrown back to her world and has to live without Tatara... it's all terribly depressing. I've been reading Fushigi Yuugi Genbu Kaiden, and I have trouble getting through it because I KNOW it's just going to be wicked sad. Wicked wicked wicked sad. It's even worse because Uruki is like, the best character ever. Seriously, I love him soooo much. Stupid Fushigi Yuugi and it's sad storylines. Stupid.

Eh! The whole thing is making me upset now. I need to watch something funny. Unfortunately I do not seem to have anything funny to watch. The Rose and Tokyo Juliet are kinda angsty right now, so they're out... And I would watch Gokusen, but I want something romantical (with a canon romance I like)... Hmm... maybe I'll watch HYD again. For the trillionth time.

Oh! Speaking of HYD... The DVD for Hana Yori Dango Final came out (in Japan) yesterday. SARS fansubs is going to sub it, so now all I have to do is wait. I'm not good at waiting, but I figure I've been waiting nearly 6 months for it so far, I figure a few more weeks isn't going to kill me. I guess I COULD find it elsewhere... but I might not. I hear the other subs are bad. Regardless, it's not like I don't know what happens. (I'm a compulsive spoiler reader, remember)

(Hehehehe! I thought I had found an english sub of the movie, but then encountered this description; "Tsukushi Makino is a trainee dancer in a New York Performance group, struggling to become the star of the show with the help of Rui Hanazawa and Tsukasa Doumyouji".... dreadful "Flashdance"-esque anime movie anyone?!)