…of things of awesome. And a bit about each.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2: It’s been a very long time since there’s been an anime series that I’ve enjoyed so much that I will eagerly await each new episode every single week, but that’s precisely what happened with CG. I started watching it after R2 started, and from there I was hooked. Every Sunday afternoon was spent idling in IRC channels waiting for the newest episode to be released, and when the series finally reached its conclusion, I went back and re-watched the entire two seasons again immediately. And I don’t think I can remember ever having done that before - I just don’t have the time to re-watch shows usually. As for the show itself, I can’t say that it’s one of best I’ve seen, but I will say that it’s far and away one of the most entertaining, and the ending is one of the very few, from any anime, that I can say that I completely enjoyed.

Fate/stay night: After all this time, the final version of the English translation by mirror moon has finally been released, covering all 3 routes - Fate, Unlimited Blade Works, and now Heavens Feel. I really don’t think I can think of much more to say about this amazing piece of work that I haven’t already, but suffice it to say that Heavens Feel has done nothing to change my opinion. From disgust to elation, from hatred to love, from sin to redemption, the story of Heavens Feel really encompasses it all, and capped off by a true happy ending to boot. The only downside is that I now have to decide if I consider it to be superior to Tsukihime.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia: Finally went back and finished PoR, the first Castlevania that I finished since the old PlayStation days (just going to ignore Lament of Innocence on PS2 here…). Since I haven’t played any of the GBA ones (yet?) or finished Dawn of Sorrow, I really can’t say how it compares, but it was definitely a fun game in its own right. Sisters Mode was also neat, though rather too easy in many ways. Order of Ecclesia, on the other hand, is damned hard, at least at first. I hear it lets up after that, but still working my way through, so can’t say for sure. But Shanoa is a cool character, and the higher difficulty level is welcome.

Valkyria Chronicles: Finally, another reason for my PS3 to do something other collect dust. The art style, combined with the CANVAS system, makes the game look absolutely gorgeous. Since it just came out, can’t say much else about it yet, but I definitely think I’ll enjoy it.

Specter of the Past/Visions of the Future: Also known as the Hand of Thrawn duology, it’s by Timothy Zahn, probably the most famous of the Star Wars Extended Universe novelists. While I can’t say that this had nearly the same impact as the original trilogy that kicked off the opening of the post-movie trilogy EU, it’s still very much an enjoyable read featuring an interesting cast (more Mara Jade!). And it lead to me discovering once again the inner SW geek in myself, as I find myself also reading the other novels by Zahn (Allegiance, Outbound Flight, Survivor’s Quest), and now starting on the 9-book Legacy of the Force series. And I don’t see an end to that until I’ve exhausted books to read either…

Enchantment: Orson Scott Card, another one of my “old standby” authors, mixes Jewish and Russian peculiarities, folklore, and witchcraft to offer quite an interesting take on the age-old Sleeping Princess story in this novel. It’s a sweet story of course (it is a fairy tale at its core, after all), but it also mixes in quite a bit of interesting humor.

Alright, so not so short list. Oh well.

Also known as reviews of random stuff, by me, for me.

The Dark Knight: Wow. I thought Batman Begins was good, but Iron Man was more enjoyable. But TDK has really raised the bar for comic-based movies yet another notch. What an absolutely amazing movie, and there really isn’t much left to be said about Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. Oscar-worthy, and made the movie worth every moment.

Got into watching anime again. And as I usually do in these cases, have been binge-watching.

Gundam 00: Heard enough good things about it to watch it even though season 2 isn’t out yet (and I really don’t like watching incomplete series). I’m really not a big Gundam fan (08th MS Team aside), but it really did turn out to be excellent. Even if Setsuna F. Seiei is a bit… wonky. Enjoyed it enough to decide giving other Gundams a try…

Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny, OVAs, etc: The first series wasn’t half bad. The character designs look kind of weird - almost all the male characters look just slightly too short - and the reuse of footage can be pretty jarring (though probably wouldn’t be as big of an issue if not watching the entirety of the series at once), but overall it was fairly decent, with cool mecha (Freedom/Justice Gundams especially) and an enjoyable, if standard issue, storyline. Destiny, on the other hand, just felt like a poor extension. Shin is such a terrible character that I really couldn’t care that the entire series shifted the focus back onto the old cast halfway through. Another thing about Gundam series… do they have someone whose job it is to come up with all those semi-intelligible abbreviations which say “GUNDAM”?

5 Centimeters Per Second: One word - incredible. The visuals, especially when viewed at 1080P, is simply astounding, and the story is an amazing telling of what is at its core a very simple theme. I enjoyed this so much that I was compelled to write a review for it at MyAnimeList.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days: I watched this, also in 1080P, after finishing 5 Centimeters and falling in love with it and deciding to check out the other works of Makoto Shinkai. I really wish I had watched it in the reverse order, because then I probably would’ve appreciated this more. It’s certainly a good movie, and I enjoyed it, but it just can’t compare to 5cm. Whether it’s the imagery, or the characters, or the story, it seems that the newer work does everything just that bit better.

Welcome to the N.H.K!: Certainly among the most unique of anime/manga in terms of subject matter, this one really does hit pretty close to home. I’m still not sure if I would consider this series to be funny, good, or depressing, but it’s definitely interesting in an almost morbid way.

Ichigo 100%: Read the manga first. Story is classic textbook harem shounen, but I did like it nevertheless (because I almost always do -_-), and kind of surprised myself on which heroine I ended up liking.

ef - a tale of memories: Another anime based on a VN, it was very pleasant and touching despite the odd format of telling two concurrent and mostly-unrelated stories simultaneously.

xxxHOLiC: Really not sure what to think of this. It’s kind of repetitive, but funny; the story/setting is interesting, but nothing really ever happens. Kind of just a meh.

Kara no Kyoukai: It’s based on a story by Type-Moon (before they were Type-Moon). It’s voiced by Maaya Sakamoto. It’s got music by Yuki Kajiura. How can I not love this? Eagerly awaiting each new movie. The songs by Kalafina are also awesome.

Sekirei: It’s like the story of Fate/stay night, but expanded for more fan service. I’m not even sure what made me start watching this, but despite that fact that I can in no way say it’s a great anime, it’s still keeping my attention… enough that I read all the available chapters of the manga as well.

To-LOVE-Ru: Another fan-service harem show, but that the main protagonist actually has someone he likes from the beginning makes it an improvement, I suppose. Cute characters, even if episode 18 and it’s near-Bestiality subject matter is almost disturbing.

Firefox 3 is fantastic. Huge upgrade over Firefox 2. But Mozilla Weave is, so far, a terrible replacement for Google Sync.

PS3 is a nice system. MGS4 looks amazing. Need to finish MGS3 first. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is awesome. Need more FFXIII information. Game controller costs are getting ridiculous - $50 for a Wireless 360 controller, $55 for a Dualshock 3, $60 for a Nunchuck + Wiimote, and never mind Classic Controller attachments. The World Ends With You is a wonderful game, but I still need to finish it. Homebrew via CycloDS Evolution is cool (thanks David!). Phoenix Wright games are quite good. Picross is awesome.

The Hulk was pretty good. As was Get Smart. Anne Hathaway looks gorgeous.

Code Geass season 1 was amazingly awesome, even if I don’t like Lelouch. At all.

A triplet again. First is a song from The World Ends with You. Awesome game, good music (assuming you can stand JPop). I might actually finish the game! At least if I can overcome my obsessive compulsiveness and not spend a couple hundred hours trying to collect each and every pin…

Calling - [128-192kbps VBR MP3]
石元丈晴 (Vocal - Leah)

Next, song that I randomly discovered from one of her albums which I apparently had obtained at some point in time. Not terribly original or interesting, but catchy and cute.

还是好朋友 - [128-192kbps VBR MP3]
王心凌

And finally, yet another song that I really like off what may well be one of my favorite albums ever. Out of the 16 tracks on By The Way, I enjoy at least 10 or 12 of them, including this one. Especially love the chorus.

Warm Tape - [128-192kbps VBR MP3]
Red Hot Chili Peppers

Lyrics after the break.

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