loot! again

It seems that every month, one batch will take an eternity to arrive, and the rest will show up pretty quickly.  There are 3 series here that MIGHT end up on the chopping block...these will decide it.  If they do, I'll probably just switch over to monthly shipping.  Of the comics that would be left, there's a oneshot, 2 minis and a bimonthly comic...makes this second batch really small, especially since I only have a few trades and manga still on order with Dreamland, and have pretty much moved to amazon for all of that.

Of greater import, "Remington Steele: Seasons 4&5" is here, courtnesy of James(graduation gift "*huggles him*) and Hastings had a secondhand copy of Disney's "Snow White" which has been unaffordable since I started working on my DVD collection(also finally got "Snow White: A Tale of Terror" today...talk about extreme opposites of the same story...)

Anyway:

Full Metal Alchemist: The Land of Sand
Legend Of Grimjack Vol 5
Love Hina Novel 2
X-Factor: The Longest Night HC

52 Week #13-14
Annihilation #1
Annihilation The Nova Corp Files
Fables #52
Firestorm The Nuclear Man #28
Jonah Hex #10
JSA Classified #15
Noble Causes #22
Secret Six #3
Usagi Yojimbo #95

loot! again

It seems that every month, one batch will take an eternity to arrive, and the rest will show up pretty quickly.  There are 3 series here that MIGHT end up on the chopping block...these will decide it.  If they do, I'll probably just switch over to monthly shipping.  Of the comics that would be left, there's a oneshot, 2 minis and a bimonthly comic...makes this second batch really small, especially since I only have a few trades and manga still on order with Dreamland, and have pretty much moved to amazon for all of that.

Of greater import, "Remington Steele: Seasons 4&5" is here, courtnesy of James(graduation gift "*huggles him*) and Hastings had a secondhand copy of Disney's "Snow White" which has been unaffordable since I started working on my DVD collection(also finally got "Snow White: A Tale of Terror" today...talk about extreme opposites of the same story...)

Anyway:

Full Metal Alchemist: The Land of Sand
Legend Of Grimjack Vol 5
Love Hina Novel 2
X-Factor: The Longest Night HC

52 Week #13-14
Annihilation #1
Annihilation The Nova Corp Files
Fables #52
Firestorm The Nuclear Man #28
Jonah Hex #10
JSA Classified #15
Noble Causes #22
Secret Six #3
Usagi Yojimbo #95

backlogs

Because it's been a while.

The back issues are exactly the same as last time, so I'm not bothering reposting them.

As of today, the DVD backlog no longer fits in the side cabinet of the entertainment center...though it's not as bad as a month ago, where that was full and so was a box of stuff waiting to be added.

( trades and manga )

( DVDs )

backlogs

Because it's been a while.

The back issues are exactly the same as last time, so I'm not bothering reposting them.

As of today, the DVD backlog no longer fits in the side cabinet of the entertainment center...though it's not as bad as a month ago, where that was full and so was a box of stuff waiting to be added.

( trades and manga )

( DVDs )

Random update: Orphen: The Complete Collection

I've been wanting to watch this one for a while now, but just hadn't gotten around to it(cuz it's a rare-ish regionless and until Hastings drastically marked it down last week, the set was too much)  Very glad I finally got to watch it.  It's one of those animes that take a pretty serious and fairly complex story and puts a comedy coat over it.  Crux or the story is a young sorceror trying to save his childhood friend, who accidentally turned herself into a dragon in her quest for power, before she or the world's sorcerors can destroy her.  

This one reminded me of a lot of things I love(many of which it predates)  The music reminds me of S-cry-ed and Legend(the Ridley Scott movie) while the story and approach remind me a bit of Inu Yasha(in fact, Orphen reminds me a bit of a less-lecherous Miroku, with Inu Yasha's obsession over someone who just isn't worth it)  while Cleao makes me think of Hiyono from "Spiral"(notes that any time that's said without "except I like Hiyono but is she annoying and I wish she'd just go away" or something along those lines, it's a very good thing)

Like Ayumu in Spiral, Orphen just doesn't appreciate Cleao nearly as much as he should.  Yeah, she's spoiled and always getting into trouble, but she's devoted to him and always tries to help, and stays by his side even when she thinks he's wrong and is driving him crazy.  The only time she leaves is when he convinces her she's nothing but a nuisance and is no help, and he only does that because she forces him to face the truth and he can't handle it(which he never apologizes for, grrrr...)  Still, they're quite shippable, and at least he finally realizes how much he needs her by the end.

Unfortunately, he never realizes how monumentally unworthy Azalee is.  Some of you will recall the heights of my hatred(now mostly neutrality) for zombie Kikyo in Inu Yasha(not to be confused with priestess Kikyo, who I adore)  This is nothing in comparison to Azalee.  Kikyo, at least, was a victim.  She died at her lover's hands after a horrendous betrayal(or so she thought) and was forced into a mockery of life while she watched her lover with her reincarnation.  While she sinks too far into vengeance mode and does things I'll never forgive her for, she gets better and, unltimately, it's not completely her fault.  Azalee, however, is directly responsible not only for what happened to her, but for virtually every bad thing that happens in the series.  I initially felt sorry for her, but with every flashback and every revelation, my dislike grew.  She doesn't deserve Orphen's devotion to her, much less Childman's(who I totally heart...Haryu, too)  Unfortunately, not only does she never acquit for her actions, but she's actually rewarded for them...sigh...

And finally, Leky(pronounced "Lackey" because, after all, Cleao IS the one who named him...)?  He totally challenges Hakuryu in saiyuki and Kikrara in Inu Yasha for cute-est anime pet.  He and Kirara should duke it out for most adorable yet powerful anime pet, but if they did, there would be much gasping and fretting on my part.  Plus, Leky is going to grow up to be the size of a castle and can pretty much take on dragon's when his mistress is threatened, so I think the outcome would be obvious early on.

I snagged season 2 at Hastings today and would go ahead and put it in the DVD player, but Remington Steele is here, and it takes precedence over all else.

Random update: Orphen: The Complete Collection

I've been wanting to watch this one for a while now, but just hadn't gotten around to it(cuz it's a rare-ish regionless and until Hastings drastically marked it down last week, the set was too much)  Very glad I finally got to watch it.  It's one of those animes that take a pretty serious and fairly complex story and puts a comedy coat over it.  Crux or the story is a young sorceror trying to save his childhood friend, who accidentally turned herself into a dragon in her quest for power, before she or the world's sorcerors can destroy her.  

This one reminded me of a lot of things I love(many of which it predates)  The music reminds me of S-cry-ed and Legend(the Ridley Scott movie) while the story and approach remind me a bit of Inu Yasha(in fact, Orphen reminds me a bit of a less-lecherous Miroku, with Inu Yasha's obsession over someone who just isn't worth it)  while Cleao makes me think of Hiyono from "Spiral"(notes that any time that's said without "except I like Hiyono but is she annoying and I wish she'd just go away" or something along those lines, it's a very good thing)

Like Ayumu in Spiral, Orphen just doesn't appreciate Cleao nearly as much as he should.  Yeah, she's spoiled and always getting into trouble, but she's devoted to him and always tries to help, and stays by his side even when she thinks he's wrong and is driving him crazy.  The only time she leaves is when he convinces her she's nothing but a nuisance and is no help, and he only does that because she forces him to face the truth and he can't handle it(which he never apologizes for, grrrr...)  Still, they're quite shippable, and at least he finally realizes how much he needs her by the end.

Unfortunately, he never realizes how monumentally unworthy Azalee is.  Some of you will recall the heights of my hatred(now mostly neutrality) for zombie Kikyo in Inu Yasha(not to be confused with priestess Kikyo, who I adore)  This is nothing in comparison to Azalee.  Kikyo, at least, was a victim.  She died at her lover's hands after a horrendous betrayal(or so she thought) and was forced into a mockery of life while she watched her lover with her reincarnation.  While she sinks too far into vengeance mode and does things I'll never forgive her for, she gets better and, unltimately, it's not completely her fault.  Azalee, however, is directly responsible not only for what happened to her, but for virtually every bad thing that happens in the series.  I initially felt sorry for her, but with every flashback and every revelation, my dislike grew.  She doesn't deserve Orphen's devotion to her, much less Childman's(who I totally heart...Haryu, too)  Unfortunately, not only does she never acquit for her actions, but she's actually rewarded for them...sigh...

And finally, Leky(pronounced "Lackey" because, after all, Cleao IS the one who named him...)?  He totally challenges Hakuryu in saiyuki and Kikrara in Inu Yasha for cute-est anime pet.  He and Kirara should duke it out for most adorable yet powerful anime pet, but if they did, there would be much gasping and fretting on my part.  Plus, Leky is going to grow up to be the size of a castle and can pretty much take on dragon's when his mistress is threatened, so I think the outcome would be obvious early on.

I snagged season 2 at Hastings today and would go ahead and put it in the DVD player, but Remington Steele is here, and it takes precedence over all else.

Fruits Basket and Basara

Yeah, so, I've been in even more of a rambly mood than usual lately.  Doubt it's going away anytime soon.  Should probably skip this is you have zero interest in manga.

After "Ceres" and "Blade of the Immortal," "Basara" and "Fruits Basket" were probably my first and biggest(still existing) manga obsessions("Rurouni Kenshin" "Hana Kimi" and "Inu Yasha" were discovered shortly after these, I believe)  Anyway, I read the latest US volumes of each of these this week(vol 19 and 14, respectively) and so...

"Fruits Basket" continuously amazes me because it's simultaneously one of the most cheerful, funny and uplifting "feel good" manga out there, and also one of the darkest, angstiest, most depressing books.  I mean, it's about a girl who stumbles into a family with a centuries old curse, who are beaten down by a physically and emotionally abusive head of the family, who hates her for giving them hope, and worse, for giving him hope(my loathing of Akito knows no bounds)  The anime went from being pure comedy in the first few eps to being darkdarkdark and then having a hugely uplifting ending in the last few eps.  And what's amazing is how effortlessly and seemlessly it changes modes, sometimes on the same page.  Vol 14 wraps up the Rin arc before switching back to Yuki and the student council.  Now, initially, I hated Rin.  She was mean to Tohru, which is a HUGE no-no in my book.  Now, though, I think she's almost tied with Tohru for being my 3rd favorite character(with Kyo and Haru respectively being 1st and 2nd)  Aside from Tohru, she's the only person willing to stand up to Akito, and she's actually actively trying to break the curse, someone no one else in her family seems willing to try to do.  And she's not trying to do it for herself, she's trying to do it for Haru, so he'll be free from Akito.  Her obsessive devotion to Haru and his slightly stand-off-ishh devotion to her(he's still shorter than her...he's just waiting for that last growth spurt) makes me completely ship them...Rin has to be the ONLY person(besides tohru) who would ever think of Haru as being a "nice" person(Tohru thinks everyone is nice...probably even Akito)  I don't ship them nearly as much as Kyo and Tohru, but almost.  The second half is Yuki and the student council.  I used to not care much for Yuki...he was arrogant, seemed to be chasing Tohru for purely selfish reasons, and acted like he was superior to Kyo(ok, Kyo was usually the instigator, nbut Yuki pretty much always prodded him)  The student council storyline, though, has made him unbend a lot, and is making him interact with people besides Tohru and his cousins, and even make friends(not that he's realized that part yet)  Plus, he and Kyo are pretty much at peace, now, and he's admitted that his interest in Tohru was self-centered  I love how everyone, including Yuki, knows that Tohru and Kyo are essentially a couple, but they're oblivious.  Kyo is always reading Tohru's moods and knows what she's thinking and takes care of her by making her take care of herself, instead of always worrying about others.  That is just the cutest.

And then there's Basara.  Basara is playing it a little light lately, making up for the deep, deep angst-fest after the big reveal.  This is good, actually, as is the current separation with Shuri and Sarasa(though I wish the result wasn't the near total absence of Shuri in this volume...sigh...)  But it's allowing the war storyline to progress, and it's forcing Shuri and Sarasa to come to terms with the truth and deal with it, before they have to face each other(last time didn't go well...)  Shuri really isn't bothering with any denials...he knows learning that the woman he loved was his enemy ripped about half of him away, as well as a lot of his reasons for fighting so hard, and he knows that, because of that, he'll probably never be able to be happy.  But he knows what his duty to his people is, and I think part of him thinks that he can somehow still have Sarasa if he can win the war against his father on his own, "killing" Tatara by stealing the victory and taking it for his own.  Sarasa had a deep denial period, but she's recovered from it pretty well and was forced to face herself, so she's currently dealing with things and able to look at them more onjectively than Shuri is.  And the wine kiss?  I wanted to bawl.  Speaking of bawling, I wanted to do that when Ageha saw Motomichi for the first time.  He loved Shido as much as he hated him, and almost lost all control of himself seeing Shido's son(on top of his devotion to Senju due to her being Shido's lover, and his need to open her eyes to the world)  That scene brought my secondary Basara ship that much closer to being canon.  Unfortunately, I'm growing less and less certain of Shuri surviving the series...

Fruits Basket and Basara

Yeah, so, I've been in even more of a rambly mood than usual lately.  Doubt it's going away anytime soon.  Should probably skip this is you have zero interest in manga.

After "Ceres" and "Blade of the Immortal," "Basara" and "Fruits Basket" were probably my first and biggest(still existing) manga obsessions("Rurouni Kenshin" "Hana Kimi" and "Inu Yasha" were discovered shortly after these, I believe)  Anyway, I read the latest US volumes of each of these this week(vol 19 and 14, respectively) and so...

"Fruits Basket" continuously amazes me because it's simultaneously one of the most cheerful, funny and uplifting "feel good" manga out there, and also one of the darkest, angstiest, most depressing books.  I mean, it's about a girl who stumbles into a family with a centuries old curse, who are beaten down by a physically and emotionally abusive head of the family, who hates her for giving them hope, and worse, for giving him hope(my loathing of Akito knows no bounds)  The anime went from being pure comedy in the first few eps to being darkdarkdark and then having a hugely uplifting ending in the last few eps.  And what's amazing is how effortlessly and seemlessly it changes modes, sometimes on the same page.  Vol 14 wraps up the Rin arc before switching back to Yuki and the student council.  Now, initially, I hated Rin.  She was mean to Tohru, which is a HUGE no-no in my book.  Now, though, I think she's almost tied with Tohru for being my 3rd favorite character(with Kyo and Haru respectively being 1st and 2nd)  Aside from Tohru, she's the only person willing to stand up to Akito, and she's actually actively trying to break the curse, someone no one else in her family seems willing to try to do.  And she's not trying to do it for herself, she's trying to do it for Haru, so he'll be free from Akito.  Her obsessive devotion to Haru and his slightly stand-off-ishh devotion to her(he's still shorter than her...he's just waiting for that last growth spurt) makes me completely ship them...Rin has to be the ONLY person(besides tohru) who would ever think of Haru as being a "nice" person(Tohru thinks everyone is nice...probably even Akito)  I don't ship them nearly as much as Kyo and Tohru, but almost.  The second half is Yuki and the student council.  I used to not care much for Yuki...he was arrogant, seemed to be chasing Tohru for purely selfish reasons, and acted like he was superior to Kyo(ok, Kyo was usually the instigator, nbut Yuki pretty much always prodded him)  The student council storyline, though, has made him unbend a lot, and is making him interact with people besides Tohru and his cousins, and even make friends(not that he's realized that part yet)  Plus, he and Kyo are pretty much at peace, now, and he's admitted that his interest in Tohru was self-centered  I love how everyone, including Yuki, knows that Tohru and Kyo are essentially a couple, but they're oblivious.  Kyo is always reading Tohru's moods and knows what she's thinking and takes care of her by making her take care of herself, instead of always worrying about others.  That is just the cutest.

And then there's Basara.  Basara is playing it a little light lately, making up for the deep, deep angst-fest after the big reveal.  This is good, actually, as is the current separation with Shuri and Sarasa(though I wish the result wasn't the near total absence of Shuri in this volume...sigh...)  But it's allowing the war storyline to progress, and it's forcing Shuri and Sarasa to come to terms with the truth and deal with it, before they have to face each other(last time didn't go well...)  Shuri really isn't bothering with any denials...he knows learning that the woman he loved was his enemy ripped about half of him away, as well as a lot of his reasons for fighting so hard, and he knows that, because of that, he'll probably never be able to be happy.  But he knows what his duty to his people is, and I think part of him thinks that he can somehow still have Sarasa if he can win the war against his father on his own, "killing" Tatara by stealing the victory and taking it for his own.  Sarasa had a deep denial period, but she's recovered from it pretty well and was forced to face herself, so she's currently dealing with things and able to look at them more onjectively than Shuri is.  And the wine kiss?  I wanted to bawl.  Speaking of bawling, I wanted to do that when Ageha saw Motomichi for the first time.  He loved Shido as much as he hated him, and almost lost all control of himself seeing Shido's son(on top of his devotion to Senju due to her being Shido's lover, and his need to open her eyes to the world)  That scene brought my secondary Basara ship that much closer to being canon.  Unfortunately, I'm growing less and less certain of Shuri surviving the series...