Rae's Rants

You know what pisses me off? All these so-called driver download sites that are really nothing more than hubs that redirect you to the OEM for whatever driver you're looking for. If I could get what I wanted from the OEM's site then I wouldn't be searching for a bloody 3rd-party site now would I? Although this is pretty rare, it does happen, for example, if the OEM's site is down for maintenance. This in itself is annoying, but when you're going through pages of Google results for websites that claim to have the driver you're looking for, only to be redirected to the OEM's site... you get the picture. I mean how annoying can you get. Imagine for instance that you're looking for a certain DVD, but it's out of print, so the publisher doesn't have it anymore. What do you do next? You check out 3rd-party resellers like the ones on Amazon Marketplace. So you search for the DVD on Amazon and sure enough, X amount of Marketplace sellers say they have it. So you choose a seller from the list, go to check out, and just before you confirm everything, you get a message saying "oh, sorry, XYZ stopped printing this so we don't have it". Okay, this would never happen in real life, but it's the same kind of scenario. Sites like these are useless.

Incase you're wondering, I was actually looking for a driver for my NIC. Turns out there wasn't anything wrong with it though. The problem was actually a misconfigured update to one of my security programs. So there you have it. Thrilling eh.

You know what pisses me off? It pisses me off when railway lines arbitrarily change the timetable! You build a whole weekly routine around what time you leave for work and what time you leave work, and then what? You show up at the station only to find that your train now comes 20 minutes later, or even more annoying, 5 minutes earlier. What's it all about? It doesn't happen in line with daylight savings. It just seems random. Maybe it's like fashion where some self-important "expert" that's never done a real day's work in his/her life just decides out of the blue: "ohh, 1637 is so 5 minutes ago". I wonder if they even bother to tell the employees. Could explain a lot. Imagine you showed up at work one day and your manager says, out of nowhere, "oh, you were supposed to be here 12 minutes ago". Maybe it's because of the employees. Who knows. It's just such a pain in the ass.

I don't post much here anymore... hmm... anyways, for a while, I'm done with exams. Finally got the MCSA with Messaging specialisation, so now I'm taking some time to focus on my artwork, my novel, my training, and life in general. On the artwork front, I'm going to start working on concepts (or prototypes) for my first novel's cover art. Right now though, I'm gunna do some training and watch Cowboy Bebop. Can't believe I put off such an awesome anime until now.

Ja ne.

Pictured: Makunouchi Ippo (front and centre), Mashiba Ryo, Date Eiji, Miyata Ichiro (background, top-left to bottom-left) and Alexander Vorg Zangief, Takeshi Sendo and Sawamura Ryuhei (background, top-right to bottom-right) from the series Hajime no Ippo

Prepare for one short entry. This past week has been the least active yet. I've got some major league last-minute exam-cramming on my schedule. My exam's tomorrow (for those that are interested, it's 70-291: Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure), so I need to get my head in gear. I did however watch a whole volume of Hajime no Ippo, and after another such emotional and intense five episodes, I'm starting to wonder where this animé might be sitting in my top 20 by the time it's over, and by saying "top 20", I'm not saying there's no chance of it entering my top 10... but it's been so long since my top 10 changed, I prefer to just talk about having a top 20 instead.

Anyway, in volume 10 of Ippo, we're introduced to another new character, a Russian boxer by the name of Alexander Vorg Zangief. Well, strictly speaking we were introduced to him in volume 9, but volume 10 delves into detail on his character and his backstory as he boxes against Ippo with the image of his sick mother back in Russia burned into his steely eyes, yet another example of the kind of character work that makes this series so great. The match between Vorg and Ippo was intense, and unlike most shounen animé, it's difficult not to wonder whether the main character might actually lose, and this is thanks mainly to the aforementioned character work that makes you feel similar emotional ties to the main character's opponents as to the main character himself. As per usual, I'll be watching the next volume the day it arrives at my door.

Also this week, episode 9 of Moetan. If you read my Week in Review entry of two weeks ago, you might remember my puzzling over where this series is headed plot-wise. Well, it looks like it might actually be making a move now, although with only 12 episodes all in all (13 if you wanna get technical), it's a bit late in the game. Anyway, there's really not much that can be said about this episode. There was a bit of backstory on Ink and Sumi's relationship. Now, is it just me, or is it kind of bizarre that best friends in animé always seem to be at each other's necks? Aw well; backstory aside, episode 9 was more or less... well, less ecchi than usual, and I'm guessing Ink's sudden illness is somehow related to the plot and will be explained in a future episode. I don't know, but a lot of Japanese people do.

On the subject of magical teachers and best friends that always seem to be at each other's necks... huh..... this week's Manga of the Week (don't expect this to be a regular thing) was Mahou Sensei Negima!. It has to be said: this is Akamatsu-san's best work. There's no 'probably' in there, and no 'matter of opinion' either; it just is. I've read far too much this week to comment on all at once, but the last chapter I read was the beginning of a big martial arts tournament on campus, a part of the series I've heard great things about. Generally, the series is just a great big roller coaster ride of high emotions and hilarity, but I can tell that there's a great plot buried underneath it somewhere, and little by little, it's coming to light. Thanks to One Manga for giving me a means to read manga at work... during my breaks of course. ">_>

Well, I wish I could say I'm off to watch a whole bunch of animé, but I've got some studying to be getting done. Maybe.

Pictured: Hanma Baki from the series Baki the Grappler

Urrrgh... right now I'm completely out of it. It's been a busy day, I've been out and about and the heat's taken it right out of me. Not that I'm complaining mind you; I'm glad to finally have some good weather, brilliant in fact. Still, I'm sure I still have the energy to write up a half-decent entry before going back to my first run of Baki the Grappler. Baki the Grappler's appeal is pretty simple: if you like fighting - and I mean real fighting - you'll like Baki the Grappler. Right from the opening (and I mean the English adaptation's opening, which surprisingly is far more suited than the original Japanese opening) you know you're watching something good; but all the best fight scenes in the world couldn't hold my interest if there wasn't a plot to accompany them, but thankfully Baki the Grappler provides in that department as well. It's thin, but it's there, and it'll hold your attention right to the end, which isn't too far off for me now. Right now, I'd give season one 8/10, and, from what little I've seen of it, I'd give season two 7/10. I'll write up more about this one next time.

This past week saw me to the end of my third Sailor Moon series, Sailor Moon S. Looking back, I remember thinking that Sailor Moon R was a significant improvement over Sailor Moon; however, Sailor Moon S is only a slight improvement over Sailor Moon R. I can't help wondering whether this is the limit of Sailor Moon's appeal, but I guess, one way or another, I'll know soon enough. On a side note, Sailor Moon S is the first Sailor Moon series with an uncut dub, but to be honest, after watching two whole seasons subbed, changing to dubbed just feels unnatural, especially with Sailor Moon's... terrific English voice cast. Reminds me of when I tried to watch the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie in English. Seriously, whose idea was it to give a 10-year-old girl - Kinomoto Sakura nonetheless - such a deep bloody voice!? Anyway, I'm wandering off topic. Overall, I'm giving Sailor Moon S a rating of 7/10.

If there's any one quality that sets good and mediocre animé apart, it's rewatchability. Be it for the story, the comedy, the action or even the fanservice, if a series is rewatchable, it's good at what it does, and one such series is Negima!. I've now finished the series for the fourth time, and I enjoyed it as much as the first. Now that I'm reading the manga however, it's interesting to see how it and the animé differ. The basic plot is the same, but surprisingly enough the manga does everything better. For some reason, various plot points of the manga were shuffled around in the animé adaptation, and comparing the two, the manga's version definitely makes more sense. I've still got a shitload of Negima! to read through - near enough 200 chapters - but when you enjoy something this much, 200 chapters doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

I was seriously wondering what had happened to this one, but a new episode of Himawari!! appeared out of the blue this week. For some reason the first few episodes were subbed, and then for a period of time it was just abandoned, but now it seems to have been picked up by another fansub group, and this group seems particularly thorough, going to the lengths of explaining what the terms "katana" and "sci-fi" mean. "Katana" I can sort of understand, but "sci-fi"? Anyway, although the series is a good bit of fun, and although I think I'm developing a bit of a soft spot for Himawari herself, the most outstanding thing to me in this series is its opening theme, Sora Iro no Tsubasa, which has quickly made its way into my Favourite Animé Themes playlist (see end of entry for the full list).

If you don't know who CLAMP are, I suggest you take the time to look up the meaning of the word 'animé' before reading any more of my blog. Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE could be considered the ultimate CLAMP series, since it incorporates characters and elements from all over the CLAMP universe, mainly Cardcaptor Sakura, but also Chobits, Rayearth, xxxHOLiC and X. Still, the series has yet to prove itself greater than either Cardcaptor Sakura or Chobits to me. That's not to say that it isn't good though; in fact, it's awesome, just not quite a masterpiece... yet. Cardcaptor Sakura and Chobits are the only CLAMP animé I've seen beginning to end, and both of them got a 10/10 rating in my book, the former being my favourite animé of all time. Based on this, my expectations of Tsubasa are pretty high, but although the series hasn't met them quite yet, I still have high hopes that it will deliver soon enough.

One series that I cannot recommend enough right now is Kodomo no Jikan. Admittedly, I only started reading it because of the controversy, but controversy doesn't hold an intelligent person's attention for long; a brilliant and unpredictable storyline does. The common problem with so-called harem series is that there's never any real mystery as to how it's going to turn out: the main male character will get with the main female character and then it's happily ever after, but Kodomo no Jikan has promised to avoid that eventuality right from the get-go by making any such outcome virtually impossible. If you've been put off this series by its controversy, I say you go get the first few chapters right now (you can download them from one of my earlier entries if you like ^_^) and start reading. It's your loss otherwise.

Well, I made it through this week's entry, and now my head feels completely screwed. Does it show? It does. I can tell it does. Time to pour myself a pint of juice and chill out. Why do animé characters always get so excited about juice anyway?

My Favourite Animé Themes Playlist

Almost forgot to do this...

1. Rip Slyme - Super Shooter (OP, Gantz)
2. Yuka - Mirai no Kioku (OP, Kiddy Grade)
3. Dimitri From Paris - Neko Mimi Mode (1st OP, Moon Phase)
4. Nao Nagasawa - Kiss Kiss Kiss (OP, Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles)
5. Yoriko - Daia no Hana (OP, Black Cat)
6. Shimamiya Eiko - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (OP, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
7. Dir en Grey - Child Prey (OP, Baki the Grappler)
8. Kawada Mami - Joint (1st OP, Shakugan no Shana II)
9. Maximum the Hormone - What's up, People?! (2nd OP, Death Note)
10. Masahiko Arimachi - Throught the Night (OP, Outlaw Star)
11. Shiraishi Ryouko - Sora Iro no Tsubasa (OP, Himawari!!)
12. Lia - Tori no Uta (OP, Air)
13. Hideaki Takatori - Sand Mission (1st OP, Desert Punk)
14. Funta - S-U-K-I (ED, Popotan)