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August 8th, 2008
10:14 pm - Dancing = awesome
Emily's been talking about So You Think You Can Dance lately, which makes me a little sad, since I couldn't watch it this season. But I had no idea they started doing THIS.
Badass. Seriously.
I hate reality TV, but So You Think You Can Dance is pure win. I'm willing to tolerate all of the vast, vast realm of reality crap so that it can air for years to come.
Except for Laguna Beach. I want to set fire to Laguna Beach.
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July 28th, 2008
01:14 am - Rave Volumes 31-33, Hiro Mashima
Hiro Mashima was at San Diego Comic Con this weekend. I've been reading the coverage of his panel and writhing in envy. I really wanted to shake the guy's hand. But since he came on Del Rey's dime to largely promote Fairy Tail, and I'm a lowly Tokyopop monkey who's been working on his lowly flagship series Rave Master for years, I don't know what I would've said to him. (Particularly in Japanese, since my vocabulary is so limited that I'd have to look up the word "editor.") But I still wish I could've at least seen him. He sounded like such a good sport, letting himself get photographed and doing a speed sketch to show how he draws his current shounen hero. Mangaka can be really edgy about public appearances, especially when they're busy doing BOTH A WEEKLY AND A MONTHLY SERIES, which Mashima is. But it sounds like he put on a good show, and I would've loved to witness it. *wipes single tear* I guess I'll just have to love him from afar.
After Rave Volume 31, I have an entirely new respect for the guy. It's one of the best shounen volumes I've ever read, period. I teared up multiple times while working on the script. Totally, totally beyond what Rave usually is, and it has me really looking forward to the conclusion of the series. Strangely, that's soon--I've been on a bit of a Rave Master rewriting run again, thus I handed in Rave #33 last week ahead of schedule. Only two more volumes and I'm done. THAT'S CRAZY.
Sigh...I always get emotional when long-running series of mine head to a close. But my emotions could've been soothed for the first time ever by actually telling the mangaka to his face that he makes me love my job. Dammit! Why does Comic Con have to be a million miles away?
真島せんせいが大好き。RAVEは私の胸の中で。。。
Now I just have to keep hoping that one day, for some reason, I'll get to meet Kasane Katsumoto and put my head in her lap and tell her how much of an influence SHE had on my life. Although she'd probably have me restrained by security for the whole head-in-the-lap thing.
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July 4th, 2008
10:58 am - Real life is awesome.
Mini update on real life, because right now I'm totally psyched to be alive.
1.) I'm officially a practicing chemist now. I just got a research position through a local hospital; it starts in a month and involves experimenting on rat and human uteruses with drugs. So not only is it a biochemical research job (and not some stupid industry job where I'd make bleach all day), but it's in drugs AND women's health, which are my favorite research topics. I'm so psyched, I can't even tell you.
2.) I'm gonna be a Maid of Honor for a wedding that will not be mentioned here unless she tells me it's okay to tell everyone. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
3.) Ben and Alex just got a sweet apartment about a half-mile from mine. So now there's going to be a Boy Pad within walking distance of our Girl Pad, and it will be the place to a.) dump in-town guests every once in a while so we don't have 60 people in our living room and b.) play video games really hard, since Alex is a SEVERE gamer. I think we may also be chipping in together to get a Rock Band set that will migrate from pad to pad.
Life is good!
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June 19th, 2008
03:33 pm - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
They're animating Skip Beat! They're animating Skip Beat!
Look!
You see, kids? God listens when you pray!
(Thank you, God!)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/smile.gif) ecstatic
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June 5th, 2008
08:50 am - R.I.P., Tokyopop staff
I lost almost all of my bosses this week in the big Tokyopop lay-off. I honestly can't believe they're gone. Some of those people have been in the company for years, adamantly defending the company online, patrolling message boards to keep fans in the loop, and, obviously, working hard at their incredibly huge regular workloads.
It's depressing as hell, but I hope it's a step in the right direction for those editors. Maybe now they can find a job SLIGHTLY less stressful than working in Tokyopop editorial.
My series for them have already been dwindling to a close lately, and although I'm on the list for new series rewriters, I have no idea what that's going to amount to if series are getting bought less frequently and actively CUT in other cases. Maybe I'll even lose some stuff I'm currently working on (doubt it in the case of Fruits Basket, though). But I'm a freelancer, and that's the nature of the job, and I work for other companies in addition to Tokyopop, so I don't think the news is going to change my life all that much. I just feel for those editors. Putting your entire life into one job for one company and then losing it all must suck so, so hard.
I hope this ends up being a good thing in your professional lives, Tokyopop staff. Onward and upward! God knows you're talented, and other companies would be lucky to have you.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) sad
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May 16th, 2008
05:17 pm - MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Guess what I just got? My final grades. Guess what I needed to complete my Master's? A 73% or higher in Physical Organic Chemistry at the University of Toronto. Guess what I got? A 73%. Guess what I get to do in less than 48 hours?
Put on a cap and G-R-A-D-U-A-T-E.
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
*EDIT: I just found out the craziest thing. My dad told me that in the few brief years he practiced architecture in Canada, he was largely focused on building up a "two-horse town" in northern Alberta that was rich in oil sands. He designed roads, social centers, etc. He even kept the plans on the wall of our old house as a sort of decoration/reminder of how many years he went to school only to get sick of architectural practice almost immediately.
And you know the name of that town? Fort McMurry.
Ana, my father designed Fort McMurry.
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April 28th, 2008
08:49 am - Almost done with many things...thus video games!
A week from tomorrow, I think I'm officially done with all schoolwork for my Master's. The only catch is I have to get a B- on one of my finals or I won't graduate. Uh...I'd better f'ing study. (I personally think needing to reach a certain grade on a sit-in, closed-book final at the grad level is stupid, but that rant is for another time.)
Today, though, I'm finishing up the last volume of B't X (16). And instead of getting my butt in gear, I'm fantasizing about being done with schoolwork next week. At which point I will run (not walk) to the video game store and reward myself with this:
I've always loved hot boys on mounted units, but now they can gallop through LINES of guys, PLOWING through them not unlike a, well, plow? My heart is getting all warm at the thought of that. And they say it's for hardcore strategy players only. Ho ho! This is the kind of crazy crap I live for. Well, this and Japanese girl's dating sims.
I'll, uh, do a post of substance soon. Sorry for the black-out.
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February 20th, 2008
08:20 am - Birthday geek-out!
I've had a pretty insane run these past few weeks. Going back to school has been time-consuming and a significant drain on my finances, so now I'm really busy AND poor, and I can't take on more work to make myself less poor because I have to dedicate my extra time to school. It's the student poverty paradox!
Anyway, my birthday was a few weeks ago, and the party was one of the best I've ever had. There was a big turnout, excessive food, a blast at karaoke (which is a million times less lame if you do it in a closed room with friends in Little Korea), mini cheesecakes, and then a nighttime geek-out where we watched the obscure girl anime most people are usually too afraid to try with me. I also got some great unexpected presents, including 1-Up slippers and the best girl geek gift basket in the history of mankind:
You can't see everything in there, but it was a selection of sweet-smelling soaps and creams, shiny pencils and erasers, notebooks, candles, candy, etc., and then romance novels, shoujo manga, pretty dice, and even some yaoi in the back. For the adult girl geek in your family! It blew my mind. I'm still making my way through all the stuff in there.
I finished up two Tokyopop scripts and more DMP work since I last posted, but there's not much to say about it (and in some cases, I CAN'T really talk about it...make your license announcements, Tokyopop!). Now I need two weeks of nothing but school, and then I go back to the balance between school and job. Fun!
Oh, but I did save a little birthday money to buy a new video game, and I haven't gotten around to shopping for it yet, so does anyone have any suggestions? I'm thinking of something for the DS and/or GameBoy Advance, since I just blew through my last game combo (Diner Dash DS and Advance Wars Advance). I was thinking of looking for a Wii or PS2 game instead...but honestly, I just play the DS more. I love the crazy games they release for it.
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January 15th, 2008
09:43 am - Rave 29 + 30/life
I finished the second of two back-to-back Rave Master volumes at 2 am last night (this morning?). I was really, really happy with them. And not with my work on them specifically--I mean I was happy with the original material in both. My feelings on Rave fluctuate wildly, and for every moment it has me laughing out loud and humming at romantic bits it has moments that make me slam my head into the table. It's just not...consistent. A problem when a series is 35 volumes long and started with the mangaka was 21 years old, obviously, but that doesn't make it any easier for me when I have to plow through hundreds of pages of material I don't really like.
But that's all changed. I can tell the end of the series is near, because in Volume 28 some big plot points kick in, and Volume 29 and 30 explore them in fantastically fun and clever ways. I admit that I wasn't sure Hiro Mashima could pull off convincing time travel stuff when he first introduced it ages ago, but he's far exceeded my expectations--the time-stream stuff in Rave has become totally, totally awesome. And it's so funny! Sieg Hart was this character I was always on the fence about, but he started becoming appealing during his giant smackfest in Volumes 21-22, and now he's become this great straight man/stoic bishounen/wizard nerd character who's a FANTASTIC foil for Haru and Elie. Not to spoil too much for Rave fans, but the three of them eventually do a bit of time traveling. And Sieg trying to explain chaos theory and time paradoxes and the ripple effect while Haru and Elie (who are extremely dense) skip through alternative time periods and mess shit up is really, really funny. I think the art's improved a bit, too. Maybe it's just that Hiro Mashima gets to focus on new, cooler settings now and the characters with the better designs, but Volume 30 was filled with hilariously awesome (and subtle) facial expressions, legions of knights in cool armor, overgrown game trails and crumbling palace walls, etc. I loved it. Ah, I'm so happy.
After taking a dip for about a month through the holidays, I think my health is finally on the mend, and it's improved my outlook on life substantially. Now I know how Becca felt when she was feeling better with her own injury and then suddenly had a relapse. It's one of the most depressing things you can imagine. It's like...getting beaten up in a scary manner, finally getting over the trauma, and then suddenly getting beaten up again after you've convinced yourself "you can get over this...it's never going to happen again." Even the specialist doctor was confused with me. He didn't know why I felt as awful as I did when I've never been in an accident, and possibly having neck problems in my youth, when a person's body is usually strong enough to heal all sorts of crazy crap, made him suspicious of my neck problems being really insidious. So! Once the relapse caused by my two-week cold and flu petered out, he threw drugs at me, my therapist has new exercises, I'm getting massages soon, my sleep is straightening out, and I've gotten into the good habit of walking a substantial amount every day (mild exercise that helps keep my muscles fluid without really straining them). I'm hopeful, but more than anything, for now at least I feel pretty good, which means I can actually be happy, and that means I can live my life and look forward to tomorrow. God, the world looks so different when you're feeling better.
Now: to deal with my new (and hopefully last) semester as a grad student, my tutoring job, and a bunch more manga rewrites. Tactics 6 is on the program next. Yosh! That's a fun one, since I get to take liberties. Considering I work on Fruits Basket, that's not a phrase I can often utter these days.
Current Music: Expressing Yourself (Clone High)
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December 19th, 2007
07:11 am - Come home, kitty cat!
I was in a bad mood this morning--I've been sick for about two weeks now--so I started writing a really gloomy post. But then I remembered that the tenth volume of The Young Magician comes out today, so I re-read Volume 9, perked right up, and erased that post. Manga makes my life better. Word of advice, though--never read The Young Magician and then take a nap. Those are some of the craziest dreams I've ever had in my life. Here's hoping Volume 10 is as awesome as all the previous volumes--which equates to SUPER AWESOME.
Anyway, other than some school blues and my perpetually bad health, things have been pretty quiet around here lately. I did some uncredited work for DMP recently, and I may do more in the future...I've been in talks with them for a while, since one of the bosses over there worked with me on the Sailor Moon novels at Tokyopop way, way back in the day. Small world, seriously. I got a new book from Tokyopop to work on, but I don't know if it's been announced yet, so I'll talk about it later. (It's only one volume, though--nothing too exciting.) I'm working on several volumes of Rave Master now, but I just got off a volume of Fruits Basket, and it made me feel ranty, so I may finally do a Fruits Basket rant on here. Something that won't get me fired, hopefully. I realized today that I haven't updated my personal webpage in almost a year, so I'd better do that soon. And if my body stops hating me, I want to update Sleep is for the Weak before I go home to my parent's house for the holidays this week. Dunno yet.
Oh, and very sad news--one of my cats has been missing from my parent's house for a week and a half. For those who know me, it's Reese's--the stupid but totally fluffy white cat. We've all been having nightmares over it. Who do I contact about a runaway pet? The humane society? She had no collar, and most of the neighbors know she's ours, so my guess is she was picked up by some local organization. Or...died doing something stupid. *sniff* Dammit, Reese's. I love you, you stupid cat. Please just have gotten lost since you're so stupid and find your way home. I may put up signs when I go home for X-Mas. And Nancy...I may end up taking that extra kitten off your hands if we can't find Reese's. I don't think my house would be quite crazy enough with only eight human inhabitants and one cat. (For the holidays, ten inhabitants! That may be a new record for us.) But I hope I can find my old cat so I don't have to replace her. ;_; Reese's, come hooooome.
Current Mood: missing my cat
Current Music: Baby Come Back
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October 16th, 2007
04:46 pm - As a scientist, I weep on this day.
For any of you who haven't seen me in real life over the past two weeks (or heard me screaming obscenities from within a five mile radius), I had a really, really crappy decision to make regarding my Master's thesis recently. A 3-credit scientific thesis usually requires 90 hours of lab work or so, then you write it up, present it somewhere (in my case, in front of a panel of professors), and maybe publish. My Master's thesis was supposed to be finished last May, and was the absolute last thing I needed to do before getting my Master's degree. When our experiment failed in the 11th hour, I was told I'd have to stay for 4-6 weeks of the summer to redo it. When our instruments screwed up in the 11th hour of the summer attempts, I was told to come back in the fall. When I came back in the fall, fixed the instruments, and found that the summer attempts had ALSO failed, I was told to come back for 6-8 straight weeks and redo the experiment again while simultaneously processing back data so I could find out went wrong the first two times. Oh, and since I live in Canada now, that would mean moving back in with my parents for those 6-8 straight weeks while my life went on without me in Canada.
Um, YEAH.
My advisor offered me an out: take a grade of C- for the 150 hours of lab work I'd already put in, which wasn't an F, but was still too low a grade for my department to accept. I'd have to take another grad course to make up for those credits AND I'd have to take the comprehensive exams, which non-thesis students take to graduate. In other words, all that lab work I did would pretty much go down the toilet credit-wise, and my graduation wouldn't happen until May of 2008--and not until after I'd spent more money.
I'm not sure I've ever had to make a worse decision in my life. Every time I thought about it, I ended up screaming at whoever was nearest, and my stress headaches/nausea of last year came back. My neck problems and a new thread of carpal or something in my right arm (which has hurt constantly for the past two weeks) flared up worse than ever. I had trouble sleeping, eating, or doing anything other than constantly ruminating over which option was worse for me.
So, based on the fact that I'm not really healthy yet and just THINKING about the thesis for a few weeks made my health problems return, I took the C- option. *sigh* It sucks, because there's nothing more frustrating than watching an experiment you've battled for a calendar year go up in smoke...but I'm not repeating last semester. I was so sick that for a while I thought I had a terminal disease or something. I found myself wondering if my thesis was literally killing me.
But it can't if I kill it first. R.I.P., exploration of the mRNA half-life of the ER-alpha in estrogen-treated breast cancer cells. I'm sorry, but I tried.
I really, really tried.
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September 20th, 2007
06:01 pm - Sleep is for the Weak/sweet geeking
We finally updated Sleep is for the Weak with new content and a new layout. It's going to take a while to convert all the old files into the new format, but I'm chipping away at it just about every day (hence reviews and stuff are popping up in the new format completely arbitrarily). Now we're having updates every Sunday night, too. AND THEY SAID IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN! Ha ha! I laugh at all of you who said the new format would never come! Unless...wait a minute, that was me.
(Anyway, thank you, Cat/Amethist for the design. *smooch* We're having trouble accessing your Review template, so we may have to do one differently from the one you designed...but the main design of the site went up with very few problems. And I love it! The screaming Luffy was a nice addition. If you see anything I screwed up on said new layout that you want to fix before I irrepairably damage your reputation as a designer, you can let me know when you come to visit in October. ^_^)
I'm in the lab right now, and it's been an extremely frustrating day (SOMEBODY PLEASE SET FIRE TO ALL SCIENCE), so I'm going to geek out a bit in order to calm down. It's Ramadan, so murderous feelings are even more discouraged than usual.
1.) The new Fire Emblem comes out in, like, 6 weeks. OH, BOY! I've been replaying the last Fire Emblem (which is a prequel to the upcoming Fire Emblem) so I'll remember the story when the new one comes out. OH YES, I'M READY. *nerd alert noise*
2.) Speaking of the Wii, the virtual console is my new obsession. I downloaded and beat one of my favorite games of all time--Wonder Boy in Monster World for the Sega Genesis--in about 3 days. Now I'm replaying another old favorite, Shining in the Darkness for Sega Genesis, with the aid of online maps. It's a million times easier to play it with GameFAQ than it was to draw my own maps and puzzle through vague in-game hints when I first played the game at age 13. Also, this time around I don't cry when my party dies.
3.) INVU Volume 4 came out! HOLY GOD! And you know, it was almost worth the 4-year wait. I've never seen so much of the awesomeness of shoujo crammed so efficiently into 175 pages. It's got dates that end with a pie in the face, kissing someone you love/hate while soaked in a river at night, boys rescuing girls from evil men but only after the girls have already fought back as much as possible, the awkwardness of your crush finding out you draw yaoi manga about him, and so much more. Oh my God, I nearly died from the Girly Awesomeness. Becca felt the same--after reading it, she spent the entire next day at work whistling and smiling girlishly. If you know Becca at all, you know how weird a sight that is.
4.) Also, I still like/play dating sims more than is healthy. And now that Japan has a mothering sim out--Dear My Sun, which can be seen here, the game where you raise your twin boys from age 2 to 18 while your husband is off on a mysterious journey--I'll do anything to get my hands on it. One of the demos had a scene that actually looked like a parent-teacher conference, where your 15-year-old son was like, "Mom, you're embarassing me in front of sensei!" I LOVE YOU, JAPAN. It's like they peeked inside my brain and made a game out of what they found.
5.) Emily's made me watch a lot of J-Dramas. So I've seen a lot of J-Dramas. And all it makes me want to do is watch more J-Dramas. *sigh* Do you hear that, Em? When I come back up, I want more J-Dramas. I've seen up through eps 4 of Hana Kimi and Hotaru no Hikari, so I want more of those, and I'll watch that con-man one you were talking about. I still like the Taiwanese Hana Kimi better, by the way...although I admit that the Japanese one gets better as it continues. But please tell me Nanba doesn't wear a bra again.
Now I have to go make an agarose gel so I can run my stupid PCR product in it. Nngh.
Geek out!
Current Music: In Over My Head by The Fray
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September 1st, 2007
06:56 am - Baby!
Ha ha ha! Look--it's me on livejournal, doing stuff!
Sorry for the three-month break between this post and the last post. Lovely stuff has happened in the meantime:
1.) I moderated a panel at the Toronto Comic Arts festival, and got to meet/hang out with people including but not limited to: Paul Gravett, Svetlana Chmakova, Jason Thompson, Becky Cloonan, and Bryan Lee O'Malley. They're all substantially cooler than I am. It was a fine weekend. I just worked so hard I vomited at the end...but it had been a long week, and vomiting is my body's current way of saying, "All right, time for bed." It just happened right after the last of the work was done and right before the end-party, which was totally lame. Ah, well! I still picked up some great comics, prints, and a really soft TCAF tee-shirt.
2.) I got a new bachelorette pad with two friends. We painted the living room bubble gum pink, and I put up my ballet calendar next to my decidely trendy white eMac. The whole set-up is extremely girly. We also put our old pirate flag up on the wall, which sorta kills the whole atmosphere. But we couldn't really avoid doing it...among people I know, I think that flag is more popular than I am.
3.) I'm an auntie! My big brother had his first kid a few weeks ago. She's very pink and way cuter than I expected a newborn to be. She has a tiny baby head and a big baby butt. She also has my favorite baby feature--the wrist crease. Babies don't have wrists, they just have FOLDS IN THEIR CHUB. My God. *trembles* I want my own baby! But in the meantime, I love groping my brother's baby. He's already started continuing the family tradition of showing love through mild torture--she can't crawl yet, but he likes to put her on her belly and watch her struggle. Than he laughs, I think, until his wife takes the baby away.
I've also done a lot of work since my last post...Scrapped Princess novel 5, B't X 14, Fruits Basket 19, and Tactics 4. I also finished Rave Master 27 last night. I have a love/hate relationship with Rave Master, like I have a love/hate relationship with most series I work on (when you're staring at a single volume of a comic for hours and hours and hours, you see every tiny bit of gloriousness and every tiny, infuriating flaw), but I liked 27 a lot. It was full of Let of Julia, whom I absolutely love, and it was both very heroic and strangely romantic. Rave is one of the more romantic action shounen series I've ever read, which is always a pleasant surprise. It's even had kissing in it. What shounen has kissing, really?
Anyway--when push come to shove, Rave Master has Ruby, the wealthy magical penguin who wears a witch's hat. You can see him on the left in the pic above. No matter how I feel about each individual volume of Rave Master, I will always, always, love the fabulousness that is Ruby.
I'm going to post more often from now on. These hiatuses are getting silly.
Current Music: The Most Radical Thing To Do by The Ark
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May 29th, 2007
07:43 pm - Dating sims for girls.
I've been geeking out really hard lately, so I figured I'd write about it (yeah, like anyone cares!). One of these days I'm going to compile all my geeky posts into a collection of essays for Sleep is for the Weak, likely titled, "Rants about obscure Japanese media no one give's two sh*ts about." But if you can understand a little Japanese and like the girliest imports the motherland can offer, you might find something useful here.
So. Dating sims. Everyone knows what those are, right? Picture an anime-style RPG with (usually) no combat and one goal: get into somebody's pants. You start the game as an unassuming everyman/woman, meet a collection of hotties, and choose answers to questions in the hopes of getting one of them to like you. In the better dating sims, getting someone to like you is more complicated, as you can spend the time you're NOT chatting up the local singles population to improve yourself in some way (practice a sport, study a subject, learn how to dress, etc.) or discover better ways to individualize your flirting. For example: "Hey! I happened to read your diary and learn that you like fish, and I noticed in the local newsletter that a new aquarium is opening up, so do you want to go?" As long as s/he doesn't care that you read through his/her diary and isn't ashamed of the fish fetish, consider yourself laid.
Of course, generalizing about an entire genre of video games (as niche as it is) isn't exactly fair, so let me just say that not all dating sims are created equal. The most common, I think, are the ones for boys with boys chasing girls, followed by the ones for girls about boys chasing boys, and then the lonely little subset of games for girls about girls chasing boys. Some games are very innocent, some are unbelievably filthy. A good rule of thumb is to check your platform: if you're on a PS2, there's a good chance you're not going over PG-16 material, but if you're on a PC, there's a good chance you're going to see all the local hotties naked and, well, consummating the fact that s/he likes you more than a friend. If you're playing a doujinshi (fanmade) dating sim, especially one based off an existing franchise, I'm going to say there's a 1% you're not going to see sex. Thanks to one Death Note game I played, I can no longer look Light, L, or donuts in the face.
My favorite dating sims are the PS2 games about girls chasing boys. They're usually clean enough for the whole family and tap into some hidden desire deep in the souls of all girls. These are games about getting pretty boys to like you. It sounds stupid, it looks stupid, but the second you pick up that controller, you are a slave. Hiro-kun likes puppies? You will stay up all night, your eyes bleary, your Japanese-English dictionary open in front of you, surfing through imaginary e-mails to see when the damned pet store opens so you can buy a puppy and thus get Hiro to go to the Christmas dance with you. You will save before every date begins, just in case Hiro thinks that sweater you spent your hard-earned job money on is ugly--you will bend to his whim, starting over and switching the sweater with one of the exact same style but in a different color so Hiro will smile. And if you win, and Hiro confesses and possibly even gives you a little kiss, you will fall over in the pile of your own filth you've accumulated, bask in the sweet bliss that that hard-ass finally submitted to your carefully-calculated feminine wiles, and then press resent so you can start chasing Hiro's hot older brother. It is an addiction, and a bliss, truly like no other. It's very similar to the unrestrained desire for MORE many girls feel when they first start reading shoujo manga.
After borrowing my guy friend's Japanese PS2 90-odd times so I could defile it with these girly games, I'm finally investing in my own so it can accompany me on my move to Toronto. Thanks to the boys (yes, boys) of RIT and my eternal friend Cat, I was first introduced to Video Game Crack through Tokimeki Girl's Side:
You know you want to see.
The sad male model who leads the pack has a surprising sense of humor. The guy with long hair is a flirt, so one smile and he'll follow you to the depths of hell. The underclassman on roller blades will love you if no one else will. All in all, it's one of the finest girly games you can waste your life on.
After losing sleep/job opportunities thanks to that puppy, I dropped $70 to get its sequel:
Tokimeki Girl's Side 2nd Kiss.
True to its name, the boys will kiss you (potentially twice each!) in this one. The boys are less cool, but the gameplay is better. And kissing. KISSING. This is a very big deal to me. The game was worth every penny.
Now I have this one on order with my incoming Japanese PS2:
Yes, it's the same Ouran as the anime/manga.
How can I not buy an Ouran dating sim? Ouran had an entire episode making fun of how every character is right out of a dating sim. Now that fact is more true than ever.
My current dilemma is whether or not I tack another girl game to my order. Because look what I just found:
Orange Honey.
The fact that Jun Fukuyama sings the opening does not bode well in my mind, because getting a male seiyuu (no matter how talented) to sing your poorly-written opening song implies that you don't understand the fine line dating sims must straddle: awesomely pseudo-lame, and actually lame. Don't get me wrong--I love Jun Fukuyama, he's really talented, and he has the uncanny ability to not be ashamed of the most embarassing of roles. But he has the voice of a 12-year-old boy. And Akira Ishida voices the lead in this game, and I know how he likes to also pretend (poorly) that he's a 12-year-old boy. Does this mean the game is packed with limp-wristed sissies? I don't like limp-wristed sissies. They should stay in the worst of Boy's Love games, where they belong. However, the gameplay looks good, and those screenshots included some gratuitous hugging. Hm...I'm torn.
Anyway, once you play these games, you can't stop playing these games. And any addictions/habits you have with "normal" video games pass seamlessly into girl-gaming territory. Cheetoes? Check. Forget to go to work? Check. Trash-talk the game when you're losing? If you think you won't be screaming decidedly odd insults like "Just shut up and love me, you whiny little bitch!" you are sorely mistaken.
Girl dating sims--they're video game crack for the shoujo monster in us all. Also, somebody please help me, I can't stop.
EDIT: Never mind about Orange Honey. I looked more carefully, and both Takahiro Sakurai AND Junichi Suwabe are in it. Those guys melt my butter. Consider the game purchased. This almost ups the voice of Zoro (from One Piece) being in Tokimeki 2! Ah, I feel so much better.
But again, seriously--someone stop me.
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May 3rd, 2007
12:28 pm - Tactics 2/Rave 25/Fruits Basket 18/Wii/Still not dying
Updating the websites is one of those things that sounds so easy when I first say it. I swear, it's the infuriating little technical problems I have every step of the way that make me leave my computer in frustration and go out to cool off. And since my free time is really limited these days...it just keeps getting put off in favor of work. I SUCK. But I'll at least do Sleep is for the Weak this weekend, mark my words.
Anyway. The past few deadlines I've had have made me angst, for some reason--I'm still sick as hell, and school IS KILLING ME, so I haven't been able to dedicate the time and heart to my job the way I want to. I think Tactics 2 came out fine (I was inspired to do good work after all the good reviews of Volume 1), but Rave 25 would NEVER have gotten done if not for NotHayama's indescribable help, and Fruits Basket 18 is due really soon and I'm not nearly as deep into it as I should be. *sigh* But what I've done of Fruits Basket 18 is AWESOME, thankfully--the first chapter is one of the best chapters in Fruits Basket history, in my opinion. Sweet, clever, and really touching. Thank you! I was waiting for Yuki to come back into the plot, because I honestly think he's one of the best characters in that manga. I usually hate the angsty, perfect pretty boy archetype...but he's angry and polite about his angst, which is awesome. More of Yuki!
I got a Wii the other day, as luck would have it. TWO Wiis, actually--one for a friend's birthday, one to share with NotHayama. It was a stupid amount of money--can you believe a second controller with nunchuk is $60?!--but I'm having fun with it. It's REALLY good for a party, and since I took a doctor-ordered vacation these past few days, it was nice seeing my friends and playing virtual tennis against them.
In the best news I've gotten in months, a doctor found something wrong with me! My neck is all screwed up. It probably got messed up sometime when I was a teenager, since I haven't been able to tilt my head forward (think how you would tilt your head to read a book you're holding) for more than about 45 minutes without getting a headache for years. I always figured it was an inner-ear thing or something, and I just found ways around it (hence I do most of my reading, writing, and working on the computer, since it doesn't require I tilt my head). But this new doctor I went to said I have significant neck problems and they might be why my headaches won't go away. I'm seeing him again tomorrow, since he took several X-Rays last time. I may be able to get better! *glee* I'm now at about the 3-month mark for these migraines, and I'm sick of being in pain, dizzy, nauseated, and/or vomiting every day. EIGHTY DAYS OF THIS IS ENOUGH, THANK YOU. So here's hoping fixing my neck will be fixing my head and thus fixing my life. *crosses fingers*
I'm seeing Spider Man 3 at midnight tonight, then Ralph Nader (in person) at noon tomorrow. Two heroes in a row! Back to work so I can bask in their greatness.
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March 22nd, 2007
04:13 pm - Tactics 1
Awwwwwww, yeah.
http://animenewsnetwork.com/right-turn-only/2007-03-20
Scroll down to see the Tactics review. See what they say about my English script? Awwww, yeah.
Current Mood: Victory!
Current Music: Long Live the Weekend by The Living End
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March 17th, 2007
08:21 am - Not Dying/Slayers 8/Fruits Basket 17
I can't even tell you how happy I am to be alive right now. And it's almost entirely for that simple reason: I'm alive. I'm a pretty sickly person, but these last 6 weeks take the cake. And the schoolwork. And the deadlines. Sweet merciful God, the deadlines.
But everything important is done, and I still live, and none of the profs/editors hate me, and I'm feeling better, and I have three (woo, three!) doctor's appointments next week including an endoscopy in the hospital so maybe the health professionals who surround me can find out what's fundamentally wrong with my digestive track and perhaps fix me for the better. I can't even TELL you how happy I am that I'm getting tests done on me. Do tests on me! Please!
And guess what this week is? SPRING BREAAAAAK! If I drank, and wasn't sick, and actually thought such a thing were cool, I'd be having a martini made in my mouth right now.
Anyway, I hope the Slayers fans enjoy Volumes 7 & 8, because yeah, they pretty much destroyed me. No more "squeezing" two novels into my at-capacity schedule. *shudder* I like Slayers and all, but I'm also very happy that I'll never have to work on it again. When you have a series editorially dead for 18 months, and that's only AFTER it went through several different rewriters/associate editors/regular editors, and then all of a sudden I'm working on it with a single editor in a very limited time frame and I always swore to myself I wouldn't do the rewrite because it was too much work...well, yeah, it's basically several jobs in one and each of them is harder than the usual job (for example, checking proper names on a series you've worked on since the beginning and READING THROUGH SIX NOVELS PRINTED YEARS EARLIER to find proper names don't entail the same amount of work). But my editor and I really wanted this to be good for the fans, so we sacrificed our sanity to do as good a job as we could. I hope people like it. *crosses fingers*
It's so hard to work in prose these days. Policies have changed and all, but that's not even the big difference--it's that I have barely any time to work on each novel. I used to get a translation six months before the rewrite was due, and then I could submit notes and edits and even possibly do another "clean-up" rewrite during the editorial process. Now I have two-three months if I'm lucky (and I usually have to do the job over the course of a week or two), I have to be a hawk about more technicalities than I was ever expected to even know, and everything has to be in on the day of the deadline. Result? I can barely focus on the readability of the novel because the technical requirements and the tight timeframe take priority. I understand why these things happen, and it's definitely not because any of my editors are trying to be hard on me (they usually have even more to worry about in an even shorter amount of time than I do), but it still makes me sad. There are definitely periods of my life where I can focus enough attention on a novel that it can read well AND have all its technical stuff done by the deadline date. But these days? It's really, really hard to do more than two drafts of anything. I'd like to think that I've be rewriting long enough that the difference between two drafts and six drafts (yes, I used to do up to six drafts of a novel) is so subtle that no one will really notice, but still. It makes me sad. *sniff* Such is life.
Anyway, enough of my prose blues. I did Fruits Basket 17 this week, and it was insane. All Akito, all insane. And it had sex in it! No, no sex in my work! *weeps* I can't handle sex in my work. I specifically take series with little to no sex, but every once in a while it rears its ugly head...there was a scene with *ahem* "a hand being where it shouldn't be" in Saiyuki Reload 1, and there were a few dialogue bubbles of people making appropriate noises, and I almost had a heart attack. Since my favorite voiced sound effects are "nngh" and "nn" (for people waking up, crying, etc.), that's all the people in that scene got. "Nn." And they should be thankful!
Anyway, I'm going to try and get my damned website up again and update Sleep is for the Weak. I'll post again when they're done. I can't believe I have time to do that stuff now! Yay!
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February 9th, 2007
06:05 pm - Slayers 7/B't X 13/Shoujo
I don't know if I've ever gone so long with so little sleep as I just did the last two weeks. When I was finishing up my bigger deadline, I slept a total of 15 hours over five consecutive nights. Take that, body! In other news, I broke out in cold sores and spent Tuesday night vomiting.
I'm still having extremely strange hosting/FTP problems with my site at liannesentar.com, so I'm not sure when I can post the update I did for it several weeks ago. (Grr!) In the meantime, I guess I can announce something--Tokyopop bought the rights to Volumes 7 and 8 of the Slayers novel series, and they're mine. I was the associate editor on Volumes 4-6, but now I'm doing the English Adaptation. Yay! Ow! It's so much work! *dies* Anyway, I finished Volume 7 last week, and I have Volume 8 due in a month, so there's no better time than now to prove that Sleep is for the Weak.
I also finished the script for B't X 13 the other day. I don't know if anyone I know actually reads that series, but Volume 13 kicked a surprising amount of butt. Two super geniuses, one good and one evil, out-mathing each other to the death! I kid you not. Also--Teppei punched some philosopher in the face when said philosopher said brotherly love is lame. Classic. Oh, yeah, my new translator on that series is awesome--I wish I could remember her name, but she's on my lj friends list. Tsuzuki_love? I can't remember her real name. You can find her here. She even puts in cultural notes for stuff like math equations and religious philosophy and computer lingo! She's awesome. I used to do those sorts of double-checks myself (because all my editors are way, way too busy), but now that I'm writing manga scripts in 3 days and novel scripts in 8, I don't have time to do much beyond check my spelling. That's why I love Tsuzuki_love. She may love Tsuzuki, but I love her.
Also, awesome manga has practically been falling out of the sky lately. We have a bunch of mini reviews coming up for Sleep is for the Weak soon, but here are a few run-downs I won't cover there:
1.) After School Nightmare combines sexual psychology with some guy dressed like a knight stabbing people in their dreams. It's CRAAAAZY. I like it, because I like my shoujo crazy. Don't read it if you're young.
2.) Speaking of crazy, the new Gravitation volume (Gravitation EX) just came out, and it's absolute CRACK. Who said it sucked? Whoever said that, in actuality, is the one who sucks. This is an awesome Tokyopop production filled with the non-stop insanity that made Gravitation hilarious. If you want plot, go elsewhere. If you want character development in-between boys making out and trying to blow each other up with rocket launchers, go here. Also not for the young...or sane.
3.) DAMN YOU, CIPHER! VOLUMES 4-6 ALL MADE ME CRY! STOP MAKING ME CRY! Not for those who hate crying over media.
And...yeah, I'll stop now. Sorry for the manic post--no sleep and deadlines make Lianne something something.
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January 18th, 2007
03:31 pm - Sleep is for the Weak/Skygarden/One Piece
I fixed, updated, and relaunched Sleep is for the Weak these past few days, and that relaunch comes complete with a new review from Bad Jew. The site will be be relaunched again soon in a new blog format, because oh my God the site looks like crap. That is entirely my fault. I don't have, nor have I ever had, much luck with html. I also hate it with an unbridled, burning hatred. When the blog format goes up, I'll be forced to face my malice for html less often.
I'll also fix the last few bugs on liannesentar.com and relaunch it within the next few days. Why are all my sites down all of a sudden? *punches internet*
Also, I know Becca mentioned this recently, but I must agree that getting back into One Piece was one of the best decisions I've made lately.
One Piece combines everything you wanted as a kid and everything you learned as an adult into the most fulfilling adventure you never knew you wanted. If I had a pirate ship, I'd sure as hell want it in the sky. If there was a sea train with no brakes slicing through a typhoon, you bet your ass I'd be on the roof screaming my head off in the rain. One Piece makes the world what it should be--endlessly exciting. It rivals Miyazaki in its scope. And despite the characters looking kinda like monsters, I still find them more attractive than the slickest of bishounen. One Piece has EVERYTHING. Well, except kissing...but I'm still holding out for that. Mark my words, someone's getting some at some point!
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December 15th, 2006
08:38 am - Scrapped Princess 3/Fruits Basket 15/Saiyuki Reload 7/etc.
After going almost two weeks over deadline due to a conglomerate of strange and very bad events (and some good old-fashioned lateness, lack of time, and last-minute edits/notes), I'm finished with the adaptation of Scrapped Princess Novel #3. I'm pleased to say that the book was surprisingly awesome, particularly since its contents made the two worst episodes of the anime; the material was better-suited to a full-length novel format, I think, and the fights and sibling love were WAY better in book version. I think Ichiro Sakaki is getting better with every volume. Consider me pleased/relieved.
Also, my first volume of Fruits Basket came out--the famous Volume #15. Why famous, you say? Maybe you heard about the 2 million books thing. Ah, what a great time to jump on-board. I was very lucky in this case. Well...I'm usually pretty lucky, it's just been a very bad month and this piece of news reminded me that I shouldn't forget how blessed I am.
Next up: Saiyuki Reload 7, which I have about 3 days to adapt (don't ask--I've already described all the bad). Saiyuki fans, you will be feeling the crazy with this volume. Reload 7 has what the fans have been waiting for ever since they learned that Hakkai is a youkai. Well...what they've been waiting for other than a Gojyo/Hakkai kiss. Read it, read it, read it.
My knees hurt so badly right now that I don't have the strength to do my homework. Instead? Media suggestions!
Music:
Beating Heart Baby by Head Automatica: Why is this swiftly becoming one of my favorite love songs? Maybe it's the catchy beat, the crazy singer, and the simple but perfect lyrics. It also makes me dance, even while sitting.
Loud as War by Maxen: I love you, Maxeen. I heard your new CD was bad, but this is the only song I've heard and I love it to pieces. I believe in you, Maxeen. (But your song for Superman did indeed suck, I'm afraid.)
Te wo Tsunaide by Younha (I think): I love the vocals on this one, and the song itself is high-quality J-POP. How often does one get high-quality J-POP, really? It was also the ending theme to Jyu-Ou-Sei, a show whose opening and ending themes were more creative than the show itself.
Manga:
The Young Magician by Yuri Narushima: This manga kicks ass, and I'm not sure how to explain why. Is it Narushima's deliciously original storytelling? Her cool paneling? Her extremely likable leads (even though one of them is a psychopath)? It's definitely a tough read, and I won't claim that the manga is without flaw, but there's something so compelling and emotional to this manga that I can't put it down. And an added surprise--everyone I lend it to falls in love with it! And that includes the very discerning NotHayama, who says "Whenever I watch Tactics, I wish it were The Young Magician." Aw...poor Tactics. But she's right. *is fired*
Skip Beat by Yoshiki Nakamura: The angriest shoujo you'll ever read. The main character doesn't accomplish things through the power of love: she uses pure, cleansing hatred to make the world around her a more just place. This isn't as spectacularly awesome as Tokyo Crazy Paradise (by the same mangaka), but it's still hilarious and surprisingly insightful. And what a treat to see accountability in shoujo! Also--although this is very subjective--I can't get enough of the extremely hot men. Especially Ren. God almighty.
Books:
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner: I know, old news. But seriously--this book is one of the most mind-blowing things you'll ever read. It provides further proof to a hypothesis of mine: that economists are best-suited to answering the biggest questions of our world. Hm...I guess West Wing figured that out with President Bartlett.
An Incomplete Education by Judy Jones and William Wilson: Read this book; it'll make you smarter.
Okay...now I should get back to work or go to bed. Probably work, since sleep is for the weak.
Current Mood: sore
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