Woot! The blog is celebrating its 2^nd year anniversary today, Friday the 13^th.      13 is an eerie number don’t you think? Who knows, I might actually be a ghost blogger. In the years to come a legend will be told about a ghost blogger named shinji who roams the anime blogosphere in search for his lost blog. Now there’s a good plot lol. Anyway, ghost or not, I’d like to thank all the commentors and visitors of this blog for the support. Once again, the blog has stayed true to its vision of being a happy-go-lucky-anything-goes-anime-blog. So expect more lazy blogging from me hehe. Kidding aside, minna-san arigatou gozaimasu!

This is a response to Manga’s challenge which is simply to tell 8 facts about yourself. It doesn’t take a deep self-reflection to point out some peculiar things about one’s self but I got to tell something more than my declared adoration for Kintaro Oe’s perversion intelligence. I told Manga this seems to be a fun exercise and it surely is, it’s like introducing yourself to a new pen pal or filling up a slum book. So without further ado, here goes my 8 short facts:

1.       I started wearing eyeglasses about 10 years ago and my nearsightedness gets worse every year. So just look at Itoshiki sensei minus the spikes and that rope around his neck, and you’ll get an idea.

2.       I work for a bank; not the coolest and highest paying job out there but it helps me live by comfortably. I find it odd that my office buddies and I never get tired of discussing Naruto during lunch breaks and how cool his rasen shuriken was. My boss will soon realize he hired a bunch of otakus.

3.       I suck at basketball but I play ping pong pretty well.

4.       My most favorite Japanese and Korean movies are: Tada Kimi Wo Aisheteru and Il Mare, respectively.

5.       I love Magic the Gathering card game. I still play with my old goblin deck with my friends and cousins.

6.       I’d like to learn photography, Macro photo in particular. I’m trying to save up for the proper lens which is quite expensive the last time I checked.

7.       I rarely read novels but I love Paulo Coehlo and Haruki Murakami’s works. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is so far the best book I’ve read.

8.       I’m a lazy blogger.

I know I’ve been slacking off  but what can I do, the Christmas season makes you lazy. Well I just dropped by (my own blog) to greet everyone an advance Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. There are a lot of things to be thankful about and this is a good time to stop and look back. Just be patient, I’m sure that dream of yours will come true. Santa here will knock on your door!

As a Christmas treat, I’ll be watching the notorious Clannad this vacation and to spice things up some To Love-Ru. That would keep me awake till “Noche Buena.” I don’t think I’d post reviews any time soon, I’m still busy playing with my new DSLR. Too bad I don’t have figures to practice with. Again, Merry Christmas to all and see you around.

I woke up one morning and it hit me: “Oh, right, I still have an anime blog.. lemme see what’s the url again..?” heheh. After my not so exciting official trip, I had to go back to my hometown, consult with my doctor, settle stuff with my landlady, and deal with excessive amount of work at my office.

I miss this blog and also those blogs on your right. I hope I can visit them one of these days. To freshen things up I decided to change how my blog looks. I realized that this theme is no beginner’s template, I had to fix most of the features manually. It’s alright though, It’s always good to learn new things and I really like the clean look of this theme.

I actually don’t know how to start, what to write about. There are loads of new anime out there but I don’t have any clue about them. Yeah, I promise to write about a Visual Novel I’ve been reading which until now is sleeping in my harddrive. I’ll get to that as soon as I regain my writing mood. For now, let me just share this lovely story from my favorite author, Haruki Murakami:

On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning

One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo’s fashionable Harujuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl.

Tell you the truth, she’s not that good-looking. She doesn’t stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. She isn’t young, either – must be near thirty, not even close to a “girl,” properly speaking. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She’s the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there’s a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert.

Maybe you have your own particular favorite type of girl – one with slim ankles, say, or big eyes, or graceful fingers, or you’re drawn for no good reason to girls who take their time with every meal. I have my own preferences, of course. Sometimes in a restaurant I’ll catch myself staring at the girl at the next table to mine because I like the shape of her nose.

But no one can insist that his 100% perfect girl correspond to some preconceived type. Much as I like noses, I can’t recall the shape of hers – or even if she had one. All I can remember for sure is that she was no great beauty. It’s weird.

“Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% girl,” I tell someone.

“Yeah?” he says. “Good-looking?”

“Not really.”

“Your favorite type, then?”

“I don’t know. I can’t seem to remember anything about her – the shape of her eyes or the size of her breasts.”

“Strange.”

“Yeah. Strange.”

“So anyhow,” he says, already bored, “what did you do? Talk to her? Follow her?”

“Nah. Just passed her on the street.”

She’s walking east to west, and I west to east. It’s a really nice April morning.

Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and – what I’d really like to do – explain to her the complexities of fate that have led to our passing each other on a side street in Harajuku on a beautiful April morning in 1981. This was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets, like an antique clock build when peace filled the world.

After talking, we’d have lunch somewhere, maybe see a Woody Allen movie, stop by a hotel bar for cocktails. With any kind of luck, we might end up in bed.

Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart.

Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen yards.

How can I approach her? What should I say?

“Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?”

Ridiculous. I’d sound like an insurance salesman.

“Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an all-night cleaners in the neighborhood?”

No, this is just as ridiculous. I’m not carrying any laundry, for one thing. Who’s going to buy a line like that?

Maybe the simple truth would do. “Good morning. You are the 100% perfect girl for me.”

No, she wouldn’t believe it. Or even if she did, she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say, I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but you’re not the 100% boy for me. It could happen. And if I found myself in that situation, I’d probably go to pieces. I’d never recover from the shock. I’m thirty-two, and that’s what growing older is all about.

We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses. I can’t bring myself to speak to her. She wears a white sweater, and in her right hand she holds a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: She’s written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes. The envelope could contain every secret she’s ever had.

I take a few more strides and turn: She’s lost in the crowd.

Now, of course, I know exactly what I should have said to her. It would have been a long speech, though, far too long for me to have delivered it properly. The ideas I come up with are never very practical.

Oh, well. It would have started “Once upon a time” and ended “A sad story, don’t you think?”

Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And that miracle actually happened.

One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street.

“This is amazing,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you’re the 100% perfect girl for me.”

“And you,” she said to him, “are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I’d pictured you in every detail. It’s like a dream.”

They sat on a park bench, held hands, and told each other their stories hour after hour. They were not lonely anymore. They had found and been found by their 100% perfect other. What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by your 100% perfect other. It’s a miracle, a cosmic miracle.

As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts: Was it really all right for one’s dreams to come true so easily?

And so, when there came a momentary lull in their conversation, the boy said to the girl, “Let’s test ourselves – just once. If we really are each other’s 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, and we know that we are the 100% perfect ones, we’ll marry then and there. What do you think?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is exactly what we should do.”

And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west.

The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never have undertaken it, because they really and truly were each other’s 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met. But it was impossible for them to know this, young as they were. The cold, indifferent waves of fate proceeded to toss them unmercifully.

One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season’s terrible influenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence’s piggy bank.

They were two bright, determined young people, however, and through their unremitting efforts they were able to acquire once again the knowledge and feeling that qualified them to return as full-fledged members of society. Heaven be praised, they became truly upstanding citizens who knew how to transfer from one subway line to another, who were fully capable of sending a special-delivery letter at the post office. Indeed, they even experienced love again, sometimes as much as 75% or even 85% love.

Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty.

One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew:

She is the 100% perfect girl for me.

He is the 100% perfect boy for me.

But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fourteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever.

A sad story, don’t you think?

Yes, that’s it, that is what I should have said to her.

I just ran out of anime and manga to review and I don’t want to blog about my work or life, that’s just too boring.

While everybody’s enjoying some new season anime, here I am stuck with work. Well I’ve been swamped with a lot of non-anime stuff lately (work, health, etc) and I hope I can catch up soon. I’m supposed to finish Trinity Blood this week but end up rewatching Ranma ½ episodes instead. It may be weird but Ranma ½ never fails to amuse me especially Happosai who I consider a true master of the martial arts.^^ It’s just one of those anime I never get tired of watching over and over. I also started reading a translated visual novel which I find really interesting. I’ll definitely write something about it when I’m done.

I’m leaving for Vietnam for a seminar. So I guess that’s another excuse for not blogging hehe. I don’t know if there are otaku stuff there but I hope I can still buy some nice souvenirs. See ya.

Today 13 March 2008 marks the 1^st year anniversary of hisashiburi, so I’m giving out free figures!! Just kidding hehe. While the number 13 is quite an unlucky date to celebrate an anniversary, good things actually happened on this blog in its 1 year of existence. There are a lot of things I cherish on this experience but the most important thing for me would be those good anime bloggers that I’ve met along the way. They’ve given me good insights on anime and other stuff and cared to share their thoughts on this blog. More than good bloggers, to me they are good friends. And to all other visitors I thank you as well.

Inspired by many anime bloggers, I started the blog early in March on Blogger under the blog name “Manga Onigiri” which turned into “Evil Onigiri”. After a while I moved to a wordpress platform (on Blogates) which I found more user/commentator friendly. I took a vacation in May till September. When I came back my blog got deleted by Blogates so I resurrected it on WP.com and rebuild most of what I’ve written. Then finally I got a free hosting from Dasaku.net which allowed me to play around with themes and css hehe.

I think I’m still keeping up with the objectives of this blog, which is simply to write about anime I’ve watched, mangas I’ve read, and all other otaku stuff I enjoyed doing. I never really planned to write deep analysis on anime, make episode summaries or track the latest anime; that would be too much for my busy schedule. I guess the biggest thing that happened on this blog was Project SVN which surprisingly received positive responses. To those who commented and who emailed me and those who wrote reviews, let me thank you again. You all inspire me to do more of such projects, but that would have to wait for now ^^.

Let’s cut the drama and have some of that cake! ^^

I feel lazy and tired this past few days so let me just share with you this cute video. Those kids are so adorable especially the second one. Enjoy!^^

1. Ponyo on a Cliff: Another film from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki this year. The movie is about a goldfish princess named Ponyo who desperately wants to be a human. In pursuing her goal, she befriends a five-year-old human boy, Sosuke (wikipedia). Knowing it’s from Ghibli and Miyazaki, I’d expect that this will be good. The story might go in the line of Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro – simple but with much deeper plot, consistent characters, and good story development. I always feel that Ghibli’s usual watercolor-like animation adds nostalgia and a general feeling of happiness to the whole film. I don’t know why but I always feel happy after watching a Ghibli film regardless of the story/plot.

 2. Persona -Trinity Soul- : This anime takes place 10 years after the events in the PS2 game Persona 3. High school student Shin Kanzato with his little brother Jun, meet with their elder brother Ryō, who is the chief of the Ayanagi City Police, again after ten years. At that time, a series of strange incidents happen in Ayanagi City such as the crew of a submarine that suddenly disappears while in their submarine, or a spiritless symptom which disturbs the world after ten years, or the case of the inside out corpse where a student took on a cruel appearance. Ryō tracks down the organization behind the string of incidents, and having become involved in the incidents, Shin awakens the “Persona”. (wikipedia)

I’m currently playing the PS2 game and like it a lot. The act of shooting one’s head to summon a persona is kinda silly but the characters look cool while doing it. Looking at the promo images and trailer, it seems that the characters in the PS2 game are better looking than in this anime. I just hope they can keep the plot interesting.

 3. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 2: The sequel to the misadventures of Mr. Despair. Two more episodes and I’m done with season 1. I love this anime, it’s weird and uniquely entertaining. The series is more than your usual anime highschool flick as it focuses more on the eccentric beliefs of the characters rather than presenting a straightforward plot. I definitely look forward to the next season.

 4. Honey and Clover Live Action (TV Drama): Finally a TV series which might be better than the Movie which was very disappointing. I guess it was really hard to digest all the Honey and Clover story in 2-3 hours. I hope that TV Drama will capture the great and important parts of the anime. I don’t know much about the celebrities who will play the roles but I hope they’ll retain the one who plays Hagu coz she really looks like Hagu and she’s cute^^

Well that’s my list for now, I hope I’ll encounter some more good shows along the way.^^

I’m doing this early Christmas greeting cuz I’ll be traveling to my hometown on the 21^st. I don’t have internet access there so I won’t be around until the 26^th or the 30^th at the latest. I guess I’ll just build some pepakura to kill some time ^^. So now let me thank from the bottom of my heart all the good people who have graced this blog with their wonderful comments (Coeli, AS, super rats, Setsuna-san, Lanie-emon, Tokidoki and BigN) and all others who spared some time to visit here. You guys are the best, Arigatou gosaimas!

Let me wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too! I’m now giving you the Christmas star above from the cast of Lucky Star courtesy of Ash-Hikari.

Yours truly,

Shinji ^_^

Sora no sukima ni kumo no yukue ni himawari mawaru
Hanabi no youri hanabira chireba kimi wa kakure
Tameiki shite kuchi wo tsuita serifu wa
Dame sa… uso sa… yume sa…

Youkoso natsu no hi
Nakushita natsu no e
Demo…
Mou ichido egakou
Hagareteru san shawaa

The sunflower pins between the skies and the direction of the clouds
When the petals fall off like fireworks, you’ll hide
And while saying…
“it’s no good… it’s a lie… it’s a dream…”

Welcome to the summer days
The picture of summer was lost
But…
Let’s draw it again.
The missing sun shower.

If I could only learn how to extract the audio track from the video then the effect would be complete. ^_^