Hopeful Monster & Implicate Order

Ghost Hound (神霊狩) is really one of the best anime series I have encountered this past year. Granted, sometimes I would need to watch an episode a few times to actually understand the context. But the psychology in the show is very much intriguing. (I can barely understand the biology/science terms though...)

I still remember when I first started watching the first episode, it was late afternoon and I had been plugged in with a headphone, and gravely regretted doing it. I'm not quite sure if I should compliment I.G. Productions for the unnervingly scary sound effects they use. I had to stop and take out my headphones 2 minutes into the episode. (but then again, I'm pretty much an easily scared person.)

The three main characters are all so lovable; Taro (SHOTA, this character reeks of SHOTA), Masayuki (his deviousness makes his smirks so amazing.) and Makoto (your typical badass character who has the bad family and dark past, but you gotta admit that he's pretty ahead of his age for a middle schooler.)

Episode 16 & 17 was just as good as the past episodes, and I come to share some fangirling. =D

Makoto cries manly tears!!! ='(

And here we see how Taro eats sushi in a very Taro fashion:

1. *Stuff*

2. Covers mouth like a good mannered son of the head family like he is.

3. And then proceeds to talk with his mouth full. XD

The Snark is Ishida Naoto Kaebara!!!

I have no idea why I find this expression amazingly cute.

Michio blushing like a school girl. 

Aww! Miyako! It's ok! Don't cry!!! 

(this scene makes me want to cry too...)

That aside, our doujinshi circle are having another art meet this weekend. I'm completely ready for 48 straight hours of drawing!!! I haven't exactly been meeting my own deadlines for the doujinshi, screen toning is just at around 50%, and to add to that I need to draw some designs for the pins we'll be selling and a little piece for part of the front cover of our doujin. So much to do...

Art Rambles

I've done a lot of exploration of my manga drawings since I started college. I look back at the doodles I saved up since last September and realized just how coming here has released me of my inhibitions to draw certain things. And all of this is to blame on Anime Club. (40% excuse, 60% truth) Meeting talented artists in Anime Club has really motivated me to improve, and little by little, I see myself just finding drawing more easy and more enjoyable. Though my improvement rates might just as well be as fast as Sakura deciding which order to take whilst reading from a dessert menu (which, believe me, will take a while). 

Fanart has been easier for me to draw, I find. It used to take me twice or three times the effort to draw fanart instead of original art. Which is quite strange, because people usually find it easier to just reference off an existing character than to think up their own. It's probably because my original characters are so simple it's painful, but I make up for that with a long background story, which only a select people know. 

Avatar the Last Airbender

This is probably by far the most satisfying fanart I did since fall, and it's not even to do with the glowy things. It's also kind of ironic that this isn't even a fanart of an anime, but a Nickelodeon cartoon...but it is my kind of show, Avatar is; a bunch of kids with super awesome martial arts/elemental skills. I'm just too much of a sucker for good action scenes...

Though I hate to say it, meeting all these different inspirational artists has made me draw things I would rather be caught dead drawing from some people. So for the sake of making my blog interesting, I shall be brave and show a few examples that hopefully won't come back and haunt me.

Some Shounen-ai or BL ahead:

(Avatar the Last Airbender: we call this ZUKAANG.)

This is part of a long and winding doodle page for one of my friend's birthday in November. It's a good thing I don't bother with details...

(Original)

This one was done on a whim to freak out a friend (male). It served its purpose...

(Gerard Way from MCR) 

This was another birthday present for a friend. Ok, I can't believe I actually went and drew a guy from an emo band. NAKED, no less. But oh boy, the nosebleeds this caused. I've never seen my non-otaku friend fangirl so much over a drawing.

(Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Yoko) I don't think I've drawn so much skin on anything other than from live models...and her PROPORTIONS are just too much to bear...

-cringes-

But at the end of the day, I still like drawing my own characters. It seems a bit boring to most, because I reuse the same characters over and over again with similar outfits, but in the end I still like drawing scenes with a hint of action, but not so much aggression or passion. Something like cool-action? (doesn't make sense...)

Yeah. It feels the best when I draw something like this. =D

-sighs in satisfaction-

Fangirlisms ii

（家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN!)

Katekyou Hitman Reborn! chapters 183 & 184: 

I think I just died and went to heaven. Seme!Tsuna is too cool for words. Seriously, how on earth does Amano Akira manage to draw normal Tsuna so uke and break-point Tsuna so seme???

And I'm having repercussions after watching the first episode of the TYL Future arc of the anime. I don't dare watch the next episodes because I'm afraid of die of excitement and the withdrawal symptoms that would follow until the next week. I have decided to wait until a good 10 or 20 episodes are out until I start watching again. 

Fangasms.

That aside.

Went to the Anime Club Office today after getting lunch, and joined in on the gaming. I'm not much of a gamer, so I'm basically always the first to die in Smash Bros. But it's actually quite interesting to watch other better people play for ages and ages. XD

So I basically did nothing productive today, but it's the least I could do to make up for the easter holiday that I don't have. 

Fangirlisms

I noticed that there is a significant difference between ice-skating in an outdoor environment and an indoor facility. A Big Difference indeed. Back when I was still in my home country, I would go to indoor ice-skating rinks, and I would be very proud to say that I am normally borderline good at it. But now that I've gone to an outdoor one that isn't as carefully maintained as the ones I've been used to, I have realized that, in a few short words: I SUCK AT ICE-SKATING. PERIOD.

How is it that it makes such a big difference?? I want to beat myself up, that ice-skating trip has completely ripped me of my confidence at skating. -cries in a corner-

That aside. My friends took me to this Anime/Manga convention on Saturday. It's pretty small, so there's not too many people (compared to the ones I used to go, of course.) I ended up buying a whole lot of fan-made pins and posters, as well as my very first English Newtype!!! It's so refreshing to read an anime magazine in English. And there were a lot of articles about Gurren Lagann. It makes me a happy person. Yes it does.

Top Row: Mukuro and Yamamoto from Hitman Reborn, Luffy from One Piece

Middle Row: My favorite Tuna Sandwich (182759) - Hibari, Tsuna, Gokudera from Hitman Reborn

Botton Row: Lavi from D.gray-man, Light and L from Death Note

After the convention, we went for lunch at this food court which was right opposite the convention center. It seems as if the food court is in the middle of nowhere, but either way, we go food. One of a close friend of a friend from Anime Club bought a few yaoi manga, and I decided to take a peek (I'm so sorry...I've turned into a 腐女子 ever since I came to college). It was so embarrassing to read yaoi in public!!! I seriously thought my face was burning. 

One of the posters I found and bought:

萌死。(original here.)

♥Roy~~~~~ ♥

It's been years since I've started liking Fullmetal Alchemist. And I still haven't stopped loving it. Is this normal!?

"Split" by Suneohair

If these dull emotions could just
Disappear sooner without a word
It would have been easier

When I gazed at you
I saw myself trembling in your eyes
My lips parted as though I had a blank expression

We went on our separate paths
At that crossroad
It pains me so much that
We may never meet again

Gathering emotions which are lacking
Things that were warmed just a while ago have grown cold
I couldn’t believe something like that
Just how long am I going to hold on to the same words
How long am I going to hold on…

When I continue to gaze at you
The seasons changed in your eyes
My new light which I’ve not known before

We will walk our separate paths
Now, at that crossroad
I can never look back again
My feelings are too overwhelming

You embrace me in the night that is about to disappear
Entangling me with your body which has grown cold
I feel that something is lacking
Just how long have I been holding on to
Lies and sighs to the point of falling apart

Gathering emotions which are lacking
Things that were warmed just a while ago have grown cold
I couldn’t believe something like this
Just how long am I going to hold on to the same words
How long am I going to hold on…

I went to an art supplies shop which was about a 20 minute walk away from my dorm. It was probably one of my favorite places to go since I came to college. It gave me a feeling of calm and serenity, like no matter what happened in the world, I could always relax in the midst of rows and rows of paper, paint and brushes that always had their distinct smells. 

This time though, I went with an old friend, Yu. I've known her ever since 5th grade, and being one year older and so much more advanced than me in art, she had always been a person I look up to. We've been told that we look pretty alike, and I guess we both took up the common misconception from our friends and called each other sisters. It's pretty fitting, since we do have similar general interests, and she is my sister-figure. We don't see or talk to each other often, because we're always swamped by our own problems (well, the problems of people around us, psychology students are usually people whose friends turn for help, we concluded after a nice chat.) But whenever we do see each other again, there doesn't seem like there's any barrier to speak of. 

Inside the art shop, we were looking through a shelf full of patterned paper. I pointed at one of them and said: "I bet Sakura would like this one." She nodded and agreed, then pointed at another sheet: "This one is pretty too." she said, and then without knowing it, we both said: "Momoko would like this one." at the same time. We shared a laugh that really felt like the rest of the world wasn't there. 

I guess that's the kind of friendship that really lasts a lifetime. To be able to talk without a barrier, to talk about the past and mutual friends without much of a reserve. Our lives couldn't be any more different now that we're not in high school anymore, but I've never felt so close to her. It's these kind of moments that ease the loneliness of being in a country well over 10 hours worth of plane ride away from home. 

On a lighter note, now that I've bought myself a nice paper holding folder and an art pad, I can take my time and draw all I want now!

"My Life is a Lie!"

I found out that one of my friend's mom has been deceiving my friend about the properties of oranges just to make her eat them. I had no idea that oranges actually don't improve your immune system, and I got confused after a while of listening to my science student friend explain vitamin C and oranges to us. Me being a psychology student and all...

Then my friend went and asked her mom if she knew the truth, and she admitted she knew the unfortunate truth about oranges. My friend was so devastated she started to yell "I don't know anything anymore! Who can I trust in this world of lies!" We all laughed at her when she did that (not being mean), and I couldn't help but think how cute her reaction was.

It seems like I've been away from home for so long, when it's only been two months since I returned to college from the holidays. And to think that I've been away from home for almost half a year not including the short two weeks back! There were a lot of moments when I felt homesick, especially when I'm walking alone in the snow. The snow really does things to people, it's so unexplainable.

Yesterday, a bunch of friends and I went out to watch a late move; "The Other Boleyn Girl". The most memorable part of that movie was the part when the whole cinema went "UGH!" at one part of the movie. But I don't want to spoil anyone who comes across this =)

On our way back, we had to cross a huge park, and it was completely covered with snow. It would probably would have been scary if I weren't with friends. But I couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness when I look at the huge layers of snow at night. Is this what they call Seasonal Affective Disorder? (haha, -slightly happy I remembered psychology terms-)

See??? Doesn't this look depressing?

But of course, me being the person that I am, I went back to my dorm and gave myself a nice serving of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (天元突破グレンラガン) (I will not be defeated by the weather!) I think Gurren Lagann is the type of anime that will always bring people to a good spirit (or maybe a fighting spirit, who knows?) since it's got the idea that if you work hard enough and believe in yourself, you will always be able to do whatever you wish. I'm probably really gullible to these things, but I really feel a sense of hope when I watch this series, and that's one of the reasons why this is one of my favorite shows right now. 

（グレンラガン！オレを誰だと思っていやがる！）

So It Starts

I've been inspired by a friend of mine to start blogging again, and hopefully I'll stay committed to this one, since I couldn't exactly stick to my livejournal account properly. The idea of an anonymous blog appeals to me, since I've realized that from time to time there seems to be so much that wants to be said, regardless of an audience. 

And so here I am, in all my 18 year old glory and deciding this will be the place to displace all my musings. 

I apologize to those who stumble across this blog firsthand, this may be just a wee bit boring.