Mushishi discussion

I'm not real sure how we're doing this so that people don't get spoiled. I just saw the first 4 episodes and would really like to discuss it. Several of us are watching it together in a chat on Thursday nights (2 episodes at a time, starting at midnight eastern). When I'm done watching I would love to chat about it but I'm too tired by then. I've been holding off on watching it because I wanted to be able to discuss it. No one in the Tuesday night chats wanted to do this one and I still don't understand why.

In general I'd just like to say that it's an absolutely gorgeous show. The color palettes used in each episode are so vivid. Even the music is beautiful. I already feel like I need to watch these 4 episodes again. I guess I'll put more thoughts in the comments.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00

I've been trying to watch Gundam 00 on Sci-Fi, but I've really only been able to watch one episode.

Truth be told, I was a little leery of getting into the show because the last Gundam series, Gundam Seed Destiny, left a really bad taste in my mouth (the series could've been decent, but it just trainwrecked. New characters were tossed aside for the old ones [I don't mind that, if it makes sense], the entire "Good" faction had plot armor [basically, they were invulnerable due to the plot wanting it to be so. Hell, the entire last battle, they didn't get SCRATCHED], so many recaps for a 50 episode show [including one in the home stretch, 41-50!], etc).

However, Gundam 00 did have one BIG thing going for it. The director they hired for it was Seji Mizushima, the director for Fullmetal Alchemist. Also, the story would be set more in "our" world instead of a different one (its set a good 300 years in the future and deals with how we overcame the oil crisis).

One of my friends loves the series, and so based on his suggestion (he, like me, loathes Gundam Seed Destiny. He and I will curse that series until our dying day, I'm sure), I started to watch Gundam 00. If you like mecha, I highly suggest this series. I felt it started out a little slow, but once it got in gear it was great. I also liked it because just when you start to get the feeling some character is invulnerable, they get their butts kicked.

Anyone else following it? (either on Sci-Fi or other means) What do you think?

Sonny Strait's Webcomic

Just a fun little note for anyone who is a fan of Sonny Strait. He has just started a webcomic! www.carbombscomic.com. The first panel is amusing, as is the accompanying note. Not that it has a lot to do with anime, but he being a VA, I still consider it worthwhile to post in here for his fans.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

We finished it up last night! We're going to buy it in June (or at least, some time soon), and we don't buy just any anime we come across. If you haven't seen this one yet, you are missing out on something unique, hilarious, random, and addicting.

For those who have seen it, I remember Combat mentioning that this story might be fun to discuss. I'll leave that to the comment section.

Finally, I read up a little online after completing the series. There is really too much information for me to sort through with any sort of efficiency, so I thought I'd ask if anyone knows anything about future seasons, the light novels, or the manga. If you do, please let me know!

release schedule update

I'm behind on Fruits Basket and Bleach, so I found myself looking up their releases online. Since I was at it, I looked up a few other series. And then since I like writing these down, I though, hm, maybe time for an update on the blog. So, here we are. I don't know what everyone here follows (I know, I'm probably the only one that's dying for each new volume...I like being pathetically obsessed, though; it's fun), so if you'd like me to add more series, just say the word.

Fullmetal Alchemist
Volume 18 - May 19
Volume 19 - July 21 (that's right, baby! only 2 month wait for this one!!)

Fruits Basket
Volume 22 - March 17
Volume 23/FINAL - July 14

Bleach
Volume 26 - March 3

Trinity Blood
Volume 9 - February 10
Volume 10 - May 12
Volume 11 - August 4
ROM 3 - May 12
RAM 4 - July 6

Vampire Knight
Volume 6 - March 10

My husband wants to start buying Naruto. We have been following it in SJ, but it looks like viz is going to go crazy again and release like 11 volumes in just a handful of months...so, for those of you who read ahead, is it worth it?? We'll probably do it anyway because I buy more manga series than Brian but still, 11 volumes?! My poor budget...and here I am saving for a major anime purchase this summer...

Rightstuf Sale

For anyone who has any cash left or wants to splurge on FUNi merchandise after the holidays, Rightstuf has a sale on their merchandise and DVDs through January 18th. Now I'm wishing I had a bit more to spend, personally, because this includes pre-orders, and some good stuff is coming out this month. I want to get the next boxes of One Piece and Shin Chan, disc one of Baccano! + the artbook, and vol. 4 of Hellsing Ultimate, since I've missed out on it recently. Mushishi would be nice too, though I dunno if it's done by FUNi, it just looks interesting and I'd like to pick it up to check it out. Anyway, just wanted to let people know who aren't on the boards as much.

Gurren Lagann

I know probably not everyone has gotten around to seeing GL all the way through yet, if at all, so I won't go into its plot in too much detail here in this blog post, but I finally finished it and enjoyed it enough to be willing to discuss it a bit in the comments section. I'm not going to kick it off right now since I can't think of anything specific to discuss at the moment, but if something strikes my fancy later, I may go ahead and do it tomorrow morning or something. If not, anyone else is welcome to get the ball rolling too.

Sometimes I wonder why I got into anime and manga; I wonder why I couldn't find something a little more mainstream to attach my fanatical self to. Why can't I love (read: obsess over) Twilight just like everyone else instead of a silly vampire manga? Twilight's going to be around forever (sadly), but my vampire manga might not be. How depressing.

Such a not-cheerful topic to open the new year with, but after reading news report upon news report of large retailers closing their doors and then reading smaller articles on more obscure sites about manga diminishing, anime already struggling (one such article), it makes me worry about the future of this form of entertainment . I think both anime and manga will be always available and accessible. What I worry about is the variety we'll be presented with here in the U.S. I worry about some of the less popular titles that I read or want to read being cut. Of course, I could always learn to read Japanese.

What are your thoughts? Do you think the industry is going to be able to weather the economic storms, or do you think there will be some casualties? Do you think we'll see less variety, maybe less quality? Or am I just being pessimistic and worrying too much?