Wow! This past week was something else, and here’s why: Last Thursday, Right Stuf / Nozomi Entertainment announced ARIA, and we’ll be kicking off the release on September 30, 2008, with a sub-only box set that contains the entire first season, ARIA the Animation!
As a “marketing nerd” turned “anime fan who is also a marketing nerd,” I’m very, very lucky to have the opportunity to promote yet another awesome series. The artwork is gorgeous, and the characters are ones you want to follow.
Yes, it’s another character piece. And yes, if you have any inclination toward character-driven, slice-of-life shows, you need to check this one out.
It’s like a mini-vacation. And it has the most fun “mascot” character I’ve seen in an anime for a while: All hail the marshmallow cat! He’s the Aria Company’s president! (Look at the “stamp” on the series’ page.) >^..^<
I’m not totally sure if my main blog and sites have transitioned over to their new host, but tomorrow at 3 p.m. EDT/2 p.m. CDT, there will be a very important announcement that may be of interest to the handful of anime fans who read my blog on the LJ.
We’ll also be making the announcement via the Right Stuf/Anime Today feed on Twitter. (And while you’re on there you might as well follow me, too. My username is “Aligatorpop.”)
Good night! Busy day tomorrow! I’ll post “the big reveal” tomorrow night. (It’s a gonna make a lot of people happy.) ;-)
Somehow, I managed to let almost a month go by, which means I have a backlog of thoughts!
- Fruits Basket, Vols. 17-18 by Natsuki TAKAYA [TOKYOPOP] | Wow! I think the Sohmas just about win the award for “most screwed up family” in manga — and considering how much I’ve read over the years, that’s saying a little bit of something. Some killer revelations. I’m not liking Shigure so much these days, and I’m officially a fan of Hatsuharu (The “Ox”). After a few volumes that left off at points that weren’t necessarily cliff-hangers, Volume 18 has me placing my order for Volume 19 post-haste.
- Hana-Kimi (For You in Full Blossom), Vol. 21 by Hisaya NAKAJO [VIZ Media] | Only two more volumes to go! It’s kind of rare that my enthusiasm for a series is sustained through the entirety of its run, but Hana-Kimi is definitely one of those series. Mizuki’s looking more and more girly on the covers, and it’s for a reason. (Be sure to catch the side story in the May 2008 issue of Shojo Beat!)
- I.N.V.U., Vol. 4 by Kim Kang WON [TOKYOPOP] | After a multi-year hiatus, one of the first “shojo” Korean series is back! This one had a promising start, but it was a casualty of the Korean comic market’s collapse. Kudos to TOKYOPOP for sticking with it! In the intervening years, the artist’s style has matured slightly — much how the art changed when you compare early volumes of Boys Over Flowers or Please Save My Earth to later volumes in those series — but the drama is still there. And it’s good. I’m looking forward to the next volume — but not looking forward to the inevitable wait. ;-)
- Ouran High Host Club, Vols. 9-10 by Bisco HATORI [VIZ Media] | This series is sublime silliness, and I almost dare people not to fall in love with it! I enjoyed the “how they got roped into the Host Club” back stories, and I’m truly surprised at how Hatori manages to balance Tamaki’s frivolity with his almost preternatural ability to sense others’ vulnerability, as well as his true desire to help them. I just wish someone could help him understand and acknowledge his feelings for Haruhi… but that just means there’s plenty of mileage for many future volumes.
- X -kai-, Vols. 1-2 by Asami TOHJOH [TOKYOPOP] | A “florist-by-day, assassin-by-night” style story, with just a hint of BL that immediately made me think of Weiss Kruez (Knight Hunters). This was fast-paced, a little angsty and fun — if light-weight — read, and it’s a good bet if you want a series you can digest in one sitting.
There were multiple reasons for this past week’s radio silence, and the gnarly, gray and not-the-spring-I’m-used-to weather didn’t help. (In fact, it contributed to one of the unfortunate events. >_< )
Sunday morning began with me falling down the stairs. You read that right. I said fell down the stairs, and I'm not an old lady, darn it! My foot slipped, and thank goodness I wasn't wearing my glasses. Otherwise, the world at-large would be treated to me whining about how expensive it is to repair my glasses. < laugh > As it was, I have some nasty looking bruises on my ribs and spent the remainder of the day in bed and re-reading the Kimi wa Pet/Tramps Like Us manga like a big baby.
I should have known the pain would be worse the two days afterward! (Not fun, especially when you have to go to work anyway. Good thing I love my job!)
The next couple of days got warmer (yay!) and then cold and rainy (boo!).
On Thursday, during my dinner break, I braved the torrential downpour to go through the McDonald’s drive-thru only to have some woman ram the back of my truck! (GAH!!) The truck is OK, but it’s an understatement to say I was pretty shaken up. I pulled my car forward, parked it and confirmed there was no damage, and then got behind the wheel. While I was trying to calm myself down, the woman pulled up next to me, but I didn’t dare open my window. I would have been risking a road rage incident… and I’m too smart to do that.
Of course, now everyone’s telling me I should have collected her contact information in case I was injured, but really: I can’t see myself suing some woman who made a (stupid) mistake, even if I am still royally tee’d off about it.
This weekend, I pretty much just collapsed from exhaustion… and did thoroughly exciting things like clean my house, pay my bills and sleep. This week’s going to be much better. I’m prepared to kick it.
It would be easy to say, “They just don’t make movies like that anymore,” and then something special like ONCE comes around.
The plot, as the director admits in the extras, could be scribbled in its entirety on a cocktail napkin, but its execution is brilliant in its simplicity, reservedness and honesty.
One of the things I miss most about playing and performing in an ensemble is that ephemeral, alchemic moment when everything falls into place, and the song transforms into something more than mere sound. It lives, and it becomes much more grand than the musicians or notes on a page could ever be on their own. You literally played a part in its creation.
Many times, the individuals who contributed to and with whom you shared this powerful experience are effectively strangers. Once they walk “off-stage,” you may never see them again, but that doesn’t diminish the power of the song and the experience you now carry, going forward.
I’d consider it a find if the film just captured that moment. However, ONCE succeeds on a whole other level that isn’t often explored in modern movies.
As much as the story is “guy meets girl,” it’s even more about their shared love for something much larger than themselves and how that love inspires each of them, as individuals, to act unselfishly for the other person’s benefit. As a result, in the end, The Guy and The Girl are able to face the future with optimism, with grace and without regrets.
Whether they “end up together” isn’t the point of the story. And that’s probably why ONCE resonates with so many people.
Go rent this film NOW.
Seriously. ^_^
I’m a bit behind on the blogging. There’s another “manga binge” to be written before I embark on a NANA-a-thon. Volumes 17 and 18 of Fruits Basket, Volume 21 of Hana-Kimi, Volume 4 of I.N.V.U., and Volumes 9 and 10 of Ouran Host Club are on deck.
Once came in my Netflix queue, so I’m checking it out first.
I may be back tonight. :)
I left work a little closer to “normal person time” — as opposed to “Alison time” — to have my taxes prepared for me.
My federal refund is a wonderful and happy thing. My state return… GRR. Despite having them withhold the max amount, I still owe the buggers. I’m sure it has to do with me receiving a nice federal refund last year, as well as my little bit of “freelance publicity hound” income, but really. If their withholding formula is worth a darn, those little bits shouldn’t leave me owing anything.
The place is a mess, and I should be cleaning, but instead, I think I’m going to crash and watch some more old, cheesy sci-fi TV.
It was a sad week for meaningful posts…
- Tuesday morning, it snowed. Happy April Fool’s Day! Not. >_<
- It melted.
- On Thursday, by the time I went on my dinner break, I had to dust about an inch of snow off of my car. It was still on the ground the next morning, but gone by noon. Yesterday, it was in the 60s. MUCH better! ^_^
- In the quest to see/read all of the translated works of Ai Yazawa, I got around to watching the live-action adaptation of LAST QUARTER. I didn’t go into it with terribly high expectations — the previews made it look kind of cheesy — but I was bawling by the end.
- Made my car maintenance and tax appointments.
- Finished assembling the first round of shelves for my closet.
- Did a whole bunch of filing.
- Cleaned out the magazine stash.
- Much more cleaning ensued — and it will continue throughout the week.
- I’m really starting to stress out over the phone/PDA thing. For both financial and form-factor reasons, it makes sense to combine the two, but I still can’t quite find something that does everything I want/need.
- I’m still plugging away on an obscenely long to-do list, but a Gilmore-a-thon is providing very good background noise. ;-)
Down South, when it rained, it would do so furiously for a couple hours and then be so sunny you could forget the clouds and gloom even existed — if it weren’t for the humidity. ;-) In Iowa… no such luck. It was gross all day: so gray I couldn’t distinguish the horizon from the sky above or the ground below. SO can’t wait for it to be spring.
More randomness…
- I also can’t wait for the bro to come visit, whenever that may be. Unfortunately, it may not be for a while.
- My current cell phone is on its last legs. Too many people send me text messages and actually expect me to respond. (And it’s often work-related, so I can’t blow them off.) I need something more functional for me.
- I assembled a second closet unit tonight and came to a depressing realization: I may have to set up a “spring/summer” closet and a “fall/winter” closet. I have the closets, but I was really hoping to avoid this… and I’m too lazy to rotate them. Looks like I’ll be investing in “Huggable Hangers” — in an attempt to see just how much I can cram into my master bedroom closet — while I wrap my brain around the whole seasonal wardrobe/closet concept.
- Time for another episode of The Invisible Man. :-) Good night.
No matter how long they actually are, the weekends never seem long enough to finish everything I need to get done. Aargh. ;)
- Ran all sorts of errands yesterday, including a stop at the Super Target for groceries, which always feels like shopping cart warfare. (I really need to start going on weeknights.)
- Actually did do some very productive work and house things.
- Purchased additional shelving for my one bedroom closet in an attempt to get some of my clothes off of the floor and assembled one of the units before I got tired of the whole thing. Kitty-mon is now upset because I destroyed her carefully constructed nest.
- Just paid all my bills, etc., and cleaned out the purse, which doesn’t sound like a big deal unless you’ve seen the mess in my purse. (It was starting to weigh me down.)
- Watched Tekkon Kinkreet. Wow. I must have been insanely tired to fall asleep on Friday night. Brilliant for both its unflinching brutality and tempered optimism. Now I need to grab a copy of the reissued manga. I remember reading installments here and there in the dearly departed PULP –
when I could actually find it.
- Just realized I’m not terribly consistent with how I capitalize/italicize/bold-face titles of artworks here on the blog. I need to work on that.
- I think, so far, my favorite song on In Rainbows is “Reckoner.” It’s been on heavy rotation the last few days. I need to pick up a replacement for my satellite radio.
- And now I really should write the e-mail I promised my aunt I would send to my grandmother.
