Love is the most often recurring theme in anime. Actually, it occurs so often its not funny. Every friggin show out there that you see is chock full of the words "suki", "aishiteru", "dakishimete" etc etc etc words of romance. Take -ef- for example. Their script was probably written by a little girl smitten with fantasy stories that came out of Enid Blyton... hold it, before you open your mouth any larger, I'm just ranting here. I know ef came from a kickass hentai game... 's ass.

Romance is often used to back a story up much like any other plot device. Making characters unsure and unaware of their relationship makes it all the more true to life. This is one of my favorite scenes from Myself;yourself that really put me on the edge of my chair. Well, not quite, but it did make the anime all the more exciting. I mean every show has got to have some of this stuff right?

It seems that whenever a character in an anime gets featured in a romantic relationship, no matter how unpopular they would be, their ratings naturally shoot up. A prime example of this is Nagisa from CLANNAD who simply isn't the most popular girl in the anime and might as well become another girl-who-sits-in-the-resource-room if not for her redeeming relationship with Okazaki. This goes to show that love is indeed a strong basis for a plot, and the strange mechanics of the human mind simply makes those who are in love popular.

Of course, sometimes love is also used as a device to smash the story into the face of the audience. Shock therapy is conveyed via love in Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu's last few scenes where Kyon kisses Haruhi. Despite not being quite the classic example of romantic indifference in anime, it certainly brings to life the characters by reminding people of how love in real life constantly exists in this form. Of course, the climax, long awaited for by all those who anticipate it, make the story all the more rewarding if it happens just at the end.

Love Hina used the same technique by constantly delaying the final makeout scene to the very last episode of the Love Hina Again OVA. The moment it happened, I could've sworn I went "AWWWWWWW" in my head.

written by astrobunny \\

written by astrobunny \\

We so love Mikuru don't we? I think she's overrated. *runs from tomatoes and onions thrown at stage

written by astrobunny \\

I remembered when LCD color monitors started to be sold for desktop computers and not just for notebook computers, which were beginning to be much more mobile as LCDs were being used as their displays. I was born into an era where computing was already (inevitably) blazing down the path of dominance of everyone's lives. Despite LCDs still being far inferior to CRTs (yuck), and their refresh rates hideously slow, it did not take long for LCDs to improve from that monochrome display used by the the computer seen above (which was my first notebook computer btw), into low refresh rate low brightness versions of the wonderful displays we know today.

Fast forward to one week ago, Dell sent in one of their almost-phased out version of their 24" desktop LCDs, the 2407WFP. Despite being sold at clearance prices now, this panel still trumps many many other panels in terms of performance (6ms refresh), image quality (1:1000 contrast WOOT) and vividness (5% brightness lights the room up as well as the fluorescent lamp on the ceiling). The box came in such a wonderful, such conspicuous glamor that everyone in the house couldn't help but ask what it was (-_-").

written by astrobunny \\

Apparently, as the picture says, the guys are finally gonna get off their lazy ass and kick some serious fansub ass in April (lol). Well, talk about irony. The very people who made anime so wildly popular suddenly become blamed for the losses incurred by companies who never bothered to sell their content to those who wished to buy it. God I wonder what's going on with this world. Are they making anime so they can get money from filing suits against fansubbers?! No way in hell would the once-was-fledgling industry have become so lucrative without the massive free publicity brought in by these people. Even funnier, their argument of not making much from it holds no substance at all. If it wasn't lucrative, why would they be doing it anyway? And putting so much effort into doing it? The truth is out there, and has always been out there. Everyone knows how much money the industry is trying to squeeze from every last tsundere available to them, and even if people do things that are weird sometimes, face it, this world still runs on logic.

On a lighter note, I have finally recovered from my internet withdrawal symptoms. Here's a big Thank You to all those who supported me in my darkest hours when broadband was unavailable. So, so long and thanks for the fish! Oh and look out for the new audoilet concept, the next big thing in the audiophile world.

Of course, a few days ago a very delicious box was sitting outside my home, playing the guitar and singing "Where have all the flowers gone" while ignoring me as I walked down the driveway. This is how extensions to the e-penis always are. They hate you, then they become a part of you. Here's a toast to the newest member of my Panel on the Table. I'll be sure to write a blog post about that soon. Meanwhile, an acute wave of fatigue just swept past me, legacy of the insomnia that has been part of my life to fill in the void left by what was once the Internet. I must now slowly recover from it through my extended beauty sleep program, and 2 doses of widescreen CLANNAD and Shakugan no Shana Second. Will report my condition later. PIECE OUT

written by astrobunny \\

One of the biggest reasons I watch CLANNAD and ignore the really weird and random story (or lack thereof) is the fact that it is made my KyoAni. And this automatically means that the girls in the show are moe. And they are not just moe. They are moe to the MAX.

First of all, I'd love to talk about the Fujibayashi twins. They are pure win. Like epic win. They must be born of angels, and are too good to be true. Though there are twins like them around they still qualify to be one of the 7 wonders of human genetics if they really existed.

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written by astrobunny \\

This ain't an emo post, I saw a picture of Kagamin at night and it triggered my thoughts and made me recall this song. I'm not sure why. Oh well, that'll do for my post tonight.

Would you dance,
if I asked you to dance?
Would you run,
and never look back?
Would you cry,
if you saw me crying?
And would you save my soul, tonight?

Would you tremble,
if I touched your lips?
Would you laugh?
Oh please tell me this.
Now would you die,
for the one you love?
Hold me in your arms, tonight.

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.

Would you swear,
that you'll always be mine?
Or would you lie?
would you run and hide?
Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
I don't care...
You're here, tonight.

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.

Oh, I just wanna to hold you.
I just wanna to hold you.
Oh yeah.
Am I in too deep?
Have I lost my mind?
Well I don't care...
You're here, tonight.

I can be your hero, baby.
I can kiss away the pain.
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away.

I can be your hero.
I can kiss away the pain.
And I will stand by you, forever.
You can take my breath away.
You can take my breath away.

I can be your hero.

written by astrobunny \\

Finally got my copy of Lucky Star Re-Mix 002. This new remix album has turned out to be much better than the previous Lucky Star remix. It even features a group medley AND nice album art, which by the way, really compliments the better mixes. The only song I took with me from the last remix album was Motteke! Sailor Fuku [Metabo Taisaku Mix], and admittedly the only good one. This album however, was chock full of surprises. The only song that was not worth listening to being the first track: JAM ga Mottetta! Sailor Fuku, which I found to be a pretty annoying mix of otaku wannabe boys trying to sing Motteke Sailor Fuku with passion and flare and lots of unoriginal vocal editing.

Here's my two cents of the tracks in the album:

1. JAM ga Mottetta! Sailor Fuku
   Crap. Boys singing Motteke! Sailor Fuku in the place of the Lucky Star girls. It feels and sounds stupid and annoying.

2. Motteke! Sailor Fuku EX.Motte[k]remix
   Hi-fi trance (not progressive at all) which is kinda annoying at first but grows on you. I got this one playing in my car, so I think I'm hooked already. Very annoying if you don't like constant highspeed bleeping and sawtooth action. Good for parties.

3. Motteke! Knee Socks
   Nice original remix with some pretty cool surprises thrown in in terms of beat and some nice familiar melody from Kaeshite! Knee Socks. This one really caught my ear. Playing in the car too so you know I like it.

4. Motteke! Sailor Fuku Electro Otome Chikku mix
   Slightly retro 90's style electronica with some pop style music lots of voice synth. This is doesn't have the steady techno beat but I love its bluey piano playing mixed in along with its wonderful stop-and-hop bridges.

5. Motteke! Sailor Fuku Bak-Bak-Bakoon! Mix
   Oh man this must the best mix of random voice clips by the Lucky Star characters ever. More blues style stuff and a bit of R&B thrown in as well as Tsukasa's Character Album's Good Night loop put to damned good use. Nice background upbeat cafe music.

6. Kumikyoku "Lucky Star Douga"
   The ultimate weapon! Modelled after Nico Nico Douga's Kumikyoku (Group Song) and even with the same types of drops in pace and wonderful rendition of the all-too-familiar Kogepan theme played with synth piano immediately after the Motteke! Sailor Fuku chorus in the beginning. Awesome stuff as soon as the drums roll in. The first time I heard this, was probably the best time in my life as far as I can remember from my short memory. Some of the songs are really good techno clips, while others plain silly but familiar and cozy "wawawawasuremono" and some from Akira too. Definitely a must listen.

written by astrobunny \\

I used to think he was gay, that's why he could not face the fact that Light was Kira. Oh well, he's proven me wrong. This season really is turning out to be one boring season. It's winter and there's nothing to watch. The anime companies must have their asses frozen to their chairs this winter, preventing them from ever getting up to sharpen their pencils. After watching H20 for a short 2 episodes, I got so sick of it I decided to throw up and forget about that anime.

I mean, come on, seriously, Spirit of the Sounds of Time Otoha-chan? Man, that makes King of the Meanest, Baddest Intruders of Soul Society sound good.  Did I mention the anime has a lousy series progression and an even lousier plot? In episode 1, (don't worry this won't spoil the anime one bit, because it has already been hacksawed into a million ugly pieces of FAIL by the producers in just TWO episodes, they probably are the record holders of fastest rotting anime ever) the boy of the harem is blind. That's it, the rest is rubbish. Then in episode 2, the boy can see again! As if Jesus came down and told him to see again. I mean, if that was the case, why didn't they show it? What the hell is up with him suddenly waking up the next morning and suddenly have fully functional optics?! It's like Makoto coming back to life after being stabbed by both Sekai and Kotonoha. (Actually I'd love to see that, and before he dies of pain and suffering while he looks at the two deranged girls whose virginity he took away, he must drown in hot boiling oil.

UGH... This is the worst season ever. I shall now stop ranting and watch this season's only saviours, CLANNAD and Shana. *ciaoz

written by astrobunny \\

Do you see any resemblance? Maybe Youhei was an adopted child?

CLANNAD is finally getting a move on with the Nagisa x Tomoya action. Oh man, how long do I have to withstand this torture!? When will Okazaki stop being gay and look at Nagisa! UGH. Stupid screenwriters, always leaving the good stuff to the end and then rushing it. Lets hope this does not turn into a ZnT 2-2

Meanwhile, to keep myself entertained,
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written by astrobunny \\