I’ve bought Limited Edition DVDs before but this is the first time that I wanted the extra more than the DVD itself (my favourite so far is Paradox Spiral); I really enjoy the above-mentioned (post title) track so much – it’s the BGM for the kick-off for the Shiki vs Fujino battle on the bridge and it’s been replaying endlessly on my Winamp.

And I wouldn’t have bought the R2 DVD of the third movie, Remaining Sense of Pain (痛覚残留), if I hadn’t already downloaded the fansub. Kara no Kyoukai’s dialogue is really difficult to follow raw – to my ears, it’s comparable almost (but not quite yet) to Ghost in the Shell in terms of level of difficulty.

Given my extremely limited listening comprehension, I’m now asking myself what possessed me to buy the first of The Garden of Wanderers and The Garden of Listeners drama CD series. And it’s probably because I judged the CDs by their covers – they look hilarous! Would appreciate any pointers to other blogs and forums that discuss them.

P.S. re: The FT front page

Animated response: Tokyo fair salutes global growth Booth assistants pose at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, an exhibition of the animation productions whose popularity in Japan has now started to spread abroad. This year’s fair featured displays from 14 companies in China, which participated for the first time, and others from US, Canada and Europe (Reuters)

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

DVDs took up about SGD 650, or almost half of total spending. The bulk of this came from RightStuf purchases of Slayers Seasons 1-3, Martian Successor Nadesico, Evangelion Platinum Collection, Lunar Legend Tsukihime, Black Heaven and MariMite Season 1 (R1) box sets. I think I’ve been spoiled by RightStuf’s customer service so my purchase of the Evangelion 1.01 LE will be my first and last ever purchase from Play Asia. I did receive my LE DVD in the end but only after a delay of over two months and very poor communication from Play Asia. Currently, I see 122 results on Google for “Play Asia sucks” – here’s result 123. About 15% of this expenditure went to buying bootleg DVDs such as the R3 Gunbuster and Diebuster DVD set and really legit-looking Malaysian fakes of Genshiken 1+2 (but not inclusive of either the Kujiun or interim OVA trios). I bought legitimate R1 DVDs of anime series after downloading them via BitTorrent because I enjoyed them so much and wanted something that was better quality. Conversely I ended up downloading anime series after buying the pirated DVDs because I enjoyed them so much and wanted something that was better quality. But I didn’t feel the urge to buy legitimate R1 DVDs because I had already spent money on them…

Figures expenditure amounted to around SGD 300. The year’s acquisitions started off with a glorious gift of Alter Nadie from Stripey and another friend. I couldn’t resist Alter Nagato Yuki (Swimsuit) and Chara-Ani Misumaru Yurika was a surprising impulse buy. I plumped for Alter Shigure Asa even though I liked Kotobukiya Asa‘s sculpt and colours. But I really hated the scene in the anime and eroge which the pose was based on. At least they didn’t include a toilet seat with the figure base! LOL

Thanks to a great Amazon.jp bargain, I snagged GoodSmile Company’s Ryougi Shiki despite only boarding the Kara no Kyoukai bandwagon really late. I also bought a GSC Hatsune Miku figure as part of the continuation of the otaku gift economy and also made a foray into the second hand market by selling my extra Alter Fate.

Evil Magazines consumed SGD 56 but this year saw MEGAMI regain its monopoly and Comp H disappear from my shopping cart. Manga took up about SGD 100 consisting of Lucky Star Volumes 5 and 6 as well as A Certain Scientific Railgun Volumes 1 and 2; the bulk of the cost was ordering Railgun Vol.2 from Amazon.jp. It just highlights how cheap manga is when Kinokuniya in our glorious democratic people’s island paradise republic carries stock or is able to order from Japan HQ. OST spending was about SGD 140 with Megumi Hayashibara’s Plenty of Grit Slayers Revolution OP/ED, Shizu-sama’s Hinagiku Chara CD and Minorin’s Ga-Rei Zero OP single, Paradise Lost. Ok, pocky – that’s a wrap!

P.S. All hail Moyism!

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

LOL at ‘my misfortune is that I have only known happiness’. ‘I have always wanted to be a tragic heroine’ FTW. And the swimsuit fanservice wasn’t very fanservicey – by today’s standards or even compared to back then in the ancient times? Or have I just been spoiled by memories of SHUFFLE?

EP-11: Finding Yourself in a ‘Routine Plot’ New Chulip, new artillery type weapon in the Kursk industrial area. Nadesico’s long range attack goes awry, surprise surprise; switching tack to a ground assault by the Aestis who are faced by that old 20th C favourite, the tank. Akito learns the value of comradeship.

Though he doesn’t seem to have fully absorbed the discipline required to be a good pilot. Gah, I really hate those supokon types that just get by with guts and passion – go and get killed on your own already and don’t drag down the rest of the team! Akito (eats the curry from Ryoko): ‘This is delicious!’ Ryoko: ‘Of course, you cooked it, you dummy!’ LOL

EP-12: Those ‘Unforgettable Days’ Friendly fire against the UEAF by Nadescio and its Aestis is traced to the ship’s computer Omoikane. Akito and gang battle to save the ship’s consciousness through an extremely cute graphical-VR interface.

Lovely Ruri-centred episode, the second of three in the series. She gets such good lines, like the opening when she described how the Jovians targeted the Nadesico in battle like they were responsible for murdering the Jovians’ parents and her wake up your idea line to Akito about self and belonging.

EP-13: There is No Single ‘Truth’ Erina Won tries to recruit Akito for Nergal’s organic boson jump experiments after he is dismissed from the now-militarised Nadesico. After turning his back on her and Inez, he returns to use Chulip Crystals to save his friends from the enemy… whose mecha has a cockpit filled with Gekiganger merchandise.

EP-14: Let’s Go with ‘Hot-Blooded Anime” A recap episode running thematically rather than strictly chronologically. And featuring the Gekiganger gang watching Nadesico as an anime.

Ah, reminded of Naze Nani Nadesico (The Why and What of Nadesico) and how we’ve seen homages to it in Naze Nani Mai HiME or whenever any anime has an explanation interlude.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.