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.

On the other hand, this Zaku discovered the charms of Tama-nee, particularly from the OVA which also started me on the road towards Mentar’s Shizuka Itou Doctrine. Both of us were in agreement though in our RAWR RAWR YUKI LOVE that remains strong even though our Haruhi mania has subsided, with the tanuki even contending that Yuki represents the next higher stage of Rei Ayanami evolution.

The Hit-or-miss nature of some big BIG series also hung over us. Fate/Stay Night was good with respect to bishoujos especially Loveably Stupid Saber but failed to integrate the rich multiple story threads of the source material into a coherent whole (‘Type Moon adaptation syndrome‘) and, for this Zaku, committed the heinous sin of nerfing Rin x Saber goodness. What a waste! Especially after getting Ueda Kana, Queen of Ambiguously Bisexual Chara Voice and owner of a Cat of Pure Evil, to voice the former. The first season of Shana was rather mweh though my love for Wilhelmina (another chara voiced by Shizuka Itou) and the Shana-tan omake series will always burn strong and bright de arimasu.

Megami headlines 2007 with Lucky Star and StrikerS, two series over which the Hontou Ni team are strongly divided over. I enjoyed both series very much while Stripey managed to finish watching neither of them. Let loose accusations of ‘You’re a Sucker for Anything with even just a Hint of Yuri!’ against counter-accusations of ‘You Don’t Love Fate Anymore Because She’s No Longer Loli!’ LOL

But we also had a similar schism over School Days which I thought was brilliant in terms of overcoming Type Moon adaptation syndrome (i.e. bringing together all the different paths/ends in a smooth and coherent, if bloody, conclusion) and thoroughly enjoyed its subsequent tongue-in-cheek OVAs. In contrast, the tanuki found that the dynamic interaction of the three leads’ dysfunctionalities resulted in End of Evangelion syndrome: I Feel Sick. And an early case of PTSD too?

Having initially given Hayate no Gotoku a miss, I was lured by the charm of Katsura Hinagiku. Initially piqued by Wirhelmina and roused by Tama-nee, Hinagiku confirmed my YES! YOUR HIGHNESS! adherence to the Shizuka Itou Doctrine (i.e. any series that has a chara voiced by her is worth watching for the parts where she appears). Since then, my ears have pricked up in El Cazador de la Bruja, KimiAru, xxxHOLIC (especially the Himawari arc of Kei), Wagaya no Oinarisama and, yes, even GONZO’s BLASSREITER.

2008 has probably been more significant for what I’ve *not* been watching. Out of Megami’s list for this year, I’ve not seen Spice and Wolf, Rosario + Vampire, Kanokon, ToLoveRu etc etc. Given how much I disliked Louise after ZnT’s first season, I didn’t watch ZnT2, much less it’s third season; I’m sorry but when Louise goes into ‘inu’ mode, I don’t find it cute at all. At least in School Days, the back-and-forth emotional abuse culminates in a no-holds-barred Really Bad End rather than to try and excuse it with a lame ‘She/he actually really does love him/her.’

Nonetheless I did manage to enjoy Code Geass right to its stabby end and enjoying all the SUNRISE bishoujos. Kamen no Maid Guy was largely entertaining largely on the strengths of Kogarashi-san and Fubuki-san but I’ve been dissatisfied by how the premise (threats to Naeka’s life because of the inheritance) has hardly even figured in the first 12 episodes of this cour. And I was really surprised that I enjoyed D.C.II.S.S. – but, rest assured, my fellow Oneesama fanboys, I have not given into the Dark Side of Imotou Love for D.C.II.S.S. brought forth the charm of Oto-nee really well.

For the current season of 2008, so far the only series that has made my candidate list is Toradora! I was quite pumped up by the happiness of totali but have decided to adopt a Wait and See policy after the Kabitzin Strategic Warning System sounded an ‘inu’ alert. Nagi’s bark is, indeed, worse than her bite!

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

2002 was memorable for the lovely Ai Yori Aoshi and I tended to think of it as the Anti-Love Hina.

I could see why Onegai Teacher was popular but I didn’t care much for the lead couple and was watching it mainly for Herikawa; she lost in love but was definitely no loser. Mahoromatic 2 was sooooo bad – Blade Runner and the ageless Shikijo-sensei!? Yet one of the enduring mysteries to me is why Stripey chose Minawa’s catchphrase as the title of his blog! Chobits wasn’t bad but it is still probably my least favourite series based on CLAMP material.

2003 is apparently Megami’s Year of the Eroge conversion. After endless nagging from the tanuki, I watched D.C. Da Capo and, surprisingly, I enjoyed it. Mainly because of the vicious Sakura versus Nemu battle. LOL

And said tanuki, who apparently feels an affinity to Bakayuki, also got an earful from me when he passed me jus the first two eps of KimiNozo even though he had the whole series. What an awful prank! I pretty much love to do this to KimiNozo newbies these days too. :3

Ai Yori Aoshi – Enishi was good too – I call it the Tina season. Which is good because Tina was my favourite chara from that series.

On the yuri front, I tried to watch Ikkitousen but failed. Even though it had copious fan service yuri, the assault on my cherished memories of Romance of the Three Kingdoms was just too much. In contrast, I was confused by YamiBou but it kept well and I thoroughly enjoyed it (even though I still disliked the ending) when retro-blogging it a few years later.

2004 as the gattai of sprouting moe and burning moe. LOL reference to Mai Tokiha’s episode preview pun. Mai HiME is a series that I’ve had very mixed feelings about but have recently decided to be less grumpy about the reset ending. But also probably because of my delight at the ((( and T_____T of all the lolicons who wanted MOAR Mashiro. Yuuko Ishihara would say: ‘Your wish can be dangerous.’ Behold Mai Otome’s Mashiro in the next year! LOLOLOLOL

I can understand the reasons why Rozen Maiden and School Rumble were/are popular. I did enjoy them at the time but I never picked up Traumend and my interest in Sukuran just tailed off as I felt that the characters didn’t grow very much and their relationships didn’t develop.

In 2005, Kamichu! was pretty sweet with a great opening line and the nonchalant response. SHUFFLE! was memorable for how it threaded together a pretty medicore game into something worth watching for Miki Itou’s Onee rendition of Asa Shigure and, of course, immortalising Yuuko Gotoh‘s association with the yandere emblems of boxcutters and stirring empty pots. Shakugan no Shana will always have a place in my heart for two reasons: Shana-tan and Shizuka Itou as Wirhelmina Carmel de arimasu.

The other landmark series over these two years was, of course, Nanoha and A’s. But I didn’t actually watch it until last year, in preparation for StrikerS. I was quite surprised at how surprised some HNSO readers were that I hadn’t watched this series until then. Of course, this franchise is summarized by two words: AWESOME (jpmeyer) and YURI LOVE LOVE DESU (via Shinzantetsu). LOL

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