mDuo13.com - Recent Blog Posts

End of Season Review Flood Part 4: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei

October 04, 2009, 12:20pm

For the next installment in my (perhaps poorly-named) End of Season Review Flood, I visit the OVA third season of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, titled Rei. Technically it's not a part of this season (having started some time ago) but being as the last episode finally came out around the same time, I'm gonna throw it in anyway. Oh, and as an aside, I just realized that I forgot to include "viewing considerations" sections in the previous reviews of this batch, so I've gone back to add those.

End of Season Review Flood Part 3: CANAAN

October 03, 2009, 04:55pm

Though there was a bit of a delay, my journey to review recently-ended anime continues with CANAAN, an anime adapted from part of well-received-in-Japan-but-never-translated Wii visual novel 428. While 428 as a whole is produced by studio Chunsoft, CANAAN is based on a section within the game created by TYPE-MOON founders Kinoko Nasu and Takeuchi Takashi. As you might guess from my current website design, I've been a dedicated fan of TYPE-MOON since 2002 anime Shingetsutan Tsukihime. As such, I've been looking forward to CANAAN since it was announced, even before I had the faintest idea what it was about.

End of Season Review Flood Part 2: Spice and Wolf II

October 01, 2009, 08:35pm

For the second part of my anime review bonanza, I'm hitting a series I actually enjoyed: Firefox 2.0 anime Spice and Wolf II, the continuation of the surprisingly good 2008 medieval economics fantasy plus wolf-girl romance series.

End of Season Review Flood Part 1: Shangri-La

October 01, 2009, 06:50pm

In the past week, most of the things I've been following have ended, so I can finally get around to authoritatively reviewing them. The first on this list is Shangri-La, an anime that spiked my hopes, trashed them, and then dragged them through the dirt. I loved to hate this show and the only way I can justify having watched all 24 putrid episodes is so that no one can gainsay me on this review with empty promises that "it gets better".

Kanji Again: Town Edition

September 29, 2009, 04:42pm

Today's 3 new kanji all sorta go together:

道 - michi, dou - "street" as in 歩道 (sidewalk), 坂道 (hill road), 剣道 (kendo). Or any art ending in -do.
駅 - eki - "train station" as in 駅 (train station), 各駅停車 (all-stops train), 駅員 (station worker).
店 - mise, ten - "shop" as in 喫茶店 (coffee shop), 店員 (shopworker), 商店街 (shopping mall).

By the way, I'm keeping track of my goals on a dedicated kanji page.

Kanji Update

September 28, 2009, 06:04pm

This is just a quick update to say that I haven't forgotten about the fact that I'm studying kanji. I have been slacking a bit (I blame Spiritsnare for that) but I'm going back to looking up, practicing, and blogging about the kanji I'm learning, starting now. To start, 6 kanji I knew but needed to really clarify and define:

Review: Chi's Sweet Home

September 13, 2009, 03:11pm

Yesterday I finally finished watching Chi's Sweet Home, a series of 104 three-minute-episodes by Madhouse about a kitten who gets adopted by an ordinary Japanese family in an apartment complex that doesn't allow pets.

Hot Cooking with Hatsune Miku

August 30, 2009, 09:33pm

Today I was left to fend for myself for dinner (usually I either eat out with friends, eat at work, or eat my mom's cooking) and had planned on getting a delicious, spicy, and relatively healthy falafel sandwich at the famous Falafel Drive-In, but when I got there around 6:45, I found that on Sundays it closes at 6. That being the case, my Plan B was to visit Safeway (which is directly on the way back from Falafel Drive-In) and pick up something to make. I wandered around the store for a while, eventually deciding to boldly cook without a recipe. I picked some ingredients I liked, popped in the CD Re:MIKUS by livetune ft. Hatsune Miku, and set to work. The result, while not perfect by any means, fit my criteria nicely: spicy, not horribly unhealthy, and tasty.

Testo

August 27, 2009, 11:46am

Talking with my friend Dakanya for the first time in a while, I heard that he's been studying for the JLPT2 in December, which is a pretty lofty goal. It does, however, make me feel like I should at least be aiming at something. I had planned on taking the JLPT anyway; I just needed to decide on what level. Being as Appu passed JLPT4 last year and I at least feel like I know more Japanese than he does, the JLPT3 should be within my reach. I just have to learn something like 300 kanji...

Maxed Out

August 25, 2009, 01:02am

So today on my way home from work I stopped at SVGL, where I was planning on meeting Spiritsnare for some DJ Max Technika. As it turns out, he was at dinner so I had the machine to myself. I figured I'd play a game or two and wait for him to come back; Matt's an abnormally fast eater, after all. Well, something like 8 games later, neither he nor anyone else wanting to use the Technika machine was on the premises, and it had gotten quite dark. I was riding home, so I left (and made great time, taking a trip that normally costs me an hour in 45 minutes flat), but not before beating Stop, Blythe, and a few other things. I planned on throwing some money in the Pop'n machine, too, but that didn't happen. As it was, I'm nearly too tired to blog about today's kanji.

車 - kuruma, sha - "car" as in 車 (car), 自転車 (bicycle), 救急車 (ambulence).
学 - gaku, mana - "science" as in がっこう (school), 科学者 (scientist), 学ぶ (learn), 学生 (student), or just as a suffix meaning the study of (e.g. 文学, literature).
教 - kyou, oshi as in 教会 (church), 教える (teach), 仏教 (Buddhism). This one looks kinda hard. I'm gonna have to study it more when I'm more awake.

But as I can barely keep my eyes open as it stands, it's goodnight for now.