June 23-08

Blood+ was in the end a typical action anime- some good parts saturated in a lot of common stuff. I especialy hated how the creators gave certain characters lengthy speeches on friendship/life/hope (especially Kai). Very much like naruto/bleach in that aspect.

On another note Tokko is turning out to be surprisingly good. It's more realistic and fast paced. Just hope that Black Cat will be as good.


Watching:

Tokko (4)
Kyouran Kazoku Nikki (8)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (11)
xxxholic: Kei (11)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Shounen Onmyouji (25)
Bleach (174)
Clannad (22)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (20)



Just Watched:

Blood+
Tactics
Baccano!


Watch list:

Shakugan no Shana II
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- (season 2)
Black Lagoon 2
Full Metal Panic! TSR

Tower of Druaga - the Aegis of Uruk
Myself, Yourself
ef - a tale of memories
Black Cat
Monster
Dr. Gray Man
Maid Guy

6-20-08

Watching:

Blood+ (48)
Tactics (24)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (10)
xxxholic: Kei (11)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Shounen Onmyouji (25)
Bleach (174)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (20)

6-19-08 List

Watched:

Air
Black Lagoon
Bleach: Memories of Nobody
Claymore
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Chobits
Darker Than Black
Death Note
Elfen Lied
Fruits Basket
Full Metal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
Full Metal Panic!
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
Ghost Hound
Ghost Hunt
Ghost in the Shell (movie)
Ghost in the Shell: Innocence (2ed movie)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2
Gunslinger Girl
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni kai
Hotaru no Haka (Grave of the Fireflies)
Hunter x Hunter
Hunter x Hunter: OVA 1
Hunter x Hunter: OVA 2 Greed Island
Hunter x Hunter: OVA 3 Greed Island Final
Initial D: First Stage
Initial D: Second Stage
Initial D: Extra Stage
Jigoku Shoujo
Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori
Kaibutsu Ōjo
Kanon
Kaze no Stigma
Kekkaishi
Lucky Star
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Naruto
Rozen Maiden
Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei
School Rumble
School Rumble Ni Gakki
Seta no Hanayome
Serial Experiments Lain
Shakugan no Shana
Sola
Spirited Away (movie)
Welcome to the NHK
xxxholic

6-17-08

Watching:

Blood+ (45)
Tactics (24)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (10)
xxxholic: Kei (11)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Shounen Onmyouji (25)
Bleach (174)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (20)



Just Watched:

Black Lagoon



Watch List:

Maid Guy

Watch list:

Shakugan no Shana II
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- (season 2)
Shakugan no Shana 2
Black Lagoon 2
Full Metal Panic! TSR

Tower of Druaga - the Aegis of Uruk
Myself, Yourself
ef - a tale of memories
Black Cat
Monster
Dr. Gray Man
Maid Guy



On Hold:

Tsubasa Chronicle (46)
Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (63)
Return of the Condor Heroes (14)

Manga

School Rumble 271

Anime 6/1/08

Watching:

Tactics (22)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (8)
xxxholic: Kei (8)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Shounen Onmyouji (24)
Bleach (168)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (20)


Just Watched

Black Lagoon


Manga

School Rumble 271

Anime: 5-27-08

Watching:

Black Lagoon (10)
Tactics (22)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (8)
xxxholic: Kei (6)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Shounen Onmyouji (24)
Bleach (168)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (20)



Just Watched:

Claymore
Kaze no Stigma
Chobits
Ghost Hound
Ghost Hunt
Spirited Away
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Gunslinger Girl
Shakugan no Shana
Darker Than Black



Watch list:

Tower of Druaga - the Aegis of Uruk
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- (season 2)
Blood+
Shakugan no Shana 2
Myself, Yourself
ef - a tale of memories
Black Cat
Full Metal Panic! TSR
Monster
Dr. Gray Man



On Hold:

Tsubasa Chronicle (46)
Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (63)
Return of the Condor Heroes (14)

Anime May 18, 2008

Watching:

Kaze no Stigma (23)
Claymore (23)
Chobits (24)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (6)
xxxholic: Kei (5)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Shounen Onmyouji (24)
Bleach (168)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (20)



Just Watched:

Ghost Hound
Ghost Hunt
Spirited Away
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Gunslinger Girl
Shakugan no Shana
Darker Than Black



Watch list:

Tower of Druaga - the Aegis of Uruk
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- (season 2)
Blood+
Shakugan no Shana 2
Myself, Yourself
ef - a tale of memories
Black Lagoon
Black Cat
Full Metal Panic! TSR
Monster
Dr. Gray Man



On Hold:

Tsubasa Chronicle (46)
Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (63)
Return of the Condor Heroes (14)

Anime List May 10th, 2008

Notes: Code Geass is suffering dismal ratings- in general the show is still pretty good but I have yet to see an really interesting ep. xxxholic is actually becoming very interesting with the introduction of Kohane Tsuyuri- possible new romantic angle for watanuki? Watching Da Capo is like falling asleep... Shounen Onmyouji is still not subbed dispite being out for a couple weeks... sigh... anyways, I will get down to doing that air post. oh, and darker than black was surprisingly good- nice plot, gd characters, ect. funny how amber looks like CC from code geass.


Watching:

Claymore (17)
Chobits (23)
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (6)
xxxholic: Kei (5)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Shounen Onmyouji (24)
Bleach (168)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (20)



Just Watched:

Spirited Away
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Gunslinger Girl
Shakugan no Shana
Darker Than Black



Watch list:

Tower of Druaga - the Aegis of Uruk
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- (season 2)
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Blood+
Shakugan no Shana 2
Myself, Yourself
ef - a tale of memories
Black Lagoon
Black Cat
Full Metal Panic! TSR
Ghost Hunt
Monster
Dr. Gray Man


On Hold:


Tsubasa Chronicle (46)
Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (63)
Return of the Condor Heroes (14)

Anime List- 4/26/08

Finally got through this week- two essays and loads of reading.



Watching:

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (3)
xxxholic: Kei (3)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (63)
Bleach (166)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Tsubasa Chronicle (46)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (20)
Return of the Condor Heroes (14)



Just Watched:

Shakugan no Shana
Darker Than Black



Watch list:
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Claymore
Blood+
Chobits
Myself, Yourself
ef - a tale of memories
Black Lagoon
Black Cat
Full Metal Panic! TSR
Ghost Hunt
Monster
Dr. Gray Man

Anime list, 4/16/08

Really, Da Capo is nothing like Kanon at all. Air was the best, then Kanon. Da Capo is just...

Watching:

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (2)
xxxholic: Kei (1)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Katekyō Hitman Reborn! (43)
Bleach (166)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Tsubasa Chronicle (46)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (19)
Return of the Condor Heroes (14)



Watch list:

Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Claymore
Blood+
Shakugan no Shana
Chobits
Myself, Yourself
ef - a tale of memories
Black Lagoon
Black Cat
Full Metal Panic! TSR
Ghost Hunt
Monster
Dr. Gray Man






Watched:


Air
Bleach: Memories of Nobody
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Death Note
Elfen Lied
Fruits Basket
Full Metal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
Full Metal Panic!
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
Ghost in the Shell (movie)
Ghost in the Shell: Innocence (2ed movie)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni kai
Hunter x Hunter
Hunter x Hunter: OVA 1
Hunter x Hunter: OVA 2 Greed Island
Hunter x Hunter: OVA 3 Greed Island Final
Initial D: First Stage
Initial D: Second Stage
Initial D: Extra Stage
Jigoku Shoujo
Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori
Kaibutsu Ōjo
Kanon
Kekkaishi
Lucky Star
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Naruto
Rozen Maiden
Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei
School Rumble
School Rumble Ni Gakki
Seta no Hanayome
Serial Experiments Lain
Sola
Welcome to the NHK
xxxholic



On Hold/Dropped:

Rurouni Kenshin
InuYasha

Anime list- 4/12/08

Sigh, I really must get around to making tat Code Geass post. Tomorrow. For sure.

Watching:

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (1)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Bleach (166)
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Tsubasa Chronicle (46)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)
Da Capo (10)
Return of the Condor Heroes (14)
Kekkaishi (22)


Just Watched:

Kaibutsu Oujo
Death Note
Seta no Hanayome
Elfen Lied
Code Geass (rewatched)


Watch list:

Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Claymore
Blood+
Shakugan no Shana

Code Geass R2!

Woohoo! After waiting for a long time Code Geass R2 is finally here! I just watched it last night, awesome first episode though there are still too many unanswered questions for me to truely feel satisfied. I'll be bringing in a more detailed report on ep 1 this weekend since I have lots of work to do this week. Anyways, a short update on my anime list.



Watching:

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (1)
(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Bleach
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Tsubasa Chronicle
Kaibutsu Oujo (23)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)


Just Watched:

Death Note
Seta no Hanayome
Elfen Lied
Code Geass (rewatched)


Watch list:

Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Claymore
Blood+

Loyalties

Everyone should know by now the riots that happened in Tibet a few weeks ago. If you haven't, then I suggest you go and search google news for Tibet and see what comes up. In general, the whole thing started out when Chinese police forcefully dispersed a peaceful Tibetan protest in Lhasa. Since the Chinese have bullied Tibet for the last 49 years, they thought that the whole thing would just end there. But the Tibetans were fed up.

In a way that incident was perhaps the straw that broke the camel's back. After suffering half a century of oppression, Tibetans finally lost their patience with the Chinese and began to riot. This took the Chinese government by surprise since Tibet was peaceful for so many years, so in a way the CCP probably thought that the Tibetans were docile like sheep.

After a few news reports got out into the western media, China began a full blown damage control operation by clamping down mainly on reporters. As articles criticizing China over Tibet began to appear in the international media, China clamped down even tighter on Tibet and the surrounding areas, sending in thousands of armed soldiers. By then, the Chinese government had perfect control over the flow of information out of Tibet

In a bid to rebut criticism over Tibet, China then attempted to take the moral high ground by allowing Xinhua (a Chinese media group) to broadcast media reports on the Tibet situation. This was done because Xinhua is the mouthpeice for the Chinese government- thus it's broadcasts are massively skewed towards the CCP. By releasing selected footage and information regarding Tibet, the Chinese government then attempted to repaint Tibet in a new light.

The Tibetans were shown as brutal rioters, while the Chinese police and military were shown as heros that protected ordinary civilians from the Tibtans. For example, Chinese police "rescued" (by force) groups of tourists from Lhasa in order to insure the tourists' safety. More like they wanted to maintain a tight grip on information regarding the developments in Tibet in my view.

Now let's review what we know so far...

1. Tibetans rioted after a peaceful demostration was broken up.
2. Ascess to Tibet was off limits to most forigners and reporters.
3. There was almost no information regarding the developments in Tibet for many days.
4. After the long silence from Tibet, official news reports were released by Xinhua.
5. Xinhua news agency is the official press agency of China.
6. All of the reports by Xinhua had a very negative view point towards the Tibtans.
7. Much of the footage were inflantory and negatively pictured the Tibtans- images such as a group of Tibtans beating a Chinese man.
8. Foreign/independent sources have not been allowed into Tibet to independently verify the situation.

Given these facts, and if we do some very basic critical thinking, all of that points to the fact that the Chinese government is trying to fight a propaganda war against the people that criticize it over the Tibet situation.

Funny thing is, many overseas Chinese have come out in the past few weeks and voiced their support for the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Here's a short article regarding a pro-China rally in Toronto by Chinese there.

The Taipei Times ran a longer article on the pro-China rallies today. Although this is a very serious affair, I couldn't help but chuckle at some of the quotes in it by the overseas Chinese students. Here's a quote that I just found really ironic.

"Imagine everyday you open the news and it's all saying bad and biased words
towards your motherland: crackdown, killing, burning," Liu Yang, a graduate
student in biology at the University of Chicago, said in an e-mail.
"I don't understand, they struggle for press freedom and fairness, but why would they lose their conscience now?" she wrote. "Isn't the media independent, instead of
being a mouthpiece?"

Wow. Indeed Miss Liu. I really loved her last line though- "isn't the media independent, instead of being a mouthpiece?" Sure, so I guess Xinhua isn't the CCP's official media agency then? So if Xinhua is reporting the truth, then it must mean that all the western/independent media are lying to us! Ah, I knew it- it's a conspiracy!

Moving on, the article contians another interesting (but less funny) quote.

Yao, 22, is a Chinese-born computer engineering student at Canada's Simon Fraser
University. He has lived in the US and Canada since age 10, but says his loyalties lie with China.
He plans to return after his graduation.

Picture this- someone raised in a generally democratic society says that his loyalties lies with a dictorial regime. People like Yao are a danger to the nation's that they are living in. In the last few years, the Chinese have been gathering intelligence through the use of "guan-xi," or relations. If Yao was in a position of power, he would easily and willingly transfer secrets to the Chinese. And I'm not just talking about government/military secrets. This also applies to industrial secrets, corporation secrets and such.

Anyways, it's amazing to see how Chinese students, who are supposedly more educated and thus more open and critical of China, to come out an express that they feel that China is right to interfere in Tibet. Sigh. China will never change.

Anime List- 3/29/08

I've decided to include the episode number that I last watched in my "watching" section. This will help me to pick up right from the episode that I last watched.

BTW, since Code Geass R2 comes out on April 8th, I've rewatched the entire first series in order to be familiar with the plot. Hopefully R2 will live up to it's expectations. Anyways, I can't wait for it.

Also, on another note I've been planning to start a anime review section on this blog. However this is just something that I'm considering- nothing has been set into stone yet. Maybe I'll do a short post on Code Geass for fun.

Anyways spring break is almost over (sigh), meaning that I'm starting to regret how I've spent my time. Anyways I ought to go and finish off Seta no Hanayome before Code Geass comes out.


Watching:

(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (7)
Death Note (30)
Seta no Hanayome (23)
Bleach
Baccano! (12)
Clannad (22)
Tsubasa Chronicle
Kaibutsu Oujo (1)
Ai Yori Aoshi (20)

Just Watched:

Elfen Lied
Code Geass (rewatched)

Watch list:

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
Claymore

Anime list- 3/25/08

Since it's finally spring break I plan on watching as much anime as possible. I really should finish a few anime that I've already started instead of beginning new ones.


Watching:

Death Note
Seta no Hanayome
Bleach
Baccano!
Clannad
Tsubasa Chronicle
kaibutsu oujo

Just Watched:

Rozen Maiden
Initial D: First Stage
Initial D: Second Stage
Initial D: Extra Stage
Fruits Basket


Watch List:

(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)

Anime List- 3-19-08

Watching:

Death Note
Seta no Hanayome
Bleach
Baccano!
Clannad
Tsubasa Chronicle


Just Watched:

Rozen Maiden
Initial D: First Stage
Initial D: Second Stage
Initial D: Extra Stage
Fruits Basket


Watch List:

(Zoku) Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2
Rozen Maiden Traumend (season 2)
Gunslinger Girl
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)

Worries and dreams

Well at last I'm done with my finals. The microeconomics final was easier than I expected, however there was one or two problems that I wasn't sure of. Then the game design final was a joke. That said I did not fool around with it since it's worth like 20% of my grade. Anyways that's that.

Moving along... the Taiwan elections are really starting to make me worry. I'm not too hopeful of Hsieh's chances at this point. I mean, I do think he has a reasonable shot at the presidency but I think that Ma still holds a slight edge over him. My view on this however, may be somewhat off due to the fact that I am not currently there as well as that most of my information on how the election has been going has come from media sources- sources that often quote the latest polls by KMT affiliated media such as TVBS, Chung Tian, China Times, and the United Daily News. Seriously guys, if your writing an article for some foreign newspaper please don't quote the poll figures given by those KMT media. Anyways, it's just really disapointing at seeing how eagerly the foreign media write of a potential Ma victory. For example, here's an article from Bloomberg titled, "Taiwan's Ma May Win Election, Boosting Markets, Investec Says." Lovely. Then would a potential side article be titled, "Taiwan's Hsieh May Win Election, Lowering Markets, Investec Says"?

However, there has been a few bright spots in this campaign for the DPP. Yesterday, in order to appear patriotic to Taiwan as well as being a man of principle, Ma said that he would consider boycotting the Beijing 2008 Olympics if the crackdown in Tibet continued. Sounds eloquent, huh? But Hsieh came out today in this interview and literally dissected Ma's statement.

Hsieh's also started to make his presence felt on TV by putting up a few new commercials. Although Hsieh doesn't have the funds to air them as often as Ma does, I think that Hsieh's TV ads are better designed as they are succinct and straight forward.

Newsflash! KMT lawmakers invades Hsieh HQ

I was up all night finishing my ethnographic project, and then finally finished at 6 in the morning. Since it was already morning, i decided to forgo any sleep and read the news instead. Imagine my surprise at the news in Taiwan of how four KMT lawmakers forced their way in side Frank Hsieh's headquarters on an "inspection tour" before being surrounded by a crowd of DPP supporters.

Here's the story on all the ruckus from the Taipei Times. Funny thing is that the KMT lawmakers are actually suing Frank Hsieh's staff- yes you heard that right- the KMT lawmakers are suing the people at the Hsieh HQ for...

1.Obstruction of freedom
2.Obstruction of duty
3.intention to harm
4.mis-sue by the Hsieh camp.

After bulling their way into their Hsieh's HQ, the KMT lawmakers then engaged into a verbal spar with the Hsieh staff. Hsieh's staff then called the police, and as the news spread people began to gather at the Hsieh HQ. This resulted in a violent clash between the folks outside and the cops. Thankfully no one was seriously injured. Imagine if Taiwan had no gun laws at all... then we would probably have had something from the matrix. Hmmm that would be kinda cool in a way though.

One word to sum it up folks.... LOL. And a sigh. You know, living in Taiwan is really like living in a soap opera- theres always something dramatic happening on this small lovely island.