First off, i'd like to thank dom for stepping in last night. I was really stressin over things, and even though Shirt Guy Dom stick figure days are a symbol of all that is wrong with the world (and california), it made me feel a little better and a little less down. Thanks dom.

One of the problems with all the stuff thats been goin on lately (lately being, what, about a year?) is that the nature of the rants changed over time. At first, they were supposed to be a small, three times per week commentary about whatever was on our minds at the time - a braindump, of sorts. Unfortunately, I got into the habit of writing rants sporatically, and as a result they started to get overly long and overly serious. I've spent far too much time whining about things. When's the last time i talked about what anime or manga i was into? Yeah, i know...

I think i take MT way too seriously sometimes. It's like this odd paradox of dissatisfaction and joy with the damn thing that has my poor inept little brain feeling like a little bunny rabbit struck stiff with fear and terror while dodging Semis and Buicks during rush hour.

Chill time is important, and i think my biggest problem lately is, well... i havent had any. It's my fault, really - i commit to too many things, and sacrifice in the only area that i have availible to sacrifice - chill time and sleep. I don't mind not having chill time. Its when you get overtired AND don't have any chill time... thats what leads to crashes like last night. I need to start takin better care of myself. :(

Anyways, i know for a fact that a lot of you are sick of listening to me whine (too bad - my rant space, my whine space ... it's all part of the package :P) On to other things.

Today i was looking for a copy of DJ Shadow's disk 'endtroducing', which unfortunately borders didn't have, but i picked up 'preemtive strike' instead. Gotta tell you, if you are interested in some really thoughtful, casual, chill down music, get one of these disks. It's classic stuff, and i should have picked it up ages ago. If you listen to DJ's Afternoon nap at all, you'll definately like em.

Music and moods are funny things. They tend to support each other. I really dont know why sometimes i am in the mood for downtempo tunes, and sometimes for House, other times Industrial EBM, and yet others jpop, various metal stuffs... i dunno. I was listening to DJ Shadow earlier, and now i'm listening to Stabbing Westward. I suppose i like the contrast. (btw, Stabbing Westward is one of my fave bands, right up there with VNV Nation).

On the anime front, i'm way behind on the shows i'm watching. If you can believe it, i STILL havent finished watching the Kanon anime - mainly beause the last batch of shows is such an emotional rollercoaster that i haven't felt i've had the time to put the emotional commitment to them yet. I've been entertaining myself with Pitaten (new anime based on the manga Pitaten by Koge Donbo, the intrepid artist behind DigiCharat - Pitaten is where the little bunny-rabbit ears piro is wearing and Erika's current outfit comes from.) In fact, to help cheer myself up this morning i watched a bit of episode four. Heh. I really wonder if its a requirement that EVERY anime have a japanese bath (onsen) scene in it at least once. :P

I've also picked up on watching Chobits. Now, i already got an email wondering if i got the idea for Ping-chan from Chobits - obviously no, because ping-chan was introduced before Chobits came out. :P Also, there are some major differences between a Personcom and an Emotional Doll System unit like ping, as you will see as the comic progresses. I have a drawing of 'pirobits' that i need to scan and post too... Piroko as a personcom... ya, i know, way too weird.

Then there is Tokyo Mew Mew. Don't ask. I'm gonna draw dom in a Mew Mew outfit. I feel this need to do this...

I've also spent a little money in bookstores recently. Since most of the little bits of time that i have are away from home and the office, i've been getting selections of translated manga to read. What's been suprising me, honestly, is how reasonably decent the TokyoPop manga translations are. I remember the horror that is thier Miracle Girls translations (i'm still mad at them for that), so my initial reaction to thier acquisition of some of my FAVORITE shoujo titles - Kaitou Saint Tail and Marmalade Boy specifically - was abject horror.

In regards to the Saint Tail DVDs, it's nice to say that my fears were unjustified. A purist could, of course, nitpick and dismiss many things in the translations, but honestly, i think they are more than fine - in fact, there is a noted improvement in the 2nd DVD that shows that someone actually gives a hoot about the production of the series :). I feel relieved that Tokyo Pop is treating the series with some of the respect it deserves.

Unfortunately the Saint Tail manga translation was started before Tokyo Pop changed its approach to printing translated collections. The translation is not bad at all, and i've been enjoying it, but i would have loved to see it treated the way all of thier new stuff is printed - unmirrored and right to left...

As most of you know, japanese is read from right to left, and all japanese books and manga start at what we consider the back of the book and read towards the left. Usually, translation requires that all the art be mirrored as part of the transformation into english. TokyoPop took the bold step of leaving the comics in thier original form, and tranlating the bubbles in thier original order... I picked up a copy of "Chobits" (great manga, definately pick it up) and one of my old nemises and favorites, "Marmalade Boy" which are in this format. I have to say, i like this format, and the translations are not bad at all.

Ah... Marmalade Boy... this series has ruined many lives. It was fun reading it again, this time in english without the help of translations. I remember Craig Nishida's translation efforts that i couldnt keep up with and the MBoy Translation Mailing List... I remember all the hard work Karen and Bruce Duffy put into fansubbing the series... and waiting desperately for new tapes... even designing tape spines for Karen to use for her distro... ah, yep. I love Marmalade Boy. i had to get away from it because it was like crack. I remember having homicidal feeelings toward certain teachers who needed to be run over by a bus several times... and a major crush on a silly character who liked to play tennis... i forgot how much MBoy influenced me. Theres more of it in Megatokyo than i realzied. God help me, i feel like pulling the fansubs out and watching them again. I'm starting to hear that Marmalade Boy song again...

ack... ok, that was close... (pulls out some :wumpscut: and Velvet Acid Christ CDs. It's the only stuff that can drive the REALLY evil stuff away. ^^;;