Exclusive Insanity

I just made a community for Sora no Kiseki (Trails in the Sky), because the fact that there wasn't one already really got to me. If I end up being the only member, so be it. But I'll promote it here even though I don't think anyone on my FL has played it.

http://soranokiseki.livejournal.com/profile

This is a random anime-viewing post, just for the hell of it.

Two more OVA episodes of Baccano to watch! I was pretty happy to find a DVD box set of the whole thing when I was at Otafest. I'm thinking I'll re-watch it in English - especially since I want to share it with a friend who has trouble reading fast enough to make subtitled anime enjoyable for her.

I'm about halfway through Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu right now. I have mixed feelings about that show, but want to see it through to the end. I'm not watching it that often at the moment, but I'll probably try to work it into my workout/viewing schedule at some point again.

When I was at Otafest, I bought a new series called Neo Angelique: Abyss, which is a reverse-harem set in a fantasy-style world. So far I've watched two episodes, and it seems like standard fair as far as reverse-harems go. It's nothing special at all, but it's not bad either, so I'll probably watch through all 12 episodes.

I've also decided to check out Durarara, so I read the 13 chapters of manga that are out. It's... a very strange series. I am currently in the process of watching the anime (one episode in). Kind of hoping it'll be as fucked up as the manga is in places, but I think they'll tone it down a bit for TV.

At some point in the last month, I watched an episode of Black Cat. Still kind of on the fence about that one, but it did look neat for a slightly older series.

I started watching Eureka 7, but only got three or four episodes in and I'm finding it kind of boring. For anyone who's seen the series, does it get any more interesting? Do the characters become less boring? Right now I'm on the verge of dropping it.

However, I am thinking of picking up Pandora Hearts again, which I had originally dropped after three episodes. I think I will give it another try. Apparently the manga is ongoing, so the anime probably diverts from it somewhere. Not really sure, though. I might try out the manga and see.

I need to finish Mouryou no Hako as well... I've probably forgotten what was even going on in that one by now. But it's too slow-paced to watch while working out, which is about the only time I watch anime any more unless Cody is watching with me. And he has zero interest in this one, so... yeah. It's been slow going.

This weekend at some point, I will probably be watching the Summer Wars movie, which is like the expanded and refined version of the second Digimon movie, Our War Game. I'm pretty psyched for that!

To go a bit off-topic... While I was out of town, I purchased a game called Trails in the Sky for the PSP. The main reason I bought it is because it is an anime-ish RPG with a female protagonist who plays as a melee. The story looked good and all, but yeah. You don't see main female melee characters that often in RPGs. I am currently addicted to this game. The story is good, the characters are fun, and I like the style of gameplay (turn-based fighting tends to be my favorite).

I especially like the feature it has where if you die in a boss battle and get a game over, it gives you the option to retry the fight instead of having to restart at your last save point (you can save anywhere outside of cut scenes and battles, which is also convenient). The best part of this feature is that it has an option that can be configured in the settings to make the fight a little bit easier each time you retry it.

For a lazy gamer like me who doesn't like grinding my characters, this option is brilliant. The fights aren't ridiculously difficult, though, so I've only had to use it three times so far. But the fact that it is there makes me feel a lot more confidant.