Vegeta, what does the Scouter say about how many episodes it has?

Sorry, still don’t have the money to get new stuff to review. I may dig into my archives, but I don’t have any really recent stuff. I’m currently pretty addicted to Chibi Vampire, but they took that off of OneManga… >_> meanies at Tokyopop.

So, instead of writing about the fine details of what I’m reading (don’t feel like that yet, I want that to be GOOD) I’m going to rant about something that bothers me about anime. Going way too far. Some series just don’t know when to quit, and by the time they DO quit, their core fan base has already lost interest. It drives me mad how so many anime do this. Although it may seem like a smart business move to keep going as long as it makes money, it ruins a show’s memorability if it stays beyond its welcome. For example, Pokemon. That’s been going on for as long as the energizer bunny. And it keeps going and going and going and going…..

Seriously, I prefer to think of a series as “dude, that was awesome, I want more” than “meh, it was going downhill since the third season.” Case in point: I always talk about how freaking awesome the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya is, and that was only fourteen episodes… of AWESOME! If a series leaves a lasting impression on you, you don’t need to make it last forever. Also, if you need more episodes, don’t put in 100+ filler… just go on hiatus for crying out loud! Build some hype!

Be a Man, Read Shoujo

Let’s get down to business…you’re a sad pathetic lot, and you haven’t’ got a clue…

-Li Shang, Mulan.

In today’s society, men hang on to being a man just for the sake of it. This is however, quite pointless, as in this day and age, the traits we associate with “manliness” are quite worthless. So why do we hang onto them? I believe the reason is that most men are under the impression that their reproductive organs will shrink off and disappear if they perform an act they consider “unmanly” Pitiful, really.

However, I think it takes a high degree of manliness to read Shoujo comics. True, the term pretty much translates to “girl’s comics,” however, that should not stop anybody. A true man cannot be brought down, and would be invulnerable to the damage it would cause lesser men. Many will run in an attempt to preserve their manliness, however, I find it much more effective to plow right through them, and assimilate all of the wonderful, uber-cute goodness. Why, the only reason I’m writing this is because I ran out of shoujo to read. Trust me, you’ll still be a man afterwards. Actually, you’ll have proven yourself to be more of a man. Really, what better way to prove your manliness than to retain it through a great amount of girliness?

But wait, before you go delve into the uber-cute world of shoujo, please understand that there is more to it than proving youre manliness. Indeed, it is more important that you ENJOY this. Ah yes, the important part, and the main reason we read manga. So how do you enjoy this? Well, you start slowly…. You can’t just dive into the most cutesy shoujo first! You have to build up your defenses, acquire taste. A great place to start would be Vampire Knight, a story about a school… that is hiding a den of Vampires. Because, as we all know, everything is better with vampires, and shoujo is no exception. Then you can work you’re way in, and try some less masculine stuff. Eventually, you’ll be reading through Fruits Basket and everything Shoujo Beat puts out like it’s nothing. And you’ll still be a man. I do this, and I’m still capable of weight lifting and other manly activities. Also, I still enjoy manly stuff like GTO and Claymore. You’ll have an entire new terrain to explore, and you may even enjoy it!

In conclusion, if you want to prove that you’re a real man, go pick up some Shoujo.

Dude, you're paying too much for anime

I’m sure we’ve all noticed how overpriced anime seems. But what can you do about it? PLENTY! You see, the prices are only like this because this model of sales is working. And that’s the beauty of democracy. If the people do not like something, they can change it. However, all of the people have to band together to change it.

People wonder where I got my freaking MASSIVE anime/manga collection. This is there for two reasons. One, because I used to be a retailer, and got massive discounts. The other is because I am resourceful. Even before I was a retailer, I KNEW where to get the best prices. And that’s what I am going to share today. How YOU can get the right prices for your anime/manga.

Stall Tactics: One of my personal favorites. To do this, I go to RightStuf and look at their sales. And I only buy stuff that is on sale. Thanks to my membership, I get an additional 10% off, plus their 30-40% off sale price. One week, Tokyopop’s stuff is on sale. So I ONLY buy Tokyopop’s stuff. I got like, 8 books for 55$ That’d cost you about 88$ at Borders normally, thanks to tax. With that 33$, you could buy MORE MANGA! You can even do this at Borders if you’d like. Just buy tons of Manga when their stuff is discounted. Often Borders does buy 4 get one free sales. So, instead of going berserk every week, try saving your money, and going berserk once per month or so. You’ll be amazed at how much stuff you’ll get. This leads me to my next tactic, often used in conjunction with this one.

MASSIVE COMBOS: Y’know when you play an RPG, how effective it is when you stack status effects on your opponents? Like in Pokemon, if you use Toxic and then Confuse Ray? This concept also applies to real life. For example, when I’m shopping at Rightstuff, I’ll only buy things that are discounted, and then use my membership to get an extra 10% off. However, I also get free shipping when I buy 50$ or more…. So I always do that! It’s awesome, and you should be doing it too. Another example is, when Borders holds a buy 4 get 1 free sale, that’s when I go in with my stack of coupons. I once got two volumes of Death note for six dollars! What does this tell us? Don’t just use one discount source; pull as many as you can together.

You don’t need a PhD in Economics to pull this off. Heck, you can do this with money you made mowing the lawn, if that’s your thing. However, if all you do is go berserk on the manga section, you’ll never get all the manga you want. Stay back, and plan a massive combo, and watch as you get all the manga you want. I do it, you should do it, and if we al did it, we could increase demand for anime/manga, and force the prices down a bit. Hey, I don’t want “too expensive” to be a valid excuse for ANYBODY!

Related articles:
Obtaining  anime for good prices (legally)
Obtaining anime cheap and legal Part II
Anime Companies are a bunch of Whiners (I'm looking at you Bang! Zoom)

Chibi Vampire first glance

(Note, I've only read about volume 1-3 at the current time)

Well, I got started on Chibi Vampire. I was a bit exited about this manga ever since I read the first volume in the bookstore.

Anyhow, This is the chronicle of a moe-packed high schooler, who is a vampire. Well, actually, she’s not much of a vampire. Instead of sucking blood, she creates mass quantities of blood, and it squirts out of her nose at high velocities unless she bites somebody and injects it into them. So she's more of a bizarro-vampire. Her parents are very concerned about this abnormality. I may have more of an opinion as I dlve further into this, but I’ve only read a couple of volumes so far.

If you want a cutesy shoujo series with vampires in it, this will be your thing. If you firmly believe that vampires are serious business, go elsewhere.

This reviewer gives his seal of approval.

Overview of the manga I'm reading

Let’s see, I’ve been reading a few manga, and just ordered more. Here’s an overview of what I think:

Vampire Knight: Reminding us how sexy bloodsucking is. This is a drama by Matsuri Hino, about a school that is hiding a group of vampires, and helping your best friend hide the fact that he is slowly turning into a raging monster. A look into the psychological phenomena of vampirism and how it affects the victims thought process. A bit dark, but the writing is fantastic. Definitely a page turner, with a great cast. Pick it up and start reading it if you like vampires, drama, or shoujo.

Great Teacher Onizuka: This book is about the best teacher ever. Never before has teaching been portrayed in such a positive light, nor has the job involved so much violence. This is likely due to the fact that most teachers are not ex-biker gang leaders, who are not capable of taking several bullets, rescuing the head of administrations daughter, and still being able to finish a test. Along with various gang activities, our hero gets to put up with unbearable students (and fellow teachers) who will stop at no means to get him fired. I’m enjoying this one, as it’s goofy, exiting, and inspiring at the same time. Although some of the humor is a bit digusting, it’s still a great action series.

Magical Sensei Negima: Onizuka really had to put up a fight for title of “most epic teacher ever” Here we have Ken Akamatsu’s latest work, in case you haven’t had enough fanservice yet. But… when he gets serious, he is a top notch writer. Apparently he fits in better as an action writer than a romance writer, based on his performance here. This book manages to fit in EVERYTHING except pirates and zombies, and still make sense. C’mon, this series features a vampire teamed up with a robot. Anyway, this series is about a ten year old wizard prodigy who was sent to Japan to complete his final test: Being an English teacher at an all-girls middle school. Yeah, that took a while to sink in. It’s over the top, it’s funny, it has way too many pantyshots, and is a great showing of what Ken Akamatsu could do. NOTE: Please don’t worry about the first two volumes. I know the author manages to make this kinkier than Love Hina (MADNESS) however, at the third volume, it actually kicks into gear. Around volumes 4-7, it kicks into gear.

Chibi Vampire/Midori Days: I read the first volumes, but the stores will not get them in.

More later… School Rumble, Claymore, Fruits Basket +Anima. Also, I put some reviews on my Myspace a while ago if you’re looking for suggestions.

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=148715285

I’ll be moving that blog here.

Introduction

Here I am, a bored college student/roleplayer looking for attention. And what better way to get attention than by starting a blog? Yeah, I do plan to put ads up here to make extra money, but ads aren’t nearly as annoying as people say they are. Besides, people have come up with scripts to prevent ads, so quit whining!

Anyhow, welcome to my blog. I’m a Dungeons and Dragons gook. I love comic books, and I enjoy anime. I plan to review comic books, and post some of my Dungeons and dragons work here. So, if you’re looking for some campaign ideas, or a place to discuss your own, go right ahead. Just give credit where credit is due.

Also, I highly encourage arguing over here. Seriously, it keeps all of us sharp. Just come with a solid argument, or constructive criticism, not just “ur gay”