It's not Fallen Angel Flonne, but oh well.

Happy Flonne. My new near-Summer wallpaper. Makes me smile every damn time I minimize everything to the Desktop. Also one of the select few pictures of the second batch that I'm truly happy with, the rest violate some of my minor tenants of picture choice but are well enough done for me to have said "aw hell" and saved anyways.

I'm fairly certain Diana is convinced I don't know how to navigate, but in my defense I only got lost twice, and both times it was because the lovely state of California decided that labeling cross streets wasn't a necessity so I don't find myself to be the guilty party here.

Okay, so the 90 minutes of packaging has set my schedule back a great deal, but I'm going to publish this regardless of what else ends up being poured into it. And I'll be damned if Flonne there doesn't cheer me up every time (that's the heart of a good wallpaper right there).

Not gonna blog California yet, though I have more of a weekend than I'm accustomed to and I've already burned most of the anime resevoir (I'll have to flip a coin to figure out what series dies off to make room for a Gurren Lagoon marathon in week or so, but till then I'm kinda low) since my return on Thursday. So just a few quick thoughts based on another 1-2 episodes (depending on if I read Jiaz's posts on the topics or not) of the series.

Idolmaster -- I really just want the records to show I made my post before Lawson made his. Other than that, I stand by my thoughts and I'll probably stick with this one till the end. I survived Tokyo Majin GK and that got pretty bleh after the inital awe value, plus I've still got hope, despite the addition of the twins.

Hayate -- I figured it out. Aside from the fact that it's a readily available show that is pretty easy to watch, this show is my Negima?! replacement. It's my supply of girl antics despite all other context, and it's not even very good at that. Negima?! really needs some more subs out, cause I enjoyed that. Hayate is just weak gags and a cast that is, for the most part, even weaker. I cannot believe they made a failure of a choker. That's a primary moe-element and I would've thought it impervious to fail, how wrong I was.

Lucky Star -- Lucky Star is awesome, Lucky Channel is not, the ED stuff is really hit or miss. And that's really all there is to it. Yui sucks, Tsukasa is swing, the rest are hits. It's 4Koma goodness and it fits the venue perfectly. Not a sleeper hit nor a wild success, but a solid victory with some extra polish anyways.

Darker than Black -- I wasn't kidding about the consistant cast thing folks, find one. Okay, so Hei's power is Electricity, that makes a hell of a lot of sense. Doesn't answer the Bulletproof Coat deal really, but the rest of it all falls into place now. Also, just 'cause it might scar someone else's mind I'm putting this concept out there. Could you imagine a relationship scene between Yin and Hei? Doesn't it just feel wrong mentally? Yeah, I got that stuck in my head for like 10 minutes, figured I'd share the pain.

Romeo x Juliet -- Tybalt is awesome, I'll be sad if he dies but I sorta figure they'll keep kinda related to the script, somewhat at least. Her and Hermoine would be a great couple, since they deserve better than the fates have ordained. I want to start a betting pool if Romeo and Juliet are both gonna survive the series run. (Actually Jiaz, that'd be a good poll one day if you run out of ideas).

Claymore -- SPOLIERS! Yeah, I put that there just in case, but I figure there's no way to dance the issue with all I want to say surrounding it. I probably won't spill it blunt, but putting 2 and 2 together isn't rocket surgery.

I don't know what to say. That wasn't what I expected in the least and I'm kinda shocked. I'm impressed that they had the nerve to do that, curious and anxious of the future because of it (hell, if the 5 strongest of the organization (a bunch of fucking racist jerks~) are downed by just one of these Menos-Grande parallels than everyone's in deep trouble). I didn't like Pris from the beginning, but the other 3 were pretty cool, variety of talents, decent synergy and relational work, fleshed out pretty well, better than any other show has done in that level of time investment. I always suspected that human-Claire was going to be a Claymore, I didn't expect it to come out of this though. It doesn't answer why she's not in the OP, but it did answer the other OP-centric question regarding imagery. Since it has a class, I can't help but wonder if we'll get a few more of these, not that I want them, that'd make this into DBZ-more, and uhh, they're all blondes already.

Part of me feels ripped, the rest confused. 10% power for the eyes and held her own, or did she? Was the entire thing a ploy to get her to a point for the strike without having to unleash the inner force, or was there actually a stalemate at that power point? I really feel that there's so much that I didn't get to see in terms of capability. It's like if Byakuya showed up for the first time back when he and Renji were collecting Rukia from the real word, but instead of just severing Ichigo's spirit link he instead just went Ban-Kai and Annhilationscaped him right out of the show then and there. We knew back then that Ichigo was capable of some pretty impressive output, given his schooling of Renji, but we hadn't seen anything but the tip of the iceberg. Same deal here, except I don't think we're going to have a Sunrise styled reset or revivial. Which might be a good thing.

EDIT: I just actually made sense of the spoiler I've seen everwhere about Claymore. Holy crap. That makes a shit-ton of sense in several respects. Also. O.o Rocking...

Mai Otome Zwei -- I'm not one to reject service. But can I have some more of the gritty and serious awesome, and less of the stupidly stupid? Service is fine, sillyness is not. For example. I loved Episode 2, with the exception of the banana peel. It didn't need to be there, and it really shouldn't have. Keep the intern or the little child away from the storyboard and deliver something that people will be proud of. The show gets enough abuse for bending the rules of anime drama with non-death deaths, don't give them an easier target.

Kiddy Grade 2 -- Hell yes. And that's all there is to it. Oldschool characters in oldschool action plus a fresh and full cast complete with rivalries and powers and a grand scenario to play it all out under.

Next time, California and the PSP game highs and lows (plus probably Odin Sphere, it looks amusing).

Edit's Edit: Fixed the spacing...go figure.

Scheduling Conflicts

And to think, I could've used a Cinqo de Mayo title.

I would have much rather have had a post last weekend to seperate what will now become back to back anime posts (the opening outlook of episode 2 and the deeper look of the episode 4), though since I'll have all of last week's stuff as well, perhaps it won't be as bad as I could fear.

As for last week, for those who don't know, I spent the entirity, or at least the overwhelming majority of the 5 hour reprieve from standard existence granted by my dead-as-all-get-out weekend job crafting a masterpiece of a Disgaea 2 self-reference sheet. Two pages laid back to back and laminated for my utilization as I climb the game's tiers. The link for those poor souls who might be interested. I'm sorta proud of it.

Speaking of Disgaea 2, Ian's started it up as well, he's got a bit more class diversity, and is already figuring out that the Geomancer class is a ton better than I give it credit. Decent caster with high Int / Res and immediate access to Star and Healing magic, with a plethora of abilities to ease and enchance Item World, totally awesome. As for myself I'm sitting in Chapter 1 of Cycle 2, just spinning my wheels trying to unlock LoC before I go and rip apart all of the Extra Stages available at the start, then tearing through for the end set of Extra Stages and Dark World completion.

The Slug, Beastmaster, Mage Knight, and Healer all hit their 6th tier, joining my Thief and Warriors at the top evolution. I finially promoted my Skull up to Prism so he can unlock Galaxy. Sluggy holds my highest levled skill at 22 for his Lightning Blast, since there's practically no reason to not use it. Ares is at some 240K odd hp at just under level 800. Did 100 floors of a Legendary Subpoena, ended up getting Ninja, Red, and Z Treasure Maps added to my collection, so I'm down to just about 3 more Pirate sets before Land of Carnage opens her gates.

Eureka Seven's last ep will be reairing today. I have no clue why the hell they cut out what they did (a few 3-5 second cuts within the episode covering stuff that was stupid -- the kids -- but also the entirity of the post-union ending involving the children and Grandpa). Actually, cutting out the kids might not have been all that bad of an idea, but I'd really prefer if they cut them out when they were annoying and ruining the show, instead of at the end where they become somewhat worthwhile. Either way, it's basically a lightshow of an anime for a finale, so worth the watch even if you've got no clue what's going on. Does emphasize one of the reasons I prefer Fan-Subs to DVD'd professionals, since I'm one of those people who has the ability to process something beyond the bland yellow text (I really think everyone does, and that arguement is a cop out on Answerman's part, but that's another story) and the fact that people (in this case Nanashi) actually translate words that aren't spoken. What a concept.

World of Warcraft has finially fallen through the cracks. With having about 2 hours a day that don't overlap with the rest of my schedule thanks to getting up earlier, going to bed sooner, and the end of my day-cycle being pushed up by later returns from work; I'm finding myself just getting what I can out of those scattered 120 minutes minus the time I need to get stuff organized for the next day.

Speaking of the job, it's pretty fun, not at all something I couldn't do, though I'm working as a QC / Tester rather than coding, which is for the best since the code system we're using as a repositoire just doesn't handle multiple editors very well, it kinda goes a bit fubar. I have an aged developer's laptop, non-reimaged, so after getting all the software I could ever possibly need I'm running about 1.5 eps worth of anime of space (not that I'd ever have anime on it, I merely find that to be a convienent unit of measure). Definately a COLA increase with my lunches, but the wages, especially on a 80 hour period instead of a 50 hour period more than accomodates that. I might have to revert to a bento or something once I get into the rhythm, but getting out of the office for lunch is sorta nice, even if it doesn't count towards my 8 hours at work.

Got my first paycheck, which started me, as I got it on a Tuesday of the week I was being paid through, not that I'm complaining, it just seemed odd to get pay for days that hadn't even occured yet.

Went with David to see Hot Fuzz last Saturday. I think that Shaun of the Dead was probably the slighty better movie, being a Zombie movie that didn't really have any down period, and a cast that was limited in scope of annoyances. That said, Hot Fuzz was still awesome, still funny, and a prime example of how to parody properly. Not quite subtle, some of it absolutely pre-alluded, but all of it very good. Their works have the feel of a series of Monty Python skecthes tied into a cohesive plot, works wonders. Running jokes and a hearty no-gag-left-behind style do wonders for the level of enjoyment I get out of it, even if some of the running jokes might level a little to be desired (MAD TV grade versus Whose's Line grade humor).

Tons of Card/Board game-age when David's around (OOTS, Hearts mainly), plus Symphony of the Night on XBOX Live Arcade (Just about done with the standard castle, though I've only got the Silver Ring, and got stuffed by Belmont the first time I visisted thanks to the Ring of Aires (Holy Water Rain for 5 * 35 on a 240 hp pool? Complete domination). Also a lot of Wario Woods, which is basically decided by whether or not my early combo goes off early enough to be a hassle and not an eventual crystal-return doom for me, and a fair deal of Wii Sports for Bowling and the occasional Baseball / Tennis. Tells me we could use a few more games in the rotation, but as the demo for whatever the hell XBox's answer to Mario Party is (I've forgotten the name), that game is annoying beyond belief, just play any game and you'll want to murder the announcer already, though that's just rationale to shut the game on mute and play the Radio / Ipod.

Speaking of musical diversions, the whole Internet Radio rate change thing has me running a little scared as DI / Pandora / Kawaii are still solid cornerstones in my musical getup, at least until I tear apart Rhapsody for the music to solidify my collection and finish the last 80% of the musical folder rebuild.

Quick fix for my desire not to back to back anime posts, run out of time and end up not making many mentions of anime. Not idealized, but works for me.