Sashiburi desu - It's Been A While

You know, I'm not even sure how to accurately say "Long time, no see" in Japanese, but it sure sounds like they say "sashiburi desu"; or a variation of that. I wonder what it literally translates as... See, here's where a Romanji (I don't get why people say "Romaji" since there are Roman characters and Kanji characters. It's not "Roma"; it's "Roman" o.O Besides, Romaji sounds teh ghey) - where a Romanji translator would be very handy for me. I could type in a phrase in English and get the Romanji equivalent - or at least the most popular. Gah, I need to learn the structure and the basics still ><

Aaanyway, it has been two weeks. I've just been slack with my updates. Not that much has happened, actually. I am still waiting for a letter from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Vic. As soon as I have that letter - stating my expected date of graduation next year - I will throw an essay together (which I'll inevitably post a copy of here as well) and send my completed application in. Then it's just a matter of time before I receive a response as to whether they want to continue the process. I'm confident that I will be selected, despite not yet having my degree. It isn't 100% guaranteed but there is no way I will slack off when I'm so darn close.

Animé. Well, that's one thing I haven't slacked off on. I am watching quite a few currently airing series. Thank God for fansubbing! I'm glad that there are nice people out there who record animé episodes from Japanese television (NHK I think the channel is called), and even nicer people who are able to translate for those of us unlucky enough to not yet understand what's being said...

This season, I'm watching: Bamboo Blade (not bad - I'm sure it will get good when there is some action happening; I've actually got to catch up on this as episode 4 recently finished downloading); Clannad (funny - especially when the protagonist's friend gets beaten up when he keeps picking fights with the strong girl at school - but it's also kinda serious to some degree); ef - a tale of memories (very artistic and a strange but unique idea of a twin girl whose memory only lasts for 13 hours - more on this further down); Goushuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun (very funny. I feel sorry for the main guy because of the "training" that his sister puts him and his (incredibly hawt) charge through); Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (I liked the fighting in the second episode. I have three more to watch to catch up. Not finding it interesting enough to bother right now); Night Wizard (a very cool mahou -magic - modern fantasy. The idea of finding the seven coloured gems for the bracelet reminds me of collecting the dragonballs in DBZ. Nice effects); Prism Ark (only seen one episode but I like it. It's another mahou fantasy animé with some pretty hardcore looking cuties); Suteki Tantei Labyrinth (interesting mystery / thriller animé).

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that anyone is continuing to fansub Prism Ark or Suteki Tantei Labyrinth. They both seem pretty good and I hope that more episodes comes out. I am also watching a series from last season, Seirei no Moribito - as I mentioned in my other animé post. It's incredibly well detailed and has a fantastic story so far. Very impressed with it and will continue watching right through to the end. Of course, I'm still watching Naruto Shippuuden and keeping up to date with that, and am slowly catching up with Bleach. I'm at about episode 103, so am nearing the end of the Bounto arc. Episode 146 is the latest.

I was going to elaborate on ef - a tale of memories. I'm not going to go further into the storyline, as so far not much has really happened. But I like the idea behind it, and I especially like the stylistic elements of this series. What I wanted to say is that I recognised the voices of two of the male seiyu (Japanese voice actors), both of whom are "main" characters (the story follows different people that are interconnected in various ways, so I'm not sure there is any such thing as a main character. If there was, it would be Chihiro, since she is the girl whose memory only lasts for 13 hours due to an accident four years previous).

Hirono Hiro 広野 紘 is voiced by Shimono Hiro 下野 紘 (who incidentally is the same age as me ^^). I recognised his voice as that of Kamina Ayato in RahXephon. Asou Renji 麻生 蓮治 is voiced by Takagi Motoki 高城 元気, who did Raki from Claymore. I guess I was just impressed that despite not knowing the names of these seiyu previously, I did pick up other characters' voices they did that are known to me. I think Takagi-san has a very distinct voice and that I could recognise it anywhere.

Well, that was just a little bit of trivia that's of personal interest to me. I will keep watching and enjoying these animé series as I await a response regarding my JET application for next year ^.^

Timotheos