Spring 2011 anime - Nichijou

What the hell did I just watch? I mean that in a good way. While looking at the list of anime airing this season, I didn't see much catching my eye at first glance. I forgot what exactly drew me to giving this a try, but I eventually watched it when someone recommended it. I already had it ready to watch by that point, so I decided I'd give it a watch. The art style of it is cute, it's something I noticed within the first few minutes. I forgot  about what the description for this series even was by the time I watched it, so I was expecting..well, just an ordinary life! What I got instead was...

(On a side note, I've no idea why that youtube clip has the video mirrored, was it really like that in the subs?)

I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. It has that "lolwut" humor, but I feel it does it in a right way. It's like an ordinary slice of life on drugs. It kinda reminded me a bit of when I watched the first episode of Cromartie Highschool, though it's obviously not as manly. It's like I'm watching a normal slice of life...but tripping on acid while watching it! Okay, most of the scenes so far aren't that out there, but they do a nice job in making the strange seem completely normal.

Nichijou follows around the every day life of different people, switching between a cute loli professor with a cute robot maid, a group of friends in school, and even (what seem to be) one shot skits every now and then. In the school setting we get the three above seeming like the main trio, with a few other reoccurring faces around the school.

You will never have your prince charming ride up to you on a goat and wish you a happy new year.

Look at these eggheads, what the hell are they doing?

Then there are the (extremely cute) scenes following a cute loli professor (was her name even mentioned?) and her robot. No, seriously these two are disgustingly adorable, I could want an entire spinoff series of just these two. Hakase (I'll call the loli that for now) at first reminded me of Becky from Pani Poni Dash, maybe it's the outfit and eye color, along with hair colors that are only a bit off from one another.

From the opening of the series, there's probably a few other characters that we only received a glance of in the first episode that will get their own spotlights later on. I'll be keeping an eye on this series. I wasn't expecting it, and I'm glad it was a nice little surprise in a season where not much catches my attention at first glance. I'm not sure how popular this series is so far, but if you haven't given it a watch yet and are in the mood for some slice of life comedy, I say give it a shot.

Okay, this is a bad pun, I'm sorry.

I feel I'm a bit late to the party. I've had essays to keep me busy, so haven't gotten around to seeing anything this season aside from this. I have Kaiji and EP2 of this ready for tomorrow's viewing pleasure though. There's also some blog tags I have open that I haven't gotten around to reading yet either, that'll probably be for me to read on the bus ride to class tomorrow. Ah, but I have an essay due this weekend as well. Ah, whatever. I'll just take it easy as always.

Hope you guys can take it easy as well.

~ Kirari ミ★

My kingdom for strawberry fruit snacks!

I'm about to reveal a story that still haunts me to this very day. You see, I love fruit snacks, I really do. I remember being younger and getting a pack of them at the corner store before heading to school. I love those little colored shapes of pure delight. However, I am plagued with a curse. For my packages always...always are filled with those little demons. More than half of each package is filled with those foul, disgusting, and utterly revolting things. Oranges. Pineapples. These are my least favorite of the fruit snacks, and yet they torment me so! Why, why must I receive so many of them in one pack and so few of my favorite flavor?! Why am I forced to the torment of eating these orange creatures before getting my satisfying prize? Why do I not simply throw them out? I feel as if I've given up if I throw them out, as if some divine force out there is waiting for that day, so that they may personally come before me and laugh in the face of the mortal who thought they could endure this fruity torture.

NAY, there is INDEED a divine force out there there that is preventing me from reaching my delicious goal! Some grand force that simply frowned upon my very taste buds! For there is simply no statistical way for it to be properly explained! I've come to the conclusion that I am being targeted. I am being personally watched over and toyed with, by this fruit snack god. Why, why!? Why am I denied the pleasure of a pack filled with strawberries!?

"JUST ONCE" I cried with all my heart, my hands clasped tightly together as I prayed to the stars "I'D LIKE TO EXPERIENCE THEY JOY OF A FRUIT SNACK PACK WITH MOSTLY STRAWBERRIES! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR!?"

As if responding, the frightening boom of thunder cried throughout the skies. There was no lightning, there weren't even any clouds within sight; but somewhere out there, something had listened to my cries. My vision blurred, my body collapsed, and my eyes nailed shut. I woke up in what seemed like a full month later, though checking the date I could see it had only been a night. I didn't even brush my teeth. I didn't head anywhere near the bathroom. I ran straight into the kitchen. My legs trusted against the ground at a pace I've never felt them move at before, yet I was not controlling them. It was as if they were being moved by pure instinct.

I reach the pantry, and with one swift movement, throw the door open. There, in the center, a beam of light from a crack in the curtains shines a single ray right on what I seek. The box of fruity decadence, waiting for me to claim it. I pull the box out and open the flaps. My hands shake as I reach in and pull out a small plastic package. Every pore on my body tingles as my fingers fumble to the ends of the package and rip a small tear.

What's this? Pink? I close my eyes and gulp down what seemed like an anvil before opening them again. My eyes deceive me not, for there is indeed a pink fruit poking out from the very small tear I have created on this package. My breathing becomes heavy. My knees start rubbing against each other as if they've a will of their own. I further advance the rip to reveal yet another heavenly shade of pink. My heart races at a rate that makes me feel as if it's about to burst. My pants become violent. My glasses fog. My head becomes light. My body feels as if it's too weak to support itself. Yet my body straightens out until I'm standing on my very tiptoes. But no, it's too early, it can't happen now. I have to hold on. I need to wait longer. I lose control of my salivary glands and a trickle of drool seeps out from my agape mouth. But I mustn't focus on such little things. I must hold back. I must claim my prize!

I can no longer hold it in. It has to be now. A primal urge boils from deep within me. I rip the package completely in half within the blink of an eye, with the force of seven gorillas. The fruit snacks catapult into the very skies, soaking in the oxygen surrounding them. But I do not look. My eyes are closed. I extend my hands out and feel as they fall neatly into even piles within each palm. I close my hands and savor their feel for a bit. That texture, that soft stretchy feel, the slight coldness of each one. Yes, I feel them. I want them. I want them in me now. I shoot my eyes open and glare beams into my hands as I slowly open them.

My legs finally give in. The sound of a sickening smash and crunch echoes throughout the room as my kneecaps slam against the ground, undoubtedly either horribly dislocated or broken from the impact. However, I do not feel any pain whatsoever. I bring my hands up to my face. I press them with all my force against my skin. With a searing sound, I feel the snacks melt into my very core. The smell of fruit snacks wafts throughout a 40 mile radius, alerting all. Alerting them all of...my sorrow. I pull my hands away from my face. The hot, sticky goop thins out into small threads of liquid as I pull my hands further. The hot and sticky threads that drip down burn like molten lava. Rivers of tears fall from my eyes. However, nobody can see these tears, for they are hidden behind a coat of orange. I sit there, head bowed in defeat. Why? Why have I been denied once more? I was certain I'd get my wish this time. I was certain I'd achieve fruity goodness that would surpass the feel of any pleasure ever experienced in my life. I do not clean my face of this sticky goop. I wear it as a mask of shame, as an eternal reminder of the day I foolishly thought I could go against the fruit snack god.

There were indeed two strawberries within the pack, for they now stand as pink marks indicating where my eyes used to be. I've been toyed with. Never in my life have I faced such utter humiliation. And so I carry on, forever lost, denied the right to properly enjoy the luxury of the divine fruit snack pack.

This is my sorrow.
This is my pain.
This is my curse.
This is my story.

(Based on a true story of what happened to me this morning)

It sounds a bit odd considering all the typos I make (I notice them, yes), but I do sometimes writefag when I'm bored, usually in random /jp/ threads when I feel like it. some of them circulate occasional as pasta, but I won't point out which ones I've created. This story has nothing /jp/ related thought, it's just me writing down my tragic story. Since I can't think of anything to post about, I may think about just writing some stories here every now and then. But I think they'd be tl;dr and nobody would read them anyway, so maybe I won't. I have some assignment due tonight at 11 that I'm just procrastinating on, so it's all cool. It's an easy assignment anyway, but those are the worst because I end up thinking they're so easy that I don't have to jump onto it right away. Before I know it I have like 20 minutes to complete it, and even though it's easy to do, it becomes a race against time.

I'm going to get another fruit pack. It'll just be filled with oranges and pineapples anyway...

~ Kirari ミ★

Kirari's final class

So, today was the final class I had for the semester. I did the written part of the Japanese final on Monday and passed with a 98, and we had an oral exam today. All we had to do was make a short speech about a vacation we went on in the past, in Japanese. Of course, I hate talking in public, and even moreso about myself, but since I never really go anywhere I just made up a vacation and talked about it. As expected, most people in the class didn't do so well, but most were understandable, and I won't act high and mighty, because I'm sure I'd be tripping along my words as well if I didn't have prior knowledge of the language before taking the course.

But that's not the highlight of the day. After all, it was just a normal exam. I'd like to be able to leave right after I present, but I couldn't find the right timing to slip out of the class, and my laptop was recharging, so I decided to just stay for a few more presentations. I was almost the last person chosen anyway.

Everyone finishes their presentations, I start packing up my stuff, I'm heading out the door but I hear 

"Kirari*, wait!"

 *Replace Kirari with my real name

So I turn and make eye contact with the person that called me. I saw she was nervous as hell, which says a lot considering she wasn't so nervous at all during the presentation. Then again, she's one of the few people aside from me that take the class to seriously learn the language, or at least it seems that way.

"Did you register for Japanese next semester as well?"

Er...Yeah, I did, but that was surprising. I told her I registered, and she proceeded to ask what time slot I registered for. I honestly didn't know, because I just picked one that would fit into my schedule. I'd like to have the same professor again, but her name wasn't listed, so I assumed she wouldn't be teaching J2 next semester. So she looks down, takes a deep breath and says:

"Because I hope we get in the next class together."

 That really threw me off. It was just surprising to me. I mean, it's not the first time I've been stopped before leaving a class for such a direct approach, it's happened before in high school, but when it's a boy I can easily react with a flat "no" leaving no room for interpretation by just shooting my normal uninterested expression. I was caught by so much surprise from this that I couldn't even react and kinda stuttered my next words out. I can't even remember what I said, it was something along the lines of "Oh, okay, uh. That....okay. Um, I'll see you." and walked off. Really, this is the first time a girl has been so direct to me. It happened a lot in high school with guys, both the subtle ones and the forward ones, but they're easy to keep away, especially if you stop them from trying the second they even try to get close to you (which was easy for me, even the ones that don't care about personality could be scared away with the right methods). 

I thought I was perhaps just so surprised by the whole thing that I was looking too much into what's just her trying to be friendly and that's still entirely possible but if it was a male doing the same exact thing I'd undoubtedly know that what he was trying to do. I haven't had a real life friend since about elementary school, so it's very possible that kind of invitation into friendship is normal, but I've just forgotten how real friends act when trying to know each other.

It's not that I like her, I was just so flustered over the whole thing that I couldn't properly react. If it wasn't for the fact that she seemed so nervous when talking to me, especially since she didn't seem so nervous before and that she specifically stopped me of all people, I don't think it would have surprised me much. 

Of course, I don't talk to people much at all, but there were times in class where we had to converse with one another just because it's a verbal exercise. Since I always sit in a corner in the back, and on the first day she did so too, we always sit next to each other (though we never talk really), so you can imagine we're always paired up for conversations. I never cared really, I just went on with the conversations. In fact, I don't remember much from those conversations other than the fact that she went to an all girls school from grade 1-12. 

She's shorter than me, which says a lot because I'm short, but she always wears heels and reaches about the same size as me. I do envy her sense of fashion a bit. I've never been into fashion, but she always comes in with different outfits that don't have extravagant designs that make her look silly. She wore a frilly dress that seemed very normal, and she always has hair decorations. She hides her powerlevel, making sure to say she just likes "Japanese dramas" when we first had to ask why we took the course (I just followed along with the "drama" thing when she said it and mirrored her answer). But when I brought in Yotsubato, she looked excited while reading through the pages and asked me where I buy my manga after. Since I sit next to her, I also see her doodling stuff, most noticeably a catgirl. At one point she did ask if I was in the school anime club, and frankly I didn't know there was one but didn't care. In my usual "end the conversation before it starts" manner I just told her clubs aren't my thing, and she said she's not in the club either but might join if someone she new was in there. At the time I didn't pay mind to it, but I guess that was her hinting that she'd join the club if I was in it.

What's even more st*range is that her phone number is in my notebook because we had to exchange numbers at the start of the class with someone in case we missed a day and need to contact someone for the assignment or something. She doesn't have mine, because I gave a fake one (kinda mean of me, but I really don't like keeping contact with people). I forgot about ti completely until I was looking through old notes on the bus for a kanji I was practicing before and saw it.

Cool story, I know. It was just odd for me. This kinda stuff happened occasionally before, but it's the first time a girl has done this to me, and frankly I don't even know what to think of it. I hope my next class isn't with her. I'd feel awkward seeing her again, I think, and wouldn't quite know how to react or be able to put up my "don't talk to me" aura. But this whole event will probably just fade out of my memory within a few weeks anyway.

~ Kirari ミ★

PUDDI PUDDI PUDDI PUDDI JAYPEE JUST GOT SHIDDI SHIDDI

So because Moot wanted to be super cool again and added PUDDI PUDDI everywhere, /jp/ (and probably the rest of 4chan, but I don't visit other boards) has gone into complete shit. I mean, extreme shit. I haven't seen /jp/ this shitty since GIRUGAMESH spammer. Seriously, it's horrible right now. I was going to do a review on Lazengann today, but I'm too busy hosting music for /jp/ers that want something to calm them down while they take a break from the crap.

So what are you guys doing right now?

~ Kirari ミ★

Kirari's (possibly) near rape encounter!

Get ready for a cool story. That's what blogs are for, right? Cool stories?

So, I was running late this morning for Japanese class because I was playing video games for too long. I usually have to leave at around 1 PM to catch my bus, and I get back home around 6 PM or so. I don't eat breakfast, but since I'm out for so long, I usually do eat something before leaving for class. Since I was running late, I didn't have that luxury. I mean, I could have done that whole "run out the door with toast in my mouth" thing, but I don't really like toast alone that much, and was running too late to even get a slice of bread out.

So I arrive at class just barely on time. I had a quiz today, so it'd be quite a problem if I actually came in late. After class I take my normal bus, and everything is fine. I go to the back and take out my laptop and kill time by reading my light novels and catching up on my news here and there. However, today was rather different. There's this guy that always sits in the back as well around this time. I never really cared about him or paid him any mind, but I do always see him playing his PSP, and we're always the only ones in the back. He comes in a few stops after I get on, and never sits next to me anyway.

So I'm on my laptop, killing time, and he asks me something out of nowhere.

"Would you like to get something?"

I didn't answer, because I didn't know what the fuck he meant and I try to ignore people until it becomes uncomfortable for me stay silent, by that point I usually proceed to end the conversation myself with "I'm busy" or something after answering their question. Usually I don't have to do that becaue I guess I just have this aura around me that spells out "don't wanna talk" to people.

So he asks:

"I mean like, to drink. Like Starbucks or something?"

Oh shit nigger, what the fuck are you doing? I couldn't leave this without responding, because he'd keep on, so I told him:

"No, I'm busy right now."

And get back to my laptop. He then keeps asking and insisting, and since I am thirsty and have a hard time dealing with people pressuring me into something

I give in and say yeah, shortly before the stop he apparently gets off at, usually. The Starbucks is right in front of the bus stop. We go in, I order some hot chocolate and a cinnamon bun. The cashier hands me my stuff and I tell the guy "I do have to go home though, so thanks for the drink and stuff" before he has the chance to say anything to me. He was saying before that he just wanted to buy me a drink, I didn't have to stay and chat with him or anything, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to him that I just leave after taking his offer. But then, he says something to me as I'm walking out the door.

"Ah, I live near here. The next bus doesn't come for about 15 minutes, if you want I can just get you a ride home"

But luckily, just as he says that, a bus comes. It's not the bus I usually take, but it does take me near my house. So I told him "No thanks, this bus is fine for me. Bye."

But the story doesn't end there!

I get on the bus, drink my chocolate and eat my snack. I'm on my laptop like normal, and while reading my light novel I start feeling a tad bit drowsy. When I get home, I just crash onto the sofa. I don't even take my stuff off, I just pretty much go straight to it and fall out. I stay knocked out for a few hours, and when I wake up I'm still a bit groggy, but decide to force myself awake.

So...what the hell just happened? Did I get something slipped into my drink? I mean, I'm not dumb enough to accept a drink from a stranger and not keep an eye on them to make sure my drink is safe, but I wasn't paying attention to when the drink was being made because an employee was making it. The guy does live around the area, so maybe it's possible he knows the dude that works there and they had planned this out from the start. Or maybe it was just coincidence. You know, like when you get sleepy after getting some warm liquid in your tummy and fill yourself up after being hungry? Maybe that's what happened? But I didn't gradually get sleepy, it pretty much just hit me like a train when I got home.

Needless to say, I'm not taking the same bus again. I wouldn't take his offer if I didn't think things through and plan on never seeing him again. There's another bus I can take that comes about 5 minutes later and takes a completely different route, but still leads me to my house at about the same time. Stuff like this makes me realize that I should have just stayed a lazy NEET and never ventured into the outside world again. Maybe I won't register for another semester and quit here.

~ Kirari ミ★

Japanese Post stops all shipments to the US that exceed 453 grams starting Nov. 17

This PDF is in Japanese, but the gist of it is that shipments from Japan to the US and its territories that are larger than 453 grams (which is about 1 pound) will be halted starting November 17. Unless of course you have a business contract or something, then you're fine. Now, I usually take it easy, but...

What the hell happens to my orders I have set then? Will I never get my Lazengann? My Takoluka plush? My other figures I have pre-ordered and set to release early next year? I'll have my orders cancelled, won't I? Meaning that I'll probably never get a chance to get that stuff again unless I wanna buy them from auction sites and pay a crapload for them.

~ Kirari ミ★

I did the wrong essay

Remember that essay I was doing yesterday (today)? It turns out I was doing the wrong assignment. I was doing the essay due in about 2 weeks, rather than the essay due today. I mean, it's cool that I got a head start and all, and the professor thought it was a rather believable mistake considering I actually did come in with an assignment that's several pages longer than the assignment that was due. Still, I can't believe I spent more time than necessary on getting it done, when I could have done a much more easier assignment.

The essay due today was...creative writing. Yes, I had to write a continuation of a story that ends on a cliffhanger. This is an incredibly easy assignment, really. I confirmed that I have freedom to do whatever the hell I like with the story, even if I wanna make it into some crazy science fiction story by the end. So, in other words, it requires little thought and certainly requires no research.

Oh well, just means that I won't be late in handing in the serious assignment that was due next. 

~ Kirari ミ★

Nendoroid Megurine Luka Review

So I looked around and managed to find my mother's old digital camera. The digital display oddly enough is completely black when I'm trying to take pictures, but actually displays what I'm viewing if I switch to video mode. The viewfinder was dirty and scratched beyond repair, so I didn't bother looking through that. In other words, these are pretty much blind shots, so forgive them if they're not really centered properly.
I don't have a lightbox set up, so rather than using one, I'll be using a "darkbox".
Okay, it's just an emptied portion of my bookshelf, deal with it.

In any case, I decided to take my first crack at a figure review. If the title and image didn't make it apparent, I'm reviewing Good Smile Company's Megurine Luka Nendoroid. 

Dragonballs not included

Like Good Smile's other Nendoroids, this comes with quite a alternate parts, along with an accessory. One of her alternate sets gives her the face and arms she needs to make her Double Lariat pose. Takoluka alone makes this a lovely buy. Posing her for some of these pictures was probably the most fun part.

Look at this pimp.

Just look at her.

Takoluka is also edible. I think.

Nyron~

The face I used for Luka above is from my Snow Miku Nendoroid, it's not included Luka, but most Nendoroids can swap parts, much like how Revoltech figures can swap parts. It's not as visible in this image, but Yotsuba's left arm is actually Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's arm.

Takoluka also has this hole on the bottom of her, which I really liked.

The hole that really makes this fun to play with-

-because you can use her as a head for the Nendoroid Mini's!

Yeah, what'd you think? At first people might not know what the hell the hole at the bottom is for, but seeing as how I have so many  Nendoroid Minis (AKA Nendoroid Puchi) around, including the Luka one above, I  decided to experiment a bit. It's a bit of a loose fit, and makes it a bit hard to balance properly for you to place your figure on the stand, but once everything is placed together, it should all stay sturdy enough to display without toppling over.

半径85センチがこの手の届く距離～♪

Very nice figure, with an awesome accessory. It's pretty much 2 figures for the price of 1 Nendoroid. Can't really go wrong with that. 

~ Kirari ミ★

NEET Eats!

Alright guys, let's share some NEET eats!

Recipes that are:
1. Cheap
2. Easy to make
3. Fairly fast (being a NEET is busy work y'know!)

So I whipped this up for a midnight snack. Forgive the shitty quality, I had a bit more faith in the quality of my camera phone. I don't own a camera because I'm not a camwhore, but if I'd known it would have been this bad I wouldn't have really bothered.

What you're supposed to be looking at is fried rice in scrambled eggs with ketchup as a topping. Seems like a lot of ketchup, but it's fine for the amount of rice and eggs I made, once I mix it in.

Now, this is really simple shit, so I don't think I have to go too much into depth about how to make this. I assume you guys know how to make rice, right? That's like baby's first cooking right there. For this, I just used some leftover rice in the fridge, so it was already made for me though. Was too lazy to make a fresh serving.

This is just normal, white rice. First I lit up a frying pan, buttered it up, and threw the cold rice in there to heat up a little since it was right out the fridge. Then I took out two eggs, scrambled them, threw in some pepper and hotsauce, and dumped them into the frying pan.

From here you pretty much just use your spatula to scrape the rice back and forth. Ideally you want enough eggs so that your rice isn't swimming in them, but at the same time not overpowering the rice. May take a bit getting used to how you should balance the two.

Then when the eggs are properly cooked, just empty the contents out onto your plate and apply some ketchup (optional, I just like ketchup and eggs).

This was all finished in maybe 8 minutes or so, with pre-made rice. Very quick meal, it's also filling. Nutritional value? I've no fucking idea, just eat the stuff.

~ Kirari ミ★