kitaoji

When I stopped by in SF in January, I found that Chotto Edo Made had come to an end. Considering that it was the only manga that kept my waning interest in any things Japanese for those couple of months, I was pretty sad that it was over, since it was the last series I was reading before idols took over.

Now that I'm back in the city again - restarting the same summer routine - I've been to Kino as many days as I've been back.

I got the last Negima volume (in addition to blowing money on the latest 48s stuff; I get pretty lucky with the random photos at Kino, so that sort of makes it worth shelling an arm and a leg on the exchange rate and the mark-up), because it seemed to make sense to have an end to another manga (and I wanted an excuse to include the KII special).

Sentaro is done.
Bartender is done.
Ookami to Koushinryou is done - last year, while I'm still waiting for the translations to complete.
Tsukihime is done.

... well okay, Yuujinchou is still going on.

But to me, Sentaro is an important series. Majorly important series.
Piku Piku Sentarou started serializing in 1994, which probably dates it among the very first comics I read. Maybe even before Archie. Maybe around the time I would work through the Garfield anthologies (the era of Scholastic splurging - ironically all dictated by the parents only began the year before). And only around that time the SCMP started adding its weekly child friendly editions (I've only been able to read the front page recently, when I'm just outside the Main Stacks at Berkeley).

Back then, I didn't even know what manga was. I think my Chinese was actually too bad to read the free copy Mom gave me, and it took two years (and a whole term's worth of reading The Three Kingdoms and Rayearth) to get me sucked in the mess that the media now calls the 2D world.

In other words, for two years straight, I wasn't even brave or open enough to glance at the multiple newspaper stands along the way to piano lessons to find new manga. So I went from volume 1 to volume 9 of Sentarou, and then it still it took more time to collect the manga.

So I'm kind of sad now, because Sentarou really does represent the last of the manga, or rather nijigen involvement. I might get that and Bartender (the anime wasn't a bad series) as a kind of final hurrah.

Heck, Sentarou is old - he's older than Jurina and Manatsu (damn now this really is making me feel old). And to be honest, I've been at a sort of crossroads. Sure, SKE will grow, and SakuTai is not giving up (although I really haven't been paying attention these past couple of years) and well, maybe I'm getting old and need to rethink how much involvement I can give without forgetting about the 3D.

I guess this means that there'll be fewer trips to Kinokuniya.

This week has been busy. Busy beyond ridiculousness, but in the grand view of things, I've realized that it's because I've been unconditionally lazy. I'm in team projects and clubs and feel like I've been doing the least out of everybody.

Of course, there's a Fundamentals of Engineering exam at 7 in the morning... the day after I attend a ceremony and banquet. I think it'll mean something if I can just make it to the testing center on time.

Watched Blackboard this past weekend, TBS's sappy drama special that makes The Help look positively like Something Serious. Also watched some of the interview clips. Surprised that they used "Catch You Catch Me" and "Hitorijime" as the BGM. I didn't expect them to use such old songs. And, how many people actually caught the references? (When one thinks about it, Jurina was one when CCS aired on NHK.)

I've been distracted, distracted, distracted. A lot of frustration just dealing with classes, but mostly with my increasing inability to substantively write. I remember the times when I would lock myself in the room (or actually, the computer lab) to pour my heart out as a teenager, but as I'm getting older stuff is locking itself away, hidden in whimsical things like headphones (not really, anymore, since my first priority is putting money towards GAKI-KAME on steroids) and books and other things that are so hard to come by in the Midwest.

Kamei Eri is one incredibly gorgeous girl.

(The credit for the icon goes completely to this lovely person, by the way. I am in no position to make icons.)