Saturday, March 4, 2006

  Hey everybody. How's it going?

I'm a little disappointed by how few (worth-while) people read my posting on the 27th (it was the post before last, meaning it should be at the bottom of the page).
With the exception of Vankala 86 (whom I thank heavily for doing so), the only people who read, or at least commented, were J Briones and DeViL InSiDe. And if you've ever gotten a comment from either of them, you know that they suck >=P (I even mentioned on the bottom of the post below this one how miffed I was about the fact that they don't even read the posts they comment on. And, low & behold, DeViL InSiDe left yet another crappy, generic comment on it, even though the post she was commenting on specifically referred to how I hated that!)
Sheesh, if you're going to put up a comment, type one that will make me think you actually read the post you're commenting on.
I mean, honestly, "cooly!!! have fun at work!" is NOT even a remotely appropriate comment for my post on the 27th. "Work"? I didn't even mention "work". What the Hell are you smoking?
Sheesh, it’s people like that that really get on my nerves.

I'm sorry I've been in such a foul state-of-mind lately. That's mostly why I haven't been on The Otaku a lot recently (the stuff that's putting me in that foul mood just got too out of hand for me for the past few days).
Regardless, on to the happy things....

I went on a solo manga-run today (Josh's mom was running a fever of 104 degrees on Friday, and we didn't want to put the stress of driving us on her).

Anywho, I finally read the epilogue of Love Hina today!
Yes, yes, I know, I was supposed to have read it last week when I was on my manga-run with Josh. But when we got to Boarders, I just didn't have the mind-set for it. I mean, it's the finale of a series I've been reading for over a year (even though it only took that long because Barne's & Noble's takes their sweet-ass pimp time updating their manga-section :p ). For some reason, I was a bit restless last Saturday, so I saved it for today so I could be nice and relaxed when I read it.

But that's beside the point.
The point is, I finally have officially finished my first entire manga-series! \^o^/
Whoo-hoo! This is a mile-stone for me! ^_^
Anywho, the epilogue was a bit shorter then I expected, but iss all good. ^_^ Though, I sort of wonder why Mr. Akamatsu went to the trouble of creating and introducing a new character that only took part in the epilogue (other Hina-fans who have finished the series will know who/what I'm talking about). Maybe he wanted the series to seem open-ended? Although, that wouldn't make sense, since Akamatsu wouldn't continue the Love Hina story in some kind of sequel manga-series in the future. As cool as it would be, Akamatsu unfortunately won't ever return to the same project for a second time, even for something as popular as Love Hina. After spending 3 years of hard work on that series, he's eager to get started on newer, fresher projects (who could blame him?). It would be awesome, though.

As for the Love Hina manga-series as a whole, it was great. ^_^
Obvious flaws in certain mechanics of Akamatsu's formula keep it from being an absolutely perfect manga (though said formula is undoubtedly a classic), but it's still a wonderfully funny and romantic manga to read, and I highly suggest it.
Would you guys care to hear me do a full review of the series? Obviously, I wouldn't spoil anything (I myself even dislike teasers), but I don't want to bore you all to death with my specific opinions about a manga-series that no one really cares to hear about.
Please tell me if you'd like to hear me do an in-depth review for the series, or if you'd rather that I just kept my opinions to myself.

Anywho, as for the last volume of Love Hina, it was pretty suspenseful. Not as suspenseful as some other parts of the manga, but it was a relatively great way to tie-up the series (aside from the few small qualms I mentioned in the paragraphs above).
The ending was just so happy....it was one of those "warm & fuzzy" moments, you know? I almost got a little choked-up and watery-eyed at the end as a matter of fact.
Keyword being "almost", that is.
*tough-guy shrug* Yeah, I'd never get all teary and sentimental about something as trivial as the finale of a manga series or something like that. Never ever, ever, ever, ever. *averts eyes to random corner of the room*

Anyway, after that, I continued reading the first volume of a manga that I've been wanting to try out for the longest time (I say "continued reading" because I actually started it last week with Josh. I just didn't tell you guys about it. ^^; ).
I've had to wait so long to try it because B&N's has only had the 6th volume for as long as I can remember (so I was glad to find out that Boarders carried the first couple volumes).
Anybody else here ever tried out Mahoromatic?
I can tell ya', I'm trying to read the first volume, and I can't say I'm likin' it that much. But don't get me wrong, the series does have its good points.
If nothing else, the series so far is cute. And I don't mean just "cute" cute. I'm talking cute, cute, cute, cute, cute, cute, CUTE!!! Though, I'm really just referring to the main character there. But she's seriously cute enough to make up for all the other characters who don't quite reach that level (believe me people, I kid you not, she's that cute!!).

However, the plot is absolutely laughable. (And that's not even the biggest problem.)
Basically, a female battle-android named "Mahoro" was used by the collective governments to fend off a violent alien invasion. An invasion that the governments apparently were able to successfully keep secret from all the civilians (search me on how they were able to do that. If you could keep it a secret, then what were they violently invading?).
Anyway, after the android's job of protecting the planet is over, her life-systems have enough power to keep her alive & functioning for a little over a year. She's given the freedom to choose what she wants to do with her remaining time to live.
So, what does she do? She becomes a maid. A house-cleaning meal-cooking maid.
Anyway, a boy named "Suguru", a young highschooler who was recently orphaned as a result of his parents being involved in a fatal accident, puts out an add in the paper that he's hiring a maid to help keep the house clean, which is of course answered by Mahoro.
Naturally, Mahoro trying to go from military killing machine to quiet domestic servant leads to plenty of "crazy" mishaps.

Honestly, I find the plot ridiculous, not to mentioned filled with plot-holes in its logic.

And it gets worse.
"Mahoromatic" has a level of sexual content that's borderline hentai.
Events and reactions are unrealistically scripted to result in excessively sexual situations, all of which have nothing censored (unlike Love Hina, which need only imply things like nudity).
It seems the whole series was designed to be sexual entertainment for s 40-year-old pedophile.

However, I'm gonna' give the first volume a fair run (it may get cleaner as the story progresses). Today it even revealed a very interesting plot twist that may just keep me reading.
Anybody else familiar with this manga-series? What are your thoughts?

Well, hopefully I'll be able to draw tonight (I'd appreciate prayers for creativity, by the way).

By the way, if you haven't seen my 2 recently submitted pieces of art, I'd really appreciate it if you'd check them out.
If you missed the blood-stained ghost in the kiddy-mask, click here.

And if you missed the soldier ghost who needs a name and suggestions for changes, click here.

Thanks for the votes & comments.
As always, they're greatly appreciated.

I'll see you all later, OK?
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