It’s hard to believe, but it’s a year ago yesterday that Gregory left us.

Gregory, I still think of you often. Many of us do. I know you would’ve liked some of the recent anime shows, like Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, and Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge. I remember how we used to yell “AAAAA” at each other online when Noir or Gunslinger Girls took a particularly nasty twist; I think we could’ve done the same with Ergo Proxy. And considering your penchant for cuteness, I think you’d have liked Otogijuushi Akazukin.

Peace, Gregory.

Today would have been Gregory Blake’s 38th birthday. Even now, nearly five months after his passing, I often think “Boy, I can’t wait to talk to Greg about this,” as I watch an anime episode.

I recently watched a series that I think Gregory would’ve enjoyed. Kashimashi ~ Girl Meets Girl ~ is a high school romance with a twist; two girls are in love with the same guy, but the guy gets hit by an alien spacecraft (it is anime, after all) and the aliens rebuild him as a girl.

Although there are elements of the show I could have done without, namely the Annoying Teacher and Lecherous Father, they didn’t distract from the real essence of the show, which is the interactions among the three girls as they learn more about each other and themselves. It was a tender little story, and I would have loved talking with Gregory about it.

So here’s to you, Gregory, on your birthday!

It is with very deep sorrow that I announce the passing today of Gregory Blake, owner of this blog. He underwent surgery in Boston a couple of weeks ago, and the recovery was just too rough for him.

He was a great friend, and he will be truly missed.

I do not yet know what the future of this blog will be, but will post updates as appropriate.

I’ve watched three episodes of He Is My Master (Kore ga watashi no go-shujin-sama) now… and I’m still not entirely certain whether I like it. It seems to be following the “slapstick and fanservice” model of Girls Bravo, but to a lesser extent. Two girls, voluntarily homeless, take jobs as maids for a spoiled rich kid — first to have a place to stay, then to work off the enormous debt they incur by breaking things. So far so good, but it’s a bit difficult to sympathize with many of the characters, and events are bordering on too gratuitous for my tastes.

I’ll give it another episode or two, I guess…

Gregory was released from the hospital today, so you won’t be stuck with my inactivity any more!

…you’ll be stuck with his! 🙂

Zenki

Chiaki Enno is the apprentice priestess at her family’s shrine, where long
ago one of her ancestors bound the great demon prince Zenki. Now the evil
Seeds of Possession are once again terrorizing the countryside, and Chiaki
must free Zenki to combat them.

This is an engaging TV series, fairly predictable once you’ve seen the
first couple of episodes, but enjoyable to watch. I’d recommend it to fans
of Sailor Moon, or people looking for magical action/comedy.

On the Some/None/Lots scale:
Sex/Innuendo:	A little
Skin:	Some
Violence:	Lots, mostly cartoonish
Profanity:	None

It might be a bit before Gregory is able to blog again, as he has just been the recipient of a lung transplant — see his blog for the details!

I’ll try to toss in a few tidbits, but since my wife and I had our second kid a few weeks ago, free time is scarce.

Just got around to watching the first episode of Futakoi. It looks as though its makers got together and said to each other, “Guys, guys, what’s the scariest possible harem show we could make?” “Ooh, ooh, I know, let’s have the guy not only have to choose between half a dozen beautiful girls, let’s have him choose between half a dozen pairs of twins!” “GENIUS!”

That said, this was actually a pretty engaging little show. To their credit, they introduced an in-story reason for so many female twins showing up, and judging from the opening and ending credits, only (“only”) two sets of twins look like they will seriously compete for the hero’s affections. The protagonist is a nice enough kid, easily turned by a pretty face, but what boy that age isn’t? And I have to like the guy because he’s a stargazer and his dad is a professional astronomer. So I expect I’ll be watching more of this one.

So, all along, snooze has been raving about FMA. Just due to a busy schedule, I didn’t make time to watch it, but I’ve been showing it at my anime club, and we just reached episode 16.

Yep, it’s an excellent show. High production values, entertaining characters (I love Armstrong), good blend of drama, action, and humor. I don’t care for the second set of opening and ending themes as much as I did for the first, but you can’t have everything. They did a good job of ramping up the intensity, where it didn’t hit so hard at first, but a few episodes in, wham. There’s one episode in particular — you’ll know it when you see it — where I was thinking, “Okay, it’s obvious where they’re going with this, but they wouldn’t… oh, wow, they did… and now… what?? AUGH!”

On the one hand, I’m tempted to zip ahead and watch more episodes, but on the other hand, I’ll be seeing them at the club anyway, so I should probably use my personal time on other shows… So Much Anime, So Little Time!

Armored Trooper VOTOMS

Chirico Cuvie pilots an Armored Trooper, or AT, vehicle for the Melkian army. Then he is assigned to a special mission to a mysterious asteroid, where he makes a discovery that changes his life forever.

Moody and incredibly violent, I find this series to be quite captivating, despite the late-1970s styling and sometimes clumsy animation. Chirico makes a good tormented anti-hero, and I’m eager to see events unfold. (I’ve seen three of the four “stages.”) I would recommend it to mecha-heads and war movie fans.

On the Some/None/Lots scale:
Sex/Innuendo:	A little
Skin:	Some
Violence:	Lots
Profanity:	Some