… with exceptions.

I’ve got my hands full at work at the moment, so blogging will continue to be light for the next week or so. Here’s a menagerie of… stuff…

I rewatched Gunparade March for the third time recently. I have to thank Omo for turning me on to the show way back when; it’s one of the few series I’ve bought on DVD sight unseen. Despite being riddled with a lot of annoying little imperfections, it’s a perfectly enjoyable show with a strong cast of characters. It’s also structured in such a way as to be fun to watch in large doses. That combined with its relatively short length makes it an easy rewatch.

One thing that I noticed this time around that I hadn’t noticed in the past was that Kenji Kawai was responsible for the show’s score. Now I know why I always loved the background music.

On the gaming front, I see that Gust and NIS are bringing Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis across the Pacific at the end of March. Since the game looks to be the successor to Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm - which I enjoyed quite a bit - I’ll be sure to buy it.

You may remember that I was working my way through Persona 3 not too long ago. The reality is, I haven’t touched the game since before Christmas, and my desire to continue is pretty much non-existent at this point. To be honest, I don’t have time for marathon gaming sessions, and while the mission based nature of Atelier Iris was such that I could play for an hour or two on occasion and actually accomplish something, the same amount of time in Persona 3 often feels like a complete waste of effort. Persona 3 is a good game, and I’d like to finish it, but it’ll have to wait.

Changing topics, my recent foray into live action Japanese dramas has resulted in an interesting discovery. The computer I use for fansub playback is older than dirt and thus isn’t all that useful for watching h264 or 720p encodes. I’ve been putting off replacing it for some time now, as it handles standard encodes marvelously, but with h264 really catching on with fansub groups, I figure it’ll be only a year or so before I simply have to do something, whether I like it or not.

Anyway, on occasions when I’ve watched h264 or 720p encodes, I’ve found that lag issues don’t really kick until about twenty minutes into an episode. Since the average anime episode only runs a few minutes longer than that, I’ve been able to make do, but with live action drama episodes running twice as long, it becomes an issue. It was during an episode of Hotaru no Hikari, however, that it dawned on me: if the processor simply wasn’t up to the task, why would it always wait twenty minutes before giving up the ghost? Clearly, whatever the problem was, it was a function of time.

Turns out, it was a temperature issue. Monitoring the temperature of the processor while watching an episode, I found the lag would always kick in once it reached a certain level. And it would usually take about twenty minutes to reach that level. My suspicion is that the processor intentionally throttles back at that point to prevent damage. Hence, the lag. Thankfully, I found that simply pausing playback for ten minutes once per episode in order to let things cool down made all the difference in the world. I’m glad I figured that out; now I can explore potentially cheaper cooling options without throwing a bunch of money at a new computer.

Although, I’d probably be better off just replacing the computer and being done with it. After all, I can get a nice little Core 2 Duo machine for under $500.

Finally, as thanks for reading this far, here’s Nanoha getting her ass kicked.

That’s all I’ve got.

Clannad - Are there enough episodes remaining to wrap this thing up? I hope the pacing doesn’t get too wonky in the end, because the show has done a pretty good job transitioning from one character arc to another up until now.

True Tears - As much as I’m enjoying this show, I kind of wish the love triangle hadn’t been blown wide open in the span of a single episode. It bordered on being a little too melodramatic, especially following Hiromi’s “confession” one episode prior. That said, I’m pulling for Noe. All the way, baby.

Bamboo Blade - Recently, I was thinking how funny it is that Satori wasn’t introduced until about halfway through the show. You could almost make the argument that the show is just now getting going, despite the fact it’s getting near the end. I suspect that means the show will simply end at a convenient point, with the story continuing in the manga. Of course, it’s not like there’s any continuing story in the first place.

Hayate no Gotoku - A love comedy that doesn’t go anywhere, eh? It’s true, but who cares? It’s still hilarious, and it looks to be headed for a strong finish. I wonder if we’ll see a second season at some point? I’d no doubt welcome it.

Shugo Chara - I’m planning Shugo Chara Sunday this weekend. Please stand by.

Kimikiss Pure Rouge - Honestly, I’ve been wavering in my affection for this show. As much as Mao’s change of heart was telegraphed from the very beginning, it still strikes me as so predictable to be annoying. And since the show took its sweet time establishing all its assorted romantic couplings, we haven’t had any time to bask in the warm glow of each couple’s happiness before conflict was introduced. It’s too much, too soon, and it feels a bit artificial.

ARIA The Origination - I think you know how I feel about Aria by now. And forever more.

You’re Under Arrest - Full Throttle - I’m actually several episodes behind, but given the sitcom nature of You’re Under Arrest, it’s not all that big a deal. I can always catch up when I have the time. Or have nothing better to do. Which isn’t very often lately, I’m sorry to say.

Mokke - I’m going to be awfully sad to see this show end. It’s turned out to be one of the more intelligent and interesting shows of the past year, and my appreciation for it grows with each and every episode. It’s also a nice change of pace from everything else I’m watching, so each episode is a special treat. Shows like Mokke generally aren’t all that popular, however, so they only come along every so often. Have to cherish them.

Apparently, it’s not too cold to brew.

Speaking of snow (or sad girls in snow, to be more exact), if you remember and enjoyed this music video by friend of Hop Step Jump and all around cool bird Wonderduck and happen to have an account at AMV.org, how about helping him out a little?

Back when I was still making music videos, I never had one make it past the first round of the Viewer’s Choice Awards, so I’m a bit envious. If you have a vote to spare, send it his way.

Oh, and following up on the previous post, Moyashimon is one of those shows I strategically passed on when it first aired, only to marathon in a single weekend after the fact. It was wonderful. An interesting factual nugget: despite being a liberal arts student, I finished college only one class short of a minor in Chemistry. The knowledge has come in surprisingly useful ever since.

I often get questions from readers asking my opinion of shows I’ve never watched. With older anime, I can understand why some may automatically assume I’ve watched a certain show, but when it comes to newer or currently airing shows, I like to think I keep everyone updated enough on what I’m watching that there should never been any question. Yet, people often assume I watch everything under the sun.

It’s no surprise, though. A lot of serious anime fans I know do watch everything under the sun. Or damn well near it.

So, why don’t I? Lack of time is the obvious answer; I have a job that keeps me plenty busy, not to mention other hobbies I care deeply for. In reality, though, I could watch more anime if I really wanted to. The reason I don’t, however, is because I don’t want to suffer the fate of so many anime fans who throw themselves into the hobby with unbridled gusto, only to run out of energy and give up a quarter of the way out of the gate. In other words, I’m trying to avoid burnout.

Then again, I’ve been watching anime for long enough that burnout shouldn’t really be an issue. But it is. I occasionally go through periods in which my interest in anime is minimized, and while these periods are not the result of burnout, they could very well lead to it should I push myself too hard. Thankfully, these periods typically come and go without much fanfare. I’d like to keep it that way.

Fear of burning out isn’t the only reason I carefully control the amount of anime I watch, however. I was watching a couple episodes of the Magic User’s Club OAV recently, and I was reminded of how much more “magical” anime was when I first watched the show. What was so different about back then compared to now? It was in my early years as an anime fan, for one, but it was also before I started watching fansubs on a regular basis. With fansubs, watching anime is a pretty routine activity. I don’t think it’s any less pleasurable a way of watching anime than, say, marathoning series all at once or focusing on only a few shows at a time, but it is a different sort of pleasure.

And it’s because I often crave that sort of magic that I strategically pass on watching certain new shows that nonetheless grab my interest. After all, if I pass on a show in the present, I’ll have the opportunity to “discover” it at some point in the future. It sounds strange, I know, but I’ve had a lot of success with this approach to picking and choosing anime, and it’s led to my finishing a lot of great shows I might have otherwise not been able to keep up with had I tried watching them on a weekly basis as they aired. I enjoy discovering “new” anime.

That’s also why slow anime seasons such as the current one don’t discourage me all that much. There’s always new anime to watch. I have a list of unwatched shows a mile long. And, of course, there’s value in taking a step back from anime on occasion to focus on something different and new. That’s why I’ve been watching more live action Japanese drama this past week than I have anime. And it’s why I’ve been thinking of taking up mountain climbing this Summer. It’s why I take work so seriously. I don’t want to look back thirty years from now and say, “I should’ve lived a more interesting life.”

And it’s was for that very reason that I allowed myself to get hooked on anime in the first place.

So I did something a little different than usual and watched a J-drama this weekend. And now I’m downloading another one. And making a list.

This does not bode well.