Japanese Finale

RANT

Well, that's it. My last Japanese class for this short course. What I learnt during the past ten weeks have been, well, refreshing. I've learnt something new, and I've refreshed some of the old stuff that I learnt during high school. Next time I'm in Japan, I'm supposed to be able to buy something (more than likely anime-related), tell the time, and ask a chick for her phone number. LOL.

Far from being able to speak fluent Japanese, or watching anime un-subbed, this short course is a great start. Next one will be in Jan 2006, I am already looking forward to it.

Anyway, this last lesson is nothing more than revision. For the second half, we watched a Ghibli (as I suspeced) production. Never had a chance to finish it, though. But I'm not too disappointed, given that I've seen Nausicaa about N times already.

I can't say that I know my fellow classmates very well during the course, but I can say that I had fun. So to all you guys, thanks, and hope to see you all in the new year.

Japanese 9

Officially the second last Japanese class for this short course. Unofficially, this is the last one because next week, as told by the sensei, we will have a party of sort. He said he'll bring an anime to class. Having been watching any and all sort of anime, I have probably seen whatever that he's going to bring. But I'm not complaining, I can never get enough of anime, even those that I have seen before.

Anyhow, the lesson is pretty much just to finish off the counters. It's the specific counters this time. Finally getting to '2 cups of coffee', rather that last week with just '2 coffee'.

To sum the course, I think it went too quick. No exams, no assignments, it was realxing, to say the least. And of course, I've learnt some Japanese in the process too. While I won't understand anime any time soon, I think I'm heading towards the right direction.

Anyway, it had been fun. I should be back next year.

Japanese #8 already

It was a relatively small class for the eighth lesson last night. Must be the end of semester, with exams and assignments looming closer. The lesson itself concentrated on counters. General counters, to be precise.

It's like 'can i have two coffee please?'. I can't say two cups of coffee because apparently there is a specific counter for cups. So to say two cups of coffee would require a different counter from the one that I have learnt. Why can't they just have a simple counter that will count everything?

Two lessons to go for this course. There is a second course after this one some time in January next year. Just in time to finish before Uni starts in March. Now I'm in a dilemma. Should I continue to do Japanese? Or should I start Korean?

I want to do Korean as well as Japanese, but I think I can only choose one. Hmmm, such a tough choice.

Manifest 2005

RANT

Manifest 2005 (23 - 25 September) was the first major anime convention that I've ever been to. And I must say, I was impressed by it. Most of my time was spent watching anime due to me being a volunteer. That suited me well, as the main purpose of me attending was to watch anime anyway. So why not help out and enjoy the anime at the same time? In total, I've watched 36 episodes of different anime during the course of the three days. That's quite an achievement, given that I don't even watch that much anime at home (in three days, that is).

And while I was not watching anime, I wondered off to the traders area. For reasons unknown, I was expecting to see a lot of traders selling DVDs. But in actual fact, there were only 2 that were selling R4 DVD, and one of them was Madman, the company responsible for bringing anime to Australia. There was also some traders that sold R1 DVDs... at a price. So let me try to remember what other stuff did they offerl:

- plush dolls
- model kits (lots of Gundams)
- PVC models
- trading figurines
- lots of artbooks
- lots of pencil boards
- loads of JPOP / Anime CDs
- loads of manga
- and million other little things.

I wanted half the things the vendors were selling, but in the end I only got:

- Ghost in the Shell: Innocence OST
- Ah My Goddess Movie OST
- Ah My Goddess Colour (Manga)
- a full set of Najica Blitz Tactics manga

and my prized purchase of the entire weekend:

- You're Under Arrest File X

I never expected to find it there. I was ecstatic when I picked it up. But of course, I've got to consider the price as well. I can't afford anything like those people in the auction (more on that later). It wasn't too expense, so I happily (I think) handed over my money.

All in all, I went to the traders 3 times, the last time being close to closing time. I was hoping to cash in some bargains. Unfortunately, there was only one trader that was doing the "closing-down sales". Most things were 50% off (they were offering 20% earlier in the day). Too bad there was nothing that I wanted. Actually, there was, like the DOA and Onegai Teacher trading figures, but they are not in my "really really want" basket. So I restrained myself from spend more money.

The money I did spend was on two Sakura Wars TV series Volume 2 and 3. I was at the auction on Sunday afternoon, the only event that I attended other than screening anime in dark rooms. It was a fun experience. There were weird stuff on auction, and there were weird people who were willing to pay for weird stuff. A set of used Gravitation Manga (12 volumes in all) sold for more than $200! You can get a brand new set for probably cheaper. The entire set of .Hack games (4 volumes) sold for $200, which was actually quite reasonable, considering that it cost about $90 per game brand new.

The full set of Evangelion DVDs went for $62 only. That was a bit of a surprise. I thought it would have gone for more. And then there were artbooks, figurines, old NewType magazines, as well as many original Japanese Manga. I wanted to get the set of Magical Knights Rayearth manga, but was outbidded :(. Then I had a little bidding war with one guy on the 2 Sakura Wars DVDs. Now that I won, I just need to find the other 4 volumes.

Things to do next year (pending on the availability of events):

- volunteer again (this year was fun)
- spend more (yes, I've got enough money, just didn't buy enough.)
- go to trivia (missed it this year)
- go to auction (that was so fun; might put something up for auction as well)
- check out the cosplay (I've heard it is popular)
- bring a camera and take photos of volunteers!
- and of course, watch more anime!!!

September Purchase

RANT

This month has burnt a hole in my poor bank account. I bought:

Region 1
Sakura Wars TV Vol 2
Sakura Wars TV Vol 3

Region 4
Slayer Series 1
Slayer Try
Slayer Next
Rahxephon Movie
Virus Buster Serge

Now only if I have the other 4 volumes of Sakura Wars, and I'll be happy. Who knows what I was doing when I bid for Sakura Wars at Manifest. Maybe it's because of my love for it? LOL. I have the R4 release of the Sakura Wars movie and the R1 Sakura Wars OVA already, now I want the TV series.

The other anime that needs some buying is Rahxephon. I bought the movie, but I don't have the series yet. I'm planning to change that some time in October, I hope. EzyDVD has an anime DVD boxset sales which see Rahxephon drop by about 25%. Looking at my poor bank account now, I have to wait until I get paid this month to get it.

There are also other ones that I want to get from the EzyDVD sales, like Fruit Basket and Haibane Renmai, but must get money first. October might be a quiet one for my anime collection.