Bah, stupid freaking blogger. I bet this doesn't even work.
Been sampling a bit of this and a bit of that and thought I might do a rundown for whoever might be interested.
Spiral - There's a mystery every episode and the main character's got some angst about his brother and he plays the piano. And there's these mysterious Blade Children.
Princess Tutu - There's this duck see. And ballet. And a prince. Well, you'll never forget that Ahiru means duck anyway.
Mahoutsukai ni taisetsu na koto (Someday's Dreamers) - Magic girl goes to the big city to study, well, magic. And there's this big bureaucracy surrounding magic use. Her teacher is interesting, and probably has some angst he's hiding.
Get Backers - Well, like Kenshin or Yu Yu Hakusha only slashy enough to hold my interest. Koyasu doesn't hurt either.
Tenshi na Konamaiki (A Cheeky Angel) - A girl who used to be a boy, his best friend, and a guy who has the hots for him. Oh yea, and a lot of fights.
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch - A mermaid who transforms into an idol singer. And her penguin named Hippo. Her surfer boy love interest seems interesting though.
I was going to quote a bit of 'Sirius Black is..', but his list is so accurate and complete you could write a biography on him from it. (Excepting, for the moment, information from the fifth book.)
I've never understood adolescent angst. I understand it even less when it occurs in people supposedly well past adolescence.
Adolescence and the college years are times that you're defining and redefining your identity. It's a time for experimentation.. though some of us managed to do this without endangering ourselves. Experimentation need /not/ mean drugs, alcohol, sex, stupid stunts. Go ahead, say I was boring. At least I wasn't stupid.
It's a time to make mistakes and learn from them. It's a time to make new friends, try new things, wear new clothes. It's a time to put aside childish things. Not because they're childish. Not because your friends aren't interested in them. But because you yourself have outgrown them. No longer find them interesting. And you needn't set them aside completely and permanently.
I was all into Star Trek starting in junior high and going through high school and into college. I did some rather silly things because of my fanaticism. That's all right. I was a kid. But now that interest in Star Trek has been eclipsed, not replaced, by other interests. I'll still watch it from time to time. I'll still read Trek novels.. but only by Peter David.
Our identity is always fluid. We are always defining and redefining ourselves. That's how we become better people. That's how we mature. But it is important to remember two very important things.
One, it is not necessary to completely toss out who you were in the past. I did not burn all my Trek figures. I did not start calling Trekkers stupid fanatics. I do not believe myself superior to those who still are very much interested in Star Trek.
Two, no one cares about your voyage of self discovery. You know all those reborn Christians? You know how annoying they are to everybody else? Share your new interests or new beliefs with your friends. Don't cram it down their throats. Find new friends that share those interests. That's how we make new friends. But don't try to convert your old friends. Don't toss them aside either. Don't ridicule them. Don't feel smugly superior to them. You're not.
I don't recommend it for beginners. You'll learn bad spelling habits and be hopelessly confused by the grammar which is flat out /wrong/ at times. Also the English used could use a good spell and grammar check run on it too. For someone who has studied some Japanese and just wants to beef up their vocabulary, it's.. /okay/... if the inconsistent romanization doesn't bother you overly much.
Here's some sentences:
WATASHI WA BEDDO O HOSHII DESU
ANATA WA BEDDO O MOTTE IMASU SOSHITE WATASHI WA TEHBURU O HOSHII DESU
This next one is an example of a typo (I /think/):
WATASHI WA KUDAMONO TO WAIN A HOSHII DESU
Et voila. Ma revue de LinkWord Japanese est finit.