A petite figure of a cute and young girl, a short hair of the same colour as a cherry blossom, a child-like face with a slight blush on cheeks and glittering pink eyes full of hope, she gazes upon the bright world while enjoying the gentle spring breeze. This beautiful appearance...
...is what I'd like to have instead of my current appearance of a guy of eighteen years of age, but alas, I was born into this reality. Well, I suppose I am happy enough with my current life, even if my life and my self are completely different from what I yearn. It's not like my utopia is possible in the real world anyway.
What kind of person I am? Hmm, I wonder. Well, I'm pretty much like a shut-in (not a full one though) and thus, quite unsocial. Both online and offline by the way (that isn't probably the first thing one should say, when introducing oneself, but whatever.) I'm generally a nice person, but quite bad at communicating. I'll always try to reply back, but don't expect me to be the best conversation partner. That said though, feel free to send a comment to me or something, if you want to talk. I do want to learn to be more social and better at communicating.
My entertainment consists mostly of modern Japanese visual/audiovisual media or in other words, Japanese video games, visual novels, manga and anime. I enjoy the modern day's "moe" character designs in anime, manga, etc... and I despise the "machoness" in western media. Of course, those aspects alone can't decide whether I like a series or not, but I do have a huge soft spot for some cuteness, and it is difficult for me to like a show "macho" show. I loved K-ON! not because of it's cuteness, but rather because I found it so touching and happy, that I too became incredibly happy when watching it. Nowadays though, I've noticed that it has become increasingly difficult for me to like a non-animated show, even if it doesn't have any "macho" qualities. Perhaps I've become a bit obsessed with the cute qualities of anime?
Favourite Anime (in no particular order):
One of my greatest interests in life is Touhou Project. I absolutely love the world inside Touhou, the characters and the fan works (I don't actually play the games terribly much though). I remember ZUN saying something about how fan works are able to be more creative than official video games, anime, etc. This is because doujin makers do not have to think about the following: "What would be popular? What would succeed? What would make money?" In other words, doujin makers can make whatever they want. For this reason I like Touhou and Japanese doujin culture in general (well, I can't say I like most of the hentai doujins though). By the way, most of my favourite games and manga are actually Touhou doujins and my music appreciation consists mostly of Touhou fan music nowadays.
Some of my favourite Touhou doujin manga:
+legacy - Low Angle (1 & 2)
+legacy - How to Hold Hands
Saku Saku Tei - This One Time I Want To Go Drinking
There are many others too, but those are the ones out of the top of my head. I tend to enjoy the work of those circles/artists most, but there are bunch of others whose work I enjoy equally, such as Personal Color, Millet Soup, Tamagoyaki, ANGELTYPE, Rocket Fuel 21, Water Cushion, Koyama Shigeru, and some others too, maybe.
Favourite Characters (in no particular order (there are some video game and visual novel characters)) :
That is quite a bit of "favourite characters" eh? And all of them are cute girls too. Honestly, there are some male characters who I think are very likable, but when I try to compare them with the above ones, it's always the girls who I like more. "I-It's n-not because I t-think they are c-c-cu-cute or anything!!!" - is what I usually say, but I suppose cuteness is partly the reason I prefer female characters. However, cuteness alone is definitely not enough to make me like a character. Let's take Acchi Kocchi's Tsumiki as an example. When I first started watching Acchi Kocchi, I thought to myself: "Just what is this adorable creature here!?" - of course, I meant Tsumiki. However, I never actually liked Tsumiki as a character. In fact, I disliked her, somewhat. This shows personality is important to me also. Again however, there are some male characters whose personalities I like a lot, but I still can't consider even one of them as my favourite character. I think the main reason for me prefering (young) female characters is their innocence and pureness, which are qualities I value a lot. For some reason, I can almost never see these qualities in male characters (same with adult female characters by the way). Hmm, I suppose I could make a "favourite male characters" list separately, since I can't classify any of them in my "overall favourite characters" list. Here goes:
Okazaki Tomoya (Clannad)
Sunohara Youhei (Clannad)
Reinhard von Lohengramm (LotGH)
Yang Wenli (LotGH)
Oskar von Reuental (LotGH)
Araragi Koyomi (Bakemonogatari)
Yagami Light (Death Note)
Satou Tatsuhiro (Welcome to NHK)
Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright)
Fujiwara Yumeji (Yumekui Merry)
Gilgamesh (Fate/Zero)
As for the amount of favourite characters... Over 50 favourite characters is pretty overboard, I know. I suppose I MIGHT be able to dimnish the list a little, but honestly... I don't want to.
Other than Japanese media, there are some things I'm interested in. First of all, I'm quite a bit into literature. I read some novels every now and then, and I like writing some poetry and stories myself too (in my native language). My poetry themes are usually dark and depressing (there are some exceptions), while my stories on the other hand are based on my ideals and thus, are more brighter than my poems. I'm also into Formula 1 and I'm usually rooting for Kimi Räikkönen (I'm a Finn after all) or Michael Schumacher.
My favourite video games & visual novels (in no particular order):
Touhou Project 08 - Imperishable Night
I'm not going to go into why I love Touhou 08, or Touhou in general. I'm just going to tell why I prefer Touhou 08 over other official Touhou games. First of all, the spell practice. No explanation needed. Then the amount of playable characters, not just because there are ore characters to play with, but rather because there are more dialogues/content. I also prefer the diaglogues overall to other official Touhou games, maybe because of the fact, that the characters are in teams - I love all the trolling the other part of the team usually does. Then there is the story line - somehow, I've always liked IN's storyline the most (only slightly more than some others though). Not sure as to why. Maybe it's because it has such a Japanese feel to it? MoF is even more Japanese-like though. Lastly, I just like IN's gameplay more. As for music, I can't say I prefer IN's music over others. I do like IN's music of course.
Touhou Project 10.5 - Scarlet Weather Rhapsody
An official fighting Touhou spin off game. I'm a lot better in the fighting games than I'm in the danmaku ones, which is why I like this. I enjoy the amount of characters in this. Not much else to say.
Touhou Mother
Touhou & Earthbound crossover. I was truly immersed by the story and I loved the humour & characters. Well, actually I do think that this game is the reason for Eirin's low ranking in my favourite Touhou characters list... What she did to Udonge was just too cruel... I think there could be some improvement in gameplay by the way, but hey, no game is perfect.
Chrono Trigger
Overall, I think this is the one of the best RPGs I've ever played. The world in the game was one of the most interesting ones I've ever seen, with only Touhou's Gensokyo being able to top it - truly memorable and deep storyline. I loved all the different timelines, especially the one filled with mages.
Saya no Uta
No comment yet
Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o 3: Anata to Koibito Tsunagi
No comment for now
Yume Miru Kusuri
No comment for now
Pokemon (series)
I've liked the Pokemon game series ever since I first played them as a kid. Pokemon is an important part of my childhood - I remember how I played through Pokemon Crystal at least seven times when I was younger. Pokemon is not limited to just my childhood, as I still like to play the games. If I had to choose a favourite Pokemon game, it would either be Crystal or Pitch Black. By the way, Pitch Black is a rom hack of Pokemon Black, and it has increased difficulty and all pokemons from every Pokemon game.
Touhoumon Enhanced - Fire Red
Rom hack of Pokemon Fire Red. Honestly, I'd have preferred to see an original Touhou storyline in this, even if it would have been mediocre. As somewhat of a Pokemon fan and a Huge Touhou fan, I can still say this is a favourite game of mine, but... Anyway, I loved the Touhou fan music in this. I wish the original Pokemon games would have even half as awesome soundtracks.
Atlantica Online
My favourite MMO and the only one I've played for more than 20 hours. I actually played this for around 2500 hours, if I remember right. I quit around 2011 April~May. Not sure as to why I ever quit, as it wasn't like I was bored of it. The gameplay in this MMO just felt so great compared to all other MMOs. Whenever I try to pick up some MMO, I always get bored fast because of the boring battle systems, but that was not the case with Atlantica Online. I loved the battle system in Atlantica Online and I have great memories of the game. I regret quitting the game, as I don't really want to pick it up again after all this time... By the way, I was quite into pvp in this game. I was actually in top 100 in pvp on my server, and I could have got higher, if I wanted to. The thing is, I never played in tournaments where gear had any importance. By only going to tournaments where equipment didn't matter and winning almost all of my matches, I got into division 1 with all the top players very quickly. The problem is I still had the same crap equipment I had in division 6. If I would have gone to other tournaments, I would been destroyed by other division 1 players - I didn't want to lose, so I only participated in that one particular tournament, where I had a winning percent of 80%. That was kind of cowardly I suppose. My formation was somewhat unique by the way (only other Atlantica Online players are going to get this, but whatever):
Lady Knight - Power Saw Main - Lady Knight
Pirate - Witch - Beast Trainer
Elementalist - Monk - Empress/Prophet
66% Of my team was built on cuteness, and 33% on strategy. It's no wonder I didn't see anyone else in divison 1 in pvp, with a similar formation (haha). No one else, who was serious about pvp, would go with a formation like mine. My formation wasn't strategically too bad actually, in fact it was fairly good, but it wasn't something someone aiming for the top would first think of. Actually I was really surpised how well my formation worked - 66% of it was built on cuteness after all. Wow, I talked about this game a lot. Well, I suppose it shows how much I liked it.
Persona 4
No comment for now.
Shin Gyakuten Touhou
No comment for now here either.
Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright
Same as above.
Mirror's Edge
Mirror's Edge is really unique game - I loved it. Not enough to call it a favourite game of mine without hesitation though. Maybe it would be better to just but this under "Honourable mention"?
Grand Theft Auto IV
I suppose I can say GTA IV is a favourite game of mine... maybe. Well, I enjoyed GTA especially lot allright, but it is pretty much the complete opposite of my ideals. Touhou's world and characters reflect my ideals perfectly, which is why Touhou is one of my greatest interests in life, but GTA on the other hand... I suppose it would be better idea to put this under a "honourable mention" too.
Check my Backloggery for more information regarding my gaming interests... If you are actually interested, that is.
I agree with you, I don't think compulsory military service makes sense any more. I can see the value in compulsory public service, but not when it's only military service. I think that pressure comes from outdated ideas of "manliness". Because fighting and killing things is somehow supposed to be more manly than real responsibility and respecting your fellow human being. At least those types of ideas are slowly on the way out.
Exactly. The best way to combat hatred and racism starts with education. It's especially a problem here because the American school system is so screwed up. There's the belief here that private schools offer a better education, but they don't have to live up to all of the same standards as public schools so students who go there can be taught horribly biased curricula and even outright lies in some cases. Public schools aren't great either because their funding is being reduced so they don't have as many resources for students. Yet many Americans will still tell you that we're the best country in the world with the best everything, including education. =/
Don't worry about it~ Is military service required in Finland?
While it's true that a lot of western culture is based on ancient Greece and Rome, those certainly aren't the only influences that have shaped the modern western world. And the world today is a mix of so many different cultures that's it's a disservice to students to not teach them about other ones. I think it contributes to racism and hatred between groups, too. People who aren't interested enough in history to read about it outside of required classes can grow up knowing nothing about any other cultures and think of them as nothing but those people that the Europeans killed/conquered.
I agree. I don't have to deal with the expectations as much since I've started college now but that's still something that I expect to be brought up at this year's holiday gatherings.
That's definitely true in regards to city size. Traffic in Chicago even in good weather probably dwarfs that in Finland, so when you throw in a blizzard like that it's even worse.
That sounds like an interesting class. I can't say Mesopotamia was given much attention in the world history classes I've taken. Those focused mostly on ancient Rome and Greece and Western Europe and just glossed over everything else. Such balanced history classes they make us take. =/
I know how that is. While it can be nice to see family once in a while, I definitely miss the peace and quiet around here when they show up. As for the snow clean up, plowing is what machines like a snow plow do. I'd guess that you weren't driving one and used a shovel, so in that case you'd just say that you shoveled snow.
Yup. There's this iconic picture of the snowstorm that you may have seen already:
That's Lake Shore Drive, one of the biggest roads in Chicago, where hundreds of cars were stranded when the blizzard hit. It took days to get all of them out of there. Most schools and workplaces were closed for a few days. (If I remember correctly I got two days off afterwards.)
Nice. Roman history is definitely an interesting period. I love reading about the earliest civilizations and empires. Military history and the Cold War period are especially fascinating to me as well. Really I can enjoy anything that isn't American history. That gets crammed down our throats in school way too much here.
Yeah I see what you mean, it can be boring if a game is too easy and doesn't come as a challenge at all. Though I would still prefer that to one that's way too hard even at the easy difficulties. =P
Awesome. Most people around here don't like snow because it can cause traffic problems, but I still love it. I guess last year was making up for the year before, when we got a lot of snow here, including one of the biggest snow storms in the history of the midwest.
That sounds pretty interesting. I love history myself and even considered studying it, but decided against it because a history degree isn't good for much besides becoming a history teacher. >_> But I do like to read about all sorts of history on my own time. Do you have any favorite historical eras/topics?
I see. I've heard that some of the Touhou games can be pretty brutal, though I've never played any of them myself. The videos I've seen on Youtube certainly support that idea.
Haha yeah the finger-spinning scene from the OP seems to be making the rounds around the Internet rather quickly.
Nice! I love snow too. I'm sure you get much more of it in Finland that I do here. Last winter was no fun because it was so much warmer than usual and there was almost no snow here. :c
I see. What sort of classes are they?
Yeah I loved that scene with Nori too. XD I've done that before myself when a game crashes or something.
Rewatching the previous seasons of Hayate no Gotoku would probably be a good idea if I had time for it. I want to say the third season isn't as good so far but it's hard because it's been so many years since I watched the first.
I do know what you mean. My mind wanders all over the place when I've got nothing keeping me busy. I get distracted way too easily. A part-time job would be a good thing to have if you could get one.
I'm watching a lot more new anime this season that previously.
Chuunibyou: Possibly my favorite one so far. It's hilarious and Rikka is awesome.
Hayate no Gotoku season 3: It feels a bit lackluster compared to the previous seasons, but at least the addition of Ruri could be interesting.
Hidamari Sketch season 4: You already heard about that one. =P
Little Busters: Not much I can say after only one episode, but I'm expecting it to be good since it's Key.
Robotics;Notes: Well the first episode was definitely easier to follow than Steins;Gate. XD Akiho is a fun character too so I'm looking forward where this goes.
You are right. It's nice to actually have my life headed in a meaningful direction instead of just working for the sake of a paycheck. And while I don't think too much free time makes me think myself into depression, I do end up wasting too much of it on the Internet anyways. XD
For Little Busters, I was wondering the same thing myself. I've been wanting to play the VN but haven't gotten around to it. I figured I'd go ahead and watch the anime since it may be a while before that happens. If you think you'll get to it soon I would wait and go for the VN first, but that's just me.
I think that is the correct term, but most people here just shorten it and call them final exams. =P Must be nice having free time. I've been good, but pretty busy since school started. I haven't had nearly as much time for anime or this site as I would like. (And I have a lot I'd like to keep up with this season, too.)
It was good! Pretty much what I've come to expect from Hidamari Sketch. You definitely won't be disappointed with it. The only things I didn't like as much compared to the previous seasons were the opening and ending songs.
Welcome to the NHK? I've seen about two episodes at an anime club but that's it. I used to be a bit more sociable in online games too. Though this was more like 10 years ago instead of just 2 or 3, back in the days of Starcraft. I was young enough then that the immaturity of online gamers in general didn't bother me.
Hmmm, I don't remember thinking that Tomoya was more of a jerk from the parts of the VN that I played. But I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Starting off on a lower notes fits hits growth over the course of the series better.
Spanish certainly isn't a global language yet, but it's rising the fastest I think. Hispanics are spreading so fast in the U.S. it's almost becoming a requirement in some areas to be bilingual in Spanish and English to get many jobs.
I wouldn't necessarily say that's self-centered, people just have different preferences. I'd guess that you're more fond of the Scandinavian languages than I am given where you live, as they just sound awful to me. (Despite that I would still like to learn Swedish eventually, since I have some Swedish heritage.)
I feel kind of the same way about Jinrui. I liked the first two episodes better than I liked the third. I've got the next two episodes now so I'll have to see how they turn out.
Oh I didn't mean to imply that the game made people play solo, rather that I ended up choosing to do it that way. I'm just not the biggest fan of playing online with random people in the game that I don't know. So when my friends aren't on or are busy with different quests, I just end up soloing. I tend to be a loner like that. =P
Tomoyo's route was definitely my favorite of the Clannad routes I did complete. She made a really great couple with Tomoya. I didn't complete Kyou's route so I can't really comment on that one (and I'm sure the anime that I saw didn't do it justice).
I think English being dominant in entertainment worldwide is more the result of its spread rather than the cause. It spread at first due to British imperialism and the size and breadth the the British colonies, and was further entrenched by American dominance in world affairs, especially in the Cold War period when most of the world was aligned with the U.S. against the Soviet Union. If any language does overtake English in becoming a global language it will be Spanish (Spanish speakers from Latin and South America are already starting to take over here), Chinese, or maybe German.
As far as what sounds best, English is nice, but it's definitely not my favorite. The romance languages in general sound the nicest to be, especially French. I don't mind Russian either, in fact when I go back to school this fall I'm planning on learning Russian.
Jinrui was very, very bizarre. There were a few moments that had me laughing quite a bit (especially the one with the bread) but overall I'm not really sure what to think yet. I've got the second episode downloaded so I'll probably watch it later today.
I definitely agree about shooters. Even the ones that have better stories compared to other shooters still are dwarfed by most JRPGs or VNs story-wise. I'm not too interested in multiplayer modes, either. Even the few MMOs I've tried I just end up doing quests and stuff on my own instead of playing with others like the game was made for. >_>
I see. I probably won't add it to my list then if it's nothing special. Your mention of Tomoyo After also reminds me that I still haven't finished the Clannad VN. I played through two or three routes a few years ago when it was only partially translated, but I still have yet to finish it. Some day I'll get to it...
You're right about people outside of the U.S. and U.K. learning English. You get exposed to it much earlier than most people here get exposed to any other language. It's becoming a global language that's being used everywhere. I'm not sure that it's the best choice given how inconsistent spelling and grammar can be in English, but there's not much to be done about it at this point. =P
I haven't gotten to Ai's route yet. Out of the one's I've seen I'd have to say Kaoru is my favorite.
I see, I'm much closer to you when it comes to gaming. The bulk of my gaming is visual novels and JRPGs. I'm usually interested in a game for the story like you. I'll also play a few games here and there in other genres except for first person shooters. Those are the only ones I don't care for at all.
I'm not familiar with Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka. What's it about? Gekkou no Carnevale is the one I'm most hoping to play eventually. There is a completed Russian translation of it, however, and I'm planning on starting learning Russian this fall, so maybe I could play that version if the English one is never finished. XD
As far as learning Japanese through anime, I don't think it's possible to get a comprehensive understanding of the language that way. You can learn some words and phrases, but it's easy to mishear or misinterpret something. Without a teacher, lesson plan, or at least some native speaker (if you're trying to learn by immersion in a country where a language is spoken), you can just keep thinking the wrong thing. Immersion through media is a useful tool for learning a language, but I don't think you can learn one well through that method alone.
Amagami is pretty decent so far. The characters are mostly enjoyable (Except for Haruka. Someone needs to run that spoiled bitch over with a bus.), but I don't think they're getting enough episodes per character to develop them as well as they could be.
I see. You're not the only person I know who's said good things about Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, so I will definitely check it out later.
All Comments (20) Comments
Exactly. The best way to combat hatred and racism starts with education. It's especially a problem here because the American school system is so screwed up. There's the belief here that private schools offer a better education, but they don't have to live up to all of the same standards as public schools so students who go there can be taught horribly biased curricula and even outright lies in some cases. Public schools aren't great either because their funding is being reduced so they don't have as many resources for students. Yet many Americans will still tell you that we're the best country in the world with the best everything, including education. =/
While it's true that a lot of western culture is based on ancient Greece and Rome, those certainly aren't the only influences that have shaped the modern western world. And the world today is a mix of so many different cultures that's it's a disservice to students to not teach them about other ones. I think it contributes to racism and hatred between groups, too. People who aren't interested enough in history to read about it outside of required classes can grow up knowing nothing about any other cultures and think of them as nothing but those people that the Europeans killed/conquered.
I agree. I don't have to deal with the expectations as much since I've started college now but that's still something that I expect to be brought up at this year's holiday gatherings.
That sounds like an interesting class. I can't say Mesopotamia was given much attention in the world history classes I've taken. Those focused mostly on ancient Rome and Greece and Western Europe and just glossed over everything else. Such balanced history classes they make us take. =/
I know how that is. While it can be nice to see family once in a while, I definitely miss the peace and quiet around here when they show up. As for the snow clean up, plowing is what machines like a snow plow do. I'd guess that you weren't driving one and used a shovel, so in that case you'd just say that you shoveled snow.
That's Lake Shore Drive, one of the biggest roads in Chicago, where hundreds of cars were stranded when the blizzard hit. It took days to get all of them out of there. Most schools and workplaces were closed for a few days. (If I remember correctly I got two days off afterwards.)
Nice. Roman history is definitely an interesting period. I love reading about the earliest civilizations and empires. Military history and the Cold War period are especially fascinating to me as well. Really I can enjoy anything that isn't American history. That gets crammed down our throats in school way too much here.
Yeah I see what you mean, it can be boring if a game is too easy and doesn't come as a challenge at all. Though I would still prefer that to one that's way too hard even at the easy difficulties. =P
That sounds pretty interesting. I love history myself and even considered studying it, but decided against it because a history degree isn't good for much besides becoming a history teacher. >_> But I do like to read about all sorts of history on my own time. Do you have any favorite historical eras/topics?
I see. I've heard that some of the Touhou games can be pretty brutal, though I've never played any of them myself. The videos I've seen on Youtube certainly support that idea.
Haha yeah the finger-spinning scene from the OP seems to be making the rounds around the Internet rather quickly.
I see. What sort of classes are they?
Yeah I loved that scene with Nori too. XD I've done that before myself when a game crashes or something.
Rewatching the previous seasons of Hayate no Gotoku would probably be a good idea if I had time for it. I want to say the third season isn't as good so far but it's hard because it's been so many years since I watched the first.
I'm watching a lot more new anime this season that previously.
Chuunibyou: Possibly my favorite one so far. It's hilarious and Rikka is awesome.
Hayate no Gotoku season 3: It feels a bit lackluster compared to the previous seasons, but at least the addition of Ruri could be interesting.
Hidamari Sketch season 4: You already heard about that one. =P
Little Busters: Not much I can say after only one episode, but I'm expecting it to be good since it's Key.
Robotics;Notes: Well the first episode was definitely easier to follow than Steins;Gate. XD Akiho is a fun character too so I'm looking forward where this goes.
For Little Busters, I was wondering the same thing myself. I've been wanting to play the VN but haven't gotten around to it. I figured I'd go ahead and watch the anime since it may be a while before that happens. If you think you'll get to it soon I would wait and go for the VN first, but that's just me.
It was good! Pretty much what I've come to expect from Hidamari Sketch. You definitely won't be disappointed with it. The only things I didn't like as much compared to the previous seasons were the opening and ending songs.
Hmmm, I don't remember thinking that Tomoya was more of a jerk from the parts of the VN that I played. But I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Starting off on a lower notes fits hits growth over the course of the series better.
Spanish certainly isn't a global language yet, but it's rising the fastest I think. Hispanics are spreading so fast in the U.S. it's almost becoming a requirement in some areas to be bilingual in Spanish and English to get many jobs.
I wouldn't necessarily say that's self-centered, people just have different preferences. I'd guess that you're more fond of the Scandinavian languages than I am given where you live, as they just sound awful to me. (Despite that I would still like to learn Swedish eventually, since I have some Swedish heritage.)
I feel kind of the same way about Jinrui. I liked the first two episodes better than I liked the third. I've got the next two episodes now so I'll have to see how they turn out.
Tomoyo's route was definitely my favorite of the Clannad routes I did complete. She made a really great couple with Tomoya. I didn't complete Kyou's route so I can't really comment on that one (and I'm sure the anime that I saw didn't do it justice).
I think English being dominant in entertainment worldwide is more the result of its spread rather than the cause. It spread at first due to British imperialism and the size and breadth the the British colonies, and was further entrenched by American dominance in world affairs, especially in the Cold War period when most of the world was aligned with the U.S. against the Soviet Union. If any language does overtake English in becoming a global language it will be Spanish (Spanish speakers from Latin and South America are already starting to take over here), Chinese, or maybe German.
As far as what sounds best, English is nice, but it's definitely not my favorite. The romance languages in general sound the nicest to be, especially French. I don't mind Russian either, in fact when I go back to school this fall I'm planning on learning Russian.
Jinrui was very, very bizarre. There were a few moments that had me laughing quite a bit (especially the one with the bread) but overall I'm not really sure what to think yet. I've got the second episode downloaded so I'll probably watch it later today.
I see. I probably won't add it to my list then if it's nothing special. Your mention of Tomoyo After also reminds me that I still haven't finished the Clannad VN. I played through two or three routes a few years ago when it was only partially translated, but I still have yet to finish it. Some day I'll get to it...
You're right about people outside of the U.S. and U.K. learning English. You get exposed to it much earlier than most people here get exposed to any other language. It's becoming a global language that's being used everywhere. I'm not sure that it's the best choice given how inconsistent spelling and grammar can be in English, but there's not much to be done about it at this point. =P
I haven't gotten to Ai's route yet. Out of the one's I've seen I'd have to say Kaoru is my favorite.
I'm not familiar with Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka. What's it about? Gekkou no Carnevale is the one I'm most hoping to play eventually. There is a completed Russian translation of it, however, and I'm planning on starting learning Russian this fall, so maybe I could play that version if the English one is never finished. XD
As far as learning Japanese through anime, I don't think it's possible to get a comprehensive understanding of the language that way. You can learn some words and phrases, but it's easy to mishear or misinterpret something. Without a teacher, lesson plan, or at least some native speaker (if you're trying to learn by immersion in a country where a language is spoken), you can just keep thinking the wrong thing. Immersion through media is a useful tool for learning a language, but I don't think you can learn one well through that method alone.
Amagami is pretty decent so far. The characters are mostly enjoyable (Except for Haruka. Someone needs to run that spoiled bitch over with a bus.), but I don't think they're getting enough episodes per character to develop them as well as they could be.
I see. You're not the only person I know who's said good things about Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, so I will definitely check it out later.