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ごきげんよう、貴婦人!

Have you been studying Japanese too and what do you like most about Motoko Kusanagi?

Aside from Ghost in the Shell, Solty Rei is my other favorite cyberpunk anime.

My semitomboyish friend from Maryland is a huge fan of that subgenre.

Have you quit MAL for Hummingbird? What a shame!

Well, I finally completed Chihayafuru and managed to finish both seasons in less than 2 days - I was that addicted! A truly wonderful series and I've even ordered a book on the hundred poems and their translations.

The series was very similar to Bakuman (which I also loved) in that it follows the aspirations of a group of people and watch them evolve. I'm also a sucker for romance and the subtle relationship between the three was fascinating, not to mention Arata's accent which was like aural gold ...

I'm about to start the manga ... I need to quench this thirst for karuta ...

Yup, I've read all (that's out) of 'A Song of Ice and Fire,' and the fourth book (A Feast for Crows) was definitely the hardest to read so I don't blame you for waiting. After A Storm of Swords (my favourite book so far; so many amazing climaxes!) it felt like Martin had to start again with a lot of the characters and it's only towards the end of A Dance with Dragons that it all started to heat up again (there's some great Dany moments in there!) Obviously, I'm a devoted reader :)

As for Aku no Hana, I'd kill for a second season. Given that sequence in the last episode, they've already filmed and rotoscoped a lot of those later scenes anyway, so I think it's quite likely that we'll get another series, but you never know. I remember reading it last year all in one night and not being able to tear myself away from the screen. It felt like being sucked into a whirlpool. Such a dark, crazy and wonderful series!

I'm hoping to get back on the blogging trail soon. IIRC, someone once described the itch to write as being like the twitch of a phantom limb, which seems pretty apt right now! :) As for the new stuff, I thought WataMote was the most affective to the point where I went ahead and started reading the manga. It's almost a black comedy, but the anime felt a lot heavier in comparison. I'm curious to see where it's all headed.

The biggest surprise for me was Yami Shibai: it's a short series, something silly like 5 mins per episode, and animated in this very unique style, but it's pretty freaky. The first episode is a ghost story. I won't say any more for fear of spoiling it, but if you're into ghost stories/horror then it's well worth a look!

Just a passing note to say that I'm half-way into the second Dying Earth novel (The Eyes of the Overworld) and the prose/dialogue is fascinating... Everyone (particularly Cugel) has such an amusingly formal, old fashioned way of speaking. That and Cugel is a total bastard! :)

I ordered 'Songs of Dying Earth' too, and mainly for that Gaiman chapter, which is supposed to be about what happens when the sun actually dies out! Just that idea is enough to get me excited!

Have you looked much into the new season? I must admit, with Aku no Hana gone, I'm somewhat deflated, but at least we've still got Shingeki no Kyojin. The new season's Uchouten Kazoku is the one I've got the most hope in, it really feels like it was born from the same mind as The Tatami Galaxy.

Yakumo is indeed the definition of a Yamato Nadeshiko. In fact, I haven't seen any other character in anime that comes as close as she does. I'm not sure, however, she's a realistic character in modern society although my time in Japan did suggest otherwise ...

I have now completed Monster. I marathoned the entire series over a week and was left in tears at the magnificence of it. Super storytelling and I suspect my medical background lent some bias towards Tenma as a character too.

I haven't started Chihayafuru yet but will do soon. Despite nearing 500 animes completed, there are still many major franchises I have yet to start - Code Geass, Mushishi, xxxHolic, Fate/Zero, Natsume Yuujinchou, Ghost in the Shell: SAC, Ergo Proxy to name a few. In fact, I only recently completed the Bakuman and Clannad series! There's just too much fantastic anime to watch!

Regards Miyazawa. I wouldn't proclaim to be an expert by any stretch but the only other work in addition to the ones you've mentioned that I know is The Restaurant of Many Orders, which are a collection of fairy-tail-like short stories.

I haven't been in the lab recently as my clinical work has taken the front seat for the moment. Various colorectal cancer operations have been fast-tracked recently and there's a bit of a backlog that we're urgently trying to get on top of!

I'll let you know if and when I go to the anime conventions.

Otsukaresama!

I was presenting at the Hypoxybridge Meeting (a portmanteau of hypoxia, Oxford and Cambridge - hilarious! ... ahem ...) about tumour hypoxia in bowel cancer. Pretty dull actually ...

I had crepe from one of the mobile stores and wandered the market - truly fab!

I saw some students in their subfusc milling around and suspected that it must be graduation.

I love School Rumble. It's still my favourite school based comedy and I've yet to see another that has as many love triangles as that show! I keep showing 'Yakumo' to my wife in an attempt to convince her that she must behave like her ... it doesn't go down too well ...

I was planning to go to the London convention next month but nothing concrete yet. I didn't realise that Cambridge had their own - I might sneak in!

I'm 2/3rds through watching 'Monster' at the moment and if it continues in the same vein, will rightfully take place as my favourite anime ever - a true masterpiece ... so far ...

Hope your work is going well. Have you per chance looked at/referenced some of Kenji Miyazawa's work in your work with children's literature?

Isn't 'Dying Earth' great? I love the elegiac style of Jack Vance's writing, and since you reminded me, I went ahead and ordered the rest of the series for my Kindle this afternoon.

Aku no Hana is a series that I almost care too much about. Like with Hiroshi Nagahama's other anime, Mushishi, it gets under my skin, and breaks my heart when others seem so ready to criticise/ignore it. It's becoming rare now to see TV anime that's as earnestly trying to do something different and make an impression. Basically, I love everything about Aku no Hana. A total fan boy, that's me! :)

Oh and this CamCon event! Pretty cool that even Cambridge now has a annual thing for anime fans. I've never really been to one of these events in the UK, although I spent an afternoon at one in Vancouver last year. Hopefully they'll have some cool things there!

Hey! I went to Cambridge yesterday to present at the Downing site. The city centre is gorgeous - much nicer than Oxfords! I went to the Lion Yard for some shopping and then had a wander around the market! Hope you're well!

Hi! Always nice to hear from a blog reader, especially since you're in Cambridge. It's a lovely place to live, right?

The manga is doing well but not the top selling by a long shot. The old standbys do well all the time and Attack on Titan is doing very well. Even Chihayafuru does much better than Aku no Hana and I'm not complaining!

The discs will probably sell horribly. The rotoscoping just didn't help.

Unfortunately the sales of Crime Edge and pre-sales of Aku no Hana anime (still not released but miracles rarely occur) are so poor that I don't think either will receive a second season... unless... the manga/novels get sufficient sales boosts that they consider a second season of anime at a loss to be good advertising. So not likely :(

Crime Edge seemed to reverse Kiri and Emily after he met Grayland. Not sure how it will finish, I enjoy the series with the gore and romances but some parts are hard to watch. Love Iwai, episode 6 was my favorite so far, could have ended there.

I enjoy HenNeko and the last episode especially though it is heavy at the end. Funny til then and I enjoy the emotional whipsaw.

Gargantia I am not sure. It seems predictable to me. I knew he was dead. The cult seems unrealistic. Hope it ends well!

Aku no Hana is so interesting. Just too bad the art turned so many off so will likely be manga only to finish.

No worries! I am unspoilable, I love to read the material first and often read the last chapter first, then go back and fill in the details! I love to rewatch, some shows I know by heart!