Difference between revisions of "2004-2005 Emails"

Revision as of 16:56, 6 April 2011

Email announcements from school year 2004-2005.

Fall 2004

Minna No Anime first meeting 9/25/04

Hello anime fans,
Welcome to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly.s Japanese animation club.
As for what the club is and does, it is very simple.  You are all invited
to join the officers and everyone else, from Cal Poly and elsewhere, in
their enjoyment of the Japanese cartoon style. The club is a social club
not affiliated with any particular college with no other purpose than to
band together and enjoy a different type of entertainment than the normal
fare of American television.

Now to the very crux of the matter, the Schedule:

5:00 . Fansub O. the Week (a different episode form a different series each week)
5:25 . Slayers Next . Episode 1

5:50 . 5 minute break . mingle, sit-in-awe, rant, complain, but be back in a few

5:55 . Patlabor
6:20 . Inu Yasha . Some ungodly season like 4 or 5

6:45 . more mingling, screaming, yelling or general lethargy (whatever suits you)

6:50 . Scrapped Princess . Episode 1
7:15 . RahXephon . Episode 1

7:40 . Dinner Break (30 minutes) . dart out and scrounge up munchies or
stay for the interim entertainment . by-the-by the entertainment, assuming
there is any, is always a mystery.

8:10 . Last Exile . Episode 1
8:35 . Kino.s Journeys (Kino no Tabi) . Episode 1

9:00 . recover from the screaming, mingling and stuff and prepare.

9:05 . Texhnolyze . Rogue (aka Episode) 1: Stranger
9:30 . Banner of the Stars II . Episode 1

9:55 - .and we.re done.  You are now free to carry on your lives as you
best see fit and we hope to see you next week.





Now on to the meat of the weekly newsletter.
I have to admit that I went through a great deal of internal monologues as
to what I would say in the first newsletter.maybe something bitter with
lots of venom and hate.maybe something reassuring about life and Cal Poly
for the new ones...maybe a story either fictional or true.or maybe I would
just let my ego flow and talk about myself.  But no, I have decided to go
for a more simplistic approach this week.an introduction of sorts.  Please
allow me to introduce you to the officers that are attempting to ward off
chaos to make the club what it is.

President . Matt . He will be doing a lot of talking and will be the focal
point of the club and ultimately is the final say on what happens and is
shown.  Essentially, every thing that happens in the club and is shown is
his responsibility.  The perks of being in power. Let.s hope he can live
up to the billing.

Vice-President . Annaliese . Her duties are vague sinTreasurer . Erin .
She will be our money launderer, er, handler.  She gets to buy new anime
titles for the library and deal with all the internal finances of the
club.  You would be surprised to see how much business a club like this
can generate.

Secretary . Me

Librarian . Robert . For all of you who are eager to explore other titles
than the ones presented on the big screen, feel free to bother him.  He is
in charge of our massive . and I do mean massive . VHS and DVD anime
collection.  He can even help you pick out titles you might be interested
in and, in some cases, fill in back story for some shows.  Now how do you
check out shows?  I shall leave that up to him but a precursor question
should be just what shows we have available for your viewing pleasure.or
torture which brings us to our.

Webmaster . Stephen . Our website, http://www.calpoly.edu/~minnclub, comes
with a link that lets you, the member, browse our collection of titles of
anime from the comfort and security of your personal computer.  If you
find broken links or various problems with the site, feel free to let him
know.  Also, if you think that the site would be better served by 
additions or subtra
As for me.at present, I will remain anonymous to the new people.  You may
hear rumors of stories and me but be careful what you hear.  I will let
you all in on a secret.  I will be largely absent from the viewings this
year it appears.  Why?  This week is not the time to worry about it.  Odds
are you will hear more from me from my weekly rant (this section of the
newsletter) than from real life. We.ll see how that works.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the line up and continue to come and please
feel free to invite others that might be interested to come.  After all,
we don.t charge to watch and we have never had a seating problem.
Enjoy the year.

Minna no Manga, 09/30

Hey All! If you didn't see my frantic messages on the Yahoo Group, the
room for MnM has been changed to Building 20, room 140. That's the
Engineering East building. We will be there from 6pm-10pm.

Eh, I've never really done one of these mass e-mails before, but I'll try
to make it mildly interesting. Hopefully. So, allow me to attempt to
entertain you with a "Manga of the week" sort of thing.

Shounen Manga of the Week- Devil Devil(or Devil and Devil)

Devil Devil is a 15-volume series that ran from the late 90's to... not so
long ago. It focuses on a demon, Sword, and his nemesis, the angel Ios.
During their 101st battle, the two are mortally wounded and retreat to
earth, where they possess two humans, Souma and Kanna. Not only is Sword
horrified to be in such a weak body it turns out that Kanna, whom Ios has
possesed is Souma's twin brother! *gasp!* Now they have to deal with the
pain of their new bodies and with each other until they can regain their
true forms.

I found the second volume of this series in French, and I have a thing for
demons, so I quickly became interested in the story. I don't love the art,
but it's pretty dang good. The story goes all over the place, and deals
with Archangels, Satan, and a little bit oflove. I recommend this series
if you have some time. It's definately worth it.

Scanlations are available at Dual
Translations(http://www.dualtranslations.org), and they have scanlated the
entire series.

Shoujo Manga of the Week-Mekakushi no Kuni

Introduction(taken from the first volume):
'When Otsuka Kanade touches someone, it's like a "blindfold" falling, and
she's able to see the person's "future." she tires her best to change her
friend's future, but Arou, the person who sees the "past," doesn't agree
with her. what is Arou thinking---? Tomorrow never knows?'

MnK is a series I found randomly on some IRC channel. It's very cute, and
is stocked with wonderful bishounen. Although the story is a bit fuzzy at
times, it's easy to understand and the author does a good job allowing the
reader to understand how the characters are feeling.

Scanlations are available from  AnimeWaves(http://animewaves.net), and are
on their IRC channel, #animewaves@irc.rizon.net. they have scnalated
Through volume 2, chapter 6.


Hope that wasn't too boring! I hope to see you Thursday @6pm in 20-140!
^_^

~Annaliese

MNA 10/2/04

Hello anime fans,
Welcome to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly.s Japanese animation club.
As for what the club is and does, it is very simple.  You are all invited
to join the officers and everyone else, from Cal Poly and elsewhere, in
their enjoyment of the Japanese cartoon style. The club is a social club
not affiliated with any particular college with no other purpose than to
band together and enjoy a different type of entertainment than the normal
fare of American television.

Now to the very crux of the matter, the Schedule:

5:00 . Fansub O. the Week (a different episode form a different series each week)
5:25 . Slayers Next . Episode 2

5:50 . 5 minute break . Wait for the greatness of Patlabor

5:55 . Patlabor . another fun-filled episode
6:20 . Inu Yasha . Monster of the week anime

6:45 . Marvel at the singing voices of mecha in Rahxephon

6:50 . Scrapped Princess . Episode 2
7:15 . RahXephon . Episode 2

7:40 . Dinner Break (30 minutes) . mmm.time for dinner.if you wee
wondering I was the one that came and wondered around aimlessly during
this time last week and then left when the shows resumed.

8:10 . Last Exile . Episode 2
8:35 . Kino.s Journeys (Kino no Tabi) . Episode 2

9:00 . Wince from the pain of multilation in Texhnolyze and no, it does
not get less graphic.

9:05 . Texhnolyze . Rogue 2: Forfeiture
9:30 . Banner of the Stars II . Episode 2

9:55 - .Whew.  We.re done.  Another weekend spent feeling the agony,
amusement, torture, pity, pleasure and pain that our favorite characters
feel every week.  Thank god none of us live some of these lives but then
we do cosplay as them, don.t we?





What to write this week..always difficult.

I have decided to wait a while longer until I really start in on the hate
mongering.  After all, many of you don.t have a clue who I am or what I
like.  Well, if it is any indication, I saw one show last week.  Any guess
which one it is?  No, it was not Inu Yasha or Scrapped Princess.  It was
Texhnolyze.  After that I left for the evening.  I came from work after
picking up burgers to eat there.  Actually, I timed it so I would miss all
the previous shows and arrive just in time to hit the social period.  I
See, after one episode of Texhnolyze (which I saw during Fansub O.), I was
hooked.  I was not concerned with the ending or anything else.  I simply
had to have the rest of it and such is the case.  As it comes out, I
acquire the newest disk.  Let me tell you that Episode 10 has been the
best, and most surprising, episode for me to date.  I can only imagine how
great it gets later on although I hope that somI feel you.the audience.
should know what we are not showing.  We are not showing Ghost in the
Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Excel Saga, Those Who Hunt Elves and a slew of
others that were in contention until the very end.  As a matter of fact, I
had no idea what was being shown until, I think, Wednesday before club
began.  I gave up on making any decisions and I regret it greatly.  I
guess I should have buste
Did I mention I like to write?  See back in college (I graduated from the
oh-so-well to do Orfalea College of Business way back when the world was
young and idealism was something to be cherished) I had this great idea to
write a book.  Truth is, I am on page 18.  Yes, it has been very slow
going.  Sorry, I had to deal with psycho roommates and mental breakdowns
that rather hampered the long-term creative p
Currently, I sit here typing this trying to keep my comments from being to
hateful or dwelling too deeply on anything.  Oh yeah, I mentioned work
before I came to club last weekend.  I actually have two jobs.
Unfortunately I am not at liberty to discuss my primary job but on the
weekends, and during club, I work at the City of Pismo Beach in their
finance office doing some of the accountant duties.  I used to work there
up until June 18 when I accepted this other job but I returned as a
part-time employeeagain when they needed the help.  I feel this is a much
better use of my time than watching most of the anime that is being
shown.that and wandering the hills of Cal Poly with a friend of mine
looking for whatever catches the eye.  Yep, some officer I am.  I don.t
even show up for the shows but somehow I am an officer.  Isn.t voting
wonderful? Look at what happens when we vote..which reminds me.Being an
offiHmm, I think I.ll hold off on more politics and stuff until later.  I
have written more than enough for this week so I will leave for the week
to ponder my feelings for the club.  And I thought this year would be
great too.

Minna no Manga, 10/07

Hey all you manga fans! It's time for your weekly Minna no Manga reminder!

Minna no Manga is this Thursday in building 20(Engineering East), room
140, from 6:00-10:00. Well, that's what our papers say. There will be a
class in the room until 6:30, but I know I'll be there around 6. Oh come
on, don't everyone get excited at once!

bShounen Manga of the Week- Bleach by Kubo Tite

Plot- Main character Ichigo can see/talk to/ touch ghosts. Enter the
Shinigami Rukia. Ichigo and Rukia bicker. A Hollow, a very evil spirit
attacks Ichigo's family. Stuff happens, and the only way to save his
famliy and Rukia is to stab himself with Rukia's sword and absorb half her
shinigami power. He accidently takes it all and there is great ass-kicking
and rejoicing. Since Rukia's powers have been taken, Ichigo takes over her
job. And then the series gets a +1million awesomeness level-up.

Bleach is definitely one of my favorite series. Kubo Tite's style is
beautiful and the story really keeps you hooked. For girls, it's got
Ichigo and the ultra-bishounen Ishida. For guys(and girls who like it),
it's got big swords, blood, some of the best action I think I've ever seen
in a manga. Kubo Tite is a god, and his manga is something to be
worshipped. He puts the tiniest details that really add a lot to the
series(like foreshadowing character appearances by having them in the
background at random points for several chapters before they are actually
introduced).

Bleach is licensed by VIZ and they have released the first three volumes
and each is extremely worth the $7.95 they charge. Unfortunately, there
are some interesting translations, like 'Soul Reaper' for Shinigami.
Comparing what they did to what they could have done, it's a pretty good
job.

In Japan, Bleach is published weekly in Weekly Shounen Jump and the
graphic novels are published by Jump Comics. They have recently released
the fourteenth graphic novel and in W.S.J. they just released chapter 152.

The Bleach anime premiered in Japan on the 5th. It's worth checking out,
but I think the manga is much better.

Shoujo Manga of the Week- Gravitation by Maki Murakami
Plot- Shuichi wants to be a rock star. One day he runs into this creepy
guy who makes fun of his lyrics. Shuichi tracks this guy down and becomes
obsessed with him. The guy, the famous novelist Yuki Eiri, doesn't like
this much.

... I know what you are thinking... But really, Gravi is great stuff!
Yeah, you got the bedroom scene here and there... and here again, but you
will not be disappointed if you stick with the series. I seriously doubt
I've laughed at a manga so much. And! if you like music, I think you'll
love this series.

Gravitation has been licensed by Tokyopop and they have released through
volume 7(?).

In Japan, the series is published monthly by ... I dunno. The graphic
novels are published by Gentosha comics Inc. I believe they have released
through 12 or 13, and I am unsure if the series is still being released.

The Gravitation anime(available subbed and ear-bleedingly dubbed from
Right Stuf) is ok, but you should really check out the music from the
series. It's excellent.

If you're a Maki Murakami fan, you may want to check out Gamerz Heaven,
her other series. It will be released soon by ADV Manga, and is published
by Blade Comics in Japan. If Gravi is a bit too... eh... for you, check
out Gamerz Heaven. It's about gamers. Obviously.

____________

Er... wow, I can't write. Sorry. I kind of went off on tangents there.
-_-;; Laziness + Braindead= crappy e-mail!

Read Bleach!
Watch Bleach!
Love Bleach!

~Annaliese
-Something Wicked This Was Comes!-

MNA 10/9/04

Hello anime fans,
Welcome to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly.s Japanese animation club.
As for what the club is and does, it is very simple.  You sit around for
most of the night watching Japanese animation occasionally talking and
moving.  Otherwise the officers have your souls as your eyes are
transfixed to the big screen in front of you with its bright and colorful
images.  Isn.t television wonderful?

Now to the good stuff, the Schedule:

5:00 . Fansub O. the Week (a different episode form a different series each week)
5:25 . Slayers Next . Episode 3

5:50 . 5 minute break . I.m so tired this week.

5:55 . Patlabor . More of what we love.mechas
6:20 . Inu Yasha . What will Inu Yasha kill this week?

6:45 . Another wonderful 5 minute break.so, so tired.

6:50 . Scrapped Princess . Episode 3
7:15 . RahXephon . Episode 3

7:40 . Dinner Break (30 minutes) . Did I mention that in addition to being
tired I am also feeling very lazy and I want to go to sleep?

8:10 . Last Exile . Episode 3
8:35 . Kino.s Journeys (Kino no Tabi) . Episode 3

9:00 . Another 5 minute stretch.if you can stand that is.

9:05 . Texhnolyze . Rogue 3: Texhnophile
9:30 . Banner of the Stars II . Episode 3

9:55 - .Time to disperse and go to sleep in your nice, comfy beds or go to
a party, get drunk, and maybe pass out in a gutter.  Whatever floats your
boat.









You know, I realize that the last line there was pretty mean, wasn.t it?
I should warn you now that I have a bad feeling that this whole newsletter
is going to be filled with horrible and mean content.  I felt you should
all know and I am not in a bad mood either.

We don.t do parties, do we?   After all, we are anime people.  That and
some of you may be too young to experience the horrors of alcohol.  Let me
tell you about them and no, this is not a public service announcement.
After all, if any of you kill yourselves drinking or doing other stupid
things then that is one less person I need to worry about taking a job
from me or competing for other precious, precious
I recommend that any of you that consider drinking to reconsider it.  I
see no point in it.  Most of the people I have drank with make lousy
drinking partners and are no fun for the rest of the evening.  It is
expensive if you supply the booze or go to a bar and can land a person in
a load of unnecessary trouble.  Sure, I guess one could always argue that
it makes a person manlier to consume copious amountsnking proves anything.
The only reason I have drunk, and this is a poor reason, is curiosity.  I
wondered what my threshold was and what different beverages tasted like.
Let me tell you that Albertson.s brand charcoal filtered vodka is akin to
acid.  A little bit of it burnt all the way down but boy was mouth,
throat, and stomach sanitized.  Drinking serves no point and I can think
of nothing worthwhile toIn other news, I am going to tell you what I did
last Saturday instead of watching anime with all of you fine people (no,
really.you are probably more of a decent person than I am).  I left my
house around 3pm and headed for the Arroyo Grande movie theatre.  I saw no
movie since everything playing just doesn.t excite me or is utter crap, in
my humble opinion.  No,  I went to wait for a friend to arrive so thol II
(Limited Edition) at Best Buy.  No, I did not buy it.yet.  We then left
SLO and headed back to Arroyo Grande where we got a cup of coffee and
talked for a while.  A quite enjoyable evening actually.  Definitely worth
missing anime club for, I think.

So, I missed another club meeting and I likely will this week to.  It
depends entirely on how long I feel like working alone at Pismo Beach and
if I can find other people to do things with.  The interesting thing is
that I still enjoy anime I just can not stand most of the shows being
showed.  Thus, I just do not bother going.  Anime club has become
something of a last resort on a really slow Saturday night.
Here is some history you might find enjoyable. A number of years ago,
Minna no Anime showed the series Black Heaven.  In retrospect, the show
was mediocre but it had a great opening and some of the songs in it were
excellent.  As a matter of fact, the opening was so great that I
head-banged the opening.  At this time, I had long, straight blond hair
about half way down my back that just added to the whole head banging
experience.  It was a glorious time and on the last episode I stood down
at the front of he stage, faced the audience, pretended I could play the
guitar, and head banged as hard as I could.  I made a fool out of myself
but, god, was it fun and I think the audience enjoyed the spectacle as
well as I enjoyed doing it.  If anything, I hope this goes to show that I
do not hate everything.only about 95% of everything.  Why do I dislike so
much stuff you ask?  For simplicity.s sake, lets just say thatSo that is
all I have to say.  I have work tomorrow and have been sleepy for the last
two hours so I think I will send this to all of you eager anime fans and
get some sleep after watching the Rock .n. Roll Excel Saga episode.  I
like that episode mainly because of the opening part of Key.s song but to
each their own.

Minn no Manga 10/14/04!

Let's All Bake Bread!

Minna no Manga 10/14/04
18:30-22:00, Bldg 20, room 140

Did you know that it is really a nice feeling to fall asleep on a lawn in
some dappled shade while listening to Frou Frou? It is very relaxing(until
you wake up and realize it's nearly class time!).

~Shounen Manga of the Week- Yakitate!! Japan(Freshly Baked!! Japan) by
Takashi Hashiguchi~

Do you like bread? I sure do. This may be because of my extended time
tending to the Great Bread and Donut King, Cubby*, but it cannot change
the fact that most people love bread. Azuma Kazuma(Oh, how I love fun
names) loves bread. He travels from his hometown to Tokyo to compete for a
job at Pantasia's main store. How do they compete? By making bread of
course!

Kazuma's great goal in life is to make JaPan**. France has a bread that
represents their nation, as well as Germany and England(among several
others), but Japan does not. Kazuma's wants to make a bread to represent
Japan.

Yakitate!! Japan is one of those series you start to read because it's
just so out there, you have to see it. When I found out there was a manga
about bread, I just knew I had to read it, and I have not been
disappointed yet. Not only am I constantly amused by the antics of the
main characters, I am always learning new things about bread, and tips and
techniques to help bake better.

This series is also full of fun cameos(one character is dressed as Lum at
one point, Gash of Konjiki no Gash Bell is in a good four pages in one
volume), but it is also full of fun puns. Everybody loves puns.

Yakitate!! Japan runs in Weekly Shounen Sunday and nlated by Aku-Tenshi's
doujin department, Impending Doujinshi. It is a 19 page one-shot. Enjoy!

_________________________

I guess I feel bad. For the few weeks I've written this, I've always had a
shounen series in mind, but I always have to go through my bookshelf or my
scanlations to find a shoujo series. I do really like shoujo stuff, but
I'm just more partial to shounen series. I like watching stuff blow up, I
guess. ^_^

Thank-you for putting up with my poor writing skills for another week!
~Annaliese

If you want me to write about a series(or if you'd like to say something
about a series), e-mail me at dragynstorm@<removed for spam reasons>. Please put
something about Minna no Manga in the title. thanks!

Minna no Manga 10/14 part 2

Wow, somehow my 'Shoujo Manga of the Week' just didn't send. Odd, very
odd. Maybe it's telling me something. ^_^



~Shoujo Manga of the Week- Carnival II, 2002(Harry Potter doujinshi)
produced by Ronru Pearl~

Yeah, so it's a doujin. Big deal. Yeah, it's Harry Potter. Big deal.

Many people know I have very bad luck with doujinshi. I always look at the
covers and are attracted by the pretty artwork, while inside something
dirty and generally wrong awaits me! Noooo! I really lucked out with this
one. While there is a guyxguy pairing, it is clean. Wo-hoo!

Carnival is actually a series of some 15-odd one- or two-page comics about
Ron and Harry(most take place around book 3). While most deal with Ron's
unrequited love for Harry, a pairing I'm not too fond of, I was nearly on
the floor laughing the entire time. The story is funny, the art is pretty,
and you really couldn't ask for something better to lighten your day. Now,
I say this as a big HP fan, so I am biased.

If you want to check out Carnival, it is scanlated by Aku-Tenshi's doujin
department, Impending Doujinshi. It is a 19 page one-shot. Enjoy!


hmmm... this makes me wonder, did the Shoujo Manga of the Week from
previous weeks send?

Sorry about the problem!

~Annaliese

MNA 10/16/04

Hello anime fans,
Welcome to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly's Japanese animation club.
News...and actual content...no hatred from me this week. I guess the
world is ending.

Current Halloween Schedule:
Silo: Noon to Midnight Anime, anime, anime and an occasional contest (but mainly anime).
Room 1: Guilty Gear X Fighting Tournament and then free gaming - Beginning
at 2pm and going until your fingers bleed or Cal Poly turns the power off (midnight).
Room 2: DDR Competition and free dance - Beginning at noon and going until
your legs give out or the room monitors of Cal Poly tell us to pack up and go home (midnight)\par
Room 3: Everyone's favorite game: The anime trivia contest. Test your
mental acuity against that of your friend and see who really does know more
anime trivia - yolike that can haunt people...but hey, dress up as you like. It is bound to
be fun regardless.
Pumpkin Carving: 10:30pm - For those artistic types out there, time to
transform that ugly orange blob of a Jack-O-lantern into a beautiful
portrayal of anime greatness.

Dinner, AMV's, Cosplay, and the pumpkin carving contest will be in the Silo
at the aforementioned times*.
*Times subject to change.

Now to the good stuff, the Schedule:

5:00 - Fansub O' the Week (a different episode from a different series each week)
5:25 - Slayers Next - Episode 4: An Ancient Pledge! He Who Seeks Immortality!

5:50 - 5 minute break - I'm thinking of attending the WHOLE session this week...

5:55 - Patlabor - I hope to have titles for this next week since I don't
what ep we are on.
6:20 - Inu Yasha - Episode 78: Aiming for Sango, Only you

6:45 - Another wonderful 5 minute break...maybe I'll be here at this time...

6:50 - Scrapped Princess - Episode 4: The Concerto of Acquaintance and Parting
7:15 - RahXephon - Episode 4: My Clock-Watch the Year Hand

7:40 - Dinner Break (30 minutes) - I should almost positively be there by
now, shouldn't I?

8:10 - Last Exile - Episode 4: Zugzwang
8:35 - Kino's Journeys - Episode 4: The Land of Adults

9:00 - Another 5 minute stretch...I should still be here assuming I arrived
earlier, that is...

9:05 - Texhnolyze - Rogue 4: Synapse
9:30 - Banner of the Stars II - Episode 4: The Hunters

9:55 - Again, time to depart...or you can stay a little longer and watch,
yes, here it comes...MORE ANIME, Ithink...

CHICKENS!

Did you know that I have chickens where I live? Yes, I do. Way too many
for my tastes. I just don't have enough BBQ sauce for all of them and
killing, cleaning, and gutting them takes so much time and effort. No,
seriously though, I do have live chickens where I live. Mind you they are
not mine but my brother's but still, chickens live on the same plot of land
that I live on. Let me tell you something else. These chickens smell.
They smell bad in normal weather but they smell truly rank in hot weather or
after a rain. Now, in the interest of being nice, I will not go into why
they stink so much more horrendously onfrom the fact that they are filthy
animals.

Yep, that is part of the reason why I am so late in writing the newsletter
this week. I had to put the smelly (did I mention that they are sticky from
time to time as well) creatures away for the night because we have WILD
ANIMALS here as well. Mountain lions, foxes, turkeys, crows, vultures,
gophers, snakes and a whole plethora of other critters. Oh. Oh, I forgot.
We also have cute, adorable, sex-craved TENTACLE MONSTERS at my house. Just
kidding. We have no tentacle monsters or Cthulu-esque type demons either.
We do, however, have a number of RABBIITS with their sharp, pointy teeth.

Yes, I have just randomly capitalized nouns because I felt like it. No
other reason than that. Forgot to mention the zombies...I mean killer
tomatoes...er, random assortment of totally harmless, healthy fruits and
vegetables that also grow out here where I live. A veritable smorgasbord of
salad ingredients just outside my door and what do you think I eat a lot of?
You guessed it. Uh oh...capital word coming on...Prepare yourself...
...
.. MEEE----AAAT. Boy, do I like meat. Speaking of meat, I think I will
have some jerky right now to help wash down the hamburger I found in the
fridge with my name on it. I miss my hamburger. Actually it was a double
cheeseburger made even better with two, count them, TWO, types of cheese on
it. And now VNV Nation's Dark Angel is playing. So far it has been a good
dinner and with my parents and brother mysteriously gone (hence the reason
for putting the chickens in their coops), this night is turning out to be
pretty good.

Last night was pretty good as well come to think of it. After getting home,
I found out that Mr. Cohen was having a get-together and I just could not
say no to that. True, it was not a raging party but it was subdued and
friendly with good conversation and friends. I only wish that more of you
had come and thus we could have conversed together and I could have met more
of you. Fortunately, we had INVADER ZIM on DVD to keep us occupied when
conversation went flat. I remembered why I liked that show (besides Jhonen
Vasquez's work on the show). It is insanely over-the-top and disturbing
(re: disgusting) in some parts. I submit the episode Rise of the Zitboy as
an example of its horrific-ness...and then the giant zit does something
(sorry, but if I said any more it would be a spoiler and that would be mean
of me as well) and the results are disgusting but hilarious as well. What
entertainment.

Speaking of entertainment, I was planning on writing something with more of
a political bend to it since national elections are almost upon us but I
decided against it since I have been rather harsh the last few weeks. That
and I still have a week or two to write that particular blurb. I was also
considering writing about my job but I realized how short that might be
since I am not at liberty to talk to you about my work. Whatever anyone
else may tell you about my employment are all LIES. They seek to deceive
you and sway you to the dark side of the force...oops, I forgot. I am the
DARK side. So evil am I, at least that is what people around me tell me.
It's not like I ever killed anyone or anything. Sheesh, just because I
graduated in four years as a business major and for my last few quarters
only had classes on Tuesdays and Thursday after noon, this makes me evil.
Oh well...

Do not forget that actual CONTENT exists in this newsletter. I hope to have
more every week. This week is info on the MINNA NO ANIME HALLOWEEN
EXTRAVAGANZA OF AMUSING GAMES AND DARK AND CREEPY ANIME. Too long of a
title but you get the point. Let's not forget about those of us that have
no shame and partake in the greatest (re: geekiest) of all contests...THE
COSPLAY CONTEST. I intend to be in costume. Can you guess who or what I
am?

Anyway, I need to be off to do STUFF. I'll say something else (maybe
without capitalized words all the time) next week. Until then, enjoy the
shows and the activities.

MnM 10/21

Florists by day, Assassins by night!

Minna no Manga is this Thursday, 10/21, from 6:30pm-10:00pm in Building
20, Room 140!

To get things started, I'd like to remind everyone that if you'd like to
be in the AMV contest, you have to get your AMV to me BEFORE the Halloween
party. I don't care if you drop it off 3am the morning of, but I need it
before the party. If you have any questions or want to meet me someplace
to give me your AMV next week or something, e-mail me at ensuing@<removed for spam reasons>
or talk to me at Minna no Manga or Minna no Anime.

Shounen Manga of the Week- Bichi by Atsushi Ookubo

Bichi is a poor poor manga that no one knows about. Until now!

I first encountered Bichi when buying some issues of Shounen GanGan last
year(for the sweet sweet Fullmetal Alchemist chapters in them).
Unfortunately, the one issue that contained Bichi had the last chapter of
the series. Oooh Boy. Well, a number of months later, I happened to be in
a lot of emotional pain because of Kinokuniya's lack of FMA to satisfy my
fangirl cravings. But suddenly, as if a manga god had seen my suffering, I
happened to notice the first two volumes of Bichi begging to be bought.
And bought they were.

Shut up, Annaliese, and what the hell is this series about? Bichi is about
a boy, Showtaro, who can gain characteristics of different types of
animals from biting on one of their bones. So, with a bird bone he can
fly, a snake bone his body becomes very flexible, and on and on. From what
I gather, most people are afraid of him and others with odd powers(think
the mutants and humans from X-Men). But, he meets a girl(Mana) and for
some reason or another they start traveling together, and run into all
sorts of trouble. Meanwhile, Showtaro's childhood friend, Enime, has
become an extremely powerful individual working for the bad guys. Dun dun
dun!!

Now, there is most likely more to this story, but this is all I can tell
you from my own pathetic attempts at translating it. You don't have to
fully understand the story to love the series. The art is playful yet
awkward, and sometimes even creepy. The characters are very fun and
enjoyable to watch as they go on their misadventures. The mangaka really
makes Bichi a complete story with the detail of the characters, vehicles,
accessories, and cities(my favorite being Toykyo). If you like the style
of King of Bandits Jing, I think you'll like Bichi.

Ooh, ooh.... This took me six months to figure out. The title is B(as in
the letter) Ichi(kanji). B-ichi. Ichi can mean one. B-One. Take out the
hyphen and it becomes Bone. Showtaro uses... bones! Hey, I thought it was
cool.

Bichi is not availably in english yet, but Manga-Rain plans on starting it
soon. You can get it at Kinokuniya in it's lovely Japanese format. All
four volumes have been released. If you are interested, Manga-Rain is
scanlating Soul Eater, Atsushi Ookubo's new series, which is awesome.

Shoujo Manga of the Week-Weiss Kruez

Four young men are florists during the day and assassins at night! These
are the tales of their missions!

Okay, so you got four pretty boys- Aya; the quiet mean one, Ken; the cool
older-brother type, Youji; the playa, and Omi; the young and insecure one.
They kill people. But they are also florists. And maaaannnn... the yaoi
fan fiction for this series is through the ro-... mmm... nevermind...

Sorry. Truthfully, I can't say much about this series, because I haven't
really read much. I just love the fact that they are assassins AND
florists. It cracks me up. I will say the art is beautiful, the boys are
pretty, and from the little bit that I have read, it is really good.

I really don't know how many volumes or side stories there are of this
series, but the entire anime series is out(warning-it's really
depressing), and the sequel, Weiss Kruez Gluhen(aka Let's Masacre
Character Designs!) is being released now. The english title for both is
Knight Hunters... which is lame.

Enter Rant

I really think these things just go downhill every week. Sorry. I don't
think it's good to write this at very odd hours of the day. But, I keep
ending up doing it, so meh.

As October slowly turns into November, I am reminded that Fullmetal
Alchemist will be starting on Adult Swim shortly(the count down clock on
FUNimation's site says about 16 days now). Now, if it hasn't been
blatantly obvious, I am a FMA fangirl. Fullmetal Alchemist is the best
series. Ever. Of course, this is all just my opinion, but I have met few
people who can say they dislike it. With the dub being broadcasted to the
masses, I am afraid of a DBZ-ish fandom taking over. I am also worried
about some poorly done job, where Ed is somehow made Anthony, and he
actually is the younger brother. These things can keep a fangirl up at
night, sadly enough.

FUNimation, the license holder, has done some real crap. But they also did
Fruits Basket, which I thought was done wonderfully. So, we have two
possibilities. It's a coin toss. Lucky for us fans, the company seems to
love the series as much as we do, and generally seem to want to do a good
job on it. The cast list has been announced, and things looks a-okay.

For the voice of Ed you have Vic Mignogna. You may remember him as Kurz
Weber from Full Metal Panic or Gawl from Generator Gawl. Though I have not
seen FMP dubbed, Vic did a great job as Gawl, and from clips I've seen,
he's going to try to put the same energy into Ed. Now no one can surpass
Paku Romi-sama's voice for Ed, but Vic may be the closest you can come. I
give him two thumbs up!

Al doesn't sound cute enough. I don't know what his VA is thinking.

Roy is voiced by Travis Willingham, a guy that is so bishie himself, some
Roy Fangirls are becoming Travis Fangirls.

Hughes has Krillin(DBZ-BLEH)'s voice. Oooh, I get shudders thinking about
it.

Hawkeye's VA's voice has the last name Clinkenbeard. tee-hee. She's also
the co-director.

Last but not least(no way I'm going through the entire cast list)-Let's
talk about ailey. Who else did Laura Bailey do? The first thing that comes
to mind is... TOHRU FROM FRUITS BASKET. I hope you can see where I'm going
here. Tohru is sweet and innocent, while Lust is well... she's evil! She's
a sin! She's Lusty! Nevertheless, I can't wait to hear her.

So, the cast doesn't look too bad. Now what I'm really worried about are
the directors... This is on an interview I have seen:

What is Fullmetal Alchemist?
"A super awesome action adventure show" <- Alright... That's kind of a
retarded way of saying it.

What makes Fullmetal Alchemist so cool?
"Well, they're Alchemists!" <-Oh wow! really? I thought they were
economists!

Did you actually read that entire thing? If so, wow, thanks, I feel
honored. If not, well, I don't really blame you. I now leave this ranting
e-mail for the moment. You'll probably hear more about FMA later. MMMM
Boy.

~Annaliese

Did I mention Vic is a total fanboy? Sweeeet.

MNA 10/23/04


Hello anime fans,
Welcome to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly's Japanese animation club.
News...and actual content...part II.  I noticed some parts were missing from
last weeks newsletter.

Current Halloween Schedule:
Silo: Noon to Midnight - Anime, anime, anime and an occasional contest (but
mainly anime).
Room 1: Guilty Gear X Fighting Tournament and then free gaming - Beginning
at 2pm and going until your fingers bleed or Cal Poly turns the power off
(midnight).
Room 2: DDR Competition and free dance - Beginning at noon and going until
your legs give out or the room monitors of Cal Poly tell us to pack up and
go home (midnight).
Room 3: Everyone's favorite game: The anime trivia contest.  Test your
mental acuity against that of your friend and see who really does know more
anime trivia - you...or the other guy sitting on your other side! Beginning
at 4pm and going until 8pm roughly (includes the Finals).

Other events of great popularity:
Dinner: 6 pm - Pizza (need I say more?).
AMV's: 9pm - Our first AMV contest.
COSPLAY: 10pm - And guys, a word to the wise...unless you want to go down in
infamy, DO NOT dress up like a girl.  Cameras will be present and photos
like that can haunt people...but hey, dress up as you like.  It is bound to
be fun regardless.
Pumpkin Carving: 10:30pm - For those artistic types out there, time to
transform that ugly orange blob of a Jack-O-lantern into a beautiful
portrayal of anime greatness.

Dinner, AMV's, Cosplay, and the pumpkin carving contest will be in tweek, I hope)
5:25 - Slayers Next - Episode 33: Follow! The Phantom Dragon

5:50 - 5 minute break - Give your eyes a chance to blink...

5:55 - Patlabor - Episode 23: Kanuka's Report
6:20 - Inu Yasha - Episode 79: Jaken's Tetsusaiga ,snatching Operation

6:45 - Another 5 minute break...It sure is bright all of a sudden...

6:50 - Scrapped Princess - Episode 5: Lullaby of the Minstrel
7:15 - RahXephon - Episode 5: Nirai Kanai-On Earth as it is in Heaven

7:40 - Dinner Break (30 minutes) - So much light and more stuff to
watch...with light too...

8:10 - Last Exile - Episode 5: Positional Play
8:35 - Kino's Journeys - Episode 5: Three Men Along the Rails

9:00 - The last 5 minute break...The light - It burns my eyes, it does...

9:05 - Texhnolyze - Rogue 5: Loiter
9:30 - Banner of the Stars II - Episode 5: Rebellion

9:55 - Ah...another night, and more wonderfully inexpensive entertainment.











Politics...ah, how I enjoy ploitics..the biggest joke on the planet.

See, I am an apathetic voter and an anarchist to boot.  I do not believe an
all-powerful, encompassing government is the solution to society's woes. I
am also not naive enough to believe that true anarchy will ever flourish in
America in my life.  See, in order for my vision of anarchy to exist,
humanity has to become better than they are and have to be willing to accept
that they can not have everything and that they do not even need most
things.  If anarchy were to happen today, it would result in sheer chaos and
I can not support that.  After all, I am also relatively non-violent
person--just do not push me too hard.  The closest I can get to controlled
anarchy is libertarianism so instead of the normal choices for president I
will throw my vote away, according to everyone else, and vote libertarian.
The sad thing is that, at heart, I am a republican but Bush has steadily
been pissing me off and Kerry is no better.

On to the local issues...
Damn we have a lot of propositions to vote on this year in California. Let
me tell you some more personal history...
I voted for the recall but against Schwarzenegger.  I voted for the schmuck
that wanted to bring about armageddon.  A perfectly adequate platform for
such a ridiculous election as that was.  After all, I was only interested in
voting Davis out.  I also voted for the $15 billion bond refinancing since
the state did need it but I also said I would vote against all other bond
measures for the next handful or so of years.  I do not like the concept of
debt financing for eternity.  It has to fail eventually.  The bonds have to
be paid off eventually and the bond holders will want payment eventually.
Thus, this election my motto is: "If the Proposition asks for money, vote
no.  If it doesn't, something is likely wrong, vote no."  And yes, I have
read the Propositions and know that I should not base my vote on if they
don't ask for money.  IF they do, I will vote no.  NO NEW DEBT!! Unlike the
federal government, CA is not authorized to print its own currency unless it
succeeded from the country and went its own way...

So, you are wondering, how am I going to vote?  Well, let's see...I'll only
do a few...
Prop 59: Yes - Reason...I used to work for a government, still do as a
matter of fact, and thus if any member of that government is stupid enough
to write or say something in general assembly that they do not want any one
outside to see, we should know and let them know what we think.

Prop 61, 63, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72:  All of these are likely t obe a no
vote.  First of all they want money or rasie taxes and I do not like that
idea.  If the state ever wants to cut the budget and actually bring spending
under control, we, the populace, need to hold them in check.  Do not let
them take more money or borrow more with no increased revenue streams.
Also, the Indians (Native Americans) are not normal citizens like some of us
so why are we forcing them to pay the same as us?  Lucky  them that they
were forced out of their original land (much like California's treatment of
the Japanese as they were interned during World War II).  California is
steamrolling some of these measures down people's throats.  To tell you the
all the truth, Grover Beach has a casino.  Hell, gambling outside of
reservations is nothing new.  These are established businesses...just not as
big and gawdy as the Indian casinos.  Some of these propositions pose
unfortunate problems for me.  I am not against human cloning or stem cell
research but I am against government paying for the research.  I am also
opposed to having my DNA on record (if I cais on record.  This reminds me
of Gattaca only without the spaceships and
genetically-engineered upper class.  What is Gattaca you ask?  It's a movie
from about 1997, I think.  I liked it anyway.

Honestly, if I had more faith in government (some of my distrust comes from
dealing directly with governments), I would likely allow them more leniency.
 Unfortunately, bureaucracy needs funding and we need to stop giving it to
them.  They can only expand as far as we wish them to.  True, some services
do get cut back.  My response is why do you think fire, parks, police and
the like are the ones that suffer first?  They tend to expand faster than
other services but they are also necessary.  Also, cuts in these areas are
always made out to be unfortunate and political.  The real reason is that
these services are not special interest groups and they are union
controlled.  Yes, I have a problem with unions as well.  They have outlived
most of their usefulness and, in many cases I would like to say, are a
hindrance.  This, however, is a rant best left for another time.

I encourage all of you who are going to vote, to vote for the candidate who
will do the most good for the country.  May the best ideal win.

Minna no Manga 10/28!

Something wicked this way comes...

Minna no Manga is this Thursday, 10/28, from 6:30pm-10:00pm in Building
20, Room 140!

Once Again, because I mean it:
To get things started, I'd like to remind everyone that if you'd like to
be in the AMV contest, you have to get your AMV to me BEFORE the Halloween
party. I don't care if you drop it off 3am the morning of, but I need it
before the party. If you have any questions or want to meet me someplace
to give me your AMV next week or something, e-mail me at ensuing@<removed for spam reasons>
or talk to me at Minna no Manga or Minna no Anime.

Shoujo Manga of the Week- Harlem Beat wa Yoake Made by Kazusa Takashima

" Prince Kaito of the Kingdom of Hell has leaped the Gate to

the Human World in order to escape the burdens of royalty.

Three minions, a clueless zombie, a skirt-chasing vampire,

and a harrassed werewolf, are sent to give chase and bring

the Prince back to his domain. Meanwhile, Kaito and the

cat Levun find themselves newly incarnated into new and

strange bodies; Kaito pursues a new life as a high schooler

while Levun watches over him as the new school doctor.

Wacky hijinks as the supernatural meets the trials and

tribulations of high school life.

-cibo(of Shi-Ran)"

What can I say about HBwYM... This series is probably my favorite Shoujo
series. I like demons and the such, so this is right up my alley, the art
is breathtaking, so score another point for the series, and the story is
fun, so why not check it out!

The main character is really cute. Not exactly your usual bishounen, more
like... a puppy. Seriously. He's a puppy. It's cavity- educingly cute.

My only problem with the series is the lack of it. It rarely comes out, so
you have to wait months for the next installment. And! When you want to
see some of the mangaka's work, you find that the only scanlated things
she has done is yaoi. Not exactly what I want hanging around on the family
computer in the middle of the summer. Oh no.

All in all, this series is awesome. Please check it out. The first three
chapters are available from Shi-Ran, and the fourth is available from
Sweet-Lunacy.

Shounen Manga of the Week- Death Note-story by Tsugumi Ohba, art by
Takeshi Obata

As I attempt to keep with a Halloween-ish theme(betcha couldn't tell!
^_^), the first good Halloween-ish Shounen manga that comes to mind is
Death Note.

Death Note is the story of a shinigami who drops his Death Note(a notebook
where you write the names of people. And they die.) in the human world for
fun. After a short while, he goes to the person who has found it. Raito,
the new owner of this Death Note has taken it upon himself to exterminate
the criminals of the world. The story quickly evolves into an in-depth cat
and mouse game between the investigator "L" and "Kira," Raito's killing
name.

Never have I read such an incredibly advanced manga. The story is so
involved, you can never tell what will happen next. If the story isn't
enough, the artwork is incredible. It has gone past the point of 'manga
art' and has entered into the realm of something new. It is more realistic
than usually seen, but still retains some of the manga feel.

The first 40 chapters are available from Orange Tangerine, and the first 4
chapters(plus a very interesting one-shot) are available from Toriyama
World. If the art looks a little familiar, it may be because the artist
also did the art for Ayatsuri Sakon and Hikaru no Go.

Enter Rant

Man, midterms really drain you. And if midterms were not enough, a few
professors decided to also assign huge projects and presentations. *joy*
Thank goodness Halloween is knocking at our door!

My beloved computer, MackeyII(named after my bonsai who I nearly killed
who was named after Mackey from Bubblegum Crisis 2040), has gotten a few
upgrades recently that make me a happy camper. My brother gave me his old
DVD drive and his old sound system. I haven't hooked up the drive yet, but
the sound system makes me a happy happy music lover. The subwoofer makes
my desk vibrate and acts like a good massage-thing for my feet. And the
sound! The sound! I can hear things clearly now! My music is no longer
pretty sounds but actual music! I am a very happy camper.

~Annaliese
Off to go blast Shining Collection on these...

MNA Halloween 10/30/04

Hello anime fans,
Welcome to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly's Japanese animation club.
News and only content but a lot of repetition.

Current Halloween Schedule:
Silo: Noon to Midnight - Anime, anime, anime and an occasional contest (but
mainly anime).
Room 1: Guilty Gear X Fighting Tournament and then free gaming - Beginning
at 2pm and going until your fingers bleed or Cal Poly turns the power off (midnight).
Room 2: DDR Competition and free dance - Beginning at noon and going until
your legs give out or the room monitors of Cal Poly tell us to pack up and
go home (midnight).
Room 3: Everyone's favorite game: The anime trivia contest.  Test your
mental acuity against that of your friend and see who really does know more
anime trivia - you...or the other guy sitting on your other side! Beginning
at 4pm and going until 8pm roughly (includes the Finals).

Other events of great popularity:
Dinner: 6 pm - Pizza (need I say more?).
AMV's: 9pm - Our first AMV contest.  I thought of a great AMV idea but I
don't have the time, ources, or equipment to do it.  So sad.
COSPLAY: 10pm - And guys, a word to the wise...unless you want to go down in
infamy, DO NOT dress up like a girl.  Cameras will be present and photos
like that can haunt people...but hey, dress up as you like.  It is bound to
be fun regardless.
Pumpkin Carving: 10:30pm - For those artistic types out there, time to
transform that ugly orange blob of a Jack-O-lantern into a beautiful
portrayal of anime greatness.

Dinner, AMV's, Cosplay, and the pumpkin carving contest will be in the Silo
at the aforementioned times*.

*Times subject to change.

One other note - In order to win prizes, you MUST be a Minna No Anime
member.  You are more than welcome to compete in any of the contests
otherwise but in order to win, you must be a member.  Membership is only $5
for the whole year.
One other important note - In order to win the Anime Expo tickets, you must
at least participate in the COSPLAY contest.  Winning it helps ut is not
absolutely necessary in order to win the tickets.

Now to the good stuff, the Schedule:

Oh no..where's the schedule!?  There is no schedule.  This is what we like
to call free viewing.  We watch what people bring and thus what you want to
watch.  Be reasonable people.  I know all of your stuff is great but others
would like a chance to watch their great stuff as well.
Anyway, you are more than welcome to bring shows in that are Halloween
related and see if any one else wants to watch it as well so sit back and
enjoy the show(s) or be one of the shows.









You know, the biggest problem about doing this newsletter in Notepad
(technical reasons relating to posting the newsletter in Cal Poly's email
system) is that I have no spell checker.  Now I try to not to make mistakes
but I have a tendency to think three sentences ahead of where I am and my
typing does not keep up so I misspell a word or two.

Otherwise, I have a massive headache right now.  See, at my job...yes, I
have an 8-5 job and then a second part-time job on the weekends when I am
not communing with you wonder folks (no, really) or galavanting around with
other people I know... has become very interesting in the last month.

My project lead has been hospitalized after having an anuerism and a few
other complications.  She is recovering nicely though as we speak.  When
this happened I was thrust into a role I wanted - a project lead.  I get to
make decisions all day and report to all the people in charge and answer the
questions they have.  I then get to make decisions that afffect the smooth
operation of the organization without trying to make too many people
irritated.  Trust me when I say that the last part is no easy task for me.
I have to keep quiet about a lot of things I may not particularly agree
with.  So, recently all of this jobs stress, existing problems, and new ones
are mine to deal with and so far I think I have managed well.  The thing is
that I have heard rumors that I am going to be getting some temporary help.
If they are placed above me, I will be greatly dismayed since I like making
decisions, especially after being on the job for approximately four months.
If someone comes in beneath me, I will not know what to do with them. Since
I was always the fallback person when people higher up screwed up, I got
used to cleaning up messes and never turning an assignment down. Delegation
is entirely foreign to me and I would not know what to give them to do that
I think I could do just as easily.

Another thing is that I might leave this job for greener pastures closer to
home in Arroyo Grande and a higher paying job with more security and
management responsibilities.  The only problem with this is that I am not
gauranteed this job although I am the front runner at this point.
Essentially they want me and I feel I want to go back but they need to go
through a formal application process and that introduces the chance that I
will not get the job again.

Coupled with this is the idea (and that is all it is at this point) that I
might try to move out of this house soon.  By soon I mean around the end of
February I might actually considering getting a condo in Santa Maria.  The
thought of me living on my own in all respects sends shivers down my spine
like never before.  The prospect actually scares me.

All these factors, and me not eating consistently, are giving me a monster
headache.  One I have had from time to time for the last week.  So much
authority, so many decisions, so little experience...I hope I don't get
someone in trouble or miss a really important deadline.  Oh well, I am off
to sleep and watch Disk two of my brothers Platinum Evangelion collection.

Nighty-nite...

Minna no Manga, 11/04

Minna no Manga is in Bldg 20, room 140, thursdays, 6:30-10:00


Ahh, after a good run of rolling in Katamari Damacy, I drifted off to
sleep with thoughts of,  "GAH! MnM e-mail!" So, sorry for the late e-mail.

Shounen Manga o' the week: Black Cat by Yabuki Kentaro

Train and his partner Sven are cleaners, a type of bounty hunter. They are
doing their usual work when they get a job offer from a thief to capture a
mafia-type leader. They accept, and the whole story is thrown into action.
The tale jumps from their personal work to the fate of the world, blah,
blah, blah. So how do two guys, a thief, and a little girl(who enters
shortly into the series) save the world? Let's just say that it is a good
thing Sven has an 'eye of premonition'(please pardon my bad translation),
Eve(the little girl) was built with nano technology, and Train is actually
the legendary sweeper, the Black Cat.

What is so good about the thief? Nothing much. She gets them good info,
but she's pretty worthless. ^_^

I am a huge cat lover, so it was very hard to pass on a series titled
Black Cat. The story is a little odd, and I am not a fan of the artist's
coloring style, but the art is good, the characters are charming, and it
is a fun read.

You can get the series pretty easily from Chronos Time Guardians,
Akatsuki-Manga, and Toriyama World. The furthest group has released up
through chapter 130ish. In Japan, the series runs in Weekly Shounen Jump.

Shoujo Manga o' the week: Vampire Vampire by Yukako Iisaka

Vampire Vampire is a short(3 chapter) series. It focuses on a shy girl and
the boy she likes, who becomes possessed by a kind vampire. Her mission is
clear! She must separate the two! But wait, now a vampire hunter comes
into the picture? What is this madness?

VV was just something I happened to see online and decided to check out.
It's a good thing that I did, because instead of the horror story I
thought it's be, it's a cute feel-good story. The art style seems a little
old, but there is nothing wrong with that. As the whole story(at least to
my knowledge) is three chapters long, it will not hurt to take half an
hour out of your day to check it out.

All three chapters of Vampire Vampire are available from ShoujoMagic

Enter Rant

On rainy days such as this, I like nothing better than being nice and warm
inside. It feels very nice to be able to relax and watch as the world is
purified in in the cold rain. Of course, it sucks when you are out there,
getting drenched.

Katamari Damacy is an excellent game. I can roll up people now. >=D

~Annaliese

MNA 11/06/04

Hello anime fans,
Welcome to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly's Japanese animation club.
NEWS FLASH!!! Mark your Calendars.

December 5, 2004 at 7pm - Fall Quarter Tsurugi's Restaurant outing.
Thereservations have been made for the tatami room at Tsurugi's.  The tatami
room can technically only fit 16 people but we have fudged that number
before although I would guess Tsurugi's personnel would rather we not cram
too many people in it so I advise all interested to sign up as soon as the
sign up sheet is available.  Trust me, craziness is likely to ensue.


Now to the good stuff, the Schedule:

5:00 - Fansub O' the Week (a different episode from a different series each
week, I hope)
5:25 - Slayers Next - Episode 34: Be Eternal!  The Day Prince Phil Died

5:50 - 5 minute break - Give your eyes a chance to blink...

5:55 - Patlabor - Episode 24: Farewell Kanuka
6:20 - Inu Yasha - Episode 80: Sesshomaru and the abducted Rin

6:45 - Another 5 minute break...It sure is bright all of a sudden...

6:50 - Scrapped Princess - Episode 6: Perplexed Song of the Knights
7:15 - RahXephon - Episode 6: Obliterated Cities-Lost Songs Forgotten Memories

7:40 - Dinner Break (30 minutes) - So much luminescence and more stuff to
watch...with the lights on too...

8:10 - Last Exile - Episode 6: Arbiter Attack
8:35 - Kino's Journeys - Episode 6: Coliseum Part 1

9:00 - The last 5 minute break...The light - It burns my eyes, it does...

9:05 - Texhnolyze - Rogue 6: Repetition
9:30 - Banner of the Stars II - Episode 6: Abh Hell

9:55 - Ah...another night, and more wonderfully inexpensive entertainment.










Fate...  many of the shows we view have ties to this concept but it is all a
matter of perception.  As such free will and fate/destiny/predetermination
(whatever you call it) are rather meaningless concepts since, we, as mere
humans, cannot see beyond the veil of the present...at least not that I know
of.  We can not know if our actions are governed by our own will and we do
what we do unto each other out of some sense of conviction or if what
happens is just supposed to happen.  Is right and wrong really a concept if
fate exists?  The actions that these people did were supposed to happen then
and, devoid of human sentimentality and rationalizations, therefore the
actions can not be moral or amoral.

See, this brings me to a problem that has been bothering me for a very long
time...roughly four years now (since I was in Cal Poly).  Ethics.  How do we
define what is right and wrong?  If we shoot a person on the street for
money to survive and they should die from blood loss (they were shot in the
leg but were a hemophiliac and thus bled to death), the shooter, assuming
they are caught will likely go to jail for murder and other crimes.  Now, if
a person is shot in the street in the middle of a war zone (be they enemy
soldier or civilian), why is the shooter not tried for murder?  Another
problem is that the shooter (let's assume a soldier did the shooting) is not
entirely allowed to determine who they shoot at.  Generally, someone else
gives them a target and the soldier then pulls the trigger.  So why are both
parties (the soldier and the person telling the soldier what to do) not held
accountable?

When people go about slaughtering each other, how can one mandate that
certain rules are followed?  I find "Rules of Engagement" and "Rules of War"
to be flawed.  Both sides are out to protect something equally precious in
their minds as well as their own lives (suicide bombers being an exception
to the last part sincethe theory is that something more precious in value is
placed over theri own life).  If you were on the losing end of a dispute,
would it not be conceivable that you might consider fighting dirty?
Sabotage? Snipering? Terror?  Any means necessary to fight back and win or
return things to the way they were before?  How can a war truly be fought if
both sides refuse to fight 'fairly'?  How heinous is any act committed in a
war when someone's lives are on the line?  This does not include the
opportunist (a different entity in a Machiavellian world) that takes
advantage of a situation merely to exploit it to their own ends.  A lot of
the problems in execution (not reasons behind the dispute) arise from one
sides leaders not being able to stoop as low as someone else.  There is some
truth in the saying that "desperate times call for desperate measures." And
why not? Odds are you have nothing more to lose than your life.

Let's bring this back to fate and free will.  If we have the conscience
ability to decide every action (except for autonomous actions like breathing
unless in the process of committing suicide where one tries to stop one's
own autonomous functions in some way aka death), then how can we not find
soldiers as deplorable as the random mugger/killer?  On a side note, I feel
that self-preservation trumps someone else's right to life.  If a life is
being threatened, I feel one can take steps to end the threat even if those
steps end another life.  Such a situation should not have arisen in the
first place.  In short, when shot at, shoot back.  These people (unless they
themselves, through no fault of their own, are in the wrong place at the
wrong time) should be held accountable for what they do.  Another question
is just how responsible is the person that might be responsible for sending
them into such a situation where they have to defend themselves?  Not at
all...some...as much...more?  I don't know but some responsibility should
rest with them.

On the other hand assuming our actions are destined to lead to some point,
then murder, violence, the horrible things we have laws against to
supposedly protect us from everything, are irrelevent.  The killers are
suposed to kill and the victims are supposed to be victimized.  That would
be the order of the universe.  My problem is that I can not bring myself to
accept either possibility or neither or hold both together in the same
thought as both being simultaneously possible.  Now why do I dwelof all
things?  That is hard to answer.  At times I get this feeling that I
am almost, if you will, destined for great yet horrible things.  They are
only horrible in that society views them as such but maybe they are
necessary at the time.  Again, what the feeling pertains to I do not know
nor do I have any idea what might happen.  All I know is that I seem to be
drawn to problems and they keep getting larger it seems.  Going into them
would take a long time to explain and I have rambled enough as it is.  So I
leave with wondering if we are random instants within time or are we here to
end up at some point regardless of our actions.  I sort of wish I could get
a convincing answer to this and then again, what would I think about in the
dark and cold and lonely expanses of night?

If any one was wondering, I am not so much as opposed to war as I am to
violence in general, possibly.  If violence is a conscious decision (one
might argue insanity and the lack of discernment to know right from wrong
but then if one were to argue fate controlled actions, the insanity argument
is also irrelevent), then that in itself (unless defending oneself from
violence) is deplorable and I am against that.  Violence should not have to
be a resort.  Yes, it is an ideal.  Yes, it is wholly unrealistic for the
world to get along.  Still, the question remains, is right right and wrong
wrong or is it a matter of opinion and perception?  If everything is
destined to culminate at some point, then I can not be against violence in
any form because it the order of things.  I personally don't like that
philosophy because it is very fatalistic.  On the other hand, free will
should encompass the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you.  So if you cut someone off, you should expect that theyreturn and
do the same.  What makes a person so superior to others that it gives them
the right to treat someone rudely and then not expect reciprocation?
Unfortunately, I am not yet able to even come up with a satisfactory
rationalization for myself, let alone any of you.

No Minna no Manga 11/11

Unfortunately for the club but fortunately for our weary minds, there will
be no Minna no Manga this week. ASI will not allow us to have a meeting on
a national holiday. Meh to them.

Manga o' the week: Imouto wa Shinshunki by Ujiie Tozen

This is a series 4-panel comics. Think Azumanga Daioh on more crack than
usual blended with hentai thoughts. Yeah, it's a messed up series. Imouto
wa Shinshunki is a tale about Shinji, your average high school guy, and
his  odd sister, Kanami. Kanami enjoys... making moves... on her older
brother, watching hentai with him, and generally doing dirty things.

I told you, it's messed up. ...but it is really funny. I must have broken
a rib or two reading it this summer. And of course, being nearly stranded
in a house full of people who could care less about manga or anime, there
was no one to share my glee with. So now you all suffer.

Furinkazan is working on this project, and as far as I know, they have
released the first 19 chapters. Unfortunately, these chapters are
extremely short, I think the longest is 8 pages(so, 16 comics).

Enter Rant

Eh, because I'm a generally lazy person, and there really isn't any
meeting this Thursday, I only did one manga series this week. I really
don't know if anyone reads it, and my writing is so bad, I don't blame
those who do not.

I beat Katamari Damacy Sunday with a 767m Katamari. I don;t know if there
is anything more satisfying than rolling up thunder gods and islands....

~Annaliese

MNA 11/13/04

e to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly's Japanese animation club.
NEWS FLASH!!! Mark your Calendars.

December 5, 2004 at 7pm - Fall Quarter Tsurugi's Restaurant outing.
The reservations have been made for the tatami room at Tsurugi's.  The
only way to witness the Wasabi Challenge, be it as a bystander or
participant, is to attend.  Remember seating is technically limited.
Limited to 16...


Now to the good stuff, the Schedule:

5:00 - Fansub O' the Week (a different episode from a different series each week)
5:25 - Slayers Next - Episode 35: Hidden Ambitions! The Shocking
Confession?

5:50 - 5 minute break. Grab yourself a drink.

5:55 - Patlabor - Episode 25: Storm of Spring
6:20 - Inu Yasha - Episode 81: Finally Broken Naraku's Mystery

6:45 - Another 5 minute break. Get up and stretch.

6:50 - Scrapped Princess - Episode 7: The Waltz of the Cast Away Dog Girl
7:15 - RahXephon - Episode 7: Day of Assembly-Phantom in the Clouds

7:40 - Dinner Break (30 minutes) Get some dinner. Replenish your fuel reserves.

8:10 - Last Exile - Episode 7: Interesting Claus
8:35 - Kino's Journeys - Episode 7:










Work.
I work for many hours during the week.
I am virtual zombie.
I get money to go without sleep.
I get money to deal with other people's incompetence.
I have more work to do because people are incompetent.
I have better things to do at work.
I no longer have a task lead at my full-time job.
They had an anuerism.
They had a stroke during the anuerism surgery.
They caught pneumonia after the surgeries.
They got better.
They are in physical rehabilitation now.
My supervisor is in Colorado.
I work in an office all alone.
I am a solitary person.
I work alone on the weekends, normally.
I have two jobs.
I work for two government entities.
I have health coverage and two retirement plans - Don't ask.
I have literally been working seven days a week.
I am thinking of leaving my current job.
I am trying to get a higher paying job with health coverage.
I am a workaholic.
I tend to avoid the world.
I have little interaction with people outside of work.
I am isolated.
I like isolation.
I am able to work in peace on problems others have created.
I am supposed to create peace for those I work with by fixing problems.
I am not at peace.
I am not eating properly.
I go a day or so without food occasionally.
I sleep irregularly.
I am unused to natural light.
I seldom see the daylight except through my front windshield.
I am a corporate slave, a vampire.
Nice to meet you and thank you for your soul.
Welcome to the real world.

MnM 11/18

Minna no Manga 11/18, 6:30pm-10pm, bldg 20, rm140

There will be no meeting next week. Then again, I really hope you didn't
think there would be one, it being Thanksgiving and all.

->Manga o' the Week: Psychometer Eiji written by Yuma Ando and drawn by
Masashi Asaki

Psychometry is the ability to divine information about people or events
from an associated object/person by merely touching it/them.

Psychometer Eiji is about a young rebel who is a psychometer(and is named
Eiji, if you are too dense to figure it out). He teams up with a detective
and together they solve gripping mysteries.

I downloaded this on a whim, and I was generally pleased with what I have
read. If you don't like detective stories, chances are, you won't be
changing your mind just because of this series. But, for the detective
fan, this will be quite enjoyable. The art took me a little while to get
used to, but the quality improves as the series progresses, as would be
assumed. The writing is really what draws me to this series. It has the
ability to grasp you and hold you for insane amounts of time, like any
good novel. The story will change from silly to scary... one case had me
checking my window  several times a day, just in case someone was hiding
there.

My one complaint is the number of similar characters. There are a few
sub-characters that look too much alike for me to tell apart easily. In
fact, when I bought volume 25(yes, the one volume I own... I didn't know
it was the last volume... >_<) , the art had changed a bit, and I could
not tell Eiji's sister from Shima, the detective. @_@

Psychometer Eiji was released by Shounen Comics and ran for twenty-five
volumes. It is being scanlated by Omanga and every chapter through volume
11 chapter 8 has been released.

->Enter Rant

Man, it has just been one of those weeks... two projects, two
presentations, a midterm, a quiz, homework, Ensuing, stress, stress,
stress... Bleh.  Just four more days of class and then a break!

I splurged and bought Tactics volume 1 last Sunday. Oh... it is very, very
good. Tengu + Rice Bowl + Lots of Sake= Amusement

~Annaliese
... my flintstones vitamins have a warning label on them. this disturbs
me.

MnM 12/02

Minna no Manga is 6:30-10:00pm in bldg20, room 140 nearly every Thursday!

There will be not meeting during finals week. If you are really desperate
for a meeting, you can come chill with me in my dorm room in Cerro Vista.
It'll be a rockin' party.

Just a side note... we were lucky enough to get the same room for next
quarter. yay to that! Also, Sorezore no Hisou from Peacemaker Kurogane
sounds like it was ripped straight off of ER.

-> Manga o' the Week: Jigoku Sensei Nube(Hell Teacher Nube) by Okano
Takeshi

Trust me, I was definitely one happy fangirl when I found this series. I
had been looking around for it for about a year, and just happened to
stumble upon it quite recently.

Nube is a little old, as it began in 1994. This causes all sorts of
problems when you want to start reading it, and they never have volume one
because it is out of print. DAMN YOU, PEOPLE YOU DECIDE THOSE THINGS! even
if you do begin the series, you'll spend half your life trying to get the
rest of the out-of-print volumes. Yeah, all 31 of them.

Sorry, sorry, I'll talk more about the actual series. JSN stars a young
teacher with paranormal abilities. He works as both a teacher and an
exorcist. One day, he fights an Oni which he then seals into his left
hand. As a teacher, he is constantly made fun of for his odd ways, but his
students that have seen his true work really respect him. He passes each
chapter with defeating demons that harm or posses his students.

Poor Nube! Always looking like an idiot, especially to the woman he has a
crush on. You can't help but feel sorry for this awesome loser. But Nube
won't let that get him down(too much)! The story for this series is fun,
the art is playful, and the series is worth your time.

Jigoku Sensei Nube is from Weekly Shounen Jump and ran for 31 volumes. The
first three are available from Nensha. There was also an anime made, but I
have not been able to locate any information regarding the location of
episodes.

-> Enter RANT!

I don't know what is worse than going into finals week sick. Well,
nevermind, I bet I could come up with a great number of things, but this
is pretty bad. How do you remedy this? Good anime, good manga, sanity, and
ramune. That's right, ramune.

What is ramune? It's that marble drink. You know, the one they often have
in RahXephon(and several other series). It's some good stuff. Imagine
Sprite Remix tasting awesome. That's about what ramune tastes like. The
stuff is not just a great drink, it's also fun to drink! you have that
annoying little marble that always comes unhooked when you try to get
those precious last drops, that fun shape, the ummm.... coolness of it
all... It's really great stuff.

Good Luck on Finals! Have a great break everyone! Happy Holidays!
~Annaliese

MNA 12/04/04


Hello anime fans,
Welcome to Minna No Anime, Cal Poly's Japanese animation club.
An ending...well, Fall Quarter is over.

December 5, 2004 at 7pm - Fall Quarter Tsurugi's Restaurant outing.

More News...
Until further notice, I will not be doing a newsletter for the next
several weeks due to Winter Break...yay, time away from school and classes
unlike me where I shall continue to work...and work...and work...
Also, we will be showing the Slayers Movie this week so the schedule is
different than usual and may differ even from this...

Now to the good stuff, the Schedule:

5:00 - Slayers Next - Episode 37: Voices from the Darkness! Slash 'em to
Bits, Laguna Blade!
5:25 - Patlabor - Episode 27: A Calling Voice in the Dark

5:50 - 5 minute break.  Time to say...

5:55 - RahXephon - Episode 9: Small Shrine of Time Sanctuary
6:20 - Last Exile - Episode 9: Calculate Alex

6:45 - Another 5 minute break.  ...goodbye...

6:50 - Kino's Journeys - Episode 9: Land of Book
7:15 - Texhnolyze - Rogue 9: Wiggle

7:40 - Dinner Break (30 minutes)  ...to graduating friends and
classmates...

8:10 - Slayers Movie

9:55 - Until next quarter...














I thought I would share some holiday cheer this week.  Well, at least what
passes for cheer in my life of misery, pain, and endless torment...

MOVIES!!

I can think of four movies that really get me in the mood for Christmas.
Maybe you will see why but I doubt it since you may not have even seen
some of them.  My favorite four Christmas movies are "Edward
Scissorhands", "Addams Family", "A Nightmare Before Christmas" and "How
the Grinch Stole Christmas" (the animated, Dr. Seuss version - not Jim
Carrey's attempt).  See I apparently have a streak that runs in me where I
gete ending occurs on either Christmas eve or very close to but what an
ending it is...death and unrequited love.  Next we have the "Addams
Family".  At the beginning of the movie Christmas Carolers are singing on
the front porch of the Addams Family house and perched above them is the
Addams Family with a pot of boiling tar waiting for the carolers'
unsuspecting heads.  Absolutely great.  True, the rest of the
The above sure make "It's a Wonderful Life" look sickly sweet...especially
"Edward Scissorhands"...no happy ending in sight.  Yes, I know I'm not
supposed to take parts out of the movie and I am supposed to take it as a
whole so fortunately, despite happy endings for three of them, I like them
all in there entirety.

As for Christmas itself, I find it way to capitalistic for my tastes.  A
few people I know are compelled to ask for gifts (myself included) not
because I really care to get a lot of the stuff (some of the things on my
list I actually do need though) but because people giving the gifts feel
obligated to get people gifts.  I have gone so far as too explain my point
to my parents about how I dislike trinkets an for it but I would prefer to
just sit and watch my family open each other's presents while not
fighting, making snide comments, or complaining in some fashion about each
other.  That would be fine for me.  A compulsion exists though to get me
stuff so I make a list of stuff I either need or want.

Now, please don't misunderstand.  I am not against family togetherness and
comaraderie and good cheer but I do ast 5 credit cards and carry a balance
for a few months on at least one if not two.  I mean what the hell
happened to fiscal responsibility!?  I just assumed this guy was a
crackpot but unfortunately he is likely right, which infuriates me.

Sorry for being such a humbug there but this season always brings it out
in me more than others it seems.  I hope you all have a safe, happy, and
good Christmas/Winter break and New Year and that you all come back
refreshed and ready for more animated entertainment.  Who knows?  Maybe we
will finally achieve world peace this year...