Well, as the summer semester has been winding down, I've found myself reading a lot more manga lately. I finished off a couple series and started on several new ones. While I didn't just start it, Negima has definitely been one of my favorites this month. Chobits was every bit as good as everyone says it is, but I still don't think that detracts from DearS in any way. Of the series that are new (to me at least), I really like Suzuka a lot so far, and both Samurai Deeper Kyo and Shakugan no Shana looked very promising based on the first volume of each. Kami Kaze was also pretty good; it's a bit more violent/gory than I really prefer, but the story does seem interesting. Besides finishing Negima! though, I think I'm most looking forward to more Suzuka at the moment!

<rant>Just read a review by someone of This Ugly Yet Beautiful World. I think the only thing they liked was the music, and maybe some of the voice acting. I'm tired of these snooty reviews complaining about "poor" animation and "fluff" content. I can certainly see differences in the styles of animation, and I know what they are usually referring to as poor versus good. However, most of these (including This Ugly) were released as TV shows, so I can hardly knock the producers if they chose to go for less than ground-breaking, stunning, and immersively realistic animation techniques for a what is effectively a daytime cartoon. As for fluff content, again, I am observant enough to see that a relatively small variety of themes are repeated in almost every anime (and manga, for that matter), presumably simply because it's popular with the viewers regardless of whether it adds to the actual storyline. So what? The whole point is to keep people entertained, perhaps while telling a story (though I'm still not convinced in the case of Excel Saga). I don't believe adding this fluff content indicates any shortcoming or lack of confidence in their story; quite the contrary, I think the makers of these shows and books are confident enough in their work to have fun with it, even if the story is not necessarily humorous in and of itself. Incidentally, this is one of the aspects of anime I find so appealing.</rant>

Alright, so while thinking all that while reading that review, I came to the conclusion I'm simply a different kind of viewer from the ones that keep writing those annoying reviews. Following that line of though, I came to the additional conclusion that reviews should be categorized by what type of viewer they are best suited to: those seeking entertainment, those seeking innovation, and/or those seeking enlightenment.

Oh, the title mentioned updates, huh? Yeah, I've added a bit more manga and anime to my collections. I don't think anyone really cares, so I'm not going to list out here what I've changed. I will say that by now I've decided my favorite three manga series are:

1. Ai Yori Aoshi
2. Love Hina
3. DearS

I'm pretty sure that's the order I'd put them in, though mainly because DearS was too short! Then again, I'd love to see any of those three storylines continued (of course, I haven't gotten to read the last AiAo yet since v17 hasn't been released yet here). As for anime, I definitely can't pick a top three. I can say the same three titles would all be front-runners, even if they stray from the mangas sometimes.

I just finished watching the Yumeria series, so I added to My Anime. However, the box seems to differ from the one on ADV Films' website, so I'm not sure it's the exact copy I own. Anyways, I really enjoyed the series even though I had hoped the ending would be slightly different.

I did my best to link the titles in My Anime to the actual products I own, as they are listed at the distributor's website. I didn't actually buy these through their websites, but I thought they were the most appropriate destination to link. A few discrepencies:

• I have the individual DearS v1-4.
• The Jin-roh: The Wolf Brigade version I have is slightly different from the one to which I linked, but it was the closest match on Bandai Entertainment's site.
• My copies of The Place Promised in Our Early Days and Voices of a Distant Star came in a special two-pack, and not as individuals such as those to which I linked.

Also, I own a couple more that I haven't watched yet. I've only listed stuff I've already watched and could give an opinion on if asked. I'll link the manga later probaby. For now, back to my math homework...

So I started reading the manga that spawned some of the anime movies and series I liked. Of course, I've also picked up a few manga for movies or series I haven't seen yet, or perhaps haven't even been converted to anime. With this in mind, and having noticed that whlie there is a My Anime page, there is no My Manga or other such page, I figured I'd keep a track of what I've read on this page. Oh, and since the selections for My Anime are incomplete or vague, I'll use this space to be a bit more specific for my anime collection as well.

I just started watching anime seriously in May 2007. I'm still not real familiar with a lot of the terminology used, though I've browsed through the reviews and lexicon on the Anime News Network a bit.

I get the impression a lot of fans take their anime a bit too seriously. Complaints about animation shortcuts or average quality art seem rather pointless to me. As long as the art and sound are decent, the story is what should be driving the anime anyways. <sarcasm>Also, I love reading a review that remarks how unbelievable a storyline is.</sarcasm> I don't know about anyone else, but I don't watch anime for its believability; in fact, you could say just the opposite.

So far my favorite shows have been DearS, Gunslinger Girl, and Fruits Basket. No, I haven't seen Chobits, and yes, I realize DearS is supposedly just a rip-off. I don't care. I plan on seeing Chobits eventually, and I also plan on enjoying both of them regardless of their similarities. Gunslinger Girl is more serious than I would usually enjoy, I think, but the story was so great I found I was still caught up in it. Fruits Basket has parts of both DearS and Gunslinger Girl in my mind--some good humor and an interesting story.

I'm still not sure what other anime to watch besides Chobits and a couple others, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to leave a note. I could use all the help I can get!