Reluctant Designer

Log #4

2008.03.04 「Shot In Sicily #1/11: "Excuse Me, Officer."」

Long time no update?  Was busy working on Demi's request with the following prompts: Gokudera, barrettes, reading glasses, Uri. In exchange, she would write me whatever fic I wanted. So my prompts were: my favourite triumvirate (you know this), mafia-ness (since canon is lacking in that respect), witty dialogues. That was a month ago.

...Just a little over 2 days ago Demi posted her end of the bargain. It's an epic suite of three parts 23,000 words in length with everything I asked for and more - much more. Despite Demi's constant worrying and self-kicking over it, it's (IMO) really, really good. I would not, for the life of me, have expected to swoon THIS BADLY over  a fan rendition of Hibari whom I think is scarily in-character anyway.  And the smut, OMG THE SMUTTT *is slapped repeatedly into soberness*. Wrong as it seems, you know, because Chrome is the young Chrome there, I keep finding myself going back to it again and again because while a NC-17 1896 is improbable considering both parties' personalities, Demi manages to make it plausible EVEN for Realms (canon sheep by her own admission). And it helps that it's.....adfagagaahheah OMG Mukuro's in there while they're doing all that XDDDD. I died. Seriously died. I'm glad to be surrounded by amazing talents.

And so... I looked at my Gokudera, looked at the fic and bawled XDDDD - FREAKING BAWLED - because my lame doodling simply could NOT match Demi's fic in size, effort and quality. Before she began on the fic, I once asked Demi if she liked Sicily, which she responded with a "Sure, I can like Sicily (???)". So this is my compensation for the wantingness of her req. The adult Reborn and Lal you see above is one piece out of an eleven-drawing set titled Shot In Sicily, based on Michael Roberts's fashion photography book of the same name because I loved it so much.

Come back in 3 days to see the entire trainwreck *keels over and dies*. TI AMO, DEMI!!!

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2008.02.24 「Happy Birthday, Ferrum!!! *turns back on you*」

Tattoo design credit: MIND SCAPE TATTOO

I find it ironic that a) I refrained from drawing her TYL!Xanxus in favour of drawing Yamamoto after she said she recently found him very, very good-looking and b) I ACTUALLY gave her his back instead XDDD. I wanted this to be the first of a "Tattoos" series so sue me, nyah. I EVEN PURPOSELY BOUGHT AN EXPENSIVE TATTOOS LOOKBOOK FOR THIS. In any case, I'm glad Ferrum recognised him straight away, otherwise I could've justified my failure with a "I gave you my maiden attempt at the (nice) male torso so be thankful XDDD."

 

P.S. Drawing this tat was a Zen exercise <3. Recommended to everyone.

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2008.02.23 「The Hibari Household Daily Record \^o^/」

Don't worry about the title; title is subject to change XDD.

Following my musings on "What does Chrome call Hibari?" from the last entry (on top of a brief period of slump, but let's not talk about that) I put my calendar progress on pause and broke out some doodles on a whim. Turned out, bizarrely enough, I got even more encouraging responses for this mess than for my inked art that I worked diligently on o_O. I guess you put your heart more into impulsive work?

The best thing is this: THE Ferrum found my housemaker Chrome and breadwinner Hibari theme amusing enough that she's willing to collab with me on a series of short stories detailing the day-to-day activities of the "Hibari household" XDDD. I SCORED A COLLAB DEAL WITH A DOUJINKA *dances on couch*. Oh, my mood's suddenly gone up TWENTY FREAKING FLIGHTS now (the magic words certain people say...). I can imagine Kusakabe the butler/chauffeur/accountant and Mukuro sneaking up on Hibari ad infinitum now LOLOL. If we manage to put out about 10 stories we might even be able to compile it into a doujin for Summer Comi or Real Mafia 3! For that I've begun working on 600dpi - contrary to expectations, 600dpi makes for SMOOTH drawing and feels like real marker! Of course, it slows down my system a lot XDD. Just proves that you gotta set aside your prejudices and give everything a go.

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2008.02.20 「Uomini d'Onore News #01」


The image on my right is such a lie XDDD. Uso de~su. It's not part of my doujin-in-progress (I wish I were that brave) but, instead, is a fraction of what I've done so far for March. I didn't want to work on this so early, seeing how both my jobs involve the still-fanon TYL!Chrome who may come out in canon in any given week, but my hand itched to get starting on it mainly thanks to... lingerie. Yes, I've settled on something. Victoria's Secret. Guns. Gun holsters. Late night. Midnight ambush. Tousled hair. Bella mafia. Ohyesohyesohyes. My Lal is rather manly, though; she plain refused to be rendered "sexy", sigh.

Chrome's ensemble isn't plain black as shown. I needed to colour her bustier thing for this post, otherwise it would look suggestive of... some other, unrelated thing.  And I think I want to give her Reborn's CZ-75 just because it's easy to draw LOL. So I've begun drawing the girls' faces for March, have drawn a rough lineart for the bookmark and have at least shown my group layout roughs for the tote bag (I LOVE my idea but the layout everyone chooses is rather HARD). For a May 15 deadline, I think I'm quite up-to-date. Hopefully these can be done on time...

Now, speeeaking of "Hibari-san". Since Chrome never addresses anyone else in Vongola other than Tsuna ("Boss") and Mukuro ("-sama") or else "Ken and Chikusa", I guess it's safe to assume, as fandom has done, that she'd call him with the -san suffix as a show of respect since he's this.... cold and distant ace that, uh, demands respect. Considering her submissive-to-the-point-of-doormat nature, it's not far-fetched to say that even in, say, marriage, she may still call him "Hibari-san" or "Kyouya-san" at best. The polar differences in their personalities would make quite a chemistry, in my opinion. And let's not forget the Mukuro factorrrr (this'll make consummation very interesting). If only I'd get to see just a bit of 1896 interaction in the manga *STARES at sensei*.

I need to hone my TYL!Hibari drawing ;___;. He's getting rusty of late.

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2008.02.17 「WIP #2 + Uomini d'Onore!」

I am in trouble XDDD. Oh, I am. I started on this doujin thing....... a month ago maybe? More than a month? And look at the red dots next to the layers - that's how much that still needs to be done OTL. It doesn't help that I was sketching and inking on the WRONG paper type, which accounts for pages 1-5 looking oh-so-very-rough OTLOTL (pink indicates verrry ink-absorbent paper type - gray is more suitable for doujin-ing). 7 done out of a total of 14 pages after a month? I'm, uh, slow? I wonder how people like Aori-san and Moshi-san put out 40-pagers each time? Now I'm even too lazy to tone...

Realms consoled my minor-pairing insecurity by referring to 1896 as "chic" XDDD. What am I to do without this girl, I wonder? The strange things she says catapults me out of my depressions just like that. Oh, and by the by...

We finally have a project name and it's "Uomini d'Onore" <3 <3 <3. I freaking love it! Now I really can't wait to start working on my parts! I gotta make White Day look sexy in the Victoria's Secret kind of sexy LOL. Oh, man, the group had a NINE-HOUR MEETING yesterday, most of which was spent on incessant fangirling but 'at's unimportant. We were talking about fetishes and they went, "Can you make the girls look appealing to fanboys?" and I was like "SURE THING." Can't wait... to draw lingerie and thighs *is sick*. I can't bring myself to make Ipin - 15-year-old Ipin - even remotely sensual, though, as it is scary considering her dafgdagdagadg earless toddlerhood (I'm sorry, Suki!).

Another thing is the tote bag, which I'll actually be working with Orrie on instead of Ferrum. Everyone and their cats know my love for the TYLs and suits. Aaaaaand. I sort of whispered this silly idea I had in mind to Shiroki-kun, which resulted in both of us embarking on an epic kyaa-kyaa mode involving a bit of table-banging-er-hitting.

Everyone: WHAT.

Rune: You tell them *fans self*.

S-kun: You know... for the TYL side... we can make it an aerial shot of the guys walking.

Everyone: Yeah...?

S-kun: And they'll be returning from some mission.

Everyone: *listens*

S-kun: Taking their blazers and ties off...

Everyone: O_O

S-kun: ...bloodied.

Now, I need not tell you their response. In any case, the idea was received quite well that Orrie decided to do a corresponding non-TYL version, in which the Vongola Eight are leaving for the mission in their pristine school uniforms. I can't wait, Orrie, OMG I CAN'T WAITTTTT.

Collective fangirling is love <3.

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2008.02.14 「No More Chocolate!!」

No more chocolate for Lambo-san! Hahahahaha!! *creams Lambo-san* HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! And Happy Belated Chinese New Year, too, while I'm at it. Ipin's presence certainly helps with the Chinese New Year thing, kuhuhu...  Why LamPin for Valentine's? My friends thought I was going to do HibaChrome but since I'm already doing that doujin it'll be overkill, no? Anyway, yes, LamPin for V-Day. When I think of chocolates I think of Lambo and his seemingly high tolerance for Valentine's choccies LOL. I was tempted to give him the usual nosebleed but let's make this proper, eh?

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2008.02.11 「Project update, hey!」

By the end of our Sunday meeting, the format specifications, themes, character allocations and  yadda yadda yadda of the calendar were already decided (it was the nicest option with our set budget). The artists - and we managed to round up eight! - get an equal share of two jobs each. Contrary to my expectation, however, the parts weren't decided at random. We actually GOT TO PICK despite missing three members at the time. In other words, those who made it to the meeting got first dibs. Should I be glad...? Because while I did get my second preference, I couldn't help feel sorry for Ferrum who's, er, in El Japon and may not have a say in the matter XD. At all.

So........ I got March. I would've picked October for the Halloween theme (K-Kokuyou! T___T) but I'm happy with White Day all the same. My hand is itching to draw girls, hee hee.... I'm sick of Hibari - stupid bird *bitten to death* Now I only need to decide on an ambient... Too bad rating is G, eh?

Anyway, my second job is one side of the tote bag that will accommodate the calendar for our limited ed thing. Man, I hope it'll be canvas since plastic bags don't last. Oh, I can see it now.... the maid taking out the garbage with my art on it LOLOL!! And guess who I get to work with who'll be illustrating the opposite side?? None other than the very excellent Ferrum!!! Ahh, I'm all excitement now! I want to work on the tote bag most, to be honest, but that must wait until March is done.... And hopefully - hopefully - TYL!Chrome will make her official entrance in the manga by April, otherwise, I'll have a nice empty space in the illustration. Dhieta wants to see TYL!Mukuro but I insisted on drawing TYL!Chrome still. Worse come to worse, I'll go ahead and make up my own version, which is exactly what I've been doing XDDD.

P.S. Haven't decided on an official project name because no one in the group has adequate command of the Italian language XDDD. And please, not Dolce Vita, please no T____T. Next meeting is Saturday, hopefully with only two missing members and printing quotations ready.

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2008.02.06 「Sanada-senpai, Arisato-kun」

Oh, Persona 3 cast, why are you so gorgeous? <3 <3 <3 Even that Yukari wench, I will admit, is not bad on the eyes no matter how much I want to smite her *kusu*. I vow to buy this game and befriend Sanada, kufufufufu.... And, no, I'm not a SanadaxArisato fan. Yet.

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2008.02.02 「Mibu Bird + Project!」

HAHAHAHAHA!!! Blame Yamikakyuu for this odd image, don't blame me. Her prompts: Hibari, jacket on shoulders, Shinsengumi, jacket on shoulders, classic-contemporary, jacket on shoulders... I get it already. I was working on it carefully UNTIL Suki dumped me *this job. And then my pen moved at 200km/h XDDDD. I hope the mountain pattern is adequately visible...

*) The job in question:

 

Suki trusts me with the somewhat nerve-wrecking task of illustrating our limited edition tote bag O_____O. If it goes to plan, one side will have the TYL version of the Vongola Octet, and the other, the current one. This idea was conceived when I pointed her out to Amano's latest colour spread (read: TYL69 TYL69 TYL69!!!!) afagafafwhfgaawgga.....

I will work hard for Suki!!! To the extreme!

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2008.01.30 「New Banner *kyakya*」 For my LJ main page ~<3. I'd had that femme!Lelouch one on for how long, and since I'm mainly talking about KHR at present I thought a new garment was due. For it I used requested art that, in actual fact, isn't even halfway done. I might... might be able to put it out by the end of this week. That's fine, right, Yami?

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2008.01.29 「Doujin WIP 02」 Gack. How did my Hibari turn out striking a Lelouch pose??? (My drawings bleed outside of the monitor at actual pixels; I only literally see the big picture when it's done T___T) Arggh. Argh.

*cough* Mind you, unlike the pros, I draft, sketch and ink at the same time (it pays to be an impatient novice, in the bad sense). Progress thus far? Page 3... out of a possible 11. What's more, I learned that I should've worked at 600dpi in order to make it printworthy *bangs head against imaginary wall*. I guess I'd have to be satisfied with my doujin debut being a webcomic. Thank you, 100 dpi.

The upside? It saves me the trouble of illustrating (read: colouring) the covers. And I've been spared the mad giggles that are part and parcel of thinking up possible book titles.

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2008.01.25 「Happy Birthday, Dhieta!」 January 25th is Dhieta's birthday! I was going to do a D18 but I didn't have enough time for TYL!Hibari (because, as I know, he and TYL!Mukuro kill my hand, which is why I never drew Mukuro again after that meme -__-). Judging from her fave character meme, I figured TYL!Dino would be enough...? And, yes, yes, my attempt at "inking" fair hair is such fail. And people wonder why I always take to dark-haired characters.

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2008.01.21 「Gift + Doujin debutante-to-be」 Sukiyakiya kindly made me an ADORABLE Chrome holding a piece of strawberry shortcake at the end of her trident!!! <3 <3 <3 Though I'm not sure if she's okay with me reposting her art, and the original post is friends-locked T.T (too bad, Suki; don't be shy! It's GOOD). She says she's fixing up a few wrong things in the art now...

Anyway... thanks to Ferrum's prodding eons and eons ago (read: last year's December) I finally mustered up enough courage/incentive to draw my first proper man- uh, doujin. The transcript for the first story idea was approximated to be 40 pages long *headdeskheaddeskheaddesk!!!*. Ferrum commented that it was too ambitious for a first project so I settled on the second - much shorter and less substantial - story, probably 11 pages long. And contrary to the first story's gen-ness, this one's going to be a bit pairingy (laugh if you will, but I'm veryveryvery shy where MY OWN pairing-centric stuff is concerned x_X).

So, a couple of WIPs:

Yep, yep - I'm keeping my word that I'd make something out of the screentone experimentation below ("Clouds"). Though fellow KHR fans around me are desperately after TYL!Mukuro and TYL!Hibari's survival stats, TYL!Dino's whereabouts, TYL!Tsuna's death scene and Reborn's "true self hur hur", I'm more fascinated by the possibilities that could occur between the TYLs who are now in the past and those who didn't go to the future.

That said, this "theory" of mine will be burnt whenever canon decides to reveal the truth XDDD. This doujin will probably never see the light of day; meaning, I'll only share it with my KHR filter. Unless a Corel Painter drawing comes out decent in print, then maybe...

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2008.01.19 「*speechless again*」 Birthday gifts update!!! T______T The very excellent Ferrum-san guerrilla-attacked me (like Kurot did) with a TYL18xTYL96!!!! TYL!Chrome! afafgafagfgasfadgfa!!! First birthday online is wonderful! I'm happy! HAPPY!!!

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2008.01.18 「Awawawaawa..... *speechless*」　Unbelievable as it may seem, it seems I just received early birthday presents in the forms of a drabble and art from RukawaGF and Kurot respectively O_O.

Both 1896.

*pinches own cheeks* How did this happen.......?

Mentioning that one's birthday coincides with the release of Target 177 does have its merits XDDD. But it's NOT that I was asking for gifts from my very talented friends list, I only wanted to point to my distress that no TYL!Chrome is happening STILL on my birthday in canon. But who cares; I have these wonderful gifts <3 <3 <3. I LOVE YOU GUYS ADFAFSAFAFDFAFAFAG. THANK YOU!!! T_________T This gives me the necessary push to bring that doujin to the finish line!

死ぬ気で描け！！！ Go, go, go, go!!!

Log #1

When I label something as "log" I don't mean actually compiling bits of fanart from separate blog posts like the Japanese do. In this sense, it's dumping random things into one entry because I don't want to dedicate a post for a single, possibly unrefined piece. So I'll be adding things as I go. Warning: Occasional 女体ルル desu.

Now, I've only recently discovered the sheer practicality of Corel Painter Essentials and am having too much fun with it *_*.

2007.10.02 「心からすまなく～」 Here's a character I could've fangirled over like I do Suza and Lelouch (surprise, surprise). Unfortunately, Soldier Blue is a little too ethereal for fanwank (I'm afraid to break his frail bones). Maybe Blue and I weren't meant to be XD.

2007.09.21 「Ajisai #1」 It's 3:33PM at the time of posting, whoo! I'm loving three new things at the moment: Mononoke, Mushishi (not very new; started last year), Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei <3. I could go on and on about Mononoke's artfully surrealistic direction. Kind of like seeing Amano Yoshitaka's art in motion.

2007.09.13 「My Cherie Amour」 Yes, yes, I get inspired by nothing else but Stevie nowadays. Yami requested a Lloyd art (someone actually wants a CG art!) but I had other ideas besides Lloyd. When someone hands me a req idea, I like to run with it. A bit far than intended. And usually, reqs come out not quite as planned. So doing this is like someone had req'ed Rivalz instead of a certain someone else x_x. It doesn't help that I was putting Stevie's '67 song on repeat the day I started on it.

2007.09.05 「Suzaku positioned himself against the railing and struck his best debonair pose - leaning back casually, his face angled to its most handsome degree, staring out as though he was lost in thought.」 Was fangirling with RukawaGF last night over Hope and Demi's Learning Curve (brilliantly written SuzaLulu smutfic - no, REALLY) to the point where we quote our favourite lines *is geeky*. Afterwards, I rec'ed her Hope's War, or Maybe a Game which she also loved. I told her there's a certain sentence in there that begs for quick sketching. So I did.

2007.09.04 「Isn't She Lovely ~ Stevie Wonder」Oh, man... Think I should stop trying to create the strange but effective midtone hues that J-fanartists somehow pull? I think I copied CLAMP's Copic marker style on the faces but, of course, since this is 40% the original size only I can see the details x_x. And I prefer the BW version down below so much more. That's quite telling of my CG-ing skills.

2007.08.27 「Warlock or Prince」 Sapphira Angel wrote an excellent C.C. POV fic about a possible conversation between her and Suzaku about Lelouch post-25 <3. I couldn't help but agree that it's a brilliant idea.

Concerning Ships #2 [semi-rant]

Here are two things to sum up my current fen mentality.

Talk to me about:

• SuzaLulu/LuluSuza
• LloydMilly
• SuzaKallen (I know, I know)
• CorneliaGuilford
• SchneiLulu

Absolutely never mention:

• LuluShirley (Undesirable #1 - will behead self with a plastic knife if a second kiss ever comes up)
• LuluEuphie
• LuluEuphieSuza (woman-between-friends is NO. To quote RukawaGF: "I am torn between loving my half-brother and his best friend." This is a personal pref, canon evidence notwithstanding)
• Lamperougecest

As you see, there's a (very) clear pattern in my list of Undesirables. I simply can't share Lelouch with the girls. Yes, yes, sad given the "harem master" concept Sunrise has been building around him since episode 1, which never sat well with me. Yes, it's an amusement. Yes, it's equal opportunity. Yes, it's redundant. That's for another semi-rant.

One thing before anyone starts thinking along the lines of "What a silly, canon-bending fangirl." Unlike most sensible and intellectual shippers/semi-shippers, canon isn't how I choose my ships. Actually, what- choose? XD If I'm to be precise, I never choose my ships; if my head had the luxury it would've picked the obvious LuluCC or SuzaEuphie just so I could present myself before fangirls, fanboys, meta lovers and casual viewers alike without worrying my silly head over the occassional snide remark.

Unfortunately, the crass and tyrannical Gut Instinct passes my shipping bills. Thanks to GI here, I often end up disappointed with shows' outcomes due to my ships. To run off my shortlisted non-CG GI-influenced ships:

• Subaru/Kamui (Dysfunctionality of the highest order)
• Tsuchiura/Tsukimori (it's reverse harem, by Jupiter!)
• Eriol/Tomoyo (a good match in AU)
• Mori/Haruhi
• Hitsugaya/Rangiku
• Koizumi/Mikuru
• Naru/Masako

Thankfully, I DO have a list of ships that agree with, or gets a nod from, canon but they are few and far between. And aren't worth adding into this semi-rant for relevance.

Now to address one vocal group of naysayers. Woe. Where do I begin with them? For the sake of being concise, I've provided one blogger's humble plea:

"I’d like for those who harbor some thoughts on a LelouchxSuzaku relationship to shut up about their yaoi fantasies".

Bit rich of anyone to make such a demand when the following is in their introduction:

"The very first thing about Code Geass that made me want to watch it was its subtle nudity."

Would you like it if a fangirl, ie. I, told you to quit fantasising the girls in various states of undress? Any idea just how many "Geass girls hentai" hunters have found their way to my blog, daily? Drop the whining. Code Geass is general audience; it isn't obligated to please only you. That said, I'm glad there's a congregation for our respective kindreds, and by that of course I'm speaking of LJ and AnimeSuki. Out of sight, out of mind.

And for your information, sometimes I wish it would drop all BL innuendos and fanservice altogether. Do away with the made-for-success rationale. Then maybe it'll be on its way to become the masterpiece it seemed poised to become by the end of episode 1. Of course, we all know what happened along the way.

What canon references? Shipping is fenning. When fenning, I adopt selective referencing. It's like love. It just is =D. In this sentiment, LuluShirley shippers, I believe we are somewhat matched.

- B

I'm still alive, but...

...I'm currently addicted to my LiveJournal account! All fandom talk/rant/squeeing have been moved there since Friendster is no place for a fangirl like moi (lack of interest on my readership's part, for one). If you've stumbled upon this blog for fandom-related shenanigans, please be directed LJ-ward. I still update Reluctant Designer's fanart section, which is basically a mirror of the one on LJ.

For first-time visitors, here's a run-down of what you can find here:

• Blow-by-blow summaries of Code Geass episodes 1-3, complete with useless side comments by yours truly and hidden captions under the many, many screencaps ^^.
• Blow-by-blow summaries of La Corda d'Oro episodes 1-2, again, with useless side comments and hidden captions.
• Enthusiastic attempts (aided by half-baked Japanese) to summarise two TsuTsu (TsuchiuraxTsukimori) doujins by the very excellent V-KIDS!
• My last days at Billy Blue School of Graphic Arts from which I graduated (no honors, hahaha).
• A rant on (the lack of) shipping possibilities in Ghost Hunt.
• A lengthy essay by Honeysempai and I on the possible fun that could be brought forth by a female protagonist in Code Geass (we gained two vocal converts!).
• Screencaps of ALL claymated dishes that appear in Honey and Clover's OP sequence.
• Random manga and anime reviews. I think I also did a blow-by-blow summary for Red Garden's first episode...

- B

Romeo x Juliet [GONZO] trailer

 

As the subject says. What can I say about this second classic literature venture by GONZO? I don't know. I've yet to see the much-praised Gankutsuou (based on Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo) so I'd have nothing to compare it with. but if Red Garden is any benchmark, Romeo x Juliet will hopefully be a thing of beauty.

Tchaikovsky's overture by the same name accompanies drama, action and romance all the way through. I was half-expecting, half-wanting Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights to march in in all its grandeur, but I guess it would mismatch with the feel of the footage.

A tidbit: The score for RxJ is done by Sakimoto Hitoshi of FFXII/FF Tactics/Vagrant Story fame, aaaaand performed by Sydney's very own Eminence Symphony Orchestra!! If you don't know who Yura Hiroaki is (okay, founder + concertmaster) he's my Chiaki-sama XDDD. Speaking of which, I'm definitely going to miss this year's double Night in Fantasia...

Introducing the production's namesakes; from left, it's Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague. For some reason, the red-versus-blue colour coding from Baz Luhrmann's film carried through. Thankfully, nothing jumps out and hurts your eyes with high contrast colour grading. It's subdued, it's understated, it's not going to be a commercial product a la Code Geass (which I love to death btw).

 

Character design at first sight: "How cute!! (no, really) She looks like Studio Ghibli's steadfast heroine and he looks like... Yuuri?" O_o If anything, the gorgeous backgrounds and artful direction make up for the lack of, er, mainstream particularities in the leads' looks. That, my friend, is a good thing. Imagine if it were KimuTaka in charge and RxJ were spitting images of Suzaku and Lulu (yesss, I knowww I'm humouring my sad fantasy Some people would nominate Euphemia but not moi!). This way, viewers of my sort are certain to lend the plot their undivided attention. This also means their loss on the doujinshi side of the business.

A winged horse, or rather, a pegasus zipping through clouds and gales and whatnot. And it's headed for a Neuschwanstein-looking, ominous-seeming castle. Why the peculiar lack of surrounding land? You'll find out at the end of the trailer (or just scroll down).

Inside the castle in one of the towers, an important plot element which may take place in an earlier part of the play if not the prologue unfolds (goodness, I don't know my Shakespeare). It looks like coup d'etat but damn if I discern whose castle this is all happening in.

Woot!! What do I see but a rather arse-kicking Juliet kicking arse!!! Can't wait until the balcony scene, oh yes. Will GONZO take a lot of liberty with it? I do very much hope so, yessiree. Are we liking our crossdressing heroine? Yes'm, yes'm!

This... is such a beautiful, beautiful shot *_*. The full moon, the fluttering petals, the gentle breeze, the positioning of the two leads - it's a perfect composition. Love at first sight: I'd puke under normal circumstances, but the combination of aesthetics push all the right buttons for me.

Next to it is Juliet in her alter-ego getup, very likely a product of her nurse's dress-up session. I think that's an original character and not the nurse.

Let me guess... Daddy Capulet? If only by the colour and wrinkles. But he doesn't fight his own fights, as I recall. Next to him are an unknown Capulet and a Montague. I'm guessing the less pretty one is Mercutio ^^. I say Mercutio because he doesn't come across as a Benvolio. BL potential? Maybe. And not to my liking.

Here I'm guessing Tybalt since he's such an angsty bundle of rolled up angst. Even his character design has "angst" written all over it. Surprise me and introduce him as Benvolio. Next to him is a Joan of Arc-inspired shot of Juliet probably citing vows on her sword to avenge her house.

An undisguised Joan!Juliet facing off with a Montague who, for storytelling if traditionally dramatic purposes, turns out to be her beloved Romeo. The shock leads the pair to an imminent splatter upon concrete just 30m away (make way for the heir/heiress, please). I wish they didn't have to kiss during the fall though. Oh, and should this be how they end the story...

 

Yes- WHAT? Laputa?? First the pegasus, then the defender of justice, then bishounens @_@, then Joan of Arc. Laputa? So GONZO aren't going for a blow-by-blow retelling after all? Excellent! The trailer ends with the production title/logo and the Capulet and Montague heraldries (as a designer I am ecstatic!). Those, and Umai Fansubs presenting themselves as fansubber-to-be. I expect great things from this group - did you catch the typesetting? I'm in want of an adequate distraction in this time of sans-Geass.

Premieres April 4th, Wednesday night. In Japan, by the way.

-B

Yesterday was Tuesday

Diagnosed with yaoifangirlitis

Seven years and counting, and showing no signs of recovery. Ingredients for the prescribed cure consist of a coconut-inhabiting badger's wisdom teeth, feathers of a newborn dodo bird, and the hair of a blonde 54 years old Papuan chief - a task taken up by a good-willed local, however, she is said to have been claimed by the mountain god. The doctors have given up.

"You've been told on your first visit - there's no return path to normalcy. You braved this dough-gin-she activity thanks to your own recklessness and simple curiosity. Actually, we should've stopped trying at "dodo bird" and spared one life. Scram, you fangirl." And then they filed the case inside a metal cabinet, slammed it shut and swallowed the key, keyring and all.

In this predicament? *hugs* Welcome to asylum, blood-sister! ...er, or brother. Feeling too giddy for work at the moment. Luckily, there's no work but my co-workers and higher-ups do happen to be hovering near my station this very minute. And I'm looking at NSFW of the rare Suzalulu breed in a window the size of a meagre pop-up ad. Giddy? So much so, I can't even sit straight or not grin. So shoo, people, give me my squee time > <. ...Guh.

Now, what was I going to say?

Oh, please don't hate my subheading-happy modus operandi. On top of that, they like themselves in bold. Keep in mind also that I can't friends-lock entries like on LJ because that's not how Friendster works, so anything borderline hazzardous or hazzardous that I say needs wrapping up under layers and layers of jargon, off-sounding euphemisms, un-Wikied references and convoluted roundabout expressions that may not make sense to anyone but me.

I don't know if you know, but I offer a complementary Cheese-Cheese-kun dance for everyone who stays on my blog for more than one minute - my own coreography! I don't know the combination of keywords you entered to gain this URL, so if you stumbled upon here in expectation of something else, I totally know how you feel.

Speaking of Cheese-kun...

Code GEASS at present

We're hitting the 22nd episode! We're on our way towards an ending, right? Eh, non. If you're an informed Code Geass fan (as most online fans are) you'd have heard about Sunrise's confirmation of a second season. And possibly, an OVA plus movie. All this on top of the already-serialised manga counterpart and its two spin-offs featuring Suzaku and Nunnally in each one's main role. Quite the in-demand celebrity now, isn't it, when the pre-Geass days saw mixed feelings for this (admittedly odd) SunrisexCLAMP combo.

Over on the main comm, there's been... a lot of spoiler announcements lately pertaining to 1) Episode 22 and 2) The Second Season. Now, it's my policy to steer clear of spoilers AT ALL COSTS. I enjoy being subjected to sharp turns, trips, rapid gear shifts, creeping slowly up a crest towards an inevitable plunge, and hanging upside-down indefinitely off a loop's underside. I'm not simply hopping on the bandwagon by saying, yes, I don't think I've ever felt this degree of excitement over any show before Code Geass so, yes, I agree with its "best anime of the year" appellation as far as entertainment goes. It's not a literary masterpiece nor is it free of shortcomings, eg. whoring to the fanboying masses, yo. I love it simply because I never cease to be thrilled by this ride.

And you gotta admit, there's no other lead like the one this show has. Fittingly, the role won his seiyuu the Best Male Lead appellation at Japan's first-ever seiyuu awards.

BUT.

Having said what I have said, I'm still *hurting* to click on those *mocking* LJ cuts and read the spoiler(s) that made the fans soooo agitated. Agitated. A vocal member of Suzalulu comm is so agitated, she gathered a consolation group. Should I, a fellow member, share her agitation?

My guesses as to the spoiler(s)

• Continued use of the Geass will rob Lulu of one of his strengths or more. Yes, good looks count. Gender switch also counts as it puts FukuJun out of action.
• A future event sinks one or more ships for good.
• One or more main characters will exit the scene. Most likely in death.
• One or more red herrings will be revealed.
• Someone comes back to life and ruins Lulu's scheme.
• Extreme fanservicing a la NinaxTable will take place.
• Bottom line: something bad happens to Lulu.

Obviously, I don't pick apart Code Geass the way I do Ghost Hunt...

27/03 Edit: Never mind now... thanks to a couple of un-spoiler tagged posts I think I have an idea as to who bites it in ep 22 *grumblegrumble*.

- B

La Esperança #5 [DMP]

I love that it took Georges five manga vols to realise that his "like" for Robert might not be of the camaraderie sort after all. By camaraderie, I mean playing basketball together. Like our angel I am falling in love - my love for this series has been renewed with the last scene of Georges onstage, mere feet away from an encore, his innocent mind registering omgroses!buttsachs!!. Ah, youth.

At first glance, La Esperança (let's see... "the hope"?) seems like another run-of-the-mill BL production, and I expected it to be one. I can't pinpoint what it is exactly that I find so endearing and I won't try to explain it in many, many paragraphs. The narration style is... different to what I'm used to. Artwise, I was set to put up with those gigantic chins until the end as long as the narrative remains interesting, unfortunately Chigusa's gotten much better after all these years and everyone looks gorgeous now *winkwink*. Chins aside, my only gripe is that some actions get unnecessarily dramatic at times, hahahaha, as in there's a bit too much close-ups and wacky angles and freeze-frames and facial contortions and "ahhh" happening.

The sad thing that has befallen this (faux) European boarding school title is the DMP forum shooting it down in flames for being a little too chaste for a "yaoi" title. I say, it's not yaoi; it's just mislabeled. I wish it were a bit more popular. Each to their own, mesupposes. A note on the faux European bit: it seems that people in this world speaks Esperanto (in the country of Esperança?). As we've learned from this installment, mi amas vin is Esperanto for "I love you" although according to Henri amas is a bit vague for confirmation, refering to both "like" and "love". Cute little detail.

I love that Chigusa Kawai takes her time with every development. That includes her introduction of seemingly new characters, namely Laurent Cherdin aka. the second Onyx son and Joshua Or who makes one appearance in a sidestory...somewhere. I always wondered who that man was that Joshua met at the end of vol 2's sidestory, and if he'd play a part in the main story at all. Waited for a while. Nothing. Then, out of the blue, he reappeared in the form of one Laurent Cherdin. He also turns out to be Robert's nameless older brother in vol 4 whom I failed to discern as Joshua's mystery man; my only thought was that it's strange for this character to not have a proper introduction. Speaking of which, Joshua also did not get another appearance until vol 5.

Here's a bit of information at Juné Manga for those in the not-know (and what's wrong with you? LOL). If you do decide to buy the releases, make sure to check under the dustcovers for brilliant behind-the-scene comics and on-location photos.

-B

Ghost Hunt and the usual shoujo triangle

These past months, I've been an active poster in Animesuki's GH manga forum. I had never loyally subscribed to any discussion thread in my life. Is the GH manga that interesting to talk about? Are the plot, the cast, the jargon that immersing? Why, yes and yes. Which is why some of us [read: "I"] make it a morning ritual to check the forum for unread posts first thing when we arrive in front of our computers at work, and post, and refresh the page every ten minutes.

Never have I been so scrutinising and speculating about a manga series before GH. I am literally going over the dialogues word-by-word, picking out oral quirks, looking up page numbers for fellow posters' references, squinting my eyes to discern 3-mm shapes in backgrounds, reading facial expressions and body languages... I think at one point I was even keeping track of John's wardrobe changes.

From among an interesting and diverse cast, there emerged one character that I never expected to tug at my sleeve like a neglected child cutely imploring for juuust a little attention. Hara Masako. Didn't see her coming, nope, not by a mile.

Where'd that come from?

Exactly. When, ever since her introduction in volume 1, she has come across as higly confident, cocky and wily as a vixen. It must've been in volume 7 where we had our first look at a vulnerable and insecure Masako. That is, vulnerable as she's going to die and insecure as she seemingly can't compare with Mai in the race for the prince's (somewhat unwilling) heart. Contrary to my expectations, Mai takes it well and even finds Masako's display of schoolgirl jealousy, um, cute (in her own word).

And then, a sort of budding girlfriendship between supposed rivals takes off from there.

And, because I'm a sucker for that kind of thing...

Before I knew it, I was favouring the underdog. Maybe because the other contender is already getting the nods from the author and the majority of readers. Maybe I prefer the quiet supporting character over the lively and loveable female lead. I don't know. Hell, I don't even go for het under normal circumstances, but GH offers no potential for BL which is fine because BL potentials I wouldn't like to see in GH.

Even so, my ship's sinking before it sets sail

Partly Masako's shortcomings but, of course, it's the author's intent. Her demure personality doesn't make Naru tick like Mai's simplicity does, and there's the you-know-who factor which automatically sets up a bond between Naru and Mai from the get-go. On top of it, he treats her with utmost formality if not indifference; another wall for any chance of relationship. I take that Masako is mature and intelligent in her professional dealings, but she turns out very immature in romance... such as abusing her privileges (whatever those may be) to score dates with her crush! I wondered if her like for him was of a trivial sort after all.

Not really.

Then comes volume 7 and her kidnapping and her visit by you-know-who. Then she starts warming up to Mai. Then towards the end of volume 9, she offers to leave Naru's bedside to go with her. Interesting, because if it were the old Masako, she would've definitely stayed. At the end the same volume, the pair are laughing together about their silly crush. To quote Oprah, I just love it when girls get along ^^. This gradual change is what I love about this quiet supporting character.

This entry's getting long (and I'm hungry)

I don't know why some fans of the mainstream coupling are feeling concerned whenever Naru favours Masako once in what feels like a green moon with carrots growing out of the top, when it's clear that her role's only that of an antagonistic rival. Right? In shoujo, the male lead more often than not goes with the female lead. Any other option is an exception.

I knowww it's past February 14th

The below fluffy, heart-stamped little tribute has been long overdue. I've been wanting to draw the girls for a while. Pure friendship between the two. No love interest in sight - sort of, sort of.

P.S. I was thinking of giving GH its own category on the blog, except there will be little to post about since I don't feel like blogging the TV animation and all the published manga volumes are over and done with. The novel, I can't read and, even if I became literate in Japanese overnight I can't gain access to it being out-of-print for a while now. On top of that, Ono Fuyumi is taking a break from writing it. I can only hope that the two ladies, Ono and Inada, won't pull a Juuni Kokki on GH.

Did you know that Japan's crown prince and princess are called Naruhito and Masako, and that this reference to the real world is irrelevant to GH besides the fact that fans of rare ships like myself get a kick out of every mention of the names? ^___^

-B

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion #3

Not much happening this time around, as in, no action except if you count the knife-threatening bit in the shower. It's good to take a breather after the frantic action-filled goodness of the previous episode. This time, we're given a look into Lelouch's ordinary day-to-day life - the Ashford Academy. Well, life before Geass, anyhow.

That, and Lelouch is a *dead* ringer for Tsubasa!Kamui with a straightening perm. Moreso in this episode. I can't vouch for the animation as it isn't in much demand here, but the art remains happily on top and the characters are looking gorgeous.

---

Episode title: 「The Lying Classmate」

By the order of his Royal Gayness Third Prince Clovis la Britannia, the Elevens are relieved from massacre. Someone offscreen (perhaps Jeremiah) scolds a subordinate about the unthinkable course of action of releasing the terrorists... and that all the generals have abandoned their posts, leaving Clovis to fend for himself in the strategy room.

At the same time, Clovis is expressing his pleasant surprise over Lelouch's apparent survival amidst Japan's invasion and yar yar yar at gunpoint. This double-confirms that Lelouch was indeed already in Japan, perhaps in the care of Suzaku's family, before it became Area 11. The question is, what was he doing so far away from the motherland?

A brief flashback of what really happened back in motherland. Bullets let loose inside a grand mansion, and the next thing we see is a dead and bleeding lady sprawled on a staircase (plus a couple of chamberlains in more or less similar state) with a very frightened little girl in her arms and a young Lelouch who just came upon the scenery. If that's not a trauma-inducing day for the pair of siblings, I know not what is.

According to the present, gun-toting Lelouch, the incident was made to look like a terrorist attack, however his pet theory goes that his mother's common background was deemed a stain on the imperial family's pure, tight upper-lipped, Lapsang Souchong-sipping, butter-scooping (no slicing!), "smart"-not-"posh", royal-blue-blooded fabric.

Lulu's got momma's hair! XD I presume little sister has daddy's, then? Very trivial, but on rewatch, I just realised Nunnally's eyes are blue.

Clovis vehemently denies his involvement in the murder. I believe him and coincidentally so does Lelouch, so he trusts his Geass to do its work. Lelouch learns of two new players to tread very carefully around: Cornelia and Schneizel - Second Princess and Prince respectively. Plenty satisfied with the assumption that Clovis knows no more beyond names, Lelouch pulls the trigger, followed by a flock of pigeons taking flight. This in place of an echoing gunshot, really now?

Immediate cut to Ashford Academy. Lelouch gets whacked by a roll of paper for dozing in the middle of a student council desk job (isn't budget inspection fun?). Introducing Milly Ashford, the academy's very reliable student council president and granddaughter of the chairman. I adore this character and she is CLAMPesque to the max!

"GUUUUTS!!!" Milly and her mantra to boost every council member's work enthusiast. Lelouch tells her it ain't working. Shirley tries to kiss up by saying it does, but yells hentai when Milly comments on her "good top-and-bottom balance" proven by a close inspection in the bathroom. Rival (remember? Lelouch's chauffeur XDDD) mutters ho-ho whilst eyeing Shirley's volptuous rack! All in all, a feel-good scene to contrast the royal homicide from 30 seconds ago.

Budget inspecting done, the student council (sans Milly who may be everyone's senior by one year) head off to the main schools. In class, the students are watching a news report on the sealing of Shinjuku, on the grounds that "poison gas" is being dealt with around the ghetto. It reports many, many dead Elevens but, strangely enough, nothing on a certain blond-haired sovereign. Deprived of the info, or no one simply cares. The death of many is just statistics!

Lelouch feels sick upon recalling his first direct kill (or said kill's face and voice) and saunters over to the washroom. Meanwhile, Jeremiah and Villetta are on their way to G2 Area (where?) and discussing how to make Clovis's death public without putting their credibility into question and, hence, inspiring unpleasant ideas in Eleven terrorists. Jeremiah promises Britannian-style damage control. I'll have my Cybershot ready for when he announces his brilliant idea!

Saw a hilarious doujin on an Elev... Japanese fansite. A rather different take on the cause of Lulu's sickness, if you will. I don't like to hotlink, so please peruse Nigred's site on your own. The keywords are "morning" and "sickness" ^_____^

Lelouch re-enters the classroom and coming upon "Kallen! Long time no see!" and a disturbingly familiar face to go with the name, just under a different persona. Though he immediately identifies her as the Eleven girl he saw back on the terrorist truck. Why is she a Britannian? And an Ashford student, no less. Why, indeed...

Rival takes Lelouch's interest in her as that of a normal pubescent male (and don't we all know that Lulu is as normal as any exiled prince with some eye-for-an-eye debts to settle by way of a deus ex machina more flexible than the Death Note). "Kallen Stadtfeld" is a frail and sickly beauty, member of a wealthy house and scores top grades - you don't get a more refined catch than she! ---> so says Rival.

Lelouch confronts "Kallen" come lunchbreak, but not before witnessing her smite down an intrusive bee with a single swipe of her hand, thus confirming that she is indeed the girl who piloted the Glasgow. The Geass manages to inform him of Karen's half-blood origin yet, when he Geass-es her a second time to make sure she says nothing about Shinjuku (and why would she, considering her position?) she quite unexpectedly demands to know the reason he's bringing it up. Geass her a third time and she forces him to answer her or else. The power isn't effective, you ask yourself "Why!??", and you've just placed yourself under boiling water *applauds*.

Wondering if he Geass-ed the bee to break apart Karen's lunch group and go after her. Britannian girls are such... girls. And, Lulu... sacrificed a bee and did not throw up.

In an elsewhere laboratory, General Patre orders the lab researchers to transfer their base over to Narita, seeing how the "plan" has been foiled. Add to that the fact that he was among the generals who left Clovis's side back in Shinjuku and have no memory of it, which entails his return to motherland to defend his case. He's revealed to have been conducting a secret experiment that will shatter his career and more if the knowledge becomes widespread.

But Clovis knew about the girl in the gas capsule, meaning that his position was also in jeopardy. The research must involve the green-haired girl and, possibly, an entire race of her sort. We see a row of straitjacket-like uniforms exactly like the one she was wearing. Gotta assume there's more than one Geass-granting specimen, right? My speculation is, Clovis et al are tampering with aliens from Jupiter. It's not entirely baseless, I tell you. Just gotta rewatch Lulu's pact with the green-haired girl in episode 1 and catch all the frames that flit by.

At home, there's a heartwarming family moment in which Lelouch's blind and paraplegic sister Nunnally shows him a paper crane that Sayoko the housemaid has crafted for her. According to Japanese myth, one may be granted a wish if one crafts a thousand of said cranes (mendou kusee, eh, Lulu? Geass beats folding a thousand origami any day).

Lelouch's inner monologue reveals that their welfare is being guarded by the Ashford family indefinitely. And who knows if one day someone from the imperial family might find them and make political tools out of them. A bird's eye view of their "home" shows that it's within the vast academy complex. I'd like to know how the siblings arrived at the Ashfords' ever since Suzaku parted ways with them, and how many in the family know who the Lamperouges really are. Does Milly?

It seems that their mother died protecting her from a shower of bullets, so what resulted in her blindness and paraplegy? Sayoko has also taught her yubikiri, which is a way of making promises by linking little fingers together and singing a (scary) jingle. The Lamperouge housemaid is very educative about her country's traditions. Mine only taught me how to ward off rain which is fair enough, I think.

After what happened with Karen, Lelouch decides to test out his Geass to be sure. To make it worthwhile, ah, he'll make do with a little clue as to what's in the upcoming exam, so he tries his teacher. Handy, eh? Ask the teacher again and he'll tell you to bugger off and study since you're the student council vice president damnit! Lelouch smiles in satisfaction upon learning that a person can't be affected by Geass twice. Gosh, there's so much he doesn't know about his new power. This calls for more experiments!

So Geass isn't quite the almighty deus ex machina it seemed to be in the beginning; it actually has its limitations which makes Lelouch's actions and the corresponding outcomes all the more unpredictable. The show is progressing prettily along.

Up on the rooftop, Karen is secretly conversing with Ougi who's hiding out from the military through her mobile. She wants to go to the hideout but Ougi tells her "Naoto" would rather that she be in school. He says it whilst glancing at a photo of themselves in merry old days. The guy in the middle is likely to be Naoto as well as the "oniichan" that Karen yelled out in episode 2.

Ougi's advice to forget about Shinjuku brings forth a memory of one peculiar exchange she had with a certain classmate at yesterday's lunchbreak...

Wary of each other's knowledge, Karen is determined to expose Lelouch as the disembodied voice from the Shinkuku incident, whilst Lelouch schemes on how to snuff out this curious cat's suspicion. Hmm... Careful, Lulu. She's experienced in real combat and your forte is in theoretics.

General Patre mourns by Clovis's coffin, only to be confronted by Jeremiah and his Sutherland troops. He accuses the general of Clovis's abandonment (despite having no memory of it) and relieves him of the coffin's care - all said after breaking open the vehicle like one would a can of sardines! It's an amusing if not a tad overdramatic action despite the supposed seriousness ^^.

The two parties now strike up a secret correspondence in the academy's clubhouse, which also doubles as the Lamperouge siblings' current home. Lelouch explains that the mansion was built for the student council's use and that it was spacious enough to hold events like balls in (seriously now, a ball with only five guests?). They must think they can talk privately here, as they aren't expecting Shirley, Rival and Nina to pop out on the second floor, Milly wheeling in a tray of food and Nunnally appearing with cakes.

Mmm, strawberry shortcakes...

Milly invites Karen to join the student council as per her grandfather the chairman's request (Geass-ed...?) because her poor health renders her unsuitable for any active club, and the school insists every one of its students to join a club (stated by Lelouch in episode 6).

I'm not sure if it's by chance or by design, but whilst grappling for a wine bottle with Shirley, Lelouch manages to fall on the right spot and holding the bottle at the right angle as to spray Karen right on the head with it. No one's convincing me that he Geass-ed the bottle and its content, too.

Enter the now-infamous shower scene, courtesy of the fanboys -_-. Lelouch enters the bathroom with a change of clothes (his, and worry not for the curtain is drawn closed). Karen asks for her pouch by the basin and takes the chance to wrench his arm (ouch) and threatens to cut him with a pocket knife if he refuses to answer her.

Lelouch remains calm and collected (erm, why? Gosh, he's as bad as Light - don't you know the meaning of acting natural??) even as he answers a phone call that's addressed to Karen.

That must be one strong grip... I can almost feel Lulu's scrawny arm at the sight of it, yar. Good drawing, very good drawing.

The caller addresses Karen by her assigned codename. She receives a new instruction: to go to ex-Tokyo Tower alone the next day at 1600 hours. I... don't know what that is in normal time. The caller hangs up before she gets to ask anything. Confused much, yes, Karen? She now has no choice but to relieve this seemingly ordinary classmate of all suspicion.

Then, why did he mention Shinjuku? His excuse: online game spoilers abound in Shinjuku. What? What?? Then, why give a warning to frail and feminine Kallen of all people? Does she look like the gaming type to you? *inevitable facepalm action* You're lucky she lets you off easily, but should she question you further, tell her you're issuing spoiler warnings to everyone in class. Savvy?

I find it bizarre that Karen buys Lelouch's nonchalant attitude after being threatened under a knife by a supposedly quiet classmate. Right. Riiight. Riiiiiiight. No more about this scene!

The rescue of Lelouch's ass is brought to you by a voice recorder, a telephone and a Geass-ed housemaid...

...who comes to her senses just as she replays the recorded message for us viewers' comprehension, STILL holding the evidence in her hands. I'll just think the Geass effect wraps up with her deleting the message (which, on rewatch, I believe she does) and the telephone happens to NOT come with a redial feature or a call log because Conan will be looking closely at those things... except they certainly won't hire an Eleven detective so you're lucky!

Having settled their alter-ego issues, Karen and Lelouch go down to join everyone in the living room, to come upon the TV broadcasting live Jeremiah's public announcement of Clovis's assassination (and hopefully his Britannian-style damage control *cocks her Cybershot at capture mode*). Ougi's band of terrorists are watching, too! The military hereby presents the incident's primary suspect to all Britannian citizens in Area 11...

...And it's "Private Kururugi Suzaku, a former Eleven".

Lelouch is petrified. Suzaku is paraded on TV. Episode ends.

D'oh, Jeremiah, major d'oh to you. So much for your brilliant plan. Should never put it past Britannian militants to dump it all on a scapegoat and sweep everything under a rug. For all your practicality, you just had to pick him of all Elevens you can randomly grab. Lancelot's pilot, no less! You just signed a deathwish by putting his face on TV, know that, Orange-kun? You're lucky, however, that since it's Geass and not a Death Note, killing you would be a trickier business for our fledgling psychopath.

I... gotta stop referencing Death Note.

---

The bathroom scene, though, requires suspended disbelief.

The show's use of correct English is duly appreciated. Sunrise get major props for taking the trouble of stepping out onto the streets and getting random gaijins to proofread their Engrish mumble jumble. I always tell other studios to do just that but do they listen? Nooo, tsk tsk tsk. And it's so easy.

-B

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion #2

Yet another excellent release by gg! Shinsen and Ureshii have picked up this series as a joint project and released 7 episodes in its debut - nothing short of amazing! I always commend them for speed and integrity, but with Code Geass I've decided to stick with gg for the screencapping convenience of softsubs.

I'm downloading episode 8 as we speak, so in no way am I this far behind the others ^^. But this series has robbed me of my good health and productive time that I'll blog every single episode to make it worthwhile (huh?). It helps, too, that uni has ceased to be so accuse me of having lotsssss of time on my hands.

P.S. I've seen firsthand all the fanboying excitement on big forums and A GREAT MANY blogs. That in consideration, I'm going to give the girls' side a break by not seconding or thirding or nth-ing the popular opinion that C.C. and Karen have a ginormous backside and a huge rack respectively.

---

This episode is so action-packed and neck-breakingly fast that I had no choice but to go on a screencapping frenzy because something happens in every shot. It also reveals Lelouch as more the backstage brains and less the onstage, active brawns. More is revealed as the series progresses. As per usual, rollover for a bit of crackiness and click to zoom in on Lulu's pretty purple eyes (or Karen's blue ones, although there's not that many of her).

Episode title: 「The Awakening of the White Knight」
Black King -> Lelouch. White Knight -> guess who? Tee-hee.

Lelouch's gaining of the Geass marks the start of the show. Still in Shinjuku Ghetto, Viletta of the Sutherland-operating faction confronts a lone Lelouch (discounting the plethora of dead bodies strewn all around) who she identifies as a Britannian schoolboy. Failing to use the Geass past a Knightmare, Lelouch introduces himself as "Alan Space, son of a Duke", requesting the military's protection and luring Viletta with a non-existent ID card. Good move, said convincingly, too. Only thing is, he doesn't convince anyone by looking calm amidst all that... death. Maybe Britannian nobles are wired for superhuman composure.

Viletta steps down from her Sutherland with a gun, you know, to keep Suspicious Alan from taking funny actions. Unfortunately, the IFF 101 didn't include scenarios against supernatural powers, so off her ID number + her password + her Sutherland go.

In the next scene, the viewers find out that Suzaku is alive! Otherwise, all that pre-launch campaign on Animage and Newtype et al would be for naught. Lloyd - our resident bespectacled mad scientist - confirms that they're still in Shinjuku Ghetto but within Prince Clovis's proximity, and hence it's safe for now (the old adage goes, the safest place is the one closest to danger). Cecilia, the lady with blue hair, presents Suzaku with his lifesaver - a keepsake in the form of a pocket watch. One-trick pony, that.

Speculations! Who gave Suzaku the watch? We're not given much meat on Area 11 before the conquest, save that Suzaku was wearing Western clothing in the childhood flashback, so it's okay to assume that the Roman numbers embedded on the watch labels it Made In Britannia! My gut instinct tells me it's.......

According to Lloyd, the official news is that the poison gas was released and killed many Elevens (in a cricket tournament, I would think). He then asks Suzaku about his experience piloting a Knightmare Frame, to which the latter argues that an Eleven can't be a Knight. Lloyd asks the rhetoric question of "What if you can?" all while dangling an eminent-looking USB drive in front of Suzaku's nose. Yes, Lloyd, I agree that he looks like a puppy sometimes ---> a parallel to Tsubasa Syaoran's Wanko pseudonym! Ah, crossover goodness. (To the uninitiated, um... "wanko" means "puppy" and not... you know. Syaoran isn't like that.)

Meanwhile, the Eleven terrorists are having a hell of a time themselves with Jeremiah and his fellow Sutherland-riding party. Karen, still on her puny one-armed Glasgow, is willing to act as a decoy to give Ougi (terrorist leader, shown on the right with the transmitter) and the guys their escape chance.

Onboard his newly seized Knightmare Frame (okay - KF), Lelouch contacts Shirley (the dreaded love interest genki girl with orange hair) to get the latest news release on the Shinjuku catastrophe. As the media reports it as nothing more than traffic jams (not so convincing excuse!) Lelouch decides to inspect the situation firsthand.

Behold, the IFF satellite feed on the Knights' movements around the Ghetto. The yellow point marks Lelouch's position and the blue ones the Knights. He decides that the battle map be his chessboard and the Eleven terrorists his peons.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one wondering if every mobile suit comes with a how-to manual. Lulu is a 17-year-old schoolboy, yes? Never touched a KF all his life, yes? Been playing chess against stuffy noble geezers and not much else, yes? Someone's pulling a Gundam SEED, yes!

Karen the decoy is being pursued by Jeremiah and his cohorts. Lelouch takes out the transmitter he took from the terrorists' truck (don't remember if that's where he got hold of it, but anyway it has to be the Elevens') and puts himself in contact with the Karen. We'll be seeing a lot of this transmitter from now on. He anonymously tells her to follow his commands to secure victory. Triggered by the mention of victory, Karen decides to trust the disembodied not to mention sexy - FukuJuuuun voice.

Now Lulu has the benefit of both factions' eyes and muscles - the military and the terorists respectively. Stealing the transmitter and the opposition's KF turned out to be a neat idea... but I wonder if he'd anticipated this development back there or is it all dumb luck?

Having led Karen to a train track and onto an oncoming train, Lelouch opens fire at Jeremiah and his cohort. Jeremiah demands to know the rogue soldier's identity but later realises it's a terrorist! Karen comes at him before he gets a chance to confront Lelouch, and so, he's forced to eject his seat.

Having to abandon his KF is only the beginning of a string of bad luck for Jeremiah. From this point on, he'll never be smug again ^^.

The other Elevens catch up with Karen at the train track. As a next step, Lelouch contacts Ougi to strike a deal: victory for obedience. Not bad, eh? He also chucks in a Sutherland or two (okay, more than two) in the bargain which he delivers on the train from before. Not a sleigh, a train. The Elevens, naturally, say hell yay. Now the Elevens get a KF each except Karen who's told to remain a decoy.

Going back to Lelouch, we see him taking a minute-long breather. Enter the Black King symbolism again. Interesting to note is his admitting to feel pressured with putting human lives on the line. Compare this to Yagami Light, whose ideals and actions are in a way similar. At this stage at least, Lelouch is the more level-minded decision maker.

Meanwhile, Clovis and his men review thei