what I did today

I made the mistake of buying some honey sweetened umeboshi when we went to the Japanese wholesale place today. Oh my god. It's like candy. It's still sour and tart, but there's this lovely sweetness that is just pure rapture. I have to resist eating the whole package at once. >_<

My mom also bought some iichiko, a famous brand of shochu. I've never had it, but I think I'll try some as oyu-wari, which is having it mixed with hot water. I have never had any sake I liked, but I figure if it's in the house I'll give it a go.

( lots and lots of vocal song ramblings, a tad bit of slashy J-drama fangirling, and a PoT vocal album rant )

Oh, and I read some more original BL fics...nothing noteworthy, in the bad or good sense. ^_^

my hikago fangirl moment for the day

I was watching this Japanese word game program so creatively named Kotoba Geemu (Word Game) just now. They have a corner where they explore the origins of words. The word for that program was dame, which means "useless, no good, hopeless." Apparently the origin of this word is from go! So they had a segment where a reporter goes to the Nihon Ki-in. I was squeeing at that point already, being the psycho Hikago fangirl that I am and seeing the building I had become familiar with through the manga/anime. They showed what was probably the general public area and interviewed some old dudes playing go. Then the reporter met up with Umezawa Yukari! She was the advisor for Hikaru no Go, and so they flashed the cover of one of the manga volumes showing her credited. They even played a BGM track from the anime in the background! :D In any case, she explained in very simple terms the rules of go (you play on the intersections of the lines, etc) and what dame means in go. She did explain that there was value in dame during semeai, a mutual capturing contest. She paused, and said that she can't quite explain exactly in what way to someone who has just learned a little about go, and so bowed and said please use this opportunity to begin learning go. I had to laugh at that.

In any case, I was excited at seeing one of my favorite manga/anime mentioned in a general TV program. I was jumping up and down throughout the short segment. ^_^;

BTW, if you understand Japanese fairly well, this is an awesome show to watch. The way they play with words is so cool!

Winter Cicada bonus track translation

While I was listening to the last track of the HaruDaki Winter Cicada drama CD to see if the summary mirichan had was correct, I ended up doing a really quick translation of it. I think it's mostly right, but...he he...it was really quick...yeah, I'm nuts...

( the translation )

I'm so glad they put this track in. It's a nice tie-in with Iwaki and Kato, and it lifts the heart after the tragic end of Kusaka and Akizuki...

my last post today, I promise, about ENGLISH fanfics, and manga

I read a funny, funny fic by prillalar today. At first I had no idea what fandom it was in (because I'm blind and can't read the heading) but that doesn't take away from great enjoyment of the fic. I later realized it was a Stargate fic (by reading the post subject heading), but as I don't have a clue who these people are (except possibly Jack, but that knowledge is hazy and only from overhearing slashy talk from Stargate-addicted fangirl friends) it didn't really help. I recommend this short fic to anyone with a sense of humor:

Pushing Buttons

Since I'm talking about English fanfics, I also came across a bunch of Viewfinder ones over the last several weeks:

Double Exposure by pru, a short, sharp fic about Asami staying over at Takaba's after his home is destroyed. No smut, just great weirdness. I love the last line, "Asami is waiting. His sleeves are rolled up."

Captured Prize by Gryvon. This one is smutty, but I thought it was a pretty good smutty.

Distorted Reality by Kadira (dunkle_feuer), this one extremely smutty and kinky but with some coherent angst. And a threesome. For me, it fit in with the more filled-out storyline currently running in the manga itself with Naked Truth.

Are there any Harudaki fanfics? I really have no urge to read any, because the manga and doujinshi satisfy me quite well, but I was just idly wondering. Actually, the question should be, are there any good fanfics?

FYI, oiyaoi has some very pretty doujinshi covers by Nekota Yonezou on her blog. *_* Pretty!

Before I forget, I have a question--if any of you have read Seikimatsu Darling by Naruto Maki, did you like it? Why or why not? I have seen this manga around forever and never had the urge to pick it up. I want to know what other people think about it.

And on the topic of manga, I am totally enjoying the scanlation of Namaiki by Kano Shiuko being posted on yaoi_daily. Sometimes the translation makes no sense and I wonder what the Japanese said, but overall it's decent and doesn't detract much. The story is funny and cute, and the seme's milion expressions are just priceless. He can look so manly and sexy when he's all over the uke, but then he looks so pathetic and lame like when he gets kicked in the face and is bleeding from the nose. And his hurt expression is cute. :D

I also finally skimmed through volume 9 of FMA. I am struck with every volume how different the manga is from the anime. (mild spoilers ahead for those who care) I can't believe they set up Ross to take the fall for Hughes's murder! And I love how Armstrong drags Ed off to Rizenbul for repairs after creating the damage to his automail himself, even though the trip is totally unnecessary as Winry is standing right there! The humor in the manga is absolutely wonderful.

And I am tired, and sleepy. And the shochu was interesting. I had a bit mixed with equal part hot water and an umeboshi in it. The taste was very slight, but not bad. I'll try again another night, perhaps straight this time.