How did I not remember that Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi volume 7 has a limited edition version? It looks like the usual suspects have sold out!!

It's sad how distressed I am about this. ^^;

More distressing is that my right arm is in a brace thanks to a "golfer's elbow" type condition. It's made using a mouse and typing rather unpleasant, especially at home where I have no ergonomic set-up and really no way to get one. So....not much intensive typing going on right now, and thus no posts. I'm currently typing this at work where the set-up is slightly better (and I'm waiting for someone to check something so that it can be sent out...). A couple of things I've been wanting to talk about:

First, anime. Finished both Tsuritama and Sakamichi no Apollon and enjoyed them both. I had issues with both (some things were just lame), but in the end I'd become quite fond of the characters and thus was happy with how things turned out. I thought Sakamichi was going to be A LOT more depressing, which was a pleasant surprise. And the soundtrack piece that played when Kaoru was leaving on the train? I liked it out of context as it's super pretty, but LOVED it in the scene. I'm behind on Kuroko no Basket, but have heard and am a bit disappointed in the second opening. It's just not as good a song as the first.

Bought a whole crapload of manga and books and really liked a bunch. The ones I remember off the top of my head:

Saiyaku wa Boku wo Suki Sugiru 1 and 2 by Kannagi Satoru (writer) and Ninomiya Etsumi (artist), story about two high school kids who are the lucky ducks from their respective families tied together for a year of misfortunes. The art is beautiful and the characters are fun (well, except the "older brother" dude whom I find a bit tiresome), and I love how one guy explains why he sticks like glue to the other one by openly confessing his "love." I assume it'll be somewhat BL-ish since it's a Chara title, but I'm fine if it remains suggestive if the story actually goes somewhere good.

Shizuku Hanabira Ringo no Kaori 3 by Kawai Toko keeps the awesomeness of this series going. Sadly, this is the final volume but the end was wonderful. I love how sex-positive the uke is in this, and how the seme is the silent brusque type but not so much so that he won't do his best to respond to his much more open and direct boyfriend.

Honto Yajuu 5 by Yamamoto Kotetsuko feels a bit like she's coasting, but as I love the characters I don't have much to complain about. Plus, we get "yakuza" Ueda!!!

Mad Cinderella 2 by Yamamoto Kotetsuko is the second volume (duh) of a series about a poor boy and his rich neighbor who is at first his best friend but becomes his boyfriend. It's *really* adorable, IMHO. There's a distressing trend of not letting them consumate their (openly accepted!) love, but otherwise I am enjoying this one.

Junjou Romantica 15 by Nakamura Shungiku...Is it sad that the thing I remember the most is Ijuuin coming onto Misaki and Misaki sensing it and running away but trying to make Ijuuin seem less skeevy because he is such a fanboy. So adorable! I was rereading an earlier volume where Misaki meets his "Za Kan" soul mate at university the
other day... XDXDXD

Ha, all manga for now. Will someday talk about the novels.

The picture is the color insert from the last book of the Shurin Koukou Dainiryou Returns series by Tsukimura Kei and illustrated by Ninomiya Etsumi. It's a very nice ending to a series that started off so damn irritating (see my earlier post on the first book of the Returns series for some slightly incoherent ranting as well as some background on the books). I tried rereading the first series after finishing this last book, but had the same issue as before and failed. Instead, I've been rereading the Returns series. It focuses on the main couple and makes the situation a bit more equal (and thus less annoying--I dislike overly unbalanced relationships, it tends to get old). Lots of romance cliches thrown about everywhere, but it was all done tolerably. Instead of the irritating dorm mates we see more of the nice friends. The biggest problem with this series is that you have to read the first series to read the second series. If only you could start reading from, say, book 3 of the first series, it'd be a lot better. (It'd be even better if the annoying dorm mates conveniently DIED at the some point.)

One amusing bit I did manage to pick up from series 1 before I abandoned it was the depths of the uke's cluelessness. First, the seme gives him a Rolex watch for his birthday. The uke's reaction to seeing the brand? Dropping it, then demanding to know where he'd stolen it from. (The seme is a best-selling author and has lots of money.) Another time, the seme buys expensive chocolates for Valentine's Day. When he hands it over to the uke the uke thinks it's a leftover from the many chocolates the seme received from his admirers. When the seme says it's for the uke, the uke asks where the seme had found it (as if he'd seen it on the street and picked it up). The seme is terrible at expressing himself, but things are made worse by the uke being so foolishly clueless. XD;