Whisper of the Heart

Science Fiction Weekly has a review of Whisper of the Heart.  It’s a review I like, but I’d give the movie an “A” not a “B+.”  This is my favorite Studio Ghibli film, but it’s also the one I find hardest to recommend to people.  It’s easy enough to describe what happens in the film, but it’s harder to make it sound interesting.  I think part of the problem is that I had a very strong emotional reaction to the movie, and I have a hard time conveying that to people.  Much easier to give it to a friend who knows me well and is used to me shoving something at them and only saying “Read/watch/listen to this!!”  The conversation about why I liked it so much comes after they’ve read/watched/listened.  :)

So why did I like Whisper of the Heart so much?  I was captivated by the scenes of the cat on the subway and Shizuku following him on his very cat-like journey.  I also laughed out loud a few times, cried, was delighted by the impromptu “Country Road” performance (which I have rewatched many times and finally managed to find on cd) and even got to have some library geek out moments with Shizuku becoming fascinated by a boy she’s never met just from seeing his name popping up on her library book cards, and the discussion with her librarian father about his library becoming automated.  (I did say library geek, don’t forget)

See?  I suck at talking about this movie.  Just go watch it if you haven’t already.  I haven’t seen the English dub yet, though, so I don’t know how good it is.  I traditionally like the English dub of Miyazaki’s movies better than the original Japanese for some reason, but I think this one might prove to be the exception.   

You know you’re in a daze when…

…you somehow manage to FORGET it's Manga Day!!  Arg!

Actually, I had a very irritating last couple of hours at the library today.  It resulted in me not only being in a very bad mood, but also leaving late because I didn't have time to do my interlibrary loans when I was supposed to.  Sooo, I grabbed a quick dinner on the way to the bookstore and it wasn't until I was going up the escalator that I realized I had forgotten all about going to the comic store!  My mental NOOOOO! was very dramatic.  Fortunately I (surprisingly) have the ability to not carry a bad mood from one job to another so was in a good mood for the rest of the evening.  It helped that I remembered that the new Wallflower came out yesterday so I got to buy that while I was on my break.  I was going to save it as incentive to finish my current book, but after giggling over the blurb on the back I decided I couldn't wait and read it on the way home.

Four of Japan’s hottest guys are doing their best in their mission to turn dark, macabre Sunako into a dainty young woman. Gorgeous Ranmaru is famous for his smooth way with the ladies. But when a cute toddler named Rin shows up calling Ranmaru “Daddy,” it seems that Ranmaru’s days of swinging bachelorhood may be over! Ranmaru swears that Rin is not his kid, but they sure look an awful lot alike.

Ranmaru does his darndest to avoid the little boy, but Sunako turns out to have a soft spot for the little squirt. It looks like Ranmaru just might have to accept his role as father–and Sunako seems like the perfect mom. Will motherhood finally turn Sunako into a true lady?

Surprisingly this turned out to be my least favorite story in the book.  (It was still pretty good, though)  It seemed a lot more divided up into short stories than usual, but it was a fun mix.  It included:

• Yuki brings home some magic mushrooms an old lady gave him on the street.  The guys manage to spit theirs out, but Sunako undergoes a dramatic transformation.  Turns out they were Princess Mushrooms, and the boys finally get the perfect lady they've been hoping for….
• The blurb story.  It was pretty amusing watching the guys chase after this little energetic boy.
• Sunako and the guys attend a Hallowe'en party at a spooky old mansion.  Sunako is in Heaven, but the others are horrified to see their Landlady at the same party.  Can they keep the two apart or will they have to start paying full rent again?
• Kyohei ends up in the hospital and all is in chaos as women converge on his hospital room.  The other guys manage to provide a distraction, but it seems his room is haunted by the spirit of a "fragile bishonen boy."   Will Kyohei get the rest he needs to recover, or will the craziness continue?  And will Sunako ever find the creepy human experiment souvenirs she's searching for?

I'm going to the comic store tomorrow at lunch, darnit!  No forgetting this time!  I was going to go at lunch today but remembered that I had some holds expiring at the library so had to go there instead.  The poor circ person was trying to help me after I "complained" about having over $50 in overdue fines since Christmas.  (Being the overdue person at my library means that I'm pretty good about accepting responsibility for deciding to not return my own books on time.  So I wasn't really complaining, I was smiling, and it was more of a self-exasperated joke.)  She was running through all of my options like, "You know you can renew from any branch, right?  And renew online?  And we have drop boxes outside. And you can return your books to any branch?"  Yes, yes, I replied.  Finally she gave up, laughed, and thanked me for supporting the library.  sigh.  It's the dvd's.  A week goes by so quickly… and I'm never allowed to renew them….

Bits and pieces

There won't be much point to this – just random bits I feel like mentioning that don't really rate a whole post of their own.  Of course, I could just post something that's not half a page long, but what are the odds.  Sooo….

I'm still reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.  I'm just past the half way mark and holy crow it's taking me a while.  I'm enjoying the book, but also wondering what the heck the plot is going to turn out to be.  It meanders all over the place!

I found out last week that I'd be getting to go work at Ad Astra after thinking I'd missed my chance.  Yay!  I have no idea what it'll be like, but I've always been curious about it, but was too cheap to go.  Now I can go scope it out and get PAID for it!  Of course my weekend is now Friday night at Ad Astra, all Saturday at the bookstore, all Sunday at Ad Astra.  Yet another reason I rebelled on Sunday and didn't go into work at the library.  I knew I'd be working both days this coming weekend.  I also found out through keen observation (ie looking at the Ad Astra display in our store window) that Kelley Armstrong will be there.  Neat. 

I was debating whether or not I should go to the Toronto Comicon coming up at the end of April.  I was on the "no" side of the fence, but when I went to 1 000 000 Comix last week I got a free entry pass for the Sunday.  Sweet!  And according to Bryan Lee O'Malley's live journal, the new Scott Pilgrim book might be making it's first appearance there.  Hopefully there are some left on Sunday.  I'll also be in the wonderful position to catch up on my missed manga at the end of April, so I guess it'll be a good opportunity to troll for manga deals.

Speaking of manga, last week I bought:

Read Or Die #1, Our Kingdom #2, Shout Out Loud #1, Sweet Revolution #1, Kare Kano #19 and, of course, the first Only the Ring Finger Knows novel.  I'll talk about my new manga later.  For some reason I was really resisting blogging about my new Yaoi stuff because it seemed like that was all I did… but after looking over the last month's posts, I guess I don't after all.  I must just talk about it a lot at the store with friends and to bug the guys I work with.  huh.  I also bought the first Loveless dvd, because it was cheap and I suck at keeping to budgets.

I popped into Wal-Mart on the way home to pick up King Kong.  I figure I'll be watching it ten billion times at work starting tomorrow night so I might as well get one lovely uninterrupted viewing in before I get sick of it.  Plus, it was on sale for $19.99.  Today also marks the release of Planet of the Apes: the Ultimate Edition, which includes all the movies, both tv series and a giant ape bust.  Seriously, it's huge.  I was looking at the box at work last Saturday and it's pretty amazing.  I can't see the appeal of a big ape glowering at you while you're trying to relax, but all the guys agreed that it'd be awesome on top of a tv. 

Speaking of work, on Saturday I got an "I Thank You" for a comment card a customer filled out about me.  Wow.  My very first one.  Someone must have liked me.  :)  My manager was vague on the details since it was back in February, but I don't remember doing anything out of the ordinary for anyone lately so I think I just had an awesome customer.  I love that I have Internet access now so when people ask me obscure movie questions that I can't answer on my own I can look them up, which makes me much less scary since I don't like to stop looking once people ask.  As one German tourist found out last summer when she asked me which western had Charles Bronson playing a harmonica.  Ouch!  I suck at westerns, and this was pre-internet.  I think the lady finally had to sneak away while I was distracted by another customer.  heh.

And finally, before I go off to watch the giant ape movie, and maybe some Doctor Who, here's a panel from Batman #651 that bugged the hell out of me while I was reading it. 

 

Look at that punk Robin perched up there on top of the filing cabinet.  There's a perfectly good chair that you know Batman's never gonna use.  What's the point of crouching up there and how did he get up?  His head is almost touching the ceiling.  Did he manage to jump up there without hitting his head, and why did the other two let him?  If I were Commissioner Gordon I'd be saying "Son, while I appreciate the fact you like to perch in high places, that's a cheaply made filing cabinet and you're going to dent the top of it." 

Yes, I like to obsess over stupid things.  I will be treating you to my over-analysis of Robin OYL at some point, but I lack the mental energy tonight.  And I think I've babbled long enough.

I love my job…really.

If you were listening very carefully at around 4:15 today you may have heard some distant thumping.  That was my head hitting my desk repeatedly as I got a "can you order this page of books before year end" email from one of the other departments here.  Well, I'll see what I can do in the next half an hour, but I kind of doubt it.

This is, of course, after working through about 15 pages of books for the library in two days due to some last minute leeway in the budget.  Arg.  I have a headache!  So all the accounting I was going to be doing got pushed aside and tomorrow is the deadline for everything to be ship shape and upstairs.  Guess who gets to work late today!  (Which I did on purpose, I guess, because the alternative was coming in yesterday and I didn't want to spend my only day off in the library.  I stayed home and caught up on some tv and anime instead.)

I managed to find two of the nine books after calling four or five bookstores (when I should have been finishing my interlibrary loan requests), so I shouldn't feel *too* guilty.  But I do, of course.  I want to be a miracle worker!  I also got an end of the day call from UPS because a package of ours somehow got stuck in customs, which never ever happens.  It just wouldn't be a year end without something going wrong with one of our Barnes and Noble orders, though.  I love that online bookstore – they have medical books in stock, they don't *lie* about what they have in stock, they're usually pretty cheap and they ship quickly.  But every single year end I've been doing acquisitions there's been a problem with an order.  That's the only time of year it happens.  Weird.

Okay!  Break's over.  Time to go back to Excel, damnit!

Only the Ring Finger Knows: The Lonely Ring Finger

I had such a struggle at the comic store on Wednesday.  I went in for Robin 148 and decided to get the new OYL Batman at the same time.  On my way out, I spied this book sitting on the shelf.  I had to choose between Batman or Only the Ring Finger Knows, since Robin was a must.  Dilemma!  I ended up going with Batman only because I just started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and I have a feeling it’s going to take me longer than usual to get through it.  (It’s great, I’m just slowing down while reading for once instead of speeding up)  As soon as I got home I regretted my decision and dashed out at lunch Thursday to pick OtRFK.  This was a fast read!

 

 

From Amazon:

It’s the ultimate expression of love to wear matching rings with your significant other, showing the world that you are a couple. High school student, Wataru Fujii, also wears one even though he is single. When he accidentally switches rings with a popular and handsome senior, Yuichi Kazuki, they discover that their rings pair up! Since that moment, Kazuki – who is known for being kind to all – becomes strangely harsh to Wataru. They alternate between hot and cold, as in between clashes they begin to sort their feelings for one another. Are Wataru and Kazuki the worst of enemies or are they actually soulmates?

I also read this at DMP (and it’s on the back cover of the book):

Not only is Yuichi the most mysterious, sought-after guy at school, he’s got an excellent shot at getting into any prestigious University…and no one knows this better than his secret love, Wataru. But instead of a vacation break spent celebrating beneath the fragrant sway of summer blossoms, both boys must surrender to Yuichi’s grueling study schedule. How can they possibly sweeten the deal? A bet that promises to take their young relationship to the next level is in the works, but Wataru complicates matters when the very ring that symbolizes their precious bond goes missing. Prying girls and wisecracking best friends only fuel the flames of gossip, and soon the small white lies that were only meant to protect the heart of Wataru’s beloved become poison arrows. With the test and their relationship on the line, can the boys hold on long enough to survive the sticky meltdown of their longest summer?

I found this vaguely confusing until I bought it, but the explanation is pretty simple.  The book actually contains two stories: Only the Ring Finger Knows and The Lonely Ring Finger.  The first story was what the manga was based on, and they were exactly the same, right down to the dialogue (okay, one is illustrated, but you could go through panel by panel and paragraph by paragraph and they’d match).  I blew through it in the half an hour I had left at lunch.  (Although part of that is because the book is very wee)

The second story is original and a fun read.  Poor Wataru is still angst ridden over Yuichi’s changeable moods, who didn’t seem to get any more pleasant once the two boys started dating.  The introduction of a girl named Miho (who is blackmailing Wataru over his lost ring) is the main source of conflict as Wataru desperately tries to get his ring back from her without letting Yuichi know it’s lost, and Yuichi becomes jealous over the relationship he thinks is growing between the two.  There is a sex scene (for those of you who care about such things) but it’s very sweet and not overly explicit.  I’m looking forward to  volume two, The Left Hand Dreams of Him which is coming out in July.

I also found out that Rin! is coming out in October.  I just read a scanlation of this online and am very excited because it was very cute book!  It’s done by by Satoru Kannagi (Only the Ring Finger Knows) and Yukine Honami (Desire).

Katsura, a second year in his high school’s archery club, has a hard time controlling his nerves. His “secret weapon” is his brother’s best friend and childhood buddy, Sou! One hug from Sou, and Katsura’s nerves are soothed to a peaceful calm. But he can’t keep Sou around him forever. As he wonders how he’ll survive without Sou’s hugs, his friend Kouichi suddenly asks if he can be the one to save him, and kisses him!

Ah, another love triangle!  Watching Katsura overcome his problems and work to find his own style in the archery club was a lot of fun and of course the love story was wonderful.  

                                 

One more to add to the list

I forgot to mention one of my new books yesterday.  I also bought Sugar Sugar Rune #2 and completely zoned out about it.  Which is odd, because yesterday is when I read it.  Evidently it didn’t make much of an impression.  :)  I can’t decide how I feel about this series yet.  I’m glad volume two moved towards a bigger plot than just following Chocolat and Vanilla around as they steal hearts, but I’ll wait and see how I feel about the third book before I decide whether to stop or not.

I started reading Boogiepop and others today.  It’s very intriguing.  Every chapter is told by a different student, with each one having a different perspective on the events unfolding at their school.  I’m on the fourth student now and it’s interesting to see how the characters who were mentioned so briefly by the first student are a lot more important than they seemed at first.  It goes from the idea that Boogiepop is a second personality in a troubled student’s mind to him being a phantom assassin and then the story really starts branching out.  I don’t want to say much, because part of the fun is seeing the previous events turned around and be completely different than your initial impression…  I’m definitely interested in seeing the anime now, though and I think I’ll pick up the manga next month as well.

I was also shocked to find out that Kelley Armstrong’s new book Broken is coming out at the end of April.  I thought it was going to be much later in the year, but I’m thrilled to be wrong.  Maybe time is just passing by quickly right now.  :)  At work I was filling out a list of books for our staff picks shelf and decided to put Bitten on the list in honour of her new book.  When I first read Bitten, I loved it and tried to find other werewolf books to read with very little success.  I think the worst of them was Kitty Does the Midnight Hour.  Ouch.  I didn’t make it all the way to the end of that one, it was just so implausible.   That’s what I get for picking out a book for the title alone.  :)  It was hard to find good recommendations, though.  Most people are into vampire books, not werewolves.

BTW, the other books on my list were Ouran High School Host Club, xxxHolic, Valor’s Choice and the Book of Jhereg (which was sneaky of me, since it’s actually three books in one volume).  I scratched out the Boy Next Door for Bitten.

Picking only five books was very hard.  Even now I’m fighting the urge to just keep writing a list…  Signing off now before I go crazy…