Every blogger has her own own landmark. Some at 10,000 hits; some after a year. I chose to make a post at my 100th post to reflect back on my blogging experience over the past two years.

I think more than anything, the visits and the comments make the core of the blog. The opinions, feedback, questions, and random rants from the various people are my motivation for continuing to write out entries. I take every comment and hit to heart, and I offer you my sincerest appreciation. So thank you.

Reading my own posts, I realize that many of my posts are actually quite uninspiring. Indeed, that is what one would expect from a listless blogger. Unlike my fellow bloggers, I do not have the snarky and witty writings nor the flamboyant arrogant charm. I do not take cute and creative photographs. My reviews are hardly all that interesting or critical, and my shallow posts almost never probe the mind or allow one to look deep inside the self, society, and culture. For those posts, simply check out the sites in the links section. Rather, my language tends to come out as boringly polite and flowery. However, I do still somehow take a bit of pride in what I have written, and I am glad many of you at least read a few words.

Perhaps for the next hundred posts, I will be a little more funny, edgy, controversial, and inquisitive without sounding either like a douchebag or a pompous prick, which far too often have I seen many blogs become. Of course, I will have great blogs to draw inspiration from. So I would like to thank all those blogs and sites that I follow.

Now, everyone is interested in the statistics.

Although I have been blogging for two years, I only switched to wordpress.com about a little more than a year ago (June, ‘08). That’s when the statistics start.

Top posts

I started Listless Ink intending to detail my life. Somewhere along the way, it became anime centric. Then later, the blog shifts its direction to focus even more specifically on yuri. Even though the blog has differed from where it began, I still love where it is at today.

Top searches.

Most are generic anime, manga, or yuri searches. I do not usually get really funny, weird, or creepily awkward search terms such as “cripple f_cking” or the likes.

Referrers

Thank you so much, Shijima.
And thank you, all who have linked me or added me to their blogroll.

Lastly, I want to again thank all the lovely readers. I would also especially like to thank those who have visited and commented regularly. You know who you are. Without your support, I do not think I would have ever gotten to 100 posts.Thank you for making Listless Ink such an enjoyable experience. I love you. ^ ^

To many yuri fans, Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo is a series of visual novels that quintessentially define the genre in terms of eroges. Further, the franchise has since its inception grown to such popularity and success to branch into many differnet mediums, including light novels, drama CDs, comic strips, anime, and music albums.

On Listless Ink, I have blogged ad nauseum on Hanabira; in fact, those posts comprise of a really large portion of my views. Recently, I have gotten a few comments about the various music that appear in Hanabira visual novels and on drama CD’s. Thus, I’ve decided to make a Music Monday post.

Amai Hanazono ~Complete MIX~ (甘い花園～コンプリートMIX～) contains the theme song for all the visual novels and the drama CD. Performed by Yumi Haruna, Amai Hanazono is a nice listen. While it is a bit generic as J-Pop, it nevertheless has quite a relaxing, soft, and catchy refrain.

The album includes seven tracks, but all seven songs are almost exactly the same… I would not recommend buying this only for its music.

01 Amai Hanazono ~Complete MIX~ 4:38
02 Amai Hanazono (Game Version) 1:43
03 Damp evening Sky (Game Version) 1:43
04 Seductive Etude (Game Version) 1:43
05 Amai Hanazono (Bonus Version) 2:24
06 Damp evening Sky (Bonus Version) 2:24
07 Seductive Etude (Bonus Version) 2:21
Disc length 16:56

As for the background music for the visual novels, the main theme is actually quite an addictive tune. In fact, it is one of those songs that is immediately recognizable if you have ever played the games.

Extracted BGM sample download

I was a bit surprised that there were people interested in the soundtrack. With most visual novels, the background music tend to be overlooked. In fact, I definitely do not pay as much attention to the BGM as openings and endings, especially for visual novels, hentai, and eroge. Actually, do people listen to background music in general?

Anyway, I think Hanabira 7 and 8 as well as the anime are soon to be released. Hanabira 7 in particular should be out sometime this month. (Edit: It seems that this has been delayed according to a recent announcement…) I am really looking forward to the new characters in Hanabira 8 as well. Gothic lolita and kimono. Yes, please.

Hanabira Games and Announcements

Aoi Hana begins with a chance reunion between two childhood friends, Okudaira Akira (A-chan) and Manjoume Fumi. Attending two different high schools in the district, the two girls are quick to form a group of friends between the two schools. Fumi has just recently came out of a rather emotional illicit relationship, and was soon courted by her sempai, Sugimoto. Aoi Hana tells of the drama between Fumi and Sugimoto as well as the touching friendship of A-chan and Fumi.

In essence, Aoi Hana is an anime about love. I quite enjoyed the anime’s treatment of the lesbian relationship between Fumi and Sugimoto. It is a rather understated but complex illustration of the delicate drama. Further, the romance is a really realistic portrayal of relationships, confessions, and broken hearts. Weaved into this difficult drama is Fumi’s friendship with A-chan, which is just beautiful.

As a yuri anime, Aoi Hana is really quite successful and different from yuri anime in the past. It is really refreshing to see that lesbianism is not simply written off as a given premise of the world and all girls are simply gay for each other. Instead, the anime touches a bit on the “coming out” aspect of a homosexual relationship, both with Fumi and Sugimoto. Further, there is clearly a large participation of men in this yuri drama. In fact, with Sugimoto, I personally felt like for her relationship with Fumi is a phase she is going through. Contrast her feelings with Fumi, we see that Fumi seems to be much more serious about her love.

The major characters in Aoi Hana are all extremely well developed and multi-dimensional. I really love A-chan and she is by far my favorite character in Aoi Hana. Her candid and caring nature really shines, especially compared to the shy Fumi. Fumi is also quite a lovable character, especially as she grows and matures through her relationship. I hated Sugimoto sempai. On the surface, she just seems like the typical oujo-sama figure in an all girl’s high school. However, as her relationship with Fumi develops, we see her immature arrogant nature and her selfish role in the relationship. Anyway, Aoi Hana really delves deep into the characters, and I appreciated that I can love and hate these girls.

Aoi Hana, of course, has its weaknesses. I have mixed feelings about the pacing of the series. Although the pacing felt appropriate, and I was always very into each episode, the series felt slow between episodes. Of course, once the drama begin picking up by the middle of the series, this is no longer an issue. I was also not particularly impressed with the character designs in the anime (one of the reasons I was hesitant about watching this). I like A-chan and Fumi, but Sugimoto, Kyouko, Sugimoto’s family, the teacher are all rather bland and in some cases, not very attractive.

While some of the characters may not be my type, the animation in Aoi Hana is just gorgeous. The watercolor background is stunning and soft. This faded and comfortable look is very apparent in the colored pages of the manga as well. Also, I really like the opening, Aoi Hana by Kukikodan, and ending theme song, Centifolia by Ceui.

Aoi Hana by Kukikodan

Anyway, after finishing Aoi Hana over the weekend, I immediately wanted to write a post on this intricate, subtle, but dramatic story of romance and friendship. Of course, my schedule does not permit, hence I am posting it only now. Because Aoi Hana is a very sophisticated and nice series, there was a lot I wanted to say about this series to highlight this rather underrated anime. In the end, the review still feels a bit lengthy and perhaps haphazard…

By the way, I absolutely love the ending of Aoi Hana. I’m not going to spoil it, but it is the best ending I could hope for. It was so good that my eyes watered a bit…

A while ago I watched Loveless. Despite its title, I had quite a bit of love for this anime. (Forgive my tasteless puns…)

Loveless follows Ritsuka and Soubi as they unravels the mystery behind the death of Ritsuka’s brother. After the brother has died, Ritsuka is sought out by Soubi, who claims to be a friend of Rituka’s brother. The pair are soon drawn into various battles. Together, Ritsuka and Soubi fight in spell battles, with Soubi acting as the fighter and Ritsuka as the “Sacrifice”.

Ritsuka actually looks kind of cute in this scan. Actually, in many scans, Ritsuka looks really very cute.

I thought the series is a rather nice watch. The pacing is quite slow, but that does set the tone fairly. Further, Soubi and Ritsuka are both really lovable characters. I especially like Ritsuka. The interplay and the development of the relationship between the couple are quite interesting as well.

Although the series does an amazing job with the characters, the plot certainly does get a bit convoluted at times. However, beneath all that are some really subtle complex themes and a touching story.

Anyway, since I am not watching that many series this fall, I decided to to take an opportunity to write some posts I did not got around to. Further, I recently read a review on Antique Bakery, and realizing that I actually read/ watch quite a bit of yaoi, I decided to write a review for a series I recently watched. With all the yuri on this blog, I hope this is a nice change of pace.

I started watching Saki a few days ago, and soon finished this intense, captivating anime about mahjong.

Saki follows Miyanaga Saki and her Mahjong club members as they aim for the national mahjong tournament. Saki is a first year high school student who dislikes playing mahjong, despite her astonishing skills. This soon changed, however, after she meets Haramura Nodoka, another top level player. They quickly became yuri lovers best friends. Together, they play against interesting and tough opponents along the journey to nationals.

From what I have read before about Saki, I has expected a fan servicing anime featuring lots of yuri and lots of strip mahjong teases. However, Saki is a keen and impassioned series, true to a sports anime. I grew up playing mahjong with my family, and the intensity, the anxiety, and the excitement of Saki really resonate with me. Although usually I have no idea what is actually going on, I still love watching the characters wait for that big hand (none of which I have ever seen achieved in real life). When that impossibility comes, it is simply an amazing feeling.

Further, I think Saki really does portray another aspect of mahjong quite well. In its core, mahjong is a game of skill and luck, and inevitably, the culture of mahjong involves much superstition and belief in a supernatural aspect of the game. Minor things like losing and winning streaks, tile draws, or even certain spoken words are all believed to be heavily influential to winning a round. Therefore, I love that Saki stays true to this mahjong culture in that the series does not treat mahjong as a purely probabilistic game of chance and skill, but rather incorporate elements of the “flow”.

Perhaps the best part about Saki is its characters. Saki manages to present a dozen lovely characters from four schools in relatively few episodes. More importantly, Saki makes me care about these characters. Most of them are memorable, cute, and well developed. This is really quite a remarkable series in this aspect.

I love Momo and Yumi-chin.

Finally, Saki has its strong yuri hints and moments, and that pretty much makes it sooooooo much more enjoyable for me. In fact, Saki and Nodoka, Momoko and Kajiki, Kana and Mihoko, and some other pairs are perhaps more than mere insinuations.

Nodoka x Saki is canon.

Anyway, it has been a while since I wrote a series review…

After having watched the first episode of To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, I was completely amazed. Railgun is absolutely entertaining; really cute characters, fantastic premise (everyone loves superpowers), good action animation, and a little bit of yuri thrown in there for fan service purposes make this a success with me.

I love Kuroko, especially when she attempts yuri on Mikoto.

Zettai Shoujo Seiiki Amnesian is the manga that has been rumored earlier as the next Kannazuki no Miko (Himegami no Miko). Amnesian uses the same characters, Chikane and Himeko, but a different story line. The first chapter has been scanlated by Zefiberyl. (I had personally rather wanted to edit this manga, but some other group picked it up. They are doing a fine job, and I am happy someone is scanlating this manga).

… I’ll stop right there… Chikane won’t though…

Anyway, Amnesian wastes no time in getting right to action, both in battle and in bed. Also, Chikane is seriously super sexy.

It feels weird to not include Sasameki Koto in a yuri impression of fall 2009, especially since I am including the weakly yuri Railgun. Very briefly, I have not started watching Sasameki Koto, as I am still on Aoi Hana. I expect it to be pretty good though because I enjoyed the manga.

So… This past week and the coming week are going to be kind of tough for me. In addition to being sick, I have quite a few rather difficult academic stuff coming up. Of course, no one cares about that stuff, so I will stop whining now. However, this does translates to somewhat filler-ish posts and not all that much time spent on my and others’ blogs… so yea…

Since this has been a really long and busy week, I haven’t really been watching all that much anime (particularly because this season seems relatively underwhelming). I still want to update regularly though, so here’s some interesting recent news I came upon on the internet.

That is a picture of a placenta teddy bear on display at the exhibition, Doing it for the Kids. The gallery showcases innovative sustainable toys. In the glass jar is a cuddly teddy bear made from a human placenta. Cute or creepy?

A man in China has been growing baby shaped pears, which actually look more like Buddhas. These specialty items sell up to $7 USD a piece. I just thought that this is kind of cool.

A female high school teacher, Helen Goddard, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual activity with an underage student (15). She claims that her female student seduced her; this eventually led to a six months long love affair and a 15-month sentence. I thought that the teacher is certainly not unattractive. She is actually quite pretty. Just imagine a cute high school student seduce her pretty teacher into hot lesbian activities for six months. Seriously, is this not the hottest sex crime?

Anyways, this was certainly a very uninteresting filler post… But maybe I’ll start a Wednedsay weekly.

BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER pilot episode came out a few days ago. In an earlier post of previews of upcoming anime, I have said that I was really looking forward to this.

It turns out the pilot episode is not really an episode at all, but merely a trailer, a realization which makes me and others slightly annoyed.

But after watching about 2 seconds in, I immediately started to really appreciate the animation quality and get over the length. The pilot/ trailer really showcased the series, which will come in spring.

The screenshots are from Ningyo , who has great points about the shortness of the “episode,” as well as some valid criticisms on the animation. However, I really enjoyed the animation style. I think the balance between the grungy, gothic, and almost brooding atmosphere and the occasional game-like and comical qualities in both animation and the soundtrack creates a complex world that fits Black ★ Rock Shooter very well. In essence, she is a rocking but still cute loli. Thus, the anime is rather appropriate stylistically.

It is really short, so take a few minutes and watch it for yourselves. Is it not absolutely beautiful? Who is not going to be watching this when the series is released?

Now I really want that Black Rock Shooter figure.

Some leaked images of Himegami no Miko manga have come out. This pretty much confirms the earlier rumors of a work of continuation/ alternative universe to Kannazuki no Miko.

Here are some of the leaked manga pages.

Chikane gets a sword now. How cool is that?

She also gets some action.

Thanks to @EcchiYuri again for the source: Amnesia no Himegami.

I wonder if some scanlation group will pick this up. It looks nice so far though, and I see no giant robots. Also, are we going to perhaps see an animated series of this?

Some more sketches of Chikane from Kaishaku’s website that I did not get to include earlier but look nice. The Himegami website has also been updated a bit as well.

Doesn’t she look super hot?

This is yet another news post and a really short blog entry. I just finished a midterm after pulling an all-nighter, so forgive my brevity.

Edit: Zettai Shoujo Seiiki Amnesian has been scanlated.

A while back, Yuki left a comment asking about the characters in this image. They are Nanami, Yuuna, Sara, Kaede, Mai, and Reo from the first six games. But who are those two up in the corner?

Runa

Takako

After a bit of browsing through Fuguriya website, I found out that they are Takako and Runa from the web series. It seems that Takako is the usual clumsy moe teacher, while Runa is the young loli student who seems to be the bossy, arrogant, oujo-sama type, a character type that I really really love. I imagine there to be lots of teasing and reversal of authority between the loli and the teacher.

Anyway, on a recent update from Fuguriya, they have announced that a seventh Hanabira game will be released in November featuring this teacher-student pair from the web series with a rewritten scenario.

Thanks to Yuri Downloads for telling me about this preview.

The other announcement is that another pair is due in December. Not much information is known so far. The pairing is between a mix exchange student and a Yamato Nadeshiko (“classic ideal woman”). The Yamato Nadeshiko girl looks like Mio, and that is just really cute.

Both of these games will follow the usual rather tame style of Sono Hanabira visual novels. There will be no males, no futas, and no toys.

Fuguriya sure has been busy recently. I think it is rather nice to see some new pairings, so this is simply wonderful. In particular, I am looking forward to seeing Runa. Those character types have always been sort of a favorite of mine… I’ve secretly wanted someone to own, tease, bully and boss me around in my severe M mentality… Just kidding… Ok. That was definitely too much information…

Hanabira Games and Announcements