Not that you'll really notice...

...but I'm going to be taking off to my family's house for the holidays, so I won't be posting much for a while. Yeah, I know, I haven't been posting much at all lately, but I at least do on the weekends; this weekend I won't be.

But I did accumulate a bunch of quick things to log on the ol' blog, so I'll leave you off with this.

"Mushishi" ep. 8 -- Again, this one was rather bittersweet. And still extremely sedate and contemplative. And there's not an awful lot more I can say about it. I love the storytelling aspect. I love the atmosphere. There's no particular hook that gets me all obsessive about it or anything, but it's a show I like a lot and I'm glad I have the opportunity to see it. That's about it, though.

"Blood +" eps 9 & 10 -- I'm still barely clinging to this one. Like I said last time, probably out of boredom. It's completely lacking in the "soul" department, but I guess the unique storyline and the details have me curious enough to try to keep up with it. It definitely doesn't have any of the lame cliche deformations or comedy attempts, but there are plenty of other cliches and rather shallow narrative crutches (pun intended) being used, so I really, really should just drop this and stop complaining.

"NieA under 7" disc 2 -- Speaking of lame cliche deformations, if it weren't for the fact that it switches between that and rather well-composed and strong character animation, I'd give this one up already. That, and the whole thread of mystery of the world this is set in -- though that was really only hinted at in the 3rd episode. But that little hint really picques the ol' curiosity. Anyway, disc 3 has already shipped from GreenCine, so I can't drop it now if I wanted to.

"Nadia, Secret of Blue Water" disc 8 -- Oy. I mean, okay, we catch a few miscellaneous bits of backstory about Nadia's origin, and almost get a taste of the original pre-island part of the series, but geez louise, there's a lot of childish nonsense to slog through to get it. And from what I hear, the "Africa" arc that has just gotten underway is just as forgettable. That said, that next disc is shipping to me as well, so I'm pretty much commited to riding it out in hopes of finally getting to the acclaimed end-game. *sigh*

"Cowboy Bebop" disc 3 -- Ahh, that's better. Of course, this is a repeat viewing, so no surprises, but I so very much enjoy this series and every aspect about it. There's not much more I can say about it that I haven't said; probably by the last disc, I'll try to go into more detail about some things I've been thinking about with regards to how this is constructed and why it's so outstanding.

"Noein" eps 7 & 8 -- So I'm still clinging to the characters a little bit, and I'm a bit curious as to where the story's going, but this show refuses to settle on what it actually is. It flits between different styles, different artwork, and different threads in a chaotic mess. Which, seeing as it's about a bunch of alternate dimensions in a chaotic mess of a universe, is probably fitting. Doesn't make it particularly profound or anything, though; it just makes it a bit distracting and difficult to latch on to. Still, like "Blood +", I'm latched on to it for a little while still.

Finally, "Kino's Journey" disc 4 -- I finished up my rewatch, and while I'm not as existentially rattled as I was in a previous post, I'm still experiencing that somber aftertaste and, instead of pulling out any particularly hopeful bits out of it, the sadder parts are setting the overall tone for my thoughts right now. Which is a shame seeing as I'm about to embark on a trip back home, but I suppose it was to be expected, seeing as I knew what was going to happen going into it.

Well, anyway, have a great holiday, everyone. I'll be back before New Year's, which, like I think I've mentioned, will be the continuation of my new tradition: "Noir" Year's Eve. Hooray!