Haine, Haine, Haine. Exclusive to BoBA.


I bought Volume 2 of Shinshi Doumei Cross (The Gentlemen Alliance) from Kinokuniya, one of my favorite bookstores, in Little Tokyo, a place where I usually like to shop if I have a little money on me. See, here's how I plan my trip there: I rack up at least 11 bucks, take the Blue Line to the Red Line to Civic Center, and then bike down to Little Tokyo. I saw this sign that showed that both volumes are available, and it shows a swinging picture of Haine Otomiya, a former yankee (delinquent) who became girlfriend of Shizumasa Touguu, a guy she knew as a child. Her story is quite sad. Her first family had to sell her because she was becoming a financial burden to their business. Now the family she is with is trying to make ends meet. Because of this, she went into an emotional tailspin, and became a yankee, before reuniting with Shizumasa (of which Haine adds a -sama to his name).

I heard some reviews about SDC (or Shinkuro for short) being a ripoff of a CLAMP storyline, and that there isn't a good rap regarding the story. This was the first story that Arina Tanemura wrote that had no magical powers whatsoever, purely a teenage real-life drama. (I wouldn't sell my children if I had at least one. No way.)

This being said, I think SDC is an interesting change of pace from the regular Arina tales, that involve magical powers of some sort. One must begin to wonder if the staying power of Shinkuro will hold. By the way, Arina is concocting plans for a new mahou-shoujo manga drama later on. Can't wait to see how that develops.

Ohohohohohohooooh Shandong!



I can't get that Chinese word out of my head. When I think of the word "Shandong" I think the world of China. Shandong is a resort province, home of Qingdao's famous beer "Tsingtao." I've never tasted it, but I heard it has fair drinkability. But it's an infectious word, Shandong. I cannot get it out of my head. It's attacking my brain like cancer! >_<"

Anyway, today I went back to the Beach to see if I can find some work. Went to the bookstore, they told me to apply (I already got that taken care of). Went over to Beach Patrol, they said they had one position open, that was Graphic Designer. Not my forte (yet), so I went to the Pyramid. Their paperwork had already been used up, so I have to wait till next week. But meeting them and getting used to what they do gives me confidence that I can fall in with any of these folks. But I gotta balance this with class.

I've got a lotta time to kill till the first week of August comes about. And I need my daily dose of coffee to stay on it. Heh, I just drank another Starbucks bottle an hour ago. I'm feeling the effects. I just hope I don't crash anid burn after a sugar spike from feeling it.