Here's what's on my mind...

[slr2moons]

For the past three days, I've been stymied on page 3 of my Vampirates doujinshi. Panel 1 just was NOT working. X| It looked great on my rough sketch, but in any cleaner form? NO. *headdesk* Yesterday I gave up on it and decided to skip to panel 2, which cooperated better. I was still frustrated and tired from panel 1's trials, though, so after banging out a quick cleaner rough of 2, I called it a night and watched four eps of anime instead. :P

One of the shows I'm watching I'm actually reading the manga as well. I won't name names b/c I don't want people to see the title and skip over this section for fear of spoilers or disinterest or what have you. My anime watching has finally caught up to my manga reading. But I'd rather read before I watch, so now I'm carefully metering out my anime eps. I can't watch any more until I get my hands on the next few chapters of hard copy. Nrrrgh! It's frustrating, but this way will make the series last longer and ensure I can read first. :3 The ep I watched last night brought tears to my eyes, just as its original manga chapters did. *sniffle* I WANT MOAR!!!!! *flails*

I find it amusing that there will be a new Fullmetal Alchemist anime apparently re-telling the story from the beginning of the manga. The reason I'm amused is that--brace yourself--I have NEVER watched FMA. That's right. And I dare call myself an anime fan!!! I made it through the first DVD years ago and simply wasn't grabbed, I had no inclination to seek out the rest. (Watching it on Cartoon Network was not an option. I don't do dubs. Even for free. *gags*) I have, however, been collecting the manga books over the past couple years. I've read them once, and at the time only had the first two, but it was enough to make me want to read the rest and is once again proof that the manga is almost always better. I now have vols 1-8 or so, and a scattering of later ones, so I'm left to decide: 1. do I read the manga first, as I would prefer? It would take forever for me to graduate to the anime b/c of missing volumes. Speaking of which... 2. do I watch the first series, which I have obtained since everyone has hailed it as wonderful but have yet to crack open? or... 3. do I skip the first anime and go straight to the new, more loyal, version?? Oh me! What to do??? I already have TONS of anime to watch, so odds are I'll snag the new eps as they come and watch them after I read enough of the manga and after I watch the first series. Should happen in around 2011 or so. :P

Ages ago I downloaded the anime Saiunkoku Monogatari. I finally began to watch it a couple weeks ago (to space me out between eps of the show I talked about above...) and the opening animation is so beautiful it took my breath away. Why, oh WHY can't American animation ever be this beautiful?!??! The closest anyone ever gets here is Disney...with their 2D movies...on occasion. American animation is so consumed with style and lame jokes that they don't really care how pleasing it is to the eye. *sigh* <:| And don't get me started on 3D movie character designs. I'm so so VERY glad that Japan still gives the world beautiful and glorious hand-drawn animation. Traditional 2D animation BANZAIIIII!!!! \o/
 

One of my editors emailed me and commented that she was in Tokyo right then. ........ -->I<-- want to blithely state that I'm in Japan. *affects breezy accent* "Oh, you'll have to wait until I'm back home. I'm in Tokyo at the moment, daaaahling.." Nuffair. *sulks*

Tonight I fired up Deleter to tackle page 3 again. I didn't even look at panel 1, just went straight to 2. One of the benefits of having a huge mirror as my closet door is I can do my own poses, though it means I sometimes have to draw left-handed. Like tonight. There I was, with my shirt off, posing in front of the mirror and trying my best to look manly--I must say I failed miserably. I'm such a weenie girl. :P~~ But it's easy to add muscle to the pic, so no big deal. (Once I stopped laughing at myself and could draw again, of course.) After panel 2 was complete, I had took another stab at panel1. I decided to start over with a completely different angle, and it worked!!! I was my own model again. Thankfully, since Clyde is a stick, I can model for him without too much trouble. Heh. I have to take away flesh instead of add it. After I post this, I plan to do a bit more cleaning up on the pencils. Hopefully tomorrow I can ink it!! XD

I'm pleased with the response to the first two pages. X3 I especially wanted to hear from the mangaka, and she DID comment! Yes, I squeed. A great deal!! I admit it! I'm a fangirl through and through!!! *plops on her Offical Geek hat* I want to finish the next two pages as soon as I can. X3

Oh, and even with stymie-ing panels that refuse to play nicely, drawing my own manga is definitely a blast. ^^ I wish I'd started doing this years ago!