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[tammaiya]

Running update: Takaya is so fucked up in the head, you guys, I am not even joking, he/Kagetora is JUST AS MESSED UP AS NAOE, which, you know, you would usually not consider possible.

But at least he's finally getting hugs. Not from Naoe, but a big golden spirit-tiger is PROBABLY the next best thing.

I am almost finished book 11 and I am thinking I ought to order book 14 now, before I am sorry. It and book 19 weren't in print when I did my big order before, but they are now. Hm.

Also, totally randomly, why is my iPod obsessed with Eyes On Me? I have over 5000 songs, and yet somehow, Eyes on Me has come on about 60% of the time I've put it on shuffle all. Bizarre, yo. I mean, okay, yes, I may have two or even three copies of it from different albums, but that's still a lot.

What hurts me in the soul about Amazon is its shipping rates. I feel like I ought to buy more than just books 14 and 19, because I'm paying $25 more shipping than I am for the actual books. Are there any guidebooks I want now right now? Maybe I should get the next arc after book 20. It's probably a lost cause getting any of the other books I want right now because I'm too fixated on MoB. Hmmmm.

... yes, I am actually studying. Even though the universe apparently didn't want me to listen to the lecture I missed when I was sick, as my laptop kept crashing, but I triumphed eventually.

Comments

[chrysan.livejournal.com]

LOL. Yep, that he is, as messed up as Naoe - actually, you could say that he's guilty for initiating the 'messing-up-of-Naoe's-mind'. Have you read the prequels?

Btw, have you listened to the MoB drama cds of Takaya-san's Baito Jigoku Hen and the Revenge one? I can't remember. ^^;;;

I especially like the arc after this arc; it amuses me vastly. I think I've reread certain parts/volumes of MoB so many times, I'm starting to develope immunity to the angst and a peculiar sense of humor towards it already.

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

I sort of got that impression from some of Takaya's thought processes in book 11, yes. XD I haven't read the prequels, no-- I'll probably get them when I'm in Japan next year and don't have to pay exhorbitant shipping.

I haven't listened to any of the drama cds yet, though. I think I have the first one somewhere on my computer, but when I saw links to them I was still only on book 3 or 4 so I was quite wary of spoilers for anything beyond where I knew (i.e. book 9, since that's where the anime/ovas end).

... Your japanese must be very good for you to have not only read the series but reread parts of it that much. I only really got literate enough to read the books at a halfway reasonable pace this year. How long have you studied it for? *curious*

[chrysan.livejournal.com]

For MoB, I read the chinese translations, actually. The Chinese fandom adores MoB, and some of them who are really good in Japanese decided to translate the entire series.

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

... Wow, those ARE some dedicated fans. That must have taken forever. It's not exactly a short series and even when you're translating something you know without checking, reading it and typing it still takes time. (Plus even if you understand the meaning for yourself it can be hard to make it not sound awkward in another language.)

I'm pretty impressed by fluency in any second language, though, so awesome. :D I want to learn Mandarin, but not until after I feel completely confident with my Japanese. Which I still have at least 2 years of my degree left of, sooo... but what happens after that is probably all a matter of pragmatics and having to actually get a job or whatever. >>

[chrysan.livejournal.com]

... Wow, those ARE some dedicated fans.

Yup. But then again, the chinese fandom for MoB has been around for a very long time --- they're not only dedicated in translations, they also provide various analysis and elaborations on the Sengoku era history, so that fans can understand the plot better.

They make it very very difficult for the translations to be found though - not that I blame them. I don't exactly know the details myself, but I'm quite sure that quite a bit of nastiness happened in the past that involved ppl leeching and taking the credit for the translations, etc.

Mandarin...is a hard language when it comes to reading and writing, but in terms of speaking/listening, it's relatively easy.

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's cool. I'm mildly surprised Mirage of Blaze has never been officially translated out of Japanese, actually. On the one hand it IS very long, but on the other hand it has a ready made fan base, so. Hm.

I've probably got somewhat of an advantage with the reading/writing in that Japanese uses most of the Chinese characters. It's more grammar and tones than anything that is likely to trip me up. (That, and trying to pronounce characters with their Japanese reading...) I can usually get the general gist of an uncomplicated sentence once I work out who is doing what to whom, though I don't know how to say it. XD

[chrysan.livejournal.com]

Well, the characters in kanji are an adopted form from Traditional Chinese, but the meanings are mostly different. And the writing style of Traditional Chinese is really difficult - most ppl opt to learn how to write the style of Simplified Chinese instead now. ^^

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

That would be why I can only understand simple sentences where the kanji are generally the same as the Chinese characters, then. XD

I have heard of the difference between Traditional and Simplified Chinese-- from what I've seen, Japanese kanji are closer to the simplified characters. Either way, I actually quite enjoy learning kanji, but hopefully knowing Japanese first will help rather than confuse me more. *g*

[kurushi.livejournal.com]

How does Amazon shipping work? Could you ask pals withoug paypal accounts if they want anything and share postage costs with them?

[tammaiya.livejournal.com]

It's kind of a bitch. There's no economy, so it gets there really quickly, but for books, it's ￥3000 plus ￥300 per additional item. My books cost about 500 a pop, so even if I buy four books at once (around 1800), the shipping is still three times the prices of the actual items. ~_~; Mari wants the new KAT-TUN dvd, though, so we're going to order together and go halves on the base 3000 postage.