Konnichiwa!  ^-_-^   I see you made your way through the different sections of the library and out the sliding door to my garden. The Bishounen Garden that is. I hope that you enjoy your stay and that you find something to inspire you, something to bring you tranquility or something to spark the fire inside. Whichever you need or want the most. The garden is still in the process of being designed. But then what good Japanese garden ever truly achieves perfect harmony with everything around it and no longer needs little adjustments to make it better.

 September 8, 2004

You know this paragraph started off last time with an apology for it taking me so long to update and here I am apologizing again. Hopefully this will be the last time. But unlike the last time, this time there are actual honest to god updates to talk about as well as some of my new passions to talk about. One of them you may have encountered though I haven't actually talked about it yet. And to go with the new update and pages of course some new pics for you to enjoy! ^__^

First of all lets talk about the obsession that was hitting me just before I disappeared from the face of the earth. LOL Rurouni Kenshin. Man that hit me like a ton of bricks, excellent storyline, beautiful bishies and history to boot. The pic on the side is a great one for the second step in the series called the Kyoto Arc. The first set is Rurouni Kenshin, Wandering Samurai, it introduces you to Kenshin Himora and the people that after 10 years of wandering become his extended family. It also introduces you to a few people that we will run into in the next arc like Aoshi Shinomori... Oh my god between he and Kenshin I don't know who is prettiest. And Sanoske the man is just too hot for his own good. For those of you who don't know the anime take some time to visit the Rurouni Kenshin page and meet the characters. You'll also find a brief synopsis of the first two Arcs. I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the third arc called The Meiji Era/Arc. I caught wind of some things that will happen that I don't want to see really. I won't say anymore about it. If you all really want to know there are other sites that do reveal that storyline.

But you know what? If you asked me who my absolute favorite character in the anime was... It wouldnt' be Kenshin, or Aoshi or Sano. It's a character that we hardly see at all and that almost nothing is known about until you go looking for the real man. Yes you heard me right. My favorite, Okita Souji was a real flesh and blood man. From the history sites where I've read about he and the group he fought with, the Shinsengumi. He is the basis on which all heroic swords men are based, he and another member whom I can never remember. (smacks self) If you want to see a picture of the real man and can handle being a little disappointed that the real thing isn't as cutely bish as the anime then click here. Another character from the anime that was a real person was also a member of the Shinsengumi, Saito Hajime. Not my favorite character, but he is damn cool!

The last paragraph of my last update talked about getting introduced to Gravitation. Well I'm still into Gravitation and my favorite characters are Tohma and Ryuichi. The storyline is slightly two fold. The first is the very dysfunctional romance between Shuichi Shindo and Writer Eiri Yuki. The second is the rise to fame of Shuichi's band Bad Luck. Caught amidst those two stories is the reunion of Shuichi's favorite band Nittle Grasper and his somewhat strange and awkward friendship with the other band's lead singer Ryuichi Sakuma. And in the background pulling the strings on so many little and big things we have Tohma Seguchi genius keyboardist and president of NG Records. Then Mr. K, Shuichi's gun toting, sharp shooting do almost anything to get ahead, but still compassionate and generous Manager.

What makes Ryuichi one of my two favorites is that he is an amazing mystery. He has such extreme personality shifts that he is like a split personality. He spends most of his time in a childlike euphoria of play and innocence. Then something will strike him as serious and he becomes a nurturing young adult logical, strong, determinined even. Then the lights come up on the stage and his music starts and he becomes distant and exudes sex appeal. What made him this way? Inquiring minds would really like to know.

I am beginning to think though that I'm jinxed on this particular anime because when I first got the vcds from Yanagi-sen(hugs Yanagi tightly), they played great and I was in heaven. Like with Weiss I was watching them over and over and I started doing screen caps like you wouldn't believe. Then something happened and they wouldn't play and I never figured out why even when Yanagi sent me a new set. Then another friend sent me a vid copy of them... it didn't work either. ,-_-, Now I have the official DVDs from Rightstuff and DVDs 1 and 2 were excellent, but when 3 came the last episode on the disk wouldn't play. I returned it to exchange for a new copy and it didn't work either. As of this writing I'm waiting for it again. They are having problems with some of the copies maybe more than just some and are having them recut. I don't know how long it will be before it's ready. I hope when number 4 comes out that it works great, I've already got it on preoder. I love this anime, I will do what ever I have to, to own a working copy of every episode.

About that same time Yu Gi Oh came out. Now it has had a lot of mixed reviews. In the beginning many people knocked it because they felt it was only there to tease the kids into spending money on yet a new game. And actually it probably was. But what they were missing was the fact that it has some really strong underlying lessons. Now I'm a sucker for shows that teach friendship through all, courage in the face of adversity and the triumph of good over evil. Especially in a day and age where we have so many shows where the story of the night ends and the badguys have walked away the winners. Also it shows that not everything is as it seems, good and evil can reside in the same place and it is only the strength of the person that holds it in check. Nor is everything black and white, take Seto Kaiba for example an amalgamation of both good and bad, weakness and strength. Joey/Jounouchi with his kind heart but often over inflated ego that gets him in trouble, but always stead fast and true. And the themes to follow your dreams, your destiny and not give up because only then do you lose. All wonderful things for kids to witness and learn from. Of course there is the shallow end of my love of the show... Yami, Seto and Malik are drop dead gorgeous. And yes I know his real name finally reveled in the Japanese manga but not here yet... is Atemu. I like Yami better.

I was going to continue on with reviews and thoughts on a couple more anime's that I've fallen in love with. But this is so long right now that I think I will save them for my next update. It will probably be in about a month and I doubt there will be any new information pages added then but hopefully new story chapters for "Chibi Files", "Meeting Face to Face" and "Fallen Angels". Hopefully you all caught the update on the Main page that told about the current new chapters being up. I've left you with a picture of current obsession...Saiyuki. But it's not just the anime or maybe even more than the anime I've fallen in love with the music. All of it.

So cross the bridge into the garden. Choose the path on the other side that will take you to the bishounen or information of your choice. Then sit back and enjoy. Or simply choose a path at random and explore to your heart's content whichever tickles your fancy. Keep in mind almost every picture, except those on the 'Sigh' page can be clicked on for a larger view. There are a few that take you to other pages but those are the ones that take you to the character Profiles or to special websites like my favorite adoption pages and are marked as such. Have fun!

 

    

Unfortunately the Quickie Bishie adoptions seems to be closed. I found lots of sites that have the same banners I have and the same site I had listed for them "Hidaka Love" and they are all obsolete addys. Seaching hasn't brought up anything either. If anyone knows what happened to them or where they moved I'd love to know!