Suna no Shiro and Stage Storm

I had nothing to do again, so I checked out the NCIS website for new releases. Then I saw it. The title was Suna no Shiro, but the weird thing was, NCIS only released the 2nd chapter! Click here to download it.

Anyway, I tried finding the scanlators or team who released the first chapter. The group's name was "Stage Storm". Looking through different websites, I found out that they had NO forum, website, or even an IRC channel for their releases! So where was I supposed to download the first chapter then? They already released around 20 chapters, so how come you can't trace them? It was really peculiar how they did their distributions. Maybe they just uploaded their scans to sites with manga viewers, or just contacted the people who host their releases? Who knows...

Finally, after searching and trying hard to find out where to get a chapter, I saw the first chapter in a free server uploader! Click here to download the file. It was quite a hard search, just to find one of their release. I wonder why they won't have a site or even an IRC channel to release their projects. That way, their fans won't be hassled. Or maybe that's what they want us to do? To really make an effort just to read their projects?

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the manga. I think it's great even if it's really old and the art is bad. The storyline is just so interesting! I'll keep you updated with its releases, if NCIS would continue to do it or not. I hope Stage Storm would make a database for their projects though... hehehe

EDIT: As I mentioned, chapter 3 of Suna no Shira has already been released by NCIS through mIRC (#ncis). I uploaded it at savefile for your convenience. Click here to download.

EDIT (2): Stage Storm actually has a forum! Click here to go there. Thanks Anonymous for the heads up! ^__^

Mac vs. PC - Transformers Version

A while ago I was browsing Google Reader and looked through the RSS feeds I got. This is such a great video, that I just had to share it with everyone! You have got to watch it, especially if you're a mac or PC fan!



I have to say that I like PC better than macs now.... It was different before though! hehehe Go PC!!! Global Domination all the way!!!

Mori Kouji: An Enigma

As I was wandering around at One Manga looking for something to read, I chanced upon a very interesting title. The manga was named "Holyland", and was written and drawn by Mori Kouji. When I got to the page, the art style caught my attention. I didn't even read the summary, I directly started reading.

The manga pulled me in like a black hole, that's how great the manga is. After reading the scanlated versions, I still couldn't get enough! I browsed through many websites just to know where I can get raws. Yes, I looked for RAWS! I don't even know how to read Kanji, katakana, or hiragana, yet I was looking for the other parts. I was so engulfed by the manga that I didn't get to sleep last night! The scanlation is still ongoing, but the manga has already finished in Japan.

Anyway, after I read (feeling! nitan-aw ra ko sa pictures! hehehe) the raws, I felt compelled to look for other manga that Mori Kouji made. And, low and behold! There's only one other! The title is "Suicide Island" also known as "Jisatsutou". Currently, there are 5 chapters scanlated.

The most interesting part that I found out, while looking him up (through google) was, you can't find any information about Mori (hah! feeling close!). Okay, you can, but only about where he's from, his birthdate, and his works (the two I've mentioned above). Other than those, I've had no luck! It's rare for a mangaka to have no information about him, especially if he has created a great manga like Holyland! I'm still wondering why he isn't even on wikipedia!

Isn't Mori Kouji-sensei a mystery? We don't even know what he looks like. Sure, he's already old, around 39 years old, but we don't even know his hobbies! How come he knows so much about street fighting? Why were the scenes in Holyland so realistic? How did he get the information needed for his manga? Does he like psychological manga and anime as much as I do? Does he have a website that we can log on to? How can we contact him? His publishers don't even put an address on the tankoubon!

Like other manga-ka (manga artist), he should have his own website! I mean, Ai Yazawa-sensei and Tomoko Ninomiya-sensei have websites/blogs, why can't he have one?

I would really like to get to know more about Kouji-sensei because I think he has very inspiring and original manga! I hope he makes other projects soon because the way he tells the story and the way he draws his characters have become inspirations for me.

The Devil and I

This is another late post. This event happened last year at around late November, I think.

My friends and I were walking towards the UP College of Law to eat lunch since the food there is great and cheap. Suddenly, my eyes were diverted into this huge car which looks like it could carry a coffin in it. When I looked at the car plate, I didn't know how to react.

I mean, I didn't know if I should laugh (because it was funny in a weird way), be scared ('coz that's my name with "666"), or be curious! Is the owner of the car named Ann, or is that all just a coincidence? Was the "666" deliberately placed there just to fit the theme of the car, or was it there just to scare me? *laughs*

If ever the owner of the car does get to read this, kindly explain the meaning to me. I'm still curious as to what it all means.

Law Aptitude Examination: The Passers

As an aspiring (future) law student, the UP Law Aptitude Examination (LAE) has always been one of the stepping stones towards my goal of conquering criminal law in the Philippines. But anyway, I got scared last year, so I didn't try to take the exam. I can just imagine that big letter "L" stuck on my forehead. BUT my friends passed! yay for them! Here are the evidences I got:

I got the pictures using my Nokia 6267 phone when Ivan and I went to UP Law to see the results. Cool, right? Now if I pass the LAE this year, they can give me their notes and I can even ask them for pointers and such! bwahahaha!!!

If you would like to see the complete list of the passers, go here to download the pdf file of the list or go to http://law.upd.edu.ph/lae.html

Congratulations to all the passers! See you at UP! :)