I stopped checking DA for most of the year for various reasons, but I'm going to see if I can get back into it now. I hadn't had any enthuaism to draw earlier this year, but it came back around the time school started. Expect most of what I upload to be school doodles as a result.

A lot of things have happened since January, but writing them all up would be way too long of a journal. Maybe I'll write about how things are going in my next journal.


Instead, I need to take this opportunity to recommend Demo. I came across a discussion about female graphic novel writers, and I've been getting through the recommendations based on what the library has available. I've enjoyed most of what I've read, but almost everything else is difficult to recommend for various reasons.

Demo is a nice exception to this. The author mentioned at the beginning that it was supposed to have a general 'teens with power' theme to it - and the first several chapters follow this pretty closely - but the idea of what counts as power (and the ages allowed for these stories) change as it goes. Each chapter is its own story, so don't expect a long, incredibly complex plot, but I really enjoyed it and I'd definitely recommend it.


I also have a few anime recommendations that I finished over the summer:
- Haibane Renmei - It's slow, and you'll hate it if you're not into slice-of-life. Otherwise, it's got a unique, incredible story with plenty to think about and well-developed characters. It's definitely in my top ten list.

- Simoun - I think 'come for the fanservice and yuri teasing, stay for the great story and the character development' sums it up pretty well. Just give it a little while to get to the story, and don't show anyone the DVD covers, especially the one for volume 5.

- Gurren Lagann - The plot's fairly simple, the characters don't change all that much over the series, and the entire universe runs on the idea that 'if it looks cool enough, it'll work'. These should all be things I hate, yet I still enjoyed the series immensely. It's absurdly fun, and is proof that a series can be good if it's got enough energy. The fact that it's a mecha series that's NOT Evangelion should also get it a recommendation by itself.

- Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit - I haven't finished this yet, but it still gets a recommendation. Balsa alone is enough reason to recommend it; she's almost 30 years old and is written like a realistic adult, which is far too rare of an occurance in anime. The other characters get similar levels of development, and the world itself has obviously had a lot of thought put into it. I'm saddened by the fact that it doesn't seem to be doing well on Adult Swim; this is an anime that, in my opinion, needs more exposure.


That's all at the moment. Here's to hoping that I don't leave again.
-Zephyrkitty