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wednesday_10_00) wrote2015-02-08 05:09 pm
wednesday_10_00) wrote2015-02-08 05:09 pm
Haikyuu!!, doujinshi shopping, etc.
Before I talk at great length about Haikyuu, I want to talk about deputy shopping services. I have been using Noppin for years (since they were Crescent, even) and have been happy with them. At the end of December, however, just as I was getting ready to place a bunch of bids on Winter Comiket doujinshi, Noppin closed for a week for the holiday and server maintenance. I panicked and started looking for a different deputy service, because what if I missed all the Comiket doujinshi?? But I soon calmed down and realized that 1) everyone was going to be closed at least for a few days for New Years, and 2) I already have a sizable deposit at Noppin, and it's kind of annoying to have to make a deposit elsewhere as well. So I decided to be patient and wait out the holiday, and of course I didn't have any trouble getting anything I wanted.
The reason I tell this story is that while I was panicking, I found a service called Goody Japan. They don't have real time bidding the way Noppin does, so I doubt I'll be using their auction services. BUT their fees for shopping services are way cheaper (¥400 + 7% vs ¥1000 + 10% at Noppin), and placing orders is much easier compared to Noppin's clunky message board. (Since I mentioned the deposit above, I will say that with Goody's system, you make a deposit for each shopping order, and then it's subtracted from the final total you owe, so they don't keep money for you the way Noppin does for their auction service.) Frankly, it makes it dangerously easy to order things from Animate, or Tora no Ana, or any number of shops. They also were super fast in getting my things packaged and ready to ship out (Noppin can take days to get a package ready, especially when apparently they think your package is going to get confiscated because it has freaking udon noodles in it), and everything was packed perfectly. I kind of laughed that they made a big deal out of the air pocket padding, but the box really did seem lighter compared to just newspaper. Anyway, I will definitely be using Goody again--in fact, I just placed another doujinshi order this weekend because Haikyuu!! (Those exclamation points are in the title, but they are also the punctuation for that sentence.) This is...as good of a segue as any, I guess?
Let's talk about volleyball. I know: sports, ugh. Bear with me, though: what if, in Hikaru no Go, Hikaru and Akira had met and become rivals, but then, through a twist of fate (DESTINY!!), they ended up on the same team? And they didn't just become teammates, but parters, who bring out the absolute best in each other? That's Hinata and Kageyama, the main characters of Haikyuu.
.
(That Hinata sticker is so great.)
I'm trying to come up with the right words to describe the partnership of Kageyama and Hinata, but basically: they're perfect for each other. They both have the same goals (getting better at volleyball so we can win volleyball games and play more volleyball and is there anything in this world other than volleyball? WHO CARES), drive, and determination; the ways in which they differ (personality, skills) are such that they complement each other perfectly. Basically...the 10 x 10 = 100 assessment is totally accurate.
Kageyama starts off as the King of Frowny Faces:
But all he needed was a little Hinata to make him happy:
Don't get me wrong, I love Hikaru no Go, but the nature of go is such that, even when the characters play on the same team, they are playing by themselves. The emphasis in Haikyuu, though, is that you can't play volleyball on your own, you need the team to win. This means different things to Hinata (who had no teammates in middle school) and Kageyama (who thought he was better than his teammates in middle school), but it's equally important to both of them. What I'm saying is: TEAM. NAKAMA. If you are into the team dynamic, this show is awesome. If you are into the partner dynamic, this show is awesome. (Also: this show is awesome.) And not only is the Karasuno team awesome (not just Kageyama and Hinata, but all of them!), we also meet lots of other teams with equally awesome characters, and who even cares that we're watching sports anymore when it's so fun?
[side note: after burning through all 25 episodes in one day, I immediately downloaded the manga onto my iPad so I could see what happens after that. When reading shounen manga, I might actually think digital is better than reading a paper book, because the two-page spreads look so great when you don't have to fight the book's spine. However, reading manga in landscape rather than portrait mode has made me wish, for the first time, that I had a full-sized iPad rather than a mini.]
I want to end with some awesome and convincing concluding argument but basically what I'm saying is go watch (and/or read) Haikyuu and you can thank me later. If you have already seen it and don't need my convincing, please join me in the comments for squee.
The reason I tell this story is that while I was panicking, I found a service called Goody Japan. They don't have real time bidding the way Noppin does, so I doubt I'll be using their auction services. BUT their fees for shopping services are way cheaper (¥400 + 7% vs ¥1000 + 10% at Noppin), and placing orders is much easier compared to Noppin's clunky message board. (Since I mentioned the deposit above, I will say that with Goody's system, you make a deposit for each shopping order, and then it's subtracted from the final total you owe, so they don't keep money for you the way Noppin does for their auction service.) Frankly, it makes it dangerously easy to order things from Animate, or Tora no Ana, or any number of shops. They also were super fast in getting my things packaged and ready to ship out (Noppin can take days to get a package ready, especially when apparently they think your package is going to get confiscated because it has freaking udon noodles in it), and everything was packed perfectly. I kind of laughed that they made a big deal out of the air pocket padding, but the box really did seem lighter compared to just newspaper. Anyway, I will definitely be using Goody again--in fact, I just placed another doujinshi order this weekend because Haikyuu!! (Those exclamation points are in the title, but they are also the punctuation for that sentence.) This is...as good of a segue as any, I guess?
Let's talk about volleyball. I know: sports, ugh. Bear with me, though: what if, in Hikaru no Go, Hikaru and Akira had met and become rivals, but then, through a twist of fate (DESTINY!!), they ended up on the same team? And they didn't just become teammates, but parters, who bring out the absolute best in each other? That's Hinata and Kageyama, the main characters of Haikyuu.
.
(That Hinata sticker is so great.)
I'm trying to come up with the right words to describe the partnership of Kageyama and Hinata, but basically: they're perfect for each other. They both have the same goals (getting better at volleyball so we can win volleyball games and play more volleyball and is there anything in this world other than volleyball? WHO CARES), drive, and determination; the ways in which they differ (personality, skills) are such that they complement each other perfectly. Basically...the 10 x 10 = 100 assessment is totally accurate.
Kageyama starts off as the King of Frowny Faces:
But all he needed was a little Hinata to make him happy:
Don't get me wrong, I love Hikaru no Go, but the nature of go is such that, even when the characters play on the same team, they are playing by themselves. The emphasis in Haikyuu, though, is that you can't play volleyball on your own, you need the team to win. This means different things to Hinata (who had no teammates in middle school) and Kageyama (who thought he was better than his teammates in middle school), but it's equally important to both of them. What I'm saying is: TEAM. NAKAMA. If you are into the team dynamic, this show is awesome. If you are into the partner dynamic, this show is awesome. (Also: this show is awesome.) And not only is the Karasuno team awesome (not just Kageyama and Hinata, but all of them!), we also meet lots of other teams with equally awesome characters, and who even cares that we're watching sports anymore when it's so fun?
[side note: after burning through all 25 episodes in one day, I immediately downloaded the manga onto my iPad so I could see what happens after that. When reading shounen manga, I might actually think digital is better than reading a paper book, because the two-page spreads look so great when you don't have to fight the book's spine. However, reading manga in landscape rather than portrait mode has made me wish, for the first time, that I had a full-sized iPad rather than a mini.]
I want to end with some awesome and convincing concluding argument but basically what I'm saying is go watch (and/or read) Haikyuu and you can thank me later. If you have already seen it and don't need my convincing, please join me in the comments for squee.
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(Kageyama isn't frowning at you. He's frowning at the lack of bare-chested Tanaka icons.)
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Not that I have an open icon slot, but one must always be prepared.
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Sadly, I have to work, but when I find it...
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ETA: no, that's not it. :/
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Edit: Yay! I found it in episode 9. It is the first time Ukai sees Hinata hit Kageyama's toss, but...this one isn't considered a freak? Volleyball is hard.
I love Asahi's call for the toss. Is it possible I'm a 12-year-old Japanese boy? I don't like mecha.
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(I just saw your edit. I don't think you need to be a 12-year-old boy to love that.)
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Edit: sorry for the edit. Spelling error. (And, yes, I have watched the same episode 3 times in a row.)
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Sadly, spring break is a completely different time for my school and Sara's school. Why can't we have Golden Week like Japan?? For the record, our spring break is 3/18-3/29. (Our spring break is weird.)
As somebody who spent the better part of a week doing nothing but reading and re-reading the manga, I believe it is NOT possible to watch (or read) too much. I am filled with glee every time...jeez, I was going to give some examples here, but let's face it: I am filled with glee the entire time I read.
I was looking at our texting conversation to see when we first started talking about this, and I told you that Haikyuu is less slashy than Free. What was I thinking??? Haikyuu is the slashiest show that ever existed.
And: yes, yes, yes, please post as much as you like. I will never be done talking about how much I love these characters.