My Laptop Is Out Of Commission :-(

Just a quick update to let you all know that my blog posts may be coming out a lot slower than usual (i know I haven't been as good at posting them regularly recently, but I was about to improve that...) as my laptop is currently getting fixed :-(

It had been a little bit slower recently, and then the dreaded HP error code of (90b) reared its ugly head, meaning a fan had broken and it was warning me it will get a lot hotter than usual and probably melt in to an indistinguishable puddle of plastic if I carried on using it...

So we carried on using it.... Well I thought it wouldn't be a problem as it has 2 or 3 fans so surely the others would have takeb over and everything would be fine. That theory actually proved to be correct until my wife decided to stream a film on it and it shut itself down during the film, she panicked and asked me what was happening and a new error message appeared saying 'i took over and shut down the laptop, I don't care what you were doing, do you want a puddle of plastic on your sofa? I thought not...'

Long story short, it was still under the manufacturers warranty so I took it in to get repaired and should have it back in about 2 weeks. In the meantime I will be blogging from my phone (at least this shouldn't overheat...) so bear with me!

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 28/05/2012 to 03/06/2012

(Apart from being one day late) It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week. Sorry for not putting this up over the weekend, I had to take our laptop in to get it repaired so I shall be attempting to post from my phone for the next week or two.

Quite a few releases this week, with quite an even spread of anime and manga releases. Although the releases that will overshadow everything else are the Bleach anime movies, all released today.

Without further ado, here are this weeks releases:

ANIME
Monday 28th May
Baka and Test: Summon the Beast - Complete Series 1
Clannad - Series 1 vol.1
Bleach Movies (1st, 2nd and 3rd)

MANGA
Tuesday 29th May
Fairy Tail - vol.19
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - vol.5
Puella Magi Madoka Magica - vol.1
Soul Eater - vol.9
Sumomomo, Momomo - vol.12
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - vol.12

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 21/05/2012 to 27/05/2012

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

We have a couple of new anime releases due on Monday, one of these being an OVA 'spin-off' from one my favourite anime movies (the film is one of those that tends to be the first bite of the anime pie for a lot of people) which I have yet to see, but as I have already seen the other spin-off I may have to pick this up!

On the manga front there are few big Shonen Jump releases, and outside of those there is a huge stack of new manga coming at you early in the week again, so get ready for some serious reading time!

Without further ado, here are this weeks releases:

Pokemon Black and White - Darkrai Event Now Live

For those of you still playing either Pokemon Black or Pokemon White on the Nintendo DS a new treat arrived a little earlier in the month for you, the legendary pokemon Darkrai.

Darkrai is available via the Mystery Gift option on the main menu, the same as all previous legendary pokemon on the games, and once received you will need to speak to the delivery man in the Pokemon Centre to receive it. The Darkrai in question comes to you at level 50 with the Bad Dreams ability. The moves list it will have are: Dark Void, Ominous Wind, Faint Attack, Nightmare.

Be sure to get Darkrai before he disappears, as the event is only running between the 9th May and the 10th June.

NEO Magazine 98 out Today!

UK Anime, Manga and all-round Japan filled magazine NEO is out today in all good magazine stockists (or in your post box/on your doormat if you subscribe to them). This months magazine features all the articles you would expect, but a large section of the space including the cover is filled with one of the most popular anime series to ever hit these Western shores:

That's right, Dragon Ball Z! The entire first series is due to release in July and NEO are giving their readers who are unaware just who Goku is, or what the heck a Kamehameha is either, the low-down on all the characters, backstories and the related series' and movies.

NEO magazine is on sale today for £4.25

BFI Southbank - 3 Day Anime Film Fest in June

The BFI Southbank in London (quite close to Waterloo Station) have announced they will be holding a 3 day anime film festival on the weekend of 8th - 10th June. They will be showing 8 different films over the weekend, 2 on Friday evening, and with 3 films being shown on both Saturday and Sunday. For more information on all of the films on show have a look at their website here.

The films on show will be:

Friday 8th June
From Up On Poppy Hill - 6pm
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos - 8pm (Followed by Q&A with the Director & Producer)

Saturday 9th June
Oblivion Island - 4pm
Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below - 6.30pm
Gintama: The Movie - 9pm

Sunday 10th June
A Letter to Momo - 4pm
The Princess and the Pilot - 6.30pm
Akira - 8.40pm 

Tickets for this event are already on sale, they went on sale on the 8th May to the general public and the 1st May for all BFI members. All contact details are available on the BFI website.

Tickets will become available to the general public on Tuesday May 8. Members of the BFI will be able to book a week earlier on Tuesday May 1 (at 11.30 a.m.).

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 14/05/2012 to 20/05/2012

It's that time of the week again where we have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

A big release for those of you upset by the end of long-running Shonen Jump series Bleach, as the second part of the eighth series is coming to you tomorrow.
Other than that, it is quite a quiet week this week, with only 3 releases due tomorrow, two of which are manga and the last being the aforementioned Bleach.

Without further ado, here are the new releases:

UK Anime & Manga Releases - 07/05/2012 to 13/05/2012

Sorry for the delay again this week, we are in the process of moving house so we have spent the weekend just gone packing up the majority of our belongings ready for the move date (which should be the end of this week, or some point next week depending when the solicitors decide what they are doing...)

Anyway.... It's time to have a look at the new releases coming to you this week.

Another slightly quiet week this week, but we do have one full series release again this week (albeit, the only anime release this week). Couple that with a few manga releases and you have the entirety of the new releases.
(EDIT: I've just had a quick look at next weeks releases, and there is quite a big one coming then!)

Here they are for your reading pleasure:

Japanese Studies - 1st and 2nd May

I really wish I would post more often about my Japanese language studies, I just never seem to have the laptop for long enough before my wife steals it back, so this post is coming to you from the Blogger android app instead! (i apologise in advance for any spelling mistakes, I am now at the mercy of autocorrect on a touchscreen Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray)

I've finally started to get back in to studying on a daily basis, which I haven't successfully managed to do for a few months now. The amount of study I have completed has not been anywhere near it should be for a 'serious' self-studying student (try saying that a few times quickly :-P) which is something I am still working on.

However, only yesterday I installed the AnkiDroid app on my phone and can now use the anki JLPT cards that some kind people have uploaded, and this is already proving a brilliant alternative to standard notebook based revision.

Anyway, back to the studies, 2 lessons completed today (with maybe one more crammed in before I go to sleep tonight), one being a continuation of a previous dialogue about Japanese voicemail systems, and the second teaching a valuable grammatical lesson of how to say "please do not".
As I cannot really check everything on this phone that easily I shall end the description here and leave you with the pictures of my studies: