苦尽甘来

I must be doing something right, because to my pleasant surprise, my boss informed me today that i've been offered a permanent appointment! This really comes as a surprise, as my contract's for 2 years, and normally here they'll confirm you only towards the end of the tenure. With the appointment, there's a small increment and also a higher appointment title. Good start to the new year! :)

Tenipuri>>
Thanks to BH's weigh-like-a-ton DVDs, I'm now happily hooked on the 178-episode series. A bit late, I know, but better late than never! XD There's proof!!! Yup, there's now proof that even DVDs can be worn out because i can see which DVDs have been heavily watched by her ;)

Anyway, I never thought i'd be interested in a series like this, seeing that i don't play tennis myself!! But when you have a bunch of distinct characters thrown together, playing towards a common goal, with cool playing techniques, then multiply that by about 5x cos there are rival schools, it's hard to resist!!!

I'm only up to like episode 132 (the family chibi episode, fufufu), but here're some things i like about this series so far: (spoilers alert!)

- Healthy competition. Even when there's intra-team competition, like between Momo and Kaido, in the end they're still using that energy to drive themselves up to another level. The doubles match where Mom and Kaido were paired was a match I really enjoyed... "No one knows more than me what Kaido is going through now", said Momo when Kaido's Boomerang Snake was retaliated.

- Most unlikely friendships developing, whether it's between rival schools, rival individuals (Atobe and Tezuka, Fuji and Tachibana), or intra-team (Kaido and Inui, though this one's more of a mentorship, i suppose) I am trying to resist the slashability of all this here...o(><)o - Tenipuri sense of humour. Muahaha, what can I say... I love the chibi episodes too, hoi hoi!!!

Current character obsession: Kaido! Didn't like his black face at first, but as the anime progressed, I got extremely tickled by this character who tries to carry this tough exterior image when he i) is scared of ghosts, ii) has a soft spot for animals, iii) turns out to be not so self-centred after all, and iv) what's with that family of his!!?!?!?! XD

Current technique obsession: Fuji's Higuma Otoshi, if only for the beauty in his execution!

Caution: suspend all notion of reality when watching the tennis matches, please. Fact: realistic anime is seldom fun to watch.

Trivial questions unanswered:

1) Why do the Year Ones shoot up so much in height once they become Year Twos? Ryoma and the rest of the Year Ones look absolutely puny compared to the other Seigaku Regulars!

2) Does Horio of the Freshmen Trio only have that one irritating green & orange shirt??! XD

3) I could have sworn Kaido started off with an orange bandana in the beginning. Why did he change it permanently to green?

4) What is Tezuka's real mental age? 294?

5) What is Nanjiro's real mental age? -294?

6) Is Itsuki Marehiko from 六角中 actually SATOち in disguise???!! XD

7) How will i be able to cope with the withdrawal symptoms when i finish the anime??? orz...