National Baklava Day!

Mood:

One of my fave desserts! It's so good!This was on Sunday, as well as Homemade Bread Day. Homemade bread is pretty awesome, too. Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. It memorializes those who have been brutally murdered just for being trans, or in other words, themselves. Many remember people who have committed suicide as well. I heard a good explanation from someone recently saying society murdered the ones who committed suicide.

Finished watching Kakushou today. It was pretty good. Not the best, but good. Had a pretty good ending, too. Left it wide open for a second season, which is nice. 

Finished reading Tripeace today. I can't believe I finished it already!It's a really good manga. And, the last 'showdown' was awesome. It'd be cool if they made this into an anime, along with O-Parts Hunter (aka 666 Satan), En Passant, and Buster Keel. (Supposedly Buster Keel's still on-going, but they haven't updated in a long time.) All of them are awesome. I think they could have kept Tripeace going for a while, even though they resolved pretty much everything having to do with Nana, the main character. They even revealed Shiro's past. But, we still don't know much about the other members of Tripeace...

I started watching Tokyo Bandwagon last Friday. It's much better than I thought it would be. I think it's an instant fave.Has a lot of my favorite actors. It's set within a secondhand bookstore named Tokyo Bandwagon, located in a suburb of Tokyo. The bookstore has a small cafe, and the exterior of the building is old. There's a large family that has lived there for the past 4 generations. (They also treat their 2 cats as family.) The family loves to solve their customers' problems, and have quite a few of their own to solve. Ao Hotta, the main character, is a 26-year-old freelance travel agency guide. Sometimes Ao's grandmother narrates. She's a ghost who watches over the family. All the characters have their own quirks. Apparently, this is based off a novel of the same name. 

Started watching Hard Nut last Saturday. I really like this one already, too. Kurumi Nanba is a student majoring in math at a prestigious university. She's viewed as a bit of an eccentric person due to her poor communication skills, but has a genius level intellect. Tatsuhiko Handa is a detective. They work together to solve difficult cases. She reminds me a bit of the main character in 'Weather Girl' or Otenki Onee-san, but with a lot more personality. And, she's much more logical. 

Started Rurouni Kenshin or Wandering Kenshin. Also known as Samurai X and Wandering Samurai. This is one of the 'classics' of anime. It's right up there with Ranma 1/2, which I hope to watch in the future. (Ranma 1/2 is an older anime.) I think I started watching a couple of episodes in my college anime club, but stopped after that. It's a good show, though. Himura Kenshin is a vagabond with a dark past and sunny disposition. Not a ronin, but a rurouni, he was never a samurai, but a highly skilled assassin in the Meiji restoration who in the turning point of the war simply walked away. His travels lead him to Tokyo in the 11th year of the Meiji era, where he befriends a female kendo master, a former thief, a brawler, and a doctor all with their own secrets. Together they fight off the enemies from Kenshin's dark past that he can't escape from. The manga started in 1994 and finished in 1999, the anime started in 1996 and ended in 1998, there was a novel later, and there's been several movies. A live-action movie was recently put out. It looked interesting. The only thing that throws me off a bit is Kenshin's voice. He has a female voice actress. Sometimes it sounds fine, but other times it doesn't quite fit.Just takes some getting used to, I think. He makes some interesting startled sounds too. Oh, and he uses a reverse blade, mostly knocking out his opponents instead of slashing them down. He can kill people with it if he uses enough force, and fights in a certain way. 

Started watching Toradora (also called Tiger x Dragon) last Friday. It's been interesting so far. Can't quite tell if I really like it or not.Despite Ryuji Takasu's gentle personality, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent. For his second year of high school, the class he's been rearranged into put him together with his best friend, Yusaku Kitamura, and his hidden crush, Minori Kushieda. Along with these 2 comes Kushieda's best friend, Taiga Aisaka. Her delicate appearance contrasts with her brutal personality. Secretly in love with Kitamura, Taiga agrees to help Ryuji with his love interest as long as he helps her get closer to hers. I can already tell that Taiga and Ryuji will get together. Apparently, she's nicknamed as the tiger and he's nicknamed as the dragon. 

I've apparently lost another pant size. That's 4 pant sizes from my heaviest weight. Pretty good, I think.I feel much lighter and more 'awake'. Even my watch is really loose. It doesn't stretch, unlike my previous watches that had leather bands. This one is metal. I'm up to 85 sit-ups twice a day for the week. I'm surprised I can do that...I'm still hoping to start doing my 2-mile walks twice a day. I think I can start that off as a habit tomorrow. I've been off and on with my walks for a while. Feels weird when I don't do them. Decided to get up even earlier this week. It feels nice, oddly. Feel like I have more of a day. I just have to remember to still go to bed early. 

Got some new cute gloves recently. They're like a mitten and fingerless glove hybrid. I think that's very useful. They have an owl design with little pompoms on top as its ears. Other people like them, too. Only wish the top mitten part was a bit thicker to keep my fingertips warmer. It's gotten really cold lately. Well, cold considering what we normally get. Some places have dipped into the high 20s. 

Dad and I have been invited to an orthodox family's place for shabbat dinner. I'm a little nervous about it, but it was very nice of them. Dad had worked with their kid, and on the same day they invited us. Apparently, their kid's name is the same as my middle name. We think it might have influenced it a little. I think it's pretty awesome that it's the same. I love my middle name.Some people have a hard time saying it, because it's really in Hebrew but transliterated into English. English doesn't have the same guttural sound. 

Also, for Thanksgiving we're going to the same place we usually go, at a friend's place. We're bringing someone with us. She's originally from Ireland, but has been living in London. She's visiting the area to research for her novel that she's writing for National Novel Writing Month. The book will be based on stories influenced by the area. Pretty cool. It's also going to be Hanukkah and I'm not sure if our friends are going to do anything for it in addition. They're Jewish, too. Should be interesting, anyways.

The 3rd short story for my nightmare anthology is getting really interesting. I'm far passed the point my dream ended on this one. Not sure where it's going. 

I've also been playing my clarinet everyday this week. I'm hoping to continue that, even practicing during the weekend. In fact, for a longer time during the weekends. I'm sounding much better, and it feels really nice again. I've also been more aware of how I play pieces. Still getting faves on dA for the pic I recently posted. Didn't think it was that great...

Studied 2 more kanji today. One is a very common one. That has a bunch of compounds, but it's starting to make a lot of sense now. I plan to go over more grammar stuff during the weekends, too. I tend to grasp it, forget a little, grasp it again, etc. I want to break that. I'm still pretty good in general with it, but I want to get everything down pat. There's a lot to it. Also, want to focus more on verb forms. Plus, actually practicing more sentences.

deviantART fave:
Bred-n-bu-er I did not make this! This is a hilarious drawing of slices of bread eating a stick of butter. They have very expressive faces. Kind of sad, yet so funny. I love the cute/funny and dark stuff. Discovered this actually through dA's facebook page. 

Sunnyday

Mood:

By Lead. Just a feel good summer song. The video is a bit funny, but at least they look like they're having fun. 

Only one more day until my birthday!Some people have already wished me a happy birthday. I know most of those people live on the other side of the world, but it's kind of odd. Nice, but odd.Today, is National Nachos Day, and Saxophone day. Interesting combo. I love nachos, and there are various ways of making it. Saxophones are cool, and I think they would have been my second choice for choosing an instrument. I love my clarinet more, though.Maybe in the future I'll learn to play the sax, too...

Went to the support group last night. We were locked out of the room we usually use.So, we waited a little while, just in case people were arriving late, and went to Shari's instead. Where we usually go after group. There was a lot more of us this time, since it wasn't as late. Had to really squeeze in so everyone could sit at the table. I got the strawberry yogurt parfait. It was pretty good. Kind of wish they had other options besides yogurt.My iced tea had a really bizarre aftertaste. I know some people said that it looked really weak or something, but there was something else to it. Couldn't put my finger on it. I guess I'm kind of glad I don't know what it was.Our waitress brewed some more tea herself, and once it cooled, gave me a new glass of it. It was perfect. She said the one who did it before tends to do the tea horribly. Why have them do it then?Anyways, we had some entertaining discussions. I wanted to bring up my birthday, but at one point was distracted by things. Oh well. I'll tell them next time.

Kakushou was a bit difficult to sit through without tearing up.Hagio's thief informant, Kagifuku, who helped him with so many cases, was diagnosed with having cancer. He only had a few months to live, a year at most. Kagifuku used to be a thief himself, but quit to live a more honest life. A young man deceived him into getting back into the 'game' by saying if he helps the gang of thieves he's apart of, they promised that the young man will be able to leave it. Kagifuku is a master at picking locks, and it seems easy for him to crack open almost any safe. Even if it's high tech. At one point, he knew he was being deceived and left clues for Takeda (Hagio's partner) in order to turn in the group. She figured it out, and arrested them. It was very difficult for her to arrest Kagifuku. She had grown attached to him as well. He would call Hagio 'Honey', and Takeda 'Beautiful Lady'. He seems like such a sweet old man. Now, it's very likely he'll end up dying in jail. But, he promised he'll try to live long enough so he can feel free one last time. 

Tokyo Ravens has been very interesting. I wasn't sure what to really expect with this series. Now, it kind of reminds me of Ao no Exorcist (Blue Exorcist). I like Harutora's character. He's not arrogant, wants to genuinely learn from others, cares about others, easily flustered, and is funny at times. He has a familiar now who's a silver fox spirit named Kon. Funny how a familiar has a familiar...Kon is very cute. She's fiercely protective of Harutora. Apparently, Natsume has to disguise herself as a boy at the school in order to be taken seriously. Another reason is there's a family tradition where she has to present herself as male in front of other onmyoji families. This creates some misunderstandings. The other characters have been interesting so far too. It'd be cool to see where this series goes. 

I'm nearing the end of Hitman Reborn. Thinking of finishing it tomorrow. Only 2 more episodes, I think. I've really enjoyed this series, even though I wasn't sure about it at first.All the characters have quirks (including the animals), the story is pretty complex, there's loads of humor even in some of the tense situations, some villains turn into great allies throughout the series, there's some really entertaining fights, not all fights are physical, etc. There seems to be something new being revealed about the story behind it all with each episode. They still haven't explained everything yet. Right now Tsuna is up against Byakuran. Yuni was sucked into the 'stage' that the Sky rings created, since she's the Arcobaleno's Sky Guardian. Byakuran needs her, and they were protecting her. Byakuran is very interesting, but extremely ruthless. He's traveled to almost every parallel world, and he's the ruler of all of them except theirs. (And, he's destroyed half of those worlds.) The only thing really stopping him is the Vongola family and their allies. He'll kill even his own henchmen in order to get what he wants. This one should have an interesting ending. It'll be sad when it's over, though. Although, I'm reading the manga, and it finished about a year ago. But, it apparently goes a lot further than the anime. I wonder what more it could have, considering this looks like the last big fight.I guess I'll find out. I find it cool that the creator is female. This is one of the most popular series out there. 

Tripeace has been interesting, too. Nana has regained his memory, and is the leader of the anti-peace organization, Ares. Shiro just found out about him, and she's about to fight him. It's weird to see Nana like this. I wonder if he'll revert back to his amnesiac self again. Guess I'll find out about this as well. Seems like I'm nearing the end of this manga. 

Wrote some more of the 2nd story to my nightmare anthology. I think I'll end it next time. Not much left to this one. Played my clarinet. Did some solos, Duke Ellington, and Gershwin. I think I played better than last time, but still had a few mistakes. Not bad, though. 

日本語

Studied more compounds for the kanji: 代. 末代 or まつだい (matsudai): forever, in perpetuity. 歴代 or れきだい (rekidai): successive generations, successive emperors. 交代  or こうたい (koutai): alternation, change, relief, relay, shift, substitution (sports, etc.). 十代 or じゅうだい (juudai): the teens (10-19), teenage; the 10th generation. 千代 or せんだい (sendai): thousand years; very long period, forever. 親の代 or おやのだい (oya no dai): one's parents' generation. 君が代 or きみがよ (kimi ga yo): Imperial reign; title of the Japanese national anthem. Usually the anthem title is translated as His Majesty's Reign, but no official translation of it nor the lyrics has ever been established by law. It's also one of the world's shortest national anthems. There's only a few more compounds for this kanji, and then I can move on to the next one. 

Star Surfer

Mood:

By Genki Rockets. Kind of a fun, happy, positive and energetic song. The lyrics are interesting, too. I think there needs to be more genuine 'happy' and/or positive songs out there. Genki Rockets is a musical and visual project by digital media specialist Tetsuya Mizuguchi and music producer Kenji Tamai. The face of the project is a fictional 18-year old named Lumi, who exists in the year 2037. They say she was born on the International Space Station on September 11, 2019. She's the first human born in outer space, and has never been to Earth. They debuted in 2007. Singers Rachel Rhodes and Nami Miyahara provide the vocals for Lumi. Rhodes appears as Lumi on the group's album covers, music videos, and in a video game called Child of Eden in 2011. 

Started watching Doku or Poison yesterday. Although hokey at times, I'm liking it so far. It's about the mystery behind a man who seems to appear out of nowhere, and gives people who have thought about killing someone or feel stuck, a bottle of poison. He tells them that one drop will kill a person, and the choice is up to them whether to go through with it or not. But, if they do, he says he can 'take care' of the rest. The poison kills the person exactly 24 hours later, so people can plan for the perfect alibi. It leaves no trace in the body, so forensics won't find anything. Also, it'll appear to be a fatal heart attack. The police are onto him though. The only 'evidence' he's left behind as an identity is a fuzzy pic online and some digits on his hand. In the first episode, a man killed a woman who told him she was pregnant with his child. He had a wealthy fiancee, and didn't know what to do with the woman who was pregnant. He killed her, then found out that she had cancer and only had 6 more months left to live. (Wouldn't have lived long enough to have the baby.) She was working as a prostitute half the time, and he hadn't known about it. She was trying to save enough money so they could live comfortably as a real family. Out of guilt, he ingested a drop of the poison that was given to him, and eventually went to the police. He tried to confess and tell them where the bottle was. He died before confessing, but managed to get out something like 'my desk'. The man came by, picked up the bottle, and passed right by the detective that was running to see what was at that person's desk. He's a little too good, and she wasn't suspicious. Funny thing is the man who died was also the main star in Namonaki Doku (Nameless Poison). Maybe he likes shows centered around poison...This show came out before Nameless Poison, though. Still, makes me wonder.

Kakushou was pretty good. I like how intricate the cases have been. Even though their division's main objective is to catch thieves and return stolen items, they've helped with several murder cases. Tokyo Ravens keeps getting more interesting. I'll post info on it at some point...

In Tripeace, apparently Nana was apart of an anti-peace organization before he had amnesia. He's a totally different person now. That organization, Ares, is declaring war on Tripeace. They kidnapped Nana, and dragged him back to where he came from. (According to them.) Looked like a very hostile place. They hope that he regains his memory and joins them again.

Played my clarinet. Did some jazz and Irish tunes. My tone is getting a lot better, and my playing is improving again. Feels good. Wrote a bit more of the 2nd short story for my nightmare anthology. It's progressing quite a bit. Might be done with this story soon. Should be interesting to see where it ends up.

Yesterday, I went to the local support group. Had quite a few new people. Some were allies. Yay!The group that went to Shari's after was pretty big as well. I got some tater tots with a side of BBQ sauce, and a fruit bowl. The fruit bowl had honey dew melon slices and red grapes on a bed of lettuce. The melon and grapes were pretty good. I had some of the lettuce, and noticed they didn't even wash it. It was gross. The tater tots were extremely crispy, so I could barely hear people while eating them.Had a very small portion of that. Kind of treated it like my late night snack. I try to have fruit with almost every snack and meal, except dinner. It was very good though. Made for a couple more 'snacks'. Actually had more fun talking with everyone this time. 

日本語

I studied 2 kanji today. First one was: 待. When pronounced as ま.つ (ma.tsu): to wait; to await, look forward to, anticipate; (usu. in negative form) to depend on, need. As ま.ち (ma.chi): (suf) waiting, waiting time. 

The second one was: 代. (A very common one.) When pronounced as か.える (ka.eru): to substitute. As か.わり (ka.wari): substitute, replacement; stand-in, proxy, alternate, deputy, relief, successor; (usu. as 代わりに or か.わりに [ka.warini], etc.) compensation, exchange, return; (usu. as お代わり or お.か.わり [o.ka.wari]) second helping, another cup, seconds. As か.わる (ka.waru): to take the place of, substitute for, take over for, represent. As が.わり (ga.wari): (suf) substitute for..., instead of... As しろ (shiro): substitution; material; price; margin (e.g. for stapling, etc.), area required for something. As だい (dai): (suf) charge, cost, price; generation, age, reign; (after someone's name or title) a representative of, on behalf of, for (someone); counter for decades of ages, eras, etc.; counter for generations (of inheritors to the throne, etc.); (abbr) proxy application company; (abbr) (used in dictionaries, etc.) pronoun. As よ (yo): world, society, age, generation. Next time I'll start going through the HUGE list of compounds for it.If it's so common, it's very important I go through and study them.Might take me at least a few days to go through, though. 

National Fluffernutter Day!

Mood:

Yay for fluffernutters!It's a marshmallow fluff and peanut butter sandwich. Really good stuff. I haven't had one in a long time...Probably for the best, because it's not that healthy for me. Although, I do occasionally have a Nutella and peanut butter sandwich. This was yesterday, as well as National Pierogi Day. I love pierogies! Especially the cheese, potato, and onion kind. 

Finished watching Akuryo Byoutou or Demon Ward yesterday. It was surprisingly good, especially towards the end. I wished the episodes were longer, though. About 25 minutes for each one is not much.For such little time, they were able to pack a lot into each episode. So, I guess that made for better storytelling as well. Runa being hunched over or having horrible posture got to me a bit, but it was really just a part of the character. She seemed more 'real' since she wasn't perfect. The actress was amazing! Actually, a lot of the other actors were as well. The story had so many twists and turns. It was more fascinating than scary, to me. I'm glad that there was a happy ending to this one.

I finally made another appointment to see my therapist. This time should be a lot better. Hopefully, I won't be sick at that time, again.Had an interesting talk with her over the phone today. She actually seems to care, unlike how my other therapists were. They never called me. 

I've been getting up earlier, and going to bed earlier this week. I feel kind of energized. So, I guess that's a good thing. For some reason it feels like going to bed at about 11:30 is too late and unhealthy for me. I feel like I actually have more of a morning now, too. I'll see how long I can keep this up. Also, got back into doing my sit-ups. Doing 60 of them twice a day this week. Figured that was an ok amount to start with again. Before I stopped I was up to 85 twice a day. So, 60 feels much easier. Also, going back to being more strict about my eating. Hopefully, I'll get to do my late walk today. If not, hopefully tomorrow I can get to both...

Decided to drop the idea of dressing up in a Steampunk outfit for Halloween. Instead I'm going to dress up as Sin Petra, one of the characters from Alliance, my first novel. Should be interesting. I think I have a dress that's similar to what she wears in the novel. It's just not as long...I will have to get things like a wig, accessories, and makeup. Her hair is long and wavy with a dark green color, and each skinny strand looks like a snake that moves up close. She's a medusa. I doubt I'll find hair exactly like that.But, I'm thinking of getting either a wig that's dark green, or one that's black with dark green streaks. So, I'll see what I can do. I think this'll be more fun since I can play with it more. I know her more than anyone, considering I came up with her. Her accessories might have more of a Greek theme, considering she comes from there. Yay! Makes me kind of excited just thinking about it!Makeup should be interesting too. 

In Kakushou, I watched the second half of a 2-part episode. It was about a thief who was caught up in being a hostage in the very house he was robbing. The person who took him hostage was a part of a bank heist, and he was the only one who wasn't able to get away with the gang he was working with. Being frustrated, he ran into a house pushing a man back in who was heading out. Thinking that the man was the homeowner. When he found out, he made the thief be the one to negotiate with the police. A few hours into the hostage situation, the police and thief found out the homeowner's daughter was hiding in the attic. She had diabetes and didn't take her insulin beforehand, so she wasn't doing too well. Eventually, the person who had taken the thief hostage, found the girl and tied her up as well. He has killed before, and was willing to kill her if he felt that she was useless to him. The thief was even more on edge, considering he's been protective of kids since he lost his daughter recently. Eventually, they found a secret way of getting into the house (thanks to another thief who once robbed the owner of the house years ago), and saved the hostages. I'm glad they didn't have to hurt anyone. There was a dog just outside that kept alerting the criminal of their SWAT team's presence. A sniper managed to shoot its leash off, and it ran away. Everyone thought that he was going to kill the dog. All in all a good couple of episodes.

Wrote a bit more of my 2nd short story for my nightmare anthology. It's going in a lot of different directions that I wasn't expecting.Very interesting. Oh, and I saw that the local synagogue actually featured my first novel today in the weekly newsletter. Since I didn't hear a response to my email, I thought they didn't want to do it. I looked at my Smashwords' page views for Alliance right after I saw that, and the views started to really pick up. Feels kind of good, yet scary knowing people are really looking at it.

Started watching Tokyo Ravens today. I'll talk more about it in the future. Really liking it so far, though. Watched a couple more episodes yesterday and today of Hitman Reborn. Getting exciting and interesting as well. Tripeace has been really good. Found out there was a group promoting the exact opposite of what Tripeace is. Tripeace tries to promote love and peace. This other group is brainwashing members of Tripeace into losing hope of peace, and making them attack other members. They wear animal skulls. Kind of creepy. 

日本語

Today I studied 2 kanji. The first one was: 息. When pronounced as いき (iki): breath, breathing; tone, mood. As そく (soku): son. That last one is ok to use for 'son', but 息子 or むすこ (musuko) is preferred. The other kanji was: 速. When pronounced as すみ.やか (sumi.yaka): speedy, prompt, smooth. As そく (soku): (suffix) gear, speed. As はや.い (haya.i): fast, quick, hasty, brisk. As はや.める (haya.meru): to hasten, quicken, expedite, precipitate, accelerate. 速度 or そくど (sokudo): speed, velocity, rate. 早速 or さっそく (sassoku): at once, immediately, without delay, promptly. 加速 or かそく (kasoku): acceleration, speeding up. 減速 or げんそく (gensoku): deceleration. 音速 or おんそく (onsoku): speed of sound. 光速 or こうそく (kousoku): speed of light. 

National Creamsicle Day!

Mood:

I love creamsicles!The orange ones are the best! Perfect for a day in August. Although, today seems to be a bit cooler than it has been. I'd still have one, if offered. 

Managed to do both walks yesterday and today!I'm surprised by how many people walk in the morning. I think I'm meeting people I've never seen before. Kind of interesting. Decided that I'll try to do my first walk as soon as possible after breakfast. Kind of before it starts to really warm up. Then, my 2nd one at or around sunset. When things are cooling off. Perfect times, I think. 

Went out to lunch today. Had an interesting hamburger. It had feta, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, pesto, a beef patty, and a regular burger bun. Pretty good, except it had way too many sun-dried tomatoes.It also came with a few kalamata olives on the side, and a pickle. I asked for onion rings with mine, instead of the regular fries. Had some iced tea with it. All together it was pretty good. The menu had the burger with 2 patties and red onions. I think that's way too much meat, even though I'm eating only half of it.I hate onions, unless they're cooked to nothing or battered and fried. Or, chopped finely into a dish. Red onions especially taste a bit weird to me. It's like a texture and raw taste thing. 

Today, I started watching Kakushou. Which is literally 'Conclusive Evidence' or 'Positive Proof'. Very interesting so far. Akiho Takeda is assigned to the 3rd division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. They normally deal with things like theft. On her first day of work, a robbery takes place at a jewelry store in Shibuya. The case is handed over to the 1st division team. They think they have more of a say on things, and she wanted to join them. She goes to the crime scene anyways. She suspects someone who's also looking intently at the scene, and runs after him. After arresting him and asking who he was, she finds out that he's really apart of the 3rd division. He's a veteran detective named Shuichi Hagio. They become partners after that. I like how he calls her Omae-san, which is Ms. You, the 'Ms.' part is formal, and the 'you' part is informal. She sometimes calls him old man. He said it was his first time being paired up with a woman, and that he still respects her as a fellow detective. As long as she can stand that he's an 'old man'. I like how he tries to be really respectful to her. When another detective kept calling her something similar to young lady or missy instead of her name, Hagio stepped in and said that it was rude and he won't tolerate it. He only calls her Omae-san sometimes because of how they met. He tends to not say much at crime scenes, just takes all the facts in. Then, tries to think like the thieves. He doesn't make assumptions passed what the evidence tells him. Also, the second robbery at another store was assigned to them, since they thought it was unrelated. But, the 3rd division suspects they are related. The episode ended with a 3rd jewelry heist, and at that one someone was murdered. The rest of the divisions want the 3rd's help now. 

The chapter I read of Tripeace was really long.Even the author commented at the end about it. Almost felt like it'd be the last one, but it's not. Nana saves everybody with the help of everyone else. The leader of Tripeace narrowly missed being killed by the Xyece army. Shiro is still alive. Belial came to his senses and stopped attacking everyone within sight. It really did feel like it was wrapping up. But, there's still a lot of things left unanswered, so there must be more story arcs in the future. I still want to know more about who Nana really was before he had amnesia. I know that he was apart of Tripeace back then as well, but he seemed ruthless and pretty scary. Totally different personality. Wonder what changed him...Maybe I'll find out if I keep reading it.It's a very good and quirky manga. Seems like it's very underrated. Started another anime, but I'll give it another episode to see if I like it. 

日本語

Today, I started studying the kanji: 真. If pronounced as しん (shin): truth, reality, genuineness; seriousness. As ま (ma): (prefix) just, right, due (east); pure, genuine, true; truth. As まこと.に (makoto.ni): indeed, really, absolutely, truly, actually, very, quite. 青写真 or あおじゃしん (aojashin): blueprint, plan. 真っ暗 or まっくら (makkura): total darkness, pitch dark; bleak future, poor prospects. 真っ向 or まっこう (makkou): directly opposite, right in front. 真っ黒 or まっくろ (makkuro): pitch black. 真っ青 or まっさお (massao): deep blue, bright blue; ghastly pale, pallid, white as a sheet. I'll study more of its compounds next time.