This post will not interest those who don't care about anime.

I've just been wanting to make a list of my favorite anime for a while, and thought now would be a good time. There are still plenty of anime I haven't watched, but these are the ones that I currently love above all others.

I started out by listing the 80 most memorable anime series (I'm leaving out movies from this list) that I've watched and then started crossing out those that I didn't like as much as others. I meant to get the list down to 15 but once I had 17 anime left I realized I didn't have the heart to cross any more out. Thus, my top 17 anime list was born. I also realized that I can't really put them in any order of preference since I love them all for completely different reasons, so I'm putting them in alphabetical order. And now, on to the list:

- Detective Academy Q - Many have never even heard of this series, but it's one of my favorites because I like the characters and I like detective stories. Enough said.

- Fullmetal Alchemist - A true classic that everyone should see. The anime and manga story lines separate from each other early on, but both versions are truly brilliant. Look at all that angst!

- Ghost Hunt - Fascinating ghost stories and interesting characters. I prefer the manga version, but the anime is also great. I may write a fanfic for this someday...

- Hikaru no go - This is one of my Top 5 favorites and for some reason it's the one I most frequently rewatch and the fandom I would be most inspired to write fanfiction for. Man, I love AUs in this fandom. I have no idea why an anime about a board game can be so fascinating. Well okay, the obsessive Hikaru/Akira rivalry is a major part of it.

- Kyou Kara Maou - Lots of pretty men, intentional yaoi hints and plenty of "I would die for you" moments from my favorite character, Conrad :). What more could I want? Granted, this isn't one of the best series out there, but it so happens that I love even the stupid and cliché moments in this! Basically, a guy gets flushed down the toilet and ends up in another world where he is immediately crowned as the Demon King...

- Naruto - Do I really need to explain? True awesomness. I prefer the manga version though, because the anime has a lot of annoying fillers.

- Natsume Yuujinchou - I just want to give Natsume a hug. This series might be too cute and cuddly for some anime fans, but I love its mix of cute and serious.

- Ookiku Furikabutte - Baseball, team spirit and fascinating characters who are at times very funny and at times wonderfully serious. This is probably my favorite sports anime and the only one who made it to this list, even though I also love Major, Prince of Tennis, Initial D, Eyeshield 21 and Hajime no Ippo to pieces.

- Ouran High School Host Club - Not my absolute favorite by any means, but deserves its place on this list. Hilarious, but has its serious moments.

- Saiyuki - This series has made me cry more than any other (again, the manga is better than the anime) and is probably my number one favorite. Take four guys with very tragic pasts and put them together on a long journey. Pure awesomness ensues.

- Shounen Onmyouji - I'm actually surprised this series isn't more popular. I love watching the interactions between the two main characters (a boy and his guardian spirit/god). It's based on a novel series and the anime only covers the first eight out of over 20. I'm dying to get my hands on those novels, but since they're only available in Japanese, I'm extra motivated to learn the language!

- Skip Beat - A girl is betrayed by her crush who uses her as a maid while he himself is starting a career as a singer. Said girl decides to take revenge by becoming an actor. After 23 or so volumes of manga, the main character is still completely oblivious to the fact that there's a bunch of guys in love with her. Not everyone's cup of tea, but definitely in my top 3.

- Tactics - Again, I mostly love watching the two main characters interacting (a guy and his spirit servant or in more specific terms an onmyouji and his tengu servant). And yes, I do occasionally read yaoi fanfics in this fandom.

- Toshokan Sensou (Library War) - The fight against censorship has turned into a small war in this anime. It's only 13 episodes long, but definitely worth watching. Has some het romance.

- (The) Twelve Kingdoms - A girl is taken to another world and becomes a queen. A lot more fascinating than it sounds. I'm so going to cosplay this series in the next animecon.

- (The) Vision of Escaflowne - Yet another girl-is-thrown-into-another-world story, but this one is a true masterpiece. It's an old series (1996), but still one of the best there is. I would recommend this to everybody.

- xxxHOLiC - When I first tried reading the manga of this, I had no clue what was happening and gave up. I tried again a year later and was hopelessly hooked. A guy sees spirits and goes to a shop that grants wishes to get rid of his skill, but he ends up becoming the shop keepers employee instead. It's a complicated series that is a crossover with Tsubasa reservoir Chronicle, another series by CLAMP.

And here ends my list. Even though I didn't describe each anime in detail, it still took me two hours to write this thing. Can't be bothered to check this post for typos. To make this list as short as possible I had to leave out a lot of series I love, so if you know a good series that is not on the list, I either haven't seen it or I just preferred these over that one.

Why is it that whenever I do have free time I don't feel like updating my lj, but when I'm up to my ears in homework I get the strange urge to write... *sigh* I finished my finals last Thursday (they went pretty much as expected) and right now I'm enjoying my spring break. It's hard to believe that soon I'll begin my last quarter here and right after that I'm going home. I'm both happy and kinda sad about that... But I do know that no matter how much I'm going to travel from now on, I probably can't ever leave Finland completely. It's where I feel most at home after all.

I didn't originally have any particular plans for spring break and I was just gonna take it easy at home, but it seems I'm going to make an overnight trip to Vancouver after all, yay! I've been wanting to go to Vancouver for ages, but either the timing was off or I couldn't find anyone to go with me. It's so ridiculously close (only 72 km!) that I would be insane not to go there when I have the chance. Luckily, an old aikido buddy of mine (an Indonesian girl) wanted to go too so we're heading over there for two days! And we might also make a day trip to Seattle next Monday before my classes begin. Oh yeah, did I mention I also signed up for another trip to Seattle (in May) which will include getting to watch a Major league baseball game? I can't wait!

As usual, for the past few days I've been working on my cosplay costumes and reading manga and watching anime and random Asian movies and dramas. I recommend watching "Fly Daddy Fly" (a Korean movie) if you ever feel like watching a good family centered story. A good example of how you miss great stuff if you just stick to watching Hollywood productions :).

It's sometimes pretty annoying that I can't seem to watch an anime without seeing potential yaoi pairings everywhere and innuendos in everything they do. Gah. I've just finished watching Initial D, a story about car racing (I have no idea why I love watching random sport anime...), and there were some things in it that I just couldn't help but see with my slasher's eyes. In what world does a guy challenge his rival to a contest by sending him a bouquet of red roses? And later on said rival keeps blushing when the other guy compliments his driving... Egads.

No matter how much anime and manga I watch and read, I always come back to those few that in my eyes stand far above the rest. Saiyuki keeps breaking my heart and Skip Beat keeps mending it. The latest Saiyuki Gaiden chapter made me cry (No! Konzen, don't die!!! I know you'll be reincarnated and all, but still don't diiiiiiieeeee!!! *sob*) and I've long since lost count of how many times I've reread Skip Beat...

Oh, yeah! And I finally figured out how to use Japanese letters on my computer. 私は、やっと、日本語で書けるようになりました。すごいでしょう。^_^

I sure seem to love rambling on about random things...

Hello all you people who like very weird pairings. If you thought it was impossible to pair two countries together, you were dead wrong. I just found out that there is a web manga, called Hetalia, that has one character representing each country in the world (well not all of them, at least not yet). The manga is mostly a long series of gags centered around various historical events (mainly in Europe but other places as well). It seems to have both shounen-ai and het with many weird pairings.

The fandom recognizes Sweden-san and Finland-san as a married couple (though Finland-san seems to be both in denial and a bit scared of his husband...). See their profiles This pairing seems to have quite a large fandom too (I think I just joined the fandom...) LOL.

Translated versions of the main Sweden-san/Finland-san strips:
Running away with Su-san
The Violent Su-san of Northern Europe Takes a Swing
Sweden, me and Dambolis
Christmas Rampage '07, Part One
Polish Swedish Wars 1598 (1621)-1629
Battle for America
5 Year Commemoration Comic
Happy 2009

Here's a funny little fanart What else would a Finn give to his loved one on Valentine's day but salmiakki? *can't stop laughing*

And if you happen to be interested in the other countries, see the full Hetalia scanlation list: Hetalia scanlations

I actually found this because the anime version just began airing (5 minute long episodes). We have only had a short glimpse of Sweden-san and Finland-san so far, and I'm really waiting for them to get their own episode (or more).

Don't you just love finding random fun things online?

Edit. Is it totally crazy that I'm already considering making a Finland-san cosplay costume even though I just found this series this morning? It would be great to go to Sakuracon as a Finn cosplaying as Finland ^_^. Of course I'd also bring along my Hakkai costume (which is about halfway done) since I've already put so much work into it. Most hardcore cosplayers come to conventions with more than one costume anyway. Finland's outfit would be easy enough to do if I can just find the right kind of jacket.

If you walked around Tampere today, you probably saw a lot of strangely dressed people. Yep, they're all anime/jrock cosplayers dressed for the 2008 animecon. I've always wanted to go to an anime convention, but I don't know anyone who would be interested in going with me, and I always seem to find out that they're being held only after they're already over. But today I finally got to go to my first ever anime convention.

I only went with the intention of checking it out, but I immediately regretted that I wasn't prepared to spend the whole day there. There would have been so much to do there, but I only stuck around for a couple of hours because I had other things to do and all the merchandise looked way too tempting... I settled for buying two volumes of manga and two pins that say "Otaku; stay away" (in Finnish) and "Sex is good but anime lasts longer". There was also one that reminded me of a certain someone (I know you'll recognize yourself ;D) that said in Finnish "Otaku do it with tentacles". I nearly burst out laughing.

The whole place was filled with cosplayers. It was really fun trying to see how many of the characters I could recognize. I probably saw the whole cast of Naruto (times many, there were so many Akatsuki members that I lost count), many characters from Bleach, D.Gray-man, Inuyasha and Rurouni Kenshin, to mention just a few. I also saw characters from many series that I never thought were even popular in Finland (I didn't think anyone knew Meine Liebe!). For some reason I nearly burst out laughing when I walked by three cosplayers who were portraying Echizen, Kaidoh and Tezuka from Prince of Tennis (and they really looked the part too!). I know I've always been priding myself on the fact that I'm familiar with most of the popular animes, but today I saw a lot of costumes that I couldn't recognize. Shock. Well, I've finally seen proof that I'm not the most dedicated animanga fan in Finland. I'm definitely interested in trying cosplay myself, but first I'd have to figure out which of my many favorite characters I'd like to portray and I'd have to find someone to go with me, as I probably wouldn't dare to go alone. I've been talking on Facebook with one of the other future exchange students at WWU and he said he's interested in going if there's an anime convention close enough to Washington. I certainly hope there will be.

I stayed around for the first half of the cosplay competition (why did I have to leave my shiny new camera at home? Grr.) and a panel where Finnish manga translators discussed their work. Imagine my surprise when I recognized one of the translators there as a girl who has been sitting next to me in Japanese class for the past year! I've even talked to her every once in a while but she never mentioned that she actually translates manga! It was mentioned during the panel that she translates Oh! My goddess and NANA, to mention some. And I was even more shocked to learn that she (and one other translator there) has only studied Japanese by herself for around four years and she's never even been to Japan. Is that really how little it takes to get to translate manga? As a translator-in-training I'm a bit disappointed that the Finnish translators of manga don't have better training. They said their work is always proofread by this other translator (he's currently translating One Piece) who has spent most of his childhood in Japan. But still, I wonder about the quality... Well, at least it sounds like I also have a chance to become a manga translator after a few more years of study. I saw some other manga-translator wannabes there too so there is competition...

After leaving the convention, I did some clothes shopping for my uncle's wedding that's taking place next Saturday. I've been on a diet this whole summer and it's finally beginning to show. It felt awesome to go buy clothes when they actually look good on me! Most of my old clothes are getting too big for me and I'd like to buy a whole new wardrobe but alas, I have no money to spare. Then again, I heard that buying clothes should be a lot cheaper in the US... I did get my visa, by the way. Still 53 days to go.

Phew, maybe that's enough for today.

What a day.

Today I went to the US Embassy in Helsinki for my visa interview. I'd been dreading it for months because I've heard some horror stories about people being turned away at the gate because they've filled out the forms wrong or because they've forgotten to bring along something important. Even though I triple checked that I had everything I thought I would need, I was still nervous as hell when I got to Helsinki. It didn't help much that the Embassy looked like some sort of small castle out of a fairytale (only a moat was missing...), or that the security was so tight that it made me feel like I was part of some detective movie. The interview itself was over in five minutes and left me feeling like worrying about it beforehand had been a complete waste of time. I mean, I knew I had all the necessary forms and there were no problems with my background. Sometimes it really sucks to be a habitual worrywart. Well, I suppose I got my visa (if the interviewer wishing me a nice trip is any indication...) so all's good.

Somehow it feels like I've finally managed to pass over some sort of an obstacle that has been standing between me and my exchange year (I made the whole visa thing into a much bigger deal than it really was). Now I can finally start counting down days until the day of my departure (62!).

Even though I usually visit Helsinki only once a year or so, I didn't stick around for long after the interview because I don't have any extra money to spend and I have work tomorrow. That didn't stop me from spending 140 euros on manga though ;). Then again, it had been my intention all along, to buy a lot of manga during my trip to Helsinki. It's the only time that I'm going to allow myself to buy manga this summer. I shouldn't be spending all my money on manga before my exchange because I should be able to get manga much cheaper over there ;). I finally bought volumes 1-3 of Legal Drug (how can I claim to be a true CLAMP fan without reading Legal Drug?) and got my hands on Saiyuki Reload vol. 8 which has finally been released by Tokyopop after they made as wait for over a year! Oh, the happiness ^_^.

I also bought the first Twelve Kingdoms novel that I'd been lusting after for months. Of course, I've already watched the anime version (and even made icons of it) so I already know the story by heart, but getting to read the original book is always nice. I managed to read through the first 65 pages during my train ride home, and it looks great so far. I feel like I'm seeing a completely new side of Keiki and even Yoko's (slightly annoying) initial emo state has more depth. I'm glad they've kept most of the original special terms (they even included some kanji!) in the English translation, but it really irked me that they had translated En-Ou as Ever-King and Kei-Ou as Glory-King. What the heck is that all about? They sound odd (well okay, I'm used to the fansubs I have of the anime where they're translated as King En and Queen Kei). But that's just a small minus. Now I'm really looking forward to the third book in the series, which continues Yoko's tale. I'm also interested in other works by Fuyumi Ono, and I'm praying that someone will translate the Ghost Hunt series someday.

I just realized a few days ago that I have to write about 50 pages of text for various school projects in the next couple of weeks. These projects include my Bachelor of Arts thesis. I've just had two days off from school which could've been used for school work, but did I manage to get anything done in the end? Nah, was too lazy. Instead, I ended up watching Ouran High School Host Club again, and after I had finished the anime, I dug up the manga and read that.

I haven't watched the anime in such a long time that I had completely forgotten how brilliant it is and how much I love it. Kyouya still remains my favorite character in the series, but I also found myself liking Tamaki a lot more than I used to. Spent the rest of the evening looking for an Ouran moodtheme and figuring out how to use it. So much for my two days off.

Pretty anime/manga icons are my new addiction. During the past three weeks I've spent hours after hours cruising through icon journals looking for icons, and so far I've saved over three hundred of them *sweat drop*. I'm tempted to get a paid account just so I can use more icons. Someone smack some sense into me, please.

My vacation's starting next week so I'm going home for a few days. After that I really have to concentrate on my school work, so there will probably be no more updates for a while (unless I absolutely feel the need to complain about the amount of school work). After I get all the school work done, I will try to write some more holic fic.