Final count for my NaNoWriMo novel for 2009 is 71,096!!

So, I will set aside this novel for future editing one day, that is, when I do get the time and also the motivation to actually edit the novel. Other than that, it'll be in my first-draft novel vaults until I come up with yet another idea for 2010 NaNoWriMo.

I got another mini-site project that I decided to pick up. This time, it's another fanlisting for the currently aired Japanese TV comedy series, Samurai High School. The storyline is somewhat a reminiscent of what a typical Disney TV (or DVD-only) movie may be like (think Wendy Wu, Homecoming Queen or even the Princess Protection Program), only this (to me that is) is tons cooler.

17-year-old high school senior Kotaro Mochizuki is just your typical, average teenage boy. He digs his music from his mp3 player, reads his manga magazines and at times the "swimsuit editions" of sports magazines, digs his videogames, addicted to the internet, all of that while suffering poor grades and his family having little to no confidence on him, and isn't exactly the most popular boy in school. Regardless, he tends to focus more on the present and his own definition of his reality. Alongside having poor grades and a somewhat blunt and non-supportive family, he is also somewhat of a pacificst, believing in solving things through civil manners rather than using violence, which in a way, makes him (from his classmates' eyes) a complete wimp and a total lame-o.

After his homeroom teacher, Sayaka Miki, gave him a punishment for sleeping (and dreaming!) in the middle of math class, which was to write a 30-page historical essay about an aspect of the Summer Campaign of the Siege of Osaka battle (1500s-1600s?), Kotaro stumbles upon a mysterious building known as the Shinonome Library of History, where he hoped he may find some good material for his 30-page essay. When the mysterious librarian, Himiko, read Kotaro's name, she immediately had a good recommendation and provided him a centuries-old journal with the account of the battle front lines during the Summer Campaign of the Siege of Osaka (technically, 400-years-old).

When Kotaro began to read a section of the journal to take notes, he discovers that one of the powerful samurai officers involved in that battle bore the same exact name as him as well as the age. In the journal, it said that Kotaro Mochizuki (samurai mentioned in the journal) was a 17-year-old high-ranking officer who volunteered to take an aim at their enemy, Tokugawa Ieyasu (who would be known as the most powerful man in samurai era Japan), and died heroically in that battle. At that moment, something amazing happened, where a light flashed in front of Kotaro and felt his heart beating--- as if another person lives within him.

That night came and Kotaro explained to his family about his discovery, about a powerful samurai who bore the same name and age as him, and later his father revealed that their family line once served the Sanada Family Clan back in the Warring States period and that he was told by his late father that they were direct descendants of a 17-yr-old samurai, also named Kotaro Mochizuki. This fact intrigued Kotaro even more and began to imagine himself being that fallen warrior as his way of "connecting" his blood lines with him.

At that point, he received a phone call from his childhood best friend, Ai Nagasawa, who said that their fellow homeroom classmate, shy and silent Tsuyoshi Nakamura, was being coaxed by a group of bullying fan girl students to shoplift at a jewelry store as his "donation" to their (illegal?) school golf team's club. Kotaro and Ai eventually arrived on the scene with Ai coaxing Kotaro to face the girls and rescue Nakamura. Due to his "pacifist" (aka wimp) nature he stepped back from them, but when he accidentally slips down the stairs and hit his head on the ground, Kotaro suddenly got in to a trance. Next thing he knew, Kotaro was no longer in control of himself, but instead another soul inside him emerged, speaking ancients-old Japanese language and treating this entire situation as some kind of a battle duel between warriors (eh? LOL). After fending off the delinquent girls and saved Nakamura from getting himself in trouble with the law, Kotaro learned (in spirit) that his body had been possessed by none other by his fallen ancestor.

So, the deal with the story was that whenever Kotaro is being provoked in to signs of violence (ie. when he gets threatened or get ganged up by thugs, etc.), he loses consciousness and his samurai ancestor immediately possesses his body. The only time that his samurai ancestor would leave his body is when he gets too close to his best friend Ai (whether if it was in accident, by mistake, or on purpose). With this mysterious "split personality" problem, Kotaro's rather dull and boring life had gone from "already bad enough" to possibly "a lot worse", knowing that either Kotaro (himself or the samurai) can cause heroic deeds or heaps more trouble no matter which "personality" they may be at that point. As a result, tons of comedic and hilarious moments would occur from Nakamura's "volunteering" to be Kotaro's (samurai) servant and Kotaro's "unintentional" seduction on Ai to his family's major belief that their son is completely, totally "losing it."

Only 7 episodes (the 7th episode just aired in Japan yesterday (PST time)) have been released so far but I just find myself cracking up in almost every situation. I wouldn't say this would win any major awards, but if you want to laugh yourself silly during this Fall & Winter season, this series is well worth watching.

And for all you J-drama/idol fan girls out there, we've got an awesome cast. Rising hot young star Haruma Miura really impressed me portraying two "different" characters (the present wimpy Kotaro Mochizuki and 400-year-old murder-filled eyes warrior Kotaro Mochizuki), which I think is a difficult task to do for an actor to do in one series. And then there's Yu Shirota, in a role we've never seen him done before as the timid and softspoken Tsuyoshi Nakamura. Finally, we've got two particular teen actresses with a connection to the movie Memoirs of a Geisha: Suzuka Ohgo as Kotaro's snooty younger sister Yuna (she portrayed young Sayuri in "Memoirs...") and Anne (yup, just Anne) as Kotaro's level-headed childhood best friend, Ai Nagasawa (she is the daughter of Ken Watanabe, who portrayed the chairman in "Memoirs...").

Okay, enough review. Plenty of reason why I'm opening a fanlisting for this show. Not only that I love the show, but I also gotta give love and support for my friend's cousin, who is involved in the show (for the sake of privacy I'm not gonna say who or what this cousin's role is in the show, but if you know me quite well, I'm sure you got the idea, but don't mention it openly here, please x_x). Fansubs for the series are already available, so look it up! ^_^

OK, dinnertime. Signing off!