November 07, 2004:

Meroko and Takuto

Here's a random screenshot from Full Moon wo Sagashite for no particular reason.

November 27, 2004:

Takuto

You know, Takuto from Full Moon wo Sagashite, Debian, and Sega Dreamcast all kinda have the same logo.

February 19, 2005:

Full Moon wo Sagashite manga licensed by Viz and on sale August 20th? Or perhaps July? This better not be a prank, or else jihad jihad jihad jihad jihad.

P.S. UWAAAA~~

February 28, 2005:

The school uniform in Full Moon wo Sagashite

It turns out that it's not just Takuto, Debian, and Sega Dreamcast that have the same logo; the uniforms from Mitsuki's school have the same logo, too.

March 21, 2005:

Tanaka

Ooshige

This world would be a lot more interesting if FIGHTING SPIRIT would visibly manifest itself in real life the way it does in cartoons.

April 20, 2005:

Full Moon wo Sagashite episode 52

So, I rewatched Full Moon wo Sagashite again over the last few months. It is still one of the best shows I've ever seen—if not the best—with possibly the best ending, ever—even better than the Gunbuster ending. In fact, that whole final 13-episode arc is great stuff, albeit somewhat twisted and more than a little cruel. But what do you expect? It's a show about a young girl DYING OF THROAT CANCER, for crying out loud.

May 01, 2005:

Meroko arguing with Takuto

Here is a picture of Meroko and Takuto from Full Moon wo Sagashite for no reason.

July 14, 2005: Full Moon o Sagashite manga

Full Moon o Sagashite manga volume one

Is it here yet? Is it here yet? Is it here yet? YES, finally. I have acquired the first volume of the Full Moon wo Sagashite manga. It'll be easy to spot on the shelf of your local manga-carrying bookstore because it says FULL MOON in big red block letters on the spine.

The manga diverges significantly from the anime. They ran nearly simultaneously, but while the manga started first, the anime ended first. They share the same basic plot, but many important details are different, and some critical anime spoilers are revealed very casually in the manga. As with Planetes, the manga spoilers revealed in turn by the anime seem less startling. For that reason, I strongly suggest watching all 52 episodes of the anime before starting a single chapter of the manga—or before doing anything else, for that matter. The anime is that good.

It seems most people consider the Full Moon wo Sagashite manga to be superior to the anime. I think the anime is better, and I think this is true even if the anime doesn't turn you into a myco fanboy.

Speaking of myco, I slapped together a phony Madoka + Full Moon duet (6 MB) of the Diamond Dust remix of Eternal Snow, combining Kana's version from the second OST with myco's version from the Eternal Snow single. It doesn't sync up perfectly, and the quality is somewhat poor since it was lossy-encoded twice, but I thought it was an interesting idea, and it makes me wish there really were Madoka and Full Moon duets available.

For such an upbeat song, I find it a little sad. Because the Madoka version is shorter, she drops out of the "duet" halfway through, leaving Full Moon to soldier on alone. I guess in a way this is appropriate....

It also makes me sad because I had to re-encode to a lossy format from two already lossy sources. All of my attempts thus far to throw money at people selling myco, Changin' My Life, Kana, and The☆Scanty CDs have ended in failure.

[Update, 2005-07-26: File removed.]

July 24, 2005: Full Moon wo Sagashite

In addition to my hopes for a Full Moon wo Sagashite anime licensing announcement, I also hope they animate as a DVD extra a full "SMILE" concert video.

And while I'm at it, I'd like to wish for a million dollars.

January 07, 2006: Full Moon wo Sagashite

Sweet mercy, it appears Viz has also licensed the Full Moon wo Sagashite anime. Totally awesome.

Mitsuki, Takuto, Meroko, and one fired-up Ooshige.

I'm even okay with the apparent low episode count per disc, as this will permit Full Moon wo Sagashite to rival the commanding shelf presence of the Cardcaptor Sakura DVDs from Pioneer/Geneon.

January 07, 2006: Full Moon wo Sagashite

Since I'm so stoked about the news that Viz licensed the Full Moon wo Sagashite anime, here are a couple of pseudo-duets put together from four separate recordings:

The first is an updated version of an earlier attempt, now with the Kana/Madoka side ripped from a lossless source. Eternal Snow - Diamond Dust Mix - Kana (Madoka) and myco (Mitsuki/Fullmoon) duet.

The second song is a fake duet featuring myco and the mangaka of the Full Moon o Sagashite manga, Arina Tanemura. Smile - Arina Tanemura and myco (Mitsuki/Fullmoon) duet.

June 27, 2006: Full Moon wo Sagashite.

Hooray, the first Full Moon wo Sagashite DVD comes out today! The first of 13, apparently....

But that's okay! Assuming the mastering and/or subtitles aren't jacked up royal, they'll be worth it. After all, Full Moon wo Sagashite is only like the best show of all time. True story.