Firmly Rooted in My Own Dream Land

Has anyone besides myself noticed that YouTube is going on an anime rampage? They are absolutely and positively seeking out illegally posted full episodes of anything animated and just...confiscating it. As much as I want to be understanding about this issue, I can't be. Why? Because without full anime episodes on YouTube, I have lost  all access to one of my favorite series of all time--Yami No Matsuei  (AKA Descendants of Darkness).

Yami No Matsuei is, if you haven't heard of it (and most people haven't), a shonen-ai horror anime with great animation and a stellar array of characters. The story starts out as light and comedic, a portrait of the fourth most powerful Shinigami in a bureaucratic afterlife, and moves into a much darker, more affecting space. I actually cried during the last episode, and I didn't even cry at the last LotR movie. My only complaint would be that there are only twelve episodes because not only do we want to know more about these Shinigami at the end, but the full duration of an arc was exactly three episodes (luckily there was no filler...although I didn't really like the whole Devil's Trill thing).

Normally, I would recommend that everyone see this anime, list the reasons why, and hope all you non-existent readers out there take my valuable advice. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find Yami No Matsuei anywhere on the internet since YouTube rendered the episodes "unavailable." Not even on my go-to site for free streaming anime! I understand why YouTube must do this--legal issues and all that jazz--but I definitely feel alarm that one lesser-known anime could disappear from the international scene because of such measures. I mean, what else are we losing that we don't know about? What else are we missing? Can some agreement be reached on this streaming issue? Can we have official streaming episodes to avoid the legal snafus? I don't know...I just think it's important that cultural jewels don't get lost because of systemic or technological upgrades. Anyone with me?!?

Oh, and if there's a Yami No Matsuei DVD out there, tell me now so I can stop lamenting. Thanks.

Hello! I am 1 Life 4 Dreaming. As this is my first post, I should probably say something about myself.

I am very secretive, so I will not mention anything about myself other than my interests, really. Just be warned.

I am just discovering the joys of anime this year. My first love is Bleach, and I also love Wolf's Rain, Loveless, and Yami No Matsuei. What attracts me the most to these series' is the animation. I find myself unable to watch anime in which the characters aren't rendered to my taste, as I am a visual artist myself. I also think anime is a great medium for storytelling, and I love where the plots can go! Ironically, I am pretty impatient with manga, but I'll try to get into it at some point.

Not that anyone cares. :P

Anyways, I also love acting, singing, dancing...I'm what you might call "an artist." In terms of my literary taste, I am partial to classic fantasy by authors such as Phillip Pullman, Tamora Pierce, Diana Wynne Jones, Tanith Lee, and others. However, some of my favorite books are The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, War and Peace by Tolstoy, Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger, The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.

I do enjoy good fanfiction and sail a lot of ships. I've toyed with writing my own, but you know, who has time for that? Besides the people who actually write it. :P

Well, I hope I contribute something substantial to livejournal. I don't know yet. We'll see.

Oh, and nice to meet you.