that manga called one piece

I made an unspoken promise to myself long ago not to read manga or watch anime anymore. It's too addicting and it makes me feel almost physically ill. I remember when I read Eyeshield 21 compulsively, I cried for weeks when Musashi (AKA Takekura Gen/Red’s-number-one-favourite-character-ever-in-any-media-ever-produced-by-man) returned and became a completely different character. I must admit I never really got over that. Also, when I watched Fullmetal Alchemist... Hughes’s death had about the same impact on me. I'm easily moved by stuff and I always fall for the scriptwriter’s traps, as far-fetched as they might be. That’s why manga and anime are hazardous to me.

But for no real reason I felt like reading One Piece again. My past with One Piece dates way back. I started reading it around 2000-2001, over ten years ago, and it's ever since been among my favourite manga (I’d say it’s the runner up, Eyeshield 21 being number one). But One Piece consumes you, it feeds on you. Reading a whole OP saga is comparable to watching your heart being ripped off your chest and sliced into pieces. At least that's what it does to me. Everything about One Piece makes me cry buckets, it doesn’t matter if it’s a sad story or if it's a heartwarming, touching moment. I cry all the same. It’s a horrible combination, because it's exceedingly good and impactful, and I’m way too easily influenced by what I read. Reading One Piece is emotionally draining to an alarming degree.

Anyway, I felt I needed to make up for my lost time. I’m about 4 years late: I stopped right at the end of Water Seven/Ennies Lobby arc, around chapter 430. So I picked it up and, lo and behold, Smoker showed up around the second or third chapter I read. It’s hard to say exactly how much exactly but I was mad about Smoker back when I was a teenager, and he is still and will always be among my top favourite characters (and, gosh, he’s still ridiculously sexy and he's in a gratuitous shirtless scene – fanservice much?). I took it as a sign I shouldn’t drop One Piece again. Odacchi, I'll hate you forever for creating something that just so beyond what a manga is supposed to be.

resolutions

2010 is over, and it was... uneventful. Sort of a "do stuff you should have already done long ago" year, like surgery for making sex a bit less painful, or getting my driver’s license. Highlights of the year were League of Legends, new Kojiman books and the trip to Buenos Aires (Persicco owner, so sexy). I guess I might as well make a short list of resolutions to try to turn 2011 into a more remarkable year, even though I’ll probably forget about them in a few days.

- Get a new job. It's been almost 4 years since I started my current job, heck I was still in college, and I can’t stand it anymore.
- Save more money. My savings are at an all-time low, and since I plan on going to Japan with Shawn in 2012 I need to find a way to save money! Possibly by getting a new job, which ties in with the previous resolution.
- Read more books. All my free time is spent gaming, really. I think I need to read more. One of my goals is getting to the end of The Devil to Pay in the Backlands.
- Start working out. I have no money to afford a gym though, so I have no idea how to make this happen.
- Re-learn Japanese. I stopped well over two years ago and I’ve forgotten almost everything. Japanese is amazing, though, I really wish I had more time to take classes again.