News and various stuff

I usually write short news or opinions about other stuff at the end of my regular posts, but this time I have a few of them, so I decided to put them in this post. So, I no order of importance.

Naruto has become very interesting and tense for last few episodes. I almost wish that fighting scenes were prolonged as at the beginning of Shippuuden arc (like fight with Orochimaru or Deidra and Sasori). I was surprised how the training sequence was short. Pain has very interesting abilities and it will be fun to see how Naruto will counter them. Personally, I don't think he would have any chance if Pain didn't use his Almighty-Push on such a grand scale. So, if you stopped watching Naruto, it's time to start it again. Episodes from 152 are good as final fights from original Naruto, before the fillers. And if you want to know what's going on, you should better watch episodes between 113 and 143, where lots of unknown history is revealed.

Also, Crunchyroll will be streaming Bleach from now on, for free (as it does with Naruto), so maybe I will start watching this again. I stopped because of too much filler.

I have watched 14th episode of Bakemonogatari, 4th episode of the last arc. It is great like the rest of this fantastic anime, you can read my thought about it here. I don't remember that previous episodes were so charged with erotic. I know that there were occasional fan service cuts, but in this episode it's much bolder. On the other hand, it has connection with the plot. I see that Wikipedia article numbers more characters that are featured in anime, so I take this as a clear sign that there will be a second season in the future.

Then, there is some news for Tor.com. It's not that I try to advertise them, but I visit it daily and most of the news about fantasy I read, I read it there.

There is an excerpt from Brandon Sanderson's new book, "The Way of Kings". It comprises a prelude and first three chapters. I have read it and it looks very good. I was in a bit of dilemma should I start reading it right when it's published or to wait when it reaches final volumes (I presumed it will be only a few books, judging by authors previous works). But, I saw it on Wikipedia that it is planned to have 10 books and that it will be finished in 14 years, I think I will join the train very soon.

But, the book I will wait the most this year is "Towers of Midnight". And it's only four more month of waiting. I have a feeling that I will have a busy summer, so the time will fly by. Of course, there is also "The Crippled God" coming out on the beginning of next year. It means that I will finish two of my favorite series.

In next few weeks I plan to watch some anime or two (first will be "Mononoke"), maybe read some manga. And in two or three weeks I plan to start reading "The Painted Man", by Peter V. Brett, for which I've read some promising reviews.