He is so graceful, and such a joy to watch.

That always bugs me in shows about teenagers. It seems like there's always some bar or club that they're all mysteriously allowed to hang out in while underage, no questions asked. Now that you mention it, it is especially bizarre that a bunch of middle schoolers hang out at a club where, in addition to the alcohol, there are apparently designer drug deals going on.

Yep!

Yeah, I'd agree with you on that, she seems nicer. I'd guess that she's the one who most genuinely wants to involve Lain in her social life in a positive way. Still, she seems more concerned with what she thinks Lain should want to be doing than what Lain wants to do.

Maybe it was just my state of mind when I was watching this back in high school, but I didn't really register Lain's classmates as "friends". They seemed more like popular kids who spontaneously decided to take interest in an unusual, quiet classmate. I think "Let's push the shy girl out of her shell," is a game popular kids sometimes play, and while they might think they're being nice, there is an element of cruelty.

For Accela, I thought the drug 'accelerated' the user, so that they were moving and thinking much faster relative to reality (which they would then see as moving very slowly). I might have just gotten confused about the description, though.

This was one of the first anime I ever watched, way back in high school days! I have lots of happy memories with this one, and it is in a storytelling style and aesthetic that I don't think is really done anymore. I don't remember if it says in the opening somewhere, but the opening song ("Duvet") is by BoA, and can be found on the album "Twilight".

Naq ba Znex'f ynfg dhrfgvba, V jbhyq nqq guvf cerfpvrag dhbgr: "Ab znggre jurer lbh tb, rirelbar vf nyjnlf pbaarpgrq."

Actually, the dead/evil/killed-in-story mother issue is prevalent enough that it eventually prompted my own mother to muse, "Disney sure doesn't like mothers very much..." "Brave" is a welcome and notable exception.

Here's a list of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roles_of_mothers_in_...

Farewell, "Feed", and farewell Georgia Mason ;_;. I haven't been able to keep up with commenting for a while (though I've been reading the reviews & comments), but I just wanted to say at the close that I loved this book. Sure, I had some complaints here and there (the over-the-top 1-dimensional villain, for one thing), but there were so many other fantastic things that I didn't mind so much. I really loved the world-building and the epidemiology of Kellis-Amberlee, and I loved George and Shaun. "Feed" gets 5/5 stars from me.

I think I also ran out of enthusiasm. I made it to episode 9, but I was just kind of forcing myself through it by the end. I bet it would have been more fun if I'd caught it shortly after Season 7 ended, and read one each week. I still think it's a neat premise for a continuation of the story, but I'll probably just read Mark's posts to see how it all comes out.

I just finished catching up with the first 5 episodes. I will definitely be reading a little ahead to be on time for the next review! My overall impression was that these were well-written for fanfiction. I went through my main fanfiction-reading phase maybe 15 years ago, but I think this was overall better than average. The overly Whedon-esque dialogue felt a bit overdone at times, but I think they generally had a pretty good grasp on the characters. I still don't like Kennedy, and I'm kind of wondering if they're foreshadowing a break-up in the fics, based on the bumps in their relationship. And here's some episode-by-episode thoughts:

1) I agree with what most people are saying, that it was very much an exposition episode. Given that they had to set up a nearly entirely new premise though, I think that's to be expected. It's more clumsy than I would expect of an actual show, but I figured they just hadn't hit their stride yet. However, I have to say, I really like this setup. I think it shows a lot of promise for interesting stories.

2) Not really my favorite. I especially didn't like the ending, where Willow basically just said "Stop doing this, it is wrong!" and the bad guys were like "Oh, really? Okay, then." Also, the Pining Away dialogue was very awkward (which might have been the point, but it was a bit painful to read). I did like the sapling thing at the end, though it seemed weird that they weren't terribly concerned about the people who had been irreversibly transformed into trees. Willow's a witch, wouldn't she have at least tried to find a way to restore them?

3) Also didn't really love this one. It seemed like they were really leaning on the "Faith is uneducated and has bad grammar", and it seemed a little overdone. Also, I still don't like Kennedy. I know I already said this, but she's so irritating to read about.

4) This one was probably my favorite of the first five. I think the show was missing some interaction with non-supernatural people, and Dawn's sleepover fit that need. Also, Buffy came back! I actually felt kind of bad about Xander's poker night, even though he has been portrayed as annoyingly gender-role-obsessed lately. He tried so hard to make a little nook that was just for him and his friends, and a Slayer came and took it away from him. Lastly, Willow and Kennedy's super-cute date kind of derails my theory that this season is leading towards their breakup.

5) I wonder if killing that innocent doll-playing demon is going to cause any of the girls (or Faith?) some psychological pain. I think it really should. This seemed mostly like a setup episode for future conflicts. I hope Buffy gets them to put a 'Slayer Philosophy' class in the mandatory Slayer class schedule. The magical anchor stuff between Willow and Kennedy makes me once again think they're going to break up. I wonder if Willow would get a new romantic interest? For that matter, I wonder if they're going to touch the romance thing with Buffy, Xander, and Dawn. They'd have to create new characters to be love interests, and I can't help but wonder how that would go over (or went over, if they did it) with the fandom.