I and Steven for some odd reason often march in lockstep like goosestepping nazis (e.g. watching Shingu)... OK, it was a bad analogy, because we're not in complete sync this time. While I'm struggling with Hourglass, he's sampling another Hirameki title, Tea Society of a Witch.

The biggest disappointment is that there's very little animation. I thought I'd get the kind of stuff I got from anime. What I actually got was lots of static frames where almost the only thing that ever changed was the facial expression of the girl on the screen, plus changing subtitles.

What can I say? It's only too true, even though excuses were offered. That said, I have to note that the length packed onto a single DVD is amazing, and lack of video may have something to do with it.

I think if Steven is at all interested in this art, he should check out PC games instead of DVDs. I limit myself to DVDs because they are cross-platform, but he is a Windows user, he can get the best.