Hah. I salute your pimptasticness, as your enthusiasm got me very intrigued about this series indeed. Is either the anime or manga superior to the other? Being a more of a fan of visual media, I tend to prefer anime, but unless the quality is up to par with something like Honey and Clover (which has rapidly become the yardstick by which I measure all other anime adaptations -- not that I've seen many), I feel like I should check out the original manga. Obviously, I'll need translated volumes. Amazon has until volumes 7 with v. 8 coming next January. I'll start with the first few volumes and see how it goes!

I've heard of Emma from Mely's review! It does indeed seem like my speed. Since both you and Mely think I'd like it, I'll trust your collective judgments and give this a try. *g*