by the way, there is some legit catching-up I'd like to do: did Arek the Red (I think that was his name) ever pass away? Announcing his death was a common thing, didn't know if he was ill IRL for real or not.
and was it mitaro who passed away? there was a teenager who died of meningitis in '04 or '05, I still think of him from time to time. RIP.