Anime Ventilation 30 Yuri on Ice

{Spoilers}

I JUST FINISHED WATCHING YURI ON ICE AND IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!! You know those animes that once they get so much hype you don't enjoy them as much? Well not this one. This one broke Tumblr and it deserves at least this much. THIS WAS THE BEST THING. THIS GAVE ME STANDARDS. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.

It has the classic rivalry of sports anime but the beauty of this is how, even though there’s such a high level of competition, each of them is so supportive. They’re all bloodthirsty and ready to fight for that gold medal but when it comes down to it all of their shows of sportsmanship are admirable. I think that’s one of the most poignant things about this series; when each of the skaters took the ice the rest would all shout ‘Davai!’ and even if they weren’t in the actual competitions they would watch online and cheer for their friends. I’m actually stupefied by how wonderful all of these babies are. They're all so driven to do their best, not only for themselves, but also for their countries and their fans. Seeing the devotion all of their fans give them and how the energy of the audience and the skater bounce off and magnify one another really embodies something truly beautiful about figure skating as a sport. Even though most sports anime are based on team effort and coming together as a team, I feel that Yuri on Ice really shows that even in individual sports there is a certain unmistakable camaraderie. I can’t even begin to formulate how beautiful all of this is. I can only repeat and stress upon the beauty of the entirety of the series.

Everything about this was great. It started off with this unconfident normal Japanese figure skater crying in the bathroom. And after that first episode you just can’t put it down. Seeing Yuri crying as he let the stress of the competition break his spirit really makes you root for him and hope for better things to come. When Victor watches Yuri’s recreation of his routine and flies out to Japan, that’s when things start to take off. And from there their relationship blossoms as they break down all the competition and difficulties in their way. It was truly a pleasure to see someone so unconfident, someone that resonates with every single person in this world that doesn’t feel like they are good enough rise to the occasion and steal the show. It speaks volumes on how anyone with enough drive and motivation can do anything they set their mind to. Yuri himself said he was just a dime-a-dozen Japanese figure skater, alluding to his lack of self-confidence, but through the journey of competing against all these skaters he thought were leagues above him...and him rising to the challenge show such a natural development of his self-confidence and self-discovery. I don’t think I can even convey the message that gives. Yuri is truly beautiful. Everything about his journey and the way it was developed and delivered was breathtaking.

And it wasn’t even him. This wasn’t a shoddy second-rate anime that only focuses on the main ship. Oh no, this was a true masterpiece, a work of art. You think I’m kidding and maybe if you’re a hardcore figure skating expert you might want to fight me. But on matters of storyline, emotional evocation, and characters this was absolutely amazing. Hands down the best anime of this season and maybe of this year in my opinion. (I don’t know why I say my opinion because literally my whole blog is my opinion. Heh.) If you list any character I can tell you why they’re precious. For example, JJ. At the beginning I thought JJ was a bit of a jerk. I mean any guy that skates to a song written for him about how he’s the best in the world ought to be. But honestly I think that the whole ‘King JJ’ was just a facade. In actuality he’s just like any of the other skaters; he’s driven to bring gold home to Canada and to do his absolute best. But even though he initially came off as someone that would dominate the Grand Prix, he’s not all powerful. He’s affected by the stress and acknowledges how good his competition is. I think there’s something beautifully fragile in figure skating that’s almost like each of them is chasing after one another. No one settles when they get the highest score; they’re all hungry to keep going and surprising the audience. (That’s why during JJ’s Grand Prix long program I was crying so hard.) Even the skaters that only showed up for a substantial amount of time for one or two episodes like Seung-gil were memorable. In most anime you see a side character, acknowledge their presence, and then they’re gone. Even though Seung-gil was emotionless for the most part, his part in the plot was really to show a skater’s pride. His emotionless demeanor was broken by the fact that he couldn’t reach the Grand Prix. Ah, we have to talk about the two cuties of the show: Phichit and Kenjirou. Before Kenjirou it’d be easy to get the impression that Yuri was a bit of a loser in the ice skating world. But seeing Kenjirou at the Japanese competition and seeing how much he looked up to Yuri really gave the impression that Yuri was indeed a force to be reckoned with, even if he himself didn’t see it yet. And Phichit! Him and his selfies are iconic. He’s the cutest of the bunch and seeing him so happy even though he didn’t even win a medal at the Grand Prix was so adorable. He tried his absolute best and was satisfied with the results...well for now. I hope to see all of them in Nationals and such. And his ice show dream is sooo adorable. Oh my goodness.

ALSO CAN WE JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE YURIO? In his senior debut he totally kills it. There’s so much growth on his part. He goes from the Russian thug to the tsundere Russian fairy. Speaking about compassion, when he gave those tonkatsu piroshkis to Yuri after the competition to cheer him up...awhhhhh. He’s actually more beautiful than a lot of girls I know in all honesty (Him skating ‘On Love: Agape was always a killer. Almost as killer as Yuri skating On Love: Eros tbh.). And the most beautiful part is that he’s always looking to improve. He does the hardest moves and is constantly evolving his routine, but still feels threatened by the others. His striving for improvement is what really got him that well-deserved gold medal in the Grand Prix. Also his reaction when Otabek was like "So you wanna be friends?" and Yurio was like "No one's ever asked that before" was so precious.

I feel like I can’t even do Yuri and Viktor’s relationship justice. Like it’s actually so adorable. They went from fan-idol to student-coach to fiances in the span of 12 episodes. Like WHAT EVEN?! The creators of this show actually gave us everything. They gave us a romantic and super classy gay relationship. They gave us a super cute hug. A date. A kiss. Basically a marriage scene when they’re in front of the church in Barcelona exchanging rings. Even an ice skating duet!!!!! I can’t stress how much their relationship means to the world. It’s beautiful.

Sports animes really get to me; they hold a particular place in my heart, more cemented than any other genre if I’m being honest. But this one, this one was truly special; I already started crying at Episode 11. Okay not even the last episode. Episode 11!!! That’s when you know it’s good. That's when you know you have to drop all your priorities for this. It’s the best thing. Absolutely the best thing. I’m a mess. I’m still crying. I’m disgustingly sniffing and wiping my tears as I write this because this is how overwhelmed I am. 30 seconds into Yuri’s routine in Episode 12 I was gone. I was lost and I cried so hard I couldn’t see and I had to pause it to wipe away my tears with my shirt. I was so riveted I couldn’t even walk to the bathroom to get myself a tissue. And then by the end when Yuri got second place I couldn’t even be mad. It was so beautiful. All of them are beautiful cinnamon rolls that deserve everything. Absolutely everything. Give all of them a gold medal because they really really really really really deserve it. I cried for so long. Catharsis. Wow. Just wow. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT SEASON. When I saw the “See you next level” I cried hard for a long time.

Wow.

Kenjirou is the representative of the fandom

The cutest skater ♡

THIS SELF CONFIDENCE OMG

This is the same but not. This is important. Look at him coming into his own.

A cute, precious baby looking for validation from his idol

I'm editing and posting this a day later. You think my wounds would heal. But I'm tearing up now.

I won't let you forget your promise.

I stopped here with pictures or else I never would've stopped. (#^^#)ゞ

Image Sources: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/images/encyc/A18191-2291224427.1469808485.jpg, http://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Yuri-on-Ice-06-18-1280x720.jpg, http://images2.itechpost.com/data/images/full/47811/yuri-on-ice-episode-7.jpg, http://cdn0.dailydot.com/uploaded/images/original/2016/12/23/victor12.png, https://media.tenor.co/images/e349fa852918b4e6345b04563b92f2ca/tenor.gif, http://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Yuri-on-Ice-05-4.jpg, http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max500x500/cms/news/110204/nextlevel.png.jpg

Anime Ventilation 28 Glasslip

{Spoilers}

*screams in pain* I've just finished Glasslip and I'm in so much pain. You know that feeling you probably had while watching Clannad Afterstory? Yeah well this anime was literally the exact same feeling. You thought it was going to be a nice, light-hearted anime. Perhaps a few love polygons and one sided loves like Anohana or something, but generally a good time. AND THEN YOU THROW IN SOME SUPERNATURAL STUFF AND YOU'VE GOT YOURSELF A STRESSFUL SITUATION! I don't think anyone could put into words how distressed I feel. It starts off really nice. It's a girl that's a glassblower's daughter and a new guy in town and then 4 side characters with their own little love problems. As the plot goes on the 4 side characters slowly form the ships they were meant to be a part of and that's all and well. But the real sucker is the two main characters. Well okay we should address Sacchan and her dual confession to Hiro and Touko. That was really cute. I'm honestly a mess. But no one reads these anyways so I'm free to do what I want. Anyways this was beyond stressful. You would think that Touko and Kakeru would end up together. Even though when Yuki, Yana, Sacchan, and Hiro all directly/indirectly ask him if he likes her and he doesn't really answer. But to be honest he could just be a shy guy. But the real kicker is when...I should probably explain the reason why Touko and Kakeru are even a speculative couple. The reason is that the two of them can see 'fragments of the future.' Touko's is triggered by sparkly things and Kakeru's is hearing things; this is probably because their two main influences were her dad's glassblowing and his mom's piano playing. In actuality those fragments are more like an alternate/fake reality. In the real (or is this even the real??? It's so confusing) world Touko is the part of the group of 5 friends that lives in the town. In this alternate world Kakeru is the one that lives in the town with the 4 other people. The trippy part is when during the winter fireworks everyone forgets Touko like how Kakeru was often forgotten during winter in a 'sudden, expected' phenomenon. A total heartbreaker. Imagine if every winter all of your friends forgot about you. AND IT ONLY GETS WORSE FROM THERE. Honestly from episode 10 onwards it gets progressively more painful as the plot thickens. The two of them are trying to learn more about the fragments and in the process it seems like Touko might be going insane and Kakeru is losing his ability. So much stress. And then at the end it's such a beautiful scene of the two of them throwing the glass beads in the air with shooting stars dancing across the sky in a kind of final celebration of summer.

HAHA YOU THOUGHT I WAS DONE. BUT THE PAIN DOESN'T STOP THERE. Actually even after that closing celebration of summer vacation and all of them go back to break, outside of Kakeru's house is the empty patch where his tent used to be. What happened to him?! Did he move into the house for a more permanent residency, finally deciding to settle down? Did he figure he didn't want to be forgotten again so he went with his mom on tour? Did he end up going to Touko's school? And that last zoom in on one of the glass beads they tossed up during the meteor shower...a blue similar to Kakeru's eyes. What if Kakeru wasn't actually a person? What if he was a figment of Touko's imagination like that fake world could be? What if this whole time he was a bead? That would explain why his house is literally in the middle of a field. Okay so they might live in the country...but isn't that just a little bit suspicious!

*takes a deep breath* Okay I think I'm done now. Thanks for taking the time perhaps to read through my rant. I really appreciate it! (￣▽￣)

This picture is deceiving. Do not be deceived by this. You thought it would be nice and lighthearted. Well you thought wrong.

It's all fun and games until it's not. (Can you tell I'm kind of bitter?)

This one is so great. But again...do not be deceived by this lighthearted exterior.

Every time this happened I was pretty mesmerized heh

Hiro is a precious cinnamon roll

Even if Kakeru is really a bead, an imaginary person, or he left at least I can say that they held hands (heh spoilers) and they kissed.

I'm ending with this so anyone still here gets a sense of peace. 

(Though at the time of this scene I was already in distress)

Sources (sorry I haven't been doing them. It's been so long. Plz don't sue me in the future. I'm really just a dumb kid.): http://images.sgcafe.net/2014/07/csapsdjb.jpg, http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/37300000/-Glasslip-glasslip-37310967-500-281.jpg, http://fanaru.com/glasslip/image/71842-glasslip-touko-running.gif, http://i.imgur.com/Oen0Giu.gif, https://31.media.tumblr.com/61d682c85cc93386fec59cafa7548a4c/tumblr_n8e909VXRM1syyhjvo1_500.gif, https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjL_WoZp4V0mMVlb3pHeJGIHlmIy860kkUzTsdwmMoREjsSvIQYCOVTT0T-VDdJJIQIou-n9U9HkNrRG1L2xGAii1f5EZXA7srL9LoIRx-DNdCAmp_9PCmUpJAAUji5FEK3WaB4QDhJi5/s1600/Gl2.gif, http://33.media.tumblr.com/41f2189ce6eaf8c9c812cfe85f025a1d/tumblr_nckoolnw9z1tbzgzlo3_500.gif

Manga Review 8 Kimi ga Inakya Dame tte Itte

Do I read too much manga? Yep. Should I stop? It probably would benefit my sleep schedule. Do I plan on stopping? Nope.

{Spoilers maybe}

Here we have a perfect example of two childhood friends that end up in a relationship. Literally it's a really short-lived love polygon of one side guy and one side girl liking one of the main characters. That's the whole plot. And it's kind of an Oedipus complex of "Do I like her because she's like a mom to me or...?" which gets interesting...for the 3 pages of agonizing over that dilemma.

But we can't really knock it since it really is only 8 chapters plus like 2 extra fluffies hanging off of it so all in all it serves its purpose. It gives the doki-dokis in a small, slightly crumpled package. If you've got some time and are looking for a nice little smol manga with childhood friends and a halfhearted love polygon here ya go! 
(￣▽￣)

♡ Precious ♡

Anime Ventilation 27 Zutto Mae Kara Suki Deshita

MY HEART! I meant to go to sleep because I have work tommorrow, but before I did I decided to watch a JubyPhonic MV (you should watch it because it's so good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVQ3xAxBLgk) before I slept. And boy, oh boy, am I glad I did! The song she covered was from Honeyworks which was I assume the basis for this story?

{Spoilers}

This may be just another typical shoujo anime movie, but can you ever have too many shoujo anime movies? Nope. Not until the day your heart stops beating and every last drop of romance is sucked out of you.

To be completely honest the animation isn't the greatest. The stage directions are a bit off at some points. But what it lacks in some of the more minor (in my opinion) features it makes up for in a good plot.

It follows 3 main couples (or soon to be couples :3) and their roads to falling in love. Honestly I find it hard to keep track of all of them because the movie is only an hour and there are 7 different main(ish) characters although it looks like it's mostly focused around 2 characters and their dynamic. There's nothing particularly unique about their relationships at the surface, but beyond that it's beautiful. It truly captures the innocence and impulsiveness of youth. It preserves the feeling of fleeting time that all high school kids face (heh *stares off into the distance* that's actually me right now).

Overall I'd say this is a great anime for if you've got an hour to spend watching anime and you want a whole lot of doki-doki's.

(Also cute anime boys amirite?)

Aren't they just adorable?