Anime Ventilation 33 Hibike! Euphonium

Oh boy oh boy. So many good anime and the great thing about this one is that the second season is already out! I'm absolutely ecstatic. You don't even understand. My cheeks are burning in exhilaration because I've just binged this in one day and I have all the feels. All the feels I say.

{Spoilers because I'm in love}

Somehow this was just an open tab on the Chrome app on my phone. And it was the best decision I made at 1 AM to start watching it because it's actually pure gold. All of the characters are precious cinnamon rolls and as an added bonus, this was basically like a sports anime. Ugh I'm such a sucker for plot lines like this. Honestly though the original reason I watched this was because I was expecting a Haruchika 2.0 ya know? A more musically focused band anime. And I wasn't disappointed.

From the beginning I was hooked. It's a little confusing if you're not really familiar with concert band terms like I was. Heh I was really confused when they were crying over a dud gold, but that all gets addressed later in the series anyways so no worries if you're a complete amateur like myself. Where should I even start? All of it was so great. I think I'll start with the plot and ramble my way to closure.

This follows the journey of a mediocre high school concert band and their rise from the bottom to the top; literally they went from winning bronze one year to winning gold and going to nationals the next. It starts out with Kumiko wanting a fresh start and perhaps a change from concert band. However, her deep ingrained love for music keeps her playing and together with Midori and Hazuki tries her best in their performances. When she resolves the somewhat one-sided feud between her and Reina, she is able to fully unleash the love for music she's had and really go for the gold. Although from my crappy summary it might seem like Kumiko is the star of the show, in actuality I think it's more of a group effort like the team sports animes. Each of the characters, even the ones that don't make it through auditions are given their chance to shine in the limelight. It really shows the solidarity between all the members and their unwavering commitment to the club. It was somewhat disheartening to see the conflict with the members not having motivation which led to Aoi leaving and such, but all of these conflicts only made them better in the long run.

The character development was really outstanding considering the amount of characters and screen time given to each of them. Like I said earlier, at first it might've seemed like Kumiko was the star of the show when in fact many other characters were given lots of developmental time on screen. For example even though Hazuki was a newer member, she was able to demonstrate the difficulties that go along with starting to play an instrument for the first time: the embarrassment when you can't get the notes quite right, the lack of motivation when your expectations aren't met etc. This was especially emphasized by the fact that she was tricked into playing one of the less praised instruments: the tuba. Her eventual devotion to her Tubacabra (the name is so cute) really inspires people to hopefully take up an instrument or anything really and devote time to improvement. On the train of thought of Kumiko's friends, Midori is the cutest one. Her and her obsession with Tuba-kun is really unnecessary, but at the same time so great. Although she doesn't play a huge role in the plot, she shows with her devotion to the contrabass that when you really love something it's logical to go to any lengths for it. Speaking of devotion, Kaori was the greatest and sweetest senpai truly deserving of the title of the Madonna of their concert band. Even though she was shown up by Reina, she tried her absolute best and even though she didn't get the solo, she's number one in everyone's hearts. Hehe speaking of which, Reina was absolutely amazing. Her dynamic with Kumiko where you couldn't really tell if it was a real romantic relationship Kumiko was aiming for with her confession of love to Reina or not was a real mindtwister. I'm still wondering about that myself. It's open to speculation I suppose...but I'd ship it if I wasn't so set on Shuuichi ending up with Kumiko. I'm a sucker for childhood friend romances (it's so bad I know (´꒳`)). Her duet with Kumiko at the top of the mountain, lit by the festival below was a beautiful moment. You know what was also beautiful? That time that Shuuichi and Kumiko were on opposite sides of the river and practiced their instruments across from each other. That was sooo cute. And in the extra episode when Hazuki heard them and just smiled happily for them while Nakagawa (the coolest senpai) comforted her was iconic. It was beautiful, breathtaking even. Okay, okay last character fangirling (this time *snickers*) goes to Asuka, the best senpai ever. Her character was in some senses the most complex. Some of them were very straightforward like Reina who does everything she can to be the best or Kumiko who has decidedly the most horrible personality (Reina said it not me), but not Asuka. She's different. At first introduction she seems like nothing more than an airhead jokester. However upon further analysis she's actually quite difficult to puzzle out. She's very supportive of her kouhais, but at the same time she doesn't care if Kaori or Reina gets the trumpet solo for the competition. She simply wants the best. This joking part of her is indeed contrasted by her seriousness when it comes to her euphonium. Also right before they compete in the prefecture competition it seems like she's doubtful if they can win gold and compete in nationals. This seemingly dreamy and distracted senpai might actually be the most realistic and smart one. But who knows for sure? (ー_ーゞ

And I'd just like to give a great big thanks to whoever decided that this wouldn't be one of those excessive romance animes. There's enough of those out there. That one festival scene was enough to serve as some character development, but any more than that would've just been excessive. It was a satisfactory amount of romance, but best left as an inspirational anime focused on music and improvement.

Also as a random side note I'd like to say that the instrument gachapon should be a real thing. Did anyone notice how the euphonium character looked like an alien referencing Hazuki's mixup between euphonium and UFO? hehe I love it when things are detailed like that.

Overall I'd say anyone who's looking for an enjoyable school life/slice of life anime should really consider this one. If you like music, even better. It's not super stressful or anything, but it just keeps you really hooked as well as motivated to better yourself! o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

And now my favorite part (jk every part is my favorite part), I present all the screenshots I took while watching and maybe some GIFs because I really love this anime. Boooooh there's not a lot of great GIFs for all those memorable moments. Maybe one day I'll take the time to learn how to make GIFs to satisfy myself when things like this happen. But ohoho I guess this means you will really have to watch it to know the beauty of Hibike! Euphonium.

Pffft this was mostly just funny because of the 2016 trend of roasting people

Midori: the Love Expert

She's soooo cute. As expected of Midori's little sister. ♡＾▽＾♡

 

This part both broke and warmed my heart. Just watch for this part man, the feels.

 

See what I mean? Asuka is a mystery

Besides Shuuichi and the unnamed cute guy with the blue eyes, he's the cutest 

*snickers*

And thus we end until...SEASON TWO!!!

ImageSources: https://thechuunicorner.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/6xwcl8a.png, https://i.imgur.com/kKzesMw.jpg, http://pa1.narvii.com/5745/71edc785be06d51acf35853502d9771d613f7ebe_hq.gif

Anime Ventilation 32 Tonari no Seki kun

I first saw this anime in a Facebook video captioned "When you get bored in class" or something similar. It was genius. After that I never really gave it any mind until I watched a video on short anime. Ranging at around 7-8 minutes each this series is really easy to binge in a day even though it has 21 episodes which seems like a lot (LOL @ Kuroko no Basket with those long seasons (not complaining though)). So technically if you binge it and don't watch the intro and outro every time then it should really only take you 2 hours and 45 minutes. Pretty good right?

{LOL I always say there's spoilers, but there's literally no plot in this one so what would I spoil?}

This anime is between Fukoi, a girl that wants to pay attention in class, and Seki, who is the one constantly distracting her from her studies with his unique antics. The most entertaining thing about this series is actually all of it. It's a very lighthearted series that follow the imaginations of a young boy and sensible girl. Seki takes all of his games very seriously, even maniacally (ie Shoji vs Chess). Fukoi unintentionally ends up watching him play every single day which is detrimental to her studies, but at least she'll have fun memories to look back on, am i right?

There's really not a lot to say because there's no plot. Something very striking though is that even though it's fast paced with each episode being a class period, it still captures the innocence of youth and the dynamic between the two. It's very simple with no unnecessary drama or romance in it. Very playful and it serves its purpose to bring some joy into everyone's lives. Also I'd like to just randomly say that the soundtrack was perfect. You don't really notice it because it's very well ingrained into the show, but it's very lighthearted and playful, very fitting.

Overall I'd highly encourage anyone going through a rough time or maybe a lackluster day to sit down for a while and watch a couple episodes of this. (＾▽＾)

Also did I mention the motion captured here? It's really great.

The robot family and their theme song is iconic. Robot Family Song

Seki kun is such a cute kid.

Also this is actually really detailed. In some episodes he makes a different gesture than putting up his finger. Hehe go find it!

Image Sources: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/48/2f/3c/482f3c59e6b59cbc2b2c91559b4e8b26.jpg, http://nardio.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/sekke-kun-gif.gif, http://i.imgur.com/Pycz265.png, http://i.imgur.com/UupZyA9.jpg

Manga Review 9 Last Game

Ah the vast realm of shoujo manga. A very wide and heavily traveled kingdom indeed. *twirls mustache sophisticatedly*

{Spoilers, maybe.}

The love story between two childhood friends, a crybaby tsundere and a blockhead. The crybaby tsundere being Yanagi and the blockhead being Kujou.

Their love story is quite admirable. It follows the 10 year relationship between the two from elementary school to college and how the dynamic between them changes. In their lives the only thing that stays constant is their relationships to one another and their families. Kujou’s ultimate priority being her mom slowly shifts over time goes from being all-encompassing to important, but leaving time for friends. Yanagi’s priorities basically stay the same since he’s liked Kujou for a decade. The friend zone was strong in this relationship.

However, with time and Kujou’s slow realization of her feelings because of Momoka and Souma causing trouble between the two as minor prospective love interests (ohoho the love polygons), their relationship started to bloom. The story follows the two of them mostly in their college years, except for the childhood flashbacks when Yanagi realizes he has to be more responsible to be respectable in his own right. This quality of wanting to be better through his own means is admirable; therefore I approve of him as Kujou’s wife, even though Souma was so precious with his vegetables and ambitions too. Through college the two of them connect on a deeper level with love conflicts, discovery of true feelings, and cliche school events (but honestly, all shoujo is cliche at some level).

Overall, I think this is a great completed shoujo manga that you can read without the stress of having to wait for someone to scanlate or update the manga you read (as of 1.2017). It’s relatively short as well with only 56 chapters. Quite satisfactory and super cute because who doesn’t love a happy ending?

This airport scene gives me life and unrealistic expectations for my life

Their wedding was so beautiful tbh

Image Sources: my own screenshots with my own phone (y)

Anime Ventilation 31 High★Speed! Free! Starting Days

*takes a deep breath* I LOVE SPORTS ANIME! 

Sports anime got me feeling all sorts of ways. They're so motivational and this one holds a special place in my heart because Free! They're the cutest babies and most precious. Honestly a great introduction into sports anime.

{Spoilers}

It really hit the spot mostly because it was so nostalgic looking back and seeing all your favorite characters and reliving their finest moments while seeing younger versions of themselves starting to improve and grow into their legendary future selves. I mean, did you even see little Nagisa? So cute. Even the ones that didn't make as big of an impact in the main series like Kisumi really got to make an entrance here. Kisumi is precious. Even Rei who didn't start to swim until when the main series began was there! Seeing him at the library with Asahi was an amazing moment; when he was talking to Asahi about wishing there was a book on swimming too was a total foreshadowing for anyone who hasn't watched the main series yet. And when Asahi and Haru were trying on swimsuits? Remember when the exact same thing happened in the main series with Haru trying variations of the same trunks and Rei tried on that butterfly one piece? Nostalgic! Not only was this full of nostalgic moments, it was full of innocent fun like when the whole team slept over at Haru's house. Real friendship and team bonding.

Even if the only reason most people watch this is because of the Free! hype I still think this is a quality sports anime movie for sure. Because although it's kind of cliche and has the story we've all seen before, it's really quite inspirational seeing people overcome timeless problems. Seeing Makoto come to terms with the reasons why he's swimming instead of joining the basketball club because he wants to stay with Haru and likes to swim is reminiscent of times where you don't really know why you're doing what you're doing. Sometimes it's really hard trying to validate what you're doing and find that it's hard to acknowledge what you know and your own reasoning. Wow that got deep too quick. Anyways, ahem, also seeing Haru struggling to overcome his belief that his elementary school medley relay team was the best they could ever have was painful, especially if you watched the main series before. Seeing him overcome that and making the most out of his new team was inspiring. I'm sorry I kinda say the same things over and over again, but I think inspirational stories just really resonate with me, give me a reason to keep on going ya know? Heh, anyways the other two guys Asahi and Ikuya are great too. Asahi standing in front of the mirror telling himself he was a genius...and then slowly starting to doubt those words is really what we all face in life. No matter who you are, you can't be good at everything. There's always someone right ahead of you doing better and seemingly to do it with ease while you flounder just to keep up. The key thing to keep in mind in these situations is what Asahi discovered about Haru: we're all human. And Ikuya with the brother complex. JK, not in that sense! But seeing him always chasing after his brother, even going so far as to isolate himself at his SC and then copying Haru to try and reach his brother was, you guessed it, really ______. I think you can fill in the blank. I think I need to go refresh my vocabulary.

Overall, it was really great and KyoAni knows how to make an amazing anime.

If you haven't watched the movie yet and you're not totally sold by my crappy fangirling (I'm so sorry) then watch the trailer!

*sigh* the emphasis on Makoto and his reason for swimming was really touching

BTW the two senpai's pictured here are really cool. Like honestly super cool.

And I'm going to stop here because otherwise I would post wayyyyy too many pictures of each of them because they're honestly so cute.

Picture Sources: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cgM9VhPAUcc/maxresdefault.jpg, https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1k_6ugoKc60/maxresdefault.jpg, http://pm1.narvii.com/5936/efba5a9faab35354c73e37607e88a7de82ccf110_hq.jpg