Manga Review 14 Kawaiitte Itteyo

Well it's been a while. I usually pre-schedule my posts so you can't see it from my side, but I've been taking a break due to testing. But if you follow this blog consistently you wouldn't know unless you've been told (Do you feel like an exclusive insider now? Cool right?) Anyways, onto the actual review.

Like with most manga, it's easy to find ones that are a dime-a-dozen without a different sort of approach to plot or character development. To me these are the most important thing because what's a story without plot. It's like a sandwich with no filling, good bread but not a good sandwich. So what I have to say about this manga is it's good for the short term fuzzy feelings inside, but it's not great if you're looking for a more in depth sort of bildungsroman or something along those lines. This probably has to do with the fact that this is a shorter manga. It only has four chapters which makes it a quick read, especially since each chapter is a different pairing and a different season (or at least I think that's what the author was going for). Because of the brevity of each set of characters' appearance it was hard to make more than a shallow connection with the character before the plot was advanced and sped up. I guess this is the problem with shorter manga; you just can't get the same content with a limited amount of space. In addition, it's kind of funny how old fashioned it is. Like the style is very simplistic and while that could be a reason to like it, ya know so you can focus more on the plot, it did sort of bother me that the characters floated in space at some points. But maybe that's just me being picky.

Overall I'd say that you could go ahead and read the manga if you're bored and just want a quick pick-me-up, but don't expect much from this. Like it's cute, but nothing special.

Anime Blurb 42 Koe no Katachi

KyoAni has done it again. Honestly, KyoAni is such a big part of the anime industry that if you don't know what I'm talking about then after this post go read up about it. It's pretty interesting if I do say so myself. Anyways, since my friend actually watched something on time/while it's still relevant, I'm gonna intersperse some of his commentary in here. You know who you are idiot.

{Spoilers (because his input has spoilers (jk I'm using him as a scapegoat))}

So as far as the comparison between the manga and the anime movie adaptation, my friend and I both think that the manga far surpasses the anime. We say this mostly because there's a lot left to be desired in the realm of character development/motivation and why the characters are there in the first place. For example, though Ueno is there during Shouya's hospitalization it does not reveal her motivation for being there: her love for him since childhood. While this could be inferred from the fact that she would always follow Shouya and supported him as he bullied Shouko, it is less obvious than in the manga where there was more depth to her backstory. In a similar vein, Mashiba was rendered almost absolutely useless, actually scratch that, he was useless. He did absolutely nothing except serve as Kawai's maybe love interest. He was just another body and witness to the bullying. In the manga it goes into greater depth into his character and doesn't leave the reader going "So why does he matter?" unlike in the anime. Nagatsuka was still the best friend for sure, the one to make Shouya open up to people outside of his family, but his role was majorly downplayed. He wasn't given as much development as in the manga. None of them were really developed except the two main characters. In the manga the other characters were so much more significant and impactful that it really is a shame that they weren't allowed to shine in the movie. And it wasn't even just the characters. Like what happened to the movie subplot? There was no movie-ception here and while my friend and I agree that it didn't add a whole lot to the story it was still a pretty big chunk unifying the group. Without it it seems kind of forced that they all became friends of sorts. This is to be expected as a movie is only allocated a certain amount of time, but as someone who read the manga it left a lot to be desired. This is just another example about how the books are better than the movie.

On a more positive note, they did do a phenomenal job. Like at the beginning with Shouya and his two friends. That was so great. The soundtrack, the portrayal of youth, all of it was so beautiful. It was a great montage. And then the deterioration of Shouya as he counted down to when he planned to kill himself. It was a creative way to submerge the audience into Shouya's mindset. While this was a very fluid transition as the past and present interwove, throughout the rest of the movie it seemed kind of choppy. Obviously I'm speaking from the experience of someone who has read the manga too, but without that preface I feel like it'd be really hard to get into.

Obviously the main point of this movie was to portray a different story, an unfortunate one about the aftermath of bullying its impact on everyone. Its impact is more profound because of the extra mile Shouya has to go to communicate with Shouko. Without this barrier their conflict wouldn't have been as profound and it would've been easy to dismiss this movie as a dime-a-dozen. However, with this amazing portrayal of communication, patience, and interaction a deeper bond is forged and the audience is more invested than they otherwise would be. The premise of this story is so interesting and really causes the audience to think about which character they'd be in this situation: would you be the bully? The victim? The bystander? It not only causes you to think about social constructs when it comes to delicate issues such as being different from your peers but also lends itself to self-reflection. In addition I think that even though Shouya's terrible behavior as a child should never be allowed, thinking about his motivation behind it is interesting. I mean he was a kid so he was rash and impulsive so it's interesting to think about whether or not he really knew what he was doing. Was he doing it because Shouko was seen as weak or because she was different? He grew up in such a loving household with different individuals, like his sister's husband, that it's interesting to think about the premise of his dislike of things different to him.

Another intense topic, this movie is full of them if you couldn't already tell, is suicide. This is a connected topic with bullying as bullying often leads to extreme measures such as suicide, but the way it's dealt with in the movie/manga is quite interesting. For one when Shouya's mom confronts him about it she comes out bluntly, something totally outside of societal norms. This is such a different approach to parenting but one that should be duly noted all the same. And then with Shouko's attempted suicide. It was too rushed. It was kind of overly nuanced. I came up with a theory that her visit to the doctor told her that she was losing more and more of her hearing which is why she took out her hearing aid and when they went to the summer festival together she couldn't hear the fireworks as clearly as before. This led to her wanting to take her own life, but what I don't get is why she would think that killing herself would end Shouya's suffering. I mean there's no way that her death would've made all of his past friendships the way they were in the past. So there's no logical explanation, unless of course her almost irrational mindset is used to portray the desperation and illogical behavior of one so emotionally unstable as Shouko. It's food for thought.

I love Yuzuru. She's the best character. Okay sometimes her logic is a bit skewed because she thought that posting a picture of Shouya jumping off a bridge would do serious damage, but she's still the best. The premise of her taking pictures of dead animals to keep Shouko from trying to end up like those animals was so sweet. And the fact that she avidly tries to learn sign language for Shouko's sake is truly admirable. Her heart is as big as her grandmother's.

One last thing about character and plot is why did Shouko like Shouya? Like I understand the premise of Ueno liking Shouya as a charismatic childhood friend. But Shouko and Shouya? I don't see it. I mean he treated her so badly to the point where she switched schools and when they met again she must've thought he was doing it for himself, to give himself closure. But instead she ended up liking him romantically? It was too soon, too much, and most definitely way too fast. You have to admit though that her trying to say she liked him and him interpreting as her talking about the moon was really cute.

Overall, I'd say this is an amazing movie that everyone should watch. Maybe not compared to the manga, but it's still a great movie to give you some food for thought. It's a very thought-provoking watch and sure to make you cry at least a little.

See? You can already tell it's a great movie from this beautiful montage.

Visually this is stunning and emotionally it wrecked me.

He's actually so cute as a teenager. So innocent

She's such a great mom. There is no way not to love her.

Ah Ueno, breaking up the heartfelt moments

This is sure to be an iconic scene to live forever in history

The ending really got me. It was the alleviation of all the stress. Even the color palette reflects the lightness in Shouya's heart. For the first time since his childhood he can finally be happy. He doesn't have to be paranoid about when it's going to be taken away or the finite quality of it. He can just live his life and enjoy every second of it.

Anime Rant 41 ReLIFE

I definitely did not binge watch this and neglect to do other work solely because I didn't want my friend to finish it before me...*breaks eye contact*

I basically started this anime looking for some relatable af life advice/guidance for how I should live my life. Please don't judge. I know I shouldn't be basing such serious life decisions on cartoons. I realize how reckless that sounds. But really this anime is great for life advice.

{Spoilers}

So it starts out like a lot of other anime with the getting ready scene, except for this guy, Kaizaki Arata, is a NEET so he's getting dressed like a salary man just so he can go out with his friends to drink. From this first impression of the show you can already see there's some dark themes being eluded towards. But trek on we must, rage rage against the dying of the light (Oh Lord, what is AP Lit doing to me?) After his drinking fest with some random guys he's on his way home...and falls right into a Kyuubei from Madoka Magica sort of deal. You think I'm joking around or something, but I'm not.

Anyways, so after Yoake is introduced in this really shady way you expect things to go downhill from there. And, not gonna lie, they kinda do. But in the process of Kaizaki's terrible assimilation into school life he meets some pretty cool people. And proceeds to do fun things with those people for the rest of the series. The end. Just kidding! 

In the midst of it all there's this underlying tone of mystery as the two employees of the ReLIFE lab are constantly lying to Kaizaki about what's going on, or at least only giving him half truths. This leads to a certain form of trust-distrust dynamic as Kaizaki is essentially going through his school life blind. He came here so he could get a job and get his life back in order, but the means to do that basically have him in the middle of all this high school, typical slice of life drama. I mean seriously. You have everything. You have the childhood friends questionable love triangle,

to clueless teenagers,

and it escalates so fast to guys that can't even wear neckties because of their senpai at work's cause of death. And you think that it can't get any worse and no more angst can be added, but throughout the entire thing there are allusions to an experiment 01 who probably went to the high school, but no one really knows. And it seems like Yoake always has his guard up because of this failed first experiment. 

So I basically went through this whole thing just trying to puzzle through all of their motivations and their separate traumas. Because seriously all of them have problems. Some of them are simple like Oga's lack of love sensibility and Hishiro's inability to make friends and then some are more dramatic like Rena's inferiority complex and Tamarai's social exclusion. 

Throughout the entire thing I got kind of vintage vibes. Like the whole idea of being able to start over your life in order to learn from your mistakes and then change yourself is super original. But I was reminded by other anime while watching this one. Like the ED where it's the main characters just panning across the screen? I dunno, that just gave me those vintage vibes. And in the OP when they disappeared so it was just Arata in line with a bunch of flowers? Anohana much? And when they had the iconic piano scale piece (or it was kind of like a scale at least) it reminded me of Kiznaiver and that crazy music playing whenever the fish things would appear. There were just a lot of little reminders that were probably just coincidental that made me reminisce about all the anime I've watched. Maybe the fact that I've watched so many contributes to the fact that I can find similarities. 

I've gotta give the production props for personalizes each of the ED's in a different way. I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of the ED's had a different piece of music playing. If not then they had a different image placed in there or something along those lines.

compared to

Honestly speaking, the attention to detail and the personalization of everything, like the pills, was a very nice touch. Perhaps it's symbolic, like the episode where the cause of Arata's senpai's death was revealed, the usually white part of the pill was gray. Or how the episode about Yoake's failure with Subject 01 had an orange pill.

But besides the small details and how I focused too much attention on those, I did get some great life advice from this anime. This whole anime is about regret. It's about doubting yourself and losing all self-confidence. It's about gaining and rebuilding all of the confidence that you thought was lost forever. Many of these characters deal with self-doubt and fear of failure/learned helplessness from being trapped in situations that were impossible to change. And so this anime really teaches (I know learning is gross and these 'moral lessons' the way I phrase them probably seem horrifying. I'm sorry, but I don't really know how else to phrase it) you about the value of time, something personally impactful as I'm a second semester senior. These kids are honestly at the same crossroads as I am and so to see someone else struggle in the same position I am is almost comforting. This anime really teaches you the value of taking risks and seeing the blessings that often come disguised. I mean, when Arata left the company he left on his own moral compass, not really caring about any of the repercussions or consequences until afterwards. And while at first that seemed like a bad thing, in the end it turned him into somewhat of a hero.

See? He wouldn't have made such an impact if he hadn't left. Sure, at the time he probably thought it was a terrible decision, but it ultimately ended up being a life-changing experience. I don't think anyone can really say with 100% confidence that they made the right decision. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not really important that you pick the perfect option, but that you make the most of what your options accumulate up to.

Okay I think I'm done ranting for now because I took wayyyyyyyy too many screenshots. I tried something new by integrating some of the pictures as visual examples (but mostly to break up the amount of screenshots I took). Ahem, now here is everyone's favorite part:

Ah, the beginning of the semester of makeups

Are you getting the Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke vibes? Because I sure did.

This is a beautiful quote. It made me laugh. Truly.

I love Yoake just chilling there, observing his subject like a fond guardian

Some of Arata's faces just kill me

Nobu is seriously the most pure secondary character

Just look at their reactions!!! They're so cute ~ヾ(＾∇＾)

That awkward moment when you act your actual age (゜▽゜;)

Gugure Kokkuri-san eyes?

I love how they're both eavesdropping on this intense conversation

She's so satisfied with herself and it's just so pure 

This whole sequence was gold. "If you got a girlfriend I'd be able to study better" like what kind of logic is this? Illogical logic, but I love it. And omg when Oga is literally a level of purity.

His reaction (*´艸`*)

Sometimes they're so similar it's endearing

He's so bright it's great

But other time's he's just a sad little cinnamon roll that tried his best (honestly parallelism between Arata and Yoake)

When you find your academic equal

Isn't this the prettiest thing you've ever seen? Look at that rainbow!!!

She's so socially awkward and he's honestly not even that weirded out by it

Tamarai is honestly the best wing-woman

And Rena deserves such a great friend because of her undying loyalty

This is every student to every other student after every test

TFW Hishiro still doesn't get social cues. The candid audacity.

Thanks Arata for being the nosy old man you really are. You gave the opportunity for the ship to sail just a bit further.

I just love the fact that he was freaking out about the situation and then later when he puts down the cups they're not even overly filled

This series was saved from being incredibly scarring because of all of the couple scenes

Someone get this girl a cookie. She needs one.

Give her the whole batch of cookies.

Nobu and Inukai hiding behind their bags gives me life. Their similarity is too cute.

AWHHHHHHHHHHHH. When one half of the ships watch their counterparts.

LOL when you want to ask if your friend is stupid or going crazy, but don't know how to phrase it

An is so cute. And Yoake's face says 'I agree'

They literally tag team to roast Arata

Oga level density--let's go

Awh her face <3

Tamarai is the best wing-woman pt.2 + Arata

Their awkwardness is so beautiful

Just appreciate everyone's reactions

And after this beautiful scene is Hishiro's realization that she was Subject 01 in the ReLIFE project...I definitely didn't start tearing up at this point...it's the allergies...

Not. Crying.

.

.

.

Definitely. Not. Crying.

It's been confirmed that I need another season. I need to know if when Hishiro and Arata turn back into adults if they end up together. Like all the other ships are pretty well established. But just this one. This is painful. Because what if they switch back and both forget the other? Or something. ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡