Anime ATM 52 Orange

Do you like the new title? I thought about it while I was driving as a way to sort of "dole out" my opinions and thoughts on anime with an appropriate label kinda like an ATM machine. I came up with this all on my own and I'm quite irrationally proud of it.

Funnily enough I had already read the entire manga (in less than a week if I remember correctly) a couple years back and it was the first manga I read that actually brought me to tears. I remember feeling a mixture of distraught, relief, pain, and just a bittersweet wistfulness for the same chance to change my life. Not that anything that important or changeable could've happened if a letter from my 10 years older suddenly appeared. Because it took me on such an emotional roller coaster it's been one of my favorites and one of my treasures. That's why I was so hyped for the anime adaptation. And I know that I'm definitely late on the game, but when this came out I was looking for a part time job (at the convenience store lol jk) and working on college applications so sorry that this is actually so behind the hype. Also as an added bonus, an acquaintance of mine really enjoyed the live action adaptation of this, but I'm not one for live adaptations so if you're curious you could go watch it and tell me your thoughts.

The funny thing is is that if I had had a manga review blog before I could've written a long, in-depth analysis that I had before. I had this long revelation in a chat with my friend who has no idea what the heck I'm talking about when I read/watch anything and rant to him about it and it was a really long and passionate rant. But I no longer have that rant, unless I want to scroll through over 10,000 messages looking for it. Oh well, just know that I once had a deep and burning fire in my soul.

{Spoilers}

One of the problems I often have with books that are turned into movies is that there's certain things that are lost in translation or are overlooked and not put in due to time or budget constraints. Personally I felt that Orange was a perfect example of how anime adaptations should be. It was just how I remembered the manga to be, but enhanced with voices, motion, and color. 

From the get-go I was already so invested in Kakeru and Naho. And when I saw Suwa it just reminded me of why I found the manga so sad. But I think the story itself gives a satisfactory solution: parallel worlds. In a way, this is a bit of a sci fi piece, but only just a little bit. They dabble with the idea of black holes and time travel and if the passage of time was something that could be fragmented into an endless list of side-by-side occurring possibilities or if there was only one future and fate that could never be overwritten. I see it as the creator believed in the different parallel worlds more because that lent itself to the possibility and the popular question of "what if?". It was beautiful in it's own way how there were so many flashbacks between the 26 year old group and the 16 year old group. I don't remember that many being in the manga, but if there was then excuse my memory, I'm getting old. If you tried to look at the anime from the point of view of someone watching it for the first time with no context it would seem overwhelming and confusing, but that's fun in it's own way. It gives you time to puzzle through what's happening and the changes that happen in 10 years that makes the two sets of people different. 

If I'm being completely honest with you I really enjoyed the compromise that parallel worlds gave. There was a story where Suwa got his happy ending with Naho and another where Kakeru ends up living and making Naho happy. The friendship between everyone is just out of this world. I know that even without the letters they would've been just as close, but a little more naive and careless. And it's their spontaneous and carefree nature that leads to Kakeru permanently ending his life. With the letters it made the original group of five a little bit more self-aware and also a bit more awkward. But ultimately I'd say those letters served their purpose and led to a happily ever after. They were able to be proactive and take charge. You could argue that all this did was change someone else's life, but it's kind of comforting that if in a parallel world something different happened, that a different course was taken. But in all of the cases, there were certain things that stayed the same, like how Kakeru brought the other five together as a call to action, to fight for the happiness of their friend. Sorry, this is probably very convoluted, but I just have to express these thoughts before I lose them. I think I take the Suwa approach; if it's happened in another life no need to replicate it in another, let another person have his shot. It makes me sad because this Suwa's feelings were real and they should be validated, but Kakeru really needed someone to be his pillar of support. Suwa is the best boy (in this anime at least).

If the bond between the six of them wasn't as strong as it was, it wouldn't have made as much of an impact. I think the playful dynamic between all of them solidified the bond and gave you something to root for if you weren't already invested in Naho x Kakeru or Naho x Suwa. Take for example Azusa and Hagita, together the two of them were excellent comic relief, especially Hagita. In the episode they went to the shrine and Naho and Kakeru commented on each others scarves and Hagita chimed in that he was also wearing a scarf or how Kakeru let Naho listen to his music but not Hagita both of which were funny instances and a nice touch. In addition the dynamic between Takako and Azusa in relation to Naho was something of mothers watching their child grow, like when Naho didn't understand that Kakeru wanted to hold hands with her (super cute ugh I love fluff like that) or when they were super happy that Kakeru got his reward for coming in first in the relay :3. 

I wanna just add though that the OP and ED aren't great. The OP feels a little bit out of place as if they were trying to do a nice artsy montage, but with the music and the leaf overlays it didn't really vibe with me. And the ED made me a bit sentimental, but it wasn't knock your socks off, blow your brains out kind of good. And if you're shallow and you care about art you might be vaguely bothered by the art style. When I watched the first episode with my friends they said the eyes were creepy, but I think the art style's just grown on me so it looks normal? Haha no one said anime was realistic.

This definitely isn't your regular fluffy slice of life high school anime. It's got drama. It's got love triangles. It's got dry humor, aka Hagita. It's got angst. It's got a bit of sci fi and the butterfly effect sprinkled in. There's a bit of a lot of different things which makes it an excellent watch and equally wonderful read. I would definitely recommend this if you're looking for a different kind of high school anime and perhaps a thought provoking one as well. Also the last episode was really rare and refreshing. First off, the season is 13 episodes long instead of 12 and secondly the thirteenth episode is close to 40 minutes! It's crazy cool, jam packed with drama and feels, and just leaves the sensation of a bittersweet kiss fading from your lips (not that I've actually felt that, but it's like in movies when you see it you kinda know how it feels? Just me? Kay).

Okay this just kept playing throughout one episode and I really don't understand what's happening but it's really funny

Look at him sadly smiling and hiding all his pain. Ugh he tried so hard to keep it in and preserve the happiness his friendship with everyone gave him and then tried to tell his Tokyo friends but they were mean to him and that montage of his troubled mind episode was so painful ugh.

This just made me so angry because he started dating that senpai for her looks and she dated him for his reputation and status and it just left a sour taste in my mouth because of how unhealthy they were and reminded me, and should remind everyone, to date someone because of something else besides their physical features or trying to gain something if you can.

Montage of Takako and Azu being the absolute best friends to Naho and how great of a duo they are

Hagita is such an underrated character. You might go as far to say that he's unnecessary. But he's the reason Kakeru didn't take his bike. He helped to make Kakeru laugh. He's Azu's love interest. He was a part of that super great relay race. He should be more recognized. He even kind of protested against changing anything in case it messed everything up, just in case there wasn't a parallel world and instead just the one which made him seem like the least kind, but as seen in the first picture he cares as deeply for Kakeru as the other four. Plus his 26 year old self is super cute without glasses. >3<

Montage for Suwa because he's so precious. Look at the bottom picture when his beloved Naho thanks him and he's so touched you can see his tears and it shows that real men cry and show their feelings. And the middle one where he's trying to reassure Taka and Azu that he's okay with letting Kakeru have Naho in this reality. And the top one where he wants to hug Naho and confess, but he also prioritizes Kakeru and he's just the most selfless and amazing person.

Romantic isn't it? It makes me really happy that Naho could be happy with Kakeru. *satisfied*

This was really touching. As I head off to college I hope my friends and I still stay as friends and don't grow distant. Wishful thinking, I know *watery smile*

The sports episode was super tense, let's be honest, but it was also super funny because the boys didn't wanna be honest about how kawaii their girls were 

Signing off with this one because it's adorable

Manga Review 20 Watashi ni xx Shinasai!

I'm pretty sure this is a well-known manga by most otakus, but I found out about this manga by a friend. Randomly one day she asked me if I'd ever read it and if I hadn't that I should. She knows me so well, in fact she was the one that got me into anime in the first place. We sometimes joke that she was the one that led me astray and into this unstoppable addiction.

{Spoilers}

Yukina lives a double life; by day she's a regular junior high student without many friends because of her habit of staring at people and her icy cold gaze and by night she's a sensational cellphone novelist. Because of her readers wanting more romance in her stories, Yukina shifted her genre from friendship and adventure to romance which led to some difficulty since she didn't know anything about romance. One thing led to another and she ended up roping the school's prince and golden boy Shigure into doing missions with her. Things wouldn't be complete without a complicated love web with Shigure and Akira loving Yukina and Mami loving Shigure and then Akira and Hisame loving Mami and pretending to love Yukina. It's not even close to a triangle, it's just a mess.

As far as the plot and pacing goes I'd say it was perfect. There's a reason it's so well-known (besides me because I dunno a whole lot of mangas) with the pacing keeping you satisfied but just hungry enough to know what happens next to keep you on the edge of your seat. There was never a useless character or a pointless arc. It was a well constructed piece of art. It was a true coming-of-age in terms of Yukina slowly realizing what love was. At the beginning she was only after physical love, thinking that that was all you needed to be 'in love' and after her readers commented that something was missing between the two main characters of her story she slowly started to realize that there was something beyond the physical aspect of love. In some ways this inward struggle as you start to date people for something beyond their looks and more for the bond that the two of you share is relatable to Yukina's inner turmoil as she tries to figure out what exactly love is and how it feels. And it's not always easy as Yukina soon finds out. In fact it's really hard when things are thrown in her way like Akira's love for her and her love for him which are both love, just not the same love. Or when she realizes that her first love was for her kindergarten teacher and she wasn't sure if she was over it yet. She hadn't learned about the different kinds of love and what they meant. And the way the author so poignantly describes the different sensations of the varieties of love that Yukina experiences leaves the reader with a feeling of turmoil, of confusion, of sadness, of happiness all alongside her.

Although most of the manga is based upon Yukina's experience as she finds out what love is, alongside her journey is the people around her also learning what love is. The person she most directly touches is Shigure. Their relationship at first is rocky with the dynamics between them cloudy. The waters start to clear once the missions aren't just for blackmail purposes anymore, but are actions with intentions of discovery and love behind them. With Yukina, Shigure can take off the golden boy mask he wears with everyone and that's really the key to his heart. When he's able to be genuine with someone and learns to love someone truly and deeply it allows him to become the kind of person he was on the inside and let it shine through towards the outside. Without Yukina he would've never been able to let loose and let go of the perfect image in front of his stepfather. As far as Hisame goes, his love was a bit more complicated. If I were to stick a label on it "tsundere" would be the closest thing. Except his version is an extreme one. At times when he's talking about his novel as Dolche his fantasies turned into novel points seem almost obsessively manic. However, even though he lives in a world of fantasy it's hard not to love him and fall a little bit in love with his teenaged confusion. He doesn't know how to express his feelings and, like Yukina, starts to lose his way a little bit into the pit of physical contact without love behind those actions. His feelings for Mami were rather convoluted, but came from a good place in his heart where he wanted the best for her. As for Mami, she's probably the pure maiden type in this story. She's the most mature and knowledgeable when it comes to romance and reading one's own feelings which allows her to transition from loving Shigure to loving Akira in one of the smoothest parts of the manga. But it doesn't mean she doesn't have her own chip in her shoulder. She's a bit of a crybaby, but that makes her even more adorable and she never gives up (refer to the Christmas extra chapter). Akira was maybe one of the most bittersweet characters in the manga. He loves Yukina unconditionally and with an undying devotion. He was willing to be anyone she wanted him to be and do anything for her. And he still didn't end up with the girl. It wasn't the right kind of love. But he was mature and let her go. He was still her guardian angel, her knight in the wings. He deserves a lot of cute plushies and hugs.

Beyond the characters themselves and the plot and the pacing and all the great things about this novel, was the feelings I got from this. Maybe because the pacing was so great and the characters so well developed that I was able to get a lot of romantic feelings. Or maybe because it was so relatable on the level of finding out about love and not really knowing how you're feeling that made it resonate so deeply with me. (In a non mystical way, just a heart-touching kinda feel)

One thing I have to point out though, is that it is rather sexual and I don't think it's that realistic for a middle schooler to have these thoughts and feelings. It feels rather mature for middle schoolers. Like I don't know what middle schoolers these days are doing, but I sure don't think they think about things quite like this. It seemed more of a high school kind of feeling because realistically middle schoolers aren't quite so, developed? Or so I thought way back when 6 ish years ago.

Overall this was a brilliant manga. I was telling my friend how it gave me actuall doki-dokis. I felt my heart actually pump faster, which is kind of cheesy but it's the truth. It's one of the best shoujo mangas I've ever read. It feels complete, it feels whole, it gives you the most pleasant feeling once you're done reading it. I really recommend reading it if you're puzzling out your love life or just want something kind of dramatic but really fun to read.

Anime Blurb 51 The Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls

I didn't even know about this sub category of I don't even know what to call it, an idol series (?) existed. And now that I do I'm not sure that I'll continue and complete the rest of the series that they offer, though I'm tempted to. Honestly I watched this out of convenience since all of the episodes are on Youtube, subtitled and all (in multiple languages to boot!). I didn't expect to be taken on this whirlwind adventure immersed by all of these inspirational and hardworking girls doing their best to shine in the idol industry. It's really funny thinking back because this anime makes me feel super nostalgic. One of the first anime I ever watched, before I knew about Crunchyroll, Gogoanime, Kissanime etc, I stumbled across Love Live!, the original one mind you I haven't caught up to the newer series, and I watched it all the way through. Watching this series resurfaced all the inspirational feelings I had before when I wasn't even really into anime.

I just want to address, before I get into my review, that a lot of people compare Cinderella Girls to Love Live! and I see where they're coming from. I mean there's a lot of physical similarities with them being in the idol industry and being all girl groups, but at the same time they highlight different aspects of idol life (haha don't quote me, I didn't do research) with Cinderella Girls being deeply rooted in the original way of becoming idols i.e. auditions and training whereas Love Live! was more of a DIY collaboration between high school girls. Cinderella Girls has a variety of ages ranging from middle school to college, maybe even beyond because Nana was always like "I'm forever 17."

{Spoilers? Eh it's slice of life and a feel-good anime. You know how it's gonna go down.}

Disclaimer: Okay so obviously I can't review it in terms of accuracy when it comes to being an idol and whatnot because I'm not an idol, nor have I ever had any interest in becoming one so I don't want to fill your heads with fake news.

Basically the only way I can review it is based upon feeling and character development. So, as far as character development, there was a lot of turmoil in the second half if we're being honest here. The first 12 or so episodes it was fine. Everyone had a grand old time debuting and doing variety shows and whatnot. And then it became super stressful when the ice queen executive producer showed up fresh from America and full of ideas about how to mass produce successful idols. While I didn't particularly like her I think she served as an excellent catalyst for some of the girls to kick start their adventures.Without her pushing them to improve Anya wouldn't have become a solo artist and Rin wouldn't have made a second group with Triad Primus. So she helped those two grow especially and that also led to the other characters growing as well. Not all the girls, obviously, but a vast majority of them. Because Anya left Love Laika, Minami ended up alone which ended up with Minami becoming a solo artist herself. Just that whole portion of episodes where Anya and Rin were deciding whether or not to pursue the next leg of adventure made me really stressed out because their original groups were already beautiful and growing, but it was all for the sake of trying to see a new view. What was the most heartbreaking was when you could see their group mates questioning their own worth and the strength of the bonds between them and the question in their eyes that said "Am I not good enough? Am I not enough for you?" Okay, maybe I'm reading a lot in between the lines, but I still think that's what they're saying. I could write whole paragraphs about how Chieri overcame her shyness and stopped using her 'frog' crutch, how Miku and Riina's dynamic was unexpected but turning into a rockin' duo to quartet group, how Kanako's impactful deal with the ideal idol weight was a short portion but allowed for a more holistic view of idol work, how Ranko challenged the conventional genres of an idol's image, how Mio found herself a talent after coming to terms with Rin's decision to leave, or Miria's relatable struggle for attention as the older sister but we all know I'd just go on passionate rambles about each one. And it wasn't even the growth and progression of the main idols, but also of Producer-san. Throughout it all he was the silent pillar of support that weathered the storm and protected the girls. And he was fearless. When he was wrong he would admit it and he would try his hardest to do what the girls wanted to do; if the ice queen executive producer was a conventional farmer, he would be a free range organic farmer.

I thought that Uzuki should have her own little section because she really was the beginning and end of the series that brought it full circle. I'm pretty sure we saw the most of her and she was kind of the poster girl for the series. She always tried her hardest and whenever you think about her you just think of the phrase "Gambatte!" because that's what she's about. She's about trying her hardest. And at times, even though Mio dubbed her the 'natural airhead', she was insightful and inspirational. For a while it seemed like she lost her sparkle and her will to shine because she was being outshone by those around her. In any life situation, everyone's felt a little dimmer than others at some point. I think that's why Uzuki is the most easy to relate to. I dunno, I just thought I should give her a proper nod in recognition for being the glue to stick things together.

Okay if you couldn't already tell, the whole thing was super uplifting and cheerful. The lows were pretty low if I'm being honest, but the highs really made up for it. Every concert, save for the New Generations debut, was upbeat and lively. I'm wondering where I could get some of those light sticks by the way. And the camaraderie in every episode was so beautiful. All the girls supported one another. Even when Miku was dealing with having girls that came after her debut first she came to terms with it and just decided to work harder so that when it was her turn to debut she could do her best. All of it was so pure it makes your heart feel like it's wrapped in a warm embrace.

Overall, if you're looking for a pure, heart-of-gold anime series, this is the one for you. It's a bit on the longer side with the series being 25 episodes and not as exciting at times, but it's well worth it. That amount of time makes it easy to get to know all of the characters even though there's so many of them. It's great seeing them develop over time and seeing their hard work pay off in brilliant performances. There's just something about idol anime that's almost addicting. You can't help but feel as though your soul has been cleansed and you can get through another day with a smile.

Side Note: The reason I created this blog's anime/manga section was to rant and just spill out my feelings about things I like to my heart's desire. This is more of a reminder to myself why I started this than anything else.

From the moment I saw Anzu I connected with her on a spiritual level

I had to add these in because 1. They're aesthetically pleasing and 2. They're pretty inspiring

Not only was this anime really uplifting, it also made me really sad because it's almost too relatable

Of course there were also funny incidents

And comforting times

And inspirational ones

With some bittersweet moments

And, of course, the viewer's satisfaction with seeing their growth

Rainbow Cake {Well, Sort of}

Hey, so it's been a while since I posted a baking post hasn't it *smiles brightly in hopes I'll distract you from looking up the last time I posted a baking post* And here I am, back at it again with a great, honest review/trying out something new! Without further ado, let's get into it! (It sounds like a Youtube video intro because I watch baking videos instead of posting anything on my blog haha)

I got this recipe from another blog because I haven't had much luck personally with making white cakes. It's more like I have an adversity to using shortening or lard so here I am with an awesome cake recipe that doesn't have either of these. I was a little skeptical at first if it would be moist, but with the amount of vegetable oil and butter there's really no reason at all to worry. Side note that the butter does keep the cake from being a pure white, but that didn't really matter anyways since you're here for rainbow cake! The recipe also calls for a technique called reverse creaming which I had never heard of until today. From what I understand it's simply a complex name for putting the ingredients together in a different way i.e. like how when you're making cookies usually you cream together the butter and sugar first. Anyways, I decided to make a blog post for how I made my cake, but you could always follow the recipe they provide for a bigger white cake (Original Recipe). It's super tender and melts in your mouth, I can attest to this. If it wasn't good I'd still make a post...just probably not the step by step of how I made it.

This whole obsession for a rainbow cake came about when I was watching videos on Korean cafes and stumbled upon one with a beautiful cake display called Dore Dore. It's totally Instagram worthy. But since I can't actually go to Korea (anytime soon anyways :( ) I decided the next best thing would be to make my own cake! So if you want to go to Korea but can't actually go then you can make this cake for yourself and pretend as if you were there!

Cake Recipe (Basically half of the original recipe in grams because halving cups is messy like no one has a 3/8 cup)

• 175 g granulated sugar
• 143 g cake flour (don't use regular flour because it tends to weigh down the mixture, I mean you probably could, but it wouldn't be the same fluffy texture)
• 1 g salt
• 9 g baking powder
• 2 egg whites
• 4 g vanilla (1 tsp)
• 121 g buttermilk (I used coconut milk + vinegar because #lactoseintolerantmajority household and it was fine)
• 36 g vegetable oil
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, either room temperature or microwaved slightly with the core still being cold (if it's too soft it won't combine the same way into the dry ingredients)
• Assorted food coloring (because we're making rainbow cake)

Frosting Recipe (I chose whipped cream frosting because the Dore Dore cake is whipped cream frosting)

• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 325 F and grease your pans. I used 18 cm baking tins from Daiso, cheap and surprisingly good quality.

2. Combine your dry ingredients into a big bowl (stand mixer bowl or whatever): sugar, flour, salt, baking powder. It'd help to sift them through. It's not necessary, but I find it's easier to mix into a smooth, lumpless batter later.

3. In a separate, smaller bowl combine the egg whites, buttermilk, vanilla extract and vegetable oil. In the original recipe it says to use a fork to mix and it worked pretty well. I was surprised!

4. Add half of the wet ingredients to the dry and mix it for about a minute to combine. The texture and look of it was so beautifully fluffy.

5. Add another quarter of the wet ingredients and mix through. And then the last of the wet into the batter and mix. Then it becomes less fluffy and beautiful.

6. Then I divided the batter evenly into 4 because I used 4 colors to make 4 layers. (I forgot that I didn't have yellow or green food coloring. Oops) To make it really even I used math for the first time outside of a school environment. But don't worry, it's not hard math. I weighed the mixing bowl before and after I made the batter so I knew how much batter (doing it in grams makes it easier since the division and measurement is in prettier numbers) I had and then I zeroed out my scale with another bowl on it and poured one fourth of the batter weight into the bowl. Then I had 4 separate bowls to put color into.

7. Then pour them into the greased baking pans for 25-30 minutes. To test if it's done put a toothpick and if it comes out clean or with a few crumbs you did it!

8. Put the cakes in the fridge to cool.

9. Level the cakes.

10. Combine the heavy whipping cream in a bowl and start mixing it with the whisk attachment. Then slowly add in the powdered sugar.

11. Frost the cake and admire your work!