Manga Match 25 Chikyuu no Owari wa Koi no Hajimari

I had actually picked this shoujo up when I was on one of my hunts for great shoujo manga, but I never ended up finishing it. It's a shame honestly because I had to rely on scanlations ya know? So it wasn't ideal. But I was able to finally finish it!

{Spoilers...but you already know how it's going to end up hehe}

So this isn't like every other romance because it's kind of dysfunctional and it's got an interesting twist. It follows the protagonist Mahiru and her struggle to come to terms with the fact that people tend to favor her younger, popular, and extroverted twin sister Mayo. She has a complex in which she believes that Mayo has done no wrong, and because she views her sister as being perfect, she comes to hate herself. This mindset that she has is challenged when she starts high school and the school's numero uno ikemen Satomi takes an interest in her. Of course this is all because Mahiru was kind to him when it was his pre-glow up, but she doesn't know that. And it unfolds into this sweet, but at the same time frustrating, romance between a guy that has some social cue issues due to his unfortunate past and a girl with, for lack of a better phrase, an inferiority complex. It's sad really how Mahiru wasn't liked by her other classmates because she was more introverted than her sister. Like she's such a sweet girl that thinks badly of herself just because she's faced with the real and oh so painful emotion of jealousy. Honestly speaking, I don't think any of the characters have any reason to be hated, they all just have problems with communication and getting their feelings properly understood by others.

One thing I do have a problem with is the pacing. I assume that the series is over because it literally said "the end" at the end of chapter 20 so I think it's safe to assume that it's over, right? And so I can say that while their romance in general was well developed and they all have pretty clear motivations and everything was resolved, it just seemed short. And while Ginga's love was hinted at in later chapters, I kinda think it was still sudden for him to confess his love for Mahiru. Mahiru is super duper cute, but still it was a bit sudden.

Overall I think it was a great visualization of how precious love is in any form. It's also a good reminder to always tell your loved ones you care about them and make sure they understand your feelings properly. From all the shoujo manga I've read I've really come to appreciate good communication. Because the lack of communication and misunderstandings always pains my heart a little bit. Which is silly because it's fictional, but in every story I think there's a little bit of truth and wisdom to be taken from it. Over the summer I plan to perhaps write a novel. Maybe yes, maybe no, but I think I want to try to narrate my feelings in hopes that it reaches someone out there going through something similar or something. Or maybe that's just my wishful thinking. Who knows~

I didn't realize it was over until I had finished chapter 20, so excuse the lack of screenshots, I'm a bit drained from school anyways (lol that's all I talk about rip sorry), but please enjoy these doki-doki ending moments. Also I think this author really loves the plaid/checkered/modular(?) tones because they're absolutely everywhere. And look at those shoujo sparkles :') love em

Manga Match 24 Spicy Pink

Okay so the only reason I found this manga was when I was watching a korean reality show type thing and there was one girl who said she was part of this group called Pink Spicy that never debuted and I wanted to see if I could find any videos of that, which I couldn't end up finding. What I did end up finding was this very standard manga.

{LOL it's too predictable. You don't need a warning.}

So it's basically about this shoujo mangaka Sakura and how her questionable friend persuades her to go to a mixer with her to make the numbers even, as it often goes in these kinds of scenarios, and she ends up meeting this jerk plastic surgeon. That plastic surgeon has a tragic past which includes this girl he used to love that left him for an older, rich, and abusive man. And now he's scarred. But he quickly gets over it once he falls for Sakura's charm. And that's basically the whole story. I don't think that this could constitute really as anyone's favorite manga because it was just too brief and just not the best? Like I appreciate the mangaka's intention in creating a manga like this and that if they were given more than 12 chapters for their story they could've put more thought into the character development and making the characters unique and lovable, but as it stands it's not a very memorable or noteworthy series.

One problem I've found with a lot of manga that depict romance is that oftentimes it portrays sex as the ultimate form of showing your love. Perhaps it's a cultural difference and that really is the ultimate way and only way to truly show your love to someone, and if that's true then I respect that that's how it is. But honestly I think that there's a lot of other ways besides sex that would convey love in a more heartfelt way. Because it kind of seems like the only thing that these people need is someone's shoulder to lean on and just physical things when in actuality you need your partner to be there for mental support, emotional support, and other things that aren't tangible but are extremely valuable like good communication and the like. Anyways that's just my two cents on the matter. It's been on my mind for a while.

Anyways if you're looking for a really quick read I guess you could read this, but honestly you're better off looking elsewhere for a more fleshed out story and more exciting plot. Sorry :(

Honestly this set of three images is all I needed. This was enough. This support was very nice and I appreciate it. Yes.

But I mean I'm glad they ended up happy together lol

Anime ATM 82 Aggretsuko

In the span of a single day, two people recommended this show to me. When the first person did I didn't give it a lot of thought. He didn't go into a whole lot of detail about it and most of what he says, if not all, goes in one ear and out the other. The other person was my dear Canadian. Her opinion meant a lot more so I put it on my list to watch. I didn't mean to binge watch it, but it was all too easy. Midterms? What are those? I don't know them. I mean, the season is only 10 episodes and each one is 15 minutes, less if you skip the OP and the ED. So it's not really that bad, or so I'm trying to persuade myself.

{LOL it's slice of life, you know the drill, no spoilers}

I didn't really want to admit that those people were right when they said I would really enjoy this anime or that the main character reminded them of me...but they were kind of right. Retsuko is truly a relatable protagonist. She's not perfect by any means and she's quirky too. She's just trying to make her way through life without too much disturbance. On the outside, Retsuko looks like your average corporate office worker, a real career woman in the accounting department. The only real notable thing about her is that she's a bit of a pushover. But you soon realize that underneath that sweet and tolerable exterior lies a death metal loving alter ego. She uses this singing and the karaoke place she frequents as her sanctuary from all of the expectations people have of her. In that kind of business setting you're forced to conform and go with the flow, but Retsuko finds this kind of thing unbearable. The show mainly focuses on her and her struggle with her job and love life.

Along the way you can experience her interactions with the people around her and how they all have pretenses that they hide behind. A good example is the women power duo of the company, Washimi and Gori. On the outside they look like total girl bosses, walking around the company always looking like they've got something important to go to. In actuality it's tiring for them to constantly have this image and it's comforting yet disconcerting to know that even these untouchable and super cool people also have to play a role to fit into this office persona. Like Gori is actually a super awkward person, but she can't really show it at work because she's forced to have this professional attitude. Like sure it's work, but it's also kind of sad that you can't be yourself. Honestly I'm really happy that Retsuko found friends in those two. They're like A-1 supporting characters.

Speaking of supporting characters, Retsuko starts off the show with her two friend Fenneko and Haida. Honestly Fenneko is super funny and quirky. She's lowkey me when she doesn't want to go to the mixer, but ends up going and finding out that it's actually super fun. And she's also me when she knows something and makes that really funny and annoying fake laugh. Like Fenneko is lowkey me if I didn't already relate so much to Retsuko. And we already know that Haida is Retsuko's actual soul mate. When he's on the phone with Fenneko and worried about Retsuko being snatched by some other man, he's in his room with his leather jacket on and looks like a total rocker. That's when you know that the man Retsuko would be most compatible is the one right in front of her. I hesitate to say that he's the man that Retsuko needs because I think she's just chillin' at her own pace you know. She's 25 and she's got a stable career and great friends so there's no need for her to rush. Even though she contemplated marriage as just a way to escape from her insufferable job and how Director Ton and honestly everyone in the Accounting department take advantage of her, she still doesn't need a man I think.

There are a lot of quirky little bits and bobs throughout the show that make it really entertaining. Every time she breaks out into a death metal solo it makes me feel a little cathartic as well. It's definitely a very fun and entertaining show that I think a lot of people can relate to. I definitely recommend that you watch it if you're looking for a comedy/slice of life that's aimed, I assume, more for an older audience that is working. Yep.

Alrighty now I'm off to study for my midterms. No screenshots again because it was on Netflix. Sorry y'all!

Anime ATM 81 Violet Evergarden

Okay I want to premise this by saying that there are probably bomb analysis and theory videos out there that do a better job than I could ever dream of doing, but this is for me.

{Spoilers}

It's been a while since I've watched such a heart wrenching anime. Sure every now and then I'll go on a tangent about how relatable an anime was because a lot of the times yeah there's relatable content, but this is just on a whole other level. Honestly I've been hyped about this being released as an anime since that first OST came out. You know the one that everyone, and I mean everyone, made covers of? Yeah that one. I've been hyped since then and that was years ago. The only thing stopping me from watching it was school and the fact that I wanted to binge it all. And let me tell you that my heart was not ready. This review is going to be all over the place and I don't really care.

Can we first just start off with how beautiful everything was? Kyoani really outdid themselves. All of the textures that you could just feel through the screen with those rich colors and just everything about it really. It was all so fluid and with everything you could just see how beautiful everything in this world is in contrast to the nastiness of war.

I'm not really into war films all that much. I think that the only thing war really brings out is a lot of technology, useless or not you decide, and a lot of suffering. I think Violet Evergarden really showcased part of what it's like living through war and having to build everything up after that. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like in history class they focus a lot on the wars and all of the political stuff, the really macro view of everything, so much so that we kind of get desensitized to how devastating war is. Take for example the post office that Hodgins sets up. The reason he set that whole company up was because a lot of people still couldn't write but they needed some form of communication. One problem I kind of have with this whole postal communication thing is that they had advanced enough medicine to give Violet two prosthetic arms, but they didn't have anything else particularly advanced in the same way. Maybe my idea of medicine in the time period they are trying to portray is a bit remedial, but it just amazes me that they could build such advanced prosthetics, but still not be able to have a whole lot of other advances at the same time.

But continuing on with the building back of society after the war. Besides all of the infrastructure that everyone's working on like the transcontinental railroad to unite the northern and southern regions and everything everyone's doing in order to bring everything back to the status quo of business as usual, trying to recover from the war, you also see how broken everyone is. Everyone is touched in some way or the other by the war. Some of them have lost people they know, loved ones, or they've lost their homes or people just treat them differently. Like Hodgins said to Violet, everyone's burning. It's just so sad how terribly war strikes and even when it's over its impacts don't subside for a long time. Everyone is still left with the void left by things the war took from them.

And from all of this loss from the war come many different people. There are people that lost everything in the war and seek revenge, like the anti-peace factions. They lost everything and because of that they just wanted everyone else to suffer. And honestly since they went through all of that hardship, it's hard to blame them. Their lives must've looked so incredibly bleak. Same to the people who lost their family members in the war. At the beginning of the series I despised Dietfried. I thought he was such an ass for "gifting" Gilbert with Violet as if she were just a tool. And afterwards he only treated her with scorn and never saw her as more than a dog. But when she protected him from the anti-peace faction and he was able to see how she was able to voice her emotions and he was able to finally see how human she really was and how much she really cared for Gilbert, seeing how he started to let go of his resentment for her was cathartic. It's really easy to pawn off the blame on someone else in order to cope with unwanted emotions, which was what Dietfried did for so long, but he was able to find it in his heart to see Violet as someone who loved Gilbert just as much as he did, as an equal instead of a lesser war dog. I think these transformations from how the war twisted people and how they overcame all the burns that the war left them with is a beautiful thing. Especially for the main protagonist Violet.

I'm sure a lot of people have already analyzed her and come up with most of the symbolic things that make Violet such an interesting person, but bear with me here. In the beginning of the show she was extremely militant. When there's flashbacks of when Dietfried originally gave her to Gilbert she was seen as almost a rabid animal that was supposed to be used for as long as it was useful and then thrown away. Obviously Gilbert saw her as more than that, but as it was her personality wasn't allowed to grow into anything more than an unfeeling war machine. This is symbolically shown consistently throughout the show with her biting the maids hand when Gilbert first brought her to his home and later on when she first took off the gloves that covered her hands with her teeth. This animalistic and wild nature of hers starts to diminish as the series goes on and she's able to start experiencing lots of different human emotions on her assignments as an auto memory doll. Her lack of knowledge about regular humans is also captured in the fact that her arms are made of metal. That paired with her originally placid expression give off the feeling of an inhuman android. However, though her arms make her different from the average person, they're also the symbol of the ultimate sacrifice. Because of her upbringing to be more of a war tool and less of a person she didn't have the capacity, whether we're talking about verbalization or even mental preparation, to have feelings for another human being. If she was taught anything along the lines of sympathy and mercy it wouldn't have been possible for her to kill anyone. Instead she was taught to be cold and unfeeling. And despite that constant demeanor of an unfeeling tool lies the innate nature that humans have within them to protect the ones she love. When Gilbert was dying on the stairs of the base and her arm just came off and she tried to drag him with her teeth I was close to tears. She didn't even know what the phrase "I love you" meant, but she was so wholeheartedly devoted to Gilbert that she never gave up on trying to save him. She was in so much excruciating pain, but her love for him overcame that. He was the first person to ever show her kindness and treat her as more than just a tool. He was the first person she probably ever loved. The devotion she had for him and their whole relationship, while strained and broken due to the premise of the war, was so utterly compelling.

And while at first Violet was unable to understand what the phrase "I love you" meant, she sought out the meaning of it as an auto memory doll and was able to understand human emotions through it. I felt personally that the episodes were a little rushed. If it was even 15 episodes I think a lot of other things could be explained such as where Dietfried found her, or give us a better flow than just a new letter writing request every time. While it lent itself for a quick paced show that always kept me engaged, I wouldn't have minded more time in each place to get to know people more and to see a more drawn out evolution of Violet. I understand that this was probably more of the highlights of how each letter changed Violet in some way and opened up her emotional capacity to feel, however at the same time I also feel as if something is missing. Like in episode 5 all of a sudden Dietfried comes out of nowhere and goes "how could you write letter that bring people together when you've murdered so many people?" and while yeah that's true, it was also a little out of left field. It's things like that which kind of caught me off guard and left me desiring a little bit more at times. But back to the main thought (I pretend like this is organized, but mostly this is just a rant lol).

Throughout all of Violet's letter writing assignments she's able to experience different faucets of the human experience that she missed out on as she was trained to just kill people. She learned many things such as the delicate nature of words and how to read people's actions, words and emotions as well as the beauty of the bonds in between people and the different kinds of love that they share. Throughout a lot of these letter writings, V and I both felt extremely moved to the point of tears. I think it just depends on what kind of person you and and your own personal experiences, but just a lot of parts moved me to tears. Especially episode 10. There's just something really personal that happened to me that makes me really sad when I think about people losing their parents. It's probably because I'm so close to my parents that I feel this way, but just the whole thing of even when their parent is gone, that they're still looking out for them is so indescribably sweet. Oh my god I'm tearing up right now thinking about that episode. There's just a lot of scenes in Violet Evergarden that I don't think can be fully experience through words. It can only be evoked through sight, the motion and facial expressions these people make. And it's things like this that really get to Violet and in some ways educate her in all the ways humans are so complex. Another episode that got to me was episode 5. I'm a sucker for a good romance story as you could probably already tell. There was just something about this, although thinking about it right now is kind of disturbing thinking about a 14 year old girl marrying a guy that's 10 years older, that's so endearing. Like the love letters they send each other at first are so flowery and poetic, and utterly fake, and then with Violet and Cattleya's intervention they start sending letters to each other that are so real. And the kingdom reading them also starts to get super invested in the letters and relates to them a lot more when they're written by real people instead of by a Doll. It's something so small, but at the same time it's so sweet thinking about that sort of thing. Like how neither of them were perfect, but they were happy together.

There are a million little subtleties that I could've brought up if I had just jotted them down when I had the idea, but I like the idea of writing things organically anyways rather than having it be very structured like a regular school essay. I've done enough of those to know that they get the point across better and you don't necessarily need to have a certain feeling in order to write them, blog posts are different in that you want them to be organized, but I'd rather have the feeling be there rather than it be necessarily easy to read. But maybe that's just me. I guess if I have any more subtleties I'd like to add on I could just add a postscript with the day I add upon this.

Overall I'd say that this was an amazing watch. I don't know if it was so impressive because I just love Kyoani so much, or because I have a secret love for historical fiction, or because I love people overcoming struggles in times of difficulty, or I just love watching humans fight for humanity, or I just haven't watched an anime with a plot in a while. Maybe it's a combination of all of these things. Maybe it's how it makes my soul feel. It makes me feel happy and fulfilled and full and satisfied and warm when I see those warm market lights with Gilbert buying Violet the brooch that looks like his eyes or seeing those scenery shots or the OP or the ED or just all of it as a whole. Heck I might even rewatch it it was so good and I never rewatch things. It was just so amazing and I think the next project was introduced at the last episode? I could be wrong. But I'm here for it if it does happen. I pray for better pacing though. Other than that it was so incredibly beautiful. I was plunged into that world. I became more heartfelt and emotionally awakened alongside Violet. I have nothing but endless good things to say.

Also you can stop scrolling now because I watched the series on Netflix and it doesn't let you take screenshots. Haha sorry I just really like good quality and since I've got a Netflix account, why not take advantage of it right? Anyways y'all probably already know how beautiful it is smh so many people make gif sets of it.

Anime ATM 80 Karakai Jouzu no Takagi

If you look at any list of anyone's top 10 shoujo anime I've probably watched it. And so I asked V what fluffy anime he's watched recently in order to perhaps satiate my need for fluffy things. In the process of watching this I realized that as much as I like shoujo and slice of life, I've been avoiding shows with actual plot which is rather disappointing. So I'll probably watch something with actual substance one of these days. Who knows when though because school is becoming more of a chore T^T

{Once I finished writing this I realized how much it starts repeating when all I review is slice of life. RIP}

{LOL no spoilers bc slice of life}

This show is definitely a blend of Nichijou and Momofuri. It's got that playful and innocent nature that is most of Momofuri, while still having a toned down version of the eccentric nature of Nichijou. The show revolves around two groups of people in middle school. One of them is a boy and a girl, Nishikata and Takagi and the other is a trio of friends Sanae, Mina, and Yukari. Sanae, Mina and Yukari portray more of the traditional slice of life, comedy, and school life aspect of the show. They are often the comedy relief of the show and are often doing random things, mostly at Mina's expense. The three of them have a timeless quality that you can find steadfast through the genre.

The more interesting aspect of this show I found was the dynamic between Nishikata and Takagi. Takagi incessantly teases Nishikata in and out of class. At one part it gave me a little bit of Tonari no Seki kun vibes when Nishikata was making a jack-in-the-box to try and shock Takagi, only for it to backfire in his face quite literally. Takagi often takes advantage of how easy it is to read Nishikata and uses that as well as his short-sightedness to prank him. As someone older than these kids and seeing the antics of middle schoolers it's easy to see how Takagi is more mature and definitely likes Nishikata, whereas Nishikata doesn't really understand his feelings and instead focuses on trying to oust Takagi at her game of teasing him. That's basically the whole series. It's a beautiful thing really, to see their friendship grow and subtly progress throughout the show. 

One thing I find funny is that usually they're in English class when all of this happens. And a bulk of the show actually happens before and after school with Nishikata and Takagi walking together. And it's also funny seeing the two sides of middle school life, the kind of romantic life with teasing the people you like and also the childish fun that you have with your friends. It's pretty nostalgic thinking back to those middle school days.

Overall, if you're looking for a fluffy 12 episode anime this is it. It's got a lot of doki-doki moments, as well as, ironically, a shoujo parody inside, which is pretty funny considering this definitely has shoujo vibes. Or perhaps it isn't shoujo since it's from Nishikata's perspective, but instead in a more general sense it's just romantic. It's also relatable and heartwarming all at once. Just listen to the OP and if you're anything like me you'll probably be hooked. Fingers crossed anyways that you enjoy~

Me thinking about everything I've ever wasted time on. Honestly Mina is me. She's the type of person to try something new and it usually turns of disgusting just for the experience. :( whenever I order a new drink it usually turns out disgusting and sad, but it was an interesting experience I can never get back, which in its own way is valuable as well (me trying to justify buying so many expensive drinks or clothing that I do not enjoy but like trying lol)

RIP when people catch you doing embarrassing things and commence teasing you about it for about two thirds of an eternity

Mina's pretty dramatic, but at the same time this is really relatable. I remember at the end of my summer break, as I was finishing packing for college I realized that summer break wasn't coming back, that even when I come back from college I'm just going to work and go to summer school in order to graduation, so it was a pretty sobering experience realizing that that was the end of basically my childhood. Not to be dramatic or anything, but in essence that's what happened. :( I miss being a kid.

I present to you: the Evolution of Takagi and Nishikata's Relationship (abridged)

It's kind of painful how clueless Nishikata is sometimes

I think it's cute how towards the end they started showing more of how Takagi felt. Because before we just had to sort of infer from the instinct that when a girl teases a guy at that age it's a good sign that she likes him, especially since she always talks to basically only him and knows him pretty darn well. But it's just super cute seeing her as well, that her heart is also racing and it's not just her playing with him, but also because she genuinely likes him as well.