Truthfully, this manga has been repeatedly recommended to me on the MangaRock app, but it never appealed to me. The premise of a girl relying on her neighbor's cooking didn't really interest me. But, I started to run out of interesting things to read so I thought I'd give this a shot. Plot twist: it turned out to be really good. There's definitely a time and place for manga that're like 4 chapters long or manga that's over 100 chapters long, but this one with 14 chapters hits the sweet spot of it could take you two days to get through of you could binge it in one. And I was just in the mood for that kinda thing. So this came at a perfect time really.
{Spoilers, but it's shoujo/SoL so don't worry}
Suzuna has lived her whole adolescent life up until this point without friends in some farming town. After living like this, she realizes that it's time to make her college debut so she works really hard and moves to Tokyo for college for her new exciting life to start. Except she never learned how to cook or actually take care of herself, so if her next-door neighbor hadn't checked up on her she probably would've died. Thank god for Seto. He's Suzuna's next-door neighbor and happens to be in the same department and year as her. He helps her learn how to cook in exchange for some of the fresh produce her parents send her from their farm. It's a very domestic manga with lots of cooking montages and SoL arcs like club circle activities, sakura picnic-going, and a vacation in a rich friend's house. And of course there so happens to bloom a very cute and subtle love between Suzuna and Seto. It was an especially satisfactory romance to watch since at the beginning Seto was set on Suzuna not being his type and Suzuna seeing him as more of a teacher than love interest, though slowly and sure things started to change and it was really cute. Especially as Suzuna started to show more interest in him and he kept giving her really non-romantic things like the edamame plant for her birthday and soy sauce as a white gift. Is this what they call gap moe? Not sure.
Overall, a really solid short read. You might learn some cooking tips as well! So this is an educational read you could say :) And I would recommend it since it's a pretty natural progression of their romance and a good slice of life to get you feeling kinda nostalgic/anticipatory about college (depending on how old you are).
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Manga Match 98 Yumiero Patissiere
This was one of the first anime that I remember watching and it heavily influenced my desire as a child to become a patissiere just like Ichigo. When I grew up I realized that baking was more of a hobby than a career for me. And especially since I've seen so many amazing baked creations and such on Instagram, I'm really glad I didn't go to college for a business degree. LOL I wanted to be a business major so I could really run my own baking business. I think we dodged a bullet there.
The manga version of Yumiero Patissiere is a little different from the anime. In the anime, the romance was definitely left more open-ended from my memory so that they could make that sequel where they're all adults. But all of the characters are pretty much the same and the story follows very true to the anime. So really I didn't read it for anything new, I read it for some sort of creature comfort I would say.
The manga and anime both follow this girl with an incredible sense of taste which goes along well with her creative imagination. She's scouted by one of the best pastry chefs in the world and ends up going to this super elite baking academy called St. Marie Academy. There she meets Kashino, Hanabusa, and Andou aka the Sweets Princes. She's thrust into this world and has to work really hard at practicing her baking skills to catch up to everyone else. Thanks to her hard work and practice she's able to flourish at the Academy despite her klutzy nature.
There's definitely a level of fantastical magic going on here with the element of Sweets Spirits. The Academy is actually connected to the Sweets Kingdom which is this lovely magical world where little fairies make sweets and come to the human world to apprentice with the dream of becoming Royal Patissieres.
And the story basically just follows the main four and their sweets spirits as they all work hard for their dreams. There's nothing more I could ever desire. Maybe it's just because of the nostalgic aspect, but I felt very satisfied reading the whole thing through. If you're also interested in baking or like rather fantastical works, I would say this is a good read. It's definitely very shoujo-y, but it's also inspiring to see how far imagination and hard work can take you. Just a very comfy read that gets you though the tough times.
The manga version of Yumiero Patissiere is a little different from the anime. In the anime, the romance was definitely left more open-ended from my memory so that they could make that sequel where they're all adults. But all of the characters are pretty much the same and the story follows very true to the anime. So really I didn't read it for anything new, I read it for some sort of creature comfort I would say.
The manga and anime both follow this girl with an incredible sense of taste which goes along well with her creative imagination. She's scouted by one of the best pastry chefs in the world and ends up going to this super elite baking academy called St. Marie Academy. There she meets Kashino, Hanabusa, and Andou aka the Sweets Princes. She's thrust into this world and has to work really hard at practicing her baking skills to catch up to everyone else. Thanks to her hard work and practice she's able to flourish at the Academy despite her klutzy nature.
There's definitely a level of fantastical magic going on here with the element of Sweets Spirits. The Academy is actually connected to the Sweets Kingdom which is this lovely magical world where little fairies make sweets and come to the human world to apprentice with the dream of becoming Royal Patissieres.
And the story basically just follows the main four and their sweets spirits as they all work hard for their dreams. There's nothing more I could ever desire. Maybe it's just because of the nostalgic aspect, but I felt very satisfied reading the whole thing through. If you're also interested in baking or like rather fantastical works, I would say this is a good read. It's definitely very shoujo-y, but it's also inspiring to see how far imagination and hard work can take you. Just a very comfy read that gets you though the tough times.
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Anime ATM 103 Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll
It's Day ? of shelter-in-place and honestly I've been pretty busy with remote classes and other things to do around the house. No matter how much I clean, there's always more. And I've been baking a lot too which has been rewarding in its own way. I know for some people they're getting pretty antsy at home, but I think that this is fine. When I was brushing my teeth this morning I even thought that I could live on a space ship. Obviously that was just a fleeting thought and tremendously fantastical and mildly unrealistic due to my motion sickness, but it's kind of an amusing thought. Also, since I'm in two science fiction English Lit courses this quarter, I've had some time to think about the world that Violet Evergarden lives in a little bit more.
As we all know, I couldn't stop gushing about the first season. It was so beautiful and heart-wrenching and a roller coaster all around. The movie didn't disappoint; visually it was absolutely stunning. KyoAni did an amazing job with all of the transitions and dreamy time lapses, but you don't need me to tell you that, you already know it was breath-taking.
In terms of plot, it tells the story of Violet working as a Doll, but in this strange new capacity. She's been assigned to be the tutor of Isabella York, the daughter of one of the aristocracy for the 3 months before her debut. Originally Isabella is stand-offish and seems to not fit in with the other girls that go to her all-girls private academy. Don't worry, there's no cat-fighting or anything shallow like that going on. In fact all of the girls are really wholesome and lift one another up which we love. Violet ends up as her companion and confidante during these 3 months and they become close friends. It's left pretty open-ended, so you could argue that they were more like lovers than friends, but really I'll leave that up to your interpretation. Truly in my heart of hearts I'm hoping that Gilbert somehow miraculously returns and that Violet and Gilbert can live happily ever after, but I'm not sure if that'll ever happen. :(
At the end of the 3 months Isabella has become a "proper lady" for her debut. But, before Violet leaves, Isabella reveals her past as a commoner before, living with Taylor, a little girl she adopted as her own sister, who we've been getting glimpses of all along. And then we see precious baby Taylor getting the letter from Benedict.
Three years later we meet a little more grown up Taylor who's come to Violet's workplace to become a mail deliverer and deliver happiness to the public. It's very wholesome and a real bittersweet happily ever after in the way of Taylor and Isabella's "reunion" of sorts.
Oh, and Benedict appears a lot during the movie. I know I was talking to my friend E about the show and she really liked him haha.
The movie as a whole evokes a sense of longing and nostalgia for simpler times. I mean they write and deliver letters and the world seems to move a bit more slowly than nowadays. I know that this is just a romanticization and I should be glad for how much the world has advanced, but it seems really beautiful, the way that they live in the movie. The whole world is rebuilding and there's an air of revival with the war over and everyone building and progressing as Benedict notices during his mail route. And you can see obvious signs of progress with elevators, wide-spread electricity, the radio tower (that looks a lot like the Eiffel Tower?) and more cars, but it also seems rather different and exciting.
Overall, I think the movie is really beautiful. It's touching and there's an intimately human quality about it. All of the characters seems so comfy and familiar, especially if you watched the show. But, even if you haven't, I think that you can empathize a lot with each of the characters and appreciate the storytelling that makes it seem like you're walking in step with Taylor on her mail route or you're right there crying with Benedict as he delivers Taylor's letter. The movie lets you into an intimately human realm that you can empathize a lot with in a world that's somewhat familiar to ours that helps you to immerse yourself in the world KyoAni has brought to life.
As we all know, I couldn't stop gushing about the first season. It was so beautiful and heart-wrenching and a roller coaster all around. The movie didn't disappoint; visually it was absolutely stunning. KyoAni did an amazing job with all of the transitions and dreamy time lapses, but you don't need me to tell you that, you already know it was breath-taking.
In terms of plot, it tells the story of Violet working as a Doll, but in this strange new capacity. She's been assigned to be the tutor of Isabella York, the daughter of one of the aristocracy for the 3 months before her debut. Originally Isabella is stand-offish and seems to not fit in with the other girls that go to her all-girls private academy. Don't worry, there's no cat-fighting or anything shallow like that going on. In fact all of the girls are really wholesome and lift one another up which we love. Violet ends up as her companion and confidante during these 3 months and they become close friends. It's left pretty open-ended, so you could argue that they were more like lovers than friends, but really I'll leave that up to your interpretation. Truly in my heart of hearts I'm hoping that Gilbert somehow miraculously returns and that Violet and Gilbert can live happily ever after, but I'm not sure if that'll ever happen. :(
At the end of the 3 months Isabella has become a "proper lady" for her debut. But, before Violet leaves, Isabella reveals her past as a commoner before, living with Taylor, a little girl she adopted as her own sister, who we've been getting glimpses of all along. And then we see precious baby Taylor getting the letter from Benedict.
Three years later we meet a little more grown up Taylor who's come to Violet's workplace to become a mail deliverer and deliver happiness to the public. It's very wholesome and a real bittersweet happily ever after in the way of Taylor and Isabella's "reunion" of sorts.
Oh, and Benedict appears a lot during the movie. I know I was talking to my friend E about the show and she really liked him haha.
The movie as a whole evokes a sense of longing and nostalgia for simpler times. I mean they write and deliver letters and the world seems to move a bit more slowly than nowadays. I know that this is just a romanticization and I should be glad for how much the world has advanced, but it seems really beautiful, the way that they live in the movie. The whole world is rebuilding and there's an air of revival with the war over and everyone building and progressing as Benedict notices during his mail route. And you can see obvious signs of progress with elevators, wide-spread electricity, the radio tower (that looks a lot like the Eiffel Tower?) and more cars, but it also seems rather different and exciting.
Overall, I think the movie is really beautiful. It's touching and there's an intimately human quality about it. All of the characters seems so comfy and familiar, especially if you watched the show. But, even if you haven't, I think that you can empathize a lot with each of the characters and appreciate the storytelling that makes it seem like you're walking in step with Taylor on her mail route or you're right there crying with Benedict as he delivers Taylor's letter. The movie lets you into an intimately human realm that you can empathize a lot with in a world that's somewhat familiar to ours that helps you to immerse yourself in the world KyoAni has brought to life.
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Anime ATM 102 Tsuki ga Kirei
Well, we can thank the corona virus for one thing. Since we're in social distancing/quarantine/self-isolation/shelter in place or whatever you want to call it, I've had a lot of free time this spring break. Of course since we're not going back to physical university and I've moved back home indefinitely, truly I've had a lot of time to contemplate whether or not I should keep posting on this blog. Because I schedule these to come out every week, actually I haven't been writing blog posts for somewhere over 3-ish months? That's a little scary isn't it? And actually I've been finishing some manga and webtoons that I've been following, but I never really wrote a blog post about them just because I felt like I had nothing really interesting or valuable to add to the conversation. However, I remembered recently that the reason I started this blog was more so for me to document what I watched and what my feelings were for myself. And so, I probably won't update this blog weekly, but rather just whenever I finish a series and I want to talk about it? Or we'll have to see. Maybe because of the corona virus I'll be really bored and just watch lots of stuff I want to blog about. Also, I'm grateful that we've come so far that most people have forgotten about this cringy blog. Phew.
Anyways, here we go with another Anime ATM!
{Spoilers, but it's just really fluffy romance so you know what'll happen approximately}
Okay so recollect your feelings and sentiments from middle school. You're awkward. You don't know what you're going to do with your future. You have big aspirations but don't know what to do with them. You're not quite mature enough to be considered a full-fledged teenager or young adult, but you're also not a baby.
Now, transport your middle school self to Japanese middle school with the same sentiments and you're in the middle of 2 love triangles. And that's Tsuki ga Kirei: The Synopsis. You're welcome.
Just kidding, in all seriousness I think it encapsulates what it means to grow up as an adolescent and not really know what you're doing. It's a really sweet romance between two unlikely middle school classmates and their awkward and mellow relationship. And then there's 2 love triangles with an unrequited love for each of them. Yikes.
So there's Akane who's this really shy and anxious middle schooler. She's on the track and field team because she really enjoys running. On the track she seems really cool and graceful, but off the track she's super anxious and easily embarrassed.
And then there's Kotarou. He's a soft-spoken, gentle kind of guy that's lost in his head a lot. He thinks in quotes from serious classical literature authors and sticks by what those teach him about life and love. He aspires to be like these authors and also writes serious literature for writing contests, although the results are often disappointing.
The two fall in love despite not having a whole lot in common. Or rather, Kotarou confesses to Akane out of the blue after exchanging a few words and having a few interactions. And then Akane agrees, but I can't remember if she ever said she liked him back. She just said that she wanted to talk to him more...which is close enough?
And their whole relationship highlights some of the troubles you have when you're in middle school and you don't want anyone to know you're dating so you keep it a secret, but also you can't really meet each other because you normally wouldn't have anything to do with one another but love is a funny thing. Also you're both middle school students so you can't go on legitimate dates because neither of you have money.
But despite all of this, the show is really endearing. I think it's pretty true to the realities that middle school romance has to come to terms with and it's overall really sweet.
The one thing I didn't really like was Akane's track friend Chinatsu. This girl was so pushy and insistent on confessing to Kotarou for closure even though she could tell it made Akane uncomfortable. And just the whole thing whenever she would interact with the two of them like in the amusement park episode, that was really bad. But also, I think if you were in a similar situation, you might have a different opinion and be able to empathize with Chinatsu. But even this was pretty realistic because if your friend does fall in love with the same guy, it's not always pretty. Thank goodness Akane was mature about it and didn't turn the whole show into a soap opera.
One kind of random thing I enjoyed about the show was all of the little short clips at the end of some of the episodes. They played after the ED and showed other characters and their little side stories which I found to be endearing.
I chose this anime as the first one to watch after a long time because it had a pretty high MAL rating. i will say that the scenery B-roll shots were beautiful and I enjoyed how they told a full story going from middle school romance and then at the very end showing through their LINE messages how they stayed together and ended up getting married, but I'm confused on how it got such a high score. I would say it's really cute and pretty realistic (idk though I'm no love expert so :) ) but I'm not sure I would recommend it just because I feel like there's more engaging romance stories out there? But I mean romance doesn't always have to be engaging, exciting, or a whirlwind romance. Some people prefer when it's more of a slow-burn which I totally get. In that case, I think that you would really enjoy it.
One other thing, if you do end up watching the anime, please keep an eye on Akane's drawstring knapsack. I swear in every episode it's a different size. But maybe I'm just crazy.
Okay, bye! Until next time~
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