Anime ATM 84 Fireworks {Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka?}

In July I had my first experience seeing an anime movie on the big screen. It was a memorable Tuesday night, in the car with my two high school friends in the seats in front of me, just making it to watch the movie in time with one of my friend's cousin who happens to go to the same uni as me. It's truly a small world.

{Spoilers}

And in the darkened ambiance of the movie theater I witnessed a movie that was probably thought of by someone on LSD. LOL well maybe not quite that, but that's the only way I can really explain it.

The reason I say it was created under the influence of drugs was because it was like a weird mashup of different time travel anime that my friends and I have watched (I say this because afterwards we had a long-winded talk about anime and the movie and how it was Steins Gate-esque (I can't say how true that is because I haven't watched that particular anime yet, but that's what all the guys were saying lol)), Spirited Away (because of that ghost train on the ocean), Free! (because swimming), Nagi no Asukara (because the girl's hair was a similar color and it was in a rural beachy environment), and Disney (because of the weird Cinderella sequence in the middle). You could probably liken it to tons more anime, but the point was it was so eerily familiar, but at the same time such a strange experience that no one really knew how to feel about it. We all just walked out kind of shook. You know what I really like though, that got me interested in the anime? The song they used for publicity. That song really does something for me. But everything other than that just seemed so bizarre.

It was basically just a bunch of misunderstandings and regrets between the two main characters and time travel to make everything more wack. At every point that the MC thought something could've gone better and resulted in a more pleasing outcome he just created an entirely new world in which that "what if" scenario became reality. However, along the way he realized that he couldn't keep running from the reality of the situation because it never felt like winning even if the fake realms held a more favorable outcome. So at the very end when the two of them are swimming in the water and looking at these wack fireworks in the sky, or maybe in the sea who even knows what was really going on, and she asks what kind of world they'll end up in next...you're left hanging. There's no real closure. What was I supposed to learn from that? That something can be visually beautiful and make absolutely no sense otherwise? Yep. That you can't run away from reality? Yep life's already taught me that one plenty of times. That morally there were a lot of questionable things in this anime but they were kind of brushed over because it was from the guy's perspective? Yep. I wonder how this would've turned out if it were told from the girl's POV. I honestly think it would've been more interesting and a more interesting twist. It's like in Haruhi Suzumiya how it would've been more interesting to see Haruhi's POV rather than Kyon's, but we weren't exactly given options to choose from now were we? Alas, what we were handed is what we've got and what I got did not leave me satisfied. It was pretty and that song gets me feeling some type of way whenever I blast it in my car, but I didn't feel like I truly enjoyed watching it.

Also this is so random but I had a life crisis when they started talking about if fireworks were circular or flat from the side. And then it messed with my mind more when he made those different worlds in which sometimes they were circular and sometimes they were flat. I wonder if that was symbolic for something. Like the side character guys who made a bet on whether they were flat or round. What was the point?

Overall, it's a fun watch I guess if you like things that end up ridiculously fantastical and have a grand mashup of a lot of things. I'm sure if you really wanted to there's a lot of things in this movie that you could analyze and unpack, but if that's what you're here for...lol idk where you got the impression that I could provide that kind of quality content for you.

{LOL there's obviously no screenshots since I saw this in theaters sorry}

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.