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｡

Anime Ramble 40 One Punch Man

I've been really busy recently (not that you should be able to tell because I pre-schedule these to upload for consistency reasons) so I haven't had time to watch a lot of anime. I was studying for my bio test and wondering how the study of life could make me feel so ironically dead inside and realized that I'd rather spend time watching anime. And though in that moment I refrained from the urge to drop everything in favor of anime, I ended up deciding to watch One Punch Man on Wednesday or something because it was on Netflix so convenience ya know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also it seems like a classic that everyone's watched so why not jump on the bandwagon 5 years late right?

First off I just want to say that this definitely did not start or progress in the way I assumed it might. I had this vision of this guy in a yellow suit just punching things and that was it. And while it definitely was that, I didn't expect the amount of violence I saw to be in here and I definitely didn't expect to take away anything particularly deep from it. But somehow it seems like the comedy genre always has a way to cleverly sneak in some really important (or a few very important) human values into their work. I mean, Saitama is introduced as this generic salary man that can't get a job and wants to give up in life. He's basically all of the kids that end up getting degrees and jobs in fields they don't enjoy. And then he turns his life around after one fateful incident into a "hero for fun." If that's not a call to action then I don't really know what is. Even though this guy was completely unhappy and just ready to give up on himself, he found something he truly enjoyed which was helping people. And even though at first not a lot of people recognized him, the precious few times he did you could see the joy on his face (or disgust when Genos asked to be his disciple lol). The face when he saw the thank you letter and even the face after he opened the hate mail showed that he really was a hero for himself. He realized that he should be going through life for himself. But it's not only Saitama that has a message to give. Like if you look at Genos you see a super OP cyborg and think "oh that guy. All he has to do is put on a few more parts and he's unstoppable." And he sees himself and can only think of how he can become stronger. Lots of people are happy just being in a stagnant position, but not Genos. He constantly strives to better himself which a lot of the time is something neglected to be nurtured in the education system. Often times instead of trying to better yourself, you just get lost in excelling without any clear direction or reasoning why. Genos has a mission in life and should be used as a kind of example for education (or maybe I'm just crazy and am biased towards the lacking US education system). I could go on about characters, but I think one more that deserves mentioning and an award as the best Class C hero should be Mumen Rider. This guy is the rank 1 Class C hero, but doesn't want to move up because he knows he fits best in Class C. He knows his limitations and while this frustrates him, he kind of realizes that he can't be as OP as Saitama. This is in a way a sad fact of life that there's always going to be someone better than you in some way, but it's also kind of comforting knowing that while you can't be the best, you can always try your hardest to be your individual best. If Mumen Rider can do his best and help all the citizens, so can you.

The most important aspect of this is the comedy of course. Although it's quite deep and profound and has a lot of different characters in a completely different world alongside a soundtrack that holds a range of different genres and tones, the most known part of One Punch Man is the comedy. I think the most common use of comedy in the series is the fact that Saitama's face rarely changes. It's always the same blank face. There's kind of a varied range of comedy so you're guaranteed to get a chuckle out of at least one scene from slap-stick to downright clever. My friend's personal favorite is the scientist and his giant younger brother who smashes the scientist brother mistakenly while trying to kill Saitama. It's funnier if you just watch it. Be warned that there are a lot of scenes with really random comedy which I suppose alleviates the overload of violence in the show. And a lot of nude men. I sincerely don't understand the relevance of Puri Puri Prisoner, but at the same time he's really funny (again with this super original characters). 

Ah, also just wanna give a quick shoutout to those fight sequences. Those were bomb af. Although in the boss battle I kind of wondered just how big the ship was. Because when Saitama was punched he went far. And when he got punched to the moon? Forget about it. That was both super funny and impressive. 

Overall I'd say you should watch it if you're not to sensitive to gore. My friend told me that it's more violent than Attack on Titan it's just that AoT is more suspenseful, but I can't say for sure because I haven't watched AoT yet. I know, I know. I'm on the bandwagon, but not really. I'm so fake. It's pretty funny at times and it's also surprisingly deep. It's pretty great. Mumen Rider is best. It's an extremely original work (not that I've really watched a lot of superhero/action anime (yet)) as far as I know so if you haven't watched it yet then you should give it a whirl.

And now...WHEN YOU SCREENSHOT NETFLIX THE ONLY THING THAT SHOWS UP IS THE SUBTITLES NOT THE ACTUAL IMAGE. I'm too sad to go to Kissanime and rewatch it just for the screenshots...so instead you get these funny af subtitles that don't make sense a lot of the time without the image and context.

This rationale though

See? Unexpectedly deep.

He's actually really iconic. Especially against the Deep Sea King.

If this isn't relatable then I don't know what would be.

When you save a whole city and get promoted from the scrub of the scrubs to a mediocre scrub.

OMG when Mumen Rider is on the way to fight the monster, there is no one on the streets, but he still has to stop for the red light. If that's not extra I don't know what is.

This whole sequence makes me really emotional

SMH when Saitama downplays his victory to save the faces of all the other heros :')

"I'm bored so I guess I'll go save the world" 

When Bang/Silverblade is probably like 80 and is more ripped than a body builder and still thinks he needs to workout *tosses papers out the window* What is life?

Tornado is so sassy, but ESPer *sparkly eyes* so cool

After that epic battle, I wonder if Saitama was promoted?

I hoped you enjoyed my all black aesthetic for this post. I'm not sad at all. *goes off to sulk*

Anime Ventilation 39 Haikyuu!!: Karasuno Koukou VS Shiratorizawa Gakuen Koukou

A lot of sleepless nights and sleepy days meant that I couldn't binge watch the whole 10 episodes in one go unfortunately. (っ- ‸ – ς)

{Spoilers, probably}

Ah, where do I even start? I think first off we have to just take a minute to truly enjoy the pacing. Extending one match, albeit with 5 sets, to a span of 10 episodes is no small feat. And somehow it still seemed short, crazy enough. So props to the creators for such sublime pacing.

Honestly speaking, I can't say I'm in this series for the volleyball. (Although I've learned a surprising amount about the sport by watching.) I'm in it for that character development, that drama, that suspense. And Haikyuu gives it all to me. It's truly a whirlwind of emotions because it's written in such a way that you don't really know if Karasuno will win or not. It's all about the buildup of the game and the way that the characters interact and play, their struggle against physical and mental barriers to success. That's what really gets me.

Seeing them grow and overcome diversity gives me life. The three senpais finally showing that random old guy that Karasuno can fly and become a powerhouse school in its own right was amazing.

Before...

...After

They've taken flight and it's truly a sight to behold

And can we just take a moment to give Tsukishima a standing ovation? His blocking was the actual MVP in this match.

I don't have a lot to say, mostly because the content of this was so solidly based upon tension and anticipation. So, instead I recommend you listen to the ED because, although at first it seems a bit weird, it's actually a really great song in its own right.

So overall, if you've already joined the Haikyuu hype then definitely  watch because they're just so precious. And if you haven't jumped on the bandwagon, what are you waiting for??? Join immediately! Join the Oikawa fanclub *cough* well either Oikawa or Nishinoya (I'm sorry if your opinions differ but this is just me. They're the best.)

Now, here's honestly the part I'm kind of ashamed of. I took so many screenshots. As in 24. Please don't judge what I do in my spare time okay? (JK you already know what I do in my spare time: this blog) o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

Everyone's squad goals if we're being honest with ourselves

They're so cute (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑

(An addition to when the whole team cheers for Tsukki)

While we're at it...why not just have a Tsukishima sequence :3

Look at Oikawa in glasses and try to tell me he's not cute

When Ryu isn't just a Shimizu-san obsessed weirdo :')

When Shimizu is supposed to be everyone's Shimizu LOL

When Ushijima is just mentally roasting poor Hinata 

Revenge is epic. And sweet.

When you realize that Ushijima is actually a pretty cool senpai

...except for the fact that his teammates all unanimously agree he's an idiot (*´艸`*)

I love how they're just stretching and talking about future plans on the floor so casually. It had to be immortalized. Possibly screensaver material (but without context it looks a little sketchy I have to say)

Time for a...Hinata sequence!

Basically: Get hyped for Nationals (?) in Season 4!!!

Also, I just realized this this morning, that Shiratorizawa is literally shiratori or white bird. Because before I was kind of questioning why Shiratorizawa was depicted as an eagle and Karasuno as crows, but now I sort of get it. Hope that was a new tidbit for someone out there. ヽ(*´∀`)ﾉﾞ