Anime Blurb 45 Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii

*deep breath in* This was a bad decision to watch. There's a reason usually when you've never heard of an anime and it's already been aired and had a decent time to accumulate a reputation as to why you've never watched it before: it's bad. I don't like to be overly critical, but...

{Spoilers probably to save you from watching this}

Okay, so straight off the bat I wouldn't say it's bad. In fact I'd say there are some good parts to it. Like it shows a more gradual development of romantic feelings, I imagine that in the manga it's even more drawn out, and it portrays a different sort of love story. While the whole height difference thing has been covered by Lovely Complex I can't help but appreciate any new take on the romantic dynamic. There's already so many stories about the run of the mill tall, dark, and handsome man and docile, beautiful, pure woman. It's been done countless times. What makes this spin a bit different is the age gap, with Livius being a child and Nike being a teenager. So hats off to you creators who decided to have a new spin on the classic shoujo/fantasy genre. Additionally I really enjoyed the singing. Every time Nike would break out into her rain song I'd sing along ~It's a tender raiiiiiiiin~. Man, Maeda Rena has vocals. Or at least it was a really catchy song. I'd say at least watch the Youtube video of it so you get what I'm talking about. The OP and ED were okay, but the Tender Rain song was the best one.

However, I do have some problems with this. Although it was a more gradual development of feelings than some of the other anime I've watched, logically it doesn't make sense for Livius to just kiss Nike whenever. I get it, it's kind of a territorial thing or whatever, but at the same time he's actually like 10 or something. Most kids do think about war games and such, but I doubt they think at such a romantic level. You could argue otherwise by saying he's been influenced by his womanizing uncle or the three elders with whom he takes council, but I still find it rather disturbing for a child to act in such a way. Also can we just take a moment to analyze his relationship with Sheila? Because at times I got some Oedipus Rex like overly caring motherly love. I suppose if my mom was treated like a trashy concubine I'd also be pretty protective, but sometimes his adoration seemed a little...more than necessary. But then again that's just my own interpretation. And it seems like Nike's song soothed his heart from the pain of losing Sheila. If we're going with the logic that he's more like a child that can be soothed by a child's lullaby then this is a passable explanation. However if we're going deeper as to say that through his revenge he became more like an adult, supported by the fact that everyone around him thinks that he is wise and lacks childish innocence, then it doesn't really make sense for her singing her rain song twice to really give him a full 360 degrees change of heart and forget all about Sheila. Of course this could've also been done to give more emphasis on the changing dynamic between Livius and Nike as they come to actually love each other, Livius because Nike soothed his heart and Nike because...he's a sweet kid? I could see this being more as sibling love until it gets a bit more suggestive in the last episode. (Am I over-analyzing this show that's supposed to be simple? Maybe.)

Speaking of Nike's singing, can we just talk about how her rain song is suppose to be more sacred? It's actually a sacred ritual and she's like "Sorry, I can't use this for parties and whatever" but the second it becomes political she's like "Well, gotta satisfy the hubby." Excuse me? You're an independent woman right up until your husband needs you to do something for him? I don't think so. This logic truly doesn't make sense to me at all. Nike in general infuriates me because at the beginning she seemed like such a free spirit. Both Livius and Kitora said that she was like freedom itself and they were scared she would fly away and never return. So for her to be so independent at the beginning, running off her ship without anyone she knew and without knowing anything about the country she comes off as a bit reckless and happy-go-lucky. And then her character kind of fluctuates. Sure she still fights back but then she's like "Huh, maybe I should help this little boy out." Maybe her motivations and inner thoughts are revealed more in the manga, but the anime by itself was not as comprehensive or in depth about her internal thought process as I would've liked. Am I asking too much for a strong female lead? Maybe. I mean this was produced in 2014. Speaking of the stereotypical female lead, even if you give her some unspeakable power that's just an easy out for making her the most special. It's nothing to really talk about. Especially when you don't elaborate. Again there are probably some holes from the manga, but still. I'd like to watch and understand her power and why exactly she doesn't use it and how if she was this powerful why she wasn't a child prodigy at rain summoning? How does it make sense for the most powerful rain summoner to suddenly get the power to wreck three countries? Magic? A highly convenient and unsatisfying answer.

And I didn't even get into Nike's family. It's a mess. But I guess it was all satisfied in the end by the fact that they did it out of sub-ordinance to the grandmother and out of love for Nike. It was all solved anyways by the fact that the grandmother sent them off with farewell rain. This was also lightweight a side arc just to further the romance.

All in all I'd say that this isn't worth your time watching unless you've already read the manga and just want some colored, motion visuals to go along with the story line and background you already have in your head. If you choose to pick this up otherwise you might find some discrepancies and some dissatisfaction with this anime if you couldn't already tell with my review. Sorry for my angry rant, I tried to cut it short...didn't really work.

The narration voice was strangely soothing.

Shouldn't it be "good of the world"? Because, ya know, he's king of the world. He conquered everything.

Me when someone compliments me

...abuse of power?

Awh...but also, abuse of power?

I don't know what this is but I love it

The best fan service

This was better than the actual romantic stuff

Why is she not dead?? She made it rain at the hurricane level for like an hour

Roast!!!

The side characters are better than the mains tbh

This is pretty cute you gotta admit

Bromance in the air

This just makes me angry. This codependency is so unhealthy.

Lastly, I just wanna say, the side characters are better than the mains.

Anime Blurb 44 K-On!! Season 2

So for some quick backstory onto why this blog post took so long to resurface is 1. I didn't realize there was a second season 2. Gogoanime failed me because it only had dubbed and I'm too snobby for that and 3. I think I'm phasing out of my distinctly slice of life only exclusive genre phase.

{How can there be spoilers in slice of life?? People watch this to de-stress.}

So this begins on the same premise that Season 1 left off with except this time they're looking for new members. Honestly I don't think there's a whole lot of rhyme or reason in this season because it's literally built around the timeline of school life. But of course with this being slice of life/school life that makes perfect sense. It's not the most exciting anime I've ever watched in my life but it's some people's jam. For example my friend completed this season before I did because he has no life despite the exorbitant amount of AP's he's taking. And he loved it. Of course that's because he's still a fledgling anime watcher but still (ur a noob @ him).

Anyways, KyoAni knocked this one out of the park too. All the loose ends were tied up. There were no real conflicts. There were a lot of cute moments. And they really emphasized the nostalgia factor. So if you're a really sentimental person, this is for you. I'd say that this is a gentle roller coasters for all ages.

As far as the music goes, I wouldn't say that it's better than Season 1. I don't think anything can to "Fuwa Fuwa Time" and "Don't Say Lazy," but maybe that's because I'm more of a classic person when it comes to these things. Not to say that this season's OP and ED are bad by any means. Just give it a listen and perhaps comment what you think.

Overall I'd say it's a very relaxing albeit kind of standstill in pacing. There's a new emphasis on Azusa since she'll be taking over as well as the ever-constant spotlight on Mio (I think she's like the face of the group). So, if you're looking for a nice, light, easy watch this is it. Look no further than K-On!! Of course I'd recommend you to watch the first season before starting this one just to get a better insight into each of their personalities, but you'd probably be okay regardless.

P.S. It was hard getting all my screenshots together because again I watched this over the span of over a month or something.

How I make friends tbh

Ton-chan is best turtle

Why did this bring me to the brink of tears?

Twinning!

HAHAHAHAHA WHY IS THIS SO FUNNY

When you come back from a long break and no one recognizes you

So, uh, what accent is this?

The pain! The horror! The tragedy!

Ok, does anyone else get like this where they spend too much time with someone and just pick up their speech mannerisms? Just me? Ok.

*cue the tears*

*cue the torrential tears*

Although this is slice of life, this was so nerve wracking.

Ok, look really closely. Everyone has matching teacups except Azu-nyan. Because she's a cat. And she's like their baby. Omg this is cute.

*cue more tears*

Ok why are Mugi's eyes like this??

Anime Blurb 43 Honobono Log

Oh boy, oh boy. While perusing Youtube for admittedly too long, I stumbled upon a video about anime that are lesser known. And man am I glad I did. This anime was so surprisingly refreshing and light that I couldn't help but genuinely smile.

{There's no way to have spoilers if there's no real plot}

So when you take this anime at face value it doesn't look like much. It's 10 episodes exactly 2 minutes apiece. And while that doesn't seem like a lot, the creators have a way to make it seem like exactly enough time to tell an endearing little blurb. It's very slice of life in a short time frame. It follows the lives of different couples and just a little scene about their relationship or there's also this family with the cutest little girl. It's really quite simple, but there's just something so endearing about its simple drawing style. There isn't very much background drawing at all so you're totally focused on the character interactions and their little gestures. It's so simple that a child could enjoy this, but it's also complex enough that someone older could get a little something out of it. For example they could realize there are different ways to approach your significant other when they're upset, that it's best to just enjoy the little things in life, or to just want to spend time with each other just sharing an umbrella in the rain.

Honestly, in this case the simplicity works so well. My favorite was the little girl and her gum drops. My heart melted at her childish antics and her voice actor was so cute!! A close second would be the girl that had just broken up and her friend coming over to comfort her. At face value again they seem so simple and basic, but there are so many layers to all of these. The execution of being able to transport someone in 2 minutes is magical. It's almost like taking a 10 minute nap and feeling like you've slept for hours. Miraculous, rare, but when it happens it's the best feeling.

If you couldn't already tell I'd highly recommend it. Altogether it's like watching one episode of anime. There's really nothing to lose here. It's a bunch of short stories and no way you could be left at a cliffhanger. It's sweet, simple, satisfying.

You get this basic screenshot both to intrigue you and also if I were to screenshot any actual scene I'd give away most of the episode which is no fun

Manga Review 15 Cherry Blossoms

I'm back at it with those super short manga reviews because I'm pretty addicted to short-lived thrills. It makes me sound like a total adrenaline junkie when I put it like that but I really just mean that I get excited by food and stuff. I got you didn't I? Anyways, onto the review!!! Forward march!

{Spoilers but not really because it's seven nuanced chapters sooooo there's not much to spoiled unless I wanted to get nitty gritty...which I could do I suppose}

Well this is a perfect example of the term "short and sweet." It's a lucky seven chapters that aren't very long. What makes it both a quick and complex read is the lack of dialogue. There's a lot of emphasis put on the drawings themselves and the simple movements they contain which help move the story along. It follows a high school boy coming to terms with the concept of finite time and young love. It's kind of funny because the running motif of this is the title itself: cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms are known for being transient, there one day and gone the next. This could be interpreted in many ways for this manhwa. It could be seen as foreshadowing of their relationship, the impermanence of feelings, the quickness of the passing of time; really it could be anything if you stretch your mind far enough. So, if you haven't caught on yet, while it isn't a very long read, it'll keep you thinking about it for a long time after. It's one of those unexpected insights into the human condition.

For this reason, this poignant philosophical quality, I definitely recommend that you read this manhwa. Visually it's so simplistic which gives you more time to focus upon the content and leave you wanting more. The ending is such a bittersweet kiss...but I hope from the depths of my heart that they all end up happy.

Do you see the promo for the creator's past Webtoon there?

If you look closely you can see little cherry blossom buds and I think that's beautiful

It's beautiful but I wonder why he's always alone

The street vendor is kind of my favorite character.

Besides it being about love, it also has a social message about littering :?

There's a slow progression of the cherry blossoms blooming through the piece that kind of shows the acceleration of time. 

Sure it's not the most eloquent thing, but didn't your heart clench just a little?

*inhales* Nuances *exhales*

Manga Review 14 Kawaiitte Itteyo

Well it's been a while. I usually pre-schedule my posts so you can't see it from my side, but I've been taking a break due to testing. But if you follow this blog consistently you wouldn't know unless you've been told (Do you feel like an exclusive insider now? Cool right?) Anyways, onto the actual review.

Like with most manga, it's easy to find ones that are a dime-a-dozen without a different sort of approach to plot or character development. To me these are the most important thing because what's a story without plot. It's like a sandwich with no filling, good bread but not a good sandwich. So what I have to say about this manga is it's good for the short term fuzzy feelings inside, but it's not great if you're looking for a more in depth sort of bildungsroman or something along those lines. This probably has to do with the fact that this is a shorter manga. It only has four chapters which makes it a quick read, especially since each chapter is a different pairing and a different season (or at least I think that's what the author was going for). Because of the brevity of each set of characters' appearance it was hard to make more than a shallow connection with the character before the plot was advanced and sped up. I guess this is the problem with shorter manga; you just can't get the same content with a limited amount of space. In addition, it's kind of funny how old fashioned it is. Like the style is very simplistic and while that could be a reason to like it, ya know so you can focus more on the plot, it did sort of bother me that the characters floated in space at some points. But maybe that's just me being picky.

Overall I'd say that you could go ahead and read the manga if you're bored and just want a quick pick-me-up, but don't expect much from this. Like it's cute, but nothing special.

Anime Blurb 42 Koe no Katachi

KyoAni has done it again. Honestly, KyoAni is such a big part of the anime industry that if you don't know what I'm talking about then after this post go read up about it. It's pretty interesting if I do say so myself. Anyways, since my friend actually watched something on time/while it's still relevant, I'm gonna intersperse some of his commentary in here. You know who you are idiot.

{Spoilers (because his input has spoilers (jk I'm using him as a scapegoat))}

So as far as the comparison between the manga and the anime movie adaptation, my friend and I both think that the manga far surpasses the anime. We say this mostly because there's a lot left to be desired in the realm of character development/motivation and why the characters are there in the first place. For example, though Ueno is there during Shouya's hospitalization it does not reveal her motivation for being there: her love for him since childhood. While this could be inferred from the fact that she would always follow Shouya and supported him as he bullied Shouko, it is less obvious than in the manga where there was more depth to her backstory. In a similar vein, Mashiba was rendered almost absolutely useless, actually scratch that, he was useless. He did absolutely nothing except serve as Kawai's maybe love interest. He was just another body and witness to the bullying. In the manga it goes into greater depth into his character and doesn't leave the reader going "So why does he matter?" unlike in the anime. Nagatsuka was still the best friend for sure, the one to make Shouya open up to people outside of his family, but his role was majorly downplayed. He wasn't given as much development as in the manga. None of them were really developed except the two main characters. In the manga the other characters were so much more significant and impactful that it really is a shame that they weren't allowed to shine in the movie. And it wasn't even just the characters. Like what happened to the movie subplot? There was no movie-ception here and while my friend and I agree that it didn't add a whole lot to the story it was still a pretty big chunk unifying the group. Without it it seems kind of forced that they all became friends of sorts. This is to be expected as a movie is only allocated a certain amount of time, but as someone who read the manga it left a lot to be desired. This is just another example about how the books are better than the movie.

On a more positive note, they did do a phenomenal job. Like at the beginning with Shouya and his two friends. That was so great. The soundtrack, the portrayal of youth, all of it was so beautiful. It was a great montage. And then the deterioration of Shouya as he counted down to when he planned to kill himself. It was a creative way to submerge the audience into Shouya's mindset. While this was a very fluid transition as the past and present interwove, throughout the rest of the movie it seemed kind of choppy. Obviously I'm speaking from the experience of someone who has read the manga too, but without that preface I feel like it'd be really hard to get into.

Obviously the main point of this movie was to portray a different story, an unfortunate one about the aftermath of bullying its impact on everyone. Its impact is more profound because of the extra mile Shouya has to go to communicate with Shouko. Without this barrier their conflict wouldn't have been as profound and it would've been easy to dismiss this movie as a dime-a-dozen. However, with this amazing portrayal of communication, patience, and interaction a deeper bond is forged and the audience is more invested than they otherwise would be. The premise of this story is so interesting and really causes the audience to think about which character they'd be in this situation: would you be the bully? The victim? The bystander? It not only causes you to think about social constructs when it comes to delicate issues such as being different from your peers but also lends itself to self-reflection. In addition I think that even though Shouya's terrible behavior as a child should never be allowed, thinking about his motivation behind it is interesting. I mean he was a kid so he was rash and impulsive so it's interesting to think about whether or not he really knew what he was doing. Was he doing it because Shouko was seen as weak or because she was different? He grew up in such a loving household with different individuals, like his sister's husband, that it's interesting to think about the premise of his dislike of things different to him.

Another intense topic, this movie is full of them if you couldn't already tell, is suicide. This is a connected topic with bullying as bullying often leads to extreme measures such as suicide, but the way it's dealt with in the movie/manga is quite interesting. For one when Shouya's mom confronts him about it she comes out bluntly, something totally outside of societal norms. This is such a different approach to parenting but one that should be duly noted all the same. And then with Shouko's attempted suicide. It was too rushed. It was kind of overly nuanced. I came up with a theory that her visit to the doctor told her that she was losing more and more of her hearing which is why she took out her hearing aid and when they went to the summer festival together she couldn't hear the fireworks as clearly as before. This led to her wanting to take her own life, but what I don't get is why she would think that killing herself would end Shouya's suffering. I mean there's no way that her death would've made all of his past friendships the way they were in the past. So there's no logical explanation, unless of course her almost irrational mindset is used to portray the desperation and illogical behavior of one so emotionally unstable as Shouko. It's food for thought.

I love Yuzuru. She's the best character. Okay sometimes her logic is a bit skewed because she thought that posting a picture of Shouya jumping off a bridge would do serious damage, but she's still the best. The premise of her taking pictures of dead animals to keep Shouko from trying to end up like those animals was so sweet. And the fact that she avidly tries to learn sign language for Shouko's sake is truly admirable. Her heart is as big as her grandmother's.

One last thing about character and plot is why did Shouko like Shouya? Like I understand the premise of Ueno liking Shouya as a charismatic childhood friend. But Shouko and Shouya? I don't see it. I mean he treated her so badly to the point where she switched schools and when they met again she must've thought he was doing it for himself, to give himself closure. But instead she ended up liking him romantically? It was too soon, too much, and most definitely way too fast. You have to admit though that her trying to say she liked him and him interpreting as her talking about the moon was really cute.

Overall, I'd say this is an amazing movie that everyone should watch. Maybe not compared to the manga, but it's still a great movie to give you some food for thought. It's a very thought-provoking watch and sure to make you cry at least a little.

See? You can already tell it's a great movie from this beautiful montage.

Visually this is stunning and emotionally it wrecked me.

He's actually so cute as a teenager. So innocent

She's such a great mom. There is no way not to love her.

Ah Ueno, breaking up the heartfelt moments

This is sure to be an iconic scene to live forever in history

The ending really got me. It was the alleviation of all the stress. Even the color palette reflects the lightness in Shouya's heart. For the first time since his childhood he can finally be happy. He doesn't have to be paranoid about when it's going to be taken away or the finite quality of it. He can just live his life and enjoy every second of it.