Manga Match 49 Tonari no Atashi

So yesterday I felt like I was on my death bed because I was sick in bed with the flu. That's probably a gross over exaggeration of the reality of the situation, but nevertheless it made me thankful that I was at home for the holidays for my family to take care of me. Honestly every time I come home I feel absolutely spoiled. And it's not like they're doing anything super duper extravagant, but they don't have to. The life I live at home is one of absolute luxury where I can eat all the good food and drink water without fear of diarrhea within the next couple of hours. :) yeah this actually happened once. Maybe the pipes just had stale water inside over the summer? Whatever the case, it wasn't a fun experience.

{Spoilers}

So, as we all know, I'm always on the hunt for my next spicy as heck shoujo manga. And I think we might have a serious contender here folks. Here we have the "love triangle where the guy I usually root for actually ends up with the girl because she actually recognizes the value of the nice guy, but I still feel torn because the other guy ended up pretty nice too because he's from my favorite childhood friend trope oh no I'm so torn and in distress" scenario. We probably all know that feels. But this puts a little twist on the whole love triangle scenario and who she was "meant" to end up with versus who she actually did. Lowkey I got Scum's Wish vibes form the thing with the side girl trying to get with Kyousuke and stuff. But I don't really want to get into that because Scum's Wish really just scarred me to the ends of this earth. Ewh I don't even want to think about it.

Anyways, so the story revolves kind of around the main girl Nina and her discovery of what romance and love really is. There are a few nuances and foreshadowing stuff that happens in the beginning that really didn't make sense until I had finished it all the way through which made it all the more satisfying to read and complete...while I was in bed sick with the flu. (Perhaps because I was in such a delicate state and was slightly nauseated while reading it, this was a really nice read to get my mind off of how badly my body hurt. What can I say? I'm weak when sick.) So she has her childhood friend and neighbor Kyousuke who she's had this fantasy romance with in her head for the longest time. She really thinks she loves him, the operative word here is thinks by the way. And her dream is to get into the same high school he goes to. She kind of gets a taste for what love with Kyousuke would be like when she confesses to him and he almost kisses her, but stops because although her mind seems like she wants it, something deep down inside of her is rejecting it. And so this boy here, instead of waiting patiently for her or whatever or doing anything other than starting more drama, ends up with Asou (the girl who gives me Scum's Wish protag vibes) who furthers the drama to the nth degree. While Nina is busy dealing with her jealousy and abandonment issues and while Kyousuke is trying to convince himself he actually isn't in love with Nina, Nina ends up going out with the sweetest boy on the planet, Miyake. This boy has been watching his classmate Nina fawn over Kyousuke throughout middle school. Literally such a sweet boy and just wanting her to be happy. And he was happy just seeing her be happy until he actually got to hang out with her some more (shoutout to his bomb af wingman friend group) during the fireworks festival and promptly confessed his pure boy feelings to her. And then comes the drama of Nina and Kyousuke both being in different relationships with different people, but still being drawn together like two sides of a pair of magnets. And it's a mess. And you can't help but wonder who Nina's going to end up with and who's going to be hurt.

But then it's revealed that Kyousuke's actually loved Nina all this time. He's loved her for so long, but in loving her he's realized that her love for him, while she thinks it's romantic, is actually more of a siblings love. And that's a big ooof. And it's a really hard pill to swallow. That all this time he's really loved her, and to see her end up with Miyake must've really hurt. And the author does such a good job of weaving all of these interlocking pieces together, especially with all of the nuances that each character brings to the table, that make it not just another cheesy love triangle that you've seen over and over again in shoujo manga that's just there for the sake of being there. Instead you get this intense, albeit maybe improbable, love triangle in which there's tangible misunderstandings and feelings and the transience of feelings with love and what you think is love and what might be jealousy for the loss of a loved one or actually just growing pains as we all grow older. And it's hard seeing how the reality of these situations seen to be at odds with our favorite ships, but all through it, you just can't help but root for your favorites.

This definitely was not a comprehensive review. They turn more into summaries than anything. But it was just really shocking to me to see Nina actually end up with Miyake instead of Kyousuke. Sure Kyousuke was a jerk. Like he didn't need to go out with Asou, though it was likely to move on from Nina, nice try. But he did. And that allowed all of them to grow as individuals. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel even a smidgen of physical pain when I saw this panel, but I really did. It hit me in just the right way to bring me to the brink of tears, though I did not really cry.

Because Kyousuke let go of his long-time love. He even confessed to her. "I love you" he says. And she replies "I loved you." It hit too hard.

And then here's some Miyake screenshots. Because he's a sweet sweet boy and I'm happy that they ended up together. It was definitely a bittersweet ending, but a great one anyways. 

I think if you're like me and you're looking for a shoujo that isn't super clear=cut as your traditional shoujo where the girl goes through some bullying and ends up with the main love interest, no shade if you do because sometimes yeah those hit the spot, but you're looking for something that's a bit more twisted and has some different kinds of plotlines and relationships portrayed I think that this would be a good one to read. It's not the best one that I've read out there, but it's definitely up there. I really appreciate the mangaka for all of their hard work and for giving us a story that I don't think I've seen before. It was definitely a wild ride. 

Anime ATM 90 Akkun to Kanojo

So I haven't been watching much anime recently. I guess that's probably due to the fact that I just study all day and then in my free time I usually do whatever. But because I seldom have huge chunks of time to binge all at once, I usually find myself turning towards Youtube videos for that 15 minutes of standalone entertainment than watching a compartment of a series.

That's why to get back into the swing of things I watched this anime. Each episode is suuuuuper short, at like 3 minutes long, with an OP but no ED (an OP you can skip though because I wasn't a huge fan) so it's easy to watch all in one sitting.

{Spoilers: Jokes on you there's no spoilers because there's exactly no plot}

So this anime centers around this couple: Nontan and Akkun. Akkun is a clear tsundere. He acts really mean to Nontan, while secretly wishing he could be nicer to her because she's his angel. In any other circumstance his stalker tendencies would be super creepy, but because this is such a slice of life anime he gets away with it. Bur if this were real life and your boyfriend/girlfriend/S.O. puts a secret mic on you and listens to you hum while trying to sleep and has pictures of you all over their wall please call 911. That's not healthy.

I choked because this scene was funny, but seriously peep all those Nontan pictures on the wall. Yikes.

And then Nontan is kind of just your run of the mill airhead but strong-willed and super kind anime girl protagonist. You've seen her before and you'll see her again so there's nothing much to say besides that she's a very sweet girl and she and Akkun make a good couple.

Besides the main two, there are two other couples that the show kind of revolve around for some jokes that we've all seen before with the pairings of like the "otaku ikemen boy" and then Akkun's younger sister or the "cat girl" and then she falls in love with her teacher for honestly no real reason.

Ah this part was also funny. Above is Irie (cat-esque girl) after Sensei praises her

This is definitely a show you shouldn't take too seriously. It's super short. It's super fluffy. There's really not a whole lot going on, so if you have the time...I suggest honestly that you watch something else besides this anime. There's definitely many better and more fleshed out versions of this anime. Sure, it's kind of sweet and it's short, but I think your time would be better invested in watching something more fleshed out and hopefully fulfilling.

Manga Match 48 Love Deficiency

Fun fact, I actually started reading this on Tapas, but Tapas gets kind of annoying to keep earning those coins, so I stopped and here I am again, having finished it, to give my mediocre review. Woo hoo!

{Spoilers}

Honestly, I say I read it before, but I remember very little from it in actuality. So the premise behind this story is that there's this love deficiency disease. If you stay single for too long, you start turning invisible until you just disappear.

So basically, this guy and this girl are in the same boat. They've both recently become single and so under various circumstances end up dating and finding out what true love is. Ah, when I put it like that it doesn't seem very interesting. Neither is it when I add in manipulative exes. Ah. Sorry folks, that is all.

There is a kind of twist when it comes to why exactly the two of them find it hard to fall in love, having to do with childhood trauma. I'll leave that to you to read for yourself, which makes the story a bit more unique without the weird twist of them both having this disease.

Mostly I bring this manga up because...right now it's cuffing season. And if you've been anywhere near Subtle Asian Dating, you know what's up. That and all of my friends are seriously looking for boyfriends/girlfriends. Not gonna lie, sometimes that loneliness just creeps up on you, but oof really hits in the feels when you see imaginary webtoon characters with a fuego love life you know what I mean?

Sorry for the kinda lackluster review, I think I'm crashing from the espresso I had earlier today so I wouldn't die during my final. :)))))))

uwu

Manga Match 47 Ne Ne Ne

Hehehe, I thought while I was procrastinating on studying for finals that I could crank out a couple more of these because I don't want to study. Or something~

Hm, I guess recently I've been thinking about a lot of different things. Like my housing situation for next year, if I'm going to graduate next year, what I want to do with my life. But all in moderation and all lowkey. Like I'm stressed, but not to the point of breaking down, you know? Although, if you're feeling stressed you should try some meditation apps hehe. Right now I've been using Headspace's student plan and it's pretty great. It helps me to just relax (and sometimes to just fall asleep whoops too relaxed).

{Spoilers}

So, if you're looking for something super fluffy and short this is for you. It's only 7 chapters, so you can read it and feel pretty good in like 30 minutes. But I do have to say...it is the romance between a 39 year old and 16 year old. Yikes. But besides that, if you imagine the age gap isn't terribly large it's really cute. Besides, the older guy honestly acts very innocently, so it's not too bad I guess.

It's basically this shrine guardian guy(?) gets married to this 16 year old girl and it's just their daily life together about her wanting him to accept her as his wife and trying to be a cute wifey. Honestly, if I think too hard about it I get kind of mad because it's like all she is is an ornamental figure, but if you don't think too hard it's just the cute daily life kinda stuff between innocent newlyweds. There's not a whole lot to say since it's super fluffy is all, but if you're looking for a short diversion from daily life, this is as good a one as any!

Oh, and he wears a mask so he doesn't get possessed. And you never see his face. Oh well.

And they have a dragon child. Please, do not question anything :)

Manga Match 46 Perfect World

Okay, I normally never do this. I've never before written about a manga that hasn't been completed. However, for this one I'm not sure if I'll ever get to complete it since it's been licensed. So, before I forget all of the precious feelings I'm holding in my heart right now, I decided to write about it. In the middle of finals week. Because I'm a genius. At procrastination, that is.

{Spoilers}

So, as we all know by now, I'm really good at procrastinating through discovering manga. It's one of my God-given talents you could say, but it's also a tremendous time drain. But sometimes you really just find yourself in the feels so much that it doesn't even really matter that your GPA is in the pits and you're in piles of college debt :).

And so I found myself enthralled with this manga. Honestly I have no idea why it has such low ratings on MAL. Maybe it's because it doesn't portray physically disabled people well? Or maybe people don't like the way the romance is going? Because I sure as heck don't like it either. But in any case, don't let the MAL score fool you because I gave it a 10/10 no regrets, and I never rate anything on MAL.

So the premise of this manga is this girl is living on her own in Tokyo after chasing her dreams as an illustrator and ending up as an interior designer at a firm in Tokyo partnered with an architecture firm. Surprise, there's a really cute boy there that happens to be her first love from high school back in Matsumoto. He's become a fine specimen of the male variety and a successful architect at that. The only catch is that he's in a wheelchair now due to a spinal cord injury from a car accident. But even so, Kawana still falls in love with him all over again. Even though Ayukawa is still wary of love, swearing to live the rest of his life by himself in order to not cause anyone anymore pain, the two fall in love. And it's really sweet. Together they're living this life, which isn't the most perfect, but they're two really happy people in it. Except that Ayukawa keeps getting sick and Kawana isn't really able to help him in any solid way. This turns into a bigger problem as the both of them only feel useless to the other: Kawana with her lack of caretaker knowledge and Ayukawa with his physical limitations to be the perfect life partner for her. What's even more frustrating is seeing all the couples around them in a similar situation and somehow all of it working out for them.

Then, here comes the tears. Kawana's dad gets really sick with stage 4 cancer. And they have this really sweet moment where she's cutting him apples and it hits her that her dad's going to die. Whenever these things happen, the waterworks just start. Like I told myself that I shouldn't cry. Like they're not even real people anyways. So why should I cry? But somehow seeing that, and thinking about all the people in my life that have been affected in a similar way, it just really gets to me. It's so cheesy, but it reminds me of how precious life really is and how even something like apples in the wintertime should be cherished. I seriously just sat in my dorm alone wiping away the tears. Lowkey glad my roommates didn't see tbh that would've been pretty embarrassing.

The real clincher was when Kawana and Ayukawa went on that trip to see the cherry blossoms on the ferris wheel and then just broke up. They were both so emotionally and physically tired and the love between them was so real that it hurt. They both kept what they were really thinking inside them and just let it happen. And just moved on. And frickin Kawana. Like I can't even blame her for being weak and dating that other guy so fast. Like I wish I could just be black and white and just mad at her for leaving Ayukawa. But she was so tired. And she felt so helpless. And she was just weak. Okay, maybe I can be pretty mad. But it's understandable and realistic and I guess I see where everyone is coming from, but it hurts. It hurts that there's no happily ever after. It hurts that they can't be together forever. And it hurts that no matter how this cookie crumbles, someone's going to get hurt. And it's so messy and so gritty and it makes my heart hurt so much and my brain so confused that I can't help, but to love it all the more.

Maybe this is just me wanting something other than finals to distract my mind, but I can't help just loving this story that's been created. It's so bad, it really is to think about this kind of thing and all the pain it brings me from an imaginary scenario, but all the same it's just wow. Even though you also probably can't afford to keep reading it past what's on the Manga Rock app (lol) I would say you should read it. I've never read anything quite like it, nor do I ever think I'll find anything quite like it, but it was a ride. Sure the protagonist was weak, but I think it's pretty realistic. I don't think that everyone can be a hero all the time. We can't be strong all the time. The world just doesn't work like that. You can hate on the manga and say that it didn't do x or y right or that you don't like the characters or the premise, but if you just take it how it is, that's an experience in and of itself.

Anime ATM 89 Cells at Work

Hello hello I'm back atcha with another anime review. To be honest, I finished this anime more than three weeks ago and I remember very little of it, heck I even forgot to review it at all because of midterms, but here I am now, on the other side of midterms, with a sub-par review just for Y-O-U!

As all my anime reviews nowadays start, I watching this anime because of V. I have absolutely no idea how he has time to watch anime what with his major and such, but that's a problem to contemplate at another time. Honestly most of my brainpower when not thinking about the classes I'm currently taking is focused on thinking about my major/prospective minors and perhaps studying abroad? I'm also gunning to graduate in three years, so really we'll just have to see. I love feeling absolutely overwhelmed by work :)

{Spoilers, but it's more of an educational anime meant to teach you about human body biology and specialized cells in your body so there's not a real plot}

So this anime, like my spoiler notification tells you, is pretty plotless. It's not like my usual slice of life anime that have no plot. This is more because it's about teaching you about like macrophages and killer T cells and fun ways to memorize these different cells and their functions rather than the tradition by-the-textbook method. I think in terms of an effective form of education it did a pretty darn good job as an overview of the cells in your body as well as the different viruses and bacteria and afflictions that your body goes through like food poisoning, heat stroke, blood transfusions, and cancer. I could also imagine this as a good reminder to be kind to your body and to appreciate it for all of the hard work it does for you. Imagining all of those little personified cells inside your body fighting against infections and trying to keep your body alive is pretty endearing and is a pretty good motivation to keep treasuring your body.

Overall, it's just super pure. All of the cells have such enigmatic personalities that makes it fun to watch. Like if you've seen any clips of Cells at Work it'd probably be of the platelets which are so pure or of the main character red blood cells. Oooof did you know that she's a sickle cell? That fact is pretty sad, but she's such a pure girl. Besides the characters themselves though, it wasn't a very dynamic watch in that it was the same sort of series format of something like everything is fine until a problem in the body arises and then the cells have to band together to fix the problem and in the end the body is saved by the hard work of the cells. I was talking about this show with my roommates and friends and the ones that finished it said that they did so because it was really pure, and the ones that dropped it said it was too repetitive. So there's two kinds of viewpoints here. If you're not taking any cellular biology/introduction to biology classes and you're not looking for just a show to relax to, this show might not be for you. Otherwise though I think it's a pretty cute and chill watch.

{Haha the wifi in my new dorm is absolute trash so I had to watch a lot of this in like 480p which isn't really conducive for good anime screenshots, so sorry there's no screenshots this time either}

Anime ATM 88 A Place Further than the Universe

I did not expect to like this anime as much as I did. In fact, I liked it so much that I kept binging it and selfishly did not take any screenshots. I was so immersed in this world that was filled with so many emotions and so much adventure and love of life that I couldn't help but fall in love with the show.

As per usual, V recommended this anime to me, nothing new there. And as he likes to say, "My eyes are never wrong."

{Spoilers}

Our story starts off with an ordinary high school girl named Tamaki Mari, to her friends Kimari, which is an adorable nickname just saying. She wakes up one day and realizes that she's in her second year of high school, but hasn't done any of the things she aspired to do in high school. One of her big resolutions was to skip a day of school and do something exciting. So the very next day she tries to embark on this solo adventure to Tokyo...and then as she's standing on the train platform heading to Tokyo she realizes that this isn't something she can do. She's overwhelmed with the fears of what will happen once she does this, what kind of irreversible consequences will she face, what's out there in the great unknown? And she's too scared to take that leap of adventure. The way that this is portrayed in the show is so poignant as she's on the cusp of adventure, but is too scared to take it.

And then you'd think "oh well that's it, nothing to really see here." But in fact, this is only the beginning of one of Kimari's other resolutions: to not waste her youth and do something amazing! Through a whirlwind of events she becomes acquainted with a girl at her high school that is obsessed with Antarctica. Shirase has spent every waking moment since the disappearance of her mom in Antarctica learning everything she can about the place and saving up money for her travel expenses there. Kimari sees her dedication and her aspirations that are beyond anything she has ever encountered and is thoroughly taken with this idea of traveling to a place further than the universe. She has her inhibitions about going to this far away place, but underneath all of that insecurity is a steadfast desire to make something out of her youth.

Along for the ride come Hinata and Yuzuki. Hinata was a star of the track team, but because her so-called friends stabbed her in the back, she dropped out of high school and is, on the surface, looking for something fun to do before she has to crack down on college entrance exams, and, beneath the surface, is looking for a way to also escape the mundane. Yuzuki is a child actress who has had a hard time making friends due to her unconventional work as an actress/idol which makes it hard for her to connect to people her age.

And that concludes the origins of the first four high school girl civilians going to Japan. They made it to Japan in fits and starts, with a lot of determination, luck, and the faith of the researchers headed to Antarctica who had known Shirase's mom.

Once they actually got to actually traveling and arrived in Antarctica, it was a pretty good portrayal of the reality of doing research and inhabiting Antarctica. I mean I can't say 100% for certain all of it was accurate, but I did take a college course on Antarctica and from all the information I got from that, it was a pretty true to life portrayal, especially the rough seas (they're pretty bad at times according to my professor who's actually gone to Antarctica many times :o). Except, I don't think you should really get that close to penguins because they have rabies :)

In terms of their life in Antarctica and their journey there, it was pretty slice of life ish, just in a different setting. There was a lot of tasks to be done and they had to do their "witty and sensational" reporting of Antarctica, aka their main objective there. The real killer though, is when they went inland past Syowa Station towards where they planned to build the observatory and the girls looked for traces of Shirase's mom. When they found her mom's laptop and Shirase was alone and opened up the laptop with the emails that she had sent to her every day over the years I was so close to crying. And then the three other girls outside the door also sympathizing with their friend over her loss :((( it was too sad.

There was definitely a bucketload of character development. Like just look at Shirase and how she cut all her hair off in the cliche action of symbolic freedom. And Kimari was able to finally go on the adventure she aspired to go on and was able to make the most of her youth. And Toudou who was able to bond with the daughter of her beloved friend. It just all kind of came full circle in the most rewarding way. Oh heck, I didn't even mention Kimari's childhood friend who's mini arc was so good. All of their childhood she was always looking after Kimari and once Kimari was about to head off to Antarctica it was almost like she had lost her purpose to the point of wanting to break off her friendship with Kimari. That was a real shocker, but also an important and somehow overlooked aspect of friendship, the aspect of perhaps outgrowing friendship so much it might not work anymore?

Overall, I would say that this is a must-watch. It's got that moe girly-girly aspect to it for sure, but it's so much more than a cute girly anime. It's got a lot of grit and characters that are deeper than you would expect. V and I were discussing how this was like if K-On! was about Antarctica instead of about light rock and the girls had deep backstories and complex characters instead of being fuwa-fuwa teatime girls. There's a lot to unpack about this anime for sure. And it's got some real research behind it, like there are things to be learned about Antarctica through this anime if you don't know too much about it. Wow, I went into this anime not really knowing what I was getting myself into, but it was great.