Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2016 First Impressions – Ajin

Ajin_Demi-Human_Manga_Cover
Ajin manga Copyright Kodansha/Gamon Sakurai

“For high schooler Kei -and for at least forty-six others- immortality comes as the nastiest surprise ever.

Sadly for Kei, but refreshingly for the reader, such a feat doesn’t make him a superhero. In the eyes of both the general public and governments, he’s a rare specimen who needs to be hunted down and handed over to scientists to be experimented on for life-a demi-human who must die a thousand deaths for the benefit of humanity.” – Vertical Inc.

Streaming at Netflix (Summer 2016)

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Summary of Episode 1: Kei is like many high school kids; he has a steady group of friends, cares about his family, and spends a lot of time worrying about passing his entrance exams. Unfortunately, his current life has come as the result of some sacrifices, namely his close childhood friendship with a boy named Kai. Kei’s mother disapproved of the friendship since Kai was carefree and significantly less studious; in her eyes, the road to maturity is paved in part by the cultivation of one’s relationships, and only those who exhibit positive traits are worthy of association. Kei and Kai still see each-other around town, but their interactions are strictly limited to wordless acknowledgement.

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Kei realizes with horror that he is one of the reviled Ajin. Copyright Polygon Pictures.

In school, Kei and his classmates are learning about Ajin, a new species of intelligent life that appeared during a war in Africa seventeen years ago. Ajin are unique in that they can be mortally injured but cannot die. This makes them of great interest to several world governments, and once they’re discovered (generally when they are injured by chance and are able to quickly recover), they’re captured and experiments are performed on them in captivity. Kei seems disturbed by the concept, and as he crosses the street deep and thought, he’s hit by a truck. And then, his mangled body rises up from the bloody pavement and Kei realizes – he’s been revealed as one of the most hated beings on the planet. It isn’t long before the police begin searching the town’s outskirts for him, and Kei calls the only person he can think of who might possibly not try to turn him in to the police – Kai. Kai has already begun setting things in motion, and rushes to save his friend, no questions asked. The two ride away in the dark of night, fugitives for the crime of being other than human.

First Impressions: First of all, it bears mentioning that this series is another of Netflix’s late-casts, similar to Knights of Sidonia and The Seven Deadly Sins, so it will be appearing in an official capacity at a later date (they’ve said “Summer 2016” but not given a more accurate time frame). Normally it would be my practice to watch an official version of an anime series since I really believe that anime streaming has virtually removed most of the need to watch fansubs (and now most of the sub groups are either ripping official subs and adding stuff like -san and -chan, or their translations don’t demonstrate a clear understanding of English spelling or grammar – I think all the good translators have probably gone legit). In this case, though, I was personally interested in the show from reading the manga, didn’t see a lot of other impressions of it (since it’s not easily available), and wanted to see ahead of time if it was worth checking out in full at a later time (I have a Netflix account but for some reason it’s like pulling teeth getting me to actually use the service that I pay for every month.) I think this is why I never checked out Knights of Sidonia (though I did buy the DVD and will watch it… eventually). I didn’t want a repeat self performance.

As for the first episode of Ajin, I was pleasantly surprised. I’m familiar with the general story from what I’ve read of the manga (I’m not far in but have at least read what’s covered in this first episode), and this is a good adaptation. One of the fears I had going in stems from the fact that this is both 1. the story of a teenage boy who (unwillingly) gets some special (and very violent) powers and 2. the general concept puts the series in the “edgy” category. I’ve had supremely bad luck with this sort of thing in the past – Deadman Wonderland is a good example of something that was really popular and people on the internet swore up and down was really intelligent and edgy, but turned out to be so, so violent and mean-spirited without much of a coherent message. I was worried that this would end up being another “sad teen fights violently with a bunch of people” anime.

Ajin02
Kei finds himself cornered by the police. Copyright Polygon Pictures.

I think what quelled that fear for me, in both the manga and this episode of the anime, is that the friendship between Kei and Kai seems to play such an important role in establishing the plot. Their relationship seems to represent a microcosm of what is happening out in the world – Kai is misunderstood and assumptions are made about his character because of how he looks and the way in which he disregards school, just as the entire world has made assumptions about Ajin and how “othering” them has given society at large an excuse to mistreat them and remove their rights as human beings. In a way it’s a sort of clunky allegory for race relations and the way we have treated almost anyone who is “different” – disabled folks, people on the autism spectrum, trans individuals… the list is extensive. In any case, one thing I really appreciated was that Kai was ready, no questions asked, to help his friend despite the fact that their relationship hadn’t been close for several years. It’s a level of kindness and emotional maturity that surprised me, especially since teen boys in anime tend to be given short shrift when it comes to being given any sort of sensitivity or basic humanity.

I’m betting many of you are wondering about the animation in this series, and it’s definitely worth mentioning. We seem to be entering an age when 3DCG animated anime is becoming an actual thing. I have a lot of mixed feelings about that. Anyone who’s watched the anime series Shirobako (and for those who haven’t, you really should because it’s downright excellent) will probably have a greater appreciation for the role that CG plays in anime and the work that goes into making convincing 3D elements, and I really try to keep that in mind. Unfortunately, I don’t think that CG is yet up to the task of convincingly recreating the look of typical 2D anime, and in many chases the movement of the characters just seems… off. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out why this is and why it’s so difficult to accept that 3DCG anime is probably an inevitability, and I think what it comes down to is consistency. One of the hallmarks of Japanese anime is just how inconsistent it is. When you see characters’ faces from different angles, the mouth positions and how they appear don’t actually make sense a lot of the time, but it’s a type of stylization that we’ve come to expect and accept as consumers of the medium. There are also often vastly different animation styles and frame-rates even within one episode of anime. Important scenes are given more attention and often certain animators are given free reign to go off-model and demonstrate their particular command of movement, and I find that these special scenes really give me a thrill and are one of the reasons why I enjoy watching anime. The use of computer animation removes that unexpected attribute.

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Kei makes his escape. Copyright Polygon Pictures.

That said, I think what Polygon has done in this series actually looks pretty good. It took me until a few minutes into the episode to stop being distracted by the 3D models and the cell-shading and such, but much like watching Gankutsuou (which you should also go watch as soon as you have the opportunity if you would like to see why people used to like Gonzo), once your eyes have adjusted the look kind of becomes a non-issue. It’s not my favorite, but it’s admittedly a lot better than watching a show that’s consistently off-model for reasons that have nothing to do with artistic style (side note: people complaining about Ping Pong being off-model need to go educate themselves). I think people who are not married to anime’s particular aesthetic will be even less distracted and will likely not be bothered at all (this is a series I would show my parents, for example – my mom isn’t an anime fan, but she does like horror and thriller-type series so I bet it would be up her alley).

I really liked this first episode. I don’t know if I’ll keep up with it right now since now I feel kind of bad about downloading an unofficial video of something which is going to be released officially, even if the official release isn’t technically a simulcast. It’s funny how your conscience can adjust like that, isn’t it?

Pros: The show takes a concept that could easily be mishandled and injects it with enough humanity to keep it from becoming one-note. The friendship between the two male characters forms a believable core.

Cons: The 3D animation will definitely be an issue for some. It’s a Netflix late-cast, so the official release won’t be available for several months.

Grade: B+

Categories
First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2016 First Impressions – Dagashi Kashi

Dagashi Kashi manga cover
Dagashi Kashi manga copyright Shogakukan/Kotoyama

“Kokonotsu Shikada is the son of a dagashi snack shop owner. Although he wants to become a manga artist, his father, Yo, wants him to take over the family business. One day, a girl named Hotaru Shidare shows up at the shop and challenges Kokonotsu.” – Funimation

Streaming at Funimation.com

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Summary of Episode 1: It’s difficult when your own aspirations conflict with your family’s expectations. Kokonotsu “Coconuts” Shikada just wants to draw manga, and his art skills are actually pretty good, but his father wants him to take over the family business – becoming the next in line to run the family sweets shop. It’s not just tradition informing this opinion; when an outgoing and snack-obsessed girl named Hotaru shows up at the shop one day, Kokonotsu learns the truth – Hotaru’s candy company wants Yo, Kokonotsu’s father, to join with them because of reasons. Kokonotsu will have to commit to running the shop before Yo is free to follow his own dreams. Kokonotsu isn’t keen to give up his own goals, but Hotaru is very insistent. She plans to insinuate herself into Kokonotsu’s life and use anything in her power to convince him to change his mind, including becoming friends with his sort-of girlfriend and spreading candy throughout town.

First Impressions: I wanted to check this show out because I have a certain interest in Japanese cuisine, and obscure Japanese snacks fall under that umbrella. While I can’t really eat most of these goodies anymore since sugar makes my brain feel like it’s about to burst out of my skull, I can still stand having them paraded around in front of me. As I feared going in, however, the snacks are probably the most interesting things about the episode and the characters who eat them are somewhat hard to tolerate.

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Hotaru Shows up at the dagashi store.

I’ve seen several reviewers describe Hotaru as a “manic pixie dream girl,” and to some extent I think that’s accurate. Kokonotsu is faced with a life decision that’s likely to take the length of the series to resolve, and Hotaru shows up as he stands at a crossroads and promises to make big changes in his life. She’s a very weird human being, defined so far by her sweets expertise and weirdly regal bearing. She also looks almost exactly like a manga character that Kokonotsu was drawing as the episode opened, which helps contribute to an eye-rolling introductory scene. She’s a male fantasy, an unrealistic woman who is more plot device and catalyst than equal partner. It’s not the worst of sins that a piece of fiction can commit, but it makes things a lot less interesting.

Something else the turned me off was the constant over-acting and forced comedy that peppered the episode. There’s a lot of yelling, goofy behavior, and immaturity on the part of several of the characters, especially Hotaru and Yo. As far as I can tell, the majority of the characters are young adults, and at the very least Yo is, but the humor is incredibly juvenile and Yo especially is a complete goofball. One of my least favorite tropes is parents who act less like adults than their own children, and while I’ve probably seen this trope expressed more by some anime mothers or female authority figures it’s just as irritating when dads do it. The jealousy exhibited by Saya, Kokonotsu’s childhood friend and likely romantic interest, is extreme. To be perfectly blunt, Kokonotsu really hasn’t proven himself to be a man worth giving a crap about, so Saya’s reaction upon hearing that there was merely a weird city girl in his family’s shop just makes her look bad. It’s difficult to get invested in a story when all the of the characters range from irritating and unrealistic to completely intolerable.

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Yo is a grade-A doofus.

The show’s saving grace is the minimal amount of attention that it pays to the “dagashi” (traditional snacks) that are referenced by the show’s title. like I’ve mentioned, I really like learning about food even if it’s technically food that I can’t eat anymore (sugar and simple carbohydrates make my brain feel like it’s about to leap out of my skull). Possibly my favorite scene in the episode occurs when Hotaru challenges Kokonotsu to create a delicious culinary combination of different Umai-bou flavors. I had coincidentally watched a Youtube video earlier in the week in which the person making the video took different flavored Umai-bou and combined them with various actual foods to create new taste sensations. It fascinates me that such a culture exists around what are essentially large, diversely-flavored Cheetos, and these are the things I really like to learn about. It amuses me that there are more desirable ways of eating the “fries” that the characters snacked on, or that you can buy what are essentially mini-donuts in cute little packages (they look way yummier than the dusty powdered-sugar “Donettes” that are ubiquitous at American gas stations). And now I’m really craving something sweet and doughy to spoil my dinner.

I didn’t have especially high expectations for this show, but I thought it might be an amusement worth checking out. I could conceivably see myself watching another episode or two just to gain some more trivial knowledge about Japanese treats, but the characters themselves make doing so feel like more of a chore than an amusement.

Pros: It’s fun to learn about Japanese cultural tidbits, and Japanese treats and snacks are one of those obscure areas that don’t get a whole lot of coverage in the West.

Cons: The characters are irritating in various ways and the women especially get the short end of the character development stick. The comedy is heavy-handed.

Grade: C-

Categories
Personal

Self-Post: My Food Lifestyle

IconSo I thought I’d update on my “diet” since it’s been a really long time. I’ve been reticent to talk about it too much in “real life” because I don’t want to inadvertently say something that might be triggering to someone or to sound like I’m body-shaming people. So just take this as something I wanted to do for myself any only applicable to me and my life.

Several months ago I realized I was eating an awful lot of candy and junk, constantly, all day at work. I was depressed for a very long time for reasons that I won’t go into, and it was manifesting itself through overeating on sugar and soda and all that stuff that your dentist doesn’t want you having. I decided in May or June that I wanted to stop doing that, and so I cut out candy and soda without a whole lot of trouble. I was never really craving it, I was just eating it out of habit and not thinking about it. It’s amazing some of the things that we do when we put our brains on auto pilot.

Somewhere in that time frame a friend of mine also recommended Gary Taubes’ book “Why We Get Fat (and What to Do About It)” which essentially talks about our human physiology and why a lot of official dietary recommendations for our health are based on shaky science and don’t match up with how our bodies process food and convert it to energy (the biggest revelation for me was that consuming dietary fat does not mean your digestive system converts it into fat on your body, which goes against a lot of what we’re taught). I recommend checking it out if you’re interested in that sort of thing. In any case, that helped me consciously and purposefully start making some other dietary changes.

Another thing that helped was discovering the /r/keto subreddit. Reddit is mostly a shit hole and /r/keto can definitely be a huge circlejerk too on occasion but it was there I got a lot of solid advice on the benefits of cutting out other carbohydrates and how doing so doesn’t F your brain up like so many people wrongly believe. Since about July-ish my goal has been to keep to about 20 grams of carbohydrates a day (or less) in order for my body to start burning fat (dietary fat and its own fat stores) instead of seeking out the “easy” energy that carbs provide. Mostly I stick to this, occasionally I go over, but now that my body is “fat adapted” I find that going over a little doesn’t really have any negative effects. According to the subreddit, this diet is apparently good for both Type 2 diabetics or pre-diabetics, and women with PCOS, and was originally developed to treat children with epilepsy.

There were a couple of weeks in there that sucked royally at first. I didn’t go about implementing the lifestyle in a systematic way and wasn’t getting enough salt or other electrolytes (one thing about keto is that your body stops holding onto water, so you’re peeing all day all the time and the salt that your body needs gets flushed right out with it). Once I figured out what was going on, I started feeling a lot better and didn’t feel like I was literally going to fall asleep all day long.

The biggest benefits I’ve noticed have actually been the clarity of mind I have and improvements in my mood. I actually wake up in the morning and feel ready to go, have an easier time thinking through things and making decisions, and find it a lot easier to write which is always something I wanted to work on but I could never find the magic way to fix my cloudy brain. I dealt with pretty significant anxiety for a long time and I’ve found that I have fewer bad moments. Now something that would normally have been really triggering to my anxiety or depression feels more minor (the problem is still there and I still go to professional therapy every couple of weeks, but things are a lot better and I worry about myself a lot less. I’m also not in a place where I feel like I need to take medicine to help with symptoms, which is a road a personally don’t want to go down).

One other major benefit is appetite suppression. My body has basically stopped riding the never-ending insulin roller coaster, so my appetite isn’t falsely triggered all day. I stopped eating breakfast in the morning (and no, it’s not “the most important meal of the day,”). Prior to this breakfast had always made me feel nauseated, but I ate it out of obligation. Now I know better. I do a 16/8 intermittent fast (eating your day’s calories within an 8 hour period and fasting the remaining time) and actually today I didn’t eat anything until about 4pm because I just forgot to (then I ate a double helping of dinner, haha). Eating more fat helps with satiety, so this happens to a lot of people and it’s okay.

Some obstacles I’ve encountered mainly revolve around eating with others. I’m a good cook and make most of my own food (I’m very lucky to have the funds and access to fresh meat and veggies, as well as the time available to cook them in creative and appetizing ways). When out with others, though, I sometimes feel obligated to indulge somewhat, primarily because I don’t want people to start asking questions or thinking that I’ve suddenly become a super picky eater or am faking a food allergy. I feel bad if someone has made something when I’m over – I will usually eat a little even though now food with a lot of carbs tends to give me a headache and screw up my sleep schedule. I’m bad about asking for things at restaurants – a bun-less burger is always a good option on keto, but I’m afraid of offending people so that’s something I really need to work on. It’s hard when food gets ordered in at work for special events, too – I generally can’t eat it (pizza, chinese, italian are big favorites there). It can be kind of a bummer since food defines so many of our social situations and I sometimes feel like these restrictions I’ve imposed on myself aren’t considered legit enough.

So what do I eat? I think people don’t realize that cutting carbs still leaves you with a ton of options. Fatty meats, cheese, and veggies comprise the majority of my diet. These were always my faves anyway (luckily I was never big on dessert to begin with!). I don’t eat most fruit (I know, some of your are like DAI SHOKKU but the fruits that we’ve bred are basically sugar bombs and you can get those vitamins elsewhere). Anyway, here are a few things that I like to eat:

Meats: Chicken (mostly legs and wings, I’ve never like breasts), steak, bacon, pork chops (bone-in and tenderloin), ground meat, sausage, fish (any kind, basically, including canned sardines and tuna as well as fresh fish), eggs (this is a big one – I love eggs a lot and you can cook them so many ways!), preserved meats (prosciutto, salami, etc.)

Dairy: Cheese of almost any kind (I’m a cheese fiend), butter (Kerrygold is my favorite), heavy cream (at the outset I would have coffee with heavy cream in the morning, now I don’t need/want it anymore), sour cream, creme fraiche (I can’t say that without hearing Randy Marsh, lol), occasionally full-fat plain yogurt (what we call “yogurt” is generally sugared-up big time so I don’t normally eat it)

Vegetables: Cruciferous veggies (brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, etc.), cauliflower, asparagus, avocado (technically a fruit but I consider it a culinary vegetable), zucchini, peppers (hot or mild), onions (sparingly, they actually contain some sugar even though you wouldn’t immediately think that), fennel, root veggies (also somewhat sparingly as they are rather starchy), spinach or other greens, green beans

Fruits: Mostly berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries) – they are lowest on the carb scale. Coconut (very fibrous and fatty and delicious)

Snacks: Pork chicharrones (pork rinds) – I know it sounds gross but these are basically made of meat gelatin and serve as a great sub for potato chips, jerky (EPIC uncured bacon bar is my favorite – zero carbs!), Quest protein bars (occasionally if I haven’t prepped enough food for the week I’ll have one of these), Almonds (delicious and full of fiber, vitamins and potassium) and some other nuts, very dark chocolate (85% cacao – Trader Joe’s is my favorite one) or chocolate sweetened with stevia/erythritol, chia seed pudding (made with chia seeds, coconut milk, unsweeted cocoa or matcha)

Beverages: Water, iced tea, sparkling essence water (La Croix), Coke Zero (occasionally, I try to not develop a taste for soda but sometimes I just want some caffeine and I’m not near a coffee supply), coffee (plain or with some almond milk or heavy cream), protein shakes, almond milk, coconut milk

Condiments: Mustard (dijon or the really grainy kind are my favorites), mayonnaise (have always loved it), soy sauce, ranch or blue cheese dressing (full fat), Sriracha or other hot sauces (I like spicy food), vinegar, olive oil, coconut oil. I know Heinz makes a low sugar ketchup but I haven’t tried it yet since I’m not that big on ketchup in the first place.

What don’t I eat? I know most people are more concerned about restrictions, and I think many people would feel too restricted on this type of lifestyle. So here are some things that I don’t really eat anymore:

Flour products, like bread and cake: I will occasionally make exceptions, but it has to be really high quality bread/cake/pastry/whatever. Life’s too short for crappy cake! Some of my exceptions have been chocolate mousse cake on my birthday (my boyfriend and I shared it at a fancy restaurant) and some good fresh bread at a fancy steak house for my friend’s birthday. I’ve made some keto-compliant substitutes that are good, like keto cheddar biscuits made with coconut flour. I don’t make a habit of bread or pastries, though. And I don’t eat pizza. I’ll eat the toppings off of the pizza, but not the dough. They do sell a sprouted wheat bread at Trader Joe’s sometimes that’s okay, I keep a loaf in the freezer in case I need a replacement hot dog bun or something.

Fruit: people really give me the side-eye on this one! Now that my taste buds have adjusted, I just find most fruit to be way too sweet. And like I said, our fruit has been bred to be really sweet and there are other ways to get those vitamins. I do still eat berries, and technically avocado and tomato are fruits, and I’ll eat those. Juices are right out also, since they’re like having fruit without the minor benefit of fiber.

Certain Vegetables: Carrots (although I’m flexible on this), root veggies (also flexible), corn (not flexible, it’s all sugar basically). I’ve started to come around on some vegetables since I feel like the carbohydrates in most of them aren’t doing me a lot of harm since there’s a lot of fiber and I haven’t noticed vegetables interfering with the benefits of my way of eating.

Legumes: legumes are full of starch and they really give me stomach issues now. Hummus is a no-go but baba ghanoush is okay. I’ll occasionally have peanuts but not often.

Sweeteners: Sugar, maple syrup, honey, agave syrup are all out (although on occasion I’ll use a little honey when making some Korean food in the flavoring paste, but it’s like a teaspoon for a whole pan of stuff). I do use liquid stevia and erythritol, which do not cause an insulin spike for me (erythritol is considered the best for this).

Candy: Obviously. I don’t even eat sugar free candy because some people get a major case of the ass blasts from it and I’m not going to even give it a chance. What kind of sucks about not eating is that many people give candy as gifts, especially around the holidays; I got a very nice gift bag from my job and it was almost entirely candy, so I ended up giving it away.

Alcohol: Technically certain alcohols (like hard liquors) aren’t a big deal for keto, but I’m not a big drinker anyway and I prefer beer and wine which are carb-filled (the good ones, anyway). I have had maybe two beers since starting, and a couple glasses of wine and a little liquor over the past 6 months, but nothing dramatic.

Really, there aren’t that many restrictions, but the ones there are are big ones for a lot of people, so it can be kind of daunting to start off.

Some other things I wanted to add are that I tried tracking my calories and stuff for about a week using the My Fitness Pal app on my phone. It actually started giving me anxiety problems, so I stopped and have technically been doing “lazy keto” for the majority of the time. It hasn’t been a hindrance though I know correctly estimating portion sizes and calories can be an issue for some.

I’ve spent all this time justifying my lifestyle, so I’m finally going to talk about one of the other benefits – easy weight loss. One of the other reasons I started looking to change my eating habits is because I’m into lolita fashion and I was starting to not fit into some of the really expensive Japanese clothes I had bought. This was really getting me down and I didn’t want to have to sell all the pretty things in my closet. This problem has happily been addressed at this point. Here are some of my stats:

Starting weight: 183(?) lbs/83kg – I didn’t take an official starting weight, so I’m estimating. My first weigh-in had me at 18olbs/81.6kg exactly.

Current weight: ~145lbs/65.77kg (I weighed in at 143 this morning but that was before I ate/drank anything)

Goal weight: Not sure? I’ve always told myself I’d re-assess when I reached 14olbs and see how I feel. Other than that I don’t have a goal weight.

Starting BMI: ~29.5

Current BMI: ~23.5

I don’t believe in BMI as an accurate measure of anything, really, but I wanted to get into the “Normal” range from “overweight” so my doctor would stop bugging me about it. I don’t think weight is a strong indicator of health for the most part, and doctors tend to attribute any medical problem a fat person has to their weight, which is a total load of bullshit.

Beginning bust measurement: 38inches/96cm

Current bust measurement: 35.5inches/90cm

Beginning waist measurement: 30.7inches/78cm

Current waist measurement: 27.6inches/70cm

I don’t have other measurements because they don’t matter as far as lolita fashion goes for the most part. Needless to say, the items I bought when I was pushing the top of the measurements (96cm bust is basically not fitting right in the Innocent World dresses I have and I’m sure I was a bit higher than those measurements at my largest) fit really well now. I can zip them all up without fighting with them! I’m very happy about that. The downside is that most of my normal clothes don’t fit me anymore, and I’ve run out of notches on my belt.

I also wanted to mention that I don’t exercise. I work in a very sedentary position in my office and I don’t go out of my way fit in extra activity. This goes against a lot of advice that’s given – my thought is that exercise just makes me hungry and when I’m hungry I eat more. Exercise also doesn’t burn many calories at all, and I don’t have an hour every day to spend on the treadmill for little benefit. I do occasionally do some bodyweight resistance training, but not on a consistent basis.

Again, I want to stress that weight does not equal value in a person and I believe all bodies are beautiful and worthy. It’s been difficult for me to reconcile that opinion with ones I have toward myself; they’ve not always been very positive and that’s definitely something I’ve had to work on. I wanted to lose the weight, change my eating habits, and most importantly just feel better and have more energy and drive, because for me this signaled taking control away from my anxiety and depression and nourishing myself in a healthy way. This is the way I’ve been able to do that for myself.

Categories
First Impressions Reviews

New Anime Winter 2016 – Short Form Series Impressions

IconGood afternoon! Since it’s so incredibly cold in the Twin Cities this weekend, I thought it would be a great time to sit down with a cup of hot tea and snuggle underneath a fuzzy blanket to write some first impressions of this Winter’s crop of anime. Look for several series-specific First Impression posts to appear over the next few days. I’ve gathered all of the short-form series I was interested in into this post here, sans She and Her Cat since it’s still MIA as of this writing (I’ll update this post if/when it becomes available).

I’ve been debating how to go about these impressions and how thorough they should be. For these short form series I think I’ll keep things brief, but still offer some pros and cons that will hopefully be informative enough for readers to decide whether the shows sound interesting or not. Let me know what you think!

 

OjisanOjisan and Marshmallow

  • Simulcast on Crunchyroll
  • Number of Episodes: TBA
  • Episode length – 3.5 minutes
  • Episodes viewed – 1 and 2

Hige-san is a middle-aged worker at a “Web-Related Company.” Despite his stocky, gruff appearance, he’s actually got some cute habits, the most obvious of which is that he loves marshmallows. His younger female co-worker Wakabayashi-san knows this and uses it to her advantage – she has a huge crush on Hige-san and knows that marshmallows are the way to his heart. The issue is that she’s a bit too forthcoming in her marshmallow-related advances, making both Hige-san and anyone around the two of them uncomfortable. In episode 1, she attempts to steal a kiss from Hige-san by putting the last marshmallow in between her lips, and in episode 2 she implies adult activities while Hige-san calls to let their boss that they’re stuck in the rain. Will their mis-matched personalities ever meet to light the spark of romance?

On paper, this series sounded really cute. I’m always happy when anime series star adult characters, and candy and romance are things that usually lead to sweet ends. Unfortunately the first couple of episodes made me feel really uncomfortable. There’s a sort of unsettling train of thought that, if someone of lesser power in a traditional power relationship is doing the sexual-harrassing, then it’s supposed to be funny rather than disturbing. In this case, Hige-san is older and also a man, giving him some definite social advantages in the traditional-looking office setting he and Wakabayashi-san share. And it’s Wakabayashi-san who’s being really sexually forward with him. The problem is that it’s all completely inappropriate behavior for the environment they’re in and also their current relationship (as coworkers) and it’s decidedly not funny to me. What’s worse is that the other employees don’t really seem to care that she’s acting this way. I didn’t necessarily expect this to turn into a discussion of sexism in the Japanese workplace system, but seriously? This show gave me kind of a knot in my stomach just because it’s very casual with its employment of sexual harassment humor.

Pros: The series stars adult characters, which is a rarity in anime.

Cons: The humor seems to hinge on a lot of uncomfortable sexual situations and outright office sexual harrassment.

 

GalkoPlease Tell Me! Galko-chan

  • Simulcast on Crunchyroll
  • Number of Episodes: TBA
  • Episode Length: 7.5 minutes
  • Episodes Viewed: 1 and 2

Galko, Otako, and Ojou are three friends with very different personalities. Galko is a “gal,” a popular, stylish girl who gets a bad rap for coming to class late. Otako is an otaku through-and-through. Ojou is a wealthy girl who can be lacking in life experience. The girls spend their days discussing some of the questions that many people would probably like to ask but might not be comfortable with, including periods (tampons versus pads), bathroom habits, pubic hair, breast size, and other stupid myths about the female body that the boys in class seem to pull out of thin air.

Just to get this out of the way, the subject matter in this show is pretty crass and focused on bodily functions and oddities of the human body. This is not subject matter that bothers me, really, but I think it might be off-putting to others (though if hearing about girls’ periods in even the most abstract sense squicks you out, you need to grow up). What I really liked about this show is that the characters themselves tend to defy expectations. Gals can be reviled because of the stereotype that they’re shallow, lazy, and sleep with a lot of guys. Galko (who was my favorite character of the three) is stylish and can be concerned with her looks, but she’s also smart, caring, interested in literature, and has her own hobbies. She also gets kind of embarrassed when it comes to romantic things, which is kind of a fun character trait. I don’t think it’s negative for a woman to want to have a broad range of sexual experiences, but the fact that Galko defies that expectation is kind of cute, too.

I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not, but I kind of like the portrayal of the guys in this show. What actually makes me kind of happy is that their ignorance of women and their complete unwillingness to interact on a normal-person level with the girls is met with an attitude of eye-rolling disdain, which I think is warranted. Anime would likely be a lot better in general if some more of the male leads got some of this kind of feedback (at least it would be in my fantasy world).

Pros: The discussions are really straightforward and I laughed quite a bit out of identification with the things that the girls were talking about. The guys are also called out for being willfully dumb towards girls.

Cons: This is not a clean, cute series about cute girls having a cute slice-of-life time. If you don’t like bathroom humor, best move on.

 

Sekko1Sekkō Boys

  • Simulcast on Crunchyroll
  • Number of Episodes: TBA
  • Episode Length: 7.5 minutes
  • Episodes Viewed: 1 and 2

Art student Ishimoto Miki got so sick of drawing still lives of busts and statues throughout her high school and college career, that she vowed never to draw another statue again. Instead, she decided to enter show business and become a manager for stars and idols. Her first big break comes as a manager at Holbein Entertainment Inc. where’s she’s put in charge of a hot new boy idol group. This could be her dream job, if not for the fact that the group calls themselves the Sekkō Boys and they’re actually the busts of famous saints, gods, and famous people from history – Mars, Hermes, St. Giorgio, and Medici. The boys are heavy, hard to transport, and they get mistaken for props wherever they go. It’s only after acknowledgement by another famous female idol that they begin to feel better about themselves.

One positive consequence of the uptick in okay-to-mediocre male idol anime lately has been the appearance of male idol parody anime. Probably one of the most recently famous occurred in the now-censored first episode of Osomatsu-san last season, but this show continues somewhat in that vein by taking all the tropes of male idol and reverse-harem shows and applying them to completely ridiculous characters. Look at how “chiseled” their features are! They’ll never age-out of being idols! It’s a little like personifying countries in Hetalia, only in this case you don’t have to consider the truly icky implications of making moé-moé jokes about WWII (people do feel bad about that stuff, right?). Anyway, as someone who’s pretty fed up with the real-life screwed-up Japanese idol culture and how it gets romanticized in anime and other media, this is a great deal of fun.

Pros: The choice of characters really proves that Japan has jumped the shark on idol anime – in the good way. The characters are also voiced by famous male Seiyuu, so if you’re into that fandom it’s a nice bonus.

Cons: I question how many new and humorous situations the boys can get themselves into; it seems like gags about their weight and composition will run out of steam pretty quickly.

 

YamishibaiYamishibai Season 3

  • Simulcast on Crunchyroll
  • Number of Episodes: TBA but probably 13
  • Episode Length: 5 minutes
  • Episodes Viewed: 1

On his way home, a young man notices a public bath house that he’s not seen before. Since it’s hot and he’s sweaty, he decides to stop in and freshen up. The bath is run by an old woman who looks ancient, and there’s not another customer in sight. As he’s washing his hair, he hears a voice from the women’s bath on the other side of the barrier. “Could I borrow a bar of soap?” she asks, and he tosses her his soap. “Could I borrow a bucket?” she asks later on, and he warily gives her the one he was using. “Could I borrow a razor?” but he doesn’t have one. She becomes frantic and speaks as if possessed before finally revealing herself and stealing the young man away.

Yamishibai has always been kind of a mixed bag. A lot of the short stories are really goofy and tend to steer away from cultivating any true sense of horror. But when the show is on its game, it tends to be pretty good. This episode was enjoyable and I think it’s because it fit really well in to the formula of “three;” it upped the dread with each repetition of “could I borrow…?” by making each request less and less logical. The sense of being alone in what would normally be a bustling public place is also one of my personal fears – I have had nightmares where I was with friends, and then turned around to find the environment gone dark and no one around me (I blame the opening scenes of Silent Hill 3 for that). It’s still not as terrifying as that episode with the hair inside the copy machine from season 1, but that one will be difficult to top.

Pros: The episode stayed away from corniness and did a good job of cultivating a sense of impending dread.

Cons: The show overall has been a mixed bag and I expect not every episode will be as good as this one.

Categories
Anime Reviews Reviews Simulcast Reviews

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 2 Simulcast Review

Shouwa2x3All performers have to start somewhere. Young Shin seems to have a natural knack for drawing attention to himself, whereas Bon is withdrawn and sullen. The two boys who become apprenticed to a famous 7th generation Rakugo performer are like night and day, but it becomes evident quickly that the two are more like two sides of the same coin. Bon, the son of a geisha, lost his ability to dance after an accident and now walks with a noticeable limp. It’s Shin’s constant prodding and goofball personality that allows him to come out of his shell a bit – in fact, Shin’s the only person with the ability to really make him smile and open up.

Read the rest of the review at The Fandom Post!

Categories
Reviews Simulcast Reviews

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 1 Simulcast Review

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo ShinjuuKyoji is a convict fresh out of a stint in prison. With nowhere to go and no family to speak of, he’d normally be in a bind, but something life-changing happened to him while he was in the slammer – Yakumo, the most famous Rakugo performer in Japan, gave a rousing performance of “Shinigami” at the prison, and Kyoji was instantly smitten. It’s been a year now, but that rendition of the story left its mark and Kyoji makes it his first order of business to seek out Yakumo and become his apprentice. Having spent the last of his money on a brand new suit, he seeks Yakumo out and the master seems so amused that he agrees to take Kyoji on, giving him the new name “Yotaro,” or “Fool.”

Read the rest at The Fandom Post!

Categories
Fashion Special Features

Winter 2015/2016 Innocent World Happy Pack

IconThe end-of-year holidays are a great time to be a fan of lolita fashion. A lot of brands hold sales and most of them also participate in offering “Fukubukuro” packages, what we commonly call “lucky bags” or “lucky packs” in English. Most lolita fashion enthusiasts or fans who buy pop culture merch from Japanese websites will be familiar with the concept, but for those who aren’t, here’s a brief explanation. These packs are usually filled with overstock merchandise offered at a steep discount – it’s cheap because there’s too much of it (probably because the items didn’t sell very well) and you don’t get to choose the items inside. Some lolita fashion brands have altered the tradition somewhat by offering lucky bags that are filled with special re-released prints and they’ll share the information about it beforehand, but many still stick to offering surprises.

Garment size can be an issue in these cases. Many brands operate on what they call “free size” which is supposed to be a “one-size-fits-most” deal. As someone of above-average height and who has a somewhat curvaceous build, things fitting and being long enough to not look goofy on me is always a concern. For these reasons lucky packs can often be a bit of a crap shoot – most brands seem to be more reasonable, offering fully-shirred (elastic all the way around the bodice) items or other things which are likely to fit a wider assortment of figures, but it’s not 100% by any means. That’s why I was pleased when Innocent World, my favorite lolita fashion brand, started offering some of their lucky bags or “happy packs” sorted by size. This gave me enough confidence to put in an order and not worry about whether the majority of the items would fit or not. I grabbed one of these happy packs mid-year, and if time allows I may make a post about what I received in that pack. But the Winter lucky pack that I ordered in December arrived this week and I got to open it last night, so I thought I’d post about it and share some pictures of what I received.

Just as a note, I’m using a phone camera that’s not very good. I did a little tweaking and color correction afterward but because my room is a warm orange color and this took place at night, there wasn’t much I could do. I’ll do my best to link to stock photos so that you can see what these items should actually look like.

Packaging

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The items all came packed in one large shipping box, and they all fit pretty snugly inside. Everything inside the box was packaged in its own cellophane or plastic garment bag. The larger articles of clothing each came with a clothes hanger (which is nice, since I’m always running out of them).

Unidentified Beige Socks with floral ribbon Pattern

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Try as I might, I couldn’t identify the name of the sock from online resources. The socks are a light beige color with darker tan detailing of ribbons, roses, and other flowers. The foot portion has two ribbons in the design. The socks are over-the-knee length. These are always very versatile items and I can use these with several garments I already own.

Torchon Lace Knee Socks

Torchon Lace Socks Lolibrary20160111_21392420160111_213955

This is the other pair of socks I received, and they’re kind of what many people would think of as being “lolita” considering that they have the classic black fabric, white lace color scheme of old-school lolita fashion. I have a pair of similar socks from Bodyline but the lace on these is leaps and bounds nicer so I’m thinking I might retire those.

IW Charm Clip

IW Charm Clip20160111_214030

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This is one of the two hair accessories I received. It’s a very simple grosgrain ribbon with a small Innocent World logo charm on one part of the bow and an alligator clip on the back. I was thinking to myself recently that I get so hung up on big pieces that my accessory collection has suffered, and having small, versatile items like this around is helpful in fixing that.

Unidentified Peter Pan Collar Blouse

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I tried pretty hard to figure out what blouse this was, but to no avail. It’s high quality cotton in a light beige color, has a ruffle around the yoke with some pintuck detailing inside, and has a peter pan collar with lace and lace around the sleeves. The buttons have a sunburst pattern on them. The Bottom of the blouse is plain rather than ruffled and there are no waist ties, which leads me to believe that this one is truly meant to be tucked-in. It’s another great basic piece that I think will look good with several of my items.

Floral JSK

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Once again I’m not quite certain what JSK this is. The bodice is very reminiscent of the Theresia Rose JSK and the Bertille Rose JSK re-release that was supposed to be in some of the packs, but it’s not quite like either and beyond that I’m stumped. In any case, it’s really pretty and I’ll look forward to wearing it when it’s not quite so cold outside.

The Second Rozen Maiden Doll Kanaria Set

Kanaria Set20160111_21470120160111_21490320160111_214201

Innocent World did a collaboration with the anime series Rozen Maiden a while back, converting several of the characters’ outfits into something more fitting for lolita fashion. Lolita fashion shows up fairly often in anime and a lot of the characters from this series seem inspired by that look, but in most cases trying to portray the outfits in the anime directly would come across as too cartoonish. Case in point – the character Kanaria from the show looks like this:

Kanaria Character

The outfit takes the essence of her design and makes it more reasonable for lolita (or in this case, boystyle or ouji) fashion. I received the knickers, overdress and headdress from the set (there is also a blouse and socks pictured for the set but I’m guessing that those sold out quicker.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one, but I think I can make it work if it separate out the pieces and get a waistcoat to wear with the knickers. I was just thinking to myself the other day that I’d like to try boystyle some time, so maybe it’s time to give it a try.

Bonus Photos

Here are some photos of me trying stuff on. It all fits for the most part, though like all IW JSKs I’m going to have to adjust the straps on the floral JSK to be longer since my torso is longer than the default allows (you can do this by moving the buttons that are on the shoulder straps).

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Well, I hope you enjoyed this exciting unboxing. I’ve got another lucky pack on its way sometime soon from Enchantlic Enchantilly, so look forward to some more poor lighting and crappy mirror shots when that arrives.

 

Categories
Previews Reviews

New Anime – Winter Season 2016

IconI’ve spent the last week or so trying to finalize (at least for this round) how I’d like to handle all the new anime coming out. For those of you who were with me through S1E1’s previous incarnations, you’ll remember that I made it my goal to watch at least an episode of each new series that came out each season, offer my comments, and decide if it was worth watching or not. Occasionally I’d follow-up at the close of the season to review the anime I completed. Most of those anime were those which I was enjoying, so I didn’t have a lot of overly critical things to say about them. This approach is fine and dandy, but it’s certainly no longer unique and to be quite honest, it’s very time-consuming. It also forced me to watch a lot of really terrible stuff – anime with extreme front-loaded, nasty fanservice, gorenography, and (worst of all), unapologetic mediocrity (I’m kidding about that one). I still think it’s good to have a well-thought-out opinion on things I don’t like, but I no longer thinks it’s necessary to go looking for that kind of stuff. I know I had a lot of readers at one point who liked reading my negative reviews, but I don’t have much interest in adding to my gray hairs by watching really terrible anime just for others’ benefit.

I’m going to give something a try this time around and see how it works. I’ve had a week or so to suss out what I think are the more appealing and less appealing (to me) anime series for the Winter 2016 season. I’m going to try and focus on those for preview-writing/early impressions and end up with a list of anime I plan to keep up with on a weekly basis (probably not through weekly episode reviews as I don’t think they’re necessary for me to write, but I’ll try to keep up with watching them). I’ve used both “official” previews of early episodes (from ANN, The Fandom Post, and other “news” sites) as well as unofficial sources (friends and acquaintances, other blogs, etc.) to come to my decisions on where to focus and what to eliminate from my view outright. If anyone out there has a *compelling* reason as to why one of the shows on my dump list is at least worth checking-out, by all means leave a comment and let me know. But I think it will take a lot to convince me to take that extra time out of my day, so really think about it.

Here’s my current to-check-out list (including items from my “Some Things I’m Anticipating This Season” post from the other day):

Shorts

  • Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko: Everything Flows – details are sparse on this, including when and how it will be broadcast, so this one’s iffy for right now. The original She and Her Cat was a charming short included on the DVD for Voices of a Distant Star, Makoto Shinkai’s breakthrough OVA which was released in the early 2000’s. Shinkai has sort of a spotty record in my eyes – the way he handles visuals is beautiful and distinctive, and his background art makes great wallpapers, but the larger-scale his stories try to be, the less successful they are, in my opinion. This may be a return to something more intimate and I can definitely get behind that.
  • Ojisan to Marshmallow – I could certainly end up being wrong, but the premise of this show sounded kind of cute to me. I’m kind of a sucker for any anime that involves characters that are of an adult age, since I’m not getting any younger and it’s pretty rare.
  • Oshiete Galko-san – Anime about groups of teenage girls are all over the place, but I’m always willing to give one a try. Especially since it’s a small investment and it sounds like it might be kind of crass, which I find funny on occasion (it depends a lot on the tone and the exact subject matter, though).
  • Sekko Boys – Likewise, I’m also willing to try out shows that feature really bizarro takes on bishounen anime. The guys in this anime are literally statues (or busts, more technically). How weird! I’m hoping it’s funny.
  • Yamishibai Season 3 – This is one of my favorite little “short and spooky” anime. The quality of each episode varies widely, and some of them are downright silly, but some are also pretty darned terrifying.

TV Anime

  • Ajin – You can read some previous thoughts here.
  • Dagashi Kashi – I have a difficult time resisting a show that’s food-related, even if that’s likely not the actual focus. I’m hearing that this show might be a little “manic pixie dream girl-ish” but I thought it might be worth a look anyway.
  • ERASED (Boku Dake ga Inai Machi) – You can read some previous thoughts here. I’m especially looking forward to this considering the really stellar reviews the first episode has been getting. The only negative comments I’ve really seen have been from people who are familiar with the source material, but I’m the type of person who prefers that adaptations mix things up a bit so that doesn’t deter me.
  • Dimension W – This hadn’t been on my radar previously, but I’ve heard it being referred to as one of the next potential “mainstream” series and that makes me kind of curious about it.
  • Haruchika – you can read some previous thoughts here. Reactions have been mixed thus far but a lot of them have been calling it “boring” which probably means that I’m going to like it. I’m also understanding that one of the main characters is gay or bi, which makes me interested to see how they’re characterized. I’m hoping someone from the LGBT community will pick up on the show and offer their opinion on that as well.
  • Lupin III Season 4 – I was kind of wondering exactly when we’d get this over here since it broadcast in Italy back in 2015 (Spring?) and unofficial versions were nowhere to be found. So even though it’s a little out of season I wanted to include it somehow.
  • Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – You can read some previous thoughts here. I’ve already seen the first episode of this show and am working on my first simulcast review of it for The Fandom Post (I was busy over the weekend and it was just released on Friday with little fanfare, so I didn’t get a decent start on it until a couple days later). This is the one series I’ll be able to promise weekly reviews for. It starts with a double episode and I’m really liking what I’ve seen thus far. It offers some insight into a Japanese performance art that isn’t very well known in the West and I’m always up for something like that. Also, adult characters!

Borderline Stuff and Sequels (aka “low priority”)

  • Musaigen no Phantom World – It’s KyoAni… it’s also a pretty standard light novel premise with a decent amount of fanservice according to every account I’ve read (and seen – there are plenty of gifs already of a certain limbo scene that has to be seen to be believed). I like to give KyoAni series a chance for their animation, but I suspect that won’t keep me occupied for long.
  • Prince of Stride: Alternative – This season’s bishounen sports series. By all accounts thus far it’s pretty average, but I’m hoping that it’ll be funny and over-the-top enough to be entertaining in a fujoshi-bait sort of way.
  • Active Raid – I can’t get a read on this one. It might be a totally silly buddy cop show, it might be taking itself too seriously, the reactions are completely mixed. In those cases I think it’s worthwhile to take a stab at it if time allows.
  • Snow White with the Red Hair Season 2 – You can read my previous thoughts here. This is one of a couple of series from Summer that I want to finish but haven’t yet, so that will have to happen before I give any opinions on the second half.
  • Gate Season 2 – you can read my previous thoughts here. Similarly, I didn’t make time to finish this one either. But I want to! One day it will finally happen.
  • Durarara X2 Ketsu – And boy oh boy, I’m behind on watching this show. It’s not from lack of interest – unlike a lot of other fans, I actually enjoyed what I saw of the first new cour back in early 2015. I’ve just been lazy about making time for it, as usual. It’s so easy to get distracted by the brand new shinies!

Hopefully with this plan in place, I can check out series methodically and have constructive things to write about them. Here’s to hoping!

Categories
Previews Reviews

Some Things I’m Anticipating This Season

Normally I don’t write a lot about upcoming anime because even things that look really cool from a blurb might be disappointing, and anime that looks goofy or pointless could very well end up being totally awesome. The involvement of certain studios and staff can inform those opinions, but it’s still a guessing game that I can’t win with 100% certainty. But there are a few things I’ve been keeping my eyes on as this season has come into view, and I’d like to at least throw them out there. Feel free to offer up your most anticipated new series in the comments!

AjinAjin: Demihuman

Synopsis: Kei, a high school kid, is alarmed to learn that he is one of very few “Demi Humans” in existence. While being a Demi Human affords one immortality from injury, it also means that the Japanese government is very interested in capturing you and performing terrible experiments on you for the rest of your awful life.

Why I’m interested: I’ve read part of the manga on which it’s based, and while I feel like its subject matter can sometimes put it in the same category as stuff like Future Diary or Deadman Wonderland (by which I mean violent and gross for no good reason other than to be “edgy”), I did like how the manga gave the perspective of several different Demi Humans with different viewpoints. Some of them just want to live their lives without fear of being imprisoned for the rest of it, but there are also some who wish to respond more violently to the injustices that they’ve experienced.

I still can’t say that I’m fully onboard with the full-CG treatment, though. I’ve got Knights of Sidonia from the same studio on my “to-watch” list (I didn’t catch it on Netflix but I ended up just buying the disc during the recent Rightstuf holiday sale) so it’s not that I’m totally opposed to the idea, but it still looks really weird to me. I like the look of hand-drawn anime precisely because there’s just such a variance in look and quality throughout the episode – yes, I’m congratulating inconsistency here. When everything is animated smoothly and consistently, it takes away the opportunity to be “wow-ed” by a moment of really great animation.

 

Snow White With the Red HairSnow White with the Red Hair 2

Synopsis: Shirayuki left her home and her job due to the advances of an uncouth local prince, and has taken up residence in the neighboring country of Clarines. She’s in the service of Zen, the Second Prince of that country, as a court herbalist. In this role she gets to have many shoujo adventures with a lot of dreamy dudes.

Why I’m interested: I think what I like about this series so far is that it’s differentiated itself from the pack by just being a very solid, classic shoujo fantasy. A lot of the entertainment created for the ladies lately has involved either groups of male idols, or groups of vaguely-creepy supernatural guys (or guys on sports teams, but I’ll let everyone keep pretending that Haikyuu, Kuroko’s Basketball, and Yowapeda are actually shounen anime).

Shirayuki is just well-made with an interesting heroine and, yes, cute guys. So I’m definitely looking forward to this continuation of it! More seriously I appreciate that the main character is hardworking and gets to have a job rather than just taking on a purely “princess” role in the story following Zen’s introduction. There’s more of a partnership dynamic, and Shirayuki gets her own character progression as she learns her job role and interacts with other denizens of the upper-class/royalty. And I really have to mention the animation/color scheme, which, while not over-the-top amazing, is truly polished and shows the care that went into bringing the anime series to life.

 

Boku Dake Ga Inai MachiBoku Dake ga Inai Machi

Synopsis: A manga author has the ability to go back and time and prevent deaths from happening. When he himself is framed for murder, he tries to go back and time in order to stop the death from occurring, thus clearing his name in the process. Instead, he goes back as far as grade school, one month before a classmate of his goes missing. He chooses to use his talent to prevent her disappearance.

Why I’m Interested: This is one of those cases where I just don’t exactly know why I’m drawn to the show, I’m just really interested in seeing this story unfold and I think it’s a unique way to try and tackle a mystery (and I do appreciate that – I was one of maybe three people in all of anime fandom who didn’t hate Subete ga F ni Naru, so a mystery not quite being a “mystery” doesn’t bother me).

Besides that, the director (Tomohiko Itou) is pretty hit-or-miss for me (he’s been involved with shows I like, like Silver Spoon, and shows that I really didn’t like at all, such as Sword Art Online) and so I can’t really make any predictions as to how his influence will affect the quality of the show itself. But I do know that I appreciate series with adult characters, and despite the main character returning to his life as a child I feel like he’ll likely retain his perspective anyway (at least, that sounds like what the mechanic is), so that’s another plus.

 

GateGate Season 2

Synopsis: Itami Youji, an otaku, is on his way to a doujin event when a huge gate opens in Tokyo and all sorts of fantasy creatures, as well as a foreign army, pour through and attack the populace. Youji, who is also a member of the Japanese Self Defense Force, uses his skills to help defend the public. Several months later, he is chosen as a member of a military recon squad sent through the gate to make contact with the other world.

Why I’m Interested: The first season of this show was far from perfect and had a tendency to get a little bit too silly and fanservicey at times. Through it all, though, what I appreciated was its ability to even make any sort of assumption as to how the appearance of this gate and this entire other world would affect our real world. One of the things that stuck out to me was a discussion between some diplomats or politicians from another country commenting on the fact that now Japan would have access to an entirely new source of natural resources, putting the country at a distinct advantage which it might not otherwise have. That kind of thing is really intellectually stimulating to me, and I can overlook some irritating side characters and such for the opportunity to indulge in the show’s good qualities.

I’m not quite done watching season 1 (split-cour shows tend to go on the backburner for me and I’ve been busy otherwise), but I expect that I’ll dive right into season 2 when that finally occurs.

 

HaruChikaHaruchika

Synopsis: Haruta and Chika are two members of a foundering wind instrument club that is in danger of being shut down. Their days are spent practicing together and also trying to recruit new members so the club can stay in business. One day something happens in their school, and the two childhood friends decide to work together to solve the mystery.

Why I’m Interested: P.A. Works has a sort of spotty record (I’d say more good than bad, but I’m sure there would be people who’d disagree with me), but their more recent anime seems to have sat well with me, so that was one reason I was keeping my eye on this upcoming series. One of the other reasons is that I’m a former band geek and had a very good time with Sound! Euphonium so I’m hoping at least some of that same music drama will show up here. And, of course, I’m also interested in the “mystery” aspect. I don’t exactly know how prominent or straightforward that will be, but I’m curious to find out. I’m hoping there might be a bit of a Hyouka vibe to it, if I’m lucky enough.

Also, I have a friend who works as a translator for Funimation, and she’s working on this simulcast, so I’m definitely excited to watch it for that reason, too (I like her translations a lot!).

 

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo ShinjuuShouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Synopsis: A convicted criminal has served his time, and upon release from prison knows exactly what he wants to do; after seeing a rakugo (traditional comic storytelling) performance, he seeks out that performer and asks to apprentice with him. Named “Yotaro” by his master, he learns the art of performance and also meets his master’s acquaintances, including a woman who is a great performer in her own right, but cannot perform as the profession is not open to women.

Why I’m Interested: Adult characters? Interesting time period? Weird subject matter? Potential discussion of gender discrimination? It’s like someone reached into my mind and constructed a series just to appeal to me alone. Seriously, though, I’ve had my eye on this anime since it was announced at some point last year, and anytime I learn something new about it I get more and more excited to watch it. In fact, assuming it is picked up as a simulcast (c’mon, Crunchyroll!), I’ll be writing weekly simulcast reviews of it over at The Fandom Post.

I’ll be interested to see what the director brings to the table as he’s a former member of SHAFT and worked on a few things I liked as an episode director (Arakawa Under the Bridge, Madoka). In my opinion, any time someone can work their way up and leave their mark somehow in anime, it’s a good day.

 

So that’s about it. I’m sure some of these will suck and others that aren’t listed will rock my entire world, but that’s always the fun of a new anime season, right? Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’re really looking forward to!

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Site Relaunch

IconWell, this has been quite a while coming, but welcome back to Season 1 Episode 1!

If you’re reading this, you might be wondering exactly what happened to me and why the site was defunct for so long. The obnoxiously vague answer is that I went through a lot of depressing personal stuff and didn’t have the bandwidth to keep up with my hobbies, one of which was writing about anime. It took me quite a long time plus a heavy dose of introspection and professional therapy to get back to where I wanted to be, and it took me even longer to feel confident enough to set up this website again. Previously I’d had help from others to bring this blog to life; this time I’m doing it on my own.

Prior to this relaunch I’d made it my duty to post lengthy impressions of all the new anime being released each season. While that type of writing has its benefits, it’s also incredibly exhausting and takes up a huge chunk of my time. This time around I’m making a point to prioritize posting about things that I like and think are worth celebrating, including things which fall outside of the umbrella of Japanese media (even American television and movies, which I do enjoy to some extent despite still being kind of a weeb). That doesn’t mean that there won’t be a rant every once in a while, but most of the time it’s just more satisfying to talk about stuff you like (and it draws a lot less abuse – the other reason I abandoned blogging for a while was the tone and frequency of some of the comments I was getting).

So what can you expect to see here? There will definitely be reviews, including those written specifically for this blog and those posted elsewhere. I’ll also talk about my broader interest in Asian pop culture including films, music, manga and fashion. I’m hoping to eventually have a regular column about cooking, especially common food items and treats we see all the time in anime and manga.

Additionally, I’m hoping to branch out and write a bit more about American TV and films, as well as Western graphic novels that I happen to be into (I’m a bit more choosy there, but I do own a decent selection of graphic novels). I also occasionally play video and computer games, so those might pop up from time-to-time as well. And, as always, I will continue to be informed by my history as a fan, a feminist, and a woman.

I hope that there are some of you out there who will have the chance to rediscover the site, and I’m excited to meet all the new readers who stop by! I hope you find something to like here.