My Passionate Love Affair with Kabi Nagata....'s Work

Before we begin, I would like to say that this post covers deeper subject matters than what usually shows up on the blog: self-harm, alcoholism, hopitalisations, depression, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and more. I won't get too into details with certain things, but please be aware that these well come up. There's also a letter at the end to the author you can skip once you get there as it's technically the end of the article.

That being said, welcome back and enjoy.

 

Pour Me a Yuri!!! on Ice

Yuri!!! on Ice is unequivocally one of the most popular anime to come out in Q4 2016— if not this entire year, honestly. Most of the reception has been incredibly positive, and there have only been a few nitpicks here and there about the overall theme of romance within the show itself. ……But honestly, a lot of it is unnecessary discourse. Also, Congratulations to it being the first anime I started and finished in the past… year. Thank you to Anne Lee over at Chic Pixel for the 48 hour CrunchyRoll guest pass, so I could watch the finale yesterday!(๑¯♡¯๑)

I've been interested in figure skating for years; it's been a silent interest of mine since childhood [I'll be posting about another one before the year is out, hopefully] and has always been one of those fantastical things that I never thought I could actually indulge in, in spite of already playing several sports back then. Figure skating is one of those sports that focuses so much on technique and encourages a stylised and personal approach to elegance. Despite the silly costumes, the competitors are fiercely loyal to their craft and incredibly disciplined. When I was growing up, figure skating wasn't really on the radar of many people around me. It was solely considered a feminine hobby, if it was even regarded at all, so it's nice to see something like this become so popular and bring fans of the sport, new and old together.

But enough about waxing poetic about ice knives and silly leotards, what about the show? Well. I'm glad you asked.

Beautiful, Chaotic Metropolis

Life! That's all I have to say about my lack of updates. But as is my style, I'm going to be working backwards with you for a moment.

I've seen a couple of great movies lately, but I want to talk about the most recent one I saw a few days ago. Its name is Metropolis. I've seen gifs of this movie (specifically of this blond crying) on tumblr. I've made a mental note of it, but I never made an attempt to go look it up. Sometimes, I just flat out forgot, but I was given the opportunity to correct this repetitive mistake!

Let's Take Our Hunter Exams!

Now here's something that comes as a surprise.

Before I switch my tumblr accounts, there had been a lot of hype for Hunter x Hunter. Over the past six months or so, I saw a lot of people talking about it (and Fairy Tail, actually). HxH was something that I had heard about here and there over the years, so I knew the name "Gon" but nothing else. Seeing the characters on my dash without context was always amusing and slowly gained my interested, but I never took the bait. It was always on that "Okay, I'll put it on my list" list, but I never thought I would actually fall into it.

That is until my roommate decided to take the plunge, and I'm so glad I jumped in as well. Oh, my dear sweet boys. Because I started, I won't be reviewing this like I did Daily Lives of High School Boys. Consider this review more of a stream of consciousness if anything.

Anime Haul! Hits [and Misses] of Summer 2014

July's almost over, and I've been getting myself into the fever of anime! One thing that remains though is that I ultimately need to get back into the rhythm of reading manga as well (especially now that my bookcase is set up). I'm sure that I'll get there eventually.

A lot of the anime I've been watching feels... rushed, for lack of a better word, and I remember the good old days of 25-26 episodes with in anime season. When it was anything shorter it felt so much more satisfying. Nowadays, I sort of dread the end. Not because "I don't want it to be over!!", but because it ends up feeling like a great waste of time on the part of those who put forth effort into making the anime and then on my part for watching it.

Harsh, I know, but them's the breaks. It's been hard to find something entertaining and worthwhile, but I'm sure that's only because I've only dipped my toe into the vast Summer Anime pool. I'll try to tackle them all (okay, more of them), but for now, let's kick things off with:

Bakumatsu Rock.

Happy New Cosplay

As some of you might have known and as all of you might have guessed, I like cosplay. I like seeing cosplay, critiquing cosplay, planning for it, and all. I just really like the idea and aspect of it, and the fact that people have gone from mere hobby to professional grade is also impressive to me. For me, it's something I enjoy but am really reluctant to do. However, I'm pretty okay at closetplay. One of my newest ventures is this guy:

(courtesy of qtpiecaps)

Yup, the kouhai-touching, sister con, middle child of the Nase family: Hiroomi Nase from KnK.

And as I've stated before, the show itself plateaued for me, but the characters were overall really well-written, interesting, and dynamic. Again, this is another show where I pretty much liked every single person. And Hiroomi goes beyond that exception. Serious though he is, when he needs to be, his day-to-day is actually, well, pretty much a goofy teenager.

One of the things I absolutely admire about him is his excellent taste in scarves, and I, also being a scarf enthusiast, decided to buy his mostly for fashion purposes (strangely enough cosplay came as an after thought once I got it).

2014 So Far: A Month in Anime

Happy new year, as late as I am to say it. This year has kicked off into a pretty heavy month of anime for me. I've been trying to get back into some old favours, so I'm reading books that I bought during and started before my trip. The games that I'm really into are on hold or are being dragged into forever. So what have I been watching? I'll try to get to the quick of everything.

The Daily Lives of High School Idiots.

I hardly know where to begin with this one. After a long time of listening to otto and Yasu talk a lot about it, I finally decided to watch 男子高校生の日常 aka Daily Lives of High School Boys. I have to say that this anime is a lot more than I ever thought it would be. There's... a lot to it, and there's a lot to take in, but we're going to try to break down first impressions, mid-season thoughts, common thoughts, and final decree.

Anime-zing Finds! Anime Haul Part 2! Time for Fall.

I've been away for a while trying to juggle a few external things. And now, I'm sick or at least am on the sick train towards Unwellville. It's not fun, not at all, but I'll survive. In a previous installment, I talked about the anime I was watching, but I didn't get to talk about the rest of them. This one is going to be pretty short, but still honest nonetheless. I'm trying not to make these too, too lengthy, you know. With this, I'll wrap up with the anime I've taken interest in and the one that I've actually dropped. Speaking of which, let's start with the one that I dropped... almost immediately.

Anime-zing Finds! Anime Haul Summer & Early Fall

I'm slowly getting back into my old interests, which is great! Aside from video games, I found myself slipping right back into a familiar niche—this one belonging to anime. I've been all over the place these few months. My summer and beginning of fall have been filled with keeping current or catching up with series. And this is going to be a long, long talk about everything I've seen. Or rather, those I care to make notes of.

So sit tight and maybe grab a pen and pencil if you want to note down some favourites or things you want to watch.

The Hot, Paved Tekkokkinkreet

I'm really behind on things that I've seen/done and actually enjoyed. Like really behind. Let's try and make this better. About six months ago, I had the pleasure of watching Tekkonkinkreet, which is one hell of a name to type.

The movie is based off the seinen manga series and came out in 2006. Man, am I late. One of the things that got me about the movie is the art style of the characters and the crazy amount of details in the background. I didn't think that I was going to enjoy it very much, and I wasn't sure why. I just had that feeling. I'm so glad that it was wrong. This ended up being more than a story about two brothers trying to survive in this dangerous world of gangs and steel.

For Kuro (/Itachi), this world is all about surviving and trying to keep it safe enough for his brother to live in. Shiro isn't 100% oblivious, but it's obvious that he's not completely there as well. They mean everything to each other, and while that's an easy trope to fall into, I think that Tekkonkinkreet takes it to a whole new level when Kuro gets obsessed with leveling the playing field between him and, well, everyone else.

I think it's a really good movie, and I'm glad I finally got around to checking it out, you know. This is a movie for those who don't mind action, brotherly love turning into overprotection, and a bit of madness. Check it out for yourself, and let me know what you think.

This Too Shall Psycho-Pass.

I have to admit something. When I first started this anime, I hated it to all hell. There were so many disagreeable tropes that all rested within the naive, consistently odd-looking main character, Tsunemori Akane (Akane Tsunemori for Western style). I didn't like her; I didn't like the way she acted or moved. In fact, I liked everyone but her at first, and my dislike of her was so uncharacteristically vehement that she was actually ruining the anime for me. But for some reason, I continued on. The plot and the surrounding characters were good. By the time I got to episode 8, I had to stop for outside reasons, but when I came back, I treated this anime just like all the others I've seen.

And that's when Psycho-Pass really came through for me.

All's Fair in Love and Summer Wars

 

We're blazin' a trail through these movie features, but here's something that took me a couple of months to complete. Moving around really put a stanch in my personal interests. I'm kinda glad that I got around to finishing this one. Summer Wars isn't dramatically action packed or suspenseful as other movies I've reviewed.

Their global society has escalated, and their main means of business, communication, and gaming comes through the world simply known as OZ. It's an interface that can be accessed via mobile phone and home computer, and every single user has an avatar they use within this impressive digital realm. All seems fine until the code to the supercomputer's mainframe is hacked. And how unlikely heroes have to fight to restore order, but their virtual lives aren't the only ones at stake. Well, they aren't unlikely heroes, but they are—for the most part—a bunch of kids!

For what I can say, this is a really peaceful movie. It keeps their technological progress on a realistic plane. Meaning, even though now we have touch screen, 72" TVs, we still don't have flying cars. Here in a rural area of Japan, there's a grandmother who lives in her large estate and the only major change that separates the world from what it is today is its usage of this place called OZ.

I would definitely give this movie a watch. It has (very) slight moments of suspense, surprising let downs (in a good way), and it's just overall good for what it is. It's pleasant, but not extravagant. A solid four out of five on this one in all cases.