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Hey I’m good. What anime are you watching lately? I’m watching attack on titan season 3 & re zero season 2.

Haha somehow I can't read bad reviews for a show I liked because I get influenced by other people's opinions too easily.

And thanks! I am the same as you then, because I still haven't started the blog :p Its been a month but I'll finally put my mind to it and stop procrastinating. I'll be happy if you checked it out when its done :)

Hope you also find the focus and energy you need to do great stuff. Love <3

Thank you! I am glad you appreciate it. Its funny how you still decided to watch the show though! Maybe I couldn't convince you with my review after all...

Haha no, I'm just joking. You should watch and form your own opinion it. Maybe by the time it ends, you will like it, but I sure didn't. And I still stand by my view.

And thanks for telling me I should write more. Somehow, I needed to hear that. I actually love writing but I haven't done it in so long. I have been thinking about starting a Wordpress blog for posting anime/movie/drama reviews sometime in December. If I manage to make one, would you be interested in becoming my first follower? :D

thx for the rec

Hey hey heyyyy~~~

Heyoo! 👋🏼 Pardon my horrible timing with replies lately Ilasma-kun. 🙇🏼‍♂️

Yuri on Ice was a fun, decent ride for the unique niche that it's in. I have hopes that what's next for the franchise will be even better. Glad you liked it!

So I've been back to working full force for a while actually. I'm actually on the brink of a goal I've been waiting on for quite some time! I don't think I'm quite there just yet, but almost! Basically, once I have enough saved I'll have my bills paid for a full year ahead of me, then I will either quit my job to focus on coding some small apps for my resume full time, or do that the majority of the time while maybe picking up a part time job to just be around people for sanity's sake lol.

I have some decisions to sort out with that this week actually, that way I have the clarity necessary to know when to pivot.

Now in the meantime, I've been watching quite a bit of anime, more than has been typical for me leading up to this point really. Still no piano just yet and my hope is waning ugh >///< Oh, but since I knew this would happen I did pick up a melodica to practice scales and fingerings on, ahahaha. It's so cute and fun. The music theory course was going well, but I actually stopped that for a bit to do a sightreading course instead before getting back into theory. I need to work on sightreading so bad, ahhh. But I'm not writing anything I'm proud of by any means! The prof has you buy lined paper to write music on, but it's not as if what I've written is good at all haha. Aside from that, I go for runs at the local park and train a bit with my rings, but that's all really. Oh, but I did go camping/kayaking this past weekend for a few days, it was quite fun!



Also, I'm so glad to hear that you've retrieved the clarinet for yourself!! *victory music plays* 🙌🏼 Ahh you'll upgrade your storage in your brain soon to be able to handle learning everything again, I have no doubt haha 😅 I didn't know you'd have to do finger stretches for clarinet too! Do let me know when you get those lessons going! Then tour guide training and Japanese on top of all of that though, it's a lot to handle, huh? Check out a book I found helpful when learning Spanish. It's called Fluent Forever, and it teaches you how to better learn more effectively to be able to retain what you've learned more quickly and for longer. He even has pronunciation trainers and word lists for multiple languages, so be sure to see if he has any for Japanese on his website. They're cheap, too.

As for the tour guide training, I bet you'll have a different perspective of your area, for sure. You'll be a real pro! In fact, I bet any future local dates will be a breeze for you since you'll be dropping knowledge and jokes the whole time, ha. 😉 When will you give your first tour? I'm glad things are going well for you and I hope they're still on the right track!

I see you're watching YOI! Yuri Plisetsky is my fav character, hope you enjoy! Also, that's one of the few shows I've watched dubbed so I could get a better feel for everyone's accents since they're all basically international. It was actually pretty good dubbed. Which version are you watching?

I think it will be an eternity before the movie comes out, but I'm definitely looking forward to it, given their newly updated animation style on the ice looks unreal.

Here's an example in one of the "specials" not-related to the story but with the updated on-ice animation:

Hey! No worries, I'm glad you came back to drop in though, I've missed my MAL bestie, haha (¬_¬")

Don't feel bad though, I've ghosted most people on here for the past few weeks since I've been working every day. After two weeks I decided to take yesterday and today off to get my mind together, ground myself, accomplish a few important tasks and actually watch a few more anime at an enjoyable pace. MUCH needed.

I'm sooo glad you dig the characters of K-On!, especially Yui in all her hilarious antics and the humor in general. I hope you plan on getting into S2 eventually, because it gives you the ending you want and actually gets quite emotional! Take your time though, but note that it is absolutely worth it. I miss it, and I might have to throw it back to one of my favorite episodes just for some good laughs.

Once your done with Fate, Apollon is a wonderful choice. Goodness, I've got to say that I've never seen anything quite like that, and I've also never been as just... giddy and excited to get through a show in a while. It was really good and made it into my favorites for sure. It's just a tad more dramatic than I expected, but in a good way. It doesn't take itself too seriously though, it's just a really fun ride, it's funny without trying, it's super cool, I LOVED the brotherhood between Bon and Sentaro, and how despite any ups and downs it was always their mutual love for music that was the glue which held them together. The pacing was great, too. The ONLY thing that would have made it a homerun was if the animation was updated just a teeny bit, but it's easy to look past that given how good everything is. Also, I'd recommend reading the very last couple chapters of the manga after if you want to know how things really end (takes 15 min).

So that brought me a lot of joy, and now I've just been alternating through Jojo Part 4 which is surprisingly more like a SoL than battle shounen, but has been enjoyable, and Nodame Cantabile. Ahh, the latter I HIGHLY recommend. The humor is soooo good with what seems like zero effort, it's mature, it's fun, it's far funnier than I expected it to be, and it's wrapped up in a big bow of classical music. I'm just eating it up. I've only cracked into it recently, but I have a goooood feeling about this one.

Honestly? Music anime have got to me my favorite. I'm just realizing this now. Shows combining my favorite things cannot go wrong if in the right hands. Also looking forward to Hibike! S2 after I wrap these up :D I'll probably watch the Disappearance of Suzimiya Haruhi after, then get on Hibike. All in all, there's just too much I AM excited about for me to stick to Cowboy Bebop right now, haha. One day...

Great to hear about your inspiration with music though!! I really hope you end up toying around sooner than later! Definitely let me know when the band gets back together! Yes, guitar can be challenging. Really committing, learning the scales, fingerings etc is a whole journey of practice and dedication. I'd say you won't dive in if you feel reluctant. Don't force the desire, just wait until you're really called! What lessons are you taking currently? Haha I remember my cheeks hurting so bad with trumpet, so I don't doubt this!

Music theory is going well. I'm in a sight reading course which is paying dividends, I pretty much know the notes now in both clefs and just have to get quicker at recognizing them so it's more immediate and without hesitation. On the theory side, I'm using this program called Finale to write my own music along with this teacher in a course online and it's so cool to feel the growth and deep understanding of music come together though it all. Still no piano yet though T.T

I have the piano stand, the piano bench, the sustain pedal, and two studio monitor stands all set up (I returned the monitors and plan to get different ones later on), but no piano haha. It all looks so lonely. All I'm waiting on is the piano, the interface (to hook up to my computer and monitors) and the midi cables. All of it is on backorder, ughhh. Then a couple weeks later I'll get different monitors and the proper cables, then I'll be good to go!

Until then, theory it is! Nice hearing from you, hope today has been good so far!

Heyoo (≧∇≦)ﾉ

Ahh, Hibike! was great! I'm definitely looking forward to the second season. I loveeed the powerful scene with Kumiko running through the street, then leaning over the bridge and shouting "I want to improve'. The animation was SO good for that! In general, the show had outstanding animation actually. It really was an overall good time. The only character I actually didn't care for was Asuka, the VP. Everyone else was a good time! KyoAni loves having characters squeeze other characters' faces for cuteness, lmaoo.

Ahh yes, inspiration has been struck and my desire has officially fallen off of the edge and now action has been taken, haha. You know what, I couldn't get my hands on that one I mentioned I wanted to buy second hand, but I did actually end up ordering a new Korg D1 last week! Too bad it might not be here until the first week of June #killme.

Soooo in the meantime I've been taking a music theory course in my spare time for a bit each day. It's just enough time for me to get some good info down where I'll feel prepared to begin systematically practicing to get my skills up. But yesssss, it's the #1 thing I'm most excited about right now, ha. You getting back with the band would be so great! Let me know if you do end up making a move on that :D Do you remember how to play, read music, etc?

Yes, Your Lie in April is apparently renowned and so through the synopsis (along with all the praise) I added it to my PTW. I did actually just watch the trailer for the first time and I have to say, it seems to be practically bleeding melodrama. Also... I just wasn't impressed with the animation from what I saw. Now, I could be judging preemptively, so I'll just have to see. I will say though, the desire isn't there to jump in just yet.

I think the next series I will start this week (sorry Cowboy Bebop, you're probably going to go on hold AGAIN >.< ...I don't think I'm ever getting through that series) is going to be Sakamichi no Apollon! It just seems "cool", and I've only heard great things. After that, Nodome Cantabile s1! (Will I ever take a break from music anime? Who knows!) I'll give Given a look now and see if it seems like something for me, thanks!

You are very welcome! I am really happy you are enjoying Hibike! Episode 8 season 1 is one of the highlights in my opinion, and yes Reina is great! But I do like pretty much every character in this show, with very few exceptions, and even some that I didn't like in season 1 found their way to redemption is season 2. Yes, my profile pic is Natsuki: I have always liked side characters, and I really like her attitude of "I don't care", but she actually does! She is not the best euphonium player, but she is just so cool about this! Ahah I can relate a lot.

Also, as you said, I love how well they have matched the personality of the characters with the instrument they play: in my personal experience, trombones are good natured, tubas are somehow low profiles, drummers slack off (in the best possible way), and of course trumpets are divas :D So the characterization to me is extremely spot on!

You cannot NOT love Kumiko, she doesn't want to be the best, she doesn't even want to be in the band at first, but she will find her way.

The bit with the mouthpiece was a little, great time of comedy! I wonder how many people spotted that :D

Wow it's great that you felt so inspired to the extent that you are buying a piano! Let me know how it goes with that! I am looking forward to going back with my band, now that I am back home, but I have to get my hands on a clarinet first.

As for other anime dealing with music, I had set my eyes on Sakamichi no Apollon and Nodame Cantabile as well, and I have recently added to my PTW Given (which should be about rock music). I watched Your lie in April, which I have seen is in you PTW as well: once you see that, let me know your opinions. I strongly disliked it and from time to time I wonder why people keep it in such a high regard...

Update part 2: I finished episode 8 this evening, and can definitely say that the pace has improved much. Declarations of love have been shot down, unexpected shoujo-ai has been sprinkled onto the plot (Reina is excellent), tension in the band is causing breakage, the dramatic elements are unfolding and I'm really digging some of the subtleties of the characters. Kumiko's character is carved out very nicely. She's sheepish, goes with the flow, but I feel like she wants to step into something better for herself. I'm not sure if the band will bring it out of her or if someone or something else will, but I'm intrigued.

I also like how they distinguish personalities with instruments here, and it's quite true to an extent. Also, watching this week has just revved up a desire I've had for a couple years now to get into playing the piano, so I've messaged someone selling an 88 key piano (a really good one!) and as long as they confirm it's in working order, I'll pick it up this week! This is definitely something I've been wanting for quite a while, but watching music related anime always pokes at these desires, and it just feels like the time is right to learn.

So I've queued up a few more music and piano-centric series to get into in the near future, of course. Really looking forward to Sakamichi no Apollon and Nodame Cantabile next. But so far, Hibike! has been great. Looking forward to season 2 already. 💭

Big thanks for the recommend!

P.S. Is your pfp Natsuki btw?

It can tough to go back to these objects of obsession that you speak of. I've had to pick up where I've left things off with minimal motivation to do so once it's been a while, so at least your tactic subverts this whole situation lol. Definitely let me know when you get through that VN though! I'm not surprised about your new appreciation, I think the VN is the only way to get that 😅

Haha I've never seen Firefly, but noted on that. Yes, I'm excited for you to get on the Haruhi train. Don't let season 2 get you down, just take it for what it is. I'll respect your wishes then lol. All I will say is that I have a ton of respect for the animators and their creativity there. I'll be sure to give you my final verdict on the series once I get to that movie, btw. I'll probably wait until I finish either Bebop or Hibike! to do so.

Speaking of which, Hibike! is going well so far. I'm about 4 episodes in, so things are still unfolding for me. It's off to a bit of a slow start, but I am appreciating and enjoying it nonetheless. I'm digging Kumiko's cute hairstyle, the exaggerated and unique ways they alter her expressing her emotions throughout the show, the subtle humor (girl gets "saxophone-kun" from the vending machine, and it looks hilarious), the tubacabra joke was clever and funny, also the little moments like when the one girl says she'll throw her mouthpiece at the sensei if he is harsh on the class, and while they're waiting for his reaction to their second performance she quick readies her hand on the mouthpiece lmao. There's a lot I'm enjoying, but those are a few examples of some things that brought me joy. I have a feeling it's going to be more dramatic than I had expected, but I'm cool with that.

City Hunter, ohhh man. You know what? I absolutely love the aesthetic. I appreciate "vintage" anime, and that was one of my draws to it. Actually, I liked most of what it had to offer, but there was one thing I couldn't get past, and it was the extremely juvenile humor and his utter lack of self control when it came to not being able to cop a feel at literally anything with a pair of tatas. Like, bro... get it together, man. I would have no problem if he was still a dog, always hitting on everyone, but the fact that he's LITERALLY groping EVERYONE, and that it's always met with him being head over heels on the floor, beat up just feels like an old comedy gig for kids. I realized that all of the humor was going to be that way, and I just couldnt take 50+ episodes of that lmao.

Ah well, win some lose some I guess 🤷🏼‍♂️

I can totally tell that you're like that! You've invested probably 10x what I have into the Fate series, just to see what it has to offer. I simply need dat ~variety~ to stimulate me in different ways. Most recently, I'm feeling vintage stuff so I've been watching more of that the past couple weeks.

I feel like what you felt like you could be missing will definitely be brought to you from the VN. That will cover at least three routes for you. Also, I'm glad to hear you got that up and running so quickly! Apologies on not sending off what you needed sooner. Let me know how you're enjoying it :D You'll get a lot more internal dialogue from Shirou and maybe you'll have more respect for him, who knows lol.

Also, I watched the first episode of Hibike! Euphonium and I am looking forward to getting further through that. It's bringing me back hard, ha. On Suzumiya Haruhi, I'll give you a little update here. First, I watched broadcast order and I highly recommend that. I couldn't see myself having enjoyed it nearly as much the other way. Also, I've finished seasons 1 & 2 and have only the movie to go. I'm very excited about the movie and many people think it's the best thing to come out of the series. I hope I feel the same. I will say that while I highly respect season 1 and think it's very very good, season 2 did unfortunately descend into mediocrity a bit. I'm not sure if you know about the endless eight, but that's quite an interesting part of it. I will say though, I actually enjoyed the endless eight more than I thought, and my final rating for season 2 had more to do with many other factors aside from the endless eight, although it still had somewhat of an effect on my rating regardless. Season 2 just feels like something you have to get through, for better or for worse. I'll let you know what I think about the disappearance movie once I'm done though. I was gonna give it a week or two before I jumped in, but who knows.

Yeahhh, it's bad over here for sure. I'd prefer to be somewhere not here, quite honestly. Either way, I have my health so I'm grateful. Glad you made it back home though, and I hope you do end up staying. Like you said, it's a perfect situation for you to catch up with those resolutions, haha. 🤞🏼

Oh, on the Fate series topic, did you know this was even a thing? It's a side story, and I'm definitely going to watch it! Someone said it was basically Fate/Cooking and I was dying 😂 Loving how deep you're diving into the franchise as a whole though!

Ahhh, that nightmare of a process 😅 It's not that bad, but it definitely took me hours of research and trial and error to make it happen. But, I do have it installed on my laptop with all of the add ons and patches, everything running great! I got into it for a bit, but never wanted to go the full mile so hung it up. I can link you to all of the resources though, it'll save you a lot of time. If you want, lmk and I'll send you a PM with all the links. I think I have my own folder for all that stuff.

I've seen you going through Amagi Brilliant Park, Yakusoku no Neverland too. I've tried the manga of Yakusoku no Neverland, but couldn't find myself getting really into it despite the fact that I have a lot of respect for the mangaka and love her art style. I've never heart of Amagi Brilliant Park, but it seemed like something pretty unique in it's own right. I'm glad you're really enjoying it though!

Rebalancing is important! Some series do well in one shot. Others, if you really love them, you'll let them breathe, haha. I do hope you love K-On! the way I did. Series two was better than the first, which was great as is. It's endearing, and just about the interactions between everyone, the antics and the fun characters. It brought love to my heart, and I got pretty emotional after they played their last show and know they're all about to graduate and move on with their lives. It's truly a special show to me. It is very moe, but I hope that doesn't deter you from the fun that's baked into it.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. What to say about this one? Well, I'm still working through the second series, then I have the movie too. But as far as season 1 is concerned, I was surprised to find out just how much I loved it. I'd say between an 8-9 rating is fairly accurate for what I got out of it.

Yeah so I had no idea what to expect, really. I heard it was a comedy and there was a school. Yeah? Great. But I knew it was well known, so I wanted to know why. You may have noticed that people either love it or hate it. They hate Haruhi and think the characters are trash and the concept was great but they dropped the ball, etc. Me personally? I disregarded all of that. I will say at first, Haruhi was overbearing and I wasn't a fan. But... I knew there was more to her and I wanted to give her a fair chance. Glad I did, because she actually really grew on me. Oddly enough, I found myself relating more to her in the series than to Kyon (the male MC). What makes this show so good is actually pretty tough to nail. It's not like, any one particular thing that makes it fantastic; it's more that there are multiple little things that are done well enough that they add up to a surprisingly satisfying experience. It's actually far less black and white than I expected it to be. So Haruhi was great fun, Kyon's narrating was great and subtly funny, though not some hilarious comedy the entire time (it's not supposed to be).

The one thing that really drove it home for me was the main tragic element behind Haruhi and how everything plays out in the end. The thing is, she's actually a god (not a spoiler), and everyone around her knows it for the whole show but they can't let her know. How she feels at all times determines the stability of the dimension the world is in, so basically the fate of the world lies on keeping her satisfied, regardless of her ridiculous demands. Why this was so cool actually goes into a philosophy that I personally believe in that functions in our own world. If you're familiar with "the secret" aka "the law of attraction", I actually really bought into this series because essentially, Haruhi's life is an example of this principle working, just blown out of proportion and with other sci fi elements at work.

Some things were a bit too much for me, like how she interacted constantly with the other girl Kyon has a crush on (you'll see), and it's like okay, I get it, she's constantly dressing this girl up in moe outfits and it feels like it panders a bit to the audience, but all in all it's worth looking past because to me, the rest of what was there was definitely worth it.

Don't feel like you have to reply to all that, btw. I just wanted to give you a better idea of what you're getting into than what I had. I hope you enjoy it either way!

Hey, friend! I know you're into cats, and I just discovered this one myself. It's only 4 episodes, but I know many people really loved it. Maybe give it a try!

Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko: Everything Flows