Report MidnightTv13's Profile

Hey there, I realize it's been a very long time between messages and I didn't want to make you feel like I had ignored your last message. I'm just spending less time with anime lately so I haven't been checking in here well...at ALL basically. I feel bad for not having reached out to anybody on here in awhile, and I hope nobody holds it against me. And with the anime I am occasionally watching, it's a different experience now that I'm attempting to learn Japanese (jibun de nihongo o benkyo shite imasu lol) I find myself pausing and rewinding every few seconds to see if I can make out what they're saying. I'll also see the subtitles say something that I'd like to learn how to add to my vocabulary, and then attempt to speak it into Google Translate. Then if I get it right, I'll run it through Chat GPT to find out if it's correct, how casual or formal it is, and ask it to give me different variations that fit my lower skill level. Then I'll attempt to memorize it so I can add it to my repertoire. So as you can imagine, a single episode of anime might take me 60-90 minutes to get through if I'm really trying to learn things from it. Beyond that I'm learning things here and there from YouTube channels to fine tune things. In the age we live in right now, it's never been easier to learn how to do just about anything with all of the resources we have available to us. Imagine trying to learn Japanese in the 80s or 90s. Seems like it would be nearly impossible without taking in person courses.

Oh, and yeah, I'm using Duolingo. But I have only just started the actual grammar and speaking sections. For the past 2 months I went all in on the hiragana and katakana courses exclusively. I wanted to learn the building blocks before I ventured into anything else. I'm considering paying for the premium version because I'm getting really sick of the intrusive ad system. Is that what you've been using? It has a really bad reputation for some reason in the community. But I suppose that since I haven't used any of the alternatives, I wouldn't know. Katakana has been fun because when I see it in the opening and closing credits of an anime, I know that it'll be fun to figure out what English words look like. I saw one that was like Kuri su ta ru, which ended up being Crystal, and something like Fu rai n gu ro te su, which was Flying Lotus. I don't always get them on the first try, but it fascinates me when I finally comprehend it.

So what made you originally want to learn the language? I figure that anime accounts for a large percentage of people wanting to try it out. I imagine that like myself, people start picking up on all of the words like "baka," and "nani?," that we hear frequently while watching anime and say "huh, I think I just might be able to figure this out."

I listened to that Pocari Sweet album, and it indeed does sound like it was being broadcast from the Black Lodge. I'm sure we can take a moment here to share our feelings regarding the loss of David Lynch, and all of the beautifully odd experiences he has given us over our lives. My first exposure was when I was about 10 years old and my father rented Eraserhead from our local video store. He had watched the movie back when it was first released and couldn't believe that it had even made it to home video. The next week he rented The Elephant Man. He told me that these were two of his favorite films of all time. I had no clue that they were made by the same director, or even what a director was at that time in my life. But they both stuck with me for life. My next encounter with his works was in my late teens. I was working the midnight shift at a local TV station. My supervisor was into all sorts of underground and bizarre things. He turned me on to Joy Division, Wax Trax records, and various independent films. When he found out that I had basically no knowledge of Twin Peaks, he brought in his VHS box set (this was around 1999.) He was so excited for me to watch the show that he allowed me to skip all of my work responsibilities until I finished watching it. So I was getting paid to watch what quickly became one of my favorite shows of all time lol! The rest all fell into place. He brought in Wild at Heart, Blue Velvet, and anything else that was available on VHS at the time. I was hooked. David Lynch's works have a way of finding people who are receptive to that type of thing. I'm sure that you have your own Lynch journey that I'd love to hear about.

Well that's about it for now, my friend. And since you asked, I am doing far better than I was earlier this year. All of the troubles that I went through ended up building back my confidence and sense of self worth in the long run. Sometimes we need to be broken down to our lowest point to be able to build ourselves back up stronger than we were before. I'm confident that even though my frame is getting older, I am mentally the best person that I have ever been so far in my life. By far. Feel free to let me know anything you have going on in your life. I may take longer than usual to respond nowadays, but I'm never planning on disappearing forever.

:)

Hey there, it was good to hear from you about your trip and your experience with the language. As soon as I read your message a few weeks ago it inspired me to try and learn Japanese even more. I decided to really get down to the basics so I'm currently attempting to learn Hiragana. I've made it through the basic characters and I'm just now learning the little accent marks that change the sounds like " and ⁰.

I've heard some suggestions that I should have perhaps learned Katakana alongside Hiragana instead of one at a time. Now it feels intimidating knowing that I'll be learning a completely different alphabet from the one I'm currently working on. But even if I get them both down, nothing seems as scary as learning Kanji. My memory isn't the greatest, so learning thousands of characters almost doesn't seem possible for me. But I guess we'll see how it goes after I learn the other alphabets. I have to use my own imagination to come up with mnemonics because the ones people suggest just don't stick with me. It's pretty funny because the ones I come up with wouldn't make sense anywhere outside of my own mind. Let me know how you learned the language and any tips or tricks you can give me. I really needed a new hobby in my life to occupy my mind and distract it from my troubles. So many thanks for inspiring me to pick this up.

I listened to those Ride EPs and I really do like their early sound much more than the later stuff I have heard. The sound is a bit darker, which is something I'm always look for. With almost any band I'm always drawn to their darkest material. I always say that I'm a secret goth at heart. It's probably only partially related, but while we're in the topic of shoegaze (or at least shoegaze adjacent) I've been including a lot of Catherine Wheel in my recent playlists. Particularly the song Crank, which might not be shoegaze at all? You are probably more qualified to answer that than myself. That song and Black Metallic were such a big part of my early teenage years. Our first "alternative" music station played those so much in the early 90s that they're instant nostalgia bombs for me. But anyway, thanks for the kind words and for your concern. Oh, and you have to send me your taco recipe sometime! Everyone could always use more Mexican food haha

Thanks for getting back to me.

Since you're interested in Maruo, I could refer you to some of his work that my friend greatly recommended. They're a good place to start:

DDT Is a short story collection which I started with, It'll give you a good idea of what crazy storytelling Maruo is capable of. It's really remarkable.

Binzume no Jigoku

Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show

New National Kid

You can read all of it on his author page here, DDT and the first two are translated.

Hey, how ya doin?

I'm well myself, did you pick back up on Homunculus?

I'm more than halfway done reading Blade of the Immortal. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Also looking into Maruo Suehiro's work a bit in between. I've finished a short story collection, as well as a one chap by him. [DDT] [The Dancing Dwarf]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing your story. All titles you mentioned are super masterful!

I plan to start and finish Blood on the tracks before summer! I loved The Flowers of Evil too, and I’m very eager to explore more of Oshimi’s work.

Hey! Just checking in. I hope everything is well with you. Is anything interesting going on? How's reading Homunculus going? I've just finished reading all four physical omnibuses of Blade of the Immortal that I own. As far as samurai manga goes, it's a goldie!

Compared to a lot of other people on mal, I’m pretty new to manga. I only just started taking interest in it probably half a year ago. But at the moment, Oyasumi punpun is my top 1, Berserk being my 2nd, and The flowers of Evil, 3rd. Berserk is so masterful in its storytelling but so is Oyasumi Punpun. I rank it higher because it was delivered so nicely in just 13 Tankōbon volumes. Whereas Berserk is Muira’s lifelong project, spanning over 40+ volumes. I hate comparing them but realistically I would say they’re on par in their own ways. Not much to say about The Flowers of Evil, it just really resonated with me ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

That's so cool that you're visiting Japan! I doubt I'll ever get to go, but it would be something I'd like to experience one day. I feel like I would need to at least have a rudimentary understanding of the language before I could travel to another country. I know it probably isn't necessary, but it would just make me feel a little less anxious about it all. Although I've learned a few words and phrases from watching anime, I have absolutely no grasp on how the language even works. Last week I actually memorized how to say "I can't speak Japanese." I used it for a bit of a joke for a friend. I told her that I knew how to speak Japanese, and then to "prove it" used Google Translate on my phone. I said "listen to this" and spoke into the app "Jōdandayo, baka. watashi wa nihongo ga hanasemasen." which shows up as "Just kidding, idiot, I can't speak Japanese." It got a good laugh from her. Then I told her I'll make up for it and used the app to say "Jōdandayo. Ohayōgozaimasu, utsukushi yūjin" which you can translate on your own if you'd like. Hopefully on your phone. It doesn't translate at all on the web version via my computer. It was just a fun little way to flirt. It was all just memorization and it didn't teach me a thing about the language itself haha

I don't want to bother you on your vacation, but I'd like to hear about your trip some day. As always, I'm never looking for any sort of quick or forced reply. Take your time, enjoy your visit. I'm currently obsessed with the albums Romance and Skinty Fia by Fontaines D.C. and Our Love To Admire by Interpol while I'm getting over a bit of a heartbreak. Haven't had one of those in over a decade. It feels different with age. Hopefully you can read that in the voice of Bernard Black so it doesn't sound too depressing.

Yep, mostly every anime has a manga counterpart. Right? It's awesome artwork. I would say I'm drawn to manga with great writing and premise. Though, the art plays a big role in my appeal of course. Great question!

I loved Homonculus!! Lmk how that goes. Im currently reading Blade of the Immortal, it’s a samurai manga, great story with even greater art! Some panels are done in pencil-only, so it creates an awesome “photorealistic” effect ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Sup! You read anything recently?

All is well! Cheers!

Happy Birthday!

Happy New Year, my friend. I lament that we haven't found the time to converse in so long. I have watched the first season of Black Books if it makes you feel any better. It was brilliant. Don't be a stranger unless you're feeling like one. I get it. Don't feel the need to reply. I was thinking about my interactions on here and just wanted to acknowledge you.