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Yay, happy belated birthday to yourself! I apologize for not reaching out either, things have also been absurdly busy for me. Junior year things, lol. I have a tendency to take on way too much, its also like if I take a breather everything will crash over me. It can be hard to make time for anime these days, but I see I still passed you in watch time :3 that took a while, I will say. Even if I am not great about reaching out these days, you will still always be a close internet connection, due to our lengthy and very indulgent discussions.

Glad to hear about your school, are you doing a university or trade school? Hope your job has been alright too, if you are still working at it. I know people our age (myself included) are quick to drop jobs in order to try out a better or more interesting one.

Glad you are liking Elliott Smith!! I was so obsessed with his music in highschool, particularly because of Good Will Hunting (one of my fav movies). His voice is so pained, but so beautiful, I love how both sparse and cluttered his music can get. It totally makes sense hes clicking with you too :D hes an artist I can always throw on, especially this time of year. I associate him a lot with cold weather.

LOL. I totally get that though, i also often read manga in bed. I saw you gave Domestic Girlfriend an 8 the other day, which cracked me up. I got the ending spoiled for me and it seems pretty awesome, not sure if i would want to sit through such a long series to get to something so absurd though.

Happy New Year to you too! Man, we have known each other for a while. I remember when you had way more days logged than me ;) maybe thats not a brag.

I have not watched the Haruhi movie yet!! My boyfriend and I have been rewatching Haruhi together and we are currently getting through the endless eight. I kinda had just wanted to skip forward and watch the movie (since i agree its very Christmassy) but it is soooo long to watch over zoom lol, and something i think i wanna watch on one of the big screens at my college, where i have been watching a lot of anime these days. I stand by that Disappearance does undeniably hit harder after watching all eight eps of s2 though, so i might just see the rewatch the full way through before watching it again ~~ Have you watched it yet?

Ive been well, also being an adult :) relieved to have some time to bum around for the next few weeks.

Hope your holidays were well~

Have finally caught up to you in watch time!!! ^^

How have you been?

Awesome!! Im glad to hear that youre well. And I know right, I've thought about reaching out a few times, but have found myself glued to mal less and less these days.

Good luck, but I'm getting up there :}

Thank you!!! And happy current birthday to you, salad.

How have you been lately? I have been pretty dandy, not going to lie.

No worries, now I'm the embarrassing one lol. Hope you had a solid birthday and have all around been having a decent time ☺ Oh, and how's the new Star Wars anime? Im vaguely curious, especially since a lot of the iconic characters don't seem to be in it. Is its a spin off?

I am doing a business major and art/design minor. I still have "undecided" listed but my classes are set up to follow that track and I plan to make it official soon. I agree with the "happy and poor than wealthy and miserable", I think many people don't take artists seriously because they expect them to live lavishly or create a family. I have no interest as of now to get married or have kids and I want to live fairly modestly in a small house when i begin adulthood. I want to make more than minimum wage but I would rather be doing something that inspires me than emphasizing monetary gains. Then again, business is a really reliable degree to aim for, since you can do a lot with it. Do you have any plans for when you finish school? Back when i had no interest in college I always thought about working multiple jobs and focusing more on "the real world". I worked a minimum wage job all of last year and despite having a great boss and co workers felt completely suffocated and frustrated by how people treat employees in retail/business. Its not for me longterm (even if i will continue to do low paying work for years to come to afford stuff lol), I want to be in a collaborative and creative environment with interesting people, hopefully that's not pretentious and makes sense. I have a lot of schoolwork/social priorities in college but its overall been working out I would say. I really like a lot my school offers, plus I think i thrive more in the city than the small suburbs I grew up in.

The physical Haruhis are indeed out now. I flipped my shit when I saw them in the book store a few months ago. I really need to finish the later content, can't believe i haven't yet but I have so much required reading for school. If you found out about Kadano's work please update me. I really love his style/sensibilities.

Pink was one of the best media experiences i have had in a long time. There's something so simple and raw about it, I think its more based in human behavior/motivations than much stuff out there and that was really interesting. I also totally saw it as a love letter to artists in its central drama. Believe it or not, I feel very strongly that it would be fantastic as a live action film, i would love a really well directed one with strong actors. That will never happen, but its very striking story deserves unique shot composition/framing and pacing between the conversations of characters. I really really recommend, though its a little hard to find online. I bought the physical and despite its high price I would say its worth it. I love the artwork and its definitely something I will return to. Josei manga continuously wins for me, maybe its because I'm becoming older and want to see my media more realistically dirty/triumphant or something.

I barely even remember Yuri Kuma Arashi now, but I also found it mediocre with very bad moments. My biggest issue was I found the tone to be completely broken. Moments that should have been upsetting/tragic are completely ruined by dumb sound effects, repetition, and ridiculous visuals. Not that those things can break a show, hell I would argue Utena has the same sort of gimmicks, but Utena's intense moments are so impactful because of how suddenly scary and tragic they become in contrast. My other main problem is how its essentially a love story that is jumpstarted by a girl trying to get back at her enemy for killing her initial girlfriend. They spend most of the show having her be vengeful and crying about her loss, then randomly throw in a relationship between the other character when its too late to care. I had similar problems with Penguindrum i think, i.e. high stakes that are totally butchered by a implausible cheeky tone and very scattered planning/plot buildups. At least Penguindrum had compelling characters and an interesting direction though, I found YKA's overall flat and undynamic with most of its elements. Besides the cute character designs, i really don't think its something I'm going to think about much.

I have very very mixed feelings on GTO. I see it as a show that is very flawed but has a fantastic beating heart within it. I love Onizuka as the protagonist obviously, and I was sold by most of his dialogue, speeches, and actions- despite how repetitive they can be. The problem for me was how all over the place/poorly paced the show felt despite its good set up and intentions. A lot of characters have very obvious and direct arcs set up that they never finish/are scrapped in favor of random bullshit. Some episodes are outright bad and a waste of time too, or just repeat character dynamics that should have been resolved episodes earlier. I found the peak of the show to be Kanzaki's little arc about 1/3rds in, I really like her as a foil to Onizuka and just her personality/mannerisms in general. The show is also full of really funny high moments, even the bad episodes would have at least one interaction that made me smile. So I would overall consider myself a fan, even if I was frustrated by the strangely sluggish nature of the show (for how bombastic and absurd it is). I find it evident that the production team was unsure how long the show would last and never got to finish/follow the manga (which I definitely will read eventually). Yet I would never beat down on a fan for considering it a masterpiece, its such an earnest show with a good message behind it. I appreciate anything that recognizes the humanistic teacher and can see why that can be so effective for so many people.

I really dislike the new Higurashi seasons. I find the core premise abysmal, in what universe does Rika deserve more suffering? She literally breaks out of a long spanning time lock and has a conclusive arc in the original series, the idea of putting her through another one is beyond redundant and just flat out insulting to fans that got through it already. Satoko's character is completely butchered too, I hate how she is simultaneously a sociopath that wants to hurt her best friend and way too self aware compared to her mannerisms/central character in the original season. The new answer season is almost awesomely bad, there are moments that are so over the top and stupid that i was invested, but not many. A lot of it is just the original series reanimated but with a bottom tier context/central conflict. Its such a shame too, i would have been curious for a new Higurashi with maybe new characters or a different event happening in the same town. There is no necessity of doing the same thing again with none of the justifiable emotions/stakes.

Phew, sorry again for the late response. The weather is starting to get cold and I hope you're hanging in there. I'll hear from you when I hear from you.

Hey Salad, happy birthday. Hope you're doing okay.

Sorry for not replying for a few weeks, I am once again finding myself excessively busy, and I went away on vacation. The beach always reminds me of Chikan Otoko oddly enough, I distinctly remember reading it at my grandfather's house and on the car ride home last summer. Strangely pleasant how memories allow me to associate certain works with places and time, and that can really add to the memorability of the works themselves.

Right now I am thinking about going to school for business and art dual. I can't imagine myself working under someone long term, and I definitely can't imagine myself not doing something creation based in the future. I have dreams of running my own gallery or studio in the city, its a far off dream that will require work, but still present none the less. My parents were distant about me being an artist for a long time but have become more accepting in recent years, sort of encouraging me to pair it with a more "practical" major like business or journalism. I am also considering design/architecture right now, I really like exploring older houses and thinking about creating my own structures, its a strange thing, but I have a knack for exploring abandoned spaces too. Sometimes after work I just drive around, going down older and abandoned areas, and looking for buildings that have not been touched for a while. I find myself entranced by the mystery of old structures, and why exactly they were left alone. But long story short, I'm undecided for my freshman year. I signed up for mostly art courses (got a lot of my mandatory credits in high school already) and plan to discuss some of my scattered motivations with some professionals about a career that can combine all of these interests into a more profitable package. I'll update ya one day.

I saw you read all of Wandering Son and loved it, do you think you can sell me on it a bit? I was disappointed by the show adaptation and even more disappointed by my disappointment, I know its only a glimpse of the entire manga but I found the drama and dialogue mostly slow and unrelatable (even frustrating at times), even if I liked a lot about it (obviously the themes of identity based around gender turmoil really interest me). watching it reminded me of watching Love Comedy Snafu, they both have drama and ideas that I really like but I feel uncomfortable/put off by watching them and the ways they treat their leads which detract from the experience (even if thats the point). I think my favorite aspect was Shuu and Suehiro's friendship for sure, I found it really adorable and heartwarming.

Also, I finally got around to finishing both omnibus volumes of Boogiepop (1-6). There are fan translations of a few other volumes online that I will definitely seek out in the future, but I want to read some other light novels I am interested in before hand (finish Haruhi {finally} Kino, KnK, Monogatari, etc). Anyway, I definitely would recommend checking out the other volumes eventually. I really like the way Kadono writes his characters and the themes he expresses within his universe. Don't want to spoil much but the second and third volumes are definitely my favorites of the other stories, as they create a giant web of a narrative with a ridiculous amount of characters intimately and meaningfully working off of each other that builds to a well staged climax in a similar way the first does. That being said of course, the first volume is the best and most emotional for sure in my eyes, but i think it adds even more to the later volumes with the knowledge of its events amongst other events and timelines within the universe. Highly recommend when you get to it one day, I know the list is long for people like us, but I hope you can find enjoyment in a similar way I did.

Touhou's music is the best. Your friend is super talented then, I can only 1cc easy mode. I still have yet to even beat 6 on hard mode. I would like to play Lunar Nights at some point, as well as all the weird fan games. If you remember the name of the other one let me know, my dream is to eventually try out all the Touhous. I do really love Scarlet Devil though, and Perfect Cherry Blossom. They're the most popular but I still really enjoy the flow of them to be pretty attached.

That's awesome, that you are already interested in buying a car. Mini coopers are nice cars, small, practical, and sturdy. I have a 2004 Ford station wagon I have been working on myself. It is old but drives great, and I love its spacious trunk in particular. I really want a retro Volvo one day, those have been my dream car for a while. Then again, if I am living in the city, a car will not be the most necessary. I am trying to get better at skating and am even interested in eventually buying a vespa/motobike. Best of luck to your last year though, hopefully you can figure things out and the work load is not too bad (my senior year was ridiculous, but then again I tried to force in way too much hard bullshit). I am really excited for the independence, and even though I like the suburbs, the city seems like more of my speed.

I know you have only watched the first episode of Boring Girlfriend, but what did you think? I enjoyed the show a lot oddly, its a pretty basic harem show, but I feel like it has a lot of heart to it and is worth the dumb moments for the ending movie. Probably one of the better A1 shows for sure, both in terms of production and narrative. I remember the directing in the first episode in particular being really solid, I really like the scene of the main guy running around Megumi when he first encounters her at school.

I've been a little addicted to Touhou lately, despite not being great either. I think a lot of it is memorization so I'm still working on the later levels. It is very satisfying and fun though, I love all the fan content for it, and the designs are great (I think small smart lolis with big hats on are my thing).

Its really no problem, I sort of figured. I have been meaning to reach out again recently but have also been super busy. I did graduate :) and I finally got my license. How is your own driving going? I have been working a lot, driving around a lot, always up to something it seems. I am moving to the city in the fall to attend school so I am really excited about that too. You are about to enter your last year of mandatory school correct? How are you feeling about that?

Thanks, Remilia Scarlet is such a cutie :-)

Long time no see, how have you been?

what?

The only shows I would actually consider "deconstruction" are shows that are self aware of the ideas they are commenting on and purposely doing something completely different. I see a lot of anime which call out the tropes they are defying but still end up doing the tropes anyway. (Saekano for example, the characters know all about harem tropes and can call them out but are essentially, in a harem and do normal harem stuff). School Days is a good example of my personal definition, almost all the moments in that show went in a different direction than what I'm used to, it wasn't just characters calling out what they were doing, but rather doing the opposite of what you would expect in the usual situation by nature of their characters. School Days isn't a good show, but I still have some respect for what it was/comments on.

I'm glad that you enjoyed Kure-nai. In my own opinion most of the show maintains strong and effective directing. It honestly could just be contributed to how uniquely directed it is, some of the sequences are unlike any other I've seen before. The musical scene is really well directed for some reason, and I remember the later fight scenes being good. I liked Shinkuro and Murasaki's dynamic a lot, I've heard people complain that its very lolicon pandering but I did not really view it that way. Sure, Murasaki does imply at the end that she will marry Shinkuro one day, but that could just be owed to her having a innocent crush/traditional view that she was raised on. Shinkuro acts really normal and subdued towards her, acting like an older brother/father at times. I liked how wholesome it was, some of the early scenes of Murasaki calling him at school made me laugh a lot. I liked most of the side characters as well, the scenes in the apartment felt natural and laid-back to me. Good mixture with the tense and unpredictable later episodes.

From what I'm aware, the manga and light novel are completely different than the show. Now, I know the light novels probably do have some intrigue/extension of the story to them (as it tends to be), but the ova follows the original plot and is absolutely abysmal. The character designs are very inferior, the cool directing is completely gone into generic sub-par cheap directing, and the episodic plots were super sleazy/stupid. All of the girls suddenly were in love with Shinkuro and bickering over him. There are definitely moments in the series where they all flirt with him (particularly between his two friends at school) but they felt more natural and just regular interactions. The ova even has two new girls with really unmemorable and obnoxious personalities that you can tell were purposely taken out of the show bc they did not fit the tone. I'm really glad the creators of the Kure-nai TV show decided not to go with the plot of the ova, because it just would have been a really bad harem with a loli lead. Sorry if I'm ranting a lot, I was just completely let down, and I really think the ova should not be watched/held on the same standard as the show. Furthermore, although I have interest in what happens after the show, I am sort of reluctant to because of what I have been exposed to of the original plot.

I'm finally finishing Monogatari. I really enjoyed watching Owarimonogatari season one today, I feel like it was a good place to jump back in after over a year has passed since I watched Tsuki. Not going to lie though, Sodachi's arc was one of my least favorites from what I've seen. I liked a lot of the directing and character interactions between Araragi and Hanekawa and Ougi, but I found her conflict to feel somewhat straight-forward compared to many of the other arcs. She essentially just has trauma, like all the other characters, but no apparition involved this time, making her hatred towards Araragi feel more tedious and just petty. Still, I was very invested in the entire season, and watched most of it in one sitting. I think waiting to finish the series was a good idea, the constant talking feels more interesting to me now honestly. I was sad that my two favorites (Senjougahara and Hachikuji) were not in this arc much, but I know they're in the second Owari season so I'm not too sad. Senjougahara's moments were definitely my favorite parts of this season, her phone call with Araragi to motivate him was just lovely and actually made me really emotional. Its weird how she does not have a lot of scenes in a lot of these later arcs but still has the most impact for me personally, I guess I'm not alone with that hence her popularity. I distinctly remember her only popping up at the end of the Tsuki arc but it being the best part. Her arc in 2nd season is also one of my favorites in the entire show, watching an autistic girl and an autistic conman essentially team up to fight a loli was really entertaining and amusing to me. I actually went back to Bake too and rewatched the date episodes at the end, the main relationship is still so good and engaging to me. Araragi has a lot of great moments with all the girls but I really like the constant background presence of Senjougahara, as she lets him fuck around but knows he'll still be there for her despite his circumstances. The more I think about both of them the better they get for me. I'm probably going to finish the whole series in the next few days, I'll keep you updated if you want, since I know you're a big fan. I'm most excited for the Kizu films and more A + S content, plus Kanbaru asking Araragi to take her virginity a million more times.