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There are aspects of our everyday lives that are simply outside of our control, whether for better or for worse. It may be a difficult fact to swallow, and to compensate, we complain, we groan, we lament, but at the end of the day, we accept that there is nothing we can do. And that's okay. The good things in life are balanced by the bad things, after all (or at least, that's how it's supposed to work). But what happens when the scale tips over; when we are thrusted into a utopia where these struggles are lifted from our shoulders? Do we bask in ... the glory of this world, or do we struggle to accept the irreplaceable void in our new lives?

After two seasons of buildup, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya plunges Kyon into this very situation, a world in which Kyon must find his answer to, well, the disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

These questions are the driving force behind Disappearance's story, and they are a major part of the reason why Disappearance is so highly acclaimed by many. After all, it wouldn't be an understatement to say that many people make their way through the two seasons of Haruhi just to experience the series' unmatchable climax, the movie. For its majority, Disappearance shifts the series' focus onto Yuki Nagato, not on a certain arrogant individual we all hold close to our hearts (or for others, a good kilometer or two away). As stated by the title, Haruhi is absent for much of the film, which can either be a pro or a con. Personally, it was a breath of fresh air to see Nagato take much of the movie's screen time instead of Haruhi's tendency to attract attention to herself.

With Haruhi gone and Nagato essentially becoming a main character, Kyon finds himself in a new world where his "wish" is granted - he doesn't have to be bossed around by Haruhi anymore. The days of being dragged along with Haruhi's whims are now long gone; Kyon can return to the mundane high school life he always said he wanted. Yet, Kyon is left feeling unsatisfied for most of the movie, even though, as he stated himself, "Over night, he was snatched from the jaws of Hell and taken straight to Heaven. The thing is, this person didn't do this himself." This very doubt is what I think makes Disappearance so brilliant. After all the gripes and complaints Kyon had about Haruhi during the first two seasons, Disappearance explores Kyon's feelings about the SOS Brigade behind his mask of self-deprecation. It solidifies Kyon's character and provides closure to the contradictions between his thoughts and his actions.

However, Kyon isn't the only character to find closure. Our beloved alien, Yuki Nagato, goes through immense character development. As with Kyon, the past seasons were one huge buildup to Nagato's character overhaul. Especially with the infamous Endless Eight, the previous episodes were necessary to show Nagato's discomfort and the stress of being responsible for cleaning up all of Haruhi's messes. Disappearance brilliantly addresses Nagato's bottled-up distress and it was astounding to watch her transform remarkably from her character as an emotionless android. Kyon and Nagato's individual development as well as their relationship with each other are truly the pinnacle of the Haruhi series as a whole.

The pacing of the movie is done well, especially considering its taxing length of nearly three hours. There are many startling plot points that will keep you at the edge of your seat, but in between these twists, the movie does drag along at times. While Kyon's monologuing is great as always, especially at the end, I felt a lack of drive in the story at some points. It left me sitting and waiting for the next big plot point, similar to a series of peaks and troughs.

Another gripe I have is in regards to how often Nagato is used to fill in a loose end in a deus ex machina fashion. I thought that there were too many instances in which a problem was resolved simply because Nagato was able to fix them through some supernatural means. This was to be expected, though. Nagato's powers and her ability to fix any issues caused by Haruhi is a part of the series' foundation, after all. Yet, even though the deus ex machina is core to the series' theme, I still found its repeated usage in the movie to be annoying and a bit overused.

The quality of Kyoani's art and animation is just as good, if not better, than the previous seasons, especially with Kyon's monologuing scene towards the end. No disappointment here; it's Kyoani we're talking about, after all. The animation flows very smoothly, and it especially shows during the movie's most important parts near the end.

The soundtrack used during the movie's many crucial turning points are stellar and they really drive home the tone of each plot point. It was quite surprising to hear such well orchestrated pieces during the movie; a feat I would never have expected during my time watching the first two seasons. Every piece complements the movie very well throughout the entirety of the film.

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya is a brilliant film that takes the aspects of the original series and propels them to completely new heights. Kyon finally comes face to face with his true sentiments about espers and the like; perhaps he isn't as different from Haruhi as he likes to assume. After all, he does say in episode one:

"Deep in my heart, I wished that aliens, time travelers, ghosts, demons, espers, or evil organizations may pop up in front of me. However, reality is rather cruel! Through I kind of wish they did..."

Horimiya is the shining light amongst the excessive flood of rehashed high school romances that Japan loves to print out. But what makes this manga so special? It has the same cliché scenario, after all: a popular female lead, a shut-in otaku male lead, high school setting; the list goes on and on. The premise may be unoriginal, but Horimiya excels greatly in the one aspect that most romances fail to deliver.

Intimacy.

The amount of intimacy that can be felt between our two lovers, Hori-san and Miyamura-kun, never ceases to amaze me. Unlike most romances, their love for each other never feels forced. HERO does a ... delicate job of developing the relationship between Hori and Miyamura so that their romance doesn't seem strained but rather genuinely real.

The honest love that can be felt between Hori and Miyamura stems from HERO's portrayal of them two as actual teenagers with doubts and insecurities. not as dimwits who can't spell out whether the other person likes him or her or not without it being blasted with big blockbuster letters. Hori and Miyamura are nothing like the slow, dense protagonists that we see so frequently. Their relationship doesn't progress with a simple 'yes' or 'no' to the question "Does the other person actually like me or is she acting flustered around me and devoting all of her time to me out of sheer friendship?" Instead, HERO progresses the story of Hori and Miyamura's relationship by showing them overcoming the insecurities each person has about their feelings for each other. Hori is a very popular girl at her school, so she has to face the doubtful and negative reactions from people discovering that she's dating a "closet otaku." Miyamura, who had been ostracized all of his life, struggles to gain the self-confidence to see himself as someone who can make a great girl such as Hori happy. HERO brings in a breath of fresh air by progressing the story through Hori and Miyamura overcoming their individual flaws and the problems that arise from an odd couple such as theirs.

Despite the uncertainty Hori and Miyamura have about their relationship, Horimiya is a very lighthearted and sweet read. The interactions between not only Hori and Miyamura, but also the rest of the cast feel very natural and often caused me to grin or chuckle. The frequent jabs at Miyamura's extreme aversion of thriller movies or Hori's aggressiveness never fail to bring out a laugh from me. HERO does a superb job of balancing a carefree atmosphere with moments that give me toothaches from how sweet they were.

Horimiya's story also has refreshingly fast pacing, unlike other romances where it seems to take forever for the main couple to realize their feelings for each other. The moment from when Hori and Miyamura meet to when they start dating moves along without any conflicts that feel stretched out into many chapters. The drama of the series is dealt with immediately and any misunderstandings aren't painfully drawn out (I'm looking at you, Kimi ni Todoke).

One notable fact about Horimiya that is often unheard of amongst high school romances is that HERO continues to develop Hori and Miyamura's relationship past the confession scene and shows the hurdles they must cross to maintain their romance. HERO even eventually goes on to develop the romances between the side characters while continuing to pump out the current stage of Hori and Miyamura's relationship. Horimiya is a fresh read among the many romances who call it quits after their main characters finally start dating.

Horimiya also excels in its above-average character design. Every character is distinguishable from the others and the designs are simply eye-candy. Yet, even though Horimiya's characters look great, its background detail isn't anything special. The school windows, desks, and so on are average in terms of how high school settings go. In many panels, it's even just the characters on a white and gray background. Despite this flaw, I find the characters' designs to make up for the lack of detail, especially Miyamura's transformation from his school image to his true image.

Horimiya is the manga that kicks clichés to the side and stands firmly atop the flood of high school romances that get published so often. It brings new hope for a genre I had thought to be decent at best; my only complaint is my growing struggle to wait an entire month between chapters.

The holiday season is finally here, and with the holidays always come the festivities. Shopping, spending time with family, decorating the Christmas tree, cuddling with loved ones alongside the soft embers of the fireplace: these are all the ideals of a perfect Christmas. After all, there's nothing more to love about Christmas than the gifts or the food, right? Well, maybe if you're a middle-aged salaryman. To our three protagonists, they'd just be happy if they could find a leftover bottle of booze in Tokyo's garbage dumps.

Little did they know that they were setting themselves up for a wild goose chase to find not ... only the mother of an abandoned baby, but also to rediscover the homes they thought they had abandoned for good.

Tokyo Godfathers tackles the age-old message of the irreplaceable bonds that family members have with each other, no matter how withered they may seem be. It certainly isn't the first film to express this theme, but by no means does this mean that you should ignore this amazing piece. The journey of our runaway, transvestite, and alcoholic protagonists progresses excellently without any scenes that seem drawn out or boring. Each development occurs with great timing that kept me engaged with the story at every single passing moment.

However, it is with these exact developments that a flaw of Tokyo Godfathers becomes glaringly apparent. To put it bluntly: the protagonists rely on an astounding amount of convenient "coincidences" during their adventure through Tokyo. There is enough to the point where I wonder if the writers put them in for pure comedic effect, and if this is true, then it sure did work on me. However, these coincidences are not necessarily a mishap on the writers' end. The conveniences are part of the underlying theme of God looking equally favorably upon every single person, whether a high-ranking official or a bum living in the slums of Tokyo. After all the misfortune or mistakes in each protagonist's life, these coincidences are supposed to show them actually getting a lucky break for once in their lives. Yet, some of these coincidences stretched the truth just a bit too far, taking away the sense of reality in an otherwise real-world setting.

An unexpected area that stood out the most was the witty humor. This movie is simply excellent in its delivery and timing; I found myself ranging from chuckles to bursts of laughter for a great majority of the film. The comedy never felt forced at all and fit perfectly as small detours along our protagonists' journey. After all, how boring would an adventure be if it were just a straight, smooth road without a little spice?

Besides the one gripe I had with its plot, Tokyo Godfather shines brilliantly in every other area. There is a great amount of attention to detail in every single background, which allowed me to immerse myself into every passing moment of our heroes' expedition. Each character has a wide variety of facial expressions that had me cracking up from their reactions alone.

The soundtrack streamed in expertly with every critical point of the story, especially in the movie's dramatic moments. The music works as transitions from the film's comedic scenes to the climatic scenes and vice versa, sometimes even breaking the mood to get in another nice chuckle from the viewer.

Each protagonist has his or her own background that led to his or her current state as a homeless city bum, and each of these issues are superbly fleshed out and developed alongside the central quest of the story. None of their previous circumstances came as info-dumps; they were integrated very naturally into their adventure, allowing the viewer to learn more about each protagonist while they themselves learn more about the truth behind the baby in their arms. Their interactions feel genuinely realistic with humor mixed in that doesn't come off as forced but rather as part of each person's characterization. As stated before, humor is a huge factor in this movie, not only for pure enjoyment but also for introducing each character.

Tokyo Godfathers is the perfect film for those starved for more Christmas-themed anime. If you're like me, you'll grab a couple friends and family and share plenty of laughs under this lovely holiday season.