Kyoukai no Kanata Review

Series: Kyoukai no Kanata

Genre: Slice of Life, Supernatural

Summary: The dark fantasy follows a high school sophomore named Akihito Kanbara. Although the boy appears human, he is half youmu and invulnerable to wounds because he can heal quickly. One day, Akihito meets freshman Mirai Kuriyama when it seems she is about to jump from the school rooftop. Mirai is isolated because of her ability to manipulate blood, which is unique even among members of the spirit world. Disturbing events begin to unfold after Akihito saves Mirai.

Here we have another anime from Kyoto Animation, the company responsible for amazing works such as Chuunibyou, Clannad, Hyouka, and the Haruhi Suzumiya saga, but also created trainwrecks such as Tamako Market and K-On. When I first saw the trailer for Kyoukai no Kanata, I was really impressed by the change in genre that KyoAni was taking. Super natural was a theme lightly touched, the most being in Chuunibyou. After watching the series at first with excitement, I ended it with less satisfaction than before.

Watamote Review

Series: Watamote (Watashi go Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!) 

Genre:  Comedy, School, Shounen, Slice of Life
Summary: Kuroki Tomoko is a super popular, high school girl who has had 50 years of dating experience and 100 boys... in the Otome game world. In the real world, she is a 15-year-old shut-in who has all of the qualities of a "mojo" (a gloomy or unpopular woman). However, when school isn't going as she expected, and she isn't as popular as she had thought she was, she takes a look at herself in the mirror for the first time in a few years, and has some shocking revelations... 

Watamote gained extensive popularity very quickly around the internet for its "relatable" stories of geekdom and social awkwardness. Because of this, I was prompted to watch the series to see if I would enjoy it as much as it's been glorified. As I watched it, I didn't feel humored at all. Watamote's reputation covered up its many flaws as an anime. 

Two Door Cinema Club at the Greek Theater

 

On November 2nd, I got the pleasure of going to see Two Door Cinema Club, one of my all time favorite bands, live! I saw them at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and the bands St. Lucia and Capital Cities performed. The energy was great and even the opening acts were fantastic. It was my first ever concert and needless to say, it was one of the greatest nights of my life. 

Kill La Kill First Impression

 

One of the most anticipated anime for the fall season of 2013 is Trigger's latest creation: Kill la Kill. Fast paced, rash, blunt, exciting, it's been praised as the return of good anime. The first episode instantly got me hooked within the FIRST MINUTE, but there were still some things about it that made me feel wary about how the series will turn out to be overall. 

Soondubuchigae; Favorite Food of the Month

 

The month of October is filled with many lovable things, from pumpkin spice lattes to Halloween candy. So much food filled me up, but my favorite food of the month would have to be something that's hot and spicy enough to warm me up: soondubuchigae!

From Up on Poppy Hill Review

 

Movie: From Up on Poppy Hill

Genre: Historical, Romance, School, Shoujo

Summary: The 1964 Tokyo Olympics represented a new start for Japan—out with the old Meiji-era buildings that reminded citizens of bad times, in with innovation that spoke to the future of a newly peaceful and increasingly prosperous country. 

Umi, a shy teenaged girl, manages a boarding house on the Yokohama seaside. Her father was killed in the war and her mother travels constantly, so in addition to attending high school, Umi must also run the family business. Her classmate Shun, an orphan unsure of his lineage, lives with a few other students in the old high-school clubhouse, a French-style, mansion that's set to be demolished as part of the current modernization project. Shun and his schoolmates refuse to let this happen. 

As much as they fear losing their shelter, they are also appalled at what they see as the erasure of their history. As the students organize a protest, Shun and Umi grow closer. What begins as a friendship develops into something deeper as these two lonely teenagers find a mutual understanding and trust. Yet when Shun starts to investigate his past, secrets emerge that threaten to tear the two apart. 

From Up on Poppy Hill was directed by Goro Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki's son. I was pretty interested to see how much of Hayao's legacy he could carry on. This movie looked very promising, but it was simple. The outcome wasn't exactly what I expected, and this goes as a bad and good way. 

Amoeba Records + Hollywood Adventures

Summer has ended and I'm sure for everyone that has been replaced by a dread also known as school. I was definitely not looking forward to going back to days of endless hours of studying, cramming, busy days, and stressful nights. Thus, I decided to spend my last day of freedom at a not-so-little music store in Hollywood: Amoeba Records. 

If you live in Southern California and not under a rock, surely you've heard of what Amoeba Records is. This is THE trendy, go-to music place for anything bands, music, or movie-related. They have pretty much anything you would want to listen to! Not only that, but they sell used albums, making some of the prices a lot cheaper than they normally are. The selection of bands is HUMONGOUS and there are thousands to choose from.

Colorful (Movie) Review

Movie: Colorful

Genre: Drama, Slice of Life, Supernatural

Summary: "I" died and was kicked out of the cycle of reincarnation because of the sin "I" committed. An angel told me that "I" won a lottery and he gave me a chance to remember the sin. My spirit possessed the body of the 14-year-old boy Makoto, who committed suicide and "I" tried to recollect my memory. "I" felt distressed by the terrible circumstances of Makoto and the fact that "I" was borrowing his body. "I" have started to realize that people are hurting each other because the world is too colorful to distinguish the true color of themselves from others.

I have a certain fear of what happens to humans after death. Do we go into a vast oblivion of darkness or do we get a second chance at life and become reincarnated? Since I brood over such trivial matters often, the plot for Colorful really caught my eye and I figured watching it would help me reach an answer. Well, not only did the movie get me closer to a sufficient answer, but it changed certain views of life that I had as well.

Hotarubi no Mori e Review

Movie: Hotarubi no Mori e 

Genres: Romance, Shoujo, Supernatural

Summary: The story of Hotarubi no Mori e centers around Hotaru, a little girl who gets lost in an enchanted forest where apparitions reside. A young boy, Gin, appears before Hotaru, but she cannot touch him for fear of making him disappear. 

I heard a lot about Hotarubi no Mori e for its great story, despite it being so short (45 minutes). It was a movie that people deemed was almost equal to others like 5 Centimeters per Second. I finally watched it after my friend pushed and pushed me to see it and I was definitely not disappointed.

Watamote Episode 7 Thoughts and Reaction

 

I thought that this week's of Watamote was especially interesting since it was the summer vacation episode and many of us could relate to it. The realizations that Tomoko come to from this episode
is both an eye opener and a laugh. No doubt could we see ourselves in what she did this week.

Okonomiyaki and More Japanese Cuisine Adventures

Today my family took me out to a very quaint yet high quality Japanese Restaurant called Azuma Izakaya. I wanted to share the food experience and the dish I ordered!

Chihayafuru Season 2 Review

Series: Chihayafuru 2 

Genre: Drama, Sports, Josei

Summary: Now in their second year of high school, Chihaya and her friends share all the fun and worries that come with welcoming underclassmen to the team as they face tough rival schools. The passion of the Mizusawa Karuta Club burns hotter than ever, but with the same refreshing, youthful mood carrying over from the first season.

I'm going to be writing this review in assumption that you, the readers, have already watched the first season of Chihayafuru. I dove into this second season with high expectations from the first, and *most* of those expectations were satisfied. We follow Chihaya and everyone else into another year of karuta, drama, and romance. This season explored new themes and served as a lovely follow up to the first.

Free! Episode 3 Reaction

Now I don't normally post reactions on individual episodes from anime, but I'll be making a few exceptions for ones that really catch my eye, got me pumped, made me emotional, etc etc. Today's reaction will be for Free! episode 3, where Rei Ryugazaki is formally introduced and recruited.
This'll honestly be me fangirling over how much of a babe Rei is but if you think so too then this post should be right up your alley~

Samurai Champloo Review

Series: Samurai Champloo

Genre: Action

Summary:  Mugen's a buck wild warrior - violent, thoughtless and womanizing. Jin is a vagrant ronin - mysterious, traditional, well-mannered and very strong as well. These two fiercely independent warriors can`t be any more different from one another, yet their paths cross when Fuu, a ditzy waitress, saves them from being executed when they are arrested after a violent swordfight. Fuu convinces the two vagrant young men to help her find a mysterious samurai "who smells of sunflowers." And their journey begins. This is a story about love, friendship and courage... NOT!

What initially attracted me to Samurai Champloo was the fact that Nujabes had composed most of the OST. But when from the moment I watched the first episode of Samurai Champloo, I knew that it was different, a very good kind of different. From the funky hip hop thematics to the fluid, thick, black line animation, Samurai Champloo became more to me than an anime with a good soundtrack.

FLCL Review

Series: FLCL/Fooly Cooly

Genre: Comedy, action, mecha

Summary:  Naota is a normal Japanese 6th grade boy (although a little cynical), but when his older brother leaves for America to play baseball, his brother leaves his homeless 17 year old girlfriend Mamimi behind. Mamimi is sending mixed signals and advances to Naota, and he doesn't know what to do about her. But to make matters worse, Naota's world is totally turned upside down when he is run over by a woman on a Vespa. During their first encounter, she hits him over the head with her bass guitar, which then causes a horn to grow out of his forehead. She calls herself "Haruko" and her presence changes Naota's life to even further insanity.

 A dear friend of mine recommended FLCL to me, which surprised me since he doesn't really watch anime. FLCL had a famous reputation on the internet for being excruciatingly different, and as the populous says, FLCL was definitely a different type of anime. If anything, it's about as close as a piece of literature as anime will ever get.  At first glance, FLCL seems like a fast-paced, random mecha anime that most people don't understand, but looking at it closely, it's absolutely brilliant.

AC:NL Journal #2: The Island!

Yesterday in New Leaf, for some reason, I got the island way earlier than I intended! It was a pleasant surprise. I was busy so I visited it at around 5 pm and I absolutely love everything about it. There's a 1,000 bell fee for Kapp'n to drive you there, which shouldn't be a problem. 

Best Italian and Starbucks Night

Last night I went to go eat dinner at a somewhat fancy Italian restaurant with four of my closest friends and it was probably the most fun I've had in a long looong time! After we ate Italian food (which stacked up to be $80), we went to Starbucks and talked and talked and laughed for another hour and a half. It was wonderful ❤

Kotonoha no Niwa Review

Movie: Kotonoha no Niwa

Genre: Romance, Drama

Summary: Takao, who is training to be a shoemaker, skipped school and sketches shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainy days. They deepen their relationship and open up to each other. But the end of the rainy season soon approaches...

There was a lot of uproar in the anime community focusing around Kotohana no Niwa. Countless gif's of the movies beautiful animation were floating around all over the internet. Additionally, the movie was directed by Makoto Shinkai, the same man who directed 5 Centimeters per Second. All this information intrigued me greatly about the movie, so when it came out I gave it a try, high expectations in hand. However, I was disappointed and let down by this work. 

**SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT**

AC:NL Journal #1: First Day of New Leaf!

Yesterday I finally got Animal Crossing: New Leaf! So far, I love it so so much. The graphics are beautiful, the music is lovely, and everything else is just so cute! 

Last Day of School!!!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been six months since the last post but school caused me to procrastinate really hard on blogging. But today was my last day so now I'll be updating more often with review on movies, anime, and fashion!

So today I walked to the beach with my track team and it was really fun. I just thought I'd post some cute pictures of the weather and my friends.