The sun rose on a still slumbering Tokyo, and I woke up early around 7am. Day 2 begins with me and my family meeting in the lobby of the hotel with the rest of the tour group. That day, we were free to go anywhere we wanted, but we decided to stick with the tour guide for the moment. I had wanted to go to Akihabara, but decided to defer to my family since the tour guide was planning to visit some places that I had wanted to see as well.

So, we set out from the hotel, not from a tour bus, but this time on the Tokyo Metro lines. We took the Ginza line, then transferred to the Oeda line and a moment later, we were at our first destination, Tsukiji. Tsukiji is known for its fish market, the largest fish market in the world, and is said to have the best sushi within its stores and restaurants. We walked along, exploring the stalls, with the tour guide and we would arrive at a shrine. I don’t remember exactly what this shrine was for since this took place about a month ago. But after lingering around this shrine, we were free to go off and explore. My family and I bought some various snacks, such as mochi (which was very good), chicken snacks (tasty!), and sushi, prepared fresh and served delicious!

Soon, it was about time for lunch and the tour guide mentioned that was a very popular ramen shop nearby, which always had people lining up for its ramen. Curious, my brother, father and I decided to go with ramen for lunch. Sure enough, there was a long line waiting for us when we arrived. Another thing is, that there were no places to sit at, so people had to eat their ramen on prepared tables standing up, which you can see an old man eating ramen standing up in one of the photos above. So, my father grabbed a spot in the line and my brother and I waited for the tables to clear out. Time passed, and our lunch was finally ready. The ramen, unexpectedly, turned out to be not at all like I expected and tasted a bit salty. Nevertheless, we were too hungry to complain about it and slurped it down. At the appointed time for regrouping with the tour guide, we then went from a market of fish to a world of trendy fashion, Harajuku.

Harajuku was a bright district, filled with fashionistas and brightly colored-themed shops. Harajuku is known for its unique street fashion, which you may know about such as cyberpunk, ganguro, cosplay, and gothic lolita. Here, the tour guide left us to explore Tokyo for the rest of the day, and my family and I decided to explore Harajuku for a while. The pedestrians were all decked out in various fashion styles, with the most prominent being the gothic lolita. Several shops were clearly catered to different groups, with some cosplay shops selling blue/green/pink wigs and some lolita shops selling frilly pink/black dresses. But we weren’t too interested in fashion, as fun as it is to see various fashions, so we then headed for the Meiji Shrine, which was close to Harajuku.

Meiji Shrine is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It was built to commemorate the Emperor’s role in the Meiji Restoration, a period when Japan underwent enormous economic and political changes to become a modernized nation. We took a stroll along a long pebble road, passing under three large torii gates amidst the autumn-colored trees. On the grounds of the Meiji Shrine, I felt a sense of a spiritual feeling and I did feel at peace. After 20-30 minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the Meiji Shrine. There were very few people there, with some mikos sweeping or tending to their fortunes and lucky charms stores. I bought a royal purple charm with two little golden bells for myself, which was meant to give me happiness for 1000 yen. My family and I also prayed for a moment with respect to the Meiji Shrine and with nothing else to do at the Meiji Shrine, my family decided to retire to our hotel, but there was still one more essential place for me to visit as a huge fan of anime and manga, Akihabara, the holy place for us fans.

Akihabara. My heart was at joy here, and I was thrilled to finally be here! My younger brother was also with me, as he was another fan of anime, though not much as me. Unfortunately no photography was allowed in the stores, so all I have to offer from Akihabara are the pictures above and the goods I bought. We went through various stores, shopping for about 4-5 hours, which was a surprise to me, since I’ve never shopped that long before. But that was perfectly natural; Akihabara had so many goods that I’d loved to buy, but my spending money was limited. Japanese manga and DVDs were out, since I did not know the language, so I resorted to checking out figurines, artbooks, and merchandises.

I noticed that Sword Art Online was very popular, as evidenced by the amount of merchandise in the stores. However, I wasn’t too interested in Sword Art Online, instead looking at my favorite anime series merchandise such as iDOLM@STER, TYPE-MOON, and a new favorite, Girls und Panzer. The first merchandise I bought were from Girls und Panzer, an artbook of the characters’ sketches and a key chain of Mako. I absolutely enjoyed watching Girls und Panzer, so it’s no surprise I decided to pick these up, and I even considered buying a tank model of the Panzer IV at a store but decided not to. The next goods I picked up were from TYPE-MOON. As a big TYPE-MOON fan, I couldn’t resist picking a gorgeous Fate/zero key chain and a Witch on the Holy Night item (I don’t know exactly what this item is called). The Evangelion t-shirt, I should mention, was picked up at the UNIQLO store in Shinjuku as I liked the minimalistic theme with the angels. The Hatsune Miku bottle was another bonus that I bought simply because I was thirsty. Plus, another souvenir for me! Finally, I decided to buy my very first figure, which was Azusa Miura in her Ryuugu Komachi costume, my favorite idol from iDOLM@STER! If I’m going to buy a figure, might as well buy it directly from Akihabara, eh? I have yet to open up her box, and she’s been left back home so a figure post will have to wait until spring break unfortunately.

After shopping in Akihabara, it was now time to get back to our hotel and to rest for the next day. Honestly, I wanted to spend more time in Akihabara, and I did feel sad leaving Akihabara. Alas, we were on a schedule, so it was unfortunate. However there would be happily another place to visit that would fulfill my anime fandom even further. But let’s leave that place alone for now, and we will revisit it on the last day of my trip in Japan. So, day 2 saw me snacking out in a fish market, visiting the fashion ‘capital’ of Tokyo, praying at a historic shrine, and shopping to my heart’s content in the holy place for anime fans. What a fulfilling day it was!

The post Day II in Kanto ~ Fish, Fashion, Fortune, & Fiery Fandom appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

Welcome back to the newly revamped Ephemeral Dreams! To start things off, I should give you an update on what’s been happening with me lately. For winter break, I flew to Japan for 6 days and then to Taiwan to visit family for 10 days. Japan, the country from which our subculture of anime comes from, is one country I’ve always wanted to visit and I had a chance to do so during winter break! In the upcoming week, I’ll be releasing a post for each day in my 6-days trip to Japan, and then some editorials if I have the time. So, off we go to Japan!

Day 1 began with me flying to Japan. My parents had booked a tour group, and were flying in from San Francisco with my younger brother, whereas I was flying in from Washington DC. As you can imagine, a long 16-hour flight from DC to Narita was tough, but luckily I was flying All Nippon Airways, which meant they had Japanese movies with subtitles. One movie, in particular, was of great pleasure, as it was an anime film, Wolf Children Ame and Yuki, directed by Hosoda Mamoru, who also directed Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo and Summer Wars. I absolutely loved this movie, and I highly recommend that you watch this movie! (as soon as it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray, of course.) But we’re not talking about this movie in this post, so let’s get back to my tour of the Kanto region. I arrived in Japan at 11pm, and headed straight for the Narita Hilton Hotel to meet up with my family, eating a finely crafted convenience store bento box for dinner.

The next morning, my family and I departed for Tokyo with a tour group, Signet Tours, on a bus. I immediately knew that we were in Tokyo when I spotted the Big Sight. How strange that my very first sight of Tokyo was of Big Sight, the very place where the holy grail of anime conventions, Comiket, laid! But, it’s unfortunate that I was unable to attend Comiket 83, as I had to fly to Taiwan 3 days before it began. Perhaps, another time.

But our first stop was not at Big Sight, but at the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace is where Japan’s Emperor and the imperial family currently resides, but it is generally not open to the public, except for the accessible gardens. Interesting tidbit: the Imperial Palace is open to the public only two days in a year, New Year and the Emperor’s birthday. Near the Imperial Palace was a statue of Kusunoki Masashige, remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty, we were told by the tour guide. We lingered on around for only an hour in the gardens before we got back on the bus. Our next destination was Asakusa.

Asakusa is famed for housing one of Japan’s oldest temples, the Sensou-ji. Before Sensou-ji lies its entrance, the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), a great gate with a giant lantern and two statues of the gods, Fuujin and Raijin. The lantern was immense and the gate was imposing, I noted while taking pictures of it. We passed through the gate to Sensou-ji, Japan’s oldest temple, built in year 645. We never actually went inside, as it was too crowded to do so. Still, Sensou-ji was a very impressive sight.

After visiting Sensou-ji, we walked down a colorful street with red and white ornaments, which made for a very nice sight. But before we could check out the shops, the tour guide led us to a small, quaint restaurant in the back-alley behind the shops of the very same street we went through. Visited a restaurant in a back-alley of Asakusa. The restaurant was very comfy and the waitresses, dressed in kimono, were very willing to serve and prepare our lunch, which was tofu and steamed rice with fish. The tofu, I was told, was handmade and it turned out to be the most delicious tofu I have ever had in my life! After lunch, we had free time so we went shopping around the stalls, from which I bought a “The Great Wave of Kanagawa” wall scroll.

After shopping, we were taken to a hotel in Ginza to leave our belongings in the hotel rooms. The guide then led us out to a small, quaint back alley for exploration. We were led to another restaurant, where dinner was nabe! After gorging ourselves, we were free to go back to our hotel or explore Ginza and we decided to continue exploring for a bit while. We eventually coming upon a path of brilliant light. This was Ginza Illumination, a project event with the goal of expressing an endless number of wishes streaming through Ginza, weaving together and lifting upward towards the sky. Quite beautiful, eh? Thus ended my first day in Japan on a path of illumination.

The post Day I in Kanto ~ The Imperial Palace, Asakusa, & Shopping appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

Summer went by so fast… And it’s already autumn!

Well, it’s been quite a while, and the entire summer has already gone by in a flash! Working as a TA/RA/counselor/coordinator/student/etc. for a summer program for the deaf can take a lot out of you, and so it suffices to say that real life has taken a full toll on my online presence. Now that I’m back in college, time has finally started to ease off on me and I can now finally focus on getting caught up on anime. So, I apologize if I disappeared for about four entire months without leaving a message (but I did mention it briefly over Twitter!). Now then, as I have been unable to catch up on anime of late, I think it’s time that I make do on my long overdue promise to FoxyLadyAyame with her blog carnival, Our Genshiken Diaries.

One great thing about being in an anime community is the sense of camaraderie, where every anime fan can frolic or discuss about their top favorite anime, show off their fandom and pride, and meet new people with a common pastime. Anime clubs and anime conventions are great examples, though they’ve been less ideal for a person in my situation. I won’t go into further details as I’ve already written a piece on my experience with anime conventions, but it’s still quite an ordeal trying to communicate in person and I can easily get worn out.

Veering to the aniblog/twitter community, I have gone to an off-kai (a meeting offline) before to meet up with draggle, @balloon_thief, and GuardianEnzo. This was about a week before I departed for Seattle, and it was quite interesting! Granted, I didn’t talk so much (well, it didn’t help that the izakaya was noisier than I thought it would be), but it was still very nice to meet these anime fans in person. Was I nervous about meeting the faceless people behind anime avatars? Certainly! And it’s understandable since we would be meeting up in person instead of through the Internet, shattering the anonymity of our identities. In fact, I did fuss over all my preparations in the hours (and the previous night) leading up to that meeting, wanting to make a good first impression very much like 2DT did. Speaking of which, I’ve also had an opportunity to meet up with 2DT and @c2switch at Fanime 2012 as well. Although we only spent a brief time together, it was also a pleasure to meet them as well. That marked my first time doing an off-kai, with my second off-kai with draggle, balloon_thief, and GuardianEnzo taking place a week after.

A bit off-topic, but one of my students boldly proclaimed himself a brony (a fan of My Little Pony) in front of the entire summer group during the introduction orientation. With the exception of me and another fellow TA, the entire group was clueless as to what a ‘brony’ is. I honestly could not stop myself from chuckling out loud, and my fellow TA did raise an eyebrow. Of course, I had to explain what a brony was later on, but that’s a story for another day. So, I chatted and interacted with him for some time throughout the past summer, and he had this to say about being a brony and as part of his local MLP community: “I don’t mind the stares and raised eyes, because I’m darn proud of it.  I really enjoy and love it.” Good boy, or rather I should say, man! And it didn’t hurt that he was also an anime fan as well, as I learnt shortly after his declaration.^[1]  Although the My Little Pony phenomenon is different from anime fandom, his situation as a brony is still familiar akin to that of an anime fan’s situation perhaps.

So I feel happy that I’ve met another fellow deaf anime fan since this demographic within the anime community is very small, I believe. Thus far, I have met three deaf people who liked anime, but I haven’t been able to discuss anime with them as often as I’d like. One came by to interview me as a deaf anime blogger and we never met again, and the other two are my now former summer academy students attending a different university. In truth, perhaps the reason for the lack of anime fandom in the deaf community is simply that I have not reached out far enough to connect, mostly due to my personality. It’s rather ironic then, that the best place to find fellow deaf anime fans is here in Gallaudet University, the world’s first and only university for the deaf where I attend, and that I’ve yet to find anyone with an interest in anime.

So, that’s my contribution to Genshiken Diaries as a deaf anime blogger, but in actuality I think there’s more to be revealed from the deaf community and perhaps I shall start reaching out more. It’s a starting point, but still better than nothing.

1. I would later discover that another student in the same summer program was beginning his first foray into manga and anime as well. I have suggested some recommendations, and the conversion is proceeding smoothly…
2. It’s been a while since I’ve written a post, so you’ll have to excuse me if my writing’s not quite up to par.
3. My schedule is still irregular, but I’ve got some post ideas brewing up now, so you can probably expect a post sometimes next week or so.  ^_^’
4. Also, one last thing. It’s nice to be back!

The post Genshiken Diaries ~ From a Deaf Perspective appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

First off, sorry for the long silence! Summer vacation was so very relaxing that I’ve been lying around just watching television (anime marathons!), reading books and manga, going out with friends, watching movies at that brand new theater just 5 minutes away (which used to be 40 minutes), and learning how to cook omurices. Anyway, now that I’ve got my long overdue fill of vacationing and pure bliss of relaxation, it’s time that I get back to my blog, and this time, I’ll be talking about episode 6 of the drool-worthy series, Mysterious Girlfriend X.

Now there’s something you don’t see everyday. A Polaroid camera! Photography is my passion and hobby, so you can imagine that I was extremely glad to see a retro camera used in this episode. Today’s generation may not be familiar with this archaic camera, having been replaced by cellphone cameras, compact digital cameras, or DSLRs today, but there is a simple charm to this camera. First introduced in 1948, the Polaroid instant camera at the time was revolutionary, allowing one to compose, press the shutter button, and presto, you have a picture all developed and ready in less than a minute. For some people today (namely antique collectors, photography aficionados, or older generations), you’ll get the best of both worlds; the mysterious, tactile experience of analogue film with the ‘right now’ convenience of digital.

In episode 6 of Mysterious Girlfriend X, Urabe makes it a point not to force a smile, saying it’s pointless to fake a smile for a photo and instead going with her usual enigmatic expression. This is quite understandable, since it must feel like one is being forced into a certain look and may seem unnatural. In portrait photography there are four kinds of approaches, and this would be the constructionist approach when the photographer constructs an ambient idea around a portrait — happy family, romantic couple, or in this case, an endearing, charming girlfriend. This is the most common approach used in studios or general social photography.^[1] But Urabe has something different in mind for a pose later on after this shot…

After a tender moment of sharing their own feelings about their current relationship and Tsubaki’s former crush through the bond of drool, Urabe lets loose a sweet smile as seen in the first picture of this post. Tsubaki exclaims that was the look he’d been looking for, and begs her to let him take a photo of that fleeting moment. Urabe obliges, and just when Tsubaki presses the shutter button, Urabe pulls an akanbe (あかんべえ) pose, a Japanese facial gesture where she pulls down a lower eyelid and sticks out her tongue. This playful pose gives Tsubaki a unique photograph with which to treasure instead of the usual typical smiling pose, and it also shows that Urabe is happy and comfortable enough to share such an expression out of her normal enigmatic persona. This shot is taken through the candid approach inadvertently, but it’s still quite nice and cute in its own way compared to the constructionist approach and I prefer the natural candid approach.

Another interesting aspect to note and this time, we’ll go back to episode 1 of Mysterious Girlfriend X, where Tsubaki tears up his picture of his former crush to prove and declare his love for Urabe. The thing about an instant camera is that each and every one of the photographs taken with it is unique. There is only one copy of the photograph the moment it is instantly taken. So, while Tsubaki’s ripping the photograph may not seem significant today with online copies of digital photographs, it meant a lot more back then where you only have one copy of a photograph in existence to cherish.^[2]

Mysterious Girlfriend X has an old-fashioned feel to it, and I do think that the Polaroid instant camera serves to enhance and contribute to its story and atmosphere. Now I wish I had an instant camera to play around with…

1. Here’s a link for more reading on portrait photography and the other three approaches if you’re ever curious.
2. I’m actually not quite sure as to when the timeline is for this series, so I can’t confirm whether there were digital photographs or not then. This is all purely based on my assumptions which I would think is sometime between 1960-1980 roughly.

The post The Mysterious Photograph appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

Even as we reminisce and clash through the eras of anime, I still have a dream.

Even as battle-hardened mechas blasts off against the hnnngh-inducing moe, I still have a dream.

Even as otaku and fujoshi show off their undying passions, I still have a dream.

Even as we confuse Nichibros for Nichijou (no? just me? ok then), I still have a dream.

The blogosphere divided? No, it’s not that. After all, we’re all united under one common theme: anime/manga. Rather, it’s that the stagnating blogging landscape need new voices to change the scene. And I bring one of these new voices.

The deaf’s voices have long been unheard, and as a deaf person, I have seen and overcome many challenges and obstacles. I dream of a world where I can help to bring a new bold perspective unlike none other, from a different outlook on life. Not only do I bring a new perspective from a world of silence, but I also bring quality insightful writing as well along with some various personal musings. If I have your consideration, vote, or support, I am very grateful and appreciate it very much.

And now Misha has something to say to you all:

That’s right, Misha has something to say! Oh wait, I’m Misha… Anyway, I’ll be mad if you don’t vote for Ephemeral Dreams!

Visit the blogs and vote here!

The post I Have a Dream: Aniblog Tourney appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

Apologies for not coming out with another post last week. The last days of college and preparations for my long-awaited (and needed!) summer vacation have been keeping me rather busy. Because I haven’t been able to watch or catch up with any anime at all the past week, I’ll instead share my musings on a staple event that every anime fan knows of: anime conventions.

Anime conventions are large gatherings of anime fans, hosted over a series of a few days at conventions. It is in these conventions where a great trove of treasure and knowledge lies for anime fans. Anime merchandise, guest speakers, idol events, video screenings, art galleries, game arcades. All together in one location for people to gather with one common love: anime. An experience not to be missed, any anime fan would surely have a big blast at these conventions, right? Well, that’s not quite so for me…

The first anime convention I attended was Fanime 2010 in San Jose, California during Memorial Day weekend. The anime club at my high school was preparing to go to this ani-con, and I decided to go with them. There was a feeling of tension and excitement in the vans as my fellow club members’ parents drove us to San Jose. We knew we were close when we began to see various groups of cosplayers walking on the sidewalks all in one general direction: toward to San Jose Convention Center.

I’ll spare you the full details of how my day went at the anime convention, but I ended up leaving way earlier than intended. No, it was not because that I didn’t have the physical endurance needed to stay there. Rather, it was the lack of accessibility that made me leave earlier than intended. As it turns out, there were various obstacles that popped up just from my deafness alone. The convention’s atmosphere was, of course, crowded and noisy, so this made it so very difficult for me to be able to hear and understand what was being spoken. There were no use in attending guest panels or workshops as the voices simply drifted through one ear and out the other with no coherence. Contests and ceremonies were held, but I could not, for the life of me, understand what the hosts were saying at all. At least the idol event was still very entertaining with Momoi Halko singing!

Utterly confused by the noisy atmosphere, I fled to the Art Gallery and Dealers’ Hall. There, I finally had the most freedom. I went through the booths unimpeded, admiring the various artists’ works until there were nothing else to view. Off to the Dealers’ Hall I go. Now it is here where my instinct as an anime fan rose up to an all-time level high. So much anime goods! With only $100 to spare for the Dealers’ Hall, I enjoyed myself browsing through the inventories for 2 full hours. In the end, I left the convention with 2 volumes of Mahou Sensei Negima, 1 volume of Chobits, a Haruhi Suzumiya artbook, a Kannagi artbook, and various other freebies & souvenirs. Not a bad haul, I suppose.

The same thing happened to me for another convention, Anime on Display, that I attended in San Francisco a year later as well, and once again, the most enjoyable aspect was the dealers’ hall. I really have to wonder if guest panels or contests are worth attending because they’re not so easily accessible for me. I could try requesting an interpreter, but somehow I think it would end up being more troublesome since there are so many events and it would be a big burden on the interpreter. The same applies for friends, since I really do not want to have to intrude on their own fun. So, the problem here is how can I fully enjoy the true experience of an anime convention when most of the events, panels, or workshops are nearly inaccessible to me?

Nothing I can do about it, I guess.

My experiences attending anime conventions so far have been generally okay, but to be honest, I’m already starting to get tired of not being able to understand the hosts or guest speakers. This year I’ve been thinking about going to Fanime 2012, but I’m not even sure if I’d like to experience the same disappointment all over again despite the huge treasure trove of anime goods. I have no clear-cut solution for this inaccessibility problem, but I suppose it can’t be helped; I’ll manage somehow. Plus, I still have yet to meet any other deaf anime fans, so I can’t exactly compare or relate to anyone else.

For those of you who have attended conventions, I’m very curious to know: what has been the most enjoyable aspect for you attending an anime convention? And was it well worth it?

P.S. Anyone going to Fanime 2012? Now could be the best chance to convince me and you just might be able to meet with me there…

P.P.S. Don’t forget to check out my next opponent, Reverse Thieves, in my second round Aniblog Tourney match on May 3rd!

The post Chronological Record #4 ~ Musings on Anime Conventions appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

Well, this is rather embarrassing. Last night, I let AceRailgun write a smackdown post against me because it’s always nice to have a little fun and challenge in the Aniblog Tourney.

@draggle_kun @ephemeralyume If Ephe gives me permitting I will request your assistance in writing the best smackdown post to ever.

— AceRailgun (@AceRailgun) April 18, 2012

And now, he is currently in the hospital having been hit by a car (no joke). This leaves me in a very embarrassing bind, because I planned to write a retaliation post once his smackdown post came out. Of course, the smackdown post came right after I fell asleep, so I didn’t have the chance to read it until now this morning and come up with a counter post.

So what does this mean for me? For now, I’ll let his smackdown post be, and I won’t be writing a counter post. I’m not sure how this will affect our Aniblog Tourney match, but I will not ask for nor give votes away. I shall leave it all up to the voters to decide on the better blog from here on.

Really, this is a tough bind you’ve left me in, AceRailgun. And I wish you all the best and hope you’re okay!

EDIT: AceRailgun is all okay, and is back blogging. That said, he decided to take down his smackdown post since it just didn’t fit his style. It was still a fun smackdown post though, and I even enjoyed it.

The post Wishing AceRailgun All the Best appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

Don’t dwell too much into the meaning of this picture…

First off, welcome! My Aniblog Tourney match against AceRailgun has arrived, and you can vote here. For those of you new-comers, you’re in luck as I just happen to have a compilation post all ready for you! Have a look at it, and do check out this post if you’re curious as to what I have to say about the Aniblog Tourney and my opponents. In the meantime, I’ll be talking about one of my top favorite yuri manga seeing as there’s not enough yuri here in these waters considering that I’m a huge fan of yuri. (i-i-it’s not like I want to rally up all the yuri fans’ votes or anything like that…)

From one of my top favorite yuri mangaka, Kazuma Kowo, we have her best known work, Pure Water Adolescence. Set in a high school (much like all other yuri works), we follow a mature, sexy school nurse, Matsumoto, and a young, pure-hearted high school student, Nanao. In addition to the main storyline, there are also some cute short side-stories with revolving around Nanao’s classmates as well, one of whom has an unrequited love and another in the throes of jealousy. However, we’ll be focusing on Matsumoto and Nanao’s relationship here.

Nanao is secretly in love with Matsumoto, and in the beginning, she responds to Matsumoto in a tsundere fashion. Soon, they starts to get involved in a secret relationship as they are teacher and student, and Matsumoto find herself starting to worrying and rationalizing about their relationship given the large difference in age and experience. This manga is fraught with internal conflicts and small sweet victories throughout the course of their relationship, but in the end, it was well worth it for a happy ending.

What makes this cute yuri manga so appealing to me is that of the sweet interactions of this age-gap student-teacher couple, with Nanao striving to become an adult to catch up with Matsumoto. Kazuma weaves a tender, pure-hearted story around these two very different partners, and yet the age difference doesn’t seem to detract from the story at all. On the contrary, this self-consciousness of the age gap bring the two closer together emotionally with a stronger bond.

It is perfectly natural that a younger teenager would want to grow up to be an adult quickly so that she can stand with her adult partner evenly. But, on the other hand, the adult partner would want to maintain her composure and maturity, having the most experience in their relationship with the thought of needing to lead her younger partner. This disparity in feelings and experience is the main conflict here in the manga, and it’s told in a great way that makes this manga one of my top favorite yuri manga.

The art style is strikingly distinct, which I love very much. As for the characters, they really are so cute in their own way, with Matsumoto suppressing her adult love for the sake of pure-hearted Nanao. One main caveat I have with this manga is that it’s just too short with only 1 volume. I really would have liked to see more of Matsumoto x Nanao, if only because of the cute interactions!

The post Pure Water Adolescence ~ An Age-gap Yuri Romance appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

Like most people, I once dreamt of becoming an astronaut. The prospect of blasting off into space to go boldly where  no man have ever gone before is thrilling and a magnificent worthy goal, to say the least. Space Brothers offers a fun and realistic look into the trials undertaken by aspiring astronauts, and at the end of the trials, the dream would be realized by only a select few.

Unfortunately for me, that dream was crushed so easily and quickly by a single remark from a hearing childhood friend,

How are you going to be able to talk with other people in space?

- childhood friend

My dream, having only survived a mere two months in elementary school, has been smothered ever since then, but I’ve still continued to yearn for the opportunity to at least journey to outer space. However, the harsh reality of being a deaf person is that there will be limitations to what we can achieve, and becoming an astronaut is beyond our limitations. There is still an opportunity to, at least, travel to space as a passenger, which was actually nearly achieved by a fellow deaf person by the name of Eric Shear. He was in a voting competition (closed) with the prize being the chance to experience a spaceflight. But he recently lost to another person who, strangely enough, had fewer votes than him. There are so many thoughts I have about this, but I’ll not bore you with my admittedly dark opinions. But this does serves as a reminder that we still have much to overcome and go further before beginning to realize the dream of going into outer space.

But for Nanba Mutta, this dream was revitalized after being fired from his automobile company. Now emboldened by his sibling rivalry with his younger astronaut brother, Nanba Hibito, Mutta is making an effort to beat his younger brother to reach the moon and Mars^[1]. And so, he is taking the astronaut exams at JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploratory Agency), successfully maneuvering himself to the second exam with 44 other candidates out of 1,225 applicants. Out of these 1,225 applicants, only two or three applicants would be accepted, meaning that a first-time applicant would only have 0.16~0.24% success rate of being accepted. Against such astronomical odds, the road to being an astronaut is a long and tough one! But of course, this serves to explain why a career as an astronaut is well-respected enough worth pursuing.

Astronauts are admired for many reasons. They get to experience the thrills and wonders of spaceflight. They are well-educated and experienced enough to be able to operate and maintain a spaceflight within the deep vacuum of outer space. They also must be very careful and observational of their environment to ensure that everything goes smoothly enough and to prevent major disasters, like Apollo 13, Challenger, Columbia, etc. This is a viable quality necessary and well worth testing for, as seen in the second exam interviews when one of the screws on the interviewee’s chair is deliberately loosened in episode 2. Attention to detail is key, and only three applicants noticed this out-of-place detail, Mutta, Ito Serika, and Makabe Kenji^[2]. Just from this foreshadow, it’s quite obvious that these applicants will become astronauts, but remember, it’s the journey that counts, not the end destination!

Perhaps the reason why I enjoy Space Brothers so much is because it affords me the opportunity to see the trials of an aspiring astronaut and to foster a sense of hope for my short-lived childhood dream. For me, it is a poignant reminder to keep working hard and to reach for your dreams. Well, there’s no use lamenting about being unable to fulfill this childhood dream of mine after all these years, so all I can do now is to at least keep dreaming of a day when I can finally launch into space.

1. I can relate to Mutta about needing to be ahead of his younger brother, as I’ve also been one step ahead of my younger brother. Such is the role of the eldest son in the family!
2. I just want to say that I think Mutta and Serika are so cute together!

The post A Childhood Dream of Space Exploration appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.

The day after Ephemeral Dreams‘s birthday, a bracket was released. This bracket, the object of a great many affections and fears, will bring back together several anime blogs to compete in a prestigious tourney. That’s right, it’s the 2nd Aniblog Tourney bracket! Two years ago, psgels from Star Crossed Anime Blog overwhelmed the competition, continuing on to become the champion of the 1st Aniblog Tourney. In this new improved tourney, we now have new additions and some noticeable absences of previous competitors. And I shall be one of those new participants. Here in this post, you’ll not find any trash talking, but you’ll certainly see some commentaries, teasing banter, and a bit of a personal momentary conflict on my part.

The Aniblog Tourney is a tournament pitting several anime blogs against each other with the sole express purpose of encouraging higher exposure and readership for anime blogs. What counts in this tournament is not up to the bloggers themselves, but rather, the readers who will decide which blog appeals to them the most in terms of quality (not quantity!). There is no prize here, but the benefits from just participating in this tourney are great and well worth it.

Now before I give my own opinions and whimsical predictions for the AniBlog Tourney, I must ask that you, dear readers, at least visit both competing blogs in each round to read through their posts and then decide on your vote. And to the bloggers whom I speak of, I do hope that you won’t mind my opinions and criticism of your own blogs. After all, one of the tourney’s purposes is to allow for criticism and advice on improving your blogs. With that said, let’s get down to it!

In my first battle in group 8 of Green Bracket, my designated target will be Ace Railgun from AceRailgun, a blog of the same generation as mine. This blog deals with episodics and some occasional commentaries about blogging. Although there are some minor sentence structure and punctuation errors in his posts (nothing to worry about with a little proofreading), they are extremely short and straight to the point, which is one of his greatest points. Direct and quick opinions for readers. Another thing he got going for himself is that he has his own site mascot. I don’t have a mascot for my blog, but surely, every blogger must dream of having his/her own ideal site mascot, no? Although younger by 6 months, he does have some potential for growth. AceRailgun, I look forward to seeing your best shot!

Should I beat AceRailgun, my next opponent up for investigation would be Reverse Thieves, a unique detective-themed team blog with two bloggers, Narutaki and Hisui. At first glance, they have a great streamlined theme with a variety of posts and podcasts that covers anime, manga, conventions, and news. While I cannot comment about their podcast since it’s fruitless for me to listen being deaf, I can at least say that their posts are more along the lines of news, information, and reviews. That is not to say that it’s not all raw information; this niche blog has a unique dual style of writing that makes the content quite interesting, though I do wish they’d interact with each other more in these posts. To be perfectly honest, I do believe that this blog will probably be much more of a challenge for me or AceRailgun should he beat and shoot me down in our first match.

On a different interesting note, I’ve actually won a holiday giveaway contest on their blog before. As much as I absolutely love all these great anime merchandise, don’t just expect me to let you slide on through, ok? Well… I could hold back out of gratitude and courtesy… Hmm, never mind. Narutaki and Hisui, I’ll not take my chances and instead go all out and dig up any dirt to use against you! (I jest, of course)

This is everything that I won from the holiday contest from Reverse Thieves. ^_^ twitter.com/EphemeralYume/…

— Ephemeral Dreamer (@EphemeralYume) January 13, 2012

The Aniblog Tourney II will certainly be a sight to behold, with several prominent veteran bloggers returning and new rising stars participating for the first time. My most optimistic prediction about my performance is seeing myself advancing to the third or fourth round before being knocked out. As to who the champion of the Aniblog Tourney II will be, I honestly have no idea who it will be since the competition will be fierce and widely varied, though I’m fairly certain that psgels has the best chance of becoming the champion once again. And as a warning and cautious note, there will most certainly be drama again in this competition, so do please be careful of the effects and consequences.

For now, take your time and visit all these blogs, and who knows? You just might find some new favorites out there. The tourney will begin on April 15th with my match set for April 17th, so until then, go visit the blogs!

The post Aniblog Tourney II ~ Prelude appeared first on Ephemeral Dreams.