Good job Mr. Recommend-er! You just had me interested with the UC timeline of Gundam. I’d say I would actually want to explore more, like the recent Unicorn series, than write this post but I mustn’t! – at least for now. It was cruel of you to just throw me in the middle of the timeline when I don’t even know what Zeons are, what triggered the war and these factions to rise. I hardly know about Gundams but I took the chance to know more by picking this one from the choices so yeah…Kinda my fault as well, hahaha.

While I’d say that 08th Ms Team is not a for-avid-fans-of-the-franchise-only type of series, I wouldn’t say that it’s that friendly as well for those who don’t have a background. There are lots of hints that it is referring to something from other series for continuity purposes like the portrait of that certain Zeon. Things like this one didn’t get through me because I don’t know Jack.

I thought it would be unfair for me to rate this show if I would call up the lack of backstory knowing that when I researched about the show, it’s part of a bigger timeline. For example, I don’t know if Shiro’s past in the colony is part of a different series (or at least in terms of timeline)

A short read in the Tv Tropes gave me the info that fans refer to this series as the hard(est) scifi from the whole(?) franchise and I really liked this aspect of the show. Eledore tapping frequencies to know enemy correspondence, Shiro and Michel changing a gear in the foot of the Gundam and the more “laggish” movements of the robots (still better than Gunvarrel).

Probably the thing I best liked was the part when Kiki and the guerillas worked with the Feddies. This episode reminded me the Code Geass episode when Lelouch worked with Kallen in Shinjuku ghetto. Character development was nice despite the pace and regardless of how convenient the meetings were for Shiro and Aina. It’s just that I believe that things went way too smooth. Shiro technically didn’t fail any mission and it was way too predictable that he’ll get the good side of the guerillas. I was hoping that there would be more internal conflict in the team but you can hardly call the one with Michel.

Maybe it was because of the reason that it was too short? I was hoping to have Shiro suffer more on the idea of killing the Zeons despite being in love with Aina, and vice versa as for Aina but nothing much happened from that angle to gauge how resolved or naive these two are. The last episode where the guerrillas were involved might be an example of that but I was looking for kills in a much closer scale of relationship like Norris for Aina.

Things progressed quite fast, in my opinion. Whether it’s due to it being an OVA, I don’t know. All I know for sure is things were rushed especially during the last few episodes. I wasn’t happy that there wasn’t a proper epilogue for all the characters. “And then the war ended” That was terrible dialogue I have to hear from this series. I had a feeling that things would have been better if other things were shed to light like what really happened to Odessa. I didn’t fully understand the appearance of Yuri Kellerne and what it was for.

Overall, it was a great watch. The characters were likeable. Shiro was never annoying despite his newbie attitude. I expected a lot because it was the second highest rated Gundam OVA (as per anidb) next to latest Unicorn and was honestly disappointed because of my expectations. This is largely due to me expecting that it would branch out more into the plot but I saw it more focusing in the romance side. This is just me trying to understand more about the universe since I hardly know anything but then they suddenly cropped everything else when Shiro and Aina went into the limelight. Which is also okay for them to do so but I would have liked it better if they were able to wrapped things up nicely instead of simply saying that the war ended days after the events of episode 11.

In the end, I was hoping it would deliver more because I really liked the series. Unfortunately, that won’t happen because it’s only 12 episodes. Which then leads to my segue that the series is a good series to kick off your interest to the Gundam UC timeline. You’d end up hoping for a continuation thus leading you to other series in the timeline that would hopefully fill the void.

So yeah, I’m on way right now to catch the Unicorn train.

Again, thanks to RT for organizing this and to the person who recommended me this show!

P.S Merry Christmas everyone!!! Also, I’m starting to think that Michel is the reason for the online slang “bby”.

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image credits: Sunrise

Hello guys, I’ll be straightforward this time. I’m technically late already! This is the second part of the Interrogation Game and the questions I’m going to answer are from Hiromi and Kyokai.

Someone was kind enough to tag me back on the last day (clue: it’s not Hiromi) so here we go!

Hiromi’s:

1) Would you read the original Light Novel of a anime that you think is exceptionally good? Additional thoughts?

Yes. I’ve been tempted to read the whole Haruhi, Fate/Zero, Spice and Wolf, DRRR!! and Baccano novels but sadly, I haven’t had the time to be updated with the latest published materials (not to mention the lack of translations). If the animated version has so much to offer, then I believe I’d be more tempted to read the original novel material as I prefer to have my imaginations running on its own when visualizing scenes. Also, those random illustrations in light novels? They hardly help me visualize the scenes. I go for the choice of words. Now, I do hope there wasn’t any translation loss. (must learn Jap soon.)

2) What do you think of the current trend of anime series that broadcasts 1 cour, followed by a 1 (or 2) season(s) break, then the 2nd cour? (e.g.: Fate/Zero, Jormungand)

It would help if they would avoid doing this because if I’m interested enough, chances are, I’d go for the manga/novel adaptations. Doing so would really affect my expectation on what’s to come, ie. Jormungand (I’m updated up until volume 9 already). Then again, I think I can manage even if they do so. It’s a break for just one season RIGHT? I hate the situations where “Studio X is not sure if they’re still going to animate next season because not enough S1 profit” then next season airs after 3 years.

3) What is your favourite type of anime character? (<Kuu, Tsun, Yan, etc (dere)>, <Imouto, Ane, Ani, Otouto>)

I tend to like kuuderes or Onee-san ones.

4) How do you enjoy your anime? (With food, drinks? Headphones or speakers? With friends or alone? On a large projector screen or laptop screen? etc)

erm, normally I guess? I usually eat food while watching but I don’t eat just so I’d enjoy it. Simply watching is how I enjoy my anime.

5) What is your current Desktop background?

Kyokai’s:

1) Being an aniblogger/anime watcher, what in your life has changed, something that might have not been there if you didn’t pick up this hobby?

Probably the way I use references people won’t get? My writing skills(lol?), probably. College has lots of the academic type of writing where the tone is stiff so writing blogging something in a personal way is quite refreshing from time to time. Also, blogging and watching anime has helped me a lot on how to look at things from different perspectives. As silly as it may sound, there are lessons you can pick up from watching anime. If you try to observe the thought processes of anime characters, you’d actually be able to pick up a lot.

2) How were you in your highschool days? What’s the difference in your personality now? *

If this question’s aim is to ask how anime affected my personality in HS, the it’s probably useless to ask since I’ve been watching anime ever since HS. I’d like to believe that I’m one of the normal beings in the school. Just the normal mix of having good grades and group of friends. I’ve been typecasted as someone who’s online a lot in the internet and I don’t think there was a change on that aspect. I’ve always been the reserved type of person. I don’t tell things about myself unless asked and I think this is pretty much what I am until now.

3) The worst anime(s) ever.

There’s no such thing. There are anime(s) that I don’t like e.g Fractale, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the worst.

4) A series that you thought would be shit but was brilliant.

There are lots of anime that I thought would be shit but was mediocre/average – so for this one, hmmm. I can probably name lots for the opposite but I can’t think of any for this one. I’m the type of watcher who researches first on what to watch. I try to make sure I’m going to like what I’m going to watch. If I think it’s shit, then it probably won’t be good, and therefore never going to be brilliant. I do give second chances but I haven’t watched any yet that really made a 360 degrees turn around from shit to brilliant. I already probably heard from somebody that it became good midway thus the reason why I watched it. I hardly experiment and just watch random terribad anime(s).

5) Your hardest aniblogging assignment till now? (Change of questions for commentors: Your hardest anime watch ever?)*

Hmm? I haven’t experienced such thing due to my low participation rate to whatever carnivals or round robins that exist in the aniblogosphere.

— And that concludes this game! The fun is enough so I must now return to writing non filler posts! Thank you so much for everyone who were part of the exchange that happened. To my readers, hopefully answering some of these questions made you all know more about the me as if people really cared, but yeah~

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image credits: pixiv user Kiri

This ruckus was started by Iso. Please blame the guy if you are being bombarded with lots of tags! (^～^;)ゞ You can read about it in full detail here. The general idea of this game is to answer the five questions of the blogger who tagged you and pass around your very own set of questions to other bloggers. So, yeah I’m part of this as agreed with Iso to act as a starter for the 5 bloggers he’ll be tagging.

I should be writing legit posts but I hope I can entertain you guys for the meantime!

1) What is/are your favourite anime(s)? Why?

The three would be Karekano, Dennou Coil and Tatami Galaxy but the top one would really be Karekano.

I really like the flow of its story and the theme of personalities, added with the excellent direction by Hideaki Anno. I like as well the fact that I could somehow identify with the characters. I don’t know, the series is just captivating in a way that I couldn’t explain it clearly. The way the introspection is inserted in a scene, how the character think, the sound that is being used, the character development and how the story progresses, the whole dialogue between the characters… All of it are just… WATCH IT. I don’t think I have seen yet a school life anime that I’d say better than Karekano. (note: school, not university)

2) What is/are your favourite anisongs?

These are just some:

Suneohair – Akai Coat ; Split
Kalafina – Manten
Long Shot Party – Ano Hi Time Machine
Bump of Chicken – Karma
marina – Crow Song
Round Table ft. Nino – Puzzle
May’n  - Diamond Crevasse

3) Do you like Vocaloid? If so, who is/are your favourites? And your favourite song(s) is/are? If not, why?

I am indifferent when it comes to Vocaloid most of the time but I sometimes like the sound that Gumi produces because I believe she possesses the voice that’s relatively similar to a human compared to the rest. I really like a lot of Vocaloid songs though when they are sang by Utaites. These are the songs I like although maybe it’s bec its the utaite’s voice already that I heard when I listened to the songs: World’s End Dancehall, Eh? Ah, sou, Meltdown, Heisei Democracy, Yowamushi Montblanc, Mosaic Role, and Cantarella.

4) Have you ever been to Japan? If yes, please share your experience. If no, where would you go if you had a chance to visit Japan?

No, but I have this imaginary list on what places I’d like to see if ever I get to visit: Cape Soya – The very north part of Hokkaido (H&C) ; Odaiba – Fuji TV building! ; Koshien stadium ; Tokyo Tower ; Sunshine City Aquarium; Okinawa. I’d love to see as well the city where Haruhi was based.

5) What are your hobbies outside of anything related to anime, manga, visual novels and blogging?

UHHHH… Light novels?

Well, aside from those, I’d probably say gaming. I am so deprived of games lately though because first, I don’t have the latest consoles for those kind of games, and second I don’t have a properly (by properly I mean, one that can handle the processing and graphics) working PC for the online games/pc platform games. I haven’t even tried Skyrim yet!!! Wait what, did I just hear you say that it’s related to anime and manga? NO.

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Now, the people that I’ll be tagging are: Bass, Eri, klux, anaaga and kyokai.

These are the questions, and my answers:

1.) Out of all the comments from all the posts in your blog, which one is your favorite and why. Name the person responsible for the comment of course.

>> I’d say this comment by ojisan. It’s always nice to have someone who also likes Yukino and — a non-blogger too (I think)! Note how he even searched Google to answer my spam filter question just to comment ;_;

2.) Name a trope that you wish you would hardly ever see again (or at least in lesser amount) in an anime. Why?

>> The parental abandonment trope, especially for anime where the central characters are high school students. I get it if it’s really the case but some anime are intentionally cutting out these kind of scenes even though the parents are existent. Take for example K-on! — They only showed the parents in the movie, when all this time, they were there. I am not aware of the statistics on Japanese parents that are working in a different area way far from their families but this is just way too deliberate. I mean, I also want some character development pitched in because of the parents’ presence.

3.) If ever an opportunity shows up where you’re asked to blog, and at the same time, earn something from it in exchange of doing posts about merchandise, would you do it? Why?

>> No. I won’t probably do such thing. This blog is personal. I didn’t make it for business of some sort. I was never expecting any income to get from it when I started doing so. Also, I always try to write what I really want to not simply because a third party asked me to. Of course, my doors are open to a writing career but I’d like to write something and get paid for it. Not get paid for to write it. Got it?

4.) Tell all, if not, some of the fandoms you think you’re quite into compared to an average viewer, anime or not.

>> Aria, AoEx, Digimon, Detective Conan, Daa! Daa! Daa!, SAO, Drrr!!, Index, Code Geass (enough to make me watch that senseless Nunnally OVA), Tatami Galaxy, Dennou Coil, H&C, Karekano, Natsume Yuujinchou, Spice and Wolf, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Persona 3/4,  etc.!

5.) Your favorite DEAD character and why.

>> Uncle Kariya… Well, watch Fate/Zero… Just like how Takeuchi-sensei himself phrased it, he’s the chuunibyou hero of the story.

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image credits: pixiv user 悠

I stumbled upon this nifty article about the interview with Jonah Lehrer in which he discussed the correlation of cities to that of productivity of the people living in it. While it’s certainly not conclusive, it had some merits. He said a certain statement which made me think of Durarara right away – because of its setting, Ikebukuro, and how it was depicted. Okay, maybe I typed “anime” in the title but this post is generally about DRRR.

Ikebukuro was presented as a shady city at the start of the series with the introduction of the people Mikado should stay away from, kidnapping cases for human experiments, and more importantly, Celty’s existence. It was not that noticeable but Mikado was truly excited of this new found freedom. It was somewhat a juxtaposition that Mikado has been anticipating this transfer as a debut to a new chapter in his life despite all the nasty rumors he discovered upon arrival — considering his previously confined life.

Now, you might ask why my brain went full of Durarara when I read the article? To start with, Jonah Lehrer claims that it’s the freedom and chaos of the city that make it so incredibly creative.

Chaos can be attributed to randomness or irregularity and this has been an apparent style used by Ryohgo Narita as seen with his previous work Baccano! Viewers were ultimately asked at the end of the series if there really exists a definitive start or end for the story, thus the arbitrary jumps in the timeline of the story. While Durarara isn’t that keen in the timeline jumps, the randomness is evident in the way that Narita-sensei handled the characters and their encounters with one another. But of course, DRRR and Baccano! are both set in different settings. DRRR sticks to Ikebukuro, a city, while Baccano! traverses different places in different continents.

Now, there are loads of anime(s) that are set in a bustling city, fictional or not. Index’s Academy City and Steins;Gate’s Akihabara are just some examples but I don’t think most of these shows had the city as an active catalyst for most of the plot because of the chaos and freedom it provides to the story. Academy City might be an effective catalyst, for both the science and magic sides’ motives but the concept of freedom is highly questionable.

Others might think of Aria’s Neo Venezia as a valid example for a city setting that acts as a catalyst for most of its stories. Still, I opted not to cite it (despite the relevance of the serendipity too) since the concept of “chaos” clashes with its utopian atmosphere regardless of the freedom concept that it readily captures.

Going back to the interview article, Jonah Lehrer cites the capability of cities to gravitate all kinds of people to one another thus the human friction and new connections. This reminds me of the scene where Mikado wrote the word “tsunagari” (connections) on the lost and found sketchbook (episode 8). This just shows that the series is primarily fueled by the connections of the characters with each other which were made possible through the random encounters and the conspiracy of the city.

One of the episodes I enjoyed a lot in DRRR was the episode where Anri was helped by strangers that are members of Dollars when she was being pursued by some Yellow Scarves members. Chance meetings with strangers that would willingly help someone, or if you’re not lucky, “The Slasher”. Weird people bumping with others that are similarly weird. For some reason, when it’s set in a bustling city, everything just seems possible to happen. It’s not because of the script but of coincidence. Suddenly seeing a friend because s/he was dragged by an acquaintance, both of you lining up to buy some limited edition item, seeing your boss because there was a 50% off sale, or anything! It’s astonishing how being set in a city immediately gives out an implication that anything might just happen, no matter how outrageous it is.

This concept is somewhat lampshaded by the idea that Mikado expressed at the end of the series when he disbanded the Dollars:

“There’s one thing I learned. The Dollars are the town, itself. A lot of people arrive, and a lot of people leave, never in the same colors. Something is always happening. People are hating each other, loving each other, becoming friends, and drifting apart. In the same way a town exists, so long as there are people, the Dollars will continue to exist.”

Stories where random people are smashed together is an excuse in itself to write an outrageous situation. No one knows for sure the final outcome of befriending people you are total strangers with just few days ago.

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image credits: Kazuaki and pixiv user 染谷

Spoilers? Proceed at your own risk (covers episodes 1-5 of the anime).  Be advised as well that I read a fan translation. It will never be as accurate as the original text. If I pointed out something that could be attributed to the way it was translated, kindly tell me. This might as well be called a review of the translation, aside from being a review of the novel itself.

Reading Hyouka was quite an experience. If I would have to describe it, it’s as if you’re listening to two people exchanging vague inside jokes with one another. You have to possess an understanding of Japanese history, specifically 1960′s to easily understand and follow some of the historical references.

The gist of the first volume revolves around Chitanda’s favor to Houtarou to find out Sekitani Jun’s past (Chitanda’s uncle), not that the characters know that it is deeply related to the the history of the Classics Club. In order to find out the details of the past, the four main characters searched for sources that would give them an idea on what truly happened. Because of that, I believe it’s safe to say that Hyouka is a mystery/detective light novel. As such, I was hoping that “subtlety” would be observed throughout by the author in order to effectively build up the mystery.

Like other light novels (says Wikipedia), literary minimalism as a writing style is observed by the novel. One of the discerning factors of literary minimalism is having characters who don’t think out loud and Houtarou is the perfect example of that. Showing, instead of telling a situation is also an apparent characteristic of the said style. The issue I raised about subtlety refers to this because Hyouka fails(?)/chooses to deliver a certain line in a telling fashion instead of showing it. I am citing here the line that bluntly said “database” in order for the readers to readily assume what role Satoshi’s going to play in the story. It’s quite a cheap shot in my opinion.

One of the things that also bugged me while reading the novel was that, Houtarou’s lazy (I hardly believe it’s for saving energy) personality is quite apparent in his narration. You can sense that he’s trying to shortcut some of the details when he’s telling the story (The deduction part is an exception). If not, he’ll begin explaining that he doesn’t want to do a certain task because of [insert explanation here] instead of just getting things done. Although it is suitable for his personality, I find it not engaging to read because of that. His energy-saving tone makes me want to save energy myself and stop reading the novel.

The letters and calls Houtarou receives from his sister serves as an oar if you consider Houtarou as the boat. It’s definitely an interesting aspect of the novel that moves the story forward. It might be seen as a deus ex machina but it effectively camouflages itself as a normal occurrence in Houtarou’s life.

I could also probably compare Another to Hyouka in its style of using clues and hints. Both used little involvement of things that would later be significant, albeit loosely connected and not fully utilized. For example, Another’s use of the “Why, Rei-chan” dialogue which the viewers thought to be of no meaning actually turned out to be a big clue to know who the extra one is. Quite similarly, Hyouka had the book that would later be used as a vital source of info involved in a case that pretty much turned out to be borderline filler content. Who would have thought?

Much of the exchange and deduction as for why Chitanda’s and Mayaka’s theories were debunked was explained clearer and better in the light novel. KyoAni’s animation actually just confused me instead of simplifying the explanation. There’s a lot of questioning the usage of word involved so I suggest reading this part to appreciate Houtarou’s deduction. KyoAni’s imagery can only do so much. I really enjoyed this part of the light novel since it’s better if you can also stare at the handouts that the four of them prepared. You can see for yourself the points they are talking about and why exactly they are arguing the clarity of a certain phrase.

Overall, the novel was too historical, which is why it was hard for me to appreciate it. Aside from that, Chitanda’s relation to the story was quite weak. It might be a memory she badly wants to remember but if she remembers it right, I think the reason she cited on why she cried is pretty shallow, and unconvincing. I don’t think a child could have understood the deeper meaning and hidden message that her uncle meant.

Interesting points for those who are watching the anime:

• The second part of the first episode was a filler.
• Sekitani Jun is missing for 7 years already. People that are missing for 7 years are legally declared dead. The Chitanda clan would soon attend his funeral. Chitanda wanted to know the truth so she would be able to send off her uncle properly.
• It was mentioned early on that Mayaka belongs to the Manga Studies Club. Despite this, she still joined the Classics Club to pursue Satoshi.
• The big ornate book borrowed for the art classes is actually the source which Houtarou used for his research. It’s the history book of the school. It pretty much holds the key hints about the whole incident.
• Unity and Salutations is the equivalent anthology series being published by the Manga Studies Club.
• Satoshi’s source is Kami High Monthly, the publication of the club they visited to look for the Classics Club anthologies.
• Kanya Festival is a nickname for Kamiyama Cultural Festival. The nickname’s origin is closely related to the incident.
• The meaning of the word Hyouka involves wordplay, but using its English meaning.

I invite you to read this article if you want to know more about literary minimalism.

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image credits: pixiv user うら

I don’t have a history about fighting teachers, or “opposing” them for any matter. This is one of the reasons why I was hooked to Kare Kano’s approach in its 7th episode which involved top students going against their teachers, with their parents as their allies. Pretty daring isn’t it? It’s cliche for delinquents to do such a thing but they are totally the opposite which is why just like Yukino’s father, it gave me shivers of excitement.

For a short summary, that is the episode where Yukino and Arima’s parents were called to see the faculty advisers to discuss about the relationship of the two in connection to the sudden drop of their grades. Pretty much a typical situation if I were to be asked but what really pulled me into this episode is the conversation among the teacher and the parents of Yukino and Arima.

There are probably a lot more shows that also excellently portray the theme of parenting in an anime (e.g. Usagi Drop) but the 7th episode of Kare Kano will always be one of my favorites. You can really see how supportive Yukino’s parents were. This is the episode that made Yukino’s father on the list of my all time favorite characters. He had a very nice statement on how he thinks parenting should be done. Likewise, it was touching to hear what Arima’s parents had to say about having to worry together if ever he’ll feel troubled in the future.

For all this time, our daughter has always decided everything for herself. I have never instructed her to do anything. Of course, I can understand what you are saying, but because I think of her future that I do not wish to restrict her. I feel that I would take away all of my child’s possibilities if I restrict her now and make her face her studies. I believe children have the right to freely think and feel for themselves. Studying is important, but a day in high school is far more precious than a month is in adulthood.

The focus of this show has always been Yukino and Arima’s relationship but the concept of family is rather pre-eminent throughout. For all I know, this has been discussed in more detail during Tsubasa’s arc (eps 11~13) where she remarked that Arima might have been captivated by Yukino not only because of her personality but also because of the familial warmth that emanates from her. This is rather to be expected from Arima who didn’t experience how a normal family could have been.

The family background concept is also apparent in the situation between Arima and Asaba. Arima was abandoned by his true parents while Asaba forsook his parents, yet these two are best friends. Similarly, Tsubasa feels relaxed with Kazuma (and vice versa), because both of them know the lonely feeling when nobody’s home after opening the door when they get home.

I find it amusing to watch that Kare Kano explores a not that apparent side of attraction to someone apart from the romantic aspect of relationships. The thing is, sometimes people are drawn to other people because s/he somehow satisfies and gives you an ample amount of happiness by “fulfilling” (intentionally or not) the role of someone that’s normally shouldn’t be missing  in his/her life, i.e. a certain family member of some sort that’s gone. In Kare Kano’s case, it’s the Miyazawa household’s familial warmth spillover to Arima via Yukino.

This actually somehow reminds me of the recent manga I read (Sangatsu no Lion) where the “family” members are composed of people all trying to help one another in recovering from their respective tragic past.

Other participants [Week 2]:

Late post is late but this is my entry for Trzr’s Rewatch Month project where we’ll rewatch our favorite anime in the month of May and post 4 entries (or maybe more if you want) for each Sunday. The Kare Kano header of this site has never been this relevant.

I find myself empathizing with Yukino’s realization during the early part of the anime in that there’s always someone out there better than you, and for her, it was Arima. Yukino’s attempt to beat Arima, and suddenly feeling empty after her success was fortunately, a feeling I wasn’t able to experience.

Note: I’m not sure if the nomenclature system of Philippine’s educational system is the same to that of other countries.

Not to brag but simply to illustrate — During my elementary days, I’ve been at the top of my class. I was quite proud of myself having been accelerated as well and skipping the preparatory level. I was considered for Grade 1 immediately right after my first year in the Kindergarten, even though I’m not the top of my Kindergarten class. Weird, right? In short I was the youngest through out my elementary classes, and also the top of my class at the same time.

And so, here comes the high school period when I came to realize that there are lots of people even better than me! Consequently, I immediately fell from the ranks.

This is pretty much the reason I understand the scene where Yukino stated that it feels cold to be buried as an average/normal person. I used to be the at the top as well but unlike her, I wasn’t that into the idea of popularity. I wasn’t aggressively competitive to others as well. I’m a firm believer that one should see their own selves as their competitor and not other people.

At first, I can feel the pressure from my parents who were expecting me to perform well and I was thankful that they understood my situation and it didn’t end up like Koyomi’s [Bake/Nise] relationship with his parents. In a way, it was an eye opener. I was never that studious in the very first place. Education has its own merits — it’s just that I don’t want to deprive myself of other things.

Meanwhile, Yukino has been putting up a show for everyone ever since she realized she would hear more praises if she could excel more. She’s been basically living her entire school life in order to impress everyone even though she’s just as normal as any other person when she’s at home. Imagine how silly that is. Her resolve is pretty amazing yes but I don’t like how she initially derives happiness from what others think about her.

Now that I think about it, I’m such a popularity freak. If I had raised my true self without restraints, I might have become a comedian who has sway of the world. Trying to become a creature that was not me was an idiotic thing to do.

It’s a bit coincidental that this post coincides to my Round 2 match on Aniblog Tourney. Ranks and stuff are important but trying to manage your blog just to fit what others want from you is just wrong. I get that listening to what others have to say from time to time is important — as long as you don’t stray from what originally your blog is.

It’s a better feeling if people acknowledge you, even without the ulterior motive of wanting to win.

Other participants [Week 1]:

• Trzr23: Remembering Love – Clannad: Beauty in negativity
• Nopy: Martian Successor Nadesco (Part 1)
• Justin: Reliving Daikichi and Rin Once More (Part 1)
• Marina: Uchuu no Stellvia: Heading Home to Space
• @fkeroge: Sibling and Filial Drama in Kanon
• Kai: Gintama and the Art of Randomness 
• kluxorious: Opposite Attractions in Lovely Complex
• Ty-chama: Death Note and the Questionable Moral of its Characters
• chikorita157: Clannad After Story Part 1
• Nadav: Aria

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image credits: official art

Jormungand’s universe is definitely something else. I may not be able to assess each and every detail on how the arms dealing industry really works, or if the machinations on how wars and conflicts over those interests are actually plausible — but I think viewers could see that it still portrays a bit of our reality.

Millennium Development Goals. It was the first time I ever heard it from an anime. Are people even aware of what it’s all about? Hopefully.

Note: You have to see episode 4 to fully understand this entry. I’m not first time reader friendly.

Click it to see the original size

I’m not a gun nut but after hearing what Koko said about the statistics of gun ownership, I just had to clarify is she’s making it up or not. Guess what, digging the internet gave me the infographic at the left and I was really surprised. Just like Jonah, I was under the impression that most of the guns do belong to the army. It felt unreal that 1 out of 10 people owns a gun. But looking at the current statistics, it’s actually even higher. It’s already roughly 1 out of 7.

We live in a world where weapons are always an arms distance away. Sad, isn’t it? These things are more reliable than human kindness.

Really sad. I mean, I enjoy seeing gun fights in anime without really thinking and realizing the larger problem about guns and fire arms in general. This thing that I guiltily enjoy actually deprives other people of their future. Aside from the act of killing someone by using it (duh), imagine if the money used for manufacturing guns were allocated instead in alleviating the issues that MDG wants to address? Funny thing, Koko said that the sustainability of achieving the 2nd and 4th goal of MDG requires 22B USD annually. Adding up the revenue of the top three economies in the arms selling industry already equates to 21.5B USD. That’s just the top three!

I’d probably continue enjoying gun fights in anime but seeing as there seems to be a lack of perception about guns as a deviant tool, it is quite alarming. At this point, I’m inclined to believe Koko on her belief that humans have decided to exchange the future of the next generation to that of violence.

Even people who have nothing to do with violence will become savages if they have a weapon? Where in the world do you expect to find people who have nothing to do with violence?

I don’t even understand the logic on why civilians would want to acquire guns for themselves. I know Maslow says that safety is a necessary thing for humans but I don’t think that it qualifies as an excuse. Are they even sure that owning a gun would warrant them the sense of security? Just like how Lelouch said it, only those who are prepared to fire should be fired at. Maybe we are treading again on the concept of Fundamental Evil/Good (care of the recent Nisemonogatari) but I comprehend Koko’s way of seeing things similar in a way to that of the Code of Hammurabi.  ”An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” – violence for violence.

Koko acknowledges that every person is capable of violence ["You may be kind, but the world is not"] which is why she doesn’t mind the existence of guns, or in her case, selling them as a merchandise and using them. Is it part of her good running evil plan of achieving “world peace”? I don’t know. But one thing’s for sure, she knows how hypocrite she is even though she’s an arms dealer herself.

I wonder if civilians who own guns know that they are being hypocrites themselves. Safety? Security? Don’t make me laugh.

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image credits: pixiv user takaburu ; infographic by chacha.com

It’ll be Round 2 real soon on the most controversial Aniblog Tourney and I’d like to use this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have voted on Temporal Vortex’s match. Thanks to all your votes, we made our way to Round 2. I also want to thank our Round 1 opponent Love the Machine for a fair and square match. Please do check out his site if you guys are interested in doujins!

The first match of TV was set on April 22 but technically, it’s already April 23 here in the Philippines when the polls went live. April 23 actually marks the anniversary of the site which is why I’m happy that the site not only made it to the second round of the tourney, but also finally reached 4 years of age. Yeah, this site’s pretty old already despite the lack of activity.

I am very sorry that I had nothing to give back to people who actually took their time to criticize my content and layout. But, I really appreciate everyone’s feedback, suggestions and comments to the site. There are very few of you who actually did this throughout Round 1 so you guys deserve some mentions.

Again, thank you for all the viewers, readers, and my twitter followers who have kept me alive in the community. You know who you guys are. May we all spend more years together (with or without drama) in this anime blogosphere.

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image credits: pixiv user 黒いｱﾝﾁｸｼｮｳ＠不風くれ

Majority of sports anime have the team’s ace as the main protagonist and as for someone who hardly considers himself athletic, I was hardly able relate to any of the characters with respect to the sport they are playing.

I’m not a fan of sports genre anime and I can probably name only three anime(s) that I liked namely Slam Dunk and the baseball duo* (Cross Game & Touch) by Adachi Mitsuru. Well, before Kuroko no Basuke aired, that is. I’ve been following this series ever since last year via its manga and I’ve been drawn in by the supporting role of Kuroko despite being the main character.

Although I don’t avoid leadership roles, I tend to be the backstage guy. My main characters on MMORPGs are mainly full-support Clerics and Priests or whatever you call the class that heals and do the buffs. This nature of mine’s probably the reason why I like “the basketball which Kuroko plays”.

People actually think it’s easy to do the “support” role but, they’re underestimating the amount of attention one has to have in order to effectively keep an eye on the lives of your party members to keep them off from dying. Using the same analogy, Kuroko’s strategic passes probably needs him to be extra keen in observing the whole court.

It’s rather rare to see characters from a sports anime who actually specializes in supportive maneuvers. Sports have always been decided through scores and that’s why every basketball player practices in shooting the ball. That’s always been the highlight of any sport — the dunks, the home runs, the goals, the scores. Anything that has something to do with defense and support is underrated.

For someone who somewhat lives in the backstage, I find it a bit disheartening that at the end of the day, people always only get to notice those who do the scores, and seldom other people who made those scores possible. This is pretty much the reason why I’m biased on liking Kuroko. Kiseki no Sedai and Kagami are undoubtedly great players but I’d prefer somebody like Kuroko who’s capable of reinforcing anyone.

Hardly anybody specializes on support because everyone wants the share of attention received when one’s on the front lines. Very few ones volunteer to do the equally difficult but dull part of the game.

* – I also like Adachi Mitsuru’s H2 but I only read the manga and didn’t watch the anime. (as recommended by other fans)

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image credits: pixiv user 腰痛