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Anime Is an Art Piece

Friday, November 26, 2021 / No Comments

Art, as we all know, plays a huge part in making a good anime. And to be very frank, I’ve avoided some shows because the art wasn’t to my fancy. But for some shows, the visuals are absolutely breathtaking and make up a huge part of why they rank so high on my anime list. Here’s some of them:

Howl’s Moving Castle

Roses, cosy cottages, the smell of berry pies ─ these are things that remind me of this anime, Howl's Moving Castle. This 2004 Japanese fantasy film has captivated the hearts of many, including mine and I hope, yours too.

This anime follows the story of Sophie, a diligent and warm-hearted girl, who is taken on a little peculiar trip in a moving castle. How did that happen? Well, it starts off with her encounter with a mysterious figure, Howl - who’s rumoured to be a wicked magician who’s incredibly powerful. After their brief encounter, she got turned into an old woman through unforeseen circumstances (don’t ask), and goes on a bizarre journey with the most unique creatures.

So anime plots don’t make a lot of sense. If you’re an avid watcher of anime, you should already know that. But that’s what makes anime unique, right? To add on, what makes this show pop is its absolutely gorgeous animation. For example, just take a look at Howl’s room:

The decorations framing this room is nothing short of stunning. Just a glimpse of it showcases the dangling bronze crystals, blooming fauna and intricate masks.

This anime also paints sceneries that radiate a calm and soothing atmosphere as Sophie embarks on her journey. Paired with none other than Joe Hisaishi’s Merry-Go-Round of Life whimsical tune, this is one of Studio Ghibli’s most iconic anime ever created.

Your Name

If you haven’t watched Your Name, you’re seriously missing out. Released in 2016, this anime is the highest-grossing Japanese film of the year and the third highest-grossing anime of all time. It has also won various awards for best-animated feature film, with an ongoing live-action remake by Paramount Pictures.

In a nutshell, Your Name is about two students who wake up one day to realise that they have swapped bodies. Intriguing premise? Check. Captivating animation? Check. Music with incredible depth and fits right into the equation? Check.

This show brings forth quite a tunnel of emotions. In a span of thirty minutes, you can go from a ball of giggles to a sniffling, swivelling mess. Every element of this anime plays a part in the emotions and thoughts the audience has.

The story itself, while containing supernatural elements, is not difficult to understand. But that doesn’t make it boring. In fact, as you continue watching, you’ll get to see its depth and meaning slowly unravel. Every word and action by the characters (even the sides) contain a certain purpose. Themes like compassion and empathy are reflected by the characters and their motivations for what they do.

Being your typical high school students, they are quite simple-minded and relatable. The way they interact with each other does get bonus points, though. There’s no over-the-top, dramatic and unbelievable expressions - simply the natural, normal reactions you can see yourself making in their situation.

The animation and sound are what makes this show for me. Every scene, from the traditional village to the city life, is unique and speaks volumes of the way the characters each view the world. What’s the norm to one is something completely different to another. This fascinating contrast, paired with mesmerising visuals, really make this film stand out. The clever use of light flares really makes each scene radiate with emotions and creates an immersive experience, along with its splendid sound design. The voice actors are good at their jobs, and the music flows into the scenarios oh-so-smoothly.

So if you haven’t given Your Name a try, I would highly recommend you to. It’s an absolute delight to watch.

The Garden of Words

Alas, we have come to the last masterpiece in this article. The Garden of Words is a drama film consisting of a student who’s an aspiring shoemaker, a mysterious older woman with her own baggage, and of course, a beautiful garden.

There are many layers to peel off this anime. The way the story is executed is mainly through the dialogue between the two characters, under a roof in the garden, as raindrops drizzle around them. One of them is a 15-year-old boy who feels lost in life and wishes to pursue his passion of creating the most beautiful shoes. The other is a 27-year-old woman who struggles with her acceptance into society. When the two meet, they find a safe space to confide in each other and form a deep connection they have never felt with others.

The words exchanged between them are simple, yet refreshing. There are no character traits or story plot points stuffed into your face, only genuine conversations. The characters feel like real people with real troubles, not just an element to drive the plot along. Every word and every expression exposes something about the character subtly but never shoves it down your throat.

I don’t think I have to spend much time talking about the animation - the pictures speak for themselves. Give it a watch and you’ll find yourself unable to tear your eyes away from the scenic shots.

And that’s it for now! If art is an important part of the anime to you, then I hope you’ll love these pieces as much as I do : )

Written by Potato.

Tears of Themis Cafe - A Rant?

Friday, November 19, 2021 / No Comments

Hello hello my cute nuggets!

I went to the Tears of Themis cafe today and man, it was such a disappointment. I don't actually know what I was expecting, but I certainly was not expecting a mess of information. I'll add the images I took as I go through the post, and they'll certainly look out of place, but bear with me.

a photobooth area?

So right off, the reservations. It had been postponed once, and the second time I actually started camping to enter right at noon and I was completely not expecting the overwhelming response! I joined the queue at 12:00:13pm, and I was 480+ in queue. Crikey.

i wonder if there'll be a giveaway for the standee?

After patiently waiting 2 hours for my turn, I entered the booking page only to realize that there were completely no slots for ToT at all? In confusion, I called the listed number only to be told that they had received calls and they didn't know what was going on and to please send a DM in. I was astounded. Was I going to have to requeue? Did I have to wait another 2 hours? Was I not going to be able to get the limited First Day merch? There were limited edition merch, which was a small figure and a plush, and only purchasable on the first day.

I sent in a DM. To be fair, they responded almost immediately with a new link to the reservation site. I got in, didn't have to queue, and managed to book first day slots. Crisis currently averted.

Fast forward to today, as far as I know, merch tickets are given out to only the first 20 people in queue everyday, and it starts at 9:30am. There is also a limited amount of merch purchasable each day. This to me was rather ridiculous, if my dine-in slot was in the evening, I had to go specially in the morning just to queue for a chance to purchase merch? Fine, for the sake of limited First Day merch, I would do just that. Considering it was a weekday, I figured reaching at 9:30 should get me within the 20 slots.

I was so naïve. I got there about 9:35am, and there were already 20 people in the cafe, and a whole bunch waiting outside. I joined the mass of people, and started chatting with a couple of them. I figured it shouldn't take too long for the 20 inside to purchase their merch, then perhaps we can also start to enter and see what else there is to purchase. I knew there was the option of pre-order because of the overwhelming response, but limited First Day merch made me stay to wait.

After almost an hour, barely anyone had left the cafe. What was going on? Who knew? Was nothing inside actually set up for purchase yet or was everyone just taking a painfully long time to decide on what they wanted to buy?

I had to head off to work, so I left. My new friend informed me a while later that staff had finally exited the cafe to let the masses know that no one else would be let in to purchase merch, and we would only be able to purchase during our dine-in slot. I was stunned. After all that time waiting outside in the heat, for absolutely nothing. If you were a working adult with time constraints or you didn't manage to get an early time-slot, I guess it just sucks to be you?

She also told me that the First Day merch did not exist for Singapore. The cafe in Malaysia had the figure and plush, but not SG. So there was actually no point for me to go in the morning. Amazing.

Never mind, let's move on to the menu. Because I couldn't tell how large the portions were, I decided to get only the main and the drink. I had asked my new friend to ask the staff if we could add on to our orders if we decide to get the dessert as well. Good news! You can head back to the reservation page, as told by the staff member, and order a takeaway for the same day if you decide that you wanted to purchase more food items. Remember this.

So, happy with all these information, I made my way back to the cafe in the evening, prepared to get more food and support my fav 2D character. We had to do the safe entry check in before entering, and you can only use the trace together app to check in. They do not support the token check in.

Once that was done, we were given a buzzer and shown to our seats. We had a long table so we shared with another pair. Kinda weird, but the space was small. You'll have to take your buzzer to the main counter and let them know your invoice number. We did just that and were given the freebies. The coaster was randomized, and we got Marius and Luke. Damn it, I wanted Marius and Artem. Anyone has Artem and wants a Luke?

I decided to add the dessert as well since I was in a mood, but was informed that I actually could not, and they were not offering the option to add on and takeaway. I was confused. The staff this morning said otherwise. You can't, they repeated, but I could always check their socials for updates. That was kind of hilarious to me. If I wanted the add on now, what good would your social media update be if it was not today?

Oh well, whatever. We got our food and drinks a little while after, and ooh, the food was actually good. We ordered Luke's and Marius' mains, and it was sooooo nice. I especially liked how Luke's had chunky garlic bits in it. The drink was not bad too.

After the meal, we went to look at merch. Got up to the counter to pre-order, and asked if there were any larger sized images of the merch, especially the Halloween acrylic standee and the keychains since the catalog was so small. Please take pity on an aging grandma with bad eyesight. Nope, they didn't have any images other that what was on the catalog. That was a little annoying, but fine, we googled. Should have just done that in the first place I guess. We placed our orders, but I'd realized that one of the Marius' keychains was unavailable. ?? Wasn't this a pre-order?

Oh, there was also a limit on pre-orders. I had thought the listed Daily Supply limit was for physical in store merch, but I guess I was too dumb to realize it applied for pre-order limits as well. Or did they not say? I had also realized that a bunch of merch I had previously seen were also missing, but I was at point too tired to ask for anything else. I put in my details and left.

Oh oh I did get something good out of this whole ordeal though, tadah~~~

Hilariously, I had come for ToT, but ended up leaving with KnB merch instead. The overall experience was quite confusing, and rather disappointing, but Aomine always makes me feel better.

As much as I hope Genshin's will be better, I suppose I'll just lower my standards. Thank you for staying till the end of my rant, tata for now!

Written by: ninetylives

Recent Anime to Look Out For

Friday, November 12, 2021 / No Comments

Do you find yourself watching the same anime over and over again? Is it because you've gotten lazier and lazier to determine which new anime are good and which aren't? Well, fret not, here are some shows that I think are promising and worth a watch.

1. Komi Can't Communicate

Introducing the new hype of the season: Komi Can't Communicate. It's a comedy, slice-of-life show that's currently airing on Netflix. So what's it about?

The school's most popular girl, Komi, struggles with social interaction. In a sense where she freezes up whenever she has to speak to someone. This is discovered by our protagonist, your average guy classmate, and he decides to help Komi with her quest - make friends with a hundred people in her high school days.

Aside from Komi being a sweet, soft and extremely shy girl who makes you want to take her under your wing and shower her with some warmth, this show has elements of humour that often sterns from how socially awkward she can get.

This show has the most gorgeous animation I've seen in a while. The music's also pretty solid in the bite-sized episodes. So if you've some time to spare, why not give this a try? Although the story may be simple, you might find yourself relating to Komi more than you'd think.

2. Blue Period

I'm sure that many of us, at some point in our lives, have been unsure of the path we want to take in the future. Well, that's high school student Yatora Yaguchi, who planned to breeze through life until he finds out that he has a hidden passion - art.

As someone who displays a casual, "delinquent-like" demeanour, Yaguchi is surprisingly determined when it comes to pursuing his dreams. When he decides to take a leap of faith and actually put in effort in his art class, he was pleasantly surprised when he realised how much he liked doing art. And the next step? He joins the art club.

In this anime, we follow Yaguchi on his artistic journey and along with him, get inspired by the fascinating beauty of art. The animation is glorious, and accompanied by soul-touching music, you can really feel how much thought was put into every scene, and understand the messages they contain. That's, I feel, what makes this anime so meaningful and worth a watch.

What does art mean to you? What do you want to express but can't? What has art made you discover? Find the answers along with Yaguchi as you embark on this new path with him, and hopefully, you may find the answers to your own questions as well.

3. The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as Aristocrat

Long title, I know. But you know, it kinda speaks for the show pretty well. This anime starts off with our protagonist, a highly-skilled assassin, who dies, but is then given a chance to live again, in a new body and a new world. And in this new world, it's bustling with magic and sorcery.

To me, what makes this anime a level up is the character or our protagonist. He's highly intelligent, with a more or less "deadpan" personality that surprisingly chalks up to his charm. With his talent to manipulate and calm demeanour, you'll find yourself fascinated with the interactions between him and the other characters.

The visuals are great, and so is the music. The magical elements are pretty cool, and the theme song comes with a catchy beat. I'd say that going by what makes an anime good: the art, music, plot, characters - this anime scores decently for all areas.

And that's what I have this time round. Hopefully they suit your tastes but if not, don't worry - I'll be looking out for more.

Written by Potato.

Manga Review: Alice in Borderland

Saturday, October 30, 2021 / No Comments

Have you ever wished to escape from your boring life and jump into a world of fantasy where you could be the protagonist of an exciting story?

The manga cover featuring our protagonist, Ryohei Arisu.

Everyone surely has thought of it once or twice in their lives— But for Ryohei Arisu, whose wish was granted, things turned from a dream come true to a nightmare quickly.

The spookiest day of the year is fast approaching! Which means, naturally, that you have to whip out some horrifying manga to match the season! As such, I’ve come to you with Alice in Borderland.

For those of you who love anything relating to the death game genre, or want to consume more after dipping your toes into Squid Game, this is the manga just for you! It's perfect for beginners with a good plot, engaging characters, and not much gore, unlike most series in the genre.

This manga has a total of 60+ chapters/18 volumes which, if you’re a fast reader like me, you can binge read in a whole day. If not, you can finish it within a week or two as long as you read a few chapters a day.

Alternatively, this manga has both an OVA and live action series. However, the OVA only covers up until chapter 13, whilst the live action series covers up until chapter 29. The OVA is quite accurate to the manga while the live action series has differences in character portrayals and the plot, so if you’ve already finished reading the manga, you might want to try out the live action show.

The live action version of Alice in Borderland.

By the way, the live action will have a second season that covers the rest of the manga’s chapters, so if a live action is more enticing to you, then you might want to pick up the manga right now whilst waiting for the second season to air.

The manga is about Ryohei Arisu and his two best friends, Chota Segawa and Daikichi Karube, who seemingly get isekai’d to a dystopian future, known as the Borderland. They learn that they must play dangerous games in order to extend their visa, or else they will die when the visa expires. Along the way, they meet Saori Shibuki, an office lady who seems knowledgeable about the games. Together, they team up and aim to stay alive while investigating the truth behind the Borderland, and who exactly is orchestrating these deadly games.

Ryohei Arisu with his two best friends during their first day in the Borderland.

I personally feel that the manga draws readers in with its interesting premise and manages to continue pulling you in due to the depth and complexity of the characters. The drama between the characters feels real and genuine, and it’s easy to understand the reasoning behind the actions of many characters.

Not only that, despite the huge cast of characters, all of them play a large role in the manga’s plot— Many characters make small cameos in early chapters, only to appear later with huge significance, making the world of Alice in Borderland feel real. It feels as if all the characters are real people who have their own past, dreams and ambitions, with none of the characters feeling one dimensional. I believe that’s quite hard to achieve for such a large cast of characters, so I’m impressed by the writing.

The whole cast is endearing too, with only one or two hard exceptions. I love most of the cast equally, though my favourites include Mira Kano, Shuntaro Chishiya and Ginji Kyuma.

Mira Kano, who has both beauty and brains.

The games featured in the manga are unique too, as they are split into four categories: Club (teamwork), Diamond (intelligence), Spades (physical strength) and Heart (psychological strength). Each game tests the players on one of these aspects. The difficulty of the game is determined by a number and, as shown in the manga during the Three of Hearts game, Heart games are notoriously difficult even at a low number.

Some games seem to deliberately mislead players too, like the Four of Clubs game, titled 'Runaway'. The game, held in a 10km tunnel, tells the players that in order to win, they must survive four trials and reach "the goal" before the time limit is up. The trials include cheetahs, a flood with crocodiles, sudden cold temperatures, and an explosion. The characters, knowing this is a game about teamwork, are definitely confused as it seems more like they should be running away in order to survive these trials and reach "the goal", which they think is located at the end of the tunnel.

... However, there is a bus at the start of the tunnel with "GOAL" spray painted onto it. If only the players had worked together, they would have realised that and could have stayed inside of the bus to survive the four trials and win the game. Instead, the players were fragmented, thus most of them chose to ran to the other side of the tunnel, only to be met with a dead end. There are other games which have similar loopholes or misleading instructions, which is truly what makes Alice in Borderland so fun to read even after readers learn how the games work.

There are currently two spin-offs for the manga too; Alice on Border Road and Alice in Borderland Retry. Border Road is a regular spin-off while Retry is a direct sequel which involves Ryohei Arisu once again entering the Borderlands. For fans who have already finished both the manga and live action series, there's still more content to consume!

While I haven't consumed either of those yet, I personally feel that both will be good, considering that the writing and flow of the plot was handled so well in the original. Overall, I highly recommend checking this manga out for anyone who hasn't yet!

I might make a list of recommended manga to read next... or maybe I'll get around to reviewing more crane game apps. Who knows?

Until then, stay home, stay safe, and have fun!

Written by Ririko

Nintendo Switch: Otome Haul

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Heyheyhey my little nuggets!! Welcome back to another episode of an old lady's ramblings~ So I was hunting for new games recently, and one that really caught my eye was Cupid Parasite, an otome that is about to drop real soon.

And then I thought, man I haven't played any otomes on console in a long time (see Hakuoki lol) so I went to look up otomes on the Switch and okokok there are so many!!

After deliberating for quite some time, I finally ended up with these few titles. I haven't played any of them yet, but when I have, I'll do a more in depth post! For now, I kind of want to do a first impressions, who I'll probably aim for post, and see if I do end up with them.

I'm also going into this blind, I really picked these titles off the art, VAs, and trailers. So let's start!!

Piofiore: Fated Memories

Piofiore is set in the Mafia world, and what's better than romance and danger?

I am super stoked for this to reach my hands, I love the art so much. Usually with some otomes, I can pick the character I'll go for right off the bat, but with this, I was thinking so hard about it and I still can't choose! Just going off visuals, I think I might pick Yang.. he gives off this bastard vibe.. for a lack of a better way to describe him.

I don't know! Dante feels like a tsun, Nicola looks like a playboy, Gil is pretty nice, feels like he'd protecc and attacc. Gil and Yang feel rather similar to me, but Gil sits on the wholesome side, and Yang on the bastard side, if that makes sense. Gil will die for you but Yang will kill for you, I guess? Orlok has the lost puppy vibe to him, kind of cute.

left to right: nicola, gil, dante, yang, orlok

I prefer Yang's voice too, so I think I'll probably go for him first, then maybe Dante or Gil.. Though I think I would be OK with anyone except Nicola.

We'll see how the playthrough goes.

Code Realize: Guardian of Rebirth

clockwise: van, impey, lupin, saint germain, victor

Steampunk London!! I love the art!! And outfits, minus the hats. For some reason, I really dislike hats. Maybe because sometimes they cover up so much of the face..?

Anyway, cover art, off the bat I was drawn to Victor. I really liked Van too, but man his hair is so spikey!!! Also what's with those glasses!!!

So Victor gives off this aloof guy with a tragic backstory feel, probably the really caring sort. Van? Tsun. The end. Saint Germain, mm, looks like bad news frankly. Has Kuroshitsuji Undertaker vibes. Impey feels like he has too much energy. Lupin has so little shown of him, but he kind of feels a bit like BSD Dazai, I suppose. Although!!! In the other cover art where it's just him and MC, man!!! That was so soft!!

Ok so I said Victor right, but when I heard the voices!!!! I knew it was going to be Van for me. I looked it up to be sure and yep, it's Junichi Suwabe. Tsun + Suwabe? Ah, what a day to be alive.

Collar x Malice

clockwise from black: aiji, kageyuki, kei, takeru, mineo

MC is a police officer, nice!

Ahh I love the art so much, and the colors are so gentle.

Aiji looks like a no nonsense type of person, but really caring at the same time. Kei looks aloof but soft and huggable, like he'd listen to you rant and just pat your head? Mineo has too much energy, I feel like I'd be tired just being around him. Takeru looks tsun as heck. Kageyuki feels like a playboy, but like the cruel ones where he uses people and tosses them aside. Is playboy even the right word?

Anyway, don't really know who I'd pick, so I guess we'll see how the common route goes.

Nightshade

goemon is the middle with the red pendant

This was so hard to find but I absolutely love it to bits. I knew immediately who I was going to pick, and when I heard the voice?? Oof, take my money, Nightshade, take it all.

So if you've guessed Hanzo, good for you because it is!! I don't even know what to tell you, I took one look and that was it. And then he spoke and well, my soul just evaporated. Gekkamaru looks like your typical leader type, cool calm collected. Kuroyuki feels like the fun type, very younger brother vibes I guess. Chojiro has the mom friend vibes, will take care of you, make sure you eat, and all that. Goemon feels like he'd do a lot of teasing, looks carefree but has a bit of a dark past?

left to right: hanzo, chojiro, gekkamaru, kuroyuki

It's Hanzo for me. I love him so much already. I hope I don't get a bad ending.. I'd better not get the bad ending!!

Olympia Soiree

clockwise: himuka, kuroba, shiro, riku, akaza, yosuga

There's some clan caste? structure thing going on here, and MC is some OP being I think?

Guys, the character I liked isn't romanceable!!! I don't know what came over me, I was watching the trailer and was like AH THIS ONE IS NICE and then I sent in a order for it and then I continued watching and was like, wait a second, he's not part of the line-up.

my fav lmao

But anyway, on to the actual characters.

Akaza. I don't quite like his glasses, but he does give off the stoic leader vibe. A little like Hijikata, maybe? Kuroba feels really bright and cheerful, also for some reason also looks sad, like his cheeriness is a front?

Yosuga feels like a playboy, but the kind who actually just wants to find his one true love. Riku? Tsun. Shiro is so so so so cute!!! Definitely shota vibes, and I was actually eating the same ice cream he's holding when he appeared on screen. Himuka looks like he doesn't even want to be here, wherever here is, and just wants to live his own life doing his own things?

I don't really know what to expect of this, but the reviews are pretty good so I'm excited regardless.

Cupid Parasite

left to right: keisaiin, gill, npc, shelby, raul, allan

This one was really really not my jam because of how bright everything was. But at the same time it was so cute and different and upbeat that I bought it anyway.

I saw this image before I watched the trailer and yeah, well, after I placed the order I found out the character I liked is not playable. But that's OK! Let's move on.

Gill has the childhood friend trope I think? He sure looks like the blustering shy childhood friend.. Wait, but that's for BL.. Moving on to Shelby, seriously? What exactly is that name?? Shelby Snail?? I almost cried when I saw it!! But anyway, typical CEO, probably in just to marry someone so the media will get off his back. Raul feels like a wholesome himbo. Maybe it's the hair? Surfer type vibes. Keisaiin looks funky as heck. I don't even know what to make of him? He feels like a tsun but I really don't know? Allan.. I don't know too. Playboy I guess? Use and discard type maybe?

Frankly the vibrancy is painful for me but all in all I think the plot isn't too bad! MC's an actual Cupid!

So that's all I have lined up so far! I'm so excited for everything to arrive~~~ I was considering preordering Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani but I guess this is enough for now, whew.

Tata for now!~