animeramblings

[animeramblings]

reading steel ball run

chapters 25 - 26

not really any interesting insight, i just want to appreciate the artwork somewhere

literal hand gun

the colors in these panels are obnoxiously pleasing to me

unrelated pages, but i love when there's a moment of silence and u just get to look at the pretty art

[animeramblings]

it's been almost two months since i read dungeon meshi

and the fact that i'm still thinking about and obsessing over it says a lot. i have found a new favorite author in ryoko kui. she is so incredibly good at storytelling, character creating and world building (the daydream character design sheets, the adventurer's bible as well as the monster facts) and she's also probably the funniest human on the planet! i have never laughed out so loud and so often while reading a long running series. i've also read her collection of short stories, terrarium in drawer, and it currently stands as the single time, in my life, i've ever actually enjoyed the entirety of a short story collection. it's such a perfect example of kui's complete skillset. and going back to dungeon meshi, the fact that you can just read it as some silly little fun story about these weirdos and their adventures, but also as a tale of desires, rejection and otherness, love and hate that support and feed off of each other and so much more, is so telling of the mastery of kui's writing skills. people have given such interesting takes of this manga and i think that goes to show how balanced this story is. we're told a lot in order to keep us engaged, but also not so much that there's no room for speculation or analysis.

[animeramblings]

reading vinland saga

up until 180

thorfinn and gudrid getting married still makes no sense to me whatsoever. did we ever see thorfinn actually reciprocate those feelings? and i can't imagine him marrying her just because he was looking for some sort of family structure. i would've much rather seen them both progress as individuals and then maybe, in the far future, those feelings are actually explored and developed. it seems like such a random decision and i fear gudrid is slowly turning into just thorfinn's wife who is very much in love with him.

[animeramblings]

dusting off this blog after i've picked vinland saga back up

i've read from chapters 130 to 170 and i have to say i'm a bit a disappointed. i really don't know if it's because i haven't read it in a long while (2 years holy shit), but i though the pacing of the baltic sea war was really quite slow and focused a lot on characters that i didn't care about at all or in less degree than the main group.

now that arc is done the pace seems to have picked up and be moving along quite fast, but it feels faster than it should be? i have a feeling the author really enjoys writing and drawing fighting scenes as well as political schemings and enjoys dragging these arcs/scenes out as much as possible, but that's not really a thing thorfinn and the group are involved in much at all anymore and so it really feels like things are going by at lighting speed. there was even a two year timeskip that took place, to my tastes, out of nowhere.

overall the story feels much much more detached from its most important characters and i believe it's struggling to keep up with what it used to be.

i'm obviously hoping this is a temporary bump in the road, but i'm a little worried that it won't be.

will keep reading until i'm caught up!

[animeramblings]

Reading A Trail of Blood

chapters 136-142

- that was pretty raw. sei finding himself taking care of his mother after everything she’s done to him and coming to understand why she was the way that she was towards him is some hard hitting stuff. i can’t feel bad for her ngl, but it’s all very emotional regardless. i am very happy that sei seems to finally be able to live at peace with himself.

[animeramblings]

Reading Chainsaw Man

chapters 114-125

- i really like asa, i feel like she’s a much better mc than deki. he has also evolved a lot tho, so i do like him more now. the overall quality of the writing has improved from part 1 for sure.

- something abt yoshida smells fishy af

- i literally forgot nayuta existed

[animeramblings]

Currently

watching

- darling in the franxx: so i'm rewatching this with a friend because i wanted to show her the masterpiece that this show is. i'm pretty sure i watched this weekly when it came out so binging episodes has been an interesting change, but oh my god i had forgot abt the whole sex metaphors down your throat. it's so bad, but i am just so excited for my friend's reaction to the ending.

reading

- miss maid just simply loves to eat: just recently caught up with this. i love the art style so much. it's a pretty cute manga, but i'm glad the chapters are quite short because it's not that engaging. just a very fun and lighthearted casual read.

- blood on the tracks: ngl i was way more into this pre timeskip, but it might have been because i had lots of chapters to read and now that i'm all caught up my interest kinda fades from chapter release to chapter release. however, i'm still interested enough in the story to keep up.

- white blood: the first manhwa that has actually managed to grip me. it's not the most innovative plot by any means, but it's genuinely so fun to read, and the art style is everything i love abt digital art. it just looks extremely professional, i love it. also i find the main character to be pretty likable so that's always motivation to keep reading. sadly it's not 100% free on webtoon anymore, so i'm gonna have to read a chapter a day, which i mean it's not the best, but it also makes the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter feel like they have more weight to them.

- my broken mariko: only read two chapters of this, but i really like it so far. i'm kinda putting off reading more because it's quite heavier than what i'm in the mood for rn, but i do plan on finishing it soon since it's also quite short. also, the art style is super animated and different from what you you usually see in manga.

- blue period: this had been on my radar for a while, but i only started reading it the other day because i saw a certain user on here talk abt it and i really liked their takes on the characters. i feel weirdly connected to it because i've been doing art since... always, but i also have a strange and inconsistent relationship w doing art so it also feels like i'm an outsider to the topics that are talked abt in a way. overall, i'm really enjoying it.

- after school lessons for unripe apples: another manhwa i'm reading. i've read very little of it, but i'm enjoying it. the mc is actually great, she's so funny and likeable, and as for the boy... he's a bit strange lmao. i know that's the point and that we'll learn more abt him later and it'll turn out that he's not what he seems like at all and all that, but so far he's really hard to read and he seems to be pretty hotheaded and rude honestly. i'm worried that he'll fall into the trope of the cold masculine guy who's actually a sweetheart but only in private and i hope i'm wrong.

[animeramblings]

Reading Berserk

chapters 217-229 (more or less)

- not much to actually say. just a lot of tear emojis. chapter 229 is hands down my favorite chapter from now on.

- just more appreciation of miura’s art

- yeah ;;

- this whole thing ;;;

-  and right after we get to see part of guts’ actual face, which had been hidden by the armor

- and then THIS fckn panel ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

- and finally this banger… yeah, tears were flowing

[animeramblings]

Reading Vinland Saga

chapters 127-129

- it’s really sticking out to me how thorfinn seems a lot more serious and aggressive now that he’s alone with thorkell, the crew and loki. he’s progressively getting angrier, like his old self is coming back, but this time the rage and frustration are tied to his current beliefs.

- i’m curious to see how it’ll go once thorfinn finds out the one responsible for his father’s death was actually loki and not askeladd. like he closed that chapter of his life, but this would be new information that would completely clash with what he grew up believing.

- hilda is like a younger thorfinn, carried by revenge, anger, sadness and an inability to forgive herself, so i wonder what the climax for her character will be. will it be a thorfinn 2.0 or smth different? 

- so now that thorfinn is being offered to join the jomsvikings in order to protect and avoid more senseless violence like what just happened with the villagers, war/violence is being portrayed as a means to avoid more violence, which is… an interesting thought. i just wonder how he’ll reply to the proposition and if he does accept, then what would that mean for this world of peace he’s working towards? because it’s true that unless he does smth abt loki, he’ll keep chasing thorfinn and hurting more innocent bystanders… this is certainly some conflict of interest lmao

[animeramblings]

Reading Berserk

chapters 146-201 (more or less)

since it’s so many chapters i’ll do this through mangacaps i took + random thoughts i have

- i just got back into berserk again after putting it off for probably years (?) and although miura’s passing is still incredibly sad, the series now having a conclusion did motivate me to pick it back up, and now i can’t stop.

- starting on a positive note, guts and casca’s reunion finally took place

- this moment really stuck out to me for personal reasons, but it’s just… the weight of someone equating to the weight of their literal life force and everything that makes them ‘them’… yeah, i can’t stop thinking abt this

- this is just an appreciation of miura’s incredible artistry

- this is one of my favorite things abt berserk. the fact that miura took a typical action story with this ridiculously strong dude killing anything and everything that gets in his way, and flipped it into an extremely compelling story abt the struggle that is simply being alive and dealing with existence… just chef’s kiss. my favorite scenes in this manga are not the fight scenes, but the moments of pondering and contemplation, of developing the characters’ emotions and psyches. berserk would not be berserk if it were all just abt hacking and slashing through monsters.

- i love the way that miura continuously contrasts griffith with the rest of the characters through his character design, but the way it’s especially visible in these panels… he drew him in this very fine lineart, added barely any shading and literally made him be a source of light for guts’ panel. like.

- this is simply griffith being just so so cunty.

- now this is probably my biggest ‘complaint’ abt berserk. idk abt you, but i find myself struggling to find actual good female characters in animanga a lot, and whenever i find one i just kinda cling onto them lmao. basically, what i’m trying to say is that seeing casca, who i thought was a very compelling and interesting female character, become this shell of herself and just… be like this for seemingly forever is very ://// it feels like she’s been reduced to this secondary character whose only real purpose is to be the physical representation and testimony of griffith’s actions and guts’ ambitions. it seems like she’s only there to support others’ character development and… yeah :////

- on this same topic, the r*pe scene w guts was extremely uncomfortable and icky to read, and not only because of the scene itself, but because it felt like it fell right into this. casca was just the object used to introduce this growing evil within guts (which i’m sure will become a huge plot point), but although their relationship did get affected by it, it just feels bad knowing that that scene (as far as i know) only served to further guts’ character while casca’s side of the story was pretty much completely disregarded. like i get the point of the scene and it all, but it still feels wrong.

- another thing i actually really don’t like are miura’s attempts at introducing comedy into the story through isidro and puck. they’re just so awful, they feel completely alien to the story and i just don’t really understand their purpose because miura is absolutely capable of lightening the mood and releasing tension w/o these very cringy dialogue lines. idk, am i alone in this??

- but anyway, i’m still enjoying reading the fck out of this so mm bye

[animeramblings]

Reading FMA

chapters 13 - 16

- these were some of the most emotional chapters so far for me.

- winry coming to central to fix ed’s arm again and seeing how beat up he was, and realizing that him and al really get in deep shit a lot but won’t tell her, just as she suspected… and also, her telling hughes that ed doesn’t really give her trouble, but more so makes he worry a lot ;;

- the ‘‘argument’‘ between ed and al because al finally expressed his discomfort with his body really got my tears going. all throughout we’ve seen how much ed struggles with the decisions he made in the past and this was kind of a confirmation that al disagrees with them as well. it’s just always so painful seeing the situation they got themselves into out of pure desperation and a wish to regain their family. like why does this shit have to be so tragic ;; also, winry telling al that all they have is each other (fuck).

- i loved when ed and al, once reconciled, laid on the rooftop and reminisced about the old days before everything happened. it gave really nice background support for the characters and made them feel even more compelling.

- experiencing hughes’ death all over again made me cry just as much as when i watched brotherhood… it feels way too real. he doesn’t get that much ‘‘screentime’‘, but it’s impossible to not feel some type of way when he’s killed if anything just because of his wife and daughter, and holy shit the transition to the funeral scene and the scene itself were heartbreaking.

- roy’s moment at hughes’ tomb when he expresses his newly found understanding of the elric brothers’ desire to bring back the dead ;; and then the ‘‘looks like it’s starting to rain’‘ because he feels powerless against the situation. arakawa did that. hands down one of my favorite scenes thus far.

- on a happier note tho, later on when roy decides what his plan is and he asks riza if she’ll help him and she replies that there was no need to ask… the married couple energy is too strong. and also in the extra chapter roy saying ‘‘lieutenant hawkeye may seem tough, but underneath all that, she’s got a gentle heart’‘ >>>> (even if it was only to set up the punchline at the end, it’s still valid)

[animeramblings]

Reading FMA

chapter 12

- so ed hasn’t defeated al in a fight ever. that makes me think that maybe, although they’re both highly skilled, al is more muscle while ed is more brainy, since ed is the one who is so knowledgeable about alchemy. when ed was fighting the armor brothers and he tricked them into thinking that al had sneaked in and was ready for a surprise attack that was ✨nice✨. he’s quick and witty. meanwhile al was outside fighting the other enemy and slowly giving in to his crazy talk, making him feel insecure. i just liked that contrast.

- ed hates scar, but still he saw the value in his skill and so he incorporated it into his fighting !!! i thought that was really cool. he’s usually more about creation in alchemy, but in this case he saw himself up against a wall (literally) and had to destroy the enemy’s armor.

- the fact that roy acts like a playboy as if he were constantly going on dates and seducing women… we all know you’re already married and faithful my guy.

[animeramblings]

Reading FMA

chapter 11 + earlier chapters

- love that armstrong actually treats ed and al as kids. they’re just 14, 15 year olds and although they’re very mature because of what they’ve gone through, they’re still very young and should be protected. just, i appreciate armstrong a lot.

- i wonder when we’ll open the civil war wound for roy. i watched brotherhood, but i don’t remember what actually happens with that. i’m just excited for his character development. right now he’s very much a ‘‘dog of the military’‘; his goal being to climb that corporate ladder, even after having participated and having seen the horrors of the war. i find it pretty interesting. he’s kinda morally corrupt/gray as of now.

- also the fact that his code for writing about alchemy research is girl names and the dates that he’s supposedly going on with them…

- riza is very much a mom character, not only for roy, but for ed and al as well. she’s kinda stoic, but you can tell that she deeply cares for people. i love that.

- i didn’t remember scar being such a preachy pain in the ass !!! lmao. if i remember correctly though, he undergoes pretty cool character development, because i remember really liking him.

- when i first watched brotherhood i found myself being way more interested in the side characters than in ed, al, winry, roy, etc. this time around however–i guess because it’s been around 5 years, i’m 21 now, and i’m just a different person–, i am absolutely loving these characters, especially ed. he’s a fifteen year old boy who has gone through so much psychological pain and physical trauma, and he still wakes up every morning and gives it his best. he’s relentless, hard working and super intelligent, and the dynamic between him and alphonse genuinely warms my heart every time. they are the sweetest brothers, and i’m just so excited to see them grow up.

[animeramblings]

Spirited Away

- who in the actual anime community hasn’t watched this. even my irl friends who don’t watch anime know about it.

- i don’t even know what i can say that hasn’t been said already. this and porco rosso were my introductions to the miyazaki world when i was very young, and i just adore everything ghibli. what can i say, i’m a basic bitch.

- this one’s about growth. chihiro used to really annoy me, but now that i’m kind of an adult i understand that she’s just a kid who had to go through quite the scary experience. i love seeing her character growth from the start of the movie to the end. i’ve also found a new appreciation in haku’s character, who just like chihiro is only a chid (kind of), but who seems to be very level headed and caring. i also love lin and her role as a big sister. i basically love every character… including yubaba’s nose. 

- i adore the soundtrack, as with every single ghibli movie, and i also think about the scene where the spirits come on the boats way more often than i maybe should.

[animeramblings]

From Up on Poppy Hill

- probably the most angsty ghibli movie. it’s just about being teenagers, being teenagers in love and war taking fathers away. i watched it when i was around 13 and i loved the teenage angst so much that it became one of my favorite ghibli movies *wow*.  shun and umi just add to the pile of cute ghibli couples. but as i’ve gotten older, i’ve come to really appreciate the historical frame of the movie. there’s a clubhouse which acts as a safe place for the teens to rebel against society, and the scenes set in it have to be my favorites. if this scene doesn’t perfectly explain the historical context of the movie i don’t know what will.

- you must listen to the breakfast song and learn it by heart if you’re a true fan of the movie. overall the soundtrack has some pretty memorable songs and it fits the atmosphere.

[animeramblings]

Only Yesterday

a beautiful movie about nostalgia, growing up and becoming an adult. one of takahata’s best because of how simple yet beautiful and relatable it is. 

[animeramblings]

Porco Rosso

- i will always find it funny that this was the second ghibli movie i watched when i was like 6 years old. an anti-fascist movie about a pig who flies planes.

- the soundtrack is awesome. i feel like i say the same thing about every miyazaki movie, but it’s just that joe hisaishi never misses. 

- in my head this is the prequel to the wind rises because they’re the two only movies where miyazaki is *explicit* about his absolute love for planes.