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Kase Hikaru Vol. 26 pages 13-18

I’m getting back into photoshop again cuz my skills got really rusty so despite my best interests, I’ll probably be backing to translating and editing Kaze Hikaru lmaooo. As a gift, here’s the backlog of pages I edited years ago but never posted.

Translation Notes:

Page 13:

“You see, that osafune Miyuki is wearing is for a real bushi, not some third-rate samurai. That hairstyle is only for the wives of prestigious bushi families. But she chose to be redeemed by Kondo-san, who she knows is pretty much just a ronin on contract. Doesn’t that make it a really ironic hairstyle for her to wear?”

They use 三一侍 (sanpin samurai) which yeah pretty much just means the lowest rank samurai, so that’s why I kept the three in with “third-rate.” And they use 御預浪人 (oazukari rounin) which is yeah pretty much what I wrote of a contract ronin. This is probably the most liberal translation I’ll do just because this is really historically heavy vocabulary that even the average Japanese person wouldn’t know off the bat, so I found it to be really extra info for an English reader. Even the original manga put in notes to explain what these two words were.

Page 15

“Well ain’t that just too sweet of you to say, Souji!”

He literally says “Too sweet, Souji!” to where I looked at the previous page and confusingly wonder what he meant by that. When I looked up that type of phrase of “甘すぎる” it’s used literally like when food is too sweet. So I guess he meant that what Souji said earlier about Miyuki-dayu is too idealistic and sweet.

“I am ordering you to stay in that mistress’s house so maybe you might actually learn how terrifying women can be!!”

They use the word 妾宅 (shoutaku) which yeah is a word for the house that a mistress is kept in. Leave it to Japan to have a word specifically for that lol. Japanese grammar wack and the sentence was more literally something like “Women are terrifying creatures, you’re going to stay overnight in the shoutaku and study women.”

Page 18

“Toshi worries too much.”

It uses the katakana for Toshi, but provided the furigana as あいつ aka 彼奴 aka “that guy.” I kept it at Toshi since that’s obviously referring to Hijikata, and Kondo is obviously very close to him so it’s not weird for him to say that. I just thought that was interesting.

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The Inheritance Games Book 1 Review

Update 08/26/22: I fucking lied. No I didn't finish the book, I only got 56 percent through TBH 😭😭😭 It's just when I wrote this review, I thought I'd have finished it and edited it with a better understanding of the story by the time I uploaded this post. But I never finished it, I couldn't bring myself too. Point still stands that it's not the worst book I've read. It's not a bad book. Just couldn't convince myself to keep reading/I did try to keep reading but at the pace of like a couple pages a week 😔 I think I couldn't finish the story cuz it feels TOO high school/wattpad in a way that makes it feel unrelatable to me??? In my full review below, you'll see more of what I meant. Maybe if I feel bored, I'll try to finish the book, but I got other books on my Kindle I think I'll prioritize first.

The vibes are like a mishmash of The Westing Game, Knives Out, Umbrella Academy, and a wattpad story, more specifically a bts/kpop fanfiction or "I got sold to 1D" wattpad story BUT IN A GOOD WAY I SWEAR. Like make the grammar worse and add more spelling errors, and I deadass could imagine this front page of wattpad. It's because, let's be real, this story ain't literature and that's perfectly fine. We're here to watch this girl become a Crazy Rich not Asian be surrounded by four cute equally not Asian and unequally Rich boys.

I thank the advent of booktok and the resurgence of YA/NA literature because I have so many books to read now and I'm out of my reading stump, but I wish this book (amongst others) was written a few years prior. Because, I'm not getting any younger. I'm 22, which to some is a baby age, and to others, is ancient *shudders* so unfortunately YA main characters are now outside of the age range that I find to be attractive. Luckily, I like to read stories as if I'm the main character (a consequence from my obsession with otome games and interactive fiction) so I just imagine myself in her shoes if I was the same age. But since ya know REALITY is older, I found myself attracted to NASH of all people in this book lmaooo. I'm an unfortunate sucker for bad boys, and he was the only age appropriate boy to lock onto lmaooo.

If I read this book at 18, I would've ate Grayson and Jameson UPPPP. Jameson weirdly and vaguely reminds me of Albert Moriarty specifically from the Moriarty anime and is crossed with Benedict from Bridgerton. IDK I think it's the more cheeky/sly vibes while still being kinda emo. Grayson's personality is typically more my type and yet I found him to be kind of a shit IM SORRY. I think it's cuz the story suffers a tad bit by the wattpad-esque vibes in that the characters need to drive the point home that "this is my character and my personality!!!" Xander's personality was very Honey-senpai/BOY vibes so I'm not even gonna comment on him, in my eyes he's a child and nothing else.

Now the female lead. Avery, Avery, Avery. The girl who is constantly getting her name said wrong. I have a friend in real life named Avery, but her personality is so different from this story's Avery that I can't imagine them being remotely the same. Avery here is ... she's Y/N and I think anybody reading this story can see what I mean, in the nicest possible way. She was THIS CLOSE 🤏 to me calling her a pick-me. THIS CLOSE MMKAY 🤏 but she never quite reached that point so I can forgive her. Avery is on THIN ICE for me liking her. I give her a lot of benefit of the doubt cuz she's 17 and she's proven over and over in this book's universe that she's a bonafide GENIUS. But I live in reality, and to me, she's just a smart cookie, genius being a stretch. I just have a personal pet peeve with geniuses in media, specifically that I've yet to read/watch a character I've felt was truly a "genius" by real world standards. And yes, this applies to even my precious baby Spencer Reid. And yes, this applies to Benny Cumberbund's Sherlock Holmes. I solved every episode before him except for the Hound of the Baskervilles episode cuz of the whole psychedelic trip thingy going on + the later end episodes where there's no case just *plot*.

Now if you couldn't tell I'm a sucker for escape rooms, murder mysteries, puzzles, riddles, etc. but surprisingly I don't read too much of the mystery genre. But what frustrated me a tad bit about this book is that the mystery is contrived. There's a mystery cuz the dead man orchestrated it all and laid out clues. I feel like I would've enjoyed a more organic mystery, like a case (Sherlock Holmes, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc). The story is in first person, so you can only rely on what Avery finds out herself and from other people, and I guess I'm just a mystery fiend who wishes to solve everything herself. It's not the book's fault but just a personal nitpick, that I have to wait for Avery to figure something out for the *plot* to progress.

Idk, overall not a terrible book. I don't love it, but it's decent and I'll probably read the 2nd and 3rd books as well. Is it crazy amazing and a page turner? No. But did I stop reading it? Also no. And there are books I've quit right away (These Violent Delights. A Fate of Wraith and Flame <- SO BAD) so this book automatically beats those!

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All Time Favorite Mangas Part 2 (completed only)

That’s right, I remembered I had a tumblr. We will now commence part two of my all time favorite mangas, and of course, like I said before, these are only the manga that are completed.

6. Gokusen

If I had to pick something that was truly truly my all time favorite manga, it’d probably have to be Gokusen. It’s labelled as a josei, and I don’t know anyone who’s read it, despite its decent success. Gokusen also has an anime adaption as well as a live action adaption and I have not seen either, nor do I plan to lmaooo.

Basically Gokusen is about this woman who becomes a teacher at a really rebellious all boys school, while also trying to hide the fact that she is the daughter and heir to a prominent yakuza family. I would say the main focus of the manga is fighting and comedy. The manga is super funny with a ton of jokes and gags, and I’ve actually reread Gokusen multiple times.

And yes, I will address probably the biggest issue of this manga which is the age gap and difference in power between the female lead and her main love interest. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS I do appreciate how the manga tried to offset the issues by making the FL a ditzy idiot and the ML really mature, but that didn’t change the fact that she’s his teacher .... IDK They also technically don’t kiss until like this special epilogue chapter thingy a whole year after the manga ended. So yeah tbh idk how to feel about it. The manga itself suprisingly didn’t have too much of a focus on “romance” per se because the ML only confesses his feelings at the VERY end, like this within the last like twenty pages of the entire manga. And the FL sorta-ish kinda doesn’t reciprocate??? SORTA IDK. Basically she’s kinda just like flustered and shooketh by it and they almost kiss but get interrupted. So yeah Imma forgive this relationship on the ground that it doesn’t start at all until the ML is graduated, a legal adult, and she is no longer his teacher.

DESPITE ALL THAT, like I said, this is genuinely my favorite manga that I’ve reread time and time again. It’s not very long either, like under 100 chapters so technically if you’re a fast reader like me, it can be read in a single day. For context, I read the entirety of Naruto in about a week lol. If you like comedy, and yazuka manga then I highly recommend.

7. Hirunaka no Ryuusei aka Daytime Shooting Star aka one of the best completed shoujo mangas out there

OKAY OKAY, this one’s a pretty mainstream favorite for those in the shoujo manga audience, BUT THERES A REASON FOR IT MMKAY. AND I HAVE A REASON FOR IT TOO. This manga holds a deep and special place in my heart for multiple reasons. AND BECAUSE I NEEDA GO IN DETAIL, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

Okay FIRST. THE STORY. OMG, okay I think what sets this manga apart is how mature and realistic feeling the story feels. The characters are all really relatable and feel ya know, REAL. And IDK the vibes of this manga are just not really able to be replicated. Cuz the mangaka’s work after this one, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet ... SUCKED. And I’m saying this as a big fan of that mangaka (I’ve read all their short stories as well).

But on a more personal note, back when I was in high school, I had a boyfriend who was 19 while I was 16. He was half Japanese and I swore he looked like Shishio-sensei (those were rose tinted glasses, he was probably way uglier tbh, plus he was a total asshole). Reading this manga made me feel justified in the relationship, since the main character Suzume also had a weird situationship with an older guy. OH BOY I WISH YOUNGER ME HAD SOME MORE SENSE BUT THAT’S TOO LATE NOW ISN’T IT. And if you know how this manga ends, you already know she doesn’t even end up with her teacher, god bless. Back when I was younger and in that toxic relationship, I always wondered why did Suzume pick Mamura. I never understood it, because the teacher always felt like the main character. But when my relationship ended and I stayed single for a bit, it made me realize that was kinda the point of the manga. Suzume’s feelings for her teacher were supposed to be one-sided/unrequited sorta-ish. Because a relationship between a student and a teacher is obviously a big NO-NO. So of course, she ends up with Mamura, the guy friend who was nice and always there for her in a platonic way, and then eventually of course in a romantic way. The mangaka's short stories were also like that too where the main character moves on from an unrequited/inappropriate love to someone who is more age appropriate. And this is why the author’s OTHER manga fails BTW, because that whole message is THROWN AWAY and the FL ends up with a dude who’s double her age deadass in such a weird and unrealistic situation tbh. Yeah ... idk why they decided to completely switch up and fumble the bag like that. But ANYWAY, I have a lot of love and respect for this manga because it helped me really reanalyze and think about my own love life and relationships.

Also Mamura is such a sweetie pie. I’m such a sucker for his character type now that I’m older. Obviously I used to be wayyyy more into Shishio-sensei’s type but I’ve matured and can see why Mamura was for the win bwahaha.

8. Ouroboros

If you’re like one of the 10 people reading my tumblr, then you may or may not have expected this to be something I love. I’mma start keeping things short cuz TBH, I started this post like MONTHS ago, and it’s taken me this long to write soooo here we go.

Basically Ouroboros is about two orphans who have a beloved carer/teacher. When they’re young she gets murdered and it all gets like covered up and shit so they vow revenge on the person who murdered here and all the cops that covered it up. In present day, Ikuo is a detective and Tatsuya is a yakuza member. They work together behind the scenes to uncover the truth and get their revenge.

Ouroboros is one of my favorite completed manga in the seinen genre because it has kinda everything I like about the genre. It’s dark, it’s gritty, it doesn’t hold back its punches. The main female character and sorta love interest is actual INTERESTING and her life doesn’t evolve around the main guy. She has her own story and her own shit going on too.

The main two characters are also very interesting in their motivations and personalities because they are two very different people but share a common bond and goal in life. I really liked their relationship and how the interacted and worked together.

TBH the art style is kinda more on the ugly side, but it’s definitely tolerable and there are some scenes that looked pretty good.

SPECIAL MENTION

Tokyo Ghoul AND Tokyo Ghoul Re (until the very end oof)

My opinion for this is NOT a hot take, cuz multiple people seem to have this similar sentiment.  Since Tokyo Ghoul:re is a direct sequel I’m counting them as together mmkay. I loved Tokyo Ghoul and I loved Tokyo Ghoul:re. They were so good, all the characters, the worldbuilding, the lore, the abilities, etc. Ghouls were such an interesting and cool take on the like vampire/demon-esque category and no other manga I’ve seen has any sorta similar creature to ghouls. At least, not to this level of depth and development. I also absolutely adored the art style and thought it was soooo good. I also love Kaneki Ken and I’ve seen the anime (not the :re anime I heard that shit was kinda wack). BUT if you asked me what the FUCK happened in like the last 15/10 chapters of Tokyo Ghoul:re, I could not tell you to save my life.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS I gotta be honest, I genuinely don’t think I can properly recall wtf happened after that one ghoul/investigator guy died. Everything after that was a blur to me. I remember Touka getting pregnant, and Kaneki turning into some giant ugly ass tumor thing and THAT’S ABOUT IT.

I thought the set up for the sequel was SOOO good. The introduction of ghoul investigators, having Kaneki have this dual/forgotten personality. I thought Kaneki as Haise was really cute and sweet. So it just sucks that the moment that Haise is gone, you lose your “likable” protagonist. And now you just have this guy that’s all evil and dead inside. Like I know this is a common theme in stories, and in shounen manga, of living long enough to turn into the villain, but idk I feel like it didn’t work for Tokyo Ghoul, especially the weird tumor monster ending was so random feeling and wtf, and just URGH.

Such a good manga ruined by the ending and inability to close out and tie the story up. I feel like Kaneki’s story coulda ended in such a better way. Cuz this isn’t even dramatically sad or emotional in a good way that pulls your heart strings. I remember reading the last chapters and truly going like “girl what the fuck is going on.”

Blade of the Immortal

I liked it. Pretty good. Just ... another issue of women being written off really weirdly, pushed to the side kinda issue. Not too bad but definitely noticeable where the main female character, despite how LONG this story is, never truly has any real character growth and awkwardly always remains needed to be saved and weak. Still good story and would recommend it for people looking for a kinda classic old-time samurai story.

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All Time Favorite Mangas Part 1 (completed only)

Gonna be talking about my all time favorite mangas. I know I said I'd talk about shoujos but I haven't read a lot of shoujos recently tbh. Also I'm only going to be talking specifically about mangas that are COMPLETED IN ENGLISH, whether that's through a fan translation or a legit American publication. And I need to make this discrepancy because there's a ton of manga that I really enjoy that are not completed yet, but if you follow this blog at all, you're well aware of how much an ending can affect my opinion of something 🥲 So yeah, as such completed manga only.

Also as always this list is just in alphabetical order, not in order of what I like least/most etc, I'm not really gonna be talking about one over the other, especially since the genres of all the things I'm gonna mention are pretty different.

Also sorry if I talk very vaguely about any of the mangas. Since I'm only going to be talking about completed mangas, almost all of them are gonna be stuff I've haven't read in years. But at the same time, I guess that proves they're really good since I still consider them my favorites bwahaha.

Also sorry that this is once again a PERSONAL OPINION OF FAVORITES. I'm not really grading any of the manga by any sort of objective scale because I've avoided almost any SUPER mainstream manga. If you enjoy and read a lot of manga, you'll definitely recognize the stuff I'm gonna mention, but you'll also definitely notice a lack of stuff like FMA, SnK, etc. This is cuz I typically don't double dip for the super mainstream popular stuff. For example, Demon Slayer. I know this is gonna sound crazy but I quit Demon Slayer right away when the first few chapters came out back in 2016 . I didn't actively dislike the story but I just wasn't invested enough to keep reading. And here we are years later, a total Demon Slayer fan boy. But because of it, I'm probably gonna stick to the anime adaption since clearly it captivated me much more. The opposite is true for Vinland saga. I loved the manga, but the anime felt meh for me at first so I avoided watching it for months. Only after committing to finishing the season, did I find myself enjoying the anime lol.

AND THIS IS ONLY GONNA BE PART 1, CUZ I HAVE 15 TO TALK ABOUT. And it’s literally taken me I think a MONTH to write this cuz I’ve been so busy with school and life omg.

SORRY LONG INTRO OOPS

1. Alice in Borderland

Yes, yes I know this has a live action netflix adaption, and I heard the netflix adaptation is pretty good but I've yet to watch it oops sorry. IVE ALSO NOT SEEN SQUID GAME AS OF ME TYPING THIS I KNOW. I'm not a big fan of the death game genre as of now, as it's slowly becoming the isekai of the seinen world, but I read Alice in Borderland way before I even knew that like death games were a genre to begin with haha. The games in the manga were pretty good and unique. The characters were obviously intentionally not all meant to be likeable, but they were believable characters. Arisu as a main character was surprisingly not a boring blank slate, which is a curse of the isekai and i guess now the death game genre too. I found his development and character change throughout the manga to be interesting. His love interest was also interesting and I'm glad she was someone more than "the main character's girl" especially because they were not immediately established together. The ending of the manga was zany and nonsensical in the way that I enjoy, like I said before, I don't mind plot holes haha. Overall just a really satisfying and interesting manga in the death game genre that doesn't feel generic or anything. Maybe I'll watch the netflix adaptation idk, I still gotta watch Squid Game and Hometown Cha Cha Cha lmaoooo.

2. Assassination Classroom

I did actually watch the ENTIRE anime series for this one lolol. The anime was a pretty faithful adaptation of the manga and it was nice hearing the voice actors and actually getting to hear all the comedy bits and gags. I think Assassination Classroom is a very good example of just a nice, basic shounen manga that checks all the marks, ya know what I mean? There's action, hints of romance, a ton of comedy, all that. It's a fun manga that doesn't take itself TOO seriously but knows when to dial back the jokes. I remember genuinely crying at the ending of the manga, because I was truly emotionally invested in the story. However, I will say because of such a large cast of central character, and because of its status as just a shounen, both the manga and anime lacked a level of depth in its characters and story that made me TRULY be super invested in its entirety. For example, compare this to FMA and the FMA:B anime, which will forever be considered masterpieces despite being shounen. However, I'm perfectly fine with that. Assassin Classroom wasn't trying to be deep or thoughtful or anything (at least I hope so 😅) and it's just a fun popcorn flick of a manga to just chill and experience.

3. Binbougami Ga!

If Assassination Classroom is a popcorn flick for shounen, then Binbougami Ga! is the popcorn flick for ... shounen. That's right. Despite the majority female cast and the drawing style and whatnot, Binbougami Ga! was catergorized as a shounen. From first glance, it might not seem like it, but read Binbougami Ga! and you'll see why it's a shounen lolol. More specifically I guess you could call it a comedy. So while Assassination Classroom was a shounen with a very comedic tone, I would say Binbougami Ga! is a comedy with a very shounen tone lol?? It's very funny. You don't gotta think too hard about anything. There's action and fighting but no crazy epic dramatic fight scenes or whatever. There's romance but it's not the main plot of the story. Less people have heard about this manga I'm assuming, so I'll summarize it as basically about this girl who is the "luckiest girl in the world/Japan" and then this spirit/god/ghost??? shows up to suck the luck out from her cuz she got too much luck and it's a mistake. But obviously our main girl is not gonna give up her luck. The manga is about the chaos and shenanigans that ensues. Super recommend for if you just want something silly and fun to read. There's an anime adaption too, but I never watched it and idk if it's a good adaptation so watch at your own discrepancy 🤷‍♀️

4. Boku Dake ga Inai Machi

If y'all are able to discern my tastes in stuff by now, you already know this is gonna be on the list. YOU ALREADY KNOW I LOVE THIS. Also yes, this is another manga with an anime adaption, but I watched like 3/4 of it. I stopped when SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT 🚨 the main dude is still a kid and gets found out by the teacher, and goes into the coma. Based on posts I've seen about the differences between the anime and the manga, I guess I stopped at a good time though lolol. The anime’s ending is apparently completely different. I've even seen the live action adaption, and tbh I remember it being pretty good surprisingly, and it had the same ending as the manga (on the bridge). But yeah I loved this manga. I've reread it before, and honestly a second reading for this manga is mandatory, as for almost all mystery stories. Seeing all the foreshadowing and whatnot after knowing everything is so cool, and it helped me appreciate the story more. I genuinely didn't know anything the first time  and was surprised that it was the teacher (now that I'm an adult and I've reread it, it seems so obvious now bwahaha). I also missed the romantic subtext between the main guy and the girl from his OG timeline (seemed so obvious in the rereading too!) and just a bunch of other things. Super good mystery, super compelling characters and plot, and just overall really good. Art style is unique, bordering on “ugly” if we're being harsh, but I liked it.

5. Coppelion

OKAY HEAR ME OUT. This is a HOT TAKE, I am well aware lolol. If you’ve ever heard about Coppelion, you probably heard about it from the anime (which did not do very well). Surprisingly, I watched the anime first I think?? I forgot it was some years ago when it released. Long enough to state that I watched it on Hulu back when Hulu was free (just needed an account). But yeah I have read the manga TWICE which means I liked it a lot, and TBH I cannot give you that many genuine reasons for you guys to read it too LMAO. It’s about these three young girls who are called Coppelion who are genetically engineered humans that can withstand nuclear radiation. Like the story was decent, the characters were decent, the art was ... questionably decent lol?? But nothing was AMAZING, nothing was GREAT. I think I just genuinely enjoyed the story as a light reading without thinking too heavily about the themes or topics. So although nothing was stellar, nothing was particularly too bad either. Also I was such a huge Haruto simp lmaoo. He was a blueprint for my type akdbjfkashdf.

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Violet Evergarden: the Movie Review

Okay I’mma keep this short cuz WTF was that ... This is gonna be more of a rant than a review tbh. OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS OF THE MOVIE AND OF VIOLET EVERGARDEN IN GENERAL

I was hyped to watch this movie cuz I had been waiting to watch it for FOREVER. The movie only came onto Netflix recently, and idk why I just didn’t watch it on my illegal anime website or anything. I’ve only watched Violet Evergarden through Netflix.

And ... I hated this movie. Cuz what the fuck. Character development? GONE. Plot holes? EVERYWHERE.

Okay lemme just explain the gist of what happens in the movie. The movie is told in this like flashbacky type of thingy, like reflecting on the life of Violet, but tbh I wasn’t that emotionally invested in Ana’s daughter or whatever, it lacked a lot of sincerity idk. So this whole flashback/reflection aspect didn’t really matter.

The real beef of the story, and of course what anime-only Violet Evergarden fans were all waiting for was ya know, WAS THE DUDE ALIVE OR NOT??? Well we get our answer. No shit he alive. But this fucking movie made me wish he was dead. Yep it’s Kaze Hikaru all over again, where I’m wishing my faves just died because it somehow would have made the story BETTER.

Okay so yeah the Gilbert guy somehow miraculously survives that whole thing that happened and is obviously separated from Violet since she ran off. Ignoring the obvious plot hole of how tf he got outta there and was able to get medical attention and all that, he ain’t got his dog tag anymore, so when peeps find him, they don’t know who tf he is, but that brings up the extra plot hole of wouldn’t they recognize his army uniform and what country it was for??? IGNORING THAT TOO, he gets better and just .... DECIDES TO FUCK OFF TO AN ISLAND???????????? Mans literally ran away from his responsibilities as the head of the family, being a commander, Violet, all of that, and just lives on this small town on an island????? AND he told no one too that he was alive, even though he had the complete ability to head back into civilization or ya know just send a letter or whatnot. So literally his whole family, friends, EVERYBODY think he dead fr fr. And ya know how I said this was like a flashback thingy? So yeah mans parents and everybody went to their graves thinking he died like wtfffff.

Also while he stayed on the island, since he didn’t contact anybody or do anything, he had no idea how Violet was doing either, mans just left her to fuck off and fend for herself like HUH???? AND THE WHOLE MOVIE AT THIS POINT IS JUST HIM REFUSING TO SEE HER WHILE VIOLET IS TRYING SO HARD TO SEE HIM???? They deadass only talk face to face at like the last ten minutes or so of this goddamn movie. AND THE WORST PART IS THAT SHE FUCKS OFF TO THIS ISLAND TOO????? All that character development in the TV, everything about her developing emotionally and learning to live without the Gilbert guy?? BYE TO THAT YALL LOL The moment that she properly reunites with Gilbert she decides to live with him on the island and basically runs the post office there. And it’s just so damn weird and random feeling cuz the movie makes it like “yay everyone is happy and it’s so cool and Violet was loved and awesome.” but like ... sis already gave up her damn arms for this guy and now she gave up her whole life basically and her whole growth just to stay with him. I am so damn fucking DONE.

And what makes me even more mad is like THE LIGHT NOVEL ENDS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. I haven’t read the light novel itself, but based on a bunch of people’s reviews and commentary, it looks like in the light novel, same thing Gilbert is alive and all that, but he’s actually been supporting Violet secretly in the shadows this whole time, making money as well as keeping his position as the head of the family and protecting Violet from being used in politics/military. And ya know IT’S NOT A SECRET THAT HE’S ALIVE IT’S JUST A SECRET TO VIOLET IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE YEAH SHE DOES EMOTIONALLY GROW AND WHATNOT. So like, in this one, he had a genuine reason to not see her, and their reunion made sense, he met her when she was matured and more understanding of the world and such. While in the anime, he refuses to see her out of like shame??? For the whole running away part???

I’m just so done, and I feel so robbed of what this anime could have been, especially knowing what the plot actually was in the light novel. The anime movie reverses all of Violet’s growth and absolutely changes her and Gilbert’s personalities. Like it genuinely baffled me how someone who cared SO MUCH about Violet just didn’t even bother to check how she was doing for so many years???? And how he was so responsible and caring but said fuck my family and friends, let them all think I’m dead! It was so bizarre and out of character and just overall nonsensical. And the fact that Violet didn’t GAF about that at all and just went to live with his pisses me off. I’m so done and I can’t believe my memory of such a beautiful and emotional anime series is muddled and made bitter by this movie. 

IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE YET THEN DON’T. I REFUSE TO SEE IT AS CANON.

I should add though, that I LOVE KYOANI. And I’m aware the development and production of this movie was delayed due to the tragic arson attack. I am in no way criticizing the movie on that sense. The animation, the music, and all the “elements” of the movie were still excellent. It’s just such a shame that they didn’t follow the plot of the light novel.

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Oops

I lowkey forgot my tumblr existed, but I swear I’ll be back for more rants and reviews of random shit. My spoiler of the Kaze Hikaru ending is still getting notes lmaooo which I did not expect, but I am glad that the Kaze Hikaru fandom was a little bigger than I thought it was ... I swore it had to be like 5 people max lmaoooo. Hmmm maybe my next post will be about my favorite shoujo mangas so people actually have something else to read to fill the hole that Kaze Hikaru created O_O.

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I Write Other Stuff

Hiiii if for some crazy reason anyone sees this and they like writing/poetry, specifically the stuff I write when I’m in a depressive episode oop, then check out @thelettersofanne !!! It’s just the stuff I would write late at night when I was too sad and empty inside to fall asleep. So I would just stay up and type out my feelings. Just really somber and sad stuff, but to be honest it really helped me feel better. Writing creatively was a really good outlet for me. I’m in a much more mentally stable part of my life atm (for the most part) but tbh I thought the stuff I wrote was actually pretty interesting, considering the fact it’s all written when I’d be crying and/or half-asleep lol. So I wanted to just put it out in the world, so maybe a single person (or more!) could appreciate or at least relate to the stuff I wrote. Yeah, it’s not anime or reviews so only check it out if you don’t mind that kinda thing.

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Kaze Hikaru Ending

OBVIOUSLY SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

I AM WARNING YALL, THIS ENDING GENUINELY MADE ME DECIDE TO STOP READING THE MANGA, WHICH IVE READ FOR YEARS.

Okay so basically Imma put y'all onto some historical context first. If y'all didn't know already, Kaze Hikaru is based on real life people and real life historical events. The Shinsengumi were real and pretty much also every named character in the Shinsengumi in Kaze Hikaru is based off a real person. If you read the author's message that Watanabe-sensei leaves at the end of every volume, you can see that she cares a LOT about the historical accuracy.

And I was dreading that cuz ... if you know the history of the Bakumatsu era like I do ... then you know that pretty much everyone in the Shinsengumi dies in some tragic way (except Saito apparently IRL he lived to old age and all that).

Soooo unfortunately of course this applies to our loveable and amazing male lead as well, Okita Souji. Historically, he gets sick and dies of tuberculosis, unable to fight alongside Hijikata and the last remnants of the Shinsengumi during the Boshin War. Like I said, this is all REAL LIFE HISTORY, so if you want "spoilers" about the actual overall events and plot of Kaze Hikaru just go onto Wikipedia and whatnot and research the Bakumatsu era and the Shinsengumi lolol. Because like I said, the mangaka put a LOT of research and effort to be historically accurate. Even about mundane things like the architecture of the buildings, the lamps they're using, the language, all of it.

LAST WARNING FOR THE ACTUAL MANGA ITSELF THOUGH

But since Kaze Hikaru is a SHOUJO and a historical ROMANCE, as I kept reading and translating the manga I was like, "No way they'd actually kill off Souji right? RIGHT?! Like maybe yeah he'll get tuberculosis but somehow he'll survive it right and just have a happy ending with Sei right? RIGHT?!" WELL FUCK ME AND FUCK ALL OF US ENGLISH READERS CUZ NO THATS DEAD WRONG. THATS RIGHT HE DOES DIE. And it's in such a sad and depressing way too like wtfff, I did not want to read a shoujo to just witness our beloved main lead die in such a slow and painful way and our female lead just so heartbroken.

And get this. This the real kicker in the balls. Lemme preface this by saying I didn't actually read the last chapter. I literally couldn't find it anywhere online, even in Japanese. I searched a long time but yeah no one has uploaded the last chapter, illegally or otherwise. But what I DID find were a LOT of amazon reviews about the ending because clearly people had a lot to say about it. That's why I know the GIST of what the ending is. So I can't give anymore details than what I know okay. Read my "Discontinuing Scanlations" post, and you'll see I already admitted to this. So yeah, the way the manga ends ends is basically yeah Souji dies and .... Sei has a kid with Hijikata???????????? And a lot of the reviews were saying something about it being sus and like dubious consent/maybe even rape????? Idk I'm not that fluent so I couldn't really tell if people were saying it "felt" like a rape or "was" a rape, BUT STILL WTF.

YOU HEARD ME YALL. IM LITERALLY NOT FUCKING WITH YALL, THATS WHAT HAPPENS. I AM DEAD SERIOUS.

I was so genuinely shook and distraught and lemme say THE JAPANESE READERS WERE SHOOKETH TOO. LIKE THE AMOUNT OF REVIEWS OF JAPANESE PEOPLE EQUALLY GOING "BUT WHY THO???" The amount of reviews that were like "I read this manga from start to finish for 20 years ... what a disappointment." LIKE AHHHHHHH. The Japanese reviews all seemed to agree that Sei having a kid with Hijikata was just so damn random and nonsensical, especially taking in the fact that Hijikata always had a neutral/tolerant attitude towards Sei, and no romantic feelings. People also pointed out that Sei having a kid and just going back to being a woman and all that COMPLETELY didn't align with the story's message about Sei being strong and bushi and rejecting her feminine side for something she saw as a higher purpose.

One review deadass said something like "Maybe it would've been better if Sei just died after Okita did." LIKE FR THOUGH ☠️☠️☠️

Back when I first wrote my "Discontinuing Scanlations" posts, reviews were more split 50/50 if the ending was good or not. But after rechecking today so I could write this post, it's like majority bad reviews now lolol. People were that disappointed and upset by the ending and yeah same.

SO THERE. YALL GOT ME TO CAVE AND REVEAL WHAT THE ENDING PRETTY MUCH IS. If your Japanese is a lot more fluent than me/you wait another decade, then you'll get a more detailed understanding of the ending, but like I said that's the basic gist of what happens and what all the Japanese readers were upset about. So yeah, LET KAZE HIKARU DIE IN MY MIND IM OVER IT 😭

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My Anime 9/10′s

With probably no spoilers cuz I don’t wanna talk too long about them zzz.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist

YALL ALREADY KNOW THIS A 9/10. The only real reason this show is not a 10/10 is because it’s just a story that I’d never rewatch. There’s like 70 episodes, which is way too long for my short attention span, especially since I’ve seen it already. But yeah, by all accounts, this story is a masterpiece and is one of the only “shounen” anime’s that I genuinely enjoyed. No random sexualization. No dumb filler. All the characters have an actual purpose and role in the plot and everyone has their own morals and ideals that interact to make the story interesting. I couldn’t bring myself to really hate anyone, even the villains, because everyone was pretty well written. Also super satisfying ending that ties up everything properly without leaving me confused or upset. If you only watch a few anime in your life, Fullmetal Alchemist is pretty much a MUST WATCH to see a beautiful example of a modern classic anime as an artform. Also I should say that I really don’t like Hunter x Hunter (AN EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL OPINION BTW) but I love Fullmetal Alchemist so take from that what you will.

2. Parasyte: The Maxim

Same kinda shit where you already know this a 9/10 for me. It’s just a very satisfying anime that doesn’t have random sexualization or random filler or anything like that. Ending is also very good and ties up the story in a way that doesn’t leave more questions but also allows the characters to have a “life” outside of the scope of the story. I think Parasyte, because of its more horror and psychological-esque vibes, counts as a seinen and not a shounen, so for more mature audiences. I also really liked how the story was successfully adapted to modern times since the manga is from the 80′s. I have actually rewatched this anime, but what stops me from giving it a 10/10 is a few things that I found kinda “stereotypical” that I don’t wanna discuss further too much cuz it’s spoilers. I still obviously really like this anime and highly recommend it.

3. Zankyou no Terror

TBH, this anime is pretty hard for me to properly describe in a lot of words as to why I like it. The art was really pretty as well as the music, which was just straight up amazing. The cinematography of this anime is excellent as well, and a lot of scenes have that sense of being acted out by real people, as opposed to feeling completely drawn/animated. I was a teenager when this anime came out and I think a lot of the themes presented in the show really related to me. The show does kinda have some leftover questions when it ends that prevents me from rating it a 10/10, but I have such a soft spot for this anime. It’s from the same creator as Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, and although those two animes are also very good, they did not impact me as much as this anime did. Recommended for people looking for idk something that gives off Inception vibes?? In the sense that it’s much more about its themes and its message more so than the believability of the events that occur.

4. Magic Kaito 1412

THIS IS JUST A PERSONAL PREFERENCE BTW LOLOL I DON’T KNOW ANYBODY WHO’D PUT THIS AS A 9/10 ANIME. I JUST REALLY LIKED IT OKAY. It’s made by the same person who does Detective Conan but I like this a lot more because it’s a much shorter series and slightly more mature (more for teens than just straight up kids). I really liked the main guy, I think he’s funny and charismatic. He’s a pervert at times but Imma forgive that cuz of the 90′s. Idk it’s just a really fun anime that I don’t have to take seriously and can just watch and enjoy.

5. Mob Psycho 100 (season 1 AND 2)

Imma put season two as slightly better than season one. So season one would be like a 9 and season two is like a 9.25 for me. Super super funny anime and I like it SO much more than One Punch Man. I liked that there was a good balance of serious moments, but you can definitely still count this anime as a comedy. I’m typically not the type to watch “comedy” but this anime genuinely had me laughing out loud, while also crying and freaking out right alongside the main character. The main guy is super great because he’s just this shy and sweet middle schooler, and it’s really interesting watching him balance trynna have a normal life while also using his powers for good and such. Apparently the anime was decently faithful to the manga and there’s apparently enough material for a third season so I’d be pretty stoked for a season 3, but season 2 ended on a pretty good spot and was satisfying. TBH, if I had the time, I’d probably rewatch both seasons and bump it up to a 10/10.

6. Vinland Saga

This anime is just the first season of what I hopes to be a whole series that will be stay beautifully and faithfully adapted from the manga. As someone who read very far into the manga (but quit like years ago simply because I hate slow updates lol), I actually didn’t enjoy watching the anime at first. I was impatient and kept waiting for when like the “major” events would happen. So I watched like three episodes and quit. But when I had some free time, I decided to get stuck in and commit to watching the whole series and I was so pleasantly surprised with just how good it was. I was impatient but I needed to realize that there is no “filler” or like “wasted time” in the entire anime. I hadn’t read the manga in years, so so many things were only vaguely familiar but I think this helped me stay surprised and excited throughout the anime. I’m looking forward to the rest of the manga being adapted because it’s just a good Viking saga lolol. Major themes of stuff like growing up, violence vs. peace, what it means to be a good person, etc. Lots of blood and LOTS of violence like a LOT they are VIKINGS CMON but tbh not really any gore which I liked cuz gore makes me ughhhh. A very good watch and only a taste of an excellent story.

7. Demon Slayer

It’s just Demon Slayer duhhh. Of course this a 9/10 for me. I don’t wanna write much just cuz the show is so popular. Just read a REAL review of this anime somewhere else lmaoooo. Also yes I did watch the movie in theaters and yes I liked it a lot as well mmkay. I’m mad hype for season two. My S/O doesn’t like Demon Slayer as much as me, but also has Hunter x Hunter as their all time favorite anime. Do with that information what you will lolol.

8. Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2

Same shit as Demon Slayer. Just go read someone else’s review about why it’s so good lol. Also, unlike Mob Psycho 100, I can’t include all of the seasons in this, because I have very various opinions about how good/bad the other seasons were. But this season 3 part 2, was just plain and simply amazing. While I might not like each season equally, as a whole Attack on Titan is also a modern masterpiece of storytelling. Read the manga if you can.

9. Great Pretender

I love this anime so much. Such a good and fun wild ride. The whole show is ridiculous but in a fun way. I’m a HUGE fan of heist films, so of course I absolutely enjoyed a heist anime. I’ve watched this show in sub AND dub, due to the fact that everyone is “technically” speaking English the entire time. If you’re a purist, just watch in sub OR dub cuz I did get confused here and there, especially when I would go back to compare language discrepancies.  Because basically I did this super high maintenance thing where I switched back to Japanese whenever the main character had flashbacks, since he’s ya know, Japanese. The dub also has this confusing thing where the first five minutes or so are still in Japanese, but switches to English when a little cue card on the screen goes “For the Viewers sake, everything from now on will be translated to Japanese.” It’s cuz in the sub, the inverse obviously happens where the characters are initially speaking broken English to each other, but for convenience sake, everything from that point on will be in Japanese. It’s confusing at first but I liked it cuz it just proved the whole international vibe of the show. It’s funny either sub or dub when they joke about how bad the main guy speaks English, cuz in the dub he’s speaking perfect English, while the sub has him not speaking English at all. But anyway, great anime that WOULD have gotten a 10/10 if not for the last episode. Like without spoiling ... WTF WAS THAT LMAOOOO. The anime as a whole is super wacky and zany but at least I could try to think it’s real life, but that last episode was just so unbelievable and bizarre and pulled my suspension of disbelief into the STRATOSPHERE that I just had to convince myself that this show takes place in some improbable alternate reality where something like what happened in the last episode is at least 5 percent possible CUZ HOW DID ANY OF THAT WORK LMAOOO??? Once again, great show, one of my absolute favorites, BUT THAT ENDING THOUGH WTF.

10. BNA

Good super underrated anime that I don’t hear people talk about at all. If Beastars is anime Zootopia, then BNA is Disney Beastars lmaooo does that make sense? It’s a lot more fun and zany than Beastars and I liked it way more. Made by the same people who made Kill la Kill. I really like that more classic, animated “cheap” art style that the anime has, and I also really liked the plot of the story. Not a 10/10 cuz the show does leave a few unanswered questions at the end of it, but this show was such a fun and interesting ride. When I finished the last episode, I was left with a big smile on my face because I just genuinely enjoyed this anime. Recommended if you wanna watch something a little unique and more on the silly and wack side. Talks about some serious stuff, but luckily the show never takes itself TOO seriously, and remains overall lighthearted for a fun action/sci-fi show.

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Anime Review: From Up on Poppy Hill

WARNING: ABSOLUTELY FILLED WITH SPOILERS IMMA GO OVER THE WHOLE MOVIE AND LIKE INTO A TON OF DETAIL MMKAY YOU WERE WARNED

Oooooh boy. As promised, I’m making a whole separate post about this movie because omg I swore I needed to explain myself. Imma be going over everything I can about this movie, all the highlights of this movie that I absolutely adore. And of course, Imma be addressing ... you know ... THE INCEST SCARE OOP.

The Plot:

Okay, so there’s a girl named Umi, a 2nd year high school student living in Yokohama, Japan in 1963, a year before the 1964 Olympics are to be held in Tokyo. Umi lives at Coquelicot Manor on top of a hill that overlooks Yokohama’s port. Every day she raises flags in international flag code that basically means like “have a safe trip” essentially so the boats can see it. Umi is also essentially in charge as the landlord of Coquelicot Manor because her grandma is obviously old and just vibing while Umi’s mom is studying in America. One day while Umi’s at school, her friends show her the school newspaper and there’s a poem written about her and how she raises the flags every day. Umi is shook and wonders who at the school wrote it. Then when Umi and her friends are just trynna eat some damn school lunch a bunch of the dudes at school start a huge protest demonstration thingy in order to preserve the Latin Quartier, basically the school’s really old and janky clubhouse building. To bring attention to the cause, Shun Kazama pulls a stunt by jumping off the Latin Quartier into like a drain pool?? IDK what that was I’m pretty sure it’s to like catch rainwater/prevent flooding that kinda thing. He kinda goofs it and hits a tree on the way down so when he falls into the pool that’s only like ten feet from Umi she gets shook and attempts to help him out. However a bunch of people start taking pictures and calling them lovebirds and stuff so she drops him and leaves in a huff.

The next day, Shun is popular because of the stunt and girls be simping for him. Umi’s sister Sora bought a picture of him and begs Umi to accompany her into the Latin Quartier to get Shun’s autograph. Umi reluctantly agrees and they head in, highkey disgusted with how dirty and how much of just a grody mancave the place is. They eventually make their way into the Newspaper/Astrology/Archeology clubroom where Shun and Shirou are (apparently that’s student pres’s name lol I didn’t know). Shun signs Sora’s card and the student pres smoothly escorts Sora out while Umi reluctantly decides to  help out Shun with copying imprints for the school newspaper (because Shun messed up his hand from the stunt).

Umi goes home and is like shit we ain’t got meat for dinner and no one else offers to get it cuz of course Umi gotta do everything in this damn household. So she goes out to buy meat and conveniently runs into Shun on his bike. Out of the whole movie, this was high key the biggest plot hole. Cuz in this scene we see Shun biking UP the hill and he only turns around to go down the hill when he sees Umi going down to go shopping. But later when he has to go, he stays down the hill cuz Shun lives RIGHT BY THE HARBOUR??? So like why this boy biking up the hill in the first place lol??? It’s not like he knew Umi lived there or anything. So he was just like ... there. ANYWAY the whole scene with them on the bike is so super cute and Shun was really sweet and even bought Umi a croquette to eat on her way back up the hill.

Next day another cute moment where both Umi and Shun are rushing cuz they’re both late to their classes and while running Umi agrees to do more stencils for the newspaper. She has a moment where she’s about to ask him something but the bell rings so I think it’s here where she has a suspicion it’s Shun who wrote the poem, or at least he would know who wrote it, since only Shun and Shirou run the newspaper. Shun also asked Umi to go to the debate happening after school but she says she’s busy. She ends up going anyway lmaooo.

Basically the debate is about whether or not the clubhouse should be demolished and there are two camps: one which is for the demolition and then a smaller group including Shun that are against it. I’mma not go too into detail about the debate ATM cuz it has a lot of historical context in it and is right on the nose for the themes always present Hayao Miyazaki works/Studio Ghibli works as a whole. Also yes I KNOW THIS IS A GORO MIYAZAKI MOVIE BUT LET’S BE REAL HE BUTCHERS EVERYTHING UNLESS HIS DAD IS INVOLVED AND THE ONLY REASON THIS MOVIE WAS GOOD WAS BECAUSE HAYAO MIYAZAKI WAS THE ONE WHO CO-WROTE THE SCREENPLAY NOT HIS SON. Anyway Shun and Umi get more cutesy moments between them and you can tell that a romantic bond is forming (Japan is overall typically very subtle with affection compared to the United States). Umi suggests that the Latin Quartier should be cleaned up and renovated to prove it deserves to stay, and Shun agrees to the idea.

Shirou and Shun get invited to Coquelicot Manor to Dr. Hokuto’s (one of the renters there) farewell party. After the eating and whatnot, Umi takes Shun on a tour of the house, which was originally her grandfather’s. She explains that her mother eloped with her father, a civilian sailor. Umi’s father taught her how to raise flags as a little cute “come home” message thing whenever he was away. Umi’s dad then is killed during the Korean War but Umi continues to raise the flags, even when her family moves into Coquelicot Manor. Her grandfather then built the legit flag pole in their yard for Umi. Umi then shows Shun a picture of three men and points out which one is her dad, Yuichiro Sawamura. This leaves Shun visually stunned. When he returns home, he opens a drawer to reveal that HE HAS THE SAME PHOTO.

Next day, a bunch of girlies including Umi and such go to help the poor boys clean up the clubhouse. Notably, Shun goes out of his way to avoid Umi on purpose, much to her confusion. When the day is done, she leaves with Shun not even saying goodbye. Shirou (in a restroom scene of course why do dudes in movies always gotta have the urinal conversation omg) even asks Shun pretty much like “what’s going on between yall” which Shun just brushes off.

Next day, Shun asks his dad about Yuichiro Sawamura and asks to confirm if that’s his real father. His dad states they talked about it already, but also mentions how Yuichiro just suddenly showed up with baby Shun and his family register, and next thing he knew, Shuns soon to be adopted mom is already nursing him. So Shun’s dad just vaguely confirms that Yuichiro Sawamura IS Shun’s real father. More moments of Shun avoiding Umi ensues while the Latin Quartier is still getting cleaned up. When walking home, Umi confronts Shun and asks what’s his problem with her. Shun reveals the photo and is like bruhhhh we siblings. Umi is obviously super shook by this and asks what they should do and Shun says to just forget all of their feelings and just try to be friends.

Next day a moment happens between Shun and Umi where they act how they used to and when Umi leaves you can see the smile on Shun’s face from relief that they can just chill and be friends, but Umi leaves and straight up sighs. Yikes. Montage ensues and the Latin Quartier is fixed fr fr with even its clock tower thing now working. However Shiro arrives with bad news that the school board just voted to shut the building down anyway.

Shiro, Umi, and Shun then head into main Tokyo to talk to the chairman himself and convince him not to shut down the building. After hearing Umi say they put a lot of hard work into renovating the building and the story of how her father passed away, the chairman is convinced to at least see the building himself and decide then. The trio leaves feeling hopeful while Shiro leaves to meet up with some relatives. Umi and Shun have a moment together where Shun does reveal that he’s the one who wrote the poem. Umi confesses that the flags are for her father right, but it’s Shun who responded. Since Shun is supposedly her half brother, Umi interprets that as her father purposely bringing Shun into her life. So she admits that despite all this, she can’t help but fall in love with Shun anyway. Shun agrees that he likes her too before she leaves on a cable car.

Umi comes home to see her mom came back from America. That night, Umi tells her mom about Shun and how he thinks Yuichiro is his real father. She obviously avoids talking about the whole romantic thing. Umi’s mom explains that Yuichiro had said Shun is Tachibana’s son (Yuichiro’s friend). Tachibana died and his wife died in childbirth and all their relatives died from the bombing of Nagasaki. Yuichiro had him registered as his son in order to prevent him from going to an orphanage and dealing with all the post-WWII chaos in Japan. However, Umi’s mom was pregnant with her at the time and unable to care for another child. Knowing that his other friend Kazama and his wife recently lost a child, Yuichiro gave Shun to them (his current parents). So technically Umi’s mom explains they are NOT related, but Umi asks what if they really are (for example his dad simply lied about whose baby it was). And mom unhelpfully says wow I’d love to meet him then and see if they look alike. This STILL uncertainty over Shun’s relation causes Umi to cry much to her mother’s confusion, and there is the huge implication that that’s when she DOES tell her mom about the whole romantic problem. Because the next day, Umi’s mom meets Shun’s dad in a cafe. Okay some people interpreted Umi crying as relief and happiness cuz they’re not actually related. But if she was happy and believed it, why would she even ask like what if he really WAS related to them??? And then why would her mom meet up with Shun’s dad with such a serious face. I think it makes much more sense if that’s what the mom thinks but there are still doubts to the truth of it.

Also that day, the chairman shows up to the Latin Quartier and agrees the building can remain, much to everyone’s celebration. Shun’s dad calls and is like BRUH THE THIRD MAN IN THE PHOTO IS HERE YOU GOTTA GET HERE BEFORE HE LEAVES FOR MONTHS. So Shun and Umi book it to the harbor and meet up with the third man, who is some naval captain. 

He confirms that the three guys in the photo are him, Umi’s dad, and Shun’s dad and that Umi and Shun are NOT related. The two leave, happy that everything is resolved. The movie ends with how it begins: Umi raising the flags. THE END YAYYYYY.

What I Don’t Like About This Movie:

1. Goro Miyazaki lmaoo. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry but OMG someone tell him to just QUIT STUDIO GHIBLI I CAN’TTT. Multiple interviews show that Goro barely wants to be there and that Hayao barely wants him there either like deadass. I literally don’t even see this movie as Goro’s work because with Hayao Miyazaki being you know, Hayao Miyazaki, it was him that ultimately got the final say on a lot of the elements of the movie and such. For example, that whole iconic beginning scene with Umi getting ready and doing such simple things like changing and cooking and all that? It was daddykins who asked Goro to add that, which he begrudgingly did since the staff admitted it made Umi more likeable and relatable. You can just literally google it and you’ll see there is a WHOLE DOCUMENTARY ON THE PRODUCTION OF THIS MOVIE AND HOW THE TWO CONSTANTLY KEPT BUTTING HEADS. Hayao Miyazaki even apparently said, “ I think... Goro doesn't get it. It's OK for him to stop directing. I think he should. He isn't cut out for it.” And after the release of Earwig and the Witch (you didn’t hear of it? exactly) Hayao Miyazaki was right LMAO. Goro sucks as a director SORRY NOT SORRY.

2. Shun’s Japanese voice actor. This is more of a nitpick than anything lolol but his voice is highkey too deep/manly for me. Especially in the debate scene. Like you trynna tell me that that’s a high school boy’s voice? I wish his voice actor sounded slightly more boyish, to drive in their ages a bit more.

The Big Yikes About This Movie:

The incest plotline. Okay hear me out hear me out.  Cuz the main criticism is not the incest plotline itself, but the fact that Umi and Shun admitted they still like each other regardless. I gotta explain first of all, since I know people will be quick to assume and judge. But their relationship was not sexual at all. NOT SEXUAL OKAY. And I feel like it’s very quite obvious that Umi and Shun, if they really were related in any way, would not have pursued any physical relationship, only emotional. Also, they’re high schoolers and this is a damn Studio Ghibli movie with the god Hayao Miyazaki himself overseeing it. Do you think he ever intended it to be seen as sexual? Hell no. So I can agree, that the overall incest plotline was a bizarre turn for a Studio Ghibli movie but also keep in mind that this movie is based on a manga, and the incest plotline was in that story too. I think this type of theme is okay because it’s moreso about being a teen and growing up with confusing feelings of romance/becoming mature, which is a theme Hayao Miyazaki loves to bring up. And I think it’s okay cuz 1. They’re not anywhere near actually related and 2. They didn’t know each other at all until the events of the movie. I think it would’ve been much much more weird and uncomfortable if they had a sibling-like relationship in the first place (cough cough the Irregular at Magic High School), but they didn’t. They only found out about the whole sibling thing after they developed feelings for each other. So in a way, I can relatively understand why the two mutually agreed that they still liked each other. Those type of feelings weren’t just going to go away instantly. I think there’s supposed to be the implication that they’ll never act on their feelings, but they’re not gonna go out of their way to get rid of it either or avoid each other because that was just not working. That kinda thing. They liked each other and that was just an unfortunate fact. I saw a 3/10 or similar review of this movie that said they should’ve avoided the whole incest thing in the first place and just make it that Shun’s dad killed Umi’s dad or some shit, but I thought that was such a dumb suggestion cuz how in the world would that work. Is Shun suddenly Japanese-American or some shit lol??? And wouldn’t that not really be kept secret?? Like Umi would definitely have known who killed her dad if the entire rest of the family was still alive lmaooo. IDK if they tried to make that the big reveal, the movie would have had to been dramatically different overall. I think the whole incest scare due to the family register thing and tying that into the post-WWII chaos objectively makes more sense, especially when you factor in that the manga was originally set in the early 80′s, they actually took the incest plotline already there and not only made it make more sense, but align with the anti-war theme that’s super prevalent in Hayao Miyazaki films. I think the whole incest scare is a big yikes in terms of development but it’s what makes this movie, well, this movie. For something that tackles the issue of incest in the first place, I think it’s tastefully done, and properly explains to younger audiences (since this movie was rated like G) why incest is a no-no (a point I’ve seen made in positive reviews).

The Historical Context

As I said already, the original manga was set in the 80′s while Studio Ghibli purposely changed it in the movie to take place in 1963, a year before the Tokyo Olympics. I think this deliberate change is genius. As I said before, it made it really “easy” for Hayao Miyazaki to bring up themes he loves to use, such as the past vs the present, the old vs. the new, the horrors of war, etc. Take for example, the central plotline of saving the Latin Quartier, which is completely original to the movie.  This is where I’m gonna talk about the debate scene. During the debate, a majority of the (male cuz the 60′s zzzz) students agree to tearing down the clubhouse, with people citing that with the Olympics coming up, Japan needs to modernize and be seen as good and new ASAP to look good. Getting rid of the clubhouse is symbolic of Japan turning over a new leaf and joining the rest of the world in becoming “better,” especially seen when one student brings up that Japan has been at peace for 20 years already. Shun laughs at this and explains that we cannot have a future if we forget our past, very similar to the phrase “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” He’s then labelled an anarchist and literally dragged off stage, which leads into the whole place turning into a huge brawl (comedically interrupted by the student pres making everyone sing a patriotic song to fool the principal that everything’s fine lol). 

The scene illustrates Hayao Miyazaki’s anti-capitalist themes, as it illustrates the sentiment of holding onto the past and traditional values, which although in modern times and in America is seen as conservative, was seen in Japan at the time as leftist. This can be seen with how the popular sentiment of that specific time was to modernize and remake Japan, especially during this time of the post-1945 Showa era where Japan was finally getting away from the grip of the post-WWII mess and having considerable economic growth. Umi is canonically 16, making her born in 1947, which was the year that Japan was officially changed from the Empire of Japan to the State of Japan, having now a constitutional monarchy and a liberal democracy influenced/enforced yikes by American occupation. The leading political party during the time of the movie was conservative, in the sense of being pro-business, pro-globalization, and pro-American, compared to the leftists ideals of holding onto more traditional aspects of Japan. This can be seen as Japanese traditionalism which holds values from the past and nature vs Japanese nationalism that is militaristic and capitalistic. I can go on and on about the deeper history that contributes to these two ideals, but it doesn’t pertain to the movie.

Also this whole debate thing and super passionate arguing and such might seem unrealistic to modern viewers, but I think to older Japanese audiences, I feel like it makes a lot of sense. Set in 1963, it’s only a few years before the Japanese University Protests of 1968-1969 (followed by other protests with similar sentiments). These protests were led by multiple leftist and radical groups of men and women in their twenties AKA the same ages Shun and Umi would be in this time period. It wouldn’t be too hard to imagine Shun partaking in these protests if he was so damn passionate and got into a fight over a damn building lmaooo.

A thing I found a little ironic was that this “past” that Shun is defending is the Latin Quartier, a direct reference to its namesake location in France. This movie has a ton of French references. Umi’s nickname and what she’s called throughout the movie is Meru, the French equivalent of Umi’s name aka the sea (also her siblings btw are Sora - the sky and Riku - the land lolol). Coquelicot is the French word for poppies, hence the English title of this movie being From Up on Poppy Hill. I looked it up and it’s because France and Japan supposedly had relatively “amicable” relations over the years, and France did help Japan in its initial Westernization and so on. So despite being super old and fitting Shun’s concept of keeping the past and old traditions, the building is technically not even actually traditional or Japanese. But it all works out because it’s not necessarily about the building itself (although the plot is), the themes of this movie are about the sentiments of the building and what it represents. I think that’s why Umi’s house, Coquelicot Manor is purposely made in a Western AND traditionally Japanese style. There’s the main yellow-colored building that has a lot of its Western style elements due to being originally a hospital, but in the movie, you can see the rest of the house is quite a traditional Japanese home. Umi as the center of this movie, helped coincide Shun’s idealism and grounded it in reality by being the reason why the Latin Quartier was saved.

Back to talking about the anti-war theme, I think this one is much more obvious to see haha. WWII and the Korean War are the whole damn reason the whole sibling confusion happened in the first place! Shun’s dad died (sometime immediately before or after Shun’s birth it’s kinda vague) in an accident on a repatriation vessel aka a boat bringing Japanese people back to Japan who were displaced due to the war for various reasons. It’s just that vibe of that wouldn’t have happened if there was no war in the first place. Then there’s Umi’s dad who was a sailor but still a civilian. Post WWII, with American occupation, it has been noted that Japanese civilian ships were also basically pressed into being used for America during the Korean War and similar things. So Umi’s dad died during the Korean War while his supply ship was sunk by mines, essentially pointing out that it’s America’s fault that Umi’s dad died technically cuz the Japanese were sorta forced into helping America. So yeah, like I said, the anti-war theme is pretty apparent and obvious here haha, especially because this is one of the like only Studio Ghibli films that lacks any sort of fantastical/magic elements. Even The Wind Rises still had fantasy if you count the main character's dreams and such, but this movie doesn't particularly have anything like that, unless you count Umi's dream about her parents. Because the movie is so grounded in reality and in the past, it makes sense why having some historical context can really deepen one's appreciation for this movie and the types of themes and events it alludes to. I wanted to avoid mentioning anything too political but it was necessary in order to explain the climate set in the film. Overall, I find having the movie set during this specific year much more impactful than if it remained during the 80's.

What I Like About This Movie

Yes I do understand the irony in the fact that I consider this to be my all time favorite anime film and yet it took me THIS FAR into the post to explain what I fucking like lmaoooo. ALSO IM A LITTLE TOO LAZY TO WRITE MUCH MORE. Cuz TBH this review took way too damn long to write and way too much of my energy already so Imma just say that besides the problematic stuff I addressed, I love this movie to bits. The art is beautiful, the music is phenomonal (that breakfast song is so catchy!), and the overall movie is sweet, heartwarming, and a testament to good parts of Japan in the past while also addressing some of its darker/sad history. I like this a lot more than other movies I think specifically because of the lack of magic or creatures and stuff. This movie is heartfelt and sincere at every moment and just tugs at my emotions in a way that no other movie really has. Also ...

THE FOOD. Everybody already knows that Studio Ghibli the GOAT when it comes to making delicious animated food but on God this movie’s food is the absolute best. Once I live on my own I’m totally gonna be recreating all of this food and eating good for a week. I literally already wrote down all the food that appears in this movie lol. Haha might dedicate a whole month to Studio Ghibli food.

And that’s it for my review/analysis of From Up on Poppy Hill! Next post will probably be an overview of my anime 9/10′s.

[elpercotreviews]

Y'all telling me that Oresama Teacher not only has official English translations but also finished??? I haven't read it since high school🧍‍♀️

Also unpopular opinion: Oresama Teacher was way funnier than Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun and deserved the anime adaption way more SORRY NOT SORRY

Shojo Beat Manga for July 2021

These volumes are available now!

Idol Dreams vol. 7

Snow White with the Red Hair vol. 14 (print now--digital next month)

Love Me, Love Me Not vol. 9

Queen's Quality vol. 13

Oresama Teacher vol. 29

-Editor Nancy

[elpercotreviews]

Reviewing My Anime 10/10's *Relatively* Spoiler-Free

Note: What I rank a 10/10 is very specific and obviously very subjective to my own. Something can only be a 10/10 if I already consider it a 9/10 AND I must have rewatched it. I am someone who typically does not rewatch/reread anything, unless it's something I truly absolutely enjoy. With that being said, because of the requirements, I only have 4 animes that I rank 10/10, and tbh only one of those animes would get that ranking from the general anime audience. The rest are SO SO SO specific to my particular tastes that I would be absolutely stunned if someone also had the same four as me, because the requirement is so specific. Imma make another post eventually for my 9/10's because I think that list makes a lot more sense for a general anime audience lmaooo.

Soooo, in order of least personal to most personal (although obviously they're all personal to me lol) we have:

1. Psycho-Pass

Recommended for people who: are really into that dark dystopian future society vibes, are fans of Ghost in the Shell, like detective/crime stories

Okay, for a few people, this one actually probably makes some sense. At the moment, it has an 8.37 on myanimelist which means this anime is super well liked. I've watched this anime twice, first the original and then the second time I watched the director's cut (yes that exists lol). Overall, I'm a huge fan of the entire Psycho-Pass anime series as a whole. I've watched all three seasons, as well as two of the movies. I didn't watch any of the Sinners of the System ones cuz tbh I literally couldn't find an english sub of that anywhere, it just doesn't exist lol. I think it's okay cuz the ratings for the Sinners of the System trio of movies seems meh. I've actually watched Psycho-Pass the Movie like three/four times LMAO but that's simply cuz a movie is obviously much quicker to watch than an entire anime season. Like just objectively, the Psycho Pass series as a whole is very inconsistent in quality due to the fact that it's all original, so they do technically just make up everything as they go lol. Season two is all right (I think it gets more hate than it should), three is good but season one by far is the absolute best in the entire series. I'd argue the movie is technically my absolute favorite out of the whole IP, but I actually give the movie an 8/10. The movie, because of being obviously way shorter, simply does not have the deep controversial and philosophical lines of thought that season one has. It lacks that extra depth that would make me put it anything higher than an 8. The two main characters have good chemistry as a crime-fighting duo and the main villain's rivalry/relationship with the male lead is super compelling. The female lead is meant to be relatively naive/more on the innocent side which works with the plot as it allows the show to naturally explain and give more exposition as to the actual world and rules of Psycho-Pass without having it seem so ham-fisted or just throwing info to the audience.

2. Violet Evergarden

Recommended for people who: cry to sad movies, like gorgeous animation, are very empathetic, like vignette-esque storytelling

All right if you even remotely consider yourself an avid anime fan, then this anime is probably also somewhere on your 10/10 list or at least an anime you consider to be "very good." That is, unless you are that very vocal minority who simply really just REALLY do not like this anime for some god forsaken reason. However, in my honest opinion, I think an anime like this just really doesn't sit well with ... how do I put this blunty ... people who do not give a fuck about other people or anyone else's feelings but their own. Basically, IF YOU ARE SELFISH, A NARCISSIST, EGOTISTICAL, OR ANY SORT OF COMBO OF THOSE THREE, YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS ANIME. And if you do, you probably don't think you're any of those things. Because of the anime's very premise, I find it very difficult to see a very self-centered/heartless person particularly enjoying this anime. The whole premise of this anime is that the main character who, because of her upbringing, doesn't understand feelings/emotions, especially the concept of love, grows as a human and slowly begins to learn what love is. The show does this by showing multiple sets of characters meant to represent different types of love (romantic, familial, platonic, etc). The vocal minority of people I've seen give Violet Evergarden bad ratings all typically argue that although beautiful, the anime doesn't have any substance/doesn't really mean anything. If that's honestly all you got after watching the entire show, then you deadass just don't get it, and you probably will never ever get it. If you've seen or heard of Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song, than just know that these two animes are VERY very similar in vibe despite being technically different genres. However, I personally found the themes and concepts in Vivy are done much more masterfully in Violet Evergarden which I think is due to Vivy's heavier focus on a story-driven overarching plot/action as opposed to Violet Evergarden's focus more on emotional impact/an episodic format. I've watched the entire series and I've rewatched the main show twice. TBH you can probably skip the gaiden movie AKA the one set at the girl's academy it was highkey pointless. Compared to the opera episode they added as a "special", the gaiden movie was still good but I wish resources were dedicated to something that actually added to the story. ALSO YES I KNOW ITS A GAIDEN AKA A SIDE STORY AKA FILLER SO YES NO DUH IT DIDNT ADD ANYTHING, BUT STILL. As for the main show, I think I cried for three episodes (the one about the playwright/author I forgot lol, the mother and daughter, and the soldier). On my rewatch, I didn't cry but I still deeply cared for and related to the characters. Violet Evergarden is a beautiful anime with a beautiful story.

3. ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu Ka

Recommended for people who: like bread and bakeries, don't mind a very chill and slow-paced story, like stories about political intrigue and hidden agendas

Based on a relatively short manga, ACCA: 13 follows the main character Jean Otus as he performs his job of auditing the 13 districts of his country Dowa, while rumors and politics brew in the background that threaten to entangle Jean into a complicated plot. To be honest, I think properly reviewing this anime is impossible for me, because I just can't really explain the vibes of this anime besides "chill" and "intriguing." I think trying to explain anything more than the basic premise I just wrote would spoil a lot of what ACCA is, because it's plot is actually relatively quite simple and straightforward. Compared to Psycho-Pass which has a relatively good cult following, and Violet Evergarden which is universally praised, ACCA is an anime that I've yet to personally meet anyone who has ever even heard of it LMAOO. And almost everyone I know watches anime, so that's saying something oof. ACCA is made by Madhouse, which if you don't know, is a super well known anime studio, producing big hits such as Death Note, Hunter x Hunter, One Punch Man, etc. That's why I'm surprised that ACCA has flown just SO under the radar, but that may be due to the overalls nature of the anime itself. ACCA is an anime where all the characters hold their card close and no one seems to really share their real thoughts. One main criticism the anime has is the lack of deeper connections to characters and that for a main character, Jean Otus is very bland. To be honest, I think that's a very fair criticism and I can understand why this would prevent people from rating this anime higher than an 8 or 7. Due to the very nature of the anime and its plot, I do agree that there is a huge cast of colorful characters that we unfortunately don't really get to know more about. To be honest though, I don't mind this because I feel that's honestly quite realistic, especially factoring in Jean's job. All these places he's going and all these people he's meeting, it's literally just his job. He's not on vacation, these people aren't his friends, so the anime has no real reason to dwell much longer on places past its specific episode. Just like in real life, you encounter so many people and go past so many places that you probably won't ever see again. So for me personally, I didn't mind that the anime didn't explicitly show much about the backstories or lives of the cast, save for the very main characters (as their backstories were plot relevant). I think as viewers of not simply an anime, but a whole other world, I think it should be satisfactory to inherently understand that these are whole "people" who have entire lives that we are not exactly privy to. So although admittedly our understanding of many of the characters was all around quite shallow, I think that works for the scope of the anime, which was relatively simple and focused on just Jean living his life and the political plot stirring in the background until it was brought forward in the second half of the anime. Also I love Jean Otus. I actually completely absolutely adore him. He is literally my profile pic for myanimelist LMAO. I think calling him "bland" is fair from other people's perspectives, especially as the supposed main character of an ANIME, but I feel that if ACCA was in a different format like a novel, I think his personality would have been less criticized. Like I said, I love him soo much. I don't find him bland at all, but actually very interesting and highkey attractive LOL (if only he'd quit smoking but it's part of his charm 😞). Yes for an anime "protagonist," he is quite underwhelming especially compared to others, but I think that makes him very charming!!! Like all he wants to do is just chill, vibe, and do his job lmaooo. I think as a person, he’s very charismatic, and in the world of ACCA the rest of the characters see that as well. Because like, if he really were such a bland person, why would so many people like him and actually trust him lol? As for why it’s technically my favorite anime of all time (my ultimate one is a movie), I can’t give super detailed reasons why to be honest. I just really like the overall vibes of the anime itself, and I think the anime is just super unique and original. I’ve watched a ton of anime over the years, but I’ve genuinely seen nothing like ACCA in the slightest. I mean, just look at the recommended animes on the myanimelist. The recommended animes are all stuff I’ve also personally really liked (like fugou keiji unlimited and the great pretender) but yeah there’s just truly nothing that’s close to what ACCA is, and because of that, it reminds my absolute favorite anime show. I’ve seen the dub and the sub, even though I am a vehement dub hater lmaooo (except for very few circumstances, and this also applies to all non-English media, not just anime). There was only one thing in the entire show that slightly confused me/ seemed slightly unbelievable and I won’t spoil but it had something to do with the overall timeline of some events, but it doesn’t detract from the story at all. Oh and the art style! I really love the art style of the anime. It stays pretty true to the manga, but is also just an overall kind of art style I really like. I really enjoy the more like 2d/flat/drawn art style versus really clean and really detailed stuff, and I’m typically not a big fan of very obvious use of CGI (unless done tastefully like in Demon Slayer). All the backgrounds in ACCA have this painted/drawn style and the anime itself has this like muted(?) filter over it that makes the anime seem like someone’s drawings just put up on display in a way that’s really refreshing and nice. I highly recommend this story for anyone who wants a breath of fresh air and to get away from the typical action-packed high energy of big name anime.

4. From Up on Poppy Hill

Imma make a whole separate post JUST for this movie so I can explain why I love this movie so so much. And honestly, Imma need a whole separate post in the first place to address the elephant in the room when it comes to this movie (if you’ve seen it, then you know what I’m talking about). And if you’ve haven’t seen the movie, maybe you’ve heard about one of its controversial themes. I’m not gonna say what it is, cuz I KNOW it’ll be super off-putting for a lot of people, but please omg just hear me out. I just love this movie so so much. I’ve seen it like 7 times and counting. I have it downloaded on my computer and on a flash drive. I’ve watched the sub AND the dub however I’ve stopped watching the dub because it makes me sad every time I hear Shun’s voice actor ;-; This movie is legit an honest-to-god comfort movie for me that I could watch over and over and I’ll fall in love with it again each and every time. And once again IMMA MAKE A WHOLE SEPARATE POST BECAUSE I SWEAR PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE LIKE “Yo ain’t this the movie with the -----” and it’s like PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN. The vibes of this movie, the themes it addresses (yes even THAT theme), the music, the art, the characters, is perfectly presented in a way that I will never stop watching this movie. The only other film that has come close to the amount of times I’ve watched From Up on Poppy Hill would be Legally Blonde lmaooooo. 

[elpercotreviews]

English Major/Book Loser Reviews: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Warning: Totally and Absolutely Filled with Spoilers also REALLY LONG REVIEW 🤷‍♀️

First of all, I had heard good things about this book, so I finally took the jump to buy it on kindle. I, being the skeptical mess I am, also read quite a fair bit of the bad reviews, and I will say that they are all almost completely unjust. I am aghast that there are people who genuinely vehemently despise having read this book lmaoo. To be honest, I quite admire the dedication. I would never finish a book I hated. There is only really one or two points that I agreed with the critical reviews, but not to the point it made me hate the story lol. So many people grilled the historical inaccuracies and shit like that, but like on God ... WHO GIVES A FUCK LMAOO. It's astounding the amount of people who cannot suspend their disbelief. The literal premise of this book is ya know, some girl STALKING JACK THE RIPPER LMAOO??? If you want historical accuracy then just watch a documentary or some shit JEEZ. Same peeps probably hated Bridgerton for having a black queen and classical renditions of Ariana Grande oop. Honestly sticking so strictly to historical accuracy is what RUINS stories (IM LOOKING AT YOU KAZE HIKARU, MY SWEET BOY SOUJI 😭).

Overall, this story was almost quite the absolutely perfect book for me. And I mean that sincerely. I rate it 10/10, if we understand the fact that technically there never will be a real "perfect" story for me. As English professors love to say, "There is no perfect essay." as an excuse as to why they damningly never give 100/100. In this case, there is no "perfect" story, but damn is this pretty close for me. I FINISHED THIS BOOK IN ONE DAY BTW. More specifically like 6 hours, give or take a bit of time. It's totally doable if you have the book on a tablet or phone like me, instead of a traditional physical copy. Keep in mind that I'm also a monster who binge read 100 chapters of Naruto in a single day, then "slowed down" to a pace of 60/70. So I would say an average dedicated reader would take a day or two to read it? The story is about 320 pages I think???

The Bad

Imma start off with what I didn't like, because as I said already, they are nitpicks, especially since I still gave this story a 10/10 haha.

The somewhat heavy-handed "feminism." This was moreso an issue in the beginning of the book, but annoyed me less as time went on. Love the main girl, but DAMN must we be constantly reminded that she's not like other girls fjajodjfkaowkw. Luckily the book relatively subverts this mentality, by showing how the MC understands that strength and bravery does not mean one cannot be feminine/care about "trivial" things. The book also has a minor character Liza, that shows that these "other girls" aren't really that bad.

How in the world did Audrey Rose get away with being unchaperoned so often??? Cuz it's canon that that would be scandalous if she was seen. She is a lord's daughter, after all. So for real she was with Thomas alone IN PUBLIC so damn much like HOW was your reputation not ruined girl. This is SUCH a nitpick but it left me BOTHERED MMKAY.

I personally wish Aunt Amelia, Liza, and Superintendent Blackburn were a tad more utilized in the story, but it’s okay cuz they’re just meant to be static characters. Like I know it’s crazy and makes no sense to the Jack the Ripper killings but I kept thinking Liza would get killed just cuz LMAO SORRY. I also wish the whole Blackburn courting thing got properly resolved (maybe in book two?).

This is my only genuine real criticism of the story. How the fuck did Jack the Ripper kill all them people??? Okay cuz the book gives a good number of hints as to who it is, and when the grand reveal of the killer happens, the story gives a good overall motive and reasoning why they did it. The story goes also into EXTREME detail as to the methodology of how all these people died. But like I'm talking PHYSICALLY HOW THOUGH??? I wish they had more exposition/explanation as to logically how SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT ... her brother killed everyone??? Like for example, how did he kill the one random ass sailor/merchant guy when the MC and Thomas was looking for that guy. Cuz the MC surmises they were overheard so Jack the Ripper killed the guy before he could spill the beans. BUT HOW THOUGH??? Like so her brother followed her and eavesdropped on her?? And how did the MC not notice her brother always going out when there was a murder that same night when she is STALKING JACK THE RIPPER?? Where did his bloody clothes go after he killed them?? Did he just burn his shit or wash them personally??? Like am I supposed to believe this man WALKED back to his swanky ass estate at like 3 AM in bloody clothes and a medical bag with organs, and not a single maid or servant questioned that shit? Also why did he not kill anybody when their pops was gone, like wouldn't that have been prime murdering time lmaooo?? Why did his killing devolve so rapidly when he still seemed so relatively sane during the time of those murders? Like he chopped up a whole woman and it was messy, unnecessary. It didn't make sense to his motive and reasoning. I guess this is to tie in the IRL murders to this story's Jack the Ripper but still. Also you're telling me he undug his mother's grave (and no one noticed) took her back home (and no one noticed), kept her relatively preserved with only ICE (in Victorian England without modern refrigeration) and then WAITED five years after her death to kill people? Cuz the whole bringing her back to life thing is a mentality that would’ve been in his head from the start so why did he wait such a bizarrely arbitrary amount of time? Or did he only dig up her body recently? But you can't expect me to believe a body in London's damp soil would still have relatively most of its flesh after five years, decayed or not 😩 I think the story could've totally worked with fictional murders. The whole Jack the Ripper thing aided the story's popularity (as this is the author's debut novel if I recall) but also limited the story to have to fit in with lots of IRL detail, even if they didn't exactly work with the story the author had in mind. AND DESPITE THIS GENUINE CRITICISM BTW I still give this story a 10/10 cuz tbh, none of all the questions I asked matter lmaooo. Cuz it doesn't change the fact that he IS the killer and it DOES "make sense." It is the truth of the world the story is set in, and all these unanswered questions are technically answered in that it seems impossible he really killed all of them, but the truth of the story is that he DID, regardless of how. Like I said earlier, one must have a suspension of disbelief when reading almost anything set in the "real world." I personally read all stuff like this as just in off worlds/alternate Earths like how the MCU is quite obviously not the same as our universe lol.

The Good

Literary references! Oh my Goodness the amount of literary references made the English major in me SWOON (not as much as I swooned over dear Thomas haha). First of all, I CANNOT BELIEVE I DIDN’T CATCH THE FRANKENSTEIN REFERENCE EARLIER UGH. Admittedly, I must explain that I always read the last 2/3 pages of every story I ever read at the very beginning (there is a good but also long reason for this that I’ll explain in a different post eventually) so to be honest, I knew from the very start that her brother was the killer. However, the book gives a good number of clues that help point out that it’s her brother without explicitly saying it/making it blaringly obvious. But UGH if you’re a literature fiend like me, the Frankenstein reference should’ve called him out near immediately as the killer! I only realized it when the MC blatantly calls out her brother for trying to replicate Frankenstein, as the story was a childhood favorite of theirs (Frankenstein is Romantic era, just before the Victorian era the novel takes place in, although admittedly a quite BIZARRE choice to read your children). Basically SPOILER ALERT, five years before the story takes place, the MC contracts scarlet fever. In taking care of her daughter, the mother also contracts scarlet fever and dies from it, as the MC recovers simultaneously. And well if you’ve read Frankenstein, you would know that this is the same thing that happens to Victor’s mother and adopted sister/betrothed. It’s his mother’s death that directs Victor away from his father’s teachings and on the path of natural philosophy and trying to defy death and nature. AKA WHAT HAPPENS TO NATHANIEL. Oh I felt like a right idiot after not catching that sooner. But anywhoo, then there were the Sherlock Holmes references! First was when our dear Thomas explained quite cockily how deduction works, that it’s plain for anyone to see if they just opened their eyes duhhh. It’s the same way that Sherlock Holmes explained deduction (and relatively how Doyle himself explained it as an actual critique of his own character’s supposed “genius”). Then there was Toby, dear Toby the dog! Explained near exactly as he is in the original Sherlock Holmes tales! And when Thomas cheekily replied the dog is “borrowed,” I half expected Sherlock and Watson to jump into the story themselves! The last reference I noticed (although there may be more) is Oliver the undertaker, as a nod to Oliver Twist, although the similarities end there, as I think the name was simply used as a cheeky placeholder for Thomas’s connection to getting all these cadavers.

The romance and my dear Thomas Cresswell made me SWOON. Oh my Goddd is he my type. My two favorite types of fictional guys are the quiet/skulky types who warm up and open up to MC and their close ones (think Mamura from Hirunaka no Ryuusei or Jinyeong from Seasons of Blossom) and the cocky and charming types who know they’re smart and handsome, but get humbled and lose their ego AKA just like dear Thomas omg!!! He is such a devilish flirt and such a little shit I loved it!!! I think his similarities to Sherlock Holmes are intentional too, as I personally love the little shit attitude that more modern renditions of the great detective tend to be. There’s just something about them being smart and knowing it, that confidence is so attractive. I also ADORE cheeky/teasing banter. It’s why I equally love similar characters like Magic Kaito, Hanako-kun, and Khun Aguero Agnis. In real life, people like this simply DO NOT suffice, because those with an ego like this typically lack the charm or taste haha. In real life, most people I’ve met that try to be like a Thomas or Sherlock are simply pieces of shit, not lovable little shits LOL. ALSO NO WEIRD AGE GAP GOD BLESS???? Based on the bonus chapters, their age difference is only six months, with Thomas born in January and Audrey Rose born in August. I love the relationship between the two, and I liked his blatant love confession towards the end. Because being a constant flirt and sincerely romantic are two very different things for a character like this. I heard their relationship was a slow burn, so I highkey expected them to not even really properly develop feelings until the second book lmaoooo, so this was a pleasent surprise. 

Dear Audrey Rose herself. Despite the “I’m not like other girls” vibe she was near constantly kinda sorta giving off, I still quite liked her. I did not find her lifeless or dull at all (ACOTAR oop IM NOT SORRY I’LL GIVE AN HONEST REVIEW OF THAT LATER). She’s fierce and brave, albeit a tad naive, which I’ll forgive for she’s a high-born lady and extremely sheltered due to her father. A character who’s completely hardened and tough is cool too ala Katniss Everdeen but the chemistry is less believable or romantic when both characters are mean to be strong, independent, and dark (ACOTAR AGAIN LIKE JUST THINK FOR A SECOND WHY KATNISS ENDED UP WITH PEETA AND NOT GALE MMKAY). Audrey Rose’s fiery personality really worked with Thomas’s and I liked that they had some genuine arguments, especially more in the beginning when the MC simply couldn’t stand his behavior. The banter was also so good throughout the whole book and seemed to roll off the tongue/felt natural. She’s snappy and smart enough to keep up with Thomas’s CONSTANT prodding lolol. I also liked that she admitted her similarities to her brother, and that he simply strayed on the wrong path. It makes her feel human. She’s not above it all, she too thought about reviving her mother, killing people, etc. Overall, I found the MC to be likeable and relatable, and it was not hard to picture myself in her shoes or empathize with her.

The pacing of the story. I like that the plot moved steadily along and didn’t have really any arbitrary setbacks (sorta). One thing I dislike is when the plot of the story is driven by events and things happening to the main characters and not the main characters driving the plot themselves. However I didn’t see too much of that happened, a lot of the story is due to the MC going out/investigating/etc. The only real annoying setback the story had was the whole Uncle Johnathan going to Bedlam thing which I found a tad annoying in hindsight, but I understand plotwise/IRL detail wise it was necessary to have something like that in order to coincide the beginning of Jack the Ripper sending letters (which are regarded by many to be false letters/meant to stir up mania/etc.) Then there was the whole circus part, IMO the author spent TOO MANY paragraphs dedicated to this damn circus when the MC barely even got to enjoy it in the first place. But overall I liked the pacing of the story, there wasn’t CONSTANT back and forth or CONSTANT change in location, setting, etc. No constant just talking and nothing ever really getting done (THE CROWN OF GILDED BONES IM NOT SORRY THAT THIRD BOOK RUINED EVERYTHING FOR ME). I think the story ended on a tad bit too short of a denouement, but I won’t get too upsetti at something like that since the series is four books. 

The plot and vibes. The plot itself is pretty good, and made sense and this is a point that goes with the pacing. I didn’t feel like the story was stopped or lagging much due to the fact that the actual plot is relatively quite simple. The MC and main guy are trying to find out who Jack the Ripper is. That’s it and it works, nothing particularly complicated it. I also loved the deliciously creepy and horror aspect of the story. The amount of gore made me say “oh Lord” out loud quite a few times haha. Y’all know that tiktok sound of like “her hands were cut off, her legs were cut off”? This book was literally that omg. I know it makes sense because she’s like supposed to be a mortician/scientist but GOODNESS were the descriptions of those poor women DETAILED. And then at the very end with the mom’s body, I felt so genuinely disgusted and horrified. Goes to show the author DO BE KNOWING HOW TO WRITE. I am a sucker for Romantic Era and Victoria Era written works, but the language tends to make it such a drag. So having a modern work set in the Victorian era was the best of both worlds.

SO YEAH. If you want spooky Victorian vibes, if you don’t mind a lot of gore, and you want an exciting but “slow” romance between a hotheaded girl and obnoxious boy, then get this book. I highly recommend it!!! Like I said, I just couldn’t put the book down! I’m super excited to read the second book (but my wallet isn’t I dropped so much money recently oml) and I can’t wait for the Gothic vibes to kick in. My biggest research paper was literally about the origins of Gothic fiction, its elements, and how they are implemented in modern day works LMAO. I’m definitely no expert, but I can’t wait to see how she implements these elements too!

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What My Tumblr is Gonna Be Now

Basically, I didn't want to completely delete my tumblr. And for a good while now, I've thought about blogging or making a personal website, but would always make one then delete it right away. And well now, since the original purpose of this tumblr (to share my personal scanlations of Kaze Hikaru) is completely defunct, I have decided hey I guess this will be my blog now. More specifically, I've decided to make this tumblr for my reviews of books and otome games as well as to post my poetry. Maybe manga as well but tbh I haven't read too much manga lately. Oh, I guess anime reviews too maybe haha.

Some context, I've read a LOT of books, and I've played a LOT of otome games. Like a considerably impressive amount bwahaha. And I've always wanted to share my thoughts on the things I consumed, but never really had people in my real life share the same exact passion. So now I'm thinking, hey why not just throw it into the void of tumblr. Maybe a person or two will actually care haha. Same goes for my poetry, something I've had a love for for a very long time, but no one else really cared about. People were supportive, not interested, you know what I mean? And obviously I've read quite a bit of manga and I've seen QUITE a bit of anime, so I'm quite sure I'll end up giving reviews for stuff like that.

I'm also an English major and Japanese minor, so I would also like to think my review and thoughts of things are also backed by more than just emotions haha.

To the like 5(?) real humans and not bots who follow me, and find my opinions or thoughts interesting, then feel free to stay. If you were shockingly somehow only here for the Kaze Hikaru content then you should leave cuz I'm quite sure I'll never talk about it again unless to mourn oof.

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Discontinuing Scanlations

Hi to nobody since nobody sees my tumblr posts haha. But just in case you do, I’m posting that I’m going to be discontinuing making the scanlations for this manga.

One reason being: no-one is reading this haha. Interest unfortunately has not at all matched the effort I put into the pages I have so far cleaned, translated, and typed (I have a ton that I haven’t posted). I’ve become really busy with school and life, and this passion project has unfortunately run out of steam.

The main reason: I decided to spoil myself and learned the ending of Kaze Hikaru. Current official English translations are at Volume 28/45 for Christ’s sake. At the rate of 1 volume a year, it’ll take 17 more years for the entire story to be officially published in English. I definitely cannot wait that long when I know my interest in the world of Kaze Hikaru would probably fade, as maturity and life would get a hold on me. So I didn’t read the manga itself but was able to read a bunch of different Japanese reviews of the ending. It had ... a very mixed reaction is all I’ll say. Some people loved it, some people hated it, etc. etc. And after getting a good grasp of the ending, I too had a very complicated reaction. I will not spoil unless anyone reading this also wants to go out of their way to find out what the ending is (trust me it was hard to find). After knowing the ending, I was left unsure of whether to continue reading the manga at all, and came to the conclusion that I would stop reading it, and instead hold onto the memories of this manga that I already have. Kaze Hikaru has been my favorite manga for years and I truly loved and cherished it. Like I said, I own multiple physical copies and went out of my way to find Japanese raws to scanlate. So trust me when I say that this decision to stop reading the manga and to stop scanlating was not an easy one to make.

I think the best way to describe my emotions right now is the classic Japanese concept of 物の哀れ “mono no aware.” Even something I cherished so dearly, even something I treasured, even this love fades and moves into my past. And I am left with that bittersweet feeling of wishing I could have held onto that love and excitement I had. The hours reading Kaze Hikaru on my old busted tablet, the hours scouring the web for more updates, the hours spent going onto to Photoshop and scanlating. These moments are all now the past. However, I will not mourn or see this as wasted time. Instead, I cherish these moments and appreciate its fading importance in my life.

Maybe I will eventually convert this tumblr into something else. But for now, goodbye and have a good day.

[elpercotreviews]

Volume 26, Page 12 of Kaze Hikaru

sorry for slow editing/uploads if anyone actually sees these ;-;

[elpercotreviews]

Volume 26th, page 11 of Kaze Hikaru

#kaze hikaru

#volume 26