#honda review

[fictionalmenmistress]

I haven't seen anyone else talk about it, so I wanted to share that Logan's rant monologue insulting Wade in the Honda Odyssey, before Wade decides to beat him up and they ~fight~ all night... that so clearly to me, was Logan projecting. It started as a tempered rant to cope with how annoyed and pent up he was, with the heat of everything and with Wade's muchness that makes him, him, but the longer he went on, the more he started ranting and exposing himself in the process.

"THE XMEN REJECTED YOU, AND THEY'LL TAKE FUCKING ANYONE!!!" That was my first hit, that he was referring to himself. He sees himself so lowly, so failed, that's canonical to the film. And canonically, he didn't even quite originally feel worthy or want to be with the XMEN. Didn't feel like there was a place for him there, a place for him anywhere. One of his biggest healings was Professor X not giving up on helping him believe that he deserved to be there, was wanted, was worthy, was a good guy. That's canon to his character. So we know he was speaking about himself. He was chewing Wade out, but he was also talking and focusing moreso on what upset him about himself. (He sees himself as just any jo shmo, when he IS literally THE X MAN ㅠㅠ)

He was seeing himself in Wade, how he "can't even save a relationship with a gd stripper", (he sees himself as not able to save anything either, and he's angry for that more than anything else he's angry or annoyed at) projecting SO HARD as he pieced together saying it out loud, that Wade was exactly like him. Logan hated himself for not saving anything. For being a "loser", a "failure", for all of the same reasons he was lashing out at Wade for. He was so angry and annoyed by Wade reminding him of himself, because he related to him. Wade was his reflection, in his eyes, calling him out so loudly with his own behaviors. And he hated himself. He deeply was suffering with that hatred for himself, and as a result, he lashed out on Wade when really he was chewing out himself, inside, admitting it.

"God's CRUELEST JOKE, IS THAT YOU *WONT* DIE ALONE. BECAUSE YOU! CANT! DIE! SO THE REST OF US HAVE TO SUFFER YOU THE REST OF OUR EXISTENCE!" (something along that.)

He didn't know for sure that Wade can't die. He picked up on that Wade can't be killed. Logan is the one who can't die. They are two flipped sides of the same immortal power coin. When he finished his screaming at him, and everyone was silent at how cruel and shocking the confrontation and his words were, I was sinking with a very empathetically whispered "oh, Logan..." Because I felt his misery. I immediately picked up on him really talking about himself, and I think that was genius and layered. I was upset for how awful that was to say to Wade, heartbroken for Wade taking that to heart, and I was heartbroken that Logan was saying that because he believes that about himself. Because they are, oddly, a lot alike. Very compatible.

This scene here:

I read that Hugh said that Ryan wrote that. He's brilliant with these films. It was so genius. I really needed to share this and bring this thought, meta, analysis to light. For all of us to have.

Is Logan mad at God's "cruel joke" of his immortality, yet ability to feel so much pain through it still? Yes. He punched the roof in rage, because it's not fair. Venting his own pain. He sees his powers, his own and Wade's too, empathetically, as their curse. The curse of being the one who lives, and the guilt with that. The one who can't die. The one who lives, who is forced to live, while everyone who "deserves to live" dies. And WILL die, around them.

"And You can't die. That's on all of US!" Logan says, clearly referring to himself living forever... And "us" being the people HE loved. He saw himself as a burden for existing with them, for them. He deflected that onto Wade, as if the people in Wade's life must feel that way too, but didn't really mean that. He meant it about himself. Logan believes he was a burden on the people he loves, the people he lost. That's probably why he left too, and didn't come back when they called out for him to. He distanced himself to protect them, and protect himself from that fear of rejection that he feels is so imminent, and them not having him, is the one element that led to none of them surviving without him. He was always the key. He was always wanted, and he was always important and needed. He just couldn't ever believe that.

Man, that's why it became so personal for Logan too, when he was shown Wade's photograph of his family. Because HE had a family, and he would do anything now to save them. Just like Wade. He held that photograph all night, he went and got it when it fell out of the car, he kept looking at it. It became personal for him, when he identified with it. That Honda scene really was their turning point of everything. That's when Logan cared with everything. He got it. Wade is the him he couldn't be. But now he can.

I dropped some heat with this one.

Extra little personal context/thought notes: Maybe I just spotted it because I have a natural knack for psychology, I'm hyperobservant, highly empathetic and deeply feeling, and I'm also years experienced of my parents and whole family treating me the same exact toxic lashout way almost every other day. That's a workweek for me to see through toxic lashout anger BS. These are not my gifs!!! They were created by another amazing account. I will refind their @ and tag them!! >>> It's @landoslastnerve ! Thank you friend! 🤍

Also wanted to include someone's tags from those gifs:

.

[brainrotcharacters]

"they're not gay!" let me hold your hands when I say this

[ecargmura]

A Terrified Teacher At Ghoul School Episode 13 Review - Summer Reading

I find it funny how it’s super cold where I live yet Haruaki and co are enjoying the time of their lives basking in the summer heat. Because of that, it made me feel warm and not focus on how cold it was outside, so thanks for that, Yohaji! Anyways, the second half of the show starts and I’m surprised with how many things they spoiled in the opening and ending as a manga reader. I won’t get into too much detail as it’ll probably shown throughout the season.

While the episode as a whole was a fun watch, I won’t deny that the anime did remove some details that anime-only watchers might not realize. Not only that, but there’s also how this episode is formatted. The first fourth of the episode is mainly seeing what some of Class 2-3 are doing during their summer break while the rest of the episode is mainly Haruaki causing chaos in a secondhand book shop where Sano and Tenmaru from the Tengu Troupe works.

Sano spends his holiday with the Abe family. Here’s one instance of the anime omitting minor details. If you think this is a little weird how the principal just gave him Haruaki’s address and a map and told him to go to the Abe house, they actually removed some important detail from the manga in that Sano used to spend his holidays at the principal’s house due to circumstances and that it’s the first time the principal is not looking after him. This may be a minor detail, but it’s important information about Sano, who’s one of the main characters in this story.

Anyways, it’s nice to see the Tengu Troupe again; though, it’s mainly just Tenmaru and Bonmaru. It’s nice to learn a lot about Ten like how he’s a closet otaku who’s into fictional girls and how his cool facade breaks when he sees an anime girl figurine. Sano didn’t know Ten was one of the kidnappers as he only saw and confronted Bon at the time as Ten was in a different area. Too bad we don’t really know much about Bon as he just popped up in the middle of the episode as they needed an extra person. Two additional details the anime omitted from this portion of this episode were the fact that Ten and Bon are brothers in their forged family documents, so the Karasuma Troupe are all adopted brothers. Another omitted detail was Ten revealing that he has been a virgin for 800 years as he became immortal so he wouldn’t die young.

The whole cursed book thing was chaotic with Haruaki accidentally making Sano and Ten a part of the story and getting them into wild situations likes Ten dying and having Sano and Ten almost doing the do. Haruaki shows off his intelligence by reversing the effects of Ten’s death and having the situations in the story happen to characters outside of the bookshop. Some of my favorite scenes were Rintaro preventing truck-kun from isekai-ing someone and Akira enjoying his alien abduction situation. The reason why Haruaki read the cursed book in the first place was because a weird man with blue hair and wearing a monocle recommended it to him—he turned out to be the ghost of the late author.

Also, the anime did jump ahead a few chapters after the Haruaki search arc which was the previous episode. There was a chapter that took place after Haruaki was rescued from the fire where he was hospitalized, but it’s only mentioned in this episode. The scene with Mama-aki and Haruaki was actually from that chapter, but they added it here. Though, it’s nice to see Mama-aki gently scolding her son. She’s super sweet.

The anime also had some anime original scenes as they did cut out a few scenes from the chapters about the cursed book. The scene with Hatanaka and his three kids are anime original—the kids actually appear much earlier in the story, but the anime pushed them to making their debut in the second cour. The entire scene with the locusts is anime original too, I believe.

Also, speaking of the Hatanaka kids, I can’t believe they gave two of them high quality voice actors. His daughter Saki is voiced by the one and only Megumi Han whom you might know as Nokotan and Kana Arima from Oshi no Ko. The son, Kamae, is voiced by Mutsumi Tamura, who you might know as young Kakashi from Naruto Shippuden and Hiro from Digimon Ghost Game. These kids only appeared for a few seconds and you’re already giving them S-tier voice actresses? The Yohaji production staff are crazy.

I guess my only gripe would be that the animation quality looked a little derpy in some parts of the episode, but that’s it. I think this is a great way to start the second half of the show and I can’t wait to see what they will show next. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

Do you have anything to say about my baby, the Honda CR-Z?

(Please excuse the low resolution, I wanted to introduce it with a pic from my collection and this was the only stock one I had)

Oh, the CR-Z... Pepperidge Farm here remembers obsessively following its debut on Top Gear Magazine! Pepperidge Farm and not many others, it seems, as in present day the CR-Z seems to be as relevant in today's car world as basket weaving. Wait, no, less.

In fact, coming up with an answer to this question was the most I thought about the CR-Z in almost a decade.

But thought I have, so here's your answer:

I don't get it.

I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like it! I am on record as a serial Honda liker -hell, to those who think it counts I own one- and I see no reason this one should buck the trend (although I've always felt it would look better with something between the headlights to stop it looking so big-snooty, as the bumper below does a good enough job of exemplifying that I won't bother rendering something better).

It's just that... I don't know what the point of it was. And looking at its sales that seems to be the experience of most vertebrates.

(To be fair, U.S. sales started in August 2010 and production ended in 2016 with the following years's sales just being stock clearing - but still, pretty bleak picture.)

It's not like we don't know what Honda were going for, they told us plainly: it's a sporty hybrid car, light on the wallet but heavy on the fun. And Honda would know of sporty compacts - what were they producing as the CR-Z rolled out?

Oh. It's the most hated of all six Civic Type R generations. Hm.

It's a joke, "most hated Civic Type R generation" is a bit like saying "most normal Kia Soul commercial".

If that car looks unfamiliar to you yankees, however, that's because y'all got different looking Civics for a while, such that your sporty Civic was this, the Si - seen here in the bewinged Mugen trim.

The Si is meant to sit below the Type R, but, since America wasn't getting the Type R, the yankee Si and non-yankee Type R were free to get the same 200hp from the same venerable engine (one day I'll go over all that makes the K20 so great) and the usual great handling, courtesy among plenty things of a limited slip differential. Wait, why is that not a link? Ah, right, I've never explained differentials... well, for now you can just trust that it's a cool type of differential that helps maintain grip when you're giving it the beans. Wait. Is it "giving it the beans" because you're stomping the gas pedal? Surely not. What is it from? Let me google this... Okay, sources seem scarce and shaky but apparently the idea was that if you fed horses beans they wou- wait this post is about the CR-Z. How did we get here? I swear this NEVER happens.

In short, Honda knew, and has always known, how to make proper sporty cars and give them great engines, whatever their size. So can it possibly have been a surprise when this thing came out and, forget motoring journalists, even the more talkative stray cats were meowing that the CR-Z did not have the engine grunt to back up its sporty pitch?

And look, if anyone here will say a car with as little as 120-130hp cannot be worth bothering with, it won't be a diehard of the Mazda Miata, which sold well over half a million units no more powerful than that. But that's a car that focused on open top enjoyment and getting a lot out of a little, just like the 60s European spiders it threw back to. What did the CR-Z throw back to?

Well that'll be the CR-X.

Introduced in 1983, the CR-X was a coupe version of the Civic of the time (hence its 1987 update corresponding with the Civic's). And just like the Civic in question, it is most fondly remembered for its sporty, proper-fun Si guise (pronounced "ass eye", because eye me dat ass) and the even sportier SiR that yankees never got. Which makes perfect sense, considering its main appeal against the Civic was the sportier looks.

Sure, since the CR-X left us North America got a Civic coupe in its stead, but am I going to pretend this thing looked half as good as the CR-Z that was about to join the lineup?

Not for free I'm not.

So now, imagine the stellar engine and manual transmission from a Civic Si/Type R, but now with electric assistance for even more power AND fuel efficiency, all in a car hundreds of kilos lighter, significantly shorter -thus more agile- and with the sleek CR-Z looks.

Then keep imagining.

The CR-Z never got an Si or Type R version, it was just left to sit there with its 122hp (later begrudgingly upped to 130) that, forget the contemporary sporty Civics, compared unfavorably to its 30 year old predecessor.

The CR-X was the sportier Civic. If its successor gets walked not just by the Civic but even by the CR-X itself, what's the point of the resurrection?

However, I concede there's an objection to this argument: this graph.

These are the US sales figures for the second generation CRX (which I think dropped the dash?), and, if you were to be able to parse it, you'd notice that the sporty Si version made up about a third of the sales - meaning most buyers forewent the sportiness in favor of the lower cost of the standard DX model or the High F-iciency of the even slower HF model. So if those versions sold well, why shouldn't the CR-Z have?

Well, if you ask me: image is more than looks.

This blog -and other affiliated entities- touched on the concept of race wins on Sunday bringing sales on Monday, and the same phenomenon happens with cool sport versions. Today's Corolla is a much cooler car in the eyes of the people who see in it the underlying foundation of its extraordinary GR version, and this phenomenon is most amplified the smaller the gap -or perceived gap, at least- between the version you're admiring and the more modest version you could realistically be interested in. I strongly believe that many people bought the dog slow CRX HF because the CRX Si ingrained within them the idea that they were buying something cool.

And Honda, as we touched on, had the perfect engine to dump into the CR-Z to make a wicked sport version. Hell, they could even have just given its regular engine forced induction - and we know it because the CR-Z Mugen RZ did just that!

Here at last was a perfectly respectable sport version that, while still underneath the Civic's best power-wise, was more than good enough to make car enthusiasts give a damn about the CR-Z. And what did Honda do with it? They limited the production to 300 units and only sold them in Japan. Take a fucking drink.

I cannot fathom why they would do that. It's not that they couldn't homologate the power additions or whatever, because a. that doesn't justify the limited production run and b. the supercharger (or at least a supercharger, not sure if it's the same) was made available in the US in the form of a dealer-fitted optional extra. Not by selling a supercharged special version altogether, no no, that may cause the public to -gasp- notice and care.

What was the point? Were they deliberately trying to keep the CR-Z's image one of an efficiency-focused... sleek hatch-coupe with minimal backseats?

Wait what?

Dear God, yankees, what have you done to Honda to get done so comically dirty?

Is it just that they thought y'all too big to fit back there?

That makes it even crazier!

Why in tarnation would they think people would care about a sleek, three-door, two seat, manual... efficiency-oriented hybrid?

Oh, right. Because they made the first generation Honda Insight. Which I myself love.

This was even sleeker and more hardcore than the CR-X: it was as light as the lightest ones despite the electric powertrain, it did without backseats entirely, it was the most aerodynamic production car that had ever been built... but all this wasn't about performance at all. It was about milking every drop of your hard-earned fuel for every single fucking inch of forward movement it was worth.

And it sold very well! I mean, look at the yearly sales figures!

Look how much America loved it! In a year of production that started from December it sold around a third the units the CRX sold in a full year!

So imagine what the production numbers were like for the year 2000!

huh?

Oh you mean these are the total sales. Like, all the first generation Insights ever sold in its entire six years and change of production. Oh. And it totals to like 17.000. Which is around how many CRX Si they sold in a year in North America alone. Hm.

Yeah, it suddenly makes a lot more sense how the second generation Insight was a Prius wannabe.

In fact, now that I look at it... that back looks familiar, doesn't it?

Wait...

Wait!

Well, now suddenly the car makes a lot more sense. And actually, come think of it, let me check the sales figures for the Mk2 Insight...

Considering, again, the CR-Z's US debut happened in August 2010, they match up pretty well, and it would be a pretty reasonable sales split if we were to consider them the 5 and 3 door versions of the same car.

Now, this may make it seem like it wasn't such a failure after all, and it did well in the segment it was actually intended to compete in. But let's give some context on how good those Insight sales figures are.

Yeah. Yeah no. The second Insight just wasn't a hit either.

But at least, now I can say I get the car. The Insight was pretty big and... uncool, so the CR-Z was a good way to offer that same hybrid efficiency to people who wanted a more compact, sleeker package - though perhaps not as extreme as the first gen Insight. Unless you're a yankee, I assume.

The name still doesn't make sense.

I mean, it would if I could see Honda seeing CR-X as just... a body style, and its resurrection of it akin to resurrecting, say, the Civic Shuttle.

(It was the only side picture I had saved.)

And Honda's press material made another point to this end, that I wasn't aware of.

So sure. Point taken. The CR-X was shaped by the quest for efficiency, so it follows that its successor would be efficiency focused as well.

But that's not how the CR-X is remembered. In everyone's minds, the CR-X is cemented as the sporty version (that Honda sold, mind - this is not like with the Supra, whose reputation was defined by modders). And the weirdest thing is, they don't just know that, they bring it up.

And indeed, they call the CR-Z's role "quite different from the original Insight coupe's" - they want this car to "change the current perception of hybrids" by blending hybrid efficiency and sportiness. They rightly sell its looks as sporty, take great pride in the manual transmission and explicitly state it's for driver engagement, over and over talk about 'enthusiastic' owners and 'enthusiastic' driving and 'enthusiastic' engine note etc etc. They brag about how much of a difference their Sport mode makes. They call attention to the valves per cylinder. They constantly remind of how (unlike the Insight) it has the legendary V-TEC. (If this is the first you hear of it, ask about it in the tags).

This is the press release for a sports hatch.

But when time came to give it a sports hatch's power? Japan got 300 units, North America got a dealer-fitted kit with a numbered plaque two years before the car's nixing, and we had to hope to never have a flat tire because Europe didn't get jack.

Was it to avoid stepping on the toes of the sporty Civics, because if the sporty CR-Z's potential buyers will otherwise just get a sporty Civic then why make two models to get the same amount of buyers? If so, I'll tell you why: because that was the only chance of moving regular CR-Zs, which surely must have been a worthwhile pursuit if you made the damn thing.

Was it the fear of a power-focused engine resulting in fuel economy so underwhelming it would undermine the model's eco premise? If so, heyo, you have electric assistance, which means you can either get more speed out of the same engine marking a win for the hotboys or get the same speed out of a more efficient package - and in both cases you're showing a hybrid powertrain bringing something to the table, which is how you actually "change the perception of hybrids" in the minds of people who consider them synonymous with boring.

I'm not saying my counters are bulletproof or that there is no argument against a hot CR-Z. I'm just saying that if there is, it's an argument against the regular CR-Z also. Because if the CR-Z was never to be something worth considering over anything that could be called sporty, then they should never have bothered to begin with - at least, if they were going to aim it so squarely at "the enthusiastic drivers".

In short,

Honda sought to make a sportscar - be it to sell the car itself or to sell a concept like "we're committed to preserving driving enjoyment even into electrification" or "hybrids are cool, so buy a hybrid, and please don't whine if we ever need to make a hybrid Type R or whatever thanks". And I'm always down for Honda building a sportscar. It was Honda that wasn't, for whatever reason. And so there the CR-Z stood, waiting until its passing for a sportier engine that would show the world how cool it was. But it never came. And it bugs me. Because I find it a shame. Because I remember reading of the Mugen prototype and waiting with bated breath for the production version that we ultimately never got. Because I still would love to see them about more than I do. Because I wish the second generation that apparently was in the works got to see the light of day.

Because, even after all these days of thinking about Honda's strategy and learning all we went over, and perhaps because of it,

I still don't get it.

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question: if you liked this post, you might like those - or the blog’s Discord server, linked in the pinned post!

[bloodsplatteredcinema]

Greetings, fellow Gorehounds!

In honor of the recently released Godzilla Minus One and the upcoming Godzilla X Kong, The Horror Guru has decided to dive into the original 1962 Toho classic: King Kong vs. Godzilla!

This fast paced movie riff/movie review is filled with bad puns, silly skits and a lot of behind the scenes info on the making of the movie!

[twenty-words-or-less]

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (ドロステのはてで僕ら)

Summary: Café owner Kato (Kazunari Tosa) discovers that his computer monitor can show events that take place two minutes into the future, whilst his TV shows events that take place in the past.

Delightful and skilfully-shot sci-fi comedy that uses its concept well and does not overstay its welcome.

Rating: 4.5/5

Photo credit: Mubi

[viofitz]

Review: Aoshima F-1 series 1/32

Introduction:

Aoshima Bunka Kyozai Co. Ltd., commonly truncated to Aoshima, is a Japanese model manufacturer based in Shizuoka Prefecture. It produces plastic modelkits of a variety of vehicles under Aoshima brand along with some other brands. The company was founded by by airplane pilot Jiro Aoshima in 1924 which named Aoshima Airplane Research Institute. In 1932, model-airplane was designated as an educational material in Japanese schools, and "Shizuoka model-airplane association" was established. Jiro Aoshima acceded to the chairman's post. There are many lines established by Aoshima brand but, in here I'm going to focus on their F-1 series. Judging from their respective boxarts, the cars were seemingly based on the 1987 Formula One World Championship. Which pressumably released way earlier than both Tamiya, ARII and Fujimi released their own Mini F-1.

1. Lotus Honda 99T (Ayrton Senna):

As depicted from the box art, Aoshima produced the legendary Lotus Honda 99T owned by the late Ayrton Senna. The car was designed by Gérard Ducarouge for use by Lotus in the 1987 Formula One World Championship. The overall car's bodyshell color is yellow added with extensive sponsors livery, they even added some decal that was barely visible in the narrow position. The bodyshell was separated into 2 parts; main body and rear wing. Finally another car that belongs to Senna that is not McLaren or Williams, the 99T also proved to be competitive in Senna's hands; the Brazilian won twice and scored six. Thus earning the title as one of Senna's iconic car.

2. Williams Honda FW11B (Nelson Piquet):

Yup, another Williams car but, belongs to Nelson Piquet. It was designed by Frank Dernie as a serious challenger to McLaren and their MP4/2C car. The car took over from where the FW10 left off at the end of 1985, when that car won the last three races of the season. The bodyshell was originally white colored plastic but with added livery details, the car mainly got 3 colors; white, dark blue and yellow but, there're red and black colors in several parts such as livery trims and sponsors. Like 99T, the car also got extensive sponsors livery which made the bodyshell looking like an actual FW11B car. The car won first time out in Brazil with Piquet in 1986, before Mansell laid down a title challenge with four wins. Well... Atleast, there's an achievement for this car from Nelson Piquet himself. Although, the decals was also included with Mansell's numbering car so, you can actually make Mansell version as well. However, in this review the conversion of this model kit is more focused on the box art depiction, which is Piquet version.

3. Lotus Honda 99T Nakajima Version (Satoru Nakajima):

Another variant of 99T which was based on Satoru Nakajima car but, you can still make Senna's version by using his numbering decal. This version replaced "Camel" font with "Lotus" but, the Camel picture logo remains there. Aside from the livery, there're several body mold differences; specifically on the rear wing, front wing and there's extra accessory for the hole part near the roll hoop. Nakajima was overshadowed by his teammate but, proved to be steady if the unspectacular driver. Nakajima's best finish in his first season was a 4th at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.

Aoshima F-1 Chassis:

The chassis was build to fit with the bodyshells; which you'll have to fit the rear body's pegs into the front part of the gearbox's peg hole and snap in the front part of the gearbox with matching chassis peg for the hole on driver's interior, while the rear wing's location is right behind the gearbox. The chassis only got 2 gears which for motor and rear wheels so, there's no 4WD feature since they're not mini 4WD. The overall chassis is similar to Mini F-1 chassis but, slightly sturdier. Despite this, the front part is still the most fragile one due to many thin parts, which I accidentally broke some thanks to my carelessness. The good part for this chassis is; they don't look stand out thanks to the body almost fully covering them.

Driver parts are actually the only thing they didn't do much but, they still added decals for them. My friend did most of the helmet livery such as Senna and Piquet one.

Thoughts:

Unlike Tamiya and other brands, Aoshima seemingly fully licensed this model kit with extensive sponsors livery that pretty closely resembles their actual cars, seen from this conversion. They also included rear view mirror for this model kit, making this more detailed than what Tamiya, ARII and Fujimi did. However, for a 1/32 they're way smaller than I thought but, with that amount of extensive livery details I gotta admit Aoshima really nailed this conversion perfectly. This looks more like an actual miniature instead of your regular mini F-1 toys. Unfortunately, the frustrating part was on assembling 99T's bodyshell; which I had a real hard time dealing with the small parts and ended breaking several joint parts due to small peg holes but, gladly they didn't really stand out since mostly on the peg joints. You'll need to scrape the hole to fit the pegs, mainly on the roll hoop and driver holes. However, despite how detailed they looks, they're still overshadowed by Tamiya.

Repaint & detail by Archyd.

[curried-mermaid]

Manga Review: Fruits Basket

We often forget that love is more than just romantic. Natsuki Takaya does an excellent job delving into the human heart and analyzing the different ways people fall in love. Tohru, your average bakadere, accomplishes this just by being herself and soothing the other character’s hearts. She listens to them and says exactly what they need to hear most, even if it comes out weird. Takaya doesn’t portray romance like we normally see in anime or in western media. She focuses on how unconditional love can heal all wounds.

            A perfect example of this theme is when Tohru helps Yuki (the dandere) defend his ‘secret base’ (a small vegetable garden) from a typhoon. Yuki expresses that he only acts nice for himself, it’s not because he’s a nice person. He’s jealous that Kyo (the tsundere) can easily make friends and that’s why he’s nice. He wants to be liked. Tohru tells him that everyone has their own kindness that develops through their experiences. Yuki’s “is like a candle. It suddenly lights up” (Takaya, Vol. 1, 131-137).

            Another theme pops up as she is talking to Kyo as she makes rice balls with him. She mentions that he’s really good at making them and someone who’s been trying to learn would be jealous. He responds with that’s dumb. She comes up with the analogy that everyone has great qualities they cannot see in themselves because they’re like pickled plums that stick to rice. They’re stuck on someone’s back. Everyone else can see them except the person they’re stuck to. Kyo is a wonderful person (Takaya, Vol. 1, 262-267). This theme is important because it helps Tohru develop relationships with the other characters that pop up in the series. She can see everyone’s good qualities regardless of what trauma they’ve been through and how they lash out at those around them. She heals by accepting them for who they are, zodiac spirits and all.

            Takaya’s writing style helps keep the audience at ease as she tackles the hard topics of trauma. This easy-to-read format makes Tohru an effective protagonist. We find out that one of the other zodiac members, Hatori, fell in love only to have to erase his love’s memories after they tried to get permission from the family head, Akito, to marry. Akito lashed out and caused Hatori to go mostly blind in one eye, and his love, Kana, was mentally broken because she thought it was all her fault (Takaya, Vol. 1,  374-395).

            This introduces Akito as Tohru’s “rival” in this series. This is evidenced by Yuki telling Tohru’s friends “She (Tohru) deserves the moon but would never ask for it” (Takaya, Vol. 1, 224) versus Akito saying that he wants the moon (242). This is an excellent way to introduce and show the differences between Tohru and Akito. The narrative style follows a third person omnipotent view. The story is told mostly through dialogue and various character inner monologues. This is effective because the audience can get a clearer picture of what’s going on. The flashbacks are relevant to the story and help us understand what each character has gone through up to the point of the story.

            The largest problems I have with Takaya’s narrative is the story moves slowly and Tohru is a passive protagonist. If you’re not paying attention to the small details, you’ll miss how the relationships develop. The other important thing is the ending for this first volume is sad and nostalgic at the same time. It’s just the daily life of an average girl who stumbled into a supernatural family.

            Overall, I’d say this series is worth checking out and is one of my favorites because it brings a refreshing take on love through deep connections. Love is more than just romance. Be [1]prepared to fall for this series over and over through bittersweet heartache and blissful triumph.

Takaya, Natsuki. “Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition”. Volume 1, 2016, Yen Press.

[shiftingh001]

Truck on fire 🔥

Visit www.apdex.in

[chasingshadowsblog]

Review: Shin Godzilla - Unprecedented Event

Title: Shin Godzilla Directed by: Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi Written by: Hideaki Anno, Ishirô Honda Starring: Hiroki Hasegawa, Satomi Ishihara, Yutaka Takenouchi, Mikako, Ichikawa Visual Effects: Shinji Higuchi, Katsuro Onoe, Atsuki Satō, Tetsuo Ohya Year: 2016

Shin Godzilla had the opposite effect on me as Godzilla Minus One in that, while I didn't really care about the human characters, I loved all of the Godzilla scenes!

The human scenes focus on the response to Godzilla at a bureaucratic level. While I enjoyed the pacing of these office meeting scenes for the first half-hour, after a while I found them exhausting especially when responsibility kept shifting to different and new characters. So much time was given to establish the ridiculousness of these scenes that I often wondered whether this film was intended as an out-and-out satire rather than a more casual commentary; if it hadn't been for the monster himself I would have believed that it was!

As it was, the visual effects of this iteration of Godzilla were so well done I genuinely felt the terror that such a phenomenon could evoke. Even in its first stage, the limb-less, floppy creature still manages to evoke fear and destroy everything in its path and by the time it has reached its final form, it has become such a threat that nuclear bombs are considered for its termination.

While the VFX are more than impressive, the lack of depth in the human characters hurts any emotional engagement with the film and the parodic elements are effective but eventually wearing. On the other hand, if you're happy to sit through it for the visual effects and see Godzilla knock shit down, then you're in for a massive treat!

Other bits:

I loved the incorporation of the old-school roars and stop-motion style of movements, as well as the incorporation of the original score, there's never a bad time for that!

there are many, many more people involved in the VFX department, I only wanted to name a few to acknowledge the role of the department as a whole

because they were really, really spectacular

[gamerdog1]

Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-San Review

There are two types of people in this world: those who love taking a trip to their local bookstore, and those who hate fun. I happen to be part of the former group, and try to visit my local Indigo at least once or twice a month just to check out what’s there. Sometimes, its just nice to wander through the aisles, and casually explore what’s there, without really looking for anything in particular. Its a place so laid back,  it begs the question: ‘Working there can’t be that hard, can it?’

As it turns out, working at a bookstore is pretty complicated, something that I learned after watching this month’s assigned anime: Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-San. Based on the manga of the same name, this series follows a skeleton named Honda who works at a non-descript bookstore in Japan, stocking shelves and helping customers. Each day brings new challenges which Honda and his odd-headed co-workers must face, in wacky (sometimes barely animated) hijinks. 

Skull-Face Bookseller (abbreviated to SFBH from now on for brevity) is a series whose main focus is being a ‘relatable’ workplace comedy. Folks like me who’ve never worked at a bookstore might find themselves getting confused at all the workplace lingo thrown around, though the series does a good job at explaining the concepts to the audience. The series, though, has this overall sense of expectancy over it, as if the creators are waiting in the bushes for you to laugh at their ‘relatable’ jokes. Every time a character complains about working too long, about how customers are rude, or how their job sucks, the anime expects you to relate that to your own working experience and therefore laugh along. 

And yet, it always stops before it gets too pessimistic. Most shows that I’m familiar with about people with jobs go down this doom spiral, where characters obsessively complain about work. Their job sucks, something happens that they weren’t expecting, they react negatively, rinse and repeat. Here, though, the writer steps back right before the spiral begins, acknowledging the problem but refusing to let it control their life. SFBH is a refreshing take on the time-worn workplace comedy, because it doesn’t make the entire joke of the series ‘Working sucks’.

Instead, the main joke of the series is the appearance of the bookstore employees. Just like in the original manga, Honda and her co-workers are depicted as wearing unusual helmets or masks, giving them a sense of cartoonish silliness that separates them from the customers at first glance. I’m not exactly sure why they look like that (my guess is to protect the identities of the real people involved), but the weird faces has an added benefit beyond simple aesthetics. In a series that revolves around a large cast of recurring characters, confusion is inevitable, especially since some manga artists suffer from ‘Same Face Syndrome’ with their female characters. Since the main cast of SFBH are all wearing weird head-coverings, its easier to remember who is who, and every character looks distinct.

SFBH’s characters also fall into this weird grey area when it comes to gender recognition. Since most characters have their faces fully covered, our only traditional means of distinguishing are from dialogue. Nobody ever mentions the word ‘man’ or ‘woman’ (and knowing Japan, I’d be shocked if the concept of non-binary was even hinted at), but the occasional  ‘him’ or ‘she’ is thrown around when referring to someone. The Japanese voice actors sound like what one might expect from a ‘she’ or a ‘he’, but when it comes to Honda, things get complicated.

Honda is, of course, a skeleton, who lacks any stereotypically feminine or masculine traits. His face is plain, his bony frame is mostly hidden under a white shirt and blue work apron (and what would we even expect to be under there, besides bones?). By all accounts, Honda is pretty androgynous, something that isn’t too common in a series where that isn’t the main punchline. 

What makes things interesting is how Honda herself identifies. In the anime, Honda is voiced by Soma Saito, who you might recognize as that green-haired wimp Tadashi from Haikyu. Because of this, Honda sounds very masculine, and the subtitles agree, referring to him as ‘he’ or ‘him’. At the same time, the character is intended to be representing the author, who identifies as female. There are a few times in the manga where Honda is read as female, including being referred to as an “older sister” type, or when a customer declines her offer to help carry a heavy bag because it would be ‘too heavy for a woman’. 

Honda flip flops between being read as male or female, while showing no obvious signs of being either. The very beginning of the series has him lament about the typical image of a bookseller being a sweet, glasses-wearing young woman, and how he doesn’t fit that image. Yet, later in the series, when Honda talks with her manga editor about a live-action adaptation, they joke about which male actor they would cast as her. I’d like to believe that Honda is genderfluid, which would be groundbreaking for a Japanese manga, so it gets representation points in my books. 

Beyond complicated gender identities, anyone who is even mildly versed in manga will get a kick out of this series for how often it references popular series. Characters will burst into a scene, asking if there’s more copies of a famous manga in stock, all the while the name is barely censored because of copyright. Well-known manga references are thrown all over the place, giving the fictional bookstore a greater sense of legitimacy. Instead of making obviously fake titles, they just said ‘screw it’ and used real ones, making it feel more real. While watching this anime, I found myself trying to identify all the manga mentioned by characters in dialogue, almost like a little game. Its pretty fun, if you know your stuff.

I’d also like to think that whoever recommended this series to me knows me really well, because the amount of references to yaoi or BL in this anime is shockingly high. The entire first episode is practically devoted to it, culminating in a scene where Honda has to deal with an English-speaking customer who is looking for an explicit doujinshi that his daughter wanted. I really don’t know what’s worse: the fact that a character mentioned a BL series vaguely in an off-hand comment and I immediately knew what it was (despite never having read it), or that I knew exactly which doujinshi the English-speaking dad was looking for. Let’s just say that I haven’t watched Gintama yet, but I have some experience with the main character...

SFBH is a good anime: not great, not fantastic, but not bad either. It wasn’t trying to be some over the top, zany comedy, or some deep meditation about workplace culture. Its a short, snappy, and visually distinct series with it’s own sense of humor, one that relies more on weird people and situations than pessimism and ‘relatability’. I enjoyed how much it had to say about how bookstores work, and I felt like I learned while watching it. One thing’s for sure: I have a new sense of respect for bookstore workers, after seeing all the hard work that goes into keeping everything in order. Now, I can rest assured that when I bring my big stacks of plastic-wrapped BL to the counter, the employee ringing me up is just as embarrassed as I am. What a relief.

[anime-of-the-day]

Anime of the Day: ​​Pull List

2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team

Alt title: 2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

Alt title: Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san

When Will Ayumu Make His Move?

Alt title: Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru

[vampkitty66]

Why Fruits Basket Is Actually The Best Romance Anime

Just my opinions, and yes I’m hella bias .. don't care 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Fruits Basket deserves the praise it gets, from the story itself to the characters and the issues this show shines a light on, Its all just peak. I like how the characters struggle, it feels more relatable. It’s not just a wholesome romance anime with bland characters, it gives us a lot more. With most of the characters overcoming their fear of Akito, Kyo struggling to feel wanted just because he was never accepted. Of course Tohru has many problems of her own but she never hesitates to help others around her. The character development this show has is incredible, I like how it not only shows the main characters development but also some of the side characters as well. This show honestly made me want to be a better person, but lets be real I could never be Tohru. I think all the characters are well written and they all learn from each other. Its just so beautiful to watch, you never know if you're going cry or laugh, definitely an emotional rollercoaster. 

Also I love Kyo with my entire soul  ❤️❤️

[pintsizeddeepthoughts]

25 of 250: Favorite Films - Godzilla

Not long ago, work colleagues and I got into a discussion about what our favorite films were. Given my categorical nature I could not resist writing down a list and, as a writing challenge, have decided to write 250 word reviews of my favorite 25 films of all-time. Note: these are my favorite films, not what I think are the best films of all time.

Directed by: Ishiro Honda

Written by: Takeo Murata and Ishiro Honda

Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura

Year/Country: 1954, Japan

“Godzilla? Really?” That was the reaction of a colleague when she read my list. Yes, Godzilla - the original, mournful film that begot an awesomely silly franchise. I grew up watching the Godzilla films (in my opinion, the best of which is King Kong vs Godzilla); but the original black and white film from 1954, directed by Ishiro Honda, is a haunting masterpiece of world cinema.

The story is well known. A series of nuclear tests awakens an ancient monster from the depths of the ocean. It comes ashore in Tokyo and wreaks havoc in the city and the Japanese military is helpless to stop it. One brilliant scientist, Dr. Serizawa (Hirata), develops a super weapon, however, he hesitates to use it for fear of it falling into the wrong hands.

There is no getting around the fact that Godzilla was inspired by the horror of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No other nation on the planet has dealt with that nightmare and in many ways the film can be seen as a way for Japan to work through that trauma. Moreover, the movie maturely contends with the old Nietzsche line “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster”. Backed by an iconic score from genius composer Akira Ifukube, Honda frames Godzilla’s rampages as the consequence of mankind’s carelessness. It keeps the film grounded, pressing home the film’s theme of punishing humanity for not appreciating the consequences of its inventions.

[insanethrottlebikernews]

MY MOTORCYCLE WAS JUST STOLEN

#HARLEYDAVIDSON #STOLEN #MOTORCYCLES The top 10 motorcycle manufactures most frequently stolen in 2021 accounted for 78% of all stolen motorcycles in 2021. Leading the pack was Honda (10,282), Yamaha (8,185), Kawasaki (5,904), Harley-Davidson (5,811), and Suzuki (4,890). Of those almost 52,000 motorcycles stolen, less than half have been recovered with the NICB study indicating that only 42%…