#imagine getting a magical girl transformation and you just turn into a shrimp

[twodollarcherricola]

soda hong lu pride flag

pride shrimps

[thenichibro]

Fall 2017 Anime First Impressions

And so here I am again, three weeks late because I can never keep up. Fall 2017 thus far doesn’t seem too, too bad, but I’m sure that will change, considering the multiple original shows on my watching list. Luckily there’s plenty of cute girls doing cute things shows, which is all I need, really. As usual, here’s what I’m watching, with MAL links and original shows marked: Osake wa Fuufu (MAL) Starting off with a short show this time. Osake wa Fuufu follows a wife, Chisato, and her husband, Sora. Sora likes making drinks, and Chisato likes drinking. Match made in heaven, if you ask me. The show even includes drink recipes depending on the featured drink, and a food pairing with it. It's a three minute show about a cute, drunk wife. What's not to like?

URAHARA (MAL) Taking a sharp departure from the calmness of Osake wa Fuufu, URAHARA involves three fashion-loving Harajuku girls saving the planet from aliens. This show is Harajuku personified. Everything from the character design to the OP explodes with a bubbly, colorful atmosphere, wrapped up in a beautiful watercolor aesthetic. ORESAMA's fantastic brand of electropop is the exact cherry on top the art style needed. Rito is the skateboarding, soft-spoken girl with demon horns, Kotoko is the peppy blonde kemonomimi, and Mari is the twintailed idol who also owns the clothes shop the girls work at. After aliens sucking up cultural landmarks appear, an American girl wearing a talking fried shrimp shows up, gives them "physical manifestations of imagination," and they promptly transform into magical girls and fight the aliens, making them explode and turn into donuts. Sure, that made no sense at all, but everything's so colorful. Capped off by a similarly bubbly ED, this show is just outright fun. If it stays about three cute girls happily fighting fashion-stealing aliens, I'm in.

Dies Irae (MAL) Just as an FYI, Dies Irae aired an episode zero prequel, but I've waited until the formal episode one before doing any impressions, seeing as the prequel was a complete clusterfuck anyway. Now then, after the prequel involving Nazi supermen, Dies Irae's main series cuts to the future and the protagonist Ren, a solemn oft-hospitalized teen. Plenty of mysteries abound - a sudden murder, a strange vision at a museum, a runaway friend, a girl calling him Cagliostrio in a dream - interspersed throughout an otherwise thoroughly boring slice of life. Following that, the episode alos teases plenty of the insane bullshit the prequel was few of. In one line, one character drops 5 proper nouns we have had zero interaction with, with the off mention of one name from the prequel episode. Foreshadowing is fine; introducing three characters in the span of 15 seconds and then talking about 5+ more of them is a bit much. The art is nothing special, and the orchestral soundtrack is unique enough, but if the prequel was any indication, this show is going to get insane, really fast. And not insane like the fun, rollercoaster ride kind. More like the trying-too-hard, unnecesarily edgy, impossible to actually follow kind.

Net-juu no Susume (MAL) Ah, the MMO spin on the isekai genre. Net-juu follows Moriko, a NEET woman living alone who devotes her time to playing a guy (Hayashi) in an MMO. She meets with an amazingly cute girl, Lily (who later we see to be a guy IRL), and they start adventuring together. Cut to 70-odd levels of grinding, joining a guild, and an upgraded PC later, Moriko/Hayashi has settled in just fine. First off, Lily's VA is the fucking cutest, holy shit. My reactions about echoed Moriko's anytime she was being cute. Other than that, the first episode was surprisingly sincere. Relatively light on the "MY REAL LIFE IS ON THE INTERNET!!" in favor of Moriko just being more of an awkward, lazy video game nerd. Using video games to not have to deal with real life is nothing new, but the heart with which Hayashi/Lily meet and grow in just one episode impressed me. This could go either way, and I'm hoping it stays a interesting vignette on the trials and tribulations of the two lives Moriko lives.

[ORIG] Just Because! (MAL) Next up, Just Because sees Eita Izumi returning after four years to his locale's high-school, reuniting with people he lost touch with. The first episode sees a wonderful moment of return, as Eita practices with an old baseball friend, leading the practicing band to strike up into the chorus they played at games, seeminginly on their own. The trumpets flowing into the full orchestral matches the rising tone perfectly. Juxatposed with a Photography Club facing termination and a former class prez buried in obligations, a web of connections lies in wait, ready to reaccept Eita. The art is quite muted, and even with complaints about the hot weather, the sun is behind clouds and the cityscape is grey, as opposed to the beating sun we often see. Just Because's first episode, while not telling much, showed plenty, and indicated what the main issues would be and who would be involved, and that's exactly what a first episode should do. If an original work is showing that early on, maybe it has more direction than most - and that's a very good thing.

[ORIG] Two Car (MAL) Sidecar racing is something I haven't seen, for sure. The island of Miyakejima, with its uncontrolled speed limits, is home to famous sidecar racing, or "kneeler racing" competitions, and the show follows the endlessly arguing but amazingly similar local team of Yuri and Megami. A bouncy pop soundtrack plays over the high-speed racing, creating a light yet competitive tone that perfectly fits the colored visuals, featuring the same artist/production company as Masamune-kun no Revenge from a few seasons ago. Discord has cropped up between Yuri and Megumi due to their beloved coach leaving for greener courses and the feelings they had for him as he left. The cuts between the high-speed raising and the melancholic, reflective flashbacks does quite well in explaining their movements throughout the race - catching us up to speed, so to speak. The tone of the show comes across perfectly as the episode closes, backed up by the fantastic soundtrack and beautifully done OP and ED. You just feel this show is time spent on an island, split between relaxing and racing. It's wonderfully done. It remains to be seen if this show will echo others like Minami Kamakura and Bakuon and go really into the mechanical aspect of sidecar racing. However, this show is a surprisingly emotionally-based piece where emotions are expressed on the race course - and I'm interested in more.

[ORIG] Animegataris (MAL) Minoa is our orange-haired, ahoge-sporting protag, called out by the school princess Kamiigusa to talk about anime, of all things. Go figure. Coming off the trash that was Gamers last season, the blonde perfect girl actually being a huge nerd is already tiring. Minoa is looking for the name of an anime that moved her as a kid, and to do it suggests to get the anime club back in action, then promptly gets roped into leading it. Her endless optimism isn't original but it's always refreshing, and the use of anime to let Minoa see "more of Kamiigusa's faces" is a bit better than just having the red face of a normally "perfect" girl besmirched by the recognition she likes anime. Also there's a huge-headed cat and a somehow magical beret, which came out of the blue just a bit. We get a sneak peak of the future members, ranging across all archetypes and social cliques, and then the magical beret comes back and the cat now talks. Interested to see where the hell any of that goes, but if this stays more comedy and less Gamers romance-misunderstanding bullshit, I'll be satisfied. Also, both the OP and ED (especially the OP - GARNiDELiA is so good) are great. Some very strange plot choices, especially worrying in an original work, but if they pay off this will be enjoyable. Let's just hope they do.

Mahoutsukai no Yome (MAL) Backing off the slice of life, Mahoutsukai imagines a modern day world intertwined with fantasy - beastmen, magic, and the few humans who can see it - one of them being Chise Hatori, ostracized for her power until she is bought at an auction by a legendary mage, Elias, who aims to make her his apprentice. Chise is actually a "Sleigh Beggy," a rare being that attracts "faries and mysteries," whatever that will eventually entail. Mahoutsukai thus far gives off a kind of Uchouten Kazoku vibe as Chise moves into Elias' tranquil house. An ostensibly normal-looking environment inhabited by mystical beings, and a duality of calmness and turbulent themes below echo Uchouten's politics. The juxtaposition of the forcible buying of Chise versus the welcoming environment she is brought in creates an interesting dynamic that I'm interested in seeing played out. The animation is beautiful, and the small switches to a more chibi style aren't disruptive in the least. Aside from some confusion about the initial setup of the world, if this show becomes a magical slice-of-life with even a fraction of the heart of Uchouten, I'm in.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou (MAL) Two girls in old-school fatigues, cruising around a cold, apocalyptic, industrial wasteland. Sounds cool to me. Chito is the collected, tired foil to Yuuri's galavanting, charismatic self. The animation is a bit divergent, in that while the landscapes are detailed in their greyness, the art of the two girls echoes something like Hidamari in its style. While initially strange, it didn't become anything more than just "noticeable." The muscial backdrop is a flowing, airy tone that fits well with the girls having fun praticing shooting or walking around looking for supplies.The music and the attitudes of Chi and Yuu create an atmosphere to the point that doesn't feel like a depressing, sober look at war. Seeing it through the eyes of two children also puts the concepts of war and conflict in eerily simple terms, providing a new look at a concept done to death, so to speak. There's a strangely relaxed feel despite the landscape and color scheme. It remains to be seen if this will go the route of Made in Abyss, especially with an out of place scene at the end of the episode, but while MiA was fucking phenomenal, I could do with less bawling two seasons in a row. This is a strange one, but the simple story of Chi and Yuu trudging across the snowy landscape is appealing.

Konohana Kitan (MAL) Cute fox girls working at a traditional Japanese hot spring hotel? I'm in. Yuzu is the nervous newbie, Kiri is the charismatic head attendant, Natsume is spunky and atheletic, Satsuki is responsible to a fault, Ren is the doll-like one whose personality doesn't match her cute exterior, and there's the diminutive, quiet Sakura. The personalities of the girls are varied and interplay nicely, and I look forward to seeing how Yuzu fits in. Moreover, the art is fantastic. The character designs echo perfectly the individual personalities, and the landscapes of cherry blossoms are stunning. I personally love the traditional Japanese aesthetic the inn and surrounding town embody, and it obviously fits well with the fact that the girls are all kitsunes. Konohana seems to me like a slightly less energetic/comedic Urara Meirochou, which is a good thing. The aesthetic is great, the girls are cute - this is a show for healing, and I need it.

Blend-S (MAL) Maika, a perpetual job hunter with her naturally scary eyes, finds her home at a cafe where all the waitresses are archetypes, as the sadistic one. Blend-S is almost like a more overt version of the varied personalities in Working!, with all comedy and less romance. I quite like the juxtaposition of the girls' normal personalities when talking to each other and their work personalities (especially when the line blurs). While usually its a cute girl who's actually evil or something and used as boring shock value, being the point of the show pivots the concept into a new way I enjoy. Even moreso, Maika especially has plenty of quirks that bely her role as the "normal" main character. The art is clean and sharp, and the girls have great character designs - I really like the facial designs. The OP, by the VAs (which is always a plus), is fantastic both in design and music, and compliments the more relaxed ED (which is also by the VAs). Overall, this show is friendly and the girls are cute. Sounds good to me.

Boku no Kanojo ga Majimesugiru Sho-bitch na Ken (MAL) Adaptations with stock character protagonists and plenty of overt fanservice.  Yay. I'm amazed this isn't from an LN, because it is exactly that kind of show. Shobitch begins with our MC Shinozaki confessing to Kosaka, which she accepts. Then she learns "how to be a good girlfriend," which far more often than not involves plenty of fanservice. Also, despite him having a girlfriend, there's a whole variety of other girls interested in him - the childhood friend and imouto get ticked off the list int he first six minutes. On the bright side, the art is great. Character designs aside from the protag are varied and well-drawn. Kosaka's earnestness with which she wants to be a good girlfriend is endearing in itself, but the 100% focus on sexual themes is just a bit tiring. Sort of like how Kuzu no Honkai went from seriously emotional to reducing any character motivation to "the only way I can be loved is physically." Regardless, you know exactly what you're getting into with a title like this show. There are some genuine emotional moments, but they are few and very far between. Otherwise, Shobitch is a well-drawn yet bland ecchi definitely-not-LN adaptation.

Inuyashiki (MAL) Last but not least, adding to the limited action slate I'm watching this season, we have Inuyashiki. Inuyashiki is, for lack of a better term, strange. It begins with nearly all CG, but then transitions to a mix of normal animation and CG for the rest of the episode. The first half of episode one is one of the most solemn, depressing sequences I've seen, and that's blown away by a whirlwind of aliens, body-swapping, and mechanical bodies. While the tonal shift is quite jarring, the change wasn't anything completely incomprehensible. The problem will be where this will go, now that Ichiro, our man with months to live, is now equipped with alien technology. I'm hoping that within the mix of action there will be a sense that Ichiro, now unshackled by sickness, can make concrete steps to make his life better. While the action shots were nice-looking, and the CG actually doesn't look half bad, with how emotionally powerful the first half of episode one is I want to see more of that as well. Either way, Inuyashiki has my attention, and I'm eager to see where Ichiro goes.

[calorieworkouts]

Lifting With the Big Boys: A Life Changed by Training

I was 15 and also felt unstoppable. Scorching throughout heaven line, I slid the puck in between the defender's legs and avoided his shoulder. One consider the goalie was all it took for me to turn the puck easily right into the top right edge of the web. What complied with was a mild 'ping' of the blog post and an umpire's whistle to indicate the goal. I got on a state of satori and ended up being removed from my surroundings. All of a sudden an acne ridden behemoth squashed me right into the ground with an inexpensive shot. Apparently he didn't appreciate being deked around and also couldn't contain himself in his testosterone-fueled rage. I was concussed. All I bear in mind hearing was something like 'that's what you get shrimp!' It took a week for my migraines to diminish - I'm lucky it wasn't even worse. I'm 5'4' currently. My entire life was on the receiving end of both bodily and spoken intimidation. It never ever bothered me. I always recognized that I would ultimately get the much better of them as well as their jibes and also strikes originated from insecurity. When I obtained blind-sided every little thing altered. Never ever had I really felt so at risk. If one pinhead can squash me with an affordable shot there was no reason it would not take place again. That was the moment I determined to lift weights. My Father has always been my most significant inspiration and the day he brought me to function out with him at the YMCA altered my life. I weighed 105 lbs. As I stood in the area with the small weights carelessly doing biceps swirls with 10 lb pinheads I began to dream. 'Someday,' I assumed, 'I'll be able to raise weights in the huge child area where the pinheads begin at 20 lbs.'

Gaston, Goggles, and Spike

I owe a lot to my initial fitness center friends, Travor and also Brandon, that came with me to the fitness center after school daily, rainfall or shine. We failed together and we grew with each other. My fondest memory from those days was the nicknames we offered to the substantial guys at the gym. Gaston was a person with a ponytail and also 20 inch arms, Goggles was a man with Coke container glasses that had such substantial lats he strolled sidewards through doors, as well as Spike was a man with a Mohawk and also tree trunks for legs. These characters, which only exist as animations in my memory, offered me toughness. Putting them down behind their backs appeared making my puny biceps compare with theirs.

I Was Just About to Give Up...

It's now one year later on and I weight a frustrating 108 pounds. I can do a chest press with the weights from the huge boy area but was still curl and also burning with the 12s. This was my cheapest factor. I would certainly broken my butt and also really did not believe I had anything to reveal for it. I was still getting battered in hockey and entered a bunch of problem for violently striking back. I obtained a 6-game suspension and the cops ended up being involved. I regret what I did to today but the bully had pressed me over the edge. In college he would certainly plague me everyday and also he was the type of hockey player that understood precisely which switches to press. Everything went red as well as I blew up. I apologize and also am fortunate everyone was ALRIGHT. Lucky for me my initial a-ha moment was best nearby. At once when absolutely nothing was going right and I will quit both the fitness center as well as hockey I tossed an event at my house. To my surprise I located myself in my childhood years room with the girl who would certainly become my initial partner. In a circumstances of extraordinary blowing I took off my shirt as well as you understand just what? She discovered! She matched my body and claimed 'you should be exercising.' That was it, and also I was hooked.

Cottage Cheese

All I keep in mind from College is a bunch of partying, the university health club, pointless multiple-choice examinations, and also home cheese (I vaguely keep in mind reviewing a Male's Health write-up spokening it had bunches of healthy protein). On a daily basis for 2 years I ate a large bowl of 2 percent home cheese with lunch. At the end of those 2 years I evaluated 145 pounds. This was where my actual education occurred. I 'd rest in the fitness center (by 2nd year I managed the weight area) with a biomechanics textbook and also attempt to call all the movements individuals were doing. I presumed regarding try and also imagine the heart beat, the muscle mass contract, and the lungs expand of everyone exercising. I didn't recognize much but I maintaineded at it, day in and day out. I would certainly comply with an exercise from a magazine one month, a book the following, as well as determine to develop my very own program the following. It had not been reliable but gradually I became a motion specialist. Thirty hrs of committed study in the health club and also 25 one hours of lecture outside of a week aided me develop my 10,000 hrs early. After four years of functioning out it clicked and also I figured out the trick. I started to focus much more on the movement, not on the weights. The mind-muscle connection became my top priority. Instantly I started obtaining massive gains. I dead lifted two plates for the very first time as well as was able to bench press my weight. Most of all I went out of my means to obtain welcomed to pool parties.

Forever Changed

I owe the fitness center a whole lot. It's transformed my life. It provided me a haven when I needed to obtain comfortable in my very own skin and also has actually been my 2nd residence for the past 12 years. I currently change between 150-160 pounds and feel great. I even returned to train at the YMCA in 2014. While raising weights in the large boy location I dipped into to see two young people experimenting with weights. Some health club goers would have most likely thought these kids were morons. I merely grinned and assumed to myself 'the cycle proceeds.' Nowadays I do not have any kind of lofty objectives. I like the means I look. I can bench press 200 pounds, squat 250, as well as deadlift 400. I do not bother with digging deep each day as well as advancing with every workout. To me enjoyment as well as satisfaction of the journey is exactly what issues. Probably my greatest pleasure in life originates from assisting others attain the exact same level of gratification via exercise that I did. Do not obtain confused attempting to find the next best exercise, the magic diet regimen, or one of the most efficient cardio. They don't exist. The Evil one isn't really in the information. Just obtain out there and obtain relocating. Find your Gaston as well as anticipate your a-ha minute. I guarantee you will not recall.