thenanamisimp

[thenanamisimp]

My love story with Yamada-kun at lvl.999

Genre: Romance

Warnings: None

So.... This was cute. This is basically Wotakoi but with young adults.

Akane gets broken up with and in order to deal with her breakup, she starts spending a lot of time on Forest of Saviour. As she gets to know her guildmates, she happens to run into one of them, Yamada, at a FoS event where her ex boyfriend also happens to be. This leads to Yamada and Akane eventually getting closer and becoming friends.

This anime was overall adorable. It's got your classic romance tropes; the one-of-them-gets-sick-the-other-takes-care-of-them episode, the school festival episode but also has cute moments that are only possible because these 2 people are gaming nerds.

The animation and art is cute but not outstanding but gimme any seems-cold-but-isn't, monotone, soft spoken character voiced by Uchiyama Kouki and you've got me HOOKED.

This is adorable. Definitely one of the better romance anime I've watched. Worth watching!

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Bocchi the Rock

Genre: Comedy

Warnings: None

I honestly watched this one on a whim - I was sick and looking for something that looked appropriate to watch in the living room, where my parents were also hanging out, plus I remembered seeing that it got nominated for a bunch of awards. That and also I've loved any music related anime I've watched, those being Given and Your lie in April (yes I'm bringing up YLiA - it was devastating and also probably my descent into watching every heartbreaking anime I can find) and also technically IDOLiSH7?

Bocchi the Rock is a slice of life anime about an introverted young girl who turned to music in hopes of it helping her come out of her shell. When she starts high school with the hopes of joining a band but with too much fear to talk to anyone, she decides to take her guitar to school one day, hoping that will get someone to talk to her. By the end of the day she finds herself in a band, on stage and with some new friends!

I always find myself relating to the characters in anime about music in one way or another. This time especially, considering that as an awkward teenager who grew up playing music, it was one of my outlets that let me connect with people in school. Even if I wasn't as socially anxious as Bocchi, I definitely was hella socially awkward (still am tbqh) and music was one of the few ways I had of genuinely connecting with people, either through playing or listening.

The anime itself is incredibly wholesome, the animation and art style are very cute and well done and the music, of course, is AMAZING. I love me some good anime rock. The characters are sweet and well written - it's nice to see teenage girls actually done justice for once. They each have distinct and well thought-out personalities and hey would you look at that - they actually act like teenage girls!

It's also nice to see some casual queer representation, as much as it was intentional or not. Kita having a crush on Ryu (this is not just a friendly obsession, trust me) and it being so casually mentioned makes my heart warm.I haven't actually looked into whether it's canon or not but in my eyes, this is very clearly a queer character. I probably sound like a broken record bringing up queer representation in every other post but as a mid-twenties queer person who is just now finally starting to see casual representation instead of some far-fetched, queer-baity or weirdly perverted show of what a queer person is supposed to be, it's nice every time and it makes me happy that younger queer people will grow up with shows like this. Showing normal queer emotions is so fucking important.

Excuse the rant! This anime is definitely worth watching. So cute and wholesome, this will warm your heart and also make you laugh at the same time.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Tsurune: Kazemai High School Kyudo Club

Genre: Sports

Warnings: None

OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY THIS IS A GOOD ONE. (yes another sports anime shush)

Tsurune – the sound of a bow when it releases an arrow. That’s the reason Minato decided to learn kyudo, a modern Japanese martial art focusing on archery. After an incident in middle school, he decides to give up on kyudo. When he starts high school however, a strange turn of events have him joining the school’s kyudo club and picking up the bow again.

This sport anime, is genuinely up there with the best sports anime I’ve watched. I mean, nothing compares to Haikyuu but this might come the closest. Every trope included in Tsurune is also included in Haikyuu (and if you know me at all, you know I love everything about Haikyuu). Most importantly, the 3 big sports anime elements prevail once again; someone quitting and coming back, the power of friendship and – drumroll please – the gay tension between teammates!

With Tsurune having the same production studio as Free! we have some beautiful art and animation (as much as I can’t get myself to watch Free! I can appreciate the art).

Sidenote: I watch this when I was very sick with tonsillitis and had a 5 day long fever of 39 degrees (Celsius of course) and I had a fever dream that I was part of the kyudo club. It was fun.

Anyway, I really want more people to watch this anime and appreciate it! I wish it got more love cause I haven’t really heard anyone talk about it. If you do watch it, let me know your thoughts! I hope you enjoy it.

Also, can we take a second to appreciate the BEAUTY of this man? Thanks.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

End of 2024 spring season – part 2

Check out this post to read part 1 of my winter 2024 reviews! It includes my opinions on A sign of affection, The apothecary diaries and Mr villain’s day off.

I know this review is late but, this part 2 includes opinions on Cherry magic! 30 years of virginity can make you a wizard?! and Solo leveling.

Cherry Magic! 30 years of virginity can make you a wizard?!

Holy FUCK was this a surprise. Usually I go into BL with caution because there’s some *cough*Dakaichi*cough* real weird ones BUT. This is incredible?! No wonder people were so excited when this got announced. I loved it so much that I’m writing this review right after watching the finale.

Adachi gained a magic power on his 30th birthday; he can suddenly read the mind of anyone he touches. And that’s how he finds out, the most handsome guy at his office Kurosawa, has a crush on him!

Good lord. They’re the fucking cutest. That’s it, that’s the whole review. The most wholesome BL I’ve ever watched – and I’ve watched Sasaki and Miyano. I guess it’s nice to see fiction about actual adult gay people instead of teens.

The art isn’t my favourite but it follows the manga art style so I can’t be mad. The animation is mediocre at best but you know what, I’ve decided that’s part of the anime’s charm. Deal with it. Consensus is, if you like BL, or if you just wanna watch a cute romance story, this is for you. It’s so sweet, it’s gonna give you a toothache.

Solo leveling

I don't think I've mentioned this much on here before but I'm a big manhwa lover! I especially love webtoons but that's a whole different conversation (I'm obsessed with omniscient reader's viewpoint - currently in the process of reading the very. very long webnovel).

Humanity was caught at a precipice a decade ago when the first gates—portals linked with other dimensions that harbor monsters immune to conventional weaponry—emerged around the world. Humans called hunters are responsible for clearing the monsters inside the gates. E rank hunter Sung Jinwoo. While exploring a supposedly safe dungeon, he and his party encounter an unusual tunnel leading to a deeper area. Enticed by the prospect of treasure, the group presses forward, only to be confronted with horrors beyond their imagination.

This was incredible. My favourite anime of the season for sure. No words, just go watch it.

Thank you for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Suzume

Genre: Adventure/ Fantasy

Warnings: None

Mwahahahah prepare for unpopular opinions!

On her way to school one day, Suzume Iwato stumbles upon Souta Munakata, a young man searching for abandoned areas. The high school girl directs Souta to a nearby ruin, but out of pure curiosity, she herself decides to head to the same destination. Once there, Suzume discovers an isolated door with a dreamlike universe lying beyond it—a place that she can see and feel, but not enter. A strange stone rests on the ground nearby, but it turns into a cat-like creature and scurries away when Suzume lifts it. Suddenly afraid, she heads back toward her school, not realizing that her act of leaving the door open will have consequences.

This movie is truly unparalleled when it comes to visuals. Incredible animation and art, with beautiful choices of colour palettes. And I also absolutely have to praise the direction of this movie! If you’ve already watched Your Name, you will already be familiar with Makoto Shinkai and his beautiful work.

However, in my personal opinion, Suzume fell a bit short in the storytelling. Without spoiling anything, it’s difficult to explain why the movie disappointed me in this aspect. Mostly, I have to say that at the end I had a lot of questions left unanswered – and not in the cool, mysterious Studio Ghibli way of questioning your existence and the world. It was simply questions that left holes in the plot.

At the same time, I had a good time watching this movie. I thought it was enjoyable enough to not mind the plot holes enough – mostly due to how fucking stunning the scenery is in this movie. It’s worth the watch but to be honest, don’t expect another Your Name situation.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

End of 2024 winter season - part 1

So! It is the end of another anime season. Here's what I've been watching:

Cherry magic! 30 years of virginity can make you a wizard?! - Wednesdays

A sign of affection – Saturdays

The apothecary diaries – Saturdays

Solo leveling – Saturdays

Mr villain’s day off – Sundays

Yeah most of them were Saturday releases and it was a PAIN cause it meant I barely had anything to watch during the week. It did give me time to binge other shows tho so I ended up making a lot of progress with my alphabetical series this season (I’m actually almost done with it but I ended up starting 2 anime that aren’t part of the series lol so!)

As of this last week, A sign of affection, The apothecary diaries and Mr villain’s day off have finished airing. This week, the final episodes for Cherry magic! and Solo leveling are coming out so reviews for those will be next week!

A sign of affection

Yuki is trying to navigate the new world that is college as a deaf person with the help of her new friend Rin. One day she meets the well travelled Itsuomi and they both catch each other's attention. Itsuomi starts learning sign language to communicate with her and as they start seeing each other, things develop in the cutest way possible.

Honestly, I was excited about this anime ever since I heard about it a while ago and it somehow managed to exceed my expectations. This is literally the cutest college/university romance I've watched and I wanna see more of them SO BAD, PLUS the side couples are adorable as fuck. The art style is so pretty and seriously fits the vibes of the anime. This is not a skippable one imho, DEFINITELY watch this, especially if you like romance.

The apothecary diaries

Maomao, an apothecary working under the emperor's concubines at the palace, comes across strange happenings and solves mysteries. Jinshi, the young eunuch that all the female palace workers have a crush on, develops a liking for Maomao.

This anime is so unique, probably due to the fact this is an anime not focused around romance with a female protagonist who's badass and her character doesn't revolve around a man. Maomao is one of the coolest female characters I've come across in anime PERIOD. Especially in a shounen. Tho tbh I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a shounen or a shoujo anime but either way, we love Maomao in this house.

The animation is beautiful as well as the colour theme chosen, just like a lot of anime recently. I genuinely think this anime would be liked by anyone and it might be my new recommendation for people wanting to get into anime as it's an easy watch and doesn't have any weird anime tropes in it.

Mr villain’s day off

Slice of life anime about what the villain does on his day off. Pretty self explanatory. This is cute and definitely just a feel good anime. I did find it slightly boring and some weeks I ended up skipping the episode and then watching it the week after. But I also am not one that watches a lot of slice of life, especially not ones where the story isn't continuous between each episode. If you like slice of life, you'll probably enjoy this tho. Cute art and I like the colour themes chosen. The intro and outro were surprisingly good as well. This was probably my least liked of the season. I need angst or at least some romance lol

Thank you for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Run with the wind

Genre: Drama/ Sports

Warnings: None

Me? Watching another sports anime? SHOCKER. To be honest, considering how much I love sports anime, it’s only fair I come back from my break with a sports anime review right?

Run with the wind tells the story of first year university student Kakeru, who got coaxed into joining the track team with a promise of a place to stay by Haiji, the captain of the track team. Along with another 8 students living in the club’s dorms, they decide to try out for the Hakone Ekiden. But how can 10 amateurs qualify for such a race?

This TOHO produced anime, with a clear influence from Haikyuu, ticks off all the sports anime check boxes: one smug idiot who thinks he’s better than everyone else who slowly becomes part of the team, a training arc, impossible feats and oh yeah let’s not forget the unintentional gay sexual tension? (Tho -slight spoiler- I’m pretty sure Kakeru and Haiji are in love by the end of this anime? Like, canonically. Please don’t tell me I interpreted that bit wrong and if yeah then… they need to check the closet again)

I wish we’d gotten a bit more background on our characters cause I’m so curious to know more about them. However, none of them actually got much of a background so it clearly was intentional and I can’t complain too much other than to say that it was a personal preference and I like when I get at least a lil bit of a background on the characters, especially when there’s not a lot of them like in Haikyuu.

Overall a good watch tho I found myself quite bored halfway through? I ended up taking a short break from this and then finishing the like, 9 episodes I had left in one go on a long flight I was on recently. Worth it.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

I'm still here!

I took a short break from anime watching because work got busy and then I was travelling which actually - watching anime on the plane is wonderful, especially when you get flight anxiety. Keeps me distracted!

Anw I'm working on some more reviews right now as I've finally watched, R, S and currently finishing a T series. Will need a short break after that as the U series I wanna watch is still airing (it's undead unluck) so i'll probably be watching other stuff in the meantime I guess!

I'm still here

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

The Q incident

Well… I certainly wasn’t expecting that to happen. This is actually the first letter of the series where I genuinely haven’t been able to find something to watch. The title might be a tad bit overdramatic but that’s okay cause that’s who I am.

I actually had 2 options – both of them being donghua because it was almost impossible to find anime that start with the letter Q. So I tried these two:

Quanzhi Gaoshou (The king’s avatar)

Qi Hou Bilou (Spirits in Chinese brushes)

Here’s the thing. I don’t tend to drop series halfway through very often but I do have a tendency of watching just a couple episodes just to see if I’d like a series before committing to it. That’s what happened with these 2; I gave the first 2-3 episodes a chance and they just really didn’t catch my interest at all so unfortunately – no Q reviews. It is what it is! Fortunately, still have plenty of other stuff on my list from other letters!

Here's a Haikyuu gif to make up for the lack of a Q review. R review coming to you soon!

Thanks for reading! :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Parasyte: the maxim

Genre: Action/Horror/Sci-fi

Warnings: Gore/ Murder/ Blood/ Violence/ Bugs

This is one I've wanted to watch for a while but I've been putting off for a specific reason. I watched the first episode a while ago and the MOMENT I saw a bug like creature burrowing in a boy's arm I QUIT. I watch many disturbing things but the thing that gets to me is bugs. Don't ask why I have no clue. Anyway, basically I closed my eyes during that scene, since it only happens once, and I knew I would like this anime.

The story follows Izumi Shinichi, a high school boy who lives with a parasite in his arm called Migi. Together they fight other parasites who succeeded in taking over their host's brain.

In a way this anime reminded me of Tokyo Ghoul; probably due to the human shaped and human eating creatures but also in the way that the protagonist is something in between, someone who struggles with his identity due to the nature of his situation.

Honestly I don’t have much to say about the anime. It was good, the horror part for me was a bit lacking, it wasn’t giving too much horror. The gore and fights were more shounen level than anything, at least with the more recent standards. But even comparing it to Tokyo Ghoul that came out around the same time, it could’ve done more when it came to the horror aspect.

I liked the brief commentary on the environment and how everything is connected tho I would’ve liked to see it being explored a bit further.

Overall it was a good watch. I still hate bugs tho.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

My new boss is goofy

Genre: Slice of life

Warnings: None :)

This is my first anime in a while that I watched outside of my alphabet thing. I needed some comfort - and it gave me comfort.

My new boss is goofy is about Momose Kentarou, a 26 year old that had to quit his job due to power harassment and abuse from his old boss. He starts a new job and his new manager, Shirosaki Yuusei, is just... a silly goofy guy. Literally.

A feel-good slice-of-life workplace anime that honestly walks a very fine line of almost being BL even tho it technically is not (yeah right - I know what you are...). This shit was the fruitiest shit I've watched without it being a queer genre. Whole ass fruit salad. The production isn't anything insane and it can be so cheesy at times but isn't that why we watch slice-of-life in the first place? For the vibes and the vibes only. And this anime totally gives you that and it does it so well. I loved every moment of it.

I'd say if you like workplace slice-of-life there's nothing about this anime you won't like. Watch this anime if you have the chance!

Thank you for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Ōoku: The inner chambers

Genre: Drama

Warnings: Violence/ Blood/ Murder/ Abuse/ Rape/ Depictions of poor living conditions/ Malnourishment and depictions of extremely poor health/ Human trafficking (in a way? idk what else to call it)

I was unsure about whether I wanted to watch this anime because I had no idea what it's about other than that it's a historical drama.

Ooku: the inner chambers tells the story of how, for the first time ever, a female shogun was instated after a plague that killed most of the male population of Japan. Along with the female shogun, a bunch of new rules were adopted regarding the shogun's concubines and the inner chamber's workers.

This anime had me constantly gasping and pausing because what the FUCK. The story is so tragic and the trauma was being spread around like the fucking plague (pun only mildly intended). Is it bad to say that all the tragedy didn't feel like too much - even tho there's a lot of it. I'm not versed in Japanese history but, considering the rest of the world's history, the abuse, rape as well as the ridiculous rules feel almost too realistic.

The story is seriously well written on top of being well told - the order of storytelling was exactly right for the viewer to connect dots but also still be surprised by what happens. My only gripe - the fucking dialogues. At times, the dialogue felt so incredibly unnatural that I was laughing at the characters talking about a PLAGUE.

The animation was fine, not exceptional but fitting with the anime imo. Once again tho, there were moments which made me laugh cause they were so bad, mainly before intimate moments were implied. Basically the kissing scenes were horribly animated to the point where moments that are meant to be really emotional made me laugh.

Basically what I'm trying to say is this; if you are here for a good tragic story, watch this and watch it only for the story - don't expect anything exceptional from any other aspect of this anime. Plus, it's nice to find good anime on Netflix - for the people who don't use or pay for Crunchyroll.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

End of 2023 autumn season - part 2

Check out this post to read part 1 of my autumn 2023 reviews! It includes my opinions on Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden deductions and Spy x Family season 2.

This part 2 includes opinions on Heaven Official's Blessing season 2 and Jujutsu Kaisen season 2. I waited so long to post this so I could include both reviews in one post since Heaven Official's Blessing actually only just finished this week.

In part 1 I didn't discuss any plot points so no spoiler warning was included; this time I'm talking about 2 of my absolute favourite adaptations - hence SPOILER WARNING for Jujutsu Kaisen and Heaven Official's Blessing (short discussions of the novel as well).

Heaven Official's Blessing, Season 2

Mmmkay so here's the thing... After watching season 1 on Netflix 2 years ago, I bought volume 1 of the official translation, read it and then kinda... Gave up. Then as the hype of season 2 started and then after the first couple episodes came out I became intrigued enough to finally read the rest of the books. And then I got even more attached to Hualian - which caused my MXTX spiral but that's besides the point.

Reading the books was actually a great decision because knowing what happens allowed me to appreciate the adaptation that much more. The first couple episodes of the season were not that exciting for me (I don't particularly enjoy the Banyue arc so I don't care for the aftermath) but then as we properly got into the gambler's den scenes, paradise manor, Fang Xin guoshi - I was hooked. I especially enjoyed the adaptation of the Qi Rong cave scenes and the Gilded Banquet arc. I also seriously loved the liberties the adaptation took with some scenes - like adding more information about the Gilded Banquet and Lord Anle. NOVEL SPOILERS [Hated (but loved) how they teased Xie Lian's parents' suicide - that scene crashed my SOUL as I wasn't expecting to see anything regarding that arc for another couple seasons at least.

Regarding censorship, this season wasn't too bad; do keep in mind tho, nothing too crazy happens in volume 2 which is what season 2 adapted. We lost the lap scene from paradise manor unfortunately. Xie Lian not falling into Hua Cheng's lap was a big loss but instead we got Xie Lian carrying Hua Cheng bridal style out of the way? I don't know, can't complain too much about that one.]

The animation, art and music were, as expected, incredible. This season elevated this donghua for me and earned its spot into my top 10. It probably helps how attached I am to the books and knowing what's coming. Overall, definitely one of my faves of the season. Please give this donghua a chance if you love fantasy.

Jujutsu Kaisen, Season 2

I have so many thoughts. So many feelings.

If you know me or have followed me for any length of time at all - or literally just by reading my name - you'll know that Jujutsu Kaisen is my favourite series of all time. Season 2 ran for almost half of 2023 and for me, it was my favourite of the season, not unexpectedly considering my love for the manga and the anime being my favourite of all time.

I don't wanna talk about the plot of hidden inventory and Shibuya arc cause we all know it's genius writing and plot so.... Let's just hype it up!

First of all, I can't speak about how beautiful the adaptation was and the incredible job the animators did without also talking about how MAPPA treats their employees with the least amount of respect they could. If you weren't online and weren't keeping up with the fandom on twitter as the season 2 was being aired, there were multiple animators from the jjk team tweeting about how horrible they feel and the mental load they are under from the pressure to finish animating jjk with a schedule that was unrealistic. Please show some love to the jjk animators and remember to thank the team - not MAPPA!

That being said, the animation team was ON IT. There was not one single episode that disappointed me - I was instead wowed by every new episode that came out and especially the extended fights, such as Megumi vs Toji, Sukuna vs Mahoraga, Yuji vs Mahito were so well done and beyond my expectations every single time. Even knowing what was about to happen, I was left at the edge of my seat, gasping at how beautiful the adaptation was every. single. time. without fail. I made an event of every new episode and my Thursday nights basically became rituals while the season was being aired.

ANIME SPOILERS [I have to specifically mention that Nanami's death episode, Nobara's death (jury's still out on her death if you cope really hard) and every episode after that were world changing, brain-altering, earth shatteringly good. I mourned Nanami's death for 3 days even knowing it was coming. The animators did an insane job and really did him justice. The whole dancing on the beach transitioning into the fight scenes was simply, insane. I love Nanami. Gege give him BACKKKKKKKK]

Anw this post is basically just Jujutsu Kaisen praise. I love Jujutsu Kaisen and this season surpassed my expectations and I loved every moment of it. Everyone should watch Jujutsu Kaisen, just be warned of the tragedy. And trauma. And many deaths.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

No. 6

Genre: Action/ Drama/ Mystery/ Sci-Fi

Warnings: Violence/ Gore/ Sexual assault

This is an interesting one.

In the adaptation of the light novel series, we meet Shion and Nezumi, 2 boys living in the city No.6 but under vastly different parts of it. They have an unlikely encounter at 12 years old which causes Shion's status to change from elite to just an average citizen of No.6. After further unfortunate circumstances, Shion and Nezumi meet again and together they attempt to fight against the corrupt society of No.6 and its rules.

While the plot sounds interesting, the anime fails to tell it well and the story ends up being confusing and full of plot holes. It felt a little more structured in the second half of the anime and that's when I actually got invested. I haven't read the light novel or the manga but I do feel like this is probably an adaptation issue. The reason I decided to watch this anime in the first place was because I heard it has good queer representation. And while I was disappointed in the animation and music from this anime (both are simply mediocre), it really proved itself as good queer representation. It's just like any other action story where the 2 main characters fall in love despite hardship - the only difference is that in No.6 they're two guys instead of a man and a woman.

The issue is... I feel bad recommending this anime purely because of good representation. If you're looking for that, there's other anime that I would recommend over it - anime that is both animated well and has a more complete story. I wouldn't necessarily stop anyone from watching No.6 (it's not that bad), I just think other anime is worth watching more than this.

Thank you for reading another anime ramble! :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Mo Dao Zu Shi (The founder of diabolism)

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy/ Drama/ Mystery

Warnings: Gore/ Violence

STRAP IN KIDS. WE'RE GOIN ON A RIDEEEEEEEEEEE

So... If you follow my other blog (or even this blog), you'll know how much I love MXTX's TGCF and MDZS novels. And I have been patiently waiting for the letter M so I can finally force myself to watch the MDZS donghua and it was WELL WORTH IT.

Mo Dao Zu Shi (English donghua title: The founder of diabolism) is based on Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's hit novel series of the same Chinese name (English novel name: The grandmaster of demonic cultivation) and it is one of my favourite pieces of fiction of all time. I will attempt to not infodump about the novel in this post other than a section about the adaptation but no promises!

The story starts when Wei Wuxian, a well hated demonic cultivator who died 13 years ago, gets reincarnated and gifted a new body through a demonic ritual. We learn about his early life as a teenager and later as a demonic cultivator (before he died) as well as follow the events of the current timeline where a dismembered body is causing all kinds of chaos.

I went into the donghua knowing what was about to happen.... And it still got me bad cause it made me cry. The story of Wei Wuxian as well as the stories of the side characters are genuinely very sad (tho nothing can compare to the soul crushing sadness of banana fish - but MDZS still made me cry a significant bit).

The art itself is beautiful and even tho I felt like the animation could have been just a tinyyy bit better at times, I think I just have high standards and it's still pretty well animated. I actually really liked the use of CGI because it wasn't used for people (other than for crowds a couple times) but mostly for other things like flags, water and background stuff that actually just made the animation simply smoother.

Don't even get me STARTED on the music because I love instruments and music that are more traditional, from any culture that is. Please excuse my ignorance but as far as I know, the guqin is a traditional Chinese instrument and I'm pretty sure there's a traditional version of a flute in most cultures. I've not really done my research on traditional Chinese music so I will refrain from calling the MDZS music that or even inspired by it but no matter the case, I fucking loved it.

I will give a spoiler warning here because, I wanna talk about the adaptation of the novel as well as compare some scenes and the plot points that were changed in the adaptation. Mostly, I wanna talk about 2 things: the whole process of finding the pieces of the dismembered body as well as the change in the storytelling timeline.

When it came to searching for the pieces of the dismembered body, I got really confused by the addition of the whole watch towers thing? With triggering resentful energy at specific locations after they first subdued the arm? I was so confused. But I think for someone who hasn't read the book, watching the donghua this is probably a little easier to digest than the book and probably helped the production team to keep the donghua on the shorter side (all 5 of the books where adapted into 35 episodes).

But I did like how they kept the timeline a little straighter and actually showing things in (mostly) the order that happened other than a few flashbacks - we got Wei Wuxian's study years at the cloud recess first, then lotus pier being destroyed, him disappearing and coming back as the Yiling patriarch and then we got a lil more of the current timeline when they started looking for the rest of the body etc etc if you've read the novels, you should know where I'm going with this.

Anyway my BIGGEST thing about the donghua is that I was expecting to not see much of Wangxian's relationship, or I was expecting it to be a little more ambiguous considering the censorship but really man... They didn't say it but was it OBVIOUS. We got a (slightly different version) of the three bows in the Jiang ancestral hall as well as them leaving together to go on a journey at the end. They even kept the name of their song (which I was really expecting that they would cut out). Not only that but they MADE THEIR ROBES TURN RED WHEN THEY WHERE FIGHTING THE CORPSES ON THE BURIAL MOUNTS AT THE END?? I died. Had to pause, take a breath, scream a bit and then resume because what censorship? The animators heard that Wangxian is married and they gave us a WEDDING.

Spoiler warning over

Regardless, I think the fantasy elements and the action in the donghua are really well done and I think anyone could enjoy it. I would seriously encourage any fantasy fans to watch this - and if you're into a good tragic, queer story, do pick up the books (be warned - they include sexually explicit content).

Thank you for reading another rant! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Lycoris recoil

Genre: Action

Warnings: Violence/ Blood

You want a ridiculous anime? You got one! (stick with me for this one)

A secret Japanese organisation fights terrorism by training orphaned teenage girls to be unparalleled assassins called Lycoris. The two Lycoris, Chisato and Takina, become partners after a rash decision causes Takina to be kicked out of headquarters. That’s how she meets Chisato, Lycoris prodigy, who is determined to show her there’s more to a Lycoris’ life outside of headquarters.

I know it sounds stupid but I swear you’ll be glad you watched this.

First of all, yes, I’m aware how ridiculous 16 year old assassins that fight terrorism are. I’m also aware this is a fictional work and I can appreciate ridiculousness because Attack on Titan is just as ridiculous if you think about it but it’s just set in a different world so everyone loves AoT.

Second of all, I also know that the reason Chisato is so OP is absolutely stupid but once again. This is an anime that just decides to really go for ridiculous and I’m here for it.

I have watched anime after anime of ridiculous male leads with stupid strong powers where they manage to do the most insane shit and that anime is still considered good *cough*Devilman Crybaby*cough*.

Thing is, the point of this anime is not the Lycoris. It’s not the fighting. It’s Chisato and Takina and the fact that if you add a confession scene, this anime would’ve been the best fucking yuri ever. I will die on this hill, we got queerbaited HARD and you know what? I ate it up. Gimme more. I know those girls are lesbians and they will one day realise they’ve been sitting in a glass closet with no doors.

Moving on from the queerbait tho, while the plot was a bit…. hole-y, I actually found the character writing very good and I’m sure people will disagree with me. But watching Chisato and Takina (even outside the queerbait) I thought that they were two very well rounded characters with interesting personalities and clear ambitions. Plus (and I’m aware the bar is on the floor) but god bless the artists for designing uniforms that made sense and didn’t sexualise them.

Overall I think that this is a great anime. Fight me.

(I dare you to say they’re not in love)

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp

[thenanamisimp]

Kumichou Musume to Sewagakari (The yakuza’s guide to babysitting)

Genre: Slice of life

Warnings: Violence

I BEEN WAITIN FOR THIS ONE.

Honestly, I’m not really a slice of life watcher. If you scroll through my watched list, you’ll see that my favourites tend to be tragic stories, action and fantasy. But when I saw a clip of this anime, I didn’t even look up what it was about, I just added it to my list.

The story follows Tooru Kirishima, who is part of the Sakura yakuza family. He is known as “the demon” and is relentless for showing no mercy when beating people up. His boss decides to put him in charge of taking care of his 7 year old daughter, Sakuragi Yaeka, in hopes of him learning to be more responsible and less brutal.

This anime is absolutely adorable. All the characters are incredibly lovable – yes even the yakuza boss. He’s actually especially likeable. You can see Kirishima genuinely soften and care for Yaeka so much throughout the 12 episodes and by the end of the anime the two of them end up having a very cute older brother – younger sister dynamic. Each episode has such charm and, for a yakuza anime, a surprising lack of violence. Small spoiler warning I was expecting to see a lot of Kirishima protecting Yaeka from people trying to harm her to get to her dad through the whole series. That didn’t really happen as much as I thought which was actually a very happy surprise for me. I kinda like that the anime was just ~vibes~ most of the time. spoiler warning over. The slice of life was really slice of lifing not gonna lie...

I wanna give a quick shoutout to Tooru Kirishima (again) because LOOK AT HIM. Mischievious, darked haired anime men that are secretly sweethearts are my fucking weakness. Save me insane dark haired anime man. Save me.

This is such a chill watch and if you need just like, a break from life, it’s so worth watching. Give this a chance! You won’t regret it.

Thanks for reading another anime ramble! Enjoy watching :)

theNanamiSimp