The reasons as to why I fail in social situations (plus a clue to my next review.)

This particular article actually relates to several reviews that will occur in the future...but it mostly is a random story about how I fail.

Recently, I was faced with a difficult trial. From time to time, I go to bookstores and look at their selection of anime and manga. Well this past Friday after I watched "Summer Wars", I visited a bookstore in town and came to notice that Funimation has released these "SAVE" dvds that contain and entire series just in one set. It is like a smaller version of a box set and is much cheaper.

I ended up purchasing "Comic Party Revolution" since it had all 13 episodes for only about $15. Talk about a great deal, right? Well, when I was there, I also noticed that they had a very similar deal for "Welcome to the NHK", which I happened to have ADORED when I watched it two years ago. However, when I looked at the rating on the back, I instantly feared that I couldn't get it. So I left the store, slightly heart broken.

The next day, I attended an art contest in which I didn't interact with anyone and just awkwardly stood, leaning against a rail and clutching a large canvas. Every time someone came near me, I would instantly tense up and feel myself turn to stone (similar to Kuragehime) and pray to myself they wouldn't try and talk to me. Lucky for me, when I went to get judged, my nerves disappeared when I saw the classroom was coated in anime drawings and demotivational posters. The only people I talked to at that entire thing was my judge, one of my friends I saw for 15 minutes, and my art teachers.

Afterwards however, I decided to derp around. One of those derps brought me back to the bookstore. I found myself going back over and picking up the "Welcome to the NHK" dvd once more and clutching it tightly. It was so close in my grasp and I was so close to buying it. I feared though that my age was a huge factor though. I was pretty sure I was old enough...but I wasn't clear about their ages regarding ratings. I peered over and saw a woman restocking shelves. I took in a deep breath, telling myself, "You can do this, come on...the worse she can say is, 'you aren't old enough' or 'no.'" So with all of my confidence I walked over to her. This is how it went:

Me: -walks up to employee- Excuse me...ma'am?
Employee: -turns around- Yes? How may I help you?
Me: I was wondering...-pauses-
Inner Thoughts: Oh Gosh, what if she thinks badly of me? I don't want to be judged! What if they kick me out or something?! (continue inner rant)
Employee: Wondering what?
Me: Uh...euh...-panics and randomly points to a part on the price tag- What does this mean?!
Employee: -gives me a look as if she was annoyed by my question and thought I was crazy- Um...it doesn't really mean anything in particular.
Me: O-oh! Well...thank you anyways!
Employee: Uh...anytime...
Me: -retreats awkwardly to the anime aisle again-
It can all be illustrated through these screen shots from Kuragehime:

In other words, from time to time I can totally suck when it comes to interaction in public situations.

So that day, I ended up chickening out and not buying the DVD. I kind of sat in a pool of self pity for a while, mad at myself that I cannot even ask a simple question. However, this past Monday I asked all of my friends at school if I was old enough, and they said yes, which built up my confidence dramatically.

That afternoon, I went back to the book store, standing outside, a look of determination on my face.

I was going to do this. No backing down now.

I walked through the store with a purpose, telling myself to not give up. I picked up the DVD, walked to the register and the woman sold me the DVD. She didn't even ID me. She handed me the bag and I thanked her, leaving the store.

When I left the store...I paused momentarily. I held up the DVD, looking at it and a huge smile came across my face and I squealed with excitement and hugged the DVD shouting, "I got it, I got it! I actually bought it! Ah~" and jumped up and down, spinning in circles, "I can't believe I have Welcome to the NHK in my hands!" in that moment, I sang about my new found ownership of this DVD and danced all the way back to my car.

(I feel Clover from 999's absolute adorableness captures my happiness <3)

After overcoming my awkward social issues, I realized this: I now know what true bliss feels like.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: With the beginning of a new month, I will go back to reviewing rather than my off topic rants for a while.

Nami Tamaki Rant (Segment One)

This will be completed in installments, spreading my rage, sorrow, and joy throughout an even posting schedule. More or so, I simply can't continuously keep typing a long rant for a continuous amount of time since I do have other life activities that I partake in aside form blogging.

What is different about this is that I probably will rarely ever mention music in here. (That was a lie. You may see a lot of Japanese and Korean music tangents in here.) I will try and obstain from it though since I know describing a musician can get a bit boring. However, I felt the need to rant about this issue.

Personally, I adore Nami Tamaki to a high level. Ever since the summer of 2005, I have actively listened to music of hers on Youtube and watched all of her PVs. I even managed to get a hold of her CD, "Greeting" when I was at an anime convention early 2008. She never was incredibly pretty in the beginning to me, although now that I think of it, she actually was pretty in some of her videos, just not all the time, and now I have noticed she grew in to quite an adorable and gorgeous young woman. I always felt she had the potential to be very beautiful.

Nami is well known for her amazing dancing and it was actually the way she was discovered and what she is best known for. In 2001, she auditioned for Sony Music while singing and dancing to Destiny's Child's song, "Survivor." Ever since 2002, her career has flourished and she has become a pop queen in Japan.

She produced hit after hit and even sang for anime's such as the Gundam series and D.Gray Man. These songs included "Reason", "Realize", "Brightdown" and others. She even sang a song for the Japanese version of High School Musical in which she performed a cover of "You are the music in me."

Ever since I listened to the song, "Prayer" back in 2005, I have loved this girl's music and her dancing. I often found myself running around my house, imitating her movements and singing her songs. Nami's music is catchy, something easy to dance to, and altogether awesome sounding.

However, Nami recently shattered my soul.

I suppose it was the switching of record labels from "Sony" to "Universal Japan." I noticed just before she left Sony, she was getting pretty skinny, and I feared she may have had a problem, but then I pushed it aside when I saw that even her first two PVs with Universal J, she was still thin in "Give me Up" and "Friends!".

This is when I began to feel a bit skeptical of Nami.

In "Give me Up", I noticed that she was wearing a belly shirt, which I was okay with. This was a common thing that you would see in her videos considering they wanted to use full advantages with her dancing and her slender body. In "Friends!" I thought, "Oh, she looks so cute...this is okay. This is the image that she should stick with, it works for her." And I was okay with it. However in her next video, "Omoide ni naru no?" I thought, "That is okay...every artist has their more serious song. This is good for her, she hasn't had one like this for a while." But by the time "Missing You, TTL" came out, I was in a fit.

It wasn't the fact that is was a cover of T-ara Supernova's song, "Time to Love", I even thought it sounded excellent. It was the way she dressed! I was so shocked and I was thinking, "Nami, you can't be like that! That is not you!" and I practically had a panic attack.

I presumed something like this was coming though when I saw her Facebook photos a few weeks prior. If I ever was given the ability to faint, I would have done so right there. Her image is completely changes and she was posing nude and in underwear. I don't know if they are trying to be sensual or sexy, but as a fan, I hate it.

I want my old Nami back.

(To be continued.)

An important life lesson is in this.

This work of masterpiece is one that can ultimately display a life lesson to many. “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” allows the audience to understand that every action has an equal and opposite reaction and that the things in which we do can drastically alter the things that occur around us. It is similar to the term, “If you kill a butterfly in the past, it can dramatically alter the present.” 

“The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” is told through the female character, Makoto Konno, a somewhat normal high school student. However, she one day mysteriously acquires the ability to time travel. This ability is referred to as a “time leap” and was discovered one day when she almost was caught in fatal accident at a railroad crossing. Her breaks on her bike went out and she flipped over the bar just as the train was about to come. Out of nowhere, she suddenly time leaps and is all right and walks away, unharmed before the incident even happens.  

Makoto discovers as to what this ability entitles through her aunt who she refers to as a witch. “Auntie Witch” informs her as to how from time to time, teenagers receive this odd ability.

Excited about this new found ability, Makoto in turn uses her time leaps to prevent ordinary day-to-day occurrences such as being tardy or failing a test. She even uses her time leaps once to extend a karaoke session for hours to prevent from paying to extend the time. Over time however, she begins to realize as she does these things, her actions are starting to affect others around her.

A prime example is when she was working on a cooking assignment in class. The first time, she messed up. The second time though, she convinced a boy to switch jobs with her and he was in turn the one who messed up, and she was fully prepared to deal with the accident, knowing it would occur. This being the case, the boy is then ridiculed for his mistake through the rest of the movie and in turn begins to become mentally unstable. 

 She eventually starts repeatedly using her time leaps when her friend, Chiaki Mamiya, confesses that he in fact loves her. Makoto finds the idea awkward and tries to fit every scenario around it to prevent the incident from occurring.

Over time though, she discovers that her leaps are limited. However, she uses the last of them to prevent Chiaki from figuring out she could time leap. This being the case, she is unable to stop a terrible accident from occurring between her other friend and his girl friend. 

The next is a huge climactic part in which Chiaki and Makoto share a dramatic moment. This is one of the most crucial and heart breaking moments of the film. Time mysteriously stops and you essentially feel the same amount of pain and sorrow that Makoto feels in this moment.

This film ultimately tears at your heartstrings and pulls you in completely. The idea of this film is something of interesting, and definitely has character development that you just love. The only downside is, you hate the actions of the characters themselves and it makes you frustrated that the story doesn’t play out the way you want it to.

That was the only problem I found in this film. Over time you just despise the way in which the characters make their choices and you practically find yourself begging for this tale to end in a different manner.

However, the film is over all an excellent masterpiece. If you don’t mind a little bit of rage that may be enclosed towards the ending, this is definitely a wondrous story with a good plot. 

 Remember, time waits for no one.
 

Wonderful vocabulary meets a beautiful story

Upon recommendation, I came to watching the movie, "5 centimeters per second." The odd thing about this film is, this is actually just a collection of short stories. It goes over the view point of one boy, Takaki Tonou while beginning when modern technology was not very common. (Meaning there was no real use of cell phones or email to a popular level yet.) This is split into 3 seperate episodes.

Episode one: Cherry Blossom

This is the beginning of the story in which Takaki meets the transfer student, Akari Shinohara, and eventually befriends her. They eventually grow very close and their relationship becomes incredibly strong but in the translations, it is not expressed as strongly in translated versions for some reason. They are presumed to have eventually become romantically involved, but it is not clear.

Unfortunately, the two are separated when Akari is forced to move due to her parents' jobs. They in turn write letters to each other, but eventually lose contact and drift apart. However, in the future Takaki moves as well. But, he will be even further away from Akari. Due to this, he decides to visit her one more time, in fear that he may never see her again. He writes a heart felt letter that he intended to give her, but on the train ride he lost it in a major snow storm. They eventually meet, but get stranded in an old shed together in which they both fall asleep. When they awake, he leaves, and Akari is left, holding a letter that she wanted to give to Takaki, just like he wanted to give to her.

Episode Two: Cosmonaut

Over the years, Takaki meets a girl named Kanae Sumida. She eventually falls in love with Takaki and goes out of her way every day so that she can have the chance to go home along side with him. Kanae loves him, but Takaki is ignorant to her emotions, so she appears as nothing but a good friend.

She notices that over time, Takaki had been writing emails. She eventually figures that he loved another girl, and decides to refrain from telling him her feelings. However, he was not addressing the emails to anyone. But, he wrote them every time he thought of Akari.

Episode Three: 5 Centimeters Per Second

The final segment of this tale deals with Takaki and Akari after they have aged and become adults. They both dual narrate and speak of their pasts and the memories they had with one another. Akari finds the old letter that she wanted to give Takaki, and it returns as to how they both wish to see the cherry blossoms together again one day.

One day while the two were walking, they both happened to pass one another. They have a double take and look back, only to find a train begin to separate them. When the train clears, Akari is gone.

This film is beautifully depicted and the art is absolutely gorgeous. Each scene is practically breathtaking and I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I thought that it was beautiful in every form, and I was a little proud of the creators.

What shocked me though was the immense use of language. It was very sophisticated and was very odd. I personally respected it greatly and I found it spectacular, but it seemed far beyond the comprehension of the age group of him when Takaki was a boy.

The only issue with this is that it can appear boring. There are a lot of quiet scenes and it mostly consists of narration. The story is gorgeous and is well worth watching, but it is very dull to view and is easy to fall asleep to. Relaxing if anything.

All in all however, this film is well worth watching.

The worst thing to get stuck in your head.

I have noticed that I have yet to rant about a bad anime. Well, I figured I might as well start my disappointment with the anime, "Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro Chan". This is probably one of the stupidest things I have ever laid witness to. Luckily, this series was only about 12 episodes. Despite it being so short, there were many times that I wanted to just quit, I didn't want to deal with it anymore. However, I somehow pushed my way through this.

What is ridiculous is the level of cuteness that they put in this anime. I personally adore cute things, but this was ridiculous when they combined it with violence and other mature themes. The song above may sound adorable, but it is riddled with violent terminology. Not only is this filled with violence that "pi piru piru pi" part gets stuck in your head for days. Despite how much you try to deny it, it remains burned in to your mind. I heard the song once, about a year prior to watching the anime, and I still had it randomly popping in my head from time to time. Even now, after I have watched it and decided I dislike it, it still comes in to my head.

The fact of the matter, despite how difficult it was to find, there actually is a plot to this! It has something to do with 20 years in the future, girls stop aging at 12 in order to make adults more happy. It really is sickening. Well apparently, God got furious about the technical use of immortality and sent down Dokuro from the assassination angels to kill the main lead, Sakura Kusakabe, who apparently creates this world. She however thinks that he can be redeemed, so she doesn't kill him. Instead, she has random acts of violence in which she kills or injures him severely, just to revive him with her angel powers. Note: There is an over dramatic use of blood in this anime.

But in actuality, this anime is absolutely ridiculous. Nothing adds up to anything and it doesn't make sense at all.

Examples of the stupidity:
Above is Dokuro, below...her younger sister.

It isn't so much that her sister Zakuro looks older, it is the fact of their age. Zakuro is supposed to be 9 or something ridiculous like that and Dokuro is supposed to be around 13. Maybe it's just this way this anime works, but as an angel, do you get younger and more cute, less attractive as you gain age?

Another dumb thing:

Apparently when an angel gets their halo knocked off, they get explosive diarrhea.

If you are thinking on the same level as me, when you read the sentence above you probably went, "...wat."

And yeah, I am not lying here.

Third example:

This anime seems to like to use "real life images". Why? Apparently when these angels get mad at you, you end up with the real life head of an animal for the rest of the series.

All in all, this anime simply follows a boring cycle.
Joke-Violence-Revival-Violence-Joke-Revival-Inappropriate scene-Inappropriate scene-Violence-Revival
Take that and just put it on repeat, and you got this anime in a nutshell.

In the end, it was hard for me just to sit through this. But, it really takes a lot for me to not finish an anime. I will sit through it, just to finish to see if it gets better. This did not get any better. I would not recommend it unless you love adorably inappropriate little girls prancing around with violence.

Only good thing that came out of this? Hazuki from "Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu" cosplayed as Dokuro in one of the episodes. That is honestly the only reason why I watched Dokuro chan in the first place.

Fooly Cooly! -hand gestures-

If you have actually seen this anime, you will understand that the title is referenced to the random movements following Naota's father's little freak out about what "Fooly Cooly" actually implies. And to those wondering, yes, this post is actually about the very short lived series, "FLCL".

But despite being short lived, you can't deny that six episodes was enough time to spin together a rather interesting tale. Each episode is packed with a strange amount of things that keep pulling you back in. However, it is still very confusing. I can't lie that it took me a considerable amount of time to actually understand this anime. I must have watched the series over and over until I began to actually grasp what it may be about. This anime is weird, but you just can't stop watching.

Your win, Gainax.

The actual concept of this anime is very interesting. It centers around a boy named Naota Nandaba who encounters a pink haired woman named Haruko Haruhara one day after she hits him with her yellow vespa which he was standing with his friend, Mamimi Samejima. There is a huge issue that arises as Haruko over dramatizes the fact that she hit Naota. She claims that he is dead and put upon a huge spectacle while Mamimi remains somewhat alright about the situation, realizing that her friend might be hurt, but not to that extent. However, she does get mad at Haruko of course, who for some reason decides to play it off.

By some strange circumstances, Haruko soon becomes a live in maid for Naota's family without his knowledge. He discovers that she is to be living there when he comes downstairs to find Haruko eating in his house. It is then when this happens, the thing relating back to the title:

Anyways, it is after that point that strange events begin to occur such as random robots spawning from his forehead. Naota can pretty much kiss a normal life goodbye at this point.

Over time however, you begin to love the characters and the anime despite it's very strange nature. Each of them are very unique and you some how find your way drawn to each of them individually for different reasons. They are outgoing, bold, and each have a unique personality of their own.

 

Of all the characters, Haruko is definitely the one you will never forget. They find a way to have her essentially stick to you in a way that several years later you will see a yellow moped or a blue guitar and shout, "Haruko Haruhara!" and then feel a little bit of excitement in your heart.

The art is also quite interesting here. It is not one that you see very often and I have come to admire it. There is something about this style that makes it one you want to see more of. You practically crave to a creation similar to this wacky, but almost lazy art.

Why lazy? It is simple. If you pay attention through this series, you can see that they tend to not finish things. Incomplete backgrounds are very common and tend to just fade away into a white oblivion. But despite this, you can sometimes see drawings that range from very basic to very detailed.

Along with the art, the soundtrack for this series fits perfectly. All of the songs (from what I gathered) are performed by one band, "The Pillows" and their music fits wonderfully with the scenes that they work in to the anime. Despite whether or not you watch this anime, the music is something that you will still want to continue listening to. In my opinion, it is one of the best sound tracks I have come across in my experience with anime.

The music is embedded in to the series in an example such as the below, really expanding the scene into something much more spectacular.

In other words, "FLCL" is much like a magical experience.

A tale of two lovers

In honor of the fact that today is Valentines Day, I decided to discuss a true love story between a boy and a girl in the fantastic and thrilling anime, “Psalms of Planets Eureka Seven.” The fact of the matter is, “Eureka Seven” is a captivating tale that really grabs a hold of your emotions as you encounter this mecha romance series.

This fifty episode tale is told through the eyes of the male protagonist, Renton Thurston, a boy who will in turn participate in one of the best love stories I have laid my eyes upon. Despite this child’s emotional output that gives him the characteristics of a woman, he is excellent for conveying this series.

The female lead, Eureka, is the girl upon which whom he shares this thrilling adventure. They endure all of the challenges they face together and their bond grows as they truly begin to love each other. Their relationship is strong, which is something that you never seem to be able to fully grasp in most anime.

A great thing is, you begin to love the characters. They each hold these beautiful characteristics about themselves that definitely give them their own individual personalities that allow you to get a grasp of their emotions. You tend to adore each character before you even realize it. Every action that affects them has you right there, rooting them on or sharing their pain. This anime has an excellent method at pulling you in.

The way in which this tale begins is that Renton by a freak chance runs in to Eureka after Nirvash typeZERO (upon which she was piloting) accidentally crashes into his rooms next to his Grandfather’s garage (whom Renton originally lives with). After several events occur, Renton finds himself a part of Gekko State, the ship that is led by Holland Novak. 


Over a stream of events, Renton develops relationships with all of the crew members along with people who he meets along the way. Friendships develop, arguments occur overtime. However, it is all to convey one of the several messages that are released in this plot.

One of which is racial integration, which is said to be one of the most obvious of messages embedded in to this tale. A prime example of this is the relationship between Eureka and Renton. Renton and Eureka contain a unique relationship considering that Renton is a normal human boy, and Eureka, whom was created by the Scub Coral as a human like Coralian. The Scub Coral wish to co-exist alongside humans, but violent actions have been made against humanity, causing the two to have growing tensions, making a relationship such as Renton and Eureka's frowned upon.

We also see that religious tolerance and harmony is expressed throughout the character's relationships and present a large center of conflict throughout the series. It expresses political messages and war like scenarios as well as powerful movements that relate to the real world around us but are placed into a series that makes these issues easier to understand.

But on a personal note, this anime also delivers a message of unity and family relationships. We get to understand a more innocent and child like love through all of the characters that give people more of an idea of what love truly is. Eureka Seven makes it certain that you are not fed that a true relationship only relies on physical attraction and how far they can go with said person. What is lovely about this anime is that it lets you know that beauty doesn't lie on the outside, that that isn't what truly matters. The real beauty lies inside of the person them self. 


Along with these, we can get an idea for personal aspirations and the idea of guilt and living with the choices you have made. It shows you that every action contains a reaction and that you must continue with your goals, but understand that every move you make will in some way effect another.

The finale to this anime had me as an emotional wreck. I recorded it so I could watch it multiple times and each time I found myself crying harder. The ending was beautifully created and allows you to understand Eureka and Renton's relationship for exactly as what it is. Although it leaves you at such a cliff hanger ending, you cannot help but feel drawn to and inspired by this ending.

My only objection to this anime was the movie created from it. "Good Night, Sleep Tight, Young Lovers" was the title of the movie. It is not that the movie itself was bad, it just was very confusing.

The entire plot was different from the standard Eureka Seven that I knew. It was confusing, gave you no back story or explanation, and if you had just began the series by watching this, you would be confused. The reasons as to why are this: Although you may find the different plot something of interesting, you would not understand any of the relationships of the characters that are displayed. You would be absolutely confused as to what was going on in this scenario since you have no clue who each person is and as to how they got to the place they were at that moment.

If you saw the series, you would understand the movie much better. The only downside is, you would be raging as to why it was so different. The same idea is generally there, it is just hidden beneath the entirely new worked plot. But, don't misunderstand me, the movie is not bad. It was just far from what I expected out of them. The idea is good, and I do not regret begging for the DVD, it just is something completely different and I would never recommend it to someone who has never seen Eureka Seven before.

All in all though, this anime is simply described as beautiful. It should never be considered a waste of time and is definitely worth watching. I would give it an 11 out of 10 and would recommend it to anyone. This tale is a beautiful love story and is well worth sticking around for.