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My Anime/Manga of 2021

I lived the NEET life for a few months this year and watched/read so many things. This post will contain everything I’ve started/finished this year.

Note; this post is very long.

Anime

I looked through my list and realized that even if it’s a year with lockdowns, I barely have any titles to add here. So this year I will do something different and just comment on everything I started/finished this year.

Here goes!

Turn A Gundam Episode 1-15 Review : Loran on a Roll

The Witch of Mercury is the talk of the town right now, but before the Witch of Mercury, there was Turn A.

Here is the story on how I discovered this 1999 anime in 2022:

I was listening to Yoko Kanno on Spotify. Specifically, I was listening to her Ghost in the Shell SAC soundtrack albums. I was just listening to Hiroyuki Sawano the other day, so my Spotify recommendations were full of anime/mecha stuff. And then this popped up:

I was like: wow, this looks like a cover art for some futuristic fantasy anime like Last Exile or maybe Suisei no Gargantia! Then I read the album title: Turn a Gundam Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

I was like: Ok it’s a Gundam series, but WTF does that even mean, turning a Gundam? What?

takt Op. Destiny Ep. 3-5 review – to New Orleans!

We got 3 solid episodes of Takt dissing everyone he came across.

In these three episodes, we follow Takt and co as they begin their journey to the New York, while defeating some D2 along the way. We get some fun interactions with ‘Destiny’ and Takt, where we see the beginning of the running gag where she bursts through walls and developed her addiction to calories. Watching Takt and Cosette gradually learn to work with each other was pretty interesting.

Amnesia Memories: Toma Good Ending (Day 21-24)

More of Toma’s cage.

MC recalled how Toma was happy when she told him she has a guy she likes. I guess she was disappointed that he’s so oblivious about her feelings. Although MC had been remembering all these love advice she got, she still got no clue who she actually liked. Orion thought it may be Ikki, and that’s what caused Toma to snap.

Toma claimed to have woken up from a weird dream, and was surprised to see MC in a cage (WTF?). But then he remembered that he did all that and was like ‘oh right, but not like I can stop now.’ Later that night, Toma talked about what he’d do if Shin found out about the cage thing.

MC found out that the cage had a weak spot and can be forced open. She did so, grabbed her phone, hid it in the puzzle box that Toma gave her, and replaced the cage bar seconds before Toma came back to the room. Toma noticed almost right away that her phone was gone, and tried calling it. Luckily, she already turned it off and got away with that one. It was the first time MC and Orion managed to get away with fooling Toma…maybe. I had a feeling he knew, though.

Amnesia Memories: Toma Day 16-20

Ayeeee time to get drugged, people!

MC fell asleep right after her morning coffee. Toma teased her about sleeping so much.

The next day, Orion figured out that Toma’s been drugging her. Before they could do anything, Shin came in and demanded an explanation on why MC was at Toma’s house for the past few days.

Amnesia Memories: Toma Day 11-15

Toma was sneezing while he slept, so MC wanted to tuck him under the blanket properly. However, just as she did that, Toma pulled her under the blanket with him.

She recalled that in kindergarten, she couldn’t nap during the day because she wanted to go see her onii-chan in the other class. Toma heard her crying and came over, and brought his sleeping mat so that they could nap together in the same room.

Back to the present. Toma woke up with MC in his arms, and he talked about how big she’s grown compared to when they were little, then he let her go.

Amnesia Memories: Toma Day 6-10

After MC collapsed, Toma watched over her all night. Orion had his doubts about Toma and MC being a couple, since many things point otherwise. However, it was clear that Toma really did care about MC.

Toma napped for 10 minutes while MC held his hand. Meanwhile, Shin messaged MC, asking why she’s been around Toma a lot despite having said that she didn’t want to see him. Toma woke up before she could reply, and left to get lunch from a convenience store. Orion and MC resumed their apartment search. They found a computer but with no battery or charger, for some reason.

Amnesia Memories: Toma Day 1-5

Haiyaaaaaaa it’s now time for my Onii-chan’s route. I’m sort of excited and anxious at the same time. My capacity for reading yandere stories went down tremendously in the past few years, so fingers crossed I’ll make it through his route.

I first watched the Amnesia anime in 2013, and nine years later, my fav character is still Toma nii-chan. Toma is infamous even among people who haven’t seen Amnesia. I show pictures, and my friends would say ‘oh, the cage dude?’ I still like him despite that cage thing. Yeah. It’s almost painful.

I still remember that when the COVID-19 pandemic first started, the Amnesia team gave out a picture of Toma’s bedroom (with the cage) for people to use as their Zoom background. I used it in one of my classes, and no one got the reference. That’s probably for the best lol.

Anyway, let’s jump right into the game!

Amnesia Memories: Shin Normal and Bad Endings

I misspelled ‘bad’ as ‘bed’. No, Amnesia does not have bed endings.

Anyway, I went back and changed some of my choices to see what happens. First, I changed my choice of suspect from *spoiler* Toma to Shin, and he replied with a ‘yeah figures.’ This change in attitude on the MC’s part affected the conversation with Toma at the park the following day. He said something along the line of ‘it makes my heart all tingly that I’m able to go back to being your older brother’.

This time, Shin did not have much time to ransack Toma’s house for evidence and had to hurry back.

MC chose to study with Shin, and he mentioned that she was his inspiration to study hard and get a scholarship.

The confrontation between Shin and Toma happened the same way, but instead of recalling that she mistook Toma for Shin and that Toma was the one who pushed her to the rock, her denial was so strong that MC refused to acknowledge the memory and buried it again. Toma told the other two to just think of it as an accident. Shin wasn’t too happy, though; he didn’t want to pretend nothing happened, but he didn’t want MC to think that he’s trying to ruin her relationship with Toma either.

Orion didn’t think that what happened to MC at the bottom of the cliff was an accident, but there’s nothing they could do now.

Three weeks passed, and Shin asked for a breakup. He knew that her memory loss and what happened with Toma was affecting her, and he wanted to break up so that they can start over again. He and Toma would be on equal grounds then, and whoever wins her heart over again this time can do it without any regrets. MC was like ‘oh? Come and get me, then.’ (Loool I love her when she said that)

That was the good end. TBH I also really like this ending, because it resolves Shin’s guilt about not realizing Toma’s feelings for the MC, and despite having doubted Shin before, MC is regaining her trust in him just like in the good ending.

Amnesia Memories: Shin Good Ending (Day 26-31)

Shin and Marie went to see Toma, but he took a car somewhere. Marie decided to go watch a movie with Shin, and they had a pretty nice time together afterwards.

The next day, Shin setup a meeting with Toma after work. Toma met Marie at work, and he remarked on how she chose Shin again even after she lost her memories. Marie brushed it off, and after work was done, they went to meet up with Shin.

Amnesia Memories: Shin day 21-25

Recap: Before the amnesia, somebody pushed MC (I’m calling her Marie) down a cliff, and Shin is the most sus. Therefore, the whole crew goes back to the mountains to gather evidence that Shin is innocent.

I have no idea why Shin always sounds like he is talking on 1.25x speed. I checked my settings and there’s nothing wrong. Huh.

Anyway, the group arrived at Shinano. Rika started bickering with Shin, and Toma came in to stop the fight. Rika tried to leave with Ikki, but he and Kent were like ‘why’d you assume Ikki would leave with you?’ Ukyo came along as well, as the final guest.

Shin and Marie had their strategic discussion after arriving at the lodge. Given the circumstances of what happened during the incident, Ukyo wasn’t suspicious although both barely know anything about him.