Aria the AVVENIRE / CREPUSCOLO / BENEDIZIONE – healing&nostalgia

I first saw Aria when I was in elementary school, so when Avvenire came out when I got to highschool, I was like ‘hurray more Aria, I’ll watch it if I have time’. But then I got around to watch it eight years later lol. Thank you Muse Asia for bringing it to Youtube.

Anyway, I think it’s good that I watched it when I did. Aria strikes a different cord when I watched it as an adult. When I watched Aria the Animation, Natural, and Origination when I was about 9-10 years old, I remember being fascinated by the beautiful scenery and fantasy world, and just enjoying the ride with the cast. You could say that I was like the singles training to become primas, a kid studying hard to become an adult. Now that I’m an adult, it’s less about Neo-Venezia’s fantastical world and more about the people and wonders in it.

I got myself stuck in a productivity trap, which gave me a really bad burnout that progressed into depression. I started doubting all my life choices and why I’m even here. I started questioning why I was not happy despite having wonderful parents, a house to live in, a bunch of lovely dogs, and great friends that I can always talk to, and that questioning made me feel even worse. What I forgot was the lesson that Aria taught me since elementary school: appreciate the small ‘miracles’ in life. The little things, the little wonders that fill your days.

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.

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

Taisho Otome Otogibanashi Ep. 3-4 – life is a fairy tale

Okay, I need to get caught up. I’m lagging behind the releases. Ugh, exams…

It’s episode 3 of Taisho Otome Fairy Tale. Tamahiko continues to warm up to Yuzuki. Tamako appeared and kicked up a storm in their house.

Aw it’s so cute how these two are so shy around each other awwwwwwww

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Movie – life is beautiful (the pandemic cannot stop me from watching this in theaters)

Note: this is not much of a review as it is a record of my experience watching this movie.

Bangkok is a crazy city. If you’ve been here once, you’ll get what I mean. And because it’s always so crazy crowded, the pandemic hit us hard and Josee got postponed twice before finally coming to the theaters at the beginning of November 2021.

Even though it’s during a pandemic… the department store that housed the cniema was practically overflowing with people. Especially with kids from the nearby school who were finished with their Saturday classes.

I was already burned out by wading through crowds of people (it’s like Black Friday crowd every single weekend, gosh) to the cinema to buy tickets. I almost shoved a bunch of highschool boys out of the way since they were crowded in front of the ticket machine. I brought my Asian mom with me because she was worried that I’d be in the only person in the theater like that time I was watching Violet Evergarden Movie in March, and she offered to pay for the tickets. So we got the premium couch at the back of the theater because she wanted to sleep throughout the show.

It was the last weekend before Josee left theaters, so the cinema already took all the posters down. I had to make do snapping a shot with my laptop screen instead lol

So we grabbed lunch and waited 30 minutes of advertisement before the movie finally started.

Taisho Otome Otogibanashi Ep. 5 – here comes Miss Ryou

Ahhhhh here comes the most difficult story arc to get through of Taisho Otome. Arghhhhhhhh

Anyway, for the first half, we have some family fluff between Tamahiko and Tamako. We see more of Tamahiko’s softer side. Tamako left for Kobe. It’s a good conclusion filled with warmth and fluff.

Taisho Otome Otogibanashi Ep.2 Review – More fluff and melodrama

Oh my, here comes the puke scene.

After receiving a letter telling that he’s dead to the family, Tamahiko got really ill but recovered due to Yuzuki’s care. He then asked her to go on a trip to Tokyo together in order to get some replacement fabric for the kimono that he ruined.

Taisho Otome Otogibanashi Ep. 1 Review – this. this is just so wholesome.

After we had takt Op. Destiny, we have another anime about a guy with a disabled right arm who’s sort of a pessimist shut-in, who comes to view the world better because of a girl. That’s pretty much the premise of Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale, a story about a girl sent to marry the unwanted bocchan of the Shima family, Tamahiko.

A self-dubbed pessimist hikkikomori, after a car accident that robbed him of both his mother and his right hand, Tamahiko was exiled to a mountain mansion in Chiba to rot away into obscurity. He spends his days imagining and replaying horrible remarks from his family and his nights tossing with insomnia. Until one day, Yuzuki showed up. Yuzuki was bought from her debt-ridden family and sent to become Tamahiko’s bride/caretaker. Her optimism and determination will slowly cause Tamahiko’s life to change.

takt Op. Destiny Ep. 1-2 review – Pathetique is not pathetic, mind you

Once upon a time, a weird black meteorite fell and along with it came D2, alien thingies that attack whatever that makes beautiful noises, be it a huge symphony or a simple piano.

Takt’s father died during the Boston Tragedy, where the D2s attacked during a concert. Since then, he’s been a shut-in, only playing the piano for himself. However, due to a turn of fate, he is now traveling to New York with his friend Anna and ‘Destiny’, a Musicart that’s able to fight the D2s.

We have another anime with the main guy being a shut-in missing his right arm, with the other one being Taisho Otome Otogibanashi. Also, Takt’s seiyuu voices 2 other animes this season. Wowwwww.

So I read Higurashi in reverse

I didn’t do it intentionally. When I was 12 or 13, I had no clue how to Japanese and could not remember the name of the first arc, so I went with whichever arc popped up first on the search.

final manga volume of matsuribayashi

It was Matsuribayashi-hen’s manga, the final answer arc.