Lights at Lafarge

I went to a lake with pretty lights.

• 

Paper cranes.

Anime Wrap Up for 2019

You can read my 2018 Anime Wrap Up post here. These are the anime series, OVAs and movies I have completed so far in 2019. I am pretty quick to drop shows/put them on hold, so these ones are anime I liked a lot.

Seasonal Anime Series I’ve Completed in 2019

• 

• 

* Carole & Tuesday – This anime gave us so many beautiful songs. The latter part of the show was really interesting and the final episode was beautifully done.

* Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. (My Roommate is a Cat) – I am normally not a fan of Slice of Life anime, but this one is an exception. It deals with issues that are really important and portrays life in such a simple yet interesting way.

* Given – One of my top two Boys Love anime. I cried for days, the music was so beautiful, and I blogged about my reaction to a specific episode.

* Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen – Good, but not one of my favourites from the season.

* Kakegurui×× – Sucked, except for one particular episode. It failed to create feelings of fear or anxiety. The first season was better. Watch Kaiji instead.

* Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) – I felt really inspired by Tanjirou’s resilience and dedication. I blogged about that here.

* Mob Psycho 100 II – I was really impressed by Season 2. I thought it was a lot better than the first season.

* Shingeki no Kyojin Season 3 Part 2 – This is probably my favourite season of Attack on Titan. The beginning episodes were terrifying.

* Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (Shield Hero) – I really enjoyed Shield Hero and enjoyed writing about my thoughts on each episode. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

* Yakusoku no Neverland (The Promised Neverland) – Very interesting anime. I enjoyed it a lot.

* Dr. Stone – I thought this was pretty interesting overall. I can’t wait for Season 2.

Non-Seasonal Anime Series I’ve Completed in 2019

* B: The Beginning – I recommend this series. The latter episodes were brilliant and the ending song is amazing.

* Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu (Parasyte) – I really enjoyed this anime. The opening song by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is great.

* Mob Psycho 100 – I enjoyed this one more than I expected, especially near the end.

* Tokyo Ghoul √A – This is the second season of Tokyo Ghoul. Juuzou is my favourite character in Tokyo Ghoul, so I really enjoyed watching his interactions with Shinohara and watching his character growth. Beautiful music throughout.

* Zankyou no Terror – One of my top three anime. I think it’s highly underrated. After I completed this anime, it left a void for me for a while.

* Ore Monogatari!! – One of my favourite romance anime. If I had to describe the anime with one word: wholesome.

OVAs I’ve Completed in 2019

• 

• 

* Durarara!!x2 Shou: Watashi no Kokoro wa Nabe Moyou – This was really nice to watch. For context, I finished Durarara!! in 2017 so it brought back pleasant memories.

* Durarara!!x2 Ten: Onoroke Chakapoko – Special episode on Shinra and Celty. It’s not necessary to watch this, but it’s good if you are a Durarara!! fan.

* Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii: Youth – A look at what Koyanagi and Kabakura were like in high school. Koyanagi had short hair!

Anime Movies I’ve Completed in 2019

* Tokyo Godfathers – I watched this at the end-of-year event with Anime Club. I probably wouldn’t have watched this on my own time, but it’s a really good film. I’m glad I watched it.

---

In the near future, I will finish watching Babylon and My Hero Academia Season 4. Thanks for sticking with me this year! See you next year!

The Eternal Love (2017) – Episodes 1-3 Impressions

Title: The Eternal Love/双世宠妃

Release year: 2017

Episode count: 24

I started a Chinese drama called The Eternal Love. It’s not to be confused with Eternal Love or Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, which is an entirely different Chinese drama (the latter is one of my favourite dramas, by the way – go check it out).

In The Eternal Love, Qu Xiaotan from the modern world is isekai’d into historical China. In other words, she time travels and occupies the body of Qu Tan’er, the second daughter of the Qu family. The catch is that whenever she tells a lie, the real Tan’er wakes up from the body. Xiaotan and Tan’er basically switch back and forth and do not retain memories of each other.

Now for the plot. Xiaotan/Tan’er is forced to marry Mo Liancheng, the eighth prince. Xiaotan does not like the idea of marrying a stranger, while Tan’er is in love with Liancheng’s brother, Mo Yihuai. However, she marries him with the intention of spying on Liancheng. Xiaotan is left in the dark about these schemes which is really confusing for Liancheng.

Tan’er is proper and follows the traditional norms of the time period. Xiaotan, on the other hand, is rebellious and unapologetic. She is infuriated that she experiences mistreatment from her father’s consort and that she was forced to marry a stranger. She makes several attempts to return to the modern world.

This drama is hilarious! Xiaotan cracks me up. Since she is a character from the modern world, only we can understand her references to certain things (i.e. the toothbrush, modern slang). Her and Liancheng have great chemistry. He always has her back, cares deeply for her, is good-looking…

I’m definitely going to keep watching because this drama is so funny and because I love both the main leads. A lot of historical dramas have a serious tone to them and they are quite long… Time passes so quickly when I’m watching this drama. For a romantic comedy historical drama, this one is done really well.

My Ring Collection

I love jewelry. I wear earrings and bracelets every moment of the day, and am almost always wearing rings and necklaces.

I didn’t wear rings until the past year because it was difficult to find rings that fit my fingers. My ring size is around 15.5 (smaller than size 5) but I found rings that fit my fingers and don’t fade. I mostly wear silver or rose gold rings.

I’m the kind of person that buys more than one of something because I like to be prepared. o_o If I lose a ring, I have “back-up” rings. Most of these are adjustable. I like to wear at least two of these at a time.

Three rings for my thumb and the back-up rings.

I’ve been wearing these rose gold rings every day now. I also have a back-up ring (no surprise). They are all adjustable.

I’ve worn these rings 0-1 times, but I plan to wear them more in the future. The ring in the front is adjustable.

I recently followed the KonMari method on everything I own, including my jewelry. These are the rings that spark joy for me. Should I do an earring/necklace/bracelet post next?

Do You Have a Memento Box?

I was watching episode 18 of Gosick and the characters looked inside the contents of a memento box/keepsake box/memory box. I thought this was interesting because I’ve been collecting things that are precious to me in a box (even though I did not know that memento boxes were an actual thing). I started collecting things from age 13 and upwards.

Obviously the contents are personal so I won’t be taking pictures, but I can share what some of the things are:

• polaroid picture with a couple of my closest friends
• movie ticket
• Purikura pictures
• concert ticket
• my draft for a letter
• broken cat charm
• ornament
• wrapping paper
• a letter to myself
• birthday cards
• goodbye letter
• encouraging words from a friend

Kind of random, right? Now, I’ve been to many movies but I’ve only kept a single movie ticket. I’ve also only kept a select few letters and cards in my box (the rest are in the basement). Why these items in particular, I am not completely sure but it’s important to me that they are in my box. They are items that are unique to my life and I can associate them with good or bittersweet memories.

Do you have a memento box or something similar? Please let me know, I am interested to hear. 🙂

P.S. Merry Christmas!!!

A Love Letter to One Piece

Dear One Piece,

I admit that I did not like you when I was in elementary school. I was turned away by the art style but in my second year of university, I gave you another chance. It was completely a spontaneous decision, but it’s one of the best spontaneous decisions I’ve made.

I also believe that I did not have the maturity to understand some of the themes at a younger age. I would not have appreciated the series to the fullest extent. Some people think that anime is only for children. That is an unfortunate misconception.

While the 900+ episode count may be intimidating, I do not have to worry about “missing” the series. One Piece is always there for you when you are feeling down or bored. I’ve spent many hours watching One Piece. I had a lot of free time. Not so much now because I’m always working, but all those hours watching One Piece were well spent. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve learned so much from watching One Piece. I would love to travel, like the pirates in One Piece. I’ll work hard so that I will be able to do that. ^^

I dislike rewatching things. One Piece, however, is an exception due to how long it is. Eiichiro Oda is phenomenal at telling stories. It taught me what friendships can look like. I’ve cried numerous times and laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. Some days I feel nothing. I’ve felt everything at once when I watched One Piece.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you One Piece. Thank you Eiirchiro Oda and staff for creating such an exceptional series.

Sincerely,

Rose

Related post:

My Love for One Piece

The Significance of the Letter

Violet Evergarden does an amazing job of portraying the significance of writing letters and receiving them. I thought the beginning of the anime was slow, but I’m very glad I completed it. Violet Evergarden does a great job at pulling at your heartstrings. Definitely give it a watch!

I was thinking about Violet Evergarden and letters in general, then thought about the letters and cards I’ve received over the years. I actually keep the majority of them, any card or letter that contains a personal message. Some, I keep in a box in my room. The rest, I keep downstairs.

Some letters and cards are from people I am no longer in touch with. I think it’s natural to drift away from people. Then we meet new people. There is nothing strange about that. The people that were once a part of my life were there for me during my highs and lows. Their letters and cards serve as a way for me to remember them, and evidence of the good moments we shared.

I write letters. In fact, I rarely give people cards. Some people tell me that they love that I write letters. I think that it is sometimes easier to convey feelings through words. I spend a long time on my letters. I write with different coloured pens sometimes. I also decorate them with stickers and stamps. I hope that people enjoy reading my letters. ^^

Character Spotlight: Tamaki Amajiki (My Hero Academia)

Tamaki Amajiki is an important character in My Hero Academia Season 4. His hero name is Suneater and his quirk is Manifest, which lets him manifest characteristics of the foods he eats (for example, he can grow octopus tentacles if he eats takoyaki). He is a student at U.A. and is one of The Big 3.

Tamaki is a pessimist. He has low confidence because of his perfectionist nature. When he is unable to achieve perfection, his self-esteem plummets. He undermines his own talents and feels nervous and anxious often. He was shy as a child but experienced a lot character development. He’s still negative but is a very precious character.

I wanted to do a Character Spotlight post on him because I think that he is the most realistic character in the anime. In My Hero Academia, a lot of the other students have this unrealistic optimism. Where they get that optimism, I have no idea. Maybe it’s because I am a pessimist myself, so I do not understand. In the anime, the characters train to become heroes and put themselves in life-threatening situations. It’s admirable as heck but it’s terrifying. Being a person is terrifying.

My Hero Academia Season 4 episode 8 focused on Tamaki and told us his backstory. Some of you guys might not like backstory episodes, but I thought that it was an awesome episode. Seeing how Tamaki was when he was younger and then seeing him fight against three villains at once (and succeeding, on top of that) was inspiring to watch. Life is hard, but anime can help motivate you to give things another try. XD

Buraiden Gai – Suffering Originates from Desire?

Buraiden Gai is a short manga by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. Fukomoto is well-known for creating Kaiji and Akagi. It’s a really interesting and intense manga. I recommend checking it out! One page in particular stuck out to me and it was about desire (Remember to read right to left).

This page reminded me of the following quote by Edgar Allan Poe:

“All suffering originates from craving, from attachment, from desire.” — Edgar Allan Poe

What do you guys think?? Do you agree with this notion or the quote? It makes sense to me, but I would love to hear what other people think. This makes me feel negative because of the bottom panel that says, “There’s only a few people who do achieve their dreams … the world has more people who failed.” Is this even true? At the same time, I feel relief from having a greater understanding about suffering.

I’ll leave you with this final quote from Buraiden Gai (Chapter 31)…

“Isn’t dream the same thing as desire?” — Nobuyuki Fukumoto

Anime Cosplays: Yuri!!! on Ice & Zankyou no Terror

Yuri Katsuki from Yuri!!! on Ice. I don’t have Viktor’s Omanjuu Niginigi ;__;

Nine from Zankyou no Terror. I love him.

More cosplays to come.