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Apr 17, 2023
* [s]A rant[/s] An aria for Aria.
Since the latter half of 21st century, humanity had stepped into the era of advance technologies. Space traveling was no longer in fiction, and after 150 years of terraforming, life on Mars was then a dream-come-true. A new life in the futuristic world is indeed mysterious, yet also leaves many to explore, and as a matter of consequence, on the planet Aqua, formerly Mars, existed such unbeknownst existences, under the presentation of the local species __Martian__, or __Aquan cats__ with the intelligence similar to that of a human child, or the unfamiliar occupations of the __Gnome __adjusting the gravitation,
...
the __Salamanders__ who operate climate adapters, the shippers __Sylph__ on air bike,…
There was that destination Neo Venezia on Aqua, whose origin could be traced back to Venice, or Venezia in Italian, on Earth, which is famous for the canals and gondola as means of transport in the city. Maybe that was why the daily activities of Neo Venezia, which was a perfect imitation from the process of dismantling and relocating the original onto Aqua, were greatly attached to gondola, and as a result, the symbol of the location was the __Undine__, with the specialty in tourist guidance on water ways.
Being a professional Undine, or Prima Undine wasn’t an easy task. Firstly, you would have to offer the customers a nice and comfortable ride on board, which would require an expertised level of rowing maneuvers. Moreover, as a professional tourist guide in general, they had to be knowledgeable about the place. That knowledge also shouldn’t be something easily accessible with a travel pamphlet; instead, the capability of an expert in the business is not to play by the book, rather to offer _‘perspectives’_, implying that there are still more than those that met the eyes, in order to leave a certain degree of impression to the foreign guests, to give them a chance of feeling attached to their destinations, and the thin consideration of returning someday, so as to experience the rest. That being said, it would require quite much of time and effort, which could be equivalent to years of practice and study. Then again, while __“there is nothing particularly innovative or even endearing to a series showcasing daily life”__, not to mention the term ‘Undine’ indicating the possibility of CGDCT, __“there is in Aria’s ‘characters’ at least a sense of purpose, which means that there is room for them to work towards something and, hence, grow.”__
In that town lived three girls at their coming-of-age, sharing the same dream of becoming Prima Undine, despite the differences in term of purpose: __Akari Mizunashi__, coming from Manhome, previously Earth, whose name literally translated into ‘The light where there’s no water’, and indeed, no kind of light could last, or even exist without a source of (renewable) energy. Aika S. Granzchesta, the only and __‘expected’__ heiress of a traditional gondola operator, ever since her birth. Alice Carroll, the __‘prodigy’__ in rowing. Acting as their instructors, the __‘independent, yet dependable and secretive’__ duo of Alicia Florence and Akira E. Ferrari, as well as the __‘talented’__ Athena Glory. With that assembling of cast, the story began…
>“The breeze tenderly grazes my cheeks.
Gently lulled by the sound of waves, within me, something is unraveling.
I close my eyes, and it becomes visible, the path along which the wind flows.
Come, let us row towards the shimmering waves, our smiles will soon overflow.
Hey, let us impart the feelings of our beating hearts.
Riding the wind, I will return to you, as an Undine…”
As I already expressed myself, their path to a full-pledged promotion required a lot of practice and study, resulting in the ride along to places where their gondola and trips headed, though totally unsurprisingly, all in association with the name Neo Venezia. Seasons changed, temperature rose and declined, uniforms took turns and with them as part of the economy in a city of tourism, festivals and events came and went, people seen once before returned later in slightly different roles,… However, those were just days of occasion, and when the festive costume was undressed, Neo Venezia came back to its casual attire, with the weathered buildings and streets, and locals committing to their daily lifestyle. Hell, it sounds like the city was an organic creature, but after all, locations are just places, but what living there, are actually the people, whom Kozue Amano had meticulously portrayed engaging in daily activities. Though giving off the mundane feeling, such presence was still packed with liveliness and meaning. On the other hand, because they were so omnipresent, the switch to empty back streets had become very much in contrast. Though it seems as if every one of the chapters of the manga showed a different part of the city and its wider surroundings, in the end it still felt as if there were hundreds of nooks and crannies left to explore, possibly right behind the corner. Neo Venezia remained a rich, vibrant and very much living city, with 'wonderful encounters' at the end of each alleyway, which had left a message to the readers, that despite its ordinary look, it still has its own secrets, and those uncovering them would be rewarded with places for their own, at least on a spiritual level.
At this point, I would love to talk of the visualisation. On one note, whenever the point of view shifted into a corner of Neo Venezia, the panels focused on the characters, instead of the historic and scenery surrounding, portraying what they talked, what they thought, wondered, especially during their exploration of the city, which had gradually depicted the personal and inner world of respective character. On the other hand, also during such journeys, meandering along the narrow valleys of Neo Venezia in search of something, at its end, the panel’s lense was immediately relocated to a point from distance, capturing not only the whole building, commotion, but sometimes the entire city as well, in details, and very often pushed aside were their characters in much smaller scale, taking a look at what catching their attention, and silently holding admiration for what was in their eyes. What Kozue Amano offered with her brilliant artistry had further enhanced the attractiveness of the accustomed, well-known, yet still mysterious, pristine Neo Venezia, and what a place to be!
That turns back to the major theme of Aria. For example, the ‘town treasure’ hunt of the trio. Before reaching to the end of the way(day), in their mind were full of thoughts, doubtful, indifferent, wishful,…, but since standing before something much greater than themselves, they were all speechless. Maybe that was when they came into the realisation, that they were all parts of everything, and a whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. Similarly, some situations also came along with the characters diving deep into thoughts, wonders, or insecurities, as well as uncertainties, personally. The moment they took a break/were taken from those concerns, expanding over the eyes were views of their familiar settlement, often, and I repeat, often, following with familiar faces, some small talks, and then eventually appeared on their profile smiles, as if they had come in terms with something, as if they had known it was not only __“one’s”__ world, but rather __‘theirs’__, or when having seen beyond themselves, they might find peace of mind waiting there…
>‘The rain lifts.
Gazing at the distant sky, I look for a break in the clouds.
Taking a slightly longer detour than usual on the path continuing towards the beach, don’t worry about the bangs were cut too short, let’s break into a run just like that.
The colour of the wind grazing at my cheeks, informs me that summer will start someday.
Let’s wave our hands widely, and take a deep breath, because I want to keep embracing this moment:
“I wonder if we’ll be able to meet tomorrow?”’
The existence of mysterious, yet-being-known entities, such as Aquan cats with intelligence, also their own community, truly helped the topic ‘coming-of-age’. At first, they were just accidental encounters, but such experiences often leaves much of a special impression in one’s heart, hence the increasing urge of taking a detour from the usual routes, as well as the tendency of seeing Neo Venezia under the light of children’s playground, with much room to grow and discover. Then at a certain point in the middle of the journey, those mystical beings casually bid their final farewell. It was not because they had received any ill wills, it was just that the spent time together might be just enough to witness what the protagonist(s) had learned from those encounters. Maybe they wanted to tell the protagonist(s) to go out there, into the great big ordinary world, to leave that wonderland, or Neverland, or whatever, because from what those existences saw within the character(s)’ (heart), there were more than enough room to carry such places along.
And so on, came the conclusion of this series:
>‘...Now the years are rolling by me, they are rocking evenly.
I am older than I once was, and younger than I'll be, that's not unusual.
No, it isn't strange, after changes upon changes, we are more or less the same.
After changes, we are more or less the same…’
Maturity is not only physical, neither to completely fit into the perfect frame of one’s imagination, rather to perceive the __‘self’__ existence, in order to recognise and fortify its strength and abilities, as well as to acknowledge and minimise the short-comings and incapabilities. That’s why after changes upon changes, it’s just more or less the same. Such cases were also in Aria. Aika Granzchesta learned how to answer expectations of being a traditional gondola operator’s heiress. Alice Carroll had tried her best to overcome the natural, as well as personal, disadvantages of possessing a talent beyond her mental, and physical age. As for Akari Mizunashi, the only initial outsider in that town, observing her immediate reflection on the respective season was enough to know ‘that summer’ had finally come. They were more or less the same, but their thoughts were firmer, their actions were more independent from the mentors. Therefore, at the turns of events, though there was discomfort at first, acceptance came easily, because they knew what they had accumulated together were then the lifting force taking them into the new chapter of life, and since there were more than enough space in their hearts, the bond they had formed would never been broken…
>‘Yearning for the bank awash with waves of gold, I wake up in the morning…
When you hold someone close to your heart, love finds a way through the palms of your upraised hands.
The future shown by the wind and courses of water gazes upon the hope embracing this planet.
Rays of light sway, beckoning through the distant clouds.
Yearning for the bank awash with the waves of gold, I wake up in the morning.
And so it begins…’
__Final Words__
Aria has been the hardest so far, as many existent reviews left me very little to speak, as well as my incapability of finding something to write. At the intercourse of what happened and what is yet to start, it is safe to put these lines as a closure to the world of Aqua:
>‘There are places I remember, all my life, though some have changed.
Some for ever, not for better, some have gone, and some remain.
All these places have their moments, with lovers and friends I still can recall.
Some are dead, and some are living.
In my life, I love them all...’
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Mar 27, 2022
~~~Slice-of-Life is my favourite genre. However, it requires quite big brain to create something extraordinary in both world building and meaningful symbolisms, thus I have got to settle with the mass-produced Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, which would often age pretty poorly (looking at you, K-On!, season 1). Still, as a rare occasion, it seems that I finally found gold in this forsaken world, and I might never be able to learn as much as as I did with ‘Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku’.
__The Plot__
It was Komichi Akebi’s first year of junior high and she had her heart set on one thing: Robai Private Academy’s sailor uniform.
...
As the next chapter of her life got closer, she dreamed of all the exciting new experiences she’d get—school lunches, classes, club activities, and of course, making lots of friends! With her favorite outfit on, Komichi felt ready for anything. However, it turned out that the school had a new dress code. What could be learned here, then? Maybe it’s important for parents, or legal guardians, to get a hold of the school regulations before the entrance ceremony? No, since the school allowed her to go to school in that attire, in favour of tradition, something greater presents here. As a country proudly having its very own unique culture like Japan, the lesson here is that appreciating tradition must be top priority, even in the case of breaking the current regulation, without a single doubt. You kids had better take it into account.
__The Characters__
Life is kind of stressful, even for the kids, not to mention the aforementioned institution is a prestigious private all-girl school. Therefore, the children must have been through unimaginable pressure, in order to pass the entrance exam, and as a result, there were quite many lifeless souls, who were in lack of either confidence at themselves, or motivation to fit in the new environment, or questioning their current place in life. As such, ever since the encounter with the energetic, friendly, prominent girl in the unique sailor uniform, who was capable of doing mostly anything, they had gradually grown attracted to the young Kenobi...I mean Akebi. The more (skin) contacts they made, the closer the characters came to each other, and the more new things they learned, the further they reflected upon themselves, and hence, found more room to grow. A girl gradually grew proudly of her feet, as well as her body, and got interested in photography, in order to capture the beauty of human. Some felt confident at befriending, since Akebi had shown them the way. A musically talented kid got the courage to perform in public. Another began learning the basis of guitar, in order to play it to her precious friend. Hope she would become a self-taught bassist as big as Paul McCartney... Hell, even Akebi wanted to get used to the spotlight, so she had joined the Drama Club. Their interaction had gently become the driving force for their self-improvement, and the consequent growth is definitely a symbol for the beauty of friendship.
__Other Symbolisms__
+ We all know the infamous meme regarding to anime, even though Hayao Miyazaki never explicitly said so.
>You see, whether you can draw like this or not, being able to think up this kind of design, it depends on whether or not you can say to yourself, ‘Oh, yeah, girls like this exist in real life. If you don’t spend time watching real people, you can’t do this, because you’ve never seen it. Some people spend their lives interested only in themselves. Almost all Japanese animation is produced with hardly any basis taken from observing real people, you know. It’s produced by humans who can’t stand looking at other humans. And that’s why the industry is full of otaku!.
As a form of rebuttal against the criticism, the anime dedicated an entire episode for the characters to observe the surrounding, and more importantly, human behaviours, since ‘objective observation and record’ is such an efficient way to learn about unfamiliar things. As a result, we have learned that a short girl in middle school couldn’t reach to the top of the vending machine, which was nearly 3m tall, because Japanese female at that age have an average height of 1,52m. Certainly, it was Mission: Impossible, so such knowing is common sense. Then we were given the knowledge that, in order not to interfere in the research object’s activities, and to avoid any failure in putting the slightest details of its behaviours in the record, the observer must be expert in hiding his existence and blending in the environment. As such, the girls had collected quite the amount of information regarding to their classmates (without gathering much attention?), and befriending, socialising, as well as drawing animals and people had then never been easier. Now, do you have any objection, Hayao Miyazaki?
'Anime was a mistake.' - Hideaki Anno.
+ Friendship is indeed, pretty important to one’s life, and on the perspective of a person ‘seeking for something genuine’, it has to go through the challenge called ‘hardship’. When a member lost her cherished childhood memento, the group decided to search for it together. Ironically, when they thought they had found it, as if the God of Chance’s joke, it got further away, right in front of the poor girl’s eyes. It seemed all hope had lost, as the owner reached out into midair, aimlessly, eyes devoid of expectation, but other girls didn’t let it be. They determined to be the launcher closing the gap between the thing and their friend, and when the girl got a hold of her memento, her profile was once again lit with joyous light. The audiences got a plentiful spoon of happiness, to the point of suspension from the fact that the bookmark was placed inside a closed book, so even if it had been dragged outside by getting hooked to the notebook, such tugging sensation would have immediately drawn attention. Nevertheless, the power of friendship is so broken, that we have to adjust how the world functions, in order to obtain it.
__Final Thoughts__
In a perfect world, the artist, and the accompanist, successfully finished their long awaited performance. Such performance was welcomed with a thunderous round of applause, and my mind went exploded. I had never seen such beautiful crossover between L Chitanda and April is Your Lie. Tears dropped from my eyes, and it has gotten into my mind, that regardless of complaints about fetishes, sexual objectification, et cetera, as long as they aren’t addressed in my review, ignorance is totally acceptable. Therefore, I will halt my pen here and cut into the conclusion. Akebi-chan’s Sailor Uniform is Komi-san 2.0. A masterpiece by default. Must watch.~~~
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 22, 2021
The Great Chieftain Karhu once spoke, ‘For the better half of my life…’ Hold on, there is something wrong, as the relevant time period was much shorter, and quite recent. For the better half of the year 2021, I had been looking for something with a concise plot packed within one episode, but still in need of an anime season to execute, as HorribleMiya, Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki, and partly Non Non Biyori Nonstop let me quite down. Then I stumbled upon OLM, the studio behind Berserk and the legendary franchise Pókemon, and Odd Taxi of Spring 2021 has become one of my favourite. With
...
such impulse coming into Fall, the anime producer continued to offer another modern classic, namely ‘Komi-san wa, Komyushou desu’, or Komi-san in abbreviation. Sincerely, OLM.
I believe school is more an imitation of society, as people could obtain academic knowledge through self-studying or tutoring, so there is no other reason to force children going to that place. That is to say, we were, are, and will be there to form connections, relationships, bonds, which I find quite important for any individual. The easiest way to do so is via verbal communication, or talking and chatting with others, which is the most common method to know and learn about your partner(s). However, there exists such complex called ‘Komyushou’, a communication disorder that makes people very anxious, to the point of being unable to verbally interact with others. Imagine the frustration you would get, when you have a voice but couldn’t express yourself, which always reminds me of the scene Colin Firth had to say it furiously out loud in The King’s Speech, ‘I have a voice.’, and that’s just his incapability of coherently finishing a speech. Komi was in a much worse situation, her lifetime had been void of such common thing, with the cause as such. Reading each word she wrote on that black board, I came to realise communication is not simply a product of evolution, but also the most human desire to transmit thoughts, feelings to the receiving end. Being unable to do so is quite painful, unhealthy, depressing, it makes people only want to run away from the pain they get. Luckily, there was someone at that place, willing to patiently listen, to understand her situation, to lend a helpful hand, to tear down the barrier preventing her from experiencing the joy of befriending, and not the very least important, to be the first in her life. Such moments are very rare in the span of a lifetime, so there were very few reasons to stop my heart from getting moved. Friendship is indeed beautiful, it’s always darkest before the dawn, and overcoming hardship together only polishes more of a genuine relationship. Standing before such appealing portrayal of humanity, I could only wonder if there would be anything surpass this masterful Official Video Animation, as they had to air it twice, in order to flesh out the awesomeness, and if I were ever able to obtain something genuine as such… Still, why hadn't her family handled it in the first place?
As the compensation for the missing plot of the remaining 11, Komi-san was heavily character-driven. We had a cute, all-rounded catgirl who couldn’t express herself as the protagonist, which has given us the will to protecc, as all her moves were loved and welcome, instead of being a sore in the eyes like Wata… someone’s waifu. Then came a bunch of troubled kids, who were incapable of speaking their minds at will, without being archtypes like yandere, masochist, ninja, background character, chuunibyou, childhood friend, trap, rival… Even more of them are yet on screen, as the goal is to set the count up to 100, thus there is a hopeful and eerie future awaiting the audiences, to witness their growth out of those shallow cocoons. Last but not least, the staff would never be complete without a plain normie in trouble with his own existence, which was quite ordinary, yet indeed irreplaceable for the story to proceed.
Though Slice-of-Life usually doesn’t have much of knowledgeable information, it would instead be an absurd observation of Komi-san, however. We were portrayed how Japaneses would spend their time with friends, on occasions like weekends, summer, Christmas, New Year, Valentine, Reversed Valentine, Golden Week, exams, Lunar New Year, Independent Day of United States of America, Her Majesty’s Birthday, French Revolution, Technology Evolution 6.9, Olympic Tokyo,… In addition, OLM also paid attention to the tiniest details of their production, such as references of April is Your Lie, Saiki K, Detective Conan, Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, Bleach, OnePiece, Megaman, RPG, Oregairu, Monogatari, NisiOisin, Senryuu Shouko, One Week Friends, Classroom of The Elite, Studio Shaft, Studio Ghibli, Gainax, Hayao Miyazaki, Hideaki Anno, ‘Anime was a mistake’, Netflix, Nozama Prime,… and that was only the first episode. Also, in contrast to the spent time amounting to 4 hours, after having finished the adaptation, even the newest bie into anime would become a veteran <s>weeb</s> with vast knowing of entertainment industry, an expert in Japanese culture, traditions, customs, and pass the N1 certificate exam of Japanese at ease, enabling them to watch raw anime on daily basis, not to mention a folder full of memes at the end of the day. Putting the pros and cons onto the scale, there is no other word could describe this situation more precisely than those of Mark Ruffalo himself: ‘I see this as an absolute win!’
When it comes to enjoyment, I have got mixed receptions from many sources. On one side, critics have laughed their ass off at a seasonal super-, mega-, ultra-overhyped, the style-over-substance stuff, the style-to-fake substance thing, a trainwreck and the sum of all its wagons,… On the other hand, the drama, the cute, cozy stuff and the happy moments would serve those ready to take them for what they are, hence the fans have praised of its symbolism, parody, awakening of protecc instinct, message of world’s peace, god-tier artistry,… Hey, surprisingly, there is, at the very least, something aligned, as they have been all in agreement with OLM’s high production value. Everyone has got some pieces of the cake, therefore, it is my honour to put Komi-san on the A-side, as Odd Taxi has never been canon to begin with, and no longer hesitant to celebrate this anime with a 10/10, just like how it had taken my 10/10 remaining heart beats. Masterpiece!!!
‘If you'll be my bodyguard...
I can call you Betty...
If you'll be my bodyguard...
I can call you Betty...’
Merry X-Mas, and a Happy New Year.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 11, 2021
Ookami to Koshinryo, or also known as Spice & Wolf in English, is a light novel series written by Isuna Hasekura and illustrated by Jyuu Ayakura. The English translation is in the order of Alphabet, which makes it more natural to pronounce than Wolf & Spice, but certainly when bring the work into discussion, we have to follow the original arrangement to make the most out of it.
Wolf
Wolf, or scientifically Canis iupus, is a widely-known species, mostly because they are the ancestors of many kinds of domestic dogs. They are known as the kind of animal being able of patience and scheming while pursuing their
...
prey. When talking about wolves, the first image from our imagination is often a single lone individual, which is portrayed more frequently than their other trait, wolf’s pack. In addition, scientific researches have also pointed out that lone wolves, or mated pairs, possess higher rate of success in hunting than a large pack.
So what the hell does it matter, other than a leading character is a wolf herself, and being able to transform into human? That is not to mention the fact she had separated herself from the pack for quite a long time, so long that she had forgotten the way to home, to the point she had to form a situational bond with the other leading character, in order to find the long and winding road stretching to her place of birth. What a convenient plot device...
Yeah, what I said previously is only relevant to the content to some extent, but what following is the true core of this series. Wolf, the kind of animal being able to plan and wait for the right moment to strike, is the reference to merchant, an occupation still existing nowadays, and the origin of businessman, or businesswoman, which is in larger scale, like operating a company or corporation. Merchants were often in business of a particular merchandise in a particular time, very competitive to each other for supplies, profit and information, which connects those previously mentioned. As a result, merchants often worked alone, and were not easily to trust, because they would do anything profitable, even with deception. However, when having a common objective, the greater good, merchants were also being able to cooperate with others, which explains the existence of merchant guild.
As a result, the plot is heavily on the side of wolf-like..., sorry for my bad English, business-like talk, about how to take advantage of their circumstances to earn as much profit as possible, how to sell their goods at the possibly highest price, trading,… These economical topics are really uninteresting to many, but the author has tried his best to keep it simple as much as possible, and how the plot progresses could be understood without much knowledge in that particular department, as long as you are able to summarise and organise the given information.
Also, set in the Middle Age Europe, such occupation was widely known as traveling merchant, according to historical facts. In order to be one, merchants had to abandon their citizenship to travel, and ironically, dreamt of someday being able to once again obtain such SHIP, when they decided to settle. As a matter of fact, a merchant often had no fixed accommodation, and their life stuck with the roads their carriage(s) traveled on. They were more exposed to nature, and like an old saying, risks there were like a wolf waiting for such an unstable life. If fortunately, you could avoid mishappens and live a good and well-being life. Else, you would have to deal with the harshness of wilderness, such as accidents and natural disasters, or being the victims of wolves, unsurprisingly, or bandits, which could easily take away all the goods costing your entire fortune, or worse, your life. Also, you had to accept the risk of losing, being deceived, put into debt, and your investments didn’t always bear fruit. The characters in the story were many times put into such situations, and despite its simplicity, the author has managed to work out the complex portrayal of its instability, as his intention was never to colour a merchant’s life in pink to begin with.
Spice
Spices, such as pepper, were luxuries in the Middle Age, due to many problems in logistics, which were also in the list of goods the characters would sell. They are the decisive factor of a good meal, because simply cooking meat, fish, vegetable with heat wouldn’t automatically make them tasty. Definitely, I once again talked of bullshit for a whole paragraph, but there are indeed some spices I have found within the work namely Ookami to Koshinryo.
We know life on the road for merchants was such a hardship. However, when they opened their eyes in the morning and had another day doing their professionals, it was quite a minor happiness. When they traveled in the speed that could make them vomit blood, just to make sure their goods arrive in time of the best business, or to overcome the danger they had been in, preserved their lifetime’s investment and eventually earned quite a fortune out of it, it was then time for celebration, and the taste of beer, wine and food at that time was surely delicious. Joy, indeed, tastes very good.
Speaking of Europe in Middle Age, we have been provided a map with plains separated by ranges of mountains, cities on the bank of rivers surrounded with walls, paddies of buckwheat, and forests of conifers covered in snow during winter further northwards, with religious and cultural festivals held in places the journey came across, as well as the Church, which is very alike to the description of the continent. Therefore, it would be no surprise, or in fact quite an astonishment, to see words written in German in many scenes from the adaptations, which results in the quite simple, yet effective and realistic world building.
Due to the concept of traveling merchants, the conversations within this series tend to be business-like, which is not quite appealing and consists of many ‘actions’, if you know what I meant. However, the characters kept conversing with each other, and that’s more than enough to learn of them. The side characters could be said to be disposable, but since the journey would be quite long and there would hardly be a chance for them to return, I believe they had fulfilled their task, not to mention they felt quite natural at their respective roles of the stories. As a consequence, the interaction was mostly between the protagonists, and the readers are able to witness their changes.
Lawrence Kraft, or Lorenz Kraft, was a calculating merchant with years in the business. Like any other peer, he also dreamed of a settlement in a city, a family of his own, and a successful career of trading merchandises, and had been working his a-- off for it. However, that is not to say that he was extraordinary or anything, as there were many times he let the greed blind his eyes and put himself between the rock and a hard place, or desperately ran away from the dangers that he alone could not do much against. We could say he was naturally described as a typical merchant.
Holo, the self-proclaimed Wise Wolf, was a mythic existence having resided in Pasloe for 700 of years. Living up with her words, she was indeed knowledgeable, and with her living experiences, she often made fun of Lawrence, who was indeed a child in comparison to her. As of her origin, she was born in the forest of Yoitsu, and after a long sleep, she had been left alone, so Holo had decided to set off, in order to find her kinds, which ended up with settling in Pasloe as a Guardian. As the time changed, her role was no longer necessary, so she offered Lawrence to take her back to Yoitsu, in exchange of her support for his business.
So began their adventure, and the more they interacted, the more opening-up they were to each other. Holo was typically very haughty and self-sufficient, though due to her isolation for hundreds of years in Pasloe, Holo had gradually felt very lonely, not to mention she left Yoitsu due to her state of being left behind in the first place, and sometimes showed a more fragile side of herself. She relied on Lawrence for company as she feared loneliness, which is quite understandable for being with perception of its own existence, and could be said quite human as well. Lawrence, in exchange, got helped with her wisdom to increase his profits and get him out of jams. He had gradually got out of his calculating self of a merchant, started caring for his companion, not because of the preservation for his investment, but because of his honest will to do so. Her loneliness was something that Lawrence was very aware of and had tried to comfort her in his own way. As such, we were able to witness how two independent, solitary wolves, literally and figuratively, formed their own pack, and that is one of the spices used in this series. Also, as their relationship progressed, we were also able to see how Lawrence turned the table against Holo, and got onto the stage of big teasers.
Something worthy of mentioning here is the fact that during the nights of traveling, under the heaving light of the campfire, myths that the merchants had heard, or those from the place they were staying or heading to, were such interesting things to kill the time. Such myths, also appeared in Spice & Wolf, consequently increased the mysterious aspect of the work. Furthermore, reading the novel also feels like being able to take a walk inside the mythology itself, because the existence of Holo has been giving out the sensation of legends coming true.
Conclusion
This is one of the very few works that are quite simple, yet the simplicity has created such a superiority that many breathtaking actions and suspense, dramatic romance and relationship, or big fat voluptuous round anime tiddies, panty shots and weird fan service camera’s angles couldn’t achieve. Charming, enjoyable by all age groups, calm and beautiful in its manifold details, Spice and Wolf is a delight to sit down after a long day and simply let the evening flow.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 2, 2021
>You're asking me will my love grow. I don't know, I don't know.
You stick around now, it may show. I don't know, I don't know...
I'd tried to find something similar to this work, from the musical lyrics to the peers Haruhi Suzumiya and Koten-bu Series, but nothing truly fitted the frame. Then I remembered I had watched How I Met Your Mother, and even though its ending was justifiable, the audiences' reception would change after that amount of time spent with the series. Still different is the case of Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru.
__Characters__
Let's be frank. Oregairu is character-driven, so talking about
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them will automatically do the work here. Warning: What following has the potential of upsetting the fanbase, so be ready.
__Yukino Yukinoshita__ is the front of the work. Any discussions of the work will eventually lead to her. Despite the attention she received, the character is the biggest failure. She had wished to change, yet Yukinoshita was the one showing the least effort, if ever existed. If she had genuinely wanted to do so, here could be some suggestions. I think Yukinoshita the Elder already spoke of something similar to 'codependency', and what should have been her answer is 'Why don't you sit back and enjoy the flow, Nee-san? I will prove this codependency of yours, and just wait for his dance in my palm.' That's how to shut Haruno Yukinoshita up. She had had a tongue, a very sharp one, but why did she need to behave like a cat eventually? Against the mother, well, let her be the plan maker instead of Hikigaya, suck him dry and recharge him with the word 'I love you', because it was already the end and why there was still no sign of Yukinoshita's Revolution, let alone the opportunity of freeing herself from the shackles of Hikigaya's solo performance so far at the gist 8th volume, which would have built up the much better momentum towards the end? If those things had been done, other ships would have been effortlessly sunken. However, I don't hold any particular hatred towards the character. Her state is what the author wanted to preserve, and her annoying constancy spoke the unshakable will of his. So congratulation on him getting the waifu. Yuki is always a good example of overcoming dependent tendency, and it is my pleasure to say the full name, Yuki Souma.
__Hachiman Hikigaya__ is the protagonist of this novel. Past experiences had left such bitter taste that he considered kindness was the cruelest thing. It got him resolving the least imaginable logic, which consequently made him self-explode many times during the journey. However, what he sought for was something genuine, and if it weren't to prove after bending, twisting, shashing, then there shouldn't any belief laid in it at all. If the character had always been himself, then it would be fine, but actually, it wasn't. He had desired for something genuine, yet proceeded kicking the balls to others and remained passive for the entire Yukino Yukinoshita's True End (Shin involved). Investigating further, there was no Hachiman Hikigaya in the first place. IT HAD BEEN THE AUTHOR ALL THE TIME. WAKE UP, JAPAN. ~~Wataru Watari~~He never considered getting out of his cocoon, so the character is so bloody relatable and realistic. Also, if you dream, dream of winning, being a proper individual. Don't be a loser just to get the girl, but in such case, it would no longer be the good old insertable Hachiman Hikigaya, wouldn't it?
So far only boring characters? There are also the interesting:
__Yui Yuigahama__ was seemingly a character academically disadvantageous, big boobs, TOTALLY UNATTRACTIVE... but when it came to common sense, she was such a clever person. She knew and understood everything, so most of the time she was playing the role of an observer. However, when Yuigahama was on stage, she shone brilliantly. The character possessed things the other clubmates didn't, so in the darkest hours, she was the one keep everything binding together. She was always the first one taking a step forward, leading the story out of the stagnancy with her 'I want everything', which is my greatest impression of the work, from the portrayal of the surrounding to every expression of the characters. Eventually, her influence surpassed that of the narrator, and I used to think of which season would be remembered every time taking a whiff of that smell, tea or fruit tart, because I firmly believed the bakery product would be much better to become a straight-forward person, or gain weight.
The supporting characters were also prominent. __Shizuka Hiratsuka__ deserves the title of a (lonely) mentor. __Haruno Yukinoshita__, as well as her childhood friend __Hayato Hayama__, were loners full of conflicts and regrets. __Iroha Isshiki__ also found herself solitary. The author had gathered many kinds of lonely souls in his work, and the way they struggled finding a solution was so human, but certainly it is not that realistic. On the other hand, __Saika Totsuka__ had initially appeared forgettable, but turned out he was the first to graduate within the series. After the revaluation, I believe these characters, along with Yui Yuigahama, were the motivation for me to pursue the end. Nevertheless, there is still this unshakable sensation that many of them were the devices buying time whilst Wataru Watari making the decision that should have been thrown out 5 volumes earlier.
__Something other than the characters__
References are just fillers. I never paid any mind to them, not to mention they mostly missed.
The illustration really grew with the course of actions, even though the quality was inconsistent at times.
__Conclusion:__ Honestly, I've never been onto the Shi* War, as all necessity would be for the characters to grow naturally. Nevertheless, Yukino Yukinoshita's True End offered no such thing. It had been fun, until it no longer was.
>Away, I'd rather sail away, like a swan that's here and gone.
A man gets tied up to the ground, he gives the world its saddest sound, its saddest sound.
Certainly, reality wasn't that kind regarding to what had happened so far.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 23, 2021
Kyoto Animation. What does that mean to you? Personally, I think that name is in association with a studio that has freedom in their work, or in particular, originality and creativity, even within adaptations that aren’t their own materials. The treatment The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya received is one of the reasons I favour it. Their identity in Hyouka rather gave me mixed receptions, and that’s one amongst the evidences that Kyoto Animation isn’t perfect. However, it’s genuine to say that I’m still in favour of their unoriginal works, and why shouldn't I?
Returning to Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon, the first season was such a
...
phenomenom. With just a little adjustment in comparison to the source, they had done wonder. The animation was fun to watch, quite lovely, and above all else, the anime clearly had progression. With such mindset from the prequel, I had expected its successor to maintain that flow for a while, and let the introduction of a new character be the twist leading to the end, though we wouldn’t have to make drastic changes. It would be just temporarily taking Iruru out of the equation, letting others develop their own relationships beforehand, and setting the latter half as the stage for the newbie to shine. In reality, the adaptation was just more or less the same as its parental content, and if I had to describe the progress in this season, it would be sitting on a rollercoaster that has a long and winding ascending, whose fall isn’t exactly equivalent to the ride it took. More visually, Phineas and Ferb’s at a fair. Iruru made her debut, but within that plentiful of the crew, her blending in wasn’t highlighted, either. The others, they had their moments, but their growth was just a bunch of scattered pieces, particularly the ship of Tohru x Elma. Oh well, as an entertainer, it sold, and in term of adapting, Kyoto Animation took all the right moves, so that is just my nonsensical opinion about their creative department, not to mention the available set of cards was certainly harder to align, and Kyoto Animation was not Yugi Mutou, either.
Sounding and artistry are always the impression of the studio, since we got plenty of plots, and the characters and animation were lively as hell. The soundtrack, nevertheless, is not catchy as that of the predecessor.
I found this particular season amusing, but I also don’t prefer how things were going. Along with the big disappointment of Violet Evergarden The Movie, I believe the creative team has yet recovered from that disastrous incident and the loss of Naoko Yamada and Yasuhiro Takemoto. Hope they will do better in the future, as Kyoto Animation is always a studio of my preference.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Aug 6, 2021
Senryuu Shoujo is a refreshing, wholesome, character-driven romance at the gate of high school, to the point of blandness and repetition, if cynically put. The art is decent, many heart-warming and fun moments, and after having watched the anime adaptation, I had believed it would continue for a little while longer. However, the author definitely went too far. The second year was a wasteful period, as new characters were introduced without any significant contribution to the development of the whole. They just simply stood there, and cuteness couldn’t do the salvation. There was also a character meant to be the third wheel, but I don’t
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get it, why the author had to complicate something straight-forward like the romance of the protagonists, so it was a precise move to remove her from the adaptation's script. As a result, their love story had got unnecessarily stretched, and the end was faster than the speed of light. I mean, their interactions should have been more emphasized, and after having spent time together, the end of the first educational year would be perfect for the conclusive step forward.
About those at the starting line, they could play the role of any new character from the second year at ease. The sister figure could be a good catalyst, even though she wouldn’t have to be a lover. The president was taken away stage time with those incompetent new-comers, which could have been her own arcs, as well as romantic development. Cmon, she deserves to have her share, you know. Et cetera…
185 chapters… We all know that every author wants to have their creation serialised for a fair amount of time, but there are things more interesting to read than the excessive second half. I had a good read, but the manga could have been more concise, and the overproduced chapters really dragged the series down.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 8, 2021
‘What is happiness?’
The introduction at the first page brought the readers a question consisting of three simple words, but somehow it was quite difficult to find a satisfying response. The respective answer would depend on social, religious, philosophical and educational variants, takes different shapes from person to person, and in conclusion, there is for sure no definitive model. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that for kids, it’s family and friends, young adults, relationships, and for the pillar of society, grown-ups, to have what essential and necessary, which could all be summed up in a short word, yet still hard to interpret, 'love'. That is
...
to say, I had expected more. There was a girl who has three different mysterious friends, and among them was a rift of age. She sought for the happiness mentioned at the starting point, and with a little help from her friends, she managed to do it. What wrong there is just that the time stood still. It did wonder with the first book, when she found what is needed for a child. However, in the following cases, something felt unnatural to me, and I figured out the reason. It was rushed in a short span of time, and certainly it is too much, even for a child that clever. The course of actions could have been done better with her maturing, both outwards and inwards. Time would flow, the protagonist would expand her world, meet new people, and so on, her perspective about happiness would change, for the greater good, instead of how easy-going the work was. For example, the nine-year-old child would have a respective encounter with the seventeen teenager, the high schooler with the graduate, and as a part of my imagination for the end, the senior would give her wish to the then matured women. Still, there is no country for ‘When I’m Sixty Four’. XD
The following paragraph would be my pondering of the visualisation, which was a minor pleasure from the spent time. This manga was character-driven, therefore the focus on its cast was a given. As a result, the framework very often was just a small part of the surrounding, and though the shifts in point of view among panels didn’t leave me stand in awe as with Aria, the background was done with quite detailed portrayal, which spoke a lot of how carefully the illustrator approached her creation.
Reaching to the last pieces in my wall of text, although there were more left to be desire, at the very least I had got a comfortable read. The concept was just exciting, and if someone said they had found 'gold', then I wouldn't exactly disagree. Due to the shortness, I would still recommend people to give it a shot. Maybe they would find what they are searching for, or realise that there are more (to bring into discussion) than those that met the eyes, but nevertheless have a chance of getting thought-provoked.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 29, 2021
Time flew and there humanity was, 1996. The timing was just right, a new millennium was about to come, even though its predecessor’s problems remain: climate conversion, pollution, overpopulation, religious and social conflicts,… The creators of Neon Genesis Evangeline couldn’t find the solutions for those matters, but they could talk about something more fundamental, ‘human’. The term is for a species that resides on Earth, also the culprit behind the things that certainly will endanger the existence of the precious life, the one and only known across the universe. It is expected that humanity, with intelligence and cooperation, would overcome those menaces. Nevertheless, there is
...
also a fact that the ever-changing future brings uncertainties, and those are possibly the cause of anxiety, ignorance, or simply the darkness within one’s inner self. That darkness has also become a hindrance that each human being should be aware of and accordingly find a solution.
Well, Neon Genesis could have talked big, huh. However, what did we have there? They had 26 episodes, but was unable to work it out, which resulted in a movie as the epilogue. That was a huge failure in term of pacing. There were at least 3-18 times 23 minutes of fillers, which didn’t contributed anything. I remember there was an episode recaptured all the previous incidents, and the question is, why they didn’t take advantage of it, in order to bring out the answers for the unresolved mysteries and conflicts within the world of Evangeline, or dig deeper into the inner selves of the characters, inflicting the damage gradually yet sharply, painfully yet comfortably, undesirably yet inevitably. The time could have earned would have been enough to insert the entire movie, but what had done was done, and the final minutes of the TV series were just the characters screaming to their heart content. As the consequence, the protagonists, aka Shinji the Garbage and Asuka Langley, initially supposed to be sympathisable, were utterly disgusting and there was nothing to learn from them. In addition, there wasn’t much to say about Rei Anything-could-fit-here. Indeed, she had ‘many’ ‘characters’, and her words of wisdom were empty, yet full of unoriginality... Wait, perhaps Miss Langley had done something meaningful...
There are reasons why Neon Genesis Evangeline could be more than it is. Still, the show is just a spectacular failure. I wish I had experienced 4 minutes of Beware of Darkness, 1970, way earlier... Anyway, good times, bad times.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jun 26, 2021
‘My Youth, Romantic Comedy, is wrong, as I expected’ in its original format had brought me through many kinds of experiences, and certainly was quite a good read. However, it totally has nothing to do with what following.
The Story:
I had never expected the last volumes of the series getting adapted, since they are heavy on content and discarding anything could badly affect the flow, but it is also true that feel. BARELY made it with the second adaption. Then, what we had there? A bloody mess in the timeline, and accuse me, I had been only sleeping and refusing to conceive what had been shown
...
on the screen. As a result, the development of characters had gotten continuously interrupted, and I had gone into thinking, how many more times… and what was the intention in doing things that way. The second point is feel. miserably tried offering some fan services, but honestly they were just terrible and shouldn’t have been there for the sake of greater good.
What bugged me the most were details. Many details that should have been emphasized, were either missing, or poorly done. An episode titled ‘Yui Yuigahama thinks deeply about the future’ without her actually thinking about it, and a discussion in succession without seriously discussing about the matter… There were others less significant, but for the things I had mentioned, one word is enough to summarise: garbage. Still, it is ridiculous that they managed to buy time for lame scenes.
The Sounding and Art:
The quality in artistic design was rather inconsistent, as though the studio hadn’t had anytime to do their work.
The sounding for the characters also earned its credit to this train wreck. The lines, and thinking progress of characters were monotone and emotionless, as if even the staff behind the mic didn’t want to participate in the project. Therefore, what possible to see on the silver screen was just the very sham of its origin. A slower tempo, along with some disruptions, or many of them, could have made things better.
The soundtrack was hardly exciting, as though all the best had laid within the second season. At least the ED was able to fix a leak with a Smiling sticker on a levee that would very soon break... Genius idea, by the way.
Conclusion:
The content talked about something genuine, but it is ironic that the final adaption was at this degree of pretension. Anyway, fan service, as well as the Snow underneath the Snow have been enough to satisfying the fans, whose majority is in her favour. With the purpose promoting the side stories, it has supported my negative reception for those successive works from Watari Wataru, which are void of direction and purpose. Nevertheless, for those who still wonder about this show, a wise choice is to experience and accordingly valuate on your own.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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