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September looks like a little mess. Just random shows glued together, here and there, hoping for a good ending. There are two series I want to finish, movies I hope to see, and... well, the rest is in hands of Fates.
This is what I ended up watching:
╭────────── · 𓆩🌻𓆪 · ─╮
╰─ · 𓆩🌻𓆪 · ──────────╯
Odd Taxi (ODDTAXI)
Listen. I am so weak for psychological and heavy stuff portrayed through animal characters. This shit made me want to rewatch and finish Beastars. (Check out Amberville by Tim Davys. Seriously.)
In this particular show, they tackle a lot more than just a mystery and love. Conspiracies, gangs, corrupted police, revenge... Badass characters, assholes, and mind twists... This show is such a carousel from the start...
Things are said, things are hidden, there are symbols and they use the setting of 21st century to the fullest, to give us a story that might be actually happening out there right now.
It is so crazy, but so believable...
Our main character Odokawa is in his 40ties, seeing a doctor for his issue of not being able to sleep at night. He lives with a caretaker, that was assigned to him when his parents left him, and it seems like someone is living in his tiny room.
He becomes a part of a missing person's case, when it's revealed that she drove in his taxi.
Odokawa suddenly finds himself "working for the bad guys" as a spy, trying to solve the mystery on his own, while trying not to get himself killed as well.
Apart from a beautiful nurse that grew to like him, he has a best friend Eiji, who leads a pathetic life. Together, they adopted a simply strategy of life "I've given up on love and happiness". But we all know, only those who hope say that stuff.
On a dating app, he meets a wonderful 18 year old girl, Shiho. But Shiho is not who she says she is either...
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And please please let me mention Yano. This... Hystrix or whatever RAPS the whole time, and I live. I am so here for it. Seriously, he is everything to me.
There is so much more to be said, and analyzed. But for once... I just quietly enjoyed the show. I don't care for an analysis. I care for the art style (that is simple yet so... detailed where it matters), the characters (that can be psychoanalyzed and fit perfectly in many archetypes), music (the opening is SUCH A BOP) and the story (that seemed simply and turned to be much more difficult).
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The little details of objects that seemingly carry no value are my favorites. I mean... when this scene came on, I fully gasped-
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And there are more scenes like these. Practically every issue gets resolved, every secrets spills out. Even those we didn't know were important, or those cases that seemed to be already finished and closed.
One thing has to be said: I knew it. The big reveal, I knew. The moment Odokawa said it in the doctor's office, I KNEW. Because, let's face it, creating something that is completely original when you want to have a big twist is close to impossible.
Still, still I loved it, still I gasped and still I LOVED AND ATE IT ALL UP.
Everything about this is simply brilliant and I am very excited to see what more there is to Odd Taxi and what the movie will reveal. [Update: The movie is shit.]
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The main series gets an amazing score of 9/10.
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Tamako Market
I absolutely expected a cute girls doing cute things anime... but right from the start, this show confuses me. In good ways!
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We're again in the hands of Kyoto Animation, and the comedy is just blooming in this one.
Tamako Market is a story of a mochi maker's daughter, that meets a crazy talking bird, who makes her ordinary life just a tad more difficult. With two best friends that are great characters on their own, younger sister that is very adorable and a CUTE love interest they try to balance a transfer student friend, baton club, all the others living in market and a big revelation about who really is the princess bride our bird is looking for.
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A simple story, no plot slice of life anime, cute art and smooth animation make up for a chill experience and a good entry on my list.
7/10
𓆩🌻𓆪 ─────── 𓆩🌻𓆪
Tamako Love Story
This movie is a follow up, and a wrap up. After the main events, and the conclusion about bride princess, Tamako and Mochizou stand at a important edge in their relationship.
Finishing high school means choosing future. While Tamako loves making mochi, Mochizou is reaching a bit further. Wanting to study film in Tokyo, there is something he needs to do and wants to achieve before he goes.
There is a confession he needs to make.
Not much to say. A cute love story, that works great with the main series but is not the best show out there. It is adorable and I do recommend it to everyone who liked the main series.
Even though it was predictable and it was very clear what will happen, and what kind of an end it gives to us, it was done great.
7/10
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Fugou Keiji: Balance:UNLIMITED
(The Millionaire Detective - Balance: UNLIMITED)
This is another of those shows that seem to be good, and are popular because they appeal to the simpler anime watchers (I am calling out the "mighty" USA fans).. but in reality it's boring and nothing special.
The idea is great, the animation and art looks great (I would compare it to Spy x Family), but it's soooo incredibly boring.
To this moment, I have no idea what the *actual* plot was. It was flat. It gave me nothing.
The same thing happened with Raven of the Inner Palace - a show that could have been awesome, but lacked something important that would drive it over the edge. This show is forgettable, and I will not remember it in a week's time.
5/10 𓆩🌻𓆪 ─────── 𓆩🌻𓆪
Aragne no Mushikago (Aragne: Sign of Vermillion)
Aragne no Mushikago is a one-man project, from the hands of Saku Sakamoto who created another movie serving as a prequel and is working on yet another that looks connected to it.
The main point of his movies is the existence of spirit bugs, and inhumane experiments. Sakamoto mixes reality with hallucination, uses symbolism and feelings of insecurity to trap not only his characters but also us in his own world.
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The whole movie is CGI, and not good looking either. They went for sort of uncanny valley vibe, where the faces try to look like mix of human and animated.
The animation itself is very stiff, like when a character bugs and glitches.
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Worst part?
It works. Well. Most of the time it does.
Some of the scares looks like death messages from Granny, and they are not pushed to their fullest. I wish they were bigger, had a sound, really covered the screen.
The biggest problem might be the laziness. Obviously our main hero meets a man who explains the whole bug problem to her. Randomly, in a school library. And he knows right away she sees the "spirit bugs" and talks to her about it.
That's... not how life works.
It would be better if they took a time during a proper interview or she at least spoke to someone online - which is definitely a more natural way of finding out about strange phenomena.
Really, the short time on which everything is trying to get explained does not suffice. We needed more time, needed more space, needed less confusion.
I feel like if you create a horror on urban legend, the legend needs to be explained. Slenderman - a tall man in suit with white face, that kills children. And then you throw us in the forest.
Meanwhile in this show, we need to figure out everything.
What is reality - what is Rin's mind. Who is real - who is an illusion. Where is she - what is she trying to do.
If we had more dialogue, if we knew who Rin or Nasuha are...!
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I do think as a live action it could work well. Adding a few minutes of content would be great. To explain everything to more detail in a form of dialogue. That way we would actually understand all of it. The symbols could be explained properly as well. This felt half-baked. But the idea and general concept are there. It just needs some shaping.
7/10 𓆩🌻𓆪 ─────── 𓆩🌻𓆪
Amrita no Kyouen (Feast of Amrita)
This movie is listed as a prequel to previous entry.
It does not carry any connection to the characters, just uses the apartment complex and spirit bugs as themes.
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There is a difference of 5 years between the movies - but the improvement is crazy. From all the aspect of camera work, to voice acting to more sinister and less "symbols symbols symbols" plot, the growth of Saku Sakamoto makes me very excited for his third movie.
This movie follows the story of three friends - Tamahi, Aki and Yuu. On their way home from school, they notice a woman jump down from the apartment complex and immediately run to help/save her.
However, that gets them entangled into another world.
Amrita builds on meta moments, time loops and desperation. It re-uses the "hope dies last" prompt. While in Aragne we had a "if you were in a hole you cannot climb out of, wouldn't you rather die" - in Amrita we have "little by little, I can change it".
Which for me, works incredibly well. If you're doing something all over again, you will get better, stronger, faster. See a partner, change it, or adjust it to yourself.
We've seen that work in every show that used a time loop.
Tamahi is stuck falling from the building and dying all over again, reliving the moment of trying to save her friends AND solving the mystery of who the girls really are, because they don't seem to be human anymore.
What really stands out are the connections. Of the mysteries, of the emotions, people and problems, and conclusions... The way everything is connected works probably the best.
So there is no surprise Rin from the previous movie made an appearance - and both Rex (whom I watched this with) and I agreed that she finally looked like a human girl.
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[1st vs 2nd movie]
7/10
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I dunno. It missed a mark for me.
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Oemojisangjuui (Lookism)
Ok. Right away: NO. NONONO. NO.
This show... this show!!!
Lookism is anime from South Korea, first on my list. And it did not leave a good impression.
This show took a well known trope "in the world where looks rule, the ugly MC has it hard. but then..." and absolutely butchered it.
I do not know what the main goal of the author was with this work, but it definitely wasn't accepting yourself the way you are.
Main character Hyung-Suk Park is fat, short, and wears glasses. That is the recipe for an ugly person in this show. Having even one puts you automatically on the bottom of a social pyramid.
By his classmates, he is treated like a slave almost, and he gets beaten up for almost everything. (Even breathing wrong sometimes.)
So he convinces his mother to transfer schools.
In a new city though, he wakes up in a body for a tall, slim boy with no glasses. That makes him climb up and become the best person in the whole world. His appearance shakes up not only his class, but the whole school. Suddenly, everyone knows and loves him. (Without Hyung-Suk Park saying a single word.)
By his classmates, he is treated like a slave almost, and he gets beaten up for almost everything. (Even breathing wrong sometimes.)
So he convinces his mother to transfer schools.
In a new city though, he wakes up in a body for a tall, slim boy with no glasses. That makes him climb up and become the best person in the whole world. His appearance shakes up not only his class, but the whole school. Suddenly, everyone knows and loves him. (Without Hyung-Suk Park saying a single word.)
We do not know who the body belongs, if it's the reflection of his inner self or he stole someone else. It might have miraculously spawn to help MC live a better life, for all we know.
And so, from being bullied and unhappy, he becomes a whole different person.
The story goes as follows: Hyung-Suk Park has two bodies. He uses the ugly one to work a part time job and earn his living, and the pretty one to go to school, make friends and tackle various issues.
As an ugly body, he still gets beaten up and not taken seriously - but as a pretty one, he fights for good cause and talks to "unpopular kids" (you guessed it - fat, short, glasses wearing students).
And so, from being bullied and unhappy, he becomes a whole different person.
The story goes as follows: Hyung-Suk Park has two bodies. He uses the ugly one to work a part time job and earn his living, and the pretty one to go to school, make friends and tackle various issues.
As an ugly body, he still gets beaten up and not taken seriously - but as a pretty one, he fights for good cause and talks to "unpopular kids" (you guessed it - fat, short, glasses wearing students).
Even though other attractive people talk behind his back about how weird he is or try to make it seem like he is using them as his minions - Hyung-Suk Park doesn't listen and insist he wants to be their friend.
Why? Well, because he is just like them.
The anime looks great visually. The animation is great, and the art style really is beautiful. The character design especially is pleasing. The opening and ending songs are really good, and the opening animation is funky in the best way.
In the matter of quality, I cannot say one bad word. It's done tastefully.
Story wise, it's just not... it's nothing. There is no message that you would expect. He literally just lives two lives. Sometimes something happens - like pretty Hyung-Suk Park talking to his mom as a friend of the ugly Hyung-Suk Park. Telling her he has friends and finding out stuff about his mom he didn't know (like working more jobs to keep her son alive), and gains more respect for her.
Then there is a lot of fighting. Some don't even make sense. Well, not to me. In Bucchigiri or WIND BREAKER they fought less than here. And for what? Just because they are bullies, or fighters for someone's rights? It makes no sense to me.
Mainly because we don't get a single "beating up someone is bad". We just see it happen and then they move on.
I guess a story that is touching something so sensitive (that being looks and being ostracized in class or society because of them) needs some message or work. It doesn't work for me to just see it. It's not even a warning of "this is happening in the world". They are just using it as a part of their story.
In the matter of quality, I cannot say one bad word. It's done tastefully.
Story wise, it's just not... it's nothing. There is no message that you would expect. He literally just lives two lives. Sometimes something happens - like pretty Hyung-Suk Park talking to his mom as a friend of the ugly Hyung-Suk Park. Telling her he has friends and finding out stuff about his mom he didn't know (like working more jobs to keep her son alive), and gains more respect for her.
Then there is a lot of fighting. Some don't even make sense. Well, not to me. In Bucchigiri or WIND BREAKER they fought less than here. And for what? Just because they are bullies, or fighters for someone's rights? It makes no sense to me.
Mainly because we don't get a single "beating up someone is bad". We just see it happen and then they move on.
I guess a story that is touching something so sensitive (that being looks and being ostracized in class or society because of them) needs some message or work. It doesn't work for me to just see it. It's not even a warning of "this is happening in the world". They are just using it as a part of their story.
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[At least he showed himself some love...]
I dunno. It missed a mark for me.
4/10
𓆩🌻𓆪 ─────── 𓆩🌻𓆪
PERFECT BLUE
Perfect Blue is one of the movies you know will be good, and it still surprises you. Satoshi Kon is a part of my anime Trinity, holy Trinity.
After Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers, I had high expectations but also knew that I will be confused as hell. Andrea sacrificed herself, and agreed to watch it with me with Czech subtitles.
She rated the movie 6/10 for heavy topics - mostly violence, blood and naked bodies. This is your warning.
She rated the movie 6/10 for heavy topics - mostly violence, blood and naked bodies. This is your warning.
Paprika is a story of Mima - an idol, who retires from singing and changes careers to be an actress. However, this switch is not easy on her and her psyche. Mima's new roles are heavy - dealing with sexual assault, naked photoshoots. She starts hallucinating, seeing her old self and noticing her stalker everywhere she is.
Her life turns around completely, and Mima is looking for herself in that twisted new present she created with her decisions.
The art style is great. Giving it somehow old-school feeling, it's sharp and simple, but very beautiful. What I always appreciate is the realism - none of the character have weird hairdo, or crazy colors. There is variety, but it's so simple (e.g. hair length, or clothes).
The voice acting was pretty good too, the music I almost didn't notice so that is on me. Though Mima's song played in my head the whole time.
The voice acting was pretty good too, the music I almost didn't notice so that is on me. Though Mima's song played in my head the whole time.
It was the same with animation - smooth, cleverly thought through in places that mattered.
Both story-wise and technically, Perfect Blue is an amazing movie that you will remember for a while.
I do have one complaint: why are the eyes so far apart??
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I absolutely adored the scene where Mima picked up her phone and she could only hear heavy breathing of her stalker. Another good one was when Me-mania was mumbling the text of Mima's Room in her voice. And obviously, Rumi's madness.
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My insight is as follows:
Perfect blue is a story of 3 main chracters. Mima, the idol-turns-actress, Rumi, her manager, and Me-mania, Mima's stalker.
In all three cases, we are dealing with watching a person go crazy.
Let's start with the easiest, Me-mania. We see him first during Mima's final concert where she announces she is retiring from CHAM. He pacifies a group of men that are making a mess on said concert, and Mima thanks him by smiling at him.
His obsession grows, and he becomes dangerous when he finds out what kind of roles Mima's taking and how she is changing from this innocent picture of an idol in pink, frilly dresses.
His obsession grows, and he becomes dangerous when he finds out what kind of roles Mima's taking and how she is changing from this innocent picture of an idol in pink, frilly dresses.
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Second is Mima. It turns out that she is not too confident about the change, that her switch in career is a pill too hard to swallow. Mima agrees to film a scene where she gets sexually assaulted (and while the scene is strange to watch), both Andrea and I agreed that this had to leave a mark on her.
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The scene was weird. Mima lied on a stage, with a guy on top of her. She yelled and screamed, as men kept touching her and then the director called "cut" and the atmosphere disappeared. It was hard to watch, because it was perfectly believable.
You know they can stop anytime, you know it's not real. But when you are stripped of those bits of freedom, pushed into moments like those, when your body is on display... it cannot be easy. Anime or not, this was heavy.
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But this was only the beginning, as Mima then gets together with a certain photographer. The photoshoot they do is spicy at first, but then Mima reveals all of herself. ALL of herself.
In this part, as creepy as it was, I appreciated Me-mania. He went and collected all the magazines, taking them from others. In a way, that is a saving point from having the whole world see your pictures.
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Which is where Mima's managers come up. Both of them hate what happened to Mima, but Rumi (the female manager) takes it the worst. Since the beginning she was against Mima's transition and she isn't comfortable with the change.
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Mima changes, matures, while Rumi cannot let go of the pretty picture of innocent Mima. Around this time, the murders start as well. First the scenarist/director of the TV drama, then the photographer. Both have their eyes plucked out, as if to take away what they saw.
Mima starts seeing hallucinations of herself, in those pretty pink dresses, and her copycat insist that she is the real Mima. It's time for the main character to realize who she is and how she changed in the industry.
In the end, it is revealed, that the hallucination of Mima was Rumi. That she got so obsessed with the perfect picture, she couldn't swallow the jobs Mima was taking and the roles she had to play.
She wanted her perfect idol back.
She wanted her perfect idol back.
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Rumi is arguably the messiest character, the one that is worth analyzing the most. Mima has her transition, and Me-mania is a creepy stalker obsessed with Mima's persona. But Rumi went on a whole journey!
This movie is incredibly heavy. So heavy, no one is quite sure if he understand it, but stays with their theory.
What was real? What was a hallucination? Who killed and why? What happened to Rumi? Is Mima really okay? What about the final scene?
Your guess is as good as any, since the movie doesn't do the homework for you. It gives you clues - but like in any other anime, the ending is open to interpretation and there isn't one true answer.
So I, too, leave the rant opened, without explanation.
What was real? What was a hallucination? Who killed and why? What happened to Rumi? Is Mima really okay? What about the final scene?
Your guess is as good as any, since the movie doesn't do the homework for you. It gives you clues - but like in any other anime, the ending is open to interpretation and there isn't one true answer.
So I, too, leave the rant opened, without explanation.
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But again, this movie is definitely worth it.
9/10
𓆩🌻𓆪 ─────── 𓆩🌻𓆪
Shingeki no Kyojin: The Final Season Part 2
As I decided to write a Attack on Titan rant (that I will publish once I finish the series), this part will only contain some screenshots or remarks that I made during watching. With that being said, let's look at them:
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[He looks like a Fred]
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[Funny since he has that No Regrets arc]
Does this look empty to you? Well, yes. But that is because I am preparing a special post for AOT. It will come out soon, and it will cover all of the series and movies. So don't worry. I wouldn't leave this masterpiece like this.
8/10
𓆩🌻𓆪 ─────── 𓆩🌻𓆪
Bungou Stray Dogs
This is a rewatch of anime I saw years years ago, but couldn't remember what it was about for the love of me. So here it is.
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Bungou Stray Dogs is a supernatural anime about a detective agency full of kooks, and weirdos. Each of them (wink wink) has a special ability that helps them in life.
It would be too boring if they only solved murders though. And that's why this city has it's own "Dark Port Mafia", a community of blood thirsty villains.
It would be too boring if they only solved murders though. And that's why this city has it's own "Dark Port Mafia", a community of blood thirsty villains.
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The first few episodes are carried in a sense of "understanding and meeting the characters". We have Atsushi, who turns into a tiger under the moonlight. He grew up in an orphanage and only wants to not be a burden on people.
Dazai, who has a secret past, and the ability to cancel the power of those he touches (there always has to be that one person that is just overpowered, huh?). He is a suicide maniac.
Kunikida, who has his whole plan ideally planned, Ranpo who does not have a special ability but is a genius detective... and much much more.
Dazai, who has a secret past, and the ability to cancel the power of those he touches (there always has to be that one person that is just overpowered, huh?). He is a suicide maniac.
Kunikida, who has his whole plan ideally planned, Ranpo who does not have a special ability but is a genius detective... and much much more.
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Story wise, the first half of the season is extremely weak.
Then it starts moving, at around episode 11. Which is too late, but they probably meant it to be that way. After the introduction of all the character and their "backstories", we were blessed with a big twist.
After the initial dealing with the Port Mafia and Dazai's past (his ex partners and colleagues), another corporation makes their way to the front lines. "The Guild" seems to be a corporation with darker intent, made up from writers??? (There is F. Fitzgerald, Lucy Maud Montgomery...)
While we aren't exactly sure what they want just yet, this is where the real fun begins.
After the initial dealing with the Port Mafia and Dazai's past (his ex partners and colleagues), another corporation makes their way to the front lines. "The Guild" seems to be a corporation with darker intent, made up from writers??? (There is F. Fitzgerald, Lucy Maud Montgomery...)
While we aren't exactly sure what they want just yet, this is where the real fun begins.
The episode with L. Montgomery was incredible. I was glued to my screen and it shot up the overall score by one point in my book. And not even that was enough for them, as we meet the BOSS of the Port Mafia.
Brilliant ending that set us up for a second season. I cannot wait!
8/10
𓆩🌻𓆪 ─────── 𓆩🌻𓆪
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Ultra Romantic
(Kaguya-sama: Love is War -Ultra Romantic-)
The final, 3rd series that got animated is the weakest one. I miswatched the movie that follows this season - so I went back to finish the series.
I loved Love is War for it's witty humor, cute characters and interesting plot that made me giggle a lot.
First season was perfect, the second was great, the movie was an adorable wrap-up... but the third season is very very weak.
It was like they were stretching the story, without having to really focus on the relationship. You can only tease romance for so long.
The student council members are dealing with love problems of their fellow students, Kaguya is being awkward and testing the president, and everything is... more boring than I remembered it being.
And maybe I just moved from this show, and it's not hitting the same. I am... happy I'm done with it.
I loved Love is War for it's witty humor, cute characters and interesting plot that made me giggle a lot.
First season was perfect, the second was great, the movie was an adorable wrap-up... but the third season is very very weak.
It was like they were stretching the story, without having to really focus on the relationship. You can only tease romance for so long.
The student council members are dealing with love problems of their fellow students, Kaguya is being awkward and testing the president, and everything is... more boring than I remembered it being.
And maybe I just moved from this show, and it's not hitting the same. I am... happy I'm done with it.
The quiet subplot is: final confession. Ishigami, our favorite emo boy, has a crush on a third-year girl, who is actually so adorable. Obviously, his obliviousness mixed with the president's air-headnes doesn't mix well.
President sets a goal to help Ishigami and Koyasu get together, so he can successfully confess to Kaguya.
It's messy, but it's fun and most of all, it's fresh. We are finally focusing on someone and something else, than Kaguya and president. xD
In the end, we didn't get a conclusion for their relationship, but got a first kiss between Kaguya and the president.
In the end, we didn't get a conclusion for their relationship, but got a first kiss between Kaguya and the president.
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And while that was sweet, I am getting tired with anime that is boring the whole season only to hit me in the feels in the last moments. What even is the point of thaaaat!
7/10
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Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä
(Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
The (for now) last movie, A. and I watched together. I feel like I was talking about this one... but let's do it one more time.
Nausicaä is one of the weirdest and best movies I have ever seen. It is so unique and yet so... one-note, that it left me confused.
Being one of the oldest Studio Ghibli movies, it showed Miyazaki's love for nature and planes. But story-wise, it lacked something. Nausicaä is a story of a princess from a dystopian country (almost) that is trying to save her kingdom from a catastrophe. Sounds vague? Well, that is the only impression this movie left on me.
With almost 2 hours runtime, you'd expect something greater, rant worthy. It didn't happen.
This movie is not bad, by any means. And I do think it's a must watch for everyone who likes Ghibli movies. But I've seen better.
7/10
╭────────── · 𓆩🌻𓆪 · ─╮
╰─ · 𓆩🌻𓆪 · ──────────╯
And that is not only it for September, but also October. And as November started... I don't think I am going to find time to watch anything either. Why? Check the blog's diary, there is your answer.
Have fun, and enjoy yourself! I will go do my thing... xD
