Happy Halloween!

Another Halloween has come and gone! Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween this year!

Sustain the Industry: Manga Pick-ups!

Today, I went to my local B&N and picked up some manga to help sustain the industry. I read that many of the big B&N stores are downsizing which is definitely not a good sign of the times and who knows how much longer they'll be around. I really don't want them to turn into the next Borders but I have been fearing that it may happen sooner than I thought. So I did my civic duty and helped with not only sustaining the industry but also helped support my local book stores. While going through amazon does help sustain the industry, it doesn't however, keep the physical book stores alive. Sure it sucks paying the retail prices but you are at least helping to support the stores. It's better that we have some stores than none imo. 

I didn't get very many volumes of manga. I only got 3. It may be small but it does still help support the stores. I got Marmalade Boy collectors edition volume 1 and Dragon Ball Super volumes 7 and 19. One of them still had the og $9.99 price tag on it so I decided to take advantage of that price and buy it. Anyway, here's a look at what I got! 

 

And yeah, that's all that I got! Like I said, not much but it's something at least! I'm definitely gonna be doing more pick-ups blog posts in the future. So make sure to keep an eye out for them. I strongly encourage you all go out there and support your local book stores as well so they can keep their business going. Anyway, that's all for today's post. Hope y'all had a great weekend!

The Revival of Mahou Shoujo aka Magical Girl Anime

Does anyone remember this underrated anime genre? It was extremely popular in the 90s into the early to mid 00s. I quickly became obsessed with it after watching Sailor Moon on Toonami in the mid 90s. Once I learned what anime really was, I branched out to other titles such as Ojamajo DoReMi, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch (and its sequel series), Hime-chan no Ribbon, Saint Tail, Mahoutsukai Mary Bell, Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime, Sugar Sugar Rune, Shugo Chara, and Pretty Cure. I'm sure there's many more I'm missing but these are the titles I loved a lot when I was younger. 

 

 

 

 

 

After Shugo Chara, there was another amazing magical girl series known as Madoka Magica that was released in 2011. It was popular for quite some time due to the movies that came out for it after the series. After that, magical girl series with the target age for elementary school aged girls became a dead genre, with really only Pretty Cure keeping it alive. Pretty Cure has had a new season every year since 2004. In 2015, however, we got a new series for that target audience in 2015. The series was called Himitsu no Cocotama. There was a sequel for it as well. Although it was not a magical girl series, it still hit that target age audience. Something that you don't see too much of these days anymore (even with the revival of these new magical girl series from this season of anime). Then in 2021, a series called Mewkledreamy was released (which I guess you could consider as magical girl) as well as a sequel series, Mewkledreamy Mix, the following year. 

 

 

There hasn't been much within this genre of anime since Mewkledreamy Mix. The magical girl genre for the elementary school girl target age became very sporadic after I would say around the year 2006 and/or 2007. I remember I would always look forward to every new spring because that was usually the prime time for a new magical anime series. I noticed it started dying down around the mid to late 00s. I remember being disappointed many times with the spring seasonal anime lists around that time. In 2011, I thought that maybe Madoka Magica would finally revive the genre but unfortunately, that was not the case. Now, we did have series such as Sanrio's JewelPet but it only stuck around for a few seasons.

Now come to fall seasonal anime, at least 3 new magical girl anime series have been released! One of them really gives me the old school feel of the mid 00s. That one being, Mahou Tsukai ni Narenakatta Onnanoko no Hanashi.

Summary of Mahou Tsukai ni Narenakatta Onnanoko no Hanashi: Kurumi Mirai is a first year in high school enrolling in magic school. She encountered a witch when she was young and was in awe of her magic. She decided she wanted to be just like that witch. The witch gave her a book and she keeps it as motivation to become a mahou tsukai. However, when she applies to get into a mage training class, known as "Ma-gumi (Mage Class)", she wasn't able to get in despite having full scores and was top of the class for the whole three years. How will she become the mahou tsukai she dreams of being now?

My Thoughts: So far, just 3 episodes of the show have come out. From my first thought, the first few minutes of episode 1 of the animation looked weird but it seems that style only used for flashbacks in the series. After the flashback, you get the standard anime style we know as of today. The art style is extremely cutesy and very shojo like. The art style definitely gets an A from me. I don't really have too much opinions of the characters as we're still early in. I'll definitely be watching this all the way through tho. I can definitely say that if you're a fan of Little Witch Academia, you'll love this. Many fans have been comparing it to that series and I can see why.

Opening Screencaps:

 

Song Title: Collage (コラージュ)" by PUFFY to Tsuideni TOOBOE

The opening song is just alright. The background music is catchy and the animation is beautiful and full of pastel colors. Definitely an opening I'd expect from this genre. I give it a B rating. The ending song is just as catchy and pastel-y!

Next is Acro Trip. 

Summary: Chizuko Daté is an otaku girl who lives in a city in Niigata Prefecture. Chizuko is obsessed with Berry Blossom, the magical girl who protects the city. However, Chroma, the leader of the local evil organization Fossa Magna, is inept and weak. Hardly anyone else cares about Berry Blossom and Chroma's frequent battles anymore. Chizuko vows to shine a light on the magical girl's exploits and this fervent desire takes this seemingly shy middle school girl down a dark path filled with strange folks...

My Thoughts:  So far, this is another series I'm enjoying and Chizuko is the youngest magical girl out of the 3. I do like her friendship that she has with *spoiler alert* Chroma, though, her obsession with Berry Blossom is a bit too obsessive at times and is kinda weird lol. If you can get over that part, then the show is actually quite enjoyable to watch. Chroma is quickly becoming my favorite character outta the entire series and Berry Blossom's character design is so cute! I'll definitely watch the rest of this.

Opening Screencaps:

 

Song Title: "Fragum (フラーグム)" by Inori Minase (水瀬いのり)

The opening song is just alright. I wouldn't say the song for either the op or the ed are particularly memorable. Just average. The animations for both though are quite enjoyable to watch. 

Last up is is Kabushikigaisha Magi-Lumière! 

Summary: "Magical Girl"—A profession that undertakes the work of exterminating a kind of natural disaster called "Kaii." Kana Sakuragi, a female college student who struggles with job hunting, is picked up by a magical girl startup company and...?! Magical Girl work-life starts now!

My Thoughts: This series reminds me a lot more of Madoka Magica. Mainly with the witches fighting monsters theme going on here. Kana is the oldest magical girl out of the 3 in this season. She is a college student struggling to find a job where she can be helpful. She loves to help others so wants to find a job just like that. She is a lot like me actually. I also love to help others when I can. The magical girl in this series is Hitomi Koshigaya. Her personality is a lot like a man's that you can find in any shounen hero series. You may recognize Kazuo's voice if you have seen My Hero Academia. His Seiyuu is the same as Midoriya's. I guess Midoriya now works for magical girls. xD Definitely some interesting and weird characters and I like it. Otherwise, I think this show will be a fun watch.

Opening Screencaps:

 

Song Title:  "Order Made (オーダーメイド)" by Mafumafu (まふまふ)

Another average opening. The animations for it are great though! 

Overall: I suppose you could say it is a bit strange for someone my age to prefer a magical girl series with kids in it. Imo, making the main characters younger gives this genre a bit more of cutesy and girly feel to it. While the characters in Mahou Tsukai ni Narenakatta Onnanoko no Hanashi are middle school aged, the colorful pastel-y colors definitely does fit the vibe of a magical girl series aimed for young girls or any magical girl fan. That's honestly what I look for when it comes to this genre. Otherwise, I'm so happy magical girl series are trying to make a come back. I have been wanting it to come back for a long time now. Probly since Madoka Magica was released and I do hope one day, we'll see more series like Futagohime, Cardcaptor Sakura, Sugar Sugar Rune, Ojamajo DoReMi, etc. All 3 of these new magical girl series do look very promising and I do hope that these series will become popular enough to revive the genre and keep it alive. 

That's all for today's post. Whew! That definitely took a bit of time to write. At least a couple days but I'm glad I did it. If you read this far (thank you!), feel free to comment which magical girl series is your favorite and which new magical series are you watching from this season? Will write again soon!

Blog Makeover!

I decided to change the layout and banner for the first time today! I really like how it looks! I haven't changed the look at all since I began this blog back in 2008. I always thought the old look was kinda basic and boring. Nothing I'd really want to remember nor did it really have a nostalgic feeling. The color theme was just orange and tan. Nothing special about it really. With that thought in mind, I thought it was finally time for a change.

My original banner had a photo of the cherry blossoms from Japan with some cool lanterns. It was a photo I took when I visited the country in spring of 2015. I guess at the time, I wanted to use my own images so I wouldn't be at risk of copy write strike. I decided that if that does happen, then I will take down this banner but I don't intend of removing it until then. I'm not using it to make money off of it so I don't see why not. I'm simply using it to share my love for these characters and anime series. But yeah, I wanted a fresh new banner that fits the vibe more with my blog. If you're viewing my blog on a phone, the banner may not be visible so I'll post it here...

The image above is the new banner that you'll see on the desktop version. The anime characters in my banner are InuYasha, kid Gohan, Popo from Mushiking, and Fine and Rein from Fushigiboshi no Futagohime. I enjoyed all of these shows back in the mid to late 00s. It really takes me back to that time. I wanted to make my blog feel nostalgic and I think it certainly fits that look. It's probably how I would have wanted to decorate my blog back when I first started.

Anyways, hopefully y'all like the new changes! That's all for today's update. Keep an eye out for future blog posts. I have a few ideas in mind of posts I'd like to write about. See you guys again soon!

Anime I’m looking forward to for fall 2024

Hi everyone! It’s been awhile since my last post. Today, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the fall season anime line-up. There’s definitely a lot more that I want to check out this coming season compared to this summer season’s line-up. There will be a total of 5 series that I will be watching on a weekly basis as they come out. This is the list of anime I will be watching…

So first up, I'll check out Acro Trip. This one looks interesting considering it's a magical girl series. I haven't seen a series like this in years so it's nice to see Japan try to bring this genre back!

Next up is Dragon Ball Daima! It's always nice to see the franchise continue. Been a DB fan since the Dragon Ball VHS tapes came out in the mid 90s. I still wonder where the story will take place like if it's in-between Z and GT or after GT, I dunno!

Up next is Kinoko Inu. This one was a last minute decision to decide to watch this but I read the summary and it does look intriguing enough for me to wanna check it out and watch it.

Next is MagiLumiere. Another Mahou Shojo series. I'm excited for this one as well! 

Last up is Ranma 1/2! I'm excited this series is finally getting a reboot. Now that the manga is done publishing, we should hopefully finally see this series get fully animated.  

That's it for the anime series I'll be watching on a weekly basis! The fall season anime starts on September 7 which is in about 3 weeks from now. Crazy to think we're already entering fall. 

There’s also a number of anime I want to check out but I’m undecided if I’ll watch them weekly or not or I may wait to watch when they’re done airing. I dunno if Mahoutsukai Hanashi will be short episodes or regular length. If it’s regular length, I’ll probably move it to watch weekly. I will check out the first few episodes of the other anime series to see if they hold my interest but they all look interesting! I hope they will be good! Their synopses sound promising.

 
Might Check out Later:

Dandandan

Kekkon Surutte Honto Desuka?

Murai no Koi

Neko ni Tenseishita Ojisan

Mahoutsukai ni Narenakatta Onnanoko no Hanashi

Youkai Gakkou no Sensei Hajimemashita!

And that about does it for my fall anime season plan to watch list! I’m so glad that Magical Girl anime is trying to make a comeback! I’ve been dreaming for a new MG anime for a long time. Probly since Madoka Magica went off the air. I have missed this genre so much. I hope these series will be successful so more of them will be made. It’s also nice to see that Ranma is getting a reboot. I hope more classic manga series will get animated in the future if this does well! Once the fall season anime starts, I might give my reviews of episode ones for each series that I’ll watch weekly and might check out. Anyway, that’s all for this blog post! I’ll be seeing you again in the fall for when all of the fall anime starts. どきどき！わくわく！

My Anime DVD/Bluray Collection as of May 2024

I have been meaning to do this post for awhile now. I finally just took the time to take photos of my entire anime collection as of May 2024. I have slowed down quite a bit in collecting anime since it has gotten expensive. Then again, I feel like collecting for anime has always been expensive in my years of collecting for it. I remember the days when you'd only get a few episodes for $20 per DVD. Thankfully, we have complete DVD box sets for the same price these days. Though blurays are a bit more pricey. 

Since I have moved out into my own space, I can now store my anime the way I want it to look. I put them in cabinet shelving to protect them from sun rays since my living room is filled with sun light. Here is a look at my first row of DVDs...

I tried to organize it by box set height and style. As you can see, I own a lot of older anime. The most recent anime I have on this shelf is Panty & Stocking from 2010. 

Next down is my Dragon Ball/DBZ collection. I'm going for a complete collection of the original single DVD releases because that's the only way you can watch the original unedited dub that aired on Toonami. All box sets of DBZ after that were redubbed and sound a bit different. I also have a limited edition box set of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time movie. Great anime movie too btw. 

Down below is the rest of my anime collection. I own mostly complete box sets of anime. At least, I try to keep it that way. I also have my bluray collection here at the very bottom along with my bootleg collections from China. I got rid of most of the ones I used to have as I got replaced them with official US copies. Some of them I gave away to friends since I also have better quality torrents of them.

I also have my anime movies and Japan imports stored in a cabinet next to my anime collection but yeah, that's my anime collection! As I have said though, sadly, my collecting habits have slowed down a bit for anime. Currently, I'm more into collecting for video games and manga. I do try to get a few new anime box sets here and there each year though. Otherwise, that's all for today's post! I'll show some of my other collections in future posts soon.

Anime ReWind: Aria the Animation Season 1 Review

First week into May. I finished a really lovely anime series from the year 2005. 2005 was a great year for anime. At this time, I was a sophomore in high school. It was the peak of my anime fandom. It was also the start of when I actively looked for seasonal upcoming anime lists and purchased every new issue of NewType magazines.

Aria is one of those anime series that will warm your heart and make you feel relaxed as you feel their passage of time on Planet Aqua in the 24^th century (formally known as planet Mars). It’s got a bit of sci-fi in this series but you’ll still feel as if you’re in the country-side. Throughout the story, you’ll get to see the seasons changing and watch Akari make new friends in Neo Venezia. Season one starts with spring being nearly over and it takes place in a city called Neo Venezia. Akari Mizunashi, age 15, is the main character from planet Manhome (formally known as planet Earth). She lived in a city called Venice Italy. Akari wants to be a pro undine. Undine’s are tour guides that ride on a boat called a gondola. Akari often says "Hohe" or "Hahi," which is her short version of "Wow!". Also, はずかしいセリフ禁止 (きんし)、灯里 (あかり)！No sappy lines allowed Akari! She loves her sappy lines lol. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One interesting thing about this series is during the opening song of the anime, it's not your typical opening with random clips specifically for the opening. The episode continues to play. So definitely do not skip the opening song if you want to see some extra content! I really enjoyed watching this slow paced, relaxing anime series. The background music and insert songs are also quite lovely to listen to. While the animation may not be spectacular by any means, the series is at least beautifully drawn. The colors are bright and lovely to look at as you watch. It really brings you back to the old days of watching anime. This anime was recorded in 4:3 aspect ratio (as you can see from these screenshots) so before the days widescreen anime. Unfortunately, a lot of the original manga wasn’t in the anime series. Some chapters were skipped entirely. So if you want the full story, you’ll have to read the manga. Also, even though there is a passage of time, the characters don’t really seem to age much.

Despite some of the flaws in the anime, I really enjoyed watching season one of the series. This would definitely be one series I would watch again. If you enjoy watching a slow paced slice of life anime series with a bit of comedy and a cast of enjoyable female main characters, then I highly recommend this one!

My Ratings:
Art/Animation: B+
Story: B+
Sub Translations: A