So today, my blog is officially 12 years old. I don’t have much to say, but I know my writing has slowed down a lot. I haven’t written as much as I used to due to other interests taking my time (*coughmahjongcough*). But after some personal stuff I experienced recently, I want to get back more to writing. Playing mahjong is nice and all, but I don’t have super aspirations to become this high-level player. Plus, I’m way past the normal age range for a riichi mahjong player outside of Japan.  I’ve forgotten how much joy I get from reading manga at times. I still read a bunch, but my br ..read more

I just finished Keito Gaku’s “Boys Run the Riot” and I really enjoyed all of its messaging about dealing with prejudices. This was number 2 on my top manga of 2021 for a good reason and also a top manga recommended by U.S. manga librarians for teenagers. This is a coming-of-age title for youth of all backgrounds, especially transgender youth. The main character Ryo Watari’s journey of coming out as a transgender teen and learning self-acceptance through fellow peers that are considered outcasts themselves made me reflect on my own personal struggles with self-acceptance and self-compassion wh ..read more

I’ve been enjoying Yuji Kaku’s Ayashimon in Shonen Jump due to its mix of spiritual lore and yakuza tropes. While reading it, I found this scene from a very recent chapter that speaks to how many people might be feeling. I think the sad truth is that it ties into something I quoted from this post I wrote on Manga - The Citi Exhibition, manga provides solace for people dealing with trauma. While it may not change the world, you can forget about it for a bit. Hurtful things usually do stick with you forever or for an extended period of time. While I preach manga as an avenue to proces ..read more

I got a chance to finish Cells at Work! and I like how the series ended with talking about COVID-19. It gives me hope about how not to give up on people when it’s so easy to do so. The final chapter highlights our favorite cells dealing with the effects of COVID on their host body. There’s a bunch of tension, in-fighting, and anxiety all displayed. Among the chaos, Red Blood Cell AE3803 decides to take charge in making sure the body is doing its best while COVID ravages the immune system What I like is how it highlights a problem I have with the general COVID response via the perspective of m ..read more

Since everyone’s doing the end-of-year “most popular” lists, the libraries in my home of NYC decided to tell its users what books were checked out most in 2021 And for the biggest consumer of manga, young adults, there’s 2 titles that are still as popular as ever 15+ years later. Naruto and BLEACH, to me, are basically what Dragon Ball Z was to people my age - nostalgic titles filled with memorable moments that were big part of people’s youth. I think about the first time I heard about Naruto around 2005 and how a friend (who normally doesn’t watch anime) was hyping it. For BLEACH, it wa ..read more

Hey everyone, I just uploaded my video of my top 5 favorite manga of 2021 (along with an honorable mention). Some post-show notes: - Audio was a bit too loud. I didn’t fix it until I talked about my number 2 pick. The next time I do something like this, audio will be reasonable so everyone can hear my voice. - Regarding my number 2 pick, I mistakenly keep referring one of its major side characters as “he” when their pronouns should be “they.” As someone who really likes this series, I apologize for this blunder and will do better. - Finally, this picture sums up how I feel about man ..read more

So, I decided to talk about Anime NYC 2021 in a kind-of long Twitch stream (if you can’t view the embed, you can watch here). It felt a LOT better talking about these things than writing about it. I hope everyone can watch it. The video’s also very raw as the quality sucks. I’m also not the greatest speaker in the world and I’m a bit awkward at times when talking. There’s also some addendum notes I wanted to add: A shout-out should also go out to Sean Gaffney of Manga Bookshelf. He was the first person I saw and recognized at the convention. His recaps of manga happenings at conventions are r ..read more

I’m headed back into the fray this weekend. Also, the return of this look on Saturday and/or Sunday (with a Persona 5 mask this time). I don’t really have a set schedule of stuff to pay attention to as I’m just gonna play some things by ear. No volunteer booth work for me this year. Also, I’m still not mentally there yet for certain events that are past a specific date (after 7pm). But I do know that the Anime NYC stuff are definitely trying their hardest to make sure the event is fun AND safe for everyone involved. Plus, some people (i.e. women) once said I have nice legs, so I guess I’ll sh ..read more

I talked about Attack on Titan’s ending when the last chapter hit a while back, but the original story is technically over with the English release of Volume 34 and I like this little tongue-in-cheek jab in the end of the final volume about possible fan reaction over the manga’s ending. I’m sure there’s lots of things to wonder about in Attack on Titan. Volume 34 had a few new pages in the end that did leave things open for interpretation. There’s going to be a bunch of speculation on random internet channels with some dose of debate. I did like Eren’s comment in that he, Mikasa and Armin sho ..read more

I’ve been preaching for a long time that acceptance of certain bad situations opens up the world for anyone who’s going through them. But after reading this part in the 1st volume of Rie Aruga’s Perfect World, I realize before acceptance, love from other people has to come first. It’s hard to love yourself or come to terms with reality if you don’t know how and that comes from being around other people. Of course, that’s not to say that the main male character, Itsuki Ayukawa, is a perfect role model even when he said he hasn’t accepted his own disability as he has his own flaws and is st ..read more