If there’s one thing I learned recently, it’s that I’m not special… Don’t worry, I’m not going through a depression, it’s an inside joke that some of you may get. In any case, in line with how not special I am, I really like snacks! As such, when Sugoi Mart offered to send me a box full of Japanese snacks to test out and talk about, I jumped on it! Free Japanese snacks, are you kidding? Who would turn that down? Not me!!! Sugoi Mart is an online store that offers unique Japanese food & snacks, to drinks, collectibles, appliances, beauty, games, & more! They are a Japanese-based b ..read more

Nationals have finally started and all the teams made it to the tournament. Well, probably not ALL the teams but all the teams we care about, right? I actually had a great week of anime. All the shows I watched had great episodes, Tsurune included. But I noticed that I took way more screencaps of Tsurune. That’s probably mostly due to my love of KyoAni visuals but I like to think that this season of Tsurune is also a little bit inspiring in that way. The team has really grown. I guess that sentence is confusing. I don’t mean the team has literally grown, as in it has gotten bi ..read more

What, they’re just not going to tell us what happened to Yosano? Like that’s in any way o.k? I’m just supposed to sit here and let the story go on not knowing what happened? This is a rhetorical question, you don’t have to answer that. And despite all of that, this was a fun episode, right? I liked it a lot! Since the members of the Armed Detective Agency are all divided now, we get to follow independent storylines as they crash together. And so far, Atsushi and Kyouka have managed to avoid most of the other big players. Atsushi met the Decay of the Angel once when he grappled w ..read more

This show is not getting easier to write about. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing… unless you are trying to post about it. Then it’s a very bad thing. Otherwise, still a great show I have a soft spot for this week’s episode. Essentially, we see a very specific relationship between Hayate and Motoharu, that is to say between a fan and his idol. Hayate is a book geek and just a general geek while Motoharu just happens to be an author he admires a lot. We’ve seen this before in fiction. Exploring fan culture is something a lot of shows do since it’s an easy way to be relatable to ..read more

I love a good OP. It’s not necessary but I think when obvious time and effort has been put into creating an interesting opening sequence, it’s a good sign that the creators care about their audience and love their work. When done right, these little creations are small works of art in and of themselves that can entertain and move us in their own right. So today I’m taking a moment to celebrate my favorites. Why isn’t YOUR favourite on the list? Many reasons, maybe I haven’t seen the show or forgot about it – maybe I don’t like it. Feel free to explain to me why my tastes are wrong. Why isn’t ..read more

Genre:  Slice of life, comedy, foodservice Episodes: 13 Studio: Asahi Production   Basking in the glories of her energetic teenage metabolism, Minami has resolved to eat all the bread and nothing but all the bread forever. Apparently this is what all the cool kids are doing because she soons finds herself surrounded by a posse of baked goods enthusiasts and they all bond over their love of carbs. Adorable things probably happen. Man there is not much to this story at all. “Cute girls doing cute things” has gotten a bad rap. Do you ever wonder where that expression comes from ..read more

Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspens Episodes 12 Studio Lerche So episode 12 of classroom of the elite ends this season and maybe even becomes the final season of the anime, which is possible because a lot of people in Japan cancelled their blu-ray. Because of things like this, we’ll never know if we’ll get another season or not, but everything has been said and done in this season. Indeed, it’s a pretty decent stopping point, if we didn’t have another season, I feel pretty satisfied with this ending similar to a light novel ending and it’s not so bad in the end. I know there have been ..read more

I like to think of myself as not entirely uncultured but there is always going to be a bit of a culture clash when I watch anime. I think that’s true for a lot of western viewers. The social reality we live in as well as the history, traditions and beliefs we grew up with are bound to affect how we take in our entertainment. When an author writes a story there’s all sorts of things they take for granted. For instance if a large male character goes grocery shopping in a ball gown, that’s an odd and maybe comical scene but only because our social conventions skew against it. There was a time whe ..read more

This is a little embarrassing to talk about, so don’t tell anyone ok? Sometimes, not that often but still, I seek validation through my blog. Like when I’m having a really cr*ppy day and everything is going wrong, I find comfort in a supportive comment even if I’m not sure how sincere it is. Or other days, when I’m having a real good day, lotsa likes, lotsa comments, I’ll get just a little full of myself. Pump out my chest out like a robin and walk around all proud and stuff, even though no one else knows about it, and if they did, let’s face it, they wouldn’t care. That’s fine though I k ..read more

Out of all the episodes of Tsurune’s second season, I would say that this one most closely resembled the first season. And by that, I mean that it was mostly drama and personal strife with very little actual archery going on. There was a moment early in the episode but that’s about it. It’s not really my preference when it comes to storytelling. When it’s just an isolated episode like this one, it’s not that bad. But for the first time this season, I thought to myself that we could have done without it altogether. Not sure if anyone else agrees. For a quick refresher, Kazemai an ..read more