Anime Talk: Sailor Moon Crystal

On the first of the New Year, I finished up the final episodes of the first season of Sailor Moon Crystal. As a fan of the original series, I was psyched to hear that Sailor Moon would be remade but even more impressed with the fact that it would follow the original storyline as portrayed in the manga. Having never actually read the source material meant that I had not idea what kind of changes were about to take place and that made me more excited because it meant being able to see the Sailor Senshi not only as an adult, but from an entirely new perspective as well. 

Sailor Moon Crystal starts out just like the original Sailor Moon series. We have a girl named Usako who finds out that she is the reincarnation of a princess from the Silver Millennium - a race of people that once ruled the moon. When the Silver Millennium fell to the forces of evil, the princess, along with her four guardian warriors were sent to Earth to be reborn as humans. After learning about her destiny from a talking cat named Luna (also from the Silver Millennium), Sailor Moon meets and helps to awaken her guardians - Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter. Sailor Venus was the first awakened guardian, having been found by Artemis, another talking cat from the Silver Millennium, some time before Sailor Moon herself awakened. Joining our cast is a mysterious man who calls himself, "Tuxedo Mask" and appears to help Sailor Moon when she most needs it. 

Anime Talk: Wolf Children

Recently, I decided that I should really watch some of the movies I've been planning to watch for a while now. So, I went ahead and rented a few of them. Most of them are Hollywood movies but there are a few that are animated movies. One of the first ones I grabbed was Wolf Children or, if we go by its Japanese name, The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki. 

I have been wanting to watch Wolf Children for a while now as many of my friends and former classmates have raved endlessly about the movie. I wasn't sure what to expect to be honest. But after settling down snugly in my living room to watch it from beginning to end I TOTALLY GET IT. 

The movie is told from the perspective of an adult Yuki who is reminiscing and relaying the story of her mother Hana. Hana was a young college student when she met Yuki's father, a young man who is very reserved and is attending her college lectures without actually being a student himself. Hana notices that he doesn't have a textbook and offers to lend him hers. This eventually buds into a romance between the two, with Hana slowly but surely, getting past the young man's tough exterior and getting to know him little by little. One day however (it's Christmas if I remember correctly) he arrives VERY late to their scheduled date. He apologizes to Hana and finally reveals his secret - he is a werewolf! The last of his kind, he was raised in the country by relatives who knew nothing about his origins following the death of his parents. He decided to come to the city for work and lives a lonely life, keeping to himself due to his secret. While surprised, Hana accepts him for who he is and they soon begin a family. Yuki is born first and then one year later, Ame is born. 

Twists and Turns

This month I have come across many blog worthy moments but for some reason, I can't seem to find the time to set aside and write these blogs. Life has been getting a bit busy lately so I'm going to try my best to summarize most of those blog worthy moments in one post :)

So earlier this month I received a notice from the overseas job I had applied for letting me know that I was selected as an alternate candidate. Basically, if one of the short-list candidates can no longer accept the job, for whatever reason, I may be promoted to take their place. Promotion is a 50/50 chance and it very much depends on whether or not you fit the criteria for the type of candidate a place is looking for, so while I filled out the alternate paperwork, I may not be promoted to the short list at all. As of now, I'm waiting until mid-July to see if I'm promoted at all and if not, I will be taking my name off the short list and working on getting into grad school. Wish me luck :D

Jpop Mix: Morning Musume '15, Seishun Kozou ga Naiteiru/Yuugure wa Ameagari/Ima Koko Kara

Earlier this year, I introduced the idol group Morning Musume by reviewing their 2014 album, 14 Shou ~The Message. With the start of a new year, Morning Musume has now evolved into Morning Musume '15, and has released their first single with Mizuki Fukumura as leader. This is also the first single that includes the new 12th generation members.

Titled Seishun Kozou ga Naiteiru/Yuugure wa Ameagari/Ima Koko Kara, Morning Musume '15 starts the year off by releasing a Triple A side single (meaning that all three tracks are main tracks and equally promoted). With 13 members, the girls come back as a group trying to evolve; starting out by providing three very different tracks and featuring rotating centers. 

Anime Talk: Black Butler Book of Murder

Before we get started, just a quick disclaimer: I am a big fan of the Black Butler manga/anime series. So be prepared for a (likely) biased review.

"There's nothing more deceiving, than an obvious truth."

I don't quite remember why I first started watching Black Butler. I think it had something to do with finding out Yuya Matsushita would be in the stage play. Whatever the case, I watched the original Black Butler anime and Black Butler II. When Black Butler: Book of Circus was released in 2014, I watched that too and patiently waited for English subs for Book of Murder. I loved the original Black Butler series, and I quite liked how Black Butler II ended. It was unexpected and I loved that about it. However, I quickly learned that the ending seen in BBII is not the official ending to the manga series; it was just an ending made for the anime only. Well, with great demand, the studio that animated the original Black Butler released Book of Circus, which continues the manga storyline. Book of Circus is my favorite of the 3 series related to Black Butler so naturally, I decided I was absolutely going to watch Book of Murder. Well, without further ado, let's take a look at Book of Murder. 

Anime Talk: Fate/Zero

In an earlier Animediction post here, I reviewed Fate/Stay Night, the first anime in the Fate/ series. As promised, I have now finished watching Fate/Zero, the anime that serves as a sort of "prologue" to the Fate/Stay anime, setting in motion many events that come to fruition in the Fate/Stay night anime. I'll be honest, I started out this anime a bit skeptical, because hey, I didn't particularly like Fate/Stay Night. However, from the very first episode, Fate/Zero captivated me in a way that F/S never did and ultimately, is a far superior anime than its predecessor. 

Manga Review: Mermaid Saga

I was recently browsing Youtube and stumbled upon a video of one of my favorite animes as a teenager: Inuyasha. Wondering if the author had published any other stories since, I decided to look her up. Turns out, Rumiko Takahashi is currently working on another series, her first since Inuyasha. Browsing through her previous works, there was one in particular that caught my eye: Mermaid Saga. I read that it was a different type of comic than what Takahashi usually published in that it was dark/macabre. Intrigued, I decided to look up how many volumes there were (3 in English!) and settled down to reading them!

Mermaid Saga was written over the course of many years: one chapter here, and one chapter there. Therefore, since it was not a constant publication, Takahashi did not face the same pressures that she did with many of her other works wherein she had to publish the next installment before a deadline. This translated into a very concise and well written short manga that properly does its job of offering the reader a glimpse into the strange and ultimately sorrowful lives of Mana and Yuta. 

Anime Talk: Conqueror of Shamballa

So, it has happened. I have watched Conqueror of Shamballa (to be honest, I watched it yesterday but I didn't want to blog about it right after as it probably would have been an incoherent post). For those that haven't watched it, there are major spoilers in here, so be warned! Back to the movie - I was honestly confused during the first 5 or so minutes, because I seriously thought the first half of the movie was going to be a summary of everything that had happened in the anime series. However, it quickly switched to Ed and Al?? Well, yes, Ed is speaking with Alphonse, but not the Al we all know and love but the Al that exists on the other side of the gate. From there, the movie begins to unfold pretty quickly. While Ed is on one side of the wall, trying to find a way to get back to his world and helping a gypsy fortuneteller on the way, Al is on the other side, studying alchemy and developing an uncanny resemblance to his elder brother. Seriously, you can mistake Al easily for Ed if it weren't for the different bangs. I thought this was a neat quirk as throughout the series, it's Ed that is constantly mistaken for Al due to his stature. And speaking of stature...Ed has grown taller! The topic of Ed's height makes for some great comical moments in the movie as Ed seems to take just as much offense when people mention that he's taller as when he was being teased for being short.

Anime Talk: Fullmetal Alchemist 「鋼の錬金術師」

Ahhhhh!! The time has come. It's time to write of my tumultuous feelings surrounding Fullmetal Alchemist or, as known in Japan, 鋼の錬金術師 (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi). There are a few things I want to say first. 1. I have watched Fullmetal before, but never in any particular order. During my middle school years, I would sometimes watch an episode during my wait for Inuyasha to start (or maybe after Inuyasha ended...I can't remember which aired first). In total, I watched maybe 5 episodes of FMA. I found it entertaining, but didn't commit to the whole series. I decided after my 2012 trip to Japan that I should really watch the series from beginning to end. I now know that there are two Fullmetal animes: the original Fullmetal Alchemist which diverges from the manga storyline into it's own separate story entirely and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, which stays faithful to the manga. I opted to watched the original FMA first, and this is the anime I will be reviewing today. Also, another quick thing to note: I watched the subbed version of FMA, meaning that the audio was entirely in Japanese. Due to this, I may slip into referring to FMA as "Hagane" or "Fullmetal", sorry about that in advance.