Hey guys how’s it going?? This week was a week of playing catch-up
Even though I was playing catch-up, I actually read and watched quite a bit. I watched one movie and one anime but also read three books and three volumes of manga. Onto the media!
Movie
The Rainmaker
This movie was an Allstar cast and made me realize how cruel and slippery lawyers can be. The ending though was a tad lackluster yet realistic.
The only other issue I had with this movie was that I wished all the cases had equal screen time. Because of these points, I have to give this a 3 out of 5 stars or 3 sushi 🍣🍣🍣.
Anime Rewatch
My Hero Academia
This past week, I have watched this show up through whats currently out (except the movies I may be watching them before I watch season 5 but I am not sure. (If you’ve watched the movies let me know) I am glad I was able to watch this again because it gives me the feels of watching a superhero show with quite a bit of characters and saving people but at the same time presenting some fantastic themes, unique abilities, and a ton of different stories instead of just the main character’s (which I am still not a fan of Deku and Bakugo however, I see their merits better now) because of these points, I have to give this anime a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣🍣🍣.
Book
A Chance To Fly
Every middle/intermediate school teacher needs to put this in their classroom. It has a lot of musical theater references, it shows a lot of inclusion with physical disabilities as well as LGBTQIA+ representation and racial representation in the best way.
There’s a ton of musical theater references in here, the most being Wicked my favorite musical of all time. There is some girl hate involved but it was solved relatively quickly thankfully. Theres also quite a few things that could date this book such as Snapchat, Kickstarter, etc. The only issue that I had and it was truly one that would most likely be overlooked by someone who isn’t as obsessed with Wicked as I am, it’s giving the reference material to 10-13 year olds. I understand that it can be necessary but that is too adult for those kids to me.
Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and what it represented and would definitely recommend it. 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣. This comes out April 13th so keep your eyes out for it.
Love at First
I have a lot of thoughts on this book. First, trigger warnings for grief, parental abandonment, and intense emotion. Second, This story has a lot going for it; the deeply flushed out characters with knowing everyone’s backstory, their character development (without feeling like archetypes), and some hijinks mixed with some beautiful romantic/emotional moments about the main characters individually as well as together. I also loved the bromance that was presented along with the other friendships and relationships. My main issue with this has to be the plot. I enjoyed it sure I was engaged with the story. However, there are moments of overwriting when it comes to the characters overpowering the plot (I love the characters but I wanted to move along at points). There were also moments where I wondered where things were going when it came to some of the events that were happening. Overall though, I truly enjoyed my time with this book and these characters and I would definitely recommend this to adults who love a character driven story. Because of these points, I have to give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi🍣🍣🍣🍣. This is already out so if you’re interested check it out!
Serious Moonlight
I will be honest, this is a book that is best for seniors in high school and up because of the trigger warnings of parent death, ectopic pregnancy, discussion of murder, miscarriage, suicide, depression, sex, and narcolepsy representation that was pretty accurate that could scare younger audiences.
Onto the content itself, if you love profound contemporary stories of people trying to find their way in life along with falling in love, you would love this. However, when it comes to this plus adding a mystery element in there which was fine but felt unnecessary. I think it would have been easier and probably a better book if the characters just showed each other their enthusiasm for the genre and continued their profound conversations.
Overall, I loved this book in the sense that there was a lot of great moments between the characters and their adventures and some moments where I felt as a reader that I learned a lot of lessons about the profound subject material that was presented. I would definitely recommend it for new adult /adult audiences who need something profound like this. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
Manga
Standalone
Haru’s Curse
I’ll be honest, I requested this manga from Netgalley blind and was afraid of reading it until now. First, trigger warnings for suicide, verbal abuse, terminal illness, and grief. Second the artstyle is one that I know some people may not like, however I loved it because it reminded me of a unique web comic if that makes sense.
When it comes to the content itself though, the title is deceptive in the sense that you may think its a supernatural/thriller story when it’s an adult contemporary discussing how one person can make a difference in two people’s lives.
I think the closest story that I can relate to it is I want to eat your pancreas but with more family dynamics and adults so if you enjoyed that manga and like emotional stories like that you should check this out. My one issue that I had with this, was that I wanted more communication/ romantic moments between the two main characters (along with more of the festival because I love festivals in manga) but since this is more adult coming of age I do not fault that there isn’t more romance involved. Overall, this was an unexpected surprise and I am so glad I read this 4.5 out of 5 stars or 5 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣🍣. This is already out so check it out if you’re interested!
Series Starters
Itazura na Kiss
I am really glad that I have gotten back into this series. I remember watching the anime and loving it because it starts in their senior year of high school through their adult career and that was something that I had never watched before. Until reading this, I did not realize how old this series is (there was a calendar saying 1991 in it and my eyes widened at the sight). But the artstyle was very unexpected especially when it came to some of the hair (I wonder if its the subject of its time or what). Since I know the story I wasn’t turned off by it but I can definitely see why people who are new manga readers would not like it.
As far as subject matter, the leading guy can be mean but endearing, the family is such goofballs, and the leading girl has feelings but can’t act on it because of the guy’s feelings (I know its something that I sometimes hate) However, for me this series is so much fun and starting volume 1 has been a lot of fun and I wonder how much new content I will be seeing continuing on away from the anime. Because of these points, I have to give this manga a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣🍣🍣🍣.
Star-Crossed
I will be honest, I think I had higher expectations for this. Its probably because of Kiss Him not Me the author’s previous work was so good. It has the same feel of Kiss Him not Me in the otaku aspect of things and the rock star aspect was awesome too. However, I was not a fan of the friendship/relationship between the characters plus the body-switching aspect although I thought the reasoning was pretty cool, it was too strange/silly for my personal liking plus the opening for a sequel sigh that made things even worse. Because of these points, I have to give this volume a 3 out of 5 stars or 3 sushi 🍣🍣🍣. This is already out so please check it out if you’re interested.
The Week Ahead
This coming up week, I think I have a handle on keeping a balance of watching and reading this week. (At least I hope who knows). What about you? What did you read or watch this week? Let’s talk about it!
Sushirainbow 