Sushirainbow

Weekly Check-in 5/9/2020

Hey guys how’s it going? Today I’m going to summarize what I posted on Instagram recently, What I am currently watching, and What I am currently reading.

Instagram Posts

This post was actually to commemorate the creation of this blog. These pins/buttons represent who I am as a person and what I hope to bring to the table with this blog and my life in general.

This last one is a post that involves my wall décor and quotes that have got me through these last few months. It will be sucky to take it down when I move but once I get into a permanent place, I will have to put it up along with everything else. (Maybe I will post about it in the future 😉 )

Currently Watching

This past week, I have finished and started quite a few anime. They were a couple of blind ones I found on HIDIVE and a rewatch from a long time ago.

Rewatch: Angelic Layer

If you read last week’s post, I provided the synopsis for this anime/manga and will provide an in-depth review in the future but overall, I still enjoyed watching this again so much so that I wanted to read the manga as its source material. If you’re looking for a wholesome show with electronic dolls battling to be the best in Japan, check this out!

Blind Anime That I Completed: Just Because

This is an anime I found on Amazon Prime that was one I was intrigued by. Definitely nice for this time of year for high school seniors. There was also a romance hexagon involved.

The synopsis that the Anime News Network has is as follows:

“For a group of high school seniors, a chance reunion with a transfer student will change the course of their final year. Eita Izumi has come back to his hometown after four years and encounters some unlikely acquaintances: Haruto Soma, Eita’s childhood friend; Ena Komiya, the photography student who witnesses Eita and Haruto’s reunion; Mio Natsume, whose feelings for her middle school crush still linger; and Hazuki Morikawa, a girl who seems uninterested in romantic relationships. When the paths of these five cross, their fates turn in a way none of them could have seen coming.” This original anime came out in 2017. It was a fantastic ride and would definitely recommend if you want some drama and senior reminiscing.

Blind Anime that I am Currently Watching: Chihayafuru

I just started this anime on Thursday. Probably because of all the Crunchyroll ads about it lol 🤣. But also because of the intriguing sport that it presents. There is also a love triangle involved that is interesting to say the least.

The synopsis is this:

“Chihaya Ayase is a frank and ebullient girl who becomes fascinated by the obscure world of competitive karuta, a card game based on Japanese poetry. Introduced to the aggressive style of the game by a quiet and thoughtful elementary school classmate named Arata Wataya, the two quickly become close friends. They start playing as a group with Taichi Mashima, Chihaya’s smart and athletic childhood friend, until they have to part ways during their middle school years due to several circumstances. As their high school life begins, they meet once again.” The first season came out in 2011 with two subsequent seasons in 2013 and 2019 with its source material coming out in 2007 by Yuki Suetsugu licensed by Kodansha Comics.

I know this one might be a longer one than the previous one but I am curious how its going to turn out nonetheless.

Currently Reading

Manga

Graphic Novels

To be honest, I have been reading a lot more graphic novels than regular novels this week. I think its because with everything going on its just easier to read graphic novels plus they are a palate cleanser from the DNFs in my last post.

Here are the ones I have read so far.

I read this after not reading superhero comics in awhile definitely did not have to worry about being overwhelmed.

I ended up reading two volumes of this this week it was nice but at the same time I know it is one I don’t mind waiting to read more.

Last one I read was this one: definitely not for children but it was a fun read nonetheless. If you are looking for something similar to the Once Upon a Time television show, this is totally up your alley.

The Week Ahead

I will be honest, I am not sure how next week is going to turn out as far as my watching of anime goes. I am probably going to try and watch more of Chihayafuru and try to finish as much as I can.

As far as reading goes, I will probably try to read some more graphic novels, manga, and one very anticipated sequel. That is at least the plan of action but who knows.

How was everyone’s week? What did you watch or read? Let’s talk about it!

Anime Review Rewind: Angelic Layer

Hey Guys today is Anime Review Rewind time! This is where I review Anime that I watched when I was a teen and see how well they hold up for me as an adult.

Today’s anime is called Angelic Layer.

Information

This anime came out in 2001 in Japan with its source material coming out in Japan in 1999.

The synopsis that the Anime News Network has is as follows:

This only has one season and is available on HIDIVE where I watched it along with home video.

Review

This was the first anime that I had discovered that was actually fun for me to watch as far as a game battle tournament arc story. At the time I first watched this, I was fascinated by dolls that could move freely with your mind and enhanced my fascination with Artificial Intelligence/Robotics. With this rewatch, I was in awe how much was involved with the dolls and tournaments.

When it comes to the characters and their friendships and relationships with others, I was surprised by how silly it was, but at the same time how wholesome yet serious it could be. Because of this, I can definitely recommend that teens of both genders can watch this.

When it comes to the adult characters though, some of the scenes that involved them made me feel like the children were a lot smarter. I think though that is how the authors tend to write those characters, and not the story itself.

When it comes to the subject matter, it brings the right amount of mech and contemporary feels together without feeling too overwhelming. Also as far as the little bit of romance that is presented it is more like an afterthought than consuming the story. Family though is a huge theme so if that interests you check this out.

Rewatching this show, it brought me back to my childhood for sure and I have to say for modern audiences , I think it would be a fantastic addition to anyone’s anime collection. Especially if you enjoy contemporary along with robotic stories. Because of these points, I have to give this anime a 4.5 out of 5 stars or 4.5 sushis 🍣🍣🍣🍣1/2. I am definitely going to read the source material for sure.

DNFS: When to finish a series/standalone or not?

Today I’m going to talk about DNFing or Did Not Finish. I will also be featuring a couple of books I did not finish because of specific reasons I will discuss later. Let’s first say that I’m one of those people that attempts as much as I can to read the stories I either buy or check out from the library or receive review copies of. Most of the time, I do soft DNFs: this means that I am intrigued by the story but at the moment, I just do not want to read it right away, or it goes in a direction I do not expect and I need to prepare for it, or I am not in the mood for what its about. When it comes to hard DNFs: this is when I need to stop reading it completely, get rid of it, and pretend it doesn’t exist.

My DNF System

Like I said earlier, not finishing a story or book is not something I typically do often or if I do its not something I tend to talk about. Recently though, with events going on, I have been not finishing books left and right for reasons such as:

With the library, I have been experimenting with audiobooks so because of this, I am very particular of the playback speed and the narration so I tend to not finish those and wait to find them in e-book or physical form to read them later.
Starting a book or manga, lately I am feeling that I want to read to escape the current situation and absorb the story I am consuming. If the story is not able to do that, I may not be able to finish it.
When it comes to content that may make me uncomfortable, I am not opposed to reading uncomfortable topics; however, if theres a lot at once I really cannot handle it and I have to put it down.
When it comes to series especially manga/anime I may not be in the right headspace to watch or read it or I understand that there is a particular topic matter and I may need to prepare myself before reading/watching it again.
Another reason it could be too predictable or just plain boring. Sometimes I don’t mind that or I don’t mind rereading or watching something again that’s predictable but sometimes it can be really dull for me and I can’t finish that.
Lastly, I do not finish if I try so hard and read it and I just can’t get hooked or the writing style just does not land for me. Writing style usually does not affect me as much as it could for some people but if it does can cause a not finish for me.

Now I’m going to put a few of my most recent examples that I have DNFed and why.

Manga Series

Komi Can’t Communicate

With this particular series, I was worried how the mangaka as well as the translator was going to handle the concept of social communication disorders. This is because to me personally communication and having a communication disorder has such a spectrum of meanings that I was not sure about what I would find especially between the cultures of the United States and Japan. Upon reading this, though at least in this particular volume, the side characters in this were really unlikable with personalities although I appreciated that there were a variety of character representation. The leading lady is the only character is the only one I enjoy and can relate to.

There were scenes in this that I understand are supposed to be I guess “filler” or “bonus” content but they felt unnecessarily uncomfortable to me especially with the scene of making the lead character a god…. in addition, I felt that there were way too many times throughout the volume that were recaps in my opinion. I mean it is not like this is an omnibus combining several volumes at once right? When it comes to the communication disorder aspect of things, as someone who has communication skills difficulties myself, there were a lot of aspects I could relate to. However, there were moments I was angry at some of the situations that occurred; so many instances could have been better or if it wasn’t then there could have been more lessons involved to help improve the communication skills.
Overall, this really disappointed me, I wish this was better than it was but I love the leading lady. Because of these points, I have to give this volume a 3 out of 5 stars and may not continue with the series because of those points.

Sakura Hime

This volume was a start of a manga series I wanted to try because the same mangaka/author also wrote one/created one of my favorite animes of all time Full moon wo sagashite. Although this was enjoyable, I feel that it has not aged well with time and this is why.

First off the world and art are beautiful and amazing and I loved it alot. However, there were moments where although the art was gorgeous, it was unclear to me what was happening especially towards the end.

Second off, it’s a very trope heavy. Japanese fantasy manga/anime is one of my many sweet spots but with this particular case they decided to add the “magical girl” trope on top of it. In this particular case, it just doesn’t work in my opinion. It’s one thing to build it effectively but adding just as a joke to me is annoying. On top of this, there is a Yona of the dawnesque feeling to it (this was written before that but you understand my point). It seemed like the leading man was just goading the leading lady towards the end which just wasn’t as effective to me to continue on.

Standalone Novels

Crazy Cupid Love

I thought I was going love this book because of the concept but after buddy reading it with a friend and DNFing it to try again at a later date, reading at a later date and then DNFing again alone along with reading the ending to see if I’d be curious about the journey… nope. It was one of those that the concept was just poorly executed and thought I would love it more with time.

Private Lessons

This last one…….. it made me feel so emotional in the worse way. Trigger warnings for rape, death of a parent, Catholicism disdain, cancer, depression, anxiety, girl hate the whole shebang thank you to my friend for allowing me to read an early copy of this it was on my Wishlist but I just can’t anymore. I think the main issue with not finishing this one though was just the emotional backlash I was not needing to feel at this current moment.

Overall, This is my Did Not Finish system and four prime examples of recent DNFs. Do you guys have a system like this or have trouble even not finishing things? Let’s talk about it!!

Anime Review Rewind K-On!

Hey Guys! Today I am going to do what is called an Anime Review Rewind. This is where I review Anime that I watched when I was a teen and see how well they hold up for me as an adult. The first one I actually reviewed on my Instagram, but I wanted to expand on it using this platform.

Information

The first anime I have done this with is called K-On! This anime came out in 2009 with its source material by Kakifly originally coming out in Japan in 2007.

The Synopsis that Anime News Network of the first season is as follows:

“It’s Yui Hirasawa’s first year in high school, and she’s eagerly searching for a club to join. At the same time, Ritsu Tainaka, a drummer, and her friend Mio Akiyama, a bassist, are desperately trying to save the school’s light music club, which is about to be disbanded due to lack of members. They manage to recruit Tsumugi Kotobuki to play the keyboard, meaning they only need one more member to get the club running again. Yui joins, thinking it will be an easy experience for her to play the castanets, the only instrument she knows. However, the other members think their new addition is actually a guitar prodigy…”

There is a second season along with a movie that are also really fun and exciting. I was also able to watch it all through Netflix USA at this current time but they’re also available on home video.

Review

K-on was the first anime I watched that was contemporary music based and because of that it’s made me fall in love with the genre.

I realized while watching it this time there was a lot that I had forgotten little tidbits that had happened in the plot and how little music was in it as compared to others I have watched since. I guess because at the time I thought it was just a musical anime and that is it but no it is considered a slice of life; this means that essentially we are following the daily lives of the main characters with not necessarily any supernatural elements although there are some anime/manga that are slices of life that have supernatural elements.

I loved the friendship that was created through this. I remember the first time I watched this I wished for as much as I could to have a girl friendship like this. With going to a restaurant, having tea at school or someone’s house, with a training camp on the beach with a sleepover attached or being able to travel somewhere with your friends doing something you love. It is definitely one of those shows that teens are going to love in that sense.

I also appreciated that the anime itself showed the audience all through the high school experience in this particular school and I remember when I first watched this as a middle schooler that I truly looked forward to high school because of that concept. Watching it now, I could definitely relate more to the feelings of wanting to be remembered and having fun with my classmates in school.

One item that I found strange and didn’t realize the first time I watched was that there pretty much was only a couple of male characters in this story. Because of that, there came some interesting directions that went over my head the first time I watched it and now find not weird just different?? Without spoilers, I guess as an adult it was not as subtle as it was the first time I watched it (either that or I have more knowledge). either way it did not hinder my enjoyment.

To that previous item, I actually was doing my research on the source material from this anime and it is advertised as a Seinen(geared for adult men) most likely because it was serialized in that type of magazine in Japan. This allows the different items to make more sense now but it still surprised me nonetheless.

Conclusion

Overall though, it still holds up to me as an adult. Is it sad though, that I want to know all about their college experience now?? Most of the manga/source material is available only digitally through Amazon so I’m at least going to get the college manga (once I get enough digital credits that is 😉)

Because of these points, I have to give it a 4 out of 5 stars aka 4 sushi 🍣🍣🍣🍣. I think my only gripe with this other than the weird items I missed when I was younger was that there was not more of it. I would highly recommend this to people who love music, slice of life/contemporary coming of age stories, and female friendships.

Have any of you guys read or watched this? Do you want to now?? Let’s talk about it!

Introduction Post/Weekly Check in 5/2/2020

Hello, My name is Sushirainbow. I am a person who likes a variety of things; books, anime, manga, music, unique items, beautiful art, and helping people as much as I can. This post is going to summarize what I posted on Instagram recently, What I am currently watching, and What I am currently reading.

Instagram Post

Today on my Instagram I posted a photo about my Caramel Frappuccino and Bibliophileprints’ Art print about Pumpkin Spice Lattes and it made me think of Fall. Living in a place where it is typically warm, I get cool drinks every moment I can to make myself think of fall https://www.bibliophileprints.com/?sca_ref=73221.4qz30FKG4e <—- use this link if you are interested in this print and more from this shop.

Currently Watching

Lately, I am currently rewatching anime that I watched when I was in middle school (over ten years ago that is all I will say) and trying to see whether they hold up for me or not. So far its been an interesting week. Currently though I am watching Angelic Layer.https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=400

The synopsis that the Anime News Network has is as follows:

“12-year-old Misaki Suzuhara has just gotten involved in Angelic Layer, a battling game using electronic dolls called angels. Even as a newbie, Misaki shows advanced skills as she meets new friends and enters Angelic Layer tournaments to fight the greatest Angelic Layer champions of the nation.” This anime came out in 2001 with its source material from the author CLAMP originally coming out in Japan in 1999. So far so good but we shall see when I finish.

Currently Reading

Manga

I started reading the manga called I want to eat your Pancreas story by Yoru Sumino and art by Idumi Kirihara. The title sounds weird right? I know that is why no one I know wanted to see the movie with me. I picked up this manga because I wanted to revisit this movie and I heard there are discrepancies between the manga and light novel respectively. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LGG9H2Q/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Here’s the synopsis:

“In this deeply moving first-person story, an introverted high school boy finds his classmate’s diary — and learns her biggest secret. Yamauchi Sakura is dying from a pancreatic disease and now he is the only one person outside her family to know the truth. The last thing the boy wants is to be her friend, but Sakura’s cheerful demeanor and their shared secret draw them together in this heartrending tale of friendship and mortality.”

I am not that far into it yet but its exactly what I remember from the movie so far.

Novel

Today’s novel I am currently reading is called Private Lessons by Cynthia Salaysay

This is an ARC or Advanced Reader’s Copy I received from a dear friend of mine because it involves music and hard-hitting topics.

Here is the synopsis: “After seventeen-year-old Claire Alalay’s father’s death, only music has helped her channel her grief. Claire likes herself best when she plays his old piano, a welcome escape from the sadness — and her traditional Filipino mother’s prayer groups. In the hopes of earning a college scholarship, Claire auditions for Paul Avon, a prominent piano teacher, who agrees to take Claire as a pupil. Soon Claire loses herself in Paul’s world and his way of digging into a composition’s emotional core. She practices constantly, foregoing a social life, but no matter how hard she works or how well she plays, it seems impossible to gain Paul’s approval, let alone his affection.”

It is not something that I typically read but I am curious about it nonetheless.

Upcoming Posts

On this blog and my Instagram, I am going to review anime and manga on top of my books. In addition, I may expand on some topics that I post extra on my Instagram or just how I am feeling that day. I hope that this blog is something that can be used to practice my writing and expand my creativity. I hope that everyone enjoys and thank you for reading.