Author: Takuto

Five CRITICAL Things I Learned About Collecting Anime in 2019 || Cafe Talk

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Hello all,

Welcome to the first Cafe Talk of 2019! It’s been a while, has it not?

As I mentioned in my December OWLS post, “Unhauling” for the Holidays, the year 2019 was too good for the collection. From a size standpoint, I was definitely packing some full shelves. However, it got to a point where, in the last couple weeks of 2019, I went from receiving packages daily to hating everything in my collection. All of it. It made me sick. It was unexpected, and hit very, very hard.

What had happened was that, at some point in my mindless buying ventures, I stopped collecting what I truly love. Don’t get me wrong, I love anime, manga, figures, and everything else associated with them. Still do, too. But, in exchange for buying shows that I thoroughly enjoyed and would continue to enjoy over and over again, I started collecting, well, “stuff.”

I had no personal connection to approximately 30% of my collection, and so in the grand spirit of the holidays, I ousted much of these titles to my siblings (whom cheerfully accepted my hand-me-down books and Blu-rays).

Going forward in 2020—and the rest of my life if I can help it—I’ll still be collecting (once a collector, always a collector), but in a different way than I did before. 2019 was a very telling year, and although parts of it were painful, I realized a lot about who I am, who I want to be, and what I want to put on my shelf—because a bookshelf can represent one’s entire personality, and I would never want to clutter up my soul the way I did in 2019.

Thus I present to you five things I learned about collecting anime in 2019. Take these as cautionary pieces of advice, my friends, for I wouldn’t want to wish upon any of you that which happened to me: to feel burdened with having a collection.

5. Use Bookends

Sounds simple, but MAN would you believe how unnatural it feels to buy black metal bookends from Amazon in bulk. Your room may literally start feeling like library, but wow what a difference these simple little wedges make. Although I encourage you to use your LTD ED anime releases, box sets, picture frames, and the like when you can as bookends (see next tip), you should definitely consider investing in a set of 10 or 20 of these guys, especially if your collection is of substantial size (or foresees growth in the near future).

4. Alternate Your Display

The first thing that made me despise my own collection was seeing the rows upon rows of book and movie spines. It actually made me nauseous. If bookends are not an option for you (even though they are quite affordable), you can use other objects to vary up the look of your shelves. Place DVDs or manga volumes in vertical stacks; add some greenery with plants; mix in some picture frames or coffee mugs; take some of the figures from your figure cases and place them among your Blu-rays. The possibilities are endless.

I encourage you to get artsy with your collection. I’ll post pics of my own shelves here in a couple days, but my go-to for instantly aesthetically pleasing shelves are fake succulents!

3. Do NOT Blind Buy

Ever. Or, at least if you can help it. With online streaming and reading seeming like the popular option these days, the point of buying physical releases anymore is to put something you already know you like into your possession IMO. Even if it’s just the first couple episodes of a show, it’s much better to stream something as a sample than dive straight into the physical if you know it’s something you’ll enjoy. Otherwise, you end up with a bunch of strangers in your home taking space on your precious shelves, and that’s no way to do it.

Plus, unopened/unwatched/unread movies and books tend to pile up over time, much like your own anime backlog—you’ll definitely NOT want to throw money away at something you probably won’t get to for YEARS (trust me, it happens) when you could be spending it on stuff you enjoy now. Or, you know, groceries and stuff.

2. ONLY Buy What You Will Rewatch

Like all of these tips, this one sounds like a no-brainer. But trust me, it’s much harder to think in the long-term than it seems. I often find myself on a feel-good “high” after finishing an anime, whether I actually enjoyed the show or not. This leads me to inadvertently searching for the title in sales just so I can have a physical copy of my watch history on my shelves.

DON’T. DO. THIS. We buy DVDs so that we can one day rewatch them (and for books, reread them). If we never end up putting the disc in the player, we might as well have just thrown money down the river. So, next time you finish a show, wait a little while before deciding to pick it up. You may realize that, hey, it was a great show—but perhaps not something I plan on rewatching, let alone need a physical copy of.

1. ONLY Buy What Will Bring You Happiness

In other words, only buy what you truly love. This last tip pretty much sums up all the others, but can also be the hardest one to practice. Try this: Take a look at your own anime/manga collection right now. Skim each title with your eyes one by one. For each title, ask yourself, “Does owning this title bring me happiness?” We’re essentially applying basic Marie Kondo tips here, but with the added caveat that it must also be a title we plan to someday rewatch/reread (and trust me, it’s pretty damn hard to say you “love” something that you haven’t even seen yet).

So what do we do with the items we decide to take down from our shelves? Well, just unhaul them! Sell them to willing buyers, or perhaps give them to an interested friend. Remember, at this point, getting your money back is second to achieving happiness. We all want to make up for what we spent, but if it ends up taking you years to sell off that which you wish to unhaul, you might as well have left it on the shelf.

Whatever you decide, just remember going forward with any future purchases that you truly dig down and ask yourself, “Will this thing make me as happy as it should?” If not, consider that money saved on your part that you can now use toward something even nicer than that which you just passed up!

Well, I hope you came for the lecture but stayed for the life advice, cause if you follow all of these tips with your own collection, you can only expect it to continue bringing you happiness in the future. And hey, isn’t collecting because it makes one happy what this whole thing’s all about?

By learning these critical things through my own failures, my collecting habits have taken an entire 360 within just the past couple weeks. I’m a new man, I tell ya! And you have no idea how incredible it feels to be able to say, “Yes, I love absolutely every single thing that I own.” After applying these tips to other areas of my life, from eliminating old papers and personal belongings to reassessing what music I listen to and what foods I put in my body, I feel more confident about myself by the day. Buying stuff is fun, but unhauling can be even greater self-care.

Give these suggestions a try if you are seeking to maximize the satisfaction and joy out of your own collection. Because honestly, if there’s one thing that I learned, it’s “Why wait to be happy?” You can quote me on that. Anyway, how do you collect your anime, manga, or figures? Do you have any advice for fellow collectors out there that you’ve stumbled upon? Your wisdom would be most appreciated by us all! Thanks for joining me on this little cafe talk, and until next time, this has been

– Takuto, your host

Five Things You May Not Know About Me!

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Hello all,

There was this thing going around on Twitter where people were sharing five things about themselves to their followers in honor of the new year beginning. Because I thought this kind of content might make the best “first” personal post (with much more spontaneity to come), I figured I’d share my answer here on the blog as well.

So, in case you didn’t know . . .

  1. I’ve always wanted to be famous, but only for creating something I love.
  2. I’ve recently gotten back into Kpop.
  3. I made an Insta (plz follow).
  4. I’m currently growing out my bangs.
  5. I’ve never been more serious about diet/exercise than I have now!

This tweet also made me realize that I’ve kinda neglected those who are new to my blog. To my latest followers, a warm welcome from me to you! I don’t know why you decided to follow my blog, but I hope you stick around for a long time to come. I’ve got lots of fun stuff coming in 2020, and it would mean the world to me if you were there by my side!

Now, I’ve shared something about myself. What’s something about you that I don’t know yet? Please, share something about yourself in the comments so we can get to know each other better! Thanks for stopping by~!

– Takuto, your host

Blog Goals & Resolutions for 2020!

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Hello all,

We are officially one full week into 2020! Crazy, right? I remember the holidays like they were yesterday, yet behold, two weeks have passed since. In case you missed my last quarterly update, I achieved ~3.5 out of my 5 goals. (Not bad considering it was my first time actually setting AND making plans to stick to my goals.) Given my low standards, I’m gonna say I kicked 2019’s ass pretty hard.

But the coming of a new year brings with it a new set of blogging goals and resolutions. And so, with your blessings and support, here are five goals I’d like to achieve in 2020.

#1 – Read More Posts

Yeah, kind of a cop-out choice given that it was also last year’s first goal, but it’s something I really do need to improve on. I love being a part of this community and writing for it, but that also means that I need to do my part and read your guys’ stuff. I’ll work harder in 2020!

#2 – Write More Succinct Posts

I know what you’re thinking, “Not another duplicate goal!” Nah, it’s exactly as it looks. On top of reading more posts, I’d like to write shorter posts myself. This may encourage you all to read my stuff more, sure, but I like the prospect of having more posts that chunk up my ideas as opposed to one mammoth-sized write-up that frankly even I don’t want to read. More posts may also increase blog productivity, so there’s that too.

#3 – Read & Review More Books

Within this past year, I’ve noticed myself gravitating more towards manga and light novels than anime. Hell, lately I’ve even watched more K-drama than anime. Yet, it it would seem that I never write about the books I’ve read. So, starting in 2020, I not only want to read more (to justify all the money I’ve spent on books in 2019 that are slowly accumulating dust) but also share my thoughts on what I’ve read here on the blog.

#4 – Write More About Me

In the least self-centered way possible, this goal is basically saying “Make this blog more about Takuto, the writer.” I want to write more posts about myself. You’re all my precious readers, but also my dearest friends. And after doing this for FIVE years, you deserve to know more about the guy behind the keyboard. You can look forward to more log/diary-like posts chronicling my thoughts and feelings as I go through life, be it in the form of Cafe Talks or other spontaneous write-ups. I hope we can get to know each other better in 2020.

#5 – Build Up My “Personal Brand”

This is more of a fun bonus goal, but working on my “personal brand” entails me building up my Instagram. (Follow me @takutoanimecafe if you haven’t yet!) Ever since I started blogging I wanted to become someone personable, someone who you feel like you know and can relate to in your own lives even though we’ve never physically met before. I don’t just want to be some faceless blogger anymore—I’ve outgrown that mentality, and firmly believe I can become someone you and I can both be proud of. Essentially, I want to become closer with you all by presenting a better, more true version of myself. Opening up the Insta is one way I can do that. Looking forward to sharing our life adventures together one photo at a time!

We are healing in 2020, and working on presenting the best, most true versions of ourselves that we can.

Or, at least, that is my main goal. I want to connect with this community more than I have in the past. I realize that I’ve kinda been isolating myself in No Man’s Land for all these years, and I apologize. 2020 will be different, I assure you—I feel like a new person, reborn and refreshed to take on whatever comes next!

But there you have it, five new goals for a brand new year—and the start of a new decade at that! What is something you want to improve on in 2020, either for your own blog or in your personal life? Let’s talk resolutions down in the comments. Until the next post, I hope you’re all having a fantastic 2020 so far!

– Takuto

I made an Instagram (and You should follow it) || Celebrating 500 Followers

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Hello all, welcome to 2020!!

Happy New Year to everyone out there! It’s crazy how much I’ve resolved to change myself in this new decade within the past couple weeks. It is as if a light just suddenly clicked on and I was like, “Wow, ok 2020, let’s NOT keep on doing what we have been our entire lives and try something new for once!”

So I am: I’m taking the plunge into the world of Instagram in celebration of 500 blog followers. I only briefly mentioned my gratitude for achieving this milestone in a quarterly update post. But, to reiterate, I am eternally grateful for all of your support.

Every single like, share, or even comment just to say “hi” brings me so much happiness. At the same time, I can only wonder, you must have a lot of time on your hands if you’re willing to stop by my little blog, haha.

500 followers

Seriously though, thank you for sticking with me these past five years. I love interacting with you all, and I hope the Insta can bring us that much closer into each other’s lives. Many of you have been begging for me to get this, and I hope I can deliver the content you deserve!

You can follow my Insta adventures at the handle @takutoanimecafe

Thank you for a wonderful 2019.

Cheers to 2020.

Love you all!

– Takuto

Chasing After the ~Vibes~|| Quarterly Update (Winter 2019)

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Evening all!

As the title of this post suggests, I have for you all the final big update post of 2019. In the last update, I spoke briefly about how I hadn’t watched much anime due to school and, well, not much has changed since finals haha. Goal reflection in general will be pretty weak this time around, but hey, it’s the last couple days of 2019—new goals will be on the way before we know it!

Goal Reflection

#1 – Read More Posts

If any of these goals had the greatest crime done to it, it’d be this one. Guys, I am criminally behind on keeping up with the community. My phone home screen is once again backed up with posts I’ve been wanting to read, and that doesn’t include all of the OWLS posts I’ve missed out on since January. Yeah, not good. But with the New Year, hopefully I’ll dedicate some time to some much-needed housekeeping.

#2 – Write More Succinct Posts

You know, just scrolling through the site’s main page at all of the posts, I think I have done a better job at keeping things on the short and sweet side. Between October being nothing but Animanga Festival posts and November and December being full of hauls, there hasn’t really been too much to say for each post. Thinking in terms of the entire year, I’ll count this one as a win.

#3 – Post More Often

Ten posts in October, four posts in November, and so far five posts in December makes my initial four-posts-per-month goal a success! Productivity definitely slowed down for school, but even with a three-week study hiatus in there, I’ve still managed to blog as often as I wanted to in 2019. Maybe I’ll kick things up a notch in 2020, who knows, but for now—WE DID IT Y’ALL.

#4 – Bring Back Cafe Talk

Hahaha nope. I don’t know what’s stopping me from writing these kinds of posts, especially when they can be the easiest things in the world sometimes. But here we are. Overall, this was 2019’s most-failed goal.

#5 – Write More Haul/Collection Posts

Guys, GUYS—I’ve done like SIX haul posts this winter season, and honestly, I could totally throw together another one if you guys were interested in seeing the straggler TOM pick-ups or what I got for Christmas. If goal #4 was my worst-achieved goal, #5 is 2019’s big winner. Hooray for hauls!

What I’ve Watched

Well this part isn’t gonna take long (LOL). For Halloween this year I binged all of Castlevania seasons one and two on Netflix. Excellent series, full of incredible action sequences and bloody good comedy (surprisingly). It was easily one of my favorite watches of the year, especially for the spooky season, and I honestly can’t wait for season three. I’ve actually got notes for the entire series ready to be transformed into a review, so hopefully I’ll muster the energy to finish that and get my thoughts out there.

Around the same time before finals started hitting hard, I picked up a little extra time to watch Fairy gone in the mornings. While I’m only five or six episodes in, I don’t think it’s as bad as everyone said it was when it aired. Plus, the dub is really good. (Special shout out to Caitlin Glass for making that one of the show’s redeeming qualities!)

Skipping ahead to the colder days of winter, I began an unexpected watch with Yumeiro Patissiere, which I actually featured in my November OWLS post that you can read right here! Most of my thoughts on the series are contained within that, but long story short: Watch Yumeiro Patissiere. It’s light-hearted and fun, but also sometimes bittersweet and full of heart. Easily a better food competition series than Food Wars! in my humble opinion.

Fall simulcasts have also been slow for me. Like, really slow. Notice how I never posted a fall seasonal line-up post like everyone else did? Yeah, it’s cause the only show I’ve managed to keep up with has been Fate/Grand Order: Absolute Demonic Front – Babylonia, and my motivation for watching that namely stems from seeing anime Gil once again. Even still, it’s also been one of my favorite watches in years, and just might end up being my favorite Fate anime besides the glorious Fate/Zero where my love for the franchise all began. Can’t wait to see how it ends!

While we’re still on Fate, I’ve rewatched the first 12 episodes of Apocrypha since the entire series is on Netflix. Only this time it’s dubbed, and the English dub is FANTASTIC. I think all the VAs were perfectly cast, and I’m excited to watch the epic second half!

Obsessed With BTS

In case I never make it apparent, I’m a half white, half Korean 21-year-old currently residing in the U.S. I’ve liked K-pop ever since I became an anime fan, but never really rocked out to it as much as I did J-pop or even Western pop music. Until now.

To make a long story short, I’ve fallen back in love with BTS. They’ve had my heart since 2017, but this time I tripped BIG and fell down several flights of sparkly stairs into K-pop hell. And I have no regrets. I’ve listened to BTS, Super Junior, Girls Generation, NCT Dream, and Red Velvet albums literally every second of the past two weeks, and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon. Please share your K-pop recommendations with me in the comments!!

Naturally, my rekindled love for K-pop brought me to K-drama and idol culture in general, so I’ve been bouncing between Hello, My Twenties on Netflix and The iDOLM@STER SideM on Crunchyroll. If you have any K-drama/idol recs (and the places I can watch them), please send me those too!

I feel like I’m chasing a vibe whenever I do my daily workout to these pop icons, or even unhaul more parts of my collection to make space on my shelves for some added greenery. For sharing these personal parts of my life, I think these quarterly updates work the best both for me as the writer and you all as readers. So, expect these to continue throughout 2020. A goals and resolutions post for 2020 will be out very soon, along with a very, very special surprise announcement for all my followers!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrated it. Mine was quite pleasant and relaxing—in fact, I’m still in vacation mode, which is why I haven’t done much of anything (besides listening to BTS, of course)! I’ve got one more post for 2019, so please look forward to that. Till then, this has been

– Takuto, your host

My Top Five Favorite OWLS Posts That I Wrote in 2019

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Hello all!

I figured I try to get this post out there before the new year began, so here we are once again to celebrate some of my writings throughout 2019. Can you believe I’ve been with the group since the beginning? That means I’ve written exactly 36 OWLS posts since our founding! As I did in 2017 and 2018, I’ve compiled a short list of favorites from this third round of posts. In the spirit of the New Year and bidding the old farewell, these are posts that represent my journey through anime, and some of the major life lessons I’d like to share with you, the reader!

As I mention every year, *clears throat*, “All of my OWLS posts are my babies—in fact, they’re probably some of the best posts I’ve ever written, if not THE best of what I’ve got so far, and I thoroughly LOVED writing ALL of them.” So, enjoy my reminiscing, and feel free to scope them out if you’re feeling the urge to relive each month’s thought-provoking topic.

On my site’s menu, you’ll see that OWLS has its own tab (and rightly so), so you can find all the other pleasant posts I wrote in 2019 that didn’t make this list. Alright, here we go, a look at Takuto’s OWLS participation in 2019!

RUNNER UP:

Tour #26 February – A Story That Loves Love: Go For It, Nakamura! | OWLS “Adore”

We open with a sweet one that is near and dear to my heart. It’s Syundei’s Go For It, Nakamura, and is the second manga to be featured as an OWLS post on this blog. Why didn’t this bumbling klutz make the cut? As wholesome as the story was, a single volume doesn’t allow for as much depth as a 24-episode anime might, so it just barely makes the runner-up spot on the grounds of being too short and sweet for its own good. But don’t worry, I feel the others are worthy contenders in their own right!

Life Lessons Learned:

  • Love yourself to the fullest capacity that you can.
  • Crawling out of your shell is a scary experience—do it anyway.
  • Sometimes, we need friendship more than romance.

NUMBER FIVE:

Tour #28 April – Chasing You, Chasing Me: The Heart of Run with the Wind | OWLS “Masculinity”

The first half of the year was arguably full of my better works, but we slide into number five with this little character analysis over my favorite title of 2018, Run With the Wind.  Y’all know I’m a hoe for one Haiji Kiyose, so it shouldn’t come across as a surprise that I’m happy to be able to write about him and this series whenever I get the chance! Plus, I thought he was a less-than-stereotypical choice for a post about “masculinity” (if you catch my drift). Ahh, the whole Kazetsuyo series I did just takes me back to watching this wonderful series!

Life Lessons Learned:

  • We are not as tough as we seem—be sensitive to other’s emotions.
  • Run with your feelings, not against them.
  • Run life at your own pace, but run with others when you can.

NUMBER FOUR:

Tour #27 March – She Flies Again! The Stellar Women of Space Battleship Yamato 2199 | OWLS “Feminine”

Run With the Wind gave us a cast full of incredible men, but March also showed up with  the equally remarkable women aboard the space battleship Yamato. A masterpiece of storytelling and character drama in itself, the “Feminine” OWLS tour allowed me to give special spotlight to some of anime’s most underrated galactic heroines. So much raw talent and spirit flies with the Yamato‘s crew, but were it not for these particular ladies, it is doubtful that the ship would have made it across the stars at all.

Life Lessons Learned:

  • Lead with the heart, always.
  • One should always value honor in their craft.
  • Embrace diversity—it can often be one’s greatest strength.

NUMBER THREE:

Tour #25 January – The Conviction to Change in Bunny Girl Senpai | OWLS “Metamorphosis”

We’re heading back to the very first tour of 2019 with the infamous yet beloved Bunny Girl Senpai. I distinctly remember the first three episodes of this series taking the anime community by storm as it walked us through Sakuta Azusagawa and Mai Sakurajima’s fateful encounter with one another. The sheer emotional drive from this single hour of content was what pushed me to dedicate an entire post to this first mini story arc, and boy has it still stuck with me to this day. Eclipsing intense drama with a quick-witted romance, Bunny Girl Senpai offered more fun, multi-layered character growth than most modern anime could dream of.

Life Lessons Learned:

  • Until we open up to others with our problems and allow each other to see why we are hurt, confused, or scared, we’ll never be able to understand one another
  • There will always be something we hate about ourselves, something to regret.
  • However, we can always try to change ourselves to make our lives better.

NUMBER TWO:

Tour #30 June – Sarazanmai & The Price of Connection | OWLS “Vulnerable”

Back when the heat of the summer first hit us in June, I distinctively recall being nervous to post this one. And yet, here it is as one of my favorites from the year. Despite its wacky narrative and silly premise, I will probably always hold Sarazanmai near and dear to my heart. I resonate so much with each of the series’ characters, Enta’s story particularly being the highlight of this post. Burdened with unrequited love yet the desire to connect with others anyway, Sarazanmai shows us how good things can come to good people, so long as they can stomach the pain of potential loss. It was an odd one for sure, but oh-so full of heart—that I can guarantee you.

Life Lessons Learned:

  • So long as we try to reach out to others and form connections, we’ll always be vulnerable to attack, physical or emotional.
  • But more importantly, just by trying, we’ll always have the chance to be happy.
  • Love yourself, and cherish the bonds you form.

AND FINALLY, NUMBER ONE:

Tour #33 September – Michiko & Hatchin, Two Against the World || OWLS “Lover”

Did my pick for #1 surprise you as much as it did me? Before writing this post, I reread through all of the OWLS posts I wrote in 2019 (as I do every year), and was really caught off guard by how emotionally charged I sounded in this post, haha! I truly meant it when I said “Michiko & Hatchin slaps differently now,” as wow, it really is a wild ride through the messy side of intimate relationships.

So much of this series is full of broken relationships and shattered hearts. In other words, as much as I pride myself on the optimistic values of connection and happiness in Sarazanmai, Bunny Girl Senpai, or even Run With the Wind, at the end of the day, we’re all people. And people, as I’m sure we all know them, make mistakes. We screw up, badly, and often leave certain ties to rot and eventually fade away. Michiko & Hatchin is a story about our failures to develop healthy relationships with people—but also a bold tale of resilience, determination, self-growth, and rebirth for two young women just trying to find love in a world that gave up on them seemingly from the moment they came into it. Perhaps it’s that futile yet noble pursuit of love that made September’s “Lover” tour my favorite OWLS post of 2019.

Life Lessons Learned:

  • Love can be a curse that ties people down in the past, entrapping their emotions in the present to those memories long-gone.
  • Having a lover can also make us do rotten things to other people to make sure our relationships are protected.
  • People will come and go all throughout our lives. Surround yourself with the good ones: those who give love, not take it.

I WILL Be Catching Up On All Your Posts, Too!

Within the next couple weeks, I’ll slowly be reading through each and every last OWLS post from 2019 in an attempt to catch-up before the new year gets too underway. It’ll be an intense endeavor (as it always is), but I kinda look forward to it as a sort of OWLS tradition I hold to myself. So, be on the lookout for my Twitter spam of your guys’ posts as my way of giving back to you. You’re all fantastic writers, and I wouldn’t be in OWLS were it not for this ever-growing family!

But anyway, that’s my line-up for this year. What did you think? Was there a post you were shocked to see up there, or perhaps one you remember liking that didn’t make the list? I assure you that it was actually pretty difficult narrowing it down to just five, but I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts on my OWLS 2019 tour entries! Thank you all so much for a wonderful year with this group—I eagerly anticipate another set of 12 OWLS posts I can add to my blogging “resume” in 2020! More year-in wrap-ups and updates will be coming before New Year’s, so until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

See you back soon!

– Takuto

2019 Holiday Haul #3 – Tokyo Otaku Mode Pickups

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Hello all!

We’re back today with yet another holiday haul. Seems kinda weird to be sharing about more stuff I bought when I just underwent a huge “unhaul” on my collection, but worry not: all of the items in this haul will be kept nicely in my home.

Ready to see what I preordered from TOM many moons ago? Let’s do it!

It seems classic for me to begin a haul with a soundtrack now, so here we’ve got the OST for Free! – Dive to the Future. I love Tatsuya Katou’s work, you all should know since I’ve only picked up every single Free! OST ever. And I kid you not when I say this, but this third season OST just might be the best one so far! It helps that TOM had this discounted half the price, too. 🙂

Makoto Shinkai art books are a bit of a rarity here in the states, so I had to snag this import from TOM while it was on sale. This is probably the most gorgeous single art book I own, and not just for the content. The thick cardstock sleeve on the left slips over the actual book like an o-card would on a Blu-ray, and the book itself has bold blue foil printing on its cover and spine. All of the pages are printed on heavy quality paper, with the cover and back having a soft lined texture to them. It’s a beautiful little set!

Alright, time for some Fate stuff. Also another rare find in the states, this imported art book and little set of postcards are from Fate/Zero and The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II, respectively. I’m a sucker for anything Fate, so it was a lucky find when I found this hundred dollar book discounted for just $30! While I believe the bread and butter of the franchise’s beauty lies in the character designs, it’s cool to have background art from two of my favorite Nasuverse titles!

Attack of the Nendos!! Here we’ve got a beloved character from the hit anime, Miss Zoe Hange of Attack on Titan fame in all her badass glory. I love her expressions, they’re so cheeky. The cloak is also a fantastic touch. What’s left to say? She’s fun, gorgeous, and ready to fight!

Now, of course I wouldn’t send a scout into battle alone, so here’s a reprint that I was fortunate enough to pick up: the feisty, angry boi himself, Eren Yeager! Guys, these two look so cool next to each other. The strong peg stand allows for lots of mobility and possibly for poses, including these dynamic midair shots I have them posed in. Really happy to have my favorite characters from the series in Nendo form!

Oh no, now for my other trash favorites haha. I’m a huge SAO fan, ok? Especially for Alicization. In fact, the Alicization story is what made me like Kirito as a character, so when they put up the preorder for this guy way back when, there was no hesitation in ordering the bro clad in black. I think the SAO character style in general transfers really nice into Nendo form. No regrets here, especially when you see the next guy I picked up . . .

AHHHHHH MY HEART IT’S MY FAVORITE BOY EVERRRRR!!! Would you believe me if I told you that I only picked up Kiri cause he’d match his partner here? HAHA! He’s one of my favorite figures I own, I just love how they did all of his poses—and the icy rose vines, ughhhh, so beautiful! My favorite SAO character sits valiantly on my shelf next to the others, officially completing the Rulid Trio if you add in Alice from the previous figure haul. Love these three with all my heart! ❤

I love Eugeo lots, but we save the King of Heroes for last, of course. Guys, GUYS, here he is, Gilgamesh in all his Babylonia glory, just as the original legend depicts him. Well, sort of. Just like the Fate/Zero Gil (another fave figure of mine), this one featured the shimmering Gate of Babylon behind him as an extra piece. I find it so cool how this one contains a different set of weapons from his Storehouse of the Gods—they’re all staffs of varying styles, fit for this new Caster form he’s taken in the Grand Order story. He’s such an amazing Nendo, the pictures just don’t do our King justice!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now! I’ll have more Holiday Haul posts coming likely after Christmas cause, you know, gifts and such. But also who knows, cause another TOM packaged just arrived the other day that I’m just dying to show off bahahaha. Let me know if you’d like a closer look at any of the LTD ED sets, art books, or figures I featured in these past three hauls and I can totally do a separate review post on them just for you! I’d love to hear any thoughts on these pickups in the comments, too. Remember, ONLY but what will bring you happiness, and until next time, this has been

– Takuto, your host

“Unhauling” for the Holidays: Why I’m Giving, Not Getting || OWLS “Holiday”

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Chances are that if you were linked here from another blogger pal, then you might be new. To those first-timers, “Hi, I’m Takuto, welcome to my anime cafe!” For the OWLS blog tour’s twelfth monthly topic of 2019, “Holiday,” I wanted to sit down and have an honest little conversation with you all on my anime collection. Specifically, how I will spend the remainder of 2019 with a focus on giving rather than receiving gifts.

We are at the end of the year! For this month’s topic, we will be discussing what the holidays mean to us. Some of us have a religious perspective on Christmas, while some of us see Christmas as a celebration of family. For this prompt, we will be exploring how the holidays are celebrated around the world using various pop culture media. We will also describe what the holidays mean to us. Happy Holidays! – OWLS Team

Sounds pretty first-world, I know, but maybe you’ll read this and take it as cautionary advice for any eager collectors out there currently doing their own holiday shopping. Thanks Lyn for the freedom with this prompt!

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To Haul, or to Unhaul

We begin this post with a brief etymology of the subject word here. As you’ve probably guessed by now, “unhaul” is not a real word. I was introduced to this term by fellow anime and manga-collecting enthusiast Simply Gee over on YouTube through her video, “The Great Unhaul: Unburdened for 2020.” If to “haul” something means to address recent pick-ups or goods that are new to one’s possession, ‘un’haul means just the opposite:

un·haul (verb): essentially, to oust items from one’s possession, either by selling or donating. 

It’s not a novel concept by any means; people have been tossing out old junk or selling their collectibles on eBay for ages. And yet, the video struck a powerful chord with me. “What does a collection represent for its owner? What does it mean for someone to own something that they a) do not like or b) will not watch/read/use/wear/etc.”

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Just when I thought my collection was at its peak and brimming with success, I found these fundamental questions to be picking at my brain all through the night. I couldn’t sleep. I had too much stuff, and only now just realized it, which brings me to my next point.

2019 was TOO Good for the Collection

I mean this in the least bragging way possible. Guys, despite posting all kids of crazy hauls of fancy anime limited edition boxes and figures (especially as of late, yeesh), I am not a wealthy individual. Really, this is money I should be saving for my higher ed stuff to come later. But like most of us, I find ways to pocket money to my hobbies.

Within these past couple of telling days, I finally realized that maybe I am spending a bit too much on hobbies, though. 

I never understood it when anime collectors talked about “running out of space,” or “putting stuff in storage.” How could someone have so much as to put some of it away? I didn’t get it, until this year I found myself stressed that I couldn’t maintain the balance of white-space-to-object ratio.

AKA I have too much crap, and if I get more I risk losing any sense of aesthetic or clean organization. 

Guys, I spent a lot of money on hobbies this year. A LOT. From cosplay and books to anime and figures, I spent far more than an undergrad student in college should. And now, I’m gonna get rid of some stuff.

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Unhauling for the Holidays

I’ll skip the part where I stayed up till two each night the past couple days just going through everything I own and throwing away “old shit.” (Yes, I recycle. And YES, I have plans for proper dispersal of all this stuff from my room.) I got rid of clothes from freshman year of high school, recycled tons of old papers from middle school, and disposed of the junk that just plain didn’t work. It was, as I reported on Twitter, “the most intense decluttering of my life.”

You may ask, “Why have you held onto all this crap all these years, Taku?” The easy answer is I’m a hoarder, but the more truthful one is that I genuinely apply the same collecting mentality to my school work, old hobbies, etc. as I do my anime and manga.

Until now, that is.

It was “a great unhaul” indeed, and once I got started (following my mental breakdown where even looking at my shelves started making my breath heavy), I couldn’t stop. I got rid of everything. ALL of my possessions were thinned, combed through for the usefulness and happiness each item brought me. Only the things that gave me #goodvibes stayed; for all else, it was the great purge. Eventually, all that remained for me to examine were the shelves themselves: the heart that I’ve been filling for the past six years of my life.

Methodically scanning through each shelf, one-by-one I started pulling various manga volumes, novels, and eventually anime down from my shelves. “If you have (or I know can) make me happy, you stay,” I told myself as I held each book, each Blu-ray, and weighed their fate. The volumes, series, prints, and knick-knacks that my siblings don’t want will be sold online to any willing buyers. As for the “good” stuff . . .

I’ll be giving away parts of my collection, my very soul, to my siblings. By reading my personal posts, you may have realized that I’m very close with both my older brother and younger sister (yeah, I’m the middle child). I’ve watched just as much stuff with them as I have on my own. Through this unhaul, it finally dawned on me, like a light-bulb clicking on in the dark:

Why don’t you give the shows that your siblings like more than you do to them?

I’ve always been the one they came to for entertainment; rarely was it the other way around. If they want to watch something physically, they’d come to my room and peruse the shelves, not unlike how someone would at a library. I have so many wonderful memories with all different kinds of anime—but half the reason I have those memories is because I didn’t watch those shows alone.

So for the holidays, in addition to whatever gifts I had already bought, I’m giving back to my siblings the shows and series that mean something to both of us, in addition to the memories we made along the way. I think this focus on giving rather than getting will prove psychologically beneficial, as well as help free up shelf space.

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My Recovery from Unhealthy Collecting Habits

Yeah, I spent a lot of money on anime stuff this year. Yes, I realize I have accumulated some stuff that I know I’ll never get to, but bought anyway cause it was “on sale.” And yes, my own collection, that which I hold most dear—which I *literally* look up to each day for inspiration and motivation—was somehow able to make me physically sick just looking at it.

That was where I was two days ago. Through ousting piles of old papers, clothes, and junk from a decade ago—and by listening to lots, and lots, and LOTS of BTS—I’ve come to realize that receiving can be a deceptively more draining and daunting act than giving. When you get something, it’s gotta go somewhere, and I had finally run out of space for new stuff to go.

So, what goes in that space I just made? Love for myself. Happiness for myself. I’m not kidding: I’m keeping these blank spaces on my walls, in my closet, under my bed, and on my shelves to remind me that if I can’t breathe in my own room, I’m doing something wrong.

This enlightening philosophy has also transferred to other aspects of my life: I filtered through my phone’s photos and music, only keeping the pictures and songs that make me feel happy about myself. Additionally, I’m eating healthier AND exercising to k-pop music every day, and I honestly haven’t felt this much body positivity in ages—perhaps BTS is the real hero of this story, hahaha!

I’m unhauling pieces of my collection for 2019 because others might be able to get more happiness out of something than I could have, absolutely. But also, I’m unhauling because I have to. This is self-care for me, and thanks to seeing that life is much better when you can feel light and weightless—physically and emotionally—I can finally charge into 2020 feeling unburdened, content, and lighter than ever before.

And honestly, I’ve never felt better.

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Twinkling starlight
Building with blinking light
We’re shining brightly
In our own rooms, in our own stars

Mikrokosmos – BTS

Afterword

Wow, that’s a load of my chest. This holiday season, I encourage you all not necessarily to toss out a bunch of shit like I did, but just to sit down for a moment and get in touch with your own belongings. What brings you happiness? If something doesn’t, why have you held onto it? Would my life be better without this thing I won’t ever use? You’d be surprised how such simple questions can lead to life-changing moments. I’ve always been a cheesy one for liking that “New year, new me” bullshit. But this year, more than any other before, I actually feel in charge of my life—who knew all it would take was leaving behind all the weight that held me back.

This ended up being much more personal and diary-like than I initially intended, but I hope you, too, might be able to help yourself out with my story. Be cautious of hoarding stuff and overbuying this holiday season; it’s a terrifyingly easy thing to do. Love each and every thing you own—if it doesn’t bring you happiness, chances are you’re better off without it, trust me!

Guys, this officially completes three full years of my being with OWLS. I’ll have another Top-5 post for that coming out soon. Until then, this concludes my December 19th entry in the OWLS “Holiday” blog tour. The incredible Irina (Drunken Anime Blog) took to the keyboard once more to write about her beloved Natsume that you can read right here! Now, look out for THE Lyn (Just Something About LynLyn) of OWLS herself with a post this Sunday, December 22nd! Thank you so much for reading, and remember, pursue happiness—you owe it to yourself!

– Takuto, your host

2019 Holiday Haul #2 – Cyber Monday Deals || RightStuf Pickups

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Hello all!

I’m back for day two of showing off all the stuff I bought for the holidays this year. Honestly, I spent waaay too much on myself, haha. But it’s so hard to pass up great deals on anime and manga you know you’ll want to have in your collection eventually, right?

So I splurged, as I often do, and here’s what I picked up through RightStuf’s 2019 Cyber Monday sale—enjoy!

Oof, we’re starting off with a strong one, and one of my favorite releases of the year no less. Space Battleship Yamato 2202 is one of those sequels that I normally wouldn’t recommend, if only the studio didn’t do such a fan-FREAKING-tastic job at reanimating the story for the modern day. This is my personal favorite remake of a classic series, and although it’s not everything I wanted Yamato’s sequel to be, it is told EXACTLY as the original story was, if not better on every front.

More pictures of the box and the art book. Funimation did such an incredible job making this as similar to their 2199 release as possible—as a collector, I am thankful to own such beautiful cohesive sets. The back of the Blu-ray shows off stunning art of the series’s villains, and while the art book is a little more bland than the previous one, it’s still a great bonus!

Ughhh the reverse side of the Blu-ray features gorgeous art of the side protagonists of 2202 preparing to engage the enemy. I love the violet sky and ship looming in the background. The discs are also uniquely designed with artwork from the series.

And if you were wondering what was inside that silver box up top, YES, we got some high quality art boards featuring artwork from the original Japanese releases. Really wish I could frame ALL of them, but alas, I’ve got very little space to spare. Kinda weird how there’s a duplicate of one of the cards . . . maybe I’ll give it to my brother or something, as he’s also a fan.

Up next is some more classic mecha stuff, this time with Gainax’s hallmark Gunbuster and it’s sequel recap/rebuild film Diebuster. Other than the fact that this franchise is absolutely iconic to the genre, I know very little about it. Spoiler alert, there’s a high chance that this will be my pick for my Valentine’s Day special, but we’ll see!

While the first season from the 70s or 80s (can’t remember) is long out of print here in the states, the second season is fairly easy to pick up. Here are all three volumes I picked up for like $2 each, and just like the films each release comes with its own little art book—such a pleasant little addition! Happy to finally be able to explore this lost gap in my Gainax history!

Lots of Aniplex stuff was/is on sale this year, and while I had no original intent on picking up the second half of Aldnoah.Zero (those who’ve seen it know why), I decided to snag them up before they went OOP like all of Aniplex’s older releases seem to be doing.

For half price off, just $15 each, I really didn’t want to miss out on owning this series complete if I ever turned the other cheek in the future. It’s not a great sequel, but I love this series nevertheless. Here are the reverse arts of the DVD, which I personally leave on display this way cause the warm color palette for these two DVDs congrats nicely with the cool-toned blue and turquoise of the first season sets.

Lastly for anime is this little one, Maria the Virgin Witch (clearly keeping up with the space/mecha theme, I know). In all seriousness, I picked this series up because it was recommended to me years ago at Naka-Kon and I never ended up watching it for some reason. Well, that changes now, and for $11 how could I resist!

Last but not least, I bought more manga! Continuing with volumes 4-9 in my collection, here we have the majority of what the second cour is currently adapting if I’m not mistaken. Guys, I unashamedly LOVE Fire Force. I find the series to be tons of fun, the bits of unnecessarily flashy fan-service aside, and the character outfits/designs are just the coolest in my eyes. I’ll actually be cosplaying little Shinra Kusakabe in March, so I’m really excited to beef up my manga knowledge of the flame hero!

There it is, the second of more holiday hauls to come. Like the first haul’s unintentional blue-green blend of items, this haul is also by chance themed out for a color. Can you tell what that is? (HINT: It’s the color of FIRE.) Feel free to share your thoughts on any of these pick-ups down in the comments, and I’ll see you all tomorrow with yet another batch of anime-related goodies!

– Takuto, your host

2019 Holiday Haul #1 – Black Friday Sales || RightStuf & Sentai

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Hello all!

Apologies for dropping off suddenly for another two weeks, I was ridiculously busy with finals (and pretty much everything else since Thanksgiving). But finals are OFFICIALLY behind me as of last Wednesday. I took a couple more days off to relax with family, and now I’m back. Glad to be here in this space once again!

As the title of this post implies, this is the first part of MANY a holiday haul posts, some being orders made during the sales, others being orders that were placed months ago and are now slowly trickling in. I hope you stick around with me as this month of holiday sale shenanigans goes on.

With part one, I’m taking us back nearly three weeks now to the Black Friday sales of our favorite online retailers for anime goodness: RightStuf and Sentai Filmworks!

First up from the epic Sentai sale this year is the Princess Principal LTD ED set. This thing is absolutely stunning, with gorgeous gold foil printing layered over a soft matte box. The spine alone speaks volumes about the quality of this set.

Peeking inside, we’ve got the Blu-ray, the signature Sentai box-of-stuff, and not one, not two, but THREE art books. WOW. The first is a storyboard collection for the first episode, while volume two contains character art, scenery, the goods etc. The third is loaded with staff and cast interviews, which is perfect for fans of the sub. Personally, I have no idea what this show is even about, aside from the fact that it’s got steampunk vibes and it was dubbed in English with ACCENTS. I’m shook.

Gosh, there’s so much to love about this set. I originally told myself that I’m holding off on Sentai LTD EDs due to space, but I couldn’t resist this one for just $40 (although it did go even cheaper the next sale :/).

Also, ALSO, the box isn’t full of nicknack stuff that I wouldn’t care about. Instead, it’s got a lovely cloth poster (with unique art!) and a metal steampunk coaster set, which I am legit currently using. Nice one, Sentai!

I picked up some other Blu-rays from the sale for other’s gifts, but they won’t go in my collection so I won’t bother showing them off. Instead, you can indulge in Love Stage!! with me—and yes, it’s got the new dub! I haven’t actually seen this series, so this’ll be a fun one for me to dive headfirst into, heh heh.

Onto the books, we’ve got the two newest volumes of my favorite LN series, SAO volume 17, “Alicization Awakening,” and A Sister’s All You Need. volume 5. Really hyped to continue reading the War of Underworld story!

Next is the third volume of Our Dreams at Dusk, another series that I’m waiting to have the volumes of before starting, as well as some VOFAN stuff. Here’s the novelization of Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters per Second: one more side and VOFAN’s art/storybook Colorful Dreams. I bought it thinking it’d be your typical art book, but instead it ended up being an anthology of 1-4 paged short stories with full art spreads. Hopefully it’s a good one.

Last for this haul is the long-awaited Millennium Actress Blu-ray release by Shout Factory! Continuing with the rescue of Satoshi Kon’s masterpiece films, I’m stoked to see what the buzz has been about this one. Since this one is technically a pre-order from the Shout Factory store itself, it came with an exclusive lithograph/poster of the release’s cover. Not sure what I’ll do with it yet, but it’s nice to have!

And there you go, the first haul of many for this holiday season! I didn’t realize it until I had all of the items together, but there’s a beautiful blue-green theme going on here. It’s certainly nice when odd stuff works out like that, isn’t it? Anyway, let me know your thoughts on any of these pick-ups down in the comments. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

– Takuto, your host