Hello all!

Can you believe another three months have passed since the last time we met for an update? Why, that was the beginning of April, and now we’re already a week into July. JULY. Crazy, right? I hope all my friends in the U.S. had a happy 4th of July full of friends, family, and good food. To everyone else, I hope you’re summer hasn’t been too hot!

In other news, I’ve been watching and reading a decent amount—which is great considering that one of my 2019 goals was to watching all of the stuff I’ve bought (yet haven’t touched) to justify buying it in the first place. Unfortunately, as soon as I finish one movie, three new ones somehow appear on my shelf. Weird. It’s not me, I swear!

Ok, so maybe the sales have been good to me lately, but I am enjoying getting around to all this stuff. These novels, manga volumes, and Blu-rays were bought for a reason, after all! Without further ado, let’s see how much stuff I’ve been able to knock off my To-Watch backlog! First though, some goal updates . . .

Goal Reflection

#1 – Read More Posts

I’m sorry everyone. My phone’s home screen is once again becoming filled with your posts so that I can read them . . . but they just continue to amass, as opposed to being read and shared. WordPress has made mobile blogging a pain in the ass, in that I cannot comment and like without being logged in—and yet even when I try to log in, it still won’t let me respond to you all! Instead, my phone wants me to use the app and WP reader to communicate with other bloggers, and that’s a real nuisance given that I get most of my reads from Twitter posts AKA posts shared online, not via app. I’ll work hard to clean up my home screen in the meantime, even if it means individually typing out every single post in the search bar and finding it that way.

#2 – Write More Succinct Reviews

I think I’ll be changing this goal to “Write More Succinct Posts (in general),” as it has happened for the most part with all my other posts besides my reviews. And I’m ok with that. Personally, I don’t see 1,300 – 1,600 words as that much for a full-series review. Otherwise, I’ve posted a couple posts that were just like 300 words, and y’all don’t even know how good that felt for someone as wordy as myself! Even if just simple announcement posts, I like to think I’m improving on this goal.

#3 – Post More Often

I’ve continued this next set of three months by successfully managing to publish about one thing a week, which was my goal! In April there were four posts, while in May and June there were FIVE posts per month. Again, it sounds like a really sad goal, just five posts out of 30 days, but this is a huge step for me. I’m proud of the work I’ve done so far, and hope I can keep up at least this much content, if not more, as the summer goes on!

A side note, last year I wrote 27 posts. Yup, that’s it, and that’s not much. As of July 6th, 2019, I’ve already written 30 posts, so I’ll easily double the amount of posts I wrote last year if I continue down this track!

#4 – Bring Back Cafe Talk

Nope, lol. BUUUUT, I did create an entirely new segment on my blog in its place. Called “Anime Revisited,” the posts in this category are just that—shows that I’ve already reviewed, but would like to look at once more under a new light or fresh perspective or whatever. Basically, I rewatched Gurren Lagann and wanted to talk about it again. But “oh no, I’ve already reviewed that series.” No problem, just revisit it! And so I did, and it was received quite warmly by you all, thank you very much.

#5 – Write More Haul/Collection Posts

Yeah, this one has gone no where, and here’s why: I’m really considering an Instagram for all my haul, collection, and cosplay related musings. Like, really thinking about it. Like, it could happen tomorrow, or even today. I’ve still been getting tons of crap, but I’m not sure if I want to junk up my blog with pictures of the stuff I’ve bought as opposed to talking about or analyzing that stuff like an intellectual would. If Insta happens, you all will be the first to know!

What I’ve Watched

Aside from the last couple simuldubbed episodes of Kono Oto Tomare!: Sounds of Life, I’ve finished all the spring shows I’ve been following, including Sarazanmai, Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2, and Wise Man’s Grandchild. Really tempted on going back for the music drama Carole & Tuesday and Mix, a little baseball series that silently aired this spring. Plus, I haven’t started the new Fruits Basket yet. (I know, I SUCK!) Reviews for the spring content will be rolling out here soon, fingers crossed.

As for Blu-ray watching, I watched Lu Over the Wall, Liz and the Blue Bird, and Mary and the Witch’s Flower, three adorable films that I was supposed to review but haven’t yet (spoiler alert, watch them). I also finished Asobi Asobase, a great comedy series which contains some of the STUpidest shit I’ve ever seen, as well as the second half of Re:ZERO. Definitely not as good as the first half, but still epic (and nail-biting, heh heh).

In the past month, I finally watched Blood Blockade Battlefront, which I’m pretty sure I didn’t like as much as everyone else, yet liked it enough to apparently impulse buy the second season the minute RightStuf’s 32nd Anniversary sale started (my dumb ass, right?). Apparently it’s a fantastic sequel though, so I’ve got high hopes.

Speaking of another questionable move, I watched Majestic Prince and, well, won’t get the time back from watching that LOL. I also rewatched Izetta: The Last Witch, but that one was actually pretty fun to visit again.

One of my favorite watches these past three months was The Great Passage, the dictionary anime that aired in 2016 that everyone (myself included) slept on. After hearing it was by the same person who wrote Run With the Wind, I hustled on down to Amazon, gave it a watched, and fell in love. Review coming soon!

Oh, and I finished Sailor Moon SuperS and the movie Black Dream Hole, too! Although I won’t review anything Sailor Moon (as the nostalgia lens are very foggy with this one), you can bet I loved it. Excited for Sailor Stars!

Another incredible watch was Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu-hen, the first in a masterpiece trilogy by studio Shaft. It was a pain to spend $50 on a 60 min film through eBay, but it beats the $70 that Aniplex is asking for. At least the set is drop-dead gorgeous. (Which I could show off if I, you know, had an Insta.)

As for what I’m currently doing, I’ve been rewatching Neon Genesis Evangelion since the new dub hit Netflix. The dub is serviceable. Not as near as personable and heartfelt as ADV’s dub, but it works if you’re new to the series or can’t afford the old DVDs. Regardless, I’m still having tons of fun rediscovering why I fell in love with it in the first place. I also started God Eater . . . not much else to say on it. It’s pretty for a monster-slasher series, and I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts once I finish it!

Despair Returns: A Danganronpa Playthrough

I know how all the Danganronpa games go. Same for the anime, and even the novels. I’m a huge fan, a mega fan. An Ultimate Fan, if you will. Since I’d never actually played the games myself and let the LPs and walkthroughs entertain me, however, I thought I’d change that. Oh, and challenge my siblings at the same time!

So now, every chapter, every trial, we switch of players. We finished the first game early June, and are about to finish the second game. The Danganronpa games are tons of fun, so despite knowing how things play out, I’m not sick of it yet. Totally hyped to play V3 all over again, especially since it’ll be their first time with Danganronpa‘s thrilling finale!

My New Job Has Kept Me Away

That’s the simple truth of it all. As you can see, there’s a lot I’ve been watching, but now that I work 30 hours a week (and a 5-hour part time thing), I’m pretty exhausted when I get home. What do I do? I left my old job in food to reunite with my passion: the water. I’m a lifeguard at my university, but also a swim lesson instructor. I love my co-workers (a first!), and oddly enough working with kids is refreshing. I feel more physically and mentally fit than I have in probably a whole year, and even though this job is time-consuming, I thank it for flushing out all the icky in my life. I feel good, great even.

I go to bed at 10:30 each night now, not 2 a.m. I’m home with my family on weekends, and don’t feel bad for going in to work since I now leave for work at the same time everyone else does. It’s win-win, plus I get to swim on the job!

So, I don’t want to push my luck. I could be at the keyboard more often, but it’d cost my anime-watching time, my time with my siblings, and I don’t want to trim those anymore than I already have. I should be writing a little bit more this month, though, so we’ll see if that improves things on this end.

What’s new? The job. Where are we headed in the meantime? Easy: Writing posts for all the anime and manga in my collection that I’ve been watching and reading!

That’s about all I got for now. The 95-degree days are killer, but working at an indoor pool softens the blow immensely. Now, if only the rainy season would last longer, I’d be truly happy, hahaha! It’s crazy to think that the next time I write an update like this it’ll be October. Till then, thank you so much for reading, and take care of yourself!

– Takuto, your host