Skate-Leading Stars

End of January Update 1/31/21

Posted by

2

Hey guys,

Is it just me or is the weather still kinda nasty outside? Right when I thought spring was on her way, we had a snowstorm that left us trapped indoors for a few days. It’s wild how one snow day can throw off an entire week, am I right? Anyway, I hope the weather is a lot warmer wherever you are reading this from.

In case you missed my big blog update of 2021, I’m thrilled to let you know that I’m returning to my traditional monthly updates that I used to do for years during the start of the blog! Along with making me more active on here, it’s also a nice return-to-form for me, given that I want to get back into the spirit of blogging and all. Anyway, let’s check out what I’ve been enjoying this past month.

Goal Reflection

Write Five Posts Each Month | With the publishing of this post tonight, I will have accomplished this goal for January!

Review More Anime | I published two anime reviews this month, one for Maria the Virgin Witch and another for Akudama Drive. More anime reviews to come.

Continue Writing Manga Reflections | I didn’t have much time to read manga in January. BUT, I did finish volume 10 of Yona of the Dawn this weekend, so hopefully I’ll have more Yona content for you all.

Write Posts for Video Content | Aside from the latest video over the BLACKPINK online concert, all of my videos have been uploaded here as blog posts. I do hope someone has been enjoying them. 🙂

Achieve 750 Followers | WE JUST HIT 700 FOLLOWERS A COUPLE DAYS AGO. Thank you so much for all the love and support!!! I think it’d be so cool to do something fun to celebrate, but I’m not sure what. (Or, if I should wait until the 750 milestone.) Regardless, many thanks again!! ^ . ^

What I’ve Watched

Emma: A Victorian Romance — If you’ll recall my recent video showcasing all the rewards I received from the Emma Kickstarter, you may remember that Nozomi Entertainment and RightStuf successfully crowdfunded an authentic English dub to go along with this 18th century Victorian romance. And guess what? It’s. AMAZING. I love it so much, it’s too perfect. Definitely planning on revisiting this title in a post, either to reflect on its intricate character drama or simply rave about the English dub!

Psychic School Wars — An odd little film about young love and time travel. Simply Gee and I talked about it briefly on Twitter. Yeah, it’s pretty, but the plot is all over the place. I may review it, but I’m more so happy that I finally got around to watching the Blu-ray on my shelf.

Maria the Virgin Witch — This Blu-ray watch turned out much better. In fact, I share my pleasantries with this title in my review (which you can read right here)!

MAGATSU WARHEIT — A terrible mutant-changing disease ravages through the land when a secret government project goes wrong. This series follows two boys on opposite sides of the discourse. I like the angle, but I couldn’t help but feel I was missing something critical about the plot . . . like, why is the MC all aged up in the poster, yet young in the series? I think this anime is a prequel project for the game. It was an ok watch.

Attack on Titan Final Season — Ironically, this one has a similar plot to the previous title. BUT THIS ONE’S DOIN’ THINGS RIGHT, lemme tell you! If you’re not watching AoT this season, I dare say that YES, you are in fact missing out on an epic in the making (to quote Funi on the series). Every episode is more mind-blowing than the one that came before, and I can’t believe it’ll all end here in a month or two!

The Promised Neverland Season 2 — Unlike the first season which knew exactly where it was going from the first episode, The Promised Neverland S2 got off to a weird start. It introduced some characters, then left them behind (?), so IDK if they’ll come back or not. The latest episode was more promising (heh) than the others, so I’ll still stick it out for the kids.

Wonder Egg Priority — Aside from AoT, this little curiosity is by far my favorite watch of the season. Each episode brings with it much emotional baggage, but also equally satisfying payoff as we watch young girls help each other combat their worst fears. With fluid yet trippy visuals and a bright color palette livening the scene, Wonder Egg borders on the creepy, the dreamy, and the sublime of what anime can deliver.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation — I know I’m not supposed to like this show to the extent that I do, yet here we are. While I don’t appreciate the MC’s personality, I can acknowledge the growth and development his character is undergoing in this other world. The series is also very well animated, especially during the spell-casting scenes. OKAY, and Rudeus is kind of a cutie. Only in that childlike cute sort of way. Sue me.

Skate-Leading Stars — Ahhh yes, a trashy shounen sports anime with semi-quality animation and 110% teenage ANGST. I’m clearly at home with this title. The latest episode really places Maeshima on a pedestal, and I don’t like that (I’m #TeamKubota all the way!), so I hope my boy Kubota will get to shine on his own in the episodes to come.

Horimiya — I finally got around to watching the first episode the other day and I can already tell this one’s gonna make my heart melt. I love the character designs, and I think Miyamura being bad at so many things (yet lookin’ so fine with all his tattoos and piercings) is absolutely hilarious. We also stan Hori as #BossMom, so Horimiya pretty much wins on all accounts for me!

Galaxy Express 999 — Currently on hold. Will revisit when I want to moan about the sadness of deep space.

What I’ve Read

At Night, I Become a Monster — I took to Insta to talk my thoughts out for this one. Yoru Sumino of Pancreas novel and anime fame has written a novel that tackles the issue of bullying in an interesting way. In a Kafkaesque manner, our protagonist Adachi finds himself waking up at night transforming into a terrifying monster. But, every morning, he reverts back to his shy, nonconfrontational school boy self. When Yano Satsuki, the subject of his class’ bullying and hatred, witnesses his transformation, however, the two form a peculiar bond. Never had I finished a book that I so quickly wanted to pick back up again and reread. I’ll have to review this one for sure.

Yona of the Dawn Volume 10 — Tae-jun catches wind that the object of his affection, Princess Yona, had actually survived her perilous fall—and that she’s roped up with a group of bandits!? Yona continues to win my heart. When I read the next two volumes, I’ll do a recap of all three together.

Night on the Galactic Railroad — Yes, it’s the classic Japanese fantasy novel by Kenji Miyazawa! I picked up a copy of the anthology by One Peace Books and I’m slowly making my way through it. 🙂

A lot of material’s been covered in January, and I hope to keep up this pace as we enter February. My last semester of uni will no doubt get tougher, but we’ll make it through, as we have these past 7 semesters (and every year of high school before this). Time sure flies, doesn’t it? I hope you’re all staying warm and keeping busy with your favorite anime, manga, games, music—what have you. The winter 2021 simulcast season is especially exciting, a little something there for everyone to enjoy. You ought to let me know what you’re watching down in the comments!

Thank you so much for reading and for following along with this blog of mine. I do love writing for you all, and I look forward to the next post!

– Takuto

Winter 2021 Anime Simulcast Lineup

Posted by

0

Hey guys!

I’ve yet to finish simulcasts from one whole year ago, yet here I am signing myself up for more anime to consume. (*sigh* I’ll finish Smile Down the Runway one of these days!) Anyway, I took to Twitter the other night to see what you all were watching, and I woke up with tons of great recommendations to follow this season—thank you!

Since I’ve been out of the weekly watching game, I can’t remember how I usually write these posts. So, let’s go ahead and waste no time by getting to what shows I’ll be watching this winter 2021. ^ . ^

Attack on Titan: The Final Season

Obvious pick. Y’all should’ve seen this one coming. I’ve been loving AoT ever since I binged the first season over six or seven years ago, and that love has yet to wane. We’re already five episodes into this one, so I’m quite late to writing this post, but I’m still wondering how the whole story will wrap up in just 11 episodes. Like, how??? No, don’t tell me. I’ll find out soon enough. If you’re not following the final stretch of this epic-in-the-making, you ought to get on it, as MAPPA is knocking it out of the park with each passing episode!

The Promised Neverland Season 2

Ahh, another one of my favorites returns for a sequel. I feel like anything that comes now in the story won’t be as entertaining to me as the first season was, but hey, we’re here for it. And Emma is back!! I’m excited to see what secrets unfold next about this terrifying world!

WONDER EGG PRIORITY

Such a weird title. But, after watching the first episode, it starts to make sense. I have a feeling that, along with the already mentioned titles on this list, this will be the show that’ll wreck me. We follow a couple young girls as they travel to the dream world to take down bullies and threats antagonizing other poor girls. It’s gonna get heavy—and QUICK—but I’m interested in the story and unique, if bizarre, directing style.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation

We’re into unfamiliar territory now in the sense that I haven’t seen the first episodes of any of these remaining shows. This next title features yet another pointless isekai start (thirty-something-old businessman gets hit by a car, gets reincarnated in a world of magic, yada yada), but this one seems to be going strong in the fantasy world-building element, and that makes me curious. I decided to pick this one up based on the few beautiful animation cuts I’ve seen on Twitter, so we’ll see how far it goes.

Skate-Leading Stars

This’ll be a title that people will love to hate, if you know what I mean. Having come from watching other bottom-tier sports anime like DIVE!! and Cheer Danshi (and loving both), I think I’ll enjoy this one just the same. It’s a shounen-esque revenge plot which takes place on the ice. I know little else, but I’m sure you’ll hear more from me on it soon enough!

Horimiya

Did we save the best for last? Perhaps, as Horimiya was the talk of the town before it even became an anime. Given that I was planning to pick up the manga myself one of these days and give it a read, it’s funny to see it on this anime list. Supposedly, this is the must-watch of the season, especially for fans that typically watch or read shoujo manga and anime. And YES, I am excited to watch it!

Unless I decide to go back for seconds on anything, this is the list of shows I’ll be following here at the start of 2021. As always, there’s lots to enjoy this season, so I won’t be able to watch everything. Still, I’m sure this’ll be enough to keep me entertained for the next few months. Let me know your thoughts on any of these titles, and definitely share what you’re watching down in the comments below! Thanks for reading, and till next time!

– Takuto