Just Stopping By! (Happy 2023!)

Hi there!

Did I catch you by surprise?

I know, it’s been over 3 months since my last visit. Terrible track record. But, I did promise that I’d be back to regular blogging once I graduated. Unfortunately, that won’t be for another 5 months, although I’m sure—like most semesters—it’ll fly by! 🙏

So until the spring, I’m merely stopping by to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a welcome to 2023! My resolutions? Graduate and get a job (adulting sucks 😭). I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. I logged in HOURS of board games and caught up on LOTS of shounen favorites that I’ve missed out on due to school. Here is what I watched over break in case you’re curious:

Belle (great, rated 8/10 for the lovely l CG work and meaningful message here, but need to rewatch already)

Chainsaw Man (GRUESOME GOODNESS, only watched first 4 episodes, will continue at some point)

My Hero Academia 6th Season Part 1 (significant step up from S5, rating 9/10 for the high stakes, can’t wait to see how the battle ends in P2)

Millionaire Detective – Balance: Unlimited (way more boring than I expected it to be, rated 7/10 for at least the pretty character designs, and FYI don’t watch the dub, sorry fam)

Jujutsu Kaisen (MY LOVES, this revived my passion for anime recently, honest!! Both series and 0 Movie are 9/10 for me, and I crave more)

Sword Art Online: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night (surprisingly enjoyed a lot, rated 8/10 for Asuna continuing to be more interesting than Kirito, tempted to recommend this over S1 to newcomers)

Demon Slayer Season 2 (the main fight of the Entertainment District Arc dragged on a little long, but potentially more enjoyable than S1, rated 8/10 for that incredible Ufotable animation!)

Dr. Stone Season 1 (stopped after 11-ish episodes, it’s fine . . . when do we get to see Senku’s old friends again, I miss them)

Blood of Zeus (a fantastic recommendation if you’re chasing after that Castlevania high, rated 8/10 for Greek mythology continuing to serve)

Link Click (I knew I’d enjoy this one but WOW was I taken by these characters, rated 9/10 for the thrills and the whole aesthetic, but needing that sequel ASAP)

Odd Taxi (this one also wins for being a backlog serve, rated 8/10 for an actually engaging anthropomorphic title, and that ending, Y’ALL GOT ME GOOD)

NieR:Automata Ver1.1a (my recent obsession as a huge fan of the game, the only simulcast I’m following this season, and I’m still so shocked that A-1 is proceeding with this 2D/3D blend . . . staying hopeful it’ll be a masterpiece)

Of course, I also rewatched Ghibli favorites like Howl’s, Kiki’s, and Ponyo this winter break. Just trying to reignite the anime passion after feeling absent for a while now. 🔥

My primary goal with this post was to update you all with what I’ve been up to. Going forward, I’ll return to simul-uploading my YouTube videos on my channel and my blog. I apologize in advance if Kpop isn’t your thing, and I hope the manga/anime content is at least to your liking. >.<

The next time we “meet” will probably be for my annual V-Day special. (Hint hint, the show I’ll be watching currently has a remake airing!) That should be lots of fun, so look forward to it! 👍

Thank you as always for sticking with me throughout these content-less months. Once I’m done with uni, I’ll be able to officially brush off the cobwebs and start new projects. But for now, I wish you all a healthy start to the new year!

– Takuto

All Things New This Lunar Year

“A tiger never returns to his prey he did not finish off.”

Chinese Proverb

As of the writing of this post, two New Year celebrations have eclipsed this blog—both the global New Year and the Lunar New Year, which just occurred yesterday. And, with every new year comes new starts.

Since writing my last post, I realized needed a few more months to decide what I wanted to do with the blog going forward. Grad school had been hammering away at me, but conditions have lightened since the start of a new semester. So I’m back this time, and hopefully I’ll be sticking around for a bit longer.

In the time I was absent, my blog reached a pivotal milestone: 100k all-time views. (THANK YOU!) Some bloggers hit this milestone in their first couple years. For me, it took over 7, but I suppose we run this race at our own pace, don’t we? That said, I’m incredibly grateful for the support and traction that the blog has been receiving in my absence. Whether I write or not, it would seem that hundreds of views roll in each week regardless. The internet works in mysterious ways, but I’m thankful for every single one of them.

This brings me to my next point: content. Last update, I said I would start releasing posts for all the videos that have yet to be shared on the blog. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I think I want to start clean and just share the videos I’ve uploaded in 2022 so far, but we’ll see what I end up doing. More anime content would come, if only for the fact that I haven’t watched much lately. Some rewatches here and there, but the only new title I’ve watched in the past month was Vivy—and that was a damn good show. Maybe I ought to review it, or perhaps revisit my favorites in new kinds of reflection posts. Much to think about.

As for the novel I was working on, that also took a halt—but in a good way I guess. I’ve been trying to read more these days, and I feel like I have a better grasp on what exactly I want to write from what I’ve read. I plan to restart my work on the novel in favor of taking a new perspective to it. Hopefully it’ll see the draft stage sooner rather than later.

One last thing (and probably my biggest reason for blogging again)—I just got a wireless keyboard for my iPad! My laptop has been decaying for some time, and while I meant to buy a new computer this past summer, I settled on a tablet instead for the sake of digital reading. BEST DECISION EVER. And now with my Bluetooth keyboard, writing has never felt easier. I actually want to write on it.

2022 is the year of the Tiger, which happens to also be my sign. Maybe that means I’ll have crazy luck or something—it sure would be nice! I hope you all have been doing well and staying safe. It snowed this morning, which means it’ll be annoyingly frigid where I’m at for at least a few weeks. When the spring day comes, I’ll be the first person you’ll hear it from—this much I promise you. Happy Lunar New Year to all my friends celebrating, thank you again for 100k, and stay warm!

– Takuto

I’m Back! (Kinda) + More Posts Incoming + Thanks for 7 Years!

Hi all!

I realize it’s been well over a month since my last post. I’m terribly sorry about that. Looking at my social media presence in general, you can see exactly when I dropped off the face of the earth to start graduate school.

Speaking of, school is great! I love being able to finally focus all my energy on English classes after having graduated with my psychology B.S. already. Those four years sure went by fast, and I imagine these next two will breeze by all the same.

Between reading and researching for classes, my new job at our campus’ writing center (which I LOVE omg), recording and editing for YouTube, and keeping up with manga and anime progress on the socials, I’ve left very little time for blogging. Thankfully, the WP algorithm has still been working in my favor, for despite my inactivity, my blog’s overall views have eclipsed last year’s already. (Don’t get me wrong, that’s not much in itself, but I have to take the little victories when I can!)

On the subject of blogging itself, Takuto’s Anime Cafe officially turned 7 a couple weeks ago!! I wanted to push out a celebratory post, but it just didn’t feel right since I hadn’t done anything in a month. So, to right this wrongdoing, I want to thank you all again for continually supporting me. Whether it’s on the blog, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube, I cherish our interactions, and I hope I can be more present in the year to come. None of this would be here without you guys, so thank you!!

Going forward, I have a few projects planned. Immediately, I’ll publish a post over YenPress’ SAO audiobook—the first of its kind—which Yen was kind enough to send to me to review! Next, I plan to start releasing posts for all the videos that have yet to be shared on the blog. (I realize a lot of y’all don’t care about Kpop, but it helps sustain traffic and such.) Then, I want to resume writing short manga reflection posts to cover my reads. After that, well, we’ll see how far I get with just these goals.

Lastly, I just want to tag on that I’ve been in the works of trying to draft my first novel! It’s an exciting process, but a long and frustrating one, too. Not sure what will become of it or how far I’ll get, but it’s been a fun (and time-consuming) endeavor so far.

So, this is my “I’m back!” post, as well as an anniversary thank-you, and finally an announcement of things to come. I hope to see many familiar faces in the blogosphere again, especially after being gone so long, and I look forward to our little talks again! Until then, I hope you’re all staying safe, staying hydrated, and keeping up with the various Asian media we all love!

– Takuto

Blog Goals & Resolutions for 2021!

Happy New Year, my friends!!

We’ve made it through the fog of the terrible year that was 2020, during which I pretty much stopped blogging and even went unemployed for a bit. For many personal reasons, it wasn’t a great time.

BUT NO MORE will I let the shadows of 2020 overcast my ambitions and goals for the new year! Many things are changing for the blog in 2021. First, the monthly updates will make a comeback! Sticking to a quarterly basis (though helpful in times of low productivity) felt somewhat cold and distant. I want to remove that gap between us and go back to how I used to run this place. Second, I’m going to be synthesizing my blog and YouTube content much more than I did in 2020. This may help my content reach those that don’t operate much on YouTube. Third, I’ve got five new blog goals for 2021, which we should talk about next!

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#1 – Write Five Posts Each Month

Unlike the unfulfilled promises of 2020, I plan to go seriously hard in 2021. And really, it’s not all that different from what I used to do three or four years ago. I want to write more posts, even if they’re not the full series reviews and informal analyses I’ve been known for. Maybe I’ll talk more about individual episodes or characters from a series. Or, perhaps, certain themes or musings I happen to grasp from these works. Whatever these posts end up being about, you can certainly expect more than what I wrote the past six months. And, when troubles do inevitably arise (what with college and all), I’ll simply adapt this slightly. 🙂

#2 – Review More Anime

When you watch more, you can review more. Naturally, these two ideas go hand in hand. Although I took a pretty big break from anime the past year, I want to get back on my anime game in 2021. Specifically, I want to go back to how things used to be. I spent so much time reflecting over whether I wanted to even do this, and my mind finally told me “Screw it: Go for broke and watch more stuff.” And so I will.

#3 – Continue Writing Manga Reflections

Writing over manga in general became the blog’s saving grace in 2020, and I want to keep that up. I especially made a lot of new friends in the mangatube community, and I don’t want to lose their company. More manga content to come!

#4 – Write Posts for Video Content

I started talking about this at the beginning of the post you’re reading right now. Basically, if I were to film four or five videos in a month (which is one of my channel goals), I want to write individual posts with respective links to each video. This will no doubt aid in keeping blog traffic up, but also allow for potentially greater outreach through my blog audience. So, with the five regular posts each month, hopefully you’ll be getting roughly two posts each week.

#5 – Achieve 750 Blog Followers

As you know, I’ve never paid much attention to blog stats, views, followers, likes, etc. Well, after seeing the success of my blogger and YouTube friends over the course of 2020, I want to try setting numerical goals like this for once. The numbers game was never one I played, but maybe I should. Anyway, 2021 will be the road to 750! Given we’re already at 685 followers, it’s a pretty achievable goal in my eyes. Now, let’s see if we can make it happen!

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This is going to be a tall order, I realize this. But, after deep meditation over what I wanted from the future of this blog, I decided on this return to form of sorts. I can’t give this up now—I’ve gone too far with this blog, and losing it would hurt me beyond words. More than anything, however, I just hope I can still count on you all, my friends, for your generous support that you’ve continued to give me for years. YOU are the reason I can do what I do now, and I never want to forget that for a second. It’s going to be a challenging year, absolutely. But, knowing that you’ll be there with me will make the fight all the more worthwhile. Blogging is something I still want to do, and I hope my posts are still ones you want to read!!

All this said, THANK YOU for an incredible 2020. Even during those rough patches when I was gone, you guys kept showing up to read my stuff, comment, and even share it, and for that I’m eternally grateful. I’ll admit I wasn’t the best blogger buddy in 2020, but I plan to change that going forward—this much, you can count on.

What is something you wish to improve on in 2021, either for your blog or your own personal life? Let’s talk resolutions down in the comments. I said the same thing here as I did last year, but I have even higher feelings about 2021! Thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and I wish you all a Happy New Year! ^ . ^

– Takuto

Where are the Posts??? || Quarterly Update (Fall 2020)

Hey guys!

WOW has it been a minute. Just three months ago, we were living in an entirely different world from the one we are in now. Lots has changed, politically, socially, and otherwise. Plus, school started up again, and that’s never been good for the health of this blog. Still, though, we manage to find time for our hobbies, and so I’d like to share with you all what I’ve been going through the past few months. I imagine I haven’t done too keen of a job on keeping up with them, but let’s begin with a bit of goal reflection.

Goal Reflection

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#1 – Read More Posts

Nope. I’ve been a terrible blogger buddy, and I’m sorry. While I technically have been popping in on any blog posts that I like and retweet on Twitter, I haven’t personally made my way to the WP reader in quite some time. It doesn’t help that WP is not letting my account leave likes, but I’m finding ways around that. I’ll try harder.

#2 – Write More Succinct Posts

It’s hard to say on this one. I wrote but TEN measly blog posts since last update, and only half of those were my typical review-type posts. Given this, my other announcement-y posts were technically on the shorter end, so I’ll give myself this one.

#3 – Read & Review More Books

With all the manga I’ve been talking about here and on my YouTube channel, it would seem that I hardly review anime anymore! While not entirely untrue at the moment, I do want to get back in the anime game. As for manga, I’ll be reading Yona of the Dawn and Fire Force with you guys, reviewing volumes as I go here on the blog. Soon, I’d like to start up Requiem of the Rose King, Snow White with the Red Hair, and Seraph of the End. If you’re interested in hearing my thoughts on any of those titles, do stick around for the coming months!

#4 – Write More About Me

In September and early October, I celebrated 6 years of blogging here on the cafe (thank you to all those who left me kind words) and also shared five anime that I love rewatching just because all I had been doing then was rewatching my favorites. Otherwise, I need to get back into fulfilling these tag and award posts that have been piling up in my drafts. More posts about me coming soon!

#5 – Build Up My “Personal Brand”

Like I’ve covered in previous updates, this goal took the form of my YouTube channel, Takuto. Since July, I have gained 130 new subs (we’re up to 170!) and have uploaded, like, 20 new videos. The success hasn’t gone as planned, admittedly, but I’ve never played the numbers game—neither here on my blog, nor on the channel—and I don’t plan to start anytime soon. That said, if you (or a friend) may be interested in vlog-style manga and K-pop rambling videos, consider checking the channel out! I’d greatly appreciate it!

What I’ve Read

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Although I haven’t read nearly as much as I would have liked to, I’ve since (as in the past week) picked up my manga game SIGNIFICANTLY. That is, I’m currently pacing myself at a volume of manga per day. I’m not sure if this kick will last just for the Halloween festivities or if it’ll carry over long after, but regardless, I’m currently enjoying reading a bit of manga to wind down each night.

Way back at the beginning of July, I shared my thoughts on Fire Force volumes 10-12. It took me a bit to get back into the series, but very soon I’ll have reflection posts for volumes 13-15 and volumes 16-18, respectively. Guys, I love me some Fire Force, and while I’m not sure why I hesitated on reading more for so long, I’m glad nevertheless that I’m back with Company 8!

I FINALLY started reading Yona of the Dawn, which has led me to also doing 3-volume reflections over the series. I find these characters to be some of the most supportive, heartwarming kind in all of shoujo manga. Seriously, the four dragons are too good for us! Anyway, expect more Yona here soon, as with some of the other shoujo titles I mentioned above!

What I’ve Watched

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Despite the sparse number of reviews that I’ve posted, I actually watched more anime this summer than I had in a long time. (And trust me, it sure felt good.) I took a general break from seasonal content to hammer away on the backlog, and thankfully the results were somewhat fruitful.

Starting with the most notable one, I finally got around to watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, which I even talked about here! And what would you know—it was exactly as good as everyone had been telling me it was. Glad to have this one under my belt after all these months of endless conversation and fame the series has gotten!

I took to my Blu-ray shelves for this next one, that being DEN-NOH COIL. You can read my review of this mid-2000s sci-fi adventure, but this series is easily one of the most underrated, least-discussed sci-fi anime out there. Sometimes it’s silly, sometimes it’s sad. But always is it smart, fascinating, and thought-provoking when it comes to humanity’s deepening relationship with technology. Check it out sometime!

Next we had more Blu-ray watches from my shelves, including Sakurada Reset (review here!). This one was understandably swept under the rug, as it’s not only slow but features some of the most BORING characters ever. For a show about esper abilities, this was a crime. On the bright side, I ended up enjoying Knights of Sidonia and its sequel Battle for Planet Nine quite a bit. They’re still on Netflix, so if I fail to review them, just know the series gets the OK from me.

Then I watched The World is Still Beautiful, which was perhaps one of the most enjoyable watches of the entire year. Although I came in with few expectations, I came out wanting so much more from Princess Nike and King Livius’ hilarious yet endearing relationship—I love them!! Defs still want to review this gem if I get the chance.

Also one of the most wholesome watches in recent years was Barakamon. YES, I finally watched the calligraphy anime. And yes, the Blu-ray is staying on my shelves. On the other hand, the Handa-kun spinoff was a total waste of time. The humor just didn’t stick with me, but I did finish it out just to give it a fair chance.

My most recent watches have all been superb ones: PROMARE (which was literally fire), Fog Hill of Five Elements (which I don’t remember much of, but it was hella good-looking), and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power seasons 1-3 (which, UGH, I freakin’ love this series)! As I near the end of She-Ra, I will also finally share my thoughts on the Netflix beauty Violet Evergarden. Hopefully I will have reviews for each of these titles SOONER rather than later!!

What Comes Next for the Blog?

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The short answer: I’m not sure. School’s been kicking my butt since mid-August (hence the sudden lack of posts starting there), and any energy I do have left is divided between writing for classes and filming videos for my YouTube channel. I have considered taking a formal break from blogging, but you may want to hear the long answer first . . .

Really, I just need to manage my time better. I take plenty of naps, snack breaks, and YT breaks throughout a given day, and much of that energy could instead be redirected to the blog. The only big problem is that, when I do have the inspiration to write, it isn’t over anime. In fact, much of the shows I recently watched come from the dangling weeks of summer. Anymore, I average a couple episodes per week, which is why it’s taken me nearly a month now to finish a short title like Violet Evergarden.

So I guess the real question is not if I should blog, but rather what should I blog about? Should I really write posts about manga and K-pop and whatever else is going on in my life? (Does anyone even care about that stuff?) Or should I keep trying to make the anime thing work? It’s not that I’m tired of reviewing—I just want to make sure that I have fun writing every single post. I’d much rather avoid writing altogether than struggle to push out content. Maybe someone out there can relate, idk. But this is where we currently are, and I want to stay transparent with you all.

When I’m not writing papers, posting for class discussion boards, reading journal articles, or lifeguarding at our university’s pool (I GOT MY JOB BACK BTW!!), I really am watching YT videos, filming YT videos, and editing YT videos. And sleeping. And snacking. (Which reminds me, I ought to get back on the workout game. Yikes.)

But overall, I’m still healthy, physically and mentally, if but ~slightly~ more inactive on the blog than I usually am. How are you doing? Are you getting enough sleep? Drinking enough water? Making enough time for yourself? It sucks that we chose to adapt to this pandemic rather than fight it, but I’m sure you tried to do your part (as I did). Who knows how much longer things will last this way . . . But what I do know is that the world keeps moving, and so should we.

Whenever you can, I encourage you to watch more anime, write more posts, listen to more of your favorite music and podcasts, read your favorite manga and novels—whatever can bring you happiness and connect you with that positive and creative synergy. We need that sense of connection—either to art or the artist—now more than ever.

In the meantime, I will actively try to stop in more often. No promises, what with school pretty much ending for me in a month. But I’ll try, and I hope that will be enough to tie us over until I can get back to this full-time like I was this past summer. What a great summer that was. Man, I hate this gloomy cold. It’ll be a long winter—but knowing that you’ll be there with me almost makes the thought a tad bit warmer.

Have a Happy Halloween (I’ll be watching Fire Force Season 2 to celebrate the spooky weekend!) and stay safe, my friends! Thank you for reading, and much love for all your support! ‘Till next time! ❤

– Takuto

Projects, Projects, Projects || Quarterly Update (Summer 2020)

Hey guys,

I’d been blogging non-stop all of June that I nearly forgot to do another quarterly reflection on my 2020 blogging goals, as well as update you on what I’ve been up to in my personal life. I teach a few weekly cello lessons as a side hustle, but I’m still technically unemployed for the the next month. It’s not all bad, however, as this time has allowed me to read more, watch more, and of course, write more. (I’m just trying to look on the bright side.) I also did a huge unhauling of parts of my collection that I knew I wasn’t going to re-read or re-watch, so that gave me a little extra cash. But let’s check in on those goals again, shall we?

Goal Reflection

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#1 – Read More Posts

This one comes and goes for me. Naja recently gave me a shoutout in the OWLS livestream for loving the way I come in and read all her posts at once (LOL). It’s not exactly my preferred method of keeping up with everyone’s posts, but it’s easy for the days to get ahead of me. I’ll try harder still!

#2 – Write More Succinct Posts

I CAN say that most of my recent posts have been shorter. However, that could come as a matter of subject, as it’s generally easier to write manga reviews (or first impressions) than it is to write anime reviews. From creation to production, a lot more goes into anime. Naturally, it takes longer to capture the entire essence of a show than it does a single book. So yeah, I win this time, but we’ll see how things turn out in the coming months.

#3 – Read & Review More Books

Ummm, have you been around my blog the past month? Hahaha! Well, in case you genuinely haven’t, I spent ALL of June writing about manga—and even then I’ve started doing manga recap posts for some of my fave ongoing series (like Fire Force) that I hope becomes a regular thing. I’ll have links for everything in the section below!

#4 – Write More About Me

I WAS responding to blog reward and nomination posts to fulfill this goal, but have since fallen off the track (except for that fun light novel challenge post). I’ll get back to those. In the meantime, I did address some of the new anime I picked up for my collection, as well as share the joys of having new shelves. Then I talked about my first experiences with EVA foam in the making of a cosplay sword. Lastly, I celebrated 600 blog followers with a month of giveaway codes (thank you to all who joined me). Still, I’ll try to post more about my personal life with some short loose-thoughts posts. Thoughts?

#5 – Build Up My “Personal Brand”

I’ve tried to shift this goal to my YouTube channel, Takuto. I’ve posted eight videos and already have 40 subs (largely thanks to my blog community following me there), but you should totally subscribe if you want to see me face-to-face! I do much of the same stuff there that I do here, but there’s more focus on hauls, collecting, and K-pop, whereas the blog is more for reviews and random musings. I hope you’ll continue to support me on both platforms. ^ . ^

What I’ve Read

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Let’s talk manga! As previously stated, I’m trying to chronicle my rekindled manga-reading experience here on the blog, starting with a second “first impressions” of Haruko Ichikawa’s Land of the Lustrous. I was actually planning on selling off the first five volumes, but thanks to an analysis vid I saw on YT, I decided to not only keep the series, but also buy the next FIVE volumes, haha! I’ll get back to the series here soon.

Then we’ve got Atsushi Ohkubo’s Fire Force, which hardly needs an introduction thanks to the anime’s explosive popularity. I did post recapping my thoughts on volumes 1-3, volumes 4-6, volumes 7-9, and I’ve got volumes 10-12 coming very soon. Fire Force started off as a generic shounen action series with a little bit of flare, but quickly grew into a wild story full of conspiracies and hidden intentions not unlike that of Fulllmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Fire Force is seriously kickass, so be sure to check those out if you’re also reading the series!

All the other manga I’ve covered thus far fell under my Pride Month celebration. Also included in the month were a couple LGBTQ anime. June was incredible for me, as I’m sure you all read about from this post. Here again are those links just in case you missed something:

Ten Count: My First Yaoi Manga Series || Review

Seven Days: Will You Still Love Me When Monday Comes? || Review

Candy Color Paradox: Sweet Yet Sour || First Impressions

Claudine: Sexuality, Tragedy, & Growing Up Transgender || Review

Melting Lover: The Shadowy Side of Affection || Review

That Blue Sky Feeling: Preciously Queer & Wholeheartedly Delightful || Review

Love Stage!! – A Coming-Out Worth Celebrating || Review

Escape Journey: Chasing After Love in a Heteronormative World || Review

I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up: Gentle Romance & Silly Humor || Review

Hitorijime My Hero: Unrequited Feelings & Forbidden Love || Review

Goodbye, My Rose Garden – A Poignant Victorian Romance Between Women || First Impressions

Our Dining Table: Growing Closer One Meal at a Time || Review

Our Dreams at Dusk: Ending Pride Month on a High Note || First Impressions

What I’ve Watched

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Aside from the couple Pride Month anime, Love Stage!! and Hitorijime My Hero, we do have a couple throwback watches to this past spring. I was feeling in the mood to tackle my backlog (and watch something mediocre, apparently), which led me to watching Karneval. I thought it was meh, but I can easily see why some may like it. I probably won’t review this one, though. One that I am sitting on a review for still is Princess Principal, however, the epic steampunk spy series starring a cast of young English girl. This series was GOOD.

I also turned my energy to review Shirobako into April’s OWLS post, and while I may not end up reviewing it now, just know that it gets the full recommendation from me! Speaking of OWLS, I decided to rewatch ID:INVADED immediately after finishing it because it’s a super neat sci-fi series. It ended up becoming the subject of May’s OWLS post, so check that out if you haven’t. In a similar vain, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid was my OWLS spotlight for the June tour, which I still need to finish!!

The only other anime I have watched AND reviewed this summer was Netflix’s Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, which was alright at best. I passed it with the “Coffee” rating, but only if the second half (whenever we get it) will be better than the first half.

As for anime I watched but have yet to talk about, I did tackle a huge backlog title with Mawaru Penguindrum! I feel weird for saying this, but did anyone else think it was . . . just ok? (PLEASE don’t hit me!) Maybe I’ll need to watch it again sometime, but I thought the second half was waaay too melodramatic. IDK, y’all let me know.

On the subject of beloved anime, I DID watch the first half of My Hero Academia Season 4 and EVERYONE LIED TO ME. THIS SHIT WAS SO GOOD, WHY WERE YOU ALL COMPLAINING??? Aside for the first halves of seasons 2 and 3, I thought this was EASILY the strongest arc yet. Sir Nighteye is a legend, and Mirio continues to be KING. Looking forward to the second half. Oh, and I watched the first half of Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld as a refresher before reading the last volume of the light novel, which I also completed! It didn’t end exactly how I thought it would . . . but I am totally hyped to see how the anime decides to handle this epic finale!

That just leaves me with what I’m currently watching. When I have free time, I’ve been slowly going through the final season of Sailor Moon, Sailor Stars, now that I have all of the DVDs. Such a beautiful, timeless story, even if the production can be so-so sometimes. I’ll always love Sailor Moon, and FYI I’ll probably be an emotional wreck once I’ve finished Stars because that’ll mean I’ve finally seen ALL of it!!

If you’re interested in my summer simulcast line-up, I’ll be posting that here shortly!

Summer Projects Never End

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I dedicated all of June to Pride Month content and posted just about every day for the cause. After taking a week off to refresh myself, I’m back for some odds and ins (like this update) before I back off again to work on my OWLS Mini Con project. (Did you peep the teaser?) I’m absolutely looking forward to it, but it’ll take time, so expect another potential silence before I return on the 22nd.

Following my OWLS project’s completion, I’ll be moving into the final phase of this summer. I can’t say much now, but let’s just say it’ll be BIG. Like, two weeks long, bridging July and August. I’m SO excited for this as well! But again, it’s gonna take a lot of work and time to put together. If I go quiet, just know that it’s because I’m giving my all to this amazing summer project! 🙂

When I’m not working on projects or filming new videos for my channel, I’m either reading manga, tackling backlog anime, or playing Persona 5 again. Yeah, I took a year or two off the game (whoops), but I’m back, and I’ve already burned through a couple chapters since starting a week ago. Loving it now that I’m back into the swing of things.

It sounds like things are well and good on my end—and they are for the most part. But, being stuck at home with family due to the pandemic and suffering from unemployment haven’t gone without their mental toll. Some days I’m exhausted even after waking up, and I just want to take this moment to remind you that your mental health matters just as much as your physical health does during this global pandemic. Don’t neglect yourself. Take time for yourself. Play games, read books, watch movies—whatever makes you happy. Please make sure you’re getting adequate sleep, too, and don’t forget to stay hydrated—your body needs it!!

Peak summer weather is here. It’s hot, some days scorching my skin in the triple digits. As I continue to work hard on my blog and YouTube, I also hope you are enjoying the summer season and some of the good things a warm breeze can bring. Let’s keep in touch, ok? Until the next post, friends, stay well. Much love for all your support. ❤

– Takuto

Filling Gaps in the Anime Collection

Hello all!

Even though I’ve exponentially pulled back the reigns on what I buy for the collection, that hasn’t stopped me from picking up a couple new Blu-rays for some of my favorite ongoing franchises. After all, it’d be kinda crummy to cut cold turkey with a bunch of “Part 2” and “Season Three” gaps in the collection.

So, over the past month or two, I’ve been meticulously eBay hunting, haggling back and forth with sellers for the sets I want—and only at a price I’m willing to pay.

Enjoy the spoils of my hunt—there’s not much here (compared to normal collection updates), but everything here I love, and quality should always usurp quantity!

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Up first is the second half of Steins;Gate 0. You may recall the boxset from a previous haul, and this set completes it. I’m absolutely in love with the art, and I’m glad Funi was able to snag so much of the Japanese Blu-ray art.

One of these days I’ll do a complete watch of the series, starting with the original and instead continuing down the 0 route with the Beta Episode like we’re supposed to!

Here’s another Part 2 to go with the first part’s limited edition set. Star Blazers 2202 isn’t my favorite sequel ever made, but it continues to be THE best reboot a vintage franchise has ever received. Period. I love the art for this franchise so much that I’ve collected almost all of the movie posters (called chirashi) for each theatrical release (since the series was released as a collection of OVAs).

More gorgeous art, ahhh my heart! So happy to have all of Yamato in my clutches.

Onto yet another franchise that I love—any RailDex fans out there? I realize that despite needing the most “hype” the third season is actually the weakest installment. But hey, I still liked it, and will probably rewatch it more than once in the future. For this release, love seeing how much Kiyotaka Haimura’s illustrations have improved (on the right), but something about the main visual for this season has me absolutely LIVING. The clouds are everything!

Funimation included a little art/character booklet with both parts of Season Three, and they’re actually quite nifty guides given Index’s lofty sum of characters that make their first (and last) entrance in this wobbly final season. It’s a nice edition, although it makes me wish each season came with one.

Annnd here’s Part 2, the climax of Index’s main story, and what an ending it is. (Yikes.) At least the main visual for this one maintains the intensity that the final confrontation *should’ve* had. It’s a really pretty cover, don’t get me wrong! I just wish Season Three wasn’t so, IDK, *shudders* mediocre.

Again, it’s got that nice little booklet to help keep you straight with all these crazy mages and organizations, religious or otherwise. I’m just thrilled to finally be up-to-date with all the releases for one of my favorite series ever!

Now here’s a third season that doesn’t disappoint in the slightest! Attack on Titan is fantastic, and I know it’ll be a masterpiece of entertainment once it’s all complete. This set includes the traditional limited edition digibook-artbook hybrid thing that Funi’s been doing for all their AoT sets.

The backside has Captain Levi lookin’ all fine and stuff. (I mean, when does he not?) It’s surreal to have the third “wall” completed on my shelf—that is, each of these giant LTD ED boxsets is modeled after one of the three walls, this last one being the most interior Wall Sina.

As you can see, the art book is actually imbedded with the release. A lot of people complain about it, but I don’t mind. We’re also blessed with the stunning Wit Studio Blu-ray covers, this one featuring Levi and Kenny in an active shot.

Flipping the cover page of the book, I see Eren lookin’ stoic and beautiful as ever. God, I’d buy an entire art book of this stuff. This little book continues on for another handful of pages, and it’s chalked with all kinds of great character materials and notes.

I just wanted to show off the back page of the art book cause DAMN, ERWIN LOOKS SO GOOD. Not as good as Eren, but this mans be FINE. And oh look, some DVD discs.

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This pretty much concludes the collection update. I’m thankful to be able to continue collecting from my favorite franchises, especially during times like this. Yes, I want to support the shows I love, but I also want to be able to enjoy them for years to come. Only buy what won’t be a burden to you later on, and don’t spend what you don’t have. The anime will always be there, even if you have to do a little hunting around.

I’d love to hear what shows you guys have recently picked up. Got any franchises that you particularly enjoy collecting from as the years go by? Let’s chat in the comments! Thanks for reading, and until the next post! –

Takuto

Keeping Busy in Quarantine || Quarterly Update (Spring 2020)

Evening all,

I realize I recently posted an update a couple weeks back on how this whole pandemic has suddenly impacted my life, but I figured I’d keep consistent with my quarterly updates anyhow. In case you forgot how these things go, in my quarterly updates I will be reflecting on the five blog resolutions I set for myself at the beginning of 2020. This was a pretty successful system that I gave a trial run for last year, and it’s certainly less redundant than the monthly updates I used to do. Plus, it puts my resolutions into perspective each season, which helps reaffirm what I want to do better and how far I’ve come. Let’s see how 2020 has treated me thus far!

Goal Reflection

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#1 – Read More Posts

Ok, so I was on top of this one until about mid January when school started up again. Then I was pretty much off the WP grid until this past week where I spent a couple afternoons scrolling through the feed and checking out all the content I missed. I guess you call this one a flop on my part, but I do have intentions to do better—and with all this social distancing, I plan to spend a lot more time online. So yeah, fear not, I’ll read your stuff!!

#2 – Write More Succinct Posts

Except for my big SAO Alicization review and my lengthy Weathering With You write-up, I don’t think I’ve gone over the 1,500 word mark on any of my posts (or at least not more than a couple hundred over). I hope this helps make my content easier to stomach, as I know long posts can lead to blog fatigue (for both you and me). I realize it will “always depend on the content” yada yada, but what do you generally prefer, longer or shorter posts? I personally like short reads, but I understand it excruciatingly difficult to evaluate every single quality of a piece in a review with less than a thousand words. It’s just not possible. For now I’ll take the win, but I’ll try harder to write more frequent, quicker reads for you all.

#3 – Read & Review More Books

So I DID actually review one book this month, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, and I had a lot of fun just sorta free-writing my thoughts away. Such a cool read. Thanks to self-quarantining, I’ve done a lot more reading—and I don’t plan on stopping. I’m trying to read all the manga and light novels I’ve accumulated over the past couple years that I bought but never read (DON’T DO THAT). If it all works as it should, I’ll have several manga reviews and first impressions posts coming your way here shortly!

#4 – Write More About Me

Interestingly, this has taken the form of me trying to fulfill those award/nomination/tag posts that circulate around the community. Do y’all like reading these? Cause they’re SUPER easy to write, and lots of fun! I’ve made sure to do one of these each month, so if you’re wanting to know more about me, here’s January, February, and March’s nomination posts. Thanks to the bloggers who keep tagging me in these—I’ve got more coming, just wait!

#5 – Build Up My “Personal Brand”

Like with the blog nomination posts, I’ve found myself writing at least one non-review/analysis post each month (that is also not an award or haul post). In January, I shared some of my anime and book collecting tips with my readers (specifically, what you shouldn’t do). In February, I used a tripod that I recently bought to do a little photoshoot for my first-ever clothing try-on. It was really fun to experiment with, even if not many people read the post. Hey, something different. And just a couple days ago I did the whole social distancing and what I’d been up to update where I just kinda unloaded some of my stressors and aspirations alike for the next coming weeks. Maybe I’m not as interesting as a thought (*laughs*) but I hope they’re still posts worth reading!

What I’ve Watched

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Back in January when I was on my idol grind (still am, BTW), I watched iDOLM@STER SideM and discussed the nature of idol culture and personal branding for my OWLS post. I even started watching IDOLiSH7, which I still need to finish. Then, as previously mentioned, I went out to theaters and thoroughly enjoyed Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You. Lastly, I started the K-drama Cinderella and the Four Knights on Netflix. I’ve been holding off on the end because, well, I don’t want it to end!! But, perhaps it about time I finished it LOL.

We skip most of February because I wasn’t in the mood to watch anime. This was carried over from the end of 2019 though, so I wasn’t surprised; I just didn’t want to force myself. So I took a break, which also affected my Gunbuster marathon. Don’t worry though, it’ll still happen, just at a later date!

Most of my winter stimuls joined my watchlist in March (none of which I’ve completed yet because I’m waiting on the last few simuldub episodes). These are A Certain Scientific Railgun T (watching this one subbed, but waiting for more episodes to air so I can watch it all at once), ID: INVADED, Darwin’s Game, and Smile Down the Runway. I love all these shows a lot, actually, and cannot wait to see how they end—especially Smile Down the Runway and Darwin’s Game for some reason! I already know Railgun T will be great, so there’s no worries there.

I also ended up starting a lot of random shows cause of spring break, one of those being Hozuki’s Coolheadedness. I actually had no plans to watch this until Simply Gee brought it up in a recent haul vid, but it’s alright so far. I also decided to watch the Azur Lane (review here!) anime on Funimation cause the poster art was so epic looking, and it ended up being much better than everyone was saying it was.

I even dug into my personal backlog with the first K-Project anime, which I just reviewed. Now, had I watched this series a couple years back, it’d probably be one of my all-time faves. But in 2020, it’s just a good little series. Excited to explore the rest of the franchise! Oh, and I FINALLY STARTED Shirobako—unsurprisingly, it’s GREAT SHIT. Defs planning to review it.

Just a few days ago I published my March OWLS post, which gave spotlight to Millennium Actress, one of my favorite watches of the year so far. I loved it so much that I even hung up the exclusive lithograph that my preorder from Shout! Factory came with, so that’s cool. In other news for films, I finally busted into the Code Geass film trilogy, having watched all but the third. It’s quite good, surprisingly!! I just need to pick up the final film ASAP cause I know I’ll want NO breaks between the third film and the grand finale. Looking forward to seeing how this new iteration comes to a close.

Finding Enjoyment in Solitude

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That’s pretty much all I’ve been up to these past three months. I’ve learned to balance my rekindled spark for K-pop with my long-time love for anime a lot better, so expect more anime content here soon. I gotta say, it’s been immensely pleasurable just being able to throw a random watch on screen and binge it all the way through. It feels like I haven’t done that in AGES. Man, anime is good.

Beyond idols and anime, however, I’ve been trying to monopolize on this time by reading as much as I can. I’ve read all of Ten Count (boy, that was a thing), picked up Snow White with the Red Hair once again, and also started Yona of the Dawn since I bought the first NINE FREAKIN’ VOLUMES a year ago cause I have NO restraint apparently. In times like this, though, I can only be thankful that I picked up what I could, as it’s wonderful being able to read a little Yona each night with no fear of running out anytime soon. (And if I do, there’s, like, 15 more volumes I could pick up—and THEN I could justify spending more money on books.) Until that time, I’m just enjoying what I have.

I hope you’re all managing yourselves well during this time. Do you find yourself picking up any old hobbies, or perhaps starting new ones? I haven’t watched, read, and written this much since I started blogging years ago, so that’s the biggest thing in my life. Are you getting enough sleep? Enough food to eat? I hope you and your friends, family, and loved ones are staying safe.

Although spring is here, the cool weather has continued to linger. I’m fine with it though, as I love the fresh chill and cloudy skies. As we move forward these next couple weeks, I’ll try to update you on any big changes in my life—as I’d hope you would, too. Until the next post, friends, stay well. Much love for all your support. ❤

– Takuto

Expect the Unexpected: Social Distancing & Being Jobless || Update

Hi all,

I almost don’t know where to begin. It’s been a wild past couple weeks (as I’m sure you all can attest to). Here’s what’s up . . .

School & Work

I got the announcement that my university would be officially shutting down on-campus classes for the remainder of the semester just a couple days ago, but that we would still meet for this week before transitioning to spring break. Well, things change, and now all classes are cancelled starting today, extending break another week. Naturally, the pool that I work at on campus also closed.

So yeah, just yesterday I was a full-time student with two part-time jobs. Today I’m out an education AND a job. Life’s gonna be a little different for a while.

To top it off, I’m in the process of prepping myself for grad school, which has been scary as hell. Why? Well, I’m basically jumping ship on psychology (still getting my BS) and pursuing a Master’s in English. Or at least, that’s the new plan. If I can get lucky, I’d love to do something in the fine arts, maybe screenwriting? Otherwise, I’ll eventually try and take on the editing and publishing world. Any advice for a panicking undergrad?? o___o

Film Journey

I haven’t let quarantine life stop me from trying to make the best out of this all. I’ve made it a mission to watch as many films (that I bought but never got around to) as I can, and it’s been so incredibly freeing and fulfilling to just be able to sit down and watch movie after movie.

Hopefully I can muster the energy to review some of these for you all, as there’s a LOT of underrated anime films out there that kinda just went under the radar.

I’m chronicling my film journey over on my Instagram (@takutoac) for anyone wanting to follow along! ^ . ^

Back to Reading

As with my slowly getting back to anime (primarily with films at the moment), I’m also gradually creeping back into reading my manga and light novels what with social distancing and all. I blind bought all these books and series, and it’s been pleasant reading all this stuff for once. I’ll try to share more of what I’ve been reading on Insta.

Making Music

I’ve found other ways to occupy my time, one being that I started a TikTok just for the heck of it. It’s been fun covering my favorite pop songs and playing around with video editing. I’ll have lots of time to film those now!

And of course, my love for BTS only continues to grow stronger. After three years, it feels weird to finally be collecting my favorite photo cards and albums. But in many more ways, I just feel happy I can celebrate these passions I’d held mostly hidden for years. I hope it’s not too annoying for you all. >.<

Cosplay Endeavors

With Naka-Kon (and pretty much all anime conventions) getting cancelled or postponed, I’ve been left with all this cosplay and no place to show it off at. Or maybe I do . . .

FOLLOW MY INSTAGRAM. It’s where I’ll be posting all my cosplay pics, in addition to the books I’ve been reading and the movies I’ve been watching!! I’ll try to get on here and blog more, but it just seems silly to publish a post with just pictures on it. BUT, if it’s something you’d really like to see here, I’m willing to make it happen. 🙂

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In these long, lonely, quiet days ahead that we’re about to have, I’ll be reading, watching, and posting more than I ever have before. If you decide to stick around with me, I’d be eternally grateful. Heck, I already am, you guys are too awesome.

I’ve missed a lot in just a month, and I apologize. As I (we) get back into the swing of things, I look forward to seeing all the great work you all have been creating!

So, until the next post—whatever it may be—stay busy, and stay well! We got this!!

– Takuto

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

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

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#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

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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

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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