Kindle Book Haul | Free and Purchased

Hello! I haven't been able to post anything for the past....week or so because I've been relaxing and procrastinating. I recently rekindled (get it? kindle?) my interest for my kindle. My kindle app to be specific. The poor old 2nd generation kindle I have is rotting away somewhere. I have always loved the kindle format and got really used to it when reading books on an electronic device, so it was a little difficult for me to adjust to reading on an iPad Mini (oh my eyes, the glare.)

I also discovered the amazing and plentiful free books that amazon offered on the kindle, as well as Project Gutenberg (go check them out), which has a large collection of ebooks available for FREE download.

But can I just say that why is it that almost always, the top sellers in the free kindle books are erotica/porn novels? That really frustrates me sometimes, not because I hate erotica novels, but because I can't find other free, good novels that are not in that genre. 

So I just wanted to share the awesome books I have on my kindle to the world. It will definitely keep me busy (along with my hard copies on my bookshelf) for a very long time.

I'll start with the Freebies!

Project Gutenberg Books

• Bleak House by Charles Dickens
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
• How to Analyze People on Sight by Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict
• Moby Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
• The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
• Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
• The Story of My Life by Hellen Keller
• Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Free Amazon Kindle Books

• The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Memory How to Develop, Train, and Use It by William Walker Atkinson
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank

Now for the Purchased books!

• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Dark Currents by Lindsay Buroker
• Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

I also downloaded the free pdf's of the entire Harry Potter series: http://www.balajisebookworld.com/page_JKR.html

I know, a lot of books, right? I am definitely going to be kept busy reading! Plus, I also have an amazon order on the way and I'm going to buy The Summer I Turned Pretty paperback trilogy soon (it's really cheap in stores)!
So. Many. Books. Plus I have a lot of books on my shelf that I need to read...
And I still have to read my school assigned books for the summer...ugh. Not that the books are ugh. The two books are The Stranger by Albert Camus and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and they're on the list for the top 100 best classics. So I think I will probably enjoy the read. I think.

Anyway, I've been stalling this post too long (because I've been constantly getting new books xD).

Have a great day! :)

Tokyo Ghoul Manga | Volumes 1-8 Discussion!

 STOP! This post contains spoilers for Tokyo Ghoul by Ishida Sui. If you have not read up until volume 8-ish or to chapter 81 of the manga, I suggest you stop reading this once you get past the summary. Or if you're okay with spoilers, then keep treading buddy.

So if you haven't seen my Summer Anime 2014 First Impressions post then I strongly encourage you to do so (because I spent a long time working on it xD.) You will notice that I didn't mention watching Tokyo Ghoul in that post. I didn't really want to watch it because I noticed one of the genres was horror and like, the first few seconds was this psychotic woman brutally tearing a person apart. Yeah. Lovely.

The hype just finally won me over and I decided to sit and watch the whole episode before I judged anything. And HOLY COW. I LOVED IT. I didn't like how they put Rize (as I later found out her name) in the beginning with that brutal murder but that's something I now see is the epitome of the whole series (look at the manga; pretty gruesome.)
If you know me well, or know anything about me at all, you would know that I don't usually do horror/gore stuff. I prefer to avoid it if I can, UNLESS, there's just too good of a storyline, too well-developed characters that I just couldn't pass it up. Eden no Ori was one manga like this that I let into the exception (it also had ecchi, another genre I don't read much of) as well as Tokyo Ghoul.

As of the publishing of this post, there are only 3 episodes of the Tokyo Ghoul anime. Granted, it took fewer episodes than that to make me pick up the manga of other animes but DANG. It was just so interesting. And I am SO GLAD I decided to pick up the manga because I thought it was even better than the first few episodes I watched. I love it SO SO MUCH.
Although the scanlated manga only has about 8 volumes out and is still on-going (in Japan, there are 12 volumes out SO JEALOUS), I wanted to make a short review so I can get my feelings about this out. I NEED to tell the world how fantastic Tokyo Ghoul is.

What is Tokyo Ghoul, you ask? 

Great question! I posted a summary of it in my words on Anime Amino, which is a great anime/manga social media app, so I'll just re-type it here because I'm lazy:

Types of Kagune

 "Tokyo Ghoul is an amazing horror adventure about a modern society with two distinct species living together: Ghouls and Humans. Ghouls are far superior to humans in terms of physical ability and endurance. They consume humans for survival, and each Ghoul has a kagune, a weapon made from their body, to aid them in hunting down their prey. Ghouls are pretty much sophisticated zombies if you think about it that way. 

We follow our protagonist, Kaneki Ken, a normal human, who winds up falling for a gorgeous but psycho female Ghoul, Rize. She lures Kaneki in with her charms, and then attacks him. Miraculously enough, he is saved at the last second by a steel pillar that comes crashing down ontop of Rize. Kaneki is heavily injured and rushed to the hospital where he discovers that Rize's organs where transplanted into him! This operation caused Kaneki to turn into a half-breed; his taste now caters to humans, but his soul and mind are very much human. After this incident, he is recruited in Anteiku, a restaurant for humans with Ghoul waiters/waitresses, by Yoshimura, the manager. There, Yoshimura helps Kaneki with his new predicament and life as a Ghoul"

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Story/Characters(also a little speculation)
So I didn't plan out what I wanted to type for this review so I'm just going to put down whatever first comes into mind. Because I'm so well-prepared.

Anteiku is the home-base of this manga. It's where we see practically all the main characters gather and talk about important stuff and some main events happen here. I think it's really interesting that they have a restaurant for humans (they also help out fellow Ghouls too), even though the the workers there are Ghouls. This establishment was nice because it showed that it was possible for Ghouls and Humans to coexist with one another, peacefully. As peacefully enough to know that the person preparing your meal actually ate your neighbor yesterday...just as a situational example.
Even though they seem like a nice community, I'm still getting mysterious vibes from Yoshimura. I don't think that he's a bad guy, but I think he's still hiding something.

Speaking of secrets and people hiding things, let's talk about Doctor Kanou. If you don't remember, he was the one that did the operation on Kaneki; transplanting Rize's lung into his body. It's been stated in the manga that Dr. Kanou may have been involved with Rize's "accidental" death and that it was deliberate and Kaneki was just bait to lure her out. I didn't really think much about the accident towards Rize's death, even though it was fairly cliche and just perfect timing, it does make sense that someone would deliberately drop the steel pillars on her. But who? If it was Dr. Kanou; did that mean he wanted to create a mass army of Rizes? Because they(not sure who) said that he might be transplanting more of Rize into other humans and turning them into halfbreeds like Kaneki. I don't know when the plot will be pursuing this but it is a very interesting idea. It hurts to picture innocent humans suddenly having this inexplicable taste for human meat; it broke my heart to see Kaneki suffer like that in the beginning. Speaking of which, is it really possible for him to survive just on those sugar cubes and coffee? Now, I'm not sure on how much the Ghouls need to eat (like every day or every other day or how long can they go without food, etc) but it's been a pretty long time since the time he got turned into a ghoul and from then, he hasn't really eaten much meat. So I'm a little concerned for him but I assume whenever he gets back injured and unconscious, Anteiku feeds him some human meat.

One of the most stunning scenes in the manga

It also seems that Rize plays a bigger part in this story than I thought she would, seeing that she died early on. Another thing I found interesting was her part in the Yakumo torture scene. OH MY GOODNESS. The torture scene. It literally shattered my heart to pieces. Why do you do this to your readers, Ishida-sensei?
Before, Rize had occasionally popped up in Kaneki's hallucinations and pictured her as a separate entity from him because, of course, he was different from the Binge-eating Ghoul. She would usually be the "evil" or the "devil-on-the-shoulder" opinion, trying to convert him over to her beliefs. During the torture scene, she further enticed Kaneki until he reached his breaking point and his hair turned all white and he was just like, "F*ck it all, I'm gonna kill this guy." He proceeds to consume Rize, figuratively, and this is a representation of how he began to embrace the fact that he was now a Ghoul, human mind or not. This was a brilliant character development scene, as much as it broke my heart.
Although, Yakumo was a freaking prick for hurting Kaneki like that, I felt sorry that he had to go through the rough torture in his past that screwed up him up today. Despite that, I don't condone retribution like this. Just because despicable humans made you go through hell and back doesn't mean you have the right to do the same to others.
And so, the memory of this scene prevails in my mind far above many others.

My collage of Uta

Now for some lightheartedness, I want to talk about some other beloved characters. My first bae in this series was Uta. Like, I didn't even see him in the anime or the manga to love him, I just saw gifs of him on tumblr and instantly fell in love. When I watched the first couple of episodes of the anime, I got a peek at his personality and ugh, I just adore him a lot. I don't even know why. He just seems like a quirky character and I'm typically drawn to those types of characters. His appearance is also very notable and stands out from the rest of the cast. For example, he doesn't hide his kakugan, which is strange, seeing as he runs a shop (for ghouls mainly but still). Maybe it's just one of the manga loopholes? Anyway, he seems like a nice guy, and I hope he gets more panel time.

Holy crap, dominating trio

Yomo. He was another character that struck my eye. He doesn't say much throughout the manga but regardless, I am very interested in him. I just adore his relationship with Uta and their backstory with each other (there really needs to be a spinoff dedicated to Yomo and Uta's past!)

In the picture on the right >, there's my two favorite characters along with Tsukiyama, who I don't really like that much. According to tumblr, he's a "trash" king, and I have to agree as well. Some people like his character, but honestly, Tsukiyama just makes me feel really uncomfortable because this guy could immediately change sides and back-stab the group (and eat Kaneki.) Regardless, he's an interesting character. The force of all three of them is bound to be overwhelming and I wish Ishida-sensei showed them in action. Also, Tsukiyama is clearly lusting for Kaneki. *wink* I can see it happening. OTP. I'm just kidding. It would only be a one-way relationship, ya know what I'm saiyan?

Badass Kaneki

Speaking of Touka; wow my transitions are on point today; she is my favorite female character of this manga and probably one of my favorites in the anime/manga world. She is very hardworking, tough, and even has physical capabilities of holding her own ground. Of course, she has her flaws but overall, I think she's a nicely shaped character. There are times where she is so earnest and lovable, it's great. But then we get to the scene where she's fighting her brother, Ayato, and wooooooo the male protagonist comes in to save the day. This manga doesn't dumb down females or make them a damsel-in-distress but for Touka; I feel that she was more helpless than helpful. Like, she would go into fights and only get half of the job done. Which, is more than enough, but it seems like she can't hold her ground with another Ghoul just by herself, even though she is the infamous "Rabbit". I'm guessing it's the side-effect of eating the food her human friend gave her, which was a sweet action but definitely not good for herself.

ANDDD the last character I want to talk about is Kaneki's bff, Hide! Hide reminds me a little of Armin from Attack on Titan, with his innocent features hiding his sharpness. I'm pretty sure he already knows that Kaneki is a ghoul, as well as maybe a few others, not sure who exactly though. Characters like Hide especially intrigue me because I would love to take a peek inside their mind and observe what they're thinking. Definitely more panel time for this bae, Ishida-sensei!

Now, one final thing I want to cover in this Story/Character part of my review, the most important arc of the manga so far, the Aogiri Arc. The plot definitely got moving after this. We start to see the beginnings of a war, not only between CCG and Ghouls but also Ghouls against Ghouls, and also Kaneki's ability awakens. Honestly, this arc was kind of a blur for me because I was just so excited throughout reading this because it was intense and action-packed that I don't remember most of what went on here. But I felt like I should mention it. xD Oh my god, I feel so bad; I am definitely re-reading this so I can give more detailed thoughts on this arc. But I felt more compassion towards CCG this arc because of the backstories of a few of them, plus Amon, oh beloved Amon. I wasn't sure if I liked Amon in the beginning, but he's definitely growing on me. I think he's going to be one of the first humans in CCG that recognize the equality of Ghouls and humans, seeing as Kaneki had made quite the impression on him.

Art/Misc.
The art is gorgeous. Not my absolute favorite style (TAKESHI OBATA 5EVER) but it is still very good. I especially like the art on the volume covers; I really dig the soft paint look. The horror/gore art is well done; and I also quite like the action scenes.

Cover of volume 9: yay new character!

Cover of volume 8

Also, the little comics at the end of volumes (or is it some chapters? not really sure) were really cute. They're  omakes and they showed alternate endings to a chapter, mostly with comic relief. I LOVED them.

BookOutlet Haul #3 | Unboxing video!

So I tried to spice things up this haul by making a video! Sorry, it's like ten minutes ahahaha.

First BookOutlet Haul
Second BookOutlet Haul

This was something very different for me and I didn't know how well it would go. Sorry about the quality! It was better when I filmed it but when I put it into VideoPad to edit it and export it, the quality dropped...I probably needed to adjust the settings for better quality...:P

There's random text slides that pop up every so often in the video but ignore that. xD I have terrible editing skills. 

Have a great day! :D

Day 19&20: 5 Blogs I like and What do I collect?

Heya! So I was gone for about 2 days because of, ugh, math. Just yesterday I went for an eye appointment (my eyes have gotten worse, surprise, surprise) and then shopping with my mom at Sam's Club. I got home at around 6 p.m. after that and had to work on math(i had to do a quiz, a mini-quiz, and submit a forum response). When I finished all of that, it was 10 p.m., so of course, I had to crash. On Monday, I pretty much did math all day and got really exhausted in the evening so I just watched anime until I fell asleep.

So yeah. That's what happened in my past two days while I was absent from my blog. xD So today, I'm going to do a three-day edition of my blog challenge! Woooot!

5 Blogs I visit on a Daily Basis
I'm also going to promote some tumblr blogs; mostly because I don't really follow a lot of actual blogs (i don't really consider most blogs on tumblr as actual blogs unless the person I'm following, legitimately creates their own posts.)

1. Sophia from thebookbasement. I mentioned her in my previous post as my inspiration for this blog. She is a book blogger, although more like a booktuber now but still, go check her awesome blog out! I don't really visit her blog daily (seeing as she hasn't updated in a while) but definitely one of my favorite book bloggers.

2. Eugenie from Eugenie Kitchen. She has a bunch of really cool recipes on her site, usually, desserts, sweet stuff, appetizers, etc. They are all really unique so if you like baking/cooking, definitely check her out!

3. Clever girl help-A blog full of great tips on writing. Very detailed and informative. I love this blog to pieces!

4. Pretty Books-A blog of pretty books, basically. I recently discovered it from Priscilla (TheReadables), who is da bomb by the way, and I fell in love with all the gorgeous reblogs of books. :)

5. Pacthesis-OH LORD. Let me tell you a thing or two about this girl. She's hilarious as f. I love her tumblr blog especially. I originally discovered her on deviantART, where she makes these dating sim games and she has TALENT for them. 

and I know it says "5" blogs but I just HAVE to include this last one.
6. Banafria-An art blog. She's also on deviantART her art style is very pretty. I admire her skills very much!


What do I collect?
Well, books. That's all that really comes to mind right now. BOOOOOKKKKKKSSSSSSS. 
Yes. 

Tthe first two books in the Mara Dyer Trilogy just arrived at my house. (Yes!) I also have another bookoutlet haul to post but this time, it's a little different. Stay tuned! 

That's all for now! Have a great day!

Summer 2014 Anime: First Impressions

So I watched a couple of first episodes this month. And I fangirled. A lot. MORE than a lot.
Most of that fangirling was for Free!!~Eternal Summer~ but still. I absolutely LOVED many first episodes. Let's get into the anime, shall we?!

Psycho Pass New Edit

This is an anime that I didn't mention in my Summer 2014 Anticipated Anime post because I already watched Psycho Pass and the New Edit version is just simply cutting the 24-episode-series into a 12-episode-series, meaning that each episode they're releasing is going to be around 40 minutes. There's hardly any new footage, but I'm just taking this chance to re-watch it in anticipation of the second season that's coming out after the airing of this New Edit is done (Autumn 2014).

First Impression eh I already watched it

Free!!~Eternal Summer~

Can we just. CAN WE JUST talk about this for one second?
O H. M Y. G O D.
Every other time I've said my ovaries have exploded is A LIE. This first episode, I knew my ovaries were gone. Yup. Bye ovaries. I already sold my virginity to this. Just kidding. Not really.

If you don't know what Free!! is about or have never heard of it; well, you've probably been absent from the anime scene (or not on tumblr).
The first season of Free!!~Iwatobi Swim Club~ chronicled a quartet of childhood friends, Haru, Rin, Makoto, and Nagisa, that swam together at a local swimming club named Iwatobi Swim Club (what a surprise.) They, however, separated as they went onto middle school (Rin moved to Australia, Haru and Makoto still went to school together, and Nagisa is one year younger than the rest of them.) Now, they are in high school and Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa go to the same high school and decide to start a swimming club. From there, they meet another student named Rei, and they recruit him into the club as well. Pretty much after that, they deal with the situation with Rin being a jerk to them, and aiming for nationals and whatnot.

The synopsis for ES, or at least where I think it's heading, is a bit similar. Now that Haru, Makoto, Nagisa, and Rin have all reconciled, as well as Rei who fits nicely into the group, there are a couple new characters that enter the scene, one in particular is Rin's old friend named Sousuke. He's pretty much the Rin of this season (except that he's only hostile to Haru and not anyone else.) And Momotarou is great too. I love him a lot so far! Mikoshiba siblings 5ever~

 I think more serious themes are going to show up in this season because of the OP, which shows the characters going through various inner turmoils (it seems like.) It is Rin, Haru, and Makoto's last year of high school, so they have to find more members for the club or else it will perish. There's also a notable scene in episode one where Rin asks Haru and Makoto what they plan on doing after high school, and Makoto replies that he doesn't know. And multiple scenes after that concerning Ama-sensei talking with Haru about his future career, Makoto seemingly looking at his paper in a daze and then looking expectedly at Haru, as if Haru would give him the answer of what he was going to do in the future. A scene in the OP shows Makoto letting go of Haru's hand and maybe that's a sign that Makoto is letting go of Haru? He's been Haru's sort of "guardian" for a while (he's almost always with Haru) so I guess that maybe he's finally going to make a resolve to let Haru stand on his own and him to consider what he HIMSELF wants to do in the future.

I don't know; my speculation could either be spot on or terribly inaccurate.
There's also a theory for Nagisa's inner turmoil on tumblr.

That's pretty much my opinion of Episodes 1 and 2 of Free ES so far. The OP and ED are PHENOMENAL. I love it. I love Free. I love everything about it. 

5/5 First Impression

Zankyou no Terror(Terror in Resonance) or Terror in Tokyo

You see, I was already anticipating this anime because it was an original anime series. And the plot seemed interesting enough.
But WOW, was I blown away. It was an absolutely fantastic first episode.

If you haven't heard what this is about, it's basically about these two boys, called Nine and Twelve (or in school they're called Kokonoe Arata and Hisami Touji) that, for some reason, have this desire to blow up Tokyo. Enter Mishima Lisa, a victim of bullying, who accidentally witnesses Twelve placing a bomb (which is disguised as a stuffed animal). I think Lisa was oblivious as to what the stuffed animal was or maybe she was too intimidated to disobey his orders or whatnot but she held onto the bomb for a while until Nine calls her cellphone and makes a deal to her.

"You have two options; you can die where you are or become an accomplice."

Of course, like any sane person, Lisa doesn't want to die so she chooses to help them out. The end of the episode is when she is with Nine and Twelve on the rooftop of a safe building, watching as destruction envelops Tokyo.

The animation is spot on as far as I can tell, the character design of Twelve very much reminds me of Space Dandy, the music is quite interesting and so far, I'm really excited to watch more episodes.
I wonder if Lisa is going to become the rational voice of the this little terrorist group. She seems rather afraid to express her opinion though. And it seems that Nine and Twelve recognize her somehow...? I have no idea, but I'm looking forward to finding out their pasts!

5/5 First Impression

Sword Art Online II: Phantom Bullet

Whoaaa, look out, it's one of the highly anticipated animes of the year!
Definitely a cool series and I know I will enjoy watching this season as well as the first one.

I'll just give a brief summary of SAO, even though I know probably everyone and their mother knows what it's about. Basically, in a alternate modern world of sorts, there is a virtual reality MMORPG game that is release called Sword Art Online. However, one day, things go amuck in the game; no can log out, and if you die in the game, you die in real life. The creator of SAO suddenly appears and tells all of the players that to survive, they have to beat the bosses on the 100 levels of the game. We follow the main character, Kirigaya Kazuto, or more commonly known as Kirito, who achieves fame by becoming the one to defeat this game. The second part of season one was called Alheim Online, which was another virtual reality game containing Elf-like players that the main cast got sucked into aka the rapey part of SAO.

And now we have Gun Gale Online! We learn that GGO is on a whole 'nother level from SAO and ALO because GGO is for professional gamers. Recently, there has been a GGO player that apparently found a way to kill someone in real life by killing them in the game.

Obviously enough, Kirito is going to go into this game, to kind of spy on what's going on, and who's behind this crime. I think Asuna will also end up going into GGO too. Looking forward to the new characters!
But sadly, I'm not as hyped about this as I was before. I don't know why. The first episode was good but nothing really spectacular.

4/5 First Impression

Glasslip

I LOVED Nagi no Asukara. That's when I fell in love with P.A. Works. They are the embodiment of scenery-gasms. So when they announced after the end of NnA that they were starting a new work, titled "Glasslip", I was on the bandwagon immediately.
Again, I believe that P.A. Works has done a PHENOMENAL job on the scenery, the details, and everything like that, maybe, MAYBE even better this time. I didn't love Glasslip off the bat, but that's okay, since I felt the same towards NnA when I first started watching it. NnA had gradual buildup until it reached the summit and then BAM. Everything just...too much. If you've watched NnA, you understand how I feel.

Beautiful glass-work

There's a whole supernatural element in this that I don't quite understand. The first episode didn't blatantly state it out, but I could understand that something otherwordly was going on, I just couldn't understand what (probably because I'm thick-headed.) Apparently the main character, Touko, can see the into future, with the help of this mysterious boy named Kakeru. This will clear up in later episodes, I know, but I don't like being left in the dark. xD

Also, I love the little details they incorporated to hint that Imi liked Touko. It was brilliant. I can see that this is headed the route of NnA, where there are complex relationships, although not a love polygon (I don't think) but it's going to be at least a love square. Not sure, but if this is a P.A. Works anime we're talking about, there is definitely going to be a twist.

Overall, I need a few more episodes to decide if I really like this new series or not. Above all else though, I'll mostly stay to watch this because of the art. OH THE BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

4/5 First Impression 

Ao Haru Ride

Possibly the anime I'm looking forward to watching the least and I was kind of disappointed with the first episode. It was okay but that was pretty much it. Now, don't get me wrong, the episode just wasn't what I expected. I mean, Ao Haru Ride, is a shoujo manga so of course, what else were they going to do? Obviously flowers and sparkles and awkward pauses.

For some reason, I imagined that Ao Haru Ride was different than most shoujo mangas, that it wasn't that girly at all. I guess maybe in the beginning it was a little girly but I feel like the anime made the girliness and cheesiness level go off the charts.

Ao Haru Ride wasn't my favorite manga but it was an enjoyable at the least. I will be watching few more episodes of this anime to decide if I want to continue watching or if I be too blinded by the sparkles to watch.

It doesn't seem like the interwebs is talking about this anime much. Oh well. I guess I understand. 

3/5 First Impression

Tokyo ESP

Dope image from crunchyroll.com(http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2014/03/11/tokyo-esp-tv-anime-is-set-for-summer-2014)

Okay, so I kind of remember reading a bit of the manga a veryyy long time ago but I didn't clearly remember much about it so this episode was definitely a new and exciting one for me.
I'll just get a few bad parts out of the way before I move to the gushing part. I thought the characters introduced were pretty typical. I can't think off the top of my mind who they reminded me of and how many times I've seen those types of characters done but I can say; A LOT. It's not such a bad thing that it annoys me; just something that I've noticed.

The premise for this anime is interesting for sure; basically Esper War. I believe that the main heroine's group is trying to take down this professor guy...? Yeah, I don't know much about it. But I will definitely watch more episodes.

An interesting fact I picked up on was that the manga is apparently split up into 3 different arcs and each arc has a different main character. I'm guessing that the anime will do the first heroine, The White Girl, for the whole season, and then maybee do the other characters for different seasons? That could be too hopeful though.

I'll be honest, the fact that I expressed any interest in this series was because of the heroine. It's not often that you see a heroine of a shounen anime. So, I'm waiting to see if she cracks down and chooses to be a damsel in distress. MWAHAHAHHA just kidding. But seriously. I've seen so many times where a strong heroine cracks down and becomes weak because of love or something stupid (love isn't stupid but I hope you understand my point.)

Interesting episode, overall. I can't wait to see the characters that are shown in the beginning of the manga but not in the anime. (BTW I'M ROOTING FOR ROMANCE BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS SOME.)

4/5 First Impression

Akame ga Kill!

This anime. It hit me so unexpectedly. I knew that everyone and their mother was hyped about this anime but I wasn't; because I'm a judger. I judge things by it's cover and let's all admit that several of you guys do it too. I thought it was going to be another stupid harem anime but OH BOYYY, oh boyyy I was completely wrong.
It kind of gave off a SAO feel, to be honest. But other than that, it is no way similar, I'm not trying to compare them or anything but both main characters had swords on them.
AgK!! is more violent, more grotesque, and I read somewhere that it would be a horror/tragedy so yup, I'm preparing myself to have some feelings. But it's just SO. FREAKING. AWESOME. I can't believe a first episode has made me feel this way.
Damn, Akame ga Kill, damn.

So if you don't know what this anime is about, it's set in this weird setting. Kind of like a cross between the medieval times but modern at the same time? Well, basically there's this young adult named Tatsumi, who travels to the imperial capital (named Capitol) to earn money to save his village, when he is suddenly swindled of all his money by a random lady (who turns out to be "not-a-random-lady"), forcing him to sleep on the streets. An aristocrat by the name of Aria, drives by on her carriage, and offers him a place to sleep in her mansion. What he doesn't know is that her family is hiding a big secret....And it's a pretty disgusting secret at that.
You see, Aria has been luring in poor people (who she sees on the streets I guess) and then torturing them in this hidden building behind their estate. Two of the people that she's tortured in their are Tatsumi's companions, the two other people that came with him from their village, and they both end up dying in the torture chamber. That scene was absolutely terrible. My condolences to both Ieyasu and Sayo.

An outer depiction of Aria's twisted mind

I liked that Tatsumi just went ahead and killed Aria. That was the best. I hate when main characters hesitate when killing a character that is absolutely despicable. I'm like, "come on, that person did so many horrible things! They even killed your loved ones!" I don't always condone killing, but when I do, it's killing people that have done something disgustingly horrid. 

Oh yeah, and the reason that he found out about that secret was because the Night Raid, a group of self-righteous assassins I suppose, had targeted Aria's family because they knew their horrid practices. That random-swindling lady that I mentioned before? Turns out that she's apart of the Night Raid and that was the only reason that Tatsumi didn't get killed. Now, he's a member of the Night Raid too! Sweet.

Anyway, positively looking forward to the next episode! I think this will be a great anime.

5/5 First Impression

EDIT: Okay, so I just watched the first two episodes of Aldnoah.Zero and OH MY GOD. YES. I really, really dig it.

Aldnoah.Zero

Sorry I couldn't include a fancy-dancy picture here since I'm kind of in a rush but basically this is a mecha anime about a war between Earth and Mars. Or Terraens vs. Martians. And it's REALLY good.
The anime is hinting at two boys, one Terraen and one Martian (or I guess the Martian one is actually a Terraen, not really sure), facing each other on the battlefield? Or maybe it's just to show the counterparts of the two races. IDK. But it's cool.
Although I'm not really into mecha, this anime actually got me pretty pumped. The OST is great; kind of reminds me of the chilling music from Attack on Titan, and UGH I just love it so far.

Something that kind of concerned me and awed me was how the Terraen main male character, Nao, is just so oddly calm in the most dire situations. It shows that he has potential to be a leader but it makes me feel like he's just indifferent to the world in general lol. I mean, he's not as bad as Kiriyama from Battle Royale of course, but a character with as little reaction as him...I don't know, makes me unsettled. I'm just used to characters freaking out in a situation where they're being ATTACKED BY MARTIANS IN GIANT MECHA. Well, actually, kids Nao's age are pretty used to mecha in his society so I guess I can cross the mecha part off BUT STILL.

As for most of the animes I've seen ^, Aldnoah.Zero has gorgeous animation and artwork as well. I love the character designs so far.

I can see that this will be a contender for one of the best animes to come out of Summer 2014. If not, I'll make it happen.

5/5 First Impression

Day 17&18: Why do I blog? and Happiest Place

Today is another double challenge! This time, I'm going to talk about why I started blogging and where I am happiest.

Day 17: Why did you start blogging?
If you look at the very first post on my blog, you will see me introduce myself, talk about why I started, blah blah but I'll just state again here.

I like blogging. Simple as that. I like being able to design and publish my own posts, no matter the subject I'm typing about. Something...very satisfying comes out of it.

But I have to admit, I first got this idea to start a blog and actually post regularly from a book review blog called TheBookBasement (which by the way, if you haven't already checked her out, YOU SHOULD), and Sophia is just a freakin' awesome person so yeah, she inspired me. She also has a YouTube channel and she hasn't updated her blog in a while but still. Awesome. Person.

Day 18: Where are you the happiest?
Of course, where I'm most comfortable. Which is my home, or more specifically, in front of my laptop, which varies position from place-to-place around the house.

Another place I like to be is outside. Sitting under a tree, reading a book; you may or may not understand how much joy that gives me. Just experiencing and taking in nature with all of my senses gives a feeling of ecstasy. 

Also, malls and bookstores. Oh. My. God. Just give me some cash and let me loose. I will seek the comfort of material goods (because I'm a depressed dork like that.)

That's the end of that! I hope you have a fantastic day ^w^

Weekly Reads! June 6-12

Well, since my other Weekly Reads challenge failed, I'm going to start up a new one! Yay! I'm definitely going to with this one, this time. Pinky promise.

Anyway, here's my list of books that I plan to read the week of June 6th to June 12th:

• The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

That's it! Wish me luck! Sorry I couldn't include pictures(because I'm lazy) so it looks rather plain and boring but that's okay since that's the embodiment of me.

Have a great day! 

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart | Book Review + Discussion

There was (and still is) so much hype surrounding this book. And know I finally know why. If you haven't already read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, I highly recommend you to get on that right now. Like, NOW. Because my review is only going to be slightly spoiler-free. The rest of it is going to be filled to the brim with spoilers, so yeah.

Spoiler-free part
I just want to say that there are mixed reviews for this book. Some people loved it, some people hated it, and there were also people that just thought it was okay. I'm...not really sure where I fall. The book itself was kind of a chore for me to get through, but my drive to see the decisive ending surpassed everything I felt while reading it. This hasn't become my favorite book but it also isn't a book that I dislike. It's just...hauntingly beautiful, if I might say so. We Were Liars lingers in your mind days, even weeks, after you have read it. The story is just that powerful and...disturbing. It is definitely very intriguing.

Like many people say, the best way to get into this book is to have no expectations and no background information at all.
I don't think it would hurt to say a little about what it's about.
There is a family called the Sinclairs that go to their private island off the east U.S. coast every summer. The Sinclairs comprise of three daughters and their own families, as well as their parents. We Were Liars focuses in on a particular summer, where something went wrong...

That's all I'm going to say. Enjoy reading this book. ha...ha...

Spoilers, beware!
I hope everyone that is reading this sentence has read the book. If not, you need to, like, click the 'x' button or scroll furiously down. Because if you spoil yourself on this book, I guarantee you will be extremely disappointed in yourself (nah jk, at least I will be. :P)
So, spoiler review begins in...

3....

2.....

1....

OKAY! So I'm going to start off with discussing about the plot.

• Plot(and a few other tidbits)

The WRITING. Although it caught me off guard sometimes, such as the metaphor, seemingly mentioned by every single person that has reviewed this book, on page 5:

"Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed. Blood gushed rhythmically from my open wound,

then from my eyes,

my ears,

my mouth."

It really startles you once you read it. But I thought it was the perfect description to make the reader understand how Cadence felt when her dad left her. Good job, E. Lockhart! I knew that it was a metaphor right off the bat because main characters can't die in a story, right (unless it's for the purpose of the plot and they become ghosts or something but that seemed highly unlikely with this book)? ;)
I also thought the writing was very fitting for this novel. The writing is unclear, detached, and the main character speaks in a very vague way, leaving the readers with material but no link, no connection, Since we are seeing from the eyes of Cadence, who doesn't have a clue what's going on, it makes for even more puzzlement and intrigue.

When Cadence goes back to the island for summer seventeen, I questioned the events that were happening around her because it didn't seem like...reality. The Sinclairs never mentioned the rest of the Liars, and her mom always asked where she was and what she was doing, which was quite odd since she would know that Cadence was with her friends. That made me think, "are the Liars actually there?" And my conclusion, is yes and no. I'll talk about my theory sometime later in this review.

The whole mystery of the book only survived because the Sinclairs decided not to talk about it and let Cadence remember on her on, as was advised by her doctor. It also made sense because Cadence wasn't remembering what her mom told her anyway so there would be no use in telling it to her straight out. Her mind would just subconsciously block those triggers out. This is one of the Sinclair family mottos anyway, (first shown when Granny Tipper died);

"Don't cause distress...Don't remind people of loss...Silence is a protective coating over pain."(page 29)

That was also why Cadence was giving away her stuff; to erase herself from the world, to erase her sin. On page 183, the Liars are discussing New Clairmont and why Harris built it and Gat says,  

"New Clairmont seems like a punishment to me...A self-punishment. He built himself a home that isn't a home. It's deliberately uncomfortable."

 Cadence then goes on to ask why he would do that and Gat asks her why she was giving all of her belongings away, making a connection between the two actions. The reasoning behind them was the same.

You know, going through the book a second time, I've face-palmed myself at all the clues I've missed that hinted to what happened in summer fifteen.
Going back to the discussion of New Clairmont, on page 62-63, Cadence goes back to the island for summer seventeen and observes the new appearance it has. The trees near old Clairmont are gone, and of course, the house. Cadence says the house is made of glass and iron. Non-flammable material. Of course. OF COURSE.

A few other hints were the children's behaviors. Taft calls Cadence's home, and they have a conversation about her being a "drug addict". He keeps on repeating the question, saying, "are you sure?" like what she's talking about is crazy. He mentions something interesting too, saying that "Cuddletown is haunted." Hmmm.

Now when you read further and see the unclear events between Cadence and the rest of the Liars, you can put two-and-two together. But I didn't because I'm a numbskull. Really, the whole time I thought they were hallucinations but that just CAN'T be possible either. The Liars had their own mind, they're own actions, and they themselves also gave out hints as to what happened that decisive night. Cadence couldn't have made that all up in her head. So, the only logical conclusion I can get is that the Liars were ghosts because they appeared in front of Cadence even after she knew that they were dead, and said goodbye to them.

 I have never hallucinated because of drugs before but seriously? Cadence would have to be bat-shit crazy to be hallucinating ALL of that. That's just my opinion though. I kind of stuck with the hallucination thing for a while after I read the book for the first time because I thought We Were Liars was a realistic type-of-book but now, I think there was some kind of supernatural activity going on.

Another thing that intrigued me was how the Liars seemed to have been interacting with the rest of the family. They were supposed to be dead, right? But somehow, a few of the family members mentioned them doing something in present tense.
For example, on page 65, Taft says, "Mirren read me a story." How could that be? Could he see her too?
It's very, very interesting.
Gat says, on page 193,

"Penny said it was best. And--well, with all of us being here, I had faith that you'd remember." 

How did he know what Penny said? Was he talking to her? He says, "with all of us being here", meaning that they were there to help her remember. Because, I guess, they wouldn't be there then.

Not to mention, Bonnie seems to have taken an interest in "creepy dead stuff", as described by Liberty. Hmm, I wonder why...? I have just absolutely no clue. ;) That was one of the clues I didn't catch by looking back on it, it's kind of disturbing how she's literally obsessed with it. It might be how she copes with the incident though.

Speaking of coping with incidents, a lot of things changed as a result of the fire. Before, we see in a past memory that one of the Liars motives for burning old Clairmont down was because of the aunts fighting over the property.

Carrie wandering around at night especially killed me. She even asked for Johnny, which tore my heart to pieces, but again, when I first read it, I didn't think that she could possibly be interacting with Johnny; I thought that it was her way of coping. The fact that Will has nightmares at night and calls for her, and she just keeps wandering just felt like someone freaking tore my heart apart and stomped all over it.
Carrie seems to be so emotionally distraught at nighttime that she doesn't even respond to the wails of her son that's alive.
One good thing that came of it though, was the bonding of the three sisters. They was some tension between them before, as they were arguing with each other but this tragedy is just, it really hurts, and it brought them all closer.

The fairytales were possibly my favorite thing out of the whole book. I don't know why, but I liked the way it kind of told the Sinclairs' story in a different way.
There was one, especially chilling, on page 54, about a dragon that terrorized the village and the king thought that maybe his daughters could charm the dragon to calm his rampages. At the end, they all get eaten and Cadence says, "Who killed the girls? The dragon? Or their father?" And the three princesses are, of course, in reference to Harris's daughters, Penny, Carrie, and Bess but I didn't exactly understand how that had to do with the story. I guess...maybe...because Harris was luring them in with his assets, they were fighting over it, thus breaking their bond as family? That sounds pretty far off though. :/

And lastly, the tragedy. Oh. My. God.
I kind of suspected that all three of them were dead but E. Lockhart's writing delivers again! My heart sank, I felt so bad, and it just destroyed me to hear the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts but it needs to be heard. Ignorance is only temporary bliss. 
I will probably look like a jerkface but I honestly didn't feel much when Cadence remembered the dogs dying in the fire. I mean, I felt really, really sad but it didn't affect me as much as the thought of causing the death of your three best friends in the world. That was very traumatizing. I guess it could be the fact that I don't own any pets so I don't know how it's like to be close and attached to one but I LOVE DOGS, I really do and I want one very badly and I'm going to stop because I'm just rambling now.

The last few chapters absolutely killed me. Okay, so my heart was ripped out a few times when reading this book but the last few chapters. They were powerful. I totally understood Cadence's emotions; the words flew off the page and just connected my soul with hers.

I give my condolences to the Liars. What happened was absolutely terrible. No one is the cause of it.

Okay, this is going to be the last thought before I ask a few of mine own questions.
When I finished the book, I finally made the connection to what Cadence said in the beginning and the repeat at the end:

"My full name is Cadence Sinclair Eastman. 
I suffer migraines. I do not suffer fools. 
I like the twist of meaning. 
I endure."

 I might just be really dumb for not getting this in the beginning but if you just look up the definitions of  "suffer" and "endure", they do have similar meanings but different at the same time.

(From a Google search of the definitions)

Suffer

1. experience or be subjected to.

2. tolerate

Endure

1. suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently.

2. remain in existence; last.

 Well, at least we know she's not going to commit suicide. But it could also mean that she's suffering patiently. She's suffering from the traumatic loss, and of course, who wouldn't suffer from that, however, it's disheartening to picture a depressed, broken Cadence, living day-to-day half alive. I really don't like to think about that.

A few more questions I have about the book before I delve into the characters.

One) Why was Harris calling Cadence, "Mirren" sometimes? I understand that this became a thing after the fire incident but I don't know why he would mistake her for Mirren. Maybe because he doesn't want to admit she's gone? He did mention Gat too, saying that there was a book he wanted to give to him so...however, I don't believe he mentioned Johnny. Was it because of the fight they got in?

Two) Why was Mirren getting sick, while Johnny and Gat were okay? The book mentions several times about her feeling sick, vomiting, etc. and I was about to think that she was pregnant because she mentioned her ridiculous "boyfriend", Drake Loggerhead, which turned out to be a lie and she confessed that she's never had sex before. So, I kind of threw that theory out. But I have seen other reviews that speculated Gat got her pregnant and I could see how that was possible since he apologized to Cadence (for whatever reason.)

• Characters

 I'm going to keep this real short because I spent way too long talking about the plot. But that's because the plot was more interesting and evident than the characters. Sorry, I got to be blunt about it. We Were Liars is a short book, not even 300 pages long, and most of the book was pretty much dedicated to the mystery of summer fifteen. I felt like the characters didn't get enough development and there wasn't a single one of them that I felt attached to. So when they got burned in the fire, all I could think about was, "WHY CADENCE? HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO SET A FIRE? IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE AN ARSONIST, DO IT RIGHT."
All joking aside, I seriously slammed my face on the table when reading that scene. I just...I understand they were a little drunk but Cadence must have been hella tipsy or something to make such a huge mistake like that.

I'm thinking that it might have been the detached writing style, the distance from the reader and the story that made this story mysterious and intriguing but at the same time, not being able to connect with the story itself. Sure the Sinclairs have an air of mystery around them, but what's the point of a good story if it can't pull the reader in? I literally forced myself to finish this book just to find out what the ending was.

I don't think...there were any characters I actually liked. xD I didn't hate them either but I didn't care for them. This is true for the romance too.

Gat and Cadence. Cadence and Gat. Nope. I don't see a spark between them at all. Of course, they were acting all lovey-dovey in private but I just felt like they were two kids kissing and holding hands with each other. No real love. Which is silly because everyone knows they are in love with each other but I just couldn't feel it while I was reading it. It's kind of surprising since I usually pick up on emotions in books pretty easily. Maybe I was just too focused on the mystery?

Day 16: Biggest Accomplishment

Well, that's easy for me to say. Can you believe I am halfway through this blog challenge? I can't believe it myself. This might be the longest challenge I've stuck with. Yay! There. That's my biggest accomplishment. Done.

....

Nah, just kidding, however, I don't think I've ever accomplished something big because nothing pops into my mind immediately. Probably...something like getting straight As or a high GPA...those would be my biggest accomplishments lol.

I do have big goals and dreams so I am working hard to get those accomplished (stuff like publishing my own manga or book...that would be GREAT omg.)

Other than that, no, I don't think I've accomplished anything that great. Or big for me. Honestly, I think I've accomplished nothing in life (see my previous post.)

So yeah, this is a pretty dull and short post. Sorry! But I will make up for it by posting another review up today.

Have a great day! :) Happy Fourth of July by the way, to any Americans. If not relevant to you, then go out there and enjoy life! The weather today is actually perfect.

What am I even doing. Stop rambling, Julie. Just stop.

Giant Killing Anime Review

Guess who finished watching Giant Killing for the second time today!
I'm glad I decided to re-watch it because I felt like I didn't really "watch" it the first time around. Watching it the second time, I felt like I was watching it for the first time! xD  I barely remembered what happened and who the characters were. 

Image from http://arcamedotnet.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/giant-killing/

Giant Killing is originally a manga by the author Masaya Tsunamoto and illustrated by Tsujimoto. The manga was first serialized in 2007, and the 26-episode anime adaptation began in 2010, with it being animated by Studio DEEN(Ranma 1/2, Rurouni Kenshin, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Law of Ueki, etc.)

The story is about a Japanese professional soccer club named East Tokyo United(ETU), who were once a force to be reckoned with, is now struggling in the league. Due to this, their fans have also dwindled due to lack of excitement in their matches.
Cut to England, where a lower division English soccer team celebrating their victory, parading the streets with their manager, a former ETU star, Takeshi Tatsumi, on their shoulders. Not only has Tatsumi demonstrated his success in ETU in the past, but also his strategic skills as a manger.
Hearing of his achievements in England, ETU's supervisors decide to call Tatsumi back to Japan, hoping that he could bring success to ETU as he did to the amateur English team. One problem is that Tatsumi was notorious for leaving ETU, making some fans think that he was traitorous.
The whole anime series is focused only on a part of the manga, which is Tatsumi leading ETU to reclaim their honor. I haven't read the manga (I think I will soon) so I don't know what goes on there.

**Spoiler warning! If you don't want to spoiled about the plot, I suggest you click away. Or, if you're daring, stare right through!**

Let's talk about plot and characters!
Giant Killing doesn't have a really...complex plot. At least, the anime doesn't delve into it. The take on soccer, however, is pleasantly realistic and the characters are likable so it makes the anime an enjoyable watching experience. Since Tatsumi is such a quirky character, I'm always wondering what goes on in his mind or what he's planning on doing next. Sometimes I think he is crazy for just sending out a team just on the basis, "enjoy the game!" but I understand his motive behind that. He's a scary strategist. Super scary. I would not want to play any game against him lol.

The beginning of the anime pretty much focuses on choosing players for the team, in which Tatsumi picks all reserve players for his team and pits them against the starting players. Unexpectedly, Tatsumi's team wins, leaving the older members of the starting lineup wondering what went wrong. This was the part of the anime that clenched my heart. It showed that younger, more athletic players were taking on the scene, and had some sort of unpredictability to them that was an advantage over older, more seasoned players.

A dope fanart of Tsubaki. (Image from http://www.zerochan.net/Tsubaki+Daisuke,Fanart)

During this time, we get to know some of the players but the anime obviously puts the spotlight on a certain younger player, Tsubaki Daisuke, who had frighteningly speedy legs. And he's also a insecure dork (love ya Tsubaki.) Murakoshi Shigeyuki, the captain of ETU, also know as 'Mr. ETU', is also focused on, but at this point, we see a weaker side of him, worn down like the rest of his teammates and out of stamina against these robust, younger bench players.

Tatsumi picked on Murakoshi a lot. But it wasn't in a bad way though; it was definitely necessary for his growth as a captain. When he took away his captain status, I felt so bad for him and a little angry at Tatsumi, though I kind of knew he had his reasons for it. Thankfully, Murakoshi got his armband back though, or else things would have been pretty darn awkward...

Gino aka Prince aka Yoshida Luigi, a Japanese-Italian midfielder, is introduced after a few episodes. He is often narcissistic but demonstrates good play-making abilities. His passes and shots are very accurate, and he is an important member of ETU. I thought he was a funny character and laughed whenever he made a narcissistic remark but near the end of the anime, during the ETU vs. Osaka match, my adoration for him grew because of his ridiculously cute pout. The fact that he is relatively calm in any situation is quite refreshing too.

Gino's pout. (Image from http://iblos3om.com/the-idiot-box/anime_manga/giant-killing/ Go check them out! It's a very detailed post on Giant Killing.)

Even with Tatsumi as the manager of ETU, their season still starts off with straight losses. Many people are doubting his ability as a manager and the ETU Skulls, a massive group of ETU supporters led by Hata, are shown throughout the anime to be against Tatsumi and his ways, leading protests and confronting him themselves. But of course, we learn that he's letting ETU lose, when he asks the question, "how many more games can we lose before I get booted?"
After that, the spotlight match was ETU vs. Nagoya Grand Palace, the team led by one of ETU's former managers. By the way, I failed to mention that ETU had several different managers and the fact that every one of them (pretty much) failed to bring the team up is quite amusing. 

Image from http://bokutachinoblog.com/2010/07/03/giant-killing-episode-thirteen/

This match is prevalent because it is ETU's first win of the season. It is also when Tsubaki really starts to shine because he scores a goal in this match (I think they dedicated, like, 2 episodes to him during this match. Overhyped baby.) And can I just say something? The Brazilian trio on NGP is just super adorable. I can feel that all of them, Pepe especially, really enjoy playing soccer and it just made me really tingly on the inside. It's really nice to see professional players (albeit this is an anime) enjoying the sport they play like little kids. It's really awesome. It saddens me to see some players treating it like a job, even though that's what they have to do, that's their only source of income but I really want to see them enjoy the game. I guess since I'm American, I have the freedom to think so innocently like that.

They then go on to win their second match, but their winning streak doesn't last long. ETU then goes into a drawing streak, tying all of the games they are in. During this time, Natsuki Yotaro, ETU's top striker returns from a injury that caused him to withdraw from the team for 8 months, looking better than ever. I was really excited by the appearance of Natsuki because, hello, new character but I also thought, if he's causing Sera to be depressed...then I'm not going to like him that much. xD Of course, he was only causing it indirectly but still. Natsuki is also very refreshing, although the complete opposite of Gino, he is very spirited, very egotistical but talented. He is also very weird, and I enjoy very weird characters and their antics (like Tatsumi, except even Tatsumi thinks Natsuki is weird.)

Natsuki getting into the match. Image from http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=249569

Now...we approach the end of the anime, the last 8 or so episodes focus on the ETU vs Osaka Gunners match, a hinted big match in the episode where Tatsumi met Dulfer, coach of the Gunners, at a league press conference.
Osaka Gunners has had an outstanding season so far, getting straight wins and pretty much crushing their opponents. This fact alone, intimidates ETU but Tatsumi assures they are going to have a fun match. That is theme that is repeated over during the match; about having 'fun', getting 'excited' and really enjoying the game.
ETU goes into the game surprising everyone with their line-up. Spectators believe that the ETU players marking their opponents are not well matched up. This is evident in the first half of the game, where the Gunners dominate them and score 2 goals.

I just want to say that I was pretty disappointed with Natsuki during this match. And I was even more disappointed when I realized the anime was over after this match. He kept on hesitating, and his resolve as a forward was really weak. I know that he is a person too, and goes through his own struggles but as Tatsumi was talking about the kind of forward that he thought Natsuki would be, I almost shouted at my screen for Natsuki to get his head in the game. No, don't reference that abomination of a musical.
But anyway, he did get back on his feet near the end of second half but that's besides the point. And he had a one-second moment of glory in the last episode but that's also besides the point. I have to read the manga for more doses of epic Natsuki.

The second half of the game is where ETU really picks themselves up. Gino who, the opponent's captain, Hiraga thought was having a bad day, was intentionally putting the ball in weird places, thus lowering his pass success rate (hence the cute pout.) He scores a fabulous goal and making it 1-2. Hiraga's mark was on Tsubaki, and poor poor guy because Tsubaki has seemingly endless stamina on top of his fast legs. So Hiraga tired out because of that. Dulfer, whose belief was pushing through with his team philosophy (basically fixed starting members but we all know how well that's going to work out) but Tatsumi forces him to alter his tactics and substitute players.

Oh, dear Natsuki screws up again but luckily Akasaki is there to save it and scores a second GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. 2-2; they are now tied! Going off on a little tangent, is there anyone else that just loves Akasaki? I'm not sure what it is, but he's just so awesome and lovable. I think he's very strong mentally and keeps it real, telling things as it is. Keep on keepin' on, Akasaki. Bro. Brooo

So even though ETU managed to come from 0-2 to 2-2, the two main spectators that are focused on, Fujisawa, a free-lance writer that is focusing on ETU for a season, and a reporter. The reporter mainly discusses his doubts about ETU, despite having to report on the team. Meanwhile, bless her, Fujisawa's thinking, "Um, wtf, why are you such a downer. You don't know: they might win."

AND BAM. Right at the very end of the game, and I say very end because it's injury time, Sera scores a third GOALLLLLLLLLLLL, usurping Osaka Gunners 2 goal lead; 3-2! This moment was very intense and uplifting I tell ya. 

Surprisingly, Dulfer wasn't a sore b about the match. Well, he was glaring daggers at Tatsumi at the end but at least he admitted that the loss was because of his naive thoughts of pushing his philosophy through without adapting.

Also can we talk about how cute Akasaki was in the last episode? His blushies...omg! >///< I'm so proud of him; being chosen for the national team. You go, bro!






 The curry party was also very cute and I enjoyed it a lot! Tatsumi shows that he understands and knows more than he lets on. I liked the way he was thinking; to let the players rest and have a good time. Oh man, I'm so sad this anime is over. Off to the manga now!

 Music/Animation/Misc. bits
 I want to mention a few misc. things I liked about this anime. First, is the ETU chant. I thought that was really catchy and creative and I have no clue if it's based on an actual fan chant or whatever BUT I LIKE IT. I like it enough to randomly burst into cheer.
Also, the OP song is very catchy as well, and it kind of reminds me of country mixed in with some rock and pop. Which sounds weird but that's what it seems like to me. xD It's by the band The Cherry Cokes(if anyone else is interested) and I will definitely check them out after I post this.

The animation was well done, especially for all the soccer movements. Studio DEEN is pretty freaking awesome so I know I can expect good quality animation from them. Of course, there are some moments where the art is a little whack but I think that happens to most animation companies. They can't be perfect and I understand that. SHAFT on the other hand...(let's not talk about them.)

Existential Crisis, Depression, Procrastination, A Whirlwind of Thoughts

Those words pretty much sum up my life right now.
I felt like it would be a good idea to just let my feelings out on this post. Just to let all of my frustration and feelings out. So feel free to stay and read this post or continue on with your day, which I hope is a merry one.
Lately, I've just come to terms with how much of a fail I am. I know, it took me my whole life to figure this out (and I'm a high school student). I think I kind of knew back a few years ago that my life was starting to go downhill, and my bad habits kept on getting worse and worse. But when it actually happened, I didn't know what to do. Now, I STILL don't know what to do.

Before I go into some details, I just want to let you know what I was brought up with. Anime. Manga. Books. So that's the reason why I have such a fantastical mindset, although, I don't think it's obviously apparent when you meet me in real life, or even talk to me online. I thought I was kind of like Naruto, I know, how conceited of me, but it wasn't in a way that I thought I was ninja or I had special powers, it was that I thought I was the main character. And you know how people say, "no one cares about you" or "you're just one in a billion" and stuff like that? It's true. Even if someone becomes a celebrity, only a few of them actually stay in the minds of society for a long time. Sooner or later, they will all be forgotten. That's what I think. But regardless of opinion, it is truth that you(reader) and I are both just mere consciousness that is bound to fade, forgotten in this wide universe. Not even a star to represent us.

You must be thinking, "what has this have to do with anything?" You're right, I got a little side-tracked. Back to the part where I was a conceited brat, because I thought I was the main character and it was MY story, I thought that I was guaranteed to have a great future. Because I grew up in a nice family, because I got good grades in school, because everyone called me smart, I thought that it was impossible for my future to be anything less than "good". Until now. I'm not the main character. This isn't my story. I have the same chance of failure and destruction as everyone else, maybe an even higher chance due to the fragility of my mental state. Never before have I thought about cutting or actually trying to kill myself. I do now; regularly even. This is an extremely dangerous position to be in because I don't even know what I am going to do to myself. Although I know I would never hurt myself, does my subconscious know? Or is my subconscious recognizing that I am hurting on the inside and need an outlet to release the pain?

I really don't want people who read this to be concerned for me (because seeking help would mean a psychiatrist or something and I assure you, trying to make me see one would evoke my death faster than depression), I'm just considering the worst possible outcome. But yes, I have to admit, death does sound pleasant to me. It's sad, I know. Life is beautiful, they said. You are lucky to have the chance to live and experience life, they said. I understand that. Totally. Yet I don't understand at the same time. Because I haven't enjoyed life. I know I've wasted my life. I know I haven't even tried to live life to the fullest.
This is starting to sound like I'm making excuses and I am. I recognize that. Making up excuses for things that I am too damn lazy to do seems like this was what I was born to do. Make excuses. Stay inside all the time. Become a social hermit.

All I can think of right now is a countdown. A countdown to my full deterioration. And it started a long time ago.

Being the hermit that I am, it made me realize how extremely vital social interaction with other people is. It can stop him from hanging himself. Maybe tonight, she won't cry herself to sleep. Maybe he won't try to swallow his mom's whole prescription drug bottle.
It was the absence of my social life that brought me into depression. I'm relatively sure of it.
And with depression, comes a lot of baggage. At first, I thought that I was just a lazy person that I couldn't get things done but that wasn't it(I had persistence when it comes to things I absolutely needed to get done.)

It was because I lacked motivation. Like, serious lacking. The fire I had for certain things had slowly dwindled to a small cooking flame. I thoroughly enjoyed playing tennis. I still like tennis. However, now, I'm seriously contemplating just dropping it and giving up because I don't have motivation to play it anymore. It wasn't because I was discouraged or anything, it was just the time away from the courts and my endless days home during the summer has made me think twice. I did make my decision, and I'm not giving up tennis. Ever. I know I'm not trying to aim to be a pro but tennis was the first time I actually wanted to try hard at a sport and get physically active. I'm not going to drop the racket and let all my efforts go to waste.

So back to the lack of motivation; one day, I really needed a motivation boost so I got down to the root of the problem; why exactly was I demotivated? I googled searched it and the first result was talking about, surprise surprise, symptoms of depression. That was when I first realized that I was experiencing "depression". Even though I knew what depression was, I didn't actually know. Because I had never experienced it. It was like one of those beautiful, foreign celebrities; the people that you see on T.V., and only on T.V., people that almost seemed god-like, untouchable, unreachable. Of course, that's silly, all of them are people too but that's what my childish mind thought. At that time I still had that main-character syndrome. Since I was the "main-character", I couldn't possibly get depressed or experience this emptiness. It seemed that my mind was trying to block out the truth, the reality that I was not special.

But don't worry, now I got it. I'm not special, I'm not unique, I'm just a blur that is bound to fade into the earth when my time is over. This isn't a depressing thought, nor downputting. It's the truth. It's reality. And I'm typing this because I want to accept it. I want to try working harder at the things I love to do. I don't want to give up. I don't want to disappoint my parents; I have so much I need to give back to them; all the years they spent raising me, all the money they wasted on my selfish needs, and all the love and care they showered on me. I'm not going to leave this world yet, that I know, but the future? Nobody knows that. I don't know that. I'm not the main-character of this story. This ISN'T a story. This is reality. Everything's fair game. Events can't be predicted. The weather could diverge from the forecast. And that's completely fine.

Besides this, I've been having weird, random thoughts lately. I could just be sitting on the toilet and the sudden realization that I'm actually living on this planet, in this galaxy, in this universe, comes crashing down on me. I've also found myself asking more and more questions, and they're not even philosophical questions or even deep inquiries, they're stupid stuff like, "what if what I'm experiencing right now is all just a long memory and I'm actually on the verge of dying?" Other things I think about are too stupid to even remember. This is why I say I'm a total fail. My brain runs at almost 10 mph. I'm very slow and thick-headed that I, myself, can't even believe. Heck, I can't even learn freaking, simple math from an effing textbook. If you can't tell, I'm extremely frustrated with myself right now. But I'm okay. I will learn to love and accept myself for who I am. Not without trying to change myself for the better of course. Wow, I sounded like a depressing jerk right there. No, actually, I sound like a depressing jerk for this entire post.

I need to stop.

Thank you if you actually took the time to read this post. It really means a lot to mean. I'm barely covered now, because I've shown the internet my most vulnerable side (which isn't a such a smart move, I know but I'm not smart) and I hope whoever reads this respects that.

I hope you have a fantastic day and please keep your chin up high. Don't give up. Find your passion. Pursue your dreams. Don't look back. Ever.
Don't take that chance to lie on the couch all day long. Push yourself up and get moving. Do something everyday that you can call that day "productive."

Okay, I'm going to go now. This post was totally unplanned so sorry, if my sentences are really choppy.
I hope to make some real content tomorrow.