Miah Learns to Write

I recently finished watching the anime Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, known simply as Anohana. I had heard about this anime from friends and read people's comments about it online so for the longest time, I had been putting off watching it because I did not feel mentally or emotionally prepared to take on such a behemoth. Until I did. Warning : I will blurt out some spoilers here so if you're the type of person who doesn't want to be spoiled, stop reading from this point. I read how people who watched this anime with such high expectations due to other people's hype of it ruined the experience for them. Understandably, when you already know what you're getting into, it preempts how you should be feeling about it as you watch the story unfold and admittedly, having a set outlook on how the story should be or how you should feel about it is just not enjoyable at all. Because you're going to find yourself disappointed and frustrated if you...

Credits: Ramen Parados Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san brings me back to my childhood days. In this anime, Nishikata finds himself in a losing battle against Takagi, his seatmate who likes to playfully tease him to see his funny reactions. So he tries to come up with the perfect plan to win against and get back at her. However, time and again, he finds himself being outwitted and outplayed by Takagi causing her to poke fun at him even more. He also often gets in trouble at school because of Takagi’s antics. So will he succeed in his quest? There is something refreshingly nostalgic about Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san. It makes you want to go back to your younger days and relish the sweet moments of youth. I enjoyed watching the anime and I even decided to check out the manga just because it really piqued my interest. I am very much fascinated with how the story would go even though there is a sequel manga that shows an after-story of the original. I think with this kind of manga or...

Kimi no Nawa, Your Name. It’s probably one of the most popular Japanese animated films in the last five years. Many fans waited eagerly for its release and initially, I heard rave reviews about it. Fast forward to today, the times I brought it up, people were telling me that it is an overrated film. They say the movie didn’t live up to the hype. But what should I think about that? What is it with Kimi no Nawa? So was it overrated as a lot of people say? No, I didn’t think so. For me, it was just right. I wasn’t really all that hyped about it in the first place. However I did grab a copy when it was first released because friends recommended it but I didn’t watch it until two years later. Was it sad or deeply emotional? The idea of the story was, but the execution of it made me feel like it was like a feel-good movie. It did resonate with me though because I understood the feelings that the characters were going through as they had their weird experiences with each other. But ...

Who doesn’t like a good tragedy? In my case, I love beautifully-crafted tragic endings and Your Lie in April does it quite well. What I loved about it Your Lie in April ( Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso ) is an artistic masterpiece. I seriously don’t know how else to express how sophisticated, refined, and beautiful the cinematography was. It’s the kind of feeling that you get when you experience a picture perfect scenery. You just look at it with awe and take in its beauty. That’s how I describe the visual aesthetic of Your Lie in April. In the same way, the music speaks to our hearts and elicits communication through our feelings. The music is just as phenomenal especially the epic openings and endings. This is probably the only time when spoken dialogue didn’t play a big role in touching my emotional side. Rather what tugged at my heartstrings was the emotion evoked by the music. All technical bits are simply amazing. There are simply no words to properly describe how amazing the...

In the first part, I focused solely on Itachi because I felt that he probably had one of the worst fates throughout the story. But he handled it with courage and a lot of heart. So here are some other moments that made me cry in Naruto. Naruto and Gaara Naruto’s relationship with Gaara is probably second only to Naruto’s relationship with Sasuke. There’s a deep bond that connects the two, both being Jinchuuriki until Shukaku was extracted from Gaara. By the way, Gaara is my other favorite character. They understood each other’s pain and loneliness as they were both considered outcasts and monsters by their fellow villagers because of the power that they wielded. What the people around them didn’t understand was that they had feelings too. They were not just weapons of destruction that can be used for political gain. But they were human beings who have the same need for affection, acceptance, and love. Because of the way they were treated, they questioned whether there was e...

Review Naruto had a lot of epic action-packed fight scenes, light-hearted comedic moments, crazy nonsensical fillers, and an overall great narrative. It had complex, unassuming characters with backstories that added a layer of depth and richness that made the story compelling and gave it more personality. While I was watching it, I paid close attention to the dialogue between the characters because to me, that allowed me to peer into their hearts and minds. Their words along with their actions, body language, and expressions gave me a sense of who these characters were and what they stood for. I became attached to certain characters because of the level of intricacy that came into weaving their story and how they play into the grand scheme of things, the meta-narrative. Especially the main character, Naruto, who was unrelenting and unchanging while transforming those around him. He definitely had this ability of drawing you in toward him and liking him for who he is – the good, t...

Credits: Studio Pierrot I know I'm a bit late to the party but recently, I had just finished my Naruto marathon, both the original and Shippuuden. It took me about three months. Afterward, I kind of missed it since it felt like I was with them as they grew up and matured. So here are a few things I picked up after watching it. Pursuing Your Dreams One of the things that came up often in the anime is the idea of never giving up. Naruto knew what he wanted to be from when he was a child. He held on to that dream and worked hard to achieve it. He spent all his time and effort into getting closer to his dream. This tenacity and determination is so admirable in this character. And I think this is the reason why his story is endearing to many people. And this is why his story resonated with me. The way the character was written and animated made him an inspiration to me. That’s why after watching the anime, I became more determined to express what my dream is and to reach for ...

Yesterday I watched the film Koe no Katachi ( lit. The Shape of Voice; English title: A Silent Voice ). I cried several times throughout the film. For me, it was a sweet blend of tragic, sad episodes and uplifting, hopeful moments that make it easier for me to process without becoming an emotional wreck. After watching it, I now understand why many anime fans were outraged by the Oscar snub. The same thing could be said of many countless anime films out there but I think several bloggers and Youtubers have explained why that is the case. I like the explanations of Mother’s Basement and akidearest on the matter. Spoiler alert : If you haven’t watched the film yet, I suggest that you do. If you could get a DVD of it from your local video store, do so. It’s a wonderful film. When He Met Her The film follows the story of Shoya Ishida and his friends. One day in elementary school, their teacher introduces a new student, Shoko Nishimiya, who is revealed to be deaf. In the beginni...

Studio Ghibli films, especially their recent ones, never fail to turn on the waterworks for me. I just watched its last film, "When Marnie Was There," and it got me thinking again and trying to make sense of things. Though I do not want to talk about the film in this post, I will do that some other time when I have been able to grasp the message of the movie from every perspective. What I want to do is to go through the same process that Anna had gone through in the movie which was self-discovery or perhaps, an exposition of what I have found out and am finding out about myself. Recently, it has come to my attention that some might think that my recent posts were very poignant to say the least and it might have come off different from what I intended it to be. I would like to consider myself a realist in the sense that I acknowledge both the good and the bad that happens. And I tend to take things in with such sobriety that others may not understand that I have already been...