Drabble Geeks

Geeks…Being Total Geeks.

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The Poison Taster

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Undisclosed poisonings. A humongous list of mysteries to be solved. A will-they-won’t-they-can-they romance. What could be better? Probably a bunch of things, but in terms of this anime, nothing. This week’s foray into anime is the beautiful world of Li in The Apothecary’s Diaries. In this pseudo Ancient China, there are a bunch of mysteries to solve, and apparently, only one woman is right for the job, a Maomao.

So, one of my favorite things about this anime is just how connected everything is. Every little thing is something that appears later and is connected. Paying close attention to every piece of dialogue or animation is crucial to understanding everything. That, and all of the characters are memorable and lovable. While only two seasons of this amazing show are out, I am now determined to read the source materials so I can try to solve the mysteries faster than the characters: the best thing someone obsessed with mysteries can do. Whelp, I have some books to find.

Restarting Humanity

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What would happen if humanity as we know it today were gone? No technology, no extensive travel, no types of media. Essentially, the route of human evolution starts over. With that in mind, that is Dr. Stone. After 3700 years of being turned to stone, humanity fundamentally begins again, with having to figure out how to get to this point of humanity again. Luckily, figuring it out is easy when an obsessed scientist is one of the first people to awaken.

As a scientist myself, I was expecting this to be more along the lines of a Sci-Fi anime. I was not expecting the actual amount of science there would be. And this is real science, which was written in actual science textbooks. While the science is correct, some liberties were taken. I honestly don’t think everything would magically work out the way they want us to believe, but it is a fun suspension of disbelief. Although our protagonist having the worst luck imaginable helps balance things out.

Extrospective Poetry

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I’ll be honest, I did learn something new about this experience: poetry is not my thing, and I don’t mind audiobooks as much as I thought I did; I just need the right narrator. Anyway, I read Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. The book I got had two versions of the publication. Overall, I loved the sentiment; it was beautiful and definitely an interesting look at the United States during the time. It was interesting to see such a perspective in the early to mid-1800s. Listening to the poetry helped get the point across that I wasn’t getting from just reading it. Definitely an interesting perspective on the time, which I believe is still relevant today, even if I would change some of the language to fit today’s context.

Worst or Best Neighbor

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I think that what I am talking around is the essence of my name. It’s short and sweet, just like my posts. Today, we are talking about Jebal Joyonghi Jom Hae! or Quiet Please! This was actually the first aeni, or South Korean animation. (If that is not the real name, let me know. I did look it up, but I’m never sure.) This was a really good introduction to the art. Quiet Please! is a really good short, boy love short, and I really mean short; the show is probably literally 15 minutes without the OP and EP. It was adorable and not toxic boy love. What else is there not to love? Give it a watch.

First in Class

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What is even more horrifying than boarding school? A bunch of children with supernatural powers at said boarding school. That is the basis of the story of Gakuen Alice by Tachibana Higuchi. After her best friend Hotaru is basically kidnapped, Mikan runs away to follow her to a super-secret school, which turns out to be full of people with powers. At times, it is a really sweet story featuring self-discovery. At other times, it is a jaw-dropping story to learn more about the situation that is behind the scenes.

Overall, it is a very cute story. If you love shoujos, you will love this. There is a dash of slice-of-life, romance, and mystery. Although we are ignoring the thing that occurred in volume 2, if you know, you know. The mangaka says it was an accident, and I’m choosing to believe her. It was the only thing like that, so I’m staying in my obliviousness; no one try to take off my rose-colored glasses.

How Does It Hold Up: The Mentalist

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Growing up, I would watch this show whenever it was on. I never watched it in order, since I would catch it whenever I could. So, when I found the entire series in order, I hopped in to watch The Mentalist. Now, I have had the honor of watching this former “psychic” work with the California Bureau of Investigation to solve the murders, hoping to find the serial killer that killed his wife and daughter.

I will admit, the first five seasons had me completely captured. I could not stop watching the show, hoping to catch clues before they were fully explained on screen. If I caught onto something before everyone else, I would be ecstatic; if not, I would spend time trying to figure out what I missed. By season 6, I stopped caring as much, and it took me a while to get to the next episode. Season 7, while good, wasn’t necessarily why I got really into the show. I didn’t have the same intrigue, or the same characters I spent six seasons falling in love with. Overall, it was good and really holds up, but it might be a while before I get back to it.

Along That Yellow Brick Road Pt 11

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Back in the land of Oz with the Lost Princes of Oz, we start with a different situation than one we have had for a while. This difference, I don’t think we have seen since the real introduction of Ozma. This one was actually interesting, and I wanted to know how it would work. In essence, what if all of the OP items that these fairytale adventurers were missing? The Wizard lost all his magic items, all of Glinda’s potions and spellbooks are missing, and Ozma and her mirror are missing. In essence, we are in a completely normal journal in a completely abnormal.

I was actually interested in this book in the series for that exact reason. As soon as I know the book includes Dorothy, I usually become uninterested because she has all of these powerful people at her beck and call. Because that has all been taken away from her, I was actually interested in how this would work out for her. It was interesting because I couldn’t come up with an easy solution to the problem. This one is a good return to what was interesting about the first book, with everything up in the air.

Over the Garden Wall

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In a continuation of reading the books I probably should have as a child but didn’t get to, I recently read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Why did I not read this book before? I have no clue; I was probably busy reading something else, and I said I would get to it someday. Well, that day is now.

My thoughts are that it was really cute. I don’t know what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it. What I am able to tell you is that a spoiled, now-orphaned girl gets sent to her uncle’s house, an uncle who is never present, and has to learn to live in England. While a cute story with lots of plot lines I wasn’t expecting, I will admit that half the time I had no clue what some characters were saying, as they were apparently written in a deep Yorkshire accent. I got the gist of things, but it was hard. I even tried to read out loud, and I was still lost. Unfortunately, I will not be able to read this aloud to anyone, but I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for an easy read; you don’t have to read too deeply into anything, and everything is as it seems. It was a good book to read after a really hard week of work.

Gunhead

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A guilty pleasure of mine is crime noir. They are over-the-top and dramatic. Now, while I think they should primarily be in black and white, I’ll give this anime a pass. No Gun’s Life absolutely nails the dramatic crime noir style by being dark, gritty, and having way too many internal monologues. While noirs are usually old-school crime-solving, this had a very different style. In a future where cybernetics are the norm, there is still the gruesome underground lurking about in the city. While I was expecting a general low-key styled noir, I was not expecting there to be thought-provoking disscussion.

In a world with cybernetics, there are people who support its use, those who vehemently oppose it, and those who do not know what to do. It really brings up the topic of what it means to really be human, especially when one of our protagonists has a revolver for a head. What does it mean to be a tool of the establishment? Do we have as much of a choice as we believe? Either way, this anime was filled with characters to love, characters to hate, and those to be conflicted about. My attention was grabbed the entire time.

So Bad, It’s Good: Miami Connection

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I love terrible movies: The Room, Birdemic, Velocipastor. If there is a movie with a nonsensical plot, I want to know about it and watch it. It will join my collection of lovable movies that are objectively bad but are fun to watch anyway. The next movie to join that collection is Miami Connection. And my nonsensical plot, I truly mean that as I can barely describe what happens.

We start our journey watching a cocaine deal when ninjas attack. (Yes, ninjas. Stop asking questions.) Then we end up at a club where a new band is singing, but we don’t like them for reasons. (I’m pretty sure they stole jobs, maybe…) A gang associated with the ninjas tries to drive this band off, but they all have black belts in Taekwondo and the power of friendship on their side. On top of this “plot,” the actors tried their best, and that is honestly all that I could ask of them. It’s pure 80s cheese in the best ways and a must-watch in my opinion. It is already on the list of movies I’m forcing my friends to watch so I can watch the horror and joy on their faces.