To be fair, if I could spend all of my time online playing games, I might. Sure, I’ll do other things, but hiding from the world online sounds fun. Here, we follow the life of a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) woman who spends her entire time playing an MMO. The only problem is that she is playing as a male avatar with a total crush on someone with a female avatar. In Recovery of an MMO Junkie, Moriko quits her job after 11 years to live out her NEET dreams, which I can honestly understand from time to time. The two timelines explored are heartwarming as we explore who our characters are on the outside and who they are behind the mask of an online persona, both of which are hilariously stupid. On top of the cute love story, it really made me want to get back into MMOs, even if I just play by myself and don’t talk with any of my fellow players.
Category: Anime/Manga
Building a Family Pt 1
Not all families start the same way. Sometimes they are built to a much bigger game: the spy game. That is where we are in Spy x Family. It is a cute little anime about a fake family living out their completely fake lives where everything is definitely normal, except for the fact that a war is on the brink of starting. Absolutely nothing to worry about except school grades, hiding all kinds of secrets from everyone, going on missions around the country, and living as a happy family. It’s all in a day’s work with our cute little trio of miscreants, though how they are not getting caught is getting more and more ridiculous. I’ve heard whispers from my friends that the story is probably going to heat up soon, with more drama and intrigue, and I cannot wait.
What a Bizarre Adventure Pt 4
I’m back after a long while from reading a part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure with Diamond is Unbreakable. It continues with the concept of stands and introduces a lot more of them. Sometimes they evolve. Sometimes they test the limits of time. Either way, it was very interesting to continue along the adventure. One thing I did not like much about this arc was that there was no buildup to anything. It was very episodic. While it did leave some clues I suspect to be answered in the upcoming arc, it was a little disappointing that they were not resolved in the here and now. I really wanted the exploration to lead to something, but it seems there was just too much about the world we needed to learn first.
The Poison Taster
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
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.
First in Class
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.
Gunhead
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.
Super Bugs Everywhere
What if everyone had a secret bug within them? Now, I already feel the shivers running down everyone’s spines. But what if I told you it gave you superpowers? Now, that would be pretty cool. Except there’s a catch: there’s a super-secret government agency after you to prevent you from having your bug. That is the premise of Mushi-Uta. Watching this anime left me wanting more. Not only were the characters fully fleshed out, but I could understand the motivations of both “sides”: the government agents and those who wanted to keep their bugs and live in peace. I really wish there were more, but I think I’m going to have to find the light novels to get a full grasp of the story because there is definitely more there, and I want it. Unfortunately, there might not have been an official English release, but I will take whatever I can at this point. Wish me luck in this endeavor.
Saving Fairy Tales
I’m going to make a strong statement: I love mahou shoujos. For those not in on the lingo,
I love magical girls, of all types. Now, I am an aunt to a young niece and trying to find shows that I would be willing to watch and be age-appropriate with her. This led me back to LilPri (the short version because the name is atrociously long). Now, I first watched this anime years ago, when I was first getting into anime, so I was hoping that it was as appropriate as I remembered, because you can never be too sure with anime sometimes.
LilPri follows three elementary school girls, who are the reincarnations of Snow White, Cinderella, and Kaguya, who transform into an idol group known as LilPri to increase happiness in humans’ souls and save Fairytale World from destruction. They do this by helping different people with different troubles they may have in their lives, whether in the real world or the magical one. This is your quintessential musical magical girl with strong “girl power” and “believe in yourself” vibes. The other interesting thing I enjoyed was learning about some of the Japanese fairy tales and their take on some of our traditional fairy tales. Also, there are magical animal mascots, a must in any type of magical girl show, in my opinion.
Overall, this was a cute anime that I wouldn’t mind watching with a smaller child, or apparently enjoy in my free time, following people with no real troubles in their lives. (If only I could be worrying about absolutely nothing.)
Fighting for Death
I don’t often read shounen manga, but this has been on my list for a while. I was told that it was amazing, and I couldn’t wait. The manga of interest today is Bleach by Tite Kubo. Very simply, you follow a boy named Ichigo, who is able to talk with ghosts. One day, he stumbles across a Soul Reaper, hijinks ensue, and he becomes a Soul Reaper himself. I think that’s all I can really say about this three-arc story without giving too many spoilers.
While the fights were interesting and the transformations were gorgeous, the story was a rollercoaster in terms of plot. The first and last arcs were amazing and kept my attention. The second arc, while each individual volume was good, I couldn’t have cared less about that story. I can’t really get into why I don’t care without spoilers for everything else, but honestly, you can just get away with reading the outer arcs. It also didn’t feel necessary. I had a friend tell me that Kubo may have been forced to write the second arc, and I completely believe it. The story could have ended after the first arc, and I would have been happy. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the last arc, and it was beautiful and gripping, but I could have lived without the drag that was the second arc. Overall, it’s a fantastic story, and I’m eager to see what the anime is like. Perhaps the show performed better with the second arc, given that they had more time to develop the story.
Drabble Geeks 