If I Still Felt That Way: A Love Letter to the Time I Spent in Japan

Note: This post was written over the course of a month after coming back from Japan, and my musings are reflective of my feelings at the time of writing them. I’ve neglected the editing for this post for way too long, but I’ve tried not to change its contents for fear of losing the cathartic stream of consciousness I originally wrote it with. 

Bittersweet Melon Bombs.

I’m racing against a ticking time bomb.

Just three days ago, I was in the one place where I felt at home despite feeling completely alienated. Oh, Japan. My emotions ran wild over the three week journey, so I swore I’d preserve those memories in a nice little blog post the moment it was all over.

The problem was that I couldn’t do it. Not right away at least.

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Life in Japan: Why the Clock Never Stops

For everyone just coming to this post looking to learn a thing or two about life in Japan, please bear with a bit of preamble. But really, the preamble is the succulent meat of this post. The preamble reflects the feelings I’ve had while living in Japan—feelings in their juiciest, most unadulterated form.

10 Days of Living in Japan: What It Does To You.

This post was written ten days after my arrival in Japan on April 2nd, 2019.

The first Cherry Blossom.

I Found Myself: Liz and the Blue Bird

This was originally a comment inspired by a fantastic Liz and the Blue Bird post:

It’d be difficult to recreate my experience watching Liz and the Blue Bird. If I were to rewatch it, there’d be no chance that I’d get the same impression I did on my first viewing. That’s why I was extremely hesitant to write about my feelings toward the film. If I couldn’t explain those feelings to myself, then why would I be able to break them down for others?

Well, with most things in life, it’s better to try than to not.

A Picture of my Thoughts Before Travelling to Japan

I’m making my grand escape, baby, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.

It has been quite a long time coming. This past year has been oh but sweet hell. I’ve failed, succeeded, and cried about having done everything in between.

How Sukasuka’s Main Couple Makes the Tragedy It Tells as Adorable as It Is Touching

What do you do at the end of the world?

Sukasuka is a poignant tale that revolves around Kutori, a young girl who wakes up to a world where humanity has been extinct for the past 527 years. As admirable as her struggles to salvage the scraps of a forlorn world are, her endeavours are merely ridiculed by an inevitable hopelessness. At the end of the day, she sleeps teary-eyed, only to be revitalized by a pint of love. She receives it from the last human on the planet, a man named Willem.

Although its romantic moments are brief and numbered, Sukasuka is more of a love story than anything.

Eromanga Sensei is Simultaneously the Worst and Most Charming Show of the Season

Masamune is a fourteen-year-old light novel author. He also wants to fuck his little sister.

One thing I do like about the Eromanga Sensei’s nature as a show about light novel authors (workaholics) is how it emphasizes the importance of content output when marketing yourself to a commercial audience. That being said, it’s my desire for a realistic portrayal of such a concept and the show’s refusal to treat it with any respect that frustrates me. As a writer, choosing write thousands of words about a topic you’re passionate about might sacrifice the accessibility of your content, whereas covering ideas people already care about might catapult you to success. But which choice is right? Does the latter entail sacrificing artistic integrity? It’s hard to say, and that sense of uncertainty as a writer compels me.

Sakura Quest: The Dream World We Already Live in

Sakura Quest introduces us to five main girls in the rural setting of Manoyama, three of whom left Tokyo to chase their dreams outside the city. It’s a great story about the distance between people and coming to terms with your place in the world. However, by no means is the coming-of-age story it tells smooth sailing. Sakura Quest largely focuses on characters who are lost in life with no semblance of destination in sight. They allow themselves to get carried by the unsteady tide of life and at times it’s painful to watch. 

Himwari: Aqua After: Anti-Cynicism and the Weight of Growing Up

Imagine you are in a sunflower field. No matter how far into the horizon you look, the tall sunflowers never leave your sight. Encased in a timeless cage of sunflowers, the outside world becomes a blur, and yet in their presence, you feel warmth and comfort. But this was a year ago.

You hate sunflowers. Those petals that once bloomed with life have inevitably wilted over time.

WaifuNut’s Top 5 Anime of 2016

I’ll start this post off with some honourable mentions, since for a year full of so many good shows, a top five seems rather short. It’d also probably be best for me to mention that I only watched around 15-20 anime in 2016, before anyone complains about “x show not appearing” on this list.

Honourable Mentions:

• ReLIFE
• Re: Zero
• KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!
• New Game!

Now, onto the main list!

#5. Shelter: 

Shelter is an anime music video that says all it needs in its brief six-minute runtime. Not a whole lot happens, but through its beautiful artwork and lively animation, Shelter evokes all of the right elements of visual storytelling, completely immersing you into its eccentric world before bringing you back to reality with Misawa Sachika’s heartfelt performance as Rin. Similarly to another entry on this list, I adore Shelter in part due to its simplicity, but more importantly because of its optimistic worldview. The future may be uncertain, but there will always be memories that give you reason to hope. It’s a message that’s compelling on a universal level, and simply presented in a way that really touches people. If you haven’t watched it already, it’s definitely worth your five minutes.