kanra-watches-anime

[kanra-watches-anime]

KOMACHIIIIIIIIIII KOOOOMAAAAAAAACHIIIIIIIII

#yes i finally watched the first ep of kan #yes i am crying but so are you don't lie to me about this #yahari ore no seishun love comedy wa machigatteiru. #oregairu

[kanra-watches-anime]

i don’t remember if i ever picked up on this during my initial watch but some parts of the yowapeda soundtrack give me high-key early 00′s sonic the hedgehog vibes and i’m living for it

the kids gotta go fast

#the great yowapeda rewatch of 2020 #yowamushi pedal

[kanra-watches-anime]

same

#the great yowapeda rewatch of 2020 #yowamushi pedal

[kanra-watches-anime]

I say this with a heart full of love, but....

...Imaizumi is so embarrassing

#i'm sorry i keep laughing at half of what he says #but he's a good kid #the great yowapeda rewatch of 2020 #yowamushi pedal #did i have to remake this because i posted to the wrong blog again? maybe so :)

[kanra-watches-anime]

the Struggleᵀᴹ

#i'm sorry i'm too old to be cool and relateable...... #anime

[kanra-watches-anime]

#the great yowapeda rewatch of 2020 #yowamushi pedal

[kanra-watches-anime]

Sure. So why did you ask the guy on the mommy bike to race you again….?

#the great yowapeda rewatch of 2020 #yowamushi pedal

[kanra-watches-anime]

I just love it when the protagonist of a show clearly wasn’t informed about its genre beforehand

#hang in there onoda... #did i just make this post on my main on accident? yes. #did i delete it just to do it again over here? also yes. #this is off to a great start.... #the great yowapeda rewatch of 2020 #yowamushi pedal

[kanra-watches-anime]

i’m about to rewatch yowapeda and i’m low-key thinking about live-blogging it a bit....? not that i’m expecting anyone to care, i just wanna do it for fun lol

#i don't have any plans to properly return to this blog for now #but i figured that some shitposting once in a while can't hurt either

[kanra-watches-anime]

Favourite Nadeshiko & Rin faces, Yuru Camp△ ep. 10

Bonus:

#yuru camp #anime #winter season 2018 #screenshots

[kanra-watches-anime]

Scenery: Yuru Camp△ ep. 10

#yeah there really wasn't much to use this episode... #yuru camp #anime #winter season 2018 #screenshots

[kanra-watches-anime]

Okay, the problem seems to have solved itself... But I’m still apprehensive... Lately, this website has been even more shitty to me than usual...

So I don’t know if it’s just me, but for some reason, all my longer text posts don’t show any, well, text on my dash (not even the read more link) when accessing tumblr from my laptop. They do when I remove the picture, but then the formatting is kinda messed up. Interestingly, everything looks normal on my blog…

Either way, this is absolutely fucking awful, since no one is reading my writing already and I’m not gonna gain any more readers when my posts are looking broken, so… I’m kinda at a loss here and don’t know what to do about it.

#personal #blog maintenance

[kanra-watches-anime]

So I don’t know if it’s just me, but for some reason, all my longer text posts don’t show any, well, text on my dash (not even the read more link) when accessing tumblr from my laptop. They do when I remove the picture, but then the formatting is kinda messed up. Interestingly, everything looks normal on my blog...

Either way, this is absolutely fucking awful, since no one is reading my writing already and I’m not gonna gain any more readers when my posts are looking broken, so... I’m kinda at a loss here and don’t know what to do about it.

#personal #blog maintenance #please let me know if you're having this issue as well #and especially if you happen to know how to solve it!!

[kanra-watches-anime]

My thoughts on Violet Evergarden 07-09

I can’t believe I’m really saying this, but sometimes it does feel good to be wrong about something.

For some clarification on that opening statement, let me quote an excerpt of my last Violet Evergarden-themed write-up:

[...] “it really does seem like Violet Evergarden has failed to meet the expectations I had towards it [...] I did hope for it to have a bit more of an emotional impact“

And boy, did that emotional impact punch me in the face just a week after writing those words!

Some might say that episode 7′s plot with the alcoholic writer trying to cope with the loss of his daughter was somewhat cliche-heavy and well, you’re not wrong, but I genuinely enjoyed that episode. The story itself was executed and performed incredibly well and, for maybe the first time while watching this show, I believed in the emotional development that the characters were going through. I’m not ashamed to admit that I teared up a little during the “walking on leaves” scene, simply because it tugged at my heartstrings and was done so beautifully. I also thought that Yui Ishikawa delivered one of her strongest episodes as Violet here, with many more notable moments of her acting shining through in the following episodes as well.

However, the end of that beautiful episode also marked the start of Violet’s real character development arc, after the old Lady Evergarden finally drops the bomb about Gilbert’s whereabouts (or lack thereof), unknowing that Violet is unaware of her Major’s passing.

However, I do have to admit that I wasn’t as emotionally involved in episodes 8 & 9 as I was in episode 7, even though they clearly got into the meat of the story and were obviously much more important for the show overall. I guess I just can’t really find myself getting invested in the Major’s character? I think I understand his motives - he just wanted to help a young girl that was, eh, entrusted to him, but had to realise that in the end he couldn’t do much for her - but I just don’t feel any emotional connection to him, in spite of the fact that he’s clearly playing a key role in this show.

Past!Violet also didn’t have much to offer for me, but that’s mostly because the Violet from the present was going through such important character development during these episodes and was therefore much more interesting to watch. I’m not saying that I thought all of this development was exectued perfectly, but overall I felt that these episodes were much more effective in humanising Violet’s character than the entire first half of the anime was.

Watching her cope with the loss of the Major and her past as a soldier who killed and wounded many wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience, but it was credible. A lot of the so-called development in earlier episodes just didn’t sit right with me. It didn’t feel like proper development and wasn’t really reflected in the way Violet acted and expressed herself. This time however, we truly watched Violet go through all these difficult emotions and the different ways she dealt with them and in the end, I felt that the conclusion she arrived at was satisfying and actually made sense in the context of the show.

The Major had been the centre of Violet’s life and his orders were her only motivation. She never felt the need to do something for herself or to achieve something out of her own volition. With the Major gone, Violet understandably felt at a loss and didn’t know what to do with her life. But after realising the value of all the letters she helped write, something clicks inside her. She has carved a place for herself not by staining her hands in blood, but this time by using them to connect others. She can actually see the change that her words have sparked and how they improved the lives of others, which to me seems like a great motivation to live on and make the best out of her life.

Now there’s one problem I have with all of this, however... How in the world was this NOT the climax of this show?? I’m serious about this, guys. I actually had to check to make sure that there really will be more episodes after this, because this story arc just felt so conclusive. Violet is the titular character of this show. It has been focused on her so far and it would’ve made a great deal of sense to end it on a note that encapsulates her overall development as a character. I’m not saying that there is no way for her to grow more from here, but I do think that coping with the Major’s death and accepting her new lease on life were kind of the most important parts of her development.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that these episodes came when they did because this show sure needed some emotional impact, but now I’m left to wonder where things will go from here. I think I’d feel a little let down if we just got a bunch of stand-alone stories like the ones in the first half of the anime, so I do hope there will be a little bit more substance in the coming episodes. I could imagine two different sources of conflict: Either Dietfried comes back to start some shit, or, maybe even more likely, there’ll be the threat of another war, with the attack by an anti-peace group mentioned during episode 9 serving as foreshadowing in this case.

Either way, I hope we won’t see a decline in quality after Violet Evergarden has shown us that it can deliver in the story-telling department as well. I think it’ll be difficult to surpass the emotional high point that I consider the final minutes of episode 9 to be, but I’ll be satisfied already if we can get a few more meaningul and memorable moments out of this show during the upcoming episodes.

#violet evergarden #anime #winter season 2018 #thoughts

[kanra-watches-anime]

Favourite reaction/meme pics from ep. 09 of Pop Team Epic Pt. 2/2

Bonus:

#pop team epic #poptepipic #anime #winter season 2018 #screenshots

[kanra-watches-anime]

Favourite reaction/meme pics from ep. 09 of Pop Team Epic Pt. 1/2

Bonus:

#pop team epic #poptepipic #anime #winter season 2018 #screenshots

[kanra-watches-anime]

My thoughts on Yuru Camp 07-09

Despite a little setback, Yuru Camp is still by far and wide the show I enjoy the most this season.

What am I supposed to say? I just love all of my camp daughters from the bottom of my heart. I realise I keep repeating myself in these kind of posts, but hey, if I can get one person to see them (which, looking at my notes most of the time, is probably an accurate representation of my readership) and maybe convince them to give Yuru Camp a try, then that’s more than worth the effort.

Episode 7 was one of Yuru Camp’s finest and most beautiful episodes to date. I genuinely love all my children, but I’m not gonna pretend like Rin and Nadeshiko don’t have a special place in my heart, so seeing them camp together and deepen their friendship was important to me. What I love the most about their relationship is that nothing ever feels forced. Even on their trip they both do things on their own, like Nadeshiko exploring the campsite while Rin sets things up. Not to get too personal, but I’ve had friendships go down the drain because both people in question just couldn’t see eye to eye in terms of how much time on their own one needs and when one should be available and yeah... That’s no fun. Therefore, it really means a lot to me to see Nadeshiko and Rin accommodate each other so well.

Of course there was a lot more fun to be had in that episode. I especially enjoyed the interaction with the other campers. I thought it was a nice touch and kind of amplified the whole camping spirit, for lack of a better expression, where people just help each other out and share with each other. This episode also included the big reveal that the cool old guy Chiaki had encountered in the previous episode is actually Rin’s grandpa! My mind was blown, but in retrospect it makes absolute sense. It’s also nice to have a little backstory on how Rin discovered the joys of solo winter camping.

There’s a lot less to say about episode 8, but it was very obviously intended to be a filler episode, unfortunately with more than just a few off-model shots. Also, a lot of the screentime went to Chiaki and Aoi, not that I mind, though. They are both lovable characters in their own right and especially Chiaki is highly entertaining - I once again have to give a shoutout to her seiyuu, Sayuri Hara, the true MVP of this show - but I gotta admit that I missed Rin a lot during this episode. I do relate to her the most out of all the characters, so I was happy to find out that another solo camping episode would be up next.

Thankfully, the animation quality had also turned back to what I’d usually expect from Yuru Camp. Watching Rin explore her surroundings was super fun and I could really see myself in her place. mostly because I would also under any circumstances visit that doggy shrine and cave in to buy a doggy fortune. Another moment of peak comedy happened earlier in the episode, when the opening song played over the sequence of Rin taking her supposed shortcut, just to stop abruptly before kicking into high gear once she finds that the road is closed.

We also got a piece of valuable information again (besides getting to meet Nadeshiko’s parents), though it felt more like a confirmation of something I’d been thinking for a while. Rin and Chiaki are not the types of people who naturally get along. Not in the sense that they’d genuinely dislike each other, but their characters probably clash with each other a lot. As someone who shares many traits with Rin, I can kind of see where she’s coming from. While I, as I said earlier, absolutely enjoy Chiaki’s character as a watcher, she’s probably not the kind of person I’d wish out to hang out with in real life.

This stark difference between Rin and Chiaki might become a hurdle when it comes to all five girls finally going camping together - which might really happen soon!!! I’m gonna be honest, I do really want to see that. First because I think Ena deserves more screentime. And second because I hope it’s gonna be fun to see how they’ll all grow to work with each other and help each other out. And the great thing is that with a group of five people, you don’t necessarily have to keep hanging around the person in the group you don’t vibe with.

Now with that being said, I’m really excited for what’s to come, but also a little sad that the final stretch of Yuru Camp is actually upon us. I seriously didn’t expect this anime to grab me the way it did, but here we are and I know I’m gonna miss it a lot. Nevertheless, I plan to enjoy the upcoming episodes to the absolute fullest, because Yuru Camp is really that show for me and a serious AotY contender in my books.

#yuru camp #anime #winter season 2018 #thoughts