Review | The Chuuni Corner

August 17, 2016

Review/discussion about: Dagashi Kashi

Dagashi Kashi / Episode 6 / Hotaru stylishly showing off her monster ohajiki candy

Half a treat

One of my favorite candies is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Although not just any Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I am not a fan of the regular-sized ones let alone the mammoth kind. Also, I don’t much care for the miniscule ones from the orange, portable bag. No, they have to be the bite-sized kind with the golden wrappers. Their peanut-butter-to-chocolate ratio is superb; I could eat them for hours.

In other words, Reese’s cups are just not the same without the gold. Similarly, Dagashi Kashi is nothing without its dagashi-driven damsel.

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August 14, 2016

Review/discussion about: HaruChika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun suru

HaruChika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun suru / Episode 11 / Haruta and Chika giving each other a high-five after seeing their school's banner congratulating them on making it to regionals

Mistuned

One of the very first crushes I ever had was on my fourth-grade teacher.

Let’s call her Ms. C. While I wouldn’t say it was love, my ten-year-old self certainly liked her. She was pretty, funny, and smart. I had had female teachers in the past, but they were either too old or lacked an attractive personality. Maybe that was part of the reason why I liked Ms. C; she was not like the other teachers who taught me before.

But when I discovered that Ms. C was actually Mrs. C, my crush ended.

HaruChika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun suru features students who have stronger feelings for their own teacher. AndHaruChika also gets similarly crushed.

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August 14, 2016

Review/discussion about: Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2nd Season

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2nd Season / Episode 2 / Zen saying goodnight to Shirayuki the night before she leaves for Tanbarun

Not quite ripe

I’ve never liked apples.

Sure, their outer casing is both shiny and biodegradable. But it’s a literal chore to completely peel the skin off (if one does not have a utensil or does not like the taste). Plus, they hurt my teeth. The acidity has always ruined any chances of me eating anything more after consuming these “toxic” fruits.

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime 2nd Season features an apple of sorts. But, thankfully, it is an apple that is far from toxic.

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August 6, 2016

Review/discussion about: Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut

Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut / Episode 2 / Lux showing Lisha a relaxing and private spot high above the city

Definitely defeated

I think it would be cool to investigate some ruins.

Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut has a couple of them. Strange structures filled with pillars, moss, and secrets yet found. The trade-off, of course, is a lot of danger. Creatures may be protecting the place. Latent, unknown devices may be itching to go off after lying dormant for hundreds of years. So long as I could avoid all of the risk and reap all of the rewards, I would try to trek through one.

Sadly, for Bahamut, it does not just have ruins. It’s in ruins, too.

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August 5, 2016

Review/discussion about: Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm

Ao no Kanata no Rhythm / Episode 1 / Asuka arriving back to the Four-Islands Archipelagos after ten years away

A bumpy flight

When I was a kid, say five years old or so, I liked picking dandelions.

Specifically, I picked them whenever I played soccer on my uncles’ team. They were kind enough to help guide us youngsters to victory – at least, those who had such goals. For I, playing goalie and having zero interest in what was happening around me, happily took to weeding the ground. The ball rolled and the players ran, but I concerned myself only with the dirt and the dandelions before me.

I was bored; I wasn’t having fun. That element is key to any sport, any activity: fun. Because if you are not having fun, then what is the point?

Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm answers this question, with goals on the ground and dreams in the sky, as a surprising yet slightly subpar anime.

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August 2, 2016

Review/discussion about: Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri 2nd Season

Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri 2nd Season / Episode 6 / Yao, Tuka, Lelei, and Rory looking on as Youji gets scolded

A worse war

Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri 2nd Season, much like its predecessor, makes me think about the advancement of technology. Last time, it was weapons. This time, it is transportation.

We started with running on the ground. Then we tamed horses. Then we drove cars. Then we took subways. And then we piloted helicopters. We, as a people, have made advancements in movement at a rate that we (figuratively and ironically) cannot keep up with.

The citizens of the Empire within Gate (reducing the title at this point) are still stuck with just horses. And, sadly, they are still stuck with a mediocre anime.

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July 29, 2016

Review/discussion about: Heavy Object

Heavy Object / Episode 3 / Qwenthur and Havia about to receive their recognition for destroying the Object and saving Milinda with her and Frolaytia there to support the guys

Not heavy enough

The heaviest item I have ever picked up was a giant television in my parents’ basement.

Though, at the time, it felt like I was carrying a medium-sized engine rather than a piece of technology that I once played all of my video games on. I distinctly remember picking it up, but, I had so much trouble, my father had to help out. Even then, when it finally got stashed away, the muscles in my arms convulsed from the strain.

That either says a lot about the TV or a lot about me. Probably both.

Regardless, it weighs nothing compared to the monstrosities created within Heavy Object. I’m talking pounds versus tons. Hundreds of thousands of tons. But more than weight, it also has tons of problems, too.

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July 28, 2016

Review/discussion about: Oshiete! Galko-chan

Oshiete! Galko-chan / Episode 6 / Ojou, Galko, and Otako hanging out and eating lunch at the mall

Girl talk time

When people look at me, they cannot believe that I love to listen to heavy metal.

The most recent disbelief actually came from someone close: my brother-in-law. We were talking about bands and music in general when I brought up Metallica, both my favorite heavy-metal band and my favorite music group ever. I rattled off some of my favorite songs – “Disposable Heroes,” “Blackened,” and so on – and he was taken aback at my adoration.

I don’t blame him for his surprise because, as an unassuming nerdy white guy, I don’t “appear to be” a fan of that kind of music. But that’s why we talk and listen to others in order to really understand them. In other words, interests, personality, and actions mean more than some jeans and a polo ever could.

And Oshiete! Galko-chan agrees.

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July 23, 2016

Review/discussion about: Musaigen no Phantom World

Musaigen no Phantom World / Episode 13 / Koito, Mai, Kurumi, Ruru, Haruhiko, and Reina in the last shot of the season

More gray than colorful

My brother, while he was growing up, had an imaginary friend: Ghost Friend. Not so imaginative.

I never had one myself, but my brother always made sure Ghost Friend was around. Playing outside, eating at the dinner table, and sitting around the house. They were inseparable.

At some point, though, my brother no longer had Ghost Friend with him. I am not saying he stopped believing because that is not what happened. What happened was that Ghost Friend took a “permanent vacation” elsewhere. Nobody knows where. He just went away to live his own life (which is weird wording for the supernatural).

Musaigen no Phantom World (Phantom World for short) does not have Ghost Friend, but it does have a myriad of ghostly creatures. They come together to create quite the toss-up of an anime.

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July 16, 2016

Review/discussion about: One Punch Man

One Punch Man / Episode 6 / Saitama getting ready to look for hero work to meet his weekly quota as a Class C rank

Baldy to the rescue

I thank my father every day for strong hair genes.

Many of the men in my family, especially my father’s brothers (my uncles), have lost their hair quite early on. But not my father. He’s beginning to get streaks of grey, but it’s still (almost) all there.

I myself like to keep my hair short – “five on top, two on the sides” or some such hairdo lingo – but I also only get a haircut once every five months or so. It doesn’t get long, but it gets messy. Messy enough for my father to nickname me “Shaggy.”

I wait so long mostly out of laziness and partially to relish in my genetics. Saitama of One Punch Man does not have the same luxury, but what he does have is an anime that, like a fist hitting a face, leaves its mark.

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