Happy New Year!

Sorry this post is so late. But happy new year everyone! I hope everyone had a good holiday, and is looking forward to an amazing new year.

Because it's the new year I just wanted to talk about some of Japan's New Year traditions. In Asian cultures New Years is an important holiday, and there's a lot of cool things to learn about this festive time. What I found that was super interesting was in Japan they have a "Coming of Age Day" which is help on the second Monday of January. This holiday is for those that just turned 20 in the past year, celebrating their transition to adulthood.

According to Wikipedia "Festivities include coming of age ceremonies (成人式seijin-shiki) held at local and prefectural offices, as well as after-parties among family and friends." Often these young adults go drinking that night as well, as expected. Ladies will usually wear kimonos or traditional formal wear, while most men wear a suit, some do don on the traditional dress.


-From dailymail.co.uk


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Getty Images

Anime Adventure: Ghost Hunt

Hi guys, I know I haven't posted anything in awhile, but here I am! I know its the new year, I am planning to write a post about Japanese culture concerning this holiday time, but it is taking me a little while to actually be able to research it, so please be patient with me.

Anyway, I just finished the anime series Ghost Hunt. Its an older anime, produced in 2006-2007. It's about a girl named Mai Taniyama age 16, who works with the Naru (real name is Kazuya Shibuya) who is the president of Shibuya Psychic Research, even though he is only 17 years old. Together they solve mysteries and exorcise spirits with their crew of a Naru's assistant, Koujo Lin, Monk (Actually named Houshou Takigawa), John Brown (an Australian Preacher), Ayako Matsuzaki (a shrine priestess), Masako Hara (a young famous medium), and later in the series Yasu, a high school research student.

The Main Crew (from left to right: Mai, Naru, Monk, Ayako, Lin, Masako, John)

Yasu

Honestly, the supernatural is not exactly something I'm too interested in, especially because I'm easily scared and even though it's an anime sometimes it feels too real. But this one is not as scary as some of those RPG video games (cough*Until Dawn* cough) and so I watched the entire thing. Each arc is a case, usually around 3-4 episodes long. It's kind of nice because its in chunks, but at the same time, if you didn't exactly want to end on a certain case, watching an entirely new case can be time consuming. Granted, each episode is only 20 minutes long so two cases is about 3 hours, but still. Time consuming. 

All in all its a really interesting, short series, only 1 season, 25 episodes long. I really liked all the characters, especially Yasu. Its a shame he came near the end of the series because he's so hilarious, and somewhat sarcastic. He's the one that made me laugh the most. Then there's the whole group of them, that don't all get along but eventually turn into a family which was very heart warming especially after the scary parts. 

My only problem with it, is that Mai is a potential psychic, but it is never fully explained. My friend who introduced me to this show also read the manga, and she told me that the manga explains it much better than the anime. So if you really want to find out I would suggest checking out the manga. It is not much longer than the anime, supposedly there is just one last case that is in the manga that the anime did not cover. 

If you're looking for a supernatural anime with ghosts and spirits, but not overly scary, this is probably your best bet. :)

Keep smiling,

-Cami

Manga Moment: From Far Away

                                          

One of my favorite mangas of all time is From Far Away (also known as Kanata Kara) by Kyoko Hikawa. It's a 14 volume manga about a girl named Noriko who is sent to another world destined to be the Awakening. An ancient prophecy has foretold that the Awakening will awaken the Sky Demon which is the worst evil imaginable. Meanwhile she befriends the Sky Demon, Izark without realizing their foretold identities. Together they set out on a whirlwind of adventures and brave foreign and corrupt lands as they come to understand that destiny is not predetermined, and everyone has the ability to make a difference no matter how small it may seem.

                                                  

The art style is much older, and its a nice change from all the other art styles I read that all look fairly similar. There are plenty of battle scenes, and I really enjoy all the side characters. This manga does have a slight romance, but that is not the main plot of the manga which is very refreshing.  It also reminds me that a true relationship is more than just physical contact, it is also your emotional connection with them, and the willingness to stand by each other through it all. Some manga tends to forget this, and just focuses on the passion and not the friendship that is also needed to form a truly strong bond.

                                                


I love the main character. She's not your run of the mill female protagonist. Yes, she is the Awakening, but she doesn't have any special powers or becomes a female warrior overnight. She is not one for the battlefield and that discourages her at times and makes her feel useless. Yet she doesn't just sit around and whine about it. She finds ways to be useful that are within her abilities. First, she learns the language, and helps her cohorts in any way that she can. When they were attacked by robbers and Izark was ill, she reaches for the sword, even though she knew she didn't stand much of a chance she wanted to try and fight anyway not just let herself be captured. Of course, because it was manga, Izark finds a way to push himself a little more and fight them off without Noriko. However, I believe that small action of reaching for the sword shows a lot about her character. It is also through Noriko's kindness, hard work, and determination that others become inspired to help the cause to stand up for good and help them with their quest. Noriko's power does not necessarily lie within magic or fighting, but inside her heart and soul. The kind of magic that we all have to help and look out for others.

                            

I know, I know, its super corny, but it reminded me that we are all connected and can make a difference in the world even if it might start out as small. When we accept our incapacities and focus on what we can do instead of what we wish we could do to make a difference, that is when we are able to make a change.

I recommend this manga for anyone looking for a feel-good adventure who likes action scenes and innocent romances.

Happy reading,

-Cami

                               

Manga Moment: Hiyokoi

So this is not a very well known manga. I first found it as an anime special, so it doesn't have an actual season, but the episodes it does have are cute. After I watched them all, I was intrigued, so I looked up the manga online. It was a very cute shojo romance, with lots of fluff. I know not everyone is into that sort of thing, but it was entertaining for me.

The story begins with Hiyokoi, a freshman girl who just transferred after being hospitalized from an accident. She's very short, and very shy, and is relieved to find that her friend since childhood, Ritsuka, is in her class. There she meets Hirose Yuushin, who is extremely tall and friendly. Eventually the two become friends, and Hiyokoi begins to learn how to open up to her other classmates. Meanwhile Hiyokoi and Yuushin start to fall in love.

This manga has only been printed in Japanese, German, and French as far as I can tell, which is really sad for us English readers. Still, its available online in English and I recommend it to anyone who likes to read cute and innocent romances.

Mystery Babylon

This is a little off-topic since its not Japanese related, but check out this cool comic I found! If you remember,last fall I went to a Comic Con where I bought some fan art. Now the person who I bought the fan art from has her own website and I just recently visited it for the first time. As it turns out she has been writing her very own comic book, and she has also made it available online for people to read for free! I've included the link at the bottom if you want to check it out. I read it, and I actually really enjoyed it.

The story is about a demon named Kick Girl who possesses the ability to unlock the seal that holds all the demons captive. Mortals wish to annihilate her or worship her, but she does not care for either of them. All she wants is to prevent the seal from being opened, which is ironic since her closest friend (and also kind of a jerk though she loves them anyway) is locked there. She joins forces with a priest who sees her as a savior, even though most in his religion would see her as a monster. Together they set out on an adventure to protect the seal, and if it opens, to stop the demons that will come out of it.

I also found a prequel that came out before the Mystery Babylon series, called Kick Girl, which takes place a thousand years before the demons were captured. I haven't been able to read it yet, and you don't need to read it to understand Mystery Babylon, because that series stands on its own. 

This story has lots of biblical references, mainly from Revelations. It also mixes in angels, demons, and some post-apocalyptic future tech, mostly ruins from a thousand years ago, as most technology as depleted after the apocalypse. I found the whole thing very intriguing and the plot line kept me interested. 

Please feel free to read this comic, and I hope you'll find it as enjoyable as I did!

Links

Read Mystery Babylon

http://www.kick-girl.com/?p=73

Author's Website

http://valhochberg.com/

Anime Adventures: Haikyuu!!

                           
                                                  Kurasuno Volleyball Team

My boyfriend adores this anime and I don't blame him. I think everyone should watch a sports anime from time to time. And frankly, I think this is the one you want. It doesn't have too much romance, just the good old fashioned sport. Even if you don't know much about volleyball, the anime does a good job of explaining the basics.

Our story begins with Hinata, a new high school student who just made the transition from middle school to high school. He's super short, but his dream is to be a great volleyball player. The high school he attends, Karasuno, used to have a great volleyball team, but at the moment the team is ranked one of the lowest in the district. The anime focuses on the volleyball team as they learn to work together in order to make it to the top once again.

Kageyama and Hinata

This anime is pretty clean, no girls in promiscuous clothes, no sex jokes, and only occasional swearing. The characters are funny, and its just an all around enjoyable anime. Hinata and his teammate Kageyama butt heads all the time and eventually learn how to work together. Seeing the two of them interact is honestly one of my favorite parts of the anime.

Nekoma Volleyball Team

My favorite episodes are the ones when  Kurasuno plays against the school team Nekoma. The teammates on Nekoma have similar personalities to  those at Kurasuno, and seeing Nekoma and Kurasuno get together is always lots of fun and filled with laughs.

Haikyuu!! manga cover

Like most anime series, Haikyuu!! is also a manga. I haven't read much of it, but if manga is more up your alley be my guest and try it out! I definitely recommend this series for anyone who likes realistic anime and wants something new.

-Cami

Back to Class

Well school has started for me once again. And what was my first class of the day you ask? Japanese 102, at 8 am. Oh joy. Don't get me wrong, I love learning Japanese, but 8 am? Sigh. It's the same time my Japanese 101 class was last semester. It's great that I have most of my classes in the morning to get them out of the way, but I end up waking up at 6:30 in order to eat breakfast and get to class on time.

Anyway, Japanese is every day. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are ACT classes where I only speak in Japanese, whereas Tuesdays and Thursdays are FACT classes where we focus of the written language and grammar. Today, being Monday, meant that I had to speak Japanese. And let me tell you. Trying to remember everything you learned last semester and haven't touched for three weeks at 8 am was not fun. It wasn't so bad because we weren't being graded for that class, but more than once I could barely respond to whatever question my teacher was asking me. And I did have to finally say once "Sumimasen, zenzen wakarimasen." Or in other words "I'm sorry, I don't understand at all." Which can be kind of embarrassing since everyone is looking at you and you feel like you should know it and you don't.

Aside from that, I think that this semester will be pretty cool. There are only six students in my ACT class, and they seem pretty nice. I have a feeling one may withdraw, but I hope not because I would rather if our class did not become any smaller than it is. ACT class is taught by TAs, so I haven't seen my professor yet, but I had him last year so I know what to expect for the most part. I'm super excited to learn more, but I know I better review what I learned last semester if I want to keep up.

I hope all you other students are doing well in your classes, and that this semester will go well for you too.

Good luck with your studies, ganbatte!

-Cami