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Ryuji

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  1. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my blog for the first episode of Nagi no Asukara. I first found this anime by googling “popular anime”. What first attracted me to it was the cover art because I thought it was beautiful. Then I started reading about it and the storyline really appealed to me but what made the decision final was that I saw that it was a Romance/Fantasy/Drama. I’m a huge fan of Romance anime. After I saw that, I was like “Yes! I’m totally watching this.” When I started Nagi no Asukara, I was expecting a great anime. Little did I know just how much this anime would capture my heart.

    The first episode of Nagi no Asukara opens up with Hikari, a child of the sea, cooking for his sister Akari and his father who is the Chief Priest that serves the Sea God. After serving his family the food, Hikari rushes out to meet his childhood friend Manaka, another resident of the underwater village of Shioshishio. When he finally reaches her, she has already met up with their friends Chisaki and Kaname. Hikari notices the uniform Manaka is wearing and fusses at her because she is wearing the surface school’s uniform instead of Namoji’s, which is the school in Shioshishio that recently closed which forced the students to have to go to Mihama, a school on the surface. Manaka wants to blend in but Hikari believes that they should wear Namoji’s uniform because he believes they are better than the surface people. Manaka goes to change because she wants Hikari to stop shouting. Hikari, Kaname and Chisaki head on to school leaving Manaka behind. When they get to the surface, Hikari decides to wait for Manaka and Chisaki and Kaname tease him about it. When she finally shows back up, Manaka starts to cry because they left her and then she gets caught up in a net and is pulled up to the surface by two fishermen, one of which is Tsumugu, a boy from the surface. Tsumugu is surprised to see a girl in his net. Then the theme music plays.
    I think this is an excellent beginning to an excellent anime. I thought it was a good taste of the personalities of several of the main characters and then the theme music begins and my eyes were immediately mesmerized by the beauty of the theme song. It’s quite honestly one of the most beautifully executed theme songs I’ve ever watched. I’m a huge fan of the artwork and music throughout this anime.

    After the theme song is over, the teacher introduces Hikari, Manaka, Chisaki and Kaname to the class. Manaka sees Tsumugu and blushes. This irritates Hikari. As they are introducing themselves, the class starts being rude to them which prompts Hikari, who already dislikes the surface people, into insulting them. Hikari wants Manaka to give them a hard time to but she doesn’t want to. Hikari gets mad and Chisaki has to pry Hikari’s hands off of Manaka. Manaka then proclaims that she doesn’t want to talk to Hikari anymore and Hikari says that it’s fine with him. The next scene shows that Chisaki has taken Manaka to the girl’s locker room and given Manaka her gym clothes so Manaka can blend in. She then tells Manaka that Hikari was only trying to protect her and Manaka says that she knows. Manaka then looks out the window and sees the students running track. She then sees Tsumugu running and she compares his running to swimming on land. She then notices Hikari running. Hikari is determined to outrun Tsumugu but he ends up tripping and falling on Tsumugu instead. Hikari gets mad…..again.
    Hikari yells……a lot….mostly at Manaka. You would think that since he obviously cares for her he would be a little kinder towards her but that isn’t the case. I want to knock some sense into him sometimes. He doesn’t like Tsumugu at all…..for one, he’s a surface child and two, Manaka seems to be infatuated with him.

    Hikari then walks home alone and he passes his sister, Akari, who works at a store on the surface. She asks him where Manaka is and Hikari says they are not little kids anymore and that they don’t have to go home together. Akari teases him by calling him a little kid. Then they notice two kids between the boxes. They are Miuna and Sayu. They run away when Akari and Hikari walk over and find the chewing gum graffiti that they did.
    I would have to say that Miuna and Sayu are my favorite characters in this anime. They are so cute and they get fairly decent sized roles later on in the story. Keep an eye on them though; you never know what trouble they’ll get themselves into.

    Hikari goes back to Shioshishio and is called over by the “Men’s Club” who complain about the fisherman fishing where they weren’t supposed to be which emptied the fields of fish which is bad but it’s even worse with the salt damage. They also complain that the surface people won’t do the “Boatdrift Ceremony” this year. Hikari starts thinking about how in the past, everybody lived in the sea, then after marveling at the land, man shed his Ena, which was provided by the sea god, and left the sea to face many hardships on land. Thinking they had been cursed by the sea god, they started sending young girls out on boats as sacrifices to appease the sea god. That’s the story of how the Boatdrift Ceremony started. These days, they send offerings of food. Supposedly, all the people of Shioshishio are the offspring of the sea god and these sacrificed maidens. The Men’s Club is afraid that the sea god will get angry if the Boatdrift Ceremony isn’t held.
    This is a really nice scene to me because it provides you with some important background history.

    Hikari is walking home when he sees Manaka near the sea god’s shrine. He starts to walk by her without saying anything but ends up asking her if she is taking a food offering to Lord Uroko, who is a scale of the sea god, in exchange for some Spirit Fire for her home. She nods yes and then he apologizes to her. He ends up going to the shrine with her to get the Spirit Fire from Lord Uroko. He relights her Spirit Fire and she gives him the food her grandmother made. He comments on how pleasant the scent is and Manaka thinks that he means the food. What he really means is that he can smell that she is ovulating. She blushes, screams and punches him in the face with the food. He tells her he is going to curse her as she runs away from the shrine. Hikari leaves the shrine and finds Manaka crying because she doesn’t understand him. Hikari tells her that is nothing unusual and to just ignore him. Manaka is worried about Lord Uroko’s threat of a curse. Hikari reminds her that Lord Uroko is mainly there to ensure they don’t try to leave the sea like the surface people did. They then go home. Hikari tells his father that he doesn’t think the Boatdrift Ceremony is really important since they have Lord Uroko.
    Lord Uroko is…..a character. He looks after all the residents of Shioshishio. I didn’t really like him at first but he kind of grew on me later.

    The next day, Hikari, Chisaki, and Kaname are ready for school and have gone to Manaka’s house to get her. Manaka is refusing to leave her room because Lord Uroko did indeed curse her. In her knee is a fish. Hikari goes up to her room but she doesn’t want him to see it but she ends up letting him see it. She says that it’s fine if it’s him. Hikari then takes a cloth and ties it around her knee to conceal the fish and they head off to school.
    I felt that it was nice to see Hikari kind of being nice to Manaka for once.

    After school lets out for Chisaki and Manaka, some girls grab her so they can look at her in the sunlight and see her Ena sparkle. They comment saying she’s not human which upsets her. Then Tsumugu walks in and she bumps the knee with the fish and it makes a gross noise which upsets her even more and she runs out of the room. Chisaki finds Hikari and Kaname and tells them Manaka ran off. Manaka is so upset that she ran into the woods. She ends up falling and unable to get up because her Ena is dried out and cracking and it hurts too much to move.
    Even though they are all the same age, Manaka seems a little less mature and younger than the rest of them. She’s easily upset by things she doesn’t understand and tries to run away from them.

    Hikari, Chisaki and Kaname continue to search for her and when their Ena starts to dry out and crack, Hikari tells them to go home and he jumps in the sea for a few minutes to rehydrate his Ena before continuing to search for Manaka. After Hikari has left, Kaname makes the comment that it’s like Hikari and Chisaki are married and Manaka is their child and if Manaka is ever out of the picture, it’ll be Chisaki by Hikari’s side. Chisaki gets upset because Kaname is saying that while Manaka is still missing.
    Let the complex love triangles begin! They’re great and will keep you guessing at who ends up with who till the very end. Some of the relationships I never saw coming.

    Tsumugu finds Manaka and takes him home with him and his grandfather and puts her in a tub of water which he adds tons of salt to so it will heal her Ena. Tsumugu unties the cloth and sees the fish in her knee. Manaka wakes up and freaks out because Tsumugu sees the fish. He leaves and she becomes upset because she thinks he is grossed out by it. He then returns with some food and feeds the fish. He thinks the fish is beautiful but at first, Manaka thinks he is calling her beautiful. He then tells Manaka she is beautiful. Manaka is so embarrassed that she submerges as far as she can in the tub. It’s hard for her to breathe so Tsumugu gets more salt to put in the water.
    I really like this scene because it shows that Manaka is starting to trust the surface people contrary to how Hikari feels about them. After spending a good part of her life with Hikari telling her what to do, she’s finally starting to diverge from him.

    It’s now nighttime and Hikari is still searching for Manaka. He’s following the road when he meets Manaka and Tsumugu on it. When he sees Tsumugu, he gets mad and wants to know what he did to Manaka. Manaka tells Hikari that Tsumugu rescued her. Hikari takes her back to Shioshishio. As they are heading back, Manaka apologizes to Hikari for worrying him but all he can think of is that she let Tsumugu see the fish when she said earlier that it was only fine if it was him. Then the ending theme plays.
    In case you haven’t figured it out, while all four of the kids from Shioshishio are main characters, Manaka and Hikari are the main ones. This last scene pretty much shows how jealous Hikari is of Manaka trusting Tsumugu enough to let him see the fish without her being embarrassed. I’d say…serves you right Hikari…..all the times you’ve been mean to poor Manaka. Once again, my eyes are mesmerized by the closing theme with beautiful artwork to accompany the beautiful music.
    Overall, I felt like it was a great first episode. You really get a feel for each of the main characters and you get a taste of all the love triangles. I hope that after reading this, you will be so enthusiastic about watching this, that you’ll immediately get online and start. (Seriously….if you finished reading this, you deserve a reward :P)
    Thank you for reading and see you next week when I post Episode 2!
    ~Ryuji
  2. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my blog for the second episode of Nagi no Asukara. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you read my first entry and for that I thank you. I like episode two because my two favorite characters, Miuna and Sayu actually get to talk! Aside from that, you find out some pretty important details about the world the characters live in and what impact their choices can have on them.

    The second episode opens up with the curse being lifted from Manaka. In other words, the fish leaves her knee. After the fish leaves, Manaka starts thinking about how Tsumugu told her that he thought both the fish and Manaka were beautiful. The fact that the curse has now been lifted upsets Manaka so she goes to Lord Uroko and throws food at her in an attempt to get him to curse her again. Lord Uroko responds by eating the food she threw at him. He doesn’t curse her. Then the beautiful theme music plays.
    BAKA MANAKA. This scene drives me crazy because the only reason she wants to be cursed again is because she’s infatuated by Tsumugu. I can understand wanting to do something because the person you are infatuated with likes it but I draw the line at disrespecting others to achieve your goal.

    After the theme song is over, Manaka approaches Tsumugu at school to thank him for saving her life the day before. Tsumugu asks how the fish in Manaka’s knee is doing and Manaka lies saying that he is doing great. Hikari then approaches Tsumugu and thanks him for taking care of Manaka and tells him that surface people have no business concerning themselves with the ocean village of Shioshishio and Hikari walks away. Manaka chases after him telling him that he was being rude. They argue and Hikari gets upset because Manaka keeps calling Tsumugu by his first name. She tells him that she doesn’t know his last name and gets upset. Hikari leaves.
    If you’re not used to Hikari and Manaka arguing, you better get used to it. Hikari tends to argue with her a lot. He’s just sooo jealous and it gets on my nerves. I’ll be honest, while I love this anime; Hikari and Manaka are my two least favorite characters. Tsumugu is smart and mostly ignores Hikari. You can see the huge gap between how mature they are despite the fact that they are both the same age.

    Chisaki approaches Manaka. Manka proceeds to tell Chisaki that she messed up because Tsumugu saved her and even though Hikari was worried about her too, she got mad at him. Chisaki tells Manaka that Hikari was really worried about her and that even when he was having trouble breathing due to his Ena drying out, he wouldn’t stop searching for her. She tells Manaka that Hikari isn’t really mad at her so she shouldn’t act like she’s afraid of him because that will only annoy him. Manaka asks Chisaki how she knows this and Chisaki says that it’s because she’s known both of them so long.
    Chisaki is a great friend. She likes Hikari but refrains from making any kind of move because she knows Hikari likes Manaka. She also does her best to make Manaka feel better after she has an argument with Hikari. I guess that’s probably why Chisaki is my favorite character from the underwater village of Shioshishio.

    As Hikari is leaving the school building, Sayu calls him an octopus head. Hikari remembers seeing Sayu and Miuna at the store his sister works at. They ask Hikari if he knows her and when he tells them that Akari is his sister, Sayu calls him a liar. Sayu tells Miuna that they were acting close and that they are probably boyfriend and girlfriend. Hikari asks them why they aren’t at school and Sayu tells Hikari not to treat her like a brat you brat. Sayu then tries to attack Hikari but he stretches his arm out and puts his hand on her forhead which prevents all of her attacks from hitting. Kaname approaches them and pats Sayu on the head and she blushes. She tells Kaname to get his smelly fish hands away from her. Miuna then kicks Hikari and they both run away.
    I know I’ve mentioned this before but I absolutely adore Miuna and Sayu. They are best friends and Sayu supports Miuna 1000%. So adorable….squeeee You’ll find out later why this scene occurs.

    The teacher then asks the class if anybody is interested in making a wooden maiden for the voluntary Boatdrift Ceremony the school is doing. He then goes into the history of why the Boatdrift Ceremony occurs. Tsumugu volunteers which leads to Manaka volunteering which leads to Hikari volunteering. Chisaki and Kaname end up volunteering as well. Hikari complains saying it’s something the surface people are supposed to do. Chisaki reminds him that he didn’t have to volunteer. Tsumugu starts asking questions about Shioshishio and you find out he is actually quite knowledgeable about it.
    I love backstory and the backstory behind the Boatdrift Ceremony is great!
    Tsumugu is extremely interested in Shioshishio. If there is one character that I feel like represents me in this anime, it’s Tsumugu. His desire is to visit Shioshishio but he can’t breathe underwater. Often, I feel like I’m trapped within my own world when what I really want to do is explore other worlds. (In my case it is to travel the world)

    Later, as the kids from Shioshishio are heading back to the sea, they see Hikari’s sister, Akari, kiss a guy from the surface. They freak out and Chisaki speculates that it is Akari’s boyfriend and Hikari gets mad because she hasn’t mentioned having one and he’s a surface guy. Hikari says it probably won’t work out and she would end up back in the sea. Kaname tells him that is impossible because if a child of the sea gets into a relationship with a child of the surface, that person is banished from Shioshishio. Manaka says that she thinks it’s wrong to keep a child of the sea out of the sea just because they fell in love with a surface person. Hikari asks Manaka if she is thinking about getting in a relationship with a guy from the surface and she gets upset and jumps in the sea. Chisaki tries to intervene but only angers Hikari even more.
    If I had a penny every time Hikari argues with Manaka, I would be rich…..seriously though…..we’re only in episode two and it’s getting really old. You kind of have to get used to it….although things do get better eventually. A child of the sea really has to love a surface person in order to risk getting banished if the residents of Shioshisho find out. It’s a decision that will affect you and perhaps haunt you for the rest of your life.

    Back in Shioshishio, Chisaki tells Kaname that she wants to stay in the sea forever with him, Manaka, and Hikari. Kaname tells her that is because it is comfortable to stay there and that once you start longing for other places, that’s when life gets harder. He then states how surprised he was that Manaka was the first one to take a step out of Shioshishio. Meanwhile, Manaka has looked up Tsumugu’s last name and has memorized it so Hikari will no longer get angry about it.
    Chisaki would be happy if things never changed….but alas change is on the horizon and she’s not that comfortable with it. I know exactly how she feels. Change is the one thing I hate yet I long for.
    Manaka tries her best to keep Hikari from getting mad at her and I want to knock him in the head whenever he yells at her anyway.

    At the dinner table, Hikari is going to question Akari about her kissing the surface guy when she interrupts to comment on the television show she is watching saying that she wished she had a baby girl. Later, while Hikari is in bed, he thinks about how all he wants is to protect Manaka like her Ena does but she is willing to throw it all away for the surface.
    I can relate to both Hikari and Akari. Akari wants her relationship with the surface guy to be successful and produce a child yet it means she loses everything. I too wouldn’t mind losing everything I have to gain something greater. Hikari feels like he needs to protect Manaka but what he doesn’t realize is that Manaka doesn’t need protecting. I understand that from experience.

    The next day, as they are working on the Wooden Maiden, Manaka calls Tsumugu by his last name and Hikari gives her an irritated glance. Manaka wonders why Hikari was mad when she called Tsumugu by his last name when that’s what she thought he wanted her to call him. Tsumugu asks Manaka how the fish in her knee is doing and she lies to him again. As Chisaki heads outside to throw some unneeded wood into the fire she realizes that Manaka really does like Tsumugu and she remembers when Kaname told her that if Manaka was ever out of the picture, it would be her by Hikari’s side. She then notices a hole that was being dug and Tsumugu comes out and tells her they are digging the Shioshishio kids a pond so they don’t have to go back to the sea as soon to refresh their Ena.
    Hikari just can’t be pleased…..no matter what Manaka tries to do to appease him. It’s so frustrating when you do something because you think it will make somebody that you care about happy when in reality, it just makes them more irritated.

    Later, back in Shioshishio, Manaka is once again begging Lord Uroko to curse her. He asks her why she wants to be cursed and she says it hurts to lie. He tells her that until now, she has always had somebody to protect her but now she’s going someplace where she might need a lie to protect herself. As Manaka is leaving the Shrine, she sees the Men’s Club has a hold of Akari. They are furious because she is involved with a surface man. Akari’s father, who is also the Head Priest, comes and sends the men home and that he will talk to his daughter about it. He takes Akari into the Shrine with Lord Uroko and the end theme plays.
    Manaka just needs to tell Tsumugu the truth and be done with it. Seriously….it’s like she’s afraid he won’t like her if she doesn’t have the fish in her knee. As for Akari….she’s chosen a hard path since she’s the daughter of the Chief Priest and in a relationship with a surface guy. I sympathize with her.
    I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure I would get this finished in time…. >.< It’s been a long hectic week for me and my blog entries have been taking 4-5 hours to complete.
    Overall, I felt this was a great episode and I hope you join me next week when I post my third and final entry for the third episode of the anime Nagi no Asukara!
    Thanks for reading!
    ~Ryuji
  3. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my final entry for the anime Nagi no Asukara. You deserve a pat on the head if you have read both of my previous posts for Nagi no Asukara. This third episode provides you with some decent plot that adds to the overall story.

    This episode starts off with Manaka and Hikari trying to hear Lord Uroko’s, Akari’s and their father’s discussion about Akari’s relationship with a surface person but they can’t hear anything. Chisaki and Kaname, after hearing about Akari have come and Hikari and Manaka shush them. None of the discussion is revealed to the viewer just yet. Then the theme music plays.
    I think it’s sweet that Hikari is worrying about his sister so much. He’s a great brother and despite his arguing with Manaka, he’s a good friend too.

    Hikari, Manaka, Kaname and Chisaki go to their old school in Shioshishio to discuss the reason why sea people who get in relationships with surface people. Hikari doesn’t care about that and he blames everything on the surface guy. Chisaki says he seemed nice and Hikari tells her she has crappy taste in guys and Kaname agrees. Hikari decides to look into this surface guy and says that if he’s bad he will punch him senseless. Kaname asks Hikari what he will do if the surface guy is decent and Hikari replies by saying that he will punch him gently then. Manaka and Chisaki try to tell Hikari that violence is wrong and he calls them stupid and tells them to leave declaring a guy’s only meeting with Kaname. Chisaki and Manaka head to the music room where Manaka finds a red bellied sea slug. This is significant because if you tell a red bellied sea slug how you feel about someone, it will either spit out a pretty or a dull rock. The pretty rock means your feelings are true and will last. The dull rock means your feelings will end up with grief and despair. Chisaki then asks Manaka if she likes Tsumugu. Manaka replies saying she’s not sure. She then details what might happen if she does like Tsumugu. Hikari and Kaname overhear this but all Hikari says is that it’s time to go home.
    Baka Hikari! I know you care about them but you’re not treating them right! Telling Chisaki that she has crappy taste in guys is downright rude and mean of you. Kaname agreeing with you was just as bad. Kaname…you have more sense than that….Every time I watch the scene where Hikari calls Manaka and Chisaki stupid I want to punch Hikari into next year. You must always respect girls. ALWAYS!
    I WANT A RED BELLIED SEA SLUG. Seriously…..having something that I could tell my deepest feelings to and it would accurately tell me if they will end happily or not is something I think every person would want. I was really surprised that Hikari didn’t blow his top when he heard Manaka talking about what might would happen if she liked Tsumugu….perhaps there’s hope for him yet.

    When Hikari gets home, everybody is acting normally and the discussion at the shrine isn’t mentioned. That night, Hikari hears Akari crying and he thinks back to when the last time she cried like that in bed. It was when their mother died. At the funeral, Hikari was bawling but Akari didn’t shed a tear. During a flashback, Hikari gets mad at Akari for taking a job on the surface instead of going to college to draw manga. She tells him there isn’t enough money for both of them to go to college. He tells her he doesn’t want to go and she tells him he might change his mind in high school. He counters by saying he won’t go to high school. Akari hugs him and tells him that she loves him. Hikari realized that Akari grew up as fast as she did so she could take care of him. Back in the present, Hikari realizes that although he’s mad at Akari’s boyfriend, he was relieved when he saw them together because it meant that Akari was finally thinking about herself.
    Although nothing has been said about how the discussion went in the shrine, it’s obvious at this point that it didn’t end well for Akari. She’s always trying to be so strong and to take care of Hikari. She even sacrificed her dream of drawing manga……although….I’m not sure how that would work underwater….seriously did the writers even consider that? Maybe I’m just over analyzing it.

    The next day, Hikari, Chisaki, Manaka and Kaname follow Akari’s boyfriend who ends up going to Tsumugu’s house. Hikari charges him but is stopped when Tsumugu’s grandfather throws a net onto him. Chisaki and Manaka take the net off of him and Hikari grabs Akari’s boyfriend’s shirt and tells him that Akari is crying because of him and that everybody in Shioshishio is on her case about their relationship. Tsumugu’s grandfather then intervenes and explains that whenever a child of the sea marries a surface person, the baby is born without Ena. In other words, the people of the sea could go extinct. Kaname says that it now makes sense that if a child of the sea gets into a relationship with a child of the surface they are banished from Shioshishio. This news surprises Akari’s boyfriend. He had no idea. Akari’s boyfriend tells Hikari that he isn’t just messing around with Akari. Hikari asks him if he plans on marrying Akari and he hesitates and doesn’t give an answer. Hikari gets mad that he is dating her yet he isn’t man enough to marry her and he proceeds to beat him up until Tsumugu’s grandfather grabs him and throws him on the ground which knocks him out.
    Hikari flies off the handle again……Thankfully Tsumugu’s grandfather intervenes and explains everything. Then Akari’s boyfriend ruins everything when he doesn’t say yes to Hikari’s question. I don’t quite blame Hikari for trying to beat Akari’s boyfriend up at this point. If you’re going to date somebody seriously, you must at least be willing to marry them. Yay for Tsumugu’s grandfather for trying to knock some sense into Hikari

    When Hikari comes to, Tsumugu places a wet blanket on him and it startles him. Tsumugu asks what happens to their clothes since they come up to the surface all wet. Hikari explains that when they aren’t underwater, their Ena absorbs any extra moisture and stores it. Hikari then asks Tsumugu why he knows so much about Shioshishio and Tsumugu responds by saying it’s because he thinks it’s great. Hikari gets ready to leave and Tsumugu tries to help him up which Hikari refuses and tells him to take it easy. It’s at this point that Hikari realizes that Tsumugu is a good guy. Hikari goes and thanks Tsumugu’s grandfather who tells him that it was him that knocked him out. Hikari says he knows. Tsumugu’s grandfather’s Ena shines and Hikari asks if he is from Shioshishio and before he can answer, Manaka, Chisaki and Kaname appear and they leave. When Hikari gets back home Akari tells him she knows he got beat up. He gets mad because he realizes her boyfriend contacted her. He tells her to give up on him and she says that she is going to give up on him. He is surprised by her lack of resistance and questions her about it. She says it’s fine and Hikari tells her it isn’t fine.
    Hikari actually talks to Tsumugu without arguing. Progress! I know if I was Tsumugu, I would be in love with Shioshishio too! I think it is funny how Hikari is against Akari dating that guy but when she puts up no resistance about leaving him, he argues for her staying with him. He cares about her happiness that much. So sweet.

    The next day, as they are walking to school, Hikari speaks to Tsumugu and calls him Tsumugu instead of Kihara. Manaka gets upset and wants to know why he can call him that but if she calls him that, it sounds perverted. Hikari says it doesn’t matter because they are both guys. Kaname then decides to call him Tsumugu as well. Manaka asks Tsumugu if he’s okay with her calling him Tsumugu and he says he is. Later, Chisaki tells Hikari that she’s glad that he and Tsumugu are friends now. Hikari apologizes for making Chisaki worry and he tells her that he is going to try to grow up some. This surprises Chisaki. Later, they are all working on the Wooden Maiden when their teacher decides he wants to treat them to Ramen. They notice that it’s five o’clock and that they won’t be able to go until Tsumugu intervenes and shows them that the pool he was making is done. He told Manaka that he thought it would help the fish to breathe. She says that she’s sorry and that she lied to him. She then shows him her knee and Hikari notes that the curse was indeed lifted. Manaka tells Tsumugu that she tried to get Lord Uroko to curse her again but he wouldn’t. Tsumugu laughs at this. Hikari then pushes Tsumugu into the pool and tells him thank you as they play wrestle. Everybody decides to jump in. On their way home, Hikari sees Akari’s boyfriend and tells everybody that he forgot to do something and leaves the group. He heads to the store that the guy works at and he is ambushed by Sayu. After Hikari argues some with Sayu, Miuna approaches Hikari and asks him to help her break her dad and “that woman” up. Hikari freaks out when he realizes that Miuna’s dad is Akari’s boyfriend and then the ending theme plays.
    Hikari is finally growing up a little….it’s definitely progress I just nearly died laughing the first time I watched the scene where he calls Kihara, Tsumugu and Manaka freaks out. I don’t know why…but I find that to be so funny. Manaka FINALLY tells Tsumugu the truth. It’s about time! Miuna doesn’t want Akari for a momma and if you continue this series, you’ll find out why. It’s definitely worth it if only to see the changes in Miuna and Sayu
    Congratulations! You made it through all three entries for Nagi no Asukara! You deserve some kind of trophy! I really hope you have enjoyed my rambling and will continue to read the blog posts that I make for other anime.
    The next anime I’m going to post entries for is the currently airing anime, Gate. Fear not! I am going to revise the way I have been doing my blog posts to make them shorter so it doesn’t take 4-5 hours just to complete one entry….seriously….that’s how long I’ve spent on each one of the entries I’ve made so far.
    Thanks again for reading!
    ~Ryuji
  4. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my blog for the first episode of Gate! I didn’t used to watch currently airing anime but after creating an anime landing page for this anime, I couldn’t help myself. I just had to watch it as it was airing. I thought the plot sounded great and the character designs looked so amazing. If by chance you’ve read my past blog entries, you will notice two huge differences in this one. I don’t walk you through the entire episode this time and my comments are intertwine with what I do describe. With that, let’s begin this review!
    The theme music for Gate is beautiful. I absolutely love it! I’ve spent hours on end listening to it.

    Youji is on his way to a Doujinshi sale, when unbeknownst to him, a Gate appears in the middle of the city and chaos starts to ensue. He is too obsessed with going to the sale for his hobby at first to even notice. *High-fives Youji….in the face* Seriously dude…pay attention! I must say that the appearance of the gate (as seen in Picture 2) was executed quite nicely. I couldn’t have imagined a better appearance.

    Youji is so absorbed with researching his hobby that he proceeds to walk into a pole……Baka Youji……Pay attention! For reasons that I’m not quite sure of, he has a vision of the three main female protagonists and he knows exactly what they are……I’m actually wondering if the world on the other side of the Gate is related to his hobby or maybe not….

    So anyways, the enemy army is outside wreaking havoc upon the city and Youji STILL hasn’t noticed what’s going on yet…… makes me want to knock some sense into him. Then, HE FINALLY NOTICES THE CHAOS as the dragon creature flies by the window. It’s about time! Youji’s instincts kick in and he starts fighting the monsters so the people can get away….however….he’s mainly worried that his precious Doujinshi sale will be canceled…..Baka Youji. He helps with the evacuations and the people are allowed through the gates to the protection of the outer wall of the Imperial Palace.

    By this time, the military has stepped in. Yay for the military! The guns on the helicopters make short work of the poor dragons :’( The tanks and the machine guns decimate the ground forces as the creatures and humans don’t have any kind of bullet proof armor. I kind of feel sorry for them….although it’s their own fault for invading.

    After the military breaks the enemy’s formation, the enemy retreats. Youji then goes to where all the citizens were taking refuge and he offers to help a lost girl find her parents. Good guy Youji Several days later, he is recognized as the Hero of Ginza and receives an accommodation as Second Lieutenant. Then he finds out his precious Doujinshi sale was indeed canceled and he almost cries….He’s seriously obsessed….I know how it is.

    Later Youji is eating with Kurata and Kurata reveals that he was at the Doujinshi sale and Youji goes ballistic and asks him to bring the stuff he got to his house. He creeped Kurata out and to be honest, he creeped me out as well.

    Afterwards, the government decided that a dome will be built around the Gate. They don’t want to destroy it because they fear another Gate will be opened somewhere else in Japan. This is actually quite reasonable conclusion and plan to keep the invaders from invading again…wait…did I just say a government did something reasonable? : O I guess anything really is possible in anime They then declare that they will send forces within the “Special Region*” to initiate negotiations. Once again a decently planned strategy by the government…..only in anime would this happen. In real life…the government would probably just nuke the place since it was a threat. Three months later the dome is complete and the military dispatches the Ground Self-Defense Force (which includes Youji) into the Gate to the other side prepared for immediate battle. The enemy forces are waiting and then the ending them plays in other words, more great music!
    *~The name for the area beyond the Gate. To be honest, with a name like “Special Region” I was surprised there wasn’t a speedy blue hedgehog running around collecting chaos emeralds.
    Overall, I felt this was a great first episode and I hope the rest of the anime is just as great. I hope my readers enjoyed this entry and like the new format that I’m following that is shorter and less stressful on me. It only took two hours for this entry compared to the four to five hours doing it the way I was. Thanks for reading and see you next time for Episode Two of Gate!
    ~Ryuji
  5. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my blog for the second episode of Gate! In this episode we are shown more the Special Region and a main character gets introduced…..well sort of.

    We start this episode out by seeing how the Emperor responds to the threat of the people (Youji and company) from the land beyond the Gate. It’s like this: It doesn’t matter that these people massacred the forces we sent to attack them! Let’s forgo all strategy and try to overwhelm them with sheer numbers!

    Now we have the different Generals arguing who’s going to be on the front lines and only one who has the sense to want to stay away because he doesn’t like the look of this battle. He’s the one smart guy in the group. Of course, they all attack and almost half of the original 100,000 men are massacred before they can really even reach Arnus Hill. Then we find out that the Imperial Army never shows up to help fight. The General whom I said has some sense declares that the next attack will be a night raid. They are massacred and the General shoots one arrow in retaliation to the machine guns before he is blown up.

    After the massacre, the buzzards have a feast! It is estimated that they have killed a total of 120,000 men from the Special Region since they first started defending Arnus Hill. It’s really sad……

    Now we find out that the reason the Emperor didn’t send the Imperial Army to help at Arnus Hill is because the Emperor was using the soldiers there to kill off any force that might threaten his empire. If that doesn’t sicken you then this will. He also orders every town and village to have their wells poisoned and then to be burned. He’s so evil. Soon afterwards, Pinya comes in and the Emperor orders her to take her Order and scout out the enemy to try to learn more about them. You can tell he doesn’t think much of his daughter or her order.

    Now we get a glimpse of how other countries are viewing the Gate situation. The USA has decided not to involve themselves (That’s how you know this is definitely a made-up anime. The USA gets involved with everything. :P) and other countries anticipate the defeat of Japan.

    Youji is ordered to lead one of six recon teams to investigate the natives and learn their industries, religion, and politics and to try to establish a friendly relationship with them. This is sensible although it’s obvious that Youji would rather not lead a recon team. He really needs to get over it.

    The mystery of Stonehenge has been solved! People from the Special Region came to Earth via a Gate and built it and left us to wonder about it forever! Now if only I could find our side of the Gate and go there to see Rory.

    At first everybody in Coda village is afraid to approach them but that doesn’t last long and they start interacting before they leave to visit a village that the Coda Village Chief told them about. You would think the natives would be more frightened of outsiders but apparently not.

    As they approach this village, they notice tons of smoke pouring from the forest. They then spot a huge dragon that continues to add to the flames. It is my suspicion that the dragons are controlled by the Emperor since he ordered all the villages and towns burned. The dragon flies off and Youji and his team go to investigate the village only to find it completely destroyed by the fire. Youji throws a bucket into a well to get some water only to have the well hit the bottom with a loud clank. When he looks inside he sees an elf girl. I’m just glad the bucket didn’t hit the elf girl. She had obviously been through a lot already.
    Overall, it was a pretty good episode. As usual, thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time!
    ~Ryuji
     
  6. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my final blog for the third episode of Gate! In this episode, all three main female protagonists are introduced: my wonderful Rory <3, the pretty cute wizard Lelei and the beautiful elf girl.

    We pretty much start this episode off with Youji rescuing the Elf girl and Youji’s comrade freaking out because he’s so excited about the fact that she’s an elf and she’s blonde…such a turnoff! Since her village has been wiped out, Youji opts to take her back as a refugee like a nice guy. Back in Coda Village, the Chief is horrified to find out the forest village has been destroyed by a fire dragon. He tells Youji that he can’t take in the Elf and that the entire village must be abandoned because once a Fire Dragon tastes human or Elf flesh, it will continue to destroy villages. It does take a lot of food to feed a dragon <3.

    Enter Lelei the wizard! She’s one of the main female protagonists and she’s a cutie. Her mentor Kato is kinda perverted……the old geezer……Anyways…Kato is mad because the fire dragon showed up 50 years early…..I guess the fire dragon shows up every so often maybe….

    As Coda Village evacuates, an axle breaks on one of the wagons and injures some people. Lelei investigates and the horse goes crazy and almost stomps on her but one of the soldiers kills the horse before it can hurt her.

    Enter Rory Mercury! Rory dispatches some thugs who were going to raid Coda Village since the villagers abandoned it. Go Rory! I’ll admit I’m a little crazy about Rory

    Another axle breaks and Youji makes them burn the wagon after they get what they can carry off. When asked why he burned it and why he didn’t call for some more trucks to carry it he said it was because they wouldn’t move on without it and if he had called for more trucks, they might’ve become a large enough target for the enemy to make a move and then spontaneous battles would begin and lots of lives would be lost. Despite Youji’s silly personality, you can tell he knows exactly what he’s doing.

    Rory finds Youji and the rest of the Coda Villagers and she questions where they are from. The villagers pray to her and call her an Oracle. After confirming that the strange men in green did not force the villagers out, one of the children tells Rory that the cart that the strange men are in is more comfortable. Rory then proceeds to sit in Youji’s lap. I’m so jealous of Youji right now

    The evacuation is going smoothly until the fire dragon appears! I was like: Yay! It’s a dragon… then it killed off most of the villagers and I was like….No!!! It’s an evil dragon! As they are fighting the dragon, Youji is running out of options. Then the Elf girl finally awakens and tells Youji to target the dragon’s eyes! After several more attacks, the poor injured dragon flies away in retreat :’( Poor dragon….
    Sadness ensues as they have a mass funeral for the deceased villagers. The few remaining villagers head off to nearby villages and Youji and company head back to Arnus Hill.
    Overall, it was a great episode and Gate is turning out to be a pretty great anime! As usual, thanks for reading!
    See you next time when I post Blog Entry #7 Charlotte Episode 1!
    ~Ryuji


    R
  7. Ryuji
    Charlotte is an extremely great anime and I hope that if you haven’t watched it yet that this post will convince you to.
    Hello and welcome to my blog for the first episode of Charlotte! My main reason for watching Charlotte in the beginning was that it was made by the same people who made Angel Beats and I loved Angel Beats. It didn’t take long before I fell in love with Charlotte and I would say it’s the best anime of the season. Without further ado, let the review begin!

    This episode starts off with Yu Otosaka, a guy with an ability that lets him takeover other people for five seconds; however his body goes slack whenever he possesses somebody else. Like an idiot, he uses this ability to cheat on his tests and receives top marks on them. In order to get into a prestigious high school, he sneaks into cram schools and finds people who are going to apply for the same high school as him. To be honest, I want to punch Yu in the face at this point. He’s just an arrogant brat.

    Due to his “intelligence” and good looks, a lot of girls tend to approach Yu. He always lies and turns them down because he wants Yumi Shirayanagi. To achieve his goal, he takes over Yumi’s friend and makes her run away, then he takes over a truck driver and makes him swerve towards Yumi so he can save her life so she will fall for him. I call shenanigans! Time to punch Yu in the face for putting an innocent girl in mortal danger. He must burn! Needless to say, I don’t particularly care for Yu at this point.

    To thank him for saving her life, Yumi takes Yu to go eat her favorite pancakes. The poor girl then proceeds to fall for Yu’s trap and she wants to walk home with him the next day. However, Yu gets called to the student council’s office on the accusation of cheating on the aptitude test. If he can’t get at least 90% he will be expelled. He tries to take over the student council president to see the answer page but it doesn’t work the way he planned. It’s about time things start going bad for Yu. He then gets caught by Nao who has videotaped the entire scene. Yu then runs away only to be captured by another student with a special ability to run really fast but he has no control over stopping.

    After Yu is caught, Nao approaches him and tells him that the ability he has is more like an illness that will fade away soon. He ends up arguing with her when she tells him to transfer to her school and join the student council. Nao then turns invisible and gives Yu the beat down he deserves. Yay for Nao

    When Yu gets home, it’s like his personality does a complete 2π radians (360°) (little math joke) Around his younger, super adorable sister Ayu, Yu is much more likable. Ayu loves looking at the stars and Yu tries to give her some advice so she won’t become isolated from always talking about stars. You can tell he genuinely cares for her.

    When Yu and Ayu are moving into their new apartment, Ayu gets really hyper and she actually makes Yu genuinely smile. It was really nice to see and Ayu is just so adorable <3!

    Later, Yu is telling Yumi that he has to transfer and he can’t come see her so she tells him that they are going to be walking their separate ways then. Yu’s reaction was priceless! He got what he deserved! Meanwhile, Nao and Takajo stop by Yu and Ayu’s apartment to help the two of them settle in. Nao immediately hits it off with Ayu. Kawaiiiiii moments

    That night, Yu has a dream where he and Ayu are walking with a guy but Yu has no idea who he is. Then the episode ends.
    Overall, this episode was pretty good. Aside from the initial dislike of Yu, I quickly came to love Nao and Ayu. Charlotte is an extremely great anime and I hope that if you haven’t watched it yet that this post will convince you to. Once again, thank you for taking the time out of your life to read my blog post. I hope you enjoyed it. See you next time!
    ~Ryuji
  8. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my blog for the second episode of Charlotte! I’m sorry this entry is soooo late…what life I have has been busy lately. A ton of stuff happens in this episode. The student council tries to protect another student with powers from being captured and we also find out some backstory on Nao.

    We start this episode out with Yu and Ayumi transferring to their new schools. Ayumi sends Yu off with a bento containing omelet rice. He isn’t too pleased….baka Yu….your adorable sister is doing the best she can with what little they have…Afterwards, Nao explains to Yu about the history of the school and how if the scientists find out you have an ability, your life is basically over. Yu thinks this is an overstatement but Nao reveals that she was talking about her brother.

    Yu pretends he doesn’t have the bento Ayu prepared for him…..baka Yu….and he goes to the cafeteria to get some lunch. In order to avoid the long line, Takajo uses his ability of “teleportation” to grab some food and drop the money necessary to purchase it. When he gets back, Yu is somewhat concerned because of all the blood but Takajo says he’s fine and that he wears body armor. I really don’t have much to say about this as I don’t really care too much about Takajo.

    Yu asks Takajo why Nao is eating lunch alone and he explains the situation to him. I was quite shocked that Yu would even care considering how he has been acting so far. After a few minutes Nao approaches them and tells them that a comrade will show up soon. Takajo tells Yu that means they need to wait in the student council room. Soon a mystery man comes in all dripping wet and drops a water droplet on the map for the location of an ability user and states the ability is Thoughtography. It turns out to be a student at a school nearby so Nao, Takajo and Yu head out to question the students on any unusual activity to find this person.

    After finding a suspicious person, Nao tells Yu to possess him so she can search his belongings. Upon doing so, she finds some lewd photos. She questions him about them and he refuses to tell her who he bought them from so she threatens to tell the girl in the picture that he had those pictures of her. He then reveals the guy’s name to her and they proceed to find him. I agree with Nao….that was definitely a stupid use of Thoughtography…

    It turns out he’s the captain of the archery club. When Nao confronts him, he denies everything until she explains that she’s been through all the pictures in his locker and has video evidence of it. He then produces a picture of Nao in lingerie (I so wish they had shown that pic xP) and threatens to spread the picture. He compliments Nao and she acts so cute because she actually got a compliment. So it turns out that the guy’s parents are sick and he’s trying to raise money to help them. Yu possesses the guy and throws the picture to Nao. I love Nao…especially in that picture above this paragraph. She has great facial expressions! That guy seriously needs to a job or something….you don’t make money by degrading girls. That’s just sick and plain awful.

    The guy then shoots an arrow at Nao. (He is the lowest of lowlifes for shooting at a girl) Takajo uses his ability to stop the arrow and then the guy gives up and Nao tells him to get an honest job to help his parents.

    Yu asks about Nao’s brother so she decides show Yu what happens to the people when the scientists find out they have an ability. On the way there, they stop and get some food in which we have more kawaii scenes with Nao acting all cute.

    Nao tells Yu about her past and we are shown a flashback with super kawaii young Nao! <3However, this cute flashback quickly turns sad the moment you see Nao’s mother begging for her and her brother to go to this school which will help them financially. They do exams on Nao and turn her brother into an experiment. Nao eventually broke out and ran away. What makes me sad is that if something like this was to actually happen and people got abilities; scientists would dissect them and treat them like this.

    When they finally arrive where Nao’s brother is, Nao takes Yu to her brother’s room. When they enter her brother is tearing away at the futon and grunting really loudly. Nao explains that he thinks he’s playing a guitar and that the grunting is the main melody. It’s quite sad to see him like this….I feel really sad for Nao right now. *hugs Nao* Then they head back home.

    Ayu is kind of upset with Yu coming home so late but she forgives him when he tells her that he is on the student council. They sit down to eat curry but Yu thinks it tastes terrible because Ayu used the Otasaka Household Pizza Sauce that is really sweet. That night, Ayu sees a comet and tells Yu that she wants to see a comet that only passes by every few centuries. Then the episode ends.
    Overall, this is another fantastic episode. Once again, I apologize for the really late entry! Hopefully I’ll have the next entry up soon as well….since it’s also late. >.<
    So apparently 25 images is the maximum amount of pictures I can put on here xP
    I hope my adoring fans can forgive me. xP
    Once again, thank you for taking the time out of your life to read my blog post. I hope you enjoyed it. See you next time!
    ~Ryuji
  9. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my final blog for the third episode of Charlotte! Once again, I’m sorry this entry is soooo late…like I said last time, what life I have has been busy lately. This episode of Charlotte introduces the final member of the Student Council!

    This episode starts off with Ayu preparing omelet rice again for Yu. He tries to refuse but she insists on him taking it anyway so he does. Ayu is so freaking adorable

    After Yu gets to school, Takajo decides he’s going to spurge for the limited edition beef tongue curry to lift Yu’s spirits. Once again Yu doesn’t eat the lunch Ayu prepared for him….so wasteful….He even goes so far as to start talking about how good the beef tongue is….

    So the Student Council’s informant reveals that the next ability user has two abilities. One is channeling and the other is pyrokinesis. This bomb shocks everybody because it has always been one ability per person. The street that is marked on the map is an alley which indicates the ability user is moving. Upon closer inspection, it appears the ability user is being chased. After talking to a witness, they find out the name of the person being chased. It is Yusa also known as Yusarin, an idol. Takajo freaks out because he’s such a Yusarin fan…..such a turnoff!!!

    Nao notices a suspicious looking person and chases him. He punches her in the face and runs off. Takajo and Yu use their abilities to subdue the guy. Nao gets up and is more worried about her camcorder than about the punch she received to the face. Since the guy is injured already, Nao threatens to leave him to die if he doesn’t answer her questions. After the ambulance takes the guy away, a red haired guy approaches them. He knows Yusa and it doesn’t take much to convince him that Nao and company are not enemies. He agrees to lead them to Yusa.

    Once they reach Yusa, Takajo freaks out and we get some wonderful lines from Nao. Nao questions Yusa about some questions about her ability and when one of the other guys answers, Nao tells him to shut up and resumes questioning Yusa. It’s a great scene for Nao fans. Yusa is pretty cute too.

    After some talking, they learn that Yusa is being chased because she accidentally took a smartphone home that belonged to a producer and read a text message that would get him fired. Misa then takes over Yusa and nearly burns the whole place down. After some more discussion, Nao tells Misa that she is good with creating plans to threaten others and that she’ll help. Misa agrees and therefore, her two companions agree as well. Misa is great character and it’s hilarious watching Takajo freak out when his cute Yusa becomes a pyromaniac xP

    After some fireproof clothes, Nao turning invisible and beating the producer up, Takajo knocking somebody out and Yu possessing a guy and making him stab his leg, Nao’s plan to make the producer terrified of Yusa succeeds. Afterwards, Nao convinces Yusa/Misa to transfer to Hoshinoumi Academy. It’s an awesome scene!
    NEVER get on Nao’s bad side xP

    Since Yusa/Misa will be transferring, Sho (redheaded guy) takes a moment to tell Misa that he loved her and he felt like it was his fault that she had died. Misa tells him to move on and to be happy. He says he will. This is a really emotional scene…..that made me tear up.

    When Yu gets home, Ayu gets mad at him because he is really late and he didn’t call. Ayu is adorable even when she’s mad. Her anger is diffused when he tells her he was doing student council work. After they eat, Ayu sees Yusarin on the television and Yu tells her that she will be transferring to his Academy tomorrow. Ayu asks if there was any way she could meet her and ends up with a nosebleed. Ayu is so freaking adorable Then the episode ends.
    Overall, this is another fantastic episode. Once again, I apologize for the really late entry! Charlotte is totally worth finishing and I hope you enjoy the anime.
    Once again, thank you for taking the time out of your life to read my blog post. I hope you enjoyed it. See you next time!
    ~Ryuji
  10. Ryuji

    Merry Christmas!

    By Ryuji,

    Hello and welcome to a Special Article for Christmas! I want to start off by wishing everybody a Merry Christmas! In this Article, I am going to be talking about how the origin of Christmas, the origin of the Christmas Tree, and the origin of Santa Claus.
    You can’t talk about Christmas without talking about the reason for the season which is the celebration of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. In the early years of Christianity, the birth of Jesus was not celebrated. It wasn’t until the fourth century that church officials decided to institute the birth of Jesus as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mention a date for this, although some evidence hints at it being during the spring. Pope Julius I chose December 25 because, during the fourth century, the Winter Solstice was on December 25 so it is commonly believed that the Pope chose the 25th because, up until this point, the Winter Solstice had been composed of a festival honoring the sun god which was set by the Roman emperor Aurelian in the late 3rd century A.D. By setting Christmas on the 25, the Christian Church was trying to eliminate the worshipping of the sun god by celebrating the birth of the Son of God on that day.
    The origin of the Christmas tree is part history and part legend and claims that the Christmas tree dates back to the eighth century. This legend is based on St Boniface and the destruction of Odin’s oak. St Boniface was the English Bishop Winfrid who went to Germany in the eighth century to preach the Christian faith as a missionary from the Church of Rome. After a period of apparently successful Gospel preaching, Boniface went to Rome to confer with Pope Gregory II. After a long absence, he returned to Germany, for Christmas and felt personally offended on discovering that the Germans had reverted to their former idolatry and were preparing to celebrate the winter solstice by sacrificing a young man under Odin’s sacred oak tree. Fired by holy anger, Bishop Boniface took up an axe and dared to cut down the oak. This courageous, historically documented act meant the triumph of Christianity in Germany over the pagan divinities. All of this is historically documented. The rest belongs to the legend which tells how, at the first blow of the axe, a strong gust of wind instantly brought down the tree. The astounded Germans fearfully recognized the hand of God in this event and humbly asked Boniface how they should celebrate Christmas. The Bishop pointed to a small fir tree that had miraculously remained upright and intact beside the debris of the fallen oak. Boniface was familiar with the popular custom of taking an evergreen plant into the house in winter and asked everyone to take home a fir tree. This tree signifies peace, and as an evergreen it also symbolizes immortality; with its top pointing upwards, it additionally indicates heaven, the dwelling place of God.
    The origin of Santa Claus is almost lost in today’s society. First off, let me clarify that the Santa Claus that the media portrays today is NOT a correct portrayal of the historical figure that the legend is based on. Santa Claus is the Dutch version of the name Saint Nicholas. St. Nicholas was a fourth century Catholic Bishop in Turkey. He would NOT be married nor would he have children as the media portrays him today. His parents died while he was still young, leaving him with a comfortable fortune, which he resolved to use for works of charity. Soon an opportunity came. A citizen of Patara had lost all his money and his three daughters could not find husbands because of their poverty. In despair, their wretched father was about to commit them to a life of shame. When Nicholas heard of this, he took a bag of gold and, at night, tossed it through an open window of the man’s house. Here was a dowry for the eldest girl, and she was quickly married. Nicholas did the samefor the second and then for the third daughter. On the last occasion the father was watching by the window and overwhelmed his young benefactor with gratitude. Thus, the tradition of giving gifts at Christmastime began.
    I hope you enjoyed this Christmas Article! As always, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this and I hope you enjoyed it and maybe learned something new!
    Merry Christmas!!!
    ~Ryuji
    Now it’s time for some Christmas Anime Pictures!

  11. Ryuji

    History of Halloween

    By Ryuji,

    Hello and welcome to a special Halloween Article! Outside of the United States, Halloween is not widely celebrated around the world and I’ve found that people outside the US know little to nothing about what Halloween is and what its origins are.
    Halloween had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. November 1 was considered the end of the summer period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. It was also a time when the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their homes. People set bonfires on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in these ways that beings such as witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day. The period was also thought to be favourable for divination on matters such as marriage, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the 1st century AD, they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest.
    In the 7th century AD, Pope Boniface IV established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century, perhaps in an effort to supplant the pagan holiday with a Christian observance; it was moved to November 1. The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Halloween. By the end of the Middle Ages, the secular and the sacred days had merged. The Reformation essentially put an end to the religious holiday among Protestants, although in Britain especially Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday. Along with other festivities, the celebration of Halloween was largely forbidden among the early American colonists, although in the 1800s there developed festivals that marked the harvest and incorporated elements of Halloween. When large numbers of immigrants, including the Irish, went to the United States beginning in the mid 19th century, they took their Halloween customs with them, and in the 20th century Halloween became one of the principal U.S. holidays, particularly among children.
    As a secular holiday, Halloween has come to be associated with a number of activities. One is the practice of pulling usually harmless pranks. Celebrants wear masks and costumes for parties and for trick-or-treating, thought to have derived from the British practice of allowing the poor to beg for food called “soul cakes.” Trick-or-treaters go from house to house with the threat that they will pull a trick if they do not receive a treat, usually candy. Halloween parties often include games such as bobbing for apples, perhaps derived from the Roman celebration of Pomona. Along with skeletons and black cats, the holiday has incorporated scary beings such as ghosts, witches, and vampires into the celebration. Another symbol is the jack-o’-lantern, a hollowed-out pumpkin, originally a turnip, carved into a demonic face and lit with a candle inside.
    Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition but I hope that, with this article, you have gained some insight about the history of Halloween.
    Once again, I thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed it.
    ~Ryuji
    Here are some wonderful Halloweenish anime screenshots!

    ~Hyouka
     

    ~Re-Kan
     

    ~Owari no Seraph (Vampires are often depicted in Halloween movies)
  12. Ryuji
    Hello and welcome to my Kanon 2006 Article! I can’t remember the last time I had enough time to write an Article for Anime Forums. Life has been crazy but it has slowed down for the time being for me. So here I am, back with another Article! This Article will be different from my previous Articles. (if anybody who has read those is still here xP) I will not be doing an episode guide. Instead, I’m going to discuss the main characters of Kanon 2006.
    Do NOT open the spoiler tags unless you’ve already watched Kanon 2006 as they contain MAJOR SPOILERS.
    Aizawa Yuuichi
    Aizawa Yuuichi is the main character of Kanon. He used to visit the city but, after a terrible tragedy, he leaves and doesn’t return for seven years. When he finally goes back, he hardly remembers anything from seven years prior. He lives with his cousin, Nayuki and her mother. As he interacts with the people he met in the past, he slowly starts to regain his memory. Yuuichi is this fun guy who teases all the main girls but he has a good heart and often acts like an older brother and protects them. He does choose a girl towards the end which I’ll discuss later on.
    This whole person going to a city, leaving for seven years and returning with few memories really reminded me of the anime Celestial Method which I absolutely loved so that alone instantly got me hooked on Kanon. I seriously would love to be Yuuichi. All he does is go to school and then wander around talking to beautiful girls xP He’s a really great guy.
    Yuuichi’s Ending
    Later on, Yuuichi realizes he is in love with Ayu. They share a kiss. Ayu’s ending occurs and after lots of tears, heartaches and a miracle, they end up together.
    I’m not going to go into this too much since most of it involves Ayu’s route and I’m going to discuss it later. It’s really sweet and a good pair up for Yuuichi. (although not the best in my opinion but I’ll get to that later. xP)
     
     
    Nayuki Minase
    Nayuki is Yuuichi’s cousin. She loves strawberry sundaes. She’s such a heavy sleeper that she has to have a plethora of alarm clocks and even then, they don’t always wake her up and Yuuichi or her mother has to get her up. Even when she gets up, she is often in such a sleepy daze that, she can eat, get dressed for school and head out to school with Yuuichi before she even wakes up. Then she’s confused as to how she got to where she was fully dressed xP This often causes her to be late for school and she often ends up running. She runs to school so much that she became the school’s star runner and captain of the track team. She loves cats despite being highly allergic to them.
    Nayuki is an extremely fun character to watch. Her sleepy dazes are always so amusing to watch because she usually passes out again, often while eating or walking. xP  Her “neko mode” is pretty adorable as well. She easily has the best facial expressions out of every character in Kanon.
    Nayuki’s Ending
    After a request for strawberry cake leads to Nayuki’s mother getting in an accident, Nayuki shuts down and completely blames herself for what happens. She tries to pretty much cut herself off from all her friends saying that she doesn’t deserve to be happy since it was her fault that her mother was in the hospital. It’s mainly due to the intervention by Yuuichi and some of her other friends that snap her out of it. Her mother survives the incident. It is also revealed that Nayuki is in love with Yuuichi.
    Seeing that expression on Nayuki’s face, in the above picture, nearly destroyed me the first time I was watching Kanon. She’s such a sweet girl that I just want to save her from the pain although that pain does make her stronger in the end. With this being based on a Key VN, I was soooo afraid Nayuki’s mother was going to die. I was so relieved when it was revealed that her mother didn’t die.
     
     
    Mai Kawasumi
    Mai Kawasumi is a mysterious girl. Due to her disregard for what’s considered “normal behavior”, she’s viewed as a delinquent by the other students. She can usually be found with her best and only friend Sayuri. She doesn’t talk much and even when she does, it’s usually brief responses. After meeting Mai in the hallway of the school at night, Yuuichi starts eating lunch with Mai and Sayuri and Mai slowly warms up to him.
    Mai is the cute, quiet type in Kanon. Don’t let that disguise fool you though because she’s a badass with a sword. She is extremely protective of Sayuri and let’s just say you wouldn’t want Mai to catch you being mean to or hurting Sayuri. It won’t end well for you xP.
    Mai’s Ending
    It is revealed that Mai’s mother became ill when Mai was younger. After her mother is miraculously healed, we find out that Mai has the power to heal anybody and anything.  This power made the townspeople fear her and as a result everybody except her mother ostracized her. Mai was told that she would meet someone who would be able to put aside her powers and become a great friend and that friend was Yuuichi. Soon after, Yuuichi had to leave town and return home. This made Mai sad and, out of desperation, she made up a story about demons invading the field of wheat where they played together. Soon afterwards, a school was built on that field and Mai started walking the grounds at night, sword in hand, fighting off the demons. It is revealed that the demons are the manifestation of Mai’s power. Together with Yuuchi, Mai defeats each of the demons and afterwards, she tries to commit suicide but fails which lands her in the hospital.
    Mai’s ending is okay. You basically just find out that the destruction is caused by Mai not accepting her healing powers and the fact that she missed Yuuichi. Each time a demon was killed it hurt Mai. She survives her suicide attempt due to something I’ll discuss later.
     
    Shiori Misaka
    One day, while adventuring with Ayu, Yuuichi meets Shiori, although during the first encounter, Yuuichi doesn’t get her name. A few days later, as Yuuichi is staring outside the window during class, he notices that Shiori is standing out in the snow right outside the school. When lunch comes, Yuuichi goes outside to talk to Shiori and learns her name and that she is outside waiting for somebody. He also learns that she is a student there but she is sick with a cold and that is why she isn’t in class. Yuuichi tells her to go home since she is sick and it’s snowing which isn’t going to help her get better. Nevertheless, she shows up every day waiting for somebody.
    Shiori reminds me a lot of Nagisa from Clannad (Nagisa’s character may have been based on Shiori since they are both Key titles) She’s sick, sicker than what she tells Yuuichi at first. She has a dream and that’s why she’s waiting for someone everyday at school even though she is too sick to actually attend. She’s a really sweet girl.
    Shiori’s Ending
    Shiori is expected to die before her next birthday. We also find out that Kaori Misaka (Yuuichi’s classmate) is Shiori’s older sister but because she knows Shiori is going to die, she acts like Shiori doesn’t exist. Yuuichi eventually gets Kaori to acknowledge and to spend time with Shiori which makes both girls much happier. The person Shiori was waiting for was her sister Kaori. It was her dream to go to school with her sister. However, Shiori does not die and starts to get better due to the same reason Mai didn’t die which I’ll discuss later. This leads to Shiori returning to school and fulfilling her dream.
    Now you see why Shiori reminds me of Nagisa: the lasting sickness, potential death and wanting to fulfill her dream. I was so happy she didn’t die. Her playful personality despite the fact she knew she was dying was beautiful.
     
     
    Makoto Sawatari
    Yuuichi meets Makoto when she attacks him out-of-the-blue in the middle of town. She was then carried her back to his cousin’s house (where he is living), where she lives as a guest for the remainder of her story. Despite having lost her memories, she eventually remembers her name and is sure that she holds a grudge against Yuuichi from the past when he visited the city back when he was younger. Makoto’s amnesia, is much more severe than Yuuichi’s or Ayu’s, but from an entirely different source. It takes her a while to warm up to a stray cat she finds and taking Yuuichi’s suggestion, names it Piro. Makoto loves Piro very much and will often carry the cat around on her head. Makoto has a mischievous personality which leads to her performing various pranks exclusively on Yuuichi during the middle of the night due to her strong dislike for him, something she constantly reaffirms. Her pranks vary in severity, such as simply dropping food on him or once even throwing lit firecrackers into his room. Yuuichi always counters them and as a result, Makoto is the one upset in the end. As time passes and Makoto starts feeling more like a member of the Minase family rather than a stranger, she honestly grows to like Yuuichi, effectively looking beyond her latent distaste for him. Makoto has an idiosyncratic expression, “auu~”, which she says when she is frustrated or sad. It has no real meaning. Another unique speech pattern of hers is that she always refers to herself in the third person. Near the end of her story, Yuuichi buys a present for Makoto, which she chooses. It’s a bracelet with two bells on it. Makoto enjoys the sound they make.
    Finally! I’ve gotten to my favorite girl in all of Kanon! Makoto is so adorable and her failed attempts at pranks usually in up with adorable scenes with her. Auuuu~ She’s so adorable when she says Auuuu~ I just LOVE IT!!! Her interactions with Piro are always super adorable too! She’s easily the best character in all of Kanon in my opinion. I don’t think I mentioned it earlier but she eventually becomes addicted to manga and meat buns and she eventually gets Yuuichi to read to her. So adorable I could die xP
    Makoto’s Ending
    We find out that Makoto is not a human but instead a fox that Yuuichi found ten years ago when he came to the city as a child. Yuuichi first found Makoto, back then a young fox, injured on Monomi Hill and he took the fox back and kept it in his room for the rest of the summer. One day, Yuuichi tells the fox about an older girl that he had a crush on named Makoto Sawatari, which is where Makoto’s name is derived from. At the end of summer break, Yuuichi takes the fox back to the hill and he runs away soon after releasing her, leading her to be angry with Yuuichi. Her desire to see Yuuichi again was so strong that her wish was granted…..at the cost of her memories….and later…..after her humanistic qualities start to fade and all she can say is Auuuu~, Yuuichi takes Makoto to Monomi Hill and pretends to marry her,  making her final wish come true. Soon after, Makoto dies fulfilling the final requirement of the miracle.
    Makoto has the saddest route in Kanon because she actually dies. My heart broke and I hated that the cost of her miracle was her memories and later her life….Even now, I can barely type my thoughts on the matter because being reminded of it just makes me want to cry :’( :’( :’( :’( :’(
     
     
    Ayu Tsukimiya
    Ayu is a rather short, strange, energetic, and a very mysterious girl who literally bumps into Yuuichi early on in the story. She is easily recognizable by her winged backpack, and her red hairband. Ayu is left handed and loves to eat taiyaki. Ayu often takes out her frustration by using the idiosyncratic expression “uguu” much like Makoto with her “Auuu.” She is searching for an item that is important to her but she doesn’t remember what it is only that she’ll know it when she sees it. She has a severe lack of present day knowledge such as she doesn’t know what a cell phone is. She has memory loss as well.
    Ayu is really adorable and my second favorite girl in Kanon. Her “Uguuu” makes me die of adorableness just like Makoto’s “Auuuu~” did. Encounters with Ayu are pretty funny because she usually runs toward Yuuichi trying to hug him and he dodges which leads to her hitting a tree or falling over. She never stays mad at Yuuichi for too long though because he buys her taiyaki which she loves. And now onto the final ending of Kanon.
    Ayu’s Ending
    Seven years before the story begins, Ayu falls out of a tree and hits her head on the last day Yuichi was going to be in town. At first, he believes she died, but Akiko reveals she is in the hospital and has been in a coma for the past seven years. The Ayu Yuichi has been meeting in town is actually an astral projection of herself (similar to Fuuko in Clannad). Later on in the series, with Yuuichi’s help, she breaks out of her coma, and gets her hair inadvertently cut too short when she goes to a barber shop, leading him to comment how much she looks like a boy like he did before. The item she had been looking for was a small angel doll that Yuuichi had given her telling her that it would grant three wishes as long as Yuuichi could make the wishes come true. She uses two of them and then her and Yuuichi bury the doll in a jar as a kind of time capsule. While Ayu is in her coma, she gains the ability to have one wish granted and she chooses for the one she cares deeply for to always be happy; that’s why Nayuki’s mother, Mai and Shiori didn’t die.
    I was heartbroken when I thought Ayu was dead. I was so relieved to find out she was in a coma and when she finally awoke. If Yuuichi couldn’t have Makoto, I would settle for him loving Ayu. I don’t know why Ayu’s wish didn’t extend to saving Makoto….maybe the cost of the Makoto’s miracle overrode the effects of Ayu’s wish. I just don’t know…..
    It was a pretty good ending to a great anime!
     
     
    I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey I’ve taken you on through the lives of the main cast of Kanon and I hope that you’ve either watched it or that this Article will inspire you to watch it! Thank you so much for taking the time to read it! I hope you have a great day!
    ~Ryuji

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