From Anime To Manga

I’m primarily an anime watcher. For the lack of a proper word, let’s use the word “watcher” for now. To further elaborate, I’m more inclined to watch the anime of any titles as long as there’s an anime version of it. I’ll be more than happy to skip reading the manga, playing the visual novel or reading the light novel. In that respect, yes, I’m more of an anime person. For readers who have been following this blog for a long time would come to realize this. After all, I mentioned it several times.

So, for me to transition from the anime to actually reading manga takes a lot of work. At least, the anime must do the original work justice. This means what was translated into an anime isn’t too far off the original work. Majority of the characteristics are still there and whatever emotions are properly conveyed through animated work.

Why I Like One Piece

I suppose it’s not easy to be watching a series for 5 years. One has to be a huge fan or the series has to be real good for anyone to keep following a series after so long. A lot can change in 5 years. In my case though, I’ve been faithfully following One Piece because the series never ceased to amaze me. I never grow tired of it. Sure, there are short periods (a few months in between) in which I watch or read nothing One Piece related, but I’ll always come back to the series, loving every moment of it.

Why I like One Piece? It is a question I never ask or be asked until a few weeks back when I was catching up with series and thought, hey I really like One Piece and this is why. So instead of letting the thoughts come and go, I’ll write them down in this post.

On Being Too Attached To Fictional Characters

It might sound silly to some people, but I’ve seen friends and strangers alike being overly attached to fictional characters. In the context of this blog, being too attached to 2D characters from anime or manga. Maybe even games! But I seldom read or hear people complain about characters in games. I wonder why…

This thought crossed my mind every time I read or hear fans complaining about a certain tragedy that has fallen on their favorite characters. Most recently, a friend told me she was scared to read the then latest chapter (probably two weeks ago?) of Naruto because she was scared to find out what’d happened Kakashi. Apparently, our mutual friend had told her that something bad might happened to the character. I didn’t know what to say when she explained her reason. I simply kept quiet.

Fairy Tail: Where Do I Go From Here?

Come to think of it, I never really wrote anything about Fairy Tail. I might not be fully invested in the series, but still I have follow the anime until the end. That’s right – 175 episodes. All watched. It’s pure leisure.

Fairy Tail isn’t any different from other shounen titles. In my opinion, that’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because it feels familiar and I know it won’t go too far off the formulae. At the same time, it’s a bad thing because of the good thing (am I confusing you here?) and that makes it some sort of a clone. It makes it easy for skeptics to say “Oh, that’s just another shounen series. Good guys will win at the end.”

Wonder Worlds of Anime

I’m very sure I’m not the only one who noticed that there are a lot of anime recently set in a futuristic setting. By setting, I mean story world. The kind of world I don’t mind living in, especially with all those cool gadgets and technology to play with. It’s easy for me to go gaga over stuff like that so please excuse me.

This leads me to think about one of the reasons why I love watching anime so much. Each anime is a story told in a fantasy world that exercises imagination.

Hoshiko’s Anime Time Management

This post is written as part of a project organized by Kai. Gotta say, Kai’s invitation’s timing is just right because this is something I’ve been thinking about lately.

Compared to last year, I’ve less free time on hand, which also means less time for anime and other related hobbies. Okay, before I go any further into how I manage my time when it comes to anime and the likes, I shall roughly talk about my usually fixed schedule. I have a day job as software engineer, working only on weekdays, eight to five. After work, I will go for a quick jog or just work out on my stationary bike or do some strength exercises for about 30 minutes. When all that plus more is done, thanks to short commute time in my city, it will be about 7.30 to 8pm. As for weekends, I’ll go for a two-hour badminton session with colleagues on Saturday and doing absolutely nothing on Sunday. I need my rest. This is my usually fixed schedule.

One Piece’s Roronoa Zoro

I took these pictures a looooong time ago. I remember posting it in Figure.fm couple years ago but maybe under a different username or something. I was going through my folders in my trusty lappie when I stumbled upon this. I figured since I’ve never actually posted the pictures on this blog, I might as well do it now.

Oh, how can I forget to introduce this figure? It’s MegaHouse’s Excellent Model Portrait of Pirates “Strong Edition” Roronoa Zoro Version 2. Phew, that’s a long name. Without further ado, here are the rest of pictures of this lovely figure.

Kawaii Attack!!! My Favorite Mascots

Over the years of my own anime fandom, I’ve seen countless of what I call as mascots in anime of various genres. These mascots usually have no significant roles in an anime as their major role is to exhibit cuteness to the audience. Of course, as always, there are exceptions and I can think of one special character right now.

This post shall include a list of mascots I find oh-so-adorable and they are not rank in any particular order. Let’s get drown in high level of cuteness, shall we?

One Piece: Straw Hat Pirates Are Back With New Looks!

If you’re the manga reader or also the manga reader of One Piece, then you probably won’t feel the excitement as much as the anime only fans. Unless, of course, you’re like me! A year ago around this time, Straw Hat Pirates were already reunited in the manga and heading towards to their next adventure. Now that this is getting animated, I’m so, so excited.

I’ve already written a post about the change in the Straw Hat Pirates about a year ago but what I didn’t do was to show you the change. Having said that, I’ll leave you some screenshots I’ve captured from episode 517 and 518. This is the new Straw Hat Pirates, baby!

How Do You Pick Your Anime?

A few weeks into anime summer season, I’m seeing my to-watch list just grows insanely. It’s a bit scary since I don’t have the luxury of time to be watching everything that’s currently on my list. Of course, I have my strategy. The ones I really like I’ll watch them on weekly basis. The ones I like enough to be following but not crazy enough about them, then maybe I’ll gather a few episodes before watching them. Maybe two, three episodes? Or maybe more. I’m like ten episodes behind Hanasaku Iroha, but fear not for I shall catch up soon. I just need to buy a bag of popcorn and then wait till the weekend arrives. I hope this weekend’s weather is cool. I don’t like to marathon a series under a hot, humid weather. Note to self: buy popcorn.