Animes I've Watched So Far (part 2)

An updated list on all the animes I've watched. Most of these have been recommended to me thanks to my boyfriend. :)

Hunter x Hunter 

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Violet Evergarden

My Hero Academia

Steins;Gate (and Steins;Gate 0)

Your Lie in April

The Devi's a Part-Timer! 

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Yona of the Dawn 

My Overall Thoughts

Looking at the list in full now makes me realize that I mostly prefer ones that have action, comedy and a little bit of heart/emotion. However, Violet is one of those exceptions because at the show's core, it's meant to be mostly emotional and heartfelt. Now as someone who can be unemotional at times, I can say that Violet Evergarden truly did make me cry at least once. It takes a lot for a TV show of any sort to get those waterworks out of me. 

My Hero Academia, Devil's a Part-Timer and  Hunter x Hunter are of the comedic spectrum in a lot of ways, but with MHA and HxH in particular, you can tell that its overall story-telling is fast paced at times. There's definitely a lot of variety in these shows' characters which is something that can easily get me hooked from the first episode. These are the kinds of animes you can just turn on for a little while then take a break from if you really want to. 

I've already given a brief review for Yona, Jojo and Your Lie in April in my previous anime watch list, so I'm just going to provide the link for that here for anyone who hasn't read that post:

(https://amyhoover9.blogspot.com/2018/08/animes-ive-watched-so-far.html)

Steins;Gate is honestly one of my all-time favorite animes that I've watched by far (along w/ MHA and FMAB). There's a lot of development in the show as the story progresses and while I don't want to give anything away, I will say that the main character- better known as Okabe Rintarou- endures the most change in a way that's just traumatic and unimaginable. Try not to be eating any bananas while you're watching this particular series. 

The Struggles of Social Media & Making Real Social Connections

As someone who's part of the "technology-infused" generation, I've noticed a few things whenever I decide to take a break from technology for either an entire day or even half the day. Now before I get into this topic, I'd like to address this one thing. Taking breaks from social media in general is difficult; I think anyone around my age or younger could attest to that statement. However, sometimes setting even the smallest of goals can help you find a better and healthier balance, like just turning off all your notifications or putting your phone away for just one day.

Whenever I go out to lunch with a friend or go to see a movie by myself, I'll sometimes see and observe other people's behaviors. There are families who are actually engaged with each other in conversation, and there are also those who are with one or two friends and they seem to be having fun. However, in the midst of all of that, you do sometimes see that one person who's with another person, but both of them are on their phones. Whenever I witness that, it reminds me of my sometimes unhealthy habits with technology and social media. That feeling of always needing to keep people updated with what we're doing or checking in with what's going on in everyone else's lives honestly gets tiring in my opinion. I don't want to waste my time with that, and quite frankly, I don't know why we care so much about that. Now don't get me wrong here, I completely understand that we all just want to feel connected to distant friends or relatives sometimes, but to what end does this continue to where it becomes some kind of obligation? That fear of losing touch with people we care about... why is that such a big deal? These are just some things that I think about whenever I see where I'm at with social media today. I don't want to put this obligation on me to keep people informed with my life, nor do I want to take time away from my day to just scroll through an endless supply of pictures, memes and funny videos. I just want to become more aware of what I'm doing in the moment and become more interactive with the people in my life that I care about.

So with that being said, I feel like my biggest challenge in becoming more social off screen is just starting up a conversation. I typically don't have any problems with small talk and I'm a pretty friendly person upon first greetings, but anything beyond that does give me a slight hint of anxiety. Anyone who is naturally introverted would understand that specific need of wanting to be social, but also wanting that alone time afterwards. It's just something that makes me, me.

This Is Who I Am (part 5)

My personality in two words is a shy observer. I'm very selective of who I decide to trust or be friends with. Friendship to me consists of 3 things: loyalty, honesty and respect. On another note, I also consider myself to be highly analytical. By nature, I tend to spend a lot of time inside my head, thinking about things that are either of little or high importance. In some cases, I'd call myself an idealist since there are some things that I feel strongly about. Another word that I think describes me best is that I'm very intuitive. I'm usually able to pick up right away on somebody's intentions, but because of my learning disability, I may have days where that first gut reaction doesn't hit me right away. 

So despite me having this blog, I typically don't like to put my deepest thoughts and feelings out there for people to speculate or talk about. I feel like the reason for that is because I always take other people's words to heart, and I'm not saying that in a negative way. I'm just the kind of person who feels deeply and doesn't take anything for granted. 

If I'm being honest with myself here, there are times where I'll catch myself being hypocritical with things I've said either in person or here on my blog. Sometimes my own sense of awareness will leave me feeling quite insecure or unsure of myself. There's no easy way for me to explain the imbalance in my head sometimes, but while I still try my best to be confident and positive, I'll have days where I'm just not at my best. 

So this is everything I am. Other words that people have said about me would be that I have an open and generous heart. Other people would say that I'm very sweet, thoughtful, kind, genuine and just amazing overall. All these positive words are what makes me, me- and that's all you need to know. 

Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

For those of you who don't know about this amazing anime, it's about two brothers who try to gain back their physical bodies after performing a forbidden taboo to bring back their dead mother. Now as a disclaimer, this review will have SPOILERS, so unless you don't have any interest in the show, I suggest that you just get to watching it first before reading this.

First off, I just want to give credit to animators and creators as well as those who helped to produce the opening and ending themes for FMAB. I feel like the art production within each episode is pretty simple, but also elegant. And of course, the openings and endings are a huge part of why I love this series so much. My favorite OPs in particular are 1st and 4th ones (Again by Yui and Period by CHEMISTRY). As for the endings, I love the first one the most (Uso by SID). 

Edward and Alphonse Elric have such likable personalities in my opinion. One running joke from the first couple seasons that I love is how explosive Ed gets whenever he's called short, a subatomic shrimp, or any other name that basically sums up his height. When it comes to Al's character, I'd have to say that his love for animals is something I greatly enjoy. This is shown when he "adopts" Mei's panda bear early on in season 3. 

The only critique I have overall is that season 4 was hard for me to follow. My reasoning for that however is because the story delved into more side plots with characters who, on the surface, seemed to not have a place in the main storyline. However, as the season progressed, it did start to come together more cohesively. I guess it just took a while for me to make sense of it all when I watched it in the moment. 

So overall, I'd definitely give this anime a solid 4 out of 5 stars. There's a lot of good development in the story as well as in the characters. The show definitely provides a little bit of everything in my opinion- hints of romance, lots of action and a good amount of emotion and heart. Sometimes you just can't help but feel for the characters whenever they go through something painful or traumatic, like when you first see how Edward felt after finding out his brother had been taken from him through a portal. The connection that the two brothers have really is special, hence why the show is called Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.