A rose-colored life and thorns of youth: a Hyouka review

Houtarou Oreki, a high school freshman who believed in conserving his energy, finds himself in the classic club, a club on the verge of dissolution. There he meets Eru Chitanda, a heroine with a hearty curiosity, and his old friends from middle school, Mayaka Ibara and Satoshi Fukube. Together at Kamiyama High School the four of them investigate various incidents in this youthful academy mystery. ~ from ANN

Hyouka is surely one of the most memorable series that came out this year. Many people with different tastes embraced it and I think this speaks for how good it was. One may claim that popularity doesn't equal quality, but here Kyoto Animation amazed us at many levels. I can't say it's a flawless series or that everyone will like it. Yet if get excited with mundane questions and 'mysteries' and if you've got a little bit of patience to see the characters develop slowly, then you'll cherish Hyouka for sure.

It isn't very easy for me to talk about a series which was heavily discussed and for which you can find a review almost in every other anime blog. Nevertheless, I hope my fondness of the series will make up for this fact, and in case you haven't watched the series, I wish my enthousiasm will convince you to try it.

Memory and Oblivion in Sora no Woto

The price of a memory, is the memory of the sorrow it brings.
― Pittacus Lore, I Am Number Four


We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.
— Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933)


Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.
― Marcel Proust


The scars that are left in a person’s soul after surviving a war, the ways a society tries to console and redeem itself, how the historical truth gets twisted, suited and tailored to different people’s needs: these are topics that Sora no Woto, beyond its flaws, managed to sing about elegantly. The sound of the sky carried and awakened memories…

Animediet was kind enough to host me once more. Check the rest of my post there.

A small comment on Ojii-san no Lamp

Ojii-san no Lamp is a 23 minute long short film that was produced in 2010 for the Young Animator Training Project, an effort for revitalizing the anime industry. Out of the four short films that were produced that year, this one was unanimously the best. Not only did it amaze with its graphics, but also with its plot and storytelling.

A boy finds a strange object while playing hide-and-seek. His grandfather tells him the story of his own youth, and the important role the old lamp played. This story is about the modernization of Japan and the changes that came with it. ~ My Anime List

If you haven't watched it, just go already. The summary should be intriguing enough. If it hasn't convinced you, you can check other reviews and analysis. I'm here to contribute something else, even if it's just a small comment, that hasn't been mentioned up till now: the probable reference and meaning of the opening scene.

The nature of love in Yuri and BL

Almost a year ago, 2DT, whom we all know and love, wrote a thought-provoking post over at Yi's Listless Ink, titled Learning the Art of Love: Yuri versus BL. I gave my two cents in the comment section and got the thumps up. And since it's not often you get credit from the most-respected figure in the anisphere, I think I should treasure these ideas here in our diaries, while I revisit them, elaborate on and add to the discussion.

Grief and Loss in Anime: a case examination of Puella Madoka Magica Magi, Mawaru Penguindrum and X

Either you are recently introduced to anime or you are a seasoned fan, it's highly unlikely you haven't watched or simply heard about the first two shows in the picture above, because twitter, forums and blogs were abuzz and overly hyped about them last year. Now, it's highly possible you don't even recognize the hunks in the bottom and the anime/manga they are from, unless you are an obsessed fan of CLAMP or a MADHOUSE admirer. All three of them have as central themes the loss and how people face them. The important issue here is how these series present the themes and how well they handle them...

Their destiny was foreordained - an X/1999 review

The seven angels and the seven seals.

  At the millennial edge, the concluding battle for humanity's future is staged. Kamui Shirou's destiny has been decided as he returns to Tokyo to face his ultimate challenge. The Dragon of Heaven, defenders of the Earth, stand ready to protect the world from the Dragon of Earth, the seven angels of legend, who embrace the devastation of the planet to bring about its purification. Now Kamui must decide which side to fight for although he finds the idea utterly unappealing. It isn't until realizing that his two childhood friends, Fuma and Kotori Monou, are in grievous peril that Kamui decides to step into his fated position in the climactic struggle of the Year of Destiny: 1999.

Do you love Tokyo? - a Tokyo Babylon review

From right to left: Subaru, Hokuto, Seishiro

   The year is 1990. The city is Tokyo, a busy megalopolis where people are caught in dreams, anonymity, loneliness, sadness and crushed hopes underneath the fevered rush for success and wealth. Sometimes the high-pitched emotions and acute despair manifest themselves into ghosts and curses.
   Enter Sumeragi Subaru, 13th head of the Sumeragi clan and a 16-year-old onmyouji. He uses his spiritual power and genuine compassion to help people, exorcise trapped spirits and undo maledictions. In this modern world, where nothing is truly black and white, this is hardly easy, especially because of Subaru's tendency to care too much for people. His twin sister Hokuto is there to help him, to cheer him up, and to make him wear eccentrically fashionable clothing. Sakurazuka Seishirou is a (male) 25-year-old gentle veterinarian friend of the twins, who professes to love Subaru.
   Hokuto thinks that making them a couple would be a marvelous idea, even though - or maybe because - she believes that Seishirou is the mysterious Sakurazukamori, an assassin onmyouji said to protect Japan from the shadows.

Down the hole in Clampworld!

“A land that doesn’t need a map” claim CLAMP the world of their works to be, but only in terms of enjoyment; because otherwise their claim is a belief of theirs… Especially after TRC and xxxholic, more readers have question marks floating over their heads about the past of the cameos and how things function in CLAMPverse. And let’s not forget how tags like shoujo and shounen don’t apply to CLAMP due to their diverse writing and styles. For a beginner a guide is useful.

Our Genshiken Diairies: The Greek Community Part 3

Now it is time for the third part of our project "Our Genshiken Diaries: The Greek Community." On part three of our series, we invited some good friends to write about their own experience as members of the j-community.

First comes Marilena, whose blog you can visit here, who speaks about how j-culture and those who care about it influenced her life. Afterwards, Gina, also known as Yu~Kun, a veteran otaku herself, gives us a more detailed version of our story.

Our Genshiken Diairies: The Greek Community Part 2

As we saw in part 1 of this article, being a member of the j-community in Greece has had its ups and downs for the past few years. Yet, how are things now that the hype of the late 00s has calmed?

Learning and Teaching in Space Brothers

In episode 13 of Space Brothers the teams of astronauts-to-be are shown what we call a flaming video towards their dreams and possible jobs. There is a journalist who expresses her negative opinion towards space travelling, especially due to its high-cost budget that is supported through the citizen's taxes without any visible results for the present. JAXA asks of them to write a letter as a response.

What this situation has to do with learning and teaching? Learning is the change of the behavior and that's the goal of the letter they are asked to write. Teams A,B and C are to 'teach her a lesson' and convince her that what they want to do is worthy and beneficiary to everyone, as well as cancel any negative effects the journalist's stance had to the public.

A History Lesson from Hyouka

"It all becomes part of the classics, as per the rules of  historic perspective."

Dear The Paper and gendomike asked me to write for their blog. They are great bloggers and very kind hosts. Visit their blog to check my contribution. Enjoy!

Our Genshiken Diairies: The Greek Community Part 1

Introduction

We may not be advertising it a much, but The Beautiful World is a Greek based blog. As a team, both Foxie Lady and Neko-kun are not crazy about their country but they cannot help it and live in its reality. It is a part of this reality, our experience and opinion of the local j-community that we wish to share with our readers.

The main reasons that led to the creation of this article are as follow:
   - The need to share a positive side of Greece, rather than the -quite reasonable- negativity that goes around these days.
   - The wish to keep a sort memo of what happened the past six years, so that we can evaluate the present and future of the community.
   - The interest to see what some of our closest friends have experienced as Greek "Otaku."

The article is separated in two parts: the first one will present my memories of the past and some interesting information on the Greek Otaku community. The second one is going to be an estimation of the present and the future, written by myself and others whose opinion I treasure.

Some events and periods will be briefly mentioned, to save space and time. The article focuses mostly on the experience I had as an "Otaku" living in Athens.

Diary of Anime Lived - Potpourri Part 2

Neko's turn in anime confessions.

Diary of Anime Lived - Potpourri Part 1

by Child of Ginger

Anime is a rich medium that knows how to deliver good/ powerful/ touching stories, if used properly. Their impact, of course, depends also from their viewers' experiences and tastes. When the viewers can see themselves in the story, that's when the strongest emotions are stirred and get unlocked. In this post, we reminiscence such key moments.

Part of the Diary of An Anime Lived Project. You can also check the Remembering Love project by trzr23 that is pretty similar.

Footnotes on Mushishi

Our culture values written speech a lot and this fact relates to the notion of 'study'. Study as an extended linear analysis didn't exist in oral people (tribes where written code isn't used or isn't common), since the latter didn't have written documents and they depended on collective learning from mouth to mouth a lot. But what exactly is going on with oral culture? What is oral literacy? What's the relationship of oral speech with the written word? And how is it all connected to Mushishi?

Lingerie: Choosing your weapon

Super-duper awesome Yi from Listless Ink offers me one more time the pondium on her brilliant blog. Check it out!

Lingerie: Weapons of Seduction or Performing Sex

“E-X-P-R-E-S-S
Love, sex, ladies, no regrets […]
I love to make the people stare
They know I have that certain savoir-faire”
 - Christina Aguilera, EXPRESS

Lingerie is art: they’re beautiful and although not necessary for survival, they add that special flare and taste to life and their wearer. Lingerie is a weapon: powerfully unleashing sensuality, signifying sexual mood and rocking your lover’s world.

Have I got your attention?

Someday We'll Shine Together - Utena and Us

revolutionizing cosplay and photo by neko-tin and tajfu

Many people have 'their song'; we have 'our anime'. This is the story of how an anime revolutionized our world and how we met. (mildly NSFW photos)

The Red String : 1. Ginko x Tanyu

I have a fondness for couples with subtle romance and those that are developed in side stories or when the romance is between side characters. This series of posts is going to include more or less minor canon couples that have won my heart and need more love. And so here I present you for the first post with:

Ginko and Tanyu from Mushishi

A man with one emerald eye and one filled with darkness. Snow lies on his head and smoke arises from his mouth. He wanders from one place to another through thick forests like the stream of Light flows freely in nature. One day he was called to a house of a scribe, a young woman with jet black hair and a cursed leg. And after that day, he would come visit ever so often and not just to scan through the huge archive in that house...