Back to Anime

I have always been an anime fan. I was sidetracked watching Koreanovelas but my love for anime never faded. This is what I am currently watching:

My brothers made me watch it. They, too, love anime! After watching a few episodes, I can tell why they liked Bakuman. The plot of the story revolve around two highschool students dreaming of becoming "mangakas." Moritaka, nephew of a manga artist, is the animator, and Shujin makes the story. They both have different inspirations and motivations in their quest to become recognized Manga artists. My brothers are good at drawing, too; and they love the humor as well. I took note of some of my favorite lines in the first few episodes:

"I don't think studying equals being smart." - Shujin, a top student

"Just talking about dreams won't make them a reality." - Moritaka

What started my love for anime is this:

I remember sporting SailorMoon paraphernalias during elementary days. Handkerchief, bags, socks, pens, erasers, stickers, band-aids, puzzles, stationaries, paperdolls. Name it! I am Sailor Venus, and my sister is Sailor Jupiter. A lot of other animes came out after this.

 There's Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT by Akira Toriyama. Son Goku trained hard to look for the 7 dragon balls also seek by so many others for different reasons. Collecting it altogether can summon a wish-granting dragon. I am not a fan, but I did enjoy watching Goku as a young boy, growing up, having a wife and Gohan, battling against countless villains, dying, running the long dragon in the heavens to be resurrected only to battle villains again, turning into a giant monkey and a super Saiyan, doing the fusion with Vegeta, and turning into a child in GT. It was broadcasted in Japan from 1986 to 1996! Wow.


There's also Ghost Fighter by Yoshihiro Togashi. Eugene's RayGun, Alfred's strength and sword, Dennis' transformation to a "beautiful" wolf and his rose thorns whip, and Vincent's third eye, Master Jeremiah and "her" young version, and Jericho. Of all the characters I liked Vincent. He's the mysterious, "kakkoii" guy, kinda like Sasuke.

 Hajime no Ippo by Joji "George" Morikawa. I have never liked boxing until this one. I was a wrestling fan, though. (My lolo and I used to watch late night boxing). What I love about the story is Ippo's perseverance and the comedy in every episode. Ippo also remained humble even after winning against more experienced boxers.

Rurouni Kenshin by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Samurai X. I so loved the movie! Love really can change a person. I did not watch much of the anime series because I liked Tomoe and Kenshin's love team more than with Kaoru. But I liked how Kenshin looks so normal and even peaceful on the series, and look so cool with his samurai fighting the villains. He is, after all, Hitokiri Battosai, the assassin.

 

Card Captor Sakura. The first Sakura I adored. Sakura Kinimoto. I had a huge crush on her brother, Toya! Hehe. I loved the anime series and watched the movies too. Tomoyo and Sakura are just so cute. Her unique outfits catching each Clow Cards and the video coverage c/o Tomoyo are simply adorable. Syaoran Li just made the story even more exciting, with their arguments and disagreements, and his discovery of her feelings for Sakura. Yukito, whose true form is Yue, made the two young loves' feelings even more complicated as they somehow felt "something" for him. The connection they felt was, as they found out later on, related to the cards. And of course, there's Keruberos or Cerberus. His true form is so cool.

 Rukawa! Rukawa! L-O-V-E Rukawa!
Slam Dunk! by Takehiko Inoue. Everyone loved this anime! No matter how long the run seemed, as Hanamichi Sakuragi tries to make his slam dunk, (almost like a football field) we loved how he tried hard to be recognized by the people and his ultimate crush, Haruko. Each character has a distinct personality. Kaede Rukawa, the team's star player and Sakuragi's rival; Hisashi Mitsui, the MVP 3-point player; Ryota Miyagi; and Takenori Akagi, the team captain who is also Haruko's brother; make up Shohoku's team.

 Mido Ban's Evil Eyes, and Ginji Amano's Lightning power like Thors, make up Get Backers by Tadashi Agi and Rando Ayamine. They recover lost items like stolen artworks for a price. Ginji was once the leader of "The Volts" and is known as "Thunder Emperor," but his partner, Ban, kept him from his destructive nature. That is, until they went to Babylon City and met the previous group of Ginji. I don't remember the ending of the series, making me want to watch it after Bakuman. Argh!!

I even watched Claymore by Norihiro Yagi. Mark made me watch this. The story is not for the faint-hearted. Even my uncle read the manga, so we have a collection of the manga series in Nihonggo. We can't read it, but since we watched the anime series, we can only imagine what the characters were talking about.
The Claymores are female warriors who were trained to kill Yomas (male Claymores who became awakened beings after excessive use and quest for power). Claire and Teresa are the main characters.

Chobits. I learned a lot of Japanese phrases watching this anime. Itekimasu... Itterashai... Okairi... Tadaima... Phrases we use at home whenever my Japanese cousins and uncle are around. 

Chi, a persocom (personal computer) in human form, is so kawaii! How she calls Hideki is just so cute. If this age of Chobits will ever come, I would love a small one just like Sumomo.

and of course...

The all-time favorite. Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

There are a lot of other anime series I've watched, but these are some of my favorites. 

What's your favorite Anime?

Who's your favorite character?

Hearty Paws

A touching movie about a dog stolen by a boy to give to her sister as a birthday present. A story about love and loyalty. The part I loved the most is the Hearty's perseverance to find Chan, and his loyalty and care for him even when he was rejected and blamed for the death of Soi. Hearty has been more than a dog, protecting Chan and Soi. A must-watch for every dog-lover. 

Preparation

I now know how Morpheus feels. Yes, the Matrix fever is still on. And I just came to a realization as to why I had to watch the trilogy a week before today.

Believing in something that doesn't make sense, something that defies what the mind can comprehend, and what science can explain, is a challenge. Why? Many people settle with the tangibles because we don't want to be disappointed. As much as possible we would avoid persecutions and rejections. We seek to please, leading to compromise.

Morpheus believed in Neo. He was certain he is the One. He has complete faith that Neo will end the war between Zion and the machines. What I love about his character is that he stood firm in his faith despite persecutions from the Commander, and even when the situation seem to present every reason to think twice and doubt. He endured everything. The ending of the Matrix Trilogy was a glorious moment for Morpheus. He must've been waiting for the shocked look in the Commander's face with the thought "It doesn't make sense."

"I have imagined this moment for so long. Is this real?" - Morpheus

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1            

I prayed for a deeper level of faith. Now I am given the opportunity to do so. Challenges. Persecutions. Rejections. In the end, FAITH is all that will matter.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:18

The Matrix Revolution

"Everything that has a beginning has an end."

And what a way to end the Matrix Trilogy. This has to be my favorite of the three, or did I say that to for the first, too? What about the second?

Well, I love the part where Neo chose between saving the system and saving Trinity. Love conquered! It's also the part where everything was explained about the Matrix. I was trying to get something from the Architect, but I ended up staring at him most of his speech. :p The good thing about Matrix Reloaded is that the movie was concluded the same year. Good thing I wasn't a big fan back then, I would've rallied the Wachowski Brothers to release the last part the moment it ended. Now I just had to watch this last part immediately after Reloaded.

My favorite part has to be when the machines finally breached the walls, with every soldier and a few civilians ready to defend Zion. Each one played their part. Captain Mifune and the Kid Neo saved has to be my favorite characters, and the three brave women of course, Niobe, Zee and her partner.

No one can see beyond a choice they don't understand. - Oracle

If you tell me we'll make it, I'll believe you. - Trinity to Neo

The Matrix

I can't remember when I first watched this movie. I love the parts whenever Neo and Morpheus do the "talk." Most of my favorite lines in the movie come from Morpheus. He is just so certain that Neo is the one. His faith even got Neo convinced even when he can't see any reason to believe. 

I believe we need to surround ourselves with our "Morpheus." People who know and believe what we're capable of, build us up, and guide us in the right path to discover who we really are, or simply remind us who we are meant to be. Like Neo we can be confused or misled; and while we are on our own quests to finding out the truth about life and what lies ahead (in Neo's case, the Matrix), be discouraged and settle in the comfort of the reality we know or what the world offers. 

Here are some of Morpheus' lines I love.

"Don't think you are. Know you are."                                                                                                                                   

"There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path."                                                                  

I also love the conversation between Neo and the Oracle. Why do you think the Oracle said Neo is not the ONE? As Morpheus told Neo, "She told you what you needed to hear." I had to replay the scene of their talk, and I remembered the part when the Oracle predicted what Neo's response would be after the vase fell. You may not remember that part, it's the part I did not pay much attention to until after the part where Neo and Trinity saved Morpheus and the she-told-you-what-you-needed-to-hear part. Here's the line:

"What's really going to bake your noodle later on is would you still have broken it if I hadn't say anything."

That really baked my noodle! Sometimes we just won't be able to grasp it if it's handed to us as it is: The TRUTH. There are times when the truth is laid bare and we just seem to find a way to resist it and doubt, most especially when it defies what our mind can comprehend.

"Being the One is just like being in love. No one can tell you you're in love. You just know it... through and through." - Oracle

So the Oracle laid it down the best way she knew. Neo, in the end, believed he's the One. But he had to die to "really" be the ONE.

To be the what we really are meant to be, we too, have to die. Not literally, of course.
Know the truth. Seek for a guide to get to the right path. Believe you are chosen. Die in your old self. Let the new come. Be what you are meant to be.

Cars

"It's just an empty cup."

That has to be my favorite line on the movie. Here are some of the lessons in the story:

      You can't work your way to anywhere alone.

      The proud will be humbled and the humble made proud.

      There's no greater reward in this world than knowing you took part in making life better for someone.

      It's not so much about winning...

Lightning McQueen has his eyes set on his goal. To be the first rookie to win the Piston Cup. He had to be humbled. He took all the credits for winning and failed to acknowledge the help of his team. Fame and glory was all that mattered to him.

And so, the detour. On his way to get the prize, he is about to discover what he's been missing. He found what he never expected to find; what he is really longing for.

His change of heart was evident when he chose not to win the Piston Cup and helped "The King" instead. It's not about himself anymore. The cup wasn't the ultimate prize for him.

Friendship. Love. Humility. Learning to appreciate the people who has always been there to help you win.

I appreciate the detours and delays in the fulfillment of my dreams, and unanswered prayers. Sometimes it's just what we need. God allows it for us to check our hearts and reveal its contents. Is it purposeful or just for a boost of ego?

The King has to be my favorite car.

All About Steve

Yes, I just watched it on television and this film was on cinemas 2009! Thank you Star Movies. And this will make it's way to my favorite movies list. For the past weeks, I was just starting to appreciate the crossword puzzle. It is challenging and always makes me cheat my way to browsing my phone application's encyclopedia. Whoever constructs those puzzles are geniuses. Now, I have seen this movie played in cable channels before, but never really gave it a chance and watched it. It may be the same reason why I don't go inside a movie theater when the movie has already started, or I just wasn't interested back then. Tonight, I gave it a chance, just when I was planning to watch the first part of The Lord of the Ring trilogy. And I can say, it's not a bad decision.

Mary Horowitz is an eccentric character. Smart and not afraid to let herself out. She's bold and bubbly, and can be so annoying in the sense that she talks too much. Her lines and quotations of different authors made me want to take down notes. But she just talked too fast for me to do that. Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie:

“Words. There are meaningful words, there are pointless words, and then there are words that hurt.”

“You know what my favorite part of doing crosswords is? When you know something you didn’t think you knew.”

“Why should you have to change to be normal? All you have to do is find someone who’s as normal as you are.”

"In life, as in crosswords, some days are harder than others, and that’s what keeps your brain alive. The key to surviving those tough days is to pick yourself up and stay focused on your life’s purpose."

"If you quit a puzzle, you can’t finish it. Sure, every once in a while, you run into a doozy, that you don’t think you could ever solve in a million years, but if you stick with it, you figure it out eventually. Worst thing you can do is leave it unfinished. It’s never the solution, is it?"

“New York Time’s crossword editor Will Short says we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces. I like to think he means not just crosswords, but the empty spaces inside of us that come from making your way in a world that doesn’t always embrace unique."

The last quote just made me love it more. It was kinda in line with VCF's Crave Series. We all have something we long for. We fill that void with the things this world offers. We are trying to find our worth. You might find what you long for, but that wouldn't stop the cravings to look for more than what you already found. The endless cycle goes on. Well, not if you would find the ONLY ONE who can complete you. Not a man, no. God.


What Do You Long For?
helpful PODCAST