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Tag: OWLS

A group of otaku bloggers promoting acceptance of all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and disability through anime, manga, and gaming. Emphasizing the importance of respect, kindness, and tolerance to every human being.

Bold Will to dream The Pet Girl of Sakurasou [February 2020 OWLS Tour]

Bold Will to dream The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, I wonder if that sounds as cool as it did in my head when I was picking a name for my post topic for this month’s OWLS. Hey everyone!!!!

Me when I am trying to name my posts…..

And welcome to my first post for the OWLS this year. For the new readers, what is the OWLS you ask.

What is the OWLS?

Respect!

OWLS – Otaku Warriors for Liberty and Self-Respect.

We are a group of otaku bloggers who promote acceptance of all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disability through the use of anime and manga. We emphasise the importance of respect, kindness, and tolerance to every human being.

It’s a group I have been a part of for a year plus now since my post, Thankful, 2 Anime I’m Thankful For which coincidental one of my topics on that post is what I am going to be talking about today.

So our topic for the month of February was Legacy.

Legacy

We have mentors, teachers, coaches, and role models whose stories inspired us in some way. Even when these role models are gone, their stories will live on from generation to generation. For this month, we will be exploring stories that have inspired or taught us some important lessons about life.

So for me, the story that inspired and taught me important lessons of life was The Pet Girl of Sakurasou (Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo).

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou

Add this to your watch list if you haven’t seen it already…..

Author: Hajime Kamoshida

Episodes: 24

Premiered: Fall 2012

Studios: J.C. Staff

Plot

After being kicked out of the normal dorm for keeping a stray cat, Sorata Kanda moves into Sakura Dormitory. As he starts to get used to life in the dorm, Mashiro Shiina, a world-famous artist who cannot even take care of her daily life, moves in. Sorata is forced to become Mashiro’s caretaker.

Why did I pick The Pet Girl of Sakurasou?

There are tons of amazing anime I have enjoyed over the years. Some anime shows were hilarious; some made me cry inside for the characters and some had scenes I found myself coming back to rewatch weeks and months after I finished the series.

But in the end, not many have pulled at my heartstrings has The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, it’s a show that’s easy to relate with. It spins the usually age-old battle of hard work vs. talent idea on its head and shows just how much hard work is needed by anyone even a talented person who wants to accomplish a dream.

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou (Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo) is one of my favourite animes, maybe it’s because I can really connect with Kanda Sorata, he’s confused, conflicted and insecure but now that I think about it, am I that special aren’t we really all like that in some way or form.

Kanda Sorata and Shiina Mashiro

He isn’t talented, I mean in a prodigy way like Shiina Mashiro. I’ve been confused about what I want to do and even now that I think I do, I’m still not sure I’m doing it the right way.

I mean I have my goals, aspirations, dreams or whatever you want to call it now but I’m always still second-guessing myself a lot and wondering if I’m actually really good enough to accomplish them, which sometimes makes me wonder if I should stop, especially sometimes when I see someone else doing that same thing I am doing or want to do better.

I mean the creativity of others sometimes is just really amazing, and that makes me wonder if even putting in the hard work, could I come up with a fraction of that creativity?

But this all changed after I saw The Pet Girl of Sakurasou you can call it a slice-of-life, romantic comedy, but this description hardly does it much justice. When it first got recommended to me and I decided to watch it, I went into it with fairly low expectations expecting the same old same old from it’s type of genre, but it ended up being much more.

Me even after all the good recommendations about The Pet Girl of Sakurasou before watching it….

Watching a group of six high school students living in Sakura Hall: a dorm for troublemakers and misfits. Chase after their dreams even though socially they were all different – from the average student to already-established geniuses.

But even though they were all still your same typical teens: they made mistakes, got jealous, and even lash out. But they also listened, learned, and persevered. They all still need to work late nights and long hours to be good at whatever they wanted to be good at.

I wanted to join them on this adventure and have friends like these, that pushed me to be better. I wanted to face those challenges standing by their side, laugh, cry and share in their victories.

I mean this really was the push I need to keep trying and not give up, even if I wasn’t one of the best now I could improve and get better and maybe one day I would be one of the best.

Throughout the story, all of them grow more with each other than they would have alone. The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is an anime about the bonds that are formed from the pursuit of impulsive dreams, that through both laughter and tears create a bond that is more than friendship but family.

And honestly, there is a thrill of racing forward to your dreams, and yes you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but later you’ll remember these beautiful times of hard work. And to be that’s worth it. It’s more about the journey than the destination.

Thank you for reading to the very end. Jack from Animated Observation went right before me with March Comes in Like a Lion which you can read right now if you haven’t. And tomorrow Mel from Mel in Animeland is writing about Various Series (Underdog in Anime) so check it out too.

Until next time, keep dreaming….

February 24, 2020
Understanding to Stand after Falling Re:Zero [November 2019 OWLS Tour]

Hey everyone, it’s the 11th OWLS tour for the year. Thank for following us through out the months reading and contributing your thoughts on our thoughts.

It’s been an amazing year, definitely a roller coaster both good and bad. And it’s coming to an end.

End of the year parties……..

We have been busy reorganizing the blog and getting everything better, hope you are liking our new look by the way but I saw the topic for this month and I just had to take time for this one. Plus it’s my birthday today so wanted to write a post for all of you and what better than an OWL post.

The topic we have been talking about this month is something we have all been through and it is “Failure“.

One of the best ways we can learn is through failure. This month we will be talking about the failures of our favorite characters in pop culture media and what we can learn from them. We will also reflect on our own mistakes and failures and how those experiences have allowed us to grow as human beings.

It’s something I personally have gone through a lot of especially in my earlier life. Failure is hard and painful, it can happen at any point as you aim for something you want.

For me, I think the hard part about failure is the doubt it gives you. The hopelessness that maybe you are just not good enough.

Instant failure just add water (how I use to feel)

Failure can define you, destroy you or strengthen you and for me, a character that goes through each of these is;

Subaru Natsuki

17-year-old Subaru Natsuki a shut-in and gamer. Whose transported to a fantasy world has he leaves a convenience store.

Where he meets the beautiful Emilia, whose in search of her stolen possession and saves him from some hoodlums. The two hit it off after that and to thank her, he decides to help her look for her missing possession.

During their search for it, they are murdered. Subaru Natsuki wakes up to the moment of being harassed by the hoodlums and Emilia saving him, realising he has the ability he calls “Returns By Death” -the ability to resurrect after death.

Meeting Emilia changes Subaru Natsuki from a guy who takes the easy way out of things to a loyal person who is always willing to help the people he cares about.

Helping the people he cares about sometimes forces him to take the path that’s not easy and filled with failure after failure. Some failures he’s able to reset sometimes while others he has to learn to live with no matter how hard. This really tests his resolve to always get back up no matter how many times he fails.

Comical way of showing the trial Subaru goes through

He learns that even if you are blessed with a magnificent power, sometimes you still need to put in a lot of hard work and sometimes even then it’s not about being a one-man army, you still need the support of others to try to avoid failure.

And even then failure might still happen but the work done in self-improvement is something failure can never take away. The fear of failure or failure it’s self is really what pushes us to be better than what we currently are. So maybe failure is not so bad.

He realizes no matter where you are, failure is a thing in any world even a fantasy world. As long as you aim for a dream – resolve, support and just realizing that failure is not necessarily a bad thing but a stage of growth, learning and humbleness are one of the things we must learn to have, as we work to make a dream reality.

I really feel the way Subaru acts in his earlier life before being transported to the fantasy world was a safety mechanism, I mean you can never fail if you never try at anything. Failure is a hard pill to swallow, most of us can end up choking on it sometimes.

Failure has friends and comes with a lot of emotions that make you really feel less than. But under all this, if we can look really close it’s also a learning stage a place for growth which Subaru eventually realizes and truly becoming Emilia’s knight.

When is the second season of Re:ZERO – Starting Life in Another World coming out you asked?

For all of us, that love Re:ZERO – Starting Life in Another World, the second season should start beginning of 2020 maybe debuting Winter 2020 season.

Thank you so much for reading, sticking around to the end of my ramblings and thoughts on failure. Leave comments I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

Be sure to read Lyn’s post on this topic. Also if you haven’t already check out Pinkie’s post Never a failure. Always a Lesson. You should. They are amazing bloggers who’s thoughts on the topic failure will be an interesting read.

November 19, 2019
Yuno Gasai x Yukiteru Amano love story? [September 2019 OWLS Tour]

When it comes to romantic relationships, what do we look for in a partner? What core values do we seek when it comes to building a healthy and loving relationship? For this topic, we will be discussing some of our favourite couples in pop culture and what they have taught us about love and relationships, the good and the bad.

Hello everyone, it’s been a while. This is our topic for the OWLS this month of September titled “Lover”. We all have our thoughts of what we want and look for in a partner or i.e lover, but I think there are some fundamental things we all look for, so I wanted to try to identify some of those traits. I had so many ideas for this topic but I really thought Mirai Nikki also know as The Future Diary was what really fit for this topic.

The Future Diary is an iconic show and cultural phenomenon, that I felt really popularized the “yandere” female character in anime. It explores human nature, how we relate and what drives us. And most especially to me puts a spotlight on relationships and the ups and downs that come with it.

Even though everything is cranked up to 11. The Future Diary is really unique to me because of its large cast and its ability to show us views from the perspective of each character, showing us everyone has a story to tell, “even the devil was once an angel” is the best way to describe it I think.

Yukiteru Amano and Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki are definitely not your average anime couple. I think Yuno describes them well with a quote she uses to describe herself;

A half-moon. A bright half and a dark half. Just like me. – Yuno Gasai

I just had to use this cause I thought they looked cute in this…

Yukiteru the bright half and Yuno the dark half, both not completely whole without the other. The show examines normal issues we all have even though it’s in a much darker tone, its in a subtle way, it has lessons to teach us about how a healthy relationship should be. Like;

Seeing the cracks

No one is completely perfect, so learning to accept and love the person despite their faults is part of the whole process of love. And it’s something I think we all have to learn.

Just like Yukiteru learns to with Yuno personality of being overprotective and Yuno with Yukiteru indecisiveness. They can both be seen as polar opposite in the way they reason and think but they learn to love each other.

Trust

Yuno might have an “interesting” way of showing her love for Yukiteru but no one can doubt her unwavering complete love to him. She trusts him, and that’s an important pillar for the foundation of any relationship.

Trust is the number one thing I think we all search for and value most. Which can be formed from a deeper understanding of knowing each other like the back of your own hand, knowing what the other can or can’t do.

Teamwork

Adapted from the Roman god Jupiter, who hates direct confrontation and his wife Juno who is warlike, Yukiteru and Yuno also make up for each others shortcomings. Working together during the survival game and showing how teamwork in a relationship is important.

Never a piece of cake

After getting together once, breaking up, being kidnapped by Yuno, and all the hurled they go through. He goes through a lot to save his Princess.

Somehow they both come through the fire that is their life stronger and all relationships go through this not as twisted as the plot of The Future Diary but all relationship have their hurdles.

And like Irina from drunkenanimeblog said about love;

Once in a while, it’s worth holding onto someone, even if it makes your arms hurt.

If you are still here thank you for sticking around to the end of my ramblings. Leave me a comment on your views, I would love to hear them. Till next time keep showing that special someone you really care.

Also hope you have read Lyn post over at lynlynsays with her own take on Lover and tomorrow you should definitely not miss Takuto’s OWLS post over at Takuto’s Anime Cafe.

September 23, 2019
Shin Sekai Yori living with Our vulnerability [June 2019 OWLS Tour]
Hello everyone, it’s been a fast year so far. We are six months in, and already into our sixth OWLS blog tour of the year, which is amazing and this couldn’t have been done without:
- Crimson
- Hazelyn
- LitaKino
- LynLyn
- and Naja
Wonderful anibloggers that work on their blogs but still find time to work behind the scenes of blog tours making sure everything goes smoothly for the rest of us OWLS.

And for new readers just joining us, that don’t know about the OWLS, we are;

a group of otaku bloggers who promotes acceptance of all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disability through the use of anime and manga. We emphasise the importance of respect, kindness, and tolerance to every human being.

Sadly this is only my third tour, cause I have not been able to take part as much as I would have liked. So when the sixth one tour came around I knew I just had to do it. And also having and idea for this immediately I saw this months Topic helped.

“Vulnerable”
In the month of June, we will be discussing what it means to be vulnerable. To some individuals, being vulnerable could be seen as a sign of weakness, but in fact, vulnerability is actually a sign of strength. In this month’s posts, we will explore what it means to be vulnerable and how certain characters in pop culture glamorize vulnerability. When do we show our vulnerability? How do we express vulnerability? Why should we show vulnerability? These are questions that we will be discussing in our posts featuring characters that show vulnerability and/or sensitivity and what we can learn from them or even our own personal stories.

To me the first thing I thought about when I read this was Shinsekai Yori. It’s an anime to me that has a lot of depth and meaning, and for me one of the meanings I noticed was vulnerability.

Before we continue for people who haven’t heard of Shinsekai Yori

What is ShinSekai Yori?

From left to right Shun, Satoru, Saki, Mamoru & Maria

Following a sudden outbreak of psychokinesis in 0.1% of the population, a rapid transformation swept the world. The godlike ability to manipulate matter remotely turned many power wielders to violence, inciting a long period of upheaval. Finally, after a chaotic era shaped by the rise and fall of oppressive regimes, the psychic humans were able to achieve a fragile peace by isolating their society, creating a new world bound by complex rules.

In the town of Kamisu 66, 12-year-old Saki Watanabe has just awakened to her powers and is relieved to rejoin her friends—the mischievous Satoru Asahina, the shy Mamoru Itou, the cheerful Maria Akizuki, and Shun Aonuma, a mysterious boy whom Saki admires—at Sage Academy, a special school for psychics. However, unease looms as Saki begins to question the fate of those unable to awaken to their powers, and the children begin to get involved with secretive matters such as the rumored Tainted Cats said to abduct children.

Shinsekai yori tells the unique coming-of-age story of Saki and her friends as they journey to grow into their roles in the supposed utopia. Accepting these roles, however, might not come easy when faced with the dark and shocking truths of society, and the impending havoc born from the new world. –MAL

Vulnerability of Our thoughts

Thoughts fester

We see this when Shun loses control of his cantus, due to repressing negative emotions. Becoming a danger to himself and all thats around him.

Shun tried only to acknowledge his good parts– the kind and gentle boy, which I think we are all gulity of. It’s not a bad thing to do, but we are human we have both good and bad in us.

Bottling up thoughts or emotions are never a good idea, for any reason like– fear, weakness, thoughts of sounding dumb etc. Not voicing them out doesn’t really let them go away but can evolve them and make them even worse over time. Just like Shun, by ignoring the ugly parts of himself, he eventually became the ugly parts.

Shun has a karma demon

If it bothers you voicing your worries is always the path to fixing the problem, or more simply

Admitting there is a problem is half way to fixing the problem.

Fearing the unknown

Fear is an emotion that can save or destroy, dragging you into even despair and sometimes paranoia.

The Queerats fear of being eradicated one day by the humans pushes them to create a weapon to fight the humans.

Causing casualties on both side. And almost actually causing the eradication of the queerats.

Or

The fear of the villagers of Mamoru becoming a fiend, causing them to send a tainted cat to kill him.

This ends up badly with Mamoru running away from the village with Maria, which ends up bringing the fears of the villagers to life, years later.

Sometime we are the ones that give our fears physical form, making us humans our own worst enemy. When we make decisions out of fear.

Thoughts of Weakness

Is weakness really a vulnerability?, I don’t think so. Weakness to me is knowing yourself.

And by knowing your weakness, you can find a way to adapt or at least be better next time.

Saki is a good example of this not being the strongest or smartest.

But yet still becoming the head of the village.

Saki one of the most sensitive breaking down to tears the first, turns out to be the strongest being able to accept the good and bad. she overcomes any experience and continues moving foward.

So that’s all I have for you hope you enjoyed my post. You should not miss Karandi take on vulnerability! and Naja post after mine.

You can follow along with the whole tour:
- 6/9: Megan at Nerd Rambles
- 6/11: Crimson at Read at Night
- 6/12: Hikari at Hikari Otaku Station
- 6/13: Aria at AniManga Spellbook
- 6/14: Dylan at Dynamic Dylan
- 6/16: Irina at I Drink & Watch Anime
- 6/18: Lyn at Just Something About LynLyn
- 6/20: Jack at Animated Observations
- 6/21: Ange at Just being Otaku
- 6/22: Matt at Matt-in-the-Hat
- 6/23: Karandi at 100 Word Anime
- 6/24: YumDeku at MyAnimeGo
- 6/25: Naja at Blerdy Otome
- 6/26: Scott at Mechanical Anime Reviews
- 6/27: Mel at Mel in Anime Land
- 6/28: Carla at Popculture Literary
- 6/29: Takuto at Takuto’s Anime Cafe
- 6/30: Fred at Au Natural
Hope we see you there!
June 24, 2019
Hotarubi no Mori e better love story ? [February 2019 OWLS Tour]

Was Hotarubi no Mori e a really good love story ?, Hello everyone it’s the month of love and we at OWLS are having our February 2019 OWLS tour and this will be my third OWLS post.

Am so glad to be a part of this…..

What is OWLS all about you ask, it’s;

A group of otaku bloggers who promotes acceptance of all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disability through the use of anime and manga. We emphasise the importance of respect, kindness, and tolerance to every human being.

It’s a great group of talented bloggers that support and help each other even out of OWLS and am really grateful to have the chance to be a part of them.

So for this month the topic that was picked was “Adore”

In February, we will be exploring love and romance. The word selected is “adore” because it has two main connotations: to be loved and respected or to feel worshipped. We will analyze characters that give us a feeling of admiration and explain why we love those characters. We will also be exploring different forms of love (familial, friendship, and even self-love) and how those types of love influence our lives.
Happy Valentine’s Day!

I had so many ideas for this, I wanted to do a Sundome thing but it wouldn’t have been age appropriate for all our readers. The Seven Deadly Sins was another idea that I explored that would talk about the love of all the couples, but I want to write about something I haven’t before. I had so many ideas for this article.

Am not a big romance anime fan, cause I feel most of it is generic. Like girl meets boy, obstacle stands in their way, they eventually overcome it but they end up fighting and going their separate ways over a trivial matter that really wouldn’t be an issue if they just sat down and talked it out but nooo, everyone has a tantrum and walks away or the most annoying obstacle they use, one of them or both of them get amnesia.

But I do try to keep an open mind sometimes and give the weird awkward, unusual, out of the norms love stories a try. why ? because I love love at the end of the day.

And I am wondering off with my thoughts, so I finally decided on what to write about and it was;

Hotarubi no Mori e

Hotarubi no Mori e premiered 17th september 2011, the source material was the manga and studio Brain’s Base brought it life.

It was 45 minutes long but it was definitely worth every minute. But wasn’t surprising since it was written by Yuki Midorikawa, the author of Natsume’s Book of Friends.

Synopsis

Hotarubi no Mori e is a tale of friendship and compromise of two people who should never have crossed paths, as their lives become hopelessly intertwined.

A young girl meets a boy, who is in fact a spirit dwelling in the forest, while visiting her uncle for the summer. The boy, however, mustn’t be touched by a human, for it would result in him disappearing for all eternity. They spend the summer days with each other, and when the girl must return to home from her vacation, she promises to visit him again next summer. And that’s eactly what she does , for the next few years. During that time she grows up, and her age is slowly getting closer to the age of the boy.

However, their relationship and resolve are put to the test, when romantic feelings conflict with their one and only rule.

My thoughts on why I picked this

There are a lot of cliché romance stories out there but Hotarubi no Mori e is not one of them it shows how hard love is.

How much feelings and emotions where kept in this 45 minute film can not be emphasised enough. It wasn’t an overly complex story, it was a simple well thought out one though.

And if I dare say a love story in the truest form, slow and patient, that leaves you with that warm fuzzy feeling.

Their Obstacle in their relationship between a spirit and human is not being able to touch, I mean it seems like not a big deal. But it’s actually hard and painful on any relationship, because touching someone is like confirming their existence, letting you know these emotions you feel are real.

They are like to parallel lines, they can be alone with each other, but yet they’re not together. or maybe the sun and the moon is a better comparison, or water and oil, just at the edge of each others existence.

So close and yet so far

I just wanted to push them together and be like “Now kiss or just hug her or hold her hand already”. They are not allowed these simplest of things and its sad. It’s like you being in a prison cell, allowed to look outside but never being allowed to go outside.

It showed love in it’s purest form with all the emotions and it reminds us how love is a beautiful thing.

Hotarubi no Morie e to some people might not be uniqe, or exceptional but it will leave you reflecting and remembering that very special person to us.

Especially when for a few seconds, the two of them are finally able to touch, sense and in a way confirm their love. And just like that the moment is gone forever, making you realise just how much you take for granted these little things or that special person.

And like Irina from drunkenanimeblog said about love;

Once in a while, it’s worth holding onto someone, even if it makes your arms hurt.

Especially when you find that one person that’s worth all that patients and arm pains for.

Even if it doesn’t work out, those feeling are priceless, and to me that’s love, that one person that’s worth all the arm pains and patients that turns you into a saint.

Also hope you have watched Dylan YouTube post over at DynamicDylan with his own take on the promote using Yuri!! on Ice and tomorrow you can read Karandi’s OWLS post over at 100wordanime on DanMachi.

Till next time, thanks for reading.

February 24, 2019
Am I Unlovable? Let’s Look at Some Anime

Am I Unlovable? If someone asked us that question, our initial reaction is to jump to their defense and say, of course not. But if we ask ourselves the same question…we wouldn’t be so quick to disagree. This month, our OWLS prompt was on self-care and I jumped at the chance to write about the anime: Welcome to the N.H.K and my own experiences dealing with mental illness.

I’m scared of my mental illness. Am I Unlovable?

It’s a statement I hate writing and a sentence I hate thinking about. But it’s how I feel. And as my depression and anxiety become more chronic, my thoughts about falling in love become more negative and my belief of the chances of it happening for me start to grow slim. While I know this is a small part of me, I can’t help but feel as though there is a giant neon sign following me, warning people away.

The truth is, when I tell the people I’m dating, it usually starts out OK. They seem to understand and accept this is a part of me, but it isn’t all me. Yes, I have depression, anxiety, agoraphobia, and PTSD. And that’s just a FEW of them. But those illnesses don’t make them me. I don’t love anime or writing because I have those things, I love them because I’m just me. My mental illness is a part of me, but it doesn’t define me.

But wait..there’s more

But the further we get down the path of being together and the more they realize how much it actually affects my everyday life, that is when I see them start to look for the exit. When they realize how much I have to stay in bed because of the pain from standing up that causes me to pass out, to the realization that I’m unable to be as physical as most “normal” people are.

I’ve had exes tell me they can’t make me feel better because I’m letting these “issues” consume me. I’ve had exes tell me they don’t feel as though they can tell me the truth about things because they’re worried it’ll send me into a tailspin. They’ll try to tell me how to manage my illnesses even though they’ve never experienced it themselves.

I don’t need someone to tell me what to do or how to do it when it comes to depression or anxiety. All I want — all I truly want — is someone just to love me through it. That’s the part that is sometimes lost on potential partners. I don’t need someone to “fix” me.

Thankfully, I’m now in a relationship with someone who understands. But the little voices of anxiety and depression love to whisper in my ear that it’s too good to be true. That this healthy relationship with someone who makes me feel safe and loved can’t possibly be real. That’s the darker side of depression…sometimes you’re unsure what’s real.

We don’t need to be told we’re broken.

I go to therapy and take my medication. I work hard each and every day to ensure I am doing all I can to prevent the bad days from occurring more often than not.

What I do need is for someone to just be there when things get hard. When those bad days come on and I can’t think of a reason why I should get out of bed, I want someone to just be there and tell me I can do it. I want someone to hold me when, in the middle of the night, I can’t breathe because my anxiety is out of control. And I want to be able to tell someone my deepest darkest secrets when it comes to my illness and not have them look at me like I have three heads.

I could be having just a normal, okay day and one little thought will cross my mind and cause me to start to panic. The thoughts will weigh me down with their burden and I’ll be unable to think of anything else. This is agoraphobia.

Agoraphobia Truths

Agoraphobia is a much-misunderstood condition, and sufferers are often mocked or told they should ‘get over it. It’s not, as is often thought, a fear of open spaces, but rather a fear of being in public places and away from the safety of the home. For me, even a 10-minute drive to Wal-mart is something I have to mentally prepare myself for weeks in advance. I only go twice a month and that’s about it for my social interaction. And it’s definitely not something I can just “get over”. I’m fine if I’m with someone I trust, but never by myself. Then the panic sets in even more. Home is safe. My room is safe.

The panic sets in if I have to leave my bed. It’s like the cold and heavy darkness wrapping its arms around your entire body. You can’t move or dare to breathe. Sure, I know on some level that it’s an irrational fear and the scenarios I imagine won’t happen THAT day…but the small chances are there. It makes it tough to live a healthy and active lifestyle. To even keep up with friendships or relationships. But I’m grateful for the friends I do have that understanding. Self-care includes choosing the right people to be around us.

Anime Characters with Mental Illnesses

With as much as I love anime, I’ve been excited to find a few characters that I can relate to who have issues with their mental health. The main one I can think of when it comes to mental illness is Welcome to the N.H.K that deals with a 20 something hikikomori/NEET named Satou Tatsuhiro.

More than half of you are probably wondering what a hikikomori is; So that explanation should probably come now before getting into the rest of this article. The dictionary definition of hikikomori is “a state or condition of acute social withdrawal”.

The number of people living the hikikomori or NEET (Not pursuing Employment, Education, or Training) lifestyle is increasing every day worldwide. The hikikomori is basically shut-ins that feel uncomfortable in presence of other people. They don’t leave their rooms/houses unless they absolutely have to and make just enough money through various means to survive and continue their hikikomori lifestyles.

The story is about a very serious subject matter but it is still full of humorous moments. That being said, the anime is also full of serious and sometimes very sad occurrences. If you happen to be an emotional person, be prepared to shed a few tears.

Satou’s Mental Health

Satou is your “typical” conspiracy nut shut-in (or what you would imagine one would act and feel like). While his hikikomori lifestyle doesn’t seem to be as severe as some other people’s, it is bad enough to keep him from functioning as a part of society and most of his ventures to the outside world seem to end with him becoming completely scared and freaked out. The question of “am I unlovable” seems to be one that could bother him. Mostly because he doesn’t want anyone close to him anyway.

I’m pretty sure he has panic disorder/social anxiety and possibly agoraphobia. As someone who deals with agoraphobia on a daily basis, his life seemed a bit easier than mine but I’m still a shut-in. As I mentioned before, my self-care routine is daily, even hourly. Self-care is important to all of us, especially to those with mental health issues.

And to answer the question of “Am I Unlovable?”…the answer is a big fat NO. You are loved and so important. More than you know.

You Might Like: Kawamoto Akari symbolic of growing up [March 2019 OWLS Tour]

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below! If you missed Marina’s article before, you can check it out here. Naja’s will be up tomorrow so be on the lookout for it!

As always,

Keep Smiling!

September 24, 2018
Learning to Live Again: Ancient Magus Bride Review

Learning to Live Again: Ancient Magus Bride Review Owl’s prompt for July

This month’s OWL prompt was for “Mentors” and the prompt goes as follows…

Throughout our lives, we might have encountered someone that we admired as a role model or has guided us in some life dilemma. This mentor could be a teacher at school, a coach, a boss or team leader at work, or a family friend. Whoever it is that person positively impacted your life. For this month’s OWLS topic, we will be writing about mentors or mentorships in anime and other pop culture media. Some topics we will be exploring include how a mentorship impacted a main character’s life, the types of mentor relationships a person could have, and/or personal stories about mentors or mentorships.

Almost immediately, I knew which anime I wanted to do…

Mahoutsukai no Yome or The Ancient Magus Bride.

The amount of mentors in this anime is almost overwhelming. It overlaps and becomes integral to the story.

The protagonist of the story is Chise Hatori who is the apprentice and future bride of Elias Ainsworth. Her father and brother abandoned the family when she was young, and her mother committed suicide in front of her. Feeling unwanted by her relatives, she sold herself into slavery so that she didn’t have to worry about anything.

This is how Elias purchased her. Abandoned at a young age and ridiculed by her peers for her unconventional behavior, she was ready to give herself to any buyer if it meant having a place to go home. In chains and on her way to an unknown fate, she hears whispers from robed men along her path, gossiping and complaining that such a buyer got his hands on a rare “Sleigh Beggy.”

Ignoring the murmurs, he reveals himself to be Elias Ainsworth—a magus. After a brief confrontation and a bit of teleportation magic, the two open their eyes to Elias’ picturesque cottage in rural England. Greeted by fairies and surrounded by weird and wonderful beings upon her arrival, these events mark the beginning of Chise’s story as the apprentice and supposed bride of the ancient magus.

The Story

As I mentioned above, Chise was sold into slavery, and watched her mother commit suicide in front of her after trying to strangle Chise. Throughout the series, we see Chise struggle with opening up and believing that she has a place in the world. I can’t imagine anyone NOT having some mental health issues while going through that.

She has said several times that she doesn’t care for her life and that she didn’t want to live. This was also true since she is what’s called a Sleigh Beggy, and only had about 3 years left to live. It wasn’t until the Christmas episode that she finally admitted she was actually looking forward to the next day.

When we first meet Chise, her story begs the question…how would we feel if we were in her place? Here was a young girl, who had given up all hope. She did not care if she lived or if she died. For all she knew, she was going to be a slave to whoever bought her, and her own life had very little meaning. Elias, as little as he understands human emotions, becomes the teacher to Chise to show how important her life is. In return, she shows him a little more of what it means to be human.

When Elias admits he is overwhelmed by loneliness, Chise can name the feeling for him, and he acknowledges that she’s his mentor in the ways of human feelings and relationships. While Chise is the protagonist of the story and her journey of self-respect takes center stage, it’s heartening to see that Elias is also included in this aspect of the narrative.

The Mentorships that Save Lives

Much like Chise herself, I had no concern for my own life. At 16, I attempted suicide and failed. I attempted again at age 23 before failing again and moving across the country. Some might say that I was running away from my past, and I was in a way, but it also saved my life. Depression, anxiety, PTSD mixed with a whole cocktail of other ailments and left me feeling alone in the world. I had never spoken out before regarding the events that had caused my PTSD, and I felt worthless, unlovable, and not like someone who mattered. Luckily, when I moved across the country, I met a slew of people who would teach me otherwise.

It would have been nice to have just Elias Ainsworth, part human mage to be my mentor, but hey, a girl can’t be picky now. Instead, I gained many friendships and even met my best friend, who to this day, three years later, lets me cry when I need to cover the same things.

In the Ancient Magus Bride, Chise simply wanted a place to come home to. She wanted somewhere that she belonged. Something that I think we all strive for. It can be tough when you feel as if you have nowhere to go. Oftentimes, when I feel the depression hit harder than usual, I start to stress out more. I’ll deep clean everything in a frenzy that Levi Ackerman would be proud of. But I won’t be able to stop, either. I won’t eat or drink, even remember to rest. I’ll simply focus on that one tiny mistake, or detail that I messed up with and take all my frustrations out on my swifter mop and dust rag.

Luckily for Chise, she had such a great mentor in Elias and others who taught her well. Chise was finally able to let go of her past and look towards her future. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do the same. Once I shared my story, I was surprised by the response I got back.

Related: PTSD in the Ancient Magus Bride and How to Overcome

The mentorships in the Ancient Magus Bride are plentiful, but here are just a few.

Angelica Barley and Chise

An old acquaintance of Elias, a witch, and a technician of the Magus Craft. She acts as a big sister and mentors to Chise when they first meet to explain a few things to her that Elias had yet to explain to her regarding the magic world. While not related, she does take a liking to Chise and cares about her. When Chise inadvertently created a mess in her shop with her power, she doesn’t blame Chise but Elias due to him not telling her about Chise’s power nor giving Chise any explanations or training beforehand.

She makes it clear to Elias from the start she is not thrilled he ‘bought‘ Chise nor is she happy with how inappropriate he was. As soon as she finds out from Chise that Elias did rather ‘unacceptable’ things, her first reaction is to punch him in the stomach (which causes him a great deal of pain) before she kicks him out of the room.

Lindel and Elias

Elias’s magician Master. I had/have such a crush on him when he first appeared. He’s been given the task of guarding the last dragons, which I think is pretty cool. He was Elias’s teacher and has advised Chise too. Lindel acted as a father figure to Elias when they first met and refers to himself as Chise’s “grandfather”.

Mikhail Renfred and Alice

Renfred is a wizard who hates Magus and magicians. But he gave his arm to Cartaphilius to protect Alice. When he first appears, he and his apprentice Alice take Chise hostage when she is separated from Elias and renders a fae helpless by using his special glove showcasing his pragmatic side.

However, he makes it clear he would rather not kill the fae that he has at his mercy. He even expresses genuine sympathy for Chise along with offering her the chance to be free, showcasing he is not as much of a butthead as he initially seems. While at first, he seemed ruthless and cold, he’s a good person who cares greatly about his apprentice, Alice. He has refused to heal his scar or regrow his arm with magic out of remembrance.

Alice and Chise

Her father got her hooked on drugs and made her become a dealer so she could be a dealer for him. If it wasn’t for Renfred, she would still be trapped in that life. Renfred can take care of himself, of course, but he does rely on Alice for protection. Alice cares for both Renfred and Chise. Renfred is the one who saved her from her troubled past as well as saved her from Cartaphilius. Chise pushed her out of the way from Cartaphilius’ attack, which probably would have killed her, and this resulted in Chise getting gravely injured instead.

Like her master, while at first, she seemed ruthless, she shows a more kinder side later on. Everything she does is mostly to protect Renfred. She develops this with Chise throughout the series, despite being on opposite sides at first. The Christmas shopping episode was one of my favorites between the two.

Conclusion?

Wherever we are in our journey, we can make it through. There are people, friends, mentors, that can and WILL help us through. If times are tough then it’s not the end yet.

Have you already seen this anime before? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below! If you missed Marina’s post from yesterday, you can check it out here. Be on the lookout for Takuto’s post tomorrow (a personal favorite of mine to read anyway)!

As always,

Keep Smiling!

July 23, 2018
Homosexuality and LGBT Relationships in Anime: Yuri!!! on Ice

If you haven’t already watched Yuri on ICE, you seriously need to take one night to do so. Just these few episodes will be giving you all of the feels and you’ll fall in love with such vivid and well-developed characters.

So when we were given this month’s prompt for OWLS, I automatically knew what anime I wanted to do…

This month’s OWLS prompt goes as follows…

In honor of “Pride Month,” we will be discussing the word, “Pride” and its meaning. We will be exploring pop culture characters’ most satisfying and joyful achievements or skills that they possessed and whether or not these qualities could be seen as a positive or negative aspect in their personal lives and/or society.

Recently, after reading a fanfiction that had the characters dared to not have feelings by the 11th episode of Yuri!!! on Ice, I decided to give it a try. I hadn’t seen it before but was determined to NOT have felt.

And…I failed.

I LOVED it! The characters, the plot, the music…everything. Most interesting to me though, and the reason I wrote this post, was after sharing that I had watched, I received backlash from a few people for watching something openly yaoi.

I would like to start by saying that I don’t care what orientation a person is. A person’s race, gender, preference, or even eating habits make no big deal to me. If you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you. How I react to an LGBT relationship is exactly how I react to a heterosexual one. I’m Asexual, which resulted in my divorce, so maybe that’s why, but it really irritates me when people become so bigoted and just downright cruel to people who oppose different ideas and feelings from themselves.

Yuri!!! on ICE broke new ground with a kiss between two adult queer men. In the latter, there is an apparent engagement, although both romantic instances were protected from potential outrage by suggestion. They are given their happy ending without being doomed to suffer for it, but at the same time, we never see Yuri or Viktor’s lips meet. At the crucial moment, their mouths are hidden by Viktor’s arm in what could be just an enthused embrace.

Homosexuality in the United States

PRINCETON, NJ/Gallup(SOURCE) – Americans’ support for the moral acceptability of gay and lesbian relations has risen.  Gallup finds greater movement toward acceptance among independents and Democrats than among Republicans, and a big jump in acceptance among moderates. Liberals were already widely accepting of gay relations in 2006, and have remained that way, while conservatives’ acceptance continues to run low.

I’m always surprised, since most of the friends I know, support, and love all of my LGBT friends. It’s mostly the older generations that seem to have more of an “old fashion” issue with it.

YURI AND VIKTOR’S RELATIONSHIP

The internet could argue all day whether or not Yuri and Viktor are canon. When Phicit announces that Viktor and Yuri are engaged/married at a crowded restaurant, there isn’t one negative comment about the fact they are both men. On the contrary, it seems to be accepted and celebrated.

However, in real life, as I stated before, people are not so accepting. Of course, others will argue that they were just “good luck” rings and had no romantic intentions whatsoever.

See the photo above for my rebuttal regarding THAT.

Another thing that could be lost in translation is that it was a tradition in Japanese cultures to ask their partner to take care of them…which Yuri did exactly.

So really, if you look at the Japanese dialogue closely, Yuri really was asking Victor to be his coach… in the most romantic way possible.

Maybe people can start seeing the deeper meaning in LGBT relationships, and start considering them as authentic.  We could use a little kindness and acceptance instead. We can take PRIDE in who we are as people, no matter what, and make the world a little better and more accepting.

And Yuri On Ice!!! maybe just one of the animes to help do that. After all, we were born to make history…

As always, Keep Smiling!

P.S. If you missed the previous OWLS post from Dylan (DynamicDylan), click his link there. Marina is up next for tomorrow, so click  Marina (Anime B&B) here for her awesome post!

June 22, 2018
Beatless: What Makes Us Human?(OWLS “Movement” for May)

Beatless: What Makes Us Human?

I just joined a wonderful group of writers, known as OWLS. If you aren’t aware, OWLS is a group of anime bloggers whose mission is to spread respect, self-awareness, and other positive themes using anime and pop culture as a medium. Their homepage motto confirms their awesomeness with this quote: We promote acceptance of all individuals regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and disability. We emphasize the importance of respect, kindness, and tolerance to every human being!

EXACTLY my type of group! It’s so wonderful knowing that there is a community for people like me.

The theme for May is “Movement.” Here was the prompt:

We join movements, organizations, and systems that align with our own personal values and beliefs. Sometimes we join these groups because they believe in doing good and making positive changes in society. However, these movements can turn sour when a dictator arises or behind the good intentions, there’s a hidden agenda of oppression. It is in these groups that individuals start to shape their identities by questioning their values and beliefs or conforming to the system. This month, we will be examining “real and/or fictitious” movements, organizations, or systems in anime and other pop culture mediums, and the positive and negative effects they have on individuals and society.

For this post, I decided to write about a new anime that I was introduced to. Beatless. In particular, the Human Rights Movement that has been around for as long as anyone can remember.

*(Warning: This post will contain major spoilers! Also, I don’t own Beatless. Obviously)*

How Does Beatless Count as a Movement?

The original BEATLESS novels are published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, and English language versions are also available from Tokyo Otako Mode, who describes the story of BEATLESS as follows:

One-hundred years into the future. A world in which society is mostly operated by humanoid robots called hIE. With the introduction of an ultra-advanced AI that surpasses human intelligence, beings that mankind is yet to fully comprehend made from materials far too advanced for human technology begin coming into being. Lacia, an hIE equipped with a black coffin-shaped device, is one of these. In boy-meets-girl fashion, 17-year-old Arato Endo has a fateful encounter with the artificial Lacia. For what purpose were these artificial beings created? Amid questions regarding the coexistence of these artificial beings and humans, a 17-year-old boy makes a decision…

Now, you might be thinking that Beatless is just another run of the mill anime, even a harem. When I first started watching it, I wasn’t too crazy about it. But after a few episodes, I was hooked. They’ve only released 15 episodes and there will be 24 in total. But the main character, Arato Endou “picks up” an hIE(or what we call AI in our world) and falls in love with her. His friends Kaidai Ryou and Kengo Suguri despises them and just wants them to not even be on the planet.

The Big Question…

In today’s world, we’re getting scarily close to AI becoming more of the norm. When the humanoid robot Sophia was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia—the first robot to receive citizenship anywhere in the world—many people were outraged. Some were upset because she now had more rights than human women living in the same country. Others just thought it was a ridiculous PR stunt.

Sophia’s big news brought forth a lingering question…

Should robots be given human rights? What classifies someone, or something, as human?

Kaidai Ryou and Kengo Suguri with Arato Endou in the middle

Emotions are not a luxury, but an essential component of rational thinking and normal social behavior. It’s these characteristics, and not merely the ability to crunch numbers, that matters when deciding who or what is deserving of moral consideration. Even some humans don’t have emotions.

If you think of people today, you have some who are incapable of feeling emotion such as psychopaths or narcissists. Or rather, I should say, they feel the emotion of others pain and suffering. Not what we, as a society, would normally feel.

We already attribute moral accountability to robots and project awareness onto them when they look super-realistic. “The three most important thresholds in ethics are the capacity to experience pain, self-awareness, and the capacity to be a responsible moral actor,” sociologist and futurist James Hughes, the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies reported in an earlier article.

“The more intelligent and life-like our machines appear to be, the more we want to believe they’re just like us—even if they’re not. Not yet.”

In Beatless, even though we don’t have all the episodes out, we’re given a glimpse into what our own world could possibly become. With the AI Sophia, we can still TELL she’s an AI. If, as James Hughes stated earlier, she looked even more human, would we become more inclined to give her what we consider human rights?

“Robots are machines, more similar to a car or toaster than to a human (or to any other biological beings). Humans and other living, sentient beings deserve rights, robots don’t, unless we can make them truly indistinguishable from us. Not only how they look, but also how they grow up in the world as social beings immersed in a culture, perceive the world, feel, react, remember, learn and think. There is no indication in science that we will achieve such a state anytime soon—it may never happen due to the inherently different nature of what robots are (machines) and what we are (sentient, living, biological creatures).

We might give robots “rights” in the same sense as constructs such as companies have legal “rights”, but robots should not have the same rights as humans. They are machines, we program them.” -Kerstin D, Professor of artificial intelligence school of computer science at the University of Hertfordshire

There are 5 main hIE’s that escape in Beatless. Each one is given a “job” but they all have a similar desire to survive.

Kouka, an hIE, gives this statement in an earlier episode. Which caused me to think even more. While I know this is just an anime, it still caused me to think of our world and reality today. In the last episode(episode 15) she asks the question: “What’s the future to an object anyway?”

The 5 hIE’s… Lacia, Methode, Snowdrop, Kouka, and Saturnus.

As the story progresses, it becomes interesting when Lacia obeys a command from Arato when he just says her name. Previously, we were led to believe that she couldn’t accept commands that were too ambiguous. Since the anime isn’t finished, we can only speculate. But it seems as if Lacia is “over-riding” her original hardcopy and gaining what could be considered feelings…human emotion, for Arato.

One thing that shows this is she destroys her programmer, which means she can no longer accept new owners. If Arato dies, she can no longer survive either. It contradicts the knowledge of the hIE’s only being out for survival.

Beatless makes you think, even as an anime…do they have emotions? Or is this just another analog hack?

Endou Arato is even said to be the perfect tool for analog hacking. When Lacia changes her calling him “owner” to Mr. Arato because he responds better, she even admits that she has been analog hacking him.

Analog hacking is basically, causing someone to do what you want them to do, through manipulation and emotion. The hIE is intelligent enough to read and think what you would do, changes their behavior to “hack” you into doing what it wants. Basically, as true to a politician as you can get. To manipulate peoples feelings to get what you want. Sounds a lot like our government and society now, doesn’t it?

But, What Are We Hiding?

“I don’t believe that there is any plausible case for the “yes” answer, certainly not at the current time in history. The Saudi Arabian grant of citizenship to a robot is simply a joke, and not a good one.

Even with the impressive achievements of deep learning systems, the current capabilities of robots and AI systems fall so far below the capabilities of humans that it is much more appropriate to treat them as manufactured tools.

There is an important difference between humans and robots (and other AIs). A human being is a unique and irreplaceable individual with a finite lifespan. Robots (and other AIs) are computational systems and can be backed up, stored, retrieved, or duplicated, even into new hardware. A robot is neither unique nor irreplaceable. Even if robots reach a level of cognitive capability (including self-awareness and consciousness) equal to humans, or even if technology advances to the point that humans can be backed up, restored, or duplicated (as in certain Star Trek transporter plots), it is not at all clear what this means for the “rights” of such “persons”.

We already face, but mostly avoid, questions like these about the rights and responsibilities of corporations (which are a form of AI). A well-known problem with corporate “personhood” is that it is used to deflect responsibility for misdeeds from individual humans to the corporation.”- Benjamin Kuipers, Professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan

Final Thoughts for Beatless

While in this anime, I see the hIE’s as humans, I don’t typically see our world getting to this level. They still have emotions, they’re just different from us, that’s all. There are good and bad people, just like there are good and bad hIE’s. I wouldn’t treat an AI any differently, but I don’t think I would fall in love with it either. Even as robots get smarter, and even when their smartness exceeds humans smartness, it doesn’t change the fact that robots are of a different form, so to speak. I’m not downgrading what robots are or will be, I’m just being realistic. Should robots be given rights? Yes. Humanity has obligations towards our ecosystem and social systems. AI will be a part of that.

And maybe we should focus on treating humans more like humans before we start to worry and criticize how we’re going to treat something that doesn’t yet fully exist.

What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

If you liked this post and want to spread awareness about mental illness or other social issues, please follow the other work of OWLS. Here is the official OWLS blog.

The next post on the blog tour is from Takuto! Be sure to check it out once it is up. If you missed the previous one, check out Marina’s here!

As always,

Keep Smiling!

May 22, 2018

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