Eden of the East

Eden of the east has an amazing story, it's well planned and presented and is definitely worth a watch if you're looking for a more sophisticated mystery story line.

I can be quite fussy with how my anime looks, at first I wasn't sure about watching this because it didn't look very detailed in the form of the art work. I soon forgot about my silly nitpicks a few episodes into the series when the story really got going.

Eden of the east starts when a very normal girl named Saki Morimi is visiting Washington and by a crazy turn of events ends up running from the police with a boy named Akira Takizawa. Takizawa finds himself naked, with a gun and a strange mobile phone outside the White House and he has no memory of his former life. From there he goes on the hunt for information about who he was before he erased his memory. It's hard to not give away parts of the story as there are so many twists and turns.

The story definitely kept me guessing and as the series went on I got more addicted and interested about what was going to happen. This was a very surprisingly good find for me and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a mystery.

There are also two Eden of the East movies which I very much look forward to watching now that I have seen the series.

What do you think?

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Wolf Children (Okami kodomo no ame to yuki)

This heart warming movie has definitely earned a place in my favourites. I laughed, I cried and I could easily watch it all over again right now.

Wolf Children is the story of a woman who fell in love with a 'wolf man'. she has two children to the man and when he dies she has to learn how to raise them all by herself. I especially loved the first half of the movie when the children were very young and getting into all kinds of trouble. So much cuteness and funny scenes made this film one that I know I will be watching again very soon.

In the story the woman moves to a rural town and lives far from any civilization, this reminded me a lot of the setting of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro (another of my favourites)

As usual I won't give away what happens in the movie but I recommend this movie to absolutely anyone if you want an easy watch and to feel all warm and gooey on the inside!

What do you think?

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Clannad

I first watched Clannad three years ago, before I went to university. The different of characters create the perfect combination of 'slice of life' and fantasy genres. I loved this anime the first time I watched it so I was only too happy to watch it all over again to create a review.

Te anime centres around Tomoya Okazaki, a not so extraordinary  high school student who begins making friends when he decides to help Nagisa Furukawa reform the drama club at school. This friendship creates the base of the story and from there new characters enter.

As I mentioned there are a vast range of characters, all of which have their own little back story. I've criticised anime's before for  having potentially amazing characters yet not expanding on them enough. This is one reason I love this anime, although I would like to know more about some characters (eg Ryou and Kyou Fujibayashi) there is enough insight to keep me satisfied.

A particular favourite character and story line of mine is Fuko Ibuki's. I love a supernatural drama story but placed into this slice of life setting it was a nice little surprise. I hate ruining the story during reviews so I try not to give much away, but there is a superb mix of genres in this anime, including romance (which is always a nice little side story to keep our hearts racing and hoping.)

Another very easy watch and definitely one I would watch again on a rainy day to cheer myself up.

What do you think?

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The Girl Who Leapt Trough Time

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is about a teenage girl who discovers that she has the ability to jump into the past. She uses her gift to her benefit and has a lot of fun in the process. but she soon finds out that altering the past can have some dark consequences and with a limited amount of leaps she has to fix everything.

I read a lot of good reviews before deciding to watch this movie. I was feeling pretty ill and decided to give it ago. With a fuzzy mind it was an easy film to watch. The characters were well represented and though they don't have of a background I cared for them and their part in the story.

Don't get me wrong I did like this movie and I certainly enjoyed watching it, but I don't think I'm as enthusiastic as everyone else. Maybe I'm missing something, or it could just be that I like different kinds of anime's but though I enjoyed watching this the first time, I wouldn't choose to watch it again.

I don't want to sound like a bad review because it certainly isn't. A very good watch for a rainy day, to brighten your spirits (although you may have a little tear).

 What do you think?

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Introducing....ME!

Hallooo!!

As I want this blog to be personal as well as being about anime and Japanese fashion (and other related things) I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you a bit about myself and what is going on in my life right now!

I recently completed my degree in Journalism and now am just trying to find my feet in the world of work and find out who I am and what I want to do. Of course I did do my degree in journalism so you think that would be the best place to start...not in my case. I still want to write for a living but found that my heart wasn't in newspaper journalism and now I need to find where my heart is. One thing I do know is I love to blog!

I have a general fashion and beauty blog (here) and now I have this blog whee I can really explore and find my individuality. I have loved anime from a very young age and have always been fascinated by Japanese fashion. Being a wallflower most of my life, and gyaru and street fashion has been a bit loud for me but anxiety and shyness aside its time to explore and be who and what I want!!

As I mentioned I have suffered with anxiety.

I never knew how common anxiety and depression was with people around my age until the last year. I have had a lot of help from a strong support system (friends and family) and have discovered how the online community of people just like me can also help!! So come and say "HI" on my Twitter or Tumblr!

I will be attending the Birmingham MCM Comic Con at the end of this month (23-24th November 2013). As this is my first comic con I wont be cos-playing but I really hope to some day and am super excited to see everyone else's costumes. If you are going come speak to me on Tumblr or Twitter and if you see me there, make sure you say hi!!

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Another

'Another' is a horror anime with an amazing story, creepy characters and so many twists and turns, guessing the end is almost impossible!

It's been a while since I watched a horror anime and when I saw pictures of 'Another' I had to watch it. initially it was the cute creepy girl with an eye patch by the name of Misaki Mai. Just the look of her character drew me in (that terrifying 'little girl' look always has me shaking in my boots).

When I started watching it wasn't only her character that was the main appeal of the series. a few of the characters are strange and the whole story kept you guessing throughout the series. I was sure I had the ending sussed so I was pretty surprised when I was wrong but I'm so glad I was because the pieces of the puzzle I failed to put together were fascinating.

I maybe would have liked the series to  be a bit scarier as a whole as that was what I was looking for before I started watching. Although I don't want this to be a negative criticism in any way as I think the series was flawless and it is definitely one I would watch again.

What do you think?

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The Garden of Words

After watching The Garden of Words I found myself speechless, it's a beautifully made anime that leaves you thinking about it and yourself.

Out of all of the anime's I have ever watched, this has to be one of the most sophisticated. From the animation and the music, to the story, it really is a beautiful movie. I have so many feelings after watching it I hardly know where to start.

Takao is a 15-year-old school boy who aspires to be a shoe maker. On the rainy days he skips school to sit in a park where he sketches shoes in his notepad. Here he meets Yukino, an older woman who he doesn't know much about. Without any planning the pair meet in the park on the rainy days, but as the rainy season ends, they worry about when they will see each other again.

The art It was the first thing I noticed, the world that was created looked exquisite. I love water in anime. but this was really something beautiful. As it is set in the rainy season and the rain has a big role in the story it was made to catch your eye. I find in some anime's the water can look very...animated (I'm aware that doesn't make a lot of sense) with this water I found myself appreciating the art. The way the water splashed as it made puddles, the way the wind blew it out of rain gutters , and the way it created a mist as it hit the ground when it was heavy. The rain told you the mood of the scene, whether it was calm, or it was thick with emotion.

I'm not sure if other viewers will have interpreted the story in the same way that I have. But I'll give you my opinion and you can tell me how your feelings differed.

The two characters have imperfect lives, as a lot of us do. Takao isn't very good at shoe making but this is what he wants to do, his mother doesn't seem to be around a lot and he appears to be quite the loner. You don't find out much about Yukino's troubles until the end, but you do realise she is very alone and unconfident. The two imperfect people bond in this serine park environment and though their lives do not interact physically they seem to help each other with their troubles.

I feel like this is something a lot of us can relate to. Having suffered from anxiety I find that I connected with the story and interpreted it as how something so little can seem to hold you up and make you feel better. How finding that person (or thing) that helps you along with whatever worry you have is a small satisfaction in a busy world where we don't have a lot of time to think about these things.

Well...that's what I think.

What do you think?

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