Ep 02. Saw Akitsuki-kun at our shrine today! Very good. He didn’t see me in my miko outfit. Not so good. And he was eating croquettes with some girl. Time to go for practice with Beretta-san in the sewers again. Not Akitsuki-kun’s girlfriend yet.
Ep 03. Akitsuki-kun is the same class as me. Yay! But he turned down my okonomiyaki invitation to run errands with Asahina-san and ended up catching a cold. Would have started plotting to get rid of her but it gave me the perfect opportunity to visit a bedridden Akitsuki-kun. Now I know where he lives, thanks for Hattori-kun. But turns out *that* woman is living next to him. Attempt to seduce Akitsuki-kun with cooking was ruined by Hattori-kun and Saotome-san. Wanted to introduce them to Beretta-san for first and last time right there and then but don’t think Akitsuki-kun would have liked the mess. Still not Akitsuki-kun’s girlfriend yet.
Continue reading ‘The Very Secret Diary of Honoka Sakurai 02-12′
Honoka-chan continues to feel Suzuka’s shadow on her efforts to get closer to Yamato. After failing to seduce Yamato with a sexy swimsuit at the pool theme park, she finally confronts Suzuka. Mentar sees Honoka-chan as trying to get the go-ahead from Suzuka, thus showing some sort of consideration for Suzuka. I could not disagree more.
Continue reading ‘Suzuka 12′
In Ep 10 in which Honoka-chan does not appear at all (Hmph!) reveals more of Suzuka’s backstory - she has to deal with a lot of guilt, lost chances and general confusion. Definitely a big boost to enabling me to empathisize with her more and really see her as a heroine in this story instead of simply as the object of Yamato’s affections. In Ep 11, poor Honoka-chan realizes how much effect Suzuka has on Yamato as well as the possibility that she cares enough about him to actually call out to him so publicly.
Continue reading ‘Suzuka 10-11′
Honoka-chan’s attempt at covert psychological warfare fails to decisively change Yamato’s mind about joining the track team so he can stalk Suzuka. Pretty convenient that he had a fantastic trial timing and thus a standing invitation from Miyamoto to join. Otherwise this would probably be the end of the anime. Yuuka inadvertedly tells Honoka-chan about Yamato’s confession to and rejection by Suzuka and this dazes her with eye candy consequences. After fulfilling her dream of eatting croquette at Yamato’s side on her shrine’s steps, she determines that stalking him from the fence isn’t close enough and will follow his example by joining the track team to stalk him as a manager but it isn’t as stalkerlicious as she thought it’d be. When the selection trails arrive, she plays cheerleader to Yamato again but is left in the dust as he rushes off to Yokohama after Suzuka.
Warning: 70+ screencaps ahoy! Continue reading ‘Suzuka 07-09′
The recent retirements of Tensai11 and Jeff Lawson as well as the long hiatus announcement over at itsumo feels like the loss of Fujiwara no Sai and Touya Kouyo Meijin in the world of Hikaru no Go to this blogger and perhaps signals the beginning of the end of an era in anime blogging. While longstanding pillars of the community, like Matthew and the Sea Slugs Team, continue to be active, others like Miwa and Momotato Daioh have gone worryingly inactive. But as with Hikaru no Go, newcomers continue to appear and infuse new blood into the community.
A common theme is burnout after the demands of anime blogging assume assume the characteristics of regular drudgery work as the passion of the hobby fades. This post, spurred by Jason Miao and Moyism (Life Line by Line)’s recent enunciations of their blogging methods, argues that while the primary motivation of anime blogging should indeed be fun and enjoyment, academic methods (which is often associated with work or homework) do have a place in helping improve quality, save time and even enhance personal satisfaction.
Continue reading ‘Exploring Methodologies in Anime Blogging: An Arts & Humanities Perspective’