12 Moments In Media 2017, #2: In Memory of Yu

When the movie Wolf Children was released, I remember being really excited to see it. I got to watch it, and I liked it...but it kind of gave me some uncomfortable feelings and reminded me of all the times I tried to tell my classmates about anime and they wound up making fun of me about it. So I never really touched it ever again. I got the DVD, but I never watched the English dub. Then, several years later, this article popped up on ANN, saying the artist who drew the Wolf Children manga, whose name is just Yu, died from an unspecified illness. I have to admit, some of the things her husband said left me misty-eyed. Plus, it didn't help that whenever I would go into my local Barnes and Noble, I would always, ALWAYS see that huge, hulking manga sitting on the shelf, like it was begging me to buy it. Suffice to say, I knew I had to return to Wolf Children sometime, so my mom bought me the manga for Christmas. I read it, and...I didn't get those uncomfortable feelings anymore. Now I just need to watch the movie in English.

Also, rest in peace, Yu.

Moment #2: Getting past my personal grievances with Wolf Children.

12 Moments In Media 2017, #1: In This Corner of the World

2017 has been a pretty awesome year for anime movies. A Silent Voice, Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, Mary and the Witch's Flower, Napping Princess, Lu Over The Wall, Your Name, etc. People have been churning out anime movies like crazy! One of them was In This Corner of the World, based on the manga by Fumiyo Kouno. Honestly, after having seen it, I think it's definitely one of the best animated movies I've seen. Better yet, I think it's one of the best war-time movies ever made, not only because it doesn't try super hard to yank the tears out of you and rely on cheap emotional manipulation tactics to make you care about the characters. Instead, it starts out small than builds up as it goes along, subtly showing what the characters are like and actually giving you a reason to care about them. Also, it's not depressing, unlike Grave of the Fireflies.

Just...go see it! Or read the manga. Both are available. And watch the English dub, while you're at it. Honestly, Suzu's Japanese voice actress can't act for the life of her.

Moment #1: Seeing/Reading In This Corner of the World.

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

Today's New Year's Eve, so that means another year's come to an end, with the new one on the way.

And my goodness, 2017 has been an absolutely wonderful year for me personally. I've gotten involved in more fandoms, all of which have been very welcoming, understanding, kind, and patient. I've written more stories in more fandoms this year than I ever have before (Even though I wound up having to put my Pokemon fan fic on hold due to both writer's block and having inspiration for other stories I wanted to write). I've read lots of great books and played lots of great games and seen lots of great anime. I actually managed to spend most of the year working a very well paying seasonal job! I saved up a crap ton of money and managed to do so much more than I ever did before! I've met so many great people, both IRL and online, who have been so nice to me and helped me so much. Seriously, I really needed all of this, and I'm so glad everything had gone as well as it did.

Of course, I won't say 2017 was entirely good, especially for others that I know. Besides, Donald Trump is still president and apparently we're about to enter war with North Korea or something. I honestly hope we don't all die in the next few years because of Trump's colossal stupidity. Plus, we still lost some famous people who will be dearly missed. On the more personal side, I almost lost my dad because he suddenly developed three abdominal aortic aneurysms, which, thankfully, were surgically dealt with and taken care of, and now he's in perfect health. There are still stupid people on the internet who whine and complain about everything and nothing and love starting drama so they can make themselves feel superior. No year is ever truly perfect. But honestly, I'm glad I got to do and experience so much this year. This year has been an awesome one for me, and I'm happy with how everything turned out.

But I'm gonna try and make 2018 even better. I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I think it's high time I started doing something I've wanted to do for a long while: write a novel. I mean a real, genuine novel that I want to get published. I started planning it out, I've written outlines for the first few chapters in my notebook as of right now, and I've bookmarked a crap ton of publishers and agents I can contact should I finish it. I don't know if I'll succeed or not, since from what I hear, getting a book officially published is really hard to do. But I'm going to put in the effort anyway, because writing has always made me happy, and I've seen many of my stories affect others positively as well. If I can share my stories with the world and bring people joy with what I write, then that'll be good enough for me. So many stories have influenced me and made an impact on my life ever since I was a kid. I want to be able to do the same with my own work and hopefully bring some happiness and light to someone in their dark times. So I'm gonna work hard and write my first novel!

Here's hoping 2018 will be great!