Everyone wants to grow. We all want to look back at ourselves in a year’s time and say “I’m better now,” whether at some craft, at school, work, or our personal goals. We want to be able to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. We all want to succeed. We all… Read More Bocchi the Rock! Ep. 5: Reflections on Growth
Human beings have two responses to anxiety and crisis situations: to freeze up and do nothing, or to get busy—and I mean really busy. Or as Brené Brown and other mental health professionals term it, under-functioning and over-functioning. Sadly, this fundamental difference in responses to stress is the stuff that often tears relationships apart, rendering… Read More Lycoris Recoil Ep. 9: The Grace of a Friend
How far would you go to save a friend? We never expect it will be that far; that it will be too far, and will push beyond the bounds of what we’re willing or have the capacity to offer. Instead, somehow, it will always be doable in the moment and we won’t really have to… Read More Of Artists, Minstrels & Drowning Friends
Anime has a lot to say about friendship. Most of it, is about the process of making friends (often in trying situations with rather awkward people), and then standing by them in tough times. Much of the medium’s message about friendship can be pretty clichéd, but that doesn’t make it any less comforting and inspiring—or… Read More The Friend We Don’t Know We Have: Ranking of Kings, ep. 5
A Tower of Babel in episode seven of Sonny Boy—that I expected. What I didn’t expect was a tearful goodbye scene. Near the end of this episode, after earlier departures of virtually every other stranded student, Rajdhani decides to leave, too, to search every single “this world” in hopes of discovering a way out. It’s… Read More Sonny Boy: Friends Convenient and True
It was the tagline that got me. The thumbnail looked a little too bubblegum bright, the animation a tad old-fashioned, and to top it all, it was apparently instalment sixty-two or thereabouts in a franchise I knew nothing about. All good reasons to avoid ViVid Strike! But the tagline piqued my interest: I was not… Read More ViVid Strike! The Tagline Says What, Now?
My Broken Mariko is an intense, single volume manga about Tomoyo Shiino after the death of her friend Mariko. This manga covers topics of abuse, depression, rape, and suicide. This is not a story of redemption, but rather about death and coping. If these topics are triggers for you, I would recommend avoiding this story… Read More Manga Review: My Broken Mariko