Sweet Dreams

Before I get to this season's reviews, some exciting news -- I'm going to be an aunt again! My sister is pregnant with her second child, due in April. It came as a shock to pretty much everyone since my nephew is already seven-and-a-half. (He'll be eight by the time the baby is born, as long as they don't arrive too early.) Everyone thought for sure he was going to be an only child, but surprise!

Anyway, onto the reviews!

The aquatope on white sand - In a season where I mostly just followed continuing series and sequels, this was the only new series that managed to catch my eye, and I'm so glad I checked it out. Though it's continuing into next season, based on this first cour, I'd say this has the potential to be one of my favorite series of the year. The animation is just gorgeous, the characters are great, and the storyline is poignant. The only thing I didn't particularly care for was the random visions people got at the aquarium, a plotline that never really went anywhere, at least in this first half.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! X - I could have done with a lot less forced kisses on the parts of Geordo and Keith (and did they really need two more kidnappings arcs?), but otherwise, it's always a pleasure to spend more time with Bakarina and her ever-growing harem (shout-out to Nicol's spotlight episode, which was absolutely gorgeous), even if there wasn't much of a plot to speak of now that she's "won" the game. But, what's this? There's a Fortune Lovers II? And a Villainess movie has been announced? Game on!

Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! - This show just makes me smile! The amusement park storyline was a lot of fun and allowed some of the less popular characters from Iruma's class to stand out more. Also, Iruma and Ameri went on an adorable date! I'm not sure if Iruma actually understood it to be a romantic date or not, but it was still really sweet and cute. Glad this is getting another season!

IDOLiSH7 - Y'all know how much I loved the first two season of IDOLiSH7, so I was expecting to love the new season, too. Unfortunately, even though the story finally focused on the backstory of my favorite member of the group - Yamato - the way his arc played out was somewhat dull, with a conflict that could have been solved in a couple of episodes if he would have just talked to others. (And the choking scene was just...weird.) The second half of the cour picked up a bit, but overall, I'd say it was just pretty good, not great. Still looking forward to second half of the season next year, though!

My Hero Academia - After the endless training fest of the last cour, it was nice to see the show focus back on other things. Even though there was still some training with Endeavor at the beginning of the cour, most of the first arc focused on Endeavor trying to atone for his abusive behavior toward his family, which I thought was handled reasonably well. I liked that it was acknowledged that it was okay for his children not to forgive him, even though he was genuinely regretful. Some scars are just too deep. The second part of the cour turned into My Villain Academia, which was an interesting twist! I've never been too interested in the villains, admittedly, but seeing their backstories did make them a bit more sympathetic.

Tropical-Rouge Precure - Nothing much to say that I haven't said already! It's a fun, but silly, show, and Laura is still the best part of it. I do wish they would focus on the other Pretty Cures beside Laura and Manatsu, though. I can't even remember the other girls' names most of the time. Sango... Yeah, see? (Asuka and Minori -- those are their names! I knew they started with an A and an M, at least.)

To Your Eternity - While the first cour was fantastic, the second cour was a lot weaker, focusing on just one arc (for the most part). I'm still not sure why they decided to animate it now, considering it wasn't even a full cour. Since another season has already been announced, I think it would have made a lot more sense to wait to do this arc then and finish it in less episodes. I just don't think the Jananda arc needed six episodes to be told, especially if they had no real intention of focusing on all the other kids. The last episode, centered on Pioran, was excellent, though, and I am hoping the new season returns back to the greatness of the first cour.

Fena: Pirate Princess - Okay, so Aquatope wasn't the only new series I checked out. I almost forgot that I'm watching Fena on Toonami, which kinda says it all, doesn't it? It's a shame, because there was definitely potential in the premise and it looks beautiful, but the characters just aren't that interesting. Granted, I'm a few episodes behind due to watching on Toonami, so maybe the second half of the series will improve?

As for the Fall season, I'll be continuing with Aquatope and Tropical Rouge Precure (and Fena on Toonami), and I plan to check out the second season of Restaurant To Another World, The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, takt op Destiny, and Platinum End. I was interested in PuraOre! Pride of Orange when I heard it was going to be about a girls' ice hockey team, but apparently it is actually a combination of hockey/idol show and the reviews haven't been great, so I think I'll give it a pass. It's on Funimation, anyway. I also intend to watch the new season of Demon Slayer, but I'm assuming that will be picked up by Toonami again (maybe once Fena ends), so I'll just wait.

...but Merry Christmas to everybody who celebrates it!

It was a nice Christmas. We did things a little differently this year. Usually we do most of our celebrating on Christmas Eve, but this year, we went to my sister's house on the 24th, saving presents and dinner for today. My sister and her family got me the new Sailor Moon Monopoly game and a Sailor Moon coloring book, while my parents gave me some clothes, a pretty vanity set, a decorative skate figure (similar to the one you can see in my tree pic from a couple of entries ago, which I got for my birthday), some anime DVDs (which Mom bought from me from my Sentai order last month), candy, and a little cash.

The best gift, though, wasn't even mine! My mom's iPad started acting weird a couple of days ago, pretty much rendering it unusual. (She broke the screen a year or so ago but had been able to use it just fine until now.) She was pretty upset about it, but my sister and her husband surprised her by buying her a new one last minute as her Christmas gift. She was so shocked! It was awesome. And I was pretty happy, too, because I had gotten her an iTunes card, so my gift didn't end up as a waste after all!

...and I mean that almost literally.

We had a fire on our property. Dad had the brilliant idea to burn some tree branches he had cut down, but instead of watching it like a hawk like he should have been doing, he decided to wander off and mow the grass. By the time he noticed the fire had gotten out of control and told us to call the fire department, it had already spread quite a bit. Thank goodness it's a big property and the fire stayed away from the house, but we now have a very charred, very ugly pasture. Other than that, though, no real major damages or injuries. Dad lost a shirt, and his boots are a lost cause, but that's pretty much it, I think. Maybe a little damage to the fence and a storage building that we weren't using. Definitely could have been a lot worse!

He came back! My little Angel-baby came back!

*smothers in hugs and kisses*

Guys, I had a classic Usagi moment today when I went out to check the mail. I guess I tripped over a rock or something and totally face-planted into the (rocky) driveway. Ouch! I was so afraid I had broken my nose, but it seems to be fine, thank goodness. (Sore, but fine.) Got a rather nasty cut on my cheek, though, and I think it's starting to bruise. Great...

Oh, and it turns out there was a jury summons for me in the mail. It doesn't seem that long since the last time I was summoned, but, oh, well, I don't mind. I just hope this cut heals before then. I don't want to go into court looking like I was beaten up.

Snatched from teh_maskmaid:

( It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas )

It's been a while since I posted anything, so I guess I'll ressurect the 30 Day Personal Meme I started a couple of months ago, then forgot about.

Day 03

Your favourite television program.

Excluding anime, I would say my current favorite is Castle. I love the basic premise of the show -- a mystery writer helps a detective solve murders while they obviously have the hots for each other -- the characters and the humore are great, and it stars Nathan Fillion. What more can you ask for?

( Days To Come )

So a few weeks ago, I placed an order with Right Stuf during their 12 Days of Anime sale. I got my Slayers boxsets just fine, but the rest of the order was sent separately. Even though that package was sent before the one with Slayers, I still haven't gotten it, so last week I emailed Right Stuf about it. They said that they couldn't do anything about it until Jan. 15th due to insurance issues, but if I still hadn't gotten it by then, they would look into sending me a replacement. In the meantime, they suggested I contact the postal service to see if they could locate it.

I emailed USPS on Dec. 30th, and the website said it would be about two to three days to get a response. With them being closed on New Year's Day and Sunday, I figured I would probably get an email today. 

Well, I didn't. Instead, I just got an offer to fill out a survey about their customer service.

Guess what, USPS? I don't usually bother filling out surveys, but I'm going to fill this one out.

Lose my package, then fail to get back to me when I email you about it?

Your customer service SUCKS!

EDIT: Okay, so I got an email from them this morning (which I guess is considered the third day if you don't count the day I sent it as the first). They were quite apologetic about losing my package and are going to try to find it, but since it wasn't a registered package, it seems like it will be difficult to track. (That's what you get with free shipping!) *sigh* Guess I'll just have to wait and see (and hope that Right Stuf still has my items in stock when and if I need a replacement. I don't think they had many left when I first ordered...)

Our cat Toby died this morning. It wasn't totally unexpected. She was a very old cat -- over fifteen years old, at least -- and she had grown very weak as of late, but, still, it's sad to think she won't be around anymore.



Good-bye, Toby. We'll miss you.

It is three o'clock in the morning.

It is three o'clock IN THE MORNING.

IT IS THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!!!

I was sleeping peacfully, until you started blasting your music at THREE O'CLOCK IN THE @%#% MORNING!

I HATE YOU.

And not even moving to the living room and turning on the air conditioner is blocking it out. I'm now freezing and tired. Thank you for that.

No love,

Yume