Yellow, it's been a while. I have been quite busy with school work and all, so I was not able to write much for the blog. I have done some stuff for the blogs, the links are there, but they point to nowhere. Hopefully I will remember to change them in the future. As for the contents of this blog, I think that I'll talk about some of the media, books, shows and whatever stuff I consumed over the past few months that had takken my interest.
Of course due to the nature of this there are bound to be spoilers, and I have made no effort to minimise or flag them out. Please be warned that if you with to have an unadulterated experience with the contents of this blog please come back later. I would hope that you enjoy them as much as I did.
This was one of the more recent stories that I had read, I initially found some of the manga up on Reddit and had a look. I was almost immediately interested in the dynamics of the 2 main characters and how the story would progress, I wanted to see how Kanata would eventually fall in love with Yui.
At the beginning of the story, I was quite worried that the story would progress to be a toxic yuri situation. But I am very glad to see that despite Yui being so promiscuous with other women, she would come to tone her activates down to cater to Kanata's interests. Seeing how Kanata would come to see that she was attracted to yui was also a fascinating read that I think might be close to how people would realise that they prefer the same gender.
Despite how Yui was subservient to Kanata's desires to advance their relationship, in latter chapters it was clear that Yui was the "guiding" force that drove their relationship and pushed Kanata to be more intimate. It was very amusing to see Kanata ask Yui to restrict her proclivities for womanising more and more while at the same time trying her best to refrain from indulging in intimacies. Of course, each time Yui took the lead to initiate Kanata became less and less able to reject her advances.
Though part way through the story, it came to light that yui was a successor to a large and powerful conglomerate. She was also engaged in an arranged marriage that was of benefit to the company and her suitor. Kanata did not take this well and stopped staying with her. The writer skipped a few years ahead in the future to continue the story. Kanata reunites with Yui, and they get back to their old activities. Eventually they get back together garnering the support of both of their families and annulling the frankly depressing relation between Yui and her suitor.
Personally, I think that the timeskip was very warranted. The events in the later half of the story required a bit more maturity and awareness that I thought university students do not have. As a student myself, I think that I would want to selfishly indulge as much as possible in a situation like this. However, this does not mean that the story became dry and impassionate. Quite conversely, whenever the two were afforded some modicum of privacy it seemed that they could not hold themselves back and became engrossed in each other very much so. I do feel that near the resolution of the story the amount of smut was the entire premise of the story, and I am not really one to enjoy plain direct sex, and so it put me slightly off.
Overall though, it was a fantastic read. On that day I first looked at the manga, I finished the entire story within the next 12 hours. This was all in spite of the fact that I had finals the next day and I was frankly escaping that fact through the story.
This is another manga that I read recently, I found the story somewhat interesting. The main character was interested in designing clothes for a living, imagining it to be quite the glamorous thing. Personally, I did learn how to sew clothes from my grandparents, but I haven't done much to practice and improve. In the past I did try to make some of my own clothes, but I was terrible at it, and it took too long; Especially because I sewed everything by hand. In the end I just threw it all away and I haven't touched sewing in 4 years.
But that is not the main reason why I was drawn to the story. As it turns out, one of the characters Tao is trans. She presents herself quite feminine in the cafe that she works at, but outside not so much. She recruits Tsumugu, the main character, to work for them as they were drawn to the clothes designed by Tao for the cafe. And the story revolves around the designing of costumes for the people in the cafe.
Unfortunately, the manga got axed and was slated to end their publication earlier than expected. The story was then rushed to compensate for the reduced time. The story continues where Tsumugu to announced that she had designed the cafe's costumes and gained some recognition in the fashion industry.
Frankly, an unsatisfying read. It had left much to be desired, especially in the development of characters and fleshing out their motivations. I really wanted the author to further develop the relationship of Tao, especially with Miki her colleague and owner of the cafe. It seemed the Miki opened the cafe entirely for Tao to express herself and enjoy her life, I wanted to know her motivations to do that. Evidently I am being incredibly biased and self concerned, I want to know what the author thought would be a good relationship between a woman and a trans woman. But alas I will never know how the story might pan out.
I don't think this show needs much introduction. With 2 seasons produced and a third on the way, I would say that the story of The Apothecary Diaries is well-loved and familiar to many. Maomao the main character is put through the many shenanigans occurring in the rear palace, presumably the setting of the story is ancient China. She then uses her knowledge and skills gained from her time as an apothecary to solve issues and mysteries around her, slowly garnering favour from the royalties.
One significant person is Jinshi who is an important person in the story, due to their lineage and the office they hold in the palace. He grows fond of her and another love story seems to be on the horizon. The story though is a reaalllll slow burn, the romance aspect is decidedly reserved and slow to progress. Much more focus is on the mystery solving aspect of the setting, where they meet one complex ploy after another; And somehow they all seem interconnected.
Perhaps it is not that great of an idea to watch the anime and read the novels for the romance aspect. However, I do want to see their relationship through to the end. So I have purchased novels 5 and 6, which I gobbled up within 1 day of starting to read them. I enjoy the mystery in the story, but I think the relationship between Maomao and Jinshi is what takes the cake for me. They just seem so "compatible"? Like they can play around with each other and how Jinshi can be vulnerable around Maomao is so endearing. Maomao is also rather cute in repressing her feelings for Jinshi, but at the point in the story where I am at, I cannot really tell if the relationship will follow though. It feels more like a one-sided love than what I would feel be the foundation of a good partnership.
I would say that the anime of The Apothecary Diaries and it's novels are amazing, that it satisfies my want for mystery and romance much more than I could ever ask for. Perhaps that is too much a hyperbole. At first the anime was recommended to me by a good friend and I had put it off for about 2 years as I was terribly busy. And now I would say that it was the right choice, otherwise I would have spent many days hoping for an opportunity to continue reading this story as I have now. I really do think that the story is that good and to whoever chances upon this I would certainly hope that you have the opportunity to read this story too.
There are a ton of other books that I have read that are not supper interesting, but I thought to include them in case people were interested. But overarchingly they are mostly on philosophy and health, I felt that it was appropriate given how stressful and confusing life will be getting in the future. I perhaps wanted to make some preparations, but in hindsight these kinds of things might be more trouble than they are worth. At least though it could serve as come timecapsue for what I thought was interesting and helpful.
The Myth of Sisyphus, The Communist Manifesto, Tao Te Ching
These books are honestly quite confusing for my simple STEM mind to parse though. I feel like The Communist Manifesto is the most straightforward thing to understand. And yet because of the rich history of communism and the fact that the text is so far removed from present day conceptions of life I feel that I lack the base knowledge to appreciate the gravity of the writings my Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The unfolding of the proletariat and bourgeoisie seems so far away and I cannot conceive how it came to be, perhaps because I have been born into this system already and because I always tune out the political goings on around me.
The Myth of Sisyphus was even worse, the writings by Albert Camus honestly brought me no value. Other than the proclamation that religion is running away, I have no clear understanding the message of the book. I cannot recall how to react to the absurd, and for large swaths of the book the words seemed to just phase past me carrying away all their meaning and escaping my understanding. It is now currently my intention to have a second look though the material, just to see what I missed now that I have more leisure time.
Tao Te Ching is something that I chanced upon when looking on YouTube. The videos from Einzelgänger MAKE LINK inspired me to have a read. I can say that there are some nice and great concrete ways to lead your life espoused in the book. But there are also many passages that seems to talk about mystical things like the "myriad creatures" and the such, I am sure that thay havr some meaning that is lost on me. I was also perhaps thinking that the reason why I have trouble reading it is because it is a translation of the chinese material. I was wondering if I would fare any better if I had a chinese copy with my, but I think that it would be moot. Especially, if my unedrsanding of the languae is any worse than that of english.
Outlive, Rest is Resistance, The Myth Busting Guide to Psychosis
I am not really one for books that talk about health, but recently some of the topics covered in university made me reconsider my former inclinations. The first book was like this, and I came across it during a mandatory health and wellness module that initially did not interest me. After looking back though I became a little curious of the concepts of "Medicine 3.0" that was more preventive care than outright treatment. The book Outlive, was an interesting read about how the author proposes we should combat chronic illness and more recent developments into treatments and care for patients. Generally a quick snapshot into what might be the future of medicine, not really worth it if you are not interested in the subject.
Rest is Resistance, was something i was also interested in. During that period of time, I started seeing a therapist. Initially for gender reasons, but during my first session it was evident that university live and how stressful it was taking more of a toll on me than expected. It was a book that I thought might help me, and I think that it did. It helped me to distance myself slightly from what work I had, and ensure that I would also make time for myself. Weather that was taking a nap at school, or coming back home and make some time for myself; I made sure that I got a break each day. Though, there were some things that I do not agree with. For example, the contents seemed to insinuate that only black people were the sufferers of colonialism. Or that anybody that writes about or the rest movement, needs to credit black history and needs a solid understanding of its history. Frankly, I feel that this makes the rest movement not as accessible to people who wants to contribute to the movement.
To me, it makes it seem like only black people are afflicted by the ills of capitalistic society. And because the movement is isolating other people from the movement, people outside are afraid to contribute. Though, perhaps this is just all in my head... I would at least make the concession that people can derive the principles of the rest movement on their own. I think that while a lot of us are afflicted by the grind culture of the modern world I would hope that many of us are still capable of imagining a world of rest. I acknowledge that the roots of the rest movement may lie with black people, but I would not extend and say that they own it.
But that is just my personal gripe, I still do think that the book was a good read. The message of the book is very clear and well articulated. A good place to start is you are looking to break away from out busy lives.
The last book, The Myth Busting Guide to Psychosis, was more or less a precaution. My family has a history of schizophrenia, and my mother having experience with these things thought that I may be displaying some traits. So anyway, fast-forward a week or so and I am getting checked up, and I am currently fine. They told me to keep a lookout for more sign and possible symptoms and to come and look for them again if need be. Hence, this was just some reading material just to make sure I am a little bit more acquainted with delusions and hallucinations. Probably not as useful for other people, but would be very informative for people who are going to interact with people who has or experiencing psychosis.
These are just some of the stuff I felt was noteworthy to include, and there are many others. Like Cosmic Princess Kaguya, which I have seen, but I am not sure how to articulate how I feel and the story is just not as expansive as The Apothecary Diaries, or How about some afternoon tea. Or is Cosmic Princess Kaguya as emotionaly relatalble as Con Cafe. I certianly do adore the story of Cosmic Princess Kaguya, but I am unable to comment on why so. But I would deffinately reccomend it.
At the same time I am look forward to watching the new season of Frieren, and catching up with other anime, and novels. I may possibly make another blog post about these materials soon. Besides just anime and novels, I have already purchased a bunch of other books that I wish to read. I have already gone though about half of the Monogatari Novels, that I have started reading about 4 years ago and I have a few more philosophy books to go through. Bellow I would also hopefully provide links to the stuff I have been talking about so that you can check them out too.
How About Some Afternoon Tea - My Anime List Page
Con Cafe Jou wa Koi o Kiru - My Anime List Page
The Apothecary Diaries Season 1 - My Anime List Page
The Myth of Sisyphus - Wikipedia Page
The Communist Manifestoi - The Marxist Internet Archive
Tao Te Ching - Wikipedia Page
Einzelgänger - YouTube Channel
Outlive - Authors Website
Rest is Resistance - Authors Website
The Myth Busting Guide to Psychosis - Publishers Website
Cosmic Princess Kaguya - My Anime List Page
Frieren Season 2 - My Anime List Page
Monogatari - Fandom Page