New Picture: Silver Spoon!

     This was one that I have been on the look out for for a long time! I hope you like it!

     If you want to read the review for the anime, go here.

Guest Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Thanks to "L" for writing this review!

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 552 pages (the pages are not very long)

General setup: Death has a story to tell. It’s about Liesel Meminger, a German book thief living in Nazi Germany during one of the busiest times for Death: World War II. In Death’s words: “It’s just a small story really, about, among other things:

• A girl 
• Some words 
• An accordionist 
• Some fanatical Germans 
• A Jewish fist fighter 
• And quite a lot of thievery” (Zusak 5) 

Characters: Death is the narrator of The Book Thief, and I feel that I got to know Death because of little passages he would insert about himself. In The Book Thief, Death is not the traditional idea of the Grim Reaper but is more human like.
     Liesel, the main character is a girl given up for adoption along with her brother who dies on the way to their adoptive parents’ house. Shortly thereafter, Liesel steals a book called “ The Gravedigger’s Handbook”. I would say that Liesel is a dynamic character because she becomes stronger in the face of difficulties and begins learning the power of words when she learns to read.
     Hans Hubermann a.k.a. Papa is the adoptive father of Liesel. He mostly is a static character, but he provides much needed support.
     Rosa Hubermann a.k.a. Mama is the adoptive mother of Liesel. She is a strict, foul-mouthed woman, but she is also a round character and shows a loving side.
     Rudy is the love interest and best friend of Liesel. He is a very lovable and fun character.
     Max is the Jew that the Hubermanns decide to hide. He has many physical and emotional struggles. He is a companion to and changes Liesel.

Plot: This story is not a suspense or quest sort of story, but it is a recounting of events. The author will focus on a specific event and then skip several months. This didn’t bother me because it is how someone telling their own story would write: important events are recounted and many daily activities are skipped. Also, I could tolerate the time skips because they happened constantly. The plot revolves around Liesel surviving and finding meaning in life in Nazi Germany. Another big part is Liesel discovering the power of words beginning with learning to read. Although not particularly suspenseful, I still found myself reading The Book Thief at an alarming rate.

Ending:The ending did not come as a surprise because Death had forewarned the readers several times. However, I still had my heart ripped in shreds and cried for a while when I read the ending. While the ending is not a surprise, it is still just as, or even more, effective than if it was a surprise. In summary: “I laughed, I cried. It moved me, Bob.”

Other media: There is a movie. It is rather good for a movie adaptation, but I think that the book is better.

Things to watch out for: There are quite a few curse words used throughout the book, but I felt like swearing was not overused and fit the characters. This book takes place in Nazi Germany, so there is also the cold realities of life. Some of the material might be disturbing, but I would argue it is necessary to remember the atrocities committed to prevent repeating them.

Who should read: Many of my friends, my dad, and I have all read this book and loved it. Anyone high school age or older should read this book, regardless of whether they are an avid reader or not.

Book Commercial: The Woodcutter Sister series

Anime Review: Tsukigakirei

Watch the video version!

I also did a first impression for this anime, so I would like to respond briefly to some of the comments I made for that impression.

I didn’t notice the music as much as I was hoping I would. That does not mean that the music was bad, it just blended in with the animation and storytelling to the point that unless, I concentrated on it, it was an indistinguishable part from the whole.

Thankfully, there was not as much angst in this anime as I thought there might be (ex. Kimi ni Todoke season 2). Playing into that, I really enjoyed the way that they used LINE. The characters did have to struggle a little to get used to interacting in the real world, but the app did not become a crutch for their relationship.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let's get down to business!

Anime: Tsukigakirei

Genre: Shoujo, romance, drama

General Set-up: Kotaro and Akane are entering their third year of junior high. They become acquainted through an awkward meeting at a family restaurant and being on the same committee for the sports festival. They exchange LINE information and Kotaro soon asks Akane to go out with him. She agrees.

Characters: Both Kotaro and Akane were balanced characters. Often, one character is stronger than the other, but I felt like Kotaro and Akane balanced each other’s strengths and weaknesses out nicely. Both of them grow throughout the course of the show. Akane comes to be more confident and Kotaro learns to be more independent. I liked how Kotaro would play boxing matches with the hanging string for his bedroom light fixture. It felt like something I would do.

Supporting characters play their roles well. They influence the main characters and the main plot and complete and fleshed out. The only side character that I felt could have used some work was Hira.

Plot: This anime is different from others in its genre, in that the two main love interests acknowledge their mutual attraction and become a couple within the first few episodes. This causes the pacing of the anime to change a little. Instead of leading up to the point where they become a couple, Kotaro and Akane have learn HOW to act like a couple.

Ending: The ending for this anime was interesting. It had a few twists that I was not expecting, but it was very good - especially the end credits. They gave a level of resolution that you can only wish and hope for! I was so overcome by the feels that I cried. It was very sweet.

Things to Watch For: For the most part, this anime is pretty clean. There were one or two minor incurrences, but in the interest of not being a nitpicker I won’t talk about them now. Instead, I would like to take this time to talk about the age range of the characters. Unlike most romance anime, this one is set in junior high, not high school. Middle school is around the age where boys are starting to notice girls and girls are starting to notice boys. I had my share of crushes in middle school and some of my friends even had ‘boyfriends.’ I would like to think of myself as wise for my age because even in my early teen years I realized that dating in middle school is not always the best idea. You are still growing, physically and mentally. Also, it doesn’t always work out that you go to the same high school, or even college afterwards, so keeping in touch beyond three short years is difficult, especially at such a young age. However, while I would not necessarily recommend dating in middle school, I don’t think it is a glaring issue that needs to be redressed.

Sights and Sounds: Tsukigakirei is interesting because it contains a mixture of both 2D and 3D animation. 3D animation is used for transition sequences and smaller actions. Most of the animation is done in 2D. Even in 2D the characters often have a white outline that mimics 3D animation. I think this was done in an attempt to blend the two styles together. The mixture of 3D animation may bother some people, but I got used to it farily quickly, so I’m not going to call any attention to it.

For the most part I didn’t notice the sound track much. This is partly my own fault, but I don’t think it reflects badly upon the anime. Often soundtracks can painfully stick out for all the wrong reasons. The music and sound effects for Tsukigakirei blended together into a cohesive whole, helping to tell the story. The music ebbed and flowed to where some scenes had no music at all. This allowed the music to have a greater impact when it came in, instead of being a constant drone in the background.

Other Media: Tsukigakirei is an original anime series.

Fillers: After the first 6 episodes, there is one recap episode.

Length: Tsukigakirei contains 12 episodes.

Where to Watch: Crunchyroll

Interesting Language tidbit: The meaning of the title!

Literally translated into English Tsukigakirei means “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”. However, it is also a way to say ‘I love you’ in Japanese.

Update: Legend of Zelda Boxed Set Manga Review video

    In case you missed it, here it is!

Book Commercial: Jesus Without Borders by Chad Gibbs

Mini Manga Review! - Twilight Princess

     As mentioned, in the Summer 2017 Book Haul video I am now the proud owner of the first two volumes of the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess manga. As this take on Legend of Zelda is a bit different from the ones found in the boxed set (feel free to read our review of that manga here) I decided to do a short video about it. Enjoy!