Update 1/4/15

Holy crap...my first New Year's post. (If you look back I did an apology update on 1/8/14 and a regular update on 1/16/14). So while I can. Happy New Year everyone. Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

2014 went by in a flash and I guarantee that 2015 will as well. Now let's see how many times I try to post an update with the year 2014 instead of 2015. Haha. So this week is a decent one, just your basic recap and anime discussion plus...I have two character of the week posts because I realized after I had posted last week's update...I forgot to do my COTW....Oops. I have an excuse for that. I had my best friend over and we were watching anime all weekend (Saturday night to Tuesday morning) and I quickly posted my blog so that I could be a good host and spend time with her. Yeah...I was in turn a bad blog mom...sorry guys. So let's get on with this week's post.

December Recap

December wasn't only an extremely busy month, it was also a huge spending month for me (and probably 90% of all people). I mentioned at the end of last week's post that I had actually used my $25 gift card to purchase manga from Barnes and Noble (which I have only received 3 volumes in the mail so far) but I am super excited to get all of those manga because I am planning on using them for some awesome content on here. (Most of the money I spend on anime and manga is for a reason). Another thing that I purchased in December is Road to Ninja: Naruto Shippuden the Movie. I will be reviewing that in March. I also got all of my music (my top 40 anime openings of 2014) so that I could accurately write my blog.

Of course the best thing about December was the anime weekend I had with my best friend. We stayed up really late watching shows and movies. (I don't think I will ever do this again because three days of all nighters is not easy). What did we watch, you may be asking, well let me tell you.

First we watched Love Stage!! because like me, Erynn has a yaoi obsession. Since we both had read the manga series, this was our obvious first choice. 10 episodes later and we were finished. Since we were still awake, we decided to watch another show. This time it was Tokyo Ghoul. Funnily enough my cousin (who was spending the night with my little sister) had taken interest in it because she likes horror and blood and well...pretty much stuff like Tokyo Ghoul. Erynn was obsessed with the show. After we had finished watching Tokyo Ghoul, it was time to sleep. When we woke up it was time to watch something else. We decided then to watch Sword Art Online (both seasons...however I didn't have her watch the Extra Edition due to time constraints). I made her a believer of the SAO world. After watching both seasons (which took up Sunday and Monday), we were pretty beat on anime. However I wasn't able to sleep so I threw in some movies. I watched all of my Naruto movies and Erynn sat up watching them with me as she hadn't seen them before. She said that she preferred to watch the show over the movies. I am still a big believer in the movies (I also can't wait to watch The Last).

Now one last thing that was huge for me in December was the discovery of NateWantsToBattle. I was looking for the opening to Soul Eater (for blog purposes) when I came across his English cover of it. Then I found myself trapped in his music. I won't go into too much detail as I have a blog planned in March to discuss his channel.

What was your December like? Did you have a great end of 2014? Are you prepared for 2015?

New Year: 2015

Everyone, no matter who you are, has plans for the new year. I myself have plans for this year. After watching Meghan Camarena's new video on her Lifeburry channel I decided that I too should make a concrete plan for my 2015 year. I am not going to do goals like eat healthy or work out because I find those to be unrealistic goals that make you feel like crap if you miss them. No my goals are going to be realistic for me and suit me in a way that will help me feel good about myself and in turn maybe I will even strive to better myself in other ways. 

Source

Here are my 2015 goals: 

1. Graduate from College 

a. get good grade

2. Get a Job in my Degree

a. job at my intern site

3. Blog Bi-Weekly

a. Sunday & Saturday

4. Podcast Monthly

a. bring life to my youtube channel

b. vlog daily

5. Take More Time for Myself

To everyone else this may seem like a very bland list but to me this is my step in the right direction. 2014 was filled with a lot of failure for me and I want to rise up from that failure. I don't want to be stuck in one place anymore. I want to achieve what I try for and this is what I will try for. I want to learn every day and grow from what I learn. 

Something I heard recently that really sparked this feeling in me is that if you stop learning with graduation then you stop growing. To me this said that I make me into what I want. It isn't the school that makes me, it is me. I help myself grow by the willingness I have to achieve greatness. 

I am hoping that this all translates not only into my future as a Veterinary Technician but also as a blogger and a person in general. Let's make 2015 the year of change...and a ton of anime. 

Are you guys as ready for this big year as I am? Since it is a day of motivation and celebration, let's take a peek at what I have planned for the future. 

I am going to hold myself to this schedule and hope that I can do it all like I want. I have so many great ideas that I can't wait to share with you all. Also if you want to see something specific, don't forget to ask me and I will totally add it, as I am always looking for something new to talk about. 

Source

Attack On Titan: Love or Hate

With season two on the horizon (coming in 2016). I figured it was time that I explain my thoughts. When Attack on Titan first came out, I vehemently refused to watch it. However, after several requests by my friends (and the fact that #1 - FUNi dubbed it into English, #2 - Yuki Kaji plays Eren), I decided to try it out. 

I watched the show in less than twenty-four hours. 

I watched episodes 1 and 18 to 25 in Japanese and episodes 2 to 17 in English. Both are really good quality dubs in my opinion (you may not agree, this is just my thought). 

Cast

Eren - Yuki Kaji & Bryce Papenbrook

Mikasa - Yui Ishikawa & Trina Nishimura

Armin - Marina Inoue & Josh Grelle 

Levi - Hiroshi Kamiya & Matthew Mercer

Reiner - Yoshimaasa Hosoya & Robert McCollum

Bertolt - Tomohisa Hashizume & David Matranga

Annie - Yu Shimamura & Lauren Landa

Jean - Kisho Taniyama & Mike McFarland

Marco - Ryota Osaka & Austin Tindle 

Connie - Hiro Shimono & Clifford Chapin

Sasha - Yu Kobayashi & Ashly Burch

Krista - Shiori Mikami & Bryn Apprill

Ymir - Saki Fujita & Elizabeth Maxwell

Thomas - Shigeyuki Susaki & Duncan Brannan

Mina - Chika Anzai & Alexis Tipton

Nac - Tomoyuki Higuchi & Will Short

Mylius - Kazuhiro Fusegawa & Joel McDonald

Samuel - Kenji Takahashi & David Trosko

Franz - Kenta Okuma & James Chandler

Hannah - Megumi Sato & Tia Ballard

Tom - Shigeyuki Susaki & Tyler Walker

Daz - Shuhei Takubo & Brad Venable

Darius - Hideaki Tezuka & John Swasey

Keith - Tsuguo Mogami & Patrick Seitz

Hannes - Keiji Fujiwara & David Wald

Hugo - Akio Suyama & Tyson Rinehart

Mitabi - Takanori Hoshino & Kyle Herbert

Dot - Masahiko Tanaka & R Bruce Elliott

Ian - Yuya Murakami & Scott Freeman

Gustav - Go Shinomiya & Keith Kubal

Anka - Ikumi Hayama & Jamie Marchi

Kitz - Tomoyuki Shimura & Christopher Sabat

Rico - Michiko Kaiden & Morgan Garrett

Erwin - Daisuke Ono & J Michael Tatum

Zoë - Romi Park & Jessica Calvello

Mike - Kenta Miyake & Jason Douglas

Dita - Koichi Sakaguchi & Johnathan Brooks

Moblit - Rintaro Nishi & Jerry Jewell

Nanaba - Asami Shimoda & Lydia Mackay

Eld - Susumu Chiba & Vic Mignogna

Oluo - Shinji Kawada & Chris Smith

Petra - Natsuki Aikawa & Caitlin Glass

Gunther - Kozo Mito & Brett Weaver 

Nile - Anri Katsu & Ian Sinclair

Marlo - Tomokazu Sugita & Todd Haberkorn

Hitch - Akeno Wantanabe & Brittney Karbowski

Boris - Yuichi Karasuma & Micah Solusod

I don't think I would ever watch season one again BUT I will watch season two. Attack on Titan is a gore fest and very full of military concepts. I am not a huge fan of either (except in cases like Tokyo Ghoul, Akame ga Kill, and Fullmetal Alchemist). Not counting my psychobabble about anti-gore, I think Attack on Titan is a work of genius and all the creators (anime and manga) get a huge thumbs up. 

My favorite part by far (cast aside) is the music...no surprise there. 

Hiroyuki Sawano who is the composer does an amazing job. He is an amazing asset to this series and I love his work. His past work includes Blue Exorcist and Aldnoah.Zero (including the amazing end credit "aLIEz") and his future work includes Aldnoah.Zero season two and Seraph of the End. 

However my favorite part: the opening credits. Linked Horizon provides two pieces for the series. "Guren no Yumiya" is the first opening piece and "Jiyu no Tsubasa" is the second opening piece. Both  songs are sold on iTunes on the album Jiyuu e no Shingeki featuring the song "Moshi Kono Kabe No Naka Ga Ikken No Ie Datoshitara" (which is absolutely amazing). 

Needless to say Attack on Titan's music was epic and rocked the anime world in 2013. Before I had even seen the series the music overall was the most talked about aspect of Attack on Titans. However another reason that popularity really sprung was due to the director Tetsuro Araki having released the epic anime Death Note seven years prior. 

Overall I give this series 8 stars out of 10. 

What are your thoughts on Attack on Titan? Was it the best series of 2013? Did you watch it before or after the hype? Did you watch it in Japanese, English, or both? 

Character of the Week

Itachi Uchiha

"I failed. I won't put myself above you and tell you this and that, it's too late. So this time for once, let me tell you one small truth. It's all right if you never forgive me, but no matter what you become, I will always love you." (source: www.naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Itachi_Uchiha)

Probably the most lovable character in the series, the elder brother to Sasuke is by far an important figure throughout the series. In the original Naruto series, Itachi was just known as the missing s-class ninja who killed his entire clan leaving his brother alive before joining the Akatsuki. What was known was he was sent to capture Naruto for being a jinchuriki. He didn't play too big a role until Shippuden. When we next see him we are shown that he is still the one on the hunt for Naruto. 

It isn't until later that we truly fall in love with Itachi (or at least I did...besides the fact that he is hot and his voice in Japanese and English is HOT). I think the episode that truly got me was during the Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant arc when Itachi and Naruto have their talk. This truly showed the kind of man Itachi is. He cares deeply for his brother and his village. This is also later expressed after he is brought back through Edo Tensei. 

Probably one of the most tragic characters in this series, both of the times we see Itachi die are extremely hard to stomach. 

Arcs in the anime that feature this Uchiha: Search for Tsunade, Sasuke Recovery Mission, Kazekage Rescue Mission, Itachi Pursuit Mission, Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant, Fated Battle Between Brothers, Power, Fourth Shinobi World War, and Kakashi ANBU Arc. 

His Japanese VA is Hideo Ishikawa. For English dubbed he actually had two voice actors. For episodes 29-30 of Naruto he was played by Skip Stellrecht and then he was voiced by the ever sexy voice of Crispin Freeman. 

What are your thoughts on this character from the Naruto franchise? Are you a fan of him like I am? Do you prefer a different character? 

Mikasa Ackerman

I don't know too much about this character and what I do know is what I have learned from watching the anime. (I haven't researched her or any of the characters from AoT like I have for other shows) 

Mikasa is a brilliant girl. She is good at what she does and is the top of her class. She is the adopted sister of Eren and is extremely close to him and Armin. She is willing to take on the world if it makes life easier for Eren. 

Her voice actor in Japanese is Yui Ishikawa and her voice actor in English is Trina Nishimura. 

A cool fact I found out on her wikia page is that she has even been referenced in American pop culture through The Simpson's Treehouse of Horror XXV episode where she was played by Lisa Simpson. 

I actually really like her because she is badass and a girl. She's a badass girl. She can be girly or she can rough up the boys and she isn't afraid to take down a titan or two. 

What are your thoughts on this AoT character? I can't wait to find out more next year (don't ask me to read the manga...I don't think I could stomach it). 

That is all folks. I have no spoilers this week obviously because there have been no new updates due to the New Year. However you can expect them next week.  

I hope you all had a good safe new year and I will see you all next week. 

Source

Ja ne. 

xx Kat

=^.^=