Tuesday's Tops and Tumblr, Too

By some happy coincidence, I am doing a top five/top ten list week over the span of this week over on my tumblr, which I started prior to know what the theme would be over here. Haha. Please enjoy this convenient link. Over there, I will have my top ten favourite anime, manga, books, movies, tv shows, cartoons, authors, artists, songs, bands, etc. All the usual stuff. But as I am not really explaining any of those choices, I guess I will pick one at random and elaborate on each of the top five. :P

Arbitrarily, I have chosen to talk about manga! Don't read it? Deal with it.

Saikano: The Last Love Song on this Little Planet
 This is a great love story told midst the end of the world. The story is told in flash back, of a world destroyed by man (ambiguous, but likely the usual pollution, global warming, and so on sort of schtick). Japan is the last habitable place on Earth, and someone, perhaps everyone, has waged war on them. It focuses on two young teens in love, one of whom becomes the ultimate weapon for Japan. The story is about people during a war as much as it is about a weapon of mass destruction, and many of the side stories have little to do with the main couple, instead focusing on other couples who are torn apart by the war, becoming soldiers, civilian deaths, etc.

Vinland Saga
You may have gathered over our months blogging together that I happen to like vikings, Norse Mythology, etc. Vinland Saga is a great, historical drama about them, following mainly a man exploring North America. You'll see battles you could look up, real places, even a few real people. And it doesn't shy away from the more gruesome (bloody, cruel) aspects of the culture. It's violent, people die, and it doesn't really sugar coat it. The art is fantastic in this one, too, and the detail on some of the ships and clothing is fantastic. And the Vikings don't even have silly horns on their hats.

Dengeki Daisy
A romantic comedy, even! My tastes really kind of change when it comes to manga and anime; I hate romantic comedies, but damn the Japanese are good at it. It's about a high schooler whose brother died when she was young, leaving her the number of DAISY, who would support her if she felt she needed it. The two became friends through texts, but never met. After causing some trouble at school, she is forced to work alongside the curmudgeon, but young (and attractive), janitor who - you guessed it! - happens to be DAISY. 

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
 And a bit more from the post-apocalyptic but not really what you'd expect from the genre crowd, here is Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, a story about an android who likes to ride her bike, take photographs, make friends, and shop. S'about it. The world appears to be flooded, and Japan's coast line is far closer than it should be, some cities are flooded or slowly flooding as the story progresses. It focuses on a lot of things, but mostly, it's just about people living out their lives as well as they can. Lots of pretty scenery shots, here, and a few questions about immortality (the android will outlive all of her human friends). It's just really, really sweet.

Uzumaki  
And on the exact opposite side of the spectrum, we have Uzumaki. Uzumaki is the Japanese word for spiral, and oh god, does this manga have spirals. It follows a young woman named Kirie and her boyfriend. She lives in a small, coastal town which is haunted by... spirals. Though a seemingly absurd premise, this is the most frightening thing in the world and you will never eat a cinnabun again. In fact, I recommend this if you are about to go on a diet. Please think of something that is spiral shaped, or something that spins. Yes, someone is going to be killed by it. Early on, the boyfriend's father becomes obsessed with spirals. He collects clay pots and plates, barber poles, etc. and eventually he curls himself up inside the washing machine and dies. Then, the mother and wife, becomes spiralphobic and cuts off her hair and finger tips, only to realize that there is a spiral inside of your ear, and she stabs herself in the head. Other people turn into snails, get strangled by curly hair, oh god the hand drills, get pulled up in tornadoes, and even just literally turn into spirals themselves and die from breaking their spine. :D



And to answer your fine questions,

I don't think I really have a favourite weather condition. I don't like it being very hot; I'd prefer very cold, but definitely prefer moderate-chilly to both of those. I like a bit of wind, and a light drizzle, but not heavy rain or anything. Definitely not too fond of the snow; I hate having to shovel and it makes getting places a pain. Indifferent otherwise.

My favourite thing about the 90s? Gargoyles. Disney cartoon that showed when I was a kid, never loved it much then, but I certainly love it now. Honestly can't say what I would have said at 9 or 10 (how old I would have been when the 90s ended). Probably Darkwing Duck. I used to love that show. I still do.

Final Harry Potter film? Excited, anxious. It really, really doesn't look like it will be that good, if I am honest. Particularly that dumb scene, "let's end this the way we started, Tom, together!" *hug, fall off cliff?* What is that? But it doesn't matter, I'll see it dozens of times and buy it on Blu-Ray and cry when that Warner Bros. logo pops up and during every scene. And I am going to the midnight premier.

As for fairy tales, I must admit that I'm more of a mythology woman, myself. I suppose there is a fair bit of crossover - some things that were myths received a bit of ambiguity and became fairy tales, or simply became fairy tales after the old religions were lost, but the heritage stayed around. Certainly grew up with the Disney movies, and I've read my Anderson and Grimm, but they never really caught my interest as thoroughly as other folklore. I suppose I like The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa.