The Toad's Burrow

     I'll be the first to say, my brother has been recommending this manga to me forever. I mean he loves it, he has stickers from this series, shirts from it, and as someone with a background in music he just loves the idea of a manga about jazz. Me on the other hand, well frankly I'm not the biggest jazz guy, but what I did need was something to read while I donated plasma, and honestly I was hooked. I'm a big slice of life guy when it comes to stories. I don't constantly need big events or crossovers, I just need characters to get hooked onto. And I'll be damned, Blue Giant did it for me. Really, the only thing I hated was the ending, I just felt like considering all they built up this band to be, the fact that it turned out the way it did really frustrated me. So let's talk about it.     I would consider at the very least this arc of the series two halves. The first on involves Dai in his hometown of Sendai, trying to prove that he is more than just someone ...

      Some things are just so perfect that you can't help yourself and you go through it as fast as you can because that's how good it is. That's how I felt watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. still one of my favourite anime's of all time, it's not overrated in the slightest in my opinion, and is worth every drop of hype to me. So, when I started reading manga again, I knew I had to revisit it. After all, I had heard the anime was incredibly faithful, so why not see if there's anything I don't remember.     And by God, I forgot how good this story was. It's almost unfair really that this manga is only like 105 chapters. It makes me so jealous that the author was able to create something so well-written, so concisely. I mean easily the best example of this would be the whole alchemical system. It's never quite explained fully in depth, and you don't get to see that many alchemists, but you just get it. From the first time you see them expla...

       I'll be the first to admit, when I watch a Youtube video titled "that one anime with cute hand movements" I didn't really expect to get sucked into one of the cutest anime's I've seen in ages. I mean, as soon as the video started, the theme song simply hooked me in, and with such a revealing name, I knew I had to jump in and bite the apple. While not the greatest series of all time, I do have to admit that it was engrossing enough that I watched the anime, read the manga, and even delved into the OVA's     I think what I loved the most about this anime, was its focus on the characters, and the main characters alone. I mean they're the stars of the show, and this anime just helped make me feel so seen as someone who's a nerd. The sheer passion exuded by these characters for their hobbies really spoke to me, and while I do laugh at the fact that they feel the need to guard them so closely, I'd be lying if I wasn't the exact same way my...