Honey and Clover – What Yuta’s Journey Meant to Me

I recently decided to rewatch an old favourite of mine: Honey and Clover. I first watched the show back in 2011, a whopping nine years ago, and, mainly because of my tendency to keep looking forward towards the next big thing, I haven’t rewatched it since. A lot has changed since then. I’ve changed. My life circumstances have changed. As such, I was interested in seeing how my experience with Honey and Clover would vary the second time ‘round. This is what motivated me to rewatch the show. Two of Honey and Clover’s storylines really resonated with me during my first brush with the show: Ayumi Yamada’s unrequited love (I’d been rejected by my crush of three years just before starting the show) and Yuta Takemoto’s solitary journey from Tokyo to Hokkaido on his beat-up bicycle. It’s the latter storyline that I want to talk about today… 

Author’s note: this won’t be my most cohesive or well-structured post. I won’t lie: I’m writing this one more for my own benefit than anybody else’s. I just wanted to jot down some stray thoughts on a storyline that really spoke to me. 

Character Spotlight: Haruka Inokuma

Chihayafuru is an amazing anime with (soon-to-be) three two-cour-long seasons under its belt. It ought to come as no surprise, then, that it has a huge and varied cast of characters. You’ve got your three main characters, Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata, whose passion for karuta is nigh on contagious, their teammates, whose encouragement propels them forward at the most crucial of times, their friends in their respective karuta societies, their parents, some of whom are for, some of whom are against their dreams, and their many, many rivals, including the quirky queen, Shinobu, and the mysterious master, Suo. Why, then, have I decided to dedicate this month’s Character Spotlight to Haruka Inokuma, a relatively new character with only a few episodes of screentime under her belt? Well… 

12 Days of Anime 2019 – Fruits Basket (2019) Helps Me to Heal

The stories that anime tell may be fictional, but that in no way, shape, or form lessens the impact that they can have on our lives. I will gladly defend that statement with every fibre of my being, because, for me, it’s the truth. There are many shows that have had some kind of an effect on my life, but by far one of the most impactful is Fruits Basket (2019), which came along at just the right time in my life to really minister to my heart… 

A Little Heads-Up

Hiya, guys, it’s me, Ty. Today’s blog post won’t be very long or very interesting. That being said, it is necessary that I put it out there. I just wanted to fill you guys in on what’s been going on with me and what’s in store for WWB over the next month or so… That is to say, not a great deal, as, regrettably, I will be going on a brief hiatus. 

These past couple of months have been chaotic, to say the least… My husband and I moved into our first home, we began working six days a week in order to facilitate this, and we soon found ourselves caught up in a very messy situation at work. I won’t go into the yucky details, but I will say that we have had to consult a lawyer and start looking for new work. The challenges that I’m currently facing require more mental, financial, and physical resources than I possess. So, while I’m doing my best, I’m really struggling. I’ve let a lot of things slide: my relationships, my spiritual life, and, yes, my poor blog. My wellspring of ideas has dried up, I’ve not been replying to your comments as quickly as I’d like, and I’m not altogether convinced by the quality of my posts. I’ve always felt that if you can’t do something well, you shouldn’t do it at all. As such, I’d rather set WWB aside for the time being, get my ducks in a row, and approach it again when I feel better able to produce work that I can be proud of. I hope that you guys can understand and that you’ll wait in the wings until my return. Until then, take care of yourselves. Your friend, Ty. 

Fruits Basket (2019) Episode 25 – Ta Ta for Now!

As expected, this week’s episode of Fruits Basket (2019) was considerably less eventful than last week’s. That being said, I still absolutely adored it! It touched upon two of the main themes of Furuba’s first season (more on that later), whet our appetites for its second season, and gave us one last look at many of its characters. So, all in all, it was an awesome episode to end an amazing first season on!