Like The Tomato
Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
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Roma
- Anime Title: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- Episodes: 64
- Where to watch: Crunchyroll
- Publisher: Aniplex of America
This anime is overhyped and overrated. Yes, I know this is an unpopular opinion. From my previous posts, I think you can deduce that for the most part, I think this anime is okay. It’s not the greatest thing I watched. And I had to stop watching it because it became a chore. Basically, it came to the point that I was watching it just to watch it because it was part of the anime list that we wanted to finish.
I do however understand why a lot of people chose this as their greatest anime of all time. I understand its popularity. I mean, this is one of the first anime that became mainstream for a lot of people. It became available to a wider set of audience. But I think that ultimately became its downfall for me. Since this anime is so popular and loved by many, I expected more. And I should not have.
What did I like? The subject matter. The premise was really good and interesting. Brothers involved in alchemy trying to retrieve their bodies back. The bodies that they lost because they tried to resurrect their dead mother through alchemy. There were definitely some political struggles going on. And the episodes can go dark so quickly. These were all positives in my book.
What else? Characters are likable. Aside from the homunculi, I think the MCs and the supporting characters were great. I personally like Roy Mustang and Captain Armstrong. The way Mustang killed that one thing lives rent-free in my head. It was visceral. And that puts Mustang as one of the darker characters in the anime regardless of how noble his fight was. My favorite character, despite his short-lived screen time, was Maes Hughes. Such a lovable character and I mourned with Mustang when that happened to Hughes.
What fell short for me? I think the plot was barely moving. Episode 35 and we were still talking about that one incident. Seriously? All I could think of was can we move on to the next topic? 35 episodes in, the plot barely revealed the whole larger concept, but still talking of that ONE INCIDENT. I know, they were connected, but that was also just one incident out of what? Five? I mean come on.
I am not new to watching slow plots – I’ve seen Naruto and Bleach where a conflict can drag on. But those anime had something going on per episode, even the filler episodes had something going on in them. To say that I was getting sleepy watching an episode of FMA was a huge understatement.
I know I should not be even talking about this anime since I did not finish it. But I think 35 episodes is enough for me to form opinions about it. This will not be the anime that I will recommend for a new anime watcher. I would definitely lean toward an anime that’s a bit more fast-paced and cover the plot in 12 episodes.
Will I ever give this one a chance and continue on? No idea yet. I am leaning a bit toward not continuing on. I would lie if I say I would not want to see Mustang kill another thing in the most visceral and satisfying manner (which he will because I saw a clip). My boyfriend said that he might continue watching at a later time. I told him to just let me know if he reaches that specific Mustang episode. I just really want to see that one.
Well, as a last group work thing, the team decided to go out last night for happy hour/dinner. Mostly involved drinks, to be honest, good conversation, and good laughs. I mean, complaints and gossips were there but mostly, just the group enjoying each other’s company.
We went to go grab some food and drinks at Mox Boarding House. Cool place. Very chill, very nerdy place. I would go there again. I am not one for board games, not going to lie, but I appreciate the store they have at the front of the restaurant. I do want to peruse the store more. I did not get the chance to look at their RPG section. And they have a miniature section in there where you can paint some figures that I also want to check out at a later time. I did get a Sailor Mars enamel pin because I just had to have it. And Chris got me some green and purple dice.
We were there for a couple of hours and then decided to bounce and go to a bar down the street called Bad Albert’s Tap & Grill. We chilled there for a bit, then moved to Ballard Loft. I did play a round of pool and I enjoyed it. I have been to bars with pool tables back in the day but I never dared touch a cue. But last night, I said, fuck it and I had fun! And all I kept thinking was, why the heck did I hesitate playing back then?
Anyway, I only had two cocktails and two beers last night. So not bad, I was nursing a pretty good buzz after the two cocktails and just decided to drink beer afterward because I did not want a repeat of last week’s horrible hangover. I got home close to midnight, pretty much sober. I ate, drank water, and slept.
I woke up late this morning. Which was fine. I mean I needed the sleep-in regardless. I woke up fine albeit the sluggishness. I did feel a lot lazier today. Let’s just say that I was dragging the whole day. But I did manage to do some chores and currently doing laundry right now. I mean, I’m moving slowly but I still consider myself slightly productive.
I got to hang out with my love today even just for a little bit. We got to watch some anime today.
Haikyu!!. We finished season 4! And oh boy, that last winning volley for Karasuno. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was just that good. This anime made me care about volleyball. Well, not sure if it will translate to real life, but let’s just say that it made me care to watch this volleyball anime this whole time. I just want to see the conclusion of the anime. I mean Karasuno vs Nekoma. Come on, it needs to happen already.
Naruto. I never lost my love for this anime. Not even one bit. So I am enjoying rewatching this boy improve and get stronger. I have no complaints. I mean like most older anime, a conflict can stretch to multiple episodes and Naruto is no exception. But I am okay with it. Seems like my hun is also enjoying it. I also do not care what other people say, Naruto and Sasuke together make sense. Are they my main ship? Yes. Always.
I am feeling a bit tired though, since like I said earlier, I have been feeling a little sluggish the whole day. So, I will just relax now. Probably getting ready for bed – just in case I pass out. I probably have a hangover, but I will just pretend that I don’t.
I mean, I am going through the motion right now. I want to get this thing over it so I can move on with my life. The whole situation drags me down and leaves me out of energy. I want to not do anything at all on the daily basis. I find myself repeatedly forcing myself to work on things that I do not care about anymore. Or maybe never fully care for.
Anyway, let us just say that there is a fiasco at work because of the good planning leading to an unsuccessful rerouting of packages from our location to the new location. Two business days now that our location got two full shipment deliveries. I will lose my shit if we get another full shipment tomorrow.
I need to cook tomorrow morning. I mean technically I should have cooked when I got home from work. But I will revert to what I have been saying, I am just not having it today. I just wanted to be in bed once I got home. For the most part, I did that. But of course, I had to wash the dishes and feed the dogs. But again, I was just in bed after those little tasks.
I need this situation I am in to be over. I know my mood would be better once I can breathe.
I have been in a very bad place lately. The not-wanting-to-do-anything-and-I-just-want-to-stay-in-bed variety kind of place. Let’s just say that stress has been fueling my anxiety and depression. And it just leaves me with no energy to do anything. That has been my state of mind for days now. And I think it will just continue until this hurdle gets cleared.
My brain also has no intention on focusing on novels at the moment. So my brain has been digesting a lot of webtoons. My imagine is shot right now. So I take the imagination out of it, and turned to webtoons. The only consolation I have is that at least it is reading and it counts.
Let me see, the last time I posted was when my hun and I finished watching Chainsaw Man and Soul Eater. We moved on to Naruto and Inuyasha.
Naruto. This is one of my favorites. I do no care if this is not considered to be one of the best anime of all time for a lot of people. However, it is up there for me. I like underdogs and seeing them strive to be the best. To do the hard work so that they can be the best and they can reach their dreams. Uzumaki Naruto is definitely an underdog. Isolated by the residents of Hidden Leaf Village, he resorted to pranks to just get a little attention from the people. It’s heartbreaking. And I root for him each and every time a hurdle comes to his life. Also, rewatching the anime just made me remember how much I hate Sakura. I cannot stand her. Would never be able to stand her. And even with this rewatch, I do not see her character being redeemed to me. And it was not even her fault! It was the way she was written. Anyway, so far I am enjoying rewatching this anime. My hun seems to be enjoying it as well. This is his first time watching it. I did give him a disclaimer that a conflict in this anime can drag for how many episodes, so at least he was prepared for that.
Inuyasha. So far enjoying it. This is the first time I am watching this anime. It was big in the Philippines when I was younger but it came out when I was in my not so good girl phase so my hobbies were a bit on the go to bars and drink kind of phase. I am definitely enjoying the demons and conflict on that end. It could get slow as well, but I find that very common in older anime. So I am okay with it.
Haikyu. Karasuno is in Nationals now. They are now playing against Inarizaki. And yes, I am a bit enamored by the Miya twins, especially Atsumu, the setter. He is definitely more animated that his twin. Anyway, like the previous seasons, I have no complaints about this anime. It makes me care about sports when I do not really have any interest in it. I am kind of glad that we got see a Nekoma game and a little bit little bit of a background on Kenma.
Well, it’s been a while. I have been in such a mood lately. Depressive. I was not in a good place. Then include PMS, yeah, it has been a ride.
Anyway, what’s new? I have been applying to different jobs right now. But this job-hunting business is a pain in the butt. And honestly, putting me in such a panic and contributing in my depressive mood.
My hun and I finished a couple of anime – Chainsaw Man and Soul Eater.
Chainsaw Man. Good anime. Enjoyable. The anime is a bit hyped. Not overhyped just enough. As I said, the anime was good. It was not groundbreaking by any means. The animation was definitely one of the best. I loved the fighting animations for sure. The story was fine. It flowed pretty well. I enjoyed Denji for sure. He was such a refreshing MC, especially for this type of anime. His dream was simple – to eat, to have a place to live, to work. At this point in time, he was living that dream. And all he strives, for now, was to keep living that dream – that was his motivation and I respect that. An MC does not need to have some big goals like being the best, revenge, be the boss. His mini goals also fit with his age, 16 years old – to fondle breasts, to experience a kiss. There was nothing wrong with that. The other characters were good too – Aki and his quest to take revenge on the demon who killed his family, Makima and her very scary demonic contract, Himeno and her desire to be with Aki and to move to the private sector with him. I purposefully left out Power. Both my hun and I are still kind of meh with her. I know she was supposed to be a manic pixie dream girl archetype and the fan favorite. But so far, we have not seen any redeeming qualities yet. We shall see. There were definitely some mouth-dropping moments, which pushed us to kind of watched more episodes that one day. However, we were also not left with excitement for the second season. It was more like “Okay, not bad. We will watch the next season when it comes it”. I give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. My hun gave it a 7.5 out of 10.
Soul Eater. Hmmmm, the first parts of the anime was good. I enjoyed it. I was engaged with the anime up until the Kishin was freed by Medusa. Then it went downhill from there, at least for me. Do not get me wrong, there were episodes that I did enjoy. Any Death the Kid episodes were good. That episode where Justin was introduced, and pretty much any episode that he was in made me smile. I am definitely not a fan of Maka. I prefer episodes where she was not shown at all. I love Stein. Those episodes where he was fighting his madness and getting lost in it were haunting. I have some major complaints, why was Medusa alive? She was great up to the point where Stein and Spirit killed her. Only to reveal that she really did not die. WHY? She was so useless after that. Then Arachne got introduced. A villain that was not needed. Again why? Because Medusa was not motherly enough to be able to manipulate the Kishin to her bed? Do not even get me started with the ending. I cannot. Now I understand why it was considered, IS CONSIDERED, as one of the worst endings in anime. I give this anime a 4 out 10.
I still have not been able to read a book. So my half-read books are just sitting on my table. My brain would not let me focus. I have been consuming a lot of webtoons though. That is the only medium my brain is able to process at the moment.
The stress is getting to me. The one thing that I’m really scared of is homelessness. And I am losing sleep over it.
Anyway, I meant to read a book today. But I got distracted by a lot of webtoons. I am not complaining. I just think it is ridiculous that I am back on this kick again. Which is fine. I just have a lot of books to read. But I find that recently or when I’m really stressed or anxious, I tend to pick some reading materials that are a bit easier to digest. I am enjoying them though hence the ever-growing obsession over them. It does not help that I discovered a new app that has more BL stuff available without having to spend money to read the episodes. Reading involves a lot of waiting though.
I have just been putting on a brave face. Smiling. Laughing. Like nothing is happening. But honestly, my head is spinning, I am anxious, and I am stress eating. And my eating habits have definitely not been great – just eating whatever and not being mindful of my allergens. It’s bad.
I have Bob’s Burgers playing in the background. The noise is deafening in this apartment.