I woke at 8 AM today. I opened my eyes and thought, “Damn, I need to go to the mall today”. I dragged my ass out of bed, fed the dogs, and slowly got ready to go to the mall. I was never a fan of the mall, to begin with. I did not understand it. Even before when I was younger, my classmates were so excited for the weekend so that they can go and walk around the mall. I remember doing this one time with my high school friends and all I could think of was WHY?

Anyway, I digress. I needed to buy something at the mall and I hated the fact that the stores open so late. Why 11 AM?? I am one of those people who like to do errands early in the morning so that I’ll be home by 9 AM, latest 10 AM. Anyway, I went to the mall and got there at 10:30 AM. I planned to find some coffee first. But thank goodness, JCPenney opens a bit earlier. And I was glad that I found all I need in that store. I was out of the mall in less than 30 min.

For lunch, I decided to try this Filipino restaurant called Fil Cuisine. And the food I ordered was good. Chicken adobo fried rice, laing, sizzling sisig, and crispy pork kare kare. I did not eat the kare kare because of allergies but the other dishes were really good. I could not stop eating. And the food coma was real and hit me a bit harder than ever.

My love and I were able to hang out today. We watched some anime. No surprise there.

Bubble. This is a little mermaid retelling in anime form. It was good, enjoyable for sure. My hun thinks that this would have been better as a series instead of a movie. I agree. I feel like the conflict resolution was a bit rushed. Aside from Hibiki, the other characters were not fleshed out enough. I mean I understand this anime was about Hibiki, but if this was a serialized anime, I think they could’ve explored the other characters as well. Or actually explored the situation. Or fleshed out the plot more. Other than that, I enjoyed it. My hun gave it a 6/10, I gave it a 7/10. I can see myself rewatching the movie down the line.

Tomo-Chan is a Girl. Do not watch this in dub. I have no idea why they thought faking the low voice was a tomboy thing. Watch the sub. The voice actress for Tomo was more natural. Anyway, we only watched two episodes but so far, we laughed and enjoyed them. I think having a non-conventional female anime character in a romance anime is refreshing. So far, I like where the anime is going. She’s not trying to change herself for her best friend to notice her. And I like the fact that no one around her is trying to change her either. I guess you can say Misuzu tries to a little bit, but it’s no a blatant, do not do this and change this and do that instead. We shall see though. It’s too early to tell.

Inuyasha. I cannot stand Kagome. What the heck is wrong with this girl? I do not understand why she cannot keep those jewel fragments in her person. They were always in that damn backpack. I cannot. Or you know, just give it to Inuyasha. Anime over. Other than that, I am enjoying the demons and Inuyasha’s journey. I just cannot stand Kagome, which is unfortunate because she is in every episode.

Anyway, no major plans tomorrow. Just chill.

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 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.

How was my first day back after a week or so PTO? Stressful. Well, not really. I just felt tired. I almost did not want to go to work. Definitely not happy to be back. But I need to pay the bills. So to work I went.

My hun and I finally got to hang out tonight! It was nice after not being able to when I was in SoCal. I had a good time. Although, I do have a headache now. We ended up finishing Haikyu!! season 3. And oh boy. Yeah. YEAH.

Haikyu!! The last three episodes of season three definitely had me on the edge of my seat. As my hun said, they did a good job expanding this 5-set game to 10 episodes. And there were no lulls the whole time. This season is the Tsukki arc for sure, hands down. His character development was top-notch. It took a while for him, but damn, this character arc was good. My hun cheered when Tsukki ran back to the court. One of my favorite panels, as well as my hun favorite panel, was when Hinata and Tsukki were being overpowered by Ushijima. Basically, the visual was Ushijima pushing Hinata and Tsukki down on the ground. As the other Karasuno team members helped to keep the ball up – Daichi, Asahi, and Ryu, the visual added them helping the first years push Ushijima off them. It was great. It was such a powerful representation that Karasuno is in fact a team working seamlessly, helping each other out. Well, the loss for Shiratorizawa was definitely an upset but I do not care. Their team was so boring to watch. The only animated player there was Tendo. Anyway, Karasuno is going to the Nationals.

Not that I watch sports anime in general, but if we end up watching some more of this genre in the future, Haikyu!! set the bar pretty high. I do have a feeling that we will have a hard time finding another sports anime that can keep us this invested.

I am exhausted.

I did not get to drink coffee today. I spent my day talking and socializing.

So yeah, I have no energy now. Just drained.

My hun and I got to hang out today, which was nice. I mean, I would be in SoCal for over a week and tonight would be the last night that we would be able to watch anime until I get back. We watched three episodes of Haikyu!! and two episodes of Souleater.

Haikyu!! This anime is good. So good. As I quote my hun, “it’s too good to be a sports anime”. The anime just really does not let you feel a lull. Even the “lulls” are not lulls. Tsukki’s character development is amazing in this arc. The subtle shifts in his attitude while in court, just perfectly done. The other team, I think they are the only team that has not shown any sort of development or evolution. There is always one character that annoys me in an anime, well there is one here. Ushijima. I really do not like him. He is so boring. And honestly, all he does is hit the ball hard – with his left hand. I mean he has no personality. My favorite from that team is Tendo, the middle blocker. That guy is just as animated as a freaking villain and I love it. I am actually so surprised and got excited when I found out that Oikawa is watching the game! Incognito. He is so funny. Now, that one is a captain. A dynamic captain. Shiratorizawa is an okay team. They are just not as good as Johsai, in my opinion.

Souleater. I enjoyed the Blackstar episode. We see a break in his character. I would like to see a comeback from him. His confidence is not doing so hot right now. And I would like for him to get back out there. I didn’t care for the other episode. I just do not like episodes that are heavily Maka-centric. I am also not a big fan of Crona, so that did not help.

We had no power for a few hours last night. So I just read, which was good since I have not been able to read for a bit.