Anime Review: Big Windup!

Alright! Another review!

Let’s do this!

Ōkiku Furikabutte

(Eng) Big Windup!

Often shortened down to ‘Ōfuri’.

Synopsis

Our shy and hardworking protagonist, Mihashi Ren, loves baseball to the core of his being, especially pitching, to the point where he will not play any other position. In middle school he was the ace pitcher of his team, but all the players hated him because he seemed to have gotten that position because his grandfather owned the school. They refuse to cooperate with Mihashi and, as a result, lose many games.

Fast forward to the present. Mihashi is now in high school and is the pitcher for Nishiura High School’s first baseball team. Mihashi is visibly nervous about this, but he soon realises that his team are more than willing to include and assist him, especially catcher Abe Takaya. With Abe’s guidance and expertise, and Mihashi’s precision and persistence, these two make a powerful battery that pushes their team towards victory.

What’s To Like?

One thing I particularly like about this anime is the good balance of focus on the game and the relationships between the teammates. In my opinion, a good sports anime has a nice bromance going on between the characters.

Like most sport’s anime, there’s a good deal of analysis of the games as they are in action and it actually got me really into baseball for a while. I still like the game actually and I normally hate watching sport.

There are loads of characters that you get to love. I think other than Mihashi and Abe, I really like Tajima who’s a really funny and energetic character. I also like Coach Momoe who’s strong, hardworking and likes to tease.

Because I like BL, obviously I’ve picked on the fluffy bromance between Mihashi and Abe. Abe can be a little harsh sometimes and make Mihashi cry, but you can really see their relationship grow and it’s nice to see them interact with each other and work well to overcome obstacles.

One thing I should add is that games often last for one or more episodes, so a lot of the episodes are them playing and strategising, and not some much school life. I guess if you’re used to anime like this, you probably know this, but this is a little heads up for those who aren’t. It’s not as bad as anime that have battles for like 10 episodes (I’m looking at you, Naruto). Still, although matches can be long, they’re never boring- it keeps you on edge as you wonder what’s going to happen next, whether the team can overcome this obstacle or technique of the other players.

All in all, I love the anime. The sheer enthusiasm and energy from all the characters is enough to make your day. If you want to start watching sports anime, then I’d definitely suggest starting with this or Kuroko no Basket.

Pictures

Video

Here are some clips to give you a taste of the anime

And finally, have a listen to the second ending of the anime. It’s a beautiful song that I tend to repeat and sing along to over and over and over and…

This is ‘Arigatou’ by Sunset Swish. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do (and maybe sing along? – the romaji is in the video), and I’ll see you next week for my next weekly post.

Bye!

~Peanut

Genres

Sports, Comedy

I think I’m going to take a break

I feel bad for doing this after abandoning this blog and then starting it up again, but I have to.

Right now I have too many commitments and I’m under a lot of stress and things are spiralling out of control.

So I won’t be posting for the time being. (If you see any posts, they were probably scheduled a while ago) I don’t know how long. Maybe when I get my life in check.

~Peanut

Grace Grasslands

‘Sup!

So I’ve had this drawing (completed) I’ve just left aside. I kinda made it differently than I originally planned to and planned to correct it but then decided, nah it’s fine. The whole thing could be improved in so many ways so it’s better to just redraw it later. But still I wanted to post this one because I guess it’s still cute and it’s personal.

This character right here is Grace Grasslands, my best friend in high school. (Of course Grace Grasslands isn’t her real name). We had some drama and went our own separate ways, but I guess there was no getting rid of each other, hehe. So to celebrate our reunion, I drew a character for her, loosely based on the one I drew on my old blog.

^^ This one.

I have to be quite honest with you… I was quite lazy with this one. It’s not my best work and I guess I’m sorry about that, but I still like it and I want to show it to you. Feel free to judge (just not too harshly TT.TT)

Anyway thanks for reading and, uh, looking… at the drawing…

I’ll see you next time.

~Peanut

Manga Review: Hana Kimi

Hey, so it’s been a while since I’ve done a review, but I’m gonna go ahead and give this another try. It’ll be a short informal one so bear with me, okay?

So…

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e.

(Eng) To You in Full Bloom!

Definitely had to start on this one, it is one of my favourites!

Synopsis:

Hana Kimi is about Ashiya Mizuki, a Japanese-American girl who cuts her hair short and applies to an all-boys boarding school in Japan. Why would she do that? Maybe to get all the meat. Well, it turns out her idol, the handsome high jumper, Sano Izumi goes there! Better yet, they end up as roommates! The story follows Mizuki’s days as she interacts with Sano and her classmates whilst struggling to keep her gender a secret. Little does she know, some people may have already found her out…

What’s to Like?

Like I said, this is one of my favourite mangas, which is weird because with the exception of BL, I don’t tend to read romance. Hana Kimi isn’t like other school life romance animes, in my opinion. There’s a huge focus on Mizuki relationship with all of her friends and their relationships with each other so it has a really nice feel to it. It doesn’t just focus on the romance aspects, so if you prefer that, then maybe this isn’t for you- Mizuki and Sano’s romantic relationship does blossom quite slowly. There are some really cute shoujou manga moments interspersed here and there though.

Mizuki and Sano’s friendship though is quite a nice sight to see. It’s cute how intimate (yet platonic early on in the manga) they are when they interact with each other. For example Sano, hugging Mizuki, or helping her with her tie. They can also be quite cute and awkward with each other- so much fluff it’s too much! ❤

This series is also pretty funny, though the drama adaptations have a bigger focus on comedy (but still on romance!) – I’ll review those in another post.

The characters are pretty loveable as well. The school doctor, Umeda, is charming and like a older brother figure for Mizuki, Nakatsu, one of Mizuki’s friends, is wonderfully dramatic, oblivious and brusque, Sano is calm and beautiful, Mizuki is energetic and cute and thoughtful and sometimes quite assertive, and I could just go on really, I love all the characters.

All in all, it’s a pretty long series and you get to know and love the characters. You see how they change and how their relationships grow. I love the series so much, I’m reading through it the second time AND I’ve watched 3 live action adaptations, the 2007 Japanese one at least 4 or 5 times! I would 1000% recommend. Hana Kimi is one of the cutest slice of life mangas I’ve ever read!

Pictures!

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And finally, here’s the ending song for the 2007 Japanese live action adaptation. I thought it would give you a little insight to the series though the live action adaptations do differ from the manga in certain respects. But, you know, I love the song so I’m going to share it with you! You’re welcome! 🙂

So that’s it for this review. Next one should be in two weeks, but I’ll still be posting something next week. Hopefully a drawing… I guess we’ll just have to find out.

Laters.

~Peanut

Genres:

Comedy, Romance, Gender Bender, School Life, Slice of Life, Shoujo, and technically a reverse harem.

No post For This Week!

I’m having some technical difficulties with my wifi right now so can’t use my laptop to post.

But posting should be back to normal next week.

Sorry!

~Peanut

Kami-sama, Jikan wo Tomete yo!

So I’ve been binge watching Marmalade Boy. I love the series but it can get hard to watch sometimes because the mangaka, Yoshizumi Wataru, is a SADIST and likes to torture her readers by placing obstacle after obstacle between main characters Miki and Yuu and everytime Miki gets insecure, I develop hypertension.

But, you know, it’s a cute series and one of the rare non-BL romance series I actually indulge in.

So, since I’ve got Marmalade Boy on my brain, here’s a drawing of Akizuki Meiko, Miki’s beautiful and mature best friend who, spoiler alert: (highlight to reveal) vvvv

was dating a paedophile. ( Yah, Namura, that’s what you are)

 

Now, don’t worry, you’re not seeing double.

There are indeed two pictures of Miss Akizuki, side by side.

That’s because I wanted to add tears because she was crying in the scene I watched before I drew this, but at the same time I thought since I drew her eyes wide open completely forgetting about the tears, I save one without the tears.

That’s the beauty of layers, my friends.

I won’t say much about the drawing process. Almost everything I did here, I’ve tried before- except maybe the shading on her dress. And the hands.

…

HANDS.

Drawing her hair was a pain. I mean it would be when you don’t have steady hands and you’re using a mouse to draw. (And yeah, I know I can always get a tablet, but I want to actually get good at this art stuff before I do that. Same with a better drawing software.)

Anyway, hope you like it. Now that it’s complete, I’m going to go back to watching Marmalade boy like the masochist I am.

Till next time, guys.

~Peanut

A Slightly Bigger Version

[Title Translation: God, please stop time!]

Pinch Me, I’m Dreaming

Just found out Sims 4 is releasing a new expansion pack- The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs!!! I’m so excited but I’ve already bought two expansion packs and I’d feel bad if I spent any more money. TT-TT

It’s about time Sims4 got pets. I remember Sims 2 Pets- I’d always spend so much time dressing up the pets.

But seriously I’m so looking forward to it. There’s a new vet career, the pets look so beautiful and detailed and I want my sims to go jogging with their pets! I just hope you’ll be able to control the pet as well- I’m pretty sure you could do that in Sims 2 (though it’s been a long time…)

Anyway, if you’ve got any interest in The Sims at all, have a look at the trailer below!

~Peanut

Just a Quick Update

I was thinking about doing anime and manga reviews again. I know I’m not that good at then, I don’t  always know what to look for, but I think they’ll be quick informal reviews that just really get to the point on why I liked/hated the anime/manga.

I’m going back to uni in October so I will have limited time for blogging. Even now just preparing from the coming year I’m already busy and haven’t really drawn much. I hope to post drawings every once in a while, at least every month, and I want to have content weekly but I don’t have an idea of a schedule at the moment and I know when I tie myself down to one I’ll lose the will to post again.

So, tl;dr: I gonna start doing informal reviews, the drawings will keep coming (I have one scheduled already) but at a slower pace, and I’m still striving for weekly posts, and though I have a lot on my hands at the moment, I’ll try my best. Fighto!

I have a tumblr I’ll be on every so often. I relay my posts there and also reblog fun and cute stuff… and most likely BL, yaoi, the like. So if I go dry here, you can always check that out.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day/night whatever time of the day it is for you.

~Peanut

 

I Like Cute Frilly Dresses

I used to be sort of a tomboy, but now I dress really girly… outside of my house anyway…

Hey! So, I’m back with another drawing. Did this one fairly quickly (though it still took a few hours).

It’s a little simple. There’s no shading, for example, and the eyes are obviously lacking any sort of detail, but that’s what I was going for this time. The ears kinda suck though- I only just realised this now.

I finally had a chance to alter the opacity  to make cute little see-through frills. The hands were also a killer- or should I say hand. The left (your right) hand was surprisingly the hardest to draw and I didn’t even get it that well. The right hand was surprisingly easy to draw.

Another obvious new thing is the posture- the girl is bending over slightly. I pretty much fucked up the model, and THEN redrew it on the layer for the drawing and NOT the model so I had a lot of erasing to do… This posture/position/whatever was very hard for me since I suck at proportions. It kept coming out strange so I kept sculpting and sculpting (like my drawing with the alien model XD) until I got this and stuck with it. I didn’t bother with the legs…

…Nope.

Not going there.

Use your imagination.

So that about covers the drawing process. Colouring was fairly simple since I didn’t use any shading. Hope you like the drawing and I’ll see you soon.

Have a great day.

~Peanut

 

Zenryoku Shounen

So here’s a song I fell in love with when I started watching All Out. It’s called Zenryoku Shounen by Sukima Switch and I believe there’s another version of it in the anime Tokyo Marble Chocolate which is pretty cool but this is my favourite ~ ❤

Anyway enjoy! I know I did! (and still do~)

~Peanut

(Ahh I feel like watching All Out now~~)