Tag: Bloom Into You

Pinkie and her Christmas Nakama: A Christmas Actvity With Anime Characters

Johoho Island Guests it is I, Santa Pink! I have come to bring some Joy to The World by taking on this amazing tag created by the wonderful Annie! She is the writer for Evening Tea Musings!.. I did not know there was Evening Tea.. but since there is Breakfast Tea I guess it makes sense!  In this tag we celebrate Christmas and it’s various activities with Anime Characters!  Now in the Netherlands we don’t have many Christmas traditions because we used to Celebrate Sinterklaas instead and just have the religious aspect.. but I’ve seen a lot of Christmas movies to give me some ideas!

Senpai, Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime, gave me the gift that is this tag so she and Annie can join me in these fictional Christmas celebrations.  Also note that I was actually supposed to have a post about Wild Wild West here, that now will show up somewhere in the final days of December. On Christmasday and on Boxing day I will not release any posts as we don’t box anything on boxing day..instead it is to celebrate christmas with the other part of the family we could not visit.  I assume most of us will celebrate christmas those days anyway so I felt I better save my blogs for later. That way we can all interact and have fun together again! Regardless this post snuck in because I thought it was super sweet! Thank you Senpai.. you gave me a great gift!  So how does the tag work? There are not really any rules except you list a Christmas Activity with an anime Character. So I will go in a sort of ..but not really Chronological order. As If telling a story!

Decorating the Tree with Monkey D Luffy

So in the Netherlands we have few Christmas Traditions.. but the Christmas Tree has been there for almost as long as I remember, lots of people did not do it when I was like 4 but by the time I was 7 every house had a Christmas Tree. While it is always lovely  to have the finished product there are some issues with decorating it. Reach… being on thing .. if you have a big tree you have to really work to get to those tough spots and more importantly untangling the lights of last year. Reeee that is so stressful! I just don’t have arms that are long enough so when I put it on the floor behind me as I go.. the stuff behind me tangles again!  Luffy is the perfect solution! He can easily untangle lights with his stretchy body, he can even decorate the  back of the tree properly and he can get to those hard to reach spots!  He is also a very Jolly and Merry guy who would bring some of that Christmas spirit in the house!

Carolling with the μ’s.

The second step in making a Christmas movie is showing how much I care about Christmas, or sometimes how I do not care about Christmas.. but that latter does not fit into this tag! So this movie shows how much I care about Christmas through me singing and dancing Japanese Idol style versions of classic Christmas Songs…and Snow Halation as well which is one of my favourite Idol songs ever! I do think that the μ’s make for good carollers though I might struggle with the Choreography! We do not have carollers here but from what I have seen in Christmas movies those are a bit stuff! They could really use the show element these girls would bring and I could live my dream to be an idol girl! Win for the people and a win for me!

Visiting a Mall Santa  with Team Rocket

The Krampus Pokémon

So… this is a bit of a sidestep.. .But in a good christmas movie there is always that person that is trying to ruin Christmas. Be it a Grinch or Krampus or whatever. Krampus actually appears in versions of our traditional Sinterklaas as well. Just in this case he is a super powerful Pokémon that Team Rocket actually releases to try and catch Pikachu!  However this monster is beyond their control and goes out to ruin Christmas!.. They don’t like that so in Panic they abduct Santa so Krampus can’t get to him and then they see the performance of the carolling people and think! Those girls  love Christmas. We should ask them for help… So Jessie dresses up as Santa Claus and James as a Female Elf Helper and they sit in a mall near us waiting for us to show and eventually we do! Now we need to save Christmas or they will keep Santa!

The hunt for gifts (+ Krampus)  with Spike

Ask a person what they want for their birthday and people , almost always, will answer! I don’t need anything! Just celebrate the day with, some flowers are fine! Stuff like that! With Christmas however people tend to be a lot more imaginative. “I saw this one particular set of bathing goods that would be lovely” , this one store has this amazing sterling silver charm on my bracelet that isn’t that expensive… I forgot what store it is though. It’s quite similar to Jingle All the Way, which is a much smarter movie then people give it credit for. It isn’t done very well..but that movie does really depict a real side of christmas. The thing people want is sold out, they forgot what it is called and what store it is in. I need a skilled hunter to help me track it down. It doesn’t hurt that he could track down Krampus as well!  Plus his Hair is Green and his little airship we can use to get around is Red.. so he also has the colour scheme down! As I haven’t seen the entire series yet and only missed bounties I would also like to give him a contract he can complete for once.. Even though I can’t pay a lot..it should at least feel nice to have somewhat of a success!

Stress Crying with Usagi

Well I have most of the gifts now, but that one gift was out of stock but would come in tomorrow, and for that other gift I have to remind myself to get some batteries, but I can best do that on my way to the house where I will eat Christmas Dinner because otherwise I am sure to forget. I still have to do groceries for dinner and remind myself to call my family, send out the last batch of Christmas cards, I still have to go shop for a new Christmas outfit and then there is Krampus who now took my most cherished guest for Christmas ….Waaaaaa that is a lot of stress!  For those who believe Andy Williams song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” It kinda is, but if you wholeheartedly believe this to be true you have never hosted anything. Christmas is one of the most Stressful times of the year. There is so much to do! Crying helps vent that stress a lot.. but I don’t stress cry that easily. I do cry easily but I need a stronger push! So Usagi ..who cries REALLY easy, might just be the incentive I need! When I see someone else crying of stress I feel like.. “okay I am not the weakest anymore now I can cry to” There have been few christmases where I did not at least stress cry a bit though! (Since I lived on my own at least)

Defeating Krampus with Maple

After the mental breakdown in the Christmas movie it is always time for the turn around we find our Christmas spirit back! When me and Usagi have cried ourselves dry Spike will point out that there is a weird star in the sky somewhere west from here.. it is really bright but it should not be there! It also looks to be a bit low in the sky!  We travel to the star and discover it is actually Angel Form Maple from Bofuri flying on her Turtle because she is looking for Santa ..  A few shepherds and their flock of sheep is running in terror as they see an Angel fly  on a Kaiju turtle as we arrive. Christmas needs some angels as well. Spike tells her where Santa is and how we can get him back and Maple sends Syrup on our way and the fight is fair. Usagi transforms, Spike shoots and I distract Krampus with Christmas songs that he hates! He evolves into something bigger and then Maple oneshots it! But Krampus can only be finished by someone who truely loves christmas..so now I have to sing the most sincere Christmas song ever. Of course that would have to be O Holy Night since we have an angel there.. and I did the whole analogy thing with three people traveling from the east to visit a super powerful child and all.. so yeah!  But it has to be sincere. I might have to sing R2-D2 we wish you a Merry Christmas instead. Pick whatever you want to hear and imagine that! (For those who don’t know the R2-D2 song) This is the first song Bon Jovi ever recorded! Check the YouTube link on my blog to listen to it’s greatness!

Drinking mulled wine and Eggnog with Aqua

Suddenly we realise it is already Christmas Eve… Imagine that.. whole story of the last bit. In the Netherlands we traditionally would go to Church, until I lost my faith when a priest refused to have my uncle in church because he was gay..and seeing a few movies that made me doubt this was it. Regardless at the end of the service people would meet outside and drink some Mulled wine together. After Krampus is defeated and we rescued my party guests who would probably both be quite shocked and unsure if they can attend the next day..due to being kidnapped by a demon.. i’d probably curse and use “the lord’s”  name in vain.  I worked so hard and now it is all ruined still! God dammit I hate Christmas..you see a lot of christmas movies have this second setback where all hope seems lost.  Then God would appear..well not “the god” just “A God” Aqua would show up and tell me.. you look like you could use a drink! I would nod and she would say! So could I !  Let’s have some christmas drinks! Sad and hurt my guests, I would agree! And I would enjoy the wine and try bourbon and rum filled egg nog as I go deep into christmas eve with Aqua. 

Seeing Three Ghosts with Fuyumi Yanagi, Nanana Ryuugajou and Meiko Honma

I would not stay sober that night and in a drunken Delerium suddenly Yanagi from Blood Lad would appear before me saying “I am the ghost of Christmas Past I will show you a vision”  she would show me a vision of back when I watched Blood Lad for the first time.. the christmas of that year.  Mom and dad had just separated and me and mom had one of the warmest Christmasses together, my sister was forced to stay at her girlfriend’s place. Mom had a Turkish boyfriend, but she came home because she did not want me to be alone for Christmas.. We had an amazing Christmas together. The vision would end and I wondered why Usagi and Spike let me get this drunk.

Then suddenly Nanana from Nanana’s buried treasure appears before me.  “I am the ghost of Christmas Present” she would say! I would take a bottle of Sake , probably empty and tell her she is not even a real ghost!  She would shrug and show me a vision of me staying in bed all day, my one guest would just read a book in her room by herself while she just been through a bad experience and my other guest would feel very unfulfilled. Nanana would say they need me and I would say they chose not come and it made me sad! They are always welcome but if they don’t want to come I won’t force them. Nanana would fade away as quickly as her show ended and Meiko from Anohana would appear. As the ghost of the future she would show me countless empty December 25ths..  Nothing bad happens.. but I would just sit at home doing what I always do..except no one is online because everyone celebrates. I would be shocked! I hate the idea of having an empty life and not being part of memories! I would tell her why is she here I have not even seen Anohana yet.. and she claims that is the exact reason why she is the ghost of the Future. I wondered when I would see it.

Cooking Christmas Dinner with Megumi

The next morning I would wake up in my own bed, hangover free, with a not from Aqua saying she purified me or something and that I should have a great Christmas.. awww perhaps she isn’t a useless goddess over all.  Though I can not help but wonder if the purifying was kinda lewd! I’d call up my two traumatised guests and in a joyful tone ask them to come. I promise them it will be great and without much convincing I succeed! People can be weird around these days and kind of shut you out but all they want to know is that you really love them! I  haven’t finished the entire Food Wars series yet, I am stranded at the part where they cook on trains!  So the Megumi that is coming to cook with me is earlier seasons Tadokoro-Chan.

She’d be my guest for Christmas but like I said in my New Years posts last year, rather than giving each other flowers and chocolates or a bottle of wine that gets added to the collection, we just help each other out! She loves cooking and I do too! So it would be super fun to cook christmas dinner together. I really adore her personality and while I would not serve a fish only Christmas menu, I think together we can still make something great!

Exchanging Gifts with Sayaka Saeki

Of course I would not leave my Waifu out of Christmas! I needed Spike to track down the perfect gift for her. I kind of like giving gifts more than I like receiving them, but I am fairly poor so it is a lot rarer as well.  For this little Christmas fantasy however I had a neat little cash influx that allows me to afford all these Shenanigans. I would give Sayaka a first print of her favourite book, or like a first edition of the first book I ever saw her reading. Something like that. I like giving things that show you know a person and while maybe not very valuable or rare or useful it shows thought!

Those are my favourite kind of gifts. If I gift you a hairbrush you want.. I am kind of saying “I agree your hair could look better”  but if I gift you an item that suits you without it being functional, I show… I like you.. I like this aspect of you and I accept you for who you are and I think Christmas is the perfect time to give such gifts.. I might be just gifting a keychain (and this year nothing  caused stores to close and I waited with gift shopping as one of my giftees wants something perishable) but it is not just a keychain! It is love as well. Obviously my Waifu would get a lot of love…the non physical kind, the physical kind seems kinda gross after having a rich christmas meal.

Believing In Santa with Yuki Takeya

The story would end with my little band of Carollers performing Snow Halation one last time! We do that inside because my house would be too small for so many girls to dance and sing!  As we look up in the sky me and the neighbour girl both at the same time point and what looks to be a sled flying in the sky! No one else seems to notice it! The girl straightens her black cat eared had and smiles and says “I saw him” , I would nod and smile “I saw him too, twice actually but last time he was kidnapped, I wonder how he escaped team Rocket”. 

Team Rocket wakes up in their own house and finds a big christmas present under their tree. There is a note from Santa “ I got out ..as there is work to be done , I will not leave without a gift though”  Team Rocket opens their gift and  they find a large tub of Coal. James sighs when he suddenly sees something move in the tub of coals, as he digs it out he discovers a Voltorb. He gulps as he knows what is happening.  We cut back to me and Yuki waving at Santa and the others thinking we are crazy.. then a bang can be heard in the distance, three shapes shoot up past santa. “Three Rocket is Blasting off Again…..Meeeeowwwth”….me and Yuki hear Santa laugh “Hohoho!” Merry Christmas”

With just one day for Christmas I am not sure if I can still tag anybody! So I will open up this thing for everyone who wants to still give it a try! My Christmas gift to you guys! Just be sure to tag Annie in your post so she can read them all! You know a lot better if you have the time available than me so I think this is pretty fair! You ALL are nominated by simply reading this! Hohoho! I at least gave some gifts this year it seems!

Pinkie in search of a Waifu (Part 2) Bloom Into You

It is time to look for a Waifu again. Last time I looked at the characters of Liz and the Blue Bird and hosted a poll which one I should take to my rose ceremony Liz or Ririka. It ended up a 50/50 tie with one vote each.  Guess these polls don’t do a lot huh! Still I feel slightly more comfortable with Liz anyway so I will be my own tie breaker. She goes to the rose ceremony. On to find my next contestant. This time I will look at a little show called Bloom Into You. When I first started this I thought that all these characters would be a bit too childish for me, and while that thought never completely left my head, I will admit my heart skipped a few beats.  It’s been a while since I felt …understood like this. A lot of the characters in this show would get me.

Conceal Don’t Feel!

This show follows the high school life of Yuu Koito and her journey to (try) and fall in love.  Yuu never really understood love, she waited for that moment to be swept of her feet, but she has never felt it and is convinced she never will. When she sees her upperclassmen Toukou Nanami , a very popular  and seemingly very perfect and promising 2nd year student, rejecting a love confession using the “excuse” that she can’t fall in love.. she gets intrigued by this young woman. (Un)fortunately for Yuu, this senpai soon develops a massive crush on her and the woman she thought was like her now is what makes her most uneasy, yet maybe trough this woman she can finally learn what love is. The moment I saw Yuu make the confession that she never had really strong feelings of being in love and that she expects so much more gave me chills.  This was very close to what I feel… it’s not totally the same but similar enough. I don’t feel that thing you see in the movies either, I hear people talk about it all the time but to me it feels a lot more bland. This show deals with false expectations as heavy theme throughout the show. Yuu has false expectations about love, Toukou has a lot of false expectations and tries to live up to many of them as well. Sayaka Saeki is in love with Toukou, she along with Koyomi Kanou a young aspiring writer and friend of Yuu are depicted as the ones to break through these false expectations but more on them later. Yuu Koiti is a character with a very important message that ironically made me feel things. Romance isn’t  always that disney thing, it’s not about that thing in romantic comedies either where you just go wild with lust. Sometimes we experience things differently or not at all. Yet that doesn’t mean we do not experience anything. Maybe I could be with someone like Yuu because she is someone like me.

(she even kinda looks like my avatar)

Over the course of this 13 episode anime I definitely felt a lot of sympathy and compassion for the young pink haired damsel. The show features a lot of inner monologue which allows us to get to know the main three characters a lot more than through dialogue alone. Being the protagonist that is fairly straightforward and honest to herself we get to know Yuu the best. There is an honesty in her character that isn’t afraid to point out flaws of other characters in order to strengthen their bond I can deeply appreciate in her. She also isn’t afraid to play the mental game. She can analyse what her friends need and how they would react to certain situations and her thought process is very similar to my own.  She can see the need for kisses hugs and affection but isn’t really impressed by it. It’s all sort of nice but not what people make out of it. I feel the same way about the physical expressions of love. While I do not actually mind them all that much , I find them rather irrelevant. While I do like hugging, I do not need like someone to rub my feet.. or warm body to stick my cold feet under..eeew. Sex to me is extremely overrated. It’s kind of like junk food to me. Occasionally you get a craving and than you indulge but I would not want it on my plate everyday..eeewww. When I researched if I might be asexual one guy said the easiest test was to imagine the person of your dreams naked on a bed and a cake. You can only take one. Do this like a 100 times at different times and if you keep picking the cake you might be an ace. I would ask my naked lady friend to put on some clothes so we can share the cake with some tea together while we chat.. so while I do like some attention and love, I crave the emotion not the whole sheet wrinkling thing.

(Even if people stare at me longingly, I just stare back long)

It feels like Yuu might be the same, love feels dull to her. A kiss means little to her, yet that tiny feeling is enough for her. I like that we could have it good together. Unfortunately Yuu feels a bit too young for me. Like I know I should not make anime age to much of a issue her.. but mentally she is still to young. Throughout the show she seems a bit too naive and ignorant at times. She doesn’t really know who she is yet.. and more importantly what she wants yet. While the manga fixes this issue a lot better than the anime in terms of accepting her own preference to women in the anime everything is left a bit unresolved. Which is fine we know she will get there with time and how is left to our imagination, but Yuu doesn’t feel strong enough yet to be a component of the relationship. She is the source of someone’s else’s happiness. The shoe polish that makes someone else shine. She is the sandwich part of a peanut butter and jelly  sandwich. Sure she is an integral part of the relationship but everybody will only talk how nice the peanut butter or jelly are no one ever really talks about the sandwich. I want to make someone shine just as much as they make me shine.. so I feel with Yuu we would more likely become best friends/ near sisters.

(Maybe we could be more than friends…but……)

Don’t Let them Know!

This flaw of Yuu is shown even in the concept of the anime itself. While she is our main character the story of the show is never about her. It’s about Touko, the woman that is interested in her. Toukou  would not be a good match for me because she never really is herself. Which really goes against my own believes. In fact I really dislike Touko. She doesn’t deserve someone like Yuu or the love of someone like Sayaka. Funny enough Yuu and to an extend Sayaka both understand this as well. The great miss Nanami is but a charade that the entire world sees and both know that , that person isn’t really Touko. She is simply wearing a mask. Pretending to be something she is not. Being yourself is a very big theme is this anime as well and trough the series we see everyone learn this lesson but Touko, in fact for a while  thought the series would have ended with her suicide as we only see her get more and more lost. Her loved ones keep telling her to be herself.. but she made it her goal despite their request to be her dead sister. The perfect girl. 

(Nobody can know I am not perfect!… No one is perfect so everybody kinda knows)
(That equals FE-E or in other words Irony!)

Of course Touko is only chasing a dream because nobody is perfect. Yet another theme in this story, and a lesson I had to deal with. This show hit close to home in many fronts. I have pretended to me someone I am not, I have wore masks while I knew that that wasn’t the person I was. I strived to be someone I was not.. but that is a goal you can never truly reach. You can never go against yourself too much. So if you try to be not you.. you are doomed to fail, which results in self hate. This show captures that sentiment very well. Touko always reaching for something beyond her reach. Not just in terms of her main mission to become her sister, but to win sports events from actual jocks and to put on an epic stage play without theatre experience as well.The stage play is a perfect metaphor for Touko because everything she says to anyone but to Yuu, and in a very rare case to Sayaka is all fake. Like a script. I felt like that in the past.. I read scripts and I hated myself for doing it. So I completely understand Touko..but as she was at the end of the anime series she would be someone I would get very angry with. When I love someone I want them to be themselves all the time , I do not compromise to only see the real you in secret spaces. I want someone who can wholeheartedly commit to who they are, someone who accepts who they are. Not just who they want to be with. The person who did that best in this show will be my Waifu selection I will take to the rose ceremony with me. 

(I shall leave Yuu to you Touko, you might actually be good togehter ..for now)

Let it Go!

Sayaka Saeki is the one character that I found consistently strong and admirable throughout the series. Sayaka might seem to only be a love rival to Yuu but there is so much more to her. Sayaka functions a bit as the “true reality”  of this series. She isn’t someone who has it easy but she mostly sees things for what they are. Even Touko to an extend. One could say she lives to much for the woman she is in love with but unlike Yuu , Sayaka acts mostly in order to keep herself happy. She can’t confess to her beloved because she knows that she will be rejected by her. Which is pretty much established to be true. We see her notice stuff is going on between the two other main characters and she does decide to step in. Block what she doesn’t want as much as she could. Like Yuu she wants Touko to live life as herself but she doesn’t have the same reach as the pink haired damsel has. So the vice president of the student council will have to tolerate that younger girl in order to keep her dream alive. She is the most honest about herself about being attracted to woman and thusly she becomes something that no one else in this show really is. The one who knows who she is. She knows she is into women and that she can not change it. She knows she is into Touko but can not have her , rather than seeking out a mask to hide behind she is searching for reasons not to wear a mask. She is asking other lesbian woman about  their feelings so she can understand hers better. She has tried to change but know that she has failed and that she HAS to be herself. She is very much in a similar step of self exploration as I am. Her more serious and focussed nature might make her seem like a bit of a boring and spiteful character but she needs the right partner. In the past we see her as fun loving and more easy going and that can be drawn out. She isn’t perfect and she is aware of that but she is the only main character that is seeking out her own happiness rather than that of another. That is a very important step and it made Sayaka step right into my heart.

(OMG Saeki-Chan is so adorable like that!)

Now Sayaka got a bit hurt by the anime ending on just a “date” between Yuu and Touko, you have a feeling they will be alright, but Sayaka doesn’t really get much closure. We just see her sitting in a chair with some glasses and a book curled up getting distracted from her reading and that’s our goodbye to Sayaka. Which is a shame..but that same shot happend earlier and that was a moment that I thought “Wow she is cute” and not in the adorable manner like with Yuu in the.. I would not mind curling up next to her with a manga or my Nintendo Switch kinda way. Sayaka doesn’t have an easy life.she discovered she was into girls rather early when her Senpai told her.. It  was just a phase and being a lesbian is wrong. She lived by that mantra and left her private all-girl-school in an attempt to “pray the gay away” hoping that interacting with boys would make her straight again. Only to find out it didn’t. Her dirty blond hair, her little mannerism being al stoic. I think she could push my ambition a bit further while I could make her more outgoing.

(I kinda wish to take Touko’s place.. Sayaka was fun at that moment)

Bloom into you is a great show about identity and the search of it. The three characters all represent a phase we can go through in search for ourselves. Yuu is the one when you haven’t really figured out. When your friends are further in live than you are you could end up as there supporting actor, but you should always play the lead role in the story of your live! You might not be miserable, but everything feels very dulled, as highlights are never about youl. Touko is what you get when you try to be someone you are not. Total and inescapable misery. You will need someone else to break free of this. In my case it was a friend who confessed something major, who was welcomed so warmly that I thought… what am I doing pretending .. this isn’t real. A few months later I was finally be able to take of the mask and be the real me. Sayaka did this as well and while the show does make it very clear that we do not always get what we want in fact, we should always want more than we can have anyway. Because that is how we grow and how we strive. We have to accept that things aren’t perfect and sometimes we do have to settle.

Sayaka accepts she can not have Touko but chooses the happiness her “regular” company provides rather than not having any at all.  While she tries to outdo Touko in school-work she never does, she doesn’t overwork herself but accepts her limits, hence why she doesn’t tell Touko next time she will try even harder. She simply tells her friend that if she slips up, she will be there. Sayaka has been through her own hell, but stays strong, she knows who she is and who she wants to be and makes steps to be happy as herself. I respect her and think she deserves someone who is good for her, she needs someone who is in the same phase of life as her and she is pretty darn cute. So I think we might have found a great match, in a great anime series.

More Pinkie In Search for Waifu Posts

–Liz and the Blue Bird (Part 1)