-Thank You, To Those Of My One Hundred Followers; Just Thank You –(Mark’s Achievements+Face Reveal)-

Before getting into things that I want to say for my achievement on having 100 followers, I want to especially thank the person who introduced me to blogging; my 8th-grade teacher (for privacy reasons, I won’t tell who exactly the person is).

But, when creating a blog that was just for a grade throughout my last year of middle school (8th grade), I didn’t know what I wanted to say or even know what to even do in a blog for that sake. When you think of a blog, you think of sophistication and something about it having some sort of theme. Like photography or fancy reviews with flawless websites. So, for my first post ever, I wanted to introduce myself by saying that I like anime and video games. And to be honest, I was hesitant to post something to the whole world that I’m just some 14-year-old male who watches anime and plays video games but, I expected that no one will view my blog besides my teacher. Also, I didn’t want people to argue that Anime is weird and all the same , so that’s why I was also hesitant.

But as I progressed onto blogging about anime, I’ve received such positive comments and support, and this sparked my attention on continuing to being a blogger while having otaku genre posts. And most definitely one of my most supportive followers that were there for me when I started blogging, was a Christian anime blogger named, TWWK from Beneath The Tangles. And of course, later on into blogging, I’ve started to grab a great number of followers, such as my friends from my middle school (including last years students, Animusic and CutieEyeElysium/TheFanGirl), and including some awesome bloggers (who’re definitely better than I am in blogging). Thank you for always being there, as I smile at all of your amazing comments and support! I wish I could do much more for you guys, but please bare with me.

So then, I’ve been thinking this over for quite some time now, and here’s a face reveal of me!

After seeing my follower count today, I was quite happy and felt accomplished on knowing that over 100 different individuals had the time to follow my blog! Not to mention once again, that some pretty awesome bloggers and followers like you guys, still stick around and post some of the most awesome comments. Thank you guys for viewing, reading, and hopefully enjoying my blog posts. Thanks once again. -Mark

If only there was a better word to say thank you instead of always saying it constantly. But anyways guys, see you guys later, peace.

My Favorite Female Anime Character? Day 4 Of 30 Day Anime Challenge-

Straight off the bat, I cannot choose as to who would be my most favorite female Anime character ever! Let me think for a second, um okay. I’ve come to a conclusion! My favorite female Anime character would have to be, Ritzu Kawai from, Bokura Wa Minna Kawaisou (I was about to add Touka Kirishima, but I later came to a conclusion that she would have to be my favorite female Manga character, as Touka in the Anime isn’t as awesome as she is in the Manga. And if you haven’t read the Manga, please don’t comment about Touka being an absolute goddess of Anime. Thank you 🙂 ).

So why Kawai Ritzu? Kawai Ritzu is a unique character, as she’s mainly a person who reads books and a lonely person (although being lonely is some what cliche, but her character makes a lot more sense to the reasoning of being lonely and as well as justified to being lonely). Despite her lonely like status, this doesn’t mean she wants to interact with others, she just doesn’t have anyone with her interests or cares for her in general. Well, until she met Usa, and Usa tries to be friends with her, and as well as Usa going as far as to doing something that he hasn’t done before; reading long and sophisticated books! And I like her character due to the boy meets girl approach, and her steadily working to be friends with Usa with the power of books. Like sometimes, she references books (mostly American literature) and at one point referencing the renaissance artwork of Venus (which was quite heart warming to seeing that scene of Usa and Kawai). And I’m not going to lie, because of this character, I started to enjoy books more often. As books is not just an obstacle, but books are there for you to enjoy, despite it being a complex book like Shakespeare or even an easy to read a the comic book. Books may have a story to tell, and some may leave off a reasoning to the creation of the book itself.

So that’s mainly the reason Kawai Ritzu is my favorite Anime character. (Please don’t hurt me 🙂 ). And if you ever read the Bokura Wa Minna Manga, you must know my frustration on how they don’t produce a manga chapter once a week. It’s more like 4 chapters for one year (no joke).

But anyways guys, see you guys later, peace! (Tokyo Ghoul :RE Touka= mysterious yet bad to the das as heck).

-When Marnie Was There; The First Animated Movie To Make Me Cry- – (My Thoughts About It)-

Nothing is better than watching one of your favorite old time movies! And as for my favorite movie producer, or should I say, my favorite movie animator, Hayao Miyazaki, I’ve come to appreciate probably about a dozen of his animated movies. And with the new Animated Movie that came out last year, “When Marnie Was There”, I wanted to watch it as soon as possible. Also not to mention the movies trailer, which also almost made me caught close to catching some tears. Even as a trailer! (or maybe emotional is a better word to describe what I felt right after watching the trailer). And besides explaining what the movie is about, just watch the trailer for yourself to have an understanding on the movie.

(When Marnie Was There, English Trailer):

Before going on about my thoughts on this movie, I just like to point out that I’ve passed over the 100 follower mark! And some time later, I’ll be writing about my achievement on 100 followers! So thank you guys very much! But as for my hiatus like status, I really apologize. Now onto my thoughts of, When Marnie Was There.

( There Will Be Spoilers Beyond This Sentence. You’ve Been Warned 😛 )

Let me be totally honest; I haven’t watched any kind of Anime in months. Like maybe when I started my summer break was when I stopped watching Anime. Sounds kind of crazy for a blogger of an “otaku” type genre poster, but finally I’ve stumbled upon another great anime (movie) to start off on. So, while watching maybe the first 10 minutes of the movie, I kind of had the understanding that this is probably going to be about a regular girl living in a regular world. But knowing how Studio Ghibli is always animating folk lore and supernatural (besides Grave Of The Fireflies), I thought this was going to be interesting (because Studio Ghibli always comes up with good stories, regardless of what kind of genre. Especially in the most saddest yet heart warming way. Besides Grave Of The Fireflies of course). Then through out 30 minutes of the movie, you kind of have your introduction of Anna; basically the emotionless yet cruel attitude young girl who looks physically and mentally fine “on the outside”, but also has some sort of talent in drawing. The only problem with her, is that she suffers from asthma. And with her despite living a complicated life such as her knowing that she’s a foster child, is a lonely person who sometimes gets picked on, and even being at the state of hating her self for not being able to move on, just causes her intense stress. Which in turn, causes her to have asthma attacks due to the great amount of stress with her complicated life. Interesting enough, I can relate a lot to the character Anna. As in the movie, she was referred to as, “a hermit”. And I would consider my self a bit as well like a hermit. Also not to mention the that she references about her mentality, “on the inside”, and, “on the outside”. and how she looks quite neutral, physically, and how she doesn’t openly show her actual mentality filled with full of sad reality checks. Which strangely enough, sounds a lot like me, as I thought I was the only one who would have thought the same way as the character as Anna. I truly respect Hayao Miyazaki for even coming up with things as complicated as Anna’s life, but yet, I can relate to almost everything about her. Back onto the movie, where 40 minutes has passed, and I just couldn’t resist the friendship that occurred with Anna and Marnie. When they first met, it was like a instant sync, they’re both different, but it really did nott matter at all, and they were like the best of friends. And I really liked how that relationship goes throughout the movie; being the best of friends, never leaving each others side, and learning about each other everyday. And speaking of everyday, I also noticed a pattern of Marnie disappearing, and having Anna all by her self, just as if it was dream. And it really made me wonder, was it really a dream, or was it reality? Is she suffering from an asthma attack, is she going insane, or is it some kind of imaginary friend? But overall, I just wanted to know what the movie is trying to convey, what was the message of it? But moving on from that topic, (because I understood in the ending of the movie that it was an imaginary friend of someone whom she knew, but has died; her grandma, Marnie), after watching an hour into the movie, I’ve started to see some of the symbolism of the movie (which comes to the part where I cry in the end of the movie later on). Like when you hear Marnie singing away while dancing with Anna, and as well as Marnie’s diary. Of course there were some more kinds of symbolism in the movie, but, it would be really depressing to remember and tell them all, so I won’t be telling all of them (but hey, this can be a good discussion in the comments. Give me a comment if you can find any more symbolism’s throughout the movie 🙂 ). But during the one hour of watching the movie, We have a bigger back story on who Marnie was, and as well as on Anna. Knowing that both had hardships in their own lives, and basically helping each other out. With a hug at the end of course, which I thought was probably most harm warming thing ever. Now, later on in the movie, we find Anna being abandoned once again but in the Silo, and having her last dream about Marnie, and asking why Marnie “betrayed” her (Anna), for leaving her all alone like her family. At this point, I was at the verge of crying, but not quite there yet. Then Marnie asked Anna if she forgives her (Marnie). And at that point, I had some tears coming out. Then during the end of the movie, you even have more back story to Marnie, as she was apparently friends with Hisako, the painter that Anna saw during the 1/4th of the way of the movie. Then I shed tears after the story was told, as Marnie’s daughter, Emily, was exactly the same as Anna growing up, and finding out that Marnie was actually Anna’s grand mother, and not some made up friend. And then the movie eneded with the credits, and it had the most saddest but beautiful song; “Fine On The Outside”. The song reminded me a lot of the character Anna, and it made me cry for the third but last time. The lyrics were just beautiful and true to think about, but yet, it was more about a sad like reality check. But it was definitely the best way to end the movie.

(Fine On The Outside)

For my overall thoughts on this beautiful animated movie, I’d just like say it was perfectly mysterious. Not knowing what’s going on in the beginning, but finding out the true meanings later on in the story. It just left me with tears where it was the only Animated movie to truly make me cry, or for any movie for that matter, and that really says a lot for this movie created from a great writer, Hayao Miyazaki. Definitely another one of my favorite Studio Ghibli Movies. And if I would give it a rating, I’d give it a 10/10. Studio Ghibli never disappoints me, and each movie is like a little piece that’s continually building up to be a master piece! A story telling legend with only the best kind of animating style. By doing it how it was meant to be done, all hand drawn. -Mark Yang

Before I go, I’d just like to point out that this movie was based on an actual book with the same name, but with the original creator of the story named, Joan G. Robinson. I thought it was pretty interesting, and I’m thinking on reading the book myself. But maybe for another time.

 

I Also found out that the 2015 winner for best animation from the Academy Award was awarded to the American Animated Movie, Inside Out. Which I was surprised and quite angry to find out. But I guess it’s what’s popular and over rated nowadays, and not about the story (I really hate my generation. No joke. EDIT: No offense by the way to the people that are my followers from A.E Burdick, and just my peers in general if they took offense to this). But I’m still glad that it was a nominee for the Academy Award. (YES!)

 

Anyways, I had fun watching this movie, and I’m sorry for being gone for quite some time. But thank you guys for always reading my posts, no matter if I’m gone! So see you guys later, peace!

-Where I’ve Been- -(Update/Real Life)- –

It’s been over a month since my last blog post (June 11th) and I apologize for forgetting to post any content on my blog. Also guys, I’m close to 100 followers; thank you to every follower. But anyways, I really don’t want to make any excuses as to why I haven’t posted anything at all in the past month, so, sorry guys. I can’t make any promises as to when I’ll be posting any time soon, but it’s always the same old same old, I’m busy with family, and I need a time to relax (yes I’m a hypocrite), including with no inspiration to write about anything (haven’t watched any Animes, but I’ve read Manga’s, but not any new Manga’s).

I’m not forgetting about you guys, the viewers, or my loyal followers, but see you guys later, peace!

(When I woke up this morning, I was close to crying due to a realistic dream about a regret and a certain relationship). If you want to hear it, give a comment that you would like to read it. If you guys do want me to write it. I’ll write it in my future blog post). -Mark

-To The Moon; The Sadness Of Indie Games- – (Video Games)-

If you’re a wandering person on the internet like me, finding great indie games like To The Moon, well I guess you’re in for a treat who ever you are! (In the next sentence; only if you do not know about indie games or what the game, To The Moon is). But since you’re (your, you’re; which one is more appropriate, I don’t know) here anyways, I want to explain what indie games are. Indie Games; “Independent video games (commonly referred to as indie games) are video games created by individuals or small teams generally without video game publisher financial support.” Well I didn’t just copy and past this from the wiki (sarcastically). But back on track, now that you know about indie games, I want to talk about the most depressing story, adventure, and puzzle game, and it’s To The Moon.

To The Moon; this game is about two doctors, Dr. Neil Watts and Dr. Eva Rosalene, who uses a device that gives dying patients their wishes. Although, not in physical form of giving these dying patients their wishes, they create artificial memories for their patients to believe that they actually accomplished what they wished for. When these artificial memories are created for that person, they’ll eventually die due to conflicts of their regular memories and artificial memories. Which is why they only take death bed patients. In this case, the story takes place at a dying patient named John, a person who wants to go to the moon but doesn’t know why. Dr.Neil Watts and Dr. Eva Rosalene are there to take on his dying wish, but they have to find the purpose on why John wants to go to the moon, so they have to go through all of his past memories first, then make it so he actually accomplished his wish to the moon.

Watch the trailer to get a better feel on what To The Moon is about

What I love so much about To The Moon; I love everything! All of the characters are unique, the music is beautiful, the gameplay is nostalgic like (also because it’s created from RPG Maker), there’s just the perfect amount of sadness, and there’s a perfect amount of humor in the game (including all of the references from the doctor Neil Watts just cracks me up), it’s quite realistic (which includes financial problems, real mental illnesses, and etc), and not to mention, it’s story is just amazing (especially Johnny’s/John’s life. It makes me sad just thinking about it. JohnnyXRiver). Some characters in this game that I really like are Johnny, River, Neil Watts, Eva Rosalene, and the kids that play the piano (Lily’s kids). Johnny is a very concerned person towards River (his wife), and always does things for her. This includes creating a house specifically next to their light house, and even create a piano song that consists of only 3 piano notes that’s called, “For River” (I will not spoil why he created it for her). River; she’s a shy girl/lady with a mental order  (I can’t remember what it’s called), who is Johnny’s wife. The relationship towards River and Johhny when they were younger was extremely cute, and that’s one reason I like the character River (the first encounter killed me mentally, and maybe a bit physically towards my heart).

Neil Watts; there’s always something to laugh about with this doctor! He always has a careless attitude (and I actually mean it when I say he’s always careless), and his references and as well as his carelessness always seems to amaze me with humor. Eva Rosalene; she definitely scolds Neil Watts in this game a lot and antagonizes him as well, but she means it in a more serious but joking way. But hey, it’s quite funny. And by the way, I ship Eva and Neil (sometimes I ask my self why I say these types of things on my blog. but oh well). Lastly, the kids, or Lily’s kids; they’re just so mischievous! They fight but synchronize with each other, such as playing the piano and doing various of activities (like asking Eva or Neil to give them the candy cane that’s on top of something).

Besides characters, the music/OST’s; my freaking gosh, their beautiful. It’s a mixture of 16bit music (16bit; video game terminology for an older video game) and symphonic. Each sound track makes you feel like your on an adventure, and each sound track is just so unique. It’s kind of like a second nature of having a feeling by one sound track, and to the creator of the game (he’s also the composer of creating all of the sound tracks), I give him extreme praise. But what makes these OST’s so good is that they were placed just perfectly through out the game! It definitely made my experiences of watching a longplay awesome.

Some of my favorite OST’s;

To The Moon-Main Theme(Makes Me Want To Cry) – 0:00
Spiral Of Secrets – 6:15
For River – Piano (Sarah & Tommy’s Version) – 7:21
Bestest Detectives In The World – 10:20
Teddy – 11:45
Uncharted Realms – 12:28
Having Lived – 13:36
Moonwisher – 14:57
Born A Stranger – 17:08
For River-Piano (Johnny’s Version) (It’s So Depressing Knowing Why This Was Created 😦 ) – 18:50
Everything’s Alright (Music Box)(Another Depressing Song By Knowing The Meaning) – 21:36
Moongazer (JohnnyXRiver ;( ) – 22:16
Anya By The Stars – 24:32
Take Me Anywhere – 26:47
Warning (AKA Best Track Ever) – 27:47
Beta-B – 27:57
World’s Smallest Ferris Wheel – 29:04
Once Upon A Memory – 29:39
Once Upon A Memory (Piano) – 32:05
Everything’s Alright – 33:40
Everything’s Alright (Reprise) – 37:06
Tomorrow – 38:05
Launch – 40:15
To The Moon-Piano (Ending Version) – 42:13
Trailer Theme-Part 1 – 47:34
Trailer Theme-Part 2 (feat. Laura Shigihara) – 49:18

For the Whole Soundtrack List, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snl67XsI6Is

And now lastly, the gameplay! It’s not all that much about doing something like quests and then proceeding into a story, but more of doing something interactive and the story belongs to that interactive thing. For example, in a regular video game, you have to do a quest like destroy 100 skeletons in order to proceed to another quest or to the story. But as for To The Moon, it’s more like, you do something interactive but that’s what makes the games story. (Sorry if it didn’t make it more clearer). Once again, the games graphics are more of an RPG, and mainly because it was created from something called, RPG Maker (Obviously). I thought the graphics for some of the characters were cute, and I thought the overall gameplay for To The Moon was a interactive and puzzle game, but with a beautiful story!

(After watching the game), I just watched the whole thing; I shed a tear. I’m not the type of person that gets emotional over video games and with watching animes, but To The Moon, it made cry with joy (literally). I 100% recommend watching a longplay of the game, or buying the game itself. It was definitely a heart breaking and heart warming game. -Mark

And that’s all I had to say about To The Moon! Check some of the videos down below if you want to!

(Youtuber’s Reaction To The Ending Of The Game/The Ending Spoilers)

(Watch The LongPlay Too!)

If you play the piano, here’s the music lyrics to, “For River”. http://theglasspiano.tumblr.com/post/133938008462/to-the-moon-rivers-song

 

I had fun writing this post, and sorry for keeping you guys waiting for me to write a blog post for quite a while. What do you guys think? Should I also do “my thoughts on awesome video games” like this? Do you have any awesome games that can top off To The Moon? Well anyways, see you guys later, peace!

-I Know What You’re Thinking; Not ANOTHER UPDATE!? Yes?Maybe?- (Update/Kappa)-

As I’ve said before, I will be writing two indie games, To The Moon, and The Witches House. But after going through my post about writing both games into one post, it was just too long! So I decided to create two posts, one for To The Moon, and one for The Witches House. But the one I’m almost finished and will be posted today is; To The Moon! Prepare to cry your eyes out with this post, and maybe a few laughs (not guaranteed, or get your payments back of absolutely nothing). But back on a serious note, both posts will not be posted on the same day (cause Mark/me is too lazy and needs to enjoy his Summer 😎 ). (Sorry if you cringed after me being a hypocrite). But anyways, I will also be writing my Otaku’s life post in the future. So stayed tuned (after like a month has passed or something like that). So see you guys later, have a good Summer, and peace! (I’m such as bad blogger. I’m sorry lol).

(I Thought You Would Be Pretty Bored, So Here’s A Full List Of Soundtracks From The Indie Game, To The Moon)

(*Cough Cough*, JohnnyXRiver ^^^^^ *Cough Cough*)

-The Most Peacful Exam Week- -(Update+RealLife)-

Hey, as you may know, I’m busy due to exams. I know what you’re thinking, “WHAT!? EXAMS!? ARE YOU DYING FROM EXAMS!?”. No, no, exams isn’t that big of deal (for others, it means the world to them. Especially Seniors). I’m not saying that exams doesn’t matter, but I’m saying it’s not bothering me. And as you may know if your a student, summer break is here, or at least near (for me, it’s in a few days). Please understand that I’m going to be busy this whole week, and look out for my future posts in the mean time. I will be writing my Otaku’s Life post about my awesome month, and about two Indie games, To The Moon, and The Witches House. And by the way, I’m still watching the gameplay of To The Moon (it’s pretty sad), and I just finished watching the game play of The Witches House (I want to play the game. The reason I want to play it is because it’s free :). Not to mention it’s a horror game filled with jumpscares and a lot of death traps everywhere). But anyways, see you guys later, peace!

 

P.S, good luck to everyone who have exams! And have a great summer! -Mark

-Urgent Update; There’s Been A Bomb Threat At Franklin High School- – (Real)-

At 10:00AM, an announcement on a bomb threat at my Highschool, Franklin High, has been announced. Further on, it’s already been 30 minutes and everyone has already evacuated the building. I’m currently outside with other Highschool students and the police are already investigating the school. 

This is freaking crazy, if this was a prank, I hope they get life in jail for terrorism, no exception. Right now, everthing looks fine, and everyone is taking this as a joke. Hopefully everything becomes solved at my school. This better be a sick joke. -Mark T Yang Jr (it’s currently 10:48AM.)

The Best/Favorite Male Anime Character In My Own Opinion; Day 3, 30 Day Anime Challenge-

It’s obviously Corry from Corry In The House! Just kidding, just kidding, let’s get to my favorite Anime character. When it comes to all of the Animes that I’ve watched, it probably has to be Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z (for now, until I can actually recall finding any other good Anime male characters. But I’m not saying Vegeta’s a bad character either.) . So why Vegeta? Vegeta is always prideful, and I always like his mixture of evil and good attitude. Because who doesn’t like a great anti-hero right? Not to forget that his fighting theme is bad das, and he always trains to be the best (or to at least beat Goku, his rival. Also, Goku is the main character of Dragon Ball Z, just to the people who did not know, but if your a weeb like me, you would know). Although Vegeta is prideful, he also has a major ego, and in most of his situations with ego, he can back it up, which is another reason I like Vegeta.

(Vegeta Vs Pui Pui)

(Vegeta’s Theme; one of my favorite themes ever)

Sorry for the short post (yet again, I’m moving onto the next post due to multiple days used on one post). So see you guys later, peace!

-My Favorite Anime That I’ve Watched So Far; Day 2 Of The 30 Day Anime Challenge-

“My Favorite Anime That I’ve Watched So Far.” HA HA, SINCE WHEN HAVE I WATCHED ANIME RECENTLY!? But sasariasly (Tokyo Ghoul:Re reference; Sasaki. I’m such a weeaboo), my favorite Anime that I’ve watched so far is Akira. And if you read My Weeaboo’s Life Post, you would know I wrote about how much I want to watch Akira (which I finished watching). And I know there are probably better Animes that I’ve watched, but Akira and One Piece are the only Animes I’ve watched recently (if this was manga, this would’ve been a whole different story). “So Akira, what is it?” Akira is considered an Anime Classic, as the story is about the two main characters, Kaneda and Tetsuo, but the story is mainly based on a supernatural kid named Akira (Spoiler alert), that is dead (and then he comes back to life?). The setting takes place in Tokyo after World War III and after a big bombing in the eastern hemisphere (In the parts of Asia). So why is it my favorite? I liked how it was more realistic compared to a lot of other Animes, and ironically, Akira is supernatural and is far from being realistic. And what I mean by more realistic is, the Anime actually has people dieing, and that someone is not immortal with their magical powers of nonsense and invincibility by “HYPED” emotions (for example; when someone is about to die but because they turn automatically bad to the das, their invincible. I hate those types of moments). Back on topic; I like how most characters in Akira have their own personality, and that their very unique (compared to a bunch of other animes, where basically everyone is Nuurutoes, being hidden in the leaves, and having a cliche sad story; Naruto reference/joke). For example, Kaneda is like a mixture of silliness and dopeyness, but will always have a way to beat his most dangerous situations. As for Tetsuo, he’s a blood lustful person, a some what antagonizing character to almost everyone, but only antagonizes the people he dislikes (also Tetsuo is just a freaking beast in the Anime)!

But anyways, Akira is one of my favorite Animes currently (also I ended here, because it took 3 days to make this, and I want to carry on to the next post). So see you guys later, peace!

Here’s Some Videos to watch;

Akira 25th Years Old Edition (English Dubbed) Trailer;

Stronger/Kanye West (inspired from the Anime Akira)