[MAYOIGA] Blinding Mist

Well that was plainly disappointing...

Episode one ended with some interesting things somehow intrigued me. Of course, there are still several more things that will still be uncovered throughout the series. But looking at this episode alone and not what lies ahead, this series just failed miserably. It's just the second episode and the atmosphere already vanished, the characters plainly disappointing, and the main character simply annoying and bland.

[MAYOIGA 01] Look Before You Leap

Hello, It's been forever since I last wrote an anime episode post. It feels really new to me. Oddly new. But here goes nothing!

I picked up Mayoiga because of its really intriguing premise. It's got a really mysterious feel to it. Synopsis-wise, it really caught my attention because of the village that seems to simply exist on urban legends - something people plainly talk about but somehow unsure of its real existence.

As you know, I like mysteries which is why I immediately jumped right into Mayoiga. Mayoiga is about a group of people who set on a trip to a village called Nanakimura which apparently doesn't appear on maps and can't be found by police. The village is surrounded by mysterious stories all of which seem so interesting yet somehow unrealistic. This group of people who met online decided to go to Nanakimura in order to start anew - leave the past behind because it's too suck-y for them (LOL)!

[WEEKLY MUSING] when I'm not reading...

live in the moment

Hello,

It's quite apparent that I've been (once again) busy - with thesis, projects, unexpected obligations as university organization officer and such. This past week has been a whirlwind of crazy events and I'm so glad that even though it's finally our pre-finals week, I'll get that lay-low moment from everything.

After the crazy events in Friday that really stressed the hell out of me and my friends, I decided to de-stress by doing things I love. While it did include reading, I'd love to talk about in this post, the things I love to do aside from reading.

[WEEKEND READS] Stars Above + Winter (i wish)

next read!!

Hello,

Nothing new about the week for me - busy with school shiz, getting better at procrastinating and greatly improved my ability to poorly manage my time. Yup, my life.

Anyway, this week, I went crazy on NetGalley and ended up downloading several books (maybe around 5 books or something). I've resisted for so long and I cannot believe myself for giving in. I won't request for the next few months to try and clean my list up. Ugh. Also yesterday, I finally got my hands on Marissa Meyer's Stars Above. Unfortunately though I still don't have Winter.

Redeem (the Caelian Cycle #2.5) | Donnielle Tyner
This novella was good and it did made me understand Kian more. Unfortunately though, there's still no connection between him and me. I hope that certain elements of this novella will be fused well into the final book of the series :)
Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky #1) | Megan Crewe
I really like the concept of time travelling aliens. The historical parts weren't that great though but the whole explanations about the world - the aliens and their connection to Earthlings were really interesting. There's a hint of romance and the ending was meh. It felt forced or what. Review will be up soon.

NOVEMBER ROUNDUP (aka the back to UNI month!! but not really!)

current reads!!

Hello,

November was supposed to end well. It was the ending of my vacation, the beginning of a new semester, and a successful personal reading challenge for me but things didn't go that well. Before going back to university, I got really, really sick. I was struck with dengue and was hospitalized for a week - one of the craziest (and scariest) eight days of my life. ugh.

Right now, I'm catching up with my reading, blogging, and school works. My mind's cooperating with me lately so somehow, I think that I'll be able to finalize several of my reviews from a week ago this weekend or throughout the coming week, hahaha.

{ BOOK REVIEWS }

[REVIEW] Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. Movie

English Title: We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day. Movie
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Genre: drama, slice of life, supernatural
Episodes: 1
Anime Director: Nagai Tatsuyuki (Honey and Clover II, Toradora!)
Adaptation: original
Prequel: AnoHana (TV Series)
Purchase: Amazon | Aniplex USA

Jinta Yadomi and his group of childhood friends have become estranged after a tragic accident split them apart. Now in their high school years, a sudden surprise forces each of them to confront their guilt over what happened that day and come to terms with the ghosts of their past. 

A year has passed since Menma's ghostly return to the Super Peace Busters. Although the time they spent together during that summer was short, the five members reminisce about what happened as they each write a letter to their lost friend.   

Source: MAL-AnoHana (TV Series) + ANN

[BIRTHDAY POST!] 23 books, anime, manga, (and music) I Recommend + GIVEAWAY!

Hello,

I cannot believe that it has already been a year since I wrote this post. Yup, it was my birthday post. That was me posting some random things. Pointless. SO, I kind of like making lists which is why this year's birthday post is another list.. thinking of twenty three things is crazy but let's see what I can do about this... actually, this is just me telling you things I currently like :P

Here I go (just a quick note: this is a really long list with a few images and youtube videos!)...

[WEEKLY MUSING] Rumors and Damsels in Distress

Hello, this week I went crazy on checking out and downloading free Kindle Ebooks in Amazon. I'll post everything on my monthly book haul post :) Along with this crazy thing I did, I unexpectedly bought a couple of books (I was actually looking for The Good Girls but I think it's still not available locally, ugh screw that!): And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. This photo can also be found on my instagram account: @czai_

I'm currently on a long weekend vacation with my family. This is a scheduled post which I wrote last June 11, Thursday (the night before we go). I hope you guys are having a great weekend! Photos for this vacation will be posted on my next weekly musing post :)

Rumors.
I finished reading Rumors this past week and I had mixed feelings towards it. It felt like I was reading some kind of adult version of The Perfectionist with a few rounds of sex scenes, whole lot of cheating, high-end characters, and a few more things. Review to be posted next week for a book tour :)
Damsels in Distress.
I stopped reading Cress for a while when I read Secret of the Sevens but when I picked it up again last Tuesday, I can't believe myself that I even stopped for a few days. It's really absorbing me and I bet that by the time you guys are reading this, I'm already done with it, hahaha. I really love Cress and how her adventure with Thorn went. Well of course it's very unfortunate but I'm enjoying the two of them more than Scarlet x Wolf.
I started listening to my audiobook of The Ring & The Crown. Somehow I'm enjoying it. The fact that it's an audiobook really added to my enjoyment. I love the reader. She makes me visualize the world, the place, their clothes, the things there are doing. I'm currently in part 2, chapter 7. Hopefully things will go well for me :)

{ LAST WEEK }

[REVIEW] The Secret Ingredient | [WAITING ON WEDNESDAY] The Rose Society | [REVIEW] Secret of the Sevens

{ THIS WEEK }

[REVIEW] Evil Games | [TOP TEN TUESDAY] My Summer TBR | [REVIEW] Rumors | [REVIEW] Death Parade

[WEEKLY MUSING] Romance and Mysteries.

SO I wanted to start a weekly recap for my blog. I just want this to be the place where I share the things that I’m currently reading or books I unexpectedly get or the songs I’m listening to or anime I’m watching or whatever else out there :)

The Romance. This past week, I read P.S. Still Love You. I really, really, really, REALLY LOVE IT! I really wish that there’ll be more of Lara Jean and Peter K but it seem slike this is the end of the series. I’m just thinking of picking up the rest of Jenny Han’s books :) You can read my thoughts on P.S. I Still Love You right here.

The Mysteries! Also, I finally finished reading Angela Marsons’ Evil Games which I really enjoyed as compared to her first book. I think that this is more suspenseful than the first one, really interesting things going on. My review will be up next week :) Really hoping to get a chance to read the third book! I also recently finished The Secrets of the Sevens by Lynn Lindquist which will be release on June 8, tomorrow! :) I’m currently writing my review and it’ll be up on my blog on June 11 for the blog tour. Full tour schedule can be found at YA Bound.

APRIL ROUNDUP

Hello,

So I was supposed to schedule this post last Thursday and have it up by May 1 but crappy internet happened. Soooo yeah, I'm posting this late and my following reviews might be a bit late as well. I've read Baxter's Draw, The Merit Birds, and A Thousand Pieces of You this past week. I'm really glad that somehow I am able to follow my reading schedule :) I'll be dropping by other blogs this Monday.

{ BOOK REVIEWS }

The Fade Out, vol1 by Ed Brubaker | The Blast by Sarah Perlmutter | As the Crow Flies by Damien Boyd | Golden Son by Pierce Brown | Mary Hades by Sarah Dalton | Scarlet by Marissa Meyer | Head in the Sand by Damien Boyd

{ ANIME REVIEW }

Barakamon (Kinema Citrus)

{ PROMOTIONAL POSTS }
+ giveaways

The Blast by Sarah Perlmutter | Tripp by Kristen Kehoe

czai's Spring 2015 Anime List!

Hello,

It feels good to be back on watching anime. Since my vacation started, I've finished around 3 anime series, two of which already have reviews posted :) I also finished PSYCHO-PASS 2 recently and I'm currently writing my review for it.

I'm pretty late on posting my anime list for Spring but I'm not giving so much deal on it right now since I won't be watching these shows as they air. I'll just wait for them finish THEN I'll marathon everything.

ANYWAY, this season's lineup didn't really capture me. I always LOVE spring anime season (along with fall) but it seems that this year's lineup didn't really lit up a spark in me. But hopefully, by the end of the season, I'll be very interested in many of them (I'll continue to stalk a few anime blogs and see how these anime will hold up).

What I'm only eagerly looking forward to this season are Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatteiru. Zoku (Oregairu) and Ace of Diamond 2. Oregairu is one of those anime series that I really love with because of the characters (well maybe I'm only talking about Hachiman). AND just when Ace of Diamond is about to come to an end, they announced a second season coming up. Best thing about it is that there won't even be a break from the end of season 1 to season 2. I definitely NEED to finish season one already!

Aside from these two, I got interested in  the remake/TV version/adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. I've never seen the original one so I guess this is my chance to finally watch this. Then there's Digimon's 15th year anniversary. I only watched Digimon until the 4th installment, Digimon Frontiers. But finding out that the original characters are returning, I can't stop myself from feeling excited for this. There's also the odd looking shoujo-romance series Ore Monogatari! It kind of feels like a funny rom-com anime right here. With Madhouse handling this funny looking series, I'm quite sure it'll go well :)

[REVIEW] Barakamon

English Title: N/A
Studio: Kinema Citrus, Square Enix
Genre: comedy, slice of life
Episodes: 12
Anime Director: Tachibana Masaki (.hack// Quantum, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0)
Adaptation: manga

After punching a famous curator in the face for criticizing his work as "textbook and lifeless," Handa Seishuu is sent to Gotō Island to calm his nerves and find new inspiration for his calligraphy. Growing up in the city all his life, though, Handa must adapt to country life while meeting an assortment of quirky people during his tenure.

[REVIEW] Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

English Title: Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
Studio: Dogakobo
Genre: shoujo, romance, school, comedy
Episodes: 12
Anime Director: Yamazaki Mitsue (Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun)
Adaptation: manga

Sakura Chiyo confesses her feelings to her schoolmate Nozaki. Due to a misunderstanding, Nozaki thinks Sakura is just a fan. She then discovers Nozaki's other identity; a shoujo manga artist. As she gets closer to Nozaki, she befriends Nozaki's quirky acquaintances who assist him and serve as inspirations for his manga.

VACATION PLANS: TBR + Watch List!

Hello,

My 2nd academic year in my university just ended last week. It was a really tiring year for me especially with all my major subjects joining together with opening up my blog again :) It was a real roller coaster ride for me. Balancing everything was driving me crazy (and I barely did that, really).

I don't really understand why but I NEED to attend Summer classes this April. I have three good weeks of vacation and I really want to maximize it :) I have a great deal of things in mind but I'd like to start things up with setting the things I'd like to read & watch over my short vacation. I posted some books I intend to read over the season a few days back.

I'm currently rereading Red Rising just because I want to. I'm hoping to finish it soon and proceed to these five books I found people suggests more:

Golden Son by Pierce Brown | Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard | Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos | Scarlet by Marissa Meyer | Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M Lee | Mary Hades by Sarah Dalton