I’m at chapter 3 of 9 mangas

Hazureta Minna no Atama no Neji

The Summer Hikaru Died

Freak Island/Kichikujima

Mieruko-chan

Kindergarten Wars 

Dear Friend (6)

Dear Friend,

A sea of faces surrounds me, yet yours has this innocent, gentle aura that I usually only see in kids. That’s what I sense every time I find myself looking at you. But I’m curious, what do you see? I don’t know, just want to know you better, I guess. Do you like having lofi beats on, or is it just the rain when you write? Or do you just jot stuff down wherever? I need rain or beats to write, though I’m sure donuts could work too. Haha. By the way, what’s being vegan like for you? And, what made you wanna do a PhD?

Just finished reading

Should’ve read Out ages ago. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve got too many books, y’know? Not gonna lie, it’s one of those reads where I don’t know if I should be thinking hard or reaching for a cigarette (haha, I don’t even smoke).

Just finished Offal Island and I can’t even. Now, why am I even signing up for Freak Island tomorrow? smh.

 

Swallowed Whole

Made it to the end of Shintarō Kago’s Dementia 21 and Brain Damage. Did you know I just went in for a quick peek and ended up reading the whole thing straight through? It totally ate up my afternoon I even forgot my love of my life coffee haha.

Swallowed hours

 

Okay, so I literally shut the windows to make it all moody in here, and only the lamp was on. And now, guess who’s about to binge 14 mangas, one by one? Maybe a chapter or two. Okay, maybe three.

My hit list rn:  

1. Tokyo Ghoul (Sui Ishida)

2. Fullmetal Alchemist (Hiromu Arakawa)

3. Ajin: Demi-Human (Gammon Sakurai)

4. Kaiju No. 8 (Naoya Matsumoto)

5. Battle Royale (Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi)

6. Demon Slayer (Koyoharu Gotouge)

7. Berserk (Kentaro Miura)

8. Fairy Tail (Hiro Mashima)

9. The Flowers of Evil (Shūzō Oshimi)

10. Solo Leveling (Chugong; art by Jang Sung-rak)

11. Dandadan (Yukinobu Tatsu)

12. 20th Century Boys (Naoki Urasawa)

13. Dragon Head (Minetaro Mochizuki)

14. Sakamoto Days (Yuto Suzuki)

By the way, you know that feeling when you’re so into a book, time just blurs? That’s what happened to me after reading Junji Ito’s Frankenstein and his other stories. TBH, I liked Neck Specter and Intruder the most, but Frankenstein’s still haunting me.

Manga

Saturday

I’ve been sick to my stomach since five this morning, which is why I missed out on a long walk or playing in the rain today. My roommate says I should rest, and she’s probably right, but you know I always sneak around rest. If there’s a little energy left in me, I’m either reading, piling up books I’ll just stare at, or nerding out on something.

Right now, I’m on chapter 18 of Alice in Borderland by Haro Asō, and I just can’t pull myself away, even with a stack of Japanese books open on tabs. Oh, and I finished Saou Ichikawa’s book last night, and I still think I need a moment to breathe.

Sunday

I’m spending the afternoon with rain, tea, plus Japanese comics, and I don’t even care if I’m sick…

Is it just me, or does the rain outside make Sunday extra laid-back?

💻

Slice-of-life

I’m sitting here watching this rainy day walk in Nagano, while nibbling on some spicy tofu cubes. Tofu is my favorite. But if I’m feeling grumpy and low-energy, it’s barbecue time. 

The lines I liked from these videos

23:43 I don’t feel alone at all.

26:40 Doesn’t the scent of rain complement coffee and nature?

 

6:36 I’m grateful that I can read various books with just one tablet. It reduces the amount of luggage and I’m happy that I can read it immediately when I want to.

22:26 The future is always in the fog and cannot be seen clearly. People sometimes feel anxious about things that are hard to see. Sometimes we get lost or stop. But we still have to move forward. While checking the small happiness in front of us.

Rain

Any time I sit down to eat, breakfast or lunch, I end up watching these videos of people just walking around in the rain. I guess you could say I’m a pluviophile, or an ombrophile, if sounding posh with words is your thing. I don’t bother with that.

The rain’s out there, and I just write and write, as though the words are a bridge from the past to this moment. Every word is me walking across it like a long-lost lover meeting her first love all over again.

Wait, let’s just take that out real quick I’m just here, writing while rain falls across the screen.

 

 

Monday + Tuesday

Monday. Lofi beats on a sunny afternoon

I was lost in thought when my cheese bread rolled onto my black shirt, and I straight away pictured a sticky mess. Oh well, I just smiled like I planned it all along. It’s sunny today. The perfect mood for lofi beats and some ice-cold coffee, and the fan’s right in my face because, well, it’s a hot day. Now, where was I with that question?

Tuesday. The tortoise and the hare

To my ever-playful sister,

I’m sorry I didn’t help you at all with your skeletal system quiz and wasn’t very patient when we tackled your A.P. It’s not your fault though, I’m just more drawn to math. But now I get that helping you matters more than how much I like the subject, and that’s what being the ‘older and wiser’ sister means, you know, putting you first.

Wait, rewind that, did I really just say wiser? Between you and me, you’re racing ahead like the hare, and I’m just the tortoise, rocking the slow life.

 

Dear Friend (5)

Unplanned Rain
I ended up taking a full-on rain shower on the roof deck today. Moments later, I was having the time of my life, flinging water left and right with a tired old dustpan, just trying to stop the flood from turning the stairs into a slip-and-slide. Before I forget, I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your journal entries, especially the one where you described running barefoot in the rain. You made it sound like running away from homework. Now I just hope my little sister doesn’t read this and get ideas hahaha.

 

Unplanned
Paganini’s Finale, Mozart’s Adagio K261, and Sarasate’s Caprice Basque. Listened once, then again, then again. And somehow, it washed over me, like standing in the rain and realizing I don’t want to run for cover. Do you like the sound of the violin? Have you ever, perhaps, fallen in love with a solo? I fell completely to Vivaldi’s Presto from Le quattro stagioni, and somehow, I never quite recovered.

Dear Friend (4)

Last night, my roommate and I couldn’t stop laughing like little kids. We shared a cup of ‘Why did we buy this?’ tea and desperately tried not to gag, but let’s just say it felt like we were sipping what Socrates drank, only without the dying part. And blimey! As if we needed another trust issue on the table, she brought out heart-shaped biscuits so bland, I flashed back to eating paper in kindergarten!

 

I wonder if someone ever shared your space and, without saying it, became your favorite. One person emotionally trademarked that title for me, even though we're polar opposites like coffee and sleep.

 

Nighty night, my friend.

Dear Friend (3)

Around breakfast time

Since it’s sunny out, I leaned in, opened my laptop, and turned on the sound of rain. Something about this feels like lighting incense before I even sit cross-legged. With the rain sounds on, everything else just quiets down except for the toast. I’m just sitting here, munching slow. 

 

In the heat of the day

Earlier, I squeezed a glass of calamansi juice while my roommate went all in with a pitcher of four seasons. I’m sitting at my study table, swirling the glass, enjoying the soft clicks of the ice cubes inside. It’s a quiet habit that never grows old.

 

Dear Friend

You always have your notebook.

You’re always writing,

like it’s how you make sense of things.

A doctor of words,

with a well-loved notebook.

I tried it today, writing my day out.

Kinda messed it up, but I liked messing it up.

You’re the writer.

I’m the dabbler.

Dear Friend (2)

I sometimes wonder if I only exist in the rain. It’s strange, but I feel most alive when it rains, and outside of it, I slip away like I was never real to begin with. I try to find it in the sunlight, but it never feels the same. What comes up in you when the rain begins to fall?