Beanie Speaks - Tumblr Posts
I need more people to watch Tonari no Yokai-san. I started it thinking it would be an iyashikei, but there's definitely something sinister just beneath the surface.
If you needed one reason to watch it, though, one of the main characters is an aging cat who, instead of dying, becomes a nekomata at the end of his life because he loves his human family so much.
Also I'm pretty sure there's a same-sex couple where one of the partners is a Volkswagen, but you should watch it for the cat.
I didn't say anything when they announced it, but while MAPPA cancelling the YOI movie wasn't surprising, it does suck 💔
I know people loved it as a BL, but I also really loved it as a sports anime. There's a lot of overlap between figure skating and horseback riding (my sport) in terms of aesthetics and aging out, and that aspect always resonated deeply with me.
I also loved how timely it was - the use of cell phones and social media can feel so awkward in certain series, but YOI made it seem completely natural and realistic. I STILL think about this AMV:
And, of course, it was just incredibly beautiful, from Yuri and Viktor's characterizations and relationship to the music and skating sequences.
It's sad that MAPPA claims it was "unprofitable" when what they really mean is "not as profitable as their current and upcoming shounen titles." YOI meant so much to so many people around the world, and it's a shame that we'll never get the story we were promised for so long.
How I feel when I get online and start liking everybody's posts: 🤡
You guys just have really good taste!
I finished the Yu Yu Hakusho live action over the weekend (I need to talk about it, but I don't think any of my mutuals are fans?), so of course, I started another rewatch of the original series last night. I have no idea how many times I've seen YYH, but I have never NOT cried in the first episode. It gets me every. single. time.
After I finish my YYH rewatch, I'm planning to immediately begin my fith? sixth? Hunter x Hunter rewatch because analyzing them in sequential order is my kink.
I ran out of Yamada in English and French, so I finally started Skip and Loafer, and just ❤️
I have such a soft spot in my heart for Yuzuki because she reminds me of one of my dearest friends. When we met in college, I assumed she was too pretty and cool to be my friend, but she always included me in every conversation and made space for me in a way no one ever had before.
So, when Yuzuki is so kind and considerate to Mitsumi and especially Makoto, my heart grows three sizes 💗
Being an elder weeb means scheduling the grocery pick-up order on the last day of the con from another state so you can stop and grab it on the way home.
I honestly cannot remember the last time I wrote a con report. Probably back on Livejournal?! But I haven't been to a convention since 2018, so I wanted to put some of my thoughts into words.
I was really nervous about attending this con. Back in 2018, I was a totally different person - physically and mentally - and I just wasn't really sure if going to cons and cosplaying again was something I would still enjoy. The push to actually commit and register was dressing up for our renaissance festival last year. It was SO fun and I felt so much like myself just wearing a special outfit that I wanted to at least TRY.
It was a real struggle to choose a new cosplay, but ultimately I landed on a fem version of Studio Ghibli Howl - cute, but "age appropriate" since I wasn't sure how I would feel. I also decided to wear my white outfit Jareth cosplay because it's also fairly modest, I feel like I pull it off well, and it's usually pretty popular.
I was VERY stressed leading up to the con, right down to an hour before we left. We had some nasty storms that week and lost power twice - the second time, it was the night before we were going to leave, and it was out for 12 hours. We ended up having to shower at my brother's house, do dishes with bottles of water, and pitch half the groceries we'd literally just picked up the day before. Thankfully, the power came back on just before we left, but it was NOT what I needed.
Thankfully, everything else went great! My Howl cosplay was more popular than I thought it would be, and I got a couple props from an exec who worked on The Boy and the Heron during his panel. I don't say that to brag - it just gave me the boost I needed to really feel comfortable cosplaying all weekend (and it was admittedly pretty cool).
My Jareth cosplay was a big hit, which I hoped it would be, but it's always nice to meet longtime and new fans of the film. I've been cosplaying Jareth for a LONG time - since the late '00s? - and it's just an outfit that I really love wearing and sharing with people. I did have one negative interaction with a fan at the end of the day, which I won't get into, but everyone else was very kind and respectful.
And I'd say that was the tone of the con overall. For the most part, nobody was rowdy, even at night, and pretty much everybody I interacted with was just super nice and very cool. It was probably the most diverse crowd I've ever seen, including people in their 60s-70s cosplaying and working the con, plus a good number of kiddos during the day. I don't think I've ever felt safer or more comfortable at a convention since I first started going back in '98.
If I had any complaints apart from that rude person, it would be that there weren't a ton of events I was interested in attending. But talking it over with my husband, we agreed that it was probably for the best. We weren't overtaxed, we had tons of time to eat and relax, and we actually got decent sleep! There was still some really excellent programming, though, so what the con lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality.
But my biggest takeaway was that, even at 39, I can still cosplay. There were so many people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ability/disability cosplaying so many characters with so many levels of execution, it would have been hard to feel out of place. I never intended to be away from cons for so long, but of course, nobody expected a pandemic either. I think that long break skewed my perception of what's acceptable - experiencing the anime/cosplay community only through the internet, only seeing cosplay models pushed by the algorithm, and reading really toxic discourse about how "weird" it is for anyone to cosplay past 25. This con disproved all of that for me - anyone can cosplay, even me, and it's just so much fun.
Being an elder weeb means scheduling the grocery pick-up order on the last day of the con from another state so you can stop and grab it on the way home.
The first season of To Your Eternity. There are no words for how absolutely gutted I felt by the last episode. The emotions were so real, so raw, that I literally grieved for days. Looking back, I guess I was actually triggered, but grief can be beautiful, too - it's proof of how much you loved.
That said, the second season of TYE was so disappointing to me that I didn't even bother to finish it, and I think I only had a few episodes left. How you can nail something so solidly in one arc, then completely torpedo it in the second, I have no idea. I can only imagine it was a poor rendering of the manga, but I'm still so bitter about that I'll never know...!
What is the saddest anime you've watched? Like I'm talking tears flowing, sobbing, nose running, life altering.
I finished Skip and Loafer vol 5, and my body is not big enough to contain all these emotions. Nao and Yuzu, I just *gestures wordlessly*
♪ positivity prime time! share five things you love about yourself, four things you're excited about, OR three people you care deeply about and why. pass this along to someone whose posts make you smile ♪
Ah, so fun! This time of year, I always have lots to be excited about ♥
1. As far as I'm concerned, September 1 marks the first day of Halloween Eve and the entire month of October is Halloween. It's my favorite holiday, and I've already been indulging, getting some spooky little treats and listening to creepy lofi playlists. (Beanie lore: My real name rhymes with "Halloween," and my family has called me "Halloween —" for as long as I can remember 🎃)
2. I'm excited about my fifteenth (!) wedding anniversary next month - we're going to our favorite B&B, and it's always just such a wonderful, relaxing place to be. Also, I'm just crazy about my husband, and I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone by...!
3. Really, I'm just excited for fall in general. I'm slowly learning to love each season, but fall will always be my favorite. I love the colors, the weather, the clothes, the food—even though it's an "ending" for a lot of people, it will always feel like a new beginning to me.
4. I am both looking forward to and dreading Kinktober—this is my first year participating publicly, and while it's been a lot of fun prepping for it, thinking about the sheer volume of stories that are about to be out in the wild is actually terrifying lol (ಥ﹏ಥ)
I just finished vol 9 of Skip and Loafer, and now I don't know what I'll do till 10 comes out next month 💔