Sachi Kouda is the eldest sister among the four sisters in the Japanese movie Our Little Sister (original Japanese title: Umimachi Diary – Seaside Town
Diary). We spend a lot of time with her so she definitely left quite the
impression on me. Her story is quite the surprising one. If I had to summarize
her character and eventual development in one sentence, it would be “it takes
one to know one”. I mean this in both the negative and positive sense.
Episode 1 introduces us to the main character, Violet Evergarden. Having spent pretty much her whole life in the army, life to Violet is a series of orders and missions to be obeyed. She has lost her own sense of agency. In Hodgins’ words, Violet has no will of her own. She needs someone to tell her what to do, and that figure was Gilbert. Her attachment to Gilbert runs so deep that even a trivial decision, such as picking a doll, is made in relation to him.
Hello! This is just a short post largely to remind myself of what I want to do. I’m thinking of doing a review of each Violet Evergarden episodes. Each episode is usually a self-contained story in itself, so it should be feasible. Analyses of elements that span across multiple episodes will (hopefully) have their own dedicated posts someday. I’m not thinking of reviewing any of the two movies, however.
As bad as he is, Kristoph Gavin is an amusing character. How did a guy like this even end up being a defense attorney? What stood out to me the most is how he acted like he cared about Phoenix when he is the one causing Phoenix’s problems. Kristoph “befriended” Phoenix after his loss of his attorney’s badge, going so far as to vote against the strictest punishment for Phoenix.
To me, Sui-Feng (or Soi Fon) vs Yoruichi Shihoin remains one of the best fights in Bleach's Soul Society arc. Young me was so fascinated by the fight's cool characters, cool choreography, and heartbreaking "Why didn't you take me with you?" line at the end. Now, older me has one more thing to add to the list: How the fight reveals Sui-Feng's complex character. I know that Sui-Feng is one of the most hated characters in the series, and though I don't hate her that much, I understand why. Sui-Feng is harsh, arrogant, and unhealthily obsessed with Yoruichi. I'd like to show you that there is a reason why she developed these traits (particularly arrogance) through analyzing Sui-Feng and Yoruichi's battle. I argue that these negative traits are related to Sui-Feng's poor sense of self-worth, resulting in a need to always prove herself.
So, eh. What do we have here?
I thought storing my thoughts out here would be fun - at least more fun than just keeping them in my head and eventually forgetting them. A lot of those thoughts will be random analyses of pop culture products. That's how this site came to be. I'm not going to promise consistent posting, though. As for the title of the blog, honestly, it just popped up in my head. So if anyone does stumble into this tiny space, I hope there are enough flowers for you to enjoy here, and I hope the thorns don't bother you too much.
