I WROTE SOMETHING! Yeah, after almost a month of no writing news I actually got motivated and wrote chapter 6 to a project I started back in . . . February! Damn, it's been a long month. Between the cold and my anime addition, I have been super unproductive.

Also, I could add that I’ve been getting a lot of hours at work, which has been draining my energy. So, cold weather, hours at work, and feasting on all the delicious anime, all have led to me having a very unproductive March.

So, what broke me out of this funk? Well, Zach and I chat every Sunday and often proofread our work and help each other. Neither of us had anything to proofread on Sunday, so I offered to proofread my current project with Zach which would motivate me enough to get my butt writing. Zach suggested that he could get back to his writing project and we could rotate each Sunday proofreading our work.

It is a good thing to have another writer working with on a project and help motivate each other.

So, anime, yeah, it’s a thing I really enjoy and forget how much time passes when watching it. So, I might as well once again talk about some of the stuff I watched.

I recommend one anime I feasted on until I gobbled it all up. “Frieren: Beyond Journey's End” is now on Netflix but it's also on Crunchyroll, which is where I watched it. It is about an Elf Mage who was a part of the Hero’s party to defeat the demon king and the life she leads after she and her companions defeat the demon king. I don’t want to spoil too much, since it seems that Frieren is suddenly getting more attention now that it's on Netflix.

Frieren begins her journey beyond journey’s end at the Hero’s funeral after he has lead a long and peaceful life since defeating the demon king. Frieren is distraught and breaks down that she never got to really know the hero and regrets letting all the time pass without reaching out to him. This motivates Frieren to open up to new people and cherish every moment with them. Her banter between her and her apprentice is the best, they go back and forth between who is the mentor and who is the student.

The voice acting, the music, the overall animation, the twists and turns throughout the stroy, this is a top notch anime that is worth looking into. It is also something I could totally see my buddy Zach writing, which just made it even more of a rich experience for me. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, highly recommended.

I also watched more “RE:Zero” and man, that anime is brutal. It is deserving of the acclaim and notoriety. The lead is constant in despair, dies, and rebirth using his experiences from failure and loss. The premise and execution of this series is both inspiring and a touch eldritch horror. Oh and I’m in camp Rem and I am totally salty with what happened to her at the beginning of season 2. This anime does not pull punches, which is why I recommend not marathoning this one. I can take about three or four episodes at a time before I need to peace out and recharge.

One of my favorite animes, “I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level” just started a second season. Literally, episode one of season 2 dropped on 4/5. I’ve been reading the light novel the anime is based on and it is super surreal to have read a story arc then watch it unfold in an anime. And I get way too excited over an anime that is basically the embodiment of being super chill and relaxed. The intro is all teasing characters I’ve read about and have yet to read and it is super cool. I hope the anime continues before the world is set ablaze.

Anyway, the episode focuses on the Witch of the Highlands and her family making sweets. That is basically the first half of the series. The Witch then meets the Goddess who reincarnated her and gave her immortality and eternal youth. The Goddess claims she came to the world to spread good will and virtue but in reality, she was demoted for mishandling her godlike power.

I was hoping this episode would introduce Sandra, a plant girl who is super cute and I cannot wait to see her added to the Witch’s family. This anime is just so wholesome and relaxing that it is a perfect bedtime watch, I’ve returned to it several times and I’m even reading the light novel to help me fall asleep. Have trouble sleeping? Check out “I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level” both the anime and light novel (and maybe even the manga, but those always confuse me on how to read them).

And then there is a short anime that I can only take in short bursts because it is so damn funny:

“Aho Girl”

Seriously, just go watch a little of this masterpiece. It is Japanese skit-fast-pace-farce humor at its finest. It is so crazy, ridiculous, and unpredictable that there is no honest review that could do it justice. It literally had me dying within the first ten minutes and I’m still watching it, I’m about halfway through, but it is something to do in bursts. And what is it about? Bananas. Yes, anyone who has seen this anime is laughing and those who have not are just confused. Believe me when I say, put those two things together and that is what it's like to watch “Aho Girl.”

Speaking of funny, I shall now segway away from anime and share more of Artie the Arsewhole.

Adventures of Artie the Arsewhole #4

A band of super-thieves are robbing the national gold reserve.

“All the gold are belong to us!”

Can these evil-doers be stopped? This looks like a job for—

“YEAH! Stop those bad guys! YEAH!”

“Oh-no! It is the—hero? Artie the Arsewhole!”

“You can have all the gold!”

“We surrender!”

“YEAH! Got the thing to stop bad guys! YEAH!”

Our hero’s eyes then glow a heroic red.

“YEAH! Super-Melting-Eye-Beams! YEAH!”

“Oh no! He is melting the gold around us! This is the end!”

The band of super-thieves are then washed away in a wave of melting gold. It is a disastrous mess that will cost millions of dollars to undo.

At least the super-thieves were stopped.

“YEAH! Stop’d those bad guys! YEAH! Be that ARSEWHOLE!”

And a golden Arsewhole you be, Artie. Be that golden Arsewhole!

Well, that is all for this week. Writing finally happened, more anime will likely be consumed, maybe more Artie the Arsewhole? We shall see!

Good Luck and I cast POST!

—Buck

PS: In Aho-Girl, no one is smart. And if they are, then the dumb will soon infect them. Stupidity is contagious people, just look at the world we live in. You can’t teach stupid, you become it. 🤪