Back from vacation!

I actually got back about a week ago. This was my annual "visit family, binge read manga, and maybe eat out occasionally" vacation. Last year, my dad wasn't able to make it in time to see me, so I was thrilled that, this year, I got to see my entire immediate family. This, combined with some major anxiety related to the friend who was going to help me out by driving me to the airport cancelling on me less than a day before my flight, plus the cold I caught about halfway through my vacation, resulted in me reading way less than I normally do. But I did get through some stuff.

Manga:

• Black Butler Vol. 27
• Blue Exorcist Vols. 1-2
• Haikyu!! Vols. 1-2
• Maid-sama! Vols. 1-18 (the entire series)
• Skip Beat! Vols. 41-42 

Books:

• How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery

I also watched a lot of TV, some of it at the airport and on the plane, and some of it while my dad was home:

• Aggretsuko (anime TV series) - I saw Season 1 and the Christmas special a while back. I watched episodes 1-4 of Season 2 on the plane and enjoyed it.
• The King's Avatar (live action TV series) - Netflix finally fixed the English subtitles! They now make sense, for the most part. My dad and I made it almost halfway through the series together, and I watched a little more after he left. There's a revelation in episode 18 or 19 that I was not fond of, but I still plan on finishing the series.
• Violet Evergarden (anime TV series) - I originally intended to watch this at the airport and am glad I opted to watch it during my vacation instead. I don't like crying in public, and this series would have done it. I'd love to have this in my DVD/Blu-Ray collection, but it doesn't look like it's available. I'm hoping it doesn't become an Aniplex of America release, because, as much as I enjoyed it, I don't want to pay $140+ to own a 13-episode series.

REVIEW: Haikyu!! 2nd Season (anime TV series)

Haikyu!! is sports anime focused on volleyball. It's licensed by Sentai Filmworks.

My review includes things that could be considered spoilers. Read on at your own risk. Reminder: I cross-post to LibraryThing, where I can use spoiler tags.

Review:

As in the first season, half of this season is devoted to practice matches, while the other half is devoted to Inter-High Preliminaries games. This time around, however, Karasuno's volleyball team is finally coming together and morphing into a force to be reckoned with. Hinata learns to be more than just Kageyama's weapon, and various other first- and second-year members of the team put more time and effort into developing their strengths. Oh, and if the first season's lack of glimpses into the players' school and family lives bugged you, you'll be happy to know that Season 2 rectifies that a tiny bit. The characters whose home lives get the most attention are Tsukishima and Yachi (Karasuno's newest manager, a timid girl who really grew on me).

REVIEW: Haikyu!! Collection 2 (anime TV series)

Haikyu!! Collection 2 includes the second half of the first season of this series - episodes 14-25.

Review:

I picked up the second half of the first season of Haikyu!! before I’d completely finished the first half, but it took me a couple weeks to get around to watching it. I probably should have watched both parts back-to-back, but it worked out anyway.

This second half of the season features the series’ first non-practice matches. If Karasuno can win every single one of their upcoming matches, they’ll get to go to the nationals. Their first match is against a so-so team that includes an old friend of Karasuno’s captain. Their second match is against Date Tech, the team that temporarily crushed Azumane’s will to play. Their third match is against Aoba Johsai, the team Karasuno played a practice match against earlier in the season. Although Karasuno has played against them before, they have almost no experience facing off against Aoba Johsai’s primary setter, Oikawa.

REVIEW: Haikyu!! Collection 1 (anime TV series)

Haikyu!! is a sports anime that focuses on high school volleyball. It's licensed by Sentai Filmworks.

This review includes slight spoilers.

Review:

Hinata becomes obsessed with volleyball after seeing a short player, the “Little Giant,” score in a National Championship on TV. He practices as much as possible but has to do most of it on his own or with the girls’ volleyball team. He barely manages to get a team together before his very first match, so it’s no surprise to anyone but him when his team is thoroughly defeated. However, his athleticism and determination to win do at least make an impression on Kageyama, one of the opposing team’s players.

Hinata spends the rest of his time in junior high training, looking forward to the day he can join Karasuno High’s volleyball team, the same one the Little Giant used to play on. What he didn’t expect was that his greatest enemy, Kageyama, would also be joining the team. Even worse, neither of them will be allowed to join if they can’t learn to work together.