Let the spectrum in! The Colo(u)rful Stories Tag!

It has been a long time since I’ve been tagged on this page, but it has happened. I was tagged by 7mononoke from Anime Rants. Thank you very much! This sounds like a very unique tag to be a part of. Also, bonus points if anyone gets the music reference in my title for this post.

Here are the rules for this tag:

#1 Share your favourite stories—movies/books/anime/manga/drama/songs—by classifying them on these seven colours’ traits:

• red: passionate, exciting, invigorating
• blue: peaceful, calming
• pink: romantic, caring
• orange: warm, motivating
• black: mysterious, thrilling
• green: fresh, unexpected
• white: random

#2 Send this challenge invitation to at least one of your friends. Let them fear your superiority, as you—decide their fate.

#3 Link back to the original post here! And, enjoy!

Alright. Let’s do this!

RED

Paprika

This would be my pick for red. Paprika is certainly experimental like most of Satoshi Kon’s work, but it’s very exciting and passionate with the imagery and multi-tiered storytelling. Some of you know about my strong feelings when it comes to an obvious film plagiarism issue associated with this movie, but I’m going to focus on the obvious original factors. Paprika also plays with passion or in Konakawa’s case lack thereof and the journey between dreams and reality is surreal, but forces you to pay attention.

BLUE

Alamar

This is more of a recent-ish watch since I first saw it a couple of years ago. There’s certainly lots of blues since most of the movie takes place near or on the ocean, but this really was a calming movie. Alamar wasn’t some deep watch, but it was very relaxing with this father and son bonding near the water. I first saw it during the winter when it was insane with the extreme polar vortex and with tons of snow on some days. It was a peaceful movie of characters just living life and there’s a healthy family relationship that doesn’t involve family drama nor does the father die in this film.

PINK

The Place Promised In Our Early Days

This one was tough because I’m not a fan of romantic movies. The closest thing to a romance work that I really like is Makoto Shinkai’s first full-length film. The Place Promised In Our Early Days would be far closer to describe as a war drama with some sci-fi elements given the concept of the parallel universes playing a major role in the plot. This has one of the best love triangles I’ve ever seen in movies and there was some great characterization. Of course, most anime fans will Stan harder for Your Name, Weathering With You, or (GOD FORBID!) The Garden of Words, but The Place Promised is still an impactful watch even years later.

ORANGE

Hikaru no Go

Hikaru no Go is one anime and manga series I’ve enjoyed since I was in high school and it still holds up. I’ve certainly praised it for it’s originality, believable characters, and destroying multiple shonen anime tropes. Heck, this series was a major inspiration for the last single and video I made (notice the go imagery) late last year. This was a motivating series to watch not just with learning about the game of go, but it also shows perseverance in a non-cheesy light while being genuine about it.

BLACK

Maasai: The Rain Warriors

Even more recent than watching Alamar, I discovered this Kenyan movie not too long ago. I don’t want to just put anime on this list even though I certainly have a reputation for talking about that subject on one of my other blogs. Maasai: The Rain Warriors was a very fascinating watch with it using actual Maasai actors, using the Maa language as opposed to English or even Swahili, and incorporating Afro-fantasy with a low-key magic realism to it. There’s mysterious aspects with the adventure to stop this demonic lion from cursing the land with drought. There were some nice twists and turns while being respectful to this indigenous tribe in Kenya. No, there is absolutely no pun involving the choice of movie with this color, so calm down.

GREEN

Lunch Time Heroes

This is the first Nollywood movie I have seen! I know there were some pacing and plotting issues, but Lunch Time Heroes was one movie that I thought was better than what most critics said. It was fresh and unexpected with how much I enjoyed this movie. Sure, the plot is simple with a teacher thrust into a classroom full of troublesome students while taking part in an academic competition against other schools in Nigeria, but how they did it was entertaining and in some cases deconstructive. I’m not a fan of “save our students” plots, but this was done right. Lunch Time Heroes was also the 2nd “save our students” movie I’ve seen in my life that DIDN’T resort to white savior tropes (the 1st is Stand and Deliver) even if it was due to the geographic location. Not only that, but it’s an African movie that takes place in a middle-class setting which is something Hollywood wouldn’t dare show that side of the continent. Lunch Time Heroes was a simple, yet very unexpected watch for me.

WHITE

Shinesman

You know, my interests can be quite random. I can delve into avant-garde and arthouse works, but at the same time I can watch something wacky from time to time. I’m not always this super serious or highbrow person, everyone. I do have a sense of humor and a sense of levity. Shinesman is one of my favorite anime comedies and parody works in general. When I tell other people about this, I mention that Shinesman is like a mix between Power Rangers and The Office, but that’s scratching the surface. It has one of my top 3 dubs that are better than the original Japanese version. The humor consists of over-the-top tokusatsu spoofing, low-key zingers, and even makes some cheeky jokes about anime fandoms. This still makes me laugh to this day seeing this obscure 90s OVA series. I would also like to see a remake and if they could get as many of the original dub cast members to reprise their roles, I’d be elated.

I will nominate the following people:

Never Argue With a Fish

Fiddletwix

Traditional Catholic Weeb

Aizen_Kuro

James Humphrey

Red Metal

Scarlettiger

All photos are property of their respective owners and used under US “Fair Use” laws.

Paprika is property of Satoshi Kon, Madhouse and Sony Pictures Classics. The GIF is from Gfycat and is property of Satoshi Kon, Madhouse and Sony Pictures Classics.

Alamar is property of Film Movement. The screenshot is from Cinema Tropical and is property of Film Movement.

The Place Promised In Our Early Days is property of Makoto Shinkai and ComixWave. The screenshot is from Madman Entertainment and is property of Makoto Shinkai, ComixWave, and Madman Entertainment.

Hikaru no Go is property of Yumi Hotta, Takeshi Obata, Studio Pierrot, and Viz. The screenshot is from YouTube and is property of Studio Pierrot and Viz.

Maasai: The Rain Warriors is property of ArtMattan and Facets Video. The screenshot is from ArtMattan and is property of ArtMattan and Facets Video.

Lunch Time Heroes is property of PHB Films and FilmOne Distribution. The screenshot is from YouTube and is property of PHB Films and FilmOne Distribution.

Shinesman is property of Production I. G. The Japanese DVD cover is from My Anime List and is property of Production I. G.

My friend Jeannette’s Character Study on Reki from Haibane Renmei

https://jeannettejonic.blogspot.com/2018/12/character-study-reki-from-haibane-renmei.html?showComment=1544841523065#c2041517840176548783

I haven’t cross-promoted many posts recently, but I want to post an article from my friend Jeannette Jonic. She’s an author who also blogs about various media such as movies and anime. I recently got her into Haibane Renmei which is one of my favorite anime series of all time, and she enjoyed it. Jeannette did an article covering the characterization of Reki (one of the main characters) and it was amazing. Reki was a character I found to be very relatable especially when I re-watched it a while ago.

I’m sure all my anime fan friends would appreciate this article that she wrote.

Create-A-Story Tag!

It’s been a really long time since I’ve been tagged for anything. So recently, I was tagged by Lina for this particular challenge. Thanks, Lina! I appreciate you thinking of me after you found out that I write stories and how you appreciate my ideology of incorporating several characters of various ethnic groups. You all should check out her blog if you like anime and manga. Also, this tag was created by Keiko of Keiko’s Anime Blog.

Here are the rules:

1. You pick your “word”, your setting and your story genre from the list below.

As individuals, your brand of creativity is unique to yours, so we want to highlight that by letting you choose from a bunch of words and creating something beautiful out of it. Yes, some people will choose the same combination as others but I guarantee you each story will be unique as per the individual. The options are really just there to cater to you specifically. You can challenge yourself, you can work with your strengths or you can take creative risks. It’s all up to you and how you express your creativity.

2. The short story will have a limit of 1000 words. You do not need to write a story with 1000 words exactly. It could be 300, or 500 as long as it doesn’t surpass a thousand.

3. YOU HAVE TWO WEEKS TO ANSWER THE TAG. This is honestly just another way to ensure none of you overthink this. It’s not supposed to be your magnum opus. It’s just a fun short story to share to people. If you cannot answer within two weeks, the tagger can tag other people.

4. Lastly, you must tag three people to participate. Keiko will collect all the short stories and compile them into one giant hub featuring all the stories.

5. Don’t forget to link back to Keiko (link back to this post) so she can collect all the stories. You can’t just link back to her wordpress, since she won’t be alerted of the pingback. You need to link back to a post or a page, because wordpress works like this. (Very important guys!)

6. Use the Create-A-Story picture in the post. I don’t really know why, but a lot of tags do this so might as well, right? But seriously, it’ll mostly help people recognize all the Create-A-Story tag posts.

7. Copy and paste the rules in your tag post as well, so others can be clued in to the Create-A-Story rules.

Alright. Here’s my story “Rebuilding Solace”. My words will be, Rain, Mountain, and Tragedy.

***

“Rain will wash the impurities away.”

Those words ran through my mind as I became busy setting up one of the last bricks on top of the building. I wiped my brow as the midday sun beat down on me like a sledgehammer. The air became thinner as I was at the building’s apex on this mountainous terrain. I knew there was more work to be done.

“Aren’t you Malachi Tariku?”

That was a woman who called out from the base of my project. She wore all white and she had her hair in intricate crown braids.

“Yes, I am. I assume you’re Semhar Ilan then.” I replied. “You’re the one who’s in charge of the last major project in our community, I assume.”

“You’d be right.” Semhar sternly answered. “I’m surprised you and your crew have been able to fix everything quicker than gazelles.”

Normally, I would’ve found her comment to be patronizing, but I couldn’t blame her for talking in that way. Then again, someone like her had to be serious given how grave her position was around here and what she was in charge of.

The memories flooded in as to how the village became that way. We were secluded from most other communities across the mountain. It was on one of the steeper hills and the altitude could make anyone dizzy if they weren’t used to the overall climate. We were a peculiar people busy doing our own things. We harvested our own food, made our own clothes, built our own houses, worshiped together, and even made the most elaborate pieces of art.

We had no enemies, and we had good relationships with the other nearby villages.

However, Rebsana (our village) would change in the blink of an eye.

“Malachi, aren’t you going to come down from that building?” Semhar called out again.

“Of course. Just give me a couple of minutes.” I descended from the roof, went down the hatch, and I finally went to the door. Semhar crossed her arms. “What’s your problem? There are worse things to worry about than me taking extra time to make it down safely.”

She just huffed and we walked towards where her workspace would be. The dust and heat certainly made things more intense. I was proud of the newer architecture around here even though we were understaffed although no one could blame us for working with a skeleton crew.

“You are certainly skilled, but I believe you aren’t taking this massive undertaking seriously.” Semhar noted.

“Okay, I’m not going to stand for that.” I argued. “You saw me finish that building and I worked on getting those houses back in order. Just because I’m not overdoing it with my emotions doesn’t mean that I’m apathetic.”

“Fine then, Malachi.” She said. “You’ll be far from apathetic once we get to my domain.”

Rebsana, you will be refined after what happened.

I couldn’t block out the memories, and no other Rebsanian could ever do that. The quiet prosperity filled us with contentment and happiness for centuries, but we were now on reserves in restoring the glory that once bestowed on the village. First came the insults of our people being called poor excuses for wanderers. Then came the actions afterward. Stupid Azomians…

We walked on over to the giant field in the valley of one of our mountains down the slope. My jaw dropped when I saw a sea of plots. One man just put down his shovel.

“Ms. Semhar, they’re all accounted for.”

I saw a mix of tears and sweat cover this grown man’s face. I couldn’t fault him for feeling that way.

Semhar walked up and hugged him. “Thank you very much. You’ve done well.”

I saw the list of names around this field and I could remember them all. Friends, family, young and old. I was on duty with fixing this area earlier.

The pain kept subsiding.

Those Azomians caught wind of us having cobalt, silver, and gold. The other communities in the mountains had their own deposits, but they were plundered. It’s as if all the Azomians were parasites taking whatever.

What they left behind wasn’t good at all.

I prayed that the divine would restore what was devoured in Rebsana. What we did was a start by rebuilding so many homes, schools, businesses and the local Bet Maqdas for all of us to worship.

“Many rains have hit us, but they were torrents of fire. It will take a long time for the purification to take fruit.” I commented.

I remembered holding my fallen compatriots as I did everything I could to protect my people from our invaders when that brutal time happened.

Semhar prayed as that project was done.

“You will never be forgotten.”

That field was filled with the graves of half our community afflicted by the Azomians. Men, women, and children’s souls would by sky-bound. Near that memorial was a giant wall with cannons every ten feet from each other that was newly built.

I will never let that rain hit our precious Rebsana ever again.
***

I now hereby tag the following people…

Angela Grant: You’re a brave blogger for your posts and I’m glad we had intelligent conversations about serious topics. I know you have the talent to write a powerful short story or microfiction.

Elle: You’re a talented writer and I like your various short stories. Feel free to give this a try!

Scott: What’s good, Scott? I know you’re good at writing articles about anime and reviews of that medium, so I thought I would give you this little challenge.

Gateway to the Empyrean is now serializing on my fiction blog!

I know I’ve been on-and-off with this and most of my other blogs, but I will have regular content on my fiction blog.

Gateway to the Empyrean is a 100 chapter cell phone novel about a teenage boy named Hosea Breckenridge who moved from Maryland to Vermont and he’s trying to adjust there. He’s really into archery, playing the violin, and drawing…particularly when it comes to designing futuristic aircraft. Hosea struggles with his overactive imagination while also being bullied for his atypical interests. This flatlander manages to meet a shy and nerdy girl named Corinne who wants to write a sky punk novel and they soon have a bond with each other. It’s a slice-of-life story using an experimental fiction format and the whole thing is there for the month of July.

Here’s the first chapter: https://cmbbwrites.wordpress.com/2018/07/02/gateway-to-the-empyrean-cirrocumulus-1/

Don’t forget to follow that page if you like stories, fiction, and anything of that nature!

My Other Creative Projects: Hollandus Landing (A Cell Phone Novel)

I haven’t posted as much stuff on here besides the Katauta 52 series, but for those of you that don’t follow my other blogs, I’ll drop some extra knowledge for you.

As you may or may not know, I’m also a writer. I have a fiction blog which you can find at http://cmbbwrites.wordpress.com. It would be awesome if you subscribed to it, too. Right now, I’m swamped with Camp NaNoWriMo (a writing competition), but I’ve also been working on a cell phone novel.

This writing project in particular is called Hollandus Landing. It’s a serial story interweaving 40 different characters in this fictional Midwestern city as they live their lives while there’s also a secret that’s buried in the city. Most of the arcs are of the slice-of-life variety, but I use meta-narratives and parallel stories to intersect elements of the real hidden danger with other characters creating various art forms that directly or indirectly involve said secret.

By the way, each chapter is 70-200 words long. You can read some of them on your work break or whatnot. That and I’m over 220 chapters at the time of this post

Check out the first chapter here: https://cmbbwrites.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/hollandus-landing-chapter-1/