Dennou Coil

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but recently I got into anime and I'm totally hooked. I just finished Dennou Coil a couple minutes ago and I need to talk about. Warning: spoilers.

So Dennou Coil starts out kind of meandering along, building world and characters with a very slice-of-life sort of feel. The premise is that if you put on these glasses, you can see a world of cyber pets and laser fights were anything you can code becomes real. The action in the first half mainly comes from the kids' fights with cyber robot-cops who seek and destroy anything glasses-related, and the dangerous obsolete tech called 'old space'.

One thing I love about this show is how complex it is, but how it doesn't feel complex as it builds the world around you piece by piece, episode by episode. The smallest details contribute to the overall plot. And since Dennou Coil's pacing is a thing of beauty, there aren't any info dumps. Every bit of world building comes in bite-sized chunks.

The halfway point is the only thing I don't like about this series. There's three filler episodes and a recap that kind of drag the pace down. Since we weren't going very fast to begin with, this isn't good. However episode sixteen turns that around.

Yes, the second half of Dennou Coil goes by at the pace of a runaway train, dabbling in some horror and mystery plots I never saw coming. Actually, it's hard to see anything coming in this show. Those edge-of-your-seat moments feel real, like the protagonists might not make it through this. I advise you not to watch 16 17 and 18 at night. Terrible idea.

Anyways, this series looks light-hearted and childish from the outside, but it's a show centring on the pain of growing up. The world of 'old space', and especially the 'Coil space' that apparently steals children's consciousness from their bodies, was made for one girl, the tough and cold Amasawa Yuuko, to help her move on after her brother dies in a car accident. But because thoughts and feeling can become reality in this world, Yuuko's memories and perception of reality become skewed, so that she thinks her brother is alive and can be found in the Coil space, aka the 'other side'. Each of the main characters venture into this 'other side' and confront their own inner conflicts. Haraken comes to terms with his guilt over the death of his friend Kanna, and Yasako lets go of her beloved pet and realizes that, as the series has being saying, reality isn't really just what you can touch. There's way more to this series than I can get to in this stream-of-conciousness piece, but that's the beauty of this show. There are so many layers and thematic lines, probably more than I actually noticed watching it. Even the little sounds Yasako hears when interacting with cyberspace have a meaning. The amount of attention to detail that went into this show is incredible.
So, that's enough rambling for one night. Long story short, go watch Dennou Coil. And probably also Steins;Gate, but not all at once and definitely not at night. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go watch the Rolling Girls and get my nonsense fix for tonight. See ya!

Writing Projects

Hello Everyone,
I am, as I believe I have mentioned before, an amateur writer. On that note, I am working on a few projects on http://writergirlkait.wix.com/kaitsstoryserials that I hope you will check out. I appreciate your support.

I know I do not often post, but I am a student and a dancer, so I have a lot going on. Hopefully the writing site will be updated a bit more often than this blog ; )

What grade am I in again?

This semester I have found myself faced with a very strange problem: I honestly don't know how to answer the question "What grade are you in?". I'm in grade nine for everything except English, in which case I've already finished grade 10 and have moved on to a grade 11 class. I think my peers figure I'm insane.
Thing is, I've always been the kind of kid who goes into gifted programs. I've done reports on Leonardo da Vinci, built a Rube Goldberg machine, learned university-level biology and physics, worked in a university microbiology lab. . . . I could go on. Most of the time I finish schoolwork early and I almost always land in the nineties for academics on my report cards. My worst subject: gym. My point? I'm all over the map when it comes to school.

Lately I've been answering the what-grade-you-in question with the following: "Nine. I think. Mostly. I'm in grade eleven for English." Because it really depends on what subject you're looking at. So I guess what I'm trying to say is being a genius is overrated. All of a sudden you've got a whole new set of problems most people can't relate to.

Teenagers and television

I must confess that I'm one of those people who watches random preteen cartoons. My list of cartoons is as follows:
Phineas and Ferb
Teen Titans
Winx Club
Legend of Korra
Avatar the Last Airbender
W.I.T.C.H.
Ben 10
Kim Possible
Sofia the First

I think out of all of those the one I'm most likely to get laughed at for is Sofia. I own every season of a show I was introduced to by a five year old, and I have no shame. No shame at all.

Moving on though, I am increasingly amazed at and occasionally disgusted by the ongoing debate at whether or not it's "cool" for adults or teenagers to watch shows like My Little Pony or that weird new talking animals show based on the Littlest Pet Shop toys I liked as a kid. I've got to say that the only issue I have with MLP is that I watched a different version on Treehouse when I was four and younger. It just feels weird, like I'm trying to pretend to be younger or something bizarre like that. Usually I don't have to pretend, it just happens.
But anyways, sometimes I just have to laugh at the many debates going on in the comments section of Youtube reviews of shows like that. Couldn't we discuss something important instead, like the protests in Ukraine or discrimination in public schools or something? Seriously, if politics were discussed with the same heat and dedication as TV shows, NOBODY could complain about the state of democracy. Who cares what you watch behind closed doors? I know I don't. All things considered, I guess I'd just like to live in a world where I don't automatically say "You got a problem with that" whenever someone sees me watching Phineas and Ferb. Just sayin'.

(Edit: I do not own every season of Sofia the First. I was referring to Phineas and Ferb. Just to be clear : )

How Hard Must Shopping Be?

So back to school shopping is boring and a waste of a perfectly good summer day. We all know that. What I'd like to know is, how many people actually find it difficult to find clothes that cover every part of the body that needs covering?

Maybe I'm overly modest, but I don't feel comfortable in skirts that sit above my knees or tank tops that show the bra underneath. Apparently everyone else doesn't care, because it is really hard to find anything that fits my criteria.

Let me give you my list of thing I cannot and will not wear:

Hipster pants
Jeans
Tank tops without a built-in bra
V-neck shirts
Shorts that stop above the knee
Skirts that stop above the knee
Shirts that stop above the pants
Shirts that are see-through
Sweaters that are cut weird
Anything with spikes on it
Anything with skulls on it
Flats without a middle strap
Heels
Wedges
Dresses that stop above the knee

I could go on. But I think you get the picture.
The problem is, the stuff on my list is the only merchandise in the stores I am required to shop at. Do you know how long it takes to find a decent pair of shorts? I have one pair of shorts in my closet. One! How about finding a pair of shoes that don't feel like they're going to fall off? Or maybe leggings with a proper waistband that aren't glossy or neon coloured?

It's near impossible! What do these designers think we are? Teenagers who want to be adults? So we just hit our teens. That doesn't mean we're suddenly ready to be adults. Though, if you were judging by our appearances, you'd think otherwise.

I'm Back!

Yes, concerned readers, your favourite fourteen year old blogger has survived summer vacation and the first few days of school and is now ready to report!

I am serious. I have been really busy lately. I have been directing eighth graders to classes, saying hello to the little baby grade eights I know, and trying to organize all my course outlines and locker agreements. For those of you who don't know, you have to sign a paper saying you understand that the school is allowed to go through your locker in order to get one.

Yeah, just because I am all of a sudden a "niner", I suddenly feel old and superior. I kid you not. And here you thought I was sweet and angelic. Sorry to make you look foolish.

There is something about not being the youngest anymore. I can actually help out that little lost grade eight who was being mislead by one of my less moral fellow students. Well, actually she wasn't that little, she was taller than me. But still. The point is, I am suddenly a step above those kids, and I haven't even turned fourteen yet!

You're probably wondering what's wrong with me. Well, other than growing into womanhood, suddenly feeling awkward whenever I see my schoolmates at my new dance studio, as well as aforementioned superiority problem, I'm doing just fine. For now, anyways. Oh, horrors, I just thought of something. If being a grade nine makes me feel this grown up, what will I be like when I'm in grade twelve?

No, the kids are NOT all right

This morning, I told my brother how many views I have on my Club Penguin blog, and he said, "Why don't you put a donate button on it?" I explained that I'm not going out of my way to blog, and I like writing. Therefore, it would really be like paying me to do nothing. Sure, some people do get payed to do nothing, but that's not our problem.

My point is, everything seems to be directed at a mercenary purpose these days. TV shows used to teach Spanish, or get kids off the couch, or show them how to make a craft or something of the sort. Now, I watch Treehouse with my cousin, and all those shows are there for is to make money! It's the same story with so much that's directed at the under-18 crowd. Nobody really thinks about what's good for kids and teens. They only care about selling their product. Think about it. How many stars popular with teens don't have their own perfumes and clothing lines and products under their names? Very few.

I think that there's a real problem here. What's going to happen to our values, everything that parents teach us, when it's undermined by what we see every day? A lot of young girls walk around in shorts that hardly cover their legs, and tank tops that show off curves they probably don't even notice. Their parents are dressing them as "sexy" girls, even though those girls hardly understand what that means. Teenage girls wear tops that show their bras as plainly as if they weren't wearing a shirt. The boys wear their pants low enough to show their underwear. Everything is turned towards creating an image that is more adult than child.

That reminds me of the times when kids were dressed as miniature adults. Have we not learned that little people need to be protected, not thrust into the den of wolves that is the world as soon as they are old enough to look ready? I, for one, am of the opinion that if I had to find my way in the world alone, at my current age, I'd fail pretty miserably. So why do you think an eight year old can be sexy? Or, more accurately put, should they be?  My answer is no.