March Madness came to a spectacular finish, with North Carolina hitting an improbable 3 to tie it up in the last five seconds, and then Villanova responding with an even more improbable 3 to win at the buzzer. The two played neck and neck throughout the entire game and the skill on display was marvelous. It's obvious to anyone these were the two best teams in the country and that Villanova was a true champion.
The next sports festival will be the Rio Olympics, starting August 5th. For the remainder of April, May, June and July we're stuck with fiction programming. We're in luck, though, because the fiction side of events is just getting revved up. Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow will soon be joined by Game of Thrones on the western side, and we've got tons of new anime shows starting in both the spring and summer anime seasons.
So far, both Sailor Moon Crystal and Macross Delta have been spectacular, far exceeding expectations. Sailor Moon's hand drawn transformation and catch phrase moments were so beautiful and classically old-school that it brought a tear to my eye. Macross Delta's heart pounding songs and battles jumped into full throttle from the very first ep, to the point that I had to check and reconfirm that the ep really was only 24 minutes long -- so much happened I was sure it had at least been an hour. The spring season has only just begun though, there are no doubt more surprises in store before this is all over.
I finished Majikoi and started in on Majikoi S. I'm also making progress on Imouto Paradise, Koichoco and Hoshizora Memoria. I have nothing but praise for all four visual novels so far, and if all four somehow aren't enough there's still Aiyoku no Eustia, Really? Really!, Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, To Heart 2 and Osananajimi wa Daitouryou Fandisk to choose between. Dracu Riot is almost fully translated and is reputed to be a VN classic as well, so it's a real race to see if I can even keep my backlog below double digits at this rate.
Let's not ignore how awesome manga has been recently either. A new spinoff starring Fairy Tail's Laxus has been announced. Fairy Tail itself is delivering god like chapters every week. Hunter x Hunter (April 18th) and Naruto (May) are returning. Akatsuki no Yona is as serious and compelling as ever. Saki's heartfelt athletes really show their passion whether it's in Saki or Shinohayu. Freezing's three mangas offer a kaleidoscope of characters. Kenpachi is going bankai in Bleach. The plot is actually advancing in Hayate. Akame ga Kill is at the climactic final battle. Shingeki no Kyojin is in a climactic battle if not the final battle. Brynhildr is just a few chapters away from over. Railgun is covering one of the best arcs in Index. Even UQ Holder is heating up (romantically and dramatically!) This is the most intense time to be reading manga I can ever remember.
As for light novels, there's still Hai to Gensou, Oreshura, and Amagi Brilliant Park receiving regular updates. There's still Spice and Wolf to even begin reading.
I haven't even touched my Uncharted Trilogy for PS4 games or completed the adventure mode of Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4. If the situation gets really dire there's always Tears to Tiara 2, FF4 After Years, Disgaea 4, FF Type 0, FF X/X-2 Remastered for PS3, etc.
Sometimes I find it hard to express how much I love the things that I love. The anime and manga coming out right now are spectacular. The visual novels that have been translated into English are spectacular. We're in the middle of the golden age of western television -- even Gilmore Girls is coming back! Sword Art Online's next book is finally coming out in just a few days. This is the time to be alive. I pity the fools who were born before now, who missed out on this day, this season, and this year. This is happiness distilled into the finest wine. Nectar couldn't possibly taste as sweet.
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