Baozi Buns

I read ahead in the manga after last week's episode of romance anime "Hello, I am a Witch and my Crush Wants me to Make a Love Potion!" ended, so I knew what was coming this week. And boy oh boy oh boy oh boy, I was not disappointed.💖 Gorgeous visuals, sweetly emotional voice acting, the loveliest piano music and a touching scene lifted straight from the manga and brought beautifully to life. All of which came to a jolting halt with Rose's hand over Harij's mouth. Just like every episode before it, Episode 6 of "Hello, I Am a Witch" continued to bewitch me with its simple but so utterly effective and truly lovely storytelling.

🎉 HEADS UP 🎉 Episode 17 of donghua 'Gu An' releases tomorrow on YOUKU, and here's what we can expect next in the dark fantasy comedy: Episode 17: Dare to Block My Sword "The city-sealing formation is activated, and the five prodigies are about to fall! But Brother An is not one to sit idly by and wait for death; the counterattack begins!" Yep, another episode of kickass Gu An kicking even more ass. I'm all in, aren't you? 😂

Only 2 weeks before "Doupo Cangqiong Movie: Shuang Di Zhi Zhan" (aka "BTTH Movie: Battle of Two Emperors") drops -- the series finale movie of smash-hit donghua "Battle Through the Heavens". "A thousand-year-old living dead, an eight-star Dou Sheng with overwhelming power. Hun Yuantian descends upon the Burial Heaven Mountains with the Gate of Deathly Silence, Xiao Yan ignites his strange fire, ready for battle. You once destroyed the fortune of my Xiao Clan, now I will reclaim everything that belongs to me." The movie premieres on November 22nd on Tencent.

The poster for "Jade Cup Hides the Blade" is here, along with a mysterious comment. "Pearl curtains sway gently, tea fragrance curls in the air. What seems like an elegant tea tasting is secretly a clash of wits and power. The water is still warm, but storms are stirring. Watch how a youth, within a mere square inch, unravels crises that reach the highest heavens!" (Donghua: " Tales of Herding Gods" -- Episode 108 dropped this weekend via Bilibili.

Awwww, who knew the Green Mantis captain had a heart buried under all that hacking and slashing he loves so much. (Anime: Black Clover, S3, Ep6)

There is so much to utterly love about anime "The Apothecary Diaries", including the teeny tiny details. 🐈🥰 #Maomao

Another treasure trove of desktop wallpapers has just dropped for Chinese donghua "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality" - this time there are 9 of them promoting Episode 199. (Yep, we're just a hairsbreadth away from the magic Ep 200!🎆). The visuals arrive with a plot comment: "The six sects of the Demonic Path gather for a secret meeting, casting a shadow of war over Tiannan! Song Yu invites a gathering in Yougu Valley, where Han Li reunites with Zi Ling and Mei Ning after a long separation." The series streams via Bilibili, and also see my previous post, as the donghua just hit another HUGE milestone this week as well. 🎉 Download all 9 wallpapers here: weibo.com/7599939517/RqfNx3x… and, of course, if you have a Weibo account, be sure to follow Wonder Cat Animation as well.

Well, this is an insanely crazy milestone that donghua "A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality" has just passed -- 7.6 BILLION views and 18 million followers.🎉🎉🎉 7.6 BILLION views!!! Amazing, right? But, of course, VERY well-deserved as the series is absolutely iconic, and easily one of the best Chinese animated series ever created. Streams via Bilibili.

There are 3 new visuals out for our lovely Meng Chuan, with the comment: "Meng Chuan is the only hope for the Cang Yuan world." I dunno, but I think Meng Chuan is the only hope for a lot of stuff, don't you? 🤣❤️‍🔥 Chinese donghua "The Demon Hunter" is streaming via YOUKU, with Episodes 1 thru 102 currently available. I just finished Ep 100 and, wow, I really love this latest arc, don't you? Especially as the Lord of Yanshan is such a handsome boy. 😊

The screens are out for Episode 108 of "Tales of Herding Gods" along with the plot synopsis: "A chance encounter amidst turbulent times, power struggles and undercurrents. Dao Master Ru Lai abdicates, potentially drastically altering the sect's landscape! Qin Mu, struggling to master the Nine Dragons Emperor Technique, attempts to understand its principles; Ling Yuxiu arrives unexpectedly, and a strange phenomenon occurs, sending the two soaring into the sky! What caused this incredible phenomenon?" Episode drops on Bilibili this weekend.🔥

One thing I often notice about some younger anime viewers is they seem to expect stories to fit their narrow-minded view of life, and are then "offended" when they don't. They also seem to be incapable of looking beneath the surface to see what's happening underneath. Case in point, "The Apothecary Diaries", Season 3, Ep 3, where some of these anime fans now dislike Maomao because she pushed the two young girls to become courtesans. She's acting like a pimp, right? The reality of the situation is much different. First, Maomao is harsh with the older sister, as she is testing her to see if she is strong enough to handle life at the Verdigris House. Second, coming from the poor district of the city herself, Maomao knows girls like these have few options. In their case, the older sister already knows her father will soon push her into becoming a low-level streetwalker. One of the girls who live dangerous and often very short lives, either due to dying from drug use, an abusive customer or an STD. Without money or an education, the girls have no other option but this. Work at the Verdigris House, however, and they have the protection of the Madam and the guards. They eat well, they live well, and some have the chance of being bought out to become the wives of very respectable men. Not something many modern women would consider but, centuries ago, a solid life choice as, to some extent, courtesans were also admired. The older sister knows this, which is why she is pleading with Maomao for an introduction to the Madam. Maomao herself knows she can save both girls this way. So, I don't know, maybe stop demanding everything fit into your narrow idea of what is " appropriate" (honestly, what even is the point of a story if it does?), and consider what reality looks like for characters like this? It's not always pretty, it's not always "appropriate", but it is reality, and a reality tens of millions of women have had to deal with through the centuries.

What's interesting to me about anime "Firefly Wedding" is that the more educated, more affluent person is the one who doesn't understand her own feelings at all, while the uneducated assassin knows one simple thing with absolute certainty. He loves the woman sitting opposite him, and he'll do anything to make her his. (Anime: "Firefly Wedding", Episode 5).

It's incredibly sweet how Jinshi only lets his guard down when Maomao is around. Even if she does delight in messing with him.😈 (Anime: "The Apothecary Diaries", Season 3, Ep 2, "The Fire-Rat Cloak"). Streaming om Crunchyroll.

There's something to be said for waiting to watch your favorite anime until a few episodes are already out. Come on, who doesn't love a good binge, eh? Case in point, "The Apothecary Diaries", Season 3, Episode 1, which I've finally had time to watch tonight. And ooh, what a start. An impending plague of locusts, a subsequent famine, Maomao back at home but still with ties to the palace, Lihaku is still pursuing Pailin, it turns out Chou-u has an undiscovered talent for art, while Maomao is about to get even more involved with the La clan, and with all the many complications that come with that. And then there's Jinshi who is about to be pressured by the Emperor into "choosing a flower". And we all know which flower he will choose, right?😼 One episode in then and, as a repeat reader of both the novel series and its manga adaptation (read each one three times, love them beyond distraction), as I expected, OLM's adaptation continues to not disappoint.