リスニングのしゅくだい：地縛少年花子くん(1/27/20)

This anime is...interesting. It seems to be about paranormal activity, myths, and other such happenings. It's not a shounen, but it's not a slice of life either. I bring up the shounen point primarily because the OP feels aggressively shounen to me, but not quite there. Beyond that, the music and sound design for the show greatly satisfies me.

The first myth covered is the urban legend concerning a ghost supposedly bound to a specific stall in a high school bathroom who grants wishes when confronted and a specific thing is recited.

The voice actor for Hanako, the ghost, reminds me distinctly of the voice actor for Meliodas from Seven Deadly Sins (七つの大罪). I thought that the show was pretty cute overall. My girlfriend will probably have me watch it with her as it comes out (she had me watch the first episode to begin with). I can certainly say that I enjoyed Hanako's personality and quirks, as well as the unique style for the art and animation.

リスニングのしゅくだい：天気の子 (1/20/20)

It was a truly entertaining movie. I do believe that the backstory of the male protagonist could have been fleshed out a bit more, but I think, given the length of the movie, that it was exceptionally well-structured. The characters felt fitting for their roles and actions, and there were a great deal of funny moments and not-so-subtle references (the protagonists of 「君の名は」made an appearance, for example). I really did enjoy the overall dynamic of the cast. Nagi, the female protagonist's younger brother in the picture below, was honestly a highlight of any scene that he was in, especially if it involved his strange ability to attract girls his age.

Aside from the various sentiments expressed and parts of conversations that I understood, I had a stronger appreciation of the location (Tokyo) and certain plot points because of my prior knowledge of specific things in Japan. For example, when the presence of a gun became relevant to the story, I understood how and why it would elicit the particular reactions and ramifications that it did. In fact, I was rather surprised myself when it appeared. There were also other little things that likely made sense to me because of prior exposure. To be entirely honest, I kind of missed Japan a bit after seeing certain places that I had the pleasure of visiting last summer. Regardless, the movie was well worth watching in my opinion.