Vibe Check #14 (September 2024)

Hello and welcome to the 14th edition of our Vibe Check, where we talk about anything dealing with Japan, anime, or anything that happens on the top of our heads that happened in the month of September. Hope you enjoy the reading.

Check #1: ABEMA Time

Since I have the chance to get the yearly subscription for ExpressVPN, I immediately went to my phone to check out ABEMA. If you don't know about it, it's an app that will let you watch Japanese drama and anime raw (meaning without any subtitles). It was a really relaxing thing to do when I am working. As a matter of fact, while I was working, I was watching Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out in raw Japanese. Although my Japanese wasn't the greatest to translate, it was a really nice anime to watch. 

Also, there's a Japanese TV show that I watched called Freestyle Dungeon which is a hip hop battle. There were times that some rappers have really good flow, but there are times where it's just super awkward and out of rhythm, and it's coming for someone that mostly listen to EDM and J-Pop music. Despite that, it's fun to listen them rap.

Since there are tons of old and new anime series for me to watch, there might be a chance I can catch up and/or watch tons of new anime series until the end of the year.

Check #2: Ohtani's Feats

From having 50-50 (50 homeruns and 50 stolen bases) to basically having the Triple Crown in the National League, the first year of being a Dodger for Shohei Ohtani is one of the best investments the Los Angeles Dodgers made in recent history. In the start of the season, people were concerned because of the huge contract of 10-year/$700 million deal for Shohei Ohtani to move from the Angels to the Dodgers.

Now, the same people that are concerned about the deal are the ones that say it was the best investment they made. Not only that, he done it without even throwing a single pitch for the entire MLB season. I watched tons of his highlights of the feat and tons of people from many social media was touched that he constantly builds his legacy from one part of Los Angeles to another. 

With that feat in mind, now there might be a huge increase of boys (either from Japan to international) being interested in baseball to try their best to go to the majors. I don't blame them at all since it's one of the fastest routes to the professional leagues (some kids even get drafted out of high school).

With that in mind, my prediction would be they'll make it to the National League Championship Series. World Series? Decent chance if both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (which have a 12-year/$325m deal as well) are playing for the entire playoffs. 

Check #3: Hoard of Japanese Magazines

Ever since 2019, I've mainly ordered by average $100 worth of Japanese magazines that are from Japan (well from Japan to Hong Kong to USA) from the website YesAsia. I mostly would get magazines dealing with JDM cars that are coming out in Japan and in the West, otaku stuff such as anime and videogames, Japanese cuisine, and even Japanese housing (I know that's really random to get).

I have a hoard of Japanese magazines that are either around my living room, my bedroom, and even in the trunk of the car. Although I do love to collect them like Pokemon fans collecting Pokemon trading cards, the best feeling I would get is to share my magazines to people that are interested in Japan and/or anime.

It's the best because I want to showcase my passion for Japanese culture to everyone. Plus, I can always get another version of the magazine in less than two weeks so it won't be a big deal for me. 

Would I get some more until the year ends? Of course! There are tons of magazines I want to get that both love to see what's been going on in Japan and also to help improve my reading. The biggest concern is the timing. The best thing I can say is to limit the ordering when Thanksgiving ends because the shipping would be too complicated haha.

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That's all for the month of September! Tune in on the last days of October to see what's been going on for our Vibe Check. Thanks for reading our Vibe Check as always!!