April is cherry blossoms in Japan, and their fleeting nature is associated with an aesthetic valuing of the ephemeral in Japanese culture. I normally don’t get all poetic about it, but recent events have me reminiscing and feeling the passage of time. One month after the death of Matsumoto Leiji, one of my favorite character designers, Kimura Takahiro, passed away. Ash Ketchum is being retired as the lead of the Pokemon after two decades. Not one but two VTubers are graduating: Heavenly King Mirai Akari and Pikamee Amano, one of the lights of the early COVID pandemic. And just today we learned that Sakamoto Ryuichi of Yellow Magic Orchestra passed on the 28th of March—the second member to go this year after Takahashi Yukihiro.
To my April Patreon subscribers, thank you:
General:
Ko Ransom
Diogo Prado
Alex
Dsy
Sue Hopkins fans:
Serxeid
Hato Kenjirou fans:
Elizabeth
Yajima Mirei fans:
Machi-Kurada
Blog highlights from March:
Farewell to One of Anime’s Great Character Designers: RIP Kimura Takahiro
I was devastated.
La+ Darknesss: Hololive’s Tiny Dancer Extraordinaire
My attempt to explain why I love La+’s dancing so much.
Pallet Cleanser: The End of Ash Ketchum as Pokemon Protagonist
Looking back on 20+ years of Pokemon anime, and Ash’s ride into the sunset.
Kio Shimoku
Kio tweeted a lot about Spotted Flower this past month because the latest volume came out on the 31st.
Apartment 507
My thoughts on Akiba Maid War.
Closing
Another new season of anime is upon us?! Already?! And it’s filled with a ridiculous amount of highly anticipated shows??!!
OGIUE MANIAX 