Hanami

It’s blossom-gazing time, with sakura blooming in Japan. I did a little blossom-gazing myself yesterday at the local botanical garden, which has a few flowering cherries. Wichita had enough serious cold weather this past winter to trigger profuse bloom. Instead of a blue tarp, I brought my camera.

Okame cherry (Prunus x incamp)
Okame cherry (Prunus x incamp)

I arrived one windy day too late to catch this one at its prime.

Okame cherry close-up
Okame cherry close-up

Continue reading “Hanami”

Blossom gazing

Cherry trees bloom in Wichita as well as Japan. The one above is the variety “Kwanzan,” which has large double flowers, not the single blossoms that constantly turn up in anime. It’s not as elegant, perhaps, but it is very eye-catching.

Given the frequency with which cherry blossoms occur in anime, one would assume that the trees are in bloom half the year. I doubt that’s the case.

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Astro says, “BTW your top ten is flawed because it doesn’t include AzuManga’s Yukari. Probably because she’s the best anime babe ever, and you were just trying to make it competitive. *astro shakes his tiny fist*”

Nobody mentioned her when nominations were open. I plan to start the third and last of the preliminary rounds of the Who’s the Babe? this weekend. Should I add Yukari to the candidates? And while I’m at it, should I also add Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, another possibility whom nobody nominated and I forgot about?

Update: the nays have it.

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Bonus nonsense: Subtitles — They’re not just for anime. (Via Dustbury.)