_{Updated: August 6th, 2026}

夏の匂い 夜が包んで
ぽたぽたおちる 金魚花火
どんな言葉にも できない
一瞬うつるの あなたの優顔
- 大塚 愛

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Part of La Paisible

ABOUT

I am a fool, hopelessly weak to my childhood dwellings, and a portion of my paycheck goes to either paint, plastic, some kind of metal, and various fabrics. But it sparks electrifying joy, Marie Kondo, I promise!My selections have been small and intentional. Each piece in my current collection has a character or a specific scene that holds a precious memory for me. So, if you, the visitor, would like to make an offer, it would have to be very enticing—the kind of desperate hunger like a scene from HBO's Game of Thrones:

Ramsay: "My hounds will never harm me."
Sansa: "You haven't fed them in seven days. You said it yourself."
Ramsay: "They're loyal beasts."
Sansa: "They were. Now they're starving.”

I cannot imagine my childhood without Sailor Moon. I was introduced to the series by my friend Rachelle; her mother would wake up at 6am to record the episodes on a VCR because it only aired in the morning on Channel Eleven (WB) back in the early 1990s. My mother did the same but rented tapes from a Chinese blockbuster and recorded the episodes. Years later, still in elementary, I discovered S3 and S4 on Toonami. And would buy the rest of the series, films, and OVAs on VHS tapes. Every time, as a kid, when the episode ends, I would watch the ending song play, especially Heart Moving and Princess Moon. The series awakened my longing for Prince Charming, not Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty; it was all crybaby Tsukino Usagi. How she would clasp her hands on her face after Tuxedo Mask says an affirmation or two, or how she dreamily looks up at the sky when he floats in the moonlight sky.

I was able to obtain serious wish list pieces: a dual Usagi in the first opening ever; Princess Moon, which had evaded me for years; a dreamy Ami; and the loving look of goodbye from Sailor Chibi Moon. I’m still on the hunt for moments that are iconic and personal to me. Possibly the most random and affordable piece is this cel, who happens to be a side character to a premium side character! But it was a scene where the premium side character, okay, her name is Tomoko Takase, discovers her crush outside her book signing with another woman clinging to his arm. I felt it, that kind of longing Usagi has for Mamoru, except Tomoko will never be embraced by Mr. Side-Side Character. Though my collection is very small, I want to curate pieces that mean the most to me. It’s very difficult because there are too many episodes that tug at my heartstrings.

From the same Chinese blockbuster, my mother rented the first four episodes of Ranma ½ for me. She probably asked the store owner, “You got any cartoons for kids?” My eyes widen when a topless female Ranma dreams of multiple Kuno's professing their love for her. My mom is definitely one of those who thought, “Cartoons are just for kids!” Disney programed her well. Unlike most Ranma ½ fans who grew up with the franchise when the series was dubbed in English, I watched most of the series in the early 2010s. In some way, it is why I seem to favor Akane over Shampoo. The episode where a long-haired Akane challenged Kuno to buy time for Ranma to change back to a boy was unbelievably cool. For me, she represented Japan’s concept of first love.

The most random series featured on the site is Mama Loves the Poyopoyo-Saurus; it’s a comedic series about a couple facing difficulty raising their two young children. You are probably wondering, “How did you get from Sailor Moon and Ranma to this?” I blame it on my auntie; I'm not sure if it was a 90s Chinese parent thing or a DNA thing, but she also rented various animes at a bootleg blockbuster. She definitely has more sense than my mom (love you) and made sure that the cartoon is REALLY for children. I mean, my mom randomly rented The End of Evangelion for me when I was twelve years old; my initial reaction to the opening was how did Shinji get yogurt in his hand? The whole movie made nudity in Ranma ½ look like child’s play! … Ma! Anyway, my cousin and I would regularly watch Mama Loves the Poyopoyo-Saurus, and my auntie would blame my cousin’s typical toddler tantrums on either (a) me or (b) this cartoon. Decades later, I saw cels from this series pop up on auction. Those were premium pieces from the opening, and another listing from an episode my cousin and I loved.

Aside from animation, I love old-school Hollywood, with Audrey Hepburn being my eternal numero uno; music by Fleetwood Mac and Lana Del Rey is food for my soul, and I wish spring were all year round. I also share similar movie taste with Tatsuki Fujimoto, who referenced Vanilla Sky in a couple of his works, a criminally underrated Tom Cruise spectacle directed by Cameron Crowe, my all-time favorite film.

SITE'S NAME

Kingyo Hanabi (金魚花火) means Goldfish Fireworks, a song released by Japanese artist Otsuka Ai on August 18th, 2004; it was solely written by her and produced by Matsuura Max. It was her fifth single and charted number three on the Oricon charts.

IMAGE COPYRIGHT

The artwork on the banner is by mangaka Takeuchi Naoko. It was published in the artbook Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Settei Shiryoushuu (美少女戦士セーラームーン設定資料集) on October 1st, 1999.

夏の匂い 夜が包んで
ぽたぽたおちる 金魚花火
どんな言葉にも できない
一瞬うつるの あなたの優顔
- 大塚 愛

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Part of La Paisible

CEL GALLERIES

SAILOR MOON

RANMA ½

MISCELLANY

夏の匂い 夜が包んで
ぽたぽたおちる 金魚花火
どんな言葉にも できない
一瞬うつるの あなたの優顔
- 大塚 愛

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Part of La Paisible

LISTED

FANLISTINGS

夏の匂い 夜が包んで
ぽたぽたおちる 金魚花火
どんな言葉にも できない
一瞬うつるの あなたの優顔
- 大塚 愛

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Part of La Paisible