A personal blog about Jiu Jitsu, anime, and whatever else comes out of my brain

Recent deaths that have hit me emotionally

Let's start with Zac Bertschy. A person I did not know personally and had never interacted with, and yet I am still crying. For fifteen years he humanized the artists who created some of our favourite works with his own writings for Anime News Network. I only knew him from his writing and podcasts but his passion for animation and especially the people behind it always shone through. This is exemplified in a recent podcast and his fantastic reviews of each episode of the anime, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken. Although he never knew me specifically I hope he knew that there were so many people just like me that truly appreciated his work. A memorial has been written for him on Anime News Network and can be found here.

On January 4, 2020 I got to see Hana Kimura wrestle live at the Tokyo Dome. Teaming with Giulia in a match where they faced Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki, Kimura poured her heart into the match even though the crowd was still filing in. On January 11, 2020 I was lucky enough to see her wrestle for her home promotion of Stardom. She was part of another tag match that put her talent and charisma on display once again. She will be missed and my heart goes out to her family, friends, and supporters.

I am writing this as day 3 of my #100DaysToOffload posts both to pay tribute and because I am very sad and needed to write.


This work by Thomas Lloyd is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

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