‘Twas a normal day like any. I woke up, resented my life, and tugged on some presentable clothes as to not lose my self-esteem and reputation to social conventions and practicalities, and got ready to start off my day. The night before, I had been binge-watching Dragon-Ball (the one with Kid Goku). Episode upon episode had taken its toll on me and I had finally decided to go to sleep at the healthy time of 2 am. As my grogginess threatened to ruin the first half of my day on its sleepy whims, I was driven to Zero period: Journalism. Unlike most days, I had made it on time so I had that going for me, but little did I know that tragedy would strike me down from Mt. Hopeful Beginnings.

I settled down, running a mental checklist of things I had completed and things I had needed to do. I hunted for a busy work assignment to keep me company, but, it was to no avail. I grabbed a Chromebook as my unproductive resort and proceeded to browse the interwebs when I thought to myself: Can I access my precious anime through the ether that is the school WiFi? I went to my favorite anime er- cartoon site and found my answer. I had hit the freshman goldmine. I’m sure upperclassmen knew this as a guarded secret, but for a freshman to discover something so sacred was an honor! No, a blessing! Now I could observe and gush over Miku-chan in a full 480p! Then, I realized the binding capability of my holy grail. Immediately, I zoomed to the Dragon Ball section. My destiny was waiting for me.

I had gotten through 10 episodes within a few zero periods and showed no signs of stopping. I had arrived at episode 32. The previous episode left me on a cliffhanger, hyping my appeal for this episode. I feverishly closed the ad-pop ups to see my favorite little Saiyan and his wacky friends. I felt something eerie hovering over me as the loading wheel turned like a ferris wheel. It hit me like a bus. I knew it when I saw it. A broken page notification picture (see thumbnail). I refreshed the video. The same result. Oh no, how had this happened? I have had nightmares about this moment. The school had blocked me and everyone else’s precious anime links.

I was burnt toast ready to be thrown in the trash. What would happen to me? Imprisonment? Execution? Or would I just be absolutely pummeled by all the weeby upperclassmen that missed their afternoon anime break? This is why the freshmen like me shouldn’t be trusted. As I panicked, a friendly bystander took notice of this and suggested that I “try a different website.” Silly mortal, there is no other, for all links of Japanese animation are deceased within these grounds. To amuse him, however, I tried to show him his insolence and ignorance in his statement as I navigated to another well-known anime watching site. Sheesh, the story tells itself at this point doesn’t it? I’ll spare you the brain cells and processing power and just say that I was wrong and the link was broken.