Anime

Anticipating Anime Winter 2017

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With the new year comes a new anime season, and thanks to the great lineup I had the pleasure of viewing last fall, I can’t help but brace for disappointment this coming winter. There doesn’t look to be as many heavy hitters this season, and out of the six shows I’ve been eyeing so far, only two of them can be considered safe bets. Still, I’d like to share with you my plans for this season and leave myself open to suggestions, as I’m also looking for an anime to review episodically. Hopefully this winter works out well for me, because I’m basically taking four shots in the dark. But on the bright side, if things don’t work out, I still have a vast backlog to dip into. Continue reading →

Crowd Control: Handling Anime Background Characters

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I have a lot of quirks when it comes to watching anime, things that I tend to pick up on or specifically watch for that I’d assume most people wouldn’t really care too much about. Lately, I’ve noticed myself succumbing to somewhat of a “mini-obsession” when watching anime, something that when done poorly now sticks out like a sore thumb to me. Sure, it can sometimes be immersion breaking for a moment, but when handled with style or raw force I usually can’t help but marvel for a second or two. I’m talking about background crowds. Continue reading →

When Your Kokoro Goes Doki Doki: A Guide to Cliché Anime Romance – Chapter 1: Backseat Window Boys

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Let’s start this off with an introduction to what exactly is “When Your Kokoro Goes Doki Doki: A Guide to Cliché Anime Romances by crispyn64”. You see, I consider myself a person that’s open to every type of anime. From dark psychological thrillers to lighthearted shoujo drama, I can find something to enjoy in most every kind of show. However, out of every genre, there’s a clear and uncontested winner for my utmost affinity: slice of life romantic comedies. And while it might be interesting to dig into my own psyche and figure out why the hell I’m like this, that’s not what this [post] is here for. No, I’ve decided that I’d dedicate some of my time to write about the generic formulas of anime romance, drawing from my own experiences and research to define the genre’s conventions and tropes, and because I feel there’s so much to discuss here, I might just make an entire book out of it. So here’s my draft of the first chapter: Backseat Window Boys. Continue reading →

Otaku in Anime: Keima Katsuragi

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Here’s a topic I’ve been meaning to get around to for quite a while. It all started last summer anime season when I was watching This Art Club Has a Problem!. During it, I couldn’t help but notice what I thought was an annoying flaw in an otherwise decent comedy show. My problem with This Art Club Has a Problem! was one which involved the portrayal of Otaku. Now, I’m not saying the show was bad due to its inability to see Otaku culture for what I see it to be. Rather, it failed to define its own perspective in a way that was anything more than a pretty basic stereotype. The character Uchimaki is shown to be a head-in-the-clouds waifu-lover whose simple passion serves to be the butt of most of the show’s jokes. Usami (main character) goes throughout the entire show not trying to look deeper into his hobby, but rather spends most of her time scoffing at it and questioning why she had to fall in love with such a weirdo. Continue reading →

A Sound! Euphonium 2 Review

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The first season of Sound! Euphonium was “utterly fantastic” (quoting myself from my review of season one). It took me by surprise and delivered something thoroughly thought provoking. Characters were handled flawlessly, hackneyed themes were dodged with grace, and not a moment of my time felt wasted as I embraced its concepts of what it means to be a part of something, and what it means to be special. It was undoubtedly a brilliant season, and unfortunately for KyoAni, the sequel would have to be held to those standards. So that begs the question: Did KyoAni reach or surpass the heights it set for itself with season one? Continue reading →

Sound! Euphonium 2, Episode 13

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It’s time to bid farewell to all the wonderful 3rd-years, as they get to indulge in the sweet memories they had made and remind themselves that despite not going out with a bang, they still managed to pull off something truly unforgettable. Not a true to form clip-show, but an episode to reminisce all the great moments the Kitauji band has shared whilst celebrating the end for their seniors. Between partying and hazy-flashback-montages, there’s not too much to this episode besides taking it all in and accepting that Asuka must move on. Continue reading →

Sense of Self: An Editing Analysis of Kizumonogatari

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Author’s note: What you’re about to read is my final paper for my film studies class. In it, I dissect the editing style of the film as well as what it means to the larger narrative. I’m glad I got to choose whatever film I wanted, as that meant I could immediately gravitate towards any anime movie I wanted. Naturally, Kizumonogatari was what I decided upon. Anyway, because this was meant as a final project, I wrote this paper in a way that explains the film and characters to those who wouldn’t have seen the movie beforehand. I expect all my readers to have seen this glorious masterpiece already, so you can just kindly ignore parts like that. I mean, of course you know who Kissshot Acerolaorion Heartunderblade, because who wouldn’t? Haha! On a serious note however, I’d like to thank you all for giving my work the time of day. Never would I have expected the amount acknowledgement I have received for this blog, in only its first year! I probably would’ve tried to keep writing on a weekly basis even if no one read my work at all, but I must say it’s been pretty damn invigorating to know that people care. Thank you so much, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a great time watching anime alone in your room, or whatever it is people do during the break. Oh, and feedback for this paper would be much appreciated. Bye! Continue reading →

Sound! Euphonium 2, Episode 12

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Alright, to start this episode review off I think I’m going to go ahead and bring focus on something that I haven’t really talked about until this point: Side characters! There sure are a lot of them in this show, and KyoAni never ceases to subtly remind us they exist, even though most of them hold very little significance in the actual narrative. Shuichi is the childhood friendboy of Kumiko, and he shows up maybe once every 4 episodes to casually chat with her for a couple of minutes. In this episode, they end up bumping into each other when heading out of the sleeping quarters at night. As they talk while drinking vending machine beverages, he simply acknowledges that he’s noticed her seem a little depressed about her older sister Mamiko. Shuichi also gives her a pretty flower hairpin as a late birthday present, but it’s not taken as some sort of romantic gesture as it’s made pretty clear that Midori was the one that pushed him to do it. Continue reading →

Sound! Euphonium 2, Episode 11

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Sorry about the wait, but here it is: episode 11 (episode 12 will be up tomorrow). We start where we were last left off, Asuka’s back and everyone seems super happy until Kumiko turns to glance at Reina from afar. She seems mad, or at least a tad resentful, so of course it’s up to Kumiko to find out why. The general idea to be taken away from basic context is that Kumiko had been neglecting Reina while she was too busy focusing on getting Asuka back in the band. Continue reading →

What Could’ve Been – One More Thing About Magical Girl Raising Project

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I thought I had already said all that I needed to say about this show, and yet here we are. Its flaws have been pointed out and my ideas for fixing said flaws are open for all to read in my latest “From Bad Anime…” post. Even so, as I watched the final episode of the lackluster series, I couldn’t help but feel there was something still left to say about it. Something important to take away from this experience. And while a lot of it is basically elaborating on my previous statements, I believe there is still enough left to justify me writing about Magical Girl Raising Project one more time. Continue reading →