Anime

Why I Dropped Naruto (Shippuden)

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Episodes 288/-

When it comes to why I dropped Fairy Tail, I lost interest a bit before the show seemingly changed. I fell out of the series when things were still somewhat “good”, but looking at where the anime is now, I find myself not even a little bit curious as to how it got to such a pathetically mediocre position. The difference between Fairy Tail and Naruto, to me, are simple: I loved Naruto, whereas I only kinda liked Fariy Tail. More importantly, I dropped Fairy Tail before I could see it fall apart, whereas with Naruto…well, I watched that ship sink as I was still jumping off it, then continued to view it become submerged from a seat on the shore and only got up to leave after a far longer time than needed to be sure there was no coming back. Continue reading →

Why I Dropped Fairy Tail

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Yup, I’m dropping like it’s…a lot this week and to be honest, I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time now. These two anime are, in my humble opinion, no longer worth watching. Thing is, I’ve had them on hold for quite some time now. Since I sort of “specialize” in romance comedies and nearly never mention anything about heated, action, “power-of-will” shounen series, I could see how this might come as a bit of a shocked that I used to watch Fairy Tail and Naruto. Hell, I used to LOVE Naruto, and that’s probably why I’ve been (on-)holding on to it for so long, instead of just plain dropping it. And so here, I’m going to tell you what finally pushed me over the edge. Continue reading →

Why Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club Would Be Better as Ecchi

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If you’ve been following my blog recently, you already know that I dropped my episodic review series of Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club. Aside from just having an obnoxiously long title, Cycling Club had a lot of problems. Basically, Girls Gone Bike (my personal nickname for the series) lacked meaningful purpose, originality, fresh humor, consistent animation quality, interesting direction/storyboarding, and most importantly…eroticism. Continue reading →

Moe Wars: NEW GAME! vs Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid – Part 2

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Why Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is Fucking Incredible, Especially in Comparison to NEW GAME!

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The first thing that really annoyed me about NEW GAME! was that it chose a unique setting and utterly squandered it. Unlike the fantastic anime about creating anime, Shirobako, NEW GAME! really had no impressive industry insights to give, nor a worthwhile perspective inside an entertainment studio. So of course it made me question why it bothered having that setting at all. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid on the other hand, avoids misusing a setting by having one that’s completely normal. Dragon Maid takes place in a simple, grounded, residential area. There’s nothing particularly standout about the location the story takes place in, so it’s pretty much up to the characters to make the show something thrilling and original. Continue reading →

Moe Wars: NEW GAME! vs Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid – Part 1

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What is Moe?

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So I decided to start watching that maid dragon show that everyone was talking about and sharing visually stunning GIFs of. Boy was that a good call, because Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid quickly skyrocketed to the top of my “Favorite Anime This Season” list (which is currently a three-way tie with Konosuba and March Comes in Like a Lion). There are many things about this show that I believe are worthy of praise, but before I get to any of that, there was a certain connection I caught between this fantastic work and another recent anime that I found to be less than appealing, and I think there’s an interesting comparison to be had between the two. Continue reading →

A Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions Review

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I usually hate the phrase “for the fans”, because “for the fans” is usually used as a cheap excuse for why one’s entertainment product will undoubtedly fail to reach or receive praise from a wide variety of people. In a sense, it’s saying the people who like it will like it, and the people who don’t, won’t. Why even try making something worthwhile? There’s a perfectly sustainable fanbase that will continue to support something so long as it remotely caters to them. Sure, this could work as a business model, but what does this say about the art? Are artists supposed to create only to please people? Is this the kind of cycle that inevitably transforms to a downward spiral, regurgitating the same market manufactured garbage to the same people that only look to entertainment as something to be enjoyed and nothing else? Not that there’s anything wrong with just having fun, but repeating the same kind of fun does grow to be tiresome. Continue reading →

Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club, Episode 5

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Catgirl alert! There’s a catgirl in this show! I mean, you probably already knew that because of the opening, but now she’s actually introduced in the show. Her name is Korone Hououji, and she’s the owner of the bike shop next to the bakery the girls always hang out at. Korone wears cat ears and tail simply because they’re cute, plus she’s a character of diminutive stature. She’s small and looks like a child, which is by all means not an original gag, nor a particularly welcome one in this instance. Continue reading →

Why I Dropped Fuuka & Aquarion Evol

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Fuuka

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Episodes 5/12

If you read my last weekend feature about Fuuka and clichés, then you probably know why I’m dropping this show. That being said, I’m going to quickly run through everything wrong with this anime right now, because I feel it necessary to understand what I like and dislike, and it’s a good exercise to convey that to others. I could just drop shows I find myself not enjoying and move on with my life, but instead I try to think hard about what it is that makes me feel the way I do. By doing this, I take what would have otherwise been just a waste of time and turn it into a learning experience. Also, I’m just reluctant to drop anything. Continue reading →

Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club, Episode 4

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Last week I wrote about parts of episode 3 that were, in retrospect, a complete waste of time. The amount of frivolous set up leading the four girls to the point where they decide to make a club was…mildly disappointing. Still, I found there were some interesting takeaways to be had and some important themes being touched upon that made the episode—at least in some respect—worthwhile.  I cannot say the same for this week’s episode however, as the show seems to be regressing further from what originally made Girls Gone Bike stand out. Continue reading →