Shows like Absolute Duo have shown I’m weak to anime where the central relationship is solid, and Konobi falls into that category. And so I wrote about what makes Usami’s crush on Uchimaki better than your average anime blushing.
Aniwords
Aniwords – What We Want When We Watch Sports Anime
Guys, let me tell you, I’ve got absolutely no clue what makes me pop off for almost two thousand words like I did in this column. I was just planning for it to be regular length and by the time I’d finished chasing down all the threads I’d started out with I ended up with this monster of a post—although, to be fair, I think it’s a rather good one. I hope you guys like it! I think it explores some interested ideas.
Aniwords – Mob Psycho 100, Apostle of Animation
Tongue-in-cheek title aside (I seem to wind up with a lot of those for these columns, not sure why), this probably ranks up there with the more ambitious posts in terms of attempted idea communication that I’ve done for Crunchyroll. It’s also potentially one of the most flawed (depending on what you think of some of the underlying assumptions I made in writing it), but haven’t I always said that flawed anime can be interesting? I hope this post is, as well.
Aniwords – The Small Worlds of the Anime of P.A. Works
I didn’t mean to write two posts in a row about the role of setting in certain anime—it just kind of turned out that way. In the spotlight is a somewhat broader selection of shows than I’m normally accustomed to writing about, as I try my best to encapsulate the general character of the anime made by studio P.A. Works. in a single column. Surprisingly perhaps, I think I wound up having more of a solid case than even I expected at the beginning of my writing. You guys will have to let me know what you think!
Aniwords – Sea Tones: A Study of Setting in Amanchu!
This season is full of good things to write about!
So, we’ll kick things off with Amanchu! Going from Princess Tutu, the only other Junichi Sato I’ve seen aside from a single episode of Aria, to Amanchu! is a bit of a shift and certainly not an equal one, but Sato’s reputation with this kind of show precedes him despite a lack of personal experience and thus far in I can understand why. Amanchu! glows. I really like that, and I hope I’ve articulated with some grace how I think this comes about.
Aniwords – The Spirit of Joy Lives in Love Live! Sunshine
It’s Love Live! It’s back, it’s here, I’m happy, Hanamaru best girl after one episode (disclaimer: best girl decision not final). And so, because I’m not quite over the girls of μ’s yet, I wrote up a little something about what Sunshine!! has inherited from the original series: namely, a spirit of joy. It’s a topic I’ve sort of written on before, but it’s neat to see how these sort of things can crossover so strongly from shows not in direct continuity with each other. It’s like the Macross effect, except much more 1:1.
Aniwords – Rediscovering the Musicals of My Childhood in Anime Insert Songs
I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve decided to take a strictly personal angle on an anime-related topic during my three years of anime writing, but today I’ve got another addition to that particular collection—although I couldn’t tell you why I chose to do so. It just kind of happened. Spontaneously, like a song… in a musical! Whoa.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoy me going a little more introspective than normal (although I’ve snuck in some analytical pieces here and there, teehee).
Aniwords – The Lost Village and the Death of the Genre
The Lost Village wasn’t the best anime that aired this season, nor was it anywhere close to being my favorite, but darn it, it was sure a heckuva a lot of fun to write about. I’ve long since passed by my formalist fan days (I remember telling one of my college professors that I was a formalist LOL), but talking about The Lost Village‘s formal qualities is very nearly the only way I can think to approach the show—as should be clear since this is the third post I’ve written on its formal elements. In any case, I hope you guys enjoy this wild post!
Aniwords – Concrete Hero Luluco: From Heroes to Justice to Love
I’ve been away on a business trip, which is why I’m late getting this one posted over here. I apologize for the blog’s relative deadness as of late – I promise I haven’t forgotten about it; just in a weird sort of funk with writing lately since work’s been crazy. Things should settle down by mid-July.
Anyways, this belated post is a (perhaps overly so) ambitious attempt by me to bring together some thoughts I’ve been having on My Hero Academia, Concrete Revolutio, and Space Patrol Luluco. Hope you guys enjoy it – if not, let me know if it was impregnable after all in the comments.
Aniwords – Dealing with Bakugo
Another week, another Aniwords! On the docket this week is My Hero Academia, which I confess I feel rather lax for having left untouched for this long. While I think the show’s pretty good, and even improves on the manga in places, ultimately I’ve been disappointed by how safe the adaptation’s been played. That being said, there’s still a ton of cool stuff going on My Hero Academia, and so I hit on some of those things this week. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Mage in a Barrel 