In which I am laid low before the forces of “real life…”
Aniwords – Durarara!! and Unhidden Monsters
Durarara!! x2 has…not been the best the franchise has ever been, that’s for sure. With a seemingly unending stream of new characters flooding into Ikebukuro over the last two and a half seasons and a plot that’s become tangled beyond anyone’s ability to follow, you couldn’t be blamed for thinking the show had gone entirely bonkers—and not in the good way. And so, believe me when I was it was somewhat to my surprise that I discovered that I had been noticing those elusive things called “themes” cropping up in the show.
What follows is the account of my discoveries. Here’s the link~
Age & Responsibility: Reflections on Hanayamata’s Sally Tokiwa
Where do we see ourselves as we watch anime?
Evolution of the Barrel
Hello, dear friends and readers! Right now is an exciting and fun time for me to be writing here at Mage in a Barrel. As you all should know by now, the blog succeeded in reaching (and surpassing!) the goal of upgrading to WordPress premium and I recently closed out one of the biggest projects I’ve ever attempted on here with my final episodic post for Hyouka going up last Sunday. As always, I’m hugely grateful for your readership and support—you guys make it a lot of fun to keep this project running.
(If you want to get to the part of this where you tell me to do things, scroll to the bottom of the post.)
Anime Weekly: Winter 2016, Week 6
I just want you all to know that, while I do really like the current season, I’d give it all away to have Macross Delta airing right now. Well, except maybe Konosuba.
What is a Best Girl?
At its core, the concept of the “best girl” is a pretty silly one. It ultimately amounts to a fandom game, an arbitrary imposition of indeterminate criteria on a set of character for the sole purpose of crowning a champion. And yet, it’s a game I’ve invested myself into again and again. Perhaps, as the saying goes, “the joy is in playing.”
Hyouka, Episode 22 [END]
As I was watching this episode of Hyouka, a beautiful, ephemeral ending with all its implied beginnings, I couldn’t help but recall the lyrics to “Once Upon a Time” from the musical All American (my favorite version of the song, sung by Bobby Darin).
Once upon a time a girl with moonlight in her eyes // Put her hand in mine and said she loved me so // But that was once upon a time very long ago
Anime Weekly: Winter 2016, Week 5
People say the three-episode rule is the best for deciding on shows to keep and drop, but I’m somewhat of the opinion that five episodes is better for feeling out which shows are going to end up great and which are just going to end up fine.
Aniwords – Haikyuu!! and Capturing the Magic of Intensity
It’s always exciting when a show that’s been long absent from its true identity finally makes a return, and that’s exactly what happened with this week’s Haikyuu!! At long last, I have no complaints about an episode of Haikyuu!!—I’m just pumped up and excited and ready for more!
So, to honor that success, I’ve taken this week’s Aniwords to break down how Haikyuu!! managed to return to form in such a wonderful fashion. I hope you guys enjoy it!
The Boy and the Beast Review
Mamoru Hosoda’s (Summer Wars, Wolf Children) newest film is hitting US shores soon, and I had an opportunity to review a screening copy of the movie before release thanks to The Fandom Post.
I won’t spoil too much of the review here, but I will say that I wasn’t much impressed with Hosoda’s latest effort. It would be a stretch to say I disliked The Boy and the Beast, but the fact that it generally left me feeling apathetic and mildly disappointed perhaps says even more than a strong feeling of antipathy would have. The Boy and the Beast isn’t an awful film; but it’s not a very good one either.
Mage in a Barrel 