Announcement: Top Anime List is Live!

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Hello, dear readers!

To commemorate the first day of this fine new month of September, I have an exciting announcement to make! I have finished my inaugural Top Anime List, numbering exactly 19 TV anime series. The reasons there are 19 on the list are 1) because there were no other shows that made the first cut that I felt I wanted in this list, and 2) because there’s no reason I need to get to 20 right away.

I fully expect the list to expand in the future, and as I continue to watch, review, and write about shows, I will be making note of any show that finds its way into my Top Anime List.

For now, you can read the list right here! I hope you enjoy!

Nisekoi

Free! Eternal Summer, Episode 9

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I never expected Free! Eternal Summer of all shows would make me eat my words, but that’s exactly what happened this week and I’m not too proud to admit it. This episode (at least the back half of it) was the best everything I’ve seen from this show: the best writing, the best drama, the best character work, the best thematic engagement…maybe not the best animation, but the animation is stellar no matter what anyways.

Future Fish, this week I salute you.

Free! Eternal Summer

Early on, shots like this made me think Episode 9 was just going to be more of the same we’ve been getting all season…nope.

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Summer 2014, Week 8: Highlights of the Week

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Three quarters of the season are gone, which means I’ve been thinking about ratings and rankings for the season a bit lately—and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this season. I’m not even sure if anything will score about a 7/10. Don’t get me wrong, I like Zankyou no Terror, but part of me fears what’s ahead for the show. It’s definitely not 9/10 level, which means 8/10 is going to be the high water mark for the season. I suppose that’s reasonable, but it still seems somewhat disappointing. That said, we’ve still got four weeks to go, which is plenty of time for some of the shows I’m watching to distinguish themselves.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

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Gosick Review

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Sometimes when I watch BONES anime, I get the sense that this studio and I were just destined for each other—it’s as if they’re making anime specifically for me. I love the way BONES does anime, and Gosick [BONES, 2011] is just another in a long line of shows from this studio that I have watched and genuinely enjoyed. Gosick isn’t a spectacular show, but it’s a warm, kind show with a particular awareness for a small selection of themes and an easy charm. I’m glad to give Gosick a 7/10, and place it near very good company in the Rankings.

Gosick

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Zankyou no Terror, Episode 7

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I was worried coming into this episode, as the popular opinion on the streets (read: Anitwitter) seemed to be that this episode wasn’t very good.

I disagree. This wasn’t my favorite episode of Zankyou no Terror, but it was more that serviceable. (EDIT: Apparently the ruckus has to do with believability problems with FBI allowing a bombing to take place under their command. Y’all are too grounded in the real world.)

This episode we saw the return of (better) visual storytelling to Zankyou no Terror, as well as giving us a number of parallels and contrasts on which to ponder. There were also a TON of facial expressions this episode, most of them revealing small details in tiny moments that are easy to miss.

Zankyou no Terror

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Summer 2014, Week 7: Highlights of the Week

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We’ve tripped over the halfway point now with all currently airing shows (except RWBY and Sailor Moon Crystal), so here is the basic rundown of how I’m feeling on everything.

Excited to Watch Each Week: Zankyou no Terror, Argevollen, Haikyuu!!, Hunter x Hunter, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

Entertained: Aldnoah.Zero, Glasslip, Free! Eternal Summer

Just Watching: RWBY, Fairy Tail, Sailor Moon Crystal

Fairy Tail

New plan, guys: just become friends with the nasty dragons!

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Something Cute: Vocaloid Does Alice in Wonderland

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So, I know this video is over three years old, but I haven’t shared any music around here lately and I really like this video. Featuring vocals by a cast dubbed the Vocaloid All Stars, the video chronicles Alice’s (Miku) 11-minute adventure through an alternate version of Alice in Wonderland in musical form—the musical is titled “Alice in Musicland.”

There’s actually a pretty impressive range of music styles contained within this video, and for someone who loves musicals (like I do), it’s a pleasant blend of two different artistic mediums I enjoy. The video, too, done in a sort of paper puppet animation style, is pretty adorable.

I’m not claiming this is a brilliantly insightful artistic endeavor, but it’s light, cute, and fun to watch. If you like musicals or Vocaloid, give it a shot. It just might brighten your day!

Forging a Community: 4 Lessons from the Crunchyroll 2014 Midyear Best Girl Contest Thread

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As some of you may or may not know, I have been running an ongoing Best Girl tournament for the first half of 2014 over on the Crunchyroll forums. The contest ended about two weeks ago, with Stephanie “Steph” Dola from No Game No Life defeating Noragami‘s Hiyori Iki (I voted for Hiyori) by a single vote.

Now, while the final winner of the contest was a bit of a disappointment for me (can you hear the hype train coming ’round the mountain?), there were a lot of cool things I saw and learned during my time acting as the admin of the contest. I was fortunate to have two other Crunchyroll users, sonic720 and LoomyTheBrew (who made most of the graphics for the tournament), assist me with the massive task of running a tournament that recorded almost 1400 votes through all rounds across over 2500 pages, nearly 40,000 thread replies and never left the front page of the forums until just yesterday. I have no stats to back up this theory, but I’m fairy sure the thread was also the fastest growing thread in Crunchyroll forum history, at least in the time that I have been active on the forums there. And it’s ongoing.

Crunchyroll Best Girl Tournament 2014

The Final Four

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Zankyou no Terror, Episode 6

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In this episode, Lisa uses her moe powers to convince a couple of terrorists to let her in on their super secret plan to defuse a bomb somebody else set up.

Well, not exactly, but Lisa’s first real inclusion to Nine and Twelve’s purposes is a landmark moment for both Lisa and the boys—one that places her in very real danger. I do wonder if she truly understands what she has gotten herself into, but at this point its not about the danger and its not about whether or not she can harm others. It’s about whether or not she belongs.

Zankyou no Terror

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