Thanks for asking questions yesterday, all who did! Here are a few highlights for the day-long session.
Gosick Review
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.
Zankyou no Terror, Episode 7
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.
Summer 2014, Week 7: Highlights of the Week
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
New plan, guys: just become friends with the nasty dragons!
Something Cute: Vocaloid Does Alice in Wonderland
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
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.
The Final Four
Zankyou no Terror, Episode 6
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.
Summer 2014, Week 6: Highlights of the Week
Oh, look. We’re at the halfway point of the season. Where does the time go?
I do really appreciate how many P.A. Work parents are good at being parents.
Zankyou no Terror, Episode 5
I wonder if I will be able to make it to the end of the episode notes for this show without running out of words to praise it. This was another great episode from Zankyou no Terror, and the most impressive thing is that it was great in a totally different way than last episode. The visual storytelling here is of a quality unlike anything I’ve ever seen in anime before (really, a good season for that, if you include Argevollen)—and man does it make the entire show better.
What a great first shot for the episode. Everything’s disjointed.
The Devil is a Part-Timer! Limited Edition
I don’t take any money from Funimation blah blah blah I’m just a fan who loves the show and likes what he got blah blah blah and what I got was pretty cool. Re-watch imminent.
Okay, now that I’ve got that out of the way, here’s what’s going on. Today, after some delays caused totally by me and my poor future prediction skills, I finally got my Limited Edition copy of The Devil is a Part-Timer! from Funimation. I also recently (yesterday) moved, so now—for the first time in my life—my anime collection is on an actual shelf and not in a box. Here’s my very first collection shelf picture:
Mage in a Barrel 