Welcome to Week 8!
When God speaks, the people listen.
One Week Friends, Episode 8
Ah, man. I cried a lot watching this episode. It started with Shogo throwing the towel in Hase’s face in one of the best reactions to a PDA I’ve ever seen, and then came the walk…but we’ll get there. Brains Base is doing fantastic work on One Week Friends, but this episode took things a step farther. The writing and direction continue to be excellent, and really the whole package of this show amounts to what Kotoura-san could have been. Parts of this episode started to remind me of Toradora! and comparing anything to my third favorite anime of all time is a huge compliment. So, about this episode….
“Oh, a beach episode? Seen one, seen them all.”
How wrong I was…
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Spring 2014, Week 7: Highlights of the Week
Welcome to Week 7!
It was the least bad episode yet, but they insist on including painfully awful lines like this. In other news, magic battles (FINALLY) next week!
selector infected WIXOSS: Episode 7
Sure, there are some problems with this show, starting with the characters. But, it’s time to stop pretending that the sense of foreboding each episode creates isn’t a noteworthy feat in itself. Some shows do things better than other shows, and selector infected WIXOSS does a great job of controlling atmosphere each week, and has been doing it since the very first episode. Creating an appropriate atmosphere for your show isn’t enough to make a show great on its own, but it’s foolish to disregard a show’s good traits because not all of its parts are of equal quality.
With toys like that, no wonder Tama likes to battle.
Nyarko-san (Season 1) Review
The fun thing about re-watching shows is that it gives you an opportunity to really crystallize your reasons for why you did or did not like a show. I’ll admit; I don’t re-watch shows often, because as a relative newcomer to anime, I’m constantly feeling like I haven’t seen enough of the classics, haven’t seen enough “good” shows, haven’t seen enough of anything. And then, sometimes, I just kick all that to the curb and watch something I know will make me happy. For the last few weeks, this has been Haiyore! Nyarko-san (Xebec, 2012).
Spring 2014, Week 6: Highlights of the Week
Welcome to Week 6!
Another week of the worst advertisement for a product ever: “Play WIXOSS! There’s no way to win and if you lose, your life is ruined forever!”
Critical Thinking, Anime, and You
We all watch anime for different reasons. Some of us want a time sink, some of us want entertainment, some of us want an artistic experience, some of us want a combination of things from our anime, even differing our expectations by show. And when we’ve seen a show we love, for whatever reason, we usually want to tell people about that show. It is one of the great pleasures of encountering any form of media: finding something you like and sharing it with others.
Yet, many of us (myself included) struggle to articulate what it is about a show that drew us in, and struggle to defend our favorite shows from the negative criticism of others. And on the other side, many of us fail to effectively communicate our problems with a particular show.
Spring 2014, Week 5: Highlights of the Week
Note: I recently stated an ask.fm profile, so come ask me a question at ask.fm/iblessall and follow me on Twitter at @iblessall to see my answers!
So, I’m trying out a new weekly feature here. Each week, I usually end up wanting to talk more about some shows than I do others, but wanting to talk about at least some shows nonetheless. So, when my anime week ends on Thursday with Ping Pong, I’ll be publishing some of my highlights from the week. These won’t necessarily the best moments of the week; in fact, I fully expect to find some huge frustrations and annoyances creeping into these posts. However, I’m hoping these posts will at least allow me an outlet to rant and rave as I need each week.
Welcome to Week 5!
Things got serious this week on Love Live! 2
Spice & Wolf (Season 1) Review
There are some anime that convey deep meanings; there are others that are crazy masses of gags, jokes and fun. And then there is the perhaps neglected category of shows that simply tell stories for their own sake. Spice & Wolf (2008; Imagin) is one such show. It’s nothing deep, it’s not raucous and loud; it simply tells the story of two people as they live their lives and learn to understand each other.
Spice & Wolf was an infinitely pleasant watch for me. It’s a well-executed show that made its proficiency and likability evident early on. As such, I was able to simply relax while watching, confident that the story would carry me through on its own terms. For all this, I give Spice & Wolf a 7/10, with its comparative ranking in the Ongoing Anime Rankings.
A Couple Songs from fhána
I don’t think I’ve hidden the fact that fhána is my favorite anisong band I’ve encountered in my time watching anime. Their sound is just one that really appeals to me. I’ll probably write a post on my favorite anisong bands/singers sometime, but for now I just wanted to share a couple songs they’ve recently released.
1. “Kotonoha Breakdown”
Mage in a Barrel 
