Must-read Monthly Monday (March 2018 ed.)

Another great month in the aniblogging community just happened. Let’s see what we’ve got…

If it’s not specified, the time period covered in this post is from the 19th of February 2018 to today (26th March 2018).

Navigation: Other People’s Reads | Spellbook Offerings | Coming up next…

Other People’s Reads

It wouldn’t be a round-up post without them. However, since I scour people’s archives on a regular basis, these may not even be from the right time period…

• Does Downloading Anime Make You Less of an Anime Fan? by Chikorita157 – A well-thought out discussion that doesn’t really force one side or the other on to the reader, and a timely one in the days where Netflix and Amazon endanger the ways of the free anime watcher. The post also goes with an issue I brought up briefly in this post.
• DanMachi Has Unusually Complex Characters for a Harem by Cat from Another Gaming Day – Now that the temporary ban on the fact I watched DanMachi is over, I can showcase this evaluation of the show. Also, even though he isn’t my favourite, Bell is quite the cutie, I do admit…
• Reading, Writing and Awards – Trying to Keep Up (But Failing) by Jon Spencer – Aside from the fact the issue is very relatable to any WordPress user, this post and its replies are full of great advice to make sure you keep up with everyone…or select your way through…to ensure you achieve maximum happiness out of blogging.
• Love and Teasing in Anime: Why Takagi-san is a Master of Romance by Kara Dennison for Crunchyroll – Not that many people paid attention to Karakai Jouzu Takagi-san, and I put it on hold myself. That said, some people have expressed issues with how Nishikata and Takagi’s teasing could end up being something nasty, and this is (possibly) the only piece that expresses how the show and the characters don’t cross into “nasty” territory.
• Beatless: Creating a Realistic Future by Scott at Mechanical Anime Reviews – I may not be watching Beatless this season due to a service that starts with A and requires a subscription, but this post was intriguing nonetheless, considering it’s in the mire of anime like Takagi-san that doesn’t seem to be getting too much press this season. Apparently Arnold Schwarzenegger was championing the way of the ebook back in 2009 (and I laugh, because I read about that in a book!), so a future with hIE really isn’t that far off…
• Soul Eater and the Three Episode Test by…some person I don’t know the name of…at The Celestial Sanctum – Basically, why you should watch Soul Eater and why you shouldn’t have to use the 3 episode test (but you should also give Samurai Flamenco a chance – it’s a roller coaster ride, that one…). Some mild profanity involved, but rare.
• The Story of Anime’s Crepe Craze by Elisabeth O’Neill at the Little Anime Blog – It was either this or the one about curry, but because the crepe one has a link to the curry one…the crepe one it is. Both discuss the history behind how these foods came to Japan, some appearances of the food in anime and how the foods are served in Japan. Very interesting and enlightening stuff.
• Humour with a Surprising Amount of Heart – A Short Review of Kenka Bancho Otome by Shoujo of ShoujoThoughts – Kenka Bancho Otome is one of those titles that doesn’t get much spotlight as a short title, so I gotta give posts about it a signal boost! Go go go! That way we’ll get a second season, or better yet, a full-length anime!
• New Anime Season is Killing It With Shows About Ordinary Girls by Cecilia D’Anastasio for Kotaku – As much as you might gripe about how this season is “unbalanced” or “not for you” (and regardless of the amount of beef you have with Kotaku as a place for anime content), you have to admit people are pretty smitten with YuruCamp and A Place Farther Than the Universe this winter season and this article will convince you that it’s not just good for the CGDCT subgenre, but for representation of female friendship that isn’t “girly”, “catty” and/or “sexy”.
• King of Thorn Review by psgels for Star Crossed Anime Blog – This month, I took on King of Thorn and even though I wanted to write something about it…when it comes to writing about movies I don’t own, I watch once and have the memory of a goldfish later…I think this review puts forward most of the things I like and dislike about the movie, though, aside from “this movie’s CGI people makes it look a lot like an ad I’ve seen for Knights of Sidonia“.
• Kado: The Right Answer’s Ending – So Close, Yet… by Terrance Crow (tcrow) on Crow’s World of Anime – If you’ve explored the archive, you’ll realise I vented a lot about Kado in the initial days of writing in this WordPress kind of way. Even if I’m mostly just impressed at the number of questions I went, “Yeah. I want to know the answer to that as well,” tcrow raised, it’s still a good read for those who’ve finished the show.
• Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Review by mrconair at The Anime Hub – There’s a reason Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu has topped my yearly list for two consecutive years. While I tried to capture this magic in Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu and Gender, I think it’s best to let someone like mrconair do the talking about shows like this – they have a way with words that really does the show justice.
• Bakugou Katsuki: An Analysis by zboudrie at Let’s Talk Anime – It’s almost time for season 3, so let’s have some Boku no Hero Academia here. The fact zboudrie has rewritten this post does create a strange sort of respect for it. To be honest with you guys though…for some reason, I didn’t laugh at Bakugo when he accepted the medal (although from the exaggeration of Bakugo’s eyes and mouth, I did kind of get the idea it was meant to be humorous). There was a slightly bittersweet feeling to the end of that arc since only Todoroki seemed to have gotten what he wanted out of the arc’s events (out of Bakugo, Deku and him). I’m glad to see I wasn’t dreaming about how I felt.
• Spring 2018 Anime Survival Guide by Seasonal Prattle – To get in prime position for the influx of new anime, you have to be prepared. Prattle shares his tips on how to make time and keep up with discussion. If you don’t like this post though, there’s always lots of other resources you can access with a simple search…
• Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru by Lindsey at Fantastical Anime – I was craving some Touken Ranbu talk and stumbled across this blog. This post covers season 1 more thoroughly than 2 for reasons that are obvious if you look at the date, but otherwise it’s some pretty solid writing…gah, who am I kidding? I just want more people to watch sword boys do slice of life things…

Navigation: Other People’s Reads | Spellbook Offerings| Coming up next…

Spellbook Offerings

My intention for the theme of the month was to get some of my backlogged posts out, so anything that doesn’t fit it was (most likely) unscheduled.

• Reflecting on The Reflection – One of my originally-slated 12 Days of Anime posts finally sees the light (and hopefully not the smoke)! I try to figure out my conflicting feelings over Stan Lee’s latest anime flop.
• Should One Have to Quantify Whether They Are An Anime Fan? – While replying to Lina of Tiny Ugly Animal, I argue why being able to list off 20 anime isn’t enough to justify one’s love of the medium. This post seems to be one of the more controversial ones, so it’ll be interesting to see what will happen once I share it here.
• Arata Kangatari and the Revival of the Old with Yuu Watase – I kick off March with some milestones and some uncommonly-seen things on the Spellbook – a (predominantly) shoujo writer, an OWLS prompt and an actual post about manga – combine to provide this post.
• Knowledge is Too Much Power – Juuni Taisen and Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash are probably not two anime/manga/light novels you’d often see being discussed together, but I did just that. I discuss both spoilers’ effect on viewers and the shows’ takes on death.
• Seasonal Reputation – Considering winter 2018’s been getting a few complaints, I think about the pros and cons of thinking about shows by season and the reputation of the season that results from this kind of thinking.
• “If I Could Turn Back Time, To The Good Old Days…” – In what is possibly the most misleading title in the Spellbook’s history so far, I discuss a pivotal scene in Grimgar episode 8 while quoting Twenty-One Pilots for the title…and I don’t even like Twenty-One Pilots…
• Out of Print – I think about the death of the anime/manga magazine in the Western world (with some comparison to the Japanese magazines) and what that means for the future.
• Reinforcing and Breaking Gender Roles in Gakuen Babysitters – The hypocrisy of a character in Gakuen Babysitters spurs discussion about its gender roles and gendered tasks.
• What If The Moon Fell Into the Sea? – To test how YouTube embeds work, here’s a post from the backburner about a 19-minute award-winning video.

Navigation: Other People’s Reads | Spellbook Offerings | Coming up next…

Coming up next…

• Now that the Mahou Shoujo Ore premiere got bumped up, things are most likely going to go pear-shaped…I’ve already had to release my winter 2018 finishing post and spring 2018 predictions earlier than intended, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be straggling shows that’ll hold me back from putting out the first impressions post.
• I was planning to do an Anime April to go along with Manga March, but considering how bad my track record was regarding staying with the theme this past month, I’ll pass on it.

Navigation: Other People’s Reads | Spellbook Offerings | Coming up next…

Top of page