Must-read Monthly Monday (Apr. 2019 ed.)

My spring lineup’s not finalised yet, but…man, the situation’s pretty hectic away from the keyboard!

If it’s not specified, the time period covered in this post is from the 25th of March 2019 to the 22nd of April 2019.

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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…

(Sidenote: After realising I was relying too much on my usual sources, I’m consciously trying to include different bloggers now.)

• Let’s Cook a Series: Cells at Work! by David Alessio – I find it interesting that someone bothered to analyse Cells at Work! through its fictional appeals rather than its scientific ones (which seems like the more common interpretation and hence why I never wrote about the series outside impression posts).
• Summer 2016 Preview: This Art Club Has a Problem! by the Sketch Dynamic – This seems to have been a blogger most people have passed on..They write particularly competently even though I found a post that says they despise the stuffing out of writing critically about the things they love, so I’d like to honour the dead husk of their blog by picking the least spoilery Konobi post of theirs. (They also remind me of Yomu in regards to their taste in anime, which…might explain why I was so partial to it this month.)
• Mob Psycho 100 II: Sparing The Enemy from the Guillotine by Yuki the Snowman – (Aka “Irina’s roundups broaden people’s horizons again.”) I have found a like-minded soul (in that they subsist on editorial-style posts) and while the punchline ending feels like it betrays the message of the post and the series as a whole, the rest of it is an intimately sociological take on the episode (with a bit of profanity near the end).
• SSSS.Gridman Scratches a Nostalgic Itch I Never Knew I Had by Richard Wood (Wooderon) – I feel like this is the reaction I should’ve had while watching the series and not the one I’m getting from rewatching it…maybe my expectations were coming from what I was trying to get out of it back when it debuted…hmm. I’d recommend the bottom third or so of this post in particular (because 3 middle paragraphs are for filling in the unfamiliar reader).
• Mob Psycho 100 II: It’s the Small Things that Matter the Most by thehagita (Polar Halves) – “Emotional resonance” seems to become more and more prominent as I continue to watch simulcasts despite the odds. It’s important to resonate with a show or else you can’t call it a favourite, after all. So much like the post 2 links up from this one, let’s take a look at this issue through the lens of Mob Psycho 100 II.
• Fruits Basket 2019 Reboot: Dreams Do Come True by JojoRandomGeekGirl – It’s finally here! I went and sifted through a bunch of first impressions on it, lost some of those posts to a browser crash and had to go find them again, but…then I found this unpopular blog with a few posts through Google search and knew I had to share it. It not only goes over the themes of Fruits Basket for the uninitiated, but…to tell you the truth, I’m a sucker for personal stories in connection to the 90s and Borders era and this post delivered in spades! 
• Updated thoughts on anime piracy by Reasons to anime – Let’s face it – piracy, or at least less than legal streaming, is something almost every anime fan has come across if they were a fan in the past. In 2019, it’s a lot easier to get everything online, but at what cost? (Notably, you don’t need to have read the original post to read this one because they have slightly different trains of thought on the same topic.) 
• Sarazanmai Production Notes 01 by kViN (Yuyucow) on Sakuga Blog – I don’t remember if I’ve featured the premier sakuga blog on here, but these notes on Sarazanmai are particularly insightful…plus, the spoilers on this are actually fairly forgiving if you don’t intend to watch the show for yourself.
• Fairy Gone – Episode 1 by Starseeker (Dimension Gate) – With a blog name that sounds like an anime itself, this blogger approaches the show in a way that is brief, but not lacking (aside from the fact they refer to Marlya as “Marie” – I’ve seen various Fairy Gone first impressions refer to her as “Mariya” and “Maria” as well, but the Funimation video says “Marlya”). 
• How Do You Connect with The Blogging Community? by Lashaan (Bookidote) – One for the fellow bloggers out there. You know you have to connect with other bloggers, but how do you use your browsers or devices to do so? Lashaan thinks about this, but notably doesn’t mention the method to save posts (I’ve been using it on my phone, but I don’t think it’s available for browsers) that was introduced fairly recently.
• When Can We Start Saying No to Sequels? by Blackatron at Black and Yellow Otaku Gamers – Ever feel like there’s an anime out there that got a sequel even though the first season was perfect as it was? This post is a bit ranty, but definitely shares a reasonable sentiment.
• Anime Recommendation: Zombie Land Saga by the Anointed Geek – I don’t mind Zombieland Saga. I think my OWLS post proved exactly how much it was saying within its 12 episodes…so whether you think like me (and have seen the show already) or you think the talk around this series makes it seem daunting, give this post a shot.
• Breaking the mold? Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Review by Amelia (A Girl and her Anime) – I’m sure you’re groaning. “It’s Madoka Magica. What’s new about this review?” 1) This particular blogger hadn’t been exposed to it before 2019. 2) It brings up a particular connection to Buddhist concepts I don’t think many other people would’ve thought about.
• The Shortcomings and “Blind Spots” of Anime and Manga Studies – a Survey of the Critical Commentary by Mikhail Koulikov (Anime and Manga Studies) – This is (possibly?) the only academically-oriented blog I’ve found in regards to the topics I blog about here. Different perspectives on anime and manga are important, I think, both in regard to this post and in regard to anime and manga, so sharing this is my attempt to say it’s not too late to think outside the box about how you can approach them.
• More Thoughts on Manga: Physical vs. Digital and the Problem of Manga Piracy by chikorita157 – I think, with recent moves in the Japanese government’s attempts to crack down on piracy (and the post higher up in this list), this post has become more relevant than ever. Sure, it can be a prickly topic for some, but it’s something that always needs a good talking-about.

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Spellbook Offerings

Yomu’s Konobi collab

• Ep. 12: Is This a Pigeo-I Mean, Classic? – Many bird jokes were made and a series was sent off that day.

Spring 2019 First Impressions

The TV anime (as opposed to the movie) King of Prism was announced for Crunchyroll as I was rolling out the first impressions, so I’ll get to it once I can. I’m also re-evaluating Shield Hero‘s place in the rankings because there’s so much good stuff this season.

• Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu
• Yu-No (and winter 2019 wrap-up)
• Fruits Basket, Kimetsu no Yaiba, We Never Learn, Kono Oto Tomare! (and the place to ask your questions for the 200 follower Q and A)
• Fairy Gone, Midnight Occult Civil Servants, Sarazanmai, Carole and Tuesday
• Rendai Utena, RobiHachi, One Punch Man, Bungou Stray Dogs, Shoumetsu Toshi, King of Prism, Shield Hero ep 14 (coming soon) 

Other Stuff

• Looking Forward to Spring 2019 – I forgot to put this post into last month’s round-up! Oh no!!!
• Mecha and I Have a Complicated Relationship… – The title explains itself.
• Ne0;lation: What Does it Mean to be a “Jump Hero”? – Death Note opened up an avenue for interpreting the slogan “friendship, hard work and victory” loosely and/or in roundabout ways, so I take a look at some of the recent Shonen Jump series in this particular way.
• The Pain of Your Lie in April – Aka “Why I probably won’t be touching the Your Lie in April anime any time soon.”
• Gridman is Better the Second Time Around – Gridman isn’t perfect, but…well, I think the title of this post says the rest.
• Colour Theory, Round 2: DanMachi – Exactly what it says on the tin. This doesn’t engage with any spoilery plot points, but it’s best read after you’re acquainted with Liliruca.

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Coming up next…

• Almost at 200 total WordPress followers. I’ve designated one of the spring first impression posts as the place to ask your questions, so take a look above for the link and get them in while you still can!

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