Must-read Monthly Monday (Apr. ’20 ed.)

 

If it’s not specified, the time period covered in this post is from the 23rd of March 2020 to the 20th of April 2020.

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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…

• Episodes 1 and 2 – The World is Still Beautiful by Mallow (Secluded Observations) – Yikes, did I really finish Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii about a year ago…? Seems so, but it’s always nice to relive these things again. (Also, Mallow is taking questions for their 11th year blogiversary.)
• The Charming Appeal of Mizusaki’s Parents in Eizouken by Inskidee (Inskime) – Anime parents get a bad rap. No doubt about that.
• The Power of Volatility in I Want to Eat Your Pancreas by Moya – This movie does indeed not get much talk. (Do I write essays here? Not really, I think – sure, I have the structure, but I meander far too much.)
• Can a Foreign Fan Ever Enjoy Anime to the Fullest? by Irina – Irina’s comments section is always more active than most, but I think for this topic everyone has their own 2 cents to add, so read and learn.

• Bungō and Alchemist: Gears of Judgement: First Impressions – A Messy Pilot About Japanese Authors Having a Romp Through Literature (Spring 2020) by BiblioNyan – While you’re all still pondering what to watch for the spring 2020 season (as I know I am), I shall steadfastly stand by my boys. (Although sadly, they did get hit by a COVID-19 delay.)

• Anime Hajime Review: Mairimashita! Iruma-kun by LofZOdyssey – Despite it airing in the fall 2019 season, Iruma-kun only seems to be getting buzz in my neck of the woods now. Gotta fix that, stat!
• Building a Healthy Romance in Anime by Megan (A Geeky Gal) – Did I ever mention Ore Monogatari on here? No? When it comes to favourites in genres I don’t really favour, it’s one of my go-tos.
• 12 Days of Anime: Anime’s Impact in a Decade by Sirius – A find from an archive dig (which, come to think of it, I still need to finish looking through all the 2019 12 Days posts I can read…).
• Given Anime Series Review by Karandi (100 Word Anime) – Irina’s still around on this blog, but the fact that the owner of the blog isn’t around – at the start of the season, where most anime bloggers are active, no less – makes me concerned. As for the post’s matter, even this movie got delayed by the current circumstances, but the series is still around for people to catch up on.
• Friday Funsies: Platonic Friendships, Anyone? by Lumi – Another blogger who I’ll plug yet wait for in case circumstances have done them in. (Also, I guess you could call this a pick to contrast the Ore Monogatari pick above and Wandering Son.)

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Spellbook Offerings

#AniTwitWatches (Wandering Son)

• #AniTwitWatches Round 5: Wandering Son 1 – 2
• #AniTwitWatches Round 5: Wandering Son 3
• #AniTwitWatches Round 5: Wandering Son 4 – 5

Spring 2020 First Impressions

• Surprises All Around (Listeners, Bakarina, 8th Son, Kakushigoto)
• Turning the Tide (Bungo to Alchemist, Wave, Arte, Sing Yesterday for Me)
• Delays, Delays, Delays… (Fruits Basket, Appare Ranman, Princess Connect, Woodpecker Detective’s Office, Millionaire Detective) (coming soon!)

Other Stuff 

• Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, But Keep Your Gaze Locked on It!
• Ode to Anime Studios – 8-bit
• Seasonal Anime Watchers With David Attenborough 
• Dragon Dentist: A Human Focus for a Set of Supernatural TV Specials
• Winter 2020 Wrap-Up (ft. Boku no Hero Academia’s Movie, Futari no Hero) 
• On a Particular Pun in Kakushigoto

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Current Obsessions

• Watching parties on Discord: The lockdown is starting to have an effect on this section – heck, there would be a lot more variety here if it weren’t for that virus! However, I did mention my anime club has basically moved to Discord (in my 1st episode impressions) to do some remote anime sharing and it means it’s much easier to take episodic notes on anime that are elusive for me. The notes for Stars Align, for instance, were barebones because I was trying to take them in the theatre and it’s hard to watch a large screen and type notes on your phone at the same time, but having a Word doc and a popped-out Discord stream works wonders on that front.
• Jon Spencer’s AMQ: AMQ happens before the club gets together and a very tricky event in the HypMic game meant I skipped out on it one week (apparently, even the Japanese players were complaining about that event and I’d assume more of them play the game on their phones…unlike me, who has to go through an emulator because of compatibility issues). While AMQ’s absence didn’t leave a noticeable emotional “hole” like some of my other obsessions do, the weird April breaks combined with the lockdown meant my sense of time had corroded even further without it to look forward to. 

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Coming up next…

• …not much if this lockdown continues. I’m now a few weeks ahead on weekly posts, so the only big stumbling block is regularly-scheduled posts. Aside from grinding for stuff on gacha games, the reasons the “other links” section is so barebones and unvetted are 1) my usual computer – the one that has had a few keys die recently – is acting up in other ways and the new computer is much smaller, so I’ve had to stretch myself over two computers at the last second and experiment with how everything works there and 2) trying to get my head around sudden simulcast delays and what to do for them means more anime than ever. (You can find out what I decided below.)
• Due to the situation this season, I made a decision before the delay for Appare Ranman showed up. This means anything listed as “paused” this season is not set in stone:
  • Keep a 7th show in place in case the others get delayed. If the conditions below are met, add more accordingly, but use backlog for any other positions.
  • If half the shows that make it (i.e. 3 shows) are affected by delays, introduce an 8th show, which has never happened in the 5 years I’ve had this system. 
  • If all shows bar Bakarina (already known to have wrapped up production safely) have delays, introduce a 9th show.
  • If any shows come back from postponement, pause the backup that gives the least satisfaction – generally this will be an anime that hasn’t ever made the top 6 in consistent weekly rankings.

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