Why I Blog For Myself

It's that question again: who do we blog for? Meta note: This was, for the most part, written about this time last year (for readers in the future, "this time last year" means about July 2019). Therefore, some of the things I say in it may be out of date already, especially with people coming...

10 Anime I’m Excited for in 2020

Essentially my take on this list. Meta note: This was written on the 16th of June 2020 as a way to build up content in advance (with some subsequent editing as changes arise), so with the changing situation, some of these season listings may already be out of date. They shouldn't be too much later...

Quarantine Reading Material

I received a call on the 5th of June 2020 (the day I'm writing this opening sentence) and I'm finally going to be able to leave this quarantine lifestyle behind...partially. The call on the 5th said I was going to restart voluneering on the 17th of that month. So just to commemorate being out of...

The Case of the Bland Otome Heroine

Why are otome game heroines such blank slates? Meta note: This post is originally one I wrote in 2018 and set aside for a time where I needed more posts (I have stuff to work on and HypMic ARB to grind all at once). I wasn't particularly happy with it when I finished it, hence...

Why Aren’t There Enough Good Female Lead Characters?

I'm replying to Karandi's post from a while back, so see here for some context. By "good", Karandi asks for a "well-developed" character and by "main", she wants a protagonist. We could go all sorts of places with this question... The main reason why there aren't...this reason I'm thinking here is a bit of a...

Do You Need Great Animation in Your Anime?

A response to Karandi's post from a while ago. I have no idea where Karandi's gone as of the completion of this post (which, I will admit, was the day before it was published), but after digging in my drafts folder for something to use, plus K's conducting on the good content train...it seems she...

Why Do Anime Blogs Insist on Covering Simulcasts?

This topic came up on Jon Spencer’s Discord channel after a convo got massively derailed, so I want to think about why this is the case. A lot of anime blogs have what is basically an obligation to cover simulcasts, to the point where you can roughly define a blog’s reputation by “they cover simulcasts”...

On the Nature of a Great Battle

Katanagatari is a wordy show...but more than that, it sure does show off a great battle. I've been observing some of the posts Chris Voyager has put out on Anime Voyage and they always get me thinking. One of his is What Are My Favourite Kinds of Stories, I Wonder? and the answer was surprising, for an...

The Steep Learning Curve

This Mike Toole article on the crazy history of Detective Conan in North America...it brings back memories of struggling against things I didn't know. It's a fact: some series have notoriously large learning curves and anime itself requires a learning curve if you're not already familiar with the tropes and storylines of the medium. However,...