Spring 2016 – Week 4 Spotlight – Understanding Pain in Kiznaiver

After three episodes, we understand that the Kizuna system is able to sense, quantify, transmit, and inflict pain in Kiznaiver.  Pain is the instrument used to connect and unite these seven unfamiliar classmates; it is the foundation for which to improve awareness, understanding, and sympathy within this fragmented society.  But what exactly is pain in Kiznaiver?  Or rather, given the broad and general meaning of pain, what type of pain are the characters dealing with?  Do the members involved in this experiment experience the same perception and reaction to pain?  And just how does this definition and understanding of pain influence the characters and story of this anime?  This post on the third episode of Kiznaiver attempts to better under the characterization and role of pain used in Kiznaiver.

Winter 2016 – Week 8 Anime Review

This week: why I detest the style of narration and extended “flashback” in Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, captivation with the advancement in fighting in Hai to Gensou no Grimgar, powerful, simple, and weird shots in Dimension W, and why I consider Koukaku no Pandora to be a slice-of-life anime.

Winter 2016 – Week 3 Anime Review

For Week 3: gushing about the setting of Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, questioning Satoru’s treatment of Hiromi in Boku Dake ga Inai Machi, a personality shift with a positive cause in Dimension W, and highlighting the brilliant animation in Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!

12 Days of Anime (2015) – Day 3 – Favorite Openings and Endings of 2015

Every year, I recall my favorite anime openings and endings in my Final Review, selecting my very favorites from each of the four Season Reviews that settle at the end of each season. But, seeing as I haven’t published a Season Review since 2013 and given that there is no other time to document my favorite OPs/EDs of the year, I have reserved Day 3 of my 12 Days of Anime for 2015 for this lacking quality of mine. Of course, I won’t reveal my favorite OP and ED of the year just yet (that will be reserved for the Final Review of 2015), but here are some of my favorites that I would love to share with you. Now, please enjoy 8 of my Top 10 Openings and Endings for 2015.

12 Days of Anime (2015) – Day 5 – Closure in Plastic Memories

**Warning: spoilers below**

Plastic Memories is nowhere near my favorite anime of 2015, but it deserves recognition and praise for having one of the best anime endings of 2015… or rather, having an ending at all. Though, I never found myself genuinely invested in the characters, the story, or the setting (though I will make fun of the berserk zombie-bots at ultra-specific times whenever I have the chance), I want to highlight Plastic Memories in my 12 Days of Anime series because it had something I wish every anime had: a conclusion. Plastic Memories actually had an end to its story and its series… and not one of those bullshit anime endings where everything resets at the end. No, Plastic Memories had the courage to have a genuine finish, a final episode that left me feeling fulfilled and absolute, and above all, satisfied.

12 Days of Anime (2015) – Day 11 – D’Arby the Gambler

I first stumbled across JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure many, many years ago, in the mid-2000s, when I kept coming across references to Jotaro, Dio, and Stardust Crusaders around the internet. At the time, I did limited research into the series, but quickly discovered the appeal and charm of the franchise. It was at that time that I watched bits and pieces of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA (1993), including what became my favorite moment in the series thus far: the “fight” with D’Arby the Gambler.

12 Days of Anime (2015) – Day 12 – Watching “Uncensored” Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works

**Warning: spoilers below**

Although I wasn’t able to spend much time at this year’s Sakura-Con, I am grateful that I was able to attend the Pacific Northwest’s largest anime convention for my fourth consecutive year. One of my lasting memories from this convention, as well as for 2015 as a whole, was watching the first three episodes of the second half of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (TV) before it even premiered in Japan. How awesome is that, getting to watch three episodes of one of the best anime of the year before anyone else? But… that’s not exactly the point of this post. Instead, one scene in particular from the fifteenth episode of FSN: UBW really stunned me… and it stunned me again when I realized it was omitted from TV broadcasts in Japan three weeks later. In fact, the event that’s reserved for the beginning of my 12 Days of Anime for 2015 is a rather strange tale of censorship, and of how the most emotional scene, to me, in all of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works went unseen to a majority of its anime fans.