12 Days of Anime (2014) – Day 9 – Nagi no Asukara’s Timeskip

Timeskips are among my favorite narrative devices in anime. In fact, if I were ever to write an anime myself, I’d definitely have a timeskip in there somewhere. Hell, maybe even two. Timeskips are a brilliant means to advance a continuous story between two periods of time, allowing the plot or characters or setting to transform radically without showing the unrelated events in-between. And that’s exactly what happened in Nagi no Asukara. At the midpoint in the anime, following a climax at the end of the Autumn 2013 season, Nagi no Asukara experienced a timeskip where everything changed. The characters, setting, and plot were all different between the first-half and second-half of Nagi no Asukara. However, there is one significant detail about this unique timeskip that makes it one of my most favorite timeskips ever.

Summer 2014 – Week 11 Anime Review

Back, during the Summer anime season, for week 11: defining acute mountain sickness and understanding its role in Yama no Susume Second Season, why I absolutely love the development of Asseylum in Aldnoah.Zero, questioning the balance of character development and death in Akame ga Kill!, and thoughts on changing the name of Hanayamata to Hanayamatasa.

Summer 2014 – Week 10 Anime Review

Back during Week 10: expanding my theory about the primary and secondary focuses of Hanayamata, an example of the magnificent cinematography in Zankyou no Terror, what made episode 23 of Captain Earth the best in that anime, and the return of the subtle yet sensational running gag in Space Dandy Season 2.

Summer 2014 – Week 7 Anime Review

Wow, I haven’t written for a while. So yeah, this post covers anime that aired about a thousand weeks ago. Still the articles are worth reading, trust me. In fact, some of the topics in this weekly review include: thoughts on blending the real robot and super robot genres in Aldnoah.Zero, appreciating the use of futuristic and alien technologies in Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?, questioning Lisa’s role since the first episode in Zankyou no Terror, and trying to find the best episode to define Space Dandy.

Summer 2014 – Week 6 Anime Review

This week: an analysis on the subtitle of Aldnoah.Zero and the meaning of fiat justitia ruat caelum, thoughts on the rigid, formulaic pattern of storytelling in Barakamon, the lack of character independence and the emphasis of friendship in Glasslip, and looking at the difference (if there is a difference) between Lisa and moe anime girls in Zankyou no Terror.

Summer 2014 – Week 5 Anime Review

I am terrible at staying up to date with these posts, but whatever. Back during Week 5: concerns with the directing and storytelling in Tokyo Ghoul, considering the depth and complexity of Hanayamata despite its appearance, curiosity about the different perspectives in Yama no Susume Second Season, and wondering all the other things you could do with a Stand in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders.

Summer 2014 – Week 4 Anime Review

Whenever Week 4 was, probably a long, long time ago: thoughts and observations on the symbolism of darkness and light in Zankyou no Terror, questioning the accuracy and reliability of Touko’s special ability in Glasslip, becoming unhappy with the direction Tokyo Ghoul is taking in relation to its story and its content, and a short rant on student governments and school clubs inspired by Hanayamata.