Hello everyone, this is just a post to announce the ending of AnimeQandA. Apologies if this at all seems like a sudden decision but for me it’s been a long time coming, since March 2019 I’ve been steadily reducing the content on my site with the intention of inevitably ending this site. The site itself will remain online for anyone still interested in the previously released content but no new posts will be made after this one. As for the reasons why, well it should be obvious to anyone who’s kept up with this site that the original ‘QandA’ style format that started this whole thing has been long since abandoned so from a strictly relevance perspective the idea of still calling it ‘Anime QandA’ was grating at me. Another reason is a lot more personal and it’s the idea that fellow bloggers have stopped reading or liking my posts because I’ve stopped reading their posts–which is completely fair because I have stopped reading other people’s posts–but I still have this guilt which had made the act of posting on my site less enjoyable. So AnimeQandA is dead but my passion for anime is still as high as it’s ever been so what does that mean going forward?
The Future:
A new blog site with a new theme is on the horizon, with a few new distinct caveats for anyone wanting to follow me from here to there. First of all, while it will be a WordPress blog I won’t be following anyone back who follows me and I’ll be leaving the comments off. With the new blog will be a new twitter account, my existing @Cactus_Matt twitter account will still function as a personal account while the new one will function solely to update new followers of new posts however engagement will be limited. Most importantly, the new blog is very strictly a “blog” as opposed to a “website”, no effort will made to monetize it, it’ll be more akin to a tumblr account where I can just throw out extended thoughts and related screenshots in a loose style at random intervals related to both current and previous season anime. I’ll post links to the new blog and twitter account once they are live (expected ETA in early January 2020).
My Thanks:
Lastly, I’d just like to offer my thanks to everyone who’s followed me here, whether your a newbie or a long-time follower I appreciate whatever support you’ve managed to give me over the years. But an extra special thanks is deserving of Irina–who I’ve collaborated with through multiple seasonal reviews and continued to be the sole contributor to my (now shut down) Patreon page for the duration of its lifespan. Thanks again everyone, it’s been an experience!
5 Worst Complaints People Have About New Seasonal Anime Before The Shows Even Aired
Wow, that’s some heck of a long post title, huh? This post is something of a longstanding reaction to some of the most egregious continual and consistent complaints that come around at the start of every new anime season and with a new anime season on the horizon what better time than now to bring up these “terrible” complaints people have and offer my strong-worded rebuttals!
5. “It’s A Short Anime So It Won’t Be As Good As A Full Length One”
You know what, this is sadly a view I used to share, I used to flat-out refuse to watch short anime because I assumed it being short meant less money and time and care was put into the show’s production and would reflect in the finished product. That’s simply false though, while certainly some shows might have suffered as an adaption by being made into a short anime, the vast majority of short anime have just as much care put into them as their longer brothers and sisters. From 12 minute anime all the way down to the bite sized 2 minute anime, every length of anime has merit!
4. “Based On The Art/Trailer This Looks Nothing Like The Source Material So I’m Not Watching It!”
Absolute adherence to source material is not only short-changing the complex and multi-faceted elements that go into an animation project but also suggests that there’s only one way to tell a story and I’m sorry but that’s a pretty dim and narrow mind-set to have. So your favourite manga/game/whatever is getting an anime adaptation and the art is different or they seem to have cut some things out, that’s no reason to decry something’s existence–and on so little information too. You can be disappointed after you’ve watched it that they missed something or it’s not up to the same standards of the source material, but refusing to watch something off mere teases and trailers is almost the same as judging a book by its cover.
3. “It’s Got 3D CGI In It So It’s Going To Suck!”
Aside from the fact that every new anime uses some element of 3D CGI (usually in subtle ways that most people don’t notice) the idea that using a different animation medium for part or even all of an anime is somehow going to be a detriment to an anime’s overall quality is ridiculous. If there’s a CGI component it’s there for a reason, either because it involves complex movements that would have cost too much/taken too much animation time to have been done traditionally or it was simply the intent of the artists and/or director. Either way stop being so childish and judging CGI like it’s a plague when it’s actually incredibly necessary in the high turnover world in which seasonal anime is made.
2. “It’s Based On A Visual Novel/Smartphone Game/Whatever So It Can’t Be Good!”
Not all source material is created equal–just because there’s “bad” visual novels and likewise adaptations doesn’t mean that whatever new show is coming out will be the same. Also, as far as smartphone game adaptations go some of them are produced by legitimately excellent studios with highly competent writers and directors behind them and a far cry from being “lazy cash-in’s”, some multimedia projects even have the anime being produced alongside the smartphone game to synergise both products rather than just boosting one off the name recognition of another.
1. “It’s Produced By JC-Staff So It’s Going To Be Rushed/Bad!”
I originally had the ‘complaint’ written as “It’s Produced By [Insert Studio Everyone Hates] So It’s Going To Be Bad”, but let’s face it when it comes to the anime communities whipping boy it’s (sadly) JC-Staff. And I honestly don’t get it, I may have only been watching seasonal anime for a couple of years now but nearly every JC-Staff anime I watch is more than competent in almost every technical and artistic aspect. Maybe it’s just the ‘normies’ out there who only watch big-budget-studio shonen anime coming to shit on an easy target but I can name more than a dozen anime from the last couple of years from wildly different studios with shoddier production values that don’t get 1% of the shit that JC Staff gets. All I can say is JC Staff is one of my favourite studios and they deserve better treatment by the anime community that’s decided to make their name a punchline.
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A post detailing the new blogging schedule which promises more content for the site going forward!
Hello everyone, first of all I’d like to apologise for the somewhat ~negative~ spin the content on my site has taken over the past few weeks months also the general lack of content altogether. I’ve been working through some things, trying to get myself in the right headspace to continue blogging in a more structured, full-time capacity like I used to do. I’ve come to the conclusion that despite my seemingly laissez-faire attitude towards the blogging process I do in fact need structure in order to produce positive content–and POSITIVITY is the key going forward! Starting from June 3rd I’ll be posting almost every day of the week, with a specific ~type~ of post going out on each given day. The schedule is as follows:
Mondays Seasonal Anime Weekly
As the name (hopefully) suggests this’ll be my thoughts on each of the seasonal anime I’m watching week-to-week. As with the current season I still intend to watch 15+ new anime each week as watching seasonally is something I adore and so this weekly post will be a rundown on my thoughts on each new episode of a currently airing seasonal anime I watched just all in the one place. Kind of like my “Watched But Not Reviewed’ series of posts I used to do, just with a less confusing name. (Note: These posts won’t start until July when the new anime season starts, seems kind of silly to start this nearly two thirds of a way through the current season).
Tuesdays Listing Compulsive
I’ve been using the ‘Listing Compulsive’ blog category on WordPress.com for all my Top 10 lists but don’t be ashamed if you don’t recognise the name, I don’t think I’ve every referred to the name in the introduction to any of my lists (maybe the very first one). But yeah basically this’ll be a weekly anime or manga related top 10 list. Simple as that!
Wednesdays Random Content
What’s life without a little spontaneity? Basically, Wednesday’s will be home to things like my travel posts, merch spotlights and whatever other random content that doesn’t fit into the other categories already assigned.
Thursdays QandA Manga Reviews
I’ve done a few of these already but as the name implies it’s just reviews of manga in my trademark (ha!) QandA style. Every so often I might throw in an ‘Anime vs Manga’ post instead of a manga review.
Fridays Seasonal Collab Review [Every Second Week]
Nothing’s gonna stop me from collaborating with Irina (of DrunkenAnimeBlog.com fame) on a weekly basis! Obviously these posts will alternate between appearing on her site and mine each week hence the “[Every Second Week]” addendum.
Saturdays ‘To Love-Ru’ Anime QandA Special Series
Okay, so in what I’m calling my “passion project”, each Saturday will see a post dedicated to my favourite anime series of all time ‘To Love-Ru’ (that’s including all the sequel seasons FYI). What this entails is basically a smorgasbord of content, episodic reviews, anime to manga comparisons, maybe even a couple of sneaky collabs if I’m lucky! It’s likely to take at least 100 weeks to go through all the content I want to, hence why its earning a semi-permanent spot on the schedule!
***
And that’s it for the schedule, obviously things are subject to change, posts might be delayed or moved to different days given IRL circumstances, and of course there’s always the chance a seasonal show captivates me enough to talk about it week-to-week. Also one more piece of site related housekeeping, in the interest of making this site more positive I won’t be posting parts 2 and 3 of my ‘Critical of Criticism’ rants–I don’t feel like they’re in-line with what I want for the site going forward. The only reason I’m keeping the post up at all is because of the supportive comments I got from Pete and Crow which helped fuel this “new” direction for the site. Other than that though this is more than likely the future of Anime QandA, I hope it looks interesting and I’ll see you again in the next post!
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I have a bit of a rant on the state of anime criticism (and it ends up going long so here’s part one)
So what are we talking about today? Just a few things about the state of journalistic (both professional and amateur) ‘criticism’ as it pertains to the entertainment world–specifically anime.
Oh boy. Are we in for one of your trademark rant style posts? Funny you should say that, I actually began writing this as a formal essay, you know quoting actual books and looking up the etymology of words from their Latin roots and all that shit and about halfway through I stopped and started this version–the one you all are reading now in my familiar QandA format.
I studied hard for this one you guys.
Why’d you make the change? Let’s just say I had an idea that was too good to pass up, you’ll find out later why…
Jeez, clickbait much? It’s not clickbait if they’ve already clicked on it! Ahem, anyway. So I wanted to talk about three things specifically the first of which is: There Are No Original Stories, Everything Is Derivative.
Well, that’s certainly a sweeping statement, what idiot said that? Me.
Oh… And well probably a bunch of other, much smarter people before me too, but I think if any critic worth their salt wants to exist and persist in an entertainment medium as overpopulated as anime is they have to realise this sooner than later. And more importantly realise that being derivative is ~NOT~ a bad thing!
Now these are some “clones” I’d like to be “attacked” by!
Isn’t its dictionary definition literally a negative? You can’t just redefine what a word means! And in the original post I said something about how the words’ Latin origins simply mean “taken or having proceeded from another or others, secondary”. Basically something being “derivative” should literally mean it’s got elements from something else.
Okay but how does that help a reviewer who’s trying to express their own opinions on a work–are they not allowed to criticise something because it’s too familiar to something that came before? That’s on the individual to decide–I’m not trying to change how people think I’m just trying to make people realise there’s other factors at play when reviewing something they deem “derivative”. First and foremost is this weird notion that if something is similar to something else it’s somehow a lesser product. Which–if we go by that logic–means that only the very first of each anime story-type is worthwhile and everything else is just a pale imitation. By that reasoning the last 20+ years of anime would all be rendered “derivative” and “inferior” which I’m sure sounds like paradise for some MAL hipsters but for the rest of us doesn’t make any logical sense.
*eye twitches intensify*
Veering quickly into rant territory, please keep to the roads, yeah? So, the point your making is that people shouldn’t use a works perceived “derivativeness” as a negative when approach an anime from a review standpoint? They can, if they want to but I’m just saying it’s lazy and downright reckless criticism. To take a recent example, as of the writing of this piece an anime called ‘YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love At The Bound Of This World’ (stupid-long title, I know) is currently airing. Simply put (and avoiding major spoilers) it’s a sci-fi time-travel show that deals with the protagonist trying to avert the death of a loved one and uncover various mysteries and cover-ups with mild harem elements on the peripheral. To some people that sounds interesting, to others it sounds like discount ‘Steins;Gate’. It’s an easy comparison to make, not the least because they are both based off frequently hard to adapt visual novel sources but here’s where things get interesting. ‘Steins;Gate’ is a critical darling and fan-favourite, ranking #3 on MAL, whereas ‘YU-NO’ is languishing wayback at #6679. The thing is, that while ‘Steins;Gate’ the anime came first airing in 2011. If we’re to go to the source material of each the ‘Steins;Gate’ visual novel came out in 2009 whereas the ‘YU-NO’ visual novel came out all the way back in 1996!
Respect your elders!
But it doesn’t matter which came first, if ‘Steins;Gate’ is better then that’s that! That’s exactly my point too–but a large portion of ‘YU-NO’s audience only views anime chronologically not reflecting on the age of the source material, and thus purposefully rate ‘YU-NO’ lower as its seemingly derivative of ‘Steins;Gate’ and countless other time-travel and sci-fi properties despite the fact that it came first!
And that makes it better?! Ugh, no! What I’m saying is people should judge an individual anime’s quality on its own merits and not how it measures up to other similar anime. The reason I brought up ‘YU-NO’ is because it specifically shows the idiocy and hypocrisy of people who are so uninformed that they don’t realise a show in 2019 is actually the inspiration for a show from 2011 because the 2019 show is actually from 1996. Wow, it’s almost like time travel irl!
This gif doesn’t have sound but I can still hear his laugh.
Okay, okay. So basically what you’re saying is simply people should judge an individual anime on its own merits and not how it compares/is seemingly derivative of another anime? I would think most people already do that? You’d think so, but no. From the most humble of anibloggers all the way up to–whatever qualifies as being the top of anime critics–people are tearing down anything that dare not bring anything “original” to the table. But only when it’s appropriate to their interests of course. People are biased towards certain genres, nothing wrong with that, but when your sole criticism of a specific anime is that it’s too similar to other anime in a genre you already don’t like then you might as well be screaming into a brick wall because I’m sure as heck not going to be listening to you anymore.
I hate to ask but you’re going to need to give me an example. Turns out I’ve watched a lot of ‘Slice of Life’ anime, over a hundred if you’re to believe my anilist profile–not a ridiculous amount but still more than the average anime fan I’d wager. So imagine my confusion and annoyance when I see reviewers who historically aren’t at all interested in ‘Slice of Life’ as a genre to begin with calling recent shows like ‘Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu’ such catty adjectives as “silly” and “slight” and “pointless”. And this is positively mild compared to the kind of criticism that greeted shows such as 2018’s ‘Slow Start’–a show which literally has slow in the title and yet had people unironically negatively remarking that it was “slow” to “start”.
Watch ‘Slow Start’, end message.
I feel like a bit of a broken record here, but people are allowed to not like a thing you like. That’s literally the reason critics exist to give a broad perspective on things they both like and dislike. So here’s the thing… people like to say they watch things outside of their “regular field of interest” because it exposes them to things they won’t normally gravitate to and it gives them a wider view of the world. That’s bullshit, people watch things they don’t like because people get off on being negative and hateful. Oh sure, call me a pessimist but why else would a critic watch something they already know they won’t like based on the genre? You don’t see a food critic who’s allergic to shellfish order the crab souffle with a side of oysters and then give it 2 out of 10 because it fucking killed him!
B…but how could we review it if he died… wait nevermind, that’s not the point. Wait, what is the point your trying to make?! Sum it up for me because this was supposed to be a shorter post but this is only part 1 of 3 of the points you intended to make… (turns out this is going to be a 3 part post, oops) My point is review the show that you’re watching not comparing it to shows that have slim to nothing to do with it and if you’re going to review something that your predisposed to dislike be aware that your opinion is at best going to be disregarded or at worst be held accountable for adding nothing but negativity to the discourse. Everything in this world is derivative of something else but if you spend all your time looking at an anime for everything that it’s similar to rather than everything than it has going for it, then why bother at all?
***
Join me next time when I’ll be continuing this rant in Part 2 (coming soon).
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For the past three or so years I’ve been working on turning the spare room in my partner and I’s apartment into what I’ve dubbed an ‘Anime Office’. Functionally its almost like a museum space for me to display my anime merch while also featuring a desk, chair and spare single bed. I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this and so while it’s been about 95% complete for about 3 months now I’m only just now willing to share photos of it with the rest of the internet.
(Note: These photos were taken by the irlwaifu, while I provided lighting and direction. Also a couple of photos contain NSFW imagery but I’ll warn you before those photos appear.)
The first thing you see as you approach the room is the Japanese door curtain–or ‘noren’ as it is traditionally known. The curtain features Latifah and Sento from ‘Amagi Brilliant Park’, below it you can see a doormat featuring the main cast of ‘Is The Order A Rabbit?’ the latter of which was a particularly lucky find as it was the first time finding an anime themed doormat and it happened to be from one of my favourite CGDCT anime.
What wonders await beyond the curtain?!Parting the curtain gives a sneak peak of the room, as well as the hideous carpet in our rental apartment…
One of the main focal points is the ‘Yuru Yuri’ bedsheet which I’ve re-purposed into a curtain or even flag of sorts, its made of a much higher quality material than the usual anime bed sheets (which are usually a rough cotton material) hence why the pride of place against the room’s actual curtain.
It’s a lot to take in all at once.
Immediately as you enter you see the bed which is currently occupied by four body pillows (dakimakura in Japanese) they feature–from front to back–Ruiko Saten and Kazari Uihara from ‘A Certain Scientific Railgun’, Amane Suou from ‘The Grisaia series’, Ginko Sora from ‘The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done’ and Rize Tedeza from ‘Is The Order A Rabbit? series’. (If there’s enough requests I can do a separate post featuring more detailed pictures/descriptions/information of any of the merch shown through this post).
Not much room in this bed!
To the immediate left of the bed as you enter is a wall filled with anime tapestries (wall scrolls) which are (usually) made of suede, supported by PVC rods and hung with string. I’ve actually got about 3 times as many wall scrolls as seen here but these are my favourites. Occasionally I’ll switch out some for others to give a change of scenery but these are the ones that most frequently feature.
Again, if close-ups of any of these are required please make a request and I’ll make a separate post.
Immediately above the bed hanging from the roof is a single bed-sheet of Yami from ‘The To Love-Ru series’. It makes for an impressive sight while lying in bed.
Oh what a feeling, Yami on the ceiling!
From the bed the rest of the room can be seen though there’s a lot more to it than can be captured by a single photo. Nevertheless, here is a single photo of the view from the bed.
A lot going on, but it’ll make sense in a minute (maybe).
Perhaps the most visually eye-catching (if only from a colour and size perspective) part of the room is the wall-mounted blanket of Hachiroku from the ‘Maitetsu series’. Long story short, while on my most recent (February 2019) trip to Japan I discovered an anime girl from a series I’d never even heard of and fell in love so naturally I needed something equally impressive to celebrate her with.
Hachiroku in all her glory (with some random prize figurines beneath).
Occupying (almost) an entire wall directly opposite the leftside tapestry wall are a series of bookshelves which contain all my manga (the first four shelves–looking from left-to-right) my anime blu-rays (the next two shelves) and non-anime blu-ray TV shows (the final three shelves). Atop them are some ‘Monster Musume’ postcards that have been mounted in frames and some ‘Fairy Tail’ funko pop toys.
The desk itself, which sits between the bed and the bookshelves in the corner of the room has itself another bookshelf (a slightly wider one with anime DVD’s and anime art books and then the desk itself which is unsurprisingly adorned with many mousepads. (Second image is NSFW, also contains random photo of irlwaifu dressed as Umaru on my desk).
If this photo looks lower quality it’s because I took it myself on a different phone to the others.What? You don’t have four mousepads on your desk?!
But my favourite part of the room (at least from a collectors standpoint) are my bishojou figures, encased in a glass display case in what is almost the centre of the room. (I’m going to spend a bit more time on this section than previous ones, also some of the figures are NSFW so there’s your warning).
The four-tier glass display case.Top self; back row: Nana and Lala figures from ‘To Love-Ru series’ made by Alter. Front row: The girls from ‘Yuru Yuri’ in miniature Banpresto figures.Second shelf; back row: Ryuko posable figure from ‘Kill La Kill’. Front row: ‘Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya’ figures of Kuro, Illya and Miyu. The latter of which are my absolute favourite thing I’ve ever bought.Third shelf; back row: Sena and Yozora from ‘Haganai series’. Front row: Sonico from ‘Super Sonico’ (yes I took her top off, so what?) Plus ‘Senran Kagura’ mini-figs from a Senran Kagura DS game I found for cheap in Japan.Bottom shelf; Just a bunch of prize figures from the ‘Monogatari’ series.
And that’s it for my Anime Office tour! I probably missed a few little things, but if there’s anything you want to know more about just leave a comment below and I’ll hopefully be able to answer your questions! Thanks for reading!
Whole room panorama.
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A list of the Top 10 Manga I personally Want Adapted Into Anime (and the speculative odds of that happening for each)
For every manga that gets brought to life on our screens through an anime adaptation there’s thousands–nay–tens of thousands of manga that will probably never see their beautiful black and white pages brought to life through animation. For some manga, the reason is obvious for others not so much. In this post I’ll be counting down my personal picks for manga I desperately want adapted into anime and my speculative ‘odds’ on whether they’d get the anime treatment. This list is ranked, not by the percentage odds chance of anime happening but rather my personal preference for which manga I want the most to be adapted.
Warning: This post contains some sexual imagery/nudity.
12 Beast
[10%]
It’s a pretty standard isekai harem kinda deal, except all the girls are monster girls. Oh and did I mention it’s from Oyakado the mangaka of ‘Monster Musume’? Naturally this would be the perfect fit for an anime, as it combines the shonen-action style tropes with that popular isekai flavour and adds in the fan-service shenanigans expected of the author. Do I think this manga will get an anime anytime soon? Probably not, it doesn’t seem like it’s a popular title in Japan–in fact it’s more likely we get a second season of ‘Monster Musume’ before anything from this series eventuates in the animated form!
Originally based on a hardcore shota doujinishi about an orphan who wishes for an older sister and ends up summoning a Lovecratfian elder-god, ‘The Elder Sister Like One’ and more specifically the main character was so popular that not only did the series spawn a safe for work and surprisingly wholesome manga adaptation but it’s also had so much merch produced (from figurines, tapestries, desk-art and keychains) that it’s absolutely a given that this series will become an anime at some point. If you’re a betting kind of person this above all other picks on this list has the greatest likelihood of becoming an anime sometime in the near future.
What about this manga series has anime potential? A dark, layered and compelling world filled with complex, problematic and charismatic characters and a unique approach to storytelling. What’s stopping it from being adapted to an anime already? Lots and lots of sex, like every chapter a plot-intrinsic sex scene happens. Personally I think this is an amazing series that’d give the likes of ‘Goblin Slayer’ and ‘The Rising Of The Shield Hero’ a run for its money (in terms of being controversial) but I think it’s unlikely we’ll see an adaptation of it any time soon–if at all.
Ureshon!
[0.1%]
Okay so I put this in the list mostly for the lulz but there’s no way this series would ever get an anime adaptation. If you don’t know what it’s about, well let me put it succinctly, it’s a romantic comedy about a guy who falls in love with a girl after seeing her piss in public. Much pissing ensues.
Out of all the manga on this list this is the one series I’m most surprised hasn’t been adapted yet. It’s a slightly ecchi, but mostly wholesome slice of life comedy series dealing with a one-eyed high-school nurse who treats (both physically and mentally) the students of her high school who have all manner of ‘monstrous’ conditions and qualities. It’s a very body-positive, affirming series and is also pretty damn funny. We’re already 8 volumes into the manga and no news of an adaptation yet, but I’m still mildly confident we’ll see an anime version of this series someday!
From Today On, I’m Mooching Off A Loli! (Kyou kara Ore wa Loli no Himo
[25%]
Long story short; this is basically just wish-fulfilment escapism for otaku lolicons. I’ll probably review the manga in full at some point but all you need to know is: aspiring teenage mangaka catches the eye of millionaire fifth grader who works/is a large stakeholder in a publishing house and decides to become his patron. He moves in with her and all manner of inappropriate shenanigans ensue. The reason I’ve put the percentage chance of this (of all things) receiving an anime adaptation is twofold. Firstly the art is by a “famous” doujin artist (if you want to remain off FBI watch lists I advise you don’t Google his works) and secondly this kind of series has been popular in recent seasons (UzaMaid!, Wataten, etc) so it fits with the current trend.
Story-wise, ‘World’s End Harem’ is a little bit dull–sure there are interesting moments but they are mere stepping stones midst the rampant torrent of fan-service and nudity that made this series a best seller. I think it’s safe to assume an anime version of this will come sooner or later–it’s just a matter of finding a studio that’s suited to the task…
‘Murcielago’ is badass. It’s about a lesbian serial killer (by which I mean a serial killer who is a lesbian not a serial killer of lesbians) who is saved on death row by the Japanese government and begins to work as a contract killer dispatching of (arguably) worse villains than her who are posing a threat to society. This series is dark and gory but also very darkly comic–if you’ve ever seen the movie ‘Super’ it’s kind of like that–only with more ridiculous action and cunnilingus. Personally I think this’d be an amazing anime but the fact we’re 14(!) volumes into the manga and without word of any possible adaptation makes me think this has been put in the ‘too hard’ basket. I hope to be proven wrong though!
I love this manga, and no surprise as it’s by by favourite mangaka; Coolkyoushinja who is responsible for ‘Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid’. And while there are similarities between the two series’ (busty monster girls, comedic slice of life focused) where I prefer ‘Mononoke Sharing’ is its sexually liberated attitude. I talked more about it in my review for volume 1 of the manga but basically it’s a bawdy and inappropriate sex comedy. And while everyone’s hyped for a second season of the aforementioned ‘Dragon Maid’ I’d happily take a season of this instead. Will it happen? If ‘Kobayashi’s’ 2nd season breaks sales records in Japan then it absolutely could, but otherwise its a bit of a long shot.
Honourable Mention: Darling In The FranXX
[2%]
What’s this you say? ‘Darling In The FranXX’ is already an anime? Not Kentarou Yabuki’s version! Commissioned concurrently with the anime and still running now, the manga version is a mostly faithful retelling of the events of the anime with one substantial (for me) difference–hardcore nudity! Now I know what you’re thinking, is “hardcore nudity” alone enough of a reason to remake a series? Well, when it’s from artist Kentarou Yabuki it is! If you don’t know who he is by his name alone he is responsible for the ‘To Love-Ru’ series, a.k.a mankind’s greatest work of art and seeing Zero Two and Ichigo and the rest all lovingly drawn by his masterful hands is a delight. If not a full remake then I’d settle for a couple of OVA episodes with just the nude scenes. It’s unlikely to happen, but then again the manga sells extremely well so anything is possible.
Apologies in advance but this will be a kind of underwhelming Number 1 pick. Basically this is just an excellent ecchi harem manga with action-y elements set in Akihabara with compelling characters and ridiculous villains. It’s basically like ‘Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs’ just with a lot more subversive elements and random irreverent comedy. It’d make an amazing anime but I’m doubtful it ever will due to one simple fact–the manga has ended (after 14 volumes) and it’s rare a manga gets an anime adaptation after its completed.
And that’s my 10 manga I want adapted into an anime (and the percentage chances of each happening) let me know what manga you want made into an anime! Thanks for reading!
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A post regarding the flippant usage of the word “trash” in specific regard to anime
What are we talking about today? Y’know, I think one of my absolute biggest pet peeves with this whole society of ~amateur criticism~ that we find ourselves in (thanks to the internet and mostly social media) is that people devalue the significance of their words.
Oh. Is this about online bullying or something? Not at all, I don’t have the time or nuanced intellect to deal with an issue that large and impactful on society. No, this is about a single word that gets thrown around to describe all manner of media (but specifically anime in the case of this blog post) and how using it is detrimental not only to the media its ascribed to but also the person who uses it.
And that is? Don’t call an anime you don’t like “trash”.
Hmm, okay. And why exactly? Aren’t people entitled to their opinion? Freedom of speech and all that jazz? Absolutely, there’s no greater believer in freedom of speech than I (probably, maybe) but I’m talking about the ramifications of blanket labelling an entire series “trash” without thinking about the consequences of such unspecific language.
Okay, so you want people to elaborate? Like “x anime is trash because y”? That’d certainly be a step in the right direction, but let’s think about the words we use a little bit harder. Calling something trash implies it has no value–it is essentially garbage, refuse, something to be discarded without thought–and I think a lot of people underestimate the power of throwing out a cursory tweet or hurried blog post that labels something they’ve given a passing glance at as “trash”.
Haven’t you ever heard of the expression “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? I have and that doesn’t change the fact that criticism without critiquing leaves everyone poorer for it. I don’t expect people to write thousand word dissertations about why a certain show rubs them the wrong way or fails to connect with them on any level. What I do expect–at least from the people whose opinions I still hold in some regard–is a degree of self-awareness and too consideration that people might be affected by the negativity they are putting out into the world with such reckless language.
Sounds like you’re being a bit of a precious little snowflake if I’m honest… I don’t know. Maybe I am, maybe this is an absolute non-issue for most people and I’m being especially sensitive to the opinions of others. But here’s the thing, if you want ~me~ an amateur critic existing on the internet amidst a million other voices screaming for attention to take ~you~ a likewise amateur critic existing on the internet seriously in any capacity then you better believe I’m going to hold you to the same standards I hold myself. There’s plenty of times I’ve watched a single episode of a show and thought, “fuck this trash!” but the difference is I at least try and keep that abrasive and unedited thought internalised until I can come with reasons why it made me feel that way and present it against backdrops of personal experience and critical discourse. And at the very least find a place to appreciate the fact that some people out there did find value with the media I’ve reacted so strongly against and let those people know their opinions are not disregarded in the face of my own.
That seems like a lot of work tbh… Sometimes being a respectful human being is a lot of work but being otherwise just doesn’t sit right with me.
Tl;dr? Don’t call anything categorically “trash” without realising the impact of such a shallow summation.
This was a different kind of post for me, not talking about a specific anime but an issue within the anime community that I felt compelled to talk about. Let me know if you want more of this, or alternately if you want me to STFU and GTFO–either’s fine to be honest…
If you want information about what this challenge is all about click here or on the image above to be linked back to the challenge start page!
Warning this post contains some NSFW imagery.
Day 30 – Sexiest Overall Anime
The difference between this and the previous category is while To Love Ru Darkness 2nd has the best, most consistent and overall highest quality of fan service. The fact that only (arguably) two pursue him sexually means that overall the anime is less sexy than my pick for ‘Sexiest Overall Anime’ which is ‘Monster Musume: Everyday Life With Monster Girls’. All of the girls (arguably) are pursuing sexual relationships with Kirihito which creates an energy throughout the entire show that few shows can compete with. Added to that the fact that (arguably) all the women in this harem are powerful monster girls who can (and often do) take the dominant roles sexually gives the series a different feel than other harems. While the inherent art and animation is arguably better in the aforementioned ‘To Love Ru-Darkness series’, Monster Musume makes more of a case for the inherent sex factor of something very different to the norm.
Previous 30 Day Anime Fan Service Challenge Posts:
Regarding the future of the site going forward and some sporadic thoughts on the anime community in general.
Hello everyone, just a short(ish) announcement about the future of the site going forward. Basically content will be a lot less going forward, from what was (pre-holiday) two posts a day will be more sporadic, I might post every second day or I might only post once a week. This blog is going to be more focused on opinion pieces and lists and full season reviews on anime going forward rather than the usual episodic reviews of seasonal anime. The reason for this? Well the atmosphere in the anime community–specifically on Twitter–has been rather toxic of late and it’s kind of soured the experience of interacting with other people. People are reactionary and aggressive and opinionated and I feel that being a part of writing seasonal episodic reviews fuels knee-jerk reactions to things that should be thoughtfully considered over days and weeks–something the rapid pace of seasonal reviewing can’t capture. Also, I feel like my general opinions on ‘what’s good’ and ‘what’s not’ are falling out of line with the mainstream–which should be a rallying cry for me to speak up but instead is driving a larger wedge between me and the anime community as I’m unable to relate or understand the opinions of fellow bloggers. I apologise if this change in direction for my site will negatively affect your enjoyment of it but it’s what I have to do. Thank you for reading.
Anime QandA 