20 Question Weekly Review Week Ending 18th February 2018

So we’re doing another one of these, huh? And so soon after the first. They’ll be happening every Monday(ish) from now on, last weeks was only later in the week because I had the idea to do it later in the week. Besides, lots of anime and manga related things this past week to talk about!

And some personal stuff? Yeah sure, and some site news too.

Let’s start with something other than what currently airing anime you watched, since I’m guessing it’ll be the same as last week. Very astute, also correct.

So you got some anime merch last week? How’d you know?

Well if I didn’t know I couldn’t ask you questions and this whole blog format would be unsustainable. True. And yes! I did get some anime merch from amazon.co.jp. I got myself a Rias Gremory ‘High School DxD Born’ tapestry and an ‘Amagi Brilliant Park’ noren (Japanese door curtain) both for my anime room.

I have no shame.

I’ve yet to divide the curtain yet as it requires cutting the curtain down the middle, I don’t trust myself to do it right.

Cool. And you got some new manga this week too? Yes, here’s a picture because I mean you don’t really need me to write out the titles right?

I should be sponsored by Seven Seas Entertainment considering how many of their manga I buy!

I’m sure we’ll manage, thanks. Um… I do notice a common theme with those covers though. Oh yeah?

Lot of ‘cute girls’, huh? I know what I like.

Fair enough, what manga did you finish reading last week? Well I read Volume 1 of ‘Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life’ which was expectantly cute and occasionally funny but as expected for a 4-panel manga was lacking in a satisfying story to carry my interest. Unlike most manga, which I read in a single sitting it, took three separate days to finish it.

Not much of a recommendation. Well I’ll probably read the other volumes just because I like the characters and universe so much, but it’s nothing special.

What else? I also read Volume 1 of ‘Sundome’, which is a delightfully twisted and considerably erotic tale with a much darker art style than I’m used to but I still enjoyed it a lot. But, my favourite thing of the week was Volume 1 of ‘Yokai Girls’, very much my kind of thing, monster girls + really inappropriate humour and situations + Akihabara set = love it! Definitely not for everyone, so I can’t really recommend it unless you’ve got a dirty sense of humour and like lots of really detailed fan-service… ahem.

No context for you! Unless I decide to review manga one day.

As expected, I suppose. So copy/paste what new anime you’re watching from last week just change the episode number? Pretty much. Episode 7 of: A Place Further Than The Universe, Citrus, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, Marchen Madchen, Miss Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles, Pop Team Epic, Slow Start, Yuru Camp. And episode 6 of: Dagashi Kashi 2, Darling in the FranXX and Mitsuboshi Colors.

Still the same scores/opinions as last week? Kind of. Slow Start had a phenomenally interesting episode 7, which I talk about at length here. Pop Team Epic #7 was a bit more consistently funny that previous episodes, I loved the live-action ‘Hellshake Yano’ bit, very well done. Dagashi Kashi 2 Episode 7 introduced new characters and went heavy with the plot, which makes it all the more annoying these are only 12-minute episodes. Marchen Madchen Episode 7 went full deus-ex machina, but whatever I still like it enough to keep watching. Citrus episode 7 amps up the drama and is heading in all kinds of fun directions. Other than those everything else is of the same quality as last week.

Even if you don’t like the show, it’s worth watching this ‘segment’ alone.

Good to hear! Any other anime you watched this week? Yes, lots! Finished season 1 of Haikyu!! Expect a review in a couple of weeks. Binged all of Classroom of the Elite and wrote a review, expect a review of that one very soon. And some other things that I’ll keep secret for reasons…

Is it hentai? It’s not hentai.

Sure, sure. So what’s new in your life? Time to get personal, huh? Well I’ve been a bit down lately, due to not having a job. Money is rapidly becoming an issue. So I’ll have to do something about that soon.

But what about all the things you bought? Well not that I need to explain myself to you, but birthday money + selling things on eBay in order to help finance my anime/manga spending habits.

Fair enough! And you mentioned something about blog news? Well not so much ‘news’ as just housekeeping. First of all big thanks to my followers, I’ve hit 25 followers which is honestly very nice and I appreciate everyone who likes and comments on my reviews. Secondly, I’ve been nominated to do some blogging awards, which is very humbling. I probably won’t do them for a few weeks though as I’m going to have to make a ‘miscellaneous’ blog section on the site to accommodate them but I don’t want it to seem like it’s just tacked on, I want it to feel like it belongs within the context of the site.

Anything else? Well I know I promised these weekly reviews wouldn’t impede on the daily ’20 Question Anime Reviews’ but these seem to take a lot longer to do than normal reviews. So there may come a time when Monday’s only have a Weekly Review blog and not both. But not this week! So expect a review later today!

Okay then, so how would you rate the week ending the 18^th of January? With regard to anime and manga it was good often very good, personally not so much, but hopefully things will turn around soon! Thanks for reading!

20 Question Weekly Review Week Ending 11th February 2018

What’s this?! A new weekly feature of this website, exploring my previous weeks’ anime/manga related experiences. It’ll be posted every Monday and cover the previous week up until the Sunday (I’m posting this one late because I only got the idea to do this on Thursday). The blog will also contain some shout outs and personal thoughts because apparently people are kind and generous and actually want to know things about me *shy shuffle*

Okay, cool, I guess I can get into this? Do I get paid double for doing this job too? No.

Pfft, fine. So what new anime did you watch last week? Well… a lot to be honest, this ‘Winter’ season has been pretty damn good for slice of life. Which is, I’m sure most of you are aware, is my favourite genre. Of last week’s newly aired anime I watched episode 6 of: A Place Further Than The Universe, Citrus, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, Marchen Madchen, Miss Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles, Pop Team Epic, Slow Start, Yuru Camp. And episode 5 of: Dagashi Kashi 2, Darling in the FranXX and Mitsuboshi Colors.

It was just a button! Silly Hana.

That’s a lot! Pfft, that’s nothing. There’s some people who watch every new anime. That’ll be me one day, hopefully.

What’s stopping you? Crippling depression. Not enough hours in the day. And, um, personal stuff…

Personal stuff? Spill! Well, I turned 30 on the 9^th. It’s weird because I simultaneously don’t feel 30 and also feel like a hundred million years old.

Big deal. People are having birthday’s every day. Oh and my grandmother died two days later.

Woah, this took a turn for the dark, sorry for your loss and all but maybe not ambush the good people who bothered to read this with such things? Hey, you wanted me to spill!

So, what’s your verdict on all those shows you’re currently watching? And succinctly please we don’t have all day… Hmm, okay. All of it is really good (I mean otherwise I wouldn’t still be watching, right?) I usually don’t release preliminary scores and I don’t make a decision on the score out of 100 like I have for my reviews until completing an anime. But I will for the sake of these weekly blogs give a score out of five stars for the series as it currently stands, so bare in mind these scores could change by the end of the season.
A Place Further Than The Universe ★★★★★
Slow Start ★★★★1/2
Citrus ★★★★1/2
Mitsuboshi Colors ★★★★1/2
Yuru Camp ★★★★1/2
Miss Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles ★★★★
Dagashi Kashi 2 ★★★★
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san ★★★★
Marchen Madchen ★★★★
Darling in the FranXX ★★★1/2
Pop Team Epic ★★★

Even Japanese girls don’t like durian! Hard to believe when they still like natto.

Cool, any other non-new anime you’ve started/continued watching last week? Up to episode 10 of Haikyuu!! It’s not really my thing but I certainly see the appeal, there will be a review of it up once I’m done with it, be rest assured of that. Also finished Made in Abyss.

Oh yeah? How’s that show? Remember when I mentioned the ‘crippling depression’ above? Yeah, that show’s partially to blame…

Huh, that powerful then? *slow nod*

And I see we’re talking about manga now? That’s like anime except book, yeah? Sure… “anime except book” let’s go with that…

Shuddup. So what are you reading? Well I’ve bought quite a lot, but last week I read Volume 1 of ‘A Certain Scientific Railgun’ and Volume 1 of ‘Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary’.

An irl photo! All the manga I received last week.

Verdict? Well, ‘A Certain Scientific Railgun’ has its charms, its more focused on world building than I expected (which is good!) but at the expense of character development (which is bad). I can see me continuing with it even if I find it hard to tell the difference between the two main girls, which is a big problem as far as I’m concerned. But ‘Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary’ omg, I LOVE it! It reminds me a lot of ‘Interviews With Monster Girls’ which I’ve only seen the anime, but loved a lot, except Nurse Hitomi has a lot more cheeky comedy and innuendo, plus the characters are all so unique and interesting. I instantly bought the other 6 volumes on [popular book website] and will read them with glee once they arrive!

Well this was all very nice, but what if I have more questions for you, beyond the allotted 20? Then wait ‘til next week you impatient bastard.

AHAHA! (I was meaning what if the readers have more question, don’t go alienating them already!) Oh, um sure if you have any questions just come and add me on twitter.com/Cactus_Matt I’m the kind of person who always has twitter open so unless I’m asleep chances are you’ll get a quick reply! Or comment below, either way works!

Anything else you want to add? Of course, I’m only new to the blogging scene but already I’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness of the wordpress anime blogging community. Specifically I want to shout out Irina @drunkenanimeblog, who was there from my fourth day on the site and kept liking my content and thus spurring me on despite very few views. Then came @raistlin0903 who reblogged me and still comments like a persistent cheerleader! And @chizurue who championed me on twitter loudly!

But wait; didn’t the last two people only start to do those things the week after the week ending the 11^th? Ah… well yeah, but this is the first blog of this type so credit where credit’s due and all that… I just wanted to thank some people is all… Plus there’s way more people before and after the aforementioned that deserve a shoutout, I’m just still trying to get to grips with this whole thing…

Fair enough. How would you rate the week ending 11^th of February 2018? An emotional roller coaster, as much as that is a cliché, I don’t think I’ve ever felt such dizzying highs and worrisome lows. Nevertheless, I am out the other side and thinking of the future and can’t wait to see what comes next for this blog, for anime and manga and for my life.

Well that was the first of my 20 Question Weekly Reviews! Let me know what you think, what should be changed, what else should be discussed? Also, don’t worry, the normal 20 Question Anime Reviews will still come out daily, these will not interrupt the regularly scheduled reviews! Thanks for reading!