Awards Tag – Brotherhood of the World Blogger Award

Awards Tag – Brotherhood of the World Blogger Award

Been a while since you’ve done one of these, eh? An award tag? Yeah… almost like nobody is nominating me…

Ahem I mean us.

You’re kidding of course? Of course, after all seems like most of the bloggers I follow are too busy producing really high quality content. Like seriously so many good ‘essay’ style posts out there, kinda makes my episodic reviews feel a bit lackluster by comparison…

Enough feeling sorry for youself you have an award tag to do! Oh right!

So what’s this one and who nominated you? It’s The Brotherhood of the World blogging award! And I was nominated by Irina!

Great, and I take it there are some rules before we get down to the meat of the post? Yup:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the questions sent to you.
3. Nominate around 10 others.
4. Create your own set of questions for your nominees and display the rules.

Cool, and now for Irina’s questions, yeah? Mmhmm! And they’re good ones too (it’s most of the reason I’m doing this tag in the first place!)

1. Who’s the last anime character you identified with and why?

This was a hard one to answer, I don’t think I’ve ever fully identified with an anime character, rather I gravitate towards portions of their personality. The more I thought about it though the more I kept coming back to Kazuki Kazumi from the Grisaia series–specifically in Eden of Grisaia. I really relate to her deadpan sense of humour, her calm nature under pressure, her logical mind and her vaguely perverted outlook. Also, like her, I too am a genius whose mind is being used by a corrupt government to power an all-knowing super computer. What? It could be true, as far as you know!

2. Is there an anime universe you would want to live in?

Another tough question but for different reasons, I thought about the life I have now and where I’d ~ideally~ like to live, the answer to that question is my life is pretty good but I’d always like to live in Japan. However, I could pick any ol’ slice of life show to live in and then “BAM” I’d be in Japan–but that hardly makes for the most compelling answer now does it? Plus my life would more or less be the same as it is now just with extra Otaku. So instead, I pick the ‘Konosuba’ anime universe! Why? Because I get to be an adventurer in a fantasy world that’s ~vaguely~ threatening but not really plus there’s that kinky succubus club I could visit whenever I felt like it.

3. I hope you answered the last question – what would your job be in that universe?

I know I said adventurer, but let’s face it–I’d probably be a bartender or something… unless I get to be a woman in that other world! In which case I’d *censored* all the *censored* and then *censored* the *censored*!

4. Who would you like to do a collab with (real or imaginary)

Do you mean “collaborate” in the physical sense? Because I’ve got a list of waifus who I’d like to do the ‘horizontal collab’ with? …Oh you mean on my blog, ahahaha… why didn’t you say so… ahem… I could collab with any of the vaguely ‘writer’ types, maybe someone like Futaba from Persona 5… oh wait I’m still thinking of the ‘horizontal collab’ aren’t I….

5. Is there a character trait (physical or personality) that you always love to see?

Boobs.

And so that’s the five questions… man you have some issues… This is true.

So what now, don’t you have to nominate some people and come up with your own questions? Probably, but I’m gonna cheat and just say whoever I nominate can answer Irina’s questions instead–can’t be bothered coming up with questions of my own!

Fair enough… I suppose… so who are you nominating? I’ve got a few people in mind (not 10 though, that’s a crazy number, I’ll settle for 5)… though if you don’t want to participate feel free to ignore this! I don’t mind!
Biblionyan
Xenodude
Oishi
DerekL
Weeabros

We done now? I got places to be… Sure you do. Thanks for reading, hope these answers weren’t too awkward (but let’s face it, you’re pretty much all expecting these kind of answers from me at this point…)


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2 Neat 2 Curious (Real Neat Blog Award) – Untold Questions

An Award Tag about the Real Neat Blog Award

Hey-o! Another award! Two in fact! That’s right, hence the ridiculously lame blog title… this time I was nominated by Aldael and Shaddowcat99!

So what are the rules for this award tag?

  1. Display the award logo.

  2. Thank the blogger who nominated you and post a link to their blog.

  3. Answer their questions.

  4. Nominate 5 to 10 bloggers.

  5. Ask 7 questions.

Great! So let’s get on with the questions since there’s twice as many this time! Right! First off Aldael’s questions.

  • How and when do you usually watch anime?
    Always on the television, through the PS4’s various anime apps (Crunchyroll, AnimeLab, Funimation Now) and usually in the evening. Except on the weekends when it’s usually most of the day and night.
  • How many people know about anime being your hobby? How do they react to it?
    I don’t know that many people irl (sad I know right) but I don’t hide it, I’m proud of my geeky hobby. And whenever somebody I don’t know asks about it, I’ll go ahead and tell them that anime is my hobby until their eyes glaze over and they lose interest entirely.
  • Which two anime series you would choose to make a crossover of?
    This is a difficult question, so many to pick from! I guess I’ll go for the one that’d make the most interesting show and say a crossover between Steins;Gate and Assassination Classroom, for reasons I won’t get into lest I spoil the latter…
  • Which anime portrays food in the tastiest way?
    Probably Food Wars! Gotta love attractive anime girls in close proximity to food, wait that’s not what you meant by ‘tasty’ is it?
  • What’s the tastiest vegetable?
    My initial reaction was to say Potato, because I love potatoes (specifically chips) but thinking about potatoes aren’t actually tasty by themselves you usually have to add fats and salt and seasoning to add to the effect. So strictly based on the vegetable itself without adding anything extra, my answer would be a chilli pepper.
  • What’s the tallest place you’ve ever been at?
    Landmark Tower in Yokohama, Japan, I actually stayed in a hotel room on the 54th floor—its the second tallest building in Japan.
  • You find yourself in a middle of a desert with a lion, a jaguar, a puma and a tiger surrounding you from all the sides. Which way do you go?
    I dig down so they can’t find me and then hopefully wake up from this nightmare!

So that’s one batch of questions down, next lot please! The second lot is a bit different, Shaddowcat was inspired by the questions given to her by Lina and so they are… well you’ll catch on soon enough.

Hats?
I like the idea of hats, but hats don’t like the idea of me. Apparently my head is too big and they just look weird on me. Everyone says so… Oh well!

Dolls?
Like blow-up dolls? That’s where my head went first… but no thank you… I’ll take my dakimakura over those cheap plastic creations any day!

Pyramids?
The first thing I think of is Pyramid Song by Radiohead. One of my favourite non-anime songs of all time.

Birds?
We’ve got a pet bird, it’s a cockatiel named Bella and it’s noisy and hateful.

Dentists?
I actually like the dentists, weird huh? I never used to, I had a super bad experience when I was a teenager where the dentist was actually standing on the chair trying to rip a particularly stubborn tooth out of my mouth. Ever since then whenever I go to the dentist I just kind of think ‘nothing could be as bad as that’ and just kind of mellow out and enjoy all the attention.

Burritos?
I prefer tacos, or nachos, or enchiladas, or taquitos. But they’re okay I guess!

This Video?

I have that exact image on a t-shirt, does that answer your question? 

Well that was different, but good different! Yeah that was a lot of fun, in fact for my set of questions I’m going to do the same, mostly because it’s a lot easier than coming up with original questions, but also because it might be fun for some others to partake! But first the nominees, as always there’s no obligation to participate if you’ve already done it or are too busy or just don’t feel like it!

Slice of Alfredo
KAWAIIPAPERPANDAS
Ayappi’s Room
Biblionyan
The Animanga Spellbook

Cool, and you’re questions? All one word questions, this oughta be fun!
Square?
Lemon?
Vampire?
Minecraft?
Ice?
Disneyland?
Bones?

Suitably vague, terrific. All done then? Yep, thanks everyone for reading and thanks again to Aldael and Shaddowcat99 for the nominations!


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Fairy Tail – 100 Question Anime Review Special (Part 3 of 3)

A 100 Question Anime Review for Fairy Tail (Part 3).

If you’re still with us, what the heck is wrong with you?! If this is the first of these blogs you’re reading, best start with Part 1 and then Part 2 before reading this one!


So you’ve been dying to talk about these characters, where do you want to start? Argh! There’s too many to talk about and so much to talk about them, I don’t know where to start—so overwhelming!

Well I guess let’s begin with the main characters? What are they like, who are your favourites, stuff like that! Well as discussed Natsu is… I wouldn’t say dull but he’s the least developed, not to say he doesn’t get some great moments like the flashbacks to when he was a kid playing ‘house’ with Lisanna is very sweet, though if I’m super cynical about it, it was only to help facilitate the audience’s connection to Lisanna through him and make learning about her death and then her eventual “return” more impactful.

…Okay, I’m already confused but go on. Lucy I can relate to a lot, because she’s a writer like me! She also has some daddy issues, not thathave daddy issues, that’s a seperate point I was making. I’ve always thought it was weird that Lucy has to rely on her Celestial Spirit’s to actually fight, because she otherwise kind of doesn’t do much, she’s like a Pokemon trainer in that respect.

Is that all you like about her? Well now you’re just deliberately goading out a pervy comment, you can’t chastise me if you’re the one who’s asking! She has ~nice oppai~ there, you happy?!

I’ll never be happy… Speaking of Happy, our cute little flying blue cat belongs to a race called the Exceed. And for what could have easily come off as an annoying animal sidekick in any other show, here is an invaluable part of their team and has a lot of great character development and emotional moments!

So there’s other Exceed? Well they don’t come in ’til later in the series but every Dragon Slayer Wizard, of whom there are Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel (there’s others belonging to different guilds too—we’ll get to them if we have time) each have an Exceed. Carla is Wendy’s and she’s annoying, though that’s mostly because I don’t care for the voice actress (I watch Fairy Tail in English, get over it!) Gajeel eventually gets Panther Lily and he’s pretty cool, he can also transform into a humanoid version which comes in handy for fighting.

And who are Wendy and Gajeel? Wendy Marvell is my fifth favourite character! She’s uses Sky Dragon Slayer magic and she grows a lot from when we first meet her as a shy and clumsy girl to the powerful and determined girl she becomes, even though I think she’s under-utilised in actual stories. Gajeel Redfox is a former member of dark guild Phantom Lord and uses Iron Dragon Slayer magic also he’s a total tsundere.

Uh-huh. Should we maybe get back to the main characters? Well these are main adjacent characters but sure! Erza is total badass and my third favourite character! I just admire her strength and resolve so much, she’s an absolute inspiration—she’s also probably the strongest member of Fairy Tail, just don’t go telling Natsu!

And the other one, Gray was it? Yup. Gray uses Ice Make magic, and likes to take his shirt off. He’s also kind of a grumpy asshole, but I guess girls like the badboy type… Speaking of which; Juvia Lockser has a total lady boner for Gray but he’s just not that into her, shame because she’s kind of adorable in an obsessive and slightly terrifying way!

What’s this about “favourite characters”? You have a list? Kind of, just the Top 5 plus an honourable mention.

Well okay, let’s hear about them? Well you already know about 5 and 3. Number 4 is Mirajane Strauss, a quietly spoken, delicate waifu who transforms into a literal demon. Like she’s so powerful that early episodes has her working behind the bar rather than fighting bad guys she’s that over-powered. I mean sure there’s “story” reasons behind it but that’s totally the reason… She also has a brother and a sister in the guild.

Another diversion from what we were doing but sure why not, tell me about them? Elfman Strauss, big muscular dude with a kind heart, obsessed with being manly. To the point of concern. When he’s in his beast mode he can kind of be unruly, at one point he actually attacked and “killed” his other sister Lisanna, only of course she didn’t actually die, she was just sent to a parallel world(?) and so returns back to her siblings and the guild afterward. Lisanna’s okay I guess, kind of boring, very cute though!

Right, back on topic your 2nd favourite character? Cana Alberona! Always drunk, frequently belligerent, also daddy issues for miles. Her father is the frequently absent but undeniably charming Gildarts Clive, a super powerful S-class Wizard who saunters in when it’s convenient to the plot.

Don’t get to distracted we’re almost at your number 1 favourite character! But first an honourable mention!

Wait, what? “honourable mention”? Yeah, a character I really like but doesn’t have enough screen-time or is kind of inconsequential.

Okay, sure, who is this honourable mention of yours? Frosch! So cute! I want one! Ahh~ I love it so much! Look at it’s pink little frog onesie! The episode all about Frosch is like pure joy and wholesomeness and warmth and—

That’s enough! Who is your number 1 favourite character in Fairy Tail? Listen, I’m not usually into cat-girls—not that there’s anything wrong with that—but I just adore Millianna, sure maybe I’m not making this decision with my brain but whenever she’s on screen I literally can’t look anywhere else. I mean she’s not even in Fairy Tail! She belongs to an all female guild called Mermaid Heel and I just realised we totally need a Mermaid Heel spin-off series!

…You really are a lost cause. So anybody important you’ve missed out? Yes in fact! Makarov Dreyar is a very small, very old man who’s young at heart and filled with energy and enthusiasm, he also happens to be the Guild Master of Fairy Tail. He was a bit of a perv in the earlier episodes but thankfully those character traits seemed to die down a bit by the end.

…You’re one to talk… What?

Nothing, nothing. He also has a grandson, Laxus Dreyar who is a user of Lightning magic, and uh… he kind of wants to destroy Fairy Tail. Or at least he does until he doesn’t, I can’t remember what stops him from doing so, but there’s a really touching moment between grandfather and son that makes me unable to dislike his character, even if he is a headstrong, arrogant douche a lot of the time.

Right, jeez, there are a lot of characters… Oh you think this is a lot? Haha~ we haven’t even listed half the Fairy Tail members, son! Not to mention all the characters in other guilds and all the villain characters and friends and family of other characters, it would take more than a 100 Questions to talk about them all!

Please don’t. Don’t worry, I’m not going to talk about them all, just a few others I like.

Okay fine, go on. Levy McGarden who is among the most beautiful of the exceptionally beautiful women in this show. The only reason she didn’t get in my Top 5 is because Gajeel, namely her falling for him, it kinda makes her character less interesting. I think her characterisation suffers for having her act like a less crazy Juvia.

Anybody else? Laxus’ cronies, Evergreen, Freed and Bickslow. They’re fun, if a bit two dimensional, Freed is the best of the three though.

Anybody else? Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine, the two bickering ‘dad’s’ of Fairy Tail, I enjoy their interactions with each other.

ANYBODY ELSE? Sting and Rogue from rival guild Sabertooth are pretty cool, they also use Dragon Slayer Magic as well as Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic, I like their rivalry with the Dragon Slayer’s of Fairy Tail and of course their eventual forming of a mutual friendship.

*gasps* anybody… else… Hmm, I’m happy to stop here. At least with the character talk, I feel like I should be wrapping things up soon anyway.

Thank god, I thought this would never end. You’re such a douche sometimes…

did notice there are a ~lot~ of scantily clad big breasted attractive females on this show? That wouldn’t have anything to do with you liking this show so much, would it? It was an unexpected surprise, I assure you.

Sure sure… so how do we go about summing up some 265 episodes of a TV show in a succinct way? You want succinct, after I just spent 1500 words talking about characters?

Who’s fault is that? Besides, this wasn’t exactly a well planned out review, you know. You only decided to do this review a few days ago… Shhh~

Final score and recommendation for Fairy Tail? Even though it’s a show I came to late, had no experience with the manga and binge watched it over the course of a couple of months Fairy Tail still holds a weird nostalgic place in my heart. The first hundred or so episodes I recall fondly and the absolute joy I had watching (most) of it is unrivalled by most anime, even today. It’s not by any means perfect, it can be repetitive and sometimes stupid, but it’s also action-packed, emotionally rich, occasionally hilarious and above all else exceedingly fun. But there’s something else, something that’s continued to be true even in some of the lacking later episodes…

What is it? Fairy Tail is a show about the power of friendship and the importance of a family that’s not one bound by blood but forged in people’s love and respect for one another and fortified by common-interests. In a lot of ways Fairy Tail—the guild—is a lot like this wonderful anime blogging community I’ve found myself a part of. We all come from different places and walks of life, with different values and opinions but we share a love for anime and we respect each other and support each other because that’s what being a family is all about. And with that I say a humble and deep thank you to everyone who is supported me and my blog, thank you for getting me to 100 followers and thank you all for being you!

(Sorry to interrupt this touching moment but you forgot to give the scores!) Oh shit, um… right: Fairy Tail Season 1 gets 88 out of 100. And Fairy Tail Season 2 scores an 82 out of 100. Thank you all so much for reading!


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My Reasons Why – Untold Questions

My Reasons Why, an Untold Questions Blog.

What’s this? Good question, I’ve been selected by the lovely Irina, to participate in a tag created by Kimchisama.

Is it an award? Not as such, a similar format, but this is more of a… reflection. A chance for people to focus on the positives in their life and share them with people in this aniblogging community. Our lives are too often spent dwelling on the negatives, this tag is a perfect way to take stock of everything that makes this life worth living.

Right. So I’m assuming there’s rules? There’s always rules.
1. Mention the person who nominated you.
2. List 13 reasons why you keep going/living (This is borrowed from the book but I’m taking it the opposite direction).
3. Nominate 10 or more people to give their reasons why.
4. Use the picture that I (Kimchisama) created in your post. I’m sorry that I’m a bit bad a making these things… But I tried.

Okay, so how are we going to do this? You’ll pick up quick, just be your usual smarmy self and we’ll get through okay! Also I’m doing this in alphabetical order, makes the most sense this way.

Tch. Fine, so reason number 1? This one’s obvious but Anime & Manga, among my various passions and past times this is the one that brings me the most immediate and pure joy. A day without anime or manga is a day wasted!

And number 2? While relatively new to my life Blogging has proven an immeasurable boon not only to my self-confidence but to just general life happiness. Being able to share the things I love with like-minded individuals and have them respond so kindly is just beyond words.

Number 3? You might not know this about me but I’m a pretty damn good cook, so Cooking is number 3. I do all the cooking in my life and I love cooking for people, its satisfying to be able to make people happy with something that comes so easy to me.

Number 4? This one might seem a bit counter-intuitive since it’s probably doing the opposite for me, but Fast Food, I know it’s bad for me and the only reason I like it so much is because of chemicals and what not screwing with my brain, but then again, isn’t everything we love just the result of chemicals in our brain reacting favourably to input? Anyway that’s my excuse for the “negative” things in this list. *winky face*

Uh-oh, Number 5 then? Chemicals, hey? Aren’t they great, I do love Having a Drink. By which I mean alcohol of course, bourbon is my drink of choice btw.

You know there’s a word for people who need alcohol as a ‘reason to live’. Shut-up. I know my limits, it’s just something I enjoy is all.

Okay then. Number 6? Japan! That’s right the whole damn place, I’ve only been twice, but the most recent trip was so much fun and I love (almost) everything about it that I can’t wait to go back! The people, the food, the public transportation, the city, the country, all of it! Just please, North Korea, don’t do anything silly—leave Japan alone.

Number 7? In general, I think people should just be nicer to one another, doesn’t matter if you don’t agree with someone’s opinions, just be nice. Kindness is something that’s so underrated, whether it’s kindness to and from your friends and family, or the kindness of strangers. We all should show more kindness and I’m always appreciative of when people show kindness to me, especially when it comes from unexpected places or in unexpected ways.

Number 8? Now, I must preface this one by saying I messaged Irina to just inquire whether this one was “appropriate”, she said “I dunno”, so to my followers (especially the more ‘shy’ among you) please forgive me, I promise I won’t go into any detail. I’ll say it and we can move on. Okay, ready? Masturbation. Next!

…*shakes head* Number 9? love Music, the listening to it, not playing of course, I don’t have a musical bone in my body. Also, I don’t just mean anime music, my musical tastes are varied, running across nearly every genre of music and ranging from music from the late 70’s up until today. It’s always been a cornerstone of my life and I wouldn’t be the same without it.

Number 10? Sense of Humour is important, at least for me it is. Whether my sense of humour is something that is relatable or even inherently evident is up to the individual, but I love being able to make (some) people laugh, or even just smile. Whether it’s in real life or with my silly blog posts!

Number 11? I have a fiancé, her name is Sharon (often referred to on this blog as the ‘irl waifu’) and she means everything to me. The fact that I get to share my life with her is a treat. I’ll never get tired of and the fact that she puts up with me is a testament to how amazing of a person she is. Things aren’t always easy, but we can work through this life together.

Number 12? I don’t get the chance to be as weird as I’d like to on this blog, some people don’t like Weirdness, and that’s okay. But I love it! Whether it’s in the media I’m consuming or out in the world or within myself, I can’t help but be drawn to weird things!

And finally, number 13? Probably the thing I’m simultaneously most passionate about but least secure in sharing is my Writing, not the reviews but rather creative writing or fiction. I’ve got a lot of it under my belt but very little of it sees the light of day, mostly because I put so much of myself into the writing I worry that if someone judges my work harshly they are—in turn judging me harshly. Writing is an outlet for my creativity and imagination, it helps me work through complicated feelings and it even helped me work through a crippling fear of my own mortality. It’s an invaluable tool and an important part of my life.

Wow, that was certainly an eye-opening experience—for better or worse. Please don’t bring it up again. But yes, I enjoyed this, it’s good to focus on the positives!

So now you have to pick 10 people to do this too? Right, so as with all these types of tags, if you’ve already been tagged or just don’t want to do it no pressure. After all it can be an intimidating thing to do, especially for those who are more private about their lives. That said, these are my picks!
Jenn
Auri
Spooky
Ahogegirl
The Bookworm Drinketh
Nesha
Miyo’s Permanent Record
WeeabrosDerek
thelostvoice
TheAniMessenger

And that’s it then! Thanks for reading this, I hope you enjoyed this or found it enlightening, or just wasn’t too creeped out my Number 8. Also, thanks again to Kimchisama for creating this wonderful tag!


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The Unique Blogger Award & The Real Neat Blog Award – Untold Questions

An Untold Questions blog detailing The Unique Blogger Award and the Real Neat Blog Award.

Hey guess what?! What?

You got nominated for an award again! No way!

Guess what? Err, what?

I lied! You got nominated for TWO awards! Man, you guys are the best!

So first is the Unique Blogger Award. I guess that’s the nice way of saying you’re weird… Thanks to Arthifis for the nomination! I’m so unique I got nominated for this twice now!

Don’t let it go to your head! Too late!

So what are the rules?

  1. Share the link of the blogger who has shown love to you by nomination you.
  2. Answer the questions.
  3. In the spirit of sharing love and solidarity with our blogging family, nominate 8-13 people for the same award!
  4. Ask them three questions.

Seems straightforward enough! So on with the questions!

Question 1: What kind of show/book/anime/videogame (basically anything from the entertainment industry) are you into right now?

Oh, this is a tough one! I’ve always got my fingers in many pies (to borrow a totally innocent but crude sounding euphemism!) Right now though I’m really into Amanchu! I’m only halfway through the first season but I love it. It’s not my favourite of all time, just what I’m into right now.

Question 2: Is there anything you would change about yourself?

My crippling levels of anxiety! I’m always afraid people have ulterior motives and are out to get me, yay paranoia!

Question 3: If you only could use 3 words to describe your blog which ones would they be?

Blanket Fuck Vampire. Oh? To describe my blog? Um… Anime Question Answer?

I—I—Okay… Moving on… Something on your mind?

“Blanket Fuck Vampire”? What on earth?! It was the first 3 words that came to mind in the moment…

So now nominate some peeps. Right, so I don’t think I’ll be able to nominate as many as the award wants, so I’m just going to nominate people I don’t think I’ve seen awards blogs from(?), and mostly new followers of mine, also as per usual, if you don’t want to participate there’s no obligation!

Sirius
Zboudrie
Kingdylbag

Great, and now you have to be creative and come up with questions to ask them! So much pressure to be funny or good!

Question 1:If you had to get a tattoo of an anime character who would it be and where on your body?

Question 2: If you could do anything as a job and get paid for it, what would it be?

Question 3: Have you ever had an ‘encounter’ with an unexplained or supernatural phenomena? (UFO, ghost, etc.)

Great, and now on to the second award for this post The Real Neat Blog Award! Thank you to Moyatori for the nomination!

And the rules for this award?

  1. Display The Award Logo
  2. Thank The Blogger Who Nominated You
  3. Answer The Questions of The One Who Nominated You
  4. Nomination 5-10 Bloggers
  5. Ask Them 7 Questions

And what questions did they ask you? Some really dark ones! So prepare yourselves!

1. When you get bored at work or in class, what do you do to pass the time?

Well I’m currently unemployed, but when I was working I’d just peruse Twitter. If I had a lot of time to kill I’d work on whatever novel I was writing, just jotting down ideas on my phone. Mobile phones are the best, aren’t they?

2. What’s your go-to insult?

I’m fond of calling people ‘dingus’ or ‘dangus’ or some variant on it.

3. What song is really relatable to you (at the moment or just in general)?

It’s always ‘Ordinary World’ by Duran Duran.

4. How do you feel about small talk?

Nice weather we’re having, huh? Yeah small talk kinda sucks but I understand the need for it, sometimes it’s better than hearing strangers talk about politics and other triggering conversations.

5. Do you have a recurring nightmare/dream? (The plot doesn’t have to be the same. General themes, formats, feelings?)

I’ve been having chronic nightmares since childhood, they generally change though depending on what’s going on in my real life. Like the worst my real life is the more gentle the nightmares and vice versa. But I’ve consistently had nightmares about being in the last few weeks of high school and not having done any of my final assignments. Either that or plane crashes.

6. When you have a nightmare about being chased, what’s your usual method of escape? (Do you fly/fall/leap/run/freeze? If you fly, I’m especially curious about how flying feels for you)

Funnily enough, despite all my nightmares I don’t ever seem to have the ones about being chased. But to answer that second part I used to have dreams about flying, but it was always uncontrollable, like I’d suddenly start floating and kinda get stuck on the ceiling like a rogue helium balloon, it was fun but pretty useless.

7. Borrowed from my last award post: if you must murder someone, how would you commit the perfect murder?

Compiling tips and tricks, huh? I don’t know to be honest, I really don’t think about these kinds of things. Sorry!

You chickened out with the last answer didn’t you. Shut up.

So who are you nominating? Like the first one, I’m only picking a few, not the amount it said to, also as always no obligation to complete it yourself!

Kay Tea
Iki
Ka Chan

Great, and what are your seven questions you want them to answer. It was hard enough coming up with the three from the first award so I’m going to re-use those three and add four more.

Question 1: If you had to get a tattoo of an anime character who would it be and where on your body?

Question 2: If you could do anything as a job and get paid for it, what would it be?

Question 3: Have you ever had an ‘encounter’ with an unexplained or supernatural phenomena? (UFO, ghost, etc.)

Question 4: Who do you think is the cutest non-human anime character? (Animal/creature/etc.)

Question 5: Where’s your favourite place in your house to relax?

Question 6: What token/piece did you play in Monopoly?

Question 7: What is currently your phone’s wallpaper? (Attach an image if you like otherwise just naming it is fine too.)

Man, hard hitting questions… Quiet! It’s harder than it looks… besides my brain kept coming up with dirty questions and it was distracting!

You’re terrible. Thanks all for reading, I hope you enjoyed my answers and thanks again to Arthifis and Moyatori for the nominations!

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby! Episode 1 & 2 – Anime QandA Review (Collab with Irina!)

An Anime QandA collaboration with review with Irina from ‘I Drink And Watch Anime’ about Uma Masume: Pretty Derby! Episode 1 and 2.

(Guest Question Asker: Irina from I Drink And Watch Anime)

Matt, what even is this show? Wait I know what show it is I watched the first 2 eps too for the purposes of this collab, but you know, drinking…! Hi Irina! Welcome to Anime QandA! We’re talking about Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, which I kinda forced you to watch…

Haha, you say “forced”, I say blackmailed…. We’re all friends here. So this is what having friends that aren’t a construct of my own mind feels like? I like it!

So on first glance, some people may think this is just a loli, ponyplay, idol hell mashup but how would You describe the show? Well I know you’re just asking for the benefit of the readers and also because it’s kind of a staple of my reviews, but it’s about a starry eyed country girl ‘Special Week’ whose moved to Tokyo to attend a school for horse girls and live out her and her mother(s) dream of being the best horse girl in Japan!

‘I wanna be the very best…’

And when you say horse girl we’re not talking centaur’s now are we? No, not as such, these are just otherwise normal girls’ who also have horse ears and a horse’s tail. Oh and they run really fast too!

Certainly helps if you’re going to be a race horse girl!

***cough ponyplay cough*** Listen, I’m much too innocent to even know what that is…

Now tell me honestly, what made you want to watch the show in the first place? Cute girls! It’s why I do most things, also if they’ve got a monster girl edge then bonus!

I’m really into their hair, or is it their manes?

And did the first two episodes live up to those expectations? Well, if we’re talking about expectations of plot and character the only thing I had to go off for this series was the MAL synopsis which even now still just reads “based on the mobile game” so my expectations were pretty much zero. But it met and exceeded my expectations for being a show about cute horse girls!

My money is on the protagonist!

You downloaded the game, didn’t you? I would have if I had a Japanese iTunes account or could read Japanese…

This sort of freaked me out but what did you think of the fact that the girls seem to only have been given racing names? I think it’s cute! They’re all named after famous Japanese racehorses such as: ‘Silence Suzuka’, ‘Symboli Rudolph’, ‘El Condor Pasa’, ‘Air Groove’ and ‘Vodka’. I don’t know I just get a kick out of otherwise normal looking girls having weird names. Is that a new fetish? Uh-oh…

Irina likes Vodka, the drink not the horse.

Speaking of Uh-oh – I had a coach like that…. Yeah, I’m not sold on the coach character, I mean he at least seems less creepy in episode 2, but I mean way to get me off base right away with a character by having him rub ‘Special Week’s’ calves without her permission—twice!

Bad touch!

So why do they run in high heels? Maybe it’s like a handicap to make the sport more difficult? Though I think if the show never explains it it’s probably just someone likes girls in heels. Yeah I can see why that might seem like a bit of an unnecessary addition.

Yeah, that does sound like something their coach would suggest. I’m surprised they’re not running in mini skirts…yet… Oh it’s probably going to happen, unless the opening credits is just for illustrative purposes I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up running in their idol costumes at bigger events.

Elite athletes.

Do you have a favorite character so far? If the wikipedia page is anything to go by there is going to be a lot of characters in this show. So given the only two who’ve received considerable screen time so far are ‘Special Week’ and ‘Silence Suzuka’ it has to be ‘Special Week’! Ha – I knew it!

She’s just so ‘special’, she makes me ‘week’ at the knees…

Man, horsegirls sure are nice and optimistic! Well I don’t think that they’re all just nice and optimistic, we get that one girl in the second episode who tries to take down ‘Special Week’ in her debut race. And I think the supporting characters all have pretty distinctive personalities, but I mean yeah… it’s not like we’re going for deeply flawed and complex characters here.

You can tell she’s the antagonist because of the eye patch!

Yes the one clear antagonist is not nice. So what does “Eclipse first, the rest nowhere” mean? That the Japanese are bad at English? No, I mean I get it’s their school motto and it’s something of an inspirational quote but I think all it means is, be better than the best and leave the rest in the dust? Though it’s kind of a harsh motto if they’re trying to promote camaraderie and teamwork too. Oh that makes much more sense, I thought it was some type of deep astrophysics theory…

Google translate only gets you so far.

What’s with all the idol shows? Ah yes, probably the most unnecessary part of the show. After each race the top 3 horse girl’s perform a ‘winner’s concert’ which is basically just an idol show. I know ‘idols’ exist in various sports in Japan, like ‘Shogi Idol’s’ are a thing, but I don’t think they go as far as singing and dancing on stage. I guess this show just wanted to have both sport and idol related things in the show. Plus if it’s the voice actors singing the songs then more money from selling CD singles!

I mean of course every horse girl race turns into an idol concert.

That would be funny since we know the characters lip syncAre you buying the soundtrack? Wait did you already buy the soundtrack? I don’t generally buy Anime soundtrack’s, at least not new, just wait a couple of years and you can get them so much cheaper from second-hand sites!

What are you hoping to see in the rest of the season? I don’t know, I’m honestly not looking that far ahead. I’m just happy to take it episode by episode just like I was with Laid Back Camp–oops! I probably shouldn’t mention that show around you! Never heard of it…

It’s a sport anime, see?

Since a ‘career ending injury’ is a super common sports anime trope, do you think a girl will twist her ankle (running in high heels ‘n all) and will they have to… dispose of her like they do with race horses? Off to the glue factory with you horse girl! Or do horse girl’s get turned into something different, like lube maybe?–Oh that’s dark and perverse even for me… I take everything back – this show is pure brilliance!

Good advice. Wait, why are you looking at me?!

I take it you recommend the show? You could pretty much just look at the poster or any of the screenshots to know whether this is the show for you, it’s cute horse girls and I love their character designs and personalities, this is just totally my kind of anime. It’s not perfect and I do wonder how far they can take this show’s concept but I’m along for the ride! Ride – I get it! I smurt!

Now if you want to know whether I recommend the show over unnecessary explorative dental surgery without anaesthesia, you can find out in our exciting review of episode 3! Coming soon!

I wonder who these girls could be? Such flawless disguises!

One Lovely Blog Award and 50 Followers! – Untold Questions

An Untold Questions blog about ‘One Lovely Blog Award’ and reaching 50 Followers.

What’s crackin’? Excuse me?

I’m trying to bring it back… “what’s crackin’?” Please don’t.

Fine, so what’s going on? DING! DING! DING! Announcement! Anime Q and A has hit 50 Followers! Well, 51 as of this morning, but wow! I’m so grateful to all the people who’ve followed, commented and liked my content, it means so much to me!

50Followers

Congrats! And so I take it there’s more to this post then that an announcement? Indeed! We’ve won another award! The ‘One Lovely Blog Award’!

“Lovely” huh? I never thought I’d see someone describe your site as that but I guess it takes all sorts… Don’t be mean! Keiko’s Anime Blog was lovely enough to nominate me!

Fine, fine… so what are the rules?

  1. Share the link of the blogger who has shown love to you by nominating you.
  2. Answer the 11 questions they ask.
  3. Nominate 11 bloggers for the same award in the spirit of sharing love and solidarity with our blogging family.
  4. Ask them 11 questions that you are dying for the answer to!

Geez, 11! So many 11’s. Coincidentally 11 is my favourite number so #themoreyoukno.

So let’s get on with answering these questions! Yes, let’s!

1. Do you share your birthday with one of your favourite anime characters? (If you don’t know, use this link to check. It is in Japanese but its easy to navigate. The green box with the numbers are the months so that’s where you start. The days will appear once you choose your month and then you’ll get a list of characters.)

Nope! I know my birthday is close to a few of my favourites, but no favourites on the actual day.

2. Following on from that, do you share your birthday with a character you dislike?

Well, seems like most of the characters I share a birthday with are from anime I don’t watch or who are boring side characters, so if I had to pick the most disliked out of the bunch it’d be Ishida Keigo from My First Girlfriend is a Gal, very forgettable and boring character.

3. If you could be the protagonist of an anime, what type of protagonist would you be and what would you call yourself?

I’d be a super nice guy at the centre of a harem, and I’d be called Saboten-kun.

4. If you were a pirate, what would you be called?

Arrrgh! I be Cap’n Weeb-beard the Pervy! (Sorry that was terrible…)

5. You have been transported to the times of King Arthur. Who would you be?

Was King Arthur fictional? I know so little about this particular period… um, can I be Merlin? Magic seems pretty OP.

6. Following on from that question, what would your choice of weapon and horse be called?

A magic wand, 10¾” long, made of vine wood, and possessing a dragon heartstring core (NERD) and my horse would be Centorea (PERV).

7. If you were caught outside in a snowstorm, what would you do?

Well I know what I’d do if I was caught in a Sandstorm. *dances*

8. What one thing are you proud to own?

I had to think about this for a long time, because while I own a lot of things I’ve never really thought about being ‘proud’ of any of said things, I mean I like the things I own, but proud? Huh… this kind of gave me the (sad?) realisation that there’s nothing I’m proud of that I own. Nothing physical or tangible at least.

9. What’s the weirdest song you’ve ever heard?

I guess it depends what the individual deems as weird, I like weird stuff so something that’s pretty normal for me might be weird to you. Ummm…

10. Have you ever started watching/reading something and forced yourself to finish it despite it being terrible? If so, what was it?

Well I have a rule about not dropping shows so yes, I’ve watched some pretty bad shows. None of I reviewed on the site before though because I tend to prefer writing about things I like as it makes me happy, but I should probably get around to some more negative reviews lest everyone think I like everything I watch. The worst anime I’ve watched all the way through is ‘Wanna Be The Strongest In The World’.

11. What anime are you planning to watch from the spring season?

My Hero Academia 3, Steins;Gate 0, Tokyo Ghoul:re, Food Wars 3 (part 2), Gun Gale Online, High School DxD Hero, Persona 5 the Animation, Devils Line, Mahou Shoujo Site, The Caligula Effect, Jikken-hin Kazoku: Creatures Family Days, Dorei-ku the Animation, Lostorage Conflated WIXOSS, Mahou Shoujo Ore, Comic Girls, Uma Masume: Pretty Derby, Tachibanakan Triangle, Alice or Alice, Hisone to Maso-tan. Plus some more probably…

Phew! We made it through… wait how many shows are you watching next season?! A lot. At least that’s the plan anyway!

Yikes! Oh wait, that effects me too, doesn’t it! That’s right! More work for you buddy!

Right, so back to the awards post, you have to nominate 11 people now! ‘Kay, so by now I’ve probably nominated everybody I follow for one of these types of awards, so sorry if there’s a double up! Also, there’s no obligation to do this yourself if you don’t have the time!
Auri
Jiraiyan
NegativePrimes (curiouslydeadcat)
Moyatorium
Ameithyst
TheSpookyRedhead
Nesha e
Lindsey
Shokamoka
ChaoticLass
Tessa Who was officially my 50th Follower! Thank you!

Okay and now 11 questions! Okay then! Forgive me if these questions are a bit lacking, this has been a long post to write!

  1. What’s your favourite thing to drink on a cold Winter’s day?
  2. What’s something that you used to love as a child (food, show, anything) that you don’t like now?
  3. Where do you watch the majority of your anime? (TV, computer, smart phone)
  4. If you could have any item from an anime be real and only you’re allowed to have it, what would it be?
  5. Do you collect anything? If so what?
  6. If you had to describe yourself in a song lyric (or whole song) what would it be?
  7. Do you own any anime figurines? If not, what character would you like to have as an anime figurine?
  8. Say something negative about something you love.
  9. Say something positive about something you hate.
  10. What’s one anime you wish would get another season?
  11. You’re having a dream where you’re walking down a path across a field and the path forks off. One path goes into a grove, the other goes into a forest. Do you 1) Go to the grove, 2) Go to the forest, 3) Turn back.

That last question was a little weird… I’ve been reading ‘No Matter How I Look At It It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular’ and so it got stuck in my head.

Right, well that’s it then, all criteria fulfilled! Yay! Thanks again to Keiko for the nomination and thanks all for reading!

Real Neat Blog Award – Untold Questions

An Untold Questions blog regarding the ‘Real Neat Blog’ award.

Guess what? What!

Someone thinks you’re ‘real neat’ enough to get an award. Do they think I’m hip and happening and far out and outta sight, too?

Or maybe they just think you’re ‘neat’ as in ‘tidy’? I will also accept that.

But seriously you were nominated for another award ‘The Real Neat Blog Award’ (again)! Somehow I feel like that should read the ‘Real NEET Blog Award’ seems more appropriate all things considered.

I don’t know what that means. Quiet, normie!

Anyway… The Spooky Red Head nominated you! Truly the spookiest of redheads! Thanks for the nomination!

You know the drill, rules plz. Right, 1. Display The Award Logo, 2. Thank The Blogger Who Nominated You, 3. Answer The Questions Of The One Who Nominated You, 4. Nomination 5-10 Bloggers, 5. Ask Them 7 Questions.

Thems the rules! “Thems?”

Shut up, let’s just get to the questions…

  1. Do you have a favourite Care Bear?

That’s like asking if I favourite child! No, I have no children and I have no care bears that I care for, NEXT QUESTION!

  1. What about a favourite My Little Pony?

Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated here? No I’ve never masturbated to MLP hentai, no matter how much you torture me I’ll never admit to it in a court of law! But seriously, no, I do not partake of the “pony”.

  1. Who’s your favourite sailor scout?

Whichever one was gay with the other one, the one where in the English dub they made them sister’s because… “we shan’t dare have something as debauched as same sex relations on this cartoon!” Yeah but I never watched much Sailor Moon either! Talk about the trifecta of animated shows I’ve never watched! 

  1. What genre of music do you like?

I like all genres, except country. Literally, just a look at my iTunes playlist it’s 8000+ tracks of the most random musical choices. But if I had to pick one genre it would be ~alternative~

  1. Do you have a favourite animal?

Do monster girls count? Because I’m partial to a snake girl, bird girl, horse girl and spider girl from Monster Musume… if not and you mean actual boring ass non-anime animal, then I dunno, a flamingo I guess…

  1. Favourite subject in school?

English, because I got to be a smart ass. And Japanese because I am become weeb.

  1. What’s your favourite Disney movie?

What makes you think this ‘Frozen Heart’ of mine likes Disney movies? Just ‘Let it Go’ already… ‘For The First Time In Forever’ I don’t have an answer, okay?

And that’s all the questions now? Yup.

So now you have to nominate 5-10 bloggers! So I heard… right so I nominate:

@negativeprimes (Curiously Dead Cat)

@wdbox (YahariBento)

@jiraiyan (Otaku Orbit)

@keikosanimeblog (Keiko’s Anime Blog)

@magicconan14 (Animanga Spellbook)

To those nominated just know there’s no obligation to make a post, I know things are busy for everyone, just take it in your stride. And to those I’ve neglected to nominate, SORRY! It’s hard to keep track!

And now you have to come up with 7 questions to ask them, no pressure to be interesting and funny FYI… FFFFFFFFFFFUUUU…

Questions? Right, so the questions are:

  1. If you had a BILLION money (currency of your choosing), how much of it would you spend on anime/manga?
  2. What’s your favourite Pokemon!?
  3. Do you play video games? If so what’s your favourite? (Or one of your favourites)
  4. If you could go back and time and tell your child self one thing, what would it be?
  5. How much money would it take for you to walk around the streets of your country’s biggest city holding a dakimakura (body pillow) of your favourite anime character?
  6. What do you like to put on your ice cream?
  7. What’s the meaning of your life? #toodeepforme

And that’s it is it? I think so! Man these award blogs are too much fun! At this point I think I’ve nominated nearly every one of my followers so from here out expect some repetition in who I nominate! Time to sleep now!

Goodnight. ‘Night.

5 Things I Learned or Want to Learn From Anime – Untold Questions

An Untold Questions blog about Things I Learned or Want to Learn From Anime.

And this is? I straight up stole this blog idea from RemyFool, but basically it’s just a list of 5 things that, like the title says, I learned or wanted to learn because of Anime. It’s like a thought exercise or something…

Okay… so this is just a blog post and not an awards thing or review. Yeah! Pretty much, I mean when I want to talk I’m gonna’ talk!

Should I be worried? Well if things get a little R-rated, a little risqué, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Fair enough, so what’s the first thing?

#5        (I want to learn to…) Write a light novel.

ASister1.jpg
This quote applies to SO many things in life.

This one seems obvious, at least to me. I’ve written a novel, but a western novel, and as much as I love it for what it is, a part of me just desperately wants to write a light novel for Japanese audiences (and of course Western otakus). I’ve got a few ideas that are itching to get out, but of course the hardest part is actually getting started and sticking with it. (Anime that evoked this reaction: A Sister’s All You Need, Eromanga-sensei)

Light novel, huh? I bet it’s something perverse knowing you… Shhhhh.

#4        (I Learned…) How to cook Japanese food.

ToradoraRice.png
Rice cooker is king.

I’ve always been a bit of a gourmet, I do all the cooking at home and that’s no exaggeration; the kitchen is mine and will always be mine! Watching anime though taught me a lot more discipline in the kitchen than I was used to and my cuisine has improved all the more for it. Also my love of rice has increased a hundred fold because of anime! (Anime that evoked this reaction: Food Wars, Toradora, Himouto! Umaru-chan!)

Okay there rice boy, what’s next?

#3        (I want to learn to…) BE MYSELF! 

Boobs1.jpeg
Yes, that’s me, admiring the oppai that adorns the streets of Akihabara.

When I was last in Japan and specifically Akihabara I felt so at ease with who I was that it was like a revelation. But then returning to the west I became introverted again, afraid of admitting who I was to the outside world. Yes I still wear anime shirts to the grocery store, sporting best girls on my phone case, but I’m still super aware of people around judging me for it. I just need to learn to be myself and not care that someone is looking at me weird for it. (Anime that evoked this reaction: A Sister’s All You Need, No Game No Life, OreImo, Yuru Yuri, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid)

I’m judging you, but not because you’re an anime fan, but because you’re a pervert. There’s a difference. You ain’t seen nothing yet!

 

#2        (I learned…) that nipples are really sensitive!

Dxd1
Yes. Yes I do.

Okay this one is kinda dumb, I just wanted to say something rude… but you know what, anime seems really obsessed with the power of stimulating a woman’s nipple! Maybe it’s just because they’re allowed to show a nipple being “entertained” but not the other spot of a woman that is sensitive to touch. But yeah, the nipple can produce a pretty strong reaction, that much I’ve learned for sure. #TMI (Anime that evoked this reaction: Valkyrie Drive, High School DxD)

Good to see I wasn’t off base with that pervert comment before… It’s just the human body, man! There’s nothing perverse about it, man!

Quiet, hippy! And what’s number one, dare I ask?

#1        (I want to learn to…) Live a life that’s not dependent on corporations. 

No-rin1.jpg
The simple life, with not a Paris or Nicole to be seen!

This one is perhaps the most unrealistic, and the most vague, and the most not me. I mean, who am I kidding, I love being able to buy anything online at the touch of a button, or have the convenience of fast food chains to feed me or something as easily forgotten as the worlds entire knowledge on a phone. But a part of me wants to live the simple life, a life not ruled by schedule and not assisted by powerful corporations that offer the world at the expense of something personal. (Anime that evoked this reaction: No-Rin, Dagashi Kashi)

I kind of feel like you cheated with this list. What do you mean?

Well, there’s certainly a lot of abstract concepts here. I expected things like ‘I want to learn how to play Shogi’. Oh but I do want to learn to play ‘Shogi’! Except, well I know I won’t because I haven’t learnt actual Chess, so Japanese Chess is just as unlikely.

And it wasn’t particularly R-rated, either… Well it’s not like I can learn how to be in a monster girl harem. That’s a precious gift that few are afforded!

Well that’s enough of this for today! If you got this far, congratulations! And feel free to steal this format of questions like I stole it from RemyFool! Thanks for reading!