A little Toph love can go a long way.
Rule of Three Review, Caps Lock Digest: TERRAFORMARS, DENKI-GAI – Episodes 2-3
Trimming the watchlist, one censored mess at a time.
The first pair in our Fall Rule of Three Reviews were both shows that were on my radar going into the season, but which proved less noteworthy than I’d originally hoped. One is more of a tastes thing, while the other is pretty much just awful. Which is which, and how do they affect the watchlist for the rest of the season? Hit the jump to find out.
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 45-46 (Season 1 Finale)
Please keep your arms and legs inside the emotional roller coaster at all times.
It’s hard to feel tension when you know a show isn’t actually about to end, but I’ll give Sailor Moon full credit for giving its best-known side characters some truly memorable send-offs this week. From Ami’s brilliance to Rei’s toughness and even over to Mamoru’s surprisingly sweet “You are not alone” moment with Usagi, these characters died the way they lived – and died satisfactorily, too, true to themselves and their ideals to the very end.
Except, you know, that they didn’t.
Blog Carnival: “The Impact They Had On Us”
In which the Josei waxes nostalgic about the five anime that impacted her the most.
Fellow blogger Foxy Lady Ayame invited me to take part in my first ever “blog carnival,” and I thought it would be a fun way to get involved with the anime blogging community and give everyone a little glimpse into my personal anime history.
The goal of this list isn’t to discuss favorites or “best” series, but to talk about the anime or manga that had the biggest impact on us. I opted to just do anime since I’m notoriously long-winded and these got a little wordy. What surprised me was how varied the impact of these shows was – some of them I listed because of how they affected my involvement with the anime community (both IRL and online), some because of how they affected my own writing, and others because they changed the way I viewed art and fiction in general.
And oh, look, I’m being long-winded again. I’ll stop preamblin’ and get to the list. Hit the jump for the shows that (in roughly chronological order) made me the nerdy, over analyzing lady writer I am today.
Review: The Legend of Korra – Book 4, Episode 2
Panning the Stream, Sequel Edition: Chaika the Coffin Princess, Yowamushi Pedal, Psycho-Pass
Reunited – and it feels so good.
I was going to knock out all my sequels in one fell swoop, but since the new Mushishi doesn’t air for another week, it made more sense to go ahead and get these (re)Meet ‘n’ Greets out now. I’ve changed up the formatting to include a little information about the first season for the sake of any newcomers. I’m also keeping my overall opinions fairly short to avoid spoilers (and because I’m guessing that most of you already know what to expect). Hit the jump to reacquaint yourself with some old friends and to see if the spark is still there.
Panning the Stream: SHIROBAKO, Your Lie in April, Gonna Be the Twin-Tail
I knew you wouldn’t let me down.
No high fantasy this time (gasp!), but it doesn’t matter, because we’ve got one very good and one positively lovely premiere from two of my favorite studios today, and they’re both getting nice, long Meet ‘n’ Greets. Oh, and then I watched something ridiculous about pigtails. But let’s focus on the first two instead. Hit the jump for stories about animation, music, and the messy artistic process.
Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 43-44
It’s a hectic time in and out of the Moon Kingdom this week.
This would be the week you drop a barrage of plot bombs on me, wouldn’t it, Sailor Moon? It’s not enough that I’ve got Fall anime premiere week, the return of The Legend of Korra, and a mess of family engagements—oh, no, you had to go and add “Moon Kingdom Backstory Episode” to my to-do list, didn’t’cha?
In the interest of getting this sucker out on time (I’ve been trying to make Thursdays my scheduled SM Review day), we’ll be skipping the retrospective and jumping straight into the recaps. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of commentary along the way. Also flashbacks. Sooo many flashbacks.
Panning the Stream: Parasyte, Garo the Animation, Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai, Trinity Seven
No, it’s cool, you guys. I didn’t really want to sleep tonight anyway.
I crammed four shows onto this list because only Parasyte is getting a full review, but boy howdy, is it a doozy. I’m still on the fence about whether or not it will make my watchlist, although this has nothing to do with the show’s quality and everything to do with me being creeped the hell out. Screw your courage to the sticking place and hit the jump for this skin-crawling Meet ‘n’ Greet.
Panning the Stream: Yona of the Dawn, Rage of Bahamut: Genesis, InoBato
Fall (much like Tahiti) is swiftly becoming a magical place.
I’m ready to call this the season of swords and sorcery, as there seems to be a ridiculous number of high fantasy series on the schedule (to say nothing of the low fantasy series like Fate/stay night). While the new shows haven’t had much in the way of “wow” moments so far, I gotta admit that if I had to choose between middle-of-the-road high school drama and middle-of-the-road dragon slaying, I’d choose the latter any day of the week. Anime fantasy is near and dear to my heart, and I’m happy to see it making a comeback on the schedule.
True to the season’s trends, this batch features a trio of stories with fantastical elements, from a pair of very promising (and very different) high fantasies to a bland supernatural school tale. Hit the jump and get excited for these two Meet ‘n’ Greets, as they’ve got the potential to be memorable additions to that lovely catalog of anime fantasy tales.
The Josei Next Door 