Fall 2013 – Week 9 in Review

Nothing too out of the ordinary this week. The season has settled – the good shows are very consistent, the bad shows have been dropped, and those in the middle are 2-cours, hopefully building towards something noteworthy. Running it down…

Continue reading

Fall 2013 – Week 7 in Review

This was a surprisingly stellar week in anime, considering the best show of the season decided to have a live-action tea party. All three of my other favorites stepped up significantly, each showing off with their best episodes of the season to date. Let’s run those down!

Continue reading

Fall 2013 – First Half in Review

Welp, halfway through the season. I’ve loved, I’ve lost, I’ve found new favorites and forfeit significant respect for old ones. Overall, this season easily eclipses the last three in terms of purely watchable shows, though its top tier is fairly similar in size to last season’s. But then again, that “watchability” level might just be a sign of my entertainment standards dipping, so I guess I have nothing valuable to tell you! On that note, let’s run down the list.

Continue reading

Fall 2013 – Week 5 in Review

I almost feel like this entire season has had an overall theme for me – entertainment. Normally, I only watch 3-4 shows in a season, but I actually find all of those shows stimulating in some way – involving some degree of give and take. Last season, Eccentric Family, Gatchaman Crowds, and Monogatari all actually engaged me, providing interesting ideas and conversations along with their great aesthetics. I wouldn’t finish an episode and think, “well, that was fun” – I’d actually be doing fist pumps about how great this medium is, and how well those shows were handling their ideas. This season? There’s an awful lot of sound and fury. Which is fine, for what it is, and I’m not saying every show is that way – intelligence is more than just thematic density, after all, and I think most of these shows are smartly written. In fact, maybe the difference here is that this season has a lot of strict entertainment in the styles that actually appeal to me, considering the glut of self-aware comedies and smartly constructed action/adventure shows and whatnot.

Maybe I’m just developing shit taste.

Who knows.

Continue reading

Podcast: Anime News, Fall Romance, and the Year to Date

So yep, I was on this week’s FAPcast with Kevo and Aeroblip of Desu ex Machina and Kelloggs of Pedantic Perspective. Lots of rambling on recent news (including thoughts about some encouraging western outreach stuff), the year in anime, and this season’s big romance standoff of Golden Time and White Album 2. Here’s the link again – check it out if you want to hear some more off-the-cuff stuff, or just listen to my uplifting, sonorous voice.

Image

Fall 2013 – Week 4 in Review

It’s pretty remarkable (and, from a writing-about-anime perspective, frankly intimidating) how well this season is holding up. Maybe it’ll just take a couple more weeks or something, but so far virtually none of the shows I initially enjoyed have fallen apart, and some of them have actually improved. Currently I’m impressed by as many shows this season as I was by pretty much the entire rest of the year to date. Running it down…

Continue reading

Fall 2013 – Week 3 in Review

Unless three or four shows spontaneously turn terrible, this season’s ridiculous set of shows is going to kill me. I don’t even

Continue reading

Fall 2013 – Week 2 in Review

This season has way too many shows. It needs to stop that. Stop having shows.

Continue reading

Fall 2013 – Week 1 in Review

Dear lord. Alright, let’s… let’s try to do this.

Continue reading

Fall 2013 Season Preview

I am kind of absurdly hyped for this upcoming season. My favorite studios, my favorite writers… basically the only way to improve it would be if Gen Urobuchi personally gave me a new show and a puppy. This lineup is stupid. I guess I’ll run it down in order of personal hype intensity?

Continue reading