The real world is a scary place.
Not because it’s full of monsters, though we’ll get to that. It’s scary because it’s full of other people. Because it’s full of risks, and setbacks, and harsh truths. It’s scary because to truly look at it, you have to first look at yourself, and acknowledge what you see. Engaging with the real world means acknowledging and embracing every ugly, selfish thing that makes you You, and being honest with yourself is the hardest, scariest thing of all.
http://youtu.be/phKa8P9VSt0
More rambling about the year in review, this time covering our favorites from the Summer and Fall seasons, including Monogatari, Uchouten Kazoku, Kyousogiga, and whatever everybody else cared about. Also Kill la Kill, Gatchaman, White Album 2, Samurai Flamenco, etc.
Once again, you can find a list of all our many participants and a timestamp breakdown over at Deadlight’s blog.
Only a few shows actually aired this week, but they were all finales, so it managed to be a pretty heavy week all the same. Let’s run down some sad, sad endings.
It was likely a practical, scheduling-minded choice to air Kyousogiga in the fall, but it certainly made for an appropriate ending. As the show drew to a close, so too did the year itself, the season’s promise of family and renewal mirroring Kyousogiga’s own humble themes. It’s a rare show – though it mirrors this summer’s Uchouten Kazoku in a number of interesting ways, perhaps the most review-relevant parallel is that it’s one more of those occasional glimpses of how good anime can actually be. It’s a world unto itself and a message both personal and universal. I’m sure I could ramble on it at length, but the show demonstrates its own strengths freely, so I’ll try to keep this concise.
http://youtu.be/-TITj1FIPEo
On another podcast! This time we’re discussing the year in review, including bits on basically any show that managed to sneak onto anyone’s top 10 list. Meaning everything from my actual list gets rambled about, along with Crime Edge, Hataraku Maou-sama, and almost everything else I watched. This first video covers up through the Spring season!
You can see more info/show timestamps over at Deadlight’s blog.
And here we are at the last episode. We’ve had a fantastic arc to send off a fantastic season, and I’m very ready for Kaiki’s Last Stand. If this is his last story, he couldn’t have fabricated a better one – and even if he’s lying, he’s selling it well enough that I’m sure he’d consider it more valuable than the truth. Which, even outside the context of Kaiki’s philosophy, has always been one of the points here – as Kaiki said last episode, sentiments are only meaningful in the context of a personal reality. Is an unvarnished, “objective” world really more truthful than seeing the world through a given character’s personal reality? Nobody actually lives in that objective world – it is a commonality that is true to no-one. Much better to tell the truth through the lie of a personal, self-influenced reality – at least that is true to someone.
Anyway. Be it either Nadeko or Kaiki, it’s looking like someone’s personal reality is about to draw to a close. I hope you’ve enjoyed this walk through the personal reality of my experience of Monogatari.
And so 2013 comes to an end. This has been a big year for me in blogging, what with it being my first year in blogging, and so a lot of these shows hold a possibly unreasonable place in my heart. Nah, I don’t think that’s actually true. I think we’ve just had a great year, and that blogging really has done what I always wanted it to – force me to apply a more critical eye to my media, which, contrary to popular belief, has actually made me appreciate my favorites even more.
And there sure were plenty of favorites! As I said, this has been an excellent year in anime, with tons of genres, styles, and themes represented by stylish, confident productions. If this is your first time checking the blog, let me introduce myself by saying I’m a horribly biased shithead who wouldn’t know a good action show or comedy if it comically murdered me. I like people, and I like ideas, and my list reflects that (if you’re looking for Attack on Titan or Maou-sama, you can find my reviews of those here and here). I like to think I’m pretty good at telling good writing or direction from bad, but everyone has different things that appeal to them, and so you can consider the numbering here a mushy compromise between favorite and best, though the list overall encompasses both. I’m not gonna give you synopses here – if you’re interested, each title links to that show’s description, but that’s not what you’re not paying me for. These comments will cover why I loved these shows. I was aiming for a top ten, but when compiling the list, the shows that immediately bubbled to mind ended up numbering twelve, and instead of arbitrarily cutting two off I’ve decided to honor them all. Also, I’m only counting shows that ended in 2013 here, so no Kill la Kill or other half-finished two-parters. So here it is: my top twelve anime series of 2013!
Somewhat busy with family time at the moment (I got nice things!), but not so busy I can’t run down a tumultuous week in anime! Shows ending, shows immolating, some satisfying finales and some dramatic lead-ins to second cours. Presents for everyone this holiday season.
So, uh, two episodes left? Apparently reports of the season’s ending have been vastly exaggerated. Not that I’m complaining – two more episodes of self-actualized Hanekawa, grumpy hero Kaiki, and crazy-ass Nadeko sounds good to me. Let’s roll!
All good things must come to an end. I think I’ll be able to take this one a little more gracefully than Uchouten Kazoku – at this point, it’s actually a nice feeling to see great shows finish strong. That doesn’t end our engagement with them – the best shows can be watched again and again, our relationship with them enriched by sharing them with others. Additionally, sales or no sales, Kyousogiga marks the creative debut of a great new director, which is always something to be celebrated. I don’t want this story to continue – it’s come back around to where it began, and I’m very ready for it to end well.
