Tag Archives: Monogatari

Nadeko Medusa – Review

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THAT’S RIGHT. I’m now ANN’s resident Monogatari specialist. I was really excited to write this one, and am really happy with how it came out – I feel like I finally got to stretch a bit in my writing at ANN, and am looking forward to doing big damn riffs on the rest of the season. I already covered Nadeko to a degree in both my season two episodic posts and final essay on the series, but it’s nice to have a full piece to dedicate to both her character and the really compelling ways this arc portrays and develops it. Fun times with our favorite crazy snake girl!

Monogatari

Hanamonogatari and the Crossroads

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“When they love you, and they will
Tell ‘em all they’ll love in my shadow.
And if they try to slow you down
Tell ‘em all to go to hell.”
– Japandroids

Kanbaru knew who she was, once. She was a runner. A basketball star. A girl in love. She was somebody, at least – a specific person. There were things typical of her; she knew where she stood and where she was running to. But at the beginning of Hanamonogatari, her path has shifted from a fixed track to an open field – her past offers no clues, her future holds no direction. She’s not a basketball star anymore. Her schoolgirl crush has shifted to respect for an absent friend. All that’s left now are hard choices, and a heavy rain of insistent, contradictory advice.

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Top 30 Anime Series of All Time

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Yep, I’ve finally put together a top shows list. As I hopefully made clear in part one and part two of my critical biases post, this is obviously my list – it represents the things I think are most valuable in stories in the way I think they’ve best been articulated. It’s also just a list of shows I enjoy – there’s no hard criteria here, so I wouldn’t stress the numbers too much. Also, it’s a bit front-loaded – I only started watching anime seasonally about two years ago, so the last couple years are disproportionately represented. Incidentally, I’m not including movies here either – I think direct comparisons between shows and films are a bit of a stretch, but if they were included, this list would certainly be somewhat different. And finally, I’m absolutely (and thankfully) certain this list will change over time – there are still piles of widely beloved shows I’ve never seen, so I’m sure the current rankings will be filled out in the years to come. So with that all said, let’s get to the list – Bobduh’s Top 30 Anime of All Time.

-edit- I have now created a Top Shows Addendum for shows that have either fallen off or just barely missed this list. Please enjoy these additional almost-top shows!

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Monogatari and the Monster Inside

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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.

Monogatari is a story about liars.

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Fall 2013 – Week 13 in Review

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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.

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Monogatari S2 – Episode 26

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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.

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Top Twelve Anime of 2013

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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!

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Fall 2013 – Week 12 in Review

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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.

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Monogatari S2 – Episode 25

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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!

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Fall 2013 – Week 11 in Review

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What can I even say about this week? Everything got ridiculous. Everything got climactic. Everything got cathartic. I’ve dropped everything I was iffy on, and all the shows I’ve enjoyed are pulling off thrilling finales. Let’s get slobbery.

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