Criticism vs. Hate

Image Credit: a-ka

“I found the romance somewhat lacking”, “the animation in this scene was horrible”, “good god what were they thinking while making this”, etc.

Sometimes, when you’re listening to a person’s opinion on a particular subject (say, a certain anime or maybe manga/VN), this person seems to go on long tangents about how a certain aspect of the story didn’t meet their expectations and continue by picking apart other qualities that the writers did wrong in their eyes, and seem to have more to say about the negative aspects than the positive aspects of the story. Jesus, this person must FRIGGIN’. HATE. THIS ANIME.

And then you realize: “No, wait… what? This person likes this anime? Not just like, it’s their favorite? Well hell, how the heck was I suppose to know that when they kept on talking down on it!”

Continue reading Criticism vs. Hate…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】16

There’s really not much to say about this episode because there’s no real conflict concerning the Clow Cards. As a matter of fact, it’s pretty relaxing, with Sakura and her family going to the countryside for a vacation. She meets and befriends a kindly old man living alone there, who in actuality, is her great grandfather.

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】16…

12 Days of Anime, Final Day: Merry Christmas!

Image Credit: sky (freedom) from Pixiv

Merry Christmas to all my readers and everyone in the anime blogosphere! Hope you’re having fun with holiday festivities and such.

This post will conclude my “12 Days of Anime” posts, but I will continue to reflect upon 2012 once New Years rolls around.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Continue reading 12 Days of Anime, Final Day: Merry Christmas!…

12 Days of Anime, Day 8: Carpe Fulgur is AWESOME!

Image Credit: buuta

While I definitely appreciate serious stories in media, more often than not, I enjoy a departure from that kind of atmosphere in favor of something that’s more friendly and innocent. Good stories don’t always have to be dark, edgy, and full of drama, after all.

For me, that remains especially true for anime, manga, and video games.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Continue reading 12 Days of Anime, Day 8: Carpe Fulgur is AWESOME!…

12 Days of Japanese Propaganda, Day 5: Right Stuf is AWESOME!

Being a starving college student and an impulsive buyer of anime-related stuff is not a good combination of qualities to have.

Boys and girls, take it from a victim, save your money for school, food, and maybe a nice car. You’ll probably get through your life smoother than me.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Continue reading 12 Days of Japanese Propaganda, Day 5: Right Stuf is AWESOME!…

Imouto birthday! Favorite little sisters in anime

Image Credit: namori from Pixiv

Hold it. Stop. Forget the holidays for a second. It’s my sister’s seventh birthday today. Because of this, I was sort of inspired to make a top-best list of cutest little sister characters, before my family decides to get all festive in celebration of the birth of the most adorkable first grader I know. Of course, I don’t know that many first graders to begin with, but… whatever!

She may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but it’s nice to have her around to brighten up the mood. Which is what little sisters are for in fiction, most of the time. At least in Japanese fiction, where the presence of a little sister character is supposed to be soothing – and these just happened to be my favorite little sister characters in recent times.

Continue reading Imouto birthday! Favorite little sisters in anime…

12 Days of Anime, Day 1: The Return of a Ronin

Image Credit: juria from Pixiv

A little less than seven years in the blogosphere and this is actually my first time taking part in a “12 Days of Anime” post-spree, a project in which bloggers recount memorable moments related to anime either this year or in general. I decided to do it about 2012. I’m pretty excited about it, mostly since I don’t really physically *celebrate* any holidays outside of buying one or two gifts before Christmas Day comes around… and taking a break from school.

I was originally planning on doing this when the REAL 12 Days of Christmas began (which is Christmas Day), but then I saw everyone else start doing it today. So, I figured, I was probably planning on doing it wrong, somehow…

Any-who, let’s get the holiday season started. *calls the Christmas Carolers*

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

Continue reading 12 Days of Anime, Day 1: The Return of a Ronin…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】15

“Hey beautiful, whatcha’ doin’?”

Sakura and Kero get into a fight, leading to Kero wandering off on his own little adventure, under somewhat involuntary circumstances (a.k.a. getting crazy drunk off of alcoholic chocolates).

Remind you of any particular recent anime series?

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】15…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】14 – Crossdressing Episode #1

Tall women get me going. *growl*

These crossdressing-play episodes are full of hilarity. There’s a “Princess Syaoran and Prince Sakura” chapter in the manga, which is adapted into a later episode in the second season, but I love it how Madhouse basically one-upped the manga by giving Touya a crossdressing episode as well.

Oh yeah, aside from hilarity, those strange fangirls probably found some sick pleasure in seeing Touya in drag.

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】14 – Crossdressing Episode #1…

The Podcast With No Name – Episode 1: Popping the Cherry

On the agenda for our pilot episode, we have the upcoming Little Busters! anime, Spice & Wolf and other light novels, Da Capo III and other untranslated visual novels, Tales of Xillia being localized, and of course, plenty of extra topics because we can’t stop talking.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 13

FML

An episode about visiting the zoo couldn’t be any stranger when it’s an episode of CCS. Giant penguin slides being turned upside down, playing tug of war with elephants, etc. Probably the weirdest (written) supernatural occurrence in Tomoeda, right next to the raining flowers!

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 13…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 12

“I’m NOT cleaning the toilet again!”

I love time loop episodes, with the exception of the anime version of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya‘s Endless Eight in which they decided to troll us with eight episodes of the same crap. Unlike Endless Eight, though, CLAMP’s lovable magical girl and her future boyfriend are immune to the memory-resetting effects of the time loop and therefore adverted certain doom. =P

Interestingly, I’ve always noticed in this episode that not only did it contain signs of Nanase Ohkawa promoting Syaoran’s role as compeition in the anime, but also alludes to other aspects in regards to a certain other CLAMP series (hint: it also contains Syaoran).

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 12…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 11

“I had thought that an angel fell from the sky.”

Translation: Hubba-hubba! Heaven must be missing an angel.

Fujitaka’s approach to pickup lines in a nutshell. So yeah, another episode dedicated to showing us how special Sakura and her mother are to Tomoyo and her mom.

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 11…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 10

I love the festival episodes in this anime, but this pales in comparison to the others. I mean, the others involved crossdressing plays, maid/butler cafés, Suppie going drunk off of sweets, and one ended with a heartwarming Syaoran/Sakura scene. This one? War of the parents with raining flowers.

Still great, though. Insight on Sakura’s family tree is always welcome. And seeing Sakura fail with her baton will never get old. xD

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 10…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 09

Is everyone from Hong Kong a giant tsuntsun?

Sakura starts her day by attempting to flatter Syaoran, telling him that she thinks his Chinese battle costume was cool and that she saw it in a dream.

Usually when an anime protagonist tells someone of the opposite sex that they “saw him/her in a dream,” they’d take it the wrong way (a la Digimon Tamers, as in a totally bad pickup line). Luckily for Sakura, she’s from a  CLAMP series, so premonition dreams can easily be explained to a character that’s savvy with magical powers and whatnot without embarrassing misunderstandings. =P

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 09…

RE: The roots of our fandom

Yumeka of Mainichi Anime Yume wrote an article where she harkened back to her childhood and examined the origins of when her love of anime first began and, of course, why it still persists in her heart today. She asked her readers if they could trace any instances of early “nerdom” within their childhoods that may have contributed to their love for anime today and if there were any obstacles in regards to the indulgence in these hobbies (home environment, parents, peers, etc.)

Instead of sharing my own story as a comment on her blog, I decided to reply to it as a post of my own.

Continue reading WALLS OF NOSTALGIA AND TEXT LOL…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 08

RAITEI SHOURAI!

Finally! Episode 8 is when the series really starts to spice things up with the introduction of our token male tsundere,  Syaoran Li.

李 小狼, Li Xiaolang. Known as “little puppy” to his fangirls (and Sakura in my head canon), and a pretty cool dude to the male fans.  He starts off providing the role of a rival to Sakura, even more so in the anime where he becomes actual competition for the Clow Cards, and eventually becomes one of Sakura’s most dependable friends (and even more than that).

Continue reading MIKOTO FANTASIZING ABOUT HIS TOYSHIP BEFORE SEASON 2…

Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 07

Sakura: The Next Leonardo De Vinci

On this episode of Cardcaptor Sakura, MADHOUSE demonstrates the true meaning of “work of art.”

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Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 06

GAAAAAOOOOOOOOOO

Haha, if ONLY this was Kero’s true form! :p

By far, one of the sweetest episodes out of the earlier ones. Pretty much any episode that has anything to do with Sakura’s deceased mom watching after her daughter in spirit is guaranteed to be a heartwarming one.

Continue reading Cardcaptor Sakura 【HD Rewatch】 06…

A way for studios to avoid bad fillers

It’s common knowledge within the anime fandom that series based off of on-going manga or light novels resort to producing original episodes, which serve as padding, in order for the anime’s story to maintain a certain distance from the original story.

However, there’s somewhat of an inherent problem with fillers or anime-original episodes. Half of the time they’re bad, sometimes they’re decent, and very rarely are they ever as good as the genuine articles. More on this after the jump.

Continue reading A way for studios to avoid bad fillers…