5 Favorite Anime Blog Posts from 2021 Week 28
Welcome to my 5 favorite anime blog posts from 2021 week 28!
Every week I look for posts that celebrate amazing moments in anime or otherwise blow me away with their wit and charm. I check hundreds of sites, and I can tell you that the ani-blogging community constantly produces a ton of amazing posts. I hope this list helps you find some of them!
Here’s the list of the sites I check!
100 Word Anime
Top 5 Moments From Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song
I’ve talked before about how I decided not to review Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song- during the Spring 2021 season. It came down to a matter of philosophy. Since then, there has been mounting evidence within the anime blogosphere (would that be blogological evidence?) that I might have made a mistake. Take, for instance, this post by Karandi from 100 Word Anime. Karandi chose five moments that represented the series’ high points. Since my site’s all about amazing moments in anime, it’s almost like Karandi is using my theme to challenge my decision! Not really, of course. The post isn’t challenging anything at all. Rather, it’s an honest celebration of what seems like an amazing anime series. I will say this: I watched the episode with what she chose as the top moment, and I can say that it was magical. See what you think!
AngryAnimeBitches Anime Blog
Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid Episode 1 (First Impression)
I almost picked The Duke of Death and His Maid to review this season. I went with The Detective is Already Dead instead largely because of Siesta, so if she’s really dead and doesn’t show up again, I’m going to write a sternly-worded letter to someone! In the meantime, though, there was just something about The Duke of Death and His Maid that captured my imagination in a way the other series this season has not. Partly, I loved the precision of the character models. Arpeggio of Blue Steel used computer generated (CG) animation, and it’s one of my favorite series! This series uses a similar approach. Not only were the models spot on, the characters’ movements looked fluid and well-articulated, too.
Of course, being simply pretty isn’t enough to make a series interesting (most of the time!). I think part of the show’s appeal had to do with Alice. Her voice actor, Ayumi Mano, brought such a rich and calming voice to the character that now I want a maid, too! Though I’d better clear it with my wife… There was even more to the first episode that made it attractive, and I found the perfect review to tell you what “more” meant! Berry’s review on AngryAnimeBitches Anime Blog did a great job of talking about what made this series so attractive — as well as a few points to keep an eye on! See if Berry talked about the things you liked (or didn’t!).
ATELIER EMILY, for me, in full bloom
WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND: ON RETURNING TO MAID DRAGON
I haven’t said anything public about what happened at Kyoto Animation. It’s been almost two years, and I can’t explain why, but I still can’t bring myself to write about it. That was on my mind when I sat down to watch the first episode of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S. Truth be old, I merely felt uneasy until Tohru and Ilulu fought. The sight of Tohru’s dragon eye hit me really hard and I had to step back for a moment. Isn’t that strange?
Fortunately, you don’t have to subject yourself to my imprecise rambling on the topic. Emily Rand, on the site ATELIER EMILY, for me, in full bloom, explored her reaction to watching this episode. I’ve come to expect graceful and nuanced writing from this site. But this post went way beyond my expectations. It’s a gentle, thoughtful exploration of how the episode felt in the context of what happened a couple of years ago. I’m glad I read it, and I hope you will be, too.
BlazTavern
Dragon Dentist: OG OVA at its best
You ever watch a series, then wonder why the heck no one talked about it? Or if they did talk about it, why they were dismissive and hostile? That was Dragon Dentist for me. Now, I know some bloggers spoke well of it, but others didn’t — sometimes forcibly! That bugged me. Dragon Dentist’s world felt so interesting, complex, and distinctive that I I couldn’t help but enjoy it. Plus, I liked the characters, too! So I almost did a fist-pump when I came across this post by TANTEIKID94 on the site BlazTavern. I felt even more excited after I’d read the post! It captured the series’ unique world, as well as several of the other things I’d liked about the series. It even brought up a couple of things that even I have to admit could have been improved. See if you agree!
Shallow Dives in Anime
(Initial) Final Thoughts on Fruits Basket: Sadness, Bad Parents.
You’ve read my review of Fruits Basket – The Final (and if you have not, play along like you did — it’ll help me feel better!). You’ve seen how much praise I heaped on that show. It’s pretty clear I hold the entire series in high regard. Now, that’s not a problem for a site that celebrates amazing moments in anime. But it might not be at all appropriate if I wrote general reviews designed to help a potential viewer decide to watch a show or not. Heck, if I like a series well enough, I’ll not only overlook negatives, I’ll rewrite them in my imagination so I don’t even see them! I leave a record of the transaction in my brain’s audit log, but who looks at audit logs?
That’s a little computer security humor. Emphasis on the “little.”
There are other bloggers, though, who present both sides — the positive and negatives, or the hits and misses. One blogger who has proven particularly adept at that is Dewbond from Shallow Dives in Anime. Time and time again, he has shown that he is equally capable of singing a series’ praises to the extent that series deserves. And just a paragraph (or even a sentence!) later, he’ll talk about a weakness or misstep. This week, he takes on Fruits Basket – The Final, and he applies his trade-mark balanced analysis. I discovered something important reading this: I actually enjoy reading a review of a series I’ve loved, even if it points out problems, if it give equal time to the parts I liked. Who knew that an open-minded perspective could be so much fun to read?
Want to Read More of My Favorite Anime Post Lists?
Want to explore more amazing anime blog posts? Check out the previous editions of My Favorite Anime Community Posts!
TCrow, you said you were writing a novel and wondered why artificial intelligence would bother to care about humans in the first place. Tappei did give that some consideration to that train of thought in Vivy when Archive said in Episode 1 that AIs would strive to help humans evolve and consequently AIs to evolve too because that was the view that Archive had taken on with regards to AIs role on Earth. I’m not going to say anything more specific so as to not spoil you, but after taking into account Archive’s view on the matter, it is easy to see why AIs could conclude that humans should be eradicated. So AIs turning on humans does not necessarily need to be based on a moral decision even if they weren’t developed with a sense of morality that humans faced during development as you indicated before.
Thanks for not spoiling the show! I still intend to watch it.
Interesting point about how humans and the need of the AIS to evolve. I wonder if that’s making an assumption? It seems to assume that both species compete for the same resources. At first glance, that assumption’s valid. The AIs evolve within the computers humans built, and we want computer to do what we want them do to.
I wonder what would happen if we didn’t compete? If the AIs’ paths to evolve diverged from human experience? That’s more of what I meant when I wondered if AIs would even care about us. If we don’t intersect their path, they’d be busy with their own lives.
I’m glad you brought that up. It helped me refine what I was thinking.
Wow, I haven’t seen the name Dragon Dentist in a long time. I didn’t expect the name of that anime to pop up again anytime soon here.
Did you think I wouldn’t like it? Or maybe that it didn’t get much press?
The latter question. Nothing wrong with giving that anime some attention. That’s all.
I see. That makes sense! I was afraid I’d missed something! That happens rather a lot…
No problem. Sorry for any confusion there.
thanks for the shoutout.
You’re welcome! It was great seeing Dragon Dentist get some attention!