Welcome to my 5 favorite anime blog posts from 2021 week 38!
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 in Anime That Left Me Breathless
As the owner of the site with the tagline “Reviews and editorials celebrating amazing moments in anime,” of course I took one look at the title for Karandi’s recent post on 100 Word Anime and knew it would be interesting. First, every one of Karandi’s posts that I’ve read was interesting. Second, the topic was right up my alley! So, how did I like this post? Well, first, you can tell I liked it quite a lot because I’m celebrating it here! Second, I’ve seen all but one of the moments she cited, and the four I have seen are absolutely worth mention! The top two in particular brought back powerful memories of when I watched and rewatched those moments. See if she mentioned the moments that took your breath away!
The Afictionado
Affection That Devours: Beastars and Relationships
Tropes are a meta language. They describes situations, character types, or other aspects of fiction that are common to a specific genre or, sometimes, to fiction in general. I’ve come to think of tropes as a cultural short-hand. Presenting a trope to a reader reduces the workload on us writers. Of course, we have to be careful not to use stock tropes. We want to spruce them up or subtly manipulate them to make them a little more interesting without violating the core of what they mean. Unless, of course, that violation is the point.
There’s a problem with tropes, though. They are only available for concepts or characters that have achieved a certain critical experience level with the audience. That’s one indicator I use to see how wide-spread or popular a concept it. If there’s not a trope for it, then it’s probably hard to talk about. What’s fascinating to me is that permutations of some common topics don’t have tropes. Sexuality, especially human behaviors surrounding sexuality, are in that set.
I bring this up because I just read Alex’s post on The Afictionado. This post was interesting enough to read thoroughly. In fact, t was interesting enough to read twice. Time permitting, I might read it a couple more times, because I’m certain I missed some of its nuances. And those nuances are riveting. The post uses the series BEASTARS as its starting point. That’s all I want to say. My vocabulary on the topic would either be too academic or would use terms that have been politically co-opted, and who wants that? If human behaviors that are basic to who we are hold any interest for you whatsoever, I think you’ll get a lot out of this post. See what you think!
I Drink and Watch Anime
Noein: To Your Other Self – Shangri-la
Trivia time! As I started to get back into anime, I would sometimes buy a series, sight unseen, from the iTunes Store. That didn’t always work out very well. I look back on some of those series and wonder what I was thinking! I’ll just say this: Thank heavens for the quality streaming services we have now!
The trivia? One of the series I first purchased, all the way back in 2008, was Noein: To Your Other Self. I remember the main draw for me: Its world. It was a compelling mix of hope and despair, and I don’t remember many series being able to pull that off. Speaking of remembering: I don’t remember much else about the series.
That is, until I came across this post by Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime. In Irina’s typical fashion, she was able to paint a vivid image of the series in just a few words. Not only that, but she has an eye for which screen caps convey how the show looked and felt. I think it’s probably been thirteen years since I saw the series, but after reading this post, I just might add it to my rewatch list. See if you have a similar reaction!
The Otaku Author
Heaven’s Lost Property (Season One)
Do you know what series always makes me laugh, no how many times I watch it? Heaven’s Lost Property, that’s what! There are so many reasons why I like this series, and I just found this post by Lynn Sheridan on his site The Otaku Author that lists almost all of those reasons. About the only thing the post didn’t mention was how astonishingly cool Ikaros could be when she switches to Uranus Queen mode. But given everything else the post did cover, I’m not complaining! Though now I want to rewatch the series yet again. I guess that’s an occupational hazard!
Random Curiosity
Kageki Shoujo!! – 11
Hindsight is 20/20. At least, that’s what the cliche says. There’s some truth to that, though. Looking back on the Summer 2021 season, I’m generally happy with the series that I reviewed, though one is turning out to rival Taboo Tattoo for the title of My Least Favorite Series to Review. I won’t say which — though it’s really easy to guess! — but I will say which show I wish I had reviewed instead. That show is Kageki Shoujo!!.
Why do I wish that, you might ask? Well, I found a post by Gabie on Random Curiosity that describes it way better than I could — and with a more entertaining style, too! This post focuses on episode 11, but the traits that Gabie talks about apply to most of the series. See if Gabie mentioned what you like best about the series!
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!
Want to Read Favorite Posts from Other Sites?
- Anime Feminist: Weekly Round-Up, 8-14 September 2021: Harassment on Archive of Our Own, Anime Overproduction, and Anti-Discrimination Policies
- Leslie’s Anime and Manga Corner: Anime and Manga Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (September 17, 2021)
Yo know, I might rewatch Noein eventually too. I find that the aspects I liked less sort of fade in hindsight and now I’m just remembering the parts I like
That happens to me, too. I get reminded of that every time I try to rewatch Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere!
Thanks for sharing. Have you seen the second movie yet? Probably a good reason to rewatch everything first… Not that you need one!
I’ve only seen Clockwork Angeloid. Is the second movie called Eternal my Master? It looks like Funimation has it. I’ll check it out — thanks for the tip. I’d missed that it had come out.
Yeah, that’s the one. Be interesting to see what you think. I need someone to talk about it with…
On it! I’ll see what I can do!
Well, I watched it. That was, ummmm, interesting…
Yeah… interesting was a nice way to say a garbled mess. It’s like they cut half the movie!
The very beginning, then the very end, made no sense to me. What was inbetween felt like a pleasant extended episode, albeit with artwork that didn’t compare well, especially during flashbacks.
But that ending just made no sense. From the perspective of Ikaros and Tomoki and from the perspective of the world.
Also, and this might be a spoiler so I’ll ask indirectly, but did I see Mikako have a historical role? if so, on one hand, that’s kind of cool. On another hand, WTH? Just dropping that without explanation, then ending it the way they did, made me feel cheated.
I just can’t understand what they had intended to do.
Yeah, there are so many unanswered questions it was infuriating. Apparently, loads got cut from the source to make the movie, but it would appear that it was far too much.
I feel cheated for sure. It really was a terrible way to end the series.