Welcome to My 5 Favorite Anime Blog Posts from 2022 Week 42!
Every week, I visit about 325 anime sites looking for posts that celebrate amazing moments in anime or otherwise blow me away with their wit and charm. The ani-blogging community constantly produces a lot of these posts. I hope this list helps you find some of them!
You can see a list of the sites I check here: Massive List of Sites!
Anime Evo
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – 01 [First Look]
Back in the day, I remember watching Bleach with my daughter. I remember watching Ichigo Kurosaki get closer to Rukia Kuchiki, and I remember the first time Byakuya Kuchiki used flash step to dang near killed Ichigo. When that series hit, it hit. I got to episode 96 or so before I couldn’t keep up. The Bount arc did me in. But those earlier episodes always stuck with me, because of the show itself, the soundtrack, and the fact I got to share it with my daughter.
My daughter’s grown up now. In fact, I expect my grandson to visit Sunday. Little dude has more energy… Okay, before I start sharing pictures of the little guy, let me force myself back on topic. Bleach. It restarted recently with the Thousand-Year Blood War arc. And I have to tell you, I had no idea nostalgia could be that strong. What do I mean? Well, instead of risking me veering into the wrong topic again, let me direct you to FlareKnight’s post on the site Anime Evo. He did a fantastic job of capturing exactly why I so enjoyed watching this first episode. See if he talked about what you liked!
Anime Herald
HOW HEALER GIRL CALMLY CREATED A NEW WAY TO BE MAGICAL
Every once in a great while, a show comes along that blows so far past my expectations that it’s best described as a measurement in light years. I thought I might, just might, enjoy Healer Girl. If you read my reviews, you know I didn’t just enjoy it. I enjoyed it quite a lot. So much so, in fact, that I didn’t bother trying to figure out why. It drew me into its moments so deeply I just wanted to experience it without thought. The show wanted me to show me something beautiful, and I was more than happy to be a willing participant.
But art is art, and just reviewing a series with gushing prose isn’t as helpful as I’d like. It can be inspirational understanding why a series evokes the reaction it does. If that understanding can be placed within the context of a particular tradition, so much the better! That’s the kind of review I found when I read Ayumi Shinozaki’s on the site Anime Herald. I had been content to simply bask in the Healer Girl’s warmth. But after reading Ayumi Shinozaki’s review, I can place that glow in its context — which makes the experience even more up-lifting. See if you agree!
I Drink and Watch Anime
Spy x Family episode 14 – Future Family
Over on I Drink and Watch Anime, Irina has a knack for capturing the essence of an anime and sharing that essence in a very inviting and warm way. That puts Irina in a perfect place to review SPY x FAMILY. As proof, let me point you to her review of episode 14. She celebrated this episode from her unique perspective, and I can tell it was effective using a very simple measure: I loved the episode before I read her review, and afterward, I loved it even more. That’s exactly the kind of review I want to celebrate here! See if you get the same impression!
Shallow Dives in Anime
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners: Now that’s PUNK.
Have you seen Cyberpunk: Edgerunners yet? I’m watching it now. When it comes to science fiction, I have high standards. In fact, I’m a bit of a science fiction snob. When it comes to animated or live action, one of my reference works is Bladerunner (the director’s cut). I compare any series that purports to show a “gritty” or “dystopian” future to Ridley Scott’s masterpiece. Is that fair? Heavens, no! But when it come to science fiction, “fair” is not interesting to me. Excellence is.
Well, I did say I’m a snob.
I haven’t finished Cyberpunk: Edgerunners first. So I can only present my opinion as unfinished. But I’ll say this: most of the series that try to capture a dystopian future fail (in my opinion obviously) in one respect or another. Cyberpunk managed to avoid those obvious failures. I mean, come on: even Bladerunner, my bellwether, had distinct lack of fleshlights. Cyberpunk doesn’t have that problem! But given there’s no “fleshlight scale” of dystopian future excellence, we have to judge this series by other standards. That’s why I was happy to find Dewbond’s review on the site Shallow Dives in Anime. He applies his usual even-handed, thorough approach to reviewing this series. If you’re at all curious about Cyberpunk, this is the review for you!
Starting Life from Zero
Toradora: The Taiga and the Dragon
I mentioned that I’m a science fiction snob. I’m also a Toradora snob. Generally speaking, I don’t like rom-coms, but Toradora is one of my all-time favorite series (which reminds me: I need to induct it into the Caw of Fame at some point). Which means, if I celebrate a post about Toradora, it means that post had to meet my arbitrarily high standards. Which happens to be exactly what Mari’s post did on the site Starting Life from Zero. I think this review did an outstanding job of encapsulating why Toradora is still worth watching despite having aired back in 2008. What made it so interesting? Check out the review to find out!
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, 5-11 October 2022: How Jump+ Artists are Paid, Sexism in Gundam, and Paternity Leave in Japan
- Lesley’s Anime and Manga Corner: Anime and Manga Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (October 14, 2022)
Oh, I’m totally going to read the post about Healer Girl! I really liked that anime, but I didn’t see a lot of talk about it in the blog-o-sphere. Thanks for spot lighting this post!
That post did a great job of capturing the series’ heart! The series is one of my favorites for the year, at least so far!