Every week, I visit over 300 anime sites looking for posts that celebrate amazing moments in anime or otherwise blow me away with their wit and charm. These five posts are my favorite for the week! I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did!
You can see a list of the sites I check here: Massive List of Sites!
Anime Evo
Oshi no Ko – 02
In my post last week, FlareKnight, on the site Anime Evo, gave the debut episode of the series Oshi no Ko astonishingly high praise. His post was exciting to read! But it got me wondering: could the second episode live up to the promise of the first? I haven’t been able to watch either yet, so I have to live vicariously through others! Fortunately, FlareKnight continues his streak of vivid descriptions and evocative insights. Is the series off to a good start? There’s one way to find out! Now, if I can just make time to watch the show…
Anime Feminist
Love, Power, and Safety in The Ancient Magus’ Bride
My definition of a good fantasy is The Lord of the Rings. It’s a very high bar. But from what I saw, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, in its own limited way, measured up. the more I watched it, the more I respected what it had achieved. Even better: I cared about the characters. I cheered for Chise every time she took a step forward. I felt Elias’ lonely isolation.
But in the back of my mind, I felt uneasy. I’ve seen too many slave fantasies, and I’ve seen too many real-life cases where an older man takes advantage of a younger woman. For most of the first season, I was on edge — would Elias take advantage of Chise? Or worse? I lack the vocabulary or experience to address the question intelligently. Fortunately, I found this post by Jessica Engelbrecht on the site Anime Feminist and, I have to say, after reading it, I feel a lot better. What did Jessica say? What’s her take on the relationship between Elias and Chise? Head on over to read the article — you’ll be glad you did!
Shallow Dives in Anime
Suzume: It’s an Alaskan BULL WORM!
I’ve heard a lot about the movie Suzume. So much so that I already plan to watch it! Then I came across this review by Dewbond on the site Shallow Dives in Anime. If there’s one problem I have with Dewbond’s reviews, it’s that every time I read one, my danged backlog gets bigger! Seriously, he has a knack for describing a show in a way that makes it sound like it was tailored for me! Sigh. Seriously, the review does a great job capturing why the show is interesting. So if you need another excuse to watch Suzume, here it is!
USA Anime
Oshi no Ko episode 2
I just talked about how the reviews of the first episode set expectations so high, I had no idea how Oshi no Ko’s second episode could compare. Well, the evidence is mounting that it not only compared — it compared well! This review by Theron Martin on the site USA Anime effectively builds the case. If you want proof, or you just want to celebrate an amazing anime, this article is for you!
Wrong Every Time
Bocchi the Rock! – Episode 5
Some days go by, and I don’t think back on just how amazing Bocchi the Rock! felt to me. But not many. Even putting aside the authentic presentation of Hitori Goto’s character, the show had a light-touch that snuck emotional beats right past my intellectual barriers. And I didn’t even notice until it was too late! Or just in time, depending on your perspective. This post by Bobduh on the site Wrong Every Time talked about episode 5 with clarity and respect for the episode’s nuances. It was great reliving that episode through Bobduh’s eyes! See if you have the same reaction!
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, 12-18 April 2023: AroAce Spectrum in Japan, Influential Women Authors, and Genderless Writer Arai Shou
- Lesley’s Anime and Manga Corner: Anime and Manga Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (April 21, 2023)
TCrow, after writing that theory about Echidna being seduced by Subaru, the wheels started turning like crazy, and I’m currently crafting a longer post about Echidna and all that I believe she is involved in as well as making a series ending prediction. It will probably be similar in length to my lengthy Priscilla analysis post or maybe even longer. I also doubt I will make any more Re:zero posts after the one I’m composing until Season 3 as I feel I will have gone through all that I can with the content of Season 2.
Cool!
I’m looking forward a) to reading more of your thoughts about Echidna and b) seeing how season 3 intersects with your theories.
TCrow, I have a new theory on why Echidna hates Emilia.
I theorize that Subaru, or whoever he used to be, seduced Echidna 400 years ago. I’m not going into how Subaru could have existed in that time period as there are multiple possibilities, but this is a thought experiment meant to consider the reason for Echidna’s hatred for Emilia and why Subaru might have seduced her back then.
Considering it is highly likely that Satella summoned Subaru considering that she can grab Subaru’s heart when he invokes the Taboo about intentionally revealing anything about RBD and that she can appear out of Subaru to kill Emilia or appear in the Sanctuary, Satella probably had previous exposure to him 400 years ago and knew what to do to locate him and summon him. With that out of the way, why do I believe what I do?
The most intuitive reason to me for why Echidna hates Emilia is because Subaru is hopelessly smitten with Emilia. Echidna should otherwise not have any reason to hate someone who she had never met prior to that person attempting the Sanctuary trials. If you’re following this train of thought properly, then logically, you can see why I believe that Subaru seduced her centuries ago.
Echidna did say during one of her tea parties that Subaru has a knack for seducing witches or something along those lines anyway. Maybe she was attempting to butter him up to get him to accept her contract, but maybe she was literally speaking from personal experience, and it could also be both things even. With how liberally Re:zero drops down foreshadowing, this could be another instance of that.
Thus, I believe that it’s possible Echidna lost to Satella 400 years ago for Subaru’s affection, and that is why she hates Emilia so much due to her resemblance to Satella. She transferred her hatred to Emilia, a surrogate for her hatred. Subaru, whatever form he had 4 centuries ago, was probably never interested in pursuing Echidna given how absolutely terrible her personality is, so I surmise that he seduced Echidna because he wanted to peer into her Authority, the Tome of Wisdom. He was merely using her as a means to an end.
Now, I can’t say what sort of implication this would have on the story since the anime hasn’t provided any hints as to how things are, but I believe it is highly likely that Satella in the present and maybe Subaru from 400 years had grand plans they wanted enacted, Satella with her wish to die, and Subaru from back then with whatever he might have gleaned from the Tome of Wisdom. It will be interesting to see whether or not these plans will intersect and clash or whether they actually have the same master plan assuming that Subaru did have a plan back then.
“The most intuitive reason to me for why Echidna hates Emilia is because Subaru is hopelessly smitten with Emilia.”
I’ve been thinking about that. Emilia looks so much like Satella that I have to wonder about their relationship. I bring that up in this context because I feel like (and it’s a feeling, not a conclusion) that it has bearing on Echidna’s reaction.
I follow your reasoning about why Echidna hates Emilia. I can see no flaws in your logic. It occurs to me, though, that given how much Echidna respects Satella (fears her?), Echidna would not come out and say she hates Satella. That’d be dangerous, maybe even fatal.
If there’s some intrinsic relationship between Satella and Emilia, it might be a reason for Echidna to hate her. I guess it depends on the relationship.
That’s just a tangent, but it’s something that’s been bugging me, and your line of thought triggered an association.
“Echidna did say during one of her tea parties that Subaru has a knack for seducing witches”
That wasn’t a throw-away line, was it? I have a feeling it was important, and maybe for the reason you mention — that Subaru has already seduced Satella. Again, I have no evidence for it, but it’s clear Satella’s feeling for Subaru are very real and very strong.
So, you think that he tried to seduce Echidna to get to her Tome? It’ll be interesting to see if that comes out in the story. But of all the witches, I think Echidna is the most attractive. Yes, she’s border-line insane, but it’s an insanity I can understand and sympathize with. The other witches, even Satella (or especially Satella)? Not so much!