Welcome to My 5 Favorite Anime Blog Posts from 2023 Week 21!
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!
Confessions of an Overage Otaku
CHARACTER ANALYSIS: ZERO TWO
Every once in a while, a series comes along that gets my hopes way, way up. Then, it proceeds to turn on those hopes and rips them to tiny shreds. Sometimes, I can consciously adjust my expectations and still enjoy the show, like I did with takt op.Destiny. Others so thoroughly destroyed my hopes that I couldn’t recover. It seems like the higher my hopes and expectations, the harder the fall. That was the case with Darling in the FranXX.
Zero Two caused a lot of my angst. It’s because she showed such promise! From my perspective, the show did her wrong. So much so that even to this day, I remain on the lookout for articles that talk about her — the good, the bad, and everything inbetween. Given The Overage Otaku’s track record of insightful, perceptive character studies (on the site Confessions of an Overage Otaku), I was excited to see this article. It should come as no surprise to you that it exceeded my expectations (unlike some series I could mention — oh, I already did!). If you had any affection for Zero Two, I think you’ll like this one!
The Magic Planet
Let’s Watch OSHI NO KO Episode 7 – “Buzz”
I feel like I’m saying this every week since Spring 2023 started, but I was worried that Oshi no Ko would not sustain its momentum after that first powerful episode. Oh, me of little faith! It appears that not only is not losing momentum; it’s gaining it! As proof, please let me offer this review by Jane the Anime Witch on the site The Magic Planet. While this post had a lot going for it, I particularly liked the insights about Akane. See what in the article appeals to you!
Merlin’s Musings
The Eminence in Shadow is Barking Mad!
You might notice that I seldom say a show is “good,” or “bad,” or any other description that suggests there’s an objective standard against which we can compare any given work of art. Because, let’s face it: there ain’t one. I’ve had folks try to tell me a series is objectively bad, and I therefore should not like it. Talk about a hard-sell…
Instead of pretending there’s an objective standard, I talk about why I liked or did not like a given work of fiction. Does the show inspire my imagination? Do I love (or hate) the characters? How does the series make me feel or think? Those are the important questions. That’s why I so enjoyed this post by Merlin on the site Merlin’s Musings. Merlin talked about exactly the things I adored about this show. Was the show good? Bad? Who cares? It rocked. And this post talks about why. See if you agree!
Mistakes Cheerio for Chesto
Gundam – Witch from Mercury 2: Emotional Damage
I just talked about using how a show inspires my imagination as a measure of the show’s “quality” (for lack of a better word). If a show’s situation, or a given character, inspires my imagination to begin creating mental fanfic, that’s a great sign. So, too, is a sudden craving to share my thoughts about a character. A character that can inspire that kind of reaction is worth talking about. That’s what attracted me to Spencer’s post on Mistakes Cheerio for Chesto. Suletta from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Season 2 struck a chord with Spencer, and the result was this moving combination of analysis and extrapolation — which all served to make me want to drop everything and go watch the episode! See what you think!
The Traditional Catholic Weeb
Anime Review #100: Violet Evergarden
I don’t write much about Violet Evergarden. I think the show is at the upper limits of my emotional vocabulary, but that’s not why I don’t write much about it. It’s that what I want to say about the show too far exceeds my ability. I could describe it; but I can’t say what it means to me. The title character is so precious that I can’t get the words right. The net effect is that you have no idea what I think about the series beyond generalities.
This post from Traditional Catholic Weeb on the site The Traditional Catholic Weeb brings to light a lot of the things that made the series so moving. It contains a lot of solid observations about the characters, and Traditional Catholic Weeb’s take on costumes and sets was spot on. What really spoke to me, though, was Traditional Catholic Weeb’s favorite scene. That scene is everything I love in that series, containing within just a few moments. Even thinking about it takes my breath away — literally (and yes, I mean “literally” in the literal sense — I stop breathing during that scene). See if he talks about what you liked 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, 17-23 May 2023: #EndOTWRacism, Immigration Law Protests, and Tears of the Kingdom Accessibility
- Lesley’s Anime and Manga Corner: Anime and Manga Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (May 26, 2023)
I think this time I really have exhausted all there is to talk about with regards to Re:zero.
How are you finding Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, TCrow?
I really enjoyed the first season! Haven’t gotten to the second yet, though I’ve seen some spoilers. I want to catch up with it soon.
SPOILER FOLLOWERS
At least, I think it’s a spoiler. I gather that Miorine “betrays” Suletta to protect her. That actually triggered a mini-fanfic in my brain. I could imagine a scene where Suletta lost control her her emotions and started to wreck havoc — concluding that the best way to fix the problem is eliminate it, from the source, at the root of corporations.
After Suletta wrecks most of the infrastructure (not sure how yet — details!), Miorine finally catches up with her. She tries to reason with her.
“I was just trying to protect you from this world!” Miorine said.
“Oh, Miorine, you had it wrong,” Suletta said in her sweetest voice. “Your role wasn’t to protect me from the world. Your job was to protect the world _from me_.”
Yeah, I know. I’ll keep my day job. But I liked it.
Somehow, I had a feeling you’d particularly like my review. 😉
I’m kinda transparent that way, aren’t I?
But seriously, even if I didn’t hold The Eminence in Shadow in such high esteem (along with Alpha and Beta in particular), I still would have included your post here. It’s a great example of a post that celebrates anime!