Every week, I visit almost 285 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 favorites 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!
5 Favorite Anime Blog Posts
Confessions of an Overage Otaku
HOW TO BUILD A SERIES: MY HAPPY MARRIAGE
I’ve been thinking a lot about story mechanics. I’m starting to write a new series, so things like plot, character, and tropes are on my mind. So it was with great interest that I read The Overage Otaku’s post on the site Confessions of an Overage Otaku. Using My Happy Marriage as an example, The Overage Otaku lays out the differences between a good series and a great series — where great is defined by the impact the show has on its viewer. Ever wonder about that? I do, all the time! See if you find this post as enjoyable and enlightening as I did!
Kvasir369
Ancient Magus Bride: Season 2 – Episode 15 Review
Over the first couple episodes of this season of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Part 2, I wondered two things above all else: could Philomela get any more sympathetic, and could grandma get any more despicable? Well, the latest episode answered those questions — and more! And Kvasir369, on the site Kvasir369, explored how the episode took care of business. Because of the review section and the discussion of the differences from the manga, I once again came away from the post with an even deeper appreciate of an episode I already treasured. See if you get as much out of it!
LESLEY’S ANIME AND MANGA CORNER
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: Episode 7 – “Like a Fairy Tale”
I really wish I had the bandwidth to review Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. I feel bad enough after seeing Gigguk’s video last year about the manga — I new the series would be special! Then I read this post by Lesley Aeschliman on the site LESLEY’S ANIME AND MANGA CORNER. I used to joke about my backlog; but those jokes are getting more sad than funny! But the way Lesley Aeschliman described the episode brought it alive in a way that made me wish all the more that I had time to watch it! Well, that’s what backlogs are for. See if the post helps you enjoy episode 7!
Otaku Sinh
The Craziest Plot Twist! The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 Episode 3 [Review]
I might be wrong. I know, I know. It’s shocking — but it’s happened before! I might be wrong, but it seems to me that reviewers who embrace the parody in The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 speak more highly of the show than those who don’t. Fortunately, I know many reviewers who get it, and few get it better than SINH on the site Otaku Sinh. He understands the show so well it almost seems like he has an inside track to the writer! Reading the post helped me catch little details I had missed, and it confirmed some ideas I had about key points. If you like the show at all, I think you’ll enjoy celebrating it with SINH!
Season 1 Episode 1
It’s Spooky Season! – Day 16: School-Live!
School Live! is one of those shows that I look back on and think, “There’s no way it was as good as I remembered it.” Then I’ll watch bits of it again, and think, “Well, damn. It was better.” Why is it better? What helps it stand the test of time? I’m glad you asked, because I found the perfect answers in this post by Jessi Silver on the site Season 1 Episode 1. Jessi Silver’s description brought back a lot of great memories about how the show affected me. Do you remember the show? Want to remember it even more fondly? Then you know what to do!
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, 11-17 October 2023: Landmark Trans Legal Decision, Cancelled Kickstarters, and Plagiarism Lawsuits
- LESLEY’S ANIME AND MANGA CORNER: Anime and Manga Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (October 20, 2023)
Thank you for featuring my post about Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End! 🙂
You’re welcome! I really liked the way to presented the episode!
TCrow, this is a follow-up post of when I speculated that Echidna is the source of the Gospels and that she has been influencing the world for the last 400 years.
As a refresher, I do not believe the not-quite-Tome of Wisdoms actually truly tell the future but are merely connected to Echidna’s mind, and she can freely decide what appears on those texts. Roswaal specifically called the Gospels the Witch Cult makes use of as defective variants of the Tome of Wisdom, and I believe that they are defective because Echidna herself decides what appears in them much like I proposed with the 2 copies of the not-quite-Tome of Wisdom. Whether we are talking about the nearly perfect not-quite-Tome of Wisdoms or the Gospels use by witch cultists, I believe that since Echidna is the source of one of them that she is also the source of the other one, the Gospels. This is backed up by Roswaal calling the Gospels defective versions of the Tome of Wisdom. If Roswaal’s not-quite-Tome of Wisdom actually told the true future, it would account for Otto’s actions. Since it’s a document that updates, it should be able to account for something like Otto’s presence unless Echidna deliberately chose not to allow that to happen. That kind of flaw literally should not exist in a document that can update itself on future happenings. I don’t consider a stretch at all that the Gospels are also Echidna’s creation given how Echidna’s Tome of Wisdom Authority is still active, and making something inferior to the not-quite Tome of Wisdom should be very easy for her.
Some people believe that someone else with the Authority of Greed, like Regulus, for example, is the one making Gospels in the present, but I believe the simplest explanation that they are Echidna’s creation is what is likely the reality of things. Petelgeuse apologized to Flugel-sama a long time ago back when he was already a member of the Witch Cult during a reconstruction of the past in Emilia’s first trial, which suggests that Flugel was the original leader of the Witch Cult as Petelgeuse shouldn’t have been subservient to someone else in the cult. Maybe Echidna distributed many, many Gospels to Flugel 400 years ago, and that is how the Witch Cult was founded.
I believe the purpose of the Witch Cult Gospels and Roswaal’s not-quite-Tome of Wisdom when Roswaal was trying to break Subaru and make him a clone of himself who only focuses on one desire, which in this case would be Emilia, are to create trials for Subaru, and to a lesser extent, Emilia, in order to build their confidence and self-esteem for a future event at the end of Re:zero, where I believe Emilia will choose to make the ultimate sacrifice in willingly allowing Satella to possess her to fight what comes out of the Seal in Elior Forest and for Subaru to respect that decision and fulfill Satella’s request for him to kill her, which he may have promised to do 400 years ago but didn’t when he existed in what was might have been a different form. While Subaru would literally 100% fight Emilia on that sort of decision now since he ties his entire sense of worth to her, I do believe Tappei will build Subaru up and give him achievements that have nothing to do with Emilia so that he can build a healthy self-esteem. In that scenario, he would be able to accept that kind of sacrifice from her.
I believe the Gospels just give Witch Cult members the bare minimum needed to influence them to take the action that would lead to the events Subaru, and Emilia, to a lesser extent, will have to face in the future. For example, if Regulus’s distant male ancestor needed to be at a very specific wedding to meet the one who would bear his child(ren), then that ancestor’s Gospel would direct him to be at that wedding. Similarly, the Gospel(s) of Regulus’s parent(s), assuming he wasn’t a test-tube baby, would put them on the path to meet when the time is right. Regulus likely accompanied Pandora to Elior Forest when he did because his Gospel had text that could lead to an interpretation like that. Beatrice’s not-quite Tome of Wisdom may have been empty specifically because all Beatrice ever needed to do is stay in the Forbidden Library, and Subaru would come for her one day, which is something Echidna knew would happen after enough loops. Some people believe that Echidna doesn’t know good from evil, but Echidna specifically told Subaru that she didn’t want him to think that she was the only one of the Witches of Sin who is evil, so she took away his qualification to enter the tomb, which shows that Echidna knew very well that what she said about Beatrice would be seen as evil by Subaru, which shows Echidna deliberately said something evil to help Subaru make the choice to not accept her contract, putting something else ahead of her desire for knowledge. Echidna is no monster, and I believe that there are many characters from 400 years deliberately manipulating Subaru and/or the world at large and that this isn’t limited to Pandora. Otto’s omission from Roswaal’s not-quite Tome of Wisdom would be because Echidna intended for Otto to be the key to foiling Roswaal’s plans for Subaru.
If you’ve read my entire previous post, I do not even believe Pandora is evil. I believe she is just trying to ensure that the future a group of characters from 400 years wanted to happen will happen, and her presence during the period a young Emilia lived was to force Petelgeuse to take in the Sloth Witch Factor and go insane by unintentionally killing Fortuna and have Emilia go berserk and freeze so much of the surrounding area. I believe that every action of hers was very intentional and that she knew Emilia would not open the seal at the time.
I believe part of the reason why so much of the lore of Re:zero is false is because certain characters from 400 years ago intentionally misled people for their agenda. People wrongly believed that Satella created mabeasts when it was actually Daphne who did. This was likely very intentional to unite the world against Satella one day under Subaru’s direction. Subaru’s name also happens to mean unite, and he will need to unite all countries against Satella when the time comes. Notice that Archi believed the world exists to bless Emilia and that Puck believes the world is meant to make Emilia happy. There is very much a reason for Puck to believe that given that we know Echidna is his creator since the special font in the OVA was the same as what we saw in Season 2. Echidna would no doubt specifically tell Puck that the world is meant to make Emilia happy so that he would take his task of finding Emilia seriously. If he knew Emilia were destined for a tragic end, he might not have ever looked for her or at least not as hard. As for the elves in Elior Forest believing what they did, it’d be the best way for the elves to raise Emilia with love. If they knew Emilia would freeze the whole forest after going berserk, would they have so carefully raised her and tried so desperately to protect her when Pandora and Regulus arrived during that day however many years ago it was? I believe they would have been less likely to do that if they had known. Daphne’s “reasons” for creating the 3 Great Mabeasts might not be the only reason she did so. I therefore put it out there now that she in part created them so that Subaru could defeat them in the future. Minerva being forbidden from showing her face to Emilia also reeks of something a large group of characters from 400 years agreed upon. Thus, it would not surprise me if the lore about Sekhmet trapping the legendary dragon that protects Lugunica beyond a great waterfall is another piece of false lore.
“when he existed in what was might have been a different form”
It’s been too long since I watched the series. Do we have any examples of others who have existed at multiple points in this world’s timeline?
“I believe she is just trying to ensure that the future a group of characters from 400 years wanted to happen will happen”
I can see how that could be. Decisions made back in the 1800s, for example, to prevent disasters in the 2000s could easily be seen as evil or insane. I want to know a lot more about Pandora’s motivations before I tell myself she’s either good or evil.
“and he will need to unite all countries against Satella when the time comes”
I’m still a bit unclear on why Satella is evil. Or more precisely, what makes her evil. Why is she more evil than any of the other witches? If the lore is so unreliable, how do we know anything with certainty?
You present interesting theories, as always! I feel like I need to rewatch what’s been released so far to reacquaint myself!
“It’s been too long since I watched the series. Do we have any examples of others who have existed at multiple points in this world’s timeline?”
I believe that Subaru is the only one who has been hinted to have existed at multiple points in the timeline without being long-lived. It’s speculation from me that Subaru has existed at more than 1 point in the fantasy world’s timeline. I infer it from Satella knowing specifically that Subaru is the one she loves likely indicating there is some sort of way she identifies him aside from physical appearance given characters who have been alive for at least 400 years such as Puck, Beatrice, and Roswaal have not commented on Subaru resembling someone they used to know. I have carefully given it a lot of thought to the point I have determined a way Subaru could have existed at 2 different points in the timeline without it being reincarnation which would involve a very powerful item like a magical sword or shear that can allow one to shave off a piece of one’s soul. I’m just waiting for any kind of evidence in a future season that could give me more fodder to share more of what I believe since I’m not confident enough to share more at this time.
“I’m still a bit unclear on why Satella is evil. Or more precisely, what makes her evil. Why is she more evil than any of the other witches? If the lore is so unreliable, how do we know anything with certainty?”
Satella doesn’t seem evil to me. It’s more that she she seems unhinged and uncontrollable when she manifests in the physical world as seen when she went on a rampage in the Sanctuary and engulfed most of its residents in a mass of shadow as well as reading Subaru’s fond memories of Rem and Petra leading to her deciding to head towards the mansion to exterminate them. When she manifested in Echidna’s dream world, she was perfectly sane, but that was not the physical world. We have perfectly seen first hand how much of a monster that Satella is although Subaru did call her the Witch of Envy in the physical world whereas he (I think he did at least) and the other Witches of Sin were calling her Satella in the dream world, so I don’t know if there is some distinction between them that’s not clear as of yet.
We still have so much to learn about Re:zero’s past, but one of Re:zero’s OPs/EDs in the first season referred to a promise Subaru made a long time ago and given he had met Emilia only recently even after considering his looping and considering it probably wasn’t referring to his promise to save Emilia no matter what it takes or something he promised his parents, I conclude that the promise may have been to kill Satella much like Satella requested that Subaru do in Episode 38. I imagine most of the secrets of Re:zero depend on knowing what exactly happened in the time period 400 years ago, which we should find out in due time as long as Tappei remains healthy.
” I infer it from Satella knowing specifically that Subaru is the one she loves likely indicating there is some sort of way she identifies him aside from physical appearance”
That’s a good point. Either Satella herself went to our world and fell in love with Subaru here (doubtful — he was just a normal guy here) or something like what you described is going on.
And that promise… I had a sense that Satella wasn’t so much expressing a hope as continuing a conversation they had had before. That would also mesh with your theory.