Every week, I visit about 270 anime sites looking for posts that celebrate amazing moments in anime or otherwise blow me away with their wit and charm. These are my five favorite posts for the week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
You can see a list of the sites I check here: Massive List of Sites!
Anime Evo
Hibike! Euphonium 3 – 08
I noticed something as I’ve been watching the episodes of Sound Euphonium Season 3. The realization crept up on me so slowly that it took about six episodes before I noticed it. Watching the new Fallout series helped me realize it. Somewhere along the way, I had stopped reacting to this show as a work of animation. I had begun to see it almost as stage acting. There are several reasons for that. FlareKnight, in this post on Anime Evo, captured a lot of them. As you read this post, notice how FlareKnight talks about Kumiko, Kanade, Mayu, and the rest. I think he really captured how the show made them feel real. See if you agree!
Confessions of an Overage Otaku
OH, SO TROPE-CAL: I CAN’T SAY “I LOVE YOU”
As I watched romantic comedy showed like Toradora, there were times that I had to suppress my urge to scream at my screen, “Just freaking say ‘I love you!’ Jeesh!” I say this even though Toradora is still one of my favorite all-time anime series (which I’ll have to get around to inducting into the Caw of Fame some day). The cynical part of me knew there was an excellent reason for them not saying that — a romance ends shortly after that point! But then I read this post by The Overage Otaku on Confessions of an Overage Otaku. As if often the case, I learning something new: specifically, there’s another very good reason not to say “I love in” in these shows. You may already have figured it out. If you haven’t, The Overage Otaku makes learning fun! Go see what I mean!
D&A Anime Blog
Tanjiro Annoys a Hashira Until He Starts Training
A headline’s job isn’t to grab your attention and get your eyes on an post’s first sentence. I think the headline that Roderick J “Jay” Friz chose for this post on the site D&A Anime Blog deserves an award for Best Headline of the Week based on that criteria alone. But it also so perfectly captured Tanjiro’s character that it deserves Most Accurate Headline of the Week, too. The post is every bit as delightful as the headline would lead you to believe. Plus, Tanjiro wasn’t the only character to get the insightful treatment. So did Giyuu, as well as my favorite character, Shinobu! And yes, posts mentioning Shinobu gets bonus points!
DoubleSama
MUSHOKU TENSEI: JOBLESS REINCARNATION SEASON 2 PART 2 EPISODE 19 REVIEW
Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2 is really picking up steam. It spent the first part of the season establishing the stakes for Rudy. I gotta say, I feel for the guy. He went from the lowest of the low on Earth to having just about anything a human could wish for in this world. What’s the show going to do with that set up? DoubleSama, on the site named DoubleSama, goes into that. DoubleSama often shares insightful and thought-provoking projections of where a show might be going, and that skill’s on full display here. See what you think of his thoughts on The Labyrinth City!
SAKUGABLOG
HIBIKE! EUPHONIUM S3 PRODUCTION NOTES #01-08: APPROACHING THE CULMINATION OF TV ANIME’S MOST AMBITIOUS ACTING EFFORT
Remember how I mentioned that I noticed something as I watched Sound Euphonium Season 3? About how the show felt less like animation and more like stage actors portraying the characters? That realization took more than watching the Fallout series to crystalize. I think it finally came together when I read this post’s title, especially the “ambitious acting effort.” Click. I understood. That’s what it felt like watching the show! And after reading this post by kViN on the site SAKUGABLOG, I have a better appreciation of how Kyoto Animation pulled it off — all the while nurturing their talent! My favorite line? “Eupho wields unimaginable power.” But then, the post is full of cool insights like that!
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?
- The Afictionado: The End of the World As We Know It: May ’24 Roundup
- Anime Feminist: Weekly Round-Up, 22-28 May 2024: Indie Otome Spotlight, Ashihara Hinako Memorium, and Discrimination Bills
- LESLEY’S ANIME AND MANGA CORNER: Anime Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (May 31, 2024)
Oh, and TCrow, Re:zero has a 90-minute premiere in July coming three months early, so we’ll have some Re:zero to watch sooner than later.
Nevermind. Unless someone who attends Crunchroll EXPO leaks the premiere, we won’t be watching it early.
I thought something was wrong since Crunchyroll EXPO isn’t in July. It’s actually premiering at Anime EXPO in July.
It’s a bummer, but I can wait. I’m really looking forward the debut.
Here’s what I think of Re:zero’s Episode 1 title, The End of the Beginning, and the Beginning of the End.
I believe The End of the Beginning refers to the moment Subaru despaired to such an extent that it marked the time Satella was supposed to summon Subaru. Given Roswaal indicated that Subaru was the once-in-a-lifetime windfall he long awaited, it shows his not-quite-Tome of Wisdom marked the moment Subaru would emerge in the world probably hundreds of years ago. If that’s the case, Satella must have been following some cue to know when it would be time to summon Subaru based on future knowledge. If that’s the case, Subaru’s mindset would mark the moment Satella would know that it’d be time to summon him. We know in Seasons 1 and 2 that Satella can read Subaru’s mind, which is how she knows when he’ll try to hint at or reveal Return by Death, and perhaps this was the case even before Subaru was summoned. The beginning would be referring to everything from Satella’s time 400 years to right before the moment of Subaru’s summoning.
I believe everything from that period and even beyond that is a plot from multiple characters from 400 years ago, including Satella, Echidna, Pandora, Flugel (whoever he is), Subaru from 400 years ago, the dead Witches of Sin, and whoever else was involved to guide the world to one specific future in which present-day Subaru is the hero of the story with Echidna (through the Witch Cult Gospels and Roswaal’s not-quite-Tome of Wisdom), Pandora (through the Witch Cult Gospels and using her power to undo anything that deviates from the path they want from events that she put into motion herself), and Satella (Return by Death and choosing Subaru’s save points) being the main drivers of the plan. Thus, the beginning of the end would refer to Subaru being summoned to be the hero of the story.
If in every arc, there is one big choice Subaru must make (whether to abandon Emilia, Rom, and Felt, whether to take Beatrice’s offer to be sent elsewhere, abandoning the residents of the mansion and Arlam Village, whether to run away with Rem, abandoning the Emilia camp in the process, and whether to accept Echidna’s contract), there will be one final choice he makes at the end of Re:zero that will end with people dying as there will be no more RBD after Satella dies.
Re:zero isn’t some garbage third-rate story that will have Subaru fail at the end and go all the way back to the appa stand, undoing all the characters’ development in the final arc, so Subaru’s final choice will have lasting consequences, and he will choose correctly. Maybe that final choice Subaru makes will be the choice to choose between Emilia and the world as I have speculated in the past.
“Re:zero isn’t some garbage third-rate story that will have Subaru fail at the end and go all the way back to the appa stand”
I have every confidence you’re right!
The plot craftsmanship is amazing.
Toradora is a classic! If anyone in an anime ever said “I love you!” that would probably end the series. Often, waiting for that to drop is the entire plot.