Every week, I visit over 260 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!
Summer 2024 Previews
It’s time for another season of anime to start! And once again, the anime blogging community has stepped up to the challenge to provide great insights into what shows might catch your fancy. Here are the previews I came across this week in alphabetical order (you can see another set of previews in last week’s Week 25’s post):
- Anime Feminist: 2024 Summer Premiere Reviews
- Random Curiosity: Summer 2024 Preview
- Star Crossed Anime: Summer 2024 Season Preview
- USA Anime: Summer 2024 Preview Guide
ARUM JOURNAL
Delicious Party Precure Episode 17 Review – A Potential Fourth Precure
In a series like the Precure franchise, giving the characters an interesting world is important. But a great franchise will make the world more than interesting — they’ll make it integral to the plot and characters. Looks like Delicious Party Precure is doing just that, based on this post by ecargmura on the site ARUM JOURNAL. In the opening of the post, ecargmura talked about Amane through the lens of the world of Precure. As a writer, I’d love it if a reader were to write a review like that about any of my novels! It’s the mark of a quality franchise — and the mark of an observant, insightful blogger! See if you agree with ecargmura’s conclusions!
Chua Tek Ming~Anime Power~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe!
Loop 7-kaime No Akuyaku Reijou Wa Moto Teikoku De Jiyuu Kimama Na Hanayome Seikatsu Wo Mankitsu Suru
Did you enjoy watching 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!? I did. It’s not only because Rishe was such an engaging, strong, and resourceful character. It was also for the reasons that Chua Tek Ming, on the site Chua Tek Ming~Anime Power~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe!, brought out in his review. Not only does he offer a bracing synopsis for each episode. He also offers entertaining insights about the show and its characters. Reading his review made me want to rewatch the series! See if you have a similar reaction!
Confessions of an Overage Otaku
GENDER BENDER: NEON GENESIS EVANGELION
Every time I see a new post about Neon Genesis Evangelion, I have to wonder: is there really anything else left to say about this series? Since I’m celebrating this post, you can probably guess the answer: yep! The Overage Otaku, on the site Confessions of an Overage Otaku, works his usual magic on the topic of subverting audience expectations from the perspective of gender. A dangerous topic? Maybe for some — but completely routine for The Overage Otaku! Go see what new creative insights he shares this time!
The Infinite Zenith
KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World! Season Three – Whole Series Review and Reflections
When I saw that KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 3 was coming out, I’ll admit that I felt trepidation. The show’s wacky humor had worked through two seasons, a movie or two, and a spin-off. Would it run out of steam? Then I watched the season. Instead of blurting out what I thought, please let me direct your attention to infinitezenith’s post on The Infinite Zenith. I’d say that infinitezenith gave us a very detailed look at this season’s quality of humor. But this is infinitezenith we’re talking about. It’s more like A Detailed Look (capitalized) with extensive and awesome supporting details. Great screen caps, too — some of my favorite from the season, in fact! See if you agree!
The Initial Dork
The Perfect Insider (2015): A Cerebrally Delicious Locked-Room Mystery – Anime Review (Spoiler-Free)
The Perfect Insider had a lot going for it, starting with a catchy and pleasing OP. Of course, there was more to it than that. The central mystery was fascinating all by itself, but how it intertwined with the characters elevated it. This post by KAI MŪ (INITIAL DORK), on the site Initial Dork, deep dives into that topic and more. It was great to re-visit the series through the lens of KAI MŪ (INITIAL DORK)’s observations and insights! I really enjoy reviews like this one that give me more reasons to enjoy a series. See if the post gives you a deeper appreciation for The Perfect Insider!
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, 19-25 June 2024: Dyslexia-Friendly Fonts, Yuri Autofiction, and Omegaverse Chat
- LESLEY’S ANIME AND MANGA CORNER: Anime, Manga, and Light Novel Blog Posts That Caught My Eye This Week (June 28, 2024)
TCrow, now I will make the case for why my theory about there being a grand plan from 400 years ago in Re:zero’s story does not detract from the story since I can potentially see people arguing that it robs the characters in the story of having real agency.
It’s clear from Season 1 and 2 that Tappei has some level of knowledge of psychology, whether ’cause he studied it in university or read other media with good insight into psychological concepts before he became a butcher and started writing the story. While in the modern day, there is an agreement that both nature (your genetics) and nurture (your environment) factor into how one develops, I believe for the sake of Re:zero’s story that Tappei deliberately wants to emphasize the importance of your environment in developing who you are. That is not to genetics play no part, but I do believe the point of the story is to downplay the importance of your genetics.
Even if the characters are being manipulated in the long run, they are still making choices of their own accord and aren’t being told exactly what to do and what to think. That Garfiel took the step to stop cowering about the outside world and help Subaru is still his choice. That Beatrice ultimately decided to choose Subaru when she was despairing was still her choice even if it was part of Echidna’s plan the whole time. The characters are still actively making choices of their own.
That would be why if Subaru from 400 years ago was fated to destroy the world and for some reason decided to rebel against his fate and why Subaru in the current day if he successfully saves the world, departing from what I believe is his fate to lead the world to destruction, would both be examples why people aren’t destined to fuck up if their ‘fate’ is to fuck up. I believe Tappei wants his viewers to believe that the average joe can accomplish great things if they work for it and have the right support system to enable them, and it’s not the case that if you were born ugly/look scary you can’t have an attractive mate or if your family is predisposed to acquiring mental health issues you can’t overcome them.
Agency is always an issue for stories that involve grand, strategic plans. Have you ever read Asimov’s Foundation series? The idea of psychohistory always fascinated me for that very reason. If we can predict the movement of large populations, does that mean free will is limited in scope?
That’s a poor way of wording the question, probably.
I agree with your reasoning. Agency’s possible within the context of Re:ZERO. Seeing how the narrative explores just how it’s possible is one of the things that makes the show so enjoyable.
I have not read Asimov’s Foundation series, but I think I’ll make it a priority to do so.
Yeah, seeing the characters choose to make the decisions they do is something I also enjoy about Re:zero.
They say life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to those things, and I believe there’s truth to that.
Redemption Cures like Amane are always interesting. Unlike others, it was obvious she would eventually become a Cure from her first villain appearance- she’s just way too cute! You get different spins on “I don’t deserve to be a Cure”, to working to make up for the harm they’ve done, to becoming a more balanced person after that. You also see the hand of Bandai to include more magical items- the rest of the DP crew get Heart Juicy Mixers, but Amane gets a Creamy Fleuret.
Ecargmura’s doing episodic reviews on two of the least-favorite Precure series in the West (Delicious Party and Wonderful) in addition to Hirogaru Sky. It’s good to see them getting some serious attention too.
I just opened the post on Twitter and found my post on the page and I now I saw this comment.
Delicious Party’s writing is a little wonky, but everything else about it is entertaining.