Welcome to my favorite anime community posts, Other Posts to Crow About, for 2020 Week 34!
I look for posts that celebrate amazing moments in anime or otherwise blow me away with their wit and charm. By checking hundreds of sites every week, I can tell you that the ani-blogging community writes a ton of amazing posts. I hope this list helps you find some of them!
Here’s the list of the sites I check!
Review Order
This week, I reviewed the sites in reverse alphabetical order (Z to A).
My Favorite Anime Posts from 2020 Week 34
Shallow Dives in Anime
The Summer of Love II: Date A Live’s Tohka Yatogami: The Best Main Girl
Have you ever had the wonderful experience of watching a decent anime series, when all of a sudden it hits you with a beautiful, powerful, or otherwise amazing scene that completely blew away your expectations? That happened to me in Date a Live’s third episode called “For the Sky and the Sword.” It was a scene with Shidou Itsuka and Tohka Yatogami. Between the dramatic setup, the animation, and what the act said about Tohka, it might be my favorite first kiss ever. I don’t see enough written about Date a Live in general, which is part of what attracted me to Dewbond’s recent post on Shallow Dives in Anime. This post is all about the wonder and spectacle and sometimes utter obliviousness that is Tohka — but only on the surface. There’s actually a lot more to her, and this post talks about that. And now I want to re-watch Dave a Live. Again!
SAE With a K
Interesting Developments | Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season Episode 7 Review
The second season of Re:ZERO has certainly lost none of the dramatic energy of the first season. In fact, I think it’s upped its game. Case in point is the recent episode 7 (or episode 32, if you’re using Crunchyroll’s nomenclature). The first five minutes had me on the edge of my seat, and it was all because of Beatrice. The past the show has shared with us, the past the show has hinted to us, and the new revelations that really captured my attention came together in a spectacular dramatic collision. Plus, all of this was in the context of Subaru and what he was going through! For a more in-depth look, please let me direct you to this post by Dez Polycarpe on the site SAE With a K. The post not only captured the power of that opening sequence, but it presents some interesting theories. The one about Roswaal L. Mathers really caught my attention, because I’d been wondering the same thing.
Random Curiosity
Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld – 18
Have you been watching Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld Part 2? The most recent episodes have woven so much material from previous seasons and even the movie Ordinal Scale that I have to wonder if the impact would be blunted if folks haven’t watched what came before. But if they have? It’s like watching instant, distilled emotion splashed all over the screen. Episode 18, Memories, has some particularly poignant moments, especially around the series’ core characters Asuna and Kirito. There were some moments in this episode that were emotional punches in the gut. But rather than me blather about them, please let me direct your attention to Zaiden’s post on Random Curiosity. The post nailed the discussion on what happened in the episode. It also generated some great comments! See if the post touched on your favorite moments in the episode.
Mechanical Anime Reviews
[TOG] Morality and Rachel
If you read my reviews of Tower of God, you probably came away with three impressions. First, that I enjoyed the story. Second, that I really liked Endorsi. Third, that I liked Yuri even more! One thing you probably didn’t pick up in my reviews is any in-depth analysis of the plot or any of the overarching themes. But that’s okay, because I’m not writing in a vacuum! This week, a collaboration post by Scott and Irina (from I Drink and Watch Anime) on Mechanical Anime Reviews explores some of the more interesting, and less talked about, aspects of the show. Bam and Rachel figure prominently, and I’ll tell you what: I don’t think I’ve read a more interesting perspective on those two characters. See if you agree!
Everything is Bad for You
A REVIEW OF KIZUMONOGATARI
I love the feeling of immersing myself in a fictional world. The more robust, the more self-consistent, and the more beautiful that world, the better. That holds true even if the beauty borders on the horrible. Or maybe especially in that case? That thought was with me when I watched the three Kizumonogatari movies, starting with Kizumonogatari I: Tekketsuhen. These movies took place before the series Bakemonogatari, and they were more emotionally raw and less restrained. It was brutal, it was mesmerizing, and it was heart wrenching. I loved every moment of it. The movies presented a scene of the most physically and emotionally and spiritually intimate scenes I’ve ever seen, and it could only have happened in anime. In this anime, actually. It was only one of the amazing scenes that AK wrote about on the site Everything is Bad for You. The post not only touched on all the points I thought made the movies fantastic. It also offered some wonderful insights about Tsubasa Hanekawa. If that’s not the mark of quality insights, I don’t know what it!
Hey Crow, thanks for the mention! Hanekawa is certainly an interesting character, and I’m happy that I’m getting a lot more of her now that I’ve gotten up to the Nekomonogatari run of episodes. It’s great stuff so far.
You’re welcome! I hope you continue to review other Bakemonogatari series. I’d love to read those!