Welcome to my favorite anime community posts, Other Posts to Crow About, for 2020 Week 48!
Every week I look for posts that celebrate amazing moments in anime or otherwise blow me away with their wit and charm. I check hundreds of sites, and I can tell you that the ani-blogging community constantly produces 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 48
The Unpopular Poplar
Senyoku no Sigrdrifa – An Unexpectedly Good First Impression
I almost chose to review Warlords of Sigrdrifa this season. I decided to follow Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina instead. I don’t have any regrets given how much I’m enjoying the latter, but I have to say that Sigrdrifa is a lot more enjoyable than I thought it’d be. I expected battles and interesting magic, which I got. What I didn’t expect were such delightful characters! All of the leads are interesting, but the main character, Claudia Braford, stands out. What makes her stand out? Well, to answer that, please let me direct your attention to this post by Popular on the site The Unpopular Poplar. The post not only says what’s so great about Claudia, it also talks about some of the other factors that make this series even better than we expected.
The Otaku Author
In Defence of Isabella – The Promised Neverland
I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again: The Promised Neverland was a ton of fun to watch. It was well-written. The narrative unfolded in an unhurried, satisfying way. The plot twits were exciting. But that wasn’t all. The characters really resonated with. Emma, Norman, and Ray were not only bright, driven, and strong, they were character I couldn’t help but care about — which made the drama even more intense. But perhaps the most important aspect of this show, an aspect that helped bring the rest of it into focus, was its amazing villain, Isabella. What made her such an effective villain? What elevated her character above most other villains? I found the perfect answer in this post by Lynn Sheridan from The Otaku Author! If you’re a viewer, this post might help you enjoy the series even more. If you’re a writer, then the post might give you insights to craft better villains of your own! So much goodness from a single post!
MyAnime2Go
The 20 Best Fan Service Anime Ever Of All Time
Want to know an exciting way to start a paragraph! Well, it’s not defining terms, which is what I’m about to do! But wait — the term is fan service! So maybe that’ll help revive interest! There’s all kinds of fan service, of course, but the only kind I generally talk about is when it’s under the character’s control. So that’s how I define fan service! I would love to give you an example, but they would spoil this post I’m about to share with you, because all of my favorites are in this post by YumDeku on MyAnime2Go. It’s a post with the 20 best fan service anime. Ever. Of all time! First, kudos for scope! Second, almost every series in the list exhibited the good kind of fan service (except one of them, which was mixed, but it made perfect sense in the context of plot…). When I first read the post, I was a bit miffed — I thought #6 should have been #1! But then I got to number 1, and you know what? I couldn’t argue. See what you think!
Animehunch
Fruits Basket: The Heavy & Beautiful Symbolism in the Ending Sequence “Eden”
If you read my reviews of Fruits Basket Season 2 Cour 1 or Cour 2, you know the high regard in which I hold the series. There’s just so much it has going for it, from the evocative animation to the expertly unfolding plot to the deep and strong characters. Tohru, one of the main characters, is an irresistible force of goodness who can barely keep ahead of the darkness in her own past. Kyo is this tragic character whose secret should doom him to a dark future. And they’re just two among a dozen or more great characters. Two other elements elevate this series, and this post from Ash X on Animehunch talks about the union of two of them: music and symbolism. Using MONKEY MAJIK’s ED Eden as the basis, the post goes through the characters of the Zodiac and illuminates the meaning of each of their segments in the ED. I’ll admit: some of the meanings took me by surprise, but each helped me appreciate the characters a little more. Especially Tohru! See if you come away with the same reaction!
Animated Observations
ANOHANA EPISODE 11: IN THE END, THEY FOUND HER
I don’t think I’ve talked much about Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, which is sad. Well, the series is known for being sad, but what I mean in this case that the series is so well constructed and executed that it has plenty of moments to celebrate. It should be a natural for this site! But that’s one of the challenges of reviewing anime: There’s always new series coming out, so it’s hard to go back and watch the series that came before. Fortunately, my limitations aren’t everyone’s, and Jack Scheibelein just published a review of the final episode on Animated Observations. This episode was exquisite in its delivery, and it reminded me of a Gandalf quote from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (one of my highest forms of praise!): “Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” So buckle up for non-evil teams, because this review captured the feelings in the final episode. See what you think!
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!
Hello, ash x from Animehunch here! So glad to be featured here and yes, Fruba is one of my favorite animes for the characters and themes it portrays! Much appreciate the support and good luck for your website <3
I was happy to feature your post! I liked how you explained the symbolism for the character in the ED. In particularly, Tohru’s explanation was eye-opening. The imagery was there all this time, and I never noticed! That was a lot of fun to read.
Thanks again for the shout out! Much appreciate, Crow!
You’re welcome! That show was just so powerful, I think it’s really hard to capture its essence, but your review did it! I liked how your review reminded me of how good that episode really was.