Thirty-seventh week of 2018 edition!
This is a Crow’s eye view of the posts that caught my attention this week. Typically, they’ll be posts that celebrate some aspect of anime, like strong characters, intricate plots, or amazing worlds.
There are only two rules:
- I have to find the site to read it. I publish a list of the sites I review every week, so please do look for your site! If you don’t see it, I’d love for you to mention your site in the comments.
- Your post had to have been published during the last seven days (or so)
Remember, you can find a list of the sites I check every week here.
There’re a lot of good posts in the anime space. I hope this article helps you find some of them!
Beneath the Tangles
Attack on Titan Episode 45: Trusting Dad (and Trusting Eren)
Attack on Titan’s third season has deemphasized titans in favor of lots and lots of political intrigue. It’s a testament to the writer’s skill that (for me at least), it’s been the most interesting seasons so far — and for me, that’s saying a lot! Episode 45 (Outside the Walls of Orvud District) featured a fascinating interplay between Eren Yeager, Historia Reiss, and their respective fathers — one long dead, one still present but malignant. This article from Beneath the Tangles caught my attention because of its lively exploration of the impact those two fathers had on their children. Did you wonder why Eren was so quick to give up and ask that Historia consume him? There’s an answer for that, but you’ll have to follow the link to find out what it is!
The Infinite Zenith
At This Point, We’re Basically Playing Head-to-Head: Harukana Receive Episode Eleven Impressions and Review
Harukana Receive has exceeded my expectations this season. Having watched the previews, I hoped the show would give us pretty girls in bikinis playing beach volleyball. Yeah, I’m that simple. But you know what? The show delivered much more than that. Yes, there was fanservice, but to me it felt more like a celebration of the athletic female form than anything else. At the same time, the show gave us some interesting characters whose interactions were a lot of fun to watch! There was even actual plot — enough to support this fantastic analysis of episode 11 by The Infinite Zenith. I thought I had a good handle on what was going on in the show, and even then, this article gave me a lot to think about. I mean, come on — how often does an anime review post discuss the influence of the Chinese general Zhuge Liang? In the context of beach volleyball? Now, that’s cool!
Matt Doyle Media
Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? Sword Oratoria [Anime Review – Fantasy / Action]
The original Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon blew me away with is core concept, the development of its main character Bell Cranel, and its supporting cast. So when the companion series Sword Oratoria came out, I had to check it out. As this article from Matt Doyle Media Dot Com describes, this series follows the exploits of Ais Wallenstein, Bell’s crush from the original series. Much to my delight, it also features Tiona Hiryute and her sister Tione Hiryute, whose upbeat attitudes are matched only by there raw power. How’d this series stack up against the original? Did Ais do a good job of being the lead? Was the story as compelling? Guess what you’ll need to do to find out!
Mechanical Anime Reviews
Planet With: Well, I like it
It’s no secret that I have a high opinion of Planet With. I have since I reviewed its first two episodes, and darned if it hasn’t gotten better every episode since! Unfortunately, it hasn’t seemed to captured the imagination of the wider audience. I really don’t understand why, and it turns out that I’m not alone! Mechanical Anime Reviews published an article wondering the same thing — why isn’t this show more popular? Since this site specializes in mech anime, I think it’s well worth your while to take in what this article has to say. I sat there nodding in agreement the whole time I was reading it!
Ospreyshire’s Realm
Fandom Hypocrisy (A Rant)
I don’t often highlight rants, because, as emotionally cathartic as they can be, they often lack a fidelity to fact or an advancement of ideas. That’s why this post from Ospreyshire’s Realm took me by such surprise! I enjoy anime, and there are particular kinds of anime that I enjoy more than others. If a series isn’t in my target range, though, I don’t feel any need to attack it. That urge to attack is exactly what this article rails against — and it brings up some interesting new perspectives that I hadn’t considered! Given that my brain operates mostly in the realms of philosophy and theology, and given the nature of this article’s insights, that’s saying something! You’ll need to read the article to see what I’m talking about.
Railgunfan75’s Geek Blog
Should You Watch…Full Metal Panic!?
This article starts with the basic question, “Should you watch Full Metal Panic!?” See, there’s a reason I want to highlight this post. To this question, I’d just answer, “Well, sure!” But that wouldn’t be a very interesting post to read, would it? This post from Railgunfan75’s Geek Blog has a much more interesting answer, ranging from some insights about the characters to interesting points about the multiple seasons that make up this series. One thing that’s missing is an explanation of why my favorite character, Kyouko Tokiwa, doesn’t get more screen time. But I won’t hold that against this otherwise enjoyable article!
Thank you for sharing so many of my posts including this one.
Glad to do it! Thanks for writing so many posts that caught my attention!
Thanks again for the shares! The other articles here are superb. It seems I need to step my game up and write about more than just Harukana Receive, too!
“write about more than just Harukana Receive”
I think that sounds like a great idea!
Well, I do have more than just one anime in my repertoire, as the site archives and categories indicate 🙂
Yep — I noticed. Just voicing my vote for more anime content!