Tenth week of 2019 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, moments of beauty, 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 so I can add it to the list!
- 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 blogosphere. I hope this article helps you find some of them!
Review Order
This week, I reviewed the sites in reverse alphabetical order (Z to A).
tfwanime
Top 5 musical performances in anime
I don’t know about you, but I love musical performances in anime. Some of them are as powerful and enjoyable and dynamic as anything I’ve seen live, which is saying a lot! So when I came Matija’s post on tfwanime listing the top 5 performance within an episode, I had to check it out. Reading the post, I realized why the combination of musical performances and anime goes so well together: Each of the five choices represented a powerful moment from their respective shows. The show’s context lends greater power to the performance. I have to admit that I have a real soft spot in my heart for numbers 5, 4, 3, 2…. well, I guess I have a soft spot for all five! Oh, I should mention the post has links to the songs, so you can enjoy them, too!
This Thing is Neat
Nichijou and Comedic Structure
Since I’ve been writing a review of The Devil is a Part-Timer this season, I’ve been asking myself: What makes a good comedy? Because I think The Devil is a Part-Timer is a really good comedy! And lo and behold, I find DATA_ERROR’s post on This Thing Is Neat about just that subject! The article takes a look at what makes the series Nichijou so funny. Have you seen that series? I haven’t, and reading this post, I’m reminded of one of the reasons I love publishing Other Posts to Crow About: I get a chance to expand my horizons! Because now I really want to watch Nichijou.
Shallow Dives in Anime
ReZero’s Natsuki Subaru Part II: Save the World by Saving Yourself
Something funny happened in the comments to the previous edition of Other Posts to Crow About: I learned I have a defect in how I approach my weekly review of the Nest of Sites! Well, maybe “funny” is the wrong word! Dewbond from Shallow Dives of Anime jokingly took me to task for not having highlighted any posts from that site. This struck me as strange. I knew that site. I remember really enjoying many of the articles. So why hadn’t I highlighted any of those posts yet? After an investigation, I can only plead exhaustion. I currently review 333 sites a week, and I only have Friday night to do it. By the time I got to #276 (Shallow Dives of Anime), I must have been getting too tired to read clearly — and that’s my bad! Because of Dewbond’s feedback, I’m going to begin alternating A-Z and Z-A to give everyone a fair chance.
This week, I’m highlighting Dewbond’s post about Re:ZERO’sNatsuki Subaru and his development early in the series. I’m not including it as an apology for missing it before. I’m including it because it’s exactly the kind of article I look for and I should have included it before! The post describes Subaru’s journey as he comes to understand his situation, and who he is in relation to it. Best of all, it references Rem! This series had some of the most powerful scenes I’ve been fortunate enough to watch, and characters like Subaru make that possible.
I Drink and Watch Anime
Color coding in ACCA-13
Did you watch ACCA-13? I hope so — it was a fascinating mix of interesting characters, an absorbing world, and political intrigue of the best kind. Maybe it’s because the show was so unique that it was hard to market, and it didn’t seem to draw as many viewers as it deserved. Whatever the reason, if you haven’t watched it, you should. The show just worked on so many levels! What I didn’t realize until I read Irina’s post on I Drink and Watch Anime is how well the show communicated with color! I’m always interested in insights about the craft of story telling, so this post was a lot of fun to read. It also makes me want to watch ACCA-13 again to see these observations in action.
Confessions of an Overage Otaku
CHARACTER TROPE: MOTOKO KUSANAGI AND THE GHOST IN THE SHELL
Typically, I try not to feature articles from the same site two weeks in a row. I try to spread the love and attention to as many interesting sites as I can, because let’s face it: there are a lot of them! Sometimes, though, a site publishes back to back irresistible articles, like this post from Confessions of an Overage Otaku by davedalessiowrites. It explores the question, “What makes Motoko Kusanagi so intriguing? What makes her different from other characters, like Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion or Alita from Battle Angel Alita? There are some good answers to that question, and they touch on why the popularity of Ghost in the Shell — both the movie and the animeseries — is so enduring. There’s no substitute for good characters, and this article not only understands that, but it explains it in an entertaining way!
Favourite musical performance here
Thanks for the shout out man! Now I need a new life goal.
I’m just glad you said something! I should have highlighted your posts before now. I guess the good news is that you helped improve my curating process, so thanks!