Other Posts to Crow About – 2019 Week 14 Edition

Fourteenth 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:

1. 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!
2. 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).

Wrong Every Time

Land of the Lustrous – Episode 1

Some day, I might stop talking about how great Land of the Lustrous is. Today is not that day. I’ve come across articles that talk about its beautiful animation, its inspiring music, or its relatable characters (despite them being gems!). I’ve even read some that talk about the show’s themes, and those of some of my favorites. Imagine how happy I was when I found Bobduh’s post on Wrong Every Time! It looks at one of the show’s main themes in moving and almost poetic terms. As many articles as I’ve read about the show’s themes, this post took a completely different direction. After reading this article, I want to re-watch the series again from its perspective — it gives me a renewed appreciation for some of the series’ most amazing moments. You might feel the same after reading it!

Check out the post here!

Shallow Dives in Anime

Date A Live Season Three: Continued Dating Action

I didn’t see many reviews of Date a Live III during the Winter 2019 season. That was disappointing! I thoroughly enjoyed the first season, with its almost plausible basis for building a harem around Shidou Itsuka. Not only that, but it checked two boxes that I need before I can unabashedly enjoy a harem. First, the lead male lead isn’t an idiot. Even more than that, this lead male has something about him that makes it plausible for the women in his life to be interested. Yep — Shidou covers all of that! As importantly (okay, more importantly), the women have to be interesting, strong, and, yes, beautiful. Well, this show has Tohka, Origami Tobiichi, and the absolutely amazing Kurumi Tokisaki. And that’s just to start! What I really liked about Dewbond’s post from Shallow Dives in Anime was that it so clearly captured what made this third season so satisfying (it has to do with Origami!) — while not ignoring what the series could have done better. If you didn’t watch this season, this post might make you reconsider!

Check out the post here!

Rai’s Anime Blog

THE DIVERSE WOMEN OF SWORD ORATORIA (MARCH 2019 OWLS TOUR)

Did you watch Danmachi Sword Oratoria? I absolutely loved the original DanMachi, so as soon as Sword Oratoria debuted, I was all over it. I’ll be up front with you: It wasn’t what I expected. In the original series, so much of my enjoyment came from Bell Cranel’s interacted with Hestia, his goddess, and Ais Wallenstein, his… what? Let’s just say that watching how their relationship developed was a treat! Sword Oratoria was a very different series, but by the end of the first episode, it hooked me, too. Rai Kelly’s post on Rai’s Anime Blog celebrates several of the reasons why — namely, the amazing women who make up most of the cast. Can you guess which character was my favorite? I’ll give you two hints. First, it wasn’t the goddess Loki (though she was in the running) — I learned from Paris’ bad experience, so I avoid goddesses! Second, it wasn’t the choice you’d expect if you have a cliched view of guys (meaning no disrespect whatsoever to Tione!). Maybe I just gave you too many hints!

Check out the post here!

Mechanical Anime Reviews

Anime is political, just not the way some people think it is

Politics has come up as a topic here recently: Other Posts to Crow About 2019 Week 11 included a post from Lethargic Ramblings that explored some of the effects politics can have not only on anime series, but on fans. If you’ve spent more than 5 seconds on Twitter, then you know that this topic is not only controversial, it’s explosive! It takes a steady hand and clear thinking to lay out the issues around the question of whether anime is political; and if it is, how it expresses those political views or perspectives. Fortunately, Scott #99 from Mechanical Anime Reviews is up to the task. This article is a clearly-stated, subtle, and respectful exploration of the topic. I like seeing this community grapple with these topics in a healthy way!

Check out the post here!

Atelier Emily (for me, in full bloom)

THE PROMISED NEVERLAND’S DYSTOPIA REVISITED

You probably know that Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime and I reviewed The Promised Neverland during the previous season. There were tons of reasons to like the series, from Isabella being such a fantastic villain (as described in this post from Lynn Sheridan) to the genius-level characters like Ray and Norman. The show was so rich and so well executed that it’s generated a lot of really interesting content within the ani-blogosphere. If you watched the last episode, you probably remember seeing some of Isabella’s childhood. This post from Atelier Emily takes a look at a question that’s obvious once you see it: Why did Isabella take the path she did, while Emma,  Norman, and Ray took another? I love the answer this writer came up with, and I think you will, too! As if we need more reasons to love this show…

Check out the post here!