Thirty-fifth week of 2019 edition!
This is a Crow’s eye view of the posts that caught my attention this week. I especially look for posts that celebrated amazing moments in anime or otherwise blew me away with their wit and charm. Every week when I check hundreds of sites, and I’m humbled by the quality and volume that the ani-blogging community creates! I hope this article helps you find some of them!
What sites do I check every week? You can see the list of the sites here!
Review Order
This week, I reviewed the sites in alphabetical order (A to Z).
100 Word Anime
Why Is It So Hard to Find A Good Female Lead In Anime?
I remember back when I was in high school in the late 1970s (yes, AD or CE). I wrote science fiction/military novels back then. They were terrible, but I couldn’t not write. I hated my work (even more than I do now — I must be getting more mellow in my old age), but there was one thing that I thought I did right: the starship crews were all mixed gender. I grew up with the original Star Trek, after all, so what could be more natural? Well, it’s 2019, and popular fiction in general and anime in particular still under-represents female characters. Even, worse, when some franchises try to represent strong female characters, there’s dreadful backlash. It’s an important and difficult to discuss topic, and that’s why I was glad to come across Karandi’s post on 100 Word Anime. The post is succinct, clear, and factual. That’s exactly the way we should be conducting public discussions!
Anime Science 101
The Promised Neverland- Why 12 years old?
You might remember that Irina (from I Drink and Watch Anime) and I reviewed The Promised Neverland. At least, I hope you remember — we had a lot of fun sharing our reactions to that series. Now, if you haven’t watched it, you might want to skip this post (and stop reading this paragraph, because there are spoilers; like, go to the next paragraph now!). If you’re still here, then you (like me!) might have wondered, “Why harvest the children’s brains at 12?” We wouldn’t be alone! Chris Meharg asked that very question on Anime Science 101. Would you believe that there’s a valid scientific answer? I’ve read that learning can keep your brain young, but after reading this article, I’m convinced that I don’t want my brain too young!
Lost in Anime
Kanata no Astra – 09
My Best in Show review of Astra Lost in Space won’t be published until Monday. But there’s no way I can wait that long to share the amazingness that was episode 9 with you! I know, this post goes live Sunday, and it’s just one more day, but dang it, this episode was such a wonderful experience! What do you I mean? Let me direct you to a post by Guardian Enzo, Kitamura Kou, on the site Lost in Anime. Everything great about the episode — even its slight (but irrelevant!) missteps, is perfectly captured and represented. I really hope you’ve been following the series so far, because this episode is a gift from the writers to reward the viewers, and this article tells you how.
RABUJOI
Isekai, Ranked
Every season brings us a new crop of Isekai anime series — or the occasional reverse-Isekai series. There are some examples of that genre that I’d hold up as examples of amazing anime. There are others that… well, that I’d skip. And I’d advise you to skip them, too! But if you ask me which you should watch and which you should skip, I’d have to sheepishly admit that I don’t have a comprehensive list. But you know who does? Oigakkosan from RAUJOI! This list is wildly complete. Heck, the time investment in watching all the series represented is impressive! Beyond that, the list does a solid job of advising you which series are worth watching and which are, well, less worth watching. My only complaint? The reverse-Isekai series, Re:CREATORS, isn’t listed higher. Everyone (and by everyone, I mean me) knows it’s the best example of its genre! Otherwise, I think you’ll enjoy the rankings this article gives you.
Watashi Wa Bucho!!
The End of Classic Anime…?
When you hear the phrase “classic anime,” what do you think of? Let’s say you think of a series like Cowboy Bebop. Would it become a classic if released today? In other words, is there a relationship between a series, its potential to become a classic, and the period in which it’s released? This is the kind of question that Ty-chama’s post on Watashi Wa Bucho!! addresses. That post presents a lucid and interesting discussion of the topic. That alone would be enough to earn it a place in Other Posts to Crow about, but there was something else about it that stood out: It wasn’t a “things were better back in the day” kind of post. The older I get, the more I appreciate articles like this one that don’t look at the past through rose-colored glasses. The post also generated a lot of thoughtful and insightful comments. That’s always a good sign!
Thanks for the shout out (animescience101). I am glad you liked the post and I have several older posts on other aspects of the world of The Promised Neverland. Plus I found several of the other posts you listed very interesting.
“I am glad you liked the post and I have several older posts on other aspects of the world of The Promised Neverland.”
I saw them! I enjoyed reading those posts, too.
“Plus I found several of the other posts you listed very interesting.”
Every week, I’m humbled and amazed at the work produced by the ani-blogging community. It’s satisfying and challenging to be part of!
Thanks