A picture from the real Season of Discontent. That pile of trash does not represent the anime this season.
“No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose that they are like himself.”
― John Steinbeck, The Winter Of Our Discontent
I suppose I should preface this season preview post as coming on the basis of a rough couple of weeks personally and an evening of impromptu off-road driving. Anyway, winter usually is a dead period for my anime viewing and because of the quote I used above I can only suppose it is the same for you my lone reader. I’ve been in the anime viewing business for a long time, so I’m going to spend the time reflecting on all the great anime that I watched in the winter season of 2004. That’s because everyone gets jaded and remembers how good things were, right?
Let’s see, there was Paranoia Agent, Kon’s TV masterpiece which was surreal and filled with important social commentary at the same time. That really wouldn’t come to air now would it? Then I also watched, what was it…
What you are reading here is the beginning of this blog’s 500th post. I worked it out so amazingly well that it falls dead in the middle of another bunch of posts and so it will be buried for weeks on end. So in that spirit, I’ve decided to do a list of my top anime. The humiliation won’t last all that long because of when this is scheduled thankfully.
To endure some of the shows that I watch requires Koko-esque drinking ability.
Beginning one’s Christmas shopping is probably a good idea for those who actually celebrate or are condemned to go to a celebration at some point in the next 6 weeks. For the most part, it’s been a week of trying to cram in those unfortunate Secret Santa series that I will be writing on around the holiday. It could be worse I suppose, but I’m judging that entirely by a writer for another blog go off on streams of obscenities as they watch another episode of Sword Art Online. Continue reading The Return of the Recap 14
These posts are never easy, in fact, I believe the previous 3 iterations of these have been absolute train wrecks. So instead of worry about that, I thought I would do something a bit differently. After all, I can’t do top X lists of my favorites of all-time, properly reflect on changes in my life or even retire from this blog because I haven’t found a reason to do so yet.
Back in the first week of this experiment when there was no set topic for what I would even write on, I described myself as a failure of a fan, but that’s beside the point. It was the popular thing to talk about series that influenced one as a fan. So in grand style, I’ve decided to retread that particular story and talk about the shows that have influenced me most since then. Nothing special or depressing here I hope. I’d have to really be trying to wedge that in. So without any further delay here they are.
I’m not necessarily trying to blog Steins;Gate episodically, but when something happens like it did in [C] I sometimes feel compelled to write on it multiple times. This post will focus on two particular parts of episode 22, the confession scene and the return to normal life or what may be normal in any case.
After all he has seen, he can't even put up a brave face anymore
There’s always a expectation that characters involved in time loop stories have to change fundamentally. Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day slowly learned that being spiteful and cynical wasn’t going to get him to tomorrow. Homura in Madoka became more battle-hardened and distant to the rest of the world as her perseverance determined the fate of the world. Those are two completely contrasting ways at looking at it however; one being a Hollywood sanitized story of one man’s quest to see tomorrow with the other being a story about death and the end of the world. Though Okabe Rintarou’s journey in Steins;Gate has much more in common with the latter, I’ve actually been rather impressed with the use of a longer format to create a more subtle change in his character.
Lower Mid-Table 