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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Kotaro Lives Alone

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 10

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Kotaro is a precocious four-year-old boy who moves into an apartment by himself. The landlords only seem concerned with whether or not he can pay his way, not with whether he can actually manage on his own, so he manages to clear that initial hurdle. Kotaro’s neighbor Karino is perplexed by this well-spoken kid, and wonders what may have happened to his family leaving him to survive on his own.

As Karino follows Kotaro around on his daily errands, he also starts meeting the other tenants in the building, who all seem to be people with somewhat complicated circumstances. The one constant between them seems to be Kotaro, who treats them all as neighbors, though also has very little tolerance for falseness in relationships. Karino, who also lives alone and has felt directionless in his manga career, starts to warm up to Kotaro, sensing some unresolved emotions and trauma in the kid.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Thermae Romae Novae

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 11

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Lucius Modestus is the son and grandson of architects specializing in the design and construction of bathhouses. Because his father died on the job, Lucius is treated with a soft hand by his grandfather, which runs counter to the standards of what it means to be a Roman man. When Titus, the local bully, hassles Lucius at the nearby bathhouse (which was built by Lucius’ late father) and insults the building’s construction, Lucius vows to follow in his family’s footsteps and become a thermae architect.

Years later after completing his education in Athens, Lucius returns to Rome to make good on his promise to himself. There he meets Titus, a more mature family man, who apologizes for his past behavior. Lucius’ life seems to be looking up. But what of the strange childhood experience he had submerging himself in the thermae’s heated bath and resurfacing in a totally foreign place?

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Conventions Personal

Shiny New Anime – Anime Detour 2022

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great Anime Detour this year. Below are panel materials for this year’s “Shiny New Anime” panel. There’s a presentation, a hand out, and also a folder of clips for those who can’t play the videos in the presentation and would like to see them.

Shiny New Anime PowerPoint Presentation
Shiny New Anime Hand Out
Shiny New Anime Clips

This panel (and my others) are a lot of work, so if you’d like to use some of these materials, please credit me (Jessi Silver).

Have a great day, and see you next year!

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Conventions Personal

Anime for Grown-Ups – Anime Detour 2022

Hi all, below are my panel materials for “Anime for Grown-Ups.” They include a PowerPoint Presentation with notes and links, and a hand out.

Anime for Grown-Ups PowerPoint Presentation
Anime for Grown-Ups Hand out

This one contains some clips, and if you don’t have PowerPoint I’m not sure if the web version will open them, so I’ve put the clips in a folder here.

There are a lot of links and notes in this one, so I hope you’ll give it a look (since it’s mostly included for informational purposes and not as things to talk about in depth during the panel).

If you use the material for other purposes, please credit me (Jessi Silver).

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Conventions Personal

Manga for Grown-Ups – Anime Detour 2022

Hi all. I hope those of you who attended “Manga for Grown-Ups” enjoyed the panel. Below are the panel materials (presentation with links and notes) as well as the hand out if you would like it.

Manga for Grown-Ups Presentation
Manga for Grown-Ups Hand Out

If you happen to use these materials in any way, please credit me (Jessi Silver).

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Conventions Personal

Anime Detour 2022 – Panel and Event Schedule

Hi everyone! Long-time-no-see. I’ve briefly come out of pre-con hiding to share my Anime Detour schedule, in case any readers are attending and would like to say “hi” to either myself or my spouse, J.C.

As usual, I’ll be posting panel materials after each panel is completed, so those who would like to see my notes or use the hyperlinks embedded in the presentations are welcome to do so. The panels “The Odd World of Odd Taxi,” “Madoka and Homura: The Trap of Selflessness,” “Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Retrospective,” and “Anime About Anime” are essentially unchanged from the form they took at Anime Fusion 2021, so if you’re interested in those (which are mostly just discussion topics), you can check out the previous posts about them.

You can view the Anime Detour schedule in its entirety here.

Edit: I’ve added room numbers to the entries 🙂

Friday, March 18th, 2022

  • 3:30-4:30pm, Greenway A/B – “Manga for Grown-Ups” – Manga aimed at older or more experienced fans, with a special focus this year on various online (legal) manga-viewing platforms.
  • 5:00-6:00pm, Greenway A/B – “The Odd World of ODDTAXI” – Fan panel focused on last year’s noir sleeper hit.
  • 8:00-9:30pm, Nicollet Ballroom – “AMV Contest” – The AMV show of all this year’s entries.
  • 11:00pm-12:00am, Greenway I/J – “Anime by Numbers Trivia” – J.C.’s game where the object is to get closer to the numerical answers than the other team.

Saturday, March 19th, 2022

  • 10:00-11:00am, Boundary Waters D – “AMV Showcase” – Exhibition showcase of other AMV entries to the contest.
  • 1:00-2:00pm, Greenway A/B – “Anime for Grown-Ups” – Anime aimed at older or more experienced fans, with a special focus this year on older anime (which fits with the convention theme).
  • 4:00-5:00pm, Greenway A/B – “Madoka and Homura: The Trap of Selflessness” – An analysis of the character motivations in the Madoka franchise, focused on the Madoka-Homura relationship.
  • 8:30-9:30pm, Greenway A/B – “Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Retrospective” – A discussion looking back at the animated franchise as a whole.
  • 10:00-11:00pm, Greenway F/G/H – “Don’t Judge an Anime by its Cover” – A game where silly OPs and EDs are drawn and the player must describe the plot of the anime (wrongly) based only on information in the OP.

Sunday, March 20th, 2022

  • 8:30-9:30am, Boundary Waters D – “AMV Awards” – The awards ceremony for the AMV contest winners
  • 1:00-2:30pm, Greenway F/G/H – “Shiny New Anime” – Our look at new anime from the past year that we enjoyed, with a focus on shows that aren’t as well-known.
  • 3:00-4:00pm, Greenway F/G/H – “Anime About Anime” – A look at anime series focused on anime production and what we can learn about it from those sources.

We’re really looking forward to be back in person at our “home” convention, and hope we’ll see some of you there!

Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – The Orbital Children

Streaming: Netflix

Episodes: 6 (irregular lengths)

Source: Original

Episode Summary: In a time where space, as everything else, has been filled to the brim with consumerism and advertisement, three children have won a contest to visit the first space hotel with facilities that cater to young people. Mina, an internet celebrity, her younger brother Hiroshi, and Taiyou, arrive at Anshin station excited to experience all of the wonders that corporate branding can provide in the world of space tourism. They’re set to join two children who know nothing other than living away from Earth – Konoha and Touya, who were born on the moon. Both Konoha and Touya experience the effects of gravity differently and are under constant medical observation. Touya is also a bit of an AI nut, using semi-illegal means to “broaden” the abilities of his personal AI drone, Dark.

As the contest-winners arrive to the station, a situation begins to unfold from within Earth’s orbit outside. A mysterious projectile is detected, and eventually station management learns that a comet is approaching the planet and the station. As the two groups of children meet and begin to work through some interpersonal and philosophical differences, they’re suddenly forced to brace for impact. It may now fall on their shoulders to figure out how to survive using only the tools and know-how they can cobble together. But will they be able to team up long enough to make this a reality?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – Shenmue the Animation

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Video Game

Episode Summary: Ryo is an accomplished student and well-known as a martial artist. The training he received from his father allows him to lead his high school’s Karate club to victory. When Ryo returns home to his father’s dojo, however, he notices a conspicuously open door and finds his father fighting a losing battle against a man dressed in striking green kung-fu robes. The man blames Ryo’s father for an individual’s death, all while demanding the location of a mirror his father possesses. After learning its location, the man dressed in green finishes off Ryo’s father.

The aftermath of this incident is confusing – who was this man and why did he label Ryo’s father a killer? Some folks around town suspect the Chinese Mafia based out of the port of Yokohama might be to blame. It turns out that Ryo may not have known his father as well as he may have thought. As he begins to put the pieces together, Ryo finds himself under attack again, though this time his father’s teachings and wisdom prove invaluable. Rather than continue on to college as he’d planned, Ryo decides to use this time to learn more about his father’s dealings and perhaps gain more insight into his family’s past.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Winter 2022 First Impressions – FreakAngels

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 9

Source: Webcomic

Episode Summary: 6 years after the apocalypse, Britain’s citizens live out a hardscrabble existence amongst the rubble and ruin. While most folks simply try to get enough food and clean water to live out their lives, this world is also populated by 12 individuals with certain psychic gifts, called the “Freak Angels.” Their benefits vary, but they’re all powers of the mind. Despite that, though, their users often find themselves bickering amongst one another rather than collectively joining forces for anything constructive.

After an encounter that resulted in the death of her brothers, Alice enters White Chapel in search of the Freak Angels – and of revenge. What she learns is that her memories were likely tampered with, and that a man named Mark, whose relationship to the Freak Angels seems strained at the very least, may be responsible. The Freak Angels call a meeting – quite the task considering that getting them to tolerate one-another in one room is a feat in-and-of-itself – but soon find themselves under attack and on the defensive. As their hideout crumbles all around them, it seems this issue with Mark may be an even bigger deal than it appeared to be at first blush.

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Personal Site News

February 6th – February 19th, 2022 Week(s)-in-Review

Hi, Everyone! I’m back after some days of very little activity. I live in the upper Midwest USA, and we’ve hit that point in the year where it just feels like endless cold with no reprieve, and I’m finding myself emotionally exhausted with very little drive to do anything. Now that I’m in the middle of a three day weekend (the last one for a few months now), I’m feeling a little more like I can devote some mental energy to my hobbies. I spent some time finishing up that knitting project I mentioned in my previous weekly touch-base, so I’m ready to move onto something a little bit more challenging.

With my journey through fiber arts, I’ve found that it’s helpful to maintain my interest if I’m learning something new each time. In this most recent case, it was learning to use very basic short rows (a shaping technique in which the knitter doesn’t knit all the way across a row before turning the other direction). My brain craves novelty and variety, and knitting the same scarves and hats back when I was just learning (more than a decade ago) meant that it was almost a given I was going to get bored. This time around I’m realizing that there’s just so many new things I can learn to make, and it’s helping to keep me interested in the longer term.

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