There are relatively few anime series that star adult characters, so when I find one I definitely take notice, even if the end product is somewhat uneven. Take Otherside Picnic, a series that stars two college-aged heroines who become friends (and more). At its best, the series is creepy and unsettling; at its worst, it’s merely enjoyable. But overall it’s a fun ride with some amusing characters who find themselves in some spooky situations.
I may have mentioned this, but over the last year my ability to keep up with new anime was severely disrupted due to health issues, so when it was time to prep for an anime convention I had a lot of catching-up to do. Usually when I end up in this situation, sacrifices must be made. There are always anime that I wanted to watch but didn’t have time to cram into my schedule, and I’ll realistically probably never get back around to them again. On the other hand, there are almost always some series that I take a chance on and end up loving. Raven of the Inner Palace was one such series.
When I started this month-long project, part of the reason I’d had the idea in the first place was because I wanted to call attention to some lesser-known, older, and potentially out-of-print or unlicensed episodes or series under the guise of creating a Halloween listicle. Having said that, I think it’s important to note that not every overlooked series is older or even especially difficult to get a hold of. Take Shadows House. While I don’t think the show is a secret to anyone who’s kept up with seasonal anime the last several years, it’s a series that I think deserves to be more well known than it is.
There are some anime each season that I watch, enjoy, and then mostly forget about after a few months. There are many fewer anime that I watch and never stop thinking about. Shinsekai Yori (From the New World) is one such anime series. Part of why I think it’s remained so front-of-mind for me is that my experience of watching it was very intense; it was fairly late at night on a weekend when I made it to the third act of the series, and I chose to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning to finish it. However, in despite any sleep deprivation that may have been involved, I think the truer reason why I’ve always felt a connection with the series is that it ends on such a shocking note that I would dare anyone who’s finished watching it to ever forget it.
I’m sure this goes for most fans of any type of media, but it’s a fact that there are certain anime series that I really enjoy that I have a difficult time recommending to anyone. In some cases, it’s because the material they cover is so extreme that to adequately warn for all the content would rightfully drive away most folks (I’m looking at you, Made in Abyss). In other cases, it’s more that the tone is so specific that it’s often tough to get a read on whether or not someone else might actually enjoy them.
In most cases, I’m perfectly happy to chalk up a difference in opinion as such and not get too hot-headed about it. As an anime fan, I’ve seen plenty of flame wars blow up over inconsequential nonsense over the years and I like to think I’ve learned my lesson. But there are still some times where I find myself grumbling over “people being wrong on the internet,” and the commentary surrounding the 2016 TV anime series The Lost Village was one of those situations.
The fun of long-running entertainment franchises is that they occasionally enter a stage where they become more like anthologies – playgrounds where many different stories are told using familiar characters. Lupin the Third is one such anime franchise. While the series has never really had a ton of continuity, the more recent series are a fun blend of ongoing storylines and one-off episodes that are more fun and occasionally fanservicey (of the type that’s more involved in signaling to folks who are “in the know” rather than the type that’s about nudity).
I felt like it was about time for some more vampires, so I wanted to revisit an interesting series from a couple of years ago that I really enjoyed. Mars Red is an animated interpretation of a live-action stage read (I’m not sure what makes this distinct from a typical play, but it’s how the source material is specifically described) and takes place in Japan in the early 20th century.
I always tell people that I’m a fan of sports anime, but that comes with the caveat that I’m extremely picky about the sports anime that I actually watch. If the tone is too juvenile or if the characters are too unlikeable (for a genre that relies so much on character interactions and growth, it’s wild to me how many contain just shitty characters), I won’t actually continue watching the series. So I suppose that I might not really be a sports anime fan, but instead just a general anime fan who happens to like some sports series (in the same way that I enjoy a few comedies, some mecha anime, etc.).
For many years I was kind of the de-facto anime provider for the anime club I attend. Mostly this was because I had been maintaining a version of this website for many a season, giving me insight into a lot of anime that wasn’t as popular with mainstream fandom but was still great and worth sharing with others. The other reason was probably because I was an adult with a job who could afford to constantly buy new anime DVDs (I’m not sure how that’ll go now that I’m paying for a kid, haha). Now that I’ve taken a slight step back from it for the time being (I continue to call myself an “alumni advisor” for the club but I think that’s just a title I’ve given myself rather than a label others would use) I’m getting the opportunity to see how tastes in anime have changed with newer fans. Or, how much they’ve stayed the same.