Tag: Drama

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 20: Shinsekai Yori (From the New World)

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.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 19: Golden Kamuy Episode 11 “Everybody, Get Together! It’s a Murder Hotel!”

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.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 17: Aoi Bungaku Episodes 11-12

When one hears the phrase “blue literature,” one might first believe that the phrase describes literature with a lot of inappropriate humor. However, the adjective blue or “aoi” in this context refers symbolically to youthfulness. Aoi Bungaku or Blue Literature then refers to stories considered evergreen classics within the Japanese canon, and this is what the series contains.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 13: Mars Red

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.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 5: Vampire in the Garden

I feel like I’m starting to get into the groove with parenting my baby (now that I’ve said that, he’s going to start crawling and none of this will be accurate anymore, of course). This week, while I was holding him during his nap, I managed to actually watch some anime! And, of course, because it’s October, I wanted to watch something from my list that I could include on this list. Enter yet another poorly-advertised Netflix exclusive, titled Vampire in the Garden.

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Halloween Seasonal Special Features

It’s Spooky Season! – Day 4: Adam by Eve: A Live in Animation

When I think of Halloween, I don’t always immediately think of music. While Christmas has its share of iconic carols, Halloween’s contributions to the musical canon are somewhat fewer and farther between. Once you get past “Monster Mash” or the soundtrack of A Nightmare Before Christmas, it gets much more difficult to name specifically Halloween-appropriate tunes. If you’re in the mood for a few of my own suggestions, might I recommend “Ghosts n Stuff” by deadmau5, the soundtrack to Over the Garden Wall, and today’s spooky selection, Adam by Eve: A Live in Animation

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Favorites Special Features

Five Anime to Watch if You’re Short on Time – Round 1

I used to think that I was too busy, and then I went and had a kid. Now I truly know the meaning of not having the time I want to indulge in my various extracurriculars (right now my spouse is out with the baby so I can have some time to myself, and I still spent the first hour of this precious time taking care of house chores instead of settling down to write – I have problems). Along those same lines, the thought of trying to keep up with several seasonal anime series like I’ve done in the past is truly laughable, and I haven’t been current with very many anime series over the last several seasons at least. I’m sure some of you out there reading can share in my frustration.

Luckily, there’s good anime out there for people in our situation. While I definitely won’t be digging into anything of the magnitude of One Piece any time soon (or ever), I know of plenty of bite-sized anime treats to enjoy while carving out some precious free time in between other obligations. I’ll be sharing some of my favorites over several upcoming posts, to hopefully provide something of a lifeline for others just looking for a quick fix rather than something that would take half a lifetime to watch.

Please note: while I encourage folks to seek out official sources for these titles (I’ll be listing availability as appropriate) not everything may have an official US release. Unfortunately, this is simply the nature of being a long-time anime fan who’s watched various series become more and less available over time.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shine Post

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: TBA

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: It’s been nearly a year since the idol group TiNgS was formed. Despite the apparent enthusiasm of the group members, however, their ticket sales have always been dismal. The owner of their talent agency calls them in for a conference and it’s made clear that they need to sell out a 2,000 seat concert venue in three months, or it’s all over for the group. This is absolutely a tall order, but the group members are promised a new manager to help whip them into tip-top singing and dancing shape.

Unfortunately, Naoki Hinase, the new manager, has some past trauma related to representing idols – it was, in fact, the reason why he was pushed out of his last job. Hoping to take on simple office work instead, he initially resists the push to represent TiNgS directly. However, Haru, the center, manages to convince Hinase of her own sincerity, even if her group members may not be entirely truthful about their own motivations. Hinase sets a more modest immediate goal of selling 100 tickets to one of the group’s regular shows, but will this be enough to get TiNgS off of life support?

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shoot! Goal to the Future

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Related to Aoki Densetsu Shoot!

Episode Summary: Tsuji was once a star on his soccer team, but his own arrogance over his skills as a shooter eventually spelled his downfall. After that he left soccer behind in favor of other pursuits, though his attitude toward the sport itself took on a specifically sour note. The team at Kakegawa high school has a championship history, but that seems to have faded into the past. Now other teams don’t even find them worth practicing against.

When Jo, one of the current team members perceives Tsuji’s disdain toward soccer, their philosophical differences blow up into a fight. In the background, a mysterious man watches this conflict with unusual interest. This man turns out to be Kamiya, a past member of the team and now a famous pro player. He returned to Japan upon the request of Kakegawa’s principal, and while he seems mostly uninterested in coaching the young members of his former team, witnessing a soccer shoot-out between Tsuji and Jo piques Kamiya’s interest. Perhaps there’s something he may be able to do for the team at Kakegawa high school – but it will take a lot of work for them to reach their destination as a cohesive team.

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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2022 First Impressions – Fanfare of Adolescence

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Yu Arimura is a member of a popular idol group, but after seeing horse racing for the first time he becomes fixated on the idea of becoming a jockey. After gaining entrance into an extremely competitive jockey-training high school, Yu’s fans and the media immediately begin questioning his motivations. Why not just continue to live the life of a famous idol like his fans obviously want? But Yu is committed to this new endeavor in spite of their protests.

On the day of the entrance ceremony, Yu’s convictions are put to the test. Not only are members of the media ready and waiting to hassle him, a mishap outside the building causes two horses to get loose, leaving the students to try to wrangle them. Yu feels in over his head, until one late-arriving student named Shun, who appears to have a gift for interacting with the animals, comes to the rescue. Shun shows Yu the view from atop a horse, and Yu realizes that he really is in the right place after all.

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