Anime…all the time?

If you’ve been stalking me, then you know that I haven’t posted anything here in about a week. While I could easily attribute this to packing/moving/working on other projects, I think it could be better summarized as me simply not wanting to watch any anime, whether I was writing about it or not. I even tried to catch up on Folktales from Japan (which I’m still 10 episodes behind), but I just wasn’t in the mood to watch any anime last week, much less write about it.

Some, rather annoying, anime fans may conclude that I don’t have the same level of passion for it that others do. But I see it more like this: how can you appreciate something fully if you don’t occasionally go outside your norm? When it comes to anime, how could you be able to understand why you like it so much if you don’t take in other forms of media and entertainment? While I normally entertain myself with more than just anime, programs like Adventure Time, Scrubs, and Louie frequent my television, whatever I’m currently watching from the season tends to hold majority over my entertainment content.

But what happens when you cut out your majority share of entertainment? If you look at my Youtube history, you’d see that I start watching interviews with everyone from Louie C.K. , Jon Stewart, and Ze Frank, every abridged episode I find, random Pokemon videos, and one hour long videos about the “hidden” human history involving Atlantis, Jesus, and martians. Essentially, a range of comedy to seriousness. But what’s important to take away is that it helped me to break away from the usual tranes of thought that watching anime keeps you on. Being able to delve into topical subjects helps to freshen your outlook in ways anime can’t. There’s also a certain way of interacting with others, both online and in real life, that gets impaired when all you watch is cartoons (being brutally honest).

Or maybe this is all just me and I’m over-thinking being too lazy to write anything for a week. What do others think of not watching anime for a week to explore outside tastes in other forms of media? Is it a good idea to get back to why you liked anime in the first place, or just a horrible excuse to let new shows pile up on the docket while you don’t watch them…which reminds me, new stuff to watch and write about.

Remembering Love: A Channel

Following a string of “Remembering Love” posts, initiated by trzr23, I’ve decided to remember my love for A Channel (shockingly :3). The rules set by trzr23 are straightforward and simple: Rewatch your favorite anime, Post about it every Sunday, Do NOT review. Like Yumeka, I’m breaking the 2nd rule seeing as May is more than half over. And as for the 1st rule…I rewatch A Channel periodically, so I have no qualms with this.

From a completely subjective standpoint, the reason A Channel is the anime that sticks out most for me and helps me return to the reason I started reviewing anime series, is because I absolutely fell in love with the characters. Maybe because I was going through something similar at the time (older, close friends moving away), or perhaps it was just something more personal that reached out to me in the comedic day-to-day activities and the sometimes exuberant cast. At the time, A Channel wasn’t “the anime to watch”, and (if memory serves) few blogs were covering it at all. This usually drives my decisions to watch and review the anime series no one else is. Because it’s not about which one is more popular or which one looks like it’ll be the best. It’s about what someone enjoys.

A Channel, by no means, has a ground breaking plot or original character sets. But it’s the fact that it captured the fascination of a single anime viewer almost a year ago that reminds me of what I felt when it seemed like I was one of the few who adored it so much. I’m not saying I was in a place by myself, it’s just…not a fun feeling to see your favorite anime being overlooked and passed over. Not criticized, but not elevated to the same level you put it up to in your mind. While this is probably true of almost every anime, we all wish to see our favorites adored by others as well, but sometimes it’s merely the fact that someone else has taken the time to partake as well that helps secure your feelings for a show.

I still remember hitting “Refresh” like a maniac the night before my foot surgery last spring, I was desperate for the last episode of A Channel. Not that I was afraid the surgery would be problematic or that it was new to me, this was my fourth major surgery. It was just that by the fourth time going through it, I had started feeling numb to it, and that scared me. I found kinship with Tooru as she moves toward a future without her friends, and I guess I was determined that she saw it through, so I could as well. I fell asleep that night just after Tooru’s tears fell over her smile as she hugged Run for being the same friend she’s always been.

It was such an irrational emotional connection, but that’s what eventually got me into anime blogging. That feeling of being so immersed in a show, and how all anime viewers just look for others who enjoy it as well. A Channel was the series that really propelled me into more anime series currently airing, and was the door that led to where I am today. My re-watch count for A Channel (beginning to end, including the +A Channels and now the OVA, A Channel +smile) is in the 20s, and I’ve even made a game out of it called “A Channel Roulette”. It’s shows like A Channel that I dream and hope to make once I’ve become an animator, and every time I re-watch, my desire gets re-kindled.

 

As for the last rule of “Remembering Love”, I’ve never been able to review A Channel anyhow. I’m far too biased, and maybe you now understand why. Through good anime and bad, A Channel has remained my favorite series. With the release of A Channel +smile, I’ve seen a slight increase in interest for the series, but overall, I think it’s just the ones who loved the original season that are getting excited for the OVA. So, while you’re free think what you want about me and my irrational emotional attachments, I’ll be sitting here, waiting, for A Channel….Season 2!

BeldenOtaku’s Best: A Sampling of NewAnimeThursday’s Finest

If you’re not familiar with the Aniblog Tourney currently in progress, first, I’d like to welcome you back to the surface (as you’ve obviously spent quite some time under a rock), and second would like to point out that NewAnimeThursday is up for vote on 23 April. So, in light of this, I’ve realized this is a rare opportunity to make a mass first impression on lots of new readers. So I compiled a list of various things I do, along with sampling of what NewAnimeThursday is all about…

Anime reviews: Each season I pick up airing series to follow and episodically post about, usually about how the episodes struck me, what I liked, what I disliked, where I think it’s going, possible plot problems, etc. I’ll also end each season with a final review of every show I’d been following, recently I’ve also taken to attributing a grade to each series (similar to an academic score where anything above 6.0 is passing, with 10.0 being a perfect score) based on qualities such as visuals, audio, plot, character sets, and the like.
Here are a few series I particularly enjoyed reviewing: Guilty Crown, Tamayura~hitotose~, C³, and Steins;Gate.

Occasionally, I have an idea…on a rare occasion, I have a good idea. So I write about it. I have them labeled as Editorials. I ponder and ramble about everything from being an otaku in real life, aniblogging, and other anime-related stuff. (I’ve only been doing editorials for a few months now) Editorials also give me an excuse to post A Channel photos :3 Some of my favorite editorials (which are also the most commented posts) are “For the last time, I don’t hate shounen…”, “The Problems with Anime Blogging: From the Writer’s Perspective/From the Reader’s Perspective“, and “Why it’s hard to admit I love anime (at least where I live)”

So now I should say something that sets me apart from other aniblogs…something like I DO SPEED DRAWS!!! :3 Speed draws are where I draw characters from various anime, record said drawing, speed it up (because 3 hours of drawing and coloring are kinda boring), throw in some music, upload it to Youtube, and claim the internets as my own. Here’s my favorite one so far, Tsukasa Hiiragi (Lucky Star)…

Other’s include Hakase Shinonome and Sakamoto (Nichijou), Mio Akiyama and Yui Hirasawa (K-On!), and NAT Banner Winter 2012 (with Tooru Ichii).

Thanks for your consideration in the Aniblog Tourney :3
Until next time,
- BeldenOtaku

Hey you,…yeah, you. With the Aniblog…

Back after a week off (to take care of a few things) with what’s probably going to be a simple editorial on the niceties of aniblogging social networking, as well as few other things. It’ll also give me the chance to post a few A Channel+smile gifs I’ve made :3 But, more importantly, if you’re not an aniblogger (or even if you are) you may not be aware of the interactions between bloggers on social networking sites, other than WordPress or personal comment blocks.

As mentioned, outside of blog commenting, a lot of brain-racking and idea discussion goes on via sites like Twitter. Why, just this week I had an interesting conversation with Marth (@marthaurion) about the weight and importance of an anime’s ending relative to the plot build-up. Among other things, I’ve had discussions ranging from how to use down time (@AceRailgun), sweets (@Kaminomimemo), and, of all things, durians (@wanabrarcom @draggle_kun.) Even if replies don’t start going back and forth, there’s always the fun of seeing what other people are thinking of new anime and manga (especially on days when particularly popular series premier new episodes…I’m referencing Another here).

As much as I like discussions, looking over my connections tab, it seems most of my interactions revolving around me asking for help (of which I’m very grateful to everyone who responds and has the patience to deal with me :3). Most recently, chikorita157 (@chikorita157) helped me to find a version of Handbrake (video converter) able to convert 10-bit videos (which most sub groups are switching to for HQ and HD subbed episodes). As well as questions about particular series (again, Marth and Rei), and general questions about how to approach a post or series as far as blogging is concerned. Though I’m extremely hesitant to bring Facebook (particularly my personal Facebook account) anywhere near NewAnimeThursday, Twitter seems to have provided a great medium for off-the-cuff discussion and community interaction within the anime blogosphere. The only additional comment I have is that I should stop making so many random tweets, looking back over my feed, I can only think of referring to my twitter account as “giving an idiot a bullhorn”. But my stats page says that a decent portion of NAT readers get it from Twitter, so I’m not sure if I should change anything…

Speaking of aniblogs, NewAnimeThursday, as well as around 150 other anime blogs, has been entered into the 2012 Aniblog Tourney. I’m not mentioning this to pander for votes, I’d only ask you to vote how you wish, but I merely felt like saying it. And also including my two cents about how I don’t think I’ll make it very far, but it’s an honor to be in a competition with some of the bigger/better/more popular aniblogs that I already read. I also look forward to finding new blogs to add to my sometimes overly lengthy Reader queue.

Oh yeah! And (in case you didn’t notice) A Channel+smile OVA came out this past week, so now I’m desperate as ever for a second season…but I guess this can hold me off for a month or so :3 Volume 3 of the manga was also released, looking to get that in a future purchase if my financial situation takes a turn for the better come summer.

Until next time,
- BeldenOtaku