Otaku Links: Hello from far away

10 years ago

You’re getting my linkspam early this week because I’m not around. I’m in St. Thomas, a place I haven’t been since 2010 when my blog was still my journalism graduate school diary, not an anime blog yet. As always, I’ll be updating Instagram and that’s it.

Here’s what I saw this week before I left:

Since it tosses you into the world of animation in media res, Shirobako has a bit of a learning curve. Altair & Vega made a handy illustrated glossary of all the industry terms used in the show.

Bobduh’s deep analysis of Yurikuma Arashi is a treasure. He has a grasp on cinematic framing that I never considered. Of course, his understanding of the symbolism pales in comparison with Anime Maru’s (parody) analysis.

I liked The Tangles’ zeroing in of Death Parade episode one as an allegory about marriage. I interpreted the ending a little differently than he did—when Machiko said “I love somebody else” and then pictured a flashback her first meeting with her husband, I thought she meant she loved who he was back then more than who he became, not that she had a guy on the side.

Justin at Organization Anti Social Geniuses narrows down the 5 legal anime and manga streaming sites to watch. I admit I wasn’t so hot on Daisuki once upon a time, but now that they have Kuroko’s Basketball as an exclusive, of course I’m watching at least one show there now.

My friend Amber works for Tumblr, watches anime, and runs a feminist essay site that I occasionally write for. She just posted an article about making decisions to get the life you want, and I agree with it wholeheartedly.

Steve wrote about his brief career in scanlations, and how much work goes into something that falls into a legal gray area in the first place.

Anime News Network just revealed the Winter 2015 daily streaming lineup. I’ll be continuing with Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road and Gundam Build Fighters Try, and adding Kuroko’s Basketball to the list. Go sports teams! By the way, since I’m on vacation today, there’s no GBF Try review this week—next week I will cover episodes 14 and 15 in my review.

Screenshot via Welcome to the NHK episode 12, also known as the Worst Anime Beach Episode Ever.

My Winter 2015 Anime Preview

Anime

10 years ago

New year, new anime! Wow, is Winter 2015 starting out strong or what?

In accordance with my resolution to watch less terrible anime, I watched a very wide range of new shows in order to pick my favorites. However, I ended up liking so many that I’m only committing to the first three episodes, and then reevaluating.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m still watching Parasyte and Shirobako into their second seasons for fun, and Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road and Gundam Build Fighters Try for review. That means if I don’t cut any shows, I’ll watch 9 episodes, or about 4.5 hours of anime every week!

That’s not very realistic for my schedule, but check out what I’m dealing with here and see why I’m reluctant to narrow it down yet:

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

I call this one Magical Boys for short. Five pretty boys wear frilly outfits and fighting in the name of love to save the world. So far it’s stupid and silly in a way I’m certain is intentional since it shares a director with one of my favorite anime, Daily Lives Of High School Boys. I’ve got my hopes up for a so-bad-it’s-good parody of Magical Girl tropes.

Where I’m watching it: Crunchyroll

Assassination Classroom

A ridiculous supernatural premise and comedic timing that both remind me of Soul Eater. In “Ass Class,” students have to kill their invincible alien teacher before he blows up the planet. The twist is that he’s an excellent teacher. The first episode had too much exposition and too little plot, but I’ve got a good feeling about this hyperbolic shounen show.

Where I’m watching it: Funimation

Death Parade

A stylized supernatural thriller that looks gorgeous and sounds even better. I thought the pilot’s drama felt manufactured, but judging by Anime News Network’s consistently high scores, I’m giving it another episode. The first episode explained the gimmick; now I’m looking forward to see if the show can hook me now that all its cards are on the table.

Where I’m watching it: Funimation

Kuroko’s Basketball

After sticking with it for 50 episodes, I’m here for the long run. Season three started strong with a short recap that didn’t feel stale and the introduction of a terrifying new adversary. Kuroko is probably the most interesting sports anime I watch for the sports, because real players would have to be doping to perform these killer moves.

Where I’m watching it: Daisuki

The Rolling Girls

A little bit Samurai Flamenco, a little bit Kill La Kill, this show is all bright colors, smooth animation, and girl power. It’s a show about female vigilantes who battle for their districts in a distinctly panty-shot-free way. I like strong female characters better than Strong Female Characters, and I can’t wait to see where this character-driven drama goes next.

Where I’m watching it: Funimation

What are you watching this season? Anything you think I’ve missed?

Otaku Links: New year, new anime

Otaku Links

10 years ago

How’s everyone enjoying the Winter 2015 anime season?

Vertical Inc. tackles the real appeal of sports manga in the US, and why partnerships with the NFL and NBA don’t translate to sports manga sales. “I mean Prince of Tennis did okay… But fans weren’t reading for the tennis.”

An older but still timely Wired piece on where doujinshi and copyright fit into the manga economy in Japan. Hat tip: Steve.

A short Anime News Network interview with Masayuki Yoshihara, director of The Eccentric Family, that finally reveals what the heck Benten is.

Emily wrote a poetic post on the use of settings in Yuri Kuma Arashi.

My friend Crimm just started an anime blog, and he says it’s thanks to me. If you’ve been thinking about starting an anime blog, now’s a great time!

The anime income gap: an exploration of the way anime characters’ financial situations mirror the Japanese post-bubble economy.

Everything you ever wanted to know about tsunderes. Anime_Historian drops some knowledge on r/anime.

This week I’m reading Dragon Ball Culture by Derek Padula. So far, it’s amazingly thorough.

I made an Ask.fm account because everyone on Anitwitter seems to be having so much fun with it! While I’m plugging personal links, here are my Yowapeda and GBF Try reviews for the week.

And finally, Neverending In The End. This Tumblr is trying to collect every anime music video that features “In The End” by Linkin Park. Good luck to them!

Screenshot via Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

My most ambitious 2015 goal

Writing

10 years ago

“Can you come out on New Year’s Eve?” my friends asked me this year.

“No can do,” I replied. “I’m reviewing last year, doing a life-design worksheet, and setting my goals and intentions for 2015.”

“Oh that sounds much more reasonable,” said none of them.

“You run your life like a business,” one of my friends said. I’m taking it as a compliment.

Since I began seriously journaling in 2011, the new year has been a really important milestone for me to take stock of my achievements and shortcomings in the previous year and make a solid plan for how to make the next year rock.

This year, however, my plan wasn’t business oriented like usual. It wasn’t about launching that book I’d been meaning to write forever or learning a new language. This year I am going to do something I’ve been afraid to do since college and publish my short fiction.

This goal is long overdue, and I have my ego entirely to blame. It is painful to realize that I am a professional writer—albeit of nonfiction—and I still can’t write stories on par with my friends who write fiction regularly. After years of writing nonfiction, it comes easily to me. I easily write several articles per workday. Meanwhile, in fiction, every word is a struggle.

I am working on a collection of short stories I am tentatively calling Fan Fiction, based very loosely on my anime convention experiences. I am trying to write half of it this month. I am telling you this now because I want to stay accountable for my goal.

Are you also interested in writing more in 2015? If so, I’d like to share a few of my favorite writing resources with you. All but the third are free:

Pacemaker — Make it NaNoWriMo every month! Pacemaker lets you map out a target word count and holds you accountable to a schedule for achieving it. This is the tool I used to figure out how much I need to write per day to reach 10,000 words by January 1.

Stayfocusd — A Google Chrome app that blocks your timewaster sites for you. Mine is set to only let me access Tumblr, Facebook, and Reddit for 30 minutes per day. As somebody who works from home, this is also a cornerstone of my tenuous productivity!

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks — This book changed my writing for the better because it’s written in a no-nonsense nonfiction way that I really understand. Instead of advising you “go with the flow,” this book lays down real tools and techniques to improve your stories.

Google Drive — I never leave my Internet browser window anyway, might as well choose a word processor that can come with me. I use this for blog posts, journalism articles, and anything else that I care more about being convenient than secure.

Evernote — I don’t always have a notebook when I’m inspired, but I always have at least one mobile device. Evernote syncs on my phone, tablet, and laptop so I can write notes on one and read them later on another.

Sorry for being so quiet these last few post days on Otaku Journalist. Now you know what I’ve had on my mind.

Otaku Journalist’s greatest hits of 2014

Uncategorized

10 years ago

With only a few days left in the year, I like to spend this time reflecting on how my year went before planning what I want do next. I wrote a book in seven weeks, I began a reviewing gig at Anime News Network. I launched a website for my Gunpla hobby. without a doubt, my chief accomplishment of 2014 was launching my ultimate guide to Otaku Journalism and putting it up for sale.

So in the tradition of last year’s roundup, I am highlighting some of my favorite posts from 2014. Only this time, I couldn’t pick just ten. Thanks for sticking with me all year, and I’m looking forward to giving you even more reasons to stick around in 2015!

Otaku Links: Hello from far away

My Winter 2015 Anime Preview

Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!

Assassination Classroom

Death Parade

Kuroko’s Basketball

The Rolling Girls

Otaku Links: New year, new anime

My most ambitious 2015 goal

Otaku Journalist’s greatest hits of 2014

Otaku Journalism

Interviews with Awesome People

Anime and Subculture

Personal Posts