Somewhere in 2009, me and a few of my close college friends marathoned the first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I remembered seeing promotional articles and pictures of the leading lady herself during my stay in China in 2007, but had never gotten around to watching the series until that night. We’d gotten… Continue reading KyoAni and the Melancholy of My Early Twenties
Tag: Anime
Personal Apocalypse in Revolutionary Girl Utena
Recently, I sat with my pastors and a few other congregants after church as we had one of many ongoing discussions about the #MeToo movement. We based our discussion on an article by Nadia Bolz-Weber called “We’re in the midst of an apocalypse. And that’s a good thing” published in The Washington Post. If you’re… Continue reading Personal Apocalypse in Revolutionary Girl Utena
Your Truth in Music: Honesty and Performance in Your Lie in April
I’m slowly getting around to watching the anime my Internet circles keep talking about and just recently finished Your Lie in April. I particularly enjoyed how the series dramatizes musical performance and the emotions that go into it. Music is the only consistently honest expression in the entire series. By that I mean in just… Continue reading Your Truth in Music: Honesty and Performance in Your Lie in April
God Have Mercy: Justice and Judgement in Death Note
I’m ten years late to the party, but I finally watched Death Note. I’m actually glad I avoided it for as long as I did because I don’t think my teenage, anime-loving self would’ve appreciated or understood the complexity. Certainly, anything I could say about Death Note has been discussed ad nauseam from religious references… Continue reading God Have Mercy: Justice and Judgement in Death Note
Goodreads Review–Her Eternal Moonlight
Her Eternal Moonlight: Sailor Moon’s Female Fans In North America, An Unauthorized Examination by Steven Savage My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was one of the interviewees for this book, so I’ve known some of the details and findings for quite some time. Not only was it great to take part in such a… Continue reading Goodreads Review–Her Eternal Moonlight
On Moé, the Queer Female Gaze, and Representation
An article on The Mary Sue about moé caused a bit of a stir on my Twitter feed a few weeks ago, mostly because the author was constantly defending herself against asinine hate comments by people who either read the headline and nothing more or skimmed the article without comprehending its content or aims, or… Continue reading On Moé, the Queer Female Gaze, and Representation
Anime Challenge #6: Anime that never gets old
I’m not one to rewatch, reread, or replay anything unless I’m really really impressed with it. However, those that do make the cut either have extremely rich narratives or they’re comedies that have stood the test of time. Azumanga Daioh is over ten years old and it’s still just as hilarious today as it was back… Continue reading Anime Challenge #6: Anime that never gets old
Loving Anthy and Loving the Other
In my last post about Revolutionary Girl Utena, I compared Utena to Jesus Christ on the basis of her being an unexpected revolutionary who does, in a sense, break the system she challenges, but not in the way that the other characters (or the audience) expects. After reflecting on the series a bit more, I… Continue reading Loving Anthy and Loving the Other
Anime Challenge #4: Saddest Anime Scene
A death scene is an obvious candidate for this kind of post, so that’ll be today’s focus. Death scenes don’t particularly affect me unless I’m completely blindsided and I really liked the character. For example, I sobbed uncontrollably at that one thing that happens in Mockingjay, but that is the first time ever that a… Continue reading Anime Challenge #4: Saddest Anime Scene
Anime Challenge #2: Favorite Anime You’ve Watched So Far
At the end of my last post, I dropped a lowkey, mediocre hint at which anime I’d talk about in this post. If you guessed it, then congratulations and thank you for putting up with how much of a piece of trash I am for this specific anime. — Favorite anime I’ve watched so far?… Continue reading Anime Challenge #2: Favorite Anime You’ve Watched So Far