Monster: A Treatise on Screaming

After hearing such good things about it, Alice and I finally got up the courage to tackle this monster of an anime (ha...ha...ha...), which comes in at 74 episodes.  Below are our reactions and feelings toward this masterpiece.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: And What a Fabulous Adventure It Is

Recently Alice convinced me to watch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure with her- and what a Bizarre Adventure it was!  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this show certainly delivered...something!

Code Geass: We Tried

So we finally got around to watching Code Geass, which has been touted as an excellent military/political drama/mindgame-type show.

So let's get a few things straight.  We liked the show, we really did.  But...probably not for the reasons we should.

Shingeki x Free....?

This blog is not dead - I promise.  We're finally done with costume-making, back from Otakon and ready to spew inanity or vitriol (though in this case, I refer to the former).

So inevitably, when two shows air together, people tend to lump them together in their brains.  This becomes particularly amusing when the shows are not even tangentially related to one another.  Shingeki no Kyojin and Free! are prime examples: Bloodthirsty titans and angst?  Meet shameless fanservice and hilarity.  This is a little collection of some of the wonderful Shingeki and Free! crossover stuff that I have stumbled across.

Or horrible, whichever

Damn it Levi now the song is stuck in my head AGAIN

ARMIN YOU ARE NOT HELPING

Credit where credit is due

These fandoms, why

bless these magical tumblr people

These aren't even Free! Shingeki crossovers anymore, I don't even care

So not sorry for any of this

I'll have an actual blog post next time, I promise.  Mostly.

~Kathryn

Swimming Anime - A treatise on double standards

If you pay much attention to anime blogs/tumblrs/various social media outlets, it is likely that you have come across the phrase "Swimming Anime" at some point in the last three months or so.  Here is a brief summary of the events that sparked this strange set of circumstances.

Katanagatari: A Pleasant Surprise

So it was recently recommended that I watch Katanagatari, which aired once a month starting in 2010 (and is going to be re-aired during the spring 2013 season - in only a few days, actually, yay for my timing?).  I was quite hesitant to start watching it.  Fifty-minute long episodes?  What is this, white people TV?  After much inner debate, I decided to just suck it up and watch the first episode.

Mononoke: sans Princess

I finally got around to watching Mononoke (which I mistakenly believed was related to Princess Mononoke for far too long - this incidentally also makes gif hunting very difficult).  This is one of those shows that is visually stunning, complete with bright, opalescent colors, but is simultaneously so utterly terrifying.

Based on the three-episode Bakeneko story arc from the horror anthology Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales, Mononoke follows the travels (and inevitable exorcisms) of the mysterious Medicine Seller.

Bokurano

Next up is Bokurano, an anime which aired in 2007 (before I actually started watching anime properly) and came highly recommended. 

You know, this picture kind of makes it look like it is a show about a bunch of kids being kidnapped by sentient chairs

Sword Art Online, Please Go Die In A Hole

So I have finally (FINALLY) finished this damn show, after having forced myself to watch it once a week since it started airing in July (good god have I really wasted this much of my life on this travesty).

Utena Reaction Post

So I finished Revolutionary Girl Utena last night.  And the movie.  And I just.  Can't.  Process.  So here is my short reaction blurb.  But mostly just an excuse for some terrible gifs.

Princess Tutu (the least helpful I-just-finished-an-anime post ever)

So, I went to the beach for a week, which was about as exciting as one would expect for going to the beach in the middle of winter. But during this time I did manage to finish Princess Tutu, a really rather good albeit girly and cutesy magical girl series featuring ballet and fairy tales.

Now, I could talk about the usage of fairy tale structure and contrast it with those in Utena, or describe the variously clever frame stories in it, or try to extrapolate various take away lessons from the stance this show takes on stories/fate/roles/etc, or simply gush about its pretty art and fantastic ballet and classical music soundtrack.

But I'm super lazy, so I won't. Instead, I shall just leave these skeletons dancing ballet here just so that Kathryn can rage at the anatomical inaccuracies:

Post-Mawaru Penguindrum: a.k.a. My Brain Hurts, Help

You must play this while reading this post.  It is a requirement.  Carry on.

Stuck in your head FOREVER

So I just finished Mawaru Penguindrum a few days ago and....phew.  That was sure...something.  I'm not certain that my brain has quite managed to process it yet.  For the record, I am more comfortable with rants than proper reviews, so...bear with me.

SPOILERS.  JUST FYI.