Archives for June 2011

AnimeYume’s 9-year anniversary (also, I’m off to Anime Expo)

June 30th, 2011, marks the 9-year anniversary of my domain name, AnimeYume.com, on which Mainichi Anime Yume is hosted. Each year it becomes more surprising than the last that I’ve been able to keep up a web site for so long…

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Double Noitamina review: [C] and AnoHana

The two spring ’11 Noitamina anime (with unnecessarily long names) – [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control and Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai – have recently come to an end. With only eleven episodes each, how did they fare? Let’s take a look…

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Anime demotivators

I’ve been working more hours than usual this week, so regrettably I don’t have the time or energy for an extensive post today – instead, here’s a quick but fun post that I hope will provide your day with a chuckle or two. A collection of my favorite anime demotivators…

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Anime and Japan’s culture of “cuteness”

Something that’s always fascinated me since I’ve been able to follow Japan’s anime fandom in real time thanks to the advancement of the Internet, is the proliferation of “cuteness” in the country – not just in all genres of anime, but in real life Japanese society as well. And what’s even more interesting to me is how this acceptance of cuteness can’t help but carry on to American anime fans…

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My Anime Expo ’11 plans

We’re now two weeks away from Anime Expo, the largest North American anime convention that will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Although AX ’11 will only be my fifth AX, they’ve been my yearly highlights each time I’ve gone. The Anime Expo web site put up their schedule of events a few days ago, so now it’s time for me to get planning!…

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What are your top online presences?

There’s no denying that anime fandom could not have developed as much as it has, nor would it be what it’s been the past decade, without computers and the Internet. Because of this, it’s no surprise that the average anime fan is an active member on at least a few web sites. What would these online presences be, and what do they all add up to as far as our identity?…

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Anime and the power of inner thoughts

One of the unique ways in which anime is written when compared to other forms of TV and movie entertainment, is how often the audience is given insight into a character’s inner thoughts and feelings. There are many examples of anime from a variety of genres where viewers get to hear what the character is thinking to him/herself (while the other characters cannot hear it). I believe that this method of letting the audience inside characters’ inner thoughts is a big part of anime’s appeal, especially in the character development department…

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The two types of friendship in anime

We all know that friendship is a common theme in all kinds of anime, from its more preachy examples in kids anime to its more subtle ones in otaku-aimed anime. But although “friend” is the term in English for these cases, in Japanese there’s actually more than one word to describe friends…

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Time enough for anime: scheduling and pondering

The age-old problem of wanting to watch many anime titles and not having the time for it, is something that I’m sure has plagued most of us. Even if we’re able to squeeze just watching anime into our busy schedules, squeezing in additional activities like rewatching, blogging, online discussions, and the like may be out of the question. The majority of fans I know are around my age – still in high school, college, or a young adult still living at home and somewhat dependent on their parents. In most cases, such a situation offers more time for anime than someone tied down by a full-time job and/or family of their own. So I wonder, what kind of schedule does one need in order to keep their anime fandom going even if their life gets busier…

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