A recent post by lostty over on Anime Princess discussed the ever prominent fan activity of bashing anime’s many weak-willed male leads. lostty considers most hate for these guys “unjust.” I tend to agree and would like to examine why…
Archives for November 2011
What makes a good introductory anime?
A common question among anime fans is what titles would be good for introducing someone to anime. It’s actually something I haven’t given much thought to since all my friends are into anime themselves or at least familiar with it. So, for the person who doesn’t have a clue about anime but is willing to watch, what would be good titles to show them?…
How important is an anime’s length?
While the majority of anime series are 12 to 26 episodes long, some could extend to 50, 70, or even hundreds of episodes (not to mention titles with a continuing story across multiple seasons). I’ve heard fans complain when a series is too short. I’ve heard fans complain when a series is too long. But is there really a “perfect” number of episodes for anime?
My top 10 anime animal mascots
Time for another favorites list, and one that I’ve surprisingly never done before. Anime is full of cute animal mascots, whether they’re integral to their respective series’ plot or not. Even if they don’t serve a major purpose in the anime, they’re great for creating a simple, iconic image to associate with it, as well as opportunities for cute merchandise ;) So, out of the 300+ titles I’ve seen, what would be my top 10 favorites of these mascots?…
The pros and cons of complicated anime fantasy
Take any anime that isn’t primarily in the slice-of-life genre and chances are it has its fair share of fictional terminology and a family-tree of subplots worthy of any extensive Wikipedia page. From large casts of characters, constantly shifting plots, and a dictionary’s worth of made-up fantasy terms for the anime’s own unique setting, items, politics, and history, anime is constantly pushing the boundaries of what defines an engrossing and passionately detailed fantasy world…
Anime art styles
One of the many things that makes anime stand out among other forms of media is the sheer variety of art styles that exist within the medium. From the sharp lines of shonen and fluffiness of shojo, to the dark hues of sci-fi and the brightness of moe, anime entails an amazing variety of character designs and artistic elements to match anyone’s tastes. So what have I found about my tastes in terms of anime art styles…
The appeal of original anime films and my top 5 of them
Original anime movies, “original” meaning their content isn’t based on an existing series, don’t seem to get as much attention or produce as big a fan following as other forms of anime among English-speaking fans. The obvious reason for original anime films being less spotlighted than anime TV series is simply because much fewer of them are produced, so there’s just a lot less of them in total. But wouldn’t having less make each one more valuable?…