Pahrak Joins the Anime Blogging Train
Entry posted by Pahrak Model ZX
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My first thought was to use “densha” instead of train but that would just be showing off 
I can never recall all the anime I’ve seen at once, but I suppose I could at least make a post about what anime and manga I’m following at the moment. I feel like I haven’t been using my blog as much lately, so this will liven things up.
Manga:
-Naruto: Yes, I know, shut up. I’m following it more out of a sense of obligation than anything else—it was one of the first series I got into when I started to really dive into anime and it…might…be over soon, so I’d like to see it through to the end. I’m a bit torn on its current state: while a lot of what’s happening is kinda cool, I wonder if it’s a bit too cliché. Then again, I think everything’s a cliché. The word cliché is cliché. The world is cliché. …I digress.
-Bleach: Again, obligation. Much more so than Naruto, even. Bleach was actually my absolute favorite anime through the end of the Soul Society arc, after which my interest continued to slip until the point where we got over 20 chapters with the exact same title, at which point I flipped a table and only kept reading to fulfill my contract. The ending of that arc and the arc afterward were alright, though I did have some complaints, but this new arc (explicitly said to be the FINAL arc) is…well, I don’t think terrible is the right word, just…the villains don’t interest me that much (though it feels like the concept could have), and the template for abilities for their species (established in the very first arc) has been completely and totally thrown out the window to make them little more than Arrancar clones. I’m going to cut myself off there—I could easily rant for an entire entry about Bleach. Lost love and all that.
Anime:
-Attack on Titan: Yeah, I know, took me a while. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t see the appeal of this series and mostly ignored it. Well…as best I could. When it was announced that the dub would be airing on Toonami (and in a reasonable timeslot, to boot), I figured I would check it out. I will say this: now that it has my interest, it’s certainly keeping it. My opinions of it haven’t entirely formed and probably will repeat what’s been said in a billion other places on the internet (it’s really, really popular), so I’ll just leave it at that.
-I do watch a few other things on Toonami—I try to at least stay conscious through One Piece, since I’ve been trying for years to get into that. Between AoT and One Piece there’s a few others: Naruto (meh), Bleach (I think Bleach is something that’s really better when it’s watched rather than read…too bad the anime ended before the final arc lol), and…Space Dandy. Space Dandy is weird, just weird, man. I honestly don’t know how to feel about it, but it does make me laugh.
-Sword Art Online II: Watching the subs as it airs in Japan. I never have understood why this series is as popular as it is either, even after watching the first season. But I think I’m starting to understand. My working theory is: rather than coming for great execution of the (admittedly interesting) plot concepts or well-made characters, you come to see things that look cool. And considering that the opening alone for this season gives us bishounen Kirito running around a desert wasteland deflecting bullets with a lightsaber, well…it looks like it’s probably going to deliver on that. Though even in that department, I would still much rather prefer a second season of Accel World. No word on that yet.
-Sailor Moon: Freaking finally. I know, I know, if I call myself an anime fan I really should have watched a series with this much cultural impact a lot sooner. In my defense, I have terrible motivation problems and 200 episodes is intimidating. Neon Alley is putting up two episodes a week and I can watch them there for free, and this pace makes it easier to keep up with while minimizing the feeling of “man I’m SO far behind!!” Anyway. It took me a while to get into the swing of it, but I’m really enjoying it now. The characters and how they interact with each other really sell it, the miscellaneous powers make for interesting fights, and the plot is really beginning to thicken, so I’m excited to see what happens next. Granted, I’ve seen spoilers. This is Sailor Moon we’re talking about. But still, it’s a fun watch; I’m tempted to just marathon the series elsewhere, but considering how far I still have to go, I’ll probably just be patient and keep up with Neon Alley’s pace.
-Sailor Moon Crystal: It just started airing, and it’s obviously a reason why I’m starting to watch the original as well. I think I’m still getting used to it, but I felt the same way about the original at this point in the plot, so I’m not worried.
-I know it’s not anime, but I’m going to mention it anyway. Legend of Korra Book 3: Change! I think I’ve successfully dumped all my negativity from Book 2 in favor of positivity, so I’m really enjoying the series again. I’m glad we’re learning more about the villains, but the remaining unanswered questions still leave a nice hook, and the Red Lotus make for pretty darn good antagonists (not sure you can really use the term “villains” now that we know more about their motives). As for Nickelodeon completely giving up on it, well…the positive spin my sister put on this was that now, we can just say “Nickelodeon is terrible” without putting on an asterisk to make note of Korra being the exception! A little concerned about how this may affect Book 4, but it’s probably nothing to worry about, and I am getting ahead of myself. Though while I’m at it, I do hope that Books 3 and 4 will be more connected, or that Book 4 will connect back to any (or all) of the previous Books a little more. I can sort of understand each Book being a separate story, but I kind of miss the feel of all the Books being tied together in one big plot like in Avatar.
That’s about it for now, and with school about to start back up and more video games being released I probably won’t be picking up a new series anytime soon. But! My local theater is showing Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods tonight, so we’re going to try to see that. We’re a little confused right now, there may have been some mix-up with our tickets…hopefully that’ll work out. If not, I’ll probably make a whiny status update or something. Or maybe I’ll get so ticked that I’ll turn into a Super Saiyan!
…No, wait, my power level isn’t high enough. Darn.
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