12 Days of Anime

Hello all! It’s Barty again, and this time I’m back for real.

I mentioned several months ago on my About page that after over a year and a half following my last original post (that’s not a reblogged post from another blog I follow with my response), a reflection on both seasons of JoJo’s Bizare Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders upon having completed it, I would finally return to blogging on this website instead of strictly on my other social media platforms.

Yeah, two to three months went by and that still didn’t happen. But I have written a lot since then, so there’s no shortage of stuff for me to talk about. It just needs to get published on here, instead of/as well as on Facebook or Twitter.

And that brings me to the subject of this post. Because I needed the incentive to get back to blogging, how convenient is it that the 12 Days of Anime project has finally come along again.

Madoka, Madoka, Madoka, and Me

I have read this article so many times and coming back to it I legitimately believe you have the absolute best take on Madoka I’ve ever seen. Mainly because I feel nothing else anyone has ever said about this series and this film encapsulates my feelings about them all so perfectly.

But everything you said is why I absolutely love Madoka Rebellion and consider it to be one of my favorite films of all time. And I’m glad to find someone that shares so many of my sentiments about Madoka and how the Internet views and discusses the franchise.

Thank you, thank you so much for this writeup. If you have plans to cover Magia Record, I greatly look forward to any posts that you may end up doing on it.

Happy New Year!

atelier emily

When Puella Magi Madoka Magica initially aired in 2011, watching it was an experience. Following up on my experience with Star Driver, Madoka was the second water cooler series that I participated in, eagerly vomiting my thoughts into the ether, and chatting with various people on Twitter about the show. When the final two episodes were released, I was one of the eager fans continuously refreshing their browser while waiting for translations. Watching the finale as soon as I possibly could following the fansubbed releases, I jumped into the fray that was unpacking the entire series with vigor.

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The Ocean of Sorrow and Betrayal in my Heart: Why I cannot enjoy Love Live! Sunshine (Season 1) as much as my friends

Hello all.

It’s been a while since I’ve written something on here, but I am having a moment where I believe that this is the only acceptable platform for me to talk about this one particular subject. I warn you now, this post may be dripping with irrational energy and present me at my most petty. Also, I don’t plan on adding screenshots right now, so a huge text wall will be coming up ahead.

OG’s Favorite Heisei Era Yuri Anime Couples

Hmmmm…no NanoFate, huh? Surprised about this tbh.

So many shows I need to/might watch, but I’m sure I’ll love these couples from them when I do. I REALLY need to watch Simoun, Saki, Kase-san, Lagrange and finish Kashimashi and Vividred, for example.

Even though I haven’t watched much Hibike yet, I’m pretty satisfied by NozoMizo so I don’t really care about KumiRei anymore. KumiAsu though I might still hold a torch for, but we’ll see.

I’m shocked but please to see Rikka x Akane ending up on your favorites, I did not think you were all that attached to them. I love them to death though and I haven’t stopped thinking about them since I finished the show. God I think I want a rewatch, and I hope I can read that doujin the ED director wrote someday.

KuroMaya is legendary and I love them, but I’m honestly more partial to Futaba x Kaoruko and Hikari x Karen (and Junna x Nana). Every Starlight ship is great though (except the ones in the mobage but that’s another can of worms).

Not all that surprised to see Minna and Mio on here. Definitely like them more than Eila x Sanya (who are great, don’t get me wrong), but my Strike Witches OPs stand as Barkhorn x Hartmann and Yoshika x Lynnette. Can’t wait for Road to Berlin next year tbh, though I still need to catch up on that 4koma short (I’ll probably just wait until it’s done at this point).

Rin x Ko is really good, but I’m honestly not as optimistic as you are about their future. And I’m far more partial toward Nenecchi x Umiko and Aoba x Hifumi tbh.

Thank you SO much for including Hibiki x Narumi, they were my favorite couple of 2015 and are just so goddamn freaking wholesome. Re-Kan! is criminally underrated.

Bless ChikaHime. I know KnM has aged like milk and Chikane’s actions are still too controversial to even try to excuse (but can at least be justified within the context of the narrative), but I still unconditionally love these two. They are eternal without a doubt.

I’m glad that you’re on the YuuTouko train still, I won’t say anything about the manga but its about to end and its going in some very good directions. I hope we get a season 2 announcement at some point. Tohru x Kobayashi is also perfect and I’m tentatively excited for season 2 of Dragon Maid as well.

And yes, HibiMiku, PapiCona and Yuuna x Togo, the best magical girl couples of them all IMHO. I will probably love them all unconditionally until I die tbh. Your descriptions of them are very apt and I really appreciate it.

HaruYuu isn’t too bad, but Sakura Trick is kinda frustrating to watch because it just makes me feel so weird…Kotone x Shizuku would probably be my pick though and I’ll finish the anime eventually.

EmiRuru and MiraiRiko really are great, aren’t they? I still haven’t finished Hugtto or MahouGirls yet, but I love them to death. Have you seen all the official art of the former and that kiss between the latter in the manga Kamikita Futago drew? All of their stuff is so damn good.

I really wanted to like Anne x Grea and Izetta x Fine more than I do, but my conflicting feelings on their shows aside (though I liked Manaria far more than Izetta in the end), I still love them and will not hesitate to like/retweet or simply admire fanart of them if I come across it. Regardless of the quality of their shows, they are both so good (and I will watch an s2 of Manaria Friends if it comes).

Another great list, OG. You should be proud.

The Yuri Empire

Making a Top Yuri Anime List is very hard for me. Too many factors going into it and so many shows coming out with the potential of becoming a new favorite. HOWEVER, it dawned on me. There IS a favorite yuri themed list I can make: A favorite couples list, especially after learning about the Heisei Era (January 8th, 1989 to April 30th, 2019). This means I have a set limit as to how far ahead I can go with my picks. In this case the end of the Winter 2019 anime season. Before we begin, some ground rules. Read them carefully before proceeding:

1. This list is for couples from anime and OVAs/movies. No manga, video games or Western media. Those are reserved for other potential lists.
2. These couples are based on how they made me feel in the kokoro. It has little to do with “Best of…

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Yuri Talk: The Akiba Research Institute Yuri Poll

This list puzzles me, though I can’t really object to most of the choices (I’m definitely a big “fuck no” on Kuttsukiboshi, Love to Lie Angle, Netsuzou Trap and Mai-HiME though as well).

There’s a lot of shows on here I haven’t watched or finished yet, but none I would really contest the yuri content of from what I’m aware of. My rankings would just be…significantly different.

I’m going to disagree with you, Madoka SHOULD be on here because of the movies, but so should Nanoha and YuYuYu. Raising Project I’d only add for Top Speed x Ripple and Snow White x La Pucelle, I didn’t get invested in Sister Nana and Weiss Winterprison’s relationship at all (and I read the novel instead of finishing the anime). Site I’m not going to watch but from manga readers I’m sure the yuri is plentiful enough for people.

I like Maria+Holic, but it definitely doesn’t belong here. It’s a parody of Marimite and Class S tropes (a far better one than Strawberry Panic! IMO) but hardly one that makes any statement on the genre, and I’m not even sure there are any yuri elements beyond Kanako’s lesbianism and the all girls school.

Black Rock Shooter and Pandora in the Crimson Shell I like as well, but I don’t think they really belong on this list. I don’t understand why Blue Drop is on here at all. And as much as I like Kannamiko still, we’ve had so many better shows since, I don’t feel like it needs to be on here. At least, I don’t think it should be ranked that high.

This REALLY needs Symphogear, Flip Flappers! and Kashimashi (which I still need to finish) though. Utena and Yurikuma are JARRINGLY low, and I would completely flip the ranking so that Citrus is on the bottom (although I might still watch the anime one day, what I’ve read/heard of the manga was a huge turnoff).

Tbh all this list really established was that I need to watch more Hidamari Sketch and finish Yagakimi, Kashimashi and Sakura Trick, finally watch Kase-san, Konohana Kitan, Maria-sama ga Miteru, El Cazador de la Bruja, Akanesasu Shoujo, Seraphim Call, Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, Simoun, Aoi Hana and Sasameki Koto (and read the manga for both), Saki, Bodacious Space Pirates, and Lagrange I guess. Oh and not on here but I also want to see Happy Sugar Life.

The Yuri Empire

Between February 26 to March 13, 2019 the Akiba Research Institute of Japan conducted research to determine which yuri anime/anime with yuri content were the most popular in Japan, up to the year 2018 of course. It was obviously in Japanese but luckily ANN (The site sucks but beggars can’t be choosers) translated the results and I am here to briefly talk about every single poll result.

Note: The following are MY OPINIONS. ME, YO, IK, MOI, AMI, EU, BOKU. Nowadays certain readers need to be reminded of this to avoid unnecessary complaining.

Take a wild guess where Citrus ranked at.

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Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Coming to the West in Summer 2019

I’m actually overjoyed by this, mainly bc I’m excited for the anime (even if I’m no longer as into Madoka as I used to be and try to keep my once fervent passion for it dormant) but also because while I have faith in the adaptation, I have no guarantee that I won’t want to follow along with the MagiReco storyline alongside it.

I stopped playing on my JP account primarily bc of region lock but also bc the gameplay was identical to FGO’s and I didn’t want TWO of those on my phone lol. The Wiki and Youtube has a lot of translated cutscenes but now that the game is getting a localization I don’t have to go out of my way to read those transcripts or watch those videos when I’m too lazy lol.

Anyway yes, this is great news, but I’d be even happier if YuYuYui and XDU (though I hate the gameplay) got similar treatments. Also Monogatari PucPuc (not magical girl related per se, but another mobage for an Aniplex work I really love that I want to be able to play in my native language).

The Yuri Empire

I shouldn’t be surprised the Meduca Meguca mobile game is coming to the West but there you go. It’s convenient as the game is getting an anime this year.

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Call the cops, no not the regular cops — Sarazanmai Episode 2

atelier emily

“Only those who can connect desires can have a future.”

-Mabu Akutsu, Sarazanmai, Episode 2

Ah, the things we do for love.

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Who is Harukappa? — Random thoughts and the visuals of Sarazanmai’s cold open

atelier emily

“I never asked anyone to understand me! This is my own business. It’s the connection between me and Harukappa. For that, I’ll pretend to be anything!”

-Kazuki Yasaka, Sarazanmai, Episode 1

Naturally, some of the questions inspired by Kazuki Yasaka’s outburst is of Harukappa, who they are, and what Kazuki’s relationship or connection to them is exactly.

The short answer is that Harukappa is Harukawa Yasaka, a kid who lives with Kazuki and is likely Kazuki’s younger sibling.

(a few mild spoilers for Mawaru Penguindrum, specifically Episode 9)

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You and I are connected by ア —Sarazanmai Episode 1

atelier emily

“The more boxes you have, the happier you’ll be! Take a Happy Selfie, send it to your special someone, and you’ll be even happier, dish~”

-Sara Azuma, Sarazanmai, Episode 1

Prior to Sarazanmai‘s television debut, director Kunihiko Ikuhara said in an interview with Pash+ “We live in an age where, with our smart phones and social media, connecting with people is a daily activity––so I wanted to ask, what does that all mean? What do we want to do with [those connections]?”

Sarazanmai is the most outwardly direct Ikuhara has been in a series premiere. Even the tagline of Sarazanmai‘s first episode, “I Want to be Connected, But I Want to Lie” neatly bookends the entirety of episode’s fairly self-contained plot. Naturally there’s a lot more to dig into, but in terms of Ikuhara premieres, this one was surprisingly succinct.

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THE FIRE IN HER HEELS: Rei’s Multi-Arrow Passion!

Cobrahs Corner Booth

I didn’t grow up with Sailor Moon. It’s not like I wasn’t aware of the show’s existence or anything, but my attention was focused on other manlier shows like Yu Yu Hakusho and Beyblade. The only memory I have of Sailor Moon is renting a VHS tape from a Family Video (omg remember those?) and watching Sailor Jupiter’s introduction. Any enjoyment I got out of the show I would have buried deep within in me out of shame, so young Cobrah’s exposure to Sailor Moon ended there.

Fast forward about 12 years later when I hear word that there’s going to be a remake of Sailor Moon. At this point I had already sold my soul to anime, so I was pretty excited to see a remake of a super popular show I knew virtually nothing about. Just because it was magical girls didn’t mean it couldn’t be good, right?…

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Day 2: How Oath Under the Snow Lived Up to My Hype for It And Helped Me Learn to Appreciate Fate/Stay Night (LATE)

Turns out this #12Days thing required a little more patience, focus, and stamina than I had this weekend so this and the next post will be a few days late. Sorry about that! I’ll be doing my best to catch up today, at least. ^^;