With July ending very soon, it’s time to share some interesting posts and some thoughts during the month.
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What Is on My Mind – August 2020 – Crunchyroll and Poor Translator Pay, Blog’s Domain Turns 10, In Defense of CGDCT Genre, and More
Archives for 2020
Lapis Re:Lights – Episode 4 – Sister’s Disagreements Over Rock and Roll
As Tiara and Rosetta went out of a shop, they run into Kaede. Of course, Nadeshiko and Tsubaki is apparently looking for her too.
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Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight – Episodes 4-6 – Runaway Dates, Green Eyed Mahiru, and The Unbreakable Promise
After Karen lost against Maya last time, Hikari gave Karen a big slap of reality. Before Karen knew it, Hikari mysteriously disappears. Meanwhile, the sense of Invidia inside Mahiru develops as Karen focuses almost all her time with Hikari.
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Lapis Re:Lights – Episode 3 – A Lover’s Quarrel and The Heated Bumper Ball Tournament
In the attempt to make up for lost ground last time, Tiara and her friends joins forces with Melissa, Lily and Coco play in a bump ball tournament. However, something happened with Ashley and Lavie that they aren’t getting along. I wonder why.
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Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight – Episodes 1-3 – Karen Joins the Fight For Brilliance
Back in 2018 when it aired, I haven’t had the chance to watch Revue Starlight. This is mostly because I didn’t have a Hidive subscription. However, I did play the mobile gacha game for at least for several months when it came out last year. That is without knowing what happened in the anime.
Since I have a good amount of free time before the onslaught of fall anime, I think it’s the best time to well, watch it.
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22/7 (Nanabun no Nijyuuni) – Final Review
I have seen quite a good number of idol anime in the past. Yes, this includes Idolmaster, Love Live, the 1-hour prequel for Wake Up Girls, Ongaku Shoujo and Re:stage Dream Days. While there is some drama, a producer or the girls working together manages the aspects of the group such as costumes, music, and other aspects.
Sure, there is some drama, but there are also some funny, heartwarming moments as well. Also, the girls in the idol unit usually get along with each other through strong teamwork. Of course, there are the yuri pairings as well.
22/7 (Nanabun No Nijyuuni) is like your typical idol anime, but different in a way. It’s a media project where they picked 11 girls out of about 10,000 applicants. The chosen ones portray their respective character in real life and in animation. Yes, the concept of this project is that the idols themselves transcends dimensions between the real and animated world. As expected, I surprisingly enjoyed this show for various reasons.
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Lapis Re:Lights – Episode 2 – Rosetta’s Secret Part Time Jobs
Tiara found out that she is joining a group that is about to face expulsion. That is if they don’t receive a passing grade next semester. While Tiara shows her determination, staging a turnaround looks a lot harder than it seems.
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22/7 (Nanabun no Nijyuuni) – Episodes 7-9 – A Tragic Loss, Akane’s Hidden Past, and Sibling Rivalries
From last time, it seems that everyone collapsed except Jun after eating something. Also, we see the origins of Akane along with the big preparation for the 1-year anniversary live performance.
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Lapis Re:Lights – Episode 1 – Tiara’s First Day At a Legendary Academy
Tiara finally arrives at the city to attend a magic academy, Flora Girls’ Academy. From there, she meets an old friend. I wonder who it is.
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22/7 (Nanabun no Nijyuuni) – Episodes 4-6 – Sakura in the Rain, Team Building, and the Beach Photoshoot
Now with Miu’s shyness out of the way, I know everyone is anticipating that beach episode. Of course, we learn about some things that Sakura is hiding about.
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What Is on My Mind – July 2020 – Blogging Motivation, Japanese Animator Salary Woes, Magia Record English Anniversary and More
Now that the month is coming to the end now that summer officially begun, it’s time to share what I have on my mind. Also, I also will share some thoughts on posts and anime-related news that I find interesting throughout the month.
Yes, I know that this post is early, but I will be away during 4th July weekend to visit my parents after being stuck mostly at home for months.
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22/7 (Nanabun no Nijyuuni) – Episodes 1-3 – The Letter that Changed Miu’s Life
Believe it or not, I enjoy watching idol anime because well, who doesn’t like cute girls singing and dancing to songs? I do mostly because there is a lot of good coming of age moments and team building. While I covered quite a lot of idol anime throughout the year, I want to change up the pace a bit.
Yes, I want to get away from the Manga Time Kirara adaptations for a bit to cover another idol anime, 22/7, also known as Nanabun no Nijyuuni. What is intriguing is that the concept of this project about “idols that transcends dimensions.” In other words, voice actresses portray their character in animation and real life. The group released CDs before the anime’s premiere, in the same way as Ongaku Shoujo.
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Hidamari Sketch – Final Review
It’s no surprise that these days, I tend to enjoy the usual slice of life anime with a mostly, if not all female cast. Perhaps one of the most known school-girl slice of life story that publishes in the Manga Time Kirara Carat is Hidamari Sketch. It’s not too surprising since this is the first title out of many published in the Manga Time Kirara that received an anime adaptation.
If you take a first glance of the show’s poster image or one of the volumes of the manga, this might remind you of another show, Madoka Magica. The person behind these character designs is Aoki Ume. She is a mangaka known for creating cute character designs.
While Hidamari Sketch is one of her well known works, she also created character designs for Madoka Magica including some characters in Magia Record, and the main character for Kirara Fantasia, Kirara. If you didn’t know, Kaname Madoka is basically based on Yuno. Of Shaft both animated Hidamari Sketch and Madoka Magica. As expected, I enjoyed the first season quite a lot since it has a lot of funny and cute moments.
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Tamayomi – Episode 12 (END) – The Surprising Comeback
While Nataka’s home run from last time surprised Yomi and even the rest of Shin Koshigaya. However, Yoshino seems really upset. Can Shin Koshigaya really make a comeback?
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Reviewing the Anime Streaming Platforms – Which One Is the Best?
A while ago, I shared some thoughts about anime streaming services. Believe it or not, in 2017, I realized that streaming anime is a lot more convenient than messing with torrents. While I dabbed into streaming sometime in 2016 by subscribing to three months of Funimation Now, I never shared my experience using it. Eventually, I cancelled it. A year later, I finally subscribed to Crunchyroll after being a holdout for years. It’s mostly because I couldn’t afford a subscription since was in college at the time.
While I was going to share my experiences with Crunchyroll and my three months using Funimation Now a while back, well it didn’t quite happen. Between the period when I lost my job, focusing my time finding another job, finally getting one and moving, this idea went by the wayside.
Since then, a lot has changed in the legal anime streaming landscape. Some players such as Daisuki and a few others have gone under. Of course, there are some new players as well such as Hidive, and the revamped Funimation streaming service.
What really inspire me to finally share my thoughts is Irina sharing her thoughts on streaming platforms. While her review focuses on the state of streaming in Canada, since most of our readers are from the United States, it’s time to focus on the state of streaming here. Of course, I subscribed to all three services. With that, I will share my overall impressions on after using them for a while.
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Tamayomi – Episode 11 – The Unlucky Play
It seems that Shin Koshigaya is struggling to stage a comeback against Ryoyukan. Do things get better from here, or worse?
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What Is on My Mind – June 2020 – Coronavirus Impact on Anime Blogging, Blog Changes, Black Lives Matter and Summer 2020 Preview
Now that it’s finally June, the rather desolate spring season thanks to Covid19 is coming to an end.
After the breakdown I had on Twitter, I want to change things up to perhaps improve the content of this blog. Since I usually do some kind of life updates on season previews, I want to do some kind of monthly summary type of posts.
Back in 2013-2015, I shared some kind of updates in a weekly summary of titles I chose not to cover individually. What I tend to do with these monthly posts is to share not only what I am up to and have planned, but also mini editorials on anime-related topics I find interesting during the month but couldn’t write a whole post for. Also, I will also share my picks for this summer, providing that it doesn’t get delayed.
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Tamayomi – Episode 10 – The Ryoyukan Challenge
At last, Shin Koshigaya is facing off Ryoyukan. Is Yoshino’s strategy enough to break through? At a glance, it’s already an uphill battle.
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Pocket Monsters Sword and Shield – Final Review
After taking a break from being frustrated over the state of my blog, I’m finally back! During that time, I have completed two video games, namely Pocket Monsters Sword and Shield. As you would expect, these games are probably the most controversial. It’s not too surprising since Game Freak cut a large number of Pokémon from the games.
Now that I finished the main story, it’s time to share my thoughts. Is the game really that bad people make it out to be?
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Tamayomi – Episode 9 – Shin Koshigaya’s First Big Win
Now that Nakayama lost her cool after Ibuki copied her pitch, it’s now Shin Koshigaya’s chance to win the game.
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Tamayomi – Episode 8 – Tama Meets Her Old Friend and The First Match
The summer girls’ baseball tournament has finally begun. Tama meets a certain someone from Ryoyukan before Shin Koshigaya High School faces off their first match.
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Dealing with Possible Blogging Burnout – How to Deal With It
Since the time I shared my concerns about the state of the blog, I fell anxious about where my blog is headed. Sure, I have tried making some improvements. However, I still feel the bottom is coming underneath me as the pandemic delayed a lot of titles. I fear that this could be the end of my blog. It’s not too surprising since there would be less content to cover, thus fewer comments and likes. The thing that really upset me today is the lack of comments in my recent posts. This is despite the hours put into writing these reviews and even an editorial nobody bothered to leave a like and/or a comment. I became upset that I complained on twitter in several tweets today. I felt that I can’t let this go on any further.
Believe it or not, at some point, some anime bloggers probably faced these issues. When he or she look at other blogs, they have no problem receiving comments and likes. It does make one feel that the effort one put into creating content is going to waste. Of course, this is not the only problem that can cause a blogger to become frustrated and/or even quit for good. Instead of continuing to vent on Twitter and going nowhere as I did this morning, I want to share my thoughts in a rational manner.
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Impact of Covid-19 on Japanese Animation Studios and the Need to Embrace Digital and Telework
Believe it or not, I have covered the impacts of the Anime Industry due to Covid-19. However, we still didn’t know the full impact back then, until now. This just didn’t happen overnight. Animation studios faced problems such as poor working conditions, a packed production schedule and noticeable delays in 2019.
As expected, the coronavirus situation made the whole thing worse. Sure, a handful of titles suffered minor delays. Eventually, the coronavirus situation worsened with more than forty titles facing delays. As a result, studios had no choice but to delay productions. Eventually Japan declared a state of emergency on April 16, weeks after delaying the Olympics. This does not come at a surprise since the workplace at these studios clamped. As a result, this makes social distancing efforts nearly impossible. With that, I want to focus on some thoughts on the whole situation.
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Hidamari Sketch – Episodes 1-3 – Cuteness Overload
As COVID-19 rages on and affects most anime productions, it’s time to watch more shows that are on my list. Recently, I have compiled a list of shows I plan to cover. I probably won’t be able to finish everything by the time everything starts to go back to the new normal. At least this will give me some things to cover during the next few seasons. After all, the next several months will be pretty barren with all the delays.
With that, we continue the trend of watching all the Manga Time Kirara adaptations I haven’t seen yet. This time we head back to 2007. Yes, we are finally watching the timeless schoolgirl slice of life filled with diabetes induced cuteness. That show is Hidamari Sketch. Yes, I orginally intended to review this show last year. However, my big move for a new job kind of distracted me from actually watching the whole first season.
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