Author: Owningmatt93

Owningmatt93's Picks for the Anime of the Decade

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So, it’s my turn now, huh? I don’t think the world is ready for my Anime of the Decade list, but here we are! 

Just like the other two, I’ve chosen shows that I enjoyed the most and found the most interesting throughout the decade. No gimmicks; no “one anime from each year”; no rankings or any of that. These are solely shows that I most enjoyed from 2010 to 2019 in the order that I first watched them. That’s it; nothing fancy. I like to think of it as a sort of journey through my anime life, I suppose. 

Anyway, I won’t hold back on the content in the picks themselves, so let’s jump into some of my favorite anime of the decade, hooray! 

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Your Lie in April – A Shining Light Within A Sea of Despair

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To “lose” something is such a powerful, yet diverse word when it comes to what it means to different people. It’s a word that can mean both a misplacement of something important to us and a heartbreaking parting with someone we know. A word that can mean both a failure to achieve a personal goal and also one of misguidance and confusion. It’s hard to pin down on what “losing” can mean to any individual at any given time. Even further still, it’s complicated to understand how different individuals can cope with each scenario of “loss” regarding its various meanings. Sometimes to “lose” is something we don’t focus on too much, yet at other times, it can be devastating to the point where it feels soul-crushing and unable to be overcome.

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The Backloggers Blog Update: AKA, A Letter to Irina’s “Blogging Breaks” Post

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Note: I’m starting off this post by saying that this is my no means to be any reflection of the other members of the Backloggers. This is solely my thoughts on this topic alone. Although this post will talk about general blog updates and general impressions of the blog, I obviously cannot speak for anyone but myself and my opinions on the subject at hand.

This post will probably be the longest post I’ve ever written, but I think this will offer some explanation and insight behind our blog here at The Backloggers, and also explain some of our recent behavior (or lack thereof). So, I encourage you to read this post as a sort of response to Irina’s “Blogging Breaks” post on Karandi’s blog, although it won’t directly pertain to the content in that post, along with some of the stuff that’s been happening with this blog.

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[Season Sampler] Senryuu Girl Episode 1 – Cherry Blossoms

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There’s no better way to start off Spring season than with a show that seems to truly capture the perfect essence of the meaning of “spring time”. You have the trees and flowers blooming, the lack of any sort of “hey, it’s cold and miserable” mood that always seems to come with many anime based in the winter months, and most importantly (for anime at least), the general school romance that seems to always flourish during this time of year.

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[Short Thoughts] KonoSuba: God’s Blessing Upon This Wonderful World (Seasons 1 and 2) — Thus, Hilarity Ensues

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When someone mentions the words “comedy anime”, this is often one of the first recently airing shows that will be brought to the table when tossing out names for recommended lists or “must watches”. Not quite an MMO anime of the years past, and not quite an isekai anime of the current years, KonoSuba manages to both cater to the fans of those types of shows, while also simultaneously poking fun at all the ridiculous concepts behind said shows. It may even be tempting to call this type of show a “parody” or a “subversion” of the genres its mimicking. Honestly though, I don’t think either of those terms really fit what this show is.

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[Season Sampler] The Price of Smiles 1 — Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

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If you’re anything like me, you may have given this anime one glance and thought that it looked like a strange concoction of what people would regard as a “generic fantasy show” with very under-stellar elements regarding animation and effects. There’s nothing really that makes this anime stand on its own from just reading the synopsis and watching the PV. To older anime viewers such as myself, it almost looks like a cross between Aldnoah.Zero and Chaika: The Coffin Princess in terms of both style and elements presented to us throughout the show. Both of those shows were at varying levels of popularity and quality, but I think that while comparing Price of Smiles to those shows may be accurate in terms of plot setup and world-building elements, it’s also disingenuous to say that this show is exactly like either of those, as it does have a wide array of differences in terms of execution and tone that keeps it apart as its own entity.

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Violet Evergarden 11 + 12 — An Outburst of Feelings

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Violet Evergarden continues to surprise me on several different levels, pulling out some of the biggest emotional gut-punches that I’ve seen from a single anime in a while. While other anime of Winter 2018 such as A Place Further Than the Universe have also had some huge emotional moments, I think Violet Evergarden has one over every show of the season, especially with some of the previous episodes and how they’ve ended. The show is still far from perfect though, and while I still love the show dearly, it’s obvious where some of its problems lie within these two episodes.

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