12 Days of Anime 2017 [Day 7]: Makoto Shinkai and Your Name – How Our Future is Shaped By Decisions We Make

Owningmatt93 3 Comments

Shinkai’s films are always an experience for me. While I haven’t seen all of his works, the ones that I have seen have completely changed the way I view anime films in general, but I suppose my perspective on anime films is a bit different than what would normally be expected from an anime fan.

It’s no secret (or if it was, it’s not anymore) that my experience with anime in general doesn’t extend far beyond the reach of prior 2010 works as I began watching anime in early 2012. It was a sort of time when Shinkai films were already well-known because of 5 Centimeters per Second and others being released around that time, but I had never gotten into any of his films until later in my anime “career” (around the end of 2014).

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12 Days of Anime 2017 [Day 6]: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc – How Our Own Desires Can Change Ourselves

Owningmatt93 1 Comment

Not all changes in someone’s perspective are necessarily beneficial to us; sometimes those changes cause us to experience more despair and pain. Unlike many of my previous 12 Days of Anime posts have shown and also contrary to the title of the game, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Danganronpa: THH) isn’t exactly a story brimming with positive moments from people undergoing changes within their lives. That’s not to say the game is nothing but unhappy events, but as expected from a narrative that’s mainly about high-schoolers trapped in a death game scenario, there’s definitely a lot of negative events that transpire and occur to the characters within it.

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12 Days of Anime 2017 [Day 5]: Hai to Gensou no Grimgar – How Death Inspires Personal Growth

Owningmatt93 4 Comments

Hai to Gensou no Grimgar is an anomaly in the group of shows I’ve chosen for 12 Days of Anime. It’s the only show of these that I respect and understand what it’s doing, and I don’t think it’s a terrible show by any regards, but there are plenty of aspects that left me with a sour taste in my mouth, unrelated to the actual topic of this article. I feel that I have to say this up front, as this article may glorify the show perhaps a bit more than how good the show actually was, but I definitely think it has valid points regarding this topic.

Progressing past the discussion of the less gratifying portions of the show, the topic of death really comes up quite frequently in the story-line of this show, whether you’re following the anime or the light novels. Death itself is obviously not a comfortable topic for anyone to discuss, but Grimgar portrays death in a semi-realistic fashion, both showing the fallout that can be caused over a death and also how people can come closer and grow to be stronger because of one.

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12 Days of Anime 2017 [Day 4]: Re:Creators – How Perception of the World Influences Our Actions

Owningmatt93 2 Comments

Despite the title, as obviously as this concept might seem, as your perception of the world will, of course, change what you do and how you do certain things, but let’s put it in this context for a minute: what would be the first thing you do when entering an unfamiliar place or new society environment? You’ll be more likely to pay attention to certain things to see how your new environment works, how people act, and observe all the changes from your old environment as well. Perhaps you may be more sensitive and notice new things that you never noticed before, especially if you’re from a different part of the world or entering a new country, as that’s pretty much what situation the characters of Re:Creators end up in.

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12 Days of Anime 2017 [Day 3]: Aldnoah.Zero – How Political Events Can Change Humanity

Owningmatt93 2 Comments

The last two 12 Days of Anime posts may have been about changes occurring on a personal level by how particular lifestyles unfold, but this time let’s look at some other changes that can occur during our lives that are on a grander scale. Less personal changes that still affect us happen all the time, and sometimes we really only play a small role in being able to control these things. An easy example of this would be how laws can cause these sorts of wide-scale changes, but sometimes the amount of input into preventing or supporting those particular laws can seem meaningless or futile. This can be disheartening, especially when these things can affect us so much.

Aldonoah.Zero is that sort of story. The stakes are high, changes in how the different governments view things happen frequently, and those changes have direct impact on the world at large, especially on the future of humanity.

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12 Days of Anime 2017 [Day 2]: Masamune-kun no Revenge – How Our Identity Can Affect Personal Motivations

Owningmatt93 3 Comments

Continuing with 12 Days of Anime, today’s post features a work that’s nowhere near the quality of A Silent Voice, but still has its own piece to say about the changes we undergo in our lives. Masamune-kun no Revenge is probably not what most people would consider a good show, and while I will argue that some aspects of the show aren’t the most original or well-portrayed in the genre, the show has a lot of cleverness to how it plays itself out.

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12 Days of Anime 2017 [Day 1]: Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice) – How Society Can Force Others to Adapt

Owningmatt93 1 Comment

Out of many great films that have been released in the past 2 years, A Silent Voice was one that I was probably the most excited to see, as the manga had been something I’ve heard about off-and-on for a while. I would also never pass up an opportunity to see a Kyoto Animation (KyoAni) work in theaters, as their style remains consistent, but are always continuing to build on what they’ve learned with their previous works.

One of the staple aspects of KyoAni and Naoka Yamada, the director of A Silent Voice, is the fact that subtlety is largely implemented in the stories of their films and it becomes a story told through the animation alongside the actual written story. While I won’t say that A Silent Voice is a narrative in the same vein as works such as K-ON! or Tamako Love Story (also both directed by her), the subtle nuances of the characters are absolutely there and are something to be appreciated throughout the film.

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Sunstone – Love, humor, and heart hidden in a BDSM story

Selie 5 Comments

Man, it’s been a while since I’ve had to do this but forewarning, the content in question is Not Safe For Work.  Before that scares you off, though, this graphic novel is sold in the normal kind of stores and has a beautiful point for it’s use of sexual imagery.  Also, while this topic may not exactly be anime related, the author of this work in question is a super nerd and takes obvious influences from Japanese media. Plus, it’s my own damn article and I just wanna write about this, okay?

Sorry, that got a little confrontational…  Lemme just start.

Sex is often a very taboo topic, particularly when it comes to where I live here in America.  We’ve become more accustomed to talking about violence and aggression than all that other stuff that gives you cooties.  Basically, you can watch people die horrifically and it’ll get a PG-13 rating but if two girls kiss “OH NO!  Grab the pitchforks ‘cause it’s time fer a burnin’!”

With a bit of a flipped morality like that, it can be hard to find well-written stories that approach the topic of sex with the right respect and openness that it deserves.  Honestly, it seems to me that it’s sometimes easier to find a story that uses rape as a means of moving the plot forward than one that uses consensual intercourse.  And while there are efforts to educate and make things better.  Education is only one side of the coin.  We also need it represented tastefully in our media to expose and normalize the topic along with all the other aspects and types of affection and love.

Enter my exhibit A for the court hearing on tasteful representation of sex: the graphic novel Sunstone.

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12 Day of Anime Announcement + Concurrent Listings of Posts

Owningmatt93 3 Comments

Hey ya’ll. This is just a brief announcement post about how I’ll be participating in the upcoming 12 days of anime challenge that’s been floating around the community for some time. If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s pretty much an anime advent calendar about certain shows you’ve watched in 2017 and you release a post per day about something you’ve watched, played, or experienced this year (more information here). Hopefully one year all three of us on this blog will be able to participate in this challenge, either as a Backloggers 12 days of anime or possibly even individually as 3 separate ones.

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Log Time Podcast #29 | Origin: Spirits of the Past Discussion — A Vast, But Empty Land

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This week, in our first cast covering solely a movie, we take a look at Origin: Spirits of the Past. We discuss the fascinating world the film begins but ultimately fails to flesh out in any deep way, the gorgeous animation and feel of it, and how we can’t help but feel like we’ve seen this film’s individual parts elsewhere.

Audio Links: iTunes | SoundCloud

This podcast was recorded on November 9th, 2017.