Anime

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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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.

Important Blog Update and November 2017 Monthly Content Round-up

thebackloggers 2 Comments

Hey everyone, Mythos here.  November went by and you may have noticed a lack of updates on our part.  It’s funny, the three of us started this blog specifically because we enjoyed talking with each other about anime so much, we wanted to share our thoughts and talk to others about it.  Sadly, we’ve been pretty mute, haven’t we? Continue reading →

Log Time General Podcast #10 | Beginning of Fall 2017 — Infinitycast

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This week, we dig into the Fall 2017 season, and the cast went on pretty much forever. Strap in, folks, because we talk about good and bad death game shows, some incredible picks for the season a la Just Because!, Land of the Lustrous, and others, and we do our fair share of dumpster diving with a few choice shows.

Audio Links: iTunes | SoundCloud

This podcast was recorded on October 19th, 2017.

Just Because! Episodes 3 + 4 – Writing Between the Lines

Selie 7 Comments

Author’s Note: Apologies for the lateness of this post.  I’m sure most people have already moved onto to episode five by now of this fantastic show but I was held up with personal issues that couldn’t be helped. To make up for it, I tried to put a lot of effort into this so I hope you all enjoy.  Also, spoilers and such as some stuff goes down in episode four.

Episodes three and four of Just Because! ended up continuing to validate my immediate love for this show.  While the drama and plot aren’t crazy or off the wall, the natural dialogue and slower pace allow me to appreciate all that’s happening for our crew of seniors trudging towards their graduation and murky futures.  Every scene and interaction is chock full of a surprising amount of engagement for a show that relies heavily on realistic drama and humor.  Plus, these characters are just so dang lovable, even when their hearts are breaking from all the pain they give each other.

[HorribleSubs] Just Because! - 04 [1080p].mkv_snapshot_03.16_[2017.11.05_21.38.27]

You know it’s a sad scene when even the dog is frowning.

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October 2017 Monthly Content Round-up

thebackloggers 2 Comments

Yep, it’s that time once again folks! We’re still trying to get the remaining spooks out of our system as October finishes itself out, but just like the many, various candies of Halloween being handed out, we at the Backloggers are handing out sweet, delicious anime articles! Yeah, they’re not exactly tasty like candies, but hopefully you’ll find a post that fits your tastes just like that favorite candy of yours.

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Just Because! Episodes 1 + 2 – Shaking Things Up

generaltofu 9 Comments

Just Because! is, in many ways, a pretty large departure from the shows that we as the Backloggers have covered in the last three seasons. While we try to decide on the show we’ll be covering episodically for any given season, we work to whittle down our choices to what seems interesting, what we feel would be neat for our readers to check out for the season, and honestly just what seems like would be an enjoyable watch. It’s kind of funny to me that over the last few seasons, we’ve ultimately gravitated towards shows that are essentially fantasy light novel-esque shows with a penchant for action and the dramatic. While there’s definitely nothing wrong with that, and we’ve genuinely enjoyed Youjo Senki, SukaSuka, and Princess Principal, as we were mulling over writing about, say, Kino no Tabi or Juuni Taisen, we kind of came to a collective realization of “oh god, we can’t do a show like this for a fourth consecutive season”. With this idea being part of the inspiration for our choice this season, we’ve happily decided to shake up our usual formula a bit. Why?

Well…Just Because!

Yes, I’m sorry, I know that joke has been beat so far into the ground that it should be right around the earth’s core right about now, but in a lot of ways, the choice really did come as conscious choice to just do it because we could (and because we haven’t covered a show quite outside of our unintentional genre bubble yet), especially after the first two very strong episodes that this show presented us with out of the gate.

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September 2017 Monthly Content Round-up

thebackloggers 1 Comment

The month of September has been pretty crazy in the Anisphere, the industry, and the meatspace altogether. As a result of said craziness, Owningmatt93 was not able to join us in our monthly roundup post (RIP in peace), but we have persevered and found ourselves a pretty broad variety of fascinating content, so much so that we weren’t able to include all of the picks that we wanted to here!

You want an in-depth look at Mari Okada? It’s here. You want to strap back into the 2000’s and dig into a jazzy AMV? Bub, we’ve got you covered. Do you want some perspective on that Death Note movie that came out on Netflix? God help you, but we’ve got that for you, too. Do you want to get academic, or talk about love, or dig into some talk about taboo and masochism, or other neat stuff? Strap yourselves in, because boy have we got it covered. Whatever the case, you’re sure to find something that tickles your fancy here, so give it a look, and check out some of these pieces that we couldn’t get enough of this month!

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Princess Principal Episode 12 — Course Correction

generaltofu 4 Comments

Something I’ve always respected about Princess Principal is how unabashedly it likes to just do its thing time and again. From its first episode, it tossed us into its high-flying world of steampunk technology, deception, and espionage and essentially told us nothing except to buckle up. It asked us to trust it with its narrative, its characters, and its fascinating world, and to just let it take us where it was going, wherever that may be. If the final three episodes are any indication, this show did indeed go places, and it escorted us through them in a masterclass style.

Following on the heels of the last two episodes, Princess Principal 12 picks up right where 11 left off, and it’s only fitting for the rollercoaster ride that this finale has been shaping up to be. The show decides to ask us again to simply sit back and take in the sights one last time, and it truly is worth it to do so. The major happenings of episode 12 aren’t necessarily surprising, per se, but they are cathartic, and they work to bring an all-around satisfying conclusion to Princess Principal.

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