Finishing up fall ’11 reviews: Working’!!, Fate/Zero, and Haganai

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Yumeka

Before the year is over I want to review the three one-cour fall ’11 series I recently finished watching. I don’t have a ton to say about each so I decided to put them all on one post…

Continue reading →

Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Trying to grasp Mawaru Penguindrum

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Yumeka

Credit to linked pixiv user

Along with Madoka and Steins;Gate, Mawaru Penguindrum has been one of the most praised anime of 2011. Of course, there are plenty of people who don’t like it, but it seems like the fans of it are the ones making the most buzz. Having seen and loved director Kunihiko Ikuhara’s other famous work, Revolutionary Girl Utena, I had high hopes for Penguindrum as well. I liked the series well enough in its early episodes, confident in the fact that the confusing things would “be explained later.” So now that it’s over, why do I feel so…dissatisfied?

Continue reading →

Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged , , | 34 Comments

Merry Christmas from Mainichi Anime Yume!

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Yumeka

Credit to linked pixiv user

It’s now Christmas Day here on the west coast and I just want to wish you all a very merry one ^_^ Before the year is officially over, I plan to post some reviews of my recently finished summer/fall ’11 anime, as well as my “moments of anime” post which will be up on New Year’s. So I hope you all enjoy this wondrous day and I will be back with a proper post soon~!

Posted in Events and Holidays | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Finding the appeal (and plot) of plot-less anime

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Yumeka

The argument that’s often made against anime classified as slice-of-life and iyashi-kei is that “nothing happens.” In other words, the shows are plot-less, which to some makes them boring and stupid. As someone who enjoys these kinds of anime as much as anime in any other genre, I’m going to examine why this is so…

Continue reading →

Posted in Editorials and Ramblings | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments

What is your goal for anime blogging?

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Yumeka

Now that I’ve been maintaining an anime blog for over five years now, I’ve been wondering if I’ve ever developed some kind of goal for my work all this time. After all, if you’re like me and are very dedicated to your anime blog, your goal for it might not be something simple…

Continue reading →

Posted in Editorials and Ramblings | Tagged , , | 52 Comments

The AniBloggers Choice Awards: my top 12 anime of 2011

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Yumeka

Since 2008, I’ve been selecting my top 5 anime of that year and posting about them on the blog around New Year’s. This year however, I’m trying something new with Kiddtic’s AniBloggers Choice Anime Awards project. Instead of picking only five 2011 series, I’m picking twelve, as well as an overall series of the year and licensor of the year…

Continue reading →

Posted in Anime Lists | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

2-D love

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Yumeka

On the very extreme end of anime fandom lies the otaku who develop romantic feelings for certain anime characters, to the point of actually desiring a 2-D relationship over a real, 3-D one. This topic of major moe, mai waifus, and dakimakuras is nothing new to otaku culture, but it’s certainly among the most controversial. Bitmap over on Remember XVI recently wrote a post about the very subject, which sparked some thoughts for me…

Continue reading →

Posted in Editorials and Ramblings | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Anime endings

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Yumeka

How anime series end is one aspect of the medium where I hear more negativity from fans. I’ve even heard people say that they’d like anime better if it weren’t for how unsatisfying anime endings tend to be. Since most anime series have episodes that follow a continuing story, often full of different subplots amongst the main plot, it can be tricky tying up all the loose ends in a restricted number of episodes, and impossible to do so in a way that will please every viewer. So what is it about anime endings that divide fans so?…

Continue reading →

Posted in Editorials and Ramblings | Tagged , | 25 Comments

Examining the weak-willed anime male lead

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Yumeka

A recent post by lostty over on Anime Princess discussed the ever prominent fan activity of bashing anime’s many weak-willed male leads. lostty considers most hate for these guys “unjust.” I tend to agree and would like to examine why…

Continue reading →

Posted in Editorials and Ramblings | Tagged , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

What makes a good introductory anime?

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Yumeka

A common question among anime fans is what titles would be good for introducing someone to anime. It’s actually something I haven’t given much thought to since all my friends are into anime themselves or at least familiar with it. So, for the person who doesn’t have a clue about anime but is willing to watch, what would be good titles to show them?…

Continue reading →

Posted in Anime Lists, Editorials and Ramblings | Tagged , | 38 Comments