Welcome to another instalment of Irina defends things that don’t need defending. I find myself frequently commenting on the benefits of stereotypes. I understand that lack of novelty is a common complaint and that calling a show/character/premise “cliché” is an easy criticism to lob at a show we don’t have much to say about. It’s…
Before some of you jump at me, I’m not saying that anything I’m about to discuss is fact or even true. I simply read a thesis that put forth a couple of theories about the rise of anime popularity and how to interpret that in a social context which I thought was interesting. It was…
If you’ve watched enough anime (or pretty much any historical anime), you’ve most likely encountered the name Shinsengumi. They were a pivotal group in Japanese history and as such remain a popular subject of fiction and cultural fascination. But do you actually know who the Shinsengumi were?
I am one of the three people out there that openly admits to being a fan of ranty or negative reviews. Most bloggers hold back from writing overly negative posts and the general consensus I’ve seen from people in the anime community is that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything…
Have you ever watched an anime with someone who is completely unfamiliar with the medium, let alone the different genre conventions therein? Therein… look at me! It can be a bit of an adventure, for all involved. That’s because it’s easy to forget that even though anime is just an audio-visual medium, like live-action movies or stop-motion…
I’m currently watching The Fire Hunter and I quite like it. I’ll be sure to share my thoughts once I’m done. As some of you may know I usually do not read reviews before writing my own in order to not get influenced but this time I couldn’t help but glance at the quotes on…
I like to think of myself as not entirely uncultured but there is always going to be a bit of a culture clash when I watch anime. I think that’s true for a lot of western viewers. The social reality we live in as well as the history, traditions and beliefs we grew up with…
This is a little embarrassing to talk about, so don’t tell anyone ok? Sometimes, not that often but still, I seek validation through my blog. Like when I’m having a really cr*ppy day and everything is going wrong, I find comfort in a supportive comment even if I’m not sure how sincere it is.
I’ve been doing these top 5 lists for a little while now, and you know, they really don’t get enough credit. They are a lot harder to put together than people think. Just like any other type of post, you’ll get a wide range of quality out there, with some lists being barely a few…
Not so long ago I had a reader comment that no one really cares about colour in anime unless it’s extreme. Like in NGNL or Great Pretender (which has not yet been released here so I can’t tell just how extreme it is). I’m paraphrasing. Now this is an awesome person whose opinion I really…
Character relatability in anime is sort of an awkward concept. When people talk about a character being relatable, it often means that character reminds them of themselves but not necessarily of how they actually are, but of how they see themselves. Thank goodness, cause a whole bunch of anime characters are really wackadoodle and it…
Hello everyone, welcome to my storytime! Some of you might remember this post from when I published it on Karandi’s blog. I’m repurposing my old essays for those that didn’t get a chance to read them then. I hope you enjoy it!
What a boring title. And this is going to be a bit of a boring post. I’m mostly going to talk about copyright and theoretical licensing rights so you know, feel free to skip this one if you’re already dozing off. But for all you intellectual property nerds out there, let me tell you about…
A little while ago I read an article that said that China was trying to ban all Japanese animation. This proved unpopular and not particularly sustainable. Of course, young Chinese kids watch anime legally or not, online, and the effort to police that is substantial. However, the initiative still does exist and to some degree…
This is a repost of one of my older posts. I’m trying to inspire myself to write more about color theory so I decided to start things off nice and easy by just sharing one of my older posts. It’s shocking I know, but I m going to babble about colors… Weird huh? Have you…