A little while ago I put together a little community post on Karandi’s blog, combining what several bloggers would have liked to know when they first started their blog. It was a fun project. However, one response stuck with me and I realized that I wanted to come back to it.
Tag: Irina pretends to know things
Dutch Angles in Anime
Want to impress you friends by throwing around fancy cinematography language? Want to convince them anime is a serious art by analyzing classical methods and their use in an animated medium? Well you’ve come to the right place! Unless your friends know anything about cinematography or proper usage of fancy words. Then we’re both screwed…
My Top 5 Ways To Combat the Blogging Blues
Most people that have had a blog for any amount of time, tend to be familiar with the blogging blues. Those moments of apathy or frustration against our own hobby that can make the experience less enjoyable. Sometimes we have good reasons for catching the blues. Other times they just come up out of nowhere…
The Legal Grey Zone of Scanslations
****For those that don’t know, scanslations are scanned copies of comics (usually manga) which have been translated and photoshopped with the translation by fans. They are unofficial but not necessarily illegal**** Copyright is a pretty hot issue right now. It has been for some years of course. I know that popular opinion is against me…
In the Land of Orphans – Where Are The Parents in Anime?
If you’ve watched as much anime as me, you could be tricked into thinking that the only way you’re ever going to live out your real life anime fantasy is by somehow becoming an orphan. Or at least a woefully neglected high school student. It seems that anime is willing to use any old excuse…
How Important Is Relatability in Anime?
I have been reading a lot of anime reviews lately. Usually, I read various reviews around WordPress and get my info from there. However, through researching a few posts (I know!) I managed to go through a large amount of shorter reviews on sites such as MAL and AniList. One very common statement is that characters…
Irina’s Sense for Snow – Weather in Anime
I don’t know if any of you have read Miss Smilla’s Sense for Snow. It’s a Danish criminal thriller which focuses a lot on snow. How it behaves and what it can tell us. It’s pretty interesting to convey wheater through words alone. Not entirely unlike trying to explain colours. If you’ve experienced it for…
Happy Tanabata!
It’s not really Tanabata, technically it’s on August 7th this year (“the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Japanese lunisolar calendar”). But there are celebrations between July 7th and August 7th so we’re in the range. I guess my title was clickbait…sorry! In my defence, I didn’t want to miss it. I…
Japanese Honorifics and Pronouns in Anime
Hello everyone! We’re going back to some basics here. I know that for long time anime fans, Japanese honorifics have become something of a second nature. However, I remember that when I started watching anime, I was pretty confused with all the sans and chans and bokus… Ok so that last one isn’t an honorific, but you…
Sakura Blossoms and Maple Leaves
It’s no coincidence that one of the very first Japanese words I picked up by watching anime was: Sakura. Cherry trees are so ubiquitous and important to Japanese culture and identity that they even name girls after them! The breathtaking sight of cherry trees in full bloom, raining down soft petals on passersby is so…
Why Aren’t There More Short Anime?
This is should really be called: I want more short anime! There should be more short programs made each season. They are such nice little anime palette cleansers. Just a light snack to munch on. I really like being able to enjoy an entire series with minimal commitment. And of course, when you rely on…
Top 5 Reason Anime Top Lists Are Good Content
Do I sound salty with that title? I’m not, for once! But I would like to randomly defend the top list format. You see, I only started doing regular top lists about a year into my blogging journey. This is because, when I started out, I read a bunch of articles on how top lists…
Top 5 Signs That You May Be an Anime Blogger
The times they are a-changin! You really can’t tell if someone is an anime blogger just by looking anymore! One morning, you’re just going about your daily adventures, enjoying life to the fullest and being your awesome self, the next thing you know, you’re an anime blogger! But how can you be really sure? Or…
The 5Ws of Blogging: Why?
.Here we are finally. The last question and possibly the most abstract one. Why do we blog? I know a lot of you already have the answer to this one. I have read enough of your comments to know that generally speaking there are two camps. Those who blog for themselves – ie. funsies. And those…
Why Bakugo Isn’t a Mary Sue
This week will be a slight departure from my usual character studies. We’re not only going to take a look at Bakugo but at his cofounding and frustrating character and the creative process behind it. I hope you enjoy the post! What makes a good, engaging, character? It’s a riddle that’s kept authors guessing since…















