August 13, 2014 -- What We Most Fear

Late update, as per usual! This week we'll be taking a look at the star of this show, Makoto Itou. As you'll recall, I did not have very kind things to say about Makoto last week. I used some strong names such as "dumbass," "miserable prick," and "sentient penis" to describe the main character of this anime. However, I have resolved to put my personal feelings behind me in the interest of analyzing this character.

When asking who the most responsible for the horrible events that transpired in School Days, any discussion should begin and end with Makoto Itou. Let's go into the hows and whys behind this student's sexual coup d'edouche after the break!

August 2, 2014 -- Back To School!

It's August, which means that the end of Summer is upon us. I've been all over (the middle of the northern part of) the country, I planted a vegetable garden, did some dogsitting, helped people move, attempted to build a PC, failed at building a PC, and began the arduous task of writing the most nonsensical crossover fanfiction ever written. Despite all of that, I'd be lying if I said it's been a busy time. Really, the bulk of my time has been spent doing this:

Timeless.

Now it's August, which means that soon many of us (At least those of us in the United States will be heading back to school, so to celebrate this time of year we're doing another theme month! Welcome to August:

School Days Month

So it goes without saying that there absolutely will be spoilers in this month's post, especially this one. If you're one of the five anime fans who hasn't seen school days, I would recommend you stop reading and watch the series-- all twelve episodes-- before reading this. It's on Crunchyroll, and you can watch it there. I can't honestly say that you'll be glad you did, as School Days is a very polarizing show, but everything you read here will make a lot more sense (and be easier to get mad at) if you've at least seen the show. It goes without saying that there will be MAJOR SPOILERS.

We'll start this journey after the break!

March 30, 2014 -- The Music Shuns Sunshine (...and Smiles)

Well it looks like the anime convention and the subsequent spring break had more of an impact on my ability to write a post than I'd originally anticipated.

The original plan was to go through a sort of order for the various series I wanted to look at this month. The first week was HappinessCharge, the newest series. Why not save the newest for last? Well, if I wound up liking it (spoiler alert: I did) that would make for a pretty boring finale post. I wanted to save something special for the finale.

Devotees will remember that I watched Yes! Pretty Cure 5 last time, a fan-favorite of the franchise that I found decidedly vanilla and underwhelming. Last week I was planning on following that up with a series that I really liked but other PreCure fans almost universally put at the bottom of their list: Suite PreCure. Then this week I would've reviewed my favorite PreCure series, HeartCatch, which means that next week for the finale I would be watching...

Anyway, I decided to change the rule a bit (as I'm wont to do) by looking at the three series that got me hooked on the franchise. I enjoyed them for different reasons, and I'd only go as far as to say that one of them is a particularly good anime. That said, they all struck a chord with me on some level and hopefully you'll see why after the break.

Let's take a look back at Suite PreCure, HeartCatch PreCure, and Smile PreCure!

October 6, 2013 -- Now Matter How I Look At It, It's You Guys' Fault I Had To Watch Hyperdimension Neptunia

I've been missing and I'm not going to say anything else about it.

A few months ago I said that my next review would be the then-upcoming Hyperdimension Neptunia anime. I try not to go into shows with a biased mindset, but I really was not looking forward to it. Largely because I'd played the games and

Yeah. Suffice it to say I wasn't expecting anything transcendent or clever. This is me being as nice as possible about it.

So was I right or was I wrong? Find out after the break!

June 22, 2013 -- How I Spent My Summer Vacation

This post is non-canon.

Okay, this looks really bad. I have been away for a while, but it's not because I've forgotten about or abandoned my habit of judging anime series solely by its first impression. Truth be told, I've been working to take care of business with regards to my life. My real one. Not the one where I make penis jokes as I watch cartoons about little girls who transform into well-dressed superheroes and get their heads bitten off.

Editorial -- What's Love Got to Do With It?

Sorry it took so long to get this post written. I had an idea about where I wanted to take it but decided at the last minute to completely overhaul/rewrite the post because even though I felt good about what I'd written, I didn't feel comfortable posting it in a public space.

So I had to write what I'll call the "Lite" version of this post. If I consider you a close enough friend and are curious about what this post was supposed to look like, please shoot me a text or an email and I'll send you the original.

So what could possibly be a difficult enough subject to broach that I would have to re-edit the whole thing? What on earth could be complicated enough to require something like that? Find out after the break

So Many Crunchyroll Guest Passes

Well, since the winner of the last one never gave me any usable contact info, the Crunchyroll Premium Guest Pass is still unclaimed.

Further complicating matters is the fact that my continued premium membership has made me eligible for a second guest pass.

I now have two premium guest passes to give away.

In the interest of fairness/to make it fun, I will hide the guest pass codes in the next installment of Madoka Month. The first code will be easy to find. The second code will be a little tougher to find.

I hope you'll join me this weekend to share in my musings about girls in frilly outfits fighting witches.

Happy hunting!

March 11, 2013 -- Life in the Third Circle

Hamha, everybody!

I'm back for week two of my journey through the uber-depressing hellscape that is Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Madoka Magica for short; Madoka for shorter). Hey, did you guys know that there's a dub of this show. I won't be talking about that, because the last thing I need is to invite sub-purists (a term which is a bit of an oxymoron if you think about it) into this already bleak and macabre house.

Remember kids: "Ad Hominem" is just a fancy way
of saying "You're right!"

Today we'll be looking at episodes 4-6. As usual I will be engaging in EXPLICIT, HARDCORE SPOILERS so if you plan on ever watching Madoka I'd recommend you do that before you read this. You'll like it. Trust me. I'll wait.

February 24, 2013 -- We Meet Again...

My inability to stick to schedules for the most part is a constant source of amusement for everyone who knows me. Luckily for you, though, I typically find a way to get things done eventually. I'm actually gearing up for something I plan to do next month, but we'll worry about that later.

For now, I plan to spend the week revisiting some old friends. This week, we're watching some more iDOLM@STER, finishing an arc in Umineko, and having a laugh at the expense of Amnesia, my new favorite narmy shoujou harem romance.

Come catch up with the gang after the break!

Free Crunchyroll Premium Guest Pass

I've got a guest pass from my ill-gotten Crunchyroll anime membership and you can totally have it to watch some delicious 1080p goodness.

Not even kidding. You don't even have to work very hard for it. All you have to do is be the first to write a comment on this post telling me which one of my reviews you most disagreed with and why. No ad hominem attacks, please. I'm sensitive.

Oh, then go to twitter and preach my wisdom with the hashtag #ABB

You don't actually have to preach my wisdom, but I would very much appreciate someone helping to spread the word. I'll have an update tomorrow eventually to sum up my winter premier experience.

February 10, 2013-- Girls! Girls!... Girls?

And I'm still carrying on my proud tradition of referencing sitcoms from the late 70s/80s because I know that anime fans are usually also huge fans of Mrs. Garrett from The Facts of Life.

We're back with week two of my look into winter 2013 premieres! Last week was somewhat discouraging, but they can't all be three-minutes long, right?

This week we're looking at Amnesia and Love Live! School Idol Project. Only two shows? Is this a regular thing now? Surely I wouldn't do that, right?

February 2, 2013 -- (7 - 4) Minutes of Heaven

I have returned, and much like Duke Nukem before me I will likely only be met with mediocrity and disappointment! Having completely skipped the month of January, I'm starting my year in the month of Valentine's Day and have chosen a deliciously sensual title for this post to celebrate.

This week we're checking out Mangirl! and Yama no Susume, also known as "Encouragement of Climb"... what? Check it out after the break!

12/29/12 -- "An Unpopular Position: An Appeal to Rationality"

Or "The Post Where I Lose the Rest of What Few Readers I Have"

This post isn't what I had planned for this week. Originally, I was going to talk about the cool stuff I got for Christmas, as I'd gotten enough anime-related goods that it justified a full review post. They weren't strictly all anime, but they were certainly anime-flavored. As such, due to unforeseen circumstances, you've all been spared my biting and poignant analysis of The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya.

It was gonna have references to "Night Court" and everything!
You know? Anime!

What I now intend to talk about is something that I ran into over the course of enjoying one of my Christmas presents: An anime entitled Steins;Gate. I started watching the first Blu-Ray release, consisting of the first twelve episodes, and finished it in a couple of days. I immediately bought part two of the FUNimation release, not knowing the disastrous implication of what I was doing. I thought that if I enjoyed something that was bought for me out of love, I could reciprocate that emotion by purchasing the second half of said gift.

It was a little expensive, but that didn't bother me. I had the money to spend after the holidays, and I thought the translation was well-handled, producing a highly recommendable dub experience backed up by quality dubbing. It was a good dub.