On July 18, 2019, Kyoto Animation's Studio 1 was targeted by an arson attack that killed 34 people and left more than 3 dozen severely injured.
There are a lot of things that can be said, but I'm going to stick what is simple and straight. Kyoto Animation's dedication and passion for their work produced countless extraordinary pieces of art that touched many people's hearts. I am one of those people. K-On's lively and cute atmosphere is something I constantly lean on to energize myself and Violet Evergarden told a story that helped me out of the darkest time of my life thus far. I am personally struck by grief when I realize that the people responsible for those productions may not be alive anymore, and that someone would go this far in an act of terrorism against an organization that has only served to put a smile on people's faces. That being said, I cannot even begin to imagine the grief of those who lost their loved ones in the fire that day.
There are a few ways to lend your support to the people and families at KyoAni, listed below.
I play video games. I'm probably more of an avid game fan than an anime fan.
I'm a competitive Smash Ultimate player. I'm not really down to play online due to lag, but if you're in the NorCal region then show up at a local and we can get some games in. I main Shulk, the protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles 1.
Speaking of Xenoblade Chronicles, it's my favorite game series of all time. Xenoblade Chronicles 1 was fantastic, quite frankly a masterpiece with amazing gameplay, world building, and narrative. Xenoblade Chronicles X is easily the most underrated Xenoblade Chronicles game that's largely labeled as the black sheep of the series by the Xenoblade community. Xenoblade Chronicles X is also my favorite Xenoblade game, even my favorite videogame of all time. With by far my favorite gameplay and fictional world of anything I've ever encountered, Xenoblade Chronicles X takes the cake as my favorite game ever. And Xenoblade Chronicles 2... let's not talk about that trope-ridden, meaningless, contrived pile of shit that's a sorry excuse for a Xenoblade Chronicles game.
Finally, I'm addicted to gacha hell. I started with FEH, and even though I've quit that now, I've devolved to playing four gacha games at once. I'll list them below, so feel free to shoot me a message if you want to add me and I'll make space for you.
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius: 593946742
Of all my games, I'm probably the most invested in FFBE. The gameplay is highly tactical and rewarding, often requiring a lot strategic foresight and resourcefulness to clear the tougher trials. I'm f2p in FFBE as I am in all my games, but my account is practically as stacked as a whale's. I'm definitely able to carry people through mid-high level content and even gear friend units that whales find very useful for them. That being said, the producers of the game Alim and Gumi can't seem to get their shit straight and frequently shaft the Global server compared to the JP server, so I may just quit FFBE at the end of this month if the 3rd anniversary falls flat (which it likely will).
Fate/Grand Order: 917580838
I'm pretty much just along for the ride to collect my favorite Fate characters. I expect absolutely nothing from FGO since the rates are so awful that f2p players essentially start handicapped without any limbs when the objective is to complete a triathlon. That being said, my account's not too shabby so I can share my support list with you if requested.
Dragalia Lost: 88889186789
My Dragalia Lost account is pretty stacked; I've cleared and am farming all the High Dragon Trials and other difficult content. Friend units really aren't that important in Dragalia Lost, but you ever want to farm something together then hit me up.
Release the Spyce Secret Fragrance: 1336806982
Here's a game I've picked up with it's recent release just one and a half months ago, my first JP game! What else can I say other than Release the Spyce fans need to come together? This game has everything a Release the Spyce fan would wish for, with gachas featuring the cute Tsukikage girls along with original stories and events that are fully voiced! And if you haven't watched Release the Spyce and are a fan of moe and/or action, then GO WATCH IT NOW. And then go read my review and make sure to leave a like
10: An awesome show that I can't stop talking about and highly recommend to anyone that lives on this planet. I can't pass up buying merchandise from these series. I consider these shows perfect, and always wish for another season, or for the next season to be out immediately.
9: An extremely good show that I really enjoyed. Didn't have the same impact as the "10" shows, but I'd recommend them to others all the same.
8: Very good show that I enjoyed a lot. There's nothing that I can say is wrong with the show, except that it wasn't as extraordinary or excellent relative to the "9" or "10" anime.
7: Good show that had minor problems and drawbacks, but nothing that the good parts didn't make up for.
6: Above average show that had enough good traits to outweigh the obvious flaws in the anime.
5: The average show, with just about as much good traits as there are bad. Inconsistent shows generally fall in this category too. *cough*DragonBallSuper*cough*
4: Below average show that had enough bad traits to outweigh the good things about the anime.
3: Bad show that had major problems and drawbacks. Even though there are defining good parts about these anime, it doesn't even come close to making up for all of the bad things.
2: These are dreadful shows. The only thing that keeps them from being a "1" anime is that there is at least one good thing among all the chaotic crap that the show is.
1: The "how the hell did this show get approved for public broadcast and who would actually invest even an iota of effort to make this work out" shows. I tried to find one good thing in these shows, and looked everywhere... to find nothing. These shows are worth so little, it's not worth anyone's time to watch. And I mean ANYONE. Seriously, just clean your local dumpster while you're at it. These shows make that look like an efficient use of time.
After finishing JoJo's I've realized that judging anime on a checklist basis isn't really effective for rating them. The checklist system is how I've evaluated anime thus far. Looking at the anime as a whole, I rate how the anime filled the checklist. Did it have a worthwhile plot? Were its characters okay? How enjoyable was it overall? Did it have a comprehensive message? Things like that. Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works is a good example for why the checklist system doesn't work; it has a pretty good plot, not bad characters, not bad enjoyment, and the whole season wrapped up well. So it has a 10 based on the checklist rating system. Does its score of 10 equal the 10 of one of the JoJo's seasons? Not even close. JoJo's has better characters, plot, enjoyment, and everything. So why are they rated the same? They both passed the test of the checklist system. The checklist system just checks if an anime has fundamentals to be okay, but it can't distinguish a pretty good anime from a masterpiece. So I'm going to change my rating system.
I'm gonna be evaluating anime using a more qualitative system than before. This does sacrifice the some objectivity of using the more quantitative checklist system, but it allows me to more accurately rate anime with meaningful values. A 10 doesn't mean anything if any anime that has decent plot, characters, and comprehensive theme gets a 10. So I think the tradeoff of this change is well worth it. This new system will be much more scrutinizing than the checklist system I've been using, so a ridiculous and inconsistent anime like Dragon Ball Super isn't gonna get away with just a 7. Before, a 7/10 was a "passing" score for an average anime, except I needed to realize that most anime are somewhat "passing" since they were approved for public broadcast in the first place. This leaves a skew in anime scores where most anime I rated as 7 or higher, and very few bad anime received a score lower than 6. This is gonna change, as a 5/10 will now be the baseline "passing" score, with 8/10 as really good anime that I've enjoyed. 9/10 and 10/10 will be reserved for personal favorites, anime that I'd recommend to really anyone.
K-On! is no longer indisputably my favorite anime of all time; that title has been taken by the Pokemon XY and XYZ anime arc that will probably forever be my favorite anime of all time. Epic fight scenes, eccentric character development, amazing fanservice that parallel the original Pokemon game series, a fulfilling romance subplot, and so many feels close to home all come together to create an omnipotent anime a tier above even perfection that I never want to end, even as I see the inevitable ending shining beautifully in the horizon. Look forward to a review of this masterpiece from me!
edit: and then Madoka Magica happened. I need to get back to reviewing things.
"Those who are always aiming for the top, and those who aren't. That slight difference in attitude will have a big impact once you go out into society." -All Might, from Boku no Hero Academia
"I'm fine with failure, so long as I know the results were deserved." -Aoba, from New Game!!
"If there is someone hurting because of you, it's because they fell in love with you, and they got hurt all on their own. That's what it means to fall in love with someone." -Nisaka, from Koi to Uso (this quote is literally the only good thing about this show, everything else is trash)
Yoo, Yeah I actually tried some older FF games, but never finished them. One day I'll get into them.
I once started Wind Waker, but never played it through the end, so one day I'll play it, same goes for BotW.
Xeno series is something I look up to. Are the Xenosaga/gear/blade connected or they just happen to have a similar name?
I have so much to play but fuck, I'll probably die before finishing all I have pending xD
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I just watched the first episode of Pkmn Sun and Moon, which you seem to like based on your score for it. What exactly do you like about the show?
Hey, thanks for checking out my review! Yeah, it was unfortunately pretty crappy imo. The only reason why I was able to watch it all was because I sort of binged it all before the last episode came out. If I was following it weekly, I would have given up on it months ago XD And hey, at least Mars of Destruction was funny bad. DnK was just...bad.
I actually have a review out on KissXSis that I wrote a few years back It probably sounds pretty bad since my writing was worse then lol explaining why I like the show. And I agree, I enjoyed OreImo too. Eromanga was the only one out of the three that I thought was meh, but hey, I needed another Sis X Bro to compare DnK to, and it was still better anyway. Sure man, I'll check out your review! I'll give my thoughts later :)
Nah, I'm more of a FEH player Fire Emblem is my jam bro But yeah, I absolutely adore the Fate series. How about you?
Yep, I played it! Despite what critics say, I absolutely loved the game. Sure, there were a few little issues here and there, but it was super fun to play and a great conclusion to the Xehanort saga.
That's alright man. And I'm sorry for never getting back to your last comment :( Once I start to get busy, I just sort of...never get back to some things.
I appreciate that you took the time to reach out to me and am glad that you liked my profile! which I put way too much time into making XD I was honestly surprised by how much I ended up liking Zombieland Saga. Pretty awesome show imo. Correct me if I'm wrong, but by "little hints," are you referring to the hints about what happens in the anime that I included in my review? Because if so, I'm glad that you noticed. I wasn't sure if people would be able to pick up on them. Though if you were talking about something else, I'm sorry for misunderstanding. And I'm glad you liked my review, though it's probably bored a lot of readers due to its length XD
Thanks for the recommendations! I thought about watching Happy Sugar Life back when it aired but just never got around to it. I have a lot of free time now though thanks to winter break, so maybe I'll get around to watching it sometime soon. And man, it has been a long time since I've done anything pokemon related. I might as well try to get back into it if XYZ really is that good. And you can never have enough of cute girls doing cute things, so K-On 2 would probably be the most likely one I'd watch out of the three. I was surprised by how much I liked the characters back when I watched the first season. They're just so lovable!
Wait, who was Xion again? In all seriousness though, she really is a great character. Funnily enough, I literally just purchased the 358/2 days novel like an hour before reading your comment. I did it because it's been awhile since I've played the game and want to re-familiarize myself with the characters, particularly Xion, before KH3 comes out. Based off of the recent trailers, it looks like she might be a member of the new organization, so we'll just have to wait a see what Nomura does with her character :)
I'm entering my 6th college semester this spring. I guess we're going to be suffering through school together lol And I haven't got the new smash yet, but I will soon. I'm guessing it's fun? And thanks for taking the time to send a comment. Anyone who loves Madoka Magica and Kingdom Hearts is a friend of mine (^^)b
Its much better if you stop playing FGO if you aren't that active or don't have much time to play it cause you're gonna miss some things or possibly a lot of things. Its better to focus on something you really like or want to play if you already invested more time on them. I tried playing honkai impact and fire emblem heroes but I realized I don't have the time to play many games lol so I just stopped playing them. If you really like heroine x she's gonna comeback next year (2019) and on 2020.
Yeah I'm playing on FGO NA. She's actually my first SSR I started around saber wars and got her in 3 tickets lol but nearly 5 months later she's still my only 5 star servant. I'm currently saving for Mama Raikou.
Thanks for the add :) and yes my score on Mars of Destruction is a joke/troll like the 10 rating of those reviews lmao because its funny and even if you'll give it a 10 its rating won't move it'll stay on 2 forever lol
Thanks a lot for the recommendation! I've heard a lot about K-On, I'll give it a try because I really enjoyed Euphonium. If the themes are similar I'll probably enjoy K-On as well.
Heres my explanation of why I rated High School of the Dead higher then K-ON!. I'm just not a person who enjoys a show like K-On with a full cast of teenage girls and their pop music. It really isn't my thing at all which is why I rated it only a 6. I rated HSotD higher because I enjoyed it a lot more, The fan service was a bit over the top and the story was a generic I agree but I enjoyed the zombie survival theme that isn't very common among anime, and I enjoyed the action scenes too. That said, HSotD was also one of the first anime I ever saw which made me enjoy it a lot more since at the time I hadn't seen many anime like it before so it was very unique and not so generic at the time for me.
I definitely think Re:Zero is a good one to do. In my opinion, I don't think someone should watch until episode 18 before committing a drop. If they are not engaged before episode 4 (early on I mean.. I can't actually remember specifics that happened :33) then they probably shouldn't go on. It is as you said complicated but I think it started off quite strong. For me, it has become less engaging further into the story. I think that I am only watching it now because I had been engaged in the characters from the beginning and now I have to keep going otherwise it would probably be too much of a cliffhanger for me lol :33. In all honesty though, if I really hated it but I kept pushing for episode 18, I would probably just finish it off and rate poorly on it.
I suppose the most important aspect of anime that keeps me interested is the portrayal of character emotions (it's probably why I like romance and slice of life anime
though don't go looking because I'm pretty sure my actual anime doesn't even keep consistent with that :3
All Comments (20) Comments
I once started Wind Waker, but never played it through the end, so one day I'll play it, same goes for BotW.
Xeno series is something I look up to. Are the Xenosaga/gear/blade connected or they just happen to have a similar name?
I have so much to play but fuck, I'll probably die before finishing all I have pending xD
I actually have a review out on KissXSis that I wrote a few years back It probably sounds pretty bad since my writing was worse then lol explaining why I like the show. And I agree, I enjoyed OreImo too. Eromanga was the only one out of the three that I thought was meh, but hey, I needed another Sis X Bro to compare DnK to, and it was still better anyway. Sure man, I'll check out your review! I'll give my thoughts later :)
Nah, I'm more of a FEH player Fire Emblem is my jam bro But yeah, I absolutely adore the Fate series. How about you?
Yep, I played it! Despite what critics say, I absolutely loved the game. Sure, there were a few little issues here and there, but it was super fun to play and a great conclusion to the Xehanort saga.
That's alright man. And I'm sorry for never getting back to your last comment :( Once I start to get busy, I just sort of...never get back to some things.
Thanks for the recommendations! I thought about watching Happy Sugar Life back when it aired but just never got around to it. I have a lot of free time now though thanks to winter break, so maybe I'll get around to watching it sometime soon. And man, it has been a long time since I've done anything pokemon related. I might as well try to get back into it if XYZ really is that good. And you can never have enough of cute girls doing cute things, so K-On 2 would probably be the most likely one I'd watch out of the three. I was surprised by how much I liked the characters back when I watched the first season. They're just so lovable!
Wait, who was Xion again? In all seriousness though, she really is a great character. Funnily enough, I literally just purchased the 358/2 days novel like an hour before reading your comment. I did it because it's been awhile since I've played the game and want to re-familiarize myself with the characters, particularly Xion, before KH3 comes out. Based off of the recent trailers, it looks like she might be a member of the new organization, so we'll just have to wait a see what Nomura does with her character :)
I'm entering my 6th college semester this spring. I guess we're going to be suffering through school together lol And I haven't got the new smash yet, but I will soon. I'm guessing it's fun? And thanks for taking the time to send a comment. Anyone who loves Madoka Magica and Kingdom Hearts is a friend of mine (^^)b
Thank you for the feedback and the FR ^^
I should be watching the Mahouka Movie soon.. It would be a pleasure to meet oniisama again.
I definitely think Re:Zero is a good one to do. In my opinion, I don't think someone should watch until episode 18 before committing a drop. If they are not engaged before episode 4 (early on I mean.. I can't actually remember specifics that happened :33) then they probably shouldn't go on. It is as you said complicated but I think it started off quite strong. For me, it has become less engaging further into the story. I think that I am only watching it now because I had been engaged in the characters from the beginning and now I have to keep going otherwise it would probably be too much of a cliffhanger for me lol :33. In all honesty though, if I really hated it but I kept pushing for episode 18, I would probably just finish it off and rate poorly on it.
I suppose the most important aspect of anime that keeps me interested is the portrayal of character emotions (it's probably why I like romance and slice of life anime