Saga of Tanya the Evil The Movie: In Russian Federation….

I’ve made it no secret on this blog that I am a massive fan of the series Saga of Tanya the Evil. In fact I believe that it is tied with ReZero for being the best isekai made yet. In a time where 98% of Isekais chase the exact same plot set up, Tanya decides to take the Isekai and do something new with it. I’ve gushed about the show before, and I stand by everything I said.

So how does the feature film stand up? Well after the cut let’s take a dive into the next part in the story of our little German loli: Saga of Tanya the Evil The Movie.

Cat Fight

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Tune of the Week(ish) Eromanga Sensei’s HITORIGOTO by ClariS

Eromanga Sensei has been called the king of anime trash. A show that has way too good animation for something of it’s subject matter. I think it’s just a sexier version of Bakuman. Either way, the opening theme is catchy as fuck. The Tune of the Week is the opening theme of Eromanga Sensei: HITORIGOTO by ClariS

Don’t @ Me: Ten of My Opinions: One Year of Shallow Dives Edition

We aren’t done with the One Year Anniversary just yet. I pushed this back one day, but Don’t @ Me, like the sex drive of Takuya from YU-NO, simply can’t be stopped. Join me after the cut as I smack down ten of my opinions on…since it’s the anniversary post, pretty much anything I want! Enjoy!

There has been a serious lack of Miyako on this blog.

One Year of Shallow Dives in Anime!

It’s September 9th! Which means it has been exactly one year since I’ve started this blog!

It’s been a wild ride, I’ve talked about good anime, great anime, harem anime, ecchi anime, decent anime. I’ve blogged about manga and even a hentai or two. I can’t believe it has been a year since this little passion project started, and that I’ve managed to keep it going and not get sick of it, or burned out.

I love anime and everything about the art form, warts and all. Shallow Dives in Anime was always my place where I could get those feelings out into the world even if no one was listening. I have a small audience, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I hope those reading have enjoyed my work, despite the multitude of spelling errors (like holy shit, I need to edit more). This blog has become a real love of mine, and I always have so much fun thinking about what I’m going to write next, whether it’s about a series I love, or just me bitching constantly over Shinmai Maou no Testament.

I won’t say I have big plans for the next year, I plan on keep doing what I do, delivering bite-sized looks into the anime world, and my own thoughts on the seasonal fare as they come and go. There will be more character dives, shallow dives, Don’t @ Me, Tune of the Weeks, and whatever else comes next. I’ll probably finally talk about Chivalry of a Failed Knight, and I probably am going to review another hentai somewhere down the line. I’ll gush about Rin and Shirou from Fate, and wait with bated breath for the never going to happen second season of No Game No Life. 

This has never been about getting a following, or becoming a “player” in the anime community. I’ve never wanted that, and I’ll probably never get it. I won’t chase fads or trends, or court outrage for the sake of it. I just want to talk about what i want to talk about, and about the anime that makes me feel things. I just like to write, and I just like to write about anime. If you like what I write, then that makes me happy, if not…well that happens.

I have so many people to thank who have welcome me into this little WordPress family. Crow, Karandi, Irina, Matt, Pete, Lynn, 7mononoke, Scott, Yomu, anyone who has ever pressed like or said anything in a comment. You have all been here longer than I have, and I respect and admire each and everyone of you. I hope this year will be just as fun and eventful as the last one was.

So here is to a full year of blogging at Shallow Dives in Anime. Whatever comes next this year, know I’ll still be here talking about stuff, and I hope you join me in the journey.

 

 

 

Shinmai Maou no Testament: One Year Later

In the summer of 2018, I got set up on a blind date with a girl, sadly I struck out and nothing came of it. This of course happens, but I was bummed out enough that I needed something to rid my sorrows. Earlier that year I had recently come back into the anime world after several years “in the wilderness,” so I decided that a good ol anime binge-fest was what I needed. The binge I chose was a buffet table of harem and ecchi anime. Date A Live, Shomin Sample, Majikoi, and more. Over the next two days I shut myself away and just enjoyed the onslaught of comedy and harem hijinks that High School DxD had caused me to fall in love it. At the end of the binge-fest I came across another series, one that I had been told about, but I had somehow waited to the end to watch.

That series was Shinmai Maou no Testament, or The Testament of Sister New Devil. And I fucking hated it.

I disliked it so much, that hours after that final episode of season one rolled, I was literally pacing back and forth trying to figure out my feelings. How could have something I should have loved turned out so bad? How could a show, with all the ingredients for a home-run hit, just completely shit the bed? Had I just reached peak harem? Had my binge caught up with me? Or was I mad that it wasn’t another High School DxD?

This provided the catalyst for me to create Shallow Dives in Anime. For months I had been humming and hawing over creating a anime blog where I could get my thoughts on, hone my writing skills, and just have a project to work on. It was Shinmai and my anger towards the show that finally made me bite the bullet and do it. On September 9th 2018 I threw up my first post: Indulgence, Self Reflection and Shinmai Maou no Testament. A few months later in December, I published my second post examining the character of Basara Toujou called Shinmai Maou’s Basara Toujou: Anime Blue-Balls, Sexual Independence and A Moment of Greatness

Over year and the dozens of posts on dozens of different anime, I had dropped references to Shinmai Maou, and my dislike for it, always in jest and so much so that it became a running gag. Yet as time went on and it got closer and closer to a whole year of blogging, I realized that I would need to do something to celebrate. I have always believed in second chances and watching something again with your “fan expectations” set aside. Part of me wanted to go back to the series and see if my hatred had dimmed, or if I had misjudged the series because, as I said in my first post on the series, didn’t indulge my personal tastes. I thought it was the right thing to do, the mature thing to do, instead of just sitting in an echo chamber of self-eating hatred of something that frankly, isn’t really important. So I did that, I watched the entire first season again.

This is Shallow Dives in Anime, and welcome to my One Year Anniversary Post.

This is my re-dive into Shinmai Maou no Testament.

((You know what this show is. NSFW shit coming up))

No Game No Life: Please Press Start to Continue

I’ve made more than few comments on the Isekai boom, and that the genre is squandering it’s vast potential by focusing on the same story beats over and over again. As of this era in the anime world, I consider only a handful of series to be the truly excellent, well done and just plain ‘good’ Isekai. These big four: The Saga of Tanya the Evil, ReZero, Konosuba and Overlord. There are other series that are of course good, I always have a soft spot of love for In Another World with my Smartphone, but I do believe that “The Big Four” are the best the genre has had to offer fans.

However I might have to change that number, because I’ve finally gotten around to finishing this one. After the cut let’s take a dive into the series No Game No Life.

Seriously, somebody press start to continue!

I heard you liked lists: Dewbond’s Top Five WTF Anime and Manga Moments

Do you like lists? I like lists, and I heard you like lists to. While I continue to get my thoughts around Shinmai Maou and finish watching No Game No Life, I decided to make a little post showing my top five WTF moments in anime and manga ranked from the least WTF to the most WTF. Some of these will be no brainers, some of these will shock you! Let’s get to it after the cut!

This is not one of them, god dammit Suzaku