YU-NO’s Takuya Arima and Amanda: Within a Minute

Over the last two weeks, I’ve discussed two of my favorite couples in anime, why I like them, and why I think they work. That continues this week but with a couple that is relatively new to me. I’ve gushed and gushed about the visual novel YU-NO: A Girl who Chants Love at the Bound of this world, talking about the individual arcs, the characters, and why I think it is a masterpiece of fiction. Reflecting back on that this last month, and thinking about what is my favorite couple, I found myself thinking back to a surprising one. Join me after the cut as I take dive into the relationship of Takuya Arima and Amanda.

Blog title not a reflection of Takuya’s sexual ability.

Fate/Stay Night’s Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka: Friendship Made, Love Forged.

When it comes to anime couples, there is no one higher on my list than the two people we are talking about today. From the moment I started watching Unlimited Blade Works I knew that these two characters were a special match, and in the years follow, through the other stories and beyond, it still remains the best one done. I won’t beat around the bush. Join me after the cut as we take a character dive into the relationship of the two main leads of Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works: Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka

Love formed through friendship and trial.

The Autumn of Black Cat: Black Cat’s Train Heartnet: Sweet, Simple, Basic, Freedom

The Autumn of Black Cat continues! Before we get into the final arc of the series, I want to take some time to discuss the main character and his place in the overall theme and ideas of the story. Let’s waste no time, after the cut join me as we take a character dive into the main character of Black Cat: Train Heartnet

The Free Spirit

The Summer of Love: High School DxD’s Issei Hyoudou: A Cut Above The Rest

The Summer of Love continues with a second post this week. I’ve done an examination of series lead Rias Gremory, and now it’s time to take a look at the series male lead character: Issei Hyoudou. I’ve already talked about this character before, but since I am revisiting the entire series, I feel I need to give this character a (well deserved second look). So join me after the cut as The Summer of Love takes a Character re-dive into the lead of High School DxD: Issei Hyoudou.

He also looks distinctly different from other leads, which is saying something.

Character Dives: My List

Hey guys.

For those of you who stop by the blog, you may seen now and again a post that I’ve called “Character Dives.” Recently I’ve posted two of them involving characters from both High School DxD and Goblin Slayer and they’ve gotten a rather positive review.

However I’ve also done more in the past, some that I think may have fallen under the radar during the onslaught of seasonal dives and other pieces of work I’ve done. I’m really quite proud of the work I’ve done on these character dives, and I want to share some links in case you readers didn’t catch them before. Down below is a list of some of my personal favorite character dives I’ve done, which is most of them, but whatever!

I really enjoy doing these character dives, in where I zero in on a single moment or trait of a character and talk about what makes it work, and how it affects the entire series. While I have no love for the “essay” in terms of blogging, I did start doing these in an attempt to get down my thoughts on a character without going into pages upon pages of work. Anyway, if you haven’t read some of these, here is a handy list for you! Enjoy!

Most of these are talking outta my ass, but hey, they are fun!

• Majikoi’s Momoyo Kawakami: Her Greed, and Her Fear
• Bunny Girl Senpai’s Kaede Azusagawa: The Unintentional Imouto Meta-Commentary
• ReZero’s Rem: Crystallized Waifu
• ReZero’s Natsuki Subaru Part I: Deconstruction by Death
• ReZero’s Natsuki Subaru Part II: Save the World by Saving Yourself
• Darling in the Franxx’s Hiro and Zero-Two: Pure Stupid Teenage Romance
• Shimoneta’s Anna Nishikinomiya: A Hilarious Warning about Policing Morality.
• Date A Live’s Tohka Yatogami: Simply Adorkable
• Shinmai Maou’s Basara Toujou: Anime Blue-Balls, Sexual Independence and A Moment of Greatness.
• Fatevember: Fate Stay Night’s Rin Tohsaka: The Tsundere with the Iron Will.

Darling in the Franxx’s Hiro and Zero-Two: Pure Stupid Teenage Romance

2018s Darling in the Franxx is one of the series that, while not the best of the year, was absolutely one of the most talked about and discussed. Ambitious, Derivative, Flawed, Touching and Infuriating. Franxx is the sort of anime that can only come for creators who truly believed in their work. Its legacy past this year is still to be determined, but out of all the shows this year that I’ve watched, Franxx remains one that still has me coming back to think about.

Today I want to take a look at the two main leads of the story, their relationship and how it represents in my view, a pure example of naive teenage romance. So after the cut let’s take a character dive into Darling in the Franxx’s Hiro and Zero-Two.

This post doesn’t stop me from wanting to strangle Hiro with my bare hands though.

Date A Live’s Tohka Yatogami: Simply Adorkable

Now that I’ve managed to pull myself away from my Super Smash Bros coma, it’s time to jump into the well of character dives again!

I love being able, to sum up, things in a few words. For some reasons the idea of taking an anime or character and just breaking it down into a sentence and a few words that encapsulate it just works for me. We live in a time where video and written essays can go on for ages (I’m guilty of this too!) and I have always been a ‘cut to the chase’ sort of guy. Skip the bullshit, get to the point.

Which is why for our next character I love that I can sum her up in one perfect word. So after the cut let’s take a dive into Date A Live’s leading lady: Tohka Yatogami.

 

Just wish there wasn’t a full body shot of her looking so neutral.

Shinmai Maou’s Basara Toujou: Anime Blue-Balls, Sexual Independence and A Moment of Greatness.

It is easy to hate on things, but it is even harder to admit that something you hate or dislike actually has some redeemable qualities. While we can dismiss pieces of art and entertainment as bad and never think about them, it is the work that is flawed or has a moment of greatness that leaves you with something to chew on. Hence despite my heavy dislike of the series, there is one scene in Shinmai Maou no Testament that stands out as a shining example of possibility and potential. However, before we talk about the said scene, we need to take a small detour and speak out two things: Anime blue-balls, and Shinmai’s Basara Toujou. Let’s get into it after the cut.

(THE VIDEO CLIP PRESENTED IS VERY NOT-SAFE-FOR-WORK. PLEASE WATCH WITH DISCRETION)

Harem Protagonist #2259 and the actual best girl of the series.

Housekeeping and Trying out a new Topic.

Hey Guys

Just dropping in for some housekeeping here, now that Fatevember has finished, I wanted to drop in and let you know what’s happening for the next month.

I loved doing Fatevember and many of my posts were both successful here and over on my Tumblr. My post on Shirou Emiya has been one of my highest viewed yet, and it is clear what I said struck a chord with some viewers. Character dives are fun to do because they let me get out my thoughts on what I think makes a character work or not. Expect a few more this month with the next one probably being about (ugh) Shinmai Maou no Testament.

As for Fatevember, I am proud of my work, but I do feel I could have gone in deeper to some more series. Sometimes there just wasn’t much to chew on, so maybe in the far future, I’ll do a revisit. I don’t expect I’ll try another theme month anytime soon, and if I do, it’ll probably be about High School DxD.

This month you can expect some posts on Date A Live in preparation for its return next season, a re-post of my thoughts on Shinmai Maou, and Quick thoughts on several of the Fall series this season. My list has been whittled down to about 5 or 6, and I’m really eager to get my thoughts out when all is said in done. Furthermore, I’ll be posting my ‘Best of 2018’ list closer to X-mas.

Finally, I am going to try a new type of blog post that I am calling “Let’s start a conversation” this is gonna be something where I make a post talking about an issue or theme involving Anime and then ask my viewers to make a post of their own on their blog sharing their own thoughts. I don’t know if it will work (I don’t get that many views!) but you can only fail by trying first, so it’ll be fun regardless.

As always thanks for reading my blog. Special thanks to Karandi from 100word Anime, Irina from I drink and watch anime, and Lynn Sheridan from well… Lynn Sheridan who like and read my blog whenever they can. If you are for some reason following me and not reading them, change that at once. They are great bloggers and have been here far longer than me. Special thanks to Crow from Crow’s World of Anime for including me in this list of blogs he visits as well.

That’s all for now, I’ll be back a month from now with some more housekeeping. Until then, keep on blogging, Illya is the best girl, and let’s pray that Bunny Girl Senpai manages to stick the landing.