AniFriday Issue #8 (Janurary 3rd, 2014)

Happy New Year guys!  The year of 2013 is behind us, and it’s time for everyone to move on to bigger and better things.  Well that’s the idea at least.  In truth, it takes effort to move forward and dump the baggage you’ve become so comfortable with.  Even a burden can seem like a welcome comfort when it’s all you know.  The easy thing about this medium and the commitment to it is that you don’t have to stick with anything.  The same applies to me.  I could dump a series at any point, though I do make it harder for myself by believing there’s some sort of commitment that comes with watching a series.  That’s a reason why some of these shows on AniFriday have kept getting commentary and coverage.  It’s silly, but that’s why right now, I’m especially happy to dump some burdens.

On the flip side of that commitment, I’m going to attempt to have more diverse coverage of manga in these posts as well.  So I hope all that are reading enjoy the small extra bit of commitment I’ve given to these manga.  Not just shounen and seinen, but shoujo, sports, josei, fantasy and maybe yuri will hopefully all get representation at some point.  Think of it as a sort of New Year’s resolution for AniFridays.  Now then, let’s get started on 2014.

AniFriday Issue #7 (December 20th 2013)

This has been a tiring and hectic week for me, but it has also been a week with one of the best moments of my life.  Sunday my sister graduated from the UNC Chapel Hill!  I don’t know what her major is, I think it has something to do with some holistic medicine, witch doctor mumbo-jumbo.  But that doesn’t matter right now.  I’m intensely proud (and a bit jealous) of her.  And if she gets to read this (because I didn’t really talk that much that day), I wish her all the happiness in the world, and a good job, too.

Now then, onto the anime and manga commentary.  Here’s what I’ll be covering this week, in order.

• Tokyo Ravens ep11
• Ms. MONOCHROME ep12
• Valvrave ep22
• Coppelion ep12
• One Piece ch732
• Naruto ch659
• Bleach ch562
• Team Medical Dragon ch90
• The World God Only Knows

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the change in titling for these posts from being named parts to issues; I’m attempting to go with the magazine theme I love so much.  I know this is a blog, but humour me.  This is a hobby after all, I’m gonna f*ck around and experiment any chance I get.

AniFriday pt6 (December 13th 2013)

 

Man, it has been a tiring week.  It’s not easy for me to keep up with all this anime.  And I can’t help but think I’ve brought this upon myself.  I mean, if I would actually not f*ck around and watch everyone of these shows consistently every week, then I wouldn’t have to worry about these long tiring “catch up” sessions.  Then again, there’s something to be said about the joy of watching a show in spurts like this, as if I were renting an anime DVD from Blockbuster or the old local video rental place back at home.  Ah!  Memories!

For now, I hope you guys appreciate the effort and attention to detail I’ve put into watching and analyzing these shows.  At this point in the season, and the year, I’m really learning to appreciate what has been a very interesting year of anime.  A surprising year.   And maybe even in this post here, that only covers mediocre to average anime I’m currently watching could have moments that are memorable, or that perhaps will last and reverberate forever throughout anime history.  It’s unlikely as hell, but it could happen.

This week I’ll be shaking up things a bit by adding manga to this AniFriday post, because… well because “why not?”  The name AniFriday doesn’t really mean anything, I can barely get these out on time, and I’m pretty damn sure someone’s already using the name Manga Monday somewhere.

Here are the series I’ll be covering in order of appearance:

• Valvrave eps 18 – 21
• Ms. MONOCHROME ep11
• Tokyo Ravens ep10
• Coppelion ep11
• Naruto ch657 & 658
• One Piece ch729 – 731
• Bleach ch560 & 561

If anyone knows a way for me to link to different sections within a blog post to make this quicker, I’d appreciate it.  For now, enjoy the presentation!

AniFriday pt5 (December 6th 2013)

It feels good to get this done.  I survived bad and inconsistent internet, no internet, bad holiday driving, and a list of chores responsibilities and errands, just so I could get a chance to watch these shows.  It may seem a little too grand for the subject of watching anime weekly, but as a hobby, I take this surprisingly seriously.

Here are the shows I’ll be covering this week in order:

• Tokyo Ravens ep9
• Coppelion ep10
• Ms. MONOCHROME ep10
• Valvrave ep17
• Kyousougiga ep1

AniFriday pt4 (November 29th 2013)

Here we are.  I’ve finally made it back to the world of blogging anime and animu for fun and hobbies.  And it feels good to be back and productive.  For this week, I’ll be a bit more focused on fewer anime, as I’m in the process of making up for a three week deficit on multiple anime.  Here are the anime I’ll be covering in order of appearance.

• Tokyo Ravens eps 6-8
• Coppelion eps 7-9
• Ms. MONOCHROME eps 7-9

Fear not, there’s more to come.  And that includes Valvrave as well.  For now, let’s see if these three shows are still worth watching.

AniFriday pt3 (November 8th 2013)

I’m expanding AniFridays and making a few changes as well.  Ars Nova will get the weekly single blog post treatment from now on (hope I don’t regret that), while Valvrave is now joining the AniFriday group.  Also I’m adding Hajime no Ippo: Rising and Gundam Build Fighters (since people keep asking me if I’m watching it) to the group as well.  Hope you guys enjoy.

This week’s anime in order of appearance.

• Valvrave ep16
• Tokyo Ravens ep5
• Ms. MONOCHROME ep6
• Coppelion ep6
• Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova ep5

AniFriday pt2 (Tokyo Ravens & Blue Steel ep4; Ms. MONOCHROME & Coppelion ep5)

I’ve learned that I need to stop giving myself deadlines.  I need to stop worrying about crappy CG.  And I need to stop naming these posts after days of the week; it really exposes how easily my schedule is ruined.

AniFriday: (because keeping schedules is for NERDS!)

This was originally supposed to be AniWednesday, then I started playing the video games and it became AniThursday, then I remembered I had stuff to do and work, so now it’s AniFriday.  It’s a good thing that I’m flexible about my own scheduling.

Anyway, this week I’m covering the more and more interesting to watch Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova.  I’m blandly watching BlazBlue as it continues to do stuff while not caring if I know what or why it’s doing it.  Ms. MONOCHROME makes me wish I still had a budget for anime swag.  Tokyo Ravens makes me fondly remember something I now hate.  And Coppelion does it’s best to be the most dramatic, intense thing ever made (it is totally none of that).  AniFriday!  Let’s go!

AniWednesday: Ms. MONOCHROME ep3, and ep2 of Coppelion, Tokyo Ravens, BlazBlue and Ars Nova

Alright, for the second time, I’m gonna try this little experiment where I test out anime I have less of an interest in, and give my thoughts.  So far, this feels good.  If this continues until the fifth or sixth week of Fall airings, then I may be able to pare down some anime while I’m at it, too.

Check-in Station: AniWednesday? (BlazBlue, Ars Nova, Ms. MONOCHROME, & Tokyo Ravens)

Alright!  I’m gonna do something a tad different this time.  I’m gonna squeeze a bunch of shows into one not-so-big post.  I’ve been told to give a few shows a fair shot, and this is how I’ll do it.  After this, there shouldn’t be much else I haven’t tried aside from the Noitamina shows.  Her we go!  BlazBlue, Walkure Romance, Ms. MONOCHROME, Tokyo Ravens and Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Ars Nova!

And then sleep!