Ghostlightning did a post yesterday on shows that he finds difficult to write about in spite of the fact that he is a huge fan of them. I have shows like this myself as well as shows I just… never really brought up, even though I enjoyed them so much. Looking back, I didn’t used to really talk about shows much after the initial ‘I finished it’ post, and it was really only near the end of last year that I started not only to post about my impressions upon completion, but to really offer up discussion and thoughts on the show. That said, there are still shows I just never managed to mention.
A quick glance over at my Top 10 page will reveal my 4th favorite anime of all time, Serial Experiments Lain. Unlike many shows in my top 10 that will probably be bumped out when other shows qualify for their places, Lain is really one of my alltime favorite anime; However, I’ve never made a single post about the series. I’ve mentioned Lain in any of my character posts as my second-favorite anime character ever, and I’ve mentioned the opening song in various lists, but that’s about it besides using tons of Lain images in posts. It just comes down to this show being really hard to talk about – it’s an entirely subjective viewing experience, and I have always felt that when I do blog it, it will be my biggest show-blogging project to date.
I’ve mentioned Otaku no Video once or twice in my posts studying the nature of otaku, but never talked about the show directly. This is less something difficult and more something I never got around to. I actually have considered doing a fanfiction for OnV.
Interestingly enough, I haven’t really said much about ANY Akiyuki Shinbo show. Among some of my favorite anime are Hidamari Sketch, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, the SoulTaker, Pani Poni Dash, and Le Portrait de Petit Cossette, but I’ve said almost nothing about any of them individually. I’ve only talked about my love for Shinbo himself – I guess it makes sense that people are always asking me why I like him so much! I think what makes it hard to talk about is that my reasons for liking his shows are reasons that I know most people don’t care about, and I can’t really vouch for any kind of credibility on any of the show’s parts. A post would be entirely fanboying about things no one cares about. (that, of course, won’t stop me from posting about them eventually.)
I don't think Lain will mind waiting for me to post about her.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – There’s an excellent reason for this, and it’s that by the time I started my blog, I couldn’t remember any of the show, and I still haven’t gotten around to rewatching it, lol. I’ve considered blogging it episodically. The time since watching also explains other absences such as Kino no Tabi, Last Exile, Gankutsuou and King of Bandits Jing (the latter of which I rewatched a week ago and have a post in the works.)
Black Lagoon the first time I watched I think it had just sort of floored me and I wasn’t sure what to say about it. I know I could talk about this show if I tried.
Perhaps the most perplexing thing that I’ve never talked about is The Legend of Black Heaven, the micro-cult classic that touched me close to the heart. When I watched this show near the end of 2007, I remember being really pissed that no one talked about it anymore, because it was so great and made such a lasting impression on me. And yet, I could never decide how to talk about the show. A year later, I tried to do a recollective post on it for The Epic Journey, but I just didn’t really know what to say. I guess the best advice is “EVERYONE should see Black Heaven.” It’s a timeless, ageless classic.
5 Centimeters Per Second is a movie that I think I merely had ideas about that I could express much better in a post about Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu, so I left his movie largely alone.
I don’t have any idea at all why I never once talked about Genshiken in spite of it being HUGELY influential to me. This needs to be fixed.
I never did a post on Giant Robo. This is a sin. On the note of Imagawa, I also don’t think I ever really posted about Hatenkou Yuugi here. That’s a shame too because the show could have used more attention. Imagawa’s script is out of this world. And meanwhile, on the Giant Robot coin, I never did posts on either of the Gunbuster OVAs. I should just break.
That about covers it, leaving aside shows that I liked mostly for mindless entertainment and probably had nothing real to say about, such as Strike Witches or Sengoku Basara. And now I have to ask you – since you now know I am a fan of all of these shows, are there any you want me to finally post about?
Related Posts:
My Sword Is Unbelievably Dull 
Writing anything about a Shinbo piece can prove difficult. When I write about a show like, say, Tsukuyomi: MOON PHASE, I basically end up just talking about how awesome Akiyuki Shinbo is.
If I tried to write about Moon Phase, it would just be a list of disappointments :p
Rarely do I see a Giant Robo post in the ‘sphere (I haven’t even made mine), so that’s a request for you.
Write about robots as parents. Really get into the bones of it. You have Evangelion and Giant Robo there to work with. Draw a parallel with how your own parents do their jobs for you. Don’t fuck this up.
what about utena?! where’s the ep 03 post?
I will get to that hopefully soon, i was busy for a little bit.
Write about how Akiyuki Shinbo is in fact the second coming of the Otaking. Compare and contrast him with Anno, Mori and the other Gainax creators in this regard — or alternatively what you would have done with a magical girl show had they given you Nanoha. Get deep into the bones of it. Drive to the heart of the nature of fanservice. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about the gunfight/action choreography in Black Lagoon and contrast it with Canaan. Go deep into the bones of it. Then draw a parallel with how you’d like to shoot your enemies if you had guns and a camera. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about the Engrish in Sengoku Basara and Gunbuster. Compare and contrast the sociological implications. Go deep into the bones of it. Draw a parallel with how you fail at English on a daily basis. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about 5 Centimeters per Second and why you think, vis-a-vis Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu, you could “leave his movie alone.” That’s being lazy, and I know you can do more than that. Rewatch 5cm if you have to, alongside Iriya. Note the parallels on distance, if any, and if you didn’t see the inherent theme of distance in 5cm then, I’m telling you to look for it now. Don’t fuck this up.
Also write about the depth of Utena. I’m serious here. Compare the depth of Utena to the depths to which you must go in order to really get into the bones of it. Draw a parallel with how you’d like to bone someone deeply. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about the handling of Christianity in Lain and The Legend of Black Heaven. Compare the intentions of the God figures in the two works. Go deep into the bones of it. Draw a parallel with how you think of yourself as God, and how this means you must sacrifice yourself to save humanity. Don’t fuck this up.
lol, dodging this one both because there are no christian implications in Black Heaven that I know of, and I know nothing about Christianity
Write about the realness of the documented otaku in Otaku no Video and contrast it with the characters of Genshiken. Go deep into the bones of it. Draw a parallel with how you and otaku you know are like. Don’t fuck this up
Write about Genshiken, and go deep into the bones of how Madarame wants to bone his 2D girls, and then Kasukabe. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about Genshiken, and go deep into the bones of how Madarame wants to bone his 2D girls, and then Kasukabe. DRAW A PARALLEL WITH HOW YOU WANT TO BONE MADARAME WHILE BEING A 2D KETTENKRAD. Don’t fuck this up.
/FIXD
Compare and contrast Lain with Rei Ayanami — the girl who becomes technology and the girl born from technology, as it were. Get deep into the bones of it. Draw a parallel with your own addiction to technology. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about a compare-contrast between Strike Witches and Sengoku Basara, and go deep into the bones of how you’d want to bone the characters of the former, and have the characters of the latter bone you. Note the theme of nakedness in both–naked lower-half for the former, and naked ambition and GAR for the latter. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about the despair on a daily basis in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and contrast it with the despair people felt watching Endless Eight. Go deep into the bones of it. Draw a parallel noting the varied and limited recursions between the two shows, and the despair of your daily life being addicted to blogging. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about ghostlightning and otou-san. Compare and contrast their fatherhood. Go deep into the boner of it. Draw a parallel to how you want to become a father, only without any responsibility. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about Hidamari Sketch, and go deep into the bones of your fanboying. Do a critical examination on Shinbo and how it relates to your love for Shinbo in general, and compare any present-day context within your life with them and how it made you appreciate four girls in an art-school doing next to nothing on a daily basis. Write about your boner for slice-of-life. Don’t fuck this up.
God, is there anyone on the planet who can properly blog Lain? It covers so many things, metaphysics, conspiracy theories, it’s a masterpiece of thought-provocation. That I actually understand all the conspiracy and metaphysical references kinda scares me.
It will be hard, but I might have break it down into like scene-by-scene posting.
Write about your boners for each and every one of the Zetsubou girls (why would you be watching SZS otherwise!? for the art??). Be very specific, and go deep into the bones of your boners, and how you are the bone of your boner. Maybe toss Shinbo in there if you have the time, and list the amount of doujins featuring the Zetsubou girls that you’ve fapped to by way of quantitative analysis. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about the need for attention by doujinka in Genshiken and the need for attention by bloggers in posts like this. Go deep into the bones of it. Draw a parallel between blog posts, twitter, and doujinshi and how they reference the source material. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about how each of 100 favorite characters (in order of importance) are mirrors reflecting the nature of otaku. Go deep into the bones of it. Draw a parallel with your own otakudom and the first episode of Crest of the Stars. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about how watching Serial Experiments Lain irreversibly went deep into your bones when you watched it way back when, and how, by way of Freudian analysis, you’re crying out to us about how you want us to get you to write about it due to the prominent pictures of Lain in this post. Draw a contrast between this and yourself in real life, and how you need to get people to push you to get things done that you want to do yourself. Quote Freud gratuitously. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about how this is the highest comment-receiving frequency your blog has ever witnessed, and how this is sad given that you are torn between hobby and work. Go deep into the bones of it. Draw a parallel to ghostlightning’s success and how you pretty much suck his e-penis for party favors. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about BONES and why this studio rules, compare and contrast with GONZO. Go deep into the bones of it. Drive to the heart of what makes for successful animes that won’t just pander to otakus but deliver Total Quality Entertainment Worth Your Time and Money too. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about how this meme is the greatest meme ever, and how 4chan memes pale in comparison to this meme. Draw a contrast between shitty SomethingAwful memes and how eBaumsWorld steal everything, and cry about how horrible you are. Don’t fuck this up.
tl;dr: WRITE ABOUT HIVEMIND.
Write about Kino no Tabi, compare and contrast with your own Epic Journey. Get deep into the bones of what drives this show, specifically Kino, juxtapose with Ouran’s Haruhi, for the battle of the Best Reverse Trap in the history of animu, ever. Don’t fuck this up.
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Genshiken is one you definitely need to get into. It’s a series that I think touched generations of anime fans, from those just finding their footing, to those of us who’ve been around forever. It’s framed a lot of the community and pulled it together in a philosophical manner by exploring in-depth the lives we would like to have, that we do have, or that we always wanted to know more about.
Yes, I definitely feel that as a studier of otaku, I should do Genshiken (hard)
C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER?
Write about how this blog is the greatest blog ever, and how all other anime blogs pale in comparison to this one. Go deep into the bones of it. Draw a contrast between this and various teamblogs, and how teambloggers must invariably split any female attentions lavished on them for their writing, but you hoard all of yours. Don’t fuck this up.
Faaaaaantastic.
30 get
I think you meant “1:59am GET!!!” =3
Write about how unlike many shows in your top 10 that will probably be bumped out when other shows qualify for their places, Lain is really one of your all time favorite anime, but you never made a single post about the series. You’ve mentioned Lain in any of your character posts as your second-favorite anime character ever, and you’ve mentioned the opening song in various lists, but that’s about it besides using tons of Lain images in posts, including this one. Really get into the bones of just coming down to this show being really hard to talk about – it’s an entirely subjective viewing experience, and you have always felt that when you do blog it, you will draw parallels with how it will be your biggest show-blogging project to date. Don’t fuck this up.
Write about how how you will redeem yourself of the sin of not posting anything on Giant Robo and SHINE IN THE NAME OF ZEUS, with your refusal to to make 49 posts on G Gundam and continually resisting to as so much give a cursory nod to Shin Mazinger Z. Elaborate on how you have managed to escape from ZEUS SMASHING YOU INTO ATOMS. Really get into the bones of of how Super Asia compares to Hades in terms of villainy. Don’t fuck this up.
I almost laughed.
You fucked it up. :(
icy storm fucked it up first. You fucked it up.
FCUK I FUCKED UP IcyStorm wwwwwwwww
Write about your hair, and how much you look a creepy Russian mobster. Compare and contrast this with Gendou Ikari’s neckbeard. Run a series of experiments on yourself, cutting your hair to mirror various characters such as Gendou or the Count, and then ordering people to kill each other in giant robots. Don’t fuck this up.
.lolikappa
This is the one request I cannot fill, lol
Write about Byousoku 5cm, compare and contrast with Voices of a Distant Star. Get deep into the bones of it. Draw parallels from your own life. Juxtapose it against the cinematic greatness of Koi no Mikuru Densetsu and the deep insightfulness and genius of the Endless 8 series of episodes. Don’t fuck this up.
I better not fuck this up…..
Write about Twitter, and how it absorbs your ability to not fuck things up. Get deep into the bones of the sociocultural implications of our reliance on Twitter, and how that contrasts hikikkomori culture. Draw a parallel between the brevity of Tweets and the brevity of Itoshiki Nozomu’s periods of happiness. Don’t fuck this up.
.lolikappa
*is seriously considering fulfilling all of these requests.*
Write about Claus Varca’s massive harem in Last Exile, and how it covers every niche. Compare this to your own harem, drawing parallels between characters and anibloggers. (Spoilers: ghostlighting is Alex Row and lolikit is Alvis.) Get deep into the boners of all involved. Don’t fuck this up.
.lolikappa
Write about anything you want, because I’ll read it.
I mean, within reason.
You’ve had your Epic Journey. Now go write your Great Expectations. Don’t fuck this up.
I was going to call it the ‘Don’t Fuck This Up’ series. Does this bode ill for things to come?
You’re going to fuck this up.
You already fucked this up.
.lolikappa
You can’t not fuck this up.
Oh I got one!
Write about how Code Geass is Japan’s answer to Dune, and draw parallels between Paul Atreides going into exile and leading the Fremen rebellion for his revenge, and Lelouch leading the Japanese against Britannia. Go deep into the bones of how they both utilize their unnatural abilities to conquer their respective universes in the name of peace, and how they’re both analogous to a well-intentioned antichrist (the Worms that give Paul his abilities are referred to as “shaitan/satan” in the novels; Geass is partially occult). Don’t fuck this up.
it sounds like you should be writing this post, lol. I haven’t even seen/read Dune
The Dune/Code Geass comparison has been done before. Some of these ideas are really good though…
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Write about what you get about Shinbou that you don’t think that other people get about him. Draw parallels with you don’t think that other people get you when you attempt to do so. Don’t fuck this up… too badly. :P
Write about my gargantuan dick.
Fuck it up.
All of it.
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Write a post comparing the success of the Haruhi Suzumiya novels for a male audience to the success of Twilight for a female audience, while at the same time analysing how moe is depicted within prose when extensive visuals are not available for the light novel to depict moe. Then sum it all up with a comparison of moe in fiction being for men what descriptions of hunky dreamboats in romance novels are for women.
Don’t fuck this up.
The bit about moe as represented int text is something I’d be interested in, but the rest of that is not something I feel I have the credentials for – I don’t know how big Haruhi’s audience is or even that it’s all male, and I know shit about Twilight besides just what it is, nor do I have any desire whatsoever to talk about it.
I’ve been working on a post on that myself, whether it will be any good is another matter. Haruhi is clearly written in what literary critics call a “male gaze” – reviews on Goodreads.com reveal that some women didn’t understand Haruhi as well as they could have if they were male. As for the Twilight stuff, I’ve done the literary theory stuff in Extension 1 and 2 English to be able to tackle this sort of thing in how it relates to gendered tastes. Twilight appeals to women not just because of hunky dreamboats – it’s actually written specifically to appeal to women because they process erotic prose differently to men. This is possibly why Tatsuhiko Takimoto barely bothers with sex scenes in Welcome to the NHK, with a loser like Satou to write about, he doesn’t have to, and men respond differently to erotic prose to women. Thus, MOE is implemented to appeal to a male audience (the otaku who buy light novels as a demographic).
I would also like to have your AIM address so I can discuss this with you further, since you offered it to me one time and I missed the boat, because I didn’t have AIM back then when I commented on one of your articles.
My aim name is digitalboydb, and my yahoo messenger is digitalboyreviews, id definitely like to discuss this
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