My Favorite Anime of 2014

It has been quite a while since a post appeared on the blog, hasn’t it? Hopefully there are still some readers out there eager for some more stuff! Feeling a bit stiff when it comes to writing, I figured the best way to get it all started is to revisit my favorite anime of 2014! After this, I hope to slowly return to form.

Truth is, I haven’t seen a lot of anime lately. We’re a few months into the new year and I have only seen two new series, which is a new record for me. Instead, the time has been spent watching older, completed, anime whenever the urge has kicked in. As a result, it has made me feel rather distant to the anime community.

When it comes to the year 2014 in anime, my stance is that it has been a fine year.

Thoughts on Daisuki, False Promises and Delays

Note: This post was originally meant to be part of “This Is How You Can Watch Anime Legally in 2014”, written by Justin at the website OASG. It ended up too long, however, so I rewrote it and published it on my own blog.

When it comes to the legal outlets for streamed anime there are few available in Sweden. Essentially, it all boils down to Crunchyroll as the few other alternatives are too weak in comparison. Those alternatives are, in my case, Daisuki and Viewster. Not only do these two have meager libraries, but they also have poor video quality to boot. However, whereas Viewster at least has titles unavailable elsewhere, Daisuki offers nothing of worth which surprises me.

With this in mind, let me share a story regarding my very short experience using Daisuki and a few questions which arose about the platform.

Why Do You Like Anime?

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why you actually enjoy watching anime? These Japanese animated series that not too long ago were shrouded in mystery as there were very few legal alternatives to use? At first you may have come across anime on a whim, perhaps being introduced to it by a friend or discovering that a TV channel airs it. It could have been anything that piqued your interest to begin with.

But why did you stay? Exactly what is so fascinating about anime that we still continue watching? Surely, there must be reasons for it.

The Best Anime of 2013

2013 has been a strange year of anime for me. For starters, there are only ten anime series that I feel genuinely soft for and out of those four happen to be leftovers from the previous year.

In addition, almost all of the anime on this list has one thing in common: they are “light and fluffy”. They could be labelled as “slice of life” and are generally heartwarming. Relaxing, happy and fun.

Digital or Physical Anime – Which Do You Prefer?

In recent years the entertainment industry has seen some drastic changes to how you acquire media. Not too many years ago, you had to have some sort of physical storage device in order to, for instance, play movies or television programs. VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray; neither of these are required anymore. Providing that you have a good bandwidth and a stable Internet connection, it is today possible to access a vast library of entertainment via your computer or TV within mere seconds. This is all thanks to streaming.

What I want to focus on in this text is anime in particular, although you could argue that what I will say here could be applied to movies too.

Do You Drop Anime?

I love anime, I really do. As such, I watch a somewhat large amount of series every new season. They can all vary from awesome to terrible in quality, yet I usually tend to continue watching them no matter what.

But there are times when I cannot help but feel that enough is enough. Why waste time watching something that is clearly not enjoyable, when you can drop it and watch something far better?

Will You Still Watch and Enjoy Anime as You Grow Older?

The question has almost certainly struck your mind at least once no matter what sort of hobby we are talking about: ”Will I still like this as I grow older?”. It is not a particularly weird question to ask oneself, I for one have asked it over a million of times, but it still hurts a little on the inside when thinking about it.

I mean, is it not a bit sad to stop with something you once put all your heart into?

The Twelve Best Anime of 2012

Unlike last year when it was hard to create a list because I felt there only were a handful of good series, it is now hard due to there being too many good ones to choose from.

I hate lists.

12 Days of Christmas 2012 #06 – Kick-Heart and the Future of Anime

This year the way anime is created has changed. The Kickstarter Kick-Heart managed to gain $201,164 (of a $150,000 goal) with 3,232 backers in total. That is an average of $62 per person!

2012 marks the year of the success of crowd-funded anime.

Why Eureka Seven AO is Bad #01 – When Shallow Characters Dominate

Note: It is suggested that you watch Eureka Seven AO before reading this post, but it is not necessary. It is divided into three parts so that anyone can read it: 1. Relatively spoiler-free thoughts on the characters.  2. Spoilers on Eureka Seven AO. 3. Spoilers on Eureka Seven AO and Eureka Seven. Each section is clearly marked.

It has now been a while since Eureka Seven AO finished and I feel like it is time to share some of my thoughts on the series. I will avoid going too deep into the details since I do not remember them all, which is not that odd considering how the series introduces lots of ideas but never really does anything with them and the fact that I never really like it to begin with.

In other words, if you see some mistake, please call me out on it! When I someday re-watch it in the near future, I will go through every episode and point out the flaws. You can view this post, along with the other coming two, as scattered thoughts on what I believe the Eureka Seven AO did wrong.

To start, let us talk about how poor the characters are.