Best of 2010 – Anime

Ok, so I totally fucking forgot about this, I’m posting it nearly a year late and even worse, I didnt even finish writing up my thoughts on each of the entrants. In the immortal words of Johnny Blaze, “What it is” Its odd. I feel like I’ve watched a lot more anime this year than I apparently have. I blame the summer months where a combination of depression and socialising savagely consumed time I could have spent keeping abreast of Japan’s animate cultural artifacts. I like to have a large selection to choose from for these kinds of article because it makes the obvious choices stand out more. When you have a smaller selection, the majority of which is fairly uniform in quality, it makes selection a pain in the arse. Read More

(Planned) April Viewing – Anime Edition

To quote the Mick of March “I got a fair bit watched this month. But as always, about half of it wasnt on “the list”. Upon reflection I think that may be because nearly everything I had listed in the previous article was either a) depressing, b) “srz biznez” or c) both. To be honest, sometimes I just want to throw on something thats just enjoyable. Whether its fun, light-hearted, mindless action or all of the above. Which is what most of my “unscheduled” viewing was.” As with so many things in my life I can easily identify the problem but seem incapable of addressing it. Well thats perhaps too much wangst for this kind of post, so on to the anime Continue reading…

Best of 2010 – Games

I can sum up video gaming in 2010 in one word and that word is disappointment. I was looking forward to so many releases that simply failed to deliver. Some of them by a little, but unfortunately most of them by a lot. So much so in fact that I’ve been rather lax in my game playing over the last few months and I’m behind by about twenty games or so. Which I find annoying in an OCD way. But as all of these lists are always a composite of things I’ve played in the year in question, not just what was released in the year, it probably doesnt matter in the long run. As well as the Top 10 list itself I’ve also included an appendix of sorts where I give a line or two (and maybe a score out of 10) to all the game I’ve completed this year (and perhaps the ones I’ve played enough off to be comfortable making a judgement on). Continue reading…

(Planned) March Viewing – Anime Edition

I got a fair bit watched this month. But as always, about half of it wasnt on “the list”. Upon reflection I think that may be because nearly everything I had listed in the previous article was either a) depressing, b) “srz biznez” or c) both. To be honest, sometimes I just want to throw on something thats just enjoyable. Whether its fun, light-hearted, mindless action or all of the above. Which is what most of my “unscheduled” viewing was. I’ve also decided that instead of just listing what I watched I’ll throw down a few lines on what I thought of it. These will likely be too short to even count as a mini-review. Continue reading…

(Planned) February Viewing – Anime Edition

Why no January version? Because I am lazy, I was sick and the “Best Of 2010” series of posts is proving a right pain in the hole to write. I also watched fuck all anime during January so there didnt seem to be much point. But I want to cut back on reading manga and I’m taking an extended break from reading, playing, running or thinking about table top roleplaying so that should free up even more time. Which I shall fail to anything productive in. But which I will hopefully use to catch up on my (fucking monstrous) “To Watch” pile. I mean I havent even seen Code Geass Season 2 or any of Gundam 00. So without further ado here is the selection of thirty shows I’m allowed to choose from in February (I know I’m going to finish writing this, post it and then watch something not on the list). Continue reading…

Best of 2010 – Manga

This list is a little dis-honest. Well that’s not quite the right word for it; artfully structured? constructed? biased? In short this list may not be a true Top Ten of the manga I’ve read this year. Why is that? I hear you cry. Well quite simply because I didn’t want to put the same things on the list two years in a row. While I do largely write these things for my own self-satisfaction I do hold out the slim and naive hope that someone other than I actually reads them. As such I feel it would be something of a dis-service to not highlight as diverse a range as possible. After all, if I recommended a series last year and its still on-going (as over half of last years series are) then theres no reason to think it isnt worth your time. Continue reading…

(Planned) December Viewing – Anime Edition

While I was banging through the shows at the beginning of the month my re-subscription to World of Warcraft half way through November more or less fucked my viewing plans (and all other plans I had). So I didnt mange to get through a lot of the stuff from the last entry. God I wish I could say it was because I was busy with Nanowrimo as opposed to World of Warcraft, but thats a topic for a different entry. Considering Cataclysm is out in less than forty eight hours I imagine this month will be even worse. Still some kind of plan is better than none at all. Continue reading…

(Planned) November Viewing – Anime Edition

Almost exactly a month ago I posted an entry outlining my planned viewing for October, followed a few days later by an update.. Im planning to do the same thing for November. Though hopefully I’ll get everything correct in this first post so I wont need the update. First I’ll outline what can be crossed off the old list and what “off-road” viewing I engaged in before moving on to a look at whats on the card for the next thirty days. As Im planning to participate in National Novel Writing Month I dont think I’ll get quite as much watched this month. But we shall see what transpires. Continue reading…

Best of 2009 – Anime (Yes it is super overdue) (But its full of links)

I get the feeling that I’ve somehow forgotten a large amount of the stuff I’ve watched this year as I feel that I’ve watched a fuckton of anime but when it came time to compile a list it was a real struggle to come up with ten. Of course when I did put together a list it became difficult to select just ten titles as I watched a lot of quality stuff this year. Continue reading…