Mind = Blown

Despite the dip in posting here at AniAri, a steady stream of hits kept on flowing in and today we hit 1,000,000 unique hits (and somewhere in the range of 1,800,000 visits).

I’d like to extend my thanks to those who kept checking here, even in lieu of a post drought! And of course the google crawl bots, I <3 you Google, even if we aren't the first search result for "arimasu" anymore D:

Onwards to two million! (Hah.)

~ Shirukii ~

What’s that? You haven’t been watching Xam’d? Well, I suppose it’s understandable, seeing as how it’s being released online as a downloadable rental for the PS3 or the PSP. I’m not sure why either. Anyway, it’s a pretty sweet show about giant robots, giant biorobots, and other giant things. Ready to learn all about the wonders of the world of Xam’d?

This is awkward. I don’t know why studio BONES decided the first scene in the anime needed to be some albino swallowing a seed that was stored in a condom. If it makes you feel any better, this scene makes sense fairly early on in the series. Yeah, I don’t feel any better either. Hold me.

Our protagonist for this particular show happens to be some high school student named Takehara Akiyuki. He lives on the bafflingly small island on Sentan, which apparently only has the one town on it.

Surprisingly enough, Akiyuki’s character design successfully clears many of the pits the majority of anime protagonists do their best to fall into at every opportunity. Case in point, not only are both of his parents alive, but he has a normal relationship with both of them. The two are having marital problems, but the show hasn’t featured any “hilarious” domestic abuse yet. I guess this could be a fault for some anime viewers, but screw them anyway.

Now where would a high school student be without friends? Aside from being a head taller than anyone else in the show, Furichi (on the left) is one of those people who try to apply the rules of one thing to a completely unrelated situation. In this case it is the mantra of the unspecified martial art he practices. You’ll see what I mean when you start watching the show.Haru (the one in the middle) practices that unspecified martial art alongside Furichi. Working in accordance with the very fundamental laws of anime, she is far better at it than him.

So anyway, Akiyuki and the others head off for another exciting day at school when Akiyuki notices someone interesting.

It’s that albino girl from the ultra creepy intro. I wonder what she is doing on the bus to Akiyuki’s school? Oh! Maybe she is a transfer student and love will blossom between her and Akiyuki. That could lead to a spicy love triangle involving Haru. I can’t wait for them to get to school.

Here we are at school. What wacky adventures will Akiyuki and the gang get into today?

That is a nice cell phone charm you have there albino girl. You should probably show it to Akiyuki; I’ll bet that he would love it.

Hey, what are you doing…? Oh poop.

- – -

So then, just in case the above was too long, here are three simple reasons why you should be watching Xam’d:1. Not only is the opening theme song called “Shut Up and Explode” but it is fucking awesome.2. It’s BONES so the show is very pretty. Especially well done this time around are the backgrounds.

 3. Apparently Xam’ds are created through suicide bombings.

Of course, I’m very grateful to Shirukii for choosing me to be one of the three new writers after viewing my entry and I hope to continue adding great content for this great site. I really look forward to getting some feedback on the readers on my own entries, I’ve really enjoyed seeing all of your (sometimes humorous) responses to anime, and I can’t wait to see what you say about my own. Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu!

LOVE AND PEACE!

Divine Assault: Ether Strike.

Wow…just…wow…I mean, everything…wow…O.O So today, we finally get our big battle, and all major pilots come back into play, with the exception of the Chinese Federation since they had screen time last episode, except things weren’t as epic as today’s. There were quite a few (apparent?) deaths this episode too. I have to say, this is one of the best episodes so far. The last time I was this pumped up for a battle was Season 1’s last battle. Personal preference, but I feel this to be the best battle-related episode of R2.

I keep forgetting they have those…

Of course, this was one of the only things that bothered me this episode, the reusing of the stock animation from the 1st OP. To be honest, though, after stomaching Gundam SEED and SEED Destiny’s repeated use of Freedom’s fly-by, Freedom’s laser dodging, Freedom’s laser spamming, Freedom’s Rail-Gun Spamming, and pretty much anything related to Freedom, I can honestly tell you that had I not watched either SEED series, I wouldn’t have a paragraph to go with this picture. In fact, I wouldn’t have taken the picture. Balls.

Called it!

Well, then again this bothered me as well, but not production value wise, just the fact that once again Lelouch isn’t as fucking smart as he makes himself out to be. Everyone probably saw it a mile away that Rolo wasn’t going to actually go and get Nunnally back. More ranting about the same shit, with this just being decisive evidence.

“They’ve coming to take me away, ha haa!”

Anya has another Kaminejima spell here, just like when she fought C.C. back in the Chinese Federation battles. Again, I’m still harboring an “A.A.” theory here, but if the Emperor indeed use his Geass on her and persons such as C.C. and V.V. aren’t affected, the only logical thing to conclude is that her memory lapses aren’t caused by Big Charles at all. Whatever the case, it’s just a hunch, but somehow I think Anya will end up helping Lelouch later sometime down the line due to whatever connection she had with Marianne, since the side material implies some important relationship. Hell, I’m wondering if Marianne died and became Anya. o.o

Schneizel continues to hint at whatever he may be plotting. As far as him attempting to overthrow Charles and gain the throne, I’m wondering if he’ll succeed or not and perhaps if that potentially makes things better or worse for Lelouch’s situation.

Shinn Asuka: Destiny! Ikimasu!

After over 5 episodes of frilly dresses and Kallen-punching, Guren makes it’s triumphant return as the Guren SEITEN Hakkyoshiki (SEITEN stands for some complicated shit, so look that up if you must know. At last it’s better than coming up with an anagram for GUNDAM). Sporting a Darkness Finger extending Radiation Wave arm, Turn A’s Mustache enlarged antennae, and some Wings of Light Energy Feathers, the Frame basically becomes a pink energy ball of pure destruction when it enters Deathscythe Hell’s Active Cload Mode folds it’s wings around itself. Reminds me of Pikachu’s special in Brawl…anyways, despite being as ridiculously overpowered as Strike Freedom’s first appearance, it makes a very impressive first run…

SHOOP DA WH- *dies*

By first taking out Luciano’s accompanying Valkyrie team (which is (un)surprisingly all female pilots…maybe they’re virgins too? Check their necks!), then dismantling all his weapons, asking him his “What’s important to you?” qestion before blowing his Frame to bits. I didn’t expect a Knight of Rounds member to go down so quickly, but I’m really glad Luciano died first, he’s about as cocky as Gino with more bloodlust. So yeah, if you’re wondering, I want Gino to die next.

Especially since it seems like he and Kallen bonded for all of 3 episodes that featured them in short clips, and is destroying my LuluXKallen shipping (all my fanfics are worthless now!). If this means later down the line Kallen should betray Lelouch because of Geno, I will take back all the respect I have for her…except for the sexual respect I have for her boobs…and ass…hmm, it’s time to visit /h/ real quick…

Click right for details on this statement. O.O

Asahina finally gets the information he needs regarding Zero (as far as it concerning the Geass Order massacre) from that one pilot, who dies in this episode. We’re not told what it is, but the Kuro no Kishi-dan may finally start having it’s internal conflict right now, which leads to me wondering again if Lelouch will come clean about his identity. The question is when it’ll happen, in the next 3 episodes in order to regain order, or in the last 3 episodes in order to crumble the Rebellion.

Heh, they’d never think to look in here in my…arm!

And Cornelia gets out? What the fuck, why didn’t she just do that in the first place? More importantly why didn’t they search her more? That’s another fuck up Lulu!

Oh shi-

Since Guren now surpasses Lancelot’s power level, Suzaku thinks to give in, but since Lelouch’s Geass once again comes into effect for Suzaku to live, he does the one thing he wouldn’t have under normal circumstances: firing Freya (I don’t care if it’s now called FLEIA, I love Valkyrie Profile dammit!). As seen above, the blast does massive damage that encompasses the entire Government Settlement building Nunnally, Rolo, Sayoko, Asahina, and Ms. Romeyer (the snooty glasses bitch). Asahina presumably dies in the explosion, but I greatly express the presumable part because…

Sayoko: (please select one)
A. Escape no Jutsu
B. Wood Replacements no Jutsu
C. Invincibility no Jutsu

While the prospect of Nunnally dying is no doubt supposed to serve as a catalyst to make Lelouch go ape-shit over everyone, the fact that Sayoko is with Nunnally makes me believe that they’ll survive somehow. The only reason I would see why Nunnally has to die so soon is to imply Lelouch won’t find happiness anymore at this series’ end and thus will die as well. I have a hard time believing that though, one reason being is that Nunnally needs to find out Zero’s identity.

JIN!!!! ; . ;

Not everyone has plot armor though, and Guilford acts to protect Lelouch from entering the sphere of destruction. With Guilford’s last words, there’s a hint of what Lelouch may remember about telling Suzaku to live on, and thus know why he launched Freya.

Of course, this is mainly going to be the driving force of Cornelia. As it stood, I had no idea if she would eventually join Lelouch or not, but she’s bound to figure out why Guilford starting acting the way he did, which means she may just become as crazy as she was when Euphie died.

Keikaku Doori!

And yet, here’s Prince Shnitzel (no that’s not a typo), quite pleased with himself. I’m wondering if he planned Nunnally to die in the explosion, since he obviously planned Suzaku to fire it due to the events on Kaminejima. In the aftermath of this battle, will he take over as Governer in Nunnally’s apparent death?

It’s okay Nii-san, I’m here…ahn! Nii-san…ecchi…

Thus in the explosion Lelouch snaps and asks Rolo if he could talk to Nunnally, with Rolo replying that she’s dead, and Lelouch continuously asking if he could speak to her. Catalyst for Rolo: finding out that Lelouch cares more for Nunnally, and thus turn against him again. Especially since the title for next EP is called “Betrayal.”

PREVIEW SHOTS:

We’ll finally know the locket’s secret as Lelouch bitch slaps it off Rolo’s hand!?

Shinn and Lunamaria Lelouch and Kallen kiss in the apparent death of Meyrin Nunnally?

More troubles for Moral Fag!? FUCK YEAH!

What I wonder if Suzaku will blame Lelouch for using Geass to influence him, or himself for firing the shot that apparently killed Nunnally. We’ll see…

“You flew too close to the sun!”

Shirukii’s take:
Jay’s post piqued my interest for a strange reason, in his writing I saw many elements of my own style, catering to plot and character analysis. While it lacked my penchant for conjuring up plot theories and my tendency for making statements that provoke the ire of many a fanboy/girl in the anime community, it picked up the slack with more random references and witty image captions. This is strange because I usually can’t stand reading retreads of stuff that I’ve already written, the fact that I made it through his similarly styled post means that there’s something more to it, and I can’t wait to read more so I can figure it out.

It seems that I’ll be the first new author to make my appearance. The name’s Vadigor and I’m a long-time reader of AniAri. I’m usually found commenting on Shirukii’s lack of regular updates (mostly at his request) but as of today I’ll be joining the team in an effort to make his laziness less apparent. I’ll have the honour of writing alongside him on this little part of the aniblogosphere. If for some reason you’d want more personal information about me, a short biography should appear on the site sooner or later. Now without further ado, I give you my recap on Strike Witches, the latest series from Gonzo.

Odds are that most of the more dedicated loli fans are already following this series, seeing as so far it’s been running almost entirely on it’s all-female loli cast and non-stop fan service. And how do they pull that off you ask? The answer is right there in the first snapshot. Haven’t noticed it yet?

How about now?

Strike Witches has been dubbed the Pantsless Anime, and with good reason. It seems that we’ve ended up in an alternate history where World War II is replaced with an alien invasion and pants for women under 40 are unheard of.

The year is 1939, every country has a nice new name, the Nazi’s are replaced with laser-firing aliens dubbed the Neuroi and women called Witches have magical powers but no pants. From what we’ve seen so far the Neuroi are similar in nature to NGE’s Angels. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, are always seen alone and are essentially indestructible, except for their core which is located somewhere in their body. Oh, and they quite like their lasers.

Mankind is about to be wiped off the face of the earth when one man saves the day with the creation of a new kind of weapon: the Striker Unit or in common terms, Plane Legs. These devices magnify a Witch’s magical power, giving them the ability to fly at transonic speed, create protective force shields and wield hundreds of pounds in military hardware.

With their shields and magic-infused weaponry these units proved to be the only effective defense against the Neuroi and thus the 501^st Joint Fighter Wing or the Strike Witches were born, a fighter wing comprised entirely of lolis without pants.

Sound familiar? It should, both Strike Witches’ story and its character design originated from the mind of Humikane Shimada who did the character and mecha design for Sky Girls. While that series at least made some attempt at handwaving their fan service mechanics, Sky Girls no pantsu just foregoes it entirely. Some say that the Striker Units require direct skin contact with the user but this is hardly plausible given that several of the girls wear tights. The lack of civilian pants is also supposedly explained somewhere in the novels as young girls idolizing the witches and imitating them by not wearing any pants…Yeah.

And if you think the lack of pants alone is bad enough, you haven’t seen anything yet, I’ve only just started. Guess what happens when the Witches manifest their powers.

It seems like Gonzo wants to cater to every loli-fan out there, giving each girl animal ears and tail that show up whenever they equip their Striker Units. So far we’ve seen everything from cat and dog features to rabbit ears and even a leopard tail. Something for everyone I suppose.

Oh Hell No

Not only did they give each girl animal features, they also gave them distinct magical abilities, from Sakamoto’s Geass X-ray vision, Miyafuji’s healing power to Sanya’s use as a radar and radio receiver. Also, all the characters are modelled after real-life fighter pilots. (one of which is still alive)

The animation so far has been mediocre, the character designs are solid but combat scenes leave much to be desired. So far action scenes have been limited to the Witches flying around blocking lasers until they discover the location of the core at which point someone gets to blow it up. Given the setting and the nature of the Striker Units the show had a lot of potential for awesome dogfights, but as it is the action scenes are not much more than a way of creating even more exotic panty shots.

Plot-wise, Strike Witches has been following the beaten path so far, the main character Myafuji was recruited into the squadron after showing her innate skill with the Striker Unit and she’s been accepted as a true member of the group after showing her worth in battle. After that every episode has chronicled her getting to know the other members of the Strike Witches: the shy girl with a minority complex, the veteran with the distraught past, the speed freak, etc.

Apart from that, we’ve also had the usual beach episode, and pretty much every episode features a hot spring scene as well. In case you’re wondering if these traditional fan service elements are really applicable in this already fan service laden show: yes, yes they are.

Gonzo also doesn’t hesitate to explore the sexual tension in the squadron, with Myafuji having dreams about “flight training” with Lynette and other more straightforward scenes throughout. I doubt we’ll see any real development on this field though.

Overall, the plot has been nothing but a device to carry the fan service. In the latest episode we have what could be some foreshadowing to changes in the current standoff or possibly a government conspiracy, but I doubt it will turn out to be anything major. My guess is that it will continue its current trend until the entire cast is introduced, at which point the battle against the Neuroi will escalate and our heroes will have to save the day. I admit that I’m curious as to what explanation there will be for the Neuroi’s presence and origin. Their military tactics aren’t the brightest yet they somehow managed to occupy Europe. Someone or something behind the scenes is a likely possibility. It would certainly be interesting to see new Neuroi sporting swastikas.

In conclusion, Strike Witches is running solely on its fan-service and character design. I have some hope left that we’ll see some actual plot development, but with the series at it’s halfway point and with Episode 7 slated to be a Panty Thief episode (with even more NO PANTS than usual) it’s doubtful. If you quite like your loli fan service this show will be right up your alley, otherwise you’re not missing out on much.

Except an awesome doggy paddle.

As for the search for new authors, it’s coming to a close, if there are any stragglers out there, time’s running out. I got more applications than I thought I would, and many more than I thought I would want to take on as authors. As it stands AniAri will be getting three new writers, surpassing the one that I expected to get and the two that I limited myself to. I’ll introduce the new authors tomorrow (or as soon as they get back to me with some crucial information) and put their inaugural posts on the blog, along with my impressions and what led them to be selected. I’ll also try my best to get back to everyone who applied with some constructive feedback.

Thanks to everyone who tried out, it’s unfortunate that I have to turn some of you down, but such is reality. Don’t let this stop you from starting your own blogs, while your particular writing styles may not have piqued my interest, I’m merely one person!

~ Shirukii ~

Not that the division of posts would ever lead you to believe so, but once upon a time, AniAri was actually a team effort, with Soda lending a helping hand every now and then. Well, those days have long since passed and I’ve been flying this plane singlehandedly for quite some time. While being a solo blogger has some advantages: never having to compromise on who gets to blog what, never worrying about scheduling, etc., the major downfall is complete broadcast silence in the case of hiatus, or a sharp decline in posts when things get busy.

I’ve been wanting to recruit new authors for some time now, and with the return to school on the horizon, primed to completely obliterate the amount of time I have for posting, it’s now or never. Literally. This blog won’t survive without reinforcements.

And so, I call upon anyone out there who is interested to apply and join the twisted world of anime blogging!

This is a perfect opportunity for those of you out there who have ever thought of starting your own anime blog or fansite but couldn’t be bothered to deal with the hassles of finding a hosting service and setting up Wordpress, templates and all. Also, perhaps more notably, you get to avoid the hellish buffer period wherein you have to establish a dedicated readership, when I started out it was a good couple months before I started seeing a consistent inflow of traffic, and even more until the comments started rolling in and discussion bloomed. AniAri draws in about 2000 unique visits and 3500 views per day thanks to the commenters and readers who frequent this site (and of course the google bots <3).

Requirements

Writing: A firm grasp on the English language is a must. While I don’t expect everyone who applies to be an English Lit. major, if I can’t understand and interpret your writing, what hope will the readers have in doing so?

Style: So you can write, but can you structure it in a unique and interesting manner? Whether it be episodic or editorial writing, you need to establish your own unique personality through your writing. It can be anything from humor to satire to fanboy rage, but there has to be something distinct in your writing, your entries can’t read like an emotionless encyclopedia article, be creative!

Sample: Along with your e-mail, attach a sample entry, one that you would be proud to have posted on the site. I’m not taking resumes and credentials here, so it’ll be these entries that will decide who I take on. What I’m looking for is clear and concise writing structured in such a way that potential commenters will be able to take in your thoughts and build a basis for discussion with them.

Edit: DURR, forgot to mention, applications go to my e-mail, kyotochocobo11@gmail.com

And that’s it! I’m not looking for any writer categories in particular, so feel free to write about whatever suits you best, episodic summaries and editorials are the two staples in anime blogging, but stuff like figs, industry news, and seiyuu gossip are welcome too. As long as it falls under the general umbrella of anime/manga, it’s fair game. No set time limit either, while I’d like to see potential newcomers writing before the school year arrives, any applications that trickle in over time will be given fair consideration.

It depends on the volume of applications, but I’m probably going to limit recruitment to one or two authors, I’m not trying to build a conglomerate, just looking to turn this sole proprietorship into a partnership.

~ Shirukii ~

Hey guys, excluding yesterday it’s been a long stretch since I posted anything, and as an indulgence to my self-importance, I must tell you why…

…ok I’m shitting you, I just need to let you guys know that there will be some minor changes to my posting style.

The past month or so have been really hectic, as soon as mid June hit I began working full time, which not only consumed time, but energy and my will to blog. Furthermore, anytime I did have time to spare was dedicated to my social life (read: waifu). Lastly, I got addicted to House. *cough*

Yesterday’s post was a brief return to form, which will unfortunately be marred by a week long vacation, starting tomorrow. After that, there’ll be a slight change in my posts, I’ll be omitting the Summary section and head straight to Thoughts. It was a shift that I had been thinking of doing for a while now, but only recently have time constraints pressed so hard on me to necessitate it.

That’s all for now. Thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with the blog even through its period of inactivity, readers like you guys are what will keep me going, even in periods of depressed motivation.

See you in a week!

~ Shirukii ~

First of all, sorry for reposting this, but over the downtime the post got mangled beyond recognition. I did manage to salvage the comments though.

So, voting has begun in the Anime Blog Awards and AniAri has been nominated for Best Episodic Blog, so what are you waiting for, head on over to the People’s Choice and if it applies to you, Blogger’s Choice, and cast your vote for us!

As for reasons why you should vote us over the other nominees, it’s a very difficult task to give a definite answer to that. Episodic blogs, by nature, are all fairly similar in that they usually consist of a summary of the episode and a “Thoughts” section, AniAri is no pioneer on breaking the norm in that respect. Where we really differ is writing style, how we convey our thoughts and personal opinions on the episodes at hand in posts and comments alike is where the soul of an episodic blog lies.

So, if you enjoy my long winded “tl;dr” posts (which by the way average around 1300 words per post, equivalent to writing a freaking term paper every week) fueled by my analytic nature which usually leads me to theories that are more often than not, completely wrong, cast your vote.

Another reason I can give is the length I go to get involved in the discussions I spur. Throwing up a post and watching the comments fly by is one thing, I prefer to step down from my author command post and get in on the commenting brawl, especially when my opinions get called into question :3. Interactivity between commenters and the author is a huge part of any blog, and it’s the major reason I don’t comment on a certain goliath of an episode summary blog, because I know my measly words will just get swallowed up in the torrent of other comments.

My final and perhaps most poignant reason why you should vote for AniAri is the reason behind the titular “Or else…” of this post. Because if you don’t vote for me…

~ Shirukii ~

S-s-stupid aniblogosphere, it’s not like I asked you to vote for me or anything.

The Anime Blog Awards nominations are over and the results are out, the top five blogs with the most nominations moving on to the actual voting stage.

Despite my belief that I would be crushed in the only category that this blog is fit for, episodic summaries, I somehow managed to squeeze my way in alongside randomc, Subculture, Star Crossed and Tenka Seiha Sea Slugs. Interesting to note that I’m the ONLY one of the five that does not blog raw, which can be seen as both detrimental or beneficial.

Update: Aroduc dropped out and the Sea Slugs Team lead by Kabitzin has replaced him as the fifth nominee.

Having seen the list of blogs to make it past the nominations stage, I can’t help but question how effective the ABA is with regards to their mission statements:

1. To serve as exposure for new bloggers.
2. To objectively measure a blog’s achievements by means of peer review.
3. To encourage readers to move out of their comfort zone by discovering new blogs.

A quick glance over the results shows that, outside the Rookie category, they don’t lend themselves much to points one and three. Although, admittedly, I did find some relatively new and interesting blogs during the process of nomination, so I guess it served its purpose in that regard.

In any case, many thanks to everyone for their nominations. Voting will start on April 27 and will be split into two categories “Readers’ Choice” and “Bloggers’ Choice”. Details on the voting system will be released soon, at which time I may do some campaigning since every vote counts when one finds himself up against Omni’s behemoth of an anime blog.

~ Shirukii ~

Accurate representation of Owen’s anime counterpart…

…only because I couldn’t find an anime stylized Kim Jong-il , Hu Jintao or Fidel/Raul Castro.

I believe if you look back on this blog’s one and a half years of archives, you’ll be hard pressed to find anything that would pass as so called “blog dorama”. There’s a good reason for that, I think it’s stupid. Spontaneous discussion about whether episodic blogs are better than editorial blogs or whether fansubs are the cancer killing the anime industry is worn out and rsults in nothing except rehashed arguments and resentment among bloggers and readers alike.

However, shit is hitting the fan a little closer to home this time, this isn’t about some generalized rant about the anime community in general, this time, it’s personal.

I’m sure most of you out there have at least heard of the ABC, the Anime Blogging Collective. It’s a group of bloggers within the already niche market of anime blogging that gets together once in a while and collaborates to voice their opinions on various topics. Last fall they did one on Ef -a tale of memories- and during the winter there were a string of “12 Days of Christmas”-like posts. I was invited to the ABC by Owen S, author of Cruel Angel Theses, and was told to jump in on the posts whenever I felt I had something to offer, no obligations aside from that.

Here’s where the problems began, as the topics came and went, I found myself with little to add. During the string of Ef posts, I was planning on playing Devil’s Advocate and going against the slew of posts praising it, but much of what I was going to say was already touched upon some way or another, so I passed. Then came Christmas and the “12 days of” posts. The only way I would have been able to keep that schedule was to resort to posts that were little more than pictures and a one liner, I hate doing that, so again, I passed.

And so recently, Owen issued what amounted to more or less an order, to the members of the ABC:

In case you’re one of those wondering why you’re receiving e-mails all
of a sudden: The ABC actually has a Google Group. And we actually use
it for discussions. I just used my overlord Hitler haxing powers to
make it so that you’re sent a digest e-mail everyday, and being kept
up to date as to what’s happening.

I’m just slightly disillusioned that a few people I asked, or who
asked to join this group then proceeded to never join in the
discussion about what the next joint blogging should be. I did specify
a “no obligations” stance when inviting and all, but… if you have
time to make a blog post participating in minimal discussion shouldn’t
be a difficult thing.

Also, it takes less time to type out a reply than it does to watch an
episode of anime, so if you have time for your blog or an episode
you’ve got time for The ABC’s Google Group. Period. The logic here is
infallible. I dare you to refute it.

I’ll take you up on that dare Owen.

YOU, of all people, should know that your last paragraph is far cry from the truth. As one of the few anime bloggers that could compete with me for the title of “Most tl;dr blog”, you can’t honestly believe your so called logic. A typical summary post here takes anywhere from 1.5-2 hours, NOT including the time it takes to actually watch the episode, and although they’re rare, an editorial post like this one can take up to four hours to properly research and construct. Added to the fact that by the time I find some spare hours to add to joint discussions, only to find my thoughts on the subject copy pasta’d a good number of times, my motivation to contribute is less than stellar.

I understand that you’ve managed to gather some exceptional bloggers under your rule, and disregarding the slight exclusionary and elitist nature of the ABC, it’s a neat idea to concentrate our efforts. But you’re letting it get to your head, forcing bloggers to write pretty much guarantees you a half assed result. And pulling shit like this isn’t going to help your cause. Varied opinions and free discussion are the bare minimums for interesting discussion on the vast tubes of the internet, the ABC is no exception.

~ Shirukii ~