that would be this one. I’ve just got no time. I’ve got the reviews for Someday’s Dreamers, Mononoke Him and Howl’s Moving Castle all prewritten in my head but haven’t actually put them to blog yet.
In terms of new material, I’m still interested in Kamichu, mainly because it’s the kid-friendliest of the lot, though it looks like it can’t sustain the initial tempo. Last Exile looked interesting, but Shamus was down on the ending. And there’s not much to look forward to either – Gedo Senki looks to be a wash.
Hmm. Maybe Kino’s Journey?
At its best, Kino’s Journey is narratively very fine (with echoes of Borges, Marquez, etc.), but the animation is variable Landscapes and environments are decent or better and KIno herself is quite good — but the subsidiary human characters are too often generic. Despite any niggles, I recommend the show highly — for adults. NOT kid-friendly at all. Many incidents are absolutely harrowing (intelligently so — but still). Maybe a mature 12-year-old could watch this — alongside a parent who can discuss the show afterwards — but not suitable for anyone younger (speaking as a parent of three boys).
Blogging takes time. Maybe if you recruited additional writers, or just posted your analysis in smaller parts, it would be easier.
Quality matters more than quantity. As long as what you write is worth reading (and it usually is), I don’t mind waiting a few days, or weeks, for your next post.
I’m with Don. Even if you stopped posting entirely you would not even approach worst anime blog status. The anime blogs that I don’t like are the ones that simply recap each episode of some series, providing copious screenshots, and then offer as an editorial “Oh, no! Poor Honoka-san! But Suzuka really is so cool in this episode! By the way, what are they eating there- ewwwww! 😉 :P”. Actually, that’s most anime blogs.
You don’t seem to post much about anime these days, so I’m not sure it’s a question of how good an anime blog you have as much as it is a question as to whether you have an anime blog at all. But I’ve enjoyed the posts you’ve written about anime, and I look forward to your views on Mononoke (which I’ve seen, many times) and Howl (haven’t seen it yet, actually). Anyway, your posts on anime are thoughtful, even if I think at least some of them are wrongheaded ;), and that is enough to put you in the top decile of anime blogs.
I’m sorry I didn’t respond to your questions about classical allusions in Fireflies- I went on a business trip right around then and was gone for quite a while. When I came back from it I was pretty much buried under work I hadn’t done while gone. By the time I saw your response a month and some had passed. I’m kind of a lousy commenter in that respect- I read blogs when I have the time, and often comment, but when real life takes over I might not revisit the thread soon enough to make a timely response.
I didn’t mean to imply that there was anything illegitimate about your response, or your wife’s response, to “Grave…”. I _did_ mean to imply that you had missed some things about it, but that does not invalidate your response to it. The relationship between an individual and a work of art is a very personal thing, and like a personal relationship it is both private and and public (to the degree that one chooses), and subject to revision.
There are a lot of works, in various arts, universally acclaimed as masterpieces, that leave me cold. There are also some works that most critics consider the equivalent of highbrow velvet elvis paintings that I quite like- in particular, I am a big fan of some Venetian rococo, a genre that is not presently in good odor with most art critics.
AT any rate, what I mean is that I hope you don’t take it amiss if I critique your critique of some work, even if that critique becomes a bit heated. It is my belief that people have become too sensitive about things like this. I think that criticism is important, and that it is too bad that so many people take critiques of their pet works personally. If I argue that something that you like is trash, I am not arguing that you are trash. If I argue that something that you dislike has more depth than you have credited it with, I am not accusing you, personally, of any sin, other than discounting that work- a venial sin if I have ever heard of one. Argument, even bitter argument, over the value of certain works, is an important part of our critical traditions.
As for Firelies, I could point out some of the allusions (starting with Genji [for the fireflies], and continuing through a lot of books about lovers running away and either killing themselves or being executed [and, yes, even though it is his little sister, the allusion is there]), but I don’t feel really qualified to write about it, and a lot of my books are packed ;)- in particular I’d like to find my copy of what is often translated as “Five Stories About Women Who Loved Love”.
hey Tagore, a reply to you is way late here, but just wanted to thank you for your additional comments on Fireflies. I hope you do blog more about the allusions therein yourself, I’d be interested in reading them and then rewatching Fireflies after I’ve felt I’ve got a handle on what to look for. The second time around it might then be memorable in a good way rather than bad 🙂