Nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award

I’d like to thank Lethargic Ramblings for the first nomination. Despite their continuous claims to being lazy they have a very active and interesting blog so definitely worth checking out and following if you haven’t already.

A couple of other thank-you’s for nominations.

Thanks to D from D Talks Anime for their nomination. D does some great reviews, however my favourite posts from D are their discussion pieces where they look at the ideas presented in anime. Again this is a great blog to check out so if you haven’t already you definitely should.

Thanks to Cauthan who also nominated me.  Cauthan does some great reviews and episodic thoughts and is one of my must visit blogs so if you haven’t visited this blog, go check it out.

And thanks to Tessa on All About Anime for their nomination. Tessa seems to do a little bit of everything on their blog with news, reviews of anime and some manga, and recently their responses to the 30 day challenge. Definitely a blog to visit.

Another thanks to Prattle for nominating me. Prattle is still pretty new but often gives me something to think about with some of the current shows in their let’s talk posts so if you haven’t stopped by their blog it might be worth a look.

Finally, a thank you to Raistlin0903 for their nomination. Raistlin has been a great supporter of this blog and a regular commentor for a while. Their blog is also great to visit with a range of reviews of anime, movies, boardgames etc. If you haven’t checked them out already, you should head over to their blog.

The Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write then 11 new questions.
4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

The Questions (I’m kind of combining both Lethargic Ramblings and D’s here):

01. Your opinion on the manga vs anime discussion?

I’m all about anime. I’ve said it before on my blog that I just don’t do manga, though I have read a couple in desperation to find out how a particular story has developed. I just don’t enjoy the medium. The thing is, I am a voracious reader but manga slows my reading pace down and I lose immersion because I’m tracking between images and text and not really taking in either.

Honestly, this one all comes down to personal preference, however I will say that telling someone an anime isn’t rubbish because the manga is good is not a valid argument. The manga could be off the wall amazing and it still won’t improve a poor adaptation.

02. What’s your all time favourite Anime series and why?

I really don’t have an all time favourite. My most common answer to this would be the original D Gray Man series. However, my love of it probably came more from the fact that at the time I had maybe 20 – 30 series under my belt and D Gray Man was incredibly different from anything I was watching. It had the frantic energy and battle sequences of Bleach with the darker and more serious tone (at least the overall plot) of something like Death Note and for me, at the time it was exactly what I was looking for.

That said, most of my love for it now probably comes purely from nostalgia because objectively looking at it, while there are still some really incredible things about the series, it doesn’t do all that much that you can’t find elsewhere (though perhaps not that same combination).

Other favourites include Bleach, Sailor Moon, Death Note, Darker Than Black, Angel Beats, Baccano, and pretty much whatever grabs my fancy at the time.

03. What’s your favourite Anime genre and why?

Again, this one is hard to answer. Looking at my DVD collection, I definitely favour darker anime. Anything leaning toward supernatural, horror, psychological or thriller is usually a winner. But, I have a whole bunch of stupid high school romances, slice of life comedy, sci-fi, straight action, and magical girl series as well so like the last question, I really just watch whatever grabs my fancy at the time.

04. The anime character you hate most?

Excalibur from Soul Eater. Hands down, most irritating character ever. There are characters who are written badly, and characters that are annoying, and there are villains who do horrible things, and none of these characters will ever induce the same amount of aggravation that Excalibur can in his brief appearance in Soul Eater. It does not help that you realise he is supposed to be annoying and the other characters are annoyed by him too. From his ridiculous character design, to his affected way of talking, to his total lack of relevance to the story,  I really hate Excalibur as a character.

05. What’s the most important aspect of an Anime series for you? (Eg – Setting, script, themes etc).

I would say it is a combination of character and story. I don’t mind plot driven anime with fairly shallow characters and I don’t mind slower stories as long as the characters are interesting and have sufficient depth to hold my interest. The other elements can make the experience better or worse but ultimately whether I watch something or drop it will come down to whether I am interested in the story or the characters.

06. A story/song that always makes you cry?

Angel Beats.

Yes, I know it is working very hard throughout most of the second half to stomp on your heart and it isn’t really trying to disguise what it is doing, but it still works. I cannot watch the final episode without being in tears.

07. What’s your main reason for watching Anime?

As it says on my about page, I love stories and anime has yet to bore me as there is always something new and even when you are getting an old story they continually find new ways to present that story and to surprise the audience. That said, I engage with almost any kind of story (book, video game, movie, TV show, anime, etc). As long as it is interesting and well told I’m in.

08. What’s your favourite thing to do outside of Anime and Blogging?

In all that free time that isn’t work or anime or blogging? Um… gaming? No, that’s pretty much the same thing. Reading? If I have to go for something outside of my house, I’d have to say travelling.

09. The last complete anime you watched/manga you read?

Gangsta. I was busy and it is short. Plus I realised I hadn’t written a review on it yet so decided to take some notes so that I could add it to my review list once I’m done with Summer 2016 anime.

10. If you had the choice of eating only one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Chocolate. Was there ever a doubt?

11. What’s your biggest fear/phobia?

Well, we already established that I have water issues though mostly I would say that I’m not big on risk in general.

Nominations (feel free to ignore if you have already been nominated or you aren’t into these awards):

1. The Mad Narrator
2. JAPANime Talks
3. Weekend Otaku
4. The Lily Garden
5. Schizoidmouse Squeaks
6. In the Cubbyhole
7. Strictly Ridiculous
8. KKSparrow
9. Little Anime Blog
10. WeeaboOtaku
11. Bobble Anime

New Questions:

1. What made you decide to start blogging and how long have you been doing it for?
2. What is your favourite anime series?
3. If you could change one thing about your favourite anime series what would it be?
4. Least favourite genre (anime/tv series/books/anything)?
5. Fictional character you might have a crush on?
6. Favourite opening theme for an anime?
7. Favourite source of anime news?
8. An anime cliché you wish you never had to see again?
9.  Most interesting premise for an anime (whether or not the anime was any good)?
10. Main reason you would stop watching an anime?
11. Do you collect any anime related merchandise and if yes, what?

Thanks again for the nominations. I had a lot of fun answering these.