2018 Archives | 100 Word Anime

A Decade of Anime 2018

Posted on January 16, 2020November 12, 2021 by Karandi

2018 was another big year in anime however looking back there just weren’t that many anime I’d rewatched. Still, there were enough for the list and I have a great variety of titles here. When looking at choices for my list of anime 2018, I found it hard to narrow down.

Unfortunately the super cute and education Cells at Work didn’t make the final list (Platelets!), no did Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (which has less impact on a rewatch). Tsurune was the other anime I considered but unfortunately it went head to head with that other sports anime I liked from 2018 so didn’t quite make the cut.

The Rules:

No. 1: No sequels of any kind.

No. 2: Only one anime from each season which gave me 4 picks from each year.

No. 3: Other than 2019 anime, no matter how brilliant an anime was if I hadn’t rewatched it since it aired then it didn’t make the list. If I don’t like it enough to watch it more than once then it doesn’t deserve to be on an anime of the decade list.

Incidentally these anime are not the technical best anime of their seasons but are the ones I would pick if I could only watch one anime from that season. They are anime I loved, for whatever reason, and felt deserved to be remembered.

Favourite anime 2018 edition.

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens in the story of a group of characters who are all involved in the dark underbelly of Hakata city where apparently the majority of people are hitmen or similar (it makes no logical sense for that many to be in one city but let’s just go with the setting). In the first episode we meet Lin who is hired/coerced into killing Banba but instead ends up offering to protect him until his boss coughs up more money and so the story begins.

This one is a mix of dark subject matter and murder with an overly upbeat and jazzy tone over the top so it won’t work for everyone and it isn’t as zany or fun as stories like Baccano that came out the decade before. Still, I definitely appreciated what this anime had to offer.

The ensemble cast all bring something to the table, the weird mix of professional killers and hobby baseball team kind of works, and the music is great. The story is broken into a couple of distinct arcs, some stronger than others, and that makes it very easy to digest. Definitely not for those who don’t like blood or violence as why it isn’t horrifically gory, there are some confrontational images.

Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori

I wonder if two titles could be any more contrasting. After Hakata Tokotsu Ramens, Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori with its slice of life/hang out with handsome anime guys serving great anime food vibe couldn’t be any more different. Everything about Rokuhoudou is soothing and relaxing. These guys make coffee or tea and serve an assortment of customers in the gorgeous setting of their cafe. They do go to another location at one point to promote their services but by and large you are going to get to just bliss out in one of the prettiest anime cafes ever.

This anime is my comfort food and I’ve watched it more than once since it aired when I found myself stressed out as it is really impossible to feel stress while absorbed in this anime. This one isn’t going to change the world but it is definitely an anime I was glad I came across when I did.

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Banana Fish

Banana Fish is one of the few anime I went out of my way to watch despite it not being available on the services I normally use. By and large that was because everything about the write up to this anime appealed to me and honestly it didn’t disappoint. While the overall narrative is logically implausible and despite efforts at updating certain elements of the story there’s clear issues where the story has become dated in places, this one was a great watch. Okay, it was also a fairly emotional viewing experience and not for the faint of heart with its core of sexual abuse, gang violence and drug development.

What makes this anime more than just a sensationalist splash in amongst so many anime that want to tackle dark subject matter is the relationship that develops between the protagonists Ash and Eiji. Watching the two grow closer together, the mutual trust they place in each despite the situation they are in, and the way they look out for one another is a truly beautiful experience and one I wouldn’t have missed.

Run With The Wind

I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion on this blog that I’m not really into sporting anime. Run With The Wind is the only sports anime that made the final cut for this list as I look at my favourite anime from the last decade. It did this because it developed some really solid characters with the teammates, had some fantastic visual and sound direction (seriously, the sound direction deserves recognition), and gave us a solid and satisfying conclusion at the beginning of 2019. The only criticism I’ll lob at this one is that it is a slow burn initially. Worth it but definitely slow going in the early part of the season.

While Run With The Wind gives us a different kind of team dynamic to the usual sports club story it really gave us the time to get to know the ten members of the team and what ended up driving them whether they joined up for the team willingly or not. This slow development of character comes to fruition in the final handful of episodes where we see the ‘event’ they were training for in full and each character has a moment to shine and conclude their character arc. It is well worth the time to check out this anime.

I can hardly believe tomorrow is the last post. Before we look at 2019 though I want to know what you thought was the best anime of 2018.

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Check out my favourite anime from each year over the last decade:

The One Liner Challenge

Posted on January 28, 2019January 26, 2019 by Karandi

I want to thank the lovely Irina for tagging me. I really enjoy this challenge so even though I have done it before I was pretty keen to give it another go. This time I decided to look at some of my recommended anime from 2018 and see if I could describe them in one sentence. So without further delay lets get into it.

The Rules

Accept and thank your challenger(s) by linking back to their post.
Make a post of one-sentence summaries and/or roasts of at least five books/anime.
No spoilers!
Link back to The Awkward Book Blogger so she can see your post.
Challenge as many or as little people as you want!
Have fun!

Anime Described in One Line

Cells at Work Episode 7 Red and Platelet — Cells At Work

Cute anthropomorphised blood cells battle for continued survival every single day.

Professional killers take on jobs and play baseball in-between eating ramen and playing dress up.

Absolute perfection – just watch it.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Episode 11 Sakuta and Kaede — Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

Sakuta helps girls overcome emotional and supernatural dramas yet struggles to confront his own.

demonlord11g — How Not To Summon a Demonlord

When making a game avatar always choose a bad-ass Demon Lord because if you get summoned to another world it will make you completely OP.

Who needs plot when you have Mii-Kun at the centre of this adorableness?

If you want great food shots and terrible latte art, this relaxing slice of life about four guys running a cafe will hit the spot.

Steins;Gate 0 Episode 21 - Hououin Kyouma — Steins;Gate 0

About half a season of watching characters walk and talk about not all that much and about half a season of emotionally driven drama with an excellent character arc spread out over too many episodes.

Tada Doesn't Fall in Love Episode 2 — Tada Doesn’t Fall In Love

The title is a lie I tell you – a lie!

I Challenge

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FIGMA NO. 425 KONO SUBARASHII SEKAI NI SHUKUFUKU WO! LEGEND OF CRIMSON: KAZUMA

It’s Here: Thoughts on Anime 2018 Book Launch!

Posted on January 23, 2019January 23, 2019 by Karandi

There’s a definite sense of excitement when I see so many of my posts from last year coming together into a single form.

For the second year in a row I’ve compiled an ebook with the content from my blog though this time I’m selling direct via PayPal. You have your choice of PDF, EPUB or MOBI formats and you will receive your copy via email after payment. Patrons, if you haven’t already got your copy, go to this post on Patreon and it should allow you to download the version you want – if it doesn’t work let me know ASAP and I will email you a copy.

Thoughts on Anime 2018 ebook

Collection of reviews, features, and top 5’s from the blog in 2018 including reviews completed for patrons only. Available in EPUB, MOBI, or PDF forms. No images.

A$6.00

Buying the ebook helps support the work I do on 100 Word Anime and hopefully I’ll be able to continue to grow the blog and produce content people would like to read. Though I would like to take this moment to ask that you consider becoming a patron.

Now before we get too much further I do need to do a major shout out to all of my wonderful patrons and to those who have donated to 100 Word Anime during 2018. In particular I’d like to give a special thank you to:

Kendra Ressler: https://whatsinastoryblog.wordpress.com/
Irina: https://drunkenanimeblog.com/
Brittanie: https://bannetblog.wordpress.com/
Akira Akimoto: https://morinovel.wordpress.com/
Aaron C (Blade Ninja): https://www.youtube.com/user/BladeNinja009
Yomu: https://umaiyomu.wordpress.com/
Xenodude: https://xenodude.com/

So, what’s in the book?

Well, almost all my Top 5’s from 2018, including my best of 2018 Top 5 lists that technically haven’t finished coming out on my blog just yet with my top 5 males and top 5 anime of the year still to be published.

Almost all of my Features are included.

Now if you are wondering why some Top 5’s and some Features have been left out part of that is because the book was starting to clock up a massive word count, and the other part is that occasionally I write a feature directly related to something happening during a particular week and it really isn’t relevant to anyone a month later. Also, a handful of my Top 5’s last year were on horror movies rather than anime so they thematically didn’t fit.

As for series reviews:

Cells at Work (Summer)
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens (Winter)
March Comes in Like a Lion Season 2 (Winter)
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (Autumn)
Dakaichi (Autumn)
DamePri Anime Caravan (Winter)
Goblin Slayer (Autumn)
How Not To Summon a Demon Lord (Summer)
How to Keep a Mummy (Winter)
Lostorage Conflated Wixoss (Spring)
Phantom in the Twilight (Summer)
ReLIFE Final Arc (Winter)
Rokuhoudou Yostuiro Biyori (Spring)
School Babysitters (Winter)
Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-San (Autumn)
Space Battleship Tiramisu (Spring)
Spiritpact – Bond of the Underworld (Winter)
Steins;Gate 0 (Summer)
Tada Doesn’t Fall in Love (Spring)
The Ancient Magus’ Bride (Winter)
Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary (Autumn)
100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams (Summer)
3D Kanojo: Real Girl (Spring)
A.I.C.O Incarnate (Winter)
Angolmois: Record of Mongol Invasion (Summer)
B the Beginning (Winter)
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (Spring)
Cute High Earth Defense Club Happy Kiss (Spring)
Darling in the Franxx (Spring)
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (Winter)
Devilman Crybaby (Winter)
Doreiku (Spring)
Jingai-San no Yome (Autumn)
Junji Ito Collection (Winter)
Kokkoku (Winter)
Libra of Nil Admirari (Spring)
Record of Grancrest War (Spring)
Release the Spyce (Autumn)
Sanrio Boys (Winter)
Caligula (Spring)
Devils’ Line (Spring)
The Master of Ragnarok (Summer)
Tokyo Ghoul RE (Spring)

Well, there’s just a few series reviews. Also episode reviews are included in the appendices for a large number of shows covered last year and all patron only episode reviews are included. Plus, episode reviews of Dakaichi and Goblin Slayer that I never published on the blog because I was reviewing after every four episodes with Arthifis so I just wrote up my episode thoughts for the book.

Hopefully the contents page works in all formats so you should be able to easily navigate between sections and reviews are arranged alphabetically by season. Obviously if you have any issues with the ebook or the format, please contact me and I’ll send you another copy or a different version. This is my first attempt at doing this alone so it may not have worked out perfectly. However, I’m fairly confident I’ve got it.

But, if $6 is seeming a little too much for a year’s content (actually I get it, we’re all working on a budget), I have a slimmer version of the book available.

Short Thoughts on Anime 2018 ebook

Smaller selection of features, top 5's and reviews from 2018 on the blog. Available in EPUB, MOBI, or PDF forms. No images.

A$3.00

For the price of a ko-fi you can get the short version of the ebook. The only episode reviews included in the short version are for anime series that were reviewed exclusively for patrons or did not appear on my blog at all. A number of series reviews were removed as were a handful of top 5’s and features.

Basically instead of 220,000+ words that you get in the whole ebook, you only get 130,000+ words. It still makes for a pretty good read if I do say so myself, but it is definitely the trim version.

This is a one-off way of supporting 100 Word Anime throughout 2019. I’d really love to see this blog grow and I am continuing to work on producing content for people to enjoy. Consider lending a hand and getting a compilation of the 2018 content.

By the way, if you can’t make up your mind, or can’t right now but think you might want to buy the book later, it is available in the bookshop which you can access via the sidebar.

Thanks again and happy reading.

Announcing the Winner of the Reader’s Poll for Best Anime of 2018

Posted on January 18, 2019January 16, 2019 by Karandi

With 12 titles going head to head, the top 3 anime from each season, it was always going to be a close race. With a day to go the top 4 were within 4 votes of one another. Then there was a last minute rush and the top 2 titles kind of took off.

Thanks to everyone who voted and who shared the link. I do think I’m going to keep this format next year of only including the top 3 series of each season in the final poll as it makes the final poll far more manageable.

But for now, let’s announce winners.

Tied for third place, with 13 votes each, we have March Comes in Like a Lion Season 2 and My Hero Academia season 3.

I was really pleased that March performed so well given it isn’t an anime that gets mentioned a lot. That said I absolutely love it and feel it definitely deserves a place among the top of 2018. My Hero Academia it is far easier to understand why this one got voted up and while season 3 wasn’t my favourite, it is still overall a fairly solid story.

In second place we have Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai with 19 votes, only one vote away from winning.

This one was clearly always going to do well in the poll having been talked about at length during the Autumn season and having only just ended it was fresh in everyone’s minds. A very quality anime and well deserving of the mention.

However, that leaves us with the anime of the year.

And it is Sora Yori Mo Tooi Basho or A Place Further Than The Universe with 20 votes.

Now this was an anime I didn’t really get into and ended up dropping two episodes in. I did go back after in won best of the season and tried to watch it again. It really isn’t my kind of show. That said, it is fairly clear what the appeal of this title is and if you didn’t watch any anime last year this is an excellent starting point.

Thanks again to everyone who voted, the full results are below, and we’ll be back again at the end of the winter season to start shortlisting for 2019.

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NENDOROID NO. 1021 A PLACE FURTHER THAN THE UNIVERSE: HINATA MIYAKE

Vote For The Best Anime of 2018

Posted on January 14, 2019January 13, 2019 by Karandi

Time to choose the best anime of the year that was 2018. The poll below contains the top three picks from each season as voted by you, the readers, and now it is time to decide which of these titles deserves to win best of the year.

The poll will close on the 14th of January with the winner to be announced soon after. Last day to vote!

Because the selection is already short listed, you get one vote, so make it count, and be sure to spread the word because the more the merrier. I’d love to know what you voted for and why so please leave a comment below.

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TENSEI SHITARA SLIME DATTA KEN: RIMURU TEMPEST

Previous poll results:

A Review of The Blog – 2018 – Part 2

Posted on December 31, 2018January 5, 2019 by Karandi

Part 1 of the review of the blog looked at the general stats for the year but numbers are just kind of that. As 2018 draws to a close I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the posts I wrote this year that people read and to wish all my followers a wonderful night and success in 2019.

Most Viewed Episode Review

This one is and isn’t a surprise. It is the post most often hit by search engines so it kind of explains the sheer number of views this post has gotten. Anyway, this one managed to become my second most viewed post ever on the blog: How Not To Summon a Demon Lord Episode 2: Fan Service and Boobs in Fantasy Land. Part of me kind of wishes my most viewed post for the year was one that was slightly better written than this one but still I’m glad that an episode review did get some attention.

Most Viewed Light Novel Review

Again, not so much a surprise with the anime release, but my light novel review of Goblin Slayer Volume 3 ended up being my most read review this year. Timing really worked in this one’s favour but it is a shame because of the first three volumes, volume three was definitely the weakest and the review meanders because of it (it is always hard to review things you have a luke-warm reaction to). Still, I’ve continued reading this series and I am looking forward to getting more light novel reviews out in the new year (and manga reviews as I continue to work through Natsume Yuujinchou).

Most Viewed Inquiring Minds Post

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 13 Rimuru

Turns out there are some topics all bloggers are a little bit interested in and one of those is how to gain followers. I wish I knew the answer to that one myself but I did my best to answer the question about how I gained the followers I have. Of all the post series I’ve started on 100 Word Anime, I really enjoy the Inquiring Minds Posts because the topics are so varied and they usually force me to think about things I would otherwise be writing about or just think about something in a different way. They have been some of my most challenging posts to write and I certainly don’t always get them right, but I’m really glad I started the series and hope my readers continue to send questions my way in 2019.

Most Viewed Series Review

I was absolutely thrilled to see that this post that came out in early January ended up being my most read series review of the year. It is an anime that is so close to my heart and I just love it (and where is the next season already). Noragami Aragoto was a delight to watch and I had a lot of fun writing the review. Given the responses, clearly a lot of my readers love it as well.

Most Viewed Feature

How Not to Summon A Demon Lord Episode 9 Shera — The magic of anime hair, and sparkles.

I’m noticing a trend with this and my most viewed episode post. When you write a feature about fan service in anime discussing the currently popular fan service filled anime that is already blowing up your views because you used ‘boobs’ in a post title I guess it is to be expected it will get views. I’m not big on click bait so while I get that these sorts of topics get views, I’m not about to start filling my blog with them because while they have their place it isn’t my main topic. Still, this feature may have garnered some click bait views but it also gained some fairly decent discussion in the comments and that was something I was really delighted about. My most viewed feature of 2018: Is Anime Doing It’s Fans a Service?

Most Viewed Top 5 Post

My most viewed top 5 post was looking at my favourite dubbed anime. I’m not much of a dubbed anime viewer (and having recently watched the Yuri on Ice English dub now that I’ve finally got the DVD’s I’m standing by my usual stance of sticking with the Japanese versions of most things), but occasionally there are English dubs I quite like. Clearly lots of people have opinions on this one as it is one of my most commented posts and it remains a post that regularly gets found by search engines.

So that is my look back on 2018. I’ll be looking at my plans for 2019 very soon as Irina has asked me a fun question for my first Inquiring Minds post of 2019. Once again, I hope all my readers have an excellent night and get to welcome in the new year.

Thanks for joining me in 2018. See you next year.

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ARTFX J PERSONA 5 DANCING STAR NIGHT 1/8 SCALE PRE-PAINTED FIGURE: PROTAGONIST & MORGANA

A Review of the Blog – 2018 – Part 1

Posted on December 31, 2018January 5, 2019 by Karandi

100 Word Anime is nearing the end of its third year and now it very much feels like this blog is an inseparable part of me. I honestly can’t imagine what I would do without it. As 2018 draws to a close and 2019 is just around the corner I’m taking a moment to take stock of the blog and think about next year.

In part one, I’m looking just at stats for the year and part two I’m going to look at posts and content. In terms of goals for 2019 I have two. Continue to have fun and continue to try to make the blog something that I can do more full time. I am happy to say that 2018 has allowed me to make the blog break even and I’ve been able to put some money into a few things to try to improve the blog in the future, but I’m definitely not at a stage where I can consider leaving work for my blog (not even close). But I do greatly appreciate those who have supported the blog in some way in 2018, whether that was a donation, ko-fi, or those who continue to support the blog in an ongoing manner on patreon. It has all helped enormously.

Though, perhaps the best thing about 2018 is that people in my life started taking this endeavour as something I was serious about. As I built up a following and people who supported the blog online, people in the real world have seen how much effort and time I am putting into it and I’m getting a lot more support in the real world. So 2018 has been a really good year for me in a lot of ways despite a bunch of other issues.

Alright, onto the stats for the year. These were taken on the morning of the 31st so don’t include the final day of the year.

Right so in 2018 I apparently posted 1,222 times. That seems crazy to me but I’m not going back and counting. My average comments per post hasn’t really gone up and that’s probably because while features and top 5’s generate a lot of comments normally, episode reviews don’t after the first one or two of the season. And my word average per post continues to go up this year rising to 637 making the whole 100 Word Anime title really a lie at this point, but you know, 100 x 6 is kind of fine too.

I continued to post every day even when I took a bit of a break in July I still scheduled a post every day. At this point it would feel weird to not post every day given I’ve done it consistently for nearly three years. Most days I post three times a day, though there are certainly times when more posts go out. Still, I’m not looking to increase the number of posts next year. I’m very much just wanting to keep my three posts a day and work on improving the content rather than increasing it.

Lastly, I am super excited to announce that December saw me just scrape over the 10,000 views in a month target for the second time in 2018. That was really fantastic to see. I’m tentatively setting a goal of 12,000 views in a month for 2019 as I think that would be reasonable growth based on past trends but we’ll see how things go. I didn’t really think I’d hit the 10,000 and I was thrilled in August when I realised how close I was getting and then finally tipped over.

That’s the end of part one but later part two will come out looking at some of the top posts for the year. If you actually have plans for New Years Eve and won’t be reading my blog later today, have a great night and I hope that 2019 brings you happiness.

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PERSONA5 THE ANIMATION – 2019 SCHEDULE BOOK

Tuesday’s Top 5: Anime Heroes in 2018

Posted on December 25, 2018December 27, 2018 by Karandi

Tuesday’s Top 5 and this week we are counting down the Top 5 hero characters from 2018. There’s a few criteria as normal and to prevent this from becoming a My Hero Academia list, only one character from each show could take a spot on the official list. So, who would you have included on your list?

So what makes a hero? All kinds of things but I’ll be honest, my list this week focuses very much on heroes who fight for their version of justice and as such it ended up being a fairly action heavy list. There’s some great heroes out there who have saved others emotionally and deserve a spot but unfortunately I need to narrow down the list somehow.

Also, apparently this is my first top 5 hero list and I don’t know why I didn’t do one for 2017, but I guess that means we’ll have to see how we go from here.

Honourable Mentions:

Honourable mentions this week go to Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura who is awesome, and tragically the only female I ended up short listing because the shows I watched this year were fairly short on female heroes I could really get behind. I had high expectations for Release the Spyce but to be honest none of the cast there have really stuck with me. The other honourable mention goes to Diablo from How Not To Summon A Demon Lord. Seriously awesome character but hard to argue that he’s a good hero when he’s working at portraying a demon lord persona for most of the series. That, and he really doesn’t fight for justice so much as protecting those he’s decided are his friends.

Number 5: David Lassic from Record of Grancrest War

David was a great character in Record of Grancrest War. One of the many mysteries of the anime was why he was so subservient to Theo for most of the run time given he was a great leader in his own right and incredible on the battlefield. Thinking back through the majority of the battles, he played a pivotal role in so many of them and Theo should be really thankful that David was on-board. Outside of that, he took down a cyclops that apparently took a troop of mages to take down in the past and he did it with about four people. And, it wasn’t blind luck. He actually decided to take on the monster, asked the right questions about how to beat it, put a plan together and then executed it with the hindrance of weird animation. Still, fairly epic moment for the show and for David.

Number 4: Sousuke from Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory

There’s a lot of nostalgia at play in this choice, I will admit. I loved Sousuke as a hero from before this year and while Invisible Victory ultimately left me wanting a bit more than it was willing to offer, what it did do beautifully was showcase why Sousuke is amazing. No weapons, no back-up, no real clue where the enemy is? Not a problem. Sousuke makes and executes plans to equip himself as needed and find those responsible for taking Chidori. In the meantime he’s going to look great doing it and if you thin a few bullet wounds are going to stop him in his tracks you really haven’t paid attention to this franchise.

Number 3: Kirito from Sword Art Online Alicization

Another choice that is probably heavily nostalgia fuelled given I’m not entirely sure I am sold just yet on the Kirito we are seeing in Alicization. Certainly he’s had his shining moments. Defending Asuna in real life was fairly noble, if stupid (try running away first before you take on a murderer with an umbrella) and the fight against the goblins was just fantastic. However, since Kirito hasn’t really got a target to take down just yet the actual heroic aspects of his character aren’t really shining through. Still, there’s been enough promising signs that I still gave him the number 3 spot on the list. Hopefully the rest of Alicization next year brings him back to number 1.

Number 2: Goblin Slayer from Goblin Slayer

This one shouldn’t be a surprise. You want a faceless hero who fights against an evil even though he won’t get any real credit for his contribution to the safety of the villagers? Goblin Slayer is your guy. He doesn’t fight for glory or fame or even wealth. He just wants to kill goblins and ensure that others aren’t hurt by goblins. He’s kind of a pure force of nature in his single minded approach to goblin slaying and while that probably doesn’t make him the most mentally healthy character, it certainly makes him a strong hero.

Number 1: All Might from My Hero Academia Season 3

However, the number 1 place on this list was more or less determined months ago. Was any character going to have a moment as heroic or as epic as All Might giving the last of his power to hold back All For One while the students rescued Bakugou and the other heroes kept civilian casualties down. Even as his power broke and his weakness was exposed for all the world to see, All Might didn’t falter. He looked clearly at the camera and passed the torch to Midoriya who he has now dedicated himself to preparing for the future. All Might has worked to define what being a hero is and even without his quirk he’s working to prepare the next generation. All Might really is Plus Ultra!

Tuesday’s Top 5: Anime Mascot Characters and Pets of 2018

Posted on December 18, 2018December 27, 2018 by Karandi

Previously I hadn’t done a yearly post for mascot characters and the closest I’ve got is my favourite mascot and pet character top 5 list written back in 2016. However, that isn’t really fair to some of the adorable mascot characters out there and 2018 had some great mascot characters.

So, my criteria is that the character is more cute than annoying and is important enough to the plot of their story that removing them would actually hurt the narrative. They also need to feature heavily in fan art and merchandise. That means main characters are actually able to also be mascot characters. I know that other people will define it a bit differently and that’s fine, but that’s what I’m working off for my choices. And if you want to know why I lump pets in here as well it is because with some characters it is difficult to tell if they are a mascot, a pet, or both.

Without any further delays, let’s count down my top 5 anime mascot characters and pets of 2018 and then I’d love to know which characters caught your eye this year.

Honourable Mentions:

This time I’m giving honourable mentions to Sir Balgary from Record of Grancrest War (great potential character but too limited in appearance) and Navi from 100 Sleeping Princes (too annoying and fairly useless).

Number 5: Romero from Zombieland Saga

In case you are wondering, I do appreciate that I am choosing a character from a show I dropped. That said, the name alone is enough here to warrant a mention. In a story about zombies giving a shout out to a legend of the horror movie genre was an A+ move and one I definitely appreciated in the first episode of this series. However, I don’t have a lot more to say other than zombie dog with a taste for squid because honestly I didn’t hang around long enough with this series to really get into the character (so breaking my own criteria before we even really get into the list).

Number 4: Kero from Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

Kero, or Cerberus, is the guardian of the Clow Cards (though apparently not that good at his job) and he’s been with Sakura since the beginning of her journey. He continues to play as her stuffed toy in Clear Card, coming under increasing scrutiny from her brother, still insatiable when it comes to sweets, and still just not quite as useful as it seems he should be when it seems like he’s needed but other-times surprisingly useful. That said, Kero remains an amusing member of the cast and one who is needed in a lot of scenes or Sakura would end up talking to herself a lot and that is not a good sign.

Number 3: Rimuru From That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime

While it has taken this show a fair while to grow on me, there’s no denying that the titular slime is an iconic character of the season and the year. Not to mention I would love to get my hands on a Rimuru plush because that would be just this side of adorable. With his internal monologue critiquing the world and reacting far more exuberantly than his exterior slime self, Rimuru has been a pleasant enough protagonist but his most valuable trait is that he just looks so cute (and when was the last time you saw a cute slime).

Number 2: Mii-Kun from How To Keep A Mummy

You have no idea how hard it was not to give this adorable let bundle of bandages take out the first place. Seriously if someone had floated the idea of ‘cute mummy’ prior to my seeing this series I would have asked them what planet they were from. And yet, How To Keep A Mummy gave us the single most adorable mascot character ever and it didn’t matter what Mii-Kun did, he was cute. I’d love pretty much anything Mii-Kun themed and honestly this character deserves to be in some kind of cuteness hall of fame.

Below my number one choice I’ve shared a tweet from the amazing Mel that actually combines my number 1 and 2 choices together. This absolutely made my day.

Number 1: The Platelets from Cells At Work

Honestly, I don’t think it could have been any other group of characters. The platelets are cute and every scene they are in makes you tilt your head and go ‘aww’, even as they serve a vital function both in the ‘body’ and in the anime. Still, any platelet scene was just precious and clearly the writers knew that spacing them out beautifully so that you never had too much but got a continuous drip feed of adorableness. Given how easy this one is to cosplay and how cute people look in the costume, I’m expecting that we’ll be seeing platelets for a fair while to come.

For #inktober day 5, I decide to make @100wordanime and @MechAnimeReview (probably) happy and draw out dear Mii-kun cosplaying a platelets pic.twitter.com/G5ybzSX3Re
— Mel is drinking with Haiji (@MelinAnimeland) October 5, 2018

Right, so that is my list and now I’m turning it over to you: who are your top mascot characters and pets from 2018.

Thanks for reading
Karandi James

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Tuesday’s Top 5: Anime Couples from 2018

Posted on December 11, 2018December 27, 2018 by Karandi

This week’s top 5 list counts down my favourite anime couples from 2018. They don’t need to be canon, they don’t need to actually end up together, they just need to be super-adorable and make my heart melt. I’d love to know which anime couples you fell in love with this season so be sure to leave me a comment below.

And apparently I haven’t previously done a list like this at the end of 2017 or 2016, so this is the very first couples list for a single year. I’m definitely going to have to make this an ongoing thing next year because this list was super fun to write.

Honourable Mentions:

I never thought I’d see the day that Kirito and Asuna weren’t on my Top 5 couples list but with what little we’ve seen of Alicization and only one episode with the two of them actually together I just couldn’t justify having them in the top 5. The same goes for Okabe and Kurisu from Steins;Gate 0. I love those two together but they just didn’t show up that much together this year. The last honourable mention is Mitsuru and Kokoro from Darling in the Franxx. Those two were actually pretty adorable together despite my misgivings with the plot of Franxx.

Number 5: Siluca and Theo from Record of Grancrest War

As much as there are some big issues with Record of Grancrest War, and as much as I feel Siluca’s character progression hit the skids as soon as Theo and Siluca became an actual couple, this was one of the most adorable pairs from earlier in the year. Theo may have seemed like a passive protagonist, but he certainly didn’t waste any time or the opportunity to confess his love to Siluca. These two characters could have really carried a very different show if they had chosen to focus on their relationship a little bit more and it would have been fantastic to watch.

Number 4: Nanami and Yuu from Bloom Into You

Okay, Nanami and Yuu both have issues with relationships and I’m honestly not sure if I’m hoping for these two to get a happily ever after or not after everything that’s happened, but I cannot deny I love watching these characters together. The way they gently poke at each other, move the other to see things differently, offer comfort and support, as well as mock when the occasion calls for it, is just all kinds of adorable. I’ve really enjoyed watching their relationship progress even if it is progress of the one step forward several steps back kind.

Number 3: Syaoran and Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

Another great couple from a not-so-great anime. Then again, Syaoran and Sakura have been one of my favourite couples for a very long time and Clear Card just confirmed why. Seeing these two together is truly a joy. Now if we could just stop Syaoran from trying to keep secrets from Sakura, and if Sakura could share her power more often because watching the two of them flying together was the single most squeal worthy moment ever.

Number 2: Takato and Junta from Dakaichi

It won’t be for everyone but I really enjoyed watching the relationship develop in Dakaichi. Part of the appeal is Takato as an individual character, however the longer you watch, the more you realise that everything that is great about how Takato changes as a character comes about because of Junta, and he’s no slouch either in the character development department. These two guys have found each other and while their relationship is riddled with issues and ego, it is an so much fun to watch and I just keep hoping for their happily ever after.

Number 1: Ash and Eiji from Banana Fish

This one isn’t going to surprise anyone who follows me on Twitter. Seriously, every Friday I’ve been spamming the retweets of fan art and screen caps of these two because they are so worth it. And you know what, they don’t need to kiss on screen, they don’t need to actually confess their feelings, and we don’t even need a ring exchange. Every scene with these two together shows their relationship and feelings and seeing them interact is the sweetest and simultaneously most heartbreaking thing to watch and most definitely gives this one every reason to top my list here. Ash and Eiji are beautiful together and bring out the absolute best in one another.