Blogging Style

After reading this article on Bateszi, I’ve been trying to take a look at my writing style and how it compares to the anime blogging community in general.

There seems to be two main styles. First, there’s the episodic review blogs. These seem to be pretty common, but I have yet to find one that stands out as a worthwhile subscription. I’m not trying to pigeon-hole these types of blogs, because I know good episodic blogs exist. It’s just that I’ve found the same thing as Paul on Bateszi. Episodic reviews have a tendency to be boring. Nothing more than captions tacked onto screenshots with some rather dull summaries of each scene and any real thought seems to be rather sparse. Trying to update on an almost daily basis must be hard because everyone gets writer’s block at some point, or they run out of things to talk about.

Then there’s the editorials. These usually update once a week at most. I find these to be a much more interesting read. Time is spent on taking a look at the subject in question, and the author isn’t under pressure to get it completed on time, especially if they have enough readers and subscribers. However, perhaps they can fall into the trap of becoming pretentious. I know I have in the past. Also, writer’s block in these blogs can be more disheartening to the author.

Each style has its own advantages and disadvantages. Thankfully, blogs can evolve as the author’s style improves and they get better ideas. This is something I can take comfort in. After a few failed attempts at blogs, I thought the whole idea was pointless. However, after being given comments about this blog, my desire to blog has been rekindled. Blogging has meaning to me now that I know I have people that look at least every so often.

Oh, I just thought I’d mention that I decided to update the look of the blog. While the last one looked nice, it wasn’t practical due to it being too narrow, and only having one sidebar. This style is much more spacious.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

I’ve heard many good things about this anime. It’s a popular belief that 2007 was a difficult year to find good anime in, and I’m inclined to agree. However, I am constantly seeing people heralding Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann as the best series of 2007. There are some that say it is their favourite anime of all time. The way people go on about it, you’d think this was the epitome of mecha anime. Obviously, if you know what my favourite anime is, I disagree. That does not mean it doesn’t make for good entertainment. I may have started this article on a fairly negative note, but really, I enjoyed it.

There are definitely weaknesses. Up to episode 15, TTGL has reached it’s biggest momentum, and cannot progress beyond that. The whole adventure starts out as breaking free from society, to ending up as an epic quest that ends with some fantastic scenes that dazzled me. Kamina’s lust for life, and Simon overcoming his fears make the series what it is. After epsiode 15, we are taken seven years into the future, and things get “too real”.

Simon is a commander of the whole human race, Rossiu is made his secretary, and the rest of the Gurren Brigade are appointed to various positions of power (somewhat predictably), despite them being obviously unfit to be leaders. Yoko has left because she doesn’t like politics and such, which is enough reason for me to sigh since Yoko is definitely the best eye candy of 2007. Eventually, things take a turn for the worse, and the entire world/universe needs saved by the Gurren Brigade. This is where the series becomes extremely linear. As I thought, they manage to make it through everything despite survival being impossible with every new (and more dangerous) obstacle they encounter. During this time, there are a fair few events that have no meaning or significance (character deaths, Yoko + Kittan, etc) in order to fill up the allocated time to stretch the series a little bit. The climax is wonderful to watch, but the prediction factor is somewhat jarring. The ending even more so.

There’s still plenty on offer. The characters are great to watch and see interact. Not many anime characters have had a more profound effect on me than Kamina. He is, without a doubt, inspirational. Apart from one or two episodes, the animation is absolutely top-notch and gorgeous. Gurren Lagann is a joy to watch fight. Speaking of which, the battles are quite intense, and there’s so much emotion flying about in the battles. No-one is fighting just for the hell of it. The music is pleasing to the ears, and the OP has become one my all time favourite OPs. It just keeps getting stuck in my head!

 

Throughout the series, the theme of never giving up constantly stands out. Everything else is almost dwarfed by this, and it’s something that occurs a lot in anime. In spite of this, I still find it to be very inspirational. There are things in my own life that I struggle with, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has lit a fire in my heart again. No matter what the obstacle, we need to continue on. We humans have a tendency to give up easily, and this something we need to get past.

 

Thinking. Thinking. Gone.

Here’s a random Berserk AMV for your viewing pleasure. The song is Planet Hell, and it’s performed by Nightwish.

I’m thinking I’ll list my “Top 10″ or “Top 20″ anime in my about page. I think it might serve me well in letting people know what my tastes are. It’s going to be quite balanced, so there are going to be anime that appeals to everyone, since I have no prejudice towards any genre. In other words, I like most things. Don’t let that be confused with me having low standards. If I were to have low standards, Girls Bravo would have elements worthy of merit and Ichigo 100% would be the epitome of harem anime (which some people believe, for some bizarre reason). My hatred for those two anime cannot be contained by this article, and I will write about them some time in the future.