Anime Hajime Impressions: Mars of Destruction

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Mars of Destruction. Reader discretion is advised.***

The Set Up

Over the course of these past three years, I’ve seen a lot of anime. There have been plenty of shows that were good. There have been plenty that were bad. Fortunately, there have been a handful of series that were outstanding. Unfortunately, there has been garbage too. We’re going to be focusing on the latter today.

I don’t put much stock in “number” ratings. To me, they don’t signify anything. What meaning can you get out of such a numerical value? To me, this is an over-simplistic boiling down of a show’s positives and negatives.

Then again, this is coming from someone who has no filter when it comes to anime. One of my goals of this site is to help people pick what sounds interesting to them. If you don’t have the time to “hope things will work out” when it comes to choosing a series, I get that. This is where I see a rating system being a nice guide.

Plus, I myself get curious. If for nothing else, I want to compare my own thoughts to what others are thinking. To do this, I end up on several different websites. Yet the two I tend to come across the most are IMDB and MyAnimeList.

Anime Hajime Impressions: Otaku no Video

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Otaku no Video. Reader discretion is advised.***

The Set Up

Given the nature of this site, the term “otaku” has come up before. It feels appropriate to get an idea of what the word means.

An otaku is anyone with a fandom. Though that seems simple, there are some generalities. There are sports otakus or book otakus. But in general, an otaku is a fan of anime and manga. In addition, anyone who is a fan of anything meets the definition. The magnitude is irrelevant. That said, otaku, again in general, denotes a deep obsession.

With these generalizations, there is a negative connotation associated with otaku. The image is a reclusive, anti-social loner who spends more time looking at a screen than going outside. As such, this is a label some don't want to associate with. Such is the case in the term’s homeland, Japan.

How much truth there is to this varies case by case. Yet it’s not hard to see why this is a common character trait in anime. This brings us to our series today.

Anime Hajime Impressions: Little Witch Academia Short Films

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Little Which Academia (2013) and Little Which Academia: The Enchanted Parade. Reader discretion is advised.***

The Set Up

I've been looking forward to Little Witch Academia. And this Friday, June 30th, it will finally happen.

This series is Studio Trigger’s latest animation. We’ve looked at several other shows in their library. If you’re counting, these are Inferno Cop and Space Patrol Luluco. As well as one other. This studio is responsible for one of my all-time favorites, Kill la Kill.

Given the track record, I’m excited. But I have no idea what to expect.

The only familiarity I have with this series is through Space Patrol Luluco. It was during the part where Luluco and team were traveling through the Trigger universes. As a side note, the Kill la Kill segment was awesome. Yet I didn’t have a clue about the one with witches and magic. It looked silly. It looked goofy. It looked like a lot of fun.

I thought to myself, “I better get on this.” That was when I ran into a little snag.

At that time, the Little Witch Academia anime had only been announced. I wasn’t going to be able to check it out for a while. There were, though, two short films ready to go. Great. I would get to them when I got to them.

Anime Hajime Impressions: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

The Set Up

Back in 2013, game developer Atlus released a short announcement trailer for their new game. No footage, no gameplay, just a quick montage of characters. One set was from Atlus’ own Shin-Megami Tensei series. The other from Intelligent Systems’ Fire Emblem. Again, not that long. But in the span of forty seconds, I lost my God damn mind.

I enjoy the Shin-Megami Tensei games and had a great time with IV. I’m also quite interested in the Persona series. Yet, I've only played Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth on the 3DS. It’s a franchise I’m familiar enough with to get excited when a new game gets released.

Fire Emblem, on the other hand, is one of my all-time favorite video game series. Second only to The Legend of Zelda. And Fire Emblem: Awakening, for the 3DS, is one of my favorite games of all time. I’m thrilled to see this series starting to get a larger following in the West.

So when I heard these two franchises were crossing over, I got hyped. Plus, it was going to be on the Wii U. A system I will defend to the death as fantastic. A poorly marketed system,granted. But for those who do own one, I’m sure you’ll back me up on this.

Anime Hajime Impressions: Shelter

The Set Up

It's now 2017. So, I thought for the new year, why not a new series? This is Anime Hajime Impressions.

What's the goal for Impressions? Much like the Out and About series illustrates, anime is a culture onto itself. While television, manga, and film make up most of that culture, it’s not just those. Anime can extend its reach quite far.

That’s the purpose of Out and About. It’s a chance to explore the medium out in the real world. Therein lies an interesting problem. Sometimes there isn’t a physical place to visit. I've not had an outlet to discuss something which is current, relevant, and digital.

These are not series. These are not films. But these are productions inspired by anime. I won’t be going into huge details about what I like or dislike. Just a general overview of how I felt while experiencing something. These won’t be long. These won’t be complex. There just a chance to discuss another side of anime culture.

This is what I hope Impressions will be.

With that, today we're looking at the 2016 single Shelter.