At the beginning of the year, I wrote that I intended to comment more on my fellow blogger posts. I’ve only done marginally better in 2020. In an effort to get myself to comment and read more I decided to try a weekly anime round-up. I will be taking at least three interesting posts that I’ve read and curating them here. Hopefully, this will help me achieve my goals.

In honor of #MechaMarch, Scott over at Mechanical Anime Reviews writes about Escaflowne. I saw one movie in the series. While it was well animated, I never got into it. Scott seems to like, the Vision of Escaflowne. Mostly.

The Vision of Escaflowne is a special anime for me in a lot of ways. I never expected to like it as much when I bought the blu-ray on a whim a while ago, but it is just stuck in the back of my mind almost all the time. It really is a good combination of multiple genres that I like, but the relationships and romance behind the story is that cherry or bow on top that connects everything together into a complete package. Is it flawless? No. Nothing is. I think the speed of the show still takes away a lot of elements from the world of Gaea and I don’t think that anything could change my mind with that aspect. Still, the result ends up with more gains then losses.

Scott (Mechanical Anime Reviews)

Irina over at I drink and watch anime, considers her feelings regarding advertising in anime.

You know as I write this, like at this very moment, I think I’m coming to a realization. What’s irking me isn’t the commercialization, it’s this bait and switch that I perceive. You see I’m not just an anime fan, I’m an anime nerd. I like to discuss animation techniques, analyze classic anime tropes, try to find trends in narratives or characters. I’m not super skilled at it but I do enjoy it. And I enjoy it so much more when it’s in the form of a discussion or even a debate. I can push my thoughts so much further when there’s a back and forth.

Irina (I drink and watch anime)

Blerdy Otome writes about the “5 games that have had the biggest impact” on her life. Three of the five games are unfamiliar. However, Pokemon Crystal brought memories back of the old GameBoy Color days (I don’t miss the AA batteries thought).

It’s no secret that I got my gaming start with the Pokemon, my love affair with the franchise is well documented in my Ode to Pokemon posts. But, Pokemon Crystal was my first ever video game. 11 year old me begged my mom for a copy of the game and after much fanfare from me the game and an at the time brand new Game Boy Color we waiting for me under the tree on Christmas morning.

Blerdy Otome