Heading Down The Rabbit Hole!

And reading poetry with Nagato...

When I started this blog about a year and a half ago, it was an act based on the opinions of a couple Anime Suki friends - Dr. Casey and Heatth - that my lengthy comedic reviews of that encouragingly erotic Endless Eight were overly endless themselves, at least for posts on Anime Suki. As such, I created a blog, primarily to provide episode reviews, and overall feedback, on what was probably the anime world's biggest controversy of 2009. Little did I know at the time that I'd still be blogging about anime a year and a half later.

I soon found that I greatly enjoyed blogging, as it provided a nice outlet to me when inspiration struck, so to speak. I didn't really want the burden of feeling obligated to write in-depth blog reviews of each and every episode of a new anime that I watched, but I did and do like being able to put together long posts on anime, its industry, and its fandom, when I felt that important points needed to be made about one or more of the above. In addition to this, some particular animes have left a strong enough impression on me (good, bad, or mixed) for me to do series reviews of them.

Of course, all of the above is just one man's opinion, of no intrinsic greater worth than any other opinion.

But, the strength of each and every opinion, is that it comes from an unique source, as each person has their own distinct background that helps to shape how they see the world around them.

In my case, my background is very atypical for an anime fan, as I grew up mostly on DC and Marvel Comics (and its associated cartoons), and Star Trek. I only became an anime fan in my 20s, for while the Timmverse of DC renewed enthusiasm, on my part, for the animated medium, the other North American cartoons where not enough to satisfy that enthusiasm. And so, I turned to anime.

I think that this background sometimes gives me a very different perspective from most other anime fans, and I hope that this perspective can make helpful contributions to the anime fandom as a whole. Aside from voicing my own personal preferences, tastes, and opinions, I often try to ask "What would your average North American think about this?" when approaching a new anime, or an issue surrounding it. I do this because I want to see anime's popularity to grow, and to take a greater place in the western world as well.

But, long story short, it is now time for me to move on.

It's time for me to move on like Alice in Wonderland, by heading down the Rabbit Hole. ;)

My bad pun aside, Rabbit Poets is a very high quality anime blog which seeks to put forward varied viewpoints, rather than just the viewpoint of one individual blogger. And so, I was asked by that blog's chief contributor and manager to join its ranks. A flattering request that I thought about for awhile, and eventually decided to accept. It's been a nice run being the "sole proprietor" of this anime blog, but joining a more established team can only be good.

For as Haruhi Suzumiya herself learned, it's often better to be part of a brigade than to operate alone. ;)

So, to my regular blog readers (all three or four of you ;) ), please join me over at Rabbit Poets, where you will find more postings by me there. I should have my first post up there within a few days. As a spoiler, it will be about this:
 

 

From those three pictures, can you figure out what it will be about, my friends? ;)

Anyway, a big thanks to all those who supported this blog over the past year and a half. It's been a blast, but it's only going to get better, so please continue reading my blogging over at Rabbit Poet's site.

Any and all final words for "Assessing the Anime" would be greatly welcomed and appreciated! ^_^

And with that, "Assessing the Anime" is now... signing off.

Interesting News From Japan...

As far as Japan is concerned, at least, maybe Keima is right...

While I liked TWGOK, there was one episode I found slightly disturbing.

It was the episode where Keima stated a strong preference for "game idols" over "real idols". In essence, a strong preference for fictional female characters in a game over real girls in real life.

Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with engaging in some fulfilling fantasy from time to time (I myself certainly do this), but at the end of the day, fantasy shouldn't completely take the place of reality in a person's life.

However, as the old saying goes, fiction reflects reality, as there may be quite a few real-life Keima's.

Pavlovian Entertainment: What is Plaguing Anime Today

Of fangs and maid outfits...

In the field of behavioral psychology, there is something called classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning is a form of associative learning that was first discovered by Ivan Pavlov. Classical conditioning, when put into layman's terms, makes one think of "Pavlov's Dog". The idea behind Pavlov's Dog is that the dog would automatically salivate in the presence of meat powder, but that if the presentation of meat powder became associated with another form of external stimuli (such as the appearance of the person who typically feeds the dog), then that other form of external stimuli could, in and of itself (separate from the presence of meat) cause the dog to salivate.

Pavlov took observations like the one above pertaining to dogs, and used them to formulate classical conditioning.