Tag Archives: Strike the Blood

Fun With Numbers: Anime as Light Novel Advertisments in 2013

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While light novels work a bit differently from manga in several key ways (stronger second-week showings, lower thresholds, etc.), they similarly often see big boosts after and presumably due to from anime adaptations. I collected the light novel sales history of the series to get anime adaptations in 2013 on this doc, and plotted them on the charts below, to illustrate which series did and didn’t get visible boosts.

This post doesn’t cover series with no post-airing releases (Maoyu, Uchoten Kazoku) or no pre-airing releases (Free/High Speed).

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Fall 2013 Anime I Dropped: What, When, and Why

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To me, anime is a hobby whose primary purpose is trading free time to for entertainment. So I’m always ready to drop shows that aren’t providing a fair return on that 20 minutes a week, in order to use the time on discovering classics, rediscovering the contents of my hardcopy disk collection, or just doing actual work. These are the Fall 2013 shows that prompted that decision.

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Midseason Update: This Fall in Kaiji Quotes

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In Fall of 2007, I was very much a beginner at anime. I’d explored the discount stores in my neighborhood and encountered some very interesting, engaging titles, but I wasn’t any kind of plugged in to what stuff was current. One series changed all that, basically on its own.* Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji was the complete package in so many ways; tense, human drama, a rich cast that skirted the line from likeable to detestably inhuman, tight direction, idiomatic yet pithy dialogue, and the best narrator in anime bar none.

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Those last 2 attributes also make the show handy for an alternate purpose; rampant quotation abuse! There’s a Kaiji quote for everything, and the Fall 2013 anime season is no exception. In celebration of the show’s free availability on crunchyroll, let’s break it down.

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First Reactions: Arpeggio of Blue Steel Episode 4

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The core to the fun of the Arpeggio experience is the 80s-esque naval combat; multi-layered, adaptable strategies that focus on overcoming a big resource deficit with tactical mastery. This week saw that in spades, as Gunzou’s squad had to come out with a win in a 2-on-1 with their biggest gun out of the picture and only 6 effective shots left. What actually won the battle wasn’t the most innovative twist in the world, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes. The battle itself was a thrill to watch unfold, topping itself repeatedly with increasingly larger barrages of heavy weaponry while still not defying the universe’s physics and keeping the sense of fluctuating advantage that defines an engaging confrontation high.

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Sell Me in 20 Minutes: Yuusha ni Narenakatta and Strike the Blood

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I’m not in any way expecting this Friday to replace Gatchaman Crowds’ level of performance from last season. Kyokai no Kanata and Coppelion are already pulling the bulk of the week’s power hitting closer to Wednesday, but it’d be nice to have at least one show for every day of the week pulling its own weight.

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