INTRODUCTION
Hello, and welcome to a rather ridiculous blog post. As an enjoyer of nekomimi – that is cat-eared characters – in anime, I’ve chosen to review how the trope has developed throughout 2021. This is intended as a bit of a parody of similar annual reviews in academia. I’m not taking this writing very seriously, and you probably shouldn’t either.
That being said, let’s take a look at what happened to cat characters in 2021!
GENERAL TRENDS
Of the many terms to descri
For me, one of the most poignant aspects of slice-of-life is how the genre treats the concept of time. The chain of moments that make up the series slowly advances, but there are rarely consequences to the flow of time itself. This is a necessary thing. The environment and situation remain relatively static in order to highlight the development of their characters. The removal of “real time” from slice-of-life is what makes the characters (and their interactions with one another) endure as charm
Now that things are somewhat returning to normal, my Dungeons and Dragons group has been starting up again. My improvisation is dreadfully out of practice, but its been great to physically sit around a table with people again and have an adventure.
Speaking of tabletop roleplaying games(TTRPG), did you know there was a Sailor Moon RPG?
Released in 1999, the game guide is impressively detailed from the barebones RPG “starter kits” I’m used to seeing today. There are full length ch
In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki is an odd essay about traditional Japanese aesthetics. It is haphazardly composed, switching between discussions as disparate as sushi recipes and Noh actors. But amid the stream-of-conciousness-like writing, there is a central theme: in the Japanese sense of beauty, the presence of shadows is the key influence around which any artistic situation should be desiged. For example, the author reasons that miso soup is best served in earthy laquerware rather
