What Can Anime Bring Without a Solid Story?

Hello all you wonderful people! It’s Alexie again with another post for KawaiiPaperPandas!

So, like I asked in the title, what can anime bring without a solid story? Well, I’ll be going a bit into my personal preference here, but whatever you can think of you can shoot down into the comments if you’d like! Without a solid story, I honestly believe anime can still be very enjoyable. Why do I say this? Well, because they have animation and artwork. If I were to tell you how many shows I watched simply because the artwork and animation blew my mind I would take up enough space to fill an entire post, so I’ll list a few and talk about them!

First, Violet Evergarden. I know, that has a great story as well, it teaches us what it means to love and be human and accept how our lives have turned out and how to better ourselves because of it. However, upon starting Violet Evergarden you’ll be able to see just how fantastic the artwork and animation can be. And in all honesty, the two work together as well. Take this clip of Violet taking her glove off. In the background, while it is a bit blurred to give more attention to Violet’s action, you can still see each book on the shelves and the way the lighting of the room is hitting each portion. And where Violet actually takes the gloves off, the animation is extremely smooth. You can see her bite the tip of the finger, pull her arm outward, and the glove loses it’s grip on her mechanical hand. The glove dips in and wrinkles! Her hand, too, reflects the light that hits it, casting a small glow and some shadow on the metal. It’s a small detail, but one that I believe truly makes up some of the best parts an anime can bring to its audience.

violet evergarden glove pull — This is just pure beauty

Now, what about other shows? We all know Violet Evergarden had some of the best animation and artwork in recent years (as well as a compelling story), but what about the anime that didn’t have a story as compelling? The first one that comes to my mind is actually Iroduku: The World in Color.

The World in Color wasn’t the best anime out there. It dealt with time travel, had some odd character development, but what really drew me to watching that show was the artwork and animation. What I truly enjoyed was how bright the colors of the artwork of the characters and the background really were. It drew me in because seeing something so vibrant was a breath of fresh air. While some of the animation was a bit clogged in certain areas I still believe the colors during said animation were good enough to make up for it. I honestly believe if you want to watch a show that has some amazing artwork and pretty decent animation, then Iroduku is one you can totally check out if you haven’t.

Now for one last show, this one coming from a more recent season: Demon Slayer. Yep, Demon Slayer is one that I absolutely love seeing screencaps and videos of to be honest. While I haven’t seen more than eight or nine episodes at most, I think that it truly has some of the most amazing animation and artwork in recent years. While I’m sure the story of Demon Slayer is fantastic, can there be any denying that the artwork and animation of the show are top notch? I’m sure some of you readers will be able to think of more epic aspects of the show because you’ve seen more episodes than I, but there is a certain part that I truly enjoyed seeing. This picture below has some amazing artwork and color, showing just how Tanjiro has swung his blade and attacked his enemy. And it’s amazing. Check it out! The colors of the water, the whitecaps being shown, and the muted colors of both characters that draw attention to the swinging of the sword are beautiful.

demon slayer tanjiro sword skill — That blue!! Ugh…

And that about does it here for me! Without a solid story anime can still be quite stunning. Now, I know I chose two solid anime in Demon Slayer and Violet Evergarden to showcase some of what I’m talking about, but truly I think that animation and artwork can bring an anime to a higher aspect even without an amazing story. There are other examples of great artwork and animation, like the Ghibli films, and Fireworks, and Your Name that also showcase just how much impact artwork and animation can do for a story. They can be breathtaking and wonderful regardless of the story.

Thanks for reading!

Alexie 🙂

Saturday Suggestions from Tsu: Do (not) watch this movie!

Ever asked someone what was the worst anime and then watch that anime to see if it’s as bad as they said it was. I just recently done that and I have to say, it was worth it this time. The thing was an infamous anime movie. From the year 1992. And based off a famous artist’s manga. As a horror writer I find this mangaka and artist as an inspiration.

For professional reasons, I must give this WARNING: this blog post will have some mature content including violence and sexual content. So you have been warned.

The movie I saw was Midori: Shoujo Tsubaki which horrorish anime movie from 1992 based off the manga with the same name by Suehiro Mauro. Suehiro Mauro is a mangaka that specializes in Ero-guro ( Erotic Grotesque) which is sexualized gore. For those who are like, what the fuck is this post and why do you like that shit, it’s a complicated thing. I love horror and all the weird shit that forms from it. I even have an autographed copy of his Laughing Vampire manga. Anywho, let’s get back on track. Suehiro Mauro made Shoujo Tsubaki and then later on it got an animated movie.

The animated movie both good and bad. The good thing is that it is hella creepy, doesn’t censor, follows the manga, and one person animated the whole thing. The bad, the animation sucks, like there are parts where the animation is non existent. The art is not that great, but then again it was the year 1992, and Suehiro Mauro art style is fucking godly. And the content in the film can be extreme. Like showing a puppy getting smashed and its guts bursts out or a man having intercourse and licking the eyeball of the person. That stuff can be scarring.

Of course i had one of my blog buddies watch the movie for his reaction. So here is Bodell’s testimony.

“I really enjoyed the art direction of it, but the story was all over the place and I found it a little bit boring tbh.

It was as shocking as I expected and the discomfort I felt wasn’t due to it doing what it wanted, but more lack of enjoyment.” -Bodell

There is also a Live Action movie of this piece, shocking enough, but i could only watch like 20 mins of it cus it was utter shit. I have it downloaded on my phone, so I will probably watch it all to torture myself later on.

I know you all are yelling at this blog, yelling at me for that one thing. WHAT IS THE FUCKING THING ABOUT???!!!! Well I’ll give you the quick synopsis. A young girl is forced into creepy circus and a lot of bad shit happens to her and around her. It’s not a happy story.

So if you have a strong stomach and a strong curiosity, check out the animated movie and tell me what you think of it. For those who have a weak stomach, stay away, for the love of god, stay away.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day.

-Tsubaki Kuro

Top Five Tuesday: Best Girls of 2019 so far

Hello hello! It’s me, Alexie! It’s still Tuesday for me, which means it’s time for one of my top five lists even if it’s late at night for me! So, a quick little list of my Best Girls of 2019 thus far! Let’s get into it!!

Miku Nakano–sweet, shy, history-loving, amazing Miku! Best girl material right here! Woohoo!! Sure, she’s got sisters who look just like her, but Miku is just a step above all her sisters. (Sorry, Ayano, Nino isn’t best quintuplet for me!)
She’s so pretty!
Raphtalia–beautiful, fierce, strong, and protective. Raphtalia is cute and amazing and wonderful in so many ways. I love her and her character progression is definitely worth putting her in my top five for 2019!
Raphtalia being cute!
Chika Fujiwara–Chika is amazing. Honestly, I don’t even know how to describe Chika, but I love her. Especially her bubbly personality and how she uses a newspaper. Chika is great!
Note: Don’t mess with Chika
Emma–what can I say about Emma? She’s intelligent, compassionate, athletic, and a great friend. Emma’s ability to keep up with Ray and Norman, of seeing the abilities of her brothers and sisters when they’re playing games, and the way she trusts her family is fantastic. I’m sure someone else could give more on her, but yeah…
Lovable Emma being silly
Nezuko–protective, strong, lovable, caring, cute, and amazing. Nezuko is one girl I wouldn’t want to mess with if I were a villain. She’s too powerful in my eyes. Plus she’s adorable. Nezuko is one of my favorite girls of this last year, and from what I’ve seen of Demon Slayer (I’m a bit behind), it’s a solid choice.
Adorable Nezuko!!

And that does it for this edition of my Top Five Tuesday! I hope you enjoyed seeing this list, and if you have any others from 2019 that you think should be in a top five let me know! I’d love to hear who you would put in yours!

Alexie the Great

And The Killer Is… (Clue Collaboration Reveal)

Hello all you wonderful people! Hello Pandas! (#pandagang) Alexie here to give you another post on the fantastic KawaiiPaperPandas! This one is going to be shorter, but I think that’s fine. However, before we dive into this post, let’s give a huge round of applause and thank you to the other participants of this amazing collaboration!

Ayano of KawaiiPaperPandas–woohoo; Mel of Mel in Anime Land–hurray; Bodell of KawaiiPaperPandas–yippee; Scott of Mechanical Anime Reviews–yay yay; and Auri of Manga Toritsukareru Koto–yahoo!

If you have not read any of this collaboration, start with Ayano’s post here. After that go here. The third post is here, the fourth post is here. The fifth post is here, and the final post is here. That should get all of the suspects and their alibis in order, so you’ll be able to read this post without spoiling anything for yourself and make a decision in your head.

And now, the moment we’ve been waiting for: THE REVEAL!

*DRUM ROLL*….*MORE EPIC DRUM ROLL*….*SQUEALING EUPHONIUM*…..*CYMBAL CRASH*

As I went through the evidence, there was only one person who stood out–someone who wasn’t all there, someone who didn’t seem to belong as much as the others. He was quiet and kept to himself. He drank and carried a rifle–for wolves he said, but this man must have had a psychiatric problem after everything he’d gone through with these wolves he always talked about. And it looked like now he was hunting would-be heroes.

I sent a team to grab the man, who came to me with his bloodied hat off his head.

“Quent Yaiden,” I said as the team brought his forward, feet and hands tied so he had to shuffle forward. “We tested your rifle–there was powder residue, which means you fired it. We also completed the autopsy on Froppy. Turns out she’d been shot. Nobody else here has that kind of weapon with them, and we had some other compelling evidence against you. Quent Yaiden, you are hereby under arrest for the murder of Tsuyu Asui, also known as Froppy,” I said.

The man grunted and smirked as he was escorted out of UA High. “Wolves, frogs, animals…the only ones people can trust are other people and even then it’s not a guarantee they won’t stab you in the back.”

The Murderer:

If you guessed Quent congratulations! You were correct! This man murdered Froppy in cold blood! Shame on you, Quent Yaiden! Good thing you actually freeze to death in the wild expanse near wolves–the beasts you swore you’d destroy!

Thank you for reading! And if you followed this collaboration from the beginning, thank you for joining all of us on this amazing journey! It was a blast!

Alexie the Great 🙂

Clue Collab: Fan Favorite Froppy Found Frigid

Voting is now OPEN! Cast your vote for who you think murdered poor innocent Froppy.

KAWAIIPAPERPANDAS

Alexie here!

This is the final part in collaboration with Ayano’s first post. Make sure to start there if you haven’t yet! You can do so by clicking here: https://kawaiipaperpandas.com/2019/07/28/clue-collaboration-fan-favorite-froppy-found-frigid/.

After questioning Nora, still trying to control the shivers running through my body at the girl’s demeanor, I head back to the hallway to find Quent. I see him there, sitting on the floor against the wall, unmoved. He’s obedient in a touchy situation, I’ll give him that. His hat is tilted downward to cover his eyes and he cradles his rifle against his lap.

UA High hallway

“Mr. Yaiden,” I say approaching him.

“You can call me Quent, detective,” he replies.

“Okay, Quent,” I say, “describe what happened for me again?”

“Haven’t you already got the story from the others?” Quent replies.

I sigh. “Humor me.”

As Quent takes a swig of alcohol I attempt to peer at the underside of…

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Where Would I Live In The Anime Universe (And Where Would I Not Live)?

Hello all you wonderful people! It’s me, Alexie, and I’m back again because it’s Monday! Have you ever wanted to simply move away from where you currently live, but you didn’t want to be on Earth? Well, I know I have, but let’s put this into the anime universe…like the who freaking thing. Where would I like to live? Where would I not like to live? Those are two questions that I’ve asked myself countless times and had plenty of conversations about with my brother and friends. So, with that let’s dive into this post!

Where Would I Live?

The first here will seem kind of obvious, but I’m okay with that, so let’s go!

Aincrad (post-death game): Yeah, that may seem obvious, but I think the virtual world of Aincrad is super awesome. Different levels, different monsters, no magic, swords and fighting and guilds? Plus, the different levels of the Aincrad world? There are some awesome parts of this world that I would absolutely love to live in. The Town of Beginnings is actually pretty cool despite being, obviously, the beginning; the 22nd floor covered in beautiful lakes and forests; the 24th floor apparently is covered mostly by water with isles connected by floating bridges; Selmburg on the 61st floor (where I believe Asuna lived? Maybe?) seems pretty cool, too. All in all, there is so much inside the world of Aincrad that I could probably make this entire post about where I would like to live in that world, but I won’t.
The Naruto World (Village Hidden in the Mist): Oh yeah, I went there. Not the Leaf Village, not the Sand Village, not in the Land of Lightning. No, I would choose the Land of Water and the Village Hidden in the Mist. Why? Well, it actually looks the most fitting for me. There’s vegetation, there are mountainous regions, it’s secluded, and I kind of like when there isn’t too much sun during the day. Plus, the buildings, at least in Naruto’s era, weren’t crazy tall and modified, so that’s cool.
Angel Beats school: Yup! I think that campus actually looks pretty cool in all honesty. Sure, it would mean that I’m dead, but still, that campus, which is rather small, is fairly fitting for me. I don’t like large campuses in all honesty. The campus of the university I went to (Western Michigan University) was three huge hills, which was a pain in my ass. The campus of the university I wanted to go to but didn’t (University of Louisville), was inside a city and compacted into a few blocks, with trees and awesome walkways–so kind of like the Angel Beats campus.

Where Would I Not Live?

Wolf’s Rain World: Everything is frozen. Everything sucks. People are always dying and starving and that would not be awesome. So yeah, a quick one here, but seriously, Freeze City, Lost City (Jaguara’s City), Aerial City (no thanks…it’s on a cliff) seem like absolute nightmares to live in. Plus, it’s a desolate wasteland outside the cities where anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Let’s not live there. (Sorry, I have no pictures for this one…)
Attack on Titan World: Literally anywhere on that planet would suck. The island of Paradis, the mainland Marleyan empire? NO THANK YOU! I’d rather not be in a freaking war and trying to survive somehow with titans able to absolutely destroy me. Nope nope nope.
The World of High School of the Dead: Okay, I will say I absolutely love zombies and vampires and zombies, and the whole horror thing is interesting to me, but fuck living in that world. A zombie apocalypse would suck so much. Oh hey, a single zombie, cool. Oh, hey, more zombies. Oh…oh, no…a horde of zombies! *DEATH* NOPE! COUNT ME OUT! But…okay, hang on. If I can meet Saeko and hopefully try to survive with her? Then yes. That is, however, a fantasy even in the HOTD world, so the short answer is once again no.

And that does it for this post today! Thank you all for reading! Do you have any worlds you would love to live in? Any worlds you would one hundred percent stay away from like me? I would love to know where people would enjoy living and where they would absolutely avoid!

Alexie the Great 🙂

Getting Others Into Anime?

Hello all you wonderful people! It’s another week and once again I’m back here. Let’s go!

When season 3 part 2 of Attack on Titan started I had been going to my dad’s place weekly to watch the German Bundesliga matches I’d missed the previous day for a few weeks, and we both enjoyed those together. It became something we looked forward to each week, and when I wouldn’t show up on Sunday night because I had something more pressing to get done in my life, I felt a little hollow, like I was missing a piece of what made me, well, me.

And then, out of nowhere my dad started asking questions about what was happening in Attack on Titan. I tried my best to make it simple for him, but he was confused about what was going on, who was who, and where they were. I sighed, and thus began my journey into anime with my dad. After that episode of Attack on Titan (I can’t remember exactly which one it was), he got so far into the show. In the upcoming weeks, since I had a decent amount of time off where I could stay at his place a little longer than I thought most weeks, we went through every single episode of Attack on Titan. We watched season 2 in one day… It didn’t take me long to get him into the show, and he has come to absolutely love it. Oh, and HE SAW THE FINAL EPISODE OF SEASON 3 BEFORE ME! I was super excited to get to his place after work and watch that final episode with him, but I showed up about an hour after the episode aired and this was our conversation:

Me: “It’s time to finish Attack on Titan!” (yes, I can totally italicize my spoken words!)

My Dad: “Yeah, I already saw it.”

“Me: “Dammit!”

So, I succeeded right? I got my dad into anime!

Now, I’ll explain something here quick because I think this is the most important part about getting someone into anime: start with something you know they’ll have a higher chance of liking based on their personality and other aspects of entertainment they enjoy. I know my dad likes action and comedy in his entertainment; he’s also a history nerd like myself and enjoys some sports. So, what did that tell me? Well, after binge-watching most of Attack on Titan and then watching each episode weekly until the season ended, I sort of knew what he would enjoy if he were to watch anime.

What I gathered from knowing my dad, I made a list of anime I believe he would enjoy, and we started watching more than just Attack on Titan together. Currently, because he has a hard time watching more than one show at a time (it messes with his grasp on what’s happening during each show), we are watching Black Lagoon. And he loves it. He loves Revy and how the show has progressed and how all of the characters interact. Now, I wasn’t sure what to actually try to watch with him after Black Lagoon, so I asked my friend. He asked what we’ve seen together thus far, so I told him the two above titles. I gave him some information about my dad, what he usually watches, what he enjoys (or at least what he used to enjoy before he turned 60 years old) and we went through talking about different shows, what the plots are, and how the characters interact. This is our list for my dad:

Black Lagoon
Death Note
The Promised Neverland
Psycho-Pass
Another
Darker than Black
Highschool of the Dead
Bungo Stray Dogs
Outlaw Star
Kino’s Journey (possibly…)

I know most of these are in the same vein, but I figure if I can get him to watch at least a few of these shows, I’ll be able to open him up to other genres. For this upcoming season I figured I’d try to get him into Vinland Saga, but we started watching it late last night so he fell asleep after the second episode. Which is okay, he enjoyed what he saw and we’ll be able to get back to the third episode at a later date. Perhaps I’ll try getting him into Fire Force as well, but I’m not sure yet. Should probably get through that list up there first, yeah?

Anyway, that’s what I’ve got my dad going through right now. But what is it about getting people into anime that seems like such a hard task? I know firsthand that some people throw anime out the window completely because they’re animated. Well, duh, but seriously. Anime is entertainment, so why not find shows that you think they’ll like and try? If somebody enjoys stand-up comedy, or likes to laugh often, why not show them comedy anime. I’ve come across some people who absolutely love comedy, so I figured I’d show them some of my favorite comedy anime. And they laughed like mad! I don’t know if they continued watching any anime, but at least I was able to get them to laugh and have a good time.

Sports are another genre that I think would be easy to get people into anime if they’ve done some sport before. Are they runners? Why not try showing them Run with the Wind? Volleyball players? Obviously Haikyuu!!…oh, and on that note, I had a friend once who called me out on how I spell Haikyuu!!, and it was a shocker. It’s a friend who I had no idea even watched it in his life or knew anything about it, so that was a treat.

Now, there are people who would simply say that all anime is for kids because they’re basically cartoons, and that’s fine, but I figure you can at least try to get them to see something more if you’re adamant enough. Maybe I’m just too stuck in my ways of trying to get people into a medium I enjoy so I have more people to talk to about what I enjoy and what they’ll also hopefully enjoy, but the nuances of anime are a more concrete point. How do the characters interact? What are their personalities and what do they enjoy? Is there tension between characters? What about how the story progresses in itself? Is it gripping or stagnant? Does the story make you think? Some anime that I’ve seen were so intense I couldn’t stop thinking about them for days after! Oh, and there’s the talk of art style, animation quality, music, and the sub/dub aspect.

Honestly, I think the initial talks of getting people into anime can be tricky, because a lot of people see anime as cartoons, like I said before, but I do believe that there is some way to get them into it. Anime can be thought-provoking, intense, humorous, and much more, so what’s the harm in trying? If trying to get someone into anime doesn’t work it doesn’t work. That’s all there is to it. But, I don’t see any problem in trying. I will say that I almost got someone into anime based on music alone. I played a few OPs for one of my friends a while back without telling him where they came from, and hours later he said, “I haven’t stopped listening to these songs. Where did you find them?”

And with that, I told my friend this: “Anime. Seriously, they were opening and ending credit songs for anime shows. “found & lost” by Survive Said the Prophet is from a show called Banana Fish; “Hikari Are” by BURNOUT SYNDROMES is from Haikyuu!!; and “Touch Off” by UVERworld is from The Promised Neverland.” I don’t know if he started watching anime, but at least I got him to listen to some music, so I call that a win. I think there’s a part of the anime watching experience that starts with the OPs. If the OP catches the viewer’s attention, I think they’ll be more inclined to give the show a chance. I know that’s what happened when I started Vinland Saga with my dad.

However, if somebody isn’t used to watching anything in Japanese and isn’t used to reading subtitles, perhaps watching in a dubbed format would be an easy gateway into getting them to enjoy it. That’s what I’ve done, and slowly I’ve started watching things with subs if the English version isn’t available. It’s all been quite enjoyable, though.

I also think anime movies are a decent starting point, but I won’t really talk about that here. There’s many anime movies, and the dubs are actually quite wonderful (especially the Ghibli films) that could be a gateway for many people, so why not try?

With everything, I do think that getting people into anime can be a grueling experience, but sometimes it pays off. In short, I think it all comes down to what that person’s interests are and how they think. Are they into sports and camaraderie? Maybe showing them sports anime could interest them. Are they into psychological, thought-provoking things? Maybe something that deals with the human condition, or mentality and free will could work. I see it as a game of chess, with meticulous planning going into what the other person’s brain would enjoy and trying to find something that will grab them from the start. Then you can slowly branch out with them, or maybe they’ll do it themselves. Who know!

And that’s all I have for this post! How would you go about getting people into anime? Have you ever gotten someone into it and all of a sudden you had a monster on your hands that wouldn’t stop talking about it or watching?

Thanks for reading!

Alexie 🙂