Sword Oratoria

Spring 2017 – Season End Ranking

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Whew, that took a little longer than expected. And it didn’t help much, either, that Splatoon 2 came out last Friday, so I spent most of the weekend getting my ass served to me. I never played the first Splatoon, but damn is this game stubbornly addicting.

But yeah, I’ve had to “battle” my way through the remnants of Spring 2017, and finally I’ve been able to make it through in once piece. I’m not sure if it’s because of the gap in viewing that my take on these shows has been tamed, somewhat, but my overall impression of Spring 2017 is just not very good. I mean, sure I enjoyed most of them, but in the greater scheme of things, I think many of these titles are titles I’m gonna forget. And another reason for this is because I’ve actually been rewatching several of my favorite shows with my room mates during my hiatus (yes, I cheated), which I’m planning on sharing in a separate editorial post.

So if you’re not already head-deep in Summer 2017, come join me as we run down just what kind of beast Spring 2017 was in this late end season run down. LET’S DO THIS!! Continue reading →

[Side A] Spring 2017 – Week 8 in Review

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Yeah, just rollin’ along through the week and I’m all like O_o

It’s stressful enough as it is that my deadlines are fast approaching and I have a f**kton of experiments to do. But at least I was able to carry out the stuff I messed up on last week this week, so I got that going for me… which is nice.

But on a sorta related note, Week 8 for Side A actually did reasonably well compared to its past few attempts. That’s not to say that the shows in general are any much better; rather, I’m starting to get used to their general “temperament” to the point that nothing really surprises me anymore. So yeah, enough chit chat and let’s DO THIS! Continue reading →

[Side A] Spring 2017 – Week 7 in Review

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This week, I facepalmed so hard, I became a woman. 🙂

Kidding aside, this was a pretty weird week for me. I made a mistake in a couple of my experiments, so I have to do them again next week. All the more reason why I’m starting to panic because I need to produce results for the writing of my dissertation. Damn, is this stressful.

So I’m giving an advanced warning that I might suddenly disappear during the end of this season, and maybe up to the first few weeks of summer. That’s just the way it is, I guess. And as much as I’d hate to not post any content, I think I’ll skip writing weekly reviews when that happens in favor of shorter articles, like the Lost in Translation series or some other editorials that I’ve been promising since God knows when.

Anyway, this week in Side A felt pretty much unchanged in terms of my impressions towards the series contained. It’s come to the point that I don’t really care anymore, so let’s just hop on to it and talk about just what happened this week. Continue reading →

Spring 2017 – Mid-Season Round Up

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Mid-seasons are kinda scary in the sense that, yes, there’s a lot to write about, but at the same time there’s that looming realization that (crap) 6 weeks have already passed.

And that makes me wonder what the heck I’ve been doing with my life. Maybe it’s because I’m currently crunching experiments to write my dissertation, and that’s got me thinking why it feels like I’ve hardly gotten anything done these past five months.

Time is a fickle mistress.

Either way, the Spring 2017 season has been a similarly fickle affair, what with a strange line-up of titles that just basically feels weird in many respects. A big chunk of them are continuing cours, whilst others are long-standing franchises that are gracing the anime format… but regardless of the source, each had their own sort of spat with me, either due to their tendency to get lost in their respective genre tropes, or their general eclecticism. Whatever the case, this is the season we’re dealing with — a strange beast that is neither dull nor terrible. It’s something in-between.

So yeah, same format — general overview with a tl;dr in bold at the end; shows are ranked in descending order. So with that aside, let’s hop right to it! Continue reading →

[Side A] Spring 2017 – Weeks 5 & 6 in Review

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Oh dear, I’ve done it again.

Only this time, I’ve come back from the dead in a reasonably more fashionable manner. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, exactly one year ago, I stopped writing on this blog because I attended a conference in Singapore, which really threw my viewing schedule in for a loop. As much as I wanted to return to writing the moment I got back, work crept up on me, and the result was that I ended up taking an unexpected hiatus from blog writing for well over four months.

This time around, the culprit is the very same conference, only this time it took place in London. I figured it was quite fortunate for me to be in the UK, and that my viewing schedule would proceed unperturbed… only to discover that Holiday Inn Express has this weird internet usage policy that kicks you off if you’re hogging too much bandwidth, or if you’re simply trying to sync up your laptop, smartphone, AND Switch all at the same time.

So yeah, no animu for a week.

But yeah, I don’t want this to be another disappearing act, so I took it upon myself to make up for lost time. To be honest, I’m probably going to limit my thoughts a bit, because I really… really want to write more editorial articles. But yeah, I’m rambling at this point.

Anyway, hope this explains the sudden disappearing act. But enough talk, and let’s discuss just what happened these past two weeks in Side A of the Spring misfits!
Continue reading →

[Side A] Spring 2017 – Week 4 in Review

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You know that feeling when you’ve just got so much stuff to do, but you procrastinate till the last minute? Yeah, pretty much.

But then I finally get my ass into gear and, surely enough, start ticking off things on my “need-to-do-list”. And so I decide to reward myself with some well-deserved animu, only to be greeted with mmmmmmmmeeh titles. I’ve sorta mentioned it before, but Side A feels a bit week in comparison to Side B. So yeah, with that out of the way, let’s run down just what happened this week! Continue reading →

[Side A] Spring 2017 – Week 3 in Review

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You’re probably wondering where weeks 1 and 2 went, so here’s a shot of me throwing a fit due to the messy airing schedule. But oh well, you can’t have it all. I decided to consider Friday as the start of a viewing week, since it makes things a bit neater in my viewing schedule. That means the first episode of Sword Oratoria falls under “week 3”, but who gives a hoot. So long as I get my thoughts out there without me having to undergo a seizure due to OCD.

Speaking of OCD, I’m watching 14 shows this season, meaning each side is neatly split into 7 shows, each. Naise. That’s quite a lot of stuff to crunch into a single post, but I’ll try to avoid rambling. As with the previous season, you can click on a show title you’re interested under the “currently titles” sub-menu to the right to view all posts that refer to that show in chronological order. Just scroll down to whatever show you’re watching with me — you get the drill.

So yeah, sit back and relax as we run down just what happened these past three weeks! Continue reading →

Spring 2017 – Previews (Part 4)

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Man, the shows are just so weird this season, what with their odd airing schedules.

So this part of the previews is obviously late, and I’m struggling to figure out how I’m going to do my weekly “thoughts”. Given the number of shows on my list, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut a couple off. What makes it even more tricky is that more than half of the shows I’m watching air on Saturday in Japan… I mean, really? Sheesh.

Anyway, say hello to four more titles up for preview. These prodigal misfits include a boy and a cat, a boy and several girls, a girl and several more girls, and a girl and two boys. Yeah, not much help as far as descriptors go, so let’s DO THIS! Continue reading →