Alright, here’s the post many of you disappointed in me have been expecting. Please keep in mind this is largely a meta-reflective post on blogging. If you just want to know why I dropped the shows Golden Time and Nobunaga the Fool, please skip to those respective sections at the end.
Anyways, this is a formal response to the mistakes I’ve made in dropping Nobunaga the Fool and Golden Time, both of which were two-cour shows, both of which I did not properly announce dropping. Understandably, this has left many people confused and subsequently angry, since it all happened without much notice. Before I explain myself though, I will state that I do deserve the sort of beratement that is to come, since I have broken trust and communication with many readers, and it’ll be awhile until I can rebuild what has been broken, if even possible. To make things clear, Nobunaga the Fool is going to be dropped in favor of other shows this season. I should’ve made this a clearer announcement earlier, but I didn’t. I will let people know that podcasts will also be delayed until further notice, as we are going to take our time reorganizing the structure of podcasts. If you have more questions about the podcast, you can ask them here.
Now, here comes the part of reflection. If you’ve only come for a formal announcement, you can stop reading here. Most of this is a reflection on my accountability. If you don’t care, you don’t have to read.
Show Spoiler ▼
You see, there are various factors that went into being hesitant about formally declaring dropping Golden Time and Nobunaga the Fool, but in large part these issues are part of a much larger issue of my current blogging status. If I were to pinpoint where exactly it all started, it would probably have begun with Spring 2013. I was completely hyped to cover Oreimo and what looked like an interesting show with Hentai Ouji, but both of them fell flat on my expectations, with one falling especially hard (hint, it’s Oreimo). It was crushing to have to cover a show transformed from a fairly good comedy to a terribly generic romantic comedy. At first, I thought that things couldn’t get worse than this in my picks, but boy was I wrong. Without going into too much detail, saved for below, the only show I considered a blog pick I had no regrets covering was Uchouten Kazoku, in a span that covers an entire year. Everything else fell very flat on expectations, and shook my blogging morale greatly. 2013 was a terrible dry spell for my year of coverage, and even now, I feel much more pessimistic about anime’s treatment of good romantic comedies than just last year.
Add onto that escalating stress from college life, as well as getting sick at the worst of times, I really was in a bad position to make sound decisions about blogging. I no longer use alt-texts because the resolve to do so is gone. I no longer do creative things because no shows I cover ever inspire me enough to put effort into it. Blogging my picks became such a chore, yet I struggled to stay optimistic since I love what I do. However, without much willpower, I stopped being responsible in certain areas, such as being responsible when dropping shows.
When I drop a show, I feel a sense of shame in dropping it, because it’s openly admitting that I screwed up and chose something that either wasn’t good, wasn’t suited for me, or both. It’s really hard to face the fire and anticipate the harsh comments one will get, especially when one has already lost the will to defend one’s actions. I knew that I was doing the wrong thing, but I thought that I could delay it until tomorrow. “Waiting one more day can’t hurt, right?” Those days turned into weeks, and weeks into absolute months, where I hoped things would sweep under the carpet. Heck, even enough time passed where I actually believed myself that I had made an official drop announcement for Golden Time, which obviously wasn’t the case when I re-read my last post months later.
In essence, it was my sense of pride, fear, and cowardice that lead me to not make those announcements. I had invested so much hope into these two-cour shows that it was absolutely horrifying for me to admit defeat halfway through. Heck, that was even the case with Magi, which ended up being much more successful in its second season, but I had lost the will from the first season to continue further.
However, ironically, the heat I was trying to avoid is now biting me in the ass, and it hurts. A lot. I realize that I have wronged many people by making these poor decisions, and I have probably lost some readers who just won’t visit anymore because of me. I am absolutely guilty though, and I have no reason to ask for forgiveness.
As such, I am going to turn around my blogging career around. I have newfound hope for my third year of blogging, and I hope that I can make my posts timelier and of better quality than ever before. However, most of all, I’m going to hold myself accountable so you guys don’t have to worry about me dropping shows. Here, I make some promises to all of you. If I break any of them, I quit blogging, because I don’t deserve to write if I break your guys’ trust again.
- First, I am not going to blog any more two-cour shows for the rest of 2014. It is simply too risky a commitment for me to take on shows that last half a year, and taking up such a show would place risk for all the people who actually intend to follow the show to the end.
- Second, starting next season, I will not announce more than one blogging pick per semester until the fourth week has passed. For the show that I do select right off the bat, I will try my best to dedicate myself to that show, but if I do end up switching it out for another show, I will explicitly, in bold, announce it on the last post, to remove any ambiguity. After all, in all my years of doing preview writing, I’ve learned one thing–we’re not crystal ball readers.
Hopefully, this signals a turnaround for my career as a blogger, and hopefully I make more informed decisions about what I can chew, and to be blunt about the things I cannot digest. This is supposed to be a forum where we can trust one another with our opinions–I hope to uphold that ideal from here on out.
Again, apologies for everything I’ve done to inconvenience you guys, but dear reader, thank you for being so patient up until now. You may now throw in your insults. I will respond to each of them as soon as I can.
Why I dropped Golden Time
Show Spoiler ▼
Frankly, it was the directing and script. If not for those elements, I’m pretty sure I would’ve enjoyed this show much more. Although the animation was downright terrible at some points, it wasn’t the breaking factor. It was the fact that every episode seemed to stop abruptly. It was the fact that the jokes and comedy fell flat on their toes. I didn’t even feel good when seeing most of the “comedy”–it was just watching people either be dicks to one another or be amazingly indirect about their aggression or feelings.
However, what really hit the nail on the head was the development of the characters. 2D-kun literally developed out of nowhere, and the sheer trait that gave him his nickname isn’t even utilized for 3/4 of the series. It was hard connecting to Chinami as a character because they failed to develop her properly throughout the series. Her characteristic Okamera was rarely utilized–a missed opportunity to create some emotional scenes.
The biggest offenders though were the dynamic between Banri and Koko. For the longest time in the series, I was thinking, “When are they actually going to, you know, go on a date? Do something significant to strengthen their relationship? Not be ruined by some ghostly figure that’s literally stuck in the past?” By the time the second cour came about, it was hard to tell why Banri and Koko were a couple, simply because there wasn’t enough development to properly articulate a comfortable answer. The series definitely failed in this regard, and only made up for it within the second half of the second cour, which was way too late to start developments.
When I look at a romantic comedy, the primary judgement to be passed is, “How well can I like these characters, despite their flaws?” The secondary judgement to be passed is, “Can I sympathize with the character’s struggles? Do I buy into them emotionally?” Although this varied wildly from person to person, I was in the camp that was seriously disappointed in both camps. I left Golden Time without any emotional attachment to any of the characters, because the show never gave me a good enough reason to care. I realize that’s a controversial opinion, but that’s the opinion I left the show with. Although I do admit that it touches on interesting issues that would’ve played out strongly, those issues were too numerous and never really focused on purposefully enough or long enough to really sink in.
Why I dropped Nobunaga the Fool
Show Spoiler ▼
This one is more a combination between realizing this wasn’t the show I was expecting, as well as a general disappointment in the lazy development of most of the characters and plot.
Oh, but let me tell you, let me tell you alright, Ichihime marrying herself off to Caesar was the last straw. This guy should’ve been dead episodes ago, yet here he is still being a lecher with his two annoying twins. I get that he’s supposed to be a character we focus our anger on, but it feels like cheap bait to construct Caesar this way. I had some sanity in the show, hoping for Mitsuhide and Ichihime, the two most fascinating characters of the show, to carry the show. However, with Mitsuhide not brave enough to give his love a parting kiss, and with Ichihime surely doomed to have something terrible happen to her, I couldn’t bear it anymore. Even though the Knights of the Round Table are supposed to be a force of good on the other side of the coin, Caesar carries little to none of those qualities, instead becoming this really infuriating character that garners little sympathy for his actions.
However, speaking on the plot and characters in general, it seemed a lot of development went into the wrong places. Too much focus was placed on really trivial aspects of Nobunaga’s dialogue, where everyone gets amazed at his staunch narcissism and sense of invincibility. Too little focus is given to Jeanne as a character, whose referential character held so much potential, but as of now is severely underused, where she does more harm than good more than once. To top it off, I feel the point of where we are now would’ve been well-suited as a completion point for a much earlier episode, rather than the halfway point.
Frankly speaking, I was expecting something more along the lines of Oda Nobuna no Yabou, where a clean synthesis of history and well-rounded characters could make for an interesting drama, especially if it merges the mythologies of the West and East. Most of this potential is squandered for petty plot though, where mecha battles that aren’t even that interesting take the floor, and bickering between conflicting factions takes way too long and then gets resolved in a hurried fashion. Perhaps things get better in the second half, but I do not have the resources right now to bet on a show that has largely squandered its premise thus far.
Posted by 
TL;DR – He’s his own boss and he’ll do what he wants!
Putting aside the internal crying I have from everyone’s kindness in this thread right now (no srsly guys, you’re the best ;_____;), I can finally use this crap picture I posted in Oda Nobuna no Yabou’s finale again!
https://randomc.net/image/Oda%20Nobuna%20no%20Yabou/Oda%20Nobuna%20no%20Yabou%20-%2012%20-%20Large%20LOL.jpg
Okay, back to answering issues people have when they post them.
it’s fine. it’s hard to be dedicated to a single show and survive doing it on a weekly basis for half a year. i can’t even stay focused for two weeks.
that said, dropping Golden Time didn’t come as a surprise since you did point out all the flaws. Not giving any names, but I did notice that some of the RandomC bloggers have been quite pessimistic about shows lately. More like sheer criticism of various flaws instead of highlighting the interesting aspect and maybe places that requires improvement. Lately it’s harder to enjoy reading a few RandomC blogs (not Zanibas in particular) just because it seem more like complaints than old blogging highlights that Divine and Stilts used to do.
Not playing favorites or anything, but Divine was a big reason in my becoming of a RandomC reader. I’m really wondering whether we could try to go back how it was before with the highlights and point out the key interests and not just mostly bombardment of how things are poorly done here and there.
It always depends on the show though. Even I broke down and was ripping into Gen’ei once it became clear it was tripe. It’s a lot easier to point out the good points when there are some to speak of XD
@Azalea23
I think you need to understand that after watching so much anime there is a certain breaking point for some people. As someone who watches darn near everything that airs each season it’s become really easy to break down shows piece by piece and predict how they play out. After all how can enjoy something that you’ve seen at least 10 other times elsewhere? It’s something that i think plagues many reviewers because let’s face it the industry isn’t as creative as it was before. And as we cycle through more of the same thing each year it becomes harder and harder to find points of a show that actually stand out in their own right. It’s hard not be a little cynical at times when a show doesn’t reach your expectations and starts deviating down the old beaten path.
@leatherhead333
You bring up a very good point there. For that reason I try to stick to an average of 10 anime per season(more or less). You rarely see more that are really worth the watch and aren’t just watchable or plain time killers. I tried watching 20+ one time and I ended up feeling burnt out when it was over while wondering why the hell did I force myself to watch so many average & below average shows when I wasn’t looking for time killers,but ones I can actually enjoy.
<3 😛
@Zanibas
Let a Old Men (like me) saying this.
You should do what you like. Your not here to Work. (Sure a bit consistence would be a Good point). Listen to your Heart. If you dont like it, why continue hurting yourself?
it is all Okay, as long your dont lose the Love for your Animes
i understand, perhaps we all need a good break before getting back into things.
i personally have gotten so sick of drawing that i spend my days doing everything else except drawing for the past three months. and now i suffer the problem of getting back into it.
zanibas’s choice of going easy and taking in less shows is a sign of still being willing and readjusting, which i frankly respect that dedication.
that aside, since i change names wayyyy too many times in the past, for those who may not remember me at all. since i feel old mentioning divine, i posted as thenewhorde, rurineko, azalea23, アザレア２３…etc
As a college student who has been dropping shows left and right lately because I don’t have the time to take a risk and see if a show I don’t love will manage to keep my interest, I totally understand.
Do make sure you announce promptly when you drop shows, though, out of courtesy more than anything else. I don’t blame you, though.
As for Golden Time, the ride was almost worth it to see 2D-Kun use his mad computer skillz and the show confirming that Banri and Yana are the true couple.
Anyone that has gone through college and has watched enough anime has been there.
No worries. No big deal. Don’t hamper yourself with excess limitations or expectations. It’s a roundabout way to go back to realizing that things don’t have to be so complicated.
But of course, sometimes it’s the unavoidable process.
Just relax.
Frankly, I don’t blame you for dropping Golden Time. I stuck with it to the end since, well, I had already come so far, so I may as well see if anything could be pulled out of the wreckage, but when they tried to use the ghost Banri AGAIN leading up to Koko just dumping Banri out of nowhere right near the end, Banri getting his memories back, to Linda suddenly able to TALK to ghost Banri near the end, and Banri suddenly conveniently remembering his present memories just so hand out a “happily ever after” ending…it all just felt really cheap.
And yeah, Yana and Chinami were pretty much forgotten about it felt like. Heck, it felt like NANA got more development than either of them.
As for Nobunaga, I can agree on Jeanne. They tried to set her up as really important, yet her visions are becoming more and more scarce (and wide open for interpretation) and, yet again with this episode, ended up getting who knows how many people killed for acting before thinking. I mean, seriously, she already dealt with Caesar before, who had proven that he’ll gladly stab people in the back (literally) to get what he wants, why would she think the other Round Table members wouldn’t do the same?
And it feels like they’re suddenly trying to “redeem” Caesar in some cheap way with him choosing to betray the Round Table “for love” (seriously? The only reason he wanted Ichihime to begin with was, obviously, solely because of her looks) and the twins suddenly seeming like they’ll betray Caesar soon.
Though, I will admit, it was cool to see Usuegi get in on the action and just effortlessly owning Hannibal and Charlemagne as he did.
I’m not going to throw any insults at you! When the posts for Golden Time stopped coming, I figured you dropped the show, making an indirect announcement. I was more surprised from reading how you felt horrible on dropping the shows. While I may not speak for everyone, I am part of the group who do not mind at all on the events that have occurred. To sum it up, I will continue reading your blog posts and also continue appreciating the work you have done and will do as a Random Curiosity blogger.
Understandable. Having to blog something that you don’t like is hard. I do agree that the shows you drop are craps that’s better read than watched in anime adaption, so you are not alone there. I do think it is okay for you to take on 2-cour anime show. Just that when you drop it, put the explanation on why you drop it. I like how you explain why you drop these Golden Time crap and Nobunaga crap. Soo…good luck and keep it up.
As long as you announce whether you drop or are continuing to blog a show I’m still going to read your posts Zanibas. Everyone has different reasons for watching anime, and if you’re not enjoying the show then what’s the point of continuing to blog or watch it? You make understandable reasons to why you stopped blogging the shows and instead of seeing it as a regret I’m glad you’re learning from the experience of blogging the shows until you couldn’t tolerate them anymore. Knowing how long some of us have kept going onto this site we trust your judgment as a anime blogger. *salutes Zanibas*
Not surprised with dropping Nobunaga, it really seems like it bit off more than it could chew. Character development is very poor as you mentioned, especially with Caesar. We are now supposed to believe is a good guy after all the buildup to have him tastefully drop dead; it’s too quick, there has been development in this direction beyond a tea party and marrying Ichihime. Likewise Jeanne seems a pointless character that has no role beyond announcing that Nobunaga is the Saviour King. Not to mention the world building has been bad so far.
Overall it’s a sub par show overshadowed by several newcomers this season. Nobunaga is not terrible, but it is deeply flawed.
Well I only watched Nobunaga the fool of the two shows you were covering. And I also dropped it the same time as you did. Well, more like i stopped watching it after not seeing any of your posts. And now I’ve just forgotten about the show. 🙂
Anyway Zanibus, as Kurisu VI Britania said. You are your own boss and you do what you want. If you don’t enjoy blogging an anime I don’t see why you should keep doing blogging it. In the end, that’s why you are here, isn’t it. Because you enjoy sharing your thoughts on anime which you think is interesting.
Btw, I’m also a college student, so I know how vexing it can be. Anyway. Chill bro! Do what you enjoy doing. I don’t think any(well, most) of us readers will blame you for dropping those two mostly unremarkable shows( though I can’t say much for Golden time). I certainly am not.
P.s
but dear reader, thank you for being so patient up until now. You may now throw in your insults. I will respond to each of them as soon as I can.
You know, after reading this part it us whose gonna feel bad. 😛
Don’t worry so much about it!
Just do on what you can do. Every one has their limits in certain areas.
I sincerely appreciate all your hard works!
When I realized the Golden Time and Nobugana the Fool posts weren’t coming out I figured they were dropped. If anything watching Golden Time felt like a chore for me, I only stuck around since I already dedicated 1 cour into it, Nobugana is also pretty underwhelming. Although I do agree a formal drop announcement would have been nice, I understand where your coming from. Blogging something you don’t even like would just make an overall mediocre post since it would just be hard to write anything meaningful, if anything I know for me I just would want to get it over with it, so it’s better to have no post then a post you aren’t proud of. Regardless being a busy college student is already rough enough, I’m sure the majority if not all of the community will forgive you, I mean we’re all human and fallible. Best of luck blogging in the future, cheers!
Knowing tarot card themes makes Nobunaga more enjoyable, especially if you can tie back a card’s meaning to specific events/characters/themes within an episode. It’s a pity you are no longer covering it, Zanibas, because I planned to provide a discussion of tarot card themes for each episode until the very end, for your benefit and other readers.
For example,the Empress card, symbol of feminine power, relates heavily to both Ichihime and Hannibal as of the most recent episode.
Ichihime’s strong resolve as an Oda princess sways Caesar to give his aid and invoke Kenshin’s help, at the cost of his Round Table loyalties. Hannibal yields a more sadistic, violent version of girl power, both in her command style and in the absolute, S&M-esque, control she exercises over Charlemagne.
Admittedly, reading your comments every week on the interpretation of each card does make the commentary much more interesting. I looked forward to seeing your post every week…one of the few things I looked forward to for that show. If I had more time, I would’ve joined in research with you, just as I did for one of my prouder blogging sessions of Oda Nobuna no Yabou.
However, without this deeper knowledge of tarots, a large part of the magical lore is lost on me. It’s actually a clever way of organizing the story, but unfortunately even that clever trick wasn’t enough to fix all the other problems unrelated to the “tarot plot”.
@Zanibas: Would you like me to post my other interpretation posts up on this post?
Why not :P.
There is nothing wrong or shame in dropping shows if you just can’t stand to watch them anymore. Shows might start good and have some little bad issues. When those little bad issues accumulate too much you just need to drop. I did drop golden time around ep 18. I couldn’t stand watching it. If I feel like I am forcing myself to watch a show then it’s time for that show to go. I watch the shows as long as a I am having fun watching them.
Now in future I would appreciate if you did an announcement if you are dropping something. Be an RL issue or because you can’t stand the development of a series. There is no shame in announcing it.
I agree with you. I’ve had to do that several times myself because of said issues but for me, the worst show I’ve seen that I watched to the very end was Saint Seiya Omega. Being a fan of said franchise, I had to stick it out until the end despite the numerous problems it had and even the ending was terrible. For as long as I live, I will never subject myself to such a series where you take liberties with the source material, kill characters and revive them a-la Marvel fashion, screw up characters and then subsequently redeem them, and just overall mess up the entire series. In my opinion, they should’ve just let this one die after 52 episodes instead of drag it out for 97!
Dropping shows is fine, for whatever reasons, just an announcement that its happening is nice for the people who are eagerly waiting for said blog posts would be nice 🙂
Other then that 🙂 Keep up the blogging, always enjoy the posts, even if it’s a series i dont actively follow. Because together with the comments it still gives me insight to put it on my watch’list later on.
I dropped both these series at ep7 and ep4 btw 😛
Yeah, if someone of the Blogger here, drop a Show because of something, let us know please and your Comrades. That is all, you do not need to write the reason, if you dont feel like it.
Yeah I dropped Nobunaga too after like I think the 5th or 6th episode. It’s okay to drop shows, but make sure you make some announcement or else people are waiting for the next post and get upset about it when the anime already released 2 episodes or something 😛
While it might well be a mild disappointment for people who had enjoyed your reviews of the dropped shows, I don’t think it’s anywhere near as big a deal as you seem to think, and certainly not a matter where you need to make a formal apology and say you deserve beratement for your decisions due to broken trust from readers. Don’t worry so much. Keep blogging if you want to keep blogging! There is absolutely no need for you to make a deal with yourself to quit blogging if you ever drop a show like those ones again. Cheer up, and best of luck with your future blogging.
You have nothing to apologize for. These anime fell short and didn’t work for you, you acknowledged that and explained why. You have an obligation to be honest with your readers and write about what interests you, not to meet someone else’s arbitrary quota.
I agree with everyone else, it’s completely understandable if you lose interest in blogging certain shows, so you shouldn’t hesitate to announce asap that you’re dropping them. As a matter of fact, I dropped Nobunaga after like 3 episodes, Oda Nobuna no Yabou was awesome (I watched it yesterday!), but Nobunaga had absolutely nothing that would make it interesting for me, and you’re talking to someone who rarely – if at all – stops watching something after following it for several weeks.
A lil offtopic, but I’m glad you mentioned Magi, I followed your posts about the first season – we all know how it ended – as well as caught your introductory 2nd season post, so I wondered what you thought about it now that it’s over, because I really enjoyed it.
Don’t worry, I’ve been in a similar situation, with the same pride and unwillingness to admit that I made a mistake. That feeling of guilt, knowing that you need to do something you don’t want to do, isn’t pleasant, and it will only weigh on you more if you don’t take care of it. I found that people will generally support you, as long as you tell them instead of leaving them hanging and having to make assumptions about whatever the hell happened. Sure, some trolls will do their thing, some people will be upset, and others will disagree with your choice. Looking at the posts above, however, I’d say the readership here is generally understanding if you have to drop a show.
I appreciate that you took the time to explain yourself. I dropped Golden Time around the same time you stopped coverage because I found myself raging about various issues I had with it. After it ended, I went back and marathoned it, since I felt I might enjoy it more that way. I’m probably gonna do something similar with Nobunaga the Fool. As a blogger, however, you don’t really have the luxury of doing that, and if I was in your shoes, I’d probably feel the same way you did.
Since you were expecting a harsh backlash, but everyone above me has been so understanding, I’ll throw in a little service.
Show Spoiler ▼
When I was in a similar position, that ^ was the kind of reaction I was dreading, but, as I said above, most people won’t react that badly. Just try to provide prompt notice (if there’s a) next time, and I’m cool with whatever decision you make.
Our worst critics are usually in our minds…as long as we make sure to beat ourselves up so much that no one else can best us, lol
Yup, dropped Golden Time 5 episodes in ’cause there was a better drama called Nagi no Asukara.
Nobunaga the Fool, I don’t know why I’m still watching it.
And also the first half of GT was up against WA2 which was superb.
I’m surprised anyone is still watching Nobu the fool, I ignored it after the 1st ep because it was clearly the same old regurgitated Kawamori garbage. You and others like you probably deserve a medal of some kind.
OT, if a show fails to provide the stimulus and inspiration for you to write something then don’t sweat it.
It’s completely understandable why you dropped the series. The two shows have lost most of their appeal as the episodes went on.
Indeed, I was frustrated, and disappointed, at the lack of character development in Golden Time. I felt as though the Banri and whoever she was called (the girl from high school – I did drop quite early on) was quite forced. It’s pretty normal to separate in relationships and there is no reason to continue on some first-love when you have problems in the present to deal with. It’s actually pretty unfair to kyouko. I thought she was the most interesting and redeemable character out of the lot, but alas, she was beaten and trashed by a non-existent ghost.
As for Nobunaga the fool, nothing much need to be said. The supposed antagonists have skills worse than trash mobs – indeed if you compare the time in the episode for the purple mech to completely destroy the trash mobs, and the time for it to destroy CHarlemagne, the time used for Charlamagne is actually shorter than for the trash mobs; and here I thought these generals were supposed to be skilled at what they do, but no, they were probably even worse than a 3 year old playing on an xbox.
There was no character development whatsoever. I don’t agree Mitsuhide is an interesting character. He merely did what he had to do, no more, no less. I don’t see any conflicts whatsoever, particularly as purges were fairly common. Ichihime was probably the most interesting character followed by the supposed ‘knights’ of the round table and King Arthur. This is because there was actual dialogue that lets us see the conflicts between the characters. In contrast, Nobunaga, Jeane and the guy who pilots the green monkey-like mech had quite a forced characterisation, with no substance backing it.
It is also seriously failing in regards to plot progression. In essence, it could be characterised as pushing 50 odd episodes of Bleach into a few episodes? Why? The protagonists meet the enemies in waves. First it was the Takeda army. He lost and thus gave his Regalias away. Caesar stabs in in the back as the ‘next enemy’. Nobunaga rages, and attacks Caesar and gets beaten. Nobunaga ‘trains’ a la Bleach style. He comes back and beats Caesar. Then the next enemies come (Hannibal and Charlamagne) and lo they were decimated in 1 hit each. The knights of the round table could surely be replaced by normal foot soldiers from Dynasty Warriors with no issues whatsoever as they are frankly, that weak.
Yeah, I agree with everyone. There’s no reason for you to feel bad about it. But thanks for putting the effort into explaining to us as to your reasons why 🙂
Huh! Glad I dropped Nobunaga after the 3rd/4th episode. Just couldn’t get past how much of a douche he is and how Jean, who’s supposed to be an important character is pretty much useless, both as a character and with relevance to the plot…
The other Nobunaga show was much better, imo 😀
Golden Time.. Didn’t drop it but I admit that by the second half I lost most if not all of the anticipation before going into each new episode…
Final year of uni myself so the lack of time is something I can easily sympathize with but somehow I still manage to watch some 10-15 shows every season… Usually I just choose to sacrifice sleep TT
No worries. 😀 RL has to take precedence over blogging anime (this isn’t your job after all). I can empathize with how disappointing it can be when something in which you highly anticipate (anime show or whatever) turns out to be much less than you expected – especially if there are other simultaneous RL issues going on.
FWIW, I think you have a good idea regarding holding off on officially blogging a show until you’ve watched 3 or so episodes. It’s got to be frustrating (not to mention demotivating) to feel obligated to blog a show you don’t like rather than just be able to freely drop it and move on.
Frankly, you (and other RC bloggers) might want to take it a step further. Unless you’re quite certain you’ll like a show (e.g. Mushishi Season 2 for Enzo), don’t sign up to cover anything until you’ve watched 1-3 episodes.
Lastly, as you note, a little communication goes a long way. Prior to officially deciding what you’ll blog for a given season, add a sentence or two at the end of your initial reviews which lets people know your thoughts. (e.g. “Will not blog/watch this”, “Probably won’t blog this though I will watch”, or “Need one more episode to make sure, but likely to pick this up.”) Hopefully won’t be necessary, but the same is true if you do decide to drop a show.
This is a sign to stop blogging, for now. Start blogging again when you find inspiration and the time. Do this, or risk losing interest in anime or blogging permanently.
Or he can pick up a show he’s REALLY invested in. That should bring back that blogging spark.
Can anyone explain why RC feels beholden to producing a blog post for every episode of every show they cover? I can’t think that I’m the only person that would prefer to see a few higher quality posts that responded to larger chunks of a show (perhaps like this one that addressed the core problems that hampered both these series) than low-quality garbage where blogging a show means little more than a couple of paragraphs that just summarize the thing I was just watching. I would like to read something that raised interesting thematic points around a show that I’m too thick to clue in on than little bits that just tell what happened. I know what happened, I did just watch the show. Maybe that’s just me, though.
The slavish grovelling in this post borders on pathetic. Who owes anyone any sort of apology for not writing about cartoons every week. The shows sucked, so you didn’t want to write about them. That’s a good enough explanation for why you stopped right there. No need to take cartoon blogging so seriously.
it’s because of Divine’s legacy, anyone who’s been around when he was still blogging would really feel inspired and compelled to follow his steps.
Divine would blog like nearly everything that had a noticeable fandom, from the most popular to the least popular show. he’d also be ahead of most other anime bloggers since he watches the show just as it aired and can understand japanese (only other blogger I know would be Arudoc). he’d give a first impression of virtually every anime, and generally give a positive opinion of all of them. there’s also how much research and dedication, he’d try to find the source material such as the games, novels and manga for season previews and he can easily make everything sound good enough to watch, while still being objective of the episode(meaning he’ll call out the things the episode didnt do well or such). then he blogs the shows he picks til the end regardless of how things go south, oh and he also blogs 10+ anime when most everyone can handle around 1-3. he’s basically what really made random curiosity as big and famous as it is, when it was on the verge of trailing when omni left.
he’s really one of a kind, with only other blogger I know that’s like him being Arudoc, who ironically is like the total opposite of him when blogging…
anyways, when you know all of that, its no wonder he(and probably the other RC authors) feels like this. even Divine himself would also apologize whenever he’s late for an episode, even when he’s got perfectly valid reasons (like being sick for STAYING UP LATE AT NIGHT TO WATCH AND BLOG ON TIME).
oh and sorry zanibas for the rant, I just really felt really talking about Divine since I was just talking about him with a friend of mine…
@lol:
Wait… are you saying that we blog low-quality garbage all the time? o_O I realize that I don’t promise great pieces of literature every week, but I put more time into blogging a show than I do working for job my sometimes =S (same goes for many writers) so I’m sad you can’t see the amount of effort it takes to run a blog this size. On average, we blog what? 10 shows a week? Each post usually takes 3-4 hours, which means for a SINGLE person, this would equal a FULL TIME job of 30-40 hours. I think Div and Omni really were the only people that would take that type of commitment for FREE on this site (plus other stuff). The rest of us only do like 3 shows a week max. So I’m sorry that doesn’t translate well on this site for you =S
@amado:
You’ve pretty much nailed it. Div and Omni set huge expectations out of this site and they were very aggressive when they started this blog. What people expect from RC was all set out by them. That’s not a bad thing though because that means people rely on RC as a source for anime info or use it as a place to chill with common interests. I’m happy to see that their work hasn’t been for nothing and you (and many other readers) see the effort that they put in. It wasn’t a healthy living style and eventually they ran out of juice – but the legacy that they left behind has been something we all strive for now. I’m sure Div would be happy to hear that he’s still being thought of =)
To be honest, this is a policy the whole of randomc should use as well. Not to defame the reliability of other bloggers (or yours Zanibas, when compared to their’s), but it will ensure a higher degree of consistency in show blogging. The blogging schedule might end up a little blank as a result, but we’re fine with that. We know it’s probably going to fill up later on anyway.
Even better, you could follow spike’s advice from the Spring 2014 Preview comments:
typical NEET mistakes,
I forgive you Zanibas, because “we” have all been there, well not just blogging of course. haha
ALSO! Im curious what do you other people think? which is the better attitude towards blogging? Zanibas who dropped the show because he thought that the artistic value of the show he was blogging was super lame (lets just say he announced it when he was about to) or the other one who never dropped SAMURAI FLAMENCO and stuck with it to the end. Now i’m not saying the these shows mentioned were bad *cough* Flamenco *cough* they were certainly not to my tastes though, anyway just curious guys? answers?
I’m on the drop average and below average shows camp as long as there are much better ones to blog.
I didn’t watch Samumenco but I got that it was one of those “so bad it’s good” shows that was probably fun to criticize. Heck,I somehow regret not watching it because I figured the discussions surrounding it were fun. I’d probably consider such shows an exception. For instance,I’d want SAO 2 to be blogged since I consider it such a show. I think it’s shit,but I just know the discussions will be fun 😛
Thanks… I will forever be known as “the other one” then. >_>
Edit:
Not taking that personally – since you never followed my coverage, but then you probably didn’t know why I kept up with Samumenco then. I will tell you =)
a) I do feel a commitment to stick to shows that I choose to blog. Regardless of how bad/good/hyped up or TERRIBLE it is, I still feel obligated to finish that coverage. No one is going to know how a show turns out no matter how great the (or lack of) source material is… but if I started something, I feel obligated to myself (and readers) to finish it. That goes for a lot of things, not just anime blogging – but my job, my schooling and my social life.
b) I did think Samumenco would get better… it was an original anime and somehow, I just had the SMALLEST bit of hope it would get better at the end. It never recovered from that huge dip in the middle (but hey! Some people liked it! So I won’t bash on that) but the ending wasn’t abysmal.
c) Blogging is not just about adding more praise to something you love. I think a hard part about blogging (and one of the reasons I continue to write) is to share my opinion whether good or bad. Blogging Samumenco was one of the most challenging shows I’ve ever had to blog about (for 2-cour!) because there was SUCH a huge polar audience between people who loved and hated it – both of whom followed my posts. I’m not writing to tailor my posts to a certain audience, but I would be lying if I said that comments and readers don’t influence what I write a bit. Blogging to me – is about sharing my opinion about a show and improving my writing skills not just about promoting the show or bashing on it.
I think everyone blogs for different reasons and that’s going to impact your expectations of being a writer on RC and how/what you write about. Of course, everyone wants to blog a show that has more readership or a hyped up show (so hopefully it ends up well) but not everyone is going to get those gems all the time. The challenge is how to balance your expectations with the actual work that’s required while still enjoying what you do – because once you hate it, it’s hard to keep up with it.
lol, that was just to get your attention cherrie 😉 you are always be in my heart xoxo hahaha~! anyways, i thought you were cool to stick with samumenco to the end, i was just worried why the hell though? hahaha maybe M tendecies?
@n30nl16ht:
Made an edit to my post above lol.
Thanks ~ you’re always in my heart too <3333
First of all, I agree with you quitting is a bad sense of taste but its a choice nonetheless so zanibas, whatever you want to do man, we have no say in it but expect that there always will be haters.
Second of all, I love you even more cherrie for that guiding principle you have on yourself but yes I didnt follow much on your menco blog. it was kinda excruciating for me how you put up with it and to make up for that ill be avidly stalking your nanana coverage this season. haha
*hugs and kisses for you my dear*
i meant i hope you’ll blog nanana continuously, but if you really wont can i request you blog nisekoi? hehe.. i really like the adaptation so far despite it being somewhat a cliche for others, a shame no one is on it.
You know Zebra, I would not blame you for dropping Nobunaga…It’s a pain to watch it every week but sadly for me I’ve already invest half of the show so I’m going to turn M and torture my way through this horrific show Dx You’ve made the right choice!
I think the reason many of us are so disappointed is because RandomCuriosity has changed a bit too much from what it was. Posts are delayed days (sometimes weeks), the frequency of dropped shows is way up, bloggers come and disappear with no warning. It’s not really just you, it’s all the newer bloggers. In a time when there’s so many shows and so many blogs available – if an episodic blog’s not very close to on time, the purpose for reading said blog diminishes greatly. (kinda like how not many people are gonna bother read a review of the last Game of Throes episode 3 days after it airs) Omni and Divine were rocks that at least anchored the site at all times with their consistency. No one has yet come close to that and that’s why I personally come down hard on bloggers here because the frequency is far too high now.
FYI, late posts are way down in the past few seasons (I do monitor these things), and both Omni and Divine dropped shows. Did you know that Omni stopped after blogging 9 episodes of Mushishi? Just an example I noticed recently.
Beware of thinking the past was so much better than it really was. Omni & Divine were badasses to be sure, but I think we’re continuing in the best traditions of their efforts. It’s just easier to focus on the recent negatives than the ancient ones.
So in other words,it’s something that’s been building up by picking shows that weren’t what you expected in the last few seasons but deciding to keep on blogging them anyway.
You should follow Enzo’s advice in that it’s easier to bail out early before you start feeling committed to such shows.
No one’s going to blame you for dropping terrible anime, Zanibas.
I watched Golden Time all the way through…to my own detriment.
You made the 100% correct decision in dropping Golden Time. I trudged through it until the end for reasons inexplicable even to myself. I couldn’t help having high expectations as this came from the same mind as Toradora, but it was an absolute trainwreck from beginning to end due to content and directing.
As for Nobunaga, the latest episode sits in a folder on my computer waiting to be viewed, but I can’t figure out why I should bother except that it’s already at episode 14. I want it to be better, but I feel that I may be repeating my mistake with Golden Time and it may be time to just let it go.
TL;DR: Totally agree on all counts.
Nobunaga tarot themes, from ep 11.
Ep 11:Death in tarot represents major changes & transitions in life, which symbolizes the end of the old and the beginning of the new. (Death ends all life regardless of status, but also brings the promise of renewal, represented by the white rose on the black flag.) Elements of sudden and unexpected change can be present in a reading.
Caesar has benefited the most from changing strategies to directly confronting the Oda, instead of waiting for them to come to him. No longer underestimating his opponents, his proper marshaling of his forces has enabled him to kill off the 2 senior Oda advisors and advancing his allied forces to the Oda capital.
The unexpected blessing of the ley lines’ ‘dragon’ energies unto Caesar allowed him to narrowly escape defeat and quickly turn the tables in his favour, causing massive Oda casualties(literal Death) and overturning the effects of Nobunaga’s previous victory over his forces back at Takamagahara.( the new victory triumphs the old.)
However, there is still a chance for the Oda to renew themselves, via Nobunaga’s tea party proposal.
Ep 12: The Fool represents spontaneity and fearlessness, the ability to make decisions without doubt in order to move forward in life (the Fool sets forth on his great journey of self-discovery without hesitation or worry).
Nobunaga, the titular ‘Fool’ of the show, has always represented the more spontaneous aspects of the card with his carefree, eccentric nature & the brash audacity of his actions in the face of crisis. In contrast, Ichihime represents its fearless aspect, unafraid to do what is necessary to ensure the safety of the Oda clan. Not only does she immediately agree to marrying Caesar the moment he issued his terms, but does so on her own terms, vowing to kill him should anything go wrong with this arrangement(and eliciting shock from everyone present,even Nobunaga!!)
The reversed Ace of Swords symbolizes lack of mental clarity and clouded judgement, either regarding a specific situation or your aspirations. It is advised you seek the truth directly rather than taking things at face value. This is the reverse of the insight and mental reasoning that inspires you to reach your goals, symbolized by the upright Ace(the sword of one’s intellect is adorned with the crown of mental clarity).
The Ace mostly revolves around Mitsuhide and his inner troubles, where he must grapple with the fact that his stoicness, and devotion to ensuring Nobunaga’s position, has clouded his true feelings for Ichihime. By not opening up to anyone about how he personally feels, he not only gives off a standoffish appearance, but has also lost his chance be with Ichi, following her impending marriage to Caesar. The only consolation is that he was finally able to ascertain the truth on what Ichi’s feelings are for him and express his love for her, albeit indirectly.
The reversed Ace can also signify frustration and impending disaster, as seen through Mitsu’s dissatisfaction at Caesar’s marriage to Ichi, and the arrival of Generals Hannibal and Charlemagne to the Eastern Star.
The Empress represents feminine power, which creates beauty and fulfillment in life(the Empress is surrounded by, and connected to, lush forests and wheat, symbolizing beauty and prosperity).
The card relates heavily to Ichihime and Hannibal in this episode. Ichihime, exercising her unyielding determination as Oda’s princess and Caesar’s beloved, is able to sway Caesar into assisting Nobunaga and invoking Kenshin’s help, at the cost of his Round Table loyalties. Hannibal yields a darker, more violent version of feminity with her take-no-prisoners battle tactics and her absolute, S&M-control over Charlemagne, who serves her more like a devoted servant.
The Empress also shows us Caesar’s gentler, more ‘feminine’ side, through his baking skills(considered womanly by the West) and quiet, albeit awkward, conversation with his new wife.
Wow, didn’t expect to see this. I’m not good at writing, so bear with this :p but I think you’re putting too much pressure on yourself. It’s simply inevitable to drop shows sometimes, even as a reader we sometimes pick up shows that turn out differently than we have expected. And there’s no meaning blogging show you’re not interested in, right? 🙂
I don’t think you need to apologize in that matter, but I guess it’s good to know how seriously you take blogging 🙂
And I see that some people are talling about the fact that RC changed too much from wat it originally was, which might be true, but you know, it’s not up to you whether the site is changing..
So in short, don’t worry about it too much! 😀
I don’t think dropping Nobunaga the fool is a big deal, but like you said, you should have properly announced the dropping. This is a hard lesson but I hope you will learn from it the power of words. Announcing something is entirely different than secretly dropping it without telling anyone. Just a few words is enough ; ). But you need to say it.
As for the reason to drop Nobunaga, I totally sympathize with you. Man, this show is very potential but the plot is built up too slowly that I lost my interests after ep 6 or 7. It’s such a shame that I was, too, hyped up for this show but I ended up dropping just after 6 episodes.
Well, you may have dropped Golden Time, but at least you sort of like Chinami since you put her in your avatar…
I did watch Golden Time until the end, but as mentioned earlier it really jumped the shark.
At least the dramatic scenes with Linda were somewhat worth watching…
The whole Mitsu and Ichime issue is killing me t.t
Im still hoping for mitsu x ichi ending :C
I didn’t drop nobu cause I thought its just a 1 cour show lol XD
And there’s now way I can drop it now lol
What a coincidence. As someone who watched most shows you were talking about, I actually dropped Golden Time and Nobunaga a couple of episodes before you stopped blogging. Uchouten Kazoku was also one of the only two-cour anime that I watched weekly as well. So don’t feel bad for dropping the shows, I felt let down by them as well. Good luck with your next anime choices though, I enjoyed reading your Uchouten Kazoku blogs
I’m glad you are taking precautions, you do drop long half year commitments or entire second seasons, so it is disappointing to readers or people that like the shows especially since the more recent ones being frequent. Especially since other bloggers that had worst shows before stuck with it for fans. Starting off with just 1-cour shows and taking time to properly pick a show you like is a start and might rejuvenate your blogger passion.
It’s okay to drop a show once in while but it’s becoming too frequent and you just happen to be the one that gets the brunt for peoples frustrations of the site but the main thing is announce it.
Some of your promises are sound advice that should be considered by all bloggers on the site. All in all I don’t mind the fewer shows per person if it means getting the blog up in timely manner and more commitment to projects.
With so many bloggers now I wonder how much you guys have to go through to be able decide who picks that must watch show and how many of you blog shows mildly interested in since the more popular shows are taken.
I’ll say it again – RandomC has always dropped shows if we felt it was necessary. Both Omni and Divine did it. Just because people focus on the recent negatives rather than the ancient ones doesn’t mean the ancient ones didn’t exist.
As for our blogging picks, we’ve had a really easy time deciding on coverage the last few seasons. Most everyone has been getting what they wanted, even if sometimes what they wanted turns out to be a mistake (I feel ya, Zani).
It’s all good, things happen; I’m honestly surprised at how nice you’re being about it. It shows that Randomc has much more integrity than most other blogging sites. Most would just outright say that they don’t care, they just blog to critique the show focusing on the flaws rather than both sides. It’s nice that you’re going about it and attacking it head on to get your jive back.
As for Golden Time, while I agree with your criticisms I feel it is the kind of show that sort of connects better with certain people. I connected with it very well since I was in a similar sort of relationship with my ex. Not that either of us lost our memories, but the dynamic between us was so flawed yet I wanted it to work out and most of the time I felt she did as well. Unfortunately between the two of us we didn’t have Yana, Chinami or 2D-kun to support us, her side consisted of yandere girls and my side consisted of people seething with jealousy. She was more of a preppy type, sort of like Koko, and I was sort of a modest type like Banri. We both had tons of ghosts following us, it was an utterly psychotic and bizarre situation.
Golden Time seems like the go-to anime for people who have been in defective relationships, one may easily say School Days or Mirai Nikki, but my brother was the one who dealt with those and somehow came out alive. (We both had really bad taste in women.)
I think your being too hard on yourself, but its cool your recognizing your mistake.
I totally agree with your decision with Golden Time. As much as I wanted to enjoy that show, sitting through it was sometime just torture and I found myself stepping away and forgetting to watch it.
Nobunaga the Fool – watched the first episode, didn’t get past the first 10 minutes.
Don’t worry about it man. As someone who’s also a college student, I’ve also been dropping shows left and right. Like you, I was extremely optimistic about Nobunaga the fool, but that optimism and excitement just…… died off for me. Like you mentioned, it was lots of wasted potential, and Caesar was a huge factor of being a horribly written protagonist. Even Nobunaga, with all his gusto got extremely boring as the show went on.
I dropped Golden Time around the beach episode. The episodes leff over from previous weeks were growing in number, and at that point I decided I didn’t really enjoy the show at all. I liked the initial episodes, but it felt like everything was said and done by, I dunno, episode 5 or 6. The rest of the series felt like it was dragging on and on and on. Absolutely nothing new or exciting or remotely interesting happened. So, really, I don’t blame you for dropping it.
Don’t feel bad, I didn’t. Golden Time was unwatchable; at least for me.
Man you should of blogged Nobunagun over The Fool which was one of the most enjoyable shows of the season for me 😛 Actually I asked you about it on ep 1 XD Btw did you watch Nobunagun and if you did what were your thoughts and would you of blogged it in retrospect?
I WISH I could drop Nobunaga the Fool (I just love Ichihime so much) and I still feel SO MUCH REGRET for not dropping Golden Time, and it’s so ironic because I WANT MY WASTED GOLDEN TIME BACK.
You did well.
I felt bad for you having to stick with Nobunga. I dropped it after the first 2 shows into the season. But I always tried to read the blogs to confirm I made the right decision. I naturally assumed you’d drop it after the Winter season was over. Because surely there is plenty of much better shows now that we’re out of the slump.
dont blame you for dropping both series. golden time started off with an interesting premise, peaked early, and was sliding precipitiously downhill after episode 6 or 7. As for nobunaga, i suspect also that you could replace dumbass for fool, and it wouldn’t make any difference.
Before Golden Time aired,I had so high expectation for it (reason be explained in my post in GT first few episode.) But It proved me wrong.It’s just deserve 5-6/10 at max.Whole issues,story line u can play with be it university level,not just adolescence highschool,but only thing in this whole story is all but Banri amnesia.First few episode problems are out of place events,inconsistency flow/speed of each episode (too fast/too slow),some characters act are so forced (feel unnatural). After about half of 24 episodes,It all turn in to all but Banri amnesia. Toradora author should be more creative than this.Why he/she could creat the great Toradora but fail Golden Time so bad is beyond me.Even the final episode,it still Banri amnesia!
Ah college, ive been there so i understand your pain.
As for the shows, I havent watched Golden Time and I probably never will. I just cant find the drive to watch it for some reason.
As for Nobunaga, god that show was crap. I gave up on it at episode 5 or something. Maybe it was the bad character development or the stupid ass plot, but something turned me off badly. I wouldnt be surprised if hordes of people dropped it early on
Though very off topic, but I found the lack of coverage in RC for “Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie III: The Rebellion Story” to be very saddening, hopefully someone pick it up. When it comes to blogging sites concerning anime, RC is always one my primary destination of choice since I discovered this site in 2009, and a lot of OVAs and movies have been covered here also, so yeah hoping for a Rebellion coverage soon…
I’ve been holding back on posting for it because I’ve felt that there hasn’t been a notable enough group to provide subs for it and I feel a fair amount of people are waiting on that to happen before they watch.
In any case, there’ll be coverage for Rebellion sometime in the next week or two. Post is done. Just have to do caps.
I see, I would love to read the opinions of the RC crowd with regards to Rebellion, because my observation and experience from reading reddit, puella magi wiki, and numerous other sites was there are multiple interpretation and many different theories as what transpired in the movie which I found very fascinating, there is just so many things to discuss with regards to Rebellion. I would be waiting for your post in RC then.
Thanks…
There’s a reason why there is ZERO hype for Nobunaga the Fool in 4chan: the constant fear that Kawamori will turn it into nothing but Aquarion EVOL 2.0. It sounds ridiculous, but this is Kawamori we’re talking about, so it is a very rational fear.
We just around for the shenanigans and the delicious Mitsu suffering.
Personally, I’d rather see bloggers drop shows they aren’t enjoying. For two reasons: the obvious one being “Why the hell are you watching something you aren’t enjoying? What a waste of time.”; the second one is that if a blogger isn’t enjoying the show it tends to reveal itself in the writing and that post on the episode will set the tone for any discussion that follows after.
In other words, if you guys are blogging things you aren’t enjoying you’re likely tearing it to shreds when you post your personal impressions–that kind of stuff is detrimental to healthy discussion about a show. I know, personally, the last thing I want is to say “Oh! Post on such-and-such is up!” and excitedly check it out only to see a bunch of criticisms on the show. When that kind of stuff happens to me, I tend to feel like “Bwah? Is it really that bad?” and it definitely puts a damper on my enjoyment of the show.
Having said that, I’d like to point out that Stilts has had a good approach the past couple (or more?) seasons, with his continued blogging of previewed shows that interest him until he decides what (if any) to settle on. Obviously time concerns could be an issue, but I think that sort of approach is a healthy way for the writer to settle on what shows they want to talk about–definitely better than trying to make a relatively uninformed decision before the season even starts.
funny, my mind turned to a certain blogger over at Star Crossed when you mentioned
ripping andtearing into some shows… (fyi, it didn’t come into mind when Stilts glanced on that way back at the top of the comments)And honestly, I think there should be NO schedules for any shows that are going to be blogged until week 3 or 4 (unlike locking into some shows from the get-go, though the writers are dead on most of the times) and instead use more snapshots during those first few weeks.
@info600
I’m not familiar of the blog you speak of and I wasn’t really trying to comment on Stilts comment–if the show’s community wants to rip or tear into something, go for it. That’s why we have shows that are so bad, they’re good, right? But, at the same time, I feel like the goal of a community like RC should be to encourage healthy discussion of a show–that includes criticism. But, criticism should be tempered by the knowledge that if people are watching a show there’s at least something they’re enjoying in it. At the least, criticism shouldn’t make a reader feel bad for enjoying something that the writer doesn’t enjoy. And even on RC (only on preview posts, really) I’ve seen incredibly harsh posts against shows that sometimes don’t take into account that just because the writer isn’t enjoying it, doesn’t mean the show lacks an audience.
Any form of entertainment enjoyment is almost entirely subjective and up to personal taste–often times people forget that. I know many people (bloggers, commenters, and forumites) that have been active nearly the whole time I’ve watched anime (over ten years now) and our tastes have diverged drastically over the years. Some people watch for originality, some people watch for fun, and some people just take things as they come. But, it makes me sad when people forget that just because they don’t enjoy something doesn’t mean others aren’t having a blast with it.
Dont mind Zanibas! fighto!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FURFmya0Fzw
HHHHNNNGGG!!
Golden Time was good! Yeah, I said it!
Nobunaga the Fool on the other hand was a big disappointment. I don’t really like any of the characters as much as I thought I would. I thought Nobunagun would be worse than The Fool, but I was wrong. Nobunagun was actually better than I thought and more entertaining than The Fool.
It’s sad that Nobunagun ended earlier than The Fool ;/
I don’t mind the small stuff. To be honest, these two shows were lucky to give some interest to the selective viewers. Firstly, I finished watching Golden Time before I realized that it was off RC. Secondly, I started Nobunaga The Fool later when its second-cour came around and I marathoned it. Finally, both shows were there for me to just kill time so whatever. And Zanibas is just showing some responsibility as a blogger and consideration for the readers so that deserves a level of respect.
I was surprised you lasted so long. Why write about something that sucked? No criticism from here.
Oh man, this post hits home for me. I started an anime blog a few months ago during break, thinking It would be really interesting to blog shows I like and give my own analysis and comments. I thought I could maybe start small, by blogging two shows a week, blogging about several first episodes. I even decided to try to do more like cover manga and manhwa. However, shortly after break ended and I had to go back to college, my responsibilities piled up and I eventually stopped blogging. At the moment I don’t have much time to continue my blog, and although I only have 10 or so followers, I feel it’s wrong to promise to update the blog and not hold to my promises.
I do have an interest in returning to blogging, however I would really need to start smaller, perhaps by narrowing down what I really want to write about. Most importantly, I have to also try my best to stick to what I say I’m going to do and not quit without notice, or not quit if possible.
I’m glad I could read this post so I could reflect on my own tendencies as well, and I’m also glad you’re trying to better yourself as a blogger. Don’t overwork yourself, life gets busy, but I’m still looking forward to reading what you have to say, as do many other people, as you already know! 😀
You know…Random Curiosity was one of a kind and bloggers like Omni and Divine set a high standard which I think we as readers take for granted. For that, we should take some blame ’cause each bloggers here are your own and each of you bring something special to this forum. Even more so, you all make up Random Curiosity now (keeping the legacy alive as well) and we need to stop comparing you to those before you. Added to that note, I as an advent otaku and a follower of RC since Omni have noticed that anime series nowadays aren’t the same as it used to. I remember waking up at the crack of dawn and manically clicking the “refresh” button to watch the newest Code Geass episode or not sleeping for 24 hours for Fate/Stay night episode…all the while reading the blogs here at RC afterwards. Now, I just blazed through thinking “well, that’s cliche,” ” so predictable,” or simply lost interest within minutes. So to imagine a blogger covering said series- that’s just torture.
Then again, an announcement would of work instead leaving us hanging and wondering when the next post is coming. The uncertainty and waiting bring out the worst of us. Beside, as a blogger, that much of responsibility is owed. On the other hand, this post I feel your pain and your sincerity and honestly, I didn’t notice they were dropped until I saw this post. So lesson learned, and now let’s move on.
Zanibas, please don’t hurt yourself over this, please don’t overwork yourself. Relax-maybe take a break and re-think things or life in general, and then hopefully, we will read another post from you soon.
In fact, I actually would prefer if RC bloggers could be more dynamic in covering their shows. I dropped Golden Time myself when I saw I just can’t liking the direction at all, while on the other side White Album 2 continues to shines very bright and no one in RC decides to pick it up for blog. (Well, there’s Enzo on his personal blog, but I won’t mind if for example…you dropped GT for WA2 in RC, Zanibas :p)
The alternative would be a bi-weekly post or simply an end series review just to conclude the series blogging. I also wouldn’t mind for other variations such as a more flexible show picking system or probably a three-episode-rule reviews :p
Also, other posts such as VN reviews would be a blessing! Been a long time after seeing other interesting posts other than seasonal preview and series blogging :3
I think a three episode review is a great idea!
Well the bit about not picking up WA was that not many others were watching it at the time and writers aren’t allowed to pick up shows past a certain point in the season in order to discourage constant dropping of/picking up of shows to replace them.
As for the ideas you’ve listed, yeah we’ve been pondering some of them as potential alternatives. We’ll see how it goes!
And last but not least… yeah I’d love to do a VN post at some point, but haven’t had to time to do one or play much of the VN variety lately sadly. -_-
I’d just like to say I’m really glad for everything everybody on RC has done for us readers so far 🙂
I can’t believe RC just dropped this show for good.
You’ll never know what’s coming after 14 episodes of Nobunaga the Fool. Some say it’s started to get interesting again.
I also lost interest in both this shows maybe about the same time. It is truly hard to admit when one is wrong when you get emotionally invested and have to tell people that you were wrong.
Zanibas, don’t be too hard on yourself. You are doing this because you like it, and I suppose for free. If anyone got angry with you for dropping a show, even if it was without notice, well, they should just get over it. Talk about first world problems.
And this comment comes from someone who disagrees with you on Oreimo 😉
Looking forward to your posts 🙂
Caesar is absolutely the best character in Nobunaga the Fool. Episode 14 proves that beyond any doubt. Caesar is awesome, manly, betrays his comrades for love, and treats Ichihime well. Mitsuhide is simply an overdramatic backstabber, and his suffering is well deserved.
While I may not agree with your opinions and negative views on Golden Time or The Fool, you have every right to have that opinion and should not feel obligated or feel forced to continue watching anime you don’t enjoy. Especially when you’re having enough to worry about with school. Admittedly, you could have done a better job of properly announcing you were dropping them, but that’s nothing for anyone to begrudge you over.
Nobody will ever read your posts again zanibas since you will drop every anime you try to cover.
That’s quite enough from you. I shouldn’t be seeing multiple replies in a row from the same person in the same post essentially saying the same thing. Any further comments of a similar nature will be construed as spam and removed. It won’t be my fault if this leads to your subsequent inability to post.
Don’t worry. I dropped Golden Time too.
Don’t even worry about dropping these shows! Frankly I’m surprised that any of you have the time to cover one, much less MULTIPLE shows at once, created lengthy and in-depth reviews along with screen caps! Its really impressive what you accomplish as is, so don’t feel bad! Also, I don’t blame you for dropping shows that you aren’t enjoying – no one has time to watch a show they don’t even LIKE! (I also dropped Nobunaga the Fool – for pretty much the same reasons as you).
I haven’t dropped Nobunaga the Fool just yet, but I have started fast forwarding the episodes more and more now. To be honest this anime was a real disappointment. The reason I continue to watch it is because I really want to know the outcome in the end. But what really disappoints me with this anime is the main character female Jeanne. First of all, the opening theme made it seem like she could fight with a sword (totally fooled), second of all, Im really upset of the fact that they made her dress like a boy in every last episode,I mean everyone knows she’s a girl. And the only reason they made her dress like that in the first place was because of what the princess ( Ichihime) would think due to her looks. But come on, Ichihime saw right through her and frankly speaking, she really doesnt care. So why still dress like that with that ridiculous name ( Ranmaru). I Have not a clue. Third of all and this is most upsetting, why the heck did they create her with large breast if they dont even show them on the anime? Im not a pervert or anything but I just think its a waste of a character drawing that’s all
My Golden Time Review