The Sunshine Blogger Award II

It’s been over a month since I last wrote about an award post and I mentioned last time that I liked the format of this award. I’ll try to mix it up for my next one. So in the spirit of Christmas and the holidays, I thought I’d take this chance to answer a few fun questions and highlight some of the other bloggers I’ve been interacting with recently. A big thank you to Kindle at Nichi Nichi-chan for nominating me. Kindle primarily writes very detailed and thoughtful weekly posts about some of the most interesting shows of each season – they put my Episodic Thoughts to shame. One of my favorite posts of theirs was Aria – A nod to traditional Japanese aesthetics.

[Rules]:

Thank the person who nominated you in a blog post and link back to their blog.
Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write then 11 new questions.
List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

Kindle asked me: 

1. What’s your preference in clothing? Smart-casual? Trench coats? Etc.?

This is an interesting time for me to be answering this question as I’ve just recently gone out of my way to kind of reinvent my wardrobe. I’ve never been somebody who cared about what I wear and so I typically stuck to the plain, old, T-shirt and jeans combo. I’ve got a couple of dressier articles of clothing heading my way this Christmas and what better way to start into the new year than with a new style. If I improve my fashion sense than perhaps my life will improve as well. That’s “Plan: A” anyway.

2. What’s the story behind your online handle/name?

It’s always interesting to read about the etymology of somebody’s handle and so I’ve always been a little irritated that my own current one doesn’t have a more interesting story. I believe it was a direct inspiration from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time and the character Matrim Cauthon. After using it so many times and so often, ‘Cauthan’ became more of an identity than a reference or gaming tag and so I’ve stuck with it.

3. Cats or dogs?

Dogs. I want a pet that loves me. Not one that bends the whole of its willpower towards actively disregarding me.

4. Do you think you’ll still be watching anime 10 years from now? Why, and why not?

If I have any say in the matter, I’d like to still be watching anime 100 years from now. That’s assuming that it’s still around and that Index and Spice & Wolf’s third seasons have economically supplemented the industry for the length of all foreseeable time. Anime just has so many artistic variables to it and I love so many of them that I can’t see myself stepping away. It’s a medium of art and storytelling that I currently enjoy more than any other and I hope I’m able to appreciate it for years to come. At least until it becomes irreversibly consumed by moe idol shows. It’s happening now! The end of anime is nigh. Am I right or am I right?

5. Ever thought that you’re better off spending time with something else instead of anime?

Quite the opposite actually. Whatever else I’m doing usually feels mundane and pointless because I can’t justify spending my free time on it. When I watch anime or a movies, they’re stimuli. I can translate the time I spend watching to becoming a better writer, being more creative, and simply having more influences to draw upon. With that said, MAL says I’ve watched over 100 days now and at least one of those shows was Chaos Dragon, so yeah, I could likely be spending my time better in some regards.

6. You got yourself $100000000000000 cash for some reason. What’s the first thing you’re going to buy?

The first thing I’d buy – probably the services of somebody more financially intelligent than me to help me manage my absurd wealth. Too boring of an answer for a ‘wave a magic wand’ question? Agreed. I’d buy an animation studio in Japan and put the money towards making some of the greatest anime of all time while hopefully influencing the economic standards of the industry in some meaningful way. Artists should be paid more for their passion and time. That seems fanciful enough of an answer.

7. Any plans of going on a trip to Japan?

No concrete plans to travel there however I would love to go someday.

8. What’s your favorite book (fiction and or non-fiction)?

I used to read far more than I do now. Which is to say, I used to read a lot – and now I read hardly anything. If manga counts, then my favorite is Berserk by miles. If not, then I don’t really have a favorite book that comes to mind. My favorite book series is likely Lord of the Rings – I love a good dose of high fantasy.

9. I am currently fanboying over Ghibli films, and I can’t seem to shut up talking about it in Tweeter. Have you seen any of their films? If so, what’s your thought on them, and what is/are your favorite film/s?

I love Ghibli and I’ve seen most of their films. I think they are great movies and while I don’t love the degree to which they’ve become the face of Japanese animation in the west, they more than deserve the recognition they’ve received. The fact that such ingenious creators like Miyazaki and Hisaishi could come to work together on the same projects just seems unfair to other creators who could never hope to reach that level of artistic collaboration and creativity. My intent is to eventually see all of Ghibli’s films however for the time being, my list is incomplete. My favorite Ghibli movies are: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky – in that order. I’d have Mononoke as the clear favorite.

10. What’s your comfort food?

There likely isn’t anything tastier and more efficient in this world than rice. What’s better than rice? Chicken and rice. What’s better than chicken and rice? Stir fry. I lay awake every night staring at my ceiling and lusting after good stir fry. I love it all.

11. Are you a morning person?

Definitely not. I wake up because it is necessary that I do so. Were this not the cast, I would likely slumber forever like some kind of Lovecraftian monster.

My Nominations: 

Here are some of the people and blogs I’ve been interacting with recently that deserve some recognition thrown their way.

1. RishRaff, B-Ro, and LowKev @ RishRaff Anime Reviews: They just recently celebrated their 1-year anniversary and if you’re looking for some good, old-fashion, anime reviews then look no further. My favorite part about their review format is the different impressions at the end where they decompress about the show and offer various perspectives on the show.

2. D @ D Talks Anime: A really active anime reviewer. They write full-length, comprehensive reviews as well as episodic impressions of older shows as they watch them. Currently they’re finishing out Zankyou no Terror.

3. Karandi @ 100 Word Anime: I’m sure Karandi gets 10 or more award nominations a day and so there may be some futility in giving them a shout out here but might as well add one more to the mountain. They produce more content and read more blog posts than should be possible so here’s to recognizing that incredible effort. They write a staggering number of weekly reflections, opinion pieces, and anime reviews that are well worth a read.

4. Lita @ Kino Reviews: Another highly active blogger. Lita writes impression pieces, favorites lists, reviews, blog spotlights – you name it. She is also currently writing her 12 Days of Anime posts so if you’re looking for something festive, check them out. Also, a belated Happy Birthday to you Lita.

5. Kopo @ Criticism and Thoughts: The most cynical guy around. He writes some of the more critical anime reviews out there and if a healthy dose of skepticism sounds enlightening then do check him out. He writes game reviews as well. I hear that when he first watched Toradora! his heart grew three sizes that day.

6. Pokeninja @ Nice Job Breaking it Hero: They host a kind of stream-of-consciousness blog where they write about various games and anime impressions. Their ‘Last Week Today’ series is a recap of their own work each week as well as a community spotlight for other blogs.

7. Weekend Otaku @ Weekend Otaku: One of the blogs I’ve started following most recently – I love the layout of their site as well as the format of their write-ups. Weekend Otaku has some of the lengthiest, most detailed, reviews I’ve read in a while and if you don’t mind reading through a sometimes staggering amount of content, then they are a goldmine.

8. Lethargic @ Lethargic Ramblings: Another one of the blogs I’ve begun reading recently. They’ve got a bunch of provocative opinion pieces about anime and the state of the medium as well as well as their own various impressions of airing shows. Their most recent post which was an award-style retrospective look at anime in 2016 was a fun read.

9. Raistlin @ Raistlin0903: If you want variety in your reviews then he’s got it. Books, board games, movies, TV-shows, anime, and more. Raistlin is a fun guy to talk to and his wide range of topics should present something for everyone.

10. Scott @ Mechanical Anime Reviews: Scott writes some great seasonal anime posts and reviews as well as a large number of brief impression posts in the form of anime challenges.

11. Remyfool @ The Lily Guardian: The best thing about Remy’s blog is the straightforward and candid way they go about writing their weekly posts and reviews. They post about various anime and their ‘What About’ series covers certain tropes, conventions, and topics in brief and entertaining write-ups.

My Questions:

1. What show or movie are you most looking forward to next seeing?

2. Has there ever been a show that you initially disliked upon seeing it the first time however ended up enjoying it the second time around? Y̶e̶a̶h̶,̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶n̶e̶i̶t̶h̶e̶r̶

3. What’s your favorite underrated anime? What show deserves far more recognition than it currently has?

4. Do you have a favorite actor, voice actor, or seiyuu? If so, who?

5. You’re dreadfully thirsty – what’s your perfect thirst quencher?

6. What’s your favorite Opening (OP) or Ending (ED) sequence in anime?

7. Who or what is your favorite antagonist?

8. What’s a key feature of a show that you look for to determine whether you like it or not?

9. What is one thing you wish you could change about your favorite show or movie?

10. What was your favorite anime that aired this year (2016)?

11. What are you looking forward to in 2017?

Uhghhgh. These award posts are long. I could have written an entire review in all this time! I’ll have to outsource my next review to somebody else. Just write it like a machine that has only just barely gained emotional sentience. Also write it with the intent to extinguish the hope and joy of those who enjoyed whatever show it was through your cold and critical opinions. It’ll be great – nobody will be able to tell the difference.

Jokes aside, thanks again to Kindle for the questions. Hopefully some of my answers were fun to read. No pressure on any of the nominees to write a response post and if you do, I hope you enjoy the questions. Happy holidays everyone.