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Even More Dazzling Radiance! (The Sunshine Blogger Award)

The Otaku Author The Sunshine Blogger Award 2

That’s right, it’s another blogging tag post. Don’t look like that, these are a lot of fun and they take all the hassle out of coming up with topics to blog about. You just take the questions provided and go nuts…

The Sunshine Blogger Award

Unlike the last tag I completed, The Unpopular Opinions Tag, this one has some rules, and as a stickler for the rules, this is far more comforting. It’s like people that write by the seat of their pants… I just don’t get it! I need structure and with the Sunshine Blogger Award, that is what you’re going to get. So, here are those rules.

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you in the blog post and link back to their blog.
  2. Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you. (I’ll answer both sets of questions.)
  3. Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
  4. List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.
Sunshine Blogger Award

Isn’t that better? It’s only four little rules, but it just makes life that much simpler. First things first, let’s thank 7mononoke at Anime Rants for nominating me for this award. I’ll keep it short so as not to invoke the Oscar’s style you’ve been talking too long music… So, thanks 7mononoke. You rock! And now for the questions.

1. For you, how do you tell if an anime is high-quality in terms of visuals?

Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Episode 26 Muzan Kibutsuji's New Form

This is not nearly as simple a question to answer as one might think. Two shows that instantly spring to mind when I’m thinking about high-quality visuals are Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Violet Evergarden. It shouldn’t take any too long to realise that the quality of the artwork and animation is top-notch. However, one of the things that can catch the casual viewer out if the fluidity of the movement, because it doesn’t often come with the same level of clean artwork. For this, I’m going to call on Tower of God as a recent example where the artwork itself looks a little lazy. The real joy with this style of animation is with how well it all moves. After the first episode, I’ll admit I wasn’t sold on the animation, but once it had the chance to really come to life, I started to appreciate it much more.

2. Do you like to listen to anime OSTs sometimes?

Almost to the exclusion of all other types of music… I have an Apple Music account and a playlist that I add new songs to each season. There are lots of really catchy OPs and EDs, but I also have a couple of full OSTs that I like to listen to while writing fiction. Because I tend to write darker stories with lots of action, shows like Claymore or The Rising of the Shield Hero have perfect OSTs with lots of dramatic tension and high impact tracks. It’s easier to listen to OSTs while writing as they usually don’t have any words or singing which can slip into my writing if I’m not careful.

3. What’s an anime that you consider a masterpiece?

Cowboy Bebop Team

I have given thirty shows/seasons full marks on MAL… maybe, I’m a little too free and easy with my scoring, but then if I loved it, I loved it. Ten out of ten! However, there is one that just about stands above the others and that is Cowboy Bebop. It has an amazing array of genres within one show and each episode feels like something unique and wonderful, but all the while, it manages to drive the story on. It’s a show I really need to revisit.

4. What’s an anime that’s so horrible you think it shouldn’t exist?

Wow! You’re not pulling any punches with the questions so I won’t with this answer. The short answer is Plunderer and the long answer is still Plunderer. I hated this show. The story was a complete mess, the pacing was horrible and inconsistent, the main character was an unrelenting sexual predator, the girls seemed horrified by his actions but still feel for him, there were so, so many flaws. Had I not committed to reviewing episodically, I would have dropped it after the third episode, however, I ended up watching all twenty-four episodes and that just made me hate it even more.

5. What are your favourite colours for anime eyes?

Highschool of the Dead Episode 5 Saeko's Impressed

Basically, the answer was going to be whatever colour Saeko Busijima‘s eye are and since they are clearly blue, that will be my answer. Honestly, I’ve never really paid that much attention to eye colour in anime, however, I do love the designs of the eyes in Fire Force. They have some really cool ideas and I’m looking forward to finding out if they end up meaning anything or not.

6. Can you help me think of some cover/banner image ideas for Anime Rants?

I’d probably go with a close up of an anime mouth that appears to be yelling or screaming or ranting. Probably some over-powered shounen character screaming as they power up. As for the layout, I would put it on one side of the screen and then have the text in line with the middle of the mouth.

7. Did you know I have a Patreon account now? I’ll link it at the end of the post.

I do, but mostly because of the way this question is worded. The platform is something I’ve been aware of for some time and have seen it work and also fail. I hope you’ll find success with it and I’d be interested to see a post further down the road on how you’re finding it.

8. About how old were you when you got into anime?

Akira Tetsuo

It was about the time that Akira made it to Channel 4 in the UK, which was sometime in the early 1990s. Before that, I had always been a big fan of animated shows, often ignoring all the live-action shows that were popular with my friends. I must have been about thirteen at the time and was instantly seduced by grown-up animation. It had violence, action, nudity, and swearing… I didn’t stand a chance!

9. In your opinion, can an anime still be “good” and have poor, cheap art/animation?

I think anything is possible, but it’s obviously going to be tough to compete. The rise in 3D CGI modelling in anime is something that constantly gets brought up and rightly so. There are too many shows that seem to fall back on it as a cheaper option. The big problem I find is with how it doesn’t blend with the more traditional style and that just makes any flaws that much more apparent. That said, there’s a lot more to being a good anime than just animation. It’s a pretty large part, but I can be compensated for.

10. Do you have trouble getting motivated to write blog posts and if so why do you think that is?

Haha! No, my problem is the opposite. I am regularly trying to slow down my posting schedule so that I can refocus my efforts on writing fiction. The problem is blogging is much more instantly gratifying. I can write up a post in thirty minutes and then release it, knowing that I’ll get some likes, views, and maybe a comment or two. Writing fiction takes a lot longer and I won’t get any of those good feelings until it’s done and even then, it’ll take time. Maybe, I should look at services like WattPad to create the same sort of experience.

11. Have you ever taken an MBTI 16 Personality test and if so what type were you?

The Otaku Author INTJ

As it would happen, I have and this was the result. I feel like that pretty much sums me up, too.

So, that’s my answers to 7mononoke’s questions and they certainly gave me plenty to think about. Referring back to the rules, it says that I need to nominate eleven bloggers. That seems like a lot, but I’ll give it a go.

Nominations

And your questions are…

  1. If you could see one anime again for the first time, what would it be and why?
  2. If you had to teach a class on one thing, what would you teach?
  3. If you could be any supernatural creature, what would you be and why?
  4. If you had a time machine, would go back in time or into the future?
  5. If you could add a word to the dictionary what would you add and what would it mean?
  6. If you could pick up a new skill in an instant what would it be?
  7. If extraterrestrials landed on earth and offered to take you with them, would you go?
  8. If you could choose your age forever, what age would you choose and why?
  9. What would the title of your autobiography be?
  10. What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
  11. The zombie apocalypse is coming, who are the three anime characters you want on your team?

I’m sure some of you may have already been tagged with the before and there’s no pressure to do another one. If all I do is send some readers in your direction then I have done my job. Anyhow, that’s it for this post. Thanks for reading.

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6 Comments

  1. Just when I thought I had caught up on Sunshine nominations!

    Also I feel like Ive seen that last zombie question before…

    • Haha. You might have seen all of those questions before…

      You’re welcome…

    • Thanks, I loved the visuals of that scene with Muzan and grabbed a load, almost as many as in episode 19 for the fight. Seems so long ago, I’d almost forgotten how impressive the animation was.

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