Well, technically Subaru… I think I have your attention now. Good people of the Internet, as the recently hired writer for the blog, I’d like to personally welcome you to kotatsu.club. I am Jared “SnYves” Popelar (rhymes with knives). I study physics and eventually math at Colorado School of Mines, and as I mentioned previously, a reviewer/writer for CSM Anime Club. If you ever do decide to swing by and say hello, there will be a 99% chance I’ll be there as well.

It’s that time of year again, halfway through the year, which means it’s time for Chris’ top ten from 2 years back! But I don’t even remember what I watched yesterday Rules for the list: Anime on this list are those that finished in 2014. That means that anime that finished airing in 2015 were not considered for this list; conversely, anime that began in 2013 and finished in 2014 are fair game.

So.. admin access to http://minesblog.com/anime was misplaced or something and the site finally went offline. We decided to create a new site so that not posting will at least be a choice. All previous content has been imported with tag minesblog.

Out of everyone I know, I seem to be the only one who actively considers the Solstices.  The Summer and Winter Solstices, which occur between 20th and 22nd of June and December, respectively, mark the official start of those seasons (regardless of what your vacation calendar would have you believe).  Thanks to the elliptical orbit of the earth, they are also the days on which the Earth receives the most and least sunlight.  They are literally the high and low points of the year.

As such, the Winter Solstice marks a time for reflection: reflection of one’s goals and on one’s actions (like those times you played Kantai Collection during meetings, when you secretly enjoyed watching Ore Twintail ni Narimasu, that one Toonami-related Sporkle quiz you failed, CONFESS!!!).  But it’s also a time for celebration, and today, we recall the Top 5 Most Memorable Anime of 2014.  Why only the Top 5?  Because the annals of time (as well as your ADD-riddled mind) will only remember the shows and experiences that most deeply touched you in any given year, and on this given year, there are exactly 5 shows that made the cut.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

Most would rate a year based on the best anime of the season, this is why we tend to look so longingly at 2008 or 2011. It’s fine to look at anime that way, since there’s only enough time in the day to watch the good stuff. When you start watching a little too much anime, that’s when you also have to look at everything else. Particularly, I’m speaking to the BAD anime; and BOY was there a metric ton of that this year. In terms of contrast between the worst of the worst, and the best of the best, this was the best year of anime we’ve had.

People throw around top 10s based on whatever flippant standards they have for anime, but mine follow the same set of rules:

• The show FINISHED in 2014
• No season 2s, movies, or OVAs
• Based only on author’s awful opinion in anime

This means that some odd picks that you may remember from last year will pop up on this list, such as Shirobako *hint hint future me*.

You know a blog is dead when the previous years’ top 10s share the page with the current years’ top 10. However this won’t stop anyone from making a top 10 anyway. No one should care! I don’t and neither should you!

As usual, the rules to this top 10 are simple:

• The show FINISHED in 2013
• The show is not a movie or OVA
• Second Seasons or whatever are fair game for this list
• Then why isn’t railgun S2 on this list
• Or Chihayafuru S2
• …Dammit
• Whatever, just write something at the end about how good Monogatari S2 is
• Deal. No season 2s.

This means that shows like Kill La Kill won’t be on here. The lack of Attack on Titan is not a mistake, though.

This blog hasn’t been updated in a while, so I thought I’d post something. Originally it was gonna be how to make custom decals with my newly customized Black Rock Box, but I didn’t have enough funding to buy the papers, so that will have to wait just a little longer.

So I thought I’d post the game I just got, a bland new Nitro+ game. If you’ve heard Nitro+, then, well, you might think you know what’s coming. Don’t worry. It’s about true love, according to Nitro+. Just like how Madoka was about dreams, hopes, and future.

This is not a review. I don’t think I have played enough to actually write a review. This is simply just an introduction to the game.

WARNING: This post might not be for everyone because of the fact that I have the “physical copy of a PC game.” If you know or worry that you are allergic to anything not pirated, then please close this page immediately.

Chihayafuru is an anime you could easily overlook, for various reasons (you don’t like how it looks, the description doesn’t sound particularly interesting, there aren’t enough cute girls doing cute things, etc).  Well now I’m here to tell you that, if you’re not watching this series, you are missing out.

What is Chihayafuru about?  It’s about high schoolers playing some Japanese game called karuta that you’ve probably never heard of before, gathering members to form a club, practicing and going through their own training camp, playing in the high school tournament, being separated from a friend and playing the game to meet up with that friend again…  Oh, no, It’s not Saki though.  It’s actually good.

Time once again for my bi-annual review of anime. I’m sure there’ll be a top 10 from 2011, it’s just that no one will see it. I don’t know why I never finished it, maybe because it looked too much like Chris’ and I didn’t want to look like a copy-cat, maybe I’m just lazy, maybe my feet hurt, maybe it’s too crowded in here. Maybe I just want to go home.

Criteria

• The show ENDED in 2012
• Opinions are entirely based on what show I liked
• I have bad taste in anime
• but it’s better than yours

Let’s get to it!

After three and a half months as a work-in-progress, my top 10 of 2012 is finally done. Turns out I can talk endlessly about stuff I hate. Hey, shut up, it’s still relevant, damn it!

This year didn’t quite live up to 2011, so this list wasn’t as hard to make as last year, but there was still some pretty good stuff.

Walls of text inc

Note 1: Anime on this list are those that finished in 2012. That means that anime that have not finished airing yet were not considered for this list; conversely, anime that began in 2011 and finished this year are fair game.

Note 2: While I will avoid significant spoilers, it’s pretty difficult to review a show in any detail without revealing something. If you’re the type that’s afraid to watch commercials or read the back cover for fear of spoilers, you may consider skipping over entries you haven’t seen. If I do plan to spoil huge things, I will leave huge tags. You’ve been warned.

Note 3: There will be no sequels on this list.