The third annual Crunchyroll awards are upon us for the 2018 season and that means it’s time for us to fulfill our civic duty as anime lovers and figure out which shows deserve the prestigious honor of being “we all really liked that one for this one very specific thing.” And although the 2016 Crunchies were ruined slightly by the fact that Yuri!!! on Ice got nominated for close to every category and, in an even more baffling turn of events, won the majority of them - infamously including edging out Mob Psycho 100 for Best OP - it was still a pretty fun event that actually got me to check out a few shows that flew under my radar that year.

So last week I reviewed an anime show as per usual, and this week I started binging on Tekken 7 again. I think this is a good time to talk about anime fighters. If you read this blog regularly, then you can probably think of one or two titles off the top of your head: Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Under Night In-birth Exe:Late, some of the Touhou series, Marvel vs. Capcom, BlazBlue, Skullgirls and Guilty Gear are among the more prolific ones, even though there are hundreds of titles in the genre.

“Wow, SnYves, you really took your time getting around to talking about this one, didn’t you? This story’s so old now it’s being looked at by archaeology undergrads; why are you even bothering at this point?” Reader, I’m writing about this because the trailer has cemented my thoughts that us rationally minded, optimistic patrons of anime, who are not ready to crap on an adaptation because it’s not the thing we like, are a dwindling minority.

Happy Wednesday everybody! As promised, here’s the second half of my essential anime list that I started week before last. If, for some reason, you’re reading this without having seen the first half, then might I suggest you check that out here before continuing on. And again, just remember that this is my personal list and these shows are appearing in no particular order. Away we go. 10. One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100

So in my last editorial I briefly brought up the concept of “staples” in anime fandom and left the door pretty wide open for interpretation on that front. Some of my readers may know I have a background in TCGs, so when I use the word “staple,” I’m talking about anime series that most fans would at the very least be familiar with, either through watching it, reading about it, talking about it, or even just by reputation.

Winter 2015’s Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! is an incredibly stupid show with an incredibly stupid premise and an incredibly stupid central joke. I liked it. And no, I don’t mean that in the ironically cathartic way I liked Brave Witches or something like that. No, I mean I actually genuinely liked the series. More than I really had a right to, in all honesty. Like I said, it is a very, very dumb show, and if the premise isn’t enough to get you laughing, then you’re going to have a hard time enjoying this as much as I did.

In 2006, the anime community was blessed with an adaptation of the classic manga series Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, a psychological thriller series in which high-school student Light Yagami finds a notebook left behind by a shinigami named Ryuk. As Light finds out very early on, the notebook has the power to kill anybody provided the user knows the person’s face and name. Upon discovering this, Light embarks on a crusade to eliminate all evil from the world by donning the alias Kira and killing everyone he deems unworthy.

Sword Art Online is not a good anime. Already I can hear at least one person furiously slamming away on their keyboard as they launch into a doctoral thesis on just how much they despise Sword Art Online, so I’m saying that up front and off the bat. If we ignore the fact I’m a little hard to impress anyways, SAO is infamous in many circles as one of the worst series to have ever been made.

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.