A few things:

1. I'm certainly willing and happy to discuss this with you, but I might choose to take some of it to PMs, for various reasons.

2. I haven't watched UBW's latest episode yet. I'll probably watch that later tonight or tomorrow. I'll want to watch that before going more in-depth on what this ANN reviewer wrote.

3. I agree with your points on Fate/Zero vs. Fate/Stay Night (and UBW). Both have a couple elements that I think could reasonably be considered sexist, but they're mostly minor elements, thankfully. I wouldn't consider either work a sexist work overall. Both shows have some female characters that I think show an admirable degree of agency and/or personal goals and/or independence.

4. I think this review's main weakness is Ameriocentrism. This is a growing problem I see with many video game and movie reviews, particularly when it comes to video games and movies not made in America and/or with a non-American setting for the game. Japan isn't perfect, and it's fine to point that out, but America is far from perfect itself. I think it's important to keep the immediate cultural context of a work into account, and I don't get an impression of that in this ANN review.

I think the reviewer is missing some important elements to Shirou's character and his idealism by insisting upon a very Ameriocentric frame for pretty much her entire review. Here I think she's missing how Shirou's idealism may have nothing to do with gender, per se. I suspect that Shirou's heroic altruism may be about his character being a strong representation of Japan's generally collectivist/social harmony spirit. That's not to say you can't critique that national spirit itself, as its not without its downsides. But if you're going to do that with UBW and Shirou, then you should do it with Madoka Magica and Kaname Madoka as well (she likewise reflects that spirit, I think), whereas this reviewer compares Madoka favorably to Shirou.

Feel free to share your take on what I've wrote so far. I'll probably write more to you about this soon, after watching UBW's latest episode.

Rin as BW (I think?) and Hanayo as Hulk is highly amusing, particularly given what happened in the movie.

The image is also very well-drawn in general, so thanks for sharing!

The only thing I don't like is Honoka as Quicksilver, for various reasons. Still, it's very nice artwork.

That's fine (referring to your latest VM to me). Whenever I really like a game or show or book, I also like telling at least one other on-line friend about it. I'll just consider your last VM to me to be a very strong recommendation to go along with what you VMed before about Life is Strange.

I'll probably give the game a try sometime soon. Your current avatar certainly looks great, and from what I've searched on "Life is Strange", it looks like it comes from that game.

I also have some PMs to get back to you on. I'll try to get to that later tonight or sometime tomorrow. Thanks for sharing all those doujins with me.

Yep! We beat the Russians 6-1 in the World Champions Gold Medal game

It was a great tournament, and an impressively dominating performance to end it.

Thanks for your feedback on the Kurisu images, by the way. Your two favorites were also my two favorites.

It's finally happened.

I cannot give a single. Solitary. ****. About current. WWE.

Hit me up when Triple H or Undertaker leaves for good, order irrelevant. The most of the current product I'll be seeing at this point is random catches from friends watching, but that's it.

The timing of that last Visitor Message was excellent, LS. It's very appreciated.

In fact, after some of the replies I got yesterday, I decided to go back and read what you said to me back in January 2013 in a different Visitor Message. That was useful, because it helped me disengage. Your advice, and my own "never get into a 1-on-4 debate where you're the 1" personal rule was thankfully enough for me to think "I've said my piece, minds aren't likely to change, so it's now time to get out".

I'll probably write more to you in a VM later on. I have to say that I definitely value how much of a true friend you are. I won't ever forget how you're consistently there for me during my toughest times here on AS.

Yes, pretty much. That's a very good nutshell explanation of it. "Healing anime" tends to be very sentimental and emotional. It's focused more on human relationships and daily living than specific themes or concepts (like in Sci-Fi) or complex plots. I like some healing anime myself, but I like to compliment it with shows that are more dramatic, intense, action-packed, and
thought-provoking. In fairness to Tomino, "healing anime" can be a bit limiting for a director/writer, so I get his complaint. What was his recent botched project, by the way?


Great to hear that a Milk Morinaga-like manga is selling very well! I honestly think the potential readership/viewership for this sort of mature/realistic yuri content is underestimated by the publishers and producers and corporate types. Some people like a sort of yuri-tease, but many are getting tired of it, and definitely would like more stories like Girl Friends.

Thanks for the compliment on my taste. It's good to know that you and I and some other people want a fuller yuri that goes beyond just silly tease and *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* sort of content.

Well, Akuma no Riddle certainly supports your idea.

Gen'ei o Kakeru Taiyou is rather cruel to its most clear-cut yuri characters.

Kancolle made a creative decision that might not have been made if not for Madoka Magica...

There's still some soft/cushy yuri shows like Sakura Trick, but yeah, on the whole, I think your idea is correct. Yuri has become significantly more violent/cruel.

I haven't watched a lot of yaoi, but Free! is a lot more soft/cushy than No. 6 was. Those are probably the two most yaoi-esque shows I've watched over the past few years, and Free! is the more recent one. So your friend and you might have the right idea there to.


I think what's happened is two things:

1. Madoka Magica popularized (or re-popularized) "tragic yuri". You could maybe even call it "crying games yuri".

2. K-On! has been very influential, and has even helped inspire shows that are close to gender-swapped versions of it. Hence more soft/cushy yaoi (subtext).

Awesome post, LS

Thanks a lot for that. Good job breaking down my 1-10 question the way you did, to.

I might reply to your post more later on, but I wanted to thank you for it ASAP.

The other one I tried out was The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan.

With both that and Vivid, I checked it out because I'm a big fan of the parent series (Haruhi and Nanoha). So those two shows were automatically on my "to watch" list for Spring 2015.

As for the Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan... I liked it well enough, but it might be a bit safe and generic for your tastes. Even for me, it's a bit heavy on the conventional side, and I'll be sticking with it mainly due to fondness for some of the characters.

As for the WWE, I might check out the next RAW. From what Akuma has told me, they've been getting pretty creative and bold lately with how they're handling their top wrestlers.