Howdy all. The name's Xortberg. Since
you've stumbled upon my blog, I suppose I at least owe you an
explanation for what I plan on doing here.
I love anime. I have a list of anime I
need to watch, which I started a year ago as of this post. At that
time, it was somewhere in the area of 40 items, all in the 13-26
episode range. It was pretty intimidating, but I figured I could make
some progress on it if I worked at it. Now, a year later, I've
watched most of the original items on the list, but somehow instead
of making progress, I've got 78 items now! I never expected I'd make
negative progress, but hey. Life's funny that way sometimes.
But that got me thinking: I've been
really into anime for a whole year now, and wasted a LOT of
time watching so many shows, that I might as well get something out
of it. So, enter the wonderful world of Internet reviewing! I
absolutely love talking about anime that I enjoy, and that I don't
enjoy, so making a channel to do so was the logical conclusion. This
way, I get to geek out about stuff and my friends who don't care
don't have to put up with me rambling on and on for hours. It's
perfect!
But before I begin reviewing, I have a
few personal rules I'm gonna have to lay down. Keep in mind, these
rules are not set in stone; I make them, I can break them. But they
should give you an idea of what I hope to achieve and what sort of
content you'll be able to find on my blog.
Rule #1: When the English dub is
passable, I will talk about it, even if the original Japanese
is overall superior. Why? I can't speak Japanese. I've picked up a
few words and phrases over the course of my career watching various
anime and Kamen Rider series, but I lack the familiarity with the
language to really be able to pick up on the inflections and
intricacies in the speech that I do have with the English
language. Simply put, I have an easier time identifying a good
English performance than a good Japanese one. Plus, I'm a HUGE fan of
good voice actors - I'll probably geek out about them a lot in my
reviews - and I don't have many Japanese voices I can recognize
immediately when I hear them. Only one or two immediately come to
mind, whereas I'm often the first one to recognize and place an
English voice out of all my other friends. I just have an easier time
with English. That said, I have no problem watching Japanese, and it
doesn't affect my enjoyment in any way. In fact, several of the anime
I'm already thinking about reviewing don't even have English dubs as
of this post.
Rule #2: I will not review any
extremely long-running shows. This means no Bleach, no One Piece, no
Naruto, no Dragonball or any of its sequels, none of that. I'm having
enough trouble making progress on my list of short anime. I'm not
gonna make that harder by watching a show that spans over a week of
total airtime (Looking at you, One
Piece). My preferred length is 13-26 episodes. 13 episode
animes are easier to run through and enjoy quickly, and while 26
episodes takes a bigger commitment, it often pays off in a more
fleshed out story. I'll occasionally venture up to the 40-50 episode
range, but I doubt I'll ever go beyond that just because I don't want
to spend that much time on a story. I have the attention span of a
goldfish.
Rule #3: I'm not going to focus on
reviewing exclusively good or bad anime. I know some people have
found success in bashing things they hate for comedy, and that's
perfectly fine, but that's just not my style. However, if I only talk
about things I like, then it'll get boring quickly. There's only so
many ways one can say "This is awesome" before it starts to
get old. So, I'll review whatever I wanna review. Some will be good,
some will be bad, some will be ones I absolutely love with every
fiber of my being, and very rarely I'll make the time to talk about
ones I fervently hate (There's not
many of those, but they do
exist). In all those cases, though, I'll do my best to
highlight both the good and the bad in the show, because
nothing in this world is perfect and nothing in this world is so
horrible that it has no redeeming qualities. I am, however, an
amateur, and we're talking about something totally subjective to
begin with, so don't be surprised if I love something you hate or if
I was less than happy with something you love. Different strokes for
different folks.
Rule #4: There will
be spoilers in my reviews. I'll try not to give away the most
important bits, but I have extreme difficulty trying to explain
something while holding back information that is fundamentally
important to that point. Therefore, if I review an anime you haven't
seen and want to watch it spoiler-free, do not read that post
beforehand.
And finally, I have this to say: This
is, first and foremost, a way for me to have fun. I love anime, and I
love talking about it, so I'm gonna talk about anime. However, I
would be very excited if sometime in the distant future, I was able
to make a place for myself on the Internet and possibly even make a
living off of this, like so many people already do. That's a long,
long way off - more of a pipe dream than anything - but even if I
don't reach that far I'll be happy to just gain an audience that
cares to listen to what I have to say. With that in mind, allow me to
plug my Facebook and Twitter pages, where I'll talk and share updates
and whatnot as they become relevant:
I
also have Youtube channel that I plan on using eventually once I get
some equipment and a decent place to record myself so I can try my
hand at video reviews, although that's a little ways off currently:
At these pages you can tell me what you
think of one of my reviews, submit any recommendations or requests
for me (though I reserve the right to refuse any of these for any
reason, I'll always try to seriously consider a request and give you
a good reason if I choose to refuse) or just chat with me.
Thank you all for your time, and I hope
you enjoy your stay!
