This blog has been going on for a long time, and somehow we've reached 600 posts. I plan to continue bringing up things that interest me into the foreseeable future. One thing I'd like to bring to people's attention are the permaposts on the right of the webpage. They include the most pertinent articles of this blog, and also the posts I continuously edit and update to reflect the changing reality of the times. For instance, just yesterday I added a massive update to my 'Anime Voices' permapost. My 'newly announced anime' post, my 'eagerly expected releases post,' my 'anime rankings post', and others are also continuously fluctuating to reflect the newest data.
If something has been eagerly expected for a while, then suddenly disappears, that means it's arrived, so it's no longer expected. That's a cue for people to go find it and consume the product themselves, it's a good thing when items are mysteriously disappearing. For a long time Ranma 1/2 blu-ray was my most eagerly awaited product. Once Doki fansubs picked it up, my wait was over and I could just indulge already, so away the listed item whisked. Most recently, Atoz finished releasing Vividred Operation blu-ray, so good on them.
By watching all this new anime, I hope to create the most definitive and comprehensive anime rankings post of all time, but that project is still a long time in the making. Don't miss the opportunity to download the torrent of great anime openings also available at the top of my anime rankings list. The easiest way to fall in love with a show is to fall in love with its opening. When you see the openings to these ranked shows, there's no way you could resist watching them any longer. Compiling and sometimes creating these openings was also a long work of the heart so enjoy it while it's still seeded and you still can.
Changeling is my work of fiction for this blog that offers a nice counterbalance to all the nonfiction. If you agree with the nonfiction present in, say, the 'My Philosophy' permapost, then Changeling should be a pleasant experience where for once the good guys win for a change.
The 'good books' is a list drawn up from authors I've read, so it gives not only an insight for where I'm coming from intellectually, but also a guidepost for how other people can follow me. The visual novel, manga and video game guide is more just for general knowledge's sake, since I haven't personally verified most of the stuff listed in the guides, but know from other sources that they're at least highly regarded, popularly acclaimed works. My list of Beautiful Anime Girls pictures is always growing alongside the release of more anime over time, and also so far has nigh perfectly reflected the results in the Saimoe contests, and thus are in line with the public's perception of beauty as a whole. If you want to know why anime surpasses reality, those pictures are the strongest argument I can make.
Getting back to my Anime Voices changes, what inspired me to add so many more people?
There were many things, but it all started with listening to Fel's voice in Prism Ark. After wondering whose beautiful voice that could be, I quickly discovered Kaori Mizuhashi. Kaori Mizuhashi isn't just responsible for this obscure character in an obscure series, but is also the voice between 2011's Saimoe winner Mami Tomoe, Minami Shimada from Baka to Test, and Yuuno Scrya from Nanoha. It's obvious that a talent like hers was no less than the people who were already on my list, and that she was largely responsible for why the shows she was in were so fun to watch. But going by that policy, I found that it was hard to disown a great many voice actors who had greatly contributed to the worth of great shows.
For one, voice actors or actresses who were the main characters of long-running series, piling up hundreds of episodes worth of voice acting, were clearly being unfairly treated when they were losing out to voice actors of series that only went 12 or 24 episodes. The quantity of your contribution counts, whether it's all as one character or as dozens it should count the same so long as you're delivering great performances. Therefore, the voices behind Chopper, Usopp, Zoro, and Nami from One Piece could no longer be denied. The same for the voices behind Naruto and Sakura from Naruto, Goku from Dragon Ball, and Ryoma Echizen from Prince of Tennis.
Next off, I just had to pay tribute to the modern phenomena which is Fate/Etc. The voice acting in Fate/Stay, Fate/Zero, and now Fate/Kaleid Liner has all been off the charts. Therefore, the voices behind Illyasviel and Miyu had to be added for the girls, and the voices behind Emiya Kiritsugu and Kotomine Kirei had to be added for the boys. Once you acknowledge their worth in Fate/Etc, it turns out these seiyuu have had a long history of great works before now too. Kaori Nazuka, the voice behind Miyu in Fate/kaleid liner, is also the voice of Nunnaly in Code Geass. Mai Kadowaki, the voice of Illyasviel, is also the voice of the cutest Strike Witch of them all, Sanya v. Litvyak. Rikiya Koyama, the voice behind Emiya Kiritsugu, is also the voice actor for Hakuoo from Utawarerumono. And Jouji Nakata, the voice behind Kotomine Kirei, is also the voice Diethard Ried in Code Geass.
While Fate/Etc may have put these people over the top, they've been putting in great performances for years before now, and it was about time all four get recognized.
This same lifetime achievement award had to be extended to the world famous voice behind Gendou Ikari (Shinji's father in Evangelion), Fumihiko Tachiki, and Tomokazu Seki, who played perhaps the coolest boy in all of anime, Sagara Sousuke, in addition to tons of other important roles. It also had to be extended to the voice actress who is no longer among us, Tomoko Kawakami, who died before her time just like the character she played, Misuzu Kamio from Key's first epic, Air. And if you are going to add Tomoko for her roles as Misuzu and Miu from Kenichi and Hikaru from Hikaru no Go and Soi Fong from Bleach, then you have to add her counterpart who played Kanna in Air so incredibly beautifully as well, Chinami Nishimura, most recently known for playing Cure Beauty from last year's Smile Precure (the best Precure of them all, which happens to be the best anime of them all, so she played one of the protagonist's of the best season of the best show in human history.)
When it comes to voice acting veterans, Noboyuki Hiyama is best known for his role as Viral in Gurenn Lagann, but he's a reliable 'badass' voice in virtually every series and shows up everywhere, from Cowboy Bebop to High School of the Dead to Madarame Ikkaku from Bleach. He seems to specialize in action shows, but his voice is so distinctive it's always fun when he appears on stage.
As a sort of reverse of a reward for people who have put in a lot of shows and characters, Yui Ogura is the super-rookie of the voice acting world. She's suddenly more popular than even Rie Kugimiya, started playing tear-jerking roles like Onjouji Toki (Saimoe's 2012 winner) before she was even 18, and is taking on ever more plentiful main character roles as we head into the fall season. Leaving her off a list that's supposed to include 'all the very best' is at this point impossible to defend.
In all, I added seven boys and twelve girls to the list for a new total of 53 heroes of the voice acting world. That proportion is actually more favorable to the boys than normal, as the boys as a whole are now 16 compared to the girls' contribution of 37. Since girls are the majority of characters depicted in anime, have more pleasant voices and have a wider range of pitch, allowing them to play either boys or girls freely, this is only to be expected. You could say I'm giving affirmative action to the boys' side by having them even remotely within range of the girls' side, the difference is so severe in the voice acting world. ((For instance, Luffy, Ryoma, Hikaru, Naruto and Goku are all voiced by girls. This really cuts into the opportunities male voice actors have, when even the male lead roles always go to the other side.))
In other news, Koei has decided to release Dynasty Warriors 8 + XL8, a combined two games in one, on the PS4 with better graphics than ever before. What I said about DW8 being the ultimate Dynasty Warriors experience, the best game by far, and containing every previous game within it and exceeding them all is coming true right before our very eyes. With the graphics boost of the next generation, DW8 has opened up an impassable gulf between itself and all its previous versions. If you haven't gotten DW8 yet, by all means wait for the PS4 version next year and truly indulge yourself in this masterpiece of masterpieces.
In other news, the labor force participation rate in America has hit a new low not seen since 1978. But keep telling yourself the libertarian creed that there are 'infinite jobs,' out there somewhere. And, with the liberals, keep explaining why we need 50 million new immigrants flooding into America with no education and no job skills of their own to compete with our minimum wage workers and unemployed who already can't make ends meet.
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