Behind The Nihon Review

The spring season is upon us! Maybe my expectations are low, but it’s been a fun start so far. We’ve had controversy (my quota for reading the word “rotoscoping” has been filled for a decade), insanity (Valvrave throwing out every ridiculous twist under the sun), comedy, drama, tons of sequels and even the world’s first time capsule anime (Sparrow’s Hotel was clearly buried in 1993 and unearthed 20 years later). Are there any standouts among the pack? Do the best look extra good because they’re surrounded by mediocrity? Or are there some true gems gleaming in the rough?

Introduction by: Shinmaru

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Was this episode one of the selections? Maybe it should have been…

Earlier this week, I took a look at Anime Content Expo’s “Kami Kai Theater” feature, wherein fans and industry people voted on which special episodes of anime shows deserved the title of “kami kai”, or divinely good.  In that article I promised that I would provide a top ten list of episodes of anime from days gone by that I felt were overlooked by the selection process.  As I noticed while I was looking over the list, and others noted it as well, the selections are plagued with recency bias.  Some of this was necessary, as the criteria limited the scope to anime that was created between 2000 and 2012.  Despite having over a decade to work with, only three of the anime represented of all twenty-four was from the pre-Haruhi days (Fruits Basket, s-CRY-ed, GITS:SAC).  Of the rest, some were barely a year or two old.  While I couldn’t disagree with most of the selections, I do still feel that there were some overlooked episodes from some great anime that time has forgotten.

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Probably TOO recent to have any episodes considered.  Not that any of them deserve it mind you.

Wow, I haven’t done one of these in a while!  I apologize to both of my readers and the other BtNRV staff members who have been carrying this place while I’ve been slacking.  I do not have an excuse, so I wont make one.  I just have not been inspired to write anything.  It’s not a simple matter of writers block as my own cynical view of the world making just about everything uninteresting to me.  So, what immensely important event brought me back to make this update?  Well, it was this article on Crunchyroll about the Anime Contents Expo’s “Kami Kai Theater” feature, wherein fans and industry people voted on which truly great episodes of anime deserved the title of “kami kai”; a divinely good episode.

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We’re a bit late with this post, but that means we have all the more to say about this ongoing season’s shows. Although some of the most popular of currently airing anime are holdovers from last season, there remains an important question: How do they stack up part way into their second cour, and are the newer shows capable of keeping up? As we usually do with the Mid-season analysis, here’s our slightly more elaborately stated thoughts on a subset of the shows we chose to cover earlier in the season. Also, don’t forget that we’re currently in the midst of our annual Staff Contest!
Introduction by: Kylaran

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This year’s NHRV Staff Contest has now officially started! We’re looking for two new staff members to help us with writing anime and live action reviews and/or contributing to the Behind The Nihon Review blog. Applications will be open until Monday, 11 March, so if you’ve ever contemplated joining the NHRV staff, submit yours today! It will be the best opportunity you’ll have to get on board for the foreseeable future.

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