A Man, Too Passionate to Have a Sane Conversation About Anime

 Good afternoon, I’m coming to you at 3:18 pm in California. I haven’t posted in a while, and I thought maybe I should. I don’t have anything to talk about or discuss or more specifically, I feel as though I’ve lost sight of what I think my audience should hear. And so taking a cue from a certain discord I joined recently, I would like anyone reading this blog still to respond to the following questions in the comment section. This would greatly motivate me and point me in a direction for where to move this thing that isn’t really alive nor dead. Thanks and here are the questions: 1. What are the Top Two American Television Shows? 2. What are Two Anime You’ve Always Wanted to Watch but Haven’t Yet? 3. What are The Top 5 Anime in Your Opinion of all Time? (objective or subjective) 4. What are Your Top Three Favorite Video Games? 5. What are Your Top Three Favorite Animated Movies? 6. Should I write more often or should I write longer?

I have produced many opinions about manga and anime. That's kind of the point of this blog. And now I am realizing that I have been missing a key point about manga that was kind of necessary so that my opinions were a little more informed than just a criticism of big name manga. That key point is the factor of Shounen Jump manga having the "it" quality. Some very inexperienced readers might call it perfection. It's definitely not perfection, but manga of Shounen Jump that can last for multiple arcs have qualities that are significantly different and significantly better than that of other shounen manga. I will defend my viewpoints on certain things so that I don't out myself as a total hypocrite. First, webtoons, or specifically manhwa webtoons, or specifically God of Highschool is a very unique manga and is further justified by the fact that it is getting an anime. Second, despite not being in Shounen Jump, there are other shounen series that are different an...

While I am wholly unqualified to provide an opinion on the current generation of Pokemon, having not played Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee or Pokemon Sword/Shield and have no plans on doing so, I will provide an opinion because that is what a stubborn, ignorant, unhappy fan does. How do I relate to the global Pokemon community? I think that must be the first question I answer. The first games I played were LeafGreen and Emerald, and somewhere along the line I picked up FireRed. I played Diamond until Crasher Wake, then lost the cartridge. I think that Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness is my favorite Pokemon game, and Pokemon Sun and Moon, which I have also not played, is my favorite generation. So what does that even mean? I just provided a bunch of weird, quirky, likes and dislikes about Pokemon games from generations past. It matters because it demonstrates that my relation to the global Pokemon community is not one of console playing. I don't complete the games, except XD Gale...

As these are my favorite anime/manga characters, I want to first explain my anime/manga taste. In manga, I appreciate action, beautiful art, and new ideas. In anime, I appreciate good soundtracks, beautiful graphics, and new ideas. However, what moves me to appreciate characters or manga or anime above all else, are the morals or motives of the character. For example, let's take Pokemon and Sword Art Online. These two have been accepted very well in the United States. What's interesting is how long these shows have gone on for and how the main character's reception differ. For example, Pokemon has been airing in Japan since 1997. Despite the non-aging, only recently successful nature of the main character, people still refer to him in an endearing tone. Meanwhile, Kirito who had been released into the world in 2013, is ridiculed, despised, and some people attempt to erase him from their memory (me, unsuccessfully). Kirito's motives have been weak since the first...

Dear Friends, It's been a while since I fired up a device connected to the internet from which I could efficiently type. This post is a warning. You have two options. 1. You don't finish this post, you don't find out what I was going to tell you, you never come back to the website. You feel more complete with your life because you don't have to worry about the nonexistent posts from your friend who likes to pretend that he has an active blog that talks about the things he cares about. 2. You finish the post. I relay to you the information that I'm going to be starting a favorite 10 manga/anime characters post right this very moment and that it's going to feature characters from hit franchises such as Tokyo Ghoul and Rurouni Kenshin and from lesser known series such as Demon Slayers, Trigun, Love is War, and Bakuman. Not only that, but I'll also be making another post about Pokemon for everyone to comment on. Last time I made a post like that, it ...

Hey there, I haven't been on this blog in quite a while, so let me fill my audience in. I've been doing a bunch of different "unproductive" things. I finished Persona 5 and I don't know if I mentioned that before, but I started the NewGame+ content of the game, and I'm able to take it at a much more relaxed pace now that I've beaten the game... hasn't it been a couple years since the game came out...geez. Besides that, I've been going over the new Pokemon Sword and Shield competitive metagame, trying to figure out what that whole scene is going to turn out looking like. So far, its more of the same, with only really standout abilities making changes to the game. Some moves were removed though, so in terms of movesets, some things have really changed. One of the biggest changes was that there was no more priority abuse of belly drum. Linoone and Azumarill were two of the biggest belly drum abusers, being able to get a +6 boost to their attack an...

Dear readers, Serious question, if I made a post about Japanese American food or ranking fruits would you read it?

So, if you haven't noticed, there haven't been any new posts... I've been pretty busy from real life stuff... I kinda said I wasn't going to mention real life stuff, but I guess you can't really avoid it, and I'm pretty sure I have more updates than actual posts at this point anyway. Work was pretty tough this week, yes I am aware that you shouldn't talk about work on social media, but I'm pretty responsible about that kind of stuff, and I don't have any complaints. I just gotta say that work can take up a lot of your time and sometimes you feel so fulfilled from performing your services and sometimes you feel like it isn't worth it at all.  I don't recall if I mentioned that I was going back to class, but there you go, I am. It's a US History course so right now our class is going over European exploration in the Americas, "The New World".  Anyway, I'm really into Dungeons and Dragons right now. That feve...

Hello folks, Hahahahaha. I've been working in service for a little bit so that's a go-to phrase for me now.  Couple things I want to say in this update. 1. It's Lorie Meza's birthday! Hope you had a great day and hope you have a good party on Sunday! 2. I've got a couple posts in the works. I know it's really bad to keep lying to your audience about new posts coming out. I have some excuses though. 3. I've been keeping this from my blog because I wasn't sure I wanted to share it on the internet, but I have depression and ADHD and these two things combine to keep me from staying committed to my blog. Sometimes I feel inspired to make content and then I can't finish it. I do care about this blog though, and that's why I write these updates. For some reason, writing to the audience without having to make content feels much easier. So yeah, that's pretty much what's up with the blog. If anyone's interested in what games I've...

Do you like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice? Do you like Devil May Cry? Do you say "We Like Ike" or "Roy's Our Boy"? Good. You'll be addicted to Kimetsu no Yaiba. "Griffin, are you making another 900 chapter manga recommendation that no one is gonna take seriously?" No, lucky for all of my readers, this manga was so good that renowned animation studio Ufotable has started production of an anime for it. And heck, it looks good. Tanjiro. He has an extraordinary sense of smell and likes to headbutt bad people to solve problems. Giyuu. He's actually a nice and tolerant guy, but in episode 1, Tanjiro was pretty indecisive and Giyuu couldn't handle it.  I feel like spoiling this manga/anime, so if you don't want spoilers go away now. Seriously go away. Go enjoy your spoiler free viewing. It is actually not my fault that your eyes are straying down towards spoilers. Leave while you still can. Ok, y'all want spoi...

Hello again, No posts really coming out yet. Kimetsu no Yaiba is one of the best manga I have ever read. I just read it last week. Simply incredible. POG Juice is the best juice ever created. It is a short term stop to depression. I am back to watching Run With The Wind. I'm on episode 13, if I recall. I started playing Persona 5. It reminds me of a game like Animal Crossing where you're virtually doing what you should be doing in real life. But it's addicting and so while you feel guilty that you're making friends in a game, when you should be doing it in real life, you cannot put the controller down. I finished playing through one part of the story of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. That is also a pretty fun game. I really enjoyed how quickly you can finish it on Standard Mode, unlike Kingdom Hearts 1 or Kingdom Hearts 2 where it can take you a long time to figure out where you have to go in the world. The controls are a lot easier to handle too. -Griff...

It's Griffin. I know. "Where's the new post Griffin?!!!" I get it. My audience is a truly dedicated group of fans who cannot hold back their desire for new content. Probably not. Anyway, I've been dutifully reading manga, as probably expected, and I've run into some setbacks. The biggest setback was... that the manga were exceptionally good and therefore I've ended up delaying myself to finish the manga. The more minor setback is that I still have to decide on how to format the posts that I want to make. I announced a top 20 manga post, but in the process of searching for manga that I haven't read but that should probably make the list, I had to actually read them first (setback 1). I was going to write a standalone Domestic na Kanojo (Domestic Girlfriend) post, but then I read Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai (Kaguya Wants to be Confessed to), and am deciding whether or not to make a post combining the two. I also announced a Komi-san post. In or...

Hello readers, somehow my motivation for this blog has survived through a period of depression. Announcements: that post about the connection between Naruto and Kingdom Hearts is coming back, and a list explaining the top 20 manga that I think you should read will also be coming out. I don't really know what to mention. I'm working on a fantasy sci-fi hybrid story. However I have some crazy super high expectations for what my story can handle, so progress is slow. Slower than the development of Kingdom Hearts 3, and I'm not even a professional writer. Maybe I'll write a post on Komi-san. That should satisfy the male audience... Well, I'll get to work right now. Griffin.

Hello readers, I apologize for not posting recently. I said that I would post my Naruto=Kingdom Hearts theory, and now Kingdom Hearts 3 is out, and everyone is saying that Naruto=Kingdom Hearts. There's no real plans on a new blogpost yet. I've lost interest in creating the theory post. Sorry. In other news, Seven Deadly Sins is a crying shame and the only way to salvage it would be to kill everyone and restart the whole story. Seriously, how can you take a story with such a promising premise, build all the characters and villains to be your standard good story stuff, and then compromise everything by adding too much background to every character. Anyway, hot takes with Griffin. Nanatsu no Taizai, what a disappointment. I guess I'm free to say it now, Komi-san wa Komyushou. The bible of the moe world. Just go read it. Seriously. Alright. That's been the update from Griffin. Goodbye.

Dear Readers, Happy Holidays! Whether you recognize/celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, the non-denominational Lemon Season, or you don't have a particular holiday to celebrate, I hope you have a safe, healthy, happy, and refreshing winter. Personally, I really enjoy the celebration of a new year. New Year's Day in my family is celebrated with a type of Japanese noodle called soba noodles, as well as other symbolic traditional Japanese foods. It's a meal that's put together for the purpose of increasing the chance of your health and prosperity in the new year. The Pokemon League that I mentioned I wanted to start, maybe a month ago, has started and is getting into the second round of matches. If you want to see what its all about, join the discord here:  https://discord.gg/K5BgSGj I'm still working on a post about how the characters of Naruto and Kingdom Hearts are similar and that the ideas they stand for are the same. If there are any Doctor Who fans out ther...

Hey there, if I'm correct, the majority of the people reading this, will have read my post (or hopefully not read it because you watched the anime I wrote the post about) - Run with the Wind. By the way, episode 11 came out, and I believe that it just continues the quality of the previous episodes. Shindo is best boy ( I can't believe I'm saying that), Kakeru continues to be an incredibly unrealistic long distance runner, I can't flipping believe that Yuki passed the bar exam on his first try, and I continue to be scared that something bad will happen to Haiji (you will understand if you watch... oh shoot, THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE , you'll understand my worry if you watch Your Lie in April). Anyway, I've been reading through past posts and I just wanted to say a couple things. There have been things that I've said before that I could change now because manga and anime are an eternally changing and expanding realm of series, where your knowledge about someth...

I'm planning on developing a Pokemon Draft League for around 5-10 people, I have 3 right now. If anyone isn't busy and has some free days after the holidays that would be interested in joining, I would really appreciate your entering this league. A Pokemon Draft League, for those who don't watch the happenings of Poketubers (Pokemon YouTubers) is a round robin style Pokemon tournament with teams being built through a draft system, similar to that of fantasy football, baseball, basketball, etc. Typically, the Pokemon are split into different groups. For the United Championship League, they split their Pokemon up based on the usage in Pokemon Showdown (an online simulation site that I would like to use to stage all of the battles for this league). For this league, we would be using the PS tiers of Ubers (typically legendary Pokemon who are too broken to be used in a regular tier), OU (or OverUsed Pokemon), UU (or UnderUsed Pokemon), RU (or RarelyUsed Pokemon) and Monotype...

The sly captain, Kiyose Haiji THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE. IT'S A REVIEW, NOT A BOOK REPORT.  Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru or Run with the Wind is an anime adaptation of a Japanese novel of the same name that has been airing this season (Winter 2018). You might have heard of the company that is producing it: Production I.G. They produced hits like Prince of Tennis, Kuroko's Basketball, Haikyu!!, and Welcome to the Ballroom, which have become well-known sports manga. This is another sports anime that features a group of college roommates who are suddenly made aware that signing the dorm contract means that they have unwittingly joined their university's track and field team. The captain, Kiyose Haiji forces them all to train to run in the Hakone Ekiden, which is a marathon. The Hakone Ekiden course route  Got'em Kurahara Kakeru attacked by dorm mates The plot centers around the main character Kurahara Kakeru and his internal struggles with his...