12 Days of Anime 2017 Omnibus

I’m taking a very small break from blogging this week. Or, rather, I’ve already taken it. To get posts rolling out on Monday, I’ll be back at writing later tonight. What I thought I’d do is put all my 12 Days posts in one place, so you could find anything you missed or shake your head, very slowly, as you see two entries for Ancient Magus’ Bride in one place. Whichever pleases you more.

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Twelve Days 12: Ainsworth from Magus’ Bride

I threatened to do this last week. I just didn’t watch a lot of anime this year. Really, for me, I watched a lot, maybe more than since I was in grad school. But I just can’t recall a twelfth show that I can do justice to. I watched a little of a *Monogatari, and two whole episodes of MHA. Maybe next year I’ll write about those! But, for now, on Christmas, I’ll just do a reading for Ainsworth from the Ancient Magus’ Bride.

Twelve Days 11: Bodacious Space Pirates

I wrote about Bodacious Space Pirates two years ago. Wow. Well, I re-watched it. At this point I think it’s my wife’s favorite anime. I’m certainly mad it hasn’t gotten another season yet. Let’s get to it!

Twelve Days 10: Cardcaptor Sakura

Sorry I’m late! I drove home yesterday to see my mom. I’m here now! So this post is actually getting written the day it’s going up. Hurray! I guess. Today let’s talk about Cardcaptor Sakura.

Twelve Days 9: One Piece

Yes, after all these years, I finally started watching One Piece. I think I put it off for an odd mixture of reasons: it was already quite long, and I thought it was more of the stuff I watched in high school and got tired of (Dragon Ball, basically — and hell, I started watching Dragon Ball Super just this month, so what did I know?). My wife found out it was about pirates and jumped at it. We’ve watched around a dozen episodes, so I’m laughably behind and unable to say anything intelligent about the characters long term. But let’s try anyway!

Twelve Days 8: Love is Like a Cocktail

I promised myself I wouldn’t hate-blog anything for #12Days, and I’m not. But this comes close. I’m sort of boredom-blogging it, I suppose? If this show were any longer than five minutes an episode I would have quit watching. But it’s not, and I love drinks, so here I am, having watched something that I don’t particularly care for. I do, however, have a very interesting tarot spread to make up for it, by way of apology!

Twelve Days 7: Kobayashi and the Dragon Maid

I wrote about Kobayashi and the Dragon Maid earlier this year. There, I did a spread about the entire series, showing off how you can use tarot cards to analyze elements of a narrative. That’s a good technique! You should do that! But here let’s do a reading for a character, as per normal.

Twelve Days 6: Samurai Flamenco

After all this time, I’m finally getting around to Samurai Flamenco! I guess I should say I’m getting around to finishing it. I watched this as it aired, for a few episodes. I got very sick of the Flamenco Girls very quickly, which disappointed me, as they were a good idea to begin with. My wife insisted I keep going, and I finally got the gumption to do it; obviously I’m glad I did. I haven’t finished the show yet (unsurprisingly, I suppose). I’ve only got ten episodes left, though. Of course, what that means is you will likely know immediately if I’m wrong about anything in my reading. Mind you, please don’t spoil anything. Let’s get going!

Twelve Days 5: Flying Witch

Let’s just keep going with the magical posts, right? It’s in the middle of my wheelhouse, so I may as well. A friend of mine once mentioned that the magic in this show seemed to track, to some degree, to the way real life witches actually practice magic. I haven’t seen anything so far that struck me as that boldly spiritual, but the practical side is interesting. There’s a great deal of focus on harmony, cultivation, and helping people. Maxine Sanders, who was the wife of Alex Sanders (from whom we get Alexandrian Wicca), said once in an interview that most of the people who visited them, back when they were a famous coven, just needed help. They never turned anyone away, though they would be open about how maybe they weren’t the best option for whomever. While Makoto doesn’t go around trying to right wrongs, she and her friends cheerfully try to help out when they can. It’s just part of being a witch. That, certainly, is true to the spirit of the thing.

Twelve Days 4: Ancient Magus’ Bride

I’ve been a fan of this story for a few years now. Back in 2016 Pontifus let me sit around and read all the volumes that had been published in America. The following year, he came to visit and brought the latest one with him! So watching the show hasn’t been a totally new experience. However, it’s been more fun than I thought it might be. I often don’t enjoy watching anime if I’ve read the manga. It’s just a personal preference. This one definitely layers in a lot of prettiness and good voices and all the stuff you want out of an adaption of your favorite manga.