Readers’ Choice: Utena, Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, and More!

The readers have voted!

A couple of weeks ago, we posted a poll asking for you to choose the shows that we would watch and blog next.  Revolutionary Girl Utena won easily; it was followed by Xam’d.  So, we’ll be watching these series as a couple of others that placed highly as well.

TWWK and Lynna will be checking out Revolutionary Girl Utena; Lynna also plans to watch Planetes.

Goldy and Zeroe4 will watch and blog both Xam’d and Heartcatch Precure!

R86 will take on Umineko No Naku Koro Ni.

We’ll be posting our initial impressions in the coming weeks.

Thanks for all the feedback – we hope you enjoy our posts on these series!

Twwk
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12 thoughts on “Readers’ Choice: Utena, Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, and More!”

  1. The only one I have seen is X’amd. It was odd, but I enjoyed it. It was fun watching the various Buddhist symbolisms in the art and the story.

    1. I’ve heard good things about it – the other bloggers will be watching, but I’m at least intending to check out the opening episodes.

  2. There’s a lot on love and faith in Umineko, but unfortunately the anime is a mess and has not time to spare for the more lofty ideas behind the work, I’d strongly recommend going for the original visual novel instead (it’s legally available for download in full English translation, too).

    From this season, I think Oda Nobuna no Yabou didn’t get a single mention on this blog throughout it’s run, despite directly addressing religious matters several times. We have a shinto-god descendant and a Christian nun discussing where they wish to lead the world, a joint prayer between the aforementioned nun, a Buddhist monk and an onmyoudou practitioner, as well as both main characters openly stating their views on religion. It’s rare for anime to get this involved with religion without being completely silly about it (like Index or Hellsing). I suppose the blatant fanservice kept you guys away?

    1. Thanks for the comments. I’m sure R86’ll take them into consideration.

      Strangely enough, we often stay away from some of the more explicitly religious anime. Our focus is usually more thematic than it is on describing direct featuring of religious of Christian storylines. Even so, I imagine I would’ve enjoyed blogging about the series some – but yes, the fanservice, as central as it seemed to the plot, just annoyed me as a viewer (more than affecting my sensibilities).

      1. I think the thematic approach serves you well, helping to avoid repetitiveness and broadening your scope. As for Nobuna, it’s not the first nor the last anime which could have achieved more if it didn’t have to do some pandering on the side.

  3. I’m excited to see what you think of Utena. There’s a lot about it that might be questionable from…pretty much any perspective, actually, but there’s also a lot of very valuable stuff about trust and understanding (among many other things), and what might or might not be strong underlying religious content depending upon one’s interpretation of Ikuhara’s intent.

    1. I’m really looking forward to the show. I couldn’t get past the first episode without thinking of a post I want to write! And I’m certainly interested in seeing what Ikuhara did with this classic series, seeing as I wrote a number of posts for his most recent series, Mawaru Penguindrum.

  4. “TWWK and Lynna will be checking out Revolutionary Girl Utena; Lynna also plans to watch Planetes.”

    YES!!!! Booyah!!! The Samurai brings another fan into the Planetes fan zone! Trust me, TWWK, you will NOT be sorry with your selection! You’ll find more to write about in Planetes than you could ever possibly imagine!

    1. I’m so totally celebrating as well! ^.^ If I’d known that Utena would get so many votes, I would have diverted mine to that one, but since it’s getting reviewed anyway I’m so thrilled! xD

    2. I can’t wait to dive in! Though it’s more about time than anything else…so I’ll do Utena for sure. The others are up in the air (and up to the others to watch).

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