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Up until now I agreed with your arguments on fanservice on Nise (because I like that show) but I found myself disagreeing with them for Suisei (because I don't like that one). Curse you for revealing my bias towards finding excuses so I can like the shows I like

Haha yeeep. I've seen this happening a lot lately - if you agree with someone's general impression of a show (good/bad), you're predisposed to agree with their specific arguments (because this element was good/bad), but if you disagree with their general impression, their arguments often won't make sense to you. Sword Art Online is a big example of this for me - I often felt like I was finding it bad for very different reasons from other people, but because we both found it "bad in general," there wasn't any disagreement. But of course, as soon as our broad opinions /diverge/, suddenly we realize we're not speaking the same language after all.

Isn't segouhara (purple hair) character different in mono second season? Is it that we see more emotional sides of her? Sometime I wonder if it's the same character at all.

Yep! Two reasons for this. One is that she's definitely mellowed out over time, and become more comfortable being a less abrasive, defensive version of herself.
But the other, possibly more important one, is that we're no longer seeing "Araragi's Senjougahara." In the first season, we pretty much only see her from his perspective, and thus see her as he sees her - a terrifying, beautiful, endlessly fascinating and mysterious young woman. We see the Senjougahara he's in love with.
But then in /second/ season, we see her alternately from Hanekawa's and Kaiki's perspectives. And so she comes off as first a very weird, kind of awkward teenage girl, and then a very naive but ultimately brave and endearing one. Like with most things in Monogatari, perspective defines the reality of Senjougahara.

How do you interpret the last lines of Seishin Muroi in Shiki, about how "God never utters a word"? I couldn't help but see it as somewhat nihilistic, do you agree?

No - I see it as him saying that we can't rely on any arbitrary morality or definition of "good" and "evil" handed down from above. We are responsible for our own choices, we are responsible for our own morality. God doesn't condemn us - other people do. And if we want a world where we no longer condemn each other, we have to build it ourselves.

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Have you tried using a Kindle and what did you think of it?

I don't really like e-readers in general. I'm old-fashioned, I really like holding a book.

I think you've answered this before, but are you willing to say what your occupation is?

I work in the eBooks division of a local publishing firm.

Um do you make money with blogging?

Every time you click through one of those amazon links on my top 30 list and actually buy something (anything, not just the item you click to), I get like, 4-6% of the sale.
So I make maybe a couple sandwiches a month. Puttin' that degree to work!

...Not to make light of what you went through, but considering what you've said about the amount of weed you consumed during it, I'm guessing that period was when you watched Shana too?

YEEEP.

How exactly did you get over that period of your life?

Time, basically. Being around people who actually valued me again. Continuing to live, continuing to produce art, having some evidence that I hadn't suddenly become an empty person. Moving out of a bad living situation into a mediocre one, and out of that into a good one.
Everything changes. That's scary, but it's also a blessing. My self-doubt felt overwhelming at the time, but if you keep going, most things become footnotes eventually.

Identity issues? In what sense? Sorry if this is too personal but i've always wondered what people meant by that.

As in, I couldn't really believe in who I'd formerly believed I was as a person. I was always witty, full of ideas, a leader prior to that - basically all of that shut down, and I could no longer trust myself to be the smart and interesting and charismatic person I'd once thought I was. I thought I'd basically peaked, and began to have so little confidence in my own opinions that I'd virtually never articulate them, or couldn't articulate them confidently, which only made the situation worse.
It was a horrible, horrible feeling. I'm past it now, and actually really like myself as a person, but I sympathize with anyone going through something like that. I know this isn't really meaningful advice, but your head can be a cruel bastard sometimes, and please know it won't last forever.
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What was the worst age you’ve had so far?

20-21. Serious depression and identity issues, smoking way too much weed, abandoned by a shitty group of former friends. Not a great scene!
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Liked by: Rose Bridges

Would you ever consider streaming a playthrough of Silent Hill 2 or another horror game?

That actually sounds really fun. Yeah, I would. I'd have to figure out /how/ to do that, but it's definitely something I'll consider.

How should one go about preparing for mass rabid penguin attacks?

They shouldn't. If the penguins want our flesh, we shall give it to them.

You may have answered this question before, but who are your favorite anime antagonists? I ask because your favorite characters on MAL are all protagonists.

Squealer, Kaiki, Ozu (if he counts), Princess Hitei, Kyubey.

Why don't you put asterisks around words or sentences to symbolize italics instead of slashes? It looks *way* more natural and gives the same effect of emphasis on that part of a sentence.

Hm. Is this true? What do you think, internet?

How do you feel about the power of music to make average scenes good? I feel like a lot of "great stories" that people love have ordinary writing but great music.

It's a useful trick, and can really elevate drama, depending on the situation. I think it generally works for people who are "primed," though - who are already either invested in the story or on the brink of it. If you're not, it'll just end up like how I felt during pretty much all of Angel Beats: "oh wow, here's that song again. Guess they really want us to cry now." And on the other hand, you've got scenes like Mamimi lighting her cigarette, which is made a friggin' paean to teen rebellion by Bran-New Lovesong.
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Liked by: Rose Bridges

Do you think that animators/directors/whoever's in charge sometimes uses the characters' sexuality as an excuse to cram in fanservice where it's not necessarily needed? Like the scene you mention in Gargantia, sure it's "justified" by Ledo's discomfort with sexuality, but does it really add anything

Does that /sometimes/ happen? Yes, definitely. But I wouldn't apply that to the Gargantia scene, because getting in Ledo's head was the /central purpose/ of that scene.

Do you have any interest in chess? How proficient are you?

Chess stresses me out. I'm not good enough to know reasonable play patterns, so I stress over every play to no good end.
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Liked by: Rose Bridges

You talked about Nisemonogatari as an example of sexuality driving the story. Are there any other anime/films/books etc you know of that does that too?

FLCL does it a fair amount. Utena as well... and actually, so does Diebuster, so I guess Enokido's kind of a fan. Gargantia actually does this in the infamous belly-dancing episode - that scene has a ton of crazy-voyeuristic framing, but it's actually intended to be the uncomfortable moment Ledo becomes aware of his own sexuality, so...
Oh! There's a fantastic scene that does this in Haruhi, one of my favorites of the series. It's when they're on the closed island, and Kyon/Haruhi take shelter in that cave. Their conversation is mundane, but the camera keeps lingering on their bodies as they get changed, because that scene is /crazy friggin' sexually charged/ for both of them. The camera conveys their inner thoughts in that moment.

Any horror movies/books you can recommend?

I like Lovecraft's work. As for movies... hm. The Exorcist, The Conjuring, Insidious, and High Tension are all pretty solid. Cabin in the Woods is also good, though I'm not sure that counts. Same with Let The Right One In. Alien is a great horror film (and I think Aliens is the /best/ action movie). The Shining. The Descent. The Thing.

Do you use a bookmark? If so, what kind?

Generally just a receipt. Cheap, thin paper, doesn't mess up the book.

Do you ever have to go back and reread paragraphs or pages because your mind started wandering?

Sometimes. Normally it's when I'm not that engaged in the book in the first place.

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