Anime Thermos News!

 Sorry guys, but as with any hobby there are times when things impede my ability to post on this blog!
So I won't get anything up until Monday July 1st. Don't worry though I haven't abandoned this thing at all!!!

Thanks Guys!

Damn that's nice...

The Popular Anime Theme: Soul Versus World

 Dear readers! What's the difference between a King and his horse?! I'm not talking kiddie shit like one's an animal and one's a person, or one has two legs and one has four! If their form, ability, and power are exactly the same how does one become the horse that carries the king into battle, and the other becomes the king who leads the battle?!

According to Ichigo's inner hollow Zangetsu there's only one answer...

                                                              

                                                                          INSTINCT!

 There's a theme that I found that serves as a predicting factor in whether or not I will love an anime or manga, and this seems to also predict whether most otakus will love a series as well. The theme is the glorification of the idea that an aggressive and strong spirit has the ability to overcome every challenge and defeat every enemy.

 Hollow Ichigo's speech on instinct to Ichigo makes my blood boil like hell. Whenever I've been stressed out by the challenges of life I like to relieve myself by playing scenes like that for myself in order to indulge in the dominating attitude of a powerful and crushing force of nature!

 Here's the deal: In order to be powerful we have to seek out the struggle and pursue domination tirelessly. The world is full of uncertainty, the laws of physics establishes that the universe tends to be disorderly and chaotic and the fact that there is any order and life at all is miraculous, requiring more and more energy to be constantly put forth in order to power any action. This means that the only thing we can truly rely on is the spirit within.

 I don't think that I became a master of statistics because it was just easy for me to understand but rather because I was so desperate after failing the first test that my survival instincts kicked into high gear and forced me to dedicate every ounce of energy I could spare to overcoming the hurdle of equations and word problems that threatened to ruin my life in quite a literal sense.


 It was the fear, the determination, the adrenaline rush...in essence it was the emotional and spirited force within me that drove me from a failed first test to a final grade of an A come semesters end.

 That was a really moving experience for me. It was an intellectual pursuit but it didn't feel intellectual. I was pushing forward with a force of spirit that I released from within myself. I can also attribute other successes I've enjoyed to the same thing. Learning to ice skate was a bit of a challenge because my body was not really accustomed to the way it had to balance and move. I found that when I tried to analyze and deliberately control my every movement I would trip and stumble constantly. The key to my success was something I struggle to find the words to explain. But I learned to skate through a process of allowing myself to adjust and adapt naturally and instinctively as opposed to trying to force some manner of control over the situation.


 For some reason we think we can and should try to control everything in life, and that worrying and fretting over things in a paralysis by analysis will somehow make everything perfect...

But I think that Urahara was on to something with his speech early on in the series.

When you attack, you kill.

 I love it so much when I feel my emotions validated here. It's like my heroes are assuring me that my feelings are valuable and that I can accomplish anything by sheer force of will. They tell me not to be afraid or doubtful because all I have to do is act with decisiveness. Don't try to accomplish but rather, make the decision that you will accomplish something.

I don't think that this reliance on will power is illogical or unrealistic or ignorant of our physical limitations in spite of the fact that it often sounds like that is the case. I believe that it is simply the best way for us to make use of our physical power and our intellectual ability and overcome our weaknesses and limitations.


Spiritual power is the basic necessity that makes all of our achievements possible. This creed is the driving force of popular anime and manga. Our favorite anime moments are when our favorite heroes unleash the power locked deep within them to overcome even the most oppressive and degrading of circumstances. Allowing us to vicariously live our dream of looking at our opposition and shouting a big F-YOU!

 
I'm not certain that I'm being very energetic and strong in this post but that's because I'm genuinely not feeling like doing that, but I'm going with what feels like the best way to communicate with you guys this time around. I communicating naturally and with the flow of emotion and events that happen in my life.

Here's the message that I wish to communicate this time around. Do not have faith that things will work our alright, even Ichigo would have died early on if he was just working on plain faith. The alternative that anime and mangas demonstrate to us is in spiritual power. Don't worry about things going a certain way, instead make a decision that you are going to accomplish a certain mission or task or lifestyle and then commit yourself to it 100%. Use all of the force you can muster just like Ichigo or Naruto and don't ever give up. This is not a pep talk or some kind of inspiring speech. I am literally just telling you what you ought to do.

 To summon all of the power of your spirit to do the job is always a perfectly reliable thing for you to do and it's the best advice I can give to readers I don't know. Because it applies universally. I don't know your particular life situation and I don't know what you're going through but I know that if you can make the choice to power through no matter what's in store you will be able to get things done.






 

Anime Outlandishness: Fake It To Make It?

I am in an interesting position to be writing this blog post right now. I was in a bad mood this morning because I feel that I've fallen so short of my ideals. To be an exciting and interesting person who makes people laugh and smile and to fight off all of the world's evils. But the problem is that I'm a real guy living in the real world and I don't have the pleasure of Tsundere witches to summon me to a magical world.

Anytime you're ready baby just call on me and I'll take good care of you!

 

 

I need to say that I was trying to come up with my next super entertaining anime blog to wow everyone and once again get myself some good ratings. But there's an interesting difficulty that comes with the weekly demand I placed upon myself for blogging. By requiring myself to post every week I put great pressure on my creative powers. It's no longer something I can just work on whenever I feel inspired, because now I've developed a routine of a once a week post that everyone can count on and if I have a bad week creatively I have to just take the chance of writing a poor post, which I believe I may have done a couple of times.

 

 

Me...on a week when I have no idea what to blog about...

 

The reason I'm writing about this is because I feel that in principle I have to be honest with you readers. I can't try to write some wild and philosophically significant post if I don't have an honestly significant revelation for you. But no matter what I always have my true self who can always just talk to you. So I will talk to you about something random and simple this time around.

 

 

Thinking back I really don't remember why I started this blog specifically, but I know it had something to do with trying to build something that might grow into a bigger project that gave me a worthwhile purpose in life. I used anime because it was something that I knew I could write passionately and abundantly about and I turned out to be absolutely right!

 

YAY! Cheer over...any excuse you have!!!



 

When I was a kid anime's were just another cartoon with slightly different looks. Interestingly enough it was only when I became more mature and came into adulthood that I really started to appreciate them as a separate genre with their own messages and themes.

 

 

 

In anime the characters you see don't fake anything that's really important. They will just be themselves and do whatever they can and amazing plots develop and thicken simply by the forces of their natures. That's what I'm trying to do now. I'm not going to bullshit you guys with some fake stuff that I conjured up in order to make some entertaining post to get my "ratings" up so I'm just communicating with you my current thoughts about anime as they come to me.

 

I'm currently watching an anime called Oda Nobuna no Yabou. It's turning out to be a fun viewing because of an ingenious female ruler of an ancient Japanese territory who is looked down upon because who she is doesn't agree with popular ideas of her time. That relates in a way to my life. Okay, maybe it would be presumptuous to call myself a genius but I have grand visions for what I think the world could and should be.

 

I picked the pic of this character because the big breasts caught my eye, because I'm a genius! ;)

 

 

 I don't believe in writing a blog that is strictly a simple review of anime episodes, so instead I fill these posts with my own personal thoughts about what anime is all about. But this blog is just the tip of my aspirational iceberg. I want to build a whole world on the inspirations I've gotten from anime.

 

Read this whole thing...it's worth it.

 

 

 

 

 But mainly my so called strategy for accomplishing my goals has been to just act as optimistic and funny as I can in the hopes of starting a bandwagon that gets on board with some lofty ideals of wild and crazy creativity which allows us to live in a much more free and colorful world.

 

 Truth be told, I'm still really scared. I don't want to screw it up because I want to be absolutely sure I have some really amazing stuff that I will totally be allowed to show you on this blog and everywhere else.

 

This is what I must do...

 



But what if I became just as unpopular and ridiculed as Naruto was as a child, or used and abused like Eleven rebels from Code Geass? Would you readers still believe in me? Would I still have some following somewhere that would be enough to allow me to maintain a good job with benefits and give me a reasonably good social status? I'm not so sure about that and that's why I'm scared to carry my anime inspirations all the way through. Because I saw the prices that my favorite anime heroes had to pay for their success, and I'm not so sure if I'm prepared to make the same sacrifices.

 

To look like a complete fool again just like I did at my old job...to lose the respect of society...to struggle and fight to get people to believe in me and what I offer...our anime heroes really are heroes to us all because they take the punishment we don't want to take but wish that we could.

 

I really desperately want to make that effort...to pay the price...but I'll need a lot of strength and courage to do it. Because I'm building an anime world, the likes of which have never been seen before. Or at least that's my dream.

 

Please forgive me if you were hoping for some simple entertainment here, because this time I just felt like talking to anyone who would read. I'm not just an entertainer, because I strive to be a revolutionary leader just like our favorite characters. Please cheer me on as I navigate this harsh world in search of the greatness of our heroes!

 

 

 





Anime Character: Where Should My Heart Reside?

 A mind blowing realization hit me a while back and I'd like to talk about it now. It concerns the complete and total cognitive dissonance that is wrought on my brain by anime and manga.

 For clarification cognitive dissonance is the holding of contradictory thoughts and behaviors within yourself which bring discomfort and an urge to set yourself straight. I get that crap waaaay too often... Let me talk a bit about the two guys pictured above who fittingly enough are both voiced by Johnny Young Bosch. Lelouch vi Brittania on the left and Ichigo Kurosaki on the right. Here's my problem or problems: I really love both characters. I admire their values and heroism and determination and I love their compassion for their loved ones and their fellow man in general which drives them to serve the worlds needs as best as they can.

 These two characters and their respective anime's/manga's have provided me hours and hours of entertainment, excitement, and philosophical value. Okay, now compare these two characters in your mind and see if you can figure out why my love and admiration for each of these guys strikes me as a problem...

I'll give you a few seconds...
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...

 Did you notice yet? The issue I have is that these two characters are really nothing a like in any but the most vague and general ways. Their respective methods of protecting people and saving the world are vastly different. Remember when Ichigo left Ikkaku alive after beating him and even treated his wounds? This was an act of honor and respect in Ichigo's mind which he felt he owed to Ikkaku. Tell me, do you think Lelouch would have done any such thing? Not a chance in hell, when he cornered Prince Clovis and learned that Clovis had no knowledge or involvement in his mother's death and sister's crippling he went ahead and killed Clovis anyway because well, in his own words: "This is war, why wouldn't I kill an enemy commander?"  No remorse and no mercy.

Same deal with Ulquiorra and Princess Cornelia. After beating the hell out of Ulquiorra in hollow mode Ichigo insists that Ulquiorra cut one of his arms off because it "wasn't fair" to use the hollow mode or something stupid like that... but when facing Cornelia at Narita Lelouch had no qualms about having Kallen face down Cornelia while he shot the arm off Cornelia's knightmare from behind. Ichigo wants to fight fair and honorably where Lelouch just wants to kick some ass.

Cornelia got rocked! And not in a good way.

 

 

 The examples are far from over, but to get to the point I have trouble with my own choices of approaching all of life be because anime screwed my mind up. It tricked me in to sympathizing with numerous philosophies and perspectives, many of which contradict each other!

 

  

Anime makes deciding what to believe in really difficult for me because I fall in love with characters of all personalities and persuasions. Soifon from Bleach likes to maintain animosity and distance in her squad. Stating at one point that she doesn't like a cozy atmosphere and believes in keeping the soldiers on their toes. She constantly berates and beats Omaeda and she strikes me as a badass and sexy lady in Bleach. Just the one recent manga panel of her training and sweating her ass off struck me with awe and admiration.

 But then again, absolutely everyone, including myself and even Soifon (especially Soifon) absolutely loves Yoruichi Shihouin, and if you'll notice Soifon in nothing like her. Yoruichi is laid back and fun loving and as a Captain she insisted on being addressed very informally saying that skill and power was more valuable than manners. Also, she's has a lot of sex appeal is well aware of that fact and even uses it for amusement from time to time.

This scene is cannon and it is hilarious.



 

 So here are the questions I keep trying to answer for myself. Who am I really? Who do I want to be? Where does my heart reside? Is that the best place for it? What people both real and fictional do I most identify with and why? If I make a choice to go down one path then what am I to make of all the roads not travelled?

 

Many questions such as these plague my existence constantly. I have one constant that I do hold onto which is my desire to be a Main Character of life. I want to be someone who matters, who improves the world and makes people happy when he's around. Someone who entertains and protects and makes a good living too.

 

 This confusion I have can be seen in my blog postings. I've kept it mostly PG rated but you'll notice that the posts for Black Lagoon and Chivalrous Perverts detract from that tendency into more R- Rated stuff.

 

 That happened because it's my own attempt at real life personal character development. I'm trying to become a character myself. I don't want to play it safe anymore as a common person. I want to do all the exciting things that a charismatic and heroic anime guy might do.

 

 

I'd rather have this...but instead I have a lap top on me that's burning my potential children out of existence...

 

 

 

 If I really want to get to where my heart is I have to be honest about what I think and feel, and I have to confess to what really gets my heart racing as I indulge in my anime fandom. I am really a big fan of characters who are aggressive and tough. I like power and conquest and smartass remarks. I'm also very interested in lady lovin'. These are things I like.

 

 

 The really trouble I have is where my heart is versus where society and my life circumstances seem to insist it ought to be.

 

High School of the Dead: No I don't have a problem with the excessive fan service!

 

If it was my show Saeko would be real I would've picked her as my lady and she would be on me right now instead of my lap top and this blog could just go straight to hell for all I care!

 

 But noooo, I don't get to have my zombie apocalypse and my beautiful Saeko and instead I have this oh so sexy lap top giving me such an intense time that I might get carpel tunnel by the time I publish this damn post. Okay so maybe it's a bit harsh wishing Armageddon on the world just so I can live out my sicko fantasies but you know what? I need something to happen. I need to get my passion out because it's absolutely killing me to live in such a passive and nonchalant state when I know greater and more fun things are possible for me to do and experience! Here I am in the prime of my youth and all I've done is get mostly good grades in school and had a few laughs from time to time eating meals with people or ice skating or watching movies or anime where other people who are decidedly not me have all the fun.

 

 I have a lot of good things in my life but you know what? That's a load of crap, because what matters in not what I get from life but what I put into life! And I've failed miserably thus far.

 

To reiterate, it's not about what you take but what you do!

 

 

 I'm now noticing my penchant for fan servicey pics in this blog and my preference for a more casual writing style. This is a significant departure from the style with which I began this blog. It would appear that this post itself has been an experiment in finding my own heart.

 

 

Anime to me is something that is meant to capture the heart. That's the reason for all of the dramatic twists and turns and the epic speeches that get made throughout them. It's why characters say outrageous things very often and the get into really amusing troubles and quarrels because of it all.

 

I think that the reason anime is considered to be weird and crazy is not because it defies logic but because it defies the common cultural norm of suppressing our hearts. The status quo is to behave yourself strictly by following all the rules and observing proper etiquette and formalities. Anime characters often don't seem to even know what those words even mean!

 

 

 Anime has done me the service or perhaps the disservice of letting me live vicariously through the characters, the very kind of life that I don't have the balls to live myself because I've burned them away with this friggin' lap top!

 

 

I couldn't find a burning groin pic because I have not the patience for it right now, but this should suffice.

 





 

 

 So I'm not putting up with shit anymore. I'm going to take a stand for my heart and I'll trust that improvement can be sought through conflict and negotiation rather than wasting my life away in this damn bedroom on the freakin' lap top trying to solve the mysteries of life all by my lonesome. I'm tired of this boring sedentary lifestyle of watching some character who doesn't even exist get more action and make more money than I do.

 

 

 Derek Steiner is changing his ways right before you ladies and gentlemen, and I hope you'll like him as much as I do because I think it's gonna be a blast!!!

 

 

It would be cruel and stupid to wish for a zombie apocalypse. But if it happens I'm totally doing this.

 

Thanks for reading now get out of the house and kick life's ass!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Anime's Chivalrous Perverts: Indespensable or Irresponsible?

WARNING: ADULT RATED CONCEPTS ARE DISCUSSED HERE!!!

  Anime likes to push boundaries, there is no denying that. But I would like to share some of my thoughts on the way anime entertains many of its fans with highly sexual and perverted imagery and character behavior which would in real life be often viewed with at the least a sense of anxiety and unease and at worst viewed with great scorn and the urge to hand down great condemnation.

 

 

From Rosario + Vampire we have Kurumu Kurono first up to bat! One of my favorite female anime characters and she is designed primarily for erotic themed action in the show. As a succubus it's in her very nature to be sexy and seductive to the Nth degree and will stop at almost nothing to convince Tsukune to have his way with her. As you can tell from the above image, there is no attempt made to be subtle or clever about this. Throughout the show she's very overt in her pursuits by offering to show her panties to climbing sexily on him in bed when they're alone together to busting into his house during vacation wearing lingerie. It's absolutely shameless!

 

 

 I for one am very much entertained with these enticing shenanigans and it's one of the aspects of anime that I find most amusing when I'm in the mood for more lighthearted stories. But I sometimes find myself pondering the psychological and social implications of these themes we often see in anime.

 

 

 On the face of it we might simply classify this as a shallow technique to grab ratings...after all why bother doing all that work to writing a captivating story with relatable and compelling characters when we can effortlessly nab thousands more viewers with a few pairs of big boobs and some panty shots!?

 



                 Even Code Geass: One the most mature and thoughtful anime's I know is guilty of at least a few pervy shots...

 

 

There's an abridgement of Code Geass on youtube called Code Ment that I find to be very funny. In one of the episodes the maker has the characters repeatedly refer to Kallen Kozuki as the fan service to which she replies: "Why do you keep calling me that?".

 

 

I was asking the same question in my head and it's gotten me thinking. I've always thought it was very progressive that anime has a multitude of female characters in lead roles that keep up with the men but what if the writers only write female leads as an excuse to give plenty of screen time to hot female bodies? Is that possible?!

 

It's important for the plot development I swear!!!

 

 

 

 In my opinion this is likely driven at least in part by the shear entertainment value, people enjoy the perverse shot and so demand more of them and the writers and animators duly deliver the goods. Now many modern feminist minds might object to this debauchery, decrying fan service as objectifying and degrading women. You know, the same old feminist song and dance. I will concede that they have valid concerns with regards to such material, but I would like to argue for a more optimistic and pragmatic outlook.

 

 

 Humans are sexual beings...there I said it. Sexuality is simply a part of who we are as creatures on this planet and it represents a huge part of all of our lives. There is not a person who lives now or a person who ever lived who didn't get here through some love making. I think anime is just giving us an outlet where we can comfortably face and indulge in this R-Rated aspect of who we all are.

 

 

Terrorists need love too!!

 





 

My point is I don't think that fan service is demanded and supplied because of some sick conspiracy to put anyone down based on their sex or sexuality, fan service is exactly that; service to the fans!

 

We've come a long way as a species. Back in the day you pretty much had to pretend the sex didn't even exist and you just figured it out as you went along if you ever figured it out. Now we at least have it in us to admit that sex is a thing that exists that real people actually do on a regular basis, but there are still plenty of taboos about it. Hell, sexual harassment is the most abused charge in our country. Meaning that over sensitive fools will accuse you of sexual harassing them based on the most gentle and innocuous behavior. Just complimenting the wrong girl on her blouse can get you called out on the carpet now a days. I've even mentioned repeatedly that I myself was shamed and reprimanded for being "too friendly" whatever the hell that means.

 

 

 

 

 





 The issue with sexuality in my opinion is that sex in and of itself is an extremely powerful as well as a personal and intimate force of nature. It can make and break people in quite the literal sense and has been doing so since the first mates were chosen and babies made. With this great power you of course have those who wield it for the sake of good, for love and pleasure and procreation. Then you have those who would do harm with it by the devastating pursuit of domination for sexual abusers and the selfish pursuit of someone else's body for your own enjoyment with no respect for the persons needs and wants.

 

 

Don't worry he did the right thing and covered her up. ;)

 



I believe that anime let's us get in touch with this forbidden side of who we are in a context that is both safe and nonjudgmental. We all have these desires in us for the close and shall we say, energetic contact of people we find attractive. It's a part of being human and it's a part of what makes life worth living to begin with. It allows us to think about and deal with our sexuality and that of other people by making it a normal thing to see and talk about as we watch our favorite anime's.

 

I think, in truth that fan service actually does provide a legitimate if blush inducing service to the fans. It shows us that finding someone attractive and longing for the company of somebody you like is normal and natural and while we have to be respectful we need not repress ourselves.

 

I also think that this particular subject of sexuality that anime loves to play with is key to addressing the question of how we should live a more free, exciting, and genuine life as inspired by our favorite anime's. One of my best friends is female and though we are of the opposite sex to each other we have no trouble discussing sex and sexuality with one another. We unlike many people I know have confronted this elephant in the room and dealt with is so that we can let it be a valuable and enhancing part of our lives as opposed to an obstacle that constantly gets in the way because we constantly refuse to acknowledge that it's even there.

 

In order to live with maximum freedom and power we have to deal with the issues that cause the most discomfort and distrust between us as people and I think sexuality with all of it potentially dangerous power is a great place to start. I have put this into practice myself by addressing this with close friends both male and female and I've achieved relationships that have begun to mirror those we see in our favorite anime's with ridiculous characters bantering back and forth and ladies smacking the crap out of guys for stepping out of line.

 

 



 

I would totally give her swimming lessons, I admit it!!!

 

 

 So as I close this up I will make both a confession and a declaration. The confession by itself might shock and disturb readers, but I hope that combined with my declaration your minds will be put at ease and you will in fact come to know me as a trustworthy man.

 

Here it goes:

 

 I am a heterosexual male of 23 years of age as of the time of this writing. I find females physically attractive and I enjoy fan service in anime. I like breasts, legs, butts, and soft smooth skin with a pretty face. When I notice a pretty lady out in public I will sometimes try to very slyly check her out as much as I can without being noticed. The main reason I like the beach is because of ladies in bikini's and finding a mate takes up a good portion of my brain parts to try to make it happen. The goal of attracting pretty ladies influences many of my life decisions both big and small from my body posture and odor to my career path and philosophy on life. Ladies bodies and possible opinions they may have of me are always on my mind!

 

That's my confession and now here is my declaration. To all the ladies of the world I declare this, even to the ones that will never read this post. I say to you, I have the utmost respect and love for all of you regardless your looks or your body type. Though I may find some of you to be rather appealing in a variety of different ways, the fact that you are human beings with your own thoughts and feelings is certainly not lost on me. I care very much for you as people and I want you to be happy and healthy. I hope to find one of you that suits me very well and when I do succeed I will work to make her as pleased and she is sure to make me. Don't think I don't know that you ladies have the same urges as the guys have, so ladies let's get along and enjoy each others company to the utmost. When we recognize the forbidden and scarier parts of who we are, they'll get less scary and become useful to our health and happiness. Let's talk and communicate fully and learn how to live well together and give pleasure to each others lives!

 

 

Let's rock each others worlds!!!

 

 

 

 

 





 

ANIME THERMOS UPDATE!

 Kon-ichi-wa! My next post will be slightly postponed to go up sometime on Monday June 3rd. A friend just graduated high school tonight!!!

Sorry for the wait but better late then never right!!??